History of Civilization in England, Vol. 2 of 3

1329

In the Clarendon State Papers, vol. i. p. 275, Oxford, 1767, folio, I find a letter written by Hopton to Secretary Windebank, dated Madrid, 31st May, 1635. The author of this official communication gives an account of the Spanish troops just raised, and says, ‘I have observed these levies, and I find the horses are so weak, as the most of them will never be able to go to the rendezvous, and those very hardly gotten, the infantry so unwilling to serve, as they are carried like galley-slaves, in chains, which serves not the turn, and so far short of the number that was proposed, as they come not to one of three.’ This was eight years before the battle of Rocroy; after it, matters became rapidly worse. A letter from Sir Edward Hyde to Secretary Nicholas, dated Madrid, 18th March, 1649–50, states, that Spanish ‘affairs are really in huge disorder, and capable of being rendered almost desperate;’ and another letter, on 14th April, 1650, ‘if some miracle do not preserve them, this crown must be speedily destroyed,’ Clarendon State Papers, vol. iii. pp. 13, 17, Oxford, 1786. An official Report on the Netherlands, presented to Louis XIV. in 1665, declares that the Dutch ‘considered Spain so weakened, as to be out of condition to renew the war within the next one hundred years.’ Raumer's History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, illustrated by Original Documents, London, 1835, vol. i. p. 237. See also Mignet, Négociations relatives à la Succession d'Espagne, Paris, 1835–1842, 4to. vol. i. pp. 37, 38, 314, 315, vol. iii. p. 684, vol. iv. p. 218; and L'Estat de l'Espagne, Genève, 1681, pp. 83, 271. ‘L'Espagne faisant en nos jours plus de pitié que de peur à ceux qu'elle a tenus long-tems dans une crainte perpétuelle, et dans une respectueuse vénération.’ … ‘Aussi peut-on dire que les Espagnols qui étoient autrefois des lions, ou des véritables hommes et incomparables en valeur, sont maintenant des cerfs, ou des femmes, et enfin des personnes peu propres à la guerre.’ And finally, the Spanish explanation of all this in Yañez, Memorias, Prologo, pp. 148, 149, Madrid, 1723. ‘La Monarquia de España, cuya decadencia la avia yá Dios decretado desde el año de 1621,’ &c.; blasphemously ascribing to the Almighty, what was the result of their own folly, and obstinately shutting their eyes to the real cause of their ruin.

1330

‘A century ago, Spain had been as supreme at sea as on land; her ordinary naval force was 140 galleys, which were the terror both of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. But now’ (1656), ‘in consequence of the decline of commerce and fisheries on the coast, instead of the numerous squadrons of the Dorias and Mendozas, which were wont to attend the movements of the first great John of Austria and the Emperor Charles, the present High-Admiral of Spain, and favourite son of its monarch, put to sea with three wretched gallies, which, with difficulty, escaped from some Algerine corsairs, and were afterwards nearly shipwrecked on the coast of Africa.’ Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 549. In 1663, ‘Il n'y avait à Cadix ni vaisseaux ni galères en état d'aller en mer. Les Maures insultaient audacieusement les côtes de l'Andalousie, et prenaient impunément les barques qui se hasardaient à une lieue de la rade. Le duc d'Albuquerque, qui commandait les forces navales, se plaignait hautement de la position humiliante dans laquelle on le laissait. Il avait demandé avec instance qu'on lui donnât des matelots et des soldats pour mettre sur les vaisseaux; mais le Comte de Castrillo, président du Conseil de Finances (de la hacienda) avait déclaré qu'il n'avait ni argent, ni la possibilité d'en trouver, et conseillait de renoncer à l'armée navale.’ Mignet, Négociations relatives à la Succession d'Espagne, vol. i. pp. 315, 316, Paris, 1835, 4to. from contemporary manuscripts. Even in 1648, Spain had ‘become so feeble in point of naval affairs as to be obliged to hire Dutch vessels for carrying on her American commerce.’ Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. ii. p. 435, London, 1805, 4to. And, to complete the chain of evidence, there is a letter in the Clarendon State Papers, vol. ii. p. 86, Oxford, 1773, folio, written from Madrid in June 1640, stating that, ‘For ships they have few, mariners fewer, landsmen not so many as they need, and, by all signs, money not at all that can be spared.’ The history of Spain during this period never having been written, I am compelled, in my own justification, to give these and similar passages with a fulness which I fear will weary some readers.

