On the seventh day of July, the king embarked at Gravesend, landed on the ninth in Holland, through which he passed incognito to Hanover, and from thence set out for Pyrmont. His aim was to secure his German dominions from the Swede, and Great Britain from the pretender. These two princes had already begun to form a design, in conjunction, of invading his kingdom. He knew the duke of Orleans was resolved to ascend the throne of France, in case the young king, who was a sickly child, should die without male issue. The regent was not ignorant that Philip of Spain would powerfully contest that succession, notwithstanding his renunciation; and he was glad of an opportunity to strengthen his interest by an alliance with the maritime powers of England and Holland. The king of England sounded him on this subject, and found him eager to engage in such an association. The negotiation was carried on by general Cadogan for England, the abbé du Bois for France, and the pensionary Heinsius for the states-general. The regent readily complied with all their demands. He engaged that the pretender should immediately depart from Wignon to the other side of the Alps, and never return to Lorraine or France on any pretence whatsoever; that no rebellious subjects of Great Britain should be allowed to reside in that kingdom; and that the treaty of Utrecht, with respect to the demolition of Dunkirk, should be fully executed to the satisfaction of his Britannic majesty. The treaty contained a mutual guarantee of all the places possessed by the contracting powers; of the protestant succession on the throne of England, as well as of that of the duke of Orleans to the crown of France, and a defensive alliance, stipulating the proportion of ships and forces to be furnished to that power which should be disturbed at home or invaded from abroad. The English people murmured at this treaty. They said an unnecessary umbrage was given to Spain, with which the nation had great commercial connexions; and that on pretence of an invasion, a body of foreign troops might be introduced to enslave the kingdom.
His majesty was not so successful in his endeavours to appease the king of Sweden, who refused to listen to any overtures until Bremen and Verden should be restored. These the elector of Hanover resolved to keep as a fair purchase; and he engaged in a confederacy with the enemies of Charles, for the maintenance of this acquisition. Meanwhile his rupture with Sweden was extremely prejudicial to the commerce of England, and had well nigh entailed upon the kingdom another invasion, much more formidable than that which had so lately miscarried. The ministers of Sweden resident at London, Paris, and the Hague, maintained a correspondence with the disaffected subjects of Great Britain. A scheme was formed for the Swedish king’s landing on this island with a considerable body of forces, where he should be joined by the malcontents of the united kingdom. Charles relished the enterprise, which flattered his ambition and revenge; nor was it disagreeable to the czar of Muscovy, who resented the elector’s offer of joining the Swede against the Russians, provided he would ratify the cession of Bremen and Verden. King George having received intimation of these intrigues, returned to England towards the end of January, and ordered a detachment of foot-guards to secure count Gyllenburgh, the Swedish minister, with all his papers. At the same time, sir Jacob Bancks and Mr. Charles Caesar were apprehended. The other foreign ministers took the alarm, and remonstrated to the ministry upon this outrage committed against the law of nations. The two secretaries, Stanhope and Methuen, wrote circular letters to them, assuring them that in a clay or two they should be acquainted with the reasons that induced the king to take such an extraordinary step. They were generally satisfied with this intimation; but the marquis de Monteleone, ambassador from Spain, expressed his concern that no other way could be found to preserve the peace of the kingdom, without arresting the person of a public minister, and seizing all his papers, which were the sacred repositories of his masters’s secrets; he observed, that in whatever manner these two facts might seem to be understood, they very sensibly wounded the law of nations. About the same time baron Gortz, the Swedish residentiary in Holland, was seized with his papers at Arnheim, at the desire of king George, communicated to the states by Mr. Loathes, his minister at the Hague. The baron owned he had projected the invasion, a design that was justified by the conduct of king George, who had joined the princes in confederacy against the king of Sweden, without having received the least provocation; who had assisted the king of Denmark in subduing the duchies of Bremen and Verden, and then purchased them of the usurper; and who had, in the course of this very summer, sent a strong squadron of ships to the Baltic, where it joined the Danes and Russians against the Swedish fleet.
