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284 first brought over. This was the only paltry advantage which these strange diplomatists of England asked for in recompense of our enormous outlay and our enormous loss of men during the war—the disgraceful distinction of being kidnappers-general for the Spaniards! This was the sole and scandalous benefit which Mr. Prior, a poet, and the friend of Pope and Addison, dwelt upon as the recompense for all our labours and our enormous debt in defence of the liberties of Europe—the power to lay waste the liberties and persons of Africa! In return for this singular and Satanic modesty—so far now from demanding the expulsion of Philip from the throne of Spain, much less that Louis should expel his grandson thence—the queen of England was ready not only to leave him there but to maintain him there. And all this without consulting the emperor of Germany, whose right to this kingdom we had acknowledged, and which we had so often assured him and the world we would never give up! Prior particularly dwelt on the sacrifices the queen was making, the emperor having engaged, by secret treaties, to admit the flag of England in all the ports of South America as freely as the flag of Spain. But De Torcy, being now aware of the impatience of England for peace, and of the party motives for it, made very light of these vaunted sacrifices. He told Prior that these promised advantages were mere empty dreams; that Philip was firmly seated on the Spanish throne, and that neither Spain nor the colonies would ever fall into the hands of Austria. He appealed to him triumphantly whether it was desirable for the peace of Europe that they should; that Louis was ready to guarantee, as he had ever been, that the crowns of France and Spain should never rest on the same head; that this Charles of Austria was now become emperor of Germany, and that, if his sway were to extend over Spain, the Indies, Naples, Sicily, and Milan, nothing could be more ominous for Europe than such a gigantic power. Were the allies, he asked, desirous again to see the colossal empire of Charles V. revive, with all the tyrannies and desolations of Europe created by that monarch and Philip II.? that Charles had made no promise of keeping separate the Spanish kingdom, if he obtained it, from the kingdom of Austria and the empire; whereas Louis had engaged that France and Spain should never be united.

There was great force in these representations: and, as Charles was now emperor, the allies had a right to demand of him that the Spanish monarchy should pass to some other prince; though there was nothing like the danger to Europe from a union of Austria and Spain, considering their distance, that there was from a union of France and Spain, which would become one great and overwhelming empire; yet the precaution against the union of Austria and Spain was necessary, and, in any probability of such a union, must have been enforced. None of these reasons, however, warranted a peace which should leave Spain and all its colonies virtually in the power of France; and such was the peace Harley and the tories were aiming at.

As Prior and Gualtier had no powers warranting them to accept terms from France, M. Mesnager, an expert diplomatist, deputy from Rouen to the board of trade in Paris, was dispatched to London with the English envoys. They were to return in all secrecy, and Mesnager was furnished with certain instructions wholly unknown to Prior and Gualtier. These were, that an equivalent for the destruction of the fortifications of Dunkirk was to be demanded; and that some towns in Flanders which the French had lost, particularly Lille and Tournay, should be restored. These demands he was to keep very close, and only cautiously but firmly open to the principal negotiators.

An unlucklyunlucky [sic] incident befelbefell [sic] these three private negotiators on landing at Deal. The information of the journey to Paris of Prior and Gualtier had reached the vigilant ears of John Mackay, the master of the packet-boats, who had been placed in that position by king William and the whigs, and had enjoyed in that office a liberal share of the secret service money. This was the Mackay who in his memoirs has furnished us with so many lively accounts of the transactions of these times, being deeply in the secret of them. He had discovered many treasons and correspondences betwixt the Jacobites of England and the courts of Versailles and St. Germains. Mackay remained in his office, perhaps, by an oversight, for his services were no longer used by the present government; but St. John, Harley, and the rest, as we have seen, had their own channels of communication. Mackay, having now come upon the traces of Prior and Gualtier, informed St. John of it, who bade him take no notice of it, but look out for their return; supposing, no doubt, that Mackay would immediately apprise him of that foot, and that he could at once set all right with this vigilant official. Mackay soon after became aware of the landing of the two persons in question at Deal, accompanied by a third; and, hastening to Canterbury, he found that they were no other than his old acquaintance, Prior, the abbé Gualtier, and Mr. Mesnager, and, to his astonishment, that they were travelling with a pass from St. John. This, no doubt, let a light in upon Mackay, for he at once dispatched a letter to Marlborough at Bouchain, informing him of the circumstance, and at the same time rode off to Tunbridge to inform the bishop of Winchester and lord Aylmer that they might apprise the earl of Sunderland of it. The alarm spread, and Mackay being found to be the person who had discovered all this to the whigs, the vengeance of the ministry was let loose upon him. He was dismissed from his post, he was thrown into prison, his creditors being hounded out upon him; he was threatened with hanging by St. John for keeping a correspondence with France; and the unfortunate man was still lying in gaol on the accession of George I.

The secret negotiators were speedily liberated by their friends in power, and proceeded to London, but the secret was out that a treaty was on foot with France, and the general opinion was, that the ministers were bent on making peace on any terms. The government, nevertheless, kept the matter as much out of sight as possible. The queen sent Prior to apologise to Mesnager for his being received in so secret a manner, and Oxford, St. John, Jersey, and Shrewsbury were appointed to confer with him privately. On the 8th of October the English commissioners and Mesnager had agreed upon the preliminaries and signed them. Mesnager was then privately introduced to the queen at Windsor, who made no secret of her anxiety for peace, telling him she would do all in her power to complete