and magnanimity. His heart, foftened by distress, seemed at length to feel for the diftreffes of his people: and he acknowledged, when too late to rectify his error, that he had formed mistaken opinions respecting that glory which he had been fo anxiously folicitous to acquire. His death took place at a critical moment, and the projects formed in favor of the house of Stuart, which were by its ableft adherents, before that event, deemed "wild and uncertain," became, in confequence of it, mad and defperate. He was fucceeded by Louis XV. an infant only five years of age, and the government of the kingdom was now vested in the hands of the duke of Orleans, regent of France. This prince, who, in cafe of the death of the infant monarch, had just pretenfions, founded on the arrangements of the treaty of Utrecht, to the throne of France, dreaded with reason, notwithstanding the Act of Renunciation, the competition of the king of Spain. And the fituation of the king of England, who had also the defigns of a restless rival to oppofe, being analogous to that of the Regent, they concluded with an emulation of eagerness-all political difficulties being previously obviated by the ability and address of the earl of Stair, now ambassador at Paris-a treaty of friendship and alliance for their mutual affistance and support, to which the ftates-general readily acceded. But in England, where distrust and hatred of France were univerfally prevalent, it excited much murmur and surprise; nor would the nation eafily be perfuaded to believe that the proteftant fucceffion in England could derive any additional fecurity from the officious or infiduous guarantee of France. The affair, however, which principally engaged the king's folicitude at this period, and which forms, indeed, the grand key to almost all the numerous and intricate negotiations, conventions, and alliances of the prefent reign, was the recent ceffion of the duchies of Bremen and Verden by Denmark, who had conquered them from the Swedes; and for which Denmark was to receive a certain equivalent

in money from Hanover. Exclufive, however, of this pretended equivalent, the king of England, as elector of Ha nover, undertook to guarantee to Denmark the duchy of Slefwic, conquered by that power from the duke of Holftein, the ally of Sweden; his Danish majesty thus wifely parting with one half of his conquefts, in order to establish a permanent property in the other. This whole tranfaction the king of Sweden regarded as a most flagrant injury and infult. And little regarding, in the vehemence of his anger, the diftinction arifing from the twofold character fuftained by his adversary, as king of England and elector of Hanover, and well knowing that, in the mere capacity of elector, he would not have ventured to gratify his ambition fo much at the rifque of his fafety, he directed all the efforts of his vengeance against the English nation, who appeared to him to countenance this ufurpation, and whom he therefore confidered as his determined and mortal enemies. In the fummer of the preceding year, 1715, fir John Norris failed with a strong squadron to the Baltic, for the protection of the national commerce, which had fuffered extremely from the hoftile refentment of the Swedes. The king of Sweden was at this time deeply engaged in negotiations and intrigues with the English malcontents; and a project was formed for the invafion of the kingdom, by that heroic and romantic monarch, at the head of a large body of forces, which would doubtlefs have been joined by great numbers of the difaffected, who waited only a favorable moment for revolt. The king of England, who had received information from various quarters of this dangerous confpiracy, on his return from the continent, January 1717, caufed the Swedish ambaffador count Gyllenburg to be arrested. At the fame time, baron Goertz, the Swedish refident in Holland, was alfo, by an excess of complaifance for which it would not be eafy to find a precedent, arrested at the requifition of the king by order of the ftates: and in the papers of these two noblemen, which

