History of Civilization in England, Vol. 2 of 3

by Henry Thomas Buckle

[1412] Memoirs of Ripperda, 2d ed., London, 1740, pp. 23, 62, 91, 104. ‘A ship arrived at Cadiz with fifty manufacturers on board, whom the Baron de Ripperda had drawn together in Holland.’ … ‘The new manufactures at Segovia, which, though at this time wholly managed by foreigners, he wished, in the next age, might be carried on by the Spaniards themselves, and by them only.’

[1413] ‘The minister, Wall, an Irishman, contrived to decoy over one Thomas Bevan, from Melksham, in Wiltshire, to set the machinery and matters to rights.’ Ford's Spain, London, 1847, p. 525.

[1414] ‘Ademas de la invitacion que se hizo á millares de operarios extrangeros para venir á establecerse en España,’ &c. Tapia, Civilizacion Española, vol. iv. pp. 112, 113. In 1768, Harris, who travelled from Pampeluna to Madrid, writes, ‘I did not observe a dozen men either at plough or any other kind of labour, on the road.’ Diaries and Correspondence of James Harris, Earl of Malmesbury, London, 1844, vol. i. p. 38.

[1415] ‘A national bank, a design originally suggested by Ripperda.’ Coxe's Bourbon Kings of Spain, vol. v. p. 202.

[1416] Bourgoing, not aware of Ripperda's priority, says (Tableau de l'Espagne Moderne, vol. ii. p. 49), ‘L'idée de la banque nationale fut donnée au gouvernement par un banquier français, M. Cabarrus.’ Compare Rio, Historia del Reinado de Carlos III., vol. iv. pp. 122, 123: ‘Banco nacional de San Cárlos; propúsolo Cabarrús, apoyólo Floridablanca, y sancionólo el Soberano por Real cedula de 2 de junio de 1782.’ This sounds well; but the inevitable catastrophe soon came. ‘Charles IV.,’ says the Prince of the Peace, ‘had just ascended the throne; the bank of St. Carlos was rapidly falling, and on the verge of bankruptcy.’ Godoy's Memoirs, London, 1836, vol. i. p. 124.

[1417] ‘A Londres, à Stockholm, à Paris, à Vienne et à Venise, le souverain est réprésenté par des étrangers. Le prince de Masserano, Italien, ambassadeur en Angleterre; le comte de Lacy Irlandais, ministre à Stockholm; le marquis de Grimaldi, ambassadeur en France, avant de parvenir au ministère; le comte de Mahoni, Irlandais, ambassadeur à Vienne; le marquis de Squilaci, ambassadeur à Venise, après sa retraite du ministère.’ Bourgoing, Tableau de l'Espagne, vol. ii. pp. 142, 143. To this, I may add that, in the reign of Philip V., an Italian, the Marquis de Beretti Landi, was the representative of Spain in Switzerland, and afterwards at the Hague (Ripperda's Memoirs, 1740, pp. 37, 38); and that in, or just before, 1779, Lacy filled the same post at St. Petersburg. Malmesbury's Diaries and Correspondence, 1844, vol. i. p. 261. So, too, M. Rio (Historia de Carlos III., vol. i. pp. 288, 289) says of the important negotiations which took place in 1761, between Spain, England, and France, ‘Y así de las negociaciones en que Luis XV. trataba de enredar á Carlos III. quedaron absolutamente excluidos los españoles, como que por una parte las iban á seguir el duque de Choiseul y el marques de Ossun, franceses, y por otra el irlandés D. Ricardo Wall, y el genovés marques de Grimaldi.’ About the same time, Clarke writes (in his Letters concerning the Spanish Nation, London, 1763, 4to. p. 331), ‘Spain has, for many years past, been under the direction of foreign ministers. Whether this hath been owing to want of capacity in the natives, or disinclination in the sovereign, I will not take upon me to say; such as it is, the native nobility lament it as a great calamity.’

[1418] Lord Stanhope, generally well informed on Spanish affairs, says that Wall was ‘a native of Ireland.’ Mahon's History of England, vol. iv. p. 182, 3d edit., London, 1853; but in Mémoires de Noailles, vol. iv. p. 47, edit. Paris, 1829, he is called ‘irlandais d‘origine, né en France.’ See also Biografía de Ensenada, in Navarrete, Opúsculos, Madrid, 1848, vol. ii. p. 26, ‘D. Ricardo Wall, irlandés de orígen, nacido en Francia.’ Swinburne, who knew him personally, and has given some account of him, does not mention where he was born. Swinburne's Travels through Spain, second edition, London, 1787, vol. i. pp. 314–318.

[1419] ‘A Genoese, and a creature of France.’ Dunham's History of Spain, vol. v. p. 170.

[1420] ‘Era siciliano.’ Rio, Historia del Reinado de Carlos III., vol. i. p. 244.

[1421] The fullest account of his dismissal is given by M. Rio, in the first chapter of the second volume of his Historia del Reinado de Carlos III., which should, however, be compared with Coxe's Bourbon Kings of Spain, vol. iv. pp. 340–346. Coxe terms him Squilaci; but I follow the orthography of the Spanish writers, who always call him Esquilache. Such was his influence over the King, that, according to Coxe (vol. iv. p. 347), Charles III. ‘publicly said that, “if he was reduced to a morsel of bread, he would divide it with Squilaci.”’