PART II. A.D. 1706, of similar motives, was actuated by an implacable refentment against France; and the penfionary Heinfius, who led the councils of the ftates, yielded to his own intereft, while he acted in fubferviency to thofe two generals. Thefe were the three great fprings that now directed the Grand Alliance: and the motion communicated by their joint impulfe, was accelerated by the torrent of victory. The views of the allies extended with their fucceffes. Having humbled France, they afpired at the conqueft of Spain. It was accordingly refolved, That no peace fhould be made with the house of Bourbon, while a prince of that house continued to fit upon the Spanish throne :S. THUS 75. "I do not remember," fays my lord Bolingbroke, any “parlis❝mentary declaration for continuing the war till Philip V. should be de "throned, before the year 1706: and then fuch a declaration was judged "neceffary to fecond the refolution of our minifters and our allics, in departing from the principles of the Grand Alliance, and in proposing “not only the reduction of the French, but the conqueft of the Spanish "monarchy, as the object of the war." (Sketch of the Hift. and State f Europe. And, little faith as is placed in the hiftorical testimony of Bolingbroke, he seems here to have truth on his fide, notwithstanding what has been advanced to the contrary by Lord Walpole; who endea vours to prove, That although the king of England, and the Statesgeneral of the United Provinces, had acknowledged Philip V. to he Jawful king of Spain, in virtue of the will of his predeceffor Charles II. the primary object of the Grand Alliance was to deprive him of the throne of that Kingdom, and placed upon it a prince of the houfe of Anfria. (Anfwer to the Latter Part of Lord Bolingbroke's Letters on th-Study of Hiftory. That fuch was the aim of the imperial family is very certain; but England and Holland, as I have already had occafion to fhew, (Let. XX.) refufed to engage for fo much. In afterward going that length, they consequently altered, or enlarged their plan. What is farther neceffary to be observed on this intricate fubject, may be found in the reflections introductory to the negociations at Utrecht (Letter XXIII.) Though a well-wifher to the caufe of the Confederates, Ifcera to conceal their errors or inconfiftencies. No ftipulation was originally made, in any article of the Grand Alliance, that a prince of the house of Bourbon should not be allowed to fit on the throne of Spain, or met poffefs, together with that kingdom, the Sparifh dominions in America. But LETTER THUS, my dear Philip, were the objects of this confederacy in a great measure changed; and, in order to form a true judgment of the whole, you must A. D. 1706 confider very attentively the new plan, and compare it with the original plan of the Grand Alliance, relatively to the general interests of Europe, and the particular interest of your own country. You will then, I think, be of opinion, That the war was wife and just before this change, becaufe neceffary to maintain that equality among the powers of Europe on which their peace and common profperity depend; but that it was unwife and unjuft, after this change, because unneceffary to fuch end, and directed to other and contrary ends. After this change, it became a war of paffion, of ambition, of avarice, and of private intereft, to which the general interefts of Europe were facrificed fo entirely, that, if the terms infifted on by the Confederates had been granted, fuch a new fyftem of power would have been created as must have expofed the balance of that power to deviations, not inferior to thofe which the war was originally intended to prevent 76. WHILST we reprobate this ambitious fcheme, confidered in a general view, we find particular occafion to lament the fate of Great Britain in the midst of But on the acceffion of Savoy and Portugal to the Grand Alliance, the Confederates began to extend their views; and, in confequence of the fucceffes of the war, from 1703 to 1706, was formed the resolution, which made thefe obfervations necessary. 