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In the years 1698 and 1699, Mr. St. John travelled on the continent, with the view of completing his education; and in the course of his journey visited both France and ItaÏy. During his youth, he formed an acquaintance with all the wits of his time, particularly Dryden; and we are assured that he not only esteemed this great poet, but when William III. deprived him of his pension, he assisted him with his purse and credit, and never ceased to give him the most convincing proofs of his attachment. Pope, Swift, and other celebrated men of letters, were afterwards numbered among his friends.

In the beginning of the year 1700, the relations of Mr. St. John prevailed on him to marry Miss Frances Winchescomb, a rich heiress, and he was nearly at the same time nominated representative for Wotton Basset, in Wiltshire, in which quality he sat during the fifth parliament of William III. At this period of his life he condemned the treaty for the partition of the Spanish monarchy.

On the accession of queen Anne, the subject of this memoir began to distinguish himself by his eloquence. Nature had conferred on him many of the properties of a great orator, and as the queen was sensible of his parts she courted his attachment. As a proof of the high degree of favour then enjoyed by him, he was one of the persons of quality selected soon after by her majesty, to accompany her to Bath.

He now joined that party which was so well known by the appellation of the tories, the principles of which, if not correspondent to his character, were at least favourable

to his views; and accordingly, although both his father and grandfather had been whigs, he acted in direct opposition to their system of government. In 1704, he was nominated a member of the administration, and became intimately connected with the duke of Marlborough, the first general of his age, who was then at the head of the British armies.

"Descended from a noble family, but without being illustrious, and at the same time destitute of fortune, the latter had now attained the highest eminence which an individual could aspire to. A friendship between him and St. John had been originally formed at the little court of Anne, while princess of Denmark, and it is not at all unlikely that the credit of Churchill and his wife, contributed greatly to make him a minister. It may be said of Marlborough that he had become a great warriour from instinct alone; for he had never either studied his art, or read any of the celebrated treatises on it. Most assuredly he had never perused Xenophon, and perhaps ncver looked into the narrative of any modern war; but, during his youth, he had served under Turenne, and was distinguished by his notice."

On the disgrace of this great man, Bolingbroke, if he did not take part against his friend, at least sided with the court, and became secretary of state for foreign affairs during the administration of the celebrated Harley, earl of Oxford. On this occasion, he had not only the management of continental business, and of all the negotiations for peace, but also of the house of commons, of which his oratory, and still more, his influence, had rendered him the oracle. He also was enabled, by means of Mrs. Mastam, to keep up his intercourse, and increase his favour, with the queen; but a mutual jealousy already subsisted between him and the first lord of the treasury, which it was never in the power of

Dr. Swift, the common friend of both, to eradicate; although, perhaps, he might tend to moderate it. A pacification was at this period the grand object of the new administration, and for that purpose they immediately convoked a parliament more devoted to them, and less attached to the whigs, than the preceding one. "St. John now publickly declared, that the glory of taking cities, and gaining battles, ought to be measured by the degree of utility resulting from these splendid achievements, which at one and the same time might reflect honour on the arms, and shame on the councils, of a nation; that the wisdom of a government consists in regulating its projects by its interests and its strength, and in proportioning the means of execution to the object which it proposes, and the vigour it is to display. He declared that England had lost sight of those rules, and that motives of selfishness and ambition had seduced the grand part of the alliance to depart from the principles which had been agreed upon. He added, that all ideas of conquering Spain ought to be renounced and relinquished, as general Stanhope had just declared, that the people were so attached to Philip V. and professed such a degree of aversion to the archduke, that the country might be overrun until the day of judg. ment,' without being conquered. As Spain was the object of the war, and its subversion hopeless, it was, therefore, his opinion, that peace ought to be instantly thought of."

St. John perceiving that the new parliament was favourable to his views, sent over the abbé Gaultier to Paris in 1711, and by means of his agency, and that of Mr. Prior, he carried on a correspondence with M. de Torcy, and signified to the French minister, that England would treat independently of, and without the concurrence, of Holland.

