DEBATE ON THE MUTINY BILL.
A bill was brought in for prohibiting the practice of insuring ships belonging to the enemies of the nation; but it was vigorously opposed by sir John Barnard and Mr. Willimot, who demonstrated that this kind of traffic was advantageous to the kingdom; and the scheme was dropped. Another warm contest arose upon a clause of the mutiny bill, relating to the quartering of soldiers upon innkeepers and publicans, who complained of their being distressed in furnishing those guests with provisions and necessaries at the rates prescribed by law or custom. There were not wanting advocates to expatiate upon the nature of this grievance, which, however, was not redressed. A new trade was at this time opened with Persia, through the dominions of the czar, and vested with an exclusive privilege in the Russian company, by an act of parliament. The commons voted forty thousand seamen for the service of the ensuing year, and about thirty thousand men for the establishment of land-forces. They provided for the subsidies granted to the king of Denmark and the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel; and took every step which was suggested for the ease and the convenience of the government.
PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
The parties in the house of lords were influenced by the same motives which actuated the commons. The duke of Argyle, who had by this time resigned all his places, declared open war against the ministry. In the beginning of the session, the king’s speech was no sooner reported by the chancellor, than this nobleman stood up and moved that a general address of thanks should be presented to his majesty, instead of a recapitulation of every paragraph of the king’s speech, re-echoed from the parliament to the throne, with expressions of blind approbation, implying a general concurrence with all the measures of the minister. He spoke on this subject with an astonishing impetuosity of eloquence, that rolled like a river which had overflowed its banks and deluged the whole adjacent country. The motion was supported by lord Bathurst, lord Carteret, the earl of Chesterfield, and lord Gower, who, though they displayed all the talents of oratory, were outvoted by the opposite party, headed by the duke of Newcastle, the earl of Cholmondeley, lord Hervey, and the lord-chancellor. The motion was rejected, and the address composed in the usual strain. The same motions for an inquiry into orders and instructions which had miscarried in the lower house, were here repeated with the same bad success; in the debates which ensued, the young earls of Halifax and Sandwich acquired a considerable share of reputation, for the strength of argument and elocution with which they contended against the adherents of the ministry. When the house took into consideration the state of the army, the duke of Argyle having harangued with equal skill and energy on military affairs, proposed that the forces should be augmented by adding new levies to the old companies, without increasing the number of officers; as such an augmentation served only to debase the dignity of the service, by raising the lowest of mankind to the rank of gentlemen; and to extend the influence of the minister, by multiplying his dependents. He therefore moved for a resolution, that the augmenting the army by raising regiments, as it is the most unnecessary and most expensive method of augmentation, was also the most dangerous to the liberties of the nation. This proposal was likewise overruled, after a short though warm contention. This was the fate of all the other motions made by the lords in the opposition, though the victory of the courtiers was always clogged with a nervous and spirited protest. Two days were expended in the debate produced by lord Carteret’s motion for an address, beseeching his majesty to remove sir Robert Walpole from his presence and councils for ever. The speech that ushered in this memorable motion would not have disgraced a Cicero. It contained a retrospect of all the public measures which had been pursued since the revolution. It explained the nature of every treaty, whether right or wrong, which had been concluded under the present administration. It described the political connexions subsisting between the different powers in Europe. It exposed the weakness, the misconduct, and the iniquity of the minister, both in his foreign and domestic transactions. It was embellished with all the ornaments of rhetoric, and warmed with a noble spirit of patriotic indignation. The duke of Argyle, lord Bathurst, and his other colleagues, seemed to be animated with uncommon fervour, and even inspired by the subject.
1741
A man of imagination, in reading their speeches, will think himself transported into the Roman senate, before the ruin of that republic. Nevertheless, the minister still triumphed by dint of numbers; though his victory was dearly purchased. Thirty peers entered a vigorous protest, and Walpole’s character sustained such a rude shock from this opposition, that his authority seemed to be drawing near a period. Immediately after this contest was decided, the duke of Marlborough moved for a resolution, that any attempt to inflict any kind of punishment on any person, without allowing him an opportunity to make his defence, or without any proof of any crime or misdemeanor committed by him, is contrary to natural justice, the fundamental laws of the realm, and the ancient established usage of parliament; and is a high infringement of the liberties of the subject. It was seconded by the duke of Devonshire and lord Lovel; and opposed by lord Gower, as an intended censure on the proceedings of the day. This sentiment was so warmly espoused by lord Talbot, who had distinguished himself in the former debate, that he seemed to be transported beyond the bounds of moderation. He was interrupted by the earl of Cholmondeley, who charged him with having violated the order and decorum which ought to be preserved in such an assembly. His passion was inflamed by this rebuke; he declared himself an independent lord; a character which he would not forfeit for the smiles of a court, the profit of an employment, or the reward of a pension; he said, when he was engaged on the side of truth, he would trample on the insolence that should command him to suppress his sentiments.—On a division, however, the motion was carried.
