VIOLENT OPPOSITION TO THE MINISTRY.

The duke of Hamilton presented a resolve, that the parliament would not name a successor to the crown, until the Scots should have concluded a previous treaty with England in relation to commerce and other concerns. This motion produced a warm debate, in the course of which Fletcher of Saltoun expatiated upon the hardships and miseries which the Scots had sustained since the union of the two crowns under one sovereign, and the impossibility of bettering their condition, unless they should take care to anticipate any design that tended to a continuation of the same calamities. Another resolve was produced by the earl of Rothes, importing, that the parliament should proceed to make such limitations and conditions of the government as might be judged proper for rectifying the constitution—for vindicating and securing the sovereignty and independency of the nation; and that then parliament would take into consideration the other resolve offered by the duke of Hamilton, for a treaty previous to the nomination of a successor. This proposal was seconded by the court party, and violent heats ensued. At length sir James Falconer of Phesdo offered an expedient, which neither party could refuse with any show of moderation. He suggested a resolve, that the parliament would not proceed to the nomination of a successor until the previous treaty with England should be discussed; and that it would make the necessary limitations and conditions of government before the successor should be nominated. This joint resolve being put to the vote, was carried by a great majority. The treaty with England was neglected, and the affair of the succession consequently postponed. The duke of Athol moved, that her majesty should be desired to send down the witnesses and all the papers relating to the conspiracy, that, after due examination, those who were unjustly accused might be vindicated, and the guilty punished according to their demerits. The commissioner declared, that he had already written, and would write again to the queen on that subject. The intention of the cavaliers was to convict the duke of Queensberry of malice and calumny in the prosecution of that affair, that they might wreak their vengeance upon him for that instance of his animosity, as well as for his having deserted them in the former session. He found means however to persuade the queen, that such an inquiry would not only protract the session, but also divert them from the settlement of the succession, and raise such a ferment as might be productive of tragical consequences. Alarmed at these suggestions, she resolved to prevent the examination, and gave no answer to the repeated applications made by her parliament and ministers. Meanwhile the duke of Queensberry appeased his enemies in Scotland, by directing all his friends to join in the opposition.



THEY PASS THE ACT OF SECURITY.

The duke of Hamilton again moved, that the parliament should proceed to the limitations, and name commissioners to treat with England previous to all other business, except an act for a land tax of two months necessary for the immediate subsistence of the forces. The earl of Marchmont proposed an act to exclude all popish successors; but this was warmly opposed, as unseasonable, by Hamilton and his party, A bill of supply being offered by the lord justice Clerk, the cavaliers tacked to it great part of the act of security, to which the royal assent had been refused in the former session. Violent debates arose; so that the house was filled with rage and tumult. The national spirit of independence had been wrought up to a dangerous pitch of enthusiasm. The streets were crowded with people of all ranks, exclaiming against English influence, and threatening to sacrifice as traitors to their country all who should embrace measures that seemed to favour a foreign interest. The commissioner and his friends were confounded and appalled. Finding it impossible to stem the torrent, he, with the concurrence of the other ministers, wrote a letter to the queen, representing the uncomfortable situation of affairs, and advising her majesty to pass the bill encumbered as it was with the act of security. Lord Godolphin, on whose council she chiefly relied, found himself involved in great perplexity. The tories had devoted him to destruction. He foresaw that the queen's concession to the Scots in an affair of such consequence, would furnish his enemies with a plausible pretence to arraign the conduct of her minister; but he chose to run that risk rather than see the army disbanded for want of a supply, and the kingdom left exposed to an invasion. He therefore seconded the advice of the Scottish ministers; and the queen authorized the commissioner to pass the bill that was depending. The act provided, that in case of the queen's dying without issue a parliament should immediately meet and declare the successor to the crown, different from the person possessing the throne of England, unless before that period a settlement should be made in parliament of the rights and liberties of the nation, independent of English councils; by another clause they were empowered to arm and train the subjects, so as to put them in a posture of defence. The Scottish parliament having, by a laudable exertion of spirit, obtained this act of security, granted the supply without further hesitation; but not yet satisfied with this sacrifice, they engaged in debates about the conspiracy, and the proceedings of the house of lords in England, which they termed an officious intermeddling in their concerns, and an encroachment upon the sovereignty and independency of the nation, They drew up an address to the queen, desiring that the evidence and papers relating to the plot might be subjected to their examination in the next session. Meanwhile, the commissioner, dreading the further progress of such an ungovernable ferocity, prorogued the parliament to the seventh day of October. The act of security being transmitted to England, copies of it were circulated by the enemies of Godolphin, who represented it as a measure of that minister; and the kingdom was filled with murmurs and discontent. People openly declared, that the two kingdoms were now separated by law so as never to be rejoined. Reports were spread that great quantities of arms had been conveyed to Scotland, and that the natives were employed in preparations to invade England. All the blame of these transactions was imputed to lord Godolphin, whom the tories determined to attack, while the other party resolved to exert their whole influence for his preservation; yet, in all probability, he owed his immediate support to the success of his friend the duke of Marlborough.



SITUATION OF THE EMPEROR'S AFFAIRS.

Nothing could be more deplorable than the situation to which the emperor was reduced in the beginning of the season. The malcontents in Hungary had rendered themselves formidable by their success; the elector of Bavaria possessed all the places on the Danube as far as Passau, and even threatened the city of Vienna, which must have been infallibly lost, had the Hungarians and Bavarians acted in concert. By the advice of prince Eugene, the emperor implored the assistance of her Britannic majesty; and the duke of Marlborough explained to her the necessity of undertaking his relief. This nobleman in the month of January had crossed the sea to Holland, and concerted a scheme with the deputies of the states-general for the operations of the ensuing campaign. They agreed that general Averquerque should lie upon the defensive with a small body of troops in the Netherlands, while the main army of the allies should act upon the Rhine, under the command of the duke of Marlborough. Such was the pretext under which this consummate general concealed another plan, which was communicated to a few only in whose discretion he could confide. It was approved by the pensionary and some leading men, who secured its favourable reception with the states-general when it became necessary to impart the secret to that numerous assembly. In the meantime, the preparations were made on pretence of carrying the war to the banks of the Moselle.



MARLBOROUGH MARCHES WITH THE ALLIED ARMY INTO GERMANY.

In the month of April, the duke, accompanied by his brother general Churchill, lieutentant-general Lumley, the earl of Orkney, and other officers of distinction, embarked for Holland, where he had a long conference with a deputation of the states concerning a proposal of sending a large army towards the Moselle. The deputies of Zealand opposed this measure of sending their troops to stich a distance so strenuously, that the duke was obliged to tell them in plain terms he had received orders to march thither with the British forces. He accordingly assembled his army at Maestricht, and on the eight day of May began his march into Germany. The French imagined his intention was to begin the campaign with the siege of Traerbach, and penetrate into France along the Moselle. In this persuasion they sent a detachment to that river, and gave out that they intended to invest Huy, a pretence to which the duke paid no regard. He continued his route by Bedburgh, Kerpenord, Kalsecken; he visited the fortifications of Bonne, where he received certain advice that the recruits and reinforcements for the French army in Bavaria had joined the elector at Villigen. He redoubled his diligence, passed the Neckar on the third of June, and halted at Ladenburgh; from thence he wrote a letter to the states-general, giving them to understand that he had the queen's orders to march to the relief of the empire, and expressing his hope that they would approve the design, and allow their troops to share the honour of the expedition By the return of a courier he received their approbation, and full power to command their forces He then proceeded to Mildenheim, where he was visited by prince Eugene; and these two great men, whose talents were congenial, immediately contracted an intimacy of friendship, Next day prince Louis of Baden arrived in the camp at Great Hippach, He told the duke, his grace was come to save the empire, and to give him an opportunity of vindicating his honour, which he knew was at the last stake in the opinion of some people. The duke replied he was come to learn of him how to serve the empire: that they must be ignorant indeed who did not know that the prince of Baden, when his health permitted him, had preserved the empire and extended its conquests.

Those three celebrated generals agreed that the two armies should join, that the command should be alternately vested in the duke and prince Louis from day to day, and that prince Eugene should command a separate army on the Rhine, Prince Louis returned to his army on the Danube, prince Eugene set out for Philipsburgh; the duke of Marlborough being joined by the imperial army under prince Louis of Baden at Wastertellen, prosecuted his march by Elchingen, Gingen, and Landthaussen. On the first day of July he was in sight of the enemy's entrenchments at Dillingen, and encamped with his right at Amerdighem, and his left at Onderin-gen. Understanding that the elector of Bavaria had detached the best part of his infantry to reinforce the count D'Arco, who was posted behind strong lines at Schellenberg near Donawert, he resolved to attack their entrenchments without delay On the second day of July he advanced towards the enemy, and passed the river Wermitz; about five o'clock in the afternoon the attack was begun by the English and Dutch infantry, supported by the horse and dragoons. They were very severely handled, and even obliged to give way, when prince Louis of Baden marching up at the head of the imperialists to another part of the line, made a diversion in their favour. After an obstinate resistance they forced the entrenchments, and the horse entering with the infantry, fell so furiously upon the enemy, already disordered, that they were routed with great slaughter. They fled with the utmost trepidation to Donawert and the Danube, leaving six thousand men dead on the field of battle, The confederates took sixteen pieces of cannon, thirteen pairs of colours, with all the tents and baggage. Yet the victory was dearly purchased; some thousands of the allies were slain in the attack, including many gallant officers, among whom were the generals Goor and Beinheim, and count Stirum was mortally wounded. Next day the Bavarian garrison abandoned Donawert, of which the confederates took immediate possession, while the elector passed the Danube in his march to the river Leche, lest the victors should cut off his retreat to his own country. The confederates having crossed the Danube on several bridges of pontoons, a detachment was sent to pass the Leche, and take post in the country of the elector, who had retired under the cannon of Augsburgh. The garrison of Neuburgh retiring to Ingoldstadt, the place was secured by the confederates, and the count de Frize was detached with nine battalions and fifteen squadrons to invest the town of Rain. Advice arriving from prince Eugene that the mareschals Villeroy and Tallard had passed the Rhine at Fort Kehl, with an army of five-and-forty thousand men, to succour the elector of Bavaria, the generals of the allies immediately detached prince Maximilian of Hanover with thirty squadrons of horse as a reinforcement to the prince. In a few days Rain surrendered, and Aicha was taken by assault. The emperor no sooner received a confirmation of the victory of Schellenberg, than he wrote a letter of acknowledgment to the duke of Marlborough, and ordered count Wratislau to intimate his intention of investing him with the title of prince of the empire, which the duke declined accepting until the queen interposed her authority at the desire of Leopold.

