1718. CONSPIRACY IN FRANCE. 321 the fancy struck her. This bold virago had opened a secret concert of measures with the Prince of Cellamare, the Spanish ambassador, and used to drive to nightly conferences at his house in a borrowed carriage, with Count Laval acting as coachman. It does not appear that any great number of persons were fully initiated into their schemes*; but it is certain, that though the conspirators were few the malcontents were many. The conclusion of the Quadruple Alliance had provoked great murmurs, there being opposed to it the judgment of the most able statesmen, and, what is far more formidable, the prejudices of the multitude. Marshal d'Huxelles had repeatedly refused to sign that treaty, and only yielded, at length, to the positive commands of the Regent; Marshal Villars presented a strong memorial against what he termed the unnatural alliance of France with England; and, in one word, all the adherents of the old Court loudly inveighed against the altered system of the new. Even the wife of the Regent, a sister of the Duke du Maine, was more mindful of her ties by blood than by marriage. The States of Brittany complained of provincial oppression, the Jesuits sighed for a return, and the Parliament of Paris for an augmentation of power; and all with one voice reprobated, as they most justly might, the personal profligacy and boundless influence of Dubois. Nothing could be more various than the views of all these parties and persons, some eager to destroy, others only to restore or to improve; but the skill of Alberoni knew how to combine them for one common movement; and it is precisely by such junctions of dissembling knaves and honest dupes that nearly all revolutions are effected. The project was to seize the Duke of Orleans in one of his parties of pleasure near Paris, to convoke the States-General, to proclaim the King of Spain, as next in blood, the rightful Regent, and the *"Messrs. de Laval et de Pompadour avancaient comme certain "tout ce qui leur passait par la tête, promettant l'entremise et l'appui "de quantité de gens entièrement ignorans de leurs desseins, que sur "de vaines conjectures ils jugeaient propres à y entrer." (Mém. de Madame de Staal, vol. ii. p. 6.) She was then Mademoiselle de Launay; first a maid and afterwards a companion and confidant of the Duchess du Maine. Her reflections are shrewd and sarcastic. : Duke du Maine his deputy. Already had the eloquent pen of Cardinal Polignac been employed in appropriate addresses, which were kept in readiness, to the King, to the States, and to the Parliaments; and already had armed bands, under the semblance of FAUX SAUNIERS, or salt smugglers, been directed to gather on the Somme. The first intelligence to the Regent that some such plot was brewing came from the Cabinet of St. James's, and a warning was also given by the French embassy at Madrid. The Government, however, judiciously refrained from showing any symptom of alarm; thus lulling the conspirators into such security and remissness, as to neglect the use of cipher and other precautions for secrecy. It only remained for Cellamare to transmit to Madrid an account of his proceedings, with copies of the manifestoes already mentioned, and to take the last orders of Alberoni upon the subject. There was then at Paris a young Spanish abbé, Don Vicente Portocarrero, a kinsman of the celebrated Cardinal; and it was he whom Cellamare determined, at the beginning of December, to send with these important papers, thinking that his youth would be a security against suspicion, and his rank against arrest; and for similar reasons he adjoined to him a son of the Marquis de Monteleon. But these things had not escaped the watchful eye of Dubois. How they came to his knowledge is doubtful; on this point St. Simon professes ignorance, and Voltaire shows it.* Be this as it may, Dubois gave orders to pursue the travellers, and Portocarrero was overtaken at Poitiers, himself arrested, and his papers seized. These papers, forwarded *"Une entremetteuse distinguée fournissait des filles à ce jeune "homme. Elle avait longtemps servi l'Abbé Dubois, alors Sécrétaire "d'Etat. Elle fit agir une fille fort adroite qui vola des papiers importans, avec quelques billets de banque dans les poches de l'Abbé "Portocarrero. L'Abbé ayant vu ses papiers disparaître, et ne retrouvant plus la fille, partit sur le champ pour l'Espagne ; on courut après lui," &c. (Voltaire, Siècle de Louis XV.) This story, however, is certainly false, at least in its details, it being quite evident from the original documents that Portocarrero had no suspicion of discovery or pursuit until he reached Poitiers. A similar anecdote, perhaps with more foundation, is told by Madame de Staal of the Secretary of Cellamare, but she does not name him. (Mém. vol. ii. p. 24.) 1718. THE DUCHESS DU MAINE ARRESTED. 323 to Paris, were found to afford a clue to some discoveries, and a confirmation of others; and Dubois, making a great merit of his vigilance, and keeping the affair as much as possible in his own hands, laid them before the Regent. It was determined to adopt the same treatment towards Cellamare as, under precisely similar circumstances, Gyllenborg had received in London; and his person was accordingly put under arrest, and his papers examined; but the ambassador had already had time to conceal or destroy the most private. To seize the persons of the Duke and Duchess du Maine seemed of still more importance, and perhaps of greater difficulty in case of popular ferment and tumult. The Regent determined that, immediately on their arrest, they should be conveyed from the neighbourhood of Paris; the Duke to Dourlens, in Picardy, and the Duchess to the castle of Dijon. Not the slightest resistance was experienced in the execution of these orders: the husband was arrested at Sceaux, the wife in the Rue St. Honoré, and they were removed to their several destinations, each with equal safety, but by no means with equal submission. During the journey, the Duke, pale and terror-stricken, was seen to mutter prayers and cross himself whenever he passed a church; but did not venture to ask many questions, or to make a single complaint; and, for fear of giving offence, did not even mention the Duchess or his children. The Duchess, on the contrary, having for many years at Sceaux amused herself with acting plays, assumed the deportment of a tragic heroine, poured forth torrents of furious reproaches, not the less sincere though often contradictory, and seemed to find great consolation and relief in reviling the officer who guarded her.