SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Dretowsry,

Letters of William III. and Lords XIV. and of their Ministers ; illustrative of the Do- mestic and Foreign Politics of England from the Peace of Eyswick to the Acces- sion of Philip V. of Spain : 1697 to 1700. Edited by Paul Gilmbim. In two vo- lumes Longman and Co.

Tahviks, Days ays in the Desert, on the Track of the Israelites , or a Journey from Cairo, by Wanly Feiran, to Mount Sinai and Petra. By the Author of " Walks round Jerusalem." Hall and Co. Frollorr, Helen Charteris ; a Novel. In three volumes Bentley.

rarity,

Poems. By Currey, Ellis, and Acton Bell Smith and Elder.

LETTERS OF WILLIAM THE THIRD AND LOUIS

THE FOURTEENTH.

ALTHOUGH comparatively forgotten save by historical or political stu- dents, the Partition Treaty was not only singular in itself and in the events it gave rise to, but the remote cause of one of the most important events in the history of the world. To make the empire of a monarch under forty the subject of a compact by which his dominions were to be divided without the slightest reference to the wishes of himself or his subjects, was sharp practice ; though, in justice to King William, it must be admitted that he did at starting raise the point of "delicacy." The non-fulfilment of this compact combined Europe in a league against_ France and Spain, gave rise to the triumphs of Marlborough and Eugene, and overwhelmed the closing years of Louis the Great with distress and dismay. To the enormous exertions then imposed upon France may be ascribed a financial embarrassment, which, increased by the profligacy or weakness of the two successors of the Grand Monarque, rendered the French Revolution a necessity, conducted his descendant to the block, and expelled his own branch of the Bourbon family from the throne of a kingdom he looked upon, with some degree of truth, as his property— "Fetid c'est moi."

This comparative neglect is to be ascribed to the merely political cha- racter of the act and its immediate consequences. Religious liberty was the principle on which the Reformation rested; something more than civil and political freedom—the right to self-government--was involved in the Great Rebellion, as the rights of subjects and the duties of kings were at issue in the Revolution of 1688. These great principles, once established in action, have since been ever operating, and have given a daily interest to the events in which they were first embodied. The Balance of Power was the greatest question involved in the Partition Treaty : and, subject to that attention which men will always pay to their own interests whether they live in courts or in alleys, we think this question of the balance of power was really a motive of the parties, as a means of preserving the peace of Europe. The circumstances which induced the Partition Treaties were very peculiar. Charles the Second, King of Spain, had neither brother nor children, nor collateral descendants in the male line : his health was so bad that his death was an event fairly to be expected. His dominions, embracing the Spanish Low Countries, Milan, Naples, and Sicily; in ad- dition to Spain with both the Indies, had three claimants through female branches.

1. The Dauphin, through his mother, eldest daughter of Philip the Fourth of Spain. His natural right was undoubted ; but she had solemnly renounced the succession for herself and her children, on her marriage with Louis the Fourteenth. This renunciation was confirmed by the Cortes and by the will of Philip the Fourth, and solemnly ratified by Louis himself.

2. The son of the elector of Bavaria. The grandmother of this prince was the second daughter of Philip the Fourth, married to the Emperor of Germany. Her daughter, on her marriage with the Elector of Bavaria, was compelled by the Emperor Leopold her father to renounce her rights to the Spanish succession, as he intended to lay claim to it himself. This renunciation was formally incomplete, as being nnsanctioned either by the King of Spain or the Cortes. 3. "The Emperor Leopold," says Coxe, "claimed, first as the only re- maining descendant of the male line from Philip and Joanna and secondly in right of his mother Mary Anne, daughter of Philip III., the legitimate heiress in virtue of the aforesaid renunciations."

