December 14, 1679. "I fometimes fee Lord Hollis, but, not to give fufpicion by too frequent vifits, we have correfpondence together by the Sieur Beber; he is a man who has great credit with Lord Hollis, and who is great. ly confidered amongst the Prefbyterians; he has been very useful to me on many occafions, and it is through him I have been informed in time of what paffes in the different cabals. I have had, through the fame perfon, a ftrict connexion with M. Lyttleton, who is one of the most confiderable in the house of commons, and whofe opinions have always been the most followed. I have alfo kept a particular correfpondence with Mr. Powle. He was put into the council when the perfons who oppofed the court were put there. He has fo con ducted himself fince that time, that he will always be useful when the parliament fhall meet: he is a man fit to fill one of the first poits in England; he is very eloquent and very able; our firft correfpondence came through Mr. Montagu's means; but I have fince kept it by my own, and very fecretly. "Mr. Harbord is another of thofe whom I have made ufe of, and who bore an active part in the affair of the Treasurer and the difbanding the troops; but it would be difficult to employ him at prefent. He has confiderable credit amongst people in the country; he would be more fit if a minifter was to be attacked, than he will be to speak in parliament against an alliance which the court would make, and the other party hinder. "Thefe four have touched what was promifed them, when the difbanding the troops fhould be finished, and the high Treasurer removed from affairs. 66 "I send a memorial apart, by which your Majefty will fee what has been given for this, and fome other expences laid out by your orders. "Mr. Sidney has been of great ufe to me on many occafions. He is a man who was in the first wars, and who is naturally an enemy to the court. He has for fome time been fufpected of being gained by Lord Sunderland; but he always appeared to me to have the fame fentiments, and not to have changed maxims. He has a great deal of credit amongst the independants, and is alfo intimate with thofe who are the most oppofite to the court in parliament. He was elected for the prefent one. I gave him only what your Majesty permitted me. He would willingly have had more, and if a new gratification was given him, it would be eafy to engage him entirely. However he is very favourably difpofed to what your Majefly may defire; and is not willing that England and the States General fhould make a league. He is upon bad terms with his brother, who is in Holland, and laughs at the court's making ufe of him as a negociator. I believe he is a man who would be very useful if the affairs of England fhould be brought to extremities. ' December 5, 1680. "The Sicur Algernoon Sidney is a man of great views and very high defigns, which tend to the establishment of a republic. He is in the party of the Independants and other fetaries; and this party were masters during the last troubles they are not at prefent very powerfu! powerful in parliament, but they are ftrong in London; and it is through the intrigues of the Sieur Algernoon Sidney that one of the two theriff's, named Bethel, has been elected. The Duke of Buckingham is of the fame party, and believes himfelf at the head; he is fo in effect as to the appearance, but at the bottom it is Doctor Owen who is the patriarch of the fetaries, and Mr. Pen, who is the chief of the Quakers. This laft is a man of great parts, fon of a Vice-admiral of England, and very rich: he is certainly at the head of a very great party, although he does not appear in public affemblies, from which his fect are excluded. The moderating of the penal laws, with regard to them, is at prefent upon the carpet; it is the most important thing that can be agitated with regard to the domestic affairs of England, and leads to the entire dellruction of epifcopacy and of the English religion. "The fervice which I may draw from Mr. Sidney does not appear, for his connections are with obfcure and concealed perfons; but he is intimate with the Sieur Jones, who is a man of the greatest knowledge in the laws of England, and will be Chancellor if the party oppofed to the court thall gain the fuperiority, and the Earl of Shaftesbury be contented with any other employment. "Mr. Harbord is the fame whom I engaged in the affair of the High Treasurer; he is a friend of Mr. Mountagu's, but has not the fame connections with the Duke