{ANNE, 1701—1714}



FRUITLESS NEGOTIATION WITH THE ELECTOR.

The allies advanced within a league of Augsburgh, and though they found the elector of Bavaria too securely posted under the cannon of that city to be dislodged or attacked with any prospect of success, they encamped with Friedburgh in the centre, so as to cut off all communication between him and his dominions. The duke of Marlborough having reduced him to this situation, proposed very advantageous terms of peace, provided he would abandon the French interest, and join the imperialists in Italy. His subjects seeing themselves at the mercy of the allies, pressed him to comply with these offers rather than expose his country to ruin and desolation. A negotiation was begun, and he seemed ready to sign the articles, when hearing that mareschal Tallard had passed the Black Forest to join him with a great body of forces, he declared that since the king of France had made such powerful efforts to support him, he thought himself obliged in honour to continue firm in his alliance. The generals of the allies were so exasperated at this disappointment, that they sent out detachments to ravage the country of Bavaria as far as Munich: upwards of three hundred towns, villages, and castles were inhumanly destroyed, to the indelible disgrace of those who countenanced and conducted such barbarbous practices. The elector, shocked at these brutal proceedings, desired, in a letter to the duke of Marlborough, that a stop might be put to acts of violence so opposite to true glory. The answer he received implied, that it was in his own power to put an end to them by a speedy accommodation. Incensed at this reply, he declared that since they had obliged him to draw the sword, he would throw away the scabbard. The duke and prince Louis finding it impracticable to attack the elector in his strong camp, resolved to undertake the siege of Ingoldstadt, and for that purpose passed the Paer near the town of Schrobbenhausen, where they encamped, with their left at Closterburgh. On the fifth day of August the elector of Bavaria marched to Biberach, where he was joined by Tallard. He resolved to pass the Danube at Lawingen to attack prince Eugene, who had followed the French army from the lines of Bichi, and lay encamped at Hochstadt. Next day, however, he made a motion that disappointed the enemy. Nevertheless, they persisted in their design of passing the Danube and encamping at Blenheim. The allies resolved that prince Louis should undertake the siege of Ingoldstadt, whilst prince Eugene and the duke should observe the elector of Bavaria. Advice being received that he had actually crossed the Danube at Lawingen, the duke of Marlborough joined the forces of prince Eugene at the camp of Munster on the eleventh day of August, prince Louis having by this time marched off towards the place he intended to besiege. Next day the duke of Marlborough and prince Eugene observed the posture of the enemy, who were advantageously posted on a hill near Hochstadt, their right being covered by the Danube and the village of Blenheim, their left by the village of Lutzengen, and their front by a rivulet, the banks of which were steep, and the bottom marshy.



THE CONFEDERATES OBTAIN A COMPLETE VICTORY AT HOCHSTADT.

Notwithstanding these difficulties, the generals resolved to attack them immediately, rather than lie inactive until their forage and provisions should be consumed. They were moreover stimulated to this hazardous enterprise by an intercepted letter to the elector of Bavaria, from mareschal Villeroy, giving him to understand that he had received orders to ravage the country of Wirtem-berg, and intercept all communication between the Rhine and the allied army. The dispositions being made for the attack, and the orders communicated to the general officers, the forces advanced into the plain on the thirteenth day of August, and were ranged in order of battle. The cannonading began about nine in the morning, and continued on both sides till one in the afternoon. The French and Bavarians amounted to about sixty thousand men, Mareschal Tallard commanded on the right, and posted twenty-seven battalions, with twelve squadrons, in the village of Blenheim, supposing that there the allies would make their chief effort: their left was conducted by the elector of Bavaria, assisted by Marsin, a French general of experience and capacity. The number of the confederates did not exceed fifty-five thousand: their right was under the direction of prince Eugene, and their left commanded by the duke of Marlborough. At noon the battle was begun by a body of English and Hessians under major-general Wilkes, who having passed the rivulet with difficulty, and filed off to the left in the face of the enemy, attacked the village of Blenheim with great vigour; but were repulsed after three successive attempts. Meanwhile the troops in the centre, and part of the right wing, passed the rivulet on planks in different places, and formed on the other side without any molestation from the enemy. At length, however, they were charged by the French horse with such impetuosity, and so terribly galled in flank by the troops posted at Blenheim, that they fell in disorder, and part of them repassed the rivulet; but a reinforcement of dragoons coming up, the French cavalry were broke in their turn, and driven to the very hedges of the village of Blenheim. The left wing of the confederates being now completely formed, ascended the hill in a firm compacted body, charged the enemy's horse, which could no longer stand their ground, but rallied several times as they gave way. Tallard, in order to make a vigorous effort, ordered ten battalions to fill up the intervals of his cavalry. The duke, perceiving his design, sent three battalions of the troops of Zell to sustain his horse. Nevertheless, the line was a little disordered by the prodigious fire from the French infantry, and even obliged to recoil about sixty paces: but the confederates advancing to the charge with redoubled ardour, routed the French horse; and their battalions being thus abandoned, were cut in pieces. Tallard, having rallied his broken cavalry behind some tents that were still standing, resolved to draw off the troops he had posted in the village of Blenheim, and sent an aidecamp to Marsdin, who was with the elector of Bavaria on the left, to desire he would face the confederates with some troops to the right of the village of Oberklau, so as to keep them in play, and favour the retreat of the forces from Blenheim. That officer assured him he was so far from being in a condition to spare troops, that he could hardly maintain his ground. The fate of the day was now more than half decided. The French cavalry being vigorously attacked in flank, were totally defeated. Part of them endeavoured to gain the bridge which they had thrown over the Danube between Hochstadt and Blenheim, but they were so closely pursued, that those who escaped the slaughter threw themselves into the river, where they perished. Tallard, being surrounded, was taken near a mill behind the village of Sonderen, together with the marquis de Montperouz, general of horse, the major-generals de Seppeville, de Silly, de la Valiere, and many other officers of distinction. While these occurrences passed on the loft wing, Marsin's quarters at the village of Oberklau, in the centre, were attacked by ten battalions under the prince of Holsteinbeck, who passed the rivulet with undaunted resolution; but before he could form his men on the other side, he was overpowered by numbers, mortally wounded, and taken prisoner. His battalions being supported by some Danish and Hanoverian cavalry, renewed the charge, and were again repulsed: at length the duke of Marlborough in person brought up some fresh squadrons from the body of reserve, and compelled the enemy to retire. By this time prince Eugene had obliged the left wing of the enemy to give ground, after having surmounted a great number of difficulties, sustained a very obstinate opposition, and seen his cavalry, in which his chief strength seemed to lie, three times repulsed. The duke of Marlborough had no sooner defeated the right wing, than he made a disposition to reinforce the prince, when he understood from an aidecamp that his highness had no occasion for assistance; and that the elector, with monsieur de Mar-sin, had abandoned Oberklau and Luteingen. They were pursued as far as the villages of Morselingen and Teissenhoven, from whence they retreated to Dillingen and Lawingen. The confederates being now masters of the field of battle, surrounded the village of Blenheim, in which, as we have already observed, twenty-seven battalions and twelve squadrons were posted. These troops seeing themselves cut off from all communication with the rest of their army, and despairing of being able to force their way through the allies, capitulated about eight in the evening, laid down their arms, delivered their colours and standards, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war, on condition that the officers should not be rifled. This was one of the most glorious and complete victories that ever was obtained. Ten thousand French and Bavarians were left dead on the field of battle: the greater part of thirty squadrons of horse and dragoons perished in the river Danube: thirteen thousand were made prisoners: one hundred pieces of cannon were taken, with twenty-four mortars, one hundred and twenty-nine colours, one hundred and seventy-one standards, seventeen pair of kettle-drums, three thousand six hundred tents, thirty-four coaches, three hundred laden mules, two bridges of boats, fifteen pontoons, fifteen barrels and eight casks filled with silver. Of the allies, about four thousand five hundred men were killed, and about eight thousand wounded or taken. The loss of the battle was imputed to two capital errors committed by Tallard; namely, his weakening the centre by detaching such a number of troops to the village of Blenheim, and his suffering the confederates to pass the rivulet, and form unmolested. Certain it is, these circumstances contributed to the success of the duke of Marlborough, who rode through the hottest of the fire with the calmest intrepidity, giving his orders with that presence of mind and deliberation which were so peculiar to his character. When he next day visited Tallard, he told that general he was sorry such a misfortune should happen personally to one for whom he had a profound esteem. The mareschal congratulated him on having vanquished the best troops in the world; a compliment to which the duke replied, that he thought his own the best troops in the world, seeing they had conquered those upon whom the mareschal had bestowed such an encomium.



