PROGRESS OF THE SWEDES IN POMERANIA.
Having recorded all the transactions of the campaign, except those in which the Swedes were concerned, it now remains that we should particularize the progress which was made in Pomerania by the troops of that nation, under the command of count Hamilton. We have already observed, that in the beginning of the year the Prussian general, Lehwald, had compelled them to evacuate the whole province, except Stralsund, which was likewise invested. This, in all probability, would have been besieged in form, had not Lehwald resigned the command of the Prussians, on account of his great age and infirmities; and his successor, count Dohna, been obliged to withdraw his troops in order to oppose the Russian army on the other side of Pomerania. The blockade of Stralsund being consequently raised, and that part of the country being entirely evacuated by the Prussians, the Swedish troops advanced again from the isle of Rugen, to which, they had retired; but the supplies and reinforcements they expected from Stockholm were delayed in such a manner, either from a deficiency in the subsidies promised by France, or from the management of those who were averse to the war, that great part of the season was elapsed before they undertook any important enterprise. Indeed, while they lay encamped under the cannon of Stralsund, waiting for these supplies, their operations were retarded by the explosion of a whole ship-load of gunpowder intended for their use; an event imputed to the practices of the Prussian party in Sweden, which at this period seemed to gain ground, and even threatened a change in the ministry. At length the reinforcement arrived about the latter end of June, and their general seemed determined to act with vigour. In the beginning of July, his army being put in motion, he sent a detachment to dislodge the few Prussian troops that were left at Anclam, Demmin, and other places, to guard that frontier; and they retreated accordingly. Count Hamilton having nothing further to oppose him in the field, in a very little time recovered all Swedish Pomerania, and even made hot incursions into the Prussian territories. Meanwhile, a combined fleet of thirty-three Russian and seven Swedish ships of war appeared in the Baltic, and anchored between the isles of Dragoe and Amagh; but they neither landed troops nor committed hostilities. The Swedish general advanced as far as Fehrbellin, sent out parties that raised contributions within five and twenty miles of Berlin, and threw the inhabitants of that capital into the utmost consternation. The king of Prussia, alarmed at their progress, despatched general Wedel from Dresden, with a body of troops that were augmented on their march; so that, on the twentieth of September, he found himself at Berlin with eleven thousand effective men, at the head of whom he proceeded against count Hamilton, while the prince of Bevern, with five thousand, advanced on the other side from Stetin. At their approach, the Swedish commander retired, after having left a garrison of fourteen hundred men at Fehrbellin in order to retard the Prussians, and secure the retreat of his army. The place was immediately attacked by general Wedel; and though the Swedes disputed the ground from house to house with uncommon obstinacy, he at last drove them out of the town, with the loss of one half of their number either killed or taken prisoners. The body of the Swedish army, without hazarding any other action, immediately evacuated the Prussian territories, and returned to the neighbourhood of Stralsund, intending to take winter-quarters in the isle of Rugen. Count Hamilton, either disgusted at the restrictions he had been laid under, or finding himself unable to act in such a manner as might redound to the advantage of his reputation, threw up his command, retired from the army, and resigned all his other employments.
PRINCE CHARLES OF SAXONY ELECTED DUKE OF COURLAND.
The king of Prussia was not only favoured by a considerable party in Sweden, but he had also raised a strong interest in Poland, among such Palatines as had always opposed the measures of the reigning family. These were now reinforced by many patriots, who dreaded the vicinity and suspected the designs of the Russian army. The diet of the republic was opened on the second day of November; and, after warm debates, M. Malachowski was unanimously elected mareschal; but no sooner had the chambers of nuncios begun their deliberations, than a number of voices were raised against the encroachments of the Russian troops, who had taken up their residence in Poland; and heavy complaints were made of the damages sustained from their cruelty and rapine. Great pains were taken to appease these clamours; and many were prevailed upon to refer these grievances to the king in senate; but when this difficulty seemed almost surmounted, Padhorski, the nuncio of Volhinia, stood up, and declared that he would not permit any other point to be discussed in the diet while the Russians maintained the least footing within the territories of the republic. Vain were all the attempts of the courtiers to persuade and mollify this inflexible patriot, he solemnly protested against their proceedings, and hastily withdrew; so that the mareschal was obliged to dissolve the assembly, and recourse was had to a senatus consilium, to concert proper measures to be taken in the present conjuncture. The king of Poland was on this occasion likewise disappointed in his views of providing for his son, prince Charles, in the duchy of Courland. He had been recommended by the court of Russia, and even approved by the states of that country; but two difficulties occurred. The states declared, they could not proceed to a new election during the life of their former duke, count Biron, who was still alive, though a prisoner in Siberia, unless their duchy should be declared vacant by the king and republic of Poland; and, according to the laws of that country, no prince could be elected until he should have declared himself of the Augsburgh confession. His Polish majesty, however, being determined to surmount all obstacles to his son’s interest, ordered count Malachowski, high chancellor of Poland, to deliver to prince Charles a diploma, by which the king granted permission to the states of Courland to elect that prince for their duke, and appointed the day for his election and instalment; which accordingly took place in the month of January, notwithstanding the clamour of many Polish grandees, who persisted in affirming that the king had no power to grant such permission without the consent of the diet. The vicissitudes of the campaign had produced no revolutions in the several systems adopted by the different powers in Europe. The czarina, who in the month of June had signified her sentiments and designs against the king of Prussia, in a declaration delivered to all the foreign ministers at Petersburgh, seemed now, more than ever, determined to act vigorously in behalf of the empress-queen of Hungary, and the unfortunate king of Poland, who still resided at Warsaw. The court of Vienna distributed among the imperial ministers at the several courts of the empire, copies of a rescript explaining the conduct of her generals since the beginning of the campaign, and concluded with expressions of self-approbation to this effect: “Though the issue of the campaign be not as yet entirely satisfactory, and such as might be desired, the imperial court enjoys, at least, the sincere satisfaction of reflecting, that, according to the change of circumstances, it instantly took the most vigorous resolutions; that it was never deficient in any thing that might contribute to the good of the common cause, and is now employed in making preparations, from which the most happy consequences may be expected.”
