cations were falling to decay, and the garrisons defective; and that the fhameful manner in which they were loft by the Dutch, in the war of 1741, was a fufficient evidence of their incapacity to maintain and defend the barrier. But that, inde pendent of all complaints with refpect to the discharge of their truft, the circumstances of things, and the ftate of affairs on all fides, were now fo entirely altered, that none of the caufes or motives, which originally operated to the establishment of the barrier, were any longer in exiftence. That France, instead of being the common enemy, as then, was now the common friend of both parties; that her ambition was no longer dangerous, and if it were, was directed to other objects; that the emperor and the were mutually bound, in the ftricteft and deareft ties of alliance, friendship, and blood; and, even admitting the poffibility of any change in this ftate of connections, his territories would at all times be an effectual barrier to Holland, and would afford much greater fecurity to them by being in his hands than in their own.

Much was, however, to be faid. on the other fide. The immense expence, in blood and in treasure, which Holland, through a long course of fucceffive wars, had endured, for the attainment, the eftablishment, and the prefervation of this very barrier, was known to all the world. Nor was it to be for gotten, that the emperor owed to the extraordinary exertions of Great Britain and Holland his now holding any territory or poffeffion what ever in the Low Countries. That they bad the principal fhare through a long war, and a series of the most glorious fucceffes, in wrefting by

piece-meal from the house of Bourbon, these provinces, thick fown as they then were with the strongest fortreffes in the world, and defended by thofe numerous and veteran armies which had fo long been the terror of Europe. That as they were the great leaders in the war, fo they compelled France and Spain, by the peace, to fubmit to the transfer of the Netherlands to the German line of the house of Auftria; and had fince been the means of fecuring and preserving them to that family. That the settlement of the barrier was the only return to Holland for all these fervices, and for the immenfe expences the had been at, not only in that part of the war, but in her arduous endeavours to place the ancestor of the present emperor upon the throne of Spain. That the proposed measure, besides being a direct breach of treaty, and violation of faith, would be a fhameful dereliction of every fense of paft fervice and obligation; and that the feafon chofen for its accomplishment, under the present embarraffed and depreff d itate of the republic, would render it fill more difgraceful.

Much more might have been faid; but arguments are of little avail, and treaties weak obligations, any longer than the equal ftrength, or mutual convenience of the parties, fhall give weight to the one, or validity to the other. Great Britain, the guardian of the barrier, was now (unfortunately to both) an enemy to Holland.

As an opening to this defign, the emperor had, in the beginning of the year 1781, and fome months before he fet out on his tour, peremptorily dem anded from the States General precife accounts of the

revenues

Spect to the means of carrying on their trade, which they had never experienced in any other war. Foreign veffels were used for the conveyance of their goods; and the protection of foreign flags, for the firft time, fought by Englishmen. In a word, no fhift that ingenuity could hit upon was left untried, in order to evade the peril of the feas.

From the operation of all these caufes, Oftend became a general mart to all the neutral, as well as the belligerent states; and such an influx of trade was carried into that city and port, that it arrived, even early in the war, at a degree of opulence and commercial importance, which it never before enjoyed, or was expected to attain. The imperial flag, fo little thought of before among maritime nations, was now confpicuous in every part of the world, and the feas covered with fhips under its protection; thus giving an example, how great power on land might command refpect at fea, without any naval force for its fupport. Independent of the foreigners who had benefited by this protection, the fhipping 'really imperial became numerons in a degree, that could before have been little expected: one mercantile houfe was faid to have fixty fhips at fea. The fpirit of commercial adventure spread with the utmost rapidity through every part of the Auftrian Netherlands. The defire and hope of acquiring great and fudden wealth, feemed to operate more or lefs upon every body. Even the city of Bruffels, notwithflandi g the habitual eafe and love of pleafure incident to its fituation, and the long refidence of a court, could not escape the infection; and many of its inhabitants, who had never

before engaged in, or thought of commerce or trade of any kind, now laid out all their ready money in the building of fhips It is not then to be wondered at, that the citizens of Antwerp fhould look back with a figh to their former commercial opulence and fplendour; or that they fhould even form hopes of being able, in fome degree, to recover them. Indeed, the fpirit now excited was fo prevalent, that the ftates of the Netherlands prefent d a memorial to the emperor, requesting that he would take measures for the opening and re-establishment of that port.

In the mean time, the growing opulence of Oftend exceeded all belief.. The limits of the city became too narrow for its inhabitants, and the buildings were not fufficient to cover the immenfe quantities of merchandize, of which it was become the temporary depofitory.Commercial adventurers and fpeculators were continually arriving from different countries, to partake of benefits fo unexpectedly held out. The rage for building ran high, while there was any ground left to build on. In this tide of good fortune,the fingular circumftan es that produced it were not much confidered; and it seemed to be forgotten, that as the caufe was tranfitory, the effect was not very likely to be permanent.

It was little to be fuppofed, that fo novel and pleating a state of things could have efcaped the notice of the emperor; who, inde. pendent of thefe circumftances, was known to entertain fuch an eager defire for maritime and foreign commerce (ill calculated, tho' his dominions were for that purpose) as feemed to carry more the appear

ance

ance of a paffion, than even of a firong predilection.

