The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, Vol. X.
by Jonathan Swift
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Title: The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, Vol. X.
Author: Jonathan Swift
Release Date: July 28, 2004 [EBook #13040]
Language: English
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BOHN'S STANDARD LIBRARY
THE PROSE WORKS OF JONATHAN SWIFT
VOL. X
[Illustration: _Jonathan Swift on the bust by Rouldiac in Trinity
College Dublin]
THE PROSE WORKS
OF
JONATHAN SWIFT, D.D.
EDITED BY
TEMPLE SCOTT
VOL. X
HISTORICAL WRITINGS
1902
INTRODUCTION
Of late years, that is to say, within the last thirty odd years, there
has existed a certain amount of doubt as to whether or no the work known
to us as "The History of the Four Last Years of the Queen," was really
the product of Swift's pen. That a work of this nature had occupied
Swift during his retirement at Windsor in 1713, is undoubted. That the
work here reprinted from the edition given to the world in 1758, "by an
anonymous editor from a copy surreptitiously taken by an anonymous
friend" (to use Mr. Churton Collins's summary), is the actual work upon
which Swift was engaged at Windsor, is not so certain. Let us for a
moment trace the history of what is known of what Swift did write, and
then we shall be in a better position to judge of the authenticity of
what we have before us.
All that we know of this work is gathered from Swift's correspondence,
as published by Sir Walter Scott in his edition of Swift's Works issued
in 1824. The first reference there made is in a note from Dr. William
King to Mrs. Whiteway, from which we gather that Swift, towards the end
of the year 1736, was meditating the publication of what he had written
in 1713. "As to the History," writes King, "the Dean may be assured I
will take care to supply the dates that are wanting, and which can
easily be done in an hour or two. The tracts, if he pleases, may be
printed by way of appendix. This will be indeed less trouble than the
interweaving them in the body of the history, and will do the author as
much honour, and answer the purpose full as well."
This was written from Paris, under date November 9th, O.S., 1736. It can
easily be gathered from this that the tracts referred to are the tracts
on the same period which Swift wrote at the time in defence of the
Oxford ministry. They are given in the fifth volume of this edition.
On December 7th, 1736, King was in London, and he immediately writes to
Swift himself on the matter of the History. "I arrived here yesterday,"
he says, "and I am now ready to obey your commands. I hope you are come
to a positive resolution concerning the History. You need not hesitate
about the dates, or the references which are to be made to any public
papers; for I can supply them without the least trouble. As well as I
remember, there is but one of those public pieces which you determined
should be inserted at length; I mean Sir Thomas Hanmer's Representation;
this I have now by me. If you incline to publish the two tracts as an
Appendix to the History, you will be pleased to see if the character
given of the Earl of Oxford in the pamphlet of 1715 agrees with the
character given of the same person in the History.[1] Perhaps on a
review you may think proper to leave one of them quite out. You have (I
think) barely mentioned the attempt of Guiscard, and the quarrel between
Rechteren and Mesnager. But as these are facts which are probably now
forgot or unknown, it would not be amiss if they were related at large
in the notes; which may be done from the gazettes, or any other
newspapers of those times. This is all I have to offer to your
consideration...."
[Footnote 1: See note on page 95 of this volume.]
There is thus no doubt left as to which were the tracts referred to by
King, and as to the desire of Swift to include Sir Thomas Hanmer's
Representation--two points that are important as evidence for the
authenticity of the edition issued by Lucas in 1758.
Towards the middle of 1737, it must have become common knowledge among
Swift's friends in London, that he was preparing for publication his
"History of the Four Last Years of Queen Anne's Reign." Possibly King
may have dropped a hint of it; possibly Swift may have written to others
for information and assistance. Be that as it may, on April 7th, 1737,
the Earl of Oxford (son of Swift's old friend) wrote to Swift as
follows:
"... One reason of my writing to you now is, (next to my asking
your forgiveness) this: I am told that you have given leave and
liberty to some one or more of your friends to print a history
of the last four years of Queen Anne's reign, wrote by you.
"As I am most truly sensible of your constant regard and sincere
friendship for my father, even to partiality, (if I may say so,)
I am very sensible of the share and part he must bear in such a
history; and as I remember, when I read over that history of
yours, I can recollect that there seemed to me a want of some
papers to make it more complete, which was not in our power to
obtain; besides there were some severe things said, which might
have been very currently talked of; but now will want a proper
evidence to support; for these reasons it is that I do entreat
the favour of you, and make it my earnest request, that you will
give your positive directions, that this history be not printed
and published, until I have had an opportunity of seeing it;
with a liberty of showing it to some family friends, whom I
would consult upon this occasion. I beg pardon for this; I hope
you will be so good as to grant my request: I do it with great
deference to you. If I had the pleasure of seeing you, I would
soon say something to you that would convince you I am not
wrong: they are not proper for a letter as you will easily
guess...."
It is evident that Swift had gone so far as to consult with Faulkner on
the matter of the printing of the "History," because he was present when
Oxford's letter arrived, and he tells us that Swift answered the letter
immediately, and made him read the answer, the purport of which was:
"That although he loved his lordship's father more than he ever did any
man; yet, as a human creature, he had his faults, and therefore, as an
impartial writer, he could not conceal them."
On the 4th of June, 1737, Swift wrote at length to Oxford a letter in
which he details the circumstances and the reasons which moved him to
write the History. The letter is important, and runs as follows:
"MY LORD,
"I had the honour of a letter from your lordship, dated April
the 7th, which I was not prepared to answer until this time.
Your lordship must needs have known, that the History you
mention, of the Four last Years of the Queen's Reign, was
written at Windsor, just upon finishing the peace; at which
time, your father and my Lord Bolingbroke had a misunderstanding
with each other, that was attended with very bad consequences.
When I came to Ireland to take this deanery (after the peace was
made) I could not stay here above a fortnight, being recalled by
a hundred letters to hasten back, and to use my endeavours in
reconciling those ministers. I left them the history you
mention, which I finished at Windsor, to the time of the peace.
When I returned to England, I found their quarrels and coldness
increased. I laboured to reconcile them as much as I was able: I
contrived to bring them to my Lord Masham's, at St. James's. My
Lord and Lady Masham left us together. I expostulated with them
both, but could not find any good consequences. I was to go to
Windsor next day with my lord-treasurer; I pretended business
that prevented me, expecting they would come to some
[agreement?]. But I followed them to Windsor; where my Lord
Bolingbroke told me, that my scheme had come to nothing. Things
went on at the same rate; they grew more estranged every day. My
lord-treasurer found his credit daily declining. In May before
the Queen died, I had my last meeting with them at my Lord
Masham's. He left us together; and therefore I spoke very freely
to them both; and told them, 'I would retire, for I found all
was gone'. Lord Bolingbroke whispered me, 'I was in the right'.
Your father said, 'All would do well'. I told him, 'That I would
go to Oxford on Monday, since I found it was impossible to be of
any use'. I took coach to Oxford on Monday, went to a friend in
Berkshire, there stayed until the Queen's death, and then to my
station here, where I stayed twelve years, and never saw my lord
your father afterward. They could not agree about printing the
History of the Four last Years and therefore I have kept it to
this time, when I determine to publish it in London, to the
confusion of all those rascals who have accused the queen and
that ministry of making a bad peace, to which that party
entirely owes the Protestant succession. I was then in the
greatest trust and confidence with your father the
lord-treasurer, as well as with my Lord Bolingbroke, and all
others who had part in the administration I had all the letters
from the secretary's office, during the treaty of peace out of
those, and what I learned from the ministry, I formed that
History, which I am now going to publish for the information of
posterity, and to control the most impudent falsehoods which
have been published since. I wanted no kind of materials. I knew
your father better than you could at that time, and I do
impartially think him the most virtuous minister, and the most
able, that ever I remember to have read of. If your lordship has
any particular circumstances that may fortify what I have said
in the History, such as letters or materials, I am content they
should be printed at the end, by way of appendix. I loved my
lord your father better than any other man in the world,
although I had no obligation to him on the score of preferment,
having been driven to this wretched kingdom, to which I was
almost a stranger, by his want of power to keep me in what I
ought to call my own country, although I happened to be dropped
here, and was a year old before I left it, and to my sorrow did
not die before I came back to it again. As to the History, it
is only of affairs which I know very well and had all the
advantages possible to know, when you were in some sort but a
lad. One great design of it is, to do justice to the ministry at
that time, and to refute all the objections against them, as if
they had a design of bringing in Popery and the Pretender: and
farther to demonstrate, that the present settlement of the crown
was chiefly owing to my lord your father...."
The Earl of Oxford had failed to extract the manuscript from Swift for
the purpose he had expressed in his letter. But his friend and Swift's
old friend, Erasmus Lewis, who had been Under-Secretary of State during
Lord Oxford's administration, came to the Earl's assistance. He had not
written to Swift for many years, but on June 30th, 1737, he took
occasion to renew the correspondence and referred to the proposal for
publishing the History in a manner which leaves no doubt as to who
suggested to him to write:
" ... Now I name him, I mean Lord Oxford, let me ask you if it
be true, that you are going to print a History of the Four Last
Years of the Queen? if it is, will not you let me see it before
you send it to the press? Is it not possible that I may suggest
some things that you may have omitted, and give you reasons for
leaving out others? The scene is changed since that period of
time: the conditions of the peace of Utrecht have been applauded
by most part of mankind, even in the two Houses of Parliament:
should not matters rest here, at least for some time? I presume
your great end is to do justice to truth; the second point may
perhaps be to make a compliment to the Oxford family: permit me
to say as to the first, that though you know perhaps more than
any one man, I may possibly contribute a mite; and, with the
alteration of one word, viz. by inserting _parva_ instead of
_magna_, apply to myself that passage of Virgil, _et quorum pars
parva fui_. As to the second point, I do not conceive your
compliment to Lord Oxford to be so perfect as it might be,
unless you lay the manuscript before him, that it may be
considered here."
On the 4th of July, 1737, Oxford replied to Swift's letter of the 4th of
June (referring to it as of the 14th of June), and emphasizes his
earnest wish to see the manuscript. He also asks that it may be
permitted him to show it to some friends:
"GOOD MR. DEAN,
"Your letter of June 14th, in answer to mine of the 7th of
April, is come to my hands; and it is with no small concern that
I have read it, and to find that you seem to have formed a
resolution to put the History of the Four last Years of the
Queen to the press; a resolution taken without giving your
friends, and those that are greatly concerned, some notice, or
suffering them to have time and opportunity to read the papers
over, and to consider them. I hope it is not too late yet, and
that you will be so good as to let some friends see them, before
they are put to the press; and, as you propose to have the work
printed here, it will be easy to give directions to whom you
will please to give the liberty of seeing them; I beg I may be
one: this request I again repeat to you, and I hope you will
grant it. I do not doubt that there are many who will persuade
you to publish it; but they are not proper judges: their reasons
may be of different kinds, and their motives to press on this
work may be quite different, and perhaps concealed from you.
"I am extremely sensible of the firm love and regard you had for
my father, and have for his memory; and upon that account it is
that I now renew my request, that you would at least defer this
printing until you have had the advice of friends. You have
forgot that you lent me the History to read when you were in
England, since my father died; I do remember it well. I would
ask your pardon for giving you this trouble; but upon this
affair I am so nearly concerned, that, if I did not my utmost to
prevent it, I should never forgive myself."
While this correspondence was in progress, Swift had given the
manuscript to Lord Orrery to hand over to Dr. King. On June 24th, 1737,
King wrote to Swift stating that he had received a letter from Mrs.
Whiteway in which he was told to expect the manuscript from the hands of
Lord Orrery. To Mrs. Whiteway he replied, on the same day, that he would
wait on Lord Orrery to receive the papers. On July 23rd, 1737, Lord
Orrery wrote to Swift informing him that "Dr. King has his cargo."
With the knowledge that the manuscript was on its way to King, Swift
wrote the following reply to Lewis's letter:
July 23, 1737.
"DEAR FRIEND,
"While any of those who used to write to me were alive, I always
inquired after you. But, since your secretaryship in the queen's
time, I believed you were so glutted with the office, that you
had not patience to venture on a letter to an absent useless
acquaintance; and I find I owe yours to my Lord Oxford. The
History you mention was written above a year before the queen's
death. I left it with the treasurer and Lord Bolingbroke, when I
first came over to take this deanery. I returned in less than a
month; but the ministry could not agree about printing it. It
was to conclude with the peace. I staid in London above nine
months; but not being able to reconcile the quarrels between
those two, I went to a friend in Berkshire, and, on the queen's
death, came hither for good and all. I am confident you read
that History; as this Lord Oxford did, as he owns in his two
letters, the last of which reached me not above ten days ago.
You know, on the queen's death, how the peace and all
proceedings were universally condemned. This I knew would be
done; and the chief cause of my writing was, not to let such a
queen and ministry lie under such a load of infamy, or posterity
be so ill-informed, &c. Lord Oxford is in the wrong to be in
pain about his father's character, or his proceedings in his
ministry; which is so drawn, that his greatest admirers will
rather censure me for partiality; neither can he tell me
anything material out of his papers, which I was not then
informed of; nor do I know anybody but yourself who could give
me more light than what I then received; for I remember I often
consulted with you, and took memorials of many important
particulars which you told me, as I did of others, for four
years together. I can find no way to have the original delivered
to Lord Oxford, or to you; for the person who has it will not
trust it out of his hands; but, I believe, would be contented to
let it be read to either of you, if it could be done without
letting it out of his hands, although, perhaps, that may be too
late."
Swift is evidently about to accede to the desires of his two friends,
and Lewis, in his reply, takes it for granted that the manuscript will
soon be in his possession for perusal and examination:
London, Aug. 4, 1737.
"I assure you, my dear Dean, 'twas matter of joy to me to
receive a letter from you, and I hope 'tis an earnest of many
more I may have hereafter, before you and I leave this world;
though I must tell you, that if you and I revive our former
Correspondence, you must indulge me the liberty of making use of
another hand; for whether it be owing to age, or writing
formerly whole nights by candle-light, or to both those causes,
my sight is so far impaired, that I am not able, without much
pain, to scratch out a letter.
"I do not remember ever to have read your History. I own my
memory is much decayed; but still I think I could not have
forgotten a matter of so much consequence, and which must have
given me so great a pleasure. It is fresh in my mind, that Lord
Oxford and the Auditor desired you to confer with me upon the
subject matter of it; that we accordingly did so; and that the
conclusion was, you would bury everything in oblivion. We
reported this to those two, I mean to his lordship and his
uncle, and they acquiesced in it. Now I find you have finished
that piece. I ask nothing but what you grant in your letter of
July 23d, viz. That your friend shall read it to me, and forbear
sending it to the press, till you have considered the
objections, if any should be made.
"In the meantime, I shall only observe to you in general, that
three and twenty years, for so long it is since the death of
Queen Anne, having made a great alteration in the world, and
that what was sense and reason then, is not so now; besides, I
am told you have treated some people's characters with a
severity which the present times will not bear, and may possibly
bring the author into much trouble, which would be matter of
great uneasiness to his friends. I know very well it is your
intention to do honour to the then treasurer. Lord Oxford knows
it; all his family and friends know it; but it is to be done
with great circumspection. It is now too late to publish a
pamphlet, and too early to publish a History.
"It was always my opinion, that the best way of doing honour to
the treasurer, was to write a History of the Peace of Utrecht,
beginning with a short preamble concerning the calamitous state
of our debt, and ending with the breaking our army, and
restoring the civil power; that these great things were
completed under the administration of the Earl of Oxford, and
this should be his epitaph. Lord Bolingbroke is undoubtedly
writing a History, but I believe will not live to finish it,
because he takes it up too high, viz. from the Restoration. In
all probability he'll cut and slash Lord Oxford. This is only my
guess. I don't know it...."
King must have taken the manuscript to Lord Oxford and Lewis,
and been present at its reading. When that reading actually took
place is not ascertainable; but there is no doubt that before
March 15th, 1738, King was aware of the criticisms made on it.
On that day he writes to Mr. Deane Swift, explaining that he has
been obliged to defer the publication until he has received
Swift's answers to the objections made by the friends who read
it. On April 25th, 1738, King wrote again to Mr. Deane Swift,
regretting that he could not see him, "because I might have
talked over with you all the affair of this History, about which
I have been much condemned: and no wonder, since the Dean has
continually expressed his dissatisfaction that I have so long
delayed the publication of it. However, I have been in no fault:
on the contrary, I have consulted the Dean's honour, and the
safety of his person. In a word, the publication of this work,
as excellent as it is, would involve the printer, publisher,
author, and everyone concerned, in the greatest difficulties, if
not in a certain ruin; and therefore it will be absolutely
necessary to omit some of the characters...."
From which we gather that Lewis and the friends had been able to show
King the extreme inadvisability of publishing the work. Swift knew
nothing of this at the time, but Lewis did not long keep him in doubt,
and the letter Lewis wrote Swift on April 8th, 1738, sets forth at
length the objections and criticisms which had so changed King's
attitude.
"London, April 8, 1738.
"I can now acquaint you, my dear Dean, that I have at last had
the pleasure of reading your History, in the presence of Lord
O------d, and two or three more, who think, in all political
matters, just as you do, and are as zealous for your fame and
safety as any persons in the world. That part of it which
relates to the negotiations of peace, whether at London or at
Utrecht, they admire exceedingly, and declare they never yet saw
that, or any other transaction, drawn up with so much
perspicuity, or in a style so entertaining and instructive to
the reader, in every respect; but I should be wanting to the
sincerity of a friend, if I did not tell you plainly, that it
was the unanimous opinion of the company a great deal of the
first part should be retrenched, and many things altered.
"1st, They conceive the first establishment of the South Sea
Company is not rightly stated, for no part of the debt then
unprovided for was paid: however the advantages arising to the
public were very considerable; for, instead of paying for all
provisions cent. per cent. dearer than the common market-price,
as we did in Lord Godolphin's times, the credit of the public
was immediately restored, and, by means of this scheme, put upon
as good a footing as the best private security.
"2d, 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.
"3d, The D---- of M----'s courage not to be called in question.
"4th, The projected design of an assassination they believe
true, but that a matter of so high a nature ought not to be
asserted without exhibiting the proofs.
"5th, The present ministers, who are the rump of those whose
characters you have painted, shew too plainly that they have not
acted upon republican, or, indeed, any other principles, than
those of interest and ambition.
"6th, Now I have mentioned characters, I must tell you they were
clearly of opinion, that if those you have drawn should be
published as they now stand, nothing could save the author's
printer and publishers from some grievous punishment. As we have
no traces of liberty now left but the freedom of the press, it
is the most earnest desire of your friends that you would strike
out all that you have said on that subject.
"Thus, my dear Dean, I have laid before you, in a plain manner
the sentiments of those who were present when your History was
read; if I have mistaken in anything, I ask pardon of you and
them.
"I am not at liberty to name those who were present, excepting
only the E---- of O----d, who has charged me to return you his
thanks for what you have said of his father.
"What I have to say from myself is, that there were persons in
the company to whose judgment I should pay entire deference. I
had no opportunity of paying any on this occasion, for I
concurred in the same opinion with them, from the bottom of my
heart, and therefore conjure you as you value your own fame as
an author, and the honour of those who were actors in the
important affairs that make the subject of your History, and as
you would preserve the liberty of your person, and enjoyment of
your fortune, you will not suffer this work to go to the press
without making some, or all the amendments proposed. I am, my
dear Dean, most sincerely and affectionately yours,
"E.L.
"I thank you for your kind mention of me in your letter to Lord
Oxford.
"I had almost forgot to tell you, 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.
"I must add, that if you would so far yield to the opinions of
your friends, as to publish what you have writ concerning the
peace, and leave out everything that savours of acrimony and
resentment, it would, even now, be of great service to this
nation in general, and to them in particular, nothing having
been yet published on the peace of Utrecht in such a beautiful
and strong manner as you have done it. Once more, my dear Dean,
adieu; let me hear from you."
It is to be presumed that Swift was again persuaded to abandon the
publication of his History. Nothing further is heard of it, except a
slight reference by Pope in a letter he wrote to Swift, under date May
17th, 1739, in which Pope informed him that Bolingbroke (who is writing
his History of his own Time) has expressed his intention of differing
from Swift's version, as he remembers it when he read the History in
1727. The variation would relate in particular to the conduct of the
Earl of Oxford.
Slight as this reference is, there is yet enough in it to suggest
another reason why Swift should withhold the publication of his work. It
might be that this expressed intention of Bolingbroke's to animadvert on
his dear friend's conduct, would just move Swift to a final rejection of
his intention, and so, possibly, prevent Bolingbroke from publishing his
own statement. However, the manuscript must have been returned, for
nothing more was heard of it during Swift's lifetime.
Swift died in 1745, and thirteen years later appeared the anonymously
edited "History of the Four Last Years." Is this the work which Swift
wrote in 1713, which he permitted Pope and Bolingbroke to read in 1727,
and which he prepared for publication in 1737?
In 1758 there was no doubt whatever raised, although there were at least
two persons alive then--Lord Orrery and Dr. William King--who could
easily have proved any forgery, had there been one.
The first suspicion cast on the work came from Dr. Johnson. Writing, in
his life of Swift, of the published version, he remarks, "that it seemed
by no means to correspond with the notions that I had formed of it from
a conversation that I once heard between the Earl of Orrery and old Mr.
Lewis." In what particulars this want of correspondence was made evident
Johnson does not say. In any case, his suspicion cannot be received with
much consideration, since the conversation he heard must have taken
place at least twenty years before he wrote the poet's life, and his
recollection of such a conversation must at least have been very hazy.
Johnson's opinion is further deprived of weight when we read what he
wrote of the History in the "Idler," in 1759, the year after its
publication, that "the history had perished had not a straggling
transcript fallen into busy hands." If the straggling manuscript were
worth anything, it must have had some claims to authenticity; and if it
had, then Johnson's recollection of what he heard Orrery and Lewis say,
twenty years or more after they had said it, goes for very little.
Sir Walter Scott concludes, from the fact that Swift sent the manuscript
to Oxford and Lewis, that it was afterwards altered in accordance with
Lewis's suggestions. But a comparison of Lucas's text with Lewis's
letter shows that nothing of the kind was done.
Lord Stanhope had "very great reason to doubt" the authenticity of the
History, and considered it as "falsely ascribed to Swift." What this
"very great reason" was, his lordship nowhere stated.
Macaulay, in a pencilled note in a copy of Orrery's "Remarks" (now in
the British Museum) describes the History as "Wretched stuff; and I
firmly believe not Swift's." But Macaulay could scarcely have had much
ground for his note, since he took a description of Somers from the
History, and embodied it in his own work as a specimen of what Somers's
enemies said of him. If the History were a forgery, what object was
gained in quoting from it, and who were the enemies who wrote it?
When, in 1873, Lord Beaconsfield, then Mr. Disraeli, made a speech at
Glasgow, in which he quoted from the History and spoke of the words as
by Swift, a correspondent in the "Times" criticised him for his
ignorance in so doing. But the discussion which followed in the columns
of that periodical left the matter just where it was, and, indeed,
justified Beaconsfield. The matter was taken up by Mr. Edward Solly in
"Notes and Queries;" but that writer threw no new light whatever on the
subject.
But the positive evidence in favour of the authenticity is so strong,
that one wonders how there could have been any doubt as to whether Swift
did or did not write the History.
In the first place we know that Swift was largely indebted for his facts
to Bolingbroke, when that statesman was the War Secretary of Queen Anne.
A comparison of those portions of Swift's History which contain the
facts with the Bolingbroke Correspondence, in which the same facts are
embodied, will amply prove that Swift obtained them from this source,
and as Swift was the one man of the time to whom such a favour was
given, the argument in favour of Swift's authorship obtains an added
emphasis.
In the second place, a careful reading of the correspondence between
Swift and his friends on the subject of the publication of the History
enables us to identify the references to the History itself. The
"characters" are there; Sir Thomas Hanmer's Representation is also
there, and all the points raised by Erasmus Lewis may be told off, one
by one.
In the third place, Dr. Birch, the careful collector, had, in 1742,
access to what he considered to be the genuine manuscript. This was
three years before Swift's death. He made an abstract of this manuscript
at the time, and this abstract is now preserved in the British Museum.
Comparing the abstract with the edition published in 1758, there is no
doubt that the learned doctor had copied from a manuscript which, if it
were not genuine, was certainly the text of the work published in 1758
as "The History of the Four Last Years." But Dr. Birch's language
suggests that he believed the manuscript he examined to be in Swift's
own handwriting. If that be so, there is no doubt whatever of the
authenticity. Birch was a very careful person, and had he had any doubts
he could easily have settled them by applying to the many friends of the
Dean, if not to the Dean himself. Moreover, it is absurd to believe that
a forged manuscript of Swift's would be shown about during Swift's
lifetime without it being known as a forgery. Mrs. Whiteway alone would
have put a stop to its circulation had she suspected of the existence of
such a manuscript.
Finally, it must be remembered that when the History was published in
1758, Lord Orrery was still living. If the work were a forgery, why did
not Lord Orrery expose it? Nothing would have pleased him more. He had
read the manuscript referred to in the Correspondence. He had carried it
to Oxford and given it to King, at Swift's request. He knew all about
it, and he said nothing.
These considerations, both negative and positive, lead us to the final
conclusion that the History published in 1758 is practically the History
referred to in Swift's Correspondence, and therefore the authentic work
of Swift himself. We say practically, because there are some
differences between it and the text published here. The differences have
been recorded from a comparison between Lucas's version and the
transcript of a manuscript discovered in Dublin in 1857, and made by Mr.
Percy Fitzgerald. Mr. Fitzgerald found that this manuscript contained
many corrections in Swift's own handwriting. At the time he came across
it the manuscript was in the possession of two old ladies named Greene,
grand-daughters of Mrs. Whiteway, and grand-nieces of Swift himself. On
the title-page there was the following note:
"This is the originall manuscript of the History, corrected by me, and
given into the custody of Mrs. Martha Whiteway by me Jonathan Swift,
June 15, 1737. seven.
"I send a fair copy of this History by the Earl of Orrery to be printed
in England.
"JONATH. SWIFT."
Mr. Fitzgerald was permitted to make a collation of this manuscript, and
his collation he sent to the late John Forster. It is now in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington.[2]
[Footnote 2: I regret that I have been unable to trace the existence of
this manuscript of Swift's "History." Mr. Fitzgerald himself has no
recollection of having made the collation. "Forty-five years ago," he
writes, "is a long time to look back to," and he cannot recall the
fact.]
If this manuscript be what, on the face of it, it claims to be, then the
question of authenticity is for ever settled. As we have no doubt on
this point, the corrections and variations between this manuscript, as
collated by Mr. Percy Fitzgerald and the Lucas version, have been noted
in the present edition.
In 1752 Lord Orrery issued his "Remarks" on the life and character of
Swift. The work obtained for him a certain notoriety, and brought down
upon him some severe censure from the friends of Swift who were still
alive. But, whatever may have been Orrery's private opinion of Swift,
that should not invalidate any information as to fact of which he had
the knowledge to speak. Writing in that book of the History, he says:
"Dr. Swift left behind him few manuscripts. Not one of any consequence,
except an account of the peace of Utrecht, which he called 'An History
of the four last Years of Queen Anne.' The title of an history is too
pompous for such a performance. In the historical style, it wants
dignity and candour: but as a pamphlet it will appear the best defence
of Lord Oxford's administration, and the clearest account of the Treaty
of Utrecht, that has hitherto been written."[3]
[Footnote 3: Second edition, pp. 206-207.]
The most ardent and devoted of Swift's admirers could hardly find a
juster criticism of the work. It should satisfy any unprejudiced reader
of the printed History as we now have it, and to that extent emphasize
the authenticity.
An interesting sidelight on Swift's History is thrown by Chesterfield in
a letter he wrote to Dr. Chenevix, Bishop of Waterford, on May 23rd,
1758. We must believe that the noble lord wrote in good faith and
certainly in the full belief that the work he was criticising was the
work of Swift. Chesterfield's criticism points directly to Swift as the
author, since his justification for Bolingbroke's story is to be found
in the work as Lucas printed it in 1758. Speaking of the History,
Chesterfield calls it "a party pamphlet, founded on the lie of the day,
which, as lord Bolingbroke who had read it often assured me, was coined
and delivered out to him, to write Examiners, and other political papers
upon. That spirit remarkably runs through it. Macarteney, for instance,
murdered duke Hamilton;[4] nothing is falser, for though Macarteney was
very capable of the vilest actions, he was guiltless of that, as I
myself can testify, who was at his trial on the king's bench, when he
came over voluntarily to take it, in the late king's time. There did not
appear even the least ground for a suspicion of it; nor did Hamilton,
who appeared in court, pretend to tax him with it, which would have been
in truth accusing himself of the utmost baseness, in letting the
murderer of his friend go off from the field of battle, without either
resentment, pursuit, or even accusation, till three days afterwards.
This _lie_ was invented to inflame the Scotch nation against the Whigs;
as the other, that prince Eugene intended to murder lord Oxford, by
employing a set of people called Mohocks, which society, by the way,
never existed, was calculated to inflame the mob of London. Swift took
those hints _de la meilleure foi du monde_, and thought them materials
for history. So far he is blameless."[5]
[Footnote 4: See page 178 of this volume.]
[Footnote 5: "Chesterfield's Works," pp. 498-499.]
Ignoring Chesterfield's indignation, we must believe that the references
made by him to Macartney and Eugene, must have been in the manuscript
Bolingbroke read; else how could Bolingbroke tell Chesterfield of their
meaning? If this be so, we have a still further warrant for a strong
presumption in favour of authenticity. There can really be very little
doubt on the matter.
What we may doubt, however, is not the authenticity, but the value of
the History as an historical document. Without question, Swift wrote in
good faith; but he also wrote as a partisan, and a partisan with an
affectionate leaning for the principal character in the drama he was
describing. Orrery was right when he called it "a pamphlet," and "the
best defence of Lord Oxford's administration." As a pamphlet and as a
defence it has some claim on our attention. As a contribution to the
history of the treaty of Utrecht it is of little account. Swift could
not, had he even known everything, write the true story of the
negotiations for publication at the time. In the first place, he would
never have attempted it--the facts would have been demoralizing; and in
the second place, had he accomplished it, its publication would have
been a matter for much more serious consideration than was given even to
the story he did write. For Swift's purpose, it was much better that he
did not know the full extent of the ministry's perfidy. His affection
for Oxford and his admiration for Bolingbroke would have received a
great shock. He knew their weaknesses of character, though not their
infidelity to honour. There can be no defence of the Oxford
administration, for the manner in which it separated England from its
allies and treated with a monarch who was well known to it as a
political chicaner. The result brought a treaty by which Louis XIV.
gained and the allies lost, and this in spite of the offers previously
made by the bankrupt monarch at Gertruydenberg.
The further contents of this volume deal with what might better be
called Swiftiana. They include a collection of very interesting
annotations made by Swift in his copies of Macky's "Characters,"
Clarendon's "History of the Rebellion," Burnet's "History of his Own
Time," and Addison's "Freeholder." The notes to Clarendon and Burnet
have always found an important place in the many editions of these
well-known works which have been issued from time to time. As here
reprinted, however, they have in all cases been compared with the
originals themselves. It will be found that very many additions have
been made, the result of careful comparison and collation with the
originals in Swift's handwriting.
My obligations are again due to Mr. W. Spencer Jackson for very valuable
assistance in the collation of texts; to Mr. George Ravenscroft Dennis
for several important suggestions; to Mr. Percy Fitzgerald for the use I
have made of his transcriptions; and to Mr. Strickland of the National
Gallery of Ireland for his help in the matter of Swift portraits.
I am greatly indebted to Mr. C. Litton Falkiner of Killiney, co.
Wicklow, for his untiring assistance to me during my stay in Dublin; to
the Very Rev. the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral for permission to
consult the Marsh collection; and to the Rev. Newport J.D. White, the
courteous librarian of the Marsh Library, for enthusiastic aid in my
researches. I also owe very hearty thanks to Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole for
introductions to the librarians of Trinity College and the Royal Irish
Academy.
The portrait prefixed to this volume is a reproduction of the bust by
Roubiliac in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
TEMPLE SCOTT.
DUBLIN,
_August 14th_, 1902.
CONTENTS
THE HISTORY OF THE FOUR LAST YEARS OF THE QUEEN
AN ABSTRACT OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND:
From the invasion of it by Julius Caesar to the Reign of Henry the Second
REMARKS ON THE CHARACTERS OF THE COURT OF QUEEN ANNE
REMARKS ON LORD CLARENDON'S "HISTORY OF THE REBELLION"
REMARKS ON BISHOP BURNET'S "HISTORY OF HIS OWN TIME"
NOTES ON THE "FREEHOLDER"
INDEX
THE HISTORY OF
THE FOUR LAST YEARS
OF THE QUEEN.
By the late
JONATHAN SWIFT,
D.D. D.S.P.D.
Published from the
Last MANUSCRIPT Copy, Corrected and
Enlarged by the Author's OWN HAND.
LONDON:
Printed for A. MILLAR, in the Strand:
MDCCLVIII.
_ADVERTISEMENT_
_PREFIXED TO THE EDITION OF_ 1758.[1]
[Footnote 1: This advertisement was written by the editor, Dr. Charles
Lucas of Dublin. This Lucas was the patriot who created such a stir in
Irish politics between the years 1743 and 1750. Lord Townshend, in a
letter to the Marquis of Granby, called him "the Wilkes of Ireland." As
an author he seems to have been very prolific, though of no polish in
his writings. Lucas's disclaimers of sympathy with the opinions
contained in the work he edited are somewhat over-stated, and his
criticisms are petty. A full account of this hot-headed physician may be
found in the Dictionary of National Biography. It was Dr. Johnson, in
his life of Swift, who first published the information that Lucas edited
this "History." [T.S.]]
_Thus, the long wished for_ History of the Four Last Years of the
Queen's Reign _is at length brought to light, in spite of all attempts
to suppress it_!
As this publication is not made under the sanction of the name, or
names, which the author and the world had a right to expect; it is fit
some account of the works appearing in this manner should be here given.
Long before the Dean's apparent decline, some of his intimate friends,
with concern, foresaw the impending fate of his fortune and his works.
To this it is owing, that these sheets, which the world now despaired of
ever seeing, are rescued from obscurity, perhaps from destruction.
For this, the public is indebted to a gentleman, now in Ireland, of the
greatest probity and worth, with whom the Dean long lived in perfect
intimacy. To this gentleman's hands the Dean entrusted a copy of his
History, desiring him to peruse and give his judgment of it, with the
last corrections and amendments the author had given it, in his own
hand.
His friend read, admired, and approved. And from a dread of so valuable
and so interesting a work's being by any_ _accident lost or effaced, as
was probable by its not being intended to be published in the author's
lifetime; he resolved to keep this copy, till the author should press
him for it; but with a determined purpose, it should never see the
light, while there was any hopes of the author's own copy being
published, or even preserved.
This resolution he inviolably kept, till he and the world had full
assurance, that the Dean's executors, or those into whose hands the
original copy fell, were so far from intending to publish it, that it
was actually suppressed, perhaps destroyed.
Then, he thought himself not only at liberty, but judged it his duty to
his departed friend, and to the public, to let this copy, which he had
now kept many years most secretly, see the light.
Thus it has at length fallen into the hands of a person, who publishes
it for the satisfaction of the public, abstracted from all private
regards; which are never to be permitted to come in competition with the
common good.
Every judicious eye will see, that the author of these sheets wrote with
strong passions, but with stronger prepossessions and prejudices in
favour of a party. These, it may be imagined, the editor, in some
measure, may have adopted, and published this work as a kind of support
of that party, or some surviving remnant thereof.
It is but just to undeceive the reader, and inform him from what kind of
hand he has received this work. A man may regard a good piece of
painting, while he despises the subject; if the subject be ever so
despicable, the masterly strokes of the painter may demand our
admiration, while he, in other respects, is entitled to no portion of
our regard.
In poetry, we carry our admiration still farther; and like the poet,
while we actually contemn the man. Historians share the like fate; hence
some, who have no regard to propriety or truth, are yet admired for
diction, style, manner, and the like.
The editor considers this work in another light. He long knew the
author, and was no stranger to his politics, connections, tendencies,
passions, and the whole economy of his life. He has long been hardily
singular in condemning this great man's conduct amid the admiring
multitude, nor ever could have thought of making an interest in a man,
_whose principles and manners he could by no rule of reason or honour
approve, however he might have admired his parts and wit_.
_Such was judged the disposition of the man, whose history of the most
interesting period of time in the annals of Britain are now, herein,
offered to the reader. He may well ask from what motives? The answer is
easily, simply given_.
_The causes assigned for delaying the publication of this history were
principally these:_[2] _That the manuscript fell into the hands of men,
who, whatever they might have been by the generality deemed, were by the
Dean believed to be of his party, though they did not, after his death,
judge it prudent to avow his principles, more than to deny them in his
lifetime. These men, having got their beavers, tobacco-boxes, and other
trifling remembrances of former friendship, by the Dean's will, did not
choose publicly to avow principles, that had marred their friend's
promotion, and might probably put a stop to theirs. Therefore, they gave
the inquisitive world to understand, that there was something too strong
against many great men, as well as the succeeding system of public
affairs in general, in the Dean's_ History of the Four Last Years of the
Queen's Reign, _to admit of a publication, in our times; and, with this
poor insinuation, excused themselves, and satisfied the weakly
well-affected, in suppressing the manifestation of displeasing truths,
of however great importance to society_.
[Footnote 2: The causes for the delay in the publication of the
"History" are given at length by the present editor in the Introduction.
[T.S.]]
_This manuscript has now fallen into the hands of a man, who never could
associate with, or even approve, any of the parties or factions, that
have differently distracted, it might be said disgraced, these kingdoms;
because he has as yet known none, whose motives or rules of action were
truth and the public good alone; of one, who judges, that perjured
magistrates of all denominations, and their most exalted minions, may be
exposed, deprived, or cut off, by the fundamental laws of his country;
and who, upon these principles, from his heart approves and glories in
the virtues of his predecessors, who revived the true spirit of the
British polity, in laying aside a priest-ridden, an hen-pecked,
tyrannical tool, who had overturned the political constitution of his
country, and in reinstituting the dissolved body politic, by a
revolution supported by the laws of nature and the realm, as the only
means of preserving the natural and legal, the civil and religious
liberties of the members of the commonwealth_.
_Truth, in this man's estimation, can hurt no good cause. And falsehood
and fraud, in religion and politics, are ever to be detected, to be
exploded_.
_Insinuations, that this History contained something injurious to the
present establishment, and therefore necessary to be suppressed, serve
better the purposes of mistaken or insidious malcontents than the real
publication can. And, if any thing were by this, or any other, History
to be shown essentially erroneous in our politics, who, that calls
himself a Briton, can be deemed such an impious slave, as to conceal the
destructive evil? The editor of this work disdains and abhors the
servile thought, and wishes to live no longer than he dares to think,
speak, write, and, in all things, to act worthy of a Briton_.
_From this regard to truth and to his country, the editor of this
History was glad of an opportunity of rescuing such a writing from those
who meant to suppress it. The common cause, in his estimation, required
and demanded it should be done; and the sooner it is published, he
judged, the better: for, if the conduct of the Queen and her ministers
does not deserve the obloquy that has been long industriously cast upon
it, what is more just than to vindicate it? What more reasonable than
that this should be done, while living witnesses may yet be called, to
prove or disprove the several allegations and assertions; since, in a
few years more, such witnesses may be as much wanting as to prevent a
canonization, which is therefore prudently procrastinated for above an
age? Let us then coolly hear what is to be said on this side the
question, and judge like Britons._
_The editor would not be thought to justify the author of this History,
in all points, or even to attempt to acquit him of unbecoming prejudices
and partiality. Without being deeply versed in history or politics, he
can see his author, in many instances, blinded with passions that
disgrace the historian; and blending, with phrases worthy of a Caesar or
a Cicero, expressions not to be justified by truth, reason, or common
sense, yet think him a most powerful orator, and a great historian._
_No unprejudiced person will blame the Dean for doing all that is
consistent with truth and decency to vindicate the government of the
Queen, and to exculpate the conduct of her ministers and her last
general; all good men would rejoice at such a vindication. But, if he
meant no more than this, his work would ill deserve the title of an
History. That he generally tells truths, and founds his most material
assertions upon fact, will, I think be found very evident. But there is
room to suspect, that, while he tells no more than the truth, he does
not tell the whole truth. However, he makes it very clear, that the
Queen's allies, especially our worthy friends the Dutch, were much to
blame for the now generally condemned conduct of the Queen, with regard
to the prosecution of the war and the bringing about the peace_.
_The authors drawings of characters are confessedly partial: for he
tells us openly, he means not to give characters entire, but such parts
of each man's particular passions, acquirements, and habits, as he was
most likely to transfer into his political schemes. What writing, what
sentence, what character, can stand this torture?--What extreme
perversion may not, let me say, does not, this produce? Yet thus does he
choose to treat all men, that were not favourers of the latest measures
of the Queen, when the best that has been said for her, shows no more
than that she was blindfolded and held in leading-strings by her
ministers_.
_He does not spare a man, confessed by all the world to have discharged
the duties of his function like a soldier, like an hero. But charges
Prince Eugene with raising and keeping up a most horrible mob, with
intent to assassinate Harley. For all which odious charges he offers not
one individual point of proof_.
_He is not content with laying open again the many faults already
publicly proved upon the late Duke of Marlborough, but insinuates a new
crime, by seeming to attempt to acquit him of aspiring at the throne.
But this is done in a manner peculiar to this author_.
_On the other hand, he extols the ministers, and minions of the Queen,
in the highest terms; and while he robs their antagonists of every good
quality, generally gives those wisdom and every virtue that can adorn
human nature_.
_He is not ashamed to attempt to justify, what all thinking good men
must condemn, the Queen's making twelve peers at once, to serve a
particular turn_.
_All these may be ascribed to the strength of his passions, and to the
prejudices, early imbibed, in favour of his indulgent royal mistress and
her favourites and servants.[3] The judicious will look through the
elegant clothing, and dispassionately consider these as mere human
errors, to which no well-informed mind can assent. The editor thinks
himself bound to protest against them_.
[Footnote 3: That Swift should have a strong partiality to Harley and
St. John, by whom he was respected and trusted to a most uncommon
degree, is natural and obvious; but upon what ground Queen Anne, who
disliked his person, and obstructed his preferment, is here termed his
_indulgent_ mistress, the author of this preface ought to have
condescended to explain. [S.]]
_He makes a few lapses on the other side, without being as clear as an
impartial historian would choose to appear. He more than hints at the
Queen's displeasure at its being moved in Parliament, that the Prince
Elector should be invited to reside in England, to whose crown he was by
law declared presumptive heir, but is always open upon the Queen's
insisting on the Pretender's being sent out of France.--It is easy to
see how incompatible these things appear. Nothing could tend more to
secure the Hanover succession, and to enlarge its benefits to Britain,
than the bringing over the successor, who should, in every country, be
well instructed in the language, customs, manners, religion, and laws of
his future subjects, before he comes to hold the reins of government.
And our author does not take the proper care to inform us how far the
French thought fit to comply with banishing the Pretender their
dominions, since many still live in doubt, that if he was sent out of
France, he was sent into England_.
_But there is one expression of our author too perverse, too grossly
abused, to admit of any apology, of any palliation. It is not to be
supposed, that he was ignorant of any word in the English language. And
least of all can he be supposed ignorant of the meaning of a word,
which, had it been ever so doubtful before, had a certain meaning
impressed upon it by the authority of Parliament, of which no sensible
subject can be ignorant_.
_Notwithstanding this, where our author speaks of the late King James,
he calls him the_ abdicated King, _and gives the same epithet even to
his family. Though this weak, ill-advised, and ill-fated prince, in
every sense of the word, with Romans and English, and to all intents and
purposes_, abdicated, _yet can he, in no sense, be called_ abdicated;
_unless the people's asserting their rights, and defending themselves
against a king, who broke his compact with his subjects, and overturned
their government, can be called_ abdication _in them; which no man in
his senses can be hardy enough to support upon any principle of reason
or the laws of England. Let the reader judge which this is most likely
to be, error or design_.
_These exceptions the editor thought himself bound to make to some parts
of this work, to keep clear of the disagreeable imputations of being of
a party, of whatsoever denomination, in opposition to truth and the
rights and liberties of the subject._
_These laid aside, the work will be found to have many beauties, many
excellencies. Some have of late affected to depreciate this History,
from an insinuation, made only since the author's death, to wit, that he
was never admitted into the secrets of the administration, but made to
believe he was a confident, only to engage him in the list of the
ministerial writers of that reign_.
_The falsehood of this will readily appear upon perusal of the work.
This shows he knew the most secret springs of every movement in the
whole complicated machine. That he states facts, too well known to be
contested, in elegant simplicity, and reasons upon them with the talents
of the greatest historian. And thus makes an History, composed rather of
negotiations than actions, most entertaining, affecting, and
interesting, instead of being, as might be expected, heavy, dull, and
disagreeable_.
_It is now fit to apologize for some errors, which the judicious must
discover upon a perusal of this work. It is for this, among other
reasons, much to be lamented, that this History was not published under
the author's own inspection. It is next to impossible to copy or print
any work without faults, and most so where the author's eye is wanting_.
_It is not to be imagined, that even our author, however accurate,
however great, was yet strictly and perfectly correct in his writings.
Yet, where some seeming inaccuracies in style or expression have been
discovered, the deference due to the author made any alteration too
presumptuous a task for the editor. These are, therefore, left to the
amending hand of every sensible and polite reader; while the editor
hopes it will suffice, that he should point out some of those errors,
which are to be ascribed either to transcribers or the press, and which
may be rectified in the manner following, in reading the work._[4]
[Footnote 4: Here follows list of _errata_. (These errors have been
corrected in the present edition.)]
_And thus; with these and perhaps some few such like corrections, it is
hoped this work will be found completely correct._
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.[1]
[Footnote 1: The time when it was written does not appear; but it was
probably many years after the Queen's death. [N.] First published in
1765. [W.S.J.]]
Having written the following History at Windsor, in the happy reign of
Her Majesty Queen Anne, of ever glorious, blessed, and immortal memory;
I resolved to publish it, for the satisfaction of my fellow-subjects, in
the year 1713; but, being under a necessity of going to Ireland, to take
possession of the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin, I left the original
with the ministers; and having stayed in that kingdom not above a
fortnight, I found, at my return, that my Lord Treasurer Oxford, and the
secretary my Lord Bolingbroke, who were then unhappily upon very ill
terms with each other, could not agree upon publishing it, without some
alterations which I would not submit to. Whereupon I kept it by me until
Her Majesty's death, which happened about a year after.
I have ever since preserved the original very safely; too well knowing
what a turn the world would take upon the German family's succeeding to
the crown; which indeed was their undoubted right, having been
established solemnly by the act of an undisputed Parliament, brought
into the House of Commons by Mr. Harley, who was then Speaker.
But, as I have said in another discourse,[2] it was very well
understood, some years before Her Majesty's death, how the new King
would act, immediately upon his entrance, in the choice of those (and
those alone) whom he resolved to trust; and consequently what reports
would industriously be raised, as well as spread, to expose the
proceedings of Her Majesty herself, as well as of her servants; who have
been ever since blasted as enemies to the present establishment, by the
most ignorant and malicious among mankind.
[Footnote 2: "Memoirs relating to the Change in the Queen's Ministry."
See vol. v. of present edition. [T.S.]]
Therefore, as it was my lot to have been daily conversant with the
persons then in power; never absent in times of business or
conversation, until a few weeks before Her Majesty's death; and a
witness of almost every step they made in the course of their
administration; I must have been very unfortunate not to be better
informed than those miserable pamphleteers, or their patrons, could
pretend to. At the same time, I freely confess, it appeared necessary,
as well as natural, upon such a mighty change as the death of a
sovereign, that those who were to be in power upon the succession, and
resolved to act in every part by a direct contrary system of politics,
should load their predecessors with as much infamy as the most
inveterate malice and envy could suggest, or the most stupid ignorance
and credulity in their underlings could swallow.
Therefore, as I pretend to write with the utmost impartiality, the
following History of the Four Last Years of her Majesty's Reign, in
order to undeceive prejudiced persons at present, as well as posterity;
I am persuaded in my own mind, as likewise by the advice of my oldest
and wisest friends, that I am doing my duty to God and man, by
endeavouring to set future ages right in their judgment of that happy
reign; and, as a faithful historian, I cannot suffer falsehoods to run
on any longer, not only against all appearance of truth as well as
probability, but even against those happy events, which owe their
success to the very measures then fixed in the general peace.
The materials for this History, besides what I have already mentioned, I
mean the confidence reposed in me for those four years, by the chief
persons in power, were extracted out of many hundred letters written by
our ambassadors abroad, and from the answers as well as instructions
sent them by our secretaries of state, or by the first minister the Earl
of Oxford. The former were all originals, and the latter copies entered
into books in the secretaries' office, out of both which I collected all
that I thought convenient; not to mention several Memorials given me by
the ministers at home. Further, I was a constant witness and observer of
all that passed; and entered every particular of any consequence upon
paper.
I was so far from having any obligation to the crown, that, on the
contrary, Her Majesty issued a proclamation, offering three hundred
pounds to any person who would discover the author of a certain short
treatise,[3] which the Queen well knew to have been written by me. I
never received one shilling from the minister, or any other present,
except that of a few books; nor did I want their assistance to support
me. I very often dined indeed with the treasurer and secretary; but, in
those days, that was not reckoned a bribe, whatever it may have been at
any time since. I absolutely refused to be chaplain to the Lord
Treasurer; because I thought it would ill become me to be in a state of
dependence.
[Footnote 3: "The Public Spirit of the Whigs." [D.S.]]
I say this, to shew that I had no other bias than my own opinion of
persons and affairs. I preserved several of the opposite party in their
employments, who were persons of wit and learning, particularly Mr.
Addison and Mr. Congreve, neither of whom were ever in any danger from
the treasurer, who much esteemed them both; and, by his lordship's
commands, I brought the latter to dine with him. Mr. Steele might have
been safe enough, if his continually repeated indiscretions, and a zeal
mingled with scurrilities, had not forfeited all title to lenity.[4]
[Footnote 4: A full account of the severance of the friendly relations
between Swift and Steele is given in the fifth volume of the present
edition (see pp. 276-282). [T.S.]]
I know very well the numberless prejudices of weak and deceived people,
as well as the malice of those, who, to serve their own interest or
ambition, have cast off all religion, morality, justice, and common
decency. However, although perhaps I may not be believed in the present
age, yet I hope to be so in the next, by all who will bear any regard
for the honour and liberty of England, if either of these shall then
subsist or not.
I have no interest or inclination to palliate the mistakes, or
omissions, or want of steadiness, or unhappy misunderstandings, among a
few of those who then presided in affairs.
Nothing is more common than the virulence of superficial and ill
informed writers, against the conduct of those who are now called prime
ministers: And, since factions appear at present to be at a greater
height than in any former times, although perhaps not so equally poised;
it may probably concern those who are now in their height, if they have
any regard for their own memories in future ages, to be less warm
against others, who humbly differ from them in some state opinions. Old
persons remember, at least by tradition, the horrible prejudices that
prevailed against the first Earl of Clarendon, whose character, as it
now stands, might be a pattern for all ministers; although even Bishop
Burnet of Sarum, whose principles, veracity, and manner of writing, are
so little esteemed upon many accounts, hath been at the pains to
vindicate him.
Upon that irreparable breach between the treasurer and secretary
Bolingbroke, after my utmost endeavours, for above two years, to
reconcile them, I retired to a friend in Berkshire, where I stayed until
Her Majesty's death;[5] and then immediately returned to my station in
Dublin, where I continued about twelve years without once seeing
England. I there often reviewed the following Memoirs; neither changing
nor adding, further than by correcting the style: And, if I have been
guilty of any mistakes, they must be of small moment; for it was hardly
possible I could be wrong informed, with all the advantages I have
already mentioned.
[Footnote 5: See vol. v. of the present edition--the notes on pp. 390,
393-394, 420, 421, and 426. [T.S.]]
I shall not be very uneasy under the obloquy that may, perhaps, be cast
upon me by the violent leaders and followers of the present prevailing
party. And yet I cannot find the least inconsistence with conscience or
honour, upon the death of so excellent a princess as her late Majesty,
for a wise and good man to submit, with a true and loyal heart, to her
lawful Protestant successor; whose hereditary title was confirmed by the
Queen and both Houses of Parliament, with the greatest unanimity, after
it had been made an article in the treaty, that every prince in our
alliance should be a guarantee of that succession. Nay, I will venture
to go one step farther; that, if the negotiators of that peace had been
chosen out of the most professed zealots for the interests of the
Hanover family, they could not have bound up the French king, or the
Hollanders, more strictly than the Queen's plenipotentiaries did, in
confirming the present succession; which was in them so much a greater
mark of virtue and loyalty, because they perfectly well knew, that they
should never receive the least mark of favour, when the succession had
taken place.
THE HISTORY OF THE FOUR LAST
YEARS OF THE QUEEN.
BOOK I.
I propose give the public an account of the most important affairs at
home, during the last session of Parliament, as well as of our
negotiations of peace abroad, not only during that period, but some time
before and since. I shall relate the chief matters transacted by both
Houses in that session, and discover the designs carried on by the heads
of a discontented party,[1] not only against the ministry, but, in some
manner, against the crown itself. I likewise shall state the debts of
the nation, show by what mismanagement, and to serve what purposes, they
were at first contracted, by what negligence or corruption they have so
prodigiously grown, and what methods have since been taken to provide
not only for their payment, but to prevent the like mischief for the
time to come. Although, in an age like ours, I can expect very few
impartial readers, yet I shall strictly follow truth, or what reasonably
appeared to me to be such, after the most impartial inquiries I could
make, and the best opportunities of being informed, by those who were
the principal actors or advisers.[2]
[Footnote 1: P. Fitzgerald says "faction." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 2: Swift's informants were, of course, Harley and Bolingbroke,
though the latter stated that Swift was given only such information as
served the ministry's purpose in the work they had given him for "The
Examiner" and the party pamphlets written in their defence. It is,
however, quite interesting in this connection, to see how closely
Swift's narrative follows the published political correspondence of
Bolingbroke. [T.S.]]
Neither shall I mingle panegyric or satire with an history intended to
inform posterity, as well as to instruct those of the present age, who
may be ignorant or misled; since facts, truly related, are the best
applauses, or most lasting reproaches.
Discourses upon subjects relating to the public usually seem to be
calculated for London only, and some few miles about it; while the
authors suppose their readers to be informed of several particulars, to
which those that live remote are, for the generality, utter strangers.
Most people, who frequent this town, acquire a sort of smattering (such
as it is), which qualifies them for reading a pamphlet, and finding out
what is meant by innuendoes, or hints at facts or persons, and initial
letters of names, wherein gentlemen at a distance, although perhaps of
much better understandings, are wholly in the dark. Wherefore, that
these Memoirs may be rendered more generally intelligible and useful, it
will be convenient to give the reader a short view of the state and
disposition of affairs, when the last session of Parliament began. And
because the party-leaders, who had lost their power and places, were,
upon that juncture, employing all their engines, in an attempt to
re-establish themselves, I shall venture one step further, and represent
so much of their characters as may be supposed to have influenced their
politics.
On the seventh day of December, one thousand seven hundred and eleven,
began the second session of Parliament. It was now above a year since
the Queen had thought fit to put the great offices of state, and of her
own household, into other hands; however, three of the discontented
lords were still in possession of their places, for the Duke of
Marlborough continued general, the Duke of Somerset master of the horse,
and the Earl of Cholmondeley treasurer of Her Majesty's household;[3]
likewise great numbers of the same party[4] still kept employments of
value and importance, which had not been usual of late years upon any
changes of ministry. The Queen, who judged the temper of her people by
this House of Commons, which a landed interest had freely chosen, found
them very desirous of a secure and honourable peace, and disposed[5] to
leave the management of it to her own wisdom, and that of her own
council. She had, therefore, several months before the session began,
sent to inform the States General of some overtures which had been made
her by the enemy; and, during that summer, Her Majesty took several
farther steps in that great affair, until at length, after many
difficulties, a congress at Utrecht, for a general peace, was agreed
upon, the whole proceedings of which previous negotiations, between our
court and that of France, I shall, in its proper place, very
particularly relate.
[Footnote 3: See note on p. 385 of vol. v. of present edition. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 4: P. Fitzgerald says "the ejected party." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 5: P. Fitzgerald adds "(as it was their duty)." [W.S.J.]]
The nation was already upon a better foot, with respect to its debts;
for the Earl of Oxford, lord treasurer, had, in the preceeding session,
proposed and effected ways and means, in the House of Commons (where he
was then a member), for providing a parliamentary fund, to clear the
heavy arrear of ten millions (whereof the greatest part lay upon the
navy), without any new burthen (at least after a very few years) to the
kingdom; and, at the same time, he took care to prevent farther
incumbrances upon that article, by finding ready money for naval
provisions, which has saved the public somewhat more than _cent. per
cent_. in that mighty branch of our expenses.
The clergy were altogether in the interests and the measures of the
present ministry, which had appeared so boldly in their defence, during
a prosecution against one of their members,[6] where the whole sacred
order was understood to be concerned. The zeal shown for that most
religious bill, to settle a fund for building fifty new churches in and
about the city of London,[7] was a fresh obligation; and they were
farther highly gratified, by Her Majesty's choosing one of their body to
be a great officer of state.[8]
[Footnote 6: Dr. Sacheverell. [N.]]
[Footnote 7: A suggestion originally made by Swift himself. See vol.
iii., p. 45, of present edition. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 8: Dr. Robinson, Lord Bishop of Bristol, to be Lord Privy
Seal. [ORIGINAL NOTE.] Dr. Robinson, who was appointed Bishop of London
in 1713, died in 1723. [W.S.J.]]
By this time likewise, all disputes about these principles, which used
originally to divide Whig and Tory, were wholly dropped; and those
fantastical words ought in justice to have been so too, provided we
could have found out more convenient names, whereby to distinguish
lovers of peace from lovers of war;[9] or those who would leave Her
Majesty some degree of freedom in the choice of her ministers, from
others, who could not be satisfied with her choosing any, except such as
she was most averse from. But, where a nation is once divided, interest
and animosity will keep open the breach, without being supported by any
other principles; or, at worst, a body of discontented people can
change, and take up what principles they please.
[Footnote 9: Swift had already, in his "Some Free Thoughts upon the
Present State of Affairs," attempted to re-define the distinctions of
Whig and Tory. The latter, he urged, was of that party which pronounced
for the principles of loyalty to the Church and the preservation of the
Protestant succession in the House of Hanover. Swift felt that the
majority of the people at large were strong for these principles, and
the party that would openly accept them as its "platform" would, he
argued, be the party that would obtain the people's support. Had
Bollngbroke not delayed the publication of this tract, it might have had
great influence in keeping the Tories in power. See vol. v. of present
edition, pp. 380, 393. [T.S.]]
As to the disposition of the opposite party, we all remember, that the
removal of the last ministry was brought about by several degrees;
through which means it happened, that they and their friends were hardly
recovered out of one astonishment, before they fell into another. This
scene lasted for some months, and was followed by a period of rage and
despair, natural to those who reflect that they have lost a secure game,
by their own rashness, folly, and want of common management, when, at
the same time, they knew by experience, that a watchful and dexterous
adversary lay ready to take the advantage. However, some time before the
session, the heads of that party began to recollect themselves, and
rally their forces, like an enemy who hath been beaten out of the field,
but finds he is not pursued; for although the chiefs of this faction
were thought to have but little esteem or friendship for each other, yet
they perfectly agreed in one general end, of distressing, by all
possible methods, the new administration, wherein if they could succeed
so far as to put the Queen under any great necessity, another Parliament
must be called, and perhaps the power[10] devolve again into their own
hands.
[Footnote 10: P. Fitzgerald says "and the power naturally." [W.S.J.]]
The issue and event of that grand confederacy appearing in both Houses,
although under a different form, upon the very first day the Parliament
met, I cannot better begin the relation of affairs, commencing from that
period, than by a thorough detection of the whole intrigue, carried on
with the greatest privacy and application, which must be acknowledged to
have for several days disconcerted some of the ministry, as well as
dispirited their friends; and the consequences thereof, which have in
reality been so very pernicious to the kingdom.
But because the principal leaders in this design are the same persons to
whom, since the loss of their power, all the opposition has been owing
which the court received, either in treaties abroad, or the
administration at home; it may not be improper to describe those
qualities in each of them, which few of their admirers will deny, and
which appear chiefly to have influenced them in acting their several
parts upon the public stage. For I do not intend to draw their
characters entire, which would be tedious, and little to the purpose,
but shall only single out those passions, acquirements, and habits,
which the owners were most likely to transfer into their political
schemes, and which were most subservient to the designs they seemed to
have in view.
The Lord Somers[11] may very deservedly be reputed the head and oracle
of that party; he hath raised himself, by the concurrence of many
circumstances, to the greatest employments of the state, without the
least support from birth or fortune; he hath constantly, and with great
steadiness, cultivated those principles under which he grew. That
accident which first produced him into the world, of pleading for the
bishops whom King James had sent to the Tower, might have proved a piece
of merit, as honourable as it was fortunate, but the old republican
spirit, which the Revolution had restored, began to teach other
lessons--That since we had accepted a new King, from a Calvinistical
commonwealth, we must also admit new maxims in religion and government.
But, since the nobility and gentry would probably adhere to the
established Church, and to the rights of monarchy, as delivered down
from their ancestors, it was the practice of those politicians to
introduce such men as were perfectly indifferent to any or no religion,
and who were not likely to inherit much loyalty from those to whom they
owed their birth. Of this number was the person I am now describing. I
have hardly known any man, with talents more proper to acquire and
preserve the favour of a prince; never offending in word or gesture; in
the highest degree courteous and complaisant; wherein he set an
excellent example to his colleagues, which they did not think fit to
follow. But this extreme civility is universal and undistinguished, and
in private conversation, where he observeth it as inviolably as if he
were in the greatest assembly, it is sometimes censured as formal. Two
reasons are assigned for this behaviour: first, from the consciousness
of his humble original,[12] he keepeth all familiarity at the utmost
distance, which otherwise might be apt to intrude; the second, that
being sensible how subject he is to violent passions, he avoideth all
incitements to them, by teaching those he converses with, from his own
example, to keep a great way within the bounds of decency and respect.
And it is indeed true, that no man is more apt to take fire, upon the
least appearance of provocation; which temper he strives to subdue, with
the utmost violence upon himself: so that his breast has been seen to
heave, and his eyes to sparkle with rage, in those very moments when his
words, and the cadence of his voice, were in the humblest and softest
manner: perhaps that force upon his nature may cause that insatiable
love of revenge, which his detractors lay to his charge, who
consequently reckon dissimulation among his chief perfections. Avarice
he hath none; and his ambition is gratified, by being the uncontested
head of his party. With an excellent understanding, adorned by all the
polite parts of learning, he hath very little taste for conversation, to
which he prefers the pleasure of reading and thinking; and in the
intervals of his time amuseth himself with an illiterate chaplain, an
humble companion, or a favourite servant.
[Footnote 11: See note on p. 29 of vol. i. of present edition. Swift's
"Dedication" of "A Tale of a Tub" to Somers strikes a somewhat different
note from that of this "character." [T.S.]]
[Footnote 12: His father, John Somers, was an attorney at law in the
town of Worcester. [S.]]
These are some few distinguishing marks in the character of that person,
who now presideth over the discontented party, although he be not
answerable for all their mistakes; and if his precepts had been more
strictly followed, perhaps their power would not have been so easily
shaken. I have been assured, and heard him profess, that he was against
engaging in that foolish prosecution of Dr. Sacheverell, as what he
foresaw was likely to end in their ruin; that he blamed the rough
demeanour of some persons to the Queen, as a great failure in prudence;
and that, when it appeared Her Majesty was firmly resolved upon a treaty
of peace, he advised his friends not to oppose it in its progress, but
find fault with it after it was made; which would be a copy of the like
usage themselves had met with, after the treaty of Ryswick;[13] and the
safest, as well as the most probable, way of disgracing the promoters
and advisers. I have been the larger in representing to the reader some
idea of this extraordinary genius, because, whatever attempt hath
hitherto been made, with any appearance of conduct, or probability of
success, to restore the dominion of that party,[14] was infallibly
contrived by him; and I prophesy the same for the future, as long as his
age and infirmities will leave him capable of business.
[Footnote 13: See note in vol. v., p. 67, of present edition, [T.S.]]
[Footnote 14: P. Fitzgerald says "faction." [W.S.J.]]
The Duke of Marlborough's character[15] hath been so variously drawn,
and is indeed of so mixed a nature in itself, that it is hard to
pronounce on either side, without the suspicion of flattery or
detraction. I shall say nothing of his military accomplishments, which
the opposite reports, of his friends and enemies among the soldiers,
have rendered[26] problematical: but if he be among those who delight in
war, it is agreed to be not for the reasons common with other generals.
Those maligners who deny him personal valour, seem not to consider that
this accusation is charged at a venture; since the person of a wise
general is too seldom exposed, to form any judgment in the matter: and
that fear, which is said to have sometimes[17] disconcerted him before
an action, might probably be more for his army than for himself.[18] He
was bred in the height of what is called the Tory principle; and
continued with a strong bias that way, till the other party had bid
higher for him than his friends could afford to give. His want of
literature is in some sort supplied by a good understanding, a degree of
natural elocution, and that knowledge of the world which is learned in
armies and courts. We are not to take the height of his ambition from
his soliciting to be general for life:[19] I am persuaded his chief
motive was the pay and perquisites, by continuing the war; and that he
had _then_ no intentions of settling the crown in his family, his only
son having been dead some years before.[20] He is noted to be master of
great temper, able to govern or very well to disguise his passions,
which are all melted down, or extinguished, in his love of wealth. That
liberality which nature has denied him, with respect of money, he makes
up by a great profusion of promises: but this perfection, so necessary
in courts, is not very successful in camps among soldiers, who are not
refined enough to understand or to relish it.[21]
[Footnote 15: For further remarks on Marlborough, see Swift's "Conduct
of the Allies," "The Learned Comment on Dr. Hare's Sermon," and "The
Examiner." [T.S.]]
[Footnote 16: P. Fitzgerald adds "altogether." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 17: P. Fitzgerald says "usually." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 18: This reflection on Marlborough's personal courage was one
of the points noted by Erasmus Lewis in his letter to Swift of April
8th, 1738. The friends who had met to read and pass opinion on this
"History" decided that in any printed form of this work it would be
advisable not to call in question the courage of Marlborough. See Sir W.
Scott's edition, vol. xix., pp. 133-136. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 19: See "Memoirs Relating to that Change," etc., in vol. v.,
pp. 372-373 of present edition. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 20: See "The Conduct of the Allies," vol. v., p. 103, and also
"A Learned Comment," etc., p. 179 of same volume of present edition.
[T.S.]]
[Footnote 21: See the Letter to Marcus Crassus in "The Examiner," No. 28
in vol. ix. of present edition. [T.S.]]
His wife, the Duchess, may justly challenge her place in this list. It
is to her the Duke is chiefly indebted for his greatness and his fall;
for above twenty years she possessed, without a rival, the favours of
the most indulgent mistress in the world, nor ever missed one single
opportunity that fell in her way of improving it to her own
advantage.[22] She hath preserved a tolerable court reputation, with
respect to love and gallantry;[23] but three Furies reigned in her
breast, the most mortal enemies of all softer passions, which were
sordid Avarice, disdainful Pride, and ungovernable Rage; by the last of
these often breaking out in sallies of the most unpardonable sort, she
had long alienated her sovereign's mind, before it appeared to the
world.[24] This lady is not without some degree of wit, and hath in her
time affected the character of it, by the usual method of arguing
against religion, and proving the doctrines of Christianity to be
impossible and absurd. Imagine what such a spirit, irritated by the loss
of power, favour, and employment, is capable of acting or attempting;
and then I have said enough.
[Footnote 22: See the "Account of the Conduct of the Duchess of
Marlborough, in a Letter from Herself, to Lord ----," 8vo, 1742,
_passim_. [N.] See also "Memoirs Relating to that Change," etc., in vol.
v. of present edition. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 23: P. Fitzgerald adds "(to which, however, she hath been
thought not entirely a stranger)." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 24: See note in vol. v., p. 368, of present edition. [T.S.]]
The next in order to be mentioned is the Earl of Godolphin.[25] It is
said, he was originally intended for a trade, before his friends
preferred him to be a page at court; which some have very unjustly
objected as a reproach. He hath risen gradually in four reigns, and was
much more constant to his second master King James than some others, who
had received much greater obligations; for he attended the abdicated
King to the sea-side, and kept constant correspondence with him till the
day of his death. He always professed a sort of passion for the Queen at
St. Germain's; and his letters were to her in the style of what the
French call _double entendre_. In a mixture of love and respect, he used
frequently to send her from hence little presents of those things which
are agreeable to ladies, for which he always asked King William's leave,
as if without her privity; because, if she had known that circumstance,
it was to be supposed she would not accept them. Physiognomists would
hardly discover, by consulting the aspect of this lord, that his
predominant passions were love and play; that he could sometimes scratch
out a song in praise of his mistress, with a pencil and card; or that he
hath tears at command, like a woman, to be used either in an intrigue of
gallantry or politics. His alliance with the Marlborough family, and his
passion for the Duchess, were the cords which dragged him into a party,
whose principles he naturally disliked, and whose leaders he personally
hated, as they did him. He became a thorough convert by a perfect
trifle; taking fire at a nickname[26] delivered by Dr. Sacheverell, with
great indiscretion, from the pulpit, which he applied to himself: and
this is one among many instances given by his enemies, that magnanimity
is none of his virtues.
[Footnote 25: See note in vol. v., p. 68, of present edition. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 26: Volpone. [ORIGINAL NOTE.]]
The Earl of Sunderland[27] is another of that alliance. It seems to have
been this gentleman's fortune, to have learned his divinity from his
uncle,[28] and his politics from his tutor.[29] It may be thought a
blemish in his character, that he hath much fallen from the height of
those republican[30] principles with which he began; for in his father's
lifetime, while he was a Member of the House of Commons, he would often,
among his familiar friends, refuse the title of Lord (as he hath done to
myself), swear he would never be called otherwise than Charles Spencer,
and hoped to see the day when there should not be a peer in England. His
understanding, at the best, is of the middling size; neither hath he
much improved it, either in reality, or, which is very unfortunate, even
in the opinion of the world, by an overgrown library.[31] It is hard to
decide, whether he learned that rough way of treating his sovereign from
the lady he is allied to,[32] or whether it be the result of his own
nature. The sense of the injuries he hath done, renders him (as it is
very natural) implacable towards those to whom he hath given greatest
cause to complain; for which reason he will never forgive either the
Queen or the present treasurer.
[Footnote 27: See note in vol. v., pp. 377-378 of present edition.
[T.S.]]
[Footnote 28: John Digby, third earl of Bristol. [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 29: Dr. Trimnel, since Bishop of Winton. [ORIGINAL NOTE.] He
was Bishop of Norwich, 1708-1721, and of Winchester from 1721 till his
death in 1723. [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 30: P. Fitzgerald says "Whiggish." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 31: The library that made such a sensation in the
bibliographical world when it was sold at auction in the latter part of
the last century. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 32: His lordship married the Duchess of Marlborough's second
daughter. "Account, etc.," p. 286. [N.]]
The Earl of Wharton[33] hath filled the province allotted him by his
colleagues, with sufficiency equal to the ablest of them all. He hath
imbibed his father's[34] principles in government; but dropped his
religion, and took up no other in its stead: excepting that
circumstance, he is a firm Presbyterian. He is perfectly skilled in all
the arts of managing at elections, as well as in large baits of pleasure
for making converts of young men of quality, upon their first
appearance; in which public service he contracted such large debts, that
his brethren were forced, out of mere justice, to leave Ireland at his
mercy, where he had only time to set himself right. Although the graver
heads of his party think him too profligate and abandoned, yet they dare
not be ashamed of him; for, beside his talents above mentioned, he is
very useful in Parliament, being a ready speaker, and content to employ
his gift upon such occasions, where those who conceive they have any
remainder of reputation or modesty are ashamed to appear. In short, he
is an uncontestable instance to discover the true nature of faction;
since, being overrun with every quality which produceth contempt and
hatred, in all other commerce of the world, he hath, notwithstanding,
been able to make so considerable a figure.
[Footnote 33: See also "A Short Character," etc. in vol. v. and "The
Examiner," Nos. 18 and 23, in vol. ix. of present edition. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 34: The Earl, his father, was a rigid Presbyterian. [ORIGINAL
NOTE.]]
The Lord Cowper,[35] although his merits are later than the rest,
deserveth a rank in this great council. He was considerable in the
station of a practising lawyer; but, as he was raised to be a
chancellor, and a peer, without passing through any of the intermediate
steps, which in late times hath been the constant practice, and little
skilled[36] in the nature of government, or the true interests of
princes, further than the municipal or common law of England; his
abilities, as to foreign affairs, did not equally appear in the council.
Some former passages of his life were thought to disqualify him for that
office, by which he was to be the guardian of the Queen's
conscience;[37] but these difficulties were easily overruled by the
authors of his promotion, who wanted a person that would be subservient
to all their designs; wherein they were not disappointed. As to his
other accomplishments, he was what we usually call a piece of a scholar,
and a good logical reasoner; if this were not too often allayed, by a
fallacious way of managing an argument, which made him apt to deceive
the unwary, and sometimes to deceive himself.
[Footnote 35: See vol. v., p. 372 of present edition. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 36: P. Fitzgerald says "altogether unskilled." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 37: See "The Examiner," Nos. 18 and 23, in vol. ix. of this
edition. [W.S.J.]]
The last to be spoken of in this list is the Earl of Nottingham,[38] a
convert and acquisition to that party since their fall, to which he
contributed his assistance; I mean his words, and probably his wishes;
for he had always lived under the constant visible profession of
principles, directly opposite to those of his new friends. His vehement
and frequent speeches against admitting the Prince of Orange to the
throne are yet to be seen; and although a numerous family gave a
specious pretence to his love of power and money, for taking an
employment under that monarch, yet he was allowed to have always kept a
reserve of allegiance to his exiled master; of which his friends produce
several instances, and some while he was secretary of state to King
William. His outward regularity of life, his appearance of religion, and
seeming zeal for the Church, as they are an effect, so they are the
excuse for that stiffness and formality with which his nature[39] is
fraught. His adust complexion disposeth him to rigour[40] and severity,
which his admirers palliate with the name of zeal. No man had ever a
sincerer countenance, or more truly representing his mind and manners.
He hath some knowledge in the law, very amply sufficient to defend his
property at least.[41] A facility of utterance, descended to him from
his father,[42] and improved by a few sprinklings of literature, hath
brought himself, and some few admirers, into an opinion of his
eloquence. He is every way inferior to his brother Guernsey,[43] but
chiefly in those talents which he most values and pretends to; over
whom, nevertheless, he preserveth an ascendant.[44] His great ambition
was to be the head of those who were called the Church party; and,
indeed, his grave solemn deportment and countenance, seconded by
abundance of professions for their service, had given many of them an
opinion of his veracity,[45] which he interpreted as their sense of his
judgment and wisdom;[46] and this mistake lasted till the time of his
defection, of which it was partly the cause; but then it plainly
appeared, that he had not credit to bring over one single proselyte, to
keep himself in countenance.
[Footnote 38: See notes in vol. v., pp. 246-248 of present edition.
[T.S.]]
[Footnote 39: P. Fitzgerald says "that stiffness, pride, and formality
with which his intractable nature." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 40: P. Fitzgerald says "to cruelty." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote: 41 P. Fitzgerald says "some smattering in the law, which
makes it not very safe or easy to deal with him, where property is
concerned." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 42: P. Fitzgerald adds "grafted upon a wrong understanding."
[W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 43: Heneage Finch was created Lord Guernsey in 1703, and Earl
of Aylesford in 1714. He died in 1719. [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 44: P. Fitzgerald adds "I suppose by the right of
primogeniture." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 45: P. Fitzgerald says "of his honesty." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 46: He acquired, from his solemnity of deportment, the
nickname of _Diego_ and from his gravity, that of _Dismal_. [S.]]
These lineaments, however imperfectly drawn, may help the reader's
imagination to conceive what sort of persons those were, who had the
boldness to encounter the Queen and ministry, at the head of a great
majority of the landed interest; and this upon a point where the quiet
of Her Majesty's reign, the security, or at least the freedom, of her
person, the lives of her most faithful friends, and the settling of the
nation by a peace, were, in the consequences, deeply concerned.[47]
[Footnote 47: It was these "lineaments, imperfectly drawn," that Erasmus
Lewis specially emphasized for omission, in his letter to Swift already
referred to. "Now I have mentioned characters," wrote Lewis, "I must
tell you that they [the friends who had met to read the 'History' in
manuscript] were clearly of opinion, that if those you have drawn should
be published as they now stand, nothing could save the author's printer
and publishers from some grievous punishment. As we have no traces of
liberty now left but the freedom of the press, it is the most earnest
desire of your friends that you would strike out all that you have said
on that subject" (Sir W. Scott's edit., vol. xix., pp. 133-136). [T.S.]]
During the dominion of the late men in power, addresses had been
procured from both Houses to the Queen, representing their opinion, that
no peace could be secure for Britain, while Spain or the West Indies
remained in the possession of the Bourbon family. But Her Majesty
having, for reasons which have been often told to the world, and which
will not soon be forgotten, called a new Parliament, and chose a new set
of servants, began to view things and persons in another light. She
considered the necessities of her people, the distant prospect of a
peace upon such an improbable condition, which was never mentioned or
understood in the grand alliance; the unequal burthen she bore in the
war, by the practices of the allies upon the corruption of some whom she
most trusted, or perhaps by the practices of these upon the allies; and,
lastly, by the changes which death had brought about in the Austrian and
Bourbon families. Upon all which motives she was prevailed upon to
receive some overtures from France, in behalf of herself and the whole
confederacy. The several steps of this negotiation, from its first rise
to the time I am now writing, shall be related in another part of this
History. Let it suffice for the present to say, that such proposals were
received from France as were thought sufficient by our court whereupon
to appoint time and place for a general treaty; and soon after the
opening of the session, the Bishop[48] of Bristol, lord privy seal, was
dispatched to Utrecht, where he and the Earl of Strafford were appointed
plenipotentiaries for the Queen of Great Britain.
[Footnote 48: Dr. Robinson, afterwards Bishop of London. [ORIGINAL
NOTE.]]
The managers of the discontented party, who, during the whole summer,
had observed the motions of the court running fast towards a peace,
began to gather up all their forces, in order to oppose Her Majesty's
designs, when the Parliament should meet. Their only strength was in the
House of Lords, where the Queen had a very crazy majority, made up by
those whose hearts were in the other interest; but whose fears,
expectations, or immediate dependence, had hitherto kept them within
bounds. There were two lords upon whose abilities and influence, of a
very different nature, the managers built their strongest hopes. The
first was the Duke of Somerset, master of the horse. This duke, as well
as his duchess, was in a good degree of favour with the Queen, upon the
score of some civilities and respects Her Majesty had received from
them, while she was princess.[49] For some years after the Revolution,
he never appeared at court, but was looked upon as a favourer of the
abdicated family; and it was the late Earl of Rochester who first
presented him to King William. However, since the time he came into
employment, which was towards the close of the last reign, he hath been
a constant zealous member of the other party; but never failed in either
attendance or respect towards the Queen's person, or, at most, only
threatened sometimes, that he would serve no longer, while such or such
men were employed; which, as things went then, was not reckoned any
offence at all against duty or good behaviour. He had been much caressed
and flattered by the Lords of the Junto,[50] who sometimes went so far
as to give him hopes of the crown, in reversion to his family, upon
failure of the house of Hanover. All this worked so far upon his
imagination, that he affected to appear the head of their party, to
which his talents were no way proportioned; for they soon grew weary of
his indigested schemes, and his imperious manner of obtruding them: they
began to drop him at their meetings, or contradicted him, with little
ceremony, when he happened to be there, which his haughty nature[51] was
not able to brook. Thus a mortal quarrel was kindled between him and the
whole assembly of party leaders; so that, upon the Queen's first
intentions of changing her ministry, soon after the trial of Dr.
Sacheverell, he appointed several meetings with Mr. Harley alone, in the
most private manner, in places and at times least liable to suspicion.
He employed all his credit with the Queen to drive on the removal of my
Lord Godolphin, and the rest; and, in the council, treated the small
remainder, who continued some time longer in their places, with all
possible marks of hatred or disdain. But when the question came for
dissolving the Parliament, he stopped short: he had already satiated his
resentments, which were not against things, but persons: he furiously
opposed that counsel, and promised to undertake for the Parliament
himself. When the Queen had declared her pleasure for the dissolution,
he flew off in greater rage than ever; opposed the court in all
elections, where he had influence or power; and made very humble[52]
advances to reconcile himself with the discarded lords, especially the
Earl of Godolphin, who is reported to have treated him at Newmarket in a
most contemptuous manner. But the sincerity of his repentance, which
appeared manifestly in the first session of the new Parliament, and the
use he might be of by his own remaining credit, or rather that of his
duchess, with the Queen, at length begat a reconcilement. He still kept
his employment, and place in the cabinet council; but had never appeared
there, from an avowed dislike of all persons and proceedings. It
happened about the end of summer, one thousand seven hundred and eleven,
at Windsor, when the cabinet council was summoned, this duke, whether by
directions from his teachers, or the instability of his nature, took a
fancy to resume his place, and a chair was brought accordingly; upon
which Mr. Secretary St. John refused to assist, and gave his reasons,
that he would never sit in council with a man who had so often betrayed
them, and was openly engaged with a faction which endeavoured to
obstruct all Her Majesty's measures. Thus the council was put off to
next day, and the duke made no farther attempts to be there.[53] But,
upon this incident, he declared open war against the ministry; and, from
that time to the session, employed himself in spiriting up several
depending lords to adhere to their friends, when an occasion should
offer. The arguments he made use of, were, that those in power designed
to make an ignominious and insecure peace, without consulting the
allies; that this could be no otherwise prevented than by an address
from the Lords, to signify their opinion, that no peace could be
honourable or secure, while Spain or the West Indies remained in any of
the Bourbon family:[54] upon which several farther resolutions and
inquiries would naturally follow; that the differences between the two
Houses, upon this point, must either be made up by the Commons agreeing
with the Lords, or must end in a dissolution, which would be followed by
a return of the old ministry, who, by the force of money and management,
could easily get another Parliament to their wishes. He farther assured
them boldly, that the Queen herself was at the bottom of this design,
and had empowered him to desire their votes against the peace, as a
point that would be for her service; and therefore they need not be in
pain upon account of their pensions, or any farther marks of favour they
expected. Thus, by reviving the old art of using Her Majesty's authority
against her person, he prevailed over some, who were not otherwise in a
station of life to oppose the crown; and his proselytes may pretend to
some share of pity, since he offered for an argument his own example,
who kept his place and favour, after all he had done to deserve the loss
of both.