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
THE KING OF ENGLAND’S MEMORIAL.
We have already hinted at a decree of the Aulic council of the empire, published in the month of August, enjoining all directors of circles, all imperial towns, and the noblesse of the empire, to transmit to Vienna an exact list of all those who had disobeyed the avocatoria of the empire, and adhered to the rebellion raised by the elector of Brandenburgh; that their revenues might be sequestered, and themselves punished in their honours, persons, and effects. As the elector of Hanover was plainly pointed out, and, indeed, expressly mentioned in this decree, the king of Great Britain, by the hands of baron Gemmegen, his electoral minister, presented a memorial to the diet of the empire in the month of November, enumerating the instances in which he exerted himself, and even exposed his life, for the preservation and aggrandizement of the house of Austria. In return for these important services, he observed, that the empress-queen had refused him the assistance stipulated in treaties against an invasion planned by France, whose hatred he had drawn upon himself by his friendship to that princess; and his imperial majesty even denied him the dictatorial letters which he solicited; that the court of Vienna had signed a treaty with the crown of France, in which it was stipulated that the French troops should pass the Weser, and invade the electorate of Hanover, where they were joined by the troops of the empress-queen, who ravaged his Britannic majesty’s dominions with greater cruelty than even the French had practised; and the same duke of Cumberland, who had been wounded at Dettingen in the defence of her imperial majesty, was obliged to fight at Hastenbeck against the troops of that very princess, in defence of his father’s dominions; that she sent commissaries to Hanover, who shared with the crown of France the contributions extorted from that electorate; rejected all proposals of peace, and dismissed from her court the minister of Brunswick-Lunenbourg; that his imperial majesty, who had sworn to protect the empire, and oppose the entrance of foreign troops destined to oppress any of the states of Germany, afterwards required the king of England to withdraw his troops from the countries which they occupied, that the French army might again have free passage into his German dominions; that the emperor had recalled these troops, released them from their allegiance to their sovereign, enjoined them to abandon their posts, their colours, and the service in which they were embarked, on pain of being punished in body, honour, and estate: and that the king of England himself was threatened with the ban of the empire. He took notice, that, in quality of elector, he had been accused of refusing to concur with the resolutions of the diet taken in the preceding year; of entering into alliance with the king of Prussia; joining his troops to the armies of that prince; employing auxiliaries belonging to the states of the empire; sending English forces into Germany, where they had taken possession of Embden; and exacting contributions in different parts of Germany. In answer to these imputations, he alleged that he could not, consistent with his own safety or the dictates of common sense, concur with a majority in joining his troops, which were immediately necessary for his own defence, to those which, from the arbitrary views of the court of Vienna, were led against his friend and ally the king of Prussia, by a prince who did not belong to the generality of the empire, and on whom the command had been conferred without a previous conclusion of the Germanic body; that, with respect to his alliance with the king of Prussia, he had a right, when deserted by his former allies, to seek assistance wheresoever it could be procured; and surely no just ground of complaint could be offered against that which his Prussian majesty lent, to deliver the electoral states of Brunswick, as well as those of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Hesse, and Ruckebourg, from the oppressions of their common enemy. Posterity, he said, would hardly believe, that at a time when the troops of Austria, the Palatinate, and Wirtemberg, were engaged to invade the countries of the empire, other members of the Germanic body, who employed auxiliaries in their defence, should be threatened with outlawry and sequestration. He owned, that, in quality of king, he had sent over English troops to Germany, and taken possession of Embden; steps for which he was accountable to no power upon earth, although the constitutions of the empire permit the co-estates to make use of foreign troops, not indeed for the purpose of invasion or conquest in Germany, but for their defence and preservation. He also acknowledged that he had resented the conduct, and chastised the injustice, of those co-estates who had assisted his enemies, and helped to ravage his dominions; inferring, that if the crown of France was free to pillage the estates of the duke of Brunswick and the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, because they had supplied the king of England with auxiliaries; if the empress-queen had a right to appropriate to herself half of the contributions raised by the French king in these countries; surely his Britannic majesty had an equal right to make those feel the burden of the war who had favoured the unjust enterprises of his enemies. He expressed his hope, that the diet, after having duly considered these circumstances, would, by way of advice, propose to his imperial majesty that he should annul his most inconsistent mandates, and not only take effectual measures to protect the electorate and