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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 LETTER T O A Certain Foreign Minifter*^ IN WHICH THE Grounds of the PRESENT WAR are truly Stated : THE Conduct ofthelaft A dminstr ation in Regard to FOREIGN AFFAIRS fully Vindicated; A N D T H £ TERMS of a SAFE and HONOURABLE PEACE clearly pointed out. LONDON: Printed for M» Cooper, at the Globe in Pater- Nofter-Row, 1745. \ Price One Shilling. ] .»•.■• * - -.i'i.. ^4* * I . 4.".. «,/ ■ J, I .,v' Iv ( it * 1 / '■! ■-»'»-.*. *. A -t ^ .'. t - > '■; '*<■-- '-f -> -, '" i W ^ :: r ^ a :i ^ t, ■'-, :.. 4 ? C i. i-j, :i i. .-fc.^""^."' it w '^ 14, . J > THE ■\j ( ' J ■V". PREFACE. n i.^ r HEN his Prujfmn Ma- jefty thought fit, in a Time of full Peace, to invade the Dominions of the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia^ and thereby rekindle the War in Getynany^ which was otherwife on the point of being extinguifhed ; a Paper was pubUlTied here under the Title of, An Expojitmt of his Mo- tives^ to which the firft Part of the following Work was written in An- fwer, and had very probably on the A 2 Turn ■T^ (iv ) Turn of Affairs that has followed fince, have been buried in Oblivion, had it not plainly appeared that fome of the Notions infifted upon in that Foreign Performance, were really confidered as Articles of their Politi- cal Faith, by fome of our greateft Politicians at Home. It was this that induced the Author to finifli it, and confent that it fliould be made Publick, as a full Anfwer to thofe new Dodlrines, that to plcafe the Patrons of them are now preached up, as found Policy in a certain Chapel. ' The Hunioui of abufing fuch, as are intrujfted with the Management of Publick Affairs is, generally fpeaking, fo ftrong in this Country, that it is a very difficult Matter in lefs than fifty or fixty Years after a Man is out of Power, to perfuade the People that ever he deferved to be in ; more efpccially if from the Confcioufnefs I I (v) Confcioufncfs of his own Integrity, he never pradifed the ufual Arts of Minillers, never courted the Popu- lace at the Expence of his Under- ftanding and Dignity, or endeavour- ed to acquire an Intereft elfewherc, but by deferving it. All Minifters are fure to be ill-treated, but that Minifter moft who leaft deferves it, becaufe when he leaves his Poft, he leaves no Party to cry him up, or to defend his Conduct. He who has been anxious only for the Service of his Country, is carelefs in this Re- fped:, or rather fearlefs, for he knows, that however Self-interefted Men may abufe, they can never hurt him. He is fenfiible that Time and Truth are Witneffes, that fooner or later acquit the Innocent ; but though this may be fufficient for fuch a Mini- fter, yet there is fomething more re- quired for the Information of the People, and that for the People's fake. . . - . , To ( vi ) ' - • « - - .. To afford this Information, the following Sheets have been drawn from the Corner of a Clofet into Daylight ; and that the Defign of them may not be miftaken or mifre- prefented, let it be remembered that they are calculated for the full Proof of the following Propofitions. I. That the prefent is a National and not a Party- War ; a War recom- mended to the Throne by the Voice of the People, and which therefore no Nation that would be thought wife, or wifties to continue free, would charge as a Crime upon a Mi- nifter, when in Truth it is a Mea- fure in which they may and ought to glory themfelves, as it is ftridly fpeaking their own, ; II. That this War was not the Ef- fed of hafty Refentment, but be- gun upon mature Deliberation and upon juft Motives, of which the T . Nation I 3 ^4i M i f ■^2 ( vii ) Nation was the more eafily and ful- ly convinced, becaufc thole Motives were National ; that is to fay, were fuch as redounded to the Intereft and Honour, to the Safety and Glory of the Nation, A War thus begun, ought undoubtedly to be profecuted with the fame Spirit and Zeal, and upon the fame Motives upon which it was begun, fince to vary or de- part from thefe, would be to confels an Unftcadinefs or Pufilanimity, un- worthy of a brave and free People, III, That all Pretences of profe- cuting the War on a new Defign, and for better Purpofes, are very dangerous and ought to be fufpefted, inafmuch as fuch Pretences are evi- dently calculated to deceive the Peo- ple to betray the common Caufe, and to introduce a new Syftem not fit to be openly r i^owed, becaufe it never can upon Juft and National Principles be defended. It is for this ( viii ) this Reafon, for I defy any ' Man living to aflign another, that our prefent, upright, wife and able Mi- nifters, have in the moft folemn Manner, and in the mofl exprefs Terms, declared by Memoriaib pre- fented at fevcral Courts, that no Alteration of Men will be attended here with a Change of Meafures ; which is fo clear, fo full, and fo unanfwerable an Approbation of the Principles laid down and fupported in the following Sheets, that there feems to be no Reafon to apprehend their being ill received by any Party. ^ i ■■ ■ 1. V .^ IM^ 4 r r:;. A 1 '\. - 1\ ■ •r ■^ J A LETTER T O A CERTAIN MINISTER. SIR, - I Cannot think that you will be difpleafed with the Liberty I take of addrefling to you this DifcoLirfe on the prefcnt State of the Affiiirs of Europe^ when I refledt on the many Liberties that have been taken, not with the Miniftry only, but with the Crown of Great- Britain, by Papers and Pamphlets publifhed abroad and at home too of late ; as if fome im- perceptible Change- had happened in our Confti- tution, and foreign Princes and States had ac- ^ quired a Right to appeal from the Judgment of a King of Great-Britain, to that of the Bxitijh Nation. It is highly requifite. Sir, that a Point of this Importance fhould be fet in a clear Light. The Zeal exprefs'd in a late Refcript, and in the )\ B Paper It { 2 Paper annexed thereto, with regard to the Ger- wan Conftitution, muft ferve for my Apology, if any Warmth (hould efcape me in Defence of our own. The fudden Turn taken by his Prujfian Ma- jefty, did, indeed, give fuch an Alarm to all Europe in general, and to this Nation in particu- lar, that there is no reafon to wonder it fhould be thought expedient to foftcn the firft Emotions of Men's Minds by as plaufible a Method as could be contrived ; and, perhaps, in the Expofi- tion of his Majefty's Motives for taking that ex- traordinary Step, this was pretty well done. But fure it was through an excefs of Caution that thefe Motives were ufliered into the World by another Piece, which in its Title is direded to a publick Minifter, and, in the Body of it, to the People of Britain. I fay this was done through an excefs of Caution, firft, becaufe the thing was plainly unneceflary ; for if the Expofition of his Prujfmn Majefty's Motives was fufficient to Ihew that they were juft and unexceptionable, there was no need of this additional Ledure to the People of Britain : And, on the other hand, if any Doubt was entertained as to the Efteds of that Expofition, the very Refcript itfelf car- ries in it a Contradiction, which fhews how much Men are embarrafled when they do unwarranta- ble things. For, mark me, Sir, this Refcript in the Original, (for as to the Tranllaticn it is never Englijh^ and very feldom Senfe) makes his Pruf- ftan Majefty argue thus, " As no Prince in Ger- *' many has any Right to intermeddle with the in- •' terior Meafures of Great-Britain and the Con- ftitution of its Government, I have Reafon to hope that the Englijh Nation will intermeddle iC <( ^B 41 ( (I C( as he Ger- pology, ence of an Ma- 1 to alJ :5articii- fhould notions hod as ixpofi- lat ex- e. But •n that rid by d to a to the iroiigh thing tion of ent to inable, lire to hand, Lffeds f car- much ranta- 1 the never Pruf- Ger- lein- Con- bn to eddle (( hoped from the Englijh Nation's difcovering a Stnfe of foreign Affairs diredlly oppofite to thofe of the King and his Minifters as advifcd by Parliament. It is a very unlucky Confequcnce of our mod unhappy Di- vifions, that Foreigners, by attending to our Par- ty Difputes, arc mifled into wrong Notions about our Conflitution. They hear us talk of the People of Britain and of the Britijh Nation, by which we certainly mean no more than in a legal Senfe, the Choice of the People in their Rcpre- fentatives, and the Senfe of their Reprefentatives cxprefTed in Parliament \ whereas they appre- hend we mean rhe colledive Body of the Nation, the Voice of the Crowd, and the Opinion of all who think fit to fpeak of publick Affairs. We in Great-Britain know that there is a wide Dif- ference between the Republick of Poland and the Britijh People. We know that our Government is a Monarchy, that the Adminiftration of the Government is vefted in the King and the Le- giflature too, in Conjund:ion with the Lords and Commons. We know that the Britijh Nation, in any other than this legal Senfe, is a vague KxprelTion, frequent indrtd in the Mouths of Parties who love to fpeak much when they mean nothing ; but furely the Wretch does not breathe in Britain^ who dares to wifli that the Senfe of the Britijfj Nation fliould ever be fet up in Con- tradillindion to the Senfe of the King and Parlia- ment, and whoever ihall attempt to introduce, or give Colour to fuch a Diflindion, will cer- tainly intermeddle with the Conflitution to his Coft, and be foon taught to know that this King- dom is not governed by the floating Opinions of the Many ; but by fettled Laws, which were the Rules a- <^-v. is). Rules that governed our Aiiceftors, and by Obedience to which, we and our Poflerity are to be made happy. I thought my felf obhged. Sir, to fpeak thus plainly, that you might really know the Senfe of every rational Man in England on this Subjeft ; for I dare affure you, that none who have read that Refcript approve at all of this manner of proceeding. They very wjll know, and would be ready to avow it, that they expert Minifters fhould be accountable to the People, even for Meafures direfted by their Mafter •, but when they lay this, tliey know their own Meaning ; they know that this Account is to be given to thofe with whom the Power of the People is lodged, and this in Confequence of a*legal Pro- cedure. It is alfo true that in fome Senfe a Par- liament may be faid to be accountable to the People, becaufe on a Diflblution they are free to regulate their Choice according to the Senfe they have of their Reprefentatives Conduct. But it is very clear that this Refcript is an Appeal to the Nation under none of thefe Reftriclions. It ap- pears from the Paragraph laft quoted, that this is an Appeal to one Part of the Nation againft the other. And what is this other ? Why, thofe who are biaffed more in favour of one German Court than another : That is, in plain Englijh^ the Houfe of Commons, who have fo often ad- drefled the King to fupport the Houfe of Auftria^ and who have given fuch large Sums to his Ma- jefty to enable him to comply with their Re- quefts. This is the fair and true State of the mitter, and indeed it is of fuch high Confequence to us, that it ought to be fairly ftated. As to the In- fmuation that the Qiiarrels in Germany have no- thin2 Il h I ; hi! ' I }. thing to do with our Commerce, there is fome- thing in it extremely injurious to the Nation. That we receive great Benefits from Trade, that Trade is a National Concern, and that we ought to refent any Attempt made to lefTen or to injure it, are Truths well known and out of difpute, yet fure the Britijh People are not to be treated like a Company of Merchants, or rather Pedlars, who, if they are perm'tted to fell their Goods, are to think themfelves well off, whatever Treat- ment they may receive in any other refpe6t. No furely, the Britijh Nation has other great Con- cerns befidcs their Trade, and as ihe will never facrifice it, fo fhe will never endure any Infult in refpeft to them, without refenting it as be- comes a People jealous of their Honour, and pun6lual in the Performance of their Engage- ments. It has, indeed, been the Artifice of Prance to reprefent the Maritime Powers in this Light to all the World, and to each other. In the Lan- guage of that haughty Court, France^ like old Rome, is to be the Miftrefs of the World, and the Englijh and Dutch are to think themfelves happy if fhe does not difburb their