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OF THE
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18? I

THE HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

VOL. II.

THE

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

BY
FREDERICK WILLIAM WYOK

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON :
CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.
1876.

LONDON :
PRINTED EY VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED,
CITY ROAD.

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

DURING THE

REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

CHAPTER I.
Meanwhile the business of the Lower House had proceeded
with a tranquillity in striking contrast to the virulent displays
of party feeling which had been exhibited by the Lords. The
jealous spirit which prompted Somers and Wharton to attack
their best friends, the Ministers, was but little shared by their
followers in the Commons. Before the end of the year all the
more important resolutions about supplies had been passed;
and Godolphin and Marlborough had every reason to be
satisfied with the liberality of the House. The sums granted
for carrying on the war amounted to nearly six millions
sterling. That the Tories, as a body, disapproved of the
enormous expenditure upon land forces, there seems good
grounds for believing, and in the present House they were at
least as numerous as the Whigs ; but they were content to
keep their objections to themselves, and > voted the public
money as cheerfully as their rivals. The explanation of this
supineness may be that the Tories*of lower rank were men of
less independent ideas than the chiefs of the party. Rochester,
Nottingham, Haversham, were free and outspoken in their
opposition, without a care as to what were the personal feelings
or opinions of the sovereign. Their followers seem to. have
VOL. II. B

2 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
adopted the personal inclinations of the sovereign, whenever
they could be ascertained, as the guide of their political con
duct ; and nothing had as yet transpired to breed a doubt as to
the sincerity of Anne's periodical recommendations to prosecute
the war with vigour. Upon another matter the Commons were
eager to please her. It was easy to surmise that an inquiry
into the abuses of an establishment of which Prince Greorge was
the head, would be distasteful. The memorial of the merchants
met in consequence with but little favour in the Lower House.
The witnesses for the petitioners were constantly made to
feel that those before whom they were urging their case were
less desirous to get at the truth than to ensnare them into
contradictions. The inquiry would, in all probability, have
been abandoned, had it been safe to adopt this course. But the
mismanagement of the Council had excited indignation too
deep and universal to be disregarded. A compromise was
therefore arrived at by which some degree of justice should be
measured out to the petitioners, without offending the Queen.
No censure was passed upon the Council ; but an Act was
passed to render it in future obligatory upon those who had
the direction of the navy to keep forty-three ships of war
continually cruising about the coasts of Great Britain.*
Much time was spent in endeavouring to adjust certain
difficulties of a temporary nature which arose out of the
relations of this country with Scotland. The Union had been
welcomed by all classes of the English with a satisfaction in
.striking contrast to the sullen rage with which the treaty was
regarded in that part of her Majesty's dominions which seemed
' most likely to be the greatest gainer by it. Queensberry had
been glad, as soon as he was able to prorogue the Scottish
Parliament, to quit a country where he could not show himself
without being hooted and pelted, and to hasten up to London.
The moment he crossed the border, the manners of the populace
towards him underwent an agreeable change. All along the
northern road the people turned out to greet the Minister,
whose cool intrepidity and address had succeeded, in the face
of the most determined spite and fury, in carrying through a
measure eminently calculated to promote the welfare and pros-
* Parliamentary History; Burnet; Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 6
perity of two nations. The magistrates were waiting at the
gate of every large town to conduct the distinguished guest to
his lodgings. A circumstance still more demonstrative of the
turn English feeling had taken was the marks of friendliness
which persons of all ranks delighted in paying to the numerous
Scotchmen who accompanied Queensberry. For the first time
since the two kingdoms had been brought under one Crown, the
natives of the northern part of the island found that a Scottish
face and a Scottish accent could be seen and heard without
provoking insult. The Commissioner's entry into London
resembled a triumphal procession. The road from Barnet to
Highgate was covered by the coaches of the nobility and by
gentlemen on horseback. All the Whig peers, all the mem
bers of the House of Commons who had voted for the Union,
assembled to do honour to the man who had brought the project
safely through so many dangers.* Since the Act of ratification
passed, Anne had been overwhelmed with addresses from
almost every corporation in England, complimenting her in
loyal strains upon having performed a work so difficult that it
had been the glory of her predecessors merely to attempt it.f
It was ordered by proclamation that the 1st of May, the day
from which the Union was to commence, should be observed as
a day of public thanksgiving, and throughout England the
rejoicings were in full accordance with this order. Once more
the Londoners had an opportunity of witnessing the pageant,
now grown familiar, of the sovereign repairing in state to
St. Paul's, to return thanks for the signal mercies of Pro
vidence. The text from which the Bishop of Oxford preached
was the very appropriate one from the Psalms, " Behold, how
good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity ! " In Scotland, on the other hand, the day from which
it was destined that the country should enter on a career of
prosperity ^almost as brilliant as that predicted for it by such
seers as Law and Chamberlayne, was, by the care of the clergy,
kept as a day of national mourning with the object of pro
pitiating an incensed God, who must surely have inflicted the
* Boyer.
+ London Gazette ; Lettrea Historiques ; Boyer. The University of Oxford
distinguished itself by its silence on this occasion.
S2

4 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Union upon the Scottish people as a just punishment for their
sins.* The difficulties which now engaged the attention of both
Houses, were brought on by the eagerness of sharp traders, not
only in England and Scotland, but even upon the Continent, to
take advantage of an unguarded point in the treaty of Union.
It had been agreed that, until the 1st of May, each kingdom
should retain its existing scale of customs ; but that, after that
period the English scale should be extended to Scotland. The
existing Scottish customs on wine, spirits and other foreign
productions were trifling in comparison with the heavy tax
demanded in England. An importer, therefore, of commodities,
ultimately designed for the English market, if he wished to
obtain a cargo at the lighter rates, had but to direct its ship
ment to a Scottish instead of to an English port. The cargo
would be landed, after payment of the Scottish customs, might
remain in Scotland until the Union, and might then be brought
free into England. There was, moreover, another way in which
money could be made with little difficulty and no risk what
ever. Under certain statutes any person who sent tobacco,
pepper, and some other descriptions of colonial produce into
Scotland, was allowed a drawback of sixpence in the pound
upon the duties he had paid when they were landed in England.
It was an easy thing for a merchant, who had on hand a stock
of such commodities, to pass them into Scotland before the 1st
of May, to pocket the drawback, and then to bring them back
into England as soon as the Union had commenced.
Such being the state "of the case, it is not strange that, from
the moment the news was received that the Union had passed
the Scottish Parliament, the smaller fry of traders should have
been everywhere on the alert. An amount of business quite
unprecedented was during three months transacted in the sea
ports of Scotland. Ships were arriving every day from France
with cargoes of wines and silks ; coffee and spices, luxuries
which never could have been intended for the markets of an
impoverished people, were set on shore from Holland ; while
tobacco, in most unusual quantities, kept the officers of the
custom-houses on the border continually employed in refunding
* Boyer.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 0
the drawback.* At length the more respectable members of
the trading community, too honourable to stoop to such sources
of profit themselves, yet infuriated at the gains which their
less scrupulous brethren were making, petitioned for the inter
ference of Parliament on the grounds that, not only did these
transactions inflict serious losses upon themselves, but that the
public revenue would be materially affected. The Commons
responded by passing resolutions denouncing the practices
complained of, and by ordering a bill to be brought in to
rectify the evil. The main provision of that bill was that, even
after the commencement of the Union, goods passing from
Scotland into England should be liable to duty, unless it
could be proved that they were in Scotland before the 1st of
February, or had been imported into that kingdom after the
1st of May. It is no slight evidence of the superior wisdom of
the Peers that this bill, which passed the Lower House, was
rejected in the Upper by a great majority. It was pointed
out that the remedy was far more mischievous than the evil.
To disappoint a few cunning men who hoped to derive profits
at the expense of the revenue, would be no doubt an advan
tage ; but it would be an advantage dearly purchased by
legislation which was in itself an infraction of the treaty, which
would necessitate the continuance of the custom-houses on the
border, and keep the subjects of the two kingdoms wrangling
with each other for some time to come.
But another point speedily arose which, but for the liberal
Bpirit which the Parliament was disposed to apply to all matters
in issue with Scotland, might have excited a fearful outcry
among a people jealously on the watch for subject of offence.
The kingdom of Great Britain was scarcely a month old before
a fleet of forty sail came crowding into the Thames from the
northern ports. The ships were boarded by the officers of the
Custom House. Each skipper was prepared to show that his
cargo had been landed in Scotland before the date of the
Union, that he had brought it directly from thence ; and so
far his right to set the goods on shore without any further
payment of duty was clear. But the officers saw that a great
portion of the cargoes consisted of articles which, since the
* Defoe, History of the Union ; Boyer; Letties Historiques ; Burnet.

6 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
prohibition of trade with France, were contraband in this coun
try, and conceived it to be their duty to take possession of the
ships. The matter was laid before the Privy Council. The
board thought it prudent to resort to a decision of the Parlia
ment. Prosecutions were instituted against the owners of the
vessels, who were, however, permitted, upon giving security, to
land the cargoes. The judgment of the Commons was a marked
indication of their wish to soothe and conciliate the people of
the north by a large and liberal construction of the terms of
the treaty. It was unanimously agreed to request her Majesty
that she would instruct her law officers to desist from al
further proceedings in regard to these ships.*
Some further legislation was resorted to with the view oi
rendering the Union more complete. Those two famous Acts,
the Act of Security and the Act anent peace and war, in
which the hostile feelings of Scotland against England had
formerly found vent, it was thought advisable to repeal by an
express enactment. But another subject upon which it was
necessary to adjudicate aroused strong passions. A bill was
introduced to abolish the Privy Council of Scotland, and to
assimilate the powers of justices of the peace in that kingdom
to those possessed by English justices. The measure met with
opposition in the Lower House, and was encountered with still
greater determination when it was sent up to the Lords. The
arguments for retaining the Privy Council were indeed not
contemptible. While the kingdom was full of disaffection,
while the agents of France and of the Pretender were passing
busily frpm one nobleman's house to another's, while tidings
might each day be brought of an insurrection of the Cameronians
or the Highlanders, it was surely for the public advantage that
a commission should always be on the spot, armed with the
fullest powers, and upon the fidelity of whose members the
Government at home could implicitly depend. Nor was there
the certainty that, if the powers now exercised by the Privy
Council were suddenly transferred to justices of the peace, those
persons would comprehend them sufficiently to discharge their
duties. Nay, it might be found impossible to obtain the
requisite number of gentlemen whose fidelity to the existing
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.

. DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. t
Government was beyond suspicion. But strong as were these
arguments, they failed to convince the majority of the Peers.
The bare mention of the Privy Council of Scotland was suffi
cient to excite in most minds an unconquerable desire to abolish
its existence. It was impossible to forget that that institution
had been, ever since the days of the infamous Cabal, the con
venient instrument of tyranny in the hands either of wicked
and corrupt ministers or of a cruel sovereign. It had been
constantly instigated to ruin, torture, and murder God's crea
tures, and had performed its iniquitous tasks with apparent
delight.. Was it not, therefore, advisable that an institution,
whose past history was a reproach to England, and upon whose
deeds Scotland could not think without indignation, should be
swept away, whatever temporary disadvantage its loss might
occasion ? Cowper, Somers, Halifax, Sunderland, all spoke on
this side, but the bill was carried by a majority of only five
votes.* In the opinion of Godolphin, the services of the Council
were too valuable to be dispensed with at so critical a time. It
is possible, however, that his judgment may have been biassed
by reflecting upon the assistance its members might afford to
the Government in Parliamentary elections.
From the consideration of these weighty affairs it becomes
necessary to pass to a consideration of the state of mind of that
august lady upon whose prejudices, religious and political,
depended in large measure the future of most European com
monwealths. Seldom or never has a sovereign of this country
occupied so proud a position in the community of nations as
Anne. She was the real chief of the most formidable con
federacy that had ever yet been organized against France.
The armies of that confederacy were inspirited by almost
unvarying success, and were directed by a man who, if not the
greatest military genius, was the most reliable commander the
world had seen for centuries. There can, be little doubt that
the war, notwithstanding the inconvenience to trade, the high
prices, and heavy taxation which ft occasioned, was popular
with the great majority of the English people. So great was
already the exhaustion and distress of France, that nothing
but a steady determination on the part of the English sovereign
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.

8 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
to uphold her existing Ministers, and to bestow the chief
share of her favour on that party of the state which was
heartily disposed to second the efforts of those Ministers, seemed
requisite to insure the speedy and permanent humiliation of a
kingdom which had been for more than a hundred years the
firebrand of Europe. There have been female sovereigns under
whose vigorous administration nations have risen to the height
of military fame. But Anne was not a Semiramis nor a
Catherine of Russia. She was merely a pious lady, who had
far more at heart the welfare of her Church than the glory of
her arms.
Marlborough had, upon his return home, been disagreeably
impressed with the alteration he perceived in the Queen's
demeanour towards him. There was no longer room for doubt
that the affectionate feelings which Mrs. Morley had enter
tained for thirty years towards Mr. and Mrs. Freeman had
entirely disappeared, and that a feeling of sullen discontent sup
plied their place. But there was work to be performed, which,
whatever might be its effect to increase Anne's ill-humour,
could not be left undone. It was plainly necessary for the
contentation of the most powerful party in the Parliament that
some substantial marks of favour should be offered to the
Whigs. It was also obvious that while a counsellor like Harley
had access to her Majesty, there was little chance of curing her
inveteracy against that faction which it was essential to con
ciliate. For some time, however, Anne turned a deaf ear to
all complaints about Harley, and was utterly impervious to all
arguments about the necessity of satisfying the Whigs. Marl
borough's threats of resigning at length overcame her obstinacy
upon the latter point. She consented that one Whig doctor
named Trimnel should be raised to the see of Norwich, and
that another named Potter should be made Regius Professor of
Divinity at Oxford. She even went so far as to authorise
the Dukes of Devonshire and Somerset to inform the Whio-
leaders privately that, although she could not draw back from
her word to the two Tory clergymen to whom she had promised
the sees of Exeter and Chester, they should have more reason
in future to be satisfied with her appointments.* This assur-
* Burnet.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. »
ance the Whig leaders considered satisfactory. Its effect upon
their conduct in Parliament was marked and salutary ; but
Marlborough and Godolphin felt that there could be no security
against her Majesty's relapse into obstinacy, unless Harley
were divested of all right of speaking to her as a counsellor.
His dismissal from the secretaryship therefore they determined,
at all cost to themselves, to extort from the Queen.
Whether they possessed any positive proofs of Harley's
treachery it is impossible to state ; but that the evidence, to
whatever it may have amounted, was principally furnished by
Harley's arch-enemy, the Duchess, there can be no doubt.
As for many years past there had been no servant appointed in
the palace except upon her recommendation, the household
must have swarmed with her creatures. The music parties
which Mrs. Masham gave in her rooms, and which Anne
sometimes honoured with her presence, the attendance of the
Secretary at those meetings, and the long conversations with
which he was on those occasions indulged by her Majesty were
all matters faithfully reported to the falling favourite. Harley,
upon his side, seems, with all his cunning, never to have con
tracted a suspicion that his actions were observed by unfriendly
eyes. He still professed his astonishment at the wickedness of
the talebearers who accused him. But it was not his patrons
alone who suspected his treachery. There was a common rumour
that the Secretary was engaged in a clever intrigue to turn out
the Lord Treasurer, and to put a staunch Tory into his office,
that the Queen had admitted to St. John her intention of
parting with the Lord Treasurer, and had given him liberty to
publish the information to whom he would.* There was great
excitement, not only in political, but in commercial circles ; for
upon the wisdom and probity with which Godolphin managed
the finances the fund-holders relied as a necessary part of their
security. The principal Whigs, in great alarm, made haste to
convey to Marlborough and the Treasurer the strongest assur
ances of their support. Just at the end of the year, and while
the town was at the height of expectation, a somewhat remark
able incident occurred.
* Swift to Archbishop King, February 12—23, 1708. He says, " Though his
(Harley's) project has miscnrried, it ia reckoned the greatest piece of court skill
that has been acted these many years."

10 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Intelligence came from the postmaster at Brussels that,
having conceived some suspicions about a packet addressed to
the French Minister, Chamillart, but which purported to come
from the Secretary's office in England, he had opened it, and
found it to contain copies of a number of important State papers.
It appeared by a letter, also addressed to the French Minister,
that the person who sent these copies was William Gregg.
Gregg, who was an under clerk in Harley's office, was imme
diately arrested. Upon examination he admitted that, pressed
by poverty and debt, he had endeavoured to raise money by
selling information to France ; but he swore positively that he
had no participator in his crime. He had taken the oppor
tunity, he confessed, of a private letter, which was addressed by
the prisoner of war, Marshal Tallard, to Chamillart, and which
had been submitted to him for examination before it went
abroad, to seal up with it his own inclosures. His evidence'
afforded a glimpse of the method in which business was trans
acted in the Secretary's office. The most entire confidence
reigned apparently between the careless chief and the humblest
and most necessitous of his clerks. The rough drafts of letters
of the highest moment which Godolphin sent to the office to be
transcribed for the Queen's signature, would lie on the desks
open to the inspection of every clerk, messenger, or laundress
in the establishment, until somebody had leisure to take the
work in hand. The books in which these letters were afterwards
copied were never locked up. They lay in the presses, the
keys of the presses remained in the locks, and any person in
the office might consult them if he had the curiosity. All the
secrets of State, the plans of campaigns, the projected descents
upon the enemy's coasts, the negotiations with foreign Powers,
the times assigned for the sailing of merchant fleets, the
strength of their convoys, were confided to the honour of a set
of clerks striving to keep body and soul together upon a not
very regularly paid salary of fifty pounds a year.
Gregg had not been long in Newgate when two men named
VaUiere and Barra were also brought in, upon the charge of
being spies in the employ of France. Valliere was a French
wigmaker ; Barra, a Piedmontese by birth, had been secretary
to the Savoyard Embassy ; but both men had been for some

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 11
time engaged in a much more lucrative occupation than wig-
making or corresponding. A sort of compact appears to have
existed between them and Harley, under which they were
bound to furnish such information as they could collect about
French affairs, while the English Government, on its side, was
to shut its eyes to a little smuggling they designed to carry on.
Thus protected, Valliere and Barra drove a splendid trade
between Dover and Calais, by going over with wool and return
ing with brandy. The news they supplied in exchange for
their valuable concession amounted to very little ; and Harley,
it seems, was too much absorbed in other business to pay much
attention to what they did bring. To secure their trade on the
opposite coast, they had, of course, entered into the same
relations with the French as with the English Government ;
and there are grounds for believing that the French Ministers,
less preoccupied than Harley about their private concerns, held
the scoundrels more strictly to their bargain. The suspicion
was rife throughout our south-eastern coast that the singularly
accurate information which the French Government unques
tionably possessed touching the times for sailing of our mer
chant fleets was principally derived from Valliere and Barra.
So vehement did the outcry at length become that the Mayor
of Dover took upon himself to arrest and send these men up to
London. They were examined by the Privy Council, but
would confess nothing. Clear evidence against them it was
impossible to obtain ; and the Government, therefore, perhaps
not altogether desirous of publishing transactions in which it
could scarcely hope to figure at advantage, discharged them
with a caution as to their behaviour in future.
Meanwhile Gregg had pleaded guilty to his indictment at
the Old Bailey, and had been sentenced to death. The Whig
leaders, eager to obtain matter against Harley, were in great
hopes that the unfortunate man would say something to fix his
chief with complicity in his crime. The House of Lords, in
which their influence was supreme, was easily induced to enter
upon a searching investigation of the affair. A committee was
appointed, and consisted of seven of the principal Whigs. The
committee went to Newgate for the purpose of examining the
prisoner, whose execution was respited. Gregg was plainly

12 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
told that if he would make a full confession, he might hope for
the intercession of the House. It was impossible for the poor
fellow to mistake the drift of his examiners ; but in spite of the
temptation held out to him, he adhered manfully and honour
ably to the truth of his first statement that no one had been
privy to his crime, and that his only inducement in com
mitting it had been his pecuniary necessities. The com
mittee had the cruelty to keep the culprit hovering between life
and death for nearly three months. At length, in bitter dis
appointment at making no other discovery than that the busi
ness of the Secretary's office was conducted with considerable
laxity, they sent up to the Queen a recommendation that the
execution should take place. Gregg was accordingly hanged at
Tyburn on the 28th of April. Before he was turned off he de
livered a paper to the sheriff, in which he solemnly exculpated
Harley from all participation in the offence for which he
suffered.* The cruelty of the Whigs in keeping Gregg suspended over
the grave for more than three months, was the more flagrant
from the circumstance that long before his execution, Anne had
been awakened to the impossibility of retaining Harley in her
service without throwing her affairs into utter confusion. It
had become necessary that this matter should be brought to a
speedy conclusion, inasmuch as the time Marlborough could
remain in England was drawing to a close, and Godolphin
might well despair of effecting anything in his absence. Harley
clung desperately to his post! He waited on Marlborough, and
implored to be informed in what particular he had offended.
He wrote to Godolphin, and protested that he had never har
boured a thought prejudicial to his interest. The Treasurer's
reply was brief and mournful, and seemingly imports that
evidence of an unquestionable character as to Harley's schemes
had reached him : "lam sorry to have lost the good opinion
I once had of you ; but I must believe my own senses. I am
very far from having deserved this of you. May God forgive
you for it !" The two friends, shortly after the date of this
letter, repaired to Anne, and made a joint request that the
* Three pamphlets concerning Gregg are among the Somers tracts. Howell's
State Trials ; Burnet ; Boyer ; Lettres Historiques. Oldmixon's History.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 13
Secretary should be dismissed. A scene of strange interest
ensued, and was prolonged for more than a week. The
poor conscience-stricken lady clung with the same tenacity
to the sanctimonious Minister, as a Roman Catholic penitent
clings to the saving merits of his saint. In Harley, there can
be no reasonable doubt, she had, during the two past years,
reposed all her hopes of deliverance from the meshes of sin in
which the ambition of the Whigs and the treachery of her
former friends had involved her. She had therefore made up
her mind not to part with so precious a servant. Unfortu
nately, however, for her, the more she evinced her partiality
for the Secretary, the more necessary did it appear to Marl
borough and Godolphin that the Secretary should be debarred
from access to her. Her Majesty's intellect, it seemed, was
impervious to mere argument and persuasion. Recourse,
therefore, must be had to an expedient by which powerful
Ministers have more than once obtained their own way in
the face of the likings and dislikings of feeble sovereigns.
Each of the friends wrote separately to the Queen, and
tendered his resignation. The letter of Marlborough was super
vised and corrected by Godolphin. The united acquirements
of the two were indeed insufficient to render the composition
grammatical; but it was to be perused by no hypercritical
reader, and was at least forcible and to the point. The writer
deplored that his endeavours to convince her Majesty of the
false and treacherous proceedings of Mr. Secretary Harley
should have been so fruitless. He was very sure that her per
sistence in countenancing him would be regarded with sorrow
and amazement throughout Europe. But so much regard to
his own reputation he must have as to decline to be made every
day a sacrifice to falsehood and treachery. No consideration
should induce him to serve any longer with that man. Her
Majesty must look upon him, from that moment, as forced out
of her service, while she thought fit to continue the Secretary
in it.
Of neither of these letters did the Queen take the slightest
notice. The prospect of being delivered from the thraldom of
Mr. Montgomery, she, no doubt, regarded as an unmixed bless
ing. But a threat of resignation from so necessary a servant as

14 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Mr. Freeman might well appal the most stout-hearted sove
reign. It is probable, however, that she understood his
character too well to feel any fear that he would carry his
threat into execution. He would surely think twice before he
renounced the conduct of a war which had raised him to the
pinnacle of glory and popularity, and posts that were bringing
him in £50,000 a year. The two friends were compelled there
fore to wait upon the Queen again, and tender their resigna
tions in person. To Godolphin she listened with an air of un
concern, which imported plainly that he was at liberty to act
as he thought proper. Marlborough she entreated to reconsider
his determination. But upon the matter in dispute she would
not give way ; and the friends retired to await what the result
might be. A Privy Council had been summoned for that after
noon, the 9th of February. Upon the support of a majority of
the Members they might rely with perfect security, for the
Whigs were now fully alive to the dangers that threatened
them from the side of Harley, and even the more prudent
Tories would shrink from involving the Queen in such unpopu
larity as she would be certain to incur, if the Commander-in-
Chief should relinquish her service on the grounds that her
Majesty thought proper to bestow her confidence upon his
enemy. They absented themselves, therefore, from the Council,
and left their interests in the hands of their friends. Harley
attempted to open the business of the meeting. He was inter
rupted by the Duke of Somerset : " I do not see," his Grace
remarked, " how we can deliberate in the absence of the Com
mander-in-Chief and the Lord Treasurer." The other members
of the Council remained silent, the abashed Secretary found in
their countenances no encouragement to proceed, and the Queen,
wretched and almost in tears, rose and withdrew from the
room. .
The following day was one of great excitement. Anne per
sisted in her resolution with all that recklessness of consequences
which characterized her father. Rumours that some sweeping
changes were about to be made in the Ministry filled the air,
and the Tory place-hunters trooped to Kensington to pay their
compliments. In the city, on the other hand, where Godolphin's
financial abilities were highly esteemed, and in all Whi» circles

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 15
where he was regarded as a necessary assistant in that war
upon the issue of which the freedom and security of the
country were imagined to depend, there was great consternation.
The House of Commons, in which his admirers mustered in
strength, permitted a bill of supply which was ordered for that
day to lie upon the table. But by the 11th of February the
struggle was at an end. Anne, it was reported, was inclined
to support Harley at all hazards. But Harley was more timid
or wiser than his mistress. He knew that the days had passed
when the bare authority of the sovereign could uphold a
minister against an adverse Parliament, and he therefore coun
selled the Queen to accept his resignation. Prince George,
who was fast sinking under his complaints, and who appre
hended that his last hours would be disturbed by political
troubles, added his entreaties to those of the Secretary. Anne
at length yielded. She summoned Marlborough to the palace,
and informed him, in a few bitter words, that the Minister who
had become obnoxious to him should no longer remain in her
service.* Harley's resignation was immediately followed by that of
three other office-holders, his personal friends and political
allies, St. John, Sir Thomas Mansell, Comptroller of the house
hold, and Sir Simon Harcourt, who had been for ten months
Attorney- General. By the manner in which their appoint
ments were distributed, it seemed that Anne, worn out by her
vain struggle to emancipate herself, was content for the time to
be passive in the hands of her tyrants. Whigs were raised to
three of the places laid down. Harley's office was given to
Henry Boyle, an intimate friend of Godolphin, who had for
some time discharged the subordinate duties of Chancellor of
the Exchequer. Robert Walpole, whose reputation as a sound
and sensible speaker had been steadily rising with the
Commons, and who had been, two years back, placed by the
Treasurer's influence on the Council of Prince George, became
Secretary for War. The Earl of Cholmondeley succeeded
Mansell. The post of Attorney was not filled till some time
later. * Various letters in Coxe's Memoirs ; Conduct of the Duchess ; Burnet ; the
letter of Swift previously cited.

16 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
The triumph of Marlborough and Godolphin was complete.
Yet it was impossible that two men so clear-sighted could
deceive themselves on two points. In the first place the feel
ings of esteem and affection which Anne had so long entertained
for them were gone, probably beyond hope of recovery. It
must have been evident that they would be retained in employ
ment only so long as their services were indispensable, and
that her Majesty would avail herself of any turn of public
sentiment or any alteration in the composition of the Parliament
to rid herself of advisers so distasteful. In the second place
they had broken wholly with the Tories. Their own necessities
had forced them into co-operation with the Whigs, and thence
forth their fortunes would stand or fall with those of their new
allies. Yet, as far as human foresight could extend, their
authority might now seem fixed' on a firmer basis than at any
former period. The Whigs were supreme in the Parliament ;
and it might be inferred that so long as the nation was intent
upon prosecuting the war, the Whigs would have the advantage
in every new election. Never, in truth, had the chances of a
Tory administration succeeding to power appeared less than at
this period.
Harmony was restored at a critical time, for in less than
three weeks after the resignation of Harley and his friends the
Government had need to exert all its energies. The whole
island was thrown into a state of agitation by news of tremen
dous import. For some months past an expedition had been
fitting out in the harbour of Dunkirk, and people had been
busy in conjecturing its destination. The first suspicion of the
Dutch naturally was that an invasion of their own territory was
meditated, and troops were marched down to secure the coast
of Zeeland. But on the 3rd of March, Marlborough received
information from the vigilant Cadogan which left him in no
doubt of what was intended. He learned that the Pretender
was in Dunkirk, that he was about to embark in company with
twelve battalions of French troops, and that the probable
destination of the expedition was Scotland. The purport of the
Dutch letters was promptly communicated, by the Queen's
orders, to the House of Commons ; and the first measure of that
body was to pass a bill suspending the act of habeas corpus.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 17
Upon the following day an address was presented to Anne by
both Houses. Her Majesty was assured in the most loyal
strains of the determination of her Parliament to stand by and
assist her against the pretended Prince of Wales and all her
other enemies. The address concluded with the recommenda
tion that was customary in times of public alarm, that the laws
against Papists and non-jurors should be put in force, and that
all persons suspected of disaffection should be at once taken
into custody.
Throughout England, but especially in London, the conster
nation was great. For the accounts which were current of the
state of feeling in Scotland left few persons in doubt that, if
James did effect a landing in that kingdom, he would be able
to raise an army out of the entire population. What was then
to obstruct his progress southward ? There was not a fortified
town between Edinburgh and London which could check the
course of an invader. The Queen's troops in Scotland were
but three or four regiments in all ; and although their com
mander, Lord Leven, was reputed a staunch Whig, the fidelity
of the men could not be depended upon. In England the
regular force was estimated to be at the most five thousand raw
recruits, who were getting ready to cross the channel.
It is interesting to readubr the first time in English history
that the national alarm manifested itself in the fall of stocks
and shares, and in a run upon the Bank. Before the delivery
of the Queen's message to the Commons the stock of the East
India. Company stood at a hundred and eight* The quotation
fell rapidly, and in ten days was only ninety-nine, when favourr
able news caused a rally. During this period of panic the
Bank was beset by its creditors in such numbers as to render
it only too probable that, unless something was done to excuse
the Corporation from fulfilling their obligations, their cash
would be drained to the last guinea. The whole amount of the
Bank's bills and notes in circulation was under six hundred
and fifty thousand pounds. Its capital, on the other hand,
consisted of two millions two hundred thousand pounds. But
of this capital upwards of one-half was, to use a modern financial
term, locked up, by having been advanced to the Government
upon the security of Exchequer bills. It is obvious how deeply
VOL. II. c

18 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
interested the Government was, under these circumstances, to
uphold the credit of the Bank. Its debt to that institution it
had neither the means nor the intention to discharge. The
debt had been, ever since the foundation of the Bank, regarded
as a permanent loan ; and the shareholders, in consideration of
the advantages they enjoyed through their charter, had been
hitherto content to accept the interest without demanding the
return of the principal. But if the credit of the Bank were so
injured as to render the continuation of its business useless, the
shareholders would, no doubt, surrender their charter, and
require the repayment of their money. The inevitable sequel
therefore to the ruin of the Bank, would be that the Exchequer
would be forced to admit its insolvency. Great efforts were
accordingly made to avert such a catastrophe. To induce the
holders of paper to retain their securities, it was announced
that her Majesty would, for the next six months, guarantee
interest at the rate of six per cent, upon all Bank bills in place
of the three per cent, which they then bore. It was moreover
intimated to the Directors that, in case of need, all the money
,in the Treasury, amounting to three hundred thousand pounds,
should be placed at their disposal ; and this offer was supple
mented by private offers of assistance from some of the more
wealthy noblemen, who wished well to the Government. Marl
borough, enriched by five years of enormous salaries and
perquisites, was among those who were most liberal in volun
teering aid. But the Directors were able to dispense with such
extraneous help. They judged it most prudent to strengthen
the position of the Bank by doubling its capital ; and so quickly
was the subscription list filled, that all danger of a collapse
passed away. It is not a little amusing to read the remarks
made by Whig writers upon the conduct of those persons who,
while the panic was at its height, had come running for their
money. The malice of such creditors was evident. They must
have been either Jacobites, who wanted to embarrass the
Government, or goldsmiths who wanted to ruin an institution
which was rapidly absorbing the most profitable branch of their
old business, the custody of bullion. The experience of many
subsequent panics will probably incline the theorist of the
present day to dismiss the sentiments of disloyalty and jealousy

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 19
from among the motives which instigate creditors, at periods
when the political horizon overclouds, to turn every security
into gold.*
The country was not long kept in anxiety about the invasion.
The Council of Prince George, roused out of its languor
perhaps by the reviling it had just undergone, now acted with
laudable promptitude. While the object of the preparations at
Dunkirk was still matter of conjecture, a fleet of twenty-six
ships had been hastily equipped, and sent, under the command
of Sir George Byng, to cruise off the Flemish coast: Fourbin,
who was at the head of, the expedition, and who had hitherto
flattered himself that the muster of troops in the town, and the
collection of ships in the harbour had excited no suspicion, was
much disconcerted by this unexpected appearance of the enemy
in strength. As his own force did not exceed eight men-of-
war, he despatched a messenger to Paris for further instructions.
Before the messenger returned, violent gales had blown the
English admiral almost back to the coast of England. The
expedition set sail, therefore, on the 6th of March, and after
encountering many difficulties from bad weather, reached the
entrance to the Firth of Forth on the evening of the 12th.
All on shore was astonishingly quiet ; and the next morning
would probably have witnessed the disembarkation of the
Pretender and the French troops in close proximity to Edin
burgh. But hardly had the sun risen on the 13th when the
whole horizon to the south was seen studded with sails. Byng
had been apprized of the escape of the expedition, had guessed
its destination, and had made the best of his way in pursuit.
His fleet had, by the exertions of the Council, been by this
time augmented to no less than forty ships of the line.
Fourbin at once gave up the enterprise for lost. In the agony
of disappointment the young Pretender entreated to be set on
shore, were he accompanied only by his personal attendants ;
but the French admiral had an account to render to his master,
and refused to comply. To cut his cables, to crowd all sail, and
* Lettres Historiques : Luttrell's brief relation ; Boyer ; Oldmixon. The
Houbo of Commons passed a resolution on the 20th March that " Whoever de
signedly endeavours to destroy or lessen the public credit, especially at a lime
when the kingdom is threatened with invasion, is guilty of an high crime and
misdemeanour, and is an enemy to her Majesty and the kingdom."
c 2

20 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
to take advantage of a breeze, which, fortunately for him,
sprung up from off shore, were the work of little time. Most
of his ships, better sailers than Byng's, were soon far in
advance of their pursuers. The English, however, kept up the
chase till night, and succeeded in making one capture — of the
Salisbury — which had been, five years since, taken by the
French. On board were about twenty English, Irish, and
Scotch Jacobites, among whom the most notable were Lord
Griffin, Colonel Francis Wauchope, and two sons of the Earl
of Middleton. They were all sent to the Tower. That Griffin,
at least, would suffer death, was matter of general expectation.
He was an old man of respectable character, who, having been
advanced to the peerage by James, had gratefully followed the
fortunes of his benefactor, and had been outlawed for his
devotion to a wrong cause by the Government of William.
Anne, after a debate in the Council, determined to spare him ;
an instance of clemency which the Whigs chose to attribute to
her Majesty's partiality for Jacobites.*
The scheme of invasion was at an end, and our countrymen,
so lately desponding, were now murmuring at Byng for not
having captured more of the enemy's ships. It is interesting",
however, to examine the chances which the expedition had of
succeeding in its object.
Since the death of James II. much the same style of gloomy
and austere devotion had been kept up at the Court- of St.
Germains as during the lifetime of the royal bigot. The eldest
son who, but for the folly of his parent, would have been
reigning in England, was now verging on manhood. His
character afforded little encouragement to those who had
thrown in their lot with him. His temper indeed was mild,
his manners affable and even engaging, and he undoubtedly
possessed a sufficient degree of animal courage to preserve him
from disgrace on a field of battle. But his ordinary condition
was that of a listless, melancholy being, incapable of any great
mental exertion, and morbidly distrustful of the future. It
would seem as if the misfortunes of his house had imposed a
permanent blight upon his spirits. He could never catch the
* Campagne de Flandre ; Macpliei son, Stuart Papers; St. Simon ¦ LettreirHts-
toriques ; Boyer ; Burnet.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 21
enthusiasm of those faithful, zealous, and sanguine men who
were incessantly plotting his restoration. In the midst of those
who would cheerfully lay down their lives for him, and at
times when his affairs wore their most promising appearance,
the Chevalier remained cold and mournful. Long before the
chance of failure in any scheme presented itself to his weakest
partisan, he himself had abandoned all hope. His education
had been of that sternly religious character, from which a boy
of vivacious intellect generally emerges a monster of depravity,
and a boy of ordinary parts a superstitious dotard. His mother
and her priests had done their best to eradicate from his mind
any strength it may have originally possessed. He had been
taught to look to the Church for guidance in every step. His
dependence on others was, in fact, complete. His conscience
impelled him to be perpetually consulting his confessor. He
seems never to have made a movement in his relations with the
world except at the instigation of some counsellor.*
For a long time past the presiding spirit at St. Germains had
been the Earl of Middleton ; and a servant more able or
energetic the Stuarts could not have possessed. His functions
had been, on the one hand, to keep up a correspondence with
the Jacobites of England and Scotland, and on the other to ply
the ministers of Louis with continual solicitations for assistance
in schemes of invasion. Upon Marlborough and Godolphin
his agents kept up a close watch. What course these two all-
powerful ministers would take when the time came for deciding,
was a problem which the Court of St. Germains seems to have
been never weary of discussing. They openly supported the
claims of Hanover : they were evidently bent on ingratiating
themselves with the Electoral family ; yet they seldom let slip
an opportunity for transmitting assurances of their fidelity, in
spite of all appearances, to the dynasty they had formerly
served. The object of Marlborough and Godolphin in this
double dealing, and the object of several other men who had
borne a prominent share in the Revolution, and who pursued a
similar course, it now requires but little ingenuity to divine.
While doing all in their power to ensure the succession of the
* Bolingbroke in his Letter to Sir William Wyndham enlarges on the
character of the Pretender, and his perpetual dread of hell-fire.

22 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Hanoverians, they thought it prudent to keep open a back
door to the forgiveness of the Stuarts. Who could say what
might happen, what changes might come over the national
feelings — nay, what were the national feelings towards the
exiled family at that moment ? How small had seemed the
chances that the posterity of Charles I. would regain the throne
up to a few months of the family being restored ! Should the
Stuarts again recover the hearts of their subjects, the position
of the leading Revolutionists would become almost as dan
gerous as was that of the Bradshaws, Iretons, and Ludlows,
in 1660. Situated, therefore, as were the statesmen of the
reigns of William and Anne, it is not strange that, while
faithfully serving the sovereign in possession, they should have
done their best to provide for contingencies. They had staked
heavily upon an event so doubtful as the turn of public opinion ;
and should it prove that they had staked unfortunately, the
consequences to themselves would be ruin, and not improbably
a traitor's death upon the scaffold. The Stuarts themselves
were not for one moment deceived by the professions of Marl
borough and Godolphin ; but they received them with a show
of graciousness in the fear lest, if such men should consider
their cases beyond hope, they would throw themselves un
reservedly into the cause of their rivals. The plain inference
to be drawn from the conduct of the two friends is, that it was
their intention to exert themselves to secure the succession of
the Hanoverians up to the very moment of perceiving that the
tide was turning irresistibly in favour of the Stuarts. They
would then have transferred their weight to the other scale,
have been the first to welcome the restored monarch, and would
have bewailed the hard fate which had compelled them to
serve usurpers against their consciences.
The state in which Scotland was reported to be during 1706
aroused at the Court of St. Germains hopes that were not un
reasonable. All the Jacobite nobles, who kept up communica
tions with the exiled family, were confident that the entire
population would rise the instant that the lawful sovereign set
foot in the country. At the very least, the most warlike por
tion of the inhabitants, the clans of the midland and the dis
affected enthusiasts of the western shires, might be depended-

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 23
upon to take arms for him. But the nobles almost invariably
added that it was necessary that the King should be accom
panied by some regular force to enable him to make good his
landing, to beat off the few regiments that would be immedi
ately brought against him, to seize a few strongholds, and to
form the nucleus of an army. It would be also, they stated,
a prudent measure if, in view of the poverty of the country,
his Majesty came provided with a considerable supply of arms
and a sum of money.
The person who was most frequently charged to communi
cate to James the loyalty and advice of his adherents, was an
Englishman, or perhaps a Scotchman, named Hooke. This
man had been formerly a Protestant and a chaplain in the
service of the Duke of Monmouth, had accompanied his master
to the field of Sedgmoor, and had been taken prisoner. His
confinement in the Tower was not, however, of long duration.
He passed over to France, flung off his sacred office and his
religion together, and accepted a commission in the army of
Louis. His Majesty nevertheless preferred to employ Colonel
Hooke in a diplomatic rather than in a military capacity. In
French circles he was considered to be the best informed of all
his companions in exile about the mysteries of English and
Scotch affairs, and he certainly spoke upon the subject with
much ability. He was held in high esteem by some of the
greatest noblemen of France, so high, indeed, as to injure his
credit at St. Germains, where Hooke was suspected of being
more a Frenchman than a Jacobite.
This man it was who first drew the attention of the French
ministers to the advantages their master might reap by send
ing an expedition to Scotland and setting that kingdom against
England. If, he represented, the Queen were given a serious in
surrection to quell, she would certainly be in no condition to send
soldiers to Flanders or Spain ; and without the active support
of England, the Dutch and the Emperor would scarcely be able
to continue the war through another campaign. Pontchartrain,
Chamillart, Madame de Maintenon were all talked over in suc
cession : but some time elapsed before anyone had the courage
to mention the scheme to Louis, His Ministers well knew how
completely experience had disgusted him with enterprises, of

24 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
this nature, and were not without apprehensions of incurring
his anger if they opened their lips upon such subjects again.
When the project was at length communicated to the King,
he received the suggestion coldly, although, it should seem,
without expressing direct disapprobation. He had no faith in
such daring and hazardous schemes : he knew nothing of the
state of public feeling in Scotland, nor could his Ministers
enlighten him satisfactorily upon this point ; for the conditions
of society in the heart of Africa were about as familiar to
Ohamillart as the political views entertained by the inhabi
tants of North Britain. But he found that his guests at St.
Germains had set their hearts upon an invasion. Middleton
was continually urging upon the Ministers that this was the
favourable moment. The King's own circumstances, moreover,
at the close of 1706, were such as might well tempt him to
adopt a desperate remedy. He decided, therefore, not to reject
the scheme too hastily. Hooke was summoned to the royal
presence, and closely questioned. His Majesty told him he
wished for more precise information as to the Scottish nobles
who would support the cause of James. He should like to
see the'f handwriting, and to have it stated in clear terms
what force they could bring into the field. Instructions were
accordingly made out for Hooke to repair to Scotland, to see
the Jacobite leaders, to obtain from them specific engagements,
and to return and make his report.
Hooke, furnished with credentials from the King of France
and with letters from James to several members of the nobility,
reached Scotland at the end of March, 1707, and found the
country in a perfect frenzy of indignation against England.
He at once put himself into communication with the Jacobite
leaders. Some of them, as the Countess Dowager of Errol,
¦and her son, the Earl, were so eager for rebellion that they
were ready to promise anything and sign anything. But most
of the superior nobles were disposed to be very cautious in their
dealings with Hooke. Private advices, it seems, had been sent
by some persons at the Court of St. Germains that the Colonel's
mission was much more in the interest of the King of France
than in that of the King of England, and that it behoved
people to be careful how they put themselves into danger

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 25
merely to satisfy the curiosity of his most Christian Majesty.
Athol, the most powerful of the Jacobite nobles, would only
send a representative to Hooke. Hamilton took to his bed as
soon as the Colonel's feet touched Scottish soil, and although
he also sent a representative to express his transports at being
thought worthy of a letter from his sovereign, he deplored that
sickness prevented him from receiving the bearer. Both repre
sentatives had the same question to put to Hooke. They desired
to be informed as to what his Christian Majesty was willing to
provide, and the Colonel was not a little embarrassed to answer.
He had been charged in the most express manner to make no
promises which the King, on account of his large expenses
elsewhere, might be unable to fulfill. He was reduced, there
fore, to say that he had come not to make proposals, but to
receive them. In spite, however, of the little satisfaction he
was able to give as to the intentions of the French king, Hooke
¦succeeded in getting about a dozen of the Scotch nobles to join
in a memorial to Louis, and these took upon themselves, with
what authority was only known to themselves, to sign as
proxies for about a dozen more. As the whole population, it
was stated in this memorial, would certainly rise the moment
King James landed in the country, it would be easy to select
from the mass an army of twenty-five thousand men. Such a
force would be sufficient to overthrow the Government of Scot
land, and to attempt the invasion of England. But it was
represented with much humility, the nation was very poor.
The calamities of bad harvests and the artifices of the English
had combined to drain the country of specie. The advance of
a hundred thousand pistoles would be requisite to enable the
army to march southward, and furthermore a monthly subsidy
must be paid with regularity to keep the army together. Arms
and ammunition, cannon and artillerymen, officers and engi
neers were all greatly needed. A force of regular troops would
also be necessary to protect the King upon his landing. Of
how many men this force should consist, the memorialists re
spectfully left it to his Christian Majesty to determine.
The substance of this document, with which Hooke returned
immediately to France, must have dashed to the ground any
hopes built by the French ministers on a scheme of invasion.

26 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
For while they, on the one hand, were indisposed to launch into
any expense, or incur any serious risk, it was clear, on the
other, that the Scotch rebels looked to them for everything.
Louis, nevertheless, determined that the enterprise should be
attempted. His persistence in an undertaking which really
wore a most unpromising appearance has been attributed to
different motives. The state of his fortunes was becoming more
and more desperate ; and he may well have imagined that an
insurrection in Scotland, if it could be excited, would paralyse
the energies of his most obstinate and powerful foe. But it is
not improbable that a chivalrous desire to benefit the Stuarts
was, after all, his leading inducement. The movements of the
allied armies, however, kept him too much occupied during the
remainder of the year to do anything in furtherance of the
project. His orders to prepare an armament at Dunkirk were
issued in the beginning of 1708. Hardly more than two or
three persons were admitted to the secret. No official informa
tion was sent to the Pretender himself that an expedition
was being organised in his favour, until all was nearly ready.
Preparations for the journey to Dunkirk were then commenced
at St. Germains, on the pretext that the King of England
designed to pass some time with Vendome at his country seat
at Anet. Louis paid the young prince a visit upon the eve
of his departure, and presented him with a sword. James
appeared overwhelmed at receiving this fresh proof of the
munificence of his generous host. He vowed that, if ever
fortune should restore him to his throne, he would return and
render his thanks in person. The great monarch listened to
this outpouring of gratitude with his usual stately composure.
"The best wish I can form for your Majesty," he replied, "is
that I may never see you again."
To preserve his incognito upon the journey it was decided
that James should, until the time of embarking, lay aside the
style of King of England, and pass as the Chevalier de St.
George. But the moment he reached Dunkirk all secrecy was
at an end. There he found a magnificent equipage awaiting
him, sumptuous tents, services of gold and silver plate, and a
company of richly-habited dragoons, who were to serve him as
body-guard. Standards were borne about emblazoned on one

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 27
side with the arms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and
upon the other with boastful mottoes. All those doubts which
had for weeks perplexed the spies of England and Holland as
to the object of the preparations were at once removed. The
report that the Pretender was in Dunkirk, and that the expe-
pedition was on the point of sailing to the coast of Scotland,
spread far and wide, reached Cadogan at the Hague and Byng
at sea. All was nevertheless re.ady for departure when James reached
the town. The troops had been embarked, a large supply of
arms and a sum of money were on board, when Fourbin dis
covered, to his astonishment, that the port was beset by an
English fleet. His first conception was that Sir John Leake,
who had sailed for Portugal some time back, must have received
notice of the intended expedition, and that he had returned to
prevent its leaving the harbour. The bold and ingenious
Admiral consoled himself with the reflection that, at this season
of fogs, dark nights, and tempestuous seas, it would be no
difficult task to slip through the ranks of his opponents. But
the incident, by compelling him to refer to Versailles, caused
delay, and during the delay the luckless Pretender sickened
with the measles. The Admiral was in despair. He was
impatient to sail. Foul weather had driven the English ships
out of sight. He knew that the secret of the expedition must
by this time have transpired, and that every day he lingered
in Dunkirk gave time to the enemy to strengthen his defences.
Yet the royal physicians persisted in maintaining that, if their
patient were put on board in the state in which he was, it
would be at the peril of his life; and James's attendants urged
him with affectionate importunity to be guided by their advice,
and remain on shore. Again Fourbin was obliged to com
municate with Versailles. Louis, by his answer, referred the
decision upon this matter to the Chevalier himself; and James,
buoyed up with the hope of regaining his crown, at once
ordered his servants to convey him on board.*
Such is the history of an enterprise which, but for the extra
ordinary energy shown by that very department of Government
* Hooke, Secret History ; Macpherson, Papers ; Lockhart j St. Simon ; Burnet ;
Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.,

28 HISTORY OF GEEAT BRITAIN
where energy might have been least expected, the Admiralty;
would not improbably have been the means of excluding that
dynasty of sovereigns which has since 1714 reigned in the
British islands. A careful consideration of the circumstances
under which the Stuart princes subsequently endeavoured to
recover the throne, will perhaps incline the student to the
belief that, neither in 1715 nor in 1745, were their chances of
success so great as in 1708. It need not be assumed that a
majority, or even a large minority of the Scotch sympathised
with the Pretender. His religion alone sufficed to exclude
him from the affections of the more sober part of the popula
tion. But the rage against England was intense and universal.
Thousands of staunch Protestants would, at this period, have
joined the ranks of James and the French, out of mere lust
for revenge, in the hope of dealing a blow at their oppressors,
of throwing the southern country into confusion. The national
fury which, in 1708, stood at boiling-point, began from that
time to cool ; and we may feel assured that the men who, in
1745, took arms for Charles Edward, were in general sincere
Jacobites. But when the Scottish nobles informed Louis, in
1707, that the whole population would rise as soon as the King
landed, they were not merely uttering the visionary predictions
of sanguine conspirators.
In 1708, as upon the occasion of the invasions of 1715 and
1745, the English Government was, owing to the Parliamentary
and popular objections to standing armies, utterly unprepared
for an emergency. Marlborough indeed, the moment' his sus
picions were aroused by the preparations at Dunkirk, sent
orders to Cadogan to keep ten battalions in readiness for sail
ing ; and this force did actually reach the Tyne a short time
after the retreat of the French fleet. But Fourbin's troops, had
he been able to land them, would alone have outnumbered this
body. If we take into consideration the proportions which the
insurrections assumed in 1715 and 1745, when the Stuart
princes were unassisted by foreign troops, and remember that
all the motives which induced men to take arms at those periods
existed in still greater intensity in 1708, the conclusion can
hardly be avoided that, if the disembarkation had been effected,
the whole Scottish nation .would in a very short time' have

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 29
embraced the cause of the Pretender. It might not have been
necessary to the success of the enterprise, as far as James was
concerned, that there should have been any invasion of Eng
land. The aspect of the dethroned monarch, once more great
and powerful, and already master of one of his kingdoms,
would probably have exercised a magical influence over opinions
in this country. What we know of the secret dealings of many
of the leading statesmen in regard to the exiled family, enables
us to form a judgment of what was passing in hundreds of
thousands of minds. Innumerable consciences halting be
tween devotion to hereditary right and the dread of Popery,
would have hesitated no longer when the cause of James
seemed likely to be the winning one. It is indeed impossible
to peruse the literature even of a much later date without
noticing the hankering after a restoration which existed in the
Tory mind, although that hankering may have been excited
less by scruples about divine right than a wish to despite the
Whigs and Hanoverians.
While James was at Dunkirk, he sent forward a messenger
to give his friends notice that the expedition was on the point
of sailing. The intelligence was rapidly disseminated among
the Jacobites of Scotland, and the anxiety to obtain further
accounts disposed people to credulity. . Two or three zealous
gentlemen of Stirlingshire were deluded by a false rumour that
the King had actually landed, mustered their tenants and took
the road to Edinburgh, a mistake which afterwards cost them
dearly.* Upon the day when news came that Fourbin's ships
had been seen from Dunbar, the excitement in the capital
reached its height. The Jacobites gave free vent to their joy :
the Ministers and office-holders could not conceal their alarm
Leven, as he walked the streets, was terrified by the insolence
of the people he met. Fully expecting that a landing would
be attempted, he drew up his force on Leith sands. Accounts
then came that the French were in retreat, and that Byng was
following them ; but for four and twenty hours longer the state
of suspense continued. At length some large ships appeared
in. the firth, which the citizens at first took for Fourbin's.
They proved to be the forerunners of the English fleet.
* Trials of Stirling and others in Howell's Stale Trials,

30 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
The Ministers now began to exercise with vigour the extra
ordinary powers with which the Executive had been armed by
Parliament. Within the space of ten days about thirty
arrests were made from among the nobility and gentry of
Scotland : but it was regarded as a somewhat significant
circumstance that the suspicions of the Government fell not
more frequently upon persons who were notoriously Jacobites
than upon persons who had rendered themselves conspicuous
by their opposition to the Union. Fletcher of Saltoun, who
would assuredly have done nothing to promote the interests of
any earthly monarch, and Lord Belhaven, upon whose loyalty
no doubt had hitherto rested, were secured at the same time
as the Earl of Errol, the most zealous and active of all the
adherents of James. The prisoners, after having suffered con
finement during several weeks in the castles of Stirling and
Edinburgh, were sent up to London under a guard. But
proofs of their complicity in any scheme of rebellion there
were absolutely none. There was no pretext for detaining
them, and they were speedily released upon giving bail to
appear again if required. The Ministers had not acted with
much discretion. They had heaped fresh fuel upon the flames
of indignation which filled Scotland. This, it was said, Was
an example of what might be expected from the Union. The
Scottish nobility, it seemed, were on mere suspicion to be
dragged in chains from one end of the island to the other,
and exposed to all the raillery and impertinence of an English
mob. Athol was summoned to appear before the Privy Council,
but was permitted to evade the command by pleading indispo
sition. Hamilton was arrested in England. The conduct of
this cunning and treacherous man was, as usual, an enigma to
all parties. The most intelligible explanation is that he was
endeavouring to satisfy at the same time the Government and
the Jacobites. At the end of January, just at the period when
the preparations were commencing at Dunkirk, he found that
his presence was urgently needed at his English estates. He
submitted his case to two or three Jacobite friends, and re
quested their advice whether, in the uncertainty in which
matters then were, he should act prudently in leaving Scotland.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 31
If his Majesty, he said, were to land while he was in parts
where he could -render him no assistance, he should never for
give himself. He would remain at any sacrifice to his personal
interests, if his friends thought there was the smallest chance
of his services being soon required. As not a rumour of the
projected expedition had yet reached the gentlemen Hamilton
consulted, they saw no objection to his departure, and the
Duke at once set off for England with his whole family.
Scarcely, however, had he crossed the border, when a mes
senger overtook him with a letter containing intelligence
of the preparations going on in Dunkirk, and intimating
that the King might be expected to arrive from day to day.
Hamilton was, or feigned to be, in great perplexity. He
showed the letter to Lockhart of Carnwath, who was travel
ling with him, and desired his advice. He was unwilling, he
said, to proceed on his journey under such circumstances; but,
on the other hand, it was but too probable that the secret of
the expedition had by this time been revealed to the Govern
ment. To turn back would simply attract suspicion to himself,
and he would be thrown into prison. He thought, moreover,
that he could render his Majesty assistance just as efficient in
Lancashire as in Scotland. Lockhart, whose character as an
honest but extremely credulous Jacobite, may be estimated
from his writings, and whose admiration of Hamilton's abilities
and manners disposed him to an unbounded faith in his in
tegrity, coincided with this reasoning, which certainly did not
want plausibility. The result was that the Duke continued
his journey, submitted to a brief confinement in his own house.
to which the Government thought it necessary to subject him,
and emerged from this gentle captivity in the good graces of
both parties. The Ministers had no grounds for suspecting his
complicity in the scheme of the Pretender : the Jacobites were
willing to believe that his absence from Scotland at so critical
a conjuncture was the mere effect of chance.*
A history of Great Britain at this period would be incom
plete that omitted all mention of certain occurrences, which,
frivolous as they really were, no doubt engrossed as large a
* Lockhart' s Memoirs.

32 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
share of public attention as the subjects of the war and the
Union. Towards the end of 1706 three Cevennois came to
London, established themselves in the neighbourhood of Soho
Square, and at once attracted attention by the novelty of their
religious worship. They gave out that they were subject to
visitations from the Holy Spirit. When under the influence of
this tremendous power, they presented all the appearances of
persons suffering from convulsive fits. Their countenances
were distorted, their bodies writhed, their limbs were flung
wildly about, and from their lips came unintelligible sounds
and short incoherent sentences, which their followers termed
prophecies, and took down in writing. The presence in
England of these suggestive strangers seems to have arisen
from the following circumstances. The practice of prophesying
had been long pursued in France. The Protestant districts of
that kingdom had become, in fact, overstocked with prophets,
and the business had begun to lose its attraction or its pecu
niary value through the commonness of the gift. Under these
conditions Elias Marion, a prophet perhaps endowed with more
worldly shrewdness than the generality of his brethren, deemed
it advisable to experience a call to a land where he may have
heard that money was plentiful and credulity boundless. He
came with two disciples, and the success of the three men must
have even exceeded their anticipations. Large crowds attended
their exhibitions. Imitators, seduced by the ease with which
notoriety could be attained, sprang up around them. Their
converts included two gentlemen of rank and wealth, upon
whom a liberal education had been bestowed in vain, an author,
a chemist, and a professor of mathematics. Divines of the
Established Church, anxious to recover their influence over
their wandering flocks, laboured in pamphlets to convince the
people that the prophets were false ones, that they were
Socinians in disguise, that instead of being inspired by the
Holy Ghost they were inspired by the devil. Philosophers
descanted calmly upon the amazing folly of the vulgar. But
in spite, of their critics, Marion and his disciples continued to
prosper. They published a volume of their prophecies. A
member of the brotherhood happening to die, it was affirmed
that he would rise again that day fortnight ; but this prediction

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

33

a strong band of unbelievers prevented from being fulfilled by
stationing themselves as guards about the grave.*
It is of little importance to examine the pretensions of these
fanatics. The religious mountebanks of one generation present
but little difference from the mountebanks of another. But it is
of great importance to notice the manner in which the autho
rities of the land decided to deal with such persons, for that
manner affords a fair test of the measure of wisdom possessed
by the age.
A respectable congregation of French refugees which met in
the chapel of the Savoy, fearing lest the freaks of their country
men should bring discredit upon themselves, made haste to
signify their disapprobation of Marion and his disciples. But
for the opinions of the Church the prophets cared nothing.
Their teaching, if it had any meaning at all, was designed to
upset the government by priests, and to establish the sovereignty
of the Holy Ghost, or, in other words, the perfect indepen
dence of individuals in spiritual matters. They continued,
therefore, to exhibit. The crowds that flocked to see them
became greater and greater. Frequent tumults arose between
believers and unbelievers ; and the ministers and elders of the
Protestant congregation were annoyed by a vague report, cur
rent in good circles, that all this uproar was excited by the
French refugees. They at length took legal advice. By the
common law of England, they found, any person who pretends
to an extraordinary commission from Heaven, and frightens the
King's subjects with denunciations of judgments, may be
indicted as an impostor and condemned to fine, imprisonment,
and corporal punishment.! Under this law, which bears a
shocking resemblance to that law of Moses for the alleged
infringement of which the Author of our religion suffered death
upon the cross, Marion and his disciples were, upon the
information of their own countrymen, arraigned, convicted,
and condemned to stand in the pillory. They underwent
their sentence, as might be expected, with the triumphant
* Boyer; Lettres Historiques; Oldmixon. The volume of prophecies is
called ' clavis prophetica," and although unintelligible to rational minds mav be
interesting to the spiritually gifted.
t Jacob's Law Dictionary. There is also a statute, 5 Elizabeth, c. 15, on the
subject. VOL. II. D

34 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
meekness of saints and martyrs, and excited a great deal of
sympathy. That men should be set in the pillory merely for threatening
society with hell a little too roughly seems, no doubt, a harsh
punishment. Yet the circumstance that the punishment was
limited to one which, although degrading was not painful, is of
itself a proof of the growing lenience of the authorities towards
offences against religion. Only half a century before a mad
man, named James Nayler, for arrogating to himself the titles
of Christ, had been sentenced to stand in the pillory, to have
his tongue bored, his cheeks branded, to be whipded through
London and Bristol, and to be imprisoned and kept to hard
labour during the pleasure of Parliament. A century later a
madwoman could announce that she was about to give birth to
the second Shiloh without drawing down upon herself any
punishment at all. The difference between the treatment of
Nayler, Marion, and Southcott satisfactorily registers the pro
gress of cJT;b'sf|.fion in Enp-lanri

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 35

CHAPTER II. - ijc 'f'
The first Parliament which had sate for Great Britain now
drew to a close. The Whigs had throughout the session pre
served and increased their influence, and it cannot be denied
that the ascendant they exercised in both Houses over the
numerous but disorganized Tories had been, exerted most beni-
ficially for the country at a critical period of its history. They
had commenced their work with a strong feeling that they were
unjustly treated in the distribution of those favours that
emanate from the Crown, and under the influence of that feeling
they had for a moment joined hands with the Tories in a
revengeful attack upon the Administration. Had that attack
been successful the consequences to the nation could scarcely
have failed of being disastrous in the extreme. The unfor
tunate predilections of Anne would have had full scope : every
Whig would have been dismissed from power : the new Minis
ters would have been all Tories. In what manner men of the
political opinions of Rochester, Nottingham, and Haversham
would have treated the three great questions of the period , the
Union, the war, and the invasion, is not difficult to surmise.
Against the Union they had protested ; and it is not improbable
that in the divided state of the two nations they might have
contrived to procure its repeal. The war would hardly have
been conducted with much vigour by Ministers who had opposed
it from the beginning. The House of Stuart would hardly
have been resisted with that energy which was shown by
statesmen who were conscious that their offences against that
House were inexpiable, and that their fortunes were indis-
solubly bound up with the continuance of the revolutionary
establishment. Never, in truth, had the administration of Marlborough and
d 2

36 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Godolphin seemed more permanently established, or had the
affairs of the Whigs worn so promising an appearance as at
present. It was now remarked that the Queen, in her public
speeches, used expressions evidently introduced for the express
purpose of conciliating that party which hitherto she had been
known to hold in abhorrence. When the news of the expedi
tion preparing at Dunkirk was communicated to the Parlia
ment, the Lords had sent up an address abounding with
Whiggish recommendations, and Anne's reply had been framed
in a spirit as Whiggish as the authors of the address could
desire. In future, she said, her chief dependence should be
placed upon those who had distinguished themselves by their
zeal for the Revolution and for the Protestant succession.* That
/ the likings and dislikings of Anne had undergone any real
/ change, no one in the least acquainted with her character
could suppose : but it might well be imagined that she had
given up the struggle with the Whigs as hopeless, and would
henceforth bear her fetters with more resignation.
Upon the 1st of April the Parliament was prorogued and
was soon afterwards dissolved by proclamation. Writs for a
new election were issued returnable in July. Up to the close
of the session Marlborough remained in England, striving, no
doubt, as often as opportunity permitted, to recover the place
he had once held in Anne's esteem, and using all his influence
to persuade his wife to behave with a little more gentleness
towards that lady to whose generosity she owed everything she
possessed. His back was hardly turned, however, when the
obstinate and ungrateful termagant despatched to the Queen
a letter which would have irritated the meekest spirit. She
informed Anne that, now her husband had left for Holland,
it was her intention to go into the country. The hard usage
she had undergone, she remarked, was quite sufficient to con
vince her that her attendance at Court was not desired. Had
the letter stopped here it would have only furnished one proof
more of the writer's folly in resigning her chances into the
hands of her rival. But unfortunately avarice was one of her
ruling passions, and she had not the faintest notion of delicacy
to guide her as to the times and seasons for displaying it. It
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 37
seems that she had made up her mind that, rather than not have
her own way in everything, she would fling up her appoint
ments. But the emoluments arising from them she could not
bear to lose. The moment, therefore, that the possibility of
her resigning occurred to her, she had set to importuning the
Queen to grant the reversion of her places to her daughters.
Anne had been fairly teased into acquiescing. She was now
reminded of her promise, and the Duchess audaciously added
an inducement for her fulfilling it. " If your Majesty thinks
fit to dispose of my employments according to the solemn
assurances you have been pleased to give me, you shall meet
with all the submission and acknowledgments imaginable."*
The wonder is, as we peruse the Duchess's letters, how a lady,
even as stupid, placid, and good-natured as Anne, could have
so long endured a companion whose whole soul was '& compound
of arrogance and meanness.
At the close of March, Marlborough crossed the Channel and
found the Hague thronged by representatives from the Courts
of the Allied Powers. Prince Eugene was there for the first
time, and so closely was he pursued by curious Republicans
that, when his Highness sat down to dinner, it was found
necessary to station a guard at his door. A conference was
held between the two generals and deputies from the States-
general : but this was for form's sake only. The real plan
of operations was settled in private between Marlborough,
Eugene, and Heinsius. The scheme made public was, that
while Marlborough remained in charge of the Netherlands,
Eugene should act upon the Moselle with a portion of the
troops with which the Elector of Hanover had for the past
three months kept guard over the Upper Rhine. It was
secretly concerted between the triumvirate that the two com
manders should, after making a few feints, unite their forces
and strike a vigorous blow in the Netherlands, t
There was, however, a difficulty in the way of this arrange
ment. The Elector flew into a passion at the suggestion that
he should divide his forces with Eugene. Three months of
command had convinced George that he was a great general.
* Conduct of the Duchess ; Coxe's Memoirs.
t Coxe's Memoirs ; Lamberty.

38 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Before the resolute attitude he had maintained even the
redoubtable Villars had made haste to recross the Rhine ; and
laurels were, in imagination, fast wreathing around the electoral
brows. That another should reap the harvest of glory which
he had promised to himself was an insupportable thought.
Such was the jealousy he evinced of Eugene that the Prince
despaired of convincing him in which direction lay the interests
of the common cause, and requested the assistance of Marl
borough. It was necessary that both commanders should make
a journey to Hanover for the purpose of soothing the vanity of
the offended potentate. After much conditioning, George was
prevailed upon to give up a portion of his troops to Eugene.
The two commanders, however, did not sufficiently appreciate
his retentiveness to entrust him with the secret of the ulterior
operations they designed. "We thought it best," wrote
Marlborough to Godolphin, "not to acquaint the Elector with
our project for joining the two armies. When this is put in
execution, I expect he will be very angry. But since the good
of the campaign depends upon secrecy, we must bear his indig
nation with patience."*
This difficulty overcome, the two separated. Eugene returned
to Vienna to infuse, if possible, a little of his own energy into
the counsels of the Emperor. Marlborough, towards the end
of May, took the field, a few miles from Brussels, with an
army amounting to fifty-five thousand infantry and half that
number of cavalry. Over this large body of men he was to
have unlimited control ; for the States, in better humour this
year than the last, had been prevailed upon to give instructions
to their field deputies to offer no opposition to the Captain-
general's designs.
Yet, promising as seemed the military prospects, Marl
borough commenced the campaign under a load of anxiety.
Hardly had he set foot in Holland before Godolphin had been
entreating him to return home and speak to Mrs. Morley, who
had again turned as obstinate as ever. The Whigs, consider
ing themselves greatly underpaid for their services in the last
Parliament, were pressing new demands upon the distracted

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 39
Treasurer. Somers, it seemed, the intellectual prince of that
terrible set of atheists and republicans, was now the person
who was to be forced upon the shuddering sovereign, and Anne
was determined not to give way. The office into which his
party wished to thrust him was that of President of the
Council, an office then enjoyed by the Tory Lord Pembroke.
The matter had been opened to Anne before the departure of
Marlborough, and the passive manner in which she had at first
received it had encouraged the friends to hope that there would
be no difficulty. But no sooner was Marlborough gone than her
demeanour underwent a change. It was in vain that Godol
phin spent hours in trying to convince her of the necessity of
gratifying the Whigs. What had Lord Pembroke done, she
a«ked, that he should be should be turned out to make room for
Lord Somers ? She was reminded that, as far as Pembroke
was concerned, he might still remain a Privy Councillor. Then
she retorted that there were too many persons in the Council
already. At length she declared that she would write to Mr.
Freeman for his advice, and she performed her promise in a
way that rendered it not a little embarrassing to that counsellor
to reply. She hoped, she said, he would not join in the
attempt to introduce Lord Somers into her service. It would
be utter destruction to her. She would never consent to it.
But the answer of Mr. Freeman brought her no comfort. A
series of arguments, conveyed in respectful but firm language,
concluded with an entreaty that she would follow the advice of
the Lord Treasurer, who would never have any thought but
for her honour and interest.*
Marlborough had indeed reason to apprehend serious conse
quences from the Queen's present frame of mind. Reports
that her Majesty was about to change her Ministers, and that
her real advisers were even now Tories, had filled the politicians
of Holland with dismay. Scarcely was the Duke returned from
Hanover than four burgomasters from Amsterdam waited upon
him, and expressed a hope that, if no propositions of peace
came from France before July, her Majesty would have no
objection to join the States-general in making propositions to
* Godolphin to Marlborough, April 19 — 30; April 22, May 3 ; the Queen to
Marlborough, April 22, May 3 ; Marlborough to the Queen, May 9—20.

40 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
France. That a peace party had existed in the United Pro
vinces from the very commencement of the war, and that its
numbers had been continually increasing notwithstanding the
glorious military successes which had been achieved, were
matters sufficiently well known to all the world. But it was a
new and an ominous circumstance that the cry for peace should
at length have been taken up by the citizens of Amsterdam.
The inveteracy nourished in that proud city against the
French tyrant, whose legions had once threatened it with
pillage and destruction, had become proverbial. It was indeed
unaccountable that the leading men of Amsterdam could desire
to stop short in that career of retribution which they were
now pursuing with the fairest prospects in a military point of
view, unless doubts had arisen in their minds as to the depend
ence which they could place upon their Allies. That such was
the case, however, was now made plain by the conversation of
the burgomasters. Private letters from England, it appeared,
had given them accounts which were only too true of what was
passing in that country. The Duchess, the Treasurer, even
the Commander-in-Chief himself, were all out of favour : there
must soon be a change of Ministers : the Queen's sympathies
were all on the side of the Tories, notwithstanding any expres
sions which might appear in her public speeches : the parties
who would probably succeed to power were more interested in
bringing about a restoration of the Stuarts than in prosecuting
the war with France : England would secede from the con
federacy and leave her allies to get out of the contest in the
best manner they could. It is not strange that, upon such
advices as these, a vehement desire should have been excited in
every prudent Hollander to arrange matters with France while
a good settlement could still be made.
The substance of this conversation with the burgomasters
Marlborough reported to the Queen, in the hope that it might
open her eyes to the mischief she was doing. But the hope
was a very faint one. " I wish my letter may do good," he
wrote to the Duchess ; " but I fear all is undone." Godolphin
had made, by this time, another vexatious discovery. Prince
George, it seemed, was interesting himself in politics, and was in
the habit of offering to her Majesty his sentiments upon divers

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 41
weighty matters. That the Prince was only the mouthpiece of
some one more energetic than himself could admit of no
doubt, nor could there be much doubt that the prompter was
George Churchill. While, therefore, Harley was instilling his
views into the Queen through Mrs. Masham, Churchill was
fostering the Queen's dislike of the Whigs through the medium
of the Prince. This new grievance was at once communicated
to Marlborough, who did his best to remedy it by writing to
his brother.
Meantime military operations had commenced in the Nether
lands. The first movements of the Allied army were merely of
a defensive character, as Marlborough was determined to set
nothing to the hazard until he was joined by Eugene. The
French, on their part, although somewhat stronger than the
Allies, showed no desire of seeking an engagement. Vendome
still retained the command, and had some cause to flatter him
self that, in the preceding campaign, uneventful as it was, he
had been really the gainer, inasmuch as time had been afforded
to his troops to recover that efficiency and confidence which
had been so greatly impaired by the disasters of 1706. But a
change had been made in Vendome's position, which was little
to the satisfaction of the clever but conceited Frenchman.
Louis, untaught by the misfortunes which had resulted from
sending Orleans to command in Italy, still adhered to the
opinion that the presence of a prince of the royal blood must
have a salutary effect upon soldiers, and had therefore adopted
the course of sending his grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, to
the army of Flanders with the powers of generalissimo. This
arrangement had rendered necessary a change in the command
of the French armies all round. In the first place, the Elector
of Bavaria, whose dignity was too high to admit the superiority
of the Duke, had been prevailed upon to leave the Netherlands,
where his influence over the population he had governed for
many years was considerable. A good round sum had been
paid his Highness to induce him to assume the command of the
troops on the Rhine. Another place had in consequence to be
found for Villars, who absolutely refused to serve again with
the personage to whom he ascribed all his disappointments in
1703. The Marshal was loud in his complaints at being trans-

42 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
ferred from a region he had studied minutely, and from soldiers
who almost worshipped him, to Dauphin^, where he was a
stranger to the country and the army. Berwick, the con
queror at Almanza, who had by years of application acquired
an unrivalled acquaintance with the peculiarities of Spanish
warfare, was summoned to the Rhine for the assistance of the
Elector, and the French troops in Spain were thus left entirely
in the hands of the inexperienced Orleans.
It was very soon apparent that the project to make way for
which so much positive harm had been done, was likely to be
attended with anything but advantage to the French army of
the Netherlands. A more ill-assorted couple of commanders
than the elegant, gentle, and retiring Prince, and the insolent,
pushing, filthy Vendome, could not well be imagined. Bur
gundy at once conceived such horror of his colleague that he
could scarcely endure his presence. The counsels by which he
suffered himself to be swayed were given by officers of more
courtly demeanour than the Marshal, and by his favourite
attendants. Vendome, on his side, was irritated to such a
degree by constant opposition, that he would have looked with
delight upon a disaster to the army, if he could have fastened
the disgrace of it upon the Prince. The army indeed was in
splendid condition. Chamillart himself had visited Flanders,
and inspected the magazines. All the renowned regiments,
the household troops, the gendarmerie, the carabineers, were
present, restored to their full complement, and apparently to
their former confidence. But at the council board there was
everlasting contention, an ominous presage for an army which
would soon have to encounter victorious troops led on by com
manders who worked together with an unanimity as complete
as if one soul animated two bodies.*
Together with Burgundy, Louis had sent a younger grand
son, the Duke of Berry, to receive his first lessons in the art of
war. There was a third prince in the camp, whose name can
never fail to arouse in Englishmen a degree of interest and
compassion. James had, upon returning from his unsuccessful
voyage to the coast of Scotland, requested permission to serve
a campaign with his Majesty's troops as a volunteer. Once
* St. Simon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 43
more he laid aside his lofty title of King of England, and
re-assumed that of the Chevalier de St. George ; and so strictly
was his incognito respected as to scandalise some persons in the
courtly camp of Burgundy, who thought that a kind of dese
cration was committed when a royal personage mixed upon
equal terms with people whose ancestors had never possessed a
crown. His affability and his engaging manners won him
many friends, especially among the Irish regiments, at the
head of which he occasionally placed himself : but no mention
was made of any exploit of his in French despatches.* About
the same time that the Chevalier entered the camp of Burgundy
and Vendome, his rival, the Electoral Prince of Hanover, born
under a more auspicious planet, arrived at the camp of Marl
borough to make acquaintance with the English officers, and to
display his courage in the eyes of his destined subjects.
It had been expected, when the arrangements for the cam
paign were concerted at the Hague, that Eugene would have
succeeded in getting his army together by the beginning of June.
But the calculation had been made without adequate allowance
for the time invariably lost in haggling with those German
princes whose duty it was to supply the troops. In the present
instance the Elector Palatine, whose contingent was ten
thousand men, one-third of the entire army, caused a delay of
a whole month. He had some time since laid claim to the
Upper Palatinate, and thinking this a good opportunity for
pressing his suit at the Imperial court, refused to allow his
troops to stir until every ceremony connected with his investi
ture had been completed. At length Eugene, at the earnest
entreaties of Marlborough, ordered the force he had actually
collected to move towards Maestricht, leaving the Palatines to
follow. It was now time to undeceive the various authorities
who had sanctioned the formation of an army upon the Moselle,
under the impression that operations were really intended in
that quarter. Marlborough undertook this task himself. He
wrote to the States-general. Reflection, he said, had convinced
him of the slight probability there was that the army of Prince
Eugene would be sufficiently large to act with any chance of
* St. Simon. "II eut chez liii une table de seize couverts oil il invitait et ou
il fut tres-gracieux, et mangea chez les officiers generaux qui Ten prierent."

44 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
success upon the Moselle. He had thought, therefore, that it
would be to the advantage of the common cause if his Highness
joined him in Brabant. The Prince was of the same opinion,
and his army was already pushing along the road by forced
marches. As soon as the junction was effected a movement
would be'made against the enemy.
But before Eugene could reach Marlborough some very
serious events had occurred in Flanders. The French had,
since their expulsion, two years before, from the conquered
towns, never ceased intriguing with the inhabitants, and a
great many of the inhabitants were but too well disposed in
their favour. It is no slight evidence of the oppressive rule
which had been inaugurated by the Dutch, to find a large
proportion of the citizens actually regretting the days when
their persons and their property had been at the mercy of the
most rapacious soldiery in Europe.* Count Bergueich, who
had formerly held office under the Elector of Bavaria, had, at
the commencement of the year, formed a widely ramified con
spiracy for the overthrow of the new governors, t The news of
Fourbin's landing in Scotland, it was said, was to be the signal
for a rising of the people in every town. Marlborough was
well aware of the state of public feeling in the Netherlands.
He had many times represented to the authorities in Holland
the impolicy of acting the tyrant's part in a country the
population of which had so frequently shown a determination
not to submit to oppression. It might seem, therefore, unlike
his usual caution to leave cities where the French would
probably be welcomed as deliverers without garrisons at all
adequate to an emergency. The defence of Ghent was
abandoned to a small force of cavalry under General Murray,
quartered at a few miles distance. Bruges had not even this
protection. The explanation is, that Marlborough needed
every soldier to raise his army to a footing of something like
equality with that of Burgundy and Vendome, and trusted to
his vigilant watch over the enemy's movements to prevent a
* Marlborough to Godolphin, July 9-20. "The States have used this
country so ill, that I noways doubt but that all the towns in this country will
play us the same trick as Uhent has done, whenever they have it in their
power. J
t Boyer ; Burnet ; Campagne de Flaudre.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 45
surprise of the cities. For once, however, his good fortune
failed him. A clever project for capturing Ghent and Bruges
was set on foot in the French camp with so much secrecy that
it was imparted by the two commanders only to the officers who
were to carry it into execution, and to two or three favoured
persons besides, of whom the Chevalier de St. George was one.
The head-quarters of the Allied army had been for nearly a
month at Louvain. Those of Burgundy and Vendome were at
B raine la Lew, about twenty miles off, to the south of the
forest of Soignies. Each army was, in fact, waiting to see
what the other would do. On the 4th of July two detachments
left the French camp, and in the evening the main body broke
up and marched away in a westerly direction. It was mid
night before intelligence of this movement reached Marl
borough ; but so well were his troops prepared that by four in
the morning the whole army was advancing in pursuit. That
some design against the cities of Flanders was in contemplation,
he could not doubt. His hope was by a rapid march to over
take the enemy, and by threatening an attack, to compel
Burgundy and Vendome to recall their detachments. Before
night the Allied army was in the neighbourhood of Brussels,
thus insuring the safety of that place. But the next day
brought tidings of two disasters. Both Ghent and Bruges had
fallen into the power of the French.
It seems that just at daybreak on the morning of the 5th,
five or six soldiers presented themselves at one of the gates of
Ghent. They informed the guard they were deserters from the
French army, and that they were exhausted with fatigue and
thirst. They threw themselves on the ground, and begged for
a drop of water. The good-natured Flemish militia men on
duty were overcome with compassion. In a short time they
were drinking and chatting merrily enough with the strangers.
Then several more Frenchmen came up, pretended to recognize
their comrades, and were invited to join the revel. At length
when the guard was nearly intoxicated, a company of a hundred
men made its appearance, and seized the gate. The alarm was
given : the tocsin was sounded ; and the citizens poured out of
their houses to see what was the matter. But by this time it
was too late to offer resistance. So many companies had already

46 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
passed through the captured gate, that the French in the city
were two thousand strong. La Faille, the commander,
summoned the magistrates to the town hall, and produced to
them a proclamation signed by the Elector of Bavaria con
doning all past offences of the inhabitants of Ghent. The
magistrates, secretly rejoiced at the opportunity of escaping
from the irritating tyranny of the Dutch, needed little persua
sion to come to an amicable arrangement ; and soon the French
were in quiet possession of the entire city with the exception of
the castle, where a small garrison announced its determination
to hold out. Meanwhile information of what was passing had
reached Murray, who hastened to the gates with his cavalry.
But he found the drawbridges raised, and had no other resource
but to retire. Bruges was summoned a few hours afterwards
by a detachment sent by La Faille. The officer in command,
as an inducement to the authorities to surrender peaceably,
announced that Ghent had declared for King Phuip. This
statement was at first discredited. Time was askel and granted
for the purpose of ascertaining the truth. Upon the return of
the messenger whom the authorities despatched to the sister
city, the keys of Bruges were delivered up.*
Marlborough was meanwhile straining every nerve to over
take the French army before it could cross the Dender. But
his adversaries were as anxious to avoid an engagement as he
was to seek one, and marched with a rapidity equal to his own.
A light detachment which he sent on in advance, only reached
the river as the last battalions of Burgundy and Vendome were
preparing to cross.
The most mortifying feature in these events was the facility
with which cities so capable of defence as Ghent and Bruges
had been surrendered to the French. There was no mistaking
the popular feeling. The inhabitants, if not eager to return to
their allegiance to King Philip, were but half-hearted in the
cause of King Charles. And for this state of things the Dutch
had been entirely to blame. They had exercised their privileges
as conquerors in such a manner as to convince the conquered
that submission to Charles meant in reality nothing but subjec
tion to their old commercial, political and religious rivals. But
* Lettres Historiques; Lamberty; Campagne de Flandre.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 47
it was too late now to expatiate upon the folly of Dutch
deputies and governors, and to demonstrate how differently
matters would have turned out had the citizens been treated
with proper respect and forbearance. It was but too plain
that, as the cities of Flanders and Brabant would not be faith
ful to their new masters through affection, their fidelity must
be secured by some fresh proof of the overwhelming power of
the confederacy. They had seemingly conceived some hopes that
the French would regain their ascendancy in the Netherlands.
Those hopes must be at once dissipated. Another battle, as
decisive as that of Ramilies, must be forced on and won.
The difficulty, however, in the way of this design was to get
at the French army, which was on the other side of the broad
Dender. To cross such a stream in the face of a hundred
thousand men, was an enterprise too hazardous to be attempted.
Yet nothing could appear more certain than that, unless some
means were found of reaching the opposite bank, the loss of
every town to the west of the Dender would follow. The enemy
would doubtless send off detachments to reduce the various
strongholds, while the main body continued to guard the
passage of the river.
It was at this conjuncture that Eugene, whose ardent spirit
could ill support the slow progress his troops were making, rode
forward almost unattended, and entered the Allied camp to
share the perils and anxieties of his friend. He threw himself
with enthusiasm into Marlborough's design of seeking the
enemy. It was concerted that the army should by a rapid
march attempt to gain Lessines, a place on the Dender, before
it could be occupied by Burgundy and Vendome, should cross
at that point, and then move against the French commanders,
who were evidently bent on forming the siege of Oudenarde.
This plan was put in execution. At daybreak on the
morning of the 9th of July, the Allied army moved out of its
camp at Asch, reached Herfelingen about mid-day, and after
the enjoyment of a few hours of repose, continued to march
throughout the entire night. Before dawn of the 10th, the
main body had commenced filing over the Dender at Lessines,
upon some bridges which had been laid by an advanced corps.
Marlborough was now in hopes of finding his antagonists

t
48 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
engaged in prosecuting the siege of Oudenarde ; but he was
disappointed. Burgundy and Vendome, the instant that the
bold project of the Allied commanders became apparent, had
decided upon abandoning this enterprise, and upon putting the
broad and deep waters of the Scheldt between themselves and
their enemy. It was their intention to entrench their forces
along the left bank of the river in such a manner as would
render it impossible for any hostile army to cross. The timid
character of this policy was scarcely calculated to raise the
spirits of the soldiery ; but it had the hearty approval of Louis,
who disliked nothing more than to expose his armies to the
hazards of a pitched battle, and who was continually inculcating
maxims of prudence upon his generals. He had been much
delighted with the capture of Ghent and Bruges, and wished to
avoid all chance of losing those cities, even if his army were to
execute nothing more during the campaign.*
But the extraordinary diligence of Marlborough's movements
prevented this plan of defence from being carried out. While
Burgundy and Vendome were composedly assuming that the
Allied army had remained in the position in which it had
halted at midday on the 9th, Marlborough had by his night
march gained Lessines ; and when the French commanders
imagined, on the morning of the 11th, that their enemy was
still miles away on the other side of the Dender, the Allied
army was moving towards them with all the speed the wearied
limbs of the soldiers could make. It was not until ten o'clock
that Burgundy and Vendome issued orders to their troops to
commence the passage of the Scheldt at Gavre, a village five
miles below Oudenarde. They themselves were among the first
to cross the river, and having done so, quietly sat down with
their staffs to eat their breakfast in the shade afforded by some
trees. While they were thus engaged an officer galloped up
with the startling intelligence that the enemy was at hand,
that their advanced guard was already passing the Scheldt at
Oudenarde, and that the main body could be discerned in the
distance. A few minutes of wild confusion followed. There
was a fierce altercation between Burgundy and Vendome, and
between the officers who supported the rival powers. Vendome
* The King to Burgundy, July 11.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 49
declared that the news could not be true, and persisted in
maintaining that it was false, until he had convinced himself to
the contrary by the evidence of his own senses.* Having at
length made up his mind that a general engagement was
inevitable, he hurried the remainder of his troops across the
Scheldt, and proceeded to make his dispositions for the battle
with that judgment which he always displayed when it pleased
him to do his duty. There was indeed abundance of time for
drawing up the army, for the parties of the enemy who had
got across the Scheldt consisted only of the advanced guard,
although the clouds of dust on the horizon indicated the
approach of the main body.
Meanwhile Marlborough and Eugene, under some apprehen
sions for the safety of Cadogan and his advanced detachment,
were pressing forward their men. Their anxiety became at
length so great that, putting themselves at the head of the
Prussian cavalry, they galloped on at full speed, and crossed
the Scheldt. They arrived on the field in time to be witnesses
of a fierce struggle between Cadogan and an isolated body
of French infantry, which had been left in the little ham
let of Eyne. A few Hanoverian squadrons were conducting
themselves with signal bravery ; and at the head of these
gallant soldiers was the Electoral Prince, our predestined
sovereign George II. t The contest was short but bloody : the
men fell fast : the Prince's horse was shot beneath him : one of
his friends was killed by his side. At length the enemy gave
way : three entire battalions were made prisoners : the re
mainder saved their lives and their liberty by the swiftness of
their feet.
It was now three in the afternoon. The heads of the Allied
columns began to pass over the bridges, and every moment
increased the number of English and German regiments across
the Scheldt. The French were by this time drawn up upon
some heights almost encircling a small plain intersected by a
rivulet and rendered very difficult for cavalry by numerous
hedges and groups of trees. Their position was, in truth, so
* St. Simon says that Vendome declared if the Allies were come, the devil
must have brought them.
t Boyer; Lettres Historiques ; Lamberty.
VOL. II. E

50 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
strong that doubts have been expressed whether Marlborough
would, with soldiers wearied from long marching, have ven
tured to attack them, at least on that day; and during the
night they might have easily escaped. But the sight of the
enemy had stirred the blood of the high-spirited gentlemen of
France, and their entreaties for permission to take their men
into action were more than Burgundy could withstand. With
out consulting his colleague, he directed a portion of his
cavalry to advance, and in a little time the battle commenced
in earnest.
The ground was of so broken a character that each battalion
and each squadron on either side was compelled to engage with
such opponents as it could find, without much reference to
what was doing in other parts of the field. The Allies were as
yet scarcely formed, and the French had at first the advantage
in these desultory encounters. But the British and German
infantry marched up so rapidly that the forces which Burgundy
had brought into play were soon far outnumbered. Vendome
urged upon the young prince to give orders for the advance of
the left wing. But some misinformed counsellors gave it as
their opinion that a certain rivulet, which the Allies soon
passed with perfect ease, presented an insurmountable obstacle.
Instead, therefore, of adopting the Marshal's advice, Burgundy
sent orders to the left wing to entrench itself on its own
ground. The consequence of this blunder was that one part of
the French troops was kept looking on, while the other part
was gradually being borne down by three-fourths of the army
of the Allies. Marlborough had, with his usual indifference to
personal glory, complimented Eugene with the command of
the right, and detached battalion after battalion and squadron
after squadron from the troops he had reserved for his own
direction to enable his friend to achieve the victory.
Opposed to such formidable odds the French, after having
maintained their ground for several hours, began at length
to give way. But they showed as yet few symptoms of dis
order. The possession of each hedge and of each clump of
trees was obstinately disputed. The fire of musketry continued
to be incessant. The generals of division were, however,
much perplexed, sometimes by not receiving any orders at all,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 51
and often by receiving orders that contradicted each other.
It was reserved for that part of the Allied army which Marl
borough had retained under his own superintendence, to make
the movement which rendered the fate of the day no longer
doubtful. Towards evening the Dutch regiments on the left,
which had been compelled to make a long circuit to get into
position, fell with decisive effect upon the right flank of the
enemy. At the head of this fresh body of assailants was
Overkirk. It was the last exploit of that gallant veteran.
For some months his health had been so much impaired that
devotion to his profession alone sustained him in the perform
ance of his duties. Within a short time after the battle he
died, still at his post.
The ranks of the French, already wavering under the furious
assaults of Eugene, were now broken and penetrated at all
points. Regiment after regiment, finding itself isolated and
surrounded, was compelled to treat for quarter. The splendid
cavalry, embarrassed by the difficulties of the ground, did
nothing but add to the confusion by getting mixed up with
the infantry. Vendome appears to have exerted himself with
irreproachable bravery to turn back the stream of fugitives.
For some time he petulantly refused to acknowledge that the
battle was lost. But so doleful were the accounts that came
from all parts of the field, that he at length growled out a
recommendation to his young superior to issue a general
order to the army to retire towards Ghent. "I believe, sir,"
he added, with a cruel sneer at the courage of the Prince,
" this is what you have been long wishing for."
So entangled, however, were the right wing and centre with
their assailants, that retreat would have been impossible but
for the darkness which was now falling around. Precious
moments were lost by the Allies in endeavouring to secure the
multitudes who lay at their mercy. While one regiment was
being disarmed, three or four more regiments had time to steal
away. The soldiers being no longer capable of distinguish
ing between friend and foe, mistakes became of such frequent
occurrence that the officers were compelled to exert themselves
to stop the firing. The extreme weariness of both men and
horses, combined with the darkness of the night, precluded all
e 2

52 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
attempts at pursuit. The survivors of the battle lay down in
their ranks, and enjoyed a sleep which must have been ren
dered sound, in spite of the falling rain, by the fatigue of a
march of fifteen miles, and the excitement of a general engage
ment. During the night the French hurried off as they could
from the field. A few regiments took the road to Courtrai,
but the greater portion of the army made the best of its way
to Ghent. Vendome reached that city early the next morning.
He went to bed immediately, and there remained, if the mali
cious narrative of St. Simon be worthy of credit, for thirty
hours without issuing an order of any kind.*
In one sense the victory of Oudenarde was almost as com
plete as the victories which the Allied troops carried off from
the fields of Blenheim and Ramilies. The whole French
army was driven tumultuously from the ground, leaving behind
them their wounded, and very little short of ten thousand
prisoners, including seven hundred officers.! " With two hours
more daylight," wrote Marlborough exultingly, "we should
have made an end of the war." Fortunately for Burgundy
and Vendome, they had already sent their artillery and bag
gage to Ghent, or these must have fallen into the possession of
the victors. Yet, as compared with the magnificent fruits
of the two former victories, the field of Oudenarde was
barren of results. The capture of not one single town fol
lowed as the immediate consequence of the victory. Ghent
and Bruges, the objects of greatest desire to the Allied com
manders, were still in the grasp of the defeated army. Within
twenty-four hours after the battle, that army was drawn up
in an impregnable position behind the canal which ran between
the two cities. Nor was the loss of some fifteen thousand men
of any great importance to Burgundy and Vendome. Berwick,
* For the incidents of the battle of Oudenarde see Lettres Historiques;
Boyer ; Lamberty; Coxe's Memoirs; Campagne de Flandre; the comments of
Feuquieres ; St. Simon.
t The Dutch deputies, in writing to the Slates-general, claim six or seven
thousand prisoners ; Marlborough (July 26), seven hundred and six officers and
seven thousand soldiers ; in another letter of same date he observes, "It is most
certain that the success we had at Oudenarde has lessened their army at least .
twenty thousand men ; " the Lettres Historiques assign eight thousand prisoners
to the left wing only; Berwick in his Memoirs estimates the number at nine
thousand ; the Campagne de Flandre, on the other hand, computes the losses at
only eight hundred prisoners, among whom were three hundred officers

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 53
who had left the Rhine at the same time that Eugene departed
from the Moselle, was now at hand with a reinforcement of
thirty thousand troops. Yet the victory was of service to
the cause of the Allies by striking terror into the wavering
population of the Netherlands, and discouraging the reviving
confidence of a high-spirited but easily depressed soldiery. It
was gained at a much smaller expens3 than the previous suc
cesses. The loss of the Allies in killed and wounded amounted
to less than three thousand men. At Blenheim the loss had
been twelve thousand; and at Ramifies, where the engagement
was of brief duration, it had been under four thousand. This
happy state of affairs arose from the circumstance that the
Allies, from the rapidity of their movements, brought but a
very few pieces of artillery, and these of small calibre, on the
field, while, on the side of the French, no cannon whatever
appears to have been employed. It is a striking proof of the
large share which this engine of destruction had in occasion
ing the casualties of a battle.
But no military successes, no fresh flower in that wreath of
glory which encircled the hero's brows, could lighten the
gloom which had fallen over the hero's spirits. While direct
ing with intuitive skill the operations of the Allied troops, it
may be safely affirmed that his thoughts were less in the con
flict that was actually passing around him, than in the conflict
that might be at the same moment raging in the royal closet
at home. Each post brought him fresh tidings that Mrs.
Morley was more perverse, more intractable, more determined
than ever to ruin her affairs by listening to the counsels of
Mrs. Masham and Mr. Harley. Of what advantage could it
be to defeat the French king abroad, when his friends, the
Tories, were winning victories in England ? Was not all this
blood shed in vain if he, Godolphin, and the Whigs, were to
be driven from power, and the helm of State delivered into the
hands of those who had never- heartily approved of the wai%
and who were eager for peace on any terms ; men who would
tear up the Act of Settlement, and surrender- up their country
tp the Pretender, the Pope, and France ? Thoughts of this
kind seem to have been passing in Marlborough's mind when
he wrote the next day to. his wife an account of his, success..

54 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
" I thank God," he said, "for making me the instrument of so
much happiness to the Queen, if she will please to make use
of it."
Burgundy and Vendome, to the great chagrin of the Allied
commanders, persisted in retaining their hold on Ghent and
Bruges, and encamped in a position which it would have been
too dangerous to assail. They, in fact, perfectly appreciated
the value of these conquests. With Ghent the Allies had lost
the greater part of their artillery, and it was necessary that a
fresh supply should be drawn from Holland. Until that supply
could be procured, it would be impossible to undertake the
reduction of any of the numerous towns which now lay open
to the army. For a few days, Marlborough was in hopes that
the king of France, in his alarm at finding the frontier of his
kingdom unprotected, would insist upon his troops marching
southward. Every measure was taken that might increase that
alarm.* One detachment was sent forth to burn the villages
and lay waste the corn-fields of Artois : another, to levy contri
butions on the inhabitants of Picardy. But these expedients
failed to produce the effect upon Louis that was desired. He
knew that his enemies were without artillery, and that for want
of that essential requisite they could attempt no enterprise of
magnitude. He therefore approved of his generals remaining
where they were behind the canal of Bruges.
Had the matter rested with Marlborough alone, the Allied army
would have disregarded the fortresses that protected the frontier,
and marched directly into the interior of France, t His confidence
in troops which had never yet encountered the enemy without
beating them was by this time almost boundless ; and equally
confident was the opinion he held of the state of demoralisation
which had been engendered in the French army by constant
defeats and by the bickering between its leaders. Such an
enterprise, however, as an invasion of France could not be
undertaken without the express consent of the authorities of
the United Provinces. A plan was submitted to the deputies
and to some of the leading men in Holland, but was promptly
rejected on the score of its being too hazardous. The habitual
* Marlborough to Godolphin, July 23, August 3.
t Marlborough to Godolphin, July 26, August 6.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 55
caution of the Dutch was not, perhaps, ill-timed on this occa
sion ; for Eugene himself was of opinion that the Allied army
would expose itself to too great a risk if it entered France
without previously acquiring some great fortress as a base for
its operations. It was decided, therefore, to lay siege to Lille
as soon as the necessary appliances could be obtained. The
Dutch, who were sanguine enough to imagine that every fresh
town captured in the Netherlands would be a permanent
addition to their dominions, readily sanctioned this arrangement.
A part of the siege apparatus was to come from Maestricht,
and the rest from Holland. Brussels became, therefore, the
central depot, and towards the end of July an enormous
collection of field-pieces and mortars, cannon-balls and bombs,
had been amassed in that city. To transport this collection to
the camp, now situated upon the Lys, at a distance of about
sixty miles, was a work which threatened to be both difficult
and perilous. That Burgundy and Vendome were anxious to
avoid another general engagement, was evident. But that they
would rest supinely in their camp while the materials intended
for the siege of a large city were transported along their flank
and front, was scarcely to be expected. The greatest precaution
was therefore taken. Part of Eugene's forces, which had been
for upwards of a fortnight encamped close to Brussels, was
stationed between the road to be pursued by the train and the
French army. The Prince himself covered the train with the
remainder of his men ; and Marlborough drew out his troops
in readiness to march to the Prince's assistance at a moment's
notice. Thus guarded, the procession left Brussels on the
6th of August. No fewer than sixteen thousand horses were
employed in drawing the cannon and ammunition waggons,
and the train was twelve miles in length. It pursued its
journey somewhat leisurely, for the roads had been reduced to
mire by a month of almost continual rain, and the strength of
the poor animals was taxed to the utmost. On the 11th,
however, it crossed the Scheldt, and was then in safety. It
must have been apparent to the French commanders that on
this convoy depended the future events of the campaign ; but
they had not ventured to dispute its passage.*
* See the remarks of Feuquieres and St. Simon upon this subject.

56 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
That the Allies were meditating the siege of some great city
was a matter which admitted of no diversity of opinion in the
French camp. But the generals were divided as to the par
ticular city which would be invested. Berwick thought at one
time that Mons was the object in view, and despatched a
reinforcement to the garrison there. Vendome treated with
scorn the suggestion that the Allied commanders really pur
posed to lay siege to Lille, and even when undoubted intel
ligence had been received that the entrenchments were in
progress, still maintained that the work was only a feint to
entice him from his position by Ghent. Lille, in truth, enjoyed
a reputation for being impregnable that was deeply impressed
on the minds of Frenchmen. Upon no fortress had Vauban
bestowed more care and study ; and at a time when this great
master was thought to have advanced the science of forti
fication to perfection, and there had been as yet few oppor
tunities of testing the strength of his handiwork, it is not
strange that this reputation should have been enjoyed by the
city. It was not, like Namur, indebted solely to engineering
skill for its strength. It had been built on the marshy ground
formed by the overflowing of the Deule, and was originally
regarded, as its name denotes, as an island. A system of
drainage by canals had long confined the river to its banks,
but its waters still flowed through a broad and deep moat
surrounding the city. The defences ' of Lille, its ravelins,
tenailles, and curtains, its citadel isolated by an inner moat,
were regarded on all hands as masterpieces of engineering, and
were undoubtedly the most perfect examples of the science in
existence. The circumstances under which the Allies commenced the
siege of this impregnable city were anything rather than
favourable. There was but one road — that from Brussels —
upon which they could depend for their supplies of provisions.
It was now autumn, and unless the city capitulated before the
winter set in, the siege would almost necessarily have to be
abandoned. The deluge of rain, the rigours of the season,
would render all work impossible, and expose the troops to
iasupportable hardships. The army of Burgundy and Vendome,
moreover, when joined to the army of Berwick, outnumbered

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 57
the united forces of Marlborough and Eugene by at least
fifteen thousand men* At Versailles indeed little apprehension
was as yet entertained for the safety of Lille. Nothing could
be more fortunate, it was represented to Louis, than that the
Allies should choose to waste their time, their strength, and
the prestige they had gained by their success at Oudenarde,
upon walls that were perfectly impregnable. Before they could
make the least impression upon them, they would themselves
be surrounded by his Majesty's troops. Their supplies would
be cut off, they would be reduced to a state of starvation, and
their commanders might deem themselves fortunate if they
escaped with a remnant of their men.f
Lille, although taken somewhat by surprise, was not ill
prepared to stand a siege. A few days before the Allies
appeared under its walls, Boufflers, whose noble defence of
Namur was still fresh in the memories of his countrymen,
entered the city with the resolution of rivalling by a second
defence the fame he had acquired by his first. The garrison,
hastily augmented from different resources, reached nearly
fifteen thousand men, and comprised some of the best engineers
of France. Provisions were tolerably abundant : but there was
,one important deficiency. The supply of gunpowder was
altogether inadequate for the vast requirements of the place.
Not a little singularly, however, the Allies were just as badly
off in this respect.
The news had soon spread far and wide that the magnificent
spectacle of a great fortified town besieged by an army was
about to be exhibited to the world, and curiosity attracted to
the Allied camp several distinguished spectators. Among
others was that King Augustus of Saxony whom Charles XII.
had deprived of the crown of Poland. He had not been many
days at head-quarters when a fine blue-eyed boy of twelve, a
natural child of the King, entered the camp, and made his way
to his father's side. He too had heard in Dresden that there
was going to be a siege on a grand scale, had given the slip to
tutors who pestered him with studies for which he had no
* Berwick to Burgundy, August 12 ; Marlborough to Godolphin, August 13 —
24; 20—31.
t Campagne de Flandre ; Memoires de Berwick ; St. Simon.

58 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
inclination, and had resolutely set off to walk the whole
distance of three hundred and fifty miles for the chance of
being permitted to enjoy the sight. A splendid destiny was in
store for the little fellow, though one that could have been
hardly in accordance with his aspirations at that time. He
rose to the highest rank and to the highest fame in arms. But
who could haVe foreseen that the handsome boy, who was now
sharing in the exultation of the enemies of Louis XIV., would
one day be the support of France and the terror of united
Germany; and that after leading French armies to constant
victories for a series of years, a Marshal de Saxe would die
loaded with every honour which Louis XV. could bestow ?
That an army of a hundred and ten thousand French would
be content to look on while an inferior force ravished from
their King one of his most valued cities, was scarcely to he
expected. Preparations were made, therefore, to prevent any
attempt which might be made to interrupt the progress of the
siege. Marlborough and Eugene made a division of their
forces. The Prince, with forty thousand men, undertook the
work of reducing Lille. Marlborough, with fifty-five thousand,
set himself to watch the motions of the enemy. The city was
then invested on the 13th of August. The Prince of Orange,
acting for Overkirk, who was on his death-bed in the camp,
took up his quarters with the Dutch troops on the north side :
Eugene stationed himself on the south with his German bat
talions ; and the siege was commenced in the usual scientific
method. Sixteen thousand unfortunate peasants, caught in the
neighbourhood, were pressed into the service and compelled to
assist in forming the lines of circumvallation.
For three weeks the besiegers continued to push forward
their parallels, and fire had been already opened from some
advanced batteries when news reached Marlborough that
Burgundy and Vendome were at last on the move. For
once, it seems, both these generals were in accord in think
ing that the siege of Lille was nothing but a device to draw
them from that position in which they kept guard over Ghent
and Bruges. It is possible that Vendome would not have clung
to this opinion so tenaciously had Berwick been less assiduous
in endeavouring to convince him of his error. The latter

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 59
marshal, in a fever of impatience, sent plan after plan to the
camp behind the canal, and. adjured his coadjutors to do some
thing ; but Burgundy and Vendome still refused to stir. At
length Louis, alarmed by the vigorous manner in which the
Allies were pushing on their works, sent peremptory orders to
his grandson to march to the relief of the city.* Then the
camp was broken up, the troops which had been scattered far
and wide to levy contributions upon a portion of the Dutch
territory were assembled, and a messenger was despatched to
Boufflers to cheer him with the announcement that the grand
army was approaching to his assistance. The march was
directed southward, and a junction was effected with Berwick
at Lessines. The union between the armies was not, however,
followed by union between the generals. Berwick had been
specially enjoined by Louis that, in the event of the armies
uniting, he should defer to Vendome, and could not conceal
the agony of mortification and jealousy it cost him to submit
to a brother marshal, f In truth, the notions entertained by a
marshal of France touching his dignity were as exalted as
those of a cardinal of the Church. For the youngest marshal
to take the word from any person under the rank of a prince
of the blood, was insupportable humiliation. In 1672 all the
authority of Louis had been exerted in vain to procure for
Turenne the deference of his fellow marshals, and if these had
felt insurmountable scruples in submitting to a commander
so renowned, sci unassuming, and so universally beloved as
Turenne, the disgust of the conqueror of Almanza may be
conceived in being forced to receive commands from the rude
and domineering Vendome. It would have been better if Ber
wick had, under the circumstances, abstained altogether from
obtruding his opinions, for Vendome took a delight in enraging
him, and was determined to disagree with everything he said.
Berwick, at the council board, could hardly keep from sneering
at the want of enterprise that was shown in the management of
the army : Vendome, as he lost his temper, became insolent
and unreasonable. The consequence of this state of affairs was
that the joint talents of two really able commanders were pro-
* The King to Burgundy, August 14.
t Meuioires de Berwick ; St. Simon.