[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]
[Footnote 4: There can be little doubt that De Torcy's resentment
against the Dutch, as expressed in the first of the propositions above
cited, was an affected one, since it is well known that the Dutch were,
at the very time these propositions were sent to England, and even for
some time previously, engaged in separate overtures with the French
Court. Indeed, according to Prior ("History of his Own Time"), they had
been so engaged ever since the breaking up of the Gertruydenberg
Conference; and when Prior arrived in France in August, 1711, he was
shown three letters written as from the Pensionary, but probably by
Petecum, promising Louis every advantage if the Conference so unhappily
broken off at Gertruydenberg were renewed. "The negotiations must be
secret and separate," reported Prior, "His Most Christian Majesty need
only name his own terms." Swift knew of the existence of at least one of
these letters, because he was very anxious to obtain it "to get some
particulars for my History," as he notes in his "Journal," "one letter
of Petecum's showing the roguery of the Dutch." See also "Portland
Manuscripts," vol. v., p. 34 _et seq_. [T.S.]]
They seemed altogether to distrust the inclination of that republic
towards a peace; but at the same time shewed a mighty complaisance to
the English nation, and a desire to have Her Majesty at the head of a
treaty. This appears by the first overture in form sent from that
kingdom, and signed by Mons. de Torcy, on the twenty-second of April,
N.S. one thousand seven hundred and eleven, to the following effect:
"That as it could not be doubted but the King was in a condition of
continuing the war with honour, so it could not be looked on as a mark
of weakness in His Majesty to break the silence he had kept since the
conferences at Gertruydenberg; and that, before the opening of the
campaign, he now gives farther proof of the desire he always had to
procure the repose of Europe. But after what he hath found, by
experience, of the sentiments of those persons who now govern the
republic of Holland, and of their industry in rendering all negotiations
without effect, His Majesty will, for the public good, offer to the
English nation those propositions, which he thinks fit to make for
terminating the war, and for settling the tranquillity of Europe upon a
solid foundation. It is with this view that he offers to enter into a
treaty of peace, founded on the following conditions.
"First, The English nation shall have real securities for carrying on
their trade in Spain, the Indies, and ports of the Mediterranean.
"Secondly, The King will consent to form a sufficient barrier in the Low
Countries, for the security of the republic of Holland; and this barrier
shall be such as England shall agree upon and approve; His Majesty
promising, at the same time, an entire liberty and security to the trade
of the Dutch.
"Thirdly, All reasonable methods shall be thought on, with sincerity and
truth, for giving satisfaction to the allies of England and Holland.
"Fourthly, Whereas the affairs of the King of Spain are in so good a
condition as to furnish new expedients for putting an end to the
disputes about that monarchy, and for settling it to the satisfaction of
the several parties concerned, all sincere endeavours shall be used for
surmounting the difficulties arisen upon this occasion; and the trade
and interest of all parties engaged in the present war shall be secured.
"Fifthly, The conferences, in order to treat of a peace upon these
conditions, shall be immediately opened; and the plenipotentiaries, whom
the King shall name to assist thereat, shall treat with those of England
and Holland, either alone, or in conjunction with those of their allies,
as England shall choose.
"Sixthly, His Majesty proposes the towns of Aix la Chapelle or Liège,
for the place where the plenipotentiaries shall assemble, leaving the
choice likewise to England of either of the said towns, wherein to treat
a general peace."
These overtures, although expressing much confidence in the ministry
here, great deference to the Queen, and displeasure against the Dutch,
were immediately transmitted by Her Majesty's command to her ambassador
in Holland, with orders, that they should be communicated to the
pensionary. The Abbé Gaultier was desired to signify this proceeding to
the Marquis de Torcy; at the same time to let that minister understand,
that some of the above articles ought to be explained. The Lord Raby,
now Earl of Stafford, was directed to tell the Pensionary, that Her
Majesty being resolved, in making peace as in making war, to act in
perfect concert with the States, would not lose a moment in transmitting
to him a paper of this importance: that the Queen earnestly desired,
that the secret might be kept among as few as possible; and that she
hoped the Pensionary would advise upon this occasion with no person
whatsoever, except such, as by the constitution of that government, are
unavoidably necessary: that the terms of the several propositions were
indeed too general; but, however, they contained an offer to treat: and
that, although there appeared an air of complaisance to England through
the whole paper, and the contrary to Holland, yet this could have no ill
consequences, as long as the Queen and the States took care to
understand each other, and to act with as little reserve as became two
powers, so nearly allied in interest; which rule, on the part of
Britain, should be inviolably observed. It was signified likewise to the
Pensionary, that the Duke of Marlborough had no communication of this
affair from England, and that it was supposed he would have none from
The Hague.
After these proposals had been considered in Holland, the ambassador was
directed to send back the opinion of the Dutch ministers upon them. The
court here was, indeed, apprehensive, that the Pensionary would be
alarmed at the whole frame of Monsieur de Torcy's paper, and
particularly at these expressions, "That the English shall have real
securities for their trade, &c." and "that the barrier for the
States-General shall be such as England shall agree upon and approve."
It was natural to think, that the fear which the Dutch would conceive of
our obtaining advantageous terms for Britain, might put them upon trying
underhand for themselves, and endeavouring to overreach us in the
management of the peace, as they had hitherto done in that of the war:
the ambassador was therefore cautioned to be very watchful in
discovering any workings, which might tend that way.
When the Lord Raby was first sent to The Hague, the Duke of Marlborough,
and Lord Townshend, had, for very obvious reasons, used their utmost
endeavours to involve him in as many difficulties as they could; upon
which, and other accounts, needless to mention, it was thought proper,
that his Grace, then in Flanders, should not be let into the secret of
this affair.
The proposal of Aix or Liège for a place of treaty, was only a farther
mark of their old discontent against Holland, to shew they would not
name any town which belonged to the States.
The Pensionary having consulted those who had been formerly employed in
the negotiations of peace, and enjoined them the utmost secrecy, to
avoid the jealousy of the foreign ministers there, desired the
ambassador to return Her Majesty thanks, for the obliging manner of
communicating the French overtures, for the confidence she placed in the
States, and for her promise of making no step towards a peace, but in
concert with them, assuring her of the like on their part: that although
the States endeavoured to hide it from the enemy, they were as weary of
the war as we, and very heartily desirous of a good and lasting peace,
as well as ready to join in any method, by which Her Majesty should
think proper to obtain it: that the States looked upon these
propositions as very dark and general; and they observed how the enemy
would create jealousies between the Queen, their republic, and the other
allies; but they were satisfied it would have no effect, and relied
entirely on the justness and prudence of Her Majesty, who they doubted
not, would make the French explain themselves more particularly in the
several points of their proposals, and send a plan of the particular
conditions whereupon they would make a peace: after which, the States
would be ready, either to join with Her Majesty, or to make their
objections, and were prepared to bring with them all the facility
imaginable, towards promoting so good a work.
This is the sum of the verbal answer made by the Pensionary, upon
communicating to him the French proposals; and I have chosen to set it
down, rather than transcribe the other given to the ambassador some days
after, which was more in form, and to the same purpose, but shorter, and
in my opinion not so well discovering the true disposition of the Dutch
ministers.
For after the Queen had transmitted the French overtures to Holland, and
the States found Her Majesty was bent in earnest upon the thoughts of a
peace, they began to cast about how to get the negotiation into their
own hands. They knew that whatever power received the first proposals,
would be wise enough to stipulate something for themselves, as they had
done in their own case, both at The Hague and Gertruydenberg, where they
carved as they pleased, without any regard to the interests of their
nearest allies. For this reason, while they endeavoured to amuse the
British court with expostulations upon the several preliminaries sent
from France, Monsieur Petecum, a forward meddling agent of Holstein, who
had resided some years in Holland, negotiated with Heinsius, the Grand
Pensionary, as well as with Vanderdussen and Buys, about restoring the
conferences between France and that republic, broke off in
Gertruydenberg. Pursuant to which, about the end of May, N.S. one
thousand seven hundred and eleven, Petecum wrote to the Marquis de
Torcy, with the privity of the Pensionary, and probably of the other
two. The substance of his letter was to inform the Marquis, that things
might easily be disposed, so as to settle a correspondence between that
crown and the republic, in order to renew the treaty of peace. That this
could be done with the greater secrecy, because Monsieur Heinsius, by
virtue of his oath as Pensionary, might keep any affair private as long
as he thought necessary, and was not obliged to communicate it, until he
believed things were ripe; and as long as he concealed it from his
masters, he was not bound to discover it, either to the ministers of the
Emperor, or those of her British Majesty. That since England thought it
proper for King Charles to continue the whole campaign in Catalonia,
(though he should be chosen emperor) in order to support the war in
Spain, it was necessary for France to treat in the most secret manner
with the States, who were not now so violently, as formerly, against
having Philip on the Spanish throne, upon certain conditions for
securing their trade, but were jealous of England's design to fortify
some trading towns in Spain for themselves. That Heinsius, extremely
desired to get out of the war for some reasons, which he (Petecum) was
not permitted to tell; and that Vanderdussen and Buys were impatient to
have the negotiations with France once more set on foot, which, if
Monsieur Torcy thought fit to consent to, Petecum engaged that the
States would determine to settle the preliminaries, in the midway
between Paris and The Hague, with whatever ministers the Most Christian
King should please to employ. But Monsieur Torcy refused this overture,
and in his answer to Monsieur Petecum, assigned for the reason the
treatment his master's former proposals had met with at The Hague and
Gertruydenberg, from the ministers of Holland. Britain and Holland
seemed pretty well agreed, that those proposals were too loose and
imperfect to be a foundation for entering upon a general treaty; and
Monsieur Gaultier was desired to signify to the French court, that it
was expected they should explain themselves more particularly on the
several articles.
But in the mean time the Queen was firmly resolved, that the interests
of her own kingdoms should not be neglected at this juncture, as they
had formerly twice been, while the Dutch were principal managers of a
negotiation with France. Her Majesty had given frequent and early notice
to the States, of the general disposition of her people towards a peace,
of her own inability to continue the war upon the old foot, under the
disadvantage of unequal quotas, and the universal backwardness of her
allies. She had likewise informed them of several advances made to her
on the side of France, which she had refused to hearken to, till she had
consulted with those, her good friends and confederates, and heard their
opinion on that subject: but the Dutch, who apprehended nothing more
than to see Britain at the head of a treaty, were backward and sullen,
disliked all proposals by the Queen's intervention, and said it was a
piece of artifice of France to divide the allies; besides, they knew the
ministry was young, and the opposite faction had given them assurances,
that the people of England would never endure a peace without Spain, nor
the men in power dare to attempt it, after the resolutions of one House
of Parliament to the contrary. But, in the midst of this unwillingness
to receive any overtures from France by the Queen's hands, the Dutch
ministers were actually engaged in a correspondence with that court,
where they urged our inability to begin a treaty, by reason of those
factions which themselves had inflamed, and were ready to commence a
negotiation upon much easier terms than what they supposed we demanded.
For not to mention the Duke of Lorraine's interposition in behalf of
Holland, which France absolutely refused to accept; the letters sent
from the Dutch to that court, were shewn some months after to a British
minister there,[5] which gave much weight to Monsieur de Torcy's
insinuations; that he knew where to meet with more compliance, if the
necessity of affairs should force him to it, by our refusal. And the
violence of the States against our entertaining of that correspondence,
was only because they knew theirs would never be accepted, at least till
ours were thrown off.
[Footnote 5: Matthew Prior. See note, _ante_, p. 55. [T.S.]] The Queen,
sensible of all this, resolved to provide for her own kingdoms; and
having therefore prepared such demands for her principal allies, as
might be a ground for proceeding to a general treaty, without pretending
to adjust their several interests, she resolved to stipulate in a
particular manner the advantage of Britain: the following preliminary
demands were accordingly drawn up, in order to be transmitted to France.
"Great Britain will not enter into any negotiation of peace, otherwise
than upon these conditions, obtained beforehand.
"That the union of the two crowns of France and Spain shall be
prevented: that satisfaction shall be given to all the allies, and trade
settled and maintained.
"If France be disposed to treat upon this view, it is not to be doubted
that the following propositions will be found reasonable.
"A barrier shall be formed in the Low Countries for the States-General;
and their trade shall be secured.
"A barrier likewise shall be formed for the Empire.
"The pretensions of all the allies, founded upon former treaties, shall
be regulated and determined to their general satisfaction.
"In order to make a more equal balance of power in Italy, the dominions
and territories, which in the beginning of the present war belonged to
the Duke of Savoy, and are now in the possession of France, shall be
restored to his Royal Highness; and such other places in Italy shall be
yielded to him, as will be found necessary and agreeable to the sense of
former treaties made with this prince.
"As to Great Britain in particular, the succession to the crown of the
kingdoms, according to the present establishment, shall be acknowledged.
"A new treaty of commerce between Great Britain and France shall be
made, after the most just and reasonable manner.
"Dunkirk shall be demolished.
"Gibraltar and Port-Mahon shall remain in the hands of the present
possessors.
"The English shall have the Assiento in the same manner the French now
enjoy it; and such places in the Spanish West Indies shall be assigned
to those concerned in this traffic, for the refreshment and sale of
their negroes, as shall be found necessary and convenient.
"All advantages, rights, and privileges already granted, and which may
hereafter be granted by Spain to the subjects of France, or to any other
nation whatsoever, shall be equally granted to the subjects of Great
Britain.
"And for better securing the British trade in the Spanish West Indies,
certain places to be named in the treaty of peace, shall be put into
possession of the English.
"Newfoundland, with the Bay and Straits of Hudson, shall be entirely
restored to the English; and Great Britain and France shall severally
keep and possess all those countries and territories in North America,
which each of the said nations shall be in possession of at the time
when the ratification of this treaty shall be published in those parts
of the world.
"These demands, and all other proceedings between Great Britain and
France, shall be kept inviolably secret, until they are published by the
mutual consent of both parties."
The last article was not only intended for avoiding, if possible, the
jealousy of the Dutch, but to prevent the clamours of the abettors here
at home, who, under the pretended fears of our doing injustice to the
Dutch, by acting without the privity of that republic, in order to make
a separate peace, would be ready to drive on the worst designs against
the Queen and ministry, in order to recover the power they had lost.
In June, one thousand seven hundred and eleven, Mr. Prior, a person of
great distinction, not only on account of his wit, but for his abilities
in the management of affairs, and who had been formerly employed at the
French court, was dispatched thither by Her Majesty with the foregoing
demands. This gentleman was received at Versailles with great civility.
The King declared, that no proceeding, in order to a general treaty,
would be so agreeable to him as by the intervention of England; and that
His Majesty, being desirous to contribute with all his power towards the
repose of Europe, did answer to the demands which had been made,
"That he would consent freely and sincerely to all just and reasonable
methods, for hindering the crowns of France and Spain from being ever
united under the same prince; His Majesty being persuaded, that such an
excess of power would be as contrary to the general good and repose of
Europe, as it was opposite to the will of the late Catholic King Charles
the Second. He said his intention was, that all parties in the present
war should find their reasonable satisfaction in the intended treaty of
peace; and that trade should be settled and maintained for the future,
to the advantage of those nations which formerly possessed it.
"That as the King will exactly observe the conditions of peace, whenever
it shall be concluded, and as the object he proposeth to himself, is to
secure the frontiers of his own kingdom, without giving any sort of
disturbance to his neighbours, he promiseth to agree, that by the future
treaty of peace, the Dutch shall be put into possession of all such
fortified places as shall be specified in the said treaty to serve for a
barrier to that republic, against all attempts on the side of France. He
engages likewise to give all necessary securities, for removing the
jealousies raised among the German princes of His Majesty's designs.
"That when the conferences, in order to a general treaty, shall be
formed, all the pretensions of the several princes and states engaged in
the present war, shall be fairly and amicably discussed; nor shall any
thing be omitted, which may regulate and determine them to the
satisfaction of all parties.
"That, pursuant to the demands made by England, His Majesty promiseth to
restore to the Duke of Savoy these demesnes and territories, which
belonged to that prince at the beginning of this war, and which His
Majesty is now in possession of; and the King consents further, that
such other places in Italy shall be yielded to the Duke of Savoy, as
shall be found necessary, according to the sense of those treaties made
between the said Duke and his allies.
"That the King's sentiments of the present government of Great Britain,
the open declaration he had made in Holland of his resolution to treat
of peace, by applications to the English; the assurances he had given of
engaging the King of Spain to leave Gibraltar in their hands (all which
are convincing proofs of his perfect esteem for a nation still in war
with him); leave no room to doubt of His Majesty's inclination to give
England all securities and advantages for their trade, which they can
reasonably demand. But as His Majesty cannot persuade himself, that a
government, so clear-sighted as ours, will insist upon conditions which
must absolutely destroy the trade of France and Spain, as well as that
of all other nations of Europe, he thinks the demands made by Great
Britain may require a more particular discussion.
"That, upon this foundation, the King thought the best way of advancing
and perfecting a negotiation, the beginning of which he had seen with so
much satisfaction, would be to send into England a person instructed in
his intention, and authorized by him to agree upon securities for
settling the trade of the subjects of England; and those particular
advantages to be stipulated in their favour, without destroying the
trade of the French and Spaniards, or of other nations in Christendom.
"That therefore His Majesty had charged the person chosen for this
commission, to answer the other articles of the memorial given him by
Mr. Prior, the secret of which should be exactly observed."
Mons. de Torcy had, for some years past, used all his endeavours to
incline his master towards a peace, pursuant to the maxim of his uncle
Colbert, "That a long war was not for the interest of France." It was
for this reason the King made choice of him in the conferences at The
Hague; the bad success whereof, although it filled him with resentments
against the Dutch, did not alter his opinion: but he was violently
opposed by a party both in the court and kingdom, who pretended to fear
he would sacrifice the glory of the prince and country by too large
concessions; or perhaps would rather wish that the first offers should
have been still made to the Dutch, as a people more likely to be less
solicitous about the interest of Britain, than Her Majesty would
certainly be for theirs: and the particular design of Mr. Prior was to
find out, whether that minister had credit enough with his prince, and a
support from others in power, sufficient to overrule the faction against
peace.
Mr. Prior's journey[6] could not be kept a secret, as the court here at
first seemed to intend it. He was discovered at his return by an officer
of the port at Dover, where he landed, after six weeks absence; upon
which the Dutch Gazettes and English newspapers were full of
speculations.
[Footnote 6: See Swift's "A New Journey to Paris" (vol. v. of this
edition, pp. 187-205). [W.S.J.]]
At the same time with Mr. Prior there arrived from France Mons.
Mesnager, knight of the order of St. Michael, and one of the council of
trade to the Most Christian King. His commission was, in general,
empowering him to treat with the minister of any prince engaged in the
war against his master. In his first conferences with the Queen's
ministers, he pretended orders to insist, that Her Majesty should enter
upon particular engagements in several articles, which did not depend
upon her, but concerned only the interest of the allies reciprocally
with those of the Most Christian King; whereas the negotiation had begun
upon this principle, that France should consent to adjust the interests
of Great Britain in the first place, whereby Her Majesty would be
afterwards enabled, by her good offices on all sides, to facilitate the
general peace. The Queen resolved never to depart from this principle;
but was absolutely determined to remit the particular interests of the
allies to general conferences, where she would do the utmost in her
power to procure the repose of Europe, and the satisfaction of all
parties. It was plain, France could run no hazard by this proceeding,
because the preliminary articles would have no force before a general
peace was signed: therefore it was not doubted but Mons. Mesnager would
have orders to waive this new pretension, and go on in treating upon
that foot which was at first proposed. In short, the ministers required
a positive and speedy answer to the articles in question, since they
contained only such advantages and securities as Her Majesty thought she
had a right to require from any prince whatsoever, to whom the dominions
of Spain should happen to fall.
The particular demands of Britain were formed into eight articles; to
which Mons. Mesnager, having transmitted them to his court and received
new powers from thence, had orders to give his master's consent, by way
of answers to the several points, to be obligatory only after a general
peace. These demands, together with the answers of the French King, were
drawn up and signed by Mons. Mesnager, and Her Majesty's two principal
secretaries of state; whereof I shall here present an extract to the
reader.
In the preamble the Most Christian King sets forth, "That being
particularly informed by the last memorial which the British ministers
delivered to Mons. Mesnager, of the dispositions of this crown to
facilitate a general peace, to the satisfaction of the several parties
concerned; and His Majesty finding, in effect, as the said memorial
declares, that he runs no hazard by engaging himself in the manner there
expressed, since the preliminary articles will be of no force, until the
signing of the general peace; and being sincerely desirous to advance,
to the utmost of his power, the repose of Europe, especially by a way so
agreeable as the interposition of a Princess, whom so many ties of blood
ought to unite to him, and whose sentiments for the public tranquillity
cannot be doubted; His Majesty, moved by these considerations, hath
ordered Mons. Mesnager, knight, &c. to give the following answers, in
writing, to the articles contained in the memorial transmitted to him,
intituled, 'Preliminary Demands for Great Britain in particular.'"
The articles were these that follow.
"First, The succession to the crown to be acknowledged, according to the
present establishment.
"Secondly, A new treaty of commerce between Great Britain and France to
be made, after the most just and reasonable manner.
"Thirdly, Dunkirk to be demolished.
"Fourthly, Gibraltar and Port-Mahon to continue in the hands of those
who now possess them.
"Fifthly, The Assiento (or liberty of selling negroes to the Spanish
West Indies) to be granted to the English, in as full a manner as the
French possess it at present; and such places in the said West Indies to
be assigned to the persons concerned in this trade, for the refreshment
and sale of their negroes, as shall be found necessary and convenient.
"Sixthly, Whatever advantages, privileges, and rights are already, or
may hereafter be, granted by Spain to the subjects of France, or any
other nation, shall be equally granted to the subjects of Great Britain.
"Seventhly, For better protecting their trade in the Spanish West
Indies, the English shall be put into possession of such places as shall
be named in the treaty of peace.
"Or, as an equivalent for this article, that the Assiento be granted to
Britain for the term of thirty years.
"That the isle of St. Christopher's be likewise secured to the English.
"That the advantages and exemption from duties, promised by Monsieur
Mesnager, which he affirms will amount to fifteen _per cent_. upon all
goods of the growth and manufacture of Great Britain, be effectually
allowed.
"That whereas, on the side of the river of Plate, the English are not in
possession of any colony, a certain extent of territory be allowed them
on the said river, for refreshing and keeping their negroes, till they
are sold to the Spaniards; subject, nevertheless, to the inspection of
an officer appointed by Spain.
"Eighthly, Newfoundland and the Bay and Straits of Hudson, shall be
entirely restored to the English; and Great Britain and France shall
respectively keep whatever dominions in North America each of them shall
be in possession of, when the ratification of this treaty shall be
published in those parts of the world."
The six first articles were allowed without any difficulty, except that
about Dunkirk, where France was to have an equivalent, to be settled in
a general treaty.
Difficulty arising upon the seventh article, the proposed equivalent was
allowed instead thereof.
The last article was referred to the general treaty of peace, only the
French insisted to have the power of fishing for cod, and drying them on
the island of Newfoundland.
These articles were to be looked upon as conditions, which the Most
Christian King consented to allow; and whenever a general peace should
be signed, they were to be digested into the usual form of a treaty, to
the satisfaction of both crowns.
The Queen having thus provided for the security and advantage of her
kingdoms, whenever a peace should be made, and upon terms no way
interfering with the interest of her allies; the next thing in order,
was to procure from France such preliminary articles, as might be a
ground upon which to commence a general treaty. These were adjusted, and
signed the same day with the former; and having been delivered to the
several ministers residing here from the powers in alliance with
England, were quickly made public. But the various constructions and
censures which passed upon them, have made it necessary to give the
reader the following transcript:
"The King being willing to contribute all that is in his power, to the
re-establishing of the general peace. His Majesty declares,
"I. That he will acknowledge the Queen of Great Britain in that quality,
as also the succession of that crown, according to the settlement,
"II. That he will freely, and _bonâ fide_, consent to the taking all
just and reasonable measures, for hindering that the crowns of France
and Spain may ever be united on the head of the same prince; His Majesty
being persuaded, that this excess of power would be contrary to the good
and quiet of Europe.
"III. The King's intention is, that all the parties engaged in the
present war, without excepting any of them, may find their reasonable
satisfaction in the treaty of peace, which shall be made: That commerce
may be re-established and maintained for the future, to the advantage of
Great Britain, of Holland, and of the other nations, who have been
accustomed to exercise commerce.
"IV. As the King will likewise maintain exactly the observance of the
peace, when it shall be concluded, and the object, the King proposes to
himself, being to secure the frontiers of his kingdom, without
disturbing in any manner whatever the neighbouring states, he promises
to agree, by the treaty which shall be made, that the Dutch shall be put
in possession of the fortified places, which shall be mentioned, in the
Netherlands, to serve hereafter for a barrier; which may secure the
quiet of the republic of Holland against any enterprise from the part of
France.
"V. The King consents likewise, that a secure and convenient barrier
should be formed for the empire, and for the house of Austria.
"VI. Notwithstanding Dunkirk cost the King very great sums, as well to
purchase it, as to fortify it; and that it is further necessary to be at
very considerable expense for razing the works. His Majesty is willing
however to engage to cause them to be demolished, immediately after the
conclusion of the peace, on condition, that, for the fortifications of
that place, a proper equivalent, that may content him, be given him:
And, as England cannot furnish that equivalent, the discussion of it
shall be referred to the conferences to be held for the negotiation of
the peace.
"VII. When the conferences for the negotiation of the peace shall be
formed, all the pretensions of the princes and states, engaged in the
present war, shall be therein discussed _bonâ fide_, and amicably: And
nothing shall be omitted to regulate and terminate them, to the
satisfaction of all the parties.
"MESNAGER."
These overtures are founded upon the eighth article of the Grand
Alliance, made in one thousand seven hundred and one; wherein are
contained the conditions, without which a peace is not to be made; and
whoever compares both, will find the preliminaries to reach every point
proposed in that article, which those who censured them at home, if they
spoke their thoughts, did not understand: for nothing can be plainer,
than what the public hath often been told, that the recovery of Spain
from the house of Bourbon was a thing never imagined, when the war
began, but a just and reasonable satisfaction to the Emperor. Much less
ought such a condition to be held necessary at present, not only because
it is allowed on all hands to be impracticable, but likewise because, by
the changes in the Austrian and Bourbon families, it would not be safe:
neither did those, who were loudest in blaming the French preliminaries,
know any thing of the advantages privately stipulated for Britain, whose
interests, they assured us, were all made a sacrifice to the corruption
or folly of the managers; and therefore, because the opposers of peace
have been better informed by what they have since heard and seen, they
have changed their battery, and accused the ministers for betraying the
Dutch.
The Lord Raby, Her Majesty's ambassador at The Hague, having made a
short journey to England, where he was created Earl of Strafford, went
back to Holland about the beginning of October, one thousand seven
hundred and eleven, with the above preliminaries, in order to
communicate them to the Pensionary, and other ministers of the States.
The Earl was instructed to let them know, "That the Queen had, according
to their desire, returned an answer to the first propositions signed by
Mons. Torcy, signifying, that the French offers were thought, both by
Her Majesty and the States, neither so particular nor so full as they
ought to be; and insisting to have a distinct project formed, of such a
peace as the Most Christian King would be willing to conclude: that this
affair having been for some time transacted by papers, and thereby
subject to delays, Mons. Mesnager was at length sent over by France, and
had signed those preliminaries now communicated to them: that the
several articles did not, indeed, contain such particular concessions as
France must and will make in the course of a treaty; but that, however,
Her Majesty thought them a sufficient foundation whereon to open the
general conferences.
"That Her Majesty was unwilling to be charged with determining the
several interests of her allies, and therefore contented herself with
such general offers as might include all the particular demands, proper
to be made during the treaty; where the confederates must resolve to
adhere firmly together, in order to obtain from the enemy the utmost
that could be hoped for, in the present circumstances of affairs; which
rule, Her Majesty assured the States, she would, on her part, firmly
observe."
If the ministers of Holland should express any uneasiness, that Her
Majesty may have settled the interests of her own kingdoms, in a future
peace, by any private agreement, the ambassador was ordered to say,
"That the Queen had hitherto refused to have the treaty carried on in
her own kingdom, and would continue to do so, unless they (the Dutch)
constrained her to take another measure: That by these means the States,
and the rest of the allies, would have the opportunity of treating and
adjusting their different pretensions; which Her Majesty would promote
with all the zeal she had shewn for the common good, and the particular
advantage of that republic (as they must do her the justice to confess),
in the whole course of her reign: That the Queen had made no stipulation
for herself, which might clash with the interests of Holland; and that
the articles to be inserted in a future treaty, for the benefit of
Britain, were, for the most part, such as contained advantages, which
must either be continued to the enemy, or be obtained by Her Majesty;
but, however, that no concession should tempt her to hearken to a peace,
unless her good friends and allies the States General had all reasonable
satisfaction, as to their trade and barrier, as well as in all other
respects."
After these assurances given in the Queen's name, the Earl was to
insinuate, "That Her Majesty should have just reason to be offended, and
to think the proceeding between her and the States very unequal, if they
should pretend to have any further uneasiness upon this head: That being
determined to accept no advantages to herself, repugnant to their
interests, nor any peace, without their reasonable satisfaction, the
figure she had made during the whole course of the war, and the part she
had acted, superior to any of the allies, who were more concerned in
danger and interest, might justly entitle her to settle the concerns of
Great Britain, before she would consent to a general negotiation."
If the States should object the engagements the Queen was under, by
treaties, of making no peace but in concert with them, or the particular
obligations of the Barrier Treaty, the ambassador was to answer, "That,
as to the former, Her Majesty had not in any sort acted contrary
thereto; That she was so far from making a peace without their consent,
as to declare her firm resolution not to make it without their
satisfaction; and that what had passed between France and her, amounted
to no more than an introduction to a general treaty." As to the latter,
the Earl had orders to represent very earnestly, "How much it was even
for the interest of Holland itself, rather to compound the advantage of
the Barrier Treaty, than to insist upon the whole, which the house of
Austria, and several other allies, would never consent to: That nothing
could be more odious to the people of England than many parts of this
treaty; which would have raised universal indignation, if the utmost
care had not been taken to quiet the minds of those who were acquainted
with the terms of that guaranty, and to conceal them from those who were
not: That it was absolutely necessary to maintain a good harmony between
both nations, without which it would be impossible at any time to form a
strength for reducing an exorbitant power, or preserving the balance of
Europe: from whence it followed, that it could not be the true interest
of either country to insist upon any conditions, which might give just
apprehension to the other.
"That France had proposed Utrecht, Nimeguen, Aix, or Liège, wherein to
hold the general treaty; and Her Majesty was ready to send her
plenipotentiaries, to whichever of those towns the States should
approve."
If the imperial ministers, or those of the other allies, should object
against the preliminaries as no sufficient ground for opening the
conferences, and insist that France should consent to such articles as
were signed on the part of the allies in the year one thousand seven
hundred and nine, the Earl of Strafford was in answer directed to
insinuate, "That the French might have probably been brought to explain
themselves more particularly, had they not perceived the uneasiness,
impatience, and jealousy among the allies, during our transactions with
that court." However, he should declare to them, in the Queen's name,
"That if they were determined to accept of peace upon no terms inferior
to what was formerly demanded, Her Majesty was ready to concur with
them; but would no longer bear those disproportions of expense, yearly
increased upon her, nor the deficiency of the confederates in every part
of the war: That it was therefore incumbent upon them to furnish, for
the future, such quotas of ships and forces as they were now wanting in,
and to increase their expense, while Her Majesty reduced hers to a
reasonable and just proportion."
That if the ministers of Vienna and Holland should urge their inability
upon this head, the Queen insisted, "They ought to comply with her in
war or in peace; Her Majesty desiring nothing, as to the first, but what
they ought to perform, and what is absolutely necessary: and as to the
latter, that she had done, and would continue to do, the utmost in her
power towards obtaining such a peace as might be to the satisfaction of
all her allies."
Some days after the Earl of Stafford's departure to Holland, Mons. Buys,
pensionary of Amsterdam, arrived here from thence with instructions from
his masters, to treat upon the subject of the French preliminaries, and
the methods for carrying on the war. In his first conference with a
committee of council, he objected against all the articles, as too
general and uncertain; and against some of them, as prejudicial. He
said, "The French promising that trade should be re-established and
maintained for the future, was meant in order to deprive the Dutch of
their tariff of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four; for the
plenipotentiaries of that crown would certainly expound the word
_rétablir_, to signify no more than restoring the trade of the States to
the condition it was in immediately before the commencement of the
present war." He said, "That in the article of Dunkirk, the destruction
of the harbour was not mentioned; and that the fortifications were only
to be razed upon condition of an equivalent, which might occasion a
difference between Her Majesty and the States, since Holland would think
it hard to have a town less in their barrier for the demolition of
Dunkirk; and England would complain to have this thorn continue in their
side, for the sake of giving one town more to the Dutch."
Lastly, he objected, "That where the French promised effectual methods
should be taken to prevent the union of France and Spain under the same
king, they offered nothing at all for the cession of Spain, which was
the most important point of the war.
"For these reasons, Mons. Buys hoped Her Majesty would alter her
measures, and demand specific articles, upon which the allies might
debate whether they would consent to a negotiation or no."
The Queen, who looked upon all these difficulties, raised about the
method of treating, as endeavours to wrest the negotiation out of her
hands, commanded the lords of the committee to let Mons. Buys know,
"That the experience she formerly had of proceeding by particular
preliminaries towards a general treaty, gave her no encouragement to
repeat the same method any more: That such a preliminary treaty must be
negotiated either by some particular allies, or by all. The first, Her
Majesty could never suffer, since she would neither take upon her to
settle the interests of others, nor submit that others should settle
those of her own kingdoms. As to the second, it was liable to Mons.
Buys's objection, because the ministers of France would have as fair an
opportunity of sowing division among the allies, when they were all
assembled upon a preliminary treaty, as when the conferences were open
for a negotiation of peace: That this method could therefore have no
other effect than to delay the treaty, without any advantage: That Her
Majesty was heartily disposed, both then and during the negotiation, to
insist on every thing necessary for securing the barrier and commerce of
the States; and therefore hoped the conferences might be opened, without
farther difficulties.
"That Her Majesty did not only consent, but desire to have a plan
settled for carrying on the war, as soon as the negotiation of peace
should begin; but expected to have the burthen more equally laid, and
more agreeable to treaties; and would join with the States in pressing
the allies to perform their parts, as she had endeavoured to animate
them by her example."
Mons. Buys seemed to know little of his masters' mind, and pretended he
had no power to conclude upon any thing.[1] Her Majesty's minister
proposed to him an alliance between the two nations, to subsist after a
peace. To this he hearkened very readily, and offered to take the matter
_ad referendum_, having authority to do no more. His intention was, that
he might appear to negotiate, in order to gain time to pick out, if
possible, the whole secret of the transactions between Britain and
France; to disclose nothing himself, nor bind his masters to any
conditions; to seek delays till the Parliament met, and then observe
what turn it took, and what would be the issue of those frequent cabals
between himself and some other foreign ministers, in conjunction with
the chief leaders of the discontented faction.
[Footnote 1: Buys's mission seemed to have been to act on behalf of the
States General for the purpose of preventing England obtaining any
commercial advantage which the States did not share, and for causing
delays. He certainly had no powers to treat definitely, and Swift's
remark is emphasized by the statement in the Bolingbroke Correspondence
(vol. ii. p. 25) about him, he could "only speak as Monsieur Buys."
[T.S.]]
The Dutch hoped, that the clamours raised against the proceedings of the
Queen's ministers towards a peace, would make the Parliament disapprove
what had been done; whereby the States would be at the head of the
negotiation, which the Queen did not think fit to have any more in their
hands, where it had miscarried twice already; although Prince Eugene
himself owned, "that France was then disposed to conclude a peace upon
such conditions, as it was not worth the life of a grenadier to refuse
them." As to insisting upon specific preliminaries, Her Majesty thought
her own method much better, for each ally, in the course of the
negotiation, to advance and manage his own pretensions, wherein she
would support and assist them, rather than for two ministers of one ally
to treat solely with the enemy, and report what they pleased to the
rest, as was practised by the Dutch at Gertruydenberg.
One part of Mons. Buys's instructions was to desire the Queen not to be
so far amused by a treaty of peace, as to neglect her preparation for
war against the next campaign. Her Majesty, who was firmly resolved
against submitting any longer to that unequal burthen of expense she had
hitherto lain under, commanded Mr. Secretary St. John to debate the
matter with that minister, who said he had no power to treat; only
insisted, that his masters had fully done their part, and that nothing
but exhortations could be used to prevail on the other allies to act
with greater vigour.
On the other side, the Queen refused to concert any plan for the
prosecution of the war, till the States would join with her in agreeing
to open the conferences of peace; which therefore, by Mons. Buys's
application to them, was accordingly done, by a resolution taken in
Holland upon the twenty first of November, one thousand seven hundred
and eleven, NS.
About this time the Count de Gallas[7] was forbid the court, by order
from the Queen, who sent him word, that she looked upon him no longer as
a public minister.
[Footnote 7: The Austrian ambassador [T.S.]]
This gentleman thought fit to act a very dishonourable part here in
England, altogether inconsistent with the character he bore of envoy
from the late and present emperors, two princes under the strictest ties
of gratitude to the Queen, especially the latter, who had then the title
of King of Spain. Count Gallas, about the end of August, one thousand
seven hundred and eleven, with the utmost privacy, dispatched an
Italian, one of his clerks, to Frankfort, where the Earl of Peterborough
was then expected. This man was instructed to pass for a Spaniard, and
insinuate himself into the Earl's service, which he accordingly did, and
gave constant information to the last emperor's secretary at Frankfort
of all he could gather up in his lordship's family, as well as copies of
several letters he had transcribed. It was likewise discovered that
Gallas had, in his dispatches to the present emperor, then in Spain,
represented the Queen and her ministers as not to be confided in, that
when Her Majesty had dismissed the Earl of Sunderland, she promised to
proceed no farther in the change of her servants, yet soon after turned
them all out, and thereby ruined the public credit, as well as abandoned
Spain, that the present ministers wanted the abilities and good
dispositions of the former, were persons of ill designs, and enemies to
the common cause, and he (Gallas) could not trust them. In his letters
to Count Zinzendorf[8] he said, "That Mr. Secretary St John complained
of the house of Austria's backwardness, only to make the King of Spain
odious to England, and the people here desirous of a peace, although it
were ever so bad one," to prevent which, Count Gallas drew up a memorial
which he intended to give the Queen, and transmitted a draught of it to
Zinzendorf for his advice and approbation. This memorial, among other
great promises to encourage the continuance of the war, proposed the
detaching a good body of troops from Hungary to serve in Italy or Spain,
as the Queen should think fit.
[Footnote 8: The Austrian envoy at The Hague, characterized by Mr Walter
Sichel as "a martyr to etiquette, and devoured by zeal for the Holy
Roman Empire" ("Bolingbroke and his Times," p 392) [T.S.]]
Zinzendorf thought this too bold a step, without consulting the Emperor:
to which Gallas replied, that his design was only to engage the Queen to
go on with the war; that Zinzendorf knew how earnestly the English and
Dutch had pressed to have these troops from Hungary, and therefore they
ought to be promised, in order to quiet those two nations, after which
several ways might be found to elude that promise; and, in the mean
time, the great point would be gained of bringing the English to declare
for continuing the war: that the Emperor might afterwards excuse
himself, by the apprehension of a war in Hungary, or of that between the
Turks and Muscovites: that if these excuses should be at an end, a
detachment of one or two regiments might be sent, and the rest deferred,
by pretending want of money; by which the Queen would probably be
brought to maintain some part of those troops, and perhaps the whole
body. He added, that this way of management was very common among the
allies; and gave for an example, the forces which the Dutch had promised
for the service of Spain, but were never sent; with several other
instances of the same kind, which he said might be produced.
Her Majesty, who had long suspected that Count Gallas was engaged in
these and the like practices, having at last received authentic proofs
of this whole intrigue, from original letters, and the voluntary
confession of those who were principally concerned in carrying it on,
thought it necessary to show her resentment, by refusing the count any
more access to her person or her court.
Although the Queen, as it hath been already observed, was resolved to
open the conferences upon the general preliminaries, yet she thought it
would very much forward the peace to know what were the utmost
concessions which France would make to the several allies, but
especially to the States General and the Duke of Savoy: therefore, while
Her Majesty was pressing the former to agree to a general treaty, the
Abbé Gaultier was sent to France with a memorial, to desire that the
Most Christian King would explain himself upon those preliminaries,
particularly with relation to Savoy and Holland, whose satisfaction the
Queen had most at heart, as well from her friendship to both these
powers, as because, if she might engage to them that their just
pretensions would be allowed, few difficulties would remain, of any
moment, to retard the general peace.
The French answer to this memorial contained several schemes and
proposals for the satisfaction of each ally, coming up very near to what
Her Majesty and her ministers thought reasonable. The greatest
difficulties seemed to be about the Elector of Bavaria, for whose
interests France appeared to be as much concerned, as the Queen was for
those of the Duke of Savoy: however, those were judged not very hard to
be surmounted.
The States having at length agreed to a general treaty, the following
particulars were concerted between Her Majesty and that republic:
"That the congress should be held at Utrecht.
"That the opening of the congress should be upon the twelfth of January,
N.S. one thousand seven hundred and eleven-twelve.
"That, for avoiding all inconveniences of ceremony, the ministers of the
Queen and States, during the treaty, should only have the characters of
plenipotentiaries, and not take that of ambassadors, till the day on
which the peace should be signed.
"Lastly, The Queen and States insisted, that the ministers of the Duke
of Anjou, and the late Electors of Bavaria and Cologne, should not
appear at the congress, until the points relating to their masters were
adjusted; and were firmly resolved not to send their passports for the
ministers of France, till the Most Christian King declared, that the
absence of the forementioned ministers should not delay the progress of
the negotiation."
Pursuant to the three former articles, Her Majesty wrote circular
letters to all the allies engaged with her in the present war: and
France had notice, that as soon as the King declared his compliance with
the last article, the blank passports should be filled up with the names
of the Maréchal d'Uxelles,[9] the Abbé de Polignac, and Mons. Mesnager,
who were appointed plenipotentiaries for that crown.
[Footnote 9: In his "Letter to Sir William Windham," Bolingbroke thus
refers to M. d'Uxelles: "The minister who had the principal direction of
foreign affairs I lived in friendship with, and I must own to his
honour, that he never encouraged a design which he knew that his court
had no intention of supporting" (p. 141). This was written of the time
when Bolingbroke was in Paris, an adherent of the Pretender. [T.S.]]
From what I have hitherto deduced, the reader sees the plan which the
Queen thought the most effectual for advancing a peace. As the
conferences were to begin upon the general preliminaries, the Queen was
to be empowered by France to offer separately to the allies what might
be reasonable for each to accept; and her own interests being previously
settled, she was to act as a general mediator: a figure that became her
best, from the part she had in the war, and more useful to the great end
at which she aimed, of giving a safe and honourable peace to Europe.
Besides, it was absolutely necessary, for the interests of Britain, that
the Queen should be at the head of the negotiation, without which Her
Majesty could find no expedient to redress the injuries her kingdoms
were sure to suffer by the Barrier Treaty. In order to settle this point
with the States, the ministers here had a conference with Mons. Buys, a
few days before the Parliament met. He was told, how necessary it was,
by previous concert between the Emperor, the Queen, and the States, to
prevent any difference which might arise in the course of the treaty at
Utrecht: That, under pretence of a barrier for the States General, as
their security against France, infinite prejudice might arise to the
trade of Britain in the Spanish Netherlands; for, by the fifteenth
article of the Barrier Treaty, in consequence of what was stipulated by
that of Minister, the Queen was brought to engage that commerce shall
not be rendered more easy, in point of duties, by the sea-ports of
Flanders, than it is by the river Scheldt, and by the canals on the side
of the Seven Provinces, which, as things now stood, was very unjust;
for, while the towns in Flanders were in the hands of France or Spain,
the Dutch and we traded to them upon equal foot; but now, since by the
Barrier Treaty those towns were to be possessed by the States, that
republic might lay what duties they pleased upon British goods, after
passing by Ostend, and make their own custom-free, which would utterly
ruin our whole trade with Flanders.
Upon this, the lords told Mons. Buys very frankly, "That if the States
expected the Queen should support their barrier, as well as their
demands from France and the house of Austria upon that head, they ought
to agree, that the subjects of Britain should trade as freely to all the
countries and places, which, by virtue of any former or future treaty,
were to become the barrier of the States, as they did in the time of the
late King Charles the Second of Spain; or as the subjects of the States
General themselves shall do: and that it was hoped, their High
Mightinesses would never scruple to rectify a mistake so injurious to
that nation, without whose blood and treasure they would have had no
barrier at all." Mons. Buys had nothing to answer against these
objections, but said, he had already wrote to his masters for further
instructions.
Greater difficulties occurred about settling what should be the barrier
to the States after a peace: the envoy insisting to have all the towns
that were named in the Treaty of Barrier and Succession; and the Queen's
ministers excepting those towns, which, if they continued in the hands
of the Dutch, would render the trade of Britain to Flanders precarious.
At length it was agreed in general, that the States ought to have what
is really essential to the security of their barrier against France; and
that some amicable expedient should be found, for removing the fears
both of Britain and Holland upon this point.
But at the same time Mons. Buys was told, "That although the Queen would
certainly insist to obtain all those points from France, in behalf of
her allies the States, yet she hoped his masters were too reasonable to
break off the treaty, rather than not obtain the very utmost of their
demands, which could not be settled here, unless he were fully
instructed to speak and conclude upon that subject: That Her Majesty
thought the best way of securing the common interest, and preventing the
division of the allies, by the artifices of France, in the course of a
long negotiation, would be to concert between the Queen's ministers and
those of the States, with a due regard to the other confederates, such a
plan as might amount to a safe and honourable peace." After which the
Abbé Polignac, who of the French plenipotentiaries was most in the
secret of his court, might be told, "That it was in vain to amuse each
other any longer; that on such terms the peace would be immediately
concluded; and that the conferences must cease, if those conditions were
not, without delay, and with expedition, granted."
A treaty between Her Majesty and the States, to subsist after a peace,
was now signed, Mons. Buys having received full powers to that purpose.
His masters were desirous to have a private article added, _sub spe
rati_, concerning those terms of peace; without the granting of which,
we should stipulate not to agree with the enemy. But neither the
character of Buys, nor the manner in which he was empowered to treat,
would allow the Queen to enter into such an engagement. The congress
likewise approaching, there was not time to settle a point of so great
importance. Neither, lastly, would Her Majesty be tied down by Holland,
without previous satisfaction upon several articles in the Barrier
Treaty, so inconsistent with her engagements to other powers in the
alliance, and so injurious to her own kingdoms.
The lord privy seal, and the Earl of Stafford, having, about the time
the Parliament met, been appointed Her Majesty's plenipotentiaries for
treating a general peace, I shall here break off the account of any
further progress made in that great affair, until I resume it in the
last book of this History.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
THE HISTORY OF THE FOUR LAST
YEARS OF THE QUEEN.
BOOK III.
The House of Commons seemed resolved, from the beginning of the session,
to inquire strictly not only into all abuses relating to the accounts of
the army, but likewise into the several treaties between us and our
allies, upon what articles and conditions they were first agreed to, and
how these had been since observed. In the first week of their sitting,
they sent an address to the Queen, to desire that the treaty, whereby
Her Majesty was obliged to furnish forty thousand men, to act in
conjunction with the forces of her allies in the Low Countries, might be
laid before the House. To which the secretary of state brought an
answer, "That search had been made, but no footsteps could be found of
any treaty or convention for that purpose." It was this unaccountable
neglect in the former ministry, which first gave a pretence to the
allies for lessening their quotas, so much to the disadvantage of Her
Majesty, her kingdoms, and the common cause, in the course of the war.
It had been stipulated by the Grand Alliance, between the Emperor,
Britain, and the States, that those three powers should assist each
other with their whole force, and that the several proportions should be
specified in a particular convention. But if any such convention were
made, it was never ratified; only the parties agreed, by common consent,
to take each a certain share of the burthen upon themselves, which the
late King William communicated to the House of Commons by his secretary
of state; and which afterwards the other two powers, observing the
mighty zeal in our ministry for prolonging the war, eluded as they
pleased.
The commissioners for stating the public accounts of the kingdom, had,
in executing their office the preceding summer, discovered several
practices relating to the affairs of the army, which they drew up in a
report, and delivered to the House.
The Commons began their examination of the report with a member of their
own, Mr. Robert Walpole, already mentioned; who, during his being
secretary at war, had received five hundred guineas, and taken a note
for five hundred pounds more, on account of two contracts for forage of
the queen's troops quartered in Scotland. He endeavoured to excuse the
first contract; but had nothing to say about the second. The first
appeared so plain and so scandalous to the Commons, that they voted the
author of it guilty of a high breach of trust, and notorious corruption,
committed him prisoner to the Tower, where he continued to the end of
the session, and expelled him the House.[1] He was a person much
caressed by the opposers of the Queen and ministry, having been first
drawn into their party by his indifference to any principles, and
afterwards kept steady by the loss of his place. His bold, forward
countenance, altogether a stranger to that infirmity which makes men
bashful, joined to a readiness of speaking in public, hath justly
entitled him, among those of his faction, to be a sort of leader of the
second form. The reader must excuse me for being so particular about
one, who is otherwise altogether obscure.[2]
[Footnote 1: See "Part Hist," vi. 1071. [T.S.]]
[Footnote 2: Walpole was not too obscure, however, to be then the object
of Bolingbroke's attack; and in 1726, when Bolingbroke had again
attacked Walpole, this time in a letter, the latter replied: "Whatever
contradictions these gentlemen may have observed in my character; there
is one which I'll venture to assure you, you will never discover, which
is my ever being alarmed at an opposition from one in the impotence of
disgrace, who could never terrify me in the zenith of his prosperity."
"An Answer to the Occasional Writer." [T.S.]]
Another part of the report concerned the Duke of Marlborough, who had
received large sums of money, by way of gratuity, from those who were
the undertakers for providing the army with bread.[3] This the Duke
excused, in a letter to the commissioners, from the like practice of
other generals: but that excuse appeared to be of little weight, and the
mischievous consequences of such a corruption were visible enough; since
the money given by these undertakers were but bribes for connivance at
their indirect dealings with the army. And as frauds, that begin at the
top, are apt to spread through all the subordinate ranks of those who
have any share in the management, and to increase as they circulate: so,
in this case, for every thousand pounds given to the general, the
soldiers at least suffered fourfold.
[Footnote 3: See "The Examiner," Nos. 17 and 28, in vol. ix. of this
edition. [W.S.J.]]
Another article of this report, relating to the Duke, was yet of more
importance. The greatest part of Her Majesty's forces in Flanders were
mercenary troops, hired from several princes of Europe. It was found
that the Queen's general subtracted two and a half _per cent_, out of
the pay of those troops, for his own use, which amounted to a great
annual sum. The Duke of Marlborough, in his letter already mentioned,
endeavouring to extenuate the matter, told the commissioners, "That this
deduction was a free gift from the foreign troops, which he had
negotiated with them by the late King's orders, and had obtained the
Queen's warrant for reserving and receiving it: That it was intended for
secret service, the ten thousand pounds a year given by Parliament not
proving sufficient, and had all been laid out that way." The
commissioners observed, in answer, "That the warrant was kept dormant
for nine years, as indeed no entry of it appeared in the secretary of
state's books, and the deduction of it concealed all that time from the
knowledge of Parliament: That, if it had been a free gift from the
foreign troops, it would not have been stipulated by agreement, as the
Duke's letter confessed, and as his warrant declared, which latter
affirmed this stoppage to be intended for defraying extraordinary
contingent expenses of the troops, and therefore should not have been
applied to secret services." They submitted to the House, whether the
warrant itself were legal, or duly countersigned. The commissioners
added, "That no receipt was ever given for this deducted money, nor was
it mentioned in any receipts from the foreign troops, which were always
taken in full. And lastly, That the whole sum, on computation, amounted
to near three hundred thousand pounds."
The House, after a long debate, resolved, "That the taking several sums
from the contractors for bread by the Duke of Marlborough, was
unwarrantable and illegal; and that the two and a half _per cent_,
deducted from the foreign troops, was public money, and ought to be
accounted for:" which resolutions were laid before the Queen by the
whole House, and Her Majesty promised to do her part in redressing what
was complained of. The Duke and his friends had, about the beginning of
the war, by their credit with the Queen, procured a warrant from Her
Majesty for this perquisite of two and a half _per cent_. The warrant
was directed to the Duke of Marlborough, and countersigned by Sir
Charles Hedges, then secretary of state; by virtue of which the
paymaster-general of the army was to pay the said deducted money to the
general, and take a receipt in full from the foreign troops.
It was observed, as very commendable and becoming the dignity of such an
assembly, that this debate was managed with great temper, and with few
personal reflections upon the Duke of Marlborough. They seemed only
desirous to come at the truth, without which they could not answer the
trust reposed in them by those whom they represented, and left the rest
to Her Majesty's prudence. The attorney-general was ordered to commence
an action against the Duke for the subtracted money, which would have
amounted to a great sum, enough to ruin any private person, except
himself. This process is still depending, although very moderately
pursued, either by the Queen's indulgence to one whom she had formerly
so much trusted, or perhaps to be revived or slackened, according to the
future demeanour of the defendant.[4]
[Footnote 4: Marlborough's defence of himself may be found in the
"Parliamentary History," vol. vi., 1079. Writing to the Earl of
Strafford, under date January 27, 1711, Bolingbroke speaking of this
debate on Marlborough says: "What passed on Thursday in the House of
Commons, will, I hope, show people abroad, as well as at home, that no
merit, no grandeur, no riches can excuse, or save any one, who sets
himself up in opposition to the Queen;" and, he might have added, to
Mrs. Masham. It is to be questioned if Marlborough would have had to
undergo the ordeal of this debate had it not been for the animosity
against him on the part of this lady and her royal mistress, so deftly
aroused by Harley. [T.S.]]
Some time after, Mr. Cardonnell,[5] a Member of Parliament, and
secretary to the general in Flanders, was expelled the House, for the
offence of receiving yearly bribes from those who had contracted to
furnish bread for the army; and met with no further punishment for a
practice, voted to be unwarrantable and corrupt.
These were all the censures of any moment which the Commons, under so
great a weight of business, thought fit to make, upon the reports of
their commissioners for inspecting the public accounts. But having
promised, in the beginning of this History, to examine the state of the
nation, with respect to its debts; by what negligence or corruption they
first began, and in process of time made such a prodigious increase;
and, lastly, what courses have been taken, under the present
administration, to find out funds for answering so many unprovided
incumbrances, as well as put a stop to new ones; I shall endeavour to
satisfy the reader upon this important article.
By all I have yet read of the history of our own country, it appears to
me, that the national debts, secured upon parliamentary funds of
interest, were things unknown in England before the last Revolution
under the Prince of Orange. It is true, that in the grand rebellion the
king's enemies borrowed money of particular persons, upon what they
called the public faith; but this was only for short periods, and the
sums no more than what they could pay at once, as they constantly did.
Some of our kings have been very profuse in peace and war, and are
blamed in history for their oppressions of the people by severe taxes,
and for borrowing money which they never paid:[6] but national debts was
a style, which, I doubt, would hardly then be understood. When the
Prince of Orange was raised to the throne, and a general war began in
these parts of Europe, the King and his counsellors thought it would be
ill policy to commence his reign with heavy taxes upon the people, who
had lived long in ease and plenty, and might be apt to think their
deliverance too dearly bought: wherefore one of the first actions of the
new government was to take off the tax upon chimneys, as a burthen very
ungrateful to the commonalty. But money being wanted to support the war
(which even the convention-parliament, that put the crown upon his head,
were very unwilling he should engage in), the present Bishop of
Salisbury[7] is said to have found out that expedient (which he had
learned in Holland) of raising money upon the security of taxes, that
were only sufficient to pay a large interest. The motives which
prevailed on people to fall in with this project were many, and
plausible; for supposing, as the ministers industriously gave out, that
the war could not last above one or two campaigns at most, it might be
carried on with very moderate taxes; and the debts accruing would, in
process of time, be easily cleared after a peace. Then the bait of large
interest would draw in a great number of those whose money, by the
dangers and difficulties of trade, lay dead upon their hands; and
whoever were lenders to the government, would, by surest principle, be
obliged to support it. Besides, the men of estates could not be
persuaded, without time and difficulty, to have those taxes laid on
their lands, which custom hath since made so familiar; and it was the
business of such as were then in power to cultivate a moneyed interest;
because the gentry of the kingdom did not very much relish those new
notions in government, to which the King, who had imbibed his politics
in his own country, was thought to give too much way. Neither perhaps
did that Prince think national incumbrances to be any evil at all, since
the flourishing republic, where he was born, is thought to owe more than
ever it will be able or willing to pay. And I remember, when I mentioned
to Mons. Buys the many millions we owed, he would advance it as a maxim,
that it was for the interest of the public to be in debt: which perhaps
may be true in a commonwealth so crazily instituted, where the governors
cannot have too many pledges of their subjects' fidelity, and where a
great majority must inevitably be undone by any revolution, however
brought about: but to prescribe the same rules to a monarchy, whose
wealth ariseth from the rents and improvements of lands, as well as
trade and manufactures, is the mark of a confined and cramped
understanding.
[Footnote 5: Adam Cardonnell, Esq., secretary to the Duke of
Marlborough, shared in his disgrace. See "The Examiner," No. 28.
[W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 6: P. Fitzgerald says "which they have not been able or
willing to pay." [W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 7: Dr. Gilbert Burnet. [ORIGINAL NOTE.]]
I was moved to speak thus, because I am very well satisfied, that the
pernicious counsels of borrowing money upon public funds of interest, as
well as some other state lessons, were taken indigested from the like
practices among the Dutch, without allowing in the least for any
difference in government, religion, law, custom, extent of country, or
manners and dispositions of the people.
But when this expedient of anticipations and mortgages was first put in
practice, artful men, in office and credit, began to consider what uses
it might be applied to; and soon found it was likely to prove the most
fruitful seminary, not only to establish a faction they intended to set
up for their own support, but likewise to raise vast wealth for
themselves in particular, who were to be the managers and directors in
it. It was manifest, that nothing could promote these two designs so
much, as burthening the nation with debts, and giving encouragement to
lenders: for, as to the first, it was not to be doubted, that moneyed
men would be always firm to the party of those who advised the borrowing
upon such good security, and with such exorbitant premiums and interest;
and every new sum that was lent, took away as much power from the landed
men, as it added to theirs: so that the deeper the kingdom was engaged,
it was still the better for them. Thus a new estate and property sprung
up in the hands of mortgagees, to whom every house and foot of land in
England paid a rent-charge, free of all taxes and defalcations, and
purchased at less than half value. So that the gentlemen of estates
were, in effect, but tenants to these new landlords; many of whom were
able, in time, to force the election of boroughs out of the hands of
those who had been the old proprietors and inhabitants. This was arrived
at such a height, that a very few years more of war and funds would have
clearly cast the balance on the moneyed side.
As to the second, this project of borrowing upon funds, was of mighty
advantage to those who were in the management of it, as well as to their
friends and dependants; for, funds proving often deficient, the
government was obliged to strike tallies for making up the rest, which
tallies were sometimes (to speak in the merchants' phrase) at above
forty _per cent_, discount. At this price those who were in the secret
bought them up, and then took care to have that deficiency supplied in
the next session of Parliament, by which they doubled their principal in
a few months; and, for the encouragement of lenders, every new project
of lotteries or annuities proposed some farther advantage, either as to
interest or premium.
In the year one thousand six hundred and ninety-seven, a general
mortgage was made of certain revenues and taxes already settled, which
amounted to near a million a year. This mortgage was to continue till
one thousand seven hundred and six, to be a fund for the payment of
about five millions one hundred thousand pounds. In the first Parliament
of the Queen, the said mortgage was continued till one thousand seven
hundred and ten, to supply a deficiency of two millions three hundred
thousand pounds, and interest of above a million; and in the
intermediate years a great part of that fund was branched out into
annuities for ninety-nine years; so that the late ministry raised all
their money to one thousand seven hundred and ten, only by continuing
funds which were already granted to their hands. This deceived the
people in general, who were satisfied to continue the payments they had
been accustomed to, and made the administration seem easy, since the war
went on without any new taxes raised, except the very last year they
were in power; not considering what a mighty fund was exhausted, and
must be perpetuated, although extremely injurious to trade, and to the
true interest of the nation.
This great fund of the general mortgage was not only loaded, year after
year, by mighty sums borrowed upon it, but with the interests due upon
those sums; for which the treasury was forced to strike tallies, payable
out of that fund, after all the money already borrowed upon it, there
being no other provision of interest for three or four years: till at
last the fund was so overloaded, that it could neither pay principal nor
interest, and tallies were struck for both, which occasioned their great
discount.
But to avoid mistakes upon a subject, where I am not very well versed
either in the style or matter, I will transcribe an account sent me by a
person[8] who is thoroughly instructed in these affairs.
[Footnote 8: Sir John Blunt. [ORIGINAL NOTE.] He was one of the first
projectors of the South Sea Company, and died in January, 1733. [W.S.J.]]
"In the year one thousand seven hundred and seven, the sum of eight
hundred twenty-two thousand three hundred and eighty one pounds, fifteen
shillings and sixpence, was raised, by continuing part of the general
mortgage from one thousand seven hundred and ten to one thousand seven
hundred and twelve; but with no provision of interest till August the
first, one thousand seven hundred and ten, otherwise than by striking
tallies for it on that fund, payable after all the other money borrowed.
"In one thousand seven hundred and eight, the same funds were continued
from one thousand seven hundred and twelve to one thousand seven hundred
and fourteen, to raise seven hundred twenty-nine thousand sixty-seven
pounds fifteen shillings and sixpence; but no provision for interest
till August the first, one thousand seven hundred and twelve, otherwise
than as before, by striking tallies for it on the same fund, payable
after all the rest of the money borrowed. And the discount of tallies
then beginning to rise, great part of that money remains still unraised;
and there is nothing to pay interest for the money lent, till August the
first, one thousand seven hundred and twelve. But the late lord
treasurer struck tallies for the full sum directed by the act to be
borrowed, great part of which have been delivered in payment to the navy
and victualling offices, and some are still in the hands of the
government.
"In one thousand seven hundred and nine, part of the same fund was
continued from August the first, one thousand seven hundred and
fourteen, to August the first, one thousand seven hundred and sixteen,
to raise six hundred and forty-five thousand pounds; and no provision
for interest till August the first, one thousand seven hundred and
fourteen (which was about five years), but by borrowing money on the
same fund, payable after the sums before lent; so that little of that
money was lent But the tallies were struck for what was unlent, some of
which were given out for the payment of the navy and victualling, and
some still remain in the hands of the government.
"In one thousand seven hundred and ten, the sums which were before given
from one thousand seven hundred and fourteen, to one thousand seven
hundred and sixteen, were continued from thence to one thousand seven
hundred and twenty, to raise one million two hundred and ninety-six
thousand five hundred and fifty-two pounds nine shillings and
elevenpence three farthings; and no immediate provision for interest
till August the first, one thousand seven hundred and sixteen; only,
after the duty of one shilling _per_ bushel on salt should be cleared
from the money it was then charged with, and which was not so cleared
till Midsummer one thousand seven hundred and twelve last, then that
fund was to be applied to pay the interest till August the first, one
thousand seven hundred and sixteen, which interest amounted to about
seventy-seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-three pounds _per
annum_: and the said salt fund produceth but about fifty-five thousand
pounds _per annum_; so that no money was borrowed upon the general
mortgage in one thousand seven hundred and ten, except one hundred and
fifty thousand pounds lent by the Swiss cantons; but tallies were struck
for the whole sum. These all remained in the late treasurer's hands at
the time of his removal, yet the money was expended, which occasioned
those great demands upon the commissioners of the treasury who succeeded
him, and were forced to pawn those tallies to the bank, or to remitters,
rather than sell them at twenty or twenty-five _per cent_. discount, as
the price then was. About two hundred thousand pounds of them they paid
to clothiers of the army, and others; and all the rest, being above
ninety thousand pounds, have been subscribed into the South Sea Company
for the use of the public."
When the Earl of Godolphin was removed from his employment, he left a
debt upon the navy of ---- millions,[9] all contracted under his
administration,[10] which had no Parliament-security, and was daily
increased. Neither could I ever learn, whether that lord had the
smallest prospect of clearing this incumbrance, or whether there were
policy, negligence, or despair at the bottom of this unaccountable
management. But the consequences were visible and ruinous; for by this
means navy-bills grew to be forty _per cent_. discount, and upwards; and
almost every kind of stores, bought by the navy and victualling offices,
cost the government double rates, and sometimes more: so that the public
hath directly lost several millions upon this one article, without any
sort of necessity, that I could ever hear assigned by the ablest
vindicators of that party.
[Footnote 9: "Of millions" in original. "Of ---- millions" in 1775.
[W.S.J.]]
[Footnote 10: See "The Examiner," No. 45, and note in vol. ix. of this
edition, p. 295. [W.S.J.]]
In this oppressed and entangled state was the kingdom, with relation to
its debts, when the Queen removed the Earl of Godolphin from his office,
and put it into commission, of which the present treasurer was one. This
person had been chosen speaker successively to three Parliaments, was
afterwards secretary of state, and always in great esteem with the Queen
for his wisdom and fidelity. The late ministry, about two years before
their fall, had prevailed with Her Majesty, much against her
inclination, to dismiss him from her service; for which they cannot be
justly blamed, since he had endeavoured the same thing against them, and
very narrowly failed; which makes it the more extraordinary that he
should succeed in a second attempt against those very adversaries, who
had such fair warning by the first. He is firm and steady in his
resolutions, not easily diverted from them after he hath once possessed
himself of an opinion that they are right, nor very communicative where
he can act by himself, being taught by experience, that a secret is
seldom safe in more than one breast. That which occurs to other men
after mature deliberation, offers to him as his first thoughts; so that
he decides immediately what is best to be done, and therefore is seldom
at a loss upon sudden exigencies. He thinks it a more easy and safe rule
in politics to watch incidents as they come, and then turn them to the
advantage of what he pursues, than pretend to foresee them at a great
distance. Fear, cruelty, avarice, and pride, are wholly strangers to his
nature; but he is not without ambition. There is one thing peculiar in
his temper, which I altogether disapprove, and do not remember to have
heard or met with in any other man's character: I mean, an easiness and
indifference under any imputation, although he be never so innocent, and
although the strongest probabilities and appearance are against him; so
that I have known him often suspected by his nearest friends, for some
months, in points of the highest importance, to a degree, that they were
ready to break with him, and only undeceived by time and accident. His
detractors, who charge him with cunning, are but ill acquainted with his
character; for, in the sense they take the word, and as it is usually
understood, I know no man to whom that mean talent could be with less
justice applied, as the conduct of affairs, while he hath been at the
helm, doth clearly demonstrate, very contrary to the nature and
principles of cunning, which is always employed in serving little turns,
proposing little ends, and supplying daily exigencies by little shifts
and expedients. But to rescue a prince out of the hands of insolent
subjects, bent upon such designs as must probably end in the ruin of the
government; to find out means for paying such exorbitant debts as this
nation hath been involved in, and reduce it to a better management; to
make a potent enemy offer advantageous terms of peace, and deliver up
the most important fortress of his kingdom, as a security;[11] and this
against all the opposition, mutually raised and inflamed by parties and
allies; such performances can only be called cunning by those whose want
of understanding, or of candour, puts them upon finding ill names for
great qualities of the mind, which themselves do neither possess, nor
can form any just conception of. However, it must be allowed, that an
obstinate love of secrecy in this minister seems, at distance, to have
some resemblance of cunning; for he is not only very retentive of
secrets, but appears to be so too, which I number amongst his defects.
He hath been blamed by his friends for refusing to discover his
intentions, even in those points where the wisest man may have need of
advice and assistance, and some have censured him, upon that account, as
if he were jealous of power but he hath been heard to answer, "That he
seldom did otherwise, without cause to repent"
[Footnote 11: This is surely a piece of Swift's partiality for Oxford;
since it practically deprives Bolingbroke of whatever credit was his for
the Peace of Utrecht, and that was not a little; certainly more than may
be given to Oxford. [T.S.]]
However, so undistinguished a caution cannot, in my opinion, be
justified, by which the owner loseth many advantages, and whereof all
men, who deserved to be confided in, may with some reason complain. His
love of procrastination (wherein doubtless nature hath her share) may
probably be increased by the same means, but this is an imputation laid
upon many other great ministers, who, like men under too heavy a load,
let fall that which is of the least consequence, and go back to fetch it
when their shoulders are free, for time is often gained, as well as
lost, by delay, which at worst is a fault on the securer side.[12]
Neither probably is this minister answerable for half the clamour raised
against him upon that article: his endeavours are wholly turned upon the
general welfare of his country, but perhaps with too little regard to
that of particular persons, which renders him less amiable, than he
would otherwise have been from the goodness of his humour, and agreeable
conversation in a private capacity, and with few dependers. Yet some
allowance may perhaps be given to this failing, which is one of the
greatest he hath, since he cannot be more careless of other men's
fortunes than he is of his own. He is master of a very great and
faithful memory, which is of mighty use in the management of public
affairs; and I believe there are few examples to be produced in any age,
of a person who hath passed through so many employments in the state,
endowed with a great share, both of divine and human learning.
[Footnote 12: Unfortunately, procrastination too often ended for Harley
in very unpleasant results, and it is not too much to say, this failing
was the indirect cause of his downfall. Swift's character of Oxford, as
given in this "History," should be compared with that given of him in
"An Enquiry into the Behaviour of the Queen's Last Ministry" (vol v, pp
431-434, of present edition). Dr William King, to whom Swift had written
in 1736, for certain dates and official extracts to be included in this
"History," wrote to Swift (December 7th, 1736), referring to this very
matter of Oxford's character. As the letter applies to some other
portions of this "History," it will be better if it be given here.
"London, December 7th, 1736
SIR,
I arrived here yesterday [King had been on a visit to Paris], and I am
now ready to obey your commands. I hope you are come to a positive
resolution concerning the History. You need not hesitate about the
dates, or the references which are to be made to any public papers, for
I can supply them without the least trouble. As well as I remember,
there is but one of those public pieces which you determined should be
inserted at length; I mean Sir Thomas Hanmer's Representation; this I
have now by me. If you incline to publish the two tracts as an Appendix
to the History, you will be pleased to see if the character given of the
Earl of Oxford in the pamphlet of 1715 agrees with the character given
of the same person in the History. Perhaps on a review, you may think
proper to leave one of them quite out. You have (I think) barely
mentioned the attempt of Guiscard, and the quarrel between Rechteren and
Mesnager. But as these are facts which are probably now forgot or
unknown, it would not be amiss if they were related at large in the
notes, which may be done from the Gazettes, or any other newspapers of
those times," etc. See Sir W. Scott's edit, vol xix, pp 20-21 [T.S.]]
I am persuaded that foreigners, as well as those at home, who live too
remote from the scene of business to be rightly informed, will not be
displeased with this account of a person, who in the space of two years,
hath been so highly instrumental in changing the face of affairs in
Europe, and hath deserved so well of his own Prince and country.[13]
[Footnote 13: See also Swift's "Enquiry" (vol. v., pp. 425-476).
[W.S.J.]]
In that perplexed condition of the public debts, which I have already
described, this minister was brought into the treasury and exchequer,
and had the chief direction of affairs. His first regulation was that of
exchequer bills, which, to the great discouragement of public credit,
and scandal to the crown, were three _per cent._ less in value than the
sums specified in them. The present treasurer, being then chancellor of
the exchequer, procured an Act of Parliament, by which the Bank of
England should be obliged, in consideration of forty-five thousand
pounds, to accept and circulate those bills without any discount. He
then proceeded to stop the depredations of those who dealt in
remittances of money to the army, who, by unheard of exactions in that
kind of traffic, had amassed prodigious wealth at the public cost, to
which the Earl of Godolphin had given too much way,[14] _possibly by
neglect; for I think he cannot be accused of corruption_.
[Footnote 14: Added in the author's own handwriting. [ORIGINAL NOTE.] P.
Fitzgerald gives the addition as "either through ignorance, connivance,
or neglect." [W.S.J.]]
But the new treasurer's chief concern was to restore the credit of the
nation, by finding some settlement for unprovided debts, amounting in
the whole to ten millions, which hung on the public as a load equally
heavy and disgraceful, without any prospect of being removed, and which
former ministers never had the care or courage to inspect. He resolved
to go at once to the bottom of this evil; and having computed and summed
up the debt of the navy, and victualling, ordnance, and transport of the
army, and transport debentures made out for the service of the last war,
of the general mortgage tallies for the year one thousand seven hundred
and ten, and some other deficiencies, he then found out a fund of
interest sufficient to answer all this, which, being applied to other
uses, could not raise present money for the war, but in a very few years
would clear the debt it was engaged for. The intermediate accruing
interest was to be paid by the treasurer of the navy; and, as a farther
advantage to the creditors, they should be erected into a company for
trading to the South Seas, and for encouragement of fishery. When all
this was fully prepared and digested, he made a motion in the House of
Commons (who deferred extremely to his judgment and abilities) for
paying the debts of the navy, and other unprovided deficiencies, without
entering into particulars, which was immediately voted. But a sudden
stop was put to this affair by an unforeseen accident. The chancellor of
the exchequer (which was then his title) being stabbed with a penknife,
the following day, at the Cockpit, in the midst of a dozen lords of the
council, by the Sieur de Guiscard, a French papist; the circumstances of
which fact being not within the compass of this History, I shall only
observe, that after two months' confinement, and frequent danger of his
life, he returned to his seat in Parliament.[15]
[Footnote 15: See the particular account in "The Examiner." [ORIGINAL
NOTE.] The reference is to Nos. 33, 41, and 42 of that paper (see vol.
ix, of this edition). [W.S.J.]]
The overtures made by this minister, of paying so vast a debt, under the
pressures of a long war, and the difficulty of finding supplies for
continuing it, was, during the time of his illness, ridiculed by his
enemies as an impracticable and visionary project: and when, upon his
return to the House, he had explained his proposal, the very proprietors
of the debt were, many of them, prevailed on to oppose it; although the
obtaining this trade, either through Old Spain, or directly to the
Spanish West Indies, had been one principal end we aimed at by this war.
However, the bill passed; and, as an immediate consequence, the naval
bills rose to about twenty _per cent_., nor ever fell within ten of
their discount. Another good effect of this work appeared by the
parliamentary lotteries, which have been since erected. The last of that
kind, under the former ministry, was eleven weeks in filling; whereas
the first, under the present, was filled in a very few hours, although
it cost the government less; and the others, which followed, were full
before the Acts concerning them could pass. And to prevent incumbrances
of this kind from growing for the future, he took care, by the utmost
parsimony, or by suspending payments, where they seemed less to press,
that all stores for the navy should be bought with ready money; by which
_cent. per cent._ hath been saved in that mighty article of our expense,
as will appear from an account taken at the victualling office on the
9th of August, one thousand seven hundred and twelve. And the payment of
the interest was less a burthen upon the navy, by the stores being
bought at so cheap a rate.
It might look invidious to enter into farther particulars upon this
head, but of smaller moment. What I have above related, may serve to
shew in how ill a condition the kingdom stood, with relation to its
debts, by the corruption as well as negligence of former management; and
what prudent, effectual measures have since been taken to provide for
old incumbrances, and hinder the running into new. This may be
sufficient for the information of the reader, perhaps already tired with
a subject so little entertaining as that of accounts: I shall therefore
now return to relate some of the principal matters that passed in
Parliament, during this session.
Upon the eighteenth of January the House of Lords sent down a bill to
the Commons, for fixing the precedence of the Hanover family, which
probably had been forgot in the Acts for settling the succession of the
crown. That of Henry VIII. which gives the rank to princes of the blood,
carries it no farther than to nephews, nieces, and grandchildren of the
crown, by virtue of which the Princess Sophia is a princess of the
blood, as niece to King Charles I of England, and precedes accordingly,
but this privilege doth not descend to her son the Elector, or the
electoral prince. To supply which defect, and pay a compliment to the
presumptive heirs of the crown, this bill, as appeareth by the preamble,
was recommended by Her Majesty to the House of Lords, which the Commons,
to shew their zeal for every thing that might be thought to concern the
interest or honour of that illustrious family, ordered to be read thrice,
passed _nemine contradicente_ and returned to the Lords, without any
amendment, on the very day it was sent down.
But the House seemed to have nothing more at heart than a strict inquiry
into the state of the nation, with respect to foreign alliances. Some
discourses had been published in print, about the beginning of the
session, boldly complaining of certain articles in the Barrier Treaty,
concluded about three years since by the Lord Viscount Townshend,
between Great Britain and the States General, and shewing, in many
particulars, the unequal conduct of these powers in our alliance, in
furnishing their quotas and supplies. It was asserted by the same
writers, "That these hardships, put upon England, had been countenanced
and encouraged by a party here at home, in order to preserve their
power, which could be no otherwise maintained than by continuing the
war, as well as by Her Majesty's general abroad, upon account of his own
peculiar interest and grandeur." These loud accusations spreading
themselves throughout the kingdom, delivered in facts directly charged,
and thought, whether true or not, to be but weakly confuted, had
sufficiently prepared the minds of the people, and, by putting arguments
into every body's mouth, had filled the town and country with
controversies, both in writing and discourse. The point appeared to be
of great consequence, whether the war continued or not for, in the
former case, it was necessary that the allies should be brought to a
more equal regulation, and that the States in particular, for whom Her
Majesty had done such great things, should explain and correct those
articles in the Barrier Treaty which were prejudicial to Britain, and,
in either case, it was fit the people should have at least the
satisfaction of knowing by whose counsels, and for what designs, they
had been so hardly treated.
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 Liège; 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.
[Footnote 34: Mr. St. John and Mr. Bromley. [N.]]
[Footnote 35: This was called the March Club, but did not long subsist.
It seems probable that it included those _Tories_ whose principles went
the length of Jacobitism. [S.]]
Upon an occasion offered about this time, some persons, out of distrust
to the treasurer, endeavoured to obtain a point, which could not have
been carried without putting all into confusion. A Bill was brought into
the House of Commons, appointing commissioners to examine into the value
of all lands, and other interests granted by the crown since the
thirteenth day of February, one thousand six hundred and eighty-eight,
and upon what considerations such grants had been made. The united
country interest in the House was extremely set upon passing this Bill.
They had conceived an opinion from former precedents, that the court
would certainly oppose all steps towards a resumption of grants; and
those who were apprehensive that the treasurer inclined the same way,
proposed the Bill should be tacked to another, for raising a fund by
duties upon soap and paper, which hath been always imputed, whether
justly or no, as a favourite expedient of those called the Tory party.
At the same time it was very well known, that the House of Lords had
made a fixed and unanimous resolution against giving their concurrence
to the passing such united bills: so that the consequences of this
project must have been to bring the ministry under difficulties, to stop
the necessary supplies, and endanger the good correspondence between
both Houses; notwithstanding all which the majority carried it for a
tack; and the committee was instructed accordingly to make the two Bills
into one, whereby the worst that could happen would have followed, if
the treasurer had not convinced the warm leaders in this affair, by
undeniable reasons, that the means they were using would certainly
disappoint the end; that neither himself, nor any other of the Queen's
servants, were at all against this enquiry; and he promised his utmost
credit to help forward the bill in the House of Lords. He prevailed at
last to have it sent up single; but their lordships gave it another kind
of reception. Those who were of the side opposite to the court,
withstood it to a man, as in a party case: among the rest, some very
personally concerned, and others by friends and relations, which they
supposed a sufficient excuse to be absent, or dissent. Even those, whose
grants were antecedent to this intended inspection, began to be alarmed
as men, whose neighbours' houses are on fire. A shew of zeal for the
late king's honour, occasioned many reflections upon the date of this
enquiry, which was to commence with his reign: and the Earl of
Nottingham, who had now flung away the mask which he had lately pulled
off, like one who had no other view but that of vengeance against the
Queen and her friends, acted consistently enough with his design, by
voting as a lord against the Bill, after he had directed his son in the
House of Commons to vote for the tack.
Thus miscarried this popular Bill for appointing commissioners to
examine into royal grants; but whether those chiefly concerned did
rightly consult their own interest, hath been made a question, which
perhaps time will resolve. It was agreed that the Queen, by her own
authority, might have issued out a commission for such an enquiry, and
every body believed, that the intention of the Parliament was only to
tax the grants with about three years' purchase, and at the same time
establish the proprietors in possession of the remainder for ever; so
that, upon the whole, the grantees would have been great gainers by such
an Act, since the titles of those lands, as they stood then, were hardly
of half value with others either for sale or settlement. Besides, the
examples of the Irish forfeitures might have taught these precarious
owners, that when the House of Commons hath once engaged in a pursuit,
which they think is right, although it be stopped or suspended for a
while, they will be sure to renew it upon every opportunity that offers,
and seldom fail of success: for instance, if the resumption should
happen to be made part of a supply, which can be easily done without the
objection of a tack, the grantees might possibly then have much harder
conditions given them; and I do not see how they could prevent it.
Whether the resuming of royal grants be consistent with good policy or
justice, would be too long a disquisition: besides, the profusion of
kings is not like to be a grievance for the future, because there have
been laws since made to provide against that evil, or, indeed, rather
because the crown has nothing left to give away. But the objection made
against the date of the intended enquiry was invidious and trifling; for
King James II. made very few grants: he was a better manager, and
squandering was none of his faults; whereas the late king, who came over
here a perfect stranger to our laws, and to our people, regardless of
posterity, wherein he was not likely to survive, thought he could no way
better strengthen a new title, than by purchasing friends at the expense
of every thing which was in his power to part with.
The reasonableness of uniting to a money bill one of a different nature,
which is usually called _tacking_ hath been likewise much debated, and
will admit of argument enough. In ancient times, when a Parliament was
held, the Commons first proposed their grievances to be redressed, and
then gave their aids; so that it was a perfect bargain between the king
and the subject. This fully answered the ends of tacking. Aids were then
demanded upon occasions which would hardly pass at present; such, for
instance, as those for making the king's son a knight, marrying his
eldest daughter, and some others of the like sort. Most of the money
went into the king's coffers for his private use; neither was he
accountable for any part of it. Hence arose the form of the king's
thanking his subjects for their benevolence, when any subsidies, tenths,
or fifteenths were given him: but the supplies now granted are of
another nature, and cannot be properly called a particular benefit to
the crown, because they are all appropriated to their several uses: so
that when the House of Commons tack to a money bill what is foreign and
hard to be digested, if it be not passed, they put themselves and their
country in as great difficulties as the prince. On the other side, there
have been several regulations made, through the course of time, in
parliamentary proceedings; among which it is grown a rule, that a Bill
once rejected shall not be brought up again the same session; whereby
the Commons seem to have lost the advantage of purchasing a redress of
their grievances, by granting supplies, which, upon some emergencies,
hath put them upon this expedient of tacking: so that there is more to
be said on each side of the case, than is convenient for me to trouble
the reader or myself in deducing.