Markets, but lets them enjoy the Fruits of their Induftry, while they truckle to her Power, and are fubfer- vient to her Schemes. Let any Man but read the Letters and Negotiations of Van Hoey, and he will be fatisficd as to the Truth of this. He will fee-that the French Minifters treat him, as if inftead of being an AmbifTador from a great and powerful State, he was a Fadlor for a Com- pany of Merchants, who had no Subfiftance but their Trade, and were obliged to mind that at the Expcnce of every thing elfe. Upon this Principle all dieir Reufonings turn \ they tell him that »;A I (7) that in cafe of a joint War with France^ England may beat Holland out ot a Part of her Trade ; but if Holland will keep out of the Scrape, Ihe may have all the Trade to herfelf. He may fee that when Mr. Van Hoey reprefented this Sort of Stuff* to his Matters the States General, it was underftood and treated by them with the Con- tempt it deferved •, they refented, as became them, the Indignity of fuch a Treatment ; and fhewed that they had a Spirit worthy the So- vereigns of a free Republick, fupported indeed by Trade •, but at the fame Time poflefled of a Power capable of defending the Rights of their Subjects, and of afRfting thofe Allies, by whofe Aid in other critical Conjundures, they had been fupported themfelves, when not their Commerce only, but their very Being was in danger from the Ambition of this arrogant Power, that now talks and teaches other People to talk, as if the Maritime Powers had nothing to mind but their Trade, and their Subjedls had a Right to call the Government to account, if they did not con- fine their Care folely to this Subje(5t. But, alas ! how widely are they miflaken ! who takes a larger Share in the War than our Merchants, and what greater Benefit can refult to our Com- merce, than by rendering that Authority refpedt- ed abroad to which it owes its Protedlion at home ? This odd Interjeftion of Commerce in this Place, plainly Ihews the Defign for which this Piece was calculated, which muft be to move the meaneft and the loweft of the People, with whom Sound prevails more than Senfe, and who affedt to be ever anxious about Trade, how little foever it may concern them. As for thofe who are really engaged in foreign Trade, they are not (.1 4 III 11 '' 1' 1 .'I 4 ! ii (8) not to be impofed upon by fuch Pretences ; they are convinc'd that the Safety of Commerce de- pends upon the Figure this Crown makes in Comparifon with the other Powers oi' Europe-, and a very laudable Proof they gave of their having this juft Notion of thing.., by the Pains they took to drive the late Mmiftry into a War with Spain, and where there is the fame Reafon, the Conrlufion ought to be the fame likewife. If the Safety of Trade depends upon the Figure and Credit of the Nation, then whatever Attacks the latter, tends to the Prejudice of the former ; but if the Houfe of Auftria is overborne, our great Rival in Power and in Trade, by which I mean France, muft carry all before her, and therefore whatever contributes to the preventing this, contributes fo far to the Security of our Trade-, and this, I think, is a fuller Anfwer than was even neceflary to fo foolifh an Objec- tion. I muft, however, admit that there is fome Foundation for what is fuggefted in the Memo- rial, as to the Biafs of the Britijh Nation in fa- vour of the Houfe of Auftria •, for furely if ever there was the Opinion of a whole Nation given on fuch a Point, every Part of the Nation has, at feveral Times, declared itfelf fliUy upon this Subjed:. The late Miniftry always declared it to be their Intention to alTift the Houfe of Au- ftria, and often complained of their Want of Power to fecond that Inclination. Thefe Decla- rations, however, did not fcreen them from the Refentmcnts of thofe who thought there was not fo much done for the Support of the Queen of Hungary as her Circumftances, and the Interefts of Great-Britain required, and every Body knows that (9 ) that it was chiefly by the prefling this Tropick that Miniflry was overturned. All who were tlien in the Oppofition were u;ianimous in their Sentiments that our whole Force ought to be exerted, not only in purlli- ance of Treat' '^s, but in purfuance of the Publick Welfare •, and it is frcrfi in every Man's Me- mory, that the firft Step taken upon the Change was to fend the Earl of Stair abroad with In- ftrudions to inform the Dutch, that we were de- termin-ed to fuccour that Princefs eflfeftually, and expedled therefore the fame from them. I have been now a clofe Obferver of publick Affairs for upwards of twenty Years, and I do not remem- ber any Meafure received with greater, or even with fo great Applaufe as this. It may be ob- jeded, and I believe with Truth, that fome People have argued in publick Affemblies, as if they had fmce changed their Minds ; but this Objedlion does by no means reach th? prefenc Miniftry, they have fteadily purfued in Power the Plan they recommended when out, and in this they have Ihewn themfelves to be fteady and able Men j and as for thofe who have changed, their Motive is very plain, fince without pppofing I this Meafure, they could not oppofe at all, and | by oppofing they have plainly loft their Credit with the People, as it is natural for Men to do, wlio, from Motives of private Intereft, contra- didl themfelves. This, Sir, is a fair State of the Cafe, and if his Pruffian Majefty has received any Intelligence of another Nature, he has been fo far deceived •, and this, like many other Mif- chiefs, ought to be placed to the Account of our Party Difputes, to which if any foreign Court trufts, it will be fure to be mifled, fmce the Sen- timents of the Nation are not to be fought for C among *i\ i t« I :i it ii J' ^ 10 ) arftong Painplilcts and News Wnters, but fi'oni the Rclblutions of the lioufc of Commons, which is at once the natural and legal Reprefentativc of fhc People. This Method, Sir, of which his Prujfian Ma- jefty is plcafed to make choice, of rendering the Publick the Judge of his Proceedings, is fuch a one as certainly gives every Man who has com- petent Talents, a Riglit to examine the Queftion. .1 mufb own that I thought it a Piece of Kefped due to fo great a Prince, and in addreflTing my (iAi to you, La i at nothing more than fliewing you what m( ft People think of the Reafons his Majcfty gives for a6ling in the manner he has done. If I had been fmgular in my Sentiments, if I had heard Numbers declare themfelves of another Mind, I fhould moft certainly have been filent ; but perceiving that the the reft of my Coun- trymen thought as I did, and obferving how great a ftrefs his Prujftan Majefty is pleafed to jay on the Senfe of the Britijh Nation, I really conceived that I could not better teftify the Re- fpe(5t I have for that wife and powerful Monarch, than to take this Opportunity of tranfmitting to you the Senfe of the Britijh Nation upon this important Topick. It was a natural thing, on the Publication of fuch a Refcript, to expedt it ; the foreign Gazettes fay that 2000 of thefe have been diftributed, and that one out of 2000 fhould take the liberty of fpeaking 'again, has nothing in it at all ftrange ; but on the contrary, feems to anfwer the Defign of that Piece, or at leaft of the Publication of it, and that too by the Order of the PruJJian Minifter, as expreffed in the Title Page. I have one thing more to ?.dd, and that is, that I write purely from my own Motives, and not by any Order whatever. I . cxpref* cxprcfs freely the genuine Sentiments of an un- biaif^'d Englijbman^ and therefore, Sir, I hope you will hear me with Patience; PC leali, if not with l''avour, efpecially Hnce I Ihall be careful to il'y nothing that deviates ^rom the Refpetfl due tt) lb great a Prince, who exprefly defires to have his Adions examined, and the Motives to them fcanncd. The two chief Points upon whirh this Contro- veriy turns is the Conduct of th^ Queen of Hun- gary towards the Emperor, and the Condu6l of Great-Britain towards the Queen of Hungary, If the former of thcfe can be juftilied iVom the Law of Nature, Nations, and the Empire •, if it can be proved that the Queen has done nothing but what ihe h id a Right to do, what flie was conftrained to do, and wliat would have had a Tendency to hurt not herfelf only, but the Em- pire, if it had been omitted, then Ihall we un- doubtedly get rid of this Part of the Charge, that the Pride, Ambition, and private Views of the Houfe of Aujiria are the Caufes of the pre- fent Troubles in Germany ; and this being done^ it will follow, that the Prince who has recourfe to Arms for fo noble, fo generous a purpofe as the reftoring Peace to his long harrafied Country, will effect it by turning his Arms on thofe who are really the Authors of the War. In the next place, if we Ihew that Great-Britain has not af- iifted the Queen of Hnngary from any particular Views of her Prince, or from any ill-grounded Partiality of her People •, but in Support of her own Intereft, and in confequence qf the Faith of Treaties founded on that Intereft, we fliall then have overturned the fecond Part of the Charge, and thereby free ourfelves from the Im^ pwtation of intermeddling, without jufl Caufe, a 'I 1 1' I I i f r, ifii ( lO Vith foreign Quarrels that do not concern us, and cftablifh a Point which canci-rns us very nearly, viz. that what we have done for the (j^iecn of Hungary^ and what we fhall do for her, though it turns immediately to her Service, turns at the fame time, as much to ours, and is, in reality, no more than we are bound to do, not only in virtue of Treaties, but out of regard to our own Safety and Prelcrvaticn. It is a Principle founded in common Senfc, admitted by Grotius^ Puffendorf^ and all oth'.r able Writers on the Law of Nature and Nations, that all Government is founded on the Welfare of the People, that for this purpofe they fub- mit to fuch Conftitutions as feem to them mod fuitable to the Attainment of that End, and that herein confifts the Right of Dominion. The Gcrmanick Conllitiition is nothing more than a Confederacy of Princes and States, which, from their entering into that Confederacy, are ftiled the Germanick Body, for the Prefervation of the refpedtive Forms of Government under which they live, and upon winch they conceive their Happinefs to be founded. It is this that renders an inviolable Regard and a fincere At- tachment to that Conftitution, Patriotifm in Ger- many. It is this that renders any Attempt, not only to overturn and deltroy, but to alter or change that Conftitution, Treafon in Germany. It was a jull Senfe of the Expediency, and even Ncceflity, of having a powerful Prince at the Head of this Confederacy, capable of fupporting them in their Rights, by defending their Confti- tution again ll the Incroachments of Strangers, that induced them to continue the Imperial Dig- nity fo long in the Houfe of Jujlria, as it is very certain tliat the Power of the Houfe of Auftria^ \^ I ( '3) AnJlrUi^ cfpccially in the laft Century, has been chicHy employed in maintaining and prefcrving, as far as it was able, the Dominions of the lefler l^rinces of Germany^ from the Incroachments of an amliitious Nei<;hbour, always watching and conftantly improving every Opportunity to ag- grandize itfelf at their Expence, as appears from the many Cities and Provinces that have been torn from the Germanick Body, and at this Jiincfture are, and for a long Time have been, annexed to the Dominions oi France, The fame Spirit of Ambition, the fame Lull of Power, the fame Defire of making all her Neighbours fubfervient to her Will, induced the French Monarchs of the Houfe of Bourbou to difturb the Peace of the reft of their Neighbours, and to endeavour, by Methods the moil unjutt and indefenfible, to leflen their Power, in order to exalt her own. It was this Senfe of com- mon Danger, and Defire of providing for their own Safety by a ftri6t Union amongft them- felves, that induced many of thefe Powers to ally themfelves with the Houfe of Auftria and wiih the Empire •, from whence arofe the great Concern of many of the principal Powers in Europe^ as well as the Empire in general, for the Support and Maintenance of the Power of that Family : Experience had fhewn that nothing but the Power of the Houfe of Auftria employ- ed in Defence of the Empire, could have pre- ferved many of