SIEGE OF LANDAU.

The victorious generals having by this decisive stroke saved the house of Austria from entire ruin, and entirely changed the face of affairs in the empire, signified their opinion to prince Louis of Baden, that it would be for the advantage of the common cause to join all their forces and drive the French out of Germany, rather than lose time at the siege of Ingoldstadt, which would surrender of course. This opinion was confirmed by the conduct of the French garrison at Augsburg, who quitted that place on the sixteenth day of August. The magistrates sent a deputation, craving the protection of the duke of Marlborough, who forthwith ordered a detachment to take possession of that important city. The duke having sent mareschal de Tallard under a guard of dragoons to Frankfort, and disposed of the other prisoners of distinction in the adjacent places, encamped at Sefillingen, within half a league of Ulm. Here he held a conference with the princes Eugene and Louis of Baden, in which they agreed that, as the enemy retreated towards the Bhine, the confederate army should take the same rout, excepting three-and-twenty battalions and some squadrons to be left for the siege of Ulm, under general Thungen. They began their march on the twenty-sixth day of August, by different routes, to the general rendezvous at Bruschal near Philipsburgh. Then they resolved that prince Louis of Baden should undertake the siege of Landau, in order to secure the circle of Suabia from the incursions of that garrison. Considering the consternation that prevailed all over France, nothing could be more impolitic than this measure, which gave the enemy time for recollection, and recruiting their forces. It was a proposal on which the prince of Baden insisted with uncommon obstinacy. He was even suspected of corruption: he was jealous of the glory which the duke of Marlborough had acquired, and such a bigoted papist, that he repined at the success of an heretical general. On the twelfth day of September he marched towards Landau with the troops destined for the siege; and the duke of Marlborough, with prince Eugene, encamped at Croon Weissenburgh to cover the enterprise. By this time Ulm had surrendered to Thungen, even before the trenches were opened. Villeroy advanced with his army towards Landau, as if he had intended to attack the confederates; but retired without having made any attempt for the relief of the place, which was defended with the most obstinate valour till the twenty-third day of November, when the besiegers having lodged themselves on the counterscarp, the breaches being practicable, and the dispositions made for a general assault, the garrison capitulated upon honourable conditions. The king of the Romans had arrived in the camp, that he might have the credit of taking the place, the command of which he bestowed on the count de Frize, who had before defended it with equal courage and ability.



MARLBOROUGH RETURNS TO ENGLAND.

The next enterprise which the confederates undertook was the siege of Traerbach. The hereditary prince of Hesse-Cassel, being intrusted with the direction of the attacks, invested the castle in the beginning of November. Though it was strongly fortified and well defended, he carried on his operations with such spirit and assiduity, that in about six weeks the garrison surrendered the place on honourable terms. In the meantime the duke of Marlborough repaired to Berlin, where he negotiated for a reinforcement of eight thousand Prussians, to serve under prince Eugene in Italy during the next campaign. Thence he proceeded to the court of Hanover, where, as in all other places, he was received with particular marks of distinction. When he arrived at the Hague, he was congratulated by the states-general on his victories at Schellenberg and Blenheim, and as much considered in Holland as if he had been actually stadt-holder. He had received a second letter from the emperor couched in the warmest terms of acknowledgment, and was declared prince of the empire. In December he embarked for England, where he found the people in a transport of joy, and was welcomed as a hero who had retrieved the glory of the nation.



STATE OF THE WAR IN EUROPE.

In Flanders nothing of moment was executed, except the bombardment of Bruges and Namur by baron Spaar, with nine thousand Dutch troops; and two attempts upon the French lines, which were actually penetrated by Auverquerque, though he was not able to maintain the footing he had gained. The elector of Bavaria, who had retired to Brussels after his defeat, formed a scheme for surprising the Dutch general at the end of the campaign, and assembled all his troops at Tirlemont: but the French court, apprehensive of his temerity, sent Villeroy to watch his conduct, and prevent his hazarding an engagement, except with a fair prospect of advantage. The mareschal finding him determined to give battle at all events, represented the improbability of succeeding against an enemy so advantageously posted; and the ill consequences of a repulse: but finding the elector deaf to all his remonstrances, he flatly refused to march, and produced the king's order to avoid an engagement. In Italy the French met with no opposition. The duke of Savoy, being unable to face the enemy in the field, was obliged to lie inactive. He saw the duke de Vendome reduce Vercelli and Ivrea, and undertake the siege of Verac; while he posted his little army on the other side of the Po, at Crescentino, where he had a bridge of communication by which he supplied the place occasionally with fresh troops and provisions. The place held out five months against all the efforts of the French general: at length, the communication being cut off, the duke of Savoy retired to Chivas. He bore his misfortunes with great equanimity, and told the English minister that though he was abandoned by the allies, he would never abandon himself. The emperor had neglected Italy that he might act with more vigour against Ragotzki and the Hungarian malcontents, over whom he obtained several advantages; notwithstanding which they continued formidable, from their number, bravery, and resolution. The ministers of the allies pressed Leopold to enter into a negotiation for a peace with those rebels, and conferences were opened; but he was not sincerely disposed to an accommodation, and Ragotzki aimed at the principality of Transylvania, which the court of Vienna would not easily relinquish. The emperor was not a little alarmed by a revolution at the Ottoman porte, until the new sultan despatched a chiaus to Vienna, with an assurance that he would give no assistance to the malcontents of Hungary. In Poland, the diet being assembled by the cardinal-primate, Stanislaus Lezinski, palatine of Posnania, was elected and proclaimed king, and recognised by Charles of Sweden, who still maintained his army by contributions in that country, more intent upon the ruin of Augustus than upon the preservation of his own dominions; for he paid no regard to the progress of the Muscovites, who had ravaged Livonia, reduced Narva, and made incursions into Sweden. Augustus retreated into his Saxon dominions, which he impoverished in order to raise a great army with which he might return to Poland; the pope espoused the interest of this new convert, so far as to cite the cardinal-primate to appear at Rome, and give an account of the share he had in the Polish troubles. The protestants of the Cevennois, deriving courage from despair, became so troublesome to the government of France, that Louis was obliged to treat them with lenity: he sent mareschal Villars against them with a fresh reinforcement, but at the same time furnished him with instructions to treat for an accommodation. This officer immediately commenced a negotiation with Cavalier, the chief of the revolters; and a formal treaty was concluded, by which they were indulged with liberty of conscience: but these articles were very ill observed by the French ministry.



CAMPAIGN IN PORTUGAL.

In Portugal, the interest of king Charles wore a very melancholy aspect. When he arrived at Lisbon, he found no preparations made for opening the campaign. The Portuguese ministry favoured the French in secret; the people were averse to heretics; the duke of Schom-berg was on ill terms with Fagel, the Dutch general; the Portuguese forces consisted of raw undisciplined peasants; and the French ambassador had bought up the best horses in the kingdom; so that the troopers could not be properly mounted. The king of Portugal had promised to enter Spain with Charles by the middle of May; but he was not ready till the beginning of June, when they reached Santaran. By this time they had published their respective manifestoes; Charles displaying his title to the crown of Spain, and promising pardon to all his subjects who would in three months join his army; and the king of Portugal declaring, that his sole aim in taking up arms was to restore liberty to the Spanish nation, oppressed by the power of France, as Avell as to assert the right of Charles to that monarchy. The present possessor, whom they mentioned by the name of the duke of Anjou, had already anticipated their invasion. His general, the duke of Berwick, entering Portugal, took the town of Segura by stratagem. The governor of Salvaterra surrendered at discretion; Cebreros was reduced without much opposition; Zode-bre was abandoned by the inhabitants; and the town of Lhana la Viella was taken by assault. Portugal was at the same time invaded in different parts by the marquis de Jeoffreville, prince Tserclas de Tilly, and the marquis de Villadarias. Two Dutch battalions were attacked and taken by the duke of Berwick at Sodreira Formosa. Then he passed the Tagus, and joined prince Tserclas. King Philip arriving in the army, invested Portalegre; and the garrison, including an English regiment of foot commanded by colonel Stanhope, were made prisoners of war. The next place he besieged was Castel Davide, which met with the same fate. On the other hand, the marquis Das Minas, in order to make a diversion, entered Spain with fifteen thousand men, took Feuenta Grimaldo in Castile, by assault, defeated a body of French and Spaniards commanded by Don Ronquillo, and made himself master of Manseinto. The weather growing excessively hot, Philip sent his troops into quarters of refreshment; and the allies followed his example. Duke Schomberg finding his advice very little regarded by the Portuguese ministry, and seeing very little prospect of success, desired leave to resign his command, which the queen bestowed upon the earl of Galway, who, with a reinforcement of English and Dutch troops, arrived at Lisbon on the thirtieth day of July. About the latter end of September, the two kings repaired to the camp near Almeida, resolving to invade Castile; but they found the river Aguada so well guarded by the duke of Benvick, that they would not attempt a passage. They therefore retired into the territories of Portugal, and the army was put into winter quarters. The Spaniards were now so weakened by detachments sent with the marquis de Villadarias towards Gibraltar, that the duke of Berwick could not execute any scheme of importance during the remaining part of the campaign.



SIR GEORGE KOOKE TAKES GIBRALTAR.

