a lofty courage, a bold eloquence, and an incorruptible integrity. Finding all his efforts ineffectual, to prevent the passing of the act of union, and believing it impossible that a majority of his countrymen could ever have been brought to consent to the annihilation of their ancient monarchy without the influence of English gold, he resolved to quit the kingdom, that he might not share in their reproach, by condescending so far as to live among them. On the day of his departure, his friends crowded around him, intreating him to stay. Even after his foot was in the stirrup, they continued their solicitations, anxiously crying, "Will you forsake your country?" he reverted his head, and darting on them a look of indignation, keenly replied, "It is "only fit for the slaves that sold it!" then leaped into the saddle, and put spurs to his horse78, leaving the whole company struck with a momentary humiliation; and (blind to the extravagance of his conduct) at a loss which most to admire, the pride of his virtue or the elevation of his spirit. That some of the evils, foretold by the Scottish patriots at the union, have since overtaken their countrymen, cannot be denied; particularly the accumulation of taxes, in consequence of the growth of the English national debt, which then amounted only to about twenty millions, and the mul tiplication of the herd of insolent revenue officers. Yet have the Scots from that æra, enjoyed more happiness, as a people, and risen to more wealth and consequence, as individuals, than they could possibly have attained in their disunited state. Nor has England reason to complain of the union. Instead of turbulent neighbours, she has gained, by communicating her privileges to the Scots, hardy soldiers to fight her battles, and industrious workmen in every branch of manufacture. She has secured forever, the undivided sovereignty of Great-Britain, and the liberties of Englishmen, 78. This anecdote the author had from the late Patrick, lord Elibank. against against the usurpations of foreign or domestic ambition, by making the conservation of that sovereignty, and those li berties, the common interest of all the brave and free subjects of the UNITED KINGDOM. LETTER XXII. THE GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE CONTINUED FROM THE REFUSAL OF THE OFFERS OF PEACE MADE BY FRANCE, IN 1706, TO THE CONFERENCES HELD AT GERTRUYDENBERG, IN 1710. LEWIS XIV. finding all his offers of peace rejected with disdain by the confederates, prepared himself to brave, once more, that storm which he could not dispel. In order to supply the want of money, he issued bills upon the mint, to a very large amount, in imitation of the exchequer bills circulated by the English govenment; but, by refusing to take those bills in payment of the taxes, he threw them into such discredit, that, after every expedient to raise their value had been tried, they remained at a discount of more than fifty per cent. He was therefore obliged, on the failure of this desperate resource, which augmented the distress of his people at the same time that it weakened their confidence in the crown, to continue the practice of burthensome loans, and to anticipate the royal revenue'. But Lewis, notwithstanding these disadvantages, was enabled to make very considerable preparations, for opposing the efforts of his victorious enemies. He extended a line of militia along the coasts of the channel, and the A. D. 1707. shores of the Mediterranean: he formed an army' in Flanders, under the duke de Vendome ; another was collected by mareschal Villars, in the neighbourhood of Strasburg; a body of men was ordered to assemble in Navarre; a 1. Voltaire, Siecle, chap. xxviii. Finances. second second in Roussillon; and large reinforcements were sent to the army of the duke of Berwick in Spain. These reinforcements were partly furnished in consequence of fresh, but not expected, disasters in Italy. The French troops, to the number of fifteen thousand, being obliged to evacuate Lombardy, by a capitulation signed in the beginning of March, were dispatched to the assistance of Philip V. Modena and Milan surrendered successively to the allies: the whole kingdom of Naples was reduced; and the few places in the dominions of the duke of Savoy, that were still held by French or Spanish garrisons, fell one by one before the close of the campaign3. The fortune of the war was very different in Spain. There the allies, more through their own misconduct than the strength of the enemy, received a dreadful overthrow. Charles III. pretending that Catalonia was in danger, separated himself, with a large detachment, from the principal army, commanded by the earl of Galway and the marquis de las Minas; who, having exhausted all their provisions in Valencia, attempted to penetrate into New-Castile. With this view, they passed the river Xucar, and