204 FRENCH TREATY WITH ENGLAND. [Book V. the fort of Knocque, Ypres, Menin, Tournai, Mons, Charleroi, the citadel of Ghent, and some fortresses in the neighbourhood of that city and Bruges; and Great Britain engaged to procure for the Dutch the right of garrison in them from the future sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands. There was now nothing to hinder a peace between England, France, and Holland; but it was delayed awhile in order that all the belligerents should, if possible, sign together. The Emperor, who complained that England had betrayed him, still refused to join in the negociations at Utrecht. He was desirous, however, of effecting a convention for the evacuation of Catalonia, where his army was compromised by the withdrawal of the English forces in the autumn, and subsequently of the Portuguese; whose king, now John V.," had signed a truce at Utrecht November 7th. France and England agreed to a convention, the neutrality of Italy being also guaranteed, without which peace would have been impracticable; since, if Savoy should be attacked by the Emperor, the Maritime Powers were bound to come to the Duke's support. An amnesty was stipulated for the Catalans, and Queen Anne promised her good offices for the maintenance of their ancient privileges, or Fueros, a promise, however, that was shamefully neglected. 48 Charles VI. having by this convention recovered his troops and his consort, who was still holding her court at Barcelona, was only the more obstinate in rejecting the peace. The Catalans refused to accept the amnesty without the confirmation of their Fueros, and it became necessary to reduce them by arms. Barcelona was not captured by Marshal Berwick till September 12th 1714, after a defence of almost unparalleled heroism. England had fixed April 11th 1713 as the day by which the allies were to accept the offers of France; after which term, neither of those countries was to be bound by them. Count Zinzendorf, the Imperial minister, having rejected a paper containing the French proposals handed to him by the British plenipotentiaries, the latter accordingly signed a treaty with France; and on the same day separate treaties were also signed with that Power by the ministers of the States-General, Prussia, Portugal, and Savoy. The principal articles of the treaty between France and Great Britain were conformable to those already mentioned in the negociations between the two countries; viz., the recognition by France of the Hanoverian succession in England, the abandonment of the 47 John succeeded his father, Pedro II., December 9th 1706. 48 Dumont, t. viii. pt. i. p. 327. The Convention was executed at Utrecht, Stuarts, the acknowledgment of the various renunciations of the French and Spanish crowns, as before stated, the destruction of the fort and fortifications of Dunkirk, the cession to England of Acadia (Nova Scotia), Hudson's Bay and Straits, Newfoundland and St. Kitts.49 On the same day, a treaty of commerce was concluded between France and England, by which the subjects of either Power were placed on the footing of the most favoured nations. The treaty between France and Portugal related only to colonial possessions, and some cessions were made in favour of the latter Power.50 By the treaty with Prussia,51 Louis recognised the Elector of Brandenburg as King of Prussia, consented to give him the title of "Majesty" ceded to him, by virtue of a power from the King of Spain, the Spanish portion of Guelderland, except Venlo, and Ruremonde, but on condition that the Catholic religion should be upheld; assigned to him, as representative of the House of Châlons, amalgamated with that of Orange, the sovereignty of Neufchâtel and Valengin in Switzerland, vacant by the death of the Duchess of Nemours, without children, in 1707; when the States of Neufchâtel had decided in favour of the King of Prussia's claims. Frederick William, on his side, renounced his pretensions to the principality of Orange and the lands and lordships belonging to it. He was the only German prince who treated separately and independently in these conferences. The treaty between Louis XIV. and Victor Amadeus II. of Savoy, 52 restored to the latter Savoy and Nice, and ceded to him Exilles, Fénestrelles, and Château Dauphin. The summit, or water-shed, of the Alps, was henceforth to be the boundary between France and Piedmont, and the plateau of those mountains was to be divided. Sicily, with the title of king, was guaranteed to the Duke; and he and his posterity were recognised as the legitimate heirs of the Spanish monarchy in default of heirs by Philip V., whether male or female. The cessions made to the Duke by the Emperor Leopold in the treaty of Turin (October 1703) were confirmed. The treaty between France and the States-General 53 assigned to the Dutch all that part of the Spanish Netherlands still held by the French, which the States were to hand over to Austria so soon as a barrier should have been arranged; and a portion of the French 49 Dumont, t. viii. pt. i. p. 339. 59 Ibid. p. 312. 51 Ibid. p. 356. Frederick I. of Prussia had died in February 1713, and the King with whom the treaty was concluded was his son, Frederick William I. 52 Ibid. p. 362. 52 Ibid. p. 366, 377. 206 SPANISH TREATIES WITH THE BELLIGERENTS. [Book V. Netherlands was also ceded in like manner through the States to Austria. The States, on their part, agreed to restore certain places to France, as Lille, Orchies, Aire, Béthune, &c. mercial treaty was also concluded between the two countries. 54 Spain could not take part in the general pacification till Philip V. had been recognised, and the Spanish ministers therefore did not appear at Utrecht till the treaties had been signed by the principal Powers. The peace between Spain and Great Britain was retarded by the difficulties raised by Philip V. respecting the renunciation of Sicily; but these having been at length removed, a treaty was signed between those Powers, July 13th 1713. The principal articles were the recognition by Spain of the Hanoverian succession, the cession of Gibraltar and Minorca to, England, but on condition that no Moors nor Jews should establish themselves in either, and the assignment of the Asiento to an English company for a period of thirty years from May 1st 1713. In a previous assignment of this privilege by Philip V. to a French company in 1701, a fourth part of the profits of this trade had been reserved for the Kings of France and Spain, and similar shares were now assigned to the sovereigns of Spain and England. The number of negroes to be imported