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him that as there never could be a house of commons better disposed to second the views of the queen, he had only to propose the repeal of the act of settlement, and it would immediately be voted. It was necessary, he replied, to proceed more gently in the business; but that they might make themselves easy, as he was seriously at work in the cause. "In this manner," says the duke of Berwick, "did the lordtreasurer amuse us; and it was difficult to prevent his doing To have broke with him, would have proved the utter ruin of our affairs; as he had the administration of England in his hands, and entirely governed queen Anne. We were, therefore, forced to pretend to trust him; but we neglected not, at the same time, privately to concert measures with the duke of Ormond, and other well affected persons, that we might be able to bring about the restoration of the pretender, if Oxford should fail us9."

So.

Oxford, indeed, stood on such dangerous ground, that he durst not undertake any bold measure, whatever might be his inclinations. Equally distrusted by both whigs and tories, he was destitute of friends: his whole security consisted in the jealousy of the two parties, and his whole business was to balance them. In order to silence the clamours of the whigs, he prevailed upon the queen to declare, in her speech to the parliament, contrary to her own inclinations and to truth, that "the most perfect friendship subsisted between her and the house of Hanover," at the same time that she mentioned what she had done for securing the protestant succession'. This declaration had the desired effect. But Oxford was less successful in other

measures.

The peace was generally disliked by the people, and all impartial men reprobated the treaty of commerce with France, as soon as the terms were known. Exception was particularly taken against the eighth and ninth articles, importing, "that Great Britain and France should mutually

2. Id. Ibid. 9. Mem. vol. ii.

10. Journals, Ap. 9, 1713.

enjoy

enjoy all the privileges in trading with each other, which either granted to the most favoured nation: that all prohibitions should be removed, and no higher duties imposed on the French commodities than on those of any other people." The ruinous tendency of these articles was perceived by the whole trading part of the kingdom. It was accordingly urged, when a bill was brought into the house of commons, for confirming them, that our trade with Portugal, the most beneficial of any, would be lost, should the duties on French and Portuguese wines be made equal, the freight from Portugal being higher, and the French wines more generally agreeable to the taste of the English nation. And if we did not consume the wines of Portugal, it was unreasonable to think the Portuguese would continue to purchase our manufactures, in balance for which we received, in bullion or specie, near a million sterling annually; that we could expect from France no equivalent for this loss, as the French had established woollen manufactures, sufficient not only to supply themselves, but even to rival us in foreign markets; that our silk manufacture, which employed a number of people, and saved a vast sum annually to the nation, would be ruined, should a free importation of silk stuffs, from France, be permitted; and likewise our trade to Italy and Turkey, where we disposed of great quantities of woollen goods, in exchange for the raw material of this ma nufacture; that the ruin of our manufactures of linen and paper would also be the consequence of a free importation of those articles from France, as the cheapness of labour and provisions in that kingdom would enable the French to undersell us, even in our own markets". These, and similar arguments, induced the more moderate tories to join the whigs, and the bill was rejected by a majority of nine

votes.

Encouraged by this success, and justly alarmed for the safety of the protestant succession, the whigs endeavoured to

11. Parl. Debates, 1713. Burnet, book vii.

awaken

awaken the fears of the people, by several virulent speeches in parliament, against the pretender, at the same time that they solicited the elector of Hanover to come over in person, or to send the electoral prince to England. Both these proposals the elector very prudently rejected. But in order to gratify, in some degree, the ardour of his partizans, to embarrass the British ministry, and even to intimidate queen Anne, he allowed Schutz, his envoy at the court of London, to demand a writ for the electoral prince A. D. 1711. to sit in the house of peers, as duke of Cam bridge". Oxford and his associates were filled with consternation at a request so unexpected, and the queen was agitated with all the violence of passion. Her resentment was increased by the exultation of the whigs. Seeming to derive vigour from her very terror, she declared, that she would sooner suffer the loss of her crown, that permit any prince of the house of Hanover to come over to Britain to reside, in her life-time. And Schutz was forbid to appear any more at court, under pretence that he had exceeded his instructions'3.

