XXVII. The Fortifications and all the Works of the Citadel of Liege, as likewife thofe of the Caftle of Huy, as alfo the Forts and Outworks, fhall be razed, and demolifhed, and never rebuilt or restored. Provided always, that the faid Demolition fhall be made at the Expence of the States of the Country of Liege, to whom the Materials fhall remain, and be fold and tranfported, as they fhall pleafe: The whole, by the Order, and under the Direction of the States General, who fhall to that Purpose fend Perfons capable of having the Direction of the faid Demolition, which fhall be begun to be worked upon immediately after the Signing of the prefent Treaty, and fhall be fininifhed in three Months, or fooner if poffible; and in the mean time the Garrifons of the States General fhall not go out of the faid Places before the Demolition be finished.

XXVIII. And for the further Security and Execu tion of this Treaty, his Britannick Majefty promifes and Engages to confirm it, and be Guaranty to it in all its Points and Articles, as he does accordingly confirm and enter into Guaranty of it, by thefe Prefents.

XXIX. The prefent Treaty fhall be ratified and ap· proved by his Imperial and Catholick Majefty, by his Britannick Majefty, and by the Lords the States General of the United Provinces; and the Letters of Ratification fhall be delivered in the Term of fix Weeks or fooner if poffible, to be computed from the Day of Signing.

In Witnefs whereof, We the Plenipotentiary Minifters of his Imperial and Catholick Majefty, of his Britannick Majefty, and of the Lords the States General, by Virtue of our Full Powers refpectively, have in their Names figned thefe Prefents with our ordinary Sign, and have put thereto the Seals of our Arps.

Done at Antwerp, November 15, 1715.

Signed, L. C. de Konigsegg, W. Cadogan, B. v, Duffen. The Count de Rechteren, Sh. Gock nga, Ad. v. Borfelen at Geldermalfen.

Having in our laft prefented our Readers with a large ABSTRACT of a late excellent Treatife, entituled, A STATE of the NATIONAL DEBT. * We fhall now infert the remaining Part.

In the next Place, the Author takes Notice of the great Advantages which the Writer (he confutes) pretends the Publick received by the Increase of our Debts in one Instance; which was the Subfcription of the Annuities for Terms of Years, in order to make them Redeemable.

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• I Hope (Jays our Author) I fhall be indulged, in a few Obfervations upon this deftrutive Proje; from which we may reap this Advantage, to be warned by ERRORS, that had almost proved FATAL to us, to avoid the like Dangers. There is no better Way of doing this, than to refolve, to make fome • use of our own Understandings, and not blindly to give into any Propofal from an Opinion, that Men, who are at the Head of Societies or Employments, are always the best, or only Judges of the Affairs under their Direction: We ought no doubt to pay a juft and due Deference to them, by willingly and readily receiving any Proposals from them; but it is our Duty to confider, and examine them with the fame • Care and Caution, as if they came from Perfons of lefs Note and Eminence; for a little Obfervation Ancient or Modern Times will tell us, that the great Distinction of one Man above another is fometimes owing to the Corruption of the Heart, and not always to the Clearness of the Head. But nothing is more neceffary, than for us to be upon our Guard, against pretended Confidences, and fecret Motives, to influence us to Actions which our Reafon does not approve; in which the Experience of moft Men, will fatifie them, that they have commonly been deceived and • misled: And if this Hint prevents them from falling into the like Weakneffes, it will abundantly make them • amends for the little Shame fuch Reflections may give • them.

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*Conclufion of the STATE of the NATIONAL DEBT, &r.

There are few Things fo intricate in Bufinefs, but a little Attention will enable us to judge of them; and they, who are often thought to understand them beft, are sometimes most mistaken. There cannot, be a plainer Inftance of this, than in the prevailing Opinion, which was the great Temptation to the • South Sea Scheme; That it was in vain to think of any Reduction, unless the Annuities could be made Redeemable. But has not Experience fhewn us, that the Publick had no more Reafon to be afraid of their advanced Price at Market, than at the Rife of the Value of Land, in which no Body is concerned but the Buyer and Seller? For the Publick could pay no more than the certain Annuities. As to the Point of Credit, That would, and hath an Influence upon them, in raifing and falling their Value in Proportion to other Things: But the Annuities would have had little or no Effect upon the Credit in general, and in all probability much lefs than they have now, by their being changed from the fettled Estates they generally were; and this I believe would be found true, if they were now all unfubfcribed. This Miftake would, however, have been of lefs Confequence, if it had not drawn on another more mischievous, which was, that all Arts were fet on foot, and encouraged to engage the Proprietors of thefe Annuities to fubfcribe them, by magnifying imaginary Benefits, inftead of providing fuch as had a real and folid Foundation; by which only Juftice could have been done to the Subfcribers, ' and the Publick, who were to receive no less than a Sum of feven Millions, for a Liberty to the Proprietors of the publick Debts, to unite themselves into one Body. But may we not now ask, out of what was this great Sum to be raifed, unless the Subfcribers • Properties? For bateing the Affiento Contract, and the Fishery, I never heard of any Advantages they were to have, but the Profits of a Colony abroad, which may be truly called an Estate in Terra incognita; and this afterwards refufed them: and thefe Grants were to enable them to pay feven Millions, and an Inrereft to the Proprietors equivalent to the advanced Price of • the