Among the matters of importance during this session, we may justly
number the proceedings of the House of Commons with relation to the
press, since Her Majesty's message to the House, of January the
seventeenth, concludes with a paragraph, representing the great licences
taken in publishing false and scandalous libels, such as are a reproach
to any government; and recommending to them to find a remedy equal to
the mischief. The meaning of these words in the message, seems to be
confined to these weekly and daily papers and pamphlets, reflecting upon
the persons and the management of the ministry. But the House of
Commons, in their address, which answers this message, makes an addition
of the blasphemies against God and religion; and it is certain, that
nothing would be more for the honour of the legislature, than some
effectual law for putting a stop to this universal mischief: but as the
person,[36] who advised the Queen in that part of her message, had only
then in his thoughts the redressing of the political and factious
libels, I think he ought to have taken care, by his great credit in the
House, to have proposed some ways by which that evil might be removed;
the law for taxing single papers having produced a quite contrary
effect, as was then foreseen by many persons, and hath since been found
true by experience, For the adverse party, full of rage and leisure
since their fall, and unanimous in defence of their cause, employ a set
of writers by subscription, who are well versed in all the topics of
defamation, and have a style and genius levelled to the generality of
readers; while those who would draw their pens on the side of their
prince and country, are discouraged by this tax, which exceeds the
intrinsic value both of the materials and the work; a thing, if I be not
mistaken, without example.
[Footnote 36: Mr. Secretary St. John, now Lord Viscount Bolingbroke.
[ORIGINAL NOTE.]]
It must be acknowledged, that the bad practices of printers have been
such, as to deserve the severest animadversions of the public; and it is
to be wished, the party quarrels of the pen were always managed with
decency and truth: but in the mean time, to open the mouths of our
enemies and shut our own, is a turn of politics that wants a little to
be explained. Perhaps the ministry now in possession, because they are
in possession, may despise such trifles as this; and it is not to be
denied, that acting as they do upon a national interest, they may seem
to stand in less need of such supports, or may safely fling them down as
no longer necessary. But if the leaders of the other party had proceeded
by this maxim, their power would have been none at all, or of very short
duration: and had not some active pens fallen in to improve the good
dispositions of the people, upon the late change, and continued since to
overthrow the falsehood, plentifully, and sometimes not unplausibly,
scattered by the adversaries, I am very much in doubt, whether those at
the helm would now have reason to be pleased with their success. A
particular person may, with more safety, despise the opinion of the
vulgar, because it does a wise man no real harm or good, but the
administration a great deal; and whatever side has the sole management
of the pen, will soon find hands enough to write down their enemies as
low as they please. If the people had no other idea of those whom Her
Majesty trusts in her greatest affairs, than what is conveyed by the
passions of such as would compass sea and land for their destruction,
what could they expect, but to be torn in pieces by the rage of the
multitude? How necessary therefore was it, that the world should, from
time to time, be undeceived by true representations of persons and
facts, which have kept the kingdom steady to its interest, against all
the attacks of a cunning and virulent faction.
However, the mischiefs of the press were too exorbitant to be cured, by
such a remedy as a tax upon the smaller papers; and a Bill for a much
more effectual regulation of it was brought into the House of Commons,
but so late in the session, that there was no time to pass it: for there
hath hitherto always appeared, an unwillingness to cramp overmuch the
liberty of the press, whether from the inconveniencies apprehended from
doing too much, or too little; or whether the benefit proposed by each
party to themselves, from the service of their writers, towards
recovering or preserving of power, be thought to outweigh the
disadvantages. However it came about, this affair was put off from one
week to another, and the Bill not brought into the House till the eighth
of June. It was committed three days, and then heard of no more. In this
Bill there was a clause inserted, (whether industriously with design to
overthrow it) that the author's name, and place of abode, should be set
to every printed book, pamphlet, or paper; which I believe no man, who
hath the least regard to learning, would give his consent to: for,
besides the objection to this clause from the practice of pious men,
who, in publishing excellent writings for the service of religion, have
chosen, out of an humble Christian spirit, to conceal their names; it is
certain, that all persons of true genius or knowledge have an invincible
modesty and suspicion of themselves, upon their first sending their
thoughts into the world; and that those who are dull or superficial,
void of all-taste and judgment, have dispositions directly contrary: so
that if this clause had made part of a law, there would have been an
end, in all likelihood, of any valuable production for the future,
either in wit or learning: and that insufferable race of stupid people,
who are now every day loading the press, would then reign alone, in time
destroy our very first principles of reason, and introduce barbarity
amongst us, which is already kept out with so much difficulty by so few
hands.
Having given an account of the several steps made towards a peace, from
the first overtures begun by France, to the commencement of the second
session, I shall in the Fourth Book relate the particulars of this great
negotiation, from the period last mentioned to the present time; and
because there happened some passages in both Houses, occasioned by the
treaty, I shall take notice of them under that head. There only remains
to be mentioned one affair of another nature, which the Lords and
Commons took into their cognizance, after a very different manner,
wherewith I shall close this part of my subject.
The sect of Quakers amongst us, whose system of religion, first founded
upon enthusiasm, hath been many years growing into a craft, held it an
unlawful action to take an oath to a magistrate. This doctrine was
taught them by the author of their sect, from a literal application of
the text, "Swear not at all;" but being a body of people, wholly turned
to trade and commerce of all kinds, they found themselves on many
occasions deprived of the benefit of the law, as well as of voting at
elections, by a foolish scruple, which their obstinacy would not suffer
them to get over. To prevent this inconvenience, these people had credit
enough in the late reign to have an Act passed, that their solemn
affirmation and declaration should be accepted, instead of an oath in
the usual form. The great concern in those times, was to lay all
religion upon a level; in order to which, this maxim was advanced, "That
no man ought to be denied the liberty of serving his country upon
account of a different belief in speculative opinions," under which term
some people were apt to include every doctrine of Christianity: however,
this Act, in favour of the Quakers, was only temporary, in order to keep
them in constant dependence, and expired of course after a certain term,
if it were not continued. Those people had, therefore, very early in the
session, offered a petition to the House of Commons for a continuance of
the Act, which was not suffered to be brought up; upon this they applied
themselves to the Lords, who passed a Bill accordingly, and sent it down
to the Commons, where it was not so much as allowed a first reading.
And indeed it is not easy to conceive upon what motives the legislature
of so great a kingdom could descend so low, as to be ministerial and
subservient to the caprices of the most absurd heresy that ever appeared
in the world; and this in a point, where those deluding or deluded
people stand singular from all the rest of mankind who live under civil
government: but the designs of an aspiring party, at that time were not
otherwise to be compassed, than by undertaking any thing that would
humble and mortify the Church; and I am fully convinced, that if a sect
of sceptic philosophers (who profess to doubt of every thing) had been
then among us, and mingled their tenets with some corruptions of
Christianity, they might have obtained the same privilege; and that a
law would have been enacted, whereby the solemn doubt of the people
called sceptics, should have been accepted instead of an oath in the
usual form; so absurd are all maxims formed upon the inconsistent
principles of faction, when once they are brought to be examined by the
standard of truth and reason.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
THE HISTORY OF THE FOUR LAST
YEARS OF THE QUEEN.
BOOK IV.
We left the plenipotentiaries of the allies, and those of the enemy,
preparing to assemble at Utrecht on the first of January, N.S., in order
to form a congress for negotiating a general peace; wherein although the
Dutch had made a mighty merit of their compliance with the Queen, yet
they set all their instruments at work to inflame both Houses against
Her Majesty's measures. Mons. Bothmar, the Hanover envoy, took care to
print and disperse his Memorial, of which I have formerly spoken:
Hoffman, the Emperor's resident, was soliciting for a yacht and convoys
to bring over Prince Eugene at this juncture, fortified, as it was given
out, with great proposals from the Imperial court: the Earl of
Nottingham became a convert, for reasons already mentioned: money was
distributed where occasion required; and the Dukes of Somerset and
Marlborough, together with the Earl of Godolphin, had put themselves at
the head of the junto, and their adherents, in order to attack the
court.
Some days after the vote passed the House of Lords for admitting into
the address the Earl of Nottingham's clause, against any peace without
Spain; Mons. Buys, the Dutch envoy, who had been deep in all the
consultations with the discontented party for carrying that point, was
desired to meet with the lord privy seal, the Earl of Dartmouth, and Mr.
Secretary St. John, in order to sign a treaty between the Queen and the
States, to subsist after a peace. There the envoy took occasion to
expostulate upon the advantages stipulated for Britain with France; said
"It was his opinion, that those ministers ought, in respect of the
friendship between both nations, to acquaint him what these advantages
were; and that he looked upon his country to be entitled, by treaty, to
share them equally with us: That there was now another reason why we
should be more disposed to comply with him upon this head; for since the
late resolution of the House of Lords, he took it for granted, it would
be a dangerous step in us to give Spain to a prince of the house of
Bourbon; and therefore, that we should do well to induce the States, by
such a concession, to help us out of this difficulty."
Mr. St. John made answer, "That there was not a man in the Queen's
council capable of so base a thought: That if Buys had any thing to
complain of, which was injurious to Holland, or justly tending to hurt
the good correspondence between us and the States, he was confident Her
Majesty would at all times be ready to give it up; but that the
ministers scorned to screen themselves at the expense of their country:
That the resolution Buys mentioned, was chiefly owing to foreign
ministers intermeddling in our affairs, and would perhaps have an effect
the projectors did not foresee: That, if the peace became impracticable,
the House of Commons would certainly put the war upon another foot, and
reduce the public expense within such a compass as our treaties required
in the strictest sense, and as our present condition would admit,
leaving the partisans for war to supply the rest."
Although the secretary believed this answer would put an end to such
infamous proposals, it fell out otherwise; for shortly after, Mons. Buys
applied himself to the treasurer, promising to undertake, "That his
masters should give up the article of Spain, provided they might share
with us in the Assiento for negroes." To which the treasurer's answer
was short, "That he would rather lose his head than consent to such an
offer."
It is manifest, by this proceeding, that whatever schemes were forming
here at home, in this juncture, by the enemies to the peace, the Dutch
only designed to fall in with it as far as it would answer their own
account; and, by a strain of the lower politics, wherein they must be
allowed to excel every country in Christendom, lay upon the watch for a
good bargain, by taking advantage of the distress they themselves had
brought upon their nearest neighbour and ally.
But the Queen highly resented this indignity from a republic, upon whom
she had conferred so many obligations. She could not endure that the
Dutch should employ their instruments to act in confederacy with a cabal
of factious people, who were prepared to sacrifice the safety of their
prince and country to the recovery of that power they had so long
possessed and abused. Her Majesty knew very well, that whatever were the
mistaken or affected opinion of some people at home, upon the article of
Spain, it was a point the States had long given up, who had very openly
told our ministry, "That the war in that country was only our concern,
and what their republic had nothing to do with." It is true, the
party-leaders were equally convinced, that the recovery of Spain was
impracticable; but many things may be excused in a professed adversary,
fallen under disgrace, which are highly criminal in an ally, upon whom
we are that very instant conferring new favours. Her Majesty therefore
thought it high time to exert herself, and at length put a stop to
foreign influence upon British counsels; so that, after the Earl of
Nottingham's clause against any peace, without Spain, was carried in the
House of Lords, directions were immediately sent to the Earl of
Strafford at The Hague, to inform the Dutch, "That it was obtained by a
trick, and would consequently turn to the disappointment and confusion
of the contrivers and the actors." He was likewise instructed to be very
dry and reserved to the pensionary and Dutch ministers; to let them
know, "The Queen thought herself ill treated; and that they would soon
hear what effects those measures would have upon a mild and good temper,
wrought up to resentment by repeated provocations: That the States might
have the war continued, if they pleased; but that the Queen would not be
forced to carry it on after their manner, nor would suffer them to make
her peace, or to settle the interests of her kingdoms."
To others in Holland, who appeared to be more moderate, the Earl was
directed to say, "That the States were upon a wrong scent: That their
minister here mistook every thing that we had promised: That we would
perform all they could reasonably ask from us, in relation to their
barrier and their trade; and that Mons. Buys dealt very unfairly, if he
had not told them as much. But that Britain proceeded, in some respects,
upon a new scheme of politics; would no longer struggle for
impossibilities, nor be amused by words: That our people came more and
more to their senses; and that the single dispute now was, whether the
Dutch would join with a faction, against the Queen, or with the nation,
for her?"
The court likewise resolved to discourage Prince Eugene from his journey
to England, which he was about this time undertaking, and of which I
have spoken before. He was told, "That the Queen wanted no exhortations
to carry on the war; but the project of it should be agreed abroad, upon
which Her Majesty's resolutions might soon be signified: but until she
saw what the Emperor and allies were ready to do, she would neither
promise nor engage for any thing." At the same time Mr. St. John told
Hoffman, the Emperor's resident here, "That if the Prince had a mind to
divert himself in London, the ministers would do their part to entertain
him, and be sure to trouble him with no manner of business."
This coldness retarded the Prince's journey for some days; but did not
prevent it, although he had a second message by the Queen's order, with
this farther addition, "That his name had lately been made use of, on
many occasions, to create a ferment, and stir up sedition; and that Her
Majesty judged it would be neither safe for him, nor convenient for her,
that he should come over at this time." But all would not do: it was
enough that the Queen did not absolutely forbid him, and the
party-confederates, both foreign and domestic, thought his presence
would be highly necessary for their service.
Towards the end of December, the lord privy seal[1] set out for Holland.
He was ordered to stop at The Hague, and, in conjunction with the Earl
of Stafford, to declare to the States, in Her Majesty's name, "Her
resolutions to conclude no peace, wherein the allies in general, and
each confederate in particular, might not find their ample security, and
their reasonable satisfaction: That she was ready to insist upon their
barrier, and advantages in their trade, in the manner the States
themselves should desire; and to concert with them such a plan of
treaty, as both powers might be under mutual engagements never to recede
from: That nothing could be of greater importance, than for the
ministers of Great Britain and Holland to enter the congress under the
strictest ties of confidence, and entirely to concur throughout the
course of these negotiations: To which purpose, it was Her Majesty's
pleasure, that their lordships should adjust with the Dutch ministers,
the best manner and method for opening and carrying on the conferences,
and declare themselves instructed to communicate freely their thoughts
and measures to the plenipotentiaries of the States, who, they hoped,
had received the same instructions."
[Footnote 1: Dr. Robinson had already had diplomatic experience as
political agent at the Court of Stockholm, when Marlborough had found
him of great service. [T.S.]]
Lastly, the two lords were to signify to the pensionary, and the other
ministers, "That Her Majesty's preparations for the next campaign were
carried on with all the dispatch and vigour, which the present
circumstances would allow; and to insist, that the same might be done by
the States; and that both powers should join in pressing the Emperor,
and other allies, to make greater efforts than they had hitherto done;
without which the war must languish, and the terms of peace become every
day more disadvantageous."
The two British plenipotentiaries went to Utrecht with very large
instructions, and, after the usual manner, were to make much higher
demands from France (at least in behalf of the allies) than they could
have any hope to obtain. The sum of what they had in charge, besides
matter of form, was, to concert with the ministers of the several powers
engaged against France, "That all differences arising among them should
be accommodated between themselves, without suffering the French to
interfere: That whatever were proposed to France by a minister of the
alliance, should be backed by the whole confederacy: That a time might
be fixed for the conclusion, as there had been for the commencement, of
the treaty." Spain was to be demanded out of the hands of the Bourbon
family, as the most effectual means for preventing the union of that
kingdom with France; and whatever conditions the allies could agree upon
for hindering that union, their lordships were peremptorily to insist
on.
As to the interests of each ally in particular, the plenipotentiaries of
Britain were to demand "Strasbourg, the fort of Kehl, with its
dependencies, and the town of Brisach, with its territory, for the
Emperor: That France should possess Alsatia, according to the Treaty of
Westphalia, with the right of the prefecture only over the ten imperial
cities in that country: That the fortifications of the said ten cities
be put into the condition they were in at the time of the said treaty,
except Landau, which was to be demanded for the Emperor and empire, with
liberty of demolishing the fortifications: That the French King should
at a certain time, and at his own expense, demolish the fortresses of
Huningen, New Brisach, and Fort Lewis, never to be rebuilt.
"That the town and fortress of Rhinfels should be demanded for the
landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, until that matter be otherwise settled.
"That the clause relating to religion, in the fourth article of the
Treaty of Ryswyck, and contrary to that of Westphalia, should be
annulled, and the state of religion in Germany restored to the tenor of
the Treaty of Westphalia.
"That France should acknowledge the King of Prussia, and give him no
disturbance in Neufchatel and Vallengin.
"That the principality of Orange, and other estates belonging to the
late King William, should be restored, as law should direct.
"That the Duke of Hanover should be acknowledged elector.
"That the King of Portugal should enjoy all the advantages stipulated
between him and the allies.
"That the States should have for their barrier Furnes, Fort Knokke,
Menin, Ypres, Lille, Tournay, Condé, Valenciennes, Maubeuge, Douay,
Bethune, Aire,[2] St. Venant, and Bouchain, with their cannon, &c. That
the French King should restore all the places belonging to Spain, now or
during this war in his possession, in the Netherlands: That such part of
them as should be thought fit, might be allowed likewise for a barrier
to the States: That France should grant the tariff of one thousand six
hundred and sixty-four to the States, and exemption of fifty pence _per_
tun upon Dutch goods trading to that kingdom. But that these articles in
favour of the States should not be concluded, till the Barrier Treaty
were explained to the Queen's satisfaction.
[Footnote: 2 "Bethune Avie" in original: a manifest misprint. "Aire" is
the name of a place near Bethune, which has since been connected with it
by a canal. [W.S.J.]]
"That the Duke of Savoy should be put in possession of all taken from
him in this war, and enjoy the places yielded to him by the Emperor, and
other allies: That France should likewise yield to him Exilles,
Fenestrelle, Chaumont, the valley of Pragelas, and the land lying
between Piedmont and Mount Genu.
"That the article about demolishing of Dunkirk should be explained."
As to Britain, the plenipotentiaries were to insist, "That Nieuport,
Dendermonde, Ghent, and all places which appear to be a barrier rather
against England than France, should either not be given to the Dutch, or
at least in such a manner, as not to hinder the Queen's subjects free
passage to and from the Low Countries.
"That the seventh article of the Barrier Treaty, which empowers the
States, in case of an attack, to put troops at discretion in all the
places of the Low Countries, should be so explained as to be understood
only of an attack from France.
"That Britain should trade to the Low Countries with the same privileges
as the States themselves.
"That the Most Christian King should acknowledge the succession of
Hanover, and immediately oblige the Pretender to leave France; and that
the said King should promise, for himself and his heirs, never to
acknowledge any person for King or Queen of England, otherwise than
according to the settlements now in force.
"That a treaty of commerce should be commenced, as soon as possible,
between France and Britain; and in the mean time, the necessary points
relating to it be settled.
"That the Isle of St. Christopher's should be surrendered to the Queen,
Hudson's Bay restored, Placentia and the whole island of Newfoundland
yielded to Britain by the Most Christian King; who was likewise to quit
all claim to Nova Scotia and Annapolis Royal.
"That Gibraltar and Minorca should be annexed to the British crown.
"That the Assiento should be granted to Britain for thirty years, with
the same advantage as to France; with an extent of ground on the river
of Plata, for keeping and refreshing the negroes.
"That Spain should grant to the subjects of Britain as large privileges
as to any other nation whatsoever; as likewise an exemption of duties,
amounting to an advantage of at least fifteen _per cent_.
"That satisfaction should be demanded for what should appear to be
justly due to Her Majesty, from the Emperor and the States.
"Lastly, That the plenipotentiaries should consult with those of the
Protestant allies, the most effectual methods for restoring the
Protestants of France to their religious and civil liberties, and for
the immediate release of those who are now in the galleys."
What part of these demands were to be insisted on, and what were to be
given up, will appear by the sequel of this negotiation. But there was
no difficulty of moment enough to retard the peace, except a method for
preventing the union of France and Spain under one prince, and the
settling the barrier for Holland; which last, as claimed by the States,
could, in prudence and safety, be no more allowed by us than by France.
The States General having appointed Mons. Buys to be one of their
plenipotentiaries at Utrecht, that minister left England a few days
after the lord privy seal. In his last conference with the lords of the
council, he absolutely declared, "That his masters had done their
utmost, both by sea and land: That it was unreasonable to expect more:
That they had exceeded their proportion, even beyond Britain; and that
as to the Emperor, and other allies, he knew no expedient left for
making them act with more vigour, than to pursue them with pathetical
exhortations."
This minister was sent over hither, instructed and empowered by halves.
The ferment raised by the united endeavours of our party leaders, among
whom he was a constant fellow-labourer to the utmost of his skill, had
wholly confounded him; and thinking to take the advantage of negotiating
well for Holland at the expense of Britain, he acted but ill for his own
country, and worse for the common cause. However, the Queen's ministers
and he parted with the greatest civility; and Her Majesty's present was
double the value of what is usual to the character he bore.[3]
[Footnote 3: Compare this passage with one in Bolingbroke's
"Correspondence" (vol. ii., pp. 108-109): "He [Buys] came over
instructed and empowered by halves. The ferment which had been created
by the joint efforts of the faction here, and of that in Holland,
confounded him; and thinking to take this advantage of negotiating well
for Holland at the expense of Britain, he has negotiated ill for both
and ill for the common cause. We parted in terms of the greatest
civility, and Her Majesty's present to him was a thousand pounds,
which is double the value of what is ever given here to an
envoy-extraordinary." [T.S.]]
As the Queen was determined to alter her measures in making war, so she
thought nothing would so much convince the States of the necessity of a
peace, as to have them frequently put in mind of this resolution, which
her ambassador Strafford, then at The Hague, was accordingly directed to
do: and if they should object, of what ill consequence it would be for
the enemy to know Her Majesty designed to lessen her expenses, he might
answer, "That the ministers here were sorry for it; but the Dutch could
only blame themselves, for forcing into such a necessity a princess, to
whose friendship they owed the preservation and grandeur of their
republic, and choosing to lean on a broken faction, rather than place
their confidence in the Queen."
It was Her Majesty's earnest desire, that there should be a perfect
agreement at this treaty between the ministers of all the allies, than
which nothing could be more effectual to make France comply with their
just demands: above all, she directed her plenipotentiaries to enter
into the strictest confidence with those of Holland; and that, after the
States had consented to explain the Barrier Treaty to her reasonable
satisfaction, both powers should form between them a plan of general
peace, from which they would not recede, and such as might secure the
quiet of Europe, as well as the particular interests of each
confederate.
The Dutch were accordingly pressed, before the congress opened, to come
to some temperament upon that famous treaty; because the ministers here
expected it would be soon laid before the House of Commons, by which the
resentment of the nation would probably appear against those who had
been actors and advisers in it: but Mons. Buys, who usually spoke for
his colleagues, was full of opposition, began to expostulate upon the
advantages Britain had stipulated with France; and to insist, that his
masters ought to share equally in them all, but especially the Assiento
contract: so that no progress was made in fixing a previous good
correspondence between Britain and the States, which Her Majesty had so
earnestly recommended.
Certain regulations having been agreed upon, for avoiding of ceremony
and other inconveniencies, the conferences began at Utrecht, upon the
twenty-ninth of January, N.S. one thousand seven hundred and
eleven-twelve, at ten in the morning. The ministers of the allies going
into the town-house at one door, and those of France, at the same
instant, at another, they all took their seats without distinction; and
the Bishop of Bristol, lord privy seal, first plenipotentiary of
Britain, opened the assembly with a short speech, directed to the
ministers of France, in words to the following effect:
"MESSIEURS,
"We are here to meet to-day, in the name of God, to enter upon a treaty
of general peace, between the high allies and the King your master. We
bring sincere intentions, and express orders from our superiors, to
concur, on their part, with whatever may advance and perfect so salutary
and Christian a work. On the other side, we hope you have the same
disposition; and that your orders will be so full, as to be able,
without loss of time, to answer the expectation of the high allies, by
explaining yourselves clearly and roundly upon the points we shall have
to settle in these conferences; and that you will perform this in so
plain and specific a manner, as every prince and state in the
confederacy may find a just and reasonable satisfaction."
The French began, by promising to explain the overtures which Mons.
Mesnager had delivered to the Queen some months before, and to give in a
specific project of what their master would yield, provided the allies
would each give a specific answer, by making their several demands;
which method, after many difficulties, and affected delays in the Dutch,
was at length agreed to.
But the States, who had, with the utmost discontent, seen Her Majesty at
the head of this negotiation, where they intended to have placed
themselves, began to discover their ill-humour upon every occasion; they
raised endless difficulties about settling the Barrier Treaty, as the
Queen desired; and in one of the first general conferences, they would
not suffer the British secretary to take the minutes, but nominated some
Dutch professor for that office, which the Queen refused, and resented
their behaviour as an useless cavil, intended only to shew their want of
respect. The British plenipotentiaries had great reason to suspect, that
the Dutch were, at this time, privately endeavouring to engage in some
separate measures with France, by the intervention of one Molo, a busy
factious agent at Amsterdam, who had been often employed in such
intrigues: that this was the cause which made them so litigious and slow
in all their steps, in hopes to break the congress, and find better
terms for their trade and barrier, from the French, than we ever could
think fit to allow them. The Dutch ministers did also apply themselves
with industry, to cultivate the imperial plenipotentiary's favour, in
order to secure all advantages of commerce with Spain and the West
Indies, in case those dominions could be procured for the Emperor: for
this reason they avoided settling any general plan of peace, in concert
with the plenipotentiaries of Britain, which Her Majesty desired; and
Mons. Buys plainly told their lordships, that it was a point, which
neither he nor his colleagues could consent to, before the States were
admitted equal sharers with Britain in the trade of Spain.
The court having notice of this untractable temper in the Dutch, gave
direct orders to the plenipotentiaries of Britain, for pressing those of
the States to adjust the gross in equalities of the Barrier Treaty,
since nothing was more usual or agreeable to reason than for princes,
who find themselves aggrieved by prejudicial contracts, to expect they
should be modified and explained. And since it now appeared by votes in
the House of Commons, that the sense of the nation agreed with what Her
Majesty desired, if the Dutch ministers would not be brought to any
moderate terms upon this demand, their lordships were directed to
improve and amend the particular concessions made to Britain by France,
and form them into a treaty, for the Queen was determined never to allow
the States any share in the Assiento, Gibraltar, and Port Mahon, nor
could think it reasonable, that they should be upon an equal foot with
her in the trade of Spain, to the conquest whereof they had contributed
so little.
Nor was the conduct of the imperial minister at this time less
perplexing than that of the States, both those powers appearing fully
bent, either upon breaking off the negotiation, or, upon forcing from
the Queen those advantages she expected by it for her own kingdoms. Her
Majesty therefore thought fit, about the beginning of March, to send Mr.
Thomas Harley, a near relation of the treasurer's, to Utrecht, fully
informed of her mind, which he was directed to communicate to the
plenipotentiaries of Britain.
Mr. Harley stopped in his way to Utrecht at The Hague, and there told
the pensionary, "That nothing had happened lately in England but what
was long ago foretold him, as well as the other ministers of the allies.
That the proceedings of the House of Commons, particularly about the
Barrier Treaty, must chiefly be ascribed to the manner in which the
Queen and the nation had been treated by Mons. Bothmar, Count Gallas,
Buys, and other foreign ministers. That if the States would yet enter
into a strict union with the Queen, give her satisfaction in the said
treaty, and join in concert with her plenipotentiaries at Utrecht, a
safe and advantageous peace might be obtained for the whole alliance;
otherwise Her Majesty must save her own country, and join with such of
her allies as would join with her.
"As to the war, that the conduct of the allies, and their opposition to
the Queen, by private intrigues carried on among her own subjects, as
well as by open remonstrances, had made the House of Commons take that
matter out of the hands of the ministers.
"Lastly, that in case the present treaty were broken off by the Dutch
refusing to comply, Her Majesty thought it reasonable to insist, that
some cautionary places be put into her hands as pledges, that no other
negotiation should be entered into by the States General, without her
participation."
Mr. Harley's instructions to the Queen's plenipotentiaries were, "That
they should press those of France, to open themselves as far as
possible, in concerting such a plan of a general peace, as might give
reasonable satisfaction to all the confederates, and such as her
Parliament would approve: That the people of England believed France
would consent to such a plan; wherein if they found themselves deceived,
they would be as eager for prosecuting the war as ever."
Their lordships were to declare openly to the Dutch, "That no extremity
should make Her Majesty depart from insisting to have the Assiento for
her own subjects, and to keep Gibraltar and Port Mahon; but if the
States would agree with her upon these three heads, she would be content
to reduce the trade of Spain and the West Indies, to the condition it
was in under the late Catholic King Charles II."
The French were farther to be pressed, "That the Pretender should be
immediately sent out of that kingdom; and that the most effectual method
should be taken, for preventing the union of France and Spain under one
prince."
About this time Her Majesty's ministers, and those of the allies at
Utrecht, delivered in the several _postulata_ or demands of their
masters to the French plenipotentiaries, which having been since made
public, and all of them, except those of Britain, very much varying in
the course of the negotiation, the reader would be but ill entertained
with a transcript of them here.
Upon intelligence of the last dauphin's death, the father, son, and
grandson, all of that title,[4] dying within the compass of a year,
Mons. Gaultier went to France with letters to the Marquis de Torcy, to
propose Her Majesty's expedient for preventing the union of that kingdom
with Spain; which, as it was the most important article to be settled,
in order to secure peace for Europe, so it was a point that required to
be speedily adjusted under the present circumstances and situation of
the Bourbon family, there being only left a child of two years old to
stand between the Duke of Anjou and his succeeding to the crown of
France.
[Footnote 4: These princes were the grandfather, the father, and the
brother, of Louis XV., who was then Duke of Anjou, and supposed to be at
the point of death. [N.]]
Her Majesty likewise pressed France by the same dispatches, to send full
instructions to their plenipotentiaries, empowering them to offer to the
allies such a plan of peace, as might give reasonable satisfaction to
all her allies.
The Queen's proposal for preventing an union between France and Spain
was, "that Philip should formally renounce the kingdom of France for
himself and his posterity; and that this renunciation should be
confirmed by the Cortes or states of Spain, who, without question, would
heartily concur against such an union, by which their country must
become a province to France." In like manner, the French princes of the
blood were severally to renounce all title to Spain.
The French raised many difficulties upon several particulars of this
expedient; but the Queen persisted to refuse any plan of peace before
this weighty point were settled in the manner she proposed, which was
afterwards submitted to, as in proper place we shall observe. In the
mean time, the negotiation at Utrecht proceeded with a very slow pace;
the Dutch interposing all obstructions they could contrive, refusing to
come to any reasonable temper upon the Barrier Treaty, or to offer a
plan, in concert with the Queen, for a general peace. Nothing less would
satisfy them, than the partaking in those advantages we had stipulated
for ourselves, and which did no ways interfere with their trade or
security. They still expected some turn in England; their friends on
this side had ventured to assure them, that the Queen could not live
many months, which, indeed, from the bad state of Her Majesty's health,
was reasonable to expect. The British plenipotentiaries daily discovered
new endeavours of Holland to treat privately with France; and, lastly,
those among the States, who desired the war should continue, strove to
gain time, until the campaign should open; and by resolving to enter
into action with the first opportunity, render all things desperate, and
break up the congress.
This scheme did exactly fall in with Prince Eugene's dispositions, whom
the States had chosen for their general, and of whose conduct, in this
conjuncture, the Queen had too much reason to be jealous; but Her
Majesty, who was resolved to do her utmost towards putting a good and
speedy end to this war, having placed the Duke of Ormonde at the head of
her forces in Flanders, whither he was now arrived, directed him to keep
all the troops in British pay, whether subjects or foreigners,
immediately under his own command; and to be cautious, for a while, in
engaging in any action of importance, unless upon a very apparent
advantage. At the same time the Queen determined to make one thorough
trial of the disposition of the States, by allowing them the utmost
concessions that could any way suit either with her safety or honour.
She therefore directed her ministers at Utrecht, to tell the Dutch,
"That, in order to shew how desirous she was to live in perfect amity
with that republic, she would resign up the fifteen _per cent._,
advantage upon English goods sent to the Spanish dominions, which the
French King had offered her by a power from his grandson,[5] and be
content to reduce that trade to the state in which it was under the late
King of Spain. She would accept of any tolerable softening of these
words in the seventh article of the Barrier Treaty, where it is said,
'The States shall have power, in case of an apparent attack, to put as
many troops as they please into all the places of the Netherlands,'
without specifying an attack from the side of France, as ought to have
been done; otherwise, the Queen might justly think they were preparing
themselves for a rupture with Britain. Her Majesty likewise consented,
that the States should keep Nieuport, Dendermonde, and the Castle of
Ghent, as an addition to their barrier, although she were sensible how
injurious those concessions would be to the trade of her subjects; and
would waive the demand of Ostend being delivered into her hands, which
she might with justice insist on. In return for all this, that the Queen
only desired the ministers of the States would enter into a close
correspondence with hers, and settle between them some plan of a general
peace, which might give reasonable content to all her allies, and which
Her Majesty would endeavour to bring France to consent to. She desired
the trade of her kingdoms to the Netherlands, and to the towns of their
barrier, might be upon as good a foot as it was before the war began:
That the Dutch would not insist to have share in the Assiento, to which
they had not the least pretensions, and that they would no longer
encourage the intrigues of a faction against her government. Her Majesty
assured them in plain terms, that her own future measures, and the
conduct of her plenipotentiaries, should be wholly governed by their
behaviour in these points; and that her offers were only conditional, in
case of their compliance with what she desired."
[Footnote 5: Philip V., King of Spain. [W. S, J.]]
But all these proofs of the Queen's kindness and sincerity could not
avail. The Dutch ministers pleaded, they had no power to concert the
plan of general peace with those of Britain: however, they assured the
latter, that the Assiento was the only difficulty which stuck with their
masters. Whereupon, at their desire, a contract for that traffic was
twice read to them; after which they appeared very well satisfied, and
said they would go to The Hague for further instructions. Thither they
went, and, after a week's absence, returned the same answer, "That they
had no power to settle a scheme of peace; but could only discourse of
it, when the difficulties of the Barrier Treaty were over." And Mons.
Buys took a journey to Amsterdam, on purpose to stir up that city, where
he was pensionary, against yielding the Assiento to Britain; but was
unsuccessful in his negotiation; the point being yielded up there, and
in most other towns in Holland.
It will have an odd sound in history, and appear hardly credible, that
in several petty republics of single towns, which make up the States
General, it should be formally debated, whether the Queen of Great
Britain, who preserved the commonwealth at the charge of so many
millions, should be suffered to enjoy, after a peace, the liberty
granted her by Spain of selling African slaves in the Spanish dominions
of America! But there was a prevailing faction at The Hague, violently
bent against any peace, where the Queen must act that part which they
had intended for themselves. These politicians, who held constant
correspondence with their old dejected friends in England, were daily
fed with the vain hopes of the Queen's death, or the party's
restoration. They likewise endeavoured to spin out the time, till Prince
Eugene's activity had pushed on some great event, which might govern or
perplex the conditions of peace. Therefore the Dutch plenipotentiaries,
who proceeded by the instructions of those mistaken patriots, acted in
every point with a spirit of litigiousness, than which nothing could
give greater advantage to the enemy; a strict union between the allies,
but especially Britain and Holland, being doubtless the only means for
procuring safe and honourable terms from France.
But neither was this the worst; for the Queen received undoubted
intelligence from Utrecht, that the Dutch were again attempting a
separate correspondence with France. And by letters, intercepted here,
from Vienna, it was found, that the imperial court, whose ministers were
in the utmost confidence with those of Holland, expressed the most
furious rage against Her Majesty, for the steps she had taken to advance
a peace.
This unjustifiable treatment, the Queen could not digest from an ally,
upon whom she had conferred so many signal obligations, whom she had
used with so much indulgence and sincerity during the whole course of
the negotiation, and had so often invited to go along with her in every
motion towards a peace. She apprehended likewise, that the negotiation
might be taken out of her hands, if France could be secure of easier
conditions in Holland, or might think that Britain wanted power to
influence the whole confederacy. She resolved therefore, on this
occasion, to exert herself with vigour, steadiness, and dispatch; and,
in the beginning of May, sent her commands to the Earl of Strafford to
repair immediately to England, in order to consult with her ministers
what was proper to be done.
The proposal above mentioned, for preventing the union of France and
Spain, met with many difficulties; Mons. de Torcy raising objections
against several parts of it. But the Queen refused to proceed any
farther with France, until this weighty point were fully settled to her
satisfaction; after which, she promised to grant a suspension of arms,
provided the town and citadel of Dunkirk might be delivered as a pledge
into her hands: and proposed that Ypres might be surrendered to the
Dutch, if they would consent to come into the suspension. France
absolutely refused the latter; and the States General having acted in
perpetual contradiction to Her Majesty, she pressed that matter no
farther; because she doubted they would not agree to a cessation of
arms. However, she resolved to put a speedy end, or at least
intermission, to her own share in the war: and the French having
declared themselves ready to agree to her expedients, for preventing the
union of the two crowns, and consented to the delivery of Dunkirk;
positive orders were sent to the Duke of Ormonde to avoid engaging in
any battle or siege, until he had further instructions; but he was
directed to conceal his orders, and to find the best excuses he could,
if any pressing occasion should offer.
The reasons for this unusual proceeding, which made a mighty noise, were
of sufficient weight to justify it; for, pursuant to the agreement made
between us and France, a courier was then dispatched from Fontainebleau
to Madrid, with the offer of an alternative to Philip, either of
resigning Spain immediately to the Duke of Savoy, upon the hopes of
succeeding to France, and some present advantage, which, not having been
accepted, is needless to dilate on; or of adhering to Spain, and
renouncing all future claim to France for himself and his posterity.
Until it could be known which part Philip would accept, the Queen would
not take possession of Dunkirk, nor suffer an armistice to be declared.
But, however, since the Most Christian King had agreed that his grandson
should be forced, in case of a refusal, to make his choice immediately,
Her Majesty could not endure to think, that perhaps some thousands of
lives of her own subjects and allies might be sacrificed, without
necessity, if an occasion should be found or sought for fighting a
battle; which, she very well knew, Prince Eugene would eagerly attempt,
and put all into confusion, to gratify his own ambition, the enmity of
his new masters the Dutch, and the rage of his court.
But the Duke of Ormonde, who, with every other quality that can
accomplish or adorn a great man, inherits all the valour and loyalty of
his ancestors, found it very difficult to acquit himself of his
commission;[6] for Prince Eugene, and all the field deputies of the
States, had begun already to talk either of attacking the enemy, or
besieging Quesnoy, the confederate army being now all joined by the
troops they expected; and accordingly, about three days after the Duke
had received those orders from court, it was proposed to his grace, at a
meeting with the prince and deputies, that the French army should be
attacked, their camp having been viewed, and a great opportunity
offering to do it with success; for the Marechal de Villars, who had
notice sent him by Mons. de Torcy of what was passing, and had signified
the same by a trumpet to the Duke, shewed less vigilance than was usual
to that general, taking no precautions to secure his camp, or observe
the motions of the allies, probably on purpose to provoke them, the Duke
said, "That the Earl of Strafford's sudden departure for England, made
him believe there was something of consequence now transacting, which
would be known in four or five days; and therefore desired they would
defer this or any other undertaking, until he could receive fresh
letters from England." Whereupon the prince and deputies immediately
told the Duke, "That they looked for such an answer as he had given
them: That they had suspected our measures for some time, and their
suspicions were confirmed by the express his grace had so lately
received, as well as by the negligence of Mons. Villars". They appeared
extremely dissatisfied; and the deputies told the Duke, that they would
immediately send an account of his answer to their masters, which they
accordingly did; and soon after, by order from the States, wrote him an
expostulating letter, in a style less respectful than became them;
desiring him, among other things, to explain himself, whether he had
positive orders not to fight the French; and afterwards told him, "They
were sure he had such orders, otherwise he could not answer what he had
done." But the Duke still waived the question, saying, "he would be glad
to have letters from England, before he entered upon action, and that he
expected them daily."
[Footnote 6: For an estimate of Ormonde's character see Swift's "Enquiry
into the Behaviour of the Queen's Last Ministry," vol. v. of present
edition (pp. 428-430). Ormonde had done very little to deserve
succeeding such a soldier as Marlborough. Indeed, his name was
associated with the disgraceful expedition to Cadiz, in which he was in
command of the English troops. [T.S.]]
Upon this incident, the ministers and generals of the allies immediately
took the alarm, venting their fury in violent expressions against the
Queen, and those she employed in her councils: said, they were betrayed
by Britain, and assumed the countenance of those who think they have
received an injury, and are disposed to return it.
The Duke of Ormonde's army consisted of eighteen thousand of Her
Majesty's subjects, and about thirty thousand hired from other princes,
either wholly by the Queen, or jointly by her and the States. The Duke
immediately informed the court of the dispositions he found among the
foreign generals upon this occasion; and that, upon an exigency, he
could only depend on the British troops adhering to him; those of
Hanover having already determined to desert to the Dutch, and tempted
the Danes to do the like, and that he had reason to suppose the same of
the rest.
Upon the news arriving at Utrecht, that the Duke of Ormonde had refused
to engage in any action against the enemy, the Dutch ministers there
went immediately to make their complaints to the lord privy seal;
aggravating the strangeness of this proceeding, together with the
consequence of it, in the loss of a most favourable opportunity for
ruining the French army, and the discontent it must needs create in the
whole body of the confederates. Adding, how hard it was that they should
be kept in the dark, and have no communication of what was done in a
point which so nearly concerned them. They concluded, that the Duke must
needs have acted by orders; and desired his lordship to write both to
court, and to his grace, what they had now said.
The bishop answered, "That he knew nothing of this fact, but what they
had told him; and therefore was not prepared with a reply to their
representations: only, in general, he could venture to say, that this
case appeared very like the conduct of their field-deputies upon former
occasions: That if such orders were given, they were certainly built
upon very justifiable foundations, and would soon be so explained as to
convince the States, and all the world, that the common interest would
be better provided for another way, than by a battle or siege: That the
want of communication which they complained of, could not make the
States so uneasy as their declining to receive it had made the Queen,
who had used her utmost endeavours to persuade them to concur with her
in concerting every step towards a general peace, and settling such a
plan as both sides might approve and adhere to; but, to this day, the
States had not thought fit to accept those offers, or to authorize any
of their ministers to treat with Her Majesty's plenipotentiaries upon
that affair, although they had been pressed to it ever since the
negotiation began: That his lordship, to shew that he did not speak his
private sense alone, took this opportunity to execute the orders he had
received the evening before, by declaring to them, that all Her
Majesty's offers for adjusting the differences between her and the
States were founded upon this express condition, That they should come
immediately into the Queen's measures, and act openly and sincerely with
her; and that, from their conduct, so directly contrary, she now looked
upon herself to be under no obligation to them."
Mons. Buys and his colleagues were stunned with this declaration, made
to them at a time when they pretended to think the right of complaining
to be on their side, and had come to the bishop upon that errand. But
after their surprise was abated, and Buys's long reasonings at an end,
they began to think how matters might be retrieved; and were of opinion,
that the States should immediately dispatch a minister to England,
unless his lordship were empowered to treat with them; which, without
new commands, he said he was not. They afterwards desired to know of the
bishop, what the meaning was of the last words in his declaration, "That
Her Majesty looked upon herself to be under no obligation to them." He
told them his opinion, "That as the Queen was bound by treaty to concert
with the States the conditions of a peace, so, upon their declining the
concert so frequently offered, she was acquitted of that obligation: but
that he verily believed, whatever measures Her Majesty should take, she
would always have a friendly regard to the interest of their
commonwealth; and that as their unkindness had been very unexpected and
disagreeable to Her Majesty, so their compliance would be equally
pleasing."
I have been the more circumstantial in relating this affair, because it
furnished abundance of discourse, and gave rise to many wild conjectures
and misrepresentations, as well here as in Holland, especially that part
which concerned the Duke of Ormonde;[7] for the angry faction in the
House of Commons, upon the first intelligence, that the Duke had
declined to act offensively against France, in concurrence with the
allies, moved for an address, wherein the Queen should be informed of
"the deep concern of her Commons for the dangerous consequences to the
common cause, which must arise from this proceeding of her general; and
to beseech her, that speedy instructions might be given to the Duke to
prosecute the war with vigour, in order to quiet the minds of her
people, &c." But a great majority was against this motion, and a
resolution drawn up and presented to the Queen by the whole House of a
quite contrary tenor, "That they had an entire confidence in Her
Majesty's most gracious promise, to communicate to her Parliament the
terms of the peace, before the same should be concluded; and that they
would support Her Majesty, in obtaining an honourable and safe peace,
against all such persons, either at home or abroad, who have
endeavoured, or shall endeavour, to obstruct the same."
[Footnote 7: This determination on the part of England to cease
hostilities at this juncture has been most severely criticized. The
matter formed, afterwards, the chief article in the impeachment of
Bolingbroke, and an important article in the impeachment of Oxford.
According to the "Report of the Committee of Secrecy," and the Earl of
Oxford's answer to this charge in his impeachment, it seems as if St.
John had instructed Ormonde so to act, without in any way consulting the
council, and apparently purposely concealing the fact from his
colleagues. Mr. Walter Sichel, however, in a note on p. 380 of his
"Bolingbroke and his Times," clearly traces the order to the desire of
the Queen herself, and in his text lays on the Queen the blame that was
visited on the heads of her ministers. See also note on p. 156. [T.S.]]
The courier sent with the alternative to Spain was now returned, with an
account that Philip had chosen to renounce France for himself and his
posterity, whereof the Queen having received notice, Her Majesty, upon
the sixth of June, in a long speech to both Houses of Parliament, laid
before them the terms of a general peace, stipulated between her and
France. This speech, being the plan whereby both France and the allies
have been obliged to proceed in the subsequent course of the treaty, I
shall desire the reader's leave to insert it at length, although I
believe it hath been already in most hands.[7]
[Footnote 7: This speech was printed by John Baskett, 1712. [W.S.J.]]
"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,
"The making peace and war is the undoubted prerogative of the crown; yet
such is the just confidence I place in you, that at the opening of this
session, I acquainted you that a negotiation for a general peace was
begun; and afterwards, by messages, I promised to communicate to you the
terms of peace, before the same should be concluded.
"In pursuance of that promise, I now come to let you know upon what
terms a general peace may be made.
"I need not mention the difficulties which arise from the very nature of
this affair; and it is but too apparent, that these difficulties have
been increased by other obstructions, artfully contrived to hinder this
great and good work.
"Nothing, however, has moved me from steadily pursuing, in the first
place, the true interests of my own kingdoms, and I have not omitted any
thing, which might procure to all our allies what is due to them by
treaties, and what is necessary for their security.
"The assuring of the Protestant succession, as by law established in the
House of Hanover, to these kingdoms; being what I have nearest at heart,
particular care is taken not only to have that acknowledged in the
strongest terms, but to have an additional security, by the removal of
that person out of the dominions of France, who has pretended to disturb
this settlement.
"The apprehension that Spain and the West Indies might be united to
France, was the chief inducement to begin this war; and the effectual
preventing of such an union, was the principle I laid down at the
commencement of this treaty. Former examples, and the late negotiations,
sufficiently shew how difficult it is to find means to accomplish this
work. I would not content myself with such as are speculative, or depend
on treaties only: I insisted on what was solid, and to have at hand the
power of executing what should be agreed.
"I can therefore now tell you, that France at last is brought to offer,
that the Duke of Anjou shall, for himself and his descendants, renounce
for ever all claim to the crown of France; and that this important
article may be exposed to no hazard, the performance is to accompany the
promise.
"At the same time the succession to the crown of France is to be
declared, after the death of the present dauphin and his sons, to be in
the Duke of Berry and his sons, in the Duke of Orleans and his sons, and
so on to the rest of the House of Bourbon.
"As to Spain and the Indies, the succession to those dominions, after
the Duke of Anjou and his children, is to descend to such prince as
shall be agreed upon at the treaty, for ever excluding the rest of the
House of Bourbon.
"For confirming the renunciations and settlements before mentioned, it
is further offered, that they should be ratified in the most strong and
solemn manner, both in France and Spain; and that those kingdoms, as
well as all the other powers engaged in the present war, shall be
guarantees to the same.
"The nature of this proposal is such, that it executes itself: the
interest of Spain is to support it; and in France, the persons to whom
that succession is to belong, will be ready and powerful enough to
vindicate their own right.
"France and Spain are now more effectually divided than ever. And thus,
by the blessing of God, will a real balance of power be fixed in Europe,
and remain liable to as few accidents as human affairs can be exempted
from.
"A treaty of commerce between these kingdoms and France has been entered
upon; but the excessive duties laid on some goods, and the prohibitions
of others, make it impossible to finish this work so soon as were to be
desired. Care is however taken to establish a method of settling this
matter; and in the mean time provision is made, that the same privileges
and advantages, as shall be granted to any other nation by France, shall
be granted in like manner to us.
"The division of the Island of St. Christopher, between us and the
French, having been the cause of great inconveniency and damage to my
subjects, I have demanded to have an absolute cession made to me of that
whole island, and France agrees to this demand.
"Our interest is so deeply concerned in the trade of North America, that
I have used my utmost endeavours to adjust that article in the most
beneficial manner. France consents to restore to us the whole Bay and
Straits of Hudson, to deliver up the Island of Newfoundland, with
Placentia; and to make an absolute cession of Annapolis, with the rest
of Nova Scotia, or Acadie.
"The safety of our home trade will be better provided for, by the
demolition of Dunkirk.
"Our Mediterranean trade, and the British interest and influence in
those parts, will be secured by the possession of Gibraltar and Port
Mahon, with the whole island of Minorca, which are offered to remain in
my hands.
"The trade to Spain and to the West Indies may in general be settled, as
it was in the time of the late King of Spain, Charles the Second; and a
particular provision be made, that all advantages, rights, or
privileges, which have been granted, or which may hereafter be granted,
by Spain to any other nation, shall be in like manner granted to the
subjects of Great Britain.
"But the part which we have borne in the prosecution of this war,
entitling us to some distinction in the terms of peace, I have insisted,
and obtained, that the Assiento, or contract for furnishing the Spanish
West Indies with negroes, shall be made with us for the term of thirty
years, in the same manner as it has been enjoyed by the French for ten
years past.
"I have not taken upon me to determine the interests of our
confederates; these must be adjusted in the congress at Utrecht, where
my best endeavours shall be employed, as they have hitherto constantly
been, to procure to every one of them all just and reasonable
satisfaction. In the mean time, I think it proper to acquaint you, that
France offers to make the Rhine the barrier of the empire; to yield
Brissac, the fort of Kehl, and Landau, and to raze all the fortresses,
both on the other side of the Rhine, and in that river.
"As to the Protestant interest in Germany, there will be on the part of
France no objection to the resettling thereof, on the foot of the treaty
of Westphalia.
"The Spanish Low Countries may go to his Imperial Majesty: the kingdoms
of Naples and Sardinia, the duchy of Milan, and the places belonging to
Spain on the coast of Tuscany, may likewise be yielded by the treaty of
peace to the Emperor.
"As to the kingdom of Sicily, though there remains no dispute concerning
the cession of it by the Duke of Anjou, yet the disposition thereof is
not yet determined.
"The interests of the States General, with respect to commerce, are
agreed to, as they have been demanded by their own ministers, with the
exception only of some very few species of merchandise; and the entire
barrier, as demanded by the States in one thousand seven hundred and
nine from France, except two or three places at most.
"As to these exceptions, several expedients are proposed; and I make no
doubt but this barrier may be so settled, as to render that republic
perfectly secure against any enterprise on the part of France; which is
the foundation of all my engagements upon this head with the States.
"The demands of Portugal depending on the disposition of Spain, and that
article having been long in dispute, it has not been yet possible to
make any considerable progress therein; but my plenipotentiaries will
now have an opportunity to assist that king in his pretensions.
"Those of the King of Prussia are such as, I hope, will admit of little
difficulty on the part of France; and my utmost endeavours shall not be
wanting to procure all I am able to so good an ally.
"The difference between the barrier demanded for the Duke of Savoy in
one thousand seven hundred and nine, and the offers now made by France,
is very inconsiderable: but that prince having so signally distinguished
himself in the service of the common cause, I am endeavouring to procure
for him still farther advantages.
"France has consented, that the Elector Palatine shall continue his
present rank among the electors, and remain in possession of the Upper
Palatinate.
"The electoral dignity is likewise acknowledged in the House of Hanover,
according to the article inserted at that prince's desire in my demands.
"And as to the rest of the allies, I make no doubt of being able to
secure their several interests.
* * * * *
"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,
"I have now communicated to you, not only the terms of peace, which may,
by the future treaty, be obtained for my own subjects; but likewise the
proposals of France, for satisfying our allies.
"The former are such as I have reason to expect, to make my people some
amends for that great and unequal burden which they have lain under,
through the whole course of this war; and I am willing to hope, that
none of our confederates, and especially those to whom so great
accessions of dominion and power are to accrue by this peace, will envy
Britain her share in the glory and advantage of it.
"The latter are not yet so perfectly adjusted, as a little more time
might have rendered them; but the season of the year making it necessary
to put an end to this session, I resolved no longer to defer
communicating these matters to you.
"I can make no doubt but you are all fully persuaded, that nothing will
be neglected on my part, in the progress of this negotiation, to bring
the peace to an happy and speedy issue; and I depend on your entire
confidence in me, and your cheerful concurrence with me."
The discontented party in the House of Commons, finding the torrent
against them not to be stemmed, suspended their opposition; by which
means an address was voted, _nemine contradicente_, to acknowledge Her
Majesty's condescension, to express their satisfaction in what she had
already done, and to desire she would please to proceed with the present
negotiations for obtaining a speedy peace.
During these transactions at home, the Duke of Ormonde[8] was in a very
uneasy situation at the army, employed in practising those arts which
perhaps are fitter for a subtle negotiator than a great commander.[9]
But as he had always proved his obedience, where courage or conduct
could be of use; so the duty he professed to his prince, made him submit
to continue in a state of inactivity at the head of his troops, however
contrary to his nature, if it were for Her Majesty's service. He had
sent early notice to the ministers, that he could not depend upon the
foreign forces in the Queen's pay, and he now found some attempts were
already begun to seduce them.
[Footnote 8: James Butler, Duke of Ormonde, succeeded his grandfather in
that title in July, 1688, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1703, and
again in 1710. He succeeded the Duke of Marlborough as captain general,
and had the first regiment of Guards. Bishop Burnet says, "he had the
same allowances that had been lately voted criminal in the Duke of
Marlborough." ("History," vol. ii., p. 602). [N.]]
[Footnote 9: Bolingbroke had written a letter to Ormonde (dated May
10th, 1712) in which he informed the commander-in-chief that it was the
"Queen's positive command to your Grace, that you avoid engaging in any
siege or hazarding a battle till you have farther orders from Her
Majesty." How to do this with dignity was not an easy matter. The
continuation of this letter from Bolingbroke suggested the spirit,
though it left to Ormonde the details of his procedure in so delicate a
situation: "I am, at the same time, directed to let your Grace know that
the Queen would have you disguise the receipt of this order; and her
Majesty thinks that you cannot want pretences for conducting yourself so
as to answer her ends, without owning that which might at present have
an ill effect if it was publicly known." (Bolingbroke, "Correspondence,"
ii. 320). This is what Swift means by being: "employed in practicing
those arts which perhaps are fitter for a subtle negotiator than a great
commander." [T.S.]]
While the courier was expected from Madrid, the Duke had orders to
inform the Maréchal de Villars of the true state of this affair; and
that his grace would have decisive orders in three or four days. In the
mean time, he desired the marechal would not oblige him to come to any
action, either to defend himself, or to join with Prince Eugene's army;
which he must necessarily do, if the prince were attacked.
When the courier was arrived with the account, that Philip had chosen to
accept of Spain, Her Majesty had proposed to France a suspension of arms
for two months (to be prolonged to three or four), between the armies
now in Flanders, upon the following conditions:
"That, during the suspension, endeavours should be used for concluding a
general peace; or, at least, the article for preventing the union of
France and Spain, should be punctually executed by Philip's renouncing
France, for himself and his posterity; and the princes of Bourbon, in
like manner, renouncing Spain: and that the town, citadel, and forts of
Dunkirk, should be immediately delivered into the Queen's hands." Her
Majesty at the same time endeavoured to get Cambray for the Dutch,
provided they would come into the suspension. But this was absolutely
rejected by France; which that court would never have ventured to do, if
those allies could have been prevailed on to have acted with sincerity
and openness in concert with Her Majesty, as her plenipotentiaries had
always desired. However, the Queen promised, that, if the States would
yield to a suspension of arms, they should have some valuable pledge put
into their possession.
But now fresh intelligence daily arrived, both from Utrecht and the
army, of attempts to make the troops in Her Majesty's pay desert her
service; and a design even of seizing the British forces, was whispered
about, and with reason suspected.
When the Queen's speech was published in Holland, the lord privy seal
told the Dutch ministers at Utrecht, "That what Her Majesty had laid
before her Parliament could not, according to the rules of treaty, be
looked on as the utmost of what France would yield in the course of a
negotiation; but only the utmost of what that crown would propose, in
order to form the plan of a peace: That these conditions would certainly
have been better, if the States had thought fit to have gone hand in
hand with Her Majesty, as she had so frequently exhorted them to do:
That nothing but the want of harmony among the allies had spirited the
French to stand out so long: That the Queen would do them all the good
offices in her power, if they thought fit to comply; and did not doubt
of getting them reasonable satisfaction, both in relation to their
barrier and their trade." But this reasoning made no impression: the
Dutch ministers said, the Queen's speech had deprived them of the fruits
of the war. They were in pain, lest Lille and Tournay might be two of
the towns to be excepted out of their barrier. The rest of the allies
grew angry, by the example of the Dutch. The populace in Holland began
to be inflamed: they publicly talked, that Britain had betrayed them.
Sermons were preached in several towns of their provinces, whether by
direction or connivance, filled with the highest instances of disrespect
to Her Britannic Majesty, whom they charged as a papist, and an enemy to
their country. The lord privy seal himself believed something
extraordinary was in agitation, and that his own person was in danger
from the fury of the people.
It is certain, that the States appeared but a few days before very much
disposed to comply with the measures the Queen had taken, and would have
consented to a general armistice, if Count Zinzendorf, one of the
plenipotentiaries for the Emperor, had not, by direct orders from his
court, employed himself in sowing jealousies between Britain and the
States; and at the same time made prodigious offers to the latter, as
well as to the ministers of Prussia, the Palatinate, and Hanover, for
continuing the war. That those three electors, who contributed nothing,
except bodies of men in return of pay and subsidies, should readily
accept the proposals of the Emperor, is easy to be accounted for. What
appears hardly credible is, that a grave republic, usually cautious
enough in making their bargains, should venture to reject the thoughts
of a peace upon the promises of the House of Austria, the little
validity whereof they had so long experienced; and especially when they
counted upon losing the support of Britain, their most powerful ally;
but the false hopes given them by their friends in England of some new
change in their favour, or an imagination of bringing France to better
terms by the appearance of resolution, added to the weakness or
corruption of some, who administered their affairs, were the true causes
which first created, and afterwards inflamed, this untractable temper
among them.
The Dutch ministers were wholly disconcerted and surprised, when the
lord privy seal told them, "That a suspension of arms in the Netherlands
would be necessary; and that the Duke of Ormonde intended very soon to
declare it after he had taken possession of Dunkirk." But his lordship
endeavoured to convince them, that this incident ought rather to be a
motive for hastening the States into a compliance with Her Majesty. He
likewise communicated to the ministers of the allies the offers made by
France, as delivered in the speech from the throne, which Her Majesty
thought to be satisfactory, and hoped their masters would concur with
her in bringing the peace to a speedy conclusion, wherein each, in
particular, might be assured of her best offices for advancing their
just pretensions.
In the mean time the Duke of Ormonde was directed to send a body of
troops to take possession of Dunkirk, as soon as he should have notice
from the Maréchal de Villars, that the commandant of the town had
received orders from his court to deliver it; but the Duke foresaw many
difficulties in the executing of this commission. He could trust such an
enterprise to no forces, except those of Her Majesty's own subjects. He
considered the temper of the States in this conjuncture, and was loth to
divide a small body of men, upon whose faithfulness alone he could
depend. He thought it not prudent to expose them to march through the
enemy's country, with whom there was yet neither peace nor truce; and he
had sufficient reasons to apprehend, that the Dutch would either not
permit such a detachment to pass through their towns (as themselves had
more than hinted to him) or would seize them as they passed: besides,
the Duke had very fairly signified to Maréchal de Villars, that he
expected to be deserted by all the foreign troops in Her Majesty's pay,
as soon as the armistice should be declared; at which the maréchal
appearing extremely disappointed, said, "The King his master reckoned,
that all the troops under his grace's command should yield to the
cessation; and wondered how it should come to pass, that those who might
be paid for lying still, would rather choose, after a ten years' war, to
enter into the service of new masters, under whom they must fight on for
nothing." In short, the opinion of Mons. Villars was, that this
difficulty cancelled the promise of surrendering Dunkirk; which
therefore he opposed as much as possible, in the letters he writ to his
court.
Upon the Duke of Ormonde's representing those difficulties, the Queen
altered her measures, and ordered forces to be sent from England to take
possession of Dunkirk. The Duke was likewise commanded to tell the
foreign generals in Her Majesty's service, how highly she would resent
their desertion; after which, their masters must give up all thoughts of
any arrears, either of pay or subsidy. The lord privy seal spoke the
same language at Utrecht, to the several ministers of the allies; as Mr.
Secretary St. John did to those who resided here; adding, "That the
proceeding of the foreign troops would be looked upon as a declaration
for or against Her Majesty: and that, in case they desert her service,
she would look on herself as justified, before God and man, to continue
her negotiation at Utrecht, or any other place, whether the allies
concur or not." And particularly the Dutch were assured, "That if their
masters seduced the forces hired by the Queen, they must take the whole
pay, arrears, and subsidies on themselves."[10]
[Footnote 10: Compare this language of Bishop Robinson with the letter
Bolingbroke had previously written to Thomas Harley (letter of May 17,
1712): "On the report which my Lord Strafford, who arrived here the day
before yesterday, has made by word of mouth, as well as upon the
contents of the latter dispatches from Utrecht, her Majesty is fully
determined to let all negotiations sleep in Holland; since they have
neither sense, nor gratitude, nor spirit enough to make a suitable
return to the offers lately sent by the Queen, and communicated by the
plenipotentiaries, her Majesty will look on herself as under no
obligation towards them, but proceed to make the peace either with or
without them."
When the States-General addressed a complaint to the Queen of the manner
in which England was deserting them, Bolingbroke had their letter
formally condemned by a resolution of the House of Commons. He was
determined to bring this peace about, and the Dutch might "kick and
flounce like wild beasts caught in a toil; yet the cords are too strong
for them to break." (Report from the Committee of Secrecy.) [T.S.]]
The Earl of Strafford, preparing about this time to return to Utrecht,
with instructions proper to the present situation of affairs, went first
to the army, and there informed the Duke of Ormonde of Her Majesty's
intentions. He also acquainted the States deputies with the Queen's
uneasiness, lest, by the measures they were taking, they should drive
her to extremities, which she desired so much to avoid. He farther
represented to them, in the plainest terms, the provocations Her Majesty
had received, and the grounds and reasons for her present conduct. He
likewise declared to the commanders in chief of the foreign troops, in
the Queen's pay, and in the joint pay of Britain and the States, with
how much surprise Her Majesty had heard, "That there was the least doubt
of their obeying the orders of the Duke of Ormonde; which if they
refused, Her Majesty would esteem it not only as an indignity and
affront, but as a declaration against her; and, in such a case, they
must look on themselves as no farther entitled either to any arrear, or
future pay or subsidies."
Six regiments, under the command of Mr. Hill,[11] were now preparing to
embark, in order to take possession of Dunkirk; and the Duke of Ormonde,
upon the first intelligence sent him, that the French were ready to
deliver the town, was to declare he could act no longer against France.
The Queen gave notice immediately of her proceedings to the States. She
let them plainly know, "That their perpetual caballing with her factious
subjects, against her authority, had forced her into such measures, as
otherwise she would not have engaged in. However, Her Majesty was
willing yet to forget all that had passed, and to unite with them in the
strictest ties of amity, which she hoped they would now do; since they
could not but be convinced, by the late dutiful addresses of both
Houses, how far their High Mightinesses had been deluded, and drawn in
as instruments to serve the turn, and gratify the passions, of a
disaffected party: That their opposition, and want of concert with Her
Majesty's ministers, which she had so often invited them to, had
encouraged France to except towns out of their barrier, which otherwise
might have been yielded: That, however, she had not precluded them, or
any other ally, from demanding more; and even her own terms were but
conditional, upon supposition of a general peace to ensue: That Her
Majesty resolved to act upon the plan laid down in her speech;" and she
repeated the promise of her best offices to promote the interest of the
States, if they would deal sincerely with her.
[Footnote 11: John Hill, brother to Mrs. Masham. It is not difficult to
guess at the reason for this appointment. Here was a chance for Jack
Hill to achieve some glory and wipe away the disgrace of the ill-starred
Quebec expedition. As there was also no danger attached to the
enterprise, all the more likely that he would succeed. Hill sailed with
Admiral Sir John Leake and took peaceable possession of the town and
forts. For this he was appointed Governor of Dunkirk, and while there he
sent Swift a gold snuff-box as a present, "the finest that ever you
saw," as Swift wrote to Stella: See also vol. v., p. 80, of this
edition. [T.S.]]
Some days before the Duke of Ormonde had notice, that orders were given
for the surrender of Dunkirk, Prince Eugene of Savoy sent for the
generals of the allies, and asked them severally, whether, in case the
armies separated, they would march with him, or stay with the Duke? All
of them, except two, who commanded but small bodies, agreed to join with
the prince; who thereupon, about three days after, sent the Duke word,
that he intended to march the following day (as it was supposed) to
besiege Landrecies. The Duke returned an answer, "That he was surprised
at the prince's message, there having been not the least previous
concert with him, nor any mention in the message, which way, or upon
what design, the march was intended: therefore, that the Duke could not
resolve to march with him; much less could the prince expect assistance
from the Queen's army, in any design undertaken after this manner." The
Duke told this beforehand, that he (the prince) might take his measures
accordingly, and not attribute to Her Majesty's general any misfortune
that might happen.
On the sixteenth of July, N.S. the several generals of the allies joined
Prince Eugene's army, and began their march, after taking leave of the
Duke and the Earl of Strafford, whose expostulations could not prevail
on them to stay; although the latter assured them, that the Queen had
made neither peace nor truce with France, and that her forces would now
be left exposed to the enemy.
The next day after this famous desertion, the Duke of Ormonde received a
letter from Mons. de Villars, with an account, that the town and citadel
of Dunkirk should be delivered to Mr. Hill. Whereupon a cessation of
arms was declared, by sound of trumpet, at the head of the British army;
which now consisted only of about eighteen thousand men, all of Her
Majesty's subjects, except the Holsteiners, and Count Wallis's
dragoons.[12] With this small body of men the general began his march;
and, pursuant to orders from court, retired towards the sea, in the
manner he thought most convenient for the Queen's service. When he came
as far as Flines, he was told by some of his officers, that the
commandants of Bouchain, Douay, Lille, and Tournay, had refused them
passage through those towns, or even liberty of entrance, and said it
was by order of their masters.[13] The Duke immediately recollected,
that when the deputies first heard of his resolution to withdraw his
troops, they told him, they hoped he did not intend to march through any
of their towns. This made him conclude, that the orders must be general,
and that his army would certainly meet with the same treatment which his
officers had done. He had likewise, before the armies separated,
received information of some designs that concerned the safety, or at
least the freedom of his own person, and (which he much more valued)
that of those few British troops entrusted to his care. No general was
ever more truly or deservedly beloved by his soldiers, who, to a man,
were prepared to sacrifice their lives in his service; and whose
resentments were raised to the utmost, by the ingratitude, as they
termed it, of their deserters.
[Footnote 12: Barner, who commanded the troops of Holstein, being two
battalions and eight squadrons, and Walef or Waless, who commanded the
dragoons of Liège, both followed Ormonde. [S.]]
[Footnote 13: At Bouchain, the British officers were told at the gates,
that the commandant had positive orders to let no Englishman into the
town; and at Douay, where the English had large stores and magazines,
the same thing happened with considerable aggravation. Indeed, it was
with difficulty and precaution that the commandant of the latter town
would permit the body of an English colonel to be interred there. The
same difficulties occurred at Tournay, Oudenarde, and Lille; and the
Duke of Ormonde having sent an officer express to England on the 17th,
he was stopped and interrupted at Haspre, misguided at Courtray, and
refused admission at Bruges. (See "The Conduct of his Grace the Duke of
Ormonde, in the Campagne of 1712," 1715, pp. 46-50.) [S.]]
Upon these provocations, he laid aside all thoughts of returning to
Dunkirk, and began to consider how he might perform, in so difficult a
conjuncture, something important to the Queen, and at the same time find
a secure retreat for his forces. He formed his plan without
communicating it to any person whatsoever; and the disposition of the
army being to march towards Warneton, in the way to Dunkirk, he gave
sudden orders to Lieutenant-General Cadogan to change his route,
according to the military phrase, and move towards Orchies, a town
leading directly to Ghent.
When Prince Eugene and the States deputies received news of the Duke's
motions, they were alarmed to the utmost degree, and sent Count Nassau,
of Woudenbourg, to the general's camp near Orchies, to excuse what had
been done, and to assure his grace, that those commandants, who had
refused passage to his officers, had acted wholly without orders. Count
Hompesch, one of the Dutch generals, came likewise to the Duke with the
same story; but all this made little impression on the general, who held
on his march, and on the twenty-third of July, N.S., entered Ghent,
where he was received with great submission by the inhabitants, and took
possession of the town, as he likewise did of Bruges, a few days after.
The Duke of Ormonde thought, that considering the present disposition of
the States towards Britain, it might be necessary for the Queen to have
some pledge from that republic in her hands, as well as from France, by
which means Her Majesty would be empowered to act the part that best
became her, of being mediator at least; and that while Ghent was in the
Queen's hands, no provisions could pass the Scheldt or the Lys without
her permission, by which he had it in his power to starve their army.
The possession of these towns might likewise teach the Dutch and
Imperialists, to preserve a degree of decency and civility to Her
Majesty, which both of them were upon some occasions too apt to forget:
and besides, there was already in the town of Ghent, a battalion of
British troops and a detachment of five hundred men in the citadel,
together with a great quantity of ammunition stores for the service of
the war, which would certainly have been seized or embezzled; so that no
service could be more seasonable or useful in the present juncture than
this, which the Queen highly approved, and left the Duke a discretionary
power to act as he thought fit on any future emergency.
I have a little interrupted the order of time, in relating the Duke of
Ormonde's proceedings, who, after having placed a garrison at Bruges,
and sent a supply of men and ammunition to Dunkirk, retired to Ghent,
where he continued some months, till he had leave to return to England.
Upon the arrival of Colonel Disney[14] at court, with an account that
Mr. Hill had taken possession of Dunkirk, an universal joy spread over
the kingdom, this event being looked on as the certain forerunner of a
peace: besides, the French faith was in so ill a reputation among us,
that many persons, otherwise sanguine enough, could never bring
themselves to believe, that the town would be delivered, till certain
intelligence came that it was actually in our hands. Neither were the
ministers themselves altogether at ease, or free from suspicion,
whatever countenance they made; for they knew very well, that the French
King had many plausible reasons to elude his promise, if he found cause
to repent it. One condition of surrendering Dunkirk, being a general
armistice of all the troops in the British pay, which Her Majesty was
not able to perform; and upon this failure, the Maréchal de Villars (as
we have before related) endeavoured to dissuade his court from accepting
the conditions: and in the very interval, while those difficulties were
adjusting, the Maréchal d'Uxelles, one of the French plenipotentiaries
at Utrecht (whose inclinations, as well as those of his colleague Mons.
Mesnager, led him to favour the States more than Britain) assured the
lord privy seal, that the Dutch were then pressing to enter into
separate measures with his master: and his lordship, in a visit to the
Abbé de Polignac, observing a person to withdraw as he entered the
abbé's chamber, was told by this minister, that the person he saw was
one Molo, of Amsterdam, mentioned before, a famous agent for the States
with France, who had been entertaining him (the abbé) upon the same
subject, but that he had refused to treat with Molo, without the privity
of England.
[Footnote 14: Colonel Disney or Desnée, called "Duke" Disney, was one of
the members of the Brothers Club, a boon companion of Bolingbroke, and,
as Swift says, "not an old man, but an old rake." From various sources
we gather that he was a high liver, and not very nice in his ways of
high living. In spite, however, of his undoubted profligacy, he must
have been a man of good nature and a kindly heart, since he received
affectionate record from Gay, Pope, and Swift. Mr. Walter Sichel quotes
from "an unfinished sketch of a larger poem," by Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu, in which Disney's worst characteristics are held up to
ridicule. ("Bolingbroke and his Times," pp. 288-290). Swift often refers
to him in his "Journal." [T.S.]]
Mr. Harley, whom we mentioned above to have been sent early in the
spring to Utrecht, continued longer in Holland than was at first
expected; but having received Her Majesty's farther instructions, was
about this time arrived at Hanover. It was the misfortune of his
Electoral Highness, to be very ill served by Mons. Bothmar, his envoy
here, who assisted at all the factious meetings of the discontented
party, and deceived his master by a false representation of the kingdom,
drawn from the opinion of those to whom he confined his conversation.
There was likewise at the Elector's court a little Frenchman, without
any merit or consequence, called Robethon,[15] who, by the assistance
and encouragement of the last ministry, had insinuated himself into some
degree of that prince's favour, which he used in giving his master the
worst impressions he was able, of those whom the Queen employed in her
service; insinuating, that the present ministers were not in the
interest of his Highness's family; that their views were towards the
Pretender; that they were making an unsecure and dishonourable peace;
that the weight of the nation was against them; and that it was
impossible for them to preserve much longer their credit or power.
[Footnote 15: One of the Elector's privy councillors. See note, vol. v.,
p. 468. "As little a fellow as Robethon is," wrote Bolingbroke to Thomas
Harley, "I have reason to believe that most of the ill impressions which
have been given at that court have chiefly come from him; and as I know
him to be mercenary, I doubt not but he has found his account in this
his management." (Bol., "Correspondence," vol. ii., p. 385). [T.S.]]
The Earl Rivers had, in the foregoing year, been sent to Hanover, in
order to undeceive the Elector, and remove whatever prejudices might be
infused into his Highness against Her Majesty's proceedings; but it
should seem that he had no very great success in his negotiation: for
soon after his return to England, Mons. Bothmar's "Memorial" appeared in
the manner I have already related, which discovered the sentiments of
his electoral Highness (if they were truly represented in that
"Memorial") to differ not a little from those of the Queen. Mr. Harley
was therefore directed to take the first opportunity of speaking to the
Elector in private, to assure him, "That although Her Majesty had
thought herself justly provoked by the conduct of his minister, yet such
was her affection for his Highness, and concern for the interests of his
family, that instead of showing the least mark of resentment, she had
chosen to send him (Mr. Harley) fully instructed to open her designs,
and shew his Highness the real interest of Britain in the present
conjuncture." Mr. Harley was to give the Elector a true account of what
had passed in England, during the first part of this session of
Parliament; to expose to his Highness the weakness of those with whom
his minister had consulted, and under whose directions he had acted; to
convince him how much lower that faction must become, when a peace
should be concluded, and when the natural strength of the kingdom,
disencumbered from the burthen of the war, should be at liberty to exert
itself; to shew him how his interest in the succession was sacrificed to
that of a party: that his Highness had been hitherto a friend to both
sides, but that the measures taken by his ministers, had tended only to
set him at the head of one in opposition to the other: to explain to the
Elector, how fully the safety of Europe was provided for by the plan of
peace in Her Majesty's speech; and how little reason those would appear
to have, who complained the loudest of this plan, if it were compared
either with our engagements to them when we began the war, or with their
performances in the course of it.
Upon this occasion Mr, Harley was to observe to the Elector, "That it
should rather be wondered at, how the Queen had brought France to offer
so much, than yet to offer no more; because, as soon as ever it
appeared, that Her Majesty would be at the head of this treaty, and that
the interests of Britain were to be provided for, such endeavours were
used to break off the negotiation, as are hardly to be paralleled; and
the disunion thereby created among the allies, had given more
opportunities to the enemy, of being slow in their concessions, than any
other measures might possibly have done: That this want of concert among
the allies, could not in any sort be imputed to the Queen, who had all
along invited them to it with the greatest earnestness, as the surest
means to bring France to reason: That she had always, in a particular
manner, pressed the States General to come into the strictest union with
her, and opened to them her intentions with the greatest freedom; but
finding, that instead of concurring with Her Majesty, they were daily
carrying on intrigues to break off the negotiation, and thereby deprive
her of the advantages she might justly expect from the ensuing peace,
having no other way left, she was forced to act with France as she did,
by herself: That, however, the Queen had not taken upon herself to
determine the interests of the allies, who were at liberty of insisting
on farther pretensions, wherein Her Majesty would not be wanting to
support them as far as she was able, and improve the concessions already
made by France; in which case, a good understanding and harmony among
the confederates, would yet be of the greatest use for making the enemy
more tractable and easy."
I have been more particular in reciting the substance of Mr. Harley's
instructions, because it will serve as a recapitulation of what I have
already said upon this subject, and seems to set Her Majesty's
intentions, and proceedings at this time, in the clearest light.
After the cessation of arms declared by the Duke of Ormonde, upon the
delivery of Dunkirk, the British plenipotentiaries very earnestly
pressed those of Holland to come into a general armistice; for if the
whole confederacy acted in conjunction, this would certainly be the best
means for bringing the common enemy to reasonable terms of peace: but
the States, deluded by the boundless promises of Count Zinzendorf, and
the undertaking talent of Prince Eugene, who dreaded the conclusion of
the war, as the period of his glory, would not hear of a cessation. The
loss of eighteen thousand Britons was not a diminution of weight in the
balance of such an ally as the Emperor, and such a general as the
Prince. Besides, they looked upon themselves to be still superior to
France in the field; and although their computation was certainly right
in point of number, yet, in my opinion, the conclusion drawn from it,
was grounded upon a great mistake. I have been assured by several
persons of our own country, and some foreigners of the first rank, both
for skill and station in arms, that in most victories obtained in the
present war, the British troops were ever employed in the post of danger
and honour, and usually began the attack (being allowed to be naturally
more fearless than the people of any other country), by which they were
not only an example of courage to the rest, but must be acknowledged,
without partiality, to have governed the fortune of the day; since it is
known enough, how small a part of an army is generally engaged in any
battle. It may likewise be added, that nothing is of greater moment in
war than opinion. The French, by their frequent losses, which they
chiefly attributed to the courage of our men, believed that a British
general, at the head of British troops, was not to be overcome; and the
Maréchal de Villars was quickly sensible of the advantage he had got;
for, in a very few days after the desertion of the allies, happened the
Earl of Albemarle's disgrace at Denain, by a feint of the Maréchal's,
and a manifest failure somewhere or other, both of courage and conduct
on the side of the confederates. The blame of which was equally shared
between Prince Eugene and the Earl; although it is certain, the Duke of
Ormonde gave the latter timely warning of his danger, observing he was
neither intrenched as he ought, nor provided with bridges sufficient for
the situation he was in, and at such a distance from the main army.[16]
[Footnote 16: It is alleged by the continuator of Rapin, that the
surprise and defeat of the confederated troops under the Earl of
Albemarle, at Denain, was, in a great measure, owing to the Duke of
Ormonde having, in spite of all remonstrance, reclaimed and carried off
certain pontoons which had been lent to the allies. For Prince Eugene
having received intelligence of the design against Albemarle, marched to
his succour; but the bridge having broken under the quantity of the
baggage which had been transported across the Scheldt, he could only
remain the spectator of their misfortune. [S.]]
The Marquis de Torcy had likewise the same sentiments, of what mighty
consequence those few British battalions were to the confederate army;
since he advised his master to deliver up Dunkirk, although the Queen
could not perform the condition understood, which was a cessation of
arms of all the foreign forces in her pay.
It must be owned, that Mons. de Torcy made great merit of this
confidence that his master placed in the Queen; and observing Her
Majesty's displeasure against the Dutch, on account of their late
proceedings, endeavoured to inflame it with aggravations enough;
insinuating, "That, since the States had acted so ungratefully, the
Queen should let her forces join with those of France, in order to
compel the confederates to a peace." But although this overture were
very tenderly hinted from the French court, Her Majesty heard it with
the utmost abhorrence; and ordered her secretary, Mr. St. John (created
about this time Viscount Bolingbroke),[17] to tell Mons. de Torcy, "That
no provocations whatever should tempt her to distress her allies; but
she would endeavour to bring them to reason by fair means, or leave them
to their own conduct: That if the former should be found impracticable,
she would then make her own peace, and content herself with doing the
office of a mediator between both parties: but if the States should at
any time come to a better mind, and suffer their ministers to act in
conjunction with hers, she would assert their just interests to the
utmost, and make no farther progress in any treaty with France, until
those allies received all reasonable satisfaction, both as to their
barrier and their trade." The British plenipotentiaries were directed to
give the same assurances to the Dutch ministers at Utrecht, and withal
to let them know, "That the Queen was determined, by their late conduct,
to make peace either with or without them; but would much rather choose
the former."
[Footnote 17: Bolingbroke had understood that he would not lose rank on
his promotion, from which he concluded that the earldom of Bolingbroke,
extinct in his family, would be revived in his favour. His indignation,
however, was very keen when he was created only a Viscount. He wrote to
Strafford at Utrecht, that his promotion had been a mortification to
him. "In the House of Commons," he said, "I may say that I was at the
head of business. ... There was, therefore, nothing to flatter my
ambition in removing me from thence, but giving me the title which had
been many years in my family, and which reverted to the Crown about a
year ago, by the death of the last of the elder house. ... I own to you
that I felt more indignation than ever in my life I had done." (Letter
to the Earl of Strafford, July 23, 1712). [T.S.]]
