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But his plans were deranged by the enterprise of Marshal Laudohn, who surrounded the Prussian general, Fouquet, slew three thousand of his army, and compelled the remainder to surrender at discretion. Frederic attempted to retrieve his affairs by a sudden advance on Dresden, but he failed to capture the city; his brother, Prince Henry, was more fortunate in raising the siege of Breslau, which Laudohn had invested after his victory. But Frederic's ruin seemed unavoidable, as the Russians were advancing with overwhelming forces, and he was himself surrounded by three Austrian armies at Lignitz. Count Daun marched to storm the Prussian camp, in full confidence of victory; but, to his astonishment, he found it deserted, Frederic having marched that very night to meet the army of Marshal Laudohn, who was eagerly pressing forward to share, as he fondly believed, in assured victory. The heights of Pfaffendorff, judiciously protected by a formidable array of artillery, prevented Daun from marching to the assistance of his colleague; Laudohn was completely defeated, and the Austrian grand army driven from Silesia. But this victory did not prevent the success of the enemy in other quarters; the Russians, being joined by a considerable body of Austrians, under General Lascy, pushed forward through Brandenburgh, and made themselves masters of Berlin. They levied a heavy contribution on the city, and destroyed its arsenals, foundries, and public works.

The Prussians were equally unfortunate in Saxony, but Frederic resolved to run every risk to recover a country that had hitherto supplied the chief support to his armies. Daun, equally convinced of the importance of Saxony, protected the electorate with a force of seventy thousand men, advantageously posted in a fortified camp, near Torgau. Frederic, with only fifty thousand men, resolved to attack the Austrians in their intrenchments, and to stake his life and crown on the hazard of the engagement (November 3). The battle was furious, but the ardor of the Prussians, who felt that they fought for the very existence of their country, was irresistible. Dunn was borne from the field severely wounded; the Austrians were broken by separate charges, and night alone saved them from total ruin. The result of this glorious victory was, that Frederic recovered all Saxony except Dresden, and compelled the Russians, Austrians, and Swedes, to evacuate his dominions.

The Canadian war was not terminated by the capture of Quebec; the French had still formidable forces in the country, and they made a vigorous effort to recover that city. They were baffled by the intrepidity of General Murray; and General Amherst soon after having obtained reinforcements from England, advanced to Montreal, and compelled the entire French army to capitulate. The savage tribes of Indians who had been induced by French gold to attack the British settlements, were now severely chastised, and compelled to make the most humiliating submissions.

Not less complete was the success of the English arms in India; Pondicherry and Mahie were reduced by Colonel Coote, the French power in the east completely subverted, and the English rendered masters of the commerce of the vast peninsula of Hindústan. These important acquisitions made the English very impatient of the German war; they complained of the inactivity of the navy, and asserted tha

the French islands in the West Indies, more valuable to a commercial people than half the German empire, might have been gained with far less risk and loss than attended the protection of the useless electorate of Hanover. In the midst of these disputes, George II. died suddenly, in the seventy-seventh year of his age (October 25). He was succeeded by his grandson, George III., a young prince in his twenty-third year, who had hitherto taken no active part in public life.

The death of George II. produced little change in European politics; but that of the peaceful Spanish monarch, Ferdinand VI. (A. D. 1759), led to some important results. His successor, Charles III., was king of the Two Sicilies, and by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, it had been agreed, that on his accession to the throne of Spain, his former kingdom should devolve to Don Philip, duke of Parma and Placentia, and that these dutchies should be resigned to the empire. By the mediation of France with Austria, Charles was enabled to procure the Neapolitan throne for his third son, Ferdinand, while Philip was permitted to retain Parma and Placentia. Grateful for such a benefit, Charles signed the family compact, which bound the Bourbon princes to afford each other mutual assistance, and secretly prepared to join France in the war against Great Britain. The haughty conduct of the English diplomatists, which was not unjustly offensive to Spanish pride, greatly contributed to strengthen the resolution of the court of Madrid, especially as the naval superiority of the English menaced the communications of Spain with her American colonies.