its Princes and States from being fwallowed up by the Power of France, which by the Germanick Body could be no other way confidered, than as a DifTolution ; and a Mortifi- cation in the Political Body, like that in the Natural, being begun in the Members, muft^ by a certain Progrellion, have foon reached the Vital?, i I I fin ( 14 ) Vitals. Experience had likewife flicwn, tliac the other Powers of Europe had the grcatcll need of the Concurrence of the I'.tnpirc as it was tlicn conflitutcd, that is to fay, with . powerful and well-afFedted Prince at its Head, for the Prefcr- vation of their Freedom and Independency; and hence refultcd that Concern which both the Em- pire and other Powers of Eur op''* (hewed for the Prefcrvation and Support of the Houfe of Aujlria \ that is, the conferving all the Dominions in the a<5lual Pofleifion of the late Emperor Charles \ I. of glorious Memory, to his Heir, which was the Point aimed at by the Pragmatick Sanction, or Domedick Law of the Family, laid down by his Imperial Majelly then reigning. The Pragmatick Sanation was made by the late Emperor Charles VI. in the Year I7i3» in the Years 1724 and 1725, he caufed it to be publilhed and accepted in all his hereditary Do* minions •, and in the Year 1731, he communi- cated it to the Diet of the Empire •, declaring at the fame Time, that as the Treaty he had lately made with his Britnnnick Maiefty, in a great Meafure fecured the Ballance of Europe^ fo there wanted only a Refolution of the Diet in Support of the Pragmatick Sandlion, to place that and the Tranquility of the Empire on the moft folid Foundation. His Imperial Majefty, at the fame Time afferted, " that it was in order to arrive ** at fo falutary an end, that he had thought fit *' to communicate to die Diet, in order to ob- ** t^ their Guai*anty, the Order of Succeflion " in the moft illuftrious Houfe o^ Aufiria, from *' an entire Confidence that as hitherto the Power of the Houfe of Aujlria had ferved as a Bul- wark to all Chriftendom, had always defend- ed, againft every Aggreflbr, the Liberty of Europe^ tc i( «c «c ( 'S ) EurcpCf and particularly that of their df;ir Country, his Imperial M.ijclty ilid not doubt but every State oF the Empire would readily acknowledge, that on the preferving intire and indivifiblc this Power, depended not only the Security ot Europe in general, but ulfo the Welfare and Safety of the Empire in particu- lar. His Imperial Majefty fays farther, "that it was not with any View to aggrandize his Archducal Houfe, that he communicated this Decree, but merely to preferve to his Heirs and Defcendants, of both Sexes, his Domini- ons and hereditary Countries undivided, and that he expefted this would meet with the lefs Oppofition, becaufe this Order o{ SuccefTion was founded upon folemn A6ls and Settlements in the illuftrious Houfe of Jujiria, already ap- proved by the Empire, and guaranty'd by the chief Powers abroad, and by moft of the principal Potentates in the Empire.'* His mperial Majefty concludes with obferving, ''that this Guaranty, inftead of expofing the Em- pire to any Inconvenience by engaging in its Defence, would prove the only mean^i of pre- venting thofe Difturbances that muft other- wife naturally arife in relation to that Suc- cefTion, and in which they would be obliged to take part whether they would or not." I am very forry that I am obliged to make fo tedious a Recital to you, of a Thing with which you muft be fo well acquainted ; but there pre- vails of late fo ftrange a Humour of forgetting what ought to be beft remembered, denying Fafts notorioufly known, and mifreprefenting whatever makes againft People, that I am oblig'd to be more explicit than I otherwife would. I cannot help obferving to you, that this Decree fhews ^i (4 k ( i6 ) (hews the Wifdom and Forefight of the Empe- ror, as well as his paternal Care for the Welfare of his Country. His Wifdom appears in framing the Pragmatick Sanation ; his Forefight in per- ceiving that the Debates about this Succefllon would embroil the Empire and all Europe -, his Care and Tendernefs in exhorting them to ad- here fteadily to this Guaranty, as the only means of avoiding and preventing thefe Mifchiefs. The States of the Empire were fo well fatisfted of the Truth of what his Imperial Majefty fuggefc- ed to them, that they readily confented to what his Majefty defired of them. In their A61 of Guaranty they fay, that be- ing fenfible " that the preferving the Domi- nions of the Houfe of Auftria undivided, was the only means of preventing the un- happy Divifions, Wars, andEfFufion ofBlood that muft neceffarily happen in cafe the Em- peror's Dominions were feparated, and we/e capable of fetting all Germany in a Plame, they, after mature Deliberation upon this im- portant Affair, and all the Circumftances at- tending it, refolved to thank his Imperial Majefty for his paternal Care, in endeavour- ing to prefent fo many Mifchiefs, and for fe- curing the Honour and Safety of the Empire, and therefore take upon them the Guaranty as he had demanded, agreeable to the fecond Article of the Treaty of Vienna^ by which his Britannick Majefty took upon him the fame Guaranty, which fecond Article is there- in at length recited, and immediately after the Words of this folemn Aft of the Diet of the Empire are. We by thefe Prefents confent thereto, accepting it entirely, and declaring " that we will defend thj^ Order of Succeflion " f» «c ftC «c 4( (( i( «c «( cc cc cc &c ^i 1 .1 ( i8) cither German or Stranger can require. This is lb clear, fo full, lb much incapable of being fubverted or overturned by any little Strokes of Cafuiftry, that 1 vcntur'c: to affirm whoever fhould undertake to prove the contrary, would meet with the Contempt of ^pjkry Britcn. You need rot, therefore, wonder that we look upon the SuccelTion of the Queen of Hungary as a thing founded upon Laws human and divine, and not to be altered or deilroyed, but by the direct Breach of both. This plain State of the Matter of Fa6t, fliews, how little Foundation there is for all that has been faid about the OblVinacy and Intradlability of the Queen o^ Hungary. Her Majefly had evidently an ablblutc Right to the Whole of her Father's Dominions, and could not poflibly give up the fmalleft Part, without giving up, in fome mea- fure, her Right to the Whole -, becaufe the Pre- fervation of the Aiiftrian Succeflion entire and indivifible, is the Motive that induced the Diet of the Empire to convert the Pragmatick Sanc- tion^ which was no more than an Oeconomical Conflitution, into a Law of the Empire, from which, therefore, fhe could not depart, without departing from her Right to the Empire's Guaranty. To fay, therefore, that the Qiieen of Hungary has refufed, and dill refufes to liften to any Terms of Accommodation, founded on the giving any Satisfadion to the Houfe of Ba^ varia^ or any other Pretenders, is faying no more than that fiie is inflexibly juft, that flie ad- heres to the Laws of her Country, and that flie will not be frighted into doing what fhe ought not, what, perhaps, fhe cannot do. There is a wide Difference, Sir, a very wide Difference between contending for what one conceives to be This is )f being •okes of T ihould Id meet ou need pon the a thing and not e dired: ihews, las been J of the ^idently father's up the le mea- |ie Pre- re and ; Diet Sanc- omical from without ipire's ^leen iiften ed on Ba- no ad- it file >iight Te is rcnce .^s to be g f '9 ) " be one's R'ght, and defending what one knows to be one's own •, the former may be Obftinacy, but the latter never can. Befides, Sir, while the Queen of Hungary ads as Ihe does, flie has a Right to claim, not only the Guaranty of the Empire, but of all the other Powers, who gua- ranteed that SuccelTion which llie defends •, but the Moment fhc confents to divide or ahenate that Succeffion, flic gives up that Right •, and can you call her refufing to give it up Obftinacy ? If fo. Sir, you mufl alter all Languages as well as Laws •, and teach us a new Dialedt, in confe- quencc of this new way of thinlcig. From hence too appears the Nonfenfe of ano- ther Suggcftion : Pardon the ExprelTion, Sir, fince I am going to prove it is juft. We have heard the Queen of Hungary accu/^d for not fubmitting this Difpute to the Imperial D^et, and for not accepting the Mediation of the States of the Emph-e when offered, though it was certain- ly impofllble for her to do either. Could fhe fubmit to the States of the Empire the Decifion of that Point, which they had already decided in the mofl folemn manner, and upon which fo- lemn Act of theirs her Right is founded ? Or could fhe accept their Mediation after this their folemn Decifion? Would not either of thefe have been a palpable Abfurdity, and was fhe not extremely in the Right to lave the States of the Empire, in their prefent Circumftances, the Shame of taking on themfelves an Office they could not perform ? Lay your Hand upon your Heart, Sir, and fiy whether thefe Propofitions were net made on purpofe to draw her into this Dilemma, either of departing from her Right,, which fhe muft have done by fubmitting to the Qne, or accepting of the other; or giving her D 1 Enemies !M' ll ■( . n ( 20 ) Errcmies an Opportunity of charging her with Obftinacy for rejeding both. Alas ! Sir, what Shifts are thefe ? The Force of France and its Allies had been employed in vain to dt^/ive her of her Dominions, and now this Stroke of Cun- ning was to come in, to deprive her of her "Friends. Let us confider, Sir, on tlie other fide, what rnighty Refpedt was paid to the Laws and Con- ftitutions of the Empire, by the AdverHiry of the Queen of Hungary. He always declared that the Pragmatick Sanftion was void, and that he confidered himfelf as the fole Heir of the Em- peror CharlesW. He claimed that Succcflion im- mediately on the Death of that E>mperor ; he applied himfelf immediately to the Diet of the ilmpire as a Proof of knowing that he had a ^ood Caufe. Pie fcorned all dark Intrigues, fe- rret Treaties, but above all foreign Afliflance ; and had fo tender a Regard for the Repofe of the Empire, that he would have chofe to have loft all he had fo good a Right to, rather than have called in the fworn Enemy of Germany to his AfTiftance, I really wond r, S^r, thatfome- body has not been found capable of aflerting all this -, becaufe it is, at leaft, as true, and vifibly much more to the Purpofe, than any thing that has been faid. Yet you know. Sir, as well as I, chat the Eledlor of Bavaria concealed the Nature of his Claim •, guaranteed, as well as his Brother the Ele6tor of Cologtie^ this very Pragmatick Sandion -, even at the Death of the Emperor he was filent, till by a Confederacy fhajl I call it, or a Confpiracy, there was a Projedl formed for dripping the Heirefs of the Emperor CharlesYl, of all the Dominions, her Right to which had been in the moft folemn Manner acknowledged by her with Sir, what ce and its ^iive her t of Cun- lY of her ide, what and Con- i^erfiry of declared and that :' the Em- :^frion im- )eror; he ict of the he had a gucs, fe- ffiftance ; .epofe of ' to have ther than 'many to at fome-' Tting all i vifibly ling that ell as I, Nature Brother ?matick mperor 1 I call Tied for rksYl. ch had riedged by by every one of the Confederates •, and in order to execute this righteous Scheme, fuch a Num- ber of French Troops were poured into the Heart of Germany y as it was believed would put Jufticc out of Countenance, and fright fuch as had Vir- tue enough left not to join in fo execrable a Scheme from daring to oppofe it. Thefe, Sir, are Truths, which however Pofterity may doubt, the prefent Age, nay, the prefent Enemies of the Queen of Hungary ^ cannot deny ; becaufe, fhameful as they are, they are at the fame Time notorious. Inftead of avowing his Claim to the Diet, he took care to put it out of the power of the Diet to difpute it. Inftead of calling upon the Qiieen of Hungary to fubmit their Difputes to the States of the Empire at Ratijbony he talked of prefcribing Terms to her on the Ramparts of Vienna. Inftead of facrificing his own Preten- fions to the publick Peace, he modcftly expefted fhe Ihould facrifice her juft Rights for the fake of preferving her own Perfon and that of her Children. But it fo fell out that the Princefs who was thus doomed to Deftru6tion, had the Spirit to defend herfelf againft all thefe Enemies, and by the Blefllng of God upon her Arms, fhe has been able, not only to preferve her own, but by the juft Rights of War, is become Mi- ftrefs of the Territories of the Invader. This, Sir, is the great Crime imputed to the Queen of Hungary y and to her Allies. I have often won- dered that thofe who have dealt fo freely with their Conduft, did not attack the firft of her Allies, I mean the Lord of Hofts, the God of Battles ; he who has fo fignally interpofed in her Favour, and fo heavily chaftifed the perfidious breakers of Treaties 5 thofe who in the midft of all 1 L ".'III ! It., : I rj 1 A ( 22 ) idl their political Wifdom, faiil in tlicir Hearts with the Fool, Iher^.