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by a bold and irregular exertion of power were feized and searched, was found ample proof of their fecret machinations. The foreign ministers were not a little alarmed at this extraordinary procedure. And the marquis de Monteleone, the Spanish ambaffador, in particular, expreffed his astonishment and regret, that no other mode of preserving the peace of the kingdom could be devised, than by arresting the perfons of ambassadors, and feizing their papersthe facred repositories of their mafters' fecrets. The fecre tary of state, Mr. Methuen, ftated the urgent neceffity which had impelled the king his master to adopt a measure fo contrary to his inclinations and baron Goertz openly avowed the whole project of the invafion, of which he acknowledged himself the author, and which he said "was amply justified by the conduct of the king of Great Britain, who had joined the confederacy against the king of Sweden, without having received the least provocation-who had affifted the king of Denmark in fubduing the duchies of Bremen and Verden, and then purchased them of the ufurper-and who had, in the courfe of this fummer, fent a ftrong fquadron of fhips to the Baltic, where it joined the Danes and Ruffians against the Swedes." The States of Holland not venturing to detain the baron long in confinement, he profecuted his defigns with increase of zeal and earneftness. Soon after the meeting of parliament, February 1717, the king informed the house of commons, by a royal message delivered by general Stanhope, of the danger which impended over the nation from the designs of Sweden, and demanded an extraordinary supply, to enable him to make good fuch engagements as it might be neceffary for him to contract with other powers, in order effeЯually to avert it. A supply of 250,000l. was accordingly voted, but by a perilous majority of four voices only, and not without vehement debate and oppofition, chiefly in confequence of an alarming divifion in the adminiftration, and the eventual feceffion of various of its members, distinguished

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distinguished equally by eminence of station and ability amongst whom, lord Townfhend, fome time fecretary of ftate, and lately appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and Mr. Walpole, who had fucceeded the earl of Halifax as first commiffioner of the treasury, appeared most conspicuous. The leaders of the feceffion, by the faint and languid fupport which those who took any part in the debate gave to this motion, and the obftinate filence of the reft, fufficiently fhewed their disapproval of the conduct of the court, which, for the fake of an useless acquifition of territory in Germany, fcrupled not to involve Great Britain. in an expensive, dangerous, and destructive war. And it was now clearly perceived, though unfortunately at a period too late, that the separation of the kingdom from the electorate ought to have conftituted the bafis of the fettlement of the crown upon the house of Hanover. The meffage was declared, by Mr. Shippen, to be unparliamentary and unprecedented; penned, he fuppofed, by fome foreigner, totally unacquainted with their accustomed forms of procedure, and their invariable ufage of granting money only on eftimate, and for certain fpecified fervices. And he asked, what glorious advantages were to be obtained for England, which made it neceffary to incur this expence, and to encounter this danger? Mr. Hungerford ridiculed the idea of courting, and much more of purchasing, foreign alliances; and faid, that a nation fo lately the terror of France and Spain was furely able to defend itself in any caufe, which called for national exertion, from the attack of fo inconfiderable an enemy as Sweden. General Stanhope, in the warmth of debate, afferting, "that none could refuse compliance with this meffage, but such as were not the king's friends;" much offence was taken at: this expreffion by many members, far removed from the fufpicion of difaffection: and Mr. Lawfon, member for Cumberland, obferved, "that he was surprised to hear such - unguarded

unguarded expreffions fall from fo refpectable a person; and that if every member of the house who used freedom of speech must be accounted an enemy to the king whenever he happened to difapprove of the measures of his minifters, he knew no fervice they could render to their country in that house, and it were better at once to retire to their country-feats, and leave the king and his ministers to act entirely at their difcretion."

On the commitment of the bill, Mr. Pulteney, who had now refigned his office of fecretary at war, protested that he could not perfuade himself that any Englishman had dared to advise his majesty to fend fuch a message; but he hoped that the house would not be fwayed by German counfels; and that fuch refolutions would be adopted as would make a German miniftry tremble. It was again urged, that no occafion did or could exift for entering into foreign alliances with a view of defending Great Britain from this danger; that we had an army and a fleet far fuperior to any force that Sweden could in her present state bring into action against us; that we were in actual alliance with France, from whofe former connection with Sweden apprehenfions might otherwise have been entertained. But if the court perfifted in afferting the neceffity of new and foreign engagements against Sweden, it was doubtlefs requifite to ftate, fince no one could pretend to conjecture, what those engagements were. And the speaker, who took part in the debate, declared, that no additional burdens on the public appeared at this time neceffary. It was his opinion, therefore, that if the fum now demanded

Lord Townshend was difmiffed from his office of lord-lieutenant of Ireland on the evening of the day (April 9, 1717), on which the first debate and divifion on this motion had taken place. And Mr. Walpole, Mr. Methuen secretary of state, and Mr. Pulteney, delivered in their resignations the next morning. Lord Cowper also relinquished the great seal, and was fucceeded by the earl of Macclesfield.