zans, have ftiled the miracle of the house of Auftria. But Will. III. the true fpring of his refufal was, that, in June this year, the 1700. king of Spain made a difpofition in favour of his fecond fon, which they knew at Vienna, and yet took no meafures to State of the render it effectual, by marching troops into Italy, or fending Spanish the young archduke with a fufficient force into Spain; both Cole. which fchemes had been in agitation. Boyer. The affairs of Spain were all this fummer in a terrible ferThe king had frequent returns of his illness; and it was expected, that every relapfe would carry him off. The administration was in a moft infeebled and disjointed state; they pretend here to be at liberty; and under pretence of recruiting the foreign troops, who ferve in the Spanish pay, to introduce them, when they fhall judge it to be proper. The faid court plunges itfelf more and more into ftrange diforders, in regard to the fucceffion. The king and queen are abfolutely for the imperial court; and on the other hand, the council of Staté runs blindly and head-foremost in favour of the duke of Anjou, flattering themselves, that his most Catholic majefty will embrace this affair. In the mean while every thing grows worse and worfe'; many deliberations and confultations, but no good refolutions. The king keeps his bed fince yesterday, by reason of a new Alux, &c. land, to the court of Spain, in The earl of Manchester to Paris, O. 3. 1700. All things are very quiet here, and will continue fo, unless the measures which Spain may take with the emperor, occafion the contrary; which, I take it, is not their intereft; and I hope The earl of Manchester to Mr. that the declaration that has fecretary Vernon. Paris, Sept. 25, 1700. Here is a courier arrived from Madrid to the French court. He also brought letters from Mr. Schonenberg, which I have fent forward. The French minifter there having given a memorial, as was agreed in Hol been made at Madrid and at court. 1700. Memoires d'Harrach. Will. III. the nobility split into factions; the people mutinous and difcontented. On the first knowledge of the treaty, they appeared highly incenfed, that three foreign powers thould undertake to transfer their allegiance, and parcel out their dominions. They confidered a partition as the greatest diminution of the fplendor and ftrength of the Spanish monarch. The grandees, in particular, could not endure to be deprived of fo many lucrative governments; and it was the universal cry, that France alone could maintain their fucceffion intire, and recover them out of the calamity, to which they were reduced. It is the common opinion, that the feeds of this great revolution were laid by the capacity and address of the marquis d'Harcourt, during his embaffy at Madrid in 1698; and that he found means to gain over the cardinal Portocarrero, the marquis de Monterey, and de los Balbazes, befides feveral others of the principal nobility, lawyers, and men of note in Spain. However this may be, it is certain, the mismanagements of the prefent reign, and the rapacious and violent carriage of the queen Mariana, aunt to the archduke Charles, had intirely alienated the hearts of the whole nation from the Germans; and that they were disposed to receive with open arms a grandson of Lewis XIV, provided they were affured of never becoming a province to France. Nor did the reflection, that a prince of the Auftrian line muft owe his chief fupport to Heretics, carry a fmall weight along with it in the minds of a fuperftitious people. Portocarrero, for the repofe of the king's confcience, which fometimes fuggefted to him the unnatural part he was about to act, in depriving his own family of their juft rights, advised him to confult the pope on this momentous point of regulating the fucceffion. Innocent XII, who was firmly attached to France, after taking the opinion of a college of cardinals, determined against the validity of queen Maria Terefa's renunciation, as being founded on compulfion, and contrary to the fundamental laws of the Spanish monarchy; and exhorted his Catholic majefty to make his will in favour of one of the French king's grandfons, by which he would effectually contribute to the propagation of the faith, and the repofe of Christendom. As foon as this infallible decifion was procured, the cardinal of Toledo redoubled his efforts, to perfuade his matter to act in conformity to it; who accordingly figned his teftamentary disposition, in the beginning of October, N. S. Military Conduct of With regard to the conduct of the French king, whilft the French this tranfaction was depending, it is too extraordinary not king. to Different fentiments about it. to be a little infifted on. Some have thought, and not with- Will. III. out fufficient grounds of probability, that in the propofal and 1700. conclufion of this partition, his fincerity ought to be unqueftioned; and that he really confidered it at that time as more for the immediate intereft of his crown, to annex to it for ever those dominions, which were to be given him as an equivalent for the Dauphin's pretenfions, than to put his grandfon in poffeffion of the whole monarchy. But the emperor's unexpected refufal of his concurrence, the abhorrence which the Spaniards fhewed for being difmembered, and, above all, a perfuafion, that England would not renew the war, induced him to break through his engagements, by accepting the will. We must however confels, that it has been the more prevailing opinion, that his moft Chriftian majefty meant only to deceive and amuse from the beginning, and made ufe of what was his own propofition, as an argument to perfuade Charles II, to leave the duke of Anjou his fole heir. Let this be as it will, the treaty was no fooner ratified, Dr. Hare's than his minifters at foreign courts co-operated with those of negociations England and the ftates-general, in pushing the acceptance of it; and when King William, having received fome intelli- 1709 gence of Harcourt's