In the mean time, young Edward, eager of doing something to be talked of, put to sea, and had a distant view of the kingdom, the possession of which both fate and policy denied to him. A tempest disappointed his landing, and scattered his fleet; yet the ardent Pretender would, in spight of the wind, make hislanding good, and fight alone against all England. Versailles had received the most particular assurances, that he had a very strong party at London, and it was on this plan that the expedition had been formed.
It is not very long since I happened to be at the Marshal Bellisle’s; as he was looking for some writings in his closet, he put a paper into my hand, saying,There, Madam, there is something for you to read; that letter has cost us a great many millions, which are gone to the bottom of the sea; it was directed to the court of France, by a party ofJacobites,as they are called in England. The words of it were these.
“The tabernacle is ready, the holy sacrament need but appear, and we will go and meet it with the cross. The procession will be numerous, but the people here being very hard of belief, soldiers and arms will be necessary; for it is only by powder and ball, that the system of transubstantiationcan be made to go down in England. Depend on it, that we will do every thing to the utmost of our power; and we can before hand assure you, that the landing once made, our party will have nothing to do but to pronounce these words: ite, Missa est.”
In this letter were mentioned twenty-two persons, several of whom now hold a considerable rank in England. Sometime after, he showed me another, the tenor of which is this.
“Whatever people say, the expedition is not difficult: a landing may easily be made; every tiring favours the revolution; the advantages religion gives us, will be greatly strengthed by political motives. The Hanoverian is hated, he is continually oppressing the nation, aiming both at absolute power, and draining the peoples substance.”
The attempt on England failing, fresh efforts were made in Italy for settling Don Philip; but this the King of Sardinia, who has the key of the Alps, opposed; and the Prince of Conti engaged to make his way through them. This was in some measure warring against God, who has separated the two states by inaccessible mountains. I have had several times read to me in my apartment, the transactions of that Prince in those impracticable climates; the taking Chateau Dauphin, and his other successes amidst those rocks and precipices: and the Prince of Conti in this expedition appears to me greater than many heroes whose fame is high; but great men have not always justice done them.
Lewis XV. who never had seen an army, was now for putting himself at the head of his troops, and determined to make his first campaign in Flanders. On his arrival, Courtray surrendered;and soon after Menin followed its example. The King himself, to the great encouragement of the soldiery, used to be present at the works.
This first campaign of the King’s having been much talked of in France; on the peace, I asked his Majesty, whether he had found in himself a fixed inclination for war. He at first eluded answering me, and talked in general terms; but a year after, in one of those moments of confidence, when the heart lays itself open in the arms of friendship, he told me it would have been his reigning passion; and that, without the recent example of his great-grand-father, and Cardinal Fleury’s earnest councils to him, he should totally have given himself up to war; but that the affection due to his people had got the better of his passion. Happy government, when the Monarch sacrifices his propensions to the welfare of his subjects!
Lewis was obliged to quit his first conquests, and fly to the assistance of Alsace, Prince Charles having passed the Rhine to invade several of the French provinces; but upon the King’s approach at the head of his army, the prince repassed the Rhine.
All the advantages which France had gained in Flanders did not much improve its situation. The Queen of Hungary’s alliance with England, Holland, Sardinia, and Saxony was too great a counterpoize. The king of Prussia himself made a convention with Great Britain, but had not included in his agreement that the house of Austria should become so powerful. In treaties between Sovereigns, it is always understood, that the party in favour of whom a neutrality is observed, shall not increase his forces beyond a certain relative proportion: now the house of Brandenburgh has more to fear from that of Austria than from any other in Europe;so he kept himself a mere spectator of the war, whilst the losses of France and the emperor were inconsiderable; but on the queen’s making a rapid progress, he armed to stop her career. I have since frequently asked the Marshal de Noailles, one of the greatest politicians in France, why Sovereign Princes make no scruple to commit these breaches of faith, which in common life are reckoned intolerable vices? His constant answer was, that these infractions were necessary, and that Europe even owed its safety to them: were it not for such failures, the universal commonwealth would soon be made subject to one single prince; and this he might compass, only by once bringing the others to stand neuter.
The King of Prussia’s first step, after his new alliance with France, was, to march with a powerful army towards Prague. Whilst all France was rejoicing at Frederic’s successes, advice camethat the King was taken ill at Metz, and the symptoms were grown very dangerous: this caused a general affliction; I remember every body was in tears. These cordial marks of affection are a higher praise, and express his character better than all the flattering strokes with which writers will disfigure his history. I have talked with many who were present at the death of Lewis XIV. and according to them, not a tear was shed in France. Nobody was afflicted with the news; and his death was quite forgot before he was buried; heroism being less esteemed than goodness; and Lewis XV. is the best Prince that ever sat on a throne.
The beloved Monarch recovered, and then the nation’s joy exceeded its former consternation. He laid siege to Friburg in Brisgau, and razed its fortifications, as he had demolished those of other places which had yielded to his arms: A policy,which, perhaps, may prevent many wars hereafter.