of Monmouth; on the contrary, he appears to be in the Prince of Orange's intereft: through him I have engaged many perfons of great credit in parliament, and in London. He is an active vigilant man, from whom I have very good informations, and who has a great defire to make his fortune by means of France. Mr. Montagu knows only a part of the connexions which we have. "The Chevalier Beber is he through whom I have a connexion with the Prefbyterians. He is a rich man, and afraid of troubles; at the bottom he is attached to the Duke of York. I fee plainly that the pains he has taken have not been ufelefs, for the Prefbyte rians are entirely against the Prince of Orange, and I believe it will be very difficult to fet to rights what has been done against him."— September 30, 1680. "There are fome who have applied themfelves for fome time to make me understand that it is an old error to believe that it is against the interest of France to fuffer England to become a republic; they endeavour to prove, by good reafons and the example of the past, that the re-union of England, under a Proteftant King, authorized as the Prince of Orange would be, is much less conformable to the true intereft of France than a republic, which would be more occupied with trade than any other thing, and would believe, as Cromwell did, that it fhould gain rather at the expence of Spain than of France: they add, that the intereft of England as a republic, and that of Holland governed as it is, could not eafily agree; whereas the Prince of Orange can re-unite in his perfon the power of the States General and of England together. In fine, they establish for a fundamental principle that the houfe of Stuart and that of Orange are infeparately united; that their common intereft engages them to augment their power in England and in Holland, and that it is the B 4 interest intereft of France to maintain the liberties and privileges of both na tions, and to endeavour rather at the ruin of those who would opprefs them they even believe that the fafety of the Catholic religion might be established in England, if people were not afraid that a Catholic Prince would be in a condition to change the government and laws; and they obferve by the example of Holland, how much the condition of the Catholics in Holland is better than in England. Your Majesty knows better than any body what folidity there is in thefe reflections, and can give me your orders for my conduct in the occafions which may prefent. I fhall confine myfelf to what appears to me to be for your service at prefent, without carrying my views further; but it does not appear ufelefs to fhew your Majesty how far affairs may be carried in England. Mr. Sidney is one of those who talks to me with the most force and the moft openness on this matter.". State of the Money employed by Mr. Barillon, Ambassador from Louis the Fourteenth in England, fince the 22d of December, 1678. "By the memorial which I fent to court the 22d December, 1678, I had remaining in bills of exchange and ready money the fum of 21,915 1. 16 s. 7 d. fterling, which makes in French money 292211 L. "Since the faid 22d December to this day the 14th December, 1679, I have given, to wit, to the Duke of Buckingham 1000 guineas, which makes 1c87 1. 10 s. fterling. "To Mr. Sidney 500 guineas, which makes 543 1. 15 s. fterling. "For the fupport of the Sieur Bulftrode in his employment at Bruffels 400 guineas, which makes 435 1. fterling. "To the Sieur Beber 500 guineas, which makes 543 l. 15 s. fterling. "To the Sieur Lyttelton 500 guineas, which makes 5431. 15 s. fterling. To the Sieur Powle 500 guineas, which makes 543 1. 15 s. fterling. "To the Sieur Harbord 5co guineas, which makes 543 1. 15 s. fterling. "Total of the expence made to this day 14th December, 1679, 4241 1. 5 s. fterling, which makes in French money 56550 1. "The 22d December, 1678, I had remaining 21915 l. 16 s. 7 d. fterling, which makes in French money 2922111. "Since the faid 22d December I have given 4241 1. 5 s. which makes in French money 5655c. "Thus I have remaining this 14th December, 1679, only the fum of 176741. 11 s. 7 d. fterling, which makes in French money 2456611, of which fum I have in ready money 26741. 115. 