sailed thither from Brest, and which Rooke had actually discovered, in the preceding month, on their voyage to Toulon. On the seventeenth day of July the admiral called a council of war in the road of Tetuan, when they resolved to make an attempt upon Gibraltar, which was but slenderly provided with a garrison. Thither they

sailed, and on the twenty-first day of the month the prince of Hesse landed on the isthmus with eighteen hundred marines then he summoned the governor to surrender, and was answered, that the place would be defended to the last extremity. Next day the admiral gave orders for cannonading the town: perceiving that the enemy were driven from their fortifications at the south molehead, he commanded captain Whitaker to arm all the boats, and assault that quarter. The captains Hicks and Jumper, who happened to be nearest the mole, immediately manned their pinnaces, and entered the fortifications sword in hand. The Spaniards sprung a mine, by which two lieutenants, and about a hundred men, were killed or wounded. Nevertheless, the two captains took possession of a platform, and kept their ground, until they were sustained by captain Whitaker, and the rest of the seamen, who took by storm a redoubt between the mole and the town. Then the governor capitulated; and the prince of Hesse entered the place, amazed at the success of this attempt, considering the strength of the fortifications, which might have been defended by fifty men against a numerous army.

§ XXIII. A sufficient garrison being left with his highness, the admiral returned to Tetuan, to take in wood and water; and when he sailed, on the ninth day of August, he descried the French fleet, to which he gave chase with all the sail he could spread. On the thirteenth he came up with it, as it lay in a line off Malaga ready to receive him, to the number of two-and-fifty great ships and four-and-twenty galleys, under the command of the count de Tholouse, high admiral of France, with the inferior flags of the white and blue divisions. The English fleet. consisted of three-and-fifty ships of the line, exclusive of frigates, but they were inferior to the French in number of guns and men, as well as in weight of metal, and altogether unprovided of galleys, from which the enemy reaped great

advantage during the engagement. A little after ten in the morning the battle began, with equal fury on both sides, and continued to rage with doubtful success till two in the afternoon, when the van of the French gave way; nevertheless, the fight was maintained till night, when the enemy bore away to leeward. The wind shifting before morning, the French gained the weathergage; but they made no use of this advantage: for two successive days the English admiral endeavoured to renew the engagement, which the count de Tholouse declined, and at last he disappeared. The loss was pretty equal on both sides, though not a single ship was taken or destroyed by either: but the honour of the day certainly remained with the English. Over and above the disadvantages we have enumerated, the bottoms of the British fleet were foul, and several large ships had expended all their shot long before the battle ceased: yet the enemy were so roughly handled, that they did not venture another engagement during the whole war. The French king, in order to raise the drooping spirits of his people, claimed the victory, and published an account of the action, which, at this distance of time, plainly proves that he was reduced to the mean shift of imposing upon his subjects, by false and partial representations. Among other exaggerations in this detail, we find mention made of mischief done to French ships by English bombs; though nothing is more certain than that there was not one bomb vessel in the combined fleet. The French academy, actuated by a servile spirit of adulation, caused a medal to be struck on the occasion, which, instead of perpetuating the glory of their prince, served only to transmit their own shame to posterity. After the battle, sir George Rooke sailed to Gibraltar to refit, and leaving a squadron with sir John Leake, set sail for England on the twenty-fourth day of August. He arrived in September, and was received by the ministry, and the people in general, with those marks of esteem and veneration which were due to his long services and signal success: but he was still persecuted with a spirit of envy and detraction. Philip, king of Spain, alarmed at the reduction of Gibraltar, sent the marquis de Villadarias with an army to retake it. The siege lasted four months, during which the prince of Hesse

exhibited many shining proofs of courage and ability. The place was supplied with men and provisions by convoys from Lisbon, until monsieur de Pointis put a stop to that communication, by entering the bay with a strong squadron, but he was obliged to retire at the approach of sir John Leake and admiral Vanderdussen; and the marquis de Villadarias, having made little or no progress on land, thought proper to abandon the enterprise.

