e
ships met a series of tempests of the most violent kind; the squadron
was scattered, never all to meet again, and Anson, after infinite
peril, succeeded in rallying a part of it at Juan Fernandez. Two ships
had put back to England, a third was lost to the southward of Chiloe.
With the three left to him he cruised along the South American coast,
taking some prizes and pillaging the town of Payta, intending to touch
near Panama and join hands with Vernon for the capture of that place
and the possession of the isthmus, if possible. Learning of the
disaster at Cartagena, he then determined to cross the Pacific and
waylay the two galleons that sailed yearly from Acapulco to Manila.
In the passage across, one of the two ships now left to him was found
in such bad condition that she had to be destroyed. With the other he
succeeded in his last undertaking, capturing the great galleon with a
million and a half dollars in specie. The expedition, from its many
misfortunes, had no military result beyond the terror and consequent
embarrassment caused to the Spanish settlements; but its very
misfortunes, and the calm persistency which worked out a great success
from them all, have given it a well-deserved renown.

During the year 1740 happened two events which led to a general
European war breaking in upon that in which Spain and England were
already engaged. In May of that year Frederick the Great became king
of Prussia, and in October the emperor Charles VI., formerly the
Austrian claimant of the Spanish throne, died. He had no son, and left
by will the sovereignty of his estates to his eldest daughter, the
celebrated Maria Theresa, to secure whose succession the efforts of
his diplomacy had been directed for many years. This succession had
been guaranteed by the European powers; but the apparent weakness of
her position excited the ambitions of other sovereigns. The Elector of
Bavaria laid claim to the whole inheritance, in which he was supported
by France; while the Prussian king claimed and seized the province of
Silesia. Other powers, large and small, threw in their lot with one or
the other; while the position of England was complicated by her king
being also elector of Hanover, and in that capacity hurriedly
contracting an obligation of neutrality for the electorate, although
English feeling was strongly in favor of Austria. Meanwhile the
failure of the Spanish-American expeditions and the severe losses of
English commerce