In the beginning of April, the king repairing to the house of peers, passed some acts that were ready for the royal assent. Then, in his speech to both houses, he gave them to understand, that the queen of Hungary had made a requisition of the twelve thousand men stipulated by treaty; and that he had ordered the subsidy troops of Denmark and Hesse-Cassel to be in readiness to march to her assistance. He observed, that in this complicated and uncertain state of affairs, many incidents might arise, and render it necessary for him to incur extraordinary expenses for maintaining the pragmatic sanction, at a time when he could not possibly have recourse to the advice and assistance of his parliament. He therefore demanded of the commons such a supply as might be requisite for these ends; and promised to manage it with all possible frugality. The lower house, in their address, approved of all his measures; declared they would effectually support him against all insults and attacks that might be made upon any of his territories, though not belonging to the crown of Great Britain; and that they would enable him to contribute, in the most effectual manner, to the support of the queen of Hungary. Sir Robert Walpole moved, that an aid of two hundred thousand pounds should be granted to that princess. Mr. Shippen protested against any interposition in the affairs of Germany. He expressed his dislike of the promise which had been made to defend his majesty’s foreign dominions; a promise, in his opinion, inconsistent with that important and inviolable law, the act of settlement; a promise which, could it have been foreknown, would perhaps have for ever precluded from the succession that illustrious family to which the nation owed such numberless blessings, such continued felicity. The motion however passed, though not without further opposition; and the house resolved, that three hundred thousand pounds should be granted to his majesty, to enable him effectually to support the queen of Hungary. Towards the expense of this year, a million was deducted from the sinking fund; and the land-tax continued at four shillings in the pound. The preparations for this war had already cost five millions. The session was closed on the twenty-fifth day of April, when the king took his leave of this parliament with warm expressions of tenderness and satisfaction. Henry Bromley, Stephen Fox, and John Howe, three members of the lower house who had signalized themselves in defence of the minister, were now ennobled, and created barons of Montford, Ilchester, and Chedworth. A camp was formed near Colchester; and the king having appointed a regency, set out in May for his German dominions.*
* Sir William Wyndham died the preceding year, deeply regretted as an orator, a patriot, and a man, the constant assertor of British liberty, and one of the chief ornaments of the English nation.—In the course of the same year, general Oglethorpe, governor of Georgia, had, with some succours obtained from the colony of Carolina, and a small squadron of king’s ships, made an attempt upon Fort Angus- tine, the capital of Spanish Florida; and actually reduced some small forts in the neighbourhood of the place; but the Carolinians withdrawing in disgust, dissensions prevailing among the sea officers, the hurricane months approaching, and the enemy having received a supply and reinforcement, he abandoned the enterprise, and returned to Georgia.
CHAPTER IV.
The Army under lord Cathcart and Sir Chaloner Ogle proceeds to the West Indies..... Nature of the Climate on the Spanish Main..... Admiral Vernon sails to Carthagena..... Attack of Tort Lasar..... Expedition to Cuba..... Rupture between the Queen of Hungary and the king of Prussia..... Battle of Molwitz..... The king of Great Britain concludes a Treaty of Neutrality with Franco for the Electorate of Hanover..... A Body of French Forces join the Elector of Bavaria..... He is crowned kind of Bohemia at Prague..... Fidelity of the Hungarians..... War between Russia and Sweden..... Revolution in Russia..... The Spanish and French Squadrons pass unmolested by the English Admiral in the Mediterranean..... Inactivity of the naval Power of Great Britain..... Obstinate Struggle in electing Members in the new Parliament..... Remarkable Motion in the House of Commons by Lord Noel Somerset..... The Country Party obtain a Majority in the House of Commons..... Sir Robert Walpole created Earl of Orford..... Change in the Ministry..... Inquiry into the Administration of Sir Robert Walpole..... Obstructed by the new ministry..... Reports of the Secret Committee..... The elector of Bavaria chosen Emperor..... The king of Prussia gains the battle at Czaslaw..... Treaty at Breslau..... The French Troops retire under the Cannon of Prague..... A fresh Body sent with the Mareschal de Mallebois to bring them off..... Extraordinary retreat of M. de Belleisle-The king of Great Britain forms an Army in Flanders..... Progress of the War between Russia and Sweden..... The King of Sardinia declares for the House of Austria..... Motions of the Spaniards in Italy and Savoy..... Conduct of Admiral Matthews in the Mediterranean..... Operations in the West Indies..... The Attention of the Ministry turned chiefly on the Affairs of the Continent..... Extraordinary Motion in the House of Lords by Earl Stanhope..... Warm and obstinate Debate on the Repeal of the Gin-Act..... Bill for quieting Corporations..... Convention between the Emperor and the Queen of Hungary..... Difference between the King of Prussia and the Elector of Hanover..... The King of Great Britain obtains a victory over the French at Dettingen..... Treaty of Worms..... Conclusion of the Campaign..... Affairs in the North..... Battle of Campo Santo..... Transactions of the British Fleet in the Mediterranean..... Unsuccessful Attempts upon the Spanish Settlements in the West Indies
ARMY UNDER LORD CATHCART AND SIR CHALONER OGLE.
