Chapter II (1)

_Difference between King George and the Czar of Muscovy.....
The King of Sweden is killed at Frederickstadt.....
Negotiation for a Quadruple Alliance..... Proceedings in
Parliament..... James Shepherd executed for a Design against
the King’s Life..... Parliament prorogued..... Nature of the
quadruple Alliance..... Admiral Byng sails to the
Mediterranean..... He destroys the Spanish Fleet off Cape
Passaro..... Remonstrances of the Spanish Ministry.....
Disputes in Parliament touching the Admiral’s attacking the
Spanish Fleet..... Act for strengthening the Protestant
Interest----War declared against Spain..... Conspiracy
against the Regent of France..... Intended Invasion by the
Duke of Ormond..... Three hundred Spaniards land and are
taken in Scotland..... Account of the Peerage Bill.....
Count Merci assumes the Command of the Imperial Army in
Sicily..... Activity of Admiral Byng..... The Spanish Troops
evacuate Sicily..... Philip obliged to accede to the
quadruple Alliance..... Bill for securing the Dependency of
Ireland upon the Crown of Great Britain..... South Sea
Act..... Charters granted to the Royal and London Assurance
Offices..... Treaty of Alliance with Sweden..... The Prince of
Hesse elected King of Sweden..... Effects of the South Sea
Scheme..... The Bubble breaks..... A Secret Committee
appointed by the House of Commons..... Inquiry carried on by
both Houses..... Death of Earl Stanhope and Mr. Craggs, both
Secretaries of State..... The Estates of the Directors of
the South Sea Company are confiscated..... Proceedings of the
Commons with respect to the Stock of the South Sea Company._

{1717}

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE KING AND THE CZAR OF MUSCOVY.

During these transactions, the negotiations of the north were continued against the king of Sweden, who had penetrated into Norway, and advanced towards Christianstadt, the capital of that kingdom. The czar had sent five-and-twenty thousand Russians to assist the allies in the reduction of Wismar, which he intended to bestow upon his niece, lately married to the duke of Mecklenburgh-Schwerin: but before his troops arrived the place had surrendered, and the Russians were not admitted into the garrison; a circumstance which increased the misunderstanding between him and the king of Great Britain. Nevertheless, he consented to a project for making a descent upon Schonen, and actually took upon him the command of the allied fleet; though he was not at all pleased to see sir John Norris in the Baltic, because he had formed designs against Denmark, which he knew the English squadron would protect. He suddenly desisted from the expedition against Schonen, on pretence that the season was too far advanced; and the king of Denmark published a manifesto, remonstrating against his conduct on this occasion. By this time baron Gortz had planned a pacification between his master and the czar, who was discontented with all his German allies, because they opposed his having any footing in the empire. This monarch arrived at Amsterdam in December, whether he was followed by the czarina; and he actually resided at the Hague when king George passed through it, in returning to his British dominions, but he declined an interview with the king of England. When Gyllenburgh’s letters were published in London, some passages seemed to favour the supposition of the czar’s being privy to the conspiracy. His minister at the English court presented a long memorial, complaining that the king had caused to be printed the malicious insinuations of his enemies. He denied his having the least concern in the design of the Swedish king. He charged the court of England with having privately treated of a separate peace with Charles, and even with having promised to assist him against the czar, on condition that he would relinquish his pretensions to Bremen and Verden. Nevertheless, he expressed an inclination to re-establish the ancient good understanding, and to engage in vigorous measures for prosecuting the war against the common enemy. The memorial was answered by the king of Great Britain, who assured the czar he should have reason to be fully satisfied, if he would remove the only obstacle to their mutual good understanding; in other words, withdraw the Russian troops from the empire. Notwithstanding these professions, the two monarchs were never perfectly reconciled.

THE KING OF SWEDEN IS KILLED.

The czar made an excursion to the court of France, where he concluded a treaty of friendship with the regent, at whose earnest desire he promised to recall his troops from Mecklenburgh. At his return to Amsterdam, he had a private interview with Gortz, who, as well as Gyllenburgh, had been set at liberty. Gortz undertook to adjust all difference between the czar and the king of Sweden within three months; and Peter engaged to suspend all operations against Sweden until that term should be expired. A congress was opened at Abo, between the Swedish and Russian ministers, but the conferences were afterwards removed to Aland. By this convention, the czar obliged himself to assist Charles in the conquest of Norway; and they promised to unite all their forces against the king of Great Britain should he presume to interpose. Both were incensed against that prince; and one part of their design was to raise the pretender to the throne of England. Baron Gortz set out from Aland for Frederickstadt in Norway, with the plan of peace: but, before he arrived, Charles was killed by a cannon ball from the town, as he visited the trenches, on the thirtieth of November. Baron Gortz was immediately arrested, and brought to the scaffold by the nobles of Sweden, whose hatred he had incurred by his insolence of behaviour. The death of Charles was fortunate for king George. Sweden was now obliged to submit; while the czar, the king of Denmark, and the elector of Hanover, kept possession of what they had acquired in the course of the war.

NEGOTIATION FOR A QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE.