The arms of England were not less fortunate by sea than they had been upon the Danube. Sir George Rooke having landed king Charles at Lisbon, sent a squadron to cruise off Cape Spartell, under the command of rear admiral Dilkes, who on the twelfth of March, engaged and took three Spanish ships of war, bound from St. Sebastian's to Cadiz. Rooke received orders from the queen to sail to the relief of Nice and Villa Franca, which were threatened with a siege by the duke de Vendome; at the same time he was pressed by king Charles to execute a scheme upon Barcelona, projected by the prince of Hesse d'Armstadt, who declared his opinion, that the Catalonians would declare for the house of Austria, as soon as they should be assured of proper support and protection. The ministry of England understanding that the French were employed in equipping a strong squadron at Brest, and judging it was destined to act in the Mediterranean, sent out sir Cloudesley Shovel with a considerable fleet, to watch the motions of the Brest squadron; and he was provided with instructions how to act, in case it should be sailed to the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, sir George Rooke, in compliance with the entreaties of King Charles, sailed with the transports under his convoy to Barcelona, and on the eighteenth of May appeared before the city. Next day the troops were landed by the prince of Hesse, to the number of two thousand, and the Dutch ketches bombarded the place; but by this time the governor had secured the chiefs of the Austrian party; and the people exhibiting no marks of attachment to king Charles, the prince re-embarked his soldiers, from an apprehension of their being attacked and overpowered by superior numbers. On the sixteenth day of June, sir George Rooke, being joined by sir Cloudesley Shovel, resolved to proceed up the Mediterranean in quest of the French fleet, which had sailed thither from Brest, and which Rooke had actually discovered, in the preceding month, on their voyage to Toulon. On the seventeenth day of July the admiral called a council of war in the road of Tetuan, when they resolved to make an attempt upon Gibraltar, which was but slenderly provided with a garrison. Thither they sailed, and on the twenty-first day of the month the prince of Hesse landed on the isthmus with eighteen hundred marines; then he summoned the governor to surrender, and was answered, that the place would be defended to the last extremity. Next day the admiral gave orders for cannonading the town; perceiving that the enemy were driven from their fortifications at the south mole-head, he commanded captain Whi-taker to arm all the boats, and assault that quarter. The captains Hicks and Juniper, who happened to be nearest the mole, immediately manned their pinnaces, and entered the fortifications sword in hand. The Spaniards sprung a mine, by which two lieutenants, and about a hundred men were killed or wounded. Nevertheless, the two captains took possession of a platform, and kept their ground until they were sustained by captain Whi-taker, and the rest of the seamen, who took by storm a redoubt between the mole and the town. Then the governor capitulated; and the prince of Hesse entered the place, amazed at the success of this attempt, considering the strength of the fortifications, which might have been defended by fifty men against a numerous army.

A sufficient garrison being left with his highness, the admiral returned to Tetuan to take in wood and Water; and when he sailed, on the ninth day of August, he descried the French fleet, to which he gave chase with all the sail he could spread. On the thirteenth he came up with it, as it lay in a line off Malaga ready to receive him, to the number of two-and-fifty great ships, and four-and-twenty galleys, under the command of the count de Tholouse, high-admiral of France, with the inferior flags of the white and blue divisions. The English fleet consisted of three-and-fifty ships of the line, exclusive of frigates, but they were inferior to the French in number of guns and men, as well as in weight of metal, and altogether unprovided with galleys, from which the enemy reaped great advantage during the engagement. A little after ten in the morning the battle began, with equal fury on both sides, and continued to rage with doubtful success till two in the afternoon, when the van of the French gave way; nevertheless, the fight was maintained till night, when the enemy bore away to leeward. The wind shifting before morning, the French gained the weather-gage; but they made no use of this advantage; for two successive days the English admiral endeavoured to renew the engagement, which the count de Tholouse declined, and at last he disappeared. The loss was pretty equal on both sides, though not a single ship was taken or destroyed by either; but the honour of the day certainly remained with the English. Over and above the disadvantages we have enumerated, the bottoms of the British fleet were foul, and several large ships had expended all their shot long before the battle ceased; yet the enemy were so roughly handled, that they did not venture another engagement during the whole war. The French king, in order to raise the drooping spirits of his people, claimed the victory, and published an account of the action, which, at this distance of time, plainly proves that he was reduced to the mean shift of imposing upon his subjects, by false and partial representations. Among other exaggerations in this detail, we find mention made of mischief done to French ships by English bombs; though nothing is more certain than that there was not one bomb vessel in the combined fleet. The French academy, actuated by a servile spirit of adulation, caused a medal to be struck on the occasion, which, instead of perpetuating the glory of their prince, served only to transmit their own shame to posterity. After the battle, sir George Rooke sailed to Gibraltar to refit, and leaving a squadron with sir John Leake, set sail for England on the twenty-fourth day of August. He arrived in September, and was received by the ministry, and the people in general, with those marks of esteem and veneration which were due to his long services and signal success; but he was still persecuted with a spirit of envy and detraction. Philip king of Spain, alarmed at the reduction of Gibraltar, sent the marquis de Villadarias with an army to retake it. The siege lasted four months, during which the prince of Hesse exhibited many shining proofs of courage and ability. The place was supplied with men and provisions by convoys from Lisbon, until monsieur de Pointis put a stop to that communication, by entering the bay with a strong squadron; but he was obliged to retire at the approach of sir John Leake and admiral Vanderdussen; and the marquis de Villadarias, having made little or no progress on land, thought proper to abandon the enterprise.



SESSION OF PARLIAMENT IN ENGLAND.

The parliament of England meeting on the twenty-ninth day of October, the queen in her speech, observed, that the great and remarkable success with which God had blessed her arms, produced unanimous joy and satisfaction through all parts of the kingdom; and that a timely improvement of the present advantages would enable her to procure a lasting foundation of security for England, as well as a firm support for the liberty of Europe. She declared her intention was to be kind and indulgent to all her subjects. She expressed her hope that they would do nothing to endanger the loss of this opportunity; and that there would be no contention among them, but an emulation to promote the public welfare. Congratulatory addresses were voted and presented by both houses. They were equal in their professions of duty and affection to the queen; but the addresses imbibed a very different colour from the different sanctions by which the two houses were influenced. The lords congratulated her on the great and glorious success of her arms under the command of the duke of Marlborough, without deigning to mention sir George Rooke, who had defeated the French navy at sea, and added the important fortress of Gibraltar to the British conquests. On the other hand, the commons affected to mention the battle of Blenheim, and Rooke's naval victory, as events of equal glory and importance. However they might be warped by prejudice against individuals, they did not suffer the war to languish for want of supplies. Having taken into consideration the services of the army and navy, they voted that the queen should be desired to bestow her bounty on the seamen and land forces who had behaved themselves so gallantly. Then they deliberated upon the different articles of national expense, and granted four millions six hundred and seventy thousand nine hundred and thirty-one pounds, for the occasion's of the ensuing year, to be raised by a land tax, by the sale of annuities, and other expedients. These measures were taken with such expedition, that the land tax received the royal assent on the ninth day of December; when the queen, in a short speech, thanked the commons for their despatch, which she considered a sure pledge of their affection.



AN ACT OF ALIENATION PASSED.

The high church party took this occasion to promote the bill against occasional conformity, which was revived and brought into the house in a new model by Mr. William Bromley, who moved that it might be tacked to the land-tax bill, and sent up to the lords for their concurrence. The court no longer espoused this measure, and the violent party was weakened by defection. After a warm and tedious debate, the tack was rejected by a great majority. The bill, however, passed the house of commons, and was sent up to the lords on the fourteenth day of December, when it would hardly have excited a debate had not the queen been present, and desirous of hearing what could be said on both sides of the question. For the information and satisfaction of her majesty the subject was again discussed, and all the arguments being repeated, the bill was rejected by a majority of one-and-twenty voices. The next subject on which the house of lords employed their attention, was the late conduct of the Scottish parliament. The lord Haversham, in a set speech, observed, that the settlement of the succession in Scotland had been postponed, partly because the ministry for that kingdom were weak and divided; partly from a received opinion that the succession was never sincerely and cordially intended by those who managed the affairs of Scotland in the cabinet-council. He expatiated on the bad consequences that might attend the act of security, which he styled a bill of exclusion, and particularly mentioned that clause by which the heritors and boroughs were ordained to exercise their fencible men every month. He said the nobility and gentry of Scotland were as learned and brave as any nation in Europe, and generally discontented: that the common people were very numerous, very stout, and very poor; and he asked who was the man that could tell what such a multitude, so armed, and so disciplined, might do under such leaders could opportunities suit their intention. He recommended these circumstances to the consideration of the house, and concluded with these words of Lord Bacon, "Let men beware how they neglect or suffer matter of troubles to be prepared, for no man can forbid the sparks that may set all on fire." The lords resolved to consider these subjects on the twenty-ninth day of November, when the queen repaired to the house of peers to hear the debates, and by her presence moderate the heat of both parties. The earl of Nottingham reflected so severely on the memory of king William, that he would have been sent to the Tower, had not the lords declined any such motion out of respect to her majesty. After much declamation on the Scottish act of security, the grand committee of the peers, by the advice of lord Wharton, resolved that the queen should be enabled by act of parliament on the part of England, to name commissioners to treat about an union with Scotland, provided that the parliament of Scotland should first appoint commissioners on their part for the same purpose; that no Scotsmen should enjoy the privileges of Englishmen, except such as were settled in England, Ireland, and the plantations, and such as were or might be in the sea or land service, until an union could be effected, or the succession settled as in England: that the traffic by cattle from Scotland to England should be prevented: that the lord admiral should issue orders for taking such vessels as should be found trading from Scotland to France, or to the ports of any of her majesty's enemies: and that care should be taken to prevent the exportation of English wool into Scotland. On these resolutions a bill was formed for an entire union, and passed the house on the twentieth day of December. The lords presented an address to the queen, representing that they had duly weighed the dangerous and pernicious effects that were likely to be produced by divers acts of parliament lately passed in Scotland: that they were of opinion the safety of the kingdom required that speedy and effectual orders should be given to put Newcastle in a posture of defence, to secure the port of Tynemouth, and repair the fortifications of Hull and Carlisle. They likewise advised her majesty to give directions for disciplining the militia of the four northern counties; for providing them with arms and ammunition; for maintaining a competent number of regular troops on the northern borders of England, as well as in the north of Ireland; and for putting the laws in execution against papists. The queen promised that a survey should be made of the places they had mentioned, and laid before parliament, and that she would give the necessary directions upon the other articles of the address. The commons seemed to concur with the lords in their sentiments of the Scottish act of security. They resolved that a bill should be brought in for the effectual securing the kingdom of England from the apparent dangers that might arise from several acts lately passed in the parliament of Scotland, and this was formed on nearly the same resolutions which had been taken in the upper house. The bill sent down by the lords was thrice read, and ordered to lie on the table, but they passed their own, to take effect at Christmas, provided before that time the Scots should not settle the succession. When it was offered to the lords they passed it without any amendment, contrary to the expectation and even to the hope of some members who were no friends to the house of Hanover, and firmly believed the lords would have treated this bill with the same contempt which had been manifested for that which they had sent down to the commons.

