ever much they might be disposed to maintain the same course themselves, would by no means omit the opportunity of damaging the whig ministers who had been concerned in that business. They had already agreed to send ten thousand men to the aid of the States-General in support of the treaty of 1677, and they now set to work to establish by this inquiry a plea against lord Somers, Portland, and the others engaged in the treaty.
The lords, not to be behind, also called for copies of the two treaties. They appointed a committee to examine them, and placed Nottingham, a thorough tory, in the chair. There was a sprinkling of whigs in the committee to give it an air of fairness, and a strong contest went on between the two parties. On the fourth resolution, that there were no instructions in writing given to the plenipotentiaries of England, and that, if verbal orders were given, they were given without being submitted to the council, Portland, who had been almost the sole manager of these treaties, in conjunction with William, by permission of the king, informed them that he had, by the king's order, laid the matter before six of the king's ministers—namely, Pembroke, Marlborough, Lonsdale, Somers, Halifax, and secretary Vernon. These lords then endeavoured to excuse themselves by admitting that the earl of Jersey having read the first treaty to them, they had objected to various particulars, but being informed that the king had already carried the matter as far as possible, and could get no better terms, and that, in fact, everything was settled, they had nothing for it but to desist from their objections. Various protests were entered against the resolutions in committee, but the report, when brought up, was to this effect:—That the lords spiritual and temporal had found, to their great sorrow, that the treaty made with the French king had been very prejudicial to the peace and safety of Europe. That it had probably given occasion to the late king of Spain to make his will in favour of the duke of Anjou, and that the sanction of France having possession of Sicily, Naples, several ports in the Mediterranean, the province of Guipuscoa, and the duchy of Lorraine, was not only very injurious to the interests of Europe, but contrary to the pretence of the treaty itself, which was to prevent too many territories being united under one crown. That it appeared that this treaty never was submitted to the consideration of the council or the committee of the council (in our phrase the cabinet), and they prayed his majesty in future to take the advice of his natural-born subjects, whose interest and natural affection to their country would induce them to seek its welfare and prosperity. This last observation was aimed at Portland.
The ministers, such as were admitted to the secret of the treaty, as well as the king, had undoubtedly grossly violated the constitution, and had the tories been honest, they might have rendered essential service to the country by punishing them. But their object was too apparent, to crush Portland and Somers, and to let the rest go, whom they quietly passed over. The new lord-keeper carried up the address to the king, but the members at large, not relishing the unpleasant office, took care not to accompany him, and he found himself at the palace almost alone. Two or three of the lords in waiting were all that served to represent the house of peers. On its being read William endeavoured to conceal his chagrin, and merely replied that the address contained matter of grave moment, and that he would always take care that all treaties should be made so as to contribute to the honour and safety of England.
The debates in the commons were in the meantime still more vehement on the same subject. Sir Edward Seymour declared that the partition treaty was as infamous as a highway robbery, and Howe went further, denouncing it as a felonious treaty; an expression which so exasperated the king, that he protested, if the disparity of condition betwixt him and that member had not been too great, he would have demanded satisfaction by his sword. These discussions in the two houses excited out of doors a general condemnation of the treaty, and threw fresh odium on the government.
On the last day of March a message was communicated to both houses by secretary Hedges, that no further negotiation appeared possible with France, from its decided rejection of the terms offered, and its continuing to concede only the renewal of the treaty of Ryswick. The commons, instead of an immediate answer, adjourned to the 2nd of April, and then resolved unanimously to desire his majesty to carry on the negotiations with the States-General, and take such measures as should conduce to the safety of the kingdom. In reply to two resolutions from the States-General, and a memorial presented by their envoy in England, which the king laid before them, they assured him that they would support him, supplying the twenty ships and ten thousand men which they were bound to find by the treaty of 1677. This gave no sanction to any negotiations for a fresh alliance with the powers formerly combined against France; and William was deeply mortified, but he merely thanked them for their assurances of aid, and informed them that he had sent orders to his ambassador at the Hague still to endeavour to come to terms with France and Spain.
On the 19th of April the marquis de Torcy handed to the earl of Manchester at Paris a letter from the new king of Spain to the king of England, announcing his accession to the throne, and expressing a desire to cultivate terms of friendship with him. This announcement had been made long before to the other European powers, and it might well have been doubted whether William would now acknowledge his right. To do that was to admit the validity of the late king of Spain's will, and there could then be no real reason to refuse the conditions of the treaty of Ryswick. William was from this cause in a state of great perplexity; but the earl of Rochester and the new ministers urged him to reply and admit the duke of Anjou's right. The States-General had already done it, and, in fact, unless England and the old allies of the emperor were prepared to dispute it with efficient arms, it was useless to refuse. Accordingly, after a severe struggle with himself, William wrote to "the most serene and potent prince, brother, and cousin," congratulating him on his happy arrival in his kingdom of Spain, and expressing his assurance that the ancient friendship betwixt the two crowns would remain inviolate, to the mutual advantage and prosperity of the two nations. With this was certainly ended every right of England to dispute the possession of all the territories and dependencies of the Spanish monarch by
