on which occasion his majesty told both houses, that the Spanish king had acknowledged the pretender.

(XVII. The king having, appointed lords justices to rule the kingdom in his absence, embarked in May* for Holland, from whence he proceeded to Hanover, where he concluded a peace with Ulrica, the new queen of Sweden. By this treaty Sweden yielded for ever to the royal and electoral house of Brunswick, the dutchies of Bremen and Verden, with all their dependencies: king George obliged himself to pay a million of rix dollars to the queen of Sweden; and to renew, as king of Great Britain and elector of Hanover, the alliances formerly subsisting between his predecessors and that kingdom. He likewise mediated a peace between Sweden and his former allies, the Danes and Prussians, and the Poles. The czar, however, refused to give up his schemes of conquest. He sent his fleet to the Scheuron or Batses of Sweden, where his troops landing, to the number of fifteen thousand, committed dreadful outrages: but sir John Norris, who commanded an English squadron in those seas, having orders to support the negotiations, and oppose any hostilities that might be committed, the czar, dreading the fate of the Spanish navy, thought proper to recall his fleet. In the Mediterranean, admiral Byng acted with unwearied vigour in assisting the Imperialists to finish the conquest of Sicily. The court of Vienna had agreed to send a strong body of forces to finish the reduction of that island; and the command in this expedition was bestowed upon the count de Merci, with whom sir George Byng conferred at Naples. This admiral supplied them with ammunition and artillery from the Spanish prizes. He took the whole reinforcement under his convoy, and saw them safely landed in the bay of Patti, to the number of three thousand five hundred horse, and ten thousand infantry. Count Merci think. ing himself more than a match for the Spanish forces. commanded by the marquis de Lede, attacked him in a strong camp at Franca Villa; and was repulsed with the loss of five thousand men, himself being dangerously wounded in the action. Here his army must have perished for want of provision, had not they been supplied by the English navy.

§ XVIII. Admiral Byng no sooner learned the bad success of the attack at Franca Villa, than he embarked two battalions from the garrison of Melazzo, and about a thousand recruits, whom he sent under a convoy through the Faro to Scheso bay, in order to reinforce the Imperial army. He afterwards assisted at a council of war with the German generals, who, in consequence of his advice, undertood the siege of Messina. Then he repaired to Naples, where he proposed to Count Gallas, the new viceroy, that the troops destined for the conquest of Sardinia should be first landed in Sicily, and cooperate towards the conquest of that island. The proposal was immediately despatched to the court of Vienna. In the mean time, the admiral returned to Sicily, and assisted at the siege of Messina. The town surrendered: the garrison retired into the citadel: and the remains of the Spanish navy, which had escaped at Passaro, were now destroyed in the Mole. The emperor approved of the scheme proposed by the English admiral,, to whom he wrote a very gracious letter, intimating that he had despatched orders to the governor of Milan, to detach the troops designed for Sardinia to Vado, in order to be transported into Italy. The admiral charged himself with the performance of this service. Having furnished the Imperial army before Messina with another supply of cannon, powder, and shot, upon his own credit, he set sail for Vado, where he surmounted numberless difficulties, started by the jealousy of count Bonneval, who was unwilling to see his troops, destined for Sardinia, now diverted to another expedition, in which he could not enjoy the chief command. At length, admiral Byng saw the forces embarked, and convoyed them to Messina, the citadel of which surrendered in a few days after their arrival. By this time the marquis de Lede had fortified a strong post at Castro Giovanne, in the centre of the island and cantoned his troops about Aderno, Palermo, and Catanea. The Imperialists could not pretend to attack him in this situation, nor could they remain in the neighbourhood of Messina, on account of the scarcity of provisions. They would, therefore, have been obliged to quit the island during the winter, had not the admiral undertaken to transport them by sea to Trapani, where they could extend themselves in a plentiful country.

He not only executed this enterprise; but even supplied them with corn from Tunis, as the harvest of Sicily had been gathered into the Spanish magazines. It was the second day of March before the last embarkation of the Imperial troops were landed at Trapani.