* Besides the Duke and Duchess du Maine, Cardinal Polignac, M. de Pompadour, and several others, were either exiled or arrested; and the conspiracy was effectually crushed by the dispersion of its chiefs. Cellamare was escorted to the frontiers of Spain. A circular, addressed to the Foreign Ministers at Paris, explained the causes which had led to the strong but necessary measure * St. Simon, Mém. vol. xvii. p. 250, and 270. ed. 1829. of seizing one of their number; and in confirmation of this statement, were also published two of the letters from Cellamare, which Portocarrero had been conveying.* Before the news of this disappointment reached Madrid a total rupture had already taken place between Alberoni and the Duke de St. Aignan, French ambassador.† The latter, disgusted at his fruitless remonstrances, and bound by positive instructions, had requested his audience of leave; but this, under various pretexts, was eluded by the Cardinal, who expected the speedy explosion of the conspiracy in France, and who wished, in the event of its failure, to retain the French ambassador as a hostage for Cellamare. Under these circumstances, St. Aignan set out from Madrid without notice, and Alberoni, much irritated, gave orders to have him pursued and arrested. But the Frenchman, knowing the person with whom he had to deal, and expecting some such order, left his carriage near Pamplona, with a servant to personate him, and crossed the mountains on a mule to St. Jean Pied du Port. The precaution was well timed, for the servant was arrested, and for some time detained as the ambassador. Meanwhile Alberoni, aware that this violent measure must lead to retaliation in France, wrote to Cellamare, directing him, in case he should be obliged to leave the country, "first to set fire to all the mines." But this letter arriving after Cellamare's detention, was intercepted by the French Government, and would have rendered it far more difficult for Alberoni, had he even wished it, to disavow his agent and his acts. The Cardinal, however, entertained no such intention. On the contrary, when he learnt the miscarriage of his hopeful schemes, he induced his Royal master to issue, on the 25th of December, a manifesto, avowing and justifying his measures, assailing the government of the Duke of Orleans, and appealing to the French nation against it. * See these letters in their original Italian in Boyer's Political State, 1718, vol. ii. p. 509-518. "Saint Aignan était trop jeune, trop timide, et surtout trop pauvre pour balancer un homme comme Alberoni. On ne doit pas attendre "de vigilance utile d'un ambassadeur qui recourt aux expédiens pour "vivre; or ce seigneur était souvent réduit à engager son argenterie; "ainsi qu'il l'avoue dans ses lettres au Marquis de Louville." (Mém. de Louville, vol. ii. p. 189.) 1718. SESSION OF PARLIAMENT. 325 After such provocation it was impossible for the Regent any longer to withhold a declaration of war against Spain. The English Cabinet had for some time been urging him to this measure, and delaying its own, with a view to his accession. Both declarations were published at nearly the same time, the English on the 17th of December, Old Style, and the French on the 9th of January, New Style. At this period the Parliament was sitting, it having met on the 11th of November. The addresses in answer to the King's speech, moved in the Upper House by Lord Carteret, and in the Lower by Lord Hinchinbroke, produced a warm debate on Spanish affairs. Lord Stanhope, in answer to Lord Strafford, gave an account of his late negotiations and journeys, stating that it was high time for Great Britain to check the growth of the naval power of Spain, in order to protect and secure the trade of British subjects, who had been violently oppressed by the Spaniards-that he thought it an honour to have been amongst those who advised Sir George Byng's instructions -and that he was ready to answer for them with his head. On a division the Lords' Address was carried by 83 against 50. In the Commons Walpole declared against the Quadruple Alliance with a vehemence which shortly afterwards proved a little embarrassing to him, when in scarcely more than a year he became a steady supporter of that very system. He observed that the late measures were contrary to the laws of nations, and a breach of solemn treaties, and that the giving sanction to them in the manner proposed could have no other view than to screen Ministers, who were conscious of having done something amiss, and who, having begun a war against Spain, would now make it the Parliament's war. Shippen and Wyndham supported Walpole, but Secretary Craggs replied to him with great spirit; and on putting the question, the Ministers had 216 votes, and the Opposition 155. Subsequently, on the King's declaration of war, there was in the Commons an equally vehement debate, but a still more decisive division. Nor does it appear that the war caused any dissatisfaction in the nation at large: on the contrary, the vast preparations of Spain had excited uneasiness, and their attacks on our |