negociation, expoftulated with him upon dered in a it by letter, the French king not only denied his knowing to a Tory any thing of the inatter, but declared under his own hand, member, in a letter to the king, that, though a will fhould be made P. 5. in favour of his family, he would take no advantage of it, but adhere to the partition. Nay further, when count Zinzendorf, the imperial minifter at Paris, demanded in a memorial, What part France would act, in cafe Spain fhould voluntarily place a grandfon of the French king onthe throne? monfieur de Torcy returned anfwer in writing, that it would Cole. by no means be liftened to: and to the very laft moment, the court of Versailles expreffed, in all their steps, a fixed refolution of adhering to the treaty. for a treaty of peace in third letter When the fecret of the partition was divulged in England, it was prefently writ and talked into an unpopular measure, though vifibly the only one, that could be taken to prevent a new war, in which the nation then feemed unwilling or unable to engage. The different cenfures it underwent were, Dr. Dave that fo important an affair ought not to have been concluded nant. without the advice of parliament: That it was contrary to the first separate article of the alliance: That, unless concerted with the king of Spain, it was unjuft in the contrivance, and hazardous in the execution: That the terms which France had obtained, were prejudicial to the interefts Will.III. of this country, and deftructive of the ballance of power, 1700. as the poffeffion of Naples and the Tufcan ports, muft fub Cole. Affairs of letter to the Parliament. ject Italy to their yoke, and render our Levant and Mediterranean trade precarious, and to be carried on at their dif cretion; whilft the ceffion of Guipufcoa afforded them another inlet into the heart of Spain upon any rupture. The almoft extinguished hopes of the Jacobites began to revive on this occafion, and upon the fad event of the duke of Gloucefter's death. As they knew, whatever tended to create a general diflike to the king's measures must be of fervice to their caufe, they were the forwardeft to inflame the minds of the people, and had a book fent to the prefs against the treaty, in which all thofe, who were fuppofed to have had an hand in it, were feverely treated. Mr. Graham, lord Prefton's brother (as the earl of Manchefter wrote over from Paris) was dispatched to St. Germain's by Sir Christopher Mufgrave, and others of the Tory party, with a proposal to get the fucceffion fettled on the pretended prince of Wales, and to affure king James, that a vote would be propofed in the house of commons, not to support the crown in the execution of the treaty. Such was the perplexed and melancholy fituation of affairs, when the king left Loo to embark for England, where he arrived the 18th of October, not a little chagrined at the difficulties in which he found himfelf involved, and which had a vifible effect both on his health and temper. Before his return, he made good his declaration to the Scots, in allowing their parliament to meet on the 28th of October, and fent them a letter from Loo, containing in The king's fubftance, That, having adjourned their parliament on account of going beyond fea, he then promifed what he was now ready to make good to them, at this meeting. That he had confidered their address in 1698, in behalf of the African company, and would comply with their defires, in relation to their national concern; and moreover do all elfe, that could be required for maintaining and advancing the peace and welfare of their kingdom. He likewife promifed to give his royal affent to all acts for better establishing the Prefbyterian government, preventing the growth of popery, fuppreffing vice and immorality, encouraging picty and virtue, preferving and fecuring perfonal liberty, regulating and advancing trade, and especially for retrieving the loffes, and promoting the interefts of the African and Indian companies. He alfo promifed to encourage manufactures, and allent to whatever elfe fhould be offered for 6 ⚫ clearing clearing and fecuring property, strengthening and facilita- Will. IIL ⚫ting the adminiftration of juftice, reftraining and punishing 1700. crimes, preferving peace and quietnefs, &c. He next affured them of his great concern, for not being able to af fert the company's right of establishing a colony at Darien, without disturbing the peace of Chriftendom, and bringing that ancient kingdom into an inevitable war, without hopes of affiftance. With thefe plain reasons, he doubted not but they would be fatisfied; and therefore, recommending to them unanimity, and the raifing of competent taxes for their defence, he concluded with only acquainting them further, that he had thought fit to continue the duke of Queenfberry high commiffioner: and bid them heartily farewel.' 6 It must be observed, that, during the interval between the two feffions of parliament, came the news to Scotland of the intire furrender of their fettlement at Darien (a). This occafioned the company to represent to the parliament, the first day of their feffion, That, for want of due protection abroad, fome perfons had been encouraged to break in upon their privileges even at home.' This reprefentation was feconded with a national addrefs to the king upon that fubject, whose answer was, That he could take no further notice of it, fince the parliament was now met; and he had made a declaration of his mind for the good of his people, with which he hoped all his faithful fubjects would be fatis'fied.' Though people were in fo bad a humour, that much practice was neceffary to bringthem into any temper, yet, after fome heats about the miscarriage of the Darien affair, the faffion, in conclufion, ended well. After having fet about three months, the parliament came to this refolution, That in confideration of this great deliverance by his majefty, and, in that, next under God, their fafety and happiness de |