kept pace with her husband's in the state; and for the finishing stroke in the mortification of her pride, he was thought to be in love with Miss Schutz, one of her maids of honour, to whom she had always been particularly kind for the sake both of the girl and of her father.1

The Princess Royal saw the King in his way from Hanover to England, though she had had the mortification of not seeing him when he went thither; but the short comfort of barely seeing him was the only comfort she enjoyed in this interview, for no money, no hopes of coming to England, nor any promises of assisting her husband in Holland, were given her, nor were there any other consequences attending this meeting than her returning to the ennui from which she came.

But there was a circumstance at this juncture known to but few people, which gave the Queen and Sir Robert Walpole, and those who wished well to either of them, more trouble than all the other effects of his Majesty's ill-humour put together, though the Queen always denied believing it. This circumstance was his Majesty's having given his word to Madame Walmoden to return to Hanover by the 29th of May next summer; which promise being known to all her friends, the night before his Majesty left Hanover, Madame Walmoden, at supper, in a mixture of tears and smiles, toasted the 29th of May, which all the rest of the company pledged in a bumper.

The King had never yet, that I could learn, given the least hint of this intention to anybody on this side

16 Miss Schutz, the daughter of Augustus Schutz (ante, vol. i. p. 411), who, I believe, afterwards married the Baron Grovestein, before-mentioned (vol. i. p. 410), subsequently Dutch Ambassador in England.

of the water; I am sure he had not to the Queen or Sir Robert Walpole; and Lord Harrington, I believe, had been as close upon this subject as his master. It was told to Lord Hervey by Mr. Poyntz, who I guess had it from one Weston," a great friend of his, a sensible fellow, and commis to Lord Harrington. When Lord Hervey told it to Sir Robert Walpole, Sir Robert seemed at first much surprised and concerned; and afterwards said, "But he shan't go for all that. His Majesty imagines frequently he shall do many things, which, because he is not at first contradicted, he fancies he shall be let to do at last. He thinks he is devilish stout, and never gives up his will or his opinion; but he never acts in anything material according to either of them but when I have a mind he should. I am going, my Lord, to make an odd declaration for a ministerfor generally it is the policy of ministers to throw the blame of everything wrong done on their master; but I am willing to own, whenever our master does wrong, it is the fault of his ministers, who must either want resolution enough to oppose him, or sense enough to do it with success. Our master, like most people's masters, wishes himself absolute, and fancies he has courage enough to attempt making himself so; but if I know anything of him, he is, with all his personal bravery, as great a political coward as ever wore a crown, and as much afraid to lose it."

How Sir Robert could reconcile this speech with his keeping up such an army in England, and in the present circumstances of England, I know not; or how he would

17 Edward Weston, Esq., one of the Under Secretaries of State for the Northern Department.

be able to justify this measure in private without disavowing in some degree the other assertion, I am quite at a loss to guess however, Lord Hervey knew too well how little anybody likes to have such puzzling questions put to them to desire Sir Robert to clear up this matter.

The King gave other very strong marks at this time of his fondness for Madame Walmoden, which were as little known here as the promise he had made of returning to Hanover; one of which the Queen knew, but was ashamed to tell even to Sir Robert Walpole : this was, that his Majesty, who till this year always used to stay with the Queen in a morning till after he had had the military amusement of peeping through the cane-blinds of the windows to see the guard relieved, which was hardly ever finished till eleven o'clock, did now forego that joy as well as the pleasures of his wife's conversation, and went every morning to his own side by nine o'clock or a little after, where he constantly wrote for two or three hours to Madame Walmoden, who never failed sending and receiving a letter every post.

CHAPTER XXII.

General Peace-Terms-Discussed-The event favourable to the Administration-Horace Walpole's negative success-M. de Chavigny-Favours the Opposition-Lord Hervey's opinion as to the duties of a Foreign Minister-M. Chauvelin, Garde des Sceaux in France-Corrupt-Disgraced-Lord Hervey's intercourse, in Walpole's absence, with the King and Queen-Advocates a reduction of the forces-They resist-Walpole's reasonings for maintaining the Army.

SOON after the King came to England the remarkable and important news arrived that the preliminary articles to a general peace were signed at Vienna [3rd October, 1735] by the Emperor and France, and that, in consequence of the conclusion of this treaty, a cessation of arms had been declared at the head of the Imperial and French armies on the Rhine, as well as in Italy. The armistice was published in Italy just as the Duke de Montemar was going to urge the siege of Mantua with his utmost vigour, but upon this mortifying and unexpected news he made his retreat not only from the Mantuan, but deserted also Parma and Placentia; for, after evacuating those duchies of the troops, gutting the palaces of all the moveables, and carrying off everything he found portable, he withdrew into Tuscany in order to fortify himself there and prevent the Imperialists from penetrating into that country and taking possession of it according to the stipulations of this new-concluded treaty; the articles of which were in substance as follows:

1. France shall restore to the Empire all the places which she has taken from it during the war.

2. The Emperor shall have the Mantuan, Parma, Placentia, and the Milanese; Vigevanesco and Novaro and their dependencies excepted, which shall be given to the King of Sardinia, with the liberty of building fortresses in what part of those countries he shall at any time think proper.

3. The duchy of Tuscany, after the death of the present Grand Duke, shall be given to the Duke of Lorraine, shall be put into the hands of his Most Christian Majesty, and remain annexed to his monarchy.

4. King Stanislaus shall be acknowledged by all the Powers of Europe King of Poland, and shall enjoy all the honours and prerogatives of a crowned head; after which he shall resign voluntarily the possession of the kingdom of Poland in favour of King Augustus, who shall restore to him all the estates in Poland which either belonged to him or to his Queen.

5. King Stanislaus shall have, by way of equivalent for Poland, the immediate possession of the duchy of Barr.

6. Don Carlos shall be acknowledged King of Naples and Sicily, and shall have the State of del Presidii, with the island of Elba; as for Leghorn, it shall be declared a free port.

7. France shall guarantee the Pragmatic Sanction.

8. The Kings of Spain and Sardinia to be invited to accede to this treaty; and England, Holland, Portugal, and Venice to guarantee it.

The Court of Spain was so incensed at the conclusion of this treaty, that her Catholic Majesty would not permit the French Minister at her Court for some time to obtain an audience to communicate it. All the letters and despatches from Spain to every Court in Europe were full of nothing but the strongest invectives against the conduct of France, reproaching her with the basest treachery and perfidy to her allies, the blindest ignorance of her own interest, and treating her as the weak and wicked dupe of the Court of Vienna.