The British armament had by this time proceeded to action in the West Indies. Sir Chaloner Ogle, who sailed from Spithead, had been overtaken by a tempest in the Bay of Biscay, by which the fleet, consisting of about one hundred and seventy sail, were scattered and dispersed. Nevertheless he prosecuted his voyage, and anchored with a view to provide wood and water, in the neutral island of Dominica, where the intended expedition sustained a terrible shock in the death of the gallant lord Cathcart, who was carried off by a dysentery. The loss of this nobleman was the more severely felt, as the command of the land-forces devolved upon general Wentworth, an officer without experience, authority, and resolution. As the fleet sailed along the island of Hispaniola, in its way to Jamaica, four large ships of war were discovered; and sir Chaloner detached an equal number of his squadron to give them chase, while he himself proceeded on his voyage. As those strange ships refused to bring to, lord Augustus Fitz-roy, the commodore of the four British ships, saluted one of them with a broadside, and a smart engagement ensued. After they had fought during the best part of the night, the enemy hoisted their colours in the morning, and appeared to be part of the French squadron, which had sailed from Europe tinder the command of the marquis d’Antin, with orders to assist the Spanish admiral De Torres, in attacking and distressing the English ships and colonies. War was not yet declared between France and England; therefore hostilities ceased; the English and French commanders complimented each other; excused themselves mutually for the mistake which had happened; and parted friends, with a considerable loss of men on both sides.
NATURE OF THE CLIMATE ON THE SPANISH MAIN.
In the meantime sir Chaloner Ogle arrived at Jamaica, where he joined vice-admiral Vernon, who now found himself at the head of the most formidable fleet and army that ever visited those seas, with full power to act at discretion. The conjoined squadrons consisted of nine-and-twenty ships of the line, with almost an equal number of frigates, fire-ships, and bomb-ketches, well manned, and plentifully supplied with all kinds of provisions, stores, and necessaries. The number of seamen amounted to fifteen thousand; that of the land-forces, including the American regiment of four battalions, and a body of negroes enlisted at Jamaica, did not fall short of twelve thousand. Had this armament been ready to act in the proper season of the year, under the conduct of wise experienced officers, united in councils, and steadily attached to the interest and honour of their country, the Havannah, and the whole island of Cuba, might have been easily reduced; the whole treasure of the Spanish West Indies would have been intercepted; and Spain must have been humbled into the most abject submission. But several unfavourable circumstances concurred to frustrate the hopes of the public. The ministry had detained sir Chaloner Ogle at Spithead without any visible cause, until the season for action was almost exhausted; for, on the continent of new Spain, the periodical rains begin about the end of April; and this change in the atmosphere is always attended with epidemical distempers which render the climate extremely unhealthy; besides, the rain is so excessive, that for the space of two months no army can keep the field.
ADMIRAL VERNON SAILS TO CARTHAGENA.
Sir Chaloner Ogle arrived at Jamaica on the ninth day of January; and admiral Vernon did not sail on his intended expedition till towards the end of the month. Instead of directing his course towards the Havannah, which lay to leeward, and might have been reached in less than three days, he resolved to beat up against the wind to Hispaniola, in order to observe the motion of the French squadron, commanded by the marquis d’Antin. The fifteenth day of February had elapsed before he received certain information that the French admiral had sailed for Europe, in great distress for want of men and provisions, which he could not procure in the West Indies. Admiral Vernon thus disappointed, called a council of war, in which it was determined to proceed for Carthagena. The fleet being supplied with wood and water at Hispaniola, set sail for the continent of New Spain, and on the fourth of March, anchored in Playa Grande, to the windward of Carthagena. Admiral de Torres had already sailed to the Havannah; but Carthagena was strongly fortified, and the garrison reinforced by the crews of a small squadron of large ships, commanded by don Bias de Lesco, an officer of experience and reputation. Here the English admiral lay inactive till the ninth, when the troops were landed on the island of Tierra Bomba, near the mouth of the harbour, known by the name of Boca-chica, or Little-mouth, which was surprisingly fortified with castles, batteries, booms, chains, cables, and ships of war. The British forces erected a battery on shore, with which they made a breach in the principal fort, while the admiral sent in a number of ships to divide the fire of the enemy, and co-operate with the endeavours of the army. Lord Aubrey Beauclerc, a gallant officer who commanded one of these ships, was slain on this occasion. The breach being deemed practicable, the forces advanced to the attack; but the forts and batteries were abandoned; the Spanish ships that lay athwart the harbour’s mouth were destroyed or taken, the passage was opened, and the fleet entered without further opposition. Then the forces were re-embarked with the artillery, and landed within a mile of Carthagena, where they were opposed by about seven hundred Spaniards, whom they obliged to retire. The admiral and general had contracted a hearty contempt for each other, and took all opportunities of expressing their mutual dislike; far from acting vigorously in concert for the advantage of the community, they maintained a mutual reserve, and separate cabals; and each proved more eager for the disgrace of his rival, than zealous for the honour of the nation.