^ is no God, It is allowed that Bavaria has iiiffercd deeply, but it was after Atifiria h:id been plundered ; it is admitted that the Inhabitants of that Country- have been hardly dealt with, but fcarcely fo hard as the Bohemians. It is owned that they dcfervc Pity and CompafTion ; and fo furely do the other Countries that have felt the Scourge of this dreadful War. But on whom, Sir, are all the Evils to be charged, or who is in Confcience anfwerablc for Events that all Parties condemn, all Parties are afliamed of? Thofe furely by whom tlae War was begun. Thofe, who not only fet. the Example of thefe Sufferings, but made it neceflary for others to continue them. Thofe, who to gratify their own private Interefts and Ambition, a6lually overturnc-d the Confti- tution of their Country, that Conftitution they pretend now to be fo fond of, and left no Au- thority in Germany but Force, no Right but that of the Sword, Have thcfe People a Right to complain of thefe Mifchiefs they have intro' duc'd ^. Shall they call for Juftice on the Heads of thofe who on the fide of Juftice took up Arms ; or, not content with Impunity, fliall they dare, in the Sight of all the World, to at- tempt, by glofTmg their Iniquities, to fix the odious Term of Traitors to their Country upon others ? This, Sir, is deeper Policy than Machia^ z'clevtr taught, and thofe who have (ludied him fo alfiduouQy will find that the prefent Age is too wife, and too penetrating at leafl, if not too vir- tuous, to be impofcd on. There might be per- haps Times, when fine Words would fan&ify foul Adions 5 but Men in our Days have too much Wit not to diilinguilli between a Felon thflrt up hall at- the )on nm lOO dr- ier- ify loo Ion % ii?. ?i!- ( 23 ) that fpeaks well, and an honeft Man that com* plains of being robb'd. I am ibrry, heartily forry, that I am obliged to make ule of fuch Terms ; but when People attempt to abufe the common Senfe of Mankind, every Man is bound to vindicate the Senfe he has left ; and when thofe v^'io have the framing publick Papers, not only abufe Fa6ls, but pervert Language, every private Man is bound to interpofe, and prevent their confounding the Notions of Right and Wrong. If Bavaria has been over- run, it was owing to the Ambition of her Prince ; if its Inhabitants are in the moft miferable Condition diey may thank his Allies •, if they do not enjoy the Bene- fit of Capitulations •, why did they break them ? That their Prince is driven out of his Dominions is true ; that their Country is defolate and their Cities demoliflied, is not to be difputed ; that they are treated as a conquered Nation is ac- knowledged and avowed ; but the Queen of Hungary is guiltlefs. She was forced to do all this in her own Defence ; and if flie has inflidted Punilhments againil the Clemency of her Nature, it has been to prefervc her Subjedls whofe Loy- alty required it at her Hands. Would you have had her left thefe Countries to the Pretender to her own Dominions ? Would you have had her return the Weapon to a defpenite Enemy ? or, from a Principle of falfe Compaffion, would you have had her rifked the Safety of her own Per- fon, merely to prevent the Sufferings of one, who, notwithftanding their Nearnefs in Blcod, had involved their Country in fuch difmal Con- fulions ? Whoever expeds fuch things fhews kimfelf a Patron of Abiiirdities, and is lb vifible an -<'* w r> '.1-1.'/ '',»';" i./ it .ii ( ^+ ) an Enemy to Rcafon, that there is no arguing with him. It is to avoid fuch palpable, fuch glaring Marks of Falfhood and Folly, that a different Turn is given to the Difputc, and new Sounds ar* introduced to prevent our difcerning that the ocnfe is the fame. The Emperor, the Chief of the Empire, the Head of Germany, are now the favourite Phrafcs. But, for God's fake. Sir, did the Queen ol Hungary attack the Emperor ? did fhe defpoil him of his Imperial Dignity ? was it fhe that made him the Penfionerof ir^^f^.? You cannot fay this. The Truth of the Matter is, that the Fledlor of Bavaria, who began a moll unjuft War upon the firft Ele6lor of the Empire, and in the Courfe of that War loft his Dominions, is now Emperor ; and what then ? Has this changed the Nature of Things? Can it have any Effed upon what has been long fince done? will it operate upon his paft Adions, and make that a lawtul and a juft War, which at the Time he entcrprifed it was againft the Conftitution of the Family, the folemn A61 of the Empire, the Faith of numbt riefs Pre. .ties, and the Law of Nations ? If nor, \vhat fignifi s ringing Emperor, Head of Germ,iny, and Sovereign of the Empire in our F.ars ? or what has the Queen of Hungary done to* deferve it ? But, fay fome People, fhe has ^rotefted, and that too in very unguarded Terms. V/hy, grant it were fo ; People who are greatly injured have not always the greateft Patience. But againft what has fhe protefted ? Not againft his Eledlion ; you know that well enough •, but againft the Injury done her in his Eledion •, againft the taking away her Vote *, con- trary to the Golden Bull, which in fpite of Com- miiTorial miflbrial Decrees, Manifefto's, and Expofifions, is and will be the Conftitution of the Empire {o long as it lubfifts. On the whole, therefore, this is a new Con- troverfy about Words, The Queen of Hungary maintains and defends the Germanick Conftitution by her Proteft, and here are a new fet of extra- ordinary Patriots ftarted up, who, by a fingle Stroke of political Equivocation, would turn this A6t of Loyalty to the Conftitution into Treafon, and arm the Eledlors, Princes, and States of the Empire againft an innocent Princefs fhall I fay ? no, againft themfelves, againft their own Rights, their own Privileges, and that very Aflembly which pretends to demand their Af- fiftance. What Madnefs ! What Infatuation I The Eledor of Mentz, who is Archchancellor of the Empire, has tranfmitted this Paper to the Didature of the Empire, without feeing the leaft Harm in it. His Majefty of Great-Britain^ who is likewife an Elector of the Empire, and to ufe the new Phrafe, though it is bad EngliJJj^ as refpeuiabk x Prince as any in the Empire, has, in his Letters to the Emperor, unanfwerably proved, that it was what her Majefty of Hun- gary had a Right to do, and what it ill became his ^ Imperial Majefty to difpute. It is certainly, there- fore a well judged thing to tell the Englijh Nation that they have nothing to do with the Affairs of Germany^ and that they ought not to enquire in- I to German Difputes : Why ? Becaufe thofe Dif- I putes will not bear an Enquiry ; and the Englijh f. Nation have naturally ftich a Love to Truth, and fuch a Capacity of difcovering on which fide it lies, that there is no blinding them with ' fuch fallacious Flourifties as compofe that bom- £ baft ■<;■ :^ .'it ill! t ( 26 ) baft Eloquence, which diftinguiflies the three laft Commiflbrial Decrees. But I would not, Sir, have you miftake me in this Matter, or rather I would not afford you an Opportunity of pretending to miftake me fo far,' as to inter from hence, that I either think it reaibnable to depoic the Emperor, believe that to be the Queen ot Hungary's Defign, or main- tain that Great Britain is bound either by Treaty, or by Inteuft, to fupport her in it, if it was. All I pretend to ftiew is, that the Eleftion of his Imperial Majetty has nothing to do with the Difpute about the Aujtrian Succeflion j and if I am not much miftaken, his prefent Imperial Majefty promifes in one of the Articles of his Capitulation, that he will never involve the Em- pire in any private Difpute of his, which Ihews that the Empire could have nothing to do in this War, even if he were in the right. But though it be true, that no Law could oblige the Queen of Hungary to part with Bavaria^ which is her's by the Laws of Arms, wliich as I obferved before was the only Law that prevailed in Germany when ftie acquired it •, yet I readily admit that it is not decent to deprive fo near a Relation, or to exprefs my Sentiments openly and freely, his in- nocent Pofterity of their patrimonial Inheritance j and I likewife admit that it is not for the Honour of Germany^ to have at her Head a Prince de- prived of his Dominions, and efpecially deprived of them, as he has been, in Confequence of a War begun in dirtd: oppofition to the Laws of the Empire. Thefe, I dare fay you will allow to be great Concefiions, but they are the Con- ceffions of a Man, who has nothing in view but the Truth, who' is not enthufiaftically devoted to the Queen of Hungary' & Intereft, but who could as I i three ake me )rd you me fo think it ve that main- Treaty, as. All of his ^ith the and if I mperial 5 of his he Em- :h fhews o in this : though s Queen is her's d before Germany it that it n, or to , his in- :ritance ; Honour ince de- leprived ice of a Laws of 11 allow he Con- riew but /oted to LO could as ' f27) as readily difccrn Injuftice or Ambition in the Houfe of Juflira, as in any other Houfe, if there was fufficient Marks to diflinguilh them by. But, Sir, it fo falls out, that the Queen of Hungary^ who claims the whole and undivided Succeflion of the Houfe of Auftria under the l*ragmatic SanAion, as approved and guaranteed liy the Diet of the Empire, is entirely governd by the fame Principles, that induced his Impe- rial Majefty of ever glorious Memory her Fa- ther, to expeft that Guaranty, and fo wife, fo prudent, and ih illuftrious an Aflfembly to grant it. In the midft of Perfecution, fhe has pre- ferved her Magnanimity, and while cover'd with opprobrious Language by her Adverfary, has been ftudying his Intere"*.. Her Politicks have been always founded upon Maxims of Truth and Juftice, and with a Heart entirely German (he has been contriving to make a great and indepen- dant Monarch of that Prince, whofe Emiflaries have charged her with a Defign of dethroning him. This, Sir, is indeed an extraordinary Contrail ; it is in every Circumftance fo fair, fo full, and fo agreeable to the Rules of Rhetoric that I am under fome Apprehenfions, my Rea- ders will fufped me of aiming at Eloquence, while I am endeavouring only, in the plaineft Terms, to lay down a certain Truth •, and ic gives me great Satisfaction to think, that weak as my Abilities are, this Caufe cannot fuffer by my handling it •, fmce as the Croats and Pandours rufh'dfrom their Dens and Caverns, pofleflfed with a Spirit of Juftice, that rendered them an Over- match for the regular Troops of France ; fo a Man of the moft ordinary Underftanding, having the Merits of this Caufe imprinted in his Mind, * III V n m ( 2R ) may defend it againfl: the greater Mafters of Words. That wife and good Princefs long ago forcfaw that the beft Expedient for fetthng the Peace of Germany was to fix the Emperor in his Throne, and to inveft him truly with that Sovereignty of which he has now only the Shadow : 1 fay, Sir, even now only the Shadow \ now, when his Court fhines at the Expence of France, and his Power feems to be fupported by the Arms of — — . Her Majefty of Hungary faw with deep Concern the Diftrefs of a Prince, who would have buried herfelf, her Children, and her Family for ever in the Ruins of Vienna, and was fcarce in Safety before fhe bufied herfelf about his. She imputed that Condud which had fo llrong an Appearance of Malice to Delufion •, to that Delufion, which has afforded France an Op- portunity of boafting, that fhe has given Refuge to Kings dethroned, and fhelter'd Princes in Exile. She labour'd by every pofTible Method to deliver his Imperial Majefty from this iinprincely Bon- dage. She would have divorced him from that Intereft, which is not more oppofite to her's