Both France and England, from different motives, wished to draw Spain into this alliance.  The Regent, therefore, in order to further this desire, obtained from England a promise that she would give up Gibraltar to its former owners, the Spaniards.  The King of England consented to do so, but on one condition:  it was, that in order not to expose himself to the cries of the party opposed to him, this arrangement should be kept profoundly secret until executed.  In order that this secrecy might be secured, he stipulated that the negotiation should not in any way pass through the hands of Alberoni, or any Spanish minister, but be treated directly between the Regent and the King of Spain, through a confidential agent chosen by the former.

This confidential agent was to take a letter respecting the treaty to the King of Spain, a letter full of insignificant trifles, and at the same time a positive order from the King of England, written and signed by his hand, to the Governor of Gibraltar, commanding him to surrender the place to the King of Spain the very moment he received this order, and to retire with his garrison, etc., to Tangiers.  In order to execute this a Spanish general was suddenly to march to Gibraltar, under pretence of repressing the incursions of its garrison,—­summon the Governor to appear, deliver to him the King of England’s order, and enter into possession of the place.  All this was very weakly contrived; but this concerned the King of England, not us.

I must not be proud; and must admit that I knew nothing of all this, save at second-hand.  If I had, without pretending to be very clever, I must say that I should have mistrusted this fine scheme.  The King of England could not be ignorant with what care and with what jealousy the Queen and Alberoni kept the King of Spain locked up, inaccessible to everybody—­and that the certain way to fail, was to try to speak to him without their knowledge, in spite of them, or unaided by them.  However, my opinion upon this point was not asked, and accordingly was not given.

Louville was the secret agent whom the Regent determined to send.  He had already been in Spain, had gained the confidence of the King, and knew him better than any other person who could have been chosen.  Precisely because of all these reasons, I thought him the most unfit person to be charged with this commission.  The more intimate he had been with the King of Spain, the more firm in his confidence, the more would he be feared by the Queen and Alberoni; and the more would they do to cover his embassy with failure, so as to guard their credit and their authority.  I represented my views on this subject to Louville, who acknowledged there was truth in them, but contented himself with saying, that he had not in his surprise dared to refuse the mission offered to him; and that if he succeeded in it, the restitution to Spain of such an important place as Gibraltar, would doubtless be the means of securing to him large arrears of pensions due to him from Philip the First:  an object of no small importance in his eyes.  Louville, therefore, in due time departed to Madrid, on his strange and secret embassy.