whilst they were declaring their zeal for the protestant succession, and whilst burning in effigy on the 18th of November, queen Bess's day, the pope, the devil, and the pretender, they sent up a powerful majority of the men who were by no means secretly growing more and more favourable to the pretender's return. Never, indeed, had the chances of his restoration appeared so great. General Stanhope, on the close of the elections, told the Hanoverian minister that the majority was against them, and that if things continued ever so short a time on the present footing, the elector would not come to the crown unless he came with an army.
In the Macpherson and Lockhart papers we have now the fullest evidence of what was going on to this end. The agents of both Hanover and St. Germains were active, but those of Hanover were depressed, those of St. Germains never in such hope. The Jesuit Plunkett wrote, "The changes go on by degrees to the king's advantage, none but his friends advanced or employed in order to serve the great project. Bolingbroke and Oxford do not set their horses together, because Oxford is so dilatory, and dozes over things, which is the occasion there are so many whigs chosen this parliament. Though there are four tories to one, they think it little. The ministry must now swim or sink with France."
In fact, Oxford's over caution, and his laziness, at the same time that he was impatient to allow any power out of his own hands, and yet did not exert it when he had it, had disgusted the tories, and favoured the ambitious views which Bolingbroke was cherishing. He had now managed to win over the confidence of lady Masham from the lord treasurer to himself; and, aware that he had made a mortal enemy of the elector of Hanover by his conduct in compelling a peace and deserting the allies, he determined to make a bold effort to bring in the pretender on the queen's decease, which every one, from the nature of her complaint, felt could not be far off. To such a pitch of openness was the dislike of the queen carried, that she seemed to take a pleasure in speaking in the most derogatory terms of both the old electress Sophia and her son. Oxford's close and mysterious conduct disgusted the agents of Hanover, without assuring those of the pretender, and threw the advantage with the latter party more and more into the hands of Bolingbroke. Baron Schutz, the Hanoverian agent, wrote home that he could make nothing of Oxford, but that there was a design against his master; and when lord Newcastle observed to the agent of the pretender that, the queen's life being so precarious, it would be good policy in Harley to strike up with the king, and make a good bargain, the agent replied, "If the king were master of his three kingdoms to-morrow, he would not be able to do for Mr. Harley what the elector of Hanover had done for him already." Thus Oxford's closeness made him suspected of being secured by the elector at the very moment that the elector deemed that he was leaning towards the pretender.
Meantime the changes made in the government offices betrayed the rising influence of Bolingbroke. The duke of Shrewsbury was made lord lieutenant of Ireland; the duke of Ormonde, a noted Jacobite, was appointed warden of the Cinque Ports and governor of Dover Castle, as if for the avowed purpose of facilitating the landing of the pretender; lord Lansdowne was made treasurer of the household; lord Dartmouth, privy seal; Mr. Bromley, the tory leader of the commons, joint secretary with Bolingbroke; Benson, chancellor of the exchequer, was created lord Bingley, and sent as ambassador to Spain; and Sir William Wyndham, till now a friend of Bolingbroke's, succeeded Benson as chancellor. Thus Bolingbroke was surrounded by his friends in office, and became more daring in his rivalry with Oxford and in his schemes to supplant the house of Hanover and introduce the pretender.
Whilst the English court was distracted by these dissensions, the emperor was endeavouring to carry on the war against France by himself. He trusted that the death of queen Anne would throw out the tories, and that the whigs coming in would again support his claims, or that the death of Louis himself might produce a change as favourable to him in France, he trusted to the military genius of prince Eugene to at least enable him to maintain the war till some such change took place. But he was deceived. The French, having him alone to deal with, made very light of it. They knew that he could neither bring into the field soldiers enough to cope with their arms, or find the means of maintaining them. They soon overpowered Eugene on the Rhine by numbers, and reduced Landau and Friburg. He was glad to make peace, and Eugene and Villars met at Rastadt to concert terms. They did not succeed, and separated till February, but met again at the latter end of the month, and, on the 3rd of March, the treaty was signed. By this treaty the emperor retained Friburg, old Brisac, Kehl, and the forts in the Breisgau and Black Forest; but the king of France kept Landau, Strasburg, and all Alsace. The electors of Bavaria and Cologne were readmitted to their territories and dignities as princes of the empire. The emperor was put in possession of the Spanish Netherlands, and the king of Prussia was permitted to retain the high quarters of Guelders.
The peace with Spain was also ratified in London on the 1st of March. By this, Spain, so far as diplomatic contracts could effect it, was for ever separated from France. Philip acknowledged the protestant succession, and renounced the pretender. He confirmed the detestable Assiento, or exclusive privilege of the English supplying the Spanish West Indies and South American colonics with slaves, one-fourth of the profit of which the queen reserved to herself—a strange proof of the little idea of the infamy of this traffic which prevailed then in England, whilst so truly benevolent a woman could calmly appropriate money so earned to her own use. Gibraltar and Minorca were also confirmed to England, on condition that the Spanish inhabitants should enjoy their own property and their religion. There was a guarantee given by Philip for the pardon and security of Catalans. They were to be left in possession of their lives, estates, and honours, with certain exceptions, and even these were at liberty to quit the country and remove to Italy with their effects. But the Catalans, who had taken up arms for Charles of Austria at our suggestion, were greatly incensed at the dishonourable manner in which we had abandoned them and the cause, and, putting no faith in the word of Philip, they still remained in arms, and soon found
