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The conclufion of the treaty of Seville, and confequently the re-establishment of the commerce, with articles for all due and reasonable fatisfaction, was a fenfible stroak to the united party of the torys and difcontented whigs. However, having made a coalition, and appointed a general mufter in parliament, they were refolved to keep up their fpirits, and to attempt the attacks; and, therefore, they at firft gave out unaccountable and falfe infinuations, to deceive themselves and their friends of the points of Gibraltar, and the pri vileges of trade, not being fufficiently fecured. But the explicit terms of the treaty of Seville, when published, fatisfyed fo well all confiderate men, and the tryall of that point in the house of lords, with fo great a majority, to the advantage of the court, foon made the adverfaries fenfible, that it was impoffible for them to distress the minifters, or to doe any service to the emperour on that head. : C. They therefore had recourse to another scheme, which might ferve their purpose, if compaffed, as well; which was to create, if poffible, a coolness and jealousy between England and France; and for that end, the reparation made by the townfmen of Dunkirk to that port, afforded, as they imagined, not only a plausible pretext to accufe the minifters of indolence, neglect, or cowardice, in not putting a stop to the proceedings of France, in a point so popular, and of fuch confequence to this nation, but also of laying an im putation upon France, as violating the moft folemn treatys, at a time of so strict an allyance. The secrecy and art with which this point was managed and conducted, and the industry employed to create a ferment through the kingdom, and especially in this city, of a defign of reftoring the harbour of Dunkirk, had indeed occafioned a great flame both within and out of the parliament, upon the first opening of it. But the miniftry having obtained fo much time, as to have this matter seriously enquired into, and to make impartiall people, see the wicked intention of this malicious enquiry, done with no other view, but to create a jealousy between Eng. land and France, and to encourage the emperour, and confequently, if poffible, to destroy the treaty of Seville, or to put a stop to the execution of it, these machinations of the party oppofite to the court, ferved only to turn to their own confufion; and I never faw in my life fuch a spirit as there was in parliament, at the great day of Dunkirk, to fupport the miniftry, their measures, and the alliances of the Hanover confederates, and such a rage and refentment against the opposite party, and their allys abroad, so that nothing was more clear that day, than that altho' the whigs in fome popular points, fuch as place-bills, will follow their own inclinations, yett this parliament is determined to fupport the prefent adminiftration and measures both at home and abroad; and are sensible of the malicious contrivances of fome to bring matters into confufion, for their own private ends.' Vol. ii. P. 671.

A long and curious account is given by fir Thomas Robin

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fon (January 16, 1731) of his conferences with prince Euand other minifters of the court of Vienna. The firmnefs of the British negotiator appears to advantage on this occafion.

The eagerness of fir Robert Walpole for peace is difplayed in the following extract from an epiftle to the earl of Waldegrave.

The favorable profpect of a general pacification in Europe: gave me fo much pleasure and fatisfaction, that I am allways extremely concerned when I fee any unneceffary rubs or difficulties arife that may obftru&t or retard the conclufion of this defirable work. From the time that his eminency the cardinal and monfieur le Garde des Sceaux entered into that friendly and confiden. tial manner of tranfacting bufineffe with your lordship, I promifed myself all reasonable fucceffe. It is the continuance of that, and that alone, which can bring this great affair to a happy conclu fion; and I cannot upon this occafion omitt this opportunity of defiring your lordship, if you think it worth the trouble, to make my fincereft compliments to his eminency upon that agreeable profpect, and for the great share he has had in conducting and forwarding this important transaction, which I make no doubt but he will perfevere to fee perfected and fully accomplished; that it may for ever be remembered to his honour that he gave a generall peace to Europe, threatened allmost immediately with a generall war, a work that required not only the great creditt and influence which he fo juftly holds in the councils of Europe, but that great capacity, temper, and refolution which have been feen and admired through his whole adminiftration, and his eminency knows that in thefe great undertakings

Fine coronatur, fine probatur opus.' Vol. iii. r. 314. : Many interefting letters from the earl of Waldegrave, relative to the intrigues and counfels of the French court, from 1734 to 1737, are here given.

