Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 4.djvu/383

A.D.1717.] army sufficient to hold Naples, and he was satisfied to strike a blow which should alarm Europe, whilst it gratified the impatience of the Spanish monarch for revenge. There was, moreover, an ulterior object. It had lately been proposed by England and Holland to the emperor, in order to induce him to come into the triple alliance, and convert it into a quadruple one, to obtain an exchange of this island for Sicily, with the duke of Savoy. It was, therefore, an object to prevent this arrangement by first seizing Sardinia. The Spanish general summoned the governor of Cagliari to surrender, but he stood out, and the Spaniards had to wait for the complete arrival of their ships before they could land and invest the place. The governor was ere long compelled to capitulate, but the Aragonese and the Catalans, who had followed the Austrians from the embittered contest in their own country, defended the island with furious tenacity; and it was not till November, and after severe losses through fighting and malaria, that the Spaniards made themselves masters of the island. The marquis of Lede then left three thousand men as a garrison, and returned to Barcelona with the rest of the troops, which were greatly reduced, and in a sickly condition.

England was thus again dragged into war by its continental engagements. George was bound by the triple alliance to preserve the peace of Europe; he was bound by treaty with the emperor to maintain the neutrality of Italy, and the security of his dominions there. Dubois was speedily in London from the regent of France to concert measures for this emergency, and it was concluded that these proposals should be submitted to the contending parties:—That Spain should relinquish all claims on the Italian provinces, and the emperor all claims on Spain; that, notwithstanding, the emperor's desire for Sicily instead of Sardinia should be gratified, and that Parma and all or nearly all Tuscany should be secured in succession to the infant Don Carlos. But, however fair these propositions, they were haughtily rejected by the two parties. Stanhope, however, sent his cousin, colonel Stanhope, as ambassador to Spain to endeavour to persuade that government, and M. de Nancré was sent by the French. The French and Dutch, however, though bound by the triple alliance, were very lukewarm in the matter. Lord Stair, writing from Paris, said that he had seen the instructions to M. de Nancré, and that they were the most cautious terms that he had ever seen; that no one could touch fire with more caution than France did these affairs, lest it might give the slightest chagrin to Spain; that he had no orders to insist that Spain should not, pending the negotiation, attempt any invasion of Italy; and that, though the Dutch would readily concur if the emperor concurred, their government was now so pitiable that they would do nothing except they found themselves in good company.

But the emperor was not likely to concur. He was so determined on the subject of retaining his claims on Spain, that his ministers trembled to mention the subject to him; and though he now professed himself ready to conclude a peace with Spain, and would agree to surrender Parma, he would not listen to the transfer of Tuscany. He had been immovable on this head when he had been most harassed by war with the Turks; and now that he had a prospect of peace with them he was not likely to give way.

As for Alberoni, though threatened with a powerful combination against Spain, he showed all the confidence and activity of a man at the head of the most powerful of kingdoms. The pope, incensed at being outwitted by him in the matter of the cardinal's hat, launched his thunders against him, but Alberoni took no notice of them. To Stanhope and Nancré his tone was bold, and even menacing. He said the king his master was perfectly disposed to make peace, but then it must be on conditions which could make peace permanent, and not leave the emperor in a condition capable of making himself master of all Italy at pleasure. He twitted the English with the disgraceful peace of Utrecht. "You went to war," he said, "to establish the balance of power, and you made peace without any balance at all." He expressed his contempt for partition treaties and their framers. "There are certain unprincipled men," he said, "who would cut and pare states and kingdoms as though they were so many Dutch cheeses"—a severe but just censure on king William's part in such treaties. At the same time, whilst holding this language, Alberoni exerted himself to call forth all the resources of the kingdom, and prepare for war. He built ships, he purchased others, he had cannon cast at Pampeluna, and various arms in Biscay; he mustered six regiments of the brave Miquelets of Catalonia, and to avoid exciting discontent amongst the people, he laid no fresh taxes on them, but mortgaged some of the revenues, and put the government on the footing of the strictest economy, even curtailing the expenditure of the queen, and selling a number of offices about the court.

At the same time he put in practice the most extensive diplomatic schemes to paralyse his enemies abroad. He won the good will of Victor Amadeus by holding out the promise of the Milanese in exchange for Sicily; he encouraged the Turks to continue the war against the emperor, and entered into negotiations with Rogatsky to renew the insurrection in Hungary; he adopted the views of Gortz for uniting the czar and Charles XII. of Sweden in peace, so that he might be able to turn their united power against the emperor, and still more against the electorate of Hanover, thus diverting the attention and the energies of George of England. Still further to occupy England, which he dreaded more than all the rest, he opened a direct correspondence with the pretender, who was now driven across the Alps by the triple alliance, and promised in aid in a new expedition against Britain under the direction of the duke of Ormonde, or of James himself. His agents were suddenly formed in the utmost activity spreading a violent opposition to a fresh war in speeches and pamphlets, declaiming against a standing army and the heavy losses to trade which must inevitably follow a war with Spain. Both tories and the discontented section of the whigs were readily engaged in this movement. In France the same skilful pressure was directed against all the tender places of the body politic. He endeavoured to rouse anew the insurrection of the Cevennes and the discontents of Brittany. The Jesuits, the protestants, the duke and duchess of Maine, were all called into action, and the demands for the assembling of the States-General, for the instant reformation of abuses, the reduction of the national debts, and for many other ameliorations, were the