than his own. She would have infpired him with Sentiments worthy his Imperial Robes; or ra- ther by removing his Prejudices, fhe would have render'd thofe Virtues confpicious, which none can deny his Imperial Majefty poffefles. Vir- tues, which recommended him to the Choice of all the Electors, and VirtLies moft unhappily ob- fcured by his fatal Adherence to that perfidious Court, whofe Intrigues have involved his Coun- try, and all Europe, in fuch Calamities. Such are the Injuries the Queen of Hungary intended him. Such were the Methods by which Ihe fought to revenge the Injuries he had done her. Such were the (29) the Schemes and Projcfts for dethroning the Head of the Empire-, and furh the Reafons that ought to arm the Empire againft her ! That ftie had not the fame Tendcmefs and Regard for France, did not proceed from a ran- corous unrelenting Difpofition, as has been moft bafcly infinuated by the Pens under the Direftion of that Court, but from a calm and moderate Purfuit ol her own Safety, and the Publick Good. She faw plainly that her own Succeflion could never be fecurc, while France retain'd the Power of hurting her j ftie was convinced that the States of the Empire could never exert them- fclves in the Maintenance of their Guaranty to that Succeflion, while France could awe them ; Ihe difcern*d with no lefs Certainty, that her Neighbours were in equal Danger ; and that the Maritime Powers efpecially could no more promife themfelves quiet than herfelf, if that rower, which no Treaties could bind, was not fo circumfcribed as to lofe in fome Meafure the Capacity of hurting. But what tlien was the Scheme Ihe form'd ? For I have already owned, and I ftill own, that fair Pretences are not always to be trufted. Was it a Scheme to enlarge her own Dominions at the Expence of France ? Was it a Projedt for repairing the LofTes fhe had fuf- fered by the Intrigues of that Crown, by annexing to her Territories, what was pared from the Robberies of the other ? Nothing like it. She thought, and a moft equitable Thought it was, that an Opportunity offered for recovering from France^ what in Times of publick Confulion, fuch as thefe, France had ftolen from the Em- pire i and it was propofed that thefe very Do- minions Ihould have been given to the Emperor, gs a juft Reparation for the Loflcs he has fuftained by V ♦■1 \\ ii i Il'.IT hit 't ( I \ikl (30) by the wicked and treacherous Arts of France. This was the Objed of the Queen's Views, and from the Purfuit of this glorious Objed was the young Hero of Lorrain recalled by the Invafion oi Bohemia, I am fenfible. Sir, that it will be an unpleafing Subject to you, tho' I know not why it ihould be fo J but, at the fame Tiine, it is fo material to my Purpofe, that I muft take the Liberty of pointing out to you the Advantages, that muft Slave followed from the putting this Scheme in Execution, and which, by the Way, nothing could have prevented. Hut the paradoxical Me- thod of giving Peace to Germany by recalling thither the War, which had been transferred into the Territories of France. In the firft Place, Sir, it would have reftored to Germany a large Extent of Country, every Foot f)f which had been taken away by Methods the moft unjuftifi- able that were perhaps ever ufed. For the three Bifhoprkks were feiz'd under the Notion of a Sequeftration, Alface obtain* d by Fraud, and the City of Strajburgh furprized by open Force, in a Time of a full Peace, and when all France blufh'd at the Faft, except the barbarous Minifter that direfted, and the ambitious Monarch that per- mitted it. This alone muft have had happy Confequences, becaufe it muft have remov'd the Terror of the French Arms from four of the Ger- man Electors. In the next Place, it would have been a noble Acceflion to the Territories of the Prince for whom they were defigncd ; and to mention no more, it would, in the third Place, hay^ given fuch Spirit to the defponding Powers of Europe^ as would probably have fecured them, for an Age at leaft, againft the Force and In- trigues of France, All thefe Advantages would have . (30 have accrued Immediately to the Emperor and Empire, and confequentially only to the Queen of Hungary and her Allies, by whofe Arms, and at whofe Expence they were to be obtain'd, not by a dark and clandeftine Alhance, grounded on Motives of Private Tnterefty tranfaded in a Time of Peace, but in a fair and open War, in which the Crown of France itfelf was the Aggreffor. I know it may be objected, that the Empe- ror's Honour was too deeply concerned for him to fuffer fuch a Proceeding. But methinks. Sir, the Force of this Objeftion is very much weaken'd, if not entirely deftroy'd, if we con- fider that tho' all this was to be done for, yet nothing was to be done by the Emperor. He was not defired to break Faith v/'ch, or to attack, him, who is falfly called his Bencfador. He was al- ready out of a Capacity of making War, and was brought into this weak and defencelefs a Con- dition by the Contrivance of this very Power. This is a Fadfc fo certain in itfelf, and fo well known in Germany and to all Europe^ that I might be difpenfed from the Pains o^ proving it. But that I may give no room for fuggefting, that I take Things upon truft, and affert what I cannot make good, give me leave. Sir, to put you in mind of a Proof, that I take to be invin- cible ; I mean" the Difgrace of Marfhal Broglio^ procured by the diretittack'd her ; and the prc- fent Conjun(5ture fliews, that fhc never can be fafe till France has loft its Influence in the Em- pire ; which illicit, which dangerous Influence, was all that llie attempted to take away. If flie granted a Neuttality to the Emperor's Troops, it was an A61: of Compaflfion, for flie had them in her Power. If fhe broke that Neutrahty, it was hecaufe flic could not in Prudence ftay till her Enemies broke it. If fhc has attempted to put Garrifons into Imperial Towns, it was to prevent their being poflelicd by the French. If fhe has at any Time aded contrary to the Syftem of the Empire, it was bccaufe the Em- peror, under French Counfels, had fo confufed that Syftem, that it could no longer be regarded. In a Word, whatfoever flie has done, Ihe has done to fecure the German Nation againft France^ its natural, its implacable Enemy j and againft Gallicifed Germans, who truiVing to the fpecious Promifes of France, are in Arms for her againft their Country. Thefc, Sir, are Truths, incon- tcftable Tiiiths, which will for ever juftify the Conduct of the Queen of Hungary, and the Conduft of the Allies of the Qiieen of Hungary, to the prefent Age, and to all Pofterity. They will juftify her. Sir, fo long as the Conftitution of the Empire remains, and the Laws of Nature and Nations are undcrftood. If, indeed in this critical Conjundure, French Perfidy fiiould get the better of German Probity, and the Power of thi^t all-grafping Crown fhould be too hard for the (39 ) tlie Friends of Freedom, Wrong and Right mfly be fo confounded, as not to be diftinguilhed, and common Senfe may be declared Treafon. But while a Spark of Liberty remains, while we yet dare think as we ought, and fpcak as we think, we mull conclude that the Queen of Hungary and her Allies, have made a moft glo- rious Stand, and that all the Attempts that are, or may be made, to fet this in another Light, are Attempts to deceive thofewho cannot be enflav'd by all the Force their Enemies can employ againfl them. There is but one Point more I fliall touch, and then I have done with this part of my Sub- ject ? and that is the Condu6t of the Princes and States of the Empire. All of thefe that embrac'd the Imperial, that is, the French Party, were vuibly biafs'd either by Hopes or Fears •, fuch as difdain'd the one, and were above the other, fided with the Queen of Hungary as far as they were able, and if any have fince left her. Threats or Promifes have taken them off. While they were free, while they were independant, or to life a ftronger, a more expreflive Word, while they were Germans, they were for the Queen of Hungary ; but fince this fatal Change, fmce its become falhionable to call French Influence the Germanick Conftitution, they may perhaps be obhged to fpeak the Language of the Times, a Language foreign to their Hearts, and, as it v/ill hereafter appear, foreign to their Interefts. Fu- ture Events, Sir, are in the Womb of Time, and lie beyond the Reach of human Forefight ; but whatever thofe Events may be, whatever may befall the Queen of Hungary^ or her Allies, both SHE and they have put this out of the Jleach of Time and Fortune ; that Duty and not Intereft HI II .'*'' !-. I (40) Intereft was their Guide, and that they met their Fate after that of Germany was decided, after its Conflitiition was torn up and dcftroy'd, after its Diet loft its Figure, and its Freedom j after its Emperor lived a Penfioner to France^ and after I want Words to exprefs die reft, and fo I leave it. But if Zeal for Liberty, if the Defire of main- taining Publick Faith, if the pure Intention of doing Right for the Sake of doing right, can draw down the Divine Blelfing on an Appeal to Providence in the way of Arms, the Queen of Hungary will be ftill victorious ; vi(ftorious over the Arts and Frauds, as well as over the Armies of France and her Partizans ; viftorious in the Caufe of Germanyy Europe^ Liberty, and Man- kind. In the Hopes of this. Sir, let us live; for without thefe Hopes, what fhould we live for ? To fe&ourconftant and natural Allies ruin'd by their own Folly, fwallow'd up by an ambitious Neigh- bour, while we have nothing more to expe6b than to be laft devoured. A Fate which to avoid, what Danger is there which we Ihould not defpife ? I am now come to the fecond Part of my Talk, which is to defend the Condudl of Great Britain^ fmce the prefent War begun *, and it falls out very happily for me that there cannot well be any Thing imagined more eafiJy to be de- fended. I am not undertaking either a knotty Argument on the Right Side, or attempting to give plaufible Colours to what in my own Con- fcience I know to be wrong •, but I am to Ihewthat the Britijh Nation in general, who by their Repre- fentatives (4' ) (entatives in Parliament, fo often recommended to his Majefty this War, in the Caufe of the Queen of Hungary^ in Support of the BalJance of Power, and in Maintenance of the Freedom of Europe^ were guided by that good Senfe, which the wifefl Nation in Europe allow them ; by that generous, open and beneficent Spirit of affifting their opprefTed Neiglibours, for which they have been, and may they always be diftin- guilhcd ! This is what I have undertaken, and this may be widi fuch Facility perform'd, that I have not the leaft Fear fo good a CaUfe fhould fufl^er, even in fo weak Hands as mine* You know. Sir, that the Guaranty of the Pragmatic Sandion, was given by the molt fo- lemn Treaty by the Crown of Great-Britain i and that this IVeaty was maturely cxamin'd, and in the moft authentic Manner approv'd by Par- liament. To fay the Truth, Sir, it could not be otherwife -, for without deferting that Syftem which the Nation, I fay the Nation, Sir, has always embraced, we could not defert the Houfe of Auftria. It was not the Revolution, as fome People imagin*d, that gave this Turn to our Politicks i but it was the Court* s endeavouring to give another Turn to our Politicks, that brought about the Revolution. In the Days of King Charles II. the People, the Pariiament, and every Man of Parts and Probity in the Council, were as much attach* d to this Syftem as they are now ; and for the very fame Rea- fon, becaufe they thought it their Intereft, and that the Independency of Britain could not be maintain'd without it. The A(5t therefore of guarantying the Prag- matic Sanftion, was the AA of the Crown, but the Approbation of the LegiQature has made it G the * , fi 1 1 I ' i t I I i the A£b of the Nation \ and may we ceafc to he a Nation whenever we hcTitatc at performing v/hat the Faith of the Nutioii has been pledged to perform. "When the Qiieen of Hungary was attacked, when a Combination was formed to ftrip her of thofe Territories, in the pofieflion of which the Faith of this Nation was given that (he (hould be maintained, what could we do lefs than we did? or what muft all Europe have thought of us, if we had retufed to comply with our Engagements r That there was a flownefs in doing this, I have aliCady obferv'd, was the chief Caufe for over- turning the late Adminiftration ; and it is a Point of Juftice due to a great Man, then at the Head of the Oppofition, and lately at the Helm of our Aflfairs, that he has been perfeftly uniform in his Condudt, that he is done in Power what he declared to be right when out ; and that in this refped he has fet his Pro- bity on the level with his Parts, and Ihewn him- felf at once an honeft and an able Minif^er. This, I fay, is a Piece of Juftice that his very Enemies cannot deny him, and in this no doubt he has fhewn himfelf rruly a Patriot. He caught his Affeftion for the Houfs of Auftria from the Voice of the People, they avow'd the Intercft of that Houft, and the Intereft of this Nation to be the fame ; and therefore whatever the Fate of the War may be, they never can difavow him or his Meafures in this refpefl. His In- ilrudlions are to be found in the Addreffes of Parliament, and if they were dldlated to him by the Crown, the Crown was lirft advifed to them by the Nation. Thefe are Fads, Sir, which the Expofition makes it neceflary for me to call to Remembrance, that the Infmuations thrown out there, as if this was a War contriv'd by a Mi - niflry. 