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632

NEAPOLITAN REBELLION SUPPRESSED.

[BOOK IV. inspired them with fresh hopes, and determined them to resort to intrigue and stratagem. The Duke of Arcos was recalled and replaced by the Count d'Oñate, at that time Spanish ambassador at Rome, a man of supple insinuating manners; Annese and other popular leaders were secretly gained; during the temporary absence of Guise from Naples, who had lost his popularity, a report was spread that he was treating with the Spaniards; Annese and his confederates opened the gates to Don John and Oñate, who entered with cries of "Peace! Peace! no more taxes!" and the people being thus thrown into confusion, and knowing not what to believe, the Spanish restoration was accomplished almost without a blow, April 1st 1648. Guise, being afterwards captured at Capua, was kept four years a prisoner in Spain.27

The breaking out of this rebellion, as well as the other embarrassments of Spain to which we have before adverted, naturally induced the Spanish Court to press on to a definite conclusion the treaty with the United Provinces, the preliminary conventions of which had been signed at Münster in January 1647. The success of Spain in detaching the Dutch from their allies has been attributed, and no doubt with a great deal of justice, to her able diplomacy, conducted chiefly by Antoine Brun, a native of Dôle in Franche Comté; but it must also, perhaps, be partly ascribed to a false step on the part of Mazarine, as well as to the very advantageous conditions offered by Spain. The Dutch had been alienated from the French alliance by a proposition made to the Spanish Court by Cardinal Mazarine in the course of the negociations in 1646, to exchange Catalonia and Rousillon for the Catholic Netherlands and Franche Comté. 28 They were naturally alarmed at the prospect of having a powerful nation like France for their immediate neighbours, between whom and themselves Belgium, in the possession of a remote and exhausted country like Spain, formed a very desirable barrier; and, though the project appears to have been withdrawn, Antoine Brun very skilfully kept alive the jealousy of the Dutch. On the 30th January 1648 they signed at Münster a definitive treaty with Spain, which conceded all that they desired. The United Provinces were recognised as free and sovereign states, to which Philip IV. renounced all pretensions for himself and for his successors. The conquests made by each party were to be retained; an arrangement

27 An account of this attempt of Guise's will be found in his own Mémoires, and in those of Montglat and Mad. de Motteville. Mazarine's views and the policy of France are fully described in the fifth vo

lume of Ranke's Französ. Gesch. S. 172 ff.

28 Mémoire of Mazarine in the Négo ciations secrètes touchant la paix de Munster et Osnabrug (by John Le Clerc), ap. Garden, vol. i. p. 165, note.

CHAP. VII.] PEACE BETWEEN SPAIN AND HOLLAND.

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which made over to the Dutch, Bois-le-Duc, Bergen-op-Zoom, Breda, Maestricht, with their dependencies, the county of Vroonhoof, Grave, and the district of Kuyk, in Brabant, Hulst, Axel, and their dependencies, and the forts held by the States in the Pays de Waes, in Flanders; together with a great part of Limburg. In like manner, Spain ceded to the Dutch all the conquests they had made in Asia, Africa, and America; no great sacrifice however, on her part, as these conquests had been achieved at the expense of the revolted Portuguese, and Spain's chance of recovering them was very slight indeed. The basest feature of this peace was the abandonment by Spain of the commercial interests of the Belgians who had so loyally stood by her, by sanctioning in favour of the Dutch the closing of the Scheldt, as well as of the Sas of Ghent, the Swyn, and other channels of communication with the river, thereby ruining the trade of Brabant and Flanders. 29

Thus after a terrible and bloody struggle of 80 years' duration, in which we know not whether most to admire the obstinate perseverance of Spain in the midst of all her disasters and defeats, or the fortitude, valour, and good fortune of the Dutch, who made the war itself a source of strength and profit, and contended with their enemies with the very resources which they ravished from them, the establishment and recognition of the United Provinces were at last effected under more favourable conditions than the most sanguine of their leaders might have anticipated. The records of history might be searched in vain to find a similar struggle between powers to all appearance so unequally matched, or in which such wonders have been achieved by the indomitable spirit of liberty.

