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INTERESTS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 415said to be especiallydirected against England, so as notonly to secure Gibraltar to Spain 1and the establishment ofhis Ostend company to Charles VL, but even to place thepretender on the British throne for in;which of the political negotiations of that period could this bugbear be dispensed with ? The sequel showed that it was a mere phantom which caused the alarm ;the British cabinet had notinformed itself with accuracy as to the true state of things,it gave credit to rumours and hearsays; but the consequencesof its conduct were serious in the extreme.The supposed new offensive alliance was to be met by acounter-alliance, which George L, during his residence inhis German territories, concluded with France and Prussiaat Herren-haus (Sept. 3rd, 1725). Yes ! these politicalconvulsions extended even to the remotest regions of theNorth. Austria succeeded in attaching to itself Russia, andat first Sweden also. In order to have a counterpoise herelikewise, the allies of Herren-haus obtained Denmark and;Sweden, also, was soon induced, by the promise of subsidies,to join their confederation. This was truly an era of confederacies ! But far from erecting them on the basis ofmutual and well-defined interests, they founded them on relations which could not possibly be durable. England separated itself from Austria, the only continental powerin thesouth of Europe with which it could be connected by any permanent interests. It leagueditself with France and Prussia.The consequences could not be long restrained. FredericWilliam I. immediately afterwards entered into various negotiations with Austria ;from the prospect of private advantagewhich he saw, or imagined he saw, in the opening of the dukedoms of Berg and Julich, which might soon be expected,with the view of procuring these possessions for himself.In the event, however, war, on an extensive scale, seemedlikely to be the result of this confederation of Herren-haus.England fitted out three fleets, of which one was sent to theWest Indies, another to Gibraltar, and the third to the Baltic.The Irst two were, therefore, directed against Spain,which, on her part, already began to lay siege to Gibraltar;the third was designed for the support of Denmark and1Spain certainly made claimspromised his mediatioii.upon Gibraltar, but Charles VI. had only