the Pre serted. It has been the subject of much doubt and dis- BOOK VI. putation, whether any secret articles in favour of 13. the Pretender were appended to the treaty of Interests of Utrecht by the courts of London and Ver-tender de sailles. But the problem may now be regarded' as finally resolved. It is certain, from the numerous original papers which have been at different times published relative to this period, that no instructions were transmitted by the British cabinet, either to lord Strafford or to the duke of Shrewsbury, of this nature; nor could these noblemen, zealously and strongly attached as they were known to be to the Hanoverian succession, have been enployed consistently with common sense in the execution of such odious and criminal commissions, involving them in the guilt of projects which they would equally have disdained and abhorred. On the contrary, it appears that they both discovered themselves in the highest degree hostile to the interests of the Pretender. It is no less certain, from the narrative of M. Mesnager, that no such secret articles were concluded by the agents of France at the court of London; but on the other hand, that the minister, lord Oxford, trifled most egregiously with them upon this subject; and that they were completely the dupes of his deceitful policy. On M. Mesnager's arrival at the Hague, with the sanguine expectations inspired by Ox 1713. BOOK VI. ford's promises, that able negotiator tells us, "that he found the British plenipotentiaries were so far from having private instructions, that they were ignorant even of the very design of sending any such instructions." The king of France was himself for a time greatly imposed upon by these political frauds, and much incensed with his agents on the detection of their credulity and they were, according to M. Mesnager, forced to write back in plain terms, that the ministry in England were men of no honour, who had long held them in suspense, and now not only did not come to the point, but declined any conversation on the subject." Even Mrs. Masham, the favorite, devoted as she was to the court of St. Germaine's, confesses in a confidential letter, to M. Mesnager, with respect to this matter, "that there is not any two among the (British) ministry that dare make a confidence about it, nor any one of them that would venture to mention it to the queen. And I undertake," says this lady, to assure you, that whatever your agents have informed the king your master of, or given his majesty reason to expect, 'tis all in the clouds here, and the queen has not so much as heard a word of it; and this makes me suppose their great secret remains with my lord treasurer, where secrets often sleep and die*." * Mesnager's Negotiation, &c. p. 293, 299, 305, 311. dissolve the The Scottish peers being extremely exaspe- BOOK VI. rated at the determination of the house of lords, 1713. excluding them from the honours of the English Attempt to peerage; and the Scottish nation being also Union. equally enraged at the recent imposition of a heavy additional duty on malt, contrary, if not to the letter, at least to the spirit of the treaty of union, which enacted that no duty should be laid on malt in Scotland during the war; a motion was made by the earl of Findlater for leave to bring in a bill for dissolving the union and securing the protestant succession in the house of Hanover. This, for the sake of embarrassing the administration, was not only defended by the Scottish lords Mar, Eglington, &c. but warmly supported by the English whig lords, Sunderland, Townshend, Halifax, &c. once the zealous advocates of the union. And on the other hand, it was destined to be opposed by the tories, who were the original and vehement enemies of that measure. The duke of Argyle said, that he believed in his conscience, it was as much for the interest of England as of Scotland to have it dissolved; and if it were not, he did not long expect to have either property left in Scotland, or liberty in England. The lord treasurer having intimated in the course of the debate, the possibility of remitting or alleviating the duty in ques tion by virtue of the prerogative, the earl of Sun 1713. BOOK VI. derland expressed his astonishment that such despotic principles, tending to the establishment of a dispensing power in the crown, should be avowed or countenanced by the noble lord. To this the lord treasurer sarcastically replied, " that his family had never distinguished themselves, as others had done, by advising arbitrary and despotic measures.' Lord Sunderland, nettled at the allusion to his father, retorted by observing, that in those times to which such unfair reference was made, the noble lord's family was scarcely known. The question being put upon lord Findlater's motion, it was negatived in a very full house by a majority of four voices only -the numbers being 71 to 67 peers, including proxies. The sentence of suspension passed upon Dr. Sacheverel expiring about this time, great rejoicings were made upon the occasion; and he was appointed to preach before the house of commons on the 29th of May; which was followed, exclusive of the usual and empty compliment of thanks, by a presentation on the part of the crown, to the lucrative rectory of St. Andrew's, Holborn. In consequence of the peace now happily concluded, immense reductions were made both in the army and navy establishments. As to the precise amount of the force necessary to be kept 1713. up, the queen had, in the speech from the throne, BOOK VI. expressed herself with magnanimous indifference. "Make yourselves safe," said she, "and I shall be satisfied. Next to the protection of the divine Providence, I depend upon the loyalty and affection of my people; I want no other gua rantee." the Crown Towards the end of the session a royal message Debts of was sent to the house of commons, acquainting discharged. them with the incumbrances under which the civil list now laboured; and a grant for the sum of 500,000 7. was moved to discharge the debts of the crown. The friends of the earl of Godolphin, recently deceased, expressed their astonishment at this demand; and Mr. Smith, late chancellor of the exchequer, averred, "that to his certain knowledge the debts on the civil list did not in the month of August, 1710, amount to 150,000 1.—a trifling sum, when the annual appropriation of one hundred thousand pounds towards the expence of the war, the charge of maintaining the palatines, of building Blenheim-house, &c. were taken into consideration. It was intimated that the statement was deceitful, and that the real object was to secure a large sum, in order to influence the approaching general election; and it was urged to be a most dangerous precedent for the house to grant such a de |