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men against France, either in Italy, or upon the Rhine; Holland to bring fixty thousand into the field in Flanders, exclufive of garrifons; and que forty thousand. In winter 1702, which was the next year, the Duke of Marlborough propofed raising ten thousand men more, by way of augmentation, and to carry on the war with greater vigour; to which the parliament agreed; and the Dutch were to raise the same number.. This was upon a par, directly contrary to the former ftipulation, whereby our part was to be a third lefs than theirs; and therefore, it was granted, with a condition, that Holland fhould break off all trade and commerce with France. But this condition was never executed; the Dutch only amusing us with a fpecious declaration, till our feffion of parliament was ended; and, the following year, it was taken off, by concert between the General and the States, without any reafon affigned, for the fatisfaction of the kingdom. The next, and fome enfuing campaigns, further additional forces were allowed by parliament for the war in Flanders; and, in every new fupply, the Dutch gradually leffened their proportions, although the parliament addreffed the Queen, that the States might be defired to obferve them according to agreement; which had no other effect, than to teach them to elude it, by making their troops nominal corps; as they did, by keeping up the number of regiments, but finking a fifth part of the men and money; so that now, things are just inverted. And, in all new levies, we contributed a

third more than the Dutch, who at first were ob liged to the fame proportion more than us.

Befides, the more towns we conquer for the States, the worse condition we are in towards reducing the common enemy, and, confequently, of putting an end to the war. For they make no fcruple of employing the troops of their quota towards garrifoning every town, as fast as it is taken; directly contrary to the agreement between us, by which all garrifons are particularly excluded. This is at length arrived, by several steps, to fuch a height, that there are at present in the field, not fo many forces under the Duke of Marlborough's command in Flanders, as Britain alone maintains for that service, nor have been for fome years paft.

The Duke of Marlborough, having entered the enemy's lines, and taken Bouchain, formed the defign of keeping fo great a number of troops, and particularly of cavalry, in Lifle, Tournay, Doway, and the country between, as fhould be able to harass all the neighbouring provinces of France during the winter, prevent the enemy from erecting their magazines, and, by confequence, from fubfifting their forces next fpring, and render it impoffible for them to affemble their army another year, without going back behind the Soame to do it. In order to effect this project, it was necessary to be at an expence extraordinary, of forage for the troops, for building ftables, finding fire and candle for the foldiers, with other incident charges. The Queen readily agreed to furnish

furnish her share of the first article, that of the forage, which only belonged to her: but the States infifting, that her Majefty fhould likewife come into a proportion of the other articles, which, in juftice, belonged totally to them; fhe agreed even to that, rather than a defign of this importance should fail. And yet we know it hath failed, and that the Dutch refused their consent, till the time was paft for putting it in execution, even in the opinion of those who proposed it. Perhaps a certain article in the treaties of contributions, submitted to by fuch of the French dominions as pay them to the States, was the principal cause of defeating this project; fince one great advantage to have been gained by it, was, as is before mentioned, to have hindered the enemy from erecting their magazines: and one article in thofe treaties of contributions, is, that the product of those countries fhall pass free and unmolested. So that the question was reduced to this fhort iffue: whether the Dutch fhould lofe this paltry benefit, or the common caufe an advantage of fuch mighty importance?

The sea being the element where we might, most probably, carry on the war with any advantage to ourselves, it was agreed, that we fhould bear five eighths of the charge in that service, and the Dutch the other three; and, by the grand alliance, whatever we, or Holland, should conquer in the Spanish Weft-Indies, was to accrue to the conquerors. It might, therefore, have been hoped, that this maritime ally of ours, would have

made

made up in their fleet, what they fell fhort in their army; but, quite otherwife, they never once furnished their quota, either of ships or men; or, if fome few of their fleet now and then appeared, it was no more than appearing; for they immediately feparated, to look to their merchants, and protect their trade. And we may remember very well, when these guarantees of our fucceffion, after having not one fhip, for many months together, in the Mediterranean, fent that part of their quota thither, and furnished nothing to us, at the fame time that they alarmed us with the rumour of an invafion. And laft year, when Sir James Wishart was difpatched into Holland to expoftulate with the States, and to defire they would make good their agreements in fo important a part of the fervice; he met with fuch a reception, as ill became a republic to give, that were under fo many great obligations to us; in fhort, fuch an one, as those only deserve, who are content to take it.

It hath likewife been no fmall inconvenience to us, that the Dutch are always flow in paying their fubfidies; by which means, the weight and preffure of the payment lies upon the Queen, as well as the blame, if her Majefty be not very exact. Nor will even this always content our allies: for, in July 1711, the King of Spain was paid all his fubfidies to the 1ft of January next: neverthelefs, he hath fince complained for want of money; and his fecretary threatened, that if we would not further fupply his Majefty, he could not anfwer for what might happen; although King Charles

had

had not at that time one third of the troops for which he was paid; and even those he had, were neither paid nor clothed.

The

I cannot forbear mentioning, here, another paffage concerning fubfidies, to fhew what opinion foreigners have of our eafinefs, and how much they reckon themselves mafters of our money, whenever they think fit to call for it. Queen was, by agreement, to pay two hundred thousand crowns a year to the Prussian troops; the States one hundred thousand; and the Emperor only thirty thoufand, for recruiting; which his Imperial Majefty never paid. Prince Eugene happening to pafs by Berlin, the minifters of that court applied to him for redress in this particular; and his Highness very frankly promised them, that, in confideration of this deficiency, Britain and the States fhould increase their fubfidies to feventy thousand crowns more between them; and that the Emperor fhould be punctual for the time to come. This was done by that Prince, without any orders or power whatsoever. The Dutch, very reasonably, refufed confenting to it; but the Pruffian minifter here, making his applications at our court, prevailed on us to agree to our proportion, before we could hear what refolution would be taken in Holland. It is, therefore, to be hoped, that his Pruffian Majefty, at the end of this war, will not have the fame cause of complaint which he had at the clofe of the laft; that his military cheft was emptier by twenty thoufand crowns, than at the time that war began. K k

VOL. II.

The

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