1712. the promife of Sicily, the French endeavoured to draw himi off by open force. But the duke of Berwick, after an unfuccefsful attempt to furprize fort Edmund and Conti, and the plundering of the neighbourhood of Saluffes, which occafioned a warm fkirmifh, was obliged to repass the Alpes with an inconfiderable booty. On the other hand, count Maffei having, with great addrefs, obtained from the British court a large fum of money, in part of the arrears due to his mafter, he returned to his poft at Utrecht, towards the end of September, O. S. by which time the emperor had fent orders to his minifters at Milan, to give the duke of Savoy intire fatisfaction. But this condefcenfion had no effect upon a prince, who was already biaffed by the gold and promises of Great-Britain. The elector refuses to come into the British measures. The English minifters, and their agents, were not eof Hanover qually fuccefsful in fome courts of Germany, Mr. Thomas Harley, a near relation of the lord treasurer, who, about the beginning of this year, had been appointed to go to Hanover with a fecret commiffion, having ftaid some months in Holland, to watch the progrefs of the Negotiations at Utrecht and the Hague, fet out, at laft, about the beginning of July for Germany. On the 12th of that month, N. S. he arrived at Hanover, accompanied by Mr. St. John, brother to the lord Bolingbroke, and fome other young English gentlemen, who were all entertained at the elector's expence, Three days after, Mr. Harley, who from the ftation of coadjutor to the fecretary of the treafury, was now raised to the character of ambaffador extraordinary, had a public audience of the elector, and afterwards of the princefs Sophia, electress dowager, and of the electoral prince and princefs, by whom he was received with distinguishing marks of favour, as one fo nearly related to the prime minifter of Great-Britain. The defign of this ambaffy was to perfuade the elector to come into the British measures, which Mr. Harley preffed strongly, and, amongst other arguments, told him, That the contrary ⚫ would do him an injury in the minds of the people, who were fet upon peace. But the elector remained firm in the fentiments, which he formerly expreffed in the memorial presented about a year before by baron Bothmar, and anfwered Mr. Harley to this affect: I do not put myself $ upon the foot of one pretending immediately to the throne of Great-Britain, The queen is a young wo man, and, I hope, will live a great many years. When the dies, my mother is before me. Whenever it pleases God 1712. • God to call me to that station, I hope to act as becomes Endeavours were likewife ufed about this time to bring the king of Pruffia into pacific measures, with no better fuccefs than at the court of Hanover. But, notwithstanding these and other disappointments, the British ministers pursued their scheme with steadiness and resolution; which being chiefly founded on king Philip's renunciation of the crown of France, the lord Lexington was appointed to go to Spain, to prefs and be witness of the performance of that important preliminary. New scheme Though the public negotiation at Utrecht was, for fome months, at a stand, upon account of the dispute between of peace proMefnager and Rechteren; yet, fome private steps were pofed by the made in the mean while for bringing the war to a conclu- Dutch. fion For on the 9th of October, N. S. the ministers of the States declared to thofe of Great-Britain, That, for the good of peace, the States were willing to yield Lifle to France, and recede from their pretenfions to have Doway, Valenciennes, and Maubeuge, which they had hitherto infifted upon; provided Condé and Tournay • were included in the barrier, the Tariffs of 1664 restored, and that Sicily be yielded to the emperor, and Straf• burg to the empire,' This propofal was immediately transmitted to the court of Great-Britain, where it was looked upon as more reasonable than any of the former schemes. On the other hand, the imperial minifters finding the States inclined to yield up Spain and the Weft-Indies to King Philip, to which they knew their master was unwilling to confent, count Zinzendorf proposed a plan, according to which the emperor, and the States of the empire fhould furnifh four millions of crowns, which were fupposed to be fufficient to put their forces in a condition to act offenfively, and to maintain moft of the auxiliaries lately in the British pay. But, it having been found by long experience, that there was no great dependance to be made on fuch promifes, fome of the princes, to whom those troops belonged, refolved to recall them upon various pretences. On 1712; On the 4th of October, one of the queen's messengers arrived at Utrecht with dispatches for her ministers; and The earl of after a conference with those of the States, the earl of Stratford, the next morning, fet out for England, and on the 13th arrived at Whitehall. Strafford comes to England. Various conjectures about it. Mifunder court. The earl's fudden departure from Holland occafioned various conjectures both at home and abroad. The general opinion was, that he was fent for to give the Queen and her minifters a verbal account of the difpofition, in which he left the Dutch as to peace and war, and to receive the Queen's inftructions in relation to their late fcheme. But ftanding at thofe, who observed what paffed at court, afcribed his coming over to a misunderstanding, which, about this time, appeared to be among the Queen's fervants. It is evident (from the lord-treasurer's account of public affairs, fent to the queen in Auguft 1714) that there had been feveral mifunderstandings between him and the lord Bolingbroke. He obferves particularly, that, when it was found neceffary to create fome new peers in the feffion of parliament in 1711, fo many having been brought formerly out of the house of commons of thofe, who used to manage public affairs, it was proposed to Mr. fecretary St. John, that, if he would be contented to stay in the house of commons that feffion, the queen would create him a peer, and he should not lofe his rank accordingly, after the feffion was ended, the queen ordered a warrant for him