them to the rich plains and lucrative offices of England, A barren desert, we shall seize rich plains, The success of these two congenial friends was soon con- On the 12th of August the queen was delivered of a son, the future George IV., the first-born of a family of fifteennine sons and six daughters. Oranienbaum, hastened to the capital, and, availing herself of the general discontent, gathered around her a number of resolute partisans, at the head of whom was Gregory Orloff, her paramour, and his brother Alexis, officers of the guards. The Orloffs gathered a body of the guards around her, to whom they had communicated their plan, and, on the 9th of July, 1762, they declared the emperor deposed. The troops who were called out raised a loud hurrah, supposing his son was about to be proclaimed. But presently a manifesto was read, announcing that the Russian people had deposed Peter as the sworn enemy of the country and the church, and had elected the empress, by the name of Catherine II., as the czarina. Brandy and beer were plentifully given to the soldiers; the priests were sent for to consecrate the empress, which was done by the archbishop of Novogorod. In the course of a forenoon the revolution was complete. The news flew to Oranienbaum, and count Münnich advised Peter to fly instantly to Cronstadt, where he would be secure in the great fortress, and where the fleet would enable him to bring the insurgents in the city to obedience. They were about embarking, when Peter's Holstein guards arrived, and he deemed himself too strong to have any cause of fear. The news that Catherine was approaching with twenty thousand men again alarmed him, and he sailed for Cronstadt, but too late: the czarina had won it over. He returned to Oranienbaum, and there weakly gave himself up to his treacherous wife, though Münnich earnestly implored him to flee to Frederick of Prussia. Whilst Bute had been depriving Frederick of Prussia of his usual subsidy, a wonderful turn of fortune occurred to that monarch, and liberated him from his difficulties. The admiration of Peter III. of Russia had caused him to send an army of twenty thousand men into Silesia to the aid of Frederick. These were commanded by general Czernicheff, and enabled the Prussian king to assume the aggressive against the Austrians, compelling marshal Daun to take up the very position occupied by Frederick the year before-a strong entrenched camp for the defence of Schweidnitz. Frederick and the Russian general were on the point of making a joint attack on this camp, when, on the 19th of July, Czernicheff waited on the Prussian king with astound-the Orloffs, the court giving out that he died of hæmorring tidings. There had been a revolution in Russia. Peter III. was murdered; his wife Catherine had usurped the throne, and had recalled the Russian army. This revolution, so fatal to the hopes of Frederick, had been in a great measure produced by Peter's absurd passion for everything connected with Frederick. Peter had not contented himself with making peace with him, and sending forces to help him; he endeavoured to introduce Prussian regulations and fashions into both the state and army. He ordered the much more graceful Russian uniform to be set aside, and the stiff and formal one of Prussia to be adopted; he affected Frederick's contempt for religion, and attempted innovations in the church-amongst other things compelling the clergy to shave off their beards. But there were other causes than his Prussian mania which excited the resentment of his subjects. Like George of England with Hanover, he regarded himself with more complacency as duke of Holstein than as emperor of Russia. He prepared to make war on Denmark for its treatment of Holstein, and, what eventually became the most fatal to him, he quarrelled with and slighted his wife, a princess of the German house of Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, and gave himself up to the society of his mistress, a niece of the chancellor Woronzow, and a sister of the princess Deschkow. The czarina Catherine was not a woman to brook indignity. She was a person of the most determined character, the most powerful passions, which converted her afterwards into a modern Messalina. She suddenly left the emperor with his mistress at his country palace of Peterhof, at Catherine shut him up in a country house at Robshak, and a week afterwards he was murdered by one or both of hoidal colic. Such sudden deaths are frequent amongst Russian monarchs. Peter had, amongst the generous things which, with all his eccentricity, he did, taken out of prison the boy Ivan, whom the czarina Anna had appointed her heir, but whom the czarina Elizabeth had set aside. Catherine again seized and shut him up in prison, where he also was afterwards murdered. In the original manifesto issued by Catherine, Frederick