60 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
ductive of a campaign which, if not so disastrous, was yet more
profoundly humiliating to France than that campaign of 1706
when the army was under the orders of a single simpleton.
In the Allied camps, meanwhile, everything went on in per
fect harmony. The two commanders met frequently. Gathering
from the movements of the French that their approach might
be expected from the side of Douai, they chose in concert a
strong position for Marlborough's army, and as the enemy
drew near Eugene strengthened his colleague with a consider
able part of his own force. " The ground is so very much for
our advantage," wrote Marlborough exultingly to Godolphin,
" that with the blessing of God we shall certainly beat them.
It is to be wished they will venture, but I really think they
will not."* On the 5th of September the hostile armies were
opposite each other, and a bloody battle seemed likely to ensue.
But the two marshals were of different opinions as to the course
which it was advisable to pursue. Berwick, upon reconnoitring
the position of the Allies, was appalled by the difficulties it pre
sented. The army was posted in a spacious plain, but the
approaches to it were so covered by trees as to render it im
possible for an attacking force to advance in order. Berwick
was, under these circumstances, strongly against attacking, and
that he counselled wisely on this occasion the letters of Marl
borough leave us in no doubt. But jealousy had so obscured
Vendome' s judgment that he persisted in contending that the
obstacles which so impressed his coadjutor were of no real im
portance whatever. Burgundy, with two equally experienced
generals advising him different ways, was afraid to side with
either, and adopted what must, appear the supremely absurd
course of sending to Versailles for the decision of his Majesty.
Two days elapsed, and then the answer of Louis was brought
by Chamillart himself. The opinion of Vendome had prevailed
over that of Berwick. The King could not endure the thought
of losing Lille, and had determined that, whatever might he
the result, an attempt to save it should be made. But the
opportunity, if opportunity there had been of attacking the
Allied army with a chance of success, had by this time passed
away. Marlborough had made the most of the two days. His
* Marlborough to Godolphin, September 3— H;

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 61
centre, which Vendome had declared capable of being forced,
was now protected by a strong breastwork. So convinced, in
deed, was Marlborough himself of the absolute security of his
position, that, unwilling to lose further time in the prosecution
of the siege, he had sent back the reinforcement with which
Eugene had supplied him. For six days longer, however, the
French maintained a distant cannonade upon his entrench
ments, which, although it produced no effect whatever, kept
him continually on the alert. In fact, the King's orders to his
grandson to relieve Lille were so imperative that the marshals
were all in the greatest perplexity. Even Vendome was now
forced to admit, though with a bad grace, that the thing had
become impracticable. The time which had been allowed the
enemy to strengthen his position, he explained to Louis, coupled
with the bad spirit which timid counsellors had infused into
the army, had destroyed the confidence he had once had. At
length a general resolution was adopted of endeavouring to
save Lille by other methods than hazarding a battle. The
safest plan, it was now concluded, would be to close the roads
by which the Allies received their provisions and ammunition,
and accordingly the army was marched off in the direction of
the Scheldt.
Against all anticipations therefore it seemed now that the
Allies would be permitted to continue the siege at their leisure.
But fortifications so strong as those of Lille, defended by an
ample and courageous garrison, were not to be carried by a brief
cannonading and a single assault. The siege had been now
going on for six weeks, and although a fearful sacrifice of
life had been made in pushing forward the parallels, little or no
impression had been as yet made upon the walls. Boufflers,
high-spirited to a fault, was rather enraged than disheartened
by what he assumed to be the cowardice of those upon whom he
had placed his main hopes of relief. He was fully conscious-
that, with the little powder that remained to him, his chance of
saving the city was small, but his resolution not to surrender
one inch of masonry until it had become impossible to retain it
was unshaken. The Allied commanders, on their side, were
not without anxiety lest the defence should be protracted until
the winter months, and regarded with dismay the daily diminu-

62 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
tion of their scanty stores. Marlborough made bitter com
plaints of the unskilfulness of the engineers. An accident
which occurred to Eugene led to his making a startling dis
covery. The Prince, in one of the numerous and bloody
assaults upon the counterscarp, received a wound in the head,
which confined him to his quarters for ten days, and Marl
borough undertook the double duty of superintending the
operations of the siege and of the covering army. He at once
entered upon a searching investigation of the stores, and found
that the quantity of powder and ball remaining did not exceed
four days' consumption.* It was plain, therefore, that the
enterprise was on the brink of failure. The army of Burgundy
and Vendome had now taken such a position as effectually closed
every avenue from Brussels by which supplies could pass. The
humiliation of being compelled to abandon the siege seemed
therefore inevitable, when, just at this critical conjuncture,
matters were saved by an incident partly owing to good fortune
and partly to the providence of the Duke.
On the 20th of September an English squadron put into
Ostend, having on board between four and five thousand troops
and a large supply of munitions of all kinds. The troops were
a portion of a force which had been ever since the spring in
tended for a descent upon some part of the French coast ; but
as not unfrequently occurred with the combined military and
naval designs of this period, it had not been thought essential
to the success of the expedition that accurate information as to
the soundings and the state of the defences along the threatened
shores should be obtained beforehand. Byng, who was the
admiral, had to find out for himself all those particulars which
he should have found set down in his charts. The consequence
was that the disembarkation of the troops was always for one
reason or another adjudged to be dangerous or impracticable.
In one place where, it had been hoped, a landing could be
effected, there proved to be too many rocks : the approach to
another place was rendered difficult by shoals; and such
formidable batteries played upon the ships from a third place
which had been supposed to be utterly defenceless, that the
Admiral weighed anchor again with undignified speed. At the
« Marlborough to Godolphin, September 24, October 5.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 63
end of two months' cruising both sailors and soldiers began to
sicken with the scurvy, and Byng thought it his wisest course
to return to Spithead. There he had not remained a week
when orders reached him to depart immediately for Ostend.
The orders were dictated by Godolphin. Marlborough, having
some time previously foreseen the probability that the French
would shut him off from Brussels, had recommended his friend
to supply his requirements direct from England.
Ostend, as a place from whence the Allies would endeavour
to get supplies, had not been forgotten by the enemy. Ven
dome had sent orders to the governor of Nieuport to take
measures for laying the country about Ostend under water.
There should have been little difficulty in executing these in
structions, for the French were masters of the canal at the back
of the town, and the whole region between Nieuport and Ostend
lay below the level of the sea. But invaluable moments were
lost. The men charged to pierce the dykes did their work
slowly and unskilfully, and before much damage had been
done, the English regiments marched out of the town and
seized the commanding position of Leffinghen on the- canal.
Yet though no further apprehensions were felt on the score of
an inundation, it was still matter of grave doubt if a large
supply of provisions and ammunition could be conveyed to the
camp before Lille. News of the convoy that was preparing at
Ostend had reached the French camp, and the marshals were
on the alert. So evident was it to them that upon this convoy
would depend the fate of the besieged city, that Vendome pro
posed marching to intercept it with the greatest part of the
army. From this project, however, he allowed himself to be
dissuaded, and in an evil hour for the military reputation of
his country the duty was entrusted by orders direct from Court
to the Count de Lamothe. To this commander were confided
no less than twentyt-seven thousand men, a number which, it
was calculated, would be three to one against any force which
the Allies could spare to protect the convoy. Berwick, who
had his doubts as to the Count's abilities, repaired to Bruges
for the purpose of assisting him with his advice. Both generals
appear to have been of opinion that the convoy could take no
other course than through a village named Oudenburg, and

64 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
that if Lamothe could get there first the convoy would fall into
his hands. As soon, therefore, as Lamothe heard that the
convoy had left Ostend, he posted off with his cavalry to seize
this position.
The convoy, in fact, departed from Ostend on the 27th of
September, crossed the canal at Leffinghen during the night,
and then continued its journey, not through Oudenburg, as had
been expected, but by another road. Lamothe discovered his
mistake the next morning upon arriving at that village. He
found it occupied by a small body of Allied soldiers ; but having
now obtained better information as to the route pursued by the
convoy, he hurried off to intercept it near the town of Tourhout.
He reached the hamlet of Wynendale, within three miles of the
town, as the daylight was beginning to fail. Here the road,
over which the convoy could not fail to pass, lay between two
woods. Had it been possible for him to station his men in
these woods, the stores which were making their way to the
Allied camp would speedily have fallen into French hands.
But Marlborough had not been sleeping, and the woods were
already occupied by some six or seven thousand of his troops,
under the command of a young but brave and excellent officer
named Webb. Lamothe conceived that, unless he could drive
out this force, all hopes of capturing the convoy were at an
end. He began by a cannonade, which, as the Allied soldiers
were well protected by the trees, did very little harm. He
then ordered his infantry to advance and charge with the
bayonet. But the unfortunate men were soon so bewildered
and terrified by the storm of bullets which they encountered
without being able to make out where their enemies were, that
after firing a volley or two at random, they threw themselves
flat on the ground. It had grown so dark by this time that
nothing could be done to retrieve the disorder, and there were
wild reports in circulation that Marlborough was advancing.
Under these circumstances the French took advantage of the
night to make good their retreat in all directions. Their
commander had, in the judgment of Berwick, one of the most
candid and least prejudiced military critics of the age, com
mitted three capital errors in executing the work which had
been assigned him : first, in not satisfying himself by personal

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 65
observation that the orders for inundating the country were
carried out : secondly, in neglecting to ascertain the time of
the convoy's departure and the route it would take ; and thirdly,
in attacking a force posted in a secure position when he might
have fallen upon the convoy while in the open country, and
reaped all the advantage of his superior numbers.*
In the general joy which the arrival of the convoy diffused
throughout the Allied camp Webb received his full share of
applause. He was sent home by his kind commander with
written encomiums upon his conduct to give an account of the
action to the Queen. No single incident connected with the
war produced so much excitement in England as this affair of
Wynendale. The heroism of Webb was for some years regarded
as something supernatural. The story of his great exploit was
repeated with exaggerations until it had assumed the shape of
an insignificant escort beating off an entire division of the
French army.f The security and almost impregnability of his
position, and the stupidity of Lamothe in trying to drive six
thousand men out of a wood just when daylight was failing,
were matters overlooked by the lovers of the marvellous. It
may be, however, that his reputation was not founded in larger
measure than the reputation of commanders of much greater
fame upon the egregious blunders committed by his adversary.
Vendome, deeply mortified by the stigma which the incom
petency of Lamothe had brought upon the military fame of his
country, hastened to Oudenburg, assumed the command of
Lamothe's division, and saw that work done the neglect of
which had produced so much disaster to the French cause.
The dykes were now pierced, and the country between Ostend
and Nieuport as far as Leffinghen was laid under water. Yet
in spite of the inundation flat-bottomed boats and high- wheeled
carriages still conveyed powder and provisions from the sea
port to the camp, till Vendome, perceiving that there could be
no effectual stoppage of supplies unless Leffinghen were secured,
invested that village. The English regiments which held it
defended themselves with much resolution for eight days, and
* For the affair of Wynendale see Memoires de Berwick; Campagne de
Flandre ; Lettres Historiques.
t It assumes these proportions in Burnet's History.
VOL. II. F

66 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
when they capitulated the place had lost a great part of its
value in the eyes of the conquerors. That event to which all
Europe had been looking forward during two months, had
happened. Lille had succumbed to the bravery and resolution
of the Allies.
The besiegers had, as the winter approached, redoubled their
efforts to get possession of the city before the severe weather
set in. Fire had been kept up so steadily and for such a length
of time upon the walls as to produce wide breaches. The moat
had been nearly drained by the operations of the engineers.
But the valour and watchfulness of the garrison made the pro
gress of the besiegers exceedingly slow. Hardly could the
grenadiers obtain a footing on the ravelin or in the covered
way, when they were driven back through the breach by a
sally of the city's defenders, or they were blown into the air by
the springing of a mine prepared beneath the fortifications.
The arduous and horrible science of mining was indeed never
practised to a greater extent than during this siege. Not
unfrequently the miners on each side worked towards each
other until they met, and a fierce combat began underground.
It was, however, with extreme reluctance that Boufflers at
length formed the conclusion that a protracted defence would
be useless, and would only entail an additional sacrifice of the
brave men who had cheerfully endured wounds and hardships
in the service of their king. His activity during the two
months of the siege had been marvellous. So determined was
he to see everything with his own eyes, to encourage his men
by his presence in every encounter, that he upon only three
occasions divested himself of his clothes when retiring to rest.
Since the enclosure of the city he had received no supplies,
except a small quantity of powder through the agency of some
squadrons of dragoons, who artfully contrived to deceive the
sentinels at the openings of the lines as to their nationality and
their business. His ammunition was so nearly exhausted that
his cannon scarcely responded to the fire of the besiegers.
His supply of meat was failing : the breaches in the walls grew
larger with every day ; and he could no longer entertain any
hope of being relieved from the outside. In these circumstances
he perceived that the Allies were making preparations for a

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 67
grand and general assault. Throughout the 20th of October
crowds of volunteers were engaged in throwing sand-bags and
fascines into the now dried moat, and on the following day a
fire was opened upon two several parts of the fortifications from
forty-five pieces of cannon and fifty-five mortars. The fire was
kept up incessantly during four-and-twenty hours, and by the
afternoon of the 22nd two enormous breaches had been made
in the walls. The Allies had nearly completed their bridges :
the troops were drawn out, and were waiting impatiently for
the signal to commence the escalade, when above the din of
preparation was heard the well-known beat of the chamade. A
moment afterwards, and a white flag was seen waving from
the ramparts of Lille.*
Hostages were at once exchanged, and the next day two
treaties of capitulation were signed, one relating to the garrison
and the other to the townspeople. Boufflers was allowed an
interval of four days for the purpose of communicating with
Burgundy and Vendome, and of retiring into the citadel with
the remains of his troops. More blood was, therefore, to be
expended on the capture of this great city, which had already
cost the Allies twelve thousand men, as many as fell in the
confederate ranks at Blenheim, and more than three times the
number of those who perished on the field of Ramilies. The
loss consisted entirely of killed and wounded. There had been
but little sickness in the camp. It was noticed, indeed, as a
remarkable instance of the good fortune of the besiegers that,
although the season was unusually wet in most parts of Europe,
in Lille and its immediate neighbourhood scarcely a drop of
rain fell during the investment. The mortality among the
besieged may be estimated by the circumstance that out of the
fifteen thousand men whom Boufflers had under his command at
the outset, but five or six thousand only retired with him into
the citadel. The townspeople had also been active in the
defence, and it is quite certain that many hundreds of them
were among the fallen.
One remarkable circumstance distinguished the siege which
followed of the citadel of Lille from every other siege recorded
since the invention of artillery. There was scarcely a gun
* A detailed journal of the siege of Lille is given in the Lettres Historiques.
F 2

68 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
fired throughout its whole duration. The Allied commanders,
deeming it prudent to economise their stock of powder, and
having little fear of interruption, resolved to rely upon the slow
but sure process of sapping. Boufflers, on his part, was disposed
to keep in reserve what little ammunition he possessed. The
Allied workmen were consequently permitted to make their
approaches with little molestation. Boufflers thought that by
detaining the Allies in their present position, he would best
promote the success of those manoeuvres by which the French
commanders still expected to shut off the communications of
their adversaries and reduce them to starvation.
The French armies, in fact, were masters of the whole course
of the Scheldt, with the exception of the town of Oudenarde.
From none of the towns of Flanders or Brabant therefore was
it possible for the Allies to draw any provisions or ammunition.
The capture of Leffinghen had stopped the passage of their
convoys from Ostend. But although excluded from the assist
ance of their friends, the territory of their enemies lay at their
mercy. The peasantry of Artois were compelled to furnish
such liberal supplies to the markets of Lille, that for a time
beef could be bought for three halfpence, and mutton for two
pence a pound.* In about a month, however, intelligence of
an alarming nature forced the Allied commanders into action.
Upon the 2nd of November, Chamillart, whom the anxiety
of Louis kept vibrating between Versailles and the camp,
summoned all the general officers to a council of war. Vendome
adhered to the policy he had formerly recommended of guarding
strictly the course of the Scheldt, and was confident that, if
this course were adopted, the Allies would be able to do
nothing for want of the munitions of war, and would soon be in
danger of starving. Berwick disputed with some warmth the
possibility of keeping a watch over fifty miles of river,
expatiated upon the dangers to which France was exposed by
the totally unprotected condition of its frontiers, and half-
maddened Vendome by the ill-concealed sneers with which he
criticised his plans. Chamillart, who understood nothing about
war, but who was nevertheless armed with authority to decide
between the professors of the art, determined the dispute in
* Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 69
favour of Vendome* That marshal, he knew, now enjoyed the
highest credit at Court. Burgundy was so greatly fallen in the
royal esteem that his voice went for nothing. He had two
devoted friends about his grandfather who were ready at all
times to sound his praises, to gloss over his failings, and to
throw the blame of miscarriages upon any one rather than him.
Yet in spite of all that his charming Duchess and the discreet
Maintenon could say, Louis was fast becoming sensible of the
error he had committed in sending Burgundy to the army.
Vendome had, of course, employed every means to communicate
the deficiencies of the young prince to the King.f Burgundy
was, even in the opinion of those who could find every excuse
for the faults of royalty, of a very indolent disposition. The
tenour of his mind, pious, gentle and timid, was ill suited to
the profession of arms. When wanted on urgent business he
was either closeted with his confessor, or supping convivially
with his friends, or playing at tennis. No representation of
the necessity for immediate action could induce him to mount
his horse when bedtime came. His natural aversion for
Vendome had been fostered by the wretched counsellors who
surrounded him to such a point, that the Marshal could propose
nothing to which he would give his assent. The King had
been compelled, from the outset of the campaign, to act as
umpire in a succession of disputes, and was now convinced that
he had acted unwisely in cramping the movements of an
experienced commander. He was reluctant to place such a
stigma upon his grandson as to recall him before the
conclusion of the campaign. But Berwick, who had added
considerably to the difficulties of Vendome, he determined to
remove at once. Soon after this conference an order was
despatched to that marshal to go and take command of the
army on the Rhine.
Another project, it seems, had now occurred to the King and
bis council at Versailles. While the Allies were occupied in
besieging the citadel of Lille, and while the forces of Burgundy
and Vendome were in such a position as to render very doubtful
the possibility of their returning northwards, a good opportunity
presented itself for re-conquering those towns of the Nether-
* Memoires de Berwick ; Campagne de Flandre. t St. Simon.

70 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
lands which had been lost by the battle of Ramilies. The loss
of Lille would be amply compensated by the recapture of
Brussels, Malines, Antwerp, Louvain. For the accomplishment
of this enterprise no person appeared to possess so many
qualifications as the Elector of Bavaria. He had great skill, or
had at least had great experience in warfare : he had been for
a long series of years governor of the Netherlands, and the
mildness of his sway had endeared him to the inhabitants of
the towns. He was then at Compiegne. During the summer
he had been opposed on the Rhine to the Elector of Hanover ;
but both commanders had soon thrown up their appointments
in disgust. The detachments which each had been compelled
to make towards the principal theatre of war, had so weakened
their armies as to preclude all hope of their startling Europe by
their achievements. Chamillart now waited upon the Elector
with proposals exactly suited to his inchnations. His Highness
repaired to Mons, found assembled there an army of fifteen
thousand men, marched straight to Brussels, and upon the 23rd
of November sent a threatening message to the commandant of
that city. His unexpected approach struck such terror into
the partisans of King Charles, that many of them made haste
to escape. But the panic was not shared by the Dutch com
mandant, nor by the garrison of five thousand men, nor by the
magistracy who had been carefully selected for their attachment
to the Austrian cause. The fortifications of the capital were
barely of second-rate order, and the defenders were insufficient
in number ; but a bold refusal to surrender was returned, and
the Elector made his preparations accordingly to carry his
threats into execution.
Upon the Allied generals rested the sole hope of the com
mandant to preserve the city, and a brief space of time was
sufficient to prove that this confidence was not misplaced.
Marlborough and Eugene no sooner heard of the Elector's
march on Brussels, than they formed the resolution of forcing
at any sacrifice the passage of the Scheldt. Upon a superficial
examination of the impediments in the way of this enterprise,
it might appear impossible to conceive an exploit more daring,
more certain to be attended by a fearful sacrifice of life. The
Scheldt, broad, deep, and rapid, was guarded on its right bank

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 7l
by at least eighty thousand men ; and as if the river were not
in itself a sufficient barrier to a hostile force, fortifications had
been erected at two or three points along its bank for the
further security of the defenders. But there was one draw
back to the advantages enjoyed by the French commanders
which Berwick had already pointed out. It was plainly
impossible, even with eighty thousand men, to keep up an
adequate guard over fifty miles of river-course, against an
enemy who could bring bis whole force to bear on one
particular part. Everything depended upon the commanders
of the defending army obtaining prompt and reliable intelli
gence of the movements of the troops whose passage they wished
to oppose. It was through the want of proper information that
the Elector of Bavaria and Villeroi failed in 1705 to keep
Marlborough out of their lines. Burgundy and Vendome now
found themselves, by similar neglect, forced in a single hour
from a position which constituted them, in their imaginations,
the gaolers of the Allied army.
The Allied troops not engaged in besieging the citadel of
Lille had been dispersed for the convenience of subsisting.
This arrangement created an impression in the French camp
that Marlborough and Eugene intended to do nothing more
that season, and were disposing their men in quarters for the
winter. It was under these circumstances that the Allied com
manders issued orders for the various divisions to assemble on
the Lys, within a few miles of those points on the Scheldt
where it was proposed to attempt the passage. Two detach
ments were sent forward on the 26th, one under the command
of the dependible Cadogan, the other under that of Count
Lottum, with orders to cross the river at two several places
above and below Oudenarde. Marlborough and Eugene fol
lowed towards the evening with the main body. Both Lottum
and Cadogan contrived to lay their bridges, and to pass their
divisions over before daylight. The morning of the 27th
broke in a thick fog, which kept the French for many hours in
ignorance of what had occurred. At length the sentinels of a
force commanded by the Baron de Hautefort, which was sta
tioned in some works near Oudenarde, caught sight of the
Allied uniform, and raised an alarm. The dragoons turned

72 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
out in hot haste. Their general galloped to an eminence, from
whence he could obtain a view, and stood aghast at the spec
tacle which met his eyes. Not only were the two detachments
already across the Scheldt, but troops were still pouring over
the bridges, while the roads which led down to those bridges
were covered with cavalry and infantry as far as the vision
could extend. It was but too evident that the entire army of
the Allies was passing the river. Hautefort, already cut off
from the main body, could take no better course than to save
his men by a rapid retreat. The Allies pursued and inflicted
some damage upon his rear-guard before the short day closed
in. They saw no more of the French. What had become of
the myriads of Burgundy and Vendome was a marvel to them.
With the loss of only sixty men, Marlborough and Eugene had
achieved the passage of the Scheldt, had snatched from the
French commanders the fruits of three months' labour, had
dissipated in an hour all their sanguine hopes of starving the
Allied army, and now stood within a day's march of Brussels*
And what were the French commanders about while these
important events were transacting? In perusing military
operations it must constantly occur to the unprofessional
reader that the blunders and negligence of one party have a
greater effect in deciding the fate of a battle or a campaign
than the skill and activity of the other. The glory of one
commander resolves itself when examined into nothing but the
monument of another commander's errors, and the hero would
be impossible but for the blockhead. Had Darius charged with
his cavalry at the battle of Issus, instead of running away, the
world would perhaps have never rung with the fame of Alex
ander. Hannibal's disposal of his forces at Cannae was no doubt
ingenious ; but the folly and presumption of Varro must have
ensured the defeat of the Romans had the Carthaginian been a
general of ordinary capacity. The chances are that Caesar would
never have enslaved the world had Pompey possessed sufficient
strength of mind to act on his own judgment, and avoid a
battle. The bloodless forcing of the passage of the Scheldt added
greatly to Marlborough's reputation. The secrecy and promp
titude with which he assembled his troops, the celerity of his
* Campagne de Flandre ; St. Simon,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 73
march, the care which he bestowed upon every part of bis
arrangements, and the pains he must have taken to procure
accurate information of the number and position of the bodies
who might oppose him, are doubtless worthy of high praise.
Yet it is difficult to imagine how the passage could have been
achieved had not the French generals been in a kind of
enchanted sleep. The head-quarters of Burgundy and Ven
dome were then near Tournay. Vendome, it seems, received
intelligence that the Allied army was assembling on the Lys.
A suspicion that an attempt would be made on the Scheldt
crossed his mind, and he dispatched a mesage to Burgundy,
acquainting him with the intelligence, and requesting him to
be in readiness to march on the following morning. The
Prince was on the point of retiring to rest when the message
came. There were not wanting among his counsellors some
who urged him to assemble his troops, and depart forthwith ;
but a more courtly section persuaded him that there was no
occasion for immediate action, and Burgundy was too glad to
follow their advice and go to bed. He was sitting at table the
next morning over a luxurious and protracted breakfast when
the tremendous news arrived that the Allies had crossed the
Scheldt. For a few moments the Prince seemed overwhelmed
with regret and shame ; but soon his countenance brightened
up. The misfortune had occurred : there was no remedy for
it now, and it was idle to grieve when grief would be unavailing.
The pupil of Fenelon finally did honour to the philosophical
teaching of his preceptor by departing to Tournay and diverting
himself with a game at tennis.*
The immediate effect of the passage of the Scheldt was the
relinquishment by the Elector of the siege of Brussels. His
Highness had received notice of the assembling of the Allied
army on the Lys, and had formed a shrewd guess as to the
design in contemplation. He determined, however, to make a
dash for so important a stake. Without bestowing much time
on breaching the walls, he ordered his troops to assail the
counterscarp, and the impetuosity with which the brave fellows
endeavoured to execute his commands went near to carry the
city. All through the night of the 26th the struggle proceeded
* St. Simon.

74 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
with equal gallantry and devotion on the side of the storming
parties and of the garrison. For a few hours a portion of the
glacis was actually in the possession of the French. On the
following day, however, came the news of the approach of the
Allied army, and the Elector decamped with so much speed
as to leave his wounded men and his cannon on the field.
Another consequence of the passage of the Scheldt was that
it quickened the surrender of the citadel of Lille. Eugene
returned immediately to his post, and Marlborough was able to
transmit to him in a few days an ample supply of powder. No
time was lost in informing Boufflers of the fresh success which
had attended the Allied army. The Marshal was invited to
send an officer to satisfy himself of the abundance of means for
the reduction of the citadel which the besiegers now possessed.
Yet Boufflers, although at the end of his ammunition, and very
nearly at the end of the horseflesh, upon which he and his
soldiers had been for some time subsisting, still thought fit, at
the risk of incensing the Allies, to give them a little more
trouble. Hope of preserving the fortress there could be no
longer any ; and he had received a letter from his sovereign
complimenting him upon the bravery he had shown, yet coun
selling him to make terms. It seems, however, that his pride
was too fastidious to surrender before the last pound of food
had been devoured. On the 8th of December, at length, his
drums beat a parley. Terms of capitulation highly honourable
to the garrison were accorded by Eugene. The admiration of
that generous commander had been powerfully excited by the
sturdy defence made by men who, he knew, received scarcely
sufficient nourishment to enable them to mount guard on the
walls. Boufflers and his staff, after being sumptuously enter
tained at the Allied head- quarters, were sent off with every
mark of respect to the French army.
That army was now, in pursuance of express orders from
Court, in process of distribution into winter quarters. Louis,
it seems, insisted upon taking this step contrary to the urgent
representations of Vendome. The Marshal divined that, late
as was the season, and great as his adversaries might find the
difficulty of retaining their troops in the field, Marlborough
and Eugene would not feel satisfied in bringing the campaign

DUEING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 75
to a close without making an attempt to recover Ghent and
Bruges. As Louis, however, was determined, Burgundy and
Vendome took their leave of the army, and departed to ascer
tain what kind of reception they would meet with from their
sovereign and their countrymen, after their exploits in the
Netherlands. A strong reinforcement was sent to the garrison
of Ghent. The officer who was selected to act as commander
was Lamothe, the same whose blunders at Wynendale had been
the means of promoting his antagonist Webb to the rank of
a lieutenant-general in the service, and to that of a hero in
society. Chamillart wrote to the Count, reminding him of his
recent failure, and urging him, as he valued his master's
favour, to endeavour to obliterate all recollection of that
unfortunate affair by a gallant and steady defence of Ghent.
The letter was intercepted by the Allies, but was duly for
warded to its destination.
More reasons than one, in fact, incited Marlborough to
retake Ghent before bringing the campaign to an end. In the
first place he was meditating an invasion of France for the
ensuing year, and the entire overthrow of the French power in
the Netherlands would leave him at much greater liberty in
forming his plans. It is, probable, however, that the con
siderations which had most weight with him were not of a
strategical kind. The loss of so great a commercial emporium
as Ghent had been sadly deplored by the politicians of Hol
land, and to keep the States in good-humour was a matter
which unceasingly occupied the thoughts of Marlborough.
Still more necessary was it to remove from the discontented
spirits of the British Parliament any pretext for asserting
that the loss of Ghent and Bruges outweighted the advantages
of the campaign. The hero had been somewhat encouraged
by an incident which he looked upon as affording a happy
augury for the session. Upon the very day the Parliament
met the Allies forced the passage of the Scheldt.
Nothing but the high spirits which unvarying success had
inspired in all ranks could have influenced German officers,
who were absolute slaves to routine, to permit their troops
to continue in the field after October, nor German soldiers,
who were the merest mercenaries, to be willing to expose

76 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
themselves to the hardships and, indeed, to the sufferings of
a winter campaign. Yet officers and men on this occasion
yielded to their commander's wishes without a murmur.
Ghent was invested, and in spite of its strong garrison and
of the means which Chamillart had taken to fortify the heart
of its governor, surrendered in twelve days. Lamothe's cour
age failed him the moment he saw the batteries of the enemy
in a condition to open fire. Upon the fall of Ghent, Bruges
was voluntarily abandoned by the French*
* Ghent surrendered on the 2nd January, 1709. Marlborough says (January
3), " It is astonishing to see so great numbers of good men to look on and suffer
a place of this consequence to be taken at this season with so little a loss." Ac
cording to the Campagne de Flandre Lamothe entered into a capitulation for the
sake of preserving the garrison.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 77

CHAPTER III. ijo$
The campaign of 1708 had been prolonged far into the winter
months, and had terminated only with the year. It bad
certainly been a proud one to the Allied nations engaged in
the work of humbling France. As far indeed as the humilia
tion of France was an object of the war, that object was
already accomplished. All that intolerable lustre which the
genius of Turenne, Conde, and Luxemburg had shed upon the
French arms, had disappeared under the hands of Tallard,
Villeroi and Vendome. The wretched forces of Spain had
never in the proudest days of Louis stood in greater awe of
his soldiers, than his soldiers now stood in awe of the Allied
armies. They had been constantly beaten, invariably out
manoeuvred. Their leaders, although generally possessing a
preponderance of force, had never been able to impede the
Allies from marching whithersoever they pleased, from besieg
ing and taking such towns as they desired to have, from
drawing convoys half across the Netherlands, from entering
their lines, from forcing the passage of broad rivers the banks
of which they had been engaged for months in fortifying.
In this part of Europe there can be no doubt that the Allies
had established a complete ascendancy over the soldiers of
France. And yet, notwithstanding all this success in a military point
of view, it may be doubted whether the cause of the Allies was
in reality prospering. The only fair standard by which to
estimate the value of military triumphs is the degree of pressure
they put upon the people or the rulers of the beaten country to
make peace. Was Louis more anxious for repose, more willing
to make sacrifices to obtain this blessing at the end of 1708,
than he was at the end of 1706 ? He had then offered that his

78 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
grandson should give up either Spain or Italy. But his offer
had been refused. Nothing, it seems, would content the Allies
short of his summoning Philip to return home as simple Duke
of Anjou. Was it possible that the King who had, during
three-fourths of his lifetime, regarded himself as the most
puissant monarch in Europe, would submit to so intolerable a
mortification ? Was there not every chance that, where both
the pride and the domestic feelings of a selfish autocrat were
concerned, he would continue the contest until either his own
subjects rose against him, or the Allies got weary of the
expense and bloodshed the war entailed upon them ? It may
be said, indeed, that his longing for peace was really so
desperate that, had the Allies succeeded in driving Philip
out of Spain, he would probably have welcomed this as the
best solution of his difficulties. His enemies would then have
accomplished their task without having humbled him in the
sight of the whole world. But unfortunately the Allies
managed their affairs in Spain worse than anywhere else.
During a brief time it had seemed likely that they would get
the upper hand ; but their overthrow at Almanza had reduced
their power in the Peninsula almost to nothing. In that
country where alone a decisive victory might have terminated
the war, fortune had gone entirely against them.
The opinion, however, entertained by the most clear-sighted
man of this age as to what would follow such a year of success
as the Allies had enjoyed in the Netherlands, is indicated in
a remarkable manner. Marlborough at this period seems to
have thought that Louis, at the end of his resources and per
haps even in alarm for the safety of his own person, was on
the point of yielding everything.* A suspension of arms
would probably ensue before the armies reassembled in 1709,
and he perhaps felt that it would be a graceful termination to
his career if he, who had throughout directed the war, should
be the first to facilitate the return of peace. He wrote secretly
to his nephew Berwick. The present conjuncture, he said,
/"* Marlborough to the Duchess, July 16 — 27, says, "I shall labour with
/pleasure the rest ol this campaign in hopes it may be the last, so that I may be
I blest with you and quietness." December 10—21, he continues, "If God
; bless us with the taking of this place (Ghent) and a good augmentation be
' made, I think a good peace must follow before the middle of next summer."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 79
was highly appropriate for entering upon negociations for
peace. If his Majesty would communicate to the States, to
Prince Eugene, and himself the offers he was disposed to make,
his influence should be exerted towards their being accepted.
This proceeding was doubtless irregular ; but it was no new
thing for the generals of these times to attempt to anticipate
the work of diplomatists. The Elector of Bavaria had for
merly made an application to Marlborough of much the same
nature and in much the same style as that which Marlborough
now made to Berwick. It happened, however, that Marl
borough wrote from Lille at the time when Vendome was
boasting of having circumvented the Allies, and was confidently
predicting that they would soon be in a starving condition.
His letter, therefore, upon being forwarded to the French
Court, was interpreted simply as an acknowledgment of the
peril in which he stood ; and Berwick was instructed to answer
proposals, which he himself considered to be kindly meant, in
terms which he was almost ashamed to put on paper. That
his uncle regarded himself as being in danger from any
arrangements of Vendome, he did not for a moment believe ;
and the private letters of Marlborough at this period to his
friends in England leave us in no doubt that, whatever was
his motive in writing to Berwick, it was not from any appre
hension he entertained of the French armies.*
Few changes had occurred during this year in the relative
position of the belligerents in Spain. In truth, the war in
the Peninsula was smouldering for lack on both sides of suffi
cient fuel. Galway had early in the spring sailed back to
Portugal to resume operations on the western frontier of
Spain. The favourites of Charles were but too glad to be
rid of a general whom they regarded, as they before regarded
Peterborough, as a spy and a curb upon them; and Galway
was equally rejoiced to escape from the solemn impertinence
of the Germans. Stanhope, who had hitherto acted as ambas
sador at the Court of Charles, was appointed Galway's successor
in the command of the forces in British pay, and found himself
* Memoires de Berwick. He says, " Je suis memo persuade que cela fut prin-
cipalement cause de l'aversion que le Due de M. montra toujours depuis pour la
pacification."

80 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
at the head of a few thousand men distributed through the differ
ent towns of Catalonia, very ill provided with military requisites
disgracefully ragged, and emaciated by the effects of climate
and diseases chiefly brought on by a deficiency of proper food.
To Stanhope, who although well versed in the art of diplomacy,
had as yet had but little experience in warfare, was joined a
colleague in the person of Count Staremberg, who had been
sent by the Emperor in the place of the desired Eugene to
lead the Imperial regiments. Without possessing any extra
ordinary aptitude as a commander, Staremberg was a careful,
painstaking officer, highly esteemed by his own countrymen,
and he landed in Catalonia with an excellent reputation
acquired during many arduous campaigns in Italy. The
aggregate strength which these two generals could muster
was about ten thousand men. With an army which would
in the Netherlands have been deemed barely sufficient as an
escort to a train of provision- waggons, or as a foraging party, it
was of course useless to think of retrieving the affairs of the
Allies in Spain. Had the French indeed been in a condition
to profit by the weakness of Staremberg and Stanhope, the
army would soon have had to betake itself to the fleet, if by
good fortune the fleet had been off the coast, or to surrender
as prisoners of war. But a combination of circumstances kept
the French inactive far into the summer months. Berwick
had been recalled: Orleans remained in command of twenty
or five-and-twenty thousand men, hardly worthy of being
called an army, because wanting every requisite of an army,
and in no slight danger of perishing by starvation. The Duke
was in great straits for money. Promised supplies from France
had failed him, for the Ministers of his uncle were too busy
in meeting the requirements of the northern armies to pay
much attention to the armies of Spain. It was utterly vain to
apply for assistance to Philip, who could scarcely extract from his
subjects enough to meet the expenses of his establishment. No
merchant in his senses would give credit either to the King of
Spain or to the King of France ; and in the midst of the Duke's
distresses, a fleet of vessels coming from Toulon with provisions
for his troops fell into the hands of Sir John Leake. At length
he raised upon his plate and jewels a sum by means of which

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 81
he partially equipped his men. He then took the field, laid
siege to Tortosa, and carried that town at the end of a month,
the Allies not having ventured to interfere with his operations.
But with this conquest he was forced to be contented. The
Allies received soon afterwards a reinforcement of Imperialists
from Genoa. Orleans, on the other hand, was compelled to
send a part of his army against the Duke of Savoy, who had
invaded Dauphiny.*
The Allied commanders had now breathing time, and pro
ceeded at once to turn it to account. Information had been
received from Sardinia that Philip's viceroy there was unpopu
lar ; that the islanders were generally in favour of Charles,
and were ripe for revolt. Leake accordingly made sail for
Cagliari. That town made a show of resistance ; but a few
bombs thrown among the inhabitants so quickened their sym
pathies for the Austrian sovereign, that they rose against the
garrison and threw open the gates. The whole island at
once submitted to Charles, and the Admiral succeeded in
extracting from the people a not unimportant supply of corn,
and horses enough to remount the cavalry regiments in
Catalonia, t
This matter arranged, Leake set sail for the Balearic isles
to co-operate with Stanhope in a project which that gentleman
had long had at heart, which he had frequently urged upon
the Ministers at home, and of which Marlborough had signified
his hearty approval. Ever since the establishment of the Allied
troops in Spain, it had been regarded by military men as
a most vexatious circumstance that, as soon as the summer
began to wane, the Admiral of the Mediterranean fleet always
declared it to be essential for his safety to return to England.
He would not, he said, expose his ships to the dangers of
narrow and tempestuous seas without having a single good
port to which he could repair for shelter. The departure of
the fleet never failed to depress the spirits of the abandoned
troops. Six months, they knew, must elapse before they were
cheered again by the sight of an English ship. If the French
came upon them in great force during this time, the best they
Lettres Historiques ; Lord Mahon's History of the "War.
t Boyer; Lettres Historiques. The capitulation was signed August 13.
VOL. II. G

82 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
could hope for was to be made prisoners of war. If the
natives turned their backs upon them they ran a risk of
being starved. The acquirement, therefore, of some harbour
in which the fleet could securely pass the winter months would
prove to the Allies the greatest of blessings. There were few
such harbours in the Mediterranean ; but of those few, Port
Mahon, in the island of Minorca, possessed some natural advan
tages superior to those enjoyed by the others. In the long and
narrow gulf, which runs up to the town, a large fleet might lie,
sheltered on each side by high ground, in seven fathoms of
calm water. There seemed no great difficulty in the way of
mastering the island, although the captains of the fleet, always
indisposed to regard with favour the projects of landsmen, and
perhaps wishing to pass their Christmas at home, affected to
look but gloomily upon the enterprise. Stanhope, however,
was determined that the attempt should be made, even if the
fleet declined all participation in it. He wrote to Leake,
informing him that he was about to set sail from Barcelona
with eighteen hundred men. The Admiral, now that the only
alternative left him was either to second the resolute General
or to incur the reproach, which Englishmen would be certain to ¦
cast upon him, of abandoning the General to destruction, made
up his mind to join in the enterprise, and the two commanders,
having united their forces, sailed for Minorca. The cannon
and troops were set on shore without resistance from the natives,
who, whether through fear or from attachment to the Austrian
cause, were certainly not disposed to throw impediments in the
way of the invaders. To drag the guns over rocks, and up
steep hills, was found hard work ; but the cannon once in posi
tion to batter the crumbling fortifications of the town, the
Spanish garrison very soon surrendered. Stanhope supplied
the places of the Spaniards with a purely British regiment,
He had reflected deeply upon the uses to which this fine port
might be turned in British hands. It would, he remarked,
give law to the Mediterranean both in peace and war. It
would be to Toulon what Dunkirk had long been to the eastern
ports of England. With this island it was his opinion that
Great Britain ought never to part; and she had a fair plea for
retaining it in her exclusive possession as a pledge for the

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 83
repayment of the large subsidies which had been advanced to
Charles.* Probably no sovereign throughout this war endured greater
distress of mind than the Pope. Clement XL was deficient in
that modesty which should guide the counsels of a prince who
holds his possessions merely by the sufferance of far more
powerful neighbours. His fiery temper, conjoined with the
high notions he entertained of his spiritual authority, con
stantly tempted him to provoke monarchs and nations who
could at any time overwhelm him. He was one of those priests
who, regarding themselves as gods, and mankind but as the
slaves of the Church, fail to realise either their own weakness
or the advancing ideas of liberty in the human species, until
the rude hands of men are about their throats. Yet the
unquenchable ardour with which the deluded old man still
fought on for Louis XIV. when almost every other ally had
deserted him, the vigour with which he launched his spiritual
thunderbolts, and the energy with which he bustled about to
raise a few troops to keep the sacrilegious Imperialists out of
his States, inspire us with a kind of compassionate admiration.
He had braved the wrath of England by putting up prayers for
the Pretender, and had to thank the mercy of that Power, or
more probably his own insignificance, that an English fleet had
not in requital made its appearance before Civita Vecchia.
But the Emperor, less generous, or more strongly tempted,
than the Ministers of Anne, availed himself of the excuse
afforded by Clement's partisanship to make some attempts upon
the Pontifical States. The Pope had persistently refused to
acknowledge the title of Charles as King of Spain, had dis
missed without an audience priests who came to him with
nominations to benefices under that Prince's hand, and had
permitted the consort of Charles to pass through Italy without
sending a legate to pay her the usual compliments. Joseph
was but too glad of such pretexts as these for putting in
execution some designs which, had they proceeded from an
ordinary man, the world would pronounce mean and discredit
able. He instituted an absurd claim to the Duchies of Parma
and Placentia, and to Commachio in the Ferrarese, which had
* Letters of Stanhope quoted by Lord Mahon ; Boyer ; Le'.trea Historiques.
G 2

84 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
been regarded as fiefs of the Church for upwards of a century.
He pleaded his case after the usual manner of despots, by
taking military occupation of Commachio. It was in vain that
the Pope cursed and excommunicated the impious invaders,
that he raised his standard in St. Peter's, that he went in
solemn procession to the castle of St. Angelo and extracted
from the hoard deposited there by Sixtus V. for the direst
occasions of the Church five hundred thousand crowns to equip
an army, that he shrieked for assistance to the princes of Italy,
to the Catholic cantons of Switzerland, and to his eldest and
stoutest son, King Louis of France. His anathemas were
unheeded, his troops fled at the mere sight of the Austrians,
his money was soon spent, and none of the potentates, his
earthly friends, cared or were in a condition to give him help.
The haughty priest at length perceived that he must yield to
superior might. The Emperor was at the same time made
sensible that the course he was pursuing gave general offence
to Europe. Terms were arranged between the Holy Father
and Imperial Caasar, his loving son ; and Clement, reluctantly
abandoning the cause of France, despatched a nuncio to the
Court of Charles*
While the events described in this and a great part of the
preceding chapter were passing abroad, matters at home were
drifting on towards that revolution which was destined to give
peace to Europe sooner perhaps than Europe would have
obtained it at the hands of the present Ministers of England
and the Whigs. The history of those twelve years during
which Anne filled, the throne of Great Britain, is, and can be,
little besides a biography of Marlborough. That distinguished
man, not less gifted as a statesman than as a warrior, was m
truth the real sovereign of his country for at least nine out of
those twelve years, years during which England attained to an
amazing height of power and influence. If it be pleasing to an
intelligent and proud people to look back to a time when they
appeared at the head of a mighty contest for liberty and
marshalled princes and nations in her sacred cause, to an era
* There are several biographies of Clement XL, hut my notion of him is
formed principally from his public actions. Boyer; Tindal; Burnet;
Lamberty.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 85
of splendid victories, to a period when the greatest military
power in Europe was humbled to the dust by their energy and
prowess, the memory of Marlborough will surely be remem
bered with affection, his merits dwelt upon with delight, his
failings forgotten for the sake of the inestimable services he
rendered to his country and to mankind. /'It was his destiny
in life to execute the vast designs of William, and his power,
while at its zenith, was in many respects greater than
William's. He had not, like that prince, to encounter a
House of Commons frequently inimical to his projects, and
almost always hostile to his own person. The war and
himself were alike popular. Supplies were never stinted,
and of those supplies he had the uncontrolled disposal ;
for Anne, upon such matters, interfered little, and Godol
phin seldom disputed the judgment of his friend. ) But it
cannot be that in a free country a single subject should
absorb into his hands the whole power of the State without
exciting the jealousy of a host of politicians. The original
scheme of Marlborough had been to form a small party of
friends, standing aloof from both the great factions of Par
liament, but ready to dispense the royal favour impartially
between moderate Whigs and Tories as occasion arose. Had
the scale remained equally poised between the two factions, or
had it preponderated in favour of the Tories, the government of
Marlborough would probably have lasted until the death of
Anne. But fortune inclined it to the side of the Whigs, and
the difficulties of the hero became every year more embar
rassing. His alternative lay between displeasing the Queen
or setting the Parliament against him. To be constantly
teasing her Majesty to do violence to her feelings by admitting
men who were odious to her to be Secretaries of State and
Privy Councillors, was to sap the foundations of his position.
Yet if the Whigs were not satisfied, the Government might be
brought to a standstill, vexatious inquiries set on foot, the
supplies withheld, and the war stopped.
Anne was not only becoming each year more unmanageable,
but it now scarcely admitted of a doubt that she was guided by
the advice of counsellors more congenial to her ways of thinking
than her responsible Ministers. This state of things would

86 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
perhaps not have occurred had the Duchess been a woman of
ordinary temper, and discretion. But that extraordinary being
was a monument of unchangeable folly. No subject, except
perhaps a mediaeval jester, surely ever stood so little in awe of
a sovereign. She could not avoid seeing that Anne's affection
for her was gone, that a rival had supplanted her, that her
Majesty was sick to death of her humours ; yet she continued
to scold on with more violence than ever. Sometimes the shrill
tones of the lecture Mrs. Freeman was administering in the
closet would penetrate to a scandalised audience in the ante
chambers. Those ladies who accompanied Anne upon the day
when she went in State to St. Paul's to return thanks for the
victory of Oudenarde, were witnesses of a strange scene. There
had been a dispute that morning between the Queen and the
Duchess about the jewels her Majesty should wear. The
Duchess, who could not imagine that Anne rebelled against
her dictation of her own accord, set down her Majesty's
obstinacy to the prompting of Mrs. Masham, and was in great
wrath. She continued her reproaches in the coach, while Anne
was engaged in acknowledging the homage of her subjects, and
her rage had not spent itself by the time the procession reached
the cathedral. In the solemn pauses of the thanksgiving
j. service she had still a few taunts to whisper in the ear of the
] Queen. Anne was commencing a reply, but was promptly told
to hold her tongue. Either the Duchess did not choose that
the quarrel should degenerate into a dialogue, or she enter
tained a just fear that, if excited, her voice would rise in that
sacred edifice above the strains of organ and choristers. Accus
tomed as was Anne to the habitual insolence of her old favourite,
she never forgave this outrage.*
Marlborough would sometimes venture with great mildness
and humility to point out to his wife that, when differences
arise between friends, reproaches and recriminations only serve
to make the breach wider. He might as well have tried to
teach a hurricane to be gentle. Mrs. Freeman evidently
thought that the understanding and affections of Mrs. Morley
were her property, and that when the use of them was with-
* Coxe's Memoirs, and the correspondence between the Queen and the
Duchess on this matter.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 87
held from her she suffered a grievous wrong. The Whigs
ought, in her opinion, to have all they asked for, and if the
Queen was too much of a fool to see the justice of their de
mands, she should be lectured into a wiser frame of mind. To
her husband she occasionally dealt out a sharp word that cut
him to the heart, for being too lukewarm in pressing the claims
of the statesmen she had graciously taken under her protection.
Marlborough had, in truth, tried every form that decent ex
postulation could take to induce her Majesty to modify her
opinions respecting persons and parties. During the summer
and autumn there had been several interchanges of letters
between Anne and himself. They were written on the side
of the Queen in that style of friendly equality which Mrs.
Morley always employed when addressing Mr. Freeman, and
Marlborough replied in a tone of earnest but always respectful
remonstrance against the course her Majesty was pursuing.
Anne affected not to understand how she had given cause for
complaint. The letter Marlborough bad written to his wife
with the news of the victory of Oudenarde had been shown to
her, and one expression it contained tempted her to write for
an explanation. He professed his thankfulness for being the
instrument of so much good to the nation and to the Queen, if
the Queen would make use of it. What did he mean by this ?
She was sure she would never make an ill use of so great a
blessing : she would to the best of her understanding make the
best use of it she could : she would be glad to know what use
he would have her make of it. Marlborough, after apologising
for the hastiness of his expression, answered that his meaning
was that she could make no good use of that or any other
blessing except by following the advice of the Lord Treasurer,
and discarding all other counsellors. To this Anne penned
a rejoinder which reiterated the substance of what she had
frequently said before. There was nobody, she protested, with
whom she did advise but himself and the Treasurer. But she
had said this so often that she began to fear Mr. Freeman had
no longer a good opinion of her, and if that was the case, it was
useless for her to say anything. Why must it be thought so
extraordinary if she sometimes refused to comply with what
was desired of her ? Could not she be of one opinion and her

88 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
advisers of another, without its being always imputed that she
was influenced by Mr. Harley ?*
That Anne, in thus emphatically repudiating the charge of
listening to other political advisers than her Ministers, was
telling the truth, or at least what she conceived to be the truth,
is by no means improbable. But Marlborough gave to the
assertions of his wife a credit which no judicious historian of
the present day would think of yielding, and seems to have had
no doubt that the Queen was prevaricating. It was at all
events clear that it was beyond the power of argument to con
vince her Majesty of the necessity of according more favour to
the Whigs. Godolphin, weary of talking and remonstrating,
and terrified by the menaces of the discontented party, began
to find his life a burden to him ; and even Marlborough was
forced to admit in sadness that there was no washing a blacka
moor white. It was not from the conduct of Mrs. Mabham and
Harley alone that the Duke entertained apprehensions. There
were three members of his own family, having access to
royalty, whose folly was perpetually engendering fresh en
tanglements. His wife was an outrageous Whig, whose tongue
it was impossible to restrain ; Sunderland, his son-in-law, was
a rash and ill-tempered Whig, who could scarcely be persuaded
to a decent forbearance with the perverseness and stupidity of
Anne ; George Churchill, his brother, was a Tory, constantly
saying or doing, or inciting Prince George to say or do some
thing which gave high offence to the imperious Whigs. Early
in the year there had seemed every probability that Anne,
highly provoked by the quips and sarcasms upon the Tories
which Sunderland could not refrain from uttering even in the
royal presence, and by the rampant Whiggism he had dis
played in canvassing for his party in Scotland, would summarily
dismiss that nobleman from his post of Secretary. This danger,
which was agitating Marlborough during those critical days
which preceded the battle of Oudenarde, passed over ; but it
was a mournful thought to the hero that his relation, instead of
endeavouring, as Cowper had done, to win the confidence and
regard of the Queen, should be obstinately bent on increasing
* The Queen to Marlborough, July 13—24 ; Marlborough to the Queen, July
23, August 3 ; August 2 — 13.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 89
her detestation of him. Sunderland was, in truth, a self-willed
man, little inclined to be dependent on or even to receive advice
from his modest but wise father-in-law. His ties to his party
were stronger than his ties to the great family of which he had
become a member. He believed that the Duke was not acting
honourably by the Whigs, that he was playing a double game,
that he still remained a Tory at heart, that his professions were
hollow, that he would do nothing for the party he was not
forced to do. Somers, with whom Sunderland corresponded,
was of the same opinion. It was, in fact, inconceivable to the
whole bevy of eager and disappointed statesmen that Anne
could persist in refusing any demand which so indispensable a
servant did really and sincerely urge her to grant.
As the time approached for the assembling of the Parliament
Godolphin's uneasiness on account of the Whigs increased.
Again and again Patroclus wrote to Achilles, then engaged
before Lille, begging him to leave all and return to England,
if his stay were but for eight-and-forty hours. Nothing but
ruin was to be expected unless Mr. Freeman had a personal
interview with Mrs. Morley, and could talk her over into com
plying about Somers. The elections had taken place during
the summer, and Marlborough's prediction had been verified.
The Whigs had been more than commonly successful. The spirits
of the leaders were immensely elated. The threats they held
forth were of a kind well calculated to inspire terror in Anne.
It was reported to her by Haversham that Parliament would
again be moved to send an invitation to the Electoral Prince of
Hanover to take up his residence in England. The morbid
horror with which Anne shrank from beholding any member of
the family which was to succeed her, was universally known.
Her gratitude to the Whigs and her resentment against the
Tories upon the last occasion when this subject was mooted,
had gone near to convert her to those opinions respecting
parties which the Duchess had so vainly laboured to inspire.
And now, it seemed that her former protectors were to be her
oppressors, and that her friends would be powerless to help her.
Another threat peculiarly adapted to give pain to Anne was
that the attack would be resumed upon those, who had the
direction of naval affairs. The year had indeed given rise to

90 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
no events which could justify a renewal of those censures which
had been formerly passed upon the Admiralty. No merchant
had made fresh complaints as to the insufficiency of cruisers or
the difficulty of procuring convoy. A great increase of vigour
had, on the contrary, been shown in every department of the
maritime service. The rapidity with which that fleet had been
fitted out which enabled Byng to frustrate the invasion, went
far in impartial minds to atone for previous neglect and supine-
ness. Both in the Mediterranean and the West Indies there
had been achievements worthy of the English flag. Leake had
conquered Sardinia and assisted in the conquest of Minorca,
Commodore Wager had, after four hours of intrepid fighting
against what seemed overwhelming odds, captured, sunk or
dismantled a squadron of heavily armed and richly-laden
Spanish ships on their way to Carthagena. But the Whigs, -
it appeared, were too bitterly incensed against the Government
to notice such matters. It was rumoured that they would not
be content merely with forcing the obnoxious George Churchill
from the Council. The Prince himself was to be compelled to
resign. His post was wanted for Pembroke. Why, it was
whispered, should a man who not only had never possessed the
least fitness for the place, but who had for years past been in
capacitated by illness from devoting the least attention to it, be
entrusted with the control of the most mighty engine of British
power ?
Rumours of this kind proved more effective with Anne than
the arguments and entreaties of her oldest friends. She showed
signs of yielding, and scarcely had she begun to do so when an
event occurred which, however sad to herself in a private
capacity, rendered it far easier for her to content the predo
minant party. This was the death of Prince George. His
constitution had been slowly breaking up ever since the Queen's
accession. He had during many years suffered from an incur
able asthma, and had been nursed by his wife with exemplary
affection. He expired on the 28th of October. An epitaph in
Westminster Abbey simply recording that he was born in 1653
and died in 1708, and enumerating his sounding titles, may be
considered a sufficient biography of the consort of Anne. He
was a listless, unintellectual man, yet in one respect he merited

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 91
the gratitude of the natiou. He did his best, and in a way
that promised to be more effectual than the foresight of the
profoundest statesmen, to secure the peaceable transference of
the sceptre to a race of Protestant sovereigns. But Providence (
so ordered it that none of his numerous offspring survived to
maturity. The death of the Prince occurred at an opportune moment.
The Whigs at once abandoned all thoughts of inquiring into
the administration of naval affairs. Indeed there was no one
left to attack. With the Prince expired his council. The
hated George Churchill was no longer in power. It was now
fully expected that the control of the navy would be placed in
the hands of Pembroke, and this hope was not disappointed.
Two days before Parliament met Anne attended a meeting of
the Privy Council at St. James's, and signified her intentions.
Pembroke was declared Lord High Admiral of Great Britain
and Ireland. Of the posts he already held, and which were
inconsistent with the performance of the duties of his new
place, he was deprived. His office of President of the Council
was given to Somers. Wharton was nominated Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland, and chose for his principal secretary Joseph Addi
son. The promises which Godolphin had made to the graceful
writer had been honourably fulfilled. Since 1705 Addison had
been in the service of Government as Under-Secretary of State,
first to Hedges, and afterwards to Sunderland.
The Whigs seemed now for a time contented, and Godolphin
found himself suddenly delivered from the fear of a stormy
session. The new Parliament was opened on the 16th of
November by commission, when Sir Robert Onslow, a Whig,
whose grandfather had pressed Cromwell to assume the crown,
was, after running the gauntlet of some ironical compliments
from the Tories, elected Speaker. The speech, which was
delivered by Cowper, was, as usual, Whiggish in its tone,
and was little more than a reiteration of those sentiments
which had fallen from the royal lips in preceding years.
Her Majesty declared that it appeared impossible to her that
representatives of the British nation could endure to lose
the fruits of past endeavours by submitting to an insecure
peace. The Commons were exhorted to bear their part in

92 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
augmenting the troops in Flanders, and to add to the strength
of the fleet.
As soon as the customary addresses of condolence for the
death of the Prince and of congratulation for the success of her
Majesty's arms abroad had been presented, the Lower House
proceeded with readiness and perfect unanimity to its special
duties. The circumstances that the estimates made by the last
Parliament, although amounting to more than six millions
had fallen short of the actual expenditure by upwards of three
hundred thousand pounds, and that the estimates for the year
1709 reached nearly a million more than the estimates for
1708, did not seemingly produce discouragement. The sub
sidies to Allies were voted on the usual scale. Twelve hundred
thousand pounds were aUowed for augmenting the forces in
Flanders. The whole amount granted by the Commons fell
little short of seven millions.
But by what ways and means this great sum should be
raised was a question that required consideration. The receipts
of the Treasury at this time appear to have been far less than
they had been two or three years previously. The customs
had largely decHned ; the inland revenue was collected with a
difficulty that proved the uselessness of augmenting taxation.
It is probable that the entire income of Government at this
period did not much exceed four millions, so that nearly three
miUions were required to cover the deficiency between the
possible receipts and expenditure for the forthcoming year.
Nor could it be reasonably hoped that, so long as the war
lasted, the annual deficiency would ever be less than this sum.
Yet the credit of the Government continued unimpaired in the
city. Had the Chancellor of the Exchequer proceeded after
the old fashion to the great emporium of wealth, and raised a
loan from house to house by giving tallies in exchange for
money, there can be little doubt that his requirements would
in a very short time have been satisfied. But since the estab
lishment of the Bank new and more convenient forms of
borrowing had dawned upon financiers. It was now seen, first,
that from the coffers of the Bank might be drawn by a single
transaction a sum which it would take days to collect in the
old manner ; and secondly, that the credit of a flourishing com-

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 93
pany might be advantageously employed to set in circulation
Exchequer-bills, which were now issued in place of the old and
clumsy security of tallies. It was of essential importance,
however, that the stability of the Bank should be placed beyond
all doubt. Its failure would be to the Government a grievous
disaster ; for independently of the loss of an useful friend, the
twelve hundred thousand pounds which had been originally
lent by the shareholders would have to be repaid. That such
a catastrophe might well happen in times of great political
excitement had been sufficiently demonstrated in the recent
panic. Plans were, therefore, discussed between the Ministers
and the authorities of the Bank, and the result was that, in the
spring of 1709, certain proposals were submitted to the House
of Commons. The governor and company undertook to advance
a further sum of four hundred thousand pounds to the Govern
ment, and also to float Exchequer-bills to the amount of two
and a half millions, upon condition that their charter was
renewed for an additional twenty-one years, and that they
should be permitted to double their capital stock by new
subscriptions. These proposals the Parliament at once accepted. Persons
were appointed by royal commission to take the names of sub
scribers, and at nine in the morning of the 22nd of February
they attended with their books in Mercers' Hall. The new
stock was to be taken at fifteen pounds' premium, but this price
the public did not think too high for the security. No sooner
were the doors opened than such a crowd of subscribers poured
in that the commissioners were bewildered with the number
and eagerness of the applicants. By one in the afternoon it
was announced, to the disappointment of many who had failed
to get their names down, that the whole required sum of two
millions two hundred thousand pounds had been subscribed.*
Two questions relating to the elections of the Scottish repre
sentatives to serve in Parliament were decided during this
session, and although the debates were attended with much
heat and bitterness, it can scarcely be doubted that the judg-
* See the remarks of Boyer on this subject and his gleeful reference to the
utter failure of the King of France to establish a royal bank at about the same
time.

94

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

ment of the majority was an equitable one, and calculated to
promote a good understanding between the two nations. In
the first place it was determined that the eldest son of a
Scottish peer was not eligible to a seat in the House of Com
mons ; and in the second that a Scottish peer, who likewise
held a peerage of Great Britain, was not entitled to vote on the
election of the sixteen representative peers of his country. A
doubt upon the first of these questions would probably not have
been raised but for the warm interest taken in the subject by
the Scottish nobility. Almost the last act passed by the Scot
tish Parliament had settled the manner in which the elections
of members to serve in the House of Commons should be made
and in that act it was declared that no one should be capable
to elect or be elected a representative to serve in the Parliament
of Great Britain, except such persons as were capable of elect
ing or being elected representatives in the Parliament of Scot
land. For many weighty reasons the sons of Scottish peers
had been frequently rejected by the Parliament of their
country, when returned as commissioners of shires or burghs.
Indeed the widely different points of view from which the
Commons of England and Scotland regarded their respective
nobilities, form no bad illustration of the past histories of the two
nations. In England the aristocratic caste had never, at least,
since the time when Parliament became a recognised institution,
been regarded with terror and mistrust. The power of an Eng
lish nobleman amounted, in fact, to little more than that en
joyed by an untitled but wealthy squire. Except his immunity
from arrest in civil cases, a peer was as much subject to the law
as the humblest peasant. It was felt by the Commons that the
same dark shadow cast by the Crown' involved both him and
themselves, and that their interests upon the great points of
liberty, religion, and taxation were in the main identical.
From this it resulted that, when the scion of an aristocratic
House stood for a county or borough, no misgivings as to his
having an interest opposed to the common good prevented the
electors from choosing him for their representative. But a
very different state of things had always prevailed in Scot
land. The power of the Crown was weak : the privileges
assumed by the nobility virtually constituted each nobleman

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 95
an absolute monarch in his own domains. Generation after
generation grew up in awe of a being accustomed to set at
defiance King and Parliament, nay, whose whole life was one
constant outrage on the fundamental laws of society and civili
sation. It would have been strange, therefore, if such a being
bad not been regarded by the peacefully inclined inhabitants
of towns as a public enemy with interests utterly opposed to
their own, and if they should not have refused to be repre
sented in Parliament by any member of his family, of his
tenantry, or, indeed, by any one over whom he might be sup
posed to have an influence.
Upon the other question, the right of a Scottish peer holding
a peerage of Great Britain to vote on the elections of the six
teen representative peers, the decision was also given in the
negative, principaUy, it should seem, on grounds of expediency.
It is not easy to comprehend the justice of the argument that
when a peer of Scotland is made a peer of the United Kingdom,
his privileges as a peer of Scotland suffer extinction. But the
importance of preserving every member of the House of Lords
on a footing of perfect equality is intelligible enough, and it is
clear that if a member, sitting in his own right, had a voice in
electing another member, his influence would exceed that of
his brethren.
Throughout the session, indeed, the attention of the Houses
was, upon one pretext or another, constantly recaUed to Scot
land. Upon no other subject was it possible for the Opposition
to pretend so much indignation, to make so many covert allu
sions, to deal such keen home-thrusts at men in power as upon
this. Haversham, in his annual critique upon the occurrences of
the past year, spoke with his usual bitterness upon the subject
of the arrest of the persons suspected of being in complicity
with the scheme of invasion. The facts of the case wore, in
truth, a most suspicious appearance. /'Between Queensberry
and Godolphin there had long been a close political aUiance.
It was Queensberry's province to manage the Scottish elections
in favour of the Court, that is to say, in the interest of the
Marlborough party, and his exertions to that end had given
deep offence to the numerous enemies of that party. The un
successful attempt of the Pretender had furnished him with

96 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
just the pretence he needed for indulging in arbitrary pro
ceedings. It could not have happened at a more fortunate
time for his plans. Two months more, and that Privy Council,
of which he was the soul, would have expired, and no resource
would then have remained to him but to influence the elections
by the ordinary means of bribing and promising. Suddenly
he found himself, by the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act,
invested with boundless power, and he proceeded to use it with
what most men considered the shamelessness of a partisan. In
a few days every Scotchman, peer or commoner, whose return
to Parliament seemed probable, and whose antecedents ren
dered his joining the lists against the Government a not un
likely event, was in custody — Hamilton, Athol, Gordon, Bel-
haven, Lockhart, Fletcher, and a host of others. Some of these
gentlemen had undoubtedly been privy to the scheme of inva
sion, but proofs of their complicity there were at that time
none, and fifty years passed before the testimony of Hooke
revealed who actually were the guilty parties. Against the
majority of Queensberry's captives not a tittle of evidence
could be brought, and many of them were, as we now know,
perfectly innocent. Care was, however, taken that they should
not be released until the fate of the elections had been decided.
After two months' confinement in Scotland they were sent up
to London for examination before the Privy Council. Sunder
land at once exerted his interest to procure the release of
Hamilton, in whom he nourished a strong hope that the Whigs
would find a friend, and Hamilton got back to Scotland just
in time to secure his election. But most of the other prisoners
were not discharged until it was certain that they could make
no disagreeable use of their liberty?) Belhaven, who, although
an uncompromising and frantic opposer of the Union, of Queens-
berry, and of the English Government, appears to have been
guiltless of any transactions with St. Germains, obtained his
freedom only in time to die of brain fever outside the walls of
the Tower. Indignation against his persecutors and despair of
his country's future had been too much for the excitable tem
perament of this unfortunate nobleman. Against only five
persons who, deluded by a false report that the Pretender had
landed, actuaUy appeared in arms with their foUowers, could

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 97
a case be made out ; and these persons were sent back to
Scotland to undergo their trial in conformity with Scottish
usages. To the infinite vexation of the English Ministers, but very
much to the satisfaction of the Scottish people, all these five
persons were acquitted. There could be no doubt in English
minds that the laws and procedure of Scotland in relation to
treason were not defined with sufficient accuracy. This was no
pleasant discovery to muke. In a part of the United Kingdom
exposed without defences to invasion, and inhabited by a
population that was replete with disaffection, it seemed that a
man might, with a little aid from a judge who was a stickler
for half-obsolete forms, and from a jury which would be certain
to sympathize with his offence, commit treason with perfect
impunity. The importance therefore of altering the Scottish
criminal laws in this respect appeared clear : but the matter
presented some difficulties. To force upon the Scotch the
horrible treason laws of England would be certainly regarded
as a high-handed proceeding, and perhaps as an infringement
of the conditions of the Union. There was, however, no alter
native between risking the displeasure of the Scotch, or leaving
the whole island in jeopardy. The Ministers determined upon
the former course, and a recommendation was thrown out in
the royal speech to assimilate the criminal laws of the two
kingdoms. A bill to extend the English laws relating to high
treason to Scotland was introduced to the Commons ; but the
opposition to it appeared so formidable that it was dropped.
The subject was then taken up by the Lords. A similar bill
passed their House in spite of a vehement protest from all the
Scotch sixteen, was sent down to the Commons, and eventually
passed that stage also in spite of the opposition of the Scotch
forty-five. An amendment was, however, carried that softened
to a considerable extent the intolerable harshness of the
English law. Burnet had striven with his accustomed benevo
lence to teach his colleagues that to turn children out as
beggars on the world for the offences of their fathers, was to
take a tyrannical and unreasonable vengeance upon the innocent
for the crimes of the guilty. With all his eloquence, however,
he was unable to carry his point. There was a general opinion,
VOL. II. H

98 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and it was held by Somers, that the fear of injuring his offspring
would act as an additional restraint upon the father. This
mitigation of the penalties of treason was now accorded by the
lower House. A clause introduced into the bill enacted that
the forfeiture of the estate which followed on attainder should
not be for a longer period than for the life of the attainted.
An exemption of the Queen's subjects from torture, still a
necessary provision for Scotland, was also inserted.*
Together with this act for improving the Union a much-
needed act of grace received the Royal assent. It was, accord
ing to custom, sent by the Sovereign to the Lords, was by their
House thankfully accepted and passed, and was then sent down
to receive the formal and respectful concurrence of the Commons.
All offences committed by her Majesty's subjects before the
19th of April, 1709, were, with certain specified exceptions,
pardoned by this act. The object was to deliver those numerous
persons who had perpetrated treason by corresponding with the
Court of St. Germains, from the fear of being one day called to
account for their crime. To neither Marlborough nor Godolphin
could this act be said to be a superfluous defence ; yet there
seems no ground for imputing to them any extraordinary
personal interest in the matter. Such an act they could have
easily procured at any time since the commencement of the
reign. At the present conjuncture, when the minds of many
Scotchmen were disturbed by the consciousness of having
committed treason and the fearful penalties now imposed upon
the crime, the appearance of an act of grace was well timed. t
One act which became law this session was an interesting
experiment in statesmanship. Under its provisions any Protes
tant alien, who took the oaths of allegiance and supremacy
before proper officers, became, without any further ceremony,
entitled to all the rights and privileges of naturally horn
subjects. It is singular that public attention was not more
drawn at the time to a measure which might be expected to
produce greater changes in the framework of English society
than any step ever taken by the legislature. The only real
* 7 Anne, c. 21; Burnet; Boyer; Lettres Historiques. ..
f Burnet remarks, " The Ministry, for their own sakes, took care that
should be very full."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 99
opposition to the bill came from a section of the Tories, who
objected that an influx of foreigners, by swelling the ranks of
the Dissenters, might prove dangerous to the supremacy of the
Church. How this argument failed to produce its customary
effect upon the masses of Church-loving squires who still
crowded the benches of this House of Commons, it is not easy
to imagine. The religious scruples of the majority were
satisfied by simply prescribing that the applicant for naturaliza
tion should produce a certificate from the minister of some
Protestant or reformed congregation that he had once taken
the Sacrament. It may be idle to speculate upon what might
have been the consequences of this act, had it remained in force
for any length of time. It can hardly be but that the whole
tone of English life, the habits, morals and religious predilec
tions of Englishmen would, whether for good or evil, have been
greatly altered. Even the States of the great American
Republic have generally considered it prudent to enjoin a
residence of at least a year in the country as a condition
preliminary to the possession of the franchise. But under the
statute of Anne a foreigner, wholly unacquainted with the laws,
the language, the peculiar notions and feelings of Englishmen,
might in a single day qualify himself to elect or be elected a
member of Parliament. The rash act was repealed three years
after, when the Tories succeeded to power, and no subsequent
Parliament has ventured to recur to similar principles.
One of the effects of another act also passed during this
session was to fill princes and diplomatists all round Europe
with amazement. In England, it seemed, neither the power of
the Sovereign nor the laws of the land extended to inflicting
punishment upon parties who, in the eyes of all foreign jurists,
had committed a most heinous crime. An ambassador from
Peter the Great had been for some time in the country, and had
contracted some small debts with tradesmen, not amounting
altogether to three hundred pounds. In July his creditors
were alarmed by hearing that he had taken his formal audience
of leave. Notice had been indeed sent them that a Muscovite
merchant would attend in the city on a certain day, and would
settle all claims upon his Excellency ; but this promise did not
suffice to dissipate their apprehensions. A meeting of creditors
H 2

100 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
was held. The general opinion was that the Ambassador meant
to be off without paying his debts, and the indignant tradesmen
determined not to give the foreigner a chance of swindling
them. To commence an action for debt, to sue out a capias was
in that age the work of an hour. Before the Ambassador had
received the slightest warning of what was to happen, the writ
was executed upon his sacred person. His coach was stopped
by bailiffs in the Haymarket : a man sprang into the vehicle,
and collared him. Not unnaturally imagining that he was set
upon by thieves, he struggled vigorously with his captors, and
a large crowd having gathered to witness the scuffle, the
sheriff's myrm'dons thought it best to drag their prisoner, his
coat torn, his sword broken, and his hat and wig knocked off,
into some refreshment-rooms. The crowd, however, having
dispersed when it became known that nothing more unusual
had occurred than the arrest of a gentleman for debt, a hackney
coach was summoned, and the Ambassador was conveyed to a
dirty public-house, called the Black Raven. It was evening,
but he at once despatched a messenger to the Secretary's office.
Walpole immediately waited upon him, but to the stupefaction
of the Muscovite professed his regret that it was beyond his
power to effect his immediate release. There was nothing for
it but to wait patiently till the morning, when the courts would
be sitting, and bail might be tendered in the usual manner.
The representative of the proudest and sternest monarch in
Europe was consequently compelled to pass the -whole night in
captivity. In the course of the following day he was set at
liberty, and wrote to the Government in a tone of justifiable
indignation. His arrest, he averred, was a deliberate insult
upon the honour of the Czar. He protested against such a
violation of the law of nations, and he demanded that all who
had been concerned against him should be severely punished.
The case was reported to Anne, and there was a discussion
at the Privy Council as to what should be done under these
extraordinary circumstances. If such a violation of the uni-
versaUy conceded immunities of ambassadors were suffered to
pass unnoticed, the whole world would cry shame on England,
Yet, on the other hand, it was most doubtful whether those
who had been concerned in the arrest had committed any

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 101
offence which the law could reach. It was probably the first
instance of the kind that had occurred. There had been some
small theorising upon the subject by English jurists; but it was
not apparent that there was anything in the common law, and
there was certainly nothing in the statutory law, which recog
nized any privileges whatever in foreigners. The most august
monarch of the Continent, the awful Peter or the magnificent
Louis, might find his shoulder invaded in the streets of London
by the paw of a sheriff's bailiff. It was, however, decided to
send the case for trial. The Attorney- General was instructed
to exhibit an information in the Queen's Bench against the
prosecuting creditors, their attorney, and the bailiffs, and all
the parties accused were forthwith committed to prison. Mean
while the most soothing apologies were tendered to the Ambas
sador; but it was found impossible to make him understand
why such miscreants were not immediately beaten to death,
hanged, or at least set in the piUory. He thought that the
Ministers were trifling with him, retired from the kingdom in
a rage, and laid his complaint at the feet of Peter. A
despatch in due time reached Anne couched in precisely such
terms as might be expected from the despotic barbarian. He
demanded that capital punishment should be inflicted upon the
sheriff, the tradesmen, the lawyers, the bailiffs, and every one
who could be found by the most diligent search to have had
any participation in the crime.
The case was tried before Holt and a special jury, and the
accused were convicted of the particulars laid to their charge.
But Holt abstained from passing sentence. It was his province
to administer, and not to invent, laws and punishments. The
prisoners, in consequence, were set at liberty. But to prevent
the repetition of such an occurrence an act was now passed by
the Parliament to declare null and void all writs and processes
sued out against an Ambassador or his registered servants.
With a copy of this act a special envoy was despatched to the
Czar, and was instructed to assure his Majesty that, although
the Queen had no power to inflict upon any of her subjects a
punishment that was not warranted by law, the offenders lay
under her high displeasure, and were branded throughout
the country as notorious criminals. Peter was mollified by

102 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
these endeavours to propitiate him, and returned a gracious
answer.* Quiet as the session had been through the preponderating
influence of the Whigs, it had not, however, passed off without
some rancorous growls from the Tories. Haversham was, as
usual, the orator of his party, and his speech this year
abounded with taunts against the Ministers. He concluded
his harangue with a motion for documents by which it might
appear at what time the first intimation of the projected
invasion was received, what orders were issued, and what
was the state of the defences of Scotland. The perusal of
these papers could leave doubt on no impartial mind of the
utter absence of all provision in Scotland against invasion.
At the very time that the French squadron was off the coast,
Leven was bewailing to Mar that the insufficiency and almost
naked condition of his men, joined with the circumstance of
his being without a farthing of money, left him no resource
but to retire into England if the Pretender landed south of the
Forth. How long three of the principal fortresses of the
kingdom, Stirling, Dumbarton, and Blackness could have
resisted the assault of regular troops was not difficult to
calculate. Of the three, Stirling was the only one provided
with powder ; and the supply of Stirling was limited to one
barrel. Dumbarton Castle was in ruins ; and the utterly
destitute condition of the few men who constituted its garrison
might suggest the explanation that their very existence had been
forgotten by the Government. The united armouries of all
Scotland might have furnished about one thousand old muskets,
many of them without ramrods, and not a few with broken
stocks and locks. Haversham descanted bitterly upon the
sad picture of neglect revealed by these papers. "If better
care be not taken for the future," he sagely remarked, "it
will be the greatest miracle if, without a miracle, the Pretender
does not reach this throne." Yet he deservedly failed in an
endeavour to fasten the blame upon the English Ministers.
Nothing could be more apparent than the causes which had led
to the decay of the defences and of the military establishment
of the northern kingdom. Such had been for years the state oi
* The details of this case are given in Boyer and the Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 103
public feeling in Scotland, that any attempt at improvements
in this direction would most certainly have excited a rebellion.
With or without a reason, however, the Whigs bad made up
their minds to stand by the Ministers. From the Lords
Haversham failed to extort any vote of censure. The Com
mons showed still more zeal in their defence ; and, in a series
of resolutions expressed their approbation of the conduct of
those employed by her Majesty in repelling the invasion.
To oppose the usual vote of thanks to Marlborough after a
campaign so brilliant, would have been useless ; yet the Tories
were not satisfied without mingling some drops of gall with
the compliment. Nothing delighted them more than the
springing up of some hero during the year to divide the
honours with the Commander-in-Chief. In the great year of
Blenheim the name of Rooke had been coupled with Marl
borough's so preposterously as to bring down upon the party
the contempt and derision of the whole country. They had
then lavished applause upon Peterborough in the hope of
inducing the nation to shift its admiration to a new idol. The
fortunate warrior who was now taken up by the Tories was
Webb. Some injustice had been at first done to him. In the
first accounts which reached England of the action at Wynen
dale, and which were inserted in the London Gazette, no mention
whatever was made of Webb. It was stated that the troops
which beat off Lamothe were under the command of Cadogan,
who did not, in fact, reach the ground till the combat was
over. It may be gathered from Marlborough's private letters
that, when this relation was framed, it was not accurately
known in camp whether Webb's corps or Cadogan's, or both
had borne the burden of the fighting.* But it was enough for
malicious critics that Cadogan, to whom the praise had been
precipitately attributed, was Marlborough's known favourite.
No reason can be imagined why the Duke should knowingly
trick out this officer with plumes of which it was certain he
would be speedily stripped ; and of which, in fact, he was
immediately despoiled by Webb, who was anything but indif-
* In a letter to Godolphin, October 1 — 12, four days after the affair, Marl
borough remarks, " Webb and Cadogan have, on this occasion, as they always
will do, behaved themselves extremely well. The success of this vigorous action
is, in a great measure, owing to them."

104 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
ferent to his own glory. The Tories, however, chose to impute
the mistake to his Grace's partiality. A vote of thanks was
obtained for Webb, and some not very complimentary allusions
were made to Webb's superior. "I observe with grief,"
remarked Bromley, "that a certain commander upon whom
not only the thanks of both Houses, but also great rewards,
have been bestowed, seems nevertheless to be yet unsatisfied."
It was not until a month afterwards that the thanks of the
House were voted to Marlborough.
The votes of the repentant Whigs had saved that Govern
ment of which Godolphin was the head. A quiet session had
passed where a stormy one had been anticipated. The supplies
had been voted on the most liberal scale ; and so far all was well.
Yet the Treasurer was far from being a happy man. Constant
walking among pitfalls had shattered the nerves of a mind which
had not been originally of the strongest metal. The taunts and
sneers of the Tories drove him almost to distraction. He could
not endure the black looks of Mrs. Morley. What schemes she
and her maid were concocting with the dreaded Harley he
scarcely dared imagine. To add to his wretchedness there
were Whigs who cruelly and perversely persisted in believing
that he was fostering Anne's predilections for the Tories, In
this frame of mind he kept longing for Marlborough's return
as a sick child pines for its nurse. Nothing could go well till
Mr. Freeman was again in England. " A slave in the galleys,"
he wrote to his friend, "is in paradise compared to me. At
first the business of the campaign would not let you come;
then the States-general would not let you come ; and now it
must be God Almighty that hinders you."* At length his
wish was gratified. Upon the 1st of March Marlborough,
after an absence of eleven months, again set foot in England.
Never had his return created greater interest, for the rumour
had spread far and wide that he was the bearer of proposals for
peace. The report was well founded. The once magnificent despot,
humbled by great misfortunes, without confidence in his gene
rals, scarce able to supply his soldiers with bread, and with
subjects who could only respond to his appeals for money by
* Godolphin to Marlborough, January 10 — 31.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 105
one deep groan of agony, was again striving with his whole
heart to obtain rest from his pitiless persecutors. How com
pletely had been the revolution effected by Time ! The great
Louis, who for half a century had dictated terms to the princes
of Europe, was now suing humbly for peace, was wiUing to
make the most ample restitution to every power be had had the
ill-luck to offend, to concede towns to petty sovereigns upon
whose necks he might but a few years back have set his foot —
all upon the mere condition that utter degradation might be
spared bis grey hairs. If it be wisdom in conquerors to seize
the moment for arranging terms when the enemy is prostrate,
exhausted, and in despair, it is plain that that moment had
now arrived for the Allies. It was scarcely possible that a
brave, industrious, numerous, and loyal population could fall
to a lower degree of wretchedness than that which the French
had now reached. But peace was not yet to be ; and it remains
to be shown how the Allies, some blinded by arrogance and
others by cupidity, permitted this golden opportunity to slip,
and how at length a turn of fortune came and they deservedly
lost the fruits of ten years of successful warfare.
As soon as the campaign closed Louis had, through private
channels, re-opened negotiations with some of the leading states
men of Holland. Such were, in truth, the circumstances of
his position that he could see none but such methods of nego
tiating left him. To the Emperor he felt it would be useless
to apply. The case of Joseph resembled that of a gambler
without means. He might win largely : he had nothing to
lose by continuing the war ; and so long as his good Allies
chose to bear the expense he cared not if the contest lasted till
the day of judgment. England had certainly little cause for
•the extreme inveteracy she had evinced. But the Parliament
had as yet shown no symptoms of a desire for peace. Marl
borough was still, to all appearance, in the zenith of his power
and popularity. The acceptance or rejection of any overture
for peace would, in all probability, depend chiefly upon him ;
and Louis entertained a deep conviction that Marlborough
would for his own interests strive to prolong the war. Among
the parties of the Republic, however, there was always some
encouragement to be found. The King heard that even his

106 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
most bitter enemy, the Pensionary Heinsius, was becoming
reasonable, that he thought France now sufficiently reduced in
power, and that the time had arrived when it would be for the
advantage of the Republic to arrange conditions. Under these
circumstances Louis felt himself warranted in making a private
application to the Pensionary for passports for an accredited
envoy ; and the passports were granted, although in a secret
manner* The person selected by Louis for conducting negotiations
with the Dutch was Rouille, a merchant who, although he had
never yet been invested with the character of an ambassador,
had frequently given proofs of his abilities as a diplomatist.
The nature of his instructions showed how much in earnest the
King now was. RouiH£ was expressly charged not to stickle
about small matters, to examine too closely the powers of those
with whom he conferred, and not to make long speeches. Time
was precious. In three months, if there was no cessation of
arms, the war must recommence. His Majesty, he might say
at once, was willing to abandon Spain, the Indies, the Milanese,
the Netherlands : he would concede large commercial advan
tages to the Dutch, and such a barrier as must remove all their
apprehensions on the side of France. The only fragment of the
immense inheritance of Charles II. he desired that his grand
son should retain was the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily,
and, if too much objection were not made, the island of
Sardinia. Rouille's first interviews were with Pensionaries Buys and
Vanderdussen. The conferences were held in an obscure vil
lage, and were conducted with almost as much secrecy as men
would have used who were plotting an insurrection. The
Dutchmen had no authorization to treat ; but Rouille was satis
fied with the knowledge that his antagonists were men of high
and influential position, and the business proceeded. After a
few meetings his Majesty's proposals were reduced to a definite
form. Buys and Vanderdussen then thought it advisable to
take Marlborough's private opinion upon them. From him,
however, nothing could be obtained beyond a promise to sub
mit the proposals to the Queen. Large as were the offers of
* Memoires de Torcy.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 107
Louis, it is plain that Marlborough was for rejecting them.
" I am far," he said, writing to Godolphin, " from thinking the
King of France so low as he is thought in England. Every
town on the frontier is f uU of his troops ; swarms of his cavalry
occupy every village and farmhouse between the Sambre and
Meuse." * It was undoubtedly true that Louis, while using his
best endeavours to obtain peace, was preparing with his usual
activity for the very probable event that the war might con
tinue. Godolphin imparted the French proposals to Somers
and the other chiefs of the Whig party. They at once and
unanimously pronounced them insufficient. In truth, they felt
that the war was essentiaHy their war, and that the reputation
of the party was involved in obtaining a complete triumph.
Every letter which reached England from abroad brought fresh
accounts of the fearfully exhausted state of France, of the
bankruptcy of the Treasury, the starving condition of the
people, the depression of trade, the almost total extinction of
manufactures. By these relations they were much elated.
Generosity towards a fallen foe was not a feeling that found
place in any Whig breast ; nor was it to be wondered at that
there should have been no inclination to be generous towards
a tyrant who had kept Europe in a tremor for half a century.
It was the general opinion of the party that nothing more was
needed than a march into France to frighten Louis out of the
small remains of his arrogance and obstinacy. It was thought
proper, however, in regard to these overtures for peace, to
obtain from the Parliament an explicit declaration as to what
would be required by the English Government. An address
to her Majesty was therefore carried through the Upper House
to request that provision would be made in any treaty for the
recognition of her title by the King, for his guarantee of the
Protestant succession, and his compelling the Pretender to
quit his dominions. To this address the Commons added the
recommendation that the demolition of the fortifications and
harbour of Dunkirk should be insisted on.
When Marlborough, after staying b^i five weeks in England,
returned to the Hague, he took care to be furnished with
instructions such as could not fail to extinguish the hopes of
* Marlborough to Godolphin, February 13 — 24.

108

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

Louis.* He was charged, in addition to insisting upon the
demands of his own Government, to recall to the recollection of
the States the sentiments so often expressed by the British Par-
Hament that no peace could be safe or honourable unless the
whole of the Spanish monarchy were restored to the House of
Austria. Of the policy of Great Britain, so accordant as it was
with aU the wishes and schemes of the Emperor, Eugene, who
had returned from Vienna, of course expressed his cordial
approval. The Savoyard Minister, whose master was hoping to
secure something out of the spoil of the sick lion, linked him
self to the two generals. Heinsius, however, thought their
views so unreasonable, that he seriously advised Marlborough to
keep them a secret if he wished to avoid exciting a ferment in
the Republic. So far indeed as the interests of the Dutch
were concerned, the terms which Buys and Vanderdussen had
succeeded in extorting from RouiU^, left them no motive for
continuing the war ; and the Pensionary could not but regret
that his countrymen, who had already suffered severely, should
be required to prolong the contest merely for the benefit of the
Emperor, whose concerns were nothing to them, and who had
done scarcely anything to promote the common cause, t For
the first time Heinsius and Marlborough were at variance,
Not improbably a suspicion was rising in the breast of the
Dutch statesman that his mistrust and detestation of France
had hurried him into doing more than was prudent towards
establishing in his country the ascendancy of England.
From the moment Marlborough and Eugene arrived in the
country, Rouille' became convinced that all hopes of concluding
peace upon reasonable terms were at an end. The tone in
which Buys and Vanderdussen had hitherto treated with him,
resembled that a couple of pitiless usurers might employ to
wards a needy spendthrift. But now their demands became,
in the envoy's opinion, thoroughly outrageous. Louis had
been frequently communicated with, and town after town had
been wrung from him. But as yet nothing had been said
about Lille, and RouilM had taken it for granted that the
Allies meant to restore that city to France. He could not for
* The instructions are given in Coxe's Memoirs.
t Marlborough to Boyle, April 12 — 23.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 109
one moment imagine that, under any pressure, his master
would consent to the abandonment of a place which was at
once the bulwark of his kingdom and the principal glory of
his reign. The Dutchmen now undeceived him with a cruel
sneer at his credulitj', which almost drove the envoy mad. It
appeared then that all these conferences with Buys and Vander
dussen had been but loss of time, that he had not been dealing
with persons who could be considered as principals. There
were other extortioners behind them stiU more grasping than
themselves. Some of the demands which would be made on
behalf of the other members of the Confederacy were now com
municated to him. The demolition of the harbour of Dunkirk,
he was told, would be regarded as an indispensable condition of
peace. Strasburg, and several other towns on the eastern side
of France, must be given up to the Emperor. Exilles and
Fenestrelles would be required for the Duke of Savoy. He
was also informed that Philip's retaining any part of the
Spanish dominions was quite out of the question. It is not
strange that when Rouille transmitted to the King these
new demands of his enemies, he should have despaired of his
mission.* Yet Rouille, well as he may have known Louis XIV. in his
pride, was quite unaware how completely the heart of that
mighty despot had been humbled by adversity. The accounts
which had been received as to the condition of France, and
which had spread a cruel exultation through England and
Holland, had not been exaggerated. In addition to the long
train of evils which had been brought upon that fine country
by a protracted war, France was then suffering under a special
plague which had reduced her people to extremities such as
are endured by the inhabitants of the plains of Bengal when
there is a failure of rain. In the beginning of 1709, a frost
set in of extraordinary duration and severity. Its rigour was
felt through the entire temperate region of Europe, in England
and the Netherlands, in the greater part of Germany, and in
the north of Italy. The seaboard, from the mouths of the
Rhine to the mouth of the Loire assumed the appearance which
is exhibited in winter by the coasts of Labrador and Newfound-
* Memoires de Torcy.

HO HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
land. Every river brought down masses of ice, which for
immense distances on either side of its outlet clung to the shore.
Carriages drawn by six horses passed between Rotterdam and
Moerdyk, and between the islands of Zeeland. A fair was
held on the Thames at London Bridge. On the hardy vegeta
tion, however, of England and Holland, an unusually severe
winter never inflicts much damage. It was in countries blessed
with a sunnier climate, producers of wine and oil, that the con
sequences of this divergence of Nature from her ordinary course
were most severely felt, and in no country were the conse
quences so terrible as in France. The closing weeks of 1708
had been so mild that the trees of the Palais Royal were in
leaf at Christmas. Upon the 5th of January, a frost began
of such unparalleled intensity that Hungary-water froze in the
boudoirs of Versailles, and that in a few days the Seine was
passable by heavy waggons from its source to its outlet. Then
there came a thaw. The snows which thickly covered the
ground were melted : the rivers were unlocked : immense tracts
were inundated ; and then it suddenly recommenced freezing
as hard as before.* Every province of France was involved in
the same calamity. The vines of the Bordelais and of Bur
gundy, the olive-trees of Provence and Languedoc, the glowing
orchards which are everywhere the pride of the French culti
vator, perished together. The seed-corn left in the ground
perished likewise ; and this misfortune, which was general
throughout the country, occasioned forebodings of a famine,
which, assisted by some silly interference of a meddling Govern
ment, speedily swelled into a frightful panic. The price of
bread rose rapidly above the means of the poor, whose corpses
were frequently seen in the streets. Hunger occasioned riots
in most of the towns ; and so many starving wretches, unde
terred by a profusion of new gibbets, infested the highways as
to render travelling all but impossible. In Paris the distress
was great. The population which swarmed in the filthy dwell
ings of the city fell victims by thousands to hunger and cold ;
and even those families whose means still secured them from
the experience of actual want, were tortured by a sharp com
mercial crisis. The two principal bankers of the kingdom, the
* St. Simon; To cy ; Villars; Lettres de Madame de Maintenon ; Boyer.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. Ill
famous Monsieur Bernard and Monsieur Nicholas, were com
pelled, early in the year, to suspend payment through the
King's inability to return the immense sums he had borrowed
or rather extorted from them ; and their failure of course in
volved the downfall of some fifty inferior houses. At Lyons,
a notice was issued by the entire mercantile community post
poning the day upon which engagements fell due. Coin was
fast disappearing from circulation, driven out by the ever-
swelling floods of paper money, Treasury and Mint bills,
which, in spite of threatening edicts, kept falling daily in
value until no man could form a guess of what he was worth.
One advantage, however, sprang even from the excess of misery.
There was no lack of recruits to follow the bread-waggons of
the army. But by what means the Government, with ex
hausted credit and diminished revenues, contrived from time to
time to replenish those waggons, is a question that has been
found not a little puzzling. To Desmarests himself, the con
troller of finance, the thing seemed a miracle.* Fresh issues
of paper, further debasement of the coinage, loans contracted
at unprecedented rates of interest, account to some extent for
the circumstance ; but it cannot be doubted that what prin
cipally supported the French armies through the ensuing
campaign, was the noble endurance, the patience under dread
ful privations exhibited by the soldiers.
Rouill^'s report of the new demands of his antagonists was
read in a mournful council of the ministers. There was a touch
ing scene, so touching that Torcy, who was present, thought
himself not permitted to relate it. It seemed that Peace but
mocked the efforts of those who were pursuing her with so
much earnestness. The Ministers felt the inability of the
kingdom to continue the war, and strengthened each other for
the performance of the disagreeable duty of impressing upon
his Majesty the advisability of submitting to the demands of
his enemies, however insolent they might be. But Louis had
already made up his mind, and needed no soliciting. He at
once directed that an answer should be sent to Rouille^ autho
rising him to consent to fresh sacrifices. Maubeuge, Dunkirk,
Tournay, Lille might be abandoned one after the other. His
* Forbonnais, Recherches sur les Finances.

112 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Majesty would be content if but the single kingdom of Naples,
separated from Sicily, were assured to his grandson. The one
consideration which was never to be absent from the thoughts
of the envoy was, that his Majesty wished for peace.
It was now the close of April, and every day was precious.
In a few weeks, it might be in a few days, the Allies, who
waited only for a change in the weather, would recommence
operations. Under such circumstances the inexpediency was
manifest of leaving a negociation of such vital import in the
hands of a person but partially admitted to the confidence of
the King, and who would naturally fear to overstep by a hair's
breadth the precise limit of his instructions. If it should
happen that Rouille again found himself under the necessity of
communicating with Versailles, it was more than probable that
the war would be resumed before an answer could reach him.
Torcy now stepped forward to relieve the fears of his master
on this score. He would go himself to the Hague and treat
with the Dutch deputies. There was no time to apply for a
proper passport. It was true that every road in the Nether
lands was swarming with troops, but he would take bis chance
with the passport of a common courier. Louis, after some con
sideration, accepted the offer of his devoted minister*
* Torcy ; St. Simon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 113

CHAPTER IV.
Torcy set off immediately, and after a narrow escape of being
arrested on the road by zealous officials, reached the Hague on
the evening of the 6th of May. He had revealed himself to
but one person on his journey, a French banker at Rotterdam ;
and by this gentleman he was now guided to the unpretentious
dwelling of the Grand Pensionary. Heinsius was overwhelmed
with astonishment when he learned the name of his visitor ;
but he received him with kindness, and at once entered into a
discussion of the business which had brought the Marquis to
the Hague. He had no power, he said, to negotiate ; but he
would summon Buys and Vanderdussen, the properly-authorized
deputies of the States, who, he doubted not, would treat with
him upon the same footing as they had been treating with
Rouille. A conference was accordingly held the next morn
ing between the Frenchman and the three Dutchmen, and was
followed by several other conferences to which Rouille' was
invited at Torcy's request. The astute Minister soon formed
an opinion of the characters and views of his antagonists.
Heinsius, grave and collected, spoke always to the point and
politely. Buys, on the other hand, was constantly exciting
himself, flew from one subject to another, and was given to
make long speeches which protracted the sittings, and too
frequently rendered them fruitless. Vanderdussen was mild
and kind in his demeanour, said very little, and seemed content
with echoing the opinions of Buys. The Frenchman observed,
however, with deep mortification, that there was one sentiment
in common between all three. They were convinced that the
Allies were masters of the position, that France was too much
reduced to offer any opposition to their armies, and that they
might dictate therefore what terms of peace they chose. Upon
vol. n. i

114

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

the subject of the barrier, the only one about which Torcy
thought it possible that the Dutch could feel any real interest,
he laboured with all his might to bring matters to a conclusion
before Marlborough, who, he learned with some satisfaction,
had gone for a short time to England, should return. If the
Dutch could be gained over before the evil genius of France
was again among them, he felt that a considerable advantage
would be obtained. He allowed himself, therefore, to be driven
to the limit of his powers as quickly as the decencies of
diplomacy would permit. Maubeuge, Tournay, even Lille,
were all successively abandoned, the anxious envoy hoping
that, in return for such large sacrifices on the part of his
Majesty, the Dutch would pledge themselves to use their
influence in obtaining for the King some abatement of the.
claim put forward by the other members of the Confederacy for
the surrender of the whole of the Spanish dominions. But
on this point the deputies steadily refused to hold out any
encouragement to him. The States, they coldly observed,
were bound by their treaties. Torcy could not comprehend
why the Dutch, when offered every object which they could
possibly win by fighting, should still be willing to continue the
war merely to subserve the pretensions of the Emperor, of
England, and of two or three small Powers in whose concerns
they had no interest whatever. What difference, he frequently
urged, could it make to them whether the kingdoms of Naples
and Sicily were given to Philip or to Charles ? The Emperor's
objections to give up any part of Italy were intelligible enough.
It was likewise conceivable that the English, who drove a
fine trade to the Levant, might think their position imperilled
by any increase of the French power in the Mediterranean.
But the Dutch could be concerned in no way about the govern
ment of so remote a place.* The truth seems to be that the
political atmosphere in which Torcy had been educated had
deadened his sense of honour. He could only wonder that the
Dutch should be such fools as to observe faith towards their
Allies when they could get nothing by their fidelity. His
most Christian Majesty had a much keener perception of his
own interests. His statecraft was a model to princes and
* Memoires de Torcy.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 115
nations. No one could observe a treaty better than he so long
as it was to his advantage ; but he never hesitated to repudiate
it when it suited his convenience to do so.
Before Torcy could prevail upon the Dutch to accept the
King's offers, a favourable wind brought Marlborough back to
the Hague. He was accompanied by Lord Townshend, a Whig
nobleman, whose name, afterwards so highly distinguished,
now appears for the first time. The fullest powers to treat on
behalf of England had been confided to the pair. Torcy lost
no time in waiting upon the man whom he considered the
supreme arbiter of peace or war, and Marlborough received him
with a profusion of friendly professions that astonished but
failed to deceive the experienced diplomatist. The bland and
courteous hero had a thousand confidences to impart to the
Minister of Louis. He could not sufficiently express the pro
found respect and attachment he bore to the person of his
Majesty. It was his hope that he might one day merit his
favour. As regarded peace, he would say that he himself was
longing for it ; but people in England were so unreasonably
set on war, so convinced that their interests lay in completing
the ruin of France, and that they had the power of effecting
their desire. It was true that the nation did contain some
wiser men, who thought, as he did, that this was the time for
making peace ; but unhappily these persons had no influence.
He must earnestly recommend the King to offer no opposition
to the demands of the Allies. The hand of God had been so
visibly on their side. How otherwise could it have been
possible for an army composed of soldiers from eight different
nations to have thought and acted like one man ? *
Upon one point Torcy was exceedingly desirous to have an
understanding with Marlborough. Of all the demands made
by the Allies there had been none which had given more pain
to Louis than the English requisition that he should expel the
btuarts from his kingdom. He was anxious to learn whether,
if the Queen Dowager left France, the English Government
would pay her pension. At the bare mention of the exiled
* Memoires de Torcy. This French statesman had formed a very low opinion
of Marlborciugh's morality, and was offended by the Irequent repetition he made
of God's name in his conversation. " On etait tente de lui dire, pourquoi ta
bouche profane ose t'elle citer ma loi ? " i 2

116 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
family, the hero was overcome by his emotions. There was
nothing, he declared, for which he more ardently longed than
an opportunity of serving the Prince of Wales. He was the
child of a king for whom he would once have laid down his
life. But he was cruelly hampered. Townshend had been
joined in the commission for the express purpose of watching
him, and he cautioned Torcy that, when this nobleman was
present, he would be necessitated to speak like an obstinate
Englishman. But it was the wish of his heart to serve the
exiled family, and he hoped that the King of France would
make such a stand upon this subject as would give him time to
be of service. Torcy had been empowered to offer a bribe to
Marlborough proportioned to any abatement his influence might
obtain in the claims of the various Powers ; but he seems to
have considered it useless to broach the subject at this inter
view. At a subsequent conference he intimated to the Duke
that his Majesty was well informed of his correspondence with
the family of James, and that his Majesty's sentiments towards.
him had undergone no change. The meaning of these words
is not obvious. They may have referred to some promise of
reward long since made by Louis to Marlborough on condition
of his exerting his influence to obtain a restoration of the
Stuarts. Marlborough, however, reddened, and changed the
subject* The result of Torcy' s interviews with Marlborough must
have impressed the Frenchman with the conviction that the
Captain-General had not his equal as a diplomatist among the
children of men. He had visited him privately in the hope of
penetrating what Marlborough's views really were. But upon
that smooth and polished soul there was nothing upon which
worldly cunning could fasten. The hopes which had hitherto
buoyed up Torcy in his conferences with the plenipotentiaries
now began to wane. He had by this time received his sove
reign's permission to surrender every part of, the Spanish
inheritance, and still he was in despair of contenting his antago
nists, In the Dutch, indeed, he thought he could perceive a
* A bribe was apparently offered to Marlborough, and declined. Me
vrai," says Torcy, "que lorsque jf parlais de ses interets particuliers, il i°W"
sait et paraissait vouloir detourner la conversation."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 117
desire of closing with the King's offers, but it was evident that
the Dutch either could not or would not separate their cause
from that of their allies. At every meeting the English, the
Dutch, the Imperialists, the Savoyards, the Portuguese, seemed
to be all banded together. Every claim by one member of
the Confederacy, however harsh it might be, was supported and
insisted upon by the whole phalanx. The Emperor, instead of
being satisfied with Strasburg, now wanted all Alsace. The
King of Portugal judged this the time for obtaining some con
cessions in the Brazils. The English required that the squabble,
which had been going on for centuries between the French
and English fishermen of Newfoundland, should be settled by
the whole island being formally ceded to Great Britain. But
it was reserved for a prince, the ancient ally, or rather the
humble dependent, of France, and personally connected with
Louis by a double marriage tie, to inflict the blow which was
most acutely felt. The Duke of Savoy insisted that two towns in
Dauphiny, which he had captured in the last campaign, Fenes-
trelles and Exilles, should remain in his possession. The
importance of the places wras perhaps not great ; but the
demand was the agonizing kick of the ass at the sick lion, and
Torcy struggled long and strenuously, but in vain, to save his
master this extreme humiliation.
The continual occurrence of fresh demands so distracted the
French Minister that he at length requested Heinsius to reduce
into writing the conditions upon which the Allies would con
sent to a cessation of arms, in order that his master and himself
might at length know the worst. This the Pensionary under
took to do, and in a few days handed to Torcy a document
containing the demands of the whole Confederacy in forty
articles. It is unnecessary to relate in further detail the claims
of the Allies. The articles which ultimately led to the indig
nant rejection of the whole series by the King, were the third
and fourth. By the third Louis was to recognise Charles as
King of Spain, the Indies, the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily,
and generally of all the states and provinces dependent upon
the Spanish crown, except those portions which the champions
of Charles thought fit to reserve for themselves. By the
fourth article it was stipulated that, if by the end of two months

118 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the Duke of Anjou had not signified his assent to these terms,
his Christian Majesty should, in concert with the other princes
and Powers concerned, take measures to ensure their being
carried into effect. In other words, Louis was required to
bind himself, in the event of his grandson refusing to resign
the crown of Spain, to join the Allies in compelling him to do
so by force of arms.
It may well be doubted whether the persons who framed this
last condition had any expectation that it would be accepted
by the King, whatever notions they may have formed of their
own power and of the exhaustion of France.* The character
of Louis for pride, especially where his family was concerned,
was as well known to the men of that generation as it is known
to the student of our own time. Was it possible that a monarch
who, although now greatly reduced in power, was still the
despotic ruler over some fifteen millions of souls, would consent,
at the bidding of his enemies, to join in hunting his own grand
son out of the kingdom to which he himself had sent him but
eight years since ? It is true that the matter presented great
difficulties to the framers of the conditions. All the Allies
regarded, or affected to regard, the wresting of the Spanish
dominions from Philip as necessary to the repose of Europe.
Louis had signified his readiness to assent to this measure, and
to use his best endeavours to obtain the acquiescence of his
grandson. But was it likely that Philip, after having been a
king for eight years, would, at the request even of that grand
father of whom he stood in so much awe, lay down his crown
and meekly return into France as a subject? The chances
were strong that he would refuse to obey, and that force would
be necessary to expel him from Spain. The war in that case
must continue. There would be peace only as far as France
was concerned. The very person who had caused all the con
flagration would be enjoying the luxury of repose, while the
Allies were pouring out more blood and treasure in a struggle
to conquer the Peninsula.
* Marlborough himself was in favour of the Allies demanding some cautionary
towns instead of insisting upon these articles. See the Memoires de Torcy;
letters of Marlborough, May 27, June 7 ; June 16—27. In a letter of August
26, September 6, he says, " I do rot think it in the power of the French king and
his ministers to oblige the Spaniards and the Duke of Anjou to submit to the
preliminaries."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 119
The contingency that Philip might refuse to abdicate had
given rise to a good deal of discussion during the conferences.
The Dutch seem to have been of opinion that Louis could, if he
were really in earnest, make bis grandson act as he chose. But
the King of France was now reaping the reward of that policy
which had caused him to be branded through Europe as the
most faithless and unscrupulous of sovereigns. No one was
disposed to rely upon his mere promise. Heinsius suggested
as an alternative to the fourth article that the King should,
until the provisions of the third article were fully carried out,
place in the hands of the Allies six towns, three in France and
three in Spain. Torcy repelled the proposition with indig
nation. His Majesty, he declared, would do his best to induce
his grandson to abdicate ; and if at the expiration of three
months he continued to disregard his recommendation, he
would withdraw his troops from Spain, and would bind himself
to furnish him with no assistance of any kind while the Allies
were engaged in the work of expelling him. It was unreason
able to expect that he should do more. He could not make
himself responsible for the course which the King of Spain
might adopt.
The plenipotentiaries, however, adhered to tbeir conditions,
and the forty articles were despatched to Versailles. Torcy, in
a letter to the King, ventured to express a strong hope that
the affairs of his Majesty would permit of his rejecting them.
He himself, in haste to confer with Louis, followed quickly upon
his messenger, leaving Rouille at the Hague to receive and
report the determination of the King. The plenipotentiaries,
meanwhile, whatever their private expectations might be,
thought it desirable to encourage the reports which now filled
England and Holland that peace might be looked for with cer
tainty. No one expressed himself more hopefully on the subject
than Marlborough.* The public delusion was dispelled at the
end of eight days, when Rouille was able to announce the
King's decision. It was such as any person acquainted with the
character of Louis, and with the nature of the conditions offered
him, might have anticipated. His Majesty, Rouille reported,
refused to accede to these preliminaries of peace, and should
* Letters in Coxe's Memoirs ; Lettres Historiques.

