Britain. This convention likewise stipulated that plenipotentiaries should be nominated to settle definitively the American disputes, and to prevent fresh grievances. After a long and sharp debate, parliament approved of this treaty. But it was soon broken. When the time fixed for the payment of the indemnity promised by Spain had expired, Lord Bathurst made a motion to know whether the court of Madrid had fulfilled its engagements. The Duke of Newcastle replied that, without any cause being alleged for the delay, the sum agreed upon had not been received. A rupture now became inevitable, and the ministers, deeming it perilous to oppose any longer the wishes of the people, issued letters of marque and reprisal against the Spaniards, and made great naval preparations. These hostile demonstrations were soon followed by a 1739. formal declaration of war.

Oct.

Operations began brilliantly for the English. Admiral Vernon seized the rich city of Porto Bello, on the isthmus of Darien; and, flushed by this success, the nation indulged more and more in its warlike ardour. Parliament voted large supplies, and immense armaments covered the seas. The principal fleet, composed of twenty-nine vessels of the line, was directed against New Spain. It was under the command of Vernon, who found himself at the head of 15,000 seamen and 12,000 land troops. After many obstacles and great delay, the expedition set sail for Carthagena, the depôt of all the Spanish merchandise destined for New Spain, and whose capture would have interrupted the commerce of the mother-country with this colony. The ill feeling between the admiral and Wentworth, who commanded the land troops, and the failure of an ill-timed assault in which the English lost 600 men, together with heavy rains, and the destructive influenza of the climate, caused the enterprise to be abandoned. On the other hand, Admirals Haddock and Norris, commissioned to act directly against Spain, did not any better answer the public expectations.

3. These failures, and the damage inflicted on British commerce by the Spanish privateers, exercised overpowering influence on the elections which took place at this time. The opposition had a majority, and Walpole retired. He was rewarded by his royal master with the title of Earl of Orford. His downfal was hailed by the people with universal joy. It seemed as if all abuses would have fallen with him, and that a change of ministry would repair every misfortune and revive declining commerce. But, on the one hand, the majority of Walpole's

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enemies had attacked him from interested and personal motives rather than on public principles, and as soon as they were in power, their conduct belied their patriotic language when in opposition. On the other hand, the Spanish war was continued with various success, and several expeditions were fruitlessly undertaken in the West Indies. The discontent caused by these reverses was further augmented by the war occasioned by the king's attachment to his Hanoverian possessions, and the advice of Lord Carteret, an influential minister, who had succeeded Walpole, and who, by turning the attention of the parliament and nation towards the affairs of the continent, in which he had great experience, flattered his sovereign's inclinations and opened a wide field to his own ambition. Henceforward the Spanish war became a secondary object.

The hostilities of which Germany was the theatre had followed close upon the death of the Emperor Charles VI., which took place in 1740. Maria Theresa, queen of Hungary, who ought to have succeeded her father, was deprived of her inheritance by the elector of Bavaria, who was crowned emperor chiefly by French support; while the queen's hereditary dominions were conjointly attacked by France, Saxony, and Bavaria. Seeing that she was unable to withstand the formidable league against her, George II., alleging that it compromised the interests of his electorate, whose security depended on the just equilibrium of the German empire, declared for this princess, and powerfully contributed to extricate her from her difficulties. In 1743 he gained the battle of Dettingen, where he behaved with great gallantry, exposing himself to the hottest fire. In the following year the French ministers concluded, from the animosity of the parliamentary debates, and the discontent among the people, that England was ripe for a revolution, and that the presence of the Pretender, or of his son Prince Charles Edward, would be the signal for a general insurrection against the Hanoverian dynasty. Everything seemed favourable for an invasion: the English army was occupied on the continent, and the fleet scattered over the seas of Europe, Asia, and America. Prince Charles was secretly invited to pass into France from Italy, and a numerous squadron, having on board an army of 15,000 men, was prepared and placed under the orders of Marshal Saxe. But this expedition, however formidable and well combined, failed through the activity of the English, who were informed in time of the designs of France. They speedily

collected a superior force, and the elements once more protected England. The Pretender's fleet was driven back on the shores that it had left, and several vessels were lost. This . expedition gave rise to a bill denouncing the penalties of hightreason against any who should keep up a correspondence with the son of the Pretender.

4. While the French failed in their project of transferring the war into England, one of their fleets, combined with a Spanish squadron, gave battle on the coast of Provence to Admirals Mathews and Lestock, and notwithstanding the inferiority of their force, came off without disgrace. This indecisive action humbled the maritime pride of England, and the admirals were tried by a court-martial. Mathews and

several inferior officers were cashiered; while on the other hand the Spanish admiral, who had run away, was made a marquis for not having lost more than one ship, and the Frenchman promoted because he had not been beaten more soundly than he was. After this battle of Toulon, the British fleet did nothing of importance during the course of the year. But great was the joy manifested at the arrival of Anson, who had sailed in 1740 for the South Seas with a small squadron, designed to attack the Spanish establishments on the coasts of Chili and Peru. After an absence of more than three years, he returned with only one ship out of the whole squadron; but that was richly laden with the plunder of the city of Payta and the Spanish galleon which yearly carried the Mexican tribute to Manilla. The treasure he brought 1744. with him amounted in value to a million and a quarter sterling.

