1712.1010.Tb

Addressed:
To Mr. Prior.

Windſor-Caſtle, 29th September, O.S. 1712.¹

Sir,

I writ to you at the cloſe of laſt week
not very fully inſtructed, but this diſpatch
will be of more conſequence, and I believe,
before you come to the end of it, you will
obſerve that we are now at the criſis of our
negociation, and that the future peace of
Europe does very much depend on the mea-
ſures which the Queen ſhall think fit to take.

When, in order to keep my word with you,
I take upon me to explain any thing in
which I apprehend there may be any miſ-
take, you muſt forgive me if I am too par-
ticular in ſpeaking to ſome points, which
you may, perhaps, receive in a very clear
light from the other office.

A clerk of the council was ordered to at-
tend laſt night at the Cabinet, with a decla-
ration drawn by the Attorney-general, and
intended to have been publiſhed for the re-
leaſe of all French and Spaniſh priſoners,
whether taken at ſea² or land; but upon com-
paring this draught with that which was
ſent from France, the Queen found the lat-
ter to be confined to ſoldiers only, and to
ſuch a degree that it even ſpecifies the par-
ticular ſorts.

This made it impoſſible for her Majeſty
to declare a general releaſe of all French
priſoners whatſoever; at the ſame time, ſhe
was unwilling to make a diſtinction in ſo
formal a manner, between the ſea and land
priſoners, wherein the principal care would
have appeared to be taken of the latter,
beſides, her Majeſty looked upon it to be as
much the intereſt of France as hers, that
the priſon doors ſhould be reciprocally ſet
open, and all priſoners, except hoſtages, be
at once reſtored to their liberty.

Theſe conſiderations determined her Ma-
jeſty not to publiſh any declaration at all.

But, in the mean time, her orders have
been given for the releaſe of all French, and
will be extended to Spaniards too, with the
reſerve abovementioned. She makes no
doubt but that the French will rectify what
ſeems to have been only³ a miſtake, and in
that confidence ſhe takes this meaſure, and
depends on you to have the matter ſet right.

I came from London on Saturday, and
the Duke of Argyle, as I ſuppoſe, ſet out
yeſterday; you muſt without doubt have al-
ready heard of his Grace's coming towards
you, and will ſhortly ſee him. I take it
that the chief, if not the only buſineſs, which
he has at the Court of France, is, to con-
cert with the King's miniſters the manner
in which the Imperial troops are to evacuate
Catalonia; and I believe upon this occaſion,
it is neceſſary that I ſhould ſay ſomething
to you of the Queen's views and apprehen-
ſions, and of ſome ſteps which ſhe has made
relating to this affair.

Her Majeſty's deſign is to put an end to
the war in that country, and as ſhe with-
draws herſelf from it, ſo ſhe will, accord-
ing to her promiſes, aſſiſt in retranſporting
the German troops from thence. Her ap-
prehenſions are of two ſorts: firſt, ſhe is
afraid (though that fear is a kinder thing
than the conduct of the Imperial Court
deſerves at her hands) that they may opi-
niâtre a miſtaken ſcheme of politics to their
ruin. They have, you know, been all this
year pouring troops into Spain, fondly ima-
gining to make it, by keeping an army
there, worth the while of Philip and his
grandfather, to give them ſome equivalent
for withdrawing themſelves out of it.
Whereas we have all along judged that as
long as the Germans diſagreed with her
Majeſty, ſuch a project was very chimerical,
that they would meet with the common
fate of bullies, and be kicked out of doors;
in ſhort, that the moment the Queen ceaſed
to act herſelf, and to ſupport them, the ſend-
ing troops thither, was only multiplying of⁴
hoſtages, and that inſtead of gaining any
thing for abandoning the country, they muſt
be glad at laſt to compound for liberty to
quit it with ſafety.

Another apprehenſion the Queen has, is
the uſe which the Emperor may make of
this body of troops when they come from
Catalonia. He is already enough inclined to
quarrel with the Duke of Savoy, and the
wind which he has got of the intended diſ-
poſition of Sicily to that Prince, will be
apt to blow the coals. How practicable it
may be for him to make any attempt on that
kingdom, I am not able to ſay; but there is
ground enough to fear that he may attack
his Royal Highneſs in Lombardy. I men-
tion nothing of any enterprize which may
be expected from the Emperor againſt the
Venetians, Florence, or any other State of
Italy, ſince theſe are not ſo immediately our
concern as the former ſuppoſitions.

In theſe views, and under theſe apprehen-
ſions, the ſteps which her Majeſty has taken
are theſe: firſt, ſhe propoſed to the Imperial
Miniſters at Utrecht, the withdrawing in
time the Empreſs and the German forces
out of Catalonia, and when theſe Miniſters
received the propoſition with an air truly
Auſtrian, her Plenipotentiaries repreſented
to them in very plain terms, that they are
not in a condition of bargaining, and that
if they do not come to a prudent reſolu-
tion very ſpeedily, they may chance to pay
dear for their folly.