Thus Bremen and Verden were secured in the house of Hanover; an acquisition towards which the English nation contributed by her money, as well as by her arms; an acquisition made in contradiction to the engagements into which England entered when king William became guarantee for the treaty of Travendahl; an acquisition that may be considered as the first link of a political chain by which the English nation were dragged back into expensive connexions with the continent. The king had not yet received the investiture of the duchies; and, until that should be procured, it was necessary to espouse with warmth the interests of the emperor. This was another source of misunderstanding between Great Britain and Spain. Prince Eugene gained another complete victory over a prodigious army of the Turks at Belgrade, which was surrendered to him after the battle. The emperor had engaged in this war as an ally of the Venetians, whom the Turks had attacked and driven from the Morea. The pope considered it as a religious war against the infidels, and obtained repeated assurances from the king of Spain that he would not undertake any thing against the emperor while he was engaged in such a laudable quarrel. Philip had even sent a squadron of ships and galleys to the assistance of the Venetians. In the course of this year, however, he equipped a strong armament, the command of which was bestowed on the marquis de Lede, who sailed from Barcelona in July, and landing at Cagliari in Sardinia, which belonged to the emperor, made a conquest of the whole island. At the same time, the king of Spain endeavoured to justify these proceedings by a manifesto, in which he alleged that the archduke, contrary to the faith of treaties, encouraged and supported the rebellion of his subjects in Catalonia, by frequent succours from Naples and other places; and that the great inquisitor of Spain had been seized, though furnished with a passport from his holiness. He promised however to proceed no further, and suspend all operations, that the powers of Europe might have time and opportunity to contrive expedients for reconciling all differences, and securing the peace and balance of power in Italy; nay, he consented that this important affair should be left to the arbitration of king George and the states-general. These powers undertook the office. Conferences were begun between the ministers of the emperor, France, England, and Holland; and these produced, in the course of the following year, the famous quadruple alliance. In this treaty it was stipulated, that the emperor should renounce all pretensions to the crown of Spain, and exchange Sardinia for Sicily with the duke of Savoy; that the succession to the duchies of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, which the queen of Spain claimed by inheritance as princess of the house of Farnese, should be settled on her eldest son, in case the present possessors should die without male issue. Philip, dissatisfied with this partition, continued to make formidable preparations by sea and land. The king of England and the regent of France interposed their admonitions to no purpose. At length his Britannic majesty had recourse to more substantial arguments, and ordered a strong squadron to be equipped with all possible expedition. [206] _[See note 2 H, at the end of this Vol.]_

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.

On the third day of November, the princess of Wales was delivered of a prince, the ceremony of whose baptism was productive of a difference between the grandfather and the father. The prince of Wales intended that his uncle, the duke of York, should stand godfather. The king ordered the duke of Newcastle to stand for himself. After the ceremony, the prince expressed his resentment against this nobleman in very warm terms. The king ordered the prince to confine himself within his own apartment; and afterwards signified his pleasure that he should quit the palace of St. James’. He retired with the princess to a house belonging to the earl of Grantham; but the children were detained at the palace. All peers and peeresses, and all privy-counsellors and their wives, were given to understand, that in case they visited the prince and princess they should have no access to his majesty’s presence; and all who enjoyed posts and places under both king and prince, were obliged to quit the service of one or other at their option. When the parliament met on the twenty-first day of November, the king, in his speech, told both houses that he had reduced the army to very near one half, since the beginning of the last session: he expressed his desire that all those who were friends to the present happy establishment, might unanimously concur in some proper method for the greater strengthening the protestant interest, of which, as the church of England was unquestionably the main support and bulwark, so would she reap the principal benefit of every advantage accruing from the union and mutual charity of all protestants. After the addresses of thanks, which were couched in the usual style, the commons proceeded to take into consideration the estimates and accounts, in order to settle the establishment of the army, navy, and ordnance. Ten thousand men were voted for the sea service. When the supply for the army fell under deliberation, a very warm debate ensued upon the number of troops necessary to be maintained. Sir William Wyndham, Mr. Shippen, and Mr. Walpole, in a long elaborate harangue, insisted upon its being reduced to twelve thousand. They were answered by Mr. Craggs, secretary at war, and sir David Dalrymple. Mr. Shippen, in the course of the debate, said the second paragraph of the king’s speech seemed rather to be calculated for the meridian of Germany than for Great Britain; and it was a great misfortune that the king was a stranger to our language and constitution. Mr. Lechmere affirmed this was a scandalous invective against the king’s person and government; and moved that he who uttered it should be sent to the Tower. Mr. Shippen, refusing to retract or excuse what he had said, was voted to the Tower by a great majority; and the number of standing forces was fixed at sixteen thousand three hundred and forty-seven effective men.