of Prussia was declared to be "the worst enemy of Russia." The order by Peter to evacuate Prussia as foes and to assist Frederick was countermanded; but, on examining Peter's papers, a letter of Frederick's was discovered, advising the czar to more prudent conduct, and to a more honourable treatment of his wife. This greatly mollified the disposition of Catherine towards Frederick, and she contented herself alone with the recall of the forces, but without violating the peace. Confounded as Frederick was by this change of affairs, he prevailed on Czernicheff to keep secret the imperial order for three days, whilst he attacked Daun's outposts on the heights of Burkersdorf and Leutmannersdorf, which he drove in with brilliant success, taking a great number of prisoners, and seventeen pieces of cannon. This affair is frequently called the battle of Reichenbach. Czernicheff contributed essentially to the victory, though he did not fight; for his troops, being drawn out as spectators, kept a great body of Daun's men in inaction, watching them. On the following day Czernicheff took a friendly leave of Frederick, who presented him with valuable presents, and he commenced his march homewards. On the 8th of August Frederick sat down before Schweid A.D. 1762.] INVASION OF PORTUGAL BY SPAIN. nitz, which cost him much trouble, expense, and bloodshed before it surrendered, on the 9th of October. In Saxony, meantime, the king's brother had defeated at Freyberg the united forces of Austria and the empire, and thus terminated the campaign which had been altogether disastrous to Maria Theresa, though at its commencement Frederick had appeared in the last extremity. Ferdinand of Brunswick maintained the struggle manfully in Westphalia, notwithstanding the change of policy in England tended to cast a damp on the war. Still, the pay for the army had not been withdrawn, as Frederick's subsidy had, and Ferdinand exerted himself with his usual spirit. He had still to contend with two French armies. The one before commanded by Broglie was now commanded by D'Estrées; the other, as before, by prince Soubise. Prince Xavier commanded a separate detachment, and the prince of Condé headed a reserve on the Lower Rhine. Ferdinand attacked the enemy on the 24th of June at Wilhelmsthal, and drove them to Cassel, with a loss of four thousand men. Towards the end of July he defeated, by the help of lord Granby, prince Xavier at Lüttemberg, and finally took Göttingen and Cassel. Ferdinand's success was complete; but, on the other hand, his nephew, the hereditary prince, was defeated by Condé, at Johannisberg, with heavy loss. England, as Pitt had foreseen, was now called on to defend her ancient ally from the attacks of Spain, and the renewed attack of France. The kings of Spain had long desired to absorb Portugal, and embody it permanently as a part of their own country. Supported by France, which promised to give her faithful aid in the enterprise, Spain now called on Emanuel Joseph, the king of Portugal, to renounce the English alliance. Spain and France designated the English as the common enemies of all maritime states; insisted that he should order all English merchants to quit his kingdom, and all English ships his ports. Under pretence of defending him against the vengeance of England, they offered to garrison his ports and fortresses with French and Spanish soldiers. The king of Portugal could regard this proposal as nothing less than an attempt to seize his kingdom, under the show of protecting it. He had strictly maintained the neutrality with these nations, and he now refused to comply with this imperious demand. Four days only were allowed for his answer, and, on receiving his decided negative, the Spanish and French ambassadors quitted Lisbon, and the Spanish troops on the frontiers began their march for the invasion. 17 finances were in the most deplorable condition; the army, such as it was, did not exceed twenty thousand; the fortresses were in ruins; the army did not possess a single commander of note; and the fleet numbered only six ships of the line, and a few frigates. The conde de Oeyras, afterwards the celebrated marquis de Pombal, was beginning, but only beginning, to institute the necessary reforms. Spain, therefore, calculated on making an easy prey of the country; but, fortunately for Portugal, Spain itself was in little better condition. Lord Tyrawley, who was then in Portugal, wrote to Mr. Pitt that, such was the condition of the two countries, an army on the frontiers between them might take its choice whether it would march to Lisbon or Madrid. Still more fortunate was it for Portugal that she possessed the alliance of England, which was at this very time attacking the Spanish colonies both east and west, and capturing her treasure ships on the home-bound voyage. The Spaniards, with twenty thousand