he invested on the 3d of April. The Austrians were driven back to Ruremond, with the loss of their magazines; the Russian auxiliaries still lingered on their march through Franconia; and the Dutch and English combined were far too weak for offensive operations. Under these circumstances, the fall of Maestricht appeared certain, and the invasion of Holland probable.

Thus pressed, and yielding to necessity, the British Ministers determined to close even with far less favourable terms than they might lately have obtained. The views of Pelham had always been pacific, and he now gathered spirit to enforce them. Newcastle himself, who had promoted the war, not from honest conviction, but rather from jealousy of Chesterfield, having prevailed over his rival, was no longer disinclined to peace. In April, accordingly, his Grace wrote to Lord Sandwich, declaring that the King, unable either to check the progress of the French army, or to reconcile the discordant pretensions of his own Allies, had resolved, without the concurrence of the other powers, to accept the conditions which France was disposed to grant. Sandwich was, therefore, instructed to conclude a preliminary treaty, combined with a cessation of arms, especially in the Netherlands; to communicate the treaty to the plenipotentiaries of the Allies, and endeavour to obtain their concurrence; but if they refused it, to sign without them. *

In these instructions, the Dutch Government, swayed at this period by the British, and by their own sense of danger, fully concurred. Count Bentinck, accordingly, on their part, as Lord Sandwich on the part of England, pursued the negotiation with Count St. Severin, the plenipotentiary of France, who, however, feeling his vantageground, availed himself of it. ** He also hastened the result

* Duke of Newcastle to the Earl of Sandwich, April. 8. 1748, O. S. ** "M. St. Severin, in the whole course of the negotiation, knew his "superiority, and made use of it; and I am very apprehensive that some way or other, from the Hague, he must have known the substance of "my instructions." Lord Sandwich to the Duke of Newcastle, May 1. 1748.

1748.

PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE.

363

by threatening that the slightest delay in the negotiation. would be a signal for the French to destroy the fortifications of Ypres, Namur, and Berg-op-Zoom, and to commence the invasion of Holland. The Ministers of the other powers peremptorily refused to join; but late at night of the 30th of April, New Style, the preliminaries were finally adjusted and signed by the English, Dutch, and French plenipotentiaries. The following were the principal ar

ticles:

The renewal of all former treaties, except in such points as were specifically changed.

The mutual restitution of all conquests in every part of the world.

Dunkirk to remain fortified towards the land in its actual condition, and towards the sea on the footing of ancient treaties; in other words, the works on that side to be demolished.

The Duchies of Parma and Guastalla and Placentia to be assigned to the Infant Don Philip; but, in case he should either die without issue, or succeed to the throne of Naples, Parma and Guastalla to revert to the House of Austria, and Placentia to the King of Sardinia.

The Duke of Modena, and the Republic of Genoa, to be reinstated in their former territories, comprising the restitution of Finale.

The cessions made to the King of Sardinia, by the treaty of Worms, to be confirmed, with the exception of Placentia and Finale.

The Asiento treaty to be revived for four years, the period of its suspension during the war.

The articles in the treaty of 1718, on the guarantee of the Protestant succession, and the exclusion from France of the Pretender and his family, to be confirmed and executed.

The Emperor to be acknowledged by France in his Imperial dignity, and the guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction to be renewed.

The Duchy of Silesia and the county of Glatz to be guaranteed to the King of Prussia.

With these preliminaries was also signed an act for the suspension of hostilities.

Never, perhaps, did any war, after so many great events, and so large a loss of blood and treasure, end in replacing the nations engaged in it so nearly in the same situation as they held at first. Yet, notwithstanding the exhausted state of the British finances, and the depression wrought by the disasters in the Netherlands, these terms especially the restitution of Cape Breton- were far from popular in England.* The Ministers, however, might well congratulate themselves on escaping so easily from the results of their own rashness. When the King found peace unavoidable on less advantageous conditions than he had lately shrunk from, he testily observed, "Chesterfield told me six months "ago, that it would be so;" and the Earl himself could not refrain from boasting how his predictions were fulfilled. "I "am heartily glad," he writes, "that the peace is made. “I was for making it sooner, and consequently better. I "foresaw and foretold our weakness this campaign, and "would have prevented by a timely negotiation, last Octo"ber, those evident dangers to which it must necessarily 'expose us, and which we have escaped more by our good “fortune than our wisdom. I may add, that my resignation "made this peace, as it opened people's eyes as to the "dangers of the war. The Republic is saved by it from "utter ruin, and England from bankruptcy." **