the Stock. This fhews us that the Cafe would have been very little altered, if the Bank had fucceeded in this great Struggle. For can any Man think, that a little extending of their Credit in Loans, and Dif counting Bills of Exchange, &c. would have enabled them to have paid five Millions, and an Intereft to their Proprietors in Proportion to the advanced Price of their increafed Capital? By this we may likewife learn, that the Oppofition to the South Sea, in favour of the Bank, was not quite fo meritorious as it has been thought; for the encouraging the Contentions between the two Companies, for Reasons that are no Se crets, was no fmall Caufe of the Madnefs, which followed from an Opinion of the unerring Wifdom and Prudence of one of thefe Bodies. And the Propo fers and Encouragers of thefe Chimerical Schemes were thought to be Men of great Knowledge and Understan ding in thefe Things. I am not fo uncharitable, as to diftrust that the great Motive to this Defign was the Hopes of gaining a confiderable Sum, towards the Discharge of the National Debt; for furely there is no Minifter, but must wifh and have a Pleasure to fee it decreased under his Adminiftration; and it is no Reflection to fay, there was fome Profpect of Advantage to the Contrivers and Managers of it; for no Man is fo foolish as to grudge any Ministry a just Share in the Benefit of Things, that are propofed and conducted by them for the Good of the • Publick.

And fomething of this Kind might have been • made very beneficial to the Kingdom, if too much Regard had not been fhewn to a cunning, defigning Money-Jobber (who, I have been affured, ftole the Projet from another, and then fpoiled it by his Alterati⚫ons) from a common mistaken Opinion, that becaufe • fuch Men are converfant and acquainted with the • Tricks of Stock jobbing, and the Low ARTS of USÚRY, and have poffibly been found ufeful in that Way,that they are therefore proper Judges of all Affairs relating to Money But thefe Men's Notions of Things feldom reach beyond their own narrow Experience and Practice, without the neceffary Principles of general Knowledge

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Knowledge to direct their Reafonings, which are ufually biaffed with little Views of their own Gain. It is not therefore to be wondered at, that they should · mislead all those who trust them in Points of a National Concern; in which they are generally miferably ignorant: For it is not natural to fuppofe, that the Di rectors themselves forefaw that Deluge of Mifery and Mifchief, which they were bringing upon the King. dom; and, in Confequence of it, their own Ruin: but it was boundlefs Avarice, with Ignorance and Inability to conduct an Affair fo much above their Capacity, that led them into the monstrous Measures they pursued; and for which the Managers could not be too much punifhed, becaufe of the NUMBERLESS VILLANIES which they committed in the Execution of this Projet: And this was followed with a Proceeding, the fad Effects whereof many unhappy Families, have long felt. I have but very lately met with the Particulars in Print; which whoever reads will find as extraordinary as any Part of the Proceedings upon this deluftve Scheme: I mean the TREATY between the two Companies, for the mutual Support of each other; which appears to have been carried on with the greatest Deliberation, and concluded in the most Solemn Manner, before Witneffes of great Rank and Figure, and the AGREEMENT then Authentically published.

I fhall only fay upon it, that as Faith and Jaftice are the only Bonds of human Society, and the Foundation of all Government, and I have never yet met with any Reafons for the Violations of them, for any publick "Good, or Conveniency, Ifhould be glad to be informed, in what Cafes our Modern Politicks make this allowable and neceffary; that we may be upon our Guard when to expect them?

After this fhort View of this unhappy Project, and the Calamities attending it; It will not be unacceptable to the Reader, to fee what the Condition of the Publick would have been at this Time, in regard to the Nati ⚫onal Debt, in cafe no other measures had been pursued, but a ftrict Application of the Fu ds appropriated by • Parliament for the paying thefe Debt, with the Addio