The general complained that the fleet lay idle while his troops were harassed and diminished by hard duty and distemper. The admiral affirmed, that his ships could not lie near enough to batter the town of Carthagena; he upbraided the general with inactivity and want of resolution to attack the fort of Saint Lazar which commanded the town, and might be taken by scalade. Wentworth, stimulated by these reproaches, resolved to try the experiment. His forces marched up to the attack; but the guides being slain, they mistook their route, and advanced to the strongest part of the fortification, where they were moreover exposed to the fire of the town. Colonel Grant, who commanded the grenadiers, was mortally wounded; the scaling-ladders were found too short; the officers were perplexed for want of orders and directions; yet the soldiers sustained a severe fire for several hours with surprising intrepidity, and at length retreated, leaving about six hundred killed or wounded on the spot. Their number was now so much reduced, that they could no longer maintain their footing on shore; besides, the rainy season had begun with such violence, as rendered it impossible for them to live in camp. They were, therefore, re-embarked; and all hope of further success immediately vanished. The admiral, however, in order to demonstrate the impracticability of taking the place by sea, sent in the Gallicia, one of the Spanish ships which had been taken at Boca-chica, to cannonade the town, with sixteen guns mounted on one side, like a floating battery. This vessel, manned by detachments of volunteers from different ships, and commanded by captain Hore, was warped into the inner harbour, and moored before day, at a considerable distance from the walls, in very shallow water. In this position she stood the fire of several batteries for some hours, without doing or sustaining much damage; then the admiral ordered the men to be brought off in boats, and the cables to be cut; so that she drove with the sea-breeze upon a shoal, where she was soon filled with water. This exploit was absurd, and the inference which the admiral drew from it altogether fallacious. He said it plainly proved that there was not depth of water in the inner harbour sufficient to admit large ships near enough to batter the town with any prospect of success. This indeed was the case in that part of the harbour to which the Gallicia was conducted; but a little farther to the left he might have stationed four or five of his largest ships abreast, within pistol shot of the walls; and if this step had been taken when the land-forces marched to the attack of Saint Lazar, in all probability the town would have been surrendered.
EXPEDITION TO CUBA.
After the re-embarkation of the troops, the distempers peculiar to the climate and season began to rage with redoubled fury; and great numbers of those who escaped the vengeance of the enemy perished by a more painful and inglorious fate. Nothing was heard but complaints and execrations; the groans of the dying, and the service for the dead; nothing was seen but objects of woe, and images of dejection. The conductors of this unfortunate expedition agreed in nothing but the expediency of a speedy retreat from this scene of misery and disgrace. The fortifications of the harbour were demolished, and the fleet returned to Jamaica.—The miscarriage of this expedition, which had cost the nation an immense sum of money, was no sooner known in England, than the kingdom was filled with murmurs and discontent, and the people were depressed in proportion to that sanguine hope by which they had been elevated. Admiral Vernon, instead of undertaking any enterprise which might have retrieved the honour of the British arms, set sail from Jamaica with the forces in July, and anchored at the south-east part of Cuba, in a bay, on which he bestowed the appellation of Cumberland harbour. The troops were landed, and encamped at the distance of twenty miles farther up the river, where they remained totally inactive, and subsisted chiefly on salt and damaged provisions, till the month of November, when, being considerably diminished by sickness, they were put on board again, and re-conveyed to Jamaica. He was afterwards reinforced from England by four ships of war, and about three thousand soldiers; but he performed nothing worthy of the reputation he had acquired; and the people began to perceive that they had mistaken his character.
RUPTURE BETWEEN THE QUEEN OF HUNGARY AND THE KING OF PRUSSIA.
The affairs on the continent of Europe were now more than ever embroiled. The king of Prussia had demanded of the court of Vienna part of Silesia, by virtue of old treaties of co-fraternity, which were either obsolete or annulled; and promised to assist the queen with all his forces in case she should comply with his demand; but this being rejected with disdain, he entered Silesia at the head of an army, and prosecuted his conquests with great rapidity. In the meantime the queen of Hungary was crowned at Presburgh, after having signed a capitulation, by which the liberties of that kingdom were confirmed; and the grand duke her consort was, at her request, associated with her for ten years in the government. At the same time the states of Hungary refused to receive a memorial from the elector of Bavaria.
During these transactions, his Prussian majesty made his public entrance into Breslau, and confirmed all the privileges of the inhabitants. One of his generals surprised the town and fortress of Jablunka, on the confines of Hungary; prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, who commanded another army which formed the blockade of Great Glogau, on the Oder, took the place by scalade, made the generals Wallis and Reyski prisoners, with a thousand men that were in garrison; here likewise the victor found the military chest, fifty pieces of brass cannon, and a great quantity of ammunition.