its allies, but also give orders for commencing against the empress-queen, as archduchess of Austria, the elector Palatine, and the duke of Wirtemberg, such proceedings as she wanted to enforce against his Britannic majesty, elector of Brunswick-Lunenbourg. For this purpose the minister now requested their excellencies to ask immediately the necessary instructions for their principals. The rest of this long memorial contained a justification of his Britannic majesty’s conduct in deviating from the capitulation of Closter-Seven; with a refutation of the arguments adduced, and a retortion of the reproaches levelled against the king of England, in the paper or manifesto composed and published under the direction of the French ministry, and intituled, “A parallel of the conduct of the king of France with that of the king of England, relative to the breach of the capitulation of Closter-Seven by the Hanoverians.” But to this invective a more circumstantial answer was published; in which, among other curious particulars, the letter of expostulation, said to have been written by the Prussian monarch to the king of Great Britain after the defeat of Kolin is treated as an infamous piece of forgery, produced by some venal pen employed to impose upon the public. The author also, in his endeavours to demonstrate his Britannic majesty’s aversion to a continental war, very justly observes, that “none but such as are unacquainted with the maritime force of England, can believe, that, without a diversion on the continent, to employ part of the enemy’s force, she is not in a condition to hope for success, and maintain her superiority at sea. England, therefore, had no interest to foment quarrels or wars in Europe; but, for the same reason, there was room to fear that France would embrace a different system; accordingly, she took no pains to conceal her views, and her envoys declared publicly that a war upon the continent was inevitable, and that the king’s dominions in Germany would be its principal object.” He afterwards, in the course of his argumentation, adds, “That they must be very ignorant indeed, who imagine that the forces of England are not able to resist those of France, unless the latter be hindered from turning all her efforts to the sea. In case of a war upon the continent, the two powers must pay subsidies; only with this difference, that France can employ her own land-forces, and aspire at conquests.” Such were the professed sentiments of the British ministry, founded upon eternal truth and demonstration, and openly avowed, when the business was to prove that it was not the interest of Great Britain to maintain a war upon the continent; but afterwards, when this continental war was eagerly espoused, fostered, and cherished by the blood and treasure of the English nation, then the partisans of that very ministry, which had thus declared that England, without any diversion on the continent of Europe, was an overmatch for France by sea, which maybe termed the British element; then their partisans, their champions, declaimers, and dependents, were taught to rise in rebellion against their former doctrine, and, in defiance of common sense and reflection, affirm that a diversion in Germany was absolutely necessary to the successful issue of England’s operations in Asia, Africa, and America. Notwithstanding all the facts and arguments assembled in this elaborate memorial, to expose the ingratitude of the empress-queen, and demonstrate the oppressive measures adopted by the imperial power, it remains to be proved, that the member of a community is not obliged to yield obedience to the resolutions taken, and the decrees published, by the majority of those who compose this community; especially when reinforced with the authority of the supreme magistrate, and not repugnant to the fundamental constitution on which that community was established.
DEATH OF POPE BENEDICT.
If the empress-queen was not gratified to the extent of her wishes in the fortune of the campaign, at least her self-importance was nattered in another point, which could not fail of being interesting to a princess famed for a glowing zeal and inviolable attachment to the religion of Rome. In the month of August the pope conferred upon her the title of apostolical queen of Hungary, conveyed by a brief, in which he extolled her piety, and launched out into retrospective eulogiums of her predecessors, the princes of Hungary, who had been always accustomed to fight and overcome for the catholic faith under his holy banner. This compliment, however, she did not derive from the regard of Prosper Lambertini, who exercised the papal sway under the assumed name of Benedict XIV. That pontiff, universally esteemed for his good sense, moderation, and humanity, had breathed his last in the month of April, in the eighty-fourth year of his age; and in July was succeeded in the papacy by cardinal Charles Bezzonico, bishop of Padua, by birth a Venetian. He was formerly auditor of the Rota; afterwards promoted to the purple by pope Clement XII. at the nomination of the republic of Venice; was distinguished by the title of St. Maria d’Ara Coeli, the principal convent of the Cordeliers, and nominated protector of the Pandours, or Illyrians. When he ascended the papal chair, he assumed the name of Clement XIII. in gratitude to the last of that name, who was his benefactor. Though of a disagreeable person, and even deformed in his body, he enjoyed good health, and a vigorous constitution. As an ecclesiastic, his life was exemplary; his morals were pure and unimpeached; in his character he is said to have been learned, diligent, steady, devout; and, in every respect, worthy to succeed such a predecessor as Benedict.
