she was exceedingly reluctant to
part with any one of them, and very dishonorably evaded, by every
possible pretense, the fulfillment of her agreement. The queen
considered herself now so strong that she was not anxious to preserve
the alliance of Sardinia. She thought her Italian possessions secure,
even in case of the defection of the Sardinian king. Sardinia appealed
to England, as one of the allies, to interpose for the execution of the
treaty. To the remonstrance of England the queen peevishly replied,

"It is the policy of England to lead me from one sacrifice to another. I
am expected to expose my troops for no other end than voluntarily to
strip myself of my possessions. Should the cession of the Italian
provinces, which the King of Sardinia claims, be extorted from me, what
remains in Italy will not be worth defending, and the only alternative
left is that of being stripped either by England or France."

While the queen was not willing to give as much as she had agreed to
bestow, the greedy King of Sardinia was grasping at more than she had
promised. At last the king, in a rage threatened, that if she did not
immediately comply with his demands, he would unite with France and
Spain and the emperor against Austria. This angry menace brought the
queen to terms, and articles of agreement satisfactory to Sardinia were
signed. During the whole of this summer of 1743, though large armies
were continually in motion, and there were many sanguinary battles, and
all the arts of peace were destroyed, and conflagration, death and woe
were sent to ten thousand homes, nothing effectual was accomplished by
either party. The strife did not cease until winter drove the weary
combatants to their retreats.

For the protection of the Austrian possessions against the French and
Spanish, the queen agreed to maintain in Italy an army of thirty
thousand men, to be placed under the command of the King of Sardinia,
who was to add to them an army of forty-five thousand. England, with
characteristic prodigality, voted a million of dollars annually, to aid
in the payment of these troops. It was the object of England, to prevent
France from strengthening herself by Italian possessions. The cabinet of
St. James took such an interest in this treaty that, to secure its
enactment, one million five hundred thousand dollars were paid down, in
addition to the annual subsidy. England also agreed to maintain a strong
squadron in the Mediterranean