SOME

REMARKS on the BARRIER-TREATY, &c.*

MAGINE a reasonable perfon in China reading.

IMAGIN

the following treaty, and one who was igno-. rant of our affairs, or our geography: he would conceive their High Mightineffes, the States-General, to be fome vaft powerful commonwealth, like that of Rome; and HER MAJESTY to be a

prety

* Dr. Swift commenced the champion of Q. Anne's Tory miniftry, as early as the month of November 1710, under the title of The Examiner, [Vol. III.] Befides which, he wrote feveral other papers, in defence of the Queen, the conftitution, and the miniftry; particularly, Some advice to the members of the October club [Ibid.] The conduct of the allies, (above, p. 344) Remarks on the barrier-treaty; The public spirit of the Whigs (above, p. 286) (a treatife wherein we may obferve how well the Doctor was acquainted with the feveral interefts and defigns of all the princes in Europe;) The preface to the Bishop of Sarum's introduction, (Vol. X) and, Some free thoughts on the prefent state of affairs (Vol. VI.) These are a courfe of writings not to be confidered in the light of occafional pamphlets, or little paltry journals, thrown into the world by fome hackney-jade, in the defence of corruption, and to ferve the iniquitous defigns of a party. No; thefe writings are to be confidered, and read over and over again, as lectures of true, unprejudiced, constitutional politics, calculated to expofe the enemies of the public, and to maintain, at once, the honour of the crown, and the liberties of the people of England. I cannot but think, whoever is totally unacquainted with these political tracts, might be tempted to revise them carefully, were it only for the fake of extracting fome points of hiftory, which, to many thousands of the prefent age, are fomewhat more than paradoxes.- -Whoever pretends to write the hiftory of Q. Anne's reign, without revifing diligently the works

of

prety prince, like one of thofe to whom that republic would fometimes fend a diadem for a preient, when they behaved themfelves well, otherwife could depofe at pleafure, and place whom they thought fit in his ftead. Such a man would think, that the States had taken our prince and us into their protection; and, in return, honoured us fo far, as to make use of our troops, as fome fmall affiftance in their conquefts, and the enlargement of their empire, or to prevent the incurfions of Barbarians upon fome of their out-lying provinces. But how muft it found in an European ear, that Great-Britain, after maintaining a war for fo many years, with fo much glory and fuccefs, and fuch prodigious expence; after faving the Empire, Holland, and Portugal, and almoft recovering Spain, fhould, towards the

accounts are true.

clofe

of this great author, will produce nothing better than fome lame, partial, infignificant Grub-street performance, like the reft of thofe vile accounts, which have already, in defiance of truth, been imposed upon the world. I am fure, the prefent generation of men, that is, the prefent generation of landed men, who are, in fact, the only proprietors of the whole kingdom, feel it to their coft, that Swift's reafonings are juft, and that all his Swift. Mr. Swift thinks the Dean's political tracts fhould have been ranged in his works, in the order in which he has mentioned them, and that his feveral poems, relative to thofe times, and which, in truth, greatly illustrate his political tracts, ought to be read in the following order, viz. The virtues of Sid Hamet the magician's rod, (Vol. VIII.) The fable of Midas (Ibid.) Atlas, or, The minister of state (Ibid.) Horace, epift. vii. book 1. imitated, and addrefed to the Earl of Oxford (Ibid.) Horace, fat. vii. book 2. part of it imitated (Ibid.) The author on himself (Ibid.) The faggot (Ibid.) To the Earl of Oxford in the Tower (Ibid.)

clofe of a war, enter into a treaty with feven Dutch provinces, to fecure to them a dominion much larger than their own, which she had conquered for them; to undertake for a great deal more, without ftipulating the leaft advantage for herself; and accept, as an equivalent, the mean condition, of thofe States aflifting to preferve her Queen on the throne, whom, by God's afliftance, the is able to defend against all her Majefty's enemies and allies put together?

Such a wild bargain could never have been made for us, if the States had not found it their intereft, to use very powerful motives with the chief advifers, (I fay nothing of the perfon immediately employed ;) and if a party here at home had not been refolved, for ends and purpofes very well known, to continue the war as long as they had any occafion for it.

The counter-project of this treaty, made here at London, was bad enough in all confcience: I have faid something of it in the preface; her Majefty's minifters were inftructed to proceed by it in their negotiation. There was one point in that project, which would have been of confequence to Britain, and one or two more, where the advantages of the States were not so very exorbitant, and where fome care was taken of the house of Auftria. Is it poffible, that our good allies and friends could not be brought to any terms with us, unless by ftriking out every particular that might do us any good, and adding ftill more to those whereby fo much was aiready granted ? VOL. II. O o

For

For inftance, the article about demolishing of Dunkirk, furely, might have remained; which was of fome benefit to the States, as well as of mighty advantage to us; and which the French king hath lately yielded, in one of his preliminaries, although clogged with the demand of an equivalent, which will owe its difficulty only to this treaty.

But, let me now confider the treaty itself: among the one and twenty articles, of which it confifts, only two have any relation to us; importing, that the Dutch are to be guarantees of our fucceffion, and are not to enter into any treaty, until the Queen is acknowledged by France. We know very well, that it is, in confequence, the intereft of the States, as much as ours, that Britain fhould be governed by a Proteftant prince. Befides, what is there more in this guarantee, than in all common leagues, offenfive and defenfive, between two powers, where each is obliged to defend the other against any invader, with all their ftrength? Such was the grand alliance between the Emperor, Britain and Holland; which was, or ought to have been, as good a guarantee of our fucceffion, to all intents and purposes, as this in the barrier-treaty; and the mutual engagements in fuch alliances have been always reckoned sufficient, without any feparate benefit to either party.

It is, no doubt, for the intereft of Britain, that the States fhould have a fufficient barrier against France; but their High Mightineffes, for fome few years paft, have put a different meaning upon the word barrier, from what it

formerly

formerly used to bear, when aplied to them. When the late king was prince of Orange, and commanded their armies againft France, it was never once imagined, that any of the towns taken should belong to the Dutch; they were all immediately delivered up to their lawful monarch; and Flanders was only a barrier to Holland, as it was in the hands of Spain, rather than France. So, in the grand alliance of 1701, the feveral powers, promifing to endeavour to recover Flanders for a barrier, was understood to be the recovering thofe provinces to the king of Spain; but, in this treaty, the style is wholly changed here are about twenty towns and forts, of great importance, with their chatellanies and dependencies (which dependencies are likewise to be enlarged as much as poffible), and the whole revenues of them to be under the perpetual military government of the Dutch; by which that republic will be entirely mafters of the richest part of all Flanders; and, upon any appearance of war, they may put their garrisons into any other place of the Low-Countries; and further, the king of Spain is to give them a revenue of four hundred thousand crowns a year, to enable them to maintain thofe garrifons.

:

Why should we wonder, that the Dutch are inclined to perpetuate the war, when, by an article in this treaty, the king of Spain is not to poffefs one fingle town in the Low-Countries, until a peace be made. The Duke of Anjou, at the beginning of this war, maintained fix and thirty thoufand men.