England’s hands were tyed; Maillebois, at the head of a large body of troops, had obliged George II. to sign a treaty of neutrality, and the Dutch were unable and as little disposed to interfere in the affairs of Germany.
Robert Walpole, then the ruling minister in Great Britain, was all for peace, as understanding nothing of war. Every minister in Europe, (as a man of great wit, who often came to me at Versailles, pointed out to me) has his peculiar talents, according to which he gives the bias to public affairs. Walpole’s system was that the power of Great Britain lay in trade, and that such a nation is to keep clear of sieges and battles.
The king shewed me several of that minister’s letters to Cardinal Fleury. In one he says,
“I engage to keep the parliament to a peaceable disposition, if you will bridle the martial ardour of your people; for a minister in England cannot do every thing,” &c. &c.
In another,
“I have a deal of difficulty to keep our people from coming to blows; not that they are bent on war, but because I am for preserving peace; for our English politicians must be ever skirmishing, either in the field or at Westminster.”
In a third letter he expresses himself thus:
“I pension half the parliament to keep it quiet; but as the King’s money is not sufficient, and they to whom I give none, clamour loudly for a war, it would be expedient for your Eminence to remit me three millions of French livres, in order to silence these barkers. Gold is a metal which here corrects all qualities in the blood. A pension of two thousand pounds a year will make the most impetuous warrior in parliament as tame as a lamb. In short, should England break out, you will, besides the uncertainty of events in war, be under the necessity of paying larger subsidies to foreign powers, to be on an equality with us; whereas, by furnishing me with a little money, you purchase peace at the first hand.” &c. &c.
But Walpole having been obliged to quit the ministry, Great Britain sided with the house of Austria. She was already at war with Spain. The English sent a large army into Flanders, before ever the court of Versailles had thought of garrisoning its strong places, so that the way lay open for them into France; and why they did not enter it, will ever remain a secret. A British minister has since told me, that there were at that time too many malecontents in the army; and that the invasion of France was omitted, purely in spight to a party, who had ever maintained, that the only way to restore the balance of Germany, was to penetrate beyond Flanders. Thus, added the minister by way of reflection, our government which is looked on as one of the best modeled in Europe, is sacrificed to private passions.
Prague, that city on which France had founded all its hopes, began to be despaired of; and from thence it was that, some time after, Belleisle made that fine retreat, with which, every day of his life afterwards I was sure to be entertained; for the old man was very vain. He used to say, it was the finest military performance the age had seen.