The duke of Marlborough, at his first appearance in the house after his return to England, was honoured with a very extraordinary eulogium, pronounced by the lord-keeper, in the name of the peers of England; and a compliment of the same nature was presented to him by a committee of the house of commons. Doctor Delaune, vice-chancellor of Oxford, accompanied by the principal members of the University, attended the queen with an address of congratulation upon the success of her arms in Germany, under the admirable conduct and invincible courage of the duke of Marlborough; and at sea, under the most brave and faithful admiral sir George Booke. He received a civil answer from her majesty, though now she took umbrage at Booke's being raised upon a level with the duke of Marlborough, whose great victories had captivated her administration, and whose wife had alienated her affection from the tories. The commons perceiving how high he stood in her majesty's esteem, and having been properly tutored for the purpose, took into consideration the great services of the duke; and, in an address, besought her majesty to consider some proper means to perpetuate the memory of such noble actions. In a few days she gave them to understand, by a message that she was inclined to grant the interest of the crown in the honour and manor of Woodstock and hundred of Wooton, to the duke of Marlborough and his heirs; and that as the lieutenancy and rangership of the parks, with the rents and profits of the manors and hundreds, were granted for two lives, she wished that incumbrance could be removed. A bill was immediately brought in, enabling the queen to bestow these honours and manors on the duke of Marlborough and his heirs, and the queen was desired to advance the money for clearing the incumbrances. She not only complied with this address, but likewise ordered the comptroller of her works to build in Woodstock-park a magnificent palace for the duke, upon a plan much more solid than beautiful. By this time sir George Rooke was laid aside, and the command of the fleet bestowed upon sir Cloudesley Shovel, now declared rear-admiral of England. Mareschal de Tallard, with the other French generals taken at Hochstadt, arrived on the sixteenth of December in the river Thames, and were immediately conveyed to Nottingham and Lichfield, attended by a detachment of the royal regiment of horse guards. They were treated with great respect, and allowed the privilege of riding ten miles around the places of their confinement.

{ANNE, 1701—1714}



DISAGREEMENT ON THE SUBJECT OF THE AYLESBURY CONSTABLES.

While the house of commons, in two successive addresses, thanked the queen for the treaty which the duke of Marlborough had concluded with Prussia concerning the troops to be sent to the duke of Savoy, and desired she would use her interest with the allies that they might next year furnish their complete proportions of men by sea and land; the lords examined into all the proceedings at sea and all the instructions of the admiralty, and presented an address to the queen, explaining all the different articles of mismanagement. She promised to consider them particularly, and give such directions upon them as might be most for the advantage of the public service. The remaining part of the session was consumed in disputes and altercations between the two houses on the subject of the Aylesbury constables, who were sued by five other inhabitants for having denied them the right of voting at the election. These five persons were committed to Newgate by order of the house of commons. They moved for a habeas-corpus in the King's Bench, but the court would take no cognizance of the affair. Two of the prisoners petitioned the queen that their case might be brought before her majesty in parliament. The commons, in an address, besought the queen to refuse granting a writ of error in this case, which would tend to the overthrowing the undoubted rights and privileges of the commons of England. She assured them she would not do any thing to give them just cause of complaint, but this matter relating to the course of judicial proceedings being of the highest importance, she thought it necessary to weigh and consider very carefully what might be proper for her to do in a thing of so great concern. They voted all the lawyers, who had pleaded on the return of the habeas-corpus in behalf of the prisoners, guilty of a breach of privilege, and ordered them to be taken into custody. They likewise ordered the prisoners to be removed from Newgate into the custody of their serjeant-at-arms, lest they should have been discharged by the queen's granting writs of error. The prisoners, finding themselves at the mercy of the exasperated commons, petitioned the lords for relief. The upper house passed six different resolutions against the conduct of the commons, as being an obstruction to justice, and contrary to Magna Charta. The lower house demanded a conference, in which they insisted upon the sole right of determining elections: they affirmed that they only could judge who had a right of voting, and that they were judges of their own privileges, in which the lords could not intermeddle.



THE PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED.

The upper house demanded a free conference, which proved ineffectual. New resolutions were taken by the commons, diametrically opposite to those of the peers; who, on the other hand, attended the queen with along representation of all the particulars relating to this affair. They affirmed that the proceedings of the house of commons against the Aylesbury men, were wholly new and unprecedented: that it was the birthright of every Englishman, who apprehended himself injured, to seek for redress in her majesty's courts of justice: that if any power could control this right, and prescribe when he should, and when he should not, be allowed the benefit of the laws, he ceased to be a freeman, and his liberty and property were precarious. They requested, therefore, that no consideration whatever should prevail with her majesty to suffer an obstruction to the known course of justice, but that she would be pleased to give effectual orders for the immediate issuing of the writs of error. The queen assured them that she would have complied with their request, but finding an absolute necessity for putting an immediate end to the session, she knew there could be no further proceedings on that matter. On the very day, which was the fourteenth of March, she went to the house of lords and passed the bills that were ready for the royal assent. Then she thanked the parliament for having despatched the public business: she warned them to avoid the fatal effects of animosity and dissension: and ordered the lord keeper to prorogue them to Thursday the first of May; but on the fifth of April they were dissolved by proclamation, and another was published for calling a new parliament. The queen, accompanied by the prince of Denmark, made an excursion to Newmarket, and afterwards dined by invitation with the university of Cambridge, where she conferred the honour of knighthood upon Dr. Ellis the vice-chancellor, upon James Montague, counsel for the University, and upon the celebrated Isaac Newton, mathematical professor. The two houses of convocation still continued at variance. The lower house penned petulant representations, and the archbishop answered them by verbal reprehension and admonition. The tory interest was now in the wane. The duke of Buckinghamshire was deprived of the privy-seal, and that office conferred on the duke of Newcastle, a nobleman of powerful influence with the whig party. The earl of Montague was created marquis of Mounthermer and duke of Montague; the earl of Peterborough and lord Cholmondeley were chosen of the privy-council; and lord Cutts was sent to command the troops in Ireland under the duke of Ormond.



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT.

The ministry of Scotland was now entirely changed. The marquis of Tweedale and Johnston having been found unequal to the undertaking, were dismissed. The duke of Queensberry resumed the management of affairs in that kingdom under the title of lord privy-seal, and the office of commissioner was conferred upon the young duke of Argyle, who succeeded to his father's influence among the presbyterians. He was a nobleman possessed of good natural talents, which had not been neglected; candid, open, and sincere; brave, passionate, and aspiring; had he been endued with a greater share of liberality, his character would have been truly heroic. At this juncture he was instructed to procure an act of the Scottish parliament, settling the protestant succession, or to set on foot a treaty for the union of the two kingdoms. At the opening of the session in June, the members were divided into three parties, namely, the cavaliers or Jacobites, the revolutioners, the squadrone volante, or flying squadron, headed by the marquis of Tweedale, who disclaimed the other two factions, and pretended to act from the dictates of conscience alone. The parliament was adjourned to the third day of July, when her majesty's letter was read, earnestly recommending the settlement of the succession in the protestant line, and an act for a commission to treat of an union between the two kingdoms. The marquis of Annandale proposed that the parliament should proceed on the limitations and conditions of government: that a committee should be appointed to consider the condition of the coin and the commerce of the nation. The earl of Mar moved that the house would, preferable to all other business, consider the means for engaging in a treaty with England. After a long debate they resolved to proceed on the coin and the commerce. Schemes for supplying the nation with money by a paper credit were presented by Dr. Hugh Chamberlain and John Law, but rejected. The house resolved that any kind of paper credit, by the circulation of bills, was an improper expedient, and appointed a council to put the laws relating to trade in execution. The duke of Hamilton proposed that the parliament should not proceed to the nomination of a successor until the treaty with England should be discussed, and the limitations settled. This proposal being approved, a draft of an answer to her majesty's letter was presented by the marquis of Tweedale. Two different forms of an act for a treaty with England were offered by the earl of Mar and the marquis of Lothian: others were produced concerning the elections of officers of state, and the regulation of commerce.

{1705}



ACT PASSED FOR A TREATY OF UNION.