'I (43 ) niftry, and fupportcd by a Party, may appear in the Light they cIlIIi vc •, tbr mod imqiicftiona- bly, if there was a thing to which the whole Nation made irfelf a Party, it was this War iii lavour of the Queen of Hungary •, and I hope the Britijh Spirit will never fink fo low as to be alham'd of it. That we gave her at firft fuch Afliftance, as her Circumftances and our own would allow, was a Mark of our Sincerity, and a Pledge to *hcr of our performing ftridlly our Engagements. That we went farther and incrcafed our Aflift- ance, and engaged at laft our whole Force in her Quarrel, was the Effe6l of the Turn the War took, which quickly convinced us, that we were not more engaged by the Faith of Trea- ties, to fupport the Queen of Hungary^ than by our Intereft to oppofe the Progrefs o^ that ambitious Power, which now vifibly difcloled its Defign of enflaving all Europe. We propor- tioned our Succours according to the Necefllty of the Queen and our own Circumftances, till it was evi3entthat we were ourfelves no lefs deep- ly concern* d than Ihe ; and we did not enter as Principals into this War, till France difplay'd the whole of her Scheme ; and ftiew'd that the Deftrudlion of this Nation, that is to fay, the Freedom and Independency of this Nation, was a part of it. That we executed our Guaranty of the Pragmaic Sanflion, was doing what we ow'd to public Faith, that for doing this, and thereby crofling the Views of France^ we pro- voked her to declare War, was a thing we could not help, for fure the Britijh Nation will never think a Breach of Faith a proper Expedi- ent to avoid any War ; but more efpecially to avoid a War with France^ when adtually engaged G 2 > \w i ii I: \ i i i * 1 1 ■:>'. . I ■: ,'5' %h i ( 44. ) in the Execution of a Project to overturn the Liberties of Europe. As Auxiliaries therefore to the Queen of Hungary we a6ted as became us, and that we are now Principals in the War, is becaufe it is our own Interell, and we fight for ourfelves, fo that the War is row our own, and we alBft the Queen of Hungary , becauie her Enemy is ours. This, Sir, is the true State of the Cafe, and it will be found fo whenever it fhall come to be cxamin'd wkh that Coolnefs and Difcretioh which it deferves by compete'-.i: Judgjes. For however things may be reprefented eicher in the private Converfations of Men, who love to live well together, and therefore naturally give in to each others Notions •, or in Party Cabals, which arc no lefs dangerous to true Politicks than to true Religion, fince they firft produce an hypo- critical Faith, back'd with ftrong Afleverations of Belief againfl real Convidion, which gene- rally ends in Atheifm, or the abandoning of all principles ; in both Cafes, I fay, however this Queftion may be decided among fuch Junto's, yet upon a fair Hearing in a full Affembly of the Reprefentatives of the Britijk People, things will come out exaftly as I have dated them. It will then appear that the Ruin of the Houfe of Auftria, was only the firft Step in the French Plan, and that from thence they would have proceeded to change the general Syftem of Eu- rope, But you will demand how will this ap- pear ; to which I anfwer, by confidering th^ Force France employed for this Purpofe. If the obtaining fome Satisfaction for ihe Houfe of Bavaria, had been all that was in View, it might fureiy have been brought about without fuch an Armament, as in the firft Inftance, coft Francs (45) f ranee twice the Value of a reafonable Equiva- lent. But thi*" was not the Cafe j nay, it was never pretended to be the Cafe, till very lately. The firft avowed Defign was to transfer all the Dominions of the Houfe of Auftria to that of Bavaria ; and this I muft confefs was the only caufe that could be avow'd : For the Elector of Bavaria was either the Heu* of all the Dominions of the Houfe of Auftria^ or of none. He claims by a Pragmatick Sanftion, as well as the Queen of Hungary -, and his Claim, to ufe a coarfe Expreflion, ftands upon as broad a Bottom, But now, to fay nothing of the Injuftice of France in guarantying one Pragmatick SanAion, ^nd arming in Favour of another, what Reafon is there to believe that fhe meant the Defign ihe avowed ? If the Eledor of Bavaria was to be the uriverfal Heir of the Auftrian Dominions^ how came the Crown of Spain to enter into the War ? What could induce the King of Poland to take the Share in it he did ? Or how could France have enter'd into Engagements with his Prujftan Majefty ? The Partition of the Auftrian Succeflion, was as much againft the Intereft, as much againft the Right of the Eleftor of Ba- varia^ fuppofing him to have any Right to that Succeflion, as the Partition of the Queen o^ Hun- gary's Dominions, is againft the Nature of that Title by which ftie poffefles them. Thus, Sir, I prefume to fay, that I have made it clear to the meaneft Capacity, that the Defign of France was as little to eftablilh the Claim of tlie Houfe of Bavaria,, as that of the Houfe of Auftria •, and if that was not her De- fign, what in the Name of God could be her Defign, but to overturn anjd deftroy that Syftem which has been form'd to fet Bounds to her Power ? Iijri ;/,■ B ■■^,5! (46 ) Power ? to fecure the reft of Europe from the EfFcdls of her Ambition, and to preferve our Conftitution, Liberties and Commerce, from that Ruin, which muft overwhelm them, when- ever the Power of France rifes as high as her Ambition. And now. Sir, I would be glad to know, why any Foreign Prince fhould prefume in the Stile of the Expofuioriy to queftion the Right of the Britijh Government, to interfere in the Affairs of Germany^ at a Time when it was moft vifible that the Affairs of Germany^ were in Fadl our own. When the Confidcration was •'cc, whether we fhould take a fhare in the War, but whether we fhould take it fooner or later ; whether we fhould take it in Compliance with Treaties, in Support of our Allies, while it lay at a Diirance, and while it was in our power to prevent the Calamities that were com.ing upon us, by oppofing our Enemies in Time, or whe- ther by illuding our Treaties, we fhould ftay till our natural Allies were undone, till the Force of our Enemy was irrefiftible, till our OpprefTion would have been inforced by inviricible Necef- fity, and we fhoutd have had as little Title to CompafTion in the Day of our Deftrudion, as we had to Honour in purfuing fo bafe, fo pufi- lanimous a Conduft, when there was a pofTibi- lity of refitting that Torrent, by which we mufl then have been overborne? A moft excellent Scheme of Policy indeed. The Condud of France^ for you know. Sir, it is lawful to learn from Enemies^ the Conduct of France ought to teach us better Things. Is there Wifdom and Policy in France ? Did this Wifdom and Policy appear in the Meafures fhc took for compafTing her Defign ; in the im- menfe Sums of Money fquander'din the North ; in (47) in the vaft Subfidies granted to German Princes, in the March of fuch mighty Armies into a di- ftant Country, to be maintain' d there at almoft inconceivable Expence ? Did, I fay, her Wif- dom and Policy appear in all this, and would it i at the fame time have been Wifdom and Pohcy » j in us, to have fet ftill with our Arms before us, h while all this was doing? No, furely, nor ^ common Senfe. When the Gallick Cock ftruts, > . crows, and claps his Wings, it can never be a fie |j Seafon for the Britijb Lion to flumber. If th« ! Quarrels of Germany be nothing to us, what are they to France ? If Ihe has nothing to fear, no- ^, ^ thing to hope, nothing to defire, as fhe fome- times pretends from the Iffue of thefe Quarrels, why does fhe meddle in them ? Why does ihe ! , profufely fquander away her Men a(id Money in ?'■ the Maintenance of them ? Why does ihe com- jj pafs Sea and Land? Why does ihe move Hea- i yen and Earth to give a certain Turn to thofe Quarrels, if that Turn is not to be to lier Ad- vantage ? If that Turn is not to be advantagious f ' to her in a Degree proportionable to her Ex- pence? If that Turn is not in Futurity ) com- penfate the exhauiling hcrfelf for the j refent, t the throwing away all her Money, the thinnino- her Country of Men, the putting almoft a full Stop to her Commerce, the fubvertiiig her do- meftick Oeconomy, and the hazarding the A^- fedion of his Subjedts to xhdv b^ beloved Prince ^ "by burying them under Misfortunes of eveiy kind, was to be repaid by fome Benefit adequate to the rifk. But what Benefit, Sir, at leaft what ■ Benefit of fuch a Nature, can France ever reap and we remain in Safety ? Or with what Face can any Man pretend, that the Wifdom and Policy of France appears in fuch a Condud, and that tlie oppoCii ^ ( ( I f l>' (48) Oppofing it with ill her Force, is in Great Bn^ iain either foolifh or unjuft ? You may poffible objeft, that in all this I take for granted what I ought to have proved, that France is the the natural and irreconcileable Ene- my of Britain^ that her Profperity includes our Deftruftion, and that, though removed from her by our Situation as an Ifland, we are yet as much bound to oppofe her Progrefs on the Continent, as if we were fettled on the Continent ourfelves. But, Sir, this is a Point lo well known, and fo little controverted, that it fcarce Hands in need of Proof. But for your fake. Sir, who are a Foreigner, I am content to enter a little upon that ftale Topic, as well to convince you that the Fad is certain, as to make you fenfible that' we have not taken up this Notion as Politicians ; but have been forced and driven into it by the French themfelves. Their Condudt, Sir, at all Times, and in all Circumftances, have fpoke diem our determined Enemies, even when wc were of the fame Religion, when the Famihes of our Princes were moft nearly allied. In War they have endeavoured to opprefs us by Dint of Numbers ; in Peace they have laboured to de- ceive and deftroy us by fpecious Pretences of Friendfhip, which have ever done them moft Service, and moft hurt us. It would be no dif- ficult Task to fupport this Obfervation, by a co- pious Dedu6bion of Fadls for upwards of feven hundred Years paft ; but to avoid fo tedious a Digreflton let us take a (hort View of their Be- haviour from the beginning of the laft Century. The Letters and Negotiations of the French Mi- nifters under the Reign of Henry IV. which have been made publick for the fake of difplaying theit prodigious Abilities, render it manifcjft that they would > i I t 9 e 1 e c (49) would have hinder'd the AccefTion of King James I. if they had been able i and that they willingly encouraged fuch feditious Spirits as be- gan to llir in the Northern Parts ot liis Domi- nions. In the fucceeding Reign they had their Emiflaries about the Queen, who was a Daugh- ter of France, who put her upon doing Things that at once debafed her Character, and render' d her odious to her Subjedls. This forced the King to difmifs all her French Servants at once ; an Accident that was improved into giving her a Diftafte agajnft one, who was a better Huf- band than a King, and who gratified her Hu- mours at the Expence of his Intereft, and at