ds that were deemed impassable. In vain the
French forces harassed him in his march, and even surrounded him in many
different places on the route: he surmounted all these difficulties with
incredible courage and perseverance, and joined the duke of Savoy at
Canelli, so as to secure the country of Piedmont. The other incident
which proved so favourable to the imperial interest, was a treaty by
which the king of Portugal acceded to the grand alliance. His ministry
perceived that should Spain be once united to the crown of France, their
master would sit very insecure upon his throne. They were intimidated by
the united fleets of the maritime powers, which maintained the empire of
the sea; and they were allured by the splendour of a match between their
infanta and the archduke Charles, to whom the emperor and the king of
the Romans promised to transfer all their pretensions to the Spanish
crown. By this treaty, concluded at Lisbon between the emperor, the
queen of Great Britain, the king of Portugal, and the states-general,
it was stipulated that king Charles should be conveyed to Portugal by a
powerful fleet, having on board twelve thousand soldiers, with a great
supply of money, arms, and ammunition; and that he should be joined
immediately upon his landing by an army of eight-and-twenty thousand
Portuguese.

SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL SAILS WITH A FLEET.

The confederates reaped very little advantage from the naval operations
of this summer. Sir George Rooke cruised in the channel, in order to
alarm the coast of France, and protect the trade of England. On the
first day of July, sir Cloudesley Shovel sailed from St. Helen's with
the combined squadrons of England and Holland: he directed his course
to the Mediterranean, and being reduced to great difficulty by want
of water, steered to Altea, on the coast of Valentia, where brigadier
Seymour landed, and encamped with five-and-twenty hundred marines. The
admiral published a short manifesto, signifying that he was not come
to disturb but to protect the good subjects of Spain, who should swear
allegiance to their lawful monarch the archduke Charles, and endeavour
to shake off the yoke of France. This declaration produced little or no
effect; and the fleet being watered, sir Cloudesley sailed to Leghorn.
One design of this armament was to assist the Cevennois, who had in the
course of the preceding year been persecuted into a revolt on account of
religion, and implored the