1^0 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
regard as void every concession which his Ministers had made
in the course of the negotiations.
Thus the flames of war were to be rekindled all round
Europe, merely because the Allies chose to insist upon terms
with which no sovereign could, under almost, any circum
stances of misfortune, be expected to comply. Louis had been
willing to bid up to an enormous figure, but he would not
purchase peace at the . price of being degraded in the eyes of
the whole world. The plunder amassed during half a century
he was content to disgorge — the important frontier towns of
Alsace, his favourite Lille, Dunkirk, bright with visions of the
future, from whose harbour was one day to issue a fleet which
should redeem France from the reproach of naval inferiority.
He would not allow his personal feelings to stand in the way of
other sacrifices. He would humbly present two towns of his
kingdom to a petty potentate whom the kings of France had
been used to regard as a kind of vassal, to that Duke of Savoy
upon whose ungrateful and unnatural desertion of himself he
could not think without indignation. He would, at the bidding
of his enemies, turn away that unfortunate family whom it had
been his chivalrous pride to protect. But he would not make
war upon his own grandson, nor upon a people whose only
crime in his eyes was their fidelity to that grandson. At
Torcy's entreaty the King condescended to submit to bis sub
jects the reasons which had induced him to refuse his accept
ance to the preliminaries required by the Allies. A circular
was drawn up and despatched to the governor of every pro
vince in the kingdom, with orders that its contents should he
made public. Louis informed his people that all the Allies
were willing to grant him in exchange for so large a surrender
of towns as must gravely compromise the security of his domi
nions was a truce of only two months. Such a suspension of
arms would be, he said, as costly as and far more dangerous
than open war. For if, at the end of the two months, the
King of Spain had not retired from his government, the Allies
would be at liberty to resume their attacks upon France when,
deprived, by her own act, of many of her bulwarks. The
proposals made to him that he should join in forcing bis grand-
\son to descend the throne of Spain appeared to him so inhuman

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 121
that he had difficulty in comprehending that they were intended
seriously. He was persuaded that, much as his subjects might
wish for peace, they would themselves be adverse to accepting
it upon conditions so exorbitant, so insecure, and so degrading
to the honour of France.
In the meantime the Allies, equally anxious to clear them
selves of the reproach of disappointing the public wishes, had
gone through the form of getting the articles ratified by the
Queen and the States- general. Every journal in England and
Holland suggested to its readers that the King of France had
had no other object in opening negotiations than to gain time
and to sow dissensions among the members of the Confederacy ;
and there was no lack of French deserters and prisoners to
declare that this bad always been their own view of the case.*
As the people both in England and Holland had been led to
regard the King's acceptance of the preliminaries as almost a
certainty, his refusal of them was of course received with a
howl of disappointment and rage. The articles were almost
immediately made public ; but the opinions which were rife in
both countries apparently underwent no immediate change.
There was not a voice raised to assert that the conditions it
was now attempted to impose upon the King of France were
such as no sovereign with any remains of power could possibly
accept. In truth, neither in England nor in Holland was there
the least sympathy for the misfortunes of Louis. A whole
generation had been constantly exclaiming against his ambition
and his faithlessness ; and now that the tyrant was down there
was no disposition to show him mercy. Such were at least the
sentiments of the dominant Whig party, and to the persistence
with which they adhered to them must be ascribed the frustra
tion of a peace which would have been eminently glorious and
advantageous to every prince and potentate concerned in the
Confederacy. Assuming that Philip did refuse to relinquish
the Spanish throne, would it have been so difficult a matter for
the Allies to force him to do so without any active assistance
on the part of France ? Even when Philip had the support of
every French regiment his grandfather could spare him, the
See the bitter remarks in Boyer ; Burnet ; Oldmixon ; and even the Lettres
Historiques.

122 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Allies had nearly succeeded in driving him out of the kingdom.
If the Emperor, the Queen and the States-general had found
themselves at liberty to turn their whole resources against
Philip deprived of the only soldiers who had hitherto consti
tuted his strength, who can doubt what the result would have
been ? In all human probability the King of Spain would have
become, before the close of the firnt campaign, another pen
sioner upon the hospitality of Louis XIV. Whether the throne
of Charles could have been established in place of the throne of
Philip, is another question. The Allies may well have found
it an impossibility to conquer for him the hearts of the Spanish
people ; but this would have been not the less an impossibility
had the armies of France been added to their own.
The Whigs, however, were determined to try the effect of
another campaign upon the obstinacy of Louis. The spirits of
the whole party were elated to an extravagant pitch. How
otherwise than triumphant could be the career of an army
numerous and glowing with confidence, directed by the two
greatest captains of the age, assembled on the already dis
mantled frontiers of France, and looking for no opposition but
from troops woefully discouraged, and in danger of starvation
through the exhaustion of their sovereign's exchequer !
But it had been decreed that the spring of 1709 should be
the turning*point to the miseries of France and to the over
whelming successes of the Allied armies. The spirit of the
French nation had been powerfully excited by the letter of the
King. It was the first time that that haughty despot had con
descended to take his people into his confidence, and the effect
of his appeal to their feelings was magical. Nothing, to quote
the words of a contemporary, was to be heard but cries of in
dignation and vows of vengeance. It was the duty of every
man, people asserted, to give his whole substance in support of
such a war. The courtiers were actually compelled to carry
into practice the patriotic sentiments they professed. One
nobleman, in his zeal to comfort the King, informed him that
he and many of his friends were desirous of contributing their
family plate to the public service. His Majesty graciously
declared his willingness to accept it ; and the example having
been once set, was followed perforce by that gay and voluptuous

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 123
crowd of rivals who were perpetually contending for the smiles
of their master, and who dreaded nothing more than to be
thought wanting in love for him. By this means a sum of
three millions of livres was raised, which went a little way
towards alleviating the distresses of the soldiers. *For the com
mand of his principal army Louis this time made choice of a
general who, whatever were the faults of his understanding
and temper, was in reality the most reliable officer in the French
service. Villars had acquired a host of enemies by his rude
manners and immoderate vanity ; t but although the fine gen
tlemen of the court only sneered at him for an upstart and a
braggart, Louis himself judged of his marshal with more dis
cernment. The military reputation of Villars was unblemished
by a single failure or a weak campaign. By the common
soldiers he was almost adored ; for he had all the familiar ways
without the sloth and disgusting vices of Vendome, and was in
trying times ever to be seen sharing the hardships and perils of
the men. During 1708 he had been employed in Dauphiny to
keep the Duke of Savoy in check. Towards the close of the
year he was summoned to Court and informed by the King that
the army of Flanders would be entrusted to his charge. The
prospect of having, with an army discouraged by defeat and
weakened by hunger, to protect the kingdom against those two
great captains who had shivered the reputation of every
marshal who had been yet opposed to them, might seem no
enviable one. But the responsibility which would have para
lyzed the energies of most commanders, seemed only to add
fresh spirits to Villars. After a little complacent boasting,
which cheered Louis and excited the sarcasms of the courtiers,
the Marshal set off to the frontier to make himself personally
acquainted with his resources. The spectacle which met his
eyes was indeed appalling. The magazines, he informed
Chamillart, were quite empty. All the horses of the mounted
regiments were in imminent danger of perishing. The soldiers
were literally starving, and were selling their arms to procure
the means of subsistence. The subaltern officers had for a long
* St. Simon ; Lettres Histoiiqups.
t According to the Lettres Historiques Villars said, on receiving the news of
the defeat of the French army at Ramilies, ¦' Villars ne peut pas etre partout."

124 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
time received no pay, and many of them had parted with their
last shirt for food. It was under these terrible circumstances
that Villars assumed the command of about sixty thousand
gaunt and half -naked wretches, by whose aid he was expected
to defend the kingdom against the well-fed and warmly-clothed
legions of Eugene and Marlborough. But despair was a feeling
which never entered the breast- of the Frenchman. His first
measure was to arouse the high-toned nature of his country
men. From the dawn of day till night he was to be seen
parading about the camp, listening to the piteous tales of his
men, sympathising with their sufferings, endeavouring to
revive their hopes, and addressing to them stimulating dis
courses about glory. Yet every day, as he himself narrates,
brought with it the dread of seeing the whole army perish.
His supplies of grain never came in till the last moment, and
then only in insufficient quantity. It was absolutely necessary
to grind overnight the corn that was to be eaten next morning,
and to grind in the morning the corn that was to furnish bread
for supper. A slight change in the weather might prove fatal
to the entire multitude. A few dry weeks would bring the
mills to a standstill ; a succession of rainy weeks would over
whelm them with water. At times when there was not suf
ficient food to furnish a meal for the whole army, it was the
Marshal's custom to serve out rations only to those regiments
which were to march, and. to divert the remainder with an ex
position "of the virtue of patience. The soldiers thoroughly
understood him, and bore their sufferings with quiet resigna
tion. Their commander might have no bread for them, but
their confidence that he would somehow support them and
bring them through the campaign with honour, was unshaken.
Villars was often touched by instances of their patient en
durance. From the garrison of St. Venant came a humble
request for food : " coats and shirts," added the poor fellows
in that awful winter of 1709, " we must try and dispense with."
One advantage the Marshal reaped from the very destitution
that prevailed throughout the country. Sheer want drove into
his camp a host of recruits who preferred to take their chance
of starving in the army rather than encounter the certainty of
starving at home. His force under these circumstances rapidly

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

125

augmented nearly to an equality with that of the Allies. " It
is a marvel," he wrote, " how we subsist ; and a still greater
marvel is the patience with which our soldiers support the feel
ing of hunger.*
At the commencement of June, Villars assembled his troops
in the spacious plains near Sens, and when the Allies began to
move towards him fortified his position. He judged that
Marlborough and Eugene would at once march against him,
and his surmise proved correct. The two commanders, at the
head of a hundred and ten thousand men, approached, and
found the French army prepared for them behind a double
line of ditches and entrenchments. After a deliberate survey
of the position, they came to the conclusion that an attack upon
it would be attended with great danger. During the night
therefore they decamped in silence, and before Villars had
become aware of their departure the news was brought him that
they had formed the siege of Tournay.
Tournay, as a bulwark of France, was but little inferior in
importance to Lille. Yet it was with a sense of relief that
Louis and his Court heard that the irresistible army of which
they had stood in so much terror had contentedly sat down to
besiege a place which, but a few weeks since, had been offered
to their plenipotentiaries without fighting. Villars himself,
although the movements of the Allies had been too quick to
allow of his throwing a much-needed reinforcement into the
city, was on the whole well pleased to be let alone. Much as
he vaunted the spirit and valour of his troops, he had as yet
little real desire of seeing them encounter the Allies, and it was
with perfect complacency, therefore, that he learnt that the
Allies had chosen to undertake an operation which he thought
might not improbably detain them until very nearly the close
of the season. To give any assistance to the besieged was out
of his power. He was, in truth, so straitened for provisions as
to be unable to supply his men with sufficient for a two days'
march. He remained, therefore, quietly on the watch, doing
what he could to harass the communications of the Allies.
The siege was pressed on by the Allied commanders with
their usual vigour ; but the month of July had expired before
* Memoires de Villars.

126 HISTORY OF GEE AT BRITAIN
Surville, who commanded the garrison, thought proper to
surrender the town, and the most difficult part of the work was
yet before the Allies. The garrison, although too weak to man
the whole extent of the walls, was sufficiently numerous for
the defence of the citadel ; and this fortress in itself enjoyed
a terrible reputation. It was provided with a system of mines
more diabolically skilful and complete than that of any other
fortress in the world. Every foot of ground beneath the glacis,
counterscarp, and covered way was rendered treacherous by
an infernal labyrinth whose ramifications extended to incon-
, ceivable distances, at such a depth beneath the surface as to be
undiscoverable by the miners engaged on the part of the
besiegers. An endeavour was made to prevent the bloodshed
which must occur in the assault and defence of this piece of
engineering skill. Upon the surrender of the town the usual
compliments were exchanged between the commanders on both
sides, and Surville dined with Marlborough and Eugene. An offer
was then made to him that, if he would agree to surrender the
citadel at the expiration of one month in case of his receiving no
relief, in the meanwhile the Allies would suspend their opera
tions. Surville, who knew that he was short of provisions,
approved of this proposal, and despatched a messenger to Ver
sailles to obtain the sanction of the King. The messenger,
however, speedily returned with the distinct refusal of his
Majesty to assent to such terms. It seems that the construc
tion put by Louis and his counsellors upon the proposal was
that it was nothing more than a device upon the part of the
Allied commanders to save their powder and men.*
In the struggle which ensued, and which lasted throughout
another month, the spectacle of war was exhibited under its
most frightful aspect. The citadel was gallantly defended.
Scarcely a day passed but a whole company of soldiers, in the
flush and excitement of a successful assault, was blown into the
air. The miners on both sides, descending into the earth.
worked towards each other till their mines not unfrequently
met, and a bloody combat ensued underground. The ap-
* Campagne de Flandre; Marlborough to the Duchess, August 5 — 16. Asa
counterpart to the reflections of the French, Coxe observes, "This proposition
was doubtless made with a view to gain time and amuse the Allies."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 127
preaches were necessarily made by the slow process of sapping.
But the number of sappers was insufficient for the work, and
the character of the service was so perilous and revolting that
it was difficult to obtain volunteers, even by holding out the
temptation of large rewards. At length, however, Surville,
finding himself at the end of his provisions, consented to
capitulate. Terms were refused him. The whole garrison,
four thousand five hundred men strong, was compelled to
surrender at discretion.*
Although Louis had been led to imagine that the citadel
would have held out much longer, he was satisfied with the
explanations given by Surville. But so brief a defence dis
turbed all the calculations of Villars, and he vented his anger
against the unlucky officer in such round terms as to draw
down upon himself something like a reproof from his firm
friend Madame de Maintenon. What the Allied commanders
would attempt next he was now very anxious to learn. He
had posted himself so as to be able to hasten to the succour of
Douai, Valenciennes, Cond£, or Mons, whichever city might be
threatened. He was at this time, with the principal part of his
troops, close to the first-named place. He had also constructed
a series of fines extending from Mons to the Sambre to serve as
a protection to the north-eastern frontier of France.
These lines, however, he had left but weakly guarded, and it
was, therefore, with no small dismay that he received informa
tion three days after the surrender of the citadel that the
whole army of the Allies was marching in the direction of
Mons. He at once sent off instructions to some detached
bodies in the vicinity of that city, and soon afterwards followed
his messengers with his entire force. But the movements of the
Allies had been too quick for him. Marlborough and Eugene
had formed their plans for the siege of Mons some time before
the white flag had been shown at Tournay. Three days prior
to that event Lord Orkney had been sent forward with a small
party : upon the same day that the citadel was given up, the
Prince of Hesse followed on his track with a large body of
cavalry ; and by nightfal Cadogan and several more squadrons
• See the frightful details of this siege in the Lettres Historiques. The garri
son was permitted to march out with the honours of war.

128 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
were also on the way. In spite of roads which had been
deluged by the heavy rains, the Prince's cavalry made such good
progress, that in two days the distance of fifty miles between
Tournay and Mons had been compassed. There was only a
slender force of the enemy in the neighbourhood, and this at
the approach of the Allied cavalry was at once withdrawn.
The siege of Mons was, therefore, secured, and as it was known
that the city was but poorly garrisoned, its speedy downfall was
regarded as certain, except in the case that Villars might risk
a general engagement to effect its relief.
In the meantime the French army had not shown anything
like a similar spirit to that which had kept the Allied soldiers
trudging unwearily through the mud and rain. Like all the
preceding French commanders, Villars had been late in obtain
ing information as to the designs of his opponents. He had,
however, broken up on the instant he received it, and having a
shorter distance to traverse, might perhaps, with a little forced
marching, have been in time to anticipate the Prince of Hesse.
He himself with his cavalry got to within a dozen miles of
Mons ; but the infantry was then a whole day's march in the
rear, and without their support Villars dared not proceed.
During two entire days, while Marlborough and Eugene were
completing their preparations for the siege, the French remained
inactive. Their commander was, in fact, taxing his ingenuity
to procure such a supply of bread as might enable him to march
and fight that battle which, by his own account, he was now
fully determined to venture for the preservation of Mons. One
event had excited great enthusiasm in the ranks. Upon the
evening of the 7th of September a carriage had entered the
camp, and from it the veteran Boufflers had been drawn by his
servants, so crippled with gout as to be scarcely able to stand.
For some years past the Marshal's infirmities had been such
that Louis had systematically passed him over in making his
arrangements. But the high-spirited old man could not in this
crisis of his country's fortunes rest quietly in a sick chamber.
In the previous year he had volunteered to defend Lille, and
bad extorted the admiration of the besiegers by his gallant and
protracted defence. He had now requested of Louis permission
to act as an assistant to Villars. The condition of affairs, he

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 129
urged, was such that the destiny of France hung upon the issue
of a single battle. Should Villars fall in the midst of a general
engagement the command could hardly devolve upon one of
his lieutenant-generals without confusion, and perhaps conten
tion, occurring at a critical time. But there could be no dispute
if another marshal were present and ready to assume the
authority in case of an accident. Until such an accident
should occur, Boufflers professed himself perfectly willing to
undertake any duty which his brother thought proper to entrust
to him. Louis, although little touched, it should seem, by this
proof of the Marshal's devotion, granted the required permis
sion. The welcome of the soldiers made, however, some amends
for the coldness of the monarch. The acclamations which
greeted the arrival of the old favourite were so loud that the
officers in the outposts of the Allied army imagined that a
resolution to give battle had been announced, and sent in
warning to head-quarters. Towards Villars the behaviour of
Boufflers were studiedly modest and deferential ; and Villars in
consequence was all 'amiability. A friendly contest arose
between the two Marshals on the following day as to which
should give the word. It was settled by their both accepting it
from an inferior officer. Upon subsequent days the word was
given by Villars without reference to his visitor. Another
personage still more interesting to the English reader arrived
at the French camp about the same time. It was the Chevalier
de St. George, who was bent on serving as a volunteer, and
who, upon receiving information that a battle was imminent,
had risen from a sick bed with the remains of a fever 'still
hanging about him.*
And now Villars, having at last succeeded in procuring for
his troops a supply of provisions somewhat in advance of the
day's consumption, thought he might venture to advance.
Between his position and that of the Allied army was a broad
belt of woods. About five miles, however, to the south of Mons
there was an opening in the belt, and through this opening,
which was upwards of a mile in breadth, he determined to lead
his troops to within view of the enemy. On the morning of
the 9th of September the Allies caught sight of the advancing
* Memoires de Villars ; St. Simon ; Campagne de Flandre.
VOL. II. K

130 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
French columns, and Marlborough and Eugene, under the
impression that an attack was intended, hastily made their
preparations for battle. At the hamlet of Malplaquet, however,
the French came to a halt, and the rest of the day was spent by
the two armies in cannonading each other at long distances.
The design of Villars quickly revealed itself. No sooner had
his men ceased to march than the spade was in the ground and
innumerable axes at work among the trees. His object was
evidently to entrench his army in a position from which he
might watch all that passed in the Allied camp, and throw
every impediment in the way of the siege.
A council of war was held by the Allied commanders. The
expediency, and indeed the necessity, of dislodging Villars from
the position he had now taken up was apparent to every one,
Marlborough recommended that the attack should be made at
once, before the French should have time to strengthen them
selves by artificial means. But the majority of the council was
opposed to this course. There were yet twenty battalions of
infantry which had not arrived from Tournay. The Dutch
deputies were, as usual, averse to what they considered precipi
tate measures. Eugene himself counselled delay. It was
resolved therefore to postpone the attack until the army had
regained its full complement.
Upon the following day, when the commanders rode forth to
reconnoitre the position of the enemy, the spectacle which met
their eyes was far from encouraging. During the night the
French had laboured incessantly, and their fortifications were
fast assuming an appearance of being utterly impregnable.
Villars had arranged his army in the form of a crescent, the
centre stretching across the open ground, and the wings
skirting the woods on either side. The front, along its entire
extent, was protected by a series of trenches and breastworks
which were in some places doubled and even trebled, with felled
trees lying before them. The ground over which an attacking
force would have to pass, was intersected by streamlets and
hedges that threatened to be fatal to an advance in good order,
especially of cavalry. Batteries of cannon, moreover, were posted
at such points as to command every part of the field by which
an enemy could approach.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 131
Such was the position of the French army. Upon the
infantry the duty of defending the entrenchments fell of course
in the first place. But behind the infantry was drawn up in
endless fines the cavalry containing all the renowned regiments
of France. According to French accounts the entire force
consisted of a hundred and twenty battalions, two hundred and
sixty squadrons, and of eighty pieces of artillery, which
together may have represented a total of a hundred thousand
men. After the event of the battle Villars asserted that the
Allied army outnumbered his own by some thirty thousand
soldiers; but for this assertion there is no foundation. The
strength of Marlborough and Eugene, which had been at the
outset of the campaign a hundred and ten thousand men, had
been reduced, by the detachments it had been necessary to
make for the blockade of Mons, to little more than ninety
thousand. Of the spirit which pervaded all ranks the Marshal
Bpoke in the highest terms of praise, and confidently assured
his Majesty that, if the Allies thought proper to attack him,
he would give them a good beating.*
The 10th of September was a day of awful calm. Each side
was busy with its preparations. The French worked steadily
at their defences. The Allied commanders issued their orders
for the attack which was to be made on the morrow. The out
posts of the two armies were so close to each other that rough
civilities passed between the sentinels. Some of the Allied
officers strolled with apparent carelessness right up to the
entrenchments, and entered into conversation with the de
fenders. Villars peremptorily stopped these proceedings as
Boon as his attention was called to them. He suspected that
the visitors were engineers, whose design was rather to make
acquaintance with his works than to exchange idle compliments
with his officers.
By midnight the battalions from Tournay had reached the
Allied camp, and not a moment more was lost. With the first
dawn of the autumnal morning the troops turned out, heard
prayers read at the head of their regiments, and then marched
off to the stations assigned them. The usual mist at sunrise
concealed for some hours their movements from the enemy,
* Villars to the King, September 10.
K 2

132 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and enabled them to plant unmolested their batteries at con
venient points. But towards eight the fog cleared away.
Their advance was at once perceived, and the alarm spread in
an instant through the hostile camp. The French left off
working at their entrenchments, and stood to their arms. A
furious cannonade began. Villars, perceiving from the dis
position of the Allied troops that the main effort would be made
against his left wing, chose his station in this part of the field,
and despatched Boufflers to take command of the right. The
two marshals had hardly reached their posts when the battle
commenced in earnest. Two dense columns of Imperial infantry
containing not less than twenty-five thousand men, advanced
under the leadership of Counts Lottum and Schulenberg
through a raking fire from the batteries against the works
which the French had constructed upon the skirts of the wood
of Taisnieres. As they approached the entrenchments the
defenders, who had hitherto remained quiet, delivered a volley
of musketry that caused many regiments to recoil in confusion.
Both Marlborough and Eugene hastened to the spot. Eugene
showed himself at the head of Scbulenberg's division. Marl
borough charged with the troops of Lottum against the
entrenchments upon the left of the French centre. Villars
was at this very point animating his men, and could plainly
distinguish both his principal antagonists, who were at no great
distance from himself. The French stood their ground firmly,
and after an exciting struggle the Marshal was able to con
gratulate himself upon having foiled an attack headed in person
by the two most renowned soldiers of Europe.
But by this time the Allied troops were penetrating from all
sides up that gulf of fire which led to the French entrench
ments. Upon the left had been stationed with the greater part
of the Dutch infantry a young prince of the House of Nassau,
who had succeeded to the title of Prince of Orange upon the
death of his relative, William III. His instructions appear to
have been none other than to wait quietly at his post until
further orders. There can be indeed little doubt that the
intentions of Marlborough and Eugene were to keep most of
the troops composing the left wing in reserve, and to make
drafts upon them, as occasion required, for the purpose of

DURING THE RETGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 133
sustaining the attack of the right. The Prince, however,
having waited for half an hour, grew impatient at hearing
nothing from his commanders. He imagined that he was
forgotten, and was indignant at the thought that other oflic ers
should be gathering laurels while he was standing idle. He
determined to push forward ; the word was given, and in a few
minutes Dutch, English, Highland, Hanoverian, and Prussian
regiments were, at the instigation of this hot-headed youth,
rushmg heedlessly forward against works of the strength of
which they had not the slightest conception. As the battalions
struggled through the marshy ground they were mercilessly
cut up by grape. The aides-de-camp and servants of the
Prince fell fast by his side. His own horse was shot beneath
him ; but be rushed forward on foot, and at the bead of the
Dutch and Highland brigades succeeded in entering the first
line of the entrenchments. In another moment Boufflers and
his cavalry were upon the invaders, swept them back, as
by a whirlwind, across the trenches, and the Marshal, not
content with this success, issued through the opening of the
lines, and chased the rash assailants back nearly to the place
from whence they started. Nothing daunted by his discomfiture,
the Prince snatched a pair of colours from one of his officers,
rallied his broken battalions, and led them a second time to the
entrenchments. Again they were hurled back by the fiery
cavalry of France. The carnage among the Dutch troops was
horrible, and the more horrible from the circumstance that all
this blood was shed to no purpose. Three lieutenant-generals,
Spaar, Oxenstiern, and Week, the Marquis of Tullibardine,
heir to the dignities of Athol, were among the slain. The
whole left wing narrowly escaped being annihilated, and seems
to have owed its preservation partly to the steadiness of the
horse under the command of the Prince of Hesse, and partly
to the orders whioh had been laid on the French cavalry not to
venture outside the lines.
Marlborough and Eugene, ill as they could afford to absent
themselves from the right, galloped to that part of the field
where they perceived that everything was in disorder. They
reached the spot, however, only in time to be witnesses of the
results of entrusting, a, gallant but inexperienced boy with

134 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
high command. They were soon recalled to the right by the
news of fresh disasters which had occurred in that quarter.
Schulenberg's and Lottum's divisions had been recently makm*
such progress that Villars had been reluctantly compelled to
summon to his support several squadrons and battalions from
the centre. The vigorous clarges made by the new comers,
among whom, conspicuous for its impetuosity, was the Irish
brigade, had again restored the battle in favour of the French.
Eugene, in rallying his men, was wounded in the head by a
musket-ball, but not so badly as to force him to retire. Villars
was more unfortunate. A shot struck him close to the knee.
He called for a chair and a surgeon, and for a short time
continued to issue his orders. Then he fainted, and was carried
off the field in a state of insensibility to Quesnoy.
The battle had now been raging for four hours. Both wings
of the French had been attacked, but the Allies had as yet
gained but slight advantages at the expense of oceans of blood.
They now executed a movement which proved decisive. A
great part of the troops in the enemy's centre had been with
drawn for the support of the hardly-pressed left wing. The
Allied commanders saw their opportunity, and made arrange
ments for an attack upon that portion of the entrenchments
which had been almost denuded of defenders. The foot of
Lord Orkney led the way. His regiment marched against the
centre and entered the lines almost without opposition. It was
followed closely by the horse of the Prince of Auvergne. These
quickly faced to the left to encounter an enormous mass of
cavalry which came swooping down upon them. Boufflers
having perceived from his post on the right what had occurred,
had instantly collected every available squadron. Among the
cavaliers who headed the maison du roi was seen the titular
King of England, who on this day evinced a spirit which
deserted him some years later when oppressed with the re
sponsibility of command. A terrific struggle ensued. By
successive reinforcements to both sides almost all the cavalry
on the field became engaged at the same time, and for the best
part of an hour the tide of combatants surged backwards and
forwards. The French had at first the advantage, and the
.horse of the Prince of Auvergne would perhaps have

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 135
annihilated but for the infantry who, mounted on the breast
works, delivered their fire with that coolness and precision
which have always characterised troops of Teutonic origin. At
length Boufflers became convinced of the expediency of drawing
off. He saw that the army was cut in two, the two wings
being almost incapable of communicating with each other, and
word was brought him that the officers on the left were retiring.
The gallant veteran issued general orders for a retreat in the
direction of Valenciennes, and with so much steadiness was the
march commenced that the Allies soon relinquished all pursuit.
The victorious army remained on the field in possession of the
rewards of their valour — the vacant entrenchments, five hun
dred prisoners, a few pieces of cannon, and a few stands of
colours, trophies which had been purchased by the death or
mutilation of nearly twenty thousand of their number.*
The losses of the French did not probably exceed twelve
thousand men. They had fought during the whole time from
under cover, except when their cavalry made those vigorous
sorties which bore down everything before them. The two
Marshals vied in consoling their master for his misfortune by
extolling the bravery which had been exhibited by his soldiers.
Louis was on the whole contented with the result of the battle.
The effect of years of heavy misfortunes had been to indispose
him to indulge in sanguine anticipations, and, compared with
such disasters as had befallen him at Blenheim and Ramilies,
the defeat at Malplaquet might be almost esteemed a victory.
His appreciation of Villars was shown by his despatching to
him his own surgeon, together with the patent of a peerage.
The courtiers were soon sick with envy at the caresses which
the great monarch condescended to heap upon the Marshal.
As soon as Villars could be removed he was carried to Ver
sailles, lodged in a chamber contiguous to that of his Majesty,
was visited by the King, who strove by many kind expressions
to cure the wounded vanity of a commander beaten for the first
* In the Pieces Belatives a la Campagne de Flandre are two relations of the
battle of Malplaquet, one published by the Court of France and the other by the
™; The letters from Boufflers and Villars to the King. Other authorities are
the i Memoires de Villars ; St. Simon ; the Criticisms of Feuquieres ; Marlborough's
letters to Boyle and Stanhope in the Despatches ; several letters from different
persons m the Lettres Historiques and Lamberty. Coxe furnishes, as usual, the
most abundant details.

136 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
time in his life, and had the satisfaction of beholding around
his bed of convalescence a daily throng of princes, ministers,
and great ladies.
The Allied commanders were now able to pursue the siege of
Mons without much danger of being molested. Boufflers had
retired to Quesnoy, and taken up a safe position behind the
river Ronelle, from which he either did not think it expedient
or he was really in no condition to emerge. His army was, in
truth, on the verge of starvation. Even the superior officers
could not always procure meat, and, in the midst of their
splendid equipages, were often compelled to submit to the
pangs of hunger. The common soldiers could get neither
bread nor pay, and supported life chiefly upon herbs and roots.
That Boufflers should under such circumstances have despaired
of hindering the fall of Mons is not therefore strange. Yet
Louis did not suffer the Allies to have their own way without
thoroughly satisfying himself of the hopelessness of attempting
to impede them. Berwick was summoned from Dauphiny, and
it was not until his report upon the situation of affairs had been
made that the King reluctantly decided to leave the garrison
to its fate. Mons in itself was indifferently fortified, and its
defenders scarcely numbered more than three thousand five
hundred men. But the surroundings of the city were flat and
marshy, and it rained perpetually. The besiegers worked on
in misery for upwards of three weeks, often up to their knees
in water, and constantly harassed by the garrison, who watched
their opportunities for making sorties, and not unfrequently
made them with great effect. At the end of that time ?terms
of capitulation were arranged, and this small city, purchased
by so much blood, submitted to the government of the Allies.
With this achievement the Allied commanders were forced
to bring their labours to a close. That splendid army of a
hundred and ten thousand men, with which they had com
menced operations, was now reduced to about three- fourths of
the number, and the survivors, exhausted by the hardships
incidental to two sieges, and many of them enfeebled by half-
healed wounds and maladies caused by exposure to the weather,
were greatly in need of repose. Towards the end of October,
therefore, the various regiments were distributed in the usual

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 137
manner among the conquered cities of the Netherlands, and
the example set by the Allies was gladly followed by their
almost equally wearied adversaries.
In every other quarter, except in the Netherlands, where
the losses of Tournay and Mons were calamities far less serious
than Louis had anticipated at the outset of the campaign, the
results of the year had not been unfavourable to France. The
French armies had indeed been left to find subsistence in any
manner they could. Berwick's army, among the rest, had been
in such imminent danger of perishing by famine that the Mar
shal had at length ventured in his despair to intercept the
King's money as it was being conveyed to Court from the
southern provinces.* But the Allies, always dilatory and
irresolute when neither Eugene nor Marlborough was present
to infuse spirit into their counsels, failed to take advantage
of the distresses of the enemy. The Elector of Hanover, after
brooding over his grievances until the season was far advanced,
condescended at last to go for two or three months to the
army of the Rhine. His force was not numerous, and George,
although personally courageous, was certainly not endowed
with that genius which supplies the deficiency of battalions.
The only enterprise of moment which was undertaken during
his stay failed in the most signal manner. One of the Elector's
principal officers, the Count de Merci, the grandson of a com
mander who had been no unworthy antagonist of Conde and
Turenne, was selected to lead a detachment by a long cir
cuitous route across the Rhine for the purpose of surprising
the towns of Franche Comte. Harcourt, the French general
m that quarter, however, having received intelligence of the
design, sent off a large force to frustrate it. The Count, sus
pecting nothing, hastened blindly forward to his destruction.
A battle ensued, his detachment was cut in pieces, and he him
self was indebted for his personal safety solely to the speed of '
his horse, f
From the martial spirit of the Duke of Savoy much had been
expected, and the maritime Powers had spared neither flattery
nor even money to excite his ambition. But the Duke, like
* Memoires de Berwick.
t Campagne d'Allemagne ; Lettres Historiques.

138 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the Elector, had his discontents. He had been long since pro
mised by the Emperor Leopold the investiture of certain prin
cipalities in Italy. This promise Joseph, upon some trivial
pretext, refused to fulfil ; and the consequence was that
Victor Amadeus, instead of passing the mountains and de
scending upon Dauphiny with a great army, remained through
out the whole season sulking in his palace at Turin.
In Spain events had occurred which boded ill for the Allied
cause. The apathetic Spaniards were at length beginning to
rouse themselves and to take an interest in the war. Rumours
of what was passing at the Hague had reached the Peninsula.
It was commonly reported that Louis intended to abandon his
grandson, and people became convinced of the truth of the
report when most of the French regiments were withdrawn
from the country. It is not uncharacteristic of the Spanish
nation that the departure of their friends roused in them a
patriotic spirit which the spectacle of British, Dutch, Austrian,
and Portuguese invaders had failed to excite. So long as other
persons were willing to fight their battles, they were content
to look on in idleness ; but as soon as it became evident that, if
the heretics and plunderers were ever to be turned out of the
country, the work must be done by themselves, they braced
their nerves to action. The first ebullition of their feelings
was directed against the French, whom they had always re
garded with that bitter jealousy which men, poor, ignorant,
and vain, constantly bear towards those whom they cannot but
see are their superiors in intelligence, energy, wealth, in every
thing in short except that particular form of superstition which
is termed orthodoxy. The facts that the King of France had,
by supporting their sovereign, brought his own affairs to the
verge of ruin, that thousands upon thousands of Frenchmen
had fallen in fighting the battles of king Philip, were all for
gotten in a moment. By the public voice Louis was execrated
as a dastardly betrayer of his own flesh and blood ; and so
vehement was the hatred of him, that his subjects in this
ungrateful country went for some time in fear of their fives.
Gradually, however, the enthusiasm of the people turned itself
in a better direction. The Spaniards began to understand that,
if they wished to retain Philip for their sovereign and to escape

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 139
the degradation of having a sovereign imposed upon them by
foreigners, they must furnish something more towards his sup
port than their bare sympathies. Philip, who had every reason
to apprehend that his grandfather would soon be no longer in a
position to assist him, was not sorry to see his subjects in this
frame of mind, and endeavoured to turn the opportunity to
advantage. As an earnest of his intention never to abandon
his kingdom, he had his son formally consecrated as Prince of
the Asturias. The eagerness with which the grandees of
Spain thronged to offer their homage to the infant, made it
plain what were the inclinations, at least of the upper classes,
as regarded the House of Bourbon ; and their good will was
still further conciliated when Philip remodelled his Council,
dismissed the greater part of his French advisers, and professed
that he would in future rely on the guidance of Spanish states
men. A little of the hoarded wealth of these magnates began
now to dribble into the royal exchequer. The lower orders
gave equal proofs of affection to their sovereign by volun
teering in greater numbers than heretofore to serve in his
armies.* The public enthusiasm received an impetus during the spring
by the news of a victory gained on the frontier of Portugal by
the Marquis de Bay over an united army of Portuguese and
British. The circumstances which led to the incident were
these. In the commencement of the season, Galway had found
himself, in conjunction with the Marquis de Fronteira, com
mander of a small army in which the native English did not
much exceed one thousand foot. He was inclined, for good
reasons, to act with much caution. His opponent, De Bay, he
knew, was a general not to be despised. The Spanish horse,
moreover, outnumbered the horse under Fronteira, and Galway
had obtained some insight into the character of Portuguese
cavalry at the battle of Almanza. The two armies, however,
came into presence upon opposite sides of the Caya. The
blood of the Portuguese officers caught fire at the taunts and
insults of the Spaniards, and, in an evil hour, Galway allowed
himself to be talked over into crossing the river. Before the
army had time to complete its formation on the other bank,
* Lettres Historiques.

140 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
De Bay charged with his cavalry. The Portuguese horse on
the two wings, according to their customary tactics, took to
flight. A retreat was commenced by the infantry. The Eng
lish regiments acted as a rear-guard, but soon got separated
from their allies and were surrounded and compelled to sur
render. Galway himself succeeded with great difficulty in
making his escape.*
Upon the other side of the Peninsula affairs had remained
almost at a standstill. Charles and his generals felt them
selves too weak to aspire to much beyond retaining their
ground, and Philip's army was paralyzed, not only by the
usual deficiency of money and provisions, but by dissensions
among the officers, which the presence of Philip himself was
unable to assuage. The Spaniards turned fiercely upon the
French, whom they insulted as the betrayers of their country;
and the French, in their indignation at the ingratitude of
people whom they had been hitherto supporting at the expense
of their lives, would perhaps have remained with their arms
folded if Charles had seized the opportunity of making an
attack. Staremberg was actually suffered to invest the fortress
of Balaguer, to carry on a siege almost under the eyes of the
hostile army, and finally to take possession of the place under
a capitulation before the jealousies between the French and
Spaniards had been so far composed as to permit of their
marching against him. On the other hand, however, the Duke
de Noailles, who had a French army near the Pyrenees, made
an irruption into Catalonia, reduced Figueras, and cut in pieces
an Austrian detachment which he surprised near Gerona.
The attention of Charles and his Court was, in truth, directed
with much more anxiety to the negociations proceeding at the
Hague than to what was passing immediately around them.
At the commencement of the year there seemed a strong pro
bability that the war would be brought to an end by the
plenipotentiaries, that Louis would retire from the contest,
and leave his grandson with no other resource than to surrender
his throne. Under circumstances so auspicious to Charles, it
might be supposed that the thoughts of that prince were replete
with joy and gratitude. It is not a little singular and instruc-
* Lettres Historiques ; Boyer ; St. Simon,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 141
tive to find him nourishing against the English and Dutch,
who were labouring to procure him a crown, a resentment as
bitter as that of his rival Philip, whom the same parties were
striving with all their might to depose. The cause of his
indignation was the evident determination of the Dutch to
retain in military occupation most of the towns in the Spanish
Netherlands. Without the aid of the Dutch the cause of
Charles would obviously have been almost hopeless. Their
strenuous efforts had been a principal means of bringing a
great empire almost within his grasp ; yet, inasmuch as they
were too prudent to leave their reward to his princely gene
rosity, but chose to reserve to their own use certain towns for
their security against the ambition of France, they had as
sumed in the eyes of Charles and his counsellors an appear
ance no more respectable than that of a gang of bandits. It
was plain that this creature, the mere breath of the Allied
powers, was already in his own imagination King of Spain,
and had all the feelings of a Spanish monarch. To curtail his
dominions was to do him an injustice. The German language
scarcely contained terms strong enough for him to express his
sense of the robbery that was in contemplation. His sole hope
of escaping from the rapacity of the Dutch lay in Marlborough.
It had always been a favourite scheme of Charles to bind this
all- important personage to his interests by making him Governor-
General of the Netherlands ; and Marlborough would have been
only too delighted to accept a post which would compensate him
for what he must lose by the termination of the war, which
would add sixty thousand pounds a year to his revenues, and
would exalt him to a position of greater splendour and power
than that enjoyed by many European sovereigns. But the
hero, although again and again pressed to signify his accept
ance, as often forced himself to decline. He understood too
well the feelings of the Dutch in regard to their barrier to
place himself in a position which would infallibly have brought
him into antagonism with them. The hope of acquiring the
coveted towns was all that kept the Dutch true to the alliance.
If it became plain that they were not to have them, they would
certainly secede. The coalition would be broken up. The
fruits of years of successful warfare would be irremediably lost ;

142 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and Charles himself would find that, in stickling for the inte
grity of his dominions, he had lost his chances of getting any
part of them.
In fact the English Government, so far from taking the part
of Charles, had by this time come to a secret arrangement with
the Dutch in complete opposition to what that prince con
sidered his interests. The attitude maintained by the Republic
had been, throughout the war, such as to cause continual appre
hension to that party in England which enthusiastically sup
ported the war, and considered that the prosperity and security
of the kingdom depended upon prosecuting that war to a
triumphant conclusion. Without the support of the Dutch all
experience tended to show that the other members of the Con
federacy would find themselves too weak to cope with France,
at least in the Netherlands. Louis bad been constantly endea
vouring to seduce the Republic with tempting offers of a settle
ment of the barrier question, and the fear was ever present to
the minds of English politicians that the temptation would at
length prove irresistible. Under such circumstances it seemed1
that there was but one path for the Government of England to
pursue. It was to convince the Dutch that they could get more
by fidelity to the Alliance, and by a hearty prosecution of the
common cause, than by bargaining with an artful and perfidious
sovereign like Louis. Townshend was at great pains, as soon
as Marlborough had retired to the army, to teach this lesson,
and it soon appeared that his pupils were sufficiently apt and1
intelligent. They understood but too well their importance in
the Confederacy, and were fully disposed to profit by their
importance to the uttermost limit. Louis, it seems, had hut
offered them a single chain of fortresses. Such a security might
have been accepted with gratitude at the outset of the war when
Louis was great and powerful, and the little Republic in daily
terror of seeing itself crushed under the tread of his legions of
soldiers. But it was far below what the conquerors in this
arduous struggle thought that they had a right to demand.
The project of a treaty between Holland and England was
delivered by the Dutch statesman to Townshend, who duly
transmitted it to his Government. It stipulated that the
States- general should be placed in military possession not only

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 143
of the most important towns in the Spanish Netherlands, but
of every town conquered or which should be conquered from
France during the war, with a further requirement that the
Spanish Government should pay to the States four hundred
thousand crowns a year to meet the expense of the garrisons.
The States-general were also to be at liberty, at any time when
they judged that an attack upon them was in contemplation by
France, to put garrisons into any town of the Spanish Nether
lands. In the quiet possession of these towns they were to be
guaranteed by England, who was to bind herself, in case of any
attack being made upon the States, to hasten to their succour
with her whole force. It is true that the little Republic had
something to offer by way of compensation for the services she
expected from England. She undertook to guarantee the
Protestant succession of our sovereigns, an undertaking which
imported that Britons should never become the slaves to any
Popish prince if the Republic could prevent it. Marlborough
himself, anxious as he was to preserve a good understanding
with the States, was disconcerted and disgusted by pretensions
so audacious, and foresaw clearly the storm of indignation
which would arise in England when the provisions of the
treaty became publicly known.* He suggested that a clause
should at least be inserted to bind the States not to make peace
with France unless the entire cession of the Spanish dominions
and the demolition of Dunkirk were among the conditions ; but
Heinsius and those other deputies who had the conduct of the
negotiations would not consent to this. They were determined
to keep themselves free to watch all the turns of the war and to
act as occasion prompted. All the obligations were to be on
the side of England : the States were to be at perfect liberty to
pursue their own interests.
Such was the treaty between the Queen and the States which
Townshend transmitted to the Government at home. The
Whig leaders, to whom the dread of offending the Dutch was
paramount to every consideration, strongly urged its acceptance.
Townshend himself was impatient to receive the necessary
powers for concluding the business. Godolphin, in possession
of the opinions of Marlborough, scarcely knew how to act. But
* Marlborough to Godolphin, AuguBt 19—30.

144 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the Whigs insisted, and there was no resource but to give way.
The Queen's pleasure was signified, and Townshend joyfully
signed his name to the treaty, a transaction for which he was
destined in no long time to be stigmatised by the Parliament as
the enemy of her Majesty and the kingdom. The politic and
far-seeing Marlborough excused himself from having anything
to do with the matter.
Throughout the summer negotiations had been going on
between Louis and the Dutch Government. The resumption of
the war, the clash of contending armies, the siege of towns, had
not extinguished the hopes of those who were anxious for peace.
The circumstances of the case were such as might well stimu
late to exertion men actuated by very different motives. To a
benevolent heart it might seem that three great nations were
pining to be at rest, but were kept slaughtering each other by
the ambition, the obstinacy, or it might be for the mere private
interests, of a few leading statesmen in England and Holland.
The blessings of millions would assuredly be showered on the
head of that individual who should be the means of bringing
the plenipotentiaries together again. A mind of less exalted
nature might be allured by the reward which Louis was willing
to pay to any one who could further his wishes for peace, and
such a mind had Petcum, a diplomatist in the service of the
Duke of Holstein. He had been concerned in the first obscure
negotiations which ended in despatching Rouille into Holland,
and during the conferences had been found useful as a kind of
go-between. As soon as the Ministers separated he had applied
himself with much spirit to the task of bringing them again
into relations with each other. He wrote encouragingly to
Torcy upon the state of public feeling in Holland, and his letter
was shown to Louis. That monarch, at the close of the cam
paign of 1709, was, if possible, still more anxious for peace than
at its commencement. His distresses were overwhelming. He
saw his armies literally starving, his people stricken with famine,
his treasury bankrupt, his financial prospects utterly desperate,
the very soil seeming to cry aloud for peace and withholding
its increase. Humiliating as were the conditions offered him,
he seems to have by degrees wrought himself into thinking that
it would be best in his unfortunate circumstances to accept

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 145
them, if only the Allies would consent to some modification of
those articles which required him, in case Philip should refuse
to abdicate the Spanish crown, to join in the war against him.
He now professed himself willing to adopt a suggestion, which
had been made during the conferences but indignantly rejected
by Torcy, that he should, as a guarantee of Philip's surrender
ing the crown, deliver a pledge into the hands of the Allies.
He was ready, he declared, to place any three towns on his
northern frontier in their possession to be retained by them
until Philip's abdication was complete. The proposal was com
municated to Heinsius, and the Pensionary's answer, although
not amounting to an acceptance of it, was written with great
mildness, and at least expressed a wish to reopen the negotia
tions. But any hopes that the gentleness of the reply may
have raised in Louis were soon dispelled. It became evident,
as the correspondence proceeded, that influence had been brought
to bear upon Heinsius. The King was informed that his pro
posal had been considered and found insufficient. Was it likely
that Philip would yield up his crown merely that his grand
father might redeem a pledge of three towns ? It would be
moreover, an excellent bargain for the King of France if he
could retain the Spanish dominions in his family at this price.
If his Majesty wished to be thought sincere, he would add to
his proposal some of the principal fortresses of Spain. Louis
would hear no more. He was in utter despair. Again the
conviction forced itself upon his mind that he was being hunted
to death by a pitiless faction whom no arguments or reasonable
offers would turn aside. Was it not monstrous to ask him to
surrender fortresses which did not belong to him ? How was
he to obtain them from his grandson? Was he to tear them
from him by force, or was he expected to get possession of them
by an act of unnatural treachery ? *
The King's proposal was not, however, rejected without
producing one important result. It widened the breach that,
notwithstanding the eagerness of the Whigs to gratify the
ambition of the Dutch, had begun to exist between the two
governments. Heinsius was strongly of opinion that the
tog s proposal should not be lightly declined. If, he told
* Memoires deToicv.
VOL. ii. L

146 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Marlborough, the peace party in the States were to hear that
such an offer had been made, and summarily rejected, there
would be a terrible clamour. The Duke was so far swayed by
his representations as to accept a compromise. He wished to
avoid, if possible, the appearance of shutting the door rudely
against Peace. It was agreed, therefore, that Petcum should
have what he had long solicited from the Pensionary, permis
sion to go to Versailles without other commission than to ascer
tain definitely what fresh terms Louis would be disposed to
grant.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 147

CHAPTER V.
A few days after Petcum's departure for Versailles, Marl
borough returned to London, where he arrived in time for the
reopening of Parliament. He had before leaving the Hague
succeeded in making satisfactory arrangements for that next
year's campaign, which was, as usual, the last which could
possibly be needed to extinguish the small remains of pride and
obstinacy in the French king. The terrible slaughter which
had been made of the Dutch infantry at Malplaquet had cast a
gloom over the whole Republic, and had no doubt increased
that feeling of impatience with which a large party regarded
the war. Yet the deputies of the States still showed in their
dealings with Marlborough and Eugene no symptoms of cool
ing in their prosecution of the contest. They acquiesced readily
in the representations of the two generals that more magazines
and provision-waggons would be required for the army as it
advanced into France, consented to bear their stipulated pro
portion of the cost, and only exacted from Eugene in return a
promise that he would use his best influence to make the
Imperial circles send their proper quota of forces.
It has been said that Marlborough, in taking leave of his
friends in Holland, let fall some gloomy forebodings of the
treatment he expected in England. Yet the very day he
landed in his native country was marked by a new, and what
might seem a crowning, victory achieved by the Whigs.
Pembroke, whose opinions had been latterly inclining to the
Tories, in consideration of a pension, resigned the Admiralty,
which was put into the hands of a Whig commission with
Orfbrd at the head. It was remarkable that Anne, notwith
standing the' dislike she bore to this ardent Revolutionist, the
conqueror of her father's fleet at La Hogue, yielded to the
l 2

148 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
instances of Godolphin with far more facility in his case than
when Cowper, Sunderland, and Somers were forced upon her.
Some of the party were sanguine enough to imagine that her
Majesty's opinions must be undergoing a change ; and even
Marlborough began to think that she was convinced of the
impossibility of carrying on the Government except by Whig
Ministers. The circumstance that she had been latterly a little
more gracious towards Sunderland afforded some corroboration
to this surmise ;* but on other grounds the position of affairs
was not reassuring. Anne's behaviour towards the Duchess
had been exceedingly cool throughout the year. The Duke, in
the midst of a trying campaign, had been perpetually harassed
bv letters from his wife urging him to write to Mrs. Morley
and reason with her about her barbarous usage of Mrs. Free
man. He had replied with his usual good sense. A letter
from him, he represented, could do no good. It would only be
shown to Mrs. Masham, who would prepare Mrs. Morley with
an answer when he spoke to her. He entreated his wife to be
quiet, and abstain from recriminations. " It bad always been
his observation in disputes between friends that reproaches,
however reasonable, did but make the breach wider."! But
such counsels were lost upon Mrs. Freeman. ' She could not
stand by and allow Tory suggestions to be smuggled into the
royal chamber without speaking her mind with what she termed
plainness and zeal, nor was she in the least daunted by the
sulky looks and obstinate silence with which her lectures were
received. A new quarrel, which probably occurred about this
period, had been excited by nothing but her own ill-timed
greediness. She had set her heart upon obtaining certain
rooms which had been recently vacated in St. James's Palace.
Anne wished to give them to a sister of Mrs. Masham, and the
Duchess would not take a civil refusal. She claimed a promise
of the rooms : Anne denied having made it, and Mrs. Free-
* Marlborough to the Duchess, November 1-12 He says, " I Mie™ J«
(the Queen's) easiness to Lord Sunderland proceeds from her being ¦told that ^
c-a..'t do other than go on with the Whigs ; but be assured that Mrs .**£
and Mr. Harley will, underhand, do everything that can make the business mi
easy, and particularly to you, the Lord Treasurer and to me: for they
very well that, if we were remove 1, everything would be in their power-
+ Marlborough to the Duchess, August 26, September 6. In a nolner lew ,
August 22, September 2, he advises his wife to " be obliging and kind to
friends, and avoid entering into cabals."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 149
man's temper broke out. " People will think it strange," she
cried, "when they bear that after all Lord Marlborough's
services you refuse to give him a miserable hole to make a clear
entry to his lodgings." After expressing a hope that her
Majesty would reflect upon what had passed, she flung out of
the chamber, and took her departure into the country. But
she could not rest under defeat. After a few days of solitary
meditation upon her wrongs, upon the numberless letters of
good sound Whiggish counsel which she had written to no pur
pose, upon the political lectures she had thrown away upon her
stupid and ungrateful pupil, upon the smiles which " that
creature " received and the black looks which welcomed herself,
she rushed back again to Court, and desired to know what
crime she had committed that her Majesty behaved to her in so
altered a manner. The Queen's reply — a written one, for in
the presence of the terrible Duchess Anne's speech failed her
— set forth one phase of her mind in a light unpleasantly clear.
" It is impossible for you," she said, " to recover my former
kindness; but I shall behave towards you as the Duke of
Marlborough's wife and my groom of the stole."*
The Marlboroughs were dismayed by this plain avowal ; but
they kept it a secret. It is unlikely that any of those Whig
statesmen who were constantly forcing Godolphin to wrest from
the Queen concessions for their party had any clear and
positive knowledge of the Duchess's entire loss of favour. But
the Duke could see plainly that with the close of the war
would infallibly end aU the power and influence he possessed.
There was one great calamity which might befall both himself
and the entire nation if he were to be deprived of command.
The health of the Queen seemed to be breaking. A demise
would happen at probably no distant date, and a few days
would then decide whether the Hanoverians or the Stuarts
should reign over Great Britain. The gravest consequences
might be apprehended if, during those critical days, the whole
military and naval strength of the kingdom should be in the
hands of the Tories. There can at the present time be little
doubt that the reproach of Jacobitism, which the Whigs were
fond of casting at the whole body of their political adversaries,
* Conduct of the Duchess.

150 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
was unfounded — that it was reaUy the wish of nine-tenths of
the Tory party that the Act of Settlement should be carried
into operation. But the Tories had been but half-hearted in
the struggle of 1689 ; they had only submi ted to the trans
ference of the crown from the hereditary prince with a
reluctant and sullen acquiescence. It could not be expected
that such men would display as much vigour in upholding the
work of the Revolution as the men who had been mainly
instrumental in accomplishing the change. Nor was it likely
that the party which nourished against Dissenters a hatred
mora bittsr than that which it harboured against Papists, would
espouse with any warmth the cause of a Lutheran sovereign.
There was a strong probability therefore that if, at the time of
the Queen's demise, the Tories were in power, even if no direct
support were afforded to the Prince of Wales, there would be no
effectual measures taken to keep him out of the country, or to
promote the peaceable succession of the Princess Sophia. In
the estxblishment of a Popish dynasty a devout Protestant
such as Marlborough might well apprehend the ruin of the
nation. For his own private interests the return of the Stuarts
could not fail of being disastrous. He bad committed against
the father such offences as no son could be expected to forgive.
Ho had indeed contrived to convey to the exiles from time to
time hypocritical professions of his desire to serve them. Bat
his acts had corresponded s> ill with his professions that he
could have retained no hope that he wus a favourite at St.
Germains. It would seem that considerations of the danger in which
both he and his country alike stood, suggested to him a bold
expedient for securing the succession of Hanover.* _ He would
profit by his present importance and by the remains of that
affection which he conceived that the Queen still entertained
for him to obtain the appointment of Captain-General for life.
Whether there was any precedent for such an appointment, or
whether indeed it was in the power of the sovereign to make
such an appointment without the sanction of Parliament, were
. The attempt of Marlborough to procure the appointment of CapW"-£e"e™'
fn,- life has been always represented as a merely selfish des.gn. But I do ot
[bin! It fair U exclude altogether the possibility of his being .unuene-l by
patriotic motives.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 151
matters respecting which he was in doubt ; but he consulted a
friend of ample learning, the Lord Chancellor Cowper. Cowper
was not only surprised but displeased at the application, replied
at once that there had never been an instance of a general
appointed for life, and strongly urged the Duke to relinquish
his scheme. At Marlborough's request he took the trouble of
searching the records ; but the result of his investigation served
only to corroborate his opinion. The ancient dignity of Lord
High Constable had indeed been held not only for life, but was
even hereditary in families. The dignity bad, however, re
verted to the sovereign upon the attainder of Buckingham, and
had never again been granted to any one. Marlborough then
had recourse to James Craggs, a gentleman who had made him
self agreeable to the Whigs, and who was at present content to
execute petty diplomatic jobs for his party, but who rose in
the subsequent reign to be a Secretary of State. It had
occurred to the Duke that the commission of Lieutenant-
general of the armies of the three kingdoms conferred by
Charles II. in a season of exuberant gratitude upon Monk
would be found to be for life. Upon examination, however, the
commission proved to be in the usual form. It was conferred
only during the King's pleasure.
It seemed clear, therefore, that there was no precedent of a
life appointment to the command of the army. But Marl
borough was not to be deterred from a scheme so conducive to
his own security and that of the kingdom on this account.
During the campaign he wrote to Anne, and requested her to
gratify his wish. With what emotions his request was received
only slight evidence remains to show ; but it cannot have failed
to cause her embarrassment. It does not appear that the matter
was laid before the Privy Council, nor indeed were any of the
Ministers consulted. Anne had recourse to those persons whom
she considered her friends. Argyle, to whom the request was
communicated, expressed his indignation at the presumption of
his Commander-in-chief. There can be little doubt also that
the advice of Harley was secretly obtained. Anne at length
replied with a refusal to accede to the Duke's demand. Marl
borough was deeply mortified, and his retreat from a false
position was not on this occasion conducted with his usual skill

152 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and grace. He fell into the same error against which he had
cautioned his wife. He wrote to her Majesty a letter bitterly
upbraiding her for her ingratitude, and declared his determi
nation of retiring from her service as soon as the war was
ended.* Thus by the close of 1709 the ancient friendship which Anne
had entertained for the Marlboroughs had not only disappeared,
but had been succeeded by sentiments of actual dislike and
dread. But with this revolution of opinion the world at large
could be but little acquainted. Harley, who, through the in
strumentality of his cousin, the favourite, must have been well
informed of the state of her Majesty's feelings, was wise enough
to keep his knowledge to himself. Had the Whigs, however,
been perfectly conversant with the position of the Marlboroughs,
they would probably at this time have been under no appre
hension. They felt now that the support of the great Duke
was no longer indispensable to them. They might rest secure
in their own strength. It was inconceivable to them how any
government could be carried on without their sanction and
assistance. Their superiority in both Houses had never been
more decided than in the Parliament which met on the 15th of
November, A flattering proof of their position was immediately afforded
by the tenour of the royal speech, the most intensely Whiggish
oration which Anne had yet pronounced. The Queen expressed
her satisfaction in being able to give so good an account of the
progress of the war since the last session. In the beginning of
the year, she said, their enemies deceitfully insinuated their
desire of peace, in hopes of creating divisions and jealousies
among the Allies, In that expectation, however, they had
been disappointed. Such measures had been taken as made it
impossible for them to disguise their insincerity. The opera
tions of the war had not been delayed : a campaign bad followed
which had been at least as glorious for the Allies as those which
* Coxe's Memoirs of Marlborpugh ; Lord GampbeTs Life of Cc.wper. Swift
states in his Memoirs relating to the change of the Queen's Ministry that he
was told that Argyle| being questioned by the Queen as to whether any Danger
would result from' refusing to gratify the Duke's demand, replied that he would
undertake to seize him at the head of his troops and bring him away dead or
alive. This scheme of Marlborough's was always one of )<he principal argu
ments used by the Tories for bringing him into unpopularity.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 153
preceded it. It was in this contemptuous manner that Anne,
guided by the counsels of her Whig Ministers, delivered herself
concerning offers of peace as liberal as any reasonable being
could desire ; and expressed her approval of the continuance of
ti bloody, expensive, and apparently fruitless war, which was
fast becoming odious to every party in Europe, except to the
Whigs, the Imperial family, and to such petty German poten
tates as were selling to us the lives and limbs of their subjects.
The first measure of the Whigs was to insult the opposite
party by parading the achievements of Marlborough. A reso
lution was passed by the Commons complimenting the Duke
upon the great and important successes of the last campaign,
successes so remarkable as to render it incumbent upon the
House to express the honour and advantage which the kingdom
and the whole Confederacy derived through his services. In
less than a month supplies upon the same grand scale as in the
preceding year had been granted, and the taxes for raising the
necessary sums had been renewed. A million and a half was to
be borrowed from the public by a lottery loan. It was for the
first time during this reign that the Treasury found itself com
pelled to offer further temptation to Englishmen for the use of
their money than good interest, a circumstance indicative that
money was becoming scarcer and dearer. This lottery was the
commencement of what was doubtless a most vicious system of
finance ; but it is to be observed that the first State lotteries
differed widely from those abominable schemes by which the
Ministers of the last half of the eighteenth century and those of
the beginning of the present inoculated the whole nation with
a taste for gambling. The principle of this lottery closely re
sembled that by which Austria now allures small capitalists.
The possessor of a ticket for ten pounds was entitled to an
annuity of fourteen shillings for thirty-two years, and if the
ticket were drawn a prize he obtained a much larger annuity,
varying between five and a thousand pounds*
The dry business of the supplies was hurried over, for the
House was eager to enter upon the discussion of matter more
interesting to the bosoms of most of the members. The nation
was then in the first throes of one of those fits of enthusiasm
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques. The loan was a great success.

154 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
which so frequently render the Anglo-Saxon race the wonder
of foreigners. A High Church doctor had preached a vehement
sermon: through certain accidental causes it had attracted
attention where thousands of better written discourses had been
suffered to drop into oblivion : it had been printed and read
by multitudes of aU classes : combustible matter, which had
been accumulating for years in the public mind, caught fire ;
and the result had been a general blaze upon the subject of
religion. The clergyman whose preaching had wrought this marvel
was Henry Sacheverell, the child of a poor rector in Wiltshire,
and the adopted son of a village apothecary. He was sent to
Magdalen College, Oxford, at the age of fifteen, where he
enjoyed the happiness of being the chamber companion of
Addison. From the esteem in which the gentle and sensitive
poet held his fellow-student, it may be inferred that the acri
monious spirit which characterized Sacheverell at a later period
did not mar the conversation of his youthful days. Both
the young men were absorbed in the cultivation of the Muses,
and almost the earliest known composition of Addison was
dedicated in affectionate terms to his college friend. Long
after Addison had departed for London in search of a patron,
Sacheverell remained at Oxford in the capacity of fellow and
tutor to his college. At length, however, he took orders, and
retired to the small living of Cannock, in Staffordshire. The
feuds were then raging in Convocation between those two
parties into which the Anglican priesthood had divided, and
it was not strange that a poor and obscure but ambitious
clergyman should sympathize with that party whose object
it was to enhance the spiritual powers of the profession.
Sacheverell appeared at once as a very decided High Church
man, and a hater, on principle, of the Whigs, who seemed
bent on restraining the Church from hunting and devouring
her natural prey, the Dissenters. Upon a rustic audience his
oratorical powers were probably wasted. But through Ins
connexions he managed from time to time to preach before the
judges at the county assizes ; and occasionally he published a
sermon. In 1705 came the crisis of his life. One of the two
preaching chaplaincies at St. Saviour's, Southwark, fell vacant,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 155
and Sacheverell, although probably an entire stranger to the
parishioners, was elected to the office by the influence of his
friends. Once established in town his talents soon brought
him into vogue. With a very vehement style he united the
art of pointing his discourse against particular persons under
disguises which it was easy to penetrate ; and this art, although
not without danger to himself, was highly relished by High
Church devotees. Anne herself, who had excited his ire by
her apparent desertion of the Tories, was, if report be true, not
spared by the audacious chaplain.* In August, 1709, he
preached at the Derby Assizes, and printed his sermon at the
request of the grand jurymen. " Be not a partaker of other
men's sins," was the text ; and no doubt could rest upon the
minds of any who heard that sermon, that the sins against
which the preacher meant to warn his audience, were the acts
and tendencies of the members of her Majesty's Government.
The body of the discourse, plain as its signification was, con
tained little or nothing upon which a lawyer could found a
criminal charge; but the dedication was imprudently outspoken.
"It is no little comfort," observed Sacheverell, " in times when
the principles and interests of our Church and Constitution are
so shamefully betrayed, to find patrons daring enough to own
and defend them against the presumptuous insults of one set of
enemies and the undermining treachery of another, — patrons
who scorn to sit silent and be partakers of the sins of associated
malignants." For these remarks the sermon would in all pro
bability have been mentioned to the Parliament when it met,
and would have received the honours which that assembly
invariably awarded to pamphlets and .discourses disagreeable
to the majority of the members, of being burnt by the hang
man. But before the re- opening, Sacheverell foUowed up his
blow by a sermon infinitely more audacious than the first, and
which attained such amazing popularity, that it was no longer
possible, at least in the opinion of the Whigs, to confound him
with the common herd of libellers. It was preached in St. Paul's,
before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, on the 5th of November,
a day which was still commemorated as one of thanksgiving by
Ihere is a short account of Sacheverell's previous career in Oldmixon's
History, and in a note to Tindal. Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary.

156 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the Church and respected as a holyday by Protestant shop
keepers. The text was taken from that passage in the Epistles
in which the great apostle of Christianity enumerates, among
the calamities of his career, the perils he had encountered
among false brethren. The discourse was one continuous
diatribe upon the Administration. In very plain terms the
preacher anathematized the Toleration, exhorted his audience
to rise in defence of the Church, and to put on the whole
armour of God. The sermon, it soon appeared, was not to the
taste of some of the more influential members of the congrega
tion. The Aldermen decided, in their court, to refuse Sach
everell the customary vote of thanks. It happened, however,
that the Lord Mayor for the year, Sir Samuel Garrard, was
a Tory. The sermon soon appeared in print with a dedication
to that personage. It caught the public fancy, and several
large impressions were sold with a rapidity to which the sale of
no previous work could afford a parallel.*
The effect of this poisonous publication soon developed itself
in the temper and intellect of the people. A philosopher
might have thought that Reason had taken her departure from
the country. Nine-tenths of the population seemed to be in a
state of frenzy. There was a wild fear that the Whigs and
Dissenters were about to overturn the Church. The doctrine
of non-resistance, ludicrous in the mouth of any one except
a Jacobite, was upheld by thousands of persons who, in all
probability, would not have raised a finger to assist the Pre
tender to that throne which, on such principles, was properly
his. In truth, the doctrine appears to have been brought
forward for no other purpose than to insult and exasperate
the Whigs. The movement may be best characterized as a
popular uprising against the Dissenters and that party which
protected them in Parliament. It is not one upon which an
historian, who loves to extol the general good sense of his
countrymen, can dweU with satisfaction.
But other causes, besides the alleged progress of the Dis
senters, were at work to foster a spirit of discontent. The
harvest had been below the average, and high taxation pressed
in such a season severely upon the resources of the poor. The
* Boyer. The Lord Mayor took Sacheverell home in his coach to dinner.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 157
complaints against the bakers had been so vehement that Par
liament hastened upon its reopening to pass an act regulating
the price and assize of bread.* But the indignant population
of London had one grievance special to themselves. The act
passed in the commencement of the year for naturalizing
foreign Protestants had been attended by consequences not
altogether such as its promoters anticipated. Its fame had
spread far and wide over the Continent, and had excited
hopes in the bosoms of thousands, of outcasts. From May to
November scarce a week had elapsed without bringing scores
of poor Germans, chiefly, it was said, from the war-wasted
Palatinate, who were eager to enrol themselves as members of
the rich, happy, and secure population of this island. The
helpless foreigners arrived in London without a farthing of
money and scarcely a rag to their backs. They encamped in
open places near the capital under tents which, by the Queen's
orders, were served out to them from the stores of the Tower.
By the middle of June their numbers amounted to between six
and seven thousand men, women, and children, and still the poor
creatures kept pouring in. There was one large encampment
on Blackheath, and another in the fields at Camberwell. Those
who had been forward in promoting the act, might weU feel
appalled at the mass of destitution which they had conjured
into the kingdom. But the invitation had been given and
accepted, and it was incumbent, therefore, on the honour of
.the country to maintain its guests. Anne showed her usual
kindness of heart by ordering a donation to be made from her'
privy purse of five halfpence a day to each person, and com
missioners were appointed to superintend the distribution of her
charity. Collections were also made, at her instigation, in all the
churches throughout the kingdom. The richer Whigs exerted
themselves particularly, as they were in conscience bound to
do, to mitigate the sufferings of the helpless crowd. The
foreigners, on their side, showed every disposition to obtain
a living by their own industry. Employment was occasionally
offered to them, and was cheerfully accepted. But it should seem
that the skill of the Germans did not come up to the require
ments of English masters. At least one sixth of their number
* This curious piece of paternal legislation is the 8 Anne, c. 19.

158 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
were vinedressers; and even those who practised crafts of
more utility in this country, had learned them after a fashion
that rendered their labour of little value here. Meanwhile
the charity accorded to the foreigners had raised a flame of
jealousy in the breasts of the native poor of London, who con
sidered that the stream of benevolence was being diverted from
its legitimate channel ; and so vehement was the clamour
against the interlopers that violence was apprehended. One of
the arguments employed to. deter people from extending com
passion to the outcasts was that, even if they were Protestants,
they were not of the right stamp of religion. They were not
Church of England men : they were nothing better than Dis
senters. Perhaps the Whigs had invited them here expressly
as assistants to their des'gn of overturning the Church.*
The ferment was so great in London that the Government
hastened to remove the offence from the eyes of the population.
Some hundreds of the refugees, who owned that they were
Catholics, were promptly shipped back again to the Continent.
Some were sent to Ireland ; others to Scotland. A considerable
number were induced to cross the ocean by offers of land and
farming stock from proprietors of estates in Carolina. Before
the close of the year the encampments had disappeared. But
much discontent, nourished constantly by Tory demagogues,
still lurked in the breasts of those thousands of unreasoning
ruffians who infest a great capital ; and while things were in
this state Sacheverell's sermon was preached. Every beggar
and bully about town had his cue in a moment. A profession
of zeal for the Church, and of hatred for her enemies, the
Dissenters and Whigs, was a sure passport to the hearts and
purses of hundreds of good-natured but simple-minded people,
who really imagined that their religion was in danger.
Marlborough thus, upon his return home, found the country
in a condition which promised him little rest during that brief
period which his duties permitted him to pass in the society of
his family and friends. Every member of the Government
and the whole Whig party were in a flame of ind

* Lettres Histor'ques ; Boyer. Oldmixon says it was conjectnred that
William Penn, the Quaker, who had large tracts of land in Pennsylvania, was
the principal means ol tempting the Palatines into England wuli the design of
their being sent out to America.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

159

tion. Godolphin had been roused by this sermon to more
anger than had seemed possible for one of his calm good sense
and equable temper. In one sentence Sacheverell had inveighed
against those men who covered their treachery under the
plausible pretence of friendship. In what moving colours, he
urged, does the holy Psalmist paint the crafty insidiousness of
such wily Volpones ! "It is not an open enemy that has done
me this dishonour ; but it was even thou, my companion, my
guide, and mine own familiar friend." Godolphin insisted
upon applying this allusion to the unprincipled schemer in Ben
Jonson's play to himself; and there can be little doubt that he
was right in his conjecture, for the words are evidently pointed
against a Tory, and of all the Tories he and Marlborough alone
remained in power. The Privy Councillors were generally
agreed in thinking that proceedings should be taken against
Sacheverell. But there was a difference of opinion as to the
advisability of distinguishing this sermon from other seditious
writings merely on account of the extraordinary popularity it
had attained. Somers recommended that the author should be
prosecuted in the Queen's Bench for libel by the same quiet but
sure method which had already procured for Drake, Defoe, and
twenty other persons who had presumed to criticize the conduct
of her Majesty's Ministers the punishment of fine, incarcera
tion, and the pillory.* Both the Attorney and Solicitor- General
seem to have given similar advice. But Godolphin was too
angry to be satisfied with such ordinary vengeance ; and even
Marlborough suffered that feeling of fear and hatred which
agitated him about every scribbler, however contemptible, to
get the better of his prudence on this occasion. His fiery son-
m-law, Sunderland, proposed that the Houses should be moved
to impeach Sacheverell; and his vehemence appears to have.
infected the majority of the Councillors.! Upon the 13th of
December a complaint of two publications was made to the
Commons by John Dolben, the son of a former Archbishop of
York. The two were handed in : some passages from the

. Swift 8 Four Last Years of the Queen. The authenticity of this work has
recently been disputed ; but unless the letter of Erasmus Lewis of 8th April,
<£ "B aiS° a forSery. ^ identity with the work which Swift certainly wrote
on the subject, seems to me at least established beyond all doubt.
T Coxe's Memoirs.

160 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
dedication of the Derby sermon and from the body of the St.
Paul's discourse were read to the House, were voted libellous ;
and the author and his printer, one Clements, were ordered to
attend at the bar.
The 15th of December was a day of great excitement in the
capital. Sacheverell rode up to Westminster in the coach of
the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, amid the applause
of an immense crowd. In the Court of Requests he was
received by upwards of a hundred of the London clergy, who
had assembled for the purpose of encouraging him before going
into the presence of the wicked tyrants who had constituted
themselves bis judges. It is important to notice that the
support of the whole body of the clergy, with very few excep
tions, was accorded to Sacheverell not merely because he had
preached an acrimonious sermon against the Whigs, nor be
cause he had boldly inveighed against the toleration permitted
to the Dissenters. Upon both these subjects he had, indeed,
the sympathies of the Anglican priesthood. But it was under
stood that the principal charge which would be brought against
him was his assertion of a doctrine peculiarly cherished by the
order, and which a very large proportion of the Englishmen of
that age considered as almost vital to salvation. No theological
quibble that ever divided the opinions of men is perhaps more
inane than that touching the obedience owed by subjects to
their sovereign. It might be doubtful whether the meaning
of St. Paul, in prescribing the political conduct of the Roman
converts, really was that Christians should for all time to come
return nothing but meek submission to every tyrant who
managed to get possession of the civil power. But there could
be no doubt that, if such was his command, it never had been
nor never would be obeyed in this island. That very genera
tion had driven from the throne a prince who had abused his
authority. The last twenty years had been one period of
resistance to the lawful sovereign. The clergy themselves, by
taking the oaths successively to William and Anne, had been
participators in the crime, if it was a crime. Yet still the
clergy continued to cling to the idle doctrine of passive
obedience, and to inculcate its acceptance by all Christians
as a matter of primary importance. The doctrine, assailed and

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 161
ridiculed by the Whigs, had now found a champion in Sache
verell ; and to this reason may be principally attributed the
fervour with which the clergy espoused his cause.
Sacheverell was summoned into the presence of the Commons.
He admitted his compositions, and stated that he had been
encouraged by the Lord Mayor to print the sermon he had
delivered in St. Paul's. He was then ordered to withdraw.
As soon as he had departed, the House fell upon the unhappy
Sir Samuel Garrard, who was a member. He was asked whether
it was true that the sermon was printed at his desire or by his
order. The courage of the poor man, a retired grocer, quailed
before the ordeal. He mumbled out what every one knew to
be a cowardly falsehood, that he had neither desired, ordered,
or encouraged the printing. Fortunately for him the Whigs
were too intent upon their pursuit of the principal offender to
waste time in crushing an accessory. Upon a good-natured
suggestion of a friend of Garrard that the House ought to give
more credit to one of their own body than to a person who had
preached such a sermon, the subject was permitted to drop.
Sacheverell was called in a second time, and asked whether he
had anything to offer to the House. It was not likely that a
man fresh from a circle of enthusiastic admirers, who were
hailing and blessing him as the champion of the Church, would
admit that he had done wrong, and would ask pardon. The
Whigs were highly incensed at the meek unconsciousness of
their victim that he had done anything worthy of punishment.
As soon as he had again withdrawn a debate began of which
no record remains, except the circumstance that some of the
Tories made an energetic appeal in behalf of the culprit. It
was resolved that Dr. Henry Sacheverell should be impeached
for high crimes and misdemeanours, and that a Committee
should be appointed to draw up articles against him.
It may fairly be said that the Whigs, in resolving on this
impeachment, threw down the gauntlet to at least five-sixths of
the nation — to the whole body of the Established clergy, except
those few dignitaries who owed their elevation to Whig patron
age, to those dense and stolid masses which the Church had the
power of drawing after herself, the rustic squires, their tenants,
whose piety rivalled and ignorance exceeded their masters,
vol. n. M

162 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the rabble of all the large towns who rejoiced in a pretext for
turbulence. In truth, the Whigs seemed determined that there
should be no mistake as to the position they had chosen. No
sooner bad the Commons come to a resolution about Sacheverell
than the name of Benjamin Hoadly was mentioned as that of a
clergyman whose writings in defence of the Revolution entitled
him to approval and reward. It was carried that an address
should be presented to her Majesty entreating her to bestow
upon him some ecclesiastical dignity for his eminent services to
Church and State. Hoadly was a controversialist, the most
active champion of the doctrines of the Low Church party,
and was at this moment what he continued to be to the end of
his life, about the most unpopular divine in the kingdom.
It was not until the 9th of January, when the Houses
reassembled after the vacation, that the members of the Com
mittee reported themselves ready with the articles of impeach
ment. The Doctor had meanwhile remained in the custody of
the sergeant-at-arms, for his friends had failed in an endeavour
to induce the Commons to take bail for his appearance. He
was now transferred to the custody of the Lords, who at once
accepted the highly respectable parties who were willing to
become sureties for him. The most eminent Tory lawyers at
the bar had been already engaged as his counsel. Sir Simon
Harcourt had the reputation of being the most powerful and
skilful speaker of the day, and he brought to the cause of his
client a devotion which did not arise merely from professional
zeal. He was bitterly incensed against the Whigs. Two
years before a petition had been presented against his return
to Parliament ; and that party, then as still commanding a
majority of the House, had, with its usual bias' and indifference
to justice in such matters, decided in favour of his rival.
Meanwhile an event had occurred which first clearly revealed
to the public mind the altered feelings with which the sovereign
regarded the most iUustrious of her subjects. With the death
of the Earl of Essex two appointments had reverted to the
Crown, — the lieutenancy of the Tower and the command of a
regiment. The Commander-in-Chief of the armies might well
expect that in the filling up of military vacancies the sovereign
would be guided by his advice, and Marlborough seems to

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 163
have entertained no doubt that the Queen would wait to hear
his recommendations on the subject. Among the applicants
for the lieutenancy who came to bespeak his influence was
Lord Rivers. This nobleman had not long since been con
sidered a staunch Whig, but had latterly fallen under the
suspicion of being one of those whom Harley was attempting
to seduce from bis adherence to the party. It had been already
determined between Marlborough and his friends that the
person to be proposed for the appointment should be the Duke
of Northumberland, a natural son of Charles II. , an amiable
nobleman, who had always stood aloof from politics, and whose
preferment, it was thought, would give offence to no one.
Rivers, however, pressed his suit warmly, and it was not in
the hero's nature to give a downright refusal. He parried the
Earl's solicitations with a profusion of polite but unmeaning
phrases. At length Rivers inquired whether, if he mentioned
the matter to the Queen, he might say that his Grace had no
objection to his having the appointment. To this Marlborough
somewhat unguardedly returned an affirmative answer. Soon
after the interview he requested an audience, and was astounded
to learn that the lieutenancy of the Tower had been already
bestowed upon Rivers. " He told me," said Anne, " that
your Grace had stated you had no objection to him." The
Duke perceived that he had fallen into a snare, and retired
deeply mortified and disgusted from the royal presence.*
He had not been long gone before a message reached him
from the Queen intimating her desire of conferring the vacant
regiment upon Colonel Hill, the brother of Mrs. Masham, that
" Jack Hill " whom Marlborough had stigmatized to his wife
as being " good for nothing." This was too much. Affairs
had now arrived at a crisis. The Duke rightly felt that the
preferment of this man would degrade him in the sight of his
own troops and of the whole world. He requested the advice
of his friends, and was assured of the cordial support of the
whole Whig party. He then waited upon the Queen. He
represented the mischief that would accrue from promoting a
young officer before many others his seniors and possessing far
greater claims to distinction. " It is, Madam," said he, " to
* Swift's Change in the Queen's Ministry ; Coxe's Memoirs.
M 2

164 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
set up a standard of disaffection to rally all the malcontent
officers of the army." But Anne showed the mulish obstinacy
of her race. Arguments and entreaties were alike thrown away
upon her. " You will do well to consult your friends," was all
the reply that Marlborough could obtain to bis remonstrances.
The Duke was determined not to submit, and took his depar
ture from town. In his absence a cabinet council was held, at
which the Queen, according to her custom, presided. Two
years before, when Marlborough had absented himself from a
similar meeting, the attention of her Majesty had been drawn
to the circumstance by the Duke of Somerset. But Somerset
was no longer a friend of the great general. He was a weak
and foolish nobleman, whose arrogance had earned for him the
soubriquet of " the Sovereign." He was eager for distinction,
and nourished a pique against Marlborough and the Whigs for
failing to recognize his capacity to fill some of the most
important offices of State. Upon such a mind as his Harley
had practised with success ; and Anne, who was now un
doubtedly busying herself about forming a party, had com
pleted his conquest by bestowing upon him some marks of
favour. There was no other member of the Council who had
the courage to perform the part which Somerset had enacted
in 1708, and the meeting broke up without any allusion having
been made to the absence of the Commander-in-Chief.
Marlborough at this conjuncture formed a resolution which,
had it been carried into effect would, in all probability, have
placed a very different face upon the events of the next suc
ceeding years. There could be no longer any doubt that the
Queen was surrounded by persons not only hostile to his own
ascendancy, but who were teaching the sovereign to conspire
against her own Ministers. It was through Mrs. Masham, he
firmly believed, that filtered those poisonous counsels of which
he and those who were joined with him in the management of
her Majesty's affairs so constantly felt the effects. He was
convinced that there could be no amendment of this state of
things so long as that lady remained in the palace. He wrote,
therefore, the draft of a letter to the Queen in which, after
dwelling upon the mortifications he and his wife had expe
rienced through the agency of Mrs. Masham, he submitted to

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 165
her Majesty the alternative of dismissing from her service
either that lady or himself.*
Had this letter been sent, and had Marlborough persisted in
his determination to resign unless his demand was gratified, it
is difficult to see how Anne could have avoided compliance.
The boldest of her Majesty's secret advisers might well recoil
from the ferment which would be assuredly excited by the
retirement at a critical period of the war of the most successful
general who had ever issued from the country. But Marl
borough, in the management of concerns of this delicate
nature, showed none of that reliance on his own judgment
which be manifested in his military conduct. He would not
act without the approval of his friends. The letter was sub
mitted to Godolphin and the leading Whigs, and occasioned
some warm debates. Sunderland was for adopting a still
stronger measure than that suggested by his father-in-law.
He thought that an address could be obtained from both
Houses of Parliament for the dismissal of Mrs. Masham, and
Walpole was of the same mind. The poor Treasurer was
thrown into a tremor of alarm at the mention of expedients
so violent. The picture, perhaps, arose before bis mind of a
nation inflamed to fury by the representations of the Tories
that the Queen was in the hands of a wicked and ambitious
faction, who were heaping every indignity upon her. He wrote,
entreating his friend to return immediately to town, or the
warmth of some heads might commit errors which could never
be retrieved. Most of the Whigs had the same fears as Go
dolphin, and strongly disapproved of employing any harsh
measures with the sovereign. Even the Duchess thought that
her favourite son-in-law was, in this instance, exceeding the
bounds of prudence. Somers, meanwhile, had been assaying
the effect of his calm and polished oratory upon the mind of
Anne, and flattered himself that he could discern in her some
signs of yielding. He joined Godolphin in persuading Marl
borough to return to town and improve that favourable disposi
tion towards which the Queen seemed to be tending. It was
not easy to convince the Duke against his better judgment ;
but he so far yielded to the entreaties of his friends as to
* Coxe's Memoirs.

166 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
abandon his resolution of resigning unless Mrs. Masham were
dismissed. He dispatched to Anne a letter, in which he
omitted all mention of this alternative, but represented in
pathetic terms the mortifications to which he had been ex
posed through the counsels of Mrs. Masham and her cousin
Harley. " I beg your Majesty to reflect," he continued, " what
your own people and the rest of the world, who have been
witnesses of the love, zeal, and duty with which I have served
you, must think, when they see that all I have done is insuffi
cient to protect me from the malice of a bedchamber woman."*
Before this letter reached its destination, however, Anne bad
yielded the point immediately in dispute. Both she and her
favourites were becoming alarmed at the determination evinced
by the Duke and by the menaces of that powerful party which
supported him. There had been already words dropped among
the Commons capable of exciting the apprehension that the
differences between her Majesty and the Commander-in-Chief
might be made the subject of a debate in the House. Com
posed as that House now was, there was but too strong a
probability that the grievances of the victorious general would
create warm sympathy, and that the Commons would, at the
suggestion of some hot-headed zealots, vote an address offensive
to the dignity and painful to the personal feelings of the sove
reign. The back-stair counsellors judged wisely, therefore,
that the time was as yet unripe for pushing matters to
extremity against Marlborough. Anne sent for Godolphin,
and informed him that she intended no longer to insist upon
the regiment being given to Colonel Hill. A few days
afterwards the Duke was admitted to an audience, and was
received with a kindness which was doubtless dissembled, and
which he doubtless estimated at its true value.
While these events, so strongly indicative of Anne's disposi
tion, were passing, the attention of the Commons had been
almost entirely absorbed with the proceedings against Sache
verell. The articles exhibited by the committee of impeach
ment were four in number. The first of these articles, and the
one upon which the greatest stress was laid, was stated in a
manner calculated to perplex a modern reader. Sacheverell
* Conduct of the Duchess ; Coxe's Memoirs.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 167
was a divine of that school which asserted the unlawfulness of
resisting the sovereign under any circumstances. To maintain
this doctrine without impugning the legality of the late Revo
lution, might well seem impossible ; and a consequence most
uncongenial to all the non-resistance divines, except such as
were Jacobites, would follow if the Revolution were illegal.
Both William and Anne, whose titles depended upon the Revo
lutionary establishment, would be nothing better than usurpers.
The Tories had, however, at a very early stage of the contro
versy, invented a means of escape from this dilemma. King
James bad not been deposed by his subjects. He had abdicated,
and left the throne vacant. If any resistance had been made
to him, it would have been unlawful ; but there had been none.
The first article against Sacheverell charged him, therefore,
with maintaining that the necessary means employed in bring
ing about the Revolution were odious and unjustifiable ; with
asserting that there had been no resistance to the sovereign ;
and that any person who declared there was, cast black and
odious colours upon his late Majesty and the Revolution.
The second article charged him with inveighing against the
toleration granted to Dissenters ; the third with suggesting
that the Church was in danger, in contempt of a vote passed by
both Houses of Parliament ; and the fourth with asseverating
for seditious purposes that her Majesty's administration, both
in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, tended to the destruction of
the constitution.
These articles were not adopted by the House without an
attempt by the Tories to get them recommitted. The proposal
to charge the defendant with endeavouring to excite sedition
called forth especially some vehement remonstrances. But the
party was so weak as to be able to muster only one hundred and
thirty-one votes against two hundred and thirty-two. A some
what lengthy and circumstantial answer to the articles was soon
put in on Sacheverell's behalf, and amounted, upon some points to
a denial, and upon others to a justification of the crimes im
puted to him. The committee of impeachment to whom it was
referred, reported that it contained matter plainly designed to
reflect upon the honour of the House. One Tory, alarmed
perhaps by the formidable artillery which was fabricating for

168 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the destruction of the culprit, and apprehending that a sentence
might be passed upon him altogether inconsistent with the
degree of his offences, implored the House to desist from the
impeachment, and to leave Sacheverell to the ordinary course of
justice. It would have been happy for the Wbigs if this piece
of advice, which had been already offered by the more moderate
men of their own party, had received the attention it deserved.
It seemed, however, that nothing would satisfy the bulk of the
members but an opportunity of vindicating in the most public
and signal manner their favourite doctrine of the lawfulness of
resisting an evil sovereign. The Lords had fixed a day for
trying the culprit at their bar. This arrangement would have
made it impossible for more than a very few of the Commons to
witness the proceedings, and the desire of assisting as spectators
at the ceremonial was almost universal. It was accordingly
intimated to their Lordships that the Commons wished to be
present at the trial as a committee of the whole House. Her
Majesty, having been informed of this circumstance, issued
orders for the preparation of Westminster Hall as a court of
justice. Never since the famous trial of the seven bishops had the
feelings of Englishmen been so profoundly excited by any
matter of public interest. The triumphs of the war, the hopes
of speedily concluding a glorious peace, were for the moment
forgotten. The politicians of the coffee-houses cared to discuss
nothing but such questions as whether William resisted James.
The Doctor's health and his happy deliverance from his perse
cutors had become the reigning toast in every Tory circle.
Portraits of the martyr and descriptions of bis person were in
great request. Pamphlets, written in a style resembling that
in which rival American editors abuse each other, issued each
day from the press, and were roared about the streets by
hawkers. But it was noticed that the hawkers of the Tory broad
sides had everywhere the best of the competition, as the Whig
salesmen were compelled to cry their wares in modest fear of
the mob. The executive meanwhile stood aloof in impotent
rage. One man, an astrologer, who published some predictions
favourable to the public wishes, was arrested. But the Tory
squibs were generally anonymous, and such was their number,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 169
that to trace the authors might well be considered as a desperate
undertaking. Hoadly thought this a proper time for issuing a
ponderous volume on civil government, and elicited from some
Tory controversialist a threat that, unless he retracted his offen
sive opinions touching passive obedience, both Universities
would be moved to pass a censure upon his writings.*
In the meantime Godolphin had been reduced to a state
bordering on despair by the unavoidable departure at this
terrible crisis, of that friend upon whose powerful intellect his
own timid and vacillating nature was accustomed to lean in
times of difficulty. News had reached England that a renewal
of the conferences for peace was expected, that Louis had agreed
to accept all the articles except the thirty-seventh, and that the
States were about to send passes for the French plenipotentiaries.
The Whigs, eager for any opportunity to parade the importance
of Marlborough, at once resolved upon an address requesting
her Majesty to direct the immediate departure of the hero for
Holland. The address was drawn in a style which might well
provoke the opposition it in reality met with ; for, in truth, no
form of words could reveal more plainly the frame of mind in
which the Whigs were disposed to enter upon the negotiations
for peace. No amount of earnestness on the part of the King,
no sacrifices he professed himself willing to make, however
humiliating, could, it seemed, eradicate from this party the
conviction that his offers were meant for anything but a snare.
The Commons declared that they were alarmed by the crafty
and insinuating designs of France, in amusing them with
deceitful expectations of peace which were intended to create
divisions among the Allies. They thought it therefore their
duty to represent to her Majesty the importance that the Duke
of Marlborough should be abroad at this juncture, and they
would take that opportunity of expressing their sense of his
great and unparalleled services, and of applauding her Majesty's
wisdom in honouring the same person with the great characters
of commander-in-chief and plenipotentiary. This address, dis
agreeable as it was to the Tories, was carried by the usual strong
majority of the Whigs, and was presented to Anne. Godolphin
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.

1T0 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
had prepared for her a reply fully answering the hopes of the
promoters of the address ; but Anne rejected it in disgust. She
was weary of echoing the praises of the. great Duke. She
refused to refer to him, as Godolphin desired, as " the chief
instrumentytff her glory and of her people's happiness." She
/Would simply tell the deputation that she had given orders for
Mais departure. This was her own thought, she said. It had
not been suggested by any secret adviser. Not without great
difficulty was the Queen atlast persuaded to return to the depu
tation such an answer as would not cause downright offence to
the Whig party and the numerous circle of Marlborough's
admirers. A few days before the day fixed for the trial of
Sacheverell, the Duke took his departure for Holland.*
The 27th of February, the appointed day, arrived. By that
time Westminster Hall had been transformed by the skill of
Sir Christopher Wren into a court of justice capable of seating
an immense number of spectators. Under his hands the
venerable chamber had assumed the form of an amphitheatre.
The greater portion of the floor of the building was reserved
for the Peers. To their right the benches of the Commons,
covered with green cloth, rose tier above tier almost to the
roof. A similar arrangement of benches on the left, concealed
by a simple matting, afforded accommodation to several hun
dreds of persons who had been fortunate enough to obtfin from
the Lord Chamberlain tickets of admission to the ceremony.
Behind the seats of the Peers had been fitted up two closely-
curtained boxes, the one for the use of the Queen, who had
intimated her intention to be present, and the other for the
diplomatic body. Immediately in front of the Peers was the
bar ; and behind this were ranged four rows of benches for the
use of the managers of the prosecution and the counsel for the
defendant. By noon a hundred and thirty Peers in their robes had taken
their places, and the culprit, supported by many friends, among
whom the Whigs recognised with uneasiness more than one of
the royal chaplains, t appeared at the bar. His coach, in
* Coxe's Memoirs.
f Burnet. Atterbury and Smalliidge were conspicuous among the friends of
the culprit.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 171
passing from his lodgings in the Temple to Westminster, had
been attended by an excited crowd, whose shouts were still
heard in the solemn stillness of the Hall as the sergeant-at-
arms summoned him to stand forward. He made a step in
advance, and knelt down at the bar. The Whigs, who hated
the man and were perhaps already awakening to their folly in
having raised him to such undue importance, imagined that
they could detect, even in this posture of humility, a lurking
confidence in the issue of his trial.
The formal reading of the articles, of the defendant's answer,
of the dedication of the sermon preached at Derby, and of the
sermon preached at St. Paul's, opened the proceedings. After
hearing speeches from two lawyers, who were among the mana
gers of the prosecution — Sir James Montague, the Attorney-
General, and Mr. Lechmere — the Lords adjourned to receive
the Queen, who bad given notice of her design to visit their
House that afternoon for the purpose of giving her assent to
several Acts. Anne was loudly cheered as she passed through
the crowd in her sedan-chair. " God bless your Majesty and
the Church ! " was the general cry. " We hope your Majesty
is for Doctor Sacheverell." The Doctor's coachman found it a
difficult matter to penetrate the concourse of people on his
return to the Temple. The rush was tremendous to get near
enough to kiss the hand of the saint, of the good man who was
ready to lay down his life for the Church. Every window and
balcony along the Strand was filled with ladies striving to
catch a glimpse of the martyr, and waving their handkerchiefs.
Every hat in the crowd below was raised as the coach passed.
Some members of Parliament wrbo had mingled with the throng
were hustled for refusing to show this mark of respect to the
popular idol.
The trial thus commenced extended over a period of three
weeks. Anne took sufficient interest in it to appear in her box
almost every day. And in truth the variety of oratorical talent
displayed by the managers of the prosecution, the artfulness
and pathos with which the defendant's counsel rebutted the
imputations cast upon their client might have diverted the
most indifferent spectator. In one respect the prosecutors
laboured under a disadvantage. They were aware that the

172 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
feelings of the nation were against them, and were powerfully
enlisted on the side of their opponents. The mere spectacle of
such mighty machinery as that now brought forward to crush
a poor clergyman had excited public sympathy on behalf of the
victim, and a conviction that the party in power were cruel
oppressors. The prosecutors were in consequence far more
intent upon setting themselves right with the public than upon
making good their charges against the defendant. Much
ingenious and elaborate argument was expended in vindication
of the Revolution, in demonstrating the blessings and advan
tages which had flowed from it, and the danger which would
result if persons were permitted to preach or write against it.
Now it could admit of no doubt that an attempt to excite dis
content with the Revolution was a treasonable offence. Upon
the lawfulness of the Revolution depended the validity of everv
Act of Parliament which had been passed since 1688, of that
Act in especial which bad settled the crown successively upon
the posterity of William and Mary, of Anne, and of the Electress
Sophia. The Whigs, therefore, seemingly for no other purpose
than to obtain the credit of being zealous for her Majesty's
title and the Protestant succession, exhausted their powers of
rhetoric to prove that to be a criminal offence which was so
indubitably. What they were bound to establish was that
SachevereU had in reality denounced the unlawfulness of the
Revolution. He had certainly upheld in the most unqualified
terms the old and cherished doctrine of the Church as to the
passive obedience due from subjects to their sovereign, and the
sinfulness of resisting him under any pretence. Yet at the
same time he had used expressions which, however inconsistent
they might seem with this doctrine, appeared to denote satis
faction with the revolution actually accomplished. The Revo
lution had, according to him, been effected without resistance.
James had run away ; and his subjects, finding the throne
vacant, had very properly and lawfully elected a successor.
In the first article of impeachment therefore submitted to the
judgment of the Peers there were three points to be considered.
First, was resistance to the supreme power lawful in any case r
Secondly, had resistance been employed to effect the Revolution?
If they decided in the affirmative upon these two points they

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 173
had then to determine whether the preacher's unqualified con
demnation of resistance did not imply, by natural inference,
condemnation of the Revolution. The arguments by which
the prosecutors strove to convince the understandings of the
judges were ingenious ; but an historian of the present day
might well despair of interesting his readers in a question
which would now be thought as frivolous and absurd as the
disputes between ecclesiastics in the days of Duns Scotus.
The fiery Stanhope drew blood into the cheeks of the poor
Doctor by a contemptuous allusion to him as "the insignificant
tool of a party." There is not, however, a morsel of evidence
to show that Sacheverell was prompted to his work by any lay
politicians. However his enemies might abuse him, he seems
really to have been as disinterested, pious, and weU-meaning a
fanatic as ever made mischief in this world. And it must not
be forgotten that, whether he was guilty or not of an offence in
the eye of the law, he only expounded a little more freely and
vehemently than his brethren of the cloth a doctrine almost
universally professed by the clergymen of the Established
Church. The ruffians of London were at all events determined to
show their zeal for the Church and their antipathy for its
supposed enemies. The crowd on the second day of the
trial was still greater than it had been on the first, and it
soon became evident that it was bent on mischief. Having
escorted Sacheverell back to his lodgings, his admirers went
off to relieve their feelings by breaking the windows of a
Presbyterian meeting-house in Carey Street, near Lincoln's
Inn Fields. The officiating clergyman of this establishment
was Daniel Burgess, a remarkable divine who enjoyed in the
days of Anne a reputation somewhat similar, though on a far
less extensive scale, to that enjoyed by Spurgeon in the days
of Victoria. His wit was as conspicuous as his piety, and if
his hearers failed, through the hardness of their own hearts, of
being edified by his discourses, they never missed of being
entertained. The jokes and oddities attributed to him are
numerous, and are perhaps exaggerated ; but from the speci
mens that remain of his sermons it may be concluded that
Burgess would have thought he had preached ill if his congre-

IT 4 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
gation had not frequently rewarded him with a burst of
laughter.* This commencement of outrages acted upon the passions of
the multitude like the taste of blood upon a wild beast. On
the following evening the doors of the same house were broken
in, and the place was ransacked. Pulpit, pews, wainscoting
everything that would burn were dragged out into the Fields
to make a bonfire, which was encircled by street savages who
danced and howled with delight. " High Church and Sache
verell ! " " Down with the Presbyterians ! " were the cries
which rendered that night dismal to the peaceful inhabitants
of the metropolis. The rioters soon extended their ravages to
fresh places. A mania for pulling down the meeting-houses of
Dissenters had got possession of them. Wild reports as to their
designs flew about London. Prayers for assistance poured into
the Secretary's office from every part of the town, from the
managers of the prosecution, who had received threatening
communications, from nonconforming ministers whose places
of worship on both sides of the Thames were already attacked,
and from the Bank of England. Sunderland went in all haste
to the Queen. Her ordinary body-guard was the only military
force which, being always under arms; was ready for an emer
gency ; but the Earl was reluctant to incur the responsibility
of borrowing it. Anne, however, told him that she had no
fears on her own account, and bade him make use of her
defenders. " God," she piously said, " would be her protec
tion." The commanding officer, a rough and punctilious sol
dier, was with difficulty prevailed upon by the Secretary of
State and the Lord Chancellor together to undertake the ser
vice that was required of him. His post, he declared, was the
palace, and if anything were to happen while he was absent he
was certain he should be held accountable. He at last con
sented to march, but upon the point of setting out another
difficulty presented itself to his mind. " Am I to preach," he
asked, " or fight the mob ? If I am expected to do the first,
you must send with me a better speaker than myself. My
trade is fighting." He was told to use his discretion, and to
* There is a considerable number of Burgess's sermons and works on religion
in the British Museum. Bolingbroke was for a short period his pupil.

, DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 175
fesort to violence only when absolutely necessary. The appear
ance of the soldiers in the streets very soon restored order.
They marched from Whitehall to Lincoln's Inn Fields, from
thence to Drury Lane, where the mob was ransacking the
chapel of another Dissenting preacher named Tom Bradbury,
whose jovial humour and eccentricities of style constituted an
entertainment for the Londoners on a Sunday, and from thence
into the City. The rioters at most points dispersed at the
mere sight of the red-coats. A few heads were broken where
resistance was made, and two or three of the most obstreperous
of the throng were taken into custody. If any attack upon the
Bank had been seriously meditated a detachment of six dragoons
proved sufficient to avert it. The mischief to property effected
during the night was limited to the destruction of half-a-dozen
meeting-houses.* In this outbreak of public feeling there was really little cause
for alarm. Vet -the Londoners could not easily forget the appre
hensions they hid felt. Prompt measures were taken on the
following day to prevent all recurrence of riots. The trained
bands of London and Westminster were called out, and sta
tioned in different posts, at which they remained until the con
clusion of the trial. The Whigs were, as a matter of course,
convinced that the turbulence of the populace was solely due
to the villanous arts of the Tories. They caught, however,
at the opportunity of repairing their credit in the eyes of the
public by attributing the disorders to the Papists. An address
upon this subject extorted from Anne a proclamation which
would have disgraced her Government had there been any
serious intention of following it up. AH Papists, other than
merchants and householders, were commanded to remove to a
distance of ten miles from the capital.
The trial proceeded. Three entire days were taken up by
the speeches of the managers of the prosecution. Upon the
fifth day Sir Simon Harcourt entered upon the defence. The
Doctor, he argued, in asserting in general terms the doctrine
* Boyer; Lettres Historiques; Oldmixon; Burnet. Details respecting this
not may be found in the trial of Daniel Dammaree in Howell's State Trials
ine literature arising out of the cause is too vast to particularize. Several
mutism upon the subject are in Somers's Tracts and the Appendix to Bover's
Annals, vol. ix. '

176 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
of passive obedience, had but followed the Scriptures and the
examples set by the most eminent divines of the Church of
England. Was a preacher, when he laid down a rule, bound
to mention any exceptions there might be to it ? St. Paul
commanded servants to obey their masters, and children to
obey their parents ; but although the apostle mentioned no
exceptions to these general laws, it would be absurd to suppose
he intended there could be none. Was a master or parent who
enjoined murder or robbery to be obeyed ? In the same man
ner, when the Doctor asserted the duty of subjects to yield pas
sive obedience to their sovereign, he might have relied upon
the common sense of his hearers to supply one necessary excep
tion to the general rule, namely, the case of the Revolution.
The counsel for the defence attempted to meet the charge
brought against Sacheverell of inveighing against the Act of
Toleration by a quibble which in these days a lawyer of repu
tation would disdain to employ. The Doctor had in his sermon
spoken with outrageous vehemence against the allowance of
any toleration to Dissenters. He had even gone the length of
declaring that heterodoxy was a crime which ought to be
punished by the civil magistrate. He had called Archbishop
GrindaU a false son of the Church and a perfidious prelate for
persuading Elizabeth to commence the system of toleration by
permitting the doctrines of Geneva to be preached. His counsel
now gravely maintained that his words did not necessarily
imply a reference to the act which had been passed in favour
of Dissenters by the Parliament of 1689. That act made
no mention of toleration : there was, indeed, no such word to
be found in it ; and under these circumstances it could not be
said that any toleration had as yet been granted by law to the
Dissenters. What the Doctor must be taken to mean by his
invectives was such a general toleration as would tend to the
dissolution of all things, such a toleration as would make our
religion, like that of the Samaritans, a mixture of all kinds of
abominations. The resort by counsel to a line of defence so
technical might well create an impression that the cause was
indefensible on wider grounds. There could be no doubt in
any mind that for the last twenty years the act in question
had been termed in ordinary parlance the Act of Toleration.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 177
It had been even alluded to under that term in royal speeches
and Parliamentary addresses.
The defence set up to the charges brought in the third and
fourth articles amounted to this : that the passages in the
sermon upbn which they were founded were so vague and
ambiguous that they might mean almost anything. It is diffi
cult to conceive how any member of Sacheverell's congregation
could have attached any other meaning to the preacher's words
than that the Church was in danger, and this through the
machinations of the treacherous and wily statesmen who were
in power. But the Doctor, in the midst of all his vehemence,
had been prudent enough to say nothing definite, to express
himself only in general terms, and to leave it to his hearers to
apply the meaning. It was now contended that to assume any
reference to the Queen or her Ministers was gratuitous and
unfair. Why should not the Doctor have intended merely to
denounce those ordinary sins and vices against which clergymen
were bound to be for ever declaiming ? Was there a time in
the history of the world when religion was not in danger from
wicked men, thieves and adulterers, scorners, atheists, and
setters up of false doctrine ?
Upon the eighth day of the trial SachevereU himself brought
the defence to a close by reading a speech which occupied
nearly an hour in delivery, and which was framed with an
argumentative clearness, a pathetic beauty of diction such as
raised a presumption that it proceeded from a mind better
skilled in the art of composition than his own. The saint, in a
manner which drew tears from every fair Tory who had the
happiness to hear him, alluded with mournful bitterness to the
circumstances of his martyrdom. He himself was, it seemed,
but the insignificant tool of a party, a creature not worth
regarding. To fix then, by means of his person, an indelible
brand of infamy upon aU who maintained the doctrine of non-
resistance was the avowed object of the impeachment. The
example of his punishment was to teach the clergy what doc
trines they were to preach, and what they must abstain from
peaching. The searcher of all hearts was his witness, as he
expected acquittance before God and his holy angels, that he
had no wicked, seditious, or malicious intention in anything he
vol. u. N

178 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
had said. He had no design to asperse the memory of his late
Majesty, to traduce or condemn the late happy Revolution, or
to arraign the resolutions of Parliament. In place of endea
vouring to foment disturbances, all his wishes had been to
promote the loyalty and obedience of his fellow- subjects.
The speech, regarded merely as a piece of composition, was
elegant and forcible. It was quickly in print, and circulating
to the remotest corners of the kingdom. In almost every
household it aroused the warmest sympathy for the man whom
the public had invested with the glorious character of a martyr.
A cooler judging posterity may perhaps dispute the truth of
the culprit's asseveration that he was animated by no seditious
motive. The question is, what did in those times constitute
sedition ? A subject of Queen Victoria, accustomed to criticize
her Majesty's Ministers and their measures with impunity, and
who not unfrequently hears the highest tribunals in the land
censured from the pulpit for judgments not in accordance with
the opinions or interests of the orator, may smile at the notion
of imputing sedition to a clergyman merely for preaching a hot
political sermon. But in the days of Anne the case was far
different. The words of authors and preachers were jealously
wratched. The courts had decided in innumerable cases that
any reflection either upon the Government or its measures
constituted a seditious libel. Defoe, for an offence of this
nature, had been punished with merciless rigour ; yet the
criminality of Defoe might have seemed much harder to bring
home than the criminality of Sacheverell. What was the plain
meaning of that sermon but to inveigh against the Toleration,
and to denounce that class of Ministers who restrained the
Church from oppressing the Dissenters ? There can be little
doubt therefore that the sermon was seditious in the eye of the
law, and that had it come before Holt and twelve unbiassed
jurymen the author would have been punished. Defoe, in
attacking the Tories under the disguise of ironical praise, might
have thought himself secure ; but it is inconceivable that
Sacheverell could have employed language so unmistakably
calculated to excite discontent without knowing at the same
time that it would be adjudged seditious. The impulses of his
conscience, the love of dictating, that thirst for persecution

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 179
which commonly rages in the breast of a priest, or the vanity
of making a sensation, may have rendered him regardless of
consequences ; but his sermon had a seditious tendency from
one end to the other, and he must have known it.
Two days more were taken up by the prosecutors in replying
to the defence. The most applauded speeoh, a fine example of
terse and animated logic, was made by a counsel who, from the
drudgery of a provincial attorney's office, had industriously
worked his way to the highest reputation at the bar. He had
not long to wait for the reward of his eloquence from the
grateful Whigs. Two days after Holt died, full of years and
honours, and the " silver-tongued" Parker became Lord Chief
Justice of England. That same year the great seal was offered
him, but was prudently declined. It may not be uninteresting
to relate that among the counsel employed in this memorable
case were three future Lords Chancellor of England and one
Lord Chancellor of Ireland, two Lords Chief Justice besides
Parker, a Master of the Rolls, and two puisne judges. Cowper,
who now occupied the woolsack, gave place in a few months to
his political rival, Harcourt. Sir Peter King, who, like Parker,
had won his way to legal eminence chiefly by his steady appli
cation to business, and to whom had been assigned the task of
maintaining the charge contained in the second article on account
of his theological lore, became Lord Chancellor in 1725. To the
brilliant career of Parker, who, with the title of Earl of Maccles
field, filled the highest judicial office during the interval between
Harcourt and King, was destined a mournful close. Fifteen years
after the date of this prosecution the Lords again assembled in
Westminster Hall to sit in judgment on their fellow peer, the
eloquent counsel who was now pleading before them. For the
second time in the annals of English justice a Lord Chancellor
was impeached by the Commons, and proved to have disgraced
his high trust by bribery and corruption.
The pleadings having now closed, the Lords withdrew to their
House, leaving the public to speculate as to what their verdict
might be. Ten days elapsed before they reassembled in West
minster Hall, and meanwhile the anxiety was as great as if the
fate of the country depended upon their deliberations. The
clergy in their sermons and prayers made no secret of their
» 2

180 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
sympathy with the culprit, and so entirely were they on this
subject in unison with their congregations, that the diocesans
could hardly venture to reprehend them. Compton, the Tory
Bishop of London, found himself, however, compelled to suspend
one audacious preacher for offering up a prayer for the de
liverance of the Doctor from his persecutors in the chapel at
Whitehall. Upon the 16th of March the Lords took into consideration
the first article of the impeachment in the presence of Anne
who, according to her custom in matters of great public interest,
attended in her private gallery. The only speech in favour of
Sacheverell that has been preserved is by Haversham. It was,
he observed, the hardest case imaginable that this unfortunate
gentleman should be singled out for preaching a doctrine
asserted in homilies and sermons, by universities, by arch
bishops and bishops without number. A sneer at some members
of the existing bench for voting against the doctrines of the
Church roused two prelates to defend at great length the prin
ciples upon which they intended to act. Burnet set himself to
prove that, although the homilies might strongly inculcate
obedience to the civil power, the meaning of the writers had
not been that Christians should yield themselves up as bb'nd
slaves to unjust tyrants. The design of the founders of the
Protestant Church could not have been, he argued, to teach
this lesson, for they had retained in the sacred writings, as
good examples for our instruction, the books of the Maccabees,
which contained the history of a rebellion against a lawfully
constituted but abused authority.
But the arguments of the good and learned Bishop on this
matter were now scarcely needed. By almost every educated
man the absurd theory that sovereigns are entitled to unlimited ,
obedience seems to have been already discarded. The counsel
for the defence had not for one moment denied the lawfulness
of subjects resisting under certain provocations, although
they had very properly declined to define what should be the
intensity of such provocations. Nor did one Tory peer now
venture to impeach the right of resistance in the people. But
the question was whether the doctrine of passive obedience
could still be asserted in the old unqualified manner without

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

181

indirectly assailing the lawfulness of the Revolution. An ar
gument urged by several peers on behalf of the culprit was
that his sermon was nothing but a series of silly and unmeaning
words, and that it was monstrous to treat nonsense as a crime.
The question was at length put that the Commons had made
good the first article of the impeachment. All the Whigs
voted, as might be expected, in the affirmative ; all the Tories
in the negative ; and the Whigs had a majority of nineteen.
No Tory seems to have thought it worth while to offer any
defence for Sacheverell upon the charges contained in the
second article. There was a short debate on the third. But
the fourth, which charged him with maligning the adminis
tration of the Queen and her Ministry, elicited some long and
not uninteresting discourses. Burnet, whose hearty zeal for
every measure which had been apparently attacked by Sache
verell, the Eevolution, the Toleration, the Union, had made
him perhaps the most eager of aU the peers to carry the im
peachment, was again the prominent speaker, and afforded no
little diversion by his blundering vehemence. Nothing, he
asserted, could be plainer than the culprit's design of reflecting
on her Majesty's Ministers, for one of them had been so well
marked out by an ugly and scurrilous epithet that it was im
possible to mistake him. There was a roar of laughter.
"Name him, name him !" was shouted by a dozen peers with
a wicked anticipation of fun. Godolphin, the unhappy Vol-
pone to whom all eyes were directed, must have experienced
the most uneasy moment of his life. The Speaker interposed
in all haste ; but perhaps not a moment sooner than was neces
sary to prevent the Lord Treasurer's name being blurted out
by the simple-minded Bishop. "No peer," observed Cowper,
" is bound to mention what he considers to be needless." It is
a good exemplification of Burnet's singular deficiency in a
sense of the humorous that, even after this warning that his
words were capable of a malicious construction, he should have
employed a similar sentence in his history. " The Lord
Treasurer," said he, " was so described in the sermon that it
was next to naming him."
It was at length carried that the Commons had made good
all the articles of impeachment, and after disposing of several

182 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
technical objections offered by Tory peers, the Lords on the
20th of March again assembled in Westminster Hall. Sach
everell, surrounded by a group of friendly divines, appeared at
the bar, and the Lord Chancellor then caUed upon the junior
baron present to say whether in his opinion the defendant was
guilty or not guilty of the high crimes and misdemeanours
charged against him by the Commons. The question was then
put to the next junior peer, and in this order of precedence
the suffrages of a hundred and twenty-one peers were collected.
By sixty-nine a verdict of " guilty" was returned ; a minority
of fifty-two adjudged the culprit " not guilty." The list of
names with the answers appended is not without use as an in
dication of the political party to which each peer belonged.
The Whigs had thus by sheer preponderance of numbers in
both Houses carried the impeachment to a successful issue.
But it was a victory which no member of the party could
regard with entire satisfaction, for it had indeed been dearly pur
chased. It was impossible to misunderstand the general feeling
of the nation. All the ingenuity and eloquence which the
managers of the prosecution had expended to prove that the
impeachment was necessary as a vindication of the glorious
Revolution and for the security of the Protestant succession,
had failed to shake the public belief that the object of the
party in power was to overthrow the Church in the person of
Sacheverell. To many Whig members of the House of Com
mons loss of popularity was certain to entail the loss of their
seats. In another year a fresh election must take place, and
there could be little doubt that in any county or borough where
the electors were not as absolutely under the power of some
local magnate as the sheep and cattle of the place, a. Whig
candidate would have no more chance of success than he had
in 1660 or 1685. The members of the Upper House were
raised by birth or fortune above the necessity of paying court
to the nation, but even they showed signs of quailing before the
storm of public fury. There was a general disposition among
the Whig peers to make the sentence upon Sacheverell ex
tremely lenient. At the next meeting of the House a motion
was made that he should be prohibited from preaching for
seven years, during which time he should be incapable of hold-

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 183
ing any ecclesiastical benefice, and that he should be imprisoned
for three months. The Tories, however, succeeded with very
little difficulty in reducing the term of prohibition to three
years, and the Whigs did not insist upon the clause relating to
the imprisonment. Considerable discussion was excited by the
clause precluding the culprit from holding during his suspen
sion any additional preferment to that which he at present
enjoyed. Without some provision of this nature it was but too
probable- that his punishment would be a mere nullity. There
could be little doubt that, out of the multitude of rich men who
espoused his cause, more than one patron would hasten to lay
an offering at the feet of the saint. The duties of the living
could be performed by a substitute ; and thus the practical
result of the trial would be that the culprit would be rewarded
for his high crimes and misdemeanours with a good sinecure.
So anxious, however, were many of the Whigs to propitiate
public opinion, that even this necessary clause was negatived,
although by one vote only. A harmless addition to the sen
tence which provided for the burning of the obnoxious sermon
by the hangman, passed, it would seem, without exciting any
comments.

184 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

CHAPTER VI.
Intelligence of the mild sentence sped fast through the
capital. Upon the evening which closed the day on which
the debate in the Lords took place the houses of many people
were gay with illuminations, while bonfires blazed in several
of the streets of London and Westminster. The martyr had
escaped almost unscathed from his persecutors ; the public was
mad with joy; and many of the devotees who danced and
howled about the bonfires were soon intoxicated by drinking to
the health of their favourite. The trained bands were forced
in some quarters to disperse the rabble to prevent the conse
quences of another ebullition of feeling against the Dissenters
and the managers of the prosecution.*
When the Commons met on the following day depression
and mortification were so visibly expressed in the countenances
of the Whigs, that their adversaries ventured to indulge a hope
that they would not proceed to demand judgment against the
culprit. But in this they were mistaken. In the Lower
House as in the Upper the signs were evident that confusion
was in the ranks of that phalanx which had lately seemed so
compact and impenetrable. But in spite of the timidity of a
few members there was no shrinking in the main body of the
party from carrying the cause to its proper termination.
Upon the 23rd of March the Speaker, accompanied by a
deputation of the members, went in form to the House of
Lords. Sacheverell, upon his demand, was brought to the bar
by Black Rod, received his sentence upon his knees, and the
Commons had then to bear the annoyance of hearing him return
thanks to their Lordships for the clemency they had shown
him. The next morning found the grateful saint, escorted by
* Boyer ; Burnet ; Tindal ; Oldmixon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 185
a mob of butcher-boys and apprentices, going a round of visits
to those members of both Houses who had voted in his favour.
As his sentence precluded him only from preaching, he was
still at liberty to read the service in his church at Southwark
to a congregation which seemed never to weary of the aspect
and tones of the martyr. For many months the press sent
forth few books that had not the Doctor for their subject.
There were Whiggish treatises in which he was abused in
terms which in these days would be thought uncourtly if
applied to a dog; and there were treatises in which the
jininteresting doctrine of passive obedience was discussed in
a grave style which conduces to sleep. But the gentlemen of
Grub Street were not long in finding out that books on this
side of the question were not remunerative. The more
religious or politic authors could count their readers by the
thousand. There was the " Pious Life and Sufferings of the
Doctor from bis birth to his sentence, with his prayers and
meditations on the days of his trial." There was a " Loyal
Catechism, in which every English subject might be instructed
in his duty to his prince in a dialogue between Sacheverell and
a young pupil." And there was a ballad which exhorted
young couples to be married by no other clergyman than the
Doctor.* The Tories were naturally in raptures at the turn events had
taken ; but the Whigs still held firmly together, and in Parlia
ment were much more than a match for their adversaries. A
great point with the former, in their much-prized character as
guardians of the Church, was to draw public attention to the
number of irreligious works which, under the rule of a Whig
Administration, had recently made their appearance. In
truth, since the emancipation of the press, scarcely a month
had passed without some crazy person exciting a sensation in
religious circles by publishing a book to show the absurdity of
the Christian religion, or to prove that the doctrines and cere
monies of the Church have been erroneously deduced from the
Scriptures.! Sacheverell's counsel, in support of their argument
* Boyor; Lettres Historiques.
t Conspicuous among literature of this description was a work of John Asgill,
member for Bramber, in Sussex, who set himself to prove that, if a Christian had
a sumcient stock of faith" he might be translated to heaven without passing

186 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
that their client had just cause to apprehend danger to the
Church from the spread of irreligious and blasphemous writ
ings, had been at the pains to make a collection of passages
from a number of obscure and stupid pamphlets. This collec
tion of impieties had been read at the trial for the edification
of their Lordships. That authors of this kind were on the
increase there could be no denying ; yet to insinuate, as seems
to have been the principal motive of the Tories, that this
increase was owing to any moral or religious laxity on the
part of the Government, was at least grossly unfair. Not a
session had passed since the accession of Anne, that Parlia
mentary censure had not been laid upon some bad book, and
that the Attorney- General and the hangman had not been
employed to teach the authors the imprudence of publishing
opinions upon religious subjects in advance of their age. The
Tories, with the double motive of testifying their own zeal
for the Church and of conveying an imputation upon their
rivals, now moved that her Majesty should be requested to
proclaim a fast for the purpose of averting the divine ven
geance, which the nation had reason to dread on account of the
horrid blasphemies in circulation. By the Whigs a most
artful and ingenious amendment was suggested to this resolu
tion. The little collection used in Sacheverell's defence had by
some means found its way into print. It was now proposed to
refer to this book as one peculiarly displeasing to the Almighty,
and to attribute the wickedness of circulating it to the Doctor
himself. This suggested addition to the address so captivated
the fancy of the Whigs that, notwithstanding their adversaries
would have been now glad to desist from their project alto
gether, the motion was pressed to a division, and carried by a
large majority. The Queen, as might have been expected, coldly
refused to comply with a request which, under the pretence of
zeal for religion, conveyed all the uncharitableness of party
spirit. The Whigs were forced to content themselves with
ordering that Sacheverell's collection should be burned in com
pany with two or three impious books which were censured at
the same time. A servile decree made by the University of
through death. This fanatic was expelled the House, not, however, on account
of his insanity, but his heterodoxy.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

187

Oxford in 1683, during that fit of ecstatic loyalty which suc
ceeded the discovery of the Rye House plot, was deservedly
included in the same ignominious fate.*
The period of the year had now arrived at which it was cus
tomary for the Parliament to separate. It was accordingly
prorogued by Anne with a speech which, although regarded by
the Tories as merely indicative that her Majesty was still in
the thraldom of Whigs and false brethren, contained some
really excellent exhortations. Inasmuch, she observed, as no
prince who ever sat on the throne could have had a more
tender concern for the Church than herself, or had ever been
more ready to suppress immorality or profanity, she could not
but regard it as a great injustice that, because an evil existed
which was prevalent in all times, it should be made an occasion
of imputing danger to the Establishment under her adminis
tration. She could heartily wish that men would be quiet and
mind their own business instead of instituting disputes upon
this subject. Such persons, she thought, must have some evil
intentions in what they did, as disputes of this kind only
fomented divisions and animosities. The Parliament, she
added, in consideration of the circumstance that negotiations
for peace were proceeding in Holland, would be prorogued only
for a very short time.
To one individual at least the prorogation was felt as a relief.
The daily divisions, the perpetual bickerings, which had made
this session an epoch of confusion, the indiscretions of many of
the Whigs, and the open exultation of the Tories at their
blunders, had been too much for the nerves of Godolphin.
From the bottom of his heart he wished that the impeachment
of Sacheverell had never been attempted, t His friend's de
parture just on the eve of the trial reduced him to such a state
of apathy that Sunderland wrote to press his mother-in-law,
who had accompanied the Duke as far as Harwich, to return
immediately to town and inspire the Lord Treasurer with a little
* Boyer; Lettres Historiques ; Oldmixon.
t Godolphin to Marlborough, March 5—16. " This uneasy trial of Sacheverell
ooes not only take up all my time, but very much impairs my health, and how
. re win end I am not at all certain. But I certainly wish it had never begun -
wr it has occasioned a very great ferment, and given opportunity to a great
many people to be impertinent who always, had the intention but wanted the
opportunity to show it."

188 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
life, or everything would fall to ruin.* The terrible Duchess
was soon with the craven, and it should seem that her goad was
applied in this instance with beneficial effect. Godolphin suc
ceeded, at all events, in restraining Anne to the very close of
the session from revealing — at least by any overt act  her
sympathies with one party or her disgust of the other.
Nevertheless it could be no longer matter of doubt that the
Queen and her secret advisers were revolving a plan of action.
The question really was how long their courage would be in
reaching the point necessary to take a step which Marlborough
might resent by throwing up his command, and which would
raise against the Court the overwhelming power which the
Whigs at present possessed in both Houses. The Treasurer
and the Duchess kept up a cat-like watch upon the actions of
Anne. The number of Tory noblemen and gentlemen, they
remarked, who attended her public receptions bad much
increased of late, and the honour of being admitted to the
royal closet was also extended to an unusual proportion of
them. The frequency with which two noblemen especially
were favoured in this manner filled the jealous pair with
uneasiness. One of them, the Duke of Somerset, had not long
since been reckoned among their staunchest friends. The
other, formerly a distinguished servant of William, had
returned some years back, after a long interval of luxurious
idleness passed in Italy, to resume an interest in the politics
of his native country — the all-accomplished but faint-hearted
Duke of Shrewsbury.
The influence of both these noblemen appears to have been
lost to the administration merely by the neglect of such a
degree of management as was necessary to secure it. Both
professed those opinions which constituted a Whig in that
age ; and both were warm admirers of the genius of Marl
borough. Somerset had but two years since rendered atl
important service to the Treasurer and Commander-in-Chief
* Sunderland to Marlborough, February 21, March 4. " Lord Treasurer laa
a slowness and coldness about him that is really terrible, and therefore all that
can be must be done to keep him up and to animate him. I am sure it will De
impossible to do it without Lady Marlborough  If Lord Treasurer m
but be persuaded to act like a man I am sure our union and strength is too great
to be hurt."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 189
by assisting to rid them of a colleague who was undermining
their power. Although unfitted for any position requiring a
higher range of abilities than that of Master of the Horse, he
was not a man whom it could be safe for any administration to
overlook. Independently of his rank as second, or at all events
third, on the list of English nobility, his immense territorial
possessions and consequent influence over the returns to the
Lower House, rendered him important as a friend or an enemy.
Bat how to come to any satisfactory arrangement with a man
whose vanity was perpetually aspiring to stations which he
could not have filled without bringing ridicule and contempt
upon the whole Government, was a problem which Godolphin
and the Junta despaired of solving.* All the thoughts of the
Duke were in consequence directed to pulling down those
Ministers who would not permit him to rise ; and he had so far
stifled his pride as to enter into some kind of alliance with
Harley, a man whom he certainly disliked and despised. With
Anne, who was perhaps taken by his solemn and pompous
manners, his influence was now thought to be paramount, and
that influence was increased by the possession of a wife for
whom her Majesty entertained a greater degree of friendship
than she had evinced for any lady since the decay of her
affection for the Duchess of Marlborough. The Duchess of
Somerset was, to the end of this reign, a valuable assistant to
the schemes of her husband. Those schemes, however, extended
no further than to the removal of some two or three persons
from the Ministry, who had excited the ire of the proud Duke.
Shrewsbury, having returned to his country with a revived
appetite for honours and distinctions, found his old friends now
in power but little disposed to admit him to partnership or
even to trust him at all. Nor is it strange that the Whigs
should have regarded this accomplished and graceful nobleman
with a feeling not far removed from contempt. The perilous
and anxious times which immediately preceded and followed
the Revolution had afforded statesmen a rare opportunity for
obtaining an insight into mental and moral constitutions ; and
the flaws in Shrewsbury's character had been conspicuous. So
long as the political horizon was serene, and a high position in
* Godolphin to Marlborough, March 17—28.

190 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the State could be filled without danger to life or fortune, there
could be no more charming colleague. But with the first cloud
that appeared all considerations of party, of country, were
flung away, and the man seemed to think only of saving
himself. The Duke must have been conscious that his former
associates had some justification for the coldness of their
reception ; and to be despised by men whom he had once led
and whom he now aspired to lead again, was a reflection that
caused him deep pain. But there was another motive besides
resentment against the Whigs which induced him at this
season to coalesce with their rivals. He had with his usual
nervous fear of committing himself carefully scrutinised the
position of the Ministry. He had waited upon the Duchess of
Marlborough, with whose husband he had always been on
terms of cordiality, and had artfully contrived to extract from
her how matters stood between the Queen and her principal
servants. His final opinion, founded upon all the information
he could collect, was unfavourable to the prospects of those who
were now in power. Before the trial of Sacheverell his resor
lution had been taken, and his vote in favour of the Doctor
could leave no one in doubt of the course he intended to pursue.*
No sooner had the Parliament separated than Godolphin,
worn out with a harassing session, hastened to his country seat
at Newmarket,- and tried to forget his anxieties for an interval
in the society of his racehorses. But the repose of the unfor
tunate Minister was soon interrupted by a letter from the
Queen, which made him return, almost distracted with morti
fication and alarm, to London. Anne announced to him that
she had thought proper to take the chamberlain's staff from the
Marquis of Kent and to bestow it upon the Duke of Shrews
bury, t Godolphin revolved in his mind how it became him to
act. It may well seem matter of wonder that, constantly as the
dread of Anne's taking some independent step of this kind
must have haunted her Ministers, there should have been no
* Marlborough was surprised at this open declaration on Shrewsbury's part.
" What amazes me is that he could think it possible for the Tories to be strong
enough to ruin the Whigs in conjunction with the Lord Treasurer ana me.
This sentence shows that Marlborough, with all his keenness of'judgment,
greatly overrated the security of his position. ,
f The Queen to Godolphin, April 13—24. Kent was made a duke tor
being easy in the matter."

DURING THE BEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

191

frrano'ement between them as to what they should do when the
event happened. It may appear even strange that any pro
vision for such a contingency should have been necessary.
How a body of Ministers would act at the present day, if the
sovereign should, without previously asking their advice,
dismiss one of them from his service, is scarcely a subject for
speculation. They would be thought wanting in spirit and
self-respect if they did not all insist upon resigning. But in
the earlier part of the eighteenth century the relations between
Minister and Minister, and between the sovereign and the
Ministers, were not so well defined as now. A member of the
administration seems not to have considered it dishonourable to
endeavour to supplant his colleagues in the favour of the
sovereign. The sovereign seems not to have considered that
he was acting unjustly by his Ministers if he sought advice
from irresponsible parties. In this reign Harley had, while in
office, striven to undermine the Queen's confidence in Marl
borough and Godolphin ; and her Majesty had not thought it
unbecoming to concert measures with Somerset, Shrewsbury,
and Harley against a Ministry of which she desired to be rid.
No sooner was a Tory administration formed than St. John
was struggling to compass the ruin of Harley, while Anne —
there are grounds for believing — was in the habit of consulting
some of the discarded Whigs. A few years later Stanhope,
Townshend, and Walpole were all disputing for the first place
in the confidence of George I., who notoriously attached more
weight to the counsels of his German favourites than to those
of any of his English Ministers.
Thus that bond of union which now exists between the
members of an administration did not exist between the
Ministers of Anne. Each individual appears to have considered
himself free to act without concert with the rest ; and to this
circumstance may be attributed the downfall of a Government
under which the country had at all events enjoyed a marvellous
amount of military prosperity. Had the whole body, and
above all Marlborough, determined on relinquishing her
Majesty's, service the moment it became clear that she was
not disposed to be guided by their counsels, it is difficult to
conceive how Anne, situated as she was, could have done other-

192

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

wise than submit to their conditions. The Ministers were1
generally unpopular on account of their supposed design to
oppress and overturn the Church ; but the continuance of
Marlborough at the head of military affairs must at this critical
period have been felt to be indispensable by the great majority
of the nation. The secret advisers of the Queen would scarcely
have ventured, in the face of a clearly- expressed determination
on the part of the great soldier to resign, to encourage her
Majesty to proceed with her design of changing her servants.
But it soon became evident to them that they need enter
tain no apprehensions on the score of the Commander-in-
Chief ; that, do what they might, they would meet only with a
mild expostulation from him. Whether Marlborough's conduct
was regulated by honourable or merely selfish motives is a
question which must unfortunately remain open to the end of
time. Those who are prone to put the worst construction upon
a man's actions will affirm that every feeling was subordinate'
in his mind to his love of money, that he was one who could
see his nearest friends treated like lackeys, could bear every
kind of insult heaped upon himself, and still cling to office for
the sake of his enormous salaries. But there will always be
Others who will more charitably pronounce that his leading
motive in retaining power till it was forced out of his hands
was to prevent his country from being made the victim to a
faction which, having been always adverse to the war, would
too probably fling away the advantages acquired by years of
success, and hasten to conclude an unsafe and inglorious peace.
The course' adopted by Godolphin was one which, without'
saving his dignity, only rendered him a little more odious and
contemptible in the eyes of Anne. He dispatched to her a
letter which, as a specimen of the style in which her Majesty
was addressed by her chief Minister, is a curiosity. He re
proached her in pretty round terms for permitting herself to be
directed by a private Ministry. Her conduct, he said, would
draw ruin upon herself and the kingdom, and would force every
man in the Council, except the Duke of Somerset, to run from it
as he would from the plague. He put it to her what effect an
entire change of her Ministers was likely to have upon her
Allies abroad, and whether the war would be carried on well

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 193
by people who had been averse to it from the beginning.
Having relieved his mind by these expressions, the poor
Treasurer thought it expedient to return to his humility, and
assured her Majesty that, for his own part, he would never give
the least obstruction to her measures or to any Ministers whom
she might please to employ.*
Godolphin speedily followed his letter to town, but only to
find his august mistress in a very bad humour. Anne, as her
nature was when vexed or unhappy, preserved a silence so
sullen and obstinate as to render it impossible to penetrate
what her wishes or intentions were. At first the Treasurer
greatly feared that further changes were in contemplation, and
that the staff would soon be demanded from himself. But his
apprehensions gradually wore off. Shrewsbury paid him a
visit, and, with that grace and suavity of manner which made
men designate him as the "King of Hearts," professed his
devotion to him and to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough.
By whatever door he came in, he said, it was with the intention
of living well with them all. The jealousy with which the
Whigs regarded him had been, he was persuaded, the sole
cause of his having been kept so long out of office. Had the
matter rested merely with bis friends, the Treasurer and the
Marlboroughs, the thing, he knew, would have been done long
since, f The effect of these blandishments was to delude
Grodolphin into a belief that, now Shrewsbury had obtained
what he desired, he would join with them in endeavouring to
restrain the Queen from making any further changes ; that he
would revert to his former politics and be a good Whig again.
The fears of Marlborough, however, to whom this conversation
was reported, were not so easily allayed. He was satisfied that
the Queen would never have ventured upon such a step as the
dismissal of the Marquis of Kent unless her advisers were pre
pared to carry things further. His chief wonder was that so
timid a person as Shrewsbury could have found the courage
[to embark on such troubled waters in company with the
f greatest knaves in the kingdom. He advised his friend to
use every effort to prevent a dissolution of Parliament. If
* Godolphin to'the Queen, April 15 — 26.
t Godolphin to Marlborough, April 30, May 11.
VOL H. O

194 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
that should come to pass he was convinced that all would be
over.* In truth, the preservation of the existing House of Commons
had now become of vital importance to the Ministry. Every
day brought fresh proofs that, if the nation had the oppor
tunity of declaring itself, an overwhelming preponderance of
Tories and High Churchmen would be sent up to Parliament.
It appeared that the population of the provinces shared the
feelings which had been evinced by the mob of London. The
spring assizes commenced immediately after the conclusion of
the trial ; and at almost every town to which the judges
repaired their presence was made the signal for some violent
demonstration of the religious and political views of the
inhabitants. Those Whig lawyers, who had been among the
managers of the prosecution, were in no slight danger, while
travelling on circuit, of having their eyes and teeth knocked
out by brickbats. Their adversaries, on the other hand, were
almost stifled by the rough caresses of the crowd. Both at
Shrewsbury and Hereford, Harcourt was publicly thanked and
entertained by the respective Corporations. The Corporation
of Gloucester summarily dismissed his opponent Lechmere from
his post of assessor of the borough. Upon the day when
SachevereU's sermons were burned in front of the Royal Ex
change bonfires were kindled at Exeter and Winchester, and
some of Hoadly' s books were ignominiously tossed into the
flames.f The middling classes, actuated by the same feelings as
their inferiors in wealth and education, hastened to display
their zeal for the Church and the doctrine of passive obedience
by sending up addresses to the throne. There was a prevalent
notion, however, that Anne, although doubtless a Tory at
heart, might still be hampered by the power of the Whigs, and
many municipal bodies were put to great embarrassment to
convey an unmistakable meaning in such words as should not
force her Majesty to feign displeasure. In most instances,
therefore, the addresses were couched, in such terms as would
puzzle a reader not intimately acquainted with the political
cant of the day to detect their object. A pattern address, it
* Marlborough to the Duchess, May 5—16.
t Lettres Historiques ; Luttrell's Brief Relation.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 195
has been asserted, was drawn up and circulated by Tory agents ;
and it is certain that, however different corporations might
differ in their modes of expression, there was a striking simi
larity between their thoughts and sentiments. A horror of
republican maxims, of Deists and Socinians, an enthusiastic
devotion to monarchy and the Church were common to all
addresses; but the Toryism of this language was somewhat
relieved by a comparatively cold expression of attachment to
the Hanoverian succession. Some corporations ventured to
throw out hints that a dissolution of the Parliament would be
acceptable to the nation. The city of Gloucester was, much to
the mortification of the citizens, represented at this time by
Whigs. The Sheriff and Grand Jury now assured her Majesty
that when another Parliament was elected care should be taken
to return such members as would be devoted to herself and
zealous for the Church.*
The Whigs, anxious, dispirited, and almost everywhere in a
minority, still, however, struggled to maintain their position.
Some addresses were got up on their side. The address of the
Sheriff and Grand Jury of Worcester formed an amusing con
trast to that from the neighbouring city. These gentlemen
expressed a fervent hope that her Majesty might always be
served by such a wise and judicious Ministry, such a faithful
and courageous General, such a dutiful and affectionate Par
liament, as now made her reign the glory of the British
monarchy, the envy of her neighbours and the terror of her
enemies. The deputations which came with these addresses were
graciously received, and were generally dismissed with a few
words of thanks. But the obstinate taciturnity of Anne made
even her own Tory favourites sometimes doubtful as to her
intentions. She was still readily accessible to old friends
although on the Whig side. Burnet, who thought himself
entitled to rank in this category, went to her and spoke his
mind with a downrightness which even that freest of all
friends, the Duchess, could scarcely have surpassed. He had
heard it reported, he said, that she had given encouragement to
a scheme for settling the crown on the Pretender after her
* A selection of these addresses is printed in Boyer's Annals.
O 2

196 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
death. If that were true it would be well if her people set
about defending themselves from Popery by inviting over the
Protestant successors ; and unless she would take pains to con
tradict the report he himself would be the first man to concur
in such a remedy. He was also amazed, he continued, at a
rumour that she was about to change a set of Ministers who
had served her with such fidelity and good fortune.* Anne
heard him out with placid patience ; and the good Bishop
retired happy in the belief that he had made a deep impres
sion, that he had discomfited all intriguers, bad saved the
Administration, and preserved his countrymen from the cala
mities of Popery and being made the slaves of France.
For Burnet, Anne still retained a respect arising in part frcm
his sacred profession, and in part from the high esteem in
which she knew he had been held by a beloved and deceased
sister. There was, however, another strenuous Whig whose
lectures she could not endure with the same calmness. The
importunities of the Duchess to be restored to favour had
become the principal annoyance of her life. One day she
received from this extraordinary woman a packet containing a
long narrative of the services she had rendered during six-and-
twenty years, and the narrative was supplemented by extracts
from the works of different divines bearing on the mutual
obligations of friends. Then Anne was solicited to grant her
an interview. Her Majesty shrank frcm the proposal with
horror. Again and again she parried it by desiring the
Duchess to put what she had to say into writing. But Mrs.
Freeman relied too confidently upon her power of language to
be satisfied with approaching her old friend in this manner.
What she had to say, she replied, could not well be committed
to paper. She did not require an answer : she only wanted her
Majesty to hear her. At length, after having experienced
several mortifying evasions, she was admitted to the royal
chamber. It seems that the Duchess had heard that some of
the saucy remarks upon the stupidity of the Queen with which
* Burnet prefaces the stray of his conference with her Majesty by saying that
" he was encouraged by the Queen to speak more freely to her of her affairs
than he had ever ventured to do formerly." I should be sorry to doubt a
bishop's word, but if he really did utter what he sets down in his history, his
assurance was amazing.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 197
she was in the habit of regaling her acquaintance had reached
her Majesty's ears, and she was now desirous of clearing herself
from the vile imputation of having slandered her benefactress.
Anne listened to her discarded favourite for some time with
sulky impatience and with her back turned. " Of course I
know," she remarked, " that there are many lies told." Mrs.
Preeman begged hard to be informed what particular offences
were laid to her charge, but Anne remained as cold and in
flexible as marble. " I will give you no answer," she said.
" You desired no answer, and you shaU have none." The poor
Duchess burst into tears, and importuned with all her old
vehemence and volubility to know how she could have offended
her Majesty, but the only effect of her eloquence was to quicken
Anne's desire to put an end to the scene. " You desired no
answer, and you shaU have none," she kept repeating, and
this was all that could be extracted from her. At length the
Duchess, provoked beyond endurance by such conduct in one
whom she regarded much in the light of a revolted vassal, gave
a loose to her insolence. " I am sure," she cried, " your
Majesty will suffer in this world or the next for your in
humanity." " That is my business," returned the Queen, who
immediately withdrew from the chamber, and from the society
of Mrs. Freeman for ever. It was the last time that this pair
of ladies, so opposed in temper and opinions, yet once united
by the closest ties of affection, met in private*
The reflections with which Marlborough returned to the
Continent must have been painful indeed. It was clear that
the affections of the Queen were now withdrawn not only from
his wife but from himself ; that with all his genius, glory, and
great achievements he must henceforth consider himself as
nothing but a common servant permitted to retain his employ
ment so long as he was of use, but who must expect to be
discarded with coldness, perhaps with ignominy, the moment
hie services could be dispensed with. Such feeble hopes as
still buoyed up Godolphin, such a flattering sense of power as
still upheld the spirits of the Whigs, could not mislead a judg
ment like his. He was too well acquainted with the Stuart
character to indulge expectations that Anne might yet be
* Conduct of the Duchess ; Coxe's Memoirs.

198 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
induced to turn aside from a fixed purpose. He foresaw the
calamities which would happen ; the Administration changed,
the Parliament dissolved, a Tory majority returned by the
country, and a set of men placed at the head of affairs who
would render nugatory the advantages acquired by eight years
of successful warfare. One thought could never have been
absent from his mind. The close of the war would be the end
of his public career. From a position more splendid than that
enjoyed by any subject in Europe he would sink to that of a
private nobleman out of favour at Court and possessed of no
influence whatever. The conclusion of a peace would entail
upon him a loss of sixty thousand pounds a year in regular
salaries, and of percentages and perquisites which perhaps
amounted to as much more.
The sea upon his arrival at Harwich was as gloomy and
agitated as his own feelings. For a whole week he was de
tained by contrary winds in this small fishing town. He then
embarked, was wafted to within sight of the Dutch coast,
and was again blown back to England. In a few days he
made another trial, and after a rough and tedious passage
reached the BriU on the 7th of March. Four days afterwards
he and Townshend were present at a grand conference of the
representatives of the Allied Powers. Buys and Vanderdussen,
the two deputies of the States- general chosen to confer with the
French plenipotentiaries, had returned to the Hague to report
what new offers his Majesty had to propose.
It may be inferred from the choice Louis this time made of
his agents that his hopes of any successful result accruing from
their labours were not great. Instead of a Minister of the
highest rank or of a diplomatist so experienced and respectable
as Rouille, two men were selected to act as plenipotentiaries
who were little better than adventurers, Marshal d'Uxelles and
the Abbe de Polignac. The former had been for a long period
governor of Alsace, but the command of a remote province did
not satisfy his vanity. In the mere hope, it should seem, ot
being employed in some matter of importance, and of attaining
to the supreme honour of conversing personally with the great
monarch, he returned to Paris and spent his time in paying
servile courtship to Mademoiselle de Choin, the unacknowledged

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 199
wife of the Dauphin. The mortifications and frequent disap
pointments inseparable from this mode of existence were now
beginning to teU seriously upon his health. The Abb£, a clever
and fascinating creature, was the admiration of all the ladies
and feeble-minded princes about Versailles, but had never yet
been employed upon any grave political errand.* It was to
these two persons, whose appointment created no little surprise
at Court, that Torcy delivered the King's instructions, as his
Majesty only condescended to admit the Marshal to a few
minutes' conversation, and declined altogether to see the Abbe.
The principal thing which was urged upon them was to get
their antagonists to consent to Philip's retaining some fragment
of his dominions, a concession which would enable bis Majesty
with a better grace to ask his grandson to resign the throne of
Spain. They might even offer four French frontier towns to
the Allies as a pledge of his Majesty's sincerity to facilitate by
every reasonable means his grandson's resignation. All the
other articles forwarded to him the last year, humiliating as
they were, he was willing to accept. There was but one
demand which he would never entertain, and that was to join
the Allies in expeUing his grandson from Spain by force of
arms.f At the Hague but faint hopes were entertained by the public
of any satisfactory result from these renewed conferences ; and
even those hopes waxed fainter when it became known that
they were to be held, not in that city where statesmen and
ambassadors from every court of Europe were congregated, and
where all that passed would be immediately known, but in a
lonely and remote spot to which only two deputies from the
States-general would have access. The affair, it was easy to
see, would be in the hands of a clique which could make what
reports or give what turns they pleased to any offers which
came from the most Christian King. Wagers against a peace
being concluded were freely offered at the odds of three to one.
The first conference took place on board a yacht, anchored
between two of those dreary islands which just emerge above
the water off the Dutch coast ; and the result augured ill for
* The character of these two personages are drawn by St. Simon.
t Memoires de Torcy.

200

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

the parties coming to terms. Buys, as in the previous year,
scouted the proposition of yielding an acre of land to Philip ¦
and the mild Vanderdussen acted no other part than that of
listening to the vehement and interminable harangues of his
colleague. It was then proposed to the Frenchmen that the
negociations should be continued at Gertruydenburg, a melan
choly viUage at the mouth of the Waal, inhabited only by a
few fishermen, and rarely visited by any traveller. The un
happy courtiers, accustomed to the gaieties of Versailles and
Marly, durst not refuse their consent to this living burial. A
second conference ended, however, in the same deadlock as
that of the preceding day ; and the deputies returned to the
Hague, leaving the Marshal and the Abbe to write to their
master for further instructions, and until his answer should
arrive, to amuse themselves in their solitude as they best could.
The worst of the matter was, that there seemed no probability
of any good resulting from their expenditure of time. Not
only would Buys and Vanderdussen hear of no substitution for
the article importing that his Majesty should engage in an
unnatural war with Spain, but cold-blooded hints were thrown
out by Buys that, when a treaty of peace came to be finally
settled, fresh sacrifices still, in addition to all which had been
mentioned in the prehminaries, would be required of France.
Under such circumstances, the plenipotentiaries could form no
other opinion than that their adversaries had set their faces
determinedly against peace, and that their only object in con
senting to renew the conferences was to escape the imputation
of being desirous of continuing the war, and to delude the
world into a belief that the fault lay in the obstinacy of the
French king.
It is not difficult to account for the inflexible spirit which
animated Buys and Vanderdussen. That the States-general
were, of their own motion, inclined to prolong the contest,
seems indeed incredible.* The exhaustion of several of the
Provinces was great; and this fact had been frequently adduced
by the representatives of the Republic to account for any short-
* Marlborough says expressly (March 18—29), "The States-general are posi
tive in putting an end to the war at once by giving the Duke of Anjou a
partage."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 201
comings in the fulfilment of their engagements. They had no
longer anything to gain by fighting. Peace would leave them
to reap in tranquillity the harvest amassed by eight years of
war. The barrier of towns now offered them exceeded any
thing they could have hoped to obtain upon commencing the
struggle with France. That Philip should be allowed to retain
Naples or Sicily or Sardinia out of all his dominions, could be
of small import to them; and it would be strange indeed
if they had not thought that peace would be cheaply pur
chased by such a concession. In fact, it was so commonly
reported that a majority of the States-general were desirous of
closing with this expedient that the Imperial envoy, in alarm
lest his master should be called upon to disgorge some of his
conquests in Italy, hastily memorialised both that assembly and
the representatives of the Allied powers against any concession
being made to Philip. It is not likely that the Dutch counsels
were influenced by any fear of what the Emperor could do.
But the Imperial arguments assumed an appearance of weight
when they were supported by the representatives of Great
Britain. The States- general discovered, in short, that their
consent to any modification of those articles which had been
submitted to Louis, would infallibly draw down upon them the
wrath of all the other confederate powers combined. Their
only safe course to pursue, therefore, was to go on, and
frighten or force the King into compliance with the original
demands of the general body.
To the public it seemed as if some dark hand was constantly
stretched out to thrust back the Angel of peace ; and there
were not wanting persons uncharitable enough to affirm that
this hand was Marlborough's. Of this opinion was Argyle,
who was in the habit of uttering his sentiments about the camp
m a manner that caused considerable annoyance to the hero.
The career of this variously gifted nobleman had not been less
brilliant in the field than in the senate. He had endeared him
self to the soldiery by sharing in all their labours and perils,
and by frequent displays of personal courage. A more daring
leader of a forlorn-hope, a man who so thoroughly enjoyed him
self in the thickest of the fire, had not been seen since poor
witts died of a broken heart at being transferred to a pacific

202

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

appointment. He had, however, conceived a violent enmity
against Marlborough, an enmity which was thought to have
sprung from his cognizance of the Duke's attempt to be made
Captain-General for life. Peace, he persisted in declaring,
could be had when the Commander-in-Chief pleased. Marl
borough complained bitterly of the injustice done him by such
remarks. "I must," he observed in a letter to Godolphin,
" venture my life every summer, and be found fault with every
winter, for not bringing home peace, though I wish for it with
all my heart and soul."*
It was a frequent profession of Marlborough's that he was
determined to be guided solely in his conduct as a plenipoten
tiary by the instructions he received from home. His mind,
he declared, was " blank paper." What was the nature of his
instructions is sufficiently perceptible from our knowledge of
the sentiments of the leading Whigs at this time. A strange
infatuation had got possession of the understandings of all the
English Ministers with but one exception. The tales which
were current in England respecting the awful distress prevail
ing in France had given rise to a delusion that Louis could not
much longer maintain his armies in the field, and that, however
his personal feelings might create delay, he would very soon be
forced to accept the most cruel terms that could be proposed to
him. The devoted loyalty which had been exhibited by the
French nation, the power of a despot to ransack his dominions
and leave the women and children to starve in order that his
soldiers might eat, nay, that famine itself must perforce drive
large numbers of the peasantry into the army where only bread
was to be found, were considerations which Anne's ministers
appear to have overlooked. Cowper, who could not understand
how the most mighty and soHd military power in the world
could be so utterly broken by a few disastrous campaigns, was
sharply reproved by Somers for presuming to express a doubt
whether the King of France would ever consent to such
terrible sacrifices as were required of him by the Allies, t It
is quite certain that Marlborough was of the same mind as
* Marlborough to Godolphin, June 12—23. In a letter of March 25, April
5, he says, " 1 cannot have a worse opinion of anybody than of the Duke ot
Argyle." t Cowper s Diary.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

203

Cowper. But his opinions he did not now think fit to obtrude
on the Ministers. He was content to be as " blank paper" in
their hands.
Marlborough remained at the Hague but a week. Every
preparation had been already made for the campaign, and it
was deemed advisable, while the diplomatists were at work, to
strengthen the hands of Buys and Vanderdussen by obtaining
a few more successes over the troops of Louis. He and Eugene
left together, reached Tournay, near which city the army had
been directed to re-assemble, on the 17th of April, and their
forces were at once set in motion. The French, who had not
expected any movement so early, were taken completely by
surprise, abandoned a series of lines they had constructed upon
the Dyle, and fell back to Arras, thus allowing the Allied
generals to accomplish their first object, the investment of Douai.
And now recommenced that routine of sieges to which it
seemed that the war with France would henceforward be re
duced. To conquer one by one the fortresses which protected
the northern frontier of the kingdom, and thus to penetrate by
slow but safe degrees into the heart of Louis's dominions, was
the work which lay before the Allied army. The fortifications
of Douai, although nearly surrounded by water, enjoyed but a
second-rate reputation for strength. Its investment, however,
had been expected. The French commissaries had succeeded
by great exertions in wringing from the famine-stricken neigh
bourhood sufficient provisions to fill the magazines of the city.
The artillery was abundant : the garrison had been raised to
eight thousand picked men ; and the command had been given
to Albergotti, a lieutenant-general in high renown for skill and
bravery. The valour of the defenders was soon shown by a
furious sortie made while the Allied troops were still digging
trenches and constructing their parallels. Two fine English
regiments, which had been posted to guard the workmen, were
cut in pieces.
A whole month went by before the French army, which had
been slowly re-assembling near Cambrai, was in a condition to
take the field. Villars, who had risen from his bed of sickness
with spirits as sanguine as ever, was again the marshal to
whom Louis entrusted his principal army. In truth, his

204 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Majesty was fascinated by the confident tone in which his
champion vowed his purpose of seeking out the enemy and re
trieving every previous disaster by a great victory ; nor can we
doubt that Villars, who really was fearlessness personified, did
intend, if it were possible, to make good his assertions. It was
necessary, however, that there should be a second commander
of approved skill who might be ready to take his place in case
of another disaster happening to him or of his being laid up ;
for he still walked with crutches, and could with difficulty sit
his horse. At his instance, therefore, the King requested Ber
wick to repair to the camp. Two other marshals of inferior
renown, Montesquieu and Harcourt, were also present to aid
him in case of need. The Chevalier de St. George, whose
amiable manners had made a complete conquest of bis heart,
was constantly by his side. The soldiers he found, when he
reached bis head-quarters, as ragged and famished as he found
them the previous year, while their numbers had so diminished
that a battalion, which should have averaged five hundred men,
rarely consisted of more than three hundred and fifty. But of
this deplorable state of affairs he affected to make light. It
was the first rule in his military system that the lower the
effective strength of a commander might be the loftier should
be his promises of what he meant to do. His first measure,
taken with a view of striking terror into his adversaries, was to
give out that his force amounted to a hundred and sixty thou
sand men, a number greater than that of which it actually con
sisted by at least one fourth. He then treated his officers to a
ball at Cambrai ; and the next morning began his march towards
the Allies, breathing out predictions of vengeance and victory
to every soul within hearing of him.*
The French came on so resolutely, and approached so near
the Allied position that Marlborough and Eugene hastily made
preparations to defend themselves. The siege was partially
suspended, and the bulk of the troops was marched into a camp
on the west side of Douai, which had been previously marked
out and entrenched. Only a few miles of open plain intervened
between the hostile armies. Villars, who was anxious to do
something to redeem his magnificent promises, rode forward
* Memoires de Villars.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 20o
with his brother marshals to reconnoitre the Allied works. The
result of the scrutiny was, however, to convince everybody that
to hazard an attack upon them would be sheer madness. Villars
himself, although he did not cease blustering, appears, after
this personal inspection of the difficulties before him, to have
abandoned all thoughts of volunteering an engagement. He
remained, however, in the neighbourhood. Berwick, perceiv
ing that there was no further likelihood of a battle, took his
leave and returned to the army of Dauphiny.
Albergotti, after defending Douai with a spirit which extorted
the admiration of the Allied generals and earned for him some
gracious expressions of gratitude from Louis, capitulated on the
25th of June. The Allies thus succeeded in adding to their
list of conquests one more city at a cost of eight thousand men,
a number equal to at least one half of the inhabitants of the
place. In one respect Douai possessed and still possesses an
importance altogether disproportionate to its population. It has
been the destiny of few cities to produce such an amount of
mischief in the world. It formerly rejoiced in a seminary,
founded by a misguided countryman of our own for the purpose
of teaching the youth of England that the commands of the
Romish priesthood superseded the mere human obligations of
loyalty and patriotism. It bad then become, in 1362, under
the auspicies of Philip LL, the seat of an university for the
training of priests, and from its printing-presses, as from an
arsenal, issued an inexhaustible supply of missals designed for
the destruction of the Protestant religion. It is now one of the
principal foundries of cannon in France.
Marlborough was at this period experiencing a degree of
mental anguish to which no mere military success could afford
any alleviation. During the five weeks the armv lav before
Douai he had received ample proofs from his friends in En°-land
that Anne was bent upon mortifying him by every means in her
power. He had framed a list of officers for promotion in such
a manner as to stop just short of the names of Masham and
Hill, the brother-in-law and brother of the favourite. The eyes
of the Queen, when this list was laid before her by Walpole, at
once travelled down the paper in search of these very names.
She angrily demanded why they were not included, and signified

206 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
her determination that, unless their commissions were made out
she would sign no others. Marlborough could not but feel that
the promotion of these persons would furnish convincing evi
dence both to the army and to the whole world that, in order
to retain his post, he was willing to comply with any orders
however unpalatable to him. But it was useless to remonstrate.
The Queen would listen to no arguments. His friends, eager
to compose a quarrel which they imagined might produce dire
effects, strongly urged him to give way. He at length signified
his approval of Mash am' s promotion, and was in hopes that her
Majesty would be contented with this concession. But Anne and
her supporters now understood but too well the stuff of which
that mighty soldier, who was the terror of France, was com
posed. They had no longer any fear that he would throw up
the service of an ungrateful Queen, and leave bis cause to the
judgment of his countrymen. The promotion of Hill was in
sisted on, and Marlborough, after a sharp struggle with his
feelings, submitted also upon this point. He soon received from
his infuriated wife a letter of reproaches which were perhaps
not altogether undeserved. He might truckle, if he pleased, to
the Queen and her bedchamber woman, but come what might
no one should ever accuse her of similar weakness.*
But a matter still more serious was pressing upon Marl
borough's spirits during the siege of Douai. The Queen, he
heard, was bent in her blindness upon a project in which he
foresaw the ruin of every hope, patriotic or selfish, he had
formed. Shrewsbury's bland professions of friendship and
asseverations that no further changes were in contemplation by
the Tory conclave, had to a great extent allayed the fears
which Godolphin at first entertained that the dismissal of Kent
would be the first of a series of dismissals. But Shrewsbury,
while declaring that the Whigs in general had nothing to
apprehend, had always made a reservation as to one member
of the Administration. He frankly acknowledged that her
Majesty bore no love to Lord Sunderland, and that dread of
Marlborough's resentment was all that retained him in office.
How the great Captain-General would take the dismissal of his
son-in-law was a problem which appears to have been anxiously
* Coxe's Memoirs.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 207
discussed in the Queen's private circle for upwards of six
weeks. Would such an affront be more than even he could
endure ? Would he resign in a flame, or would his avarice get
the better of his feelings, and would he pocket the indignity
and continue to cling to his salaries ? Godolphin was fre
quently sounded upon the subject. His opinion was requested
by several Tories as to what successor to the Secretaryship
would be least disagreeable to his friend; but the stolid
countenance of the Treasurer, and his affected ignorance of
what his friend might think, sent the inquirers away com
pletely baffled in their object. He, however, kept Marl
borough apprised of all that was passing. He advised him to
write to Shrewsbury, who, he thought, possessed considerable
influence, and represent to him the alarm which Sunderland's
dismissal would occasion among the Allied powers, for it would
certainly be regarded as the harbinger of an entire change in
the Government. Meanwhile the other Whigs in the Adminis
tration were standing aloof, and seemed to be utterly indifferent
to the fate of their colleague, except in so ' far as it might
provoke Marlborough to action. The apprehension that this
indispensable chieftain might be irritated to the point of
throwing up his command so greatly disturbed Somers that he
wrote to the Duke, and conjured him to retain it at least until
the end of the campaign. While Anne and her conclave were
still deliberating whether it would be safe to launch their fiat
against Sunderland, Godolphin received a letter which he
hastened to read to her Majesty.
It was written by Marlborough to his friend in that pathetic
but dignified language, of which he was so consummate a
master. " You," he said, " are my best witness with what zeal,
duty, and tenderness I have for these many years served the
Queen. Notwithstanding the mortifications I have experienced
I had resolved to bear everything, so far as with honour I
could, in order to finish this war with the success and glory
with which it has hitherto been conducted. This consideration
made me consent to the Queen's desire of making generals of
Mr. Masham and Mr. Hill, although neither of them had just
pretensions to such promotion. That Lord Sunderland should
be disagreeable to her Majesty grieves me ; but his being

208

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

singled out at this time for dismissal can be for no other reason
than because he is my son-in-law. My enemies have procured
this to be done to make it impossible for me, with honour to
continue at the head of this glorious army. I conjure you to
use such powerful instances to the Queen that she may he
sensible, before it is too late, that the request I now make is
dictated more by a regard for her good, and that of the public,
than by any selfish considerations. What I desire is that she
would be pleased to defer the removal of Lord Sunderland until
the end of this campaign. She will then have the winter before
her to take measures with the Allies for the command of this
army, on which, in a great measure, depends not only the
welfare of England, but of all Europe. I beg this as a reward
for all my faithful services. If it must be otherwise, if nothing
but my immediate retiring will content those who are now in
power, I must submit, with the satisfaction that every one will
be sensible that I was ready to serve if I could have done so
with honour ; and I desire that you will keep this letter for
my justification after my death."*
Anne listened with placid composure to this melodious inter
cession from her greatest subject. A few years back a threat
of resignation from Marlborough would have frightened her
out of her senses ; but her mind was now made up very com
fortably to herself that resignation was the last step to be
apprehended from him The awe in which she had hitherto
stood of this indispensable servant had very much abated during
the last few months. He had submitted so quietly to the trick
put upon him by Lord Rivers, he had given way so easily in
the matter of promoting Hill and Masham, that it was now
perfectly safe to offer him a still greater provocation. Upon
the whole her Majesty appears to have felt a sense of relief at
the humble tone adopted by him. Shrewsbury, the sleek traitor
to whom the distracted Treasurer hurried with prayers for
assistance, could scarcely suppress his wonder, upon reading
the epistle, that the omnipotent Captain -General should put up
so tamely with such an affront as the dismissal of his son-in-law
from the Secretaryship. But Somers, to whom Godolphin
resorted next, was in great alarm. As far as Sunderland only
* Marlborough to Godolphin, June 30, July 11.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 209
was concerned, be cared not whether he were retained or dis
charged; but he imagined that his dismissal would be to
Marlborough an affront greater than flesh and blood could
endure, and that his threat of resigning would be executed.
All the Whig leaders were of the same mind. They assembled
at the house of the Duke of Devonshire, and drew up a letter
to the Commander-in-Chief, conjuring him by the glory he had
already obtained, by the many services he had rendered his
sovereign and country, by the expectations he had raised in
Europe, by all who were dear to him at home, who rested their
chief dependence upon his success, not to quit the service at
such a time. His continuance at the head of the army was,
they declared, the only means to prevent the dissolution of
Parliament. His retirement would afford the greatest satis
faction to his enemies.*
Upon the very morning, the 14th of June, when this letter
was written, Boyle was sent by the Queen to demand the seals
from his colleague Sunderland. The demand was, however,
made in gracious language. Her Majesty was pleased to inform
the Earl that she had no complaint to make of bis official
conduct, and. wished to show her sense of his services by
bestowing upon him a pension of three thousand a year. Suu-
derland, whose moral character was the reverse of that of his
supple, venal, avaricious father, replied, with Spartan haughti
ness, that he was glad to hear that the Queen was satisfied fie
had done his duty. " But if," he added, " I am not to have the
honour of serving my country, I will not plunder it." t The
seals were at once bestowed upon Lord Dartmouth, the son of
that Admiral upon whose loyalty James II. had principally
reckoned for the defeat of WilKam's expedition, and the son-in-
law of Nottingham. He had been, no doubt, recommended to
Anne by the secret cabal, whose choice must in this instance
have been guided by a desire of deferring, as far as possible, to
the feelings of the Whigs. For Dartmouth, although a Tory,
and suspected, not without reason, of being inclined to a
restoration of the exiled family, was a good-humoured and
accomplished nobleman, who, having hitherto taken but
* This letter is printed in the Conduct of the Duchess.
t Boyer; Oldmixon.
VOL. II. P

210 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
small share in the factious disputes of the time, had made no
enemies. Godolphin hastened to despatch the mortifying intelligence
to his friend. Three days after the surrender of Douai, Marl
borough learned that the favour for which he had begged so
earnestly had been refused, and that his son-in-law had been
dismissed from the Administration. He submitted to the
affront with quiet resignation. " I am not conscious," he replied
to Godolphin, " of having ever committed any fault against
the Queen ; but I fear that I have committed many against
God, and if mortifications endured in this world may atone for
these, I ought cheerfully to bear them." Before the entreaties
of the Whigs that he would not lay down his command had
come to hand, he had already decided that " no usage of Lord
Sunderland or of myself should be considered when the welfare
of the Queen and of all Europe is in question." He was deter
mined to go on with the campaign, which would probably be
his last, although every post from England should bring him
such news as would make him wish himself a hermit.*
No amount of entreaties was indeed spared to confirm him in
this resolution. The eyes of foreign diplomatists had long been
fixed with disquietude upon the movements of that small party of
politicians which had evidently insinuated itself into the favour
and confidence of the Queen, and which rumour asserted to be
meditating some sweeping changes in the Administration of the
country. The apprehension seems to have been very general
among the statesmen and crowned heads of the Continent that
under no other Ministry except the existing one was it probable
that England would be kept steady to the policy of conquering
¦eities for one ally and a great empire for another. The
announcement of Sunderland's dismissal spread consternation
therefore through the length and breadth of Europe. Whether
it originated solely from the sovereign's dislike to that Minister,
or whether, as was commonly reported, it was to be regarded as
the commencement of an entirely new policy under which the
Government would be remodelled, and a fresh set of Ministers
installed in authority who were drawn from the ranks of that
party which had throughout shown its disapprobation of the
* Marlborough to Godolphin, June 30, July 11 ; June 29, July 10.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 211
war, were questions anxiously discussed in every cabinet from
the Hague to Vienna. In truth, foreigners were better
informed of the intrigues which were being carried on in
London and of the partialities and dislikes of the Queen than
the Londoners themselves. That Anne was constrained to be
the mouthpiece and to utter the sentiments of a party whose
principles she hated, that the Whiggish Duchess of Marlborough
had lost all influence over her, that Harley, the leader of the
Tories, was constantly smuggled into her closet for the purpose
of advising her Majesty in what manner she could escape from
her captivity, were all matters in which continental politicians
were well versed. But the first thought of every statesman was
of the indispensable Captain-General. What would be the
consequence if he, in a fit of vexation, should determine upon
laying down his command ? There could be little doubt that, if
the troops were suddenly deprived of a leader so uniformly
fortunate, they would be greatly disheartened, that the convic
tion would force itself on the minds of all men that England
intended to secede from the Alliance. The spirits of the French
would revive ; in a couple of years they might retrieve all they
had lost, and the next conferences might find them dictating
instead of receiving the terms of peace. Eugene and Heinsius,
both equally alarmed, hastened to offer their sympathies to
Marlborough, and to assure him that their respective Powers
would do anything in the way of remonstrating with her
Majesty which he might think advisable. Joseph wrote to him
with his own hand, begging him not to desert the cause, and
enclosed a letter of advice and remonstrance which, if he
considered it desirable, he might send on to the Queen. But
Marlborough understood too well the temper of his countrymen
to resort to a remedy of this nature. He knew that any inter
meddling by foreigners in English affairs was much more
likely to give offence than to do good ; and his wisdom was
soon apparent. The Imperial and Dutch envoys in London
determined to try what their united intercession could accom
plish. They requested an audience, and strove to make her
Majesty sensible of the prejudice that was likely to ensue to the
cause of the Alliance if she changed her Ministers, and especially
her. general. The answer they obtained was short, sullen, and
p 2

212

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

er

far from satisfactory. Anne had been of course apprised by hu
secret counsellors that any interference by foreign powers with
her domestic concerns was unwarrantable and insolent. All
that she would condescend to declare was that, whatever
changes she might be pleased to make, the Duke of Marl
borough would be continued in his employments. The secret
counsellors, however, who certainly were now playing their part
with much skill and prudence, thought it at the same time
advisable to calm, as far as lay in their power, the apprehensions
which seemed to prevail abroad. Boyle was instructed, in
notifying Sunderland's dismissal to the English Ambassadors at
the various Courts, to add the information that her Majesty
did not contemplate making any further alterations in her
Government* It was not only, however, at the Courts of the Allies that the
conduct of the Queen was exciting interest. For some time
past the divisions which appeared to exist between parties in
England had attracted the attention of the Ministers of Louis.
But the true position of affairs, the inclinations of the sovereign,
the doctrines of rival factions, the objects of contending, politi
cians in our island, were matters very imperfectly comprehended
at Versailles. What little could be made out did not much
raise the hopes of the peace-desiring King. The conclusion
was that if Marlborough, who was regarded as pre-eminently
the evil genius of France, thought his position insecure, more
impediments than ever would be thrown in the way of a
settlement, f The French plenipotentiaries still continued in
their melancholy isolation at Gertruydenburg ; but they could
perceive no symptom on the part of their adversaries of any
intention to moderate the intolerable harshness of their
demands. On the contrary Buys and Vanderdussen rose, with
every month that passed, to some fresh pitch of extravagance.
So far from consenting to any modification of the proposal that
his French Majesty should join the Allies in expelling his
grandson from Spain, they now insisted that the work should
be accomplished by him singly. It was their custom, after
delivering themselves of long and angry speeches about the
King's obstinacy, and frightening the Marshal and Abbe" with
* Lamberty ; Coxe's Memoir. t Memoires de Torcy.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 213
dark hints of fresh sacrifices that would be demanded when the
treaty for peace came to be settled, to return to the Hague, and
publish that his Majesty was only trifling with them, that his
design was to sow dissensions among the Allies, and to delude
his own subjects into a belief that he was labouring to restore
peace to them. After the lapse of several weeks they would
return at the entreaties of the plenipotentiaries, and the same
scene would be enacted over again. At length Uxelles and
Polignac were empowered to make a fresh offer in substitution
of the fourth article of the preliminaries. His Majesty could
not accept, and would persist to the end in rejecting, the demand
of his enemies that he should employ his troops against his
grandson. But if the Allies chose to undertake a war for the
recovery of Spain and the Indies he was willing to pay them a
monthly subsidy towards their expenses. This expedient also
was, after a little consideration, rejected upon the same grounds
as the former suggestion that, until the Allies had driven out
Philip, they should hold four French towns as a pledge of the
King's neutrality. France, it was said, would be enjoying all
the benefits of peace, while her adversaries would be exhausting
themselves in an expensive and precarious war. An impartial
judge might be of opinion that the peace which France would
have enjoyed under the circumstances would scarcely have been
that downy bed of repose which Buys and Vanderdussen
imagined. She would have surrendered all her frontier towns
into the hands of the Allies, who would be at liberty to resume
their attacks upon a defenceless kingdom, if the work of
recovering Spain did not go forward according to their wishes.
For nearly five months the French plenipotentiaries stood
their ground manfully in this wearisome and humiliating
struggle. They were unwilling to return without havino-
accomplished anything. The Dutch, on their side, were jus°t
as unwilling to order them to quit the territories of the Re
public. It had become the leading object of both parties to
cast upon their adversaries the reproach of being the first to
break off the conferences. But at length the patience of Louis
was exhausted. He recalled bis agents. They despatched a
letter of angry remonstrance to the Grand Pensionary, and
returned to France. The States- general, upon their part

214

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

placed upon their journals an equally angry vindication of all
their proceedings.
Meantime the Allied generals had been pushing their advan
tages with as much vigour as was possible in the face of an
antagonist so skilful and alert as Villars. Arras had been their
next object after the capture of Douai, but the investment of
this city the Marshal, who was determined to bar the progress
of the Allies towards the south, rendered almost impracticable
by taking up a position close to it. Marlborough and Eugene
were forced, therefore, to content themselves with sending a
detachment to lay siege to Bethune, an inconsiderable town,
but fortified with much care and science. One advantage it
enjoyed, in common with many other towns in this flat region,
was that by an ingenious system of sluices the country could
be laid under water for some distance from its walls. The
approaches in consequence were made by the Allies not without
much difficulty and loss, while the garrison, stimulated by the
hope of obtaining those munificent rewards which Louis was
wisely accustomed to distribute among such officers and men
as signalised themselves during a siege, was prepared to pro
long its resistance to the uttermost. It was not until the
thirty -seventh day after the trenches had been opened that the
white flag was shown, and that Bethune, at a cost of life far
exceeding the number of its inhabitants, became another item
in the list of Allied conquests.
Villars, while the siege was proceeding, continued to execute
a series of movements which greatly perplexed the Allied com
manders. More than once Marlborough and Eugene, in the
expectation that he was about to attack them, sent round in
haste to collect their forces.* But the Frenchman, although
he never ceased boasting of the mighty things he was about to
accomplish, was too wise to attack an equal, possibly a supe
rior, army posted behind entrenchments. He contented him
self with providing for the safety of such important towns as
* In a letter to Godolphin, May 5—16, Marlborough says, "If we have a
battle it must be the last ; for it will be in all likelihood in a plain where there
is neither tree nor hedge. I hope God will bless me with another opportumty
of giving a mark of my zeal for the Queen and my country, and then I snail DC
less concerned at the behaviour I have received of late. A victory would hare
been of immense importance to him at this conjuncture.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 215
Arras, Hesdin, and Cambrai, and with harassing the convoys
and communications of his adversaries. So efficiently and
adroitly was this last business performed that the Allied army
began to suffer from a scarcity of provisions and water. As
soon as Bethune fell the sieges of two other small fortresses,
Aire and St. Venant, were undertaken simultaneously, as,
owing to the position of the French army, no other road was
open to the Allies except that towards the coast.

21 G HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

• CHAPTER VII.
While the Allied army was engaged in the sieges of these
inconsiderable towns, events were occurring in England which
had far more real bearing upon the prospects' of the contend
ing Powers. Upon the same day that Bethune surrendered
Marlborough heard that his worst fears had been realized. His
enemies had triumphed. Godolphin, his friend, his confidant,
to whose assiduity he owed it that bis soldiers bad been always
maintained in efficiency and comfort while the French were
perishing from starvation and nakedness, — Godolphin had been
turned out of the Ministry with almost as little ceremony as
would be employed in discharging a drunken lackey.
It would be interesting to trace, if reliable information could
be found for the purpose, the progress of that conspiracy which •
finally overturned a Government under whose auspices the country
attained to a pitch of importance, relatively to other European
powers, which it has never since exceeded. The actions of
Harley during the two years which followed his resignation are
involved in an obscurity which will never perhaps be entirely
dispersed. That he was in the habit of conveying counsel to
the Queen through the medium of his cousin, the bedchamber
woman, was surmised by Godolphin and the Marlboroughs;
and there were certainly many circumstances to corroborate
that surmise. But proofs his accusers seem to have had none ;
nor is it probable that they possessed any. What passed
between Harley and Mrs. Masham, between Mrs. Masham and
the Queen, must for ever remain secret, inasmuch as none of
the parties chose to make any revelations of their conversations.
Nay, they all strenuously affirmed that the suspicions which
their behaviour had excited were unfounded. Whether they
spoke truth or were equivocating each student must determine

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. - 1 I
for himself, according as his own mind is more prone to believe
in the depravity or the conscientiousness of human nature. It
is possible that the Ministers, in attributing her Majesty's con
duct to the advice of secret counsellors, a little underrated her
ability to form an independent opinion. "
The predilections of Anne for the Tories had been matter of
common belief from the commencement of her reign. Harley
had, during the four years he officiated as Secretary of State,
enjoyed ample opportunities for studying her personal inclina
tions; and it was doubtless his habit of sympathizing with
instead of remonstrating against her Tory partialities that drew
down upon him the wrath of his colleagues. It is not likely
that an ambitious and not over-scrupulous politician, who knew
that his sovereign entertained a high opinion of his wisdom,
and looked chiefly to him as her means of escaping from the
control of a faction she detested, would have been content to
wait until some accidental circumstance, such as the conclusion
of the war, placed her at liberty to choose counsellors more
congenial to her. But whatever connections Harley formed,
whatever may have been the nature of his intrigues, he and
his friends kept their counsel so well that the only evidence we
possess, or are likely ever to possess, of such connections and
intrigues, consists of the asseverations of his enemies. He
must at first have seen his road to power barred by impediments
apparently insurmountable. The Whigs commanded large
majorities in both Houses of Parliament; nor was there any
prospect that this state, of things would be disturbed even in
the Lower ohamber. For the nation was in ecstasies at the
Success which had always attended the military operations, and
might therefore be depended upon, when the time for a new
election came, to support that party which had throughout
msisted upon the necessity of the war, rather than a party
which had, at the best, given to the war but a grudging and
hearted consent, and whose leaders had ever been against
rrrg*ir ,vas certain> m™> ^ ^4 m.
?Mal ^T And Vhat Was t0 be ^one in the case
Ma Ibormigh? He was almost idolised by his countrymen.
K ^thing should displease him he might resign, and by

218

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

letting the cause of his resignation transpire, would bring ruin
upon those counsellors who had ventured to thwart him. It
was evident that, while such conditions lasted, there could be
little hope of delivering the Queen from the captivity in which
she was held.
But the Sacheverell trial came, and all was immediately
changed. The Ministers had rashly struck a sensitive chord
in the national breast, and an explosion of religious feeling
had been the consequence. Every peasant and small shop
keeper in the land was now convinced that a Whig was in
politics a republican, and in religion an atheist, or still worse, a
dissenter. In almost every pulpit the clergyman was inciting
his congregation to a crusade against the enemies of Christ and
the established Church. In half the towns of the kingdom
mayors, sheriffs, and grand jurymen were getting up addresses
to assure the Queen of their loyalty, and by means of guarded
but significant phrases, of their Toryism. Yet notwithstanding
these indications of what might be expected at a new election,
Harley and his friends prudently determined to proceed with
the utmost caution. The great danger to be apprehended was
the resignation of Marlborough if any changes were made in
the Government in his despite. The retirement in disgust of
the favourite hero might bring the nation to its senses. People
would be divided between their zeal for the Church and their
appetite for winning battles and humiliating France, and the
reputation of the Conqueror would be set up to compete with
the reputation of the Saint for the suffrages of the electors.
Harley was by this time beyond any doubt enjoying the
advantage of private colloquies with the Queen. While the
trial of Sacheverell was proceeding he had been smuggled up
the back-stairs of Kensington palace by Mrs. Masham. It
was necessary for her Majesty to exercise great precaution,
inasmuch as almost every servant about her owed his place to
the recommendation of the Duchess, and probably reported to
her Grace every extraordinary incident which came under his
observation. Harley spoke at first in that enigmatical manner,
which, however suggestive of his profound wisdom, was apt to
leave those who sought his advice in doubt as to bis meaning.
He was entreated to deliver himself more clearly. One evening,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 210
soon after the trial, a letter, bearing the marks of several dirty
hands, was presented to him. The superscription was in the
Queen's handwriting, and the letter appeared to have been
given by her Majesty to Mrs. Masham, by that lady to an
under-gardener, and by him to a common porter for conveyance
to its destination.* From this period the politician's visits to
the palace became more frequent. The principal cause of
Anne's unhappiness be found to be the dislike she had con
ceived for Marlborough and his relations. Whatever notions
she may once have entertained of the Whigs as a party, she
now shrank from making an entire change in the spirit of her
.Government. Indeed, many of the leading Whigs had gained
considerably on her esteem. But from that small family party
which surrounded her with spies, and aspired to dictate all her
actions, she was determined to deliver herself. Harley's feelings
on these subjects were entirely in accordance with the Queen's.
He was no uncompromising Tory. He had none of that
fanatical hatred of the Whigs which burned in the breasts of
such men as Rochester. His own wish was to pursue what he
called a moderating scheme, to affect a happy combination of
the best-tempered men of both parties. Against those who
had formerly ejected him from office he naturally retained as
much resentment as his nature was capable of feeling. In
'striking, however, at such men as Sunderland and Godolphin
he saw the necessity of proceeding with extreme caution, t The
resignation of Marlborough would throw everything into con
fusion. Any unseasonable alarm created in the minds of the
Whigs might produce some motion in the Parliament, where
they reigned supreme, which would compel her Majesty to
desist from the project on which she had set her heart. In
accordance with his advice Shrewsbury was introduced into the
administration, and proved an adroit ally. He contrived to
keep both Godolphin and the Whigs in good humour while the
* Swift's Memoirs relating to the change in the Queen's Ministry.
t In a letter from the Queen to Godolphin, June 14—25, the day after the
seals were demanded from Sunderland, she refers to a threat of the ioint resigna-
ton of Godolphin and Marlborough. "If he and you should do so wrong a
imng at any time as desert my service, what confusion might happen might lie
at your door, and you alone would be answerable and nobody else. But I hope
you will hoth consider better of it." In another letter from Godolphin to Marl-
Sg 'a . ly.12^"23' he says> " The Lord Chamberlain (Shrewsbury) told Lord
namax that the Queen was resolved to make me and Mr. Harley to agree."

220 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
temper of Marlborough was being sounded by a judicious scale
of increasing insults. Anne herself condescended to perform
a part in this play, and evinced no slight merits as an actress.
At one time the Treasurer would be cheered by an apparent
return of Mrs. Morley' s old manner towards him ; at another,
Somers would be flattered by the eagerness his sovereign now
showed to profit by his counsels. But at length the con
spirators had seen enough to set their minds at ease. There
was no longer any fear that Marlborough would resign, let his
provocations be what they might. The favourable disposition
of the nation towards the Tories had been ascertained in a
manner such as removed all doubt from the breast of the least
sanguine member of that party.
The feeling of the country had, in fact, been gauged by
Sacheverell. The popularity of the Saint was still as great as
ever in London. He could not appear in the streets without
attracting a crowd, which followed him about with vociferous
applause from house to house. The value of a man who was
in himself a touchstone for ascertaining political opinions, did
not escape the notice of the Tory leaders. Sacheverell had
exercised his virtues sufficiently long upon the rabble of the
metropolis, and it was desirable that a test should be applied to
the provinces. Fortunately a decent pretext was not wanting
for a journey. An enthusiastic High Churchman named Lloyd*
had hastened to console the victim of oppression for bis suf
ferings by the presentation of Selattyn, a Shropshire rectory
on the border of Wales. Although Sacheverell's sentence
precluded him from preaching for three years/it was determined
that he should repair to his living for the ostensible purpose of
taking possession. The route he was to pursue was accurately
marked out. As soon as the particulars became known the
Tory nobility and gentry bestirred themselves vigorously to do
him honour ; and it is possibly unfair to assume that their
motive in encouraging the fanaticism of the people was political
craft rather than honest bigotry. The first public reception of
the Saint was at Oxford, the focus of High Church feeling, and
surpassed in its enthusiasm the reception which in 1702 had
* He was a pupil of Sacheverell's and one of the members for Shropshire.
Sacheverell to Swift, January 31, February 11, 1712.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 221
been given to Anne. During the fortnight he remained in
the city the beads of colleges vied with the noblemen in the
vicinity and with each other in flattering and feasting the
famous preacher who but a dozen years back had left them a
humble and obscure clergyman. At Banbury the Mayor and
Corporation in their official robes came to visit him at his inn,
and made him a present of wine, perhaps in imitation of the
vin d'honnetir which it is customary in continental cities to
offer distinguished guests. The bells were rung, and at night
the town was in a blaze with bonfires and illuminations. A
body of gentlemen on horseback escorted him into Warwick,
where similar compliments were paid him ; and from thence
he passed from one nobleman's house to another's to Wrexham.
His preferment lay about twenty miles from this town, and he
went through the ceremony of reading himself in.
To repose in the comfortable retreat of Selattyn rectory while
the public forgot him was, however, no part of the Saint's
intentions. The authorities of Shrewsbury had entreated that
their city might be honoured with the presence of the holy
man, and Sacheverell lost no time in gratifying the devotional
feelings of his admirers. All Shropshire thronged to its capital
city to behold him. A few miles from the gates he was met
by some of the notabilities of the county, and by a miscellaneous
crowd on horseback, which was set down as numbering five
thousand persons. At Bridgnorth and at Ludlow his reception
was equally enthusiastic, the hedges for a distance of two miles
from these towns being hung with garlands of flowers, while the
church steeples were gay with countless flags. But as soon as he
passed the boundary of Shropshire he found himself in another
world. The people of Worcester were as eager as the people of
Shrewsbury to see and adore the idol. But the authorities of
the city were divided in their sympathies. The Sheriff and about
one-half of the Common Councilmen were for High Church,
and had set on foot a subscription for defraying the expenses of
an entertainment to Sacheverell. The Mayor and a majority
of the Aldermen were Whigs, and were determine 1 to exert
their authority. The Bishop, although so moderate a Whig
that he had refrained from voting at the trial, had been never
theless greatly scandalized by the subsequent conduct of Sache-

222 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
verell. He had sent round a circular to his clergy to prevent
the bells of their churches from being rung, and the clergy,
who seem to have been exceptions to the general body of their
order, were disposed to obey the injunction. The mob, in great
indignation at the supineness of their pastors, attempted to get
into the churches, and some fighting ensued. But the con
stables were victorious, and the steeples sent forth no peals of
joy when the martyr for passive obedience, mounted upon a
white palfry, and preceded by flag-bearers, trumpeters, drum
mers, and fiddlers, approached the city. A scene of confusion
ensued. The musicians of the Saint were collared at the gates,
dragged into the presence of the magistrates, and charged with
disorderly conduct. How it came to pass that the population
did not rise at beholding such sacrilege must have been as
inexplicable to Sacheverell as it is this day to ourselves. He
had, however, the prudence to avoid doing anything at which
the authorities could take offence, and as soon as possible took
his departure from the unrighteous city.*
The visit to Worcester was a mistake. But the forgiving
nature of the Saint still prompted him to accept the invitations
of the truly pious in other parts of the country. For more
than two months longer he wandered from town to town,
generally blessed by the multitude and feasted by the magnates.
When at length, in the latter part of September, be returned
to London, the Tories might congratulate themselves that the
country had been sounded to its depths. There could be no
doubt that a majority of the gentry was in their favour, and
that, when an election took place, they would everywhere have
such a mob at their backs that a Whig who should dare to show
himself at the hustings would be a bold man.
Long before his return, however, the secret advisers of the
Queen, satisfied that they had nothing to apprehend from Marl
borough, and that their success was certain in the event of a
new Parliament being summoned, had made up their minds to
action. It was determined to put an end to that monopoly of
power which the Marlboroughs had so long enjoyed by dis
missing Godolphin from the service. Either from a natural
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques ; Luttr-ell's Brief Relation ; Oldmixon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

223

love of deceiving or from the desire to avoid a scene with an
old friend, Anne continued to the very last to dissemble her
intentions. Upon the 7th of August she listened with her
accustomed patience to a long remonstrance from her Treasurer
about the impropriety of her permitting other counsellors than
her acknowledged Ministers to talk to her upon business. To
a question whether it was her wiU that he should continue to
serve her, she replied in the affirmative* The next day a foot
man in the royal livery left with the Earl's porter a note from
her Majesty ordering him to break his staff.
Such was the fall of Godolphin, who contributed in no slight
degree to what are termed the glories of this reign. To any
high intellectual qualities he could make no pretence, and the
caution for which he was celebrated amounted to timidity.
But his reputation for integrity and the punctuality with which
he met all the engagements of the Treasury, proved a mine of
gold which supplied Marlborough with the means of extending
his successes from Ostend to the Danube. His best eulogium
lies in the fact that, at a time when capitalists looked more to
the individual characters of the Ministers than to the honour of
sovereigns and Parliaments, the confidence he inspired was
such that money could always be raised upon easy terms. From
the moment rumours became prevalent in the city of his being
out of favour stocks of all descriptions declined in price. The
dismissal of Sunderland produced a panic from the mere appre
hension that the dismissal of Godolphin would follow. The
Directors of the Bank, greatly alarmed by these rumours,
applied for an audience, and represented to her Majesty the
injury that would befall the credit of her Government if she
carried into execution those designs which were generally
attributed to her. The reply of Anne, if dictated by her Tory
counsellors, would show that the commercial ideas of the latter
were in some confusion. She had not yet determined, she said,
to make any changes in her Ministry ; but if she did make
* Godolphin to Marlborough, August 7—18 ; note from the Queen of same
(late. The statement that this note was left by an ordinary servant in the royal
hvery rests upon the authority of the Duchess. Lord Dartmouth, in a note
J? ^rnet's History, says that Mr. Smith, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was
the bearer; Boyer and Oldmixon that it was the Duke of Somerset. Swift, a
TeT«^"'n'°lme^ Per80n> Dears out the Duchess in saying that the note was
sent through a very ordinary messenger.

224 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

any, she would take care that the public credit should not
suffer.* The Directors retired, at a loss to imagine by what
ingenious statesmanship her Majesty would contrive to transfer
the confidence which was felt in her present Ministers to a
new set of servants.
Upon the day when Godolphin's dismissal became known the
commotion in Change Alley was tremendous. Few city men
doubted that the next step would be that the Parliament would
be dissolved. Having regard to the state of public feeling it
was but too probable that the next House of Commons would
be composed chiefly of those fox-hunting squires whose political
creed consisted of little else than a hatred of Dissenters, stand
ing armies, and stock-jobbers. To the leaders of such a party,
to men suspected of an inclination to subvert the new settle-
, meut of the Crown, would be confided the management of the
fleets and armies and the control of the finances. A wild panic
set in. The shares of the Bank fell at once from a hundred
and forty to a hundred and ten, and still the depreciation con
tinued, foreign holders being among the most alarmed and
eager sellers. The next Gazette contained the names of five
persons whom her Majesty had appointed to act as Commis
sioners of the Treasury. One of the Commissioners was Har
ley. The selection had, however, been made with a degree of
prudence which had been scarcely expected. The list included
not one who was noted for extreme opinions. It consisted, in
truth, of men so moderate in their principles that Godolphin
drew some comfort from the reflection that it would be certain
to disgust the main body of the triumphant faction.!
The first object to which the Commissioners applied them
selves was to allay the apprehensions that prevailed in the city.
That at a time when the support of the monied men was abso
lutely essential to the Government, the monied men should take
it into their heads that Godolphin and a Whig ministry were
essential to their security, was no slight embarrassment to a
Tory administration at the outset of its career. Among the
politicians of this party, the opinion was common that the war
had not only been commenced, but was now being wilfully pro-
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.
t Godolphin to Marlborough, August 8—19.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 225
longed to suit the interests of individuals.* But a considerable
time must at all events elapse before it could be terminated
with any regard to decency ; and, in the meanwhile, unless
capitalists would extend to the new Government the confidence
they had reposed in the old, some disasters would infallibly
ensue, and those disasters would be laid by an indiscriminating
public at the door of the Administration. The Commissioners
sent therefore to desire a conference with the Directors of the
Bank. Sir Gilbert Heathcote and his colleagues were assured
that all the engagements contracted by the late Treasurer
should be punctually discharged. Her Majesty, it was stated,
had been much surprised and grieved to hear that some neces
sary changes she had thought fit to make in her Ministers had
excited alarm. There was no cause for such a state of feeling.
The present Commissioners of the Treasury would make it their
chief business to support the credit of the Bank. They hoped
that, in return, the Bank would continue to confer the same
services upon the Government as heretofore. It soon appeared
that Harley and his brethren had a little overrated the effect
which these gracious assurances would have upon the cool heads
of those to whom they were addressed. Two days afterwards,
the Commissioners requested a loan of four hundred thousand
pounds. It was refused. Matters in the city had gone from
bad to worse. Bank shares had now declined to a hundred and
six, and East India and other stocks had followed suit. The
opinion had gained ground that the Parliament would be dis
solved ; and men looked gloomily upon the legislation which
might be expected from its successor.!
So bad indeed did the financial prospects of the Government
appear, that the Whigs were sanguine that the Commissioners
could not maintain their places for a single month. The lead
ing members of this party, with the exception of Wharton, who
was at his post in Ireland, and Cowper, who was in the country,
had held a meeting immediately after the dismissal of Go
dolphin. Their unanimous opinion ;Was that, if Marlborough
only continued to have the same success as in previous years,
In Harley's Scheme of Government of 31st October, 1710, in the Hardwicke
¦Papers, he says, "It must be understood that the Queen is restored to her
power." t Lettres Historiques ; Boyer.
VOL. II. Q

226 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and would act in concert with them, things must infallibly come
right again. It was thought indeed that a dissolution of the
Parliament was in contemplation; but it was conceived also
that their position would not be materially affected by an appeal
to the country. There had certainly been outbursts of feeling
in some parts of the country ; but those outbreaks had been
excited by persons who were notoriously their enemies. There
was, they thought, no reason to apprehend that the great bulk
of electors was alienated from the party which had supported
the war with such earnestness and success. Sunderland, in
especial, was in high spirits. "By all the accounts we have
yet from the country," he wrote to his father-in-law, " there is
no reason to fear but we shall have a good Parliament."*
Meanwhile, the great man, towards whom were turned the
eyes of so many scheming politicians, was quietly labouring to
secure his position against the malice of his enemies. His very
first care, upon hearing of Godolphin's dismissal, was to draw
closer his relations with the Elector of Hanover. George had
always behaved towards Marlborough with an apparent friend
liness which the hero seems to have rated at more than its just
value, for subsequent events furnished ample proof that the
vain Elector never forgot that, when the campaign of 1708 was
planned, he had been treated as a babbler or a blockhead, to
whom it was not expedient to impart a secret. Marlborough,
however, never omitted an opportunity of conveying to his
sovereign in prospect assurances of his attachment and zeal for
his cause, and the Elector replied with letters and messages
which the receiver might be justified in considering as indica
tive of a warmer feeling for him than common civility. The
conception that he was a favourite at the Court of Hanover was
at this season a source of great comfort to the baited Commander-
in-Chief. He was now anxious to inoculate his Highness with
some of his own bitterness against that faction which was so
evidently conspiring for his downfall. He wrote to him,
deploring the injury which had been inflicted upon the pubbc
credit of the English Government by the artifices of Harley and
others. Their behaviour, he declared, could leave no doubt of
* Sunderland to Marlborough, August 24, September 4.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 227
their intentions to bring back the Pretender ; but his Highness
might be assured that he and his friends would labour unre
mittingly to insure the Hanoverian succession. The Elector
returned his thanks for the professions of attachment with
which this letter was filled, and concluded by expressing a hope
that nothing would at all events induce her Majesty to take
the command of her armies from a general who had acquitted
himself with so much glory and success.*
But Marlborough, while paying court to the Elector of
Hanover, did not think it prudent to neglect entirely his
interests in another quarter. It was not easy for a politician
of those days to form any reliable estimate of the feelings of
Englishmen as regarded the succession. The Whigs, in their
eagerness to damage their opponents, accused every Tory indis
criminately of being in favour of Popery, France, and the
Pretender. The ill-advised chivalry of Louis in acknowledging
as King of England a person whom the people of England had
deliberately rejected for their sovereign, had doubtless done
more injury to the cause he upheld than could have been
effected by the legislation of many Parliaments. The spectacle
of an innocent and helpless youth, descended from a long fine
of princes, but fated to atone for the follies of his father by
a lifetime of cheerless wandering about Europe, would have
powerfully appealed to the compassion, the sense of justice, and
the sense of loyalty of the English nation. But the same
youth, decorated with the title of King of England by the very
monarch of whose power Englishmen were most jealous, and
furnished from time to time by that monarch with soldiers and
fleets to recover his dominions by force, was a standing insult
to those notions of liberty and independence which have never
been absent from this island. In most minds, in truth, the
cause of the Pretender had become associated with submission
to France. His restoration to the throne was plainly impos
sible without involving an admission that Englishmen had
acted hastily and unjustly, that Louis had in his superior
wisdom pointed out to them what was their duty, and that to
him was owing a debt of gratitude for the generous protection
* Marlborough to the Elector, August 30 ; the Elector to Marlborough, Sep
tember 8, in the Macpherson Papers.
Q 2

228 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
he had afforded to the object of their momentary indignation.
But although these considerations were common and too obvious
to escape any understanding, there were many persons from
whose minds no mere patriotic feelings could obliterate those
notions of the divine right of an hereditary king which had
been the growth of centuries. The doubts which had once
been universal as to the Prince of Wales being the child of
James and Mary of Modena had been long since abandoned ;
and it must therefore have been difficult for a scrupulous indi
vidual, who piously believed that non-resistance was imposed
as an obligation upon all Christians, to reconcile to his con
science the forcible transference of the sceptre of his rightful
sovereign to a stranger.
It is probable that to a Whig the chances of a counter-revo
lution always appeared far greater than to a Tory. In his zeal
for the Act of Settlement a Whig was prone to believe that
every person, who was not on all points a Whig, could not be
heartily and sincerely for the Protestant succession. A mode
rate Tory, on the other hand, who, without making a constant
parade of his attachment to the principles of the Revolution,
was on the whole contented with them, was apt to judge of the
feelings of others by his own. Yet, in truth, the chances that
James, and not a member of the Hanoverian family would
succeed upon the demise of Anne, must have appeared formid
able to any person capable of forming a calm opinion. The
Highlanders of Scotland, the Catholic kerns of Ireland might
be regarded as Jacobites to a man. In many rural districts of
England the squires stuck to the rightful king as to a tenet of
religion, not indeed with sufficient ardour of purpose to hazard
their lives and estates on his behalf, but with feelings that
would infallibly incline them to declare in James's favour
should James be ever in a position to dispute the crown with
much hope of success. The King of France would lend his aid
to promote a counter-revolution. And what did those changes
which her Majesty was now making in the Administration im
port? What was the significance of that fervid clamour for
passive obedience and hereditary right which had been excited
throughout the country ? Were not these the signs that a
widely-ramified conspiracy existed to restore the Pretender, and

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 229
that in a short time the exile would be summoned back to his
patrimony and call his servants to account ?
To neglect all provision for such a contingency Marlborough
perhaps thought unworthy of a prudent man. Through the
medium of his nephew Berwick he despatched to the exiled
family assurances of his continued fidelity and devotion to their
cause. The message must have been couched in warm terms if
we are to judge of it by the profusion of gratitude it elicited
from James and his mother. They implored Marlborough not
to give up a situation in which it was in his power to render
them the greatest service.* It is possible, however, that the
willingness of the poor exiles to believe in the sincerity of a
man so important to their cause may have led to their putting
upon words merely complimentary a construction such as would
not have been put by cooler judges. What is quite certain is,
that Marlborough meant nothing by his professions in this
quarter. His hopes were fixed as ardently as those of any
Whig upon the succession of the Electoral family ; and while
for the Stuarts he had nothing but kind messages, for the
Hanoverians he was willing to employ his whole influence, and
even, if need were, his money.
Harley had now accomplished nearly all that he had set him
self to do. Sunderland and Godolphin, the objects of her
Majesty's personal dislike, had been pulled down. Marlborough,
the great monopolist of power and patronage, had been effectually
humbled, and had submitted to his degradation with a meek
ness such as rendered his future compliance with the will of a
new set of masters probable enough. The Administration had
been remodelled by the infusion of a few moderate Tories. With
these triumphs he was content. It was no desire of his that
men like Somers, CowpeE, and Walpole should be exchanged
for extreme men such as Rochester and Nottingham. If the
Whigs would only abate a little of that arrogance which stood
in the way of closing a war which otherwise promised to be
intermmable, the Government, as it now stood, would answer
all his views.f But the attitude which the Whigs persisted in
* The Queen (Mary of Modena) to Gurney (Marlborough), July, 1710 ; Mac-
pherson Papers.
t Harley's moderating scheme was from the first denounced bythe Tories.
in swift's Change of the Queen's Ministry is this passage : " The cause of their

230 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
maintaining, convinced him at length of the utter impractica
bility of his original scheme of a mixed administration. The
possibility of a Tory Government supporting itself for any time
in power, they scouted almost with derision. Such a Govern
ment, they persisted in thinking, could depend upon nothing
but the ill-advised partiality of the sovereign. It could not
obtain credit for money enough to keep the armies in the field
for a month. The Parliament might be dissolved and a new
one summoned. But in that prospect there was little cause for
uneasiness. The clamour of Sacheverell's voteless rabbles
could not, when it came to an election, weigh a feather in the
scale. Harley, who had imagined that the Whigs were as anxious
to retain their places as he himself was to get into power, was
greatly disappointed by their refusal to coalesce with him.
Nothing remained now but to form a new Government out of
the Tory party, and to appeal to the country to support that
Government. Anne appears to have been as much annoyed as
her favourite counsellor to find that she could pursue no middle
course. She dreaded to commit herself into the hands of an
entirely new set of servants and to be made the mouthpiece of
doctrines in ludicrous contrast to those which she had been
uttering for several years past. But there was clearly no alter
native for her. To retain such a House of Commons as was
now in existence would be folly. The new Administration
would be thwarted and embarrassed at every turn. She made
up her mind therefore to dissolve the Parliament. Montague,
the Attorney- General, was dismissed. Harcourt was imme
diately installed in his office, and was instructed to draw up the
necessary proclamation. At a meeting of the Privy Council
upon the 19th of September, Anne called upon him to read it
aloud. Most of the Whigs, who were present, were surprised
and confounded. Cowper, who had received some intimation
of what was coming, had prepared an elaborate remonstrance
against the measure. The Queen stopped short his harangue.
complaint was that so great a number of the adverse party continued in employ
ment, and some, particularly the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Cholmondeley,
in great stations at court. They could not believe Mr. Harley was in earnest,
but that he designed to constitute a motley comprehensive Administration whicn,
they said, the kingdom would never endure." See also a note of Speaker Onslow
to Burnet.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. -iol
She had considered the matter weU, she said, and did not wish
to hear any debate upon it. It was her pleasure that the writs
should be issued immediately.*
And now the predominance of that party which had humbled
to the dust the military power of France, came to an abrupt
close. Two days after this council, Dartmouth, the new Secre
tary, was instructed to demand the Steward's staff from the
Duke of Devonshire, who delivered it up with an uncontrollable
burst of passion. To Somers, however, whose calm wisdom and
gentle manners had gained even upon the narrow and prejudiced
mind of Anne, a kind message was sent. Dartmouth was
ordered to say that, although the Queen thought it necessary
for her service that her uncle Rochester should be President of
the Council in his place, his salary should be continued to him
by way of pension. Her Majesty would also be glad if he
visited her frequently.! Wharton now resigned the Lieuten
ancy of Ireland, Orford the Admiralty, Boyle and Walpole the
Secretaryships of State and of War. Harley had spared no
pains to induce Cowper to retain the Great Seal. Where to find
a new Chancellor was a difficulty. There was indeed one Tory
lawyer whose claims to that great office were unexceptionable.
But Harcourt had just been made Attorney-General, and pro
fessed himself more desirous to remain in a position where
he could earn as much money as he pleased, than to close his
career as an advocate by accepting a post from which a revul
sion of popular feeling might eject him in a few months.
Cowper, on his part, was determined not to separate from his
friends, and had moreover too much regard for his dignity to
remain in an office from which he knew he would be dismissed
as soon as the Tories were prepared with a successor. He re
paired to the palace, and offered the seal to Anne, who again
and again in great perplexity forced it back into his hands. He
was at length prevailed upon to retain it for one day longer.
On the morrow he returned to the Palace in the same resolu
tion. Harley bad, however, effected an arrangement with Har
court during the interval.. The seal was accepted, and confided
temporarily to the custody of three commissioners. +
* Burnet ; Cowper's Diary ; Campbell's Life of Cowper.
t Dartmouth's Note on Burnet. % Cowper's Diary.

232 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
The posts left vacant by so many dismissals and resignations
were speedily filled up. The office of Steward of the House
hold was given to John Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire.
He had been widely celebrated for nearly half a century for
the qualities which constituted a fine gentleman of that age,
courage signalised both in the field and on the waves, manners
unusually graceful and polished, and wit which was sometimes
employed in lamenting the cruelty of Celia and more frequently
in holding up to ridicule the inconsistencies of the Christian
religion. In spite, however, of vices and opinions which would
shock the sobriety of a lady bred in a purer form of society, he
had always been a great favourite with Anne, and the surmise
is not unreasonable that, since the decline of the Marlboroughs
in her esteem, his influence over her conduct had been consider
able. In politics he was an extreme Tory. He had sat under
James in the Court of High Commission, had been an advocate
of the dispensing power, and had gone all lengths to ingratiate
himself with the tyrant short of going through the formula of
a conversion to the Church of Rome. There had been nothing
in his subsequent conduct to show that he repented of the
mean and wicked part he had acted before the Revolution.
There is indeed strong evidence that he was one of those very
few Englishmen who, for the sake of lucre, would not have
scrupled to betray their country to France and a Popish
sovereign.* Rochester was made President of the Council, St. John
was appointed Secretary of State ; and George Granville, the
descendant of an old Cavalier family, Secretary of War. The
Admiralty was put in commission, with Sir John Leake at the
head. Ormond succeeded Wharton as Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland. Harcourt, after a little time, consented to sit on the
woolsack as Lord Keeper ; but still declined to be made a peer.
At the end of a few days the only Whigs remaining in the
household or the Administration were the three Dukes of
Shrewsbury, Somerset, and Newcastle. Somerset vouchsafed
to retain his post of Master of the Horse ; but was in no good
* For the particulars of his career see the Biographia Britannica. Swift
states that Buckinghamshire was the only person with whom he was acquainted
who seemed really desirous of a restoration of the Stuarts.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

233

humour at the turn events had taken. The changes which his
own counsels to Anne had not been without effect in bringing
about, had gone farther than he had ever contemplated.
Marlborough, whose grandeur disagreeably overshadowed his
own, he had been anxious to humiliate. But his opinions on
most other points stiH coincided with those of the Whigs.
He was now absurd enough to express his dislike of dissolving
that Parliament whose first work upon reassembling would have
been to extol Marlborough to the skies and bring impeach
ments against his enemies.* Newcastle, a nobleman of no
great importance from an intellectual point of view, consented
to retain the Privy Seal, and his compliance was rewarded with
the lucrative appointment of Warden of the Forests beyond
Trent. A week after Anne had signified her intentions in Council
the Parliament was dissolved. A new one was summoned by
proclamation for the 25th of November. In the same Gazette
appeared two other proclamations for public thanksgivings
through England and Scotland on account of the wonderful
successes of the campaign, and more particularly the signal and
glorious victory achieved in Spain. The news of two succes
sive triumphs over the forces of Philip had, in fact, reached
London during the month of August ; and the effect upon the
perturbed minds of capitalists, combined with the intelligence
of the fall of Bethune, had been surprising. The city, which
had been all gloom and despair, became at once radiant with
hope. Reports that the Parliament would not be dissolved and
that the Whigs would remain in power were instantly in circu
lation. Stocks of every description rallied almost to the point
from which they had fallen. In a fortnight, however, the city
was again a prey to despondency. The Whigs were out and
the Parliament was dissolved. Her Majesty, it seemed, was
not to be diverted from revenging herself upon some of her
servants merely because their efforts in the war had been crowned
With success, and because a vigorous and influential ministry
was especially necessary to the welfare of the country at the
moment. From the state of affairs in Spain at the commencement of
* Lord Hardwicke's Note on Burnet.

234 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the year few persons would have augured that great events
would ensue. Louis had withdrawn every battalion in his
pay from the Peninsula, in the hope of convincing the Allies of
his wuTingness to abandon the cause of his grandson ; with the
real object, as the Allies angrily maintained, of enabling
himself to declare, with some appearance of truth, that it was
out of his power to deliver up Spain into their hands. The
consequence was, however, that Philip's army, with the excep
tion of two or three regiments formed of French deserters and
some Walloons who had been withdrawn from Flanders, was
now composed of the wretched material of the country. It
was a crowd without discipline, and officered by men who,
although veterans in the business of court intrigues, were, as a
rule, mere novices in the art of war. Such requisites as
magazines and artillery were, as usual, almost entirely wanting.
At the head, however, of the motley, ragged, half-famished
assemblage, numbering perhaps twenty-six thousand men, had
been placed the Marquis of Villadarias, the same commander
whose energetic and skilful measures had chiefly conduced to
the failure of Rooke and Ormond at Cadiz. Philip himself,
moreover, had been roused from the state of listlessness in
which he spent his days, and prevailed upon to animate his
troops by his presence.
Little, however, as was to be expected from the operations
of this multitude the affairs of the Allies seemed even less
promising. In May, when Philip took the field, the British,
Dutch, Imperial and native troops stationed in Catalonia did
not together exceed sixteen thousand men. But from Italy
were expected five thousand Germans, and towards the close
of the month Stanhope, who had been collecting recruits,
arrived at Barcelona with about one thousand. Matters at the
court of Charles had gone exceedingly wrong during the
absence of the Englishman whose firmness and energy had
kept in some restraint the quarrelsome flock of counsellors
which encompassed his Majesty. The Prince of Darmstadt
and Staremberg had with difficulty been prevented from
attempting each other's lives in a duel.* But order was now
* Lettres Historiques. Charles settled the dispute by paying a sum of money
to the Prince, who thereupon took his departure.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 235
restored. Charles was induced to follow the example of his
rival by appearing at the head of the troops, and with his two
generals, Stanhope and Staremberg, marched in the beginning
of June against the enemy, who seemed to be meditating an
invasion of Catalonia.
For nearly two months the hostile armies continued to exe
cute various manoeuvres without coming to an engagement,
Philip sending his foragers far into Catalonia, and the Allies
retorting by entering Aragon and endeavouring to excite an
insurrection there. Villadarias, who was at first greatly the
superior in numbers, was anxious for a battle ; but Stanhope
and Staremberg took up a strong position near Balaguer,
from which they would not be enticed, and which could not be
approached without great danger to an assailing party. But
at length the Allied army received its expected reinforcements,
and the English general, finding himself now almost on a par
with his antagonist, and encouraged by the excellent condition
of his troops, a large proportion of which were British, was for
seeking out and fighting the enemy. Staremberg, whose blood
ran more methodically in his veins, differed from the opinion
of his colleague. A defeat, he argued, would lead to the
entire overthrow of the Allied power in the Peninsula, and he
could not recognise the wisdom of setting Charles's crown upon
the hazard of a single battle. A council of war was summoned.
A majority of the officers was in favour of the vigorous policy
recommended by Stanhope ; but the resolutions of the council
were of little avail, as the King had become a convert to Sta-
remberg's maxims. It was not until after a good deal of angry
remonstrance that Stanhope prevailed upon his Majesty to allow
his troops to advance so as to intercept a march which the
enemy seemed bent on executing.* He himself then set out in
advance with a party of cavalry, reached the smaU town of
Alfaraz early on the morning of the 27th of July, and threw
bridges over the Noguera for the passage of the main body. A
few hours afterwards he perceived the advance guard of the
enemy moving directly towards him. He made no doubt that
his own small force would be attacked; but to his surprise
the enemy came to a halt when at Almenara, about two miles
* Stanhope to Sunderland, July 23, in Mahon's History.

