Cassell's History of England, Vol. 4 (of 8): From the Fall of Marlborough to the Peninsular WarAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 4 (of 8): From the Fall of Marlborough to the Peninsular War
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
Whilst Prince Eugene had been labouring in vain to recall the English
Government from its fatal determination to make a disgraceful peace,
the Dutch envoy Van Buys had been equally active, and with as little
success. The Ministers incited the House of Commons to pass some severe
censures on the Dutch. They alleged that the States General had not
furnished their stipulated number of troops both for the campaigns
in the Netherlands and in Spain; that the queen had paid above three
millions of crowns more than her contingent. They attacked the Barrier
Treaty, concluded by Lord Townshend with them in 1709, and declared
that it contained several Articles destructive to the trade and
interests of Great Britain; that Lord Townshend was not authorised to
make that treaty; and that both he and all those who advised it were
enemies to the queen and kingdom. They addressed a memorial to the
queen, averring that England, during the war, had been overcharged
nineteen millions sterling--which was an awful charge of mismanagement
or fraud on the part of the Whig Ministers. They further asserted that
the Dutch had made great acquisitions; had extended their trade as well
as their dominion, whilst England had only suffered loss. Anne gave
her sanction to this address by telling the House that she regarded
their address as an additional proof of their affection for her person
and their attention to the interests of the nation; and she ordered
her ambassador at the Hague, the new Earl of Strafford, to inform the
States of these complaints of her Parliament, and to assure them that
they must increase their forces in Flanders, or she must decrease hers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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