No sooner did the Dutch learn
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that the English had commenced a negotiation for peace, than they themselves wished to renew the conferences for a treaty; but their ministers were repulsed, and obliged to solicit a participation in the diplomatick engagements of England.

Meanwhile the queen was so well pleased with the conduct of her ministers, that Harley was created an earl, and nominated first lord of the treasury, in addition to his former office of chancellor of the exchequer. Although St. John had been overlooked on this occasion, yet he determined to press the business of peace, and accordingly sent Prior, the poet, once more to the court of Versailles, with a memorial, in which he laid down the principles on which it could alone be obtained. That gentleman accordingly repaired to Fontainbleau at the latter end of July, 1711, and, having ascertained that Louis XIV. had received full powers from his grandson, Philip V. returned immediately with Monsieur Mesnager, to whom the English secretary for foreign affairs observed: "We desire peace, and France stands in need of it; to obtain this, all intrigue and finesse must be banished. England will not either resume or renew the insupportable pretensions maintained by the Dutch at the former confer ences, but she expects a reasonable compensation for herself on account of her expenses, and equitable advantages for her allies; in fine, such terms as may be required for their own security, and such, indeed, as the present situation of affairs entititle them to.

A provisional negotiation was the consequence; and preliminaries of peace between England and France were signed soon after, on the part of St. John and the earl of Dartmouth on one side, and the French envoy on the other. Next day Mesnager was introduced to the queen, who received him in a private manner at Windsor.

On the 30th of November, the

secretary for foreign affairs notified to the different ministers at the court of London, that negotiations for peace were about to take place at Utrecht; and, notwithstanding the violent opposition that ensued on the part of the count de Gallasch, the Austrian minister, and the Baunde Bothmar, envoy from the court of Hanover; nay, although the duke and dutchess of Marlborongh, with all the whigs, together with the states general, resolutely opposed the measure, yet Anne and her ministers, as is well known, succeeded in the project for a peace.

The services of St. John upon this occasion were not forgotten and accordingly her majesty, on the 14th of July, 1712, was pleased to create him a peer of England, by the style and title of baron of Lydia Fregoze in the county of Wilts, and viscount Bolinbroke. This reward was considered as his due, in consequence of the basis of a new political balance established by him in Europe, which subsisted during a period of about feurscore years; and, notwithstanding the frequent wars that intervened, was wholly changed until the late revolution.

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Meanwhile, a consequence of a variety of intrigues, the earl of Oxford, who is here accused of keeping up a double correspondence with the pretender and the house of Hanover, at the same time, was about to be disgraced, and his enemy, Bolingbroke, to be elevated to the highest dignities in the state, when Anne died. This princess, according to the editor, who obtained his information from the late Mrs. Mallet, was greatly beloved by Bolingbroke, who exclaimed in her presence: "That the unfortunate queen was a model of all the virtues; that the unhappy house of Stuart had never produced a better sovereign; and that no princess ever deserved so little to be cruelly betrayed, as was the case with her late

majesty." It is here also stated, that her majesty's constitution was radically sapped and ruined by the use of strong liquors. The editor is at some pains to insinuate, that her majesty did not die a natural death; but for this suspicion there never was any solid foundation whatso

ever.

On the accession of George I. Bolingbroke addressed a letter of congratulation to his majesty; but instead of being treated the better for this mark of respect, his papers were sealed up, and he himself taught to expect the utmost severity of royal enmity. The subject of this memoir, on perceiving the storm, retired for awhile into the country; but on receiving secret intelligence from the duke of Marlborough, that it was not in his power to protect him from the rage of the whigs, who had determined to punish him as the author of the late pacification, he determined to fly. His lordship accordingly embarked privately at Dover on the 7th of April, carrying with him property to the amount of about 500,000 francs, which was intended to support him during his exile.

On his arrival at Paris, the viscount waited on the English ambassadour [the earl of Stair] and assured him that he did not intend to enter into any connexion whatsoever with the jacobites; and he wrote several letters to the same purpose to general Stanhope, then secretary of state. Soon after this, his lordship retired to St. Clair, in Dauphiny; and, during his residence there, was accused, together with the earl of Oxford, of high treason. The latter was accordingly sent to the tower; while against the former, a bill of attainder was carried.

