CHAPTER makes them fond of ill-treating and insulting those II. 1685. whom they have degraded to a dependence on them. But James would probably be obliged at the commencement of a new reign, to call a parliament, and if well used by such a body, and abandoned by France; might give up his project of arbitrary power, and consent to govern according to the law and constitution. In such an event Lewis easily foresaw, that, instead of an useful dependant, he might find upon the throne of England a formidable enemy. Indeed, this Prince and his ministers seem all along, with a sagacity that does them credit, to have foreseen, and to have justly estimated, the dangers to which they would be liable, if a cordial union should ever take place between a King of England and his Parliament, and the British councils be directed by men enlightened and warmed by the genuine principles of liberty. It was therefore an object of great moment to bind the new King, as early as possible, to the system of dependency upon France; and matter of no less triumph to the court of Versailles to have retained him by so moderate a fee, than to that of London to receive a sum, which, though small, was thought valuable, as an earnest of better wages, and future protection. II. 1685. Spain dispen It had for some time been Lewis's favourite object CHAPTER to annex to his dominion what remained of the Spanish Netherlands, as well on account of their Treaty with own intrinsic value, as to enable him to destroy the sed with. United Provinces and the Prince of Orange; and this object Charles had bound himself, by treaty with Spain, to oppose. In the joy, therefore, occasioned by this noble manner of proceeding, (for such it was called by all the parties concerned,) the first step was to agree, without hesitation, that Charles's treaty with Spain determined with his life; a decision which, if the disregard that had been shown to it, did not render the question concerning it nugatory, it would be difficult to support upon any principles of national law or justice. The manner in which the late King had conducted himself upon the subject of this treaty, that is to say, the violation of it, without formally renouncing it, was gravely commended, and stated to be no more than what might justly be expected from him; but the present King was declared to be still more free, and in no way bound by a treaty, from the execution of which his brother had judged himself to be sufficiently dispensed. This appears to be a nice distinction, and what that degree of obligation was, from which James was exempt, but which had lain II. CHAPTER upon Charles, who neither thought himself bound, nor was expected by others to execute the treaty, it is difficult to conceive.* 1685. More money solicited from This preliminary being adjusted, the meaning of Lewis. which, through all this contemptible shuffling, was, that James, by giving up all concern for the Spanish Netherlands, should be at liberty to acquiesce in, or to second, whatever might be the ambitious projects of the court of Versailles, it was determined that Lord Churchill should be sent to Paris to obtain further pecuniary aids. But such was the impression made by the frankness and generosity of Lewis, that there was no question of discussing or capitulating, but every thing was remitted to that Prince, and to the information his ministers might give him, respecting the exigency of affairs in England. He who had so handsomely been beforehand, in granting the assistance of five hundred thousand livres, was only to be thanked for past, not importuned for future, munificence.+ Thus ended, for the present, this disgusting scene of iniquity and nonsense, in which all the actors seemed to vie with each other in prostituting the sacred names of friendship, generosity, and gratitude, in one of the meanest * Barillon's Dispatches, May 5, 1685. Appendix. + Ib. Feb. 26. and most criminal transactions which history re- CHAPTER cords. The principal parties in the business, besides the King himself, to whose capacity, at least, if not to his situation, it was more suitable, and Lord Churchill, who acted as an inferior agent, were Sunderland, Rochester, and Godolphin, all men of high rank, and considerable abilities, but whose understandings, as well as their principles, seem to have been corrupted by the pernicious schemes in which they were engaged. With respect to the last mentioned nobleman in particular, it is impossible, without pain, to see him engaged in such transactions. With what self-humiliation must he not have reflected upon them in subsequent periods of his life! How little could Barillon guess that he was negotiating with one who was destined to be at the head of an administration, which, in a few years, would send the same Lord Churchill, not to Paris to implore Lewis for succours towards enslaving England, or to thank him for pensions to her monarch, but to combine all Europe against him, in the cause of liberty; to rout his armies, to take his towns, to humble his pride, and to shake to the foundation that fabrick of power which it had been the business of a long life to raise at the expense of every sentiment of tenderness to II. 1685. II. 1685. CHAPTER his subjects, and of justice and good faith to foreign nations! It is with difficulty the reader can persuade himself that the Godolphin and Churchill here mentioned, are the same persons who were afterwards, one in the cabinet, one in the field, the great conductors of the war of the Succession. How little do they appear in one instance! how great in the other! And the investigation of the cause to which this excessive difference is principally owing, will produce a most useful lesson. Is the difference to be attributed to any superiority of genius in the prince whom they served in the latter period of their lives? Queen Anne's capacity appears to have been inferior even to her father's. Did they enjoy in a greater degree her favour and confidence? The very reverse is the fact. But in one case they were the tools of a King plotting against his people; in the other, the ministers of a free government acting upon enlarged principles, and with energies which no state that is not in some degree republican can supply. How forcibly must the contemplation of these men in such opposite situations teach persons engaged in political life, that a free and popular government is desirable, not only for the publick good, but for their own greatness and consideration, for every object of generous ambition! |