to consult with tho States-General, and reached England in the beginning of November, to find affairs there assuming as unsatisfactory a shape as they had done on the continent. The people and the queen were both beginning to tire of the whigs, and a new favourite was undermining the influence of the great duchess with Anne.
In Spain the adroit manœuvre of Louis by which, through his treaty with the selfish and short-sighted emperor, he had liberated his troops from Italy to throw them upon that country, and the want of unity betwixt Charles and his auxiliaries, quite changed the face of affairs. The whigs had studiously left the reinforcements in Spain insufficient, from the idea that it was better to continue to distract the attention of Louis in that direction than by a bold and vigorous effort to drive him from the country. They had a vain idea of conquering France, and thought this more easy to achieve while the French arms were demanded in various quarters. But the astute Louis was not so readily dealt with. He contrived, as we have seen, to amuse the allies in Flanders without coming to blows. He coped without difficulty with the Germans on the Rhine, and, though fiercely attacked at Toulon by the Savoyards, he defeated the allies in Spain, to the great astonishment of Europe.
By this time the opinion formed of king Charles when he was in England by those who had opportunity of observing him was now become that of all who had come near him in Spain — that he was a very poor creature. The earl of Peterborough, who had been travelling about with little success to borrow money for such a contest, and was returned to Spain, but without any command, did not hesitate to say that people were great fools to fight for such a couple of simpletons as Charles and Philip. Charles was surrounded by a set of Austrians who were utterly incapable of commanding, and who made it equally impossible for any one else to command. The great plan of the campaign was to march boldly on Madrid; but Charles was, as before, too timid to venture on such a step. He remained in Catalonia, and ordered the earl of Galway, with the Dutch and English forces, and Das Minas, with the Portuguese, to defend the frontiers of Arragon and Valencia, and thus he contrived to wait for fresh troops from England, or from Italy, where they were no longer wanted. Whilst Das Minas and Galway, who was only second in command, were laying siege to Velina, in Valencia, and were in want of almost everything — food, clothes, and ammunition — they heard that the duke of Berwick was hastening, by forced marches, to attack them. They therefore drew off towards the town of Ahnanza, and there fell in with the enemy, who proved to be considerably stronger than themselves. They came to an engagement, however, on the llth of April. The battle began about two in the afternoon, and the whole force of each army was engaged. The centre of the allies, consisting of Dutch and English, fought most valiantly, and repeatedly threw back the forces of the duke of Berwick. For six long and bloody hours they maintained the fight; but the two wings were beaten and dispersed, the Portugese horse on the right at the first charge, but the Dutch and English, on the left, only after a brave but unequal resistance. When the gallant centre was thus exposed on both flanks, they formed themselves into a square and retired from the field, fighting doggedly as they went. But at length their ammunition was spent, they were worn out with fatigue, and they surrendered, to the amount of thirteen battalions. The Portuguese, part of the English horse, and the infantry who guarded the baggage, retreated to Alcira, where the earl of Galway joined them with about two thousand five hundred horse, and they escaped. It was a complete triumph for the French and Spaniards. Tho allies lost five thousand men, besides the wounded and the large force which surrendered. The earl of Galway received two deep cuts in tho face; the marquis Das Minas was run through the arm; and his mistress, fighting at his side in the costume of an Amazon, was killed. The lords Tyrawley, Mark Ker, and colonel Clayton were amongst the wounded. All the cannon, with a hundred and twenty colours and standards, were lost. The enemy, however, did not obtain a bloodless victory—they lost about two thousand men.
Nothing now could stop Berwick, who won great reputation by this decisive action. He marched into Valencia, taking town after town, whilst Saragossa at the same time surrendered, without a shot, to the duke of Orleans. Berwick marched for the Ebro, which he crossed on the 4th of June, and at length pursued and shut up the flying confederates in Lerida. Whilst he was waiting for artillery and ammunition to commence the siege of this strong place, he received orders to hasten into Provence, where the duke of Savoy had penetrated, and to assist the duke of Burgundy, who was marching to the relief of Toulon, which Savoy was besieging. On approaching Beziers he learned that Burgundy did not want his services, and he hastened back and joined the duke of Orleans in the siege of Lerida. The siege commenced on the 2nd of October, and was continued till the 12th of October. Both the besiegers and besieged were in a nearly equal state of wretchedness, destitute of almost everything, such was the poverty of Spain; and, had any tolerable force marched up, the siege must have been raised. But Charles was too inert or too dastardly to lead thither his troops, though they lay at no great distance; and the place was taken by storm, and given up to all the license of the soldiery. After this Manilla surrendered so late as the 17th of December, and with that the campaign closed. The duke of Orleans returned to Paris, and the duke of Berwick remained with the army till towards spring, when Louis sent for him in haste into France, ordering him to quit Spain unknown to Philip, lest he should endeavour to detain him. The earl of Galway and Das Minas embarked at Barcelona for Lisbon, leaving general Carpenter with the English forces remaining in Catalonia, the only portion of Spain now left to the pusillanimous Charles.
The operation, however, which the most alarmed the French court was that of the duke of Savoy against Provence. This had been planned by Marlborough and prince Eugene, and would undoubtedly have had a brilliant success had not the emperor been secretly planning his attempt on Naples instead of sending all his forces into Italy to the support of this enterprise. The duke of Savoy and prince Eugene, though abandoned by this selfish and small-souled emperor, on whose account the great powers of Europe were expending so much life and wealth, crossed the Alps by the