The chief aim of the cavaliers was to obstruct the settlement of the succession, and with that view they pressed the project of limitations, to which they knew the court would never assent. A motion being made to grant the first reading to an act of commission for a treaty with England, the duke of Hamilton insisted on the limitations, and a vote being stated in these terms, "Proceed to consider the act for a treaty of limitation," the latter was carried in favour of the cavaliers. On the twenty-second day of August an act for this purpose was approved; and next day an act for a triennial parliament, which the courtiers were enabled to defeat. They likewise passed an act, ordaining, that the Scottish ambassadors representing Scotland should be present when the sovereign might have occasion to treat with foreign princes and states, and be accountable to the parliament of Scotland. Fletcher of Saltoun, presented a scheme of limitations that savoured strongly of republican principles. He afterwards enlarged upon every article, endeavouring to prove that they were absolutely necessary to prevent the consequences of English influence; to enable the nation to defend its rights and liberties; to deter ministers of state from giving bad advice to their sovereign; to preserve the courts of judicature from corruption, and screen the people from tyranny and oppression. The earl of Stair having argued against these limitations, Fletcher replied, "It is no wonder he opposed the scheme; for, had such an act subsisted, his lordship would have been hanged for the bad counsel he had given to king James; for the concern he had in the massacre of Glencoe; and for his conduct since the revolution." The next subject on which the parliament deliberated was the conspiracy. A motion being made that the house might know what answer the queen had returned to their address in the last session, the chancellor delivered to the clerk register the papers relating to the plot, that they might be perused by the members: but these being copies, and the evidences remaining at London, no further progress was made in the affair. Yet the duke of Athol, in a distinct narrative of the pretended conspiracy, boldly accused the duke of Queensberry of having endeavoured to mislead the queen by false accusations against her good subjects. When the act for a treaty of union fell under consideration, a draft for that purpose, presented by the earl of Mar, was compared with the English act, importing, that the queen should name and appoint not only the commissioners for England, but likewise for Scotland.

Fletcher did not fail to inveigh against the imperious conduct of the English parliament in this affair. He exhorted the house to resent such treatment, and offered the draft of an address to her majesty on the subject, but this the house rejected. Duke Hamilton proposed that a clause might be added to the act, importing, that the union should nowise derogate from any fundamental laws, ancient privileges, offices, rights, liberties, and dignities of the Scottish nation. This occasioned a long debate; and a question being put, was carried in the negative. Another clause was proposed, that the Scottish commissioners should not begin to treat until the English parliament should have rescinded their clause enacting that the subjects of Scotland should be adjudged and taken as aliens after the twenty-fifth day of December. The courtiers, considering the temper of the house, would not venture to oppose this motion directly, but proposed that the clause should be formed into a separate act, and the expedient was approved. Though the Duke of Athol entered a vigorous protest, to which the greater part of the cavaliers and all the squadrone adhered, comprehending four-and-twenty peers, seven-and-thirty barons, and eighteen boroughs, the act for the treaty of union was, after much altercation, finished, empowering commissioners to meet and treat of an union; but restraining them from treating of any alterations of the church government as by law established. Whilst this important subject was under consideration, the duke of Hamilton, to the amazement of his whole party, moved that the nomination of the commissioners should be left to the queen. Fourteen or fifteen of the cavaliers ran out of the house in a transport of indignation, exclaiming that they were deserted and basely betrayed by the duke of Hamilton. A very hot debate ensued, in the course of which the duke was severely handled by those whom he had hitherto conducted: but at length the question being put whether the nomination should be left to the queen or to the parliament, the duke's motion was approved by a very small majority. He afterwards excused himself for his defection, by saying he saw it was in vain to contend, and that since the court had acquired a great majority, he thought he might be allowed to pay that compliment to his sovereign. He was desirous of being in the commission, and the duke of Argyle promised he should be nominated. The queen refusing to honour him with that mark of distinction, Argyle would not suffer himself to be named, and threatened to oppose the union, but means were found to appease his resentment. Two drafts of an address being presented by the earl of Sutherland and Fletcher of Saltoun, beseeching her majesty to use her endeavours with the parliament of England to rescind that part of their act which declared the subjects of Scotland aliens; and an overture of a bill being offered, ordaining that the Scottish commissioners should not enter upon the treaty of union until that clause should be repealed; the courtiers moved that the parliament should proceed by way of order to their commissioners, and by address to her majesty. After some debate, the house assenting to this proposal, the order and address was drawn up and approved. The great and weighty affair of the treaty being at length happily transacted, though not without a protest by Athol and his adherents, the parliament granted a supply of fifty thousand pounds, and the house was adjourned to the twentieth day of December; then the queen declaring the earl of Mar secretary of state in the room of the marquis of Annandale, who was appointed lord president of the council.



DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PARLIAMENT AND CONVOCATION IN IRELAND.

In Ireland, the parliament met at Dublin on the fifth day of March, and voted one hundred and fifty thousand pounds for the support of the necessary branches of the establishment. A dispute arose between the commons and the lower house of convocation, relating to the tithes of hemp and flax, ascertained in a clause of a bill for the better improvement of the hempen and flaxen manufactures of the kingdom. The lower house of convocation presented a memorial against this clause as prejudicial to the rights and properties of the clergy. The commons voted the person who brought it in guilty of a breach of privilege, and ordered him to be taken into custody. Then they resolved that the convocation were guilty of a contempt and breach of the privilege of that house. The convocation presuming to justify their memorials, the commons voted that all matters relating to it should be razed out of the journals and books of convocation. The duke of Ormond, dreading the consequences of such heats, adjourned the parliament to the first day of May, when the houses meeting again, came to some resolutions that reflected obliquely on the eon-vocation as enemies to her majesty's government and the protestant succession. The clergy, in order to acquit themselves of all suspicion, resolved in their turn that the church and nation had been happily delivered from popery and tyranny by king William at the revolution: that the continuance of these blessings were due, under God, to the auspicious reign and happy government of her majesty queen Anne: that the future security and preservation of the church and nation depended wholly, under God, on the succession of the crown as settled by law in the protestant line: that if any clergyman should by word or writing declare anything in opposition to these resolutions, they should look upon him as a sower of divisions among the protestants, and an enemy to the constitution. They levelled another resolution against the presbyterians, importing, that to teach or to preach against the doctrine, government, rites, or ceremonies of the church, or to maintain schools or seminaries for the education of youth, in principles contrary to those of the established church, was a contempt of the ecclesiastical laws of the kingdom; of pernicious consequence; and served only to continue and widen the unhappy schisms and divisions in the nation. In June the parliament was prorogued to the same month of the following year: then the duke of Ormond embarked for England, leaving the administration in the hands of sir Richard Cox, lord chancellor, and lord Cutts, the commander-in-chief of the queen's forces, who were appointed lords-justices during the duke's absence.



CAMPAIGN ON THE MOSELLE.

During these transactions in Great Britain and Ireland, the allies had not been remiss in their preparations for the ensuing campaign. The duke of Marlborough had fixed upon the Moselle for the scene of action; and magazines of all sorts were formed at Triers. On the thirteenth day of March the duke embarked for Holland, where he prevailed upon the states-general to contribute their troops for the execution of his project. Having concerted with the deputies of the states and the Dutch generals the necessary measures for opening the campaign, he set out for Maestricht in order to assemble his army. On the fifth day of May the emperor Leopold died at Vienna, and was succeeded on the imperial throne by his eldest son Joseph, king of the Romans, a prince who resembled his father in meekness of disposition, narrowness of intellect, and bigotry to the Romish religion. On the fifteenth of June the English troops passed the Maese, and continued their march towards the Moselle, under the command of general Churchill; and the duke set out for Cruetznach, to confer with prince Louis of Baden, who excused himself on pretence of being much indisposed. Marlborough visited him at Castadt, where in a conference they resolved that a sufficient number of German troops should be left for the security of the lines of Lauterburg and Stolhoffen, under the command of general Thungen, and that prince Louis of Baden should march with a large detachment towards the Saar, to act in concert with the duke of Marlborough. The confederate army passed the Moselle and the Saar in the beginning of June, and encamped at Elft in sight of the enemy, who retired with great precipitation, and intrenched themselves in the neighbourhood of Coningsmarcheren. The duke's design was to besiege Saar-Louis; but prince Louis failed in the performance of his engagement: he feigned himself sick, and repaired to the bath at Schlangenbacle, leaving the small number of imperial troops he conducted as far as Cruetznach, under the command of the count de Frize. He was suspected of treachery; but probably acted from envy of the duke's military reputation.*

* The duke of Marlborough finding himself obliged to retreat, sent a note with a trumpeter to Villars, containing an apology for decamping:—"Do me the justice, said he, to believe that my retreat is entirely owing to the failure of the prince of Baden; but that my esteem for you is still greater than my resentment of his conduct."



THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH FORCES THE FRENCH LINES IN BRABANT.

