GERMANY. 503 
Wlftenvberg, which he taxed at the rate of two millions 
of livres. 
Meanwhile the circles of Swabia and Franconia re- 
inonltrated to tlie diet at Ratifbon upon the dangers 
which threatened their territories, and intimated, that 
if fpeedy meafures were not taken for their defence 
they Hiould be obliged to accept a neutrality, which 
had been offered by the king of France. Thefe repre- 
fentations, and the fubfequent afi'urance that Baden and 
fome other frontier towns had refolved to conclude a 
feparate pacification, effeiStually alarmed the diet, and 
induced them to exert their utmofl: vigilance for pre¬ 
venting fo dangerous a breach in the ftates of the em¬ 
pire. After mature deliberation, it was refolved that 
the margrave of Bareith Ihould haften to join the troops 
of Weftphalia and other circles alfembling in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Mentz ; and tliat, after this junClion, he 
thould proceed to the Rhine; as it was expedted that 
M. Villars, who had now advanced into the interior of 
Germany, would follow the margrave’s route. Tiiis 
projedf was put in execution-; and the imperial general 
palled through Franconia witli fuch rapidity, as baffled 
all the endeavours of Villars to obltruft his progrefs. 
The French commander, however, fent a detacliment 
ot four thoufand men to defend the lines at Lauterberg, 
while the count de Broglio fecured Laulfen on the 
Neckar, and the marefchal in perfon haltened to Dour- 
lach. His approach fruitrated the delign which the 
imperialifls had formed againll Alface, and enabled 
him to lay the whole palatinate under contribution. 
Shortly after thefe tranfaCfions, the margrave of Ba¬ 
reith refigned his command, which was bellowed, with 
the title ot field-marefchal, on the eledtor of Hanover. 
Meanwliile tlie affairs of Spain bore a gloomy afpecl. 
The battle of Almanza was loll; all the defigns of the 
confederates were rendered abortive, by tlie fuperior 
vigilance and genius of M. Bervrick ; and the kingdoms 
of Arragon and Valencia were obliged to fubmit to tlie 
conqueror, Thefe misfortunes, however, were in fome 
meafure counterbalanced by the revolution in Naples, 
which raifed the archduke Charles to the fovereignty 
of that kingdom, 
VVhilfl the imperial diet tvas dillradled by alterca¬ 
tions refpedling the profecution of the war, the king of 
Portugal, the duke of Savoy, prince Eugene, the prince 
of Helfe-Caifel, and the duke of Wirtemberg, were 
clamorous for money, troops, and other necelfaries. 
All were completely embarralfed, and all their projedls 
were equally at a Hand; but nothing could quicken 
the proceedings of the Gerrnanid body. 'Without the 
aid of England, the confederates mull inevitably have 
been ruined, and the brilliant vidtdries of Eugene and 
Marlborough rendered abortive. But the Britilh par¬ 
liament adhered llrictly to their engagements, and ex¬ 
erted themfelves with fuch aflivity, that the combined 
armies w’ere again put in motion. In Flanders, the 
battle of Oudenarde was gained under the aufpices of 
Marlborough and Eugene, though the enemy were 
headed by a "prince of the blood, and aflilled by the 
duke of Vendome, who was generally confidered as the 
prop of Louis’s declining glory. Lille, Ghent, and 
other cities, were alfo fpe'edily reduced ; and the irape- 
tuolity of the confederates feemed now irrelillible. 
After an unluccefsful negociation for peace between 
the courts of Verlailles and Vienna, in 1709, both fides 
prepared, with augmented fury, for the profecution of 
the war. 'I'he confederates, under Eugene and Marl¬ 
borough, were again viblorious in the Netherlands : 
Villars loll the battle of Malplaquet; but it lias been 
' jultly remarked, that he was formidable in his defeat, 
and llained deeply w'ith blo'bd the laurels gained by hi* 
enemies. On the Rhine, however, the imperialills were 
lels fuccefsful; and count Thaun, who commanded in 
Italy, found it impoliiblc to acquire any importgnt ad. 
i 
vantage. While the allies were, with fuccefs, profe. 
cuting the war in Flanders, Louis XIV. made frelh 
overtures for peace, by his feCretary the marquis de 
Torcy; but although he offered to accept fome of the 
conditions which he had rejedled in the preceding year, 
Jofeph was Hill inexorable'; and the confederates gra¬ 
dually role in their demands, till at length they plainly 
declared, that no treaty of pacification could take ef- 
leifl, unlefs the moH ChriHian king \yould contribute liis 
allillance to dethrone his own grandfon. 
