A. C. 1690. demanded affistance from the States general and king William, to whom he fent an ambaffador to congratulate him upon his acceffion to the throne of England. The confederates, in their general congrefs at the Hague, had agreed that the army of the ftates under prince Waldeck fhould oppofe the forces of France, commanded by the duke of Luxemburg in Flanders; while the elector of Brandenburg fhould obferve the marquis de Boufflers on the Moselle: but before the troops of Brandenburg could be affembled, Boufflers encamped betwen the Sambre and the Meufe, and maintained a free communication with Luxemburg.

Prince Waldeck defeat-.

Prince Waldeck understanding that this general ed at Flerus, intended to crofs the Sambre between Namur and Charleroy, in order to lay the Spanish territories under contribution, decamped from the river Pięton, and detached the count of Berlo, with a great body of horse, to obferve the motions of the enemy. He was encountered by the French army near Flerus, and flain; and his troops, though fupported by two other detachments, were hardly able to rejoin the main body, which continued all night in order of battle. Next day they were attacked by the French, who were greatly fuperior to them in number; and, after a very obftinate engage+ ment, obliged to give way, leaving about five thousand men dead upon the field of battle. The enemy took about four thousand prifoners, and the greatest part of their artillery; but the victory was dearly bought. The Dutch infantry fought with furprising refolution and fuccefs. The duke of Luxemburg owned, with furprise, that they had furpaffed the Spanish foot at the battle of Rocroy. "Prince Waldeck (faid he) ought always to re"member the French horfe; and I fhall never forget the Dutch infantry." The Dutch general

66

exerted

exerted himself with fuch activity, that the French A. C, 1699, derived very little advantage from the victory. The prince being reinforced with the five English regiments, nine thousand Hanoverians, ten thousand from the bishopric of Liege and Holland, joined the elector of Brandenburg; fo that the confederate army amounted to five and fifty thousand men; and they marched by the way of Genap to BoisSeigneur-Ifaac. They were now fuperior to Luxemburg, who thought proper to fortify his camp, that he might not be obliged to fight, except with confiderable advantage. Nevertheless prince Waldeck would have attacked him in his entrenchments, had not he been prohibited from hazarding another engagement, by an exprefs order of the States-general; and, when this reftriction was removed, the elector would not venture a battle.

elected king

mans

Death of the

Progress of

Turks.

By this time the emperor's fon Jofeph was by The archthe electoral college chofen king of the Romans; duke Jofeph but his intereft fuftained a rude fhock in the death of the gallant duke of Lorraine, who was fuddenly feized with a quinfey, at a fmall village near Lintz, duke of and expired, not without fufpicion of having fallen Lorraine. a facrifice to the fears of the French king, against the war whom he had formerly declared war, as a fove- against the reign prince unjustly expelled from his territories. He poffeffed great military talents, and had threatened to enter Lorraine, at the head of forty thoufand men, in the courfe of the enfuing fummer. The court of France, alarmed at this declaration, is faid to have had recourfe to poifon, for preventing the execution of the duke's defign. At his death the command of the imperial army was conferred upon the elector of Bavaria, who having joined the elector of Saxony, advanced against the dauphin, who had paffed the Rhine at Fort Louis, with a confiderable army, and intended to penetrate into Wirtemberg; but the duke of Bavaria checked