To prevent the inevitable confusion and wars consequent upon these claims in the event of the death of the King of Spain, was the ostensible and we think the real object of Louis and William. By the first treaty, October 1698, between these two Monarchs and Holland, Spain with the Low Countries and the Indies were to become the share of the Prince of Bavaria. Milan (a sorry portion) was assigned to the Arch. duke Charles, the Emperor's second son. France was to have the province of Guiposcoa, Naples, Sicily, and some other places in Italy. When this treaty became known, both the Emperor and the King were greatly exasperated ; the Emperor at the injury, the King at the insult. The latter determined not to have his dominions dismembered ; but be so far adopted the views of the treaty as to make the Prince of Bavaria his heir, by a will signed on the 28th November 1698. The death of the Electoral Prince in the February following put an end to this arrangement; and a new treaty was entered into by Louis and Wilisto. By this arrange- ment, the Archduke Charles was to have Spain, the Netherlands, and the Colonial possessions ; the Dauphin, Milan or Loraine and Bar, in addition to his former share. To this treaty the Emperor very foolishly refused to accede ; the King of Spain became more indignant than before, and, per- suaded, it is said, by a French faction, made a will in which he bequeathed his dominions to the Duke of Anjou, second son of the Dauphin. Should he the without issue or become heir to the throne of France, the Duke of Berri was to succeed on the same conditions ; then the Archduke Charles, on the same terms, to prevent the union of the crowns of Spain and Ger- raany ; and finally, in the case of failure or forfeiture in these two lines, the succession was to pass to the house of Savoy. Louis the Fourteenth,

after some deliberation, which we agree with Captain Furueaux in think- ing " has been considered as affected, without sufficient evidence," * decided upon accepting the will, and breaking the treaty of partition. The in- stant consequence was a war with the Emperor ; which was followed by that league of the principal powers of Europe that exhausted France and darkened the last years of Louis.

It has been the custom with Whig and other writers opposed to Louis the Fourteenth, to consider him as amusing and duping William, while he was preparing to get possession of the Spanish monarchy ; as William has been censured for his part in the treaties, or an apology has been made for him. Both these views seem questionable, if not altogether untrue. To leave the succession to the chapter of accidents, was to leave it to certain disputes, and to wars as certain : for although it is true that wars did ensue, they could not have been foreseen; and the treaty offered a chance of peace. To allow France or the Empire to be aggrandized by the accession of Spain with both the Indies and a large part of Italy and Flanders, was out of the question. The true objection to both the trea- ties was the dominions annexed to the crown of France, and not, as in the case of the Empire, made an apanage for a younger son. In other respects, a spirit of fairness seemed to prevail in the division. In the first treaty, the two largest shares were assigned to the two beat claimants; in the second, the best share was certainly given to Austria, whose claim had the least validity. The truth seems to be, that while no one expected Louis would be bound by the renunciation of his wife, it operated upon his mind as to induce him to relinquish the idea of getting Spain for the Dauphin, and to rest satisfied with the large additions to the French mo- narchy from the Spanish possessions in Italy. That Louis the Fourteenth might foment the dissensions of the Spanish Court for his own purposes, and engage in intrigues after the fashion of Louis Philippe in later times, is possible. But, independently of other writers with perhaps a French bias, Chesterfield, who had read the published memoirs as well as a manuscript copy of the letters of the French Ambassador at Madrid, was of opinion that the anger caused by the treaty of partition, and of the offensive conduct—the German stiffness—of the Emperor and his agents at Madrid, was the true cause of the will. He also remarks, with his usual sense, that "Louis the Fourteenth gratified his personal pride by giving a Bourbon King to Spain at the expense of the true interest of France ; which would have acquired much more solid and permanent strength by the addition of Naples, Sicily, and Loraine, upon the foot of the second partition treaty." It may, however, be observed, that the will placed Louis in the difficulty he himself pointed out. If he rejected the will, the whole Spanish inheritance passed to the Archduke ; the treaty of partition could only be enforced by a war against the Empire and Spain, and possibly against the Spanish dominions in Italy; and in such a case he could not depend upon the hearty coliperation of the mari- time powers, England and Holland.