236 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
lower down the river, and there remained. By six in the
evening the entire force of Charles had crossed at Alfaraz, and
the entire force of Philip had reached Almenara, so that the
two armies now confronted each other. Staremberg was still
averse to an engagement. But the spirits of the English
regiments had been raised to fever point by the sight of the
enemy, and they were giving vent to their feelings in loud
cries of " shame " at the inaction of their commanders. Stan
hope could not control his vexation at what he considered the
dawdling ways and habits of irresolution which characterised
the Germans. There were but two hours more of daylight ;
and if the night fell the probability was that the enemy would
disappear before morning. Under these circumstances he
spoke to the King in language little sanctioned by the usage
of courts, and succeeded at length in obtaining permission to
dislodge a few Spanish squadrons which had pushed themselves
forward as if in bravado towards the Allies. Of this permis
sion he availed himself to bring into action all the cavalry of
the army. Having addressed a brief but energetic oration to
the soldiers of his country, he charged at the bead of the
English, Dutch, and Palatine regiments which formed the first
line. The hostile horse spurred gallantly forward to meet the
charge, and a fierce combat began. The Allied squadrons on
the right had easy work in routing the left wing of the enemy.
But opposed to the English and Dutch was the splendid body
guard of Philip, regiments of picked soldiers not inferior in
courage or discipline to the renowned household troops of the
French king. In that furious fray officers and privates soon
got mixed up, and fought without distinction. Stanhope him
self seemed animated by the spirit of a crusader. A Spaniard,
whose decorations betokened high rank, was seen to fall beneath
his sword. Many saddles of the English troopers were, how
ever, emptied by the galling fire from a regiment of Spanish
foot, which had stolen unnoticed upon the Allied flank. It
was not until more than four hundred men had fallen that the
enemy began to give way. The ranks of the French and
Spanish, under the effect of repeated charges, soon fell into
disorder, and flight became general. Fortunately for them,
and for Philip himself, whose august person was in some

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 237
danger, the daylight was beginning to fail. Under cover of a
night which proved intensely dark, horse and foot made off in
the wildest confusion in the direction of Lerida.*
Had Charles taken advantage of his victory and pushed on
with the returning light, there can be little doubt but that the
weak fortifications of Lerida would have proved a very inade
quate protection to an army crestfallen and in complete dis
organization. But Staremberg now persuaded him to revert to
that cautious system of warfare from which he had been forced
for a moment by the impetuosity of his English Allies, and a
fortnight was consumed in making himself master of some petty
towns in Aragon. Meanwhile the army of his rival, which had
not greatly suffered in numbers, was recovering from its state
of panic, and found itself reinforced by the garrisons of various
strongholds, which had been sent for in all haste. Provisions
beginning to fail in Lerida, Philip determined to fall back on
Saragossa. Then at last Charles was prevailed upon to permit
his troops to march in pursuit of his rival. Stanhope, who had
been chafing with impatience at the sight of bis men wasting
their valour on paltry sieges, and suffering from scarcity of food
and drink when conquest and plenty were before them, was
again all ardour. He crossed the Ebro with his cavalry, came
up with the rear-guard of the enemy at Penalva, defeated them
after a tough contest, and sent them flying along the road to
iSaragossa. Three hours later Charles came up with his active
lieutenant, and ate the dinner which had been prepared for
Philip. Upon the morning of the 19th of August the Allies
were again in sight of the whole Spanish army drawn up
before Saragossa, with the Ebro on their left, a range of hills
upon their right, and along their front a deep ravine. It was
plainly impossible to attack them except at great risk. But
the impetuosity of Stanhope had hurried Charles into a position
from which there could be no retiring without incurring the
reproach of cowardice. It was decided, after the usual amount
of irresolution and misgiving, to stake the cause upon the
Boyer ; Lettres Historiques ; Lamberty. Each of theBe authorities furnishes
wo accounts of the battle, a letter from the Dutch commander to the States-
general, and a letter from the Savoyard envoy, who was with the army of
Uiarles. I have also availed myself of Lord Mahon's work, relying on its being
wunded on the testimony of Stanhope's letters.

238 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
event of a single battle, and preparations for the attack were
made during the night.
Daylight had scarcely broken upon the morning of the 20th
when the cannon was playing on both sides. Many changes
were made by the Alfied commanders in the disposition of their
troops upon reconnoitring the arrangements of the enemy.
The Spaniards were rather stronger in cavalry, and had massed
nearly the whole of it upon their right wing, a circumstance
which determined Stanhope to eke out his deficiency in this
respect by interspersing among his own cavalry some battalions
of foot. Little was seen of the two royal youths on whose
behalf fifty thousand men were about to imbrue their hands in
each other's blood. Charles rode down the line, but retired to
a convent in the rear of his army when the battle was about to
commence. Philip, whose sickly constitution had been upset
by the rapidity of his flight from Penalva, yielded to the
entreaties of his generals, and withdrew to some distance from
the field. The commander-in-chief of his forces was now the
Marquis de Bay, the same officer who had distinguished him
self the preceding year by a victory over Galway and the Por
tuguese. Villadarias, whose strategy at Almenara seems to
indicate that, although an excellent leader in irregular warfare,
he was not quite fitted for the command of an army, had been
removed. By noon the Allies had completed their preparations, and
the signal for onset was given. The whole line advanced.
The left wing, in which the greater portion of the cavalry had
been placed under the eye of Stanhope, was the first to engage,
Some Portuguese squadrons stationed upon the extreme left,
true to their almost invariable practice, made off at the first
charge from the enemy, and were pursued with great ardour by
the Spanish horse. But this partial defeat proved of immense
service to the Allies. The English, Dutch, and Palatine regi
ments maintained their ground with great steadiness. The
hostile cavalry, weakened by the numbers who had gone off in
pursuit of the Portuguese, began to yield. Meanwhile, the
advance of the infantry in the centre, and upon the right, had
been attended with complete success. The Dutch commander,
Belcastel, employed a manoeuvre which at that time attracted

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 239
attention from its novelty, but which has since become an ordi
nary feature in warfare. At a few paces in front of the line
marched, with intervals between them, some of the best shots of
the regiment, who opened fire upon the enemy, while their
comrades behind moved forward with their muskets over their
shoulders and bayonets fixed. By tfiis stratagem, apparently a
rudimentary notion of the modern practice of skirmishing, the
Spaniards were provoked to deliver their fire at a distance from
which it could have little effect, and before they could reload
the Dutch were upon them. They broke at the first charge,
and scattered in all directions. In three hours the battle was
over. Six thousand prisoners, cannon and colours innumerable,
and the possession of Saragossa, were the trophies of victory.
The cost was fifteen hundred of the brave fellows who had
contributed to win it.*
Charles took up his quarters in Saragossa, the inhabitants of
which city were well disposed towards him, while his generals
were debating the course which it now behoved them to pursue.
The debate, as usual, soon degenerated into a dispute. Stan
hope, not unnaturally elated by the two splendid victories which
had accrued from following his counsels, would hear of nothing
but marching to Madrid, and was in a high state of indignation
that Staremberg, who had been a witness of the marvels which
English valour and enterprise could achieve, should still remain
obstinately prepossessed in favour of his plan of conquering
the country by degrees, and commencing with those provinces
which were best affected to the Allies. But the German com
mander was not to be moved by the eloquence of his colleague.
The occupation of Madrid, he argued, would be the abandon
ment of all sound military rules for the sake of effect. There
was great reason to suppose that the population of the Castiles
were affectionately attached to Philip. If that Prince suc
ceeded in raising fresh forces, the Allied army could not main
tain itself long in a city without fortifications of any description ;
and if forced to retreat, whither was it to betake itself for
refuge? The bare, sunburnt, wind-blown plains of the Castiles
contained not one fortress which could be made defensible.
Ji,!?"*6*"8 8evTeral aocounts of the battle of Saragossa in the Lettres His-
tmques; Boyer; Lamberty.

240 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
There was a sad probability that the army would perish of
hunger and thirst before it could regain the friendly provinces
on the coast. His advice was to march, in the first place, and
disperse the remnant of Philip's forces, then to complete the
reduction of Valencia, and to send such a detachment into
Navarre as would effectually close the Peninsula against any
reinforcement which might be despatched from France.
Not only the sequel of this campaign, but the opinions of
competent military critics, leave us in no doubt of the wisdom
of Staremberg' s advice upon this occasion. The only effect of
his arguments, however, seems to have been to inspire Stanhope
with the suspicion that the cold and stupid German was jealous
of his brilliant generalship, and wished to hinder him from
adding to his laurels. Determined to carry out his plan, he
assumed a high tone. His orders were, he said, to prosecute
the war with vigour, and, unless this opportunity of putting
his Majesty in possession of his capital were embraced, he and
his English would retire, and leave the rest to conquer Spain
how they could. To this argument it was impossible to reply.
Stanhope wrote to Galway, who was stfil in command of a few
battalions in Portugal, pressing him to do his utmost to join
him, and, eight days after the battle, the Allied army was on
its march to Madrid.*
In that capital aU was dismay. Philip, after his defeat, had
returned thither, leaving Bay to collect the remains of his army.
Not a single regiment remained by him. Preparations for the
flight of the royal family to Valladolid were at once commenced.
Perhaps the greatest of the many touching proofs of the devotion
of the Castilians to him was afforded upon this occasion. As
soon as it became known that Philip was about to abandon his
capital, the grandees, with scarcely an exception, hastened to
the palace, and entreated permission to share the flight and
misfortunes of their sovereign. Outside the building a mourn
ful crowd collected to testify their sympathy, and were gratified
by a sight of the Queen, who, holding the infant Prince of
Asturias in her arms, appeared at a balcony and addressed to
her subjects a few words of thanks. In twenty-four hours the
* I have taken this account of the differences between Staremberg and Stan
hope chiefly from St. Simon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANXE.

211

royal coaches left Madrid, and were followed by the equipages
of almost every person of distinction. One old bedridden
nobleman, the Marquis of Mancera, who was said to have
attained the age of one hundred years, persisted in being borne
after the Court in a litter, and only consented upon the reiterated
entreaties and even commands of Philip, to forego a journey
which threatened to cost him his life.* It is to be regretted
that no contemporary writer should have attempted to probe
the sources of a loyalty which, at first sight, seems inexplicable.
As a rule Castilians despised an alien, and detested a French
man : yet Philip was both. He was descended from a line of
kings, the hereditary enemies of the Spanish race. His grand
father, who had placed him on the throne, had done more to
pillage and oppress Spain than any French king before him.
Nor had this listless, melancholy, feeble-minded young prince,
any personal qualities likely to obliterate in the hearts of his
subjects the remembrance of his origin. The English, during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, submitted, to escape
the calamity of a Popish sovereign, to the rule of three foreign
princes; yet their submission was without love, and was, in
truth, little better than an intelligent preference for the Pro
testant religion, the peace and prosperity of their country over
the old rooted passion for hereditary right. But the Castilians,
without any such respectable motives, yielded to Philip a degree
of reverential love. which amounted almost to adoration. The
solution of the mystery may be as follows : — In the first place
Philip had been -duly proclaimed king, and it was the nature of
the Castilians of that age to regard their kings with the same
blind and unbounded awe as the pious Hindoos of this day •
regard' cows, monkeys, and alligators. To what lengths their
loyalty would go is strikingly illustrated by the fact that,
under all the wretched misgovernment of the successors of
Philip II., misgovernment which lasted a whole century, scarce
a murmur was heard against the Court. They were contented
to look on in mute resignation while their country grew poorer,
Sfar,^°yey'1Lettre8Hi8tori1ue3; Mariana; Memoires de Noailles ; St. Simon;
oaanope to Dartmouth, October i. Stanhope attributes the circumstance that
¦ ino people of distinction followed Philip to fear and not to affection, and this
pirnon is supported by all the writers on the side of the Allies. But the volun-
of th! ¦ 8 atta™ment made to Philip by the common people leave no doubt
otthe incorrectness of this supposition.
vol. n. B

242 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and sank to a lower depth of degradation with every year.
They allowed themselves to be plundered by a set of scoundrels
whose only title to respect was that they were the ministers of
their lawful sovereign. The Portuguese revolted, the Catalans
called in the French ; but the Castilians remained as staunch
as if their rulers were Antonines. Their affection for Philip
was also heightened by the circumstance that two or three
provinces were in favour of his rival. So great was the jealousy.
existing between the inhabitants of this divided country, that
the mere fact that a Catalan or a Valencian had declared for
Charles was a sufficient reason for a Castilian to repudiate him
with horror. Lastly, although the orthodoxy of the Austrian
might be as good as the Frenchman's, Charles was supported
by foreigners, heretics, and Portuguese, who, should his cause
prove triumphant, would probably remain to guard his throne,
to contaminate the land by their presence, and bring down upon
it the judgment of Providence.
Charles and his generals, whose experience of the inhabitants
of the Peninsula had been hitherto limited to those of Aragon
and Catalonia, and who had fallen into the common error of
assuming that the Spaniards were one people, were quite unpre
pared for the wide difference of feeling between Saragossa and
Madrid. A bitter disappointment awaited them, therefore, upon
passing the borders of Castile. Charles's first measure was to
publish a manifesto inviting such of his subjects, as had taken
up arms against him to come in and make their peace. Not a
single person of eminence answered the summons. Stanhope,
however, pushed on with his cavalry, was met a short distance
•from Madrid by the magistrates, who came to signify their
submission, found no difficulty in taking military possession of
the city, and fixed his camp in the suburbs. But the forlorn
and deserted aspect of the once busy capital was a sight to
sober the most sanguine conqueror. The citizens had sullenly
closed their shops. The palaces of the grandees were all empty.
Not a carriage was to be seen in the streets. Even the lower
orders of the people seemed to have shut themselves up in their
houses. Still more annoying to commanders who were greatly
in need of money, was it to find that the Court and nobility had
made so clean a removal of their valuables that, according to

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 243
the computation of an English resident, it would be difficult to
discover five thousand pounds in the whole city. Charles was,
however, formally proclaimed King, and Stanhope tried hard to
get up a little demonstration in his favour when he made his
public entry. To avoid irritating the people the soldiers were
kept under strict discipline, a task which devolved no slight
labour upon the officers, for the markets were so grudgingly
supplied that it was not always easy to procure food for the
army. An appeal was made to the Marquis of Mancera for his
support ; but the old gentleman, although he received Stanhope
with politeness, steadily refused to acknowledge any other sove
reign than Philip, and soon pleaded his age and infirmities as
an excuse for retiring to bed. Upon the day when Charles
entered Madrid the streets were thronged by a curious multitude,
but the only voices raised to greet him were those of a few
Austrian partisans who had just been released from prison, and
of sundry beggars who had been hired to shout. He hastened
to pay his devotions at the shrine of our Lady of Atocha, the
favourite saint of the Madrilenians ; but his piety, however
acceptable it may have been in heaven, w7as unrewarded upon
earth. So dark were the looks of the citizens that his officers
dared not allow him to take up bis abode in the magnificent
palace of the kings of Spain ; and, accordingly, deeply mortified
and dejected, he repassed the gates of Madrid, and went to
reside in a country house in the suburbs. It was necessary to
guard him with the utmost care ; for to so short a distance did
the authority of the Allies extend that guerilla bands were
constantly making their appearance even in the Prado.*
Meanwhile the affairs of Philip were fast recovering from the
confusion into which they had fallen after the disasters of
Almenara and Saragossa. The devotion of the people of Castile
and Andalusia to their unfortunate monarch literally knew no
bounds. Sums subscribed by the corporations of different towns
kept pouring into Yalladolid. But still more gratifying were
the proofs of attachment almost daily received from the lowest
and poorest members of the community. Small shopkeepers
OctoW4e8HiSt°riqU?,irSan Felipe, Commentaries ; Stanhope to Dartmouth.
encamp on." 8ayS' a''e n0t ma8ters in Castile °f more ground than we
K 2

244 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and artizans were continually entreating to be admitted to the
palace for the purpose of laying at the feet of the Queen the
scanty savings of their industry. Less beautiful but perhaps
more wonderful was the liberality of the great Spanish eccle
siastics. No less a sum than three hundred thousand crowns,
contributed by the wealthy bishops of the southern provinces,
reached Madrid, and was despatched after the Court just in time
to escape the clutches of the Allies.* "With such fervid and
generous assistance magazines were not long in being esta
blished. Troops were summoned up from distant stations ; a
fresh train of artillery was procured from Badajoz ; and at the
end of a few weeks, while the Allies were still loitering in
Madrid, Philip found himself once more at the head of an army.
At this conj tincture an illustrious Frenchman arrived to take
the command, who, although not entitled to rank in the very
first order of generals, hideous in his person, brutal in his
manners, and degraded by such filthy vices that his society was
avoided by every respectable person, was, as compared with any
officer in the Spanish service, a consummate master of the art
of war.
Ever since the commencement of the year, Philip, convinced
that a good commander was not to be found in Spain, had been
entreating his grandfather to send him Yendome. That per
sonage, stung to the quick by the ill success of his arms in the
Netherlands, caught eagerly at an opportunity for retrieving
his reputation. Louis, so long as any chance remained of his
plenipotentiaries at Gertruydenburg coming to an arrangement,
rejected all solicitations on this head. But the rupture of the
conferences having at length set him free to follow his inclina
tions, Vendome was gratified with the requisite permission, and
immediately set off for Spain. At Bayonne he received the
news of the total rout of the Spanish army at Saragossa. He
wrote at once in that sanguine and confident tone which every
marshal assumed in addressing Louis, to assuage the alarm
which this untoward event was certain to produce at Versailles.
If the Duke of Noailles, he said, who was master of a small force
in Rousillon, was put into condition to act, he would answer for
effecting a speedy change in the face of affairs. Of the Spanish
* St. Simon ; Mariana.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 245
officers who had brought about the disaster he spoke in terms
of unmeasured contempt. Their marches and manoeuvres for
eight days before the battle were, he asserted, nothing but a
tissue of puerile blunders and absurdities. His greatest sur
prise, however, was to hear that the Allied generals had,
instead of following up and dispersing the remains of the
defeated army, betaken themselves, for no useful purpose he
could imagine, to Madrid.
In proportion as this expected redeemer drew near Valladolid,
the spirits of the panic-stricken Court rose. A few days before
his arrival, Noailles, under orders from Louis, had been endea
vouring to persuade the royal family to compound with the
Allies by offering them Spain on condition of being permitted
to retain a crown in Italy. But it was in vain that the envoy
drew the gloomiest pictures of the disaffection which prevailed in
some of the provinces, of the poverty of the exchequer, of the
futility of depending upon Spanish troops, and of the small
likelihood of any more reinforcements arriving from France.
Philip and his high-spirited young queen were in arms at the
proposal of abandoning Spain, and had an answer for every
argument. It might be true that the affections of a portion of
their subjects had been alienated from them ; but most of the
provinces had given the most convincing proofs of their fidelitv.
The Spanish troops had indeed been beaten; but this arose
from their not having been sufficiently trained ; and they had
been moreover unfortunate in their commanders. The army
• had now been reorganized ; the soldiers were being carefully
taught their duty, and a competent general was coming to lead
them to victory. The enemy had committed the singular
blunder of abandoning the friendly provinces of Aragon and
Catalonia to isolate themselves in a region where, with the
population bitterly hostile to them, they could expect nothing
but to be starved before they could fight their way back to the
sea. It would be strange if, with a little prudent management,
this egregious mistake could not be turned to account. All that
¦Noailles could say would not convince the royal pair that Louis
was really sincere in advising them to resign the crown of
opam. As King of France, with armies pressing on every one
of his frontiers, with a realm thoroughly exhausted, and with

246 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
little prospect of being able to dispatch troops to Spain, he
might think it his duty to counsel submission to his relations.
But if he could speak to them as a private individual, he would
be the last person to recommend the tame policy of resigning.*
Noailles was therefore dismissed with a charge to lay the
true state of affairs before his master. The Queen and infant
prince were sent off to Vittoria to be ready, in case of disaster,
to make their escape into France ; and Philip, with Vendome
at his side, took the field. That eccentric commander seemed
determined for a time to rise superior to the bad habits and
vices which often impaired his really great abilities. His first
care was to march towards Estremadura to prevent the junction
of the Portuguese troops with those of Stanhope and Starem
berg. The Allied officers meanwhile had been growing more and
more uneasy at the reports which occasionally reached them of
the storm that was brewing in the north. To secure them
selves in Madrid for the winter was obviously impossible,
Toledo, situated, like Jerusalem, on the summit of a craggy
hill, seemed a little more defensible ; but its fortifications had
not been repaired since the days of the Moors. It was decided,
however, to exchange Madrid for the latter city ; and accord
ingly the Allied army, after having been in possession of the
capital for two months, evacuated it, to the great delight of the
citizens, towards the middle of November. Stanhope, after
securing Toledo, marched westward with a division in hopes of
finding the Portuguese regiments at Almaraz on the Tagus.'
But the cruel tidings reached him as he approached that town
that his expected coadjutors, instead of responding to his
reiterated summonses, had made one or two forward marches
and then slunk back again behind their frontier. The position
now occupied by Vendome extinguished all hopes of their
re-entering Spain.
Whether this disappointment arose through the imbecility
of the King of Portugal, the supineness of his ministers, some
of whom were notoriously in the French interest, or simply
through the Portuguese forces being in a condition so melan*
* Memoires de Noailles ; St. Simon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 247
choly that they were literally unable to inarch, is a question
into which it is needless to enter. Misfortunes soon came
crowding upon the Allied army. News arrived that Noailles
was preparing to invade Catalonia ; and Charles, who had left
his queen in Barcelona, at once insisted upon hurrying back to
defend her. It became necessary to detach no less than two
thousand cavalry to guard the precious person of the departing
Prince on his journey. All thoughts of wintering in Castile
were now abandoned. Stanhope indeed was the last officer to
awake from his dreams of conquest. But it was too evident
to every one else that, with Vendome speeding towards them
with a superior force, the only chance of safety that remained
to the Allied army was to get back into Aragon as fast as
possible.* Early in December, therefore, upon the very day when Philip
returned in triumph to his capital, the retreat commenced.
One sad and never-to-be-forgotten mark of their residence in
the time-honoured city of Toledo the Allies left behind them.
Whether through accident, or the brutality of the Portuguese
commander, the Alcazar, that grand relic of the Gothic kings
of Spain, witness both of the defeat and triumph of Christian
chivalry, of the valour, the arts, the luxury, the degeneracy of
the Moors, was burnt to the ground. A terrible prospect of
hunger, cold, and hardships lay before the Allied army. No
stores of any description had been amassed. The season being
winter, the earth was bare of vegetatiou. The small towns and
villages along the line of march werp known to be stricken by
extreme poverty ; and such was the infuriation of the peasantry
against the heretical invaders, that straggling in search of pro
visions was certain death. To improve the chances of subsist
ing, Stanhope thought proper to separate with his English from
Staremberg and the main body, and reached the town of
Brihuega after three days' march, while his colleague was
making for Cifuentes, another town, twelve miles distant.
Here the English halted, and remained during two nights
without misgivings. Upon the morning of the 8th, a body
of horse made its appaarance upon the hills near the town : but
* Stanhope to Dartmouth, November 6; November 18.

248 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
this circumstance at first excited no surprise ; for a guerilla
band, the same which had nearly pounced upon Charles in the
Prado, had been hovering about the rear ever since the depar
ture from Toledo. Before evening, however, some regiments
of foot came in viewr, and then the terrible truth burst upon
the English commander. Vendome was upon them. By
diligence which seemed in Stanhope's eyes little short of mira
culous, he' had contrived, within the space of a week, to
transport his entire army over a hundred and thirty miles of
country. It was dark before the enemy was assembled in force, and
Stanhope had therefore the whole night to prepare for defence.
The English, with one Portuguese battalion, numbered between
five and six thousand men ; but they had no artillery, and only
a scanty supply of ammunition for their small arms. The town,
with the exception of a crumbling brick wall, had no fortifica
tions whatever. Stanhope nevertheless determined to prolong
his resistance to the utmost. He had the houses loopholed, the
streets barricaded, and he sent off a messenger to inform
Staremberg of his position. The attack upon Brihuega com
menced with daylight. The Spanish cannon soon battered
down the old wall, and then the fighting began in earnest.
The assailants swarmed in through numerous breaches, and
were received with so murderous a fire from invisible defenders
that the town seemed wrapped in a conflagration. Again and
again they returned to the assault. Philip and Vendome, con
vinced that Staremberg must be approaching to the rescue,
animated their men by every means in their power. The
streets became choked with the dead. By degrees the
Spaniards got possession "of several houses. The English set
them on fire ; but tfie fire was extinguished. The evening
again drew on ; but it found the defenders almost at the end of
their resources. Six hundred men had fallen. The ammuni
tion of the survivors was nearly exhausted, and there was yet
no sign of Staremberg's approach. Under these circumstances
Stanhope conceived it to be his duty to save the lives of his
gallant supporters, and ordered his drummers to beat a parley.
The capitulation he offered was at once accepted by Vendome.
One of its articles provided that the officers should not be

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 249
separated from the regiments they commanded during the time
they continued to be prisoners of war.*
Staremberg, while these incidents were passing, had con
ducted himself with more than his usual phlegm, perhaps not
sorry that his headstrong colleague should have got into
trouble. Stanhope's messenger had reached him an hour
before midnight upon the 8th ; but he made no movement
until ten the next morning, f The distance to Brihuega, how
ever, being only twelve miles, and every moment of value, it
might have been thought that at least the greater portion of
his troops would have contrived to get over the ground by
sunset. But the whole day was consumed in compassing half
the journey, and at nightfall Staremberg, after firing some
signal guns to cheer his Allies, halted till morning. Upon the
10th he drew up his force in battle order, and advancing as
leisurely as if time was of no importance whatever, came in
sight soon after midday of the Spanish army, which Vendome
had carefully disposed to receive him. Its left wing touched
Villa-viciosa, a village which gave its name to the battle
which now ensued. The German, perceiving at last how
matters stood, was inclined to make off; but Vendome, eager
to take advantage of his superior numbers, charged him on
both wings. The engagement continued, with singularly
various fortune, till night put an end to it. The Allied left,
overwhelmed by a magnificent body of cavalry in which
Philip himself had taken up his station, was completely routed,
and chased to a considerable distance. The horse on the right
wing also, being hotly pressed, fell into some confusion. The
Spanish cavalry, however, imagining that the victory was won,
began to plunder the baggage, and while absorbed in this
My chief authority is the Narrative of Lord Mahon, compiled from the cor
respondence of Stanhope. Lamberty and the Lettres Historiques contain accounts-
ot the action. I presume there is no foundation for this accusation in St. Simon
against Stanhope—" C'est la. oil Stanhope, si tiiomphant dans Madrid, rcvomit
:f* kjP'sseries duroi d'Espagne qu'il avait prises dans son palais." Boyer says
that btanhope was generally censured. He gives a letter from Count de Salva-
tera, attributing the disaster to Stanhope's ill conduct.
t otareraberg himself says, in a letter to Charles, December 10, "des que je
us averli de l'etat et du danger ou se trouvaient les Angkis je fis marcher
,,?™ee ?oute la nuit du 8 et tout le jour suivant pour les pouvoir degager."
¦lindal, in a very circumstantial narrative, declares that the army did not m ucb
uiuil ten the next morning, and the distance being so short thy probabilities of
tic case seem to be iu his favour.

250 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
occupation and far away from the main body, Staremberg, who,
with much coolness and soldier-like ability, had kept his
infantry intact, charged the hostile foot. In a few moments
the position of the combatants was reversed. The Allied
infantry bore down all before them. The Allied horse reap
peared on the field in good order, and pursued the advantage
gained by their comrades until the darkness came on. Each
side could show its trophies of victory. The Spaniards had
captured most of the baggage of the Allies. The Allies had
taken a considerable part of the Spanish cannon.*
But Staremberg was in no condition to dispute the
honours of the field. His army had shrunk to less than
ten thousand men. The next day he resumed his retreat,
and by almost incessant marching reached Saragossa. That
city, however, friendly as were its inhabitants, was, owing
to its entire want of fortifications, no safe place of refuge
for the wearied Allies, and Vendome was following closely on
their track. Abandoning, therefore, all notions of defending
Aragon, the German commander continued his flight, and early
in January rejoined Charles in Barcelona. Again, as at the
close of 1707, a few towns in Catalonia were all that the Allies
could show for the blood and treasure they had squandered in
Spain. * Staremberg's letter to Charles printed in Lambeity ; Lettres Historiques;
St. Simon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 251

CHAPTER VIII.
To the sanguine spirit and impetuosity of Stanhope is perhaps
to be attributed in the first degree the failure of that branch
of the war which the Allies carried on against the two crowns
in Spain. England indeed, which, after eight years of con
tinual fighting, showed fewer signs of exhaustion than any
other Power in Europe, might doubtless still have re-established
the affairs of Charles in the Peninsula without unduly straining
her resources. But while Stanhope was perpetrating the series
of errors which led to the capture of the English troops at
Brihuega, circumstances at home were rendering those errors
irretrievable. During the entire month of October and the first half of
November the elections were being held for the new Parlia
ment, and the clamour and confusion that prevailed might
have forced a foreigner to the conviction that the English were
a nation of madmen. In only two instances had the Ministers
made a change in the lieutenancies of counties ; but the
majority of the electors and the unfranchised millions press
ing upon those electors were in a frame of mind such as
rendered superfluous any measures by a Tory Government to
influence the returns. The sight of the reverend martyr for
passive obedience and hereditary right had stirred up religious
feeling to the pitch of frenzy in those districts through which he
had condescended to pass, and the elector who voted in defiance
of public opinion must have been indifferent to the fate of his
person and his windows. The Tories, moreover, had, as a rule,
been quick to seize their advantages, had been early in the
field, and had canvassed with immense success. The clergy
took a keen interest in their cause ; for not a doubt was enter
tained by this class but that the triumph of the Whigs would

252 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
be the overthrow of Christianity in England. Rectors and
vicars, not content with exhortations from the pulpit, might be
seen as the. time of the elections approached, wending from
house to house, and imploring their flock to save the Church
by returning men of right principles to Parliament. A strange
stupor seemed to have come over the Whigs. Their organiza
tion under eminent leaders had, in this instance, been injurious
to them ; for those leaders had, with singular infatuation, clung
first to the opinion that there would be no dissolution, and then
to the delusion that no change had taken place in the senti
ments of the middle classes. Many a seat was lost by the
dilatoriness of the candidate arising out of an overweening
confidence in his claims. A Whig was generally disposed to
stand proudly upon the splendid military reputation which had
been built up for his country during those two last Parliaments
in which Whig influence had been predominant. The theological
absurdities upon which the public mind was running he would
scarcely deign to notice. Was this the time, he would put it
to the electors, when France was suing for peace, when a treaty
was being negotiated which would cover England with glory
and render her prosperous beyond example, — was this the time
to discard the men whose energy and public spirit had mainly
conduced to this happy state of affairs? Was it judicious to
confide the settlement of our disputes with France to men who
had been averse to engage in the war, and had since done all in
their power to hamper our armies and commanders ? But such
arguments, however convincing they may have once seemed,
had now lost their effect. Most persons were ruminating upon
very different subjects, and did not think that victories over
French armies and captures of French towns were any answer
to the charge of oppressing God's clergymen and trying to
overturn His Church. It may indeed be asserted confidently
that not one elector in a hundred who now transferred his vote
to the Tory side, was induced to act thus through any dissatis
faction with the Whigs on account of their conduct of the war.
The suspicion that it was improperly prolonged, although now
first suggested, had not as yet taken root. But there was a
general belief that the Whigs were in a conspiracy against
religion, and were forcing the pious and gentle Queen to join

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 253

with them in measures she abhorred. Nine-tenths of the
nation rushed forward, therefore, to the rescue of the two most
cherished objects of their affections, their sovereign and the
Church. In the city of London the Ministers departed from their
general rule by taking some precautions to ensure the returns.
Sir Gilbert Heathcote, whose interference in favour of Godolphin
had excited some little ire in Harley's breast, had been chosen,
mainly through the firmness of the Aldermen, Lord Mayor for
the ensuing year. To counteract the formidable influence of a
man who was at the same time Governor of the Bank and the
most important civic dignitary in the realm, the commission of
beutenancy of the city was remodelled. The six regiments of
trained bands were placed under the command of six Tory
citizens. But such precautions were scarcely needed. Nowhere
was the capriciousness of public feeling more strikingly shown
than in London, the ancient stronghold of Whiggism. The
result of a poll, which the defeated candidates scrutinized with
out detecting material errors or dishonesty, was the return of
four members of the Church party. Sir Gilbert, besides losing
his election, underwent the mortification of being roughly
handled by the populace as he left Guildhall, and one ruffian
vented bis political wrath by spitting in his face. The city
wore an appearance of 'joy as after some great triumph. The
clergy, who had done their part in the struggle, announced the
success of the good cause by ringing the bells of their churches.
At night bonfires blazed in every open space. The houses
were for the most part illuminated after the modest fashion of
our ancestors, and the mob went about smashing the windows
in which no lights appeared.
In the city, owing to the strong semi-military force at the
disposal of the authorities, the elections passed over without
producing more than the ordinary amount of disturbance. But
Westminster, where the police arrangements were much weaker,
was the scene of a tremendous riot. Some Whig gentlemen
had insisted upon putting up Stanhope, notwithstanding his
absence in Spain ; and upon the day of nomination Sir Henry
-Davenport, who was to propose him, rode down with Sir Henry
Colt, the other Whig candidate, at the head of a procession. A

254 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN,
High Church rabble had congregated round the hustings, enthu
siastic supporters of Medlicot and Crosse, the opposing Tories,
and the procession had to fight its way to the platform. Stones,
dead cats, and rotten eggs flew about as in a pantomime, and
the casualties of broken heads and bloody noses kept all the
neighbouring surgeons fully employed. One furious partisan
committed the un-Englishlike act of discharging a pistol, the
bullet from which struck a bawling Whig butcher. Davenport
and Colt appealed to the Sheriff for protection, but the Sheriff's
resources for keeping the peace were anything but adequate to
the emergency. A few miserable old men, designated the
watch, some of them crippled and others half blind, formed the
only force upon which that officer could rely for the apprehen
sion of disorderly persons ; and the watcb, never too desirous
of coping with a single muscular thief, always had the prudence
to keep out of sight in times of extraordinary confusion. Upon
no subject, indeed, has the peaceable citizen of the nineteenth
century more cause to rejoice that he was not born earlier into
the world than upon the subject of police. The individual
who now walks the streets with the knowledge that strong and
vigilant protectors are on all sides of him, and travels to
Edinburgh or Penzance without being disturbed by the fear of
highwaymen, can hardly realize without shuddering the fact
that less than a hundred years ago a man had to depend mainly
on his own strength and courage for the preservation of his life
and property. Upon tfie ensuing day the Whigs, organized
into ranks, endeavoured to keep open a passage for their voters
to the hustings, but to little purpose. Every respectable person
who entered the Strand was stopped, questioned as to his
politics, and knocked down or allowed to pass according to his
answers. Under these circumstances the close of the poll
revealed an overwhelming triumph for the Tory candidates.
Crosse, who polled the least number of votes on the popular
side, polled nearly twice as many as Stanhope, who stood
highest of the Whigs.*
* For details relating to the elections see Burnet ; Boyer; Lettres Historiques ;
Oldmixon ; Lut trell's Brief Relalion. Authors of the libellous class were ex
ceedingly active during this period. " C'est le genie," says the calm writer of
the Lettres Historiques, "de la nation Anglaise de dechaiger son coeuret sa
passion sur le papier. Soit a beau, soit a mal, il faut que la presse roule." Ao

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 255
The 25th of November, the day fixed for the assembling of
Parliament, bad almost arrived before the elections had con
cluded in all parts of the country. The large number of
boroughs then existing, in which the influence of local magnates
was omnipotent, no doubt stood the Whigs in good stead. It
is noticeable that the managers of Sacheverell's prosecution,
whose names were about as unpopular throughout the country
as had been those of Bradshaw and Ludlow after the Restora
tion, contrived, with but one exception, to retain their seats.
Cockermouth was the refuge of Stanhope and Lechmere. Castle
Rising, the patrimony of the Wulpoles, submissively returned
its owner. Beeralston allowed itself to be represented by Sir
Peter King, and Eye by Sir Joseph Tekyll. Wharton's in
fluence was still powerful enough to get his secretary chosen
for Malmesbury, and his secretary was the moderate Whig,
Joseph Addison.
But the general results of the elections not only extinguished
all hope in the Whigs, but even excited alarm in Harley and
those of his party who were averse to extreme measures. All
that they had desired was just such a preponderance of Tories
as would prevent the Whigs from absorbing more than their
fair share of dignities and places, and managing the war as
they pleased. But the country had responded to their appeal
in the same manner as Jupiter answered the farmer's petition
for rain, by inundating his fields. A terrible reaction from
the policy of the last few years was to be apprehended. The
present Parliament comprised but too many politicians of the
old English school, honest squires pledged to persecute the
Dissenters and endow the Church with additional means of
tyrannizing, burning with resentment against the merchants
and stock-jobbers who had so long usurped the reins of govern
ment, and eager to scrutinize every act of the late Ministers in
the hope of discovering matter of impeachment against some of
them. A little before the assembling of Parliament an incident
occurred which raised to a still higher pitch the public feeling
against the unpopular party. The 6th of November had been
IfuA^Z ?r 6d N-eal,e was set in the Pillor>' for P»Mishing that the Queen in-
tended to abdicate m favour of the Pretender and retire to a convent.

256 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
fixed for the day of thanksgiving, and it had been fully expected
that her Majesty would pay her usual state visit to St. Paul's.
But the gorgeous pageant which had annually delighted the
Londoners since the commencement of the reign, was on this
occasion omitted. The Te Ileum was performed before the
Queen and her court in the private chapel of St. James's.
Three days afterwards appeared in the Gazette an advertise
ment bearing the signature of Secretary St. John, which to the'
multitude appeared a very sufficient reason for her Majesty's
abstaining from entering the cathedral. It was announced
that, some evil designing persons having unscrewed and taken
away several iron bolts out of the great timbers of the west
roof of St. Paul's, a free pardon and fifty pounds would be
awarded to any one who made a discovery of his accomplices in
the fact. A few years back or a few years further on in the
history of this country a deed of this kind would at once have
been attributed to the Papists. But the Whigs had for the
moment supplanted the Papists in that office of national scape
goats which they had so long and so patiently held. A broad
side was immediately in circulation informing all good and
loyal subjects of the discovery of a horrid plot of the Whigs to
pull down the roof of St. Paul's upon her Majesty. Some time
elapsed before any inquiry was instituted by the Government.
The fact then came out that bolts had never been employed
in the construction of the edifice, because the roof was perfectly
secure without them.*
The Commons assembled ; and Bromley, . long one of the
acknowledged leaders of the High Church party, and who had
been among the warmest advocates for the occasional conformity
bill, was chosen Speaker without any useless opposition from
the Whigs. Every Court in Europe was anxious to hear in
what terms Anne would address her Parliament now that she
was emancipated from thraldom.t But the speech bad been
composed by men whose leading object it was to avoid giving
offence, and its divergence from previous speeches would
scarcely be detected except by readers familiar with the political
* Lettres Historiques ; Boyer.
t There was a report on the Continent that the Queen intended to offer the
command of her troops to the Elector of Hanover. — Lamberty.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 257
cant and party cries of the time. A recommendation to pro
secute the war vigorously, especially in Spain, was understood as
a censure upon the late Government for having directed its
principal efforts against the Netherlands. Could it have been
known that, even while the Queen was speaking, the British
troops were maintaining in Brihuega a desperate struggle
against overwhelming odds, the passions that this paragraph
excited would have been furious indeed. A clause referring to
the heavy public debt already incurred, coupled with words
amounting almost to a command that the like should be pre
vented in future, carried no little dismay to the ¦ hearts of the
late Ministers, who might think it foreboded malicious inquiry
into their system of expenditure. In Church matters the only
noticeable change was that, instead of the usual promise to
maintain the Toleration, Anne employed a formula more pleas
ing to Tory ears. She engaged to maintain the indulgence
allowed by law to scrupulous consciences.
Eager as were many resentful spirits to rake into the conduct
of those who had been recently in power, their fear of displeas
ing Anne determined them to forego their zeal for inquiry until
the most needed supplies had been voted. The liberality of the
Commons upon this head must have relieved many anxious
minds both at home and abroad. It was resolved that the army
and navy should be continued at the same strength as in the
previous year. The subsidies payable to the Allies were also
agreed to without dispute. No less a sum than fifteen hundred
thousand pounds was assigned to carrying on the war in Spain
and Portugal. The whole amount voted for the naval and
military services of 1711 reached nearly seven millions, a larger
sum than had ever yet been accorded by an English Parliament.
It was given without a murmur ; for the Tories seemed deter
mined not to be outdone by theirrivals in liberality and devotion to
their sovereign. But the conscience of many an honest squire
must have smote him that, by consenting to such extravagance,
he was lending a helping hand to the ruin of poor old England.
To vote supplies was an easy matter : but the difficulty was
how to raise the money. The financial condition of England
was, in truth, in a state which might well perplex any states
man who lived before the hundred inventions of the nineteenth
vol. n. s

258 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
century had developed and multiplied the resources of Govern
ment. Every year the charges of the war had kept on increas
ing ; and every year the Ministers had been driven to make up
the deficiency of the revenue by borrowing. There were now
few taxes — except the land tax and malt duty, which were
annual grants — the produee of which was not charged with the
payment of a heavy debt. The total of these incumbrances at
the close of 1710 fell little short of forty millions ; and the high
interest payable upon this amount probably consumed one half
of the five millions or thereabouts which annually flowed into
the Exchequer. It followed that Government was under the
necessity of borrowing annually between three and four millions
to meet the expenditure sanctioned by Parliament, and that
each year while the war lasted a still larger amount would have
to be borrowed. It was regarded by many Englishmen as one
of the wonders of the age that, while the State was pursuing a
course which, if the case were that of a private individual,
could end in nothing but ruin, capitalists should still be willing
to lend their money to it ; nay, that they should be so partial
to the investment as to accept lower rates of interest than had
formerly prevailed. There was a widely diffused opinion,
which the Whigs had done their best to foster, that the talis
man for attracting money to the State coffers was the special
property of Godolphin. He alone, it was insisted, could inspire
the necessary confidence ; for upon his uprightness and punctu
ality in meeting engagements every creditor could rely. The
first consequence of his dismissal accordingly had been a rush to
sell tallies, exchequer bills and bank stock ; and a heavy decline
in prices had been established- It was this panic which had
greeted Harley upon his accession to the Treasury, and which
had rendered his position embarrassing in the extreme; for
without the confidence of the monied men it was obviously im
possible that the Government could be earried on for a single
year. His very first measure therefore had been to employ
authors to demonstrate the folly of attaching the national credit
to this or that minister instead of to the honesty of the sovereign
and Parliament. There is reason to think that Defoe was the
writer of a series of masterly treatises upon finance, some of
which Harley condescended to publish to the world as his own

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 259
composition.* But arguments to prove that the security of the
public creditor rested not on any particular minister, but on the
honour of the whole nation as represented by the Parliament,
by no means disposed of the difficulty. The real question then
disturbing monetary circles was, whether such a Parliament
as that now assembled at Westminster was to be trusted. In
November of this year, Swift commenced a series of articles in
the Examiner, the object of which was to show that the late
Ministers were little better than rogues, and that the policy
they had adopted throughout their term of office was detri
mental to the interests of the country. In the first paper of
that series he gravely put forward a calculation that, if the
funds appropriated to the payment of interest and annuities were
added to the yearly taxes, they would very nearly, if not fully,
supply the occasions of the war.f If a Tory of such abilities
and of such experience of society as Swift could thus call atten
tion to the convenience of repudiating the national debt, what
may we assume to have been the sentiments of the illiterate and
prejudiced country gentlemen who formed the bulk of this
Parliament ? Of the evils which dishonesty must entail upon
any State which gives way to it, their notions were probably of
the faintest kind. They had not themselves a penny in the
public stocks, which might have assisted them, through the
medium of self-interest, to a sense of what was right and
just. In truth, many country gentlemen would at this period
have considered such an investment for his savings as disgrace
ful. They could see that the men of their own order, and the
class with which they were in daily contact, the landed pro
prietors, farmers, agricultural labourers, would all experience
immediate relief if the national creditors were turned adrift or
forced to wait for their money till the close of the war. And
who would be the parties injured by such a course ? A parcel
of usurers, stock-jobbers, and such-like Whig rats, who were
eating up the country and making fortunes out of the public
distresses. After much deliberation the Ministers decided that of all the
plans for raising money a lottery seemed most likely to be sue-
* They are printed in extenso in Somers's Traots-
t This is No. 13 of the Examiner.
s 2

260 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
cessful. Two bills authorizing and setting apart funds for this
purpose were passed during the session ; and so strong was the
temptation of the public to this kind of investment that in a
very few days the subscription lists were filled up.
The close of the year brought back Marlborough. How the
great man would behave was still a subject of some anxiety.
But the Ministers, since the elections, had grown much less
afraid of him. Their views were, in 'general, that if he would
abate his pretensions to autocracy, and regard himself simply
as an ordinary servant of the Queen, it would be for the com
mon interest that he should remain Commander-in-Chief. But
his resignation would now be of no more consequence than as
it might occasion a little vulgar clamour.* Their conduct
towards him since their accession to power had not been of a
kind to make him forget the mortifications to which he had
been subjected. The dictatorial tone adopted by St. John in
his official letters must have been painful to a man whom
Walpole and Boyle had been accustomed to address in language
almost as respectful as that usually reserved by statesmen for
the perusal of sovereigns. At one of the first sittings of the
Lords, Scarborough, an ardent but somewhat indiscreet friend
of the Duke, had moved that the House should accord its
customary vote of thanks to him. But an intimation was
quietly conveyed to the Earl not to press his motion ; and it
was withdrawn, though not before it had excited some bitter
remarks from Argyle. t The Queen had, during the autumn,
administered a warning to the officers of the army not to con
cern themselves about politics. An order to dispose of their
regiments had been sent to three of them who, at the mess-table,
had drunk the health of the Commander-in-Chief, declared that
they would stand by him, and had insulted a scarecrow which
they had dressed up and called " Harley." But it was abso
lutely necessary that the hero should put up with one more
* Several letters of St. John to Drummond of this period. " If he comes
home and disengages himself from the Whigs ; if he puts a stop to the rage and
fury of his wife ; in short, if he abandons all his new and takes up with his old
friends; by the Queen's favour and by the remains of regard for him which are ,
preserved in the breasts of several people, he may not only stand his ground but
establish himself in as lofty a position as it becomes a subject to aspire to.'
t St. John remarks (November 28, December 9), " One would imagine that
Scarborough had been hired by somebody that wishes Lord Marlborough ill to
take so unconcerted and ridiculous a measure."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 261
affront, and one that was likely to cause him deeper distress
than any to which he had yet been subjected. The dismissal
of his wife from all the offices which it was in the Queen's
power to take from her had been determined upon. The hour
of that audacious woman who had so long tyrannized over her
sovereign had arrived. Anne was peremptory ; and it would
have been dangerous for those who had the ear of her Majesty
to attempt, even if they had the wish, to baulk her inclinations.
For the last two months Tory writers had been busily em
ployed in scribbling down the illustrious warrior. Foremost
of the tribe was Swift. The witty clergyman had returned
from Ireland during the autumn, charged by the primate of
that kingdom to renew the application he had formerly made
for the remission of the first-fruits and tenths on Irish benefices.
To advance his business he had sought an interview with
Harley. The cordiality with which he was received by the
successful statesman evidently took him by surprise. The
former ministers, Godolphin, Somers, and Wharton, who were
neither very favourably disposed towards himself nor the
errand upon which he came, had been accustomed to put him
pff with excuses, and had treated him with a cold formality not
a little exasperating to his haughty spirit. Harley at once
evinced the most captivating eagerness to secure his friendship,
and from that moment became to Swift a patron to be esteemed,
revered, and fought for* The fine wit was soon punning and
rhyming at Harley's table in company with St. John and most
of the leading Tories. The intimacy indeed to which the
Doctor was publicly admitted by these two prominent men,
gave no slight scandal to serious-minded partisans. For
amusing as Swift undoubtedly was as a companion, and useful
as he might be as a literary champion, his character was not
exactly of a kind to reflect credit upon statesmen who stood
forward as supporters of the Church. He was widely known
as the author of a satire upon the feuds prevailing among the
professors of Christianity, which had given grave offence to
Harley told Swift candidly for what his services were required. " The
great difficulty was to find some good pen to keep up the Bpirit raised in the
people, to assert the principles and justify the proceedings of the new Ministers."
Ot h"™ RelatinS to the Change of Ministers ; Swift to Archbishop King,

262 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
most respectable divines by the levity with which a solemn
subject was handled. But if the purpose of Harley and St.
John were to secure the pen of an admirable writer, their atten
tions were not thrown away. The politics of Swift bad hitherto
been those of a Whig. His gratitude towards the great men
who disdained the unfeeling usages of society and regarded as
their equal the poor Irish clergyman, converted him into a
zealous Tory. His enemies were now Harley's enemies: he
rushed into the battle, and soon proved himself a giant in con
troversy, beneath whose irresistible blows whole legions of puny
scribblers went down. The Whig party, although rich in
orators, possessed at that time no man of literary talents capable
of supporting for a moment a contest with the robust genius of
Swift. Addison, unequalled as a writer of harmonious sen
tences, graceful allegories, and amusing expositions of the foibles
of beaus and coquettes, took up the cause of his friends ; but had
the good sense to retire from the fray after breaking a modest
lance or two.* Defoe, far better qualified by the strength and
earnestness of his mind, his power of logic, and his great com
mand of language, to cope with the Irishman, had been engaged,
if not to the side of the Tories, at least to neutrality by the
wise benevolence of Harley. Maynwaring was an author of
merit, but incapable of that vivacity which can alone ensure a
public hearing. Oldmixon could do nothing but rant and abuse,
The Tories had, some months back, at the time when the disso
lution of Parliament was still doubtful, started a periodical
called the Examiner. Although the doctrines of the party
had been advocated with the usual amount of virulence, the
contributors had as yet abstained from animadverting upon
particular persons or measures. But Swift felt that, under the
protection of his patrons, he might bid defiance to the Attorney-
General and the pillory ; and in November the town was di
verted by a paper upon a subject of the keenest interest. Mul
titudes of persons, even those who were loudest in their abuse
of the Whigs, were yet troubled by a compunction that Marl
borough had been hardly dealt with in the recent changes. It
was considered as scarcely a grateful return to the veteran
general who had raised his country to the height of military
* In the Whig Examiner, which, however, extended only to five numbers.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 263
renown, to turn his friends and relations out of office. Swift
set himself to remove these scruples. His argument was that,
if the Duke had done his duty well, he had been well paid for
it ; and he drew an amusing comparison between the pecuniary
value of the rewards of a Roman conqueror and those of the
English warrior. The gratitude of the Romans, evinced in a
laurel crown, a bull for sacrifice, a handful of copper medals, a
fine car, and a triumphal arch, involved them in an outlay of
not more than nine hundred and ninty-four pounds, eleven
shillings, and tenpence. The British public had shown its
ingratitude by conferring upon Marlborough posts which might
be valued at five hundred and forty thousand pounds.*
But the popularity of a hero, like a fashionable superstition
or a mode of dress, is not easily to be extinguished by argu
ment and ridicule. Marlborough, upon making his entry into
London, was welcomed by the populace with undiminished en
thusiasm. It was dark; but links and torches held up by
innumerable hands flamed about his coach, while the streets
rang with the cries by which Englishmen testified their an
tipathy to Catholicism and France — " No Popery ! no wooden
shoes ! " Judging that a reception of this kind would only
serve to increase the ill-feeling of his enemies, he prudently
stopped his coach at Montague House, waited until his admirers
had dispersed, and then proceeded in a common street vehicle
to St. James's. Anne was too much embarrassed at her first
interview with her former friend to talk of any other subject
than the weather. But the next morning, having fortified
herself, it may be presumed, with some counsel from her new
confidants, she declared her pleasure with sulky ungraciousness.
She was still desirous, she told the Duke, that he should con
tinue to serve her : he should have no cause to complain of the
conduct of her Ministers : but she had to request him to dis
countenance any efforts his friends might make to procure him
a vote of thanks from the Parliament, t
Marlborough was all humility. He had long since made up
his mind to endure any mortification which the Queen could
. This is No. 16 of the Examiner, the wickedest but cleverest squib, I think,
m the language.
t Coxe's Memoirs ; Burnet.

264 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
inflict or his enemies devise, if only he were permitted to
retain his position. He knew that the hardest trial of all to
his feelings and his sense of dignity was approaching. It was
with difficulty that her Majesty had been persuaded by her
new counsellors to wait till the close of the campaign before
she wreaked her vengeance upon the Duchess. The behaviour
of that singular personage had been during the last few months
more provoking than at any time before. The principal object
for which she was now striving seems to have been to procure
the reversion of her places for her daughters. Having grown
weary of the fruitless method of despatching to her mistress
narratives of her faithful services, extracts from sermons
bearing upon the mutual obligations between friends, copies of
epistles to remind her Majesty of vows and promises she had
made in the past days of doting affection, of all which not the
least notice was taken, the termagant resolved to. change her
tactics. She would force the Queen to be as good as her word.
She vowed and declared to every one that, unless justice were
done her, she would prove to the world what a liar her Majesty
was, by publishing her letters.* The threat was duly reported
by good-natured sycophants to Anne, and excited no little
terror in the royal breast. It would seem that the Duchess
¦was only saved from perpetrating a scandalous outrage, which
would in all probability have brought a loyal mob beneath the
windows of her palace, by the intervention of the Queen's
physician, Sir David Hamilton. He was in the habit of con
versing with Anne almost daily, and expressed himself to the
discarded favourite as being not altogether without hopes that
a compromise, if not a complete reconciliation, might be effected
between the two. The excellent man laboured earnestly to
turn the Queen from her design of dismissing the Duchess,
which, he thought, would occasion a public calamity. His
view of the case was, in fact, that taken by most persons.
Marlborough, the indispensable general, had, from a sense of
public duty, submitted to many affronts hard to be borne ; but
there was a point at which flesh and blood must rebel. That
the Duke would continue to serve a Queen who should put a
mark of disgrace upon the wife he idolized, was scarcely to he
* Bolingbroke to Drummond, November 28, December 9.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 265
expected even from his temperate nature. The physician sent
from time to time cheering reports of expressions her Majesty
had let fall, which might seem to denote that some sparks of
affection were still lingering in her breast. One day in
January he sent word that the Queen was in a humour more
than ordinarily soft and gracious. He had been telling her
that the Duke's distress on account of the displeasure she had
conceived against the Duchess was so great, that he had fallen
ill; and Anne appeared to be touched by the information.
This, he added, was the time to address her. Marlborough
hastened to the palace. He presented to the Queen a letter
from bis wife. But either Hamilton had mistaken her
Majesty's feelings, or the mere sight of the husband of her
old tormentor revived all her indignation. The letter addressed
in that well-known hand she at first refused to open ; but she
yielded at last to the Duke's entreaties, and glanced through it.
The Duchess, in a style unusually humble, expressed her regret
that she should have done anything to offend her Majesty, and
promised to abstain for the future from referring to any
unpleasant subject. "I had never thought," she said, "to
trouble your Majesty again in this manner ; but the circum
stances in which I see my Lord Marlborough, and my appre
hension that he cannot live six months if an end be not put to
his sufferings on my account, make it impossible for me to resist
doing anything in my power to give him ease." Anne
remained perfectly unmoved by what she had read. She
perhaps regarded the sufferings of my Lord Marlborough with
the same suspicious contempt as Mary of Medicis was accus
tomed to regard the hypocritical tears of Cardinal Richelieu.
" I cannot change my resolution," was the remark with which
she laid the letter down. The Duke continued for the best
part of an hour to intercede for his wife. He implored her
Majesty, if she were determined to dismiss the Duchess, at
least to defer her sentence till the conclusion of the war, which^
he hoped would be in another year, when they might both
retire from her service together. But Anne was in one of
those stubborn, silent moods in which she but too closely
resembled the old tyrant, her father. Teased by the Duke's
importunity, she at length broke out in a rage, and insisted

266 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
that the Duchess's gold key should be brought to her within
three days. Marlborough was petrified at this result of his
eloquence. He fell on his knees. He asked for an interval of
only ten days, that some expedient might be devised to lessen
the humiliation that must accrue to him by a sentence so
sudden and unexplained. The only effect of his prayers was to
arouse in Anne the imperious blood of that hard, cruel, despotic
race from which she was descended. " I will now have the
key brought to me within two days," were the peremptory
words with which she cut short all further intercession. " I
will talk of no other business until I have the key," she added,
when . Marlborough, having risen from his knees, commenced
a fresh subject.*
The unhappy hero quitted the presence of an enraged queen
to return to the society of a still more violently enraged wife.
The Duchess, upon hearing her Majesty's decision, took the
gold key from her side, tossed it into the middle of the room,
and bade her husband pick it up and carry it where he pleased.t
That same evening Marlborough returned to the palace, and
delivered up the token of his wife's offices. He made one last
effort to excite the compassion of the Queen, but to no purpose.
The embarrassment of Anne was visible ; but it was at the same
time evident that her resolution had undergone no change.
By the following day the news of the Duchess's disgrace had
spread through the town, and it was confidently affirmed that
the great general would avenge himself for the affront by
laying down his command.:}: But days and weeks went by,
and there was no official information that Marlborough had
resigned. It was even noticed with wonder that a better
understanding than heretofore appeared to exist between him
and the new Ministers. Indeed, during the remainder of the
Duke's stay in England he seemed to devote himself principally
to two objects — to regain the friendship of some influential
* Coxe's Memoirs. Bolingbroke remarks to Drummond, January 19— _30,
" My Lord Marlborough brought last night his wife's key to the Queen, and if
he had begun by making this step it had been better, since nothing could soar
the Queen's mind more than the endeavours he used to keep the Duchess in her
places. He promises very fair. I believe all the Queen's servants will behave
themselves so as to make his serving abroad not only practicable but easy to
him." f Dartmouth's Note on Burnet.
j See the remarks made by Boyer and B urnet.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 267
Tories whom he had long neglected, and to remedy the mischief
which was likely to ensue from the conduct of his wife, who
kept railing against the Queen in all sorts of company with the
heartiness of a fishwoman*
Before Parliament reassembled after the Christmas recess
intelligence bad reached the country of the disaster to the
British troops in Spain. To the Tories, in whose minds party
feeling predominated for the time over patriotic feeling, the
news was not altogether unwelcome. It afforded them just
the occasion they desired for venting their animosity against
the former Ministers. An attack upon the late Government
was immediately commenced, but it may seem remarkable that
it was commenced in the Upper House, where the Whigs had
hitherto reigned supreme. The explanation is that the returns
of peers from Scotland, which had been in every instance
favourable to the High Church party, had now inclined the
balance to the Tory side. The Lords, in answer to a message
from her Majesty, intimated that, as the misfortune had pro
bably originated in some preceding mismanagement, it was
their intention to trace it to its source. An inquiry into the
conduct of the war in Spain from its very outset was at once
instituted by a committee of the whole House. Peterborough,
whose prospects had cleared with the decline of Marlborough's
influence, was on the eve of departing as ambassador to Vienna ;
but the House applied to the Queen, and he was ordered to
postpone his journey. That restless genius was soon re
producing before a sympathetic audience the same charges.
against the leading officers of the army in Spain, which three
years before he had related to cold and reluctant hearers. The
Peers sent to desire the attendance of Lords Galway and
Tyrawley, and a chair was placed for the former without the
bar. That person must have been indeed a zealot for party
who could look unmoved upon the intrepid veteran, who,
maimed and frightfully disfigured in the wars of his adopted
country, was thus called upon in his old age to defend his con
duct. His military career had been singularly unfortunate.
From Neerwinden to the battle on the Caya it had been
nothing but a series of disasters. He had never been in action
* Dartmouth's Note on Burnet.

268 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
except on the losing side, and had rarely emerged from any
fight without receiving some horrible wound by which to re
member it. He was now subjected to a severe and malicious
examination touching his behaviour when in Spain. It was
impossible for Marlborough; who properly appreciated the zeal
and honesty of Galway, to stand by without attempting to inter
pose between him and his persecutors. " It seems a strange
thing," he remarked, "that generals who have acted to the
best of their abilities, and have lost their limbs in the service,
should be questioned as if they were offenders about trifles."
But a vindictive majority of the House was not to be deterred
by considerations of delicacy from striking through Galway at
those Ministers upon whose instructions Galway declared that
he had always acted. The only favour accorded him was per
mission, on account of his imperfect acquaintance with the
English language, to put in a written narrative of his pro
ceedings. Tyrawley was next examined. As Sir Charles Hara he had
achieved a reputation for embezzling the stores ; and not know
ing what the object of the Lords might be in their inquiry, he
thought it prudent to give them as little information as pos
sible. " When I was in the army," he said, in a tone which he
hoped might pass for the bluff honesty of a simple-minded
soldier, " I was not accustomed to carry pen and ink about
with me, but only my sword, which I used as best I could
upon occasion. All I recollect in general was that we always
acted upon the resolutions passed in the councils of war."
The narrative submitted by Galway was a plain, and bore all
the appearance of being an honest, account of the proceedings
of the army and its leaders in Spain. It is by no means so
clear that Peterborough, in many of his representations, adhered
so strictly to truth. But it is impossible to toil through the
mass of documents bearing upon this subject without one con
viction forcing itself upon the mind. Galway, although per
sonally as brave as a lion, and sufficiently acquainted with the
details of bis profession, was more fitted for a subordinate than
for the chief place in an army. Peterborough, on the other
hand, unquestionably possessed high military genius, and had
he been unfettered by rivals, would, with great probabiHty, have

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 269
conducted the war to a very different termination. For the low
opinion which Marlborough had conceived of him it is not diffi
cult to account. That staid and sober observer of men could
not but remark that an atmosphere of bickering and wrangling
accompanied the conqueror of Barcelona wherever he went. If
he approached the person of a monarch, ministers, counsellors,
and favourites were speedily wrought to such a pitch of fury as
to endanger the friendly relations of their master with the Eng
lish Government. From the moment he joined an army such
enmities broke out among the officers as to paralyze every ope
ration of war. His flightiness, his eccentricity, his eternal
babble about his grievances, his complaints against monarchs,
ministers and generals with which he was for ever assailing
the Parliament and the Queen, rendered him in Marlborough's
eyes little better than an universal tormentor. But in this
opinion a majority of the Peers did not coincide. It was
sufficient for them that Peterborough had been slighted, and
that those who had thwarted him in Spain, Galway, Tyrawley,
and Stanhope, had been upheld by the former Government.
The resolution which passed their House was that both the
defeat at Almanza and the failure of the expedition to Toulon
arose from these three generals advocating an offensive system
of war.
There can be little doubt, viewing the matter after the event,
that Peterborough's recommendation to act on the defensive
was the best which the Allied army could have adopted in the
beginning of 1707. But a majority of the officers who sat in
the councils of war held at Valencia had differed from the
Earl : there was no evidence that their opinions had been im
properly influenced ; and it may therefore appear unjust and
absurd to place a public stigma upon commanders who have
acted in strict conformity with military rules, merely because
foeir plans have turned out unfortunate. The Tories, however,
were determined to press on to the goal they had originally
proposed to themselves. The inquiry was resumed, and Anne,
who had attended the previous debates, was again prevailed
upon to animate her favourite party with her presence. It
was now attempted to be shown that the fatal policy adopted
by the generals had been approved and sanctioned by the

270 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
former Ministers. Copies of the correspondence between the
Secretaries of State and the commanders in Spain were pro
cured by application to the Queen, and read to the House.
Sunderland's letters placed it beyond all doubt that in 1707
the Government had given its support to the plans of Galway
and Stanhope of marching to Madrid by way of Valencia and
Aragon, and afforded clear evidence that Peterborough's com
mission as ambassador to Charles had been revoked expressly
in order that he might cease to embarrass them by his opposi
tion. The Tories required no further testimony. By one
resoluticn it was decided that the Ministry were justly to
blame for contributing to all the misfortunes in Spain, and to
the failure of the expedition to Toulon ; by another that Peter
borough had performed many great and eminent services, and
that had his advice been followed misfortune would not have
occurred. A vote of thanks to the Earl was carried without a
division. Thirty-six peers, including all the great Whig leaders,
Marlborough and Godolphin, recorded their dissent to these
resolutions. An unusually full account of the debates has been
preserved. The Duke spoke more than once with that weight
and authority which his position as the most trusted servant of
the Crown gave him, and exerted himself strenuously in the
defence of Galway. " God Almighty," he observed, " has
hitherto blessed my own endeavours ; but if men are to be
censured when they give their opinions to the best of their
understandings, I must expect to be found fault with as well
as the rest." The vehemence of Argyle, who never lost an
opportunity of carping at Marlborough, frequently degenerated
into rudeness. An excellent summary of the objections of the
Whigs to the first resolution was afforded by Lord Mohun, a
nobleman who, having disgraced his early years by crimes for
which he ought to have forfeited his life to the laws, bad since
somewhat redeemed his good name by a more orderly demean
our. " I am against it," he said, " for three reasons : first,
because I know not who are meant by the ' Ministry ; ' and it
is not right to include in a censure persons who neither deserve
nor are intended to be blamed : secondly, because to recommend
an offensive war was at the time no bad advice ; and thirdly,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

271

because I would have men be just to one another, and not cen
sure those who give their opinions with honest intentions."
The Tories were not even yet satisfied with the marks of
disapproval they had bestowed upon Galway. They proceeded
to impose a cruel and apparently a most unjust stigma upon his
conduct. By far the greater portion of the army Avith which
he entered Spain was composed of Portuguese. The officers of
these regiments, proud and punctilious men, insisted upon
retaining after the border was crossed that privilege of march
ing in front, which they enjoyed by express stipulation so long
as they were in their own country. Galway, who could not
have stirred without their support, was induced to wraive the
claims of his own English soldiers to the post of honour. It
was now resolved, by sixty-four lords against forty-four, that by
so doing he had acted contrary to the dignity of the Imperial
Crown of Great Britain. All these resolutions were laid before
Aane in the form of a representation, a good specimen of party
writing, maliciously pointed in every line against those coun
sellors by whose advice she had, until within a few months,
been governed.*
While the Upper House was arraigning the former Ministers
for their conduct of the war in Spain, the Commons were pur
suing, in a similar vindictive spirit, an inquiry into their
financial policy. The petitions about controverted elections
had beea of course decided with a strong bias in favour of
defeated Tories ; nor had the Whigs much right to complain of
injustice which they had never scrupled to commit themselves
when they had the power. The consequence was that, when
the Parliament reassembled after the Christmas recess, the
majority of the Tories had increased to such proportions as
enabled the party to indulge in any resolutions to which their
interest or their passions impelled them. As the old Govern
ment had been greatly applauded for the wisdom of its financial
system, it was a great object with Harley to show that this
praise had not been merited ; and the attention of the House
was called to the subject.
The Queen had in her speech referred to the large debt
which had been incurred in the department of the Navy. It
* Parliamentary History.

272 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
had steadily increased during the whole period of Godolphin's
administration, and now exceeded five millions sterling. It was
indeed to the men of that age a great, a ruinous debt, perhaps
exceeding the capacity of the nation ever to discharge; and
such was the uneasiness felt in commercial circles that bills on
the Navy had fallen to a considerable discount. The method of
providing for this branch of the public service was an annual
grant by Parliament of four pounds a month to forty thousand
men ; and this amount the Tories professed to believe sufficient
for the purpose, if properly applied. Such being the case, the
debt would admit of only two explanations. Either great and
culpable extravagance had been suffered to prevail in the1
department ; or the Treasurer, careless as to what became of
the effectiveness and credit of the Navy so long as his friend in
Flanders was well supplied with money, had diverted the
funds* While the House was brooding revengefully over this griev
ance, an intimation was made by Harley that the Lords Com
missioners of the Treasury, having instituted an inquiry, had
detected some gross abuses in the victualling of the Navy. A
committee was appointed to pursue this investigation, and the
report, which was soon afterwards laid before the Commons,
brought to light a strange practice. It seems that the autho
rized daily allowance of beer to each seaman was seven pints.
It can only be presumed that those who fixed his allowance at
this absurd quantity, did so with the view of his disposing of
the surplus beyond his wants, and pocketing the proceeds.
This, it appeared, had for some time been the custom. ^ The
purser or captain paid the seamen for the beer they did not
drink : the brewer who supplied the ship paid the captain for
the beer he was not required to send, and received a discharge
for the full amount he had contracted to deliver. It is not
improbable that poor Jack was often cheated in this arrange
ment ; but in one respect the practice must have been beneficial
to him. Since the commencement of the war most of the ships
had made annual voyages to the Mediterranean, where beer
could hardly have been kept, and would have been a beverage
ill suited to the climate even if it were drinkable. The money
* Among Somers's Tracts is a series of papers relating to this subject

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 273
which the seaman received in lieu of his beer enabled him to
supply himself with more wholesome beverages if he pleased
so to do. But the Commons were in no mood to listen to
explanations. There were the ugly facts before them that
several brewers had received discharges for twice the amount of
beer they had actually supplied. It was resolved to request
her Majesty to prosecute the guilty parties. One of them, who
was a member, was promptly expelled from the House.*
So far all had proceeded according to Harley's wishes.
Enough had been brought to light to engender doubts as to the
conduct of those who had been lately in office. In the Lords'
it had been made to appear that, while they were stinting the
service in Spain to such an extent as seriously to compromise
the safety of the troops, they were encouraging the generals in
such bold courses as could only and did lead to disaster. In
the Commons' the veil had been partially torn from their
financial administration, and a chaos of debt, waste, and em
bezzlement had been laid open. But Harley had now almost
reached the limit to which he thought it prudent to go. It did
not enter into his designs to gratify the whole crowd of malig
nant and greedy Tories, who were crying out to kill the scotched
snakes, to make an end of the villains who would have turned
their country into a Republic and their countrymen into Deists
or Dissenters. It was very far from his wishes that the late
Ministers should be impeached, that every useful Whig who
still served the sovereign should be ejected in order that his
place might be enjoyed by some conceited simpleton of the right
party. Yet a considerable number of members of both Houses
of Parliament had come up to Westminster in the full antici
pation of glutting their vindictive feelings and at the same
time dropping into some lucrative and influential post. Not
tingham, whose bitter intolerance on the subject of religion
would have qualified him for the office of Grand Inquisitor, if
any such had been at the Queen's disposal, and whose mind was
teeming with projects for checking the spread of Dissent, could
not understand what the new advisers were about, and began
to suspect that, with all their professions, they were hypocrites
Bumet ; Boyer ; Lettres Historiques. Burnet remarks that notwithstand
ing this vigorous procedure the abuse went on still as avowedly as ever.
VOL. II. T

274 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and traitors to the cause at heart. He by no means stood alone
in his opinions. It had been long customary for the members
of a party, when some important measure was before Parlia
ment, to meet at a tavern for the purpose of concerting a plan
of action. The society was termed a club. No fee or sub
scription, however, was paid by those who joined it, the pro
prietor of the tavern being satisfied by every person discharging
his reckoning for the ale or wine he consumed ; and entrance to
the room was obtained simply by giving a password at the bar.
In 1704 a club had been formed at the Vine by those members
of Parliament who were intent on passing the bill against occa
sional conformity. Soon after the opening of the present
session a few of the extreme Tories began to hold meetings at
the Bell in Westminster. The password to their club, one easy
of remembrance to a country gentleman who loved his ale, was
" October." The number of persons who attended these meet
ings increased so rapidly that before the end of the session the
October Club was said to consist of a hundred and eighty mem
bers, all of them belonging to Parliament or to the Lower House
of Convocation, which was sitting at the time. The evident
moderation of Harley's politics had from the first surprised,'
and now began to exasperate, a set of men who had expected
that with a Tory Government would ensue a system of ad
ministration the reverse in most things to that which had
prevailed during the period of Whig ascendancy. For four
months the Parliament had been sitting : the Tories had a
majority sufficient for any purpose ; and yet nothing had been
done to complete the ruin of the Whigs, to establish her
Majesty's title firmly on the basis of hereditary right, to repress
the Dissenters, or even to add to the security of the Church.
It is not strange that Harley's conduct should have excited
general wonder and distrust ; for it was inexplicable even to
his most intimate friends. Swift confessed that he could not
understand it, although, as in duty bound, he exerted himself
to convince others of the wisdom of his patron.* Harley was,
in fact, falling fast in the estimation of the Tories, when a for
tunate incident arrested for the time the decline of his popu
larity. * Swift's Memoirs Relating to the Change in the Queen's Ministry.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 275
Among the French refugees, who, from various motives, had
joined the Allied Powers against their native country, was the
Abbe de Bourlie. He was descended from one of the most
distinguished families of the south of France ; but being a
younger brother had been forced into the career usually allotted
to the cadets of noble houses. He entered the Church for the
purpose of preserving the family benefices, although, like
Eichelieu, be had but little inclination for an ecclesiastical life.
He soon perpetrated some offence which must have been
singularly disgraceful, as with all his fondness for writing and
discoursing about his achievements, he never once mentioned
the cause which drove him from his country. His sensitive
vanity, the resentment which a man of depraved nature feels
against those towards whom he has behaved badly, and an
active and ardent temperament, combined to render him a bitter
enemy to France. Some daring attempts which he made in
1704 to extend the insurrection of the Cevennois were frustrated
by the watchfulness of Villars. He then commenced a round
of the Allied courts. The Duke of Savoy, fascinated by the
brilliance and fertile invention of his visitor, recommended him
as a useful servant to the English Government, and upon
arriving in this country he was well received.* He had
dropped his title of abbe, resumed his patronymic, and now
called himself the Marquis of Guiscard. St. John, who was
then Secretary at War, made him the companion of his wild
orgies. Godolphin did more for him. He gave him the com
mand of a regiment of refugees, and never failed to consult
him about those projects for effecting a landing on the French
coast, which at this period of the war formed a part of the
plans for each year. These expeditions, however, invariably
proving both abortive and costly, were at length, much to
Guiscard's mortification, abandoned. It should be said, in
justice to him, that their failure was owing, not to any remiss
ness on his part, but to the lukewarmness and parsimony which
the Government always displayed in every undertaking which
Marlborough did not conduct in person. The difficulties of the
poor adventurer to get his schemes adopted now went near to
turn his brain. He kept passing and repassing between the
* For the earlier history of Guiscard see the Memoires de St. Simon.
T2

276 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
camp in the Netherlands and the closet of the Treasurer, sub
mitting projects more and more visionary, and boasting of his
abilities to carry them through, until both Marlborough and
Godolphin were wearied, and heartily repented ever havino-
taken him into favour. His regiment was disbanded. To
compensate him for the loss of his colonelcy a pension of five
hundred pounds a year was awarded him by Anne ; but this, at
the recommendation of the Commissioners of the Treasury, was
soon reduced to four hundred. Had the pension been regularly
paid — and it was not — it would have been insufficient for a man
who lived the dissipated life of Guiscard. He soon fell into
great poverty : he was deeply involved in debt : he was often
in want of a meal. The coldness and disdain of the new
Ministers convinced him that he had nothing more to expect
from the English Government. In these desperate circum
stances he bethought him of transferring his services to a new
market. He contrived to open a correspondence with the
French Ministers, and strove to inspire them with a belief that
he was possessed of valuable information touching the designs
of England for the ensuing campaign. His letters, however,
fell into hands for which they were never intended. A warrant
for the apprehension of the traitor was instantly issued, and he
was arrested while walking in St. James's Park and conducted
to the Cockpit for examination by the Privy Council.
The members not being yet assembled, Guiscard was first
confined in one of the rooms used by the clerks. His pockets,
in conformity with the usual practice, were searched, and the
messengers, who had taken him into custody, then left him
alone. During their absence he got possession of a penknife
which he found lying upon the desk. He was brought before
the Council and interrogated by his old boon companion St.
John as to his correspondence with France. He appeared
greatly agitated, changed colour several times, shifted from
one foot to the other, and kept fumbling in his pockets. He
had the assurance, however, to deny that he had entered into
any communication with the French Ministers until his letters
were produced. St. John then upbraided him for his treachery
towards a queen from whom he was receiving a pension, and
exhorted him to be sincere and make a clean breast of all he

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 277
had done. He asked permission to speak witli him in private.
His request was refused ; and as he continued his importunities
one of the Privy Councillors put his hand on the bell to sum
mon the messengers to take him away. Then he grew frantic
with rage and despair. " This is harsh usage," he exclaimed ;
" am I not to be allowed a word iJ " He strode towards Harley,
who was sitting at the table, stooped down as if to whisper, and
stabbed him in the breast. The blade of the penknife broke
against the bone : the assassin repeated the blow, and made a
rush towards St. John. There was wild confusion. St. John,
crying out, "the villain has killed Mr. Harley!" drew his
sword and made several passes at Guiscard. Some of the Privy
Councillors followed his example. The messengers came
running in, and the unhappy wretch, who tossed and writhed
about like a madman, was at length thrown to the ground and
secured. He implored the Duke of Ormond to despatch him ;
but his Grace turned coldly away. " That is not the business
for a gentleman," he replied, "but for someone else." The
Frenchman, already half dead from wounds and bruises, was
then dragged away.*
The probability is, on a review of all the circumstances, that
Guiscard, a ruined, desperate man, cursed with an excitable
temperament, and foreseeing nothing before him but a traitor's
doom, adopted this means to procure for himself a more gen
tlemanly exit from the world than by hanging. There is
nothing to show that he entertained any special malice against
either Harley or St. John. The circumstance of his singling
out the former for his victim may be accounted for simply by
Harley being the Privy Councillor who sat nearest to him.
Ihe injuries Guiscard received at the hands of the members
and their servants were, however, so serious that he survived
his committal to Newgate only eight days. Several attempts
to elicit information from him were made by St. John and
others during those intervals in which he appeared to be in
possession of his senses. But he protested that he knew of no
conspiracy, that he had no accomplices; and there can be
little doubt that this was the- truth. Occasionally he seemed
M*%er; Lettres Historiques ; Burnet and Dartmouth's Note; Swift to King,
aurcn, 1710 ; Narrative of Guiscard' s Examination, written by Mrs. Mauley.

278 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
anxious to unburthen his mind of some distressing secret ; but
he always stopped short, and there is every reason to believe
that he was half-delirious at the time. As soon as he was
dead the governor of the prison directed that the body of the
friendless man should be preserved in brine, and permitted his
turnkeys to earn a few shillings by exhibiting it to public
curiosity. But this show, which would have disgraced, a nation
of savages, was speedily stopped by a royal order to inter the
corpse. The report that Harley had been stabbed by a French spy
spread like wildfire through the town, with the usual accessories
supplied by the imagination of the narrators. A variety of
silly rumours agitated all London. A horrible plot had been
discovered. An attempt had been made on the Queen's life.
The Pretender was on the high seas. He had landed some
where on the coast. The Ministers, instead of endeavouring to
allay the public alarm, took such measures as increased it. The
guards in and around St. James's Palace, and the patrols of the
park were promptly doubled.* Harley meanwhile had been
carried home. His wounds were not in themselves of a dan
gerous character. But as he had been out of health for some
time previously his friends were not without anxiety ; and
during the five weeks he kept his house, his door was con
stantly beset by inquirers. The act of Guiscard had suddenly
raised him to the glorious elevation of a martyr for his Queen,
his country, and the Protestant religion, t That the assassin
should have selected him for his victim out of all England was
a sufficient answer to those who were trying to make out that
the new Minister was but an indifferent patriot, a merely selfish
politician, a lukewarm Churchman. Was it not evident that the
King of France had ordered him to be taken off because he was
the most able and zealous servant the Queen possessed, and the
most determined enemy to the Church of Rome ? The friends
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques. ,
t St. John remarks (March 13—24), "It is impossible to express to youths
firmness and magnanimity which Mr. Harley showed upon this surprising
occasion. I, who have always admired him, never did it so much. The 8U""elJ;"
ness of the blow, the sharpness of the wound, the confusion which fi,jj°*'~'
could neither change his countenance nor alter his voice." This proves that the
enmity which afterwards broke out between the two Ministers, had not yet com
menced.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 279
of Harley in the Lower House were quick to take advantage of
the general enthusiasm. On the day following the attempt of
Guiscard, and at the time when the Minister was thought to be
lving betwixt life and death, they moved and carried an address
to the throne. It was presented by both Houses, and informed
her Majesty that it was the opinion of the Parliament that his
fidelity and zeal for her service had drawn upon him the hatred
of all the abettors of Popery and faction. The Queen in her
answer expressed her concurrence with this sentiment. A
request that she would take all possible care of her sacred
person, and as one effectual means for her safety would remove
all Papists from London and Westminster, excited the usual
proclamation against that unfortunate class of men.
This address had been carried without opposition. Many of
the Whigs preferred to absent themselves from their seats
rather than to vote upon the occasion ; and they adopted the
same course when Harley, upon his recovery, received the con
gratulations of the House through the Speaker.* During his
absence a committee had been instituting a rigorous examina
tion into the financial administration of the late Government.
Their report was now presented. It was read, was taken at
different times into consideration, and two resolutions were
founded upon it. By one printed and published vote the
country learned with a thrill of alarm and indignation that, of
the moneys granted by Parliament up to Christmas, 1710, there
was a sum of no less than thirty-five millions for which no
accounts had been passed. By another, which seemed a natural
sequence of the first, that those persons who had till recently
managed the affairs of the Treasury, had committed a gross
breach of trust in neglecting to compel the proper parties to
pass their accounts. As nothing was made public beyond the
bare votes, it was left to the charity of every man who had not
-the advantage of listening to such explanations as the late
Ministers and their friends could offer in Parliament, to
estimate how much of this vast sum had been embezzled by
Godolphin, his colleagues and subordinates. It was fortunate
for that statesman at this conjuncture that the world firmly
believed him to be what he in fact was, a poor man. He was
* St. John to Drummond, March 13 — 24.

280 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
at least unattended by any of the evidences of wealth. His
style of living was singularly devoid of luxury or ostentation.
His passion for horse-racing, cock-fighting, and card-playing
was indeed notorious ; but it was also notorious that he was
seldom a loser by his betting transactions, which he conducted
with all the wariness and cool calculation of a professional
blackleg.* But assuming, the complete innocence of Godolphin,
it could still only be inferred from these votes that strange
laxity had prevailed during his administration, and that a host
of pilferers had been encouraged by his indolence and careless
ness. The tale about the thirty-five millions, which the Whigs
had between them contrived to embezzle, was soon exciting the
wonder of the credulous and exercising the ingenuity of all the
alehouse politicians in the kingdom. It is no bad illustration
of the contempt with which the intellectual and dignified
leaders of the party regarded the opinions of the vulgar that,
although nothing could have been easier than to set their
countrymen right, upwards of a year elapsed before they con
descended to tender them any explanation. It was not until
1712 that Walpole, weary of the rumours floating about to the
prejudice of the late Ministers, published a pamphlet which, in
the opinion of all reasonable men, satisfactorily disposed of the
charges implied or seemingly implied in the resolutions. It
was shown that of the thirty-five millions the accounts for
all but seven millions had been given in, and only awaited the
audit, a final process which the cumbrous and antiquated pro-
ceedure of the Treasury rendered a very tedious business ; and
that for the remaining seven millions the accounts had not at
the date of the resolutions arrived from Spain and Portugal.t
But the resolutions had meanwhile accomplished the object
which their authors had in view. They had inspired a doubt
in the public mind of the boasted integrity and commercial
wisdom of that favourite Treasurer who seemed to monopolise
the confidence of monied men.
About the same time that these votes were levelled at
Godolphin, another vote was pointed at Sunderland. The
* He died in 1712, and, according to the Duchess, left scarcely sufficient for
the expenses, of his funeral. Indorsement of the Duchess on' Godolphin's Letter
of Dismissal, — see Coxe's Memoirs.
t See the paper in Somers's Tracts and the remarks in Burnet's History.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 281
animosity which the Tories cherished against this nobleman
exceeded that which they cherished against any other member
of the Junta. There was both in his politics and in his manners
a kind of defiance to public opinion which was highly provoking.
In an age when the sympathies of the whole nation were
intensely monarchical, it was the delight of Sunderland to
affect the republican maxims and rude bearing of a Cato. In
an age when the spirit of the community was decidedly con
servative, Sunderland was the ardent apostle of progress. In
an age when the great mass of the people was devoted to the
Anglican Establishment, and set on religious persecution,
Sunderland could not rest content merely with protecting the
Dissenters, but notoriously desired to raise them to the sarnie
level as the orthodox Churchmen. The Act of Naturalization,
which attracted to England those crowds of homeless foreigners
who were popularly termed Palatines, had been, it was well
known, a favourite scheme of his, and it had undoubtedly
proved a very mischievous one. The grievance had indeed
abated considerably during 1710. Many of the refugees had
found masters : shiploads had been despatched to Ireland and
America. Still, however, the number who hung about London
was large enough to excite the ire and jealousy of those native
paupers who considered themselves the sole legitimate objects-
of charity. The Tories had been always averse to the act, andi
had watched with alarm the sweUing crowd of destitution, not
so much on account of the folly of encouraging an influx of
foreign beggars at a time when trade was in a depressed con
dition, as of the danger which threatened the Church of England.
Por although a Palatine might be a Protestant, he was not a
Protestant after the orthodox fashion ; and his presence in this
country could only be regarded as an increase to the ranks of
the Dissenters. The opportunity was now seized of passing a
sharp censure upon the policy which the late Government bad
pursued in this respect. A report upon the Palatines was pre
pared by a special committee, and gave rise to a resolution that
whoever advised their being brought over was an enemy to the
Queen and the country. The October Club was much mortified
that matter which might have been made grounds for impeach
ing Sunderland should be passed over so lightly ; and a motion

282 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
was made in the House to implicate him in the censure by
name. But Harley was, as usual, disinclined to go to extreme
lengths against any one, and he and his friends contrived by
some of those parliamentary devices in which he was eminently
skilled, to elude the ferocity of the extreme members of the
party.* The passionate Toryism of the House of Commons was
illustrated by another measure, which justified to some extent
the gloomy forebodings of the City as to the wisdom of a
Parliament elected during that fit of devotional fervour which
followed the prosecution of Sacheverell. The old and cherished
scheme of the party for resuming the grants of William was
again brought forward. In truth, it presented some over
powering recommendations to a very large class of Englishmen.
Even at this day it is difficult to avoid regretting that, not
until nearly the whole of the once extensive crown lands had
been lavished upon favourites, did the Parliament attain to
sufficient authority to impose a check upon improvident
sovereigns. At a period when the nation was groaning under
an extraordinary load of taxation, it was a bitter reflection that
a parcel of Dutchmen should be enjoying property which, had
it been retained by the Crown and applied in aid of the national
resources, might have materially contributed to lighten that
load. But the thing had been done. The sovereign had never
regarded such property as accrued to him by forfeiture as a
public trust. No lawyer could conscientiously have disputed
his right to alienate it to whom he pleased. Under such cir
cumstances a bill to resume grants already made was, as
respected the sovereign, an arbitrary assumption of power by
the Parliament, and as respected the grantees, an act of
despotic injustice which a Persian autocrat might have been
ashamed to commit. But the hatred which the landed gentle
men bore to the Portlands and Albemarles blinded them to all
other considerations. A bill to resume the grants made by the
Crown since February, 1688, was introduced and passed. In
it were inserted the names of Commissioners whose duty it
should be to examine the value of the property granted, and
the consideration for which the grant was made. The small
* Burnet; Boyer; Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 283
probability that this duty would have been impartially fulfilled
heightens the infamy of the scheme. It is not unfair to assume
that the design of the promoters of this bill was not against all,
but only a selection of the grantees of William. Such Tories
as had tasted of the royal bounty would have been suffered
to escape, while the Dutchmen and Whigs would have been
despoiled without mercy. As it was anticipated that the bill
would meet with but little favour from the Lords, some of the
zealots endeavoured to induce the House to tack it to the
lottery bill, which was then ready. But this proposition was
firmly and successfully combated by that moderate section of
the party which followed the lead of Harley. It does not
appear that any considerable debate arose with regard to the
bill in the Upper Chamber. It was promptly rejected ; and its
promoters were forced to forego their design for that session*
Another act, conceived in the strongest spirit of Toryism,
survived, strange to relate, through the entire period of the
Georges when the Whigs were almost uniformly the pre
dominant party, escaped the Reform Bill of 1832, and continued
to be the law of the land far into the reign of Victoria. The
landed gentry took advantage of their majority to pass a bill
which they fondly hoped would for ever exclude the men of
Change Alley from all chance of obtaining a seat in Parliament.
It was laid down that an indispensable qualification of a county
member should be the possession of an estate, freehold or
copyhold, of the clear annual value of six hundred pounds,
and that the qualification of a borough member should be a
similar estate of the annual value of three hundred pounds.
The returning-officer was required to administer an oath to the
candidate upon his election that he held such an estate, and to
certify to the House of Commons that the oath had been taken.
The only exceptions to the rule were the eldest sons of peers
and the members chosen by the Universities. In 1696 a similar
bill had passed both Houses, but had been rejected by William.
In the following year another bill to the same purpose had
been thrown out by the Lords. But the composition of the
Upper Chamber was now so far changed by the addition of the
Scottish peers, whose interests were not affected by the bill, and
* Burnet.

284 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
whose sympathies were all on the Tory side, that the measure
was again passed. It met with the ready acceptance of a
sovereign incapable of discerning, like William, the mischievous
tendency of a law ignoring the claims of personal property, and
expressly framed with the view of confining the legislature to
a class of persons generally ignorant of the principles of trade,
and even affecting to despise those who made trade a pursuit.
It is needless to relate how the Act practically became a dead
letter, or to recount the devices by which persons notoriously
disqualified contrived through a century and a half to evade
the law. But it is not one of the least strange among the
curiosities of English history that a law, intrinsically bad and
so constantly eluded as to blunt men's consciences by the
familiarity with chicane, should have been suffered to remain
so long on the statute-book.
The Londoner of the nineteenth century is still surrounded
by the effects of a grant of this House of Commons. From
Hanover Square to Limehouse the monuments of a pious queen,
a zealous clergy, and a compliant Parliament, meet his eye at
every turn. Three hundred and fifty thousand pounds were
accorded to her Majesty for building fifty additional churches
in London and Westminster; and from this fund the suc
cessors of Wren were enabled to design and erect those remark
able edifices which now embellish the metropolis. The traveller,
fresh from the rich Gothic of France, Belgium, and Germany,
will no doubt discern in the severe simplicity of our eccle
siastical architecture, the emblem of that pure unadorned
religion for the diffusion of which it was reared. A steeple
rising above a Greek portico will be admitted by such critics as
are not firmly wedded to classical prejudices to be an improve
ment on the Parthenon ; and the lover of the Italian style will
see with admiration the works which Palladio originated under
a bright sky and amid the blue waters of Venice, reproduced,
with the variations of independent genius, in the gloom and
smoke of London.
A week after Harley's return to the House of Commons he
promulgated a scheme to provide for the floating debt, which,
although simple enough in its most important feature, was
accepted by the Tories as the inspiration of a heaven-born

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

285

financier. It consisted in funding the debt, which amounted on
one branch or another of the service to nearly nine millions
and a half, at six per cent, interest. As an inducement to the
creditors to accept the scheme, he proposed to incorporate them
into a company with a monopoly of British trade to the South
Seas. The countries to which our forefathers alluded under
the general term of " the South Seas," were Peru, Chili, and
Mexico, all of them Spanish possessions. They were still, in
the absence of precise information about them, believed to be
Eldorados. But it seems strange that the same persons who
pictured them as being strewn up and down with gold and
gems, which the natives were eager to exchange for cloths,
tools, and glass necklaces, should have likewise imagined that
Spain would be willing to admit partners in so valuable a traffic.
Not a hope of any kind was held out by the Government of
sending an armed expedition to drive awray the Spaniards.
There seems, however, to have been a vague conjecture that
Harley would insist upon some arrangement with Spain
touching British commerce as a condition of any treaty of
peace. As regarded the national creditors the scheme was a
success. Parliament and public alike were fascinated by its
attractions. The bills on the Navy, which formed the principal
portion of the floating debt, became at once in eager demand,
recovered from the discount to which they had fallen, and the
credit of the Government was said to be restored.
Amid the applause which foUowed the introduction of this
scheme the public learned with satisfaction that the Queen had
been pleased to raise its author to the peerage. A patent
creating him Baron Harley of Wigmore, Earl of Oxford and
Earl Mortimer, passed the Great Seal on the 24th of May.
The preamble to that document is not a little remarkable.
The same absurd flattery which his party lavished upon him
tor the purposes of faction, the same vituperation of former
servants of the Crown which nothing could excuse but its
being delivered in the heat of party warfare, were introduced
m the solemn act ennobling himself and his posterity. It
enumerated the situations he had held : it declared how he
had been Speaker to three successive Parliaments and at the
same time a Secretary of State, two offices which, however dis-

286 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
cordant tbey might seem with each other, were easily combined
by one who knew so well how to reconcile monarchy with
liberty ; how, after an interval, he had become Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and put a stop to the growing embezzlement of the
public money ; how he had settled a new trade to the South
Seas, restored the public credit and filled the citizens with joy ;
how the two Houses had declared that his fidelity and affection
to the national interests had exposed him to the hatred of
wicked men and to the desperate rage of a villainous parricide ;
and how her Majesty had determined to comply with the
desires of her Parliament by granting him a place among the
peers. Finally it was pronounced a singular felicity that he,
who was himself learned and a patron of learned men,
should derive his title from a city so pre-eminent for letters.
Harley was not ashamed to print and circulate this fulsome
catalogue of his merits. A few days after taking his seat in
the Upper House he received from Anne the Treasurer's staff.
A piece of good fortune had recently befallen him. The
Queen's uncle, Rochester, was now dead ; and although his
influence with his niece had never been great, it was considered
that his removal from the scene secured Oxford the monopoly
of the royal confidence.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

28/

CHAPTER IX.
The summer was now far advanced, and the session drew to a
close. One of the last acts of the Commons was to carry up
to the throne a series of strictures upon the late Ministers in
the form of a representation of the state of the nation. In this
document, which was published and industriously dispersed
throughout the kingdom, they related the many bad practices
which they had detected in the conduct of the preceding
Administration, the borrowing of money without consent of
Parliament, the diversion of monies granted for one service to
the use of another, the irregularities which had been permitted
in the victualling of the navy, the neglect to compel the proper
officers to pass their accounts. " Your people," the framers of the
representation concluded by informing Anne, " could perhaps
have borne with patience the inj uries inflicted upon themselves
by the frauds and depredations of such evil ministers, had not
the same men proceeded to treat your sacred person with undu-
tifulness and disregard." The speech with which the Queen on
the 12th of June prorogued the Parliament amounted to an
emphatic approval of all that had been done during the session.
One of its sentences excited some comment. Her Majesty
repeated the assurance she had made at the opening of the
Parliament of her earnest concern for the succession of the .
House of Hanover. During the entire period of Godolphin's
Administration and the ascendancy of the Whigs, the Ministers
seem to have considered it unnecessary to introduce any refer
ence to the House of Hanover in the royal orations. But with
the first Parliament containing a majority of Tories, and
presided over by a Tory Ministry, her Majesty felt herself
compelled, although at some sacrifice to dignity, to speak out
plainly. Her assurances on this subject amounted, in fact, to

288 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
an aeloiowledgment of the distrust which the changes in her
Government had inspired in the minds of her subjects as to her
intentions of promoting the fulfilment of that law of succession
which had been enacted eleven years back.
Yet these misgivings as to the succession appear to have
been nearly confined to the Whigs. There can be no doubt that
the new Ministry had during the session advanced considerably
in the esteem and confidence of the nation. At the commence
ment some scruples had existed in a large portion of the public
which looked with little favour upon the Whigs as a party, as
as to the expediency of a change of Government at such a time.
A lustre of glory had hitherto surrounded the Whigs, which
even those who most bitterly hated the religious and political
doctrines they were supposed to hold, could not avoid respecting.
The system which William introduced, and the Whigs, as his
political executors carried on, of organizing the Powers of
Europe against France, had been crowned with success.
Blenheim and Ramifies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet had been
added to the stock of national pride. Could it be prudent to
dismiss those Ministers whose whole hearts were in the war,
just at the time when France was succumbing, when one more
vigorous effort would almost infallibly win a triumphant peace?
Would Tories forget their old antipathies to foreign wars and
set themselves earnestly to carry to a successful issue the plans
originated by their rivals ? Would a new Ministry be able to
exercise the magical wand with which Godolphin could raise
money at any time and in any sums ? Above all, would the
great soldier whose sword seemed to be indispensable to his
country, remain a patient witness of the dismissal of his
relations and friends from office, of the substitution of those
who had undermined them in their room, and continue his .
exertions on behalf of an ungrateful Queen and people ? Such ,
doubts and scruples had qualified the satisfaction with which ,
a large section of the public regarded the Tory reaction in ,
1710. Before the Parliament broke up all doubts bad disap-
peared. Marlborough had pocketed his affronts with Christian ¦
meekness, and appeared willing to remain for ever in the
service of a country which paid him so well. The triumphant <
party had given the best proof of its determination to support

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 289
the war by grrnts as liberal as had ever been voted by a Whig
majority. Harley had caught up the magical wand of Godol
phin and endowed it with additional powers. Public credit
was restored. Stocks were fast recovering from their depres
sion. In truth, the respect which the former Government had
inspired was now dashed with suspicion. Good sound Church
men and patriots, it was said, had looked into their administra
tion, and found the finances all in disorder. It was probable
enough that the country bad been systematically plundered by
the very men whose wisdom, integrity and acquaintance with
commercial affairs had been so highly extolled. With the
close of the session Swift concluded the series of weekly
essays which he contributed to the Examiner. He could then
congratulate himself that his object had been fully accom
plished, and that a great majority of the nation was at length
convinced of the wisdom of the Queen in changing her Minis
try and Parliament.*
Harley had steered his way through all difficulties with con
siderable adroitness. The abilities of this man were once extra
vagantly praised. It seems now too much the fashion to
underrate them. There were doubtless in his stolid countenance,
the solemn importance of his manner, his habit of making a
mystery of every trifle, His confused way of speaking, and his
heavy attempts to emulate the vivacity of St. John and the gaiety
of Prior, little of the externals either of a courtier or a statesman.
Yet Harley contrived to insinuate himself into the esteem of
Anne ; and was also successful, as far at least as his own advan
tage was concerned, as a politician. It may be questioned
whether any Minister ever showed a nicer discernment of men
and parties than he exhibited during the period immediately
following the change of Government. Every measure of the
Parliament of 1710 was, in spite of opposition from all quarters,
fashioned according to the bent he wished to give it. He con
trived to blast the reputation of the Whigs, yet at the same
time to leave open a door of reconciliation with them by restrain
ing the Tories from any useless and pernicious persecution. He
managed to prevent the High Church zealots from passing laws
which he saw would infallibly, as the national fervour cooled,
* See No. 45 of the Examiner.
VOL. II. TJ

290 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
bring the whole party into contempt. And in this policy of
moderation bis only ally of any note seems to have been the
Secretary, Dartmouth.* Nottingham, the mosi influential Tory
of the Upper House, disgusted at being baulked in his schemes
of piety and revenge, soon declared himself an enemy. St.
John, the greatest orator of the Lower Chamber, broke away
from subordination to a leader whom he despised as a mere
pompous plodder, and evinced his restlessness, sometimes by
haranguing in favour of the Whigs, and then supporting the
extreme Tories, f The Minister who could overcome difficulties
of so many kinds, could scarcely have been the mere puzzle-
headed man he has been represented.
One point he from the first saw clearly. It was absolutely
necessary to make an end of the war, or his administration
would be soon obnoxious to the same reproaches which the
Dation was now casting upon the former Ministers. If armies
and fleets were to be continued upon their present colossal scale,
and if princes all round Europe were to be perpetually sub
sidized, it was plain that a revenue of five or six millions would
no more suffice to a Tory Government than it had already
sufficed to the Whigs. The report must soon burst upon an
indignant country, that the same men who had taught it to
cry shame upon the extravagance of their predecessors were
following in their footsteps. The means of bringing about a
peace seem to have been debated from the outset of the
administration. + Upon one subject all the members of the
conclave were united in opinion. As long as the negotiations
were permitted to remain in the hands of the Dutch, with
Marlborough and the Whigs behind the scenes as prompters,
no satisfactory result was likely to ensue. It was necessary
therefore that a communication should be opened directly with
the French Ministers ; but to avoid exciting alarm in those
Governments, and that host of persons who were interested in
prolonging the war, that the communication should be made
with the greatest possible secrecy. The Earl of Jersey was the
first to propose a plan for compassing this object.
* Dartmouth's affection for Harley is apparent in all his notes to Burnefs
History. t Speaker Onslow's Note to Burnet.
J See Bolingbroke's Correspondence and Swift's Various Political Writings.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 291
There was in London a French priest named Gaultier. He
had come over in the suite of Tallard upon the occasion of his
embassv in 1698, and had ever since remained in the country,
earning his livelihood by officiating as chaplain in the houses
of different Roman Catholic families. Tallard had, at parting,
recommended him to correspond, as opportunity offered, with
the French Government, but to run no risk of being set down
as a spy ; and the Abbe had acted with so much prudence that,
notwithstanding a frequent interchange of letters between Torcy
and himself, be had never fallen under suspicion.* Jersey, in
whose family he had for some time resided, mentioned him to
Harley as a man exactly adapted for the sort of business required.
His character was without reproach, his abilities were good,
and he had the essential recommendation of being so little
known to the public that he might be sent on any mission with
out attracting notice. Accordingly, in January, 1711, Gaultier,
after receiving some verbal instructions from Harley and those
few persons who were in the secret, stole over to Nieuport, sent
forward a letter to Torcy requesting an audience, followed his
messenger to Versailles, and was at once ushered into the
chamber of the Minister. His first words not a little astonished
that astute but despairing statesman. " Do you want peace ? "
he said. " I am come to enable you to obtain it independently
of the Dutch, who are unworthy of the honour, which his
Majesty has so frequently designed for them, of being the paci
ficators of Europe." Torcy was lost in amazement. Such an
offer proceeding from England was too good to be true. He
suspected that some trick was intended. To ask a Minister of
his Majesty at such a time whether he desired peace, was, as he
many years later confessed in his memoirs, like asking a man
sinking under a fatal disorder whether he wished to recover.
Gaultier proceeded to inform him that, if his Majesty would
renew his negotiations with the Dutch and should succeed in
reopening conferences for a peace, the English Ministers would
take care that those conferences should be attended by ambas
sadors charged with such instructions as would effectually
* On the 10th July, 1710, Torcy directed him to gain over, if possible, the
ihike and Duchess of Shrewsbury and the new favourite. — Mackintosh, Collec
tions. TJ 2

292 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN r
prevent the envoys from the States from acting as they had
hitherto done.*
Torcy acquainted his Majesty and his fellow Ministers with
this proposal. The opinion of the majority was that a man,
almost totally unknown, and who dropped, as it were, from the
clouds, with an improbable story in his mouth, for which he
could produce not a line of credentials, was unworthy of serious
attention. It was urged that his Majesty could not, without a
deplorable sacrifice of dignity, renew his advances to a people
who had, in return for his previous condescensions, treated him
with unparalleled asperity and insolence. Both Louis and
Torcy, however, influenced perhaps by their ardent desire for
peace, were more disposed to consider the words of Gaultier as
being a genuine overture on the part of the English Ministers.
What he asked for, moreover, did not amount to much ; and,
contrary to the usual practice of impostors, he made no demand
for money. He required nothing beyond a letter of vague
compliments addressed to Lord Jersey. If such a letter were
furnished him, he remarked, it would pledge his Majesty to
nothing. The English Ministers would, however, understand,
when they saw it, that his Majesty was willing to put himself in
communication with them. Louis, convinced that no harm
could result from such an innocent proceeding, complied with
Gaultier's request, and about the same time that Marlborough
was preparing to embark on his tenth and last campaign against
France, the Abbe was speeding back to England with a letter
signed by the Secretary of State, of which the contents were
that that functionary was glad to hear that my Lord Jersey was
in good health, and begged to be remembered to him through
the bearer.*
The great Englishman took his departure at an early season
of the year, glad to take refuge from the pitiless sarcasms of
Tory wits and the insidious civilities of Tory Ministers in a
country where the leading men were all bis sincere friends, and
in an army where he was adored by every degree of rank, from
the colonels to the drummers. Amid his numerous causes of
vexation he had some sources of consolation. He had received
the most solemn assurances both from the Queen and the
* Memoires de Torcy. t Memoires de Torcy.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 293
Ministers that the remittances for the pay of his troops should
be forwarded with . the same punctuality as when the Treasury
was controlled by Godolphin. He had been also relieved from
the presence of his bitter enemy Argyle, who had been
appointed to the command of the troops in Spain. At the
Hague he remained until nearly the end of April, engaged in
the hopeless task of composing disputes between the northern
potentates, trying to soothe the King of Prussia, who was, as
usual, protesting that, unless the States paid him his money,
his soldiers should be marched home, and entreating the German
Ministers to stir up the circles of the Empire to send their
contingents in time. On his road to the army he received
intelligence of incalculable importance. The smallpox had
hurried off the Emperor Joseph.* He left no male issue, and
the successor upon whom the suffrages of the electors seemed
likely to fall was his brother Charles, the same prince for whom
the Allied Powers had been so long striving to secure the
crown of Spain.
It appears strange that an incident which, in reality, threw an
entirely new complexion over the interests involved in the war
should have wrought at the time no apparent change in the
sentiments of most of the English and Dutch statesmen. The
avowed, object of the contest was to restore the balance of power
in Europe, which was thought, by Philip's acquisition of the
Spanish dominions, to incline too much in favour of France.
In 1700 the aspect of affairs was such as might well cause
uneasiness to the Dutch, and in a less degree also to the
English. Philip was a feeble and dependent youth, accustomed
to pay the most implicit obedience to his grandfather. The
whole fine of seaboard from the frontier of Holland to Gibraltar
would, it was considered, be virtually under the control of one
•ambitious, unscrupulous, energetic despot. But ten years had
produced a great difference. It was plain to all who did not
obstinately shut their eyes to facts that Louis had had enough
of fighting for the rest of his life. Even the resources of his
magnificent kingdom were drying up. His spirits seemed to
be broken both by public and domestic calamities. He was
Willing to offer the most ample guarantees for his future good
* 17th April, 1711.

