The violent encroachments, and shameless perfidy of the French monarch at last called for the league of Augsburgh, and plunged Europe into a general war, which raged for nearly ten years; and the peace of Ryswick found Spain distracted by internal intrigues respecting the succession of the crown. Charles, with a constitution naturally weak, was fast declining, and there was no hope of a lineal heir to the throne. In the event of his dying without issue, the principal competitors were the Dauphin of France, in right of his mother Maria Theresa, the daughter of Philip IV. though that princess upon her marriage had re nounced all claim to the succession: The archduke Charles, second son of the Emperor Leopold, who was the son of Maria Anne, daughter of Philip III., and the Prince of Bavaria, whose mother was the only child of the infanta Margaret Theresa, daughter of Philip IV. France and Austria had both minis ters at the court of Madrid, who were instructed to employ every method to induce Charles to make a will in favour of their respective families. But Louis, who at first had little hope of success, and was per fectly aware of the injustice of his pretensions, form ed the design of securing a portion of the Spanish dominions to his own family, whatever might be their destination by Charles. For this purpose was nego tiated the famous partition treaty between France, Great Britain and Holland, which, when known in Spain, excited universal indignation. By this treaty, Spain and the Indies, with the Netherlands, were assign ed to the prince of Bavaria, Naples and Sicily, with some smaller dependencies, to the Dauphin, and Milan to the archduke. But the death of the prince of Bavaria rendered a new arrangement necessary, which substituted the archduke for the Bavarian prince, and Lorraine was added to the share of the Dauphin, Milan being given in exchange to the prince of that duchy. The emperor, who had remonstrated against both treaties, conceiving himself the sole and indubitable heir to the whole Spanish monarchy, was -allowed three months to declare his acquiescence. While these schemes of spoliation, however, were in contemplation, the struggle between the contending parties at the court of Madrid continued to be prose cuted with great keenness. The Cardinal Portocar rero, whose personal influence with the king was of the greatest importance at this crisis, was gained over to the French interest. At his instigation, and by the advice of the pope, Charles, worn out by dis ease and chagrin, was induced to make a will in favour of Philip, duke of Anjou, the second son of the Dauphin of France, the signing of which he survived only one month.
the commencement of this period, Spain possessed within herself all the sources of agri cultural and commercial wealth. Separated by a na tural barrier from the other continental powers, and at peace with the world, she had little interest on ac count of her situation, in augmenting her empire; and it required only a period of repose, and the fos tering care of her rulers, by encouraging industry and consolidating an economical system, to render her formidable and respected among the nations of Eu rope. But the ambitious schemes of Charles I. and Philip II., whose names have been blazoned in the annals of the world, were most injurious to the peace and prosperity of their country. Instead of employ ing its population and its wealth in improving in dustry and in spreading cultivation to the deserted portions of its lands, its sons were sent to perish in making fruitless conquests, and its resources exhaust ed for the interest of their other dominions. And the only return which it received for this sacrifice of blood and treasure, was the ruin of its commerce and manufactures.
The impulse given to industry by the regulations of Ferdinand respecting the admission of foreign cloths, continued for a time to give life and vigour to the na tional manufactures, and while the Moors remained in the country, Spain could still boast of the excel.
knee of her fabrics. But even then there was little exportation; and during the boasted reigns of the first monarchs of the house of Austria, the Spaniards were still tributaries to the industry of other nations. The whole trade of the Castiles consisted in the expor tation of wool, iron,wine, oil, and other raw materials; and in the list of duties paid by the company of Bur gos merchants, it does not appear that they exported a single manufactured article. In the middle of the sixteenth century, the quantity of wool sent to Bruges amounted annually to between thirty-six and forty thousand bales, which, after being manufactured, was sent back and distributed over Spain. Besides these cloths, Spain received from the Low Countries, linens, cambrics, cotton and muslin stuff's, Oudenarde and Brussels' carpets, &c. and an immense quantity of hardware. The importation at the same period, of silks, velvets, and brocades from Italy, and hard ware, glass, and gold and silver articles from Lom bardy and Germany, was very considerable; and also muskets and other military weapons. In 1534, on the eve of a war, it was necessary to import from Flanders gunpowder and even timber for artillery car riages; and to bring carpenters from Italy to make them. Exportation was then confined to articles of the first necessity, a little dressed leather and cloth in inconsiderable quantities. 64 All the demands of the Cortes," says Laborde, "from the commencement of the sixteenth century, tend to the prohibition of all those commodities which, they said, robbed the country of the treasures which they sent for to the new world." 66 Lombardy had another kind of traffic no less injurious, that of lending its money at exorbi tant interest. Spain was thus tributary to the Lom bards on the one hand, and to the Flemings on the other, though the mother country of both. It. is evi dent how irksome this state of things became to the Spaniards by the repeated rebellions that took place under Charles I. and by the opposition made to grant ing him the subsidies he demanded for his foreign wars, while he could easily have obtained them by an amelioration of the country. The deputies of Castile spoke openly on the subject in 1527, and refused every grant; the petition of the Cortes of Valladolid in 1542 runs thus: " Your majesty's enterprises in Germany and in Italy have drawn into this country an enormous number of foreigners, who, not satisfied with the exchanges, commissions, and profits they make, and that your majesty allows them, have mo nopolized every kind of commerce by which your subjects gained their livelihood. They do not confine to themselves farming the estates annexed to bishop rics, lordships, official revenues, &c. and to making a profit of landed property; they even go so far as to buy up wholesale, wool, silk, iron, and other raw materials; thus cutting off all the means of existence from the greater part of your subjects, who see with grief what belongs to them go into the hands of those covetous people." The Spanish merchants, discour aged by the advantages which the foreigners pos sessed over them, and by the capitals of which those persons had the disposal, resigned all business to them. Damien de Olivares says, that in 1610 there were 160,000 foreigners in the Castiles, and among these 10,000 Genoese, who filled almost all the lucra tive places, and transacted all the business of the country. The representations of the Cortes, how ever, and of many of the principal cities of the mon archy; and even the prohibition of the sovereign, were rendered of little effect from the low state of the finances, which made it necessary to augment the public revenue by custom-houses, and to permit importations.