which in all probability would have fallen into their
hands had they invested it at their first approach; for then there was
no other garrison but two or three battalions of militia; but count Saxe
soon threw in a considerable reinforcement. The allies were unprovided
with a train of battering cannon; and their commanders would not
deviate from the usual form of war. Besides, they were divided in their
opinions, and despised one another. General Wade, who commanded the
English and Hanoverians, was a vain weak man, without confidence,
weight, or authority; and the Austrian general, the duke d'Aremberg, was
a proud rapacious glutton, devoid of talents and sentiment. After having
remained for some time in sight of Lisle, and made a general forage
without molestation, they retired to their former camp on the Schelde,
from whence they soon marched into winter-quarters. Count Saxe at length
quitted his lines; and by way of retaliation, sent out detachments to
ravage the Low-countries, to the very gates of Ghent and Bruges.
The conduct of the allied generals was severely censured in England,
ridiculed in France, not only in private conversation, but also on their
public theatres, where it became the subject of farces and pantomimes.

The campaign in Italy produced divers vicissitudes of fortune. The king
of Naples having assembled an army, joined count Gages, and published a
manifesto in vindication of his conduct, which was a direct violation
of the neutrality he had promised to observe. He maintained, that his
moderation had been undervalued by the courts of London and Vienna; that
his frontiers were threatened with the calamities of war; and that
the queen of Hungary made no secret of her intention to invade his
dominions. This charge was not without foundation. The emissaries of
the house of Austria endeavoured to excite a rebellion in Naples, which
prince Lobkowitz had orders to favour by an invasion. This general was
encamped at Monte Rotundo, in the neighbourhood of Rome, when, in the
month of June, the confederates advanced to Velletri. While the two
armies remained in sight of each other, prince Lobkowitz detached a
strong body of forces, under count Soro and general Gorani, who made an
irruption into the province of Abruzzo, and took the city of Aquilla,
where they distributed a manifesto, in which the queen of Hungary
exhorted the Neapolitans to shake off the Spanish yoke, and submit
again to the house of Austria. T