1702. the queen's speech, and a letter to the States an- BOOK V. terest. The exultation of the court of France at the death of the king of England bore a full proportion to the grief elsewhere expressed. The sieur de Barré, left by the count d'Avaux chargé d'affaires, presented to the States a memorial, inviting them to renew the negotiation, and, in language disrespectful and injurious to the late monarch, stating his hope, "that, as their high mightinesses would now recover their liberty, and be no longer under restraint, they would consult their own interest, and look upon a good intelli L BOOK V. gence with France as the firmest support of their 1702. republic." To this memorial the States indignantly replied," that the sieur Resident ought to know that their high and mighty lordships have heretofore had as much liberty as at present, to Heroic debate and to take all such resolutions as they firmness of General. the States judged necessary and useful for the good and preservation of their state. It is true they cannot enough deplore their misfortune, to see themselves deprived of the direction and conduct of a prince whose wisdom, moderation, and valor, will be famed as long as the world endures-a prince whose heroic actions, and whose merits from this republic, will never be forgot; and, in a word, whose death is lamented in this country by all persons whatsoever, from the meanest to the highest. That the counsels of his said majesty having never had any other aim, both in deed and in word, than the preservation of their liberty and religion and their high and mighty lordships being entirely convinced of this truth, as having found the benefit thereof, they are resolved to follow the same principles, and not to depart from the alliances contracted during the life of his said majesty." The earl of Marlborough's stay in Holland, though but of a few days' continuance, answered the most important purpose. The States, charmed by his noble carriage and engaging manners, and struck with ad 4 miration at his superiority of genius, placed from BOOK V. this time the most unlimited confidence in his ca- 1702. pacity and fidelity, which, in the long experience of ten successive years, he in no one instance abused or forfeited. Parliament. The session of parliament in England pro- Session of ceeded calmly and prosperously. The commons settled upon the queen for life the revenue enjoyed by the late king; and the queen very nobly in return declared, "that, in consideration of the great burdens to be sustained by her subjects, she would direct 100,000l. per annum to be appropriated to the national service." The abjuration oath imposed by the act of the late king was taken very unanimously, and even cheerfully: the high tories and Jacobites, whose zeal had now suffered a very sensible abatement, contenting themselves, as we are told, with the novel distinction, that the term of right was a term of law which had relation only to legal right; and not to divine right, or birth-right, which still remained unimpaired; and that the abjuration was binding consequently only during the present state of things, and not in case of a new revolution or conquest*. The queen had now completed her ministerial Ministerial arrangements. Her private and personal incli * Burnet, vol. iii. p. 433. Arrange ments. 1702. BOOK V. nations were decidedly in favour of the tories. But the earl of Marlborough, who was impatient to give full scope to his talents, and in whose breast an ardent thirst for glory, "that infirmity of noble minds," superseded every other consideration, employed the extensive influence which he possessed over the mind of the queen through the medium of the countess, to induce the appointment of an administration which should prosecute the war with vigor and effect; which he well knew was not to be expected without a powerful co-operation on the part of the whigs. Lord Godolphin, nearly allied to Marlborough, by the marriage of his son with the eldest daughter of the earl, was connected with him also by the strictest political union; and though a tory administration was at length formed, not only divers of the whigs were admitted into the new arrangement, but a spirit of conciliation and moderation pervaded the general system-proving it to be under the guidance of men deeply versed in the noble science of political wisdom. Lord Godolphin, as lord high treasurer, was regarded as the efficient head of the ministry: the earl of Nottingham and sir Charles Hedges were re-instated in their posts as joint secretaries of state, The earl of Pembroke being houorably dismissed from the admiralty with the offer of a great pension, which he refused to accept, the post of lord 1702. high admiral was occupied by the prince of Den- BOOK V. mark; the duke of Somerset, a whig, was continued president of the council; and sir Nathan Wright, a tory, lord keeper. The duke of Devonshire, a whig, was appointed lord steward: and the marquis of Normanby, a tory, lord privy seal. The earl of Rochester, maternal uncle of the queen, who disdained this system of compromise and conciliation, was confirmed in his government of Ireland, which he had not yet formally relinquished. Seymour, Howe, Harcourt, and others of the tories, were now admitted to the council board, from which the great whig leaders, Somers and Halifax, were excluded. clared France. The earl of Marlborough had agreed with the war deStates and the imperial minister, that war should against be declared against France, at Vienna, London, and the Hague, on the same day, viz. May the 15th N. S. But when this resolution came to be debated in council, it was vehemently opposed by the earl of Rochester and others of the board, who contended, that it was safest and best for England to avoid a declaration of war, and that no necessity existed for acting, if we acted at all, in any other capacity than as auxiliaries. But the earl of Marlborough remarked, that the honor of the nation was concerned to fulfil the late king's engagements; and he affirmed, that |