1331

And when they did, it was to their own cost, as Stanhope found, at the beginning of his career as British minister to the court of Madrid, in 1690. See his letter to Lord Shrewsbury, in Mahon's Spain under Charles II., London, 1840, p. 3. ‘We were forced into a small port, called Ferrol, three leagues short of the Groyne, and, by the ignorance of a Spanish pilot, our ships fell foul one with another, and the admiral's ship was on ground for some hours, but got off clear without any damage.’ Indeed, the Spanish seamen, once the boldest and most skilful navigators in the world, so degenerated, that, early in the eighteenth century, we find it stated as a matter of course, that ‘to form the Spaniard to marine affairs, is transporting them into unknown countries.’ The History of Cardinal Alberoni, London, 1719, p. 257.

1332

‘Le peu de soldats qui résistaient à la désertion, étaient vêtus de haillons, sans solde, sans pain,’ Mémoires de Louville, edit. Paris, 1818, vol. i. p. 72. ‘Dans l'état le plus misérable.’ p. 43. Compare Lefuente, in the reign of Philip IV. (Historia, vol. xvi. p. 519), ‘los soldados peleaban andrajosos y medio desnudos;’ and D'Aulnoy, in 1679 (Relation du Voyage d'Espagne, vol. i. p. 168), ‘Il est rare que dans tout un régiment, il se trouve deux soldats qui ayent plus d'une chemise.’

1333

‘Ruinosos los muros de sus fortalezas, aun tenía Barcelona abiertas las brechas, que hizo el duque de Vendoma; y desde Rosas hasta Cadiz, no habia Alcazar, ni Castillo, no solo presidiado, pero ni montada su artillería. La misma negligencia se admiraba en los puertos de Vizcaya, y Galicia; no tenian los almazenes sus provisiones, faltaban fundidores de armas, y las que habia, eran de ningun uso. Vacios los arsenales y artilleros, se habia olvidado el arte de construir naves, y no tenia el Rey mas que las destinadas al comercio de Indias, y algunos galeones; seis galeras, consumidas del tiempo, y del ocio, se ancoraban en Cartagena.’ Bacallar, Comentarios de la Guerra de España, vol. i. p. 43. Another eye-witness describes ‘the best fortresses consisting of ruined walls, mounted with here and there a rusty cannon, and the man thought an able engineer who knew how to fire them.’ Ripperda's Memoirs, second edition, London, 1740, p. 227.

1334

Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. ii. pp. 224, 225. In 1680, Madame de Villars, the wife of the French Ambassador, writes from Madrid, that such was the state of affairs there, that her husband thought it advisable that she should return home. Lettres de Madame de Villars, Amsterdam, 1769, p. 169. A letter written by the Danish ambassador in 1677, describes every house in Madrid as regularly armed from top to bottom; ‘de haut en bas.’ Mignet, Négociations relatives à la Succession, vol. iv. p. 638, Paris, 1842, 4to. The deaths from starvation are said to have been particularly numerous in Andalusia. See Tapia, Civilizacion Española, vol. iii. p. 167. ‘En Andalucia especialmente moria mucha gente de hambre, y el consulado de Sevilla envió una diputacion para representar que aquella ciudad habia quedado reducida á la cuarta parte de la poblacion que habia tenido cincuenta años antes.’ On the state of the people generally, in 1680, compare Lettres de Villars, pp. 145, 152, 161.

1335

‘Point de libertés et point de frein.’ Mém. de Louville, vol. i. p. 68.

1336

In 1681, the French ambassadress writes from Madrid, ‘Je ne vous parle point de la misère de ce royaume. La faim est jusques dans le palais. J'étois hier avec huit ou dix camaristes, et La Moline, qui disoient qu'il y avoit fort long-tems qu'on ne leur donnoit plus ni pain ni viande. Aux écuries du roi et de la reine, de même.’ Lettres de Madame la Marquise de Villars, Amsterdam, 1759, pp. 216, 217. The year after Charles II. died: ‘II n'y avoit pas de fonds pour les choses les plus nécessaires, pour la cuisine, l'écurie, les valets de pied,’ &c. Millot, Mémoires du Duc de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 26, ed. Petitot, Paris, 1828. Among other reckless expedients, the currency was so depreciated, that, in a letter from Martin to Dr. Frazer, dated Madrid, March 6th, 1680, we hear of ‘the fall of money to one fourth part of its former value.’ Miscellany of the Spalding Club, vol. v. p. 187, Aberdeen, 4to. 1852.

