*

hail-storms. A negotiation between Charles the Twelfth and the Czar had been opened in the Isle of Aland, under the mediation of a Swedish agent; and the Duke of Ormond had hastened to Russia as plenipotentiary of the Pretender. It was agreed that Peter should retain Livonia, Ingria, and other Swedish territories to the southward of Finland; that Charles should undertake the conquest of Norway and the recovery of Bremen and Verden; and that both monarchs should combine for the restoration of Stanislaus in Poland, and of the Stuarts in Great Britain. The latter point was foremost in the wishes of Gortz, who had planned and forwarded the whole design; who enjoyed more than ever the confidence of his master; and who had left his Dutch captivity, stung with disappointment at his failure, and burning with revenge against King George and King George's ministers. So active and embittered an enemy was the very man to raise and direct the tempest against England. The tempest was raised; but it burst upon his own head. Charles, pursuing his plans and impatient of delay, led an army into Norway, notwithstanding the severity of winter; and on the 11th of December, with the snow and ice deep around him, he was pressing the siege of the frontier fortress of Frederickshall, when a musket ball from an unknown hand laid him lifeless on the frozen ground. He had begun to reign and (what in him was synonymous) to fight in his eighteenth year; he died in his thirty-sixth; and, during that period, he had been the tyrant and scourge of that nation by whom his memory is now adored! Such is the halo with which glory is invested by posterity! But very different was the feeling at the time of Charles's fall; and a total change of system was so universally demanded as to be easily effected. His sister Ulrica was proclaimed his successor by the Senate; but the form of the monarchy was altered from the most despotic to the most limited in Europe. All his ministers were dismissed, all his projects abandoned: his chief favourite, Gortz, gratified the public resentment by an ignominious death upon the scaffold; and the intended league, which had threatened the throne of England, vanished as speedily and as utterly as one of those thunder-clouds to which Alberoni had compared it.

I have already had occasion to notice the projects of Alberoni in France, and the party with which he was connected in that country. Its head was nominally the Duke, but in truth the Duchess du Maine; the former being of a timorous and feeble mind, and the latter abounding in courage and in cabals. She was grand-daughter to the famous Condé, and was assured by all her dependants, especially her husband, that she inherited the spirit of that great man, although in truth her character had more of passion than prudence, and more of prudence than dexterity. A single fact from her domestic life will give an idea of her violence; she could not bear the least sus

St. Simon, vol. xv. p. 308, ed. 1829.

† Amongst the Stuart Papers is the original passport given to Ormond in Russian and Latin, and signed by Peter the Great. Ormond travelled under the name of Brunet.

pense of hunger, or restraint of regular meals, and had always in her apartment a table with cold meats, of which she partook at any instant that the fancy struck her. This bold virago had opened a secret concert of measures with the Prince of Cellamare, the Spanish ambassador, and used to drive to nightly conferences at his house in a borrowed carriage, with Count Laval acting as coachman. It does not appear that any great number of persons were fully initiated into their schemes;* but it is certain, that though the conspirators were few, the malcontents were many. The conclusion of the Quadruple Alliance had provoked great murmurs, there being opposed to it the judgment of the most able statesmen, and, what is far more formidable, the prejudices of the multitude. Marshal d'Huxelles had repeatedly refused to sign that treaty, and only yielded, at length, to the positive commands of the Regent; Marshal Villars presented a strong memorial against what he termed the unnatural alliance of France with England; and, in one word, all the adherents of the old Court loudly inveighed against the altered system of the new. Even the wife of the Regent, a sister of the Duke du Maine, was more mindful of her ties by blood than by marriage. The States of Brittany complained of provincial oppression; the Jesuits sighed for a return, and the Parliament of Paris for an augmentation, of power; and all with one voice reprobated, as they most justly might, the personal profligacy and boundless influence of Dubois. Nothing could be more various than the views of all these parties and persons, some eager to destroy, others only to restore or to improve; but the skill of Alberoni knew how to combine them for one common movement; and it is precisely by such junctions of dissembling knaves and honest dupes that nearly all revolutions are effected. The project was to seize the Duke of Orleans in one of his parties of pleasure near Paris, to convoke the States-General, to proclaim the King of Spain, as next in blood, the Rightful Regent, and the Duke du Maine his deputy. Already had the eloquent pen of Cardinal Polignac been employed in appropriate addresses, which were kept in readiness, to the King, to the States, and to the Parliaments; and already had armed bands, under the semblance of FAUX SAUNIERS, or salt smugglers, been directed to gather on the Somme.

The first intelligence to the Regent that some such plot was brewing came from the Cabinet of St. James's, and a warning was also given by the French embassy at Madrid. The Government, however, judiciously refrained from showing any symptom of alarm; thus lulling the conspirators into such security and remissness, as to neglect the use of cipher and other precautions for secrecy. It only remained

"Messrs. de Laval et de Pompadour avancaient comme certain tout ce qui leur passait par la tête, promettant l'entremise et l'appui de quantité de gens entièrement ignorans de leurs desseins, que sur de vaines conjectures ils jugeaient propres à y entrer." (Mém. de Madame de Staal, vol. ii. p. 6.) She was then Mademoiselle de Launay; first a maid, and afterwards a companion and confidant of the Duchess du Maine. Her reflections are shrewd and sarcastic.

for Cellamare to transmit to Madrid an account of his proceedings, with copies of the manifestoes already mentioned, and to take the last orders of Alberoni upon the subject. There was then at Paris a young Spanish abbé, Don Vicente Portocarrero, a kinsman of the celebrated Cardinal; and it was he whom Cellamare determined, at the beginning of December, to send with these important papers, thinking that his youth would be a security against suspicion, and his rank against, arrest; and for similar reasons he adjoined to him a son of the Marquis de Monteleon. But these things had not escaped the watchful eye of Dubois. How they How they came to his knowledge is doubtful; on this point St. Simon professes ignorance, and Voltaire shows it.* Be this as it may, Dubois gave orders to pursue the travellers, and Portocarrero was overtaken at Poitiers, himself arrested, and his papers seized. These papers, forwarded to Paris, were found to afford a clue to some discoveries, and a confirmation of others; and Dubois, making a great merit of his vigilance, and keeping the affair as much as possible in his own hands, laid them before the Regent. It was determined to adopt the same treatment towards Cellamare as, under precisely similar circumstances, Gyllenborg had received in London; and his person was accordingly put under arrest, and his papers examined; but the ambassador had already had time to conceal or destroy the most private.

To seize the persons of the Duke and Duchess du Maine seemed of still more importance, and perhaps of greater difficulty in case of popular ferment and tumult. The Regent determined that, immediately on their arrest, they should be conveyed from the neighbourhood of Paris; the Duke to Dourlens, in Picardy, and the Duchess to the castle of Dijon. Not the slightest resistance was experienced in the execution of these orders: the husband was arrested at Sceaux, the wife in the Rue St. Honoré, and they were removed to their several destinations, each with equal safety, but by no means with equal submission. During the journey, the Duke, pale and terrorstricken, was seen to mutter prayers and cross himself whenever he passed a church; but did not venture to ask many questions, or to make a single complaint; and, for fear of giving offence, did not even mention the Duchess or his children. The Duchess, on the contrary, having for many years at Sceaux amused herself with acting plays, assumed the deportment of a tragic heroine, poured forth torrents of furious reproaches, not the less sincere though often contradictory, and seemed to find great consolation and relief in abusing the officer who guarded her.†

.....

"Une entremetteuse distinguée fournissait des filles à ce jeune homme. Elle avait longtemps servi l'Abbé Dubois, alors Sécrétaire d'Etat. Elle fit agir une fille fort adroite qui vola des papiers importans, avec quelques billets de banque dans les poches de l'Abbé Portocarrero. . . . L'Abbé, ayant vu ses papiers disparaître, et ne retrouvant plus la fille, partit sur le champ pour l'Espagne; on courut après lui," &c. (Voltaire, Siècle de Louis XV.) This story, however, is certainly false, at least in its details, it being quite evident from the original documents that Portocarrero had no suspicion of discovery or pursuit until he reached Poitiers. A similar anecdote, perhaps with more foundation, is told by Madame de Staal of the Secretary of Cellamare, but she does not name him. (Mém. vol. ii. p. 24.)

† St. Simon, Mém vol. xvii. p. 250 and 207, ed. 1829.

Besides the Duke and Duchess du Maine, Cardinal Polignac, M. de Pompadour, and several others, were either exiled or arrested; and the conspiracy was effectually crushed by the dispersion of its chiefs. Cellamare was escorted to the frontiers of Spain. A circular, addressed to the Foreign Ministers at Paris, explained the causes which had led to the strong but necessary measure of seizing one of their number; and in confirmation of this statement, were also published two of the letters from Cellamare, which Portocarrero had been conveying.*

Before the news of this disappointment reached Madrid a total rupture had already taken place between Alberoni and the Duke de St. Aignan, French ambassador.† The latter, disgusted at his fruitless remonstrances, and bound by positive instructions, had requested his audience of leave; but this, under various pretexts, was eluded by the Cardinal, who expected the speedy explosion of the conspiracy in France, and who wished, in the event of its failure, to retain the French ambassador as a hostage for Cellamare. Under these circumstances, St. Aignan set out from Madrid without notice, and Alberoni, much irritated, gave orders to have him pursued and arrested. But the Frenchman, knowing the person with whom he had to deal, and expecting some such order, left his carriage near Pamplona, with a servant to personate him, and crossed the mountains on a mule to St. Jean Pied du Port. The precaution was well timed, for the servant was arrested, and for some time detained as the ambassador. Meanwhile, Alberoni, aware that this violent measure must lead to retaliation in France, wrote to Cellamare, directing him, in case he should be obliged to leave the country, "first set fire to all the mines." But this letter arriving after Cellamare's detention, was intercepted by the French Government, and would have rendered it far more difficult for Alberoni, had he even wished it, to disavow his agent and his acts. The Cardinal, however, entertained no such intention. On the contrary, when he learnt the miscarriage of his hopeful schemes, he induced his Royal master to issue, on the 25th of December, a manifesto, avowing and justifying his measures, assailing the government of the Duke of Orleans, and appealing to the French nation against it.

After such provocation it was impossible for the Regent any longer to withhold a declaration of war against Spain. The English Cabinet had for some time been urging him to this measure, and delaying its own, with a view to his accession. Both declarations were published at nearly the same time, the English on the 17th of December, O. S., and the French on the 9th of January, N. S.

See these letters in their original Italian in Boyer's Political State, 1718, vol. ii. p. 509-518.

"Saint Aignan était trop jeune, trop timide, et surtout trop pauvre pour balancer un homme comme Alberoni. On ne doit pas attendre de vigilance utile d'un ambassadeur qui recourt aux expédiens pour vivre; or ce seigneur était souvent réduit à engager son argenterie; ainsi qu'il l'avoue dans ses lettres au Marquis de Louville." (Mém. de Louville, vol. ii. p. 189.)

At this period the Parliament was sitting, it having met on the 11th of November.. The addresses in answer to the King's speech, moved in the Upper House by Lord Carteret, and in the Lower by Lord Hinchinbroke, produced a warm debate on Spanish affairs. Lord Stanhope, in answer to Lord Strafford, gave an account of his late negotiations and journeys, stating that it was high time for Great Britain to check the growth of the naval power of Spain, in order to protect and secure the trade of British subjects, who had been violently oppressed by the Spaniards; that he thought it an honour to have been among those who advised Sir George Byng's instructions; and that he was ready to answer for them with his head. On a division the Lords' address was carried by 83 against 50. In the Commons, Walpole declared against the Quadruple Alliance with a vehemence which shortly afterwards proved a little embarrassing to him, when in scarcely more than a year he became a steady supporter of that very system. He observed that the late measures were contrary to the laws of nations, and a breach of solemn treaties, and that the giving sanction to them in the manner proposed could have no other view than to screen Ministers, who were conscious of having done something amiss, and who, having begun a war against Spain, would now make it the Parliament's war. Shippen and Wyndham supported Walpole, but Secretary Craggs replied to him with great spirit; and on putting the question, the Ministers had 216 votes, and the Opposition 155. Subsequently, on the King's declaration of war, there was in the Commons an equally vehement debate, but a still more decisive division. Nor does it appear that the war caused any dissatisfaction in the nation. at large: on the contrary, the vast preparations of Spain had excited uneasiness, and their attacks on our trade indignation; the victory of Byng was highly celebrated, and the opposition of Walpole found but few supporters amongst the friends of the Hanover succession. Besides, with the multitude there are two things which are almost always very popular at the beginning: the first is a war, and the second a peace.

The great measure of this session was the Act for the relief of Protestant Dissenters. By the passing of the Bill against Occasional Conformity in 1711, and of the Schism Bill in 1714, they had been reduced to a state of great humiliation and depression, and they found the enmity of the Tories more steady than the friendship of the Whigs. Stanhope, however, had earnestly espoused their cause, and, ever since he came into power, had sought to frame and carry through some measure in their behalf. He wished to repeal not merely the Bill against Occasional Conformity and the Schism Bill, but also the Test Act, thus placing the Dissenters on the footing of perfect political equality. Nor were the views of Stanhope confined to Protestants; he had also formed the plan of repealing, or at least of very greatly mitigating, the penal laws in force against the Roman Catholics; and there will be found in the Appendix a paper which he wrote to be put into the hands of some leading men of