A battle on the Portuguese side of Spain was likewise gained against poor Lord Galway, always unfortunate, at Lazudina, and it became more and more plain that Philip reigned by the good will of all the Spaniards except the Catalonians; but Louis XIV. was reduced to such distress that his desire was more and more to purchase peace by making his grandson renounce the crown so eagerly seized; but as this proved impracticable, support was still afforded to him. He begged for the Duke of Vendôme to lead his army, but the rout of Oudenarde was not forgiven, and this was refused. Philip then set forth on a personal campaign with the brave Marquis of Villadarias as General, and on the other side, Charles had taken the field with Stanhope and Staremberg, so that the two rivals for the first time were together in a battle. The place was Almanza, where the tardiness of Charles and Staremberg was such that they would have let the whole opportunity go by if Stanhope had not assured them that if they did so, he should consider it his duty to withdraw the English troops and leave them to shift for themselves. So the battle began a quarter of an hour before sunset on the 23rd of July, 1710, and when once engaged, they showed themselves quite brave enough, and there was a complete victory, only checked by the darkness. Indeed, Philip would have been made prisoner, but for a last desperate charge of Villadarias to cover his flight. He was in a manner paralysed by his alarm, and it was difficult to stir him up to exertion, till the Allies were at the gates of Zaragoza. There was then another battle on the 20th of September on the deep barranca or ravine, called already, from a conflict in the Moorish times, "Barranca de los Muertos." Again Staremberg could with difficulty be induced to fight, but when he did so, fought admirably, and another victory was gained, 63 colours and 6,000 prisoners taken, and 5,000 men left on the field. Charles entered Zaragoza the same night, and was warmly welcomed. Stanhope wished to march on Madrid, but the German general and his prince were hard to move, considering it an axiom that conquests should be made step by step, not by bounds; and though Stanhope did prevail, and wrote to Lord Galway to move forward and meet him at Madrid, still Charles only felt jealousy, and wrote to his wife at Barcelona, "If this plan of the English succeeds, all the glory will be theirs; if it fails, all the loss will be mine." Philip had been forced to retreat to Madrid and prepare for flight, consoled, however, by the ardent affection of the people, who flocked after him when he carried off his wife and her infants to Valladolid. The road was blocked with carriages, and even ladies of high rank followed on foot, the populace who could not leave the city watching them with tears and prayers. When Charles entered the city a few days later, all was silent, there was not a voice to cry "Viva," except those of a few street children, to CAMEO Charles enters Madrid. 1706. CAMEO Battle of 1710. whom coins were thrown; all the shops were shut, and Charles, exclaiming, "The city is a desert," turned his horse, rode out, and took up his quarters at a country house, where he issued decrees in hopes of conciliating the people. One old nobleman, the Marquis of Mancera, a hundred years old, had been too infirm to leave the city, and Stanhope was sent to persuade him to acknowledge Charles. "Sir," the old man said, "I have but one God and one king, and I am resolved to be faithful to both." However, Philip's need had obtained at last from his grandfather the presence of the Duke of Vendôme. Eager to retrieve his fame, he brought new life and vigour into his councils. Charles, perceiving the danger of being cut off from Catalonia, retreated from Madrid, which Philip entered a week or two later. He was received with ecstasy, and showed his gratitude warmly. He went himself to the bedroom of the old Mancera to thank him for his fidelity, the first time it is said that a dying subject had been visited by a King of Spain since Philip II. had gone too late to see the Duke of Alva. The tide had turned. Vendôme followed up the retreating army and obtained the surrender of Brihuega, though obstinately defended by Stanhope himself, who was made prisoner, and taken with his officers to Valladolid. Without him and his English, there was little chance for the German and Catalonian army, who were overtaken at Villa Viciosa on the 10th of December, 1710, and suffered terribly in spite of the brave resistance of Staremberg. Night came on, and the old German with far inferior forces still held the ground, though his loss had been terrible, and so many standards had been taken, that when the Spaniards rested on the heights above, Vendôme told Philip he should have the most glorious bed that ever monarch had slept upon, and made him a couch of the enemy's colours. Both sides called Villa Viciosa a victory, but the fruits were Philip's, for Staremberg had to retreat the next day, and was so harassed by the enemy as to lose many men before he reached Barcelona, and fortress after fortress fell before the arms of the Dukes of Vendôme and Noailles. THE brilliant sun of Louis XIV. was going down in heavy clouds. He bore his troubles with magnanimity and resignation; but, unfortunately, as he became more religious, his conscientiousness made him the more inclined to persecution. Père Pasquier Quesnel had published a book of Reflexions Morales, short, practical notes on the Gospels, which had been formally approved by Cardinal de Noailles, when Bishop of Châlons. After the death of Antoine Arnauld in 1694, Quesnel, who had been with him in his last moments, was regarded as the Elisha of the Jansenists as he had been the Elijah. This brought Quesnel under suspicion, and when a new edition, enlarged, was to appear in 1698, and the sanction of De Noailles, as Archbishop of Paris, was required, he wished it to be previously submitted to Bossuet, who drew up a long Avertissement in defence of the Reflexions, and also marked various passages which he wished should be expunged. The friends of Quesnel would not give up the passages, and Noailles only published parts of the Avertissement as letters, nor would he sanction the book as Archbishop of Paris, though his former approval as Bishop of Châlons was still appended to the new edition. From that time he was regarded as a Jansenist, and distrusted accordingly. Le Tellier, Archbishop of Rheims, was far from being a Jansenist, but was also a