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Show [ H J , w~r~ ~t an end, that t he Q -- might. hav_e their Concurrence to agree •to fnch a Partition as they fhou'd think re~fonable. T he King of Fr111m was w i lli~g at 1?11: to recede i1 om N<tpiM being pprt of 1t. but mfill:cd on the 1 cit ana wou'd by na means confcnt to quit the T own; on the Coa!l: of Tufcany, which his Grandfon had llill pofiellion of. And as he was unw illing to give up theic, fo the Depun es cou'd not confcnt to part with Sardinia, which was already in the Emperor's pofrenion. So that on the part of the Allies, the Deputies were unwilling to part with any t hing of the J'ar< ition propos'd but Sicily, and the Fre~cb woold. qtllt nothing .but Naplts. The Allies were will ing to give fomething for a General Peace and 'twas thought France, if they .were fincer~, wou'd be willing to take any thing. And this the All ies had the more reafon .to exr efr, from the turn the Campa_ign was like to take : The D.of M. and Prmce Eugene, \Jho left the Hague the .14th, having pals'd the Scarpe without oppofiuon the 2oth, of which the States had the welcome News time enough for the Deputies to carry it with them to t h ~ four th Conference. But this Suec.: I~ , whith put France into a great Conll:er· nation, had in appearance no efreCl: on them. Tiley ·pr crended they hJd no power to recede from their ldl: Dc1<'and s, but would [end to Court for further lnfh uttions; for which t hey were a\low'd till the 18tb of May. But thty had no occafion, it feems, for fo much t ime: }heir Exprefs came back the 3~, which was notil/d the 7th; but the Kmg Ihll infifli ·•g, 'twas to no purpofe to have more · Con· [ 35 J Conferences, which was fignify'd to them by! vl. Pctkum. Upon which they- pretended to be very [tiff, and dec!ar'd t hey wou'd leave Gfrtruydenbe~g the T Stbor 16th ; and the je(t was carry'd lo far, that part of their Retinue and Equipage wat afrually fent away. But t his was all a Feint : When the 15th carne, an Exprefs arriv'd very 4 proror, to falve Appearances, and enable them to ftay with a good Grace : which they noti fy'd the 181b, and the Deputies went to them the 23d. And in this Conference the King was pleas'd to defill: from the Towns on the Coafl: of Tufcany, but adher'd to his Demand of Sicily and Sar" dinia. And to remove the ObjeCl:ion againfl: the taft, a ProjeCl: had been fometime forming to make a Defcent on it, and get into poffe! Iion; which Oefign, when it was in a manter execut~d, was happily defeated by a part of the Forces that were then going from Italy to Catalonia. · T his Point of the Partition being-driven as far ~s it wou'd go, 'twas now the turn ot the Allies to ask, fuppofing this Partition agreed to, that thefe Parts of the Spanifh Monarchy fhou'd be given to the 0. of .Anjou, wnich way the King propos'd they fhou'd have the rell: fecur'd to them : For the reafon the Allies infifted on the 37111 Article, was, that they might have a General Peace, and not be involv'd in a fepara te War with Spain. This was the Bufinefs of thefe Conferences, •nd there was no Senfe in the French preter;Iding to demand a Partition upon any other Terms, but fuppofing the Allies wou'd qnit one. part of the !V1onarchy to th~ p. of .Anjo~~, F 2 t1H t |