M. de Maurepas was saying one day to me on this head, that the Turks and Persians have scarce any fortified places, and that was the reason of their seldom making war on one another. I have since heard, that most of our wars in Europe were owing to this; that states confided too much in bastions and citadels, which hindered negociations from taking effect. If so, the famous Vauban, whose genius is so often extolled, must have done a great deal of mischief to France.
In the mean time, the King of Prussia, who, by arming in favour of France, had changed all the German systems, decamped from Prague; his army fled before that of Prince Charles, who, repassing the Rhine in the sight of the French, crossed the Elbe to attack the Prussians. I never could come at a certain knowledge of this Prince Charles, whodirected most of the plans of this war; some speaking so very well of him, and others so very ill, that I have not been able to form any settled judgment of his character.
Marshal Noailles, who knows men, has told me that this Prince wanted neither talents nor genius, but that the goodness of his heart frustrated the qualities of his mind. Instead of having a will of his own, added he, he suffers himself to be directed by those about him; and these are not always the best head-pieces in the world. For instance, continued he, Prince Charles is now at Brussels as Governor of the Low Countries; but there is a German about him, who turns and winds him at his pleasure, and his pleasure is not always what should be.
The Austrian power, which had been weakened by the king of Prussia’s joining with France, now received an increaseby an alliance with the Elector of Saxony, King of Poland. This Monarch changed measures for the same reason which had induced the King of Prussia to change.
All parties in these treaties deceived each other. France looked for mighty advantages from a diversion which the King of Prussia was making only for himself; and the King of Poland, who had engaged to furnish the Queen with thirty thousand men, had a part of Silesia given to him, which now did not belong to her.
Elevated with this alliance, and especially the assistance of England, the council at Vienna hoped not only to recover Silesia, but even to reduce French Flanders. They certainly did not consider that Lewis XV. had committed the security of it to one, who was most likely to give a good account of it to the kingdom: This was Count Maurice of Saxony.
Other officers owe their abilities to age, reflection, and experience, but he was born a General. His very enemies (and these at Versailles were not few) have done him this justice, that never man surpassed him for a quick and comprehensive penetration. He instantly discerned what other commanders discovered only by time and circumstances. Maurice not only foresaw events, but also produced them; so that he may in some measure be said to have determined fate. This general made war geometrically, never coming to a battle till he had in demonstration gained it. He was said also to be possessed of the great Turenne’s distinguishing qualities, that is, to harrass and perplex the enemy by his dexterity in encamping and decamping; a kind of petty war, which seldom fails of leading to great advantages.
This picture, however, is none of my own; I only speak after some of the trade,who used to talk to me in this manner.
Whilst the war was prospering abroad, things went wrong at home. The King was at a loss for ministers. The Count de Maurepas put the marine in as good a condition as the English and the state of affairs would allow: but the other departments were in a terrible disorder. The foreign affairs were offered to one Villeneuve, an old man, who had been a long time ambassador at the Porte, where, though his merit has been much cried up, he had ruined the Turky trade, by turning merchant himself. He came home from his ambassy with immense riches, chiefly extorted from the merchants of Marseilles. His principal qualities were management and parsimony. These virtues, so much countenanced by Cardinal Fleury, were greatly in vogue at Versailles. Niggardliness bore the sway. The decrepid ambassador declined the post, doubtless as being attended withmore pains than profit. Besides, I have heard those who knew him personally say, that he was not in the least fit for that branch of government. His abilities had been much talked of, for having brought about a peace between the Porte and the house of Austria; but at Constantinople, these sort of negociations are carried on without a minister’s having any great share in them. I have it from M. de Maurepas, that the chief instrument in that affair, was a French linguist, one de Laria, who was perfectly well acquainted with the temper of the Turks, and had been employed by Villeneuve in that negociation.
In the mean time, affairs in Italy did not go so well as could be wished; Don Philip had taken and retaken Savoy, but could not make his way into the country of Placentia.
The King of Naples, whom only a captain of an English ship had compelledto a neutrality, because he was not in a condition to arm, broke it as soon as he had got himself in readiness for war.
He had advanced as far as Veletri, where Prince Lobkowitz endeavouring to surprise him, was himself surprised. The loss was great on both sides, and, as I have heard from very experienced officers, the case was then as it almost ever is on such occasions, they both weakened themselves, and without any advantage even to the victor.
Lobkowitz fled before the King of Naples, who pursued him into the Ecclesiastical State; so that Rome itself was in a consternation, on seeing two armies at its gates.
A small event, which fell out at this time in Germany, shews the great injustice of war, in making the belligerant powers overlook the very laws of nations, which should every where be inviolable.
The King had sent Marshal Belleisle to several German courts in quality of his ambassador, and, as such, he was negociating the affairs of the crown; yet this minister, in his way along the skirts of the country of Hanover, was seized, and sent over to England as a state prisoner.