There was, however, one advantage which Her Majesty resolved to make by
this defection of her foreigners. She had been led, by the mistaken
politics of some years past, to involve herself in several guaranties
with the princes of the north, which were, in some sort, contradictory
to one another; but this conduct of theirs wholly annulled all such
engagements, and left her at liberty to interpose in the affairs of
those parts of Europe, in such a manner as would best serve the
interests of her own kingdoms, as well as that of the Protestant
religion, and settle a due balance of power in the north.
The grand article for preventing the union of France and Spain, was to
be executed during a cessation of arms. But many difficulties arising
about that, and some other points of great importance to the common
cause, which could not easily be adjusted either between the French and
British plenipotentiaries at Utrecht, or by correspondence between Mons.
de Torcy and the ministry here; the Queen took the resolution of sending
the Lord Viscount Bolingbroke immediately to France, fully instructed in
all her intentions, and authorized to negotiate every thing necessary
for settling the treaty of peace in such a course, as might bring it to
a happy and speedy conclusion. He was empowered to agree to a general
suspension of arms, by sea and land, between Great Britain, France and
Spain, to continue for four months, or until the conclusion of the
peace; provided France and Spain would previously give positive
assurances to make good the terms demanded by Her Majesty for the Duke
of Savoy, and would likewise adjust and determine the forms of the
several renunciations to be made by both those crowns, in order to
prevent their being ever united. The Lord Bolingbroke was likewise
authorized to settle some differences relating to the Elector of
Bavaria, for whose interests France was as much concerned as Her Majesty
was for those of the Duke of Savoy; to explain all doubtful articles
which particularly related to the advantages of Britain; to know the
real _ultimatum_, as it is termed, of France upon the general plan of
peace; and lastly, to cut off all hopes from that court of ever bringing
the Queen to force her allies to a disadvantageous peace; Her Majesty
resolving to impose no scheme at all upon them, or to debar them from
the liberty of endeavouring to obtain the best conditions they could.
The Lord Bolingbroke went to France in the beginning of August,[18] was
received at court with particular marks of distinction and respect; and
in a very few days, by his usual address and ability, performed every
part of his commission, extremely to the Queen's content and his own
honour. He returned to England before the end of the month; but Mr.
Prior, who went along with him, was left behind, to adjust whatever
differences might remain or arise between the two crowns.[19]
[Footnote 18: "Lord Bolingbroke and Prior set out for France last
Saturday. My lord's business is to hasten the peace before the Dutch are
too much mauled, and hinder France from carrying the jest of beating
them too far." ("Journal to Stella," August 7th, 1712. See vol. ii., p.
381 of present edition). The result of Bolingbroke's visit was the
signing, on August 19th, of an agreement for the suspension of arms for
four months. Torcy's reception of Bolingbroke was so managed that the
_bon vivant_ peer had as pleasant a time as he could well have wished.
How much influence that had on Bolingbroke we can only speculate; but it
is certain that he would have made a separate peace with France, after
his return, had Oxford been willing. See Torcy's "Mémoires" (vol. ii.,
p. 202). "Bolingbroke avoit conseillé à la Reine sa maîtresse de
préférer une paix particulière à la suspension d'armes, et d'assurer au
plus tôt à ses sujets la jouissance de toutes les conditions dont le Roi
étoit convenu en faveur de l'Angleterre." [T.S.]]
[Footnote 19: There is a long letter from Lord Bolingbroke to Mr. Prior,
on the subject of this negotiation, printed in Scott's edition of Swift,
vol. xv., pp. 524-529. [W.S.J.]]
In the mean time the general conferences at Utrecht, which for several
weeks had been let fall, since the delivery of Dunkirk, were now
resumed. But the Dutch still declaring against a suspension of arms, and
refusing to accept the Queen's speech as a plan to negotiate upon, there
was no progress made for some time in the great work of the peace.
Whereupon the British plenipotentiaries told those of the States, "That
if the Queen's endeavours could not procure more than the contents of
her speech, or if the French should ever fall short of what was there
offered, the Dutch could blame none but themselves, who, by their
conduct, had rendered things difficult, that would otherwise have been
easy." However, Her Majesty thought it prudent to keep the States still
in hopes of her good offices, to prevent them from taking the desperate
course of leaving themselves wholly at the mercy of France; which was an
expedient they formerly practised, and which a party among them was now
inclined to advise.
Whilst the congress at Utrecht remained in this inactive state, the
Queen proceeded to perfect that important article for preventing the
union of France and Spain. It was proposed and accepted, that Philip
should renounce France, for himself and his posterity; and that the Most
Christian King, and all the princes of his blood, should, in the like
manner, renounce Spain.
It must be confessed, that this project of renunciation lay under a
great disrepute, by the former practices of this very King, Lewis XIV.
pursuant to an absurd notion among many in that kingdom, of a divine
right, annexed to proximity of blood, not to be controlled by any human
law.
But it is plain, the French themselves had recourse to this method,
after all their infractions of it, since the Pyrenean treaty; for the
first dauphin, in whom the original claim was vested, renounced, for
himself and his eldest son, which opened the way to Philip Duke of
Anjou; who would however hardly have succeeded, if it had not been for
the will made in his favour by the last King, Charles II.
It is indeed hard to reflect, with any patience, upon the unaccountable
stupidity of the princes of Europe for some centuries past, who left a
probability to France of succeeding in a few ages to all their
dominions; whilst, at the same time, no alliance with that kingdom could
be of advantage to any prince, by reason of the salique law. Should not
common prudence have taught every sovereign in Christendom to enact a
salique law, with respect to France; for want of which, it is almost a
miracle, that the Bourbon family hath not possessed the universal
monarchy by right of inheritance? When the French assert a proximity of
blood gives a divine right, as some of their ministers, who ought to be
more wise or honest, have lately advanced in this very case, to the
title of Spain; do they not, by allowing a French succession, make their
own kings usurpers? Or, if the salique law be divine, is it not of
universal obligation, and consequently of force, to exclude France from
inheriting by daughters? Or, lastly, if that law be of human
institution, may it not be enacted in any state, with whatever extent or
limitation the legislature shall think fit? For the notion of an
unchangeable human law is an absurdity in government, to be believed
only by ignorance, and supported by power. From hence it follows, that
the children of the late Queen of France, although she had renounced,
were as legally excluded from succeeding to Spain, as if the salique law
had been fundamental in that kingdom; since that exclusion was
established by every power in Spain, which could possibly give a
sanction to any law there; and therefore the Duke of Anjou's title is
wholly founded upon the bequest of his predecessor (which hath great
authority in that monarchy, as it formerly had in ours), upon the
confirmation of the Cortes, and the general consent of the people.
It is certain, the faith of princes is so frequently subservient to
their ambition, that renunciations have little validity, otherwise than
from the powers and parties whose interest it is to support them. But
this renunciation, which the Queen hath exacted from the French King and
his grandson, I take to be armed with all the essential circumstances
that can fortify such an act. For as it is necessary, for the security
of every prince in Europe, that those two great kingdoms should never be
united; so the chief among them will readily consent to be guarantees
for preventing such a misfortune.
Besides, this proposal (according to Her Majesty's expression in her
speech) is of such a nature, that it executes itself; because the
Spaniards, who dread such an union, for every reason that can have
weight among men, took care that their king should not only renounce, in
the most solemn manner; but likewise, that the act should be framed in
the strongest terms themselves could invent, or we could furnish them
with. As to France, upon supposal of the young dauphin's dying in a few
years, that kingdom will not be in a condition to engage in a long war
against a powerful alliance, fortified with the addition of the
Spaniards, and the party of the Duke of Berry, or whoever else shall be
next claimer: and the longer the present dauphin lives, the weaker must
Philip's interest be in France; because the princes, who are to succeed
by this renunciation, will have most power and credit in the kingdom.
The mischiefs occasioned by the want of a good understanding between the
allies, especially Britain and Holland, were raised every day; the
French taking the advantage, and raising difficulties, not only upon the
general plan of peace, but likewise upon the explanation of several
articles in the projected treaty between them and Her Majesty: They
insisted to have Lille, as the equivalent for Dunkirk; and demanded
Tournay, Maubeuge, and Condé, for the two or three towns mentioned in
the Queen's speech; which the British plenipotentiaries were so far from
allowing, that they refused to confer with those of France upon that
foot; although, at the same time, the former had fresh apprehensions
that the Dutch, in a fit of despair, would accept whatever terms the
enemy pleased to offer, and, by precipitating their own peace, prevent
Her Majesty from obtaining any advantages, both for her allies and
herself.
It is most certain, that the repeated losses suffered by the States, in
little more than two months after they had withdrawn themselves from the
Queen's assistance, did wholly disconcert their counsels;[20] and their
prudence (as it is usual) began to forsake them with their good fortune.
They were so weak as to be still deluded by their friends in England,
who continued to give them hopes of some mighty and immediate resource
from hence; for when the Duke of Ormonde had been about a month in
Ghent, he received a letter from the Maréchal de Villars, to inform him,
that the Dutch generals, taken at Denain, had told the maréchal
publicly, of a sudden revolution expected in Britain; that particularly
the Earl of Albemarle and Mons. Hompesch discoursed very freely of it,
and that nothing was more commonly talked of in Holland. It was then
likewise confidently reported in Ghent, that the Queen was dead; and we
all remember what rumour flew about here at the very same time, as if
Her Majesty's health were in a bad condition.
[Footnote 20: The Dutch had been defeated at Douay, and the Allies had
suffered reverses by the reduction of Quesnoy and Bouchain. [T.S.]]
Whether such vain hopes as these gave spirit to the Dutch; whether their
frequent misfortunes made them angry and sullen; whether they still
expected to overreach us by some private stipulations with France,
through the mediation of the Elector of Bavaria, as that prince
afterwards gave out; or whatever else was the cause, they utterly
refused a cessation of arms; and made not the least return to all the
advances and invitations made by Her Majesty, until the close of the
campaign.
It was then the States first began to view their affairs in another
light; to consider how little the vast promises of Count Zinzendorf were
to be relied on; to be convinced that France was not disposed to break
with Her Majesty, only to gratify their ill humour, or unreasonable
demands; to discover that their factious correspondents on this side the
water had shamefully misled them; that some of their own principal towns
grew heartily weary of the war, and backward in their loans; and,
lastly, that Prince Eugene, their new general, whether his genius or
fortune had left him, was not for their turn. They, therefore, directed
their ministers at Utrecht to signify to the lord privy seal and the
Earl of Strafford, "That the States were disposed to comply with Her
Majesty, and to desire her good offices with France; particularly, that
Tournay and Condé might be left to them as part of their barrier,
without which they could not be safe: That the Elector of Bavaria might
not be suffered to retain any town in the Netherlands, which would be as
bad for Holland as if those places were in the hands of France:
Therefore the States proposed, that Luxembourg, Namur, Charleroy, and
Nieuport, might be delivered to the Emperor. Lastly, That the French
might not insist on excepting the four species of goods out of the
tariff of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four: That if Her Majesty
could prevail with France to satisfy their masters on these articles,
they would be ready to submit in all the rest."
When the Queen received an account of this good disposition in the
States General, immediately orders were sent to Mr. Prior, to inform the
ministers of the French court, "That Her Majesty had now some hopes of
the Dutch complying with her measures; and therefore she resolved, as
she had always declared, whenever those allies came to themselves, not
to make the peace without their reasonable satisfaction." The difficulty
that most pressed, was about the disposal of Tournay and Condé. The
Dutch insisted strongly to have both, and the French were extremely
unwilling to part with either.
The Queen judged the former would suffice, for completing the barrier of
the States. Mr. Prior was therefore directed to press the Marquis de
Torcy effectually on this head, and to terminate all that minister's
objections, by assuring him of Her Majesty's resolutions to appear
openly on the side of the Dutch, if this demand were refused. It was
thought convenient to act in this resolute manner with France, whose
late success, against Holland, had taught the ministers of the Most
Christian King to resume their old imperious manner of treating with
that republic; to which they were farther encouraged by the ill
understanding between Her Majesty and the allies.
This appeared from the result of an idle quarrel that happened, about
the end of August,[21] at Utrecht, between a French and a Dutch
plenipotentiary, Mons. Mesnager and Count Rechteren;[22] wherein the
court of France demanded such abject submissions, and with so much
haughtiness, as plainly shewed they were pleased with any occasion of
mortifying the Dutch.
[Footnote 21: July. [S]]
[Footnote 22: See note on p. 95. [T.S.]]
Besides, the politics of the French ran at this time very opposite to
those of Britain: They thought the ministers here durst not meet the
Parliament without a peace; and that, therefore, Her Majesty would
either force the States to comply with France, by delivering up Tournay,
which was the principal point in dispute, or would finish her own peace
with France and Spain, leaving a fixed time for Holland to refuse or
accept the terms imposed on them. But the Queen, who thought the demand
of Tournay by the States to be very necessary and just, was determined
to insist upon it, and to declare openly against France, rather than
suffer her ally to want a place so useful for their barrier. And Mr.
Prior was ordered to signify this resolution of Her Majesty to Mons. de
Torcy, in case that minister could not be otherwise prevailed on.
The British plenipotentiaries did likewise, at the same time, express to
those of Holland Her Majesty's great satisfaction, that the States were
at last disposed to act in confidence with her: "That she wished this
resolution had been sooner taken, since nobody had gained by the delay,
but the French King; that, however, Her Majesty did not question the
procuring a safe and honourable peace, by united counsels, reasonable
demands, and prudent measures; that she would assist them in getting
whatever was necessary to their barrier, and in settling, to their
satisfaction, the exceptions made by France out of the tariff of one
thousand six hundred and sixty-four; that no other difficulties remained
of moment to retard the peace, since the Queen had obtained Sicily for
the Duke of Savoy; and, in the settlement of the Low Countries, would
adhere to what she delivered from the throne: That as to the empire, Her
Majesty heartily wished their barrier as good as could be desired; but
that we were not now in circumstances to expect every thing exactly
according to the scheme of Holland: France had already offered a great
part, and the Queen did not think the remainder worth the continuance of
the war."
Her Majesty conceived the peace in so much forwardness, that she thought
fit, about this time, to nominate the Duke of Hamilton and the Lord
Lexington for ambassadors in France and Spain, to receive the
renunciations in both courts, and adjust matters of commerce.
The duke[23] was preparing for his journey, when he was challenged to a
duel[24] by the Lord Mohun,[25] a person of infamous character. He
killed his adversary upon the spot, though he himself received a wound;
and, weakened by the loss of blood, as he was leaning in the arms of his
second, was most barbarously stabbed in the breast by Lieutenant-General
Macartney,[26] who was second to Lord Mohun. He died a few minutes after
in the field, and the murderer made his escape. I thought so surprising
an event might deserve barely to be related, although it be something
foreign to my subject.
[Footnote 23: James, Duke of Hamilton, was a gentleman of the
bed-chamber to King Charles II. He succeeded his father in the title,
April 18th, 1694, and was sent the same year envoy extraordinary to
France; ... he was killed, November 15th, 1712. [S.]]
[Footnote 24: Swift's account of the duel is exactly agreeable to the
depositions of Colonel Hamilton before a committee of the council. [S.]]
[Footnote 25: Charles Lord Mohun was the last offspring of a very noble
and ancient family, of which William de Mohun, who accompanied the
Norman conqueror, was the first founder in England. [S.]]
[Footnote 26: General Macartney was tried, at the King's Bench bar, for
the murder, June 13th, 1716; and the jury found him guilty of
man-slaughter. [S.]]
The Earl of Strafford, who had come to England in May last,[27] in order
to give Her Majesty an account of the disposition of affairs in Holland,
was now returning with her last instructions, to let the Dutch minister
know, "That some points would probably meet with difficulties not to be
overcome, which once might have been easily obtained: To shew what evil
consequences had already flowed from their delay and irresolution, and
to entreat them to fix on some proposition, reasonable in itself, as
well as possible to be effected: That the Queen would insist upon the
cession of Tournay by France, provided the States would concur in
finishing the peace, without starting new objections, or insisting upon
farther points: That the French demands, in favour of the Elector of
Bavaria, appeared to be such as, the Queen was of opinion, the States
ought to agree to; which were, to leave the Elector in possession of
Luxembourg, Namur, and Charleroy, subject to the terms of their barrier,
until he should be restored to his electorate; and to give him the
kingdom of Sardinia, to efface the stain of his degradation in the
electoral college: That the earl had brought over a project of a new
Treaty of Succession and Barrier, which Her Majesty insisted the States
should sign, before the conclusion of the peace; the former treaty
having been disadvantageous to her subjects, containing in it the seeds
of future dissensions, and condemned by the sense of the nation. Lastly,
That Her Majesty, notwithstanding all provocations, had, for the sake of
the Dutch, and in hopes of their recovery from those false notions which
had so long misled them, hitherto kept the negotiations open: That the
offers now made them were her last, and this the last time she would
apply to them: That they must either agree, or expect the Queen would
proceed immediately to conclude her treaty with France and Spain, in
conjunction with such of her allies as would think fit to adhere to her.
[Footnote 27: "Come to England in ... last" in original edition. The
word "May" was supplied in the edition of 1775. [W.S.J.]]
"As to Savoy, that the Queen expected the States would concur with her
in making good the advantages stipulated for that duke, and in
prevailing with the Emperor to consent to an absolute neutrality in
Italy, until the peace should be concluded."
The governing party in Holland, however in appearance disposed to
finish, affected new delays, and raised many difficulties about the four
species of goods, which the French had excepted out of the tariff. Count
Zinzendorf, the Emperor's plenipotentiary, did all that was possible to
keep up this humour in the Dutch, in hopes to put them under a necessity
of preparing for the next campaign; and some time after went so far in
this pursuit, that he summoned the several ministers of the empire, and
told them he had letters from his master, with orders to signify to
them, "That his Imperial Majesty resolved to begin the campaign early,
with all his forces united against France; of which he desired they
would send notice to all their courts, that the several princes might be
ready to furnish their contingents and recruits." At the same time
Zinzendorf endeavoured to borrow two millions of florins upon the
security of some imperial cities; but could not succeed either amongst
the Jews or at Amsterdam.
When the Earl of Strafford arrived at Utrecht, the lord privy seal and
he communicated to the Dutch ministers the new Treaty for a Succession
and Barrier, as the Queen had ordered it to be prepared here in England,
differing from the former in several points of the greatest moment,
obvious to any who will be at the pains to compare them. This was
strenuously opposed for several weeks by the plenipotentiaries of the
States; but the province of Utrecht, where the congress was held,
immediately sent orders to their representatives at The Hague, to
declare their province thankful to the Queen; that they agreed the peace
should be made on the terms proposed by France, and consented to the new
projected Treaty of Barrier and Succession: and about the close of the
year, one thousand seven hundred and twelve, four of the seven
provinces, had delivered their opinions for putting an end to the war.
This unusual precipitation in the States, so different from the whole
tenor of their former conduct, was very much suspected by the British
plenipotentiaries. Their Lordships had received intelligence, that the
Dutch ministers held frequent conferences with those of France, and had
offered to settle their interests with that crown, without the
concurrence of Britain. Count Zinzendorf, and his colleagues, appeared
likewise, all on the sudden, to have the same dispositions, and to be in
great haste to settle their several differences with the States. The
reasons for this proceeding were visible enough; many difficulties were
yet undetermined in the treaty of commerce between Her Majesty and
France, for the adjusting of which, and some other points, the Queen had
lately dispatched the Duke of Shrewsbury to that court. Some of these
were of hard digestion, with which the Most Christian King would not be
under a necessity of complying, when he had no farther occasion for us,
and might, upon that account, afford better terms to the other two
powers. Besides, the Emperor and the States could very well spare Her
Majesty the honour of being arbitrator of a general peace; and the
latter hoped by this means, to avoid the new Treaty of Barrier and
Succession, which we were now forcing on them.
To prevent the consequences of this evil, there fortunately fell out an
incident, which the two lords at Utrecht knew well how to make use of:
the quarrel between Mons. Mesnager and Count Rechteren (formerly
mentioned) had not yet been made up. The French and Dutch differing in
some circumstances, about the satisfaction to be given by the count for
the affront he had offered, the British plenipotentiaries kept this
dispute on foot for several days; and, in the mean time, pressed the
Dutch to finish the new Treaty of Barrier and Succession between Her
Majesty and them, which, about the middle of January, was concluded
fully to the Queen's satisfaction.
But while these debates and differences continued at the congress, the
Queen resolved to put a speedy end to her part in the war; she therefore
sent orders to the lord privy seal, and the Earl of Stafford, to prepare
every thing necessary for signing her own treaty with France. This she
hoped might be done against the meeting of her Parliament, now prorogued
to the third of February; in which time, those among the allies, who
were really inclined towards a peace, might settle their several
interests by the assistance and support of Her Majesty's
plenipotentiaries; and as for the rest, who would either refuse to
comply, or endeavour to protract the negotiation, the heads of their
respective demands, which France had yielded by Her Majesty's
intervention, and agreeable to the plan laid down in her speech, should
be mentioned in the treaty, and a time limited for the several powers
concerned to receive or reject them.
The Pretender was not yet gone out of France, upon some difficulties
alleged by the French, about procuring him a safe conduct to Bar-le-duc,
in the Duke of Lorraine's dominions, where it was then proposed he
should reside. The Queen, altogether bent upon quieting the minds of her
subjects, declared, she would not sign the peace till that person were
removed; although several wise men believed he could be no where less
dangerous to Britain, than in the place where he was.
The argument which most prevailed on the States to sign the new Treaty
of Barrier and Succession with Britain, was Her Majesty's promise to
procure Tournay for them from France; after which, no more differences
remained between us and that republic, and consequently they had no
farther temptations to any separate transactions with the French, who
thereupon began to renew their litigious and haughty manner of treating
with the Dutch. The satisfaction they extorted for the affront given by
Count Rechteren to Mons. Mesnager, although somewhat softened by the
British ministers at Utrecht, was yet so rigorous, that Her Majesty
could not forbear signifying her resentment of it to the Most Christian
King. Mons. Mesnager, who seemed to have more the genius of a merchant
than a minister, began, in his conferences with the plenipotentiaries of
the States, to raise new disputes upon points which both we and they had
reckoned upon as wholly settled. The Abbé de Polignac, a most
accomplished person, of great generosity and universal understanding,
was gone to France to receive the cardinal's cap; and the Maréchal
d'Uxelles was wholly guided by his colleague, Mons. Mesnager, who kept
up those brangles, that for a time obstructed the peace; some of which
were against all justice, and others of small importance, both of very
little advantage to his country, and less to the reputation of his
master or himself. This low talent in business, which the Cardinal de
Polignac used, in contempt, to call a "spirit of negotiating," made it
impossible for the two lords plenipotentiaries, with all their abilities
and experience, to bring Mesnager to reason, in several points both with
us and the States: his concessions were few and constrained, serving
only to render him more tenacious of what he refused. In several of the
towns, which the States were to keep, he insisted that France should
retain the chatellanies, or extent of country depending on them,
particularly that of Tournay; a demand the more unjustifiable, because
he knew his master had not only proceeded directly contrary, but had
erected a court in his kingdom, where his own judges extended the
territories about those towns he had taken, as far as he pleased to
direct them. Mons. Mesnager showed equal obstinacy in what his master
expected for the Elector of Bavaria, and in refusing the tariff of one
thousand six hundred and sixty-four: so that the Queen's
plenipotentiaries represented these difficulties as what might be of
dangerous consequence, both to the peace in general, and to the States
in particular, if they were not speedily prevented.
Upon these considerations Her Majesty thought it her shortest and safest
course to apply directly to France, where she had then so able a
minister as the Duke of Shrewsbury.[28]
[Footnote 28: Shrewsbury had been appointed the Duke of Hamilton's
successor. [T.S.]]
The Marquis de Torcy, secretary to the Most Christian King, was the
minister with whom the Duke was to treat, as having been the first who
moved his master to apply to the Queen for a peace, in opposition to a
violent faction in that kingdom, who were as eagerly bent to continue
the war, as any other could be either here or in Holland.
It would be very unlike a historian, to refuse this great minister the
praise he so justly deserveth, of having treated, through the whole
course of so great a negotiation, with the utmost candour and integrity;
never once failing in any promise he made, and tempering a firm zeal to
his master's interest, with a ready compliance to what was reasonable
and just. Mr. Prior, whom I have formerly mentioned, resided likewise
now at Paris, with the character of minister plenipotentiary, and was
very acceptable to that court, upon the score of his wit and humour.[29]
[Footnote 29: P. Fitzgerald adds, "as well as useful to Her Majesty by
his knowledge and dexterity in the management of affairs." [W.S.J.]]
The Duke of Shrewsbury was directed to press the French court upon the
points yet unsettled in the treaty of commerce between both crowns; to
make them drop their unreasonable demands for the Elector of Bavaria; to
let them know, that the Queen was resolved not to forsake her allies who
were now ready to come in; that she thought the best way of hastening
the general peace, was to determine her own particular one with France,
until which time she could not conveniently suffer her Parliament to
meet.
The States were, by this time, so fully convinced of the Queen's
sincerity and affection to their republic, and how much they had been
deceived by the insinuations of the factious party in England, that they
wrote a very humble letter to Her Majesty, to desire her assistance
towards settling those points they had in dispute with France, and
professing themselves ready to acquiesce in whatever explanation Her
Majesty would please to make of the plan proposed in her speech to the
Parliament.
But the Queen had already prevented their desires; and in the beginning
of February, one thousand seven hundred and twelve-thirteen, directed
the Duke of Shrewsbury to inform the French court, "That since she had
prevailed on her allies, the Dutch, to drop the demand of Condé, and the
other of the four species of goods, which the French had excepted out of
the tariff of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four, she would not
sign without them: That she approved of the Dutch insisting to have the
chatellanies restored, with the towns, and was resolved to stand or fall
with them, until they were satisfied in this point."
Her Majesty had some apprehensions, that the French created these
difficulties on purpose to spin out the treaty, until the campaign
should begin. They thought it absolutely necessary, that our Parliament
should meet in a few weeks, which could not well be ventured, until the
Queen were able to tell both Houses, that her own peace was signed: That
this would not only facilitate what remained in difference between
Britain and France, but leave the Dutch entirely at the mercy of the
latter.
The Queen, weary of these refined mistakes in the French politics, and
fully resolved to be trifled with no longer, sent her determinate orders
to the Duke of Shrewsbury, to let France know, "That Her Majesty had
hitherto prorogued her Parliament, in hopes of accommodating the
difficulties in her own treaties of peace and commerce with that crown,
as well as settling the interests of her several allies; or, at least,
that the differences in the former being removed, the Most Christian
King would have made such offers for the latter, as might justify Her
Majesty in signing her own peace, whether the confederates intended to
sign theirs or no. But several points being yet unfinished between both
crowns, and others between France and the rest of the allies, especially
the States, to which the plenipotentiaries of that court at Utrecht had
not thought fit to give satisfaction; the Queen was now come to a final
determination, both with relation to her own kingdoms, and to the whole
alliance: That the campaign approaching, she would not willingly be
surprised in case the war was to go on: That she had transmitted to the
Duke of Shrewsbury her last resolutions, and never would be prevailed on
to reduce her own demands, or those of her allies, any lower than the
scheme now sent over, as an explanation of the plan laid down in her
speech: That Her Majesty had sent orders to her plenipotentiaries at
Utrecht, to assume the character of ambassadors, and sign the peace
immediately with the ministers of the Most Christian King, as soon as
the Duke of Shrewsbury should have sent them notice that the French had
complied: That the Queen had therefore farther prorogued her Parliament
to the third of March, in hopes to assure them, by that time, of her
peace being agreed on; for if the two Houses should meet, while any
uncertainty remained, supplies must be asked as for a war."
The Duke of Shrewsbury[30] executed this important commission with that
speed and success, which could only be expected from an able minister.
The French King immediately yielded to the whole scheme Her Majesty
proposed; whereupon directions were sent to the lord privy seal, and the
Earl of Strafford, to sign a peace between Great Britain and France,
without delay.
[Footnote 30: Swift writes to Abp. King, October 20th, 1713, that the
Duke of Shrewsbury "is the finest gentleman we have, and of an excellent
understanding and capacity for business" (Scott's edition, xvi. 71). See
also Swift's remarks in "The Examiner," No. 27 (vol. ix, of this
edition, p. 171), and note in vol. v., p. 377. [W.S.J.]]
Upon the second day of March, the two British plenipotentiaries met
those of the allies in the town-house at Utrecht; where the lord privy
seal addressed himself to them in a short speech, "That the negotiation
had now continued fourteen months with great slowness, which had proved
very injurious to the interests of the allies: That the Queen had stayed
thus long, and stopped the finishing of her own peace, rather than leave
her allies in any uncertainty: That she hoped they would now be all
prepared to put an end to this great work; and therefore had commanded
her plenipotentiaries to tell those of the allies, That she found it
necessary to conclude her own treaty immediately; and it was her
opinion, that the confederates ought to finish theirs at the same time,
to which they were now accordingly invited by Her Majesty's orders." And
lastly, his lordship declared, in the Queen's name, "That whoever could
not be ready on the day prefixed, should have a convenient time allowed
them to come in."
Although the orders sent by the Queen to her plenipotentiaries were very
precise, yet their lordships did not precipitate the performance of
them. They were directed to appoint as short a day for the signing as
they conveniently could; but, however, the particular day was left to
their discretion. They hoped to bring over the Dutch, and most of the
other allies, to conclude at the same time with the Queen; which, as it
would certainly be more popular to their country, so they conceived it
would be more safe for themselves: besides, upon looking over their
commission, a scruple sprang in their minds, that they could not sign a
particular peace with France; their powers, as they apprehended,
authorizing them only to sign a general one. Their lordships therefore
sent to England to desire new powers,[31] and, in the mean time,
employed themselves with great industry, between the ministers of France
and those of the several allies, to find some expedient for smoothing
the way to an agreement among them.
[Footnote 31: "Lord Bolingbroke, who says he has not sagacity enough to
find the objections that the plenipotentiaries had made to their first
full powers, for their satisfaction, sends them a new commission, and
repeats to them positive orders to sign and conclude with France....
These difficulties of the plenipotentiaries made my lord treasurer, who
never failed to exert himself when he found it absolutely necessary,
think it high time to interpose his authority;.... and as his lordship
never yet appeared in vain, all further obstructions at Utrecht were
after this soon removed." ("Report from the Committee of Secrecy," 1715,
pp. 103, 104.) [N.]]
The Earl of Strafford went for a few days to The Hague, to inform the
States of Her Majesty's express commands to his colleague and himself,
for signing the peace as soon as possible; and to desire they would be
ready at the same time: which the pensionary promised; and that their
plenipotentiaries should be empowered accordingly, to the great
contentment of Mons. Buys, who was now so much altered, either in
reality, or appearance, that he complained to the Earl of Mons.
Heinsius's slowness; and charged all the delays and mismanagements of a
twelvemonth past to that minister's account.
While the Earl of Strafford stayed at The Hague, he discovered that an
emissary of the Duke of Marlborough's had been there some days before,
sent by his grace to dissuade the Dutch from signing at the same time
with the ministers of the Queen, which, in England, would at least have
the appearance of a separate peace, and oblige their British friends,
who knew how to turn so short a delay to very good account, as well as
gratify the Emperor; on whom, it was alleged, they ought to rely much
more than on Her Majesty. One of the States likewise told the Earl,
"That the same person, employed by the Duke, was then in conference with
the magistrates of Rotterdam (which town had declared for the
continuance of the war), to assure them, if they would hold off a
little, they should see an unexpected turn in the British Parliament:
That the Duke of Marlborough had a list of the discontented members in
both Houses, who were ready to turn against the court; and, to crown
all, that his grace had certain intelligence of the Queen being in so
ill a state of health, as made it impossible for her to live above six
weeks." So restless and indefatigable is avarice and ambition, when
inflamed by a desire of revenge.
But representations, which had been so often tried, were now offered too
late. Most of the allies, except the Emperor, were willing to put an end
to the war upon Her Majesty's plan; and the further delay of three weeks
must be chiefly imputed to that litigious manner of treating, peculiar
to the French; whose plenipotentiaries at Utrecht insisted with
obstinacy upon many points, which at Paris Mons. de Torcy had given up.
The Emperor expected to keep all he already possessed in Italy; that
Port Longue,[32] on the Tuscan coast, should be delivered to him by
France; and, lastly, that he should not be obliged to renounce Spain.
But the Queen, as well as France, thought that his Imperial Majesty
ought to sit down contented with his partage of Naples and Milan; and to
restore those territories in Italy, which he had taken from the rightful
proprietors, and by the possession of which he was grown dangerous to
the Italian princes, by reviving antiquated claims upon them.
[Footnote 32: Portolongone, in the island of Elba, opposite the Tuscan
coast. [W.S.J.]]
This Prince had likewise objected to Her Majesty's expedient of
suffering the Elector of Bavaria to retain Luxembourg, under certain
conditions, by way of security, until his electorate were restored. But
the Queen, supposing that these affected delays were intended only with
a view of continuing the war, resolved to defer the peace no longer on
the Emperor's account.
In the middle of March, one thousand seven hundred and twelve-thirteen,
a courier arrived at Utrecht from France, with the plan of a general
peace, as it had been agreed between the Duke of Shrewsbury and Mons. de
Torcy; wherein every particular, relating to the interests and
pretensions of the several allies, was brought so near to what each of
them would accept, that the British plenipotentiaries hoped the peace
would be general in ten or twelve days. The Portuguese and Dutch were
already prepared, and others were daily coming in, by means of their
lordships' good offices, who found Mons. Mesnager and his colleague very
stubborn to the last. Another courier was dispatched to France, upon
some disputes about inserting the titles of Her Majesty and the Most
Christian King, and to bring a general plan for the interests of those
allies, who should not be ready against the time prefixed. The French
renunciations were now arrived at Utrecht, and it was agreed, that
those, as well as that of the King of Spain, should be inserted at
length in every treaty, by which means the whole confederacy would
become guaranties of them.
The courier, last sent to France, returned to Utrecht on the
twenty-seventh of March, with the concessions of that court upon every
necessary point; so that, all things being ready for putting a period to
this great and difficult work, the lord privy seal and the Earl of
Strafford gave notice to the ministers of the several allies, "That
their lordships had appointed Tuesday the thirty-first instant, wherein
to sign a treaty of peace, and a treaty of commerce, between the Queen
of Great Britain, their mistress, and the Most Christian King; and hoped
the said allies would be prepared, at the same time, to follow their
example." Accordingly their lordships employed the three intervening
days, in smoothing the few difficulties that remained between the French
ministers and those of the several confederate powers.
The important day being now come, the Lord Bishop of Bristol and the
Earl of Strafford, having assumed the character of ambassadors
extraordinary,[33] gave a memorial in behalf of the French Protestants
to the Maréchal d'Uxelles and his colleague, who were to transmit it to
their court; and these delivered to the British ambassadors a
declaration in writing, that the Pretender was actually gone out of
France.
[Footnote 33: To avoid the parade of ceremony, they had hitherto been
considered only as _plenipotentiaries_. [N.]]
The conditions of peace to be allowed the Emperor and the empire, as
adjusted between Britain and France, were now likewise delivered to the
Count Zinzendorf. These and some other previous matters of smaller
consequence being finished, the treaties of peace and commerce between
Her Majesty of Britain and the Most Christian King, were signed at the
lord privy seal's house between two and three of the clock in the
afternoon. The ministers of the Duke of Savoy signed about an hour
after. Then the assembly adjourned to the Earl of Stafford's, where they
all went to dinner; and about nine at night the peace was signed by the
ministers of Portugal, by those of Prussia at eleven, and when it was
near midnight by the States.
Thus after all the opposition raised by a strong party in France, and by
a virulent faction in Britain; after all the artifices of those who
presided at The Hague, and, for their private interest, endeavoured, in
conjunction with their friends in England, to prolong the war; after the
restless endeavours of the imperial court to render the treaty
ineffectual; the firm steady conduct of the Queen, the wisdom and
courage of her ministry, and the abilities of those whom she employed in
her negotiations abroad, prevailed to have a peace signed in one day by
every power concerned, except that of the Emperor and the empire; for
his Imperial Majesty liked his situation too well to think of a peace,
while the drudgery and expenses of the war lay upon other shoulders, and
the advantages were to redound only to himself.
During this whole negotiation, the King of Spain, who was not
acknowledged by any of the confederates, had consequently no minister at
Utrecht; but the differences between Her Majesty and that prince were
easily settled by the Lord Lexington at Madrid, and the Marquis of
Monteleon here: so that upon the Duke d'Ossuna's arrival at the
congress, some days after the peace, he was ready to conclude a treaty
between the Queen and his master. Neither is it probable that the Dutch,
or any other ally, except the Emperor, will encounter any difficulties
of moment, to retard their several treaties with his Catholic Majesty.
The treaties of peace and commerce between Britain and France, were
ratified here on the seventh of April; on the twenty-eighth the
ratifications were exchanged; and on the fifth of May the peace was
proclaimed in the usual manner; but with louder acclamations, and more
extraordinary rejoicings of the people, than had ever been remembered on
the like occasion.[34]
[Footnote: 34 The treaty was brought to England by George St. John,
Bolingbroke's young brother, who arrived with it in London on Good
Friday, 3rd April, 1713. [T.S.]]
[It need hardly be observed, that this history is left incomplete by
the author. [S.] Sir Walter Scott's note hardly agrees with Swift's own
statement to Stella. Writing under date May 16th, 1713, he says: "I have
just finished my Treatise, and must be ten days correcting it." It is
evident that Swift did not intend to write a "History of the Four Last
Years of Queen Anne's Reign." A better title for this work would be the
title originally given it, namely, "History of the Peace of Utrecht." In
the letter already quoted from Erasmus Lewis, Swift's account of the
negotiations for the peace are thus remarked upon: "That part of it
which relates to the negotiations of peace, whether at London or at
Utrecht, they admire exceedingly, and declare they never yet saw that,
or any other transaction, drawn up with so much perspicuity, or in a
style so entertaining and instructive to the reader in every respect."
[T.S.]]
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
AN ABSTRACT
OF THE
HISTORY OF ENGLAND,
FROM THE INVASION OF IT BY JULIUS CAESAR
TO THE REIGN OF HENRY THE SECOND.
NOTE.
The Abstract of the History of England here reprinted calls for little
or no comment. It is but a dry relation of events with no touch in the
recital of any of those qualities which characterize Swift's writings.
The facts were evidently obtained from the old chroniclers. What object
Swift had in writing this Abstract is not known. If the dedication to
the Count de Gyllenborg truly states his intention, it must be confessed
that the "foreigners, and gentlemen of our own country" had not much
upon which to congratulate themselves. Why Swift should have chosen the
Count de Gyllenborg to whom to address the dedication must also remain a
matter for conjecture. The Count had been sent out of the British Isles
for instigating a conspiracy for a Jacobite insurrection in Great
Britain. Swift wrote his dedication three years after the Count's
expulsion. Knowing that the Count's master, Charles XII. of Sweden, had
been a party to the plot, he yet writes in a most amiable tone of
friendliness towards both, with a parenthetical sneer at "his present
Britannic Majesty." Undoubtedly this dedication might easily and fairly
be taken as strong presumptive evidence of a leaning on Swift's part
towards the Pretender. It will, however, be more truly interpreted, if
it be considered as an expression of contempt for the King of England
and the ministry in power.
The text of the present reprint is that given by Deane Swift from his
edition of his kinsman's works issued in 1765 and 1768 (4to edit, vols.
viii. and xiii.). Deane Swift thought that the narratives of Rufus,
Henry I. and Stephen, would "appear to be such a model of English
history, as will make all men of taste, and especially foreigners,
regret that he pursued his plan no further."
[T.S.]
TO THE COUNT DE GYLLENBORG.[1]
[Footnote 1: Charles, Count Gyllenborg (1679-1746), was Swedish
Ambassador at London 1710-16. He then joined in a Jacobite plot, was
arrested in January, 1716-7, and expelled the kingdom in August, 1717.
He afterwards filled high offices in his own country. [W.S.J.]]
Dublin in Ireland, Nov. 2, 1719.
SIR,
It is now about sixteen years since I first entertained the design of
writing a History of England, from the beginning of William Rufus to the
end of Queen Elizabeth; such a History, I mean, as appears to be most
wanted by foreigners, and gentlemen of our own country; not a voluminous
work, nor properly an abridgement, but an exact relation of the most
important affairs and events, without any regard to the rest. My
intention was to inscribe it to the King[2] your late master, for whose
great virtues I had ever the highest veneration, as I shall continue to
bear to his memory. I confess it is with some disdain that I observe
great authors descending to write any dedications at all: and for my own
part, when I looked round on all the princes of Europe, I could think of
none who might deserve that distinction from me, besides the King your
master; (for I say nothing of his present Britannic Majesty, to whose
person and character I am an utter stranger, and like to continue so)
neither can I be suspected of flattery on this point, since it was some
years after that I had the honour of an invitation to his court, before
you were employed as his minister in England, which I heartily repent
that I did not accept; whereby, as you can be my witness, I might have
avoided some years' uneasiness and vexation, during the last four years
of our late excellent Queen, as well as a long melancholy prospect
since, in a most obscure disagreeable country, and among a most
profligate and abandoned people.
[Footnote 2: Charles XII., King of Sweden, who was killed in 1718. [D.
S.]]
I was diverted from pursuing this History, partly by the extreme
difficulty, but chiefly by the indignation I conceived at the
proceedings of a faction, which then prevailed; and the papers lay
neglected in my cabinet until you saw me in England; when you know how
far I was engaged in thoughts and business of another kind. Upon Her
Majesty's lamented death, I returned to my station in this kingdom;
since which time there is not a northern curate among you who hath lived
more obscure than myself, or a greater stranger to the commonest
transactions of the world. It is but very lately that I found the
following papers, which I had almost forgotten. I publish them now, for
two reasons; first, for an encouragement to those who have more
youth,[3] and leisure, and good temper than I, towards pursuing the work
as far as it was intended by me, or as much further as they please; the
second reason is, to have an opportunity of declaring the profound
respect I have for the memory of your royal master, and the sincere
regard and friendship I bear to yourself; for I must bring to your mind
how proud I was to distinguish you among all the foreign ministers, with
whom I had the honour to be acquainted. I am a witness of the zeal you
shewed not only for the honour and interest of your master, but for the
advantage of the Protestant religion in Germany, and how knowingly and
feelingly you often spoke to me upon that subject. We all loved you, as
possessed of every quality that could adorn an English gentleman, and
esteemed you as a faithful subject to your prince, and an able
negotiator; neither shall any reverse of fortune have power to lessen
you either in my friendship or esteem: and I must take leave to assure
you further, that my affection towards persons hath not been at all
diminished by the frown of power upon them. Those whom you and I once
thought great and good men, continue still so in my eyes and my heart;
only with a * * * * * *
_Caetera desiderantur_.
[Footnote 3: The author was then in his fifty-second year. [D.S.]]
AN ABSTRACT OF THE HISTORY
OF ENGLAND,
FROM THE INVASION OF IT BY JULIUS CAESAR
TO WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
Britons.
Heathens.
The most ancient account we have of Britain is, that the island was full
of inhabitants, divided into several petty kingdoms, as most nations of
the world appear to have been at first. The bodies of the Britons were
painted with a sky-coloured blue, either as an ornament or else for
terror to their enemies. In their religion they were heathens, as all
the world was before Christ, except the Jews.
Druids.
Their priests were called Druids: These lived in hollow trees, and
committed not their mysteries to writing, but delivered them down by
tradition, whereby they were in time wholly lost.
The Britons had wives in common, so many to a particular tribe or
society, and the children were in common to that society.
About fifty years before Christ, Julius Caesar, the first Roman Emperor,
having conquered Gaul or France, invaded Britain rather to increase his
glory than conquests; for having overcome the natives in one or two
battles, he returned.
Claudius.
Nero.
The next invasion of Britain by the Romans (then masters of most of the
known world) was in the reign of the Emperor Claudius; but it was not
wholly subdued till that of Nero. It was governed by lieutenants, or
deputies, sent from Rome, as Ireland is now by deputies from England;
and continued thus under the Romans for about 460 years; till that
empire being invaded by the Goths and Vandals, the Romans were forced
not only to recall their own armies, but also to draw from hence the
bravest of the Britons, for their assistance against those barbarians.
Picts.
Picts' Wall.
The Roman conquests in this island reached no further northward than to
that part of Scotland where Stirling and Glasgow are seated: The region
beyond was held not worth the conquering: It was inhabited by a
barbarous people, called Caledonians and Picts; who, being a rough
fierce nation, daily infested the British borders. Therefore the Emperor
Severus built a wall, from Stirling to Glasgow, to prevent the invasions
of the Picts: It is commonly called the Picts' Wall.
A.D. 455. Saxons.
These Picts and Caledonians, or Scots, encouraged by the departure of
the Romans, do now cruelly infest and invade the Britons by sea and
land: The Britons choose Vortigern for their king, who was forced to
invite the Saxons (a fierce Northern people) to assist him against those
barbarians. The Saxons came over, and beat the Picts in several battles;
but, at last, pick quarrels with the Britons themselves; and, after a
long war, drive them into the mountains of Wales and Cornwall, and
establish themselves in seven kingdoms in Britain, (by them now called
England). These seven kingdoms are usually styled the Saxon Heptarchy.
A.D. 460. Arthur.
About this time lived King Arthur (if the whole story be not a fable)
who was so famous for beating the Saxons in several battles.
A.D. 600. Austin.
The Britons received Christianity very early, and, as is reported, from
some of the Disciples themselves: So that, when the Romans left Britain,
the Britons were generally Christians. But the Saxons were heathens,
till Pope Gregory the Great sent over hither Austin the monk, by whom
Ethelbert king of the South-Saxons, and his subjects, were converted to
Christianity; and the whole island soon followed the example.
A.D. 819. Egbert.
[Footnote 4: The edition of 1765 gives the date as 819, but according to
Dr. Stubbs, Egbert became _bretwalda_ in 828. [W.S.J.]]
After many various revolutions in this island among the kingdoms of the
Saxons, Egbert, descended from the West-Saxon kings, became sole monarch
of England.
Angles.
The language in Britain was British, (now called Welsh) or Latin; but,
with the Saxons, English came in (although extremely different from what
it is now). The present names of towns, shires, &c. were given by them;
and the whole kingdom was called England from the Angles, who were a
branch of the Saxons.
Danes.
As soon as the Saxons were settled, the Danes began to trouble and
invade them, as they (the Saxons) had before done the Britons.
These Danes came out of Germany, Denmark, and Norway, a rough warlike
people, little different from the Saxons to whom they were nigh
neighbours.
Edgar.
After many invasions from the Danes, Edgar King of England sets forth
the first navy. He was entitled King of all Albion, (an old name of this
island) and was the first absolute monarch.
He made peace with the Danes, and allowed them to live in his dominions
mixed with the English.
In this prince's time there were five kings in Wales, who all did him
homage for their country.
A.D. 978. Danes massacred.
These Danes began first to make their invasions here about the year 800,
which they after renewed at several times, and under several leaders,
and were as often repulsed. They used to come with vast numbers of
ships, burn and ravage before them, as the cities of London, Winchester,
&c. Encouraged by success and prey, they often wintered in England,
fortifying themselves in the northern parts, from whence they cruelly
infested the Saxon kings. In process of time they mixed with the English
(as was said before) and lived under the Saxon government: But Ethelred,
then King of England, growing weary of the Danish insolence, a
conspiracy is formed, and the Danes are massacred in one day all over
England.
Sweyn.
Four years after, Sweyn, King of Denmark, to revenge the death of his
subjects, invades England; and, after battles fought and much cruelty
exercised, he subdues the whole kingdom, forcing Ethelred to fly into
Normandy.
Canutus.
Sweyn dying, his son Canutus succeeds in the kingdom; but Ethelred
returning with an army, Canutus is forced to withdraw to Denmark for
succour.
Ethelred dies, and his son Edmond Ironside succeeds; but, Canutus
returning with fresh forces from Denmark, after several battles, the
kingdom is parted between them both. Edmond dying, his sons are sent
beyond sea by Canutus, who now is sole King of England.
King's evil.
Hardicanute, the last Danish king, dying without issue, Edward, son of
Ethelred, is chosen king. For his great holiness, he was surnamed the
Confessor, and sainted after his death. He was the first of our princes
that attempted to cure the king's evil by touching. He first introduced
what is now called the Common Law. In his time began the mode and
humour among the English gentry, of using the French tongue and
fashions, in compliance with the king, who had been bred up in Normandy.
The Danish government in England lasted but twenty-six years, under
three kings.
Harold.
Edward the Confessor married the daughter of Earl Godwin, an English
nobleman of great power, but of Danish extraction; but, wanting issue,
he appointed Edgar Atheling, grandson to his brother, to succeed him,
and Harold, son of Earl Godwin, to be governor of the young prince. But,
upon Edward's death, Harold neglected Edgar Atheling, and usurped the
crown for himself.
Edward, while he was in Normandy, met so good reception, that it was
said he made a promise to that duke, that, in case he recovered his
kingdom, and died without issue, he would leave it to him. Edward dying,
William Duke of Normandy sends to Harold to claim the crown; but Harold,
now in possession, resolves to keep it. Upon which Duke William, having
prepared a mighty fleet and army, invades England, lands at Hastings,
and sets fire to his fleet, to cut off all hope from his men of
returning. To Harold he sent his messenger, demanding the kingdom and
his subjection: But Harold returned him this answer, "That, unless he
departed his land, he would make him sensible of his just displeasure."
So Harold advanced his forces into Sussex, within seven miles of his
enemy. The Norman Duke, to save the effusion of blood, sent these offers
to Harold; either wholly to resign the kingdom to him, or to try the
quarrel with him in single combat. To this Harold did not agree.
A.D. 1066.
Then the battle joined. The Normans had gotten the worst, if it had not
been for a stratagem they invented, which got them the day. In this
engagement Harold was killed, and William Duke of Normandy became King
of England, under the name of William the Conqueror.
THE REIGN OF WILLIAM THE SECOND,
SURNAMED RUFUS.
At the time of the Conqueror's death, his eldest son Robert, upon some
discontent with his father, being absent in France,[5] William, the
second son, made use of this juncture, and without attending his
father's funeral, hastened to England, where, pursuant to the will of
the deceased prince,[6] the nobility, although more inclined to favour
Robert, were prevailed with to admit him King, partly by his promises to
abate the rigour of the late reign, and restore the laws and liberties
which had been then abolished, but chiefly by the credit and
solicitations of Lanfranc; for that prelate had formerly a share in his
education, and always a great affection for his person. At Winchester he
took possession of his father's treasure,[7] in obedience to whose
command, as well as to ingratiate himself with the people, he
distributed it among churches and religious houses, and applied it to
the redeeming of prisoners, and other acts of popularity.
[Footnote 5: He was then at Abbeville in Picardy. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 6: William the Conqueror left Normandy to his son Robert; but
said of England: "So it pleased God, he should be glad that William, his
obedient and best beloved son, should enjoy it after his death." [D.
S.]]
[Footnote 7: Which was sixty thousand pounds in silver, besides gold,
jewels, and plate.--BROMPTON. [D.S.]]
In the mean time Robert returned to Normandy, took possession of that
duchy, with great applause and content of his people, and, spited at the
indignity done him by his father, and the usurpation of his brother in
consequence thereof, prepared a great fleet and army to invade England;
nor did there want an occasion to promote his interest, if the slowness,
the softness, and credulity of his nature, could have suffered him to
make a right improvement of it.
Odo Bishop of Bayeux,[8] of whom frequent mention is made in the
preceding reign,[9] a prelate of incurable ambition, either on account
of his age or character being restored to his liberty and possessions in
England, grew into envy and discontent, upon seeing Lanfranc preferred
before him by the new King in his favour and ministry. He therefore
formed a conspiracy with several nobles of Norman birth to depose the
King, and sent an invitation to Robert to hasten over. Mean time the
conspirators, in order to distract the King's forces, seized on several
parts of England at once; Bristol, Norwich, Leicester, Worcester,
Shrewsbury, Bath, and Durham, were secured by several noblemen: Odo
himself seized Rochester, reduced the coasts of Kent, and sent messages
to Robert to make all possible speed.
[Footnote 8: Odo was half brother to William the Conqueror. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 9: Sir W. Temple wrote "An Introduction to the History of
England." As it only extended to the death of William the Conqueror it
is probable that it is what is here referred to. It will be found in
vol. ii. of Sir W. Temple's "Works," edited by Swift. [W.S.J.]]
The King alarmed at these many and sudden defections, thought it his
best course to begin his defence by securing the good will of the
people. He redressed many grievances, eased them of certain oppressive
taxes and tributes, gave liberty to hunt in his forest, with other marks
of indulgence, which however forced from him by the necessity of the
time, he had the skill or fortune so to order as they neither lost their
good grace nor effect; for immediately after he raised great forces both
by land and sea, marched into Kent, where the chief body of his enemies
was in arms, recovered Tunbridge and Pevensey, in the latter of which
Odo himself was taken prisoner, and forced to accompany the King to
Rochester. This city refusing to surrender at the King's summons, Odo
undertook to prevail with the obstinacy of the inhabitants; but being
admitted into the town, was there detained, either by a real or seeming
force; however, the King provoked at their stubbornness and fraud, soon
compelled them to yield, retook his prisoner, and forcing him for ever
to abjure England, sent him into Normandy.
By these actions, performed with such great celerity and success, the
preparations of Duke Robert were wholly disappointed, himself, by the
necessity of his affairs, compelled to a treaty with his brother, upon
the terms of a small pension, and a mutual promise of succeeding to each
other's dominions on failure of issue, forced to resign his pretensions,
and return with a shattered fleet to Normandy.
About this time died Archbishop Lanfranc; by whose death the King,
loosed from that awe and constraint he was under, soon began to discover
those irregularities of his nature, which till then he had suppressed
and disguised, falling into those acts of oppression and extortion that
have made his name and memory infamous. He kept the see of Canterbury
four years vacant, and converted the revenues to his own use, together
with those of several other bishoprics and abbeys, and disposed all
church preferments to the highest bidder. Nor were his exactions less
upon the laity, from whom he continually extorted exorbitant fines for
pretended transgression of certain penal laws, and entertained informers
to observe men's actions and bring him intelligence.
It is here worth observation, that these corrupt proceedings of the
prince have, in the opinion of several learned men, given rise to two
customs, which are a long time grown to have the force of laws. For,
first the successors of this King, continuing the custom of seizing on
the accruing rents in the vacancy of sees and abbeys, it grew in process
of time to be exacted as a right, or acknowledgment to the King as
founder; whence the revenues of vacant bishoprics belong at this day to
the crown. The second custom had an original not unlike. Several
persons, to avoid the persecutions of the King's informers, and other
instruments of oppression, withdrew themselves and their effects to
foreign countries; upon which the King issued a proclamation, forbidding
all men to leave the kingdom without his licence; from whence, in the
judgment of the same authors, the writ _ne exeat regno_ had its
beginning.
By these and the like arbitrary methods having amassed great treasures,
and finding all things quiet at home, he raised a powerful army to
invade his brother in Normandy; but upon what ground or pretext, the
writers of that age are not very exact; whether it were from a principle
frequent among unjust princes, That old oppressions are best justified
by new; or, whether having a talent for sudden enterprises, and justly
apprehending the resentments of Duke Robert, he thought it the wiser
course to prevent injuries than to revenge them. In this expedition he
took several cities and castles from his brother, and would have
proceeded further, if Robert had not desired and obtained the assistance
of Philip King of France, who came with an army to his relief. King
William not thinking it safe or prudent to proceed further against his
enemy supported by so great an ally, yet loth to lose the fruits of his
time and valour, fell upon a known and old expedient, which no prince
ever practised oftener, or with greater success, and that was, to buy
off the French King with a sum of money. This had its effect; for that
prince not able to oppose such powerful arms, immediately withdrew
himself and his forces, leaving the two brothers to concert the measures
of a peace.
This was treated and agreed with great advantages on the side of King
William; for he kept all the towns he had taken, obliged his brother to
banish Edgar Atheling out of Normandy, and, for a further security,
brought over with him to England the Duke himself to attend him in his
expedition against Malcolm King of Scotland, who during his absence had
invaded the borders. The King having raised great forces both by sea and
land, went in person to repel the inroads of the Scots: but the
enterprise was without success; for the greatest part of his fleet was
destroyed by a tempest, and his army very much diminished by sickness
and famine, which forced him to a peace of little honour; by which, upon
the condition of homage from that prince, the King of England agreed to
deliver him up those twelve towns (or manors) in England which Malcolm
had held under William the Conqueror; together with a pension of twelve
thousand marks.
At this time were sown the seeds of another quarrel between him and Duke
Robert, who soliciting the King to perform some covenants of the last
peace, and meeting with a repulse, withdrew in great discontent to
Normandy.
King William, in his return from Scotland, fell dangerously sick at
Gloucester, where, moved by the seasonable exhortations of his clergy,
or rather by the fears of dying, he began to discover great marks of
repentance, with many promises of amendment and retribution,
particularly for his injuries to the Church. To give credit to which
good resolutions, he immediately filled several vacant sees, giving that
of Canterbury to Anselm, a foreigner of great fame for piety and
learning. But as it is the disposition of men who derive their vices
from their complexions, that their passions usually beat strong and weak
with their pulses, so it fared with this prince, who upon recovery of
his health soon forgot the vows he had made in his sickness, relapsing
with greater violence into the same irregularities of injustice and
oppression, whereof Anselm, the new archbishop, felt the first effects.
This prelate, soon after his promotion, offered the King a sum of money
by way of present; but took care it should be so small, that none might
interpret it to be a consideration of his late preferment. The King
rejected it with scorn; and as he used but little ceremony in such
matters, insisted in plain terms for more. Anselm would not comply; and
the King enraged, sought all occasions to make him uneasy; until at
length the poor archbishop, tired out with perpetual usurpations (or at
least what was then understood to be such) upon his jurisdiction,
privileges, and possessions, desired the King licence for a journey to
Rome; and upon a refusal, went without it. As soon as he was withdrawn,
the King seized on all his revenues, converting them to his own use, and
the archbishop continued an exile until the succeeding reign.
The particulars of this quarrel between the King and archbishop are not,
in my opinion, considerable enough to deserve a place in this brief
collection, being of little use to posterity, and of less entertainment;
neither should I have mentioned it at all, but for the occasion it gives
me of making a general observation, which may afford some light into the
nature and disposition of those ages. Not only this King's father and
himself, but the princes for several successions, of the fairest
character, have been severely taxed for violating the rights of the
clergy, and perhaps not altogether without reason. It is true, this
character hath made the lighter impression, as proceeding altogether
from the party injured, the cotemporary writers being generally
churchmen: and it must be confessed, that the usurpations of the Church
and court of Rome were in those ages risen to such heights, as to be
altogether inconsistent either with the legislature or administration of
any independent state; the inferior clergy, both secular and regular,
insisting upon such immunities as wholly exempted them from the civil
power; and the bishops removing all controversies with the crown by
appeal to Rome: for they reduced the matter to this short issue, That
God was to be obeyed rather than men; and consequently the Bishop of
Rome, who is Christ's representative, rather than an earthly prince.
Neither doth it seem improbable that all Christendom would have been in
utter vassalage, both temporal and spiritual, to the Roman see, if the
Reformation had not put a stop to those exorbitancies, and in a good
measure opened the eyes even of those princes and states who still
adhere to the doctrines and discipline of that church.
While the King continued at Gloucester, Malcolm King of Scotland came to
his court, with intentions to settle and confirm the late peace between
them. It happened that a controversy arose about some circumstances
relating to the homage which Malcolm was to pay, in the managing whereof
King William discovered so much haughtiness and disdain, both in words
and gestures, that the Scottish prince, provoked by such unworthy
treatment, returned home with indignation; but soon came back at the
head of a powerful army, and, entering Northumberland with fire and
sword, laid all waste before him. But as all enterprises have in the
progress of them a tincture of those passions by which they were
spirited at first, so this invasion begun upon private revenge, which is
a blind ungovernable passion, was carried on with equal precipitation,
and proved to be ruinous in the event; for Robert Mowbray, Earl of
Northumberland, to prevent the destruction of his own country, where he
had great possessions, gathering what forces he could suddenly raise,
and without waiting any directions from the King, marched against the
Scots, who were then set down before Alnwick Castle: there, by an
ambush, Malcolm and his eldest son Edward were slain, and the army,
discouraged by the loss of their princes, entirely defeated. This
disaster was followed in a few days by the death of Queen Margaret, who,
not able to survive her misfortunes, died for grief. Neither did the
miseries of that kingdom end till, after two usurpations, the surviving
son of Malcolm, who had fled to England for refuge, was restored to his
crown by the assistance of King William.
About this time the hidden sparks of animosity between the two brothers,
buried but not extinguished in the last peace, began to flame out into
new dissensions. Duke Robert had often sent his complaints to the King
for breach of articles, but without redress, which provoked him to
expostulate in a rougher manner, till at length he charged the King in
plain terms with injustice and perjury, but no men are found to endure
reproaches with less temper than those who most deserve them, the King,
at the same time filled with indignation, and stung with guilt, invaded
Normandy a second time, resolving to reduce his brother to such terms as
might stop all further complaints. He had already taken several strong
holds, by force either of arms or of money, and intending entirely to
subdue the duchy, gave orders to have twenty thousand men immediately
raised in England, and sent over to him. The Duke, to defend himself
against these formidable preparations, had recourse again to his old
ally the King of France, who very readily advanced with an army to his
assistance, as an action wherein he could every way find his own
accounts, for, beside the appearance of glory and justice by protecting
the injured, he fought indeed his own battle, by preserving his
neighbouring state in the hands of a peaceful prince, from so powerful
and restless an enemy as the King of England, and was largely paid for
his trouble into the bargain, for King William, either loth to engage in
a long and dangerous war, or hastened back by intelligence of some
troubles from Wales, sent offers to his army, just ready to embark for
Normandy, that upon payment of ten shillings a man they might have leave
to return to their own homes.[10] This bargain was generally accepted,
the money was paid to the King of France, who immediately withdrew his
troops, and King William, now master of the conditions, forced his
brother to a peace upon much harder terms than before.
[Footnote 10: See reference to this incident in "The Examiner," No. 21
(vol. ix of this edition, p. 123) [W.S.J.]]
In this passage there are some circumstances which may appear odd and
unaccountable to those who will not give due allowance for the
difference of times and manners: that an absent prince, engaged in an
unjust war with his own brother, and ill-beloved at home, should have so
much power and credit, as by his commission to raise twenty thousand men
on a sudden, only as a recruit to the army he had already with him; that
he should have a fleet prepared ready, and large enough to transport so
great a number; that upon the very point of embarking he should send
them so disgraceful an offer; and that so great a number of common
soldiers should be able and willing to pay such a sum of money, equal to
at least twelve time as much in our times; and that, after being thus
deluded and spoiled at once, they should peaceably disband and retire to
their several homes. But all this will be less difficult to comprehend,
when we reflect on the method of raising and supporting armies, very
different from ours, which was then in use, and so continued for many
ages after. All men who had lands _in capite_ were bound to attend the
King in his wars with a proportioned number of soldiers, who were their
tenants on easy rents in consideration of military service. This was but
the work of a few days, and the troops consisted of such men as were
able to maintain their own charges either at home or abroad: neither was
there any reason to apprehend that soldiers would ever become
instruments for introducing slavery, who held so great a share in the
property.
The King, upon his return from Normandy, made an unsuccessful expedition
against the Welsh, who upon the advantages of his absence had, according
to their usual custom, made cruel inroads upon the adjoining counties of
Chester, Shrewsbury, and Hereford. Upon the King's approach they fled
into their fastnesses among the mountains, where he pursued them for
some time with great rage and vexation, as well as the loss of great
numbers of his men, to no purpose. From hence he was recalled by a more
formidable enemy nearer home: for Robert Earl of Northumberland,
overrating his late services against the Scots, as much perhaps and as
unjustly as they were undervalued by the King, refused to come to his
court, which, in those days, was looked on as the first usual mark of
discontent in a nobleman; and was often charged by princes as a formal
accusation. The earl having disobeyed the King's summons, and concerted
matters with other accomplices, broke out into open rebellion, with
intentions to depose King William, and set up Stephen Earl of Albemarle,
son of a sister to William the Conqueror: but all was prevented by the
celerity of this active prince; who, knowing that insurrections are best
quelled in their beginnings, marched with incredible speed, and
surprised the rebels at Newcastle, took the castles of Tynemouth and
Bamburgh; where the obstinacy of the defendants provoked him, contrary
to his nature, to commit cruelties upon their persons, by cutting off
their hands and ears, and other the like inhumanities. The earl himself
was taken prisoner as he endeavoured to make his escape; but suffered no
other punishment than to be confined for the rest of his life.[11]
[Footnote 11: Which was thirty years. [D.S.]]
About this time began the Holy War for recovering of Palestine; which
having not been the enterprise of any one prince or state, but that
wherein most in Christendom had a share, it cannot with justice be
silently passed over in the history of any nation.
Pope Urban the Second, in a council at Clermont, made a pathetic
exhortation, shewing with what danger and indignity to Christendom the
Turks and Saracens had, for some ages, not only overrun all Asia and
Africa, where Christianity had long flourished; but had also made
encroachments into Europe, where they had entirely subdued Spain, and
some other parts; that Jerusalem, the holy city, where our Saviour did
so many miracles, and where His sepulchre still remained, to the scandal
of the Christian name, lay groaning under the tyranny of infidels; that
the swords which Christian princes had drawn against each other, ought
to be turned against the common enemy of their name and religion; that
this should be reckoned an ample satisfaction for all their past sins;
that those who died in this expedition should immediately go to Heaven,
and the survivors would be blessed with the sight of our Lord's
sepulchre.
Moved by these arguments, and the influence of the person who delivered
them, several nobles and prelates immediately took upon them the cross;
and the council dissolving in this high fit of zeal, the clergy, upon
their return home, prevailed so far in their several countries, that in
most parts of Europe some great prince or lord became a votary for the
Holy Land; as Hugh the Great, brother to the King of France; Godfrey
Duke of Lorraine; Reimond Count of Toulouse; Robert Duke of Normandy,
and many others. Neither ought it to be forgotten, that most of these
noble and generous princes, wanting money to maintain the forces they
had raised, pawned their dominions to those very prelates who had first
engaged them in this enterprise: doubtless a notable mark of the force
of oratory in the churchmen of those ages, who were able to inspire that
devotion into others, whereof they seemed so little sensible themselves.
But a great share in the honour of promoting this religious war, is
attributed to the zeal and industry of a certain French priest, commonly
called Peter the Hermit; who being at Jerusalem upon pilgrimage some
time before, and entering often into private treaty with the patriarch
of that city, came back fully instructed in all the measures necessary
for such a war: to these was joined the artifice of certain dreams and
visions that might pass for divine admonition: all which, added to the
piety of his exhortations, gave him such credit with the Pope, and
several princes of Christendom, that he became in his own person the
leader of a great army against the infidels, and was very instrumental
for engaging many others in the same design.
What a spirit was thus raised in Christendom among all sorts of men,
cannot better be conceived than from the vast numbers of these warlike
pilgrims; who, at the siege of Nice, are said to have consisted of
600,000 foot, and 100,000 horse: and the success at first was answerable
to the greatness of their numbers, the valour of their leaders, and the
universal opinion of such a cause; for, besides several famous victories
in the field, not to mention the towns of less importance, they took
Nice, Antioch, and at last Jerusalem, where Duke Godfrey was chosen king
without competition. But zeal, with a mixture of enthusiasm, as I take
this to have been, is a composition only fit for sudden enterprises,
like a great ferment in the blood, giving double courage and strength
for the time, until it sink and settle by nature into its old channel:
for, in a few years the piety of these adventurers began to slacken, and
give way to faction and envy, the natural corruptions of all
confederacies: however, to this spirit of devotion there succeeded a
spirit of honour, which long continued the vein and humour of the times;
and the Holy Land became either a school, wherein young princes went to
learn the art of war, or a scene wherein they affected to shew their
valour, and gain reputation, when they were weary of peace at home.
The Christians held possession of Jerusalem above eighty years,[12] and
continued their expeditions to the Holy Land almost as many more, with
various events; and after they were entirely driven out of Asia, the
popes have almost in every age endeavoured in vain to promote new
crusades neither does this spirit seem quite extinct among us even to
this day; the usual projects of sanguine men for uniting Christendom
against the Turk, being without doubt a traditional way of talk derived
to us from the same fountain.
[Footnote 12: They held it eighty-eight years; from July, 1099, to
October, 1187. [D.S.]]
Robert, in order to furnish himself out for this war, pawned his duchy
to the King for 10,000 marks of gold;[13] which sum was levied with so
many circumstances of rigour and exaction, towards the Church and laity,
as very much increased the discontents of both against the prince.
[Footnote 13: Equal to £1,400,000, as money passes now. [D.S.]]
1099.
I shall record one act of this king's, which being chiefly personal, may
pass rather for a part of his character, than a point of history.
As he was hunting one day in the New Forest, a messenger express from
Normandy, brought him intelligence, that Hélie, Count de la Flèche, had
laid close siege to Mans, and expected to carry the town in a few days;
the King leaving his chase, commanded some about him to point whereabout
Mans lay; and so rode straight on without reflection, until he came to
the coast. His attendants advised him to wait until he had made
preparations of men and money; to which he only returned; "They that
love me, will follow me." He entered the ship in a violent storm; which
the mariners beholding with astonishment, at length in great humility
gave him warning of the danger; but the King commanded them instantly to
put off to sea, and not be afraid; for he had never in his life heard of
any King that was drowned. In a few days he drove the enemy from before
the city, and took the count himself prisoner, who raging at his defeat
and captivity, exclaimed,[14] "That this blow was from Fortune; but
Valour could make reprisals, as he should shew, if ever he regained his
liberty." This being told the King, he sent for the count, let him
understand that he had heard of his menaces, then gave him a fine horse,
bid him begone immediately, and defied him to do his worst.
[Footnote 14: There is so much pleasantry and humour, as well as spirit
and heroism in this story, as we have it recorded by William de
Malmesbury, who represents the menace as thrown out in the King's
presence, that I shall make no apology for setting down his words at
length. "Auctor turbarum Helias capitur; cui ante se adducto rex
ludibundus, 'Habeo te, magister,' inquit. At ille, cujus alta nobilitas
nesciret in tanto etiam periculo sapere; 'Fortuitu,' inquit, 'me
cepisti: sed si possem evadere, novi quid facerem.' Tum Willelmus, prae
furore ferè extra se positus, et obuncans Heliam, 'Tu,'inquit, 'nebulo!
tu, quid faceres? Discede; abi; fuge! Concede tibi ut facias quicquid
poteris: et, per vultum de Luca! nihil, si me viceris, pro hâc veniâ
tecum paciscar." _I.e._ By the face of St. Luke, if thou shouldst have
the fortune to conquer me, I scorn to compound with thee for my release.
[D.S.]]
It would have been an injury to this prince's memory, to let pass an
action, by which he acquired more honour than from any other in his
life, and by which it appeared that he was not without some seeds of
magnanimity, had they been better cultivated, or not overrun by the
number or prevalency of his vices.
I have met with nothing else in this King's reign that deserved to be
remembered; for, as to an unsuccessful expedition or two against Wales,
either by himself or his generals; they were very inconsiderable both in
action and event, nor attended with any circumstances that might render
a relation of them of any use to posterity, either for instruction or
example.
His death was violent and unexpected, the effect of casualty; although
this perhaps is the only misfortune of life to which the person of a
prince is generally less subject than that of other men. Being at his
beloved exercise of hunting in the New Forest in Hampshire, a large stag
crossed the way before him, the King hot on his game, cried out in haste
to Walter Tyrrel, a knight of his attendants, to shoot; Tyrrel,
immediately let fly his arrow, which glancing against a tree, struck the
King through the heart, who fell dead to the ground without speaking a
word. Upon the surprise of this accident, all his attendants, and
Tyrrel[15] among the rest, fled different ways; until the fright being a
little over, some of them returned, and causing the body to be laid in a
collier's cart, for want of other conveniency, conveyed it in a very
unbecoming contemptuous manner to Winchester, where it was buried the
next day without solemnity, and which is worse, without grief.
[Footnote 15: Yet Eadmer saith, that Tyrrel told him, he had not been in
the Forest that day. [D.S.]]
I shall conclude the history of this prince's reign, with a description
and character of his body and mind, impartially from the collections I
have made; which method I shall observe likewise in all the succeeding
reigns.
He was in stature somewhat below the usual size, and big-bellied, but he
was well and strongly knit. His hair was yellow or sandy; his face red,
which got him the name of Rufus; his forehead flat; his eyes were
spotted, and appeared of different colours; he was apt to stutter in
speaking, especially when he was angry; he was vigorous and active, and
very hardy to endure fatigues, which he owed to a good constitution of
health, and the frequent exercise of hunting; in his dress he affected
gaiety and expense, which having been first introduced by this prince
into his court and kingdom, grew, in succeeding reigns, an intolerable
grievance. He also first brought in among us the luxury and profusion of
great tables. There was in him, as in all other men, a mixture of
virtues and vices, and that in a pretty equal degree, only the
misfortune was, that the latter, although not more numerous, were yet
much more prevalent than the former. For being entirely a man of
pleasure, this made him sacrifice all his good qualities, and gave him
too many occasions of producing his ill ones. He had one very singular
virtue for a prince, which was that of being true to his word and
promise: he was of undoubted personal valour, whereof the writers in
those ages produce several instances; nor did he want skill and conduct
in the process of war. But, his peculiar excellency, was that of great
dispatch, which, however usually decried, and allowed to be only a happy
temerity, does often answer all the ends of secrecy and counsel in a
great commander, by surprising and daunting an enemy when he least
expects it; as may appear by the greatest actions and events upon the
records of every nation.
He was a man of sound natural sense, as well as of wit and humour, upon
occasion. There were several tenets in the Romish Church he could not
digest; particularly that of the saints' intercession; and living in an
age overrun with superstition, he went so far into the other extreme, as
to be censured for an atheist. The day before his death, a monk relating
a terrible dream, which seemed to forebode him some misfortune, the King
being told the matter, turned it into a jest; said, "The man was a monk,
and dreamt like a monk, for lucre sake;" and therefore commanded
Fitzhamon to give him an hundred shillings, that he might not complain
he had dreamt to no purpose.
His vices appear to have been rather derived from the temper of his
body, than any original depravity of his mind; for being of a sanguine
complexion, wholly bent upon his pleasures, and prodigal in his nature,
he became engaged in great expenses. To supply these, the people were
perpetually oppressed with illegal taxes and exactions; but that sort of
avarice which arises from prodigality and vice, as it is always needy,
so it is much more ravenous and violent than the other, which put the
King and his evil instruments (among whom Ralph, Bishop of Durham, is of
special infamy) upon those pernicious methods of gratifying his
extravagances by all manner of oppression; whereof some are already
mentioned, and others are too foul to relate.
He is generally taxed by writers for discovering a contempt of religion
in his common discourse and behaviour; which I take to have risen from
the same fountain, being a point of art, and a known expedient, for men
who cannot quit their immoralities, at least to banish all reflections
that may disturb them in the enjoyment, which must be done either by not
thinking of religion at all; or, if it will obtrude, by putting it out
of countenance.
Yet there is one instance that might shew him to have some sense of
religion as well as justice. When two monks were outvying each other in
canting[16] the price of an abbey, he observed a third at some distance,
who said never a word; the King demanded why he would not offer; the
monk said, he was poor, and besides, would give nothing if he were ever
so rich; the King replied, "Then you are the fittest person to have it,"
and immediately gave it him. But this is, perhaps with reason enough,
assigned more to caprice than conscience; for he was under the power of
every humour and passion that possessed him for the present; which made
him obstinate in his resolves, and unsteady in the prosecution.
[Footnote 16: An Irish phrase for selling or buying by auction. It is
somewhat remarkable that so severe a critic should have used such a word
in historical composition. [S.]]
He had one vice or folly that seemed rooted in his mind, and of all
others, most unbefitting a prince: This was, a proud disdainful manner,
both in his words and gesture; and having already lost the love of his
subjects by his avarice and oppression, this finished the work, by
bringing him into contempt and hatred among his servants; so that few
among the worst of princes have had the luck to be so ill beloved, or so
little lamented.
He never married, having an invincible abhorrence for the state,
although not for the sex.
He died in the thirteenth year of his reign, the forty-third of his age,
and of Christ 1100, August 2.
His works of piety were few, but in buildings he was very expensive,
exceeding any King of England before or since, among which Westminster
Hall, Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, and the whole city of
Carlisle, remain lasting monuments of his magnificence.
THE REIGN OF HENRY THE FIRST.
This prince was the youngest son of William the Conqueror, and bred to
more learning than was usual in that age, or to his rank, which got him
the surname of Beauclerk; the reputation whereof, together with his
being born in England, and born son of a king, although of little weight
in themselves, did very much strengthen his pretensions with the people.
Besides, he had the same advantage of his brother Robert's absence,
which had proved before so successful to Rufus, whose treasures he
likewise seized on immediately at his death, after the same manner, and
for the same end, as Rufus did those of his father the Conqueror. Robert
had been now five years absent in the Holy War, where he acquitted
himself with great glory; and although he was now in Apulia, upon his
return homeward, yet the nobles pretending not to know what was become
of him, and others giving out that he had been elected King of
Jerusalem, Henry laid hold of the occasion, and calling together an
assembly of the clergy, nobles, and people of the realm at London, upon
his promises to restore King Edward's laws, and redress the grievances
which had been introduced by his father and brother, they consented to
elect him king. Immediately after his coronation, he proceeded upon
reforming the abuses of the late reign: he banished dissolute persons
from the court, who had long infested it under the protection and
example of Rufus: he restored the people to the use of lights in the
night, which the Conqueror had forbidden, after a certain hour, by the
ringing of a bell. Then he published his charter, and ordered a copy
thereof to be taken for every county in England. This charter was in
substance; The freedom of Mother Church from former oppressions; leave
to the heirs of nobles to succeed in the possession of their lands,
without being obliged to redeem them, only paying to the king a moderate
relief; abolition of fines for licence of marriage to their heiresses; a
promise of not refusing such licence unless the match proposed be with
the king's enemy,[17] &c.; the next of kin to be guardians of the lands
of orphans; punishments for coiners of false money; a confirmation of
St. Edward's laws; and a general amnesty.
[Footnote 17: _i.e._ with a traitor or malcontent. [D.S.]]
About the same time he performed two acts of justice, which, by
gratifying the revenge and the love of the people, gained very much upon
their affections to his person: the first was, to imprison Ralph Bishop
of Durham,[18] who having been raised by the late king from a mean and
sordid birth to be his prime confidant and minister, became the chief
instrument, as well as contriver, of all his oppressions: the second
was, in recalling and restoring Archbishop Anselm, who having been
forced by the continual persecutions of the same prince, to leave
England, had lived ever since in banishment, and deprived of all his
revenues.
[Footnote 18: Le Neve says that Ralph Flambard, Bishop of Durham, was
imprisoned in the Tower, September, 1100, but escaped in February of the
following year, and fled to Normandy. ("Fasti," iii. 282-3). [W.S.J.]]
The King had not been many months on his throne, when the news came that
Duke Robert, returned from the Holy Land, was received by his subjects
with great marks of joy and honour, and in universal reputation for his
valour and success against the infidels: soon after which, Ralph Bishop
of Durham, either by the negligence or corruption of his keepers,
escaped out of prison, and fled over to the Duke; whom he stirred up to
renew and solicit his pretensions to the crown of England, by writing to
several nobles, who, either through old friendship, or new discontent,
or an opinion of his title, gave him promises of their assistance, as
soon as he should land in England: but the Duke having returned
exceeding poor from the Holy Land, was not yet in a condition for such
an undertaking, and therefore thought fit to defer it to a more
seasonable opportunity.
As the King had hitherto, with great industry, sought all occasions to
gratify his people, so he continued to do in the choice of a wife. This
was Matilda, daughter of Malcolm the late King of Scots; a lady of great
piety and virtue, who, by the power or persuasion of her friends, was
prevailed with to leave her cloister for a crown, after she had, as some
writers report, already taken the veil. Her mother was sister to Edgar
Atheling, the last heir-male of the Saxon race; of whom frequent mention
hath been made in the two preceding reigns: and thus the Saxon line, to
the great contentment of the English nation, was again restored.
Duke Robert, having now with much difficulty and oppression of his
subjects, raised great forces, and gotten ready a fleet to convey them,
resolved once more to assert his title to the crown of England: to which
end he had for some time held a secret correspondence with several
nobles, and lately received fresh invitations. The King, on the other
side, who had received timely intelligence of his brother's
preparations, gave orders to his admirals to watch the sea-ports, and
endeavour to hinder the enemy's landing: but the commanders of several
ships, whether Robert had won them by his bribes, or his promises,
instead of offering resistance, became his guides, and brought his fleet
safe into Portsmouth, where he landed his men, and from thence marched
to Winchester, his army hourly increasing by great numbers of people,
who had either an affection for his person, an opinion of his title, or
a hatred to the King. In the mean time Henry advanced with his forces,
to be near the Duke, and observe his motions; but, like a wise general,
forbore offering battle to an invader, until he might do it with
manifest advantage. Besides, he knew very well that his brother was a
person whose policy was much inferior to his valour, and therefore to be
sooner overcome in a treaty than a fight: to this end, the nobles on
both sides began to have frequent interviews; to make overtures; and at
last concert the terms of a peace; but wholly to the advantage of the
King, Robert renouncing his pretensions in consideration of a small
pension, and of succeeding to the crown on default of male issue in his
brother.
The defection of nobles and other people to the Duke was so great, that
men generally thought if it had come to a battle, the King would have
lost both the victory and his crown. But Robert, upon his return to
Normandy after this dishonourable peace, grew out of all reputation with
the world, as well as into perfect hatred and contempt among his own
subjects, which in a short time was the cause of his ruin.
The King having thus by his prudence got rid of a dangerous and
troublesome rival, and soon after by his valour quelled the
insurrections of the Earls of Shrewsbury and Mortaigne, whom he forced
to fly into Normandy, found himself in full peace at home and abroad,
and therefore thought he might venture a contention with the Church
about the right of investing bishops; upon which subject many other
princes at that time had controversy with their clergy: but, after long
struggling in vain, were all forced to yield at last to the decree of a
synod in Rome, and to the pertinacy of the bishops in the several
countries. The form of investing a bishop, was by delivery of a ring and
a pastoral staff; which, at Rome, was declared unlawful to be performed
by any lay hand whatsoever; but the princes of Christendom pleaded
immemorial custom to authorize them: and King Henry, having given the
investiture to certain bishops, commanded Anselm to consecrate them.