On account of the great scarcity of silver coin, occasioned by the exportation of silver and the importation of gold, a motion was made to put a stop to this growing evil, by lowering the value of gold specie. The commons examined a representation which had been made to the treasury by sir Isaac Newton, master of the mint, on this subject. Mr. Caswel explained the nature of a clandestine trade carried on by the Dutch and Ham-burghers, in concert with the Jews of England and other traders, for exporting the silver coin and importing gold, which being coined at the mint yielded a profit of fifteen pence upon every guinea. The house, in an address to the king, desired that a proclamation might be issued, forbidding all persons to utter or receive guineas at a higher rate than one-and-twenty shillings each. His majesty complied with that request: but people hoarding up their silver in hopes that the price of it would be raised, or in apprehension that the gold would be lowered still farther, the two houses resolved that the standard of the gold and silver coins of the kingdom should not be altered in fineness, weight, or denomination, and they ordered a bill to be brought in to prevent the melting down of the silver coin. At this period, one James Shepherd, a youth of eighteen, apprentice to a coachmaker, and an enthusiast in jacobitism, sent a letter to a nonjuring clergyman, proposing a scheme for assassinating king George. He was immediately apprehended, owned the design, was tried, condemned, and executed at Tyburn. This was likewise the fate of the marquis de Palleotti, an Italian nobleman, brother to the duchess of Shrewsbury. He had, in a transport of passion, killed his own servant; and seemed indeed to be disordered in his brain. After he had received sentence of death, the king’s pardon was earnestly solicited by his sister the duchess, and many other persons of the first distinction; but the common people became so clamorous, that it was thought dangerous to rescue him from the penalties of the law, which he accordingly underwent in the most ignominious manner. No subject produced so much heat and altercation in parliament during this session, as did the bill for regulating the land-forces, and punishing mutiny and desertion: a bill which was looked upon as an encroachment upon the liberties and constitution of England, inasmuch as it established martial law, which wrested from the civil magistrate the cognizance of crimes and misdemeanors committed by the soldiers and officers of the army; a jurisdiction inconsistent with the genius and disposition of the people. The dangers that might accrue from such a power were explained in the lower house by Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Harley, and Mr. Robert Walpole, which last, however, voted afterwards for the bill. In the house of lords, it was strenuously opposed by the earls of Oxford, Strafford, and lord Harcourt. Their objections were answered by lord Carteret. The bill passed by a great majority; but divers lords entered a protest. This affair being discussed, a bill was brought in for vesting in trustees the forfeited estates in Britain and Ireland, to be sold for the use of the public; for giving relief to lawful creditors by determining the claims, and for the more effectual bringing into the respective exchequers the rents and profits of the estates till sold. The time of claiming was prolonged; the sum of twenty thousand pounds was reserved out of the sale of the estates in Scotland, for erecting schools; and eight thousand pounds for building barracks in that kingdom. The king having signified, by a message to the house of commons, that he had lately received such information from abroad, as gave reason to believe that a naval force employed where it should be necessary, would give weight to his endeavours; he therefore thought fit to acquaint the house with this circumstance, not doubting but that in case he should be obliged, at this critical juncture, to exceed the number of men granted this year for the sea-service, the house would provide for such exceeding. The commons immediately drew up and presented an address, assuring his majesty that they would make good such exceedings of seamen as he should find necessary to preserve the tranquillity of Europe. On the twenty-first day of March, the king went to the house of peers, and having passed the bills that were ready for the royal assent, ordered the parliament to be prorogued.*

* Earl Cowper, lord chancellor, resigned the great seal,
which was at first put in commission, but afterwards given
to lord Parker, as high chancellor. The earl of Sunderland
was made president of the council, and first commissioner of
the treasury. Lord Stanhope and Mr. Craggs were appointed
secretaries of state. Lord Stanhope and lord Cadogan were
afterwards created earls.

{1718}

NATURE OF THE QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE.

The king of Spain, by the care and indefatigable diligence of his prime minister, cardinal Alberoni, equipped a very formidable armament, which, in the beginning of June, set sail from Barcelona towards Italy; but the destination of it was not known. A strong squadron having been fitted out in England, the marquis de Monteleone, ambassador from Spain, presented a memorial to the British ministry, importing that so powerful an armament in time of peace could not but give umbrage to the king his master, and alter the good intelligence that subsisted between the two crowns. In answer to this representation, the ministers declared that the king intended to send admiral Byng with a powerful squadron into the Mediterranean, to maintain the neutrality in Italy. Meanwhile, the negotiations between the English and French ministers produced the quadruple alliance, by which king George and the regent prescribed a peace between the emperor, the king of Spain, and the king of Sicily, and undertook to compel Philip and the Savoyard to submit to such conditions as they had concerted with his Imperial majesty. These powers were allowed only three months to consider the articles, and declare whether they would reject them, or acquiesce in the partition. Nothing could be more contradictory to the true interests of Great Britain than this treaty, which destroyed the balance in Italy, by throwing such an accession of power into the hands of the house of Austria. It interrupted the commerce with Spain; involved the kingdom in an immediate war with that monarchy; and gave rise to all the quarrels and disputes which have arisen between England and Spain in the sequel. The states-general did not approve of such violent measures, and for some time kept aloof; but at length they acceded to the quadruple alliance, which indeed was no other than a very expensive compliment to the emperor, who was desirous of adding Sicily to his other Italian dominions.

{GEORGE I, 1714--1727}

ADMIRAL BYNG SAILS.