The torics in England, greatly displeased at the conduct of the whigs, who, in their turn, considered them all as suspected, now sent an agent to the continent, who had an interview with the pretender at

Commerci, whence he repaired to St. Clair, with a letter signed James III. containing an invitation to Bolingbroke to assist at his councils. This once more awakened the ambition of the viscount, who set out for Commerci, although in a bad state of health, and thus threw an air of duplicity over his character, from which, notwithstanding his 'splendid talents, it could never after entirely recover.

"He was convinced," we are told, "soon after his first interview,

that the prince just alluded to, had neither plans nor views, and that the tories themselves did not seem to act with more sagacity. He also perceived, too, that although the pretender lived in daily expectation of repairing either to England or Scotland, yet efficacious means had not as yet been taken for the countenance and support of France, without the aid of which, in respect both to arms and money, all his future enterprises must prove problematicai.

TO BE CONCLUDED IN NEXT NO.

POETRY.

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Yet humbly still thou tread'st the ground,

Thy modest front with riband bound,

Shaking thy silver bit along: Smooth is thy hide as any down, Not cudgeled now by lusty clown, Or by a dusky tinker's thong.

or brute! so lately doomed to fag, To toil and sweat from day to day; y life near Famine's hut to drag, In stones thy wearied trunk to lay. What lucky star has changed thy lot? Are all those rugged times forgot?

From misery's rub!

Nor trudging down the dusty street, Nibbling each dirty weed you meet, In pools or dub.

have I met thee waddling on the road, uding beneath thy panniers, stuffed and tied,

Of rags and rusty iron, a monstrous load, And eke a beggar's brat on either side, Forth from a greasy bag their long necks throwing,

Just like two well-fed geese to market going;

Gabbling and gulping down from wooden dish,

Sour curds and leeks, or mess of stinking fish.

Yet meek wert thou beneath the load, Gentle as when you bore a God, While all around Hosannas loud did ring, And bade the impious Jews behold their King,

But though despised of man, and mocked

to scorn,

Just like thy master, he of Bethlehem born.

Still bounteous Nature had a mind, Thy fortune was not all unkind,

Some cause you had to be content. Thou ne'er hast heard the din of arms, Thy breast no trumpet's sound alarms,

A peaceful drudge thy days were spent. Go weigh the charger's fate with thine, Drest and caparisoned so fine; Now to martial musick dancing, Snorting, rearing, bounding, prancing, Now the field of glory treading, Lame and legless, fainting, bleeding. Ah! I have seen him born beyond the main,

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Nor glory seek beside the slaughtered horse.

But while I hail thee on this glad promo. tion,

Still let me just advise thee as a friend; Perhaps you donkies have not learn'd the notion,

That happy hours and flowering seasons end.

We mortals find while skies are smil ing,

Some sullen cloud our hopes beguil
ing;

Above our heads the thunders burst,
That lay us level with the dust.
What if they tax thy bit and saddle,
Thou must again with beggars wad-
dle;

Be beat till every rib is sore,

And beg thy scrip from door to door. Alas! thon oft mayest want a bit of grass, Nor pity find from any human ass.

Yes, trust me, I delight to see thee gay,

And lovely Laura seated on thy back! She, like the forest's queen in flowery May, The envy thou of every other hack.

And while you pace to Laura's song,
Or drag your little car along,
May fear and shame o'erspread the
face,

That dares t'insult thy honest race:
Erskine himself shall nobly rise,
Again a listening senate charm,
Teach mankind how to sympathize,
And half creation's wrath disarm:t
Thou too shalt rise in being's scale,

But cease thou gentle ass to fret and whine, And pity for the ass o'er all the world

Nor envious be to view the well-fed

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prevail.

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A short time after the massacre of the army of French loyalists at cape Quiberon, in 1795, a body of cavalry amounting to 1200, were sent out, but with only three months' provender in the transports. Not being able to effect a junction with the royal army, the greater part died of hunger on board: and 300 were carried on shore to the little islands Hedick and Houat, where they were killed off by musketry. † Alluding to his bill in the peers, to prevent cruelty to domestick animals.

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