This the archbishop refused with great firmness, pursuant to what he
understood to be his duty, and to several immediate commands of the
Pope. Both sides adhering to their own sentiments, the matter was
carried to Rome, where Anselm went in person, by the King's desire; who,
at the same time, sent ambassadors thither to assert and defend his
cause; but the Pope still insisting, Anselm was forbidden to return to
England. The King seized on all his revenues, and would not restore him,
until upon other concessions of the Pope, Henry was content to yield up
his pretensions to the investiture; but, however, kept the right of
electing still in his own hands.
Whatever might have been the method of electing bishops, in the more
primitive ages, it seems plain to me that in these times, and somewhat
before, although the election was made _per clerum et populum_, yet the
king always nominated at first, or approved afterwards, and generally
both, as may be seen by the style in which their elections ran, as well
as by the persons chosen, who were usually Churchmen of the court, or in
some employment near the King. But whether this were a gradual
encroachment of the regal upon the spiritual power, I had rather leave
others to dispute.
1104.
1105.
About this time Duke Robert came to England, upon a visit to the King,
where he was received with much kindness and hospitality; but, at the
same time, the Queen had private directions to manage his easy temper,
and work him to a consent of remitting his pension: this was compassed
without much difficulty; but, upon the Duke's return to Normandy, he was
severely reproved for his weakness by Ralph Bishop of Durham, and the
two Earls of Mortaigne and Shrewsbury. These three having fled from
England for rebellion, and other treasons, lived exiles in Normandy;
and, bearing an inveterate hatred to the King, resolved to stir up the
Duke to a resentment of the injury and fraud of his brother. Robert, who
was various in his nature, and always under the power of the present
persuader, easily yielded to their incitements: reproached the King in
bitter terms, by letters and messages, that he had cozened and
circumvented him; demanding satisfaction, and withal threatening
revenge. At the same time, by the advice of the three nobles already
mentioned, he began to arm himself as formidably as he could, with
design to seize upon the King's possessions in Normandy: but as this
resolution was rashly taken up, so it was as faintly pursued, and ended
in his destruction: neither hath any prince reason to expect better
fortune, that engages in a war against a powerful neighbour upon the
counsel or instigation of exiles, who having no further view than to
serve their private interest, or gratify their revenge, are sure to
succeed in one or t'other, if they can embark princes in their quarrel,
whom they fail not to incite by the falsest representations of their own
strength, and the weakness of their enemy: for as the King was now
settled in his throne too firm to be shaken, so Robert had wholly lost
all credit and friendship in England; was sunk in reputation at home;
and, by his unlimited profuseness, reduced so low, that, having pawned
most of his dominions, he had offered Rouen, his capital city, in sale
to the inhabitants. All this was very well known to the King, who,
resolving to make his advantage thereof, pretended to be highly provoked
at the disgraceful speeches and menaces of his brother; which he made
the formal occasion of a quarrel: therefore he first sent over some
forces to ravage his country; and, understanding that the Duke was
coldly supported by his own subjects, many of whom came over to the
King's army, he soon followed in person with more; took several towns;
and, placing garrisons therein, came back to England, designing with the
first pretext or opportunity to return with a more potent army, and
wholly subdue the duchy to his obedience.
Robert, now grown sensible of his weakness, became wholly dispirited;
and following his brother into England, in a most dejected manner begged
for peace: but the King, now fully determined upon his ruin, turned away
in disdain, muttering at the same time some threatening words. This
indignity roused up once more the sinking courage of the Duke; who, with
bitter words, detesting the pride and insolence of Henry, withdrew in a
rage, and hasting back to Normandy, made what preparations he could for
his own defence. The King observing his nobles very ready to engage with
him in this expedition; and being assured that those in Normandy would,
upon his approach, revolt from the Duke, soon followed with a mighty
army, and the flower of his kingdom. Upon his arrival he was attended,
according to his expectation, by several Norman lords; and, with this
formidable force, sat down before Tinchebray: the Duke, accompanied by
the two exiled earls, advanced with what strength he had, in hopes to
draw the enemy from the siege of so important a place, although at the
hazard of a battle. Both armies being drawn out in battalia, that of the
King's, trusting to their numbers, began to charge with great fury, but
without any order.
1106.
The Duke, with forces far inferior, received the enemy with much
firmness; and, finding they had spent their first heat, advanced very
regularly against their main body, before they could recover themselves
from the confusion they were in. He attacked them with so much courage,
that he broke their whole body, and they began to fly on every side. The
King believing all was lost, did what he could by threats and gentle
words to stop the flight of his men, but found it impossible: then he
commanded two bodies of horse, which were placed on either wing, to
join, and, wheeling about, to attack the enemy in rear. The Duke, who
thought himself so near a victory, was forced to stop his pursuit; and
ordering his men to face about, began the fight anew; mean time the
scattered parts of the main body, which had so lately fled, began to
rally, and pour in upon the Normans behind, by which Duke Robert's army
was almost encompassed; yet they kept their ground awhile, and made
several charges, until at length, perfectly overborne by numbers, they
were utterly defeated. There Duke Robert, doing all the parts of a great
captain, was taken prisoner, together with the Earl of Mortaigne, and
almost his whole army: for being hemmed in on all sides, few of them
could make their escape. Thus, in the space of forty years; Normandy
subdued England, and England Normandy; which are events perhaps hardly
to be paralleled in any other ages or parts of the world.
1107.
The King, having stayed a while to settle the state of Normandy,
returned with his brother into England, whom he sent prisoner to Cardiff
Castle, with orders that he should be favourably used, which, for some
time, were duly observed; until being accused of attempting to make his
escape (whether it were real or feigned) he had his eyes put out with a
burning basin, by the King's express commands; in which miserable
condition he lived for six-and-twenty years.
It is believed the King would hardly have engaged in this unnatural and
invidious war, with so little pretence or provocation, if the Pope had
not openly approved and sanctified his cause, exhorting him to it as a
meritorious action; which seems to have been but an ill return from the
Vicar of CHRIST to a prince who had performed so many brave exploits for
the service of the Church, to the hazard of his person, and ruin of his
fortune. But the very bigoted monks, who have left us their accounts of
those times, do generally agree in heavily taxing the Roman court for
bribery and corruption. And the King had promised to remit his right of
investing bishops, which he performed immediately after his reduction of
Normandy, and was a matter of much more service to the Pope, than all
the achievements of Duke Robert in the Holy Land, whose merits, as well
as pretensions, were now antiquated and out of date.
1109.
About this time the Emperor Henry V. sent to desire Maud, the King's
daughter in marriage, who was then a child about eight years old: that
prince had lately been embroiled in a quarrel with the see of Rome,
which began upon the same subject of investing bishops, but was carried
to great extremities: for invading Italy with a mighty army, he took the
Pope prisoner, forced him to yield to whatever terms he thought fit to
impose, and to take an oath of fidelity to him between his hands:
however, as soon as Henry had withdrawn his forces, the Pope assembling
a council, revoked all his concessions, as extorted by compulsion, and
raised great troubles in Germany against the Emperor, who, in order to
secure himself, sought this alliance with the King.
About this time likewise died Archbishop Anselm, a prelate of great
piety and learning, whose zeal for the see of Rome, as well as for his
own rights and privileges, should in justice be imputed to the errors of
the time, and not of the man. After his death, the King, following the
steps of his brother, held the see vacant five years, contenting himself
with an excuse, which looked like a jest, That he only waited until he
could find another so good a man as Anselm.
In the fourteenth year of this King's reign, the Welsh, after their
usual manner, invaded the Marches with great fury and destruction; but
the King, hoping to put a final end to those perpetual troubles and
vexations given to his kingdom by that unquiet people, went in person
against them with a powerful army; and to prevent their usual stratagem
of retreating to their woods and mountains, and other fastnesses, he
ordered the woods to be cut down, beset all their places of security,
and hunting them like wild beasts, made so terrible a slaughter, that at
length observing them to fling down their arms, and beg for quarter, he
commanded his soldiers to forbear; then receiving their submissions, and
placing garrisons where he thought necessary, he returned, in great
triumph and satisfaction, to London.
1114.
The Princess Maud being now marriageable, was delivered to the Emperor's
ambassador; and for a portion to the young lady a tax was imposed of
three shillings upon every hide of land in England, which grew
afterwards into a custom,[19] and was in succeeding times confirmed by
Acts of Parliament, under the name of "Reasonable Aid for marrying the
King's Daughter," although levied after a different manner.
[Footnote 19: This was the first occasion of the feudal tax called
scutage being levied in England. [W.S.J.]]
As the institution of Parliaments in England is agreed by several
writers to be owing to this King, so the date of the first hath been
assigned by some to the fifteenth year of his reign; which however is
not to be affirmed with any certainty: for great councils were convoked
not only in the two preceding reigns, but for time immemorial by the
Saxon princes, who first introduced them into this island, from the same
original with the other Gothic forms of government in most parts of
Europe. These councils or assemblies were composed according to the
pleasure of the prince who convened them, generally of nobles and
bishops, sometimes were added some considerable commoners; but they
seldom met, except in the beginning of a reign, or in times of war,
until this King came to the crown; who being a wise and popular prince,
called these great assemblies upon most important affairs of his reign,
and ever followed their advice, which, if it proved successful, the
honour and advantage redounded to him, and if otherwise, he was free
from the blame: thus when he chose a wife for himself, and a husband for
his daughter, when he designed his expedition against Robert, and even
for the election of an archbishop to the see of Canterbury, he proceeded
wholly by the advice of such general assemblies, summoned for the
purpose. But the style of these conventions, as delivered by several
authors, is very various; sometimes it is _comites, barones, et
cleri_;[20] his marriage was agreed on, _consilio majorum natu et
magnatum terrae_. One author[21] calls it _concilium principum,
sacerdotum, et reliqui populi._ And for the election of an archbishop,
the Saxon Chronicle says, That he commanded by letters all bishops,
abbots, and thanes to meet him at Gloucester _ad procerum conventum_.
Lastly, some affirm these assemblies to have been an imitation of the
three estates in Normandy. I am very sensible how much time and pains
have been employed by several learned men to search out the original of
Parliaments in England, wherein I doubt they have little satisfied
others or themselves. I know likewise that to engage in the same
enquiry, would neither suit my abilities nor my subject. It may be
sufficient for my purpose, if I be able to give some little light into
this matter, for the curiosity of those who are less informed.
[Footnote 20: Brompton. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 21: Polydore Virgil. [D.S.]]
The institution of a state or commonwealth out of a mixture of the three
forms of government received in the schools, however it be derided as a
solecism and absurdity by some late writers on politics, hath been very
ancient in the world, and is celebrated by the gravest authors of
antiquity. For although the supreme power cannot properly be said to be
divided, yet it may be so placed in three several hands, as each to be a
check upon the other; or formed into a balance, which is held by him
that has the executive power, with the nobility and people in
counterpoise in each scale. Thus the kingdom of Media is represented by
Xenophon before the reign of Cyrus; so Polybius tells us, the best
government is a mixture of the three forms, _regno, optimatium, et
populi imperio_: the same was that of Sparta in its primitive
institution by Lycurgus, made up of _reges, seniores, et populus_; the
like may be asserted of Rome, Carthage, and other states: and the
Germans of old fell upon the same model, from whence the Goths their
neighbours, with the rest of those northern people, did perhaps borrow
it. But an assembly of the three estates is not properly of Gothic
institution: for these fierce people, when upon the decline of the Roman
Empire they first invaded Europe, and settled so many kingdoms in Italy,
Spain, and other parts, were all Heathens; and when a body of them had
fixed themselves in a tract of land left desolate by the flight or
destruction of the natives, their military government by time and peace
became civil; the general was king, his great officers were his nobles
and ministers of state, and the common soldiers the body of the people;
but these were freemen, and had smaller portions of land assigned them.
The remaining natives were all slaves; the nobles were a standing
council; and upon affairs of great importance, the freemen were likewise
called by their representatives to give their advice. By which it
appears, that the Gothic frame of government consisted at first but of
two states or assemblies, under the administration of a single person.
But after the conversion of these princes and their people to the
Christian faith, the Church became endowed with great possessions, as
well by the bounty of kings, as the arts and industry of the clergy,
winning upon the devotion of their new converts: and power, by the
common maxim, always accompanying property, the ecclesiastics began soon
to grow considerable, to form themselves into a body, and to call
assemblies or synods by their own authority, or sometimes by the command
of their princes, who in an ignorant age had a mighty veneration for
their learning as well as piety. By such degrees the Church arrived at
length, by very justifiable steps, to have her share in the
commonwealth, and became a third estate in most kingdoms of Europe; but
these assemblies, as we have already observed, were seldom called in
England before the reign of this prince, nor even then were always
composed after the same manner: neither does it appear from the writers
who lived nearest to that age, that the people had any representative at
all, beside the barons and other nobles, who did not sit in those
assemblies by virtue of their birth or creation, but of the lands or
baronies they held. So that the present constitution of the English
Parliament hath, by many degrees and alterations, been modelled to the
frame it is now in; which alterations I shall observe in the succeeding
reigns as exactly as I can discover them by a diligent search into the
histories of the several ages, without engaging in the controverted
points of law about this matter, which would rather perplex the reader
than inform him.
1116.
But to return, Louis the Gross King of France, a valiant and active
prince, in the flower of his age, succeeding to that crown that Robert
was deprived of, Normandy, grew jealous of the neighbourhood and power
of King Henry, and begun early to entertain designs either of subduing
that duchy to himself, or at least of making a considerable party
against the King in favour of William son of Robert, whom for that end
he had taken into his protection. Pursuant to these intentions, he soon
found an occasion for a quarrel: expostulating with Henry, that he had
broken his promise by not doing homage for the Duchy of Normandy, as
well as by neglecting to raze the castle of Gisors,[22] which was built
on the French side of the river Epte, the common boundary between both
dominions.
[Footnote 22: Father Daniel says that for some years past it had been
agreed that Gisors "should be sequestered in the hands of a lord called
Pagan or Payen, who was to receive into it neither English or Norman,
nor French troops; and in case it should fall into the hands of either
of the two kings, it was stipulated, that the walls should be razed
within the space of forty days" ("Hist. of France," i. 369). [W.S.J.]
]
But an incident soon offered, which gave King Henry a pretext for
retaliating almost in the same manner: for it happened that upon some
offence taken against his nephew Theobald Count of Blois by the French
King, Louis in great rage sent an army to invade and ravage the earl's
territories. Theobald defended himself for a while with much valour; but
at length in danger to be overpowered, requested aid of his uncle the
King of England, who supported him so effectually with men and money,
that he was able not only to defend his own country, but very much to
infest and annoy his enemy. Thus a war was kindled between the two
kings; Louis now openly asserted the title of William the son of Robert,
and entering into an alliance with the Earls of Flanders and Anjou,
began to concert measures for driving King Henry out of Normandy.
The King having timely intelligence of his enemy's designs, began with
great vigour and dispatch to prepare himself for war: he raised, with
much difficulty and discontent of his people, the greatest tax that had
ever been known in England; and passing over into Normandy with a mighty
army, joined his nephew Theobald. The King of France, who had
entertained hopes that he should overrun the duchy before his enemy
could arrive, advanced with great security towards the frontiers of
Normandy; but observing an enemy of equal number and force already
prepared to engage him, he suddenly stopped his march. The two armies
faced one another for some hours, neither side offering battle; the rest
of the day was spent in light skirmishes begun by the French, and
repeated for some days following with various success; but the remainder
of the year passed without any considerable action.
1119.
At length the violence of the two princes brought it to a battle: for
Louis, to give a reputation to his arms, advanced towards the frontiers
of Normandy, and after a short siege took Gué Nicaise;[23] there the
King met him, and the fight began, which continued with great obstinacy
on both sides for nine hours. The French army was divided into two
bodies, and the English into three; by which means, that part where the
King fought in person, being attacked by a superior number, began to
give way; and William Crispin, a Norman baron, singling out the King of
England (whose subject he had been, but banished for treason) struck him
twice in the head with so much violence, that the blood gushed out of
his mouth. The King inflamed with rage and indignation, dealt such
furious blows, that he struck down several of his enemies, and Crispin
among the rest, who was taken prisoner at his horse's feet. The soldiers
encouraged by the valour of their prince, rallied and fell on with fresh
vigour, and the victory seemed doubtful, when William the son of King
Henry, to whom his father had entrusted the third body of his army,
which had not yet engaged, fell on with this fresh reserve upon the
enemy, who was already very much harassed with the toil of the day: this
quickly decided the matter; for the French, though valiantly fighting,
were overcome, with the slaughter of several thousand men; their King
quitted the field, and withdrew to Andely; but the King of England
recovering Gué Nicaise, returned triumphant to Rouen.
[Footnote 23: At that time reckoned an important fortress on the river
Epte. [D.S.]]
This important victory was followed by the defection of the Earl of
Anjou to King Henry, and the Earl of Flanders fell in the battle; by
which the King of France was at once deprived of two powerful allies.
However, by the intercession of the former, a peace was soon after made
between both crowns. William the King's son did homage to Louis for the
Dukedom of Normandy; and the other William, following the fortunes of
his father, was left to his pretensions and complaints.
It is here observable, that from this time until Wales was subdued to
the English crown, the eldest sons of England were called Dukes of
Normandy, as they are now Princes of Wales.
1120.
The King having stayed some time in Normandy, for the settlement of his
duchy after the calamities and confusions of a war, returned to England,
to the very great satisfaction of his people and himself. He had
enlarged his dominions by the conquest of Normandy; he had subdued all
his competitors, and forced even the King of France, their great
protector, after a glorious victory, to his own conditions of a peace;
he was upon very good terms with the Pope, who had a great esteem and
friendship for his person, and made him larger concessions than was
usual from that see, and in those ages. At home he was respected by the
clergy, reverenced by the nobles, and beloved by the people; in his
family he was blessed with a son of much hopes, just growing to years of
manhood, and his daughter was an empress; so that he seemed to possess
as great a share of happiness as human life is capable to admit. But the
felicity of man depends upon a conjunction of many circumstances, which
are all subject to various accidents, and every single accident is able
to dissolve the whole contexture; which truth was never verified more
than in this prince, who by one domestic misfortune, not to be prevented
or foreseen, found all the pleasure and content he proposed to himself
by his prudence, his industry, and his valour, wholly disappointed and
destroyed: for William the young prince having embarked at Barfleur some
time after his father, the mariners being all drunk, suffered the ship
to run upon a rock, where it was dashed to pieces: the prince made a
shift to get into the boat, and was making to the shore, until forced
back by the cries of his sister, whom he received into the boat, so many
others crowded in at the same time, that it was immediately overturned.
There perished, beside the prince, a natural son and daughter of the
King's, his niece, and many other persons of quality, together with all
their attendants and servants, to the number of a hundred and forty,
beside fifty mariners, but one person escaping.
Although the King survived this cruel misfortune many years, yet he
could never recover his former humour, but grew melancholy and morose;
however, in order to provide better for the peace and settlement of the
kingdom after his death, about five months after the loss of his son,
his former Queen having died three years before, he married Adeliza, a
beautiful young lady of the family of Lorraine,[24] in hopes of issue by
her, but never had any.
[Footnote 24: She was daughter of Godfrey Duke of Louvain, or the Lower
Lorraine. [D.S.]]
1124.
The death of the prince gave occasion to some new troubles in Normandy;
for the Earls of Meulant and Evreux, Hugh de Montfort, and other
associates, began to raise insurrections there, which were thought to be
privately fomented by the French King, out of enmity to King Henry, and
in favour of William the son of Robert, to whom the Earl of Anjou had
lately given his daughter in marriage. But William of Tankerville, the
King's lieutenant in Normandy, surprising the enemy's forces by an
ambush, entirely routed them, took both the earls prisoners, and sent
one of them (Meulant) to his master; but the Count d'Evreux made his
escape.
1126.
King Henry having now lost hope of issue by his new Queen, brought with
him, on his return to England, his daughter Maud, who by the Emperor's
death had been lately left a widow and childless; and in a Parliament or
general assembly which he had summoned at Windsor, he caused the crown
to be settled on her and her children, and made all his nobles take a
solemn oath to defend her title. This was performed by none with so much
forwardness as Stephen Earl of Boulogne, who was observed to shew a more
than ordinary zeal in the matter. This young lord was the King's nephew,
being second son of the Earl of Blois by Adela the Conqueror's daughter:
he was in high favour with the King his uncle, who had married him to
the daughter and heiress of the Earl of Boulogne, given him great
possessions in England, and made him indeed too powerful for a subject.
The King having thus fixed the succession of the crown in his daughter
by an Act of Settlement and an oath of fealty, looked about to provide
her with a second husband, and at length determined his choice in
Geoffrey Plantagenet Earl of Anjou, the son of Fulk lately deceased.
This prince, whose dominions confined on France and Normandy, was
usually courted for an ally by both Kings in their several quarrels; but
having little faith or honour, he never scrupled to change sides as
often as he saw or conceived it for his advantage. After the great
victory over the French, he closed in with King Henry, and gave his
daughter to the young prince William; yet at the same time, by the
private encouragement of Louis, he prevailed on the King of England to
be easy in the conditions of a peace. Upon the unfortunate loss of the
prince, and the troubles in Normandy thereupon, he fell again from the
King, gave his other daughter to William the son of Robert, and struck
up with France to take that prince again into protection. But dying soon
after, and leaving his son Geoffrey to succeed in that earldom, the King
was of opinion he could not anywhere bestow his daughter with more
advantage, both for the security and enlargement of his dominions, than
by giving her to this earl; by which marriage Anjou would become an
acquisition to Normandy, and this be a more equal match to so formidable
a neighbour as France. In a short time the marriage was concluded; and
this Earl Geoffrey had the honour to introduce into the royal family of
England the surname of Plantagenet, borne by so many succeeding Kings,
which began with Henry II. who was the eldest son of this marriage.
But the King of France was in great discontent at this match: he easily
foresaw the dismal consequences to himself and his successors from such
an increase of dominion united to the crown of England: he knew what
impressions might be made in future times to the shaking of his throne
by an aspiring and warlike king, if they should happen in a weak reign,
or upon any great discontents in that kingdom. Which conjectures being
highly reasonable (and since often verified by events) he cast about to
find some way of driving the King of England entirely out of France; but
having neither pretext nor stomach in the midst of a peace to begin an
open and formal quarrel, there fell out an accident which gave him
plausible occasion of pursuing his design.
Charles the Good Earl of Flanders having been lately murdered by some of
his subjects, upon private revenge, the King of France went in person to
take revenge of the assassins; which he performed with great justice and
honour. But the late earl leaving no heir of his body, and several
competitors appearing to dispute the succession, Louis rejected some
others who seemed to have a fairer title, and adjudged it to William the
son of Robert, the better to secure him to his interests upon any design
he might engage in against the King of England. Not content with this,
he assisted the Earl in person, subdued his rivals, and left him in
peaceable possession of his new dominion.
King Henry, on the other side, was very apprehensive of his nephew's
greatness, well knowing to what end it was directed; however, he seemed
not to regard it, contenting himself to give the Earl employment at home
by privately nourishing the discontents of his new subjects, and
abetting underhand another pretender: for William had so entirely lost
the hearts of his people, by his intolerable avarice and exactions, that
the principal towns in Flanders revolted from him, and invited Thierri
Earl of Alsace to be their governor. But the King of France generously
resolved to appear once more in his defence, and took his third
expedition into Flanders for that purpose. He had marched as far as
Artois, when he was suddenly recalled to defend his own dominions from
the fury of a powerful and provoked invader: for Henry King of England,
moved with indignation to see the French King in the midst of a peace so
frequently and openly supporting his most dangerous enemy, thought it
the best way to divert Louis from kindling a fire against him abroad, by
forcing him to extinguish one at home: he therefore entered into the
bowels of France, ravaging and laying waste all before him, and quickly
grew so formidable, that the French King to purchase a peace was forced
to promise never more to assist or favour the Earl of Flanders; however,
as it fell out, this article proved to be wholly needless; for the young
Earl soon after gave battle to Thierri, and put his whole army to the
rout; but pursuing his victory, he received a wound in his wrist, which,
by the unskilfulness of a surgeon, cost him his life.[24]
[Footnote 24: The lance passed through or under the ball of his thumb
into his wrist. The wound gangrening, he died within five days. [D.S.]]
This one slight inconsiderable accident did, in all probability, put a
stop to very great events; for if that young prince had survived his
victory, it is hardly to be doubted but through the justness of his
cause, the reputation of his valour, and the assistance of the King of
France, he would in a little time have recovered Normandy, and perhaps
his father's liberty, which were the two designs he had in agitation;
nor could he well have missed the crown of England after the King's
death, who was now in his decline, when he had so fair a title, and no
competitors in view but a woman and an infant.
1129.
Upon the King's return from Normandy, a great council of the clergy was
held at London, for the punishing of priests who lived in concubinage,
which was the great grievance of the Church in those ages, and had been
condemned by several canons. This assembly thinking to take a more
effectual course against that abomination, as it was called, decreed
severe penalties upon those who should be guilty of breaking it,
entreating the King to see the law put in execution; which he very
readily undertook, but performed otherwise than was expected, eluding
the force of the law by an evasion to his own advantage: for exacting
fines of the delinquent priests, he suffered them to keep their
concubines without further disturbance. A very unaccountable step in so
wise a body for their own concernments, as the clergy of those times is
looked upon to have been; and although perhaps the fact be not worth
recording, it may serve as a lesson to all assemblies never to trust the
execution of a law in the hands of those who will find it more to their
interests to see it broken than observed.
1132.
The Empress Maud was now happily delivered of a son, who was afterwards
King of England by the name of Henry the Second: and the King calling a
Parliament, had the oath of fealty repeated by the nobles and clergy to
her and her issue, which in the compass of three years they all broke or
forgot.
1134.
I think it may deserve a place in this history to mention the last scene
of Duke Robert's life, who, either through the poorness or greatness of
spirit, having outlived the loss of his honour, his dominions, his
liberty, his eyesight, and his only son, was at last forced to sink
under the load of eighty years, and must be allowed for the greatest
example either of insensibility or contempt of earthly things, that ever
appeared in a sovereign or private person. He was a prince hardly
equalled by any in his time for valour, conduct, and courtesy; but his
ruin began from the easiness of his nature, which whoever knew how to
manage, were sure to be refused nothing they could ask. By such
profusion he was reduced to those unhappy expedients of remitting his
rights for a pension, of pawning his towns, and multiplying taxes, which
brought him into hatred and contempt with his subjects; neither do I
think any virtue so little commendable in a sovereign as that of
liberality, where it exceeds what his ordinary revenues can supply;
where it passes those bounds, his subjects must all be oppressed to shew
his bounty to a few flatterers, or he must sell his towns, or basely
renounce his rights, by becoming pensioner to some powerful prince in
the neighbourhood; all which we have lived to see performed by a late
monarch in our own time and country.
1135.
Since the reduction of Normandy to the King's obedience, he found it
necessary for his affairs to spend in that duchy some part of his time
almost every year, and a little before the death of Robert he made his
last voyage there. It was observable in this prince, that having some
years past very narrowly escaped shipwreck in his passage from Normandy
into England, the sense of his danger had made very deep impressions on
his mind, which he discovered by a great reformation in his life, by
redressing several grievances, and doing many acts of piety; and to shew
the steadiness of his resolutions, he kept them to the last, making a
progress through most parts of Normandy, treating his subjects in all
places with great familiarity and kindness, granting their petitions,
easing their taxes, and, in a word, giving all possible marks of a
religious, wise, and gracious prince.
Returning to St. Denys le Ferment from his progress a little indisposed,
he there fell into a fever upon a surfeit of lamprey, which in a few
days ended his life. His body was conveyed to England, and buried at
Reading in the abbey-church himself had founded.
It is hard to affirm anything peculiar of this prince's character; those
authors who have attempted it mentioning very little but what was common
to him with thousands of other men; neither have they recorded any of
those personal circumstances or passages, which only can discover such
qualities of the mind as most distinguish one man from another. These
defects may perhaps appear in the stories of many succeeding kings;
which makes me hope I shall not be altogether blamed for sometimes
disappointing the reader in a point wherein I could wish to be the most
exact.
As to his person, he is described to be of middle stature; his body
strong set and fleshy; his hair black; his eyes large; his countenance
amiable, and very pleasant, especially when he was merry. He was
temperate in meat and drink, and a hater of effeminacy, a vice or folly
much complained of in his time, especially that circumstance of long
artificial hair, which he forbade upon severe penalties. His three
principal virtues were prudence, valour, and eloquence. These were
counterbalanced by three great vices; avarice, cruelty, and lust; of
which the first is proved by the frequency of his taxes; the second by
his treatment of Duke Robert; and the last was notorious. But the proof
of his virtues doth not depend on single instances, manifesting
themselves through the whole course of a long reign, which was hardly
attended by any misfortune that prudence, justice, or valour could
prevent. He came to the crown at a ripe age, when he had passed thirty
years, having learned, in his private life, to struggle with hardships,
whereof he had his share, from the capriciousness and injustice of both
his brothers; and by observing their failures, he had learned to avoid
them in himself, being steady and uniform in his whole conduct, which
were qualities they both seemed chiefly to want. This likewise made him
so very tenacious as he was observed to be in his love and hatred. He
was a strict observer of justice, which he seems never to have violated,
but in that particular case, which political casuists are pleased to
dispense with, where the dispute is about a crown. In that he[25] * * *
* * *
[Footnote 25: Here the sentence breaks off short, and is left
unfinished. [D.S.]]
Consider him as a private man, he was perhaps the most accomplished
person of his age, having a facetious wit, cultivated by learning, and
advanced with a great share of natural eloquence, which was his peculiar
talent: and it was no doubt the sense he had of this last perfection in
himself, that put him so often upon calling together the great councils
of the nation, where natural oratory is of most figure as well as use.
THE REIGN OF STEPHEN.
The veneration which people are supposed naturally to pay to a right
line, and a lawful title in their kings, must be upheld by a long
uninterrupted succession, otherwise it quickly loses opinion, upon which
the strength of it, although not the justice, is entirely founded: and
where breaches have been already made in the lineal descent, there is
little security in a good title (though confirmed by promises and oaths)
where the lawful heir is absent, and a popular aspiring pretender near
at hand. This, I think, may pass for a maxim, if any consequences drawn
from history can pretend to be called so, having been verified
successively three times in this kingdom, I mean by the two preceding
kings, and by the prince whose reign we are now writing. Neither can
this observation be justly controlled by any instances brought of future
princes, who being absent at their predecessor's death, have peaceably
succeeded, the circumstances being very different in every case, either
by the weakness or justice of pretenders, or else by the long
establishment of lineal succession.
1135.
Stephen Earl of Boulogne, whose descent hath been already shewn in the
foregoing reign, was the second of three brothers, whereof the eldest
was Theobald Earl of Blois, a sovereign prince, and Henry the youngest
was Bishop of Winchester, and the Pope's legate in England. At the time
of King Henry's death, his daughter the Empress was with her husband the
Earl of Anjou, a grave and cautious prince, altogether unqualified for
sudden enterprises: but Earl Stephen, who had attended the King in his
last expedition, made so great dispatch for England,[26] that the
council had not time to meet and make any declaration about a successor.
When the lords were assembled, the legate had already, by his credit and
influence among them, brought over a great party to his brother's
interests; and the Earl himself, knowing with what success the like
methods were used by his two last predecessors, was very liberal of his
promises to amend the laws, support the Church, and redress grievances:
for all which the bishop undertook to be guarantee. And thus was Stephen
elected by those very persons who had so lately, and in so solemn a
manner, more than once sworn fealty to another.
[Footnote 26: Stephen was at Boulogne when he received the news of
Henry's death. [D.S.]]
The motives whereby the nobility was swayed to proceed after this
manner, were obvious enough. There had been a perpetual struggle between
them and their former kings in the defence of their liberties; for the
security whereof, they thought a king elected without other title, would
be readier to enter into any obligations, and being held in constant
dependence, would be less tempted to break them: therefore, as at his
coronation they obtained full security by his taking new and additional
oaths in favour of their liberties, their oath of fealty to him was but
conditional, to be of force no longer than he should be true to those
stipulations.
But other reasons were contrived and given out to satisfy the people:
they were told it was an indignity for so noble a nation to be governed
by a woman; that the late King had promised to marry his daughter within
the realm, and by consent of Parliament, neither of which was observed:
and lastly, Hugh Bigod, steward to King Henry, took a voluntary oath,
before the Archbishop of Canterbury, that his master, in his last
sickness, had, upon some displeasure, disinherited his daughter.
He received the crown with one great advantage that could best enable
him to preserve it: this was the possession of his uncle's treasures,
amounting to one hundred thousand pounds, and reckoned as a prodigious
sum in those days; by the help of which, without ever raising one tax
upon the people, he defended an unjust title against the lawful heir
during a perpetual contest of almost twenty years.
In order to defend himself against any sudden invasion, which he had
cause enough to expect, he gave all men licence to build castles upon
their lands, which proved a very mistaken piece of politics, although
grounded upon some appearance of reason. The King supposed that no
invader would venture to advance into the heart of his country without
reducing every castle in his way, which must be a work of much time and
difficulty, nor would be able to afford men to block them up, and secure
his retreat: which way of arguing may be good enough to a prince of an
undisputed title, and entirely in the hearts of his subjects: but
numerous castles are ill defenders of an usurpation, being the common
retreat of malcontents, where they can fly with security, and discover
their affections as they please: by which means the enemy, although
beaten in the field, may still preserve his footing in the bowels of a
country; may wait supplies from abroad; and prolong a war for many
years: nor, while he is master of any castles, can he ever be at mercy
by any sudden misfortune; but may be always in a condition of demanding
terms for himself. These, and many other effects of so pernicious a
counsel, the King found through the whole course of his reign; which was
entirely spent in sieges, revolts, surprises, and surrenders, with very
few battles, but no decisive action: a period of much misery and
confusion, which affords little that is memorable for events, or useful
for the instruction of posterity.
1136.
The first considerable enemy that appeared against him was David King of
Scots, who having taken the oath of fealty to Maud and her issue, being
further engaged by the ties of blood, and stirred up through the
persuasions of several English nobles, began to take up arms in her
cause; and invading the northern parts, took Carlisle and Newcastle; but
upon the King's speedy approach with his forces, a peace was presently
made, and the towns restored. However, the Scottish prince would, by no
means, renounce his fidelity to the Empress, by paying homage to
Stephen; so that an expedient was found to have it performed by his
eldest son: in consideration of which the King gave, or rather restored,
to him the Earldom of Huntingdon.
Upon his return to London from this expedition, he happened to fall sick
of a lethargy, and it was confidently given out that he was dead. This
report was, with great industry and artifice, dispersed by his enemies,
which quickly discovered the ill inclination of several lords, who,
although they never believed the thing, yet made use of it for an
occasion or pretext to fortify their castles, which they refused to
surrender to the King himself; but Stephen was resolved, as he said, to
convince them that he was alive and well; for coming against them before
he was expected, he recovered Exeter, Norwich,[27] and other fortified
places, although not without much difficulty.
[Footnote 27: Hugh Bigod had seized Norwich Castle. [D.S.]]
It is obvious enough to wonder how a prince of so much valour, and other
excellent endowments, elected by the Church and State, after a
compliance with all conditions they could impose on him, and in an age
when so little regard was had to the lineal descent, lastly confirmed by
the Pope himself, should be soon deserted and opposed by those very
persons who had been the most instrumental to promote him. But, beside
his defective title, and the undistinguished liberty of building
castles, there were three circumstances which very much contributed to
those perpetual revolts of the nobles against him: first, that upon his
coming to the crown he was very liberal in distributing lands and
honours to several young gentlemen of noble birth, who came to make
their court, whereby he hoped to get the reputation of a generous
prince, and to strengthen his party against the Empress: but, by this
encouragement, the number of pretenders quickly grew too fast upon him;
and when he had granted all he was able, he was forced to dismiss the
rest with promises and excuses, who, either out of envy or discontent,
or else to mend their fortunes, never failed to become his enemies upon
the first occasion that offered. Secondly, when he had reduced several
castles and towns which had given the first example of disaffection from
him, he hardly inflicted the least punishment on the authors; which
unseasonable mercy, that in another prince and another age would have
been called greatness of spirit, passed in him for pusillanimity and
fear, and is reckoned, by the writers of those times to have been the
cause of many succeeding revolts. The third circumstance was of a
different kind: for, observing how little good effect he had found by
his liberality and indulgence, he would needs try the other extreme,
which was not his talent. He began to infringe the articles of his
charter; to recall or disown the promises he had made; and to repulse
petitioners with rough treatment, which was the more unacceptable by
being new and unexpected.
1137.
Mean time the Earl of Anjou, who was not in a condition to assert his
wife's title to England, hearing Stephen was employed at home, entered
Normandy with small force, and found it no difficult matter to seize
several towns. The Normans, in the present distraction of affairs, not
well knowing what prince to obey, at last sent an invitation to Theobald
Earl of Blois, King Stephen's eldest brother, to accept their dukedom
upon the condition of protecting them from the present insults of the
Earl of Anjou. But before this matter could come to an issue, Stephen,
who, upon reduction of the towns already mentioned, had found a short
interval of quiet from his English subjects, arrived with unexpected
speed into Normandy; where Geoffrey of Anjou soon fled before him, and
the whole duchy came over to his obedience; for the further settlement
whereof he made peace with the King of France; constituted his son
Eustace Duke of Normandy; and made him swear fealty to that Prince, and
do him homage. His brother Theobald, who began to expostulate upon this
disappointment, he pacified with a pension of two thousand marks:[28]
and even the Earl of Anjou himself, who, in right of his wife, made
demands of Stephen for the kingdom of England, finding he was no equal
match at present, was persuaded to become his pensioner for five
thousand more.[29]
[Footnote 28: The mark of Normandy is to be understood here. Such a
pension in that age was equivalent to one of £31,000 sterling in the
present. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 29: Five thousand marks of silver coin was, in this reign, of
the same value as the sum of £77,500 modern currency, is now. Here again
the Norman mark seems to be used. [D.S.]]
Stephen, upon his return to England, met with an account of new troubles
from the north; for the King of Scots, under pretence of observing his
oath of fealty to the Empress, infested the Borders, and frequently
making cruel inroads, plundered and laid waste all before him.
1138.
In order to revenge this base and perfidious treatment, the King, in his
march northward, sat down before Bedford, and took it after a siege of
twenty days. This town was part of the Earldom of Huntingdon, given by
Stephen in the late peace to the eldest son of the Scottish King, for
which the young prince did homage to him; and it was upon that account
defended by a garrison of Scots. Upon intelligence of this surrender,
King David, overcome with fury, entered Northumberland, where, letting
loose the rage of his soldiers, he permitted and encouraged them to
commit all manner of inhumanities; which they performed in so execrable
a manner as would scarce be credible, if it were not attested by almost
the universal consent of writers: they ripped up women with child, drew
out the infants, and tossed them upon the points of their lances: they
murdered priests before the altars; then cutting the heads from off the
crucifixes, in their stead put on the heads of those they had murdered:
with many other instances of monstrous barbarity too foul to relate: but
cruelty being usually attended with cowardice, this perfidious prince,
upon the approach of King Stephen, fled into places of security. The
King of England, finding no enemy on whom to employ his revenge, marched
forward into the country, destroying with fire and sword all the
southern parts; and would, in all probability, have made terrible
impressions into the heart of Scotland, if he had not been suddenly
recalled by a more dangerous fire at home, which had been kindled in his
absence, and was now broken out into a flame.
Robert Earl of Gloucester, natural son of the late King, came into
England some time after the advancement of Stephen to the crown; and,
yielding to the necessity of the time, took the oath of fealty upon the
same condition used by the other nobles, to be of force so long as the
King should keep his faith with him, and preserve his dignity inviolate:
but, being in his heart wholly devoted to the interests of the Empress
his sister, and moved by the persuasions of several religious men, he
had, with great secrecy and application, so far practised upon the
levity or discontents of several lords, as to gain them to his party:
for the King had, of late, very much alienated the nobles against him;
first, by seizing several of their persons, and dispossessing them of
their lands; and, secondly, by taking into his favour William d'Ypres, a
Flemish commander, of noble birth, but banished by his prince. This man,
with many of his followers, the King employed chiefly both in his
councils and his armies, and made him Earl of Kent, to the great envy
and displeasure of his English subjects. The Earl of Gloucester,
therefore, and his accomplices, having prepared all things necessary for
an insurrection, it was agreed among them, that while the King was
engaged against the Scots, each of them should secure what towns and
castles they could, and openly declare for the Empress. Accordingly Earl
Robert suddenly fortified himself in Bristol; the rest followed his
example; Hereford, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Dover,[30] and many other places,
were seized by several lords, and the defection grew so formidable, that
the King, to his great grief, was forced to leave his Scottish
expedition unfinished, and return with all possible speed to suppress
the rebellion begun by his subjects; having first left the care of the
north to Thurstan Archbishop of York; with orders carefully to observe
the motions of the Scots.
[Footnote 30: Robert Earl of Gloucester had been entrusted by Stephen
with the custody of Dover Castle: but Robert lying now under heavy
suspicion, the King sent Matilda his queen to besiege it, in which she
was successful. [D.S.]]
Whilst the King was employed in the south in reducing his discontented
lords, and their castles, to his obedience, David, presuming upon the
distance between them, reentered England with more numerous forces, and
greater designs, than before: for, without losing more time than what
was necessary to pillage and destroy the country as he marched, he
resolved to besiege York, which, if he could force to surrender, would
serve as a convenient frontier against the English. To this end,
advancing near the city, and having pitched his tents, he sat down
before it with his whole army. In the mean time Archbishop Thurstan,
having already summoned the nobles and gentry of the shire and parts
adjacent, had, by powerful persuasions incited them to defend their
country against a treacherous, bloody, and restless enemy: so that
before the King of Scotland could make any progress in the siege, the
whole power of the north was united against him, under the Earl of
Albemarle, and several other nobles. Archbishop Thurstan happening to
fall sick, could not go in person to the army, but sent the Bishop of
Durham in his stead; by whose encouragements the English, although in
number far inferior, advanced boldly towards the enemy, and offered them
battle, which was as readily accepted by the Scots, who, sending out a
party of horse to secure the rising ground, were immediately attacked by
the English, and, after a sharp dispute, entirely defeated. In the heat
of the battle the King of Scots, and his son Henry Earl of Huntingdon,
gave many proofs of great personal valour. The young prince fell with
such fierceness upon a body of the English, that he utterly broke and
dispersed them; and was pursuing his victory, when a certain man,
bearing aloft the head of an enemy he had cut off, cried out, It was the
head of the Scottish King, which being heard and believed on both sides,
the English, who had lately fled, rallied again, assaulting their
enemies with new vigour; the Scots, on the other side, discouraged by
the supposed death of their Prince, began to turn their backs: the King
and his son used all endeavours to stop their flight, and made several
brave stands against the enemy; but the greatest part of their army
being fled, and themselves almost encompassed, they were forced to give
way to fortune, and with much difficulty made their escape.
The loss on the English side was inconsiderable; but of Scots, by
general consent of writers, ten thousand were slain. And thus ended the
War of the Standard, as it was usually called by the authors of that
age, because the English, upon a certain engine, raised the mast of a
ship, on the top whereof, in a silver box, they put the consecrated
wafer, and fastened the standards of St. Peter and other saints: this
gave them courage, by remembering they were to fight in the presence of
God; and served likewise for a mark where to reassemble when they should
happen to be dispersed by any accident or misfortune.
1139
Mean time the King was equally successful against his rebellious lords
at home, having taken most of their castles and strong-holds; and the
Earl of Gloucester himself, no longer able to make any resistance,
withdrew into Normandy, to concert new measures with the Empress his
sister. Thus the King had leisure and opportunity for another expedition
into Scotland, to pursue and improve his victory, where he met with no
opposition: however, he was at length persuaded with much difficulty to
accept his own conditions of a peace; and David delivered up to him his
eldest son Henry, as hostage for performance of articles between them.
The King, in his return homeward, laid siege to Ludlow Castle, which had
not been reduced with the rest: here Prince Henry of Scotland, boiling
with youth and valour, and exposing his person upon all occasions, was
lifted from his horse by an iron grapple let down from the wall, and
would have been hoisted up into the castle, if the King had not
immediately flown to his assistance, and brought him off with his own
hands by main force from the enemy, whom he soon compelled to surrender
the castle.
1140
Stephen having thus subdued his inveterate enemies the Scots, and
reduced his rebellious nobles, began to entertain hopes of enjoying a
little ease. But he was destined to the possession of a crown with
perpetual disturbance; for he was hardly returned from his northern
expedition, when he received intelligence that the Empress, accompanied
by her brother the Earl of Gloucester, was preparing to come for
England, in order to dispute her title to the kingdom. The King, who
knew by experience what a powerful party she already had to espouse her
interests, very reasonably concluded, the defection from him would be
much greater, when she appeared in person to countenance and reward it;
he therefore began again to repent of the licence he had granted for
building castles, which were now like to prove so many places of
security for his enemies, and fortifications against himself; for he
knew not whom to trust, vehemently suspecting his nobles ever since
their last revolt. He therefore cast about for some artifice to get into
his hands as many of their castles as he could: in the strength and
magnificence of which kind of structures, the bishops had far outdone
the rest, and were upon that, as well as other accounts, very much
maligned and envied by the temporal lords, who were extreme jealous of
the Church's increasing power, and glad upon all occasions to see the
prelates humbled. The King, therefore, having formed his project,
resolved to make trial where it would be least invidious, and where he
could foresee least danger in the consequences. At a Parliament or
assembly of nobles at Oxford, it was contrived to raise a quarrel
between the servants of some bishops and those of Alan Count of Dinan in
Bretagne, upon a contention of rooms in their inns. Stephen took hold of
this advantage, sent for the bishops, taxed them with breaking his
peace, and demanded the keys of their castles, adding threats of
imprisonment if they dared to disobey. Those whom the King chiefly
suspected, or rather who had built the most and strongest castles, were
Roger Bishop of Salisbury, with his nephew and natural son the Bishops
of Ely and Lincoln, whom the King, by many circumstances of rigour,
compelled to surrender, going himself in person to seize the Devizes,
then esteemed the noblest structure of Europe, and built by the
forementioned Bishop Roger, whose treasure, to the value of forty
thousand marks,[31] there likewise deposited, fell, at the same time,
into the King's hand, which in a few days broke the bishop's heart,
already worn with age and infirmity.
[Footnote 31: This prelate's treasure is doubtless computed by the
smaller or Saxon mark; the use of which still prevailed in England: and
even thus computed, it amounts to a vast sum, equal to about £116,350 of
modern money. [D.S.]]
It may, perhaps, not be thought a digression to say something of the
fortunes of this prelate, who, from the lowest beginnings, came to be,
without dispute, the greatest churchman of any subject in his age. It
happened that the late King Henry, in the reign of his brother, being at
a village in Normandy, wanted a priest to say mass before him and his
train, when this man, who was a poor curate thereabouts, offered his
service, and performed it with so much dexterity and speed, that the
soldiers who attended the prince recommended him to their master, upon
that account, as a very proper chaplain for military men; but it seems
he had other talents; for having gotten into the prince's service, he
soon discovered great application and address, much order and economy in
the management of his master's fortunes, which were wholly left to his
care. After Henry's advancement to the crown, this chaplain grew chief
in his favour and confidence; was made Bishop of Salisbury, Chancellor
of England, employed in all his most weighty affairs, and usually left
vicegerent of the realm while the King was absent in Normandy. He was
among the first that swore fealty to Maud and her issue; and among the
first that revolted from her to Stephen, offering such reasons in
council for setting her aside, as, by the credit and opinion of his
wisdom, were very prevalent. But the King, in a few years, forgot all
obligations, and the bishop fell a sacrifice in his old age to those
treasures he had been so long heaping up for its support. A just reward
for his ingratitude towards the Prince that raised him, to be ruined by
the ingratitude of another, whom he had been so very instrumental to
raise.
But Henry Bishop of Winchester, the Pope's legate, not able to endure
this violation of the Church, called a council of all the prelates to
meet at Winchester, where the King being summoned, appeared by his
advocate, who pleaded his cause with much learning; and the Archbishop
of Rouen coming to the council, declared his opinion, That although the
canons did allow the bishops to possess castles, yet in dangerous times
they ought to deliver them up to the King. This opinion Stephen followed
very steadily, not yielding a tittle, although the legate his brother
used all means, both rough and gentle, to work upon him.
The council of bishops broke up without other effect than that of
leaving in their minds an implacable hatred to the King, in a very
opportune juncture for the interests of Maud, who, about this time,
landed at Portsmouth with her brother Robert Earl of Gloucester. The
whole force she brought over for this expedition consisted but of one
hundred and forty knights;[32] for she trusted altogether in her cause
and her friends. With this slender attendance she went to Arundel, and
was there received into the castle by the widow of the late King; while
Earl Robert, accompanied only by twenty men, marched boldly to his own
city of Gloucester, in order to raise forces for the Empress, where the
townsmen turned out the King's garrison as soon as they heard of his
approach.
[Footnote 32: In these times none served on horseback but gentlemen or
knights, in right of their fiefs, or their representatives, called
_Men-at-arms;_ and each of these was attended by at least two servants
or retainers mounted and armed. [D.S.]]
King Stephen was not surprised at the news of the Empress's arrival,
being a thing he had always counted upon, and was long preparing himself
against. He was glad to hear how ill she was provided, and resolved to
use the opportunity of her brother's absence; for, hasting down to
Arundel with a sufficient strength, he laid siege to the castle, in
hopes, by securing her person, to put a speedy end to the war.
But there wanted not some very near about the King, who, favouring the
party of Maud, had credit enough to prevail with him not to venture time
and reputation against an impregnable fortress, but rather, by
withdrawing his forces, permit her to retire to some less fortified
place, where she might more easily fall into his hands. This advice the
King took against his own opinion; the Empress fled out of Arundel by
night; and, after frequent shifting her stages through several towns,
which had already declared in her favour, fixed herself at last at
Lincoln; where, having all things provided necessary for her defence,
she resolved to continue, and expect either a general revolt of the
English to her side, or the decision of war between the King and her
brother.
But Stephen, who had pursued the Empress from place to place, hearing
she had shut herself up in Lincoln, resolved to give her no rest; and to
help on his design, it fell out that the citizens in hatred to the Earl
of Chester, who commanded there for the Empress, sent a private
invitation to the King, with promise to deliver the town and their
governor into his hands. The King came accordingly, and possessed
himself of the town; but Maud and the Earl made their escape a few days
before. However, many great persons of Maud's party remained prisoners
to the King, and among the rest the Earl of Chester's wife, who was
daughter to the Earl of Gloucester. These two Earls resolving to attempt
the relief of their friends, marched with all their forces near Lincoln,
where they found the enemy drawn up and ready to receive them.
The next morning, after battle offered by the lords, and accepted by the
King, both sides made ready to engage. The King having disposed his
cavalry on each wing, placed himself at the head of his foot, in whom he
reposed most confidence. The army of the lords was divided in three
bodies; those whom King Stephen had banished were placed in the middle,
the Earl of Chester led the van, and the Earl of Gloucester commanded
the rear. The battle was fought at first with equal advantage, and great
obstinacy on both sides; at length the right wing of the King's horse,
pressed by the Earl of Chester, galloped away, not without suspicion of
treachery; the left followed the example. The King beheld their flight,
and encouraging those about him, fell with undaunted valour upon the
enemy; and being for some time bravely seconded by his foot, did great
execution. At length overpowered by numbers, his men began to disperse,
and Stephen was left almost alone with his sword in his hand, wherewith
he opposed his person against a whole victorious army, nor durst any be
so hardy to approach him; the sword breaking, a citizen of Lincoln put
into his hands a Danish battle-axe,[33] with which he struck to the
ground the Earl of Chester,[34] who presumed to come within his reach.
But this weapon likewise flying in pieces with the force of those
furious blows he dealt on all sides, a bold knight of the Empress's
party, named William de Keynes, laid hold on his helmet, and immediately
cried out to his fellows, "I have got the King." Then the rest ran in,
and he was taken prisoner.[35]
[Footnote 33: Sim. Dunelmensis. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 34: The Earl of Chester lived nevertheless to fight other
battles, and died twelve years afterwards by poison. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 35: Gervase. [D.S.]]
The King being thus secured, was presented to the Empress, then at
Gloucester, and by her orders conveyed to Bristol, where he continued in
strict custody nine months, although with honourable treatment for some
time, until either upon endeavouring to make his escape, or in malice to
the Londoners, who had a great affection for their King, he was, by
express command from the Empress, laid in irons, and used with other
circumstances of severity.
This victory was followed by a general defection of almost the whole
kingdom; and the Earl of Anjou, husband to the Empress, upon the fame of
the King's defeat and imprisonment, reduced without any difficulty the
whole Duchy of Normandy to his obedience.
The legate himself, although brother to King Stephen, received her at
Winchester with great solemnity, accepted her oath for governing with
justice, redressing grievances, and supporting the rights of the Church,
and took the old conditional one of fealty to her; then in an assembly
of bishops and clergy convoked for the purpose, he displayed the
miscarriages of his brother, and declared his approbation of the Empress
to be Queen; to which they unanimously agreed. To complete all, he
prevailed by his credit with the Londoners, who stood out the last of
any, to acknowledge and receive her into the city, where she arrived at
length in great pomp, and with general satisfaction.
But it was the misfortune of this Princess to possess many weaknesses
that are charged to the sex, and very few of its commendable qualities:
she was now in peaceable possession of the whole kingdom, except the
county of Kent, where William d'Ypres pretended to keep up a small party
for the King; when by her pride, wilfulness, indiscretion, and a
disobliging behaviour, she soon turned the hearts of all men against
her, and in a short time lost the fruits of that victory and success
which had been so hardly gained by the prudence and valour of her
excellent brother. The first occasion she took to discover the
perverseness of her nature, was in the treatment of Maud, the wife of
King Stephen, a lady of great virtue, and courage above her sex, who,
coming to the Empress an humble suitor in behalf of her husband,
offered, as a price of his liberty, that he should resign all
pretensions to the crown, and pass the rest of his life in exile, or in
a convent: but this request was rejected with scorn and reproaches; and
the Queen finding all entreaties to no purpose, writ to her son Eustace
to let him understand the ill success of her negotiation, that no relief
was to be otherwise hoped for than by arms, and therefore advised him to
raise immediately what forces he could for the relief of his father.
Her next miscarriage was towards the Londoners, who presented her a
petition for redressing certain rigorous laws of her father, and
restoring those of Edward the Confessor. The Empress put them off for a
time with excuses, but at last discovered some displeasure at their
importunity. The citizens, who had with much difficulty been persuaded
to receive her against their inclinations, which stood wholly for the
King, were moved with indignation at her unreasonable refusal of their
just demands, and entered into a conspiracy to seize her person. But she
had timely notice of their design, and leaving the city by night in
disguise, fled to Oxford.
A third false step the Empress made,[36] was in refusing her new
powerful friend the legate a favour he desired in behalf of Eustace, the
King's son, to grant him the lands and honours held by his father before
he came to the crown. She had made large promises to this prelate, that
she would be directed in all things by his advice, and to be refused
upon his first application a small favour for his own nephew, stung him
to the quick; however, he governed his resentments a while, but began at
the same time to resume his affection for his brother. These thoughts
were cultivated with great address by Queen Maud, who prevailed at last
so far upon the legate, that private measures were agreed between them
for restoring Stephen to his liberty and crown. The bishop took leave of
the Empress, upon some plausible pretence, and retired to Winchester,
where he gave directions for supplying with men and provisions several
strong castles he had built in his diocese, while the Queen with her son
Eustace prevailed with the Londoners and men of Kent to rise in great
numbers for the King; and a powerful army was quickly on foot, under the
command of William d'Ypres Earl of Kent.
[Footnote 36: William of Malmesbury. [D.S.]]
In the mean time the Empress began to be sensible of the errors she had
committed; and in hope either to retrieve the friendship of the legate,
or take him prisoner, marched with her army to Winchester, where being
received and lodged in the castle, she sent immediately for the legate,
spoke much in excuse of what was past, and used all endeavours to regain
him to her interests. Bishop Henry, on the other side, amused her with
dubious answers, and kept her in suspense for some days; but sent
privately at the same time to the King's army, desiring them to advance
with all possible speed; which was executed with so much diligence, that
the Empress and her brother had only time with their troops to march a
back way out of the town. They were pursued by the enemy so close in the
rear, that the Empress had hardly time, by counterfeiting herself dead,
to make her escape; in which posture she was carried as a corpse to
Gloucester; but the Earl her brother, while he made what opposition he
could, with design to stop her pursuers, was himself taken prisoner,
with great slaughter of his men. After the battle, the Earl was in his
turn presented to Queen Maud, and by her command sent to Rochester to be
treated in the same manner with the King.
Thus the heads of both parties were each in the power of his enemy, and
Fortune seemed to have dealt with great equality between them. Two
factions divided the whole kingdom, and, as it usually happens, private
animosities were inflamed by the quarrel of the public; which introduced
a miserable face of things throughout the land, whereof the writers of
our English story give melancholy descriptions, not to be repeated in
this history; since the usual effects of civil war are obvious to
conceive, and tiresome as well as useless to relate. However, as the
quarrel between the King and Empress was grounded upon a cause that in
its own nature little concerned the interests of the people, this was
thought a convenient juncture for transacting a peace, to which there
appeared an universal disposition. Several expedients were proposed; but
Earl Robert would consent upon no other terms than the deposing of
Stephen, and immediate delivery of the crown to his sister. These
debates lasted for some months, until the two prisoners, weary of their
long constraint, by mutual consent were exchanged for each other, and
all thoughts of agreement laid aside.
The King, upon recovery of his freedom, hastened to London, to get
supplies of men and money for renewing the war. He there found that his
brother of Winchester had, in a council of bishops and abbots, renounced
all obedience to the Empress, and persuaded the assembly to follow his
example. The legate, in excuse for this proceeding, loaded her with
infamy, produced several instances wherein she had broken the oath she
took when he received her as Queen, and upon which his obedience was
grounded; said, he had received information that she had a design upon
his life.[37]
[Footnote 37: William of Malmesbury. [D.S.]]
It must be confessed that oaths of fealty in this Prince's reign were
feeble ties for binding the subject to any reasonable degree of
obedience; and the warmest advocates for liberty cannot but allow, from
those examples here produced, that it is very possible for people to run
upon great extremes in this matter, that a monarch may be too much
limited, and a subject too little; whereof the consequences have been
fully as pernicious for the time as the worst that can be apprehended
from arbitrary power in all its heights, although not perhaps so lasting
or so hard to be remedied; since all the miseries of this kingdom,
during the period we are treating of, were manifestly owing to that
continual violation of such oaths of allegiance, as appear to have been
contrived on purpose by ambitious men to be broken at pleasure, without
the least apprehension of perjury, and in the mean time keep the prince
in a continual slavish dependence.
The Earl of Gloucester, soon after his release, went over into Normandy,
where he found the Earl of Anjou employed in completing the conquest of
that duchy; there he delivered him the sons of several English noblemen,
to be kept as hostages for their fathers' fidelity to the Empress, and
used many arguments for persuading him to come over in person with an
army to her assistance: but Geoffrey excused himself by the importance
of other affairs, and the danger of exposing the dominions he had newly
acquired to rebellions in his absence. However, he lent the Earl of
Gloucester a supply of four hundred men, and sent along with him his
eldest son Henry, to comfort his mother, and be shewn to the people.
During the short absence of the Earl of Gloucester, the Empress was
closely besieged in Oxford by the King; and provisions beginning to
fail, she was in cruel apprehensions of falling into his hands. This
gave her occasion to put in practice the only talent wherein she seemed
to excel, which was that of contriving some little shift or expedient to
secure her person upon any sudden emergency. A long season of frost had
made the Thames passable upon the ice, and much snow lay on the ground;
Maud with some few attendants clad all in white, to avoid being
discovered from the King's camp, crossed the river at midnight on foot,
and travelling all night, got safe to Wallingford Castle, where her
brother and young son Henry, newly returned from France, arrived soon
after, to her great satisfaction: but Oxford, immediately upon the news
of her flight, surrendered to the King.
However, this disgrace was fully compensated soon after by another of
the same kind, which happened to King Stephen; for whilst he and his
brother of Winchester were fortifying a nunnery at Wilton, to bridle his
enemies at Salisbury, who very much harassed those parts by their
frequent excursions, the Earl of Gloucester, who watched all
opportunities, came unaware with a strong body of men, and set fire on
the nunnery while the King himself was in it. Stephen, upon the sudden
surprise of the thing, wholly lost or forgot his usual courage, and fled
shamefully away, leaving his soldiers to be cut in pieces by the Earl.
During the rest of the war, although it lasted nine years longer, there
is little memorable recorded by any writer; whether the parties being
pretty equal, and both sufficiently tired with so long a contention,
wanted vigour and spirit to make a thorough conquest, and only
endeavoured to keep what they had, or whether the multitude of strong
castles, whose number daily increased, made it very difficult to end a
war between two contending powers almost in balance; let the cause be
what it will, the whole time passed in mutual sieges, surprises,
revolts, surrenders of fortified places, without any decisive action, or
other event of importance to be related. By which at length the very
genius of the people became wholly bent upon a life of spoil, robbery,
and plunder; many of the nobles, although pretending to hold their
castles for the King or the Empress, lived like petty independent
princes in a perpetual state of war against their neighbours; the fields
lay uncultivated, all the arts of civil life were banished, no
veneration left for sacred persons or things; in short, no law, truth,
or religion among men, but a scene of universal misery, attended with
all the consequences of an embroiled and distracted state.
About the eleventh year of the King's reign, young Henry, now growing
towards a man, was sent for to France by a message from his father, who
was desirous to see him; but left a considerable party in England, to
adhere to his interests; and in a short time after (as some write[38])
the Empress herself grown weary of contending any longer in a cause
where she had met with nothing but misfortunes of her own procuring,
left the kingdom likewise, and retired to her husband. Nor was this the
only good fortune that befell Stephen; for before the year ended, the
main prop and pillar of his enemies was taken away by death; this was
Robert Earl of Gloucester, than whom there have been few private persons
known in the world that deserve a fairer place and character in the
registers of time, for his inviolable faith, disinterested friendship,
indefatigable zeal, and firm constancy to the cause he espoused, and
unparalleled generosity in the conduct thereof: he adhered to his sister
in all her fortunes, to the ruin of his own; he placed a crown on her
head; and when she had lost it by her folly and perverseness refused the
greatest offers from a victorious enemy, who had him in his power, and
chose to continue a prisoner rather than recover his liberty by any
hazard to her pretensions: he bore up her sinking title in spite of her
own frequent miscarriages, and at last died in her cause by a fever
contracted with perpetual toils for her service. An example fit to be
shewn the world, although few perhaps are like to follow it; but
however, a small tribute of praise, justly due to extraordinary virtue,
may prove no ill expedient to encourage imitation.
[Footnote 38: Gervase. [D.S.]]
But the death of this lord, together with the absence of the Empress and
her son in France, added very little to the quiet or security of the
King. For the Earl of Gloucester, suspecting the fidelity of the lords,
had, with great sagacity, delivered their sons to the Earl of Anjou, to
be kept as pledges for their fathers' fidelity, as we have before
related: by which means a powerful party was still kept up against
Stephen, too strong to be suddenly broken. Besides, he had, by an
unusual strain of his conduct, lately lost much good-will, as well as
reputation, in committing an act of violence and fraud on the person of
the Earl of Chester, a principal adherent of the Empress. This nobleman,
of great power and possessions, had newly reconciled himself to Stephen,
and came to his court at Northampton, where, against all laws of
hospitality, as well as common faith and justice, he was committed to
prison, and forced to buy his liberty with the surrender of Lincoln, and
all his other places, into the King's hands.
1149.
1150.
Affairs continued in this turbulent posture about two years, the nobles
neither trusting the King nor each other. The number of castles still
increased, which every man who had any possessions was forced to build,
or else become a prey to his powerful neighbours. This was thought a
convenient juncture, by the Empress and her friends, for sending young
Prince Henry to try his fortune in England, where he landed at the head
of a considerable number of horse and foot, although he was then but
sixteen years old. Immediately after his arrival he went to Carlisle,
where he met his cousin David King of Scots, by whom he was made knight,
after the usual custom of young princes and noblemen in that age. The
King of England, who had soon intelligence of Henry's landing and
motions, marched down to secure York, against which he expected the
first attempt of his enemy was designed. But, whatever the cause might
be (wherein the writers of those ages are either silent or
unsatisfactory) both armies remained at that secure distance for three
months, after which Henry returned back to Normandy, leaving the kingdom
in the state of confusion he found it at his coming.
The fortunes of this young prince Henry Fitz-Empress now began to
advance by great and sudden steps, whereof it will be no digression to
inform the reader, as well upon the connection they have with the
affairs at home about this time, as because they concern the immediate
successor to the crown.
1151.
Prince Henry's voyage to France was soon followed by the death of his
father Geoffrey Earl of Anjou, whereby the son became possessed of that
earldom, together with the Duchy of Normandy; but in a short time after
he very much enlarged his dominions by a marriage, in which he consulted
his reputation less than his advantage. For Louis the Young, King of
France, was lately divorced from his wife Eleanor, who, as the French
writers relate, bore a great contempt and hatred to her husband, and had
long desired such a separation. Other authors give her not so fair a
character: but whatever might be the real cause, the pretext was
consanguinity in the fourth degree.[39] Henry was content to accept this
lady with all her faults, and in her right became Duke of Aquitaine, and
Earl of Poitou, very considerable provinces, added to his other
dominions.
[Footnote 39: Louis VII., after living fourteen years with his Queen,
obtained a dissolution of the marriage on the plea of relationship
within the prohibited degrees. See Bouchet, "Annalles d'Acquitaine."
[W.S.J.]]
But the two Kings of France and England began to apprehend much danger
from the sudden greatness of a young ambitious prince; and their
interests were jointly concerned to check his growth. Duke Henry was now
ready to sail for England, in a condition to assert his title upon more
equal terms; when the King of France, in conjunction with Eustace, King
Stephen's son, and Geoffrey, the Duke's own brother, suddenly entered
into his dominions with a mighty army; took the Castle of Neufmarché by
storm, and laid siege to that of Angers. The Duke, by this incident, was
forced to lay aside his thoughts of England, and marching boldly towards
the enemy, resolved to relieve the besieged; but finding they had
already taken the castle, he thought it best to make a diversion, by
carrying the war into the enemy's country, where he left all to the
mercy of his soldiers, surprised and burnt several castles, and made
great devastations wherever he came. This proceeding answered the end
for which it was designed; the King of France thought he had already
done enough for his honour, and began to grow weary of a ruinous war,
which was likely to be protracted. The conditions of a peace, by the
intervention of some religious men, were soon agreed. The Duke, after
some time spent in settling his affairs, and preparing all things
necessary for his intended expedition, set sail for England, where he
landed[40] the same year in the depth of winter, with a hundred and
forty knights, and three thousand foot.
[Footnote 40: The place where he landed is not mentioned by our
historians. It was probably in the West of England, as the first
garrisoned town he attacked was Malmesbury. [D.S.]]
Some time before Henry landed, the King had conceived a project to
disappoint his designs, by confirming the crown upon himself and his own
posterity.[41] He sent for the Archbishop of Canterbury, with several
other prelates, and proposed that his son Eustace should be crowned King
with all the usual solemnity: but the bishops absolutely refused to
perform the office, by express orders from the Pope, who was an enemy to
Stephen, partly upon account of his unjust or declining cause, but
chiefly for his strict alliance with the King of France, who was then
engaged in a quarrel against that See, upon a very tender point relating
to the revenues of vacant churches. The King and his son were both
enraged at the bishops' refusal, and kept them prisoners in the chamber
where they assembled, with many threats to force them to a compliance,
and some other circumstances of rigour; but all to no purpose, so that
he was at length forced to desist. But the archbishop, to avoid further
vexation, fled the realm.
[Footnote 41: Gervase, Hen. Huntingdon. [D.S.]]
This contrivance of crowning the son during the life and reign of the
father, which appears so absurd in speculation, was actually performed
in the succeeding reign, and seems to have been taken up by those two
princes of French birth and extraction, in imitation of the like
practice in their native country,[42] where it was usual for kings grown
old and infirm, or swayed by paternal indulgence, to receive their
eldest son into a share of the administration, with the title of King; a
custom borrowed, no doubt, from the later emperors of Rome, who adopted
their Caesars after the like manner.
[Footnote 42: Mezeray. [D.S.]]
1153
The King was employed in his usual exercise of besieging castles when
the news was brought of Henry's arrival. He left the work he was about,
and marched directly against the Duke, who was then sat down before
Malmesbury. But Stephen forced him to raise the siege, and immediately
offered him battle. The Duke, although his army was much increased by
continual revolts, thought it best to gain time, being still in number
far inferior to the King, and therefore kept himself strongly
entrenched. There is some difference among writers about the particulars
of this war: however, it is generally agreed, that in a short time
after, the two armies met, and were prepared for battle, when the nobles
on both sides, either dreading the consequences, or weary of a tedious
war, prevailed with the King and Duke to agree to a truce for some days
in order to a peace; which was violently opposed by Eustace, the King's
son, a youth of great spirit and courage, because he knew very well it
could not be built but upon the ruin of his interests; and therefore
finding he could not prevail, he left the army in a rage, and, attended
by some followers, endeavoured to satiate his fury, by destroying the
country in his march: But in a few days, as he sat at dinner in a castle
of his own, he fell suddenly dead, either through grief, madness, or
poison.
The truce was now expired, and the Duke began to renew the war with
fresh vigour; but the King was wholly dispirited upon this fatal
accident, and now first began to entertain real thoughts of a peace. He
had lost a son whom he dearly loved, and with him he likewise lost the
alliance of the French King, to whose sister the young prince was
married. He had indeed another son left, but little esteemed by the
nobles and people; nor, as it appears, much regarded by his father. He
was now in the decline of his age, decayed in his health, forsaken by
his friends, who, since the death of Eustace, fell daily from him; and
having no further care at heart for his posterity, he thought it high
time to seek repose for his person. The nobles soon observed this
disposition in their King, which was so agreeable to their own;
therefore, by general consent, Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury was
appointed mediator between both princes. All matters were soon agreed;
an assembly of lords was convened at Winchester, where the King received
the Duke with great marks of courtesy and kindness. There the peace was
confirmed by the King's charter, wherein are expressed the terms of
agreement. But I shall relate only the principal.
The King, by this charter, acknowledged Henry for lawful successor to
the crown; in which capacity all the nobles paid him homage: and Henry
himself, with his party, paid homage to Stephen. There is likewise a
reservation for William, the King's son, of all the honours possessed by
his father before he came to the crown. The King likewise acknowledges
the obedience of his subjects to be no longer due to him than he shall
observe the conditions of this charter. And for the performance of these
articles, the archbishops and bishops were appointed guarantees. There
were some other articles agreed on, which are not mentioned in the
charter; as, a general pardon; a restitution, to the right owners, of
those lands and possessions, which had been usurped in the time of the
troubles; that all castles built during the war should be razed to the
ground, which are said to have been above eleven hundred; that the
rights of the Church should be preserved; with other matters of less
moment.
Thus, by the prudence of Archbishop Theobald, the moderation of the two
princes engaged, and the universal inclination of the people, a happy
period was put to this tedious and troublesome war: men began to have
the prospect of a long peace; nor was it easy to foresee what could
possibly arise to disturb it; when discovery was made, by accident, of a
most horrible piece of treachery, which, if it had met with success,
would have once more set the whole nation in a flame. The Duke, after
the peace, attended the King to London, to be shewn to the people as the
undoubted successor to the crown; and having made a progress together
through some other parts of the kingdom, they came to Canterbury; where
Henry received private notice of a design upon his life. It hath been
already observed, that the King employed in his wars a body of Flemings,
to the great discontent of his own subjects, with whom they were very
ungracious. These foreigners were much discontented at the peace,
whereby they were likely to become useless and burthensome to the
present King, and hateful to the successor. To prevent which, the
commanders among them began to practise upon the levity and ambition of
William the King's son. They urged the indignity he had received in
being deprived of his birthright; offered to support his title by their
valour, as they had done that of his father; and, as an earnest of their
intentions, to remove the chief impediment by dispatching his rival out
of the world, The young prince was easily wrought upon to be at the head
of this conspiracy; time and place were fixed; when, upon the day
appointed, William broke his leg by a fall from his horse; and the
conspirators wanting their leader immediately dispersed. This
disappointment and delay, as it usually happens among conspirators, were
soon followed by a discovery of the whole plot, whereof the Duke, with
great discretion, made no other use than to consult his own safety;
therefore, without any shew of suspicion or displeasure, he took leave
of the King, and returned to Normandy.
1154.
Stephen lived not above a year to share the happiness of this peace with
his people, in which time he made a progress through most parts of the
kingdom, where he gained universal love and veneration, by a most
affable and courteous behaviour to all men. A few months after his
return he went to Dover, to have an interview with the Earl of
Flanders;[43] where, after a short sickness, he died of the iliac
passion, together with his old distemper the hemorrhoids, upon the
twenty-fifth day of October, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and the
nineteenth of his reign.
[Footnote 43: The Earl of Flanders was a potent sovereign on the
continent, and had landed at Dover, in order to meet and confer with the
King. [D.S.]]
He was a prince of wonderful endowments, both in body and mind: in his
person tall and graceful, of great strength as well as vigour: he had a
large portion of most virtues that can be useful in a King towards the
happiness of his subjects or himself; courtesy and valour, liberality
and clemency, in an eminent degree; especially the last, which he
carried to an extreme, though very pardonable, yet hardly consisting
with prudence, or his own safety. If we except his usurpation of the
crown, he must be allowed a prince of great justice, which most writers
affirm to have been always unblemished, except in that single instance:
for, as to his treatment of the bishops and the Earl of Chester, it
seems very excusable by the necessity of the time; and it was the
general opinion, if he had not used that proceeding with the latter, it
would have cost him his crown. Perhaps his injustice to the Empress
might likewise admit a little extenuation. Four kings successively had
sat on the throne without any regard to lineal descent; a period beyond
the memory of most men then alive; whereby the people had lost much of
that devotion they were used to bear towards an established succession:
besides, the government of a woman was then a thing unknown, and for
that reason disliked by all who professed to hate innovations.
But the wisdom of this prince was by no means equal to the rest of his
virtues. He came to the crown upon as fair a title as his predecessor,
being elected by the general consent of the nobles, through the credit
of his brother, and his own personal merit. He had no disturbance for
some time, which he might easily have employed in settling the kingdom,
and acquiring the love of his people. He had treasure enough to raise
and pay armies, without burthening the subject. His competitor was a
woman, whose sex was the least of her infirmities, and with whom he had
already compounded for his quiet by a considerable pension: yet with all
these advantages he seldom was master of above half the kingdom at once,
and that by the force of perpetual struggling, and with frequent danger
of losing the whole. The principal difficulties he had to encounter,
appear to have been manifest consequences of several most imprudent
steps in his conduct, whereof many instances have been produced in the
history of his reign; such as, the unlimited permission of building
castles; his raising the siege of a weak place where the Empress was
shut up, and must, in a few days, have fallen into his hands; his
employing the Flemings in his wars, and favouring them above his own
subjects; and lastly, that abortive project of crowning his son, which
procured him at once the hatred and contempt of the clergy, by
discovering an inclination to violence and injustice that he durst not
pursue: whereas, it was nothing else but an effect of that hasty and
sudden disposition usually ascribed to those of his country, and in a
peculiar manner charged to this prince: for authors give it as a part of
his character, to be hot and violent in the beginning of an enterprise,
but to slacken and grow cold in the prosecution.
He had a just sense of religion, and was frequent in attending the
service of the Church, yet reported to be no great friend of the clergy;
which, however, is a general imputation upon all the kings of this realm
in that and some succeeding reigns, and by no means personal to this
prince, who deserved it as little as any.
I do not find any alterations during this reign in the meetings of
general assemblies, further than that the Commons do not seem to have
been represented in any of them; for which I can assign no other reason
than the will of the King, or the disturbance of the time.[44] I
observed the word Parliament is used promiscuously among authors, for a
general assembly of nobles, and for a council of bishops, or synod of
the clergy; which renders this matter too perplexed to ascertain
anything about it.
[Footnote 44: The rise and history of Parliaments had not been cleared
up when the Doctor writ in the beginning of this current century. It is
certain, that the Commons had as yet never been represented. [D.S.]]
As for affairs of the Church, that deserve particular mention, I have
not met with any; unless it should be worth relating, that Henry Bishop
of Winchester, the Pope's legate, who held frequent synods during this
reign, was the first introducer of appeals to Rome, in this kingdom, for
which he is blamed by all the monkish historians who give us the
account.
THE REIGN OF HENRY THE SECOND
A FRAGMENT
1154.
The spirit of war and contention, which had for a long time possessed
the nation, became so effectually laid during the last year of King
Stephen's reign, that no alteration or disturbance ensued upon his
death, although the new King,[45] after he had received intelligence of
it, was detained six weeks[46] by contrary winds: besides, the opinion
of this prince's power and virtues, had already begotten so great an awe
and reverence for him among the people, that upon his arrival he found
the whole kingdom in a profound peace. He landed at Hostreham,[47] about
the beginning of December, was received at Winchester by a great number
of the nobility, who came there to attend and swear fealty to him, and
three weeks after was crowned at Westminster, about the twenty-third
year of his age.
[Footnote 45: Henry was at that time besieging a castle on the frontiers
of Normandy. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 46: Five weeks at the most; a month, saith Brompton. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 47: At Hostreham, saith Gervase. This place is not easy to be
found; however, it must be on the Sussex or Hampshire coast, because the
King went directly from the place of his landing to Winchester. Carte
says he landed December 8th, near Hurst Castle in the New Forest.
[D.S.]]
For the further settling of the kingdom, after the long distractions in
the preceding reign, he seized on all the castles which remained
undestroyed since the last peace between him and King Stephen; whereof
some he demolished, and trusted others to the government of persons in
whom he could confide.
But that which most contributed to the quiet of the realm, and the
general satisfaction of his subjects, was a proclamation published,
commanding all foreigners to leave England, enforced with a most
effectual clause, whereby a day was fixed, after which it should be
capital for any of them to appear; among these was William d'Ypres Earl
of Kent, whose possessions the King seized into his own hands.
These foreigners, generally called Flemings by the writers of the
English story, were a sort of vagabond soldiers of fortune, who in those
ages, under several denominations, infested other parts of Europe as
well as England: they were a mixed people, natives of Arragon, Navarre,
Biscay, Brabant, and other parts of Spain and Flanders. They were ready
to be hired to whatever prince thought fit to employ them, but always
upon condition to have full liberty of plunder and spoil. Nor was it an
easy matter to get rid of them, when there was no further need of their
service. In England they were always hated by the people, and by this
prince in particular, whose continual enemies they had been.
After the expulsion of these foreigners, and the forcing a few
refractory lords to a surrender of their castles, King Henry, like a
wise prince, began to consider that a time of settled peace was the
fittest juncture to recover the rights of the crown, which had been lost
by the war. He therefore resumed, by his royal authority, all crown
lands that had been alienated by his predecessor; alleging that they
were unalienable in themselves, and besides, that the grants were void,
as coming from an usurper. Whether such proceedings are agreeable with
justice, I shall not examine; but certainly a prince cannot better
consult his own safety than by disabling those whom he renders
discontent, which is effectually done no other way but by depriving them
of their possessions.
1156.
While the King was thus employed at home, intelligence came that his
brother Geoffrey was endeavouring by force to possess himself of the
Earldom of Anjou, to which he had fair pretensions; for their father
considering what vast dominions would fall to his eldest son, bequeathed
that earldom to the second in his last sickness, and commanded his
nobles then about him, to take an oath that they would not suffer his
body to be buried until Henry (who was then absent) should swear to
observe his will. The Duke of Normandy, when he came to assist at his
father's obsequies, and found that without his compliance he must draw
upon himself the scandal of keeping a father unburied, took the oath
that was exacted for observance of his will, though very much against
his own. But after he was in possession of England, whether it were that
his ambition enlarged with his dominions, or that from the beginning he
had never intended to observe what he had sworn, he prevailed with Pope
Adrian (of English birth) to dispense with his oath, and in the second
year of his reign went over into Normandy, drove his brother entirely
out of Anjou, and forced him to accept a pension for his maintenance.
But the young prince, through the resentment of this unnatural dealing,
in a short time died of grief.
Nor was his treatment more favourable to the King of Scots, whom, upon a
slight pretence, he took occasion to dispossess of Carlisle, Newcastle,
and other places granted by the Empress to that prince's father, for his
services and assistance in her quarrel against Stephen.
Having thus recovered whatever he had any title to demand, he began to
look out for new acquisitions. Ireland was in that age a country little
known in the world. The legates sent sometimes thither from the Court of
Rome, for urging the payment of annats, or directing other Church
affairs, represented the inhabitants as a savage people, overrun with
barbarism and superstition: for indeed no nation of Europe, where the
Christian religion received so early and universal admittance, was ever
so late or slow in feeling its effects upon their manners and
civility.[48] Instead of refining their manners by their faith, they had
suffered their faith to be corrupted by their manners; true religion
being almost defaced, both in doctrine and discipline, after a long
course of time, among a people wholly sunk in ignorance and barbarity.
There seem to have been two reasons why the inhabitants of that island
continued so long uncultivated; first, their subjection or vassalage to
so many petty kings, whereof a great number is mentioned by authors,
besides those four or five usually assigned to the several provinces.
These princes were engaged in perpetual quarrels, in doing or revenging
injuries of violence, or lust, or treachery, or injustice, which kept
them all in a continual state of war. And indeed there is hardly any
country, how renowned soever in ancient or modern story, which may not
be traced from the like original. Neither can a nation come out from
this state of confusion, until it is either reduced under one head at
home, or by force or conquest becomes subject to a foreign
administration.
[Footnote 48: The Irish had been very learned in former ages, but had
declined for several centuries before the reign of Henry II. _Vide_
Bede. [D.S.]]
The other reason why civility made such late entrances into that island,
may be imputed to its natural situation, lying more out of the road of
commerce or conquest than any other part of the known world. All the
intercourse the inhabitants had, was only with the western coasts of
Wales and Scotland, from whence, at least in those ages, they were not
like to learn very much politeness.
1155.
The King, about the second year of his reign, sent ambassadors to Pope
Adrian, with injunctions to desire his licence for reducing the savage
people of Ireland from their brutish way of living, and subjecting them
to the crown of England. The King proceeded thus, in order to set up a
title to the island, wherein the Pope himself pretended to be lord of
the see; for in his letter, which is an answer and grant to the King's
requests, he insists upon it, that all islands, upon their admitting the
Christian faith, become subject to the See of Rome; and the Irish
themselves avowed the same thing to some of the first conquerors. In
that forementioned letter, the Pope highly praises the King's generous
design,[49] and recommends to him the civilizing the natives, the
protection of the Church, and the payment of Peter-pence. The ill
success of all past endeavours to procure from a people so miserable and
irreligious this revenue to the holy see was a main inducement with the
Pope to be easy and liberal in his grant; for the King professed a
design of securing its regular payment. However, this expedition was not
undertaken until some years after, when there happened an incident to
set it forward, as we shall relate in its place.