When the parliament of Great Britain met on the twentieth day of February, the king informed them of the triple alliance he had concluded with France and Holland. He mentioned the projected invasion; told them he had given orders for laying before them copies of the letters which had passed between the Scottish ministers on that subject; and he demanded of the commons such supplies as should be found necessary for the defence of the kingdom. By those papers it appeared that the scheme projected by baron Gortz was very plausible, and even ripe for execution; which, however, was postponed until the army should be reduced, and the Dutch auxiliaries sent back to their own country. The letters being read in parliament, both houses presented addresses, in which they extolled the king’s prudence in establishing such conventions with foreign potentates as might repair the gross defects, and prevent the pernicious consequences, of the treaty of Utrecht, which they termed a treacherous and dishonourable peace; and they expressed their horror and indignation at the malice and ingratitude of those who had encouraged an invasion of their country. He likewise received an address of the same kind from the convention; another from the dissenting ministers; a third from the university of Cambridge; but Oxford was not so lavish of her compliments. At a meeting of the vice-chancellor and heads of that university, a motion was made for an address to the king, on the suppression of the late unnatural rebellion, his majesty’s safe return, and the favour lately shown to the university, in omitting, at their request, the ceremony of burning in effigy the devil, the pope, the pretender, the duke of Ormond, and the earl of Mar, on the anniversary of his majesty’s accession. Dr. Smallridge, bishop of Bristol, observed, that the rebellion had been long suppressed; that there would be no end of addresses should one be presented every time that his majesty returned from his German dominions; that the late favour they had received was overbalanced by a whole regiment now quartered upon them; and that there was no precedent for addressing a king upon his return from his German dominions. The university thought they had reason to complain of the little regard paid to their remonstrances, touching a riot raised in that city by the soldiers there quartered, on pretence that the anniversary of the prince’s birthday had not been celebrated with the usual rejoicings. Affidavits had been sent up to the council, which seemed to favour the officers of the regiment. When the house of lords deliberated upon the mutiny-bill, by which the soldiers were exempted from arrests for debts, complaint was made of their licentious behaviour at Oxford; and a motion was made that they should inquire into the riot. The lords presented an address to the king, desiring that the papers relating to that affair might be laid before the house. These being perused, were found to be recriminations between the Oxonians and the officers of the regiment. A warm debate ensued, during which the earl of Abingdon offered a petition from the vice-chancellor of the university, the mayor and magistrates of Oxford, praying to be heard. One of the court members observing that it would be irregular to receive a petition while the house was in a grand committee, a motion was made that the chairman should leave the chair; but this being carried in the negative, the debate was resumed, and the majority agreed to the following resolutions:—That the heads of the university, and mayor of the city, neglected to make public rejoicings on the prince’s birth-day; that the officers having met to celebrate that day, the house in which they had assembled was assaulted, and the windows were broken by the rabble; that this assault was the beginning and occasion of the riots that ensued. That the conduct of the mayor seemed well justified by the affidavits produced on his part; that the printing and publishing the depositions upon which the complaints relating to the riots at Oxford were founded, while that matter was under the examination of the lords of the committee of the council, before they had time to come to any resolution touching the same, was irregular, disrespectful to his royal highness, and tending to sedition. An inquiry of this nature, so managed, did not much redound to the honour of such an august assembly.
1717
The commons passed a bill prohibiting all commerce with Sweden, a branch of trade which was of the utmost consequence to the English merchants. They voted ten thousand seamen for the ensuing year; granted about a million for the maintenance of guards, garrisons, and land-forces; and passed the bill relating to mutiny and desertion. The house likewise voted four-and-twenty thousand pounds for the payment of four battalions of Munster, and two of Saxe-Gotha, which the king had taken into his service, to supply the place of such as might be, during the rebellion, drawn from the garrisons of the states-general to the assistance of England. This vote, however, was not carried without a violent debate. The demand was inveighed against as an imposition, seeing no troops had ever served. A motion was made for an address, desiring that the instructions of those who concluded the treaties might be laid before the house; but this was over-ruled by the majority. The supplies were raised by a land-tax of three shillings in the pound, and a malt-tax. What the commons had given was not thought sufficient for the expense of the year; therefore Mr. secretary Stanhope brought a message from his majesty, demanding an extraordinary supply, that he might be the better enabled to secure his kingdoms against the danger with which they were threatened from Sweden; and he moved that a supply should be granted to his majesty for this purpose. Mr. Shippen observed it was a great misfortune that the king was as little acquainted with the parliamentary proceedings as with the language of the country: that the message was unparliamentary and unprecedented; and, in his opinion, penned by some foreign minister: he said he had been often told that his majesty had retrieved the honour and reputation of the nation; a truth which appeared in the flourishing condition of trade; but that the supply demanded seemed to be inconsistent with the glorious advantages which his majesty had obtained for the people. He was seconded by Mr. Hungerford, who declared that for his part he could not understand what occasion there was for new alliances; much less that they should be purchased with money. He expressed his surprise that a nation so lately the terror of France and Spain should now seem to fear so inconsiderable an enemy as the king of Sweden. The motion was supported by Mr. Boscawen, sir Gilbert Heathcote, and others; but some of the whigs spoke against it; and Mr. Robert Walpole was silent. The speaker, and Mr. Smith, one of the tellers of the exchequer, opposed this unparliamentary way of demanding the supply: the former proposed that part of the army should be disbanded, and the money applied towards the making good such new engagements as were deemed necessary. After several successive debates, the resolution for a supply was carried by a majority of four voices.