While this nobleman sustained such a mortifying disappointment on the Moselle, the French did not fail to take advantage of their superiority in the Netherlands, where general d'Auverquerque was obliged to stand on the defensive. They invested Huy, and carried on their operations so vigorously, that in a few days the garrison were obliged to surrender themselves prisoners of war; then Villeroy undertook the reduction of Liege, and actually began his works before the citadel. Marlborough was no sooner informed of the enemy's progress than he marched to Triers, where, in a council, it was resolved that the army should return to the Netherlands. The troops were in motion on the nineteenth of June, and marched with such expedition that they passed the Maese on the first day of July. Villeroy having received advice of the duke's approach, abandoned his enterprise, and retired to Tonegren, from whence he retreated within his lines, that reached from Marche aux Dames on the Mouse, along the Mehaigne as far as Lenuive. Marlborough having joined d'Auverquerque, sent general Scholten with a detachment to invest Huy, and in a few days the garrison surrendered at discretion. The English general, resolving to strike some stroke of importance that should atone for his disappointment on the Moselle, sent general Hompesch to the states, with a proposal for attacking the French lines; and obtained their permission to do whatever he should think proper for the good of the common cause. Then he explained the scheme in two successive councils of war, by which at length it was approved and resolved upon, though some Dutch generals declared themselves against the undertaking. The enemy were posted along the lines, amounting to one hundred battalions, and one hundred and forty-six squadrons. The allied army did not much exceed that number. In order to divide them, d'Auverquerque made a false motion, and passed the Mehaigne as if he had intended to attack the lines about Messelin. The stratagem succeeded. The French weakened the other parts by strengthening that which was on the side of the Gerbise towards Namur. The duke of Marlborough having made the disposition, the army began to march in the night between the seventeenth and eighteenth of July, in order to force a passage of the French lines at Heylesem, the castle of Wauge, and the villages of Wauge, Neerhespen, and Oostmalen. These posts were taken with very little difficulty; but before the infantry could come up, the enemy advanced with fifty squadrons and twenty battalions, and began to fire from eight pieces of cannon with triple barrels, which did considerable execution. The duke perceiving that they were continually reinforced from the other parts of the lines, ordered the horse to charge their cavalry, which were soon broken and routed; but rallying behind their infantry, interlined with foot, and joined by fresh squadrons, they advanced again towards the allies, who were now sustained by their infantry, and moved forward to renew the charge. After a warm though short engagement, the enemy's horse were defeated with great slaughter. The infantry, seeing themselves abandoned in the plain, retreated in great disorder, between the villages of Heylesem and Golsteven, where they were joined by the rest of their army, and formed again in order of battle. Meanwhile the duke of Marlborough ordered all his troops to enter the lines; and extended his right towards the great Geete before Tirlemont, where the enemy had left the battalion of Montluc, which surrendered at discretion. In this action the confederates took the marquis d'Alegre and the count de Home, lieutenant-generals, one major-general, two brigadier-generals, with many other officers, and a great number of common soldiers; a large heap of standards, four colours, one pair of kettle-drums, and ten pieces of cannon. In the action, as the duke of Marlborough advanced to the charge at the head of several squadrons, a Bavarian officer rode up to attack him sword in hand; but in raising himself on his stirrups to strike with the greater advantage, he fell from his horse and was immediately slain.

The body of troops commanded by monsieur d'Alegre being thus defeated with little or no loss to the confederates, the elector of Bavaria and the mareschal de Villeroy passed the great Geete and the Deule, with great expedition, and took possession of the strong camp at Parck, their left extending to Eoselser, and their right to Winselen against the height of Louvain. Next day the duke of Marlborough, marching through the plain of Parck, took twelve hundred prisoners, who could not keep pace with the rest of the enemy's forces; and in the evening he encamped with the right at the abbey of Vliersbeck, and the left before Bierbcek, under the cannon of Louvain. He detached lieutenant-gen-carl Henkelum, the duke of Wirtemberg, and count Oxienstiern, with a considerable body of forces, to attack some posts on the Deule which were slenderly guarded. Their advanced guard accordingly passed the river and repulsed the enemy; but for want of timely support, they were obliged to pass it and retire. On the third of August baron Spaar, with a body of Dutch troops, marched to Raboth on the canal of Bruges, forced the French lines at Lovendegen, and took four forts by which they were defended; but receiving advice that the enemy were on their march towards him, he retired to Mildegem, and carried with him several hostages as security for the payment of the contributions he had raised. On the fifteenth the duke moved from Mildert to Corbais; next day he continued his march to Genap, from whence he advanced to Fischer-mont. On the seventeenth general d'Auverquerque took the post of Waterloo; and next day the confederate army was drawn up in order of battle before the enemy, who extended from Overysche, near the wood of Soignies, to Neerysche, with the little river Ysche in their front, so as to cover Brussels and Louvain. The duke of Marlborough proposed to attack them immediately, before they should recollect themselves from their consternation; and d'Auverquerque approved of the design; but it was opposed by general Schlangenburg and other Dutch officers, who represented it in such a light to the deputies of the states, that they refused to concur in the execution. The duke being obliged to relinquish the scheme, wrote an expostulatory letter to the states-general, complaining of their having withdrawn that confidence which they had reposed in him while he acted Germany. This letter being published at the Hague, excited murmurs among the people, and the English nation were incensed at the presumption of the deputies, who wrote several letters in their own justification to the states-general; but these had no effect upon the populace, by whom the duke was respected even to a degree of adoration. The states being apprised of the resentment that prevailed over all England, and that the earl of Pembroke, lord-president of the council, was appointed as envoy-extraordinary to Holland, with instructions to demand satisfaction, thought proper to anticipate his journey by making submissions to the duke, and removing Schlangenburg from his command. The confederate army returned to Corbais, from whence it inarched to Perwitz, where it encamped. The little town of Sout-Leeuwe, situated in the middle of a morass, and constituting the chief defence of the enemy's lines, being taken by a detachment under the command of lieutenant-general Dedem, the duke ordered the lines from this place to Wasseigne to be levelled, and the town of Tirlemont to bo dismantled; then passing the Demer, he encamped on the nineteenth day of September at Aerschot. About the latter end of the month he marched to Heventlials; from hence the duke repaired to the Hague, where he had several conferences with the pensionary. In a few days he returned to the army, which decamping from Heventlials, marched to Clampthout. On the twenty-fourth day of October, the count de Noyelles invested Santvliet, which surrendered before the end of the month.

{ANNE, 1701—1714}



HE VISITS THE COURT OF VIENNA.

At this period the duke, in consequence of pressing letters from the emperor, set out for Vienna in order to concert the operations for the ensuing campaign, and other measures of importance, in which the concerns of the allies were interested. In his way he was magnificently entertained by the elector Palatine, and him of Triers, and complimented by the magistracy of Frankfort, where he conferred with prince Louis of Baden. On the twelfth of November he arrived at Vienna, where he was treated with the highest marks of distinction and cordial friendship by their imperial majesties. His son-in-law, the earl of Sunderland, had been sent thither as envoy-extraordinary; and now they conferred together with the emperor and his ministers. They resolved to maintain the war with redoubled vigour. The treaties were renewed, and provision made for the security of the duke of Savoy. The emperor, in consideration of the duke's signal service to the house of Austria, presented him with a grant of the lordship of Mindel-heim in Suabia, which was now erected into a principality of the Roman empire. In his return with the earl of Sunderland he visited the courts of Berlin and Hanover, where he was received with that extraordinary respect which was due to his character; and arrived at the Hague on the fourteenth day of December. There he settled the operations of the next campaign with the states-general, who consented to join England in maintaining an additional body of ten thousand men reinforcement to the army of prince Eugene in Italy. While the allies were engaged in the siege of Santvliet, the elector of Bavaria sent a detachment, under the command of don Marcello de Grimaldi, to invest Diest, the garrison of which were made prisoners of war.



STATE OF THE WAR ON THE UPPER RHINE, IN HUNGARY, &c.

On the Upper Rhine, mareschal Villars besieged and took Homburgh, and passed the Rhine at Strasburgh on the sixth day of August. Prince Louis of Baden arriving in the camp of the Imperialists at Stolhoffen, not only obliged him to retire, but having passed the river, forced the French lines at Hagenau; then he reduced Drusenheim and Hagenau, but attempted no enterprise equal to the number of his army, although the emperor had expostulated with him severely on his conduct, and he had now a fair opportunity of emulating the glory of Marlborough, upon whom he looked with the eyes of an envious rival. In Italy a battle was fought at Casano, between prince Eugene and the duke de Vendome, with dubious success. The duke de Feuillade reduced Chivas, and invested Nice, which, after an obstinate defence, surrendered in December. All the considerable places belonging to the duke of Savoy were now taken, except Coni and Turin; and his little army was reduced to twelve thousand men, whom he could hardly support. His duchess, his clergy, and his subjects in general, pressed him to submit to the necessity of his affairs; but he adhered to the alliance with surprising fortitude. He withstood the importunities of his duchess, excluded all the bishops and clergy from his councils; and when he had occasion for a confessor, he chose a priest occasionally either from the Dominicans or Franciscans. The campaign in Portugal began with a very promising aspect. The allies invaded Spain by the different frontiers of Beyra and Alentejo. Their army, under the command of the Condo das Galveas, undertook the siege of Valencia D'Alcantara in May, and took it by assault; Albuquerque surrendered upon articles, and then the troops were sent into quarters of refreshment. The marquis de las Minas, who commanded the Portuguese in the province of Beyra, reduced the town of Salva-terra, plundered and burned Sarca, but was obliged to retire to Panamacos at the approach of the enemy. Towards the end of September the confederates, being reassembled, invested Badajox, by the advice of the earl of Gal-way, who lost his right hand by a cannon ball, and was obliged to be carried off; so that the conduct of the siege was left to General Fagel. He had made considerable progress towards the reduction of the place, when the marquis de Thesse found means to throw in a powerful reinforcement, and then the confederates abandoned the enterprise. The war continued to rage in Hungary with various success. Ragotzki, though frequently worsted, appeared still in arms, and ravaged the country, which became a scene of misery and desolation. In Poland the old cardinal-primate owned Stanislaus, but died before the coronation, which was performed by the bishop of Cujavia. In the beginning of winter king Augustus had passed through Poland in disguise to the Muscovite army, which was put under his command in Lithuania; and the campaign was protracted through the whole winter season, notwithstanding the severity of the weather in that northern climate. In the spring the Swedish general, Reinchild, obtained a complete victory over the Saxon army, which was either cut in pieces or taken, with their camp, baggage, and artillery; yet the war was not extinguished. The king of Sweden continued obstinately deaf to all proposals of peace, and was become as savage in his manners, as brutal in his revenge.



THE FRENCH FLEET DESTROYED, &c.