This general was treated with great regard, and one of the royal seats appointed for his residence; but this splendid hospitality only the more exposed the injustice of that nation.
The Marshal has since told me, that he was not at all sorry for his detention, as it had given him an opportunity of studying the temper of that capricious people in their own country. I have heard him say a hundred times, that a Briton was the riddle of human nature; he would say, it is easy to discern what the bulk of the nation is, but there is no knowing the individuals. According to him, a definition may be given of the English ingeneral, but it is impossible to say what an Englishman is.
Vienna, Berlin, and Versailles, were busied in the same plans which had been concerted in the council, when an unforeseen event brought on some change in the dispositions. Charles VII, that unfortunate emperor, who had not known a moment’s quiet on the august throne of the Cæsars, died. If it be nature only which can make men happy, he was of all men the most miserable. He had long laboured under great pains and sufferings from the badness of his constitution; and ambition, which is ever the predominant distemper in sovereigns, added to his bodily pains: amidst his infirmities, all his thoughts were about securing himself on a throne, which the ill state of his health was soon to deprive him of. Many were the vicissitudes of his reign. He was once very near being without a place to hide his head. He has often been obliged to quit his capital, and shifthis abode; so that the successor of the masters of the world was sometimes without either house or home.
He was paid by France for being Emperor. He had an allowance of six millions of livres to support a rank which, for that very reason, did not belong to him. They who are acquainted with the causes of the rise and fall of houses, say, that the misfortunes of that of Bavaria were owing to its alliance with that of Bourbon; and this, it seems, will ever be the case of petty states uniting with the greater.
On the decease of Charles VII. France looked out for an Emperor in Germany; for that Charles’s son could quietly succeed his father, was impossible. He was not of a proper age; neither had he the means to maintain himself on the Imperial throne, even had there been an intention to place him on it: yet was he thought of, but no farther than in appearance; it was only a feigned scheme. A verysensible man was lately saying to me, There is a meanness in princes which I cannot forgive: they feign to wish what they do not intend, and yet act as if they did intend it. This duplicity has cost the lives of multitudes of brave men, and ruins the commonwealth.
Some fruitless strokes were again struck for insuring the Imperial sceptre to a Prince, who was known not to be able to keep it; but the young Elector, with more wisdom than his father, renounced a throne on which his allies could not maintain him, and thereby did more good to France, than could have accrued to her from the most happy successes of her policy.
A tender was then made to the King of Poland; and in this choice, France had the advantage of detaching from the house of Austria a powerful Sovereign. It has been said that the Elector of Saxony declined the empire: but Marshal Belleisletold me, that he could not accept of it, and that he saw the impracticability of such a thing, on the very first mention made to him of it. A King of Poland, Emperor of Germany, would have thrown all the northern courts into a flame; and this double Monarch would have had as many wars on his hands, as there were then Sovereigns in Germany. Thus seeing the impossibility of such an acquisition, he made a merit with the Queen of Hungary of his inability, entering into a closer alliance with her, for placing the great Duke of Tuscany, her spouse, on the throne of the Cæsars. Could it be thought that policy was no motive herein, the King of Poland might be accounted a Prince of eminent probity. He had a defensive treaty with the Queen of Hungary, so that he sacrificed his ambition to that alliance; a very rare procedure in the history of sovereigns!
The Prince of Soubise, talking over thesematters with me, said, that the irregularity of the treaties in Germany, after the death of Charles VII. had forced France to be more regular in its conduct relating to the northern affairs; and ever since it has kept itself to a defensive war, which certainly was its only proper policy.
Germany being left to itself, Flanders became the seat of action. Maurice had prepared every thing there for one of those bold strokes which determine the destiny of states. He laid siege to Tournay, the King himself being present in person; this siege endangered Holland, which on this occasion was eager for coming to blows.
It was with astonishment I read in the annals of those times, that this tribe of merchants, who have no thoughts beyond trade and parsimony, should now have been the first in calling for a battle, the loss of which might have been fatal to the republic.
The battle of Fontenoy was fought, and the allies lost it. This victory has made a great noise in the world; but by the detail which a general officer at my desire gave me of it, I do not find it to be one of those events which greatly heighten a nation’s glory.
The French army was much more numerous than the allies, and both the King and Dauphin were present; the presence of these two Princes, thus eye-witnesses of the bravery of their troops, created a second courage, which in gaining victories goes farther than the first: the magazines were full; the soldiers wanted for nothing; the household-troops were there; and the whole was commanded by an experienced general, whom the troops idolized, as capable of the greatest enterprizes: the Princes of the blood, the Dukes, Peers, and almost all the nobility of the kingdom, fought along with the soldiery, sharing their dangers and glory;in a word, the whole French monarchy was present at Fontenoy. If, with all these advantages, the allies had got the better, there would have been an end of the monarchy; for the enemy was marching to the gates of Paris. I am far from intending here to lessen the glory of Marshal Saxe, who conducted the action.