The king of England had used some endeavours to compromise the difference between his Imperial majesty and the Spanish branch of the house of Bourbon. Lord Stanhope had been sent to Madrid with a plan of pacification, which being rejected by Philip as partial and iniquitous, the king determined to support his mediation by force of arms. Sir George Byng sailed from Spithead on the fourth day of June, with twenty ships of the line, two fire-ships, two bomb-vessels, and ample instructions how to act on all emergencies. He arrived off Cape St. Vincent on the thirtieth day of the month, and despatched his secretary to Cadiz, with a letter to colonel Stanhope, the British minister at Madrid, desiring him to inform his most catholic majesty of the admiral’s arrival in those parts, and lay before him this article of his instructions: “You are to make instances with both parties to cease from using any further acts of hostility: but in case the Spaniards do still insist, with their ships of war and forces, to attack the kingdom of Naples, or other the territories of the emperor in Italy, or to land in any part of Italy, which can only be with a design to invade the emperor’s dominions, against whom only they have declared war by invading Sardinia; or, if they should endeavour to make themselves masters of the kingdom of Sicily, which must be with a design to invade the kingdom of Naples; in which case you are, with all your power, to hinder and obstruct the same. If it should so happen that at your arrival with our fleet under your command, in the Mediterranean, the Spaniards should already have landed any troops in Italy in order to invade the emperor’s territories, you shall endeavour amicably to dissuade them from persevering in such an attempt, and offer them your assistance to help them to withdraw their troops, and put an end to all further acts of hostility. But in case these your friendly endeavours should prove ineffectual, you shall, by keeping company with, or intercepting their ships or convoy; or if it be necessary, by openly opposing them, defend the emperor’s territories from any further attempt.” When cardinal Alberoni perused these instructions, he told colonel Stanhope, with some warmth, that his master would run all hazards, and even suffer himself to be driven out of Spain, rather than recall his troops, or consent to a suspension of arms. He said the Spaniards were not to be frightened; and he was so well convinced that the fleet would do their duty, that in case of their being attacked by Admiral Byng, he should be in no pain for the success. Mr. Stanhope presenting him with a list of the British squadron, he threw it upon the ground with great emotion. He promised, however, to lay the admiral’s letter before the king, and to let the envoy know his majesty’s resolution. Such an interposition could not but be very provoking to the Spanish minister, who had laid his account with the conquest of Sicily, and for that purpose prepared an armament which was altogether surprising, considering the late shattered condition of the Spanish affairs. But he seems to have put too much confidence in the strength of the Spanish fleet. In a few days he sent back the admiral’s letter to Mr. Stanhope, with a note under it, importing that the chevalier Byng might execute the orders he had received from the king his master.

HE DESTROYS THE SPANISH FLEET.

The admiral, in passing by Gibraltar, was joined by vice-admiral Cornwall with two ships. He proceeded to Minorca, where he relieved the garrison of Port-Mahon. Then he sailed for Naples, where he arrived on the first day of August, and was received as a deliverer; for the Neapolitans had been under the utmost terror of an invasion from the Spaniards. Sir George Byng received intelligence from the viceroy, count Daun, who treated him with the most distinguishing marks of respect, that the Spanish army, amounting to thirty thousand men, commanded by the marquis de Lede, had landed in Sicily, reduced Palermo and Messina, and were then employed in the siege of the citadel belonging to this last city; that the Piedmontese garrison would be obliged to surrender if not speedily relieved; that an alliance was upon the carpet between the emperor and the king of Sicily, which last had desired the assistance of the Imperial troops, and agreed to receive them into the citadel of Messina. The admiral immediately resolved to sail thither, and took under his convoy a reinforcement of two thousand Germans for the citadel, under the command of general Wetzel. He forthwith sailed from Naples, and on the ninth day of August was in sight of the Faro of Messina. He despatched his own captain with a polite message to the marquis de Lede, proposing a cessation of arms in Sicily for two months, that the powers of Europe might have time to concert measures for restoring a lasting peace; and declaring, that should this proposal be rejected, he would, in pursuance of his instructions, use all his force to prevent further attempts to disturb the dominions his master had engaged to defend. The Spanish general answered, that he had no powers to treat, and consequently could not agree to an armistice, but should obey his orders, which directed him to reduce Sicily for his master the king of Spain. The Spanish fleet had sailed from the harbour of Messina on the day before the English squadron appeared. Admiral Byng supposed they had retired to Malta, and directed his course towards Messina, in order to encourage and support the garrison in the citadel. But in doubling the point of Faro, he descried two Spanish scouts, and learned from the people of a felucca from the Calabrian shore, that they had seen from the hills the Spanish fleet lying to in order of battle. The admiral immediately detached the German troops to Reggio, under the convoy of two ships of war. Then he stood through the Faro after the Spanish scouts that led him to their main fleet, which before noon he descried in line of battle, amounting to seven-and-twenty sail large and small, besides two fire-ships, four bomb-vessels, and seven galleys. They were commanded in chief by don Antonio de Castanita, under whom were the four rear-admirals Chacon, Mari, Guevara, and Cammock. At sight of the English squadron they stood away large, and Byng gave chase all the rest of the day. In the morning, which was the eleventh of August, rear-admiral de Mari, with six ships of war, the galleys, fire-ships, and bomb-ketches, separated from the main fleet, and stood in for the Sicilian shore. The English admiral detached captain Walton with five ships in pursuit of them; and they were soon engaged. He himself continued to chase their main fleet; and about ten o’clock the battle began. The Spaniards seemed to be distracted in their councils, and acted in confusion. They made a running fight; yet the admirals behaved with courage and activity, in spite of which they were all taken, except Cammock, who made his escape with three ships of war and three frigates. In this engagement, which happened off Cape Passaro, captain Haddock of the Grafton signalized his courage in an extraordinary manner. On the eighteenth the admiral received a letter* from captain Walton, dated off Syracuse, intimating that he had taken four Spanish ships of war, together with a bomb-ketch, and a vessel laden with arms: and that he had burned four ships of the line, a fire-ship, and a bomb vessel.

