capital of Catalonia and crush the insurrection in its focus,
but even to terminate the war by the capture of his rival.

While the principal force of Spain was directed towards
the north-eastern quarter, the Portuguese army on the
western frontier was kept in awe by a Spanish force under
the Duke of Berwick, so celebrated for his skill in defensive
warfare; and there was not the slightest cause to hope that
the operations on this side would tend to divert or lessen the
danger which threatened the other. In these circumstances
the only chance of preserving the eastern part of the penin-
sula depended on naval succours; and therefore the British
government had made strenuous exertions to fit out a power-
ful fleet, to sail from Lisbon with all the land forces which
could be drawn from the army in Portugal. It was, how-
ever, much doubted whether the usual hazards of a long
voyage, the uncertainty of naval operations, and the superior
strength of the enemy would not frustrate the attempt to
carry relief to Barcelona.

In Italy the prospect was equally discouraging. Count
Maffei, the minister of the Duke of Savoy, who was de-
spatched from England early in the spring, to convey to his
sovereign the assurance of prompt and effectual aid, reached
Vienna in the midst of the preparations for opening the cam-
paign. In his correspondence with Marlborough, he conveys
a melancholy picture of the disorder and tardiness which
reigned in the military system of the confederates. The un-
favourable auguries which he drew from the state of affairs
were too soon realised. Before Eugene could reach the
Italian frontier, the small remains of the imperialists were
surprised in their quarters by Vendome, and with the loss of
3000 men, killed, wounded, and prisoners, were driven into
the mountainous recesses behind the lake of Como. The
passages of Italy thus seemed to be totally closed against the
allies, and the foundation on which the Duke of Savoy had
long built his hopes to be destroyed. Indeed, the sudden
appearance of Eugene alone prevented the entire dispersion
of the army; and all his activity, skill, and resources were
called forth to maintain a position on the frontier until Marl-
borough could collect and forward the succours, which he
had laboured to obtain from every quarter.

On the Upper Rhine the margrave of Baden displayed his

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