The epiftles from 1737 to 1742, refer to the difputes between Great-Britain and Spain, to parliamentary tranfactions, and the diffenfions of parties.-Walpole's account of his retreat from office, may be felected from this part of the corre fpondence. In a letter to the duke of Devonshire (February 2, 1742), he says,

It is determined that the king fhall to-morrow, when he passes the malt-act, direct the two houfes to adjourn themfelves for a fortnight, to give time for fettling a new administration. I fhall go up immediately to the houfe of peers with the title of earl of Or ford. Lord Wilmington will be put at the head of the treafury: but what further fteps will be taken, are yet by no means fettled among themselves.

To give your grace a fhort view of this great revolution, I muft inform you that the panick was fo great among what I fhould call my own friends, that they all declared my retiring was become abfolutely neceffary, as the only means to carry on the publick bufineffe, and this to be attended with honour and fecurity, &c. This was fixed with the D. of N-[Newcastle], lord Ch-r [the chancellor Hardwicke], lord Ca-tt [Carteret], and Mr. Pulteney, but the king has declared lord Will-n [Wilmington], my fucceffor, which leaves the prefidentfhip open, fo that lord C-tt can be only prefident, except one of the fecretaries be removed for him. This had fallen upon the D. of N. if I had not prevented it. But I am of opinion that the whig party must be kept together, which may be done with this parliament, if a whig administration be formed. The prince was not acquainted with this fudden step till this morning, and I have just heard he receives it in a proper manner.

Your grace may eafily imagine that a great deal more might be faid upon this fubject, than is proper to committ to paper; and when I have an opportunity, I fhall explain fome things to you which are scarce credible. I believe the D. of A. [Argyle], lord Ch-d [Chesterfield], and lord Cobham, have not been in the fecret; and into what fhare they will lett them, and how go on without fatisfying them, I do not fee; and all that I fhall fay is, that they who thought they had but one obftacle to remove to make all things eafy, I believe, before they have begun their fcheme, encounter fuch difficulties that they are already almost at a stand: but during the receffe the scene muft open to fhew the actors.

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I fhall be very glad when the businesse of Ireland will permitt your grace to come among us. Few honeft men are to be found, and still fewer dukes of Devon. One of the greatest prides and pleasures of my life is, that I have the honour to call you my friend; which is a title that I will never forfeit nor abandon. occurrences happen, I will be watchfull; and may still have more opportunities of obferving than it will be prudent for me to make ufe of. I will conclude with acquainting you that the king has behav'd towards me with more grace and steadinesse than can ever be enough acknowledg'd, and never yielded at all to the change till I made it my defire.' Vol. iii. P. 592.

To the diligence and induftry of Mr. Coxe, manifested in these volumes, we readily bear teftimony. The memoirs form the best account, hitherto published, of the period in which fir Robert Walpole flourished: the letters and other papers are, in general, well felected; and, to the future narrator of the hiftory of the prefent century, the work will be of great utility.

CRIT. REV. VOL. XXIV. Oa, 1798.

Private Memoirs relative to the laft Year of the Reign of Lewis the Sixteenth, late King of France. By Ant. Fr. Bertrand de Moleville, Minifter of State at that Time. Tranflated from the original Manufcript of the Author, which has never been publifhed, with five Portraits, from original Pictures, of the Royal Family of France. 3 Vols. 8vo. Il. Is. Boards. Cadell and Davies. 1797.

