le
Her Majesty was pressing the former to agree to a general treaty, the
Abbe Gaultier was sent to France with a memorial, to desire that the
Most Christian King would explain himself upon those preliminaries,
particularly with relation to Savoy and Holland, whose satisfaction the
Queen had most at heart, as well from her friendship to both these
powers, as because, if she might engage to them that their just
pretensions would be allowed, few difficulties would remain, of any
moment, to retard the general peace.

The French answer to this memorial contained several schemes and
proposals for the satisfaction of each ally, coming up very near to what
Her Majesty and her ministers thought reasonable. The greatest
difficulties seemed to be about the Elector of Bavaria, for whose
interests France appeared to be as much concerned, as the Queen was for
those of the Duke of Savoy: however, those were judged not very hard to
be surmounted.

The States having at length agreed to a general treaty, the following
particulars were concerted between Her Majesty and that republic:

"That the congress should be held at Utrecht.

"That the opening of the congress should be upon the twelfth of January,
N.S. one thousand seven hundred and eleven-twelve.

"That, for avoiding all inconveniences of ceremony, the ministers of the
Queen and States, during the treaty, should only have the characters of
plenipotentiaries, and not take that of ambassadors, till the day on
which the peace should be signed.

"Lastly, The Queen and States insisted, that the ministers of the Duke
of Anjou, and the late Electors of Bavaria and Cologne, should not
appear at the congress, until the points relating to their masters were
adjusted; and were firmly resolved not to send their passports for the
ministers of France, till the Most Christian King declared, that the
absence of the forementioned ministers should not delay the progress of
the negotiation."

Pursuant to the three former articles, Her Majesty wrote circular
letters to all the allies engaged with her in the present war: and
France had notice, that as soon as the King declared his compliance with
the last article, the blank passports should be filled up with the names
of the Marechal d'Uxelles,[9] the Abbe de Polignac, and Mons. Mesnager,
who were appointed plenipotentiaries for that crown.

[Footnote 9: In his "Letter to Sir William Windham," Bolingbroke thus
refers to M. d'Uxelles: "The mini