60

SECOND TREATY OF VIENNA.

[CHAP. XLIII. evasive answer, she persuaded Philip to enter into a separate treaty with France and England, which was concluded at Seville November 9th, 1729. England and Spain arranged their commercial and other differences; the succession of Don Carlos to the Italian Duchies was guaranteed; and it was agreed that Leghorn, Porto Ferrajo, Parma, and Piacenza should be garrisoned by 6,000 Spaniards, who, however, were not to interfere with the civil government. Nothing more was said about Gibraltar. Philip, indeed, seemed now to have abandoned all hope of recovering that fortress; for he soon afterwards caused to be constructed across the isthmus the strong lines of San Roque, and thus completely isolated Gibraltar from his Spanish dominions. The Dutch acceded to the Treaty of Seville shortly after its execution,2 on the understanding that they should receive entire satisfaction respecting the India Company established by the Emperor at Ostend.

Charles VI. was indignant at being thus treated by Spain, in violation of all the engagements, which the Spanish Sovereigns had so recently contracted with him; and above all was he disappointed at seeing his hopes frustrated of obtaining a guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction. He recalled his ambassador from Madrid, and despatched a considerable force into the Milanese to oppose the entry of the Spanish troops into Italy. On the death of Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma, January 10th, 1731, he took military possession of that State, and his agents persuaded the Duke's widow to declare herself pregnant, in order to prolong this occupation. The versatility of the Cabinets of that age, however, enabled the Emperor to attain his favourite object at a moment when he least expected it. The Queen of Spain, wearied with the slowness of Cardinal Fleury in carrying out the provisions of the Treaty of Seville, suddenly declared, in a fit of passion, that Spain was no longer bound by that treaty. Great Britain and the Dutch States, in concert with the Spanish Court, without the concurrence of France, now entered into negotiations with the Emperor, which were skilfully conducted by Lord Waldegrave, to induce him to accede to the Treaty of Seville; and, on March 16th, 1731, was concluded, what has been called the SECOND TREATY OF VIENNA.3 Great Britain and the States guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction; and the Emperor, on his side, acceded to the provisions of Seville respecting the Italian Duchies, and agreed to annihilate the commerce of the Austrian Netherlands Dumont, t. viii. p. ii. 158. Ibid. p. 160. Ibid. p. 213.

1

CHAP. XLIII.]

THE "FAMILY CONVENTION."

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with the Indies by abolishing the obnoxious Ostend Company. He also engaged not to bestow his daughter on a Bourbon Prince, or in any other way which might endanger the balance of power. The States of the Empire gave their sanction to the treaty in July, and Philip V. acceded to it before the end of that month. John Gaston de' Medicis, Grand Duke of Tuscany, finding himself thus abandoned by the Emperor, concluded with the Court of Spain what was called the Family Convention, and named Don Carlos his heir. Charles VI. at first manifested some displeasure at the Duke's thus disposing of his dominions like a family possession; but he was at length induced to authorize a decree of the Aulic Council, by which the guardianship of Don Carlos was assigned to the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Duchess of Parma. In November an English squadron disembarked at Leghorn 6,000 Spaniards, who took possession of that place, as well as Porto Ferrajo, Parma, and Piacenza, in the name of Don Carlos, as Duke of Parma and presumptive heir of Tuscany.

62

DEATH OF AUGUSTUS II. OF POLAND. [CHAP. XLIV.

ΤΗ

CHAPTER XLIV.

HE incident which next disturbed the peace of Europe was what has been called the "War of the Polish Succession." The throne of Poland was rendered vacant by the death of Augustus II., February 1st, 1733.' It had been foreseen that on this event Louis XV. would endeavour to restore his father-inlaw, Stanislaus Lesczinski, to the throne of Poland, a project which Austria and Russia had determined to oppose. With this view they selected, as a candidate for the Polish Crown, Emanuel, brother of John V., King of Portugal; and they engaged Frederick William I. of Prussia to support their designs by a treaty concluded December 31st, 1731, called the Treaty of Löwenwolde, from the name of the Russian minister who had the principal hand in its negotiation. The Duchy of Berg, the grand object of Frederick William's ambition, was to be assured to him, and Courland to a prince of the House of Brandenburg, upon the death of the last reigning Duke of the House of Kettler. This article, however, was unacceptable to the Court of St. Petersburg. The Empress, Anna Ivanowna,' wished to procure Courland for her favourite, Biron; she accordingly refused to ratify the treaty, and matters were in this state on the death of Augustus II.

When that event occurred, Frederick Augustus, the son and successor of Augustus II. in the Saxon Electorate, also became a candidate for the Polish Crown; and, in order to obtain it, he sought the assistance of the Emperor Charles VI., which he hoped to gain by adhering to the Pragmatic Sanction. In the previous year the Emperor had brought that matter before the German. Diet, when a great majority of the States had ratified and guaranteed the Act (January 11th, 1732). The Electors of Bavaria and Saxony and the Palatine had, however, protested against it. The Elector of Bavaria and the son of the Elector of Saxony, the prince now in question, had married daughters of the Emperor

It is said, from the effects of a drinking bout. Mem. de Brandebourg, t. iii. p. 70 (ed. 1758).

