But the Duke of Ormonde, who, with every other quality that can accomplish or adorn a great man, inherits all the valour and loyalty of his ancestors, found it very difficult to acquit himself of his commission;[6] for Prince Eugene, and all the field deputies of the States, had begun already to talk either of attacking the enemy, or besieging Quesnoy, the confederate army being now all joined by the troops they expected; and accordingly, about three days after the Duke had received those orders from court, it was proposed to his grace, at a meeting with the prince and deputies, that the French army should be attacked, their camp having been viewed, and a great opportunity offering to do it with success; for the Marechal de Villars, who had notice sent him by Mons. de Torcy of what was passing, and had signified the same by a trumpet to the Duke, shewed less vigilance than was usual to that general, taking no precautions to secure his camp, or observe the motions of the allies, probably on purpose to provoke them, the Duke said, "That the Earl of Strafford's sudden departure for England, made him believe there was something of consequence now transacting, which would be known in four or five days; and therefore desired they would defer this or any other undertaking, until he could receive fresh letters from England." Whereupon the prince and deputies immediately told the Duke, "That they looked for such an answer as he had given them: That they had suspected our measures for some time, and their suspicions were confirmed by the express his grace had so lately received, as well as by the negligence of Mons. Villars". They appeared extremely dissatisfied; and the deputies told the Duke, that they would immediately send an account of his answer to their masters, which they accordingly did; and soon after, by order from the States, wrote him an expostulating letter, in a style less respectful than became them; desiring him, among other things, to explain himself, whether he had positive orders not to fight the French; and afterwards told him, "They were sure he had such orders, otherwise he could not answer what he had done." But the Duke still waived the question, saying, "he would be glad to have letters from England, before he entered upon action, and that he expected them daily."
[Footnote 6: For an estimate of Ormonde's character see Swift's "Enquiry into the Behaviour of the Queen's Last Ministry," vol. v. of present edition (pp. 428-430). Ormonde had done very little to deserve succeeding such a soldier as Marlborough. Indeed, his name was associated with the disgraceful expedition to Cadiz, in which he was in command of the English troops. [T.S.]
Upon this incident, the ministers and generals of the allies immediately took the alarm, venting their fury in violent expressions against the Queen, and those she employed in her councils: said, they were betrayed by Britain, and assumed the countenance of those who think they have received an injury, and are disposed to return it.
The Duke of Ormonde's army consisted of eighteen thousand of Her Majesty's subjects, and about thirty thousand hired from other princes, either wholly by the Queen, or jointly by her and the States. The Duke immediately informed the court of the dispositions he found among the foreign generals upon this occasion; and that, upon an exigency, he could only depend on the British troops adhering to him; those of Hanover having already determined to desert to the Dutch, and tempted the Danes to do the like, and that he had reason to suppose the same of the rest.
Upon the news arriving at Utrecht, that the Duke of Ormonde had refused to engage in any action against the enemy, the Dutch ministers there went immediately to make their complaints to the lord privy seal; aggravating the strangeness of this proceeding, together with the consequence of it, in the loss of a most favourable opportunity for ruining the French army, and the discontent it must needs create in the whole body of the confederates. Adding, how hard it was that they should be kept in the dark, and have no communication of what was done in a point which so nearly concerned them. They concluded, that the Duke must needs have acted by orders; and desired his lordship to write both to court, and to his grace, what they had now said.
The bishop answered, "That he knew nothing of this fact, but what they had told him; and therefore was not prepared with a reply to their representations: only, in general, he could venture to say, that this case appeared very like the conduct of their field-deputies upon former occasions: That if such orders were given, they were certainly built upon very justifiable foundations, and would soon be so explained as to convince the States, and all the world, that the common interest would be better provided for another way, than by a battle or siege: That the want of communication which they complained of, could not make the States so uneasy as their declining to receive it had made the Queen, who had used her utmost endeavours to persuade them to concur with her in concerting every step towards a general peace, and settling such a plan as both sides might approve and adhere to; but, to this day, the States had not thought fit to accept those offers, or to authorize any of their ministers to treat with Her Majesty's plenipotentiaries upon that affair, although they had been pressed to it ever since the negotiation began: That his lordship, to shew that he did not speak his private sense alone, took this opportunity to execute the orders he had received the evening before, by declaring to them, that all Her Majesty's offers for adjusting the differences between her and the States were founded upon this express condition, That they should come immediately into the Queen's measures, and act openly and sincerely with her; and that, from their conduct, so directly contrary, she now looked upon herself to be under no obligation to them."
Mons. Buys and his colleagues were stunned with this declaration, made to them at a time when they pretended to think the right of complaining to be on their side, and had come to the bishop upon that errand. But after their surprise was abated, and Buys's long reasonings at an end, they began to think how matters might be retrieved; and were of opinion, that the States should immediately dispatch a minister to England, unless his lordship were empowered to treat with them; which, without new commands, he said he was not. They afterwards desired to know of the bishop, what the meaning was of the last words in his declaration, "That Her Majesty looked upon herself to be under no obligation to them." He told them his opinion, "That as the Queen was bound by treaty to concert with the States the conditions of a peace, so, upon their declining the concert so frequently offered, she was acquitted of that obligation: but that he verily believed, whatever measures Her Majesty should take, she would always have a friendly regard to the interest of their commonwealth; and that as their unkindness had been very unexpected and disagreeable to Her Majesty, so their compliance would be equally pleasing."
I have been the more circumstantial in relating this affair, because it furnished abundance of discourse, and gave rise to many wild conjectures and misrepresentations, as well here as in Holland, especially that part which concerned the Duke of Ormonde;[7] for the angry faction in the House of Commons, upon the first intelligence, that the Duke had declined to act offensively against France, in concurrence with the allies, moved for an address, wherein the Queen should be informed of "the deep concern of her Commons for the dangerous consequences to the common cause, which must arise from this proceeding of her general; and to beseech her, that speedy instructions might be given to the Duke to prosecute the war with vigour, in order to quiet the minds of her people, &c." But a great majority was against this motion, and a resolution drawn up and presented to the Queen by the whole House of a quite contrary tenor, "That they had an entire confidence in Her Majesty's most gracious promise, to communicate to her Parliament the terms of the peace, before the same should be concluded; and that they would support Her Majesty, in obtaining an honourable and safe peace, against all such persons, either at home or abroad, who have endeavoured, or shall endeavour, to obstruct the same."
[Footnote 7: This determination on the part of England to cease hostilities at this juncture has been most severely criticized. The matter formed, afterwards, the chief article in the impeachment of Bolingbroke, and an important article in the impeachment of Oxford. According to the "Report of the Committee of Secrecy," and the Earl of Oxford's answer to this charge in his impeachment, it seems as if St. John had instructed Ormonde so to act, without in any way consulting the council, and apparently purposely concealing the fact from his colleagues. Mr. Walter Sichel, however, in a note on p. 380 of his "Bolingbroke and his Times," clearly traces the order to the desire of the Queen herself, and in his text lays on the Queen the blame that was visited on the heads of her ministers. See also note on p. 156. [T.S.]
The courier sent with the alternative to Spain was now returned, with an account that Philip had chosen to renounce France for himself and his posterity, whereof the Queen having received notice, Her Majesty, upon the sixth of June, in a long speech to both Houses of Parliament, laid before them the terms of a general peace, stipulated between her and France. This speech, being the plan whereby both France and the allies have been obliged to proceed in the subsequent course of the treaty, I shall desire the reader's leave to insert it at length, although I believe it hath been already in most hands.[7]