* This letter is justly deemed a curious specimen of the
laconic style. “Sir,--_We have taken and destroyed all the
Spanish ships and vessels which were upon the coast; the
number as per margin. I am, &c._
G. WALTON.”

Had the Spaniards followed the advice of rear-admiral Cammock, who was a native of Ireland, sir George Byng would not have obtained such an easy victory. That officer proposed that they should remain at anchor in the road of Paradise, with their broadsides to the sea; in which case the English admiral would have found it a very difficult task to attack them; for the coast is so bold, that the largest ships could ride with a cable ashore; whereas farther out the currents are so various and rapid, that the English squadron could not have come to anchor, or lie near them in order of battle; besides the Spaniards might have been reinforced from the army on shore, which would have raised batteries to annoy the assailants. Before king George had received an account of this engagement from the admiral, he wrote him a letter with his own hand, approving his conduct. When sir George’s eldest son arrived in England with a circumstantial account of the action, he was graciously received, and sent back with plenipotentiary powers to his father, that he might negotiate with the several princes and states of Italy, as he should see occasion. The son likewise carried the king’s royal grant to the officers and seamen, of all the prizes they had taken from the Spaniards. Notwithstanding this victory, the Spanish army carried on the siege of the citadel of Messina with such vigour, that the governor surrendered the place by capitulation on the twenty-ninth day of September. A treaty was now concluded at Vienna between the emperor and the duke of Savoy. They agreed to form an army for the conquest of Sardinia in behalf of the duke; and in the meantime this prince engaged to evacuate Sicily; but until his troops could be conveyed from that island, he consented that they should co-operate with the Germans against the common enemy. Admiral Byng continued to assist the Imperialists in Sicily during the best part of the winter, by scouring the seas of the Spaniards, and keeping the communication open between the German forces and the Calabrian shore, from whence they were supplied with provisions. He acted in this service with equal conduct, courage, resolution, and activity. He conferred with the viceroy of Naples and the other Imperial generals, about the operations of the ensuing campaign, and count Hamilton was despatched to Vienna to lay before the emperor the result of their deliberations; then the admiral set sail for Mahon, where the ships might be refitted and put in a condition to take the sea in the spring.

REMONSTRANCES OF THE SPANISH MINISTRY.

The destruction of the Spanish fleet was a subject that employed the deliberations and conjectures of all the politicians in Europe. Spain exclaimed against the conduct of England, as inconsistent with the rules of good faith, for the observation of which she had always been so famous. The marquis de Monteleone wrote a letter to Mr. secretary Craggs, in which he expostulated with him upon such an unprecedented outrage. Cardinal Alberoni, in a letter to that minister, inveighed against it as a base unworthy action. He said the neutrality of Italy was a weak pretence, since every body knew that neutrality had long been at an end; and that the prince’s guarantees of the treaty of Utrecht were entirely discharged from their engagements, not only by the scandalous infringements committed by the Austrians in the evacuation of Catalonia and Majorca; but also because the guarantee was no longer binding than till a peace was concluded with France. He taxed the British ministry with having revived and supported this neutrality, not by an amicable mediation, but by open violence, and artfully abusing the confidence and security of the Spaniards. This was the language of disappointed ambition. Nevertheless it must be owned that the conduct of England, on this occasion, was irregular, partial, and precipitate.