§ XXIV. The parliament of England meeting on the twenty-ninth day of October, the queen, in her speech, observed, that the great and remarkable success with which God had blessed her arms produced unanimous joy and satisfaction through all parts of the kingdom; and that a timely improvement of the present advantages would enable her to procure a lasting foundation of security for England, as well as a firm support for the liberty of Europe. She declared her intention was to be kind and indulgent to all her subjects. She expressed her hope that they would do nothing to endanger the loss of this opportunity; and that there would be no contention among them, but an emulation to promote the public welfare. Congratulatory addresses were voted and presented by both houses. They were equal in their professions of duty and affection to the queen; but the addresses imbibed a very different colour from the different sanctions by which the two houses were influenced. The lords congratulated her on the great and glorious success of her arms under the command of the duke of Marlborough, without deigning to mention sir George Rooke, who had defeated the French navy at sea, and added the important fortress of Gibraltar to the British conquests. On the other hand, the commons affected to mention the battle of Blenheim, and Rooke's naval victory, as events of equal glory and importance. However they might be warped by prejudice against individuals, they did not suffer the war to languish for want of supplies. Having taken into consideration the services of the army. and navy, they voted that the queen should be desired to bestow her bounty on the seamen and land forces who had behaved themselves so gallantly. Then they deliberated upon the different articles of national expense, and granted four millions six hundred and seventy thousand nine hun

dred and thirty-one pounds for the occasions of the ensuing year, to be raised by a land tax, by the sale of annuities, and other expedients. These measures were taken with such expedition, that the land tax received the royal assent on the ninth day of December: when the queen, in a short speech, thanked the commons for their despatch, which she considered a sure pledge of their affection.

XXV. The high church party took this occasion to promote the bill against occasional conformity, which was revived and brought into the house on a new model, by Mr. William Bromle, who moved that it might be tacked to the land tax bill, and sent up to the lords for their concurrence. The court no longer espoused this measure, and the violent party was weakened by defection. After a warm and tedious debate, the tack was rejected by a great majority. The bill, however, passed the house of commons, and was sent up to the lords on the fourteenth day of December, when it would hardly have excited a debate, had not the queen been present, and desirous of hearing what could be said on both sides of the question. For the information and satisfaction of her majesty the subject was again discussed, and all the arguments being repeated, the bill was rejected by a majority of one-and-twenty voices. The next subject on which the house of lords employed their attention, was the late conduct of the Scottish parliament. The lord Haversham in a set speech, observed, that the settlement of the succession in Scotland had been postponed, partly because the ministry for that kingdom were weak and divided; partly from a received opinion that the succession was never sincerely and cordially intended by those who managed the affairs of Scotland in the cabinet council. He expatiated on the bad consequences that might attend the act of security, which he styled a bill of exclusion; and particularly mentioned that clause by which the heritors and boroughs were ordained to exercise their fencible men every month. He said the nobility and gentry of Scotland were as learned and brave as any nation in Europe, and generally discontented; that the common people were very numerous, very stout, and very poor; and he asked who was the man that could tell what such a multitude, so armed, and so disciplined, might do under such

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leaders, could opportunities suit their intention. commended these circumstances to the consideration of the house, and concluded with these words of lord Bacon, "Let men beware how they neglect or suffer matter of "troubles to be prepared; for no man can forbid the sparks "that may set all on fire." The lords resolved to consider these subjects on the twenty-ninth day of November, when the queen repaired to the house of peers to hear the debates, and by her presence moderate the heat of both parties. The earl of Nottingham reflected so severely on the memory of king William, that he would have been sent to the tower, had not the lords declined any such motion out of respect to her majesty. After much declamation on the Scottish act of security, the grand committee of the peers, by the advice of lord Wharton, resolved, that the queen should be enabled by act of parliament on the part of England, to name commissioners to treat about an union with Scotland, provided that the parliament of Scotland should first appoint commissioners on their part for the same purpose: That no Scotchmen should enjoy the privileges of Englishmen, except such as were settled in England, Ireland, and the plantations, and such as were or might be in the sea, or land service, until an union could be effected, or the succession settled as in England: That the traffic by cattle from Scotland to England should be prevented: That the lord admiral should issue orders for taking such vessels as should be found trading from Scotland to France, or to the ports of any of her majesty's enemies; and that care should be taken to prevent the exportation of English wool into Scotland. On these resolutions a bill was formed for an entire union, and passed the house on the twentieth day of December. The lords presented an address to the queen, representing that they had duly weighed the dangerous and pernicious effects that were likely to be produced by divers acts of parliament lately passed in Scotland: That they were of opinion the safety of the kingdom required that speedy and effectual orders should be given to put Newcastle in a posture of defence, to secure the port of Tinmouth, and repair the fortifications of Hull and Carlisle. They likewise advised her majesty to give directions for disciplining the militia of the four northern counties; for providing them VOL. I.