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.
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 Vendôme, 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 Thessé 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.
At sea the arms of the allies were generally prosperous. Philip of Spain, being obstinately bent upon retaking Gibraltar, sent mareschal de Thessé 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 Thessé, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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, assuring her they would, to the utmost of their power, assist her in bringing the treaty of union to a happy conclusion. They desired that the proceedings of the last session of parliament, relating to the union and succession, might be laid before the house. The lords had solicited the same satisfaction; and her majesty promised to comply with their request. The lower house having heard and decided in some cases of controverted elections, proceeded to take into consideration the estimates for the service of the ensuing year, and granted the supplies without hesitation. In the house of lords, while the queen was present, lord Haversham, at the end of a long speech, in which he reflected upon the conduct of the duke of Marlborough, both on the Moselle and in Brabant, moved for an address to desire her majesty would invite the presumptive heir to the crown of England to come and reside in the kingdom. This motion was earnestly supported by the duke of Buckingham, the earls of Rochester, Nottingham, and Anglesea. They said there was no method so effectual to secure the succession as that of the successor’s being upon the spot, ready to assume and maintain his or her right against any pretender; and they observed, that in former times, when the throne of England was vacant, the first comer had always succeeded in his pretensions. The proposal was vehemently opposed by the whigs, who knew it was disagreeable to the queen, whom they would not venture to disoblige. They argued, that a rivalry between the two courts might produce distractions, and be attended with very ill consequences; and observed, that the princess Sophia had expressed a full satisfaction in the assurances of the queen, who had promised to maintain her title. The question being put, was carried in the negative by a great majority. The design of the tories in making this motion, was to bring the other party into disgrace either with the queen or with the people. Their joining in the measure would have given umbrage to their sovereign; and, by opposing it, they ran the risk of incurring the public odium as enemies to the protestant succession: but the pretence of the tories was so thin, the nation saw through it; and the sole effect the motion produced was the queen’s resentment against the whole party. Burnet, bishop of Sarum, proposed, that provision might be made for maintaining the public quiet in the interval between the queen’s decease and the arrival of her successor; the motion was seconded by the lord-treasurer, and a bill brought in for the better security of her majesty’s person and government, and of the succession to the crown of England. By this act a regency was appointed, of the seven persons that should possess the offices of archbishop of Canterbury, lord-chancellor, or lord-keeper, lord-treasurer, lord-president, lord privy-seal, lord high-admiral, and the lord chief-justice of the queen’s bench. Their business was to proclaim the next successor through the kingdom of England, and join with a certain number of persons named as regents by the successor, in three lists to be sealed up and deposited with the archbishop of Canterbury, the lord-keeper, and the ministry residentiary of Hanover. It was enacted, that these joint regencies should conduct the administration; that the last parliament, even though dissolved, should reassemble, and continue sitting for six months after the decease of her majesty. The bill met with a warm opposition from the tories, and did not pass the upper house without a protest. It was still further obstructed in the house of commons even by some of the whig party, who were given to understand that the princess Sophia had expressed an inclination to reside in England. Exceptions were likewise taken to that clause in the bill, enacting, that the last parliament should be reassembled. They affirmed, that this was inconsistent with part of the act by which the succession was at first settled; for among other limitations, the parliament had provided, that when the crown should devolve to the house of Hanover, no man who had either place or pension should be capable of sitting in the house of commons. After tedious disputes and zealous altercations, they agreed that a certain number of offices should be specified as disqualifying places. This self-denying clause, and some other amendments, produced conferences between the two houses, and at length the bill passed by their mutual assent. Lord Haversham moved for an inquiry into the miscarriages of the last campaign, hoping to find some foundation for censure in the conduct of the duke of Marlborough; but the proposal was rejected as invidious; and the two houses presented an address to the queen, desiring she would preserve a good correspondence among all the confederates. They likewise concurred in repealing the act by which the Scots had been alienated, and all the northern counties alarmed with the apprehension of a rupture between the two nations. The lord Shannon and brigadier Stanhope arriving with an account of the expedition to Catalonia, the queen communicated the good news in a speech to both houses, expressing her hope that they would enable her to prosecute the advantages which her arms had acquired. The commons were so well pleased with the tidings, that they forthwith granted two hundred and fifty thousand pounds for her majesty’s proportion in the expense of prosecuting the successes already gained by king Charles III. for the recovery of the monarchy of Spain to the house of Austria. On the fifteenth day of November, the queen gave the royal assent to an act for exhibiting a bill to naturalize the princess Sophia, and the issue of her body.