The view of those who take the more favourable opinion towards

Louis the Fourteenth will be confirmed by M. Grimblot's volumes. No new light is thrown upon the facts connected with the subject,—unless it be to render still more doubtful the improbable assertion that Louis secretly communicated the first treaty to the Court of Spain ; but the ideas and feelings of the two Monarchs, are distinctly shown, espe- cially in the despatches of Louis to his Ambassador. That Tallard pro- ceeded in good faith, we know from St. Simon ; and unless we suppose that Louis deceived his own Ambassador, and his own Secretary of State, for several years and under very varying circumstances, the conclusion must be drawn that the French King was acting bona fide. Peace seems to be his predominant idea; for that object he makes the first advances to William; for that object he says he is willing to make sacrifices of his own interests to a reasonable extent ; and the va- rious proposals which he authorizes his Ambassador to bring forward show his patience and the trouble he willingly undertook. There seems to have been in the minds of both Kings a kind of presentiment that an Iliad of wo would spring from the Spanish succession and it was their duty to prevent it. To look calmly back upon all the circumstances, it may be doubted whether such prevention was probable. It was one of those conjunctures when the pressure of events upon human affairs is too great for man's resistance. Except that the Emperor was hardly used, owing to some grudge in the mind of William, the first treaty, as a mat- ter of rightful distribution, was fair enough. But the Elector of Bavaria's offer, on the part of his son, to abide by the treaty after the will was made known, would have alienated the Spaniards by the surrender of the Italian and Flemish dominions : the rage of the Emperor would have driven him into war, probably supported by Spain ; the well-grounded dread of the ambition of Louis and the old jealousies of France and Eng- land would have rendered their alliance anything but cordial ; and the effort to carry the treaty into effect might have caused as great an em- broilment as actually ensued. The eventual result was much better for the real balance of power. An Austrian Bourbon on the throne of Naples is much better than the two Sicilies in the hands of France; and as for the dangers of a French Bourbon in Spain, Louis le Grand had been dead but little more than a year when the Regent Orleans was opposing his kinsman on the throne of Spain, and signing a treaty with England and Holland to prevent his accession to the throne of France, should Louis the Fifteenth die in childhood, as then seemed likely. The correspondence in these volumes would have borne curtailment, for

it begins with the secret negotiations for the peace of Ryswick ; on whit% it throws no new light, and has no characteristic traits beyond some dis- plays of ostentation on the part of the Grand Monarque : throughout the work there are several letters on subordinate or common matters, that might have been omitted with advantage. The volumes, however, are a valuable collection of official papers illustrative of a particular period: had they been limited to the Partition Treaty, they would have had more general interest than such documents often possess, from the character so strongly marked, yet so different, impressed upon the letters of both

* An Abridged History of the Principal Treaties of Peace, page 29.

Kings, as well as upon the correspondence of the Ambassadors who had interviews with them.

M. Grimblot, with the partiality of a Frenchman, ascribes the palm to the letters of Louis the Fourteenth : but there are no true grounds

of comparison. Not only are the style, stricture, and plan of composi- tion totally distinct, but the mode of proceeding. The distrust of Wil- liam prevents him from communicating or committing himself fully upon paper : he seems to have given instructions verbally to his two confidants, Lord Portland and the Pensionary Heinsius, and only to have written upon absolutely essential points, when there was not opportunity to con- verse. Louis, on the other hand, speaking by De Torcy, is full in his in- Stractions, ample in his directions even down to what is to be said and the time of saying it, and rather magnificent in style, so far as is con- sistent with a businesslike distinctness. Neither Monarch ever loses sight of the matter in hand ; and in this point of view the letters are not undeserving of study to those who wish to acquire a businesslike style, equally removed from the turgid, the technical, the narrow, or the mean. Nearly all the papers in the volumes, indeed, have a character of plain dis- tinctness, and offer a striking contrast to the formal verbosity of the mo- dern red-tapists. Louis never appears in his privatecapacity; William sometimes. He then writes simply almost to baldness ; and his very affection seems cold, though perhaps not really so at bottom. His most trusted favourite, Ben- tinck Earl of Portland, the founder of that noble house, had taken umbrage at the advance of the Earl of Albemarle, a newer favourite ; resigning all his employments, and even wishing to discontinue with Tallard the nego- tiation of the second treaty. The French Ambassador writes thus to Louis upon the affair.