After this peace the Spaniards and Dutch took no further part in the congress, and the war between France and Spain of course continued. During the year 1647 it had not gone very favourably for France. Mazarine, in order to find employment for D'Enghien, whose demands had become troublesome, had made him viceroy of Catalonia. By the death of his father in December 1646 he was now become Prince of Condé, by which title we shall hereafter mention him. His operations in Catalonia were not calculated to add to his reputation. He renewed the siege of Lerida, and, with an unbecoming fanfaronnade, opened the trenches to the music of violins. But Lerida seemed destined to be fatal to French generals. It was gallantly defended by the commandant, Don Gregorio Britto, who, after every assault or skirmish, sent ices

29 Dumont, t. vi. pt. i. p. 560.

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SPANISH AND BELGIAN CAMPAIGNS.

[Book IV. and lemonade for the refreshment of Condé. The French army suffered from desertion as well as by the sallies of the garrison, and, on the approach of the Spaniards, Condé found himself compelled to raise the siege. He afterwards achieved some trifling successes, but, on the whole, the campaign was a failure. In 1648, Condé was sent into Flanders, and was followed in the government of Catalonia by Mazarine's brother, Cardinal Michael Mazarine, bishop of Aix, a bizarre personage, without any capacity, who in a few months grew weary of the employment, and was succeeded by Marshal Schomberg. Neglecting Tarragona and Lerida, Schomberg carried Tortosa by assault, July 12th. The bishop at the head of his clergy was killed in the breach.

During this period the French were not more successful in the Netherlands. After the treaty with Bavaria, Turenne was marching into Luxemburg, when nearly all the cavalry of the Weimarian army refused to follow him across the Rhine, unless their pay, then several months in arrear, was forthcoming. Turenne followed the mutinous troops into the valley of the Tauber, and killed several hundreds; of the remainder, some surrendered, but the greater part took service under General Königsmark in Westphalia. This affair prevented Turenne from entering Luxemburg till September; and as Marshals Gassion and Rantzau, who commanded the French forces in Flanders, could not agree, the advantage in this campaign lay with the Spaniards.

After the dispersion of the Weimarian army, and the withdrawal of Turenne beyond the Rhine, Maximilian, the now aged Elector of Bavaria, and his brother the Elector of Cologne, again took up arms in order to support the Emperor against the Swedes in Bohemia (October 1647); though he endeavoured to conciliate this step with the treaty of Ulm, and declared that he had no wish to break with France, but only with Sweden and Hesse. The French, however, would not recognise this distinction, and Turenne was directed to support Marshal Wrangel. This commander, who had taken Egra in Bohemia, finding himself no match for the united Imperial and Bavarian forces, made a masterly retreat into Westphalia. In April 1648 he was joined by Turenne in Franconia, when the allied army advanced towards the Danube, the Imperialists retreating before them. These were overtaken and defeated at Zusmarshausen near Augsburg, where Melander, or Holtzapfel, the former general of Amelia Elizabeth of Hesse, was killed; the Bavarian army retreated beyond the Inn, leaving garrisons in Munich and one or two other places; the Elector took refuge at Salzburg; and, in spite of the efforts of the Imperialists to succour

CHAP. VII.]

END OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.

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it, Bavaria lay at the mercy of the Franco-Swedish army. A war of desolation followed, marked by murder, burning, and devastation, but without any signal victories.