KING OF PORTUGAL ASSASSINATED.
The king of Spain wisely persisted in reaping the advantages of a neutrality, notwithstanding the intrigues of the French partisans at the court of Madrid, who endeavoured to alarm his jealousy by the conquests which the English had projected in America. The king of Sardina sagaciously kept aloof, resolving, in imitation of his predecessors, to maintain his power on a respectable footing, and be ready to seize all opportunities to extend and promote the interest of his crown, and the advantage of his country. As for the king of Portugal, he had prudently embraced the same system of forbearance; but in the latter end of the season, his attention was engrossed by a domestic incident of a very extraordinary nature. Whether he had, by particular instances of severity, exasperated the minds of certain individuals, and exercised his dominion in such acts of arbitrary power as excited a general spirit of disaffection among his nobility; or, lastly, by the vigorous measures pursued against the encroaching Jesuits in Paraguay, and their correspondents in Portugal, had incurred the resentment of that society, we shall not pretend to determine: perhaps all these motives concurred in giving birth to a conspiracy against his life, which was actually executed at this juncture with the most desperate resolution. On the third day of September, the king, according to custom, going out in a carriage to take the air, accompanied by one domestic, was, in the night, at a solitary place near Belem, attacked by three men on horseback, armed with musquetoons, one of whom fired his piece at the coachman without effect. The man, however, terrified both on his own account and that of his sovereign, drove the mules at full speed; a circumstance which, in some measure, disconcerted the other two conspirators, who pursued him at full gallop, and having no leisure to take aim, discharged their pieces at random through the back of the carriage. The slugs with which they were loaded happened to pass between the king’s right arm and his breast, dilacerating the parts from the shoulder to the elbow, but without damaging the bone, or penetrating into the cavity of the body. Finding himself grievously wounded, and the blood flowing apace, he, with such presence of mind as cannot be sufficiently admired, instead of proceeding to the palace, which was at some distance, ordered the coachman to return to Junqueria, where his principal surgeon resided, and there his wounds were immediately dressed. By this resolution he not only prevented the irreparable mischief that might have arisen from an excessive effusion of blood; but, without all doubt, saved his life from the bands of other assassins, posted on the road to accomplish the regicide, in case he should escape alive from the first attack. This instance of the king’s recollection was magnified into a miracle, on a supposition that it must have been the effect of divine inspiration; and, indeed, among a people addicted to superstition, might well pass for a favourable interposition of Providence. The king being thus disabled in his right arm, issued a decree, investing the queen with the absolute power of government. In the meantime, no person had access to his presence but herself, the first minister, the cardinal de Saldanha, the physicians, and surgeons. An embargo was immediately laid on all the shipping in the port of Lisbon. Rewards were publicly offered, together with the promise of pardon to the accomplices, for detecting any of the assassins; and such other measures used, that in a little time the whole conspiracy was discovered: a conspiracy the more dangerous, as it appeared to have been formed by persons of the first quality and influence. The duke de Weiro, of the family of Mascarenhas; the marquis de Tavora, who had been viceroy of Goa, and now actually enjoyed the commission of general of the horse; the count de Attougui, the marquis de Alloria, together with their wives, children, and whole families, were arrested immediately after the assassination, as principals in the design; and many other accomplices, including some Jesuits, were apprehended in the sequel. The further proceedings on this mysterious affair, with the fate of the conspirators, will be particularized among the transactions of the following year. At present it will be sufficient to observe, that the king’s wounds were attended with no bad consequences; nor did the imprisonment of those noblemen produce any disturbance in the kingdom.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE FRENCH MINISTRY.