The parliament meeting on the eleventh day of November, the king in his speech declared that the court of Spain had rejected all his amicable proposals, and broke through their most solemn engagements for the security of the British commerce. To vindicate, therefore, the faith of his former treaties, as well as to maintain those he had lately made, and to protect and defend the trade of his subjects, which had in every branch been violently and unjustly oppressed, it became necessary for his naval forces to check their progress; that notwithstanding the success of his arms, that court had lately given orders at all the ports of Spain and of the West Indies to fit out privateers against the English. He said he was persuaded that a British parliament would enable him to resent such treatment; and he assured them that his good brother, the regent of France, was ready to concur with him in the most vigorous measures. A strong opposition was made in both houses to the motion for an address of thanks and congratulation proposed by lord Carteret. Several peers observed that such an address was, in effect, to approve a sea-fight, which might be attended with dangerous consequences, and to give the sanction of that august assembly to measures which, upon examination, might appear either to clash with the law of nations or former treaties, or to be prejudicial to the trade of Great Britain; that they ought to proceed with the utmost caution and maturest deliberation, in an affair wherein the honour as well as the interest of the nation were so highly concerned. Lord Strafford moved for an address, that sir George Byng’s instructions might be laid before the house. Earl Stanhope replied, that there was no occasion for such an address, since by his majesty’s command he had already laid before the house the treaties of which the late sea-fight was a consequence; particularly the treaty for a defensive alliance between the emperor and his majesty, concluded at Westminster on the twenty-fifth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixteen; and the treaty of alliance for restoring and settling the public peace, signed at London on the twenty-second day of July. He affirmed that the court of Spain had violated the treaty of Utrecht, and acted against the public faith in attacking the emperor’s dominions, while he was engaged in a war against the enemies of Christendom; that they had rejected his majesty’s friendly offices and offers for mediating an accommodation. He explained the cause of his own journey to Spain, and his negotiations at Madrid. He added, it was high time to check the growth of the naval power of Spain, in order to protect and secure the trade of the British subjects which had been violently oppressed by the Spaniards. After a long debate, the motion was carried by a considerable majority. The same subject excited disputes of the same nature in the house of commons, where lord Hinchinbroke moved that, in their address of thanks, they should declare their entire satisfaction in those measures which the king had already taken for strengthening the protestant succession, and establishing a lasting tranquillity in Europe. The members in the opposition urged that it was unparliamentary and unprecedented, on the first day of the session, to enter upon particulars; that the business in question was of the highest importance, and deserved the most mature deliberation; that, before they approved the measures which had been taken, they ought to examine the reasons on which those measures were founded. Mr. Robert Walpole affirmed that the giving sanction, in the manner proposed, to the late measures, could have no other view than that of screening ministers, who were conscious of having begun a war against Spain, and now wanted to make it the parliament’s war. He observed, that instead of an entire satisfaction, they ought to express their entire dissatisfaction with such conduct as was contrary to the law of nations, and a breach of the most solemn treaties. Mr. secretary Craggs, in a long speech, explained the nature of the quadruple alliance, and justified all the measures which had been taken. The address, as moved by lord Hinchinbroke, was at length carried, and presented to his majesty. Then the commons proceeded to consider the supply. They voted thirteen thousand five hundred sailors; and twelve thousand four hundred and thirty-five men for the land service. The whole estimate amounted to two millions two hundred and fifty-seven thousand five hundred eighty-one pounds, nineteen shillings. The money was raised by a land-tax, malt-tax, and lottery.

ACT FOR STRENGTHENING THE PROTESTANT INTEREST.

On the thirteenth day of December, earl Stanhope declared, in the house of lords, that in order to unite the hearts of the well affected to the present establishment, he had a bill to offer under the title of “An act for strengthening the protestant interest in these kingdoms.” It was accordingly read, and appeared to be a bill repealing the acts against occasional conformity, the growth of schism, and some clauses in the corporation and test acts. This had been concerted by the ministry in private meetings with the most eminent dissenters. The tory lords were astonished at this motion, for which they were altogether unprepared. Nevertheless they were strenuous in their opposition. They alleged that the bill, instead of strengthening, would certainly weaken the church of England, by plucking off her best feathers, investing her enemies with power, and sharing with churchmen the civil and military employments of which they were then wholly possessed. Earl Cowper declared himself against that part of the bill by which some clauses of the test and corporation acts were repealed; because he looked upon those acts as the main bulwark of our excellent constitution in church and state, which ought to be inviolably preserved. The earl of Hay opposed the bill, because, in his opinion, it infringed the _pacta conventa_ of the treaty of union, by which the bonds both of the church of England and of the church of Scotland were fixed and settled; and he was apprehensive, if the articles of the union were broke with respect to one church, it might afterwards be a precedent to break them with respect to the other. The archbishop of Canterbury said the acts which by this bill would be repealed, were the main bulwark and supporters of the English church; he expressed all imaginable tenderness for well-meaning conscientious dissenters; but he could not forbear saying, some among that sect made a wrong use of the favour and indulgence shown to them at the revolution, though they had the least share in that happy event; it was therefore thought necessary for the legislature to interpose, and put a stop to the scandalous practice of occasional conformity. He added, that it would be needless to repeal the act against schism, since no advantage had been taken of it to the prejudice of the dissenters. Dr. Hoadley, bishop of Bangor, endeavoured to prove that the occasional and schism acts were in effect persecuting laws; and that by admitting the principle of self-defence and self-preservation in matters of religion, all the persecutions maintained by the heathens against the professors of Christianity, and even the popish inquisition, might be justified. With respect to the power of which many clergymen appeared so fond and so zealous, he owned the desire of power and riches was natural to all men; but that he had learned both from reason and from the gospel, that this desire must be kept within due bounds, and not intrench upon the rights and liberties of their fellow-creatures and countrymen. After a long debate, the house agreed to leave out some clauses concerning the test and corporation acts: then the bill was committed, and afterwards passed. In the lower house it met with violent opposition, in spite of which it was carried by the majority.

WAR DECLARED AGAINST SPAIN.

