XV. 1729. the Parliament. Scarcely had he taken the seals, CHAP. when he received an application from the Court of Madrid, stating, in confidence, their difficulty with their own subjects, the peace being deemed in Spain highly dishonourable unless it included Gibraltar. They therefore requested, as an ostensible vindication of the treaty, a letter from King George, containing a promise of restoring the fortress some time hereafter. By advice of the two secretaries, Townshend and Carteret, such a letter was written by the King on the 29th of April, assuring His Catholic Majesty "of my readiness to satisfy you "with regard to the restitution of Gibraltar, upon "the footing of an equivalent, promising you to "make use of the first favourable opportunity to re gulate this article with consent of my parliament." But when William Stanhope delivered this letter to the King and Queen of Spain at Aranjuez, they made so many cavils and objections to the word EQUIVALENT, which, they said, would render the letter useless*, that, at their solicitation, George the First consented to write another letter on the 1st of June, omitting the clause in question.† It was the conviction of the Ministers that the letter, even thus mutilated, left the affair entirely to the discretion of Parliament, who might refuse the William Stanhope to Lord Carteret, May 29. 1721, N.S. Hardwicke Papers. + See this letter in the original French. Commons' Journals, vol. xxi. p. 285. CHAP. cession altogether, or demand any equivalent they pleased. XV. 1729. Philip, however, considered, or affected to consider, the promise as unconditional; and it was always thus represented in his negotiations. Nevertheless there seems reason to believe, that if the English Parliament could have been brought to approve the cession upon the footing of an equivalent, Philip would soon have consented to yield the latter. In January, 1722, William Stanhope writes from Madrid: -"It is very unfortunate that our "hands are tied as to Gibraltar, so as not to take "advantage of this immoderate desire the King of Spain has to obtain it; for were it otherwise, "notwithstanding the pretended promise of it, I "am fully persuaded we might yet sell it for "double its worth in advantages to our com"merce." * At Cambray, numerous petty obstacles delayed the opening, and blighted the hopes, of the Congress. At Madrid the negotiations for Gibraltar continued to drag on with the usual slow pace of Spaniards, who, as they say themselves, are born doing business, pass their life in doing business, and die without having done any!t Yet * To Sir Luke Schaub. Coxe's House of Bourbon, vol. iii. p. 22. +"Nacimos arreglando, vivemos arreglando, y por fin mo"riremos sin haber arreglado nada." See Mr. Slidell's Spain Revisited, vol. ii. p. 330. XV. 1729. Philip did not relinquish his pursuit. To gain this CHA P. darling object was one of his motives for rushing so eagerly into the Vienna alliance, and he then peremptorily told William Stanhope, that the immediate restitution of Gibraltar was the only means to prevent a war. Stanhope answered, that at all events it could not be done without Parliament, which was not then sitting. "No!" exclaimed the Queen, who was present: "Why then let the King, your master, return from Germany and "call a Parliament expressly for that purpose. "The matter once fairly proposed would not meet "with one negative in either House. Let this "short argument be once made use of; either give up Gibraltar, or your trade to the Indies "and Spain, and the matter, I will answer for it, "would not admit of a moment's debate!"* Unhappily, however, the two Houses, not having the benefit of hearing this Royal reasoning, were not convinced by it; and Philip, finding his threats as unsuccessful as his entreaties had been before, at length laid siege to the fortress, as I have already mentioned, in 1727. The siege failed, and he signed the preliminaries at the Pardo; but still in discussing a definitive treaty, continued to claim the former promise, and to urge the expected cession. The views of the English Cabinet at this period * William Stanhope to Lord Townshend, August 6. 1725. Coxe's Walpole. XV. CHAP. were still the same anxious to pacify the Spaniards, but afraid to lose their popularity at 1729. home. In 1728 we find a letter from Mr. Poyntz 66 66 to his patron, Lord Townshend, observing that "after we carry the point of Gibraltar the Spaniards " will leave no stone unturned to hurt our com"merce and to distress us into compliance;" and that the Catholic King and all true Spaniards "are animated against us by this single consider"ation." Townshend, in answer, declares, "What you propose in relation to Gibraltar is, certainly, very reasonable, and is exactly conformable to "the opinion which you know I have always en"tertained concerning that place. But you can"not but be sensible of the violent and almost "superstitious zeal which has of late prevailed 66 among all parties in this kingdom, against any "scheme for the restitution of Gibraltar, upon 66 any conditions whatsoever; and I am afraid "that the bare mention of a proposal which carried "the most distant appearance of laying England "under an obligation of ever parting with that "place would be sufficient to put the whole na"tion in a flame."* Townshend had, indeed, good reason for his fear of parliamentary or popular resistance. From the Spanish complaints the Opposition had obtained a clue to the letter of George the First, in 1721; and * Mr. Poyntz to Lord Townshend, June 9. 1728. Lord Townshend to Mr. Poyntz, June 14. 1728. XV. 1729. they now raised an outcry on two grounds; first, CHAP. that there should be any idea of ceding the fortress at all—and, secondly, because, as they alleged, the ministry had disgraced the King and nation by breaking a solemn promise, however wrongly made, from whence they inferred that the war was unjust on the part of England, and that Philip was merely claiming his due. A motion to produce King George's letter was brought forward by Mr. Sandys, in February, 1727, warmly supported by Wyndham and Pulteney. Walpole replied that such a promise had, indeed, been made in a former administration, but that he could assure the House it was only a conditional promise, and void by the refusal of Spain to comply with the terms required; and that as to producing the King's letter, he held that the private letters of Princes were almost as sacred as their very persons. The motion was rejected by a large majority. In 1729, however, the onset was renewed in the other House. No resistance was then made by the Ministers to produce the Royal letter, probably because it had already been published abroad. This document being laid upon the table, the Opposition, in order to thwart the Government and perplex the negotiations as much as possible, moved, "That effectual care be taken in any treaty that the King of Spain do renounce all "claim to Gibraltar and Minorca, in plain and strong terms." But a large majority decided for a counter-resolution: "That the House relies upon 66 66 |