The domestic occurrences of France were tissued with a continuation of the disputes between the parliaments and clergy, touching the bull Unigenitus. In vain the king had interposed his authority: first proposing an accommodation; then commanding the parliament to forbear taking cognizance of a religious contest, which did not fall under their jurisdiction; and, thirdly, banishing their persons, and abrogating their power. He afterwards found it necessary to the peace of his dominions to recall and reinstate those venerable patriots; and being convinced of the intolerable insolence and turbulent spirit of the archbishop of Paris, had exiled that prelate in his turn. He was no sooner re-admitted to his function, than he resumed his former conduct, touching the denial of the sacraments to those who refused to acknowledge the bull Unigenitus: he even acted with redoubled zeal; intrigued with the other prelates; caballed among the inferior clergy; and not only revived, but augmented, the troubles throughout the whole kingdom. Bishops, curates, and monks, presumed to withhold spiritual consolation from persons in extremity, and were punished by the civil power. Other parliaments of the kingdom followed the example exhibited by that of Paris, in asserting their authority and privileges. The king commanded them to desist, on pain of incurring his indignation; they remonstrated, and persevered; while the archbishop repeated his injunctions and censures, and continued to inflame the dispute to such a dangerous degree, that he was given to understand he should be again obliged to quit the capital, if he did not proceed with more moderation. But the chief care of the French ministry was employed in regulating the finances, and establishing funds of credit for raising money to pay subsidies, and maintain the war in Europe and America. In the course of this year they had not only considerably reinforced their armies in Germany, but made surprising efforts to supply the colony of Canada with troops, artillery, stores, and ammunition, for its defence against the operations of the British forces, which greatly outnumbered the French upon the continent. The court of Versailles practised every stratagem to elude the vigilance of the English cruisers. The ships destined for America they detached, both single and in convoys, sometimes from the Mediterranean, sometimes from their harbours in the channel. They assembled transports in one port, in order to withdraw the attention of their enemies from another, where their convoys lay ready for sailing; and in boisterous weather, when the English could no longer block up their harbours, their store-ships came forth, and hazarded the voyage for the relief of their American settlements. Those that had the good fortune to arrive on the coast of that continent, were obliged to have recourse to different expedients for escaping the British squadrons stationed at Halifax, or cruising in the bay of St. Laurence. They either ventured to navigate the river before it was clear of the ice, so early in the spring, that the enemy had not yet quitted the harbour of Nova-Scotia; or they waited on the coast of Newfoundland for such thick fogs as might screen them from the notice of the English cruisers, in sailing up the gulf; lastly, they penetrated through the straits of Belleisle, a dangerous passage, which, however, led them directly into the river St. Laurence, at a considerable distance above the station of the British squadron. Though the French navy was by this time so reduced, that it could neither face the English at sea nor furnish proper convoys for commerce, her ministry nevertheless attempted to alarm the subjects of Great Britain with the project of an invasion. Flat-bottomed boats were built, transports collected, large ships of the line equipped, and troops ordered to assemble on the coast for embarkation; but this was no more than a feint to arouse the apprehension of the English, disconcert the administration, prejudice the national credit, and deter the government from sending forces to keep alive the war in Germany. A much more effectual method they took to distress the trade of England, by laying up their useless ships of war, and encouraging the equipment of stout privateers, which did considerable damage to the commerce of Great Britain and Ireland, by cruising in the seas of Europe and America. Some of them lay close in the harbours of the channel, fronting the coast of England, and darted out occasionally on the trading ships of this nation, as they received intelligence from boats employed for that purpose. Some chose their station in the North sea, where a great number of captures were made upon the coast of Scotland; others cruised in the chops of the channel, and even to the westward of Ireland; but the far greater number scoured the seas in the neighbourhood of the Leeward Islands in the West Indies, where they took a prodigious number of British ships, sailing to and from the sugar colonies, and conveyed them to their own settlements in Martinique, Guadeloupe, or St. Domingo.
CONDUCT OF THE KING OF DENMARK.
With respect to the war that raged in Germany, the king of Denmark wisely pursued that course, which happily preserved him from being involved in those troubles by which great part of Europe was agitated, and terminated in that point of national advantage which a king ought ever to have in view for the benefit of his people. By observing a scrupulous neutrality, he enhanced his importance among his neighbours: he saw himself courted by all the belligerent powers: he saved the blood and treasure of his subjects: he received large subsidies, in consideration of his forbearance; and enjoyed, unmolested, a much more considerable share of commerce than he could expect to carry on, even in times of universal tranquillity. He could not perceive that the protestant religion had anything to apprehend from the confederacy which was formed against the Prussian monarch; nor was he misled into all the expense, the perils, and disquiets of a sanguinary war, by that ignis fatuus which hath seduced and impoverished other opulent nations, under the specious title of the balance of power in Germany. Howsoever he might be swayed by private inclination, he did not think it was a point of consequence to his kingdom, whether Pomeranians possessed by Sweden or Prussia; whether the French army was driven back beyond the Rhine, or penetrated once more into the electorate of Hanover: whether the empress-queen was stripped of her remaining possessions in Silesia, or the king of Prussia circumscribed within the original bounds of his dominion. He took it for granted that France, for her own sake, would prevent the ruin of that enterprising monarch; and that the house of Austria would not be so impolitic and blind to its own interest, as to permit the empress of Russia to make and retain conquests in the empire; but even if these powers should be weak enough to sacrifice all the maxims of sound policy to caprice or resentment, he did not think himself so deeply concerned in the event, as for the distant, prospect of what might possibly happen, to plunge headlong into a war that must be attended with certain and immediate disadvantages. True it is, he had no hereditary electorate in Germany that was threatened with invasion; nor, if he had, is it to be supposed that a prince of his sagacity and patriotism would have impoverished his kingdom of Denmark, for the precarious defence of a distant territory. It was reserved for another nation to adopt the pernicious absurdity of wasting its blood and treasure, exhausting its revenues, loading its own back with the most grievous impositions, incurring an enormous debt, big with bankruptcy and ruin; in a word, of expending above an hundred and fifty millions sterling in fruitless efforts to defend a distant country, the entire property of which was never valued at one twentieth part of that sum; a country with which it had no natural connexion, but a common alliance arising from accident. The king of Denmark, though himself a prince of the empire, and possessed of dominions in Germany almost contiguous to the scenes of the present war, did not yet think himself so nearly concerned in the issue, as to declare himself either principal or auxiliary in the quarrel; yet he took care to maintain his forces by sea and land upon a respectable footing; and by this conduct, he not only provided for the security of his own country, but overawed the belligerent powers, who considered him as a prince capable of making either scale preponderate, just as he might choose to trim the balance. Thus he preserved his wealth, commerce, and consequence undiminished; and instead of being harassed as a party, was honoured as an umpire.