The king on the seventeenth day of December, sent a message to the commons, importing that all his endeavours to procure redress for the injuries done to his subjects by the king of Spain having proved ineffectual, he had found it necessary to declare war against that monarch. When a motion was made for an address, to assure the king they would cheerfully support him in the prosecution of the war, Mr. Shippen and some other members said, they did not see the necessity of involving the nation in a war on account of some grievances of which the merchants complained, as these might be amicably redressed. Mr. Stanhope assured the house that he had presented five-and-twenty memorials to the ministry of Spain on that subject without success. Mr. Methuen accounted for the dilatory proceeds of the Spanish court in commercial affairs, by explaining the great variety of regulations in the several provinces and ports of that kingdom. It was suggested that the ministry paid very little regard to the trade and interest of the nation, inasmuch as it appeared by the answer from the secretary of state to the letter of the marquis de Monteleone, that they would have overlooked the violation of the treaties of commerce, provided Spain had accepted the conditions stipulated in the quadruple alliance; for it was there expressly said, that his majesty the king of Great Britain did not seek to aggrandize himself by any new acquisitions, but was rather inclined to sacrifice something of his own to procure the general quiet and tranquillity of Europe. A member observed, that nobody could tell how far that sacrifice would have extended, but certainly it was a very uncommon stretch of condescension. This sacrifice was said to be the cession of Gibraltar and Port Mahon, which the regent of France had offered to the king of Spain, provided he would accede to the quadruple alliance. Horatio Walpole observed, that the disposition of Sicily in favour of the emperor was an infraction of the treaty of Utrecht; and his brother exclaimed against the injustice of attacking the Spanish fleet before a declaration of war. Notwithstanding all these arguments and objections, the majority agreed to the address; and such another was carried in the upper house without a division. The declaration of war against Spain was published with the usual solemnities; but this war was not a favourite of the people, and therefore did not produce those acclamations that were usual on such occasions.

CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE REGENT OF FRANCE.

Meanwhile cardinal Alberoni employed all his intrigues, power, and industry, for the gratification of his revenge. He caused new ships to be built, the sea ports to be put in a posture of defence, succours to be sent to Sicily, and the proper measures to be taken for the security of Sardinia. He, by means of the prince de Cellamare, the Spanish ambassador at Paris, caballed with the malcontents of that kingdom, who were numerous and powerful. A scheme was actually formed for seizing the regent, and securing the person of the king. The duke of Orleans owed the first intimation of this plot to king George, who gave him to understand that a conspiracy was formed against his person and government. The regent immediately took measures for watching the conduct of all suspected persons; but the whole intrigue was discovered by accident. The prince de Cellamare intrusted his despatches to the abbé Portocarrero, and to a son of the marquis de Monteleone. These emissaries set out from Paris in a post-chaise, and were overturned. The postillion overheard Portocarrero say, he would not have lost his portmanteau for a hundred thousand pistoles. The man, at his return to Paris, gave notice to the government of what he had observed. The Spaniards, being pursued, were overtaken and seized at Poictiers, with the portmanteau, in which the regent found two letters that made him acquainted with the particulars of the conspiracy. The prince de Cellamare was immediately conducted to the frontiers: the duke of Maine, the marquis de Pompadore, the cardinal de Polignac, and many other persons of distinction, were committed to different prisons. The regent declared war against Spain on the twenty-ninth day of December; and an army of six-and-thirty thousand men began its march towards that kingdom in January, under the command of the duke of Berwick.

INTENDED INVASION BY ORMOND.

Cardinal Alberoni had likewise formed a scheme in favour of the pretender. The duke of Ormond repairing to Madrid, held conferences with his eminence; and measures were concerted for exciting another insurrection in Great Britain. The chevalier de St. George quitted Urbino by stealth; and embarking at Netteno, landed at Cagliari in March. From thence he took his passage to Roses in Catalonia, and proceeded to Madrid, where he was received with great cordiality, and treated as king of Great Britain. An armament had been equipped of ten ships of war and transports, having on board six thousand regular troops, with arms for twelve thousand men. The command of this fleet was bestowed on the duke of Ormond, with the title of captain-general of his most catholic majesty. He was provided with declarations in the name of that king, importing, that for many good reasons he had sent part of his land and sea forces into England and Scotland, to act as auxiliaries to king James. His Britannic majesty, having received from the regent of France timely notice of this intended invasion, offered, by proclamations, rewards to those that should apprehend the duke of Ormond, or any gentleman embarked in that expedition. Troops were ordered to assemble in the north, and in the west of England: two thousand men were demanded of the states-general: a strong squadron was equipped to oppose the Spanish armament; and the duke of Orleans made a proffer to king George of twenty battalions for his service.

THREE HUNDRED SPANIARDS LAND AND ARE TAKEN IN SCOTLAND.

His majesty having communicated to both houses of parliament the repeated advices he had received touching this projected descent, they promised to support him against all his enemies. They desired he would augment his forces by sea and land, and assured him they would make good the extraordinary expense. Two thousand men were landed from Holland, and six battalions of Imperialists from the Austrian Netherlands. The duke of Ormond sailed from Cadiz, and proceeded as far as Cape Finisterre, where his fleet was dispersed and disabled by a violent storm, which entirely defeated the purposed expedition. Two frigates, however, arrived in Scotland, with the earls Marischal and Seaforth, the marquis of Tullibardine, some field-officers, three hundred Spaniards, and arms for two thousand men. They were joined by a small body of Highlanders, and possessed themselves of Donan castle. Against these adventurers general Wightman marched with a body of regular troops from Inverness. They had taken possession of the pass at Glenshiel; but, at the approach of the king’s forces, retired to the pass at Strachell, which they resolved to defend. They were attacked and driven from one eminence to another till night, when the Highlanders dispersed; and next day the Spaniards surrendered themselves prisoners of war. Marischal, Seaforth, and Tullibardine, with some officers, retired to one of the western isles, in order to wait an opportunity of being conveyed to the continent.