Whether the elector had ever any serious intention of sending his son to England may be questioned, though he represented, in a memorial to queen Anne, "That, for the security of her royal person, her kingdoms, and the pro testant religion, it seemed necessary to settle in Britain some prince of the electoral family" but it is certain that the jacobites had formed a design of bringing over the pretender, and that he himself, and his adherents entertained the most sanguine expectations of his speedy exaltation to the throne. These expectations were heightened by the promised regulation of the army. The duke of Argyle, the earl of Stair, and all other officers of distinction, whom the jacobites and more violent tories suspected would support the act of settlement, were removed from their military

12. Hanover Papers, April, 1714. 14. Hanover Papers, May, 1714.

13. Id. Ibid.

VOL. IV.

3 1

employments

employments; and the command of the whole regular troops in the kingdom was vested in the hands of the duke of Ormond and his creatures, who were known to be well affected to the excluded family.

This measure, however, of which St. John, now created lord Bolingbroke, not Oxford, was the author, is said to have been dictated by a jealousy of the ambitious designs of the whigs and the house of Hanover (who are accused of having formed a scheme for seizing the reins of government), rather than by any attachment to the interests of the pretender. But be that as it may, we know that a measure fatal to the pretender's views was adopted by the British ministry, in order to quiet the fears of the elector, and to engage him to keep his son at home; queen Anne's fears from the family of Hanover being ultimately more than a balance for her affection for her own.

Information having been obtained, by the vigilance of the earl of Wharton, that certain Irish officers were enlisting men for the pretender, they were taken into custody. The people were alarmed, and the whigs added artfully to their fears. The lord treasurer, in concert with the whigs, wrought so much on the natural timidity of the duke of Shrewsbury, that he joined him on this occasion; and, through their combined influence, the majority of the cabinet-council agreed to issue a proclamation, promising a reward of five thousand pounds for apprehending the pretender, should he land in Great-Britain. The two houses of parliament voted an address of thanks to the queen for her attention to the religion and liberties of the kingdom; and the commons, in their zeal for the protestant succession, extended the reward for apprehending the pretender to one hundred thousand pounds's.

That prince, however, persuaded that the queen and the chief nobility and gentry, whatever steps they might take

15. Journals, June 24, 1714. Hanover and Stuart Papers, 1714.

to

to quiet the populace, were sincerely in his interest, did not yet despair of being able to ascend the throne of his ancestors: and the prospect of a change in the ministry inspired him with new hopes. Bolingbroke, by flattering the prejudices of his mistress, had gradually supplanted the earl of Oxford in her confidence. He represented to her the languor of the lord treasurer's measures: he gave insinuations concerning his secret intrigues with the whigs; and he sug gested to her, that to pay any attention, in future, to the house of Hanover, was incompatible with her service1. Similar representations were made by the duke of Ormond, and other jacobites, whom the duke of Berwick eagerly solicited to procure the removal of the lord high treasurer, as a necessary prelude to the accomplishment of the queen's designs in favour of her brother17. Oxford was accordingly deprived

16. Hanover Papers, July 20, 1714.

17. Duke of Berwick's Mem. vol. ii. The plan which the duke of Berwick had formed for the accomplishment of these designs, and which he commissioned Gaultier to lay before the earl of Oxford, was, that the pretender should go privately over to the queen his sister, who should immediately assemble the two houses of parliament, and explain her brother's incontestible right, and the resolution she had taken to restore what be longed to him, by all laws divine and human; that she should, at the same time, assure them she would pass such acts as might be thought necessary for the security of their religion and liberty; that she should then introduce the pretender in full parliament, and say, "Here he is, my lords and gentlemen, ready to promise religiously to keep all I have engaged for him, and to swear to the observance of every article; I therefore require of you instantly to repeal all the acts passed against him, and to acknowledge him as my heir and your future sovereign, that he may owe you some good will for having concurred with me, in what your conscience, your duty, and your honour, should have prompted you, before this time, to propose." Id. Ibid.

Such an unexpected step, though somewhat romantic at first sight, the duke imagined would so much have astonished the factious, and delighted the well-affected, that there would not have been the least opposition to the queen's demands, as no person could have doubted but she had taken effectual measures to secure obedience. But as the earl of Oxford returned no answer to this proposal, the mareschal of Berwick very justly concluded, that the lord high treasurer's only motive, in all the advances he had

hitherto

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