[Footnote 49: Radulphus de Diceto. [D.S.]]
HENRY THE SECOND'S CHARACTER
EXTRACTED FROM THE MONKS
Hard to gather his character from such bad authors.
A wise prince, to whom other princes referred their differences; and had
ambassadors from both empires, east and west, as well as others, at once
in his court.
Strong and brawny body, patient of cold and heat, big head, broad
breast, broken voice, temperate in meat, using much exercise, just
stature, _forma elegantissima, colore sub-rufo, oculis glaucis_, sharp
wit, very great memory, constancy in adversity [and] in felicity, except
at last he yielded, because almost forsaken of all; liberal, imposed few
tributes, excellent soldier and fortunate, wise and not unlearned. His
vices: mild and promising in adversity, fierce and hard, and a violator
of faith in prosperity; covetous to his domestics and children, although
liberal to soldiers and strangers, which turned the former from him;
loved profit more than justice; very lustful, which likewise turned his
sons and others from him. Rosamond and the labyrinth at Woodstock. Not
very religious;[50] _mortuos milites lugens plus quam vivos amans,
largus in publico, parcus in privato_. Constant in love and hatred,
false to his word, morose, a lover of ease. Oppressor of nobles, sullen,
and a delayer of justice; _verbo varius et versutus_--Used churchmen
well after Becket's death; charitable to the poor, levied few taxes,
hated slaughter and cruelty.[51] A great memory, and always knew those
he once saw.
[Footnote 50: Brompton. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 51: Giraldus. [D.S.]]
Very indefatigable in his travels backwards and forwards to Normandy,
&c. of most endless desires to increase his dominions.
_Caetera desiderantur_.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
SWIFT'S REMARKS ON THE CHARACTERS
OF THE COURT OF QUEEN ANNE.
FROM "MEMOIRS OF THE SECRET SERVICES OF JOHN MACKY, ESQ."
NOTE.
JOHN MACKY, the author of the "Characters," was, for many years, in the
employ of the English government, as an agent for obtaining information
as to the movements of the French. He published, in 1696, "A View of the
Court of St. Germains from the Year 1690 to 1695." The information
embodied in this work he obtained from personal observation while in
Paris. About 1709, however, he aroused the government's suspicions, and
was imprisoned. He was kept confined until the accession of George I. On
his release he attempted to establish a packet-service between England
and Ireland, to Dublin; but the venture failed. He died at Rotterdam in
1726. The "Characters" was first published in 1733, with the title:
"Memoirs of the Secret Services of John Macky, Esq., during the Reigns
of King William, Queen Anne, and King George I. Including also the true
Secret History of the Rise, Promotions, etc., of the English and Scots
Nobility; Officers, Civil, Military, Naval, and other Persons of
distinction from the Revolution. In their respective Characters at
large: drawn up by Mr. Macky pursuant to the direction of Her Royal
Highness the Princess Sophia. Published from his original manuscript, as
attested by his son, Spring Macky, Esq. London, 1733." The work was
prepared for the press by a Mr. Davis, an officer in the Customs.
It has been questioned whether Swift did really make the "remarks"
attributed to him by his various editors; but there can be little doubt
about their authenticity. Thomas Birch seems to have transcribed the
"remarks" in 1753, if we are to believe a note in a copy of Macky's book
in the British Museum, which says: "The MS. notes on the Characters in
this Book were written by Dr. Swift, and transcribed by Tho. Birch. Aug.
15, 1753." Isaac Reed's copy is also in the British Museum, but his
notes were transcribed from another copy in the possession of J.
Putland, and Putland's copy, Reed notes, was "formerly in the possession
of Philip Carteret Webb, Esq., now [1770] of Thomas Astle, Esq." J.
Ritson's copy, which is at the South Kensington Museum, had the
"remarks" transcribed to it from Reed's copy, but Ritson notes that Reed
copied the "remarks" from J. Putland's transcript of the Dean's own
original. Ritson, however, does not say how he knew that Putland had the
"Dean's own original." In "Notes and Queries" (3, ii. 430) the Rev. J.
Jebb, Rector of Peterstow, states he had (in 1862) a copy of the
"Characters" with transcript of Swift's "remarks" by Bishop Jebb. Mr.
Edward Solly has an interesting paper on this matter in the
"Bibliographer" for March, 1883. He suggests that Mr. Putland may have
written them down himself from remarks made by Swift. "The Crypt" for
December, 1829, published Swift's "remarks" from a copy in the
possession of Mr. Pickering, the bookseller.
A careful collation of all the available copies has been made for this
edition, and the text of Macky's work has been read with the first
edition. Where neither Reed nor Birch give no remarks, they have been
omitted from this reprint. "The Crypt" and Nichols in his quarto edition
(vol. xiv.) often differ, but these differences have been adjusted.
It is almost needless to say that Sir Walter Scott's text and notes have
been very much altered by this process.
[T.S.]
REMARKS ON THE CHARACTERS
OF THE COURT OF QUEEN ANNE.
JOHN, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.
_Macky_.
A tall, handsome man for his age, with a very obliging address; of a
wonderful presence of mind, so as hardly ever to be discomposed; of a
very clean head, and sound judgment; ... every way capable of being a
great man, if the great success of his arms, and the heaps of favours
thrown upon him by his sovereign, does not raise his thoughts above the
rest of the nobility, and consequently draw upon him the envy of the
people of England. He is turned of 50 years of age.--_Swift_. Detestably
covetous.
JAMES, DUKE OF ORMONDE.
_Macky_. He hath all the qualities of a great man, except that one of a
statesman, hating business. ... He is about 40 years old.--_Swift_.
Fairly enough writ.
CHARLES, DUKE OF SOMERSET.
_Macky_. Is of a middle stature, well shaped, a very black complexion, a
lover of music and poetry; of good judgment.--_Swift_. Not a grain;
hardly common sense.
JOHN, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.
_Macky._ He is a nobleman of learning, and good natural parts, but of no
principles. Violent for the high-church, yet seldom goes to it. Very
proud, insolent, and covetous, and takes all advantages. In paying his
debts, unwilling; and is neither esteemed nor beloved.--_Swift_. This
character is the truest of any.
DANIEL, EARL OF NOTTINGHAM [AFTERWARDS EARL OF WINCHILSEA].
_Macky_. He hath the exterior air of business, and application enough to
make him very capable. In his habit and manners very formal; a tall,
thin, very black man, like a Spaniard or Jew, about 50 years
old.--_Swift_. He fell in with the Whigs, was an endless talker.
HENRY, EARL OF ROMNEY.
_Macky_. He was indeed the great wheel on which the Revolution
rolled.--_Swift_. He had not a wheel to turn a mouse.
_Macky_. He is a gentleman that hath lived up [_Swift_, down] to the
employments the King gave him; of great honour and honesty, with a
moderate capacity.--_Swift_. None at all.
JOHN, DUKE OF NEWCASTLE.
_Macky_. He hath one only daughter, who will be the richest heiress in
Europe.--_Swift_. Now Countess of Oxford; cheated by her father.
CHARLES [LENNOX], DUKE OF RICHMOND.
_Macky_. He is a gentleman good-natured to a fault; very well bred, and
hath many valuable things in him; is an enemy to business, very
credulous, well shaped, black complexion, much like King Charles; not 30
years old.--_Swift_. A shallow coxcomb.
CHARLES, DUKE OF BOLTON.
_Macky_. Does not now make any figure at court.--_Swift_. Nor anywhere
else. A great booby.
GEORGE, DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND.
_Macky_. He is a man of honour, nice in paying his debts, and living
well with his neighbours in the country; does not much care for the
conversation of men of quality, or business. Is a tall black man, like
his father the King, about 40 years old.--_Swift_. He was a most worthy
person, very good-natured, and had very good sense.
CHARLES [FITZROY], DUKE OF GRAFTON.
_Macky_. Grandson to King Charles II.; ... a very pretty gentleman, hath
been abroad in the world; zealous for the constitution of his country.
A tall black man, about 25 years old.--_Swift_. Almost a slobberer;
without one good quality.
SIR NATHAN WRIGHT, LORD KEEPER.
_Macky_. Is son of a clergyman,[1] a good common lawyer, a slow
chancellor, and no civilian. Chance more than choice brought him the
seals.--_Swift_. Very covetous.
[Footnote 1: His father had the living of Thurcaston, in Leicestershire.
[S.]]
RALPH, DUKE OF MONTAGU.
_Macky_. He is a great supporter of the French, and other Protestants
... an admirer of learning.--_Swift_. As arrant a knave as any in his
time.
WILLIAM, MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON.
_Macky_. One of the best beloved gentlemen, by the country party, in
England.--_Swift_. A very poor understanding.
JOHN, LORD SOMERS.
_Macky_. Of a creditable family, in the city of Worcester.--_Swift_.
Very mean; his father was a noted rogue.--_Macky_. He is believed to be
the best chancellor that ever sat in the chair.--_Swift_. I allow him to
have possessed all excellent qualifications except virtue. He had
violent passions, and hardly subdued them by his great prudence.
CHARLES, LORD HALIFAX [AFTERWARDS EARL OF HALIFAX].
_Macky_. He is a great encourager of learning and learned men, is the
patron of the muses, of very agreeable conversation, a short fair man,
not 40 years old.--_Swift_. His encouragements were only good words and
dinners; I never heard him say one good thing, or seem to taste what was
said by another.
CHARLES, EARL OF DORSET.
_Macky_. One of the finest gentlemen, in England, in the reign of King
Charles II.; of great learning [_Swift_. small, or none], extremely
witty, and hath been the author of some of the finest poems in the
English language, especially satire.... One of the pleasantest
companions in the world [_Swift_. not of late years, but a very dull
one], when he likes his company.
RICHARD, EARL RIVERS.
_Macky_. He was one of the greatest rakes in England in his younger
days, but always a lover of the constitution of his country; is a
gentleman of very good sense, and very cunning.--_Swift_. An arrant
knave in common dealings, and very prostitute.
ARNOLD, EARL OF ALBEMARLE.
_Macky_. He was King William's constant companion in all his diversions
and pleasures.--_Swift_. Very infamous pleasures.
ALGERNON, EARL OF ESSEX.
_Macky_. Is son to that earl whose throat was cut in the
Tower.--_Swift_. Cut his own throat.
WILLIAM, EARL OF PORTLAND.
_Macky_. He is supposed to be the richest subject in Europe, very
profuse in gardening, birds, and household furniture, but mighty frugal
and parsimonious in everything else; of a very lofty mien, and yet not
proud; of no deep understanding.--_Swift_. As great a dunce as ever I
knew.
JAMES, EARL OF DERBY.
_Macky_. On his brothers death he came to the House of Peers, where he
never will make any great figure, the sword being more his profession;
he is a fair-complexioned man, well shaped, taller than the ordinary
size, and a man of honour.--_Swift_. As arrant a scoundrel as his
brothers.
CHARLES, EARL OF PETERBOROUGH.
_Macky_. He affects popularity, and loves to preach in coffee-houses,
and public places; is an open enemy to revealed religion; brave in his
person; hath a good estate; does not seem expensive, yet always in debt,
and very poor.--_Swift_. This character is for the most part true.
CHARLES, EARL OF SUNDERLAND.
_Macky_. This gentleman is endued with a great deal of learning, virtue
[_Swift_, no], and good sense.
THOMAS, EARL OF STAMFORD.
_Macky_. Is one of the first branches of the Greys, a noble family in
England.... He doth not want sense; but by reason of a defect in his
speech, wants elocution.--_Swift_. He looked and talked like a very weak
man; but it was said he spoke well at council.
THOMAS [TUFTON], EARL OF THANET.
_Macky_. He is a good country gentleman, a great assertor of the
prerogatives of the monarchy and the Church.--_Swift_. Of great piety
and charity.
EDWARD [MONTAGU], EARL OF SANDWICH.
_Macky_. Of very ordinary parts; married the witty Lord Rochester's
daughter, who makes him very expensive.--_Swift_. As much a puppy as
ever I saw; very ugly, and a fop.
ROBERT, LORD LUCAS.
_Macky_. He is every way a plain man, yet took a great deal of pains to
seem knowing and wise; everybody pitied him when the Queen turned him
out, for his seeming good nature, and real poverty.--_Swift_. A good
plain humdrum.
CHARLES, EARL OF WINCHILSEA.
_Macky_. He hath neither genius nor gusto for business,... and is
zealous for the monarchy and Church to the highest degree. He loves
jests and puns, [_Swift_. I never observed it,] and that sort of low
wit.--_Swift_. Being very poor, he complied too much with the party he
hated.
JOHN, LORD POULETT OF HINTON [AFTERWARDS EARL POULETT].
_Macky_. He is certainly one of the hopefullest gentlemen in England; is
very learned, virtuous, and a man of honour; much esteemed in the
country, for his generous way of living with the gentry, and his charity
to the poorest sort.--_Swift_. This character is fair enough.
CHARLES, LORD [VISCOUNT] TOWNSHEND.
_Macky_. Is a gentleman of great learning, attended with a sweet
disposition; a lover of the constitution of his country; is beloved by
everybody that knows him.--_Swift_. I except one.
WILLIAM, LORD DARTMOUTH [AFTERWARDS EARL OF DARTMOUTH].
_Macky_. He sets up for a critic in conversation, makes jests, and loves
to laugh at them; takes a great deal of pains in his office, and is in a
fair way of rising at court.--_Swift_. This is right enough, but he has
little sincerity.
THOMAS, LORD WHARTON [AFTERWARDS EARL OF WHARTON].
_Macky_. One of the completest gentlemen in England, hath a very clear
understanding, and manly expressions, with abundance of wit. He is brave
in his person, much of a libertine, of a middle stature, fair
complexion, and 50 years old.--_Swift_. The most universal villain I
ever knew.
CHARLES, LORD MOHUN.
_Macky_. He is brave in his person, bold in his expressions, and
rectifies, as fast as he can, the slips of his youth by acts of
honesty; which he now glories in more, than he was formerly
extravagant.--_Swift_. He was little better than a conceited talker in
company.
HENRY, EARL OF KENT.[2]
[Footnote 2: Afterwards Duke of Kent.]
_Macky_. Is the first branch of the ancient family of Grey. The present
gentleman was much esteemed, when Lord Ruthen; was always very moderate,
has good sense, and a good estate; which, with his quality, must make
him always bear a considerable figure in the nation.--_Swift_. He seems
a good-natured man, but of very little consequence.
ROBERT, EARL OF LINDSEY [AFTERWARDS DUKE OF ANCASTER].
_Macky_. A fine gentleman, has both wit and learning.--_Swift_. I never
observed a grain of either.
MONTAGU, EARL OF ABINGDON.
_Macky_. A gentleman of fine parts, makes a good figure in the counties
of Oxford and Buckinghamshire:... is very high for the monarchy and
Church.--_Swift_. Very covetous.
PHILIP, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD.
_Macky_. He is very subtle and cunning, never entered into the measures
of King William, nor ever will, in all probability, make any great
appearance in any other reign.--_Swift_. If it be old Chesterfield, I
have heard he was the greatest knave in England.
CHARLES, EARL OF BERKELEY.
_Macky_. A gentleman of learning, parts, and a lover of the constitution
of his country; a short fat man.--_Swift_. Intolerably lazy and
indolent, and somewhat covetous.
LOUIS, EARL OF FEVERSHAM.
_Macky_. A third son of the family of Duras in France; he came over with
one of the Duke of York's family;... is a middle-statured brown man,
turned of 50 years old.--_Swift_. He was a very dull old fellow.
HENRY, EARL OF GRANTHAM.
_Macky_. He is a very pretty gentleman, fair complexioned, and past 30
years old.--_Swift_. And good for nothing.
JOHN, LORD DE LA WARR.
_Macky_. A free jolly gentleman, turned of 40 years old.--_Swift_. Of
very little sense; but formal, and well stocked with the low kind of
lowest politics.
ROBERT, LORD LEXINTON.
_Macky_. He is of a good understanding, and very capable to be in the
ministry; a well-bred gentleman, and an agreeable companion.--_Swift_. A
very moderate degree of understanding.
RALPH, LORD GREY OF WERKE.
_Macky_. A sweet disposed gentleman; he joined King William at the
Revolution, and is a zealous assertor of the liberties of the
people.--_Swift_. Had very little in him.
JAMES, LORD CHANDOS.
_Macky_. Was warm against King William's reign, and doth not make any
great figure in this; but, his son, Mr. Brydges[3] does, being a member
of the House of Commons, one of the counsellors to the prince, and a
very worthy gentleman.--_Swift_. But a great compiler with every court.
[Footnote 3: Afterwards Duke of Chandos.]
FRANCIS, LORD GUILFORD.
_Macky_. Is son to the lord-keeper North, hath been abroad, does not
want sense nor application to business, and his genius leads him that
way.--_Swift_. A mighty silly fellow.
EDWARD, LORD GRIFFIN.
_Macky_. Having-followed King James's fortunes, is now in France. He was
always a great sportsman, and brave; a good companion, turned of 60
years old.--_Swift_. His son was a plain drunken fellow.
HUGH, LORD CHOLMONDELEY [AFTERWARDS EARL OF CHOLMONDELEY].
_Macky_. This lord is a great lover of country sports; is handsome in
his person, and turned of 40 years old.--_Swift_. Good for nothing, as
far as ever I knew.
CHARLES, LORD BUTLER OF WESTON.
_Macky_. Earl of Arran in Ireland, and brother to the Duke of
Ormonde;... of very good sense, though seldom shows it.--_Swift_. This
is right; but he is the most negligent of his own affairs.
MR. THOMAS MANSELL [AFTERWARDS LORD MANSELL].
_Macky_. He is a gentleman of a great deal of wit and good nature, a
lover of the ladies, and a pleasant companion.--_Swift_. Of very good
nature, but a very moderate capacity.
ROBERT HARLEY, ESQ. [AFTERWARDS EARL OF OXFORD],
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
_Macky_. He is skilled in most things, and very eloquent, [_Swift_, a
great lie;] was bred a Presbyterian, yet joins with the Church party in
everything; and they do nothing without him.--_Swift_. He could not
properly be called eloquent, but he knew how to prevail on the House
with few words and strong reasons.
THE HON. HENRY BOYLE [AFTERWARDS LORD CARLETON],
CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.
_Macky_. Is a good companion in conversation; agreeable amongst the
ladies; serves the Queen very assiduously in council; makes a
considerable figure in the House of Commons; by his prudent
administration, obliges everybody in the exchequer; and in time may
prove a great man.--_Swift_. He had some very scurvy qualities,
particularly avarice.
SIR THOMAS FRANKLAND, POST-MASTER-GENERAL.
_Macky_. He is a gentleman of a very sweet, easy, affable disposition;
of good sense, extremely zealous for the constitution of his country,
yet does not seem over forward; keeps an exact unity amongst the
officers under him, and encourages them in their duty, through a
peculiar familiarity, by which he obliges them, and keeps up the dignity
of being master.--_Swift_. A fair character.
THE RT. HON. JOHN SMITH,
ONE OF HER MAJESTY'S PRIVY-COUNCIL.
_Macky_. A gentleman of much honour, a lover of the constitution of his
country; a very agreeable companion in conversation, a bold orator in
the House of Commons,[4] when the interest of his country is at stake;
of a good address.--_Swift_. I thought him a heavy man.
[Footnote 4: He was Speaker of the House of Commons, 1705-1708. [T.S.]]
CHARLES D'AVENANT, LL.D.
_Macky_. He was very poor at the Revolution, had no business to support
him all the reign of King William, yet made a good figure. He is a very
cloudy-looked man, fat, of middle stature, about 50 years old.--_Swift_.
He was used ill by most ministries; he ruined his own estate, which put
him under a necessity to comply with the times.
MATTHEW PRIOR, ESQ., COMMISSIONER OF TRADE.
_Macky_. On the Queen's accession to the throne, he was continued in his
office, is very well at court with the ministry, and is an entire
creature of my Lord Jersey's, whom he supports by his advice. Is one of
the best poets in England, but very factious in conversation; a thin
hollow-looked man, turned of 40 years old.--_Swift_. This is near the
truth.
THOMAS TENISON, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.
_Macky_. A plain, good, heavy man, now much in years, and wearing out;
very tall, of a fair complexion, and 70 years old.--_Swift_. The most
good-for-nothing prelate I ever knew.
GILBERT BURNET. BISHOP OF SALISBURY.
_Macky_. Of a very good family in Scotland, of the name of Burnet, his
father was Lord [_Swift_, laird] of Cremont.... He is one of the
greatest [_Swift_, Scotch] orators of the age he lives in. His "History
of the Reformation," and his "Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles,"
show him to be a man of great learning; but several of his other works
show him to be a man neither of prudence nor temper; his sometimes
opposing, and sometimes favouring, the Dissenters, hath much exposed him
to the generality of the people of England; yet he is very useful in the
House of Peers, and proves a great pillar, both of the civil and
ecclesiastical constitution, against the encroachments of a party which
would destroy both.--_Swift_. His true character would take up too much
time for me (who knew him well) to describe it.
GEORGE STEPNEY, ESQ.,
ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY TO THE EMPEROR [OF AUSTRIA].
_Macky_. A gentleman of admirable natural parts, very learned, one of
the best poets [_Swift_, scarce of a third rate] now in England.
MR. [AFTERWARDS SIR PAUL] METHUEN,
AMBASSADOR TO THE KING OF PORTUGAL.
_Macky_. A man of intrigue, but very muddy in his conceptions, and not
quickly understood in anything. In his complexion and manners, much of a
Spaniard.--_Swift_. A profligate rogue, without religion or morals; but
cunning enough, yet without abilities of any kind.
THOMAS, LORD RABY [AFTERWARDS EARL OF STRAFFORD],
ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY TO THE KING OF PRUSSIA.
_Macky_. He is a young gentleman, _de bon naturel_, handsome, of fine
understanding, [_Swift_, very bad, and can't spell,] and, with
application, may prove a man of business. He is of low stature [_Swift_,
he is tall].
MR. [RICHARD] HILL,
ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY TO THE DUKE OF SAVOY.
_Macky_. Is a gentleman of a good family in Shropshire. He was designed
for the church, and took deacon's [_Swift_, priest's] orders; but having
a genius for business, and falling into the acquaintance of my Lord
Ranelagh, when tutor to my Lord Hyde, he was sent into Flanders as
paymaster to the English troops there. ... He is a gentleman of very
clear parts, and affects plainness and simplicity [_Swift, au
contraire_] in his dress, and conversation especially. He is a favourite
to both parties [_Swift_, to neither]; and is beloved for his easy
access, and affable way by those he has business to do with. He is a
thin, tall man, [_Swift,_ short, if I remember right,] taller than the
ordinary stature, near 50 years old.
SIR LAMBERT BLACKWELL,
ENVOY TO THE GREAT DUKE OF TUSCANY.
_Macky_. He affects much the gentleman in his dress, and the minister in
his conversation: Is very lofty, yet courteous, when he knows his
people; much envied by his fellow merchants.--_Swift_. He seemed to be
a very good-natured man.
MR. _[Dr.]_ AGLIONBY,
ENVOY TO THE SWISS CANTONS.
_Macky_. He hath abundance of wit, and understands most of the modern
languages well; knows how to tell a story to the best advantage; but has
an affected manner of conversation; is thin, splenetic, and tawny
complexioned, turned of 60 years old.--_Swift_. He had been a Papist.
MR. D'AVENANT, AGENT AT FRANKFORT.
_Macky_. A very giddy-headed young fellow, with some wit; about 25 years
old.--_Swift_. He is not worth mentioning.
JOHN, LORD CUTTS.
_Macky_. He hath abundance of wit, but too much seized with vanity and
self-conceit; he is affable, familiar, and very brave; ... towards 50
years old.--_Swift_. The vainest old fool alive.
HENRY, EARL OF GALWAY.
_Macky_. One of the finest gentlemen in the army, with a head fitted for
the cabinet, as well as the camp; is very modest, vigilant, and sincere;
a man of honour and honesty, [_Swift_, in all directly otherwise;]
without pride or affectation; wears his own hair, is plain in his dress
and manners, towards 60 years old.--_Swift_. A deceitful, hypocritical,
factious knave; a damnable hypocrite, of no religion.
GEORGE, EARL OF ORKNEY.
_Macky_. He is a very well-shaped black man; is brave; but, by reason of
a hesitation in his speech wants expression.--_Swift_. An honest
good-natured gentleman, and hath much distinguished himself as a
soldier.
MR. JAMES STANHOPE [AFTERWARDS EARL STANHOPE],
ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY TO THE STATES GENERAL.
_Macky_. He is a man of honour,... and pleases the Dutch. His son,
Colonel Stanhope, is one of the finest young gentlemen we have; is very
learned, with a great deal of wit. ... A handsome [_Swift_, ugly] black
man.
SIR CHARLES O'HARA [AFTERWARDS LORD TYRAWLEY],
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.
_Macky_. At the Revolution he had a company in the foot-guards; was
afterwards lieutenant-colonel to that regiment; was made colonel to the
fusileers, and gradually advanced to the post he now hath, which he well
deserves, being of good understanding, and abundance of learning; fit to
command, if not too covetous; he is a short, black man, 50 years
old.--_Swift_. His father was a groom; he was a man of sense, without
one grain of honesty.
COLONEL MATTHEW AYLMER [AFTERWARDS LORD AYLMER],
VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET.
_Macky_. He hath a very good head, indefatigable and designing; is very
zealous for the liberties of the people, makes a good figure in the
Parliament, as well as the fleet.--_Swift_. A virulent party man, born
in Ireland.
JAMES, DUKE OF HAMILTON.
_Macky_. On the Queen's accession to the throne, he made strong efforts
to get into the administration, but hath not yet succeeded, though he is
well received at court; he is brave in his person, with a rough air of
boldness; of good sense, very forward and hot for what he undertakes;
ambitious and haughty, a violent enemy; hath been very extravagant in
his manner of living; but now grows covetous.--_Swift_. He was made
master of the ordnance; a worthy good-natured person, very generous, but
of a middle understanding; he was murdered by that villain Macartney, an
Irish Scot.
ARCHIBALD, DUKE OF ARGYLL.
_Macky_. Few of his years hath a better understanding, nor a more manly
behaviour. He hath seen most of the courts of Europe, is very handsome
in his person, fair complexioned; about 25 years old.--_Swift_.
Ambitious, covetous, cunning Scot; has no principle, but his own
interest and greatness. A true Scot in his whole conduct.
JAMES, MARQUESS OF MONTROSE [AFTERWARDS DUKE OF MONTROSE].
_Macky_. Representative of the ancient and noble family of Graham;
great-grandson to that famous Montrose, who was hanged and quartered for
Charles I.; and grandson, by the mother, to the Duke of Rothes. He
inherits all the great qualities of those two families, with a sweetness
of behaviour, which charms all those who know him; hath improved himself
in most foreign courts; is very beautiful in his person, and about 25
years old.--_Swift_. Now very homely, and makes a sorry appearance.
JOHN, EARL OF SUTHERLAND.
_Macky_. A very honest man, a great assertor of the liberties of the
people; hath a good, rough sense; is open and free; a great lover of his
bottle and his friend; brave in his person, which he hath shown in
several duels; too familiar for his quality, and often keeps company
below it.--_Swift_. A blundering, rattle-pated, drunken sot.
SECRETARY [JAMES] JOHNSTOUN, NOW LORD-REGISTER.
_Macky_. Is a younger son of my Lord Warriston, who was beheaded. ... He
is very honest, [_Swift_, a treacherous knave,] yet something too
credulous and suspicious; endued with a great deal of learning and
virtue; is above little tricks, free from ceremony; and would not tell a
lie for the world.--_Swift._ One of the greatest knaves even in
Scotland.
MR. [WILLIAM] CARSTAIRS.
_Macky_. He is the cunningest, subtle dissembler in the world, with an
air of sincerity, a dangerous enemy, because always hid. An instance of
which was Secretary Johnstoun, to whom he pretended friendship, till the
very morning he gave him a blow, though he had been worming him
out of the King's favour for many months before; he is a fat,
sanguine-complexioned fair man, always smiling, where he designs most
mischief, a good friend when he is sincere; turned of 50 years
old.--_Swift_. A true character; but not strong enough by a fiftieth
part.
JOHN, EARL OF MAR.
_Macky_. He is a very good manager in his private affairs, which were in
disorder when his father died, and is a stanch countryman, fair
complexioned, low stature, and 30 years old.--_Swift_. He is crooked;
he seemed to me to be a gentleman of good sense and good nature,
ANDREW FLETCHER, OF SALTON.
_Macky_. A gentleman of a fair estate in Scotland, attended with the
improvement of a good education. ... He hath written some excellent
tracts, but not published in his name; and hath a very fine genius; is a
low, thin man, brown complexion, full of fire, with a stern, sour look,
and 50 years old.--_Swift_. A most arrogant, conceited pedant in
politics; cannot endure the least contradiction in any of his visions or
paradoxes.
CHARLES, EARL OF MIDDLETON.
_Macky_. He is one of the politest gentlemen in Europe; hath a great
deal of wit, mixed with a sound judgment, and a very clear
understanding; of an easy, indifferent access, but a careless way of
living. ... He is a black man, of a middle stature, with a sanguine
complexion; and one of the pleasantest companions in the world. Towards
60 years old.--_Swift_. Sir William Temple told me, he was a very
valuable man, and a good scholar. I once saw him.
DAVID, EARL OF WEEMS.
_Macky_. He hath not yet been in the administration; is a fine
personage, and very beautiful; hath good sense, and is a man of honour.
About 30 years old.--_Swift_. He was a black man, and handsome for a
Scot.
NOTE.--The characters on the Duke of Shrewsbury, the Duke of Devonshire,
the Earl of Ranelagh, and Rear-Admiral Byng, have been entirely omitted.
The first is not given by Reed, and includes in Birch the single word
"none"; the second is not given either by Birch or Reed, but appears
only in "The Crypt"; the third is given only by Nichols; and the last is
not given by Birch or Reed.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
REMARKS ON
LORD CLARENDON'S HISTORY OF
THE REBELLION
OXFORD EDITION, 1707, 3 VOLS.
FROM THE ORIGINAL, IN ST. PATRICK'S LIBRARY.
NOTE.
The text of this edition of Swift's notes on Clarendon has been founded
on the careful transcript made by Mr. Percy Fitzgerald. This transcript
is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. Mr.
Fitzgerald refers to Dr. Rowan's collation, but I have been unable to
find the original of this. Rowan's additions, however, were noted by Mr.
Fitzgerald, and they have been included here. Mr. Fitzgerald says:
"Scott's notes, subject to the corrections just given [by himself], are
correct, and would serve as the base of the new edition. The additions I
have given and the few given by Dr. Rowan (which are given here a little
further on) will have to be inserted in their proper places and will
make the whole complete." This has been done, and the present reprint is
a very careful following out of this suggestion.
After the following pages were in type, however, I have had the
opportunity, through the kindness of Dr. Bernard, the Dean of St.
Patrick's Cathedral, of examining the original copy in the Marsh Library
at Dublin. Assisted by the Rev. Newport J.D. White, the librarian of
the Marsh Library, I have been able to correct several of Mr. Percy
Fitzgerald's transcripts, and to add some "remarks" omitted both by him
and Scott.
Mr. White, in an article in "Hermathena" (No. xxvii., 1901), suggests
that the successive perusals by Swift account "for the fact that some of
the notes are in ink, though most are in pencil; while in one or two
cases Swift seems to have retraced in ink a remark originally in
pencil." Although Swift finished his fourth reading of the "History" in
1741, it is undoubted that he had already annotated the volumes at a
much earlier date. The copy of the "History," now in the Marsh Library,
was presented to it by Archbishop King, though the exact date of this
presentation can only be guessed. "In the register of benefactions,"
writes Mr. White in "Hermathena," "the first list, which was evidently
written at one time and by one hand, contains the names of all books
presented by King. Two of these were published as late as 1723. The next
entry is dated April 12th, 1726. It is probable, therefore, that these
volumes came into their present abode between 1723 and 1726. As Dean of
St. Patrick's, Swift was one of the governors of the library, and in
that capacity attended many of the annual visitations between 1718 and
1736. It is natural to suppose that he was a constant reader." It
follows, therefore, that Swift borrowed the volumes from the library for
his re-perusal; and perhaps retraced his annotations at that time and
added new ones.
It is worth while to reprint a sentence from Scott's note on these
"Remarks" of Swift's, if only to continue a record of retort against
Swift's intemperance of feeling against the Scottish nation: "The
ludicrous virulence of his execrations against the Scottish nation, go a
great way to remove the effect of his censure; and a native of Scotland
may be justified in retaining them, were it but for that reason."
[T.S.]
REMARKS ON CLARENDON'S
HISTORY OF THE
REBELLION.
VOL. I.
On the first board: Finished the 4th time, April 18, 1741. Judicium de
authore.[1]
[Footnote: 1 The note "Finished the 4th time April 18, 1741," which
Scott and Fitzgerald record as written on the first board of vol. i., is
not now to be traced, the volume having been rebound since their
transcripts were made.]
The cursed, hellish villainy, treachery, treasons of the Scots, were the
chief grounds and causes of that execrable rebellion.--_Swift_.
"The word of a king." This phrase is repeated some hundred times; but is
ever foolish, and too often false.--_Swift_.
PREFACE.
P. v. [p. xxi.[2]] _Clarendon_. We might give instances ... of those
points ... which have brought the prince, sometimes, under the
disadvantageous suspicion of being inclined to the love of arbitrary
power.--_Swift_. What king doth not love, and endeavour at it?
[Footnote: 2 The references in square brackets apply to the recent
Oxford edition of Clarendon's "Rebellion" (6 vols., cr. 8vo, 1888). The
prefaces can only be referred to by the page, but throughout the body of
the work the _paragraphs_ are separately numbered for each book. [T.
S.]]
P, vi. [p. xxii.] _Clarendon_. The people may not always be restrained
from attempting by force to do themselves right, though they ought
not.--_Swift_. They _ought!_
BOOK I.
P. 9. [par. 12.] _Clarendon_. All men being inhibited, by the
proclamation at the dissolution of the Parliament in the fourth year, so
much as to mention or speak as if a Parliament should be
called.--_Swift_. Great weakness.
P. 47. [par. 128.] _Clarendon_. He [the Earl of Montgomery] had not sat
many years in that sunshine, when a new comet appeared in court, Robert
Carr, a Scotsman, quickly after declared favourite.--_Swift_. A Scottish
king makes a Scottish favourite.
P. 48. [par. 133.] _Clarendon_. The Earl of Carlisle ... wrought himself
into ... greater affection and esteem with the whole English nation,
than any other of that country; by choosing their friendships, and
conversation, and really preferring it to any of his own--_Swift_. A
miracle in a Scot!
P. 58. [par. 159.] _Clarendon_. During the whole time that these
pressures were exercised, and those new, and extraordinary ways were
run, that is, from the dissolution of the Parliament in the fourth year,
to the beginning of this Parliament, which was above twelve years, this
kingdom ... enjoyed the greatest calm, and the fullest measure of
felicity, that any people in any age, for so long time together, have
been blessed with.--_Swift_. Partial.
P. 59. [par. 162.] _Clarendon_. The kingdoms, we now lament, were alone
looked upon as the garden of the world; Scotland (which was but the
wilderness of that garden), etc.--_Swift_. The _dunghill!_
_Ibid_, [par. 163.] _Clarendon_. Those rough courses, which made him
[the King] perhaps less loved at home, made him more feared abroad; by
how much the power of kingdoms is more reverenced than their justice by
their neighbours: and it may be this consideration might not be the
least motive, and may not be the worst excuse for those
counsels.--_Swift_ Too arbitrary.
P. 60. [par. 163.] _Clarendon_. Nerva was deified for uniting, _Imperium
et Libertas_.--_Swift_. "Libertas" underlined and "_nego_" written in
the margin.
_Ibid_. [par. 165.] _Clarendon_. Wise men knew that that which looked
like pride in some, would, etc. [Swift places a condemnatory pencil mark
beneath "that."]
P. 75. [par. 201.] _Clarendon_. A book so full of good learning,[3] [_i
e.,_ Bp. John Williams (of Lincoln) against Innovations in
Religion].--_Swift_. Is that book to be bought or borrowed?
[Footnote 3: Again referred to on p. 271. _See_ Scott's note _in loco_
(p. 297). [T.S.]]
BOOK II.
P. 88. [par. 18.] _Clarendon_. There was so little curiosity either in
the court, or the country, to know anything of Scotland, or what was
done there, that when the whole nation was solicitous to know what
passed weekly in Germany, and Poland, and all other parts of Europe, no
man ever enquired what was doing in Scotland, nor had that kingdom a
place or mention in one page of any gazette.--_Swift_. Should Bridewell
news be in any gazette?
P.88. [par 18.] _Clarendon_. The people [the Scotch] after they had once
begun, pursued the business vigorously, and with all imaginable contempt
of the government.--_Swift_. Scottish scoundrels!
P. 94. [par. 38.] _Clarendon_ in the address of the Scots to the
King:--Lamenting "their ill fortune that their enemies had so great
credit with the King, as to persuade him to believe that they were or
could be disobedient to him, a thing that could never enter into their
loyal hearts."--_Swift_. Scotch dogs!
_Ibid_. [par. 39.] _Clarendon_. Into Scotland ... as far as a place
called Dunce.--_Swift_. "Dunce" underlined.
P. 95. [par. 42.] _Clarendon_. The Covenanters ... were very reasonably
exalted with this success, [the retreat of the Earl of Holland from
Dunse,] and scattered their letters abroad amongst the noblemen at
court, according to the humours of the men to whom they writ.--_Swift_.
Cursed Scots for ever!
P. 96. [par. 46.] _Clarendon_, speaking of the Marquess of
Hamilton.--_Swift_. A cursed true Scot!
P. 100. [par. 55] _Clarendon_ The Scots got so much benefit and
advantage by it [the treaty of pacification], that they brought all
their other mischievous devices to pass, with ease.--_Swift_. Confounded
Scots!
P. 101. [par. 58.] Marginal note to Clarendon: The Earl of Argyle joins
with the Covenanters, notwithstanding his great obligations to the
King.--_Swift_. All Argyles, cursed Scottish hell-hounds for ever!
P. 103. [par. 60.] _Clarendon_, on the letter from the Scotch nobility
to the French King, which was intercepted, and upon Lord Lowden, in his
examination:--refusing to give any other answer, than that it was writ
before the agreement ... and never sent; that if he had committed any
offence, he ought to be questioned for it in Scotland, and not in
England.--_Swift_. Scottish traitors!
_Ibid_. [par. 61.] _Clarendon_. The opinion of the prejudice and general
aversion over the whole kingdom to the Scots, and the indignation they
had at their presumption in their design of invading England, made it
believed that a Parliament would express a very sharp sense of their
insolence and carriage towards the King.--_Swift_. Cursed hellish Scots
for ever!
P. 104. [par. 62.] _Clarendon_, on the calling together of the
Parliament in 1640:--The King ... directed the lord-keeper to issue out
writs for the meeting of a Parliament upon the third day of April then
next ensuing.--_Swift_. April 3d for knaves; the 1st for fools!
P. 114. [par, 90.] _Clarendon_. The Scots army ... were always
beaten.--_Swift_. "Always beaten" trebly underlined.
P. 116. [par. 97.] _Clarendon_ The convocation-house (the regular and
legal assembling of the clergy) customarily beginning and ending with
Parliaments, was, after the determination of the last, by a new writ
continued.--_Swift_. Convocations of the clergy are as legal and as
necessary as those of the laity.
P. 122. [par 108.] _Clarendon_, on the commissioners who met at
Ripon:--When these commissioners from the King arrived at Ripon, there
came others from the Scots army of a quality much inferior--_Swift_. A
cursed committee!
_Ibid_. [par. 108.] _Clarendon_. Alexander Henderson.--_Swift_. A cursed
fanatic! (Written in pencil, and partially rubbed out.)
P. 123. [par. 109.] _Clarendon_. There was not a man of all the English,
etc.--_Swift_. Cursed hellish Scots!
P. 124. [par. 111.] _Clarendon_. They brought them with them and
presented them to the King [Swift underscores _them_.]
_Ibid_. [par. 113.] _Clarendon_. Three of the commissioners, and no
more, were of the King's council, the Earls of Pembroke, Salisbury, and
Holland.--_Swift_. Bad counsellors.
P. 125. [par. 116.] _Clarendon_ The commissioners at Ripon quickly
agreed upon the cessation; and were not unwilling to have allowed fifty
thousand pounds a month for the support of the Scots army, when they did
assign but thirty thousand pounds a month for the payment of the
King's.--_Swift_. Greedy Scotch rebellious dogs.
P. 129. [par. 126.] _Clarendon_. It must not be doubted that there were
many particular persons of honour of that nation who abhorred the
outrages which were committed.--_Swift_. I doubt it; for they were
Scots.
P. 130. [par. 128.] _Clarendon_. It can hardly be conceived, with what
entire confidence in each other, the numerous and _not very rich_
nobility of Scotland ... concurred in the carrying on this
rebellion.--_Swift_. Beggarly, beggarly!
BOOK III.
P. 148. [par. 32.] _Clarendon_. Mr. Saint-John ... a natural son of the
house of Bullingbrook.--_Swift_. A bastard.
P. 151. [par. 38.] _Clarendon_. The Earl of Rothes ... was a man very
well bred, of very good parts, and great address.--_Swift_. A Scotch
freethinker.
P. 152. [par. 42.] _Clarendon_, on the order of the Houses of
Parliament, to use the appellation of "our brethren of Scotland" towards
the Scotch commissioners.--_Swift_ Cursed Scots, brethren in iniquity.
P. 153 [par 44] _Clarendon_ The allegation was, "That the charge against
the Earl of Stafford was of an extraordinary nature, being to make a
treason evident out of a complication of several ill acts, That he must
be traced through many dark paths," etc.--_Swift._ As a boy.
_Ibid_ [par 45] _Clarendon_ It was alleged, "That at his coming from
Ireland the Earl had said in council there, That if ever he returned to
that sword again, he would not leave a Scottishman in that
kingdom".--_Swift_ And it was a good resolution.
P 153 [par 45] _Clarendon_ ---- "And at his arrival in this kingdom, the
lord mayor and some aldermen of London attending the board about the
loan of moneys, and not giving that satisfaction was expected, that he
should tell the King, That it would never be well till he hanged up a
Lord Mayor of London in the City to terrify the rest".--_Swift_ At
worst, only a rash expression.
P 155 [par 50] _Clarendon_ Hereupon, in one day, were sworn privy
councillors, much to the public joy, the Earl of Hertford (whom the King
afterwards made marquess), the Earl of Bedford, the Earl of Essex, the
Earl of Bristol, the Lord Say, the Lord Saville, and the Lord Kimbolton,
and within two or three days after, the Earl of Warwick.--_Swift_ All
[_rogues,_ perhaps,[4]] but the first.
[Footnote: 4 P Fitzgerald says _[sworn,_ more likely] [T.S.]]
P 161 [par 67] _Clarendon_, on the method of procuring signatures to one
petition, and then cutting them off, and affixing them to a petition of
quite a different tendency.--_Swift_ Dogs, villains, almost as bad as
the cursed Scots.
P 366 [par 85] _Clarendon_ The Earl of Bedford prevailed with the King
... to make Oliver Saint-John ... his solicitor-general, which His
Majesty readily consented to: ... being a gentleman of an honourable
extraction (if he had been legitimate).--_Swift_ The bastard before
mentioned.
P 183 [par 140] _Clarendon_, trial of Strafford--Mr Solicitor Saint-John
... argued for the space of near an hour the matter of law. Of the
argument itself I shall say little, it being in print, and in many
hands, I shall only remember two notable propositions, which are
sufficient characters of the person and the time.--_Swift_ Bp.
A[tterbury]
P 187 [par 156] _Clarendon_, on the bill for extirpating bishops, deans,
and chapters, etc.--Though the rejecting it, was earnestly urged by very
many, ... yet, all the other people, as violently pressed the reading
it; and none so importunately, as Saint-John.--_Swift_. The bastard!
P. 195. [par. 179.] _Clarendon_. It being always their custom, when they
found the heat and distemper of the House (which they endeavoured to
keep up, by the sharp mention and remembrance of former grievances and
pressures) in any degree allayed, by some gracious act, or gracious
profession of the King's, to warm and inflame them again with a
discovery, or promise of a discovery, of some notable plot and
conspiracy against themselves.--_Swift._ King George I.'s reign.
P. 199. [par. 189.] _Clarendon_. Whereas some doubts, etc.--_Swift_.
True Popish evasion.
_Ibid. Clarendon_, on the explanation of the Protestation for the Church
of England:--concerning the meaning of these words ... "_viz_ The true
reformed Protestant religion, expressed in the doctrine of the Church of
England, against all Popery and Popish innovations within this realm,
contrary to the same doctrine," This House doth declare, that by those
words, was and is meant, only the public doctrine professed in the said
Church, so far as it is opposite to Popery, etc.--_Swift_. Fanatic dogs!
P. 202. [par. 198.] _Clarendon_. The Archbishop of York.--_Swift_.
Williams, before of Lincoln.
_Ibid_. [par. 200.] _Clarendon_, on the letter of Strafford to the King,
persuading him no longer to delay the order for his execution.--_Swift_.
Great magnanimity!
P. 203. [par. 201.] _Clarendon_. The delivery of this letter being
quickly known, new arguments were applied; "that this free consent of
his own, clearly absolved the King from any scruple that could remain
with him."--_Swift_. Weak, and wrong.
_Ibid_. [par. 202.] _Clarendon_. There was reason enough to believe,
their impious hands would be lifted up against his own person, and
(which he much more apprehended) against the person of his royal
consort.--_Swift_. A most unhappy marriage.
P. 204. [par. 206.] _Clarendon_. Together with that of attainder of the
Earl of Strafford, another Bill was passed by the King, of almost as
fatal a consequence both to the King and kingdom, ... "the Act for the
perpetual Parliament;" as it is since called.--_Swift_. Cursed
stupidity! _Hinc illae lachrymae_.
P. 205. [par. 207.] _Clarendon_. No way could be thought of so sure, as
an Act of Parliament, "that this Parliament should not be adjourned,
prorogued, or dissolved, but by Act of Parliament, which, upon this
occasion, His Majesty would never deny to pass."--_Swift_. The fatal
stroke.
_Ibid_. [par. 210.] _Clarendon_, on the King's passing this Bill.
--_Swift_. I wish the author had enlarged here upon what motives the
King passed that Bill.
P 205 [par 210] _Clarendon_, on the same.--_Swift_ The King by this act
utterly ruined.
P 207 [par 217] _Clarendon_, on the passing of the tonnage and poundage
bill--And so in expectation and confidence, that they would make
glorious additions to the state and revenue of the crown, His Majesty
suffered himself to be stripped of all that he had left.--_Swift_ Great
weakness in the King.
P 225 [par 271] _Clarendon_ These Acts of Parliament, etc will be
acknowledged, by an uncorrupted posterity, to be everlasting monuments
of the King's princely and fatherly affection to his people.--_Swift_
Rather of his weakness.
BOOK IV
P 237 [par 24] _Clarendon_ A general insurrection of the Irish, spread
itself over the whole country, in such an inhumane and barbarous manner,
that there were forty or fifty thousand of the English Protestants
murdered.--_Swift_ At least.
P 243 [par 43] _Clarendon_ That which should have been an act of
oblivion, was made a defence and justification of whatsoever they [the
Scotch] had done.--_Swift_ Scot, Scot, Scot, for ever Scot.
P 244 [par 47] _Clarendon_ His Majesty having never received any
considerable profit from Scotland, etc.--_Swift_ How could he, from
Scottish rebels and beggars?
P 245 [par 47] _Clarendon_ Surely he had then very hard thoughts of a
great part of the nation [the Scotch].--_Swift_ Who can doubt of it?
P 257 [par 87] _Clarendon_ The propositions made from Scotland, "for the
sending ten thousand men from thence, into Ulster, to be paid by the
Parliament," were consented to, whereby some soldiers were dispatched
thither, to defend their own plantation, and did in truth, at our
charge, as much oppress the English that were there, as the rebels could
have done.--_Swift_ Send cursed rebel Scots, who oppressed the English
in that kingdom as the Irish rebels did, and were governors of that
province, etc.
P 271 [par 130] _Clarendon_, Doctor Williams, Archbishop of York--had
himself published, by his own authority, a book against the using those
ceremonies [which were countenanced by Laud], in which there was much
good learning, and too little gravity for a bishop.--_Swift_ Where is
that book to be had?[5]
[Footnote 5: The book is extant, and was written in answer to Dr Heyhn's
"Coal from the Altar". Even the title page contains a punning allusion
to his adversary's work, rather too facetious for the subject of his
own. It is entitled "The Holy Table, name and thing, more anciently,
properly, and literally used under the New Testament, than that of
Altar."]
P. 272. [par. 130.] _Clarendon_, Archbishop Williams:--appeared to be a
man of a very corrupt nature, whose passions could have transported him
into the most unjustifiable actions.--_Swift._ This character I think
too severe.
P. 275. [par. 138.] _Clarendon_, the same:--The great hatred of this
man's person and behaviour, was the greatest invitation to the House of
Commons so irregularly to revive that Bill to remove the
bishops.--_Swift_. How came he to be so hated by that faction he is so
said to favour?
P. 277. [par. 140.] _Clarendon_, petition and protestation of the
bishops.--_Swift_. I see no fault in this protestation.
P. 280. [par. 149.] _Clarendon_, on the articles of high treason against
Lord Kimbolton, Pym, Hampden, Hollis, Haslerigg, and Strode.--_Swift_.
It proved a long and vexatious affair.
P. 281. [par. 152.] _Clarendon_. The next day in the afternoon, the King
... came to the House of Commons.... Himself, with his nephew, the
Prince Elector, went into the House, to the great amazement of
all.--_Swift._ Too rash and indiscreet; the second great and fatal
error.
P. 282. [par. 152.] _Clarendon_. He assured them in the word of a King,
etc.--_Swift_. Never to be relied upon.
P. 284. [par. 157.] _Clarendon_. The King ... published, the next day, a
proclamation, for the apprehension of all those, whom he had accused of
high treason, forbidding any person to harbour them; the articles of
their charge being likewise printed, and dispersed.--_Swift_. A very
weak and wrong proceeding in the King, which had very bad consequences.
_Ibid. Clarendon_, on the same proceeding.--_Swift_. What was their
crime?
P. 322. [par. 264.] _Clarendon_. The humble petition of many thousands
of poor people in and about the city of London.--_Swift._ Who was the
author?
P. 334. [par. 302.] _Clarendon_, on the King's passing the bills against
the bishops' votes, and about pressing.--_Swift_. Too great a weakness,
and attended by a heap of gross follies.
P. 336. [par. 307.] _Clarendon_, on:--An Ordinance of both Houses of
Parliament for the ordering of the Militia of the kingdom of England,
and dominion of Wales.--_Swift_. The most ruinous consequence of the
King's weakness and cowardice.
BOOK V.
P. 364. [par. 6.] _Clarendon,_ in the King's Declaration, March 9,
164-1/2:--For the Lord Digby, he assured them in the word of a King,
etc.--_Swift_. I cannot endure that phrase any more.
Written long ago by a minister in Lincolnshire, in answer to D. Coal, a
judicious divine of Q. Marie's dayes. 1637. [S.]
P. 365. [par. 9.] _Clarendon_, in the same:--What greater earnest of his
trust, and reliance on his Parliament could he give, than the passing
the Bill for the continuance of this present Parliament?--_Swift_. Like
a very weak prince.
_Ibid. Clarendon_, in the same:--The length of which [Parliament] he
said, he hoped, would never alter the nature of Parliaments, and the
constitution of this kingdom; or invite his subjects so much to abuse
his confidence, as to esteem anything fit for this Parliament to do,
which were not fit, if it were in his power to dissolve it
to-morrow.--_Swift_. Yet, that was his ruin.
P. 366. [par. 11.] _Clarendon_. The factious party [persuaded the
people] ... that there was a design to send the prince beyond the seas,
and to marry him to some Papist.--_Swift_. As it fell out.
P. 384. [par. 56.] _Clarendon_, in the King's answer to the petition to
remove the magazine from Hull:--We have ... most solemnly promised, in
the word of a king, etc.--_Swift_. How long is that phrase to last?
P. 415. [par. 136] _Clarendon_. Whoever concurred, voted, and sided with
them, in their extravagant conclusions, let the infamy of his former
life, or present practice be what it would; his injustice and oppression
never so scandalous, and notorious; he was received, countenanced, and
protected with marvellous demonstrations of affection.--_Swift_. King
George's reign.
P. 419. [par. 148.] _Clarendon_, in the King's answer to the petition to
dissolve his Guards:--He asked them, "when they had so many months
together not contented themselves to rely for security, as their
predecessors had done, upon the affection of the people, but by their
own single authority had raised to themselves a guard ... and yet all
those pikes and protestations, that army, on one side, and that navy, on
the other, had not persuaded His Majesty to command them to disband
their forces," etc.--_Swift_. What are those pikes?
P. 427. [par. 162.] _Clarendon_, in the Declaration of the Lords and
Commons, May 19, 1642--That, in the word of a King, _etc.--Swift._ A
frequent foolish word, battered as a phrase.
P. 472. [par. 269.] _Clarendon_. He divested himself of the power of
dissolving this Parliament.--_Swift_. Proved his ruin.
P. 543. [par. 425.] _Clarendon_, on the deposition of Sir Richard
Gurney, lord mayor.--_Swift_ Dogs!
VOL. II.--BOOK VI.
P. 7. [par. 11.] _Clarendon_, Message of the King, Aug. 25th,
1642:--"Wherein, as we promise, in the word of a King, all safety and
encouragement to such as shall be sent unto us ... for the
treaty."--_Swift_. Very weak.
P. 10. [par. 18.] _Clarendon_, answer of the Parliament to the King's
message received the 5th of September, 1642.--_Swift._ I do not much
dislike this answer.
P. 17. [par. 38.] _Clarendon._ The same rabble entered the house of the
Countess of Rivers near Colchester; for no other ground, than that she
was a Papist; and in few hours disfurnished it of all the
goods.--_Swift._ As bad as Scots.
P. 18. [par. 40.] _Clarendon._ There are monuments enough in the
seditious sermons at that time printed ... of such wresting,
and perverting of Scripture to the odious purposes of the
preacher.--_Swift._ I wish I could find them.
P. 20. [par. 43.] _Clarendon._ Scottish officers.--_Swift._ Dogs.
P. 31 [par. 74.] _Clarendon._. A thousand at the most. Most of the
persons of quality, etc. [Swift underscores _most._]
P. 33. [par. 78.] _Clarendon,_ on the exemption of Prince Rupert from
being under the command of the general, Lord Lindsey:--When the King at
midnight, being in his bed, and receiving intelligence of the enemy's
motion, commanded the Lord Falkland, his principal secretary of state,
to direct Prince Rupert, what he should do, his Highness took it very
ill, and expostulated with the Lord Falkland, for giving him
orders.--_Swift._ A great mistake in the King, by too much indulgence to
Prince Rupert.
P. 40. [par. 90.] _Clarendon._ The King's preferring the Prince's
[Rupert's] opinion in all matters relating to the war before his [Lord
Lindsey's].--_Swift._ I blame the King's Partiality.
P. 48, line 28.--_Swift._ Cursed Scots.
P. 50. [par. 109.] _Clarendon._ His Majesty had, from time to time,
given his council of that kingdom [Scotland] full relations of all his
differences with his Parliament.--_Swift._ Cursed Scots for ever.
P. 51. [par. 112.] _Clarendon._ The chief managers and governors in the
first war, by their late intercourse, and communication of guilt, having
a firm correspondence with the Marquess of Argyle, the Earl of Lowden,
and that party.--_Swift._ Always a cursed family of Scots.
P. 59. [par. 142.] _Clarendon._ As the inviting the Scots,
etc.--_Swift._ Too long a parenthesis.
P. 62. [par. 154.] _Clarendon._ For the better recruiting whereof [the
Parliament's army], two of their most eminent chaplains, Dr. Downing and
Mr. Marshal, publicly avowed, "that the soldiers lately taken prisoners
at Brentford, and discharged, and released by the King upon their oaths
that they would never again bear arms against him, were not obliged by
that oath;" but, by their power, absolved them thereof.--_Swift._
Perfect Popery.
P. 65. [par. 161.] _Clarendon,_ the King's message to the privy council
of Scotland:--"Of all ... the ... indignities, which had been offered to
him, he doubted not the duty and affection of his Scottish subjects
would have so just a resentment, that they would express to the world
the sense they had of his sufferings."--_Swift_. Cursed Scots; to trust
them.
P. 66. [par. 163.] _Clarendon_, the same;--"There could not be a clearer
argument to his subjects of Scotland that he had no such thought, [of
bringing in foreign forces,] than that he had hitherto forborne to
require the assistance of that his native kingdom; from whose obedience,
duty, and affection, he should confidently expect it, if he thought his
own strength here too weak to preserve him."--_Swift_. In vain.
_Clarendon_. "And of whose courage, and loyalty, he should look to make
use."--_Swift_. And never find.
_Ibid_. [par. 164.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"He could not doubt, a
dutiful concurrence in his subjects of Scotland, in the care of his
honour, and just rights, would draw down a blessing upon that nation
too."--_Swift_. A Scot's blessing.
P. 67. [par. 165.] _Clarendon_. Other fruit of their [the Scots']
allegiance he [the King] expected not, than that they should not
rebel.--_Swift_. But they did.
P. 81. [par. 204,] _Clarendon_, the King's declaration:--"These are the
men who ... at this time invite, and solicit our subjects of Scotland,
to enter this land with an army against us."--_Swift_. Damnable Scots.
P. 91. [par. 231, sec. 4.] _Clarendon_, humble desires and propositions
of the Lords and Commons:--"That your Majesty will be pleased to give
your royal assent unto the Bill ... for the utter abolishing, and taking
away of all archbishops, bishops, their chancellors, and commissaries,
deans, sub-deans, deans and chapters, archdeacons, canons, and
prebendaries, and all chanters, chancellors, treasurers, sub-treasurers,
succentors, and sacrists, and all vicars choral, choristers, old vicars,
and new vicars of any cathedral, or collegiate church, and all other
their under officers, out of the Church of England."--_Swift_. A
thorough sweep. _Clarendon_. "To the Bill against scandalous ministers;
to the Bill against pluralities; and to the Bill for consultation to be
had with godly, religious, and learned divines."--_Swift. i.e._ cursed
fanatics.
P. 99. [par. 243.] _Clarendon_. Sir Ralph Hopton ... marched to Saltash,
a town in Cornwall ... where was a garrison of two hundred Scots; who,
[upon his approach,] as kindly quit Saltash, as the others had
Launceston before.--_Swift_. Loyal Scots--ever cursed.
P. 101. [par 247.] _Clarendon_. Ruthen, a Scotchman, the governor of
Plymouth.--_Swift_. A cursed Scottish dog.
P. 103. [par. 250.] _Clarendon_. The Earl of Stamford.--_Swift_. A
rogue, half as bad as a Scot.
P. 134. [par. 338.] _Clarendon_, Petition of the Kirk of Scotland:--"A
chief praise of the Protestant religion (and thereby our not vain, but
just gloriation)."--_Swift_. Scotch phrase.
_Ibid. Clarendon_, the same:--"[The Papists] are openly declared to be
not only good subjects,... but far better subjects than
Protestants."--_Swift_. Scotch (Protestants).
P. 135. [par. 339.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"That your Majesty ... may
timeously and speedily," etc.--_Swift_. Scotch.
_Ibid_. [par. 340.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"We are, with greater
earnestness than before, constrained _to fall down again_ before your
Majesty."--_Swift_. Rise against.
_Ibid. Clarendon_, the same. They petition:--"for a meeting of some
divines to be holden in England, unto which ... some commissioners may
be sent from this _kirk_."--_Swift_. Hell!
P. 136. [par. 342.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"The strongest let, till it
be taken out of the way, is the mountain of prelacy."--_Swift_. Scottish
dogs.
_Ibid. Clarendon_, the same:--"How many, from the experience of the
tyranny of the prelates, are afraid to discover themselves ... whereas
prelacy being removed, they would openly profess what they are, and join
with _others_ in the way of reformation."--_Swift. i.e._ Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 344.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"The national assembly of
this kirk, from which we have our commission."--_Swift_. From Satan.
P. 138. [par. 347.] _Clarendon_, the King's answer:--"Our Church of
Scotland."--_Swift_. Kirk.
P. 139. [par. 348.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"We do believe that the
petitioners, when they shall consider how ... unbecoming [it is] in
itself, for them to require, the ancient, happy, and established
government of the Church of England to be altered, and conformed to the
laws, and constitutions of _another church,_ will find themselves
misled," etc.--_Swift_. A Scotch kirk.
P. 140. [par. 351.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"To which [synod] we shall
be willing that some learned divines of our Church of Scotland may be
likewise sent."--_Swift_. To confound all.
P. 142. [par. 356.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"We conceived, we had not
left it possible, for any man to ... suspect, that the conversion of
_our dearest consort_ was not so much our desire, that the accession of
as many crowns as God hath already bestowed on us, would not be more
welcome to us than that day."--_Swift_. A thorough Papist.
BOOK VII.
P. 199. [par. 71.] _Clarendon_. Being this way secure from any future
clamours for peace, they proceeded to try Mr. Tomkins, Mr. Chaloner, ...
Mr. Hambden, who brought the last message from the King, etc.--_Swift._
Which Hambden? Not the rebel Hambden? No, it was one Alexander Hambden.
P. 201. [par. 75.] _Clarendon_. In the beginning of the war, the army in
Scotland having been lately disbanded, many officers of that nation, who
had served in Germany and in France, betook themselves to the service of
the Parliament.--_Swift_ Cursed Scots for ever. _Clarendon_. Whereof
divers were men of good conduct, and courage; though there were more as
bad as the cause, in which they engaged. Of the former sort Colonel
Hurry was a man of name, and reputation.--_Swift._ A miracle! Colonel
Urrie was an honest, valiant, loyal Scot, repenting his mistakes.
P. 203. [par. 78.] _Clarendon_. The man [Hurry] was in his nature proud,
and imperious.--_Swift_. A mixture of the Scot.
P. 219. [par. 106.] _Clarendon_. On the brow of the hill there were
breast-works, on which were pretty bodies of small shot, and some
cannon; on either flank grew a pretty thick wood.--_Swift_. Silly style.
P. 244. [par. 162.] _Clarendon_. "We, the Inhabitants, Magistrates,"
etc.--_Swift_. Cursed rogues.
P. 261. [par. 199.] _Clarendon_. Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, a young
gentleman ... of a fair and plentiful fortune.--_Swift._ Earl of
Shaftesbury by Charles II. A great villain.
P. 262. [par. 199.] _Clarendon_. The flexibility and instability of that
gentleman's nature, not being then understood, or suspected.--_Swift_.
Shaftesbury, an early rogue.
_Ibid_. [par. 200.] _Clarendon_. The express returned without effect
[from the King], and the Marquess [of Hertford] was as sensibly touched
as could be imagined; and said, "that he was fallen from all credit with
the King," etc.--_Swift_. Too fond of those nephews.
P. 271. [par. 221.] _Clarendon_. [Lord Falkland] writ two large
discourses against the principal positions of that [the Roman Catholic]
religion, with that sharpness of style, and full weight of reason, that
the Church is deprived of great jewels in the concealment of them, and
that they are not published to the world.--_Swift_. Ten thousand pities
that they are not to be recovered!
P. 277. [par. 234.] _Clarendon_. Thus fell that incomparable young man,
[Lord Falkland,] in the four-and-thirtieth year of his age, having so
much dispatched the true business of life, that the eldest rarely attain
to that immense knowledge, and the youngest enter not into the world
with more innocency: Whosoever leads such a life needs be the less
anxious upon how short warning it is taken from him.--_Swift_. It moves
grief to the highest excess.
P. 277. [par. 236.] _Clarendon_, on the jealousy between Essex and
Waller:--The passion and animosity which difference of opinion had
produced between any members, was totally laid aside and forgotten, and
no artifice omitted to make the world believe, that they were a people
newly incorporated, and as firmly united to one and the same end, as
their brethren the Scots.--_Swift_. Deceitful Scots.
P. 282. [par. 246.] _Clarendon_. Earl of Holland.--_Swift._ Treacherous.
P. 283 [par. 247.] _Clarendon_, the Earl of Holland, on his return from
Oxford, published a Declaration, in which he announced:--that he found
the court so indisposed to peace ... that he resolved to make what haste
he could back to the Parliament, and to spend the remainder of his life
in their service: which action, so contrary to his own natural
discretion and generosity, etc.--_Swift_. Treachery.
_Ibid_. [par. 249.] _Clarendon_. The committee from the two Houses of
Parliament, which was sent into Scotland in July before ... found that
kingdom in so good and ready a posture for their reception, that they
had called an assembly of their kirk; and a convention of their estates,
without, and expressly against, the King's consent.--_Swift_. Diabolical
Scots for ever.
P. 284. [par. 250.] _Clarendon_, the Scotch said to the English
commissioners.--that there were many well-wishers to him [the King], and
maligners, in their hearts, of the present reformation.--_Swift_. Cursed
Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 252.] _Clarendon_. A form of words was quickly agreed on
between them, for a perfect combination and _marriage_ between the
Parliament and the Scots.--_Swift_. Satan was parson.
P. 285. [par. 254.] _Clarendon_. The Assembly, besides ... execute
execute his commands. [19 lines in one sentence.]--_Swift_. A long
confounding period.
P. 288. [par. 259, sec. 3.] _Clarendon_. A Solemn League and Covenant.
"To preserve ... liberties of the Kingdoms."--_Swift_. Damnable rebel
Scots.
_Ibid_. [sec. 6.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"And the honour of the
King."--_Swift_. By martyrdom.
P. 289. [par. 259, conclusion.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"We have not as
we ought valued the inestimable benefit of the Gospel."--_Swift_. All
very true.
P. 291. [par. 264.] _Clarendon_. They very devoutly extolled the
Covenant, magnified the Scottish nation, with all imaginable attributes
of esteem and reverence,... a nation that had reformed their lives for
so small a time, more than ever any people, that they knew of, in the
world had done.--_Swift._ Most diabolical Scots.
P. 292. [par. 267.] _Clarendon_. [Sir Harry Vane the younger.] There
need no more be said of his ability, than that he was chosen to cozen,
and deceive a whole nation which was thought to excel in craft and
cunning.--_Swift_. Could out-cheat a Scot.
P. 293. [par. 269.] _Clarendon_. Those of the nobility and gentry, who
did really desire to serve the King, applied themselves to Duke
Hamilton.--_Swift_. That duke was a hellish, treacherous villain of a
Scot.
P. 316. [par. 322.] _Clarendon_. At this time, nothing troubled the King
so much, as the intelligence he received from Scotland, that they had
already formed their army, and resolved to enter England in the winter
season.--_Swift_. Cursed Scots.
_Ibid_., line 37.--_Swift_. Scottish Dogs.
P. 318. [par. 328.] _Clarendon_, on the proclamation for a Parliament at
Oxford.--A proclamation was issued out, containing the true grounds and
motives, and mentioning the league of Scotland to invade the kingdom;
which was the most universally odious, and detestable.--_Swift_. Hellish
Scots.
P. 339 [Par. 373.] _Clarendon_, Letter from the Parliament of Oxford to
the Earl of Essex. They conjure him to lay to heart:--"the inward
bleeding condition of your country, and the outward more menacing
destruction by a foreign nation."--_Swift_. Cursed Scotland.
P. 340. [par. 377.] _Clarendon_, Essex's answer to the Earl of
Forth.--_Swift_. Essex was a cursed rebel.
P. 341. [par. 379.] _Clarendon_, on the Declaration of the Scots on
entering England.--_Swift_. Abominable, damnable, Scotch hellish dogs
for ever. Let them wait for Cromwell to plague them, and enslave their
scabby nation.
_Ibid_. [par. 380.] _Clarendon_, the same.--They said, "the question was
not,... whether they might propagate their religion by arms?"
etc.--_Swift_. Diabolical Scots for ever.
P. 342. [par. 383.] _Clarendon_. This war was of God.--_Swift_. An error
mistaking the Devil for God.
_Ibid_. [par. 384.] _Clarendon_, Declaration of England and
Scotland:--They gave now "public warning to all men to rest no longer
upon their neutrality,... but that they address themselves speedily to
take the Covenant."--_Swift_. The Devil made that damnable Scots
Covenant.
P. 343. [par. 385] _Clarendon_. Then they proclaimed a pardon to all
those who would before such a day desert the King, and adhere to them,
and take the Covenant.--_Swift_. The Devil to take the Covenant.
_Ibid_. [par. 386.] _Clarendon_. I cannot but observe, that after this
time that the Earl [of Essex] declined this opportunity of declaring
himself, he never did prosperous act in the remainder of his
life.--_Swift_. I am heartily glad of that.
P. 343. [par. 388.] _Clarendon_. There wanted not a just indignation at
the return of this trumpet; and yet the answer being so much in that
popular road, of saying something plausibly to the people, it was
thought fit again to make an attempt, that at least the world might see,
that they did, in plain _English_ refuse to admit of any
peace.--_Swift_. Scotch.
P. 347. [par. 398, sec. 2.] _Clarendon_, Declaration of the Parliament
at Oxford:--"All his Majesty's subjects of the kingdom of England and
dominion of Wales, are both by their allegiance, and the Act of
Pacification, bound to resist and repress all those of Scotland as had,
or should enter upon any part of his Majesty's realm."--_Swift_.
Execrable Scots.
P. 348. [_ibid,_ sec. 5.] _Clarendon_ the same:--"That the Lords and
Commons remaining at Westminster, who had given their consents to the
present coming in of the Scots in a warlike manner, had therein
committed high treason."--_Swift_. Rebel Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 400.] _Clarendon_. The invasion, which the Scots made in
the depth of winter, and the courage the enemy took from thence,
deprived his Majesty even of any rest in that season.--_Swift_. Cursed
Scots, ever inflaming.
P. 351. [par. 404.] _Clarendon_. The Earl of Montrose ... was so much in
the jealousy, and detestation of the violent party, whereof the _Earl of
Argyle_ was the head, that there was no cause or room left to doubt his
sincerity to the King.--_Swift_. Odious dog; and so are all his
descendants.
_Ibid_. [par. 405.] _Clarendon_. Duke Hamilton.--_Swift_. An arrant
Scot.
_Ibid. Clarendon_. As soon as the King had had fuller intelligence.
[Swift alters the second _had to received_.]
P. 352. [par. 407.] _Clarendon_. The Duke [Hamilton] had given the King
an account,... that though some few hot, and passionate men, desired to
put themselves in arms, to stop both elections of the Members, and any
meeting together in Parliament; yet, that all sober men ... were clearly
of the opinion, to take as much pains as they could to cause good
elections to be made.--_Swift._ What! in Scotland?
P. 353. [par. 409.] _Clarendon_. About this time the councils at
Westminster lost a principal supporter, by the death of John Pym; who
died with great torment and agony of a disease unusual, and therefore
the more spoken of, _morbus pediculosus,_ as was reported.--_Swift_. I
wish all his clan had died of the same disease.
BOOK VIII.
P. 382. [par. 60.] _Clarendon_. Colonel Ashburnham, then governor of
Weymouth, was made choice of for that command; ...and, to make way for
him, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper had been, the year before, removed from
that charge; and was thereby so much disobliged, that he quitted the
King's party, and gave himself up, body and soul, to the service of the
Parliament, with an implacable animosity against the royal
interest.--_Swift_. A rogue all his life.
P. 385. [par. 66.] _Clarendon_, at Cropredy-bridge:--the [parliamentary]
general of their ordnance [was] taken prisoner. This man, one Weemes, a
Scotchman, had been as much obliged by the King, as a man of his
condition could be, and in a manner very unpopular: for he was made
master-gunner of England,... and having never done the King the least
service, he took the first opportunity to disserve him.--_Swift_. A
cursed, hellish Scot! Why was not the rogue hanged?
P-387. [par. 69.] _Clarendon_, Message from the King to the
parliamentary army:--It was agreed, that Sir Edward Walker (who was both
Garter king at arms, and secretary to the council of war) should be sent
to publish that, his Majesty's grace.--_Swift_. A very mean author.
P. 388. [par. 74.] _Clarendon_, Battle of Marston-moor:--That party of
the King's horse which charged the Scots, so totally routed and defeated
their whole army, that they fled all ways for many miles
together.--_Swift_. I am glad of that.
P. 420. [par. 153.] _Clarendon_. Colonel Hurry, a Scotchman, who had
formerly served the Parliament, and is well mentioned, in the
transactions of the last year, for having quitted them, and performed
some signal service to the King,... desired a pass to go beyond the
seas, and so quitted the service: but instead of embarking himself, made
haste to London; and put himself now into the Earl of Manchester's army,
and made a discovery of all he knew of the King's army.--_Swift_.
Mentioned before, and then I was deceived by him; but now I find him a
cursed true Scot.
P. 427. [par. 167.] _Clarendon_. After the battle of York, the Scots
returned to reduce Newcastle; which they had already done; and all other
garrisons which had held out for the King.--_Swift_. Most damnable
Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 168.] _Clarendon_. The King's army was less united than
ever; the old general was set aside, and Prince Rupert put into the
command, which was no popular change.--_Swift_. Too fond of his nephews.
_Ibid_. [par. 169.] _Clarendon_. Wilmot loved debauchery.--_Swift_.
Character of Wilmot and Goring.
P. 453. [par. 233.] _Clarendon_, Treaty at Uxbridge: Debates about the
militia. They insisted:--upon having the whole command of the militia by
sea, and land, and all the forts, and ships of the kingdom at their
disposal; without which they looked upon themselves as lost, and at the
King's mercy; not considering that he must be at theirs, if such a power
was committed to them.--_Swift_. The case seems doubtful. The point
should be undecided.
P. 454. [par. 235.] _Clarendon_, the same: Ireland. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer:--put them in mind, ... [that] one hundred thousand
pounds, brought in by the adventurers for Ireland, had been sent in one
entire sum into _Scotland_, to prepare and dispose that kingdom to send
an army to invade this.--_Swift_ Cursed.
P. 456. [On this page two _ands_ are erased.]
P. 457. [par. 241.] _Clarendon_. The conversation ... made a great
discovery of the faction that was in the Parliament ... that the Scots
would insist _upon_ the whole government of the Church, and in all other
matters would _defer_ to the King.--_Swift_. [Instead of _upon,_] to
destroy; [and instead of _defer,_] to betray.
_Ibid_. [par. 242.] _Clarendon_. Satisfied, that in the particular which
concerned the Church, the Scots would never depart from a
tittle.--_Swift_. Scots hell-hounds.
P. 466. [par. 262.] _Clarendon_. After the battle at York, ... the
Scotch army marched northwards, to reduce the little garrisons remaining
in those parts; which was easily done.--_Swift_. Scottish dogs.
_Ibid_. [par. 263.] _Clarendon_. The person whom that earl [of Montrose]
most hated, and contemned, was the Marquess of Argyle.--_Swift_. A most
damnable false dog, and so are still their family.
P. 478. [par. 284.] _Clarendon_. The Parliament had, some months before,
made an ordinance against giving quarter to any of the Irish nation
which should be taken prisoners. ... The Earl of Warwick, and the
officers under him at sea, had as often as he met with any Irish
frigates, ... taken all the seamen who became prisoners to them of that
nation, and bound them back to back, and thrown them overboard into the
sea.--_Swift_. Barbarous villains, and rebels.
BOOK IX.
P. 484. [par. 2.] _Clarendon_. Persons, whose memories ought to be
charged with their own evil actions, rather than that the infamy of them
should be laid on the age wherein they lived; which did produce as many
men, eminent for their loyalty and incorrupted fidelity to the crown, as
any that had preceded it.--_Swift_. Not quite.
P. 485. [par. 4.] _Clarendon_. The Marquess of Argyle was now come from
Scotland.--_Swift_. A cursed Scotch hell-hound.
P. 501. [par. 29.] _Clarendon_. Prince Rupert ... disposed the King to
resolve to march northwards, and to fall upon the Scotch army in
Yorkshire, before Fairfax should be able to perfect his new model to
that degree, as to take the field.--_Swift._ Cursed Scots still.
P. 516. [par. 55.] _Clarendon,_ on Sir Richard Greenvil hanging an
attorney named Brabant, as a spy, out of private revenge.--_Swift._
This rogue would almost be a perfect Scot.
P. 521. [par. 63.] _Clarendon_. (The which had been already so
scandalous, ... contribution.) [61/2 lines between parentheses.]
--_Swift._ Long parenthesis.
P. 574. [par. 164] _Clarendon_. The King ... resolved once more to try
another way, ... [whereby] he should discover, whether he had so many
friends in the Parliament, and the city, as many men would persuade him
to conclude; and whether the Scots had ever a thought of doing him
service.--_Swift._ No more than Beelzebub.
P. 579. [par. 175.] _Clarendon_. Monsieur Montrevil [was sent] into
England: ... who likewise persuaded his Majesty, to believe ... that
the cardinal was well assured, that the Scots would behave themselves
henceforwards very honestly.--_Swift._ Damnable Scots.
P. 580. [par. 176.] _Clarendon_. The Scots were resolved to have _no
more_ to do with his Majesty.--_Swift_. Gave up the King.
VOLUME III.
On the bastard title: That frequent expression,--_upon the word of a
king_, I have always despised and detested, for a thousand reasons.
Dedication, 21st par. [vol. I., p. li., edit of 1888.] _Clarendon._ Some
very near that King ... putting him on the thoughts of marrying some
Roman Catholic lady.--_Swift_. As he did.
BOOK X.
P. 2. [par. 2.] _Clarendon_. Sir Dudley Wyat had been sent expressly from
the Lord Jermin, to assure the prince, that such a body of five thousand
foot were actually raised under the command of _Ruvignie_, and should be
embarked for Pendennis within less than a month.--_Swift_. Father to
Lord Galloway; a Huguenot.
P. 6. [par. 11.] _Clarendon_, Upon the Queen's hearing that the King had
gone to the Scots army, she:--renewed her command for the prince's
immediate repair into France; whereas the chief reason before was, that
he would put himself into the Scots' hands.--_ Swift_. He could not do
worse.
P. 7 [par. 12] _Clarendon_ The King ... was by this time known to be in
the Scots army--_Swift_. And these hell hounds sold him to the rebels.
P. 11 [par. 21] _Clarendon_ [The Scots] had pressed the King to do many
things, which he had absolutely refused to do, and that thereupon they
had put very strict guards upon his Majesty, ... so that his Majesty
looked upon himself as a prisoner--_Swift_. The cursed Scots begin their
new treachery.
P. 14 [par. 27] _Clarendon_, on "the paper Montrevil sent to the King,
being a promise for the Scots receiving the King, Apr 1"--_Swift_.
Montrevil might as safely promise for Satan as for the Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 28] _Clarendon_ on Montrevil's advertising the King of the
change in the Scotch--_Swift_. Will Montrevil trust them again?
P. 15 [ditto] _Clarendon_ [The Sots] with much ado agreed, that the two
princes [Rupert and Maurice] ... might follow the King, with such other
of his servants as were not excepted from pardon--_Swift_. And why
those? Because the Scots were part of the rebels.
P. 16 [par. 30] _Clarendon_, in a letter from Montrevil--"They tell me
that they will do more than can be expressed"--_Swift_. So the Scots
did, and with a vengeance.
_Ibid_. [ditto] _Clarendon_, in the same--"The hindering his Majesty
from falling into the hands of the English is of so great importance to
them, that it cannot be believed but that they will do all that lies in
their power to hinder it"--_Swift_. By delivering him up for money.
Hellish Scottish dogs!
_Ibid_. [par. 31] _Clarendon_. If he [Montrevil] were too sanguine ...
when he signed that engagement upon the first of April, etc.--_Swift_.
April fool.[6]
[Footnote 6: The words quoted are the side note, which is not printed in
the edition of 1888 [T.S.]]
P. 17 [par. 33] _Clarendon_. In this perplexity, he [the King] chose
rather to commit himself to the Scots army--_Swift_. To be delivered up
for money.
_Ibid_. [ditto] _Clarendon_. He left Oxford, ... leaving those of his
council in Oxford who were privy to his going out, not informed whether
he would go to the Scots army, etc.--_Swift_. Which would betray him,
though his countrymen.
_Ibid_. [ditto] _Clarendon_ [The King,] in the end, went into the Scots
army before Newark--_Swift_. Prodigious weakness, to trust the
malicious Scotch hell-hounds.
P. 17. [par. 34.] _Clarendon_. The Scottish commissioners at London
[assured the Parliament] ... that all their orders would meet with an
absolute obedience in their army.--_Swift_. No doubt of it.
P. 18. [par. 35.] _Clarendon_, in the text of the sermon preached at
Newark before the King:--"And all _the men of Judah_ answered the men of
Israel, Because the King is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye
angry for this matter?"--_Swift._ Scotch, (opposite to Judah).
P. 21. [par. 41.] _Clarendon_, Lord Digby and Lord Jermin said:--that
there should be an army of thirty thousand men immediately transported
into England, with the Prince of Wales in the head of them.--_Swift_.
Gasconade.
P. 23. [par. 50.] _Clarendon_. The Parliament made many sharp instances
that the King might be delivered into their hands; and that the Scots
army would return into their own country, having done what they were
sent for, and the war being at an end.--_Swift_. By the event they
proved true Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 51.] _Clarendon_. [The Scots] made as great profession to
him [the King,] of their duty and good purposes, which they said they
would manifest as soon as it should be _seasonable_.--_Swift_. See the
event;--still Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 52.] _Clarendon_, the Marquess of Montrose.--_Swift_ The
only honest Scot.
P. 24. [par. 53.] _Clarendon_. [It] is still believed, that if his
Majesty would have been induced to have satisfied them in that
particular [the extirpation of Episcopacy in England,] they would ...
thereupon have declared for the King.--_Swift_. Rather declare for the
Devil.
P. 26. [par. 60.] _Clarendon_. When the Scots, etc.--_Swift_. Cursed
Scots.
P. 27. [par. 62.] _Clarendon_. That all Governors of any Garrisons, etc.
--_Swift_. Cursed, abominable, hellish, Scottish villains, everlasting
traitors, etc., etc., etc.
