1704. fleet under the count de Toulouse, consisting of BOOK V. about fifty ships of the line of battle. A fierce and bloody encounter ensued, which lasted from ten in the morning till sunset, in which, however, no vessel on either side was captured or sunk but the French suffered much in the action, and bore away in the night for Toulon, so disabled as to render it impossible to put to sea again for the season. Of the English and Dutch the loss in killed and wounded was computed at near 3000 men, and that of the enemy was supposed to be far greater, including more than 200 officers. Sir Cloudesley Shovel, who commanded the van, and fought heroically, declares in his official letter the battle to have been so sharply contested, "that the like never has been, he thinks, in any time." Sir George Rooke soon after this engagement returned to England, leaving sir John Leake with a strong squadron to defend the coasts of Portugal. The Spaniards had drawn together all the forces they had in Andalusia and Estremadura, for the purpose of forming the siege of Gibraltar; which made a seasonable diversion in favor of Portugal. All the efforts of the count de Villadarias being found ineffectual, the marquis de Tessé was sent from France to supersede him in the command,-but with no better success. The prince of Hesse defended the place with undaunted valour; and VOL. II. BOOK V. after a close investment by sea and land for six 1704. Campaign in Italy. months, the siege was finally raised in consequence of the entire defeat of the French squadron, cruising off the bay under M. de Pointis, by the English admiral sir John Leake. From this period to the end of the war no considerable naval efforts were made on the part of France. In Italy, the duke of Savoy had this campaign experienced nothing but disasters. The strong places of Suza, Vercelli, Ivrea, and Verue, successively fell into the hands of the duc de Vendome, after a vigorous and obstinate resistance. The whole duchy of Modena, which adhered to the imperial interest, fell into the merciless hands of the French; while that of Mirandola, attached to France, met with no better treatment from the Austrians. The duke of Savoy complained much of the emperor's failing to make good his promises; but he said, "though he was abandoned by his allies, he would not abandon himself." The fact was, that the imperial arms were still occupied in an inglorious and pernicious contest with the malcontents of Hungary, headed by the gallant prince Ragotski. Could the emperor have been induced to offer these oppressed and exasperated people reasonable terms of accommodation after his successes in Bavaria, the disorders in Hungary would have been easily and speedily appeased: but the court of Vienna BOOK V. 1704. Cevennes. aimed at nothing less than unconditional submission; which the Hungarians well knew was only another term for slaughter, confiscation, and ruin. Louis XIV. had also for some years past been engaged with the protestants of the Cevennes War of the in a war equally barbarous and impolitic; and M. de Villars was this summer employed, much to the advantage of the allies, in their reduction ; and after the country was converted into a desert, this was at length effected on terms which, had they been faithfully adhered to, would have left them at liberty to worship GoD according to the dictates of their own consciences. M. de Villars was in his temper positive and peremp tory; and in consequence of his rude and disrespectful conduct during his command in Germany, to the elector of Bavaria, that prince had been imprudent enough to desire his recal. But such a general could ill be spared to France, for at this period, as the celebrated author of the Age of Louis XIV. observes*, "that monarch had to contend with enemies more formidable than the inhabitants of the Cevennes." At the commencement of the 18th century France alone suffered from religious dissension. England on all questions of this nature had begun to feel the influence of a just and benign philosophy. Holland had long admitted all sects into her bosom, * Voltaire, Histoire Generale, vol. v. 1704. BOOK V from motives of political expediency. And the three religions of Germany were equally protected by the treaty of Westphalia. Reason, ever slow in her progress, had not as yet diffused her light over the minds even of the learned in France, and far less had it pervaded the mass of the people. This can be effected by Time alone, and of all his works it is the last and the greatest. It is remarkable that no less than three marechals of France were employed in the suppression of these religious enthusiasts. The first was M. Montrevel, who carried on hostilities against them with a degree of cruelty which only the furious excesses of the insurgents could justify. But as M. Voltaire observes, "if the edict of Nantz had not been revoked those outrages would never have been perpetrated." It was found extremely difficult to surprize those miserable people, maddened by oppression, among their inaccessible mountains, their caverns, and their forests, whence they descended by unfrequented paths, and fell on the king's troops with the ferocity of wild beasts. M. Montrevel was succeeded by M. Villars, who wisely counseled and actually concluded a pacification with these fanatics, on the part of the court, which soon repented of its condescension; and the treaty being grossly violated they had again recourse to arms. M. Berwick was then invested with the chief command in the Cevennes, and that able general 1703. found no better means of terminating this ob- BOOK V. scure though bloody rebellion, than by desolating the whole country with fire and sword. Such were the dreadful effects of the barbarous bigotry of Louis XIV. ! Scotland. It is now once more necessary to revert to the Affairs of domestic affairs of Great Britain, and more particularly to those of Scotland, the political situation of that kingdom being at the present period peculiarly critical and interesting, After the re cess of parliament in the summer of 1702, various important changes took place favorable to the views of the party which then governed with absolute sway in England. The earls of Marchmont, Melville, Selkirk, Hyndford, and Leven, were displaced, and the earl of Seafield constituted chancellor, the marquis of Annandale president, the marquis of Athol privy seal, viscount Tarbat secretary of state, sir James Murray lord register and the parliament being dis: Duke of solved, and writs issued in the spring of 1703, berry High the duke of Queensberry was appointed lord sioner. commissioner. A general proclamation of indemnity having been issued, on the 6th of March 1703, for all treasons committed previous to the month of April last, great numbers of Jacobites were encouraged to return to Scotland from St. Germaine's and other parts of France; by which means a considerable accession of strength ac Queens Commis |