These measures being taken, the sixth day of December was appointed for inquiring into those dangers to which the tories affirmed the church was exposed; and the queen attended in person, to hear the debates on this interesting subject. The earl of Eochester compared the expressions in the queen’s speech at the beginning of the session, to the law enacted in the reign of Charles II. denouncing the penalties of treason against those who should call the king a papist; for which reason, he said, he always thought him of that persuasion. He affirmed that the church’s danger arose from the act of security in Scotland, the absence of the successor to the crown, and the practice of occasional conformity. He was answered by lord Halifax, who, by way of recrimination, observed that king Charles II. was a Roman-catholic, at least his brother declared him a papist after his death; that his brother and successor was a known Roman-catholic, yet the church thought herself secure; and those patriots who stood up in its defence were discountenanced and punished: nay, when the successor ascended the throne, and the church was apparently in the most imminent danger by the high commission court and otherwise, the nation was then indeed generally alarmed; and every body knew who sat in that court, and entered deeply into the measures which were then pursued. Compton, bishop of London, declared that the church was in danger, from profaneness, irreligion, and the licentiousness of the press. He complained, that sermons were preached wherein rebellion was countenanced, and resistance to the higher powers encouraged. He alluded to a sermon preached before the lord mayor by Mr. Hoadly, now bishop of Winchester. Burnet of Sarum said, the bishop of London was the last man who ought to complain of that sermon; for if the doctrine it contained was not good, he did not know what defence his lordship could make for his appearing in arms at Nottingham. He affirmed the church would be always subject to profaneness and irreligion, but that they were not now so flagrant as they usually had been; he said the society set up for reformation in London and other cities, had contributed considerably to the suppression of vice; he was sure the corporation for propagating the gospel had done a great deal towards instructing men in religion, by giving great numbers of books in practical divinity; by erecting libraries in country parishes; by sending many able divines to the foreign plantations, and founding schools to breed up children in the christian knowledge; though to this expense very little had been contributed by those who appeared so wonderfully zealous for the church. The archbishop of York expressed his apprehension of danger from the increase of dissenters, particularly from the many academies they had instituted; he moved, that the judges might be consulted with respect to the laws that were in force against such seminaries, and by what means they might be suppressed. Lord Wharton moved, that the judges might also be consulted about means of suppressing schools and seminaries held by non-jurors, in one of which the sons of a noble lord in that house had been educated. To this sarcasm the archbishop replied, that his sons were indeed taught by Mr. Ellis, a sober virtuous man; but that when he refused the oath of abjuration, they were immediately withdrawn from his instructions. Lord Wharton proceeded to declare, that he had carefully perused a pamphlet entitled “The Memorial,” which was said to contain a demonstration that the church was in danger; but all he could learn was, that the duke of Buckingham, the earls of Rochester and Nottingham, were out of place; that he remembered some of these noblemen sat in the high commission court, and then made no complaint of the church’s being in danger. Patrick, bishop of Ely, complained of the heat and passion manifested by the gentlemen belonging to the universities, and of the undutiful behaviour of the clergy towards their bishops. He was seconded by Hough of Litchfield and Coventry, who added, that the inferior clergy calumniated their bishops, as if they were in a plot to destroy the church, and had compounded to be the last of their order. Hooper of Bath and Wells, expatiated on the invidious distinction implied in the terms “high church,” and “low church.” The duke of Leeds asserted, that the church could not be safe without an act against occasional conformity. Lord Somers recapitulated all the arguments which had been used on both sides of the question: he declared his own opinion was, that the nation was happy under a wise and just administration; that for men to raise groundless jealousies at that juncture, could mean no less than an intention to embroil the people at home, and defeat the glorious designs of the allies abroad. The debate being finished, the question was put, Whether the church of England was in danger? and carried in the negative by a great majority: then the house resolved, that the church of England, as by law established, which was rescued from the extremest danger by king William III. of glorious memory, is now, by God’s blessings under the happy reign of her majesty, in a most safe and nourishing condition; and that whoever goes about to suggest or insinuate that the church is in danger, under her majesty’s administration, is an enemy to the queen, the church, and the kingdom. Next day the commons concurred in this determination, and joined the lords in an address to the queen, communicating this resolution, beseeching her to take effectual measures for making it public, and also for punishing the authors and spreaders of the seditious and scandalous reports of the church’s being in danger. She accordingly issued a proclamation containing the resolution of the two houses, and offering a reward for discovering the author of the memorial of the church of England, and for apprehending David Edwards, a professed papist, charged upon oath to be the printer and publisher of that libel.
