1712.0930.Tb

Addressed:
To Mr. Prior.

September 19th. [1712]¹

The Queen's indiſpoſition has hindered
the doing almoſt of any² buſineſs this week,
but, I thank God, ſhe is now perfectly re-
covered. She had ſome ſlight feveriſh im-
preſſion; however ſlight it was, you eaſily
imagine our concern. Indeed, there is hardly
an inſtance of any one life to be found in
ſtory ſo important as her Majeſty's.

Lord Treaſurer promiſes that Hiberian
Gilligan and Britiſh Drift ſhall be diſpatched
on Monday, and I dare ſay, he intends it.³
You will find incloſed ſuch advices as we firſt
received, and which nothing has come ſince
to contradict, of the invaſion of our Lee-
ward Iſlands by the French. This, dear
Matt, proves a very untoward contretems. It
gives a theme to the Whigs, and ſerves to
awaken paſſions which were almoſt lulled
aſleep. We expected that Caſſart's ſquadron
might be gone to the coaſt of Brazil, or to
Surinam, but we never imagined that our
Colonies would have been attacked by him,
at a time when we were knitting the bands
of friendſhip between the two nations, with
all poſſible induſtry; could this ill opinion of
our new friends have entered into our heads,
I do aſſure you he ſhould have been accom-
panied by a fleet of the Queen's, which
would have kept him in reſpect.

In the letter which I intend to write to
Monſieur de Torcy when Drift goes, this
point will be mentioned, and I am ſure
we ought to avail⁴ ourſelves of it.

Compare this conduct with that of the
Queen;⁵ the moment that I read her letter⁶
from Monſieur de Torcy, by which it appear-
ed that the King of France would oblige his
grandſon to accept the alternative of quit-
ting one of the two monarchies, her orders
were diſpatched to the Duke of Ormond, to
engage in neither ſiege nor battle, and ſhe
prevented the French even from making
the demand. I will not ſay that this order
ſaved their army from being beat, but I
think in my conſcience it did.⁷ In a word,
we depended ſo much upon the good under-
ſtanding which we thought eſtabliſhed, and
we were ſo earneſt to prevent any thing
which might break in upon it, that we
not only avoided to fortify our ſquadrons⁸
abroad, as we might have done, but we alſo
neglected to put in execution ſome deſigns
which would have annoyed both French and
Spaniards,⁹ perhaps more than any that have
been effected during¹⁰ the courſe of this war.

I ſuppoſe Lord Dartmouth has told you
that two frigates are ordered to Toulon, to
attend the Duke of Argyle from thence to
Minorca. I believe you will think proper to
take ſome notice¹¹ of this to Meſſieurs de
Torcy and Pontchartrain, and prevent any
méſentendu.

The letters you forwarded to me, with
yours of the 20th, were not very material,
but your care was equally obliging.¹²

[I shall shortly send a Boat to Rouen loaded with Palm
Wine, Barbadoes and Honey water; you give me leave to
trouble you with the distribution of the Cargo.]¹³

Adieu, make my compliments every
where, and believe me entirely and faith-
fully yours,¹⁴

Bolingbroke.