* This year was rendered famous by a complete victory which, prince Eugene obtained over the Turks at Peterwaradin upon the Danube. The battle was fought upon the fifth day of August. The Imperial army did not exceed sixty thousand men; that of the infidels amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand, commanded by the grand vizier, who was mortally wounded in the engagement. The infidels were totally defeated, with the loss of all their tents, artillery, and baggage, so that the victors obtained an immense booty.
GEORGE I, 1714—1727
The ministry was now divided within itself. Lord Townshend had been removed from the office of secretary of state, by the intrigues of the earl of Sunderland; and he was now likewise dismissed from the place of lord-lieutenant of Ireland. Mr. Robert Walpole resigned his posts of first commissioner of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer: his example was followed by Mr. Pulteney, secretary at war, and Mr. Methuen, secretary of state. When the affair of the supply was resumed in the house of commons, Mr. Stanhope made a motion for granting two hundred and fifty thousand pounds for that purpose. Mr. Pulteney observed, that having resigned his place, he might no w act with the freedom becoming an Englishman: he declared against the manner of granting the supply, as unparliamentary and unprecedented. He said he could not persuade himself that any Englishman advised his majesty to send such a message; but he doubted not the resolution of a British parliament would make a German ministry tremble. Mr. Stanhope having harangued the house in vindication of the ministry, Mr. Smith answered every article of his speech: he affirmed, that if an estimate of the conduct of the ministry in relation to affairs abroad was to be made from a comparison of their conduct at home, they would not appear altogether so faultless as they were represented. “Was it not a mistake,” said he, “not to preserve the peace at home, after the king had ascended the throne with the universal applause and joyful acclamations of all his subjects? Was it not a mistake, upon the breaking out of the rebellion, not to issue a proclamation, to offer pardon to such as should return home peaceably, according to the custom on former occasions of the same nature? Was it not a mistake, after the suppression of the rebellion and the trial and execution of the principal authors of it, to keep up animosities, and drive people to despair, by not passing an act of indemnity, by keeping so many persons under hard and tedious confinement; and by granting pardons to some, without leaving them any means to subsist? Is it not a mistake, not to trust a vote of parliament for making good such engagements as his majesty should think proper to enter into; and instead of that, to insist on the granting this supply in such an extraordinary manner? Is it not a mistake, to take this opportunity to create divisions, and render some of the king’s best friends suspected and obnoxious? Is it not a mistake, in short, to form parties and cabals in order to bring in a bill to repeal the act of occasional conformity?” A great number of members had agreed to this measure in private, though at this period it was not brought into the house of commons. After a long debate the sum was granted. These were the first-fruits of Britain’s being wedded to the interests of the continent. The elector of Hanover quarrelled with the king of Sweden; and England was not only deprived of a necessary branch of commerce, but even obliged to support him in the prosecution of the war. The ministry now underwent a new revolution. The earl of Sunderland and Mr. Addison were appointed secretaries of state; Mr. Stanhope became first commission of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer.
On the sixth day of May, the king, going to the house of peers, gave the parliament to understand that the fleet under sir George Byng, which had sailed to the Baltic to observe the motions of the Swedes, was safely arrived in the Sound. He said he had given orders for the immediate reduction of ten thousand soldiers, as well as directions to prepare an act of indemnity. He desired they would take proper measures for reducing the public debts with a just regard to parliamentary credit; and that they would go through the public business with all possible despatch and unanimity. Some progress had already been made in deliberations upon the debt of the nation, which was comprehended under the two heads of redeemable and irredeemable incumbrances. The first had been contracted with a redeemable interest; and these the public had a right to discharge: the others consisted of long and short annuities granted for a greater or less number of years, which could not be altered without the consent of the proprietors. Mr. Robert Walpole had projected a scheme for lessening the interest and paying the capital of those debts, before he resigned his place in the exchequer. He proposed, in the house of commons, to reduce the interest of redeemable funds, and offer an alternative to the proprietors of annuities. His plan was approved; but, when he resigned his places, the ministers made some