MEASURES FOR ELECTING A KING OF THE ROMANS.

In the meantime they eagerly prosecuted the design of the election; and the Imperial minister at Berlin not only communicated to his Prussian majesty the sentiments of the king of England on this expedient, but even solicited his vote for the archduke Joseph, when the election of a king of the Romans should be proposed in the electoral college. To this proposal he replied, that he was extremely well disposed to manifest his regard for their imperial majesties, and to give the most genuine proofs of it, even in the proposed election of a king of the Romans, considering the great merit of the present candidate the archduke Joseph; but he left it to the consideration of their imperial majesties, whether the election would not be a little premature, if transacted at a time when his imperial majesty was in the flower of his age; enjoying perfect health; and when all Europe, particularly the empire, was hushed in the bosom of tranquillity, so that no circumstance seemed to prognosticate the necessity of such an election; or of putting in execution the motives mentioned in the capitulation of the reigning emperor’s election; especially as the examination of these motives belonged to the whole empire, and ought to precede the election, by virtue of the eighth article of the treaty of Westphalia. He observed, that in case of the emperor’s death, Germany would find herself in a very disagreeable situation under the government of a minor. For these reasons, he said, he could not help advising their imperial majesties to wait until the archduke should be of age, when his election might be carried on more conformably to the laws and constitutions of the empire, and more suitable to the majesty of the whole Germanic body. This reply he circulated among the electors, and in particular transmitted it to the king of Great Britain, desiring they would deliberate maturely on this subject, and confer together in a body, as well as in private, that they might proceed according to the ancient custom of the electoral college, and take such ‘measures as should be judged expedient for the honour and advantage of the community. This circular letter was answered both by the king of England and the elector of Bavaria, who demonstrated, that it was the privilege of the electoral college only, without any participation of the other princes of the empire, to elect a king of the Romans during the life of the emperor, in order to maintain the peace and preserve the liberties of Germany; and that the neglect of this wise precaution hath produced bloody wars, and many fatal consequences to the empire. They observed, that nothing could more contribute to the establishment of the public tranquillity than this measure, so ardently desired by the majority of the German princes; and that, although the archduke Joseph wanted a few years of being of age, and it might possibly happen that the reigning emperor should die during that prince’s minority, yet it would be much less prejudicial to the empire to have a minor chief, than to see the succession altogether unsettled. His Prussian majesty received a declaration to the same purpose from the elector of Mentz; and understanding that this prince, as archchancellor of the empire, intended to convoke an electoral diet in order to propose the election of a king of the Romans, he wrote an elaborate letter to his electoral highness, explaining at more length his reasons for postponing the election. He quoted that sentence of the treaty of Westphalia which expressly declares, that the election of a king of the Romans shall be discussed and ordained by the common consent of the states of the empire; and, therefore, he could not conceive what right the electoral college had to arrogate this privilege to themselves, excluding the other states of the empire. He observed, that the imperial capitulations, which were the only laws of the empire that treated of this subject, mentioned only three cases in which it was lawful to proceed to such an election; namely, the emperor’s leaving, and long absence from, Germany; his advanced age, or an indisposition, rendering him incapable of managing the reins of government; and any case of emergency in which the preservation of the empire’s prosperity is interested. He affirmed that none of these motives at present existed; that, in case the imperial crown should devolve to a minor, many mischiefs and disorders must ensue, as the constitutions of the empire have established no regulations nor regency in that event; that an election of this nature, carried on under the power, influence, and authority of the head of the empire, would strike at the fundamental privileges of the princes and states; consequently, in time overturn the constitution of the empire, which, from being an elective dignity, conferred by the free and independent suffrages of the electoral college and states of Germany, under certain capitulations, obliging the prince thus chosen to govern according to law, would become an hereditary succession, perpetuated in one family, which of course must be aggrandized to the prejudice of its co-estates, and the ruin of the Germanic liberties. In a word, all Germany in general, and Ratisbon in particular, was filled with writings published on both sides: by the emperor and his adherents, to demonstrate that the election of a king of the Romans, during the life of the emperor, had often happened, and at this present time was necessary, and would be advantageous to the empire; while the king of Prussia and his friends laboured to prove that such an election, at the present juncture, would be ill-timed, irregular, and of dangerous consequence. Perhaps, if the truth was known, this enterprising prince had projected some great scheme, with the execution of which this proposed establishment would have interfered. Certain it is, he exerted himself with that spirit and perseverance which were peculiar to his character, to frustrate the intention of the courts of Vienna and London in this particular, and was assisted with all the intrigue of the French ministry. Their joint endeavours were so effectual, that the elector of Cologn renounced his subsidiary treaty with the maritime powers, and once more threw himself into the arms of France. The elector palatine being solicited by the empress-queen and his Britannic majesty to co-operate with their views, insisted, as a preliminary article, upon being indemnified by the court of Vienna for the ravages committed in his territories by the Austrian troops, during the course of the last war: the king of Poland, elector of Saxony, made the same demand of the like indemnification, which was granted by the mediation of king George; and then he subscribed to a subsidiary treaty, obliging himself to furnish a body of six thousand auxiliaries, in case they should be required by the maritime powers; and to act as an elector, in concert with the house of Austria, in every thing relating to the welfare of his country that should square with the fundamental laws of the empire. The courts of London and Vienna had this election so much at heart, that they sounded almost all the powers of Europe, to know how they stood affected towards the measure proposed. The king of Spain declined intermeddling in a domestic affair of the empire. The French king returned an ambiguous answer; from whence it was concluded that nothing but opposition could be expected from that quarter. The Swedish monarch was rendered propitious to the project by assurances that the house of Hesse-Cassel, of which he was the head, should be elevated into an electorate. They even endeavoured to soften his Prussian majesty, by consenting, at last, that the treaty of Dresden, confirming to him the possession of Silesia, should be guaranteed by the diet of the empire; a sanction which he now actually obtained, together with the ratification of his imperial majesty. Notwithstanding this indulgence, he still persisted in raising fresh objections to the favourite project, on pretence of concerting measures for preventing the inconveniencies that might result from a minority; for regulating the capitulations to be agreed on with the king of the Romans; securing the freedom of future elections, and preserving the prerogatives and privileges of the Germanic body in all its members. In consequence of these obstacles, joined to the apostacy of the elector of Cologn, the obstinacy of the elector palatine, and the approaching diet of Hungary, at which their imperial majesties were obliged personally to preside, the measures for the election were suspended till next summer, when his Britannic majesty was expected at Hanover to put the finishing stroke to this great event in favour of the house of Austria.