Quadruple Alliance of 1718
reftore to him the kingdom of Sardinia ; and in the mean time
his Imperial Majefty fhall enjoy the revenues of the faid king-
dom, which fhall exceed the charge of keeping it.
VI. But in cafe the king of Sardinia fhall confent to the faid
exchange, and the king of Spain fhall refufe, in this cafe the
emperor being aided by the fuccours of the reft of the con-
traftors, fhall attack Sardinia, with which fuccours they on
their part promife to furnifh him ; as the emperor promifes on
his part, that he will not lay down his arms till he fhall have
poffeffed himfelf of the whole kingdom of Sardinia, which
immediately after fuch poffeffion he fhall give up to the king of
Sardinia.
VII. But if both the kings of Spain and Sardinia fhall oppofe
the exchange of Sicily and Sardinia, the emperor, together with
the fuccours of the allies, fhall in the firft place attack Sicily, and
having reduced it, he fhall turn his arms againft Sardinia with
fuch a number of forces, befides the fuccours of the allies, as he
fhall judge neceffary for both expeditions: and, having likewife
reduced Sardinia, his Imperial Majefty fhall commit the cuftody
thereof to the king of Great Britain, and to the lords the States
General, till the king of Sardinia fhall have figned the conditions
of peace to be made with the emperor, and fhall confent to
accept the kingdom of Sardinia as an equivalent for the king-
dom of Sicily, which then is to be delivered up to him by his Bri-
tannick Majefty and the States General, and in the mean time
his Imperial Majefty fhall enjoy the revenues of that kingdom,
which fhall exceed the charge of keeping it.
VIII. In cafe the Catholick King and the king of Sardinia, or
either of them, fhall refufe to accept and execute the abovefaid
conditions of peace to them propofed, and for that reafon the
four contracting powers fhould be compelled to proceed againft
them, or either of them, by open force ; it is exprefsly
covenanted, that the emperor (what progrefs foever his arms
may make againft the faid two kings, or either of them,) fhall be
content, and ought to acquiefce in the advantages, by mutual
confent allotted to him in the faid conditions, power never-
thelefs being referved to his Imperial Majefty of recovering the
rights which he pretends to have over that part of the dutchy of
Milan, which the king of Sardinia now poffeffes, either by war,
or by a treaty of peace fubfequent upon fuch war; power being
likewife referved to the other three allies, in cafe fuch a war
fhould be undertaken againft the kings of Spain and Sardinia, to
agree with his Imperial Majefty in appointing fome other
prince, in whofe favour his Imperial Majefty may difpofe of that
part of the dutchy of Montferrat, now poffeffed by the king of
Sardinia, in exclufion of the faid king; and to what other prince
or princes he may, with the confent of the empire, grant the let-
ters of expectative, containing the eventual inveftiture of the
ftates now poffeffed by the grand duke of Tufcany, and by the
duke of Parma and Placentia, in exclufion of the fons of the
prefent queen of Spain. This declaration being added, that in no
time or cafe whatfoever, either his Imperial Majefty, or any
prince of the houfe of Auftria, who fhall poffefs the kingdoms,
dominions, and provinces of Italy, may affert or gain to himfelf
the faid dutchies of Tufcany and Parma.
IX. But if his Imperial Majefty, after his efforts by a fufficient
number of forces, and the fuccours and other means of the
allies, and by ufing all convenient diligence, fhould not be able
by arms to fubdue, or to eftablifh himfelf in the poffeffion of
Sicily, the contracting powers do agree and declare, that his
Imperial Majefty is, and fhall be in that cafe, altogether free and
difcharged from every obligation, entered into by this treaty, of
agreeing to make a peace with the kings of Spain and Sardinia,
on the conditions abovementioned. All other the articles of this
treaty neverthelefs to remain good, which mutually regard his
Imperial Majefty, their Britannick and moft Chriftian Majefties,
and the lords the States General of the United Netherlands.
X. However, as the fecurity and tranquillity of Europe is the
end and fcope of the renunciations to be made by his Imperial
Majefty, and by his Catholick Majefty, for themfelves, their def-
cendents and fucceffors, of all pretenfions to the kingdom of
Spain, and the Indies on the one part ; and on the kingdoms,
dominions, and provinces of Italy, and the Auftrian Nether-
lands, on the other part : the faid renunciations fhall be made
on the one and the other part, in manner and form, as in the
fecond and fourth articles of the conditions of a peace to be
made between his Imperial Majefty and his Royal Catholick
Majefty has been agreed. And though the Catholick King
fhould refufe to accept the aforefaid conditions, the emperor
neverthelefs fhall caufe the inftruments of his renunciation to
be difpatched, the publication whereof fhall however be
deferred till the day of figning the peace with the Catholick
King. And if the Catholick King fhould conftantly perfift in
rejecting the faid peace, his Imperial Majefty neverthelefs, at
the time when the ratifications of this treaty fhall be
exchanged, fhall deliver to the king of Great Britain a folemn
act of the faid renunciations, which his Britannick Majefty,
purfuant to the common agreement of the contracting powers,
doth promife fhall not be exhibited to the moft Chriftian King
before his Imperial Majefty fhall come into the poffeffion of
Sicily. But that being obtained, then the exhibition, as well as
publication of the faid act of his Imperial Majefty’s renuncia-
tions, fhall be performed upon the firft demand of the moft
Chriftian King. And thofe renunciations fhall take place,
whether the Catholick King fhall fign the peace with the
emperor or no; by reafon that, in this laft cafe, the guarantee of
the contracting parties fhall be to the emperor in lieu of that
fecurity which otherwife the renunciations of the Catholick
King would have given to his Imperial Majefty for Sicily, the
other ftates of Italy, and the provinces of the Netherlands.
XI. His Imperial Majefty doth promife that he will not
attempt or enterprife any thing againft the Catholick King, or
the king of Sardinia, or in general, againft the neutrality of Italy,
in that fpace of three months allowed them for accepting the
conditions of their peace with the emperor. But, if within the
fpace of three months, the Catholick King, inftead of accepting