ANNE, 1701—1714
After a short adjournment, a committee of the lower house presented the thanks of the commons to the duke of Marlborough, for his great services performed to her majesty and the nation in the last campaign, and for his prudent negotiations with her allies. This nobleman was in such credit with the people, that when he proposed a loan of five hundred thousand pounds to the emperor, upon a branch of his revenue in. Silesia, the money was advanced immediately by the merchants of London. The kingdom was blessed with plenty; the queen was universally beloved; the people in general were zealous for the prosecution of the war; the forces were well paid; the treasury was punctual; and, though a great quantity of coin was exported for the maintenance of the war, the paper currency supplied the deficiency so well, that no murmurs were heard, and the public credit flourished both at home and abroad. All the funds being established, one in particular for two millions and a-half by way of annuities for ninety-nine years, at six and a-half per cent., and all the bills having received the royal assent, the queen went to the house of peers on the nineteenth day of March, where, having thanked both houses for the repeated instances of their affection which she had received, she prorogued the parliament to the twenty-first day of May following.*
* Among other bills passed during this session, was an act for abridging and reforming some proceedings in the common law and in chancery.
The new convocation, instead of imitating the union and harmony of the parliament, revived the divisions by which the former had been distracted, and the two houses seemed to act with more determined rancour against each other. The upper house having drawn tip a warm address of thanks to the queen for her affectionate care of the church, the lower house refused to concur, nor would they give any reason for their dissent. They prepared another in a different strain, which was rejected by the archbishop. Then they agreed to divers resolutions, asserting their right of having what they offered to the upper house received by his grace and their lordships. In consequence of this dissension the address was dropped, and a stop put to all further communication between the two houses. The dean of Peterborough protested against the irregularities of the lower house. The queen, in a letter to the archbishop, signified her resolution to maintain her supremacy, and the due subordination of presbyters to bishops. She expressed her hope that he and his suffragans would act conformably to her resolution, in which case they might be assured of the continuance of her favour and protection: she required him to impart this declaration to the bishops and clergy, and to prorogue the convocation to such time as should appear most convenient. When he communicated this letter to the lower house, the members were not a little confounded: nevertheless, they would not comply with the prorogation, but continued to sit in defiance of her majesty’s pleasure.
