LETTER tender, at the fame time that they folicited the elector of Hanover to come over in perfon, or to fend the electoral prince, to England. Both these proposals A. D. 1713. the elector very prudently rejected. But, in order to gratify, in fome degree, the ardour of his partizans, to embarrass the British miniftry, and even to intimidate queen Anne, he allowed Schutz, his envoy at the court of London, to demand a writ for the elec- A.D. 1714. toral prince to fi in the house of peers, as duke of Cambridge 12. Oxford and his affociates were filled with confternation at a requeft fo unexpected, and the queen was agitated with all the violence of paffion. Her reintinent was increased by the exultation of the Whige. Seeming to derive vigour from her very terrer, the declared, That fhe would fooner fuffer the lofs of her crown, than permit any prince of the Houfe of Hanover to come over to Britain to refide in her lifetime. And Schutz was forbid to appear any more at court, under pretence that he had exceeded his inftructions 3. WHETHER the elector had ever any ferious intention of fending his fon to England may be queftioned, though he represented, in a memorial to queen Anne, "That for the fecurity of her royal perfon, "her kingdoms, and the proteftant religion, it seemed "neceffary to fettle in Britain fome prince of the "electoral family 14;" but it is certain that the Jacobites had formed a defign of bringing over the Pretender, and that he himself and his adherents entertained the most fanguine expectations of his fpeedy exaltation to the throne. Thefe expectations were heightened by the promised regulation of the army. 12 Hanover Papers, April, 1714. 44, Hanover Papers, May, 1714. 13. Id. ibid. The PART II. A.D.1714. The duke of Argyle, the earl of Stair, and all other officers of diftinction, whom the Jacobites and more violent Tories fufpected would fupport the Act of Settlement, were removed from their military employments; and the command of the whole regular troops in the kingdom was vefted in the hands of the duke of Ormond and his creatures, who were known to be well affected to the excluded family. THIS meafure, however, of which St. John, now created lord Bolingbroke, not Oxford, was the author, is faid to have been dictated by a jealousy of the ambitious defigns of the Whigs and the houfe of Hanover (who are accufed of having formed a fcheme for feizing the reins of government) rather than by any attachment to the interests of the Pretender. But be that as it may, we know that a measure fatal to the Pretender's views was adopted by the British miniftry, in order to quiet the fears of the elector, and to engage him to keep his fon at home; queen Anne's fears from the family of Hanover being ultimately more than a balance for her affection for her own. INFORMATION having been obtained, by the vigilance of the earl of Wharton, that certain Irish officers were enlifting men for the Pretender, they were taken into cuftody. The people were alarmed, and the Whigs added artfully to their fears. The lord treafurer, in concert with the Whigs, wrought fo much on the natural timidity of the duke of Shrewfbury, that he joined him on this occafion; and, through their combined influence, the majority of the cabinet-council agreed to iffue a proclamation, promising a reward of five thousand pounds for for apprehending the Pretender, should he land in Great Britain. The two houfes of parliament voted LETTER XXIV. an address of thanks to the queen for her attention to A. D. 1714. the religion and liberties of the kingdom; and the commons, in their zeal for the Proteflant Succeffion, extended the reward for apprehending the Pretender to one hundred thousand pounds 15. THAT prince, however, perfuaded that the queen and the chief nobility and gentry, whatever fteps they might take to quiet the populace, were fincerely in his intereft, did not yet difpair of being able to afcend the throne of his ancestors :-and the profpect of a change in the miniftry inspi red him with new hopes. Bolingbroke, by flattering the prejudices of his miftrefs, had gradually fupplanted the earl of Oxford in her confidence. He reprefented to her the languor of the lord treasurers meatures: he gave infinuations concerning his fecret intrigues with the Whigs; and he fuggefted to her, that to pay any attention, in future, to the house of Hanover was incompatible with her fervice 15. Similar reprefentations were made by the duke of Ormond, and other Jacobites, whom the duke of Berwick eagerly folicited to procure the removal of the lord high treasurer, as a neceffary prelude to the accomplishment of the queen's defigns in favour of her brother 17. Oxford was accordingly deprived 15. Journals, June 24, 1714. Hanover and Stuart Papers, 1714. 