currence, it was given out that the duke had held an improper correspondence with the king's ene mies, and a junto, appointed to examine his papers, condemned him to suffer death; but Philip thought proper to change that sentence into perpetual imprisonment.

In the ensuing campaign, Philip's army was totally routed, near Saragossa, by count Starembergh, and Charles III. took possession of Madrid; but, after some time, the aspect of affairs was totally changed, and his catholic majesty returned in triumph to his capital. He then crossed the Tagus, and surrounded general Stanhope, who had retired, with eight battalions and four regiments of cavalry, to the little town of Brihuega. The besieged troops made a vigorous defence, and resolutely disputed every inch of ground with their assailants; but a general shower of tiles and stones from the tops of the houses compelled them to surrender prisoners of war. About the same time count Starembergh was defeated, with considerable loss, at Villaviciosa.

3

The duke de Vendosme distinguished himself in so signal a manner upon these occasions, that the populace universally saluted him as the deliverer of their country; and Philip demonstrated his gratitude, at a review, by putting into his hand an order for fifty thousand pieces of eight for his equipage. The duke appeared: rather surprised; but, turning suddenly to the troops, "These," said he," are the brave men who fixed the fortune of Spain at Villaviciosa; and these only are deserving of the royal favor." He accordingly distributed the whole sum in necessaries among the private men. Soon after

this occurrence, Charles III. quitted Barcelona in order to return to his hereditary dominions; intelligence was brought to Madrid of the emperor's death, and negociations for peace were privately commenced.

1712.

At the beginning of this year a con- A. D. gress for a general peace was opened, with the usual ceremonies, at Utrecht: but Philip's plenipotentiaries did not repair thither, as being apprised that, till their master's. title was acknowledged, they could not be received. About this time, the king disgraced the count d'Aguilar, lieutenant-general and captain of the guards, who had been long famed for his conduct, zeal, and fidelity, but who unfortunately possessed a violent temper. He submitted with perfect magnanimity to his misfortune, and spent the remainder of his days in tranquil retirement. In the month of June, Spain was deprived of her most gallant defender by the sudden death of the duke de Vendosme, whose remains were interred in the Escurial, with the same honors which had been paid to those of Don Juan of Austria.

1713.

By Philip's solemn renunciation of A. D. all pretensions to the crown of France, and by an alteration* of the rule of succession, made by a general assembly of the states, the greatest obstacle that retarded the restoration of peace was done away; and, after some time, a definitive treaty was concluded,

An entail was made, in case of failure, on the house of Savoy, to the perpetual exclusion of that of Austria. The crown was also settled on the next heir male; whereas hitherto, females, if nearest in blood, had been capable of succeeding.

by

by which the kingdom of Spain, with all its rich possessions in America and the Indies, was transferred from the house of Austria to that of Bourbon; and Philip recognized the protestant succession of England as settled in the illustrious house of Hanover. Satisfactory cessions were, also, made to the duke of Savoy, the United Provinces, and the king of Portugal.

On the demise of his first queen, Philip married the princess Elizabeth of Parma: a measure which was taken at the instigation of cardinal Alberoni, who deserved the confidence of the royal pair, by restoring the navy, which was supposed to have been totally exhausted; and by rendering the Spanish monarchy formidable to all the powers of Europe. The courts of France and England, however, were so violently alarmed at the extraordinary talents of this minister, that they entered into a league to effect his removal from Madrid, and he was eventually compelled to seek an asylum at Rome.

Elizabeth has been justly accused of disturbing, by her ambition, the tranquillity of Spain : but it appears that she was less embarrassed by governing the state than by accommodating herself to the whimsical, irresolute, and obstinate disposition of her husband. She gave way, though reluctantly, to a resolution which he formed of abdicating the throne in favor of his son Lewis; but the death of that prince restored her, in less than a twelvemonth, to her former dignity. She ex ted herself in a surprising manner for the estabushment of her children out of Spain, as the crown of that kingdom had devolved on Ferdinand, son of the princess of

Savoy; and she actually procured for her eldest son, Don Carlos, the kingdom of Naples, with Parma, Placentia, and other appendages in Italy. Philip V. died in 1744, after a turbulent reign of forty-three years.

His successor, Ferdinand VI. appears to have been a mild and equitable prince. He concluded the peace of Aix la Chapelle, and made some laudable exertions for the reformation of national abuses and the promotion of commerce: but the tranquillity of his reign has furnished little matter for the pen of an historian. In private life his virtues shone with peculiar lustre, and his conjugal attachment was so sincere, that he found it impossible to dispel the deep melancholy which resulted from the loss of his beloved consort. He expired in 1759, after having held the reins of government fifteen years; and his remains were deposited, with equal pomp and solemnity, in the convent of the visitation at Madrid.

A. D.

1759.

As Ferdinand deceased without issue, the Spanish crown devolved upon his brother Charles III. then king of Naples and the two Sicilies. Accordingly that prince, by a solemn act of settlement, transferred his Italian possessions to his third * son; and hastened to Madrid, to receive the homage of his new subjects. The commencement of his reign was perfectly tranquil; and Charles seemed to devote his whole attention to the internal economy of his dominions; but his zeal for the family compact of the house of Bourbon soon

* The eldest son was excluded on account of his mental imbecillity, after a minute examination by the king's phy

sicians.

VOL. XV.

Ff

roused

roused him into action, and induced him to declare war against Great Britain on the 18th of January 1761, and against Portugal on the 16th of June following. This war, however, proved very unsuccessful, and on the tenth of February, 1763, a treaty of peace was concluded between the courts of Madrid, Lisbon, and London.

A. D. 1756.

Charles III. seems to have exposed himself to great danger by a fruitless attempt to introduce the French dress and customs into his dominions: for, in consequence of a severe edict against the use of flapped hats and long cloaks, which from time im memorial have been worn by the Spaniards, violent disturbances broke out, on the twentythird of March, at Madrid, in which upwards of eighty soldiers were killed, the house of the marquis de Squillacci was demolished, and the rioters, consisting of near thirty thousand persons, surrounded the palace in so tumultuous a manner, that his catholic majesty deemed it expedient to show himself from a balcony, and to silence their clamour by promising to dismiss his Italian ministers, to repeal the late offensive edict, and to pardon all that had passed on the present occa sion. Upon these concessions the multitude left the palace; and, in their return, happened to meet the English ambassador, whom they saluted with loud and repeated acclamations of "Vivaa' la libertaa';" some of their leaders then request→ ed his lordship to put on his cloak and beaver; and on his prompt compliance, they exclaimed, as with one voice, "No French fashions; peace with England, and war with all the world beside!" The mutineers now dispersed to their respective homes, and the most perfect tranquillity was, in a few hours, restored to the capital:

but,