The eyes of Great Britain were now turned upon a transaction of the utmost consequence to the whole island; namely, the treaty for an union of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland. The queen having appointed the commissioners 139 [See note 2 A, at the end of this Vol.] on both sides, they met on the sixteenth day of April, in the council chamber of the Cockpit near Whitehall, which was the place appointed for the conferences. Their commissions being opened and read by the respective secretaries, and introductory speeches being pronounced by the lord-keeper of England, and the lord chancellor of Scotland, they agreed to certain preliminary articles, importing, that all the proposals should be made in writing; and every point, when agreed, reduced to writing; that no points should be obligatory, till all matters should be adjusted in such a manner as would be proper to be laid before the queen and the two parliaments for their approbation; that a committee should be appointed from each commission, to revise the minutes of what might pass, before they should be inserted in the books by the respective secretaries; and that all the proceedings during the treaty should be kept secret. The Scots were inclined to a federal union, like that of the United Provinces; but the English were bent upon an incorporation, so that no Scottish parliament should ever have power to repeal the articles of the treaty. The lord-keeper proposed that the two kingdoms of England and Scotland should be for ever united into one realm, by the name of Great Britain: that it should be represented by one and the same parliament; and that the succession of this monarchy, failing of heirs of her majesty’s body, should be according to the limitations mentioned in the act of parliament passed in the reign of king William, intituled, an act for the further limitation of the crown, and the better securing the rights and liberties of the subject. The Scottish commissioners, in order to comply in some measure with the popular clamour of their nation, presented a proposal implying that the succession to the crown of Scotland should be established upon the same persons mentioned in the act of king William’s reign; that the subjects of Scotland should for ever enjoy all the rights and privileges of the natives in England, and the dominions thereunto belonging; and that the subjects of England should enjoy the like rights and privileges in Scotland; that there should be a free communication and intercourse of trade and navigation between the two kingdoms, and plantations thereunto belonging; and that all laws and statutes in either kingdom, contrary to the terms of this union, should be repealed. The English commissioners declined entering into any considerations upon these proposals, declaring themselves fully convinced that nothing but an entire union could settle a perfect and lasting friendship between the two kingdoms. The Scots acquiesced in this reply, and both sides proceeded in the treaty without any other intervening dispute. They were twice visited by the queen, who exhorted them to accelerate the articles of a treaty that would prove so advantageous to both kingdoms. At length they were finished, arranged, and mutually signed, on the twenty-second of July, and next day presented to her majesty, at the palace of St. James’s, by the lord-keeper, in the name of the English commissioners; at the same time a sealed copy of the instrument was likewise delivered by the lord chancellor of Scotland; and each made a short oration on the subject, to which the queen returned a very gracious reply. That same day she dictated an order of council, that whoever should be concerned in any discourse or libel, or in laying wagers relating to the union, should be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law.
In this famous treaty it was stipulated, that the succession to the united kingdom of Great Britain should be vested in the princess Sophia, and her heirs, according to the acts already passed in the parliament of England: that the united kingdoms should be represented by one and the same parliament: that all the subjects of Great Britain should enjoy a communication of privileges and advantages: that they should have the same allowances, encouragements, and drawbacks; and be under the same prohibitions, restrictions, and regulations, with respect to commerce and customs: that Scotland should not be charged with the temporary duties on some certain commodities: that the sum of three hundred and ninety-eight thousand and eighty-five pounds ten shillings, should be granted to the Scots, as an equivalent for such parts of the customs and excise charged upon that kingdom in consequence of the union, as would be applicable to the payment of the debts of England, according to the proportion which the customs and excise of Scotland bore co those of England: that, as the revenues of Scotland might increase, a further equivalent should be allowed for such proportion of the said increase as should be applicable to the payment of the debts of England: that the sura to be paid at present, as well as the monies arising from the future equivalents, should be employed in reducing the coin of Scotland to the standard and value of the English coin; in paying off the capital stock and interest due to the proprietors of the African company, which should be immediately dissolved; in discharging all the public debts of the kingdom of Scotland; in promoting and encouraging manufactures and fisheries, under the direction of commissioners to be appointed by her majesty, and accountable to the parliament of Great Britain: that the laws concerning public right, policy, and civil government, should be the same throughout the whole united kingdom; but that no alteration should be made in laws which concerned private right, except for evident utility of the subjects within Scotland: that the court of session and all other courts of judicature in Scotland, should remain as then constituted by the laws of that kingdom, with the same authority and privileges as before the union; subject, nevertheless, to such regulations as should be made by the parliament of Great Britain: that all heritable offices, superiorities, heritable jurisdictions, offices for life, and jurisdictions for life, should be reserved to the owners, as rights and property, in the same manner as then enjoyed by the laws of Scotland: that the rights and privileges of the royal boroughs in Scotland should remain entire after the union: that Scotland should be represented in the parliament of Great Britain by sixteen peers and forty-five commoners, to be elected in such a manner as should be settled by the present parliament of Scotland: that all peers of Scotland, and the successors to their honours and dignities, should, from and after the union, be peers of Great Britain, and should have rank and precedency next and immediately after the English peers of the like orders and degrees, at the time of the union; and before all peers of Great Britain of the like orders and degrees, who might be created after the union: that they should be tried as peers of Great Britain, and enjoy all privileges of peers, as fully as enjoyed by the peers of England, except the right and privilege of sitting in the house of lords, and the privileges depending thereon, and particularly the right of sitting upon the trials of peers: that the crown, sceptre, and sword of state, the records of parliament, and all other records, rolls, and registers whatsoever, should still remain as they were, within that part of the united kingdom called Scotland: that all laws and statutes in either kingdom, so far as they might be inconsistent with the terms of these articles, should cease and be declared void by the respective parliaments of the two kingdoms.—Such is the substance of that treaty of union which was so eagerly courted by the English ministry, and proved so unpalatable to the generality of the Scottish nation.
