A WRIT DEMANDED FOR THE ELECTORAL PRINCE OF HANOVER.

Then the lords in the opposition made an attack upon the treasurer, concerning the money he had remitted to the Highlanders; but Oxford silenced his opposers, by asserting, that in so doing he had followed the example of king William, who, after he had reduced that people, thought fit to allow yearly pensions to the heads of clans, in order to keep them quiet. His conduct was approved by the house; and lord North and Grey moved that a day might be appointed for considering the state of the nation, with regard to the treaties of peace and commerce. The motion was seconded by the earl of Clarendon, and the thirteenth day of April fixed for this purpose. In the meantime, baron Schutz demanded of the chancellor a writ for the electoral prince of Hanover, to sit in the house of peers as duke of Cambridge, intimating that his design was to reside in England. The writ was granted with reluctance; but the prince’s design of coming to England was so disagreeable to the queen, that she signified her disapprobation of such a step in a letter to the princess Sophia. She observed, that such a method of proceeding would be dangerous to the succession itself, which was not secure any other way, than as the prince who was in actual possession of the throne maintained her authority and prerogative: she said a great many people in England were seditiously disposed; so she left her highness to judge what tumults they might be able to raise, should they have a pretext to begin a commotion; she, therefore, persuaded herself that her aunt would not consent to any thing which might disturb the repose of her and her subjects. At the same time she wrote a letter to the electoral prince, complaining that he had formed such a resolution without first knowing her sentiments on the subject; and telling him plainly that nothing could be more dangerous to the tranquillity of her dominions, to the right of succession in the Hanoverian line, or more disagreeable to her, than such conduct at this juncture. A third letter was written to the elector, his father; and the treasurer took this opportunity to assure that prince of his inviolable attachment to the family of Hanover.

The whig lords were dissatisfied with the queen’s answer to their address concerning the pretender, and they moved for another address on the same subject, which was resolved upon, but never presented. They took into consideration the treaties of peace and commerce, to which many exceptions were taken; and much sarcasm was expended on both sides of the dispute; but at length the majority carried the question in favour of an address, acknowledging her majesty’s goodness in delivering them, by a safe, honourable, and advantageous peace with France, from the burden of a consuming land war, unequally carried on, and become at last impracticable. The house of commons concurred in this address, after having voted that the protestant succession was out of danger; but these resolutions were not taken without violent opposition, in which general Stanhope, Mr. Lechmere, and Mr. Walpole, chiefly distinguished themselves. The letters which the queen had written to the electoral house of Hanover were printed and published in England, with a view to inform the friends of that family of the reasons which prevented the duke of Cambridge from executing his design of residing in Great Britain. The queen considered this step as a personal insult, as well as an attempt to prejudice her in the opinion of her subjects: she therefore ordered the publisher to be taken into custody. At this period the princess Sophia died, in the eighty-fourth year of her age; and her death was intimated to the queen by baron Bothmar, who arrived in England with the character of envoy-extraordinary from the elector of Hanover. This princess was the fourth and youngest daughter of Frederick, elector Palatine, king of Bohemia, and Elizabeth daughter of king James I. of England. She enjoyed from nature an excellent capacity, which was finely cultivated; and was in all respects one of the most accomplished princesses of the age in which she lived. At her death the court of England appeared in mourning; and the elector of Brunswick was prayed for by name in the liturgy of the church of England. On the twelfth day of May, sir William Wyndham made a motion for a bill to prevent the growth of schism, and for the further security of the church of England as by law established. The design of it was to prohibit dissenters from teaching in schools and academies. It was accordingly prepared, and eagerly opposed in each house as a species of persecution. Nevertheless, it made its way through both, and received the royal assent; but the queen dying before it took place, this law was rendered ineffectual.

Her majesty’s constitution was now quite broken; one fit of sickness succeeded another; what completed the ruin of her health was the anxiety of her mind, occasioned partly by the discontents which had been raised and fomented by the enemies of her government; and partly by the dissensions among her ministers, which were now become intolerable. The council chamber was turned into a scene of obstinate dispute and bitter altercation. Even in the queen’s presence the treasurer and secretary did not restrain from mutual obliquy and reproach. Oxford advised moderate measures, and is said to have made advances towards a reconciliation with the leaders of the whig party. As he foresaw it would soon be their turn to domineer, such precautions were necessary for his own safety. Bolingbroke affected to set the whigs at defiance; he professed a warm zeal for the church; he soothed the queen’s inclinations with the most assiduous attention. He and his coadjutrix insinuated, that the treasurer was biassed in favour of the dissenters, and even that he acted as a spy for the house of Hanover. In the midst of these disputes and commotions the Jacobites were not idle. They flattered themselves that the queen in secret favoured the pretensions of her brother; and they depended upon Bolingbroke’s attachment to the same interest. They believed the same sentiments were cherished by the nation in general. They held private assemblies both in Great Britain and in Ireland. They concerted measures for turning the dissensions of the kingdom to the advantage of their cause. They even proceeded so far as to enlist men for the service of the pretender. Some of these practices were discovered by the earl of Wharton, who did not fail to sound the alarm. A proclamation was immediately published, promising a reward of five thousand pounds for apprehending the pretender, whenever he should land or attempt to land in Great Britain. The commons voted an address of thanks for the proclamation; and assured her majesty, that they would cheerfully aid and assist her, by granting the sum of a hundred thousand pounds, as a further reward to any who should perform so great a service to her majesty and her kingdom. The lords likewise presented an address on the same subject. Lord Bolingbroke proposed a bill, decreeing the penalties of high treason against those who should list or be enlisted in the pretender’s service. The motion was approved, and the penalty extended to all those who should list or be enlisted in the service of any foreign prince or state, without a license under the sign manual of her majesty, her heirs, or successors.

ANNE, 1701—1714