t force, the entrance of any foreign troops
into the empire, under any pretence whatever. This declaration was
particularly displeasing to the French, who had already marched large
bodies of troops towards the frontiers of the empire, and erected
several great magazines in Westphalia, with the permission of the
elector of Cologn, for which the English minister at his court was, in
August, ordered to withdraw from thence without taking leave. However,
as soon as this declaration of the king of Prussia was notified to the
court of Versailles, they sent an ambassador-extraordinary, the duke
de Nivernois, to Berlin, to try to persuade his majesty to retract
his declaration, and enter into a new alliance with them. His Prussian
majesty received this ambassador in such a manner as seemed to denote a
disposition to agree to every thing he had to propose. This awakened in
England a jealousy that his declaration alone was not to be relied on,
but that it was necessary to bring him under some solemn engagement;
especially as the French had by this time a numerous army near the Lower
Rhine, with magazines provided for their march all the way to Hanover;
and if the king of Prussia suffered them to pass through his dominions,
that electorate must be swallowed up before the Russian auxiliaries
could possibly be brought thither, or any army be formed for protecting
it.* For this reason a negotiation was set on foot by Great Britain at
Berlin, but as it was not concluded before the beginning of the next
year, we shall defer entering into the particulars of it till we come to
that period.

* Perhaps the elector of Hanover was more afraid of the
Prussian monarch than of the most christian king, knowing
with what ease and rapidity this enterprising neighbour
could, in a few days, subdue the whole electorate.

THE FRENCH MAKE ANOTHER UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT UPON THE COURT OF SPAIN.

Meanwhile the French made another attempt upon the court of Madrid,
loudly complaining of the taking their two men of war by Boscawen's
squadron, before any declaration of war was made, representing it as
a most unjustifiable proceeding, which threatened a dissolution of all
faith amongst nations. This produced a strong memorial from sir Benjamin
Keene, our minister at that court, importing, "That it was well known
that the French fleet carried troops, ammunition, and every thing
necessary for defending the countries which the French ha