The United Provinces, though as adverse as his Danish majesty to any participation in the war, did not, however, so scrupulously observe the neutrality they professed; at least, the traders of that republic, either from an inordinate thirst of lucre, or a secret bias in favour of the enemies of Great Britain, assisted the French commerce with all the appearance of the most flagrant partiality. We have, in the beginning of this year’s transactions, observed, that a great number of their ships were taken by the English cruisers, and condemned as legal prizes for having French property on board: that the Dutch merchants, exasperated by their losses, exclaimed against the English as pirates and robbers, petitioned the states for redress in very high terms, and even loudly clamoured for a war against Great Britain. The charge of violence and injustice, which they brought against the English for taking and confiscating the ships that transported to Europe the produce of the French islands in the West Indies, they founded on the tenth article of the treaty of commerce between Great Britain and the states-general of the United Provinces, concluded in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-eight, stipulating, “That whatever shall be found on board the ships of the subjects of the United Provinces, though the lading, or part thereof, may belong to the enemies of Great Britain, shall be free and unmolested, except these be prohibited goods, which are to be served in the manner described by the foregoing articles.” From this article the Dutch merchants argued, that, if there be no prohibited goods on board, the English had no right to stop or molest any of their ships, or make the least inquiry to whom the merchandise belonged, whence it was brought, or whither bound. This plea the English casuists would by no means admit, for the following reasons,—a general and perpetual license to carry on the whole trade of their enemy would be such a glaring absurdity, as no convention could authorize: common sense has dictated, and Grotius declared, that no man can be supposed to have consented to an absurdity; therefore, the interpretation given by the Dutch to this article, could not be supposed to be its true and genuine meaning; which, indeed, relates to nothing more than the common course of trade, as it was usually carried on in time of peace. But even should this interpretation be accepted, the article, and the treaty itself, would be superseded and annulled by a subsequent treaty, concluded between the two nations in the year one thousand six hundred and seventy-five, and often confirmed since that period, stipulating, in a secret article, that neither of the contracting parties should give, nor consent, that any of their subjects and inhabitants should give any aid, favour, or counsel, directly or indirectly, by land or sea, or on the fresh waters; nor should furnish, or permit the subjects or inhabitants of their respective territories to furnish, any ships, soldiers, seamen, victuals, monies, instruments of war, gunpowder, or any other necessaries for making war, to the enemies of either party, of any rank or condition soever. Now, the Dutch have infringed this article in many instances during the present war, both in Europe and America; and, as they have so openly contravened one treaty, the English are not obliged to observe another. They, moreover, forfeited all right to the observance of the treaty in question, by refusing the succours with which they were bound, in the most solemn manner, to furnish the king of Great Britain, in case any of his territories in Europe should be attacked: for nothing could be more weak and frivolous than the allegation upon which this refusal was founded, namely, that the hostilities in Europe were commenced by the English, when they seized and confiscated the vessels of France; and they, being the aggressors, had no right to insist upon the succours stipulated in a treaty which was purely defensive. If this argument has any weight, the treaty itself can have no signification. The French, as in the present case, will always commence the war in America; and when their ships, containing reinforcements and stores for the maintenance of that war, shall be taken on the European seas, perhaps in consequence of their being exposed for that purpose, they will exclaim that the English were the aggressors in Europe, consequently deprived of all benefit accruing from the defensive treaty subsisting between them and the states-general of the United Provinces. It being impossible for the English to terminate the war, while their enemies derive the sinews of it from their commerce carried on in neutral bottoms, they are obliged to suppress such collusions, by that necessity which Grotius himself hath allowed to be a sufficient excuse for deviating from the letter of any treaty whatsoever. In time of peace no Dutch ships were permitted to carry the produce of any French sugar island, or even to trade in any of the French ports in America or the West Indies; consequently, the treaty which they quote can never justify them in carrying on a commerce, which, as it did not exist, and was not foreseen, could not possibly be guarded against when that convention was ratified. Grotius, whose authority is held in such veneration among the Dutch, has determined that every nation has a right to seize and confiscate the goods of any neutral power, which shall attempt to carry them into any place which is blocked up by that nation, either by land or sea. The French islands in the West Indies were so blocked up by the English cruisers, that they could receive no relief from their own government, consequently no neutral power could attempt to supply them without falling under this predicament.*
* In the reign of king William, when the English and Dutch were engaged in a war against France, the northern powers of Sweden and Denmark attempted to carry on the French commerce, under the shade of neutrality; but the Dutch and English joined in seizing the vessels that were thus employed. Complaints of these captures were made at London and the Hague, and the complainants were given to understand at both places, that they should not be allowed to carry on any trade with France, but what was usual in time of peace. In consequence of this declaration, Mr. Groning formed the design of writing a treatise on the freedom of navigation, and communicated the plan of his work to the celebrated Puffendorff, who signified his sentiments in a letter, which is preserved by the learned Barbeyrac in his notes upon that author’s treatise on the Law of Nature and Nations.
