enemy of the christian faith; and the king of Spain profeffing a willingness to submit the justice of his quarrel to equitable arbitration, the king of England and the regent of France, in concert with the states-general, undertook the accommodation of these differences. And conferences being opened with the court of Vienna, the famous QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE was at length concluded, by which it was determined that Sardinia, now actually in the poffeffion of Spain, fhould be transferred to the house of Savoy; and Sicily, a far more valuable poffeffion, ceded in exchange to the emperor. The claims of Spain were altogether difregarded; only it was ftipulated that the fucceffion to the duchies of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, claimed by the queen of Spain as heirefs of the houses of Medicis and Farnese, should devolve upon her eldest fon in case of a failure of male iffue: and three months only were allowed to the parties interested in thefe ceffions to declare their acceptance or rejection.* Spain, as may be imagined, Although the regent of France, from his eager defire to fecure the friendship of England, and from perfonal animosity to the king of Spain, entered entirely into the views of the English monarch upon this occafion, he retained at the bottom all the Bourbon prejudices against the house of Auftria. The principal obstacle to the alliance concluded in 1716 between the two kingdoms, was the willingness of the regent to affent to the expulfion of the Swedes, the ancient enemies of that house, from Germany. "I have," fays the ambassador, lord Stair, in a dispatch addressed to secretary, Craggs," all along endeavored to perfuade the regent that, in the present state of the kingdom of Sweden, it can be of no great use to France that that crown fhould preferve a foot in the empire; and that the true and folid balance against the emperor, and for preferving the liberty of Germany, must be by making a close conjunction among the princes of the north of Germany. This thought, in general, pleases the regent very well; but he does by no means like the particular part of it, to deprive the crown of Sweden of their dominions in Germany." When affairs, after this, took a different turn; when jealoufies and diffenfions arose between the emperor and the king of England, and hopes were entertained that England might be effectually detached from the Austrian ntereft; the courtof Versailles entered with more fincerity, and even with apparent eagerness, imagined, was little difpofed to acquiefce in this fettlement. And the propofitions of general Stanhope, the English fecretary of ftate, who was himself invefted with the character of ambaffador extraordinary to the court of Madrid on this occafion, were refused with difdain. A ftill more formidable armament than the former was now fitted out by the indefatigable exertions of the cardinal, deftined for the invafion of Sicily; his Sicilian majesty having concerted his own measures by a separate negotiation with the court of Vienna; wifely refolving to submit to terms, however difadvantageous, which he found himfelf unable to oppose with effect. The Spaniards having landed their forces, confifting of 30,000 men, flattered themselves with the fpeedy reduction of this rich and beautiful ifland. But the king of England, in order to counteract the designs of Spain, had, with the concurrence of parliament, though England had no imaginable motive to interfere in the distant scenes of contention, caused a formidable fleet to fail for the Mediterranean, under the command of fir George Byng, with peremptory orders to attack the Spanish fleet if engaged in any hoftile enterprise against Naples or Sicily. The British admiral, on his arrival off Cadiz, transmitted by his fecretary a copy of his inftructions into the projects of Hanoverian aggrandizement; sensible that the facrifice made by France was trivial in comparison of the advantage gained. Lord Stair, at this period, had the generofity zealously to intercede with the court of London for the pardon of the earl of Mar. After being, however, a confiderable time amufed with the hope of obtaining it, he met with a final and harsh repulse. "Lord Mar," fays the ambassador to Mr. Craggs," is outré at the usage he has met with. He fays, our ministry may be great and able men, but that they are not skilful in making profelytes, or keeping friends when they have them. I am pretty much of his mind. He was certainly determined to leave the pretender's intereft. He is now fall of refentment, and in most violent agitations." How striking the contrast between the policy of the English court in this reign, and that of Henry IV. of France, after his triumphs over the faction of the League! But every king is not a hero. inftructions to the cardinal, who perused them with great emotion, and after fome deliberation returned for answer, "that the chevalier Byng might execute the orders he had received from the king his master."