cially Mr. Penn, their patriarch; but they have long since changed their measures, and Penn has been false. At present they are divided, and no use can be made of them.

Too much esteem and respect cannot be shown to the prelates of the Anglican Church, several of whom entertain sentiments favourable to King James, as also to the Duke of Leeds, the Earls of Clarendon and Rochester*, and several others, who may be easily known.

* The Duke of Leeds was always much attached to the interests of the Church. He was, during the reign of Charles II., the patron of the Church party, and according to Sir John Reresby, a few days after the Settlement, he reproached King William with encouraging the Presbyterians, and disheartening the Church.

Lord Clarendon and Lord Rochester were the sons of the Chancellor Clarendon, and by their sister, the late Duchess of York, uncles of the Princess Ann, and the late Queen Mary. The first was a Jacobite, but his brother had connected himself with the government, and was one of the chiefs of the tory party.

INSTRUCTIONS OF COUNT TALLARD, HIS MAJESTY'S AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY TO THE KING

OF ENGLAND.

Versailles, March 2. 1698. The deference which the princes engaged in the league have had for the sentiments of the king of England caused him to be regarded during the last war, as the most considerable of the enemies whom the jealousy of the power of the King had raised up against his Majesty. The plenty which that prince found in England, and the absolute authority which he has retained in Holland, rendered him master of the wealth of the two nations; they furnished him with means to keep up the nume rous armies which appeared every year in the Netherlands, and to preserve by the subsidies which he furnished to his allies, a union which it is so difficult to maintain among numerous powers whose interests are conflicting. Accordingly, the losses which the Spaniards sustained of their most important fortresses; the battles, and the great advantages gained by the armies of his Majesty, were insufficient to force the enemy to seek for peace, if there had not been the same superiority in the means which the King possessed to meet the expenses of the war. The wisdom of his Majesty, his foresight, the sagacity of his projects, the good order which he had introduced into his affairs, enabled him to dictate the terms of the treaties of peace, and excited admiration for his moderation in terminating this very war, which ten years before,

Europe had considered would prove the infallible ruin of France.

The riches of England and Holland being exhausted, the first appearances of peace began to be manifested. At length its perfect re-establishment has been due to the King, when general tranquillity could no longer be expected, except from his generosity, and when the schemes of his enemies after being so often defeated, sufficiently proved that they could not expect, except from him alone, those important conquests which his Majesty has been pleased to sacrifice to the general tranquillity.

The same motives which have induced him to renounce his own advantages in order to allay the troubles of Christendom, oblige him also to provide against every contingency which might disturb this tranquillity, and to direct all his care to the maintenance of the exact observance of the trea

ties.

The influence which the king of England has acquired, and which his kingdom has always had in the principal affairs of Europe, gives just ground to believe that the good understanding between his Majesty and that prince will contribute more than anything else to the preservation of peace.

The king of England, on his part, has given the most positive assurances of a real desire punctually to observe all the conditions; and when he appointed the Earl of Portland ambassador extraordinary to his Majesty, the choice of a minister who has always enjoyed the principal share in the con

fidence of that prince was considered as a confirmation of his good intentions.

His Majesty, desirous also on his part of sending an ambassador to England, for the maintenance of a good understanding with that crown, has chosen Count Tallard.

The knowledge most necessary for enabling an ambassador to execute with success the orders with which he is charged, is that of the country to which he is sent, of the disposition of the prince, and of the allegiance of the people to his government. The intention of the King is, therefore, in the first place to acquaint Count Tallard with all that his Majesty knows of the affairs of England; next to explain to him the business which he will have to transact in the course of his embassy; and lastly to point out to him the line of conduct which he is to pursue with respect both to the king of England and to the nation.

Though the revolution which has taken place in that kingdom has entirely changed the aspect of affairs, and though an ambassador must observe different rules from those which might have been prescribed in all the preceding reigns, it may nevertheless be affirmed as an unvarying rule, that the English will always make a distinction in their mind between the private interests of their king and the interests of the nation; and, that whatever submission they may show to the reigning monarch, they will equally dread the augmentation of his power, and the apprehension of arbitrary sway will be a perpetual source of the opposition which the

kings of England will meet with in their parliaments. If they have appeared submissive since the Prince of Orange ascended the throne, and have readily voted all the subsidies which he required, it was to be expected that they would support a prince whom they had themselves invited, and that they would provide for the expenses of a war which they had too eagerly desired, not to contribute towards it to the utmost of their power. The subsidies which they granted to the king of England enabled him besides to gain over the members of Parliament.*

"1690.- Sir John Trevor, the speaker of the House of Commons, was a bold and dexterous man. Being a tory i in principle, he undertook to manage that party, provided he was furnished with such sums of money as might purchase some votes; and by him began the practice of buying off men, in which, hitherto, the King had kept to stricter rules. I took the liberty once to complain to the King of this method: he said, he hated it as much as any man could do; but he saw it was not possible, considering the corruption of the age, to avoid it, unless he would endanger the whole.

"1692. The taking off parliament men, who complained of grievances, by places and pensions, was believed to be now generally practised.

"1693.-When the party, that was set against the Court, saw they could carry nothing in either House of Parliament, then they turned their whole strength against the present parliament, to force a dissolution; and in order to that, they first loaded it with a name of an ill sound; and whereas King Charles's long parliament was called the pensioner parliament, they called this the officers' parliament; because many that had commands in the army were of it: and the word, that they gave out among the people, was, that we were to be governed by a standing army and a standing parliament. They tried to carry a bill, that rendered all members of the House of Com