Page:A new and general biographical dictionary; containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons in every nation v1.djvu/106

70 the courier came, Alberoni was not discorcerted; he gave him his choice to die, or not to appear for a week. The treaty was finished, the marriage concluded, and the courier never appeared at all; because it was not for the honour of the king to let his dispatches be seen. The new queen came to Madrid. By the advice of Alberoni, the first favour she asked of the king was, not to see the princess of Ursins at court; and she was gratified. Alberoni availed himself of the influence which her virtue and beauty gave her over the king. He was made privy counsellor, and afterwards prime minister, and raised to the purple. He roused that kingdom out of the lethargy it had been in for a century past, and awakened the attention, while he raised the astonishment of all Europe. He came with great willingness into the proposal of setting the pretender on the throne of England. However, as he was but just come into the ministry, and Spain was to be settled before he could pretend to overthrow other kingdoms, there was no great likelihood of his being able to put a hand to the work for a great while; yet in less than two years he had done so much for Spain, that she made quite another figure; and they say, that through him the Turks were engaged to fall upon the emperor, measures taken to depose the duke of Orleans from the regency of France, and George the first

History of Charles XII. of Sweden, p. 301

from the throne of Great Britain: such danger there is, says Mr. Voltaire, in a single man who has absolute power in any country, and has likewise the sense and spirit to make use of it. He was afterwards, through the influence of a powerful prince, deprived of his dignity, and banished to Rome; but still preserved his credit with the court of Spain, for the advantage of which he had formed several great projects. He died at Placentia, June 26, 1752, in the 89th year of his age. He left his estates in Lombardy to the college of St. Lazarus, and the revenues of those in Romagne to his nephew during life, and afterwards to the same college. The "Testament politique" of cardinal Alberoni, collected from his memoirs and letters, was published at Lousanne, 1753.

ÆLFRED, or (the Great), the youngest son of Æthelwolf king of the West-Saxons, was born in the year 849, at Wannating, or Wanading, which is supposed to be Wantage, in Berkshire. Æthelwolf having a great regard for religion, and being extremely devoted to the see of Rome, sent Ælfred to that city at five years of age; where pope Leo IV. adopted and anointed him, as some think, with a regal unction, though others are of opinion he was only con-