Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 4.djvu/386

372 Savoy to come in, and after that, in case of their non-compliance, force was to be used to effect it. It was to avert such a result that Stanhope made his journey to Spain. Before setting out, however, admiral Byng had soon dispatched to the Mediterranean with twenty-one ships of the line, and peremptory orders to attack the Spanish fleet whenever he should find it engaged in any hostile attempt against Sicily, Naples, or any other of the emperor's possessions in the Mediterranean, Byng sailed on the 4th of June, and soon after Stanhope, accompanied by Mr. Schaub, a Swiss, afterwards Sir Luke, continued his journey from Paris towards Madrid.

Meantime the Spanish fleet had sailed from Barcelona with sealed orders, which were to be opened at sea, and which then were found to direct that it should steer for Cagliari, and there open fresh orders. This being done, it was now made known that the object of the expedition was the invasion and conquest of Sicily. The object of this invasion was to act as a diversion with regard to England and France. Both these powers were bound by the treaty to guarantee the neutrality of Italy, but not of Sicily. Alberoni, therefore, reasoned that he could attack Sicily without giving a casus belli to either of those powers, and that in the meantime the intrigues which he was carrying on with Russia and Sweden, might bring down a northern army on Great Britain, and those which he was fostering in France might produce an explosion there, by which he would find these two kingdoms enough to do without interference with Spain. Sicily, moreover, was a tempting object, from the great number of Spaniards or Spanish partisans there, and the feeble manner in which it was garrisoned by Savoy.

The plans of Alberoni appeared by the first success to be well laid. The Spanish fleet landed in the Bay of Solanto on the 1st of July, only four leagues distant from Palermo, the capital, amid the warm welcomes of the people. The marquis Maffei, the Piedmontese viceroy, who had only about one thousand five hundred soldiers, made a precipitate retreat, and the Spaniards marched in in triumph. In a few days the citadel also surrendered, and they remained masters of the capital.

It was at this juncture that admiral Byng appeared off Cape St. Vincent, and sent a dispatch to Madrid to colonel Stanhope, the British ambassador, with a copy of his instructions, and a list of his ships, which he was to lay before the Spanish government. But Alberoni was so elated by his success in Sicily, that he only treated the menaces of England with contempt. He denounced the quadruple alliance in most haughty terms, declared that the king his master could wage eternal war against the contractors of it, and used language fit only for a Spanish minister in the proudest days of that kingdom. He declared that Stanhope need not come to Spain with the hope of laying down the law to him, and he concluded by snatching the list of the British ships out of the hands of the British envoy, tearing it up, and trampling it in his rage. In a few days he sent word from the king that Byng might execute the orders of the king his master, if he dared.

Whilst Alberoni was in this temper, lord Stanhope arrived on tho 12th of August in Madrid. The Spanish minister, notwithstanding his menaces, conducted himself with more deference than he had promised, but he held out no hopes of compliance. He represented to Stanhope that to make war in Lombardy for the establishment of the emperor's power, was to make that country the grave of the English and French; that so long as the Germans were in Italy, the Italians must be slaves; and it was the height of madness to put tho archduke in possession of Sicily too, and thus to hope to set any bounds to the Austrian power.

There was only too much truth in all this, and Alberoni enforced his arguments by conduct very different to that which he had promised. He was extremely courteous to Stanhope; disclaimed any desire of conquests in Italy, so far as he was concerned. He threw the blame of Spanish policy on the obstinacy of the king, and on his hostility to the emperor and the regent of France. For himself, he declared that he was certain that the prosperity of Spain lay in its Indies and in improving its condition, and he parted with Stanhope in tears, protesting that he would do all that he could to have matters adjusted. But a great part, if not the whole of this, was only affected.

The most extraordinary circumstance connected with this mission of Lord Stanhope was that he was authorised to give up Gibraltar. For what considerations does not appear, but whilst Stanhope professed to regard the surrender of Gibraltar as a matter of no great consequence, we may feel certain that the quid pro quo was no trifle, for it was not accepted. It has been surmised that the equivalent demanded was a large territory in America. Whatever it was, it was refused, and Stanhope returned without accomplishing his object.

Meantime the Spaniards were pushing their advantages in Sicily. The people were greatly in their favour; they rose in Caltanisetto and massacred forty of the Piedmontese soldiers. There were only some half-dozen towns which could offer any serious opposition, and the chief of these were Syracuse, Trapani, Melazzo, and Messina. Maffie, the viceroy, had betaken himself to Syracuse, but Lede, leaving a detachment to blockade Trapani, directed his attack on Messina. This soon opened its gates to the invaders; but the citadel, containing a garrison of two thousand five hundred soldiers, stood out firmly. To prevent their surrender, count Daun, the viceroy of Naples, was anxious to carry over some imperial troops, for the king of Sicily was now daily expected to join the quadruple alliance, and had consented to admit imperial troops into the Sicilian fortresses. Fortunately for the enterprise, Admiral Byng anchored in the Bay of Naples on the very day after the investment of Messina, and offered to carry over Daun's detachment of two thousand German infantry. The offer was gladly accepted, and Byng landed them at Reggio. He, however, sent an officer to the marquis de Lede, on arriving before Messina, proposing a suspension of hostilities for two months, to which Lede courteously replied, that he had no authority to make such a convention. Byng, therefore, went in pursuit of the Spanish fleet, which he heard was lying at the other end of the strait, in the direction of Tarmina. He sailed through the strait, the people of both sides, Calabrians and Sicilians, watching his progress from their shores and mountains with intense interest. He soon came in