He has often given me an account of it since the peace, and I find that here, tho’ then very low in health, he surpassed himself. His thoughts were every where, and he remedied every thing: whatever an able commander could do, he really performed. Some persons of the trade, however, have affirmed to me, that very great faults were committed that day; and that to repair them, it was frequently necessary to disobey the General’s orders. The Duke de Biron took on himself to keep the post of Antoin, though he had been expressly ordered to quit it. But in my opinion, oneof the most considerable was, leaving the King and the Dauphin, during the whole action, on the spot where they had placed themselves. A general rout, and this rout was two or three times very near happening, would have exposed France to the worst of misfortunes.
It has been said in several histories, that the Marshal was so confident of gaining the battle, that he made no doubt of it; but he has often told me himself, that two or three times he apprehended it lost, and that he had always doubted of the victory till the household had charged. One evident proof of his uncertainty was, his sending two or three times to the King to withdraw.
I was extremely uneasy about this important event, when a letter was brought me from his Majesty. I opened it with trembling hands, and found it as follows:
From the camp at Fontenoy, an hourafter the battle.
“Madam,“I saw all lost, till Marshal Saxe retrieved all: he has surpassed himself in this action; my troops fought with invincible courage; the houshold especially performed wonders; I owe the victory to that corps. The French noblesse fought under my eye; it was with pleasure I beheld their heroic valour.”*********************************************
“Madam,
“I saw all lost, till Marshal Saxe retrieved all: he has surpassed himself in this action; my troops fought with invincible courage; the houshold especially performed wonders; I owe the victory to that corps. The French noblesse fought under my eye; it was with pleasure I beheld their heroic valour.”
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These three lines were in cyphers.
This letter was very acceptable, and removed all my fears.
From the time of the King’s departure from France, I had often converse with the Abbe de Bernis, who had been recommended to me to keep me company during the King’s absence.
He had been introduced into the great world by women; for he had all those little talents with which our sex are so taken, compliance, affability, genteel ways, suppleness, gaiety, fluency of speech, a smooth tongue, a pretty knack at versifying, and all those qualities set off with a very handsome person.
This Abbe was never at a loss for well turned compliments to the ladies, so that he was always welcome among the sex. As in our first conversations he never dropt the least intimation about preferment; I imagined that, at last, I had met with a truly worthy person, one whose noble soul soared above riches and honour. But I was mistaken; this Abbe was eaten up with a desire of court distinction, concealing an unbounded ambition under a hypocritical disinterestedness. His apartment, as I have been informed, was, as it were, a perfect warehouse of memoirs; some related to thefarms of the revenues, others to œconomy, some concerning war, some the navy, and others the finances. He had a wonderful readiness at forming projects. He could scheme any thing he had a mind to.
The action of Fontenoy led the way to other conquests in Austrian Flanders, and the Flemings every where received Lewis XV. with the loudest acclamations. I have read in most of the revolutions of the world, that the people greatly rejoice at a change of masters.
This victory caused a general revolution; the Germans and English determined to break into the kingdom. They made their way by Provence and Bretagne, but they only shewed themselves. The Austrians passed the Var, and then repassed it. The English landed and returned to their ships. Our modern history is full of these military follies. Posterity will ever be at a loss why GeneralSinclair, who commanded in this expedition, after bringing a French city to capitulate, moved off without reaping the fruits of the capitulation.
They who shall read the annals of our age, will scarce believe that the cabinets of Europe could have committed so many faults, and that the Generals of armies could have fallen into so many errors.
The Genoese, who had introduced the Spaniards into Italy, were forsaken by them; so that the state of Genoa was invaded by the Austrians, who even made themselves masters of the capital. They first required of the Genoese what money they had, and after stripping them, demanded still more.
In the mean time the German army was in pursuit of the French and Spaniards, and crossing the Var after them, took post in Provence. Botta, in whose care the city had been left, and who wasat St. Peter des Arenes, forgot that he had no army to keep it, and that what remained in that suburb, was only a sickly half-dead multitude; the consequence of which was a sudden revolution, too strong for him to suppress.
The Genoese, whom a large army had awed into submission, recovered their freedom on its departure. Here Botta was guilty of a great oversight; he proposed to the senate to join him against the rebels, as he called them, not perceiving that they underhand encouraged the insurrection: they readily promised to act in concert with him; but this was only to give the people time to gather and unite their strength: it was too late when the general came to be aware of their design; he fled with such precipitancy, as to leave all his magazines behind.
The King shewed me a letter sent to court from a Genoese Senator, giving a particular account of the whole transaction;the beginning, progress, and end of the scheme laid for shaking off the Austrian yoke. The great council had for some time secretly promoted it. It was not setting the Genoese to draw cannon, which occasioned its revolution; it might indeed hasten the execution of it; but the plan had been concerted long before: thus is posterity often misled in histories, attributing to accident what was the effect of premeditated design.
