a confpicuous station in public life, by appointing him to the office of lord chamberlain, vacant by the refignation of the duke of Dorfet. This nobleman was at the fame time fworn of the privy council, and constituted one of the lords juftices during the absence of the king. The lord keeper Somers was created a peer, and advanced to the dignity of chancellor of Great Britain, and admiral Ruffel was made earl of Orford, and continued to occupy the post of first commiffioner of the admiralty, with powers little inferior to those ufually vefted in a lord high admiral.

The maritime powers being at length seriously disposed to listen to the pacific overtures of France; a joint memorial was presented to the court of Vienna by the ambassadors of England and Holland, early in the prefent year, 1697, to entreat his Imperial majefty to accept the mediation of Sweden without reserve, and name a place for holding the congrefs. In consequence of this propofition, the emperor deigned to fignify, in cold and haughty terms, his acquiefcence and the minifters and ambaffadors of the allied powers, excepting Spain, who affected to stand aloof, as if able fingly to vindicate her own rights and to maintain her own feparate interefts, being affembled at the Hague, February, 1697, M. de Callieres, in the name of his most christian majesty, offered to confirm and re-establish the treaties of Weftphalia and Nimeguen as the basis of the prefent pacification; to restore the city of Strasburg to the empire, and Luxemburg to Spain, or an equivalent for each; to restore Mons, Charleroy and the places captured in Catalonia to Spain, in the state in which they were taken, and the town and caftle of Dinant to the bishop of Liege; to annul all the decrees of re-union made fince the conclufion of the peace of Nimeguen; to restore Lorraine according to the conditions of the faid treaty; and to recognize the prince of Orange as king of Great Britain. These were great and ample conceffions; and fuch as fully demonftrated the fincerity of the king of France, and his earnest desire to

give fatisfaction to the different powers of the alliance The emperor, however, ftill appeared actuated by fullen and angry difcontent. He infifted, in a memorial delivered. to M. Callieres, not only on, the re-establishment of the treaties of Weftphalia and Nimeguen in their full extent, according to the explanation of Nuremburg, but on the unconditional reftitution of Lorraine to the duke, of the castle and duchy of Bouillon to the elector of Cologne; and with refpect to Spain, to place all things on the basis of the treaty of the Pyrenees. And in a fubfequent memorial, delivered April the 10th to the Swedish ambaffador as mediator, styled the ulterior of his Cæfarean majesty, the fame extravagant demands are renewed-with the addition of the infulting declaration, "that his Imperial majesty would not. have confented to accept the mediation at all, if the king of Sweden had not confented to guaranty the preceding declarations of France."

The death of the Swedish monarch Charles XI. which happened at this period, did not impede the progrefs of the negotiation; the ambaffador mediator declaring, "that his late royal master had perfevered to the last in his purpose of fulfilling the promised guarantee. And feeling the approach of death, he had earnestly recommended the fame thing to his fucceffor: and that his majefty now reigning had inherited the fame inclinations and attachments, and defired to manifeft the fame fincerity in all things." The emperor and Spain at length, through the urgent and repeat-ed inftances of Sweden and the maritime powers, agreed to open the conferences in form; and the congrefs was transferred from the Hague to the village of Ryfwick, where king William had a palace, which now became the feat and centre of political intrigue and negotiation. There many fucceffive weeks and months paffed away in unavailing diplomatic difcuffion and altercation.

But while the allied potentates affected to give law to France in the cabinet, the armies of that formidable power,.

taking advantage of these impolitic delays, were fuccessfully exerting themselves in making new acquifitions and conquests. And on the arrival of the king of England in Holland, he received the unwelcome intelligence, that the town of Aeth was invested by the enemy, now under the conduct of M. Catinat; the marechals Villeroi and Boufflers having the command of the covering army. The place was furrendered after a defence not very vigorous, and thirteen days open trenches only. King William had now taken upon him the command of the allied army, which he pofted in fo strong and judicious a position, that M. Catinat could gain no farther advantage-the campaign being, on the the king, profeffedly and entirely defenfive.