76. The emperor Jofeph, who died a few years after, was then without male iffue. And the union of the kingdoms of Spain and Hungary, with the German and Italian dominions of the houfe of Austria, in the perfon of the archduke Charles, fupported by the wealth of the American mines, would have been no lefs dangerous to the liberties of Europe, independent of the weight of the imperial crown, than the union of the French and Spanish monarchies under Philip V. or his defcendants. triumphs PART II. triumphs that have been founded fo high. Victories A. D.1766. that bring honour to the arms, may bring shame to the councils of a nation. To win a battle, to take a town, is the glory of a commander, and of an army. Of this glory we had a very large fhare. But the wisdom of a nation is to proportion the ends the proposes to her interest and her strength. Great Britain neither expected nor defired any thing beyond what fhe might have obtained, by adhering to the first principles of the Grand Alliance. But fhe was hurried into thofe of the new plan by the caufes which I have already mentioned; by the prejudices and the rashness of party; by the influence which the fucceffes of the arms of the Confederates gave to our miniflers, Godolphin and Marlborough; and by the popularity, if I may fo fpeak, which they gave to the war itself. The people were unwilling to put an end to a conteft that afforded so many occafions of public rejoicing, and fo wide a range for national pride. THE English miniftry, however, though thus lavish of the blood and treasure of the nation, in fupport of unnecessary foreign wars, were by no means negligent of its internal tranquillity and happinefs. That UNION of England and Scotland, under one legislature, which had, as we have seen, been often attempted in vain, was at last accomplished, after long and warm debates between the commiffioners of the two kingdoms; ! and, in confequence of it, all disputes concerning the Scottish crown were fortunately prevented. THE principal Articles in that famous treaty are to the following purport: "That the Two Kingdoms "of ENGLAND and SCOTLAND fhall be united into "ONE, by the name of GREAT BRITAIN; "THAT XXI. "THAT the SUCCESSION to the United Kingdom LETTER "fhall remain to the Princess SOPHIA, Duchess "Dowager of HANOVER, and the Heirs of her Body, A. D. 1706. being Proteftants:-And that all Papifts, and Perfons marrying Papifts, fhall be excluded from, and for ever "incapable to inherit the CROWN of GREAT BRI TAIN, or any part of the Dominions thereunto be "longing; "THAT the whole people of GREAT BRITAIN fhall "be reprefented by ONE Parliament, in which fixteen "Peers, and forty-five Commoners, chofen for ScoTLAND, fhall fit and vote; ་་ "THAT the Subjects of the United Kingdom shall enjoy an entire freedom and intercourfe of Trade and Navigation, and reciprocal communication of all other Rights, Privileges, and Advantages, belonging to the "Subjects of either Kingdom; "THAT the Laws in regard to Public Right, Policy, "and Civil Government, fhall be the fame throughout "the whole United Kingdom; but that no alteration shall "be made in the Laws refpecting Private Right, un"lefs for the evident utility of the Subjects residing in "Scotland; "THAT the Rights and Privileges of the ROYAL "BOROUGHS in SCOTLAND fhall not be affected by "the UNION; "THAT the COURT of SESSION, or COLLEGE of JUSTICE, with all the other Courts of Judicature "in SCOTLAND fhall remain as conflituted by the Laws "of that Kingdom, and with the fame Authority and "Privileges PART II. -A. D. 1706. "Privileges as before the UNION; fubject neverthe"lefs to fuch Regulations as may be made by the Par"liament of GREAT BRITAIN." BESIDE thefe general and permanent Articles, it was particularly ftipulated, That the fum of three hundred and ninety-eight thousand pounds, granted by the English parliament, fhould be paid to Scotland, as an equivalent for that Augmentation of the Cuftoms and Excife, which was become neceffary "for preserving an equality of Trade throughout the "United Kingdom," and which would be applicable toward the Payment of the Public Debt of England, contracted before the UNION; this fum to be applied, partly toward the extinction of the National Debt of SCOTLAND, partly toward the indemnification of the Adventurers in the AFRICAN and INDIAN or DARIEN COMPANY; and the refidue, after the Reimbursement of fuch individuals as might fuffer by the Reduction (or rather Elevation) of the Coin of SCOTLAND to the Standard of ENGLAND, in encouraging Fisheries and Manufactures in that Kingdom 77. THOUGH this treaty, all circumstances confidered, was neither dishonourable nor difadvantageous to Scotland, yet was it zealously opposed, not only by the adherents of the excluded family, whofe particular intereft it was to obftruct fuch a measure, but also by many independent members of the Scottish parliament, on principles of mere patriotism. Of those, the most firm and refolute was Andrew Fletcher of Salton; a man of a cultivated genius, of a warm temper, a lofty courage, a bold eloquence, and an 77. See Defoe's Hift. of the Union, where the Articles are printed at large, with all the arguments for and against them. incorruptible |