* The admiral proceeding, therefore, on his voyage, caft anchor with his whole fleet in the bay of Naples, where the magnificence of the fpectacle drew immenfe multitudes of people to the surrounding fhores, which refounded with loud acclamations. On receiving intelligence from count Daun, the vice-. roy, that Meffina, the capital of Sicily, was reduced to the last extremity; he again weighed anchor, and on the 9th of August, 1718, he came in fight of the Faro of Meflina, and dispatched his own captain with a message to the marquis de Lede, commander of the Spanish forces, propofing a ceffation of arms in Sicily for two months, that the powers of Europe might have opportunity to concert measures for restoring a lasting peace; declaring, at the fame time, that fhould this propofal be rejected, he fhould, The inftructions of the admiral were as follow-"You are to make inftances with both parties to cease from ufing any farther acts of hoftility; but in case the Spaniards do still infist 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 fhould endeavor to make themselves masters of the kingdom of Sicily, which must be with a design to invade the kingdom of Naples ; in such case you are with all your power to hioder and obftruct the fame. If it fhould fo 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 em. peror's territories, you shall endeavor amicably to diffuade them from perfevering in fuch an attempt; and offer them your affiftance to help them to withdraw their troops, and put an end to farther acts of hoftility. But in cafe these your friendly endeavors should prove ineffectual, you shall, by keeping company with or intercepting their fhips or convoys, or if it be neceffary, by openly oppofing them, defend the emperor's territories from any farther attempt." should, in purfuance of his instructions, use all his force to prevent farther attempts to disturb the dominions the king his mafter had engaged to defend. The Spanish general answered, "that he had no power to treat of an armiftice, but fhould obey his orders, which were, to reduce Sicily to the dominion of his mafter the king of Spain." On the 11th of August the Spanish fleet, confifting of twenty-feven fail of the line, was defcried off the coast of Calabria, lying-to in the order of battle ; and though on the approach of the British squadron they bore away apparently with the view of maintaining a running fight, the fuperior manoeuvres of the English commander foon brought on a close action, which before funfet terminated in the almoft total deftruction of the Spanish fleet; don Caftanita the commander in chief, and three other admirals, being captured. Captain Walton being detached by fir George Byng, with five fhips of the line, in pursuit of a division of the Spaniards much fu̟perior in force, acquainted the English admiral with the event of his undertaking, in the following memorable letter:-" Sir, We have deftroyed all the Spanish ships and veffels which were upon the coaft, the number as per margin." Upon infpecting the margin of this laconic epistle, no less than thirteen fhips of war of different descriptions were found comprised in it. It is faid that rear-admiral Cammock, a native of Ireland, who commanded one of the divifions of the Spanish fleet, proposed to the commander in chief to remain in the road of Paradife, where the coaft is bold and the anchorage 'good, with their broadfides towards the fea, in order of battle: a position in which the British fleet might have been greatly annoyed from the batteries erected on shore; and the various and rapid currents would have prevented a close and regular approach. But the evil genius of Spain predominated, and this propofal was rejected. In reward of this great victory, fir George Byng was raised to the dignity dignity of the peerage by the ftyle and title of viscount Torrington, and received other distinguished marks of the royal favor. But the court of Madrid exclaimed in the most passionate language against the conduct of England, as contrary to the law of nations, and a flagrant violation of the most folemn engagements; and orders were iffued at all the ports of Spain and the Indies, for making reprisals upon the English, in confequence of which, war was formally declared by England against Spain, which was foon followed by a like declaration on the part of the regent of France. These transactions, however, did not pafs abroad with out fevere notice and animadverfion at home. In the feffion of parliament which commenced November 1717, the king had in his fpeech affured the two houses that his endeavors to preserve the public tranquillity had not been unsuccessful; and that he had reason to believe they would in the end produce their full effect. A confiderable reduction of the army was in consequence proposed on the part of the minifters, who contented themselves with moving for 18,000 men only for the fervice of the ensuing year. Even this force was deemed by the oppofition very unneceffary, and an effort was in vain made to limit the number to 12,000. Mr. Walpole, in particular, declaimed with much energy on the danger of a standing army in a free country; and he affirmed, that though a confiderable proportion of the privates had been disbanded, the officers had been retained; and the foldiers wanting to complete the feveral companies and regiments might be raised with beat of drum in twenty-four hours; so that a force double to what was intended by parliament was virtually vested in the crown. And Mr. Shippen, in the course of a very able fpeech, declared the expence attending the army to be the smallest objection to it. The chief argument against it was, that the civil and military power would not long fubfift together. Far from being neceffary |