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The oppofite armies lying very near to each other, in the vicinity of Bruffels, the attention of the public was powerfully excited by the repeated interviews of the earl of Portland and marechal Boufflers, who, leaving at some distance their trains of officers and attendants, met by agreement in the plain of Halle, in the fight of the two camps; and at the last of these conferences the two military negotiators retired to a cottage, where they figned the articles previously concluded on. It was then fignified to the plenipotentiaries at Bruffels, that the king of England had adjusted his sepaparate concerns with France; and William immediately retired from the camp to his palace at Loo.

What were the precife fubjects of the conferences of Halle, and what the separate articles agreed to, has been the subject of much curious speculation. Bishop Burnet informs us, that the earl of Portland himself told him, that it was then and there stipulated, that the king of France should give the late king James no assistance, and the reigning monarch no difturbance upon his account; that James fhould retire to Avignon or Italy; and that the queen's jointure of 50,000l. per annum fhould be paid as to a dowager-James being confidered as dead in law.

This ac

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count is corroborated by M. de Torcy, who from the information of M. Boufflers fays, "that, for the farther fecurity of his mafter, the earl of Portland demanded that this unfortunate prince should be obliged to remove from France, and to follow his unpropitious ftar to Rome, or whatever other part of the world he chofe." This condition not being in the fequel complied with by James, the jointure was of courfe with-held. On the other hand, M. Boufflers, as M. de Torcy tells us, infifted that a general Act of Grace should be granted to the English who had followed the fortunes of king James, and that they should be restored to the poffeffion of their eftates-alfo, that none of the subjects of the French king should be allowed to enter, or to fettle in, the city of Orange; because his majesty forefaw that the new converts, ftill.attached to their former errors, would flock to the provinces bordering upon Orange, and, if leave was given them, would fettle there."* It farther appears from the Memoirs of king James recently published, that the king of France proposed to the king of England to obtain a parliamentary settlement of the crown after his decease upon the nominal prince of Wales, a child not as yet nine years of age; and that William did not indicate any averfion to reftore the prince to that inheritance of which he had been deprived by the extreme, and, in relation to him, unmerited rigor of fortune. The overture made to the English monarch was confonant to the generofity of his nature; and it seemed no lefs agreeable to the principles of policy than of juftice, as it obviated the dangers to be apprehended from a difputed fucceffion: and the king owed no obligation to the princess of Denmark, whofe perfonal interests were of little moment in his estimation. But on the communication of this project to James he oppofed it with great vehemence. He faid," he could not fupport the thoughts of making his own child an accomplice to his unjust dethronement: he could fuffer with chriftian patience the ufurpation of the prince

*Torcy, vol. i. p. 25.

prince of Orange, but not that of his own fon. Should even the prince of Orange," faid the abdicated monarch in a Jetter addreffed to the king of France, "induce the parlia ment of England to repeal the Act of Settlement, it would be always on condition of having the prince of Wales placed in their hands, without their being able to give any fecurity. either for his perfon or his confcience." Moft undoubtedly king William could not for a moment entertain the idea of reinstating the prince, but on the condition of his refidence in England for the purpose of education; a conceffion he could scarcely expect from the known bigotry of James. We have also the authority of the duke of Berwick for this. remarkable fact, who, in the Memoirs of his life,* relates, that on the propofition in queftion being made by the king of France, the queen, being present at the converfation, would not allow her husband time to anfwer, but passionatly declared, "that she would rather fee her fon dead than in poffeffion of the crown to the prejudice of his father." The idea of his being educated a proteftant, filled them, with horror; and, perfuaded that the acquifition of a temporal must be attended with the lofs of a celeftial crown, they de-. clined without hesitation an offer which appeared to them, fo extremely disadvantageous.

The campaign on the Rhine, on the banks of which vaft armies were every year regularly affembled, paffed like several of the preceding ones in almost total inaction. The, chief effort of the French this fummer was made in Catalonia: for the court of Versailles, being fully aware that the pride of Spain was the grand obstacle in the way of peace, was refolved to convince them how unable they were to carry on the war, unfupported by thofe allies they now affected to neglect or contemn. Towards the end of May, the duc de Vendome advanced at the head of a powerful army towards Barcelona; and the Spaniards retiring at his approach, the city was invefted on the 12th of June; and the

Memoirs of the duke of Berwick, vol. i. p. 157.

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