It was for these reasons that the king of England declared, by the mouth of Mr. Yorke, his minister plenipotentiary at the Hague, in a conference held in the mouth of August with the deputies of the states-general, that though he was ready to concur in every measure that should be proposed for giving satisfaction to their high mightinesses, with whom he had always studied to live in the most perfect union, he was nevertheless determined not to suffer the trade of the French colonies in America to be carried on by the subjects of other powers, under the specious pretext of neutrality: nor to permit words to be interpreted as a license to drive a trade with his enemies, which, though not particularly specified in the articles of contraband, was nevertheless rendered such in all respects, and in every sense, by the nature of the circumstances. It is not at all more surprising that the Dutch merchants should complain, than that the English government should persist in confiscating the ships that were found to contain the merchandise of their enemies. The individual traders of every mercantile nation will run considerable risks in extending their particular commerce, even when they know it must be detrimental to the general interest of their country. In the war maintained by the confederates against Louis XIV. of France, the merchant ships of the Dutch carried on an uninterrupted trade to the French ports; and, notwithstanding the repeated solicitations of England, the states-general could never be prevailed upon to prohibit this commerce, which undoubtedly enabled France to protract the war. The truth is, they gave the British ministry to understand, that unless they connived at this traffic, their subjects could not possibly defray their proportion of the expense at which the war was maintained. It is well known through all Europe, that the subjects of the United Provinces reaped considerable advantage, not only from this branch of illicit trade, but also by providing for both armies in Flanders, and by the practice of stock-jobbing in England; consequently, it was not the interest, either of the states-general, or the English general, between whom there was a very good understanding, to bring that war to a speedy conclusion: nor indeed ought we to fix the imputation of partiality upon a whole nation, for the private conduct of individuals, influenced by motives of self-interest, which co-operate with the same energy in Holland, and among the subjects of Great Britain. In the course of the former war, such a scandalous appetite for gain prevailed in different parts of the British dominions, that the French islands were actually supplied with provisions, slaves, and lumber, from Ireland and the British colonies in North America; and Martinique, in particular, must have surrendered to the commander of the English squadron stationed in those seas, had it not been thus supported by English subjects. Certain it is, the Dutch had some reason to complain that they were decoyed into this species of traffic by the article of a treaty, which, in their opinion, admitted of no limitation; and that the government of Great Britain, without any previous warning, or explaining its sentiments on this subject, swept the sea at once of all their vessels employed in this commerce, and condemned them, without mitigation, to the entire ruin of many thousand families. Considering the intimate connexion of mutual interest subsisting between Great Britain and the states of the United Provinces, they seem to have had some right to an intimation of this nature, which, in all probability, would have induced them to resign all prospect of advantage from the prosecution of such traffic.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
CONFERENCES AT THE HAGUE.