laft of his Life. At the fame time that the French prompted the Court to high and haughty Meafures, they were intriguing with the Difaf- fe(5ted, or to ufe a modern Word, with thofe in the Oppofition. To whom was it that the firll Revolters in Scotland addreffed themfelves, by Petition, for Support againft their lawful and hf::reditary King, but to the Crown of France ? and from whence were the firft Supplies of Mo- ney derived, that enabled the Chiefs of the Par- ty to march an Army into England, but from the French Coffers ? What excited the King to that StifFnefs, that fo much hurt him, but French Councils? And who preferred xhjitknavijh, trim- ming Secretary, that took Notes at the Council- Table for the ufe of ^he Oppofition, I mean Sir Henry Vane, but our French Queen, who was thus the Beginning of thofe Troubles which io efFedually anfwered the Ends of her Country- men ? Who was it that for promoting the Scheme juft then form'd, and which has oeen ever fincc fteadily purfued, truckled to Cromwell, and flat- ter* d the Ufurper, into turning that Power he H had I r. ii r ( so ) had acquired by the Murder of the King, and the Subverfion of the Laws, into doing the dir- ty Work of France, and dcprelfing the Houfe of Auftria to a Degree ihe has never fince re- ' cover'd ? I need not tell you, Sir, for no Man is ignorant that it was Mazarine, whofe Ambi- tion did not foar higher, than his DifTimulation could defcend, where Fawning could do the Bufi- nefs better than Force. "Who was it that on the great Turn which happened here, advifed Monk to fet up for him- felf, and ofter'd to fupport him with all their Power ? Was it not the Crown of France by her Ambaflador ? And this to keep out a King, who was by Blood a Grandfon of France, and who had fuffered himfelf to be perverted to Popery, by folemn Profefllons of effedual Afliftance. By whom in the Beginning of his Reign, was that Prince fcduced into felling Dunkirk to thofe^ who immediately ftruck a Medal to awaken the Jealoufy of his Subjedts upon that Occafion ; and afterwards publifh'd the whole Negotiation to ■ blacken the Charafters of his Minifters ? Who ■ was it that firft excited the firft Butch War, then join'd with the Butch againft us, and invited Ludlow to Paris, to concert the moft efFedlual Means of reftoring the Commonwealth ? And who was it, that atter Force proved abortive, put the King upon arbitrary Meafures, betray*d thofe Meaiures to fuch as were likely to put the worft Conftruftion upon them, and by their AmbalTa- dors fung one Song in the Cabinet of the Prince, and another in the Cabals of the Oppofition, till the whole Kingdom was in a Flame, and till between true Plots and Iham Ones, no Man knew what Title he had to Safety ? Who, I fay, . did alJ this, and ten Times more, but France'? ' ' Who f5' ) Who was it that clieated King James out of his Kingdoms, and forced even thofe who wifli'd him bcft, to concur for their own Safety in fuch Meafurcs as led him to an Abdication ; and who afterwards received that dekided Prince, and pretended to impofe him on us as a Tyrant ; who if he would have ruled legally might have lived and died our Monarch ? who, I fay, but France ? And who has ever fince diflurbed the prefent Government by Laweftablilh'd, by open Invafions, by fecret Confpiracies, now by avow- ing the Pretender to the Crown, and then by as ftncere Pretences to defert his Interefts, in order to recommend fuch Meafures as were moft like- ly to ferve him ? Who, I fay, but that perpe- tual Proteus^ France ? And now. Sir, let me a(k you whether you think, after this hafty, this incorred, this trifling Sketch of one Inftance in a Hundred of her Treachery, any Man can doubt that if Great-Britain has any Senfe or Feeling, Ihe muft have as honeft, as hear* ty a Deteftation for France^ as fhe has Love for herfelf, and Duty to her Governors. You have heard no doubt that we have Debts, Taxes, and Grieva ces ; but. Sir, to whom do we owe them? Our Debts were incurred in two long Wars, to defend ourfelves againft the Power of France ; moft; of our Taxes came in at the fame Door ; and all our Corruption began /», and has been confequential/r^w, Fr^«f/& Pra6tices. It is a melancholy Truth, but ftill a Truth it is, that we have been often forced to circumfcribe our Liberties, that the Arts of France might not bring about Changes, that might have taken a- way all Liberty •, that we have been obliged to exclude for many Years together, a great Body of People from Places, to which they had as H 2 mucb \i'^. ( sO ^uch a Right as thofe who poireffed them, cx- clufive of the Sufpicion they had brought upon • ^hcmfelves, by an indifcrect, if not a criminal Coniplaifance for France, That we have been forced firft into a long Circle of tedious, trouble- fome and expenfive Negotiations, to fence ag^nft French Influence in the Councils at Madrid •, and fecondly into a long,uneafy, and inefixfdual War to force a Power into a juft Notion of her own Interefts, which if fhe would but once under- (land, would fecure ours. Thus you fee. Sir, that every Evil we feel, as well as every Evil we have felt, every Mifchicf that we dread, as well as every Misfortune under which we fufFer, fpring all from the fame Caufe, and when traced to their Fountain Head, are juftly charged upon France, We hate her, it is true ; but that we do hate her, who can wonder ? That this Dedudlion of French Injuries and French Perfidies may appear lefs a Digreflion, give me leave to return to my Subjed, by ob- ferving that they have by Degrees opened the Eyes of the whole Nation ; and though we are, , as the Inhabitants of all free Countries mud be, fplit into a Multitude of Parties, yet there is not any Party, nay not a fingle Subdivifion of any Party, that is not from Experience and Con- yidtion ar. Enemy to France, The Whigs are profefTedly fo from Principle ; the Tories from repeated Proofs of her Fallhood and Diffimula- tion *, nay, the very Jacobites, formerly her ftauncheft Friends, are now among the bittereft of her Enemies ; I mean fuch of them as can think, fuch of them as remember, that to France they owe all their paft and prefent Misfortunes, all that they fuffer at Home, the Contempt with whicji they are treated Abroad, and the Defpair they ( S3 ) they feel in their own Bofoms. It is therefore a Fadt that cannot be queftioned, that the general Difpofition (hewn to fuccour the Queen of Hun- garyy and thereby preventing the Execution of the French Plan for extending their Power, was a Meafure didlated by the Hearts of all Parties, and not a temporary Start of Romantic Gene- rofity, or of fudden Refentment. No, thd Wrongs we have received from France^ have been fo various in their Nature, as well as fo many in Number ; her Views have been conftantly found fo diametrically oppofite to our Intereft, and fo diredtly calculated tor fubverting our Liberties at Home, and for ruining our Commerce A- broad, both which Defigns have been avowed of late Years in Political Treatifes dedicated to their greateft Minifters ; that not to be watchfiil of her Conduct, not to be diffident of her Proceed- ings, not to be jealous of every Increafe of her Power, not to be ready to alTift whatever Ally ihe firft attack'd, muft be efteemed a Politica[ Lethargy, little fhort of total Stupefadion. You may have heard, Sir, hv*" why fhould I diflemble, you muft have heard, Sir, from the Mouths of thofe who are always fond of pro- claiming to Foreigners, what they call the Inte- reft s of their own Country, that we are betray* d whenever we meddle with foreign Concerns, that our Situation and our Navy are our natural Se- curities, and that behind thefe Barriers we may be fafe not only from the Rage, but from all the Force of the Continent. That to us it is no- thing which way the World goes Abroad, if Things go well at Home, that the Ballance of Power is a Cant Word, the Support of the Houfe of Auftria a Chimera, the univerfal Mo- narchy of France a GobHn 5 and all thefe taken together ( 54 ) together, a Set of artificial Sounds made ule of by Germanized Knaves, to bamlx)uzzle the Fools their Countrymen out of tlieir Money. I am very forry. Sir, to make ufe of fuch Language to a Perfon of your Character •, but. Sir, if the Sentiments of thefe Men be not exprcfs*d in tlieir own Language, it is twenty to one but they will difown them ; nay, 'tis very great Odds that without a Repetition of the individual Phrafes, you might yourfelf forget that thefe are the very Dodlrines, which in every CofFee-houfe our Pa- triot Politicians have of late affe<5led to maintain. You fee. Sir, in a narrow Compafs, in a few Words, and in their own Words, what it is mif- ieads Foreigners, and what by the Artifice of evil-meaning, and by the Clamours of noify Men, is impofed upon tJic World as the Senfe of the Briti/h Nation. But, Sir, be not deceived, thefe Notions are not, never were, or can be the Senfe of the Na- tion. There never was a Parliament that avow'd them,nor can they be avow'd byParliament,becaufe thofe who aflert them With greateft Violence in their Harangues, difbelieve them in their Hearts. In the Days of King Charles II. and in the Reign of James II. when there was a great Ma- jority of Tories in Parliament, they profefled the diredl contrary *, and then. Sir, they fpoke from their Hearts. They frequently advifed the firftof thefe Princes to ad againft Frcnce^ and more than once they forced him to take that Ad- vice •, which was what Sir ^Villiam Temple^ who loved the King and his Family, and never defert- td them, told him, would make him the King of his People. But how King of his People ? Not furely by ailing contrary to their Interefts, againft therr Sendments, and with a View tofacrifice the Wealth ( 55 ) Wealth of this Nation for the Service of the Houfe of Auftria^ or of any other Houfe upon Earth, no Man can be ftupid enough to believe this, and what then muft he believe ? why that the oppofing France^ and fupporting the Houfe of Aujiria^ was the Intereft of the Britijh Na- tion in the Judgment of the Britijh Nation. As for King James they rung this Truth in his Ear, till he would bear it no longer from them. And what follov.''d then? "Why truly, they would bear no longer with him, but fent him to live, not on the Charity, but on the Policy of that Power, to which he had facrificed the Interefts of the People, his own, and thofe of his Family. For, Sir, as you are a Stranger, give me leave, to tell you, that that the very People, who now, or very lately, preached up this Doctrine, were thofe who fent King James a grazing (I make ufe of their own polite ExpreflTion) for having afted as if he believ*d it. And now. Sir, hav- ing fhew-i you the Time when they profeffed the contrary Opinion, I will next Ihew you how, WHY, and WHEN they changed it. The Tories^ Sir, were as deep in the Revolu- tion as the JVhigSy and fomewhat deeper too, for a certain Tory Earl, who afterwards pretended to be fomething more than a Tory^ advifed the Prince of Orange at Windfor to confine, if not to— —King JameSy which Advice his High- ■ nefs rejeded and refented, as became him. But the Tories after the Revolution finding them- felvcs not rewarded to their Wi(h, which per- ■ haps was impolTible., faced about and oppofed the Court. But as this could not be done upon . their former Principles, fince King William du- ring his whole Reign a£led fteadily upon thofe Principles, they were forced to look out for new ones. U Jl (56) ones, and then. Sir, they firft broached thofe Dodrincs which I have juft now mention'd. This was the Rife of the new Syftem,which give me leave to fay, is as abfurd, as uninteUigible, and as ridiculous, as from its Origin we might fuppofe it. For what is to be expeded from Men, who in a fit of Paflion defert their old Sen- timents, and fit down to coin new ones. Give me leave to add, that their new Pradices were of a Piece with their new Principles, and alto- gether as abfurd, as unintelligible, and as ridi- culous. For thefe very Men, who formerly profefled their Averfion to France^ and expelled King James for adhering to France^ became themfelves the Partizans of France^ did htr Bu- fmefs during that whole Reign, and by one means or other hinder'd her being brought as low, as for the Security of Europe^ and the Safety of ourfelves, fhe ought to have