CHAPTER XXII.

JOSEPH I. AND CHARLES VI.

FROM 1710 TO 1717.

PERPLEXITIES IN MADRID.-FLIGHT OF CHARLES.-RETREAT OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY.STANHOPE'S DIVISION CUT OFF.-CAPTURE OF STANHOPE.-STAREMBERG ASSAILED.— RETREAT TO BARCELONA.-ATTEMPT TO PACIFY HUNGARY.-THE HUNGARIAN DIET. -BARONIAL CROWNING OF RAGOTSKY.-RENEWAL OF THE HUNGARIAN WAR.-ENTERPRISE OF HERBEVILLE. THE HUNGARIANS CRUSHED.-LENITY OF JOSEPH.— DEATH OF JOSEPH.-ACCESSION OF CHARLES VL-HIS CAREER IN SPAIN.-CAPTURE OF BARCELONA.-THE SIEGE-THE RESCUE.-CHARACTER OF CHARLES.-CLOISTERS OF MONTSERRAT.-INCREASED EFFORTS FOR THE SPANISH CROWN.-CHARLES CROWNED EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY.-BOHEMIA.-DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF LOUIS XIV.

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ENERALS Stanhope and Staremberg, who managed the affairs of Charles, with but little respect for his judgment, and none for his administrative qualities, were in great perplexity respecting the course to be pursued. Some recommended the transference of the court from Madrid to Saragossa, where they would be nearer to their supplies. Others urged removal to Barcelona, where they would be under the protection of the British fleet. It was necessary to watch over Charles with the utmost care, as he was in constant danger of assassination. While in this state of uncertainty, tidings reached Madrid that the Duke of Noailles was on the march, with fifteen thousand men, to cut off the retreat of the Austrians, and at the same time Philip was advancing with a powerful army from Valladolid. This intelligence rendered instant action necessary. The Austrian party precipitately evacuated Madrid, followed by the execrations of the people. As soon as the last battalions had left the city, the ringing of bells, the firing of artillery, and the shouts of the people, an

nounced the popular exultation in view of the departure of Charles, and the cordial greeting they were giving to his rival Philip. The complications of politics are very curious. The British government was here, through years of war and blood, endeavoring to drive from his throne the acknowledged King of Spain. In less than a hundred years we find this same government again deluging Europe in blood, to reseat upon the throne the miserable Ferdinand, the lineal descendant of this Bourbon prince.

Charles put spurs to his horse, and accompanied by a glittering cavalcade of two thousand cavaliers, galloped over the mountains to Barcelona. His army, under the leadership of his efficient English general, followed rapidly but cautiously on, hoping to press through the defiles of the mountains which separated them from Arragon before their passage could be obstructed by the foe. The troops were chagrined and dispirited; the generals in that state of ill humor which want of success generally engenders. The roads were bad, provisions scarce, the inhabitants of the country bitterly hostile. It was the middle of November, and cold blasts swept through the mountains. Staremberg led the van, and Stanhope, with four thousand English troops, occupied the post of peril in a retreat, the rear. As the people of the country would furnish them with no supplies, the pillage of towns and villages became a necessity; but it none the less added to the exasperation of the Spaniards.

A hurried march of about eighty miles brought the troops to the banks of the Tagus. As General Staremberg, at the head of the advance guard, pressed eagerly on, he left Stanhope at quite a distance behind. They encamped for a night, the advance at Cifuentes, the rear at Brihuega. The hostility of the natives was such that almost all communication was cut off between the two sections of the army. In the confusion of the hasty retreat, and as no enemy was apprehended in that portion of the way, the importance of hourly commu.

nication was forgotten. In the morning, as Stanhope put his troops again in motion, he was surprised and alarmed in seeing upon the hills before him the banners of an opposing host, far outnumbering his own, and strongly intrenched. The Earl of Stanhope at once appreciated the nearly utter hopelessness of his position. He was cut off from the rest of the army, had no artillery, but little ammunition, and was almost entirely destitute of provision. Still he scorned to surrender. He threw his troops behind a stone wall, and vigorously commenced fortifying his position, hoping to be able to hold out until Staremberg, hearing of his situation, should come to his release.