While these things were going on in Bavaria, the fortune of war was equally adverse to the Imperialists in Flanders and Bohemia. In the former country, after some nearly balanced successes, Condé gained one of his most splendid victories over the Archduke Leopold near Lens, August 20th 1648, and completely dispersed his army. The plan of the German campaign this year had been a double attack on Austria, through Bavaria and Bohemia. This latter part of it was conducted by General Königsmark, who penetrated to Prague, and took that part of the city called the Kleinseite (Little Town) lying on the left bank of the Moldau, where an enormous booty was captured (July 31st). Charles Gustavus, now appointed, generalissimo, arrived soon after with reinforcements from Sweden; but the remaining portions of Prague resisted all the efforts of the Swedes to master them. These disasters, however, had determined the Emperor to conclude peace; and thus, singularly enough, the Thirty Years' War was finished at the same place where it had broken out. The labours of the men of the sword were now superseded by those of the diplomatists; the Wrangels, the Turennes, and the Königsmarks, gave place to the Oxenstierns, the D'Avaux', and the Trautmansdorfs; and the fruits of many a bloody campaign were disposed of with a little ink and a few strokes of the pen.

Towards the end of September the conferences at Osnabrück were transferred to Münster, where, after negociations which had lasted between four and five years, were signed the two TREATIES OF WESTPHALIA (October 24th 1648). Of these treaties we can only give the principal conditions. The objects of the peace may be divided into two heads; the settlement of thè affairs of the Empire, and the satisfaction of the two crowns of France and Sweden. With regard to Germany, a general amnesty was granted; and all princes and persons were, with some exceptions as to the immediate subjects of the House of Austria, restored to their rights, possessions, and dignities. The question of the Palatinate, one of the chief objects of the war, was settled by a compromise. The Duke of Bavaria was allowed to retain the Upper Palatinate, with the electoral dignity and rights; while the Lower Palatinate, or that of the Rhine, was restored to the eldest son of the unfortunate Frederick V., and an eighth Electorate erected in his favour. On the extinction either of the Bavarian or the Palatine line, however, both Electorates were again to be merged into one. With regard to the

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TREATIES OF WESTPHALIA.

[BOOK IV. political constitution of the Empire, it was determined that laws could be made and interpreted only in general Diets of all the States; which were also to have the power of declaring war, levying taxes, raising troops, making treaties, &c. The French and Swedes did not succeed in their attempt to procure the abolition of the custom of choosing a King of the Romans during the lifetime of the Emperor, which might have endangered the hereditary succession of the House of Austria. The demand of the German States that no prince should be put under the Imperial ban without the approbation of a Diet was referred to a future assembly, and was finally established by the capitulation of the Emperor Charles VI. Several reforms were made in the constitution of the Imperial chamber and other tribunals, tending to give the Protestants a larger share of power. The authority of the Aulic Council was recognised by this treaty, but nothing was determined respecting its constitution, and it was not till 1654 that the Emperor, of his own authority, fixed the number of the Aulic Councillors at eighteen, one third of whom were to be Protestants. But the most important article of this part of the treaty was that by which the various Princes and States of Germany were permitted to contract defensive alliances among themselves, or with foreigners, provided they were not against the Emperor, or the public peace of the Empire,-conditions easily evaded. By this article, the federative system was consolidated.

Respecting the affairs of religion in the Empire, as the Catholics sometimes pretended that the religious peace of 1555 had been only temporary, and ceased to have the force of law after the dissolution of the Council of Trent, it was now formally renewed, subject to certain interpretations; and it was agreed that the members of the Reformed Church, or Calvinists, were comprehended under it, as well as those belonging to the Confession of Augsburg, or Lutherans. This concession was opposed by the latter sect, but readily agreed to by the Emperor. And in general everything concerning religion was referred to the footing on which it stood in the year 1624, hence called the decretory, or normal, year.

With regard to the satisfaction of France, the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, of which, indeed, she had long been in possession, were ceded to her, as well as Pinerolo in Piedmont, a fief of the Empire. The Emperor and the House of Austria also ceded to France all their rights to Breisach, Upper and Lower Alsace, the Sundgau, and the prefecture of the ten Imperial cities of Haguenau, Colmar, Schelestadt, Weissenburg, Landau, Obereinheim, Rosheim, Münster im Gregorienthal, Kaiserberg, and Furenheim, on condition

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