294 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
behaviour — a strong barrier to the Dutch and important con
cessions to the other Allies. His great age, moreover, rendered
it impossible that he could reign much longer, and when he
died the Duke of Burgundy would succeed him. The thrones
of France and Spain would then be enjoyed by two brothers,
whose personal characters, a consideration of no little im
portance in absolute sovereigns, promised anything rather than
a repetition of the career of Louis XIV. ; and as time rolled on
the degree of relationship between the monarchs of the two
kingdoms would grow wider and wider.
It may seem, therefore, that in 1710 the crown of Spain
might have been abandoned to Philip with little danger of any
harm resulting. But with the commencement of 1711 occurred
an incident which rendered the course which the Whigs and a
party in Holland were bent on pursuing with' reference to the
Spanish dominions one decidedly impolitic. Joseph died, and
Charles became Emperor. If Spain were conquered and made
over to him, his power, so far as extent of territory may be
said to constitute power, would equal that of Charles V. The
preponderance in Europe would simply be transferred from the
House of Bourbon to the House of Hapsburg, and with this
additional evil. As matters stood the two thrones would be
occupied by separate princes ; and however close might be their
relationship, their interests and wills might and probably would
differ on many essential points. But if the Spanish dominions
were given to Charles, more than a moiety of civilized Europe
would be obedient to the will of one man. And it was im
possible to predict how long this state of things might continue.
No separation of sovereignties might ensue, as upon the death
of Charles V. The present Emperor, a weak and voluptuous
being, seemed unlikely to give much trouble, but his successor
might be a very different kind of person.
These reflections seem not to have occurred to or at least not
to have been sufficiently pondered either by Marlborough, the
Whigs, or the Dutch statesmen. But there can be no doubt
that the Tory Ministers at once regarded the accession of
Charles to the Empire as adding a powerful argument on public
grounds to those private reasons which had already determined
them to use their efforts to effect a peace. Spain, as one of the

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 295
objects of contention, they were willing to give up. The
difficulties in the way of conquering that kingdom had always
been formidable. After the recent disastrous campaign they
might well appear insurmountable ; and now it had become
very questionable whether, even if the design could be accom
plished, it was a wise one. They ventured to convey to the
Parliament a hint of their pacific intentions. The Oueen, in
communicating to the Houses the news of the Emperor's death,
announced that she designed to employ her influence in pro
moting the succession of the King of Spain to the vacant
dignity, and expressed a hope that, with the assistance of her
Parliament, she should be able to bring the war to a happy
conclusion by a safe and honourable peace. How the succession
of Charles to the Imperial crown could be the means of bring
ing about a peace must have been an enigma to most minds.
But it does not appear that this significant coupling of the two
subjects occasioned any debate in either House.
May had arrived before Marlborough found himself in a
position to take the field. The ablest of the French marshals
had been again selected to oppose him, and Villars had omitted
no precautions to ensure the safety of those few remaining
fortresses which still protected the frontier of France. During
the winter his men had been working at another long series of
fines which stretched from Namur to the sea-coast. At every
point the progress of the Allies southward was barred by a
river, a canal, a marsh, or a fortified embankment ; and in
front of Cambrai, ready to turn towards any part of the lines
which might be threatened, was stationed the French army.
Villars himself, now restored to perfect health, was in excellent
spirits, and overflowed with conceit and confidence. He foresaw,
what indeed happened, that the death of the Emperor would
compel the Allies to detach a force into Germany to insure the
election of Charles ; and he joyfully boasted to a trumpet of
Marlborough's that he expected this campaign to be the stronger
by thirty thousand men. But he did not anticipate what also
came to pass, that he himself would be called upon to make a
detachment. Before the opening of the campaign he made a
tour of inspection among the towns. At St. Omer his attention
was. drawn to a weak point in the fortifications. " Fortifica-

296 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
tions ! " he replied, " we need not trouble our heads about them
any longer. Those who will need them now are his Majesty's
enemies."* A characteristic speech, in which he alluded to
his lines as the non plus ultra of the Allies, obtained a wide
circulation until Marlborough broke into them and laid siege to
Bouchain. Eugene, whose assistance at this conjuncture bad scarcely
been expected, reached the camp about the middle of May. It
was a common supposition that the two generals were burning
to achieve some splendid victory which might rekindle the
public enthusiasm, and dissipate those inclinations to peace
which appeared to be gaining ground both in Holland and
England. It was known that both were out of favour at their
respective courts ; and it was therefore surmised that both
were personally interested in prolonging a war upon which
their pre-eminence depended. But six weeks passed, and
nothing of moment occurred. The rival armies lay face to
face with only the narrow stream of the Sanzet between their
outposts. A truce having been established by common though
tacit consent, the officers contracted the habit of strolling along
the banks of the rivulet and holding conversations across the
water. At one of these promenades Villars appeared, accom
panied by a young man of noble and dignified mien, upon
whom many high-born Englishmen cast their eyes with min
gled curiosity and compassion. It was the personage who at
the Court of France bore the title of King of England, and
whom the Marshal, in his friendly zeal for the . unfortunate
Prince, could not refrain from exhibiting to his revolted sub
jects. Marlborough grew uneasy at the interest which the
Pretender excited in his officers, and intimated a wish to Villars
that these promenades should be discontinued, t He himself
was in the habit of sending, -as opportunity offered, messages of
comfort to the exiled family. In letters never intended to
meet the public eye, and to agents who he trusted would be
dumb, the Duke professed himself a fervid Jacobite, full of
remorse for the past, and on the watch for every chance of
restoring his hereditary sovereign. But these professions were
purely hypocritical, and probably made with the double object of
* Lettres Historiques. t Memoires de Villars.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 297
providing for hisown safety in case, through some Tory machina
tions, the Stuarts should recover their throne, and of keeping
the family quiet by deluding them with false hopes that their
restoration could be peaceably effected. As far as his influ
ence could reach, it was constantly exerted in favour of the
succession of the Hanoverians.
Before midsummer, both armies had been considerably weak
ened. Much to his mortification, and against his energetic
remonstrance, Villars was compelled to send a detachment to
Alsace. He could not penetrate what his master's design could
be. If it were determined, he argued, to oppose the election of
Charles to the Empire, the wisdom was apparent of sending
not a small force but as large an army as could be mustered
into Germany. But it was folly to reduce the army of the
Netherlands by a body of men just sufficient to destroy all hopes
of a victory in Flanders, and yet insufficient to turn the scale
elsewhere. The lapse of a year or two put mankind in posses
sion of a clue to the mysterious action of the French king.
His hopes of effecting a peace by the agency of the English
Ministers were rising fast. The gasconades of Villars set him
trembling with apprehension lest that ardent commander should
make good his promises, and achieve some success over the
Allied arms, which would have the effect of reviving a war
like spirit among the English and Dutch. A victory at this
critical season was, he considered, as much to be dreaded as a
reverse. What he desired was, that the campaign should be
unproductive of any important incidents; and the best way,
he considered, of effecting his wishes, as the Marshal was not
to be acquainted with the circumstance that negociations were
in progress, was to deprive him of the means of doing harm.
As soon as it was known that a detachment had left the
French army, Eugene separated himself from his colleague, and
marched off with the Imperial troops to watch its motions.
Marlborough, although not trusted by the Ministers at home,
seems not to have been in the same profound ignorance as to
what was passing between the Courts of London and Paris as
his adversary. He felt keenly the degradation of his position.
¦It was idle to go on forming plans and risking the lives of
ms soldiers each day in executing them, if the Governments

298 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
of England and France had already come to an understanding
with regard to a peace. He at length determined to make a
direct appeal to Oxford, and for this purpose dispatched from
the camp his friend Lord Stair to confer with that Minister.
The security of the Grand Alliance, the great objects for which
so much blood and treasure had been expended, his emissary
was charged to say, were seriously imperilled while the com
mand of the troops remained in the hands of a general who had
lost her Majesty's confidence. A commander possessed of that
essential requisite, would be more competent than he to conduct
the war to a glorious termination. He was ready to resign at
any moment, ; and his prayers and his influence should be
employed to promote the designs of his successor. But if it
was thought for the public advantage that he should continue
in his station, he must stipulate for a restoration of that good
understanding upon which he had formerly lived with the
Queen and her Ministers, and without which his efforts for
the public welfare must be paralyzed. He then proceeded to
unfold bis plans for the war. His design was to obtain
Bouchain and Quesnoy before the close of the campaign, and
the next year to be early in the field and lay siege to Arras
and Cambrai. Those fortresses in the power of the Allies
there would be nothing to prevent them from marching into
the interior of France, and dictating their conditions of peace
under the walls of Paris.*
Oxford, with the terms of peace already half-arranged with
the French Government, pretended to be overwhelmed with
grief at the suspicions which his Grace had conceived. He
listened with admirable gravity to the plans submitted, and
professed bis anxiety to promote them with all his ability.
Finally, he bade Stair return to the Duke, and assure him
that, come what might, he would never do anything that might
cost him his good opinion, f
Partly reassured by the accounts which Stair gave upon his
return, Marlborough proceeded to carry out his plans. His
army, after the withdrawal of Eugene, was somewhat weaker
* Coxe's Memoirs. His authority is a letter from Stair to Lord Marchmont,
10th December, 1734.
t Oxford to Marlborough, August 4 — 15.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 299
than that of Villars ; but the Marshal showed no signs of a dis
position to emerge from his entrenchments, and these, while he
remained at hand to guard them, appeared well-nigh impreg
nable. The Duke exerted all his invention. His movements
during the last week of July and the first week of August have
been regarded by competent judges as affording some of the
best proofs of his military genius. He permitted the enemy
to obtain some trifling advantages. He then retired to a con
siderable distance, followed by Villars, who, however, still kept
cautiously within his lines. The Duke appeared to be unwont-
edly ruffled by the reverses he had sustained. He declared his
determination to attack the entrenchments with so much heat
that those about him began to fear that mortifications and
insults had rendered him desperate. Upon the morning of the
4th of August, he drew out his army in order of battle, rode
along the lines, and, addressing the colonels, pointed with bis
cane to those parts of the enemy's works against which they
were to lead their regiments. The day passed in a fever of
excitement and expectation. In the ranks of the Allies
another attack still more sanguinary and still more question
able in its hopes of success than that in which thousands of
brave men had shed their blood like water at Malplaquet, was
looked forward to, not indeed with fear, but with terrible fore
bodings of failure. Villars, on the other hand, not doubting
but that the political difficulties of Marlborough had deter
mined him to stake everything upon the chance of achieving a
victory, concentrated his forces and awaited the onset behind
his fortifications with a well-grounded confidence in the result.
But the night drew on, and the signal of battle had not been
given. While the drums were beating the tattoo, an order
passed round to strike the tents. Before ten, the whole army
was in motion to the left, the Duke riding in front with a body
of cavalry. The march was kept up throughout the night.
the ranks grew thin from the numbers who sank on the
ground, exhausted with the fatigue of plodding through the
heavy fields ; but the majority, cheered by the hope that some
brilliant result of their labours was at hand, held manfully on.
"J sunrise the advanced guard reached the Scarpe at Vitry,
and there encountered a messenger from Cadogan, always the

300 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
leader in the execution of a great design. He and Hompesch,
with twelve thousand troops, who had been quietly detacher]
from the camp while both armies were absorbed in the expecta
tion of a battle, had found a portion of the lines between
Bouchain and Cambrai almost abandoned of defenders, and
had entered without the loss of a man. Marlborough sent
messages to the rear to accelerate the march of the infantry
and to collect the stragglers. He himself pushed forward with
the cavalry. By eight on the morning of the 5th, the greater
part of the horse had effected an entrance ; and two or three
hours later the columns of infantry were streaming through
those lines which Villars had declared to be the uon plus ultra
of the Allies.*
The Marshal had received early intelligence that the Allied
army was moving off to the left. But the reports of bis spies
for some days past had established so complete a conviction in
his mind that Marlborough was bent upon attacking him, that
he at first set down this movement merely to a change of dis
positions. Too late the real object of his adversary flashed
across his mind. Leaving his infantry to follow him with
their best speed, he set off with his cavalry, and rode so
furiously in the direction of Cambray that only a few of his
escort could keep up with him. At dawn he was near enough
to the scene of the irruption to perceive what had occurred ;
but in his anxiety to learn the worst, he pushed on until he
nearly fell into the hands of the advanced guard, f By the
morning of the 7th, the French infantry had reached the spot.
Both armies were again in presence with only a marsh between
them, and it seemed as if a battle must ensue. Marlborough sum
moned a council of war, and declared himself to be against fight
ing. He had without loss obtained an advantage which would
not have been thought dearly purchased at the cost of several
thousand lives, and he was anxious to reap the fruit of it by
laying siege to Bouchain. Villars, it was true, was no longer
protected by entrenchments. But to attack him would be to
set at hazard an advantage already gained ; and the conse
quences of a defeat would be ruinous. The men, moreover, were
* Kane's Campaigns ; Lettres Historiques ; Campagne de Flandre.
t Memoires de Villars ; Campagne dc Flandre.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 301
out of condition by their almost unexampled march of thirty- six
miles in sixteen hours. He therefore turned aside, crossed the
Scheldt, and drew lines of circumvallation round Bouchain.*
The siege of that town, although in itself not a very con
siderable fortress, and garrisoned by only four thousand men,
took up six weeks. The hearts of the defenders were sustained
by the sight of the whole French army, which from the ramparts
might be seen stretched along the horizon beyond the fortified
ring of the besieging force. So near, in fact, were the out
posts of the two armies that the sentinels could converse with
each other. Villars, deeply mortified at being out-manoeuvred,
exerted all his skill to interrupt the operations of the Allies,
and occasionally succeeded in throwing succours into the town.
But his efforts could not avert the catastrophe. Upon the 14th
of September he caught a distant view of the garrison marching
out of Bouchain as prisoners of war.f Sanguine as was his
temperament he could have little imagined that the decree of
fate had gone forth, and that this was the last humiliation
which France was destined to suffer.
During the campaign the negotiations between the English
and French Ministers had made rapid progress. The informa
tion brought back by Gaultier had satisfied the former of the
willingness of Louis to come to an arrangement with them ;
and the Abbe was again despatched with instructions to draw
from him some definite proposals to serve as the basis of a
treaty. He was charged to express a hope on the part of his
employers that the conditions to be submitted to them would
not be less advantageous than those already submitted to the
Dutch. But Louis rightly judged that affairs had assumed a
widely different appearance to that which they bore a year ago,
when he was reduced to implore the authorities at the Hague
to listen to the proposals of his plenipotentiaries. The position
of his grandson in Spain had then been precarious ; now it was
assured. A simple province in the Peninsula was all that
remained under the power of the Allies. With the exception
. Marlborough was censured by several statesmen for neglecting this oppor
tunity of attacking the French army. "In reply, Sir," he says in a letter to
^inzendorf, "to your inquiry into the motives which induced me not to engage
*™ eiiemy^l could answer in one word, impossibility."
t Memoires de Villars ; Campagne de Flandre ; Lettres Historiques.

302 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
of the people of Catalonia, the Spaniards had evinced an enthu
siasm for the cause of Philip which afforded good hopes that
they would maintain his throne against the utmost efforts of his
enemies. It had become evident that he was the king of. their
hearts, and scarcely needed the assistance of the French arms
to maintain him in his position. The cruelty and absurdity of
the Allies in insisting that the King of France should under
take the work of tearing his grandson from the affections of a
nation were never so apparent as now.
But the confidence of Louis was not founded solely upon the
improvement which had taken place in the affairs of Philip.
It was manifest that a change at least as fortunate for the
French interest had occurred in England. The application to
himself of the new Ministers was in itself a proof of this revo
lution. Louis and his counsellors had been often puzzled to
account for the strange, pertinacious bitterness which the Par
liament evinced against France. To them it seemed incredible
that England should year after year put forth her whole
strength, sow the Continent all round with gold, meekly sub
mit to be cheated and insulted by a crowd of greedy and
unscrupulous princes who professed to be her Allies, and in a
word act as if her existence depended upon the issue of the
struggle, merely for the sake of preserving the balance of
power in Europe. In their ignorance of the doctrines of
different parties, and with the tendency natural to those who
live under an absolute monarchy to regard every system of
policy as the emanation of one controlling mind, they surmised
that some great person must be at the bottom of this unnatural
state of things. Formerly the stirrer up of England against
France had been the Prince of Orange. He was now dead :
but it was evident that his spirit survived. His mantle must
have descended upon some one, who assuredly was not the
good-natured, unambitious, pacific Anne. Was this great
person, this evil genius of France instigated by an honest
desire of promoting the military glory of his country, or did he
prolong the war merely for the sake of the power and emolu
ments it gave him ? It would be interesting to learn how
often the expediency of offering a bribe to Marlborough was
discussed in the French council. But this much is clear, that

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 303
a general suspicion prevailed that he was the prompter of
every public man, both in England and Holland, who clamoured
for the ruin and degradation of France, and that it was he who
thwarted every attempt of his Majesty to procure peace. But
Marlborough was no longer supreme ; and from the hour of his
decline in the royal favour a great change had come over the
spirit of the English Government. It was plain that the new
Ministers were not, like the former Ministers, mere mouth
pieces of his. They appeared to be as desirous of concluding a
peace as was his Majesty himself. The King now might save
his bribe, and still procure better conditions than what he
would a year back have been willing to purchase for a consider
able sum.*
In the memorial, therefore, which was delivered to Gaultier
for transmission to the English Ministers, Louis resumed that
lofty and imperious tone which he had formerly employed when
the liberties of Europe lay at his feet ; but which for many
disastrous years he had laid aside for a more humble style.
Although, it .was stated, his Majesty was undoubtedly in a con
dition to maintain the war with glory, he was willing to afford
fresh proofs to the world of his sincere desire to re-establish the
repose of Europe. With this view he was ready to treat for
peace upon the basis of the six articles which he now submitted.
The most remarkable point in the memorial is that it contained
not a word which indicated any intention on the King's part to
admit even a compromise with Charles upon the subject of the
Spanish dominions. A hope was simply expressed that expe
dients might be found to content all the parties who were
interested. To the English his Majesty promised his assistance
to procure them privileges for exercising their commerce in
Spain, the West Indies, and the ports of the Mediterranean ;
and to the Dutch such a barrier against French ambition as
should be to the liking of the English, t
And now the Ministers were under the necessity of taking a
perilous step. Hitherto they had kept the negotiations a
t The Memoires de Torcy leave us in no doubt that such was the opinion enter-
toned of Marlborough at the French Court. And as Torcy 's only communica
tions with Englishmen were with the Tories it is very probable that his notions
co"c™n|ng the hero remained uncorrected to the hour of his death.
t This memorial is printed in the Appendix to the Parliamentary History,

304 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
strict secret. If the notion ever crossed their minds of advis
ing the Queen to conclude a separate peace without the privity
of her Allies, it must have been speedily dismissed. If such.
men as Oxford and St. John were not deterred from such a
course by the stain which it would bring upon the honour and
good faith of their country, they knew well that they would
have to answer for it with their lives to an indignant Parlia
ment when a reaction of popular feeling should bring the
Whigs again into the ascendant. It was decided therefore to
communicate the proposals of the French king to Heinsius, a
caution being first administered to him to keep them as much
as possible to himself, and above all from the knowledge of
Marlborough. The memorial was in consequence sent to Lord
Eaby, a diplomatist who had been for many years at the Court
of Berlin, and who was then British ambassador at the Hague.
The Pensionary read it with vexation and disgust, which he
did not conceal, and Raby so far sympathised, of affected to
sympathise, with his indignation, that St. John thought it
advisable to convert him to a more convenient frame of mind
by the offer of a peerage. His Lordship became Earl of Straf
ford, and thenceforth an accommodating ally of the Ministers.*
The feelings of Heinsius are not difficult of comprehension.
For more than two years he and his countrymen had been en
joying the exquisite pleasure of tyrannizing in their turn over
that wicked and rapacious monarch who had formerly been
their oppressor. The intolerable harshness of their demands
and their dilatory method of conducting business might almost
excite a suspicion that the negotiations were purposely pro
longed for the enjoyment they afforded. It was not to be
borne that the pleasure of negotiating with Louis should be
snatched from them by the English without making an effort to
retain it in their hands. The useful Petcum was again called
into requisition. Soon after the communication of the memorial
to Heinsius, that active intermediary wrote to Torcy urging
that the King of France should apply for a renewal of the con
ferences which had been so unhappily broken off at Gertruy-
denburg. His Majesty, it was stated in earnest language,
should this time have every reason to be satisfied with the
* St. John to Lord Raby, April 27, May 7, and several letters following.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 305
Dutch ; indeed, be had but to propose his own terms, and the
States would, no doubt, agree to them. It was useless for bim
to try to conclude anything with the English. Rival parties in
that nation were perpetually pulliug each other down ; and
what was done by one administration, however just and reason
able it might be, was always liable to be denounced and repu
diated by a succeeding administration.* But Petcum's argu
ments were ineffectual. The wounds which the Dutch had
inflicted upon the proud spirit of the great monarch were still
green ; and he declined to treat with them again. But there
remained this satisfaction upon the mind of Louis, to find the
two nations which, only a year since, had gone hand in hand
to humiliate and degrade him, now bidding against each other
for his favour.
Rumours of this application on the part of the Dutch reached
England, and alarmed not a little the intending pacificators of
Europe. From the close of April, when the secret of the ne
gotiation was imparted to Heinsius, to the middle of July, the
English Ministers did nothing more than drop an occasional
hint to the French Government that they knew of these over
tures from the Dutch, and express a hope that his Majesty
would honourably adhere to his engagements with themselves.
The determined rejection of Petcum's solicitatious at length
put them at ease on this point, and the negotiations proceeded.
It was now thought advisable to associate with the obscure
priest who had hitherto acted as their sole agent, a person of
some reputation in the world. Oxford bethought him of his
friend, possibly to some extent his dependant, Matthew Prior.
Ten years had elapsed since the ingenious author of the " Town
and Country Mouse " shone in society as secretary to successive
embassies at the Hague and in France, as a Commissioner of
Trade, and finally as member for East Grinstead in the last
Parliament of William. How the Tory man of letters passed
through the long dreary interval when all the patronage of the
State was monopolised by the Whigs, we are not informed. But
flattery was a marketable ware in those days ; and the poems
oi Prior evince much skill and little scrupulousness in its
manufacture. It was presumed that he would be remembered
* Memoires de Torcy.
VOL. II. x

306 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
by the French statesmen, whose acquaintance he had made in
his former days of importance. But very little latitude was at
first given him for the exercise of his judgment. He was
simply entrusted with a memorial of the demands of the English
Government, and authority from the Queen to receive his
Majesty's answers. He and Gaultier accordingly repaired to
Dover, crept over to Calais in a hired fishing-boat, and then
proceeded under fictitious names to the Court at Fontainebleau.
Torcy, whose recollections of the gay and clever secretary of
the English embassy were of the most agreeable character,
gave Prior a flattering reception. The memorial containing
the English demands, of which he was the bearer, was then
examined. Upon one point the King had every reason to be
pleased. There was no mention of that odious condition that
Philip should relinquish Spain and its dependencies, which
had hitherto rendered all negotiation abortive. All that the
English Ministers required on that subject was some security
that the crowns of France and Spain should never be united
on the same head. It did not appear, however, that, upon other
points, they were disposed to be romantically generous. Torcy
grew more and more alarmed as he perused a list of demands
in favour of British commerce, the granting of which must
infallibly, as he thought, throw the trade of the whole world
into British hands. One demand was that the subjects of her
Majesty should be treated by Spain upon an equal footing with
the most favoured nations. This was obviously designed, in
the first place, to exclude the Dutch from all participation in
the American trade. But it would also have the effect of
depriving France of those commercial advantages which, she
might well consider, ought to result from her near connection
with the Spanish king ; and the probability was great that
England, with her superior wealth and her surpassing skill and
experience in business, would soon drive out of the field the
feeble rivalry of the French merchants. Another requirement
was that the valuable contract for supplying the plantations
with negroes, which was then in the hands of a French com
pany, should be transferred to England, together with some
seaports for the convenience of landing and selling those articles
of merchandise. Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay, or such

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 307
parts of them as were in the possession of the French, were
also demanded by the English Ministers. Spain was required
to cede Gibraltar and Port Mahon to the English Crown. The
destruction of Dunkirk, the demolition of its fortifications, the
fillingup of its harbour were conditions too dear to the mercantile
interest of Great Britain to be omitted in any treaty of peace.
It seemed therefore that the English Ministers were not so
anxious for peace as to indispose them to drive a hard bargain.
It was indeed evident that Oxford and his colleagues, aware of
the ferment which would be excited by their abandoning Spain
to Philip, and forecasting what would happen when the Whigs
again succeeded to power, had determined to get public opinion
on their side by promoting the commercial interests of their
country. One part of the memorial had reference to the
demands which the other members of the Confederacy were
entitled to make. But on this subject the Ministers expressed
their views in very general terms, and merely stipulated that
harriers should be afforded to Holland, the Empire, and Savoy.
In more than one interview with Torcy, and perhaps also in
the presence of Louis himself, Prior contended with much zeal
for the pretensions put forward by the English in favour of
their commerce. The nation had, he said, been at great ex
pense in the war, and looked to the American trade to recoup
their losses. He disclaimed all intention on their part of in
juring the trade of any other nation. But they did wish, he
confessed, to break down the monopoly which the Spaniards
had enjoyed and misused for centuries. The Catholic king, out
of the immense extent of his dominions between California and
the Straits of Magellan, could very easily spare a few harbours
to the English, who would employ them to their own profit
and the general advantage of mankind ; and he was able to say
that, if France thought fit to follow so good an example and
obtain a few ports for herself, this would not displease her
Majesty. The Austrian prince, whom the Queen had hitherto
supported at such cost, had promised, when he was in possession
of the Spanish Crown, to treat the English upon the same
footing with his own subjects. Surely then her Majesty, for
consenting to abandon the cause of, Charles, with all its pros
pective advantages, was entitled to some compensation from
x 2

308 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Philip. The weakness of this last argument must have brought
a smile on Torcy's countenance. It was very well for a man
to promise a good interest in a bear's skin to those who were to
catch and kill the bear for him ; and such was Charles's posi
tion. But the Allies had not succeeded in catching the bear.
For eight years they had been labouring to drive Philip out of
Spain ; and the only result of their efforts was that he was now
more firmly established in the country than ever. It was a
little too much then for her Majesty to expect compensation
for her kindness in retiring from an expensive and hopeless
enterprise. Upon the whole the French Government was of opinion that
the English demands needed considerable modification. With
Prior it was impossible to treat, as his authority was limited to
receiving the King's answers. It was determined therefore to
send back with him to London a person minutely instructed as
to his Majesty's wishes, and with an ample commission to nego
tiate not only with the English Ministers, but with the accredited
agents from other powers in alliance against France. The
King's choice fell upon Menager, a merchant of Rouen, who
had already given great satisfaction in diplomacy, and who was
reputed to know more about the commerce of the Indies than
any person in the kingdom.*
In the first days of August, while the armies of Villars and
Marlborough were confronting each other in positions which
threatened a deadly battle, Prior, Gaultier and Menager set off
on their journey to London. An untoward accident interfered
with the secrecy of their expedition. The authorities at Deal,
suspecting that the three gentlemen who landed so quietly upon
the beach and stole so promptly out of the town, were French
spies, sent after and had. them arrested at Canterbury. They
were detained until an order for their release arrived from the
Secretary's office. Prior tried to pass off under a false name ;
but he had travelled between England and the Continent too
frequently in former days to be quite forgotten. He was recog
nised by a custom-house officer ; and the intelligence of his
journey and his arrest flew far and wide. To the intense annoy
ance of the Ministers the politicians in every London coffee-
* Memoires de Torcy.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 309
house were soon speculating upon the character of his mission.
The affair got into the English and Dutch newspapers ; and
the public stocks of Amsterdam rose seven per cent, upon a
rumour of peace.*
The three travellers reached London on the 7th of August ;
and on the following day Prior was admitted to an audience.
Anne professed herself much pleased upon hearing of Manager's
arrival. Her only regret, she graciously added, was that, as it
was necessary' to keep the matter secret, she would be prevented
from treating bim as she would wish to treat the Minister of a
great king. A lodging was hired for Menager ; and the care
of attending to bis comforts was confided to Gaultier, who was
directed to apply to the Treasurer for all expenses.! During
the next three months London must have been to the French
man an abode as monotonous and gloomy as Gertruydenbuig
had proved to Uxelles and Polignac ; for the fear of exciting
remark kept him at home until after dark, and he saw no com
pany except the few persons who were in the secret. The
precautions taken were, however, effectual. The story about
Prior had set suspicion afloat that the Ministers were carrying
on a correspondence with France ; and more than one pamphlet
made its appearance on the subject.^ But not one person in
that multitude of tattlers whose business or amusement it was
to circulate news seems to have dreamt that an agent from the
French king was actually in London, and that negotiations for
peace were being carried on in nocturnal conferences.
Oxford, Shrewsbury, Jersey, Dartmouth and St. John, were
the persons appointed by Anne to confer with Menager. Prior
and occasionally Gaultier were also permitted to be present at
the meetings which were held sometimes at the residence of
Jersey, but more frequently under Prior's roof. At first the
Frenchman found himself in a difficult position. His antago
nists would discuss nothing nor even listen to anything except
what concerned their own nation, and invariably stopped him
* Boyer ; Postboy, August 23 ; September 8 ; Lettres Historiques.
t Memoires de Torcy ; Report of the Committee of Secrecy, Parliamentary
History, vol. 7.
X Swift wrptaj' A New Journey to Paris,'' and gives this account of it in his
journal to Slella/V I will make a printer of my own sit by me one day and I
will dictate to hini a formal i elation of Prior's journey, with several particulars,
ill pure inveutW ; and I doubt not but it will lake."

310 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
when, after hearing all their demands, he commenced, in con
formity with his instructions, to open to them the conditions
which his Majesty desired to make with the other members of
the Confederacy. Menager thought it hard that, while the
King of France was expected to pledge his word, not only on
his own behalf, but on behalf of the King of Spain, to a number
of stipulations in favour of British commerce, the English
Ministers would not in return afford the slightest intimation of
the course they intended to pursue with regard to the claims of
their Allies, when general conferences for peace came to be
held. But the diplomatist, a man of rare abilities, patient,
observant and penetrating, soon acquired an insight into the
position and characters of his antagonists that made him put up
with many a rude answer and much reasoning that appeared on
the face of it absurd and overbearing. Tbey were, he saw, one
and all impressed with a conviction that their lives were at
stake in this business, and that their safety would mainly
depend upon their extorting such terms as would be viewed
with favour by their countrymen at large. A very slight
accident, the death of the Queen and the demise of the sceptre
to the House of Hanover, or a reaction of popular feeling might
bring back the Whigs to power and subject them to judges who,
they knew, would be merciless. When that terrible day of
reckoning should come it would go hard with them, if the mer
cantile interest, instead of being exerted in their defence,
should swell the cry of blood which would assuredly be raised
by an aggravated party. Menager soon became convinced that
the men with whom he was treating were actuated by very
different motives from the men who had mocked and deluded
his Majesty's plenipotentiaries at the Hague and Gertruyden-
burg, that they were really desirous of effecting a peace if they
could secure such terms as would be likely to please the Eng
lish public. But the endless difficulties they started reduced
him not unfrequently to the verge of despair. Her Majesty s
Ministers, it seemed to him, could not remain of the same
opinion for two days together. One night everything would
appear in a fair way of arrangement : at the next meeting he
could expect nothing less from their gloomy countenances and
indignant speeches than thatthey were determined to break off the

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 311
neo-otiations. Then some fresh point would be raised and insisted
upon, pronounced an essential condition, and all at once aban
doned. Oxford's behaviour was solemn and mysterious : Shrews
bury was serious and irresolute, sometimes appearing to wish
that the envoy should be sent back, and then evincing an
almost feverish anxiety to come to terms : Dartmouth kept out
of the way as much as possible : St. John alone, who, on account
of his mastery of the French language, was generally the
spokesman, preserved a bold, steady, and decided mien.*
It was at length agreed that the negotiations should be con
fined to the subject of the concessions which should be made to
England. The razing of the fortifications and destruction of
the harbour of Dunkirk were points yielded, after a long
straggle, by Menager, upon a half- promise being made to him
that the English would use their endeavours at the general con
ferences to obtain an equivalent for his Majesty out of the
captured towns of Flanders. But the debates about the Ameri
can trade threatened to end in a deadlock. The Ministers
Wanted securities for their commerce, and declared that nothing
less would content them than the delivery by the King of Spain
of some towns in the AVest Indies. Menager, thoroughly con
vinced that Philip would consent to nothing of the kind, and
unwilling to involve his own sovereign in the humiliation of
being compelled to ask for what would be refused, firmly
rejected this proposition. He offered an exemption from certain
duties for English produce and manufactures, and with this
concession, coupled with the transference of the contract for
supplying negroes, the Ministers at last thought it prudent to
express themselves satisfied. The Hudson's Bay territories, in
which the few English hunters found themselves exposed to the
overpowering rivalry of the French settlers in Canada ; and
Newfoundland, out of which the English had been driven in
1708, were added by Menager without dispute. But a reserva
tion, which he bad been specially instructed to make, of liberty
to the French to continue their cod-fishing off the island, excited
a clamour which well-nigh brought the negotiations to an end.
* Memoires de Torcy. Jersey had been bought for £3,000 by the French
(government; but, he died on the 26tli August, so that the money was lost.—
Mackintosh Collections.

312 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
The Ministers decided to reject this reservation with a persist
ence for which the diplomatist could but dimly account. The
explanation is that they were expecting from day to day intel
ligence that a blow had been struck in Canada which would
extinguish the French interest in the new world. It is neces
sary to relate the history of an expedition which departed from
Portsmouth in the summer of this year with the design of
capturing Quebec.
The commencement of the eighteenth century found the
French in nominal possession of the whole American continent
lying north of the St. Lawrence. Their property in the soil,
such as it was, they had contrived for something like a hundred'
years to defend both against the ambitious colonists of New
England, and against encircling hordes of savages, chiefly by
means of forts erected at Quebec, Montreal, and Niagara.
During that European war which terminated with the peace of
Ryswick the struggle between the English and French for
supremacy in these regions was keen ; for every one of those
motives was present which incite mankind to mutual slaughter
— cupidity, animosity of race, and difference of superstition.
The foolish aboriginals lent their tomahawks alike to the
Catholics of Canada and the Puritans of Massachusetts; and
in glancing over the horrors which resulted from these alliances,
it is not easy to decide whether the Indians were the masters or
only the disciples in the art of cruelty. Peace succeeded and
found parties in much the same position as before the war.
But the peace lasted barely more than four years ; and then
another period of frightful insecurity to life and property
began. It was perhaps fortunate that the home governments
both of England and France, absorbed by their own difficulties,
could spare little aid to their colonists in the work of extermi
nating each other. In 1708 the French fishermen of New
foundland, assisted by their compatriots in Canada, succeeded
in driving their English competitors completely out of the island,
an insult which the English most amply revenged two years
later by driving the French out of Nova Scotia, or Acadia, as it
was then called. The leader in this last exploit was Francis
Nicholson, a spirited New Englander, the dream of whose
life it was to expel the French from this part of the world

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 313
altogether. This man, in 1709, made a voyage to his mother
country, accompanied by four Indians, whose kingly titles,
strange complexions, and marvellous habits would, he hoped,
awaken an interest in American affairs. The experiment suc
ceeded. The Indians, after a few necessary additions had been
made to their dress, became the rage of London society, were
entertained by the nobility, were presented at Court, addressed
their royal sister in a complimentary speech, and bsstowed
upon her, as a pledge of their protection, a belt of wampum.
The Minister thought it prudent to yield to the popular voice,
which demanded an expedition in aid of the English and their
interesting allies. Six ships, a few hundreds of soldiers, and
the royal authority to obtain such assistance as he could from
the governors of the various States, were entrusted to Nichol
son. The armament set sail in May, 1710, appeared in less
than five months before the fort of Port Royal, in Nova Scotia,
and soon obliged the commandant to surrender. The name of
the place was changed, out of compliment to the Queen, to
Annapolis ; and its capture insured to the English the entire
possession of the peninsula.
Elated with this success, Nicholson returned to England with
his brain on fire to accomplish a still more magnificent under
taking. He now asked for an expedition, the object of which
should be not only to recover Newfoundland, but to expel the
French from their ancient possession of Canada. The scheme
was of a nature to recommend itself to Ministers newly
appointed and anxious for popularity. It promised much real
advantage to England, and it was certain that, if successful,
the spirit and judgment of those who planned and sanctioned
it would be applauded to the skies by the mercantile classes.
St John threw himself into the project with his usual ardour.
The preparations were pressed forward rapidly and with praise
worthy secrecy. Five thousand men, all English, were, to the
infinite annoyance of Marlborough, withdrawn from the army
of the Netherlands. In the first week of May, 1711, no less
than twelve ships of the line, besides transports crowded with
troops, departed from Plymouth, leaving the public to speculate
as to what the destination of this formidable armament might
be. The Ministers awaited the result with anxietv ; but the

314 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
progress of those upon whom their hopes depended was slow.
Throughout the whole time of Menager's residence in England
it was confidently expected that every day would bring news of
the fall of Quebec, and of the annihilation of the French power
in the New World. It was not until after his departure that
intelligence arrived of the melancholy fate which had befallen
the expedition.
The causes of the miscarriage are sufficiently obvious. The
Ministers, after the event, were severely censured for entrusting
the command of the troops to General Hill, an officer whom
it had pleased the Queen to force up through the grades of
military rank for the double purpose of gratifying his sister,
Mrs. Masham, and of mortifying Marlborough. But inasmuch
as the troops never reached a human enemy, Hill's incom
petency had nothing to do with the failure of the expedition.
The enterprise was, in fact, planned exclusively by landsmen,
who seemed to have imagined that wherever the maps indicated
that there was water, it was safe to send a squadron. It is
unlikely that they could have heard much of those dangers
which, even in the present day, after all that has been done
by nautical survey, render the gulf of St. Lawrence pecu
liarly formidable to the navigator — its iron-bound coasts, its
treacherous currents, its sunken rocks, the heavy fogs which
brood almost continuously over the cold waters, and which,
when raised for a moment, reveal terrific glimpses of huge
moving icebergs. The Admiral, Sir Hovenden Walker, was
encouraged to expect that, when he reached Boston, he could
easily procure French pilots to steer his ships through the
labyrinth. But this proved not to be the case. After a delay
of five weeks in the locality only one man had been found who
even professed to know anything of the St. Lawrence, the
master of a French ship which had been captured on its way
to Quebec. The accounts which this person gave of the diffi
culties of the voyage were by no means reassuring. The gallant
Admiral, however, with this Frenchman in charge of the helm
of his own vessel, determined to make at least an attempt to
execute the task which bad been assigned him. On the
30th of July the squadron sot sail, leaving Nicholson behind
to raise a force in the States and penetrate into Canada by

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 315
land. All the ships, after a voyage of three weeks, reached
the mouth of the St. Lawrence in safety ; and then a frightful
disaster occurred. A dense fog settled down on the sea : it
blew bard : a strong current, which escaped the notice of
those on board, carried the ships swiftly along with it. While
still heading to the south the bewildered mariners suddenly
found themselves among the rocks and islands of the north
shore. With much difficulty the men of war extricated them
selves, but eight of the transports, less controllable or not so
well manned, were cast away with as many hundred soldiers.
The Admiral and General summoned a council of war. The
provisions with which the expedition was furnished, could not,
it was stated, last above ten weeks. The Ministers at home had
relied upon the ability of the Admiral to increase his supplies
at Boston, but provisions had been as unprocurable as pilots.
Under these disheartening circumstances the captains, naval
and military, came to an unanimous conclusion that their only
wise course was to return as quickly as possible to England.
The squadron reached Spithead on the 9th of October (Old
Style), five days after Menager's departure. A terrible fate
was still in store for the Edgar, a ship of seventy guns, which
had borne the flag of the Admiral. A week after its arrival
at anchorage, it blew up with four hundred men on board.*
At length the negotiations, after many narrow escapes of a
rupture, drew to an amicable termination. It was settled that
such points upon which the English insisted, but which Menager
would not yield, should be referred to the general conferences.
But just as all parties were preparing to sign the preliminaries
a fresh difficulty was started. It now seems to have occurred
to the Ministers for the first time that, in treating with a sove
reign who harboured the Pretender, they were rendering them
selves obnoxious to more than one act of Parliament. Menager,
however, persuaded them to add this risk to the numerous other
risks they ran by their surreptitious dealings with an agent of
France. Upon the 27th of September three instruments were
signed. The first of these related exclusively to Great Britain,
and contained in separate columns the demands made by the
Full details relating to this expedition are given in Boyer and the Lettres
Historiques.

316 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
English Ministers and the King's answers to them. It was
signed by Menager and the two secretaries, St. John and Dart
mouth, who took the precaution of appending a declaration
that they accepted these preliminaries in obedience to the
Queen's express orders. The second instrument stated what
his Majesty wras willing to concede to the Duke of Savoy ;
and the third contained the conditions which the King would
accept as the basis of a general peace. These were signed by
Menager only.*
Matters being thus settled to the satisfaction of the Ministers,
the envoy was taken down to Windsor, smuggled up a back-
stair into the Queen's apartment, and introduced by St. John to
her Majesty. Anne spoke to bim a few kind words. She did
not like war, she said, and she would do her utmost for the
restoration of peace. WThen it should be concluded she would be
glad to live on good terms with a king who was so nearly allied
to herself in blood ; and she hoped that their subjects would
be good friends. Manager, after a final interview with the
Ministers, who loaded him with protestations of their sincerity,
returned to France under the protection of a Queen's mes
senger, t
It was time that he should take his departure, for a rumour
had got abroad that two agents from the King of France were
in London. On the evening' before the preliminaries were
signed a number of persons collected before a house in Pall Mall,
where, it was said, the French gentlemen resided. But the
crowd was contented with staring at the walls, and separated
without any muscular demonstrations of feeling. The public
mind was, however, at a high state of tension, and the editor
of the Postboy reaped a harvest by publishing a series of mys
terious articles in which the critics of the coffee-houses fancied
they detected a better style, a cleaner turn of the sentences,
and a greater depth of information than the compositions of
that publication usually exhibited. The Postboy kept up the
profitable deception as long as possible. Upon the 10th of
* All these papers are printed in the Appendix to the Parliamen! ary History,
vol. 7. I have made no use whatever of a book entitled " Minutes of the
Negotiations of il. Menager." This was written by Defoe, and is, I am con
fident, nothing lint scandalous invention.
f .Memoires do Torcy.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 317
October the bold and ingenious editor hazarded two of the
articles of the treaty which he professed to have from undoubted
hands. But the same morning saw the printing in the Daily
Courant of seven preliminary articles, which proved to be
actually a copy of the contents of one of the instruments signed
by Menager. It had been forwarded to that newspaper by
Count Gallas, the Imperial Minister.*
No sooner was Menager out of the country than the English
Ministers had taken the step of communicating the King's offers
for a general peace to the ambassadors of the Allied Powers who
were in London. Gallas, with the rest of the diplomatic body,
received a copy of the document, and the indignation with
which its contents inspired him was more than he could
control. It seemed, then, that Charles was, after all the encour
agement he bad received, and the efforts he had made in
person, to be thrown over by the English. That great prin
ciple for which so much blood had been shed, that this prince
should have the whole of the Spanish dominions, it seemed
was now to be abandoned. Gallas had long suspected that the
new Ministers were intent upon some villainy. But all his
efforts to penetrate into their secrets had been baffled. He now
despatched to the Daily Courant a copy of the instrument which
had been communicated to him, in the hope that the indigna
tion of the English public would equal his own. The public
mind was, in fact, greatly agitated by the intelligence. A score
of pamphlets made their appearance, some scurrilously reviling
the Ministers for listening to such conditions of peace, and
others endeavouring to prove that the conditions were reasonable
and advantageous to the country, t In truth, the offers of the
French king were couched in such general terms that little else
was clear beyond the principle that Philip was to remain the
monarch at least of Spain. Advantages to England and
Holland for their commerce, barriers to Holland, Savoy, and
the Empire, and the razing of the fortifications of Dunkirk were
promised. But these promises were of the most vague descrip
tion ; and by the great mass of the people they were barely
* Boyer; Daily Courant, October 13.
t Boyer and the Letties Historiqnes giv» the title* of several broadsides.
¦'here is a collection ot them entitled " Pills to Purge State Melancholy."

318 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
noticed in the pain and surprise occasioned by the general
tenour of the preliminaries. It must be remembered that four
years back the Parliament had formally laid down the axiom that
no peace with France could be safe or honourable without the
restitution by the House of Bourbon of the whole of the domin
ions of Spain. That axiom was in perfect consonance with the
general opinion. From the very commencement of the war it had
been industriously instilled by Whig writers into the hearts of
the people. Not one author had ventured to expose either the
gross injustice of forcing a king upon the Spaniards, or the
extreme improbability that the Allies would succeed in con
quering and holding down permanently a country at a great
distance from their own resources, inhabited by a population
enthusiastically attached to Philip, and cursed or blessed with
a climate severely trying to the constitution of foreigners. If
such an author had been found in England he might seasonably
have reminded his countrymen that an insult precisely similar
to that which they were now offering the Spaniards had roused
themselves to fury when offered by Louis XIV. But the
doctrines of the Whigs still remained uncorrected in the public
mind. The rumour that the Ministers were negotiating a
peace no doubt gave pleasure to multitudes who had grown
weary of the heavy taxation necessitated by war. But it may
be confidently affirmed that the belief was all but universal, and
held alike by Whigs and Tories, that, let the terms be what
they might on other points, the King of France would have to
give up Spain. It was therefore with a deep sense of humiliation
that the articles published in the Daily Courant were at first
read. To accept such conditions was to admit that the war had
been a failure, and that Englishmen had shed their blood and
expended their money in vain.
The ferment, excited by a host of pamphleteers and ballad-
mongers, was so great that the Ministers, against their usual
principles, thought it expedient to adopt defensive measures.
Fourteen booksellers and printers were arrested and brought
to the bar of the Queen's Bench on the first day of term to
answer a charge of libelling her Majesty's Government and
Ministers. But Oxford and St. John were not disposed to bear
hardly upon this class of persons ; and they were all discharged

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 319
upon their own recognisances. Gallas was not permitted to
escape so easily. The Ministers considered him a very
impertinent and troublesome individual. His conduct during
the last eighteen months had been that of a man very zealous
for his master's interests, but not over prudent in the means he
adopted to defend them. It was natural that he should admire
the devotion with which the Whigs pressed on a war from
which the House of Austria wras to derive the priiicijjal benefit ;
and that, with his eyes dazzled by political prejudices, he
should regard Marlborough and Godolphin, Sunderland and
Wharton, as so many wise and benevolent gods. For a long
time be refused to believe that an administration so energetic,
patriotic, and glorious, could be overturned by such contemp
tible creatures as Harley and St. John. When the Tories
actually succeeded to power his letters to the Court of Vienna
expressed horror and indignation against the interlopers in
every line. He entered into strict co-operation with the dis
contented Whigs. His house in Leicester Square became the
head-quarters of the opponents of the Government. Under his
sacred roof meetings were held, plans concocted, and a press
was set up from which emanated political essays, lampoons, and
ballads derisive of the Ministers, which no printer could venture
to put in type elsewhere. To find out what terms of peace
would be agreeable to the English Government was the prin
cipal object of his life. But the solemn countenance and
oracular sentences of Oxford baffled all the inquiries of the
German. That an agent of the King of France was in the
country, and that the Ministers were carrying on negotiations
with him, he had not the least suspicion. The bland politeness
with which he was treated had even begun to raise a hope in
his mind that the interlopers might not after all be the traitors
he had believed them to be, when the horrible document con
taining the King's offers for a general peace, to which it was
evident the Ministers had already yielded their consent, was
placed in his hands. His publication of this document was
regarded as a breach of confidence, and filled up the measure
of his iniquities. The Ministers decided upon ridding them
selves of this active and dangerous enemy. Sir Simon Cotterell,
the Master of the Ceremonies, waited upon the Count, informed

320 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
him that his behaviour of late had not been agreeable to her
Majesty, and that he was instructed to forbid him the Court.
Any communication from his Imperial Majesty, Sir Simon
added, which came through another Minister, would, however,
be well received. Gallas required to know the reasons of the
Queen's displeasure, and was told that these should be furnished
to the Emperor. He wrote to St. John to inquire when he was
expected to take his departure, and the reply was that he might
go whenever he thought fit.*
The discontent which the publication of the seven articles
had excited might perhaps have been alleviated could the
Ministers have ventured, at this stage, to publish the special
advantages which they had procured for the English commerce.
But the difficult task was still before them of inducing the
Dutch to follow their lead in the work of pacification ; and it
might well be feared that, if to the disappointment the Bepub-
lican statesmen would surely feel in finding that the negotiations
had been abstracted from their hands, commercial jealousy were
added, their opposition would be angry and stubborn. The
newly-created Earl of Strafford, who had been during some
months in England, was now sent back to the Hague. He was
charged to present to the States-general the King's offers for a
treaty of peace, to express her Majesty's wishes that they would
unite with her in bringing about a renewal of the conferences,
and to press Heinsius to use his influence to procure passports
for the French plenipotentiaries. The Queen, he was to sa}r,
had purposely avoided entering into any details with Menager
about the pretensions of her Allies, in order that the latter might
be at perfect liberty to settle them for themselves with the
French plenipotentiaries ; and they might rest assured that her
Majesty would conclude no peace unless reasonable satisfaction
were given the States-general both with regard to their barrier
and their trade. The bold spirit of St. John pervaded unmis
takably the instructions furnished to the Earl as to the manner
in which he was to meet the various objections which might be
raised concerning the course which the Ministers had chosen
to adopt. If any captious remarks should be made about the
* Boyer; Dartmouth's Note on Burnot; St. John's correspondence with
Strafford ; Journal to Stella.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANXE. 321
special stipulations which the Queen had obtained in favour of
her own trade, he was to reply that she had obtained nothing
to the prejudice of the Dutch, and that she would regard it as
a just cause of complaint if they continued to express any dis
satisfaction of her conduct. What she had done for her allies
in the course of the war would have justified her in settling the
particular concerns of her kingdom before anything else was
concluded. Strafford was also to impress upon the States her
Majesty's recommendation to moderate their pretensions, and
be satisfied with a reasonable barrier. Should they persist in
holding out for the preliminaries of 1709, which contained
concessions to which the House of Austria would never give
its consent, and which bad aroused jealousy and indignation in
many European countries, they must understand that England
would no longer support the principal burden of the war.
They and the other allies of her Majesty would have to make
their choice between furnishing their proper quota of troops
and ships or concluding a peace.*
* The instructions were sent with a letter to Strafford of October 12. Thoy
are printed in Bolingbroke's Correspondence and in the Report of ihe Committee
of Secrecy.

VOL. II.

322 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

CHAPTER X.
Stiufford, upon returning to the Hague, found the authorities
of the Republic in that ill humour which his instructors had
anticipated. There was a general opinion, which had been
fostered in great measure by the large capitalists and mer
chants of London, who were usually Whigs, that the Govern
ment of England had fallen into the hands of selfish, deceitful,
unscrupulous men. But such a state of things, it was thought,
could not last long. It was impossible that charlatans, sup
ported by nothing more powerful or permanent than the par
tiality of a foolish Queen, and a crowd intoxicated with religion,
could continue at the head of affairs. That very Parliament,
they were advised, which was on the eve of re-assembling,
would, in all probability, receive the preliminaries of peace in
such a manner as would convince those who had given them
their sanction of the expediency of flying the country in order
to save their heads. Under the impression therefore that a
little delay would set all to rights, the Dutch statesmen decided
to consume time by sending over an envoy to confer with the
English Government. The self-opinionated and noisy Buys
was their choice. He was eager to try the effects of his oratory
upon Anne, and expressed himself very confidently as to the
result. He wanted nothing more than an hour's private
audience, he said, and then all would be well. The words were
uttered a little incautiously, for they reached the ears of persons
in the French interest, were reported to Torcy, and promptly
communicated by him to the Ministers.*
The Ministers, thus forewarned, had ample time to prepare
the mind of the Queen. Buys, soon after his arrival, was
taken by St. John to Windsor, and indulged with the private
* Memoires de Torcy ; Bolingbroke's Correspondence.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 323
audience he solicited. He retired from the royal eloset sur
prised and mortified at the failure of his argumentative powers.
He, in truth, experienced only what had driven to despair finer
geniuses, and more moving orators than himself, that to con
vince a Stuart, whose feelings were already enlisted against
his cause, was a hopeless undertaking. The details of the inter
view are wanting; but it is easy to imagine that Anne listened
with meek patience to a long harangue about the insecurity into
which Europe would be plunged if the King of France were
permitted to retain the Spanish dominions under his con
trol ; that her Majesty then delivered herself of a few set
words; that the anxious advocate, returning to the charge,
brought forward fresh arguments until, finding that nothing
could be extracted from the royal lips but the same heart
breaking sentence, he desisted from the useless labour. Several
attempts which Buys made to impress his wisdom on a Com
mittee of the Privy Council, ended not more satisfactorily to
him. But he was not yet at the end of his resources. It
might be impossible to alter the determination of the Queen
and her Ministers ; but the pressure of a powerful domestic
faction, aided by the representations of foreign courts, might have
the effect of frightening them into some modification of their
views. The lodgings of Buys soon became what the residence
of Gallas -had been, the head-quarters of the Opposition. The
Whig chiefs there met the foreign ambassadors, and concerted
plans with them. One of the results of their sittings was a
memorial, which, towards the close of November, was presented
to the Government by Baron Bothmar, the Hanoverian envoy.
It set forth the gloomy prognostications his Electoral Highness
had formed concerning the future of Europe, if England should
allow herself, by any specious but deceitful allurements to her
commercial cupidity, to be decoyed into an insecure peace.
The King of France, master, by his grandson, of Spain, would
assuredly not rest until a second creature of his own were seated
on the throne of England ; and what these Catholic kings, leagued
together against the liberties of Europe and the Protestant
religion, might accomplish, was almost too dreadful to consider.
ihe Whigs employed every means to give a wide circulation to
this memorial, which united the leading tenets and maxims of
y 2

324 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
their party. It was printed in the Daily Courant. It was
compared by pamphleteers to the famous last spsech of William,
which had so magically opened the eyes of the nation to the
designs of France ; and copies, printed in large type, were
framed and glazed and exposed to sale, in the hope that people
would buy them to bang in their rooms.
The greatest of English subjects was present at and assisted
in the framing of this document. Marlborough had crossed
the sea in company with Bothmar. He had taken Bouchain
upon the 14th of September, but for five weeks after that event
both the Allied and French armies had remained in the
field without attempting anything. The English general was
anxious to form the siege of Quesnoy, but his applications to
the Hague were answered only by excuses and evasions ; and
the indifference of the Dutch authorities to his making
further conquests was sufficiently intelligible to him. Oxford
had by this time avowed that negotiations were on foot between
the Governments of England and France. The information
was one drop more in that cup of mortification which was
pressed to the lips of the unfortunate commander. As far as
his own dignity was concerned it was bitter to reflect that, after
having conducted the war for nine years with unexampled
success, he was to be excluded from all share in the crowning
glory of bringing it to an advantageous close; and. that after
having enjoyed for the same time the confidence of all the Allied
sovereigns, he was now to be passed over as an individual
whose opinion was of no importance. But as a patriot — and it
is impossible to believe that a man who had raised to so proud
an elevation the military reputation of his country was devoid
of patriotism — his feelings must have been greatly agonized.
Holding as he did all the political prejudices of the Whig
party, he could not doubt that a peace made by Tories would
be disgraceful and ruinous to his native land. The terms had,
indeed, partly transpired. The English Government, it ap
peared, would make no objection to Philip retaining Spain.
Such a concession implied, to the heated imaginations of Marl
borough and the Whigs, nothing less than the surrender of all
Europe to France, the abandonment of England to a Catholic
league of princes, and the extinction of liberty and the Protes-

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 325
tant religion. And this was to be the miserable result of those
glorious labours which had driven the French out of Germany
and the Netherlands, and spread the fame of the English arms
to the ends of the world.
Adversity brought into prominence one singular defect in
the constitution of Marlborough's great mind. Throughout the
period of his good fortune he had seemed almost indifferent to
popular applause. But little as he might care for admiration
and flattery, the fact now became evident that he could not
brook a word of depreciation even when uttered by the most
contemptible of mankind. The most malignant member of the
Grub Street fraternity would have been penetrated by remorse
could he have known the pain which his trumpery verses
inflicted upon that heart which he took for granted was as
insensible to ridicule as to praise. The afflicted hero once sent
his agent, Arthur Maynwaring, who was himself an active
pamphleteer on the Whig side, to remonstrate with Oxford
about the licence he permitted to the Tory ballad-mongers and
satirists. But the Minister, although at that time disposed to
treat Marlborough with deference and kindness, was utterly
unable to enter into his feelings upon the matter of libels.
" The Duke," he replied, " must not mind them. I myself am
called rogue in print every day ; and what is more," he added,
with a significant glance at Maynwaring, " I know the man
who does it ; but I intend to five fairly with him."*
It is remarkable that one of the most inveterate enemies of
Marlborough belonged to that sex which is usually but too
prone to the worship of heroes. The ardent Toryism of Mrs.
de la Riviere Manley's political creed seems to have overborne
her natural tendencies as a woman. That creed she derived
from her father, Sir Roger Manley, governor of one of the
Channel islands, who having suffered for his devotion to Charles
I., and experienced without a murmur the customary ingrati
tude of Charles IL, died with little else to bequeath to his
daughter than his unalterable principles of loyalty. While
young she was basely tricked out of her character ; but the
prurience of her compositions must suggest to her readers that
her virtue hung rather loosely about her, and would, even
* An undated letter of Maynwaring to Marlborough in Coxe's Memoirs.

326 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
under favourable circumstances, have been a possession difficult
to retain. She earned her living partly by a profession which
the refinement of the present age forbids naming, and partly
by writing romances and plays which, being among the most
licentious works in the English language, had of course a con
siderable sale. In 1709 appeared her " Memoirs from the New
Atlantis," a long series of anecdotes, in which lawless desire is
depicted with a warmth of colouring which only female genius
can give, but which to a reader not utterly depraved in taste,
becomes monotonous from the apparent inability of the authoress
to treat of any other theme. It was principally designed as a
satire upon the Whigs all round, and excited no little indigna
tion in a number of grave statesmen, who found themselves to
their astonishment figuring, under thinly-disguised names, as
heroes in all sorts of amorous tales. For this performance
Mrs. Mauley was summoned to the Secretary's office, and inter
rogated by Sunderland ; but either in deference to her sex, or
from the apprehension of difficulty in obtaining a conviction in
her case, she was let off with a reprimand. During the next
year, or in 1711, she made the acquaintance of Swift, and
became what he called one of his understrappers. Whenever
it was deemed expedient to enlighten or correct the public
mind upon some subject, and the great writer was idly inclined,
had other work on band, or wished that his participation should
not be known, the materials for a paper or pamphlet were
furnished to Mrs. Manley. To her was entrusted the composi
tion of the Examiners when Swift grew tired of writing them
himself. A book from some Whig pen entitled " Bouchain,
appeared in the autumn of 1711, and being provokingly lauda
tory of the great commander, was promptly answered by the
understrapper. Marlborough, to whom both works were trans
mitted by good-natured friends, was half maddened to find his >
exploit of passing the French lines compared to a company of
militia crossing a kennel, the glory of it, if any there were,
attributed to Hompesch, and his capture of Bouchain in the
sight of Villars's army stigmatized as the taking of a pigeon- ;
house at the cost of sixteen thousand men. The world was also :
informed that the hero, of whom the world heard so much, was
accustomed to duck his head whenever he heard the noise of a

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 327
cannon.* It must detract somewhat from our estimation of
Marlborough to find that such rubbish as this drew from him
an agonized appeal to the Ministers for justice upon the author.
The only reply of St. John was a burst of contemptuous laughter.
Oxford kept his countenance, and answered the appeal with
good humour, although he declined to interfere. " I am grown
so accustomed," he said, " to see inyself in a libel, that I would
willingly compound with ill-natured scribblers to write ten
times as much more against me, on condition they would write
against no one else." t
In truth, the Ministers, so' far from sympathizing with the
distresses of Marlborough, had by this time determined to
proceed to extremities against him. J It had become evident
that he was incurably hostile -to their plans, and that all the
influence his reputation and his position as Commander-in-
Chief gave him, would be exerted to frustrate them. It seems
strange that, while resenting deeply every attack made upon
him by Tory scribblers, he should have been so little cautious
of giving provocation by his own conduct. He had become the
hero whom a little band of well-known Whig pamphleteers
delighted to honour. Maynwaring, an excellent man of busi
ness and a writer of some ingenuity, had in July, 1710, diverted
the town with a satire upon the ambition and intrigues of
Oxford, and was now in the habit of attacking the Government
every week in the Medley. Intimately associated with this
gentleman was John Oldmixon, whose reputation has survived
that of his friend from the circumstance of his having given to
the world the worst history of England that ever was or is ever
likely to be written. The student who resorts tO' his voluminous
work for information rises from the perusal with disgust and
wonder that a man who lived through a considerable part of
the period he professes to pourtray, who' was personally ac
quainted with many of the- characters whose actions he under
takes to record, should have contented himself with drawing his
* The pamphlet is entitled "A Vindication of the- Duke of Marlborough;"
Boyer; Marlborough to Oxlord, October 19—30..
t Oxford to Marlborough, October 30, November 10.
X Bolingbroke in a letter to Strafford, November 21, December 2, says, " I
hear that in his conversation with the Queen he has srwfcen against what we are
doing. His fate hangs heavy upon him. He has of late pursued every counsel
which was the worst fur him."

328 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
materials wholly from party squibs, without contributing one
atom of intelligence upon matters which fell under his own
observation, or making one comment which is not either extrava
gantly laudatory or extravagantly abusive. Beside this contemp
tible writer the often-censured Burnet assumes the dignity of
a philosophic historian ; for Burnet's prejudices were at least
those of a great mind and a benevolent heart, and his narrative
is perhaps as fair as it was possible for a man of that genera
tion to pen. But authors like Maynwaring and Oldmixon,
whether incited or not to their literary labours by Marlborough,
the Ministers felt they could afford to despise. There was,
however, another adherent of the Duke's whose power to injure
they regarded as more formidable. This was Francis Hare,
who had been from the commencement of the war his Grace's
chaplain, and who used his pulpit not unfrequently for the
inculcation of Whig maxims among the officers and subalterns
of the army. The mischief which this clergyman's tongue could
effect it was impossible to overlook, for the whole force, from
the generals to the drummer-boys, was devoted to Marlborough,
and was already furious against the cabal of court favourites who
were meditating the deposition of their idol and the sacrifice of
their country's honour. The Ministers might well think that
the man who could permit sermons to be preached publicly
and in his own presence full of remarks obviously directed
against them, had little right to expect redress at their hands
against libellers.*
The first rumour of what was preparing for him at home
reached Marlborough upon his return to the Hague. His
friends reported to him that the commissioners appointed by
Parliament in the spring for examining the public accounts
had been pushing their inquiries into the accounts of the army,
and had made what they seemed to consider a great discovery.
They had ascertained from Sir Solomon de Medina, a Jew who
held a contract for supplying bread and bread-waggons to the
army, that during the last four years he had made an annual
present of nearly six thousand pounds to the Commander-in-
Chief. The circumstance had been allowed to transpire, for
the commissioners, who were all high Tories, were too much
* St. John to the Queen, October 17—28.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 329
delighted with their discovery to keep the secret, and the
public was marvelling over the strange revelation. Marl
borough hastened to offer an explanation. He wrote a let
ter which was laid before the commissioners. The sums
alluded to, he stated, had been allowed as a perquisite to the
Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Low Countries both
before the Revolution and since, and the use to which they were
applied was to procure secret intelligence of the enemy's
designs. The ten thousand pounds a year regularly allowed
by Parliament for this purpose was insufficient. There was
still another revenue, he added, which was devoted in the same
manner. He had himself, while acting as the plenipotentiary
of King William, concluded an agreement with the different
sovereigns of the auxiliaries that two and a half per cent.
should be deducted from the pay of their troops ; and when he
succeeded to the command of the army the Queen authorized
him by warrant to receive and employ the revenue arising-
from this source. Next to the blessing of God and the
bravery of the soldiers, Marlborough observed, the advantages
obtained during the war were attributable to the timely and.
good advices procured by help of this money.*
The depositions of Medina and Marlborough's own admissions
furnish together the grounds upon which a charge of pecula
tion was now based by the enemies of the great soldier. The
facts of the case are clear enough, and no additional fight
has since been thrown upon it. In the first place it may be
remarked that the imputation of embezzling is one which
might be brought against any minister who ever had the
distribution of secret-service money. The reputation of a
man who can produce no vouchers for his expenditure must
depend upon whether he has more friends or enemies in the
world. It is not too much to say that the accusation against
Marlborough would now be regarded as a mere piece of party
spite, were it not for his notorious love of money. The revenues
he derived from three sources for secret service cannot have
amounted to less than thirty thousand pounds a year. That the
service was performed in the most efficient and admirable manner
is indeed beyond dispute. But was the whole sum arising from
* Printed in the Appendix to Boyer's Annals.

330 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
perquisites, stoppages and Parliamentary grants employed in
this manner, or was there a surplus that remained in his
Grace's hands ? If there was, it may seem plain that accounts
should have been rendered for it to the parties interested. The
purpose for which these funds were originated could not have
contemplated personal advantage to the General.
With regard to the deductions from the pay of the auxiliary
troops the Parliament was clearly not concerned. The right of
making these deductions had been granted by foreign sove
reigns to the General, and the General had been expressly
authorized by the Queen to receive and disburse at his dis
cretion the sums that accrued from this source. If the foreign
sovereigns wrere satisfied with Marlborough's employment of
the money, no one else had a right to complain. But the per
quisites on the bread contracts are open to objection. They
seem to have been originated by Dutch statesmen with the
object of supplying the General with a fund to be employed in
secret services. But however innocent was the motive, and even
assuming that the money was strictly spent in the service for
which it was intended, Marlborough could scarcely have been
justified in following the example set by Dutch generals and
applying it to the bread contracts for the English troops.
The contractors, no doubt, included in some shape the per
quisites they paid to him in the bills presented to the
English exchequer. A deception had evidently, therefore,
been practised upon the Parliament, and it is not strange
that, when the circumstance became known, men should have
been slow to admit that the deception was honourable and
necessary. Marlborough was, in truth, under great apprehensions as to
the result of an inquiry into these passages of his conduct.
The report of the commissioners would be laid before the Com
mons, and constituted as the House now was there could be
little hope that his explanations would receive much attention.
He saw that his only chance of escape was to conciliate the
Ministers. He appealed to Oxford for protection in a strain of
entreaty which, coming from a man so illustrious and but two
years back so powerful, it is almost painful to read.* A week
* Marlboiough to Oxford, November 10—21.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

331

after he followed his letter to England. During his passage
up the Thames he received intelligence which determined him
to stop for a night at Greenwich. It was the 17th of Novem
ber, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession, which the
populace still continued to signalize by bonfires and processions
intended to show their zeal for the Protestant religion and
their contempt and hatred for Popery. There had been
rumours abroad that the Whigs designed to stir up the people
against the Government on this occasion. The members of the
Kit Kat Club, it was reported, had given large subscriptions
for a procession of extraordinary magnificence. The puppets
representing the Pope, the Devil, and the Pretender, would be
sumptuously dressed, and the Devil would be the exact counter
part of Lord Oxford. Agents had been provided who would
circulate in the crowd clamouring that the country was sold to
France, that the Queen was dead, that the Pretender had
landed ; and it was expected that a mob, infuriated with
indignation and liquor, which the Whigs would distribute
freely, would be roused up to attack the houses of some of
the leading Tories.* In the face of such rumours Marlborough
thought it prudent to defer entering London until the follow
ing day. The return of the hero was always the signal for
the collection of a crowd of vociferous admirers, and if it
took place at this critical time the Ministers would doubtless
aver that it was expressly designed to encourage the rioters.
The designs and subscriptions of the Whigs had, however,
been greatly exaggerated, and the peace of the community was
not broken. Yet this happy result was perhaps due in part to
the vigour and precautions of the Government. Upon the
night before the anniversary a party of soldiers broke into
an empty house in Drury Lane where the puppets had been
deposited; and Pretender, Pope, and Devil, four cardinals,
four Jesuits, and four friars were abstracted and taken off to
the Cockpit. The dreaded day passed off quietly. The trained
bands of London and Westminster appeared under arms, and
in force sufficient to check all attempts at disturbance. But
there were zealots who were bitterly indignant at being
hindered from celebrating after the old fashion an anniversary
* Postboy, November 22.

332 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
so peculiarly dear to good Protestants. , No previous Govern
ment, they said, had attempted to suppress the festivities of
this day except that of James II. *
Marlborough returned to London to find his friends laughing
over the groundless alarms of the Ministers about a Whig plot,
and still in high hopes of being able to frustrate their schemes
of peace. It was now clear that the Whigs would have a
majority in the Upper House. They had recently acquired an
important accession of strength. Nottingham, the prince of
high Tories and main pillar of the Established Church, had
actually condescended to make terms with them, and had
brought over a little band of friends who had either conceived
the same disgust as himself against the Ministers, or were con
tent to receive from him the word of command. This union
between men whose opinions upon every important question
of the time, civil and religious, were diametrically opposed, is
one of the most curious in the history of parties. Both sides
agreed to surrender a fundamental article of their creed. The
Whigs delivered up the Dissenters to persecution by consenting
to withdraw their opposition to a bill against occasional con
formity : Nottingham, who had once in each session wept over
the ruin which had befallen his unhappy country through the
folly of the Whigs in launching her into a gigantic continental
war, consented to vote against the conclusion of a peace, except
upon a condition which he knew had become almost impossible,
that Philip should surrender Spain and the Indies. The
Whigs seem to have thought that religious freedom was of less
importance to the country than her political interests, and such
Tories as Nottingham that all considerations should be post
poned to the exaltation of the Church. Viewed from the
standpoint of impartiality, it may appear that each side pre
ferred to sacrifice the best in order to indulge in the worst tenet
of the faction. To release their countrymen from the fetters of
civil and religious tyranny had been hitherto the noble aim of
the Whigs : a determination to revive the decaying spirit of
persecution must be regarded as the principal reproach against
the Tories. Yet the Tories had the merit of perceiving what
the Whigs would not perceive, that a prolongation of the war
* Lettres Historiques ; Boyer ; Journal to Stella.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 333
must simply entail upon the country an useless expenditure of
its resources. Thus the Whigs abandoned the sacred cause of
freedom to gratify a foolish desire of continuing the contest
with France : the Tories of Nottingham's party abjured a sound
doctrine as regarded the war in order to gratify their love of
persecution.* In spite, however, of this reinforcement to the Opposition,
the Ministers pressed on the business of concluding a peace
with energy and resolution. Buys continued to have audiences
of the Privy Council, but to little purpose ; nor could he make
any more impression upon the Ministers to whom he paid
frequent visits. Strafford, in the meantime, was bringing the
whole weight of the English Government to bear upon the
authorities of the Republic. Her Majesty, he told them, was
determined on this point. She would concert with them no
plans for continuing the war until they had agreed to join with
her in opening a congress, and any further delay in sending
passports for the plenipotentiaries of France she would consider
as a refusal to comply with her request. The Dutch began to
perceive the necessity of yielding. They were aware that the
English and French Ministers were corresponding on friendly
terms, and that the King had offered, in case of their obstinacy,
to send his plenipotentiaries to London with power to conclude
a separate peace with the Queen. Blank passports had some
time since been forwarded to Buys ; but that personage had
taken upon himself the responsibility of retaining them, in the
confidence that the powerful opposition to the Ministers which
he saw about him must eventually succeed in its object. But
the peremptory orders he now received from his Government
left him no choice but to deliver them into the Queen's hands.
The Republic had, on a sudden, become singularly courteous
and complying. The date of opening the congress, Buys said,
had, in accordance with her Majesty's wishes, been fixed for
the 12th of January (New Style). The place where it should
be held had also been left to her selection. This was a point
which had been frequently discussed with Menager. The
* Nottingham was unmercifully lashed by the Tories for deserting his party.
See Swift's amusing ballad commencing " An orator Dismal of Nottingham
shire ; " see also an advertisement in the Postboy of December 6.

334 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Hague bad the recommendation of being the city in which the
ambassadors of all the Allied Powers resided, but Louis bad
one strong objection to holding the conferences there. The
Pensionary Heinsius he regarded as his inveterate enemy, and
the chief promoter of those degrading preliminaries of 1709
which had wounded him to the soul. If the Hague were the
place of congress, there could be little doubt that Heinsius
would be one of the plenipotentiaries of the Republic. But
the duties of his post confined him to his province of Holland.
The English Ministers readily appreciated the wisdom of his
objection, and it was settled that the congress should be opened
at the quiet town of Utrecht.*
The hopes of the Opposition now rested almost entirely on
the Parliament. The day fixed for its assembling, the 13th of
November, arrived, and to the mortification of the Whigs,
Parliament was prorogued to the 26th. That date came, and
the meeting was again put off till the 7th of December. Mean
while Anne and her Ministers were busily endeavouring to win
over the refractory peers. Marlborough, Somers, Cowper, and
many other members of the Opposition were summoned into
the closet. But Anne found her entreaties that they would
not counteract her plans answered only by expostulations upon
the dangerous course she was pursuing. Burnet, to whom she
expressed a hope that " bishops would not be against peace,"
spoke his sentiments with the fervour and conviction of a Jewish
prophet. The consequence of such a peace as that which was
now designed, he declared, would be the surrender of all
Europe into the hands of France. In less than three years the
Queen would be murdered, the Pretender would be king, and
the fires would be rekindled in Smithfield.f
It was, howrever, just at this conjuncture that a book made
its appearance which unquestionably exercised great influence
over that considerable body of Englishmen who, not being
professional politicians, had minds accessible to argument. It
was called the " Conduct of the Allies," a title expressive of
tfie author's object to show the treatment to which England had
been subjected by those princes and powers whose cause against
France she had taken upon herself to defend. It was written
* Memoires de Torcy. f Burnet.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 335
bv Swift under the supervision of St. John, who supplied argu
ments and information of such a kind as at once to distinguish
the little volume from the ordinary productions of the press.
In the excited state of the public mind its fame spread with
wonderful rapidity. The first edition of a thousand copies was
sold in two days, and second, third, and fourth editions were
exhausted in a week. The book is, in truth, a miracle of clear
and forcible logic ; but its rapid sale was, no doubt, less owing
to its literary merits than to its evidently proceeding from an
official source. The great lesson it was intended to teach was
that England should from the first have engaged in the contest
with France not as a principal but as an auxiliary to the
Powers more immediately interested. She had, however, as
the war proceeded, taken upon herself greater and greater
obligations by reason of the failure of her allies to fulfil their
own engagements, until at length nearly the whole burden of
maintaining the struggle had devolved upon the country which
had the least expectation of profiting by success.*
While the principles inculcated in the " Conduct of the
Allies" were under discussion in every political circle, the
Parliament met. The Ministers displayed a bland serenity
which amazed their friends, who were devoured with anxiety
for the future. To many Tories it seemed impossible that the
Administration could survive the attacks which were to be
expected from all quarters. There was a pervading fear that,
even in the royal closet, evil influences were at work. The
Duchess of Somerset, who had succeeded Lady Marlborough in
the office of Mistress of the Robes, was evidently drawing to
herself the chief share in the confidence and affections of Anne.
Her husband, restless and capricious, was now become a violent
enemy of the Ministers he had so largely contributed to raise
to power, and was thought to be trying by means of his wife
to bring about another change of Government. Swift, whose
hopes of ecclesiastical advancement were now bound up with
the Tories, and who had moreover contracted a warm friendship
tor several of the leading members of the Government, was in
,, I'M Marlborough himself admits. " I am perfectly convinced that, besides
6 draining of our nation both of men and money almost to the last extremity,
our Allies do by degrees so shift the burden of the war upon us that, at the rate
'ley go on, the whole charge must at last fall on England."

336 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
great terror from the arts of this lady. He bemoaned the
lazy, dawdling ways of the Treasurer, and tried hard to con
vince his patron that, unless he could contrive to get the
Duchess dismissed, she would be the ruin of the cause. But
Oxford knew better than to interfere in a matter in which the
private feelings of the Queen were involved.*
The speech which opened the session was an energetic com
position, and breathed defiance to the Opposition in every line.
Its very first sentence contained a sharp reflection upon the
Whigs. Her Majesty expressed her satisfaction in being able
to inform the Parliament that, notwithstanding the arts of
those who delighted in war, both time and place bad been fixed
for the opening of conferences towards a general peace. Her
allies, and especially the States-general, she said, and the
Opposition stood aghast at the audacity of the assertion, had
by their ready concurrence in her measures signified the con
fidence they reposed in her. She, on her part, would do her
utmost to procure for them every reasonable satisfaction. She
asked for supplies for carrying on the war with vigour, which
would, she said, be the most effectual means to secure a good
peace. In settling the treaty, special care would be taken of
the interests of English commerce. Peace would moreover,
she said, afford the requisite opportunity to encourage home
manufactures. The speech did not omit an expression of her
Majesty's desire to secure the succession of Hanover, and it
concluded with a very necessary exhortation to unanimity.
Anne retired only to disrobe, and then returned to the House
of Peers, in the hope that her presence might have some effect
in restraining the ardour of the Opposition. The address of
thanks for the royal speech was moved by Earl Ferrers, and was
seconded and supported by several Tory peers. Then Notting
ham rose, and poured forth a long harangue about the insuffi
ciency of the preliminaries. Her Majesty, he said, was engaged
to restore the whole monarchy of Spain to the House of Austria.
* " We cannot be stout
Till Somerset's out.'7
'' "We must certainly fall if the Duchess of Somerset be not turned out, and
nobody believes the Queen will ever part with her. Lord Dartmouth despairs,
and is for giving up. Lewis is of the same mind. But Lord Treasurer only
says poh ! poh ! all will be well." — Journal to Stella.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 337
Both as a matter of honour and one of expediency, it was
incumbent on her to continue the war until those engagements
had been made good. He himself had more interest in desiring
peace than any man; for his property consisted entirely in
land, and he had fourteen children to support. But he would
rather live on two hundred a year than see his country sacri
ficed by an insecure peace. In conclusion, he moved, as an
amendment to the address, the addition of a clause which should
represent to her Majesty that, in the opinion of the House, no
peace could be safe or honourable if Spain and the West
Indies were allotted to any branch of the House of Bourbon.
The supporters of the Government endeavoured to parryr this
attack by asserting that such a clause was, in its nature, foreign
to an address of thanks. Members had not come prepared to
speak on the subject. The right time for discussing matters of
this kind was when the House proceeded, according to custom,
to take into consideration the state of the nation. Oxford, who
had been for nearly a generation the oracle of the Commons
upon Parliamentary usages and etiquette, and who seems to
have flattered himself that, in a new circle, his claims to learn
ing would be admitted as readily as by his old disciples, now
rose and pronounced with sententious gravity that to offer
advice in an address of thanks was against the rules and
orders of the House. The unlucky teacher was at once
pounced upon by the terrible Wharton. "The noble lord,"
observed that great master of sarcasm, " has, I fear, been too
short a time a member of this House to be thoroughly con
versant with its rules. I put it to the whole assembly whether
there is any such order in existence as he mentions." "There
is nothing of the kind," said Buckinghamshire, who had long
exercised among the Peers the same species of authority Oxford
had exercised over the Commons, and was doubtless little
pleased to find an upstart contending with him in his own
province. Sunderland, who followed Wharton, spoke with
great vehemence. " Is it possible," he said, " that any member
can be unprepared to offer us his thoughts upon a subject
which for the last ten years has been the principal one of
our consultations? Are we not the same peers who have so
often represented to her Majesty that no peace can be safe
VOL. II. z

338 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
or honourable unless Spain be recovered from the House of
Bourbon ? It is indeed true that I see some new faces among
us, and perhaps," he added, with a glance at the Treasurer, "it
may be well to remind them that in the last reign four lords
were impeached for having made a partition treaty."
The Earl of Anglesea, a Tory, who held several posts in
Ireland, and who had, with Ormond, the Lord-Lieutenant,
hastened up from that kingdom to the assistance of his party,
now joined in the debate. He insisted upon the necessity of
easing the country from the burden of an expensive war, and
recommended the House to leave the question to the royal
wisdom. "We might," he added rudely, " have enjoyed the
blessing of peace ever since the battle of Ramifies, bad not the
interest of some persons lay in prolonging the war." At this
pointed remark, Marlborough rose with even more than his
accustomed dignity. " I deem myself happy," he said, with
impressive solemnity, " in having this opportunity of vindi
cating myself from a charge which my enemies have so
frequently brought against me. I appeal to the Queen," he
continued, bowing towards the gallery in which she was
seated, "whether, during the period I had the honour of
serving her, both as general and plenipotentiary, I did not
constantly inform her of the proposals of peace which were
made, and request her instructions with regard to them? I
may declare with a safe conscience, in the presence of her
Majesty, of this illustrious assembly, and of that' supreme
Being before whom in the course of nature I must shortly
appear, that I have ever been desirous of a safe, honourable,
and lasting peace. My advanced age, and the fatigue of war
fare, make me ardently long for some repose during the
remainder of my days, that I may think upon eternity. I
cannot have the least motive for prolonging this war.
Honours and riches, far beyond ¦ my desert or expectation,
have been heaped upon me by the generosity of her Majesty
and the Parliament. I shall be willing, as long as I can
crawl, to serve my Queen and country in the hope of obtaining
an honourable peace; but I think it my bounden duty to
represent to her Majesty that my opinion of a peace based on
the seven preliminary articles is the same as that of our

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

339

allies. The safety and liberties of Europe will be in imminent
danger if Spain and the West Indies are left to the House of
Bourbon."* Such was the opinion of one of the coolest and most saga
cious minds ever created. There can be no doubt of Marl
borough's sincerity in this instance. His letters to his wife
and to his most intimate friends are replete with similar asser
tions of his belief. The course of events has indeed shown
that the opinion was wrong, that the fears excited by Philip's
retaining the monarchy of Spain were wholly chimerical.
That Prince did retain the kingdom in dispute ; but France
was not the stronger for it, nor was England given over to the
Pretender and the Catholic religion ; nor were any of the other
Powers of Europe in a worse condition than before. Nay, in a
very few years the two countries, whose union seemed to Marl
borough and the Whigs so close and so threatening to the
liberties of mankind, were actually at war with each other. But
it would be unjust to those great statesmen to criticize their
opinions from any other standpoint than that of 1711. With
the lights they then possessed their fears' were reasonable
enough. A whole generation had grown up to regard
Louis XIV. as a monster of ambition, with a mission from the
Devil to make slaves and Papists of the whole human race, a
perfidious tyrant with whom it was useless to think of enterin g
into a compact, whom it was absolutely necessary to bind with
chains of iron. By force and fraud he had been continually
enlarging his dominions, until the largest, and what under
judicious management might become the wealthiest monarchy
m the world, had fallen virtually into his possession. For that
Philip was the mere tool of his grandfather, that both France
and Spain were really governed from Versailles, seems to have
been doubted by no Englishman of that period. It is worthy
ot remark that Swift, while exhausting his power of logic and
ms wit in demonstrating the hopelessness of attaining the ends
proposed in the war, stigmatising the management of the
Whigs and the greediness of the Allies of England, scarcely
attempted to deal with the main argument of his adversaries,
*^°yer; Burnet; Lettres . Historiques ; Oxford to Strafford, December
z 2

340 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the danger of permitting the monarchies of France and Spain to
be controlled by two princes so nearly allied in blood. He
admitted that to all intents and purposes those kingdoms
were united ; nor does he seem to have had the smallest
prescience that, by the weakening of family ties and inherent
differences between the two peoples, they would in a short time
be as much severed as if no relationship existed between their
sovereigns. The wonder is, therefore, not that the Whigs
should have spurned from them a peace upon any other basis
than Philip's resigning Spain, but that the Tory Ministers
should have ventured to conclude a treaty upon terms appa
rently so fraught with danger to the liberties of Europe.
One argument, founded upon insufficient information, had
tended greatly to mislead the Whigs. It was firmly believed
that Philip regarded his grandfather with such a degree of
reverence that, at a command from him, he would at once lay
down his crown, and return to France with his old title of
Duke of Anjou. It was in vain that Louis protested that his
authority over his grandson was overrated, that to procure his
resignation he would be obliged to fiave recourse to arms, and
that none but unfeeling tyrants could think of urging him to
undertake so unnatural a war. The Whigs gave no credit to
his statements. They were convinced that it would not be neces
sary for him to employ force, that he had but to speak in a
determined tone and he would be obeyed. The fortunate addic
tion of French generals, statesmen, and courtiers to the writing
of memoirs has since revealed to us what was the true position
of things at this period. From the day Philip passed the
Pyrenees his grandfather's influence over him was greatly
impaired. It ceased altogether as his remembrance of that
awe-inspiring despot grew dim by time, as his obedience was
claimed by a spirited and imperious wife, as he became con
scious of the attachment of his subjects, and as he surrounded
himself with Spanish counsellors. Although still looking to
his grandfather for military and pecuniary assistance, he con
stantly showed, at any unpalatable counsels from the French
Court, so much independence as to convince Louis that the
notion he had once entertained of being able to govern Spain
through the means of his grandson Was nothing better

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 341
a flattering delusion. No fact indeed connected with this war
has been more satisfactorily established than that, had the King
of France accepted the conditions offered him by the Allies in
1709, he could not have executed his engagements without
sending an army into Spain.
The debate in the Lords' lasted for four hours, during the
whole of which Anne had the patience to remain in her gallery.
Almost every peer of note took part in it except Somers, whose
increasing infirmities precluded him from speaking, although
not from attending in his place. It was at length carried by
sixty-one votes against fifty-five to insert the clause offered by
Nottingham in the address of thanks.
The answer returned by her Majesty was misinterpreted,
Burnet informs us, by the Whig peers who presented the
address. Anne said that she would be sorry if any one
thought she would not do her utmost to recover Spain and
the West Indies from the House of Bourbon. This reply
was at first considered to portend a change in the royal
counsels. It was certainly ingenious. It admitted the de
sirability of the object pursued by the opposition, and this
the Ministers could do with a safe conscience, for they seem
to have been impressed with the same opinion as the Whigs
that it was not for the general interests of European nations
that a Prince of the House of Bourbon should reign over Spain.
But it held out no promise to continue the war in case that
end could not be obtained by diplomacy. The Ministers, in
fact, regarded the position of Philip as being too firmly esta
blished to be overthrown, and were averse to any further squan
dering of the- resources of the country for the purpose of
compassing an object which seemed to them unattainable.
In the Commons' a similar amendment to the address of
thanks was moved by the Whigs, but rejected by the over
whelming majority of two hundred and thirty voices against a
hundred and six. Yet the. Tories, in spite of a victory which
assured them of their control over the finances, and thus ren
dered the continuance of the war without their approbation
impossible, were greatly depressed by a variety of alarming
rumours. It was reported that the Queen was wavering, that
she knew not how to answer the remonstrances and reproaches

342 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
of the Allies, that the artful Duchess of Somerset was fast
working her round to the principles of the Whigs, that a new
Ministry with Somers at the head and Walpole for Secretary
was all but decided upon, that there would be a dissolution of
Parliament, and that the influence of the Court would be
exerted in favour of the warlike party. Great stress was laid
in this anxious time upon an incident which was considered as
an indication that her Majesty's predilections for the Tories
were on the wane. After the division upon the address of
thanks she was preparing to retire from the House when
Shrewsbury approached, and begged to know whether he, as
Lord Chamberlain of the household, or the Marquis of Lindsay,
who held the hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain,
should have the honour of conducting her to her coach.
" Neither of you," replied Anne peevishly, and gave her hand
to Somerset, who was standing near. Even Mrs. Masham, who
reported this circumstance to Swift, was alarmed, and suspected
that another change was coming over the royal mind; for
Somerset had just been loud in his opposition to the Ministers*
Yet a little reflection might have dissipated the fears of these
anxious politicians. The Queen had conceived a great affec
tion for the Duchess of Somerset, and the favour with which
the wife was regarded, was, as usual, extended in some degree
•to the husband. Lindsay, moreover, although he had taken
but small share in public life, was a Whig, and Shrewsbury
was known to be a little in disgrace. The Ministers had
pressed him to be one of the plenipotentiaries for England ;
but he had declined to act, and it was whispered that his sen
sitive timidity apprehended an approaching storm, and that he
was endeavouring to effect a reconciliation with his old friends,
the Whigs.
Throughout December Swift was in an agony of terror, and
kept wandering from the house of one courtier to that of
another to collect evidence about the words and looks of the
Queen. The gloomy opinion he formed at the close of each
day was that the Ministry was doomed, that the Whigs would
return in triumph, that Oxford and his other great friends
would end their lives on Tower Hill, and that he himself would
* Journal to Stella.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 343
be banged if he were caught. But he was determined to be
off in time. He took St. John aside, and told him that
although he had never asked a reward for his services, he con
sidered he was justified in claiming to be made secure. Could
he not be appointed Secretary to some foreign embassy ? The
new Ministers would of course recall him at once, but he would
feign sickness, and remain abroad until the first fury of the
storm should have spent itself. St. John tried to pacify him
by protesting that all would very soon be well again. Oxford,
whose mind was of too heavy a metal to be disturbed by the
fears which tormented more sensitive constitutions, amused
himself by rallying the great writer upon his cowardice.*
Yet the fears of the Tories, although in fact destitute of
foundation, were far from being unreasonable. Everything
depended at this conjuncture upon a Queen too stupid to
comprehend the principles of either of the two great factious
into which her subjects were divided, and who might at any
moment determine, for some female reason, upon abandoning
her new Ministers and being reconciled to her old friends.
The present House of Commons would unquestionably throw
obstacles in the way of an Administration which thought it
necessary to prolong the war. But that House had been
elected during a fit of abnormal excitement. The minds of
men had had time to cool during the two years which had
elapsed. The enthusiasm for Sacheverell and the imaginary
terrors about the Church were already half forgotten. The
Whigs were already half forgiven for their fancied designs
upon religion. The Queen was the object of such unbounded
love and reverence that, without a doubt, the bulk of the
electors would be anxious, before all other considerations, to
vote according to her wishes.. If, therefore, the Parliament
were dissolved and a report satisfactorily established that her
Majesty was convinced that her Tory Ministers were attempting
to entrap her into a dishonourable peace, the Whigs would pro
bably recover more seats than they had lost in the last elections.
The result, however, proved that sufficient allowance had not
been made for the immovable character of Anne. Oxford hav-
* Juurnal to Stella.

344 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
ing once succeeded in instilling into the royal mind the precept
that peace was better than war, the royal mind was thenceforth
closed hermetically against all arguments to the contrary.
The eloquence of Somers, the entreaties of Marlborough, and
even the coaxing of the Duchess of Somerset were all alike
thrown away. The Ministers were never in any real danger
except when, urged on by the fears of their subordinates, they
ventured to prefer a request that the Duchess and her husband,
or at least the latter, might be dismissed from Court. The
signs of anger that at once appeared in the countenance of their
mistress warned them that they were treading upon dangerous
ground, and with more prudence than had been formerly shown
by their predecessors, they refrained from all further mention
of the subject.*
Public attention was now turned chiefly towards the House
of Lords. Nottingham, having fulfilled fiis engagements with
the Whigs, was in haste to claim his reward. A week after
the last-named division, he brought forward bis cherished bill
against occasional conformity, although under a new title and
with some modifications for which the Whigs had stipulated.
The bill was suffered to pass easily through both Houses, and
the country became subject to the tyrannical law that any
person holding an office for which he had qualified himself by
taking the sacrament in the form prescribed by the Church,
and who should be afterwards convicted of resorting to a
conventicle for the purpose of worship, should forfeit forty
pounds and his office. Seven years elapsed before the Whigs
were able to repeal the wretched piece of legislation which
they allowed their rivals to enact on this day.t
Nearly at the same time the Whigs of the Upper House
obtained another triumph over their adversaries. Hamilton,
since the accession of the Tories to power, had been a warm
supporter of the Government, and his vast influence in Scot
land had been exerted in a manner which gave deep offence to
* Swift wrote a lampoon on the Duchess of Somerset, called " the Windsor
Prophecy." Mrs. Masham begged him to stop the impression for fear it s™uld
offend the Queen. But some printed copies did get abroad, and not improbably
were seen by her Majesty. .
t See a letter from Mr. Shower, an eminent Dissenting minister, to Oxloro,
December 8— 19. "The fatal consequences of this bill," he says, " cannot lie
expressed. I dread to think of some of them." See also the answer of Oxford.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 345
the opponents of the Ministry. He was now a principal
favourite at Court, for his recent services were considered as
more than an atonement for the very pardonable fault of his
Jacobitism. During the past year several high posts in the
county palatinate of Lancaster had been conferred upon him,
and in the autumn be had received a patent creating him a
peer of Great Britain with the title of Duke of Brandon. A
caveat was, however, entered against his admission to the
House as a peer of Great Britain, and this caveat was sup
ported by the Whigs. Their argument was that his Grace
was a peer of Scotland, and that the Act of Union hud pro
vided that sixteen of the Scottish peers only should sit in
Parliament. Except, therefore, as a representative peer of his
own country, a peer of Scotland was debarred from sitting and
voting in the House of Lords. Her Majesty might undoubtedly
bestow upon any of her subjects what title she pleased ; btit her
prerogative to endow individuals with all the privileges of
peers of Great Britain had been limited, as far as regarded
peers of Scotland, by implication, if not by express words, by
the Act of Union.
Anne again attended the House in the vain hope that her
presence might have some effect in overawing the refractory
members. Powys and Pratt, two of the most eminent lawyers
of the day, were heard on behalf of the Duke, and a debate
followed which lasted until what was then considered the
late hour of eight in the evening. At length the House
divided upon a motion to consult the judges upon this novel
and purely legal question, which was carried in the negative
by fourteen voices. It was then determined by a majority of
nve that a Scottish peer, created a peer of Great Britain since
the Union, was incapable of admission in the latter capacity to
the House.
The Whigs thus gained the day, and the victory seemed at
that time not without importance. The Ministers were evi
dently embarrassed by finding themselves in a minority in the
Upper House, and to what more convenient source could a
government in need of supporters resort for a supply of
compliant peers than to the needy and venal peers of Scot
land ? The introduction to the House of men already noble

346 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
would occasion nothing like the scandal which would attach to
the sudden elevation of Englishmen, and would probably be
regarded by the country at large merely as a compensation to
the Scottish peers for the privileges they had lost by the
Union. Yet it is difficult to understand how such enlightened
dispensers of justice as Somers and Cowper could reconcile it
with, their consciences to support their party in a cause for
which the arguments were so weak. It had never been dis
puted before the Union that the prerogative to create peers
was without limit, that the sovereign might, if be chose,
bestow all the privileges of peerage upon a regiment of his
guards, a colony of paupers, or a gang of convicts. And what
was there to indicate any intention on the part of the Legis
lature to exclude the peers of Scotland from participating in a
bounty which might be extended to every individual beside
themselves in the three kingdoms ? During the long debates
which preceded the passing of the act, not a single member
had, as far as any record remains, expressed even a wish to
impose any limitations on this undoubted prerogative. On
the contrary, there seems to have been some anticipation that
the Union would be followed by the elevation to peerages of
Great Britain of several of the peers of Scotland, who, it was
rumoured, had been induced by promises held out to them by the
Government to give their support to the measure. But that the
Whigs themselves were at first unconscious that any restriction
had been imposed on the prerogative is clearly shown by what
afterwards happened. A year subsequent to the Union Queens-
berry was created a peer of Great Britain with the title of
Duke of Dover. He entered the House of Lords unchallenged,
sat and voted during two successive Parliaments, and once a
resolution passed denying his right, while sitting as an English
peer, to vote as a Scottish peer in the election of the Scottish
representatives. It is impossible that Queensberry's right
could have been more f ully recognized, and Hamilton's jase
differed in no respect from Queensberry's. From the refusal
of the Whigs to consult the judges upon a point so entirely
within their province as the construction to be put upon an act
of Parliament, it may be assumed that they were determined to
take advantage of their majority, and close their understand-

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 347
ings to all considerations of law or justice.* There can be
indeed no better exemplification than this case affords of the
degeneration of principle which had been brought about by
political strife in the minds of the leading men of that age.
On the bench Somers and Cowper dispensed justice with im
partiality and discernment which have moved the admiration
of every successive generation of lawyers. But the moment
they took their seats in the House, and surveyed the battle
array of their opponents, the darkness of bigotry seemed
to come over those brilliant intellects. The high-minded
judges dwindled into mere partizans, mere automatons of a
faction. Notwithstanding, however, that the resolution had been
carried by sheer force of numbers, it remained in operation for
seventy years. It was not until 1782 that the eighth Duke of
Hamilton again preferred a claim to sit in the House of Lords
as Duke of Brandon. This time the judges were consulted,
and their opinions were unanimous that the prerogative was
not curtailed by the Act of Union, and that his Grace was
entitled to all the privileges of a peer of Great Britain.
These triumphs of the Opposition produced, however, in the
eyes of those who were connected with or dependent upon the
Ministry, one good effect. They had roused Oxford to a proper
sense of his danger. His friends, in mortal terror of the Whigs,
and expecting each day that the Queen would be forced or
coaxed into reinstating them in power, were half maddened to
see the careless, easy-tempered statesman lolling and punning
over his claret, and laughing at their gloomy faces and faint
hearts. Two vigorous measures were now decided upon. In the
first place it was determined to remove Marlborough from a
position in which, by dint of his influence over the troops and
m the cabinets of the Allied Powers, he might continually
throw obstacles in the way of peace, and perhaps, by an exer
tion of his military genius, acfiieve some great victory which
would have the effect of reviving the warlike enthusiasm of the
nation. It was also determined to convert the House of Lords
from a source of embarrassment into a convenient auxiliary by
"large addition of peers.
Burnet, and the notes of Onslow and Dartmouth.

348 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
No time was lost in putting the first of these measures in
train. Upon the day succeeding the last-mentioned debate, the
Commissioners for stating the public accounts laid upon the
table of the Commons a report upon some practices thev had
detected in the accounts of the army. The report consisted of
the evidence extracted from Sir Solomon de Medina about the
perquisites upon the bread contracts, of the Duke's letter of
explanation, and of some remarks of the Commissioners upon
the evidence and the explanation. It was ordered that the
report should be taken into consideration upon the 17th of
January, and the next day the House adjourned until the 14th
of that month. In compliance with the Queen's request the
usual supplies for the army and navy had been already voted,
and a land-tax bill at four shillings in the pound hud been
passed. Oxford, for once in his life, saw the necessity of acting
promptly. The Lords had adjourned only until the 2nd of
January, and there wras ample reason to dread the period of
their reassembling. The Whigs were meditating addresses
upon the subject of the peace, to which it would be embar
rassing to furnish the Queen with an answer without putting
her in direct antagonism to the House. The Scotch peers,
enraged by a resolution which they considered derogatory to
their order and a breach of the Union, were threatening to
withdraw their aid from the Government unless that resolution
were rescinded. Oxford's great difficulty was to find men so
high in social position that scandal might not attach to their
elevation to the peerage, and yet sufficiently compliant to be
depended upon for their votes. To call up by writ the eldest
sons of some of the existing peers was obviously the course which
would excite least remark ; but only two eldest sons, of the Earls
of Northampton and Aylesbury, could be found adapted for the
purpose. Ten more votes were necessary to ensure a majority
to the Ministers. The list of the new creations Oxford settled
with her Majesty without consulting at least one of his col
leagues. Dartmouth, while attending the Queen upon business,
was surprised by her drawing from her pocket a paper con
taining the names of twelve gentlerm n, and directing him to
prepare the necessary instruments for making them peers. Did

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 349
her Majesty design, was the question of the astonished Secre
tary, that they should all be made peers at once ? Anne
thouoht herself bound to offer some excuse for so extraordinary
a proceeding. She saw, she observed, that the Duke of Mail-
borough and the Whigs were determined to distress her, and
that she must do something to help herself. She liked this ex
pedient as little as he did, but no one had been able to propose
a better. All that Dartmouth could say was that he hoped it
would prove a remedy, but that he feared both the House of
Lords and the country would take it very ill.*
The names of the new peers were published in the Gazette
of the 1st of January, 1712. There can be no doubt that the
selection, although confined of course to the Tories, was ju
diciously made. The hurry in drawing up the patents was so
great that in most of them the usual preamble containing the
reasons for awarding the dignity was omitted. Yet with two
exceptions only the new peers consisted of gentlemen whose
claims to the honour of peerage would, under ordinary circum
stances, have been considered strong. George Henry Hay,
who had married a daughter of the Treasurer, was the son of one
of the most eminent of the Scottish peers, and was the sitting
member of a Cornish borough. Viscount Windsor, now created
Baron Mountjoy, had been made a peer of Ireland by William for
distinguished services in the Netherlands. Sir Thomas Wil-
loughby, Allen Bathurst, Henry Paget, Sir Thomas ManseU,
and George Granville were all men of ancient family and
possessed of large landed estates. Thomas Foley, indeed,
although long one of the leaders of his party, might be re
garded almost as a new man. His grandfather had amassed a
fortune as an ironmaster at Stourbridge, and his father had
acquired territorial importance by a marriage with one of the
wealthiest heiresses of the midland counties. The two excep
tions to the rule were those of Sir Thomas Trevor and Samuel
Masham. The former, as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas,
had gained a high reputation for ability and integrity, but
there are strong reasons why a judge should not be a peer, and
Trevor retained his seat on the bench after being raised to the
peerage. It is important that those whose duty it is to advise
* Dartmouth's note on Burnet.

350 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Parliament upon questions of law should not themselves be
members of Parliament. Masham was the eighth son of an
Essexshire baronet, and was included in the list for no better
reason than his being the husband of the favourite.
In the same ''gazette, beneath the names of the new peers,
the public read the startling intimation that the Queen had
dismissed Marlborough from all his employments. During the
past fortnight scandal had been busy with the reputation of the
great Duke. It was everywhere known that the Commissioners
had detected numerous acts of peculation in his accounts, and
people were wondering if it could be possible that the mighty
warrior of whom they had felt so proud, could be after all
but a low-minded pilferer whose heart was more intent upon
robbing the nation and cheating the soldiers out of their bread
than upon wresting an empire from the House of Bourbon. It
is easy to believe that Marlborough, who had shown such keen
sensitiveness to silly reflections upon his conduct and courage
from the pens of anonymous pamphleteers, was acutely dis
tressed when accusations, which had in truth some foundation,
were made against him by men of official standing. He or his
friends for him endeavoured to stem the tide of unpopularity
by publishing in the Daily Courant the letter he had written
to the Commissioners from the Hague. The Government,
apparently annoyed by this attempt at defence, promptly re
torted by publishing in the same journal the report of the
Commissioners in full. A fresh reason of no small weight was
now added to the many reasons the Ministers had for reducing
Marlborough to a private station. It had been rumoured for
some time that Prince Eugene intended to visit England in the
hope that the splendour of his rank and fame would make that
impression upon the mind of Anne which the memorial of Both-
mar and the eloquence of Buys had failed to produce. The
visit was exceedingly unwelcome both to the Queen and her
Ministers, but could not, upon any graceful plea, be declined.
Tfie significant coldness with which the notice of his intention
was received might have deterred the Prince, had he not been
convinced of the necessity of conferring with the English
sovereign in person by the representations of many of the lead
ing statesmen in Europe. Successive reports had reached

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 00 1
London of his arrival at the Hague, of his presenting a
memorial to the States- general against too hastily concluding a
peace, and of his determination to embark for England* The
Ministers, under these circumstances, felt that no time was to
be lost in their proceedings against Marlborough. They had
no wish to see the two generals planning under their eyes some
vigorous campaign for the purpose of rekindling enthusiasm
and national animosities which would destroy all hopes of
effecting a peace. Upon the last day of the year therefore
Anne attended a council and ordered it to be entered in the
books that, as an information against the Duke of Marlborough
had been laid before the House of Commons, she thought fit to
dismiss him from all employments in order that the matter
might undergo impartial examination. t
This resolution Anne communicated on the following day to
the Duke by a letter under her own hand. In a fit of un
wonted passion he flung the epistle into the fire. That his
indignation was just and natural few persons will now dispute.
It may, indeed, be averred that his dismissal was necessary to
the success of the conferences about to be opened at Utrecht ;
and those who are of opinion that he and the Whigs entertained
most erroneous notions about the policy of continuing the war,
and that peace upon the footing desired by the Ministers was
• really for the advantage of all Europe, cannot but regard his
dismissal at this conjuncture as a public blessing. Yet the
injustice to Marlborough is not the less apparent. His political
enemies had, for the special objects of injuring him in the
public esteem and affording a pretext for removing him from
office, brought forward an accusation of peculation. Before
the cause had been investigated by any tribunal a punishment
not inadequate to the offence when proved to have been com
mitted was inflicted upon him, and that by the hand of a
sovereign whose reign he had rendered the most glorious in
our annals. Anne, in her letter, made the same remark as she
had made in dismissing Godolphin. She complained of the
bad treatment she had met with from the Duke. Like her
St. John's Correspondence with Strafford. " Your Excellency is to discourage
as much as possible the Prince from coming over."
t Boyer.

