2t2 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794.. 



its moral instructions, being cele- 

 brated for their integrity and 

 worth. 



Account of the resignation of Philip 

 V.hna <f Spain ; from the History 

 of Spaii:, l-y theanthor of the His- 

 tory of France, in 3 vols. Svo. 



THOUGH the relief of Centa 

 left the Spanish empire in per- 

 fect tranquiUity, yet theinternal re- 

 gulation of it required the most stre- 

 nuous exertions and unwearied ap- 

 plication : the public debt had ra- 

 pidly grown beneath the profuse ad- 

 ministration of Albernni; whilethat 

 .statesman pursued his vast and vi- 

 sionary plans of dominion, he had 

 totally- neglected, and not unfre- 

 quently left unfilled the subordinate 

 departments of the state ; the dis- 

 orders in therevenue had multiplied 

 beyond the example of former 

 times; and it demanded theclearest 

 judgement and the purest integrity, 

 to explore the crooked labyrinlh of 

 finance, to reform abuses which had 

 been sanctioned by custom, and to 

 redress grievances which originated 

 in the corruption of a court. Such 

 qualities were not the growth of the 

 rcigH of Philip the Fifth. The 

 death of the marquis of Bedmar, 

 who had filled with ability the .im- 

 portant trust of president of the 

 council of the Indies, wns an irre- 

 parable loss; the marquis del Cam- 

 po, to whom was principally con- 

 fided the superintendence of the 

 revenue, was of a delicate consti- 

 tution, and was rather sccupied in 

 administering to his own infirm.ities 

 than tothoseofthe state: themarquis 

 ot Grimaldi alone lelievcd ihe king 

 from part of the pabhc burthen; but 



what remained was beyond the 

 strength cf Philip ; and a mind na- 

 turally prone to indolence, to svi- 

 perstiiion, and to melancholy, >^as 

 oppressed by the weight of busi- 

 ness. 



Of tliedifferent princes who have 

 descended irom a tbn ne, most are 

 supposed to ]iave secretly repented 

 of their hasty resolution; but it was 

 in accepting a sceptre that Philip 

 had offered violence to his own dis- 

 position. Bred up in the ostenta- 

 tions school of Lewis thr Fouricentb, 

 he had been early instructed to pre- 

 fer grandeur to ease ; but in pos- 

 session of a crown he had experienced 

 Ihe fallacy of his choice. Of twen- 



. ty -three years that he had reigned, 

 eighteen had been consumed in 

 foreign war, or domestic commo- 

 tion ; and thelove of arms and mar- 

 tial glory, which to noble minds re- 

 conciles every toil and danger, was 

 only faintly or never felt by the 

 feeble (spirit of Phifip. Fanaticism 

 mingled with indolence to embitter 

 the cup of royalty ; in the bloovly 

 and tumultuous struggle with his 

 rival, incessant action had allowed 

 no leisure for reflection ; and ilie 

 splendid hopes which the chimerical 

 projects of Alberoni inspired, had 

 for a moment triumphed over reli- 

 gious terrors. r)Ut no sooner had 

 Philip secured the peace of hi.s king- 

 dom, tlian he trembled for the sal- 

 vation of his soul. From the relief 

 ofCeuta, two auto-da-fcs, in two 

 successive rears, admonished his 

 subjects that under the rdgn of a bi- 

 got it was less dangerous to revolt 



-from their ci\ il than spiritual alle- 

 giance; but their murmurs probably 

 never reached the ears of their sove- 

 reign, who in the sequestcredshndes 

 of St. Ildefonso, [)rayed and fasted 

 with alternate fervonr. 



The 