men, under the marquis of Saria, entered the Tras os Montes, and took the towns of Miranda, Braganza, and Chaves, with Torre de Moncorvo. Another party of Spaniards penetrated south of Douro into Beira, and took Almeida. They were, however, bravely resisted by the peasantry, who withstood them more effectually than the regular troops, being commanded by some British officers. These peasants they hanged and shot whenever they fell into their hands; and their incensed comrades committed, in return, the most merciless barbarities on their prisoners. The Portuguese were soon relieved from the unequal strife by the landing of eight thousand British soldiers, commanded by lord Tyrawley, with the earl of Loudon, lord George Lennox, general Townshend, brigadiers Crawford and Burgoyne, under him. Tyrawley soon resigned, being heartily disgusted with the people and the service, and lord Loudon succeeded him. The Portuguese army was intrusted to count la Lippe, who had been master of artillery to prince Ferdinand, in Germany. Lippe showed an activity worthy of the school he had studied in. He collected his forces at Puente de Marcello to prevent the advance of the Spaniards north of the Douro, and he dispatched brigadier Burgoyne to make a diversion by falling on Valentia D'Alcantara. Burgoyne executed this commission admirably. He struck through the mountains by Castel da Vida; and, after a forced march of five days, through a most rugged and difficult country, carried Valencia D'Alcantara by a coup-dePortugal was in the worst possible condition to resist an main, securing a great quantity of arms, ammunition, and enemy. The earthquake in 1755, and a conspiracy in 1758, stores, and taking prisoner a Spanish general, with all his had reduced the country to a much feebler condition than staff. He also levied considerable sums on the town, and usual. The king was a lawless debauchee, and the con- made his retreat as successfully. This brilliant movement spiracy had been excited by his licentious conduct. He confounded the plans of the Spaniards, but did not prevent the count D'Aranda taking Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, D'Aranda then marched for Castel Branco, and succeeded in crossing the Tagus, at Villa Velha, in spite of a force under count St. Jago. Meantime, Burgoyne, who was posted at Niza, threw a detachment across the Tagus, under colonel Lee, on a dark night, whilst he himself occupied the attention of the Spaniards by feigning to attack them in front from Niza. Lee's detachment thus came suddenly on the rear of the Spaniards, surprised and had dishonoured the marchioness of Tavora, and the duchess of Aveiro and her daughter. He had narrowly escaped with his life in one of these scandalous adventures, and he had sanguinarily avenged the conspiracy of the houses of Aveiro and Tavora, by beheading the chiefs of these houses, who had sought to punish the outrage committed against them, and by burning the Jesuit, Malagrida, at the stake. Besides the disaffection arising from these causes, the country was suffering from the want of government. The routed them with great slaughter, destroyed their magazines, and spiked their guns, returning loaded with booty, and bringing great numbers of prisoners. The autumnal rains now setting in, D'Aranda found himself harassed on all sides by the peasantry, his provisions exhausted; and the expected French reinforcements, under the prince de Beauvau, nowhere appearing, he dismantled the few fortresses that he had taken, and made a hasty retreat into Spain again. This campaign was humiliating enough to the proud Spaniards, who had foolishly listened to the interested persuasions of France; but this was the least part of their losses and mortifications. The English fleets were everywhere busy attacking their colonies, and cutting off their ships at sea. The "Hermione," a treasure ship, returning from Lima, with nearly a million sterling on board, was captured off Cape St. Vincent by two of our frigates. The expeditions sent out against the Spanish possessions, in the West Indies and the Indian Ocean, proved most successful. A fleet had been dispatched, under admiral Rodney, at the latter end of the last year, against Martinico, carrying nearly twelve thousand men, commanded by general Monckton. They landed on the 7th of January at Cas de Navires, besieged and took Port Royal, the capital of St. Pierre, and, finally, the whole island. This was followed by the surrender of St. Vincent, Grenada, and St. Lucia, so that the English were now masters of the whole of the Carribbees. A portion of this squadron, under Sir James Douglas, then proceeded to join an expedition, which sailed from Portsmouth on the 5th of March; the fleet commanded by admiral Sir George Pococke, and the army by the earl of Albemarle. On the addition of Sir James Douglas's