352 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
father, she imagined that all persons who were so unfortunate as
to differ from her own opinions, and went into constitutional
opposition to her Ministers, were bad and disloyal subjects.
The reply of Marlborough was spirited but dignified. He
complained of the injustice he suffered at the hands of his
enemies when they could prevail upon her Majesty to impute
the occasion of his dismissal to a false and malicious insinuation
which he had had as yet no opportunity to repel. He professed
his inability to comprehend in what manner his conduct could
have given offence. If the reproach, he said, lay in his absent
ing himself from the Council, he was bound to acknowledge
that his duty to her Majesty and the country prevented him
from joining in the recommendations of a man who, in his
opinion, offered the worst advice possible. He thought, and all
men thought the same, that the friendship of France would be
destructive to her Majesty, for there was in the French Court a
root of enmity irreconcilable to the government and religion
of these kingdoms. He concluded with a prayer that the
Queen might never find the want of a servant so faithful as he
had always endeavoured to prove himself.*
Some of the spoils of the fallen hero were distributed at
once. The Tories could boast of but few military men of
experience and reputation. The claims of Peterborough, for
merly the object of their admiration, to wear the armour of
Achilles undoubtedly stood first in order ; but Peterborough,
still absent on his mission to Vienna and Savoy, was passed
over without acknowledgment. The Ministers, perhaps, had
little desire to entangle themselves with a genius so eccentric
and intractable. The more docile Ormond was selected as
Marlborough's successor in the command of the. first regiment
of foot-guards, and was soon after gazetted Commander-in-
Chief of the Forces in Great Britain. Rivers, whose military
service had been very limited, was named Master of the
Ordnance. * Printed in the Conduct of the Duchess.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 353

CHAPTER XL
Theee bad not been during this reign a day of such excitement
as that on which the news of Marlborough's dismissal and of
the creation of twelve new peers was announced to the world
by the London Gazette. The Whigs felt at once that a heavy
blow had been dealt to their hopes of frustrating the contem
plated peace. But the exultation of the more sober portion of
the Tory party was not unalloyed by misgivings. They might
believe that Marlborough was a sordid, bad-hearted man, intent
upon prolonging the miseries of his countrymen and of man
kind for no better purpose than to fill fiis pockets. But was it
prudent to dismiss the only great general the nation possessed
before peace had been actually secured ! Was it not to be
apprehended that the French would take heart, that our armies,
dispirited and discontented by the loss of their favourite leader,
would give ground, and that one disastrous campaign would
sweep away the advantages acquired in many tedious years of
successful warfare?* It is to be noted, however, that these
misgivings, which tempered the delight of more than one Tory
who had been eager in instigating Oxford to vigorous measures,
were not felt in the very quarter which, judging from previous
experience, should have been most affected by them. Little
more than a year back the displacement of a warlike Ministry
by a Ministry notoriously inclined to make peace, had thrown
the City into a state of panic. The intelligence of Marl-
hwift's comments in his Journal lo Stella may be regarded as typical of
tiose of the ultra Tory party. " I confess my belief that he lias not. one good
quality m the world besides that of a genera), and even that I have heard
l"l i. CTal £reat Solclier8- Dot we have had constant success in arms
j lle he commanded. Opinion is a mighty matter in war, and I doubt the
tVtlv ^ '* ,mPosslD'e to conquer an army that he leads ; and our soldiers
tri'1 .f same- -^"d how far this step may encourage the French to play
*™» with us no man knows." See also Swiit's remarks in his His.orv of the
tour last years of the Queen.
VOL. II. A A

354 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
borough's dismissal now actually caused a rise in the price
of stocks and shares.* It was evident that the opinions of
the mercantile community had undergone a remarkable change.
The little book in which Swift had set forth in terms terribly
clear and convincing the rapacity of the Allies, and the sub
servience of the former Ministers to the interests of every
country but their own, was in the hands of every one, and had
accomplished its purpose beyond the most sanguine anticipa
tions of its author, t One of its results bad been to prepare
the minds of all men to receive charges of fraud and peculation
against those who, but a little while since, had been regarded
as models of integrity ; and when it transpired that the Com
missioners for stating the public accounts had detected some
thing suspicious in the General's money dealings, there was no
want of believers in his guilt. The hero, by a sudden revul
sion of popular feeling, was cast down from his pedestal, and
execrated for a villain and a public robber. It was in vain
that friendly writers endeavoured to entice back sympathy for
him by dwelling on the glories of Blenheim and Ramifies, and
drawing comparisons between bim and the ungratefully treated
general of Justinian. People obstinately refused to see any
resemblance between the hard-hearted tyrant of the Roman
empire and a queen whose only fault it was to be too good-
natured and forbearing towards her servants; nor was the
similitude considered perfect between Marlborough, loaded
with wealth and honours,' and Belisarius wandering naked
and blind through the streets of Constantinople. The effect
of his dismissal upon the City seems to have been to inspire
a hope that, now the man whose object it was to foster the war
had been rendered harmless, peace would really be accom
plished upon fair terms. +
* Lettres Historiques.
t On the 5th December Swift writes— " They are now printing the fourth
edition, which is reckoned very extraordinary considered 'tis a dear twelve-
penny book, and not bought up in numbers by the party to give away as the
"Whigs do, but purely upon its own strength." It was published on the 27th
November. On the 28th January he writes that eleven thousand copies had
been sold.
% The Life and History of Belisarius was written by Oldmixon. "No Qjieen
or no General," is perhaps the best, certainly the longest treatise against Marl
borough. But it would be a waste of time and labour to enumerate the host ot
scurrilous ballads and satireB published against him about this time.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 355
It is worthy of remark that a report that Marlborough was
on the point of being disgraced was current in Paris a fort
night before his dismissal was announced. The relations
between the Governments of England and France were at
this period upon a footing of unreserved confidence to which
the relations between the two countries have never since borne,
and perhaps never will again, bear comparison. From the time
Menager returned to France, a secret corresponder.ee had been
carried on between the English and French Ministers. Oxford
and St. John kept Torcy regularly informed of the instructions
they gave to Strafford, and of the machinations of Buys, Marl
borough, the Hanoverian Minister, and the Whigs. Louis, in
return, transmitted to England the information rendered by
his spies from all parts of Europe. In truth, the King, long
accustomed to be regarded as a kind of monster beyond the
pale of mercy, was charmed and softened by the amicable
spirit of Anne and her Government. He no longer, as Torcy
expressed it, regarded that princess as an enemy, but as a dis
creet friend, who might be entrusted with important secrets
and relied upon to make a proper use of fier information.
During the month of November, the English Ministers,
anxious to have some outline of the terms his Majesty was
disposed to grant to the Allies generally, dispatched Gaultier
to Versailles. The King sent him back with a memorial
which was, in all sincerity, a rough draft of the instructions
he intended to give his plenipotentiaries at the Congress. He
intimated his willingness to give the Dutch a barrier sufficient
to quiet all their apprehensions on the score of France, if they,
on their part, would contribute in good faith to the re-establish
ment of peace. He would furthermore allow them considerable
commercial advantages if they would assist him in a matter
which be had greatly at heart, the restoration of his ally, the
Elector of Bavaria, to all the dominions and property of which
he had been despoiled on account of his adhering to the cause
of France. As regarded the empire he would yield fort Kehl,
restore Brisach, and demolish all the works he had erected on
tne Rhine, but conditionally upon the Emperor agreeing to
re-instate the brothers, the Electors of Bavaria and Cologne.
J-his prominent anxiety that his supporters should not suffer
a a 2

356 HISTORT OF GREAT BRITAIN
for their fidelity to bim, would appear a noble trait in the
character of Louis, did we not refloct how much his pride was
concerned in the matter, for Maximilian dethroned was a visible
monument of his own defeat. But mingled with that love of
displaying his power which may have been the first incentive
of the vain monarch, we cannot doubt that there were senti
ments truly cbivalric and generous. The cause of the Duke of
Savoy created some difficulty. Tbe English Ministers espoused
his claims more warmly than was agreeable to the master of
France, whose feelings had been deeply wounded by tbe con
duct of this prince. He refused absolutely to cede to him any
towns in the Alps, but stated that he had no objection to see
him aggrandized in Italy.*
The day, the 1st of January, fixed for the opening of the Con
gress, now drew near. There had been so much delay in extort
ing from Buys the passports for the French plenipotentiaries,
that it was evident these personages could not arrive in time.
Towards the end of the year, however, the Bishop of Bristol,
who had been appointed the first of the English plenipoten
tiaries, took his departure for Holland. Doctor Robinson bad
gone out in the year 1683 as chaplain to the English embassy
at the Court of Sweden. There he had remained during a
quarter of a century, regarded by the Government at home less
in the light of a clergyman than as an useful and industrious
political agent. He had, in the absence of the ambassador,
filled the posts first of resident and then of envoy-extra
ordinary at the same Court. He returned to England in
1708 with the double reputation of being a profound diplo
matist and a sound Churchman, having signalized his piety by
defending his countrymen against a charge of atheism which
had been made against them by some continental scribbler.
He made good progress in the favour of Anne, and was succes
sively raised to the deanery of Windsor and the see of Bristol.
It does not seem, however, to have entered the thoughts of the
Ministers to employ him in a civil capacity until a combination
of circumstances left them but little choice. Shrewsbury had,
with his usual prudence, declined any part in arranging a
treaty which he foresaw would be an unpopular one. The
• Memoires de Torcy ; Correspondence between Torey and St. John.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 357
appointment of Newcastle, who held the privy seal, was then
contemplated ; but during the autumn, and in the midst of the
conferences with Menager, the Duke died suddenly from the
effects of an accident. Tbe Ministers then turned to Jersey,
one of the staunchest friends of the Government, but, in a few
days after, the Earl was also snatched away by a stroke of
apoplexy. It had then seemed as if the only choice lay
between Nottingham and other high Tory noblemen of doubt
ful friendship. In the emergency, Oxford bethought himself
of the Bishop. The appointment of an ecclesiastic to a diplo
matic post might wear an appearance of singularity ; yet, as
far as real qualifications for the office went, few lay Englishmen
could boast of so many. The Bishop's acquaintance with the
Sovereigns, the Ministers, and the complicated politics of the
northern Courts was unrivalled, and on many occasions his
diligence, discretion, and good-humour had achieved a triumph.
In September, therefore, the privy seal was confided to him
with a seat at the Council board, and Manager was informed
that be would probably be one of the plenipotentiaries. His
appointment to this important duty gave general satisfaction
except to those inveterate Whigs who, in their eagerness to
disparage every person in the service of the Government,
muttered that a bishop would be better employed in looking
after his flock at home than in ruffling it abroad with the pomp
and state of a plenipotentiary.*
Strafford, who had been for many years ambassador at the
Court of Berlin, was named tfie second plenipotentiary. Oxford
seems fully to have intended that Prior should have been a
third with' instructions to devote his attention specially to the
interests of British commerce, a subject which neither Strafford
nor the Bishop were quite competent to handle. But the
patrician blood of the nobleman who could trace his ancestors
from the Conquest, and who stood in the relationship of grand-
nephew to the famous proud Earl, fired up at the bare sugges
tion of being joined in a commission with the son of a vintner.
The Ministers were compelled, therefore, to forego the assist
ance of a servant who, in their opinion at least, was a valuable
one. * bee the remarks of Boyer.

358 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Upon the 2nd of January the Lords re-assembled. The new
members were introduced, and their patents, which, in the
hurry of drawing them up, were nearly all alike, were read to
the House. Opposition to an exertion of the prerogative which
although extraordinary was still perfectly legal, there could of
course be none ; but a laugh was raised by a quip of Wharton,
who asked whether it was intended that the twelve should vote
individually or by their foreman. The Lord Keeper then
delivered a message from the Queen, intimating her desire that
the House should adjourn until the 14th of the month, the day
fixed for tfie re-assembling of the Commons, when matters of
great importance would be communicated to both Chambers.
A warm debate arose as to the advisability of complying with
her Majesty's commands in this instance. It was contended
that a message to adjourn addressed to one branch of the legis
lature alone was without precedent. The invariable practice
of the Sovereign had been to direct the adjournment or the
prorogation of both Houses together. If the Lords submitted
to such an innovation it might give rise to the Sovereign
adjourning one House while the other was left sitting, to the
utter ruin of the constitution. Upon the motion to adjourn
being put, however, it was carried by thirteen votes. The
question was scarcely one upon which parties could bring their
respective strength to a fair trial. Many Whigs, disinclined
to commit tfie indecorum of refusing obedience to the royal
commands, either absented themselves or joined their voices to
tbe ministerial party. Some Tories, on the other hand, voted
against the motion, from a conviction that the message was an
encroachment upon the liberty of the House*
The bold remedy, however, adopted by the Government bad
already convinced the Whigs of the futility of their offering
any further opposition in Parliament. It was plain that
Ministers who could stretch the power of the Crown so far as
to create twelve new peers together for the purpose of obtaining
a majority, would not scruple, if that number should prove
insufficient, to proceed with their creations until their object
was accomplished. In the eyes of all men, indeed, the cause
of the Whigs seemed now so desperate that a timid and credu-
* Burnet ; Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

0

ivmjr

lous public began to imagine that the party must be revoh
desperate expedients. It was by this time known in London
that Eugene was on the setts, and there was a variety of
alarming rumours in circulation as to the object of his visit.
He was coming, it was said, to the assistance of Marlborough
and the Whigs. The conspirators had already concerted their
plans, and fearful scenes were about to open. Accord ing to
one story the Duke was to meet the Priuce on Blaekkeath at
the head of a troop of horse. The two generals would enter
London side by side : the mob would be excited by agents of
the Whigs : the houses of the leading Tories would be attacked ;
and mob and soldiers together would perpetrate a series of
outrages for the purpose of overawing the Queen and her
Mniisters.* Those Ministers were themselves not without grave appre
hensions as to the effect which would be produced on the
•populace by the sight of a conqueror so renowned. They had
done their utmost to avert the threatened visit. A peremptory
refusal to admit to the shores of England a person who came in
the capacity of ambassador from a friendly power, and against
whom it was impossible to allege one substantial objection, was
out of the question. But every method short of positively
declining his visit was employed to deter the Prince from
embarking. Strafford, according to orders, informed him that
although, if he were merely bent on diverting himself in
London, he should be welcome, her Majesty was determined
that the arrangements for the forthcoming campaign should be
made only at the Hague, and that in her opinion he would best
advance the interests of the common cause by remaining where
he was. Eugene replied simply that his chief commission was
to improve the friendly relations existing between his master
and her Majesty, and pressed for a yacht and convoy. He
applied for a passage to the captain of a British ship which lay
off the Brill, and was politely referred to the Ambassador.
Strafford, thus driven, endeavoured 1o shift the embarrassment
from bis own shoulders by writing to the captain an ambigu
ous letter, which that officer interpreted, however, as a per-
* Boyer ; Memoires de Torcy ; Macpherson, original papers. Swift says the
Whigs designed to have met him villi forty thousand men.

360 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
mission to receive the Prince. Accompanied by his nephew
and a small suite of German noblemen Eugene set sail on
the 28th of December, was driven back by contrary winds,
and was scarcely out of sight of land for tbe second time,
when a Queen's messenger reached Strafford with letters
directing him to make such representations to the Prince as,
it was thought at Whitehall, must surely have the effect of
compelling him to abandon his projected visit. It was not until
a whole week had been passed on shipboard that the tempest-
tossed hero found himself in calm water, and was cheered by
tbe sight of Gravesend. His approach had been signalled to
London, and two gentlemen from the Secretary's office were in
attendance with a Government barge. The Prince was already
in possession of one melancholy piece of intelligence. The
pilot, who had been taken on board at the mouth of the river,
had communicated the news of Marlborough's dismissal from
all his posts. During the voyage up to London one of the gen
tlemen dropped a hint to him that the less attention he showed
to his old coadjutor the better pleased the Queen would be.
But of this his Highness did not condescend to take the least
notice. His affection for Marlborough was sincere ; and had
his personal feelings been less engaged, the cause which had
drawn down upon his brother-general the royal displeasure,
was the very one he had come to England to support. The
first visit, therefore, he received at Leicester House was from
Marlborough, and it was the first visit he returned. Yet the
convincing proofs the Queen and her Ministers had just shown
of their determination to make peace in despite of Whigs and
Continental statesmen must have speedily driven all hopes of
success from his breast. Upon the Sunday after his arrival he
was admitted to an audience ; but neither from the words nor
the looks of Anne could be derive any favourable augury.
Her Majesty received him with cold politeness. The state of
her health, she remarked, would prevent her from seeing as
much of him as she could wish ; " but these gentlemen," she
added; pointing to Oxford and St. John, " have orders to confer
with you as often as you think proper."*
The desire of all classes to catch a sight of the hero was
* St. John to Strafford, January 8 — 19 ; Boyer.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 361
intense. During the ten weeks he continued in England
Leicester House was besieged from morning till night by
noble visitors, adherents of the Tory party being scarcely less
assiduous than the Whigs. Every drawing-room where it
was expected that the Prince would make his appearance was
crowded to suffocation ; and his chair, in its passage through
the streets, was constantly attended by an enthusiastic throng
of hero-worshippers, such as he could have remarked in no
other country but this. The caresses, indeed, which were
heaped upon him by high and low contrasted sadly with the
marks of contempt which it had now become tbe fashion to
bestow upon Marlborough. Upon the festival of the Queen's
birthday a mob had collected round a closed chair in the Park,
which was supposed to contain the Prince. The moment, how
ever, that tbe Duke was recognised as the occupant, the accla
mations ceased, and tbe air rang with cries of " Stop thief!"*
The downfall of tbe great Englishman had been followed by an
aggravated eruption of ballads and pamphlets about him, and
the flow of scurrility which the hope of obtaining a guinea
from the Ministers could inspire in tbe authors of that age is
truly amazing. That Marlborough was a miser, a cheat, and
a villain were old charges once cautiously whispered, but which
it seemed now perfectly safe to proclaim from the house-tops.
That he was a coward was an accusation which must at first
have sounded strangely, but which might soon pass muster by
dint of repetition. But some invention was required to demon
strate that the villain and coward could easily be spared from
the army. Literary genius was reduced to the necessity of
asserting that his victories were nothing but accidents. His
singular successes, it was boldly maintained, had once been
regarded by simple people as proofs of military talent ; but the
world had now grown wiser, and could discern in them nothing
but proofs of his good fortune. The civilities which were con
stantly passing between the two heroes gave great irritation to
the tribe of poets, who at length assailed the Prince with their
stings. His own pure reputation afforded no fiold for scandal ;
but ballads were written about his mother, whose complicity in
some of the darkest crimes of the seventeenth century bad once
* Macpherson, original papers.

362 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
been suspected by the French Government, and hawkers were
employed to sing them in the streets. Happily the Prince's
ignorance of our language was complete. Had he compre
hended a tithe of what was said and written concerning Marl
borough, the rest of his life must have been spent in wondering
whether a people so capricious, so ungrateful to their most
talented and successful servants, and more foul-mouthed than
any known race of savages could, by any stretch of fancyr, be
considered a civilised nation. But his generous heart swelled
with disdain whenever compliments were offered to himself at
the expense of his friend. At a dinner given by Oxford, that
Minister referred to him as the greatest general of tbe age.
" If I am so," returned the modest hero, " I owe it to tbe kind
ness of your Lordship in removing a rival." Burnet once took
the trouble of translating to tbe Prince an article in a Tory
periodical in which the writer was good enough to allow that
Marlborough had been once fortunate. " The greatest praise,"
remarked Eugene, " that could possibly be given him, for it
follows that all his other successes were owing to his conduct."
On the 17th of January the Parliament re-assembled. Anne
was disabled from attending in person by an attack of gout ; but
in a message she alluded triumphantly to the circumstance that
the conferences had actually commenced at Utrecht as affording
evidence that no separate peace, as men of evil intention had
given out, had ever been in contemplation. The Commons,
after voting the customary addresses, proceeded at once to
business. It was soon manifest that the advent of Eugene, the
object of so many hopes and fears, had sharpened the hostility
of the dominant party against the Whigs. Walpole was the
first victim upon whom their wrath fell. His great abilities as
a debater and financier, the estimation in which he was held by
his party, the industry and knowledge he had displayed in
defending by his pen the previous Administration against the
charge of misapplying the revenues, singled him out as one
whose political ruin it was desirable to accomplish. The Com
missioners for stating the public accounts had, therefore, closely
scrutinized bis actions, and had discovered that he, like Marl
borough, had received perquisites. As Secretary at War he
had accepted contracts for supplying the troops of North

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 363
Britain with forage, and under the show of reserving a share
for a friend, had been paid by the contractors sums amounting
to nearly a thousand pounds. The important facts in this case
were not disputed. Walpole himself admitted that, in accept
ing the contracts, he had stipulated that his friend Robert
Mann should have a share, and that the contractors, in pre
ference to receiving a partner in a lucrative business, had paid
him money. His defence was simply that he had duly ac
counted for that money to Mann.* A reader of the present
generation may think that, as tbe public was clearly defrauded,
it was immaterial whether the Miuister or his friend profited
by the transaction, and that an indelible stigma of dishonesty
should have been placed upon Walpole. But the morality of
that age was less rigid than that of our own, and an absurd
distinction seems to have been drawn between an official wfio
took advantage of His position to enricfi fiimself and an official
who merely took care of his friends. The former committed,
indeed, a mean and dishonourable action ; but tbe latter was
commonly thought to do only a good-natured thing. At all
events Walpole's justification was regarded by his party as
complete, and he was considered a martyr to Tory spite. Great
exertions were made to save him. The debate was protracted
to a most unusual hour. But it was impossible to make head
against so overwhelming a preponderance of enemies. By a
large majority Walpole was pronounced guilty of a high breach
of trust, and of notorious corruption. It was also resolved that
he should be committed to the Tower as a prisoner. A subse
quent resolution, carried, however, by much smaller numbers,
expelled him from the House.
Marlborough was the second victim. A week after the
decision against Walpole the Commons took into consideration
that part of the report of the Commissioners which affected the
Duke. That a stigma should be formally placed upon him
might seem no more than necessary to justify the ignominious
treatment to which he had been subjected. His case, as
regarded the bread contracts, was not essentially dissimilar from
Walpole's; but it will perhaps be thought that his justifica-
* The report of the Commissioners is printed in the Appendix to Boyer.
Burnet and the notes to his History ; Swift's Four Last Years.

364 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
tion, if we admit the truth of its allegation, is entitled to great
respect ; for although the accepting of perquisites might be
unwarrantable, those perquisites had been, according to his
solemn asseverations, applied to the public service. One wit
ness the House condescended to hear on his behalf. Sir John
Germaine gave testimony, as regarded the statement that the
perquisite was a customary one of tbe commanders-in-chief in
Flanders, that it had been accepted by Prince Waldeck. The
debate lasted from three in the afternoon till nearly midnight ;
yet tbe result of the division proved the hopelessness of attempt
ing to protect the great Duke from those who were determined
to disgrace him. Two adverse resolutions were carried by a
majority of no less than a hundred and five votes. The first
of these declared that the taking of sums annually by the Duke
of Marlborough from the contractors for furnishing bread and
bread-waggons in the Low Countries was unwarrantable and
illegal ; the second, that the deduction of two and a half per
cent, from the pay of tbe foreign troops in her Majesty's
service was public money and ought to be accounted for. Both
resolutions were at once communicated to tbe Queen. Her
answer was that she had great regard for whatever was pre
sented to her by the Commons, and would do her part to
redress what was complained of.*
The Ministers were satisfied with this success. Their arch
enemy was now absolutely at their mercy. A word from them
to the Queen, and the Attorney-General would institute a
ruinous suit against him for the restitution of half a million of
money. But tfiey prudently determined fcfiat they had already
pushed matters far enough against a man once so popular ;
and mindful of the capriciousness of public feeling, were
disposed to take no advantage for the present of their power.
The weapon should remain in its sheath so long as Marlborough
chose to remain quiet. But if he were found intriguing with
their enemies, and stirring up opposition to the peace, then it
* St. John to Strafford, January 27, February 7. " What passed on Thurs
day in the House of Commons will, I hope, show people abroad as well as at
home, that no merit, no grandeur, no riches ian excuse or save anyone who sots
himself up against the Queen. The whole debate was so managed as to show
evidently to what the Duke was to ascribe his tall."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 365
should be brought out and used against him.* They now
proceeded to substantiate by formal votes of the House of
Commons all those allegations as to the wrongs Eugland had
suffered at tbe hands of the late Ministry, which they had,
throuo-h Swift's instrumentality, already promulgated to the
world in the "Conduct of the Allies." At their instigation
the various treaties into which her Majesty had entered were
called for, were taken into consideration ; and the public were
soon apprized of the sense of the House by a string of resolu
tions. It was pronounced that not one of those numerous
Powers who were confederated against France had fulfilled
its engagements with this country. The Dutch, in addition to
shifting upon England their proportion of the subsidies it was
necessary to pay to tbe poorer Allies, had failed to an absurd
extent to supply their quota both of ships and soldiers. Very
nearly the whole charges of the war, in Spain and Portugal had
been defrayed by her Majesty ; for the burden of maintaining
what Imperial regiments appeared in those countries had always
been thrown upon her. Tbe King of Portugal, it was dis
covered, pocketed annually a large subsidy without making
an effort to recruit that force on the Spanish frontier for which
the subsidy was granted. But the strongest indignation of the
House was reserved for that barrier treaty which had been so
absurdly approved and signed by Townshend. Under that com
pact, had it been executed, the Dutch would have become virtu
ally masters of the entire Netherlands. Provinces unsurpassed
for their fertility, and cities reputed tfie wealthiest in Europe,
won from the enemy chiefly by the energy and sacrifices of
Englishmen, would have gone to swell the riches and power of
a nation which had only contributed in a secondary degree to
the expense of the war. But that England should get nothing
and the Dutch everything was the least part of the grievance.
The injury to British trade which must have ensued if the
authority of the Republic had been permitted to establish itself
over the Netherlands was beyond calculation. Without doubt
the markets of the Spanish cities of that region would speedily
* Swift to Archbishop King, March 29, April 9. " There was never the least
design of any impeachment against the Duke of Marlborough ; and it was his
own great weakness or the folly of his friends that ttie thing went so far us it
W."-St. John to Strafford, January 18—29.

366 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
have been closed by prohibitive duties against the competition
of English merchants. Had the treaty, therefore, come into
operation, England would have found, as a principal result of
a war which had entailed upon her a debt .of fifty millions, that
she had lopped off a great branch of her commerce, and be
stowed it upon her rival. Still more infamous did the treaty
appear when the interests of Charles were taken into considera
tion. What could be more iniquitous than that, while England
and Holland were proclaiming to the whole world their deter
mination to seat him on the Spanish throne, they should be in
secret settling between themselves that one of them should take
the most valuable portion of the Spanish dominions to her
own use ?
Swift had already, at the instigation of the Ministers, en
lightened the public upon this point in " Some Remarks upon
the Barrier Treaty." The Commons were, therefore, suffi
ciently primed with information, and soon came to some severe
resolutions. It was decided that the Barrier Treaty contained
several articles destructive to the trade and interest of Great
Britain, and that Townshend, who had negotiated and signed
it, and those persons who had advised her Majesty to ratify it,
were enemies to the Queen and the kingdom.
The substance of all these resolutions was embodied in a
representation containing some sharp reflections upon the late
Government.* In one paragraph it was computed that during
the war her Majesty had paid no less than nineteen millions
sterling above her stipulated quotas. This was true, but justice
to the Whigs requires that the other side of the case should be
stated. There can be no doubt that England contributed not
only her own share in the war, but made up for the short
comings of her Allies as well. But had she behaved with less
liberality and put forth less energy, what would have been the
result of the contest ? There is the strongest probability that
it would have terminated to the disgrace of all the members of
tbe Confederacy, that Holland and the Empire would both have
been overrun, that France would have secured an enormous
addition of strength, and that Louis, enraged by the inter
ference of England in affairs in which he considered she had
* Printed in the Appendix to Boyer.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 367
no concern, and encouraged by her weakness in pursuing a
quarrel of her own seeking, would have sent the Pretender to
her shores with an army. The war against Louis XIV. bears
a close analogy to the war against Napoleon. The same ques
tion arises as to tbe policy of this country in 1793 as in 1702.
Was it wise, was it prudent to provoke the wrath of the most
powerful nation of the Continent ? A retrospect of the history
of the last eight hundred years cannot but establish an impres
sion that the Powers of the Continent, although prone to attack
each other, are always disposed to leave England alone if Eng
land will only abstain from meddling with them. She has been
almost invariably tbe first to declare war, and tfiat fiistorian
must be a partial one who will not admit , that she has almost
invariably given the balance of provocation. But tbe step once
taken her honour and even her safety are concerned in putting
forth her whole strength in the contest. Her haughty dis
regard for money, her stern determination to win, produced in
both the wars above mentioned results which never could have
happened if she had condescended to chaffer with her Allies
about her fair share of the burden. It has been constantly
seen that in proportion as her Allies, exhausted by the endless
ness and apparent hopelessness of the struggle, dropped faint
ing from her side, her arm waxed mightier and more mighty.
The ocean was covered with her fleets : fier soldiers, mere
ploughboys at the commencement of the war, speedily became
such an army as for steadiness and courage had not its equal
in the world, and sinking nations were revived by the magic
of her gold. The end has always been attained, the liberties of
Europe have been rescued, the ambition of France has been
curbed, and England, putting off the trappings of military
pride, has set herself down with her usual phlegm to earn
money to pay the bill she has incurred by her sympathy with
the oppressed, her pugnacity, or her love of glory.
The representation was received by Anne with much gracious-
ness. It was a further instance, she remarked, of the dutiful
affection to her service and concern for the public interest which
that House of Commons had always shown.
With a Parliament so compliant and a Queen so resolute to
support her Ministers, the latter, it might have been supposed,

368 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
would have troubled themselves little about opposition outside
tbe Houses. Yet the attitude of that party which now clustered
round Eugene kept them in constant perturbation. Leicester
House had again become what it had been during the residence
of Gallas, the bead-quarters of those persons who were bent on
opposing the peace. Marlborough, the Hanoverian envoy, and
the Whig lords were continually assembling there. Tbe only
outcome of their deliberations, as far as appearances went, was
the presentation by the Prince of memorials to the English
Government containing spirited vindications of the Emperor
from the charge of languor, and offers that the Imperial force
should in future be largely increased, that the troops in Spain
should be raised to thirty thousand men, and that his Majesty
should bear a fourth of tbe cost of the war in that country.
But tbe Ministers could not dismiss their apprehension that
more dangerous matter was being revolved by the enemies of
peace than these harmless documents, and it was not long
before a person appeared who professed his ability to give in
telligence of what passed at these meetings.
He was a man of man3r names ; but to the name of John
Plunket he appears to have bad a better right than to tbe other
appellations which he assumed, or which were bestowed upon
him in tbe course of his profession as a political agent and spy.
He had .been for a length of time in the service of the
Jacobites. His personal acquaintance with the statesmen of
many countries was so extensive as in itself to furnish no
bad illustration of the facility with which Jacobite agents
could approach men of the highest position. By generals and
divines, by English, Dutch, and French ministers, Plunket
seems invariably to have been received with politeness, plied
with anxious inquiries after the health of James, and dismissed
with promises of support, not perhaps sincere but always
fervent. His ugliness was so great that one Jacobite in sending
him to another sometimes thought it necessary to apologize for
employing so repulsive a messenger, and to assure his friend that
although the man might wear the appearance of stupidity his
looks belied him. Tbe downfall of the Whig Administration,
which comprised some inflexible Hanoverians, with whom it
was felt to be useless to tamper, had considerably revived the

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 369
spirits of the Pretender's party. A notion had got possession
of their minds that Oxford was at heart a Jacobite, though his
timidity or prudence restrained bim from expressing his senti
ments in downright language. They were, therefore, inclined
to give cordial support to his administration, and to strengthen
his hands with all their power agtiinst the machinations of his
Whig opponents. Plunket, aware of the uneasiness with which
the Ministers regarded Eugene and the circle at Leicester
House, perhaps concluded that, if he did the former an
apparently friendly turn at this conjuncture, it would much
promote their good-will towards the exiled dynasty. In March,
therefore, he wrote to Oxford, enclosing what he declared to be
copies of two letters written by the Prince and sent to Count
Zinzendorf, the Imperial ambassador at the Hague, for trans
mission to Vienna. Various schemes had, according to these
letters, been discussed for upsetting the Government and frus
trating the intended peace, and Plunket tried to give to his
fabrications a face of probability by ascribing to each general
a method of executing his purpose in accordance with his
reputed character. The plan of Eugene was that of a bold,
impulsive nature, impatient of stratagems and delay and indif
ferent to danger. Some houses near St. James's were to be set
on fire, and amid the general confusion the two generals would
appear at the head of a strong party in arms. To make them
selves masters of the Tower and the Treasury, and to secure the
person of the Queen, would be a work of no great difficulty.
Her Majesty would tfien be compelled to dissolve the Parlia
ment, and to summon a new one to inquire into the secret
negotiations with France. Marlborough was of opinion that
Oxford and St. John should be taken off by assassination ; but
the deed was to be done in such a manner as to avert suspicion
horn the political opponents of the Ministers. The Londoners
¦were first to be accustomed to outrages in their streets. He
recommended that a gang should be sent about at night-time
to assault and wound people indifferently, so that when the
real quarry was struck, the crime might wear something of a
fortuitous appearance.* What was actually passing under
, ^¦'le9e forgeries are printed in the Macpherson papers, and in the Memoires
-Torcy. See also in Bolingbroke's Correspondence " the Biibstance of two
VOL. II. B B

370 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Plunket's observation at the time no doubt suggested this last
scheme to his imagination. The streets of the metropolis had
never been safe to passengers after nightfall owing to tbe
thieves which infested them ; and in addition to this ordinary
peril a practice had during the reign of Charles II. sprung up
among the dissolute gentry of the period of sallying out in
bands and knocking down every man and insulting every
female they encountered. There had been of late a more than
usual number of such outrages, and they were commonly
attributed to a gang of fashionable scoundrels who styled
themselves, after the name of a cruel Indian tribe, Mohawks.
So heated were then the passions of parties, and so ready was
each party to attribute any villainy to the other, that many
Tories were persuaded that the Mohawks were organized by
the Whigs, and for a political purpose.*
Plunket was no stranger to Oxford. He had before given
information to the Treasurer, some of which may possibly have
been true and of value. But Eugene's letters were too palpable
and clumsy a fabrication to deceive for a moment a man of
ordinary sense. The spy, nettled at finding a communication
which be expected would have excited boundless gratitude
passed over without acknowledgment, forwarded some more
copies of the letters to two members of the Cabinet, the Jacobite
Duke of Buckinghamshire, with whom he must have been well
acquainted, and to Lord Keeper Harcourt. By these persons
the matter was, much to Oxford's annoj^ance, laid before the
Council, and Plunket was summoned and interrogated. He
asserted that he derived his information through a clerk in
Zinzendorf 's suite at the Hague. He was then dismissed with
a half-contemptuous direction to go over to Holland, and try
and bring back his friend. The manner of the Councillors
seems to have convinced the rascal that they did not believe
a word of his story, and that his speculation, therefore, had
been a'failure. He departed, and did not think it advisable to
return. The revelations of Plunket were, however, communicated by
different accounts sent by P. Eugene to the Court of Vienna and the Count
Zinzendorf." * For an account of the Mohawks or Hawcubites see Boyer, and two num
bers of the Spectator.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 371
St. John to the French Government, and in such words that
the Ministers of Louis could not but suppose that, preposterous
as the story might seem to them, it obtained credit in England.
The object of the English Ministers is but too apparent. They
wanted to curry favour with the King of France by expatiating
upon and magnifying the dangers they ran in trying to conclude
peace against tbe wishes of a powerful faction that would
not hesitate to resort to assassination if constitutional means
failed* In the middle of March, Eugene, after prolonging his stay in
London for upwards of two months, took his departure. He
could have arrived at no other conclusion than that his mere
name, popular and respected as it was, could not support a
falling cause and party. The behaviour of the Queen and of
her Ministers towards him personally left him no just cause of
complaint. Anne, indeed, admitted him but seldom to her
presence, an apparent neglect for which, however, the really
indifferent state of her health afforded a sufficient excuse.
Upon her birthday she presented him with a sword, the hilt of
which was studded with diamonds to the value, it was said, of
four or five thousand pounds. The Ministers chose, as far as
politeness would allow, to evade discussions with him on tbe sub
ject of his memorials. They thought, however, that they might
safely submit his proposals to the Parliament. The Commons were
informed in a royal message of the offers his Imperial Majesty
had made to supply three-quarters of the troops for carrying
on the war in Spain, and to bear one-fourth of the expenses.
The message was received in silence ; and without noticing it,
even by the customary mode of returning thanks, the House
passed on to other business. A fortnight after experiencing
this mortification the Prince returned to the Hague.t
-but while every impsdiment to the conclusion of peace was
aisappearmg at home, things were not proceeding so satisfac
torily at Utrecht. The English were the first to make their
appearance, though not much before the Dutch, French and
Savoyard ministers. The Republic was represented by no less
Memoires de Torcy. It is wonderful how a Btatesman of his experience
c°u a. have attached crndit to such tales.
T coyer. During the Prince's stay in England his nephew, who accom-
P»''>ed]„m, died of the smallpox.
B b2

372 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
than eight of its citizens, six of the provinces sending each a
single plenipotentiary, while the superior dignity of Holland
was maintained by Buys and Vanderdussen. That Buys, the
determined enemy of France, and the close ally of the Whigs,
should have been appointed to uphold the interests of his
countrymen at this congress, seemed not a little ominous of
misunderstanding between the various Powers. He had quitted
England almost in disgrace. At his last interview with the
Privy Council, the Treasurer had informed him that during
his residence in the country he had conducted himself more
like an incendiary than the ambassador of a friendly state.*
The plenipotentiaries of Louis were Uxelles, Polignac, and
Menager. Of the three Torcy communicated to the English
Government that Polignac possessed the greater measure of his
Majesty's confidence.
It was not until tfie 29th of January (New Style) that the
first conference took place. Hitherto the time had been passed
by the plenipotentiaries in paying complimentary visits to each
other, and in drawing up some necessary regulations for the
prevention of quarrels between their servants. It was agreed
on all hands to waive those privileges which screen the estab
lishments of foreign Powers from the local tribunals of justice,
and that whenever a disturbance occurred the offenders should
be abandoned to the civil authorities of the town. Each pleni
potentiary, moreover, engaged to issue such orders to his coach
men and footmen as, it might be hoped, would preclude a
fight when their masters' carriages happened to meet in a
narrow passage. Which of two pedestrians who encoun
tered each other in the streets should take the wall was not
thought a matter too trivial to be the subject of an agree
ment, t The wisdom of these provisions was shown by their
fruit. Although the town was crowded by foreigners for
more than a twelvemonth few serious breaches of the peace
occurred. To induce the Emperor to send plenipotentiaries had been a
* Memoires de Torcy. The Queen made Buys a present, however, of a
thousand pounds. St. John says that the Ministers parted with him on terras
of the greatest civility. The reproaches must then have been made with more
delicacy than Torcy relates.
t Lettres Historiques ; Boyer ; Lamberty.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 373
work of some difficulty. The Court of Charles had been thrown
into a state of high indigntition by the report that the English
and French Governments were in collusion. For the last nine
years the English — such was the opinion at Vienna — had been
very properly exerting themselves, not perhaps so much as was
their duty, but still with energy and success, to restore the august
House of Austria to that superiority in Europe which it enjoyed
in the days of Charles V. And now it seemed that capricious
and unaccountable people were about to desert tbe cause, and
expected that other nations should follow their lead in obsequi
ousness to France. From the moment, therefore, that the
articles for a general peace reached the Austrian capital, and
that it became manifest that Spain was to remain in Philip's
possession, the Imperial statesmen were all on the alert. Cir
cular letters were sent to the princes of the Empire exhorting
them to remain firm to their engagements. Negotiations were
opened with the United Provinces. The States-general were
requested to join with bis Majesty in praying the Queen of
Great Britain not to sully tbe glory of her reign and to sacri
fice the welfare of her subjects by accepting the proposals of a
perfidious monarch. But it was impossible for the counsellors
of Charles altogether to lose sight of the real impotence of
their master if he were thrown upon his own resources ; and as
the English Government seemed determined that there should
be, at all events, a congrsss, tbey at length judged it prudent
to conform to circumstances. An assurance was furnished to
the Emperor that the proposals which had been made by
France would not be regarded in the light of preliminaries,
and upon that understanding Charles sent plenipotentiaries to
Utrecht. High words arose between the Imperialists and the
French upon the very first day tfiat tfie former attended the
congress. Zinzendorf insisted that the object of the present
meeting was to resume the conferences at the point where they
had broken off at Gertruydenburg, a piece of vanity and pre
sumption which kindled indignation in the breasts of Polignac,
Uxelles, and Menager. Uxelles remarked upon one occasion
the difficulty of conducting business in the absence of any
.representative of the King of Spain. " I myself am that per
son," said Zinzendorf. " I acknowledge no other King of Spain

374 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
than Philip," retorted the Frenchman, and a lively altercation
ensued.* At length, on the 11th of February, the French, after a
good deal of fencing, put forward their own proposals for a
general peace. His Majesty's concessions to England were
first in order. Louis engaged to acknowledge the Queen, and
the succession to the crown of Great Britain, in whatever form
she might wish, as soon as the treaty of peace was signed.
The fortifications of Dunkirk should be abolished if an equi
valent were allowed to his Majesty. He would yield up the
island of St. Christopher and the territories of Hudson's Bay,
provided Nova Scotia were restored to the French crown ; and
he would surrender all claims upon Newfoundland except the
privilege of catching and drying fish. All other questions
which there might be between the two Powers should be
arranged in a treaty of commerce to be made, at the choice of
England, either before or after the conclusion of the treaty of
peace. The barrier which Louis was willing to offer the Dutch was
to consist of tbe towns of the Spanish Netherlands, with the
addition of a few small towns within the French frontier. The
garrisons which the States might think it expedient to keep
there should be maintained at tbe cost of the country. The
commerce between Holland and France should revert to the
conditions, so favourable to the former country, which bad been
adjusted in 1667. In return, however, for these concessions
his Majesty required the restitution of Aire, St. Venant, Be
thune, and Douai. He demanded also that Lille and Tournay
should be restored to him as his equivalent for demolishing the
fortifications of Dunkirk.
As regarded the commerce with Spain and the West Indies
Louis declared himself authorized to promise the English and
Dutch nations that they should enjoy it upon the same con
ditions as had existed during the lifetime of tbe previous King.
Louis undertook that his grandson, the King of Spain, should
renounce the kingdoms of Naples, and Sardinia, and the duchy
of Milan, conditionally upon the House of Austria renouncing
all pretensions to the other parts of the Spanish dominions.
* Boyer.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 375
Upon the Rhine the boundaries of France and the Empire
should be the same as before the outbreak of tbe war. His
Majesty insisted, however, upon the restoration of the Electors
of Bavaria and Cologne, and promised in return to acknowledge
the King of Prussia.
Between France and Savoy there should be a mutual restor
ation of couquests. Portugal should be placed in the same
condition as formerly. Lastly, Louis consented to join iu any
just measures for preventing the crowns of Spain and France
from being ever united on the same head.
Such were the King's offers for a general peace, and it is not
strange that they were received by almost every Power con
cerned with disappointment and indignation.* The change
which had been effected in the toue of his Christian Majesty
since tbe last conferences was indeed startling. Only eighteen
months before he had been a suitor for mercy to tbe Allied Powers.
He had been willing to grant almost any terms, to submit to
almost any degradation, to obtain the priceless blessing of peace.
He had forced his plenipotentiaries to curb their proud spirits,
and endure in patience the affronts of a nation of traders ren
dered insolent by unlooked-for success in arms. He bad pro
fessed his willingness that Spain should be yielded up to the
House of Austria if only some expedient could be found to
enforce the abdication of Philip short of his joining in a war
against his own grandson. He had consented to large sacrifices
of territory to the Emperor, and of some of the most important
towns of his kingdom to the Dutch. He had even submitted
to spoliation from tfie Duke of Savoy. And now, witfiout
having obtained a single advantage except on tfie side of Spain,
with his frontier towns gone, with his resources apparently
exhausted, the trade and manufactures of his kingdom utterly
ruined, and bis people starving, he was again the great, the
irresistible Louis XIV. dictating his terms to Europe. The
English Ministers might well be amazed at their own work ;
for to them alone could be ascribed the marvellous change
* Even the mild and generally impartial writer of the Lettres Historiques is
moved to indignation. "Oil est le bun citoyen, oh est le fidele allie qui ne
secrie, apres avoir Iu ces propositions, Seigneur, preservez-nous d'uno telle
j>aix; et s'il le taut, donnez plut&t dix »nufe de guerre semblables a celles que
nous venons de passer."

376 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
which had been wrought in his Majesty's spirits. But it wai
impossible that the people of England could look on with
indifference to so miserable a throwing away of their victories.
The very insufficiency of tbe King's proposals roused in the
plenipotentiaries of the Allied Powers a kind of satisfaction.
Tbe Dutch at once published them in their newspapers, and
waited impatiently to see what effect they would produce.
The feeling in Change Alley seems to have been that peace
could not possibly be concluded unless his French Majesty was
brought to a more reasonable frame of mind. Bank shares
which had recovered to a hundred and fourteen pounds fell
immediately to a hundred and ten. The House of Lords
resounded with the clamours of the Whigs. Halifax inveighed
against the proposals in no measured terms. Cowper remarked
that it was no wonder that the King of France had reverted to
his former arrogance now that tbe general who had kept him
in awe had been dismissed. Sunderland affected to consider
that his Majesty's offers could be intended only as a pasquinade.
The Ministers bent to the storm ; and an address was carried
expressive of disapprobation of the terms in general, and par
ticularly of that stipulation by which Louis proposed to with
hold his acknowledgment of the Queen's title until the con
clusion of peace.*
Tbe French plenipotentiaries themselves were sensible that
their offers were so far below expectation, that even the pleni
potentiaries of England could not venture to mark their
approval of them. But everything depended at this conjunc
ture upon their preserving a good understanding with the
English Government. Polignac hastened to communicate with
St. John, and a correspondence ensued which reveals tbe rela
tions then subsisting between the Governments of England
and France, and the relations between England and her Allies.
Polignac complained that the Dutch and Imperialists were so
inveterately set against peace, and that the English plenipoten
tiaries were so cold, that it was impossible to do any real busi
ness. There was but one way of compassing a treaty, and that
was for the plenipotentiaries of England and France to come
to a thorough understanding, so that they might act together.
Parliamentary Hist ory ; Burnet ; Lettres Historiques ; Boyer.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 377
If that could be accomplished the High Allies might then
intrigue, harangue, and lose their temper as much as they
pleased. The English Ministers acquiesced in the wisdom of
this suggestion ; and Thomas Harley, Secretary of the Treasury
and cousin of the Treasurer, was directed to prepare for a
voyage to Holland with fresh instructions for the pleni
potentiaries. The bold and determined spirit of St. John is
deeply impressed in these and in all the other instructions
issued for the guidance of the representatives of England, and
never has the Government of this country assumed a more
haughty attitude in dealing with the Powers of tbe Continent.
Peace he was resolved that there should be. If the Dutch,
Imperialists, and the rest continued to obstruct tbe conclusion
of the treaty, England would separate herself from them, and
make her own bargain with France. If, however, her Allies
would be reasonable she would do her best to procure them a
just satisfaction, though as to what constituted a just satisfac
tion she herself must be the sole arbitress. The French
Ministers were also warned that there must be no trifling, that
they must make proper concessions. The Parliament and the
nation were now sincerely anxious for peace. But if they
should be disappointed in their expectations as to the conduct
of Prance, the tide would flow again for war as strongly as
ever.* The plenipotentiaries of the Allied Powers had been mean
while engaged in drawing up separate sets of demands for pre
sentation to the French. Before, however, they were quite
finished, events occurred at the Court of France which excited
the gravest apprehensions in those who were desirous of peace.
The Dauphin, the only legitimate child of Louis XIV. who
survived infancy, died in February, 1711. His eldest son, the
Duke of Burgundy, had then become heir-apparent to the
throne, and had been invested with the title of Dauphin. His
mildness and affability rendered him generally beloved, and
many of the nobles anticipated with secret pleasure the time
when the gentle Prince should succeed his cold, selfish, over
bearing grandfather. Suddenly, at the close of February of
The instructions to Mr. Harley are printed in Bolingbroke's Corre&pon-

378 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
this year, he was seized with smallpox, or with a disease closely
resembling it which was then raging in Paris, and snatched
away in his thirtieth year. His charming duchess, who had
been one of the solaces of tbe last melancholy years of Louis,
had but six days before succumbed to the same malady. Two
sons survived the unfortunate couple, — the Duke of Brittany, a
child of five, and a puny, sickly infant entitled tbe Duke of
Anjou. These two feeble lives alone intervened between the
succession of Philip, King of Spain, to the crown of France;
and within a week after the death of their last parent both the
children were taken ill. The eldest soon died : the younger
was given over for lost. For some days it seemed inevitable
that the crowns of Spain and France would be united on the
head of Philip, and that nothing but a renunciation by bim of
one of them, a sacrifice which he might not improbably refuse
to make, would save Europe from an indefinite prolongation of
the war. Contrary to expectation, however, the child struggled
through its illness, and three years afterwards became Louis XV.
"God," says Torcy, "preserved this lamp which was almost
extinguished, to continue in the direct line that succession
which a few years before had been looked upon as firmly
established." But with only Louis XIV., now in his seventy-fourth year,
and this delicate infant intervening between Philip and
the crown of France, the apprehensions entertained by the
various Powers of Europe of an union of the French and
Spanish crowns could not be treated as chimerical. It was now
evident that, unless some expedient could be devised to restrain
the too probable ambition of Philip, all the discussions which
were proceeding at Utrecht upon other matters were but a
waste of time. St. John set himself with his usual energy to
remedy this state of things. At the same time that Thomas
Harley was despatched to the plenipotentiaries, Gaultier was
sent off with a memorial to Versailles. The Queen proposed
that Philip should at once make his choice between the two
crowns. If he chose to retain tbe crown of Spain he should
immediately renounce for himself and his children all right of
succeeding to that of France: if be elected to take his
chance of succeeding to the crown of France, then he should

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 379
immediately and for ever renounce the crown of Spain. In
this expedient there was indeed one conspicuous flaw. It was
impossible for Philip, even if he could make a renunciation
that would be regarded as binding upon himself by the laws
and churches of both kingdoms, to deprive bis children of
what was theirs by right of birth. But to the eyes of French
lawyers a still greater difficulty presented itself. The right of
succeeding to their crown, they declared, was of Divine origin
and indefeasible. No renunciation therefore which a French
prince could make would be of the least validity. In spite of
any oath to the contrarjr, he might ascend the throne, and the
allegiance of his subjects would still be due to the perjurer.
The French ministers declared, however, that their own
desire to prevent an union of the two crowns was as strong as
that of any of tbe Allied P'owers. Torcy even asserted that
the people of France and Spain had more reason to dread such
an occurrence than all the other nations of Europe. It was
plain that if the crowns were united on one head, one of the
kingdoms must sink into a province of the other ; and it was
not likely that France would consent to become a province of
Spain, or Spain be contented with being a province of France.
The probable result, therefore, of Philip becoming possessed of
both crowns would be a rebellion and a civil war. The posi
tion affords no bad illustration of the folly of statesmanship
when directed simply to the aggrandizement of a particular
family without reference to the welfare of mankind. To bring
this very event to pass had been, sixty years back, the object
of Mazarin's most ambitious schemes for enhancing the gran
deur of the House of Bourbon ; and now, when it seemed
likely that a Bourbon would soon be reigning from Antwerp
to Cadiz, French diplomatists were compelled to tax their
invention for the means of averting such a calamity.
In spite of the opinions expressed by French lawyers as to
the inefficacy of any possible form of renunciation, St. John
persisted tenaciously that the renunciation should at least be
made. In the forthcoming treaty of peace the succession to
the crowns of France and Spain might be declared, and all the
Powers who signed that treaty might be made guarantors for
carrying its provisions into effect. It was then unlikely that

380 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Philip would presume, with the certainty of drawing upon
himself a war from all sides, to violate his oath and ascend the
throne he had renounced. After some correspondence between
Torcy and St. John, Louis agreed to submit two propositions
to his grandson. He might retain Spain and the Indies, pro
vided he would renounce for himself and his descendants all
right to the crown of France. But if he preferred to preserve
his right to the French crown, then he must immediately
yield up the Spanish monarchy to the Duke of Savoy, and
content himself with the dominions which the Duke would
vacate. It was the earnest hope, and indeed the expectation
of Louis, thtit Philip would embrace the second alternative.
His grandson's chances of reigning in France were then cer
tainly very great. The old monarch felt that his days were
few, that if the infant who had now become heir-apparent
should survive him, that France would be left to the evils of a
long minority, and from feelings which, it is to be hoped,
were not devoid of genuine sympathy for tbe people he bad so
long governed, he was anxious that at all events the regency
might fall into hands with some experience of the art of ruling.
Philip, however, as soon as he was convinced that his choice
must be made, unhesitatingly accepted the first proposition.
He bad grown attached to his Spanish subjects : their fidelity
had touched his heart ; and he perhaps reflected that the crown
of Spain in possession was better worth preserving than a con
tingent remainder to the crown of France. His decision proved
a fortunate one for himself, if to be a king may be considered
as a fortunate lot in life.*
Little had been done at Utrecht while the negotiations upon
this important subject were proceeding between the English
and French. Governments. Each plenipotentiary of the Allied
Powers, including tbe most petty princes of Germany, bad
handed in his demands upon France, and the French represen
tatives had of course pronounced them exorbitant and unrea
sonable. Against one article found in the demands of England,
Holland, and Prussia, and upon which great stress was laid,
the French, especially Polignac, expressed strong resentment.
It seems to have occurred to those Powers that now, when tbey
* Memoires de Torcy ; St. Simon ; Correspondence of Bolingbroke.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 381
were all together, and in a position to dictate terms to France,
was the time to wring from his Majesty some stipulations in
favour of his Protestant subjects. Louis was therefore required
to open his prisons and to unchain from his galleys the unfor
tunate persons who were punished merely for their religion, to
restore the property of those who had been driven out of the
kingdom by his tyranny, and to accord in future to the people
of his dominions the liberty of worshipping God after tbeir
own fashion. Polignac was in great indignation at this
attempt to interfere with the domestic policy of his master.
"How would you take it," he said to Vanderdussen, "if the
King of France were to ask you to set free all tbe people
confined in your gaols ?" "If," very aptly replied the Dutch
man, "his Majesty would own for his brethren the malefactors
in our gaols as we own for brethren the persons he detains in
his galleys, I doubt not but his request would be granted."*
Meanwhile, the armies had appeared in the field, and con
siderable activity had been displayed by detached parties in
burning magazines and flooding the country by breaking down
the dykes. This was, however, before the arrival on tbe scene
of the commanders-in-chief. At the end of March, Eugene
returned from London, and was at once appointed by the
States-general to the command of their troops in the place of
Marlborough, with a promise that the field deputies should
interfere with him as little as possible. Ormond did not make
his appearance until nearly a month later, and then met wfith
a very cold reception from Heinsius. The Pensionary politely
evaded any discussion with him about military operations. In
truth, the Dutch statesmen were all firmly convinced that
England was betraying the Alliance, that her Ministers had
come to an understanding with France ; and they suspected
that the mission of Ormond was rather to check the activity of
their forces than to co-operate with them. The suspicion was
well grounded. The Duke, within a fortnight after landing
on the Continent, was warned by St. John to be exceedingly
cautious of engaging in any action unless the advantage was
plain and considerable, and to keep all the troops in her
Majesty's pay strictly under his own control. As the negotia-
* Boyer.

382 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
tions with Torcy proceeded, and the Secretary's hopes rose of
bringing to a satisfactory settlement the principal subject in
dispute between France and England, still more stringent in
structions were issued to the Commander-in-Chief. During tbe
last week of May, he received that order wdiich afterwards
furnished to a Whig Government and Parliament the prin
cipal ground for impeaching St. John. Tbe Queen's positive
command was laid upon Ormond, a command which he was,
howrever, to keep secret, not to join in any siege nor to hazard
her Majesty's troops in any battle without further orders. The
Queen, it was explained to him, could not think with patience
of sacrificing men's lives when there was a fair prospect of
attaining her purpose by another method.*
Only a few days before Ormond received this order, Eugene
and he had reviewed the Allied forces in the neighbourhood of
Douai. So fine an army had perhaps never been seen even in
the Netherlands. Tbe combined strength of the troops was
upwards of a hundred and twenty thousand men, mostly
experienced soldiers, and all replete with that confidence and
enthusiasm which a long course of good fortune always inspires.
Not many miles distant were the head-quarters of the French.
Villars was again the champion to whom Louis entrusted the
protection of his kingdom. In parting with his favourite
general, the aged King, still reeling under the burden of his
domestic misfortunes, revealed the deep dejection, almost
amounting to despair, which had possession of his mind. He
now saw that nothing but the friendly efforts of the Queen and
her Ministers could save him from humiliation and his kingdom
from ruin. He was persuaded of their sincerity towards him,
but he doubted their power to compel the rest of the Allies to
accept reasonable terms of peace. He had been advised, he
said, not to await any further defeat of his armies and the
advance of a victorious enemy upon his capital, but to consult
his safety at once by retiring to Blois. But he had rejected
this counsel. He thought it was impossible that armies so
considerable as his could be scattered to tbe winds by a single
defeat. The Marshal, in the event of misfortune, would collect
the remains of his forces and post himself behind the Somme.
* St. John to Ormond, April 25, May 6 ; May 10—21.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 383
Meanwhile he himself would summon to his standard a fresh
army, march to Peronne or St. Quentin, and in one last des
perate encounter save the State, or perish in defending it.*
The reflections even of the confident and dashing Villars
were scarcely less despondent than those of his master when he
returned to the Netherlands. He found bis troops, as usual, in
a half-naked condition, as hungry as wolves, scattered about
the country to seek a living, and converting every town which
was cursed with their presence into a pandemonium. It was
with great difficulty that he could procure horses to draw the
little artillery he possessed. And while racking his invention
for expedients to keep his forces alive, he had the mortification
of hearing that the magazines of the Allies were crammed with
provisions, and that fresh convoys arrived almost daily at their
camp. The large garrisons he was compelled to throw into the
neighbouring towns reduced his force in the field to a total far
below that at the disposal of the Allied commanders. What
ever opinion may be entertained as to the wisdom of the
English Ministers in determining to make peace at this con
juncture, it can scarcely be doubted that their interference
came just in time to save France from calamities almost as
great as those she endured after the battle of Agincourt.
But in the midst of his perplexities Villars was cheered by a
notice from his court that he need no longer regard the English
commander as an enemy. He lost no time in opening a
correspondence with the Duke on the pretext of negotiating
the exchange of a French prisoner of rank, and inquired very
earnestly whether his orders applied to the troops in English
pay, who numbered some thirty thousand men, or only to the
native English, who were not more than twelve thousand.
Ormond could or would return no positive answer on this
pomt.f As a gentleman and a soldier he felt keenly the
equivocal position in which he was placed. He had, in pur
suance of instructions furnished to him in London, told both
the Dutch authorities and his colleague, the Prince, that her
Majesty intended to push the war with vigour, and had been
* Memoires de Villars.
t pHmpagnp de i'landre: Memoires de Villars ; Ormond to Villars, Mav 26 ;
Jwe 11, June 12.

384 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
deeply mortified by the coldness with which his assurances
were received, and by the doubts of his sincerity which he
perceived expressed in every face. The orders be had since
received filled up the measure of his degradation in his own
eyes. It was plainly impossible for him to keep them secret.
In a few days the whole army would be crying out that the
traitor was unmasked, that he was only a mock general, a mere
tool of the peace-makers. He saw that, when it came to a
separation of forces, no troops beyond his own English could
be depended upon to foUow him.
His embarrassment, however, was of no long duration.
Eugene, who, from the negligence shown by Villars in guard
ing his camp, suspected how matters stood, pressed bim, in
concert with the Dutch deputies and a host of officers who had
reconnoitred the position of the French army, to join in an
attack which could hardly fail of being attended with success.
After many evasions the unhappy general was compelled to
avow that, until the receipt of further orders from England, he
could unite in no military operation.*
This avowal quickly reached the Hague, and created no
little stir among the Dutch statesmen. A day or two afterwards
came news from Utrecht of still more ominous import. The
Bishop of Bristol, it seems, had been questioned by the Dutch
plenipotentiaries whether he knew anything about the Duke's
orders, and had replied with as much warmth as a bishop could
decently display, that, although he knew nothing for certain
upon tbe subject, he should not think it wonderful if bis Grace
were restrained from co-operating any longer with his col
league. " If," he explained, " her Majesty finds you evading
all the proposals she makes with a view to effecting a peace,
and perpetually declining to enter into any scheme with her, is
it not reasonable that she should act for herself, and hold her
conscience discharged of all obligations to you ?" These words
excited great alarm at the Hague. The only interpretation th.it
the Dutch could imagine was that the Queen of England was on
* Boyer; Lettres Historiques. This is how St. John strove to console the
unfortunate Duke for the very ignominious part he was made to perform.
" True glory results from obeying the Prince one serves punctually, and pro
moting the interest of one's country steadily, in preference to all other considera
tions of private honour or advantage."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 385
the point of concluding a separate peace with France, and
would retire from the war. The States-general held severtil
anxious deliberations. A long memorial was at length drawn
up and despatched to the Queen. Her Majesty was entreated
to revoke the restraining orders which she had issued to the
Duke, and furthermore that she would condescend to explain
the meaning of the Bishop's remarks. An answer was speedily
returned, but it was evasive and unsatisfactory. Her Majesty
declared that she desired nothing more cordially than to pre
serve a good understanding with the United Provinces, and
that it would not be her fault if all her measures for peace or
war were not taken in concert with the States-general. One
circumstance, however, connected with this memorial had given
great offence to the Queen and her Ministers. It was hardly
in the royal hands before it was in print and selling about the
streets. Such an outrageous affront to his royal mistress might
well have provoked a milder and less zealous servant than St.
John. His answer to the States-general concluded, therefore,
with a sharp reproof for a proceeding so contrary to the
practice of statesmen, and even of gentlemen, and which
rendered their memorial not so much an address to the Sove
reign as an appeal to the people.*
* The memorial and answer are both printed in the Appendix to Boyer.

VOL. II. C C

586 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

CHAPTER XII.
In the House of Lords the intelligence of Ormond's refusal to
attack the French had meanwhile given rise to a stormy debate.
The spirits of the Whigs rose. No true Englishman, they
imagined, whatever might be his politics, could endure the
spectacle of a brave army held in leading-strings by states
men at home, or support with indifference the contempt which
was darted at his country by the military nations of the Con
tinent. The party collected all its strength for an attack upon
the Ministers, and was sanguine that before the close of the
debate my Lord Oxford would be on his road to the Tower.*
Upon the 28th of May, Halifax moved an address to the Queen
that the instructions given to the Duke of' Ormond might be
laid before the House, and that further orders might be issued
to him to act offensively in concert with the Allies. The
Treasurer, after being much pressed by several peers to explain
how matters really stood, at length broke silence. Tbe orders
given to the Duke, he said, he could not, without the express
command of her Majesty, reveal. He would, however, declare
that orders had been recently sent him which permitted his
joining in a siege. In a few days her Majesty would lay
before the House the conditions upon which a general peace
might be made. The notion of effecting a separate peace, he
continued, had never been for an instant entertained by the
Government. Such a project would be foolish, villainous,
knavish. And was it not against common prudence to risk a
battle when the terms of peace were so nearly arranged, and
the adversary one who had so little scruple in breaking from
* Boyer. The writer adds, " But that dexterous statesman so bestirred him
self on that critical juncture and made so many nocturnal visits that he effectually
defeated the designs of his less vigilant and less active enemies."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 387
his word ? Wharton, always prepared to take advantage of
any unguarded statement from an opponent, was on his legs in
a moment. "I am very glad," he said, "to find that noble
lord now convinced of the bad faith of the enemy. But let me
tell him that the best method of dealing with unscrupulous per
sons is to reduce them to the necessity of keeping their engage
ments." Tbe renegade Nottingham stood faithfully by his
newly-espoused party. Devonshire, a proud and high-spirited
peer, remarked that, being closely related to the Duke of
Ormond, he could not forbear expressing his surprise that any
one should dare to make use of a nobleman of the highest rank
and character as an instrument. But the adherents of the
Ministers remained firm, and the Whigs perceiving at length
that their oratory was lost on the compact mass, and that their
defeat was inevitable, would have dropped their motion. But
this the Tories would not permit. Halifax's motion was pressed
to a division, and was negatived by sixty-eight votes against
forty. All that remained for the defeated peers was to record
their protest, and, according to the usual tactics of the party,
to make it an appeal to the country by printing and circulating
it. Upon the same day a similar motion made in the Commons
was defeated by the overwhelming majority of two hundred and
three against seventy-three voices. St. John was in a glow of
exultation at the convincing proof this result afforded as to the
temper of the Parliament. " I think," he wrote that evening
to the Bishop of Bristol, " the spirit shown on this occasion
must convince every one at home and abroad that it is vain to
attempt forcing the Queen from the resolutions she has formed
and the measures in which she is engaged."*
An episode occurred during this debate which shows how
fierce were the animosities that consumed the breasts of rival
politicians. Marlborough had spoken energetically, but with
his usual dignity, in favour of the motion, and had dwelt
especially upon the importance of acquiring Cambrai and
Arras to facilitate the entrance of the Allied armies into the
heart of France. Perceiving his bitter enemy, Argyle, upon
the opposite benches, and perhaps being anxious to effect a
reconciliation witfi that influential and popular nobleman, he
* Parliamentary History ; St. John to Lord Privy Seal, May 28, June 8.
C c2

388 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
appealed to him, with a compliment to his skill in military
affairs and fiis knowledge of tfie country, to bear witness to the
truth of what he said. But no flattery, even when administered
by the most adroit and fascinating of flatterers, could assuage
the hatred with which this northern lord regarded his old com
mander. Arras and Cambrai, he remarked, in the course of a
long speech, might easily have been obtained in 1710 had not
the noble Duke preferred to waste time and an infinity of blood
upon the capture of such unimportant places as Aire, Bethune,
and St. Venant. This criticism upon Marlborough's conduct,
so far as we are in a position to judge, was wholly unwar
rantable. The declining popularity in which the hero found
himself in 1710, the weariness of war which he perceived to be
gaining ground in England, leave little room for doubting but
that if an opportunity of doing something brilliant had pre
sented itself, he would eagerly have availed himself of it. The
view he took of his situation, his estimate of the skill and vigi
lance of Villars probably differed widely from the opinions of
an amateur soldier glowing with courage and animal spirits,
and without the sense of responsibility which attaches to the
position of commander-in-chief. But the speech of Argyle,
although intemperate, was that of a gentleman when compared
with one soon afterwards made by Earl Powlett. " The Duke
of Ormond," he exclaimed, " is not like a certain general who
is accustomed to lead his troops to slaughter in order that a
number of his officers may be knocked on tbe head, and he may
fill his pockets by disposing of their commissions." Powlett
seems to have blurted out this piece of seandal gathered in
Tory coffee-houses or from anonymous broadsides, without
having received the smallest provocation, and with no other
motive than a low-minded disposition to insult a fallen and
unpopular man. Until the House rose Marlborough took no
notice of the affront. As tfie members, however, were sepa
rating, the Earl was accosted by Mohun with an invitation
from the Duke " to take the air in the country." The courage
of the bully evaporated. He could not conceal his emotion
from his wife, who speedily discovered the cause. Lady Powlett
promptly sent round word to the Secretary of State that her
lord had been provoked to a duel by the Duke of Marlborough.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 3S9
The matter was reported to Anne, who thought proper to inter
fere by laying her commands upon his Grace to proceed no
further in the affair.*
Nine days after this debate, Anne went clown to tbe House
of Peers to redeem the promise of her Ministers that the
proposals of the French Government should be laid before
Parliament. The speech she now delivered derives importance
from its giving the first clear intimation to tbe world of her
approval of Philip's retaining possession of Spain upon his
solemnly renouncing all claim to the throne of France. The
agreement with Louis was recommended to the favour of the
English by some cessions of territory in North America, of
Gibraltar, and Minorca to secure their commerce in the Medi
terranean, and of tbe assieuto contract, with its valuable
monopoly of supplying the West Indies with negroes. Tbe
Commons received the royal speech with every mark of
satisfaction. A -few, but a very few, members supported a
proposition that the subjects mentioned by her Majesty should
be taken successively into consideration. Their voices were
drowned in the cries of the majority. An address was carried
expressive of the entire confidence of the House in the Queen's
steady pursuit of the true interest of her kingdoms, and in her
endeavours to procure what was right for her allies.
But in the Peers' there was greater opposition to the terms
of peace ; for men like Marlborougfi, Wharton, Halifax, and
Cowper were men not easily to be conquered. A glance, how
ever, at the numbers in the divisions reveals the circumstance that
many members of the House, although still adhering perhaps
to the Whig party on other points, had modified their opinions
as to the advisability of continuing the war. Marlborough
again spoke, and asserted that the measures which had been
pursued in England during the past year were contrary to her
Majesty's engagements with her Allies ; that they sullied the
triumphs and glories of her reign, and would render the
English name odious to otfier nations. This speech naturally
excited no small indignation among the Tories. Strafford, who
had come over for a short time from Utrecht, and had just
taken his seat among the Peers, inaugurated his accession to
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques ; Oldmixon ; Lockhart's Memoirs.

390 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the House by a fling at the hero. " Some of the Allies," he
observed, "would not have shown so much unwillingness to
a peace had not a member of that assembly maintained a secret
correspondence with them." The Earl, a bad and intemperate
speaker, had soon cause to repent an indiscretion which brought
down upon bim the most polished orator of the House. " The
noble lord," remarked Cowper, " has been abroad so long that
he appears to have forgotten not only the language but even
the constitution of his native country. I never yet heard it
suggested that to hold a correspondence with our allies, allies
too whose interests has so frequently been declared to be insepa
rable from our own, was a proper subject of complaint against any
person. On the other hand, it would be difficult to reconcile
witfi any laws the conduct of those who treat clandestinely
with our enemies." The Whigs proposed to add a clause to
the address of thanks recommending her Majesty to act in
concert with the Allies that there might be a mutual guarantee
of the treaty of peace. They were beaten by eighty-one mem
bers against thirty-six.*
This was the last attempt of the Whigs to frustrate a peace
upon which the Sovereign was determined, which met With the
approval of an overwhelming majority of the Parliament, and
which many signs indicated to be agreeable to tbe nation.
Public opinion soon declared itself in the customary manner.
A week after this outline of the terms had been submitted to
the Houses, a deputation extraordinarily numerous, and com
posed of the wealthiest merchants in London, waited upon the
Queen to express the gratitude of the Corporation for the care
which had been taken of British commerce. The example set
by the metropolis was followed by the corporations of most of
the cities of England and Scotland.t It would have been
strange indeed if, now that a fair prospect was opened of sepa
rating the monarchies of Spain and France, now that Louis
was no longer a prince to be dreaded, and that the passion for
* Parliamentary History ; Burnet ; Lettres Historiques ; Boyer. Oxford was
perhaps roughly handled during the debate, although no record of it remains.
St. John, writing the same evening (June 7 — 18) to Thomas Harley, says, "The
House of Lords is this moment in debate on the Queen's speech, and his Lordship,
while I am wri'tin? to you, may very probably be employed in wiping off some
of the dirt which that scavenger Wharton throws at him."
t Boyer; Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 301
military glory had spent itself, the people of Great Britain
should have preferred to continue an expensive war merely for
the sake of benefiting their commercial rivals, the Dutch, and
of aggrandizing the House of Austria, whose interests were
nothing to them.
Two or three acts passed during this session deserve com
memoration. In the first place, the Naturalization Act, the
working of which had disappointed and confounded its Whig
authors, and which had excited an enormous amount of dis
content among the poor of London, was repealed with very
general approval.
Another piece of legislation deserves to be reckoned among
the most baneful errors into which tbe governing body of this
country ever fell. It is a happy circumstance for that gentle
man who first conceived the design of imposing a tax upon
books and newspapers that his name has not been preserved,
since it would be difficult for Charity herself to speak of him
with kindness. To his mischievous ingenuity may be ascribed
the repression of knowledge during a century and a half, and
that all the fruits of the labours of many good and wise authors
passed into the pockets of the Government, although the profits
of other authors, who deserved whipping, were not materially
impaired. Anne, in her message of the 17th of January, referred,
among other subjects, to the number of false and scandalous
libels which issued almost daily from the press. Such libels,
she observed, were a reproach to any Government. The evil
had become too strong for the laws, and she recommended
the Parliament to devise a remedy equal to the mischief. The
anxiety felt by tbe Ministers about the machinations of the
Whigs and the Dutch, of Marlborough, Bothmar, and Eugene,
to overturn the Government and frustrate the peace doubtless
was the origin of this complaint and recommendation. The
doleful cry that England was betraying her allies, that she
was about to conclude a surreptitious and separate peace with
France, that she was held in scorn by her old associates, the
Dutch and Imperialists, was everlastingly exhibiting itself
hi some fresh shape in the booksellers' windows. Letters and
memorials from foreign Powers to tbe Sovereign were no

392 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
sooner presented, protests of Whig peers were scarcely dry
upon the journals of the House, than they were being sold
about the streets by hawkers, and figuring in half the news
papers of the kingdom. The circumstance most provoking to
the Ministers was the difficulty of catching the authors of
those strictures upon their policy which tbey were pleased to
term libels. It was very rare that a person who wrote upon
political subjects appended his name to the work. It was, in
truth, an essential qualification of the professional author of
that age that he should be always as ready to take to his heels
and possess as consummate an acquaintance with hiding-places
as a pickpocket. The printer it was indeed easy to light on.
But the comparative or entire innocence of a mere mechanic
was so , obvious that no minister could, without rendering
himself obnoxious to a charge of tyrannizing, visit the crime
severely upon him. St. John, in his correspondence, con
tinually dwelt upon the malignancy of Whig pamphleteers
without condescending to remember that the writers on his
own side were just as virulent and abusive as their opponents.
In fact, a libel in the eyes of St. John was synonymous with
an unfavourable criticism upon a Minister or his measures. No
man had a right to utter a word against the Government
unless he were a Member of Parliament and spoke from bis
seat in the House. If an author chose to meddle with political
subjects, he was bound to write in favour of the existing
Ministers. The intimation of the royal wishes was received with much
favour by the Commons, who in their answer expressed their
desire to suppress the publication not only of libels reflecting
upon the Government, but also of the horrid blasphemies
against God and religion which were constantly vented by
writers. But inasmuch as no remedy was suggested, the
House was in great perplexity to find one, and the considera
tion of this part of the message was put off from time to time.
In April, however, occurred an incident which roused the
Commons to activity. In the Daily Courant appeared the
memorial presented by the States- general to her Majesty, a
document which the Ministers and their supporters very justly
considered a highly dangerous one for the perusal of the public.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

393

The printer, Samuel Buckley, was at once ordered into the
custody of the Sergeant-at-arms ; and a few days after the
Commons, in grand committee, resolved that the publication of
scandalous and impious libels was prejudicial to the Govern
ment, was occasioned by the absence of proper regulations of
the press, that in future all printing-presses should be regis
tered in the names of the owners, and that the author of every
book should append his name and place of abode. Shortly
after tbe passing of these resolutions a member in the Com
mittee of Ways and Means made a proposal that at once cap
tivated the House. It was simply to subject literature on all
subjects to a tax. A good deal of discussion apparently fol
lowed. The probability was obvious that, if the profits of
authorship were diminished, much unnecessary and injurious
scribbling would cease. Yet no man capable of reflection could
avoid forecasting that under such a general discouragement
society would debar itself of the thoughts of many learned and
ingenious persons. That a physician, for instance, who had
made valuable discoveries in medicine, a philosopher who had
investigated the laws of nature, a mechanic who saw a way to
economize the labour of millions, should be subjected to a tax
for imparting benefits to mankind, must have appeared a mon
strous thing to any but the most stupid and ignorant of men.
And even this was not the extent of the misfortunes which
such legislation might inflict. No fact was at that time better
established than that the authors of the best books had not as
a rule been gainers in a commercial sense, whereas pernicious
books were often a fortune to their writers. The plays of
Aphra Behn and the licentious tales of Mrs. Manley found a
hundred times more purchasers in their generation than the
"Principia" and the "Paradise Lost," and would have found
them even if those productions had been a little dearer. It
should have been seen, therefore, that the consequence of sub
jecting literature to an indiscriminate tax was to add to the
already superabundant causes which discourage men of genius
and learning, without affording any adequate check to demoral
izing writers. It speaks little for the discrimination of this
lory House of Commons that the only exception to an uni
versal tax upon literature which it could be brought to favour

394 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
was of school-books and books of piety. All other printed
matter was subjected to a stamp duty of a penny a sheet.*
A lively sentence of Swift has often been quoted as a graphie
description of the consternation which this new tax produced
among authors and booksellers, t Even at this early stage in
the history of periodical literature it was computed that ten
thousand persons in the United Kingdom derived their living
either wholly or in part from their pens ; J and this number,
incredible as it then appeared to foreigners, was perhaps no
great exaggeration, since the facts remain that London alone
supported twenty-one newspapers, and that most of the large
provincial towns had also periodicals of their own. The weaker
journals at once gave up the ghost. Several others thought it
prudent to amalgamate. After a little experience of the new
system, Addison, the most charming of essayists, was compelled
to bring to a close his instructive and amusing Spectator; and
Defoe, who had been for eight years the unwearying advocate
of liberty, free-trade, and religious toleration, laid down bis
Review. It would have been strange if a House of Commons which
had won the suffrages of the people by the zeal which they felt
or affected for the Church of England, should have been con
tent to pass away without leaving behind them some memorial
of their bigotry. The foolish inclination of this Parliament to
force the Episcopalian system down the throats of the Scottish
nation went very near to excite a rebellion. If any institution
of Scotland seemed more secure than another by tbe Act of
Union, it was certainly the Presbyterian form of worship. The
maintenance of that form had been declared an essential and
fundamental condition of the Union. It may, however, be
open to doubt whether the religious authorities of North Britain
did not, when their country became annexed to a country
holding more civilized and enligfitened doctrines than their own
about toleration, abandon their power of persecuting other sects.
But in any case a power so dear to. the priestly mind tbe Kirk
* 10 Anne, c. 18 ; Lettres Historiques ; Boyer.
t "The Observator is fallen; the Medleys are jumbled together with the
Flying Post ; the Examiner is deadly sick ; the Spectator keeps up and doubles its
price. I know not how long it will last."— Journal to Stella.
+ Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 395
was determined to exercise, and while so many causes of irrita
tion existed between the two countries, the English Parliament
might wisely have imitated the indifference of Gallio, and left
Episcopalians and Presbyterians to fight out their quarrels by
themselves. The Houses, however, chose to interfere in favour
of tbe former sect. In 1711 the Lords condemned in a large
penalty certain magistrates who, at the instance of the clergy
of Edinburgh, had imprisoned an Episcopalian clergyman
named Greenshields for persisting in the public performance of
his obnoxious ritual. This proceeding naturally created con
siderable alarm among the Presbyterian population. For that
toleration should henceforward be the law of the land, that all
people should be free to worship God after their own fashion,
was a state of things wholly inconceivable by the Scottish
intellect. One sect, it was thought, must be uppermost, aud
to enable it to maintain its ascendancy, must be endowed with
the power of persecuting its competitors. Was it possible that
her Majesty, and those ungodly men who were her advisers,
could, in defiance of tfie provisions of the Union, entertain the
horrid design of subverting the Presbyterian system and of
setting over it those enemies of true religion, the Episcopalians ?
The General Assembly hastened to send up to London three
ministers to represent matters in a proper light. These devout
personages upon their arrival found the Commons engaged
upon several bills of sinister import. By one of these bills it
was proposed to repeal all persecuting acts in the Scottish law,
and to permit Episcopalian clergymen to solemnize their ritual
with as much freedom as was allowed to the Dissenters of
England. The only conditions attached to this boon were that
they should take the oath of allegiance to her Majesty and
abjure the Pretender in the usual form. But the same oaths
were also enjoined upon the Presbyterian ministers, and the
clergy of both systems were commanded to introduce prayers
for the Princess Sophia and the family of Hanover into their
public worship. The object of another bill was to restore to
patrons of churches those rights of presentation of which they
had been deprived by an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed
m 1690, at a time when the Presbyterian influence was over
whelming. And as if the English Houses deemed these bills

396 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
not sufficiently significant of their plans about refigion, they
had a third piece of legislation under consideration which
seemed specially designed as an insult to Presbyterian feeling.
The dislike of pious persons in Scotland to the observance
of those seasons which the Christian Church has from the
earliest times set apart as specially sacred, had been strongly
manifested ever since the Eeformation. For an individual to
rejoice on Christmas Day, or to mourn and fast on Good
Friday, was regarded by the saints as a sure sign that bis soul
had not yet shaken off the sin of Popery. One of the first
uses to which the ascendant Kirk had put its power after the
Revolution was to obtain an act to prolong the session of the
courts of justice through the Christmas vacation. This act
the Parliament now proposed to repeal.
All of these bills became law in spite of a representation
presented to the Lords by the three Scottish ministers. While
the first mentioned of them was passing through the Lower
House some Whig enlivened the debates by a wicked parody
upon the occasional conformity bill. He moved the insertion
of a clause in the Scottish act to compel persons holding any
appointment dependent on the crown of Scotland to take the
Sacrament in the form prescribed by the Presbyterian Church,
and to prohibit them under penalties from attending Episco
palian places of dissent. The audacious humourist actually
pressed his motion to a division.
The excitement occasioned by this legislation was at its
height in Scotland, and in many places the Scottish clergy were
stirring up their congregations by appointing fast-days to
implore God's protection for his endangered Church, when the
General Assembly met. The deliberations were, however, con
ducted in a tone more moderate than could have been expected.
In reply to a royal letter, which the Duke of Athol read as
Commissioner, tbe clergy were content to express their feelings
in a pious fiope that they might still be enabled to continue as
loyal as formerly. One grievance, nevertheless, proved hard
of digestion. A tenderness for the exiled dynasty pervaded
the whole population of Scotland, lay and clerical, and the
oath abjuring the Pretender was drawn in a form so stringent
that one may well wonder at this day how any clergyman,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 397
either in Scotland or England, could reconcile matters with his
conscience to take it. A staunch Protestant might easily bring
himself to believe that James II. abandoned all claims to the
allegiance of his subjects by becoming a Papist, and that his
son had no claim to that allegiance so long as he remained a
Papist. But should James III. return to the Protestant
religion his right to the throne appeared perfect. The Par
liament indeed had altered the succession ; but that Parliaments
had authority to defeat the divine right of kings the great mass
of the clergy of Great Britain, and especially the rigid formal
Presbyterians, no more believed than that Parliaments could,
by passing an act, stop the flow of the tides. And supposing
that the oath of abjuration were taken, what would follow if
James regained the crown ? Would not a new oath be tendered
to the swearer, would he not be called upon to declare allegiance
to the sovereign be had abjured and to abjure the sovereign to
whom he bad sworn allegiance ? If he accepted such an oath
he must perjure himself : if he refused to take it he would be
accounted a rebel. These considerations moved the General
assembly to send up an address to Anne imploring her to excuse
the Presbyterian clergy from taking the oath of abjuration,
which, they stated, was inconsistent with the establishment of
their Church. The Queen returned a refusal to this supplica
tion; and the oath, although the Government generally acted
with great forbearance and leniency, continued for the best
part of a century to inspire tender consciences with qualms.*
On the 21st of June, Anne adjourned the Parliament for a
fortnight. Why an adjournment and not a prorogation, as
usual at this season was directed, occasioned much speculation.
The Whigs were not slow in imputing the cause to a spiteful
wish on the part of the Ministers to keep their friend Walpole
in prison a little longer. On the 8th of July, however, the
prorogation was proclaimed in the customary form, and Wal
pole regained his liberty.
In the same month St. John was raised to the peerage with
the titles of Baron St. John and Viscount Bolingbroke. He
had confidently expected tq be made an Earl, and his disap
pointment may have arisen from Oxford desiring to preserve a
* Boyer; Lettres Historiques ; Wright's History of Scotland.

398 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
distinction between the leader and the secretary. It is certain,
however, that St. John, notwithstanding his abilities and the
services he bad rendered to the Government, was not a favourite
with Anne. No amount of wit and talent could redeem a
profligate man in the eyes of the pious and moral Queen ; and
reports of St. John's drunken frolics, his low amours, and of the
manner in which religious subjects were discussed by him and
his boon companions, had been the talk of the town ever since
the brilliant youth left college. He chose, nevertheless, to
attribute his disappointment entirely to the jealousy and
treachery of Oxford. For that solemn decorous trifler he had
for some time entertained a contempt which he was at little
pains to disguise. A sense of injury now turned that feeling
to hatred. From henceforth the feud between the two Minis
ters was open, and defied all tfie efforts of mutual friends to
heal.* Meanwhile the correspondence between the English and
French Governments had been unremitting, for the position in
which Ormond was placed created much anxiety. Eugene had
commenced the siege of Quesnoy. It was too much to expect
that Villars would remain idle under these circumstances ; and
if he attacked the Prince, Ormond would be compelled by every
principle of honour to go to the assistance of his colleague. A
great battle might then ensue ; and whatever its result might
be one thing was certain, that the various passions it would
arouse would scatter to the winds all the arrangements for
peace which had been so carefully elaborated. It was more
over highly desirable that Ormond should be relieved from the
uncomfortable and embarrassing position in which he was
placed. The feelings of Marlborough's unhappy successor
during this period of uncertainty must have been such as to
make him envy the humblest private in his ranks. He was at
the head of a splendid army, and the chivalrous blood in his
veins prompted him to add new distinction to an illustrious
name. He was in presence of all the great captains of the
age, whose good report he would have given worlds to obtain.
Yet when they urged him to action he could return nothing
* Swift's Inquiry into the Behaviour of the Queen's last Ministry ; St. John
to Strafford, July 23, August 3.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 399
but flimsy excuses such as a gentleman abhors to employ.
But at length a period came to his ordeal. On the 25th of
June be announced in a general council of the Allied officers
that he had received tbe Queen's orders to publish a suspen
sion of arms with tbe French for two months. He proposed
to Eugene to publish a similar order to the troops under his
command. The Prince replied coldly that he could not do so
without communicating with the Hague and Vienna.*
A bara-am had, in fact, been concluded between the Govern-
ments of England and France. The impatience of Boling-
broke at the perversity of the Dutch and Imperialists knew no
bounds. He was determined that his country should not,
through the folly of her Allies, lose the advantages of those
terms which she had arranged for herself. Foremost among
those advantages he rated the stipulation to which Louis had
consented that the harbour and fortifications of Dunkirk should
be destroyed. He had, therefore, proposed as the condition of
a suspension of arms between her Majesty and the King of
France that the town should be delivered up to the English
troops until the equivalent which the King was to receive for
his concession was finally settled. To this proposition Louis
had agreed, and Bolingbroke on his part despatched the neces
sary orders to Ormond. The Duke was instructed to separate
himself with all the forces in British pay from the camp of the
Allies, and to take possession of Dunkirk. Ormond was already
convinced of his incapability ta execute such orders ; for he
was aware that the Dutch deputies had given private assurances
to the commanders of the mercenary troops that, if England
refused to pay them any longer, they might look to the States-
general. He, however, called together the officers, informed
them of her Majesty's pleasure that they should be in readiness
to march to Dunkirk in three days, and received the expected
reply. They had come to Flanders, they said, to act against
the enemy ; and orders of another kind they would not obey
before receiving some clear intimation of the will of their own
sovereigns. "Then," retorted Ormond, "you need look neither
for bread, nor pay, nor even to get your arrears from England."
lo the Duke of Wirtemberg, who commanded the important
* Lettres Historiques ; Boyer ; Burnet.

400 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
body of Danes, Ormond held out a threat that, if the King of
Denmark presumed to thwart the Queen's determination to
arrange a peace, her Majesty's fleet should throw obstacles in
the way of the King's designs iu the north. " No considera
tions of that sort," Wirtemberg stiffly replied, '' will deter me
from discharging what I take to be my duty."
Three days passed over, and Ormond again sent round to tbe
commanders of the mercenary troops his orders for marching.
Their reply was to the same effect as before. " Tell his Grace,"
said the high-spirited Prince of Hesse-Cassel to the officer who
brought the message, " that I desire nothing better than to
march, provided it be against the enemy." The Duke was in
great perplexity. He had as yet received no intimation from
the French Government that an order to admit the British
troops into Dunkirk had been issued. He was even informed
by Villars that his Majesty had thought it right to suspend the
issue of such an order. The consent of Louis to the sacrifice
had been based on the understanding that the suspension of
arms should be general, or that it should at least include all the
troops in British pay, which would be nearly half the Allied
army. It now seemed that the suspension would affect only
a few battalions of native English, whose withdrawal from an
army of a hundred and twenty thousand men would be of little
consequence. Notfiing, therefore, remained for Ormond except
to await the result of further negotiations. In the meantime
Quesnoy, hardly pressed by Eugene, surrendered at discretion,
This triumph, coupled with the conduct of the commanding-
officers of tfie troops in British pay, so raised the spirits of the
Dutch and Imperialists that for a few days it was imagined
that, notwithstanding the defection of England, the war might
be continued with success.*
Both Governments were, however, sincerely desirous of
effecting an arrangement, and the vigorous mind of Boling-
broke speedily surmounted all difficulties. Since a party
among the Allies, he wrote to Torcy, was determined to inter
pose obstacles to a peace, if the French king would trust her
Majesty with Dunkirk, she on her part would consider herself
justified before God and man in continuing the negotiations
* Boyer ; Memoires de Torcy.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 401
either at Utrecht or anywhere else, without minding whether
she had or had not the concurrence of partners who had
conducted themselves with so much obstinacy and ingratitude
towards her. She would not hesitate to conclude a separate
peace with France, and leave her allies to accept such terms as
should be arranged for them between the King and herself.
A certain time should be allowed to them to signify their
acceptance of those terms, and if they failed to do so within
that time, the King might consider himself exonerated from all
engagements as regarded them. England would withdraw
from the Alliance, and leave her former friends to settle their
affairs with France in any way they could. These assurances,
conveyed in the emphatic language of Bolingbroke, told
decisively in the French council. It could scarcely be
doubted but that, if that country which had been the uni
versal paymaster and the source of all that energy which had
reduced France to her present condition, retired from the
Alliance, the confederacy would no longer bear a formidable
aspect, or even be likely to hold together. Louis decided,
therefore, that it should be as the Queen desired. He issued
the order for admitting the English troops to Dunkirk.*
During the time occupied by these negotiations the feelings
of Ormond had been sorely tried by the cold and contemptuous
manner adopted towards him by the other chiefs of the army.
His disgrace was shared by the officers and even by the private
soldiers he commanded. It was indeed high time that the
English should withdraw from the company of their allies, for
the hot blood of the islanders could ill brook the taunts that
were levelled at them from all sides, and duels were of daily
occurrence. A week after the fall of Quesnoy, Eugene sent
notice to Ormond of his intention to march to Landrecy on the
following day. The Duke, already irritated to the quick by
previous insults, took umbrage at not having been informed
of the Prince's design before, and perhaps with a view of
excusing to the world his own intended departure, stigma
tized the movement as a desertion of himself and the British
troops. Upon the 16th of July the army separated, and the
two portions took different routes. Ormond moved off with his
* Correspondence between Bolingbroke and Torcy ; Memoires de Torcy.
VOL. II. D D

402 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
native regiments, and about a thousand Holsteiners, who were
all the mercenaries who could be induced to follow his lead.
At the close of the first day's march he proclaimed by sound of
trumpet a suspension of arms with the French. Villars, with
whom he was in intimate correspondence, published a similar
proclamation as regarded the English on tbe same day.*
An eye-witness has stated that this proclamation was received
by the British troops, officers as well as men, with every mark
of indignation, f The feeling appears perfectly natural when
the following circumstances are taken into consideration. In
the first place we can readily understand that a soldier to
whom the excitement of war has been downright pleasure, and
who is inspired with that contempt for the enemy which
constant success cannot fail to impart, should feel the same
disgust at being restrained from his prey as a hound may feel
at being restrained from pursuing a hare. The soldier of a
hundred and fifty years ago unquestionably took far more
interest in his profession, and concerned himself much more
about politics than the soldier since standing armies became a
permanent institution. The bravery of our present regiments
has been proved in every quarter of the globe; yet those
admirably-trained machines trouble themselves little about
the origin of the quarrel in which they are engaged; and
whenever their Government is pleased to declare war at an
end, march back with indifference or satisfaction to tbe com
forts and comparative ease of barrack life. Eacfi man feels
certain that, whether war or peace be the order of the day,
his wages will be paid him, and that when his sinews have been
worn out in the service of his country, some scanty provision
will have been earned for his old age. But until very recent
times the close of a war involved the almost total disbanding of
the army. Thousands of men, rendered unfit for any peaceful
calling, were at once thrown upon their own resources to find a
livelihood. As a consequence the advent of peace was invari
ably marked by a great increase of beggars in the streets and
of highwaymen on the roads. The country might rejoice ; but
the poor soldier with nothing but the gloomy alternative of
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques ; Memoires de Villars ; St. Simon.
t Sergeant Milner, Journal of the Marches, &c.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 403
starving or adopting a profession that led to the gallows before
his eyes, could not but mourn.
But with those selfish considerations which might have moved
the soldier of 1712 to deplore the termination of the war,
however honourable, were undoubtedly mixed in the present
instance a large share of patriotic feeling. He had been called
into the field, he had been tantalized with the sight of an
enemy whom he felt he could easily conquer. Yet with victory
within his grasp he had been bidden first to remain inactive,
and then to turn his back and march away. It would have
been strange indeed if the cries that the English were cowards
and traitors, which arose from Dutch and German comrades
with whom he had been associated for years, had not pene
trated to bis soul. He felt that a deep stain had been inflicted
on the national honour, that he had been used as a tool by a
set of diplomatists. Nor is it easy upon calm consideration to
justify the conduct of the English Ministers in their manner of
withdrawing from the war. Let it be conceded that they had
good cause to complain of the obstinacy and unreasonableness of
their allies, that they were warranted in determining to conclude
peace upon fair terms, and that, in view of the dogged opposi
tion they had to encounter, no way was left them to execute
this determination except a private arrangement with France.
Yet surely it was not the time to negotiate such an arrangement
while the armies were face to face. Had Ormond induced the
troops in British pay to desert with him, what might have been
the consequence ? The Dutch and Imperialists who, relying on
British faith, had entered the field, might have found themselves
attacked and overwhelmed by the French. To force them to bend
to the will of England was of course the object of the Ministers.
It may be said that no harm would have accrued to them had
they submitted with a good grace ; nay, that the Emperor
would have been spared a foolish and disastrous prolongation of
the war. Yet to employ such a method of coercion is contrary
to the principles of all alliances, and even to the principles of
honour itself.
Ormond and Strafford now took counsel together. Both
were highly incensed at what they regarded as the factious
perverseness of the Dutch and Imperialists, and were not
n d 2

404 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
wholly without apprehension that measures more effectual than
taunts and scoffs might be employed against tbe British troops.
A day or two before the separation an angry Dutch deputy had
expressed to Ormond a hope that he had no intention of passing
through any of the towns in Dutch occupation upon his road.
This the Duke naturally interpreted as an intimation that his
troops would be refused admission to most of the towns in the
Netherlands. In this difficulty it was decided to adopt a
suggestion which seems to have emanated from Louis himself,
that he should secure Ghent and Bruges, so as to place bis
Government at a little more advantage in its dealings with the
Dutch. These important cities were already in British occu
pation, and it soon appeared that they were almost tbe only
places to which Ormond could resort for shelter. As the
troops proceeded town after town upon the road closed its gates
against them. British officers, even of the highest rank, were
refused admission. Strafford applied in vain for permission to
pass through Bouchain ; Ormond was shut out from Douai.
Eugene appears to have been offended by tbe incivility shown
by the Dutch commandants, and protested that they had acted
without orders ; but little credit was attached to this statement.
At length the army, after a whole week of rough marching,
found itself safe within the walls of Ghent.*
The withdrawal of the British was immediately followed by
a series of disasters to the Allied army. Eugene had com
menced the siege of Landrecy, and to secure the passage of
convoys from his magazines at Marchiennes had posted Keppel,
Lord Albemarle, with eight thousand men, in an entrenched
camp which had been constructed about Denain. Arnold van
Keppel, the beloved and trusted friend of William III, had,
after the decease of his master, returned to Holland, hastened
to disencumber himself of everything English exeept the
money, estates, and peerage he had got as favourite of the
King of England, had resumed the position of a Dutch noble,
and had been appointed to high station in the army of the
States-general. Throughout the war he had approved himself
an excellent officer, and while under the eye of Marlborough
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques ; Lamberty ; Memoires de Torcy ; St. Simon ;
Correspondence of Bolingbroke.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 405
his career had not been chequered by a single calamity. But
his commander was now Eugene, and the Prince appears to
have acted with less than his usual circumspection in leaving a
body of men isolated from the main force, and with insufficient
means of making their escape across the Scheldt in case of
their being attacked. So obvious, indeed, was the danger of
Albemarle's position that Marlborough, upon being informed
of it, expressed his apprehensions. Villars, with that quick
eye for which he was renowned, saw his opportunity, formed
his plan in profound secrecy, and executed it with the rapidity
of lightning. Upon the afternoon of the 24th of July the
Allies were surprised hy the approach of an immense mass of
infantry towards their intrenehments. The French came on
with a rush, and with fixed bayonets. There was a deep ditch
in front of the works, of which Villars had been informed ; but
he had decided not to consume time in preparing and carrying
fascines. " Our fascines," said the gay Marshal, " shall be the
bodies of the first fallen." Although taken almost unawares,
the Allies stood to their defences, and poured several murderous
discharges of cannon and musketry into the ranks of their
assailants. But the French bore them without flinching, waded
across the ditch, and swarmed over the breastwork, which, being
constructed only of loose earth and stones, soon crumbled away.
Then all resistance was at an end. Whole battalions of Germans
flung down their arms, and fled headlong towards the Scheldt.
Albemarle strove hard to preserve order among some regiments
of Imperialists and Dutcfi wfiicfi were still at a distance from
the enemy, and tried to gain with them a post of security in the
village of Denain ; but so contagious was - the panic that in a
tew minutes he found himself alone and surrounded by captors.
live vanquished general was hurried into the presence of
Villars, who had just entered the intrenehments, and was,
after a little polite grimacing from the elated Frenchman, sent
°n a prisoner to Valenciennes. A dreadful fate awaited his
helpless troops. There was but one pontoon bridge over tbe
Scheldt, and this was choked by the baggage, which, upon
some suspicion that an attack might be in contemplation, bad
been ordered for departure in the morning. With the French
bayonets gleaming close in their rear the victims grew mad

406 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
with terror, and flung themselves by hundreds and thousands
into the river, which was here a hundred yards broad. Among
the crowd which perished in the deep waters were several
Dutch and Imperial officers of high rank. More than two
thousand prisoners were made. Those few who escaped with
life and freedom owed their preservation either to their coolness
or to singular good fortune. At the other end of the bridge,
which soon broke down under the crush, appeared the advanced
guard of the Allied army, gazing upon the horrible' confusion,
but utterly incapable of rendering the least assistance to their
comrades. Eugene, upon hearing the first rumour of what
Villars was about to undertake, had set .his troops in motion,
but too late to interfere with the Marshal's success.*
The loss of Denain drew after it the loss of Marchiennes, a
small fortified town in which the Allied chiefs had stored up
sufficient provisions and ammunition to last tfiem through the
whole campaign. The four thousand soldiers who constituted
the garrison of this precious fortress endured a siege for a
week, and then, perceiving no prospect of being relieved,
surrendered at discretion. The Dutch commander, upon the
first approach of the French, had sunk in the Scarpe five
barges laden with gunpowder, and Villars upon reaching the
town found the stream still running black, and quantities of
fish floating dead upon tfie water. Tie Marshal, collecting
his army, which had been scattered about for the reduction of a
number of small forts, now hastened back to Landrecy with tbe
full determination of offering battle to the Allied army. He
found, however, that the siege had been already abandoned.
Eugene, convinced of his inability to find provisions for his men
after the loss of his magazines, had departed in the direction
of Mons. Villars, almost beside himself with delight at this
surprising turn of a campaign which at the outset had threat
ened France with utter ruin, betook himself to the easy task of
recapturing Douai.
By the English public the intelligence of these sad events
was not received with those feelings of grief and shame which
Whigs, Dutch and Imperialists, were united in thinking it
* For details of the battle of Denain see the Lettres Historiques; Campagne
de Flandre ; Memoires de Villars ; St. Simon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 407
should have excited. In truth the circumstances were flattering
to the vanity of the nation. Nothing could prove better the
value of England to the Alliance than the fact that, as soon as
Englisfi genius and valour were withdrawn from the con
federacy, continuous prosperity turned to misfortune. That
the genius had been misapplied and the valour wasted on
projects foreign to the real interests of tbe country was now,
notwithstanding the lamentations of Whig orators and writers,
the all but universal opinion. There was a strong desire that
the peace should be general ; and it was hoped that the Dutch
and Imperialists would be convinced by their disasters that,
without the aid of England, it was useless for them to pursue
the war. The Ministers were anxious that the suspension of
arms should be formally proclaimed between France and
England ; but difficulties arose in the way of such an arrange
ment. Each power had its favourite ally, for whom it consi
dered itself bound in honour to stipulate for advantages such
as its antagonist would by no means admit. The intrepid
spirit shown by the Duke of Savoy in throwing in his lot with
the Allies, the unfortunate condition to which he would be
reduced if he were abandoned to the vengeance of France,
recommended his interests in a special manner to the consi
deration of the English Government. Louis felt himself to
be under similar obligations to the Elector of Bavaria, who
had been driven out of his dominions for espousing his cause.
It was evident that unless each Government came to a clear
understanding as to what each would grant, and what it was
determined upon refusing, many months might be consumed in
correspondence. This was intolerable to so impatient a spirit
as Bolingbroke. He determined to shorten the work by a
personal conversation with Torcy ; and early in August set out
for Paris in company with Prior. The two friends travelled
under fictitious names ; and as a regular packet service had
been for some time established between Dover and Calais, were
in hopes of passing unnoticed. But their precautions were in
vain. Prior's face was too well known on the road to escape
recognition, and a rumour of who the gentlemen were and
their business ran before them the whole way to the capital.
They at length reached the end of their journey, mortified with

408 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the certainty that their undertaking would be blazoned all over
Europe, wearied with the constant intrusions upon them of
complimentary civic dignitaries and smiling hotel-keepers, but
not ill pleased at the evidence they had seen of the good- will
of the French people. Bolingbroke became the guest of Torcy's
mother, and was speedily joined by the Minister, who posted
from the Court at Fontainebleau to meet him.*
In ten busy days several points of difficulty were amicably
adjusted. It was agreed that the right of succession to tbe
Spanish crown should be declared in the Duke of Savoy next
after Philip and his children, and that the Duke should have
Sicily, which he might consider the Queen had obtained for him
as a compensation for his services in the war. Torcy, however,
firmly cut down his demands for a barrier in Dauphiny to
reasonable limits. The affairs of tfie Elector occasioned more
difficulty. The French Minister was urgent that her Majesty
should join with his master in compelling his restoration to his
dominions. Bolingbroke would consent to no arrangement
which might involve the Queen in disputes with her Allies.
Her withdrawal from tfie war, he argued, was surely a suffi
cient concession to France. It was too much to expect her to
join in making demands which, if they did not meet with
acceptance, might entail upon her the obligation of backing
them by force of arms. Torcy, finding his adversary deter
mined upon this point, ceased to pursue the matter.
The forms of renunciation which were to be made both by
Philip of his rights to the French crown and by the French
Princes of their rights to the Crown of Spain were next settled.
The difficulty on this head had entailed a considerable amount
of correspondence on the two Ministers. Never did the adver
saries to peace deem their objections more unanswerable than
when they descanted upon the futility of binding princes to
renounce rights which were supposed to be of Divine origin.
They could point to recent precedents to show that oaths taken
by princes were no more binding than cobwebs. Upon tbe
marriage of Louis XIII. with the Infanta of Spain there had
been an agreement between the two Governments that the
* Memoires de Torcy; Boyer; Lettres Historiques; Bolingbroke to Dart
mouth, August 21 ; September 1.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 409
children of the marriage should be for ever excluded from their
rights to the Spanish crown. Three years after her marriage
Anne of Austria had formally renounced her rights to that
crown, and her renunciation had been adopted as a law by the
Cortes of Castile. Yet Philip, the great-grandson of Anne,
became King of Spain notwithstanding this law, and one of his
first acts of royalty was to revoke so inconvenient a piece of
legislation. But the most glaring instance of the faithlessness
of princes was to be found in the conduct of Louis XIV. him
self. Upon his marriage, in 1659, with Maria Theresa, all
rights to the Spanish crown which might accrue to that Prin
cess were renounced both by Louis and Maria in the most
solemn form that priestly ingenuity could devise ; and the
renunciation was registered in the Parliament of Paris. Only
six years after the marriage the King issued a manifesto
declaring that he regarded his oath as of no validity, set up a
claim to the Spanish Netherlands on behalf of his wife, and
took possession of such provinces as he desired by main force.
In tbe face of such examples it might well seem idle to admin
ister any more oaths to French princes. Torcy himself was
candid enough to admit that no dependence whatever could be
placed upon them. How then were princes to be bound who
had no consciences, and for whom religion had no terrors ?
Was there not some power in France which could constrain
even Kings to keep their word ? Bolingbroke naturally be
thought himself of that ancient institution, the States-general.
It was evident that the so-called Parliaments of the Kingdom
were dependent upon the crown, mere servile assemblies always
ready to register or revoke laws at the sovereign's pleasure.
But the States-general, consisting of representatives sent from
all parts of the kingdom, might surely be regarded as a
national Parliament, whose laws, when they affected foreigners,
could not be broken witfiout tainting the whole nation with
perfidy, and which even princes would not dare to infringe.
The English Minister proposed therefore that a States-general
should be convoked for the special purpose of adopting as laws
the renunciations which it was desirable to make. His sugges
tion was reported to Louis, who listened to it with ineffable
contempt. There was no power in France, such was the answer

410 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
returned, above that of the King, and his Majesty would not
think of taking a step which might inoculate his subjects with
new doctrines upon this point. Such being tbe case, there
remained no alternative but to draw up the renunciations in the
usual way, and to rely upon the oath-takers themselves finding
it to be their interest to abide by them.
These matters settled, Bolingbroke was taken down to Fon-
tainebleau and introduced to the Master of France. Louis
referred with much respect to the Queen, and acknowledged the
obligations under which he lay to her. Peace, he protested,
was what he most earnestly desired, nor should the recent suc
cesses which had been obtained by his arms alter for one moment
his determination to fulfil all the promises he had made.
Bolingbroke found the whole Court in an ecstasy of delight at
the triumphant career of Villars. The rapture of Louis, upon
hearing of the fall of Marchiennes, had been so great that for
an instant he forgot the immeasurable distance between king
and subject. When his courtiers approached him with their
congratulations, the proud old monarch for the first time in his
life actually condescended to thank them.*
The English Minister returned home, leaving the French
nobility charmed with his handsome person, the dignity of his
manners, and his mastery of the French language. Imme
diately after his arrival a suspension of arms with France for
four months was proclaimed in London. The bonfires and illu
minations which tbe proclamation excited were considered as
satisfactory tokens of the public joy.f
Meanwhile the conferences at Utrecht had been productive
of nothing but feuds and recriminations. The Bishop of Bristol
had, on the 27th of June, communicated to the other pleni
potentiaries tbe terms for a general peace mentioned in the
Queen's speech, and had proposed a general suspension of arms
with France for the greater convenience of treating. The Dutch
and Imperial Ministers at once referred to their Courts. The
States-general was convened, and the result of its deliberations
was to return a decided negative to the proposal. All tbe ex-
* Memoires de St. Simon ; Lettres Historiques. Bolingbroke was presented
with a diamond valued at fifty thousand crowns. Prior received his Majesty's
portrait set in diamonds.
t Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 411
pense had been incurred of placing the army in the field ; why
then forego the advantages which that army would be certain to
obtain? The couriers were free to come and go between
Utrecht and Versailles ; passports would always be granted to
State messengers ; where then was the necessity for an armis
tice ? The Imperial plenipotentiaries coincided with the
Dutch. The conferences, useless as they had now become,
were at length suspended on account of a contemptible quarrel
which arose between the Count de Eechteren, deputy for Ober
Issel, and Menager. As the coach of the former was passing by
the Frenchman's residence on the day when the news of
Villars' triumph at Denain reached Utrecht, some footmen who
were idling at the door made faces at the Count's lackies.
These complained to their master, who, instead of treating
their complaint with contempt, chose to send to Menager for
satisfaction, and pressed his demands to such preposterous
lengths as made it impossible for that plenipotentiary to comply.
Then the ill-tempered Dutchman took the law into his own
hands. His servants, acting under his orders, which he gave
m a drunken fit, set upon Menager's servants, and inflicted
upon them a sound beating. The affair tben became serious.
The rights of the quarrel were now unquestionably transferred to
the French side. The plenipotentiaries of Louis no longer
thought it necessary to put up with the insolence of the Dutch.
They in turn demanded satisfaction, and as the authorities at
the Hague hesitated to grant it, declined to attend any more
conferences.* But although discussion had ceased at Utrecht, the Hague,
where Ministers from all the Allied powers were collected as in
a focus, exhibited a rare scene of diplomatic activity. Dutch,
Imperial, Hanoverian, and Savoyard envoys were perpetually
consulting together, framing remonstrances to the British
Government, and encouraging each other to go on with the
war. During the autumn a book entitled the " Sighs of Europe
at the project of Peace contained in the Speech of the Queen of
Great Britain to her Parliament," made its appearance in Hol
land, and found its way over the water. Only some private
motive in the English Ministers, it was argued, could account
* This quarrel is related in great detail by Boyer.