ACCOUNT OF THE PEERAGE BILL.

On the last day of February the duke of Somerset represented, in the house of lords, that the number of peers being very much increased, especially since the union of the two kingdoms, it seemed absolutely necessary to take effectual measures for preventing the inconveniences that might attend the creation of a great number of peers to serve a present purpose; an expedient which had been actually taken in the late reign. He therefore moved that a bill should be brought in to settle and limit the peerage, in such a manner that the number of English peers should not be enlarged beyond six above the present number, which, upon failure of male issue, might be supplied by new creations: that instead of the sixteen elective peers from Scotland, twenty-five should be made hereditary on the part of that kingdom; and that this number, upon failure of heirs-male, should be supplied from the other members of the Scottish peerage. This bill was intended as a restraint upon the prince of Wales, who happened to be at variance with the present ministry. The motion was supported by the duke of Argyle, now lord-steward of the household, the earls of Sunderland and Carlisle. It was opposed by the earl of Oxford, who said, that although he expected nothing from the crown, he would never give his vote for lopping off so valuable a branch of the prerogative, which enabled the king to reward merit and virtuous actions. The debate was adjourned to the second day of March, when earl Stanhope delivered a message from the king, intimating, that as they had under consideration the state of the British peerage, he had so much at heart the settling it upon such a foundation as might secure the freedom and constitution of parliaments in till future ages, that he was willing his prerogative should not stand in the way of so great and necessary a work. Another violent debate ensued between the two factions. The question here, as in almost every other dispute, was not whether the measure proposed was advantageous to the nation? but, whether the tory or the whig interest should predominate in parliament? Earl Cowper affirmed, that the part of the bill relating to the Scottish peerage, was a manifest violation of the treaty of union, as well as a flagrant piece of injustice, as it would deprive persons of their right, without being heard, and without any pretence or forfeiture on their part. He observed, that the Scottish peers excluded from the number of the twenty-five, would be in a worse condition than any other subjects in the kingdom; for they would be neither electing nor elected, neither representing nor represented. These objections were overruled; several resolutions were taken agreeably to the motion, and the judges were ordered to prepare and bring in the bill. This measure alarmed the generality of Scottish peers, as well as many English commoners, who saw in the bill the avenues of dignity and title shut up against them; and they did not fail to exclaim against it as an encroachment upon the fundamental maxims of the constitution. Treaties were written and published on both sides of the question; and a national clamour began to arise, when earl Stanhope observed, in the house, that as the bill had raised strange apprehensions, he thought it advisable to postpone the further consideration of it till a more proper opportunity. It was accordingly dropped, and the parliament prorogued on the eighteenth day of April, on which occasion his majesty told both houses that the Spanish king had acknowledged the pretender.

{1719}

COUNT MERCI ASSUMES THE COMMAND OF THE IMPERIAL ARMY

The king having appointed lords-justices to rule the kingdom in his absence, embarked in May for Holland, from whence he proceeded to Hanover, where he concluded a peace with Ulrica, the new queen of Sweden. By this treaty Sweden yielded for ever to the royal and electoral house of Brunswick the duchies of Bremen and Verden, with all their dependencies; king George obliged himself to pay a million of rix-dollars to the queen of Sweden; and to renew, as king of Great Britain and elector of Hanover, the alliances formerly subsisting between his predecessors and that kingdom. He likewise mediated a peace between Sweden and his former allies, the Danes, the Prussians, and the Poles. The czar, however, refused to give up his schemes of conquest. He sent his fleet to the Scheuron, or Bates of Sweden, where his troops landing to the number of fifteen thousand, committed dreadful outrages: but sir John Norris, who commanded an English squadron in those seas, having orders to support the negotiations, and oppose any hostilities that might be committed, the czar, dreading the fate of the Spanish navy, thought proper to recall his fleet. In the Mediterranean, admiral Byng acted with unwearied vigour in assisting the Imperialists to finish the conquest of Sicily. The court of Vienna had agreed to send a strong body of forces to finish the reduction of that island; and the command in this expedition was bestowed upon the count de Merci, with whom sir George Byng conferred at Naples. This admiral supplied them with ammunition and artillery from the Spanish prizes. He took the whole reinforcement under his convoy, and saw them safely landed in the bay of Patti, to the number of three thousand five hundred horse, and ten thousand infantry. Count Merci thinking himself more than a match for the Spanish forces commanded by the marquis de Lede, attacked him in a strong camp at Franca-Villa, and was repulsed with the loss of five thousand men, himself being dangerously wounded in the action. Here his army must have perished for want of provisions, had they not been supplied by the English navy.

{GEORGE I, 1714--1727}

ACTIVITY OF ADMIRAL BYNG.