Letters on the Study and Use of History - Paperback

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LETTER VIII. The fame fubject continued from the year one thoufand fix hundred and eighty -eight A Our lordfhip will find, that the objects pro- pofed by the alliance of one thoufand fix hundred and eighty - nine between the emperor and the States, to which England acceded, and which was trre foundation of the whole confederacy then formed, were no lefs than to reftore all things to the terms of the Weftphalian and Pyrenean treaties, by the war; and to preferve them in that ftate, after the war, by a defenfive alliance and guaranty of the fame confederate powers againft France. The particular as well as general meaning of this engagement was plain enough: and if it had not been fo, the fenfe of it would have been fufficiently determined, by that feparate article, in which England and Holland obliged themfelves to aflift the " houfe of Auftria, in taking and keeping " pofieffion of the Spanifh monarchy, whenever " the cafe fhould happen of the death of Charles " the fecond, without lawful heirs. " This engage- ment was double, and thereby relative to the whole political fyftem of Europe, alike affected by the power and pretenfions of France. Hitherto thftpower of France had been alone regarded, and her pretenfions feemed to have been forgot: or to what purpofe fhould they have been remembered, whilft Europe was fo unhappily conftituted, that the ftates, at whofe expenfe fhe increafed her power, and their friends and allies, thought that they did enough upon every occafion if they made fome tolerable compofition with her? They who were not in circumftances to refufe confirming prefent, were little likely to take effectual meafures againft future ufurpations. But now, as the alarm was greater than ever, by the outrages that France had committed, and the intrigues fhe had...