Battle of Ramillies, in which the French are defeated..... The Siege of Barcelona raised by the English fleet..... Prince Eugene obtains a complete victory over the French at Turin..... Sir Cloudesley Shovel sails with a reinforcement to Charles king of Spain..... the king of Sweden marches into Saxony..... The French King demands Conferences for a Peace..... Meeting of the Scottish Parliament..... Violent Opposition to the Union..... The Scots in general averse to the Treaty, which is nevertheless confirmed in their Parliament..... Proceedings in the English Parliament..... The Commons approve of the Articles of the Union..... The Lords pass a Bill for the Security of the Church of England..... Arguments used against the Articles of the Union, which, however, are confirmed by Act of Parliament..... The Parliament revived by Proclamation..... The Queen gives audience to a Muscovite Ambassador..... Proceedings in Convocation..... France threatened with total Ruin..... The Allies are defeated at Almanza..... Unsuccessful Attempt upon Toulon..... Sir Cloudesley Shovel wrecked on the Rocks of Scilly..... Weakness of the Emperor on the Upper Rhine..... Interview between the King of Sweden and the Duke of Marlborough..... Inactive Campaign in the Netherlands..... Harley begins to form a Party against the Duke of Marlborough..... The Nation discontented with the Whig Ministry..... Meeting of the first British Parliament..... Inquiry into the State of the War in Spain..... Gregg, a Clerk in the Secretary’s Office, detected in a Correspondence with the French Ministry..... Harley resigns his Employments..... The Pretender embarks at Dunkirk for Scotland..... His design is defeated..... State of the Nation at that Period..... Parliament dissolved..... The French surprise Ghem and Bruges..... They are routed at Oudenarde..... The Allies invest Lisle..... They defeat a large Body of French Forces at Wynendale..... The Elector of Bavaria attacks Brussels..... Lisle surrendered..... Ghent taken, and Bruges abandoned..... Conquest of Minorca by General Stanhope..... Rupture between the Pope and the Emperor..... Death of Prince George of Denmark..... The new Parliament assembled..... Naturalization Bill..... Act of Grace..... Disputes about the Muscovite Ambassador compromised.
While this treaty was on the carpet at home, the allied arms prospered surprisingly in the Netherlands, in Spain, and in Piedmont. The French king had resolved to make very considerable efforts in these countries; and, indeed, at the beginning of the campaign his armies were very formidable. He hoped that, by the reduction of Turin and Barcelona, the war would be extinguished in Italy and Catalonia. He knew that he could out-number any body of forces that prince Louis of Baden should assemble on the Rhine; and he resolved to reinforce his army in Flanders, so as to be in a condition to act offensively against the duke of Marlborough. This nobleman repaired to Holland in the latter end of April, and conferred with the states-general. Then he assembled the army between Borschloen and Groes Waren, and found it amounted to seventy-four battalions of foot, and one hundred and twenty-three squadrons of horse and dragoons, well furnished with artillery and pontoons. The court of France having received intelligence that the Danish and Prussian troops had not yet joined the confederates, ordered the elector of Bavaria and the mareschal Villeroy to attack them before the junction could be effected. In pursuance of this order they passed the Deule on the nineteenth day of May, and posted themselves at Tirlemont, being superior in number to the allied army. There they were joined by the horse of the army, commanded by mareschal Marsin, and encamped between Tirlemont and Judoigne. On Whitsunday, early in the morning, the duke of Marlborough advanced with his army in eight columns towards the village of Ramillies, being by this time joined by the Danes; and he learned that the enemy were in march to give him battle. Next day the French generals perceiving the confederates so near them, took possession of a strong camp, the right extending to the tomb of Hautemont, on the side of the Mehaigne; their left to Anderkirk; and the village of Ramillies being near their centre. The confederate army was drawn up in order of battle, with the right wing near Foltz on the brook of Yause, and the left by the village of Franquenies, which the enemy had occupied. The duke ordered lieutenant-general Schultz, with twelve battalions and twenty pieces of