P. 28. [par. 64.] _Clarendon_. The Scots, who were enough convinced that
his Majesty could never be wrought upon to sacrifice the Church ... used
all the rude importunity and threats to his Majesty, to persuade him
freely to consent to all.--__Swift _. Most damnable Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 65.] _Clarendon_. The Chancellor of Scotland told him,
etc.--_Swift_. Cursed Scots Chancellor [this remark obliterated].
_Ibid_. [par. 66.] _Clarendon_. The General Assembly ... had petitioned
the conservators of the peace of the kingdom, that if the King should
refuse to give satisfaction to his Parliament, he might not be permitted
to come into Scotland.--_Swift_. Scots inspired by Beelzebub.
P. 29. [par. 68.] _Clarendon_. They agreed; and, upon the payment of two
hundred thousand pounds in hand, and security for as much more upon days
agreed upon, the Scots delivered the King up.--_Swift_. Cursed Scot!
sold his King for a groat. Hellish Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 69.] _Clarendon_. In this infamous manner that excellent
prince was ... given up, by his Scots subjects, to those of his English
who were intrusted by the Parliament to receive him.--_Swift_. From this
period the English Parliament were turned into Scotch devils.
P. 31. [par. 76.] _Clarendon_, Sir Harry Killigrew:--When the Earl of
Essex was chosen general, and the several members of the House stood up,
and declared, what horse they would raise, ... one saying he would
raise ten horses, and another twenty, he stood up and said, "he would
provide a good horse, and a good buff coat, and a good pair of pistols,
and then he doubted not but he should find a good cause;" and so went
out of the House, and rode post into Cornwall.--_Swift_. Another loyall
man used the like saying.
P. 53. [par. 118.] _Clarendon_. Many years after, when he [the Duke of
York] ... made the full relation of all the particulars to me, with that
commotion of spirit, that it appeared to be deeply rooted in him;
[speaking of the King's injunctions to the duke].--_Swift_. Yet he lived
and died a rank Papist, and lost his kingdom.
P. 55. [par. 121.] _Clarendon_. No men were fuller of professions of
duty [to the King], ... than the Scottish commissioners.--_Swift_ The
Scots dogs delivered up their King. False-hearted Scots. [This addition
obliterated.]
_Ibid_. [par. 122.] _Clarendon_. The agitators, and council of officers,
sent some propositions to the King.--_Swift_. Detestable villains,
almost as bad as Scots.
P. 64 [par. 136] _Clarendon_. Mr. Ashburnham had so great a detestation
of the Scots.--_Swift_. So have I.
P. 68. [par. 144.] _Clarendon_. Hammond,--_Swift_. A detes Villain,
almost as wicked as a Scot.
P. 76. [par. 159.] _Clarendon_, Marquess of Argyle.--_Swift_. Always a
cursed family.
P. 77 [par. 159.] _Clarendon_. The commissioners ... were confident that
all Scotland would rise as one man for his Majesty's defence and
vindication.--_Swift_. A strange stupidity, to trust Scots at any time.
_Ibid_. [par. 160.] _Clarendon_. They required ... "that the Prince of
Wales should be present with them, and march in the head of their army."
... The King would by no means consent that the prince should go into
Scotland.--_Swift_. The King acted wisely not to trust the Scots.
P. 79. [par. 162.] _Clarendon_, Treaty signed, Dec. 26, 1647. They (the
Scotch) required:--that an effectual course should be taken ... for the
suppressing the opinions and practices of anti-trinitarians, arians,
socinians, anti-scripturists, anabaptists, antinomians, arminians,
familists, brownists, separatists, independents, libertines, and
seekers.--_Swift_. What a medley of religions! in all thirteen.
P. 80. [par. 163.] _Clarendon_, the same:--They would assert the right
that belonged to the crown, in the power of the militia, the great seal,
bestowing of honours and offices of trust, choice of the
privy-councillors, and the right of the King's negative voice in
Parliament.--_Swift_. They would rather be hanged than agree.
_Ibid_, [ditto.] _Clarendon_, the same:--An army should be sent out of
Scotland ... for making a firm union between the kingdoms under his
Majesty, and his posterity.--_Swift_. Scotch impudence.
P. 81. [par. 165.] _Clarendon_, the same:--The King engaged himself to
employ those of the Scots nation equally with the English in all foreign
employments, and negotiations; and that a third part of all the offices
and places about the King, Queen, and Prince, should be conferred upon
some persons of that nation.--_Swift_. Impudent Scottish scoundrels.
P. 83. [par. 169.] _Clarendon_. The Presbyterians, by whom I mean the
Scots, formed all their counsels by the inclinations, and affections of
the people.--_Swift_. Hellish Scotch dogs.
P. 85. [par. 171.] _Clarendon_. With this universal applause, he
[Fairfax] compelled the Scots army to depart the kingdom, with
that circumstance as must ever after render them odious and
infamous.--_Swift_. He out-cunninged the Scots.
P. 86. [par. 172.] _Clarendon_. But the delivery of the King up, besides
the infamy of it, etc.--_Swift_. That infamy is in the scurvy nature of
a _Scot_, and the best ... of their false hearts. [Written in pencil and
rubbed out--one word is illegible.]
P. 89. [par. 179.] _Clarendon_. The vile artifices of the Scottish
commissioners to draw the King into their hands.--_Swift_. Vile,
treacherous Scots for ever.
BOOK XI.
P. 97. [par. 13.] _Clarendon_, on the discourses against the English in
the Scottish Parliament:--This discourse ... was entertained by the rest
with so general a reception, that Argyle found it would be to no purpose
directly to contradict or oppose it.--_Swift_. An infamous dog, like all
his family.
P. 108. [par. 35.] _Clarendon_. The Prince [Charles II.] set sail first
for Yarmouth road, then for the Downs, having sent his brother, the Duke
of York, with all his family, to The Hague.--_Swift_. A sorry admiral.
P. 109 [ditto] _Clarendon_. The Prince determining to engage his own
person, he [the Duke] submitted to the determination--_Swift_. Popery
and cowardice stuck with him all his life.
_Ibid_. [par. 36] _Clarendon_. The Prince came prepared to depend wholly
upon the Presbyterian party, which, besides the power of the _Scots
army,_ which was every day expected to invade England, was thought to be
possessed of all the strength of the City of London.--_Swift_. Curse on
the rogues!
_Ibid_. [same par.] _Clarendon_. Sent from the Scots[7]--_Swift_. So
much the worse to rely on the cursed Scots.
[Footnote 7: The words are "sent from thence" in edition of 1888. [T.
S.]]
P. 112 [par. 43] _Clarendon_. Argyle took notice of Sir Marmaduke
Langdale's, and Sir Philip Musgrave's being in the town.--_Swift_. That
Scotch dog.
P. 113 [par. 45] _Clarendon_. They entreated them with all imaginable
importunity, that they would take the Covenant.--_Swift_. Their damned
Covenant.
P. 117 [par. 53] _Clarendon_. Sir Philip Musgrave, that it might appear
that they did not exclude any who had taken the Covenant, etc.--_Swift_.
Confound their damnable Covenant!
P. 129 [par. 85] _Clarendon_. Defeat of the Scots army--_Swift_. I
cannot be sorry.
_Ibid_. [pars. 86, 87] _Clarendon_, after the defeat of the Scottish
army, the Earl of Lauderdale had been sent to The Hague The Prince of
Wales--thought fit, that the earl should give an account of his
commission at the board, ... and, that all respect might be shewed to
the Parliament of Scotland, he had a chair allowed him to sit
upon--_Swift_. Respect to a Scotch Parliament, with a pox.
P. 130 [par. 87] _Clarendon_. Redeem His Majesty's person from that
captivity, which they held themselves obliged ... to endeavour to
do--_Swift_. Not to do.
P. 133 [par. 96] _Clarendon_. Within a short time after, orders were
sent out of Scotland for the delivery of Berwick and Carlisle to the
Parliament--_Swift_. Cursed Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 98] _Clarendon_. It was generally believed, that the
Marquess of Argyle earnestly invited him [Cromwell] to this progress
[into Scotland]--_Swift_. That eternal dog, Argyle.
P. 141 [par. 114] _Clarendon_. By the time that the commissioners
returned from the Isle of Wight, and delivered this answer to the
Parliament, news was brought of the defeat of the Scots army, and
Cromwell had written to his friends, etc.--_Swift_. A cursed hell
hound.
P. 142. [par. 116.] _Clarendon_. When there appeared some hopes that the
Scots would raise an army for the relief and release of the
King.--_Swift_. Trust them not, for they are Scots.
P. 145. [par. 120.] _Clarendon_. And himself a prisoner.--_Swift._ Base.
P. 155. [par. 141.] _Clarendon_. The Duke [of York], who was not yet
above fifteen years of age, was so far from desiring to be with the
fleet, that, when there was once a proposition, upon occasion of a
sudden mutiny amongst the seamen, that he should go ... amongst them,
who professed great duty to his Highness, he was so offended at it that
he would not hear of it.--_Swift_. The Duke's courage was always
doubtful.
P. 157. [par. 146.] _Clarendon_. (Many persons of honour ... the rest
had done.)--_Swift_. Parenthesis eleven lines.
P. 167. [par. 169.] _Clarendon_. Two of them [the ministers] very
plainly and fiercely told the King, "that if he did not consent to the
utter abolishing of the Episcopacy, he would be damned."--_Swift_. Very
civil.
P. 168. [par. 172.] _Clarendon_. [The King] did, with much reluctancy,
offer ... "to suspend Episcopacy for three years," etc.--_Swift_.
Prudent concessions.
_Ibid_. [ditto.] _Clarendon_, he consented:--likewise, "that money
should be raised upon the sale of the Church lands, and only
the old rent should be reserved to the just owners and their
successors."--_Swift_. Scotch principles.
_Ibid_. [par. 173.] _Clarendon_. They required farther, "that in all
cases, when the Lords and Commons shall declare the safety of the
kingdom to be concerned, unless the King give his royal assent to such a
Bill as shall be tendered to him for raising money, the Bill shall have
the force of an Act of Parliament, as if he had given his royal
assent."--_Swift_. English dogs, as bad as Scots.
P. 170. [par. 176.] _Clarendon_, on the King's concessions.--_Swift_.
After so many concessions, the commissioners shewed themselves most
damnable villains.
P. 172. [par. 181.] _Clarendon_. [The King] confessed, "If they would
preserve the Scripture Bishop he would take away the Bishop by
Law."--_Swift_. Indeed! a great concession.
P. 174. [par. 187.] _Clarendon_. For Scotland, they demanded "the King's
consent, to confirm by Act of Parliament such agreements as should be
made by both Houses with that kingdom ... for the settling and
preserving a happy and durable peace between the two nations, and for
the mutual defence of each other."--_Swift_. A most diabolical alliance.
P. 175. [par. 189.] _Clarendon_, on the letter from the King to his son,
concerning the treaty.--_Swift_. The whole letter is a most excellent
performance.
P. 176. [par. 189.] _Clarendon_. The major part of both Houses of
Parliament was, at that time, so far from desiring the execution of all
those concessions, that, if they had been able to have resisted the wild
fury of _the army_, they would have been themselves suitors to have
declined the greatest part of them.--_Swift_. Diabolical villains.
P. 177. [par. 193.] _Clarendon_. It cannot be imagined how wonderfully
fearful some persons in France were that he [the King] should have made
his escape, and the dread they had of his coming thither.--_Swift_.
French villains.
P. 180. [par. 198.] _Clarendon_, the Commons sent to Winchester:--their
well tried Serjeant Wild, to be the sole judge of that circuit.--_Swift_.
An infernal dog.
_Ibid_. [par. 200.] _Clarendon_. Young Sir Harry Vane had begun the
debate [upon the treaty] with the highest insolence, and
provocation.--_Swift_. A cursed insolent villain, worse than even a
Scot, or his own father.
P. 183. [par. 206.] _Clarendon_, on the seizure of many Members entering
into the House, by the soldiers.--_Swift_. Damnable proceeding.
P. 184. [ditto.] _Clarendon_, the remaining Members vote the contrary to
their former votes:--that the answer the King had given to their
propositions was not satisfactory.--_Swift_. Cursed rogues.
P. 189. [par. 221.] _Clarendon_. Harrison was the son of a
butcher.--_Swift_. The fitter for that office.
P. 195. [par. 233.] _Clarendon_, Trial of the King:--The King ... told
them, "he would first know of them, by what authority they presumed by
force to bring him before them, and who gave them power to judge of his
actions, for which he was accountable to none but God."--_Swift_. Very
weak.
P. 198. [par. 241] _Clarendon_. [The King] was always a great lover of
the Scottish nation.--_Swift_. There I differ from him.
_Ibid_. [ditto.] _Clarendon_. Having not only been born there, but
educated by that people, and besieged by them always.--_Swift_. Who
were the cause of his destruction, like abominable Scotch dogs.
P. 199. [par. 244] _Clarendon_. In that very hour when he was thus
wickedly murdered in the sight of the sun, he had as great a share in
the hearts and affections of his subjects ... as any of his
predecessors.--_Swift_. Only common pity for his death, and the manner
of it.
P. 208. [par. 261] _Clarendon_, Lord Capel's trial:--_Cromwell,_ who had
known him very well, spoke so much good of him, and professed to have so
much kindness and respect for him, that all men thought he was now
safe.--_Swift_. Cursed dog.
BOOK XII.
P. 217. [par. 4.] _Clarendon_, Charles II. proclaimed in Scotland:
--upon condition of "his good behaviour, and strict observation of the
Covenant, and his entertaining no other persons about him but such as
were godly men, and faithful to that obligation."--_Swift_ Cursed Scots
in every circumstance.
_Ibid_. [par. 5.] _Clarendon_. The new Duke [of Hamilton].--_Swift_. A
Scotch duke, celebrated by the author: a perfect miracle.
_Ibid_. [ditto.] _Clarendon_. A rare virtue in the men of that time.
--_Swift._ [Of that] nation.
P. 218. [par. 7.] _Clarendon_, on the commission sent to England when
the King was tried:--The Marquess of Argyle had had too deep a share in
that wickedness [the delivery of the King], to endure the shock of a new
dispute, and inquisition upon that subject; and therefore gave not the
least opposition to their passion [of the Scots].--_Swift_. A true
Argyle.
_Ibid_. [continuation of the same sentence.] _Clarendon_. But seemed
equally concerned in the honour of the nation, to prosecute an high
expostulation with those of England, for the breach of faith, and the
promises, which had been made for the safety, and preservation of the
King's person, at the time he was delivered up.--_Swift_. The Scots were
the cause and chief instruments of the King's murder by delivering him
up to the English rebels.
P. 222. [par. 13.] _Clarendon_. It was very manifest ... that the
Marquess of Argyle meant only to satisfy the people, in declaring that
they had a King ... but that such conditions should be put upon him, as
he knew, he would not submit to.--_Swift_. Most detestable villain.
P. 224. [par. 17.] _Clarendon_. As soon as he came into the room where
they were.--_Swift_. Abominable Scotch dogs.
P. 225. [ditto.] _Clarendon_. A learned and worthy Scottish divine, Dr.
Wishart.--_Swift_. A prodigious rarity.
_Ibid_. [par. 18.] _Clarendon_. The Earl [of Lauderdale] told him [one
of the council] ... that he could not imagine, or conceive the
barbarities and inhumanities Montrose was guilty of, in the time he made
a war in Scotland.--_Swift_. That earl was a beast; I mean Lauderdale.
_Ibid_, [ditto.] _Clarendon_. That he [Montrose] had in one battle
killed fifteen hundred of one family, of the Campbells, of the blood and
name of Argyle.--_Swift_. Not half enough of that execrable breed.
P. 228. [par. 24.] _Clarendon_, for the embassy from the Parliament:
--one Dorislaus, a doctor in the civil law, was named.--_Swift_. A
Dutch fellow, employed by those regicides who murdered the King.
P. 237. [par. 41.] _Clarendon_. The Prince of Orange ... wished, "that,
in regard of the great differences which were in England about matters
of religion, the King would offer ... to refer all matters in
controversy concerning religion to a national synod."--_Swift_. I do
not approve it.
P. 249. [par. 69.] _Clarendon_, on the defeat of the Marquess of Ormonde
by Jones.--_Swift_. Ormonde's army discomfited!
P. 265. [par. 119.] _Clarendon_. And that Committee of the
Parliament.--_Swift_. Scots.
_Ibid_. [par. 119.] _Clarendon_. The council of Scotland ... sent a
gentleman ... to invite his Majesty again to come into his kingdom of
Scotland, not without a rude insinuation that it was the last invitation
he should receive.--_Swift_. Still cursed Scots.
P. 267. [par. 122.] _Clarendon_, on the conditions sent from Scotland to
Breda, in case the King consented to come to Scotland:--The King
himself, and all who should attend upon him, were first to sign the
Covenant before they should be admitted to enter into the
kingdom.--_Swift_. Damnable Scottish dogs.
P. 268. [par. 125.] _Clarendon_, some lords warned the King, that it was
to be feared that:--Argyle would immediately deliver up the person of
the King into the hands of Cromwell.--_Swift_. That Scotch dog was
likely enough to do so, and much worse.
_Ibid_. [par. 126.] _Clarendon_, the ambassadors in Spain:--were
extremely troubled, both of them having always had a strong aversion
that the King should ever venture himself in the hands of that
party of the Scottish nation, which had treated his father so
perfidiously.--_Swift_. Damnable nation for ever.
P. 269. [par. 127.] _Clarendon_. [The King] was before [in Spain] looked
upon as being dispossessed, and disinherited of all his dominions, as if
he had no more subjects than those few who were banished with him, and
that there was an entire defection in all the rest. But now that he was
possessed of one whole kingdom, etc.--_Swift_. Yet all cursed villains;
a possession of the Devil's kingdom, where every Scot was a rebel.
_Ibid_. [par. 128.] _Clarendon_. There fell out at this time ... an
accident of such a prodigious nature, that, if Providence had not, for
the reproach of Scotland, determined that the King should once more make
experiment of the courage and fidelity of that nation, could not but
have diverted his Majesty from that northern expedition; which, how
unsecure soever it appeared to be for the King, was predestinated for a
greater chastisement and mortification of that people, as it shortly
after proved to be: [alluding to Montrose's execution.]--_Swift_. That
is good news.
P. 270. [par. 128.] _Clarendon_. The Marquess [of Montrose], who was
naturally full of great thoughts, and confident of success.--_Swift_.
He was the only man in Scotland who had ever one grain of virtue; and
was therefore abhorred, and murdered publicly by his hellish countrymen.
P. 270. [par. 129.] _Clarendon_. There were many officers of good name
and account in Sweden, of the Scottish nation.--_Swift_. Impossible.
P. 271. [par. 130.] _Clarendon_. Montrose knew, that of the two factions
there, which were not like to be reconciled, each of them were equally
his implacable enemies.--_Swift_. Very certain.
_Ibid_, [ditto.] _Clarendon_. The whole kirk ... being alike malicious
to him.--_Swift._ Scots damnable kirk.
P. 272. [par. 131]. _Clarendon_. Many of [the nobility] ... assured him
[Montrose], that they would meet him with good numbers; and they did
prepare to do so, some really; and others, with a purpose to betray
him.--_Swift_. Much the greater number.
_Ibid_. [par. 133.] _Clarendon_. The tyranny of Argyle ... caused very
many to be barbarously murdered, without any form of law or justice, who
had been in arms with Montrose.--_Swift_. That perpetual inhuman dog and
traitor, and all his posterity, to a man, damnable villains.
P. 273. [par 134.] _Clarendon_ Most of the other officers were shortly
after taken prisoners, all the country desiring to merit from Argyle by
betraying all those into his hands which they believed to be his
enemies.--_Swift_. The virtue and morality of the Scots.
_Ibid_, [ditto] _Clarendon_. And thus, whether _by the owner of the
house_ or any other way, the Marquess himself became their
prisoner.--_Swift_. A tyrannical Scottish dog.
P. 274. [par. 137.] _Clarendon_ "That for the League and Covenant, he
had never taken it," etc.--_Swift_. The Devil, their God, I believe had
taken it. [This remark is nearly obliterated.]
_Ibid_. [par. 138] _Clarendon_, sentence on Montrose:--That he was ...
to be carried to Edinburgh Cross, and there to be hanged upon a gallows
thirty foot high, for the space of three hours, etc.--_Swift_. Oh! if
the whole nation, to a man, were just so treated! begin with Argyle, and
next with the fanatic dogs who teased him with their kirk scurrilities.
_Ibid_. [par. 139.] _Clarendon_. After many such barbarities, they [the
ministers] offered to intercede for him to the kirk upon his repentance,
and to pray with him.--_Swift_. Most treacherous, damnable, infernal
Scots for ever!
P. 275. [par. 140] _Clarendon_. He bore it [the execution] with ill the
courage and magnanimity, and the greatest piety, that a good Christian
could manifest.--_Swift._ A perfect hero; wholly un-Scotified.
_Ibid_, [ditto] _Clarendon_. [He] prayed, "that they might not betray
him [the King], as they had done his father."--_Swift_. A very
seasonable prayer, but never performed.
P. 275. [par. 142.] _Clarendon_. The Marquess of Argyle ... wanted
nothing but _honesty and courage_ to be a very extraordinary
man.--_Swift_. Trifles to a Scot.
P. 276. [par. 143.] _Clarendon_. They who were most displeased with
Argyle and his faction, were not sorry for this inhuman, and monstrous
prosecution [of Montrose].--_Swift_. Impudent, lying Scottish dogs.
BOOK XIII.
P. 285. [par. 1.] _Clarendon_. Without he likewise consented to
those.--_Swift_. Bad.
P. 286. [par. 3.] _Clarendon_. The King was received by the Marquess of
Argyle with all the outward respect imaginable.--_Swift_. That dog of
all Scotch dogs.
_Ibid_, [ditto.] _Clarendon_. They did immediately banish him [Daniel
O'Neill] the kingdom, and obliged him to sign a paper, by which he
consented to be put to death, if he were ever after found in the
kingdom.--_Swift_. In Scotland, with a pox.
P. 287. [par. 5.] _Clarendon_. The King's table was well served.
--_Swift_. With Scotch food, etc. etc. etc.
P. 300. [par 36.] _Clarendon_. The King had left ... the Duke of York
with the Queen, with direction "that he should conform himself entirely
to the will and pleasure of the Queen his mother, matters of religion
only excepted."--_Swift_. Yet lost his kingdom for the sake of Popery.
P. 301. [par. 37.] _Clarendon_. The Duke [of York] was full of spirit
and courage, and naturally loved designs.--_Swift. Quantum mutatus!_
P. 304. [par. 42.] _Clarendon_, on the proposed match between the Duke
of York, and the Duke of Lorraine's natural daughter:--Only Sir George
Ratcliffe undertook to speak to him about it, who could only make
himself understood in Latin, which the Duke cared not to speak
in.--_Swift_. Because he was illiterate, and only read Popish Latin.
P. 305. [par. 44.] _Clarendon_. [The Queen] bid him [the chancellor of
the exchequer] "assure the Duke of York, that he should have a free
exercise of his religion, as he had before."--_Swift_. Who unkinged
himself for Popery.
P. 306. [par. 45.] _Clarendon_. It was indeed the common discourse there
[in Holland], "that the Protestants of the Church of England could never
do the King service, but that all his hopes must be in the Roman
Catholics, and the Presbyterians."--_Swift_. A blessed pair.
_Ibid_. [par. 46.] _Clarendon_. [The Duke of York] was fortified with, a
firm resolution never to acknowledge that he had committed any
error.--_Swift_. No, not when he lost his kingdom or Popery.
P. 311. [par. 58.] _Clarendon_. The King had ... friendship with Duke
Hamilton.--_Swift. Vix intelligo_.
P. 318. [par. 75.] _Clarendon_, the King's defeat at Worcester, 3d of
September.--_Swift_. September 3d, always lucky to Cromwell.
P. 339. [par. 122.] _Clarendon_. There was no need of spurs to be
employed to incite the Duke [of York]; who was most impatient to be in
the army.--_Swift_ How old was he when he turned a Papist, and a coward?
P. 340. [par. 123.] _Clarendon_. The Duke pressed it [his being allowed
to join the army] with earnestness and passion, in which he dissembled
not.--_Swift. Dubitat Augustinus_.
P. 343. [par. 128.] _Clarendon_, the Duke, in the French army:--got the
reputation of a prince of very signal courage, and to be universally
beloved of the whole army by his affable behaviour.--_Swift_. But
proved a cowardly Popish king.
P. 348, line 50. _Swift_. Scots.
P, 349. [par. 140.] _Clarendon_. The chancellor ... told his Majesty,
"this trust would for ever deprive him of all hope of the Queen's
favour; who could not but discern it within three or four days, and, by
the frequent resort of the Scottish vicar [one Knox; who came with
Middleton to Paris,] to him" (who had the vanity to desire long
conferences with him) "that there was some secret in hand which was kept
from her."--_Swift_. The little Scottish scoundrel, conceited vicar.
BOOK XIV.
P. 386. [par. 41.] _Clarendon_. Scotland lying under a heavy yoke by the
strict government of Monk.--_Swift_. I am glad of that.
P. 387. [par. 44.] _Clarendon_. The day of their meeting [Cromwell's
Parliament] was the third of September in the year 1654.--_Swift_. His
lucky day.
P. 394. [par. 56.] _Clarendon_. The Highlanders ... made frequent
incursions in the night into the English quarters; and killed many of
their soldiers, but stole more of their horses.--_Swift_. Rank Scottish
thieves.
P. 413. [par. 95.] _Clarendon_. A bold person to publish, etc.--
_Swift_. Bussy Rabutin, Amours des Gaules.
P. 414. [par. 96.] _Clarendon_. There was at that time in the court of
France, or rather in the jealousy of that court, a lady of great beauty,
of a presence very graceful and alluring, and a wit and behaviour that
captivated those who were admitted into her presence; [to whom Charles
II. made an offer of marriage]--_Swift_. A prostitute whore.
P. 420. [par. 109.] _Clarendon_. The chancellor of the exchequer one day
... desired him [the king] "to consider upon this news, and importunity
from Scotland, whether in those Highlands there might not be such a safe
retreat and residence, that he might reasonably say, that with the
affections of that people, which had been always firm both to his father
and himself, he might preserve himself in safety, though he could not
hope to make any advance."--_Swift_. The chancellor never thought so
well of the Scots before.
_Ibid_, [ditto.] _Clarendon_. His Majesty discoursed very calmly of that
country, ... "that, if sickness did not destroy him, which he had reason
to expect from the ill accommodation he must be there contented with, he
should in a short time be betrayed and given up"--_Swift_. But the King
knew them better.
P. 425. [par. 118.] _Clarendon_. [The King's enemies] persuaded many in
England, and especially of those of the reformed religion abroad, that
his Majesty was in truth a Papist.--_Swift_. Which was true.
P. 443.[8] _Clarendon_. The wretch [Manning], soon after, received the
reward due to his treason.--_Swift_. In what manner?
[Footnote 8: This sentence, which follows at the end of par. 146, is
omitted in the edition of 1888. [T.S.]]
BOOK XV.
P. 469. [par. 53.] _Clarendon._ That which made a noise indeed, and
crowned his [Cromwell's] successes, was the victory his fleet, under the
command of Blake, had obtained over the Spaniard.--_Swift_. I wish he
were alive, for the dogs the Spaniards' sake, instead of our worthless
H----.
P. 495. [par. 119, sec. 3,] _Clarendon_, in the address of the
Anabaptists to the King:--"We ... humbly beseech your Majesty, that you
would engage your royal word never to erect, nor suffer to be erected,
any such tyrannical, Popish, and Antichristian hierarchy (Episcopal,
Presbyterian, or by what name soever it be called) as shall assume a
power over, or impose a yoke upon, the consciences of others."--_Swift_.
Honest, though fanatics.
P. 501. [par. 136.] _Clarendon_, at the siege of Dunkirk:--Marshal
Turenne, accompanied with the Duke of York, who would never be absent
upon those occasions, ... spent two or three days in viewing the line
round,--_Swift_. James II., a fool and a coward.
P. 502. [par. 137.] _Clarendon_. There was a rumour.., that the Duke of
York was taken prisoner by the English, ... whereupon many of the French
officers, and gentlemen, resolved to set him at liberty; ... So great an
affection that nation owned to have for his Highness.--_Swift_. Yet he
lived and died a coward.
BOOK XVI.
P. 523. [par. 29.] _Clarendon_, on the discovery of the treachery of Sir
Richard Willis.--_Swift_. Doubtful.
P. 539. [par. 47.[9]] _Clarendon_. If it had not been for the King's own
_steadiness_.--_Swift_. Of which, in religion, he never had any.
[Footnote 9: This was par. 74 in the edition of 1849. [T.S.]]
P. 540. [par. 75.] _Clarendon_, upon the Duke of York's being invited
into Spain, with the office of El Admirante del Oceano, he was warned
that he:--would never be suffered to go to sea under any title of
command, till he first changed his religion.--_Swift_. As he did openly
in England.
P. 559. [par. 131.] _Clarendon_. There being scarce a bon-fire at which
they did not roast a rump.--_Swift_. The _Rump_.
P. 583. [par. 194.] _Clarendon_, Declaration of the King, April 4-1/4
1660:--"Let all our subjects, how faulty soever, rely upon the word of a
King," etc.--_Swift_. Usually good for nothing.
_Ibid_. [ditto.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"A free Parliament; by which,
upon the word of a King, we will be advised."--_Swift_. Provided he be
an honest and sincere man.
P. 585. [par. 199.] _Clarendon_, Letter to the fleet:--"Which gives us
great encouragement and hope, that God Almighty will heal the wounds by
the same plaster that made the flesh raw."--_Swift_. A very low
comparison.
P. 586. [par. 201.] _Clarendon_, Letter to the city of London:--"Their
affections to us in the city of London; which hath exceedingly raised
our spirits, and which, no doubt, hath proceeded from the Spirit of God,
and His extraordinary mercy to the nation; which hath been encouraged by
you, and your good example ... to discountenance the imaginations of
those who would subject our subjects to a government they have not yet
devised."--_Swift_. Cacofonia.
P. 595. [par. 222.] _Clarendon_, Proclamation of the King, May 8, by the
Parliament, Lord Mayor, etc.:--"We ... acknowledge, ... that ... he
[Charles II.] is of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, the most
potent, mighty, and undoubted King; and thereunto we most humbly and
faithfully do submit, and oblige ourselves, our heirs, and posterity for
ever."--_Swift_. Can they oblige their posterity 10,000 years to come?
P. 596. [par. 225]. _Clarendon_, The case of Colonel Ingoldsby: After he
had refused to sign the death-warrant of the King:--Cromwell, and
others, held him by violence; and Cromwell, with a loud laughter, taking
his hand in his, and putting the pen between his fingers, with his own
hand writ Richard Ingoldsby he making all the resistance he
could.--_Swift_. A mistake; for it was his own hand-writ, without any
restraint.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
REMARKS ON
"BISHOP BURNET'S HISTORY OF ['SCOTLAND
IN'--_SWIFT_] HIS OWN TIME,"
FOLIO EDITION, 1724-34.
FROM THE ORIGINAL, IN THE LIBRARY of THE LATE
MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE.
NOTE.
The standard edition of Burnet's interesting "History" is that by Dr.
Routh, first issued in 1823 and revised in a second edition in 1833. Mr.
Osmund Airy is at present engaged on a new edition for the Clarendon
Press, but so far only two volumes have been published. It was in Dr.
Routh's edition that almost all of Swift's notes first appeared. In the
Preface to the issue of 1823, the learned editor informs us that Swift's
notes were taken "from his own copy of the history, which had come into
the possession of the first Marquis of Lansdowne." A note in the edition
of 1833 corrects a statement made in the previous edition that Swift's
copy had been burnt. It was not Swift's own copy, but a copy containing
a transcript of Swift's notes that was burnt.
In the preparation of the present text every available reference has
been searched. Sir Walter Scott's reprint of Swift's "Notes" was sadly
inadequate. Not only did he misquote the references to Burnet's work,
but he could not have consulted the Lansdowne copy, since fully a third
of the "notes" were altogether ignored by him. It is believed that the
text here given contains every note accurately placed to its proper
account in Burnet's "History." The references are to the edition in
folio issued in 1724-1734.
In the twenty-seventh volume of the "European Magazine," and in the two
following volumes, a fair proportion of Swift's notes were first
published. These were reprinted by Dr. Burnet in 1808, in his "Essay on
the Earlier Part of the Life of Swift." Both these authorities have been
consulted. Dr. Routh's modesty forbade him including six of the notes,
because they were "not written with the requisite decorum." These have
been included here. Mr. Osmund Airy has "thought it unadvisable to
encumber the pages with simple terms of abuse"; but an editor of Swift's
works cannot permit himself this licence. His duty is to include
everything.
The text of the "Short Remarks" is taken from vol. viii., Part 1, of the
quarto edition of Swift's works, edited by Deane Swift, and published in
1765.
[T.S.]
SHORT REMARKS ON
BISHOP BURNET'S HISTORY.
This author is in most particulars the worst qualified for an historian
that ever I met with. His style is rough, full of improprieties, in
expressions often Scotch, and often such as are used by the meanest
people.[1] He discovers a great scarcity of words and phrases, by
repeating the same several hundred times, for want of capacity to vary
them. His observations are mean and trite, and very often false. His
secret history is generally made up of coffeehouse scandals, or at best
from reports at the third, fourth, or fifth hand. The account of the
Pretender's birth, would only become an old woman in a chimney-corner.
His vanity runs intolerably through the whole book, affecting to have
been of consequence at nineteen years old, and while he was a little
Scotch parson of forty pounds a year. He was a gentleman born, and, in
the time of his youth and vigour, drew in an old maiden daughter of a
Scotch earl to marry him.[2] His characters are miserably wrought, in
many things mistaken, and all of them detracting,[3] except of those who
were friends to the Presbyterians. That early love of liberty he boasts
of is absolutely false; for the first book that I believe he ever
published is an entire treatise in favour of passive obedience and
absolute power; so that his reflections on the clergy, for asserting,
and then changing those principles, come very improperly from him. He is
the most partial of all writers that ever pretended so much to
impartiality; and yet I, who knew him well, am convinced that he is as
impartial as he could possibly find in his heart; I am sure more than I
ever expected from him; particularly in his accounts of the Papist and
fanatic plots. This work may be more properly called "A History of
Scotland during the Author's Time, with some Digressions relating to
England," rather than deserve the title he gives it. For I believe two
thirds of it relate only to that beggarly nation, and their
insignificant brangles and factions. What he succeeds best in, is in
giving extracts of arguments and debates in council or Parliament.
Nothing recommends his book but the recency of the facts he mentions,
most of them being still in memory, especially the story of the
Revolution; which, however, is not so well told as might be expected
from one who affects to have had so considerable a share in it. After
all, he was a man of generosity and good nature, and very communicative;
but, in his ten last years, was absolutely party-mad, and fancied he saw
Popery under every bush. He hath told me many passages not mentioned in
this history, and many that are, but with several circumstances
suppressed or altered. He never gives a good character without one
essential point, that the person was tender to Dissenters, and thought
many things in the Church ought to be amended.
[Footnote 1: "His own opinion," says my predecessor, Mr Nichols, "was
very different, as appears by the original MS of his History, wherein
the following lines are legible, though among those which were ordered
not to be printed 'And if I have arrived at any faculty of writing
clearly and correctly, I owe that entirely to them [Tillotson and
Lloyd]. For as they joined with Wilkins, in that noble, though despised
attempt, of an _universal character_, and a philosophical language; they
took great pains to observe all the common errors of language in
general, and of ours in particular. And in the drawing the tables for
that work, which was Lloyd's province, he looked further into a natural
purity and simplicity of style, than any man I ever knew; into all which
he led me, and so helped me to any measure of exactness of writing,
which may be thought to belong to me.' The above was originally designed
to have followed the words, 'I know from them,' vol. i. p. 191, 1. 7,
fol. ed. near the end of A.D. 1661." [S]]
[Footnote 2: Lady Margaret Kennedy, daughter to the Earl of Cassilis.
[S.]]
[Footnote 3: A note in Swift's Works, vol. ix., pt. ii. [1775] says:
After "detracting," add "Many of which were stricken through with his
own hand, but left legible in the MS.; which he ordered, in his last
will, 'his executor to print faithfully, as he left it, without adding,
suppressing, or altering it in any particular.' In the second volume,
Judge Burnet, the Bishop's son and executor, promises that 'the original
manuscript of both volumes shall be deposited in the Cotton Library.'
But this promise does not appear to have been fulfilled; at least it
certainly was not in 1736, when two letters were printed, addressed to
Thomas Burnet, Esq. In p. 8 of the Second Letter, the writer [Philip
Beach] asserted, that he had in his own possession 'an authentic and
complete collection of the castrated passages.'" [T.S.]]
_Setting up for a maxim, laying down for a maxim, clapt up, decency,_
and some other words and phrases, he uses many hundred times.
_Cut out for a court, a pardoning planet, clapt up, left in the lurch,
the mob, outed, a great beauty, went roundly to work:_ All these phrases
used by the vulgar, shew him to have kept mean or illiterate company in
his youth.
REMARKS ON BURNET'S HISTORY OF HIS OWN TIME.
PREFACE, p. 3. _Burnet._
Indeed the peevishness, the ill nature, and the ambition of many
clergymen has sharpened my spirits perhaps too much against them; so I
_warn_ my reader to take all that I say on these heads with some grains
of allowance.--_Swift._ I will take his _warning._
P. 4. _Burnet._ Over and over again retouched and polished by
me.--_Swift._ Rarely polished; I never read so ill a style.
Ibid. _Burnet._ That thereby I may awaken the world to just reflections
on their own errors and follies.--_Swift._ This I take to be nonsense.
BOOK I.
P. 6. _Burnet._ That king saw that those who were most in his interests
were likewise jealous of his authority, and apt to encroach upon
it.--_Swift._ Nonsense.
P. 10. _Burnet_ says that competent provision to those who served the
cure:--was afterwards in his son's time raised to about fifty pounds a
year.--_Swift._ Scotch pounds, I suppose.
P. 11. _Burnet._ Colonel Titus assured me that he had from King Charles
the First's own mouth, that he was well assured he [Prince Henry] was
poisoned by the Earl of Somerset's means.--_Swift._ Titus was the
greatest rogue in England.
P. 18. _Burnet_ says that Gowry's conspiracy against King James was
confirmed to him by his father.--_Swift._ Melvil makes nothing of it.
P. 20. _Burnet._ I turn now to the affairs of Scotland, which are but
little known.--_Swift._ Not worth knowing.
P. 23. _Burnet,_ Archbishop Spotswood began:--his journey as he
often did on a Sunday, which was a very odious thing in that
country.--_Swift._ Poor malice.
P. 24. _Burnet,_ Mr. Steward, a private gentleman, became:--so
considerable that he was raised by several degrees to be made Earl of
Traquair and Lord-Treasurer [of Scotland], and was in great favour; but
suffered afterwards such a reverse of fortune, that I saw him so low
that he wanted bread, ... and it was believed died of hunger.--_Swift._
A strange death: perhaps it was of want of _meat_.
P. 26. _Burnet._ My father ... carefully preserved the petition itself,
and the papers relating to the trial [of Lord Balmerinoch]; of which I
never saw any copy besides those which I have. ... The whole record ...
is indeed a very noble piece, full of curious matter.--_Swift._ Puppy.
P. 28. _Burnet._ The Earl of Argyle was a more solemn sort of man, grave
and sober, free of all scandalous vices.--_Swift._ As a man is free of a
corporation, he means.
P. 29. _Burnet._ The Lord Wharton and the Lord Howard of Escrick
undertook to deliver some of these; which they did, and were _clapt up_
upon it.--_Swift._ Dignity of expression.
P. 30. _Burnet._ [King Charles I.] was now in great straits ... his
treasure was now exhausted; his subjects were highly irritated; the
ministry were all frighted, being exposed to the anger and justice of
the Parliament. ... He loved high and rough methods, but had neither the
skill to conduct them, nor the height of genius to manage
them.--_Swift._ Not one good quality named.
P. 31. _Burnet._ The Queen [of Charles I.] was a woman of great vivacity
in conversation, and loved all her life long to be _in intrigues of all
sorts._--_Swift._ Not of love, I hope.
Ibid. _Burnet._ By the concessions that he made, especially that of the
triennial Parliament, the honest and quiet part of the nation was
satisfied, and thought their religion and liberties were secured: So
they broke off from those violenter propositions that occasioned the
war.--_Swift._ Dark, or nonsense.
Ibid. _Burnet._ He intended not to stand to them any longer than he lay
under that force that visibly drew them from him contrary to his own
inclinations.--_Swift._ Sad trash.
P. 33. _Burnet._ The first volume of the Earl of Clarendon's "History"
gives a faithful representation of the beginnings of the troubles,
though writ in favour of the court.--_Swift._ Writ with the spirit of an
historian, not of [a raker] into scandal.
P. 34. _Burnet._ Dickson, Blair, Rutherford, Baily, Cant, and the two
Gillispys ... affected great sublimities in devotion: They poured
themselves out in their prayers with a loud voice, and often with many
tears. They had but an ordinary proportion of learning among them;
something of Hebrew, and very little Greek: Books of controversy with
Papists, but above all with the Arminians, was the height of their
study.--_Swift._ Great nonsense. Rutherford was half fool, half mad.
P. 40. _Burnet,_ speaking of the bad effects of the Marquess of
Montrose's expedition and defeat, says:--It alienated the Scots much
from the King: It exalted all that were enemies to peace. Now they
seemed to have some colour for all those aspersions they had cast on the
King, as if he had been in a correspondence with the Irish rebels, when
the worst tribe of them had been thus employed by him.--_Swift._ Lord
Clarendon differs from all this.
P. 41. _Burnet._ The Earl of Essex told me, that he had taken all the
pains he could to enquire into the original of the Irish massacre, but
could never see any reason to believe the King had any accession to
it.--_Swift._ And who but _a beast_ ever believed it?
P. 42. _Burnet,_ arguing with the Scots concerning the propriety of the
King's death, observes:--Drummond said, "Cromwell had plainly the better
of them at their own weapon."--_Swift._ And Burnet thought as Cromwell
did.
P. 46. _Burnet._ They [the army] will ever keep the Parliament in
subjection to them, and so keep up their own authority.--_Swift._ Weak.
Ibid. _Burnet._ Fairfax was much distracted in his mind, and changed
purposes often every day.--_Swift._ Fairfax had hardly common sense.
P. 49. _Burnet._ I will not enter farther into the military part: For I
remember an advice of Marshal Schomberg's, never to meddle in the
relation of military matters.--_Swift._ Very foolish advice, for
soldiers cannot write.
P. 50. _Burnet._ [Laud's] defence of himself, writ ... when he was in
the Tower, is a very mean performance. ... In most particulars he
excuses himself by this, that he was but one of many, who either in
council, star-chamber, or high commission voted illegal things. Now
though this was true, yet a chief minister, and one in high favour,
determines the rest so much, that they are generally little better than
machines acted by him. On other occasions he says, the thing was proved
but by one witness. Now, how strong soever this defence may be in law,
it is of no force in an appeal to the world; for if a thing is true, it
is no matter how full or how defective the proof is.--_Swift._ All this
is full of malice and ill judgement.
Ibid. _Burnet,_ speaking of the "Eikon Basilike," supposed to be written
by Charles the First, says:--There was in it a nobleness and justness of
thought with a greatness of style, that made it to be looked on as the
best writ book in the English language.--_Swift._ I think it a poor
treatise, and that the King did not write it.
P. 51. _Burnet._ Upon the King's death the Scots proclaimed his son
King, and sent over Sir George Wincam, _that married my great-aunt_, to
treat with him while he was in the Isle of Jersey.--_Swift._ Was that
the reason he was sent?
P. 53. _Burnet._ I remember in one fast-day there were six sermons
preached without intermission. I was there myself, and not a little
weary of so tedious a service.--_Swift._ Burnet was not then eight years
old.
P. 61. _Burnet,_ speaking of the period of the usurpation in
Scotland:--Cromwell built three citadels, at Leith, Ayr, and Inverness,
besides many little forts. There was good justice done, and vice was
suppressed and punished; so that we always reckon those eight years of
usurpation a time of great peace and prosperity.--_Swift._ No doubt you
do.
P. 63. _Burnet,_ speaking of the Scotch preachers at sacrament times
during the civil wars, says:--The crowds were far beyond the capacity of
their churches, or the reach of their voices.--_Swift._ I believe the
church had as much capacity as the minister.
P. 64. _Burnet._ The resolutioners sent up one Sharp, who had been long
in England, and was an active and eager man.--_Swift._ Afterwards
archbishop, and murdered.
P. 66. _Burnet._ Thus Cromwell had all the King's party in a net. He let
them dance in it at pleasure. And upon occasions _clapt_ them up for a
short while.--_Swift._ Pox of his _claps_.
P. 87. _Burnet,_ speaking of the Restoration:--Of all this Monk had both
the praise and the reward, though I have been told a very small share of
it belonged to him.--_Swift._ Malice.
BOOK II.
P. 92. _Burnet._ I will therefore enlarge ... on the affairs of
Scotland; both out of the inbred love that all men have for their native
country, etc.--_Swift._ Could not he keep his inbred love to himself?
Ibid. _Burnet._ Sharp, who was employed by the resolutioners ... stuck
neither at solemn protestations, ... nor at appeals to God of his
sincerity in acting for the presbytery both in prayers and on other
occasions, etc.--_Swift._ Sure there was some secret personal cause of
all this malice against Sharp.
P. 93. _Burnet,_ speaking of Charles II. says:--He was affable and easy,
and loved to be made so by all about him. The great art of keeping him
long was, the being easy, and the making everything easy to
him.--_Swift._ Eloquence.
P. 99. _Burnet_ says of Bennet, afterwards Earl of Arlington:--His parts
were solid, but not quick.--_Swift._ They were very quick.
P. 100. _Burnet_ says of the Duke of Buckingham:--Pleasure, frolic, or
extravagant diversion was all that he laid to heart. He was true to
nothing, for he was not true to himself.--_Swift._ No consequence.
_Burnet._ He had no steadiness nor conduct: He could keep no secret, nor
execute any design without spoiling it.--_Swift._ Nonsense.
P. 117. _Burnet._ It was visible that neither the late King nor the
present were under any force when they passed ... those Acts [bringing
in Presbyterian government].--_Swift._ Both Kings were under a force.
P. 118. _Burnet._ To annul a Parliament was a terrible precedent, which
destroyed the whole security of government.--_Swift._ Wrong arguing.
Ibid. _Burnet._ Distress on his affairs was really equivalent to a force
on his person.--_Swift._ It was so.
P. 119. _Burnet._ We went into it, he said, as knaves, and therefore no
wonder if we miscarried in it as fools.--_Swift._ True.
Ibid. _Burnet._ No government was so well established, as not to be
liable to a revolution. This [the Rescissory Act] would cut off all
hopes of peace and submission, if any disorder should happen at any time
thereafter.--_Swift._ Wrong weak reasoning.
P. 120. _Burnet._ Such care was taken that no public application should
be made in favour of Presbytery. Any attempt that was made on the other
hand met with great encouragement.--_Swift._ Does the man write like a
bishop?
P. 126. _Burnet,_ speaking of the execution of the Marquess of
Argyle:--After some time spent in his private devotions he was
beheaded.--_Swift._ He was the greatest villain of his age.
Ibid. _Burnet._ The kirk ... asserted all along that the doctrine
delivered in their sermons did not fall under the cognisance of the
temporal courts, till it was first judged by the church.--_Swift._
Popery.
P. 127. _Burnet._ The proceedings against Wariston were soon
dispatched.--_Swift._ Wariston was an abominable dog.
P. 135. _Burnet,_ of Bishop Leightoun's character:--The grace and
gravity of his pronunciation was such, that few heard him without a very
sensible emotion. ... His style was rather too fine.--_Swift._ Burnet is
not guilty of that.
P. 140. _Burnet._ Leightoun did not stand much upon it. He did not
_think_ orders given without bishops were null and void. He _thought_,
the forms of government were not settled by such positive laws as were
unalterable; but only by apostolical practices, which, as he _thought_,
authorized Episcopacy as the best form. Yet he did not _think_ it
necessary to the being of a church. But he _thought_ that every church
might make such rules of ordination as they pleased.--_Swift. Think,
thought, thought, think, thought._
P. 154. _Burnet,_ speaking of a proclamation for shutting up two hundred
churches in one day:--Sharp said to myself, that he knew nothing of it.
... He was glad that this was done without his having any share in it:
For by it he was furnished with somewhat, in which he was no way
concerned, upon which he might cast all the blame of all that followed.
Yet this was suitable enough to a maxim that he and all that sort of
people set up, that the execution of laws was that by which all
governments maintained their strength, as well as their
honour.--_Swift._ Dunce, can there be a better maxim?
P. 157. _Burnet,_ speaking of those who enforced church discipline,
says:--They had a very scanty measure of learning, and a narrow compass
in it. They were little men, of a very indifferent size of capacity, and
apt to fly out into great excess of passion and indiscretion.--_Swift._
Strange inconsistent stuff.
P. 160. _Burnet._ One Venner ... thought it was not enough to believe
that Christ was to reign on earth, and to put the saints in the
possession of the kingdom ... but added to this, that the saints were to
take the kingdom themselves.--_Swift._ This wants grammar.
P. 163. _Burnet._ John Goodwin and Milton did also escape all censure,
to the surprise of all people.--_Swift._ He censures even mercy.
Ibid. _Burnet._ Milton ... was ... much admired by all at home for the
poems he writ, though he was then blind; chiefly that of "Paradise
Lost," in which there is a nobleness both of contrivance and execution,
that, though he affected to write in blank verse without rhyme, and made
many new and rough words, yet it was esteemed the beautifullest
and perfectest poem that ever was writ, at least in _our_
language.--_Swift._ A mistake, for it is _in English._
P. 164. _Burnet._ The great share he [Sir Henry Vane] had in the
attainder of the Earl Strafford, and in the whole turn of affairs to the
total change of government, but above all the great opinion that was had
of his parts and capacity to embroil matters again, made the court think
it was necessary to put him out of the way.--_Swift._ A malicious turn.
Vane was a dangerous enthusiastic beast.
Ibid. _Burnet._ When he [Sir Henry Vane] saw his death was designed, he
composed himself to it, with a resolution that surprised all who knew
how little of that was natural to him. Some instances of this were very
extraordinary, though they cannot be mentioned with _decency_.--_Swift._
His lady _conceived_ of him the night before his execution.
Ibid. _Burnet._ Sir Henry Vane died with so much composedness, that it
was generally thought, the government had lost more than it had gained
by his death.--_Swift._ Vane was beheaded for new attempts, not here
mentioned.
P. 179. _Burnet._ [The Papists] seemed zealous for the Church. But at
the same time they spoke of toleration, as necessary both for the peace
and quiet of the nation, and for the encouragement of trade.--_Swift._
This is inconsistent.
P. 180. _Burnet_ says that Mr. Baxter:--was a man of great piety; and,
if he had not meddled in too many things, would have been esteemed one
of the learned men of the age: He writ near _two hundred
books._--_Swift._ Very sad ones.
P. 184. _Burnet._ The Convocation that prepared those alterations, as
they added some new holy days, St. Barnabas, and the Conversion of St.
Paul, so they took in more lessons out of the Apocrypha, in particular
the story of Bel and the Dragon.--_Swift._ I think they acted wrong.
Ibid. _Burnet._ Reports were spread ... of the plots of the
Presbyterians in several counties. Many were taken up on those reports:
But none were ever tried for them.--_Swift._ A common practice.
Ibid. _Burnet,_ writing of the ejection of the Nonconformists on St.
Bartholomew's Day, 1662, says:--A severity neither practised by Queen
Elizabeth in the enacting her Liturgy, nor by Cromwell in ejecting the
Royalists.--_Swift._ But by King William.
P. 186. _Burnet,_ speaking of the great fines raised on the church
estates ill applied, proceeds:--If the half had been applied to the
buying of tithes or glebes for small vicarages, here a foundation had
been laid down for a great and effectual reformation.--_Swift._ He
judges here right, in my opinion.
Ibid. _Burnet,_ continuing the same subject:--The men of merit and
service were loaded with many livings and many dignities. With this
great accession of wealth there broke in upon the Church a great deal of
luxury and high living, on the pretence of hospitality; while others
made purchases, and left great estates, most of which we have seen melt
away.--_Swift._ Uncharitable aggravation; a base innuendo.
P. 189. _Burnet._ Patrick was a great preacher. He wrote ... well, and
chiefly on the Scriptures. He was a laborious man in his function, of
great strictness of life, but a little too severe against those who
differed from him. But that was, when he thought their doctrines struck
at the fundamentals of religion. He became afterwards more
moderate.--_Swift._ Yes, for he turned a rank Whig.
P. 190. _Burnet._ [Archbishop Tenison] was a very learned man.--_Swift._
The dullest, good-for-nothing man I ever knew.
P. 191. _Burnet,_ condemning the bad style of preaching before
Tillotson, Lloyd, and Stillingfleet, says their discourses were:--long
and heavy, when all was _pie-bald_, full of many sayings of different
languages.--_Swift._ A noble epithet. _Burnet._ The King ... had got a
right notion of style.--_Swift._ How came Burnet not to learn this
style?
P. 193. _Burnet,_ speaking of the first formation of the Royal
Society:--Many physicians, and other ingenious men went into the society
for natural philosophy. But he who laboured most ... was Robert Boyle,
the Earl of Cork's youngest son. He was looked on by all who knew him as
a very perfect pattern. ... He neglected his person, despised the
world, and lived abstracted from all pleasures, designs, and
interests.--_Swift._ Boyle was a very silly writer.
P. 195. _Burnet._ Peter Walsh, ... who was the honestest and learnedest
man I ever knew among [the Popish clergy, often told me] ... there was
nothing which the whole Popish party feared more than an union of those
of the Church of England with the Presbyterians. ... The Papists had two
maxims, from which they never departed: The one was to divide us: And
the other was to keep themselves united.--_Swift._ Rogue.
P. 202. _Burnet._ The queen-mother had brought over from France one Mrs.
Steward, reckoned a very _great beauty._--_Swift._ A pretty phrase.
P. 203. _Burnet._ One of the first things that was done in this session
of Parliament [1663] was _the execution of my unfortunate uncle,
Wariston._--_Swift._ Was he hanged or beheaded? A fit uncle for such a
bishop.
P. 211. _Burnet._ Many were undone by it [religious persecution], and
went over to the Scots in Ulster, where they were well received, and had
all manner of liberty as to their way of religion.--_Swift._ The more
the pity.
P. 214. _Burnet._ The blame of all this was cast upon Sharp..... And the
Lord Lauderdale, to complete his disgrace with the King, got many of his
letters ... and laid these before the King; So that the King looked on
him as one of the worst of men.--_Swift._ Surely there was some secret
cause for this perpetual malice against Sharp.
P. 220. _Burnet._ Pensionary De Witt had the notions of a commonwealth
from the Greeks and Romans. And from them he came to fancy, that an army
commanded by officers of their own country was both more in their own
power, and would serve them with the more zeal, since they themselves
had such an interest in their success.--_Swift._ He ought to have judged
the contrary.
P. 236. _Burnet,_ speaking of the slight rebellion in the west of
Scotland, 1666, says:--The rest [of the rebels] were favoured by the
darkness of the night, and the weariness of the King's troops that were
not in case to pursue them. ... For they were a poor harmless company of
men, become mad by oppression.--_Swift._ A fair historian!
P. 237. _Burnet._ They might all have saved their lives, if they would
have renounced the Covenant: So they were really a sort of martyrs for
it.--_Swift._ Decent term.
P. 238. _Burnet._ [Sir John Cunningham] was not only very learned in the
civil and canon law ... [but] was above all, a man of eminent probity,
and of a sweet temper, and indeed one of the _piousest_ men of the
nation.--_Swift._ Is that Scotch?
P. 242. _Burnet._ When the peace of Breda was concluded, the King wrote
to the Scottish council, and communicated _that_ to them; and with
_that_ signified, _that_ it was his pleasure _that_ the army should be
disbanded.--_Swift._ Four _thats_ in one line.
P. 243. _Burnet._ [Archbishop Burnet] saw Episcopacy was to be pulled
down, and ... writ upon these matters a long and sorrowful letter to
Sheldon: And upon that Sheldon writ a very long one to Sir R. Murray;
which I read, and found more temper and moderation in it than I could
have expected from him.--_Swift._ Sheldon was a very great and excellent
man.
P. 245. _Burnet._ [The Countess of Dysert] was a woman of great beauty,
but of far greater parts. ... She had studied not only divinity and
history, but mathematics and philosophy. She was violent in everything
she set about, a violent friend, but a much more violent enemy. ...
[When Lauderdale] was prisoner after Worcester fight, she made him
believe he was in great danger of his life, and that she saved it by her
intrigues with Cromwell.--_Swift._ Cromwell had gallantries with her.
P. 248. _Burnet._ The clergy ... saw designs were forming to turn them
all out: And, hearing that they might be better provided in Ireland,
they were in many places bought out, and prevailed on to desert their
cures.--_Swift._ So Ireland was well provided.
P. 252. _Burnet._ The King ... suspecting that Lord Cornbury was in the
design, spoke to him as one in a rage that forgot all decency. ... In
the afternoon he heard him with more temper, as he himself told
me.--_Swift._ Who told him?
P. 253. _Burnet,_ speaking of Sheldon's remonstrating with the King
about his mistresses, adds:--From that day forward Sheldon could never
recover the King's confidence.--_Swift._ Sheldon had refused the
sacrament to the King for living in adultery.
Ibid. _Burnet._ Sir Orlando Bridgman ... was a man of great integrity,
and had very serious impressions of religion on his mind. He had been
always on the side of the Church.--_Swift._ What side should he be of?
P. 256. _Burnet,_ speaking of the Earl of Clarendon's banishment:--It
seemed against the common course of justice, to make all
corresponding with him treason, when he himself was not attainted of
treason.--_Swift._ Bishop of Rochester's case.
P. 257. _Burnet._ Thus the Lord Clarendon fell under the common fate of
great ministers, whose employment exposes them to envy, and draws upon
them the indignation of all who are disappointed in their pretensions.
Their friends turning as violently against them, as they formerly fawned
abjectly upon them.--_Swift._ Stupid moralist.
Ibid. _Burnet,_ speaking of the Earl of Clarendon's eldest son, who
afterwards succeeded him, says:--His judgement was not to be _much_
depended on, for he was _much_ carried by vulgar prejudices, and false
notions. He was _much_ in the Queen's favour. _Swift._ Much, much, much.
P. 258. _Burnet,_ speaking of the Earl of Rochester, second son of Lord
Clarendon:--[He] is a man of far greater parts [than his brother]. He
has a _very good pen_, but speaks not gracefully.--_Swift._ I suppose it
was of gold or silver.
Ibid. _Burnet._ [The King] told me, he had a chaplain, that was a very
honest man, but a very great blockhead, to whom he had given a living in
Suffolk, that was full of that sort of people [Nonconformists]. He had
gone about among them from house to house, though he could not imagine
what he could say to them, for he said he was a very silly fellow. But
that, he believed, his nonsense suited their nonsense, for he had
brought them all to church. And, in reward of his diligence, he had
given him a bishopric in Ireland.--_Swift._ Bishop Wolley, of Clonfert.
P. 259. _Burnet._ If the sectaries were humble and modest, and would
tell what would satisfy them, there might be some colour for granting
some concessions.--_Swift._ I think so too.
P. 260. _Burnet._ The three volumes of the "Friendly Debate," though
writ by a very good man.--_Swift._ Writ by Bishop Patrick.
Ibid. _Burnet._ After he [Samuel Parker, afterwards Bishop of Oxford]
had for some years entertained the nation with several virulent books,
writ with much life, he was attacked by the liveliest droll of the age,
etc.--_Swift._ What is a droll? _Burnet._ That not only humbled Parker,
but the whole party. For the author of "The Rehearsal Transposed,"
etc.--_Swift._ Andrew Marvel.
P. 263. _Burnet,_ speaking of the King's attachment to Nell Gwyn,
says:--But after all he never treated her with the _decencies_ of a
mistress.--_Swift._ Pray what _decencies_ are those?
Ibid. _Burnet._ The King had another mistress, that was managed by Lord
Shaftesbury, who was the daughter of a clergyman, Roberts, in whom her
first education had so deep a root, that, though she fell into many
scandalous disorders, with very dismal adventures in them all, yet a
principle of religion was so deep laid in her, that, though it did not
restrain her, yet it kept alive in her such a constant horror at sin,
that she was never easy in an ill course, and died with a great sense of
her former ill life. I was _often with her_ the last three months of her
life.--_Swift_. Was she handsome then?
P. 264. _Burnet_. The King loved his [the Earl of Rochester's] company
for the diversion it afforded, better than his person: And there was no
love lost between them.--_Swift_. A noble phrase.
P. 265. _Burnet_. Sedley had a more sudden and copious wit, which
furnished a perpetual run of discourse: But he was not so correct as
Lord Dorset, nor so sparkling as Lord Rochester.--_Swift_. No better a
critic in wit than style.
P. 266. _Burnet_. Lord Roberts, afterwards made Earl of Radnor, [who
succeeded the Duke of Ormonde in his government of Ireland,] was a
morose man, believed to be severely just, and as wise as a _cynical_
humour could allow him to be.--_Swift_. How does that hinder wisdom?
P. 273. _Burnet_. Charles II. confessed himself a Papist to the Prince
of Orange:--The Prince told me, that he never spoke of this to any other
person, till _after his death_.--_Swift_. That is, _his own death_.
P. 277. _Burnet_ quotes an exclamation of Archbishop Sharp's, after an
attempt to assassinate him, and adds:--This was the single expression
savouring of piety, that ever fell from him in all the conversation that
passed between him and me.--_Swift._ Rank malice.
P. 285. _Burnet_. No body could ever tell me how the word
"Ecclesiastical matters" was put in the Act. Leightoun thought, he was
sure it was put in after the draught and form of the Act was agreed
on.--_Swift_. Nonsense.
P. 287. _Burnet_, speaking of Archbishop Burnet, says:--He was not cut
out for a court, or for the ministry.--_Swift_. A phrase of dignity.
_Ibid. Burne_, mentioning his own appointment as Professor of Divinity
at Glasgow University, says:--There was no sort of artifice or
management to bring this about: It came of themselves: And they did it
without any recommendation of any person whatsoever.--_Swift_. Modest.
P. 288. _Burnet_. The Episcopal party thought I intended to make myself
popular at their cost: So they began that strain of fury and calumny
that has pursued me ever since from _that sort of people_.--_Swift_. A
civil term for all who are Episcopal.
P. 298. _Burnet_. [In compiling the Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton,] I
found there materials for a very large history. I writ it with great
sincerity; and concealed none of their errors. I did indeed conceal
several things that related to the King: I left out some passages that
were in his letters; in some of which was too much weakness.--_Swift._
The letters, if they had been published, could not have given a worse
character.
P. 300. _Burnet,_ speaking of the Scotch clergy refusing to be made
bishops, says:--They had an ill opinion of the court, and could not be
brought to leave their retirement.--_Swift._ For that very reason they
should have accepted bishoprics.
P. 301. _Burnet,_ after mentioning the murder of the Duchess of Orleans,
says:--I will set down one story of her, that was told me by a person of
distinction, who had it from some who were well informed of the
matter.--_Swift._ Poor authority.
P. 303. _Burnet._ Madame [the Duchess of Orleans] had an intrigue with
another person, whom I knew well, the Count of Tréville. When she was in
her agony, she said, "Adieu, Tréville." He was so struck with this
accident, that it had a good effect on him; for he went and lived many
years among the Fathers of the Oratory, and became both a very learned,
and devout man. He came afterwards out into the world. I saw him often.
He was a man of a very sweet temper, only a little too formal for a
Frenchman. But he was very sincere. He was a Jansenist. He hated the
Jesuits.--_Swift._ Pretty jumping periods.
P. 304. _Burnet._ Lord Shaftesbury laid the blame of this chiefly on the
Duke of Buckingham: For he told me, ... And therefore he blamed
him.--_Swift._ Who blamed whom.
Ibid. _Burnet._ The Duke of Savoy was encouraged to make a conquest of
Genoa.--_Swift._ Geneva.
Ibid. _Burnet._ When a foreign minister asked the King's leave to treat
with him [Lockhart] in his master's name, the King consented; but with
this severe reflection, That he believed he would be true to anybody but
himself.--_Swift._ Does he mean, Lockhart would not be true to Lockhart?
P. 305. _Burnet._ They [the French] so possessed De Groot, then the
Dutch ambassador at Paris, or they corrupted him into a belief that they
had no design on them, etc.--_Swift._ Who on whom?
P. 306. _Burnet._ The Earl of Shaftesbury was the chief man in this
advice [recommending the King to shut up the exchequer].--_Swift._
Clifford had the merit of this.
P. 318. _Burnet,_ after mentioning the death of William II., Prince of
Orange, says of the Princess:--As she bore her son a week after his
death, in the eighth month of her time, so he came into the world under
great disadvantages.--_Swift._ A pretty contrast.
Ibid. _Burnet_ mentions an astrological prediction of the Prince's fate,
and adds:--But that which _was_ most particular _was_, that he _was_ to
have a son by a widow, and _was_ to die of the small-pox in the
twenty-fifth year of his age.--_Swift_. Was, was, was, was.
P. 320. _Burnet_. They set it also up for a maxim.--_Swift_. He can vary
a phrase; set up for a maxim, and lay down for a maxim.
P. 321. _Burnet_. His oath was made to them, and by consequence it was
in their power to release the obligation that did arise from it to
themselves.--_Swift_. Bad casuist.
_Ibid. Burnet_. As soon as he [the Prince of Orange] was brought into
the command of the armies, he told me, he spoke to De Witt, and desired
to live in an entire confidence with him. His answer was cold: So he saw
that he could not depend upon him. When he told me this, he added, that
he was certainly one of the greatest men of the age, and he believed he
served his country faithfully--_Swift_. Yet the Prince contrived that he
should be murdered.
_Ibid. Burnet_. Now I come to give an account of the fifth crisis
brought on the whole reformation, which has been of the longest
continuance, since we are yet in the agitations of it.--_Swift_. Under
the Queen and Lord Oxford's ministry.
P. 322. _Burnet_. [In this famous campaign of Louis XIV. against the
Dutch, (1672,)] there was so little heart or judgement shewn in the
management of that run of success, etc.--_Swift_. A metaphor, but from
gamesters.
P. 326. _Burnet_, referring to the action of the rabble when Cornelius
de Witt was banished, says of the Prince of Orange:--His enemies have
taken advantages from thence to cast the infamy of this on him, and on
his party, to make them all odious; though the Prince spoke of it always
to me with the greatest horror possible.--_Swift_. Yet he was guilty
enough.
P. 328. _Burnet_. Prince Waldeck was their chief general: A man of a
great compass.--_Swift, i.e._ very fat.
P. 330. _Burnet_. He broke twice with the Prince, after he came into a
confidence with him. He employed me to reconcile him to him for the
third time--_Swift_. Perspicuity.
_Ibid. Burnet._ The actions sinking on the sudden on the breaking out of
a new war, that sunk him into a melancholy, which quite distracted
him.--_Swift_. Eloquent.
P. 335. _Burnet_. I will complete the transactions of this memorable
year:--P. 337. Thus I have gone far into the state of affairs of Holland
in this memorable year.--_Swift_. Why, you called it so but just now
before.
P. 337. _Burnet_. It seems, the French made no great account of their
prisoners, for they released 25,000 Dutch for 50,000 crowns--_Swift_.
What! ten shillings a piece! By much too dear for a Dutchman.
_Ibid. Burnet_. This year [1672] the King declared a new mistress, and
made her Duchess of Portsmouth. She had been maid of honour to Madame,
the King's sister, and had come over with her to Dover; where the King
had expressed such a regard to her, that the Duke of Buckingham, who
hated the Duchess of Cleveland, intended to _put her on the
King_.--_Swift._ Surely he means the contrary.
P. 341. _Burnet_. [The Duke of Lauderdale] called for me all on the
sudden, and put me in mind of the project I had laid before him, of
putting all the outed ministers by _couples_ into parishes: So that
instead of wandering about the country to hold conventicles in all
places, they might be fixed to a certain abode, and every one might have
the half of a benefice.--_Swift._ A sottish project; instead of feeding
_fifty_, you starve a _hundred_.
BOOK III.
P. 346. _Burnet_. It was believed, if the design had succeeded, he [Lord
Clifford] had agreed with his wife to take orders, and to aspire to a
cardinal's hat.--_Swift_. Was he or she to take orders?
P. 362. _Burnet_. I told him, what afterwards happened, that most of
these would make their own terms, and leave him in the lurch.--_Swift_.
True sublime.
P. 370. _Burnet_. I was ever of Nazianzen's opinion, who never wished to
see any more synods of the clergy.--_Swift_. Dog!
P. 372. _Burnet_, when he was struck out of the list of chaplains,
says:--The King said, he was afraid I had been too busy; and wished me
to go home to Scotland, and be more quiet.--_Swift_. The King knew him
right.
_Ibid. Burnet_. I preached in many of the churches of London; and was so
well received, that it was probable I might be accepted of in any that
was to be disposed of by _a popular election._--_Swift_. Much to his
honour.
P. 373. _Burnet_. This violent and groundless prosecution lasted some
months. And during that time I said to some, that Duke Lauderdale had
gone so far in opening some wicked designs to me, that I perceived he
could not be satisfied, unless I was undone. So I told what was
mentioned before of the discourses that passed between him and
me.--_Swift_. Scotch dog!
P. 374. _Burnet_. He [Lord Howard] went over in the beginning of the
war, and offered to serve De Witt. But he told me, he found him a dry
man.--_Swift_. Who told who? I guess Howard told Burnet.
P. 378. _Burnet_. At least he [Sir William Temple] thought religion was
fit only for the mob.--_Swift_. A word of dignity for an historian.
_Burnet._ He was a corrupter of all that came near him. And he delivered
himself up wholly to study, ease, and pleasure.--_Swift_. Sir William
Temple was a man of virtue, to which Burnet was a stranger.
P. 380. _Burnet_, speaking of his being pressed, before Parliament, to
reveal what passed between him and the Duke of Lauderdale _in private_;
and the Parliament, in case of refusal, threatening him, says:--Upon
this I yielded, and gave an account of the discourse formerly
mentioned.--_Swift_. Treacherous villain.
_Ibid. Burnet_. My love to my country, and my private friendships
carried me perhaps too far.--_Swift_. Right.
P. 382. _Burnet_. [Sir Harbottle Grimstone] had always _a tenderness to
the Dissenters_.--_Swift_. Burnet's test of all virtues.
_Ibid. Burnet_. [Lady Grimstone] was the humblest, the devoutest, and
best tempered person I ever _knew of that sort_ [having high notions for
Church and Crown].--_Swift_. Rogue.
P. 384. _Burnet_, the country party maintained that:--if a Parliament
thought any law inconvenient for the good of the whole, they must be
supposed still free to alter it: And no previous limitation could bind
up their legislature.--_Swift._ Wrong arguing.
P. 387. _Burnet_. It was said, a standing Parliament changed the
constitution of England.--_Swift_. The present case under King George.
_Ibid. Burnet_. It was moved, that an address should be made to the King
for dissolving the Parliament.--_Swift. Tempora mutantur_; for nothing
now will do but septennial Parliaments.
P. 388 _Burnet_. He [Lord Russell] had from his first education an
inclination to favour the Non-conformists.--_Swift_. So have all the
author's favourites.
P. 392. _Burnet_. But with these good qualities Compton was a weak man,
wilful, and strangely wedded to a party.--_Swift._ He means, to the
Church.
_Ibid. Burnet_. Bancroft, Dean of St. Paul's, was raised to [the see of
Canterbury]. ... He was a man of solemn deportment, had a sullen gravity
in his looks, and was considerably learned. He had put on a monastic
strictness, and lived abstracted from company. ... He was a dry, cold
man, reserved, and peevish; so that none loved him, and few esteemed
him.--_Swift_. False and detracting.
P. 396. _Burnet_. My way of writing history pleased him [Sir William
Jones].--_Swift_. Very modest.
P. 399. _Burnet_. Men were now though silent, not quiet.--_Swift_.
Nonsense, or printer's mistake. It should be, "Silent, though not
quiet."
_Ibid, Burnet_. One Carstairs, a loose and vicious gentleman.--_Swift_.
Epithets well placed.
P. 404. _Burnet_. It was an extraordinary thing that a random cannon
shot should have killed him [Turenne].--_Swift_. How extraordinary?
Might it not kill him as well as another man?
P. 406. _Burnet_, in the battle at St. Omer between the Prince of Orange
(afterwards King William) and the Duke of Orleans:--some regiments of
marines, on whom the Prince depended much, did basely run away. Yet the
other bodies fought so well, that he lost not much, besides the _honour
of the day_.--_Swift_. He was used to that.
P. 407. _Burnet_. These leading men did so entangle the debates, and
over-reached those on whom he had practised, that they, working on the
aversion that the English nation naturally has to a French interest,
spoiled the hopefullest session the court had had of a great while,
before the court was well aware of it.--_Swift_. Rare style!
P. 409. _Burnet_, Lord Danby, speaking to King Charles II., said:--If
they saw his [the Duke of York's] daughter given to one that was at the
head of the Protestant interest, it would very much soften those
apprehensions, when it did appear that his religion was only a personal
thing, not to be derived to his children after him. With all this the
King was convinced.--_Swift_. Then how was the King for bringing in
Popery?
P. 413. _Burnet_. His friend answered, He hoped he did not intend to
make use of him to trepan a man to his ruin. Upon that, with lifted up
hands, Sharp promised by the living God, that no hurt should come to
him, if he made a full discovery.--_Swift_. Malice.
Ibid. _Burnet_, upon the examination of Mitchell before the
privy-council for the intended assassination of Archbishop Sharp, it
being first proposed to cut off the prisoner's right hand, and then his
left:--Lord Rothes, who was a pleasant man, said, "How shall he wipe his
breech then?" This is not very _decent_ to be mentioned in such a work,
if it were not necessary.--_Swift_. As decent as a thousand other
passages; so he might have spared his apology.
P. 414. _Burnet_, in the last article of the above trial, observes:--
But the judge, who hated Sharp, as he went up to the bench, passing by
the prisoner said to him, "Confess nothing, unless you are sure of your
limbs as well as of your life."--_Swift_. A rare judge.
Ibid. _Burnet_, mentioning Mackenzie's appointment as king's advocate,
says of him:--He has published many books, some of law, but all full of
faults; for he was a slight and superficial man.--_Swift_. Envious and
base.
P. 416. _Burnet_, speaking of the execution of the above Mitchell for
the attempt against Sharp, says:--Yet Duke Lauderdale had a chaplain,
Hickes, afterwards Dean of Worcester, who published a false and partial
relation of this matter, in order to the justifying of it--_Swift_. A
learned, pious man.[4]
[Footnote 4: The "Ravillac [_sic_] Redivivus" of Hickes, is,
notwithstanding his learning and piety, in every respect deserving of
the censures passed upon it by Burnet. [S.]]
P. 425. _Burnet_. [Titus Oates] got to be a chaplain in one of the
king's ships, from which he was dismissed upon complaint of some
unnatural practices, not to be named.--_Swift_. Only sodomy.
P. 434. _Burnet_. He [Staley] was cast.--_Swift. Anglicê_, found guilty.
P. 441. _Burnet_, on the impeachment of Lord Danby:--Maynard, an ancient
and eminent lawyer, explained the words of the statute of 25 Edward III.
that the courts of law could not proceed but upon one of the crimes
there enumerated: But the Parliament had still a power, by the clause in
that Act, to declare what they thought was treason.--_Swift_. Yes, by a
new Act, but not with a retrospect; therefore Maynard was a _knave or a
fool, with all his law_.
P. 442. _Burnet_. This indeed would have justified the King, if it had
been demanded above board.--_Swift_. Style of a gamester.
P. 451. _Burnet_. Yet many thought, that, what doctrines soever men
might by a subtlety of speculation be earned into, the approaches of
death, with the seriousness that appeared in their deportment, must
needs work so much on the probity and candour which seemed footed in
human nature, etc.--_Swift._ Credat Judaeus Apella.
P. 455. _Burnet_, the Bill of Exclusion disinherited:--the next heir,
which certainly the King and Parliament might do, as well as any private
man might disinherit his next heir.--_Swift._ That is not always true.
Yet it was certainly in the power of King and Parliament to exclude the
next heir.
P. 457. _Burnet_. Government was appointed for those that were to be
governed, and not for the sake of governors themselves.--_Swift_. A
true maxim and infallible.
P. 458. _Burnet_. It was a maxim among our lawyers, that even an Act of
Parliament against _Magna Charta_ was null of itself.--_Swift_. A
sottish maxim.
P. 459. _Burnet_. For a great while I thought the accepting the
limitations [proposed in the Exclusion Bill] was the wisest and best
method.--_Swift_. It was the wisest, because it would be less opposed;
and the King would consent to it; otherwise an _exclusion_ would have
done better.
P. 471. _Burnet_. The guards having lost thirty of their number were
forced to run for it.--_Swift_. For what?
P. 475. _Burnet_. Dangerfield, a subtle and dexterous man, who ... was a
false coiner, undertook now to coin a plot for the ends of the
Papists.--_Swift_. Witty.
P. 479. _Burnet_. Godolphin ... had true principles of religion and
virtue, and was free from all vanity, and never heaped up wealth: So
that all things being laid together, he was one of the worthiest and
wisest men that has been employed in our time.--_Swift_. All this very
partial to my knowledge.
P. 483. _Burnet_. I laid open the cruelties of the Church of Rome in
many instances that happened in Queen Mary's reign, which were not then
known: And I _aggravated_, though _very truly_, the danger of falling
under the power of that religion.--_Swift_. A BULL!
_Ibid. Burnet_. Sprat had studied a polite style much: But there was
little strength in it: He had the beginnings of learning laid well in
him: But he has allowed himself in a course of some years in much sloth
and too many liberties.--_Swift_. Very false.
P. 489. _Burnet_. Here was a justice to be done, and a service to truth,
towards the saving a man's life.... He advised with all his friends, and
with my self in particular. The much greater number were of opinion that
he ought to be silent.--_Swift_. Damned advice.
P. 496. _Burnet_. Jones stood upon a point of law, of the
unseparableness of the prerogative from the person of the
King.--_Swift_. A lawyer's way of arguing, very weak.
P. 509. _Burnet_, speaking of the grand juries in the latter end of King
Charles's reign returning _ignoramus_ so frequently on bills of
indictment, states that:--in defence of these _ignoramus juries_ it was
said, that by the express words of their oath they were bound to make
true presentments of what should appear true to them: And therefore, if
they did not believe the evidence, they could not find a bill, though
sworn to. A book was writ to support that, in which both law and reason
were brought to confirm it: It passed as writ by Lord Essex, though I
understood afterwards it was writ by Somers.--_Swift_. Lord Somers.
P. 516. _Burnet_ says, on the imposition of a Test Act:--The bishops
were earnest for this, which they thought would secure them for ever
from a Presbyterian Parliament. It was carried in the vote: And that
made many of the court more zealous than ever for carrying through the
Act.--_Swift_. And it was very reasonable.
P. 519. _Burnet_ mentions that, when the Test Act was passed:--about
eighty of the most learned and pious of their clergy left all rather
than comply with the terms of this law.... About twenty of them came up
to England.--_Swift_. Enough to corrupt England.
P. 523. _Burnet_, describing the death of the Duke of Lauderdale,
says--His heart seemed quite spent: There was not left above the bigness
of a walnut of firm substance: The rest was spongy, liker the lungs than
the heart.--_Swift. Anglicé_, more like.
P. 525. _Burnet_, Home was convicted on the credit of one infamous
evidence:--Applications were made to the Duke [of York] for saving his
life: But he was not born under _a pardoning planet_.--_Swift_. Silly
fop.
P. 526. _Burnet_ All the Presbyterian party saw they were now
disinherited of a main part of their birth-right.--_Swift_. As much of
Papists as of Presbyterians.
P. 527. _Burnet_, speaking of the surrender of the charters in 1682:--It
was said, that those who were in the government in corporations, and had
their charters and seals trusted to their keeping, were not the
proprietors nor masters of those rights. They could not extinguish those
corporations, nor part with any of their privileges. Others said, that
whatever might be objected to the reason and equity of the thing, yet,
when the seal of a corporation was put to any deed, such a deed was good
in law. The matter goes beyond my skill in law to determine
it.--_Swift_. What does he think of the surrenders of the charters of
abbeys?
P. 528. _Burnet_ The Non-conformists were now persecuted with much
eagerness. This was visibly set on by the Papists: And it was wisely
done of them, for they knew how much the _Non-conformists were set
against them_.--_Swift_. Not so much as they are against the Church.
P. 531. _Burnet_ Lord Hyde was the person that disposed the Duke to it:
Upon that Lord Halifax and he fell to be in ill terms; for he hated Lord
Sunderland beyond expression, though he had married his
sister.--_Swift_. Who married whose sister?
P. 536. _Burnet_ The truth is, juries became at that time the shame of
the nation, as well as a reproach to religion: For they were packed, and
prepared to bring in verdicts as they were directed and not as matters
appeared on the evidence.--_Swift_. So they are now.
P. 538. _Burnet_ He [Algernon Sidney] was ambassador in Denmark at the
time of the Restoration.--_Swift_. For Cromwell.
P. 543. _Burnet_, on Rumbold's proposal to shoot the King at Hodsdon, in
his way to Newmarket, adds:--They [the conspirators] ran into much
_wicked talk_ about the way of executing that. But nothing was ever
fixed on: All was _but talk_.--_Swift_. All plots begin with talk.
P. 548. _Burnet_. At the time of Lord Russell's plot, Baillie being
asked by the King whether they had any design against his person? he
frankly said not; but being asked:--if they had been in any
consultations with lords or others in England, in order to an
insurrection in Scotland? Baillie faltered at this. For his _conscience_
restrained him from _lying_;--_Swift._ The author and his _cousins_
could _not tell lies_, but they _could plot_.
P. 549. _Burnet._ Next morning he went with him to the Tower gate, the
messenger being again fast asleep.--_Swift._ Is this a blunder?
P. 553. _Burnet,_ speaking of Lord Essex's suicide (1683)--His man,
thinking he stayed longer than ordinary in his _closet_, looked through
the key hole, and there saw him lying dead.--_Swift._ He was on the
close stool.
P. 555. _Burnet,_ on Lord Russell's trial--Finch summed up the evidence
against him. But ... shewed more of a vicious eloquence, in turning
matters with some subtlety against the prisoners, than of solid or
sincere reasoning.--_Swift._ Afterwards Earl of Aylesford, an arrant
rascal.
P. 562. _Burnet._ I offered to take my oath, that the speech [of Lord
Russell] was penned by himself, and not by me.--_Swift._ Jesuitical.
