CHAPTER XI.

The Conferences opened at Utrecht..... The Queen’s Measures
obstructed by the Allies..... Death of the Dauphin and his
Son..... The Queen demands Philip’s Renunciation of the
Crown of France..... The Duke of Ormond takes the Command of
the British Forces in Flanders..... He is restricted from
acting against the Enemy..... Debate in the House of Lords
on this Subject..... A loyal Address of the Commons.....
Philip promises to renounce the Crown of France..... The
Queen communicates the Plan of the Peace in a Speech to both
Houses of Parliament..... Exceptions taken to some of the
Articles in the House of Lords..... A motion for a Guaranty
of the Protestant Succession by the Allies rejected in the
House of Commons..... The Duke of Ormond declares to Prince
Eugene, that he can no longer cover the siege of
Quesnoy..... Irruption into France by General
Grovestein..... The Foreign Troops in British pay refuse to
march with the Duke of Ormond, who proclaims a Cessation of
Arms, and seizes Ghent and Bruges..... The Allies defeated
at Denain..... Progress of the Conferences at Utrecht.....
The Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun are killed in a
Duel..... The Duke of Marlborough retires to the
Continent..... The States-general sign the Barrier-
treaty..... The other Allies become more tractable..... The
Peace with France signed at Utrecht..... Both Houses of
Parliament congratulate the Queen on the Peace.....
Substance of the Treaty with France..... Objections to the
Treaty of Commerce..... Debates in the House of Lords on the
Malt-tax for Scotland..... The Scottish Lords move for a
Bill to dissolve the Union..... Address of the Commons about
Dunkirk..... Violence of Parties in England..... Proceedings
of the Parliament of Ireland..... New Parliament in
England..... Writers employed by both Parties..... Treaty of
Rastadt between the Emperor and France—Principal Articles
in the Treaty between Great Britain and Spain..... Meeting
of the Parliament..... The House of Lords takes Cognizance
of a Libel against the Scots..... Mr. Steel expelled the
House of Commons..... Precautions by the Whigs for the
Security of the Protestant Succession..... Debates in the
House of Lords concerning the Pretender and the
Catalans..... They Address the Queen to set a Price on the
Head of the Pretender..... A Writ demanded for the Electoral
Prince of Hanover, as Duke of Cambridge..... Death of the
Princess Sophia..... Bill to prevent the growth of
Schism..... Another against all who should list, or be
enlisted, in a Foreign Service..... The Parliament
prorogued..... The Treasurer disgraced..... Precautions
taken for securing the Peace of the Kingdom..... Death and
Character of Queen Anne.

In the month of January the conferences for peace began at Utrecht. The earl of Jersey would have been appointed the plenipotentiary for England, but he dying after the correspondence with the court of France was established, the queen conferred that charge upon Robinson, bishop of Bristol, lord privy-seal, and the earl of Strafford. The chief of the Dutch deputies named for the congress, were Buys and Vanderdussen; the French king granted his powers to the mareschal D’Uxelles, the abbot (afterwards cardinal) de Polignac, and Menager, who had been in England. The ministers of the emperor and Savoy likewise assisted at the conferences, to which the empire and the other allies likewise sent their plenipotentiaries, though not without reluctance. As all these powers, except France, entertained sentiments very different from those of her Britannic majesty, the conferences seemed calculated rather to retard than accelerate a pacification. The queen of England had foreseen and provided against these difficulties. Her great end was to free her subjects from the miseries attending an unprofitable war, and to restore peace to Europe; and this aim she was resolved to accomplish in spite of all opposition. She had also determined to procure reasonable terms of accommodation for her allies, without, however, continuing to lavish the blood and treasure of her people in supporting their extravagant demands. The emperor obstinately insisted upon his claim to the whole Spanish monarchy, refusing to give up the least tittle of his pretensions; and the Dutch adhered to the old preliminaries which Louis had formerly rejected. The queen saw that the liberties of Europe would be exposed to much greater danger from an actual union of the Imperial and Spanish crowns in one head of the house of Austria, than from a bare possibility of Spain’s being united with France in one branch of the house of Bourbon. She knew by experience the difficulty of dethroning Philip, rooted as he was in the affections of a brave and loyal people; and that a prosecution of this design would serve no purpose but to protract the war, and augment the grievances of the British nation. She was well acquainted with the distresses of the French, which she considered as pledges of their monarch’s sincerity. She sought not the total ruin of that people, already reduced to the brink of despair. The dictates of true policy dissuaded her from contributing to her further conquest in that kingdom, which would have proved the source of contention among the allies, depressed the house of Bourbon below the standard of importance which the balance of Europe required it should maintain, and aggrandize the states-general at the expense of Great Britain. As she had borne the chief burden of the war, she had a right to take the lead, and dictate a plan of pacification; at least, she had a right to consult the welfare of her own kingdom, in delivering, by a separate peace, her subjects from those enormous loads which they could no longer sustain; and she was well enough aware of her own consequence, to think she could not obtain advantageous conditions.