SEVERE ADDRESSES FROM BOTH HOUSES.

King William certainly had no expectation that France would close with such proposals; but he was not without hope that her refusal would warm the English nation into a concurrence with his designs. He communicated to the house of commons the demands which had been made by him and the states-general; and gave them to understand, that he would from time to time make them acquainted with the progress of the negotiation. The commons suspecting that his intention was to make them parties in a congress which he might conduct to a different end from that which they proposed, resolved to signify their sentiments in the answer to this message. They called for the treaty of partition, which being read, they voted an address of thanks to his majesty, for his most gracious declaration that he would make them acquainted with the progress of the negotiation; but they signified their disapprobation of the partition treaty, signed with the great seal of England, without the advice of the parliament which was then sitting, and productive of ill consequences to the kingdom, as well as to the peace of Europe, as it assigned over to the French king such a large portion of the Spanish dominion. Nothing could be more mortifying to the king than this open attack upon his own conduct, yet he suppressed his resentment, and without taking the least notice of their sentiments with respect to the partition treaty, assured them that he should be always ready to receive their advice on the negotiation which he had set on foot according to their desire. The debates in the house of commons upon the subject of the partition treaty rose to such violence, that divers members, in declaiming against it, transgressed the bounds of decency. Sir Edward Seymour compared the division which had been made of the Spanish territories, to a robbery on the highway; and Mr. Howe did not scruple to say it was a felonious treaty: an expression which the king resented to such a degree, that he declared he would have demanded personal satisfaction with his sword, had he not been restrained by the disparity of condition between himself and the person who had offered such an outrageous insult to his honour. Whether the tories intended to alienate the minds of the nation from all foreign connexions, or to wreak their vengeance on the late ministers, whom they hated as the chiefs of the whig party, certain it is, they now raised an universal outcry against the partition treaty, which was not only condemned in public pamphlets and private conversation, but even brought into the house of lords as an object of parliamentary censure. In the month of March a warm debate on this subject was begun by Sheffield marquis of Nonnanby, and carried on with great vehemence by other noblemen of the same faction. They exclaimed against the article by which so many territories were added to the crown of France; they complained, that the emperor had been forsaken; that the treaty was not communicated to the privy-council or ministry, but clandestinely transacted by the earls of Portland and Jersey; that the sanction of the great seal had been unjustly and irregularly applied, first to blank powers, and afterwards to the treaty itself. The courtiers replied, that the king had engaged in a treaty of partition at the desire of the emperor, who had agreed to every article except that relating to the duchy of Milan, and afterwards desired, that his majesty would procure for him the best terms he could obtain; above all things recommending secrecy, that he might not forfeit his interest in Spain, by seeming to consent to the treaty; that foreign negotiations being intrusted to the care of the crown, the king lay under no legal obligation to communicate such secrets of state to his council; far less was he obliged to follow their advice; and that the keeper of the great seal had no authority for refusing to apply it to any powers or treaty which the king should grant or conclude, unless they were contrary to law, which had made no provision for such an emergency.*

* In the course of this debate, the earl of Rochester
reprehended some lords for speaking disrespectfully of the
French king, observing that it was peculiarly incumbent on
peers to treat monarchs with decorum and respect, as they
derived their dignity from the crown. Another affirming that
the French king was not only to be respected, but likewise
to be feared: a certain lord replied, “He hoped no man in
England need to be afraid of the French king; much less the
peer who spoke last, who was too much a friend to that
monarch to fear anything from his resentment.”

The earl of Portland, apprehending that this tempest would burst upon his head, declared on the second day of the debate, that he had, by the king’s order, communicated the treaty, before it was concluded, to the earls of Pembroke and Marlborough, the lords Lonsdale, Somers, Halifax, and secretary Vernon. These noblemen owned, that they had been made acquainted with the substance of it: that when they excepted to some particulars, they were told his majesty had carried the matter as far as it could be advanced, and that he could obtain no better terms; thus assured that every article was already settled, they said they no longer insisted upon particulars, but gave their advice that his majesty should not engage himself in any measure that would produce a new war, seeing the nation had been so uneasy under the last. After long debates, and great variety as well as virulence of altercation, the house agreed to an address in which they disapproved of the partition treaty, as a scheme inconsistent with the peace and safety of Europe, as well as prejudicial to the interest of Great Britain. They complained, that neither the instructions given to his plenipotentiaries, nor the draft of the treaty itself, had been laid before his majesty’s council. They humbly besought him, that for the future he would, in all matters of importance, require and admit the advice of his natural born subjects of known probity and fortune; and that he would constitute a council of such persons, to whom he might impart all affairs which should any way concern him and his dominions. They observed, that interest and natural affection to their country would incline them to every measure that might tend to its welfare and prosperity; whereas strangers could not be so much influenced by these considerations; that their knowledge of the country would render them more capable than foreigners could be of advising his majesty touching the true interests of his kingdom; that they had exhibited such repeated demonstrations of their duty and affection, as must convince his majesty of their zeal in his service; nor could he want the knowledge of persons fit to be employed in all his secret and arduous affairs; finally, as the French king appeared to have violated the treaty of partition, they advised his majesty, in future negotiations with that prince, to proceed with such caution as might imply a real security.