strong opponent of the Jesuits; and an Assembly of the Clergy, held in 1700, under his presidency, formally condemned those dangerous maxims of easy dealing with penitents which had been exposed by Pascal. Also, it condemned the tolerance of the Jesuit missionaries for some of the old heathenish rites practised by their converts in China-and their endeavour to win the Empire CAMEO The Cas de 1703. —by representing that Christianity was a development of the religion of Confucius, and that there was an identity of worship. There was a great controversy as to whether the Jesuits were justified in their compromise with the "sublime religion," and Clement XI. forbade the honours paid to Confucius, and censured the over liberal tone of their teaching, sending out Cardinal Tournon as his legate, to enforce his command. The Jesuit Fathers, who had great influence with the Emperor, in consequence of having cured him of a dangerous disease, stirred up an absolute persecution against the legate, and imprisoned him in their house at Macao, where, after much suffering and privation, he died. The mission, which had begun by being very prosperous, fell into decay, probably in consequence of these unhappy divisions. The Jansenists, finding the Jesuits out of favour with Pope and King, prepared a scheme for their own rehabilitation. A case of conscience was constructed and sent, as from a country priest, to be considered by the Doctors of the Sorbonne, the special Professors of Divinity in the University of Paris. The penitent was supposed to be an ecclesiastic who condemned the five Jansenist points, but would not commit himself on their authorship, and did not believe the Pope infallible on matters of fact. On predestination, attrition, efficacious grace, the Immaculate Conception, and the cult of the saints, he likewise held his own views; he used Arnauld's book on Frequent Communion, St. Cyran's Sp.ritual Lectures, and De Sacy's translation of the New Testament. Was such a person in a fit state to receive priestly absolution? Most of the theologians did not perceive that this was a trap, and only one observed that he should like to see this same ecclesiastic, when he would be sure to satisfy the questions. Forty of the Doctors of Divinity signed their decision that the person holding such views might be accepted as worthy of Absolution and Communion, and this judgment was made public. It had the effect of bringing general attention on the Jansenists, and stirring up the spirit of persecution. Bossuet, though now very old and suffering much in health, was as vigorous as ever, and set himself to study the whole controversy. He came to the conclusion that the works of Jansen did certainly contain the five propositions, but that the Jansenists could not properly be termed heretics, as they professèd formally to renounce the errors condemned by the Church, but that they acted in a manner tending to promote schism and heresy. The last days of the Eagle of Meaux were rapidly approaching. He had a long illness, much harassed by his vulgar, grasping nephews, clerical and secular. The former worried him into going to Versailles to request that this same Abbé should be appointed his coadjutor and successor; out Louis would only say that he would consider of it, and the Bishop was harassed by the consequent ill-temper and pertinacity of these men, who visited their disappointment upon him, and tormented him without ceasing. At last he became seriously worse, and lay repeating, "Adveniat Regnum Tuum-Fiat Voluntas Tua." Indeed, these were his last conscious words, before his death, April 12th, 1704, in his seventy-seventh year. That there had been no attempt at reconciliation with Fénelon was probably owing to that mischievous person, the Abbé Bossuet. Fénelon, however, mourned heartily for him as the great light of the Gallican Church. Bossuet was, indeed, a great loss. He was the only theologian capable of holding the true balance between the Jesuits and Jansenists who could guide the feeble and impetuous Cardinal de Noailles, and also who was thoroughly trusted and respected by the King, as well as having a feeling for the independence of the Gallican Church. Louis was entirely left to Jesuit influence, and he applied to Rome for a more crushing Bull against the Jansenists. Clement XI. actually sent him the draft of the Bull entitled Vineam Dommi Sabaoth, which condemned as a subterfuge the sort of submission hitherto made by the Jansenists by what they call respectful silence, and to force them to more categorical renunciation. De Noailles and the Gallican Bishops hesitated over the acceptance of this Bull, as a matter of independence, and minds became influenced. Quesnel's book was most harshly and violently condemned at Rome, and sentenced to be burnt; but De Noailles still defended it, and, on Bossuet's authority, bringing out the entire Avertissement instead of only portions. However, he found himself no longer able to protect Port Royal. He had permitted the reception of pensioners, postulants, and novices, which had been forbidden under his predecessor, Harlai, and his Episcopate had been a time of peace; but when the King sent commands that the Papal Bull should be signed in the convents, he durst not object. The Abbess and her nuns of Port Royal aux Champs, appended the clause, " without prejudice to what was done in our favour at the Peace of the Church under Clement IX." This had been accepted forty years before, and they had full right to appeal to it; but they had no such defenders left as they had then possessed, and, indeed, their ruin had been determined. First came a prohibition to admit novices. Then the House in Paris appealed against the division of property that had been made long ago, and it was given against Port Royal aux Champs so as almost to starve out the Sisters, though the pleadings on their side were most eloquent, and justice was with them. Then Cardinal de Noailles published a decree, condemning the Sisters as contumacious and disobedient to the Holy See, depriving them of the Sacraments, and forbidding the election of an Abbess. Then followed a Bull suppressing the Abbey of Port Royal aux Champs, and by-and-by the Abbey of Port Royal at Paris came out and took possession. Nor was this enough to satisfy the Jesuit Michel le Tellier, nor the King's Confessor. In 1709, the Marquis d'Argenson, Lieutenant of Police, was sent out with a train of carriages to carry off all the nuns, and separate them in different CAMEO Death of 1704. |