Negotiations for peace were commenced by the courts of France and Great Britain, soon after the accession of George III., but with little sincerity on either side (A. D. 1761). Mr. Pitt was firmly resolved to humble the house of Bourbon; the duke de Choiseul, the French minister, relied on the secret promises of Spanish aid, and thus it was impossible to arrange preliminaries. The war languished in Germany; Prince Ferdinand succeeding in protecting Hanover, but he could not prevent the French from ravaging Westphalia and East Friesland. The king of Prussia, exhausted even by his victories, was forced to act on the defensive; though he lost no battle, he had the mortification to see the Russians make themselves masters of Colberg, and the Austrians surprise Schweidnitz. The possession of these important places enabled the Russians to establish their winter-quarters in Pomerania, and the Austrians in Silesia. On sea, the honor of the British flag was maintained in several actions between single ships and small squadrons. The island of Belleisle, on the coast of France, was captured by a British armament, but at a very disproportionate cost of blood and

treasure.

This languid campaign seemed to prove that all parties were weary of the war, and negotiations were resumed In their progress, Mr. Pitt discovered the intimate connexion that had been formed between the courts of Versailles and Madrid; and he proposed to anticipate the hostile designs of the latter by seizing the plate-fleet, laden with the treasures of Spanish America. But the colleagues of Mr. Pitt, already dissatisfied with his imperious manners, refused to adopt such bold measures, and he instantly resigned the seals of office. The king, anxious to introduce his favorite, the earl of Bute, into the cabinet,

adop.ed the opinions of the majority of his council, and accepted th resignation. Fierce political disputes arose, whose effects were felt throughout Europe; the hopes of the French court were raised, and the German allies of Great Britain were greatly dispirited.

But the new ministry showed no want of alacrity in maintaining the honor of the country. One of their earliest measures was a declaration of war against Spain, the conduct of the court of Madrid having amply justified Mr. Pitt's anticipations of its hostile designs (A. D. 1762). The superiority of the British navy over the combined fleets of France and Spain, hindered these powers from making any attempt at colonial conquests; but they believed themselves equally superior by land, and therefore resolved to attack Britain through the side of its ancient ally, Portugal.

Few kingdoms had sunk into such a state of degradation as Portugal at this period. Trusting to the protection of England, and enriched by the treasures of Brazil, the court of Lisbon reposed in ignorance and indolence; its fortresses were neglected, its army mouldering away, its subjects destitute of martial spirit. The earthquake that laid Lisbon in ruins was followed by a dangerous conspiracy against the life of Joseph, the reigning sovereign. This monarch, less superstitious than most Portuguese kings, had banished the jesuits from his court, and had resented with spirit the encroachments of his nobles. Some of the dissatisfied jesuits and nobles formed a plot to murder the king, and he was dangerously wounded by assassins while on his road from his country-seat to Lisbon. The principal conspirators were arrested and punished by cruel deaths; and all the jesuits banished from the kingdom (A. D. 1759). But the nobles continued discontented; the pope and the clergy resented the expulsion of the jesuits, while the superstitious Portuguese seemed ready to renounce their allegiance to a sovereign who had incurred the resentment of the church. Such was Joseph's situation, when the ministers of France and Spain presented a joint demand that he should instantly renounce his alliance with Britain, under pain of incurring their resentment, and allowing him only four days to deliberate on his answer. Joseph at once returned a spirited refusal to such an insolent memorial, and the Spanish army crossed the frontiers. An auxiliary British force of eight thousand men was sent to Portugal, together with a large supply of arms and ammunition. Joseph intrusted the command of his army to the coun de la Lippe, who had already distinguished himself in Germany. The skill of this commander, and the valor of the British officers, compelled the Spaniards to evacuate the kingdom with loss and disgrace, before the close of the campaign.

The French hoped that the invasion of Portugal would facilitate the progress of their arms in Germany; but Prince Ferdinand, and the marquis of Granby, not only protected Hanover, but recovered the greater part of Hesse. An unexpected event delivered the king of Prussia from the ruin that seemed to threaten him at the close of the last campaign. Elizabeth, emperess of Russia, died, and was succeeded by her nephew, Peter III., who entertained a romantic admiration of Frederic. The new emperor not only put an end to hostilities, but entered into alliance with the Prussian monarch; and Europe saw with astonishment the

unprecedented spectacle of an army marching off from its former allies to the camp of its enemies. Sweden followed the example of Russia in concluding peace; and Frederic, taking advantage of these favorable circumstances, recovered Schweidnitz and drove the Austrians from Si

lesia.

A new revolution in Russia compelled the Prussian king to halt in his victorious career. The reforms of Peter III. had given offence to a great body of his subjects; he was dethroned by his wife, who usurped the throne, with the title of Catherine II. Peter died in prison a few days after his deposition, but it has not been ascertained whether he was the victim of disease or violence. Catherine did not renew the war against Prussia, as had been at first expected, but she withdrew her forces, and resolved to observe a strict neutrality. Frederic's victories had in the meantime, so seriously alarmed the Austrians, that they consented to a cessation of hostilities for Silesia and Saxony. This impolitic truce laid Bohemia open to Frederic: one division of his army advanced to the very gates of Prague and destroyed a valuable magazine; another laid the greater part of Egra in ashes, while detachments ravaged Franconia, and even Suabia. The princes of the empire hasted to conclude treaties of neutrality, and the war was left to be decided by the powers of Prussia and Austria, between which the contest had begun.

In the meantime the English conquered the chief islands that the French still retained in the West Indies, Martinique, St. Lucie, Grenada, and St. Vincent; while the Spaniards suffered the more severe loss of Havana, the capital of Cuba, and the large fleet that lay in its harbor. Nor was this the least alarming of the consequences that resulted to the court of Madrid from its unwise interference; an armament from Madras, under the command of Admiral Cornish and General Draper, captured Manilla, and the fall of this city involved the fate of the whole range of the Philippine islands.

France and Spain, heartily tired of a war which threatened ruin to the colonies of both, became desirous of peace, and they found the earl of Bute, who now ruled the British cabinet, equally anxious to terminate the war. Indeed, so anxious was that minister to avoid a continuance of hostilities, that he not only stopped the career of colonial conquest, but consented to sacrifice several acquisitions that Britain had already made. Still the British nation gained by the war the whole of Canada and part of Louisiana, the chief settlements on the western coasts of Africa, and a decided superiority in India; had the war lasted another year, had even the fair claims of Britain's position been supported by her negotiators, these gains would have been more extensive and more secure. Contrary to all expectation, the preliminaries were sanctioned by a majority of the British parliament, and soon after the definite treaty was signed at Paris (Feb. 10, 1763). The king of Prussia and the emperess of Austria, deserted by their respective allies, agreed to a reconciliation about the same time, on the basis of a restitution of conquests and an oblivion of injuries.

The result of the continental war was, that Prussia and Austria became the principal European powers, France lost her political preeminence when united to the empire, and England abandoned her in

The

fluence in the European system, maintaining an intimate relation only with Portugal and Holland. Britain, by the colonial war, obtained complete maritime supremacy; she commanded the entire commerce of North America and Hindústan, and had a decided superiority in the West Indian trade. But during the seven years' war a question arose which led to very important discussions; France, unable to maintain a commercial intercourse with her colonies, opened the trade to neutral powers; England declared this traffic illegal, and relying on her naval superiority, seized neutral vessels and neutral property bound to hostile ports. The return of peace put an end to the dispute for a season, but it became the subject of angry controversy in every future war. internal condition of England improved rapidly during the contest by the extension of the funding system; the pecuniary affairs of the government became intimately connected with those of the nation; by far the greater part of the loans required for the war was raised at home, so the increase of the national debt more closely united the rulers and the people in the bonds of a common interest. This altered state of things scarcely excited notice, though it was the chief source of the permanence and stability displayed by the British government when revolutionary movements threatened to subvert the other dynasties of Europe.

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