'Staremberg himself was attacked at Villa Viciofa with great valor but doubtful fuccefs. He was however compelled, victor as he styled himself, to abandon Arragon, and retire to Catalonia; and being closely pursued by the duc de Vendome, he was at laft driven to take fhelter under the walls of Barcelona. Thus the flattering fucceffes of the allies at the commencement of this campaign proved wholly delufive; and during the remaining years of the war Charles was never able to regain even a temporary fuperiority.

The new parliament, which met on the 25th November, 1710, was composed almost wholly of tories-the popular violence in the late general election being fuch as made it scarcely safe to vote for a whig. Mr. Bromley was chofen Speaker with little or no oppofition. In the speech from the throne the queen " recommended the carrying on the war in all its parts, particularly in Spain, with the utmoft vigor. She declared her refolution to support and encourage the church of England as by law established, to preferve the British conftitution according to the Union, and to maintain the indulgence allowed by law to fcrupulous confciences. And that all these," said the queen in conclufion, may be tranfmitted to pofterity, I fhall employ none but such as are heartily for the proteftant fucceffion in the house of Hanover, the intereft of which family no perfon can be more truly concerned for than myself." The addresses were in the fame unexceptionable strain; so that the use of the obnoxious phrafe INDULGENCE of fcrupulous confciences was the only indication of the predominance of tory principles.

In December the duke of Marlborough arrived in London, and was received with the ufual popular acclamation. His grace manifefted no refentment at what had paffed. He vifited and was vifited by the heads of the prefent administration, and, being strongly solicited by the states-general and the emperor to continue in the command, feemed refolved

refolved to acquiesce in the new order of things. Convinced at length, however flow to believe, that the duchefs of Marlborough muft relinquish every hope of regaining the loft affection of her sovereign, he carried a furrender of all her places to the queen, who divided them between the duchefs of Somerset and Mrs. Mafham.

The house of commons, actuated by the rage of party, eagerly fought occafions to display their hatred to the principles and persons of their predeceffors. Though the earl of Godolphin had been one of the most incorrupt of ministers, a vote of censure paffed upon him on pretence that his accounts were not regularly audited. For the fake of offering an indignity to the memory of king William, the houfe of commons ordered in a bill empowering commiffioners to examine all grants made by that monarch, and to report the value of them, and the confiderations upon which they were beftowed. This, however, was rejected by the lords. Great pains were taken to fix a ftigma upon the character of the duke of Marlborough; and the cuftomary perquifites which he received in the capacity of commander in chief were voted to be unwarrantable and illegal. It was refolved by the house, that the fums fo received ought to be accounted for as public property; and the queen in the fequel ordered the attorney-general to commence a profecution against the duke for money actually received by virtue of her own warrant. An enquiry was again fet on foot in the upper houfe into the conduct of the war with Spain. The tories, having now obtained an afcendency in that house in confequence of the acceffion of the fixteen Scottish peers, came to a refolution, "That the earl of Peterborough had given a very faithful, just and honorable account of the councils of war in Valencia, and that the adoption of the opinion of the earl of Galway and general Stanhope for the profecution of offenfive measures was the unhappy occafion of the battle of Almanza and our confequent misfortunes in Spain." And the earl of Peterborough was thanked for his

great

great and eminent fervices. But a strong proteft was entered against this refolution, figned by thirty-fix peers, in which their lordships most justly remark, that the advice thus cenfured, was in the then circumstances fit and proper to be given-and that the lofs of the battle of Almanza was to be attributed to fubfequent caufes wholly foreign to the advice in queftion.

