e ordered
all his forces to be drawn out to retake this fortification: both armies
were on the point of engaging, when a courier arrived in a felucca with
a packet for the marquis, containing full powers to treat and agree
about the evacuation of the island, and the transportation of the army
to Spain. He forthwith drew off his army; and sent a trumpet to the
general and admiral, with letters, informing them of the orders he had
received: commissioners were appointed on each side, the negotiations
begun, and the convention signed in a very few days. The Germans
were put in possession of Palermo, and the Spanish army marched to
Tauromini, from whence they were transported to Barcelona.

PHILIP OBLIGED TO ACCEDE TO THE QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE.

The admiral continued in the Mediterranean until he had seen the islands
of Sicily and Sardinia evacuated by the Spaniards, and the mutual
cessions executed between the emperor and the duke of Savoy, in
consequence of which four battalions of Piedmontese troops were
transported from Palermo to Sardinia, and took possession of Cagliari
in the name of their master. In a word, admiral Byng bore such a
considerable share in this war of Sicily, that the fate of the island
depended wholly on his courage, vigilance, and conduct. When he waited
on his majesty at Hanover, he met with a very gracious reception. The
king told him he had found out the secret of obliging his enemies as
well as his friends; for the court of Spain had mentioned him in
the most honourable terms, with respect to his candid and friendly
deportment in providing transports and other necessaries for the
embarkation of their troops, and in protecting them from oppression. He
was appointed treasurer of the navy, and rear-admiral of Great Britain:
in a little time the king ennobled him, by the title of viscount
Torrington: he was declared a privy-counsellor, and afterwards
made knight of the bath at the revival of that order. During these
occurrences in the Mediterranean, the duke of Berwick advanced with the
French army to the frontiers of Spain, where he took Port-Passage and
destroyed six ships of war that were on the stocks; then he reduced
Fontarabia and St. Sebastian's, together with Port Antonio in the bottom
of the bay of Biscay. In this last exploit the French were assisted by a
detachment of English seamen, who burned two large ships unfinished, and
a great quantity of naval stores. The king of England, with a