7 d. fterling, which makes in French money 356611. The remainder, which is 15,000 1. ferling, or 200,000 livres French money, is in bills of exchange which have not been negociated. "The laft account confifts of the following articles : Guineas. - William Harbord. Barillon defcribes him thus: "Qui à 500 500 Colonel Guineas. Colonel Titus, Bennet. Barillon defcribes him to have been formerly fecretary to Prince Rupert, and now to Lord Shaftesbury, Hodam. This must have been Hotham, for Barillon defcribes him," Fil de Chevalier Hodam qui étoit gouverneur de Hull.". "Son of the Chevalier Hotham who was governor of Hull," Hicdal, 500 500 300 300 300 Garoway, 300 Francland, 300 Compton, 300 Harlie. This must have been Sir Edward Harley, because Barillon defcribes him, "Ci devant gouverneur du Dunquerque."-" Formerly governor of Dunkirk," 300 Sacheverel, 300 Foley, 300 Bide. He defcribes him thus: "Fort riche et accredité.""Very rich and in great credit," 300 500 500 Algernoon Sidney, Herbert, Baber. This must have been the famous Sir John Baber. Ba- Hil. This was probably Sir Roger Hill, Barillon fays he Du Crofs. This was the de Crofs, envoy from the Duke of Le Pin. Barillon calls him one of Lord Sunderland's clerks, Though the tranfactions here mentioned did not happen precifely at the fame time in which Lord Ruffel and his friends are represented as having connections with the French court, yet the fituation of things was fimilar. Whenever, therefore, the political interefts of Louis the Fourteenth and of the Englifh patriots coincided, the latter might think themselves entirely vindicable in applying the help of France to the prefervation of the liberties of their country. With regard to Algernon Sidney, it is evident, from thefe very papers, as well as from the whole courfe of his life, that he was a moft determined republican; that he had high defigns, and great views; and that he was refolved upon oppofing, to the utmost, the pernicious 8 pernicious and arbitrary fchemes of Charles the Second. If even the court of Verfailles could be rendered fubfervient to that purpose, it would have been ridiculous to have fcrupled receiving its affiftance. Should the remedy be deemed extraordinary, let it be confidered that the fituation was extraordinary likewife. Uncommon fituations admit of and require uncommon remedies. Neither ought we to be furprized that Sidney and his friends fhould feem fearful of too close a connection between the King of England and the Prince of Orange. The Prince of Orange's character was not then fufficiently known and established. He had, not long before, married the niece of Charles, and the daughter of the Duke of York. He might be fufpected of entering into the defigns of his uncle and his fatherin-law; and the patriots would imagine themselves to be juftified in their jealoufies concerning him, from the feveral attempts which had been made by the houfe of Orange to fubvert the freedom of the United Provinces. The charge against Algernon Sidney of being bribed by the French court is of a more ferious nature, and, if true, may be thought to caft a real imputation on his memory. If, however, the fact were true, it might juftly be alleged, that Sidney was a man who could never receive the money on his own account. If he did receive it at all, it could only be with a view of distributing it to others, in fuch a way as he might judge neceffary to promote the cause of liberty. But the teftimony of Barillon can by no means be regarded as a fufficient proof of the fact. If there ever existed a man who maintained an inflexible integrity through life, and through death, and who invariably displayed his integrity on the most trying occafions, that man was Algernon Sidney. Is the character, then, of fuch a man to be lightly run down? Is it to give way to the unfupported allegation of a French ambaffador, who had long been verfed in fraud and iniquity? It is infinitely more probable that Barillon should relate a falfehood, than that Algernon Sidney should be corrupt. Befide, Barillon could not poffibly be detected, if he related a falfehood. No receipts could be given for the fums of money with which he was entrufted, in order to bribe the popular party. The account of the diftribution of thefe fums must relt on his own credit. If, therefore, he put part of the money into his pocket, he might do it with perfect fafety; and he might, with equal fafety, encreafe his importance with his fovereign by fetting down Sidney's name among the perfons he had gained, at a time when Sidney's political conduct happened to coincide with the views of France. Madame Sevigne, in one of her letters, mentions Barillon as having returned rich from England. This is a very unusual circumftance in a French ambaffador, |