1337

‘The king has taken away, by a late decree, a third part of all wages and salaries of all officers and ministers without exception, and suspended for the ensuing year, 1694, all pensions for life granted either by himself or his father.’ Letter from the English Ambassador, dated Madrid, November 18th, 1693, in Mahon's Spain under Charles II., London, 1840, p. 40. This is also stated in Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. i. p. 359, Paris, 1828; ‘retranchant le tiers des dépenses de sa maison, et des appointemens de ses officiers tant militaires que civils.’ In the preceding reign, the pension had been stopped, at all events for a time. In 1650, Sir Edward Hyde, writes from Madrid, ‘there is an universal stop of all pensions which have been granted formerly.’ Clarendon State Papers, vol. ii. p. 538, Oxford, 1773. The next step which was taken was a proposal, in 1667, to tax the salaries of the members of the Council of Castile, Arragon, &c.; but this idea was abandoned, until at length, they, like all other public servants, came under the comprehensive edict of 1693. See the letter from the French Ambassador to Louis XIV., dated Madrid, June 2nd, 1667, in Mignet, Négociations, vol. ii. p. 128, Paris, 1835, 4to. The only chance of recovering the history of Spain in the seventeenth century, is by collating these and similar documents with the meagre notices to be found in Spanish writers.

1338

In 1695, ‘the miserable poverty in this country.’ Travels through Spain, performed by a Gentleman, London, 1702, p. 62. And, in the same year, ‘L'Espagne, manquant de tout d'hommes, et d'argent.’ Mémoires de Noailles, vol. i. p. 402. ‘L'Espagne, presque anéantie.’ p. 424.

1339

See the letters in Mahon's Spain under Charles II., pp. 138–140. On the 21st of May, ‘We have an addition of above 20,000 beggars, flocked from the country round, to share in that little here is, who were starving at home, and look like ghosts.’ On the 27th of May, ‘The scarcity of bread is growing on apace towards a famine, which increases, by vast multitudes of poor that swarm in upon us from the countries round about. I shifted the best I could till this day, but the difficulty of getting any without authority, has made me recur to the Corregidor, as most of the foreign Ministers had done before; he, very courteously, after inquiring what my family was, gave me an order for twenty loaves every day: but I must send two leagues, to Vallejas, to fetch it, as I have done this night, and my servants with long guns to secure it when they have it, otherwise it would be taken from them, for several people are killed every day in the streets, in scuffles for bread, all being lawful prize that any body can catch.’ … ‘My secretary, Don Francisco, saw yesterday five poor women stifled to death by the crowd before a bakehouse.’

1340

Even M. Lafuente, who having used scarcely any of the authorities which I have quoted in the last few pages, can have no adequate idea of the utter wretchedness of Spain, confesses that ‘Jamás monarca ni pueblo alguno se vieron en tan lastimosa situacion y en tan mísero trance como se hallaron en este tiempo’ (1699). ‘Carlos II. y la España.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xvii. p. 426, Madrid, 1856.

1341

‘Les Maures d'Afrique assiégeoient Ceuta. Le roi d'Espagne manquait non seulement de troupes, mais de vaisseaux pour transporter le peu de secours qu'il pouvoit y envoyer: Louis XIV lui fit offrir les troupes et les vaisseaux dont il auroit besoin. Il s'agissoit non seulement de conserver Ceuta, mais de plus Oran; par conséquent d'empêcher la prise de deux places dont la conquête facilitoit aux Maures un retour en Espagne.’ Mémoires du Marquis de Torcy, vol. i. p. 46, ed. Paris, 1828. Respecting the attacks made on Ceuta, from 1696 to 1698, see Ortiz, Compendio de la Historia de España, vol. vi. pp. 556, 567, 561.

1342

A celebrated modern writer has made some remarks upon this, which are too apposite to be omitted. ‘Con el siglo xvii. acabó tambien la dinastía austriaca en España, dejando á esta nacion pobre, despoblada, sin fuerzas marítimas ni terrestres, y por consiguiente á merced de las demas potencias que intentaron repartir entre sí sus colonias y provincias. Así habia desparecido en poco mas de un siglo aquella grandeza y poderío, aquella fuerza y heroismo, aquella cultura é ilustracion con que habia descollado entre todas las naciones.’ Biografia de Ensenada, in Navarrete, Opúsculos, vol. ii. p. 5, Madrid, 1848.

1343

Except during the short interregnum of Louis, in 1724, which only lasted a few months, and during which, the boy, though called king, exercised no real power, and Philip remained the actual ruler. ‘Aun el nuevo rey no resolvia negocio de consideracion sin asenso de su padre.’ Ortiz, Compendio, vol. vii. p. 374.

1344

Saint Simon, who knew Philip well, and who was in Spain in 1721 and 1722, says of him, ‘L'amour de la France lui sortait de partout.’ Mémoires du Duc de Saint Simon, vol. xxxvii. p. 3, Paris, 1841. And, in 1746, shortly before his death, Noailles writes from Aranjuez, ‘Ce prince a le cœur tout français.’ Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. iv. p. 191, Paris, 1829.