The queen of Hungary had solicited the maritime powers for assistance, but found them fearful and backward. Being obliged, therefore, to exert herself with the more vigour, she ordered count Neuperg to assemble a body of forces, and endeavour to stop the progress of the Prussians in Silesia. The two armies encountered each other in the neighbourhood of Neiss, at a village called Molwitz; and, after an obstinate dispute, the Austrians were obliged to retire with the loss of four thousand men killed, wounded, or taken. The advantage was dearly purchased by the king of Prussia. His kinsman Frederick, margrave of Brandenburgh, and lieutenant-general Schuylemberg, were killed in the engagement, together with a great number of general officers, and about two thousand soldiers. After this action, Brieg was surrendered to the Prussian, and he forced the important pass of Fryewalde, which was defended by four thousand Austrian hussars. The English and Dutch ministers, who accompanied him in his progress, spared no pains to effect an accommodation; but the two sovereigns were too much irritated against each other to acquiesce in any terms that could be proposed. The queen of Hungary was incensed to find herself attacked, in the day of her distress, by a prince to whom she had given no sort of provocation; and his Prussian majesty charged the court of Vienna with a design either to assassinate or carry him off by treachery; a design which was disowned with expressions of indignation and disdain. Count Neuperg being obliged to abandon Silesia, in order to oppose the Bavarian arms in Bohemia, the king of Prussia sent thither a detachment to join the elector, under the command of count Deslau, who, in his route, reduced Glatz and Neiss, almost without opposition; then his master received the homage of the Silesian states at Breslau, and returned to Berlin. In December, the Prussian army was distributed in winter-quarters in Moravia, after having taken Olmutz, the capital of that province; and in March his Prussian majesty formed a camp of observation in the neighbourhood of Magdeburgh.
A TREATY OF NEUTRALITY CONCLUDED WITH FRANCE FOR HANOVER.
The elector of Hanover was alarmed at the success of the king of Prussia, in apprehension that he would become too formidable a neighbour. A scheme was said to have been proposed to the court of Vienna, for attacking that prince’s electoral dominions, and dividing the conquest; but it was never put in execution. Nevertheless, the troops of Hanover were augmented; the auxiliary Danes and Hessians in the pay of Great Britain were ordered to be in readiness to march; and a good number of British forces encamped and prepared for embarkation. The subsidy of three hundred thousand pounds, granted by parliament, was remitted to the queen of Hungary; and every thing seemed to presage the vigorous interposition of his Britannic majesty. But in a little time after his arrival at Hanover, that spirit of action seemed to flag, even while her Hungarian majesty tottered on the verge of ruin. France resolved to seize this opportunity of crushing the house of Austria. In order to intimidate the elector of Hanover, mare-schal Mallebois was sent with a numerous army into Westphalia; and this expedient proved effectual. A treaty of neutrality was concluded; and the king of Great Britain engaged to vote for the elector of Bavaria at the ensuing election of an emperor. The design of the French court was to raise this prince to the Imperial dignity, and furnish him with such succours as should enable him to deprive the queen of Hungary of her hereditary dominions.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
A BODY OF FRENCH FORCES JOIN THE ELECTOR OF BAVARIA.
While the French minister at Vienna endeavoured to amuse the queen with the strongest assurances of his master’s friendship, a body of five-and-thirty thousand men began their march for Germany, in order to join the elector of Bavaria; another French army was assembled upon the Rhine; and the count de Belleisle being provided with large sums of money, was sent to negotiate with different electors. Having thus secured a majority of voices, he proceeded to Munich, where he presented the elector of Bavaria with a commission, appointing him generalissimo of the French troops marching to his assistance; and now the treaty of Nymphen-burgh was concluded. The French king engaged to assist the elector with his whole power, towards raising him to the Imperial throne: the elector promised, that after his elevation he would never attempt to recover any of the towns or provinces of the empire which France had conquered; that he would, in his Imperial capacity, renounce the barrier-treaty; and agree that France should irrevocably retain whatever places she should subdue in the Austrian Netherlands. The next step of Belleisle was to negotiate another treaty between France and Prussia, importing, that the elector of Bavaria should possess Bohemia, Upper Austria, and the Tyrolese; that the king of Poland should be gratified with Moravia and Upper Silesia; and that his Prussian majesty should retain Lower Silesia, with the town of Neiss and the county of Glatz. These precautions being taken, the count do Belleisle repaired to Franck-fort, in quality of ambassador and plenipotentiary from France, at the Imperial diet of election. It was in this city that the French king published a declaration, signifying, that as the king of Great Britain had assembled an army to influence the approaching election of an emperor, his most christain majesty, as guarantee of the treaty of Westphalia, had ordered some troops to advance towards the Rhine, with a view to maintain the tranquillity of the Germanie body, and secure the freedom of the Imperial election.
