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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.”