第67章 LETTER 8(9)

When Charles the Fifth was at the height of his power,and in the zenith of his glory,when a king of France and a pope were at once his prisoners;it must be allowed,that,his situation and that of his neighbors compared,they had as much at least to fear from him and from the house of Austria,as the neighbors of Louis the Fourteenth had to fear from him and from the house of Bourbon,when,after all his other success,one of his grandchildren was placed on the Spanish throne.And yet among all the conditions of the several leagues against Charles the Fifth,I do not remember that it was ever stipulated,that "no peace should be made with him as long as he continued to be emperor and king of Spain;nor as long as any Austrian prince continued capable of uniting on his head the imperial and Spanish crowns."If your lordship makes the application,you will find that the difference of some circumstances does not hinder this example from being very apposite and strong to the present purpose.Charles the Fifth was emperor and king of Spain;but neither was Louis the Fourteenth king of Spain,nor Philip the Fifth king of France.That had happened in one instance,which it was apprehended might happen in the other.It had happened,and it was reasonably to be apprehended that it might happen again,and that the Imperial and Spanish crowns might continue,not only in the same family,but on the same heads;for measures were taken to secure the succession of both to Philip the son of Charles.We do not find however that any confederacy was formed,any engagement taken,nor any war made,to remove or prevent this great evil.The princes and states of Europe contented themselves to oppose the designs of Charles the Fifth,and to check the growth of his power occasionally,and as interest invited,or necessity forced them to do;not constantly.They did perhaps too little against him,and sometimes too much for him;but if they did too little of one kind,time and accident did the rest.Distinct dominions,and different pretensions,created contrary interests in the house of Austria:and on the abdication of Charles the Fifth,his brother succeeded,not his son,to the empire.The house of Austria divided into a German and a Spanish branch:and if the two branches came to have a mutual influence on one another,and frequently a common interest,it was not till one of them had fallen from grandeur,and till the other was rather aiming at it,than in possession of it.In short,Philip was excluded from the imperial throne by so natural a progression of causes and effects,arising not only in Germany but in his own family,that if a treaty had been made to exclude him from it in favor of Ferdinand,such a treaty might have been said very probably to have executed itself.

The precaution I have mentioned,and that was neglected in this case without any detriment to the common cause of Europe,was not neglected in the grand alliance of one thousand seven hundred and one.For in that,one of the ends proposed by the war is,to obtain an effectual security against the contingent union of the crowns of France and Spain.The will of Charles the Second provides against the same contingency.and this great principle,of preventing too much dominion and power from falling to the lot of either of the families of Bourbon or Austria,seemed to be agreed on all sides;since in the partition-treaty the same precaution was taken against a union of the Imperial and Spanish crowns.King William was enough piqued against France.His ancient prejudices were strong and well founded.He had been worsted in war,overreached in negotiation,and personally affronted by her.England and Holland were sufficiently alarmed and animated,and a party was not wanting even in our island,ready to approve any engagements he would have taken against France and Spain,and in favor of the house of Austria;though we were less concerned,by any national interest,than any other power that took part in the war,either then,or afterwards.But this prince was far from taking a part beyond that which the particular interest of England and Holland,and the general interest of Europe,necessarily required.Pique must have no more a place than affection,in deliberations of this kind.To have engaged to dethrone Philip,out of resentment to Louis the Fourteenth,would have been a resolution worthy of Charles the Twelfth,king of Sweden,who sacrificed his country,his people,and himself at last,to his revenge.To have engaged to conquer the Spanish monarchy for the house of Austria,or to go,in favor of that family,one step beyond those that were necessary to keep this house on a foot of rivalry with the other,would have been,as I have hinted,to act the part of a vassal,not of an ally.The former pawns his state,and ruins his subjects,for the interest of his superior lord,perhaps for his lord's humor,or his passion: the latter goes no further than his own interests carry him;nor makes war for those of another,nor even for his own,if they are remote and contingent,as if he fought pro aris et focis,for his religion,his liberty,and his property.Agreeably to these principles of good policy,we entered into the war that began on the death of Charles the Second:but we soon departed from them,as I shall have occasion to observe in considering the state of things,at this remarkable conjuncture,in a view of strength.