This deliverance was attended with another happiness to Genoa; it had at that time no citizen who could have deprived the Republic of its liberty. The juncture was extremely favourable; the people had got the whole power of the state into their hands. Now I have heard our politicians say, that on such junctures, giving money, and granting privileges, will carry every point.
This revolution, which seemed only a private concern, changed the system ofgeneral affairs. The Austrians, who intended to besiege Toulon, and lay Marseilles under contribution, were obliged to repass the Var, for want both of shelter and provisions.
The court of Vienna, inflamed at this event, blocked up Genoa, and threatened the inhabitants with the severest treatment, if they did not immediately surrender; but the Genoese, being supported by the French, made a vigorous resistance, without being intimidated by menaces; and Boufflers, and afterwards the Duke de Richelieu, were sent to command there. M. Maurepas has often told me, that it was a great oversight in the English, who blocked up Genoa by sea, in not having a number of flat-bottomed boats to hinder any French succours from getting into Genoa.
This precaution would have changed the whole disposition of affairs in Italy. Genoa, then incapable of any further resistancemust have surrendered to the Austrians, and the Infant Don Philip, the subject of the war, would never have seen Parma and Placentia.
Lewis XV. after taking seven fine cities in Flanders, returned to Paris; and it may be said that never was such joy displayed in that city, as at the sight of this Prince; every street rang with shouts of gladness and applause.
Amidst the many checks which England had met with in Flanders, the Pretender conveyed himself into Scotland. As he had neither armies nor ships, some courtiers said,he had swam thither. It was not very difficult to foresee the issue of this enterprize, every step and circumstance of it being irregular. A very intelligent man told me at that time, that the most fortunate thing which could happen to the Pretender, would be to get out of Scotland as clandestinely as he got in: but he was a young man,rather fond of executing his projects in a singular manner, than concerned about the success of them.
This enterprize, however ill conducted, had one advantage for Versailles, that it caused a diversion in England. France has always made use of the house of Stuart for its private views. I am sorry that George II. who wanted neither courage nor firmness, should have shewn any uneasiness at it. An English nobleman told me, that he caused the London militia to take an oath, that they did not in any-wise believe that the pope had ever a right of causing Princes to be murdered. He also had the records of Rochester searched for the form of the excommunication anciently denounced by the Popes, to stimulate the English against the see of Rome. I would not have Princes stoop to trifles, which always betray a weak mind; a prince on the throne should act with magnanimity.
The Pretender published a manifesto in vindication of his rights, addressed to the people of England; but this manifesto contained only empty words, whilst George had on his side troops and cannon.
Marshal Belleisle more than once took notice to me of a remarkable passage in this manifesto. Prince Edward there owns that the house of Stuart lost the English throne in some measure by its own fault, and promises amendment.If, says he,the complaints formerly brought against our family did take their rise from some errors in our administration; it has sufficiently expiated them.—Young Edward took possession of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, in his father’s name, declaring himself regent. For England well and good; but thus to make a king of France, was too hasty. Those titles, however, resting on no surer grounds than the possession, as quickly disappeared.
At this time France endeavoured to keep the Dutch neuter; both courts published manifestoes, and the ministers negociated: but this project of neutrality produced only a fresh paper war. The Abbe de la Ville presented memorials drawn up with great pomp and accuracy of stile, and he was answered with an elegant conciseness; but fighting still went on.
The face of affairs in Germany had changed; the King of Prussia acknowledged the Great Duke of Tuscany Emperor, and made his peace with the house of Austria. I have often heard a smart saying of Marshal Belleisle on this head.I very well knew, said he,that this man, who is so fond of war, would incline to peace on the first opportunity to his advantage.
M. Soubise more than once said to me,That Monarch would have owned the Pope for Emperor, had any Sovereign in Germanygiven him only a hundred square acres of land. This peace was so far advantageous to France, as it diminished the power of the house of Austria. Apparently Italy alone would be the sufferer, as it was to be supposed that the Queen of Hungary, being quite at leisure in Germany, would be for fighting on the other side the Alps. She sent reinforcements to the Low Countries, which, however, could not hinder Marshal Saxe from taking Brussels. It was then that Lewis XV. to compleat the conquest of Austrian Flanders, set out to command the army in person.
Our progresses were very rapid; the King’s presence, and the soldiers confidence in Marshal Saxe’s abilities, made every thing easy. It was otherwise with the Pretender in Scotland, who fled before the enemy, and at length lost a decisive battle against the Duke of Cumberland.
In these circumstances it was that M. d’Argenson wrote, though indirectly, to the English government, in favour of young Edward. A man of wit has since shewed me how extremely ridiculous this was; for had there been a design that Edward should not out-live his temerity, a better method could not have been invented for having him made away with.
