A. D. 1711. PART II. ing fettled, fays the duke of Berwick, who conducted the affairs of the Pretender, we confulted on the means of executing the bufinefs; but the abbé could not, at that time, enter into any particulars, as the lord treafurer had not yet fully explained to him his intentions. It was neceffary, Oxford faid, that the peace fhould be concluded before the English miniftry could venture upon fo delicate a measure 2. MEANWHILE fuch of the Jacobites as were nearest the perfon of the queen, perceiving her inclinations, urged her perpetually to concert fome plan for the restoration of the Pretender. Sincere in her own attachment to the church of England, fhe fignified her defire that he should abjure popery, and place himself in a capacity of being ferved. But finding him obftinate, the replied, when urged by the duke of Buckingham to alter the fucceflion in his favour, "How can I ferve him? He takes not the leaft "tep to oblige me, in what I moft defire. You "know a papist cannot enjoy this crown in peace. "But the example of the father has no weight with "the fon; he prefers his religious errors to the "throne of a great kingdom. How, therefore, can I "undo what I have already done! He may thank "himfelf for his exclufion. He knows I love my "own family better than any other. All would be "eafy, if he would enter the pale of the church of 2. Id ibid. "Though it appeared to me," adds the duke of Berwick, "that one of thefe points was no hindrance to the other; yet, "in order to fhew that we would omit nothing to promote the interest "of the Pretender, and to give proofs of our fincerity, we wrote to all "the Jacobites to join with the court. And their influence contributed greatly to make the queen's party fo fuperior in the houfe of commons, that every thing was carried there according to her wishes." This information is confirmed by the Stuart and Hanover Papers. 46 England, "England. Advife him to change his religion; as "that only can turn the opinion of the people in his "favour 3." THE duke of Buckingham conveyed this anfwer to the court of St. Germains; and, at the fame time, feconded the request of the queen. But his arguments were all loft on the Pretender, who was a zealous catholic, and made a matter of confcience in adhering to his religion, in defiance of all prudential confiderations; an irrefragable proof of the most incurable and dangerous weakness in a prince, however commendable in a private perfon. For, as a fenfible writer obferves, if a king is not willing to go to heaven in the fame way with his people, they will fcarce acknowledge the legality of his authority on earth. And a man who could relinquish his hopes of a great kingdom, for a fpeculative point of faith, discovered a spirit of bigotry, that would have facrificed all civil engagements to the propagation of that faith. He was not fit to be trufted with power. THE majority of the Tories, however, in their vehement zeal for the hereditary defcent of the crown, overlooked the danger of the Pretender's attachment to the Romish religion; and affared him, That fhould he only conform, in appearance, to the church of England, without the formality of a public recantation, they would endeavour to procure the immediate repeal of the Act of Settlement. But Oxford, who never loft fight of the Proteftant Succeffion or the fecurity of his own power, affured the duke of Berwick, by the abbé Gaultier, on his return to 3. Stuart Papers, 1712. Gg 4 4. Id. ibid. 6. Stuart Papers, 1712. LETTER XXIV. -A. D. 1713. PART II. France, in 1712, That the Pretender must still have A.D. 1712. patience; that the leaft hint of queen Anne's inten tions in favour of her brother would give the Whigs occafion to exclaim loudly against the court, and might not only deftroy the neceffary bufinefs of the peace, but perhaps occafion a change in the miniftry, and even a revolution in the ftate; that it was befide neceffary to make fure of the army, the requifite fteps for which could not be taken till after the peace was figned, when it would be reduced, and fuch officers only retained as could be depended on 7. THE plaufibility of thefe arguments quieted the Jacobites, and the court of St. Germains, for a time. But when the peace was concluded, and the army reduced, yet no effectual step taken in favour of the Pretender, his own uneafinefs and the anxiety of his partizans began to return. They preffed Oxford to fulfil his engagements; reprefenting to him, That, as there never could be a house of commons better difpofed to fecond the views of the queen, he had only to propofe the repeal of the Act of Settlement, and it would immediately be voted. It was neceffary, he replied, to proceed more gently in the bufinefs; but that they might make them felves eafy, as he was fericufly at work in the caufe. "In this manner,” fays the duke of Berwick, "did the lord-treasurer "amufe us; and it was difficult to prevent his doing "fo. To have broke with him, would have proved the "utter ruin of our affairs, as he had the administration "of England in his hands, and entirely governed .. queen Anne. We were, therefore, forced to pre"tend to truft him; but we neglected not, at the "fame time, privately to concert meafures with the 7. Duke of Berwick's Mem. vol. ii. 8. Id. ibid. "duke XXIV. "duke of Ormand, and other well affected perfons, LETTER "that we might be able to bring about the restoration "of the Pretender, if Oxford should fail us 9.” OXFORD, indeed, stood on such dangerous ground, that he durft not undertake any bold meafure, whatever might be his inclinations. Equally distrusted by both Whigs and Tories, he was deftitute of friends: his whole fecurity confifted in the jealousy of the two parties, and his whole bufinefs was to balance them. In order to filence the clamours of the Whigs, he prevailed upon the queen to declare, in her fpeech to the parliament, contrary to her own inclinations and to truth, That "the most perfect friendship fubüfted "between her and the houfe of Hanover," at the fame time that he mentioned what she had done for fecuring the Proteftant Succeffion, This declaration had the defired effect. But Oxford was lefs fuccefsful in other measures. THE peace was generally difliked by the people, and all impartial men reprobated the treaty of commerce with France, as foon as the terms were known. Exception was particularly taken against the eighth and ninth articles, importing, "That Great Britain "and France fhould mutually enjoy all the privileges "in trading with each other, which either granted "to the most favoured nation; that all probibitions "fhould be removed, and no higher duties impofed "on the French commodities than on thofe of any "other people." The ruinous tendency of these articles was perceived by the whole trading part of the kingdom. It was accordingly urged, when a bill was 9. Zem, vol. ii. 10. Journals, Ap. 9, 1713. brought A.D. 1713. PART. II. A. D. 1713. brought into the houfe of commons, for confirming them, that our trade with Portugal, the moft beneficial of any, would be loft, fhould the duties on French and Portuguefe wines be made equal, the freight from Portugal being higher, and the French wines more generally agreeable to the tafte of the English nation. And if we did not confume the wines of Portugal, it was unreafonable to think the Portuguese would continue to purchase our manufactures, in balance for which we received, in bullion or fpecie, near a million sterling annually; that we could expect from France no equivalent for this lofs, as the French had eftablished woollen manufactures, fufficient not only to fupply themfelves, but even to rival us in foreign markets; that our filk manufacture, which employed a number of people, and faved a vaft fum annually to the nation, would be ruined, should a free importation of filk ftuffs, from France, be permitted; and likewife our trade to Italy and Turky, where we difpofed of great quantities of woollen goods, in exchange for the raw material of this manufacture; that the ruin of our manufactures of linen and paper would also be the confequence of a free importation of thofe articles from France, as the cheapnefs of labour and provifions in that kingdom would enable the French to underfel us, even in our own markets". The fe, and fimilar arguments, induced the more moderate Tories to join the Whigs, and the bill was rejected by a majority of nine votes. ENCOURAGED by this fuccefs, and juftly alarmed for the fafety of the Proteftant Succeffion, the Whigs endeavoured to awaken the fears of the people, by feveral virulent fpeeches in parliament against the Pre |