1712.0921.Tc

Addressed:
To Mr. Prior.

Whitehall, September 10th, 1712.¹

Dear Matt,²

I was equally ſurprized and vexed to
find, that by the uncouth way of explaining
the Queen's ſenſe, you had been led to ima-
gine, that it was intended my Lord Lexing-
ton ſhould make any difficulty of ſeeing and
complimenting the King of Spain, as ſuch.
We ſpent about³ three hours in penning
minutes yeſterday upon this head, which
was long ago adjuſted. I ſuppoſe the in-
ſtructions will be at laſt clear, but my Lord
Lexington having been preſent at the de-
bate, his underſtanding of the matter will
make amends for any dark ambiguous ar-
ticles⁴ which may be in them.

Dartmouth is to communicate the Queen's
orders herein to you, that ſo you may be
able to ſatisfy the French Miniſters, and
they to prepare the Spaniſh Miniſters. How-
ever, I will venture to tell you in few words
what I underſtand is to be the meaſure of
Lord Lexington's conduct: as ſoon as he
arrives at Madrid, he will notify his arrival
to the Secretary of State; he will, when
he ſees this Miniſter, let him know that the
Queen has ſent him thither to compliment
the King, in her name; to be a witneſs of
the ſeveral renunciations, and other acts re-
quiſite to complete the execution of the ar-
ticle agreed upon, as neceſſary to prevent
the union of the two monarchies; that after
this, he is to proceed to ſettle ſuch matters
of commerce, and other affairs, as are for
the mutual intereſt of both nations, and to
take the character of ambaſſador upon him.
My Lord will at the ſame time produce
his credentials, and give the Secretary a
copy of them, if he deſires.⁵ In this con-
ference he will farther take notice of the
ſeveral ceſſions made by the King of France,
in behalf of his grandſon to the Queen, and
will ſpeak of them as points which he
looks upon as concluded.⁶ He will likewiſe
give a memorial of them in writing, ſigned
by himſelf, to the Secretary, and expect from
him an aſſent in the King's name, in writing
alſo, and ſigned by the Secretary.

This ſeems natural, civil, and unexcep-
tionable,⁷ but any other ſcheme is abſurd and
inconſiſtent with all the reſt of our proceed-
ings.

For God's ſake,⁸ dear Matt, hide the na-
kedneſs of thy country, and give the beſt
turn thy fertile brain will furniſh thee with,
to the blunders of thy countrymen, who are
not much better politicians than the French
are poets.

I have writ in great haſte a prodigious
long letter to Monſieur de Torcy, which I
believe he will ſhow you; but for fear he
ſhould not, I incloſe in this an extract of
part of it, which relates to a matter that has
given Lord Treaſurer and your humble ſer-
vant no ſmall trouble in cabinet. The copy
of the Plenipotentiaries' diſpatch of the 2d
of September, which I likewiſe ſend you,
will ſhow you how a diſpute, now on foot
at Utrecht, began; you will obſerve that
their Lordſhips are very warm in it, and I
can aſſure you we have thoſe who are
not a jot cooler.

The ſolution of this difficulty muſt come
from you, it is a⁹ matter of management and
appearance, more than ſubſtance, ¹⁰ and the
Court of France muſt be leſs politic than I
think them at any time, and more unrea-
ſonable than I think them at this time, not
to come into a temperament upon a mat-
ter unneceſſarily ſtarted. You muſt begin
by making Monſieur de Torcy not only un-
derſtand, but own he underſtands the pro-
poſition, which I am ſure you may remem-
ber I more than once repeated to him, when
I was in France, upon various occaſions, and
which I have again ſtated as clearly as I
am able. The Queen can never do any
thing which ſhall look like a direct reſtraint
on her allies from demanding what they
judge neceſſary; but as long as they act the
part which they now do, ſhe can very juſt-
ly be paſſive and neuter as to their inte-
reſts; and if her peace be made before
theirs, which ſhe will not delay for them,
ſhe can, with the ſame juſtice, leave them
to make their own bargain. This is ad-
vantage enough for France, and ſuch a one,
fairly ſpeaking, as a year ago, they would
have given more than Tournay, to have
been ſure of.