to be a viscount; which put him into the utmost rage against the lord-treasurer and lady Mafham. It availed but little to tell him, how much he had got in place; for, had he been created with the other lords, it would have fallen to his share to have come next after lord Trevor. But the treasurer, with great patience, bore all that ftorm, of which lady Masham was often a witness; and Mr. Arthur Moore, a confiderable time after, told the treasurer, that lord Bolingbroke said to him, he owed him a revenge upon that head. This difcontent continued, till there happened an opportunity of fending him to France, of which there was, fays the treasurer, not much occafion; but it was hoped, this would put him in good humour; which it did, till, in October 1712, there were knights of the garter made; which occafioned a new refentment from lord Bolingbroke, which frequently broke out in outrageous expreffions publicly against all then made; who were the dukes of Beaufort, Hamilton, and Kent; the earl Paulet, and the earls of Oxford and Strafford. The duke of Hamilton made a private application to the queen, defiring, he might be permitted to wear both the garter and the order of the thistle; but was answered, the fame was unprecedented; and that the duke of Argyle had laid down the thistle, upon his being made knight of the garter. 1712. of France. Hift. of Eur. The lord Lexington, who was appointed to go to Spain, King Philip's to prefs the renunciation of king Philip to the crown of renunciation France, having embarked at Portsmouth on the 15th of to the crown September, arrived, October the 7th, at Madrid, where he was received with great marks of honour and diftinction. Before his arrival, upon information, that Sir-Burke refided there, as minifter of the king of England, whose arms he had set up before his houfe; the lord Lexington complained of it to the court, and demanded, that he fhould depart from Madrid, which he was immediately ordered to do. The lord Lexington had then feveral conferences with king Philip's minifters about that prince's renunciation; which being drawn up in form, and agreed to, his majefty figned it on the 5th of November, N. S. and fwore upon the holy evangelifts, to obferve it, in presence of the council of state, and of the chief nobility. The cortez, or ftates of Spain, having been summoned to meet at Madrid, in order to enact this renunciation into a law, king Philip, attended by the prefident of Caftile, and council of ftate, went to that affembly, and told them, 6 That the efforts, which the nation made with so much ‹ zeal and fidelity, to fecure his crown in two perilous occafions, were of fuch a nature, as never to be forgot. And to fhew his gratitude, to procure peace for his people, and to be never feparated from them, he renounced all pretenfions, which either himself, or his iffue, might have to the crown of France; and defired them to give ⚫ their confent to it. Upon this the cortez confirmed and approved the renunciation, and the crown of Spain, after king Philip's pofterity, was limited to the houfe of Savoy. The queen, and prince of Afturias, and the lord Lexington, were prefent at the whole folemnity. But it is to be obferved, that his lordship did not yet take upon him any character; and that fome time before king Philip fent orders to the marquis de Monteleone, who was then at Paris, to repair to the court of Great-Britain. The like renunciation was made fome months after, by the princes of France to the crown of Spain: and king Philip was declared incapable of fucceeding to the crown of France. It was fomething ftrange, to fee fo much weight 1712. laid on these renunciations, fince the king of France had fo often, and fo folemnly declared (upon his claiming, in the right of his queen, the Spanish Netherlands; when the renunciation made by his queen before the mariage, pursuant to the treaty of the Pyrenees, of all rights of Succeffion to her father's dominions, was objected to him) that no renunciation, which was but a civil act, could destroy the rights of blood, founded on the laws of nature: But this was now forgot, or very little confidered. The Spaniards invade Portugal. Sept. 22. N. S. While these things were tranfacting, endeavours were used to bring the crown of Portugal into the prefent meafures of peace; and, left perfuafion fhould fail, it was thought proper to use more forcible arguments. The mar quis de Bay, who commanded king Philip's forces in Eftremadura, marched with his army, and encamped within half a league of Elvas. To encrease the jealoufy, which by this march he had given the Portuguese, as if he defigned to befiege that place, he went to take a nearer view of it, and then returned to his camp, On the other hand, the Portuguese, deceived by these appearances, worked hard in repairing the fortifications of Elvas, and conveyed into it two batallions, drawn out of Campo-Major; which being the town the marquis de Bay had a defign upon, he marched with the whole army, and invefted that place. This irruption of the Spaniards, to the number of near twenty thousand men, at a juncture, when Great-Britain (the main fupport of Portugal for many years past) had reduced all her forces in that country, except two regiments, could not but make the court of Portugal very uneafy. Their confternation was very much encreased, upon the news, that the Spaniards had invested CampoMajor, the most regular fortification on the frontiers of Portugal; but which, at that time, was not provided either with a fufficient garrifon, or with ammunition and provifions for a long fiege. However, on this occafion, the Portuguese exerted themselves with vigour and resolution, which was in great measure owing to the conduct of major general Hogan, an Irifh gentleman, and of brigadier Maffey, an experienced French proteftant engineer, who formed, in conjunction with the count de Ribeira, and feveral other officers of note, the design of getting into Campo-Major, which was executed with very good fuccefs at the head of two or three hundred Portuguese grenadiers, a day or two after the enemy had opened the trenches. Hogan having alfo got into the town with a fupply of four or five hundred men, |