That minister represented him to the court as a relation of the King’s, for whose person and qualities this Monarch had the highest value. He insisted that King George was a Prince of too much equity, not to perceive the Pretender’s son’s merit. This manifesto afterwards told the English, that they ought to admire him for those qualities of an eminent patriot, which so conspicuously shone in him. It then proceeded to the dangerous consequences which might result to England, from anysevere treatment to young Edward, &c. They did not see that this declaration must have produced a quite contrary effect to that proposed. The Pretender’s crime was not his coming over to Scotland, but in being France’s ally. Consistent people said, either Prince Edward is a rebel, or King George is an usurper; and Sovereigns should not countenance rebels, nor solicit usurpers.
The invention of this intercessory letter is fathered on a Cardinal, who being a member of the sacred college, was for securing the Pretender’s retreat; whereas it was the very way to obstruct it. Accordingly England, making no account of this manifesto, set a price on his head, and some Lords who had taken up arms for him, were publicly beheaded.
Whilst all the Princes of Europe were at war together, their ministers were repairing to Breda, to negociate a peace.This necessarily increased the business of cabinets, having both military and pacific operations on the carpet. The dearth of ministers still continued in France; none could be found capable of healing the public misfortunes. M. d’Argenson, who had the foreign affairs, only increased the confusion. They were committed to M. de Puisieux, who was then at Breda, where he was ordered to feign great zeal and assiduity in bringing about a definitive treaty; this was only a feint, he was in reality employed at Versailles. On his nomination, he said to the King,Sire, I will do all I can, but I beg your Majesty to believe that I cannot work miracles.
Marshal Saxe humorously said,None but a saint or a devil can set the French administration right. This gave occasion to a courtier afterwards to say, that we must be without friends, both in hell and heaven; this so much warnedsaint or devil having not yet made his appearance in France.
Marshal Belleisle, having driven the Austrians out of Provence, returned to Versailles, to give the King an account of his operations. He had a strange passion for signal projects; and he proposed several to his Majesty, the least of which was to deliver Genoa, to make Spain mistress of the greater part of Italy, and strip the King of Sardinia of all his dominions, &c.
He was sent again to Provence, where the sum of his exploits amounted only to the taking of the small castle of Saint Margaret’s island. A man of genius was lately saying to me, that if good chimerical projects, and imaginary plans, made a man great, M. Belleisle was indisputably the greatest man in Europe.
In the mean time Holland, having created a Stadtholder, determined on thecontinuance of the war. I saw that Lewis XV. was manifestly affected with this news, whether from a concern for his people, or that the elevation of the Prince of Orange disconcerted his projects. He said in my presence to a courtier,These Dutchmen are terrible folks; I wish their republic was a thousand leagues from any of my frontiers; it gives me more trouble than all the rest of Europe put together.
France having now no hopes of bringing the United Provinces to a neutrality, thought of invading them; and politicians said, that it was the only way left to restore the balance in Europe, which had been lost by the continual advantages of the English at sea.
Effectual measures were taken for the invasion. The King won the battle of Lafeldt. At the same time it was determined to besiege Bergen-op-Zoom. This expedition was committed tocount Lowendahl, who merrily promised to make a present of it to the King on St. Lewis’s day. Bergen-op-Zoom was taken, which threw the Dutch into the greatest consternation, as they had all imagined the carrying of that place to be an impossibility. This event shewed, that in war there is no such thing as certainty, its operations being ever subject to the caprice and inconstancy of fortune.
The congress at Breda was removed to Aix-la-Chapelle; but the courts still continued planning sieges and battles. Whilst the plenipotentiaries were settling the preliminaries, the levies for fresh troops went on with all possible vigour, and France prepared for war more than ever; but the difficulty was to procure soldiers. It has been affirmed to me, that there were large country-towns in France, which could not furnish so much as one militia-man, so that it became necessary to make the married men carryarms, though this was hurting posterity. All manner of taxes and imposts were also contrived to supply the want of money. M. Machault, comptroller-general, who had succeeded M. Orry, proposed expedients, but all of a very destructive tendency. The parliament clamoured, and openly declared in its representations, that if all the edicts concerning the finances took place, as proposed, the kingdom was undone; but it received for answer, that great evils required great remedies; and this silenced it.
At length a way being opened into Holland, by taking of Bergen-op-Zoom, and Marshal Saxe threatening to put an end to the republic; on the other hand, the southern provinces of France being reduced to a starving condition; this, with other circumstances, disposed the several powers to sign preliminaries of peace, which was soon followed by a definitive treaty. Such a situation of thingspromoted the public tranquility more than all the studied harangues of the plenipotentiaries at Aix-la-Chapelle.
I had the treaty read to me at Versailles; all the articles appeared very suitable to the present state of Europe, except that of Canada. It seemed to me that the appointing commissioners to settle that great affair, would only perplex it the more. I spoke of it to Marshal Belleisle, who told me that article was a state secret: we could have given it another turn, but this is best for us; it leaves things in America as they are, and we have twenty Savage nations in Canada who will revenge our loss. This revenge some years after cost us the game.
The Prince de Soubise told me some time after, that this peace had been a child of necessity; that there was not one of all the signing Princes, who could not have wished that the war had continued.Yet I can take upon me to say, that the King of France was of a different mind. He was visibly more gay than usual, and the great joy of his heart displayed itself in his countenance.