In July, the elector of Bavaria being joined by the French forces tinder mareschal Broglio, surprised the Imperial city of Passau, upon the Danube; and entering Upper Austria at the head of seventy thousand men, took possession of Lintz, where he received the homage of the states of that country. Understanding that the garrison of Vienna was very numerous, and that count Palfi had assembled thirty thousand Hungarians in the neighbourhood of this capital, he made no farther progress in Austria, but marched into Bohemia, where he was reinforced by a considerable body of Saxons, under the command of count Rutowski, natural son to the late king of Poland. By this time his Polish majesty had acceded to the treaty of Nymphenburgh, and declared war against the queen of Hungary, on the most frivolous pretences. The elector of Bavaria advanced to Prague, which was taken in the night by scalade; an achievement in which Maurice count of Saxe, another natural son of the king of Poland, distinguished himself at the head of the French forces. In December the elector of Bavaria made his public entry into his capital, where he was proclaimed king of Bohemia, and inaugurated with the usual solemnities; then he set out for Franckfort, to be present at the diet of election.
At this period the queen of Hungary saw herself abandoned by all her allies, and seemingly voted to destruction. She was not, however, forsaken by her courage; nor destitute of good officers, and an able ministry. She retired to Presburgh, and in a pathetic Latin speech to the states, expressed her confidence in the loyalty and valour of her Hungarian subjects. The nobility of that kingdom, touched with her presence and distress, assured her unanimously that they would sacrifice their lives and fortunes in her defence. The ban being raised, that brave people crowded to her standard; and the diet expressed their sentiments against her enemy by a public edict, excluding for ever the electoral house of Bavaria from the succession to the crown of Hungary; yet, without the subsidy she received from Great Britain, their courage and attachment would have proved ineffectual. By this supply she was enabled to pay her army, erect magazines, complete her warlike preparations, and put her strong places in a posture of defence. In December, her generals Berenclau and Mentzel, defeated count Thoring, who commanded eight thousand men, at the pass of Scardingen, and opening their way to Bavaria, laid the whole country under contribution; while count Khevenhuller retook the city of Lintz, and drove the French troops out of Austria. The grand seignor assured the queen of Hungary, that far from taking advantage of her troubles, he should seize all opportunities to convince her of his friendship; the pope permitted her to levy a tenth on the revenues of the clergy within her dominions; and even to use all the church plate for the support of the war.
WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND SWEDEN.
As the czarina expressed an inclination to assist this unfortunate princess, the French court resolved to find her employment in another quarter. They had already gained over to their interest count Gyllenburgh, prime minister and president of the chancery in Sweden. A dispute happening between him and Mr. Burnaby, the British resident at Stockholm, some warm altercation passed: Mr. Burnaby was forbid the court, and published a memorial in his own vindication; on the other hand, the king of Sweden justified his conduct in a rescript sent to all the foreign ministers. The king of Great Britain had proposed a subsidy-treaty to Sweden, which, from the influence of French councils, was rejected. The Swedes having assembled a numerous army in Finland, and equipped a large squadron of ships, declared war against Eussia upon the most trifling pretences; and the fleet putting to sea, commenced hostilities by blocking up the Russian ports in Livonia. A body of eleven thousand Swedes, commanded by general Wrangle, having advanced to Willmenstrand, were in August attacked and defeated by general Lasci, at the head of thirty thousand Russians. Count Lewenhaup, who commanded the main army of the Swedes, resolved to take vengeance for this disgrace, after the Russian troops had retired into winter quarters. In December he marched towards Wybourg; but receiving letters from the prince of Hesse-Hombourg, and the marquis de la Chetardie, the French ambassador at Petersburgh, informing him of the surprising revolution which had just happened in Russia, and proposing a suspension of hostilities, he retreated with his army in order to wait for further instructions; and the two courts agreed to a cessation of arms for three months.
REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA.
The Russians had been for some time discontented with their government. The late czarina was influenced chiefly by German councils, and employed a great number of foreigners in her service. These causes of discontent produced factions and conspiracies; and when they were discovered, the empress treated the authors of them with such severity as increased the general disaffection. Besides, they were displeased at the manner in which she had settled the succession. The prince of Brunswick Lunenberg Bovern, father to the young czar, was not at all agreeable to the Russian nobility; and his consort, the princess Anne of Mecklenburgh, having assumed the reins of government during her son’s minority, seemed to follow the maxims of her aunt the late czarina. The Russian grandees and generals, therefore, turned their eyes upon the princess Elizabeth, who was daughter of Peter the Great, and the darling of the empire. The French ambassador gladly concurred in a project for deposing a princess who was well affected to the house of Austria. General Lasci approved of the design, which was chiefly conducted by the prince of Hesse-Hombourg, who, in the reigns of the empress Catharine and Peter II., had been generalissimo of the Russian army. The good will and concurrence of the troops being secured, two regiments of guards took possession of all the avenues of the imperial palace at Petersburgh. The princess Elizabeth, putting herself at the head of one thousand men, on the fifth day of December entered the winter palace, where the princess of Mecklenburgh and the infant czar resided. She advanced into the chamber where the princess and her consort lay, and desired them to rise and quit the palace, adding that their persons were safe; and that they could not justly blame her for asserting her right. At the same time, the counts Osterman, Golofhairkin, Mingden, and Munich, were arrested; their papers and effects were seized, and their persons conveyed to Schlisselbourgh, a fortress on the Neva. Early in the morning the senate assembling, declared all that had passed since the reign of Peter II. to be usurpation; and that the imperial dignity belonged of right to the princess Elizabeth: she was immediately proclaimed empress of all the Russias, and recognized by the army of Finland. She forthwith published a general act of indemnity; she created the prince of Hesse-Hombourg generalissimo of her armies; she restored the Dolgorucky family to their honours and estates; she recalled and rewarded all those who had been banished for favouring her pretensions; she mitigated the exile of the duke of Courland, by indulging him with a maintenance more suitable to his rank; she released general Wrangle, count Wasaburgh, and the other Swedish officers who had been taken at the battle of Willmenstrand; and the princess Anne of Mecklenburgh, with her consort and children, were sent under a strong guard to Riga, the capital of Livonia.
