favour with the emperor, and empowered to make such proposals from his master, as the ministry durst not reject. It appeared by an intercepted letter from count Gallas, (formerly the emperor's envoy here) that the prince was wholly left to his liberty, of making what offers he pleased in the emperor's name; for, if the parliament could once be brought to raise funds, and the war go on, the ministry here must be under a necessity of applying, and expending those funds; and the emperor could find afterwards twenty reasons and excuses, as he had hitherto done, for not furnishing his quota. Therefore prince Eugene, for some time, kept himself within generals; until, beng pressed to explain himself upon that particular of the war in Spain, which the house of Austria pretended to have most at heart, he made the offer abovementioned, as a most extraordinary effort; and so it was, considering how little they had ever done before, towards recovering that monarchy to themselves: but, shameful as these proposals were, few believed the emperor would observe them; or, indeed, that he ever intended to spare so many men, as would make up an army of thirty thousand men to be employed in Spain.
Prince Eugene's[1] visit to his friends in England, continued longer than was expected. He was every
- ↑ "Prince Eugene's character was so justly high, that all people for some weeks pressed about the places where he was to be seen, to look on him; I had the honour to be admitted, at several times, to much discourse with him. His character is so universally known, that I will say nothing of him but from what appeared to myself. He has a most unaffected modesty, and does scarcely bear the acknowledgments that all the world pay him. He descends to an easy equality with those with whom he converses; and
" seems