412 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
for their entering into negotiations so scandalous and so pre
judicial to the welfare of Europe. Yet it must have appeared
on calm consideration to every reasonable man that, now that
England had withdrawn from the confederacy, the war had
become hopeless unless an event so fortunate occurred as the
death of Anne, and the transferrence of her sceptre to the
House of Hanover. The Imperial ambassadors boasted of the
extraordinary levies their master was about to make, and their
promises on this score still carried some value in Holland,
although in England they excited nothing but derision. Tbe
poverty of the Imperial exchequer was now sufficiently under
stood in tfiis country. It accounted for tfie facts that through
out the whole course of the war the Emperor had never been
able to furnish anything like his proper quota of troops, and
that even the few troops he did send always ran a considerable
risk of being starved until some excuse had been framed for
quartering them on the liberality of the wealthier Allies. The
Emperor's inveteracy against peace, therefore, although suffi
ciently intelligible wfien it was remembered for how many
years England and Holland had held forth to bis imagination
the hope of possessing Spain, caused little apprehension in this
country so long as be stood alone. But matters assumed a
serious complexion when the Dutch, for whose wealth, energy,
and sturdiness of purpose the English entertained a well-
founded respect, seemed determined in spite of all impedi
ments to adhere to his cause. There was certainly a possi
bility that, if supported by the Eepublic, the Emperor might
be enabled to keep the war alive for some time longer. Still
one problem remained inscrutable to our politicians. Were
tbe Dutch really able to find the vast sums of money which
would be necessary to prolong the contest ? Almost from the
beginning their statesmen had been groaning over their ex
hausted resources, their difficulties in collecting the heavy
taxes they were compelled to lay on the provinces, and
putting up prayers to England to relieve them from their
full share of their financial engagements. Yet now, if report
spoke truly, they were secretly promising the Imperialists to
supply wages for three times as many auxiliary troops as
before, to take upon their backs not only their own burdens

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 41

o

but those which England had thrown down. Had all this
whining about poverty then been merely a miserly stratagem,
and were tbey now going to open their hoards and beggar
themselves in reality for the chance of getting a few more
towns from France than they could procure by quiet negotiation ?
With such speculations, however, Bolingbroke declined to
trouble his mind. His course was now clear. He had come
to a thorough understanding with Tore}- on the subject. If
tbe various Allies persisted much longer in thwarting the
Queen's measures to conclude a peace, she would hold herself
discharged from all obligations to them, conclude a separate
treaty with France, and leave them to arrange their affairs in
any way they pleased. He was almost inclined to hope that
they would continue in the same refractory mood, as it would
save him and his colleagues a great deal of trouble. But if
they changed their tone in time, showed becoming deference
to the ascendancy of England, and behaved themselves like
reasonable people, then, Bolingbroke explained to Torcy, her
Majesty would be compelled, both by her sense of honour and
doubtless also by Parliamentary pressure, to obtain for them a
fair amount of satisfaction.
The struggle between English determination and Dutch
obstinacy now, however, drew to an end. During the two
months which succeeded the rupture of the conferences at
Utrecht, the passions of the Republican statesmen cooled down
rapidly. The false hopes with which the Whigs had inspired
them that the reign of a Tory Government would be only
ephemeral, were now dispelled. They could blind themselves
no longer to tbe fact that that Government was firmly estab
lished in the royal favour, was supported by the most im
portant branch of the legislature, and also to a great extent
by public feeling. A fatal blight, moreover, seemed to have
fallen over their military fortunes since the loss of Marl
borough and the defection of England. The despised and
insulted French were proceeding from conquest to conquest.
Douai, a city which two years before had cost the Allies a
siege of fifty-four days, surrendered to Villars in twenty-five,
and Quesnoy and Boucfiain fell next. Eugene had remained
for some time in the neighbourhood, but want of provisions

414 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
had at length forced him to retire. His great anxiety now
was to preserve those towns which had been won at so much
cost and by so many years of hard fighting. The face of
affairs was completely changed. The Allied soldiers, unaccus
tomed to a losing campaign, were sadly dispirited. The Te
Deum was again and again chanted in Notre Dame by the
orders of Louis, and all the pulpits in France were resounding
with the praises of the Almighty, who, after so long averting
His face from the nation, had hearkened to its prayers, and
had stretched forth His right hand to abate the insolence of its
enemies. Convinced by all these circumstances of the uselessness of
further opposition, the Dutch, early in October, began to show
symptoms of a desire to make up matters with their English
associates. A deputation from the States-general waited upon
the Queen's plenipotentiaries, and laid before them a resolu
tion in which their High Mightinesses expressed their desire
of joining with her Majesty in all measures necessary for the
accomplishment of peace. The gentlemen further informed
the Bishop and Strafford that the Assembly would be willing
to give up Lille. But they represented very earnestly the
importance of their retaining Tournay, and begged the Eng
lish to use their influence that Conde, a town still in French
possession, might be added to their list. Their barrier, it
seemed, would in their opinion be incomplete without these
two fortresses. The plenipotentiaries, pleased to find that tbe
Dutch were abating a little from the extravagance of their pre
vious pretensions, at once sent notice to the French that Lille,
a city which Louis was determined should be restored to bim,
offered no furtfier impediment to the negotiations. But times
had completely changed : the French armies were fast recover
ing their prestige, and the effect of their successes upon the
Master of France was such as might be expected. It was
evident that Louis was again becoming the same overbearing,
dictatorial monarch as of old. The defection of England from
the Alliance, and the ill-feeling which the Government of Eng
land bore to its former friends placed, as he knew, the Dutch
and the rest of the confederates very much at his mercy. Lille
was now offered to him : in a very little time the Republic

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 415
would be only too glad to make a higher bid for peace. He
instructed his plenipotentiaries, therefore, that the moment was
not yet arrived at which the conferences might be renewed
with advantage.
The fisherman who released the genie from his box without
having first bound that potent spirit by an inviolable compact,
had soon cause to repent his indiscretion ; and the complacency
with which the English Ministers regarded their work must
have been occasionally marred by apprehensions of perfidy on
the part of the French king. Yet everything continued to pro
gress smoothly between the two Governments. It had been
arranged between Torcy and Bolingbroke that envoys should
be immediately despatched to the Courts of Madrid and Paris
to be witnesses of tbe acts of renunciation which were to be
made by Philip and the French princes. Within a fortnight
after Bolingbroke's return, therefore, Lord Lexington, a noble
man who had been employed by William on diplomatic
missions, departed for Madrid. Under his supervision the act
was drawn up, and in his presence the solemnity was performed
by which it became a law of the kingdom. On the 5th of
November the fifty-eight deputies from towns who composed
the Cortes, the members of tbe Council, and the chief officers
civil and military of the realm assembled at the Palace of Buen
Retiro. Philip, from the throne, acquainted the Assembly with
the choice which had been offered him by his grandfather of
renouncing the crown of Spain or his prospects of inheriting
the crown of France, and related how the touching proofs of
affection which had been afforded to him by his Spanish
subjects had determined him to accept the latter alternative.
Tbe act was then read aloud by which he renounced all right
to the French crown for himself and his descendants ; and be
swore, with his hand on the gospels, to abide by his renuncia
tion. The signing of the act by the King, and by every one
present was then performed ; and its registration by the Cortes
concluded the ceremony.*
Hamilton, who had been a steady supporter of the Ministry,
was selected as the envoy to the French Court, for the purpose
of witnessing the acts of renunciation of the Spanish crown
* Lettres Historiques ; Boyer ; Burnet ; Lamberty ; St. Simon.

416 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
which were to be made by the Dukes of Berry and Orleans.
The choice of a nobleman who was universally reputed to be
an adherent of the Pretender, and who not many years back
had been arrested on suspicion of being privy to the scheme
of invasion, naturally gave rise to much speculation. The
Ministers had insisted so peremptorily upon the expulsion of
the Stuarts from the French dominions that Louis had, sorely
against his inclinations, sent an intimation to the family that
their departure was necessary ; and immediately after the
return of Bolingbroke from Paris they had commenced their
wanderings by retiring into the Duchy of Lorraine. That
such a man as Hamilton should now be appointed to look after
British interests in France seemed not a little inconsistent
with the ostensible zeal of the Government against the Pre
tender. But all the hopes and fears which this singular
selection excited were soon set at rest by the sudden and tra
gical fate which overtook the Duke.
He had been during eleven years engaged in a Chancery suit
with the notorious bully Mohun. On the 13th of November
the parties met at the chambers of a master : some of Mohun's
witnesses were examined, and tbe Duke impeached their cre
dibility. This interference brought upon him much abuse from
his adversary, who was, as usual with him, under the influence
of wine. Hamilton, however, conducted himself according to
all accounts with much moderation, and was, therefore, not a
little surprised at receiving on the following day a challenge
from his Lordship. It came by the hand of General Macartney,
a hare-brained officer wfio laboured under the grievance of
having been dismissed the service for speaking disrespectfully
of the Ministers, and who bore, in consequence, a wild hatred
to Tories. This person acted the part of inflaming the dis
putants which is commonly attributed to military men who
get the conduct of an affair of honour. A meeting was
arranged, and came off two days afterwards in Hyde Park, at
an early hour of the morning. So intense was the love of
fighting in all present, tfiat not only the principals but the
seconds engaged. Hamilton and Mohun, after a few passes,
both fell mortally wounded, when the seconds, leaving their
own sport, ran to look after them. Mohun died on the spot,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 417
and the Duke while he was being carried to his coach.
Macartney at once walked quickly off, and escaped ; but
Colonel Hamilton, a cousin of the Duke, and who had
acted as his second, allowed himself to be taken into cus
tody by the park-keepers. He alleged in his depositions
that his Grace died of a thrust which was treacherously
dealt him by Macartney while he was lying on the grass :
but neither the opinions of surgeons respecting the wound,
nor his own conduct in permitting Macartney to escape so
easily, could be reconciled with this version of the affair. A
reward of three hundred pounds was offered by the Govern
ment for the apprehension of the General, to which the
Duchess of Hamilton added a further three hundred. Macart
ney, however, showed no more than a proper degree of
prudence in remaining abroad until a change of Government
opened to him the prospect of a fair trial. After the accession
of George he surrendered, and was tried at the King's Bench
for murder ; but the jury seem to have formed the conclusion
that the duel was fairly fought, and convicted the culprit only
of manslaughter*
Thus miserably perished a man who had played one of the
most important parts of this reign. The charm of Hamilton's
manners must have been very great ; for notwithstanding the
constant disappointment caused by the flippancy, to call it by
no worse name, of his political conduct, we nowhere find him
censured with much bitterness by any party. Nor is it neces
sary to impute this unusual kindness to his memory to any
feeling of compassion for his unhappy fate, as the savage hearts
of the political writers of that generation were impervious alike
to justice or humanity. His abilities were considerable; his
inind was highly cultivated; he spoke well; he possessed in
perfection the art of attaching friends and even of preserving
their attachment when his treachery must have been manifest
to them. To his mysterious but certainly most perfidious
conduct during the fierce debates in the Scottish Parliament of
1706, both parts of this island perhaps owe the blessings which
have flowed from the Union. The Tories bewailed of course
the loss of an influential partisan ; yet the only true mourning
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques ; Journal to Stella ; Lockhart's Memoirs.
VOL. II. E E

418 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
for him came from the party he had most deceived — the
Jacobites. That he corresponded with the exiled family, that
his letters expressed the most fervent affection and devotion to
the'.r interests, that they in return regarded him as the main
pillxr of their cause, and entrusted him with all their manifold
plots and schemes, are facts now established beyond dispute.
Yet there is ample reason for believing that Hamilton was no
more sincere in his professions of zeal for the Stuarts than
Marlborough or Godolphin, and that his object was no other
than theirs, — to provide for his safety in case, by a revolution
of the political wheel, the Stuarts should recover their throne.
He was not the man to set dignities, fortune, and life at stake
for the mere sentimental or religious attachment to a fallen
dynasty. He was always ready indeed to enter into intrigues
and discuss plans for a revolution ; but the moment he perr
ceived that his position was becoming one of danger, he slunk
into the background, and left his friends to shift for then>
selves. His death therefore was in reality no misfortune to
tfie Jacobites. No project of theirs would have stood much
chance which depended for its success upon the exertions of
this cunning and selfish nobleman.
He had been recently, however, a steady supporter of the
Government, and the Tory press therefore adopted the story
told by Colonel Hamilton as to the manner of his death, and
set up a howl of indignation. The writers on this side were
just at this moment well supplied with matter of vituperation.
Not only had one of their chiefs been barbarously assassinated
by a Whig, but some rascal, presumed of course to be a Whig,
had just, failed in a diabolical attempt upon the life of the
Treasurer. A box was delivered one morning to, Oxford,
which, as he was employed in shaving himself, he requested
Swift to open. It was found to contain the stock and lock of a
pistol, with two barrels made of inkhorns pointing in contrary
directions. The barrels were loaded to the muzzle ; the lock
was full cocked, and a string was attached to the trigger,
which the sender of the box probably calculated would be
pulled in opening the package. To the circumstance that
Swift, instead of slipping the string over the box, cut it with
a penknife, English literature may be indebted for the rich

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

419

addition of " Gulliver's Travels." The scoundrel who sent this
infernal machine was never discovered.
To such a state of nervousness was the public mind reduced
by the efforts of Tory newsmongers, that the most ordinary
and trivial incidents sufficed to create a sensation. A party of
roystering gentlemen could not meet at a tavern in the City
and kindle a bonfire on King William's birthday, without
giving rise to a report that the Whigs were urging on the mob
to sack London. Three innocent Germans, lovers perhaps of
the picturesque, approaching the private grounds of Windsor
Castle, created a suspicion that some horrid design upon the
Queen was on foot ; and the Ministers were not ashamed to
foster the absurd terror of her faithful subjects by doubling her
guards. Three drunken officers wfio swaggered about the
streets of Exeter, and drank Marlborough's health and con
fusion to his enemies, were made prisoners of State, and
only regained their liberty after repeated assertions that the
" enemies " they meant were the French.*
* Boyer ; Lettres Historiques.

K ES

4$)

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

CHAPTER XIII.
The Earl of Shrewsbury was selected to supply the place which
had been destined for Hamilton at the Court of France. He
sailed for Calais towards the end of the year ; and the same
yacht which conveyed him brought back the Duke d'Aumont
as the King's ambassador to England. The chief point in this
gentleman's instructions seems to have been to make himself
agreeable to everybody. He had been liberally supplied with
money for purposes wfiich Torcy did not think fit to mention
in his memoirs, and he soon rendered himself extremely popular
among the lower orders from a pleasant habit in which he
frequently indulged of throwing handfuls of coin from his
carriage window.*
The month of November was productive of another event -
which produced very opposite emotions among the politicians
of the contending factions. Marlborough thought it prudent
to retire from the country which he had rendered so illustrious
by his talents, and to seek a temporary refuge in Germany.
That the immediate cause of his withdrawal was the persecu
tion to which he was subjected by the Government can admit
of no doubt. Yet it is equally clear that that persecution was
provoked by his own conduct. Oxford and Bolingbroke were
not the men to adopt unnecessary measures of severity, and
their letters show how reluctant they were to exert their power
against one whose very name was sufficient to enlist the sym
pathies of millions. But during the summer Marlborough's
house at St. Albans had been filled witfi the Whig chiefs. The
conversation which then passed may have been innocuous ; yet
the gathering of such decided enemies of the Government as
* Burnet.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 421
Godolphin, Sunderland, Halifax, Cowper and Walpole, might
well seem fraught with political significance. The hero was
soon made to feel the effects of his imprudence. The Attorney-
General commenced proceedings against him in the Court of
Queen's Bench for the recovery of the two and a half per cent.
which had been deducted from the pay of the foreign troops,
and which the House of Commons had declared to be public
money. He was at the same time threatened by private parties,
perhaps at the instance of the Ministers, with a suit of which
the history reflects little credit upon tfie generosity or the
justice of the Queen.
That the intention of Anne, formed at a time when Marl
borough was regarded by her with reverential affection, and
was an object almost of idolatry to the nation, was to erect the
mansion of Blenheim at her own expense, is as clear as any
matter of history can well be. For a considerable period she
had taken a lively interest in the progress of the work. Sir
John Vanburgh's model of the proposed building remained by
her orders in the gallery of Kensington palace. • Her intention
was even noticed in the recitals of an Act of Parliament passed
in 1706. Until the end of 1709 the warrants for payment of
the workmen were duly issued by Godolphin, and paid at the
Treasury, and in this manner two hundred thousand pounds
had been expended. Then came the quarrels between the
Queen and the Duchess, the decline of Marlborough in the
royal esteem, the dismissal of the Whigs and the advent of the
Tories to power. Her Majesty at once drew tight her purse-
strings. A little more money was reluctantly doled out in
1711 ; but on the 1st of June, 1712, Anne gave positive orders
that nothing further should be allowed for Blenheim. A com
plicated state of tilings ensued. A sum of about twelve thousand
pounds remained due to the contractors, who becoming con
vinced of the hopelessness of obtaining payment from the Queen,
endeavoured to shift the responsibility upon Marlborough. No
action of his could be adduced by which he had rendered him
self liable ; but his friends had not always behaved with the
same prudence. The case of the contractors depended mainly
upon a document by which Godolphin, acting professedly
on the Duke's behalf, appointed Vanburgh surveyor of the

422 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
works, and authorized him to contract with others for materials
and labour.*
It is probable, however, that other considerations besides the
persecution he apprehended from the Government impelled
Marlborough at this season to retire from the country. The
Whigs imputed to the rival party as a class a strong leaning
towards the Pretender. Some of the most distinguished
members of the House of Commons made little concealment of
their Jacobitism. Many persons who had constant access to
the Queen were also suspected to be zealous workers for the
cause ; and although there is now ample reason to believe that
their labour was utterly thrown away, the bare suspicion of
what they were endeavouring to accomplish kept the Whigs in
a fever of anxiety. The hatred which this party bore tb the
Ministers who had ousted them from their places was tempered
neither by charity nor reason. Ever since 1710 they bad
taken a savage delight in propagating the report that the main
object of this Tory Government was to procure the repeal of the
act in favour of Hanover, and to provide for the succession of
the Papist James. In support of this malicious asseveration
not a vestige of proof could be produced, but by dint of con
stantly repeating it, they wrote and talked themselves into a
firm belief of its truth. The Hanoverian envoy, who never
consorted with any but Whigs, and who from the commence
ment took up a position of hostility against the Ministers,
frequently communicated to his court the alarming intelligence
that there could be no doubt of Oxford's engagements to the
Pretender.'!" It was impossible, even for a mind so calm and rational as
Marlborough's, to exist in such an atmosphere of panic without
being affected by it. It is evident that he thought the succes
sion of the Hanoverian family in real danger. In that succes
sion his fortunes were deeply involved. His hollow professions
to the Stuart family had failed, as they deserved to fail, in
restoring him to the good graces of the family he had so deeply
injured. Should the Stuarts succeed, after all, in recovering
* Coxe's Memoirs ; the Duke of Marlborough plaintiff, Strong and others
respondents. f Macpherson, Original Papers.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 423
their throne, what could be expected by the man who, being a
beloved and trusted servant, had first betrayed his master to
the enemy, and had since protested that his wishes were to
restore him, while labouring with all his might to make his
banishment eternal ? The state of the Queen's health was such
that it could not be long before this momentous question of the
succession was decided. It was but prudent then to provide
against an adverse issue. By going abroad Marlborough placed
his person in safety, and might still exert all his influence to
promote the succession of Hanover as effectually as if he
remained in England. He was not unmindful of his property.
Fifty thousand pounds were remitted to Cadogan for invest
ment in Holland, to provide, the Duchess declared, the means
of' subsisting abroad in case of the Stuarts returning. His
estates in England he made over to his sons-in-law as trustees.*
Several members of the Council were disposed to obstruct
his departure ; but the good-natured and peace-loving Oxford
was only too happy to make a bridge for the retreat of so
powerful an enemy, and procured him a passport. The hero,
with a suite of only two gentlemen and a few domestics, arrived
at Ostend by the ordinary packet-boat in tbe middle of Decem
ber, where he found the whole city, forewarned of his approach
by Cadogan, assembled to meet him at the landing-place. He
passed under salutes from all the batteries and the shipping of
the harbour to the governor's residence, remained there a night,
and then went on to Antwerp. From the commandant of that
city, the Marquis de Terracina, the same Spaniard who had,
after the battle of Ramifies, thrown open his gates to the Allies,
he received a rapturous welcome. Without stopping, however,
for more than a single night, he continued his journey through
Maestricht to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he expected to be joined
by the Duchess. At every town on the road the applause of
the common people was so hearty, and the desire of the
authorities, military and municipal, to show him every honour
so manifest, as to render it doubtful whether the ordinary
* Marlborough's departure from the country excited considerable speculation
as to the causes. See the remarks of Boyer and Burnet. Swift, intimate as he
whs with the Ministers, could not penetrate the mystery. See his Journal to
Stella. According to Cooper's Diary, Anne remarked, " that the Duke had
done wisjely iu going abroad."

424 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
idolatry of heroes was not in this case reinforced by a strong
feeling against the hero's persecutors. The house in which he
slept was invariably watched by a guard of honour, and in the
morning a company of soldiers was commissioned to escort him
to the next town. At Aix he remained for several weeks,
receiving visits from distinguished foreigners who flocked to
him from great distances to pay their compliments and assure
him of their sympathy.*
Notwithstanding these demonstrations in favour of Marl
borough the business of the peace made satisfactory progress.
The Dutch, as their indignation cooled, were fast becoming
sensible of the fruitlessness of any further opposition. It was
now evident to them that, with the exception only of the very
dubious assistance the Emperor could afford, they could look
nowhere for support in continuing the war with France. The
King of Portugal had been the first member of the Confederacy
to follow the example of England and to proclaim a suspension
of arms with France and Spain. It would be unfair to impute
his secession merely to want of spirit. The chief defence of his
dominions during the war had been the British regiments ; and
these were now withdrawn. The invasion, therefore, of twenty
thousand Spaniards under the energetic Marquis de Bay, who
laid siege to Campo Mayor, one of the strongest of the
Portuguese fortresses, quickly produced the desired effect of
inclining his Majesty and his councillors to peace. The Duke
of Savoy had during the year repudiated in terms of great
indignation the allegation that he too meditated a suspension of
arms ; but his inactivity, his bitter feuds with the Imperial
Court and his negotiations with the English Ministers gave a
very doubtful complexion to his intentions. The mercenary
troops of Hanover, Prussia, Denmark, and the petty German
princes could of course be always had if the Dutch could afford
to pay for them ; but even such enthusiasts for war as Heinsius
and Buys felt that for such lavish expenditure the Republic
was inadequate. Tfie English ministers maintained their
resolute attitude. They threatened to enter into a separate
peace with France ; and from the vigour with which they
conducted their negotiations with Louis there seemed every
* Boyer; Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 425
probability that they would execute their threat, and leave
their refractory confederates to scramble out of the war as best
they could. In December, therefore, when Strafford, after
having passed a month in England, returned to the Hague, he
found his Dutch opponents in a state of mind very different
from that in which they had been during the summer.
He at once gave notice to Heinsius that he had matter of
importance to communicate, and requested that a deputation
might attend him. One deputy accordingly from each province,
together with Heinsius and another grand functionary, waited
upon him at his residence. He began by expressing his wishes
to see the ancient friendship between her Majesty and the
Eepubfic revived, and his regrets that the love of war and the
private interests of individuals should have given occasion for
any coldness. The refusal of their High Mightinesses to
concur in the suspension of arms proposed by the Queen had
already cost them dearly. He hoped, therefore, that they
would not, by persisting in their opposition, bring upon them
selves still greater calamities. After administering this lecture
Strafford proceeded to state that her Majesty would bind her
self to procure Tournay for them if, on their part, they would,
without raising any more objections or making any new
demands, join cordially with her in concluding a peace. The
terms upon which she was willing to treat with the French
king were nearly the same as those she had mentioned in her
speech to the Parliament. But tfiere was also another matter
concerning which it was of the highest importance to both
nations that there should be an amicable settlement. A treaty
had been concluded between her Majesty and the Republic, of
which the object was to secure to the Dutch, upon the con
clusion of peace, military possession of numerous towns in the
Netherlands. In England many of the conditions of this treaty
were considered disadvantageous to her Majesty's subjects, and
had aroused a strong feeling of indignation against the authors
or advisers of them. Should their High Mightinesses under
these circumstances attempt to hold the English to their
engagements, there could not fail to arise constant jealousies
and misunderstandings between the two nations. He had
therefore brought with him a revised treaty to which he hoped

426 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
they would agree. He then alluded briefly to what the Queen
wished to be done for the Duke of Savoy, and what she was
disposed to allow for the Elector of Bavaria, and concluded by
offering the States-general three weeks to consider what course
they would pursue. If at the expiration of that time they still
showed any unwillingness to concur with her Majesty's plan of
peace, she would hesitate no longer, but settle her terms with
France without them.*
Copies of the new barrier treaty and of the Queen's plan of
peace were at once communicated to the seven provinces of the
Republic ; and a fortnight of suspense and anxiety followed.
At a meeting of the States-general on the 14th of December
the spirit of opposition flamed high ; but the assembly separated
without passing any resolution. Strafford employed the interval
in private conferences with some of the leading Dutchmen —
Buys among the number — and paid a visit secretly to
Amsterdam to try his powers of persuasion upon the influential
magnates of that city. At length the voices of the provinces
began to be heard, and proved that the general sense of the
Dutch people was in favour of peace. The province of Utrecht
was the first to pronounce its readiness to give in to the Queen's
plan ; and the other provinces, with some unimportant reserva
tions, followed the example. The feeling of the Republic was
embodied in a letter sent by tfie States-general to the Queen.
Their High Mightinesses intimated their resolution to accept
the revised barrier treaty and to join with her Majesty in
negotiating with France on the footing she proposed.!
The Dutch were now in that frame of mind which had been
so long desired by the English Government. It was therefore
of importance that the new barrier treaty should be pushed on
to conclusion before any possible vicissitude of the war should
induce them to alter their sentiments. The proposals now
made were bitterly mortifying to a people whose ambition had
lately aspired so high ; but no person can examine the articles
of tbe treaty of 1709 without agreeing with Swift and with the
resolutions of the House of Commons, that they were greatly
prejudicial to the interests of Great Britain. The number of
* Boyer.
t Boyer; Swift's Four Last Years of the Queen; Historical Mercury;
Lettres Historiques ; Memoires de Torcy ; Lamberty.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 427
towns in the Spanish Netherlands in which the Dutch were to
be at liberty to place garrisons was now curtailed. Instead of
the provision for their introducing garrisons into all the other
Spanish fortresses upon the mere prospect of a war breaking
out, they were now to enjoy this privilege only in case of there
being actual war. Stringent articles, moreover, were framed
for securing to her Majesty's subjects an equal footing with the
Dutch as regarded the commerce of the Belgian cities.
This matter arranged, it was time to compose the foolish
breach which had arisen between the Dutch and French pleni
potentiaries, and which had led to the suspension of the con
ferences at Utrecht. Torcy and Bolingbroke had long since
agreed that the Count de Rechteren was drunk at the time he
ordered his servants to chastise the servants of Menager. The
Count had since resigned his post ; but Louis had not as yet
thought it politic to profess himself satisfied. The English
plenipotentiaries now took upon themselves the office of media
tors. Three of the Dutch deputies repaired to the house of the
first plenipotentiary of France, prepared to state that the Count's
action had been without the knowledge or sanction of the
States-general. But at the first word Marsfial Uxelles inter
posed, and declared tfiat fiis Majesty was now perfectly satisfied
that there had been no acquiescence on the part of the States.
All parties then sat down to an amicable dinner.
Even the Imperial ministers at this time showed symptoms
of a desire to make peace. It was no agreeable reflection to
Charles that he would have to put up with the loss of Spain, a
country in which he had passed some years with the title and
occasionally with the real power of a king, and in which he
flattered himself that his princely qualities, tfiat is to say, fiis
dignified comportment, fiis piety, and his fine clotfies, had made
an impression upon the hearts at least of the Catalans. Yet
the Imperial cabinet had lucid intervals when the comparative
resources of the Empire and of France were justly weighed in
the balance, and when the conclusion forced itself upon the
minds of the members that abstract justice must sometimes in
this world succumb to superior force. The Emperor and his
counsellors had in fact determined in sadness to think no more
of Spain, and proposed to evacuate the Peninsula on the condi

428 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
tion, and the proviso did honour to their sense of gratitude and
humanity, that Philip should accord a free pardon to his Cata-
lonian subjects. But their hearts were sore at the treachery
which they conceived they had experienced from their English
allies, and having conceded so much, they were in no mood to
abate any further in their terms. They insisted on the restitu
tion of Strasburg, the cession of Landau, and the demolition
of fort Saarlouis. The proposition of the King of France on
behalf of that rebellious member of the Empire, the Elector of
Bavaria, they rejected with indignation. The French plenipo
tentiaries with much politeness allowed Zinzendorf to declaim
about the wrongs of his master as long as he pleased. Two
years back, when Marlborough and his victorious army were
hanging like a thunder-cloud over France, such terms of peace
as the Emperor demanded would have been considered perfectly
moderate and reasonable. Louis now thought them simply
absurd. But about the Imperial demands, whether just or unjust, the
English. Ministers troubled themselves so little as scarcely ever
to allude to tfiem in a serious vein. Matters which they
judged to be of far deeper moment were occuping their thoughts
throughout the month of January, 1713. They had at first
supposed that the period of four months during which hostilities
were to cease would suffice to settle all the questions pending
between England and France. Yet the time expired ; a second
suspension had to be proclaimed; and still the French king
held out perversely upon two points which the English Minis
ters considered of grave importance to the interests of Great
Britain. Louis, having agreed to cede the whole of Newfound
land and Nova Scotia to the Queen, insisted upon reserving a
right of fisfiing and drying fish on portions of tfie coast, a reser
vation wfiicfi tfie Ministers knew would not meet with the
approval of the Parliament, and which would infallibly involve
the fishermen of tfie two nations in perpetual feuds. The
second and more important point in dispute related to an article
in the treaty of commerce, which Prior was endeavouring to
arrange at Paris. The French king had in June conceded the
general proposition that English subjects should, as regarded
the duties payable on goods imported into France, be placed on

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 429
a footing as favourable as that accorded to the people of any
other country in the world. At that time his Majesty was so
anxious to obtain the suspension of arms, that the consequences
of this concession were not very closely examined. But as soon
as he and his counsellors had leisure to reflect upon what they
had done, they became sensible that the English Government
had entrapped them into terms which would be utterly destruc
tive to the commercial interests of France. England had a
quantity of cherished manufactures, such as of brandy, linen,
paper, and silk. It had been during the last half century the
aim of the legislature to protect these manufactures by impos
ing high and, in fact, prohibitive duties upon all French goods
which might be brought into competition with them. Indeed
it was the general opinion that without such legislative protec
tion these manufactures would inevitably perish. In some
instances the happy climate of France produced naturally a far
superior article ; and in all cases the low rate of wages which
satisfied the French workman would enable the proprietor to
undersell his English competitor if there was any approach
to free trade. It was complacently computed by our writers
on commercial subjects, that the annual saving to the nation by
making such commodities at home which would otherwise be
brought from France amounted to more than a million sterling,
and that in addition the manufacture of them supplied thou
sands of families with the means of subsistence. To Louis,
however, it appeared obvious that, if English productions were
admitted into France at easy rates, while some of the principal
. productions of France were virtually excluded from the English
market, the advantage of the treaty would be all on one side.
He demanded, therefore, as a preliminary to concluding it, that
the Parliament should reduce these protective duties. Boling
broke, who in this instance showed little acquaintance with the
general feeling of his countrymen, was struck with the justice
of the demand, conceded the principle, and undertook to pro
cure the reduction. This concession, as will afterwards appear,
arrayed the whole commercial interest of England against the
treaty. Still Louis did not think it as yet safe to conclude the
business in that unqualified form wfiicfi tfie Ministers required.
With more sagacity than he had hitherto exhibited concerning

430 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
English affairs, he doubted whether the Government would
succeed in persuading the Parliament to adopt a more reason
able scale of duties. He was at all events determined not to
run any risk by the refusal. He consented, therefore, that the
moderate tariff which had been framed in 1664 should be again
applicable to the importation into his kingdom of English
goods ; but he excepted four classes of merchandise, of which
Great Britain exported considerable quantities, — whalebone
and oil, woollen manufactures, sugar and salted fish. As soon,
he declared, as he was satisfied that the Parliament had reduced
the duties on French goods imported into England to a level
exactly proportionable to the duties which would be payable
on English goods entering France, then the restrictions should
be abolished.
Bolingbroke was in great indignation at conduct which he
regarded as a gross breach of faith on the part of Louis ; but
he was, moreover, not a little alarmed by the prospects before
himself and his colleagues. Looking at the question by itself
France was no doubt justified in claiming to send her produce
into England upon terms as favourable as English produce
could be sent into France. But it must be remembered that
the intervention of England had saved France on the very
brink of ruin. Surely in return for a deed of humanity which
had drawn down upon her the reproaches of all Europe she
was entitled to expect some advantages in a treaty of com
merce. The principle that England was to profit by the
treaty bad been from tfie outset of the negotiations thoroughly
admitted by the King. Yet if she were not to have the benefit
of the tariff of 1664 until she had reduced her duties on
brandies, silks, and so forth to a level which would permit the
distillers of Languedoc and the loom-masters of Lyons to
inundate her markets with their cheaper and superior goods, it
was evident that she would not be a gainer at all. Nay, the
chances were that France would have the best of the bargain.
This then was to be the return for all her kindness. This
worthless treaty the Ministers would have to • offer as their
excuse for those clandestine negotiations which had roused
against them such hosts of enemies in England, Hanover,
Holland, and the Empire. In truth the Ministers now found

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 431
themselves in a situation of great difficulty. To meet the
Parliament before every question had been satisfactorily
arranged with France was more than they dared. The Houses,
which usually assembled in November, had been again and
again prorogued in the vain hope that Louis might return to a
sense of justice and gratitude. The delay naturally aroused
suspicion, and the Whigs were setting in circulation a report
that the King of France was true to his character, and having
been released from his predicament, was now trying to shuffle
out of his engagements to the Queen. Prior besieged Torcy :
Bolingbroke wrote letter after letter to urge Prior to his work.
" We stand on the brink of a precipice," he said with his fiery
energy ; " but the French stand there too." " Tell Monsieur
de Torcy," he continued, " that he may get Robin and Harry
hanged ; but affairs will soon run back into so much confusion
that he will wish us alive again." He at tfie same time
instructed Shrewsbury to inform the French Ministers that, if
the Parliament met wfiile any uncertainty about peace remained,
her Majesty's Government would be under the necessity of
asking for supplies on a war scale. As a last resource fie pro
posed that immediately after the conclusion of peace there
should be a meeting of Commissioners in London to arrange a
tariff which might suit the interests of both nations. Louis
accepted the proposal, and an article to this effect was added
to the treaty. The claim of France to fish at certain seasons,
and off a certain part of the coast of Newfoundland, was
conceded.* The first week of Marcfi had passed before this important
subject had been settled, even in this unsatisfactory manner.
A week later a grand assembly of the French peers, civil and
ecclesiastical, was held in the Palais de Justice. The Procureur
General presented the King's letters patent revoking those
letters by which his Majesty had in 1700 preserved the right
of his grandson to the crown of France. Two acts were then
read aloud, by which the Dukes of Berry and Orleans renounced
for themselves and their descendants all claim to the crown of
Spain. The ceremony was witnessed by Shrewsbury, Prior,
* Correspondence of Bolingbroke.

432 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
and the Duke d'Ossuna, the Spanish envoy, from a box in the
great hall.*
Thus had the last serious obstacle to peace been removed.
The English Ministers were burning with anxiety to conclude
the two treaties of peace and commerce. The ballads and lam
poons which oozed from the press, the uneasy feeling which
prevailed in the City, kept them on thorns ; and the fear was
never absent from their minds that even their steadiest adhe
rents would take umbrage at delays of which it was impossible
to render any public explanation. Another prorogation of the
Parliament to the 9th of April had been issued, making the
seventh. Yet still the plenipotentiaries at Utrecht kept hold
ing futile conferences with the Dutch and Imperial Ministers,
who seemed determined to contest every word in every article
of the treaty. " There is a necessity," Bolingbroke wrote to
them, " of signing immediately, either in conjunction with the
Allies or without them. The first course is, to be sure, the
best ; but the last is infinitely preferable to a delay of four-and-
twenty hours." Anne herself was so infected with the anxiety
she perceived in her Ministers, as to declare her intention of
writing to the plenipotentiaries with her own hand.f
Thus urged on to action, the Bishop of Bristol and Strafford
at length gave notice that on the 11th of April they would
sign their treaties with France, expressing a hope that the
other plenipotentiaries would sign theirs on the same day.
There was just time for the Dutch to repair to the Hague, and
to collect the sense of the authorities there, which happily was
in favour of concluding the business. The Imperial plenipo
tentiaries remained stubborn, and strove hard to induce the
English to defer the day until they had received fresh advices
from Vienna. With the best wishes, however, that the peace
should be general, the Bishop and Strafford had now become
convinced that the difference between the demands of the
Emperor and the concessions Louis was disposed to make was
too wide to be settled by diplomacy. That half Europe should
be deprived of the blessings of peace while the most dilatory of
all cabinets, and the power which had contributed least of all
* A full account of the ceremony is given in the Lettres Historiques.
t Bolingbroke to Lord Privy Seal, March 19 — 30 ; to Strafford same date.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 433
to the success of the common cause, was debating whether it
could allow France to retain Strasburg, whether it could dis
gorge the cherished spoils of Italy, and how far it was consistent
with the Imperial dignity and suited the Imperial exchequer
to consent to the restoration of the Elector of Bavaria, was too
much for mortal patience. The French plenipotentiaries had
already submitted to the English an outline of what the King
would concede to the House of Austria and of what he was
determined the House of Austria should concede to him ; and
of this outline the Bishop and Strafford fiad signified their
approval. They remained, therefore, firm to their determi
nation of signing on the 11th ; and that day witnessed the
close — as far as England, Holland, Savoy, Prussia, and Por
tugal were concerned — of the war of the Spanish succession.
Before signing their treaties the English plenipotentiaries
waited upon Zindendorf with the terms of peace which the
French king was willing to make with the Emperor, and
acquainted him that his master would be allowed until the 1st
of June to signify his acceptance of them.
From the history which has been given of the negotiations
for a general peace, the reader will already have formed a fair
acquaintance with the contents of the various treaties now
signed between France and her enemies. It may be worth
while, however, to make some comments on the results of a
war which the Allies had carried on for eleven years with such
amazing success in the field.
The objects of the confederation between the Emperor, the
King of Great Britain, and the States-general, as expressed in
the treaty of the 7th of September, 1701, were to procure for
the first-mentioned power " satisfaction in the Spanish succes
sion," and for the other Allies security for their dominions and
commerce. These objects, however, are more particularly
defined in the fiftfi article of the treaty, which stipulates that
the confederates shall, among other things, endeavour to recover
the Spanish Netherlands to be a barrier between Holland and
Prance, and the duchy of Milan, the kingdoms of Naples and
Sicily, and the lands and islands upon the coast of Tuscany, for
the Emperor's security. From this treaty of alliance can easily
be made out what the Empire and Holland proposed to gain by
VOL. II. f e

434 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
a war, but not what were the motives of England in assisting
them. For these motives we must recur to the domestic history
of our country. The statesmen who had then the control of
affairs considered that there was a necessity to check the exor
bitant and constantly increasing power of France. Every
accessible power on the Continent had been successively attacked
and despoiled. Sooner or later it would be our turn to
experience the heavy hand of the oppressor. Impediments
would be thrown in the way of our commerce, the main source
of that opulence which distinguished us in the community of
nations ; and a still greater calamity was to be apprehended.
It seemed not improbable that, as soon as the all-powerful tyrant
had accomplished his designs elsewhere, he would turn his
thoughts to the subjugation of England. An army, against
which it would be idle for our gentry and ploughboys to think
of contending, would be set on our shores. The Pretender
would be placed on the throne ; the sturdy independent spirits
of our countrymen would be broken to his will ; and the fight,
the beauty, the glory of our island would be extinguished in
slavery and beneath the abominations of the Romish church.
It was the worst of policies to remain idle while the fire was
advancing towards us. To fall upon the tyrant sword in hand
before his design was fully matured, was at once the most
prudent and the most honourable method of averting our
destruction. Such were the motives which impelled the governing body of
England to embark the nation in a great war. Fortune was
singularly propitious to the Allies. By the close of the
campaign of 1706, or at all events of that of 1708, every object
which they had originally proposed to themselves might have
been secured. Holland might have carved for herself a very
respectable barrier out of the Netherlands. The Emperor
might easily have obtained for himself those parts of Italy
which it had been stipulated he should have. And how
thoroughly the motives which actuated England in the begin
ning had vanished ! Nothing could be more evident than that
no further trouble on the score of France was to be apprehended
for a generation to come. The oppressor of Europe, sensible
that his resources were exhausted, was suing humbly for peace,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 435
and was willing to purchase it by the most degrading sacrifices.
And peace would undoubtedly have been concluded at this time,
had not a new design been imported into tbe confederacy. In
an evil hour it had been determined to drive Philip out of
Spain and to place his crown on the head of Charles. The
difficulty of the enterprise was apparent from the outset ; and
the impracticability, to say nothing of the iniquity of forcing a
whole nation to submit to a sovereign, who would in his person
represent foreign domination, should have been obvious to every
reasonable man. But Whigs, Dutch, Imperialists, were all
blinded by arrogance, and seem to fiave thought themselves
omnipotent. It is simply true that the rupture of the con
ferences was hailed by the ruling party of this country with a
species of grim satisfaction. They thought that the}' had the
ancient enemy of England, the arch troubler of the peace of
Europe, absolutely at their mercy. The remembrance of what
France had been, the dread of what she might again become,
steeled their hearts against compassion. To persevere with the
chastisement until she had been reduced to the level of a second-
rate monarchy, seems to have been at this period the aspiration
of the Whigs. It never entered the minds of such lofty states
men to turn the King's situation to account by extorting any
special advantages for England. They scarcely vouchsafed to
take any part in the negotiations, but abandoned them to the
Dutch, well knowing that it was the interest of that nation even
more than their own to screw France down to the lowest
possible point in the political scale. One requirement they did
indeed make. They asked for the demolition of the fortifica
tions and harbour of Dunkirk, from which in time of war issued
most of the privateers that preyed on English commerce. On
this subject public feeling was too strong to be altogether
ignored.' Yet they evinced no great signs of indignation when
¦the Dutch had the impudence to object to this single concession
being made to English interests. On the contrary, they were
ready to acquiesce in any scheme for the aggrandizement of a
people who were already formidable competitors with their own
countrymen for the trade of the world. All their thoughts
Were concentred on the one object of keeping the coalition
firmly cemented together. Their contempt of money scarcely
f f 2

436 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
knew bounds. It was sufficient for an ally to raise the cry of
poverty for England to declare her willingness to relieve him
of a share of his financial burdens. All the shortcomings of
tbe Emperor, his shuffling excuses for not fulfilling his
compacts, his continual diversion of his troops to purposes
foreign from the general cause, could not provoke the Whigs
to utter more than a faint remonstrance. It is something
wonderful to read how, in order to keep the Allies in good
humour, our Ministers at the height of their power could submit
to be bullied by the Dutch, to be tricked by the Emperor, and
to be swindled out of subsidies by every miserable little poten
tate who offered to bring a few thousand half-naked and half-
starved rascals into tbe field.
It is useless to speculate upon what might have happened had
Anne continued her favour to Marlborough and the Whigs.
It is usual to attribute the deliverance of France to the High
Church proclivities of the Queen and her preference of one
waiting-woman over another. But there are many indications
that the great bulk of the people was growing weary of tbe war.
With the fall of the Whigs in 1710 the whole system of con
quest and glory fell to the ground. Oxford and his colleagues,
dismayed by the difficulties they found to raise money, soon
determined to make peace, if possible in conjunction with the
Allies, but without them if tbey proved obstinate and unmanage
able. To save their treaty from becoming unpopular, to protect
themselves against the clamour which disappointed Dutchmen
and Imperialists would be certain to raise, they endeavoured to
procure very favourable terms for their own country. They
at once abandoned Spain to Philip, and thought that, after
making this immense concession, Louis would have been too
overjoyed to haggle about points of trade. But they chose to
disarm without any further security for the future than the
King's bare word. He broke loose from the chains which they
had relaxed, and after a favourable campaign was able to treat
with all his opponents on terms of equality. One important
point the English Ministers had indeed secured, the possession
of Dunkirk. But to obtain the rest of those concessions which
his Majesty had promised they could rely only on his sense of
ionour and gratitude. In general, it must be said to his credit,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 437
he was disposed to keep faith with England. Yet every trifle,
trifle as he would have deemed it two years back, was carefully
weighed, and when granted, was often granted with reservations.
Looking at all the circumstances, the wonder is, not that the
terms which the Allies succeeded in obtaining were not better,
but that they were so good.
The treaty of commerce between Great Britain and France it
will be convenient to reserve for examination. The main points
in the treaty of peace between the two countries were the
acceptance by the French king of the plan of succession to the
crown of Great Britain marked out by the act of settlement,
and an engagement to afford no aid, direct or indirect, to any
parties who should oppose that plan. He also agreed to destroy
the harbour and fortifications of Dunkirk as soon as fie received
an' equivalent, and to concede or restore to Great Britain the
Hudson bay territories, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
The terms accorded to the Dutch were of course below what
had once been their aspiration ; yet they were more favourable
than they could have hoped to obtain at the commencement of
the war. They had indeed to restore Lille, Bethune, Aire and
St. Venant ; but they were permitted to retain garrisons in all
the other towns of the Spanish Netherlands ; and Luxemburg,
Charleroi, Namur and Nieuport were added to their barrier.
It had been arranged between the kings of France and Spain
that the sovereignty of the Netherlands should be transferred
to tbe Emperor.
Savoy emerged from the war a gainer by two little fortresses
in the Alps which the Duke insisted were necessary to him as a
barrier against France. The King of Portugal was sufficiently
rewarded for the doubtful assistance he had afforded the coali
tion by Louis consenting to abandon some claims he was fond
of urging in the Brazils. The King of Prussia had joined in
the war apparently for no better reason than to lend out to
good paymasters an army which was eating the bread of idle
ness. Cause against France he had none, unless indeed he may
be considered as participating in the cause which was common to
every European Power, the expediency of imposing some chock
upon the ambition of the French king. He died while the
negotiations were proceeding at Utrecht ; and his son, the eccentric

438 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
father of the great Frederic, succeeded him. Louis now con
descended to recognize the crown of this last new member of
the fraternity of kings, and permitted him to exchange his
principality of Orange, which lay in the heart of France, for a
principality in Guelderland which he had a much better chance
of enjoying in peace.*
Such then were the ostensible results of eleven years of hard
fiofiting. With respect to Louis he had lost four pitched battles ;
yet tbe treaties he made showed but faint traces of his discom
fiture. Not a single province, not a single town of importance
fiad been wrested from tfie ancient dominions of tfie House of
Bourbon. Nay, the King retained his grasp upon those cities
and provinces which in former years he had filched from the
Empire and Spain, and upon the very prize which had occa
sioned the war. The throne of his grandson was now secure ;
and according to the Whigs the influence of tfie French sove
reign was paramount from Lille to Cadiz. Whatever internal
injuries, therefore, France may have sustained during the con
flict, sfie showed not a scar to the world.
England obtained, in exchange for many thousands of her
bravest sons and for at least sixty millions of money, a vast
territory in North America, a region of almost perpetual ice
and snow, and capable only of affording a living to a few fisher
men and fur-fiunters. Yet it would be unfair to estimate the
results of a war by a strict debtor and creditor account. Before
she entered upon the contest she was agitated by a fear that
Louis might, in his overweening arrogance, employ his armies
to seat a Roman Catholic prince upon her throne. Her feelings
had also been outraged by a gross insult. From that fear she
was now delivered: that insult she had wiped out with an
ocean of blood. But she had done more. She had impressed
upon the mind of Louis a lesson which it was not likely that
either he or his successors would forget for some time to come.
It is the misfortune of mankind that wars should spring so
frequently from the ambition of one selfish and inconsiderate
despot. Again and again has it become necessary for a hun
dred thousand men in arms to teach those principles of justice
* All these treaties are given in English in the " State of Europe for 1713,"
and in French in the Lettres Historiques and Lambeily.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 439
and moderation which the schoolmaster has neglected to instil.
The mournful history is continually repeating itself. Civiliza
tion may polish, the exterior, but seems incapable of changing
the heart. In truth, it is so manifest that war is the condition
of life which the Creator has prescribed for his creatures, that
it may be doubted whether the poet, historian, or philosopher
who attempts to inculcate the superior advantages of peace, is
not guilty of presumption and impiety.
During the first three months of the year 1713 the anxiety of
the commercial community was kept at a high tension. It was
known that a new treaty of commerce was being arranged by
the Ministers of France and England, which could not fail to
affect the prices of a number of commodities ; but its conditions
remained an absolute secret. The protected manufacturers
were of course the first to take tfie alarm, and deputation after
deputation repaired to tfie Ministers to warn tfiem of the danger
of making any alterations in the existing duties upon French
merchandize. It was expected that the first beams of enlight
enment would fall upon the nation when the Parliament met ; but
January, February, and March brought nothing but disappoint
ing prorogations. The gloomiest rumours were naturally in
circulation to account for tbe delay. The King wanted to break
faith with the Ministers ; the Dutch and Imperialists stood out
so resolutely that the English plenipotentiaries could do nothing ;
and Marlborough and the Whigs were encouraging them in
their obstinacy by assurances that, at the next elections to
be held in a few months, the Tories and their infamous negotia
tions would be nowhere. The Whig pamphleteers and ballad-
makers were very provoking, and drove a roaring trade : for
the new stamp duty, which had crushed the elegant and moral
Spectator, had totally failed, by raising the price of literature
generally, to diminisfi tfie public appetite for coarse and virulent
attacks upon prominent men. There was. much mysterious fer
menting among the Jacobites. Indeed, the accounts which came
from Scotland were so bad as. to, alarm greatly the zealous
Protestants of the south. A third part of' the clergy had
refused to take the oath of abjuration, and the Pretender's
birthday was celebrated in many towns. Meanwhile the writers
in London who advocated, the cause of James were as ready as

440 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the Whig hirelings to take advantage of the careless good
nature of the Ministers, who usually treated scribblers of all
shades of political opinion with a philosophical indifference
which was not comprehended by that generation. Venomous
little tracts were constantly issuing from the press, and had
perhaps none the less circulation because it was a crime to
read them. In January there appeared in the Postboy a docu
ment which startled the whole town. It was an address to the
Queen purporting to proceed from the burgesses and principal
inhabitants of Edinburgh, and which, after an ostentatious
parade of the Tory doctrines about non-resistance, concluded
with a prayer that her Majesty might live to be the restorer of
hereditary right, the avenger of injustice, and the protectress of
orphans. All connection with this address was promptly
repudiated by the mayor and sheriffs of Edinburgh; but a
genuine address from the city of Perth, soon afterwards pre
sented to the Queen, was couched in terms scarcely less signifi
cant of the wishes of the subscribers.*
On the afternoon of Good Friday, the 3rd of April (Old
Style), the treaty of peace arrived in London. The good news
was communicated to the public by the voice of the cannon,
and the evening of that anniversary upon which Christians
deplore a death indispensable to their salvation, was enlivened
by a general illumination.
Peace was accomplished ; but one important question re
mained. Would the terms upon which it was made be found
satisfactory by the Parliament and the nation ? The last
prorogation had assigned the 9th of April for the meeting of
the Houses, and upon that day the members assembled. The
health of the Queen had been visibly declining for upwards of
a year past. Her attacks of gout fiad been increasingly frequent
and severe. She had grown corpulent, and found herself
unequal to taking exercise. But that strong desire to perform
her duty which was her most amiable characteristic, impelled
her to go through a fatiguing ceremony in the hope that her
presence would be a support and protection to her Ministers in
the difficult and even perilous business which lay before them.
She was borne in a chair to the House of Peers, and read with
* Lettres Historiques ; Bolingbroke' s Correspondence.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 441
a weak voice a speech to which the Parliament listened with
the profoundest attention. The delay in opening the session,
she informed the Houses, had arisen from her anxiety to be able
to communicate to them at their first meeting the intelligence
that the negotiations at Utrecht had been brought to a success
ful termination. The treaty was now signed, and in a few days
the ratifications would be exchanged. The efforts she had
made for securing the Protestant succession, and the spectacle
of the perfect friendship which existed between her and the
House of Hanover, must, she thought, convince all persons who
really desired the safety and tranquillity of the country, of
the uselessness of attempting to separate the interests of the
two. As regarded the public expenditure she informed the Com
mons that as much progress bad been made in reducing it as
the position of affairs admitted. What force it would hence
forth be necessary to keep on foot she would leave entirely to
the Parliament to arrange. " Make yourselves safe," she said,
" and I shall be satisfied. I require no other protection than
the loyalty and affection of my people. " Some recommendations
followed to encourage trade. Tfiere was a strongly worded
intimation of her displeasure " at the unparalleled licentious
ness in publishing libels which blasphemed everything sacred,
and propagated opinions tending to the overthrow of all religion
and government." Prosecutions bad been ordered; but some
new law was required to put a stop to this growing evil. It
was also necessary to devise some remedy against the impious
practice of duelling. The speech concluded, as usual, with an
exhortation to unanimity. "Now that we are entering upon
peace abroad, let me conjure you all to use your utmost endea
vours to calm men's minds at home, that the arts of peace may
he cultivated. Let not groundless jealousies, contrived by a
faction and fomented by party rage, effect that which our
foreign enemies could not manage." *
The speech was somewhat disappointing to all parties. It
might be gratifying to the Tories to learn that peace was
actually concluded, and to the Whigs that measures had been
taken for securing the Protestant succession. But there was
* Parliamentary History.

442 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
not a word of intelligence either about the terms of the peace
or the nature of the measures. In their address of thanks,
therefore, the Lords contented themselves simply with con
gratulating her Majesty upon the success of her endeavours.
The Whigs proposed as an amendment that the Queen should
be requested to submit the treaties of peace and commerce to
the House. But the indelicacy of pressing her upon this point
seems to have been felt by many members of the party, and the
amendment was negatived by seventy-four against forty-three.
In the Commons a similar clause was offered, but found so little
support that it was withdrawn.
The Ministers, in fact, were firmly determined that, until
the ratifications had been exchanged and the peace was beyond
the power of the Opposition to overturn, there should be no
debate upon the subject. Meanwhile the Commons were
entertained by a report from the Commissioners appointed to
inquire into the application of the public revenues. The main
purpose of this document seems to have been to inflame the
public against the previous rulers of the country, and to excite
a desire of peace by drawing attention to the enormous cost of
war. But the statements as to the abuses which, during tbe
period the Whigs were in power, had prevailed in all depart
ments of the service were never contradicted, and it is impos
sible to read them at the present day without a thrill of horror
at the sty of corruption they reveal. It appears to have been
the universal practice of generals to muster their troops always
as complete, and to draw the pay of men long since dead or
discharged without accounting for it in any way except by
their bare assertion that it was employed in obtaining recruits.
The total absence of all control over the highest officials of tbe
State was equally conspicuous in the case of the obscurer
servants of the public. Everything was carried on by bribery
and fraud. Commissaries took perquisites from rascally
clothiers, and tbe soldiers and sailors were cheated out of their
necessary apparel : from victuallers, who defrauded the men
of their hardly-earned meals ; and from brewers, who not only
did not send the quantity of beer they were paid for, but
supplied such filthy stuff that the poor fellows rejected it with
loathing. Even in the management of hospitals, the atrocious

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 443
system was in full vigour. The surgeons and physicians swore
that the meat supplied to those in Spain was carrion, and the
other provisions generally so unsound as to occasion a constant
mortality. The director allowed but fivepence a day to eacfi
convalescent to provide for himself, and charged two shillings
and sixpence to tbe Government. But the diversion of Chelsea
College and its funds from the purpose for which they were
established called forth the strongest animadversion from the
Commissioners. The building had been erected for the special
object of affording an asylum to sick, maimed, and superan
nuated soldiers ; but of late years a crowd of functionaries,
governors, and deputy-governors, deputy-paymasters and offi
cers of the house had managed to quarter their own servants,
clerks and coachmen, wholly unconnected with the army, upon
the charity. So notorious had become the laxity, or more
probably the roguery, of the Governor that in 1709 one Francis
Core, a messenger at the War Office, who doubtless acted as
agent for persons in higher position, gave out publicly that he
would get any man admitted as a pensioner for money. He was
speedily surrounded by numbers of poor people, decayed
butchers and bakers, tailors, and alehouse keepers, each with
his little bribe in his hand. From one man he got six guineas,
from another ten, from another eleven guineas. Yet the appli
cants, when admitted, scarcely found existence within the walls
of the college as charming as they had anticipated. For the
system of bribery by which they had obtained entrance was
now retaliated upon them. The tradesmen who contracted to
supply the institution with beef and beer paid perquisites to
the Governor for their privilege, and of course recouped them
selves in the quantity and quality of the provisions they
supplied.* This long catalogue of abuses was read to the House by
William Shippen, one of the Commissioners : yet it led to no
effectual measures being taken to suppress those abuses. The
indignation of the audience, as far as any record remains, was
far less than comparatively trifling delinquencies in public
servants would excite in our days. The report probably set
forth little more than what every member already suspected or
* The report is printed in the Parliamentary History.

444 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
even knew to be the case. In truth, the standard of morality
was everywhere so low, corruption was so universal ana
notorious, that people had grown accustomed to regard honesty
in official men as an impossible virtue, and thought that it was
perfectly natural for a gentleman in a position of trust and
authority to turn his advantages to profit. There was not a
member of the House who might not one day become a gover
nor, a commissary, or something else that would enable him
in his turn to pillage the public. Of what use, then, was it
to attack a system which might eventually help him to a
fortune ?
But if the Parliament could not be moved by considerations
of the public welfare, it was quick to respond to the spiteful
promptings of party spirit. On the 1st of May an order passed
the Commons that Doctor Sacheverell should be desired to
preach before them on the 29th, the anniversary of the
Restoration. The three years of his suspension from ecclesi
astical functions had recently expired. The day of his libera
tion bad been celebrated by great rejoicings ; and he had
resumed the office of preaching by a sermon which he delivered
at St. Saviour's Church. His text was one of audacious impu
dence : — "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do." A hundred pounds, a sum which, as the earnings of
literary labour, moved the envy of Swift, was at once paid
down by an enterprising bookseller for the privilege of printing
this precious discourse, and thirty thousand copies were soon
circulating throughout the kingdom, and impressing pious
souls with the resemblance between the sufferings of Sacheverell
and those of the Redeemer of mankind.* It may be asserted
with little fear of doing any injustice that, in the eyes of the
great majority of the population of this island, King Charles I.
and Sacheverell were for many years blended with Christ in a
co-equal Trinity.
At length the ratifications of the treaties had been exchanged
between France and England. Peace was proclaimed in Lon
don on the 5th of May, eleven years and a day after the procla
mation of war, amid the joyful shouts of the populace. The
* Swift's Journal to Stella. He says, " I believe the bookseller will be con
foundedly bit, and will not sell one half." But Swift was mistaken.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 445
festivities were kept up with much spirit. The guns of the
Tower and the parks were answered by salvoes from tbe craft
which covered the river from the bridge to Gravesend, and the
discharges were continued until far into the next morning. At
night the metropolis was enlivened by bonfires and fireworks in
the squares and open places, and by an illumination of the
houses. The windows of some sturdy AVhigs presented an
exception to the general blaze of light, and were promptly
smashed by the rabble. During the next week the glaziers
must have been busily employed, for the damage inflicted on
this night was computed at two thousand pounds*
Four days after the proclamation, the treaties of peace and
commerce were submitted to the Parliament with a somewhat
haughty message from the Queen, importing that, as it was
the undoubted prerogative of the Crown to make peace and
war, she had already ratified them. The 14th of May was
appointed by the Commons for taking into consideration the
eighth and ninth articles of the treaty of commerce, which
required the support of some legislation to carry into effect.
By the eighth article it was agreed that the subjects of the
Queen and of the French king should be placed on the same
footing, as regarded the duties payable on merchandize, with
the most favoured nations ; and in pursuance of this agree
ment the ninth article stipulated that, within two months after
a law had been passed in England to reduce the high duties
which virtually excluded French produce from English markets
to a rate proportioned to the duties leviable on English produce
imported into France, the King would re-establish the general
tariff enacted in 1664, and Commissioners should meet in
London to adjust any further difficulties which might remain.
In a word, there was to be free-trade between England and
France. The English merchant was to be at liberty to send
his native woollen manufactures, the sugar and tobacco of his
colonies into France ; the French merchant to send his wines
and his silks into England at moderate and nicely-proportioned
rates of duty. To the man of business of our day the principle
sought to be established by this treaty will probably seem
unimpeachable. He has during the last fifty years seen his
* Lettres Historiques ; State of Europe.

446 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
country thriving more and more wonderfully after every assault
upon the system of monopolies, restrictions, and undue en
couragement afforded by well-intentioned, but not sufficiently
enlightened, statesmen to particular branches of trade. To him
protection is a mistake now demonstrated so fully that even the
most bigoted Tory would be ashamed to recur to it. Commerce
evidently fares best when governments abstain from meddling
witfi it, as those men are healthiest who resort least to drugs
and stimulants for artificial strength. Industry and ingenuity,
virtues possessed by most Englishmen, are the only sources of
wealth. Nothing seems more evident than that, if an equal
scale of duties were adopted by all the Governments of the
world, the advantage would fall to those nations which were
most industrious. England, therefore, with her teeming and
hard-working population, need fear no competition.
But very different views on the subject of commerce pre
vailed in the time of Queen Anne. The protection system
flourished in all its glory. There was an East India Company,
a South Sea Company, a Levant Company, a Russia Company,
each possessing a monopoly of trade to certain parts of the
globe. The jealousy, moreover, with which the growing power
of France was regarded, had impelled our Parliament to extend
protection to a number of manufactures which, under their
fostering care, had taken root in the island, as of brandy, silk,
linen, and paper, in the hope that native industry would supply
the wants of the country. The necessity for protection was
obvious. As to the first article, brandy, the superiority of the
French production was undeniable. In the other instances the
English manufactures perhaps had the advantage in point of
quality. Englisfi silks and Irisfi linens continued far into the
eighteenth century to be preferred in every market. But it
was justly remarked that the cheapness with which all manu
factured articles could be produced in France would enable
French proprietors to sell at prices far below those which could
be remunerative to English proprietors. An English workman,
who firmly believed that his health and strength required the
support of two or three pounds of good beef and a gallon of
beer daily, could not be put off with the wages which would
satisfy a Frenchman who lived on cabbage, and was content to

DURING THE EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 447
carouse on a bottle of light wine which cost him three sous. A
series of acts had therefore been passed for the purpose of
excluding all foreign merchandize which could come into com
petition with our own manufactures from our markets. With
out the protection afforded by these acts it was considered
impossible that several manufactures could continue to exist.
With such protection, however, they flourished, kept in employ
ment a midtitude of poor people, and, as it was supposed, saved
the country immense sums annually which would otherwise
have gone into the pockets of the French.
Such being the established order of things, and such the
doctrines held by all the leading merchants of the day, it is
easy to realize the storm of indignation which arose in the City,
the thrill of alarm which ran through manufacturing centres
when it became known that the Ministers were about to ask for
a law demolishing all the imagined safeguards of British
industry. To most of the commercial men of that day the
treaty of commerce admitted but of two explanations. Either
the Ministers were grossly ignorant of the principles of trade,
or they were traitors and had sold their country. If, it was
said, the French had beaten us as often as we had beaten them,
such conditions would be thought hard. Yet little doubt can
now remain that Bolingbroke, in arranging this treaty, con
sidered that he was promoting the best interests not only of his
own nation but of mankind. He thought that a free interchange
of commodities would be a source of wealth and comfort to both
kingdoms, that it would unite them by the bonds of mutual
interest, and would gradually eradicate those pernicious impulses
to war which the Whigs had implanted in his countrymen and
which they loved to foster. But such liberal and comprehensive
speculations were altogether in advance of the age ; nor is it
possible to acquit Bolingbroke of misconduct in one particular.
He chose to negotiate a treaty of the last importance to the
country without consulting any persons who were practically
acquainted with commerce. It is true that most of the principal
merchants of the City were Whigs. But there remained not a
few men of business who were well affected to the Government,
and fully qualified to advise a Minister of tfie feelings and
doctrines of the commercial community. The only individual

448 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
to whom he appears to have resorted for counsel was Arthur
Moore, a self-made man, who had risen from the humble station
of a footman to a seat in Parliament, and to be a Commissioner
of trade.
Notwithstanding the growing clamour, however, the Ministers
were not without strong hopes of obtaining the legislation tbey
required. The great majority of the members of the Lower
House, although somewhat less firm than formerly in their
allegiance, were still indisposed to desert them. In the first
debate they were victorious. Leave was obtained to bring in a
bill to make effectual tfie eighth and ninth articles of the treaty.
An interval of nearly a month then elapsed, during which the
Houses were engaged upon another question which threatened
to rend the kingdom to pieces. Meanwhile the treaty was
published, and its contents were devoured by thousands of eager
readers. A fierce literary warfare sprang up. Defoe, who when
the advocacy of free trade was concerned, scarcely needed
rousing, started a periodical with all the statistical aid which
the officials of the Treasury and the Custom House could afford
him. An opposition paper was at once got up by a combination
of Whig talent to demonstrate, that by free trade with France
the country would lose a million and a half yearly, that our
manufactures would be ruined and hundreds of thousands of
hard-working persons turned out to beg their bread, that
paupers would become so numerous that half the incomes of our
rich men would go in poor rates, and that the kingdom would
be given over to riots, insurrections, the Pretender, the Pope, and
the Devil. The honest squires, who formed the chief support
of the Ministers, were told that as the country grew poorer,
rents would fall and land diminish in value. There were but
two classes of persons who could find their advantage in such a
treaty. Epicures would enjoy at a reasonable price the delicious
wines of France, and fine ladies would be able to clothe them
selves in cheaper silks. The success of these arguments was
complete. Before long the nation was in one of its wild fits of
panic. Petitions to the Parliament against adopting the treaty
of commerce came up from all parts of the country, from towns
which but a few weeks back, upon the announcement of peace,
had come addresses of congratulation and loyalty. Tory

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 449
members were besieged by deputations of angry constituents,
. who warned them that, if they voted in favour of the bill, their
chance of a seat in the next Parliament would be a poor one.
Upon the 9th of June, when the House of Commons resolved
itself into a grand committee to consider the bill, there was a
crowd of representatives from commercial corporations at the
door clamouring to be heard against the principle of free trade
with France.
The debates, partly owing to the number of merchants who
were admitted to address the House, and partly to the frequent
interludes of skirmishing which occurred between the friends of
the Government and their opponents, extended over a period
of nine days. In spite of all the logic of the city appearances
portended the triumph of the Ministers. Clause by clause the
construction of the dreaded bill proceeded. The French
Ambassador collected materials for a gigantic bonfire before
his house, and kept a messenger constantly in readiness to bear
the joyful news of the passing of the bill to his court. On the
18th of June it was moved that the bill be engrossed ; and a
debate ensued which lasted from three in the afternoon until
eleven at night. Arthur Moore argued with much pertinacity
in favour of the treaty. He was undoubtedly a man of great
abilities; but the deficiencies of his education had prevented
his attaining oratorical excellence, and his efforts appear to have
done more harm than good to his cause. On the other side
were men possessing great influence over the House, the
impetuous Stanhope, the subtle Lechmere, the energetic and
learned King. But the speech which told with decisive weight
was delivered by a Tory. Sir Thomas Hanmer was a wealthy
baronet, one of the leaders of his party and the personal friend
of Oxford and Bolingbroke. He had even been admitted to
some share in the negotiations with France. He now, to the
surprise and delight of the Whigs, expressed himself to be
against the treaty of commerce. At the time, he said, when he
voted for bringing in the bill for rendering effectual the eighth
and ninth articles, he had not given sufficient consideration to
the subject. But he had since maturely weighed the repre
sentations of the merchants and manufacturers, and was now
convinced that the passing of such a bill would be of great
VOL. II. G G

450 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
prejudice to the woollen and silk manufactures of the kingdom,
that it would increase the number of paupers, and eventually
affect the value of land. He had formed his conclusions in
perfect independence. He was determined not to be led blindly
by any Ministry. He was not biassed by that fear which might
work with other members of losing his seat. Hanmer's example
appears to have encouraged many waverers to take the same
course. Two placemen had the courage to speak against the
bill. On a division it was thrown out by a majority of nine.
A hundred and eighty- five members voted that it should pass ;
a hundred and ninety-four were for rejecting it.*
To so small a majority did the protection system owe the
prolongation of its reign. The defection of only five Tories
from the Government side prevented the country from trying
the experiment of a free trade with France. It is interesting
to speculate upon what might have been the result of such an
experiment. In 1786, when a commercial treaty was concluded
with France on a similar basis, the advantages proved so strong
in our favour as to set the French for upwards of half a century
against any renewal of free trade with Great Britain. Yet it
by no means follows that, because the advantages were in our
favour in 1786, they would have been so in 1713. At that
period our manufacturers were engaged to a most unfortunate
extent in producing just such articles as the French could pro
duce better or cheaper than they. English silks, linen, and
paper, then engaging an undue proportion of labour, must
have withered under competition. But by 1786 the manufac
turing system of the country had undergone a great change.
The production of woollen goods had trebled, while the inven
tions of Arkwrigbt and Har greaves enabled our exporters to
stock the markets of the whole world with cotton manufactures
which defied all competition either in quality or cheapness.
The value of our extensive coal-fields was becoming properly
appreciated. Hardware and glass, articles of second-rate com
mercial importance in the time of Anne, had greatly improved.
Upon those things, on the other hand, in which the French,
favoured by soil or climate, could surpass or, at least, undersell
* Parliamentary History ; Lettres Historiques ; Burnet and Notes ; Boling
broke to Strafford, June 20, July 1.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 451
us, we had learned to place no reliance. Tfiese considerations
force us to conclude that, although the Whigs in the time of
Pitt were right in advocating free trade, the same party was
equally right in the time of Walpole in adhering to protection.
Indeed we can hardly doubt that, if the treaty of commerce had
been adopted in 1713, it would have been followed by a period
of great national distress.
In this instance, therefore, the Whigs may be considered to
have rendered an essential service to their country. But the
historian who reflects how things were managed by the men of
this generation will be careful how he launches out into
eulogy. Almost every measure was dictated by party spirit,
and was good or mischievous by sheer accident. There would
be little uncharitableness in assuming that the Whigs would
have exerted all their endeavours to procure the rejection of
the best possible treaty that could be framed by Tory Ministers.
While the fate of this bill was pending they were engaged in
what has been properly stigmatised as one of the most disgusting
episodes in tbe history of faction. For no other imaginable
cause than to worry and embarrass the Government the leaders
of the party joined with the discontented Scotch peers in an
attempt to repeal the Union.
Since the passing of the act there had been no legislation to
affect the body of the Scottish people except a highly necessary
statute extending the English law of treason to the entire
island. But the nobility had been disappointed and provoked
by that resolution of the Upper House which took from the
peers of Scotland all hope of becoming peers of Great Britain.
The passing of that resolution had been followed by the sixteen
representatives withdrawing in a body from the House ; and it
was not without great difficulty that they were prevailed upon
to return. Their mortification was indeed severe. Not unlikely
every nobleman who had come up from bis native country had
cherished a hope that, before his term of three years was
expired, the right to sit in the national assembly would have
been assured to him for ever, that he would have taken rank as
a peer of Great Britain with the families of Howard and Caven
dish. The Scottish representatives in the Lower House were
not less inclined to resent what they regarded as an insult to
g g 2

452 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
their nation. A year had rolled away since the Southron had
afforded this instance of his treachery and malignancy ; and
now came further proof of his determination to oppress and ruin
the unhappy country which, beguiled by his gold and his
promises, had thrown herself into his arms. It had been pro
vided at tbe Union that no tax should be laid on malt in Scot
land so long as the war lasted. The Scottish commissioners
who stipulated for this exemption obviously acted under the
impression that, as soon as the war was over, the heavy duty
of sixpence a bushel which was then levied in England would
be reduced. Peace with France had now been proclaimed;
peace with Spain was all but concluded. The Parliament
thought itself, therefore, at liberty to commence taxing Scot
land. But the finances were not in a satisfactory condition ;
there were heavy debts to clear off ; and it was in consequence
judged inexpedient to reduce at present the duty on malt. In
spite of the remonstrances of the Scottish Members the Com
mons passed a bill extending this duty to Scotland.
The measure undoubtedly wears at first sight an appearance
of harshness and injustice. The average price of a bushel of
malt in England was twenty-seven pence. Scotch malt was of
very inferior quality, and a bushel fetched, in a country where
the poverty of the inhabitants kept all prices low, not more
than ninepence. The consequence, therefore, of imposing an
equal duty in both countries would be that while an English
man would obtain his beer at an advance of only a fourth upon
what it would be if there were no tax on malt, the Scotchman
would have to pay nearly double the price to which he bad
been accustomed. The Scottish members tried hard to get
the duty reduced to threepence for their country, and their
arguments prevailed in committee. But when the matter was
brought before the House some members from the northern
counties of England and from Wales, where the grain was
little superior to that of Scotland, importuned for similar
favour. It was then decided to restore the bill to its original
state In truth, a reduction could not have been allowed to
Scotland without provoking much discontent and charges of
unfairness from many districts of South Britain.
This failure completed the exasperation of the Scotch, and

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 453
the members of both Houses held a meeting to consider what
course they should adopt. George Lockhart took a prominent
share in the proceedings. Since the frustration of his intrigues
to prevent the Union he had served in two Parliaments, and
had achieved some distinction as an industrious member of
committees. The acumen he had latterly displayed in ferreting
out matter of accusation against the Whigs, and the malignity
of style which characterised every report with which he had
anything to do, made bim valuable to the Tories and the Minis
ters. It was still the leading wish of his heart to procure the
repeal of the Union ; for Scotland in the power of a Govern
ment that either was, or was at least forced to appear to be, in
favour of the Hanoverian succession, interfered greatly with
the plans of the Jacobites. He now descanted upon the evils
which had already accrued from the Union, and insisted that
they would never cease to recur so long as Scotland submitted
to be absorbed by a richer and stronger power. Argyle and
the Earl of Mar, a Jacobite of rising influence, declared them
selves to be of the same opinion. The former expressed himself
as being much dissatisfied witfi the results of the Union, and
said that he had become so fully convinced that it was destruc
tive to the interests of both kingdoms that he was now as
desirous of repealing as he had formerly been of promoting it.
Some faint traces exist that the wisdom of this course was not
recognised by the entire Assembly. But resentment against
England burned in every breast, and at such a moment the
voice of so great a chieftain as Argyle almost precluded oppo
sition. It was decided to endeavour to get the Union repealed.
Argyle, Mar, Lockhart, and another member named' Cockburn
were appointed a deputation to wrait on the Queen and acquaint
her with the decision. Anne was much disquieted by the
announcement. It was a precipitate resolution, she said. She
hoped they would not have reason to repent of it. She would,
she added, do her best to make things easy for her Scottish sub
jects, words which were naturally interpreted as a promise that
the malt tax, although granted by the Parliament, should not
be collected.*
The Scots were not, however, to be deterred from their
* Lockhart' s Memoirs ; Burnet ; Lettres Historiques.

454 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
design because one grievance might be in a manner redressed ;
and the Whigs of the Upper House soon announced their deter
mination to support them. Somers, although reduced by illness
to the shadow of his former self, undertook to organize his party
for the demolition of that great and noble work which his exer
tions in a happier frame of mind had so greatly contributed to
rear. A meeting of the Whig chiefs was held at his house.
The once majestic orator, the wise legislator, the learned and
upright judge, seemed inspired with new strength by the ani
mosity he bore to a Tory ministry. This last effort of his
genius proved but too successful. The meeting broke up firmly
resolved to support the Scots in their mischievous project.
Upon the 1st of June, Seafield, who had now become Earl of
Finlater, moved for leave to bring in a bill to dissolve the
Union. The measure, he observed, had not produced tbe good
effects which had been anticipated from it. The grievances of
which the Scottish nation complained might be reduced under
four heads, — their being deprived of a privy council, their
being subjected to the English law of treason, the resolution
which rendered their peers incapable of being made peers of
Great Britain, and the recent determination of the Commons to
extend tbe Malt Tax to their country. The motion was
seconded by Mar, and was supported by Argyle with that
soldierlike energy which characterized him. To lay an equal
imposition upon malt in Scotland and malt in England was, be
declared, as unjust as to subject every description of land to an
equal tax. In the neighbourhood of London it might be worth
five or six pounds an acre ; but there were counties in which it
would not fetch so many shillings. If the Malt Tax, he added,
were insisted on, it would be necessary to quarter a regiment of
dragoons in the country to collect it. More than one Scottish
peer remarked that the Union, so far from having led to a good
understanding between the two nations, had but increased their
animosities. Sunderland, Townshend, and Halifax all declared
their willingness to dissolve tbe Union, if some means could be
devised to secure the Protestant succession. Upon the Tories,
who had opposed the measure in 1707, was thrown the burden
of defending the work of their rivals. Peterborough, in a lively
speech, compared the Union to a marriage. The husband, he
said, might sometimes act unkindly to the lady ; but tfiat was

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 455
no ground for her suing for a divorce, especially if she had
mended her fortune by tbe match. A grave Scotch lord
reminded the witty Earl that the indissolubility of marriage
arose from tbe divine sanction it received. " I do not see,"
retorted Peterborough, " how the Union could have been con
cluded with more solemnity than it was, unless it had come
down, like the ten commandments, from heaven." " The
Scotch are a people," he said at another time, " who never will
he satisfied. They want all the advantages of union without
paying anything for them." Oxford professed himself at a loss
to understand by what legal power the Union could now be
dissolved. It had been enacted by two distinct Parliaments,
one of which was no longer in being. Nottingham, who now
6poke and voted on all occasions with the Whigs, and who in
supporting the repeal of a measure which he had formerly
opposed, was one of the few English peers who were not acting
with ridiculous inconsistency, replied to this quibble by averring
that the powers of both Parliaments had descended to the pre
sent consolidated Parliament. Between Sunderland and Oxford
there was a sharp interchange of personalities. The Treasurer,
to appease the Scotch, dropped a hint that although the Malt
Tax might be granted by Parliament, it migfit be afterwards
remitted by the Crown. "It is a strange thing," sneered Sun
derland, " to hear from the noble lord expressions which tend
to establish a despotic dispensing power and arbitrary govern
ment." " My family," returned Oxford, unusually nettled by
this remark, " never did what was done by others. They wore
never the promoters and advisers of arbitrary measures." This
reference to the wicked Minister of James II. almost drove Sun
derland mad. He sprang to his feet, and poured forth an ener
getic vindication of his parent for acts perpetrated in days
when "tbe other lord's family had not yet been heard of."
The House divided, and the Whigs were eventually saved in
their own despite from the discredit which the introduction of
a bill to dissolve the Union would have brought upon them.
But their escape was a narrow one. Fifty-four peers voted in
support of the motion, and an equal number against it. Proxies
were then counted, and it appeared that there were but thirteen
for the affirmative, wfiile seventeen were for tfie negative.*
* Parliamentary History ; Lettres Historiques ; Burnet.

456 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

CHAPTER XIV.
The Whigs might well apprehend that their factious attempt
to procure the repeal of the Union had not much raised them
in general estimation. The triennial Parliament drew to its
close ; a general election was at hand, and it was important to
do something which would bring back popular sympathy to
their side. It was determined to fetch up lost ground by a
fresh display of zeal for the Protestant succession. Wharton
moved an address to the Queen praying her to use her most
pressing instances with the Duke of Lorraine to expel the Pre-
, tender from his dominions, and with all other princes and states
in amity with her to refuse the same person entrance to terri
tory subject to their control. The Peers assented to the address
without opposition, though it appears to have given pain to
some members of the House, who assuredly were not Jacobites.
Where, it was very pertinently asked, was the Pretender to
live ? Tfiere was not a country in Europe wfiicfi was not now
on friendly terms witfi fier Majesty. If tfie various sovereigns
cfiose to pay no attention to the request, how was it possible to
enforce their obedience? If they complied, wfiither was the
unfortunate young, man to betake himself r* Peterborough,
to a pathetic harangue upon this subject from Lord North and
Grey, replied with unfeeling levity that, as the Pretender had
commenced his studies at Paris, he might just as well go and
finisfi them at Rome.
The address was presented, and a response which should have
been deemed satisfactory was returned ; but it was not
unmingled with a kind but significant reproof. Anne pro
mised the House that she would repeat her instances for the
* There is no record that Lord North and Grey, who made these sensible and
humane remarks, was mixed up in any way with the party of the Pretender;

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 457
removal of the person named. " I think, however," she added,
" you will agree with me that, if we could cure our animosities
and divisions at home, it would be the most effectual metfiod to
secure tfie Protestant succession." Tfie Whigs would not have
suffered in the eyes of posterity, had they shown some sense of
a reprimand so gentle and good-tempered. No recent action
either on the part of the Pretender or his sympathisers afforded
them the slightest pretext for persecution. The treaty by
which the King of France had just bound himself to stand
aloof from all schemes for a restoration had destroyed the best
hopes of the Stuarts. The family had withdrawn into the
Duchy of Lorraine, and were living in strict retirement ; nor
did their partisans, either in Scotland or England, show any
proofs of being better organised than formerly.
Far from being abashed, however, by the royal answer, the
Whigs chose to cavil with it. Her Majesty had declared she
would repeat her instances to the Court of Lorraine. It was a
new thing to hear that any instances had yet been made. A
second address to express the surprise of the Peers that such
instances had not been made with effect was thereupon moved
by Sunderland, seconded by Nottingham, and carried after a
trifling opposition. Anne appears to have acknowledged it only
in general terms. The Whigs of the Lower House acted in con
cert with their party in the Upper. Their address was moved
by Stanhope, and was carried, after a sarcastic comment had
been passed upon it by Sir William Wfiitelocke, an old Cavalier
of eighty years, who sat with Bromley for Oxford University.
He remembered, he said, an address being carried up to the
Protector to procure the expulsion of Charles Stuart from
France only a short time before that Prince was invited back
to the throne of his ancestors.
A short time before these addresses were carried a message
from the Queen to the House of Commons had given rise to
much conjecture. Her Majesty asked for power to borrow, on
the security of the funds set apart for the Civil List, such a
sum as would be sufficient to discfiarge liabilities tfiat had.
accumulated upon her to a heavy amount. The announcement
that the Queen was in debt seems to have taken most of the
members by surprise. The allowance for the Civil List was six

458 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
hundred thousand a year ; and this income Anne, soon after the
commencement of her reign, judged to be so far in excess of
her probable expenses that she directed that a hundred thousand
a year should be devoted towards the cost of the war. According
to a statement, however, now made by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, her expenses had so far exceeded her income that
by August, 1710, her indebtedness amounted to half a million.
Yet much doubt was thrown upon the veracity of this statement
by a member who, under the last Administration, had been one
of the tellers of the Exchequer, and who declared that to his
certain knowledge the private debts of her Majesty did not at
that period exceed a hundred and fifty thousand pounds, with
ample means of meeting this liability out of arrears due to
herself. Under these circumstances some investigation should
have appeared necessary to the most loyal and courtly subjects ;
but the matter, as usual, was decided by party feeling. The
Tories saw that the Whigs were full of suspicion as to the
purposes for which the money was required. They hastened,
therefore, to take advantage of their majority and to suppress
all inquiry. The necessary act was passed ; and that it might
escape opposition in the upper House was tacked to another
money bill. The subject continued for some years to exercise
the minds of politicians. That the Queen was actually in debt
to a considerable amount is sufficiently established by the corre
spondence of Bolingbroke. So impoverished was the royal purse
¦that, since the accession of the Tory Ministry, the highest
officers of tfie Crown fiad gone without their salaries, while the
subordinates in the civil service were in danger of starvation,
and a number of tradesmen of being forced into bankruptcy.*
But how it came to pass that the income of a sovereign so
remarkably frugal in her personal expenditure should prove so.
inadequate to her wants, was a mystery which to the Whigs
appeared replete with suspicion. At the time they pro
fessed their belief that the money was to be used against
them at the approaching elections. Early in the succeeding
reign they conceived hopes of establishing the fact that a
portion of it had been sent abroad, with the complicity of the
* Even the plenipotentiaries could not get their salaries, and were put to
great embarrassment to meet their expenses. See Bolingbroke to Lord Privy
Seal, March 4—16.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 459
Ministers, for the service of the Pretender ; but they failed to
trace more than a thousand pounds to this destination. Yet
the mystery, when examined without passion, seems capable of
a very easy solution. From the estimates furnished to tbe Par
liament in 1689, it is clear that the six hundred thousand a year,
then allotted for the Civil List, allowed no great margin to the
sovereign for extravagance or even generosity. Anne had con
tented herself with only five hundred thousand, hoping, by the
strictest parsimony in her private expenses, to make that sum
sufficient. But her liberality towards tfiose sfie loved amounted
almost to a vice, and her charities were probably more than she
could afford. Two hundred thousand pounds were spent on the
castle of Blenheim ; and it is unlikely that Marlborough was
the only person who profited by Anne's munificence. More
than a hundred thousand pounds, it was computed, went in
feeding the poor Palatines ; and it is unlikely that the Pala
tines were the only beggars who excited the sympathy of the,
kind-hearted Queen.
The last act of this Parliament, upon which the Whigs
endeavoured to fasten as a reproach tbe epithet of "pacific,"
was to repair to St. Paul's on the 7th of July, tbe day appointed
by Anne for public thanksgiving. The Commons mustered but
thinly. The country gentlemen of that age always became
impatient as summer advanced to return to the superintendence
of their ripening crops. A Parliament, therefore, protracted
to the very unusual period of July was certain to be a mere
remnant ; and on this occasion nearly all the Whig members
chose to absent themselves. The procession, moreover, was
deprived of much of its effectiveness by the non-attendance of
the Queen, who was prevented from taking part in it by another
attack of gout. The day, however, passed off joyfully. The
Te Deum was chanted in the cathedral with distant accom
paniments from the guns of the Tower and the parks, and from
the bells of a hundred surrounding steeples. If the music was
mdeed Handel's, it must have taken by surprise an audience
accustomed to no grander strains than those of Weldon and
Eccles.* As night drew on London was in a blaze with bon-
* The Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate were composed expressly for this occa
sion ; but whether they were performed on that day at St. Paul's or at the
chapel of St. James's is undecided. — Schaelcher, Life of Handel.

460 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
fires and illuminations. Tfiere was one display of fireworks
on the Thames in front of Whitehall ; and another, provided
by the City, in Smithfield. A great crowd assembled before
Somerset House, the exterior of which presented a splendid
appearance, while the vast quadrangle was filled by a concourse
of guests who assisted at a dinner and ball of unparalleled mag
nificence. It was fiere that the Duke d'Aumont, after his house
in Great Ormond Street had been burned down by accident, or,
as the Tories asserted, by Whig incendiaries, had taken up his
residence at the request of the Government. Two days before
the thanksgiving he had made his public entry into London,
had been received in state by the Queen, and had addressed to
her a speech of florid compliments. Such conditions of peace,
he observed, as those of which she had been the arbiter, insuring
as they did both the happiness of her subjects and the advan
tage of her Allies, outshone all the glories of Elizabeth's reign.*
Anne was sufficiently recovered nine days afterwards to repair
to the Parliament and to deliver in person tfie speech with which
she closed the session. She passed a high encomium upon the
affection, duty, and zeal wfiicfi had been displayed by the Com
mons, and expressed a hope that the Parliament she might meet
in the winter would be resolved to act upon the same principles.
One passage, however, which her Ministers had ventured to
place in her mouth gave great offence. She hoped, she said,
that before Parliament again assembled the principles of com
merce would be so well understood that the advantageous con
ditions she had arranged with France would be made effectual.
A majority of the members, and the whole mercantile commu
nity, justly regarded this as an affront to their understandings.
Two or three statesmen, without any practical experience of
trade, had chosen, without consulting any competent advisers,
to conclude a treaty of a thoroughly revolutionary character.
It had now been sufficiently examined ; the highest commercial
authorities in the kingdom had unanimously pronounced that,
if carried into effect, it would be ruinous to the nation, and
many even of the firmest supporters of tfie Government had
allowed themselves to be governed by their advice. Yet conceit
«till prompted these statesmen to retort, through the lips of
* Lettres Historiques ; Historical Mercury.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 461
royalty, that the men who gave such counsel knew nothing
ahout the business upon which their bread depended, and to
which their lives had been devoted.
It did not escape notice that the customary words in which
her Majesty announced her determination to support the suc
cession of Hanover were omitted on this occasion. That a form
so consonant to the feelings of the nation should have been
neglected on the eve of a general election, is not a little remark
able. Judging from the evidence with which we are now
furnished this singular omission was simply significant of a
new stage in the perplexities of Oxford.
A calm perusal of all that testimony upon which any reliance
can be founded, must convince any unprejudiced person that
both Oxford and Bolingbroke would have been as zealous in pro
moting the succession of the Hanoverians as their Whig an
tagonists, could they have seen any reasonable prospects of their
continuing in power with that family on the throne. Neither
of these Ministers was troubled with those compunctions about
the indefeasible rights of sovereigns which tormented the con
sciences of many Tory squires. Both were too much men of
the world to entertain any sentimental affection for a prince
whom they had never seen, and whose character they had only
heard described by his agents and idolators. One of their first
acts on entering upon the government had been to write to the
Elector professing their attachment to his person and their
resolution to further his interests with all their ability* But
they had found to their mortification the Elector, and every
person about him, hopelessly prejudiced against them.t The
Whigs had been beforehand with their own version of the
causes which led to the change of Ministry ; and George was
convinced that the Tories were rascals who wanted to rob bim
of his inheritance, and who were brought to power for the
express purpose of. facilitating the restoration of the Prince of
Wales. He answered their letters politely ; but fie drew closer
the bonds between himself and the Whigs. The latter sedu
lously fostered the opinion his Highness had conceived of their
* Macpherson, Original Papers.
t Swift declares that their ill success was owing to their neglecting to corrupt
Eobethon, the Elector's principal councillor and. favourite. — Inquiry into the
Behaviour of the Queen's last Ministry.

462 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
rivals. Every account of English affairs which reached his ear
came through poisoned channels. How, it was urged, could a
peace so derogatory to the interests of Europe and the honour
of England have been concluded, unless it was necessary to an
ulterior scheme ? The King of France, now delivered from
fiis other embarrassments, would be at liberty to devote himself
anew to the project so pleasing to his vanity of restoring the
family which had thrown itself upon his hospitality and protec
tion. For the notion that the clause in the treaty by which
Louis engaged to render no assistance to the Pretender, was
intended as anything more than a mere form, was laughed to
scorn by the Whigs ; and the same contempt was expressed for
those passages in the royal speeches in which the Queen reite
rated her determination to do all in her power to uphold the
Act of Settlement. It was all a comedy. The Ministers were
merely waiting until they had secured tbe Parliament and con
certed measures with the French king, and then the restoration
would be accomplished.*
With the gates of Hanover thus shut in their faces, with the
Queen visibly declining to fier grave, and with the certainty
before them that, as soon as the Elector was seated on tbe
throne, the reign of the Whigs would re-commence, and their
own actions would be scrutinized with the same malignity as a
Parliament devoted to themselves had just scrutinized the
actions of Marlborough and Walpole, it is not strange that
these sorely beset men should have turned to calculate what
really were the chances of the Pretender. Without the least
intention of committing himself to the cause of tbe Stuarts by
any overt act, nay, by any measure that could really serve them,
Oxford wished them to think that, when matters were ripe, be
would exert himself in their favour, t The Jacobite agents were,
of course, ready to promise him anything in the name of their
master, except that he would change his religion. Tfiese men
knew so well how Oxford and Bolingbroke were regarded at
Hanover that they often felt secure of them. It must, they
thought, be soon apparent to Ministers so situated that their
* See the Correspondence in the Macpherson, Hanover Papers, particularly a
letter of Marlborough to Kobethon. November 30, 1713.
t In this course he persisted to the end of his life, as the letters discovered by
Sir James Mackintosh prove.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 463
only means of saving their fortunes, perhaps their heads, was
to throw themselves entirely into the cause of the Stuarts ; and
to this conceit the Ministers were not a little indebted. In
structions from the Pretender were conveyed to fiis adherents
to concur with them in their plans of peace, and generally to
support them against the schemes and intrigues of the Whigs.
Yet the behaviour of Oxford was a puzzle which the Jacobite
agents were never able to master. Although always willing
to receive them, and to listen with solemn attention to what
they had to say, he never would do anything they required.
If they complained that too much was said in the royal speeches
about Hanover, the Treasurer would reply that he must swim
with tbe tide, that it was absolutely necessary to content the
Whigs, that it would be imprudent to do anything which might
startle the public. He admitted with easy good-humour that
he was wrong in allowing so many Whigs to continue as lieu
tenants of shires and justices of the peace. The mistake, he
promised, should soon be rectified. But the promise was
repeated again and again, and still the commissions remained as
they were.*
All this admits of easy explanation. Tfie tactics of Oxford
were the same as tfiose of Marlborougfi ; but fie fiad not the
same good fortune. The great soldier had contrived to inspire
a belief of his sincerity in the successor who had every chance
of winning. Oxford's hopes in that direction were almost
desperate. Yet he could not bring himself to espouse the cause
of the Pretender ; nor is it likely that he ever entertained the
subject seriously. The chances of success on that side were
comparatively insignificant; and the penalty of failure, he
knew, would be a death on the scaffold. Tfie little energy fiis
mind possessed was benumbed by tfie difficulties and uncertain
ties of his position. He did nothing ; he was content to let
matters drift on their course. He continued his assiduities to
the Court of Hanover ; he was careful not to push matters far
against the Whigs, who would soon be his judges. But at the
same time he continued to receive the visits of Jacobite emis
saries. The omission in the royal speech of the customary
* Micpherson, Stuart Papers.

464 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
sentence about the Hanoverian family was a slight, and, as he
may have deemed, a harmless concession to the Stuarts*
The steady hand and determined will of Bolingbroke might
perhaps have piloted the Administration safely through its
perils had he been at the helm. But he was only a subordinate,
and one with so little power that the Jacobites appear to have
thought it scarcely worth their while to bestow much pains upon
him. With the Queen he had no influence.! Her simple
mind had been entirely captivated by the decorous exterior and
high moral character of the Treasurer, and it was with bim
alone that she would vouchsafe to converse on matters of busi
ness. Bolingbroke was expected to be contented with the
position of a superior clerk, to negotiate treaties, to correspond
with ambassadors, and, in a word, to transact all the work of
government, without being admitted to a greater share of the
royal confidence than his colleague chose to dole out to him.
His resentment against Oxford was natural. He felt that he
was coupled with a fool, a mere lump of lead, who, by his
incapacity and inertness, was dragging the whole body of
Ministers to ruin. His own plans are sufficiently clear from
his correspondence. He was desirous of obtaining a much
firmer fiold over tfie country by removing every Whig in
authority from office, and supplying tfie vacancies thus created
with men who were at least not political enemies. If, contrary
to expectation, such a change in public feeling should occur as
to render possible the restoration of James, then the opportunity
might be seized. At all events the Elector and his Whig
advisers would, he conceived, hold their heads a little less
loftily, and would be more open to an arrangement, if tbey
saw the Tories in a position to throw some impediments in the
way of the Protestant succession.
Some changes and promotions were, however, made during
* The dealings of Oxford with the Court of Hanover may be seen in the
Macpherson Papers ; with the Jacobites in the Macpherson Papers and the
Mackintosh Collections. See an article on Cooke's Life of Bolingbroke, Edin
burgh Revieiv, October, 1835. In one letter he is reported as saying that he
would never consent to a German reigning over England. He must have
.drunk more claret than usual that evening.
t As he frequently declares in his correspondence. But during the last year
of the Queen's life his influence with her rose, not, I am convinced, from any
increase of her esteem for him, but necessarily from the decay of her confidence
in Oxford.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 465
the spring and summer. Francis Atterbury, the most accom
plished and eloquent of the Tory clergymen, became Bishop of
Rochester, though sorely against the wishes of Anuo who,
while sympathizing with his doctrine, held in abhorrence the
factiousness of his temper. Her dislike of turbulent characters
had already determined her to refuse a mitre for Sacheverell ;
and the saint had been forced to content himself with the
rectory of St. Andrew's, Holborn, where his virtues were
exercised with less danger to society than on the episcopal
bench.* Smallridge, one of the royal chaplains, had raised
himself to a high place in her esteem by the meekness and piety
of his demeanour, and in public favour by the courage with
which he had confronted the fury of the Whigs in the days of
the trial. He was now rewarded with the see of Bristol, which
had become vacant b v the translation of Robinson to the see of
London. The expectation that Swift would be made a bishop
had once been so general that Nottingham had referred to the
rumour with a devout shudder in the House of Lords ; but it is
very doubtful whether Harcourt or Oxford ever ventured to
recommend that such a dignity should be conferred upon tbe
author of a " Tale of a Tub." Ormond consoled him to some
extent for his disappointment by awarding him the deanery of
St. Patrick's, which lay in his patronage as Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland. Ormond himself was secured to the Ministers by the
wardenship of the Cinque Ports and by a pension of five thousand
a year upon the Irish revenues, which was granted to him on
the pretext of the Parliament having recently re-annexed to the
crown some royalties in Tipperary which had been for some
time in his family. But the appointment which excited most
comment was that of the Earl of Mar to be Secretary of State for
North Britain. This nobleman had recently distinguished him
self by presenting addresses from some corporations in Scotland
which upheld the doctrine of hereditary right in terms more
significant than any yet employed by Tories. The Whigs of
course interpreted his introduction to office as an almost open
avowal of Jacobitism on the part of the Ministers. But there
is no evidence that Mar entertained at this time any decided
predilection for the Stuarts. He had up to a recent date been
* Dartmouth's Note to Burnet.
VOL. II. H H

466 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
reputed a zealous Whig, and had cordially promoted tbe Union.
His efforts to obtain tfie favour of George were unremitting
down to tfie very moment of his breaking out into rebellion ;
and to (fiat last unfiappy step fie seems to tave been urged less
by any sympathy for the Pretender than by the sense of dis
appointment which he experienced in common with Bolingbroke,
Ormond, and other leaders of the Tory party. Dartmouth at
the same time was made Privy Seal, and relinquished his
secretaryship, which was given to the Speaker, Bromley. The
• grounds for believing that Dartmouth, high Tory as he was,
was adverse to the Hanoverian succession, are altogether
insufficient.* A gold medal commemorative of the peace was distributed to
each member of the Parliament upon the prorogation. Tbe
reverse exhibited Britannia waving an olive-branch over an
agricultural landscape and a sea crowded with shipping. In
August the Parliament was dissolved, and soon afterwards the
writs were issued for returning a new Parliament on the 12th
of November.!
To a large proportion of Englishmen it seemed that the
destinies of the country would probably depend upon the
character of the representatives who should now be chosen.
Carefully as the growing infirmities of Anne were kept from
tfie public knowledge, a general opinion prevailed that the
cfiances of her surviving another triennial Parliament were but
small. And who would be her successor ? Would a majority
of the nation stand firmly to tfie Protestant religion, take up
arms, if necessary, to repel tfie prince wfio, by right of birth,
was their sovereign, and render obedience to an unknown
German ? Or would those precepts touching the sinfulness of
resistance which English clergymen had from time immemorial
inculcated upon their congregations, triumph, when the hour of
trial came, over acts of Parliament ; and would the Prince of
Wales, Papist as he might be, be suffered to make his way
* My opinion generally is that too much stress has been laid on the reports
of these Jacobite emissaries. They were sanguine men who imagined that the
great body of Englishmen thought as they did. I cannot help thinking that
they frequently exaggerated any expressions of attachment for the exiled family
which important personages let fall.
t Lettres Historiques ; Historical Mercury ; Oldmixon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 467
unopposed to the throne of his ancestors ? That so much
anxiety should have existed upon this subject may now appear
matter of surprise. The utter insiguincance of that party in
England which was in favour of a restoration was so fully
demonstrated only a year afterwards by the total absence of all
resistance to the mere parliamentary title of George, that all
doubts of tbe future seem ludicrously unfounded. That the
whole nation was at this time tormented by fours about tbe
succession may be ascribed without hesitation to certain formulas
constantly in the mouths of the clergy and laity of the Tory
party. What was to be thought of men whose favourite theme
was that the power of kings was from God, that rebellion
against them was as the sin of witchcraft, and who in every
address tbey presented to Anne introduced the doctrine of
hereditary right and the unlawfulness of resistance ? Was it
not to be supposed that the practice of such men would be a little
in conformity with their principles, that they were convinced of
the sinfulness of the Revolution, and were desirous to atone for
their guilt by calling back the son of James to the throne ?
Yet the occurrences of each day show how many precepts of
religion there are to which men listen with devout respect, but
without the smallest intention of shaping their conduct by them.
Every Christian is constantly reminded that, if a fellow creature
purloins from him a garment, it is his duty, instead of taking
offence, to offer the thief as many more garments as his wants
or his covetousness may require ; and that if an enemy deals
him a blow on the cheek, he should, so far from retaliating,
present the other cheek to the smiter. Yet thieves and bullies
have long since discovered that professors of the gospel are no
more to be robbed and insulted with impunity than the most
unbelieving pagan in the land. The doctrine of non-resistance
to kings, educed from the writings of Saint Paul, is plainly one
of the most absurd that ever impressed itself upon the human
imagination. It does seem remarkable to the sense of modern
times that, because the apostle very properly cautioned a handful
of helpless sectaries not to commit suicide by affronting the
overwhelming power of Nero, his words should have been
regarded down to the eighteenth century as a divine command
to great nations to submit like lambs to the violence and caprices
H H 2

468 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
of any half-witted tyrant to whom the sceptre had descended in
due course. But in truth, whether the Tories regarded the
doctrine as of divine origin or not it is sufficiently clear that
very few of them entertained any design of fulfilling it by
supporting James against the sovereign who had been nominated
by the Parliament. The phrases " divine right," " hereditary
right," and "non-resistance," may be considered as having lost
all practical meaning to those who uttered them, and as having
degenerated into mere war-cries, or masonic signs by which a
Tory recognized his friends.
The alarm which the repetition of these formulas created
among the Whigs only encouraged their antagonists to assert
them with greater frequency and vehemence. The Whigs,
indeed, were almost distracted by tbeir apprehensions of the
future. Visions of priests flaunting in procession along Cheap-
side and Fleet Street, of pious Churchmen ejected from tbeir
livings and subjected to indignities at the hands of a Popish
sovereign, of French dragoons and Irish cut-throats quartered
on English homesteads, and driving the people to mass at the
point of the bayonet, seem to have disturbed the tranquillity
of many excellent persons. Tfie leaders of the party assumed
as a matter of course that the Queen was concerting plans with
her Ministers for the succession of the Pretender. The
Hanoverian resident was beset from morning till night by
anxious visitors, and despatched letter after letter to his court
filled with the suggestions and entreaties to which the fears of
his visitors gave rise. There was, in the opinion of the Whigs,
but one way by which the House of Hanover could preserve to
itself the succession to the English throne. If it should be
thought impossible to send over at once the immediate heir,
the aged Princess Sophia, the Elector, or at all events his son,
the Electoral Prince, should come and remain on tbe spot, with
full powers to assume the government as soon as the demise
should take place. Unless this provision were made, the Minis
ters would, when the dissolution of Anne appeared imminent,
have time to summon the Pretender into the kingdom ; and if
once he assumed the regal authority, habit and superstition
would paralyze the minds of five-sixtfis of tfie population. An
interval of a few fiours might suffice to destroy the fabric of

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 469
the Protestant succession. The nation would sink spell-bound
under the mystic influence of hereditary right. Fortunately
for the eomfort of Anne's last days the German heirs to the
throne were unwilling, and indeed unable, to act on this advice.
They had perhaps little personal affection for the Queen ; but
they wisely shrank from taking a step which, they knew, would
cause her deep pain, which she would certainly resent by every
means in her power, and which might have the effect of array
ing against themselves the great body of her subjects, who,
whatever might be their sentiments as regarded the succession,
resented her grievances as their own. It was moreover judged
dangerous and impracticable that the heir or a regent should
attempt the journey without being escorted by a fleet ; and how
was a fleet to be obtained ? The Dutch were not likely to lend
their ships for an undertaking that would exasperate the Queen
and her Ministers. It was decided therefore to rely upon those
measures of precaution which had been prescribed by the Act
of Regency. Sealed packets containing the names of persons
duly authorized by tbe Princess to assume the regency upon
the demise had been already deposited with the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and the Hanoverian resident.
There bad been some informality in these observances ; but this
was now rectified.*
The literary adherents of both factions were of course iu full
activity, and considerable sums of money were expended in
diffusing their productions. The action of the recent Parlia
ment touching the treaty of commerce furnished a good field
for dispute ; but here it was evident, from the greater favour
with which tbe Whig pamphlets were received, that the
country sided with the rejecters of the treaty. The extreme
Tory performances, however, did not want readers. A book of
singular boldness made its appearance during the month of
October, entitled "The Hereditary Right of the Crown of
England asserted," in which the author, a non-juring clergy
man, endeavoured to prove from examples in English history
that allegiance was not due, and never had in fact been univer
sally rendered, to a king in possession whose lineal title was
imperfect. The Ministers felt themselves compelled to take
* Macpherson Papers.

470 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
proceedings against the audacious propounder of these doctrines.
A heavy sentence was passed on the