small alterations in it, which furnished him with a pretence for opposing the execution of the scheme. In the course of the debate, some warm altercation passed between him and Mr. Stanhope, by which it appeared they had made a practice of selling places and reversions. Mr. Hungerford, standing up, said he was sorry to see two such great men running foul of one another; that, however, they ought to be looked upon as patriots and fathers of their country; and since they had by mischance discovered their nakedness, the other members ought, according to the custom of the East, to turn their backs upon them, that they might not be seen in such a shameful condition. Mr. Boscawen moved that the house would lay their commands upon them, that no further notice should be taken of what had passed. He was seconded by Mr. Methuen: tha house approved of the motion; and the speaker took their word and honour that they should not prosecute their resentment. The money corporations having agreed to provide cash for such creditors as should be willing to receive their principal, the house came to certain resolutions, on which were founded the three bills that passed into laws, under the names of “The South-Sea act, the Bank act, and the General Fund act.” The original stock of the South-Sea company did not exceed nine millions four hundred and seventy-one thousand three hundred and twenty-five pounds; but the funds granted being sufficient to answer the interest of ten millions at six per cent., the company made up that sum to the government, for which they received six hundred thousand pounds yearly, and eight thousand pounds a-year for management. By this act they declared themselves willing to receive five hundred thousand pounds, and the eight thousand for management. It was enacted, that the company should continue a corporation until the redemption of their annuity, towards which not less than a million should be paid at a time. They were likewise required to advance a sum not exceeding two millions, towards discharging the principal and interest due on the four lottery funds of the ninth and tenth years of queen Anne. By the Bank act the governors and company declared themselves willing to accept an annuity of eighty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty-one pounds, seven shillings and tenpence halfpenny, or the principal of one million seven hundred and seventy-five thousand and twenty-seven pounds, seventeen shillings and tenpence halfpenny, in lieu of the present annuity, amounting to one hundred and six thousand five hundred and one pounds, thirteen shillings and fivepence. They also declared themselves willing to discharge, and deliver up to be cancelled, as many exchequer-bills as amounted to two millions, and to accept of an annuity of one hundred thousand pounds, being after the rate of five per cent, redeemable after one year’s notice; to circulate the remaining exchequer-bills at three per cent, and one penny per day. It was enacted, that the former allowances should be continued to Christmas, and then the bank should have for circulating the two millions five hundred and sixty-one thousand and twenty-five pounds remaining exchequer-bills, an annuity of seventy-six thousand eight hundred and thirty pounds, fifteen shillings, at the rate of three pounds per cent, till redeemed, over and above the one penny a-day for interest. By the same acts the bank was required to advance a sum not exceeding two millions five hundred thousand pounds, towards discharging the national debt, if wanted, on condition that they should have five pounds per cent, for as much as they might advance, redeemable by parliament. The General Fund act recited several acts of parliament, for establishing the four lotteries in the ninth and tenth years of the late queen, and stated the annual produce of the several funds, amounting in all to seven hundred and twenty-four thousand eight hundred and forty-nine pounds, six shillings and tenpence one-fifth. This was the General Fund; the deficiency of which was to be made good annually out of the first aids granted by parliament. For the regular payment of all such annuities as should be made payable by this act, it was enacted, that all the duties and revenues mentioned therein should continue for ever, with the proviso, however, that the revenues rendered by this act perpetual should be subject to redemption. This act contained a clause by which the sinking fund was established. The reduction of interest to five per cent, producing a surplus or excess upon the appropriated funds, it was enacted, that all the monies arising from time to time, as well for the surplus, by virtue of the acts for redeeming the funds of the hank and of the South-Sea Company, as also for the surplus of the duties and revenues by this act appropriated to make good the general fund, should be appropriated and employed for the discharging the principal and interest of such national debt as was incurred before the twenty-fifth of December of the preceding year, in such a manner as should be directed and appointed by any future act of parliament, to be discharged out of the game, and for no other use, intent, or purpose whatsoever.