"Lord Portland is always at the Lodge at Windsor, viz. a small house in the park, a couple of miles from Windsor, and a present from his royal master. It

18 not a national cabal that desires to drive him back to Holland. It is himself

that is desirous to withdraw. The King kindly does everything in his power to detain him. Every offer is made him for himself and his family: he is promised considerable rewards. Never shall be meet with the Earl of Albemarle in any- thing that might cause him annoyance. But hitherto all this had not moved him. The day before yesterday, d'Alonne was sent to him as a last resource: if he does

not succeed, it is said that the King will go to Windsor tomorrow or the day after, to speak to him himself; and people assure me that Lord Albemarle is among those who most eagerly desire that he would stay, in order that he him- self may not solely and chiefly be exposed to the jealousy of the English. I try always to keep on good terms with both, and have hitherto succeeded. Still it is a game that will be somewhat difficult in the long run."

The letters of William show that Tallard was correctly informed. He thus addresses the Pensionary Heinsius.

"Kensington, April 25-May 5, 1699.

"I regret to be obliged to inform you that the Earl of Portland has at length retired, and that nothing was able to prevent him. After much labour, I have only succeeded in inducing him to continue the negotiations with Tallard. I cannot tell you how much this annoys me, especially after doing on my side every- thing at all reasonable to give satisfaction to the Earl of Portland: but be was resolved that blind jealousy should prevail over all that ought to have been dear to him."

And a little afterwards the Earl himself.

"Kensington, April 28-May 7, 1699. "Not to enter into a long dispute with you on the subject of your retirement, I will say nothing to you about it.; but I cannot help expressing my extreme grief at it, which is greater than you can imagine; and I am convinced that if you felt half as much, you would soon change your resolution. May God in his kindness inspire you, for your good and my repose: at least I hope that you will not refuse to keep the key, since I am satisfied that that will not oblige you to anything. Further, I conjure you to come and see me as often as you can; which will be a great consolation to me in the affliction which you cause me, not being able to help loving you most tenderly as before."

As we have already indicated the character of the work and the poli- tical conclusions to be drawn from it, we shall not attempt to exhibit them by quotation; but rather take some extracts in a miscellaneous way. After the peace of Ryswick, Portland was sent to Paris as Ambassador Extraordinary. He had a gracious audience from Louis, before his pub- lic entry : upon this he had a fight, but conquered in the field of etiquette.

" THE EARL OF PORTLAND TO WILLIAM " Paris, lath March 1698.

"After the second letter which I had the honour of writing to your Majesty on the 8th, I made my entree on the following day. Mr. Prior will send you an ac- count of the ceremonial, for the use of the ambassadors who may succeed me. The wholepassed without any difficulty or dispute, till I had been conducted to the hotel of the Ambassadors. The King:had sent the Duke d'Aumont, his first Gentleman of the Bedchamber, to compliment me. After this, :the Dutchess of Burgundy sent the Marquis de Villacerf. They then began to make new pre- tensions; requiring me to go and receive him half-way down the steps, as I had done the former nobleman: and I refused to receive him except at the door of the antechamber, which is at the top of the stairs. This gave rise to a lengthened dispute, during which he was standing half-way up the steps, and I at the top, while messengers passed backwards and forwards between us. At length I sent him word that I would descend some steps to meet him; and, that if this did not content him, it would be best for each of us to go our own way without my having the honour of seeing him, for that undoubtedly I should do no more. Upon which he came up. On going out I had another difficulty: in conducting him back to the carriage, I did not see him depart; on which the conductor of ambassadors made great complaints to me. A moment afterwards, the Marquis de Sassenage came: the same differences arose: the conductor of ambassadors behaved im- pertinently in public, which obliged me to treat him as became a person who has the honour to represent your Majesty: upon which the dispute ended for the time, and I received the latter as I had done the former; but the conductor of am- bassadors was confounded and irritated.