No fooner were the conferences broken ofi'at Gertru- 
denburg, than the allies renewed hoHilities in the Ne¬ 
therlands, and made themfelves mailers of Aire, St. Ve- 
nant, and Bethune ; but thefe advantages were pur- 
chafed by the lofs ot twenty thoufand men. Towards 
the Rhine no confiderable adtion was performed; for 
the Hrength of the adverfe armies was nearly equal, 
and the refpedlive commanders were unwilling to ha¬ 
zard an engagement. In Hungary the afl'airs of the 
empire were rather more profperous than in the preced¬ 
ing campaign ; but the old obHrudlions to peace Hill 
remained, and all attempts to foothe the malcontents 
proved entirely fruitlefs. 
Meanwhile the fuccours afforded by England enabled 
the archduke Charles to gain the victory of Saragolfa, 
whicli would have ellablilhed him on the Spanilh throne, 
had the advantages been properly purfaed. But the 
arrival ot De Vendome foon reHored the affairs of Phi¬ 
lip V. and raifed him from a fugitive prince to a tri¬ 
umphant monarch. 
The beginning of the year 1711, was marked by a 
revolution in the Englilh miniflry-; and the intereHs of 
Europe were fenfibly affeCfed by the death of tlie em¬ 
peror, who fell a martyr to the fmall-pox in the prime 
of life. His charaCfer has been varioufly reprefented : 
but from a review of his aCfions we may pronounce him 
lefs gentle, mild, and affable, than his father; though 
his fpirit and vivacity fometimes procured him the tri¬ 
bute of admiration. Impatient of oppolition, he was 
haughty, aCfive, and enterpriling, and frequently pur- 
lued from motives of refentment what he had firH un¬ 
dertaken from policy. His fuccefs augmented the pride 
ot his difpofition, and added fuel to a fire wluch had 
long burnt with extreme violence. In the fpace of five 
years he law Lombardy fubdued. Piedmont evac;iated, 
Naples reduced, and tlie Netherlands conquered by his 
own arms and thofe of his allies. In his imperial ca¬ 
pacity he certainly governed with more defpotilm than 
any of his predeceflbrs, and the houle of Bavaria was 
a monument of the inflexibility of his temper. 
'VVlien the electoral college alfembled, in order to 
fupply the vacancy on the imperial throne, the arcli- 
duke Charles was propofed as a candidate, and tlie 
eleClor of Mentz gained for him all the votes by a de- 
cifive argument. “ The empire, (faid he) is a wife of 
high birch witliout a fortune. -She requires a great ex¬ 
penditure for her maintenance ; and the houle of AuHria 
alone polfelfes revenues adequate to that purpofe.” 
Upon the firH intimation of his eleClion, Charles let out 
from Barcelona, and on his arrival at Ihankfort he fwore 
to obferve the imperial capitulation in the manner it 
was propofed by the eleClors. The ceremony oi his 
coronation was performed with great magnificence, in. 
1711, and feveral gold medals were dillributed among 
the princes of the empire and the foreign ambafl'adors. 
As the queen of England had acquainted her parlia¬ 
ment with her pacific intentions, and Holland was upon 
the point of concluding a feparate treaty, tlie new em¬ 
peror found himlelf under tiie neceliity of fiiHaining 
the entire weight of a war with France and Spain, or" 
of accepting the terms'offered by Louis. At this junc¬ 
ture a congrefs was held at Utrecht for the purpofe ot 
opening negociations between the hoHile powers, and 
the allies refolved to make fome frelh exertions againll 
the 