The earl of Oxford, who had now remained almost two years a prisoner in the Tower, presented a petition to the house of lords, praying that his imprisonment might not be indefinite. Some of the tory lords affirmed that the impeachment was destroyed and determined by the prorogation of parliament, which superseded the whole proceedings; but the contrary was voted by a considerable majority. The thirteenth day of June was fixed for the trial; and the house of commons made acquainted with this determination. The commons appointed a committee to inquire into the state of the earl’s impeachment; and, in consequence of their report, sent a message to the lords demanding longer time to prepare for trial. Accordingly the day was prolonged to the twenty-fourth of June; and the commons appointed the committee, with four other members, to be managers for making good the articles of impeachment. At the appointed time the peers repaired to the court in Westminster-hall, where lord Cowper presided as lord steward. The commons were assembled as a committee of the whole house; the king, the rest of the royal family, and the foreign ministers, assisted at the solemnity; the earl of Oxford was brought from the Tower; the articles of impeachment were read, with his answers, and the replication of the commons. Sir Joseph Jekyll standing up to make good the first article, lord Har-court signified to their lordships that he had a motion to make, and they adjourned to their own house. There he represented that a great deal of time would be unnecessarily consumed in going through all the articles of the impeachment; that if the commons would make good the two articles for high treason, the earl of Oxford would forfeit both life and estate, and there would be an end of the matter; whereas to proceed on the method proposed by the commons, would draw the trial on to a prodigious length. He therefore moved that the commons might not be permitted to proceed until judgment should be first given upon the articles of high treason. He was supported by the earls of Anglesea and Nottingham, the lord Trevor, and a considerable number of both parties; and though opposed by the earl of Sunderland, the lords Coningsby and Parker, the motion was carried in the affirmative. It produced a dispute between the two houses. The commons, at a conference, delivered a paper containing their reasons for asserting it as their undoubted right to impeach a peer either for treason, or for high crimes and misdemeanors; or, should they see occasion, to mix both in the same accusation. The house of lords insisted on their former resolution; and, in another conference, delivered a paper wherein they asserted it to be a right inherent in every court of justice, to order and direct such methods of proceeding as it should think fit to be observed in all causes that fell under its cognizance. The commons demanded a free conference, which was refused. The dispute grew more and more warm. The lords sent a message to the lower house, importing that they intended presently to proceed on the trial of the earl of Oxford. The commons paid no regard to this intimation; but adjourned to the third day of July. The lords, repairing to Westminster-hall, took their places, ordered the earl to be brought to the bar, and made proclamation for his accusers to appear. Having waited a quarter of an hour, they adjourned to their own house, where, after some debate, the earl was acquitted upon a division; then returning to the hall, they voted that he should be set at liberty. Oxford owed his safety to the dissensions among the ministers, and to the late change in the administration. In consequence of this, he was delivered from the persecution of Walpole; and numbered among his friends the dukes of Devonshire and Argyle, the earls of Nottingham and Hay, and lord Townshend. The commons, in order to express their sense of his demerit, presented an address to the king, desiring he might be excepted out of the intended act of grace. The king promised to comply with their request; and in the meantime forbade the earl to appear at court. On the fifteenth day of July, the earl of Sunderland delivered in the house of peers the act of grace, which passed through both houses with great expedition. From this indulgence were excepted the earl of Oxford, Mr. Prior, Mr. Thomas Harley, Mr. Arthur Moore; Crisp, Nodes, O’Bryan, Redmarne the printer, and Thompson; as also the assassinators in Newgate, and the clan of Macgregor in Scotland. By virtue of this act, the earl of Carnwath, the lords Widrington and Nairn, were immediately discharged; together with all the gentlemen under sentence of death in Newgate, and those that were confined on account of the rebellion in the Fleet, the Marshalsea, and other prisons of the kingdom. The act of grace being prepared for the royal assent, the king went to the house of peers on the fifteenth day of July, and having given his sanction to all the bills that were ready, closed the session with a speech on the usual topics.
The proceedings in the convocation turned chiefly upon two performances of Dr. Hoadley, bishop of Bangor. One was intituled, “A Preservative against the Principles and Practices of the Nonjurors;” the other was a sermon preached before the king, under the title of “The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ.” An answer to this discourse was published by Dr. Snape, master of Eton college, and this convocation appointed a committee to examine the bishop’s two performances. They drew up a representation in which the Preservative and the Sermon were censured, as tending to subvert all government and discipline in the church of Christ; to reduce his kingdom to a state of anarchy and confusion; to impugn and impeach the royal supremacy in causes ecclesiastical, and the authority of the legislature to enforce obedience in matters of religion by civil sanctions. The government thought proper to put a stop to these proceedings by a prorogation; which, however, inflamed the controversy. A great number of pens were drawn against the bishop, but his chief antagonists were Dr. Snape and Dr. Sherlock, whom the king removed from the office of his chaplains; and the convocation has not been permitted to sit and do business since that period.
chap_g2 (408K)
Difference between King George and the Czar of Muscovy..... The King of Sweden is killed at Frederickstadt..... Negotiation for a Quadruple Alliance..... Proceedings in Parliament..... James Shepherd executed for a Design against the King’s Life..... Parliament prorogued..... Nature of the quadruple Alliance..... Admiral Byng sails to the Mediterranean..... He destroys the Spanish Fleet off Cape Passaro..... Remonstrances of the Spanish Ministry..... Disputes in Parliament touching the Admiral’s attacking the Spanish Fleet..... Act for strengthening the Protestant Interest——War declared against Spain..... Conspiracy against the Regent of France..... Intended Invasion by the Duke of Ormond..... Three hundred Spaniards land and are taken in Scotland..... Account of the Peerage Bill..... Count Merci assumes the Command of the Imperial Army in Sicily..... Activity of Admiral Byng..... The Spanish Troops evacuate Sicily..... Philip obliged to accede to the quadruple Alliance..... Bill for securing the Dependency of Ireland upon the Crown of Great Britain..... South Sea Act..... Charters granted to the Royal and London Assurance Offices..... Treaty of Alliance with Sweden..... The Prince of Hesse elected King of Sweden..... Effects of the South Sea Scheme..... The Bubble breaks..... A Secret Committee appointed by the House of Commons..... Inquiry carried on by both Houses..... Death of Earl Stanhope and Mr. Craggs, both Secretaries of State..... The Estates of the Directors of the South Sea Company are confiscated..... Proceedings of the Commons with respect to the Stock of the South Sea Company.