At sea the arms of the allies were generally prosperous. Philip of Spain, being obstinately bent upon retaking Gibraltar, sent mareschal de Thesse to renew the siege, while de Pontis was ordered to block up the place by sea with his squadron. These French officers carried on the siege with such activity, that the prince of Hesse despatched an express to Lisbon with a letter, desiring sir John Leake to sail immediately to his assistance. This admiral having been reinforced from England by sir Thomas Dilkes, with five sail of the line and a body of troops, set sail immediately; and on the tenth day of March descried five ships of war hauling out of the bay of Gibraltar. These were commanded by de Pontis in person, to whom the English admiral gave chase. One of them struck, after having made a very slight resistance; and the rest ran ashore to the westward of Marbella, where they were destroyed. The remaining part of the French squadron had been blown from their anchors, and taken shelter in the bay of Malaga; but now they slipped their cables and made the best of their way to Toulon. The mareschal de Thesse, inconsequence of this disaster, turned the siege of Gibraltar into a blockade, and withdrew the greater part of his forces. While sir John Leake was employed in this expedition, sir George Byng, who had been ordered to cruise in soundings for the protection of trade, took a ship of forty guns from the enemy, together with twelve privateers, and seven vessels richly laden from the West Indies.



BARCELONA REDUCED BY SIR C. SHOVEL AND LORD PETERBOROUGH.

But the most eminent achievement of this summer was the reduction of Barcelona, by the celebrated earl of Peterborough and sir Cloudesley Shovel, who sailed from St. Helen's in the latter end of May with the English fleet, having on board a body of five thousand land forces; and on the twentieth day of June arrived at Lisbon; where they were joined by sir John Leake and the Dutch admiral Allemonde. In a council of war, they determined to put to sea with eight-and-forty ships of the line, which should be stationed between cape Spartel and the bay of Cadiz, in order to prevent the junction of the Toulon and Brest squadrons. The prince of Hesse-d'Armstadt arriving from Gibraltar, assured king Charles that the province of Catalonia and the kingdom of Valencia were attached to his interest; and his majesty, being weary of Portugal, resolved to accompany the earl of Peterborough to Barcelona. He accordingly embarked with him on board of the Ranelagh; and the fleet sailed on the twenty-eighth day of July, the earl of Galway having reinforced them with two regiments of English dragoons. At Gibraltar they took on board the English guards, and three old regiments, in lieu of which they left two new raised battalions. On the eleventh day of August they anchored in the bay of Altea, where the earl of Peterborough published a manifesto in the Spanish language, which had such an effect that all the inhabitants of the place, the neighbouring villages, and adjacent mountains, acknowledged king Charles as their lawful sovereign. They seized the town of Denia for his service; and he sent thither a garrison of four hundred men under the command of major-general Ramos. On the twenty-second they arrived in the bay of Barcelona: the troops were disembarked to the eastward of the city, where they encamped in a strong situation, and were well received by the country people. King Charles landed amidst the acclamations of an infinite multitude from the neighbouring towns and villages, who threw themselves at his feet, exclaiming, "Long live the king!" and exhibiting all the marks of the most extravagant joy. The inhabitants of Barcelona were well affected to the house of Austria, but overawed by a garrison of five thousand men under the duke de Popoli, Velasco, and other officers devoted to the interest of king Philip. Considering the strength of such a garrison, and the small number of Dutch and English troops, nothing could appear more desperate and dangerous than the design of besieging the place; yet this was proposed by the prince of Hesse d'Armstadt, who served in the expedition as a volunteer, strongly urged by king Charles, and approved by the earl of Peterborough and sir Cloudesley Shovel. The city was accordingly invested on one side; but, as a previous step to the reduction of it, they resolved to attack the fort of Montjuic, strongly situated on a hill that commanded the city. The out-works were taken by storm, with the loss of the gallant prince of Hesse, who was shot through the body, and expired in a few hours: then the earl of Peterborough began to bombard the body of the fort; and a shell chancing to fall into the magazine of powder, blew it up, together with the governor and some of the best officers: an accident which struck such a terror into the garrison, that they surrendered without further resistance.



THE EARL'S PROGRESS IN SPAIN.

This great point being gained, the English general erected his batteries against the town, with the help of the Miquelets and seamen; the bomb ketches began to fire with such execution, that in a few days the governor capitulated, and on the fourth day of October king Charles entered in triumph. [136] [See note K, at the end of this Vol.] All the other places in Catalonia declared for him, except Roses; so that the largest and richest province of Spain was conquered with an army scarce double the number of the garrison of Barcelona. King Charles wrote a letter with his own hand to the queen of England, containing a circumstantial detail of his affairs, the warmest expressions of acknowledgment, and the highest encomiums on her subjects, particularly the earl of Peterborough. In a council of war it was determined that the king and the earl should continue in Catalonia with the land forces; that sir Cloudesley Shovel should return to England; that five-and-twenty English and fifteen Dutch ships of war should winter at Lisbon under the command of sir John Leake and the Dutch rear-admiral Wassenaer; and that four English and two Dutch frigates should remain at Barcelona. Don Francisco de Velasco was transported to Malaga with about a thousand men of his garrison; the rest voluntarily engaged in the service of king Charles, and six other regiments were raised by the states of Catalonia. The count de Cifuentas, at the head of the Miquelets and Catalans attached to the house of Austria, secured Tar-ragonia, Tortosa, Lerida, San-Mattheo, Gironne, and other places. Don Raphael Nevat, revolting from Philip with his whole regiment of horse, joined general Ramos at Denia, and made themselves masters of several places of importance in the kingdom of Valencia. Flushed with such unexpected success, they penetrated to the capital of the same name, which they surprised, together with the marquis de Villa-Gracia, the viceroy, and the archbishop. These advantages however were not properly improved. The court of Charles was divided into factions, and so much time lost in disputes, that the enemy sent a body of six thousand men into the kingdom of Valencia, under the command of the conde de las Torres, who forthwith invested San-Mattheo, guarded by colonel Jones at the head of five hundred Miquelets. This being a place of great consequence on account of its situation, the earl of Peterborough marched thither with one thousand infantry, and two hundred dragoons; and by means of feigned intelligence artfully conveyed to the conde, induced that general to abandon the siege with precipitation, in the apprehension of being suddenly attacked by a considerable army. Peterborough afterwards took possession of Nules, and purchasing horses at Castillon de la Plana, began to form a body of cavalry which did good service in the sequel. Having assembled a little army, consisting of ten squadrons of horse and dragoons, and four battalions of regular troops, with about three thousand militia, he marched to Molviedro, which was surrendered to him by the governor, brigadier Mahoni. Between this officer and the duke d'Arcos, the Spanish general, he excited such jealousies by dint of artifices, not altogether justifiable even in war, that the duke was more intent upon avoiding the supposed treachery of Mahoni than upon interrupting the earl's march to Valencia, where the inhabitants expressed uncommon marks of joy at his arrival. About this period a very obstinate action happened at St. Istevan de Litera, where the chevalier d'Asfeldt, with nine squadrons of horse and dragoons, and as many battalions of French infantry, attacked colonel Wills at the head of a small detachment; but this last being supported by lieutenant-general Cunningham, who was mortally wounded in the engagement, repulsed the enemy, though three times his number, with the loss of four hundred men killed upon the spot. The troops on both sides fought with the most desperate valour, keeping up their fire until the muzzles of their pieces met, and charging each other at the point of the bayonet. The only misfortune that attended the English arms in the course of this year, was the capture of the Baltic fleet homeward-bound, with their convoy of three ships of war, which were taken by the Dunkirk squadron under the command of the count de St. Paul, though he himself was killed in the engagement. When an account of this advantage was communicated to the French king, he replied with a sigh, "Very well, I wish the ships were safe again in any English port, provided the count de St. Paul could be restored to life." After the death of the famous du Bart, this officer was counted the best seaman in France.



NEW PARLIAMENT IN ENGLAND.

The kingdom of England was now wholly engrossed by the election of members for the new parliament. The tories exerted themselves with great industry, and propagated the cry of the church's being in danger; a cry in which the Jacobites joined with great fervour; but, notwithstanding all their efforts in words and writing, a majority of whigs was returned; and now the lord Godolphin, who had hitherto maintained a neutrality, thought proper openly to countenance that faction. By his interest, co-operating with the influence of the duchess of Marlborough, sir Nathan Wright was deprived of the great seal, which was committed to Mr. William Cowper, with the title of lord-keeper. This was a lawyer of good extraction, superior talents, engaging manners, and eminence in his profession. He was staunch to whig principles, and for many years had been considered as one of their best speakers in the house of commons. The new parliament meeting on the twenty-fifth day of October, a violent contest arose about the choice of a speaker. Mr. Bromley was supported by the tories, and the whigs proposed Mr. John Smith, who was elected by a majority of forty-three voices. The queen in her speech represented the necessity of acting vigorously against France, as a common enemy to the liberties of Europe; she commended the fortitude of the duke of Savoy, which she said was without example; she told them her intention was to expedite commissions for treating of an union with Scotland; she earnestly recommended an union of minds and affections among her people; she observed, that some persons had endeavoured to foment animosities, and even suggested in print that the established church was in danger; she affirmed that such people were enemies to her and the kingdom, and meant only to cover designs which they durst not publicly own, by endeavouring to distract the nation with unreasonable and groundless distrusts and jealousies; she declared she would always affectionately support and countenance the church of England, as by law established; that she would inviolably maintain the toleration; that she would promote religion and virtue, encourage trade, and every thing else that might make them a happy and flourishing people.



BILL FOR A REGENCY.

The majority in both houses now professed the same principles, and were well disposed to support the queen in all her designs. They first presented the usual addresses in the warmest terms of duty and affection. Then the commons drew up a second,