"After this, the Marquis de la Rongere came from Madame: but the conduc- tor of ambassadors came to inquire whether I would receive him as he desired. I replied, that I should receive him as I had received the gentleman who came from Monsieur. He said that I ought at least to see him depart after having con- ducted him down the steps, and that otherwise he would not get out of his car- riage. I replied, then he might remain in it; for I should not receive the gentle- man whom Madame sent to me otherwise than I had received the gentleman who came from Monsieur; that it was contrary to all that had ever been done, and contrary to the memoranda which my instructions bound me to follow. Upon which he retired abruptly, though he was to have staid and supped with me. "On the following day, I sent to Versailles to complain of these annoyances, and of the conductor of ambassadors who had occasioned them, to M. de Porn- ponne and M. de Torcy; and also to express to Monsieur and Madame how much I was vexed at what had happened. I believed that, from the difficulties raised by M. de Torcy in his answer, I should have to encounter yet more at the audi- ence. I did not, however, send to either of the conductors of ambassadors, but towards noon they both called upon me; first Sainetot, and afterwards Boneuil, who had been the cause of all these annoyances. I spoke to him as was befitting: he was ashamed and speechless, for I believe that he had already received a lee- titre at Versailles, of which this was a second edition.

"We arranged everything for the audience, which was to take place on the following day; and which passed over without any difficulty or annoyance, as far as I know."

In a letter, No. 2, for the King's own reading, he gives fuller particulars of this audience.

" At my public audience I was received in the most gracious manner: the throng and press were so great that I was a long time in the room before I could reach the King, whom I saw and by whom I was seen, without being able to get near him. When at length I approached him, be spoke first, and said that he mach regretted the trouble which I had had in entering, but that he rejoiced to see so many English and French mingled together. After I had spoken, the

King replied in a speech fully as long as mine, and in terms as strong and favour- able to your Majesty as it was possible to use; and reiterated the assurances of his desire to cultivate your Majesty's friendship. He said a few things extremely flattering to myself personally; and dismissed me, as he had spoken, with a gra- cious smile upon his countenance.

" Your Majesty is too well acquainted with this nation not to understand how the courtiers exaggerate all this, and call my attention to what the King said and did, noticing that he was never seen to speak to an ambassador first, or in so fa- miliar a manner. But it is not a little absurd, that they are, or seem to be, sur- prised at my not having been embarrassed at seeing the King surrounded by such

a multitude of courtiers. • • •

" I confess that if all I'see of the King is not sincere, it is a comedy admirably performed; and this I have reason to fear from what I see of the Ministers, for they will not even refuse with a good grace what they do not intend to grant; nor attempt to cover with plausible reason things for which in fact there is none. This seems to me to be contrary to their own interest; which unquestionably is to amuse us with fair words, as they did Holland, whose eyes they have at length opened by the commercial affair.

" If I am not mistaken, the Ministers of this Court do not clearly understand the temper of the people of our countries; for, whatever may be their design, they ought to endeavour to make different impressions upon us, either to lure us if they mean to deceive us, or to gain our confidence if their intentions are sincere."

The instructions to Tallard on his departure to London as AmbasSador, ostensibly in complimentary routine, in reality to open the negotiations on the Spanish succession, as William would not begin, are a good model of such papers. The following directions as to his behaviour in London might be advantageously imitated in modern times, in more cases than one.

