perquisite, which had always been enjoyed by the general
of the Dutch army; that the deduction of two and a half per cent, was
granted to him by an express warrant from her majesty; that all the
articles of the charge joined together did not exceed thirty thousand
pounds, a sum much inferior to that which had been allowed to king
William for contingencies; that the money was expended in procuring
intelligence, which was so exact that the duke was never surprised;
that none of his parties were ever intercepted or cut off; and all
the designs were by these means so well concerted, that he never once
miscarried. Notwithstanding these representations, the majority voted
that his practices had been unwarrantable and illegal; and that the
deduction was to be accounted for as public money. These resolutions
were communicated to the queen, who ordered the attorney-general to
prosecute the duke for the money he had deducted by virtue of her own
warrant. Such practices were certainly mean and mercenary, and greatly
tarnished the glory which the duke had acquired by his military talents,
and other shining qualities.

RESOLUTIONS AGAINST THE BARRIER-TREATY AND THE DUTCH.

The commons now directed the stream of their resentment against the
Dutch, who had certainly exerted all their endeavours to overwhelm the
new ministry, and retard the negotiations for peace. They maintained
an intimate correspondence with the whigs of England. They diffused
the most invidious reports against Oxford and secretary St. John. Buys,
their envoy at London, acted the part of an incendiary, in suggesting
violent measures to the malcontents, and caballing against the
government. The ministers, by way of reprisal, influenced the house of
commons to pass some acrimonious resolutions against the states-general.
They alleged that the states had been deficient in their proportion of
troops, both in Spain and in the Netherlands, during the whole course of
the war; and that the queen had paid above three millions of crowns in
subsidies, above what she was obliged to advance by her engagements.
They attacked the barrier-treaty, which had been concluded with the
states by lord Townshend after the conferences at Gertruydenburgh. By
this agreement, England guaranteed a barrier in the Netherlands to the
Dutch; and the states bound themselves to maintain, with their whole
force, the queen's title and the protestant succession. The tories
affirmed that England