A.D.

About the same time, Lord Carteret (now Earl Granville), was displaced by a parliamentary intrigue; but there was no change of system. The Commons still continued to grant freely the supplies necessary for the war by land and sea, which was now carried on with more vigour than ever. The year 1745 was unfortunate to the English in the Low Countries, where the celebrated battle of Fontenoy threw unwonted lustre on the arms of France. But this mishap was compensated at sea. Admiral Rowley cruised triumphantly in the Mediterranean; Barnet and Townsend made several rich prizes in the East and West Indies; and Warren inflicted a decisive blow in North America by the capture of Louisbourg and the island of Cape Breton. But while England was thus conquering abroad, au intrepid and adventurous attempt of

Prince Charles Stewart perilled the existence of the Hanoverian dynasty.

The king's partiality for his German states had excited a lively discontent in England. The surname of Hanoverian had become an epithet of the most hateful kind, and "no Hanoverian king" became a frequent toast in many of the clubs and corporations. This disposition of men's minds, and the violence of the parliamentary debates, which Europe, still unaccustomed to these rhetorical contests, imagined the throne of George could not resist, with the letters which the Stewarts received from their adherents, and which, with the exaggeration of faction, described the nation as groaning under the Elector's yoke, and calling its legitimate princes to its deliverance, determined Charles to make another attempt for his father's restoration.

5. REBELLION OF 1745.-With seven Irish and Scotch officers, the sole confidants and first companions of his daring project, he embarked on board a fast sailing brig of eighteen guns. For an expedition in which the crown of three kingdoms was the stake, the prince took with him the small sum of £3000, about 1500 muskets, and twenty small field-pieces. Having escaped the English cruisers, he landed on the island of Erisca, on the western coast of Scotland, and erelong the 18th July rumour of his arrival spread through the country. 1745. A considerable number of the Highlanders, urged on by their ambitious chiefs, who had much to hope for in the re-establishment of the Stewarts, crowded to the young prince's standard, and when he reached Glenfinnan 1200 men were under his command. He now sent back the ship that had borne him to the Scottish shores, and announced to the kings of France and Spain that the people were crowding around his flag. The two kings, in their reply, entitled him their brother, and forwarded him some trifling succours. Never had the Hanoverian dynasty been more seriously threatened. George II. was on the continent; he had lost the flower of his army at Fontenoy; and in England there were barely 6000 regular troops. Two companies sent to re-enforce the garrison of Fort-William were taken prisoners; and this first success gave a new impulse to the insurrection, which now spread rapidly. Sir John Cope hurried towards the Highlands, at the head of all the disposable troops within his reach; the Pretender was outlawed, and a reward of £30,000 offered for his seizure. Charles, at the head of the Highlanders,

whose dress he had adopted, speedily traversed the districts of Athole and Badenoch, seized the important city of Perth, where he was proclaimed regent of the three kingdoms for his father James III., and then marched upon Edinburgh, which he entered without opposition. Cope now retraced his steps: Charles hastened to meet him; and a few miles to the east of Edinburgh gained the celebrated battle of Prestonpans. The English general despised his enemies as undisciplined troops, forgetting that they had all learned fighting as the daily practice of their lives. They had a peculiar way of instantly rushing forward with their drawn broadswords. If the enemy resisted this onset, they were generally driven back and overcome; but the attack was so new to the English soldiers, accustomed to the deliberate operations of disciplined armies, 21st Sept.} that they gave way at once, and the prince gained 1745. a complete victory with the loss of only sixty men. That of the enemy amounted to 500 killed and more than 1000 prisoners, besides all their baggage, cannon, and colours.

This first success of the Jacobites so alarmed George II. for the safety of his throne, that he hastily recrossed the sea, bringing with him 6000 men from his army in Flanders, and an equal number of Dutch soldiers. After the victory at Prestonpans, the prince's first intention had been to make up for the weakness of his army by boldness and activity, and to march direct upon London. Timid counsels however, qualified by the flattering name of prudence, checked his ardour; and it was resolved to wait for the re-enforcements promised by France and expected from the Highlands. After a delay of six weeks, these additions only raised the army to the number of 6000 men, and Charles had reason to repent of having permitted the king's government to recover from its surprise and terror. Persisting, however, in his first resolution, he began his march in the beginning of November, after addressing a manifesto to the English nation, in which he declared his intention of healing the wounds of the state by liberty, toleration, and better laws passed by a free parliament. He was soon master of Carlisle and Manchester, and having by a bold march deceived the Duke of Cumberland, who was 1745. hurrying to meet him, he advanced as far as Derby. 6. When the news of these events reached London, the consternation was so great as to obtain for that day the name of "Black Friday." All the shops and banks were closed, and it is said that the king had his yachts ready at the Tower

4th Dec.