A fingular incident occurred at this time, which contributed much to raise the credit and popularity of the new minister, Mr. Harley. A perfon calling himself the marquis de Guifcard, a French refugee, who had been refused, or deprived of, a penfion by Mr. Harley, being fubfequently apprehended on suspicion of carrying on a treasonable correfpondence with France, and examined before the councilboard, made a fudden and desperate attempt to ftab him in the breaft with a pen-knife. Fortunately the knife, lighting on the bone, broke fhort, and the hurt was comparatively flight. Guifcard was fecured, not without fome difficulty, and after receiving several wounds, of which he foon after died in prifon. On this event, an Act paffed to make an attempt on the life of a Privy-Counsellor to be felony; and both houses of parliament joined in an address to the queen, expreffing" their great concern for this barbarous and villainous attempt on the person of Mr. Harley, whose fidelity to her majefty and zeal for her service had drawn upon him the hatred of all the abettors of popery and faction.". Another fortunate circumstance for Mr. Harley was the fudden death at this period of the earl of Rochester, a nobleman of great ambition, abilities, and popularity; between whom and Harley ftrong fymptoms of jealousy and competition had already appeared. Immediately confequent to this event, Mr. Harley was raised to the dignity of. lord-high-treasurer, and created earl of Oxford and earl Mortimer-two of the nobleft titles in English heraldry.

On the 12th of June, 1711, the queen came to the house, and, in a speech containing fresh affurances of her

earnest

earneft concern for the proteftant fucceffion, prorogued the parliament.

The convocation, which met at the fame time with the parliament, chose the famous Atterbury prolocutor. Soon after, the queen fent them a licence under the great-feal to fit and do business in as ample a manner as was ever granted fince the Reformation. By this licence they were empowered to enter upon such consultations as the present state of the church required, and efpecially of fuch matters as she fhould lay before them. Immediately a committee was appointed to draw up a reprefentation of the present state of religion and the church, which contained a most virulent declamation against the government from the time of the Revolution. This was afcribed to the pen of Atterburybut the bishops difapproving the terms in which it was framed, a contest between the two houses, as ufual, enfued. But their attention was foon diverted to another topic. Whifton, the famous mathematical profeffor at Cambridge, had recently published a book, in which he attempted to revive and defend the antient Arian herefy; for which he was expelled the univerfity. Upon this, he wrote a vindication of his doctrine, and dedicated it to the CONVOCATION; for which astonishing inftance of effrontery, the orthodox fons of the church determined to make him feel the effects of their refentment. But the archbishop 'Tennison, a mild and tolerant prelate, stated it as a doubt whether this affembly had any clear warrant for proceeding criminally against a man for herefy. The judges being confulted, were divided in opinion; eight affirming with fome hesitation, that they could; and four with great pofitivity, that they could not proceed in fuch a cafe. With the terrible penalties of a premunire in profpect, it was neceffary therefore to act very cautiously; and their lordships fatisfied themfelves with extracting certain propofitions from the book in queftion, which they cenfured as false

Burret, vol. iv. p. 324.

and.

and heretical; in which the lower houfe concurred. This the archbishop transmitted to the queen for her affent, who promised to confider of it; but she did not fend any answer during the fitting of the convocation. Neither at their next meeting in the ensuing winter did the expected answer appear. And two bishops being at length deputed to ask for it, fhe declared, that fhe could not tell what was become of the archbishop's paper: fo a new extract of the cenfure was again fent to her-but no answer ever arrived, and Whifton's affair remained undecided; Harley and St. John, the new ministers, probably regarding the whole proceeding with fecret diflike and contempt.

About this period died Jofeph, emperor of the Romans— an event of great political importance, as it manifeftly afforded a fair opening to renew the overtures for a general peace, which was now fufpected to be not lefs the object of the eager wishes of the court of London than of that of Verfailles. The general state of politics on the Continent had undergone little alteration fince the great and decifive battle of Pultową. By his inceffant intrigues and machinations at the Porte, the king of Sweden had prevailed upon the grand feignor, Achmet III. to declare war against Muscovy. And the czar, advancing with great indifcretion and dangerous contempt of his enemy far into the Turkifli territories, was furrounded by the grand vizier in his camp near the banks of the Pruth, his fupplies of provifion cur off, and he himself reduced to the neceflity of purchasing a peace by the facrifice of Afoph and his other conquefts. In Germany, the king of Denmark unsuccessfully attempted the feges of Stralfund and Wismar, and he incurred the infamy of violating the peace, without as yet obtaining any fort of advantage by the renewal of the war.

In the month of May, 1711, the duke of Marlborough appeared for the last time at the head of the grand army in Flanders-prince Eugene commanding a feparate body of forces on the Rhine. This campaign was not diftinguished