16. Hanover Papers, July 20, 171 4. 17. Duke Berwick's Mem. vol. ii. The plan which the dake of Berwick had formed for the accomplishment of the fc defigns,id which he commiffioned Gualtier to lay before the earl of Oxford, was, that the Pretender should go privately over to the queen his fi res pofhould immediately affemble the two houfes of parliament, and es, lakierbrother's incontestable right, and the refolution fhe had tazer, to chore what PART II. A. D. 1714. Aug. 1. prived of his office. But the queen's death, which happened only four days after, and before the new adminiftration was properly formed, left open the fucceffion to the e'ector of Hanover, and difappointed the hopes of the Pretender and his adherants. THE character of this princefs, who died in the fiftieth year of her age, and the thirteenth of her reign, is neither ftriking nor complicated. Though not altogether deftitute of female accomplishments, fhe had nothing captivating, as a women, either in her manner or perfon: fhe could only be reputed sensible and agreeable. Her failure of Duty as a daughter excepted, her conduct in private life appears to have been highly exemplary. She was a loving wife, a tender what belonged to him, by all laws divine and human; that she should, at the fame time, affure them fhe would país fuch acts as might be thought neceffary for the fecurity of their religion and liberty; that the should then introduce ti e Pietender in full parliament, and fay, "Here he is, "my lords and gentlemen, ready to promife religiously to keep all have "engaged for him, and to fwear to the obfervance of every article; I "therefore require of you infantly to repeal all the acts paffed against "him, and to acknowledge him as my heir and your future fovereign, "that he may owe you fome good will for having concurred with me, "in what your coufcience, your duty, and your honour, fhou.d have "prompted you before this time to propofe." Id. ibid, Such an unexpected Rep, though fomewhat romantic at first fight, the duke imagined would fo much have aftouifhed the factious, and delighted the well-affected, that there would not have been the leaft oppofition to the queen's demands, as no perfon could have doubted but the had taken effectual measures to fecure obedience. But as the carl of Oxford returned no ar fwer to this proposal, the mareschal of Berwick very justly concluded, That the lord high treasurer's only motive, in all the advances he had hitherto made to the court of St. Germains, had been his own intereft, in endeavouring to join the Jacobites with the Tories, and by fuch means to fecure a majority in parliament in favour of the peace; and that, as foon as the treaty was concluded, he thought of nothing but to be upon good terms with the Whigs and the houfe of Hanover. Duke of Berwick's Mem. ubi fup. mother, mother, a warm friend, and an indulgent mirefs. As 1FTR a fovereign, notwithanding the illarious events of her reign, the is entitled to little praife: the polled ADire neither vigour of mind, fplen tid talents, nor a deep penetration into human affairs. A prey to the most enflaving timidity, and continually governed by favourites, the can hardly be faid to have ever thought for herself, or to have acted according to her own inclinations. But as her popularity concealed the weaknefs of her perfonal authority, the great abilities of her principal fervants, to whom the owed that pu at rity, threw a fplendid vei. over the feeble qualities of queen Anne. DURING an interval of her illness, which was a kind of lethargic dozing, brought on by violent agitation of mind, on account of the critical ftate of her affairs, the delivered the treafurer's fair to the duke of Shrewsbury. That noblemen was attached to the excluded family; but his caution had hitherto made him temporife, and it was now too late to take any effectual ftep in favour of the Pretender. The Whigs were highly elated at the near profpect of an event, which they flattered themfelves would not only difpel all their fears, in regard to the Proteflant Succeffion, but prove alike friendly to their power and to their principles. The Torics were depreffed in an equal degree; and the Jacobites were utterly difconcerted, all their projects being yet in embryo. Animated with the ardour of their party, and perhaps by a zeal for the welfare of their country, the dukes of Summerfet and Argyle boldly entered the councilchamber, without being fummoned. Though their prefence was little acceptable, and fo unexpected, that their appearance filled the council with confternation, they |