Amidst these tempests of war and revolution, the states-general wisely determined to preserve their own tranquillity. It was doubtless their interest to avoid the dangers and expense of a war, and to profit by that stagnation of commerce which would necessarily happen among their neighbours that were at open enmity with each other; besides, they were over-awed by the declarations of the French monarch on one side; by the power, activity, and pretensions of his Prussian majesty on the other; and they dreaded the prospect of a stadtholder at the head of their army. These at least were the sentiments of many Dutch patriots, reinforced by others that acted under French influence. But the prince of Orange numbered among his partisans and adherents many persons of dignity and credit in the commonwealth; he was adored by the populace, who loudly exclaimed against their governors, and clamoured for a war without ceasing. This national spirit, joined to the remonstrances and requisitions made by the courts of Vienna and London, obliged the states to issue orders for an augmentation of their forces; but these were executed so slowly, that neither France nor Prussia had much cause to take umbrage at their preparations. In Italy, the king of Sardinia declared for the house of Austria; the republic of Genoa was deeply engaged in the French interest; the pope, the Venetians, and the dukedom of Tuscany were neutral; the king of Naples resolved to support the claim of his family to the Austrian dominions in Italy, and began to make preparations accordingly. His mother, the queen of Spain, had formed a plan for erecting these dominions into a monarchy for her second son Don Philip; and a body of fifteen thousand men being embarked at Barcelona, were transported to Orbitello, under the convoy of the united squadrons of France and Spain. While admiral Haddock, with twelve ships of the line, lay at anchor in the bay of Gibraltar, the Spanish fleet passed the straits in the night, and was joined by the French squadron from Toulon. The British admiral sailing from Gibraltar, fell in with them in a few days, and found both squadrons drawn up in line of battle. As he bore down upon the Spanish fleet, the French admiral sent a flag of truce, to inform him that as the French and Spaniards were engaged in a joint expedition, he should be obliged to act in concert with his master’s allies. This interposition prevented an engagement. The combined fleets amounting to double the number of the English squadron, admiral Haddock was obliged to desist; and proceeded to Port-Mahon, leaving the enemy to prosecute their voyage without molestation. The people of England were incensed at this transaction, and did not scruple to affirm that the hands of the British admiral were tied up by the neutrality of Hanover.*
* In the month of July, two ships of Haddock’s squadron falling In with three French ships of war, captain Barnet, the English commodore, supposing them to be Spanish register ships, fired a shot in order to bring them to; and they refusing to comply with this signal, a sharp engagement ensued; after they had fought several hours, the French commander ceased firing, and thought proper to come to an explanation, when he and Barnet parted with mutual apologies.
In the course of this year a dangerous conspiracy was discovered at New York, in North America. One Hewson, a low publican, had engaged several negroes in a design to destroy the town, and massacre the people. Fire was set to several parts of the city; nine or ten negroes were apprehended, convicted, and burned alive. Hewson, with his wife, and a servant maid privy to the plot, were found guilty and hanged, though they died protesting their innocence.
INACTIVITY OF THE NAVAL POWER OF GREAT BRITAIN.
The court of Madrid seemed to have shaken off that indolence and phlegm which had formerly disgraced the councils of Spain. They no sooner learned the destination of commodore Anson, who had sailed from Spithead in the course of the preceding year, than they sent Don Pizzaro with a more powerful squadron upon the same voyage, to defeat his design. He accordingly steered the same course, and actually fell in with one or two ships of the British armament, near the straits of Magellan; but he could not weather a long and furious tempest, through which Mr. Anson proceeded into the South-Sea. One of the Spanish ships perished at sea; another was wrecked on the coast of Brazil; and Pizzaro bore away for the Rio de la Plata, where he arrived with the three remaining ships, in a shattered condition, after having lost twelve hundred men by sickness and famine. The Spaniards exerted the same vigilance and activity in Europe. Their privateers were so industrious and successful, that in the beginning of this year they had taken, since the commencement of the war, four hundred and seven ships belonging to the subjects of Great Britain, valued at near four millions of piastres. The traders had therefore too much cause to complain, considering the formidable fleets which were maintained for the protection of commerce. In the course of the summer, sir John Norris had twice sailed towards the coast of Spain, at the head of a powerful squadron, without taking any effectual step for annoying the enemy, as if the sole intention of the ministry had been to expose the nation to the ridicule and contempt of its enemies. The inactivity of the British arms appears the more inexcusable, when we consider the great armaments which had been prepared. The land forces of Great Britain, exclusive of the Danish and Hessian auxiliaries, amounted to sixty thousand men; and the fleet consisted of above one hundred ships of war, manned by fifty-four thousand sailors.