squadron, the whole force, which was destined for Cuba, amounted to nineteen ships of the line, eighteen frigates, and other smaller vessels, with a hundred and fifty transports, carrying ten thousand men. The squadron arrived before Havanna on the 4th of June-king George's birthday—and effected a landing without much difficulty. But the difficulties lay in the climate, which, during the summer, is deadly to the European, and to soldiers, who had to labour and fight under the fierce sun, it proved tremendously so. The city, as the great depôt of the Spanish West Indian trade, was strongly fortified, and contained a garrison equal in number to the besiegers. In the port lay twelve ships of the line; the port was surmounted by strong bastions and batteries, and its narrow entrance, defended by two forts, Puntal and Moro, deemed almost impregnable. The English commenced their attack first on the Moro, on the 12th of June; but they found the utmost difficulty in casting up batteries, in consequence of the fortress standing on a bare rock. Besides this, the artillery had to be dragged for a great distance over a very rugged shore; and such was the excessive labour, that several of the men fell exhausted, and died from the heat and fatigue. Still, on the 12th of June, they commenced playing with their batteries on the Moro; but they found the Spaniards respond with vigour to their attack, fighting not only bravely from the walls, but making desperate sallies to drive them from their guns. In order to silence their guns, three ships of the line were brought up as near as possible to the Moro, to act on it from the sea, simultaneously with the batteries on land, but they were soon compelled to draw off. When the besiegers v ere beginning to despair, some further reinforcements, from New York and the West Indian Islands, gave them fresh spirit. Eight hundred marines were also landed from the fleet, and it was determined to carry the fort by storm. On the 30th of July a mine was sprung, a breach, though only a narrow one, was effected, and through that the British troops, fighting furiously, forced their way. The commander of the fort, Don Louis de Velasco, and the second in command, the marquis de Gonzales, fell mortally wounded in defending the breach. The next attack was on the city itself. It was not, however, till the 12th of August that they were ready with their batteries. The effect of the bombardment was almost instantaneous. Within six hours nearly all the enemy's guns were silenced, and the next day the Spaniards capitulated, agreeing to yield not only the place, and the vessels in the harbour, but the country for a hundred and eighty miles to the westward; in fact, all the best part of Cuba. The booty taken was valued at nearly three million pounds; but the same dishonourable conduct in the distribution of the prize money, which has too often disgraced our service, was most flagrant here, and excited the loudest murmurs. The admiral and general pocketed each one hundred and twenty-two thousand six hundred and ninetyseven pounds; the sea captains one thousand six hundred pounds each; the field officers only five hundred and sixtyfour pounds each; the land captains only one hundred and eighty-four pounds each, not so much as a naval lieutenant, who had each two hundred and thirty-four pounds; whilst the poor sailors had merely three pounds fourteen shillings and ninepence each! and the soldiers, who had borne the brunt of the heat, the labour, and the fighting, received the paltry sum of four pounds one shilling and eightpence each! What had been the nature of the service to these poor fellows may be known from the fact, that one thousand one hundred of them were killed by the climate and the enemy, and of the remaining army, of at least ten thousand men, not more than two thousand five hundred were capable of service. By this conquest, the passage of the Spanish plate-fleets was left entirely at our mercy. In the East Indies, immediately afterwards, another severe blow was inflicted on Spain. An expedition sailed from Madras, and admiral Cornish conveyed in a small fleet a body of men amounting to two thousand three hundred, and consisting of one regiment of the line, in addition to marines and sepoys. Colonel William Draper, afterwards so well known for his spirited contest with the still undiscovered author of " Junius's Letters," was the commander. They landed near Manilla, the capital of the Philippine Islands, on the 24th of September, the Spanish garrison there being taken completely by surprise, having received no information of the war. But the archbishop, who was also governor of the whole group of islands, defended the place with the bravery of a bishop of the earlier ages. He summoned the natives to his aid, and, with about eight hundred Spanish regulars, endeavoured to drive out the |