2 We shall return to the history of Russia since the Peace of Nystädt.

CHAP. XLIV.]

HIS SON SEEKS THE POLISH THRONE.

63

Joseph I., whose eventual claims to the Austrian succession, as children of the elder brother, might be considered preferable to those of the daughters of Charles VI.; and, on July 4th, the two Electors had concluded, at Dresden, an alliance for the defence of their respective rights and prerogatives. But Charles VI. availed himself of the ambitious views of Frederick Augustus to obtain from him a renunciation of his pretensions; and the new Elector now solemnly acceded to the decree of the Empire regarding the Pragmatic Sanction, and agreed personally to guarantee it, the Emperor, in return, engaging to assist him to the Polish throne. In the treaty concluded between them, Charles VI. promised his unconditional aid in excluding Stanislaus, or any French candidate; while he undertook to afford Frederick Augustus every assistance for the attainment of his object that might be compatible with the constitution of the Polish Republic; but on condition that the Elector should consult the wishes of the Empress of Russia and King of Prussia. When he should have done this, Charles promised to furnish him with money to procure his election, and to support him in it with arms; that is, first to corrupt, and then to constrain the Polish nobles. In consequence of this arrangement, a treaty was made in July, 1733, between the Elector of Saxony and the Empress of Russia, by which the agreement to elect a Prussian Prince to the Duchy of Courland was set aside; and it was agreed that when the anticipated vacancy should occur by the death of Duke Ferdinand, resort should be had to an election; doubtless, of much the same sort as was now to be accorded to the unhappy Poles. The Empress promised to support the election of Frederick Augustus in Poland not only by negotiation and money, but also by arms, " so far as could be done without violating the liberty of election;"" a clear impossibility. Thus the interests of the Portuguese Prince were entirely disregarded, who was, indeed, personally unacceptable to the Poles. After the withdrawal of this candidate, the King of Prussia would have preferred Stanislaus to the Elector of Saxony for King of Poland, as less dangerous to Prussian interests; but he coquetted alternately with the French and Imperial Courts, and ended with doing nothing.

This conjuncture is principally important from the position now definitively taken up by Russia as a European Power. It had always been the policy of Peter the Great to nourish, under the

The treaty only in Wenck, Cod. Jur. Gent. rec. t. i. p. 700.

2 Rousset, Recueil, t. x. p. 1 sqq.
3 Mém. de Brandebourg, t. iii. p. 71.

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RUSSIAN POLICY AS TO POLAND. [CHAP. XLIV. mask of friendship, the elements of discord existing in the Polish constitution, to make the weakness arising thence incurable, and thus to render Poland's escape from foreign influence impossible. It was only through the Czar that Augustus II. had been able to maintain himself on the throne. Russian troops almost continually occupied Poland, in spite of the remonstrances of the people, and Peter disposed as arbitrarily of the lives and estates of Polish subjects as if they had been a conquered people. Thus, for instance, when he was celebrating the marriage of his niece, Catharine, with the Duke of Mecklenburg at Dantzic in 1716, his fleet threatened that town in the very midst of the solemnities, and he compelled it to make a contribution of 150,000 dollars towards his war with Sweden. This was done under the very eyes of King Augustus, who was present in the town.' The Poles owed their misfortunes, as we have said, to their constitution, but also to their own faults and vices. Frederick II., speaking of Poland shortly after this time, says: "This kingdom is in a perpetual anarchy. All the great families are divided in their interests; they prefer their own advantage to the public good, and only unite for the cruel oppression of their subjects, whom they treat more like beasts of burden than men. The Poles are vain, overbearing in prosperity, abject in adversity; capable of any act in order to obtain money, which they throw out of window immediately they have got it; frivolous, without judgment, equally ready to take up or abandon a cause without any reason. They have laws, but nobody observes them, because there is no executive justice. When many offices become vacant, the power of the King increases in proportion, since he has the privilege to dispose of them; but the only return he meets with is ingratitude. The Diet assembles every three years, either at Grodno or Warsaw; when it is the policy of the Court to procure the election of a person devoted to it as Marshal of the Diet. Yet, during the whole reign of Augustus II. there was but one Diet which lasted. This cannot be otherwise, since a single deputy can interrupt their deliberations. It is the Veto of the ancient tribunes of Rome. . . . The women conduct political intrigues and dispose of everything, while their husbands get drunk. . . . Poland maintains an army of 24,000 men, but they are bad troops. In case of need it can assemble its arrière-ban; but Augustus II. in vain invoked it against Charles XII. Hence it was easy for Russia, under a more perfect government, to profit by the weakness of its neighbour, and to gain an ascendant over it."2

1 Hermann, Gesch. Russlands, B. iv. S. 342. 2 Mem. de Brandebourg, ap. Garden.