cannon, to begin the action by attacking Eamillies, which was strongly fortified with artillery. At the same time velt-mareschal d’Auverquerque on the left commanded colonel Wertmuller, with four battalions and two pieces of cannon, to dislodge the enemy’s infantry posted among the hedges of Franquenies. Both these orders were successfully executed. The Dutch and Danish horse of the left wing charged with great vigour and intrepidity, but were so roughly handled by the troops of the French king’s household, that they began to give way, when the duke of Marlborough sustained them with the body of reserve, and twenty squadrons drawn from the right, where a morass prevented them from acting. In the meantime, he in person rallied some of the broken squadrons, in order to renew the charge, when his own horse falling, he was surrounded by the enemy, and must have been either killed or taken prisoner, had not a body of infantry come seasonably to his relief. When he remounted his horse, the head of colonel Brienfield, his gentleman of the horse, was carried off by a cannon ball while he held the duke’s stirrup. Before the reinforcement arrived, the best part of the French mousquetaires were cut in pieces. All the troops posted in Ramillies were either killed or taken. The rest of the enemy’s infantry began to retreat in tolerable order, under cover of the cavalry on their left wing, which formed themselves in three lines between Ossuz and Anderkirk; but the English horse having found means to pass the rivulet which divided them from the enemy, fell upon them with such impetuosity, that they abandoned their foot, and were terribly slaughtered in the village of Anderkirk. They now gave way on all sides. The horse fled three different ways, but were so closely pursued that very few escaped. The elector of Bavaria and the mareschal de Villeroy saved themselves with the utmost difficulty. Several waggons of the enemy’s van-guard breaking down in a narrow pass, obstructed the way in such a manner that the baggage and artillery could not proceed; nor could their troops defile in order. The victorious horse being informed of this accident, pressed on them so vigorously that great numbers threw down their arms and submitted. The pursuit was followed through Judoigne till two o’clock in the morning, five leagues from the field of battle, and within two of Louvaine. In a word, the confederates obtained a complete victory. They took the enemy’s baggage and artillery, about one hundred and twenty colours or standards, six hundred officers, six thousand private soldiers, and about eight thousand were killed or wounded.*
* The French impute the loss of this battle to the misconduct of Villeroy, who, it must be owned, made a most wretched disposition. When he returned to Versailles, where he expected to meet with nothing else but reproaches, Louis received him without the least mark of displeasure, saying, “Mr. Mareschal, you and I are too old to be fortunate.”
Prince Maximilian and prince Monbason lost their lives; the major-general Palavicini and Mizieres were taken, together with the marquasses de Bar, de Nonant, and de la Beaume, (this last the son of the mareschal de Tallard,) monsieur de Montmorency, nephew to the duke of Luxembourg, and many other persons of distinction. The loss of the allies did not exceed three thousand men, including prince Louis of Hesse, and Mr. Bentinck, who were slain in the engagement. The French generals retired with precipitation to Brussels, while the allies took possession of Louvaine, and next day encamped at Bethlem. The battle of Eamillies was attended with the immediate conquest of all Brabant. The cities of Louvaine, Mechlin, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges, submitted without resistance, and acknowledged king Charles. Ostend, though secured by a strong garrison, was surrendered after a siege of ten days. Menin, esteemed the most finished fortification in the Netherlands, and guarded by six thousand men, met with the same fate. The garrison of Dendermonde surrendered themselves prisoners of war; and Aeth submitted on the same conditions. The French troops were dispirited. The city of Paris was overwhelmed with consternation. Louis affected to bear his misfortunes with calmness and composure; but the constraint had such an effect upon his constitution, that his physicians thought it necessary to prescribe frequent bleeding, which he accordingly underwent. At his court no mention was made of military transactions: all was solemn, silent, and reserved.