II. PART But the emperor, difcontented with this treaty, determined to try the effect of another campaign; and the French and Spaniards, under the Duke of Berwick, bent all their revenge against Barcelona; where the abandoned Catalonians were exposed to all the horrors of a fiege, destruction, famine, and mortality: it is not in the power of time to expunge this, blot on the British glory; for who can name the Catalonians without a tear? Brave unhappy people! drawn into the war by an encouragement of the maritime powers, from whom only, a nation encompaffed to the land by France and Spain, could hope for relief and protection; now deferted and open to the refentment of an enraged prince, whose person and intereft they had always oppofed; and yet ftill fo fond of their antient liberties, that though hemmed up in a neck of land by the forces of the two crowns, and clofely befieged in Barcelona, they chose rather, like their countrymen, the famous Saguntines of old, to perifh with their wives and children, than live in flavery. How reverse their prefent fituation from what it was when thefe very Catalonians affifted the French against the Spanish king! France fo far from thus abandoning, obtained them the moft honourable conditions; not a fingle man was then hurt, either in his perfon or privilege; but now they were left furrounded with fire and fword, combating with every calamity. Poor unfortunate Catalo nians, worthy of a better fate! Good and gracious God! to whom fhall be attributed the lofs of this brave people! THE British nation apprehended, by this treaty, their miniftry had deviated from the plan, intended to have been pursued on the commencement of the war, and the Earl of Oxford, who I. who was then the prime minifter, was impeached CHAP, for not pursuing it; the chief article against him being, that "By the peace of Utrecht, he had " left the power of the house of Austria too "fmall in Italy and Flanders, and the kingdom "of Spain under a fort of dependence upon the "court of France." GREAT difficulties remained unadjusted by that treaty, and much embarraffed all the affairs of Europe; yet in the following year, by the treaties of Raftadt and Baden, the emperor and France determined their differences; and by the treaty of London in 1716, to augment the Auftrian power in Italy, Naples, and Sicily, were ceded to the emperor, in exchange for Sardinia, which was granted to the Duke of Savoy ; but this was not immediately complied with, and many differences fubfifted between the emperor and Spain, till long after Sir Robert Walpole began to have an influence over the British councils: his predeceffors, after entailing a debt of fifty millions upon the nation, had been puzzled with thefe difputes, and in endeavouring to appeafe them, had already by the quadruple alliance in 1718, and several fubfequent treaties and proceedings, in a great degree difgufted both those powers. At a time therefore, when the reins of the British government fell into the hands of Sir Robert Walpole, it required fuperior abilities for foreign affairs, and another turn to extricate the nation out of these difficult circumftances. But, contrary to that plan of politics fo effentially neceffary for the British nation to purfue, this minifter, instead of adhering firmly to the emperor, yielded to the views of Spain; and by this conduct highly provoked the emperor, which Spain obferving, took that opportunity to acVOL. I. Ꮓ com PART Commodate her own affairs with the imperial II. court, and for this purpose sent a minifter privately to Vienna, by whofe means treaties of peace, guaranty, and commerce, were concluded between the two courts in the beginning of the year 1725. THE Concluding of these treaties, and the good correfpondence thereby established between the courts of Vienna and Madrid, gave a most just and reasonable alarm to France; as Spain had received a recent affront from this court, by fending back, that very year, the infanta, who had been contracted in marriage to their young king, whom they married the fame year to the Princess Leozinsky, daughter of Stanislaus the depofed King of Poland. With the utmost reafon to dread this formidable union, the court of France, finding fhe could not inftil any fears into the Dutch, had recourse to the British minifter, and endeavoured to fill him with dangerous apprehenfions from thofe treaties; for this purpole informing him, that there were fome fecret articles by which the emperor and Spain had agreed to take Gibraltar and Port Mahon, to defeat the proteftant fucceffion by reftoring the pretender, and to ruin the British trade with Spain, by granting many confiderable advantages to the fubjects of the emperor; reprefenting, that the only way the British nation had to guard against these terrible designs, was by entering into a defenfive alliance with France. INFLUENCED by these French follicitations, Sir Robert Walpole ftumbled upon the most unlucky accident for the British nation, finally acceffory to his own declenfion, and almoft to the ballance of power in Europe. This was the advancing the unnatural thefis of a neceffity to pull down down the pretended exorbitant power of the house CHAP. of Auftria, and in fecuring France againft the I. attacks of the Emperor and Spain; the one diametrically oppofite to the honour, and the other to the intereft of Britain. Sir Robert apprehended the peace was upon the point of being disturbed again, and fuffering to be imposed on by France, exerted himself to form a confederacy against the emperor and Spain; and accordingly the Hanover treaty was concluded between France, Pruffia, and Great Britain, the 23d of September 1725, about four months after the treaty between the emperor and Spain, concluded at Vienna. This was entirely throwing the British nation into the arms of France, and breaking off from its old and natural connection with the house of Auftria; for by a feparate article of this treaty, Great Britain engaged "In cafe war "fhould be declared by the Empire against "France, that though he was not comprized "in the declaration of fuch war, Great Britain' "would act in concert with France till fuch war "fhould be determined;" and by virtue of the third article of the fame treaty, "Should, if ne"ceffity required, declare war upon the Em66 pire." And thus, fays a celebrated French hiftorian, "By this treaty the Duke of Bourbon, "then firft minifter to the moft chriftian king, "brought to maturity what his predeceffors had "projected, and France at length attained what "fhe had fo long wifhed, a dif-union between "Great Britain and the house of Austria, for "which she had vainly expended fuch immense "fums in the preceeding reign." THE prefervation of France was thus ftrongly fecured, and the houfe of Auftria deferted and confederated againft by its natural and old ally, Z 2 and PART and without all doubt the rafhnefs of this meaII. fure had commenced a war, which would have ruined the ballance of power in Europe without refource; the powers of the grand alliance being now upon the point of purfuing the destruction of each other, with the fame determined rancour which they had formerly exerted against their common enemy the French: if the emperor had not with a happy moderation, himself opened a way to bring this measure to an accommodation; for this monarch, notwithstanding all the indignities that had paffed, and all the provocations he had received, still retained a just sense both of his obligations and his intereft to cultivate the antient friendship of the house of Auftria with Great Britain, was willing to overlook all that was paffed, and prevented one of the pretended fubjects of animofity, by agreeing to the fufpenfion of the Oftend company. Upon which a new preliminary treaty was signed at Vienna, in June, 1727, whereby the emperor was foon after induced to alliance with Great Britain against Spain, and at the congrefs held at Soiffons, the intereft of Britain was re-united with the imperial court. No fooner was this re-union completed, but the British minifter began to be as much frightened at the variance, as he had been terrified before with the union of the emperor and Spain; he therefore, with a strange alteration of conduct, in conjunction with France and Spain, concluded the treaty of Seville, in November, 1729. The emperor was entirely unacquainted with this treaty till it was concluded, and no wonder, for it contained an article, which has fince proved, as he always forefaw it would, of the most fatal confequence to his Italian do minions this article was the immediate admif |