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diff --git a/old/13040-8.txt b/old/13040-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b2650b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13040-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16641 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, Vol. X. +by Jonathan Swift + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, Vol. X. + +Author: Jonathan Swift + +Release Date: July 28, 2004 [EBook #13040] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JONATHAN SWIFT *** + + + + +Produced by Terry Gilliland and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +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. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, +Vol. X., by Jonathan Swift + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JONATHAN SWIFT *** + +***** This file should be named 13040-8.txt or 13040-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/0/4/13040/ + +Produced by Terry Gilliland and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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