1717
During these transactions, the negotiations of the north were continued against the king of Sweden, who had penetrated into Norway, and advanced towards Christianstadt, the capital of that kingdom. The czar had sent five-and-twenty thousand Russians to assist the allies in the reduction of Wismar, which he intended to bestow upon his niece, lately married to the duke of Mecklenburgh-Schwerin: but before his troops arrived the place had surrendered, and the Russians were not admitted into the garrison; a circumstance which increased the misunderstanding between him and the king of Great Britain. Nevertheless, he consented to a project for making a descent upon Schonen, and actually took upon him the command of the allied fleet; though he was not at all pleased to see sir John Norris in the Baltic, because he had formed designs against Denmark, which he knew the English squadron would protect. He suddenly desisted from the expedition against Schonen, on pretence that the season was too far advanced; and the king of Denmark published a manifesto, remonstrating against his conduct on this occasion. By this time baron Gortz had planned a pacification between his master and the czar, who was discontented with all his German allies, because they opposed his having any footing in the empire. This monarch arrived at Amsterdam in December, whether he was followed by the czarina; and he actually resided at the Hague when king George passed through it, in returning to his British dominions, but he declined an interview with the king of England. When Gyllenburgh’s letters were published in London, some passages seemed to favour the supposition of the czar’s being privy to the conspiracy. His minister at the English court presented a long memorial, complaining that the king had caused to be printed the malicious insinuations of his enemies. He denied his having the least concern in the design of the Swedish king. He charged the court of England with having privately treated of a separate peace with Charles, and even with having promised to assist him against the czar, on condition that he would relinquish his pretensions to Bremen and Verden. Nevertheless, he expressed an inclination to re-establish the ancient good understanding, and to engage in vigorous measures for prosecuting the war against the common enemy. The memorial was answered by the king of Great Britain, who assured the czar he should have reason to be fully satisfied, if he would remove the only obstacle to their mutual good understanding; in other words, withdraw the Russian troops from the empire. Notwithstanding these professions, the two monarchs were never perfectly reconciled.
The czar made an excursion to the court of France, where he concluded a treaty of friendship with the regent, at whose earnest desire he promised to recall his troops from Mecklenburgh. At his return to Amsterdam, he had a private interview with Gortz, who, as well as Gyllenburgh, had been set at liberty. Gortz undertook to adjust all difference between the czar and the king of Sweden within three months; and Peter engaged to suspend all operations against Sweden until that term should be expired. A congress was opened at Abo, between the Swedish and Russian ministers, but the conferences were afterwards removed to Aland. By this convention, the czar obliged himself to assist Charles in the conquest of Norway; and they promised to unite all their forces against the king of Great Britain should he presume to interpose. Both were incensed against that prince; and one part of their design was to raise the pretender to the throne of England. Baron Gortz set out from Aland for Frederickstadt in Norway, with the plan of peace: but, before he arrived, Charles was killed by a cannon ball from the town, as he visited the trenches, on the thirtieth of November. Baron Gortz was immediately arrested, and brought to the scaffold by the nobles of Sweden, whose hatred he had incurred by his insolence of behaviour. The death of Charles was fortunate for king George. Sweden was now obliged to submit; while the czar, the king of Denmark, and the elector of Hanover, kept possession of what they had acquired in the course of the war.