During the whole day he beat back the assaults of the Spanish army. In the meantime Staremberg was pressing on to Barcelona. In the evening of that day he heard of the peril of his rear guard. His troops were exhausted; the night of pitchy blackness, and the miry roads, cut to pieces by the heavy artillery and baggage wagons, were horrible. Through the night he made preparations to turn back to aid his beleaguered friends. It was, however, midday before he could collect his scattered troops, from their straggling march, and commence retracing his steps. In a few hours the low sun of a November day sunk below the hills. The troops, overtaken by darkness, stumbling through the gloom, and apprehensive of a midnight attack, rested upon their arms, waiting, through the weary hours, for the dawn of the morning. The second day came, and the weary troops toiled through the mire, while Stanhope, from behind his slight parapet, baffled all the efforts of his foes.

The third morning dawned. Staremberg was within some fifteen miles of Briehuga. Stanhope had now exhausted all his ammunition. The inhabitants of the town rose against him and attacked him in the rear, while the foe pressed him in front. A large number of his troops had already fallen, and no longer resistance was possible. Stanhope and the remnant

of his band were taken captive and conducted into the town of Briehuga. Staremberg, unaware of the surrender, pushed on until he came within a league of Briehuga. Anxiously he threw up signals, but could obtain no response. His fears of the worst were soon confirmed by seeing the Spanish army, in brilliant battle array, approaching to assail him. Philip himself was there to animate them by his presence; and the heroic French general, the Duke of Vendome, a descendant of Henry IV., led the charging columns.

Though the troops of Staremberg were inferior in number to those of the Spanish monarch, and greatly fatigued by their forced marches, a retreat at that moment, in the face of so active an enemy, was not to be thought of. The battle immediately commenced, with its rushing squadrons and its thunder peals. The Spaniards, sanguine of success, and inspired with the intensest hatred of their heretical foes, charged with irresistible fury. The left wing of Staremberg was speedily cut to pieces, and the baggage taken. The center and the right maintained their ground until night came to their protection. Staremberg's army was now reduced to nine thousand. His horses were either slain or worn out by fatigue. He was consequently compelled to abandon all his artillery and most of his baggage, as he again commenced a rapid retreat towards Barcelona. The enemy pressed him every step of the way. But with great heroism and military skill he baffled their endeavors to destroy him, and after one of the most arduous marches on record, reached Barcelona with a feeble remnant of but seven thousand men, ragged, emaciated and bleeding. Behind the walls of this fortified city, and protected by the fleet of England, they found repose.

We must now turn back a few years, to trace the progress of events in Hungary and Austria. Joseph, the emperor, had sufficient intelligence to understand that the rebellious and anarchical state of Hungary was owing to the cruelty and intolerance of his father. He saw, also, that there could be no

hope of permanent tranquillity but in paying some respect to the aspirations for civil and religious liberty. The troubles in Hungary distracted his attention, exhausted the energies of his troops, and deprived him of a large portion of his political and military power. He now resolved to try the effect of con cessions. The opportunity was propitious, as he could throw upon his father the blame of all past decrees. He accordingly sent a messenger to the Hungarian nobles with the declaration that during his father's lifetime he had never interfered in the government, and that consequently he was in no respect responsible for the persecution of which they complained. And he promised, on the honor of a king, that instead of attempting the enforcement of those rigorous decrees, he would faithfully fulfill all the articles he had sworn to observe at his coronation; and that he accordingly summoned a diet for the redress of their grievances and the confirmation of all their ancient privileges. As proof of his sincerity, he dismissed those ministers who had advised the intolerant decrees enacted by Leopold, and appointed in their place men of more mild and lenient character.

But the Hungarians, deeming themselves now in a position to enforce their claims by the energies of their army, feared to trust to the promises of a court so often perjured. Without openly renouncing allegiance to Austria, and declaring independence, they, through Ragotsky, summoned a diet to meet at Stetzim, where their session would be protected by the Hungarian army. There was a large gathering of all the first nobility of the realm. A spacious tent was spread for the imposing assembly, and the army encircled it as with a sheltering embrace. The session was opened with prayer and the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Will the time ever come when the members of the United States Congress will meet as Christian brethren, at the table of our Saviour, as they commence their annual deliberations for the welfare of this republic? The nobles formed a confederacy for