Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/365

 CHARLES III.] SPAIN 341 Irish troubles. Spain succeeded in capturing Minorca and laid close siege to Gibraltar. Many of the West- Indian islands were captured from the English, and the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown destroyed the last hope of restoring American dependence. The most con- fident hopes were entertained of stripping England of the great bulk of its colonial possessions. But in 1782 the tide of success turned. Rodney, b'y the novel manoeuvre of breaking the line, destroyed the French fleet in the West Indies, while the heroic defence of General Elliott and the opportune arrival of supplies under the convoy of Lord Howe saved Gibraltar from overwhelming odds. The want of unanimity among the allies, each of whom thought only of its own interests, hastened the conclusion of peace in 1783. The treaty of Versailles, by which Spain kept Minorca and obtained the Floridas, was the most honourable which that country had concluded since Gateau Cambresis. But the failure to recover Gibraltar was a bitter disappointment to Charles III., who con- tinued till his death (December 14, 1788) to cherish the scheme of renewing the war, though the growing disorders in France made it more and more certain that he could no longer rely upon the assistance of that country. Revival The reigns of the first three Bourbon kings form a of Spain period of great importance in Spanish history. At the in the en( j o f ^ Q 17th century Spain appeared to be a lifeless cent corpse, over which the other powers of Europe could con- tend at will. In the 18th century men were astounded to see that country rise with renewed vigour to play once more an independent part on the international stage. This revival was due in the first place to the change of dynasty. Another Hapsburg would probably have con- tinued the obsolete policy of his predecessors. The accession of the Bourbons introduced into Spain the methods and ideas of government which had raised France to greatness under Richelieu, Mazarin, and Colbert. The two great problems to be grappled with were the profound depression of trade and agriculture and the fatal wealth and ascendency of the church. Philip V., feeble as he was personally, began the movement in advance even during the Succession War. The abolition of the old provincial independence rendered possible a more regular and centralized government, an increase of the revenue, and the removal of the old impediments to trade between the various provinces. The French officers who accom- panied the king gave a new organization and new tactics to the Spanish army. Under the influence of the princess Orsini Philip seemed inclined to attack even the prescrip- tive privileges of the clergy. His marriage with Elizabeth Farnese saved the hierarchy and diverted his attention to wars of aggrandizement. But these wars were directed by purely political motives ; the old Hapsburg idea of a religious propaganda was for ever abandoned. And even during the war the task of internal reform was hindered rather than neglected. The efforts of Alberoni and Patiiio gave Spain a navy more powerful than that of Philip II. The conquest of the Two Sicilies and the acquisition of Parma, though they brought little direct advantage to Spain, yet gave conclusive evidence that the old lethargy had been shaken off and that the country was capable of exertions and sacrifices which had long appeared impossible. The period of peace under Ferdi- nand VI. was an inestimable boon to Spain. Taxation was lightened, production was facilitated by the removal of the most crushing burdens, yet at the same time the revenue improved and the chronic deficit of previous reigns was replaced by a surplus. And this prince took a step which no one would have expected from him. The concordat of 1753 was the first vindication of the political interests of Spain against the pretensions of Rome. The crown asserted its right to appoint to all important benefices, and the number of papal presentations was reduced from twelve thousand to fifty-two. The revenue derived by the curia from Spain was proportionately diminished, and the clergy were compelled to recognize their obligations as members of the body politic. This measure was. followed by an edict that henceforth papal bulls should not be obeyed until they had received the royal sanction. The work of reform, thus tentatively commenced under Philip V. and Ferdinand VI., was carried still further by Charles III., whose reign is regarded with more pride by the Spaniards than any other since that of Philip II. Charles had served an apprenticeship in the art of govern- ment in Naples, where, with the help of his minister Tanucci, he had successfully grappled with evils similar to those from which Spain was suffering. He would have been a prince quite after the heart of the 18th century if he had not retained too large a share of the superstition of his family. He shared to the full that conception of the rights and duties of monarchy which inspired the reforms of Frederick the Great and Joseph II., and his allegiance to the church was fortunately counterbalanced by his desire for absolutism. His greatest work, the expulsion of the Jesuits, would never have been carried out if he had not been persuaded of its political necessity. The order had already been driven by Pombal from Portugal and by Choiseul from France, when Charles III. was convinced that a riot in Madrid, provoked by the financial measures of Squillaci, had been promoted by the Jesuits. This conviction overpowered all scruples ; the fathers were promptly removed from the country, and Spain joined the other Bourbon courts in demanding that suppression of the order which was finally decreed by Clement XIV. in 1773. The Rubicon once crossed, Charles's ministers urged him on in the path of ecclesias- tical reform. The increase of lands in mortmain was restricted; the number of monasteries was diminished ; and the Inquisition was compelled to moderate its procedure and to subordinate its independence to the royal will. For the papal jurisdiction was substituted a national court, the Eota, established at Madrid. These measures, of which the importance in a country like Spain can hardly be over-estimated, were accompanied by others no less notable for the development of trade and agriculture. The colonial trade was freed from the old restriction which compelled it to pass through Cadiz, and other ports were opened for its reception. Native manu- factures were encouraged in every way, and a famous ordinance in 1773 endeavoured to remove the old pre- judice against trade by declaring that the engaging in industrial occupations should not involve any loss of rank or its privileges. Internal communication was facilitated by the construction of canals. Agriculture was revived by the removal of the old prohibition against enclosures, so long maintained by the selfish influence of the Jfesdt, by the planting of trees in the arid deserts of central Spain, and by the rapid growth of population, which rose in the course of the century from 5,700,000 to 10,541,000. These measures, which are only selected from a large number tending in the same direction, are to be credited to three ministers, whose names reflect its chief lustre upon Charles III.'s reign. D'Aranda, who succeeded the Italian Squillaci as finance minister, was an Aragonese noble who had imbibed the spirit of philosophical speculation from France. He was the first layman who presided in the council of Castile, and he introduced into the Spanish administration a liberal tendency quite opposed to the traditions of the country. His views, however, were not congenial to the king, and, after completing his work with regard to the Jesuits and the Inquisition, he retired to the