7

A. C. 1690. checked his progress, and he acted on the defenfive during the remaining part of the campaign. The emperor was lefs fortunate in his efforts against the Turks, who rejected the conditions of peace he had offered, and took the field, under a new vizir. In the month of Auguft, count Tekeli defeated a body of Imperialists, near Cronstadt in Transylvania; then convoking the states of that province at Albajulia, he compelled them to elect him their fovereign: but his reign was of fhort duration. Prince Lewis of Baden having taken the command of the Auftrian army, detached four regiments into Belgrade, and advanced against Tekeli, who retired into Valachia at his approach. Mean while, the grand vizir invefted Belgrade, and carried on his attacks with furprising refolution. At length, a bomb falling upon a great tower, in which the powder-magazine of the befieged was contained, the place blew up with a dreadful explosion. Seventeen hundred foldiers of the garrison were deftroyed; the walls and ramparts were overthrown, the ditch was filled up, a and fo large a breach was opened, that the Turks entered by fquadrons and battalions, cutting in pieces all that fell in their way. way. The fire spread from magazine to magazine, until eleven were de ftroyed, and, in the confufion, the remaining part of the garrifon efcaped to Peterwaradin. By this time the Imperialifts were in poffeffion of Tranfylvania, and cantoned at Cronstadt and Claufinburgh.. Tekeli undertook to attack the province on one fide, while a body of Turks fhould invade it on the other thefe laft were totally difperfed by prince Lewis of Baden: but prince Auguftus of Hanover, whom he had detached against the count, was flain in a narrow defile, and his troops obliged to retreat with precipitation. Tekeli, however, did not improve this advantage. Being apprised of

the

the fate of his allies, and afraid of feeing his re- A. C. 1690. treat cut off by the fnow, that frequently choaks up the paffes of the mountains, he retreated again to Valachia, and prince Lewis returned to Vienna.

the parlia

King William having published a proclamation, Meeting of requiring the attendance of the members on the ment. fecond day of October, both houfes met accordingly, and he opened the feffion with a speech to the ufual purport. He mentioned what he had done towards the reduction of Ireland; commended the behaviour of the troops; told them the supplies were not equal to the neceffary expence; reprefented the danger to which the nation would be exposed, unless the war fhould be profecuted with vigour, conjured them to clear his revenue, which was mortgaged for the payment of former debts, and enable him to pay off the arrears of the army; affured them that the fuccefs of the confederacy abroad would depend upon the vigour and difpatch of their proceedings; expreffed his refentment against those who had been guilty of mifconduct in the management of the fleet; recommended unanimity and expedition, and declared, that whoever should attempt to divert their attention from those fubjects of importance which he had proposed, could neither be a friend to him, nor a well-wisher to his country. The late attempt of the French upon the coast of England, the rumours of a confpiracy by the Jacobites, the perfonal valour which William had displayed in Ireland, and the pufillanimous behaviour of James, concurred in warming the refentment of the nation against the adherents of the late king, and in raif ing a tide of loyalty in favour of the new govern ment. Both houses prefented separate addresses of congratulation to the king and queen, upon his courage and conduct in the field, and her fortitude

and

A. C. 1590. and fagacity at the helm, in times of danger and difquiet. The commons, purfuant to an estimate laid before them of the next year's expences, voted a fupply of four millions for the maintenance of the army and navy, and fettled the funds for that purpose.

The com

thons com

demands.

They proposed to raise one million by the fale of ply with all forfeited eftates in Ireland: they refolved, that a the king's bill fhould be brought in for confifcating those eftates, with a claufe, impowering the king to beftow a third part of them on those who had ferved in the war, as well as to grant fuch articles and capitulations to thofe who were in arms, as he should think proper. This claufe was rejected; and a great number of petitions were offered against the bill, by creditors and heirs, who had continued faithful to the government. These were fuppofed to have been fuggefted by the court, in order to retard the progrefs of the bill; for the estates had been already promifed to the king's favourites: nevertheless, the bill paffed the lower house, and was fent up to the lords, among whom it was purpofely delayed by the influence of the ministry. It was at this juncture that lord Torrington was tried and acquitted, very much to the diffatisfaction of the king, who not only difmiffed him from the fervice, but even forbad him to appear in his prefence. When William came to the houfe of lords, to give the royal affent to a bill for doubling the excife, he told the parliament, that the posture of affairs required his prefence at the Hague; that therefore, they ought to lofe no time in perfecting fuch other fupplies as were ftill neceffary for the maintenance of the army and navy; and he reminded them of making fome provifion for the expence of the civil government. Two bills were accordingly paffed for granting to their majefties the duties on goods imported for five years; and thefe, toge

ther