Page:The Annual Register 1758.djvu/231

 STATE PAPERS.

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and of whom none would have been in a condition to make head againft France. To defeat this ore jed, the king chen took part -.vith the houfe of Aultr; 1, when attacked on all fide.'., and abandon^'d by eve- ry power. He took chat part wth a greatnefs of foul, which, though forgot at Vienna, and repaid with ingratitude, will never be forgot inhiilory; that generous monarch fought in perfon for the caufe of hif ally, facrificed the blood of his fubjccts, the treafurfs, and even the: moft important conqueH: of his cr:-:wn, to prevent the ruin with which fhe was threatened on all hands. Thcfffftsof thefemeafures are known to the whole world. It is true, that the emprefs queen yielded up by the mcft folemn treaties the dotchy of Silefia to the king of Prufiia; but the numerous armies which thatprincefs keeps on foot ill the prefent war, fufficiently fhew that the houfe of Aultria has preferved fince the peace of Aix- la-Chapelle, the power which was thoui^ht neceiTary to maintain the balance of Europe, in hopes that, conformable to the laudable ex- ample of Leopold I. Jofeph I. and Charles VJ. fne would m.:.ke ufe of this DOvver in defence of the coin- mon liberty.

The conclufjon of thefe troubles convinced France that fne could pever exped to fucceed in her de- figns, while Great Britain preferv- ed by her commerce, fufficient f >rce vigoroufly to oppofe her. Scarce therefore vjas the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle concluded, when ihe fought out other ways to exe- cute her projects which that peace had defeated. With this view, Ihe tegan to difturb the Englifli, to

hem in her colonies in the new world on all fide?, in contempt cf the clearefi: articles of the peace cf Utrecht, in order to put them in the moft critical fituation, and take away the ftrongeft fupport of the liberties of Europe.

It is not our purpofe here to de- fend the rights of the king in thefe differences, they have been made fufficiently manifeft: but we cannot help remarking, that the caufe of th? Bri.ifh crown ought naturally to be that of all thofe who muft expt-dl their dependency from the ccmrr.cn liberty. We may eafily fee what would infallibly happen in Germany and elfewhere, fhould France, with the forces (he has at land, ever get pofTefilon of the fo- vereignty of the fea.

His majefly therefore had good grounds to expeft the affiftance of other powers in the differences we have juft mentioned; but he wa far from defiring to involve them unnecefTari'y in that affair; on the contrary, he did all in his power to maintain peace on the conti- nent.

None but fuch as are unac- quainted with the maritime force of England, can believe that, without a diverfion on the continent, to employ part of the enemy's force, fhe is not in a condition to hope for fuccef=, and maintain her fupe- riority at fea, England had, there- fore, nointerefl to foment quarrels or wars in Europe; but for the fame reafon, there was room to fear that France would embrace a difte- renciyiiem: accordingly fhe took no pains to conceal her views, and her et.voys declared j.-ubticly, that a war upon the continent was ine- vitable, and that the king's domi- nions