They muſt not, therefore, preſs us to go
farther than this, nor to do any thing which
may ſeem contradictory to what the Queen
delivered from the throne; that ſpeech they
have always owned as the plan they ſub-
mitted to, and it varies but little from that
brought hither by Gaultier.

In a word, the uſe which the French will
make of the unaccountable obſtinacy of the
Dutch and the other allies, may, in ſeveral
reſpects, and particularly, for ought I know,
in this inſtance of Tournay, give them an
opportunity of ſaving and gaining more than
they could have hoped for; and the Queen
may, in the preſent circumſtances, contri-
bute paſſively to this end, but actively ſhe
never can in any circumſtances. ¹¹

I think, in my own opinion, and I believe I
ſpeak¹² the Queen's upon this occaſion, that it
were better the French ſhould, in the courſe
of the treaty, declare, that whatever they
intended to have given the Dutch, when
the Queen ſpoke from the throne, their
conduct has been ſuch, and the ſituation of
affairs ſo¹³ altered, that the King is reſolved
to have Tournay reſtored to him; I ſay,
I believe this were better than to expect that
we ſhould aſſent to an expoſition of the
Queen's words, by which her Majeſty would
yield the town up.

Let the conferences begin as ſoon as they
will, I dare ſay buſineſs will not be very
ſpeedily diſpatched in them; in the mean
time, we ſhall go on to ripen every thing for
a concluſion between us and Savoy, and
France and Spain, and this is the true point
of view which the French ought to have
before their eyes.

You will be very ſhortly particularly and
fully inſtructed to ſettle the article of North
America, and thoſe points of commerce ſtill
undetermined; that done, the Miniſters may
ſign at Utrecht, as ſoon as they can hear
from Lord Lexington.

My Lord Dartmouth writes to you con-
cerning a clamour which our merchants
have raiſed, as if under pretence of not car-
rying to Liſbon or Barcelona des proviſions de
guerre ou de bouche; they ſhall be debarred
from their uſual traffic of corn and fiſh,
which at thoſe places, there are great de-
mands for in time of peace as well as war,
and without any conſideration of the armies.
The difficulty as to Liſbon ſeems to be re-
moved by the Portugueſe ſubmitting to come
into the ſuſpenſion of arms; and he pro-
poſes to you an expedient as to Barcelona,
but in truth that war muſt be ended of courſe
now, ſince the Queen ſupports it no longer,
and the Dutch are recalling their fleet from
the Straits. The Duke of Argyle is going
immediately now away, and the moment he
comes to Minorca, he draws to him every
thing belonging to the Queen out of Ca-
talonia. The Imperial troops muſt, in my
opinion, that moment ſubmit, and compound
for tranſportation, and when the war is at
an end, I think there can be no pretence to
quarrel with us, for carrying our goods to
the people of the country.

It is now three o'clock in the morning; I
have been hard at work all day, and am
not yet enough recovered to bear much fa-
tigue; excuse, therefore, the confuſedneſs
of this long ſcrawl,¹⁴ which is only from
Harry to Matt, and not from the Secretary
to the Miniſter.

Your credentials of Miniſter Plenipoten-
tiary will be ſent you, together with your
full powers, by the next boat; and before
Duke Hamilton goes, I will move to
have you removed to Utrecht, which there
will be a natural handle for, as ſoon as
you ſhall have ſettled the points of com-
merce, and in doing that have given the laſt
ſtroke to the finiſhing the treaty with
France.

Make my compliments to Madam Feriol,
and let her know that I have, I hope, put
her affair into a way of being finiſhed to
her ſatisfaction. I have ſpoke very earneſtly
to Maſſei, and have uſed the proper argu-
ments to him.

Adieu. My pen is ready to drop out of
my hand. Believe that no man loves you
better, or is more faithfully your ſervant,
than that ſleepy fellow¹⁵

Bolingbroke.

I had almoſt forgot to tell you that the
Queen is pleaſed to diſcharge the Marquis¹⁶
de Tallard's parole, which you may aſſure
him, with my compliments, of, and give
him¹⁷ any ſignification neceſſary, in form.¹⁸