Thus at length the public calamities were suspended. Genoa, which under the Duke de Richelieu had continued to defend itself against the Germans, grounded its arms. The Spaniards and French, after being in continual action to settle Don Philip in Italy, discontinued their operations; and it was agreed that every thing should remain quiet till the publication of the definitive treaty. I longed for it more than any minister in Europe. The King had no quiet; the concerns of his crown and personal glory kept him in Flanders, and took up all his thoughts, never returning to Versailles till the campaign was quite over. My private satisfaction I could have willingly sacrificed to the happinessof the state, but sieges and battles only encreased the public distresses.
New lotteries and new taxes were established to raise the means for signing the peace; thus the public ease began with draining them to the last drop.
The Pretender’s son, who seemed quite forgotten, now makes his appearance again. Concluding, as he well might, that nobody would think of him at the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle; he began by protesting against every thing which should be done there. So little regard was paid to the manifesto which he caused to be set up, that all parties signed without minding his protestations. To this opposition he added another still more extravagant at Paris, refusing to comply even with the King’s express orders.
One of the first articles laid down between England and France, had been, that the Chevalier de St. George’s sonshould quit the kingdom. Lewis XV. several times signified to him the indispensable necessity he was under of adhering to the agreement. Prince Edward plainly told those who first mentioned the King’s pleasure to him, that he would not comply. I have often heard the excuse he gave for this refractoriness.The King of France, said he,promised me that I should always find an asylum in his dominions; for this I have his sign manual in my pocket. A Prince who has a sense of honour, knows what obligations his word lays him under, and how greatly he exposes himself in violating it.
He treated with the King of France as with a private gentleman. He forgot that Sovereigns may fail in their word, without any breach in their honour, the good of their people so requiring. The Pretender’s son was taken into custody, as he was going to the opera. Strange reverse of fortune! On his arrival inFrance, he had been received with great joy, and marks of consideration. I was something concerned for this young Prince’s fate, and dropped a word or two about him to the King, who answered me with some heat,What would you have me do, Madam? Should I continue the war with all Europe for Prince Edward? England will not allow him to be in my dominions; it was only on this condition, that she came into the peace. Should I have broke off the conference at Aix-la-Chapelle, and distressed my people more and more, because the Pretender’s son is for living at Paris?
It must be owned that this Prince shewed an obstinacy beyond example. The King sent all Paris to represent to him the state of affairs, and express the concern it gave him, that he was obliged to remove him from his court. Though these messages were delivered to him in the King’s name, his answers were so many menaces. The Count de Maurepasspoke to him on this occasion, in the following words:
“It is with the greatest grief that the King sees himself obliged to desire your Highness to quit his dominions. I come in his name to assure you that no other consideration than the welfare of his subjects would have prevailed on him to take this step. You would have seen him inflexibly supporting your claim, had not the unhappy turn of the war laid him under a necessity of yielding to the present juncture. The greatest Monarchs cannot always do as they would. There are critical seasons where policy requires them to be pliant. Your Highness knows that; since the unhappy time when the Stuart family lost the crown of England, the Bourbon family has made several efforts for their restoration. You ought to take his intentions kindly, rather than blame his inability. Iwish you had been witness to his conversation with me, when he called me into his closet to give me his orders, by which I was to signify to you his desire that you will quit the kingdom; it must have affected you. He sincerely laments your situation, but he cannot turn the tide of fate; and should you force him to take violent measures, it would give him the deepest concern.
“Lewis XV. has sent me to you, not as a King, not as a master, but as an ally, and as a friend; and, what is more, he directed me to ask it of you as a favour, that you would leave his dominions.”
Prince Edward was very laconic in his answer, drawing a pistol out of his pocket, and vowing to shoot the first man that should offer to lay hands on him. The archbishop of Paris likewise conjured him in the name of God and thePope, but with no greater effect; religion had no more weight with him than politics, so that the extremity which the King would have avoided, became necessary. The Chevalier de St. George’s son was arrested as he was going to the opera.
The enemies of France failed not to exclaim against this violence, exaggerating it with the most odious appellations.
On searching his house, it was found turned into an Arsenal. He had arms enough to stand a siege in form. It was talked at court that he had determined to fight singly himself against a whole regiment, and then set fire to a barrel of powder, which communicated with others, and thus blow up himself, with all that belonged to him. The King, on being told this, said, “A very ill-timed bravery, indeed!”
The peace, however, spread an universal joy through all ranks. There wereonly two men in the kingdom who were not satisfied with it, the Marshals Saxe and Lowendahl. The former expressed his discontent to the secretary of war in this manner: “After the battle of Fontenoy, said he, we were in a fair way of making ourselves masters of Holland, and putting an end to that troublesome republic; for these merchants, with their shipping and their wealth, are the mischief-makers of Europe; they are the necessary allies of our natural enemies the English. The great work of their destruction was nearly finished; why did we not go through with it? If we again give the republicans time to fortify themselves, they will be as daring as before; and the time may come when France with all its forces will not be able to bring them to reason. Destroying Holland is cutting off England’s right arm; and every body knows, that allFrance’s policy should center in weakening Great Britain.
