though greatly indisposed by his wound, was fired at the approach of an enemy whom he despised. Betrayed by a false idea of honour, he could not bear the thought of waiting for battle in his entrenchments. Having appointed eight thousand men to guard the lines before the town, he therefore ordered his army to march out, and attack the Russian camp, he himself being carried in a litter. The Swedes charged with incredible fury, and broke the Russian JULY 11. cavalry; but the horse rallied behind the foot, which remained firm; and the czar's artillery made such havoc among the ranks of the assailants, that, after a desperate combat of two hours, the Swedish army was utterly routed and dispersed. Nine thousand of the vanquished were left dead on the field, and about six thousand taken, together with the king's military chest, containing the spoils of Poland and Saxony. The remains of the Flemish army to the number of twelve thousand, were obliged to surrender on the banks of the Boristhenes, for want of boats to carry them over the river; Charles himself, accompanied by three hundred of his guards, with difficulty escaped to Bender, a Turkish town in Moldavia48.

No victory was ever attended with more important consequences than that gained at Pultowa, by Peter the Great. The king of Sweden lost, in one day, the fruits of nine years of successful war; and that veteran army, which had spread terror over Europe, was totally annihilated. The czar was not only relieved from all apprehensions inspired by a powerful antagonist, in the heart of his dominions, who threatened to deprive him of his throne, and to overthrow that grand scheme which he had formed for the civilization of his extensive empire, but enabled to forward his plan of improvement by means of the industry and ingenuity of his Swedish prisoners, whom necessity obliged to exert

48. Voltaire, ubi sup. Hist. du Nord. tom. ii. lib. vii.

Contin. of Puffendorf,

their

their talents in the most remote parts of Siberia. The elector of Saxony, hearing of the defeat of his conqueror, protested against the treaty of Alt-Ranstadt, as extorted from him by force, and re-entered Poland. His patron, the czar, followed him. Stanislaus was forced to relinquish his authority, and Augustus found himself once more in possession of the Polish throne. Peter revived the ancient pretension of the czars to Livonia, Ingria, Carelia, and part of Finland; Denmark laid claim to Scania; the king of Prussia, to Pomerania; and had not the emperor and the maritime powers interposed, the Swedish monarchy would have been rent to pieces.

During these transactions Charles XII. remained at Bender; where through his intrigues, conducted by Poniatowsky, a Polish nobleman who shared his A. D. 1701. misfortunes,he endeavoured to engage the Turks in a war with Russia. In the prosecution of those intrigues we must leave him, and the czar in the more laudable employment of civilizing his subjects, till we have terminated the memorable war between the confederates and the house of Bourbon, in regard to the Spanish succession.

LETTER.

LETTER XXIII.

THE GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE CARRIED FORWARD, FROM THE OPENING OF THE CONFERENCES AT GERTRUYDENBERG, TO THE TREATIES OF UTRECHT AND RASTADT.

THOUGH

HOUGH the king of Sweden, during his prosperity shewed no inclination to interfere in the dispute between France and the confederates, Lewis XIV. had still expectations of being able to engage him in his cause. These expectations were considerably heightened by the keen indignation which Charles expressed at the emperor's open violation of the treaty of Alt-Rastadt, as soon as he recovered from the terror of the Swedish arms. The allies were, therefore, relieved from no small degree of anxiety, by the total ruin of that prince's affairs, and Lewis was deprived of the last hope of desponding ambition. He accordingly offered the most advantageous terms of peace, in the preliminaries that were made the foundation of the conferences at Gertruydenberg.

As the principal sacrifices in these preliminaries were the same with those proffered in 1709, it will be unnecessary to repeat them here; more especially as they were not accepted. Lewis made additions to his concessions, after the commencement of the negociation. He agreed not only to give up, as far as in his power, the Spanish monarchy, without any equivalent, and to acknowlege Charles III. lawful king of Spain, but to pay a subsidy of a million of livres a month, till his grandson Philip V. should be expelled. He relinquished even Alsace to the emperor; and, as a security for the performance of the articles of the treaty, he engaged to deliver the fortified towns of French Flanders, yet in his possession, into the hands of the allies. But the haughtiness of the States, to whom prince Eugene and the duke of Marlborough, secure of the controuling influence of the pensionary Heinsius had induced the emperor and the queen of England

to

to commit the whole management of the negociation, encouraged their deputies, Buys and Vander Dussen, to rise in their demands, in proportion as the plenipotentiaries of France advanced in their concessions. These insolent republicans went so far as to insist, that Lewis XIV. instead of paying a subsidy toward the war against Philip V. should assist the confederates with all his forces, to drive his grandson from the Spanish throne'.

It was impossible for the French monarch to submit to so humiliating a requisition; and yet he was unwilling to break off the treaty. The conferences of Gertruydenberg were therefore, idly protracted, while the armies on both sides took the field. At length, the mareschal d'Uxelles and the Abbe de Polignac, the plenipotentiaries of Lewis, returned to Versailles, after having sent a letter to the pensionary Heinsius, declaring the demands of the deputies of the States unjust and unreasonable'.

MAY 5.

In the mean time the confederates were making rapid progress in Flanders. The duke of Marlborough and prince Eugene, having assembled the allied army more early than was expected, entered the French lines without resistance, and sat down before Douay. This city strong in its situation, but ill fortified, was defended by a garrison of eight thousand men. Mareschal Villars, who had now joined the French army, which he was destined to command, determined to attempt the relief of the place. He accordingly crossed the Scarpe, and advanced within canonshot of the allies, but finding them strongly entrenched, and being sensible that the loss of one battle might endanger the very existence of the French monarchy, he thought proper to abandon Douay to its fate3. It surrendered after a siege of three weeks. Villars observed the same prudent conduct during the remainder of the campaign,

JUNE 29.

1. De Torcy, tom. ii.

3. Duke of Berwick's Mem. vol. ii.

2. Ibid.

which was concluded with the taking of Bethune, St. Venant, and Aire; places of great importance, but which were not acquired by the confederates without a vast expence of blood.

No memorable event happened in Germany during the summer, nor any thing of consequence on the side of Piedmont; where the vigilance of the duke of Berwick defeated all the attempts of the allies, to penetrate into Dauphiny, notwithstanding their superior force. The campaign was more fruitful of incidents in Spain.

The two competitors for the crown of that kingdom took the field in person, and seemed determined to put all to the hazard of a battle. They accordingly met near Almenara. There general Stanhope, who commanded the British troops, slew with his own hand the Spanish general, Amessaga, and routed the cavalry of Philip V. while the count de Staremberg put the infantry to flight. The Spaniards were again defeated in a more bloody engagement, at SaraJULY 27. gossa. And in this victory, which threatened to decide the fate of the Spanish monarchy, the British troops, under general Stanhope, had also the chief share.

Charles III. instead of securing Pampeluna, the only pass by which the French troops could enter Spain, marched directly to Madrid, at the head of his victorious army; and Philip V. who had retired thither, was obliged to quit his capital a second time. The aspect of things there, however, was little flattering to his rival. All the grandees had left the city; and the Castilians, in general, seemed resolved to shed the last drop of their blood, rather than have a king imposed upon them by heretics+.

Meantime the duke de Vendome, whose reputation was still high, notwithstanding his unfortunate campaign in Flanders, having assumed, at the request of Philip V. the chief command of the forces of the house of Bourbon in Spain,

VOL. IV.

4. Burnet, book vii. Hist. d'Espagne, tom. ii.

3 с

its