self master of all Italy, and be so absolute in the Empire, that we should have every reason to fear his preponderating power; that his Most Christian Majesty, therefore, desired to concert measures with your Majesty respecting the said succession, and requested to know whether you were inclined to it, and what conditions and securities you would require.

I replied to him, that I was surprised at the proposal which he made me; that, although I could not fail to consider the death of the king of Spain as an event which would inevitably plunge us again into war, yet it must be regarded as an unavoidable evil, and we could only hope that it would not take place soon; that I was aware, that the interests of England and Holland were concerned to oppose an accommodation, both with respect to the naval force and to commerce all over the world; that I did not see how it was possible for your Majesty to give any more than a general answer to such a proposal, unless I were informed of the views of his Most Christian Majesty in regard to the particulars which he meant to propose. He answered, that he could not enter into particulars till your sentiments in general were known, and that even then, it would be necessary to ascertain from you what you should think suitable to the interests and safety of the two nations.

I said, I was sure that if I wrote to your Majesty in the general terms in which he spoke, I could not expect any other answer than that you were willing to listen to what should be proposed; and, as I at

length saw that I could not elicit any more from him, I told him, in passing, my own sentiments and every thing that I thought might be opposed to our interests; but I avoid repeating the details that I may not unduly lengthen my letter.

He replied, that with respect to the Low Countries, it would be easily agreed upon in such a manner as your Majesty should desire; that as for Spain itself, sufficient guarantees should be given that it should never fall under the dominion of the same king as France; but, as for the Indies and the safety of the commerce of the Mediterranean, two points on which I laid great stress, he said nothing; he merely required that I should give your Majesty an account of what he had proposed and declared the sentiments of the king, his master, and begged to be informed, Sire, of yours.

I did not think proper to say any thing which might furnish them with the least clue as to what were the views of your Majesty, particularly as little or nothing was known respecting them. I shall therefore wait to know the pleasure of your Majesty on this subject, and the line of conduct you would have me to observe. If, however, I have an opportunity, I will again speak, in the way of conversation, to M. de Pomponne, and try to induce him to state his sentiments a little more fully.

I beg your Majesty to pardon the faults of my letter, which is not of a nature to be shown to any of my own people. I have scarcely time to read it over, much less to take a copy, because the Dauphin

has sent for me to go a hunting with him without delay, which I did not like to decline, or to put off to a later hour. I am just going to step into my carriage to go to Meudon. Count Tallard will set out to-day. I believe that they have purposely waited so long to speak to me on this subject, that they might be able to make use of him in the affair in case they are not satisfied with me, though the inflexibility which I have shown, in all the difficulties that have been thrown in my way, is approved by everybody at Court, and all the blame is laid upon the conductor of ambassadors, whom MoNSIEUR calls ignorant and impertinent. They perhaps think that I shall not suffer myself to be drawn into matters, which the shortness of my stay convinces me will prevent my being able to further for the service of your Majesty and of the two nations.

ACCOUNT OF WHAT TOOK PLACE IN THE VISIT WHICH M. DE POMPONNE AND M. DE TORCY PAID TO THE EARL OF PORTLAND BY ORDER OF HIS MAJESTY THE

14TH OF MARCH, 1698.

The conference with Lord Portland lasted more than an hour and a half. We began by reminding him of all that had been said to him, since his residence here, of the sincere desire of the King to maintain a good understanding with the king of England, and to adopt in concert with that prince all the measures necessary to form a close alliance. We spoke to him of the necessity of this alliance

for the good of Europe, and for the preservation of peace, which has just been restored; of what he has said himself of the sentiments of the king, his master, and of the desire which he feels to unite himself closely with his Majesty. After those preliminary observations, we reminded him of the language of his Majesty to him, in the last private audience, and of his own replies. At length, we spoke more plainly, and observed to him, that in the present state of affairs in Europe, he would easily comprehend that the most important event that could happen, and one which was most calculated to disturb the general tranquillity, was the death of the king of Spain; that if God should remove that prince before just measures had been taken to prevent the troubles which his death would occasion, it would be very difficult for peace to be preserved; that his Majesty, convinced of the good intentions of the king of England, was disposed on so important an occasion, to give him marks of entire confidence, by concerting with that prince what should be done in such a conjuncture for the preservation of the public tranquillity.

We added, that the King was very happy to open himself to the Earl of Portland, rather than to any other person, not only on account of the confidence which the king, his master, placed in him, but also on account of the satisfaction which his Majesty feels at his conduct, and because he is persuaded that no person desires more to contribute to a close alliance between his Majesty and the king of England.

Lord Portland replied, that he had rightly judged that the conversation, which his Majesty had done him the honour to hold with him, could have reference only to the Spanish succession; that he thought it useless to repeat what he had several times said of the real desire of the king, his master, to maintain a perfect understanding with his Majesty; that what he had said on the subject was conformable to the instructions he had received, and to the truth. We observed to him, that the answer, which the King had made to him on the day of his public audience, had reference to the preceding conversation during the private audience, and he said that he was well aware of it.

Entering, then, into the subject of the Spanish succession, he said, that though in truth the feeble health of the king of Spain had for a long time past given occasion to consider what was to be done in case that prince should die, he had never precisely known what might be the sentiments of his master on this subject; that he had indeed heard him say, at the Hague, that this was the only event which could disturb the peace; that it was sufficiently apparent that his Majesty sincerely desired it from the terms which he offered, and that there was no doubt that he would maintain it when once it should be made, but that nobody could judge of the effect which the death of the king of Spain might produce; that princes should not be swayed by their private inclinations, but solely by the interests of the people subject to their direction or their government; that the Dutch are in the first