“Of what consequence has the victory of Fontenoy been? What is France the better for the taking of Bergen-op-Zoom? All those efforts of courage, all the lives of so many gallant officers who fell in Flanders, were purely thrown away. If these places were to be restored, and the Dutch and the house of Austria to be put on the same footing as each of them was before the war, it had been much better there had been no war at all. France’s giving back its conquests, was making war against herself; her very victories have ruined her; her enemies have retained all their former strength, whilst she alone has weakened herself. Her subjects are fewer by a million, and her finances reduced to little or nothing.”
These speeches reaching the King’sears, he said, “I understand the language of those generalissimos; they are for ever dwelling on red-hot bullets.”
The count de St. Severin d’Arragon, who had made the peace, undertook to demonstrate the fallacy of such reasonings; and the King has often repeated to me his arguments. “Sire, said he, the conquest of Holland made no part of the plan of this war. All France aimed at, was to keep the Dutch from declaring. The end of our many sieges and battles, was not to destroy their republic, but only to bring it to pacific terms; so that in forcing them to lay aside their arms, the council of state’s view is fully answered.
“Your Generals will have it, that after the battle of Fontenoy, and the taking of Bergen-op-Zoom, the United Provinces might easily have been overrun, and the States-General have been brought under the dominion of France.They are mistaken; the weapons of despair are invincible. To compel a people to the necessity of being conquered, is the ready way to lose a conquest. The sovereignties once settled, are no longer subject to destruction; they are reciprocal counterpoizes; should only one fall under the power of another, the whole balance of Europe would be destroyed. It is long since war has afforded any of those decisive blows, which, in the time of the Romans, changed the face of the political world. A province may be mastered, but the invading of kingdoms is out of date.
“Granting, Sir, that the ardour of your troops, breaking through the common ways, had reduced Holland, it would have been a conquest not only useless, but have thrown France into fresh troubles; all Europe, in a body, would have declared war againstyou. The great powers, jealous of the house of Bourbon, have long been watching an opportunity of giving it a decisive blow.
“Right policy, instead of making a noise, silently takes a bye-way to its ends; let us insensibly weaken the Dutch, but never think of destroying them. They are a barrier against the great northern powers. They secure us from the incursions of the Germans, whom the Romans themselves could not check, and who at last overthrew the empire of the Cæsars.
“But a great deal is said about the easiness of our conquering, and not a word how easy it was to conquer us. What induced me, Sire, to put the finishing hand to the great work of the peace, is the disorder of the finances, the depopulation of the state, and the scarcity of provisions.
“The Comptroller-general has acquainted me that he knows not where to find any more money. The intendants of the provinces have wrote to the war-office, that it is utterly impossible to raise another militia; to which the intendant of Guienne adds, that in his province the people are starving; those, Sire, were my motives for hastening the conclusion of the peace.”
These reasons, however, did not prevail with the great men of the army, who still wanted to be fighting. They were big with hopes, which the peace seemed to quash. I remember Lewis XV. one day talking on this subject, said to me,that he had not a general officer in his troops who cared what became of the state, if he could but get a Marshal’s staff.
The King, who had rewarded Marshal Saxe, did not forget the Count St. Severin, making him a minister of state.This Count, though not a great genius, had good rational sense, which he made to answer as well as a superior understanding. He was slow in business, but sure; and his phlegmatic disposition was better adapted to surmount those difficulties, which ever put fervid and eager minds to a full stand. He was a stranger to agitations; his passions moved in subordination to political laws. Resentment, anger, sallies of passion, spirit of party, with all the other prepossessing foibles which ruled most ministers, were never seen in him. Those he used to call the reverse of the medal of plenipotentiaries. In a negociation he moved straight on to his drift, without stopping by the way. He had a natural love for peace, and thus the more chearfully applied himself to forward a definitive treaty.
M. de Belleisle told me, that he found one great fault in him, which was thewant of a proper regard to military men, however illustrious by their rank or merit; for after all, added he, there is no making a good peace but by dint of victories; and it is the general, and not the plenipotentiary, who gains battles.
France however was quite spent; the means made use of for supporting the war had been so violent as to break all the springs of power. The ministers complained greatly of the state of France, and openly said, at the peace, that they did not know where to begin the administration.
Paris is not the place where the general distress most manifests itself. The luxury, such as it is, prevailing there conceals the public indigence. There poverty itself appears in embroidery and ribbons, whilst in all the other parts of France it goes quite bare. The court had written into the provinces for a report of the state of things. M. de Belleislehas shewn me several memoirs of those times, transmitted to Versailles by the intendants of the provinces. The tenour of the first way this: