Harley, cousin to the treasurer, successively de- BOOK L puted thither, letters full of protestations of 1713. their zeal for its interest. The earl of Rochester, in particular, congratulated his electoral highness upon "affairs being now in a better train, with respect to the succession, than heretofore"-alluding probably to the opposition made by the whigs to the project of the tories for bringing over the princess Sophia. And the minister Harley declares, "that the late changes have given the greater and better part of the nation an opportunity to express their duty to that serene house." the Courts and Hano It is certain that the indiscreet interference of Misunder standing the elector relative to the negotiations with between France, and the memorial or remonstrance pre- of London sented by his ambassador in London against the ver. project of peace, gave extreme offence to the queen; and from this period she entertained, as it appears, frequent discourses on the subject of her brother's restoration; and even expressed herself at times, though with great caution, in terms favorable to it. In a conference held by Mrs. Masham with M. Mesnager, that lady acknowledged her majesty's secret inclination in favor of her brother, saying "that it would be an inexpressible satisfaction to her majesty to see herself delivered from the fatal necessity of doing so * Macpherson's Papers, vol. ii. 1713. BOOK VI. much wrong, and, if it could be possible with safety to the religion and liberty of her subjects, to have her BROTHER restored to his right, at least after her decease, if it could not be done before." She acknowledged, however, "that the queen did not see how this could be done-her brother being the object of the rage and irreconcileable aversion of the people." quently written by Mrs. nager, dated March 2, "that the court of St. Germaine's are fallen into the hands of my lord treasurer, who she doubts not values himself upon having deceived them." Partiality of the the Pretender. And in a letter subseMasham to M. Mes1712, she tells him, The duke of Leeds assured Lesley, the famous non-juring clergyman, that he had often endeavoured to sound the queen upon this point, but that she always declined to explain her sentiments. But to the duke of Buckingham, who stood beyond comparison higher in her favor and confidence, she was more explicit. This nobleman, in a curious epistle to the earl of Middleton, dated February 15, 1712, under the guise of fictitious names and enigmatical expressions, informs his lordship that the queen complained "that her brother would not make the least step to oblige her." In answer to the duke's arguments and remonstrances, she replied hastily, "What would you have me do? You know that a papist cannot inherit-therefore I had better do with a good He grace what I cannot help."--And on being again BOOK VI. urged, she said, "I do not see how I can undo 1713. what I myself have done, and done in such a manner. He may thank himself for it. knows I always loved him better than Hanover." The duke adds, "that he is convinced, if the king would return to the church of England, all would be easy-nay, if he would but barely give hopes he would do so.*" Such a change might doubtless have produced important consequences; but, upon the whole, it is clear that the projects of the Jacobites met with no serious countenance It is very possible that the duke of Buckingham, in his eagerness to make his court at St. Germaine's, may have been tempted to add some embellishments to his narrative of this conversation with the queen, and it is therefore to be received with some caution. However this may be, certain it is, that the relation given by Mr. Macpherson, in his history of the conference in question, is by no means authorised by the duke of Buckingham's own account, as reported by the agent Trevor; and the history is therefore to be read with still more caution than the letter. Mr. Macpherson makes the queen say, "The example of the father has no weight with the son; he prefers his religious errors to the throne of a great kingdom. All would be easy, should he enter the pale of the church of England." This is absolute fiction; for, though the duke himself does indeed, in the excess of his zeal, make use of the last words, to ascribe them to the queen is a gross falsification of history, and resolves itself into inexcusable negligence, or yet more inexcusable misrepre sentation. BOOK VI. or encouragement from the court. The earl of 1213. Strafford, who, notwithstanding his high-church and tory principles, appears to have espoused cordially and zealously the interests of the electoral house, affirms in his letter to the princess Sophia, of December 1712, "That there is not one of a thousand in the whole island who is a Jacobite." In a subsequent letter he says, "Believe me, madam, all the noise made about the Pretender is groundless; and the tories are full as much in your interest or rather more than the whigs, though the latter have of late got a way of threatening the tories with the protestant succession, as if your royal highness, or those of your illustrious house who should succeed the queen, were not to reign over the tories as well as the whigs. I am sure you know what is called tory are those which are for the church of England." And in a letter of still later date (May 1714), there is this remarkable passage: "After all the foolish and malicious outcry of the danger of the Pretender, I have asked the people here (i. e. at the Hague) to tell me one thing done in his favor, or one thing left undone to exclude him, and to secure your succession. Nay, I have desired them to let me know what was desired, or if there could be any thing more done, to secure the protestant succession in your illustrious house; and if they would tell me, I would engage it of Marlbo the Whigs. should be done." Nevertheless, the whigs were BOOK VI. incessant in their exclamations that the present 1713. ministers were forming deep and dangerous designs against the protestant succession and in favor of the Pretender. The duke of Marlborough, Intrigues in a letter to M. Robethon, of February 1714, rough and declares himself rejoiced to find, "that the republic" (i. c. of Holland) "takes the alarm, and begins to wake out of the lethargy it had fallen into since the peace of Utrecht. And he affirms, that the queen's ill health, and the ministers' making such open steps in favor of the Pretender as to leave no doubt of their intentions to place him on the throne, have brought things so near a decision, that, unless the States design to look on and see us lost, and consequently themselves, they could no longer remain inactive." And it appears in the course of the letter, that in consequence of his representations, together with those of the other leaders of the whigs, the States were equipping a great fleet to convoy a large body of forces to England, effectually to assert, in case of need, the protestant succession in the house of Hanover, of which they were the guarantees. This is therefore a demonstrative proof of the real and zealous attachment of the duke of Marlborough to the Hanoverian succession. Yet, strange it is to tell, that the grossness of his political hypocrisy was such, as to incite him to maintain |