M. De Moleville informs us, that thefe memoirs were written with a view of doing justice to the character of Louis XVI. and would not have been publifhed during the life of the author if it had not been fuggefted to him, that it would be fair to fubmit them to the contradiction of fuch contemporaries as might think themselves interested in refuting them. Whatever reafons may have induced the writer fo long to with-hold them from the public, the prefent is certainly an aufpicious period for their appearance. The enthufiafin which, gave popularity to the French revolution has fubfided. The conduct of the late and prefent rulers of France has provoked comparisons by no means unfavourable to the adminiftration of Louis XVI; the afperities of public opinion have been in fome measure foftened by a general wifh for peace; and tyranny, in a democratic fhape, has appeared more hideous than when it bore a monarchical form. The conduct of Louis may now be reviewed with calmnefs. Whether it provoked the revolution is an important confideration with all who wish to derive falutary leffons from that ftupendous event, and who may be at this time balancing the advantages and difadvantages of courts and republics, of kings and directors, in the promotion of public peace and happinefs. For this purpose the volumes before us may be recommended as highly useful. We meet 'with lefs prejudice in favour of old establishments, and more fenfe and candour in judging of innovations than we fhould have expected from one who was a minifter under the ancien régime, and whofe opinion refpecting the proper weight of the people in government is not precifely that which the British conftitution fanctions..

The introduction is an appeal from M. de Moleville to his countrymen in favour of well-regulated monarchy. In reviewing the ftate of France prior to the year 1789, he repre fents the convocation of the etats-generaux as abfolutely, though unfortunately, neceffary, and as a measure from which important advantages might have arifen, had not the indifference and felfifhnefs of M. de Maurepas excited the fermentation of the impure elements of the revolution, the incapacity and extravagant violence of the archbishop of Sens conducted the king and the monarchy to the mouth of the volcano, and

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the vanity and ambition of M. Necker precipitated them into it. Purfuing thefe opinions more in detail, our author confiders the difmiffion of M. de Calonne (before the king had put an end to the affembly of Notables), and the confequent nomination of the archbishop of Sens, as the immediate caufes of the revolution. It appears, that on this occafion the queen, who certainly was not diftinguished by political fagacity, joined in the common prejudice against M. de Calonne, whofe character is here ably defended. Of the archbishop, this writer obferves, that no man's character seems ever to have been more misunderstood. He was fuppofed to poffefs energy, because he was violent; learning, because he was pofitive; genius, because he had vivacity; and talents for governing, because he criticised the administrations of all his predeceffors.' Whatever truth there may be in this sketch, we cannot doubt of his being a principal inftrument in accelerating the revolution, when we learn that, after having exhaufted the royal treafury, drained every refource, annihilated public credit, and ruined the powers of the crown, by employing, upon the flightest occafion, thofe acts of royal authority which fhould be only reforted to upon the laft extremity, fuch as lits de juftice, lettres de cachet, the banishment and imprifonment of the magiftrates, he at length, with boldness, but without confideration, attempted to free the government from the restraint of enregiftering the laws in the fovereign courts of the kingdom, and of fupplying [to fupply] this by enregiftering them in a new court, called Cour Plenière, which he pretended to re-establish, although no fuch court had ever existed in France. Meafures of this defcription will be found to account for hatred of courts, for revolutions, and their worft confequences, in a more rational way than the laboured plots imputed to the fophifts or the illuminés.

M. de Moleville was fent as one of the commiffioners to Bretagne, to reform the magiftracy upon the archbishop's new. plan, which, however, was not communicated to him till after his arrival in that part of France; and, on his refignation of an office fo repugnant to his feelings, he received a peremptory order from the king to execute his late commands. The whole of this hiftory, which is given at confiderable length, is a striking proof that the archbishop was the most unfit man to govern France at that time; and the confequences of thefe proceedings were infurrections at Rennes, in which the grand revolution, which was afterwards to burft forth, was accurately epitomifed. The correfpondence of our author with minifters, on thefe events, turned upon the neceffity of qualifying the measures of the archbishop, of abandoning the miferable Cour Plenière, and, above all, of fufpending the execution of the new laws in Bretagne, until they should receive

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