been brought, and would have been brought, by the firfl Grand Alliance, which they oppofed, villify'd, and I might add fomething more, out of Spight^ the only Principle they have adher'd to ever fince. The Tories at the Beginning of the next Reign turn'd about again, or rather return'd to their firft Principle, they were hearty for the War, renounced their Intrigues with France^ and be- hav'd once again like EngUJhmen ; but endeavour- ing to become too arbitrary at Court, and dif- daining to do ;iny thing, if they might not do all, they made the Queen fo uneafy, that (he would no longer bear tliem, juft as they would no longer bear her Father •, and thus a new Breach fell out, and then they took up their new Principles again, and fwore them to be old ones. During both thefe Reigns, Hell and ftood where Hanover does now. ( S7 ) now, and for the very fame Rcafon, becaufc i\{t Mob of all Countries arc fclfifh, and thofc who would pleafe a Mob mufl dcfcend to mean Things, and infill upon it they are great Ones. The Alliance they faid was made for the fake of the Dutch \ every Meafure of the War was taken for the Benefit of the Butch \ the Land and the Trade of this Nation were taxed and mined for the Butch \ and in fhoi - all was fa- crificed for the Dutch \ while in I'ruth, the Dutch were facrificing themfelves for the com- mon Caufc •, and, as they are very fenfible fmce, involved their Revenues, and curtailed theif Trade, that neither arc like to recover in haflc, which is the Reafon they have not been fo for- ward fince. Give mc leave to afk you, Sir, who arc much better acquainted with the Matter than I, whether the Time is not come in which this is the very Cafe with Hanover ? In this War, if any Sacrifice has been made, the Elec- toraie has been facrificed to the Kingdom ; and whenever wc fee a Peace made, I will venture to prophefy, tliat whatever becomes of the King- dom, the Eledtorate will not get a Penny, nor a Foot of Land by it, though it is very evident to all, who are acquainted with her Circum- flances, that fhe ]ut«. been f ifHciently exhaufted in the Quarrel, with which however fhe had no- thing more to do tlian any other State in Germany ; and the only Reafon that can be afllgn'd, either for difliking or deferring her, is, that fhe has done more than the rcfl, follow' d her true Inte- reft farther, and kept her Treaties better. But to purfue my Subjedt. Be pleafed to ob- ferve. Sir, that during the laKer part of the Op- pofition made by the Tories to the late Miniilry, they once more recognized their own Principle, \ declared ( S8 ) declared a^riainft France^ and went fuch Lengths in Favour of the Hoiife of Aujlria^ as never any Men v?Mt but themfelves, when they fpirit- cd up the late Emperor's Miniiter to affifint the late King in a Memorial, and to fcattcr that Me- morial among his Suhjedls. The grcu Topic of their Complaint then was the fame they had ufed againft Charles and James ^ that the Coun- cils of thefe Kingdoms were dire6ted by France^ that the Houfe of Jujiria^ our natural Ally, was negleded •, that the Dutch were forced againft tlieir Will into foolifh Treaties, to which they acceded with bad Grace, and abundance more lo tiie fame Purpofe r^ of the Truth of which if yoii enquire of your Bookfeller, and have a large Clofet to fpjrc, I da"e fay he will fill it with au- tli^ntic Evidence. In thofe Days, Sir, and thofe Days, if I may be allow'd the Expreflion, were but Yefterday, the Support of the Houfe of Atiftria was no Chimera, the Ballance of Power no Cant Word, the Power of the Houfe of EourbvnzXivm^ Giant and no Goblin •, neither do I think it impoflible that the prefent Generation may h:tar them profefs the fame Things again. Upon the whole. Sir, as in common Life you do not credit a Man moll when he is leaft in his. Senfes, or take thofe for his real Sentiments, which he delivers in the midft of Pafiion, or in a Fit of the Spleen, lb if you will believe thefe People at all, you muft believe wliat they faid a long time ago, before they were out of their Senfts, or what they once faid in their lucid In- terv.ils, and when there was fome Colour for conceiving that they fpoke their Minds. But if you are really a Convert, or Ihould think fit to profefs yourl'elf fo to this Patriot Syftem of the new Stamp, as, if you take your Creed from the t ( (59) the ExPosiTtoN, I am afraid you will, then I inuft change my Style, and inftead of proving to you that People have told you what they do not believe, I muft Ihew you 'tis impofTible they fliould believe it. This, as it falls out, is no very difficult Tafk^ for you muft know. Sir, that all this new Sy- IVem is true in one Senfe, and falfe in another •, which thofe who broached it knew very well, and have made all the ufe of it pofTible. If, Sir, the Pwwers on the Continent Were equal, without queftion this Syftem would be right, and Great>* Britain ought to take no part in their Quarrels, becaufe fhe might gain by being Friends with them all, and muft lofe by falling out with any of them. But this is plainly not the Cafe ; and all the Defign of thofe who are warmeft for the Queen of Hungary^ and the Ballance of Power is to make this the Cafe. All that they defire. Sir, is to fee Things fo fettled on the Continent, as tliat Great-Britain may have no Concerns in its Qiiarrels, that we may have nothing to do, but to mind our Affairs at Home, to fecure our Liberties, and extend our Commerce. But this. Sir, is not to be done till France is reduc'd % and thofe who Would perfuade us to the contrary^ talk juft as reafonably, as if they fhould exclaim at a Man for lofing his Time, exhaufting his Spirits, and throwing away his Money, for en- couraging Firemen to alTift in faving his Neigh- bour's Houfe, when for twelve Ilours he might flifely employ himfelf in cafting up his Books, forting his Goods in his Warehoufc, or purfii- ingthe other Duties of his Pioieflion. Tk-fe are all Duties 'tis true, and no-body will defend a Man that negledts them, to attend his Neigh- bour*s Concerns with which he has no Bufincfs. I 2 But i ! r'l (,*«'?' 1 (60) But if there is a Fire within ten Doors, would he not think you mad if you were to harangue him to this Purpofe ? and would he not anlwer you very rationally, Sir, for God*s fake let us fee the Fire out, for that is my prefent Bufinefs, When therefore we cooly confider this Mat- ter, it very plainly appears that all that is defire- able in the Self-preferving Syflem is purfued by thofe, who are for profecuting the prefent Wai* vigoroufly, and for reducing France, and the Friends of France, as low as the Juftice of their Caufe, and the BlelTing of God upon it, by Force of Arms will allow. If this was once done, if the Power of the Houfe of Bourbon was eftedtually circumfcribed, if a proper Bal- lance wns eftablifhed in Germany, in Italy, and in the North, wc need not trouble ourfelvcs with the Affairs of the Continent for a Century to come. We might have time to regulate all our domeftick Concerns, and reftore every Part of our decaying Conftitution to its former Strength, and not leave it in lie Power of two or three artful Heads of F. ^tions to new mould at their Pleafure every Adr-iiniilration. We might then attend at Leifure to the neceflary Means of de- prefllng Luxury, and reftoring Indullry. We fliould loon be able to fhake of the Load of Debts and Taxes •, to extend our Foreign Com- merce, and do every thing that is wiihed and defired, by fuch as heartily love their Country, and do not make ufe of that glorious Term to cxprefs til. ir Attachment to a P;irry. But, Sir, what muft be the Cafe, if we liflen to the Advice given us in xht I^^xposition, or if we are deluded into pu'lii'iig the Principles laid down then.kH, kt t'leni come from what Hands they will. If we are once cheated into an Opinion that (6. ) that we fet out wrong in this War, or that we have had too great Concern for the Affairs of Germany^ there is an End of all our Hopes at Home and Abroad. We fhall then do juft what we did at theClofe of the Queen's Reign, patch up a weak, unconnefted, inglorious, unfuftain- able, and ruinous Peace, that will entail upon us a long Train of Negotiations, and make the Af- fairs of the Continent a real Burthen. This, Sir, is the Truth, and a Truth of fuch Impor- tance to our political Salvation, that upon it, and it alone, it muft depend. I know well enough that there are People here, who do not care to have this Truth publifh'd in fo clear a manner •, but he who loves Truth and his Coun- try cannot fear the Refentments of his Country- men, for fpeaking the one for the fake of the other. There are indeed Times in which Truth ought not to be fpokcn too plainly -, but thefe are fo far from being thofe Times, that on the contrary they are fuch as require Truth to be fet in the cleareft Light, becaufe if be not known, and purfued now, it is like to be buried in all Time to come. To conclude then, for I dare fay, Sir, you are tired, it is the Bufinefs of the High Allies to perfe6l what they have begun, to fhow the Mi- niftry of the great Power in the Norths that no- thing can contribute fo much to the thorough Eftablifhmcnt of the Ruffian Power, as the De- ftru6i:ion of the French Scheme, and the expel- ling the Influence, the pcfliftrous Influence, of that deflgning Court, out of Sweden^ Denmark, and Poland ; for which there never was fo fair an Opportunity as at prefent. To refl:ore the Freedom, Independency, and Glory of the Ger- man Empire, by making the Head of it worthy ot !#) W ^ ( 6a ) of being ftiled Emperor op the Romans* To maintain that Power in the full Enjoyment of its juft Rights, which has been always the Bulwark of Europe againft Mohammedan and Chriftian Tyranny \ and to fupport all the reft of the Princes and States of the Empire, inthofe Immunities that are derived to them from their Conftitution. To fecure the Peace and Profpe- rity of Italy^ by obtaining fuch a Ihare of Do- minion for the King of Sardinia^ as is neceflary to prevent his ever being oppreffed by France or Spain •, I do not fay to procure for him what his perfonal Virtues and heroic Condu6b in the prefent War deferves, for that might perhaps en- title him to all Italy •, and to put it out of the Power of any of the little Princes or States there, to betray their Country in fucceeding Ages, as fome of them have done in this. To oblige the Crown of Spain to perform her Treaties, and to be wife enough to preferve her Indies^ by making a right Ufe of the Wealth fhe derives from them, and minding the Concerns of that People to whom they belong. To procure for the Maritime Powers whatever they have a Right to alk for the Security of their Foreign Com- merce, and the Maintenance of their Liberties at Home. Thefe, Sir, are the Ends, for which we ought to continue the W.r, let it coft what it will ; and the eifedualiy anjwering thefe Ends is what the Britisfi Nation have a Right to expe£l from a Peace. Thus, Sir, in return for your Matter's Ex- pojition^ which was plainly calculated for the People of this Kingdom, I have given you a clear Account, and I dare afnrm a true one, of the Principles and Views of all our Parties, of the V a (63 ) the true Ground of what you efteem our Pre- judice in Favour of the Houfe of Aujtris^ of the juf- Caufes of our Hatred to France^ and of our Readinefs to take every Occafion to oppofe the ambitious Defigns of a Neighbour, conftant- ly employed in plotting our Deftrudtion -, of the real Intereft of this Nation at Home and A- b;oad, of the genuine Meaning of Great Bri- tain's minding its own Concerns, of the Necef- fity of profecuting the War with the fame View on which it was begun, and the proper Objefls of our Attention, whenever Negotiations are in earneft begun, for bringing about a general Peace ; and in doing this. Sir, I have fpoken with the Freedom becoming a Briton^ unbiafled by the Prejudices of one Party, or the hopes of pleafing another j and, as far as my Abilities will give me leave, acquainting you with the true Senfe of the honeft Men of all Parties. How far this. Sir, may be acceptable to you I know not, nor am I much concern'd about it. The Pamphlet you directed to be publifh'd very fully juftifies this Anfwer ; as well as the Liberty I take of fubfcribing myfelf. SIR, Tour 'very humble Servan/y B R I T A N N U S.