In order to illuſtrate this matter the bet-
ter, and to enable you to make the French
miniſters enter rightly into the Queen's
ſenſe, I ſend you extracts of my firſt letter
to her Plenipotentiaries on this ſubject, of
their anſwer to me, and of my reply to
them.

The Duke of Argyle will propoſe upon⁵
this head, that if the Germans are willing
to evacuate Catalonia, till ſuch time as they
have an opportunity of doing it, which can-
not be immediately, the Spaniards ſhall not
moleſt them.

By my laſt diſpatch, you ſee⁶ what my opi-
nion was of the objections made by the
French miniſters to the amendments offered
by Dr. Henchman for the form of Philip's
renunciation, wherein the Princes of the
Blood of France are enumerated. I am
now to tell you, that when this point was
debated laſt night before the Queen, I found
all the Lords concurred with me; and ſome
of them inclined⁷ to think the amendment
more neceſſary, on account of the earneſt-
neſs ſhown by the French Court to have it
omitted. However, having obſerved in
Monſieur de Torcy's letter to me of the
27th inſtant, this expreſſion, car il eſt à
croire que l'acte original du Roi d'Eſpagne
eſt préſentement en chemin, que le Roi le re-
cevra en peu de jours, &c.—I moved, and
with a great deal of difficulty prevailed, to
have a private inſtruction ſent to Lord Lex-
ington, that in caſe the act was paſſed, he
ſhould not inſiſt to have the whole over-haul-
ed for the ſake of this alteration; otherwiſe,
that he ſhould endeavour to have it inſert-
ed. It was however the ſenſe of the coun-
cil, that even ſubmitting⁸ to this expedient
ſhould not be communicated to the Mini-
ſters of France.

Having at laſt got Mr. Gilligan's in-
ſtructions, and his other papers diſpatched,
I take it for granted, that he ſets out to-
morrow, with Drift, for Paris. I have order-
ed the boat to ſtay for them at Dover, and I
ſend theſe packets to London, to go by their
conveyance. As Mr. Gilligan is a man of a
good deal of merit in his ſphere, and is⁹ em-
ployed by the Queen in an affair of the ut-
moſt importance, as well as¹⁰ to the reputa-
tion of her Miniſters, as to the preſent and
future advantages of her kingdoms, I make
no doubt but that during his ſhort ſtay at
Paris, he will have all the countenance,
ſupport, information, and recommendation,
which you can give him.

Your friend Drift brings your letters of
credence, and your powers, and theſe will
ſoon be followed by a ſcheme of the loweſt
expedient which we can admit of upon the
ſubject of North America, and upon thoſe
articles of the treaty of commerce which
are ſtill in diſpute between us and France.
My notion is, that we loſe no time, by de-
laying to confer with the French Miniſters
upon theſe heads: the matter is already ex-
tremely trite; we are both well apprized
of our reſpective intereſts, and neither ſide
has much reaſon to hope to outreach the
other. Debating would, therefore, be of
little uſe; we ought rather to reduce our
demands as low as the expectations of our
trading people will allow us, and then pro-
poſe them to the French as ſo many ulti-
mata; who will then have their choice, ei-
ther to accept them to ſecure the peace, or
to refuſe them at the expence of keeping the
treaty open, and expoſing the negociation to
new hazards.

Though I was glad to find by Brigadier
Price's letter, that he had received the
Queen's orders which I ſent him from Fon-
tainbleau, and that he was preparing to put
them in execution, I was at the ſame time
concerned to ſee that Terragona was not
garriſoned by her Majeſty's troops, though
it had been fortified at her expence, nay,
though her hoſpital and all her ſtores were
in the place. But this is of a piece with the
reſt of that conduct which we did not think
fit to change, till we were almoſt ruined by
purſuing it.

Theſe particulars being out of the way,
I muſt now give you an account of what
is working in Holland; of the application
made from thence to the Queen, and of her
Majeſty's thoughts upon the preſent con-
juncture.

You will ſee by the incloſed what I
write to Monſieur de Torcy; you will pleaſe
to enforce my arguments, and endeavour to
ſhow the French Miniſters, that as the
Queen's behaviour is clean and frank, as ſhe
has done more in order to force a peace than
they could have expected, ſo it will be-
come them not to hazard the continuance
of the war for a town more or leſs; ſtill
giving this turn to all the¹¹ inſtances, that her
Majeſty is not departing from any facility
ſhe has hitherto ſhown, but concerting in
confidence what¹² may be moſt eligible for our
mutual intereſt, and the common good of
Europe. You know the principle laid down
is, that the proceedings of the Queen's al-
lies gave advantages to the French which
ſhe could never have given them; and if
things continued in this ſituation till we
were ready to ſign, that the peace ſhould be
concluded without ſtaying for the concur-
rence of any of our allies; but if the con-
federates, and eſpecially the Dutch, ſhould,
before the concluſion of our treaty, come
into the Queen's meaſures, deſire what is
paſt may be forgot, and ſhow a ſincere in-
tention of acting in concert with her Ma-
jeſty; that, in ſuch caſe, ſhe could not avoid
eſpouſing their intereſt, and taking them
along with her. The States of Holland are
likely to chooſe the latter turn, and have
already made ſeveral advances towards it.
What has paſſed at Utrecht you will ſee by
the incloſed papers, the originals of which
were brought to me laſt night by expreſs,
from the Queen's Plenipotentiaries.