marched toward Almanza. The duke of Berwick, who was just arrived at that place, hesitated not a moment to give them battle. Ignorant of the succours he had received, the confederates eagerly advanced to the charge, flushed with former victories, and animated with hopes of new success. action soon became general, and the field was obstinately disputed. The English and Dutch infantry penetrated through the center of the enemy, and proceeded as far as the walls of Almanza. Meantime the French and Spanish cavalry, on the right wing, twice broke the horse of the allies, and were as often repulsed by their foot, under cover of which the horse rallied. In order to overcome this difficulty, 2. Contin. Hist. de France, par P. Daniel. Berwick's Mem. vol. i. 3. Id. Ibid. Voltaire, Siecle, chap. xx. The the the duke of Berwick ordered a body of infantry to advance to the assistance of his cavalry on the right. A vigorous charge was given, by both horse and foot at the same time. The left wing of the allies was totally routed; and their right, which had hitherto maintained its ground, being flanked by the right of the enemy, was broken and dispersed; while their gallant infantry in the center, where they had carried every thing before them, in attempting to retreat, on seeing the defeat of their two wings, were surrounded by the enemy's cavalry, and almost all cut to pieces4. No victory was ever more complete than that gained by the duke of Berwick at Almanza. Five thousand of the confederates were slain, and near ten thousand made prisoners. Among the latter were six major-generals, as many brigadiers, twenty colonels, and a proportional number of inferior officers, said to amount to eight hundred. All the artillery of the vanquished, most of their baggage, with one hundred and twenty colours and standards, fell into the hands of the victorss. Las Minas, who was run through the arm, and who had seen his mistress, fighting in the habit of an Amazon, killed by his side, escaped to Xativa; and the earl of Galway, who had received two cuts in the face, stopt not his flight till he arrived at Tortosa, near the mouth of the Ebro. The duke of Orleans, who assumed the command of the French army the day after the battle of Almanza, did not neglect the opportunity which fortune and the abilities of the duke of Berwick had procured him, of retrieving the affairs of his family in Spain. He reduced the city, and recovered the whole kingdom of Valencia: he directed his march into Arragon, and reduced Saragossa and Lerida under the dominion of Philip V. before the close of the cam 4. Duke of Berwick's Mem. vol. i. Burnet, book vii. 6. Hist. Gen, d'Espagne. Mod. Univ. Hist. vol, vii. fol. edit. paign paign, while Charles III. either loitered in Catalonia, or made unimportant excursions toward the frontiers of Roussillon". The affairs of the confederates did not wear a more fa⚫vourable aspect in Germany. The continuance of the rebellion in Hungary, combined with the habitual inactivity of the court of Vienna, and the sluggishness of the German princes, had almost exposed the empire to calamities as great as those from which it was relieved by the battle of Blenheim. The margraveof Bareith, who had succeeded to the command of the Imperialists on the death of the prince of Baden, was in no condition, in the early part of the campaign, to oppose the French, under mareschal Villars; who, having passed the Rhine at Strasburg, forced the lines of the Germans at Stolhoffen, laid the duchy of Wurtemburg under contribution, entered Suabia, and penetrated to the Danube8. But the superiority of the French, in the heart of Germany, was not the only danger which the empire had now to fear. Charles XII. who had remained in Saxony during the winter, found some plausible pretences for quarrelling with the court of Vienna; and although all reasonable satisfaction was given him, on the subject of his complaints, 7. Duke of Berwick, ubi sup. "I must not here omit," says this intelligent observer of mankind, "a singular circumstance. The count de la "Puebla, who commanded in Saragossa, made the inhabitants believe, that "the reports raised concerning a new army coming from Navarre were "false, and even that the camp, which appeared, was nothing more than "a phantom formed by magic art. In this persuasion the clergy went in "procession upon the ramparts; and from that eminent situation, after a "number of prayers, exorcised the pretended spectres that were in sight! "It is not a little surprising," adds he, "that the people could be so cre"dulous as to adopt such an idea; but they were soon undeceived by the "hussars of the army of the duke of Orleans, who having briskly pursued "to the gates of the city, a party of the count de la Puebla's cavalry, cut "off some of their heads!" Mem. vol. i. . Barre, Hist. d'Allemagne, tom. x. Burnet, book vii. he |