In the meantime Alberoni had drawn Sweden and Russia into a treaty with Spain, the principal object of which was the invasion of Britain in support of the pretender. But the death of Charles XII. and the appearance of a British fleet in the Baltic, de prived him of all co-operation from these powers; and when an expedition, with 6,000 men, and 5o,000 stand of arms, under the exiled Duke of Ormond, left Cadiz for the shores of Scotland, it was dispersed by a tempest off Cape Finisterre, and SOO men only, with a few officers, reached their destination. The other schemes of Alberoni were equally unsuccessful. He had fomented a conspiracy in France, which was encouraged by his master, with the view of removing the Duke of Orleans, and appointing Philip to the regency of that kingdom. The discovery of this plot was immediately followed by the invasion of Spain by a French army under the duke of Berwick, who destroyed the arsenal and stores of Port Pass age, took possession of Fuenterrabia and Urgel, and then retired into Roussillon. These reverses com pelled Philip to think of peace; but the allies would be satisfied with nothing less than the dismissal of his minister, which, having accomplished, Philip ac ceded to the quadruple alliance, by which he relin quished all claims to the dominions which had been severed from the Spanish monarchy. Sicily was re stored to the emperor, Sardinia to the Duke of Savoy, with the title of king, and the eventual succession of Tuscany and ParMa was entailed upon the issue of the queen of Spain. But, while these general arrangements were accepted by the contending powers, many minor claims on all sides were left un settled as the germs of future disputes, and were re ferred to a congress to be held at Cambray. The bonds of amity between France and Spain were re newed by the marriage of the young king- of France with the Infanta Mary-Anne in her filth year, and of Louis, prince of Asturias, with a daughter of the Duke of Orleans; and this double connexion allayed the personal animosity which existed between Philip and the Regent, and suspended for a time all politi cal rivalry between the two nations.
The removal of Alberoni deprived Philip of an able servant, whose vigorous intellect, and extent of infor mation it was difficult to replace; and, when he af fected to be his own minister, and to conduct the business of the state, he sunk under the weight, and gradually relapsed into his habitual melancholy. The reins of government were then alternately seized by various competitors for power, and had found no master hand to guide them, when Philip suddenly abdicated his crown in favour of his son Don Louis.
The young king was only in his seventeenth year when lie ascended the throne. Attached by birth and habit to the Spanish manners, he was welcomed with universal exultation. But his youth and inexperience rendered him unfit to direct the helm of the state; and while he stood as the ostensible head of the go vernment, he possessed no real authority. Philip, who with his queen had retired to the beautiful palace of St. Microns°, which he himself had constructed at great expense, enjoyed all the power without the tram mels of lle had retained the marquis of Grimaldi as his secretary, and through him regulated the affairs or his son's government. The passive
disposition of Louis made him submit for a time to the orders from St. lldefonso; but the intrigues of his cabinet were directed to his emancipation; and it is probable that he would soon have been induced to assert his right, and to unite the real to the nominal authority of his station, had he not been carried off by the small pox after a reign of only eight months.
The abdicated monarch, anxious to recover that authority he had never altogether relinquished, hastened, in opposition to his solemn vow,—never to resume the crown, and also to the wishes of his sub jects,—to prepare for his again ascending the throne; which, after some affected religious scruples, he was not long in accomplishing. The queen, overjoyed at recovering her crown, directed all her efforts to the accomplishment of her darling object, the reversion of Tuscany and Parma to her son Don Carlos. This subject, however, was received so coldly by the con gress at Cambray, that she resolved to negotiate di rectly with the emperor. She accordingly despatched the duke de Ripperda on a secret mission to Vienna, which he fulfilled in such a way as secured her favour, and set aside for a time the favourite Grimaldi. For getting their former rivalry, the two monarchs en tered into the closest bands of amity; and the first fruit of this new alliance was the demand from Bri tain of the immediate restitution of Gibraltar. In resisting this demand Britain was supported by France and Prussia; but their hostilities were con fined to diplomatic warfare, until Philip became the aggressor by besieging that fortress. This was fol lowed by lengthened negotiations among all the con tending powers respecting a variety of .points, which none were willing to concede.
The hypochondriac malady of the king had now in creased to such an extent, that it occasionally gained the empire over his reason. In these seasons of dis tress his mind reverted to the happiness of retire ment, and he expressed his determination again to resign the crown. The queen dreading such a mea sure, removed the residence of the court to Seville. But, eager in the prosecution of her favourite scheme, she continued the negotiations, and at last by her in trigues and perseverance effected her object. Don Carlos was put in possession of Parma and Placentia, and acknowledged the successor to the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The disputes respecting Poland raised Philip once more from his stupor, and returning to Madrid, he re sumed the duties of government, and joined with France against Austria in support of Stanislaus to the throne of that kingdom. Their united arms were everywhere successful, but he was deserted by France in the midst of victories; and the only fruit of the war was the possession or Naples and Sicily by Don Carlos, in exchange for Parma and Tuscany. The administration of the government during these strug gles had been ably conducted by Don Joseph Patino, who has been termed the Colbert. of Spain, and was perhaps the most able minister, who since the acces sion of Philip, had directed the helm of the state.