P. 567. _Burnet._ I knew Spanheim particularly, _who was_ envoy from the
Elector of Brandenburg, _who is_ the greatest critic of the age in all
ancient learning.--_Swift. Who was--who is_, pure nonsense.
P. 568. _Burnet._ All people were apprehensive of very black designs,
when they saw Jeffreys made Lord Chief Justice, who ... run out upon all
occasions into declamations, that did not become the bar, much less the
bench. He was not learned in his profession: And his eloquence, though
viciously copious, yet was neither correct nor agreeable.--_Swift._ Like
Burnet's eloquence.
P. 572. _Burnet,_ on Algernon Sidney's trial, observes, that:--Finch
aggravated the matter of the book, as a proof of his intentions,
pretending it was an overt act, for he said, _Scribere est
agere_.--_Swift._ Yet this Finch was made Earl of Aylesford by King
George.
Ibid. _Burnet,_ when Sidney charged the sheriffs who brought him the
execution-warrant with having packed the jury--one of the sheriffs ...
wept. He told it to a person, from whom Tillotson had it, who told it
me.--_Swift._ Admirable authority.
P. 577. _Burnet._ So that it was plain, that after all the story they
had made of the [Rye-house] Plot, it had gone no further, than that a
company of seditious and inconsiderable persons were framing among
themselves some treasonable schemes, that were never likely to come to
anything.--_Swift._ Cursed partiality.
P. 579. _Burnet_. The King [Charles II.] had published a story all about
the court, ... as the reason of this extreme severity against Armstrong:
He said, that he was sent over by Cromwell to murder him beyond sea; ...
and that upon his confessing it he had promised him never to speak of it
any more as long as he lived. So the King, counting him now dead in law,
thought he was free from that promise.--_Swift_. If the King had a mind
to lie, he would have stayed till Armstrong was hanged.
P. 583. _Burnet_. It ended in dismissing Lord Aberdeen, and making Lord
Perth chancellor, to which he had been long aspiring in a most indecent
manner.--_Swift. Decent_ and _indecent_, very useful words to this
author.
P. 585. _Burnet_. I saved myself out of those difficulties by saying to
all my friends, that I would not be involved in any such confidence; for
as long as I thought our circumstances were such that resistance was not
lawful, I thought the concealing any design in order to it was likewise
unlawful.--_Swift._ Jesuitical.
_Ibid. Burnet_ says, after relating how the thumb-screws were applied to
Spence and Carstairs:--Upon what was thus screwed out of these two
persons, etc.--_Swift_. Witty the second time.
P. 586. _Burnet_, Baillie suffered several hardships and fines for being
supposed to be in the Rye-house Plot; yet:--seemed all the while so
composed, and even so cheerful, that his behaviour looked like the
reviving of the spirit of the noblest of the old Greeks or
Romans.--_Swift_. For he was our _cousin_.
P. 587. _Burnet_, speaking of Baillie's execution, says:--The only
excuse that was ever pretended for this infamous prosecution was, that
they were sure he was guilty.--_Swift_. Bishop of Rochester.
P. 588. _Burnet_, Lord Perth wanting to see Leightoun, I writ so
earnestly to him, that he came to London; and, on--his coming to me, I
was amazed to see him at above seventy look so fresh and well.... [Two
days afterwards] Leightoun sunk so, that both speech and sense went away
of a sudden: And he continued panting about twelve hours; and then died
without pangs or convulsions.--_Swift_. Burnet killed him by bringing
him to London.
_Ibid. Burnet_ Leightoun ... retained still a peculiar inclination to
Scotland.--_Swift_. Yet he chose to live in England.
P. 589. _Burnet_, speaking of Leightoun's views of the Church of
England, says:--As to the administration, both with relation to the
ecclesiastical courts, and the pastoral care, he looked on it as one of
the most corrupt he had ever seen.--_Swift_. Very civil.
_Ibid. Burnet_. There were two remarkable circumstances in his
[Leightoun's] death. He used often to say, that if he were to choose a
place to die in, it should be an inn; it looking like a pilgrim's going
home, to whom this world was all as an inn, and who was weary of the
noise and confusion in it.--_Swift._ Canting puppy.
P. 590. _Burnet_. Sterne, Archbishop of York, died in the 86th year of
his age: He was a sour ill-tempered man, and minded chiefly the
enriching his family.--_Swift_. Yet thought author of "The Whole Duty of
Man."
P. 591. _Burnet_ says of Bishop Mew:--Though he knew very little of
divinity, or of any other learning, and was weak to a childish degree,
yet obsequiousness and zeal raised him through several steps to this
great see [Bath and Wells].--_Swift_. This character is true.
P. 595. _Burnet_. And now the tables were turned--_Swift._ Style of a
gamester.
P. 596. _Burnet_, being appointed to preach the sermon on the Gunpowder
Plot, (1684,) at the Rolls Chapel:--I chose for my text these words:
"Save me from the lion's mouth, thou hast heard me from the horns of the
unicorns." I made no reflection in my thoughts on the lion and unicorn,
as being the two supporters of the King's scutcheon.--_Swift_. I doubt
that.
P. 600. _Burnet_ relates a story of a quarrel between three gentlemen,
one of whom was killed. He says that one of the others:--was prevailed
on to confess the indictment, and to let sentence pass on him for
murder; a pardon being promised him if he should do so. [After this he
had to pay £16,000 for his pardon.]--_Swift_. The story is wrong told.
P. 604. _Burnet_ mentions a scheme to raise dissensions between Charles
II. and the Duke of York, and adds:--Mr. May of the privy purse told me,
that he was told there was a design to break out, with which he himself
would be well pleased.--_Swift_. The bishop told me this with many more
particulars.
P. 609. _Burnet_, speaking of the suspicion of Charles II. being
poisoned, says that:--Lower and Needham, two famous physicians, ...
[noticed some] blue spots on the outside of the stomach. Needham called
twice to have it opened: but the surgeons seemed not to hear him. And
when he moved it the second time, he, as he told me, heard Lower say to
one that stood next him, "Needham will undo us, calling thus to have the
stomach opened, for he may see they will not do it." ... Le Fevre, a
French physician, told me, he saw a blackness in the shoulder; Upon
which he made an incision, and saw it was all mortified. Short, another
physician, who was a Papist, but after a form of his own, did very much
suspect foul dealing.--_Swift_. One physician told me this from Short
himself.
P. 611. _Burnet_, describing the behaviour of Charles II. when in hiding
after the battle of Worcester, says:--Under all the apprehensions he had
then upon him, he shewed a temper so careless, and so much turned to
levity, that he was then diverting himself with little household sports,
in as unconcerned a manner, as if he had made no loss, and had been in
no danger at all.--_Swift._ This might admit a more favourable turn.
P. 613. _Burnet,_ in his character of Charles II., says:--His person and
temper, his vices as well as his fortunes, resemble the character that
we have given us of Tiberius so much, that it were easy to draw the
parallel between them. Tiberius's banishment, and his coming afterwards
to reign, makes the comparison in that respect come pretty near. His
hating of business, and his love of pleasures, his raising of
favourites, and trusting them entirely; and his pulling them down, and
hating them excessively; his art of covering deep designs, particularly
of revenge, with an appearance of softness, brings them so near a
likeness, that I did not wonder much to observe the resemblance of their
face and person.--_Swift._ Malicious, and in many circumstances false.
P. 615. _Burnet_ concludes his character of Charles II. with these
words:--How ungrateful soever this labour has proved to my self, and how
unacceptable soever it may be to some, who are either obliged to
remember him gratefully, or by the engagement of parties and interests
are under other biasses, yet I have gone through all that I knew
relating to his life and reign with that regard to truth, and what I
think may be instructive to mankind, which became an impartial writer of
history, and one who believes, that he must give an account to God of
what he writes, as well as of what he says and does.--_Swift._ He was
certainly a very bad prince, but not to the degree described in this
character, which is poorly drawn, and mingled with malice very unworthy
an historian, and the style abominable, as in the whole history, and the
observations trite and vulgar.
BOOK IV.
P. 623. _Burnet._ Because Chudleigh the envoy there had openly broken
with the Prince [of Orange], (for he not only waited no more on him, but
acted openly against him; and once in the Vorhaut had affronted him,
while he was driving the Princess upon the snow in a _trainau_,
according to the German manner, and pretending they were masked, and
that he did not know them, had ordered his coachman to keep his way, as
they were coming towards the place where he drove;) the King recalled
him.--_Swift._ A pretty parenthesis.
P. 626. _Burnet._ This gave all thinking men a melancholy prospect.
England now seemed lost, unless some happy accident should save it. All
people saw the way for packing a Parliament now laid open.--_Swift._
Just our case at the Queen's death.
P. 638. _Burnet_ says that Musgrave and others pretended:--when money
was asked for just and necessary ends, to be frugal patriots, and to be
careful managers of the public treasure.--_Swift._ A party remark,
P. 651. _Burnet._ Goodenough, who had been under-sheriff of London when
Cornish was sheriff, offered to swear against Cornish; and also said,
that Rumsey had not discovered all he knew. So Rumsey to save himself
joined with Goodenough, to swear Cornish guilty of that for which the
Lord Russell had suffered. And this was driven on so fast, that Cornish
was seized on, tried, and executed within the week.--_Swift._ Goodenough
went to Ireland, practised law, and died there.
Ibid. _Burnet._ It gave a general horror to the body of the nation: And
it let all people see, what might be expected from a reign that seemed
to delight in blood.--_Swift._ The same here since the Queen's death.
P. 654. _Burnet._ The Archbishop of Armagh[5] [1685,] had continued Lord
Chancellor of Ireland, and was in all points so compliant to the court,
that even his religion came to be suspected on that account.--_Swift._
False.
[Footnote 5: Michael Boyle, who, when Archbishop of Dublin, was made
chancellor soon after the Restoration (1665), and continued in that
office to January, 1686, during which time he was raised to the
Archbishopric of Armagh.--SEWARD.]
Ibid _Burnet,_ and yet this archbishop:--was not thought thorough-paced.
So Sir Charles Porter, who was a zealous promoter of everything that the
King proposed, and was a man of ready wit, and being poor was thought a
person fit to be made a tool of, was declared Lord Chancellor of
Ireland.--_Swift._ False and scandalous.
P. 669. _Burnet._ Solicitor-general Finch ... was presently after turned
out. And Powis succeeded him, who was a compliant young aspiring lawyer,
though in himself he was no ill natured man.--_Swift._ Sir Thomas Powis,
a good dull lawyer.
P. 670. _Burnet,_ speaking of the power claimed for the King to dispense
with the sacramental test, says:--It was an overturning the whole
government, ... to say that laws, ... where one of the penalties was an
incapacity, which by a maxim of law cannot be taken away even by a
pardon, should at the pleasure of the prince be dispensed with: A fine
was also set by the Act on offenders, but not given to the King, but to
the informer, which thereby became his. So that the King could no more
pardon that, than he could discharge the debts of the subjects, and take
away property.--_Swift._ Wrong reasoning.
P. 672. _Burnet._ Intimations were everywhere given, that the King would
not have them [Dissenters], or their meetings, to be disturbed. Some of
them began to grow insolent upon this shew of favour.--_Swift._ The
whole body of them grew insolent, and complying to the King.
P. 675. _Burnet._ Sancroft lay silent at Lambeth. He seemed zealous
against Popery in private discourse: But he was of such a timorous
temper, and _so set on the enriching his nephew,_ that he shewed no sort
of courage.--_Swift._ False as hell.
P. 681. _Burnet,_ referring to the revived national zeal against Popery,
says:--The Episcopal clergy were in many places so sunk into sloth and
ignorance, that they were not capable of conducting this zeal: ... But
the Presbyterians, though they were now freed from the great severities
they had long smarted under, yet expressed on all occasions their
unconquerable aversion to Popery.--_Swift._ Partial dog!
P. 682. _Burnet._ He made the Earl of Tyrconnell Lord
Lieutenant.--_Swift._ Lord deputy.
P. 688. _Burnet._ Nor were the clergy more diligent in their labours
among their people, in which respect it must be confessed that the
English clergy are the most remiss of any.--_Swift._ Civil that.
P. 690. _Burnet,_ speaking of King William's character, says:--he had no
vice, but of one sort, in which he was very _cautious_ and
_secret_.--_Swift._ It was of two sorts--_male_ and _female_--in the
_former_ he was neither cautious nor secret.
P. 691. _Burnet,_ in a conversation with the Prince of Orange at The
Hague, (1686):--When he found I was in my opinion for toleration, he
said, that was all he would ever desire to bring us to, for quieting our
contentions at home.--_Swift._ It seems the Prince even then thought of
being King.
P. 692. _Burnet,_ the advice I gave the Princess of Orange, when she
should be Queen of England, was, to:--endeavour effectually to get it
[the real authority] to be legally vested in him [the Prince] during
life: This would lay the greatest obligation on him possible, and lay
the foundation of a perfect union between them, which had been of late a
little embroiled.--_Swift._ By Mrs. Villiers, now Lady Orkney; but he
proved a _d----d husband for all that._[6]
[Footnote 6: Lady Orkney was a favourite of Swift, as appears from
several passages in the Journal. [S.]]
P. 693. _Burnet,_ having told the Princess of Orange that her succession
to the throne would not make her husband king, and given her the advice
just quoted, says:--she in a very frank manner told him, that she did
not know that the laws of England were so contrary to the laws of God,
as I had informed her: she did not think that the husband was ever to be
obedient to the wife.--_Swift._ Foolish.
P. 693. _Burnet._ [Penn, the Quaker,] was a talking vain man, who had
been long in the King's favour, he being the vice-admiral's son. ... He
had a tedious luscious way, that was not apt to overcome a man's reason,
though it might tire his patience.--_Swift._ He spoke very agreeably,
and with much spirit.
P. 695. _Burnet._ Cartwright was promoted to Chester. He was a man of
good capacity, and had made some progress in learning. He was ambitious
and servile, cruel and boisterous: And, by the great liberties he
allowed himself, he fell under much scandal of the _worst
sort_.--_Swift._ Only sodomy.
P. 696. _Burnet._ [Cartwright] was looked on as a man that would more
effectually advance the design of Popery, than if he should turn over to
it. And indeed, bad as he was, he never made that step, even in the most
desperate state of his affairs.--_Swift._ He went to Ireland with King
James, and there died neglected and poor.
P. 697. _Burnet._ In all nations the privileges of colleges and
universities are esteemed such sacred things, that few will venture to
dispute these, much less to disturb them.--_Swift._ Yet in King George's
reign, Oxford was bridled and insulted with troops, for no manner of
cause but their steadiness to the Church.
P. 699. _Burnet._ It was much observed, that this university [Oxford],
that had asserted the King's prerogative in the highest strains of the
most abject flattery possible, etc.--_Swift._ And their virtue and
steadiness ought equally to be observed.
P. 701. _Burnet,_ speaking of King James's proceedings against the
universities, and that several of the clergy wrote over to the Prince of
Orange to engage in their quarrel, adds:--When that was communicated to
me, I was still of opinion, that, though this was indeed an act of
despotical and arbitrary power, yet I did not think it struck at the
whole: So that it was not in my opinion a lawful case of
resistance.--_Swift._ He was a better _Tory_ than I, if he spoke as he
thought.
Ibid. _Burnet._ The main difference between these [the Presbyterians and
the Independents] was, that the Presbyterians seemed reconcilable to the
Church; _for they loved Episcopal ordination and a liturgy._--_Swift._ A
damnable lie.
P. 702. _Burnet._ [Both Presbyterians and Independents] were enemies to
this high prerogative, that the King was assuming, and were very averse
to Popery.--_Swift._ Style.
Ibid. _Burnet._ So the more considerable among them [the Dissenters]
resolved not to stand at too great a distance from the court, nor
provoke the King so far, as to give him cause to think they were
irreconcilable to him, lest they should provoke him to make up matters
on any terms with the Church party.--_Swift._ They all complied most
shamefully and publicly, as is well known.
P. 703. _Burnet._ The King's choice of Palmer, Earl of Castlemain, was
liable to great exception.--_Swift._ Duchess of Cleveland's husband.
P. 705. _Burnet._ Since what an ambassador says is understood as said by
the prince whose character he bears, this gave the States a right to
make use of all advantages that might offer themselves.--_Swift._
Sophistry.
P. 710. _Burnet._ The restless spirit of some of that religion [Popery],
and of their clergy in particular, shewed they could not be at quiet
till they were masters.--_Swift._ All sects are of that spirit.
P. 716. _Burnet,_ speaking of "the fury that had been driven on for many
years by a Popish party," adds:--When some of those who had been always
moderate told these, who were putting on another temper, that they would
perhaps forget this as soon as the danger was over, they promised the
contrary very solemnly. It shall be told afterwards, how well they
remembered this.--_Swift._ False and spiteful.
P. 726. _Burnet._ That which gave the crisis to the King's anger was
that he heard I was to be married to a considerable fortune at The
Hague.--_Swift._ A phrase of the rabble.
Ibid. _Burnet,_ when a prosecution was commenced against Burnet in
Scotland, he obtained naturalization for himself in Holland, after which
he wrote to the Earl of Middleton, saying that:--being now naturalized
in Holland, my allegiance was, during my stay in these parts,
transferred from His Majesty to the States.--_Swift._ Civilians deny
that, but I agree with him.
P. 727. _Burnet._ I come now to the year 1688, which proved memorable,
and produced an extraordinary and _unheard_-of revolution.--_Swift._ The
Devil's in that, sure all Europe _heard_ of it.
P. 730. _Burnet,_after saying that he had been naturalized in Holland,
upon marrying one of the subjects of the States, goes on:--The King took
the matter very ill, and said, it was an affront to him, and a just
cause of war.--_Swift._ Vain fop.
P. 731. _Burnet._ I never possessed my own soul in a more perfect calm,
and in a clearer cheerfulness of spirit, than I did during all those
threatenings, and the apprehensions that others were in concerning
me.--_Swift._ A modest account of his own magnanimity.
P. 746. _Burnet._ But after all, though soldiers were _bad Englishmen
and worse Christians_, yet the court [of James II.] found them too good
Protestants to trust much to them.--_Swift_. Special doctrine.
P. 748. _Burnet_, speaking of the Queen's expectation of a child,
says:--I will give as full and as distinct an account of all that
related to that matter, as I could gather up either at that time or
afterwards.--_Swift_. All coffee-house chat.
P. 751. _Burnet_. Now a resolution was taken for the Queen's lying in at
St. James's.--_Swift_. Windsor would have been more suspicious.
P. 752. _Burnet_, doubting of the legitimacy of the Pretender, and
describing the Queen's manner of lying-in, says:--The Queen lay all the
while a-bed: And, in order to the warming one side of it, a warming-pan
was brought. But it was not opened, that it might be seen that there was
fire and nothing else in it.--_Swift_. This, the ladies say, is foolish.
P. 753. _Burnet_. Hemings, a very worthy man,... was reading in his
parlour late at night, when he heard one coming into the neighbouring
parlour, and say with a doleful voice, "The Prince of Wales
is dead"; Upon which ... it was plain, they were in a great
consternation.--_Swift_. A most foolish story, hardly worthy of a
coffee-house.
Ibid. _Burnet_. It was said, that the child was strangely revived of a
sudden. Some of the physicians told Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph, that it
was not possible for them to think it was the same child. They looked on
one another, but durst not speak what they thought.--_Swift_. So here
are three children.
P. 762. _Burnet_. The Lord Mordaunt was the first of all the English
nobility that came over openly to see the Prince of Orange.--_Swift_.
Now Earl of Peterborough.
Ibid. _Burnet_. The Earl of Shrewsbury ... seemed to be a man of great
probity, and to have a high sense of honour.--_Swift_. Quite contrary.
P. 763. _Burnet_. Lord Lumley, who was a late convert from Popery, and
had stood out very firmly all this reign.--_Swift_. He was a knave and a
coward.
Ibid. _Burnet_. Mr. Sidney,[7] brother to the Earl of Leicester and to
Algernon Sidney. He was a graceful man, and had lived long in the court,
where he had some adventures that became very public. He was a man of a
sweet and caressing temper, had no malice in his heart, but too great a
love of pleasure.--_Swift_. An idle, drunken, ignorant rake, without
sense, truth, or honour.
[Footnote 7: Henry Sidney, afterwards Earl of Romney. [T.S.]]
P. 764. _Burnet_. But, because he [Mr. Sidney] was lazy, and the
business required an active man, who could both run about, and write
over long and full accounts of all matters, I recommended a kinsman of
my own, Johnstoune, whom I had formed, and knew to be both faithful and
diligent.--_Swift_. An arrant Scotch rogue.
P. 764. _Burnet_. The Earl of Nottingham ... had great credit with the
whole Church party; For he was a man possessed with their
notions.--_Swift_. That is, Church notions.
P. 765. _Burnet_. Lord Churchill [afterwards Duke of Marlborough] ...
was a man of a noble and graceful appearance, bred up in the court with
no literature: But he had a solid and clear understanding, with a
constant presence of mind. He knew the arts of living in a court better
than any man in it. He caressed all people with a soft and obliging
deportment, and was always ready to do good offices.... It must be
acknowledged, that he is one of the greatest men the age has
produced.--_Swift_. A composition of perfidiousness and avarice.
Ibid. _Burnet_, still speaking of Lord Churchill:--He was also very
doubtful as to the pretended birth. So he resolved, when the Prince
should come over, to go in to him; but to betray no post, nor do
anything more than the withdrawing himself, with such officers as he
could trust with such a secret.--_Swift_. What could he do more to a
mortal enemy.
P. 769. _Burnet_. [Skelton's] rash folly might have procured the order
from the court of France, to own this alliance [with England]; He
thought it would terrify the States; And so he pressed this officiously,
which they easily granted.--_Swift_. And who can blame him, if in such a
necessity he made that alliance?
P. 772. _Burnet_. The King of France thought himself tied by no peace;
but that, when he suspected his neighbours were intending to make war
upon him, he might upon such a suspicion begin a war on his
part.--_Swift_. The common maxim of princes.
P. 776. _Burnet_, speaking of the Declaration prepared for Scotland,
says that the:--Presbyterians, had drawn it so, that, by many passages
in it, the Prince by an implication declared in favour of Presbytery. He
did not see what the consequences of those were, till I explained them.
So he ordered them to be altered. And by the Declaration that matter was
still entire.--_Swift_. The more shame for King William, who changed it.
P. 782. _Burnet_, three days before the Prince of Orange embarked, he
visited the States General, and:--took God to witness, he went to
England with no other intentions, but those he had set out in his
Declaration.--_Swift_. Then he was perjured; for he designed to get the
crown, which he denied in the Declaration.
P. 783. _Burnet_, after describing the storm which put back the Prince
of Orange's fleet, observes:--In France and England ... they triumphed
not a little, as if God had fought against us, and defeated the whole
design. We on our part, who found our selves delivered out of so great a
storm and so vast a danger, looked on it as a mark of God's great care
of us, Who, ... had preserved us.--_Swift_. Then still it must be a
_miracle_.
P. 785. _Burnet_, when matters were coming to a crisis at the
Revolution, an order was:--sent to the Bishop of Winchester, to put the
President of Magdalen College again in possession, ... [But when the
court heard] the Prince and his fleet were blown back, it was
countermanded; which plainly shewed what it was that drove the court
into so much compliance, and how long it was like to last.--_Swift_. The
Bishop of Winchester assured me otherwise.
_Ibid. Burnet_. The court thought it necessary, now in an _after-game_
to offer some satisfaction in that point [of the legitimacy of the
Prince of Wales].--_Swift_. And this was the proper time.
P. 786. _Burnet_. Princess Anne was not present [at the Queen's
delivery]. She indeed excused herself. She thought she was breeding: And
all motion was forbidden her. None believed that to be the true
reason.... So it was looked on as a colour that shewed she did not
believe the thing, and that therefore she would not by her being present
seem to give any credit to it.--_Swift_. I have reason to believe this
to be true of the Princess Anne.
P. 790. _Burnet_. [The Prince of Orange's army] stayed a week at Exeter,
before any of the gentlemen of the country about came in to the Prince.
Every day some person of condition came from other parts. The first were
the Lord Colchester the eldest son of the Earl of Rivers, and the Lord
Wharton.--_Swift._ Famous for his cowardice in the rebellion of 1642.
P. 791. _Burnet_. Soon after that. Prince George, the Duke of Ormonde,
and the Lord Dramlanrig, the Duke of Queensberry's eldest son, left him
[King James], and came over to the Prince.--_Swift_. Yet how has he been
since used? [referring to the Duke of Ormonde.]
P. 792. _Burnet_. In a little while a small army was formed about her
[Princess Anne], who chose to be commanded by the Bishop of London; of
which he too easily accepted.--_Swift,_ And why should he not?
_Ibid. Burnet_. A foolish ballad was made at that time, treating the
Papists, and chiefly the Irish, in a very ridiculous manner, which had a
burden, said to be Irish words, "Lero, Lero, Lilibulero," that made an
impression on the army, that cannot be well imagined by those who saw it
not.--_Swift_. They are not Irish words, but better than Scotch.
P. 795. _Burnet_. The Queen took up a sudden resolution of going to
France with the child. The midwife, together with all who were assisting
at the birth, were also carried over, or so disposed of, that it could
never be learned what became of them afterwards.--_Swift_ That is
strange and incredible.
P. 796. _Burnet_, speaking of King James's first attempt to leave the
kingdom, says:--With this his reign ended: For this was a plain
deserting his people, and the exposing the nation to the pillage of an
army, which he had ordered the Earl of Feversham to disband.--_Swift_.
Abominable assertion, and false consequence.
P. 797. _Burnet_, the incident of the King's being retaken at Feversham,
and the subsequent stragglings, gave rise to the party of
Jacobites:---For, if he had got clear away, by all that could be judged,
he would not have had a party left: All would have agreed, that here was
a desertion, and that therefore the nation was free, and at liberty to
secure itself. But what followed upon this gave them a colour to say,
that he was forced away, and driven out.--_Swift_. So he certainly was,
both now and afterwards.
_Ibid. Burnet_. None were killed, no houses burnt, nor were any
robberies committed.--_Swift_. Don Pedro de Ronquillo's house was
plundered and pulled down; he was Spanish ambassador.
_Ibid. Burnet_. Jeffreys, finding the King was gone, saw what reason he
had to look to himself: And, apprehending that he was now exposed to the
rage of the people, whom he had provoked with so particular a brutality,
he had disguised himself to make his escape. But he fell into the hands
of some who knew him. He was insulted by them with as much scorn and
rudeness as they could invent. And, after many hours tossing him about,
he was carried to the Lord Mayor; whom they charged to commit him to the
Tower.--_Swift_. He soon after died in the Tower by drinking strong
liquors.
P. 798. _Burnet_, when the Prince heard of King James's flight:--he sent
to Oxford, to excuse his not coming thither, and to offer the
association to them, which was signed by almost all the heads, and the
chief men of the University; even by those, who, being disappointed in
the preferments they aspired to, became afterwards his most implacable
enemies.--_Swift_. Malice.
P. 799. _Burnet_, when I heard of King James's flight and capture:--I
was affected with this dismal reverse of the fortune of a great prince,
more than I think fit to express.--_Swift_. Or than I will believe.
P. 800. _Burnet_, after relating that King James "sent the Earl of
Feversham to Windsor, without demanding any passport," describes his
reception, and adds:--Since the Earl of Feversham, who had commanded the
army against the Prince, was come without a passport, he was for some
days put in arrest.--_Swift._ Base and villainous.
P. 801. _Burnet_, when it was thought prudent for King James to leave
London, the Earl of Middleton suggested that he:--should go to
Rochester; for "since the Prince was not pleased with his coming up from
Kent, it might be perhaps acceptable to him, if he should go thither
again." It was very visible, that this was proposed in order to a second
escape.--_Swift_. And why not?
P. 802. _Burnet_. Some said, he [James] was now a prisoner, and
remembered the saying of King Charles the First, that the prisons and
the graves of princes lay not far distant from one another: The person
of the King was now struck at, as well as his government: And this
specious undertaking would now appear to be only a disguised and
designed usurpation.--_Swift._ All this is certainly true.
P. 803. _Burnet_. Now that the Prince was come, all the bodies about the
town came to welcome him.... Old Serjeant Maynard came with the men of
the law. He was then near ninety, and yet he said the liveliest thing
that was heard of on that occasion. The Prince took notice of his great
age, and said, "that he had outlived all the men of the law of his
time:" He answered, "He had like to have outlived the law itself, if his
Highness had not come over."--_Swift_. He was an old rogue for all that.
P. 805. _Burnet_, speaking of the first effects of the Revolution upon
the Presbyterians in Scotland, says:--They generally broke in upon the
Episcopal clergy with great insolence and much cruelty. They carried
them about the parishes in a mock procession: They tore their gowns, and
drove them from their churches and houses. Nor did they treat those of
them, who had appeared very zealously against Popery, with any
distinction.--_Swift_. To reward them for which, King William abolished
Episcopacy.
_Ibid. Burnet_, The Episcopal party in Scotland saw themselves under a
great cloud: So they resolved all to adhere to the Earl of Dundee, who
had served some years in Holland, and was both an able officer, and a
man of good parts, and of some very valuable virtues.--_Swift_. He was
the best man in Scotland.
P. 806. _Burnet_, speaking of Londonderry and Inniskilling, says:--Those
two small unfurnished and unfortified places, resolved to stand to their
own defence, and at all perils to stay till supplies should come to them
from England.--_Swift_. He should have mentioned Doctor Walker, who
defended Derry.
P. 807. _Burnet_. Those, who were employed by Tyrconnell to deceive the
Prince, made their applications by Sir William Temple, who had a long
and well established credit with him.--_Swift._ A lie of a Scot; for Sir
William Temple did not know Tyrconnell.
P. 807. _Burnet._ Others thought, that the leaving Ireland in that
dangerous state, might be a mean to bring the convention to a more
speedy settlement of England; and that therefore the Prince ought not to
make too much haste to relieve Ireland.--_Swift._ That is agreed to be
the true reason, and it was a wicked one.
P. 810. _Burnet_, speaking of Archbishop Sancroft, says:--He was a poor
spirited, and fearful man; and acted a very mean part in all this great
transaction.--_Swift._ Others think very differently.
P. 811. _Burnet_, speaking of the proposal to establish a regency,
says:--The much greater part of the House of Lords was for this, and
stuck long to it: And so was about a third part of the House of Commons.
The greatest part of the clergy declared themselves for it.--_Swift._
And it was certainly much the best expedient.
_Ibid. Burnet._ The third party was made up of those, who thought that
there was an original contract between the King and the people of
England; by which the kings were bound to defend their people, and to
govern them according to law, in lieu of which the people were bound to
obey and serve the king.--_Swift._ I am of this party, and yet I would
have been for a regency.
P. 813. _Burnet_, it was argued that this scheme of a regency was:--both
more illegal; and more unsafe, than the method they proposed. The law of
England had settled the point of the subject's security in obeying the
king in possession, in the statute made by Henry the Seventh. So every
man knew he was safe under a king, and so would act with zeal and
courage. But all such as should act under a _prince-regent_, created by
this convention, were upon a bottom that had not the necessary forms of
law for it.--_Swift._ There is something in this argument.
P. 814. _Burnet._ It was believed, that those of his [King James's]
party, who were looked on as men of conscience, had secret orders from
him to act upon this pretence; since otherwise they offered to act
clearly in contradiction to their own oaths and principles,--_Swift._
This is malice.
_Ibid. Burnet._ [Others thought] that in our present circumstances the
extremity of affairs, by reason of the late ill government, and by King
James's flying over to the enemy of the nation, rather than submit to
reasonable terms, had put the people of England on the necessity of
securing themselves upon a legal bottom.--_Swift._ This was the best
reason.
P. 815. _Burnet._ There were good authorities brought, by which it
appeared, that when a person did a thing upon which his leaving any
office ought to follow, he was said to abdicate. But this was a critical
dispute: And it scarce became the greatness of that assembly, or the
importance of the matter.--_Swift._ It was a very material point.
P. 815. _Burnet._ It was urged, that, by the law, the king did never
die; but that with the last breath of the dying king the regal authority
went to the next heir.--_Swift._ This is certainly true.
P. 816. _Burnet._ An heir was one that came in the room of a person that
was dead: it being a maxim that no man can be the heir of a living
man--_Swift._ This is sophistry.
_Ibid. Burnet._ It was proposed, that the birth of the pretended prince
might be examined into.... I was ordered to gather together all the
presumptive proofs that were formerly mentioned:.... It is true, these
did not amount to a full and legal proof: Yet they seemed to be such
violent presumptions, that, when they were all laid together, they were
more convincing than plain and downright evidence: For that was liable
to the suspicion of subornation: Whereas the other seemed to carry on
them very convincing characters of truth and certainty.--_Swift._ Well
said, Bishop.
P. 817. _Burnet._ If there was no clear and positive proof made of an
imposture, the pretending to examine into it, and then the not being
able to make it out beyond the possibility of contradiction, would
really give more credit to the thing, than it then had, and, instead of
weakening it, would strengthen the pretension of his birth.--_Swift._
Wisely done.
_Ibid. Burnet._ [Some people] thought, it would be a good security for
the nation, to have a dormant title to the crown lie as it were
neglected, to oblige our princes to govern well, while they would
apprehend the danger of a revolt to a Pretender still in their
eye.--_Swift._ I think this was no ill design; yet it hath not succeeded
in mending kings.
_Ibid. Burnet._ I have used more than ordinary care to gather together
all the particulars that were then laid before me as to that matter [the
birth of the Pretender].--_Swift._ And where are they?
P. 818. _Burnet_, after relating a long conversation with Bentinck
[afterwards Earl of Portland], adds--Next morning I came to him, and
desired my _congé_. I would oppose nothing in which the Prince seemed to
be concerned, as long as I was his servant. And therefore I desired to
be disengaged, that I might be free to oppose this proposition [to offer
him the crown] with all the strength and credit I had. He answered me,
that I might desire that when I saw a step made: But till then he wished
me to stay where I was.--_Swift._ Is all this true?
P. 819. _Burnet._ I heard no more of this; in which the Marquess of
Halifax was single among the peers: For I did not find there was any one
of them of his mind; unless it was the Lord Colepeper, who was a vicious
and corrupt man, but made a figure in the debates that were now in the
House of Lords, and died about the end of them.--_Swift._ Yet was not
the same thing done in effect, while the King had the sole
administration?
P. 819. _Burnet._ The Princess continued all the while in Holland, being
shut in there during the east winds, by the freezing of the rivers, and
by contrary winds after the thaw came. So that she came not to England
till all the debates were over.--_Swift._ Why was she [not] sent for
till the matter was agreed? This clearly shews the Prince's original
design was to be king, against what he professed in his Declaration.
P. 820. _Burnet._ [The Prince of Orange] said, he came over, being
invited, to save the nation: He had now brought together a free and true
representative of the kingdom: He left it therefore to them to do what
they thought best for the good of the kingdom: And, when things were
once settled, he should be well satisfied to go back to Holland
again.--_Swift._ Did he tell truth?
_Ibid. Burnet._ He thought it necessary to tell them, that he would not
be the Regent: So, if they continued in that design, they must look out
for some other person to be put in that post.--_Swift._ Was not this a
plain confession of what he came for?
P. 821. _Burnet._ In the end he said, that he could not resolve to
accept of a dignity, so as to hold it only the life of another: Yet he
thought, that the issue of Princess Anne should be preferred, in the
succession, to any issue that he might have by any other wife than the
Princess.--_Swift._ A great concession truly.
P. 822. _Burnet._ The poor Bishop of Durham [Lord Crewe], who had
absconded for some time, ... was now prevailed on to come, and by voting
the new settlement to merit at least a pardon for all that he had done:
Which, all things considered, was thought very indecent in him, yet not
unbecoming the rest of his life and character.--_Swift._ This is too
hard, though almost true.
_Ibid. Burnet._ Then the power of the Crown to grant a _non-obstante_ to
some statutes was objected.--_Swift._ Yet the words continue in patents.
P. 824. _Burnet._ A notion was started, which ... was laid thus: "The
Prince had a just cause of making war on the King." In that most of them
agreed. In a just war, in which an appeal is made to God, success is
considered as the decision of Heaven. So the Prince's success against
King James gave him the right of conquest over him. And by it all his
rights were transferred to the Prince.--_Swift._ The author wrote a
paper to prove this, and it was burnt by the hangman, and is a very
foolish scheme.[8]
[Footnote 8: "A Pastoral Letter writ by ... Gilbert, Lord Bishop of
Sarum, to the clergy of his Diocess" [dated May 15th, 1689] was
condemned by the House of Commons on Jan. 23rd, 169-2/3, and ordered to
"be burnt by the hand of the common hangman." [T.S.]]
BOOK VII.
P. 525 (second volume). _Burnet_, speaking of the Act for the General
Naturalization of Protestants, and the opposition made against it by the
High Church, adds:--This was carried in the House of Commons, with a
great majority; but all those, who appeared for this large and
comprehensive way, were reproached for their coldness and indifference
in the concerns of the Church: And in that I had a large
share.--_Swift_. Dog.
P. 526. _Burnet_. The faction here in England found out proper
instruments, to set the same humour on foot [in Ireland], during the
Earl of Rochester's government, and, as was said, by his directions:...
So the clergy were making the same bold claim there, that had raised
such disputes among us.--_Swift_. Dog, dog, dog.
P. 580. _Burnet_, speaking of the interruption in the negotiations for a
peace consequent on the Earl of Jersey's death, adds:--_One Prior_, who
had been Jersey's secretary, upon his death, was employed to prosecute
that, which the other did not live to finish. Prior had been taken a
boy, out of a tavern, by the Earl of Dorset, who accidentally found him
reading Horace; and he, being very generous, gave him an education in
literature.--_Swift_. Malice.
P. 581. _Burnet_. Many mercenary pens were set on work, to justify our
proceedings, and to defame our allies, more particularly the Dutch; this
was done with much art, but _with no regard to truth_, in a pamphlet
entitled "The Conduct of the Allies, and of the late Ministry."--_Swift
It was all true_.
_Ibid. Burnet_. The Jacobites did, with the greater joy entertain this
prospect of peace, because the Dauphin had, in a visit to St. Germains,
congratulated that court upon it; which made them conclude, that it was
to have a happy effect, with relation to the Pretender's
affairs.--_Swift_. The Queen hated and despised the Pretender, to my
knowledge.
P. 583. _Burnet_, in a conference I had with the Queen on the subject of
peace.--she hoped bishops would not be against peace: I said, a good
peace was what we prayed daily for, but ... any treaty by which Spain
and the West Indies were left to King Philip, must in a little while
deliver up all Europe into the hands of France; and, if any such peace
should be made, she was betrayed, and we were all ruined; in less than
three years' time, she would be murdered, and the fires would be again
raised in Smithfield.--_Swift_. A false prophet in every particular.
P. 589. _Burnet_, the Queen having sent a message to the Lords to
adjourn, it was debated:--that the Queen could not send a message to any
one House to adjourn, when the like message was not sent to both Houses:
the pleasure of the Prince, in convening, dissolving, proroguing, or
ordering the adjournment of Parliaments, was always directed to both
Houses; but never to any one House, without the same intimation was
made, at the same time, to the other.--_Swift_. Modern nonsense.
P. 591. _Burnet_. The House of Commons, after the recess, entered on the
observations of the commissioners for taking the public accounts; and
began with [Sir Robert] Walpole, whom they resolved to put out of the
way of disturbing them in the House.--_Swift_. He began early, and has
been thriving _twenty-seven years_, to January 1739.
P. 609. _Burnet_. A new set of addresses ran about.... Some of these
addresses mentioned the Protestant succession, and the House of Hanover,
with zeal; others did it more coldly; and some made no mention at all of
it. And it was universally believed, that no addresses were so
acceptable to the ministers, as those of _the last sort_.--_Swift_.
Foolish and factious.
P. 610. _Burnet_. The Duke of Ormonde had given the States such
assurances, of his going along with them through the whole campaign,
that he was let into the secrets of all their counsels, which by that
confidence were all known to the French: And, if the auxiliary German
troops had not been prepared to disobey his orders, it was believed he,
in conjunction with the French army, would have forced the States to
come into the new measures.--_Swift_. Vile Scot, dare to touch Ormonde's
honour, and so falsely.
P. 612. _Burnet_, the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun were engaged in
litigation; and:--upon a very high provocation, the Lord Mohun sent him
[the Duke] a challenge, which he tried to decline: but both being
hurried, by those false points of honour, they fatally went out to Hyde
Park, in the middle of November, and fought with so violent an
animosity, that neglecting the rules of art, they seemed to run on one
another, as if they tried who should kill first; in which they were both
so unhappily successful, that the Lord Mohun was killed outright, and
Duke Hamilton died in a few minutes after.[9]--_Swift_. Wrongly told.
[Footnote: 9: A footnote to the 1833 edition of Burnet says that "the
duke in the belief of some was killed by General Macartney, the Lord
Mohun's second." See also Chesterfield's letter quoted in Introduction,
and Swift's own version in the "Four Last Years," p. 178. [T.S.]]
P. 614. _Burnet_ says of the Earl of Godolphin:--After having been
thirty years in the Treasury, and during nine of those Lord Treasurer,
as he was never once suspected of corruption, or of suffering his
servants to grow rich under him, so in all that time his estate was not
increased by him to the value of £4,000. _Swift_. A great lie.
THE CONCLUSION.
P. 669. _Burnet_, speaking of the progress of his own life, says:--The
pleasures of sense I did soon nauseate.--_Swift_. Not so soon with the
wine of some elections.
THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, BY THOMAS BURNET, ESQ.
Opposite to the title-page:--_Swift_. A rude violent party jackanapes.
In the Life, p. 719, is printed a letter from Archbishop Tillotson,
dated October 23, 1764 [sic, the volume was printed in 1734, the date
should be 1694], in which he says: "The account given of Athanasius's
Creed, seems to me no-wise satisfactory; I wish we were well rid of
it."--_Swift_ has drawn a finger in the margin of his copy of Burnet's
History pointing to this passage.
P. 722. _Thomas Burnet_. The character I have given his wives, will
scarce make it an addition to his, that he was a most affectionate
husband. His tender care of the _first_, during a course of sickness,
that lasted for many years; and _his fond love to the other two_, and
the deep concern he expressed for their loss, were no more than their
just due, from one of his humanity, gratitude and discernment.--_Swift_.
Three wives.
P. 723. _Thomas Burnet_. The bishop was a kind and bountiful master to
his servants, whom he never changed, but with regret and through
necessity: Friendly and obliging to all in employment under him, and
peculiarly happy in the choice of them; especially in that of the
steward to the bishopric and his courts, William Wastefield, Esq. (a
gentleman of a plentiful fortune, at the time of his accepting this
post) and in that of his domestic steward, Mr. _Mackney_.--_Swift_. A
Scot, his own countryman.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
NOTES ON THE FREE-HOLDER.
NOTE
"THE FREE HOLDER" was a political periodical written in the form of
essays. It continued for fifty five numbers from Friday, December 23rd,
1715, to Friday, June 29th, 1716. Its purpose was to reconcile the
English nation to the Hanoverian succession. "These papers," notes
Scott, "while they exhibit the exquisite humour and solid sense peculiar
to the author, show also, even amid the strength of party, that
philanthropy and gentleness of nature, which were equally his
distinguishing attributes. None of these qualities would have
conciliated his great opponent, Swift, had the field of combat yet
remained open to him. But as he withdrew from it in sullen indignation,
he seems to have thrown out the following flashes of satire, as brief
examples of what he would have done had the hour of answer been yet
current."
Scott obtained these "notes" from a transcription of the original in
Swift's own hand, in a copy of "The Free holder" which belonged to Dr.
Bernard, Bishop of Limerick. The present text is a reprint of Scott's,
but the text of "The Free holder" has been read with the octavo and
duodecimo editions of that periodical issued by Midwinter in 1716. The
titles to the essays were not given in the original issue, except that
to No. 9. They were added as a "Contents" to the re-issue in volume
form.
[T.S.]
NOTES ON THE FREE-HOLDER.[1]
No. 2. _Dec. 26, 1715_.--_Of His Majesty's Character._
_Addison._
[Footnote 1: "The Free-holder," conducted by Addison, was published on
Mondays and Fridays from December 23rd, 1715, till June 29th, 1716;
fifty-five numbers were issued altogether. [T.S.]]
It was by this [this firmness of mind] that he surmounted those many
difficulties which lay in the way to his succession.--_Swift_. What
difficulties were those, or what methods did he take to surmount them?
_Addison_. It is observed by Sir William Temple, that the English are
particularly fond of a king who is valiant: Upon which account His
Majesty has a title to all the esteem that can be paid the most warlike
prince; though at the same time, for the good of his subjects, he
studies to decline all occasions of military glory.--_Swift_. This seems
to be a discovery.
_Addison_. I might here take notice of His Majesty's more private
virtues, but have rather chosen to remind my countrymen of the public
parts of his character.--_Swift_. This is prudent.
_Addison_. But the most remarkable interpositions of Providence, in
favour of him, have appeared in removing those seemingly invincible
obstacles to his succession; in taking away, at so critical a juncture,
the person who might have proved a dangerous enemy; etc.--_Swift_.
False, groundless, invidious, and ungrateful. Was that person the Queen?
No. 3. _Dec. 30, 1715_.--_The Memoirs of a Preston Rebel._
[_A Ludicrous Account of the Principles of the Northumberland
Insurgents, and the Causes of their taking Arms_.]--_Swift_. Could this
author, or his party, offer as good reasons for their infamous treatment
of our blessed Queen's person, government, and majesty?
The same. _Addison_. Having been joined by a considerable reinforcement
of Roman Catholics, whom we could rely upon, as knowing them
to be the best Tories in the nation, and avowed enemies to
Presbyterianism.--_Swift_. By this irony, the best Whigs are professed
friends to fanatics.
The same. _Addison_. But before we could give the word [to retreat], the
trainbands, taking advantage of our delay, fled first.--_Swift_. An
argument for a standing army.
No. 6. _Jan. 9, 1715-16_.--_The Guilt of Perjury._
_Addison_. Though I should be unwilling to pronounce the man who is
indolent, or indifferent in the cause of his prince, to be absolutely
perjured; I may venture to affirm, that he falls very short of that
allegiance to which he is obliged by oath.--_Swift_. Suppose a king
grows a beast, or a tyrant, after I have taken an oath: a 'prentice
takes an oath; but if his master useth him barbarously, the lad may be
excused if he wishes for a better.
No. 7. _Jan. 13, 1715-16_.--_Of Party Lies._
_Addison_. If we may credit common report, there are several remote
parts of the nation in which it is firmly believed, that all the
churches in London are shut up; and that if any clergyman walks the
streets in his habit, 'tis ten to one but he is knocked down by some
sturdy schismatic.--_Swift_. No--but treated like a dog.
No. 8. _Jan. 16, 1715-16_.--_The Female Association._
_Addison_. It is therefore to be hoped that every fine woman will make
this laudable use of her charms; and that she may not want to be
frequently reminded of this great duty, I will only desire her to think
of her country every time she looks in her glass.--_Swift_. By no means,
for if she loves her country, she will not be pleased with the sight.
_Addison_. Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be
engaged in a seditious club or drinks mysterious healths ... let her
look to him, and keep him out of harm's way; etc.--_Swift_. Will they
hang a man for that.
No. 9. _Jan. 20, 1715-16_.--_Answer of the Free-holders of Great Britain
to the Pretender's Declaration._
_The Declaration of the Free-holders of Great Britain, in Answer to that
of the Pretender_.--_Addison_. Can you in conscience think us to be such
fools as to rebel against the King, for ... having removed a general
[the Duke of Ormonde] who is now actually in arms against him,
etc.--_Swift_. Driven out by tyranny, malice, and faction.
_Addison_. The next grievance, which you have a mighty mind to redress
among us, is the Parliament of Great Britain, against whom you bring a
stale accusation which has been used by every minority in the memory of
man; namely, that it was procured by unwarrantable influences and
corruptions.--_Swift._ The freeholders will never sign this paragraph.
_Addison_. How comes it to pass that the Electorate of Hanover is become
all of a sudden one of the most inconsiderable provinces of the
empire?--_Swift_. It is indeed grown considerable by draining of
England.
No. 12. _Jan_. 30, 1715-16.--_The Guilt of Rebellion in general, and of
the late Rebellion in particular_.
_Addison_. The present rebellion [1715] is formed against a king, ...
who has not been charged with one illegal proceeding.--_Swift_ Are you
serious?
No. 13. _Feb_. 3, 1715-16.--_Of those who are indifferent in a time of
Rebellion_,
_Addison_. In such a juncture [a rebellion], though a man may be
innocent of the great breach which is made upon government, he is highly
culpable, if he does not use all the means that are suitable to his
station for reducing the community into its former state of peace and
good order.--_Swift_. He speaks at his ease, but those who are ill used
will be apt to apply what the boy said to his mother, who told him the
enemy was approaching.
_Addison_. This law [one of Solon's] made it necessary for every citizen
to take his party, because it was highly probable the majority would be
so wise as to espouse that cause which was most agreeable to the public
weal.--_Swift_. No--for, in England, a faction that governs a weak, or
honours a wicked prince, will carry all against a majority in the
kingdom, as we have seen by sad experience.
No. 14. _Feb._ 6, 1715-16.--_The Political Creed of a Tory Malcontent._
_Addison_. Article XIII, That there is an unwarrantable faction in this
island, consisting of King, Lords, and Commons.--_Swift_. This article
is too true, with a little alteration.
The same. _Addison_. Article XV. That an Act of Parliament to empower
the King to secure suspected persons in times of rebellion, is the means
to establish the sovereign on the throne, and consequently a great
infringement of the liberties of the subject.--_Swift_. No--but to
destroy liberty.
No. 21. _Mar_. 2, 1715-16.--_The Birthday of Her Royal Highness the
Princess of Wales_.
_Addison_. When this excellent princess was yet in her father's court,
she was so celebrated for the beauty of her person, etc.--_Swift_. I
have bad eyes.
_Addison_. There is no part of her Royal Highness's character which we
observe with greater pleasure, than that behaviour by which she has so
much endeared herself to His Majesty.--_Swift._ What would he say
now?[2]
[Footnote: 2: The prince and his father, George I., were now [1727, just
before George I. died] at variance. [S.]]
No. 24. _Mar_. 12, 1715-16.--_The Designs of His Majesty's Enemies
impracticable_.
_Addison_. To this we may add ... that submissive deference of his Royal
Highness both from duty and inclination to all the measures of his Royal
father.--_Swift_. Which still continues.
_Addison_. There is no question but His Majesty will be as generally
valued and beloved in his British as he is in his German dominions, when
he shall have time to make his royal virtues equally known among
us.--_Swift._ How long time does he require?
No. 26. _Mar_. 19, 1715-16.--_Considerations offered to the disaffected
part of the Fair Sex_.
_Addison_. Several inconveniencies which those among them undergo, who
have not yet surrendered to the government.--_Swift_. Would he pimp for
the court?
No. 29. _Mar_. 30, 1716.--_The Practice of Morality necessary to make a
Party flourish_.
_Addison_. Those of our fellow-subjects, who are sensible of the
happiness they enjoy in His Majesty's accession to the throne, are
obliged, by all the duties of gratitude, to adore that Providence which
has so signally interposed in our behalf, by clearing a way to the
Protestant succession through such difficulties as seemed
insuperable--_Swift_. I wish he had told us any one of those
difficulties.
_Addison_. It is the duty of an honest and prudent man, to sacrifice a
doubtful opinion to the concurring judgement of those whom he believes
to be well intentioned to their country, and who have better
opportunities of looking into all its most complicated interests.--_Swift_.
A motion to make men go every length with their party. I am sorry to
see such a principle in this author.
No. 31. _Apr_. 6, 1716.--_Answer to a celebrated Pamphlet entitled "An
Argument to prove the Affections of the People of England to be the best
Security of the Government; etc."_
_Addison_. This middle method [of tempering justice with mercy] ... has
hitherto been made use of by our sovereign.--_Swift_. In trifles.
_Addison_. Would it be possible for him [the reader] to imagine, that of
the several thousands openly taken in arms, and liable to death by the
laws of their country, not above forty have yet suffered?--_Swift._ A
trifle!
_Addison_. Has not His Majesty then shewn the least appearance of grace
in that generous forgiveness which he has already extended to such great
numbers of his rebellious subjects, who must have died by the laws of
their country, had not his mercy interposed in their behalf?--_Swift_.
Prodigious clemency, not to hang all the common soldiers who followed
their leaders!
_Addison_. Those who are pardoned would not have known the value of
grace, if none had felt the effects of justice.--_Swift._ And only
hanging the lords and gentlemen, and some of the rabble.
_Addison_. Their [the last ministry's] friends have ever since made use
of the most base methods to infuse those groundless discontents into the
minds of the common people, etc.--_Swift._ Hath experience shown those
discontents groundless?
_Addison_. If the removal of these persons from their posts has produced
such popular commotions, the continuance of them might have produced
something much more fatal to their king and country.--_Swift_. Very
false reasoning.
_Addison_. No man would make such a parallel, [between the treatment of
the rebels, and that of the Catalans under King Philip,] unless his mind
be so blinded with passion and prejudice, as to assert, in the language
of this pamphlet, "That no instances can be produced of the least lenity
under the present administration from the first hour it commenced to
this day."--_Swift_. Nor to this, 1727.
_Addison_. God be thanked we have a king who punishes with
reluctancy.--_Swift_. A great comfort to the sufferers!
_Addison_. It would be well if all those who ... are clamorous at the
proceedings of His present Majesty, would remember, that notwithstanding
that rebellion [the Duke of Monmouth's] ... had no tendency ... to
destroy the national religion, etc.--_Swift_. To introduce fanaticism,
and destroy monarchy.
_Addison_. No prince has ever given a greater instance of his
inclinations to rule without a standing army.--_Swift_. We find this
true by experience.
_Addison_. What greater instances could His Majesty have given of his
love to the Church of England, than those he has exhibited by his most
solemn declarations; by his daily example; and by his promotions of the
most eminent among the clergy to such vacancies as have happened in his
reign.--_Swift._ Most undeniable truth, as any in Rabelais.
No. 44. _May_ 21, 1716.--_Tory Foxhunter's Account of the Masquerade on
the Birth of the Arch-Duke._
_Addison_. What still gave him greater offence was a drunken bishop, who
reeled from one side of the court to the other, and was very sweet upon
an Indian Queen.--_Swift_. Then, that story is true?
No. 45. _May_ 25, 1716.--_The Use and Advantage of Wit and Humour under
proper Regulations_.
_Addison_. I have lately read with much pleasure, the "Essays upon
several Subjects" published by Sir Richard Blackmore.--_Swift_. I
admire to see such praises from this author to so insipid a scoundrel,
whom I know he despised.
No. 51. _June_ 15, 1716.--_Cautions to be observed in the reading of
ancient Greek and Roman Historians_.
_Addison_. "History of Free-thinking."--_Swift_. Writ by Collins.
_Addison_. The greatest theorists ... among those very people [the
Greeks and Romans,] have given the preference to such a form of
government, as that which obtains in this kingdom.--_Swift_. Yet, this
we see is liable to be wholly corrupted.
No. 52. _June_ 18, 1716.--_Of State Jealousy_.
_Addison_. It is plain, ... that such a base ungenerous race of men
could rely upon nothing for their safety in this affront to His Majesty,
[wearing a mark on the Pretender's birth-day,] but the known gentleness
and lenity of his government.--_Swift_. Then the devil was in them.
No. 54. _June_ 25, 1716.--_Preference of the Whig Scheme to that of the
Tories_.
_Addison_. The Whigs tell us ... that the Tory scheme would terminate in
Popery and arbitrary government.--_Swift._ But Tories never writ or
spoke so gently and favourably of Popery, as Whigs do of Presbytery.
Witness a thousand pamphlets on both sides.
_Addison_. I shall not impute to any Tory scheme the administration of
King James the Second, on condition that they do not reproach the Whigs
with the usurpation of Oliver.--_Swift_. I will not accept that
condition, nor did I ever see so unfair a one offered.
No. 55. _June_ 29, 1716.--_Conclusion_.
_Addison_. The enemies of His present Majesty ... find him in a
condition to visit his dominions in Germany, without any danger to
himself, or to the public; whilst his dutiful subjects would be in no
ordinary concern upon this occasion, had they not the consolation to
find themselves left under the protection of a prince who makes it his
ambition to copy out his Royal Father's example.--_Swift_ Then, why was
he never trusted a second time?
_Addison_. It would indeed have been an unpardonable insolence for a
fellow-subject to treat in a vindictive and cruel style, those persons
whom His Majesty has endeavoured to reduce to obedience by gentle
methods, which he has declared from the throne to be most agreeable to
his inclinations.--_Swift_. And is that enough?
_Addison_. May we not hope that all of this kind, who have the least
sentiments of honour or gratitude, will be won over to their duty by so
many instances of Royal clemency?--_Swift_ Not one instance produced.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
INDEX.
ABINGDON, Earl of, character of, 279.
Addison, Joseph, Swift and, 15;
Swift's Notes on the Freeholder, 371-377.
Aglionby, Mr., character of, 284.
Albemarle, Earl of, defeated at Denain, 169, 175;
character of, 276.
Allies, the, unfair treatment of England by, 104 _et seq_.
Ancaster, Duke of, character of, 279.
Anne, the Princess, her behaviour at the birth of the Pretender, 360.
_See_ Anne, Queen.
Anne, Queen, her treatment of Swift, 10 and _n_., 15;
offers a reward for discovery of author of
the "Public Spirit of the Whigs," 15;
her change of ministry, 19, 31;
her overtures with regard to peace, 31, 50;
creates twelve new peers, 38, 39;
stated to have pressed Marlborough
to become general for life, 40;
dismisses Marlborough, 48, 49;
her conduct of the peace negotiations, _see_ Utrecht, Congress of;
speech on the terms of peace with France, 151 _et seq_.
Argyle, the family of, Swift on,
293, 300, 306, 308, 312, 313, 314, 317, 318, 319, 332, 335.
Argyle, Archibald, Duke of, character of, 286.
Arlington, Earl of, character of, 334.
Assiento, the, demanded by England, 63, 67, 136, 144, 145, 153;
the Dutch demand a share in, 130, 138, 140, 141.
Aylesford, Earl of, Swift on, 350.
Aylmer, Colonel Matthew (Lord), character of, 284.
Baillie, Robert, 349-350;
his execution, 351.
Barrier Treaty, the, 41, 80-82;
inquiry into, 99;
laid before the House, 100;
interests of Great Britain sacrificed by, 110-114;
peace proposals affecting, 134, 135, 138, 140, 143;
new treaty signed, 180-182.
Bavaria, Elector of, peace proposals affecting,
79, 171, 176, 179, 183, 184, 188.
Baxter, Richard, 337.
Berkeley, Earl of, character of, 279.
Berry, Duke of, declared heir to the French throne, 152, 174.
Blackmore, Sir Richard, 376.
Blackwell, Sir Lambert, character of, 284.
Blunt, Sir John, on the National Debt, 91, 92.
Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Lord, his estrangement from Harley, 13, 16;
information given to Swift by, 18 _n_.;
and the Duke of Somerset, 33;
his interview with Bothmar, 43;
introduces Prince Eugene to the Queen, 43;
hated by Eugene, 45;
his attacks on Walpole, 84 and _n_.;
his energy in instituting an enquiry into the war, 119;
his negotiations with Buys, 130;
orders Ormonde not to fight, 150 _n_., 156 _n_.;
letter to Thomas Harley on the conduct of the Dutch, 160 _n_.;
his opinion of Rebellion, 166 _n_.;
created Viscount, 170;
his indignation at not being made an Earl, 170 _n_.;
his mission to France, 171, 172;
mentioned, 76, 77, 121.
Bolton, Charles, Duke of, character of, 274;
Bothmar, M., Hanover Envoy,
memorial of, 42, 43, 129, 167;
his interview with Bolingbroke, 43, 45, 48;
deceives his master by false representations, 166.
Boyle, Archbishop Michael, 354.
Boyle, Hon. Henry (Lord Carleton),
character of, 281.
Boyle, Robert, 338.
Bristol, John Digby, 3rd Earl of, 27 _n_.
Bromley, William, 121.
Brydges, Mr. (Duke of Chandos), character of, 280.
Buckingham, Duke of, character of, 334, 335.
Buckinghamshire, John Duke of, character of, 273.
Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury, 16,
the originator of the National Debt, 88;
character of, 282;
Swift's remarks on his "History," 325-368;
appointed Professor of Divinity at Glasgow, 341;
his "Lives of the Dukes of Hamilton," 341;
settled in Holland, 357;
and the Earl of Portland, 364;
his "Pastoral Letter," 365, 366;
his criticism of "The Conduct of the Allies," 366;
his opinion on the peace, 366, 367;
his wives, 368.
Burnet, Thomas, his life of Bishop Burnet, 368.
Butler of Weston, Lord, character of, 281.
Buys, Pensionary,
Dutch envoy in London, 38, 41-43, 48, 60,74-76, 80-82, 129;
account of, 41, 42;
on national debts, 88;
his unreasonable proposals, 130;
goes to Utrecht, 136;
his hostile attitude to England, 136-139, 144;
his altered behaviour, 187;
charges all delays to Heinsius, 187.
Cadogan, General, 164.
Cardonnell, Adam, secretary to the Duke of Marlborough,
expelled the house, 87.
Carstairs, William, character of, 287, 345.
Carstares, Rev. W., 117, 118 _n_.
Cartwright, Bishop, 356.
Chandos, Lord, character of, 280.
Charles II., his mistresses, 339, 340, 344;
Burnet's character of, 353.
Charles VI., Emperor, averse from ending the war, 42;
his proposals, 43, 44;
how affected by Treaty of Utrecht, 188;
does not sign the Treaty, 190.
Charles XII., King of Sweden, Swift's veneration for, 195.
Chesterfield, Earl of, character of, 279.
Cholmondeley, Earl of, 19; character of, 280.
Church of Rome, the, usurpations of, 207.
Churches, suggestion for building fifty new, 20.
Clarendon, Earl of, 16;
Swift's remarks on his "History of the Rebellion," 291-323, 332;
Burnet on his banishment, 339, 340.
Congreve, William, Swift and, 15.
Cowper, Lord, character of, 28, 29.
Craggs, father of the Secretary, 40.
Crewe, Lord, Bishop of Durham, 365.
Croissy, Chevalier de, 54.
Cromwell, Oliver, Swift on, 314, 316, 333, 334;
and the Countess of Dysert, 339.
Cutts, Lord, character of, 284.
Dartmouth, Earl of, 129;
character of, 278.
D'Avenant, Charles, character of, 282.
D'Avenant, Mr., agent at Frankfort, character of, 284.
De La Warr, Lord, character of, 280.
Denain, battle of, 52, 169.
Derby, Earl of, character of, 276.
De Witt, Pensionary, 338;
the Prince of Orange and, 343.
Disney, Colonel, 165.
Dorislaus, Dr., 317.
Dorset, Earl of, character of, 276.
Dundee, Earl of, Swift on, 362.
Dunkirk, proposed demolition of, 62, 67, 68, 70, 74, 135, 153;
Hill takes possession of, 161, 163, 165.
Dutch, the, the French affect resentment against, 55 and _n._;
negotiate secretly with France, 55 _n._, 60, 61, 139, 143, 145;
their answer to the French proposals, 59;
French and English preliminaries submitted to, 71;
their object in sending M. Buys to London, 76;
agree to Congress of Utrecht, 79;
their treaty with England, 80-82, 129;
fail to observe their agreements, 104, 105;
unreasonable demands of, 130;
misled by factions in England, 131, 137, 142, 145, 158, 161, 175;
the Queen's indignation with, 131;
hostile attitude of, to England, 138, 139, 144, 145;
English concessions to, 143;
protest against Ormonde's refusal to fight, 159, 160, 162;
refuse Ormonde passage through their towns, 163;
refuse to join England in the armistice, 168;
their consequent losses, 175;
discover they have been deceived, 176, 184;
their proposals, 176;
last English offers to, 179;
new Succession and Barrier treaty concluded with, 180, 181, 182;
convinced of the Queen's sincerity, 184.
Dysert, Countess of, and Cromwell, 339.
"Eikon Basilike," Swift on, 333.
England, Abstract of the History of, 195-270.
Essex, Earl of, 276, 303, 305;
Swift on, 305;
suicide of, 350.
Eugene, Prince, in England, 43;
design of his visit, 44, 45, 132;
his hatred of Bolingbroke, 45;
his action in Flanders, 147;
deserts Ormonde, 162.
Fairfax, Lord, 333.
Falkland, Lord, and Prince Rupert, 300;
his discourses against the Roman Catholic religion, 303;
character of, 303.
Feversham, Earl of, character of, 279;
Burnet on, 361.
Fitzgerald, Percy, his collation of the "Four Last Years," xxi;
his collation of Swift's remarks on Clarendon, 290.
"Four Last Years of the Queen,"
History of the, editor's advertisement to, 5;
editor's motives in publishing, 7;
editor's criticism of Swift, 8-11;
Swift's reasons for writing, 13, 14;
Swift's materials for, 14.
_See also_ Introduction.
Fletcher, Andrew, of Saltoun, character of, 287.
France, offers terms of peace, 51;
refuses the British demands, 51, 53;
anxious for peace, 53;
affects resentment against the Dutch, 55 and _n._;
negotiations between the Allies and, 56 _et seq.,
see_ Utrecht, Congress of;
renounces the succession In Spain, 152, 173, 174.
Frankland, Sir Thomas, character of, 281.
"Free Thoughts on the Present State of Affairs,"
publication of, delayed by Bolingbroke, 21 _n_.
Gallas, Count, Austrian Ambassador, 44, 54;
forbidden the Court, 77, 78.
Galway, Earl of, character of, 284.
Gaultier, Abbé, employed in peace negotiations, 53 and _n_., 54 _et
seq_., 78, 142.
George I., Addison on, 374, 375, 376, 377.
Gertruydenberg, conference at, 54, 55, 56, 59, 76.
Gibraltar, to be annexed to Britain, 136, 140, 141, 153.
Godolphin, Earl of, character of, 26, 27;
nicknamed "Volpone," 27;
his treatment of the Duke of Somerset, 33;
in need of protection, 41;
debt incurred under his administration, 92, 93, 96;
at the head of the Junto, 129;
Burnet on, 348, 368.
Goodenough, under-sheriff of London, 354.
Grafton, Duke of, character of, 275.
Grand Alliance, the, 70, 83.
Grantham, Earl of, character of, 279.
Greenvil, Sir Richard, Swift on, 309.
Grey of Werke, Lord, character of, 280.
Griffin, Lord, character of, 280.
Guernsey, Heneage Finch, Lord, 30.
Guilford, Lord, character of, 280.
Guiscard, Marquis de, 97, 120.
Gyllenborg, Count de, the "Abstract of the History of England,"
dedicated to, 194, 195.
Hague, The, conference at, 51, 54, 55, 59, 65.
Halifax, Lord, character of, 275.
Hamilton, 3rd Marquess, afterwards Duke of,
Swift on, 293,305, 306, 317, 321.
Hamilton, James Douglas, 4th Duke of,
his duel with Lord Mohun, 178, 179, 286, 367;
character of, 286.
Hanmer, Sir Thomas, his "Representation," 100.
Hanover, the Elector of, 34, 42;
his "Memorial to the Queen," 42, 43 and _n_.;
deceived by Robethon and Bothmar, 166, 167;
T. Harley's mission to, 167, 168.
Hanover, House of, Bill for fixing the precedence of the, 98, 99.
Harley, Robert, Earl of Oxford,
his estrangement from Bolingbroke, 13, 16;
information given to Swift by, 18 _n_.;
his financial measures, 20, 96-98;
blamed in connection with Nottingham's amendment to the address, 38;
advises the Queen to create new peers, 38;
character of, 93-96, 281.
Harley, Thomas, his mission to Utrecht, 140;
sent to Hanover, 166, 167, 168.
Hartington, Marquess of, character of, 275.
Hedges, Sir Charles, 86.
Heinsius, Pensionary, 60;
charged by Bays with all delays, 187.
Henderson, Alexander, "a cursed fanatic," 294.
Henry I., history of reign of, 217-237;
his character and person, 236.
Henry II., history of the reign of, 265-268;
character of, 269.
Hickes, Dean, 346, 347.
Hill, John, takes Dunkirk, 161, 163, 165.
Hill, Richard, character of, 283.
Hoffman, the Emperor's Resident in England, 129, 132.
Holland, Earl of, Swift on, 304.
Hompesch, Count, Dutch General, 164, 175.
Hurry, Colonel, character of, 302, 303, 307.
Ingoldsby, Colonel, 323.
Ireland, "a most obscure disagreeable country," 196;
slow growth of civilization in, 267, 268.
James II, the "abdicated king," 10, 11, 26;
flight and capture of, 361.
Jeffreys, Judge, his death in the Tower, 361.
Jersey, Earl of, 35;
and the Abbe Gaultier, 54.
Johnstoun, James, character of, 287.
Junto, Lords of the, 32, 39, 129.
Kennedy, Lady Margaret, married Bishop Burnet, 328.
Kent, Earl (afterwards Duke) of, character of, 279.
Land, Bill appointing Commissioners to examine into Crown grants of, 121.
Lauderdale, Earl of, Swift on, 317.
Leightoun, Bishop, Burnet on, 335;
death of, 351, 352.
Leopold, the Emperor, fails to observe his agreements, 105.
Lewis, Erasmus, letter of, to Swift, on the "Four Last Years,"
quoted, x, 25 _n_., 30 _n_., 33 _n_., 42 _n_., 45 _n_.
Lexington, Lord, appointed Ambassador in Spain, 178, 190;
character of, 280;
Lindsey, Earl of _See_ Ancaster, Duke of.
Louis XIV., King of France, his negotiations for peace, 51 _et seq_.,
_See_ Utrecht, Congress of.
Lorraine, Duke of, 61.
Lucas, Dr. Charles, Editor of the "Four Last Years," 5 _n_.
Lucas, Lord; character of, 277.
Lumley, Lord, character of, 358.
Macartney, General, kills the Duke of Hamilton, 178, 179, 286.
Macky, John, account of, 272;
"Memoirs of the Secret Services of," 272;
his characters of the Court of Queen Anne, 273, 288.
Mansell, Thomas (afterwards Lord), character of, 281.
Mar, Earl of, character of, 287.
March Club, the, 121.
Marlborough, Duke of, 19, 58;
character of, 24, 25, 273;
insinuations against his courage, 25 and _n_., 48;
fears an inquiry, 40;
his demand to be made general for life, 40, 41;
fall of, 46, 49;
accused of corruption, 84, 86;
his deduction of 2-1/2 per cent from the pay of foreign troops, 85, 116;
at the head of the Junto, 129;
endeavours to dissuade the Dutch from concluding peace, 187, 188;
"detestably covetous," 273;
Burnet on, 359.
Marlborough, Duchess of, character of, 25, 26.
Masham, Mrs., her hostility to the Duke of Marlborough, 87.
Maynard, Sir John, 347, 362.
Mesnager, M., his mission to London, 66, 67;
appointed plenipotentiary at Utrecht, 80;
favours the Dutch, 165;
quarrels with Count Rechteren, 177, 181, 182;
his unreasonable attitude, 182, 183, 189.
Methuen, Sir Paul, character of, 283.
Mew, Bishop, character of, 352.
Middleton, Earl of, character of, 287.
Milton's "Paradise Lost," Burnet's criticism of, 336.
Mohun, Lord, his duel with the Duke of Hamilton, 178, 367;
character of, 278.
Molo, Dutch agent, 139, 166.
Montagu, Duke of, character of, 275.
Monteleon, Marquis of, Spanish ambassador in London, 190.
Montrevil, M., 310, 311.
Montrose, Marquess (afterwards Duke) of, character of, 286, 311, 318, 333.
Munster, Treaty of, 112.
Nassau, Count, 164.
National Debt, the, origin of, 87.
Newcastle, Duke of, 35;
character of, 274.
Newfoundland, to be restored to England, 63, 68, 136, 153;
French fishing rights in, 68.
Northumberland, George, Duke of, character of, 274.
Nottingham, Earl of, character of, 29, 30;
his nicknames, 30 _n_.;
his amendment to the address with reference to the peace,
34 _n_., 36, 129, 131;
out of favour at Court, 34;
his disappointment, 35;
goes over to the Whigs, 35, 48, 129;
his bill against Occasional Conformity, 35, 37, 39, 40;
votes against the Bill for appointing Commissioners to examine
into Crown grants of land, 122;
character of, 274.
Occasional Conformity, Bill against, 35, 37, 39, 40.
October Club, the, 120.
O'Hara, Sir Charles. _See_ Tyrawley, Lord.
Orange, Prince of. _See_ William III.
Orkney, Earl of, character of, 284.
Orkney, Lady, 355.
Ormonde, Duke of, succeeds Marlborough in Flanders, 46, 143;
ordered to avoid fighting, 146, 150 _n_., 156 and _n_.;
refuses to fight, 147;
anger of the Dutch against, 147, 148;
why unable to take Dunkirk, 159;
deserted by the allies, 162;
declares an armistice, 163;
refused passage through Dutch towns, 163;
takes possession of Ghent and Bruges, 164, 165;
character of, 273;
Burnet on, 360, 367;
Addison on, 372.
Ossuna, Duke d', 190.
Oxford, Countess of, "cheated by her father," 274.
Oxford, Earl of. _See_ Harley.
Palatines, the, 115.
Parker, Chief Justice, 38.
Parliament, origin of, in England, 225-227.
Patrick, Bishop, character of, 337, 340.
Peace, desire for, 19, 20;
the Queen's overtures in favour of, 31, 50;
amendment to the address with reference to, carried, 36;
history of the negotiations for, 51 _et seq.
See_ Utrecht, Congress of.
Penn, William, Swift on, 356.
Petecum, M., 56 _n_.;
his negotiations with Torcy, 60.
Peterborough, Earl of, a spy in the service of, 77;
character of, 277.
Philip V., King of Spain,
renounces the Kingdom of France, 142, 143, 146, 151, 157.
Polignac, Abbé de, one of the plenipotentiaries at Utrecht, 79, 82, 166;
made a cardinal, 182.
Porter, Sir Charles, 354.
Portland, Earl of, character of, 276.
Poulett, Lord, character of, 278.
Powis, Sir Thomas, 354.
Press, licence of the, 124;
Bill for regulation of, not passed, 126.
Pretender, the, sent out of France, 189;
Burnet on the birth of, 358, 364;
taken to France, 360, 361;
hated by the Queen, 366.
Prior, M., his "History of his own Time," quoted, 55 _n_., 61;
mission to Versailles, 56 _n_., 61, 63;
his return, 66;
mission to France with Bolingbroke, 172, 176, 184;
character of, 282;
Burnet on, 366.
Protestant religion, meaning of the words, 296.
Protestants, Act for naturalizing foreign, 114.
Pym, John, Swift on the death of, 306.
Quakers, their objection to oaths, 127, 128.
Queen Elizabeth's Day, 47 and _n_.
Raby, Lord. _See_ Strafford, Earl of.
Rechteren, Count, his quarrel with M. Mesnager, 177, 181, 182.
Report of the Commissioners for inspecting public accounts, 84-87.
"Representation," the, on the war presented to the Queen, 100-114, 118;
Dutch memorial in answer to, 119.
Richmond, Duke of, character of, 274.
Rivers, Earl, his mission to Hanover, 166, 167;
character of, 276.
Robethon, a Frenchman in the Elector of Hanover's service, 166.
Robinson, Dr., Bishop of Bristol, made Lord Privy Seal, 20, 35;
plenipotentiary at Utrecht, 31, 82;
goes to Holland, 132;
opens the Congress, 138 _et seq_.
Rochester, Earl of, 32, 35;
Burnet on, 340, 341.
Romney, Henry, Earl of, character of, 274, 358.
Ronquillo, Don Pedro de, Spanish Ambassador, his house pulled down, 361.
Rothes, Earl of, character of, 294;
a remark of, quoted, 346.
Rouille, M., 52.
Roxburgh, Duke of, and the Earl of Nottingham, 35.
Sacheverell, Dr., trial of, 20, 24, 53;
nicknames Godolphin "Volpone," 27.
St. John, George, 191 _n_.
St. John, Henry. _See_ Bolingbroke.
St. John, Oliver, 294, 295, 296.
Sancroft, Archbishop, Burnet on, 345, 355, 363.
Sandwich, Earl of, character of, 277.
Savoy, Duke of,
peace proposals affecting, 62, 63, 76, 78, 79, 135, 155, 171, 178, 180.
Scarborough, Earl of, 36.
Scotch, the, Swift's hatred of. _See_ Remarks on Clarendon's History
and Burnet's History, 291-368 _passim_.
Scotland, Act of Toleration with,
regard to the Episcopal Church of, 116, 117, 118 _n_.;
Act restoring Patronage in the Church of, 117, 118, and _n_.
Shaftesbury (Sir A.A. Cooper), Earl of, character of, 303, 306.
Sharp, Archbishop, 334, 336, 338, 341, 346.
Sheldon, Archbishop, character of, 339.
Shrewsbury, Earl of, character of, 358.
Shrewsbury, Duke of, 54;
appointed Ambassador at Paris, 181 _et seq_.;
Swift's opinion of, 186 _n_.
Shower, Rev. Mr., letter to Harley from, 39.
Sichel, Walter, his "Bolingbroke and his Times," quoted, 77 _n_.
Sidney, Henry. _See_ Romney, Earl of.
Smith, Rt. Hon. John, character of, 282.
Somers, Lord, character of, 22-24, 275.
Somerset, Duke of, 19, 48;
the hope of the Whigs, 31;
in favour with the Queen, 32;
and Lord Godolphin, 32, 33;
his breach with the Tories, 33;
at the head of the Junto, 129.
Somerset, Duke of, character of, 273.
Spain, the war in, 106;
peace proposals affecting, 134, 135;
not represented at the Congress of Utrecht, 190;
treaty between Great Britain and, 190.
Sprat, Bishop, Burnet on, 348.
Stamford, Earl of, character of, 277, 301.
Stanhope, Colonel, character of, 284.
Stanhope, Earl, character of, 284.
Steele, Sir R., Swift and, 15 and _n_.
Stephen, King, history of the reign of, 238-264;
his character and person, 262.
Stepney, George, character of, 283.
Sterne, Archbishop, character of, 352.
Strafford, Earl of, attainder of, 295, 296.
Strafford (Lord Raby), Earl of,
plenipotentiary at Utrecht, 31, 82, 131 _et seq_.;
his negotiations at the Hague, 57, 58, 71;
character of, 283.
Sunderland, Earl of, character of, 27, 28;
his library, 27 and _n_.;
character of, 277.
Sutherland, Earl of, character of, 286.
Swift, Jonathan, avowal of his independence, 15;
endeavours to reconcile Harley and Bolingbroke, 16;
on the Hanoverian succession, 16, 17;
his suggestion for building new churches in London, 20 _n_.;
his definition of Whig and Tory, 21 _n_.;
helped Sir Thos. Hanmer with the "Representation," 100;
his remarks on characters of the court of Queen Anne, 273-288;
his remarks on Clarendon's "History of the Rebellion," 291-323, 330;
his remarks on Burnet's "History," 323-368;
his notes on the "Free-holder," 371-377.
_Tacking_, explained, 123.
Temple, Sir William, Burnet on, 344, 345, 362.
Tenison, Archbishop, character of, 282, 337.
Thanet, Earl of, character of, 277.
Titus, Colonel, Swift on, 331.
Torcy, Marquis de,
his conduct of the peace negotiations, 51 _et seq_., 142, 146, 147;
his opinion of the British army, 169;
suggests that the Queen should join with France in compelling the Dutch
to a peace, 170;
the prime mover in favour of peace, 183;
testimony to his candour and integrity, 183, 184.
Tory principles, Swift's definition of, 21 _n_.
Townshend, Lord, on Dr. Lucas, 5 _n_.;
and the Barrier Treaty, 41, 58, 99;
declared an enemy to the Queen and kingdom, 100, 113;
character of, 278.
Trimnel, Dr., Bishop of Norwich, 27 _n_.
Tyrawley, Lord, character of, 284.
Utrecht, Congress at, 20, 31, 50;
negotiations leading to, 51-82;
French overtures to England, 56;
transmitted to Holland, 57;
the Dutch reply, 59;
English preliminary demands sent to France, 62;
the French reply, 67;
preliminaries signed by France and England, 69;
communicated to Holland, 71;
Dutch objections, 74;
the Congress agreed to, 79;
instructions of the English plenipotentiaries, 133;
opening of the Congress, 138;
Dutch obstruction, 139 _et seq._;
result of Ormonde's refusal to fight, 148, 149;
England declares herself under no obligation to the Dutch, 149, 150;
terms of peace between England and France, 151-155;
proposed armistice, 157;
anger of the Dutch, 158;
the conference resumed, 172;
difficulties caused by dissensions with the Dutch, 175;
the Dutch change their attitude, 176, 184;
English ultimatum, 185;
the French yield, 186;
further delay caused by French "litigious manner of treating," 188;
Treaty of Utrecht signed, 190.
Uxelles, Marechal d', one of the plenipotentiaries at Utrecht, 79;
favours the Dutch, 165, 183.
Vanderdussen, M., 60.
Vane, Sir Harry, the younger, character of, 305, 316;
execution of, 336, 337.
Villars, Marechal de, 147, 156, 159, 165, 169.
Walker, Dr., defended Londonderry, 362.
Walker, Sir Edward, 306.
Wallis, Count, 163.
Walpole, Horatio, 52.
Walpole, Sir Robert, 37;
committed to the Tower, 84;
attacked by Bolingbroke, 84 _n_.
Walsh, Peter, 338.
Wariston, Swift on, 335-338.
Weems, Earl of, character of, 288.
Wharton, Earl of, 38;
character of, 28, 278;
his Irish administration, 41.
"Whigs, Public Spirit of the,"
a reward offered by the Queen for discovery of the author of, 15.
Whig and Tory, distinction between, 20, 21 _n_.
Wild Serjeant, 316.
William Rufus, history of the reign of, 202, 216;
his character and person, 214.
William III., King, character of, 355;
his Declaration, 359;
comes to England, 359, 360, 365;
Addison on, 371.
Williams, Archbishop, 292, 296, 297, 298.
Wincam, Sir George, married Burnet's great aunt, 333.
Winchilsea, Earl of, character of, 277.
Wolley, Bishop, of Clonfert, 340.
Wright, Sir Nathan, character of, 275.
York, Duke of (afterwards James II.),
Swift on, 312, 314, 315, 320, 321, 322, 323.
Zinzendorf, Count, Austrian Envoy at the Hague, 77, 78;
sows jealousies between England and Holland, 158;
deludes the Dutch with promises, 168, 176, 180.
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