" It has always been the part of an able ambassador in England to keep on good terms with the nation, as well as with the King of England and his Ministers. " It would be more dangerous than ever to deviate from this line under present circumstances. Those who have the greatest share in the confidence of that prince are foreigners, and consequently exposed to the hatred of the English. The Parliament has already made some attempts to attack them, and they will probably be repeated with still more violence. Nobody can tell what will be the effect of them in a Parliament which may perhaps be less subject to the will of the King of England than preceding Parliaments have been. Count Tallard, therefore, must conduct himself towards them in such a manner as not to alienate from him the English noblemen who have no share in public affiiirs. They have often not the less influence on that account; and when they are on bad terms with the Court, they make themselves feared by joining the popular party. " He must, however, avoid with extreme care the appearance of having any connexion with malecontents and suspected persons. It is his Majesty's desire that his ambassador shall not be justly reproached with having any intercourse with those who are at present known in London by the name of Jacobites; and if any of them should go from St. Germains to London, he will not permit Count Tallard to receive them into his house.

" It would be alienating both the King of England and the nation; and, far from being advantageous, it would give occasion to all kinds of reports, which per- sons might choose to spread to alarm the English, and make them believe that their sefety is at stake unless they are in arms. • " The piety of the King has always led him to give instructions to his Ambas- sadors to use their good offices in favour of the English Catholics. He repeats his instructions to Count Tallard, to do for them everything that may depend upon him, but with all due prudence; and it is certain that more delicacy than ever is now required.

" But he is not to consult the English friars in order to obtain information. Besides that several of them are odious to the nation, there are many who, it is affirmed, are entirely devoted to the King of England, now on the throne; and all in general appeared under the preceding reign to consult their own interests much more than those of religion.

" The French of the so-called Reformed religion who have withdrawn into foreign countries, have manifested so much passion, and have so far forgotten the duties of their birth, that it does not become the ambassador of his Majesty to re- ceive into his house those who have so distinguished themselves by their bad con- duct. Nor could any advantage to his Majesty's service result from it: the Eng- lish barely tolerate them; they have no hope except from the King of England, to whom they are accordingly entirely devoted. Collat. Tallard, therefore, could never receive any useful information from them; and they would make a boast of whatever they might learn in his house.

With respect to those who have conducted themselves well since they have had the misfortune to quit his kingdom, his Majesty leaves Count Tallard at liberty to behave towards them as he shall judge best suited to the service of the

King."

William's love for Holland is continually peeping out : he even falls foul of "the green retreats" of Windsor, in a miscellaneous letter to Portland.

" I came here last Monday, and intend returning on Saturday, because I have promised a private audience to Count Tallard, at Kensington, on Monday: I can- not ask him to come here, as there is nobody with me at this place. I am hunt. ing the hare every day in the park with your dogs and mine, and have had some good sport. The rabbits are almost all killed; and the burrows will soon be stopped up. The day before yesterday I took a stag in the Forest with the Prince of Denmark's hounds, and had a pretty good run as far as this villainous country permits."

To M. Grimblot, the collector and editor of these letters, the thanks of the political and historical student are due, for his industry, pains, and skill. The letters between Louis the Fourteenth and Marshal Bouffiers have been taken from the War-office of Paris; the correspondence be- tween the same King and Tallard in relation to the Partition Treaties has been selected from manuscripts, sufficient to have filled ten printed oetavoes like those before us, in the Foreign Office at the same capital,-

M. Grimblot stating, and we think truly, without the suppression of any important points relative to the negotiation. The letters of William to the Earl of Portland are taken from copies in the possession of the late Sir James Mackintosh, and are published by permission of the present Duke of Portland. Insufficient extracts from the letters of William to the Pensionary Heinsius were printed about a century ago : M. Grimbolt has now completed them from a French translation, made from the Dutch, under the superintendence of Mackintosh, and, like the Port- land extracts, in the possession of his son. To these original docu- ments, as they may fairly be called, the editor has added some letters from other collections to complete the collection : he has also given illus- trative notes of a curious and informing kind, from various sources, and superintended the translation of the French documents from his own tongue into ours.