Thus Bremen and Verden were secured in the house of Hanover; an acquisition towards which the English nation contributed by her money, as well as by her arms; an acquisition made in contradiction to the engagements into which England entered when king William became guarantee for the treaty of Travendahl; an acquisition that may be considered as the first link of a political chain by which the English nation were dragged back into expensive connexions with the continent. The king had not yet received the investiture of the duchies; and, until that should be procured, it was necessary to espouse with warmth the interests of the emperor. This was another source of misunderstanding between Great Britain and Spain. Prince Eugene gained another complete victory over a prodigious army of the Turks at Belgrade, which was surrendered to him after the battle. The emperor had engaged in this war as an ally of the Venetians, whom the Turks had attacked and driven from the Morea. The pope considered it as a religious war against the infidels, and obtained repeated assurances from the king of Spain that he would not undertake any thing against the emperor while he was engaged in such a laudable quarrel. Philip had even sent a squadron of ships and galleys to the assistance of the Venetians. In the course of this year, however, he equipped a strong armament, the command of which was bestowed on the marquis de Lede, who sailed from Barcelona in July, and landing at Cagliari in Sardinia, which belonged to the emperor, made a conquest of the whole island. At the same time, the king of Spain endeavoured to justify these proceedings by a manifesto, in which he alleged that the archduke, contrary to the faith of treaties, encouraged and supported the rebellion of his subjects in Catalonia, by frequent succours from Naples and other places; and that the great inquisitor of Spain had been seized, though furnished with a passport from his holiness. He promised however to proceed no further, and suspend all operations, that the powers of Europe might have time and opportunity to contrive expedients for reconciling all differences, and securing the peace and balance of power in Italy; nay, he consented that this important affair should be left to the arbitration of king George and the states-general. These powers undertook the office. Conferences were begun between the ministers of the emperor, France, England, and Holland; and these produced, in the course of the following year, the famous quadruple alliance. In this treaty it was stipulated, that the emperor should renounce all pretensions to the crown of Spain, and exchange Sardinia for Sicily with the duke of Savoy; that the succession to the duchies of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, which the queen of Spain claimed by inheritance as princess of the house of Farnese, should be settled on her eldest son, in case the present possessors should die without male issue. Philip, dissatisfied with this partition, continued to make formidable preparations by sea and land. The king of England and the regent of France interposed their admonitions to no purpose. At length his Britannic majesty had recourse to more substantial arguments, and ordered a strong squadron to be equipped with all possible expedition.206[See note 2 H, at the end of this Vol.]
On the third day of November, the princess of Wales was delivered of a prince, the ceremony of whose baptism was productive of a difference between the grandfather and the father. The prince of Wales intended that his uncle, the duke of York, should stand godfather. The king ordered the duke of Newcastle to stand for himself. After the ceremony, the prince expressed his resentment against this nobleman in very warm terms. The king ordered the prince to confine himself within his own apartment; and afterwards signified his pleasure that he should quit the palace of St. James’. He retired with the princess to a house belonging to the earl of Grantham; but the children were detained at the palace. All peers and peeresses, and all privy-counsellors and their wives, were given to understand, that in case they visited the prince and princess they should have no access to his majesty’s presence; and all who enjoyed posts and places under both king and prince, were obliged to quit the service of one or other at their option. When the parliament met on the twenty-first day of November, the king, in his speech, told both houses that he had reduced the army to very near one half, since the beginning of the last session: he expressed his desire that all those who were friends to the present happy establishment, might unanimously concur in some proper method for the greater strengthening the protestant interest, of which, as the church of England was unquestionably the main support and bulwark, so would she reap the principal benefit of every advantage accruing from the union and mutual charity of all protestants. After the addresses of thanks, which were couched in the usual style, the commons proceeded to take into consideration the estimates and accounts, in order to settle the establishment of the army, navy, and ordnance. Ten thousand men were voted for the sea service. When the supply for the army fell under deliberation, a very warm debate ensued upon the number of troops necessary to be maintained. Sir William Wyndham, Mr. Shippen, and Mr. Walpole, in a long elaborate harangue, insisted upon its being reduced to twelve thousand. They were answered by Mr. Craggs, secretary at war, and sir David Dalrymple. Mr. Shippen, in the course of the debate, said the second paragraph of the king’s speech seemed rather to be calculated for the meridian of Germany than for Great Britain; and it was a great misfortune that the king was a stranger to our language and constitution. Mr. Lechmere affirmed this was a scandalous invective against the king’s person and government; and moved that he who uttered it should be sent to the Tower. Mr. Shippen, refusing to retract or excuse what he had said, was voted to the Tower by a great majority; and the number of standing forces was fixed at sixteen thousand three hundred and forty-seven effective men.