Upon his arrival at Oftend, in the beginning of June 1781, this prince fhewed every mark of the greateft poffible attention to the people and place, and every degree of favour and regard to the merchants. He fummoned a committee of thofe who were esteemed among the principal, and the best informed of the latter. Of these were fome English gentlemen of high confideration for their mercantile knowledge and abilities; and after holding a conference with them, he defired their feparate opinions in writing, as to the best means which could be devifed and adopted for the improvement, enlargement, and benefit of commerce, not only with respect to that port in particular, but to the Low Countries in general.

Every moment of the emperor's fhort refidence at Oftend was diftinguifhed by particular favours and benefits; nor were thefe difcontinued during his stay in the Netherlands. He declared their port to be free: and in order to fupply the defect of nature, by enlarging their accommodation for fhipping, he gave directions for the conftruction of a confiderable bafon, at his own ex-. pence. To render these favours more complete, and to gratify the wants or wishes of the inhabitants in every respect, as the fituation of Oftend, in a deep morafs, cramped them no lefs on the land fide for room to answer the purposes of building, than they were on the other, through the narrownefs of their harbour, for thofe of trade,

the

emperor determined to obviate that difficulty likewife. He accordingly granted them liberty to cover the old ramparts and works

of the town with buildings; which afforded an enlargement fufficient · at leaft to fupply their prefent wants.-At the fame time, his encouragement to foreign fettlers, in the commercial line, was highly munificent and liberal. He allow-" ed the free exercife of their religion, and places of public worship to the proteftants of all denominations at Oftend. He invited people of all countries and perfuafions thither to fettle, to erect warehouses, and to carry on merchandize. He granted them the land on which they built in perpetuity, fubje& only to a nominal fmall rent, as an acknowledgment that it was held from him. The erection of feveral new ftreets, and à fquare, was accordingly carried on with great rapidity; the hurry of building interfered with that of commerce, and crowds of people thronged in from every quarter.

Short though the ftay was which this prince made in the Low Countries, it was fufficient to excite the admiration, and, in the higheft degree, to acquire the affection of his fubjects. The free audience, without ftate, difficulty in the approach, guards, or witneffes, which he afforded to all manner of perfons who defired it, gained equally the hearts of thofe who applied, and of all who heard of their reception; while the patience with which he heard, examined, and fifted into, their often tedious complaints and involved relations, was no less aftonishing than his affability was captivating to the people.

It did not efcape obfervation, either in Holland or Flanders, that when this prince was at Antwerp, he went down the Schelde in a boat, as far as to the first of thofe Dutch

forts,

forts, which have been erected to guard the paffage, and to fecure to the ftates the exclufive navigation of that river; that he had the depth of the channel taken in feveral places; and that he strictly examined all thofe obftructions of art and nature which tended to impede its navigation, and to thut up the port of that city. From thence he paffed into Holland, and, among other places, particularly vifited Rotterdam.

An opinion had for fome time prevailed, with feveral perfons in England, that means might have been fuccessfully used for renewing the ancient ties of friendship with the house of Auftria, and for drawing this prince into fuch a fyftematic league of alliance (founded as well upon general political principles, as upon inmediate and mutual interefts, and calculated to extend to future contingencies) as might be fufficient effectually to countera& that moft dangerous combination of the houfe of Bourbon, fupported by Holland and America; which, though confined in its dire& object to the ruin or total annihilation of the British empire, would, if (uccessful in that, prove no less dangerous to the rest of Europe.The near approach of the emperor, at this time, to England, along with the particular favour which he fhewed to the English, induced the warm partizans of this notion to imagine, that it was among the principal objects of his journey. But when the duke of Gloucefter was feen to depart fuddenly for Oftend, in order to vifit this prince, that, and the long conference which took place between them at Bruges, occafioned numbers, who had paid but little r gard to the or ginal opinion, to imagine, that fomething

of the fort was now really in agitation. The event, however, did not juftify any of thefe expectations; and, as no fruits of the conference have appeared, and that the duke of Gloucester returned immediately afterwards to England, it may well be fuppofed that the meeting between these princes was merely a matter of perfonal attention and courtesy. It was, indeed, not the leaft among the many heavy miffortunes which, thro' that period, hung fo heavily over England, that her government, whether it proceeded from an overweening confidence in native ftrength, or from whatever other fatal error of policy, feemed for feveral years to have totally turned its back upon the rest of Europe; and, lofing the due national weight and influence in the general political fyftem, most unaccountably neglected all ufeful continental friendships, connections and alliances.

The emperor did not return to Vienna until about the middle of Auguft, 1781. He foon after refured his ecclefiaftical reforms; but as that year and the following were likewife the great feafon for civil regulation, we fhall, before we enter upon that fubje&t, bring together, in one point of view, fuch of those measures as tended moft to the benefit of different claffes, orders, or communi ies of the people, or were remarkable for their liberality and munificence.

Of thefe, the firft in order of time, as well as in importance, was the toleration granted to the protestants. A general outline of the nature and extent of this plan, with a promife of its being fpeedily perfected and promulgated, was pub. lifhed, by authority, in the Vienna

papers,