The general discontent of the people had a manifest influence upon the election of members for the new parliament, which produced one of the most violent contests between the two parties which had happened since the revolution. All the adherents of the prince of Wales concurred with the country party, in opposition to the minister; and the duke of Argyle exerted himself so successfully among the shires and boroughs of Scotland, that the partisans of the ministry could not secure six members out of the whole number returned from North Britain. They were, however, much more fortunate in the election of the sixteen peers, who were chosen literally according to the list transmitted from court. Instructions were delivered by the constituents to a great number of members returned for cities and counties, exhorting and requiring them to oppose a standing army in time of peace; to vote for the mitigation of excise laws; for the repeal of septennial parliaments; and for the limitation of placemen in the house of commons. They likewise insisted upon their examining into the particulars of the public expense, and endeavouring to redress the grievances of the nation. Obstinate struggles were maintained in all parts of the united kingdoms with uncommon ardour and perseverance; and such a national spirit of opposition prevailed, that, notwithstanding the whole weight of ministerial influence, the contrary interest seemed to preponderate in the new parliament.
REMARKABLE MOTION IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS BY LORD SOMERSET.
The king returned to England in the month of October; and on the first day of December the session was opened. Mr. Onslow being re-chosen speaker, was approved of by his majesty, who spoke in the usual style to both houses. He observed, that the former parliament had formed the strongest resolutions in favour of the queen of Hungary, for the maintenance of the pragmatic sanction; for the preservation of the balance of power, and the peace and liberties of Europe; and that if the other powers which were under the like engagements with him had answered the just expectations so solemnly given, the support of the common cause would have been attended with less difficulty. He said, he had endeavoured, by the most proper and early applications, to induce other powers that were united with him by the ties of common interest, to concert such measures as so important and critical a conjuncture required; that where an accommodation seemed necessary, he had laboured to reconcile princes whose union would have been the most effectual means to prevent the mischiefs which had happened, and the best security for the in terest and safety of the whole. He owned his endeavours had not hitherto produced the desired effect; though he was not without hope that a just sense of approaching danger would give a more favourable turn to the councils of other nations. He represented the necessity of putting the kingdom in such a posture of defence as would enable him to improve all opportunities of maintaining the liberties of Europe, and defeat any attempts that should be made against him and his dominions; and he recommended unanimity, vigour, and despatch. The house of commons having appointed their several committees, the speaker reported the king’s speech; and Mr. Herbert moved for an address of thanks, including an approbation of the means by which the war had been prosecuted. The motion being seconded by Mr. Trevor, lord Noel Somerset stood up and moved, that the house would in their address desire his majesty not to engage these kingdoms in a war for the preservation of his foreign dominions. He was supported by that incorruptible patriot Mr. Shippen, who declared he was neither ashamed nor afraid to affirm that thirty years had made no change in any of his political opinions. He said he was grown old in the house of commons; that time had verified the predictions he had formerly uttered; and that he had seen his conjectures ripened into knowledge. “If my country,” added he, “has been so unfortunate as once more to commit her interest to men who propose to themselves no advantage from their trust but that of selling it, I may, perhaps, fall once more under censure for declaring my opinion, and be once more treated as a criminal for asserting what they who punish me cannot deny; for maintaining that Hanoverian maxims are inconsistent with the happiness of this nation; and for preserving the caution so strongly inculcated by those patriots who framed the Act of Settlement, and conferred upon the present royal family their title to the throne.” He particularized the instances in which the ministry had acted in diametrical opposition to that necessary constitution; and he insisted on the necessity of taking some step to remove the apprehensions of the people, who began to think themselves in danger of being sacrificed to the security of foreign dominions. Mr. Gibbon, who spoke on the same side of the question, expatiated upon the absurdity of returning thanks for the prosecution of a war which had been egregiously mismanaged. “What!” said he, “are our thanks to be solemnly returned for defeats, disgrace, and losses, the ruin of our merchants, the imprisonment of our sailors, idle shows of armaments, and useless expenses?” Sir Robert Walpole having made a short speech in defence of the first motion for an address, was answered by Mr. Pulteney, who seemed to be animated with a double proportion of patriot indignation. He asserted, that from a review of that minister’s conduct since the beginning of the dispute with Spain, it would appear that he had been guilty not only of single errors, but of deliberate treachery; that he had always co-operated with the enemies of his country, and sacrificed to his private interest the happiness and honour of the British nation. He then entered into a detail of that conduct against which he had so often declaimed; and being transported by an overheated imagination, accused him of personal attachment and affection to the enemies of the kingdom. A charge that was doubtless the result of exaggerated animosity, and served only to invalidate the other articles of imputation that were much better founded. His objections were overruled; and the address, as at first proposed, was presented to his majesty.