On account of the great scarcity of silver coin, occasioned by the exportation of silver and the importation of gold, a motion was made to put a stop to this growing evil, by lowering the value of gold specie. The commons examined a representation which had been made to the treasury by sir Isaac Newton, master of the mint, on this subject. Mr. Caswel explained the nature of a clandestine trade carried on by the Dutch and Ham-burghers, in concert with the Jews of England and other traders, for exporting the silver coin and importing gold, which being coined at the mint yielded a profit of fifteen pence upon every guinea. The house, in an address to the king, desired that a proclamation might be issued, forbidding all persons to utter or receive guineas at a higher rate than one-and-twenty shillings each. His majesty complied with that request: but people hoarding up their silver in hopes that the price of it would be raised, or in apprehension that the gold would be lowered still farther, the two houses resolved that the standard of the gold and silver coins of the kingdom should not be altered in fineness, weight, or denomination, and they ordered a bill to be brought in to prevent the melting down of the silver coin. At this period, one James Shepherd, a youth of eighteen, apprentice to a coachmaker, and an enthusiast in jacobitism, sent a letter to a nonjuring clergyman, proposing a scheme for assassinating king George. He was immediately apprehended, owned the design, was tried, condemned, and executed at Tyburn. This was likewise the fate of the marquis de Palleotti, an Italian nobleman, brother to the duchess of Shrewsbury. He had, in a transport of passion, killed his own servant; and seemed indeed to be disordered in his brain. After he had received sentence of death, the king’s pardon was earnestly solicited by his sister the duchess, and many other persons of the first distinction; but the common people became so clamorous, that it was thought dangerous to rescue him from the penalties of the law, which he accordingly underwent in the most ignominious manner. No subject produced so much heat and altercation in parliament during this session, as did the bill for regulating the land-forces, and punishing mutiny and desertion: a bill which was looked upon as an encroachment upon the liberties and constitution of England, inasmuch as it established martial law, which wrested from the civil magistrate the cognizance of crimes and misdemeanors committed by the soldiers and officers of the army; a jurisdiction inconsistent with the genius and disposition of the people. The dangers that might accrue from such a power were explained in the lower house by Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Harley, and Mr. Robert Walpole, which last, however, voted afterwards for the bill. In the house of lords, it was strenuously opposed by the earls of Oxford, Strafford, and lord Harcourt. Their objections were answered by lord Carteret. The bill passed by a great majority; but divers lords entered a protest. This affair being discussed, a bill was brought in for vesting in trustees the forfeited estates in Britain and Ireland, to be sold for the use of the public; for giving relief to lawful creditors by determining the claims, and for the more effectual bringing into the respective exchequers the rents and profits of the estates till sold. The time of claiming was prolonged; the sum of twenty thousand pounds was reserved out of the sale of the estates in Scotland, for erecting schools; and eight thousand pounds for building barracks in that kingdom. The king having signified, by a message to the house of commons, that he had lately received such information from abroad, as gave reason to believe that a naval force employed where it should be necessary, would give weight to his endeavours; he therefore thought fit to acquaint the house with this circumstance, not doubting but that in case he should be obliged, at this critical juncture, to exceed the number of men granted this year for the sea-service, the house would provide for such exceeding. The commons immediately drew up and presented an address, assuring his majesty that they would make good such exceedings of seamen as he should find necessary to preserve the tranquillity of Europe. On the twenty-first day of March, the king went to the house of peers, and having passed the bills that were ready for the royal assent, ordered the parliament to be prorogued.*
* Earl Cowper, lord chancellor, resigned the great seal, which was at first put in commission, but afterwards given to lord Parker, as high chancellor. The earl of Sunderland was made president of the council, and first commissioner of the treasury. Lord Stanhope and Mr. Craggs were appointed secretaries of state. Lord Stanhope and lord Cadogan were afterwards created earls.
1718
The king of Spain, by the care and indefatigable diligence of his prime minister, cardinal Alberoni, equipped a very formidable armament, which, in the beginning of June, set sail from Barcelona towards Italy; but the destination of it was not known. A strong squadron having been fitted out in England, the marquis de Monteleone, ambassador from Spain, presented a memorial to the British ministry, importing that so powerful an armament in time of peace could not but give umbrage to the king his master, and alter the good intelligence that subsisted between the two crowns. In answer to this representation, the ministers declared that the king intended to send admiral Byng with a powerful squadron into the Mediterranean, to maintain the neutrality in Italy. Meanwhile, the negotiations between the English and French ministers produced the quadruple alliance, by which king George and the regent prescribed a peace between the emperor, the king of Spain, and the king of Sicily, and undertook to compel Philip and the Savoyard to submit to such conditions as they had concerted with his Imperial majesty. These powers were allowed only three months to consider the articles, and declare whether they would reject them, or acquiesce in the partition. Nothing could be more contradictory to the true interests of Great Britain than this treaty, which destroyed the balance in Italy, by throwing such an accession of power into the hands of the house of Austria. It interrupted the commerce with Spain; involved the kingdom in an immediate war with that monarchy; and gave rise to all the quarrels and disputes which have arisen between England and Spain in the sequel. The states-general did not approve of such violent measures, and for some time kept aloof; but at length they acceded to the quadruple alliance, which indeed was no other than a very expensive compliment to the emperor, who was desirous of adding Sicily to his other Italian dominions.
GEORGE I, 1714—1727