Besides the universal clamour excited in Holland, and the famous memorial presented to the states-general, which we have already mentioned in another place, a deputation of merchants waited four times successively on the princess regent to explain their grievances, and demand her concurrence in augmenting the navy for the preservation of their commerce. She promised to interpose her best offices with the court of Great Britain; and these co-operating with representations made by the states-general, the English minister was empowered to open conferences at the Hague, in order to bring all matters in dispute to an amicable accommodation. These endeavours, however, proved ineffectual. The British cruisers continued to take, and the British courts to condemn, all Dutch vessels containing the produce of the French sugar islands. The merchants of Holland and Zealand renewed their complaints with redoubled clamour, and all the trading part of the nation, reinforced by the whole party that opposed the house of Orange, cried aloud for an immediate augmentation of the marine, and reprisals upon the pirates of England. The princess, in order to avoid extremities, was obliged not only to employ all her personal influence with the states-general, but also to play off one faction against another, in the way of remonstrance and exclamation As far back as the month of June, she presented a memorial to the states-general, reminding them, that in the beginning of the war between France and England, she had advised an augmentation should be made in their land-forces, to strengthen the garrisons of the frontier towns, and cover the territories of the republic from invasion. She gave them to understand, that the provinces of Gueldres and Overyssel, intimidated by the proximity of two formidable armies, had resolved to demand that the augmentation of their land-forces should be taken into consideration by the other provinces; and requested her to reinforce their solicitations that this measure might immediately take place. This request, she said, she the more readily granted, as she could not but be sensible of the imminent danger that threatened the republic, especially since the Hanoverian army had passed the Rhine; and as it behoved the state to put itself in a condition to hinder either army from retiring into the territories of the republic, if it should be defeated; for in that case the conqueror, being authorized to pursue his enemy wherever he can find him, would bring the war into the heart of their country. This representation had no other effect than that of suspending the measure which each party proposed. The princess, in her answer to the fourth deputation of the merchants, declared that she beheld the present state of their trade with the most anxious concern; that its want of protection was not her fault, but that of the towns of Dort, Haerlem, Amsterdam, Torgau, Rotterdam, and the Brille, to whose conduct it was owing, that the forces of the state, by sea and land, were not now on a better footing. The deputies were afterwards referred to her minister, M. de la Larrey, to whom they represented, that the augmentation of the land-forces, and the equipment of a fleet, were matters as distinct from each other as light from darkness; that there was no pressing motive for an augmentation of the army, whereas, innumerable reasons rendered the equipment of a fleet a matter of the most urgent necessity. In a few days after this representation was made, the princess, in an assembly of the states-general, requested their high mightinesses, that, seeing their earnest and repeated efforts to induce the provinces of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and West Friesland, to acquiesce in the proposed augmentation of forces by sea and land, had not hitherto met with success, they would now consider and deliberate upon some expedient for terminating this affair, and the sooner the better, in order on one hand to satisfy the strong and well-grounded instances made by the provinces of Gueldres, Utrecht, Overyssel, and Groningen; and, on the other, to comply with the ardent and just desires expressed by the commercial inhabitants of the country. She told them, that the deputation which waited on her consisted of forty merchants, a number that merited attention, no less than the speech they pronounced, of which a great number of printed copies were distributed through all parts of the country. Without making any particular remarks on the harangue, she only observed, that the drift of it did not tend to facilitate the negotiation begun with Great Britain, nor to induce the nation to prefer a convention to a rupture with that crown. From this circumstance she inferred, it was more than time to finish the deliberations on the proposal for augmenting the forces both by sea and land; a measure, without which, she was convinced in her conscience, the state was, and would always remain, exposed to all sorts of misfortune and danger both now and hereafter.
In consequence of this interposition, the states-general that same day sent a letter to the states of Holland and West Friesland, communicating the sentiments of the princess-regent, and insisting upon the necessity of complying with her proposal of the double augmentation. They observed, that an augmentation of the land-forces, for the defence of the frontiers, was unavoidable, as well as an equipment by sea for the security of commerce: that the states of the provinces of Gueldres, Utrecht, Overyssel, and Groningen, joined with them in the same opinion; and accordingly had insisted, by divers letters and propositions, on those two points so essential to the public interest. They represented the danger of delay, and the fatal effects of discord; they proposed, that by a reciprocal indulgence one party should comply with the sentiments of the other, in order to avoid a schism and dangerous division among the confederates, the consequences of which would be very deplorable; while the republic, in the meantime, would remain in a defenceless condition, both by sea and land, and depend upon the arbitrary power of its neighbours. They conjured them, therefore, as they valued the safety of their country, and all that was dear to them; as they regarded the protection of the good inhabitants, the concord and harmony which at all times but especially at the present critical juncture, was of the last necessity, that they would seriously reflect upon the exhortations of her royal highness, as well as on the repeated instances of the majority of the confederates, and take a wise and salutary resolution with regard to the proposed augmentation of the land-forces, so that this addition, together with an equipment at sea, might, the sooner the better, be unanimously brought to a conclusion. It was undoubtedly the duty of all who wished well to their country, to moderate the heat and precipitation of those, who, provoked by their losses, and stimulated by resentment, endeavoured at this period to involve their nation in a war with Great Britain. Had matters been pushed to this extremity, in a few months the republic would, in all probability, have been brought to the brink of ruin. The Dutch were distracted by internal divisions; they were altogether unprovided for hostilities by sea; the ocean was covered with their trading vessels; and the naval armaments of Great Britain were so numerous and powerful, as to render all resistance on that element equally vain and pernicious. The English could not only have scoured the seas, and made prize of their shipping, but were also in a condition to reduce or demolish all their towns in Zealand, where they would hardly have met with any opposition.