At the same time, however, indignation and resentment prevailed at the Courts of Turin and of Vienna. The King of Sardinia could ill brook the alienation of Placentia and Finale; and the Empress Queen, in spite of every representation from Sir Thomas Robinson, not only refused to concur in the preliminaries ***, but publicly protested against *Tindal's Hist. vol. ix. p. 361,

** To Mr. Dayrolles, May 13. 1748,

*** Her Majesty's passionate exclamations at the news

"I am neither

"a child nor a fool!... Good God! how have I been used!... There is

1748.

DEFINITIVE TREATY SIGNED.

365

them. The whole summer was consumed before these obstacles could be surmounted; but the negotiations at Aix were still conducted by Lord Sandwich, and he received directions, partly from Mr. Pelham and the Government in London, and partly from the King and the Duke of Newcastle, who had repaired to Hanover. At length, after a tangled web of most wearisome discussions, a definitive treaty was signed in October by all the belligerent powers. This peace confirmed and established the terms of the preliminaries, but it contained no stipulation on the first cause of the war, the commercial claims of England upon Spain; and it was clogged with a clause most unwelcome to the British pride that hostages should be given to France for the restitution of Cape Breton. Two noblemen of distinguished rank, the Earl of Sussex and Lord Cathcart, were accordingly selected for this purpose and sent to Paris. At the news of their arrival, Prince Charles, it is said, displayed the highest indignation, and exclaimed with more of patriotism than of prudence, "If ever I mount the throne of "my ancestors, Europe shall see me use my utmost endea"vours to force France in her turn to send hostages to Eng"land!"*

The definitive treaty being thus concluded, it became necessary for France to fulfil its engagement with regard to the expulsion of the young Pretender. On his return from Scotland, Charles had been favourably received by Louis; a burst of applause had signalised his first appearance at the Opera; and he found that both by King and people his exploits were admired, and his sufferings deplored. For some of his most faithful followers, as Lochiel and Lord Ogilvie, he had obtained commissions in the French service; and a pension of 40,000 livres yearly had been granted him for the relief of the rest; but when he applied for military succours - urging that a new expedi

'your King of Prussia!.... No, no, I will rather lose my head;" &c. may be seen from Robinson's despatches in Coxe's House of Austria, vol. iii. p. 353.

Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 578.

- he

tion should be fitted out and placed at his disposal found the Court of Versailles turn a deaf ear to his demands. Once, indeed, it was hinted to him by Cardinal Tencin, that the Ministers might not be disinclined to meet his views, provided, in case of his success, the kingdom of Ireland should be yielded as a province to the crown of France. But the high spirit of Charles could ill brook this degrading offer. Scarcely had Tencin concluded, when the Prince, starting from his seat and passionately pacing the room, cried out, Non monsieur le CARDINAL! TOUT OU RIEN! POINT DE PARTAGE! The Cardinal, alarmed at his demeanour, hastened to assure him that the idea was entirely his own, conceived from his great affection to the Exiled Family, and not at all proceeding from, or known to, King Louis.*

The applications of Charles were not confined to France; early in 1747, he undertook an adventurous journey to Madrid, and obtained an audience of the King and Queen, but found them so much in awe of the British Court, as to allow him only a few hours' stay.** He next turned his hopes towards Frederick of Prussia. In April 1748 he despatched Sir John Graham to Berlin with instructions, "To propose, "in a modest manner, a marriage with one of them. To "declare that I never intend to marry but a Protestant; and, "if the King refuses an alliance with him, to ask advice "whom to take, as he is known to be the wisest Prince in Europe." .”*** This scheme, however, though promising success for a short time, ended like the rest in failure.

Ere long, moreover, domestic discord arose to embitter the coldness or hostility of strangers. Charles's brother having secretly quitted Paris without any previous notice to him, had returned to Rome and resolved to enter Holy

*Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 568.

**See a very curious account of this journey by Charles himself in his letter of March 12. 1747. Appendix.

*** Instructions for Sir John Graham in Charles's writing, and dated April 4. 1748. Stuart Papers. It is remarkable that the Duke of Newcastle writes to the Lord Chancellor, September 21. 1753: "The King of Prussia "is now avowedly the principal, if not the sole, support of the Pretender "and of the Jacobite cause." Coxe's Pelham.