yearly into Spanish America was fixed, as before, at 4,800. At the intercession of the Queen of England, the Catalans were to have an amnesty, and all the privileges enjoyed by Castilians; a virtual abolition of their Fueros, or ancient and peculiar liberties. By the treaty with the Duke of Savoy, August 13th 1713,55 Spain ceded Sicily to that House as a kingdom, and Victor Amadeus II. was crowned at Palermo, November 14th 1713;, but both the Pope and the Emperor refused to recognise him. Subsequently, by the Treaty of Quadruple Alliance, 1718, the Duke was forced to exchange Sicily for Sardinia. The peace between Spain and the States-General was delayed till June 26th 1714, chiefly through the extravagant ambition of the Princess des Ursins, who wished to persuade Philip V. to erect some part of the Spanish Netherlands into an independent sovereignty in her favour, to which both the Dutch and the Emperor were opposed. The treaty between Spain and the United Netherlands relates chiefly to colonies and commerce."5 56 The last treaty signed at Utrecht was that between Spain and Portugal (February 1715), which had been delayed by the mutual animosity of the two nations. Everything taken during the war se Ibid. p. 427. 4 Dumont, t. viii. pt. i. p. 393. 55 Ibid. p. 401. was reciprocally restored, so that the limits of the two kingdoms remained the same as before. Spain ceded the colony of St. Sacrament, on the north bank of the river La Plata.57 All these treaties together form the PEACE of UTRECHT. As it consisted of so many particular conventions, which might be violated without the parties to them being in a condition to claim the assistance of their former allies, the Grand Alliance was consequently dissolved, and the Emperor, who was the centre of it, was left without support. A fresh delay, till June 1st 1713, was accorded to him to accede to the peace; but he could not yet digest the terms offered to him by France, and especially the proposal to give Sardinia to the Elector of Bavaria, by way of compensation for the Upper Palatinate, which had been restored to the Elector Palatine. He therefore resolved to continue the war, in the hope that the talents of Prince Eugene might procure him a victory, and enable him to treat on better terms. With this view he assembled all his forces on the Rhine; but the campaign turned out very much to his disadvantage. Eugene could not prevent Villars from taking Landau (August), and subsequently Freiburg, the capital of the Breisgau (November). Charles VI. now consented to treat. Eugene and Villars, so lately opposed in the field, met at Rastadt for that purpose; and their negociations proceeded much more rapidly than those of professional diplomatists. The Peace of Rastadt, signed March 7th 1714, was the last service rendered by Villars to Louis XIV., who told him that he had crowned all his laurels with that olive branch. The definitive treaty, however, was not signed till September 7th at Baden in Switzerland.58 The treaty was formed on the basis of that of Ryswick, and no regard was paid to the protests of the German States against the fourth clause of that treaty, so prejudicial to the interests of Protestantism. The Pope had exhorted Louis not to abrogate the clause; but it has been only lately known that Clement was incited to this step by the Court of Vienna.59 All places on the right bank of the Rhine were restored to the Empire; while Landau and its dependencies were ceded to France. The House of Austria was allowed to take possession of the Spanish Netherlands, according to the stipulations in the Treaties of Utrecht; that is, reserving a barrier for the Dutch, and also Upper Guelderland, which had been ceded to Prussia. Charles VI. was permitted to retain possession of all the places he occupied in Italy; as the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy 57 Dumont, t. viii. pt. i. p. 444. treaties are also in Lamberty, t. viii. Dumont, Ibid. p. 436. The 59 See the correspondence on this subject in Garden, t. ii. App. 208 THIRD BARRIER TREATY. [Book V. The of Milan, Sardinia, and the fortresses on the Tuscan coast. Electors of Bavaria and Cologne were reinstated in their dominions and dignities; but the Emperor preferred to restore the Upper Palatinate to the former, rather than give him the Island of Sardinia. The latter was promised to the Elector Palatine by way of compensation for the Upper Palatinate; but this promise was never performed. Such was the treaty which the House of Austria, through its stubborn obstinacy, was at length compelled to accept, instead of the infinitely more advantageous terms offered by Louis XIV. at the Hague and Gertruydenberg! The ministers of the Emperor and the States-General met at Antwerp to carry out the stipulations respecting the Dutch barrier, under the mediation of George I., who had now ascended the throne of England; and the third Barrier Treaty was signed November 15th 1715. It was agreed that after the surrender of the Spanish Netherlands to the Emperor, a body of troops should be maintained in them, of which three-fifths were to be provided by the Emperor and two-fifths by the Dutch. There were to be Dutch garrisons in Namur, Tournai, Menin, Furnes, Warneton, Ypres, and the fort of Knocque, and a mixed garrison in Dendermonde; the Dutch commandants taking an oath to hold them for the House of Austria. The Emperor ceded Venlo and some other places, and especially such as were necessary for inundating the country in time of war. England guaranteed the treaty, and engaged to support it by arms. The Dutch delivered to the Emperor the Spanish Netherlands, as possessed by Charles II. in February 1716; but not till 1719 the places ceded by France. Thus was at length terminated the War of the Spanish Succession, the greatest that had agitated Europe since the Crusades. Its effect was to modify considerably the situation of the different European States. Spain herself was apparently the greatest loser, having been deprived of her dominions in the Low Countries and Italy, and compelled to allow England a settlement in one of her islands and even on her very soil. But, on the other hand, she retained her American possessions; and the loss of her outlying territories seems rather to have strengthened her. At all events, it is certain that from this period she began slowly to revive; and the decrease in her population, which had been gradually progressing since the time of Charles V., was now arrested. Austria, though compelled to renounce the gigantic hope of reaping the whole Spanish suc o Dumont, t. viii. pt. i. p. 458. |