§ XIX. The marquis de Lede immediately retired with his army to Alcamo, from whence he sent his mareschal de camp to count Merci and the English admiral, with overtures for evacuating Sicily. The proposals were not disagreeable to the Germans; but sir George Byng declared that the Spaniards should not quit the island while the war continued, as he foresaw that these troops would be employed against France or England. He agreed, however, with count Merci, in proposing, that if the marquis would surrender Palermo, and retire into the middle part of the island, they would consent to an armistice for six weeks, until the sentiments of their different courts should be known. The marquis offered to surrender Palermo, in consideration of a suspension of arms for three months; but, while this negotiation was depending, he received advice from Madrid, that a general peace was concluded. Nevertheless, he broke off the treaty, in obedience to a secret order for that purpose. The king of Spain hoped to obtain the restitution of St. Sebastian's, Fontarabia, and other places taken in the course of the war, in exchange for the evacuation of Sicily. Hostilities were continued until the admiral received advice from the earl of Stair at Paris, that the Spanish ambassador at the Hague had signed the quadruple alliance. By the same courier packets were delivered to the count de Merci and the marquis de Lede, which last gave the admiral and Imperial general to understand that he looked upon the peace as a thing concluded; and was ready to treat for a cessation of hostilities. They insisted upon his delivering up Palermo; on the other hand, he urged, that as their masters were in treaty, for settling the terms of evacuating Sicily and Sardinia, he did not think himself authorized to agree to a cessation, except on condition that each party should remain on the ground they occupied, and expect further orders from their principals. After a fruitless interview between the three chiefs at the Cassine de Rossignola, the Imperial general resolved to

undertake the siege of Palermo: with this view he decamped from Alcamo on the eighteenth day of April, and followed the marquis de Lede, who retreated before him, and took possession of the advantageous posts that commanded the passes into the plain of Palermo: but count Merci, with indefatigable diligence, marched over the mountains, while the admiral coasted along shore, attending the motions of the army. The Spanish general perceiving the Germans advancing into the plain, retired under the cannon of Palermo, and fortified his camp with strong entrenchments. On the second day of May the Germans took one of the enemy's redoubts by surprise, and the marquis de Lede ordered all his forces to be drawn out to retake this fortification: both armies were on the point of engaging, when a courier arrived in a felucca, with a packet for the marquis, containing full powers to treat and agree about the evacuation of the island, and the transportation of the army to Spain. He forthwith drew off his army; and sent a trumpet to the general and admiral, with letters, informing them of the orders he had received, commissioners were appointed on each side, the negotiations begun, and the convention signed in a very few days. The Germans were put in possession of Palermo, and the Spanish army marched to Tauromini, from whence they were transported to Barcelona.

XX. The admiral continued in the Mediterranean until he had seen the islands of Sicily and Sardinia evacuated by the Spaniards, and the mutual cessions executed between the emperor and the duke of Savoy; in consequence of which, four battalions of Piedmontese troops were transported from Palermo to Sardinia, and took possession of Cagliari in the name of their master. In a word, admiral Byng bore such a considerable share in this war of Sicily, that the fate of the island depended wholly on his courage, vigilance, and conduct. When he waited on his majesty at Hanover, he met with a very gracious reception. The king told him he had found out the secret of obliging his enemies as well as his friends; for the court of Spain had mentioned him in the most honourable terms, with respect to his candid and friendly deportment, in providing transports and other necessaries for the embarkation of their

troops, and in protecting them from oppression. He was appointed treasurer of the navy, and rear admiral of Great Britain in a little time the king ennobled him, by the title of viscount Torrington: he was declared a privy counsellor; and afterwards made Knight of the Bath, at the revival of that order. During these occurrences in the Mediterranean, the duke of Berwick advanced with the French army to the frontiers of Spain, where he took Fort Passage and destroyed six ships of war that were on the stocks: then he reduced Fontarabia and St. Sebastians, together with port Antonio in the bottom of the bay of Biscay. In this last exploit the French were assisted by a detachment of English seamen, who burned two large ships unfinished, and a great quantity of naval stores. The king of England, with a view to indemnify himself for the expense of the war, projected the conquest of Corunna in Biscay, and of Peru in South America. Four thousand men, commanded by lord Cobham, were embarked at the Isle of Wight, and sailed on the twenty-first day of September, under convoy of five ships of war, conducted by admiral Mighels. Instead of making an attempt upon Corunna, they reduced Vigo with very little difficulty; and Point-a-Vedra submitted without resistance; here they found some brass artillery, small arms, and military stores, with which they returned to England. In the mean time captain Johnson, with two English ships of war, destroyed the same number of Spanish ships in the port of Ribadeo, to the eastward of Cape Ortegas; so that the naval power of Spain was totally ruined. The expedition to the West Indies was prevented by the peace. Spain being oppressed on all sides, and utterly exhausted, Philip saw the necessity of a speedy pacification. He now perceived the madness of Alberoni's ambitious projects. That minister was personally disagreeable to the emperor, the king of England, and the regent of France, who had declared they would hearken to no proposals while he should continue in office: the Spanish monarch, therefore, divested him of his employment; and ordered him to quit the kingdom in three weeks. The marquis de Beretti Landi, minister from the court of Madrid at the Hague, delivered a plan of pacification to the States; but it was