On Saturday, as I was ſetting out for this
place, the Heer van Borſele came to my
office, and made a propoſition much like
that of Buys, and uſhered it in with the
ſame ſort of preamble. The Grand Pen-
ſionary has writ to my Lord Treaſurer; and
the aim of theſe people ſeems to be, either
to reſtore their union with the Queen, and
by her means to make their peace with
France and Spain, or elſe, by publiſhing how
far in conſideration of her, they have¹³ re-
ceded from their firſt demands, and by ſub-
mitting, in terms of the greateſt humility,
to move the compaſſion of mankind towards
them, and ſome degree of indignation to-
wards us, as if we were too partial in fa-
vour of France.

I think you ſhould not appear to Mon-
ſieur de Torcy to know the contents of my
letter to him, at leaſt of this part of it; but
you ſhould take all occaſions of ſhowing him,
that if the Dutch do ſubmit, we muſt not
continue in this ſtrangeneſs¹⁴ towards them,
nor entirely decline to favour their intereſts;
that Tournay is not worth the peace, and
though the King may be deſirous to ſave it,
yet if he can make an end at once, and re-
ſtore the tranquillity of Europe by yielding
it, that it will not become his profeſſions to
inſiſt too long upon it.

You will farther¹⁵ inſinuate, that the
Queen's ſpeech has been ſo openly acknow-
ledged by the French, as a plan they ap-
proved, that it will be hard to go back from
the terms of it; and that you doubt it is
impoſſible to diſtinguiſh themſelves into a
right to retain Tournay by that paragraph
thereof which relates to the barrier of Hol-
land.

We do not expect that France will im-
mediately give up a town which they are
for ſo many reaſons fond of, no more than
we expect that the Dutch will immediately
and expreſsly abandon their demands of
Condé; but this manner of opening our-
ſelves to Monſieur de Torcy, is agreeable to
the friendſhip which we profeſs to each
other, and think¹⁶ you can hardly miſs diſco-
vering what his and the other¹⁷ Miniſters' in-
tention at the¹⁸ bottom is.

I remember he ſpoke to me of bringing
the Dutch in as a very capital point, and
ſuch no doubt it is, for the reſt of the allies
cannot ſo much as make a ſhow of war.

The King's life, the Queen's life, and
other conſiderations, will occur to you, at
leaſt as faſt, perhaps faſter than to me;
but there is one expectation which perhaps
the French may entertain, and which you
muſt cure if you find the ſmalleſt ſymptom
of it.—They may be apt to reaſon thus:
let us keep off from cloſing with Holland;
we have the winter before us; the Britiſh
Miniſters will be afraid to meet the Parlia-
ment without cloſing the negociation firſt;
and therefore they will either oblige the
Dutch to yield Tournay, or they will finiſh
without the Dutch, if we are ſtiff. Now
this logic is certainly falſe; for if it comes
once to be known, and it is not poſſible
the ſecret ſhould be kept, that Holland
would have concluded their peace at the
ſame time as the Queen, provided they
might have had Tournay, we ſhall not dare
to leave them behind us; and I muſt tell
you, on this occaſion, that ſome of our beſt
friends among the Tories would, in ſuch a
caſe, join to condemn us. If, therefore,
the Dutch ſhould put their agreeing or not
agreeing upon ſo ſhort an iſſue as one town,
which they will ſay they give up ſo¹⁹ much
to keep, I doubt the conſequence of the
French refuſing to comply would be a ne-
ceſſity on the Queen to appear on the ſide of
Holland, and very probably before the ſit-
ting of Parliament²⁰ to drive the matter to
an iſſue, and then appeal to her people.

By what I have ſaid, you enter, I am
ſure, into our ſentiments, and into the ſtyle
you are to uſe with Monſieur de Torcy.

I have got at laſt the affair of the Grif-
fon compounded, not without very great
difficulty, though the ſum to be paid to²¹ the
captors is ſo large as 35,000l.; the ſhip
was plainly prize, and the paſs ſent over
hither might have been proved to have been
numerically one of thoſe delivered²² at Fon-
tainbleau four days after the Griffon was in
Sir Thomas Hardy's power, though Gaultier
was ready to ſwear that he received it ſome
months before; which part of the Abbot
has, I confeſs to you, done him no good in
my opinion.

Adieu, dear Matt, I am for ever your's,

Bolingbroke.²³