1345

‘N'oubliez jamais que vous êtes Français, et ce qui peut vous arriver.’ Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 6. Compare Coxe's Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain, London, 1815, vol. i. p. 103.

1346

In 1702, Philip ‘parlait moins que jamais, et seulement aux Français, comme s'ils eussent été les seuls êtres de son espèce.’ Mémoires de Louville, vol. i. p. 276. ‘Le dégoût que Philippe laissait voir pour sa cour espagnole.’ p. 333. A Spanish statesman, celebrated, or, I would rather say, notorious, at the close of the century, indignantly exclaims, ‘It was on the accession of the Bourbon dynasty, that foreigners came to govern us on our native soil.’ Godoy's Memoirs, ed. London, 1836, vol. ii. p. 271.

1347

In 1701, it was the duty of the French ambassador, ‘qu'il pût au besoin être premier ministre d'Espagne.’ Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 31; ‘que l'ambassadeur de sa Majesté soit ministre du roi Catholique; que, sans en avoir le titre, il en exerce les fonctions; qu'il aide au roi d'Espagne à connoître l'état de ses affaires, et à gouverner par lui-même.’ p. 55. In 1702, Marsin writes to Louis XIV., ‘Comme il est absolument nécessaire que l'ambassadeur de Votre Majesté en Espagne ait un crédit sans bornes auprès du Roy son petit-fils.’ p. 183. In 1705, Amelot, the French ambassador, ‘décidoit de tout en Espagne.’ Mémoires de Louville, vol. ii. p. 165; and in 1706, ‘étant à la tête des affaires, et joignant presque les fonctions de premier ministre à celles d'ambassadeur.’ Noailles, vol. ii. p. 398.

1348

In 1703, ‘Il est clair que l'embarras de Philippe venoit surtout de la crainte que ses décisions ne fussent point approuvées en France, où toutes les affaires importantes se décidoient.’ Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 244. ‘The King of France had always certain persons at Madrid, which compos'd a Council, of which that of Versailles was the soul; and whose members were all creatures of the French Court, and sent to Madrid from time to time to direct all affairs there, according to the views of the Most Christian King, and to give him an account of every thing that pass'd in the Councils of the Escurial. Alberoni got to be initiated in the mysteries of this cabal.’ History of Cardinal Alberoni, London, 1719, p. 70.

The Spanish historians are not very fond of admitting this unquestionable fact; but Bacallar, after mentioning the influence of the French Ambassador, frankly adds: ‘Desde entonces tomaron tanta mano sobre los de España los ministros franceses, que dieron mas zelos á los Principes, viendo estrechar la union á un grado, que todo se ponía al arbitrio de Luis XIV.’ Bacallar, Comentarios de la Guerra de España, vol. i. p. 33.

1349

Even the veteran diplomatist was so struck by the escape of Spain from complete ruin, that he ascribes its change of masters to the direct interference of the Deity. ‘Sa seule puissance avait placé Philippe V sur le trône d'Espagne; elle seule pouvait l'y maintenir; les hommes n'avaient pas conduit ce grand événement.’ Mémoires de Torcy, vol. i. p. 333. ‘Le trône où Dieu l'avait placé.’ p. 401. See also vol. ii. pp. 3, 227. ‘The Spanish people received him with unhesitating obedience to the deceased king's will, and rejoiced at the prospect of a rule that would at least have the merit of being different from that under which they had so long withered.’ Memoirs of Peterborough, London, 1853, vol. i. p. 102. ‘Muchos españoles recibieron por su soberano á Felipe V., cansados de la dominacion de la casa de Austria. Esperaban de la mudanza de la dinastia la felicidad y el buen gobierno.’ Castro, Decadencia de España, Cadiz, 1852, p. 131. To the same effect, Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. i. pp. 420, 426, vol. ii. p. 9.

1350

He ‘committed the military defence of these provinces to the Marquis of Grana, the Austrian ambassador at Madrid, from the want of any Spanish commander whose courage or military endowments qualified him to repel such an enemy as the king of France.’ Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 232. Compare, on the want of Spanish generals, Mémoires du Maréchal de Gramont, vol. ii. p. 82, edit. Paris, 1827. The opinion which Grana himself formed of the Spanish government, may be learned from a conversation which he held at Madrid, in 1680, with the French ambassadress, and which is preserved in her correspondence. Lettres de Madame la Marquise de Villars, Amsterdam, 1759, pp. 118, 119.

1351

See the letter of Philip V. to Louis XIV., dated June 22, 1702, in Mémoires de Noailles, vol. ii. pp. 256, 257, Paris, 1828, edit. Petitot.

1352

See Bacallar, Comentarios de la Guerra de España, vol. i. pp. 137, 166, where he is called ‘el Duque de Bervich.’ His own account is, ‘J'arrivai à Madrid le 15 février’ (1704), ‘où d'abord S. M. Catholique me fit Capitaine-Général de ses armées.’ Mémoires de Berwick, Paris, 1778, vol. i. p. 227; and see p. xxv. No one would suppose this, from the observations of M. Lafuente, in his Historia de España, vol. xviii. p. 80, Madrid, 1857.

1353

‘Philippe n'étoit pas content de Berwick, ou plutôt il témoigna ne le pas être, et il demanda un autre général à Louis XIV. On lui envoya le maréchal de Tessé, pour qui il avoit montré du penchant.’ Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 331. Berwick himself ascribes his dismissal to the influence of Gramont and of the Queen of Spain. Mémoires de Berwick, vol. i. pp. 269–273. At all events, the new general became supreme. In December 1705, the Princess des Ursins writes from Madrid to Madame de Maintenon, ‘M. le maréchal de Tessé, quand il est à Madrid, est consulté, et décide sur toutes les affaires, autant, pour le moins, que M. l'ambassadeur; et lorsqu'il est à l'armée, il est le maître absolu non seulement des troupes de France, mais encore de celles d'Espagne, commandant aux capitaines-généraux, ses anciens, contre l'usage du pays.’ Lettres inédites de Madame de Maintenon et de Madame la Princesse des Ursins, vol. iii. p. 259, Paris, 1826.

1354

In 1706, ‘Le duc de Berwick, redemandé par Philippe V., arrivé à Madrid le 11 mars, avec le titre de maréchal de France, pour défendre l'Estramadure et la Castille, ayant rassemblé ce qu'il peut de troupes espagnoles, empêcha les ennemis d'entreprendre le siège de Badajoz.’ Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 387. Philip ‘pria le Roi, son grand-père, d'envoyer un général pour commander sur les frontières de Portugal. Ce fut donc sur moi que le choix tomba.’ Mémoires de Berwick, vol. i. p. 305.

1355

In a recently published work (Memoirs of Peterborough, London, 1853, vol. i. pp. 148, 155, 161, 206, 210, vol. ii. pp. 34, 93), Charles is not only called King of Spain, which he never was, as Spain always refused to accept him, but, in the teeth of all history, he is actually termed Charles III.; while Philip V. is merely ‘Philip of Anjou.’ If this were allowed, the consequence would be, that the king whom the Spaniards now call Charles III., would have to change his appellation, and become Charles IV.; and Charles IV. would be changed into Charles V. It is really too much when mere biographers obtrude, in this way, their own little prepossessions into the vast field of history, and seek to efface its established nomenclature, because they are enamoured of the hero whose life they write.

1356

‘This victory established the throne of Philip.’ Dunham's History of Spain, vol. v. p. 136. ‘A victory which may be justly said to have saved Spain.’ Coxe's Bourbon Kings of Spain, vol. i. p. 408. Even Ortiz allows that if Berwick had failed, Philip would have been ruined. ‘Esta batalla de Almansa, que las circunstancias hicieron ruidosa, comenzó á poner mejor la corona de España en la cabeza de Felipe V.; y se tuvo por indubitable que si la hubiera perdido, tambien hubiera perdido la corona.’ Ortiz, Compendio, vol. vii. p. 116. See also Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xviii. p. 185. ‘Berwick, á quien, sin duda, debió su salvación la España.’

1357

‘Sa réputation étoit grande et bien établie; le roi d'Espagne avoit été témoin de sa conduite en Lombardie; il demanda au Roi un général si capable de commander ses armées.’ Mémoires de Torcy, vol. i. p. 386. See also History of Alberoni, London, 1719, p. 45. ‘Le duc de Vendôme alloit enfin commander les troupes d'Espagne.’ Mémoires de Noailles, vol. iii. p. 12. According to Berwick, the offer was first made to himself. Mémoires de Berwick, vol. ii. pp. 106, 109. M. Lafuente, without quoting any authority, says (Historia de España, vol. xviii. p. 279), ‘Luego que se perdió la batalla de Zaragoza escribió Felipe al rey Cristianísimo, su abuelo, rogándole que, ya que no pudiera socorrerle con tropas, le enviára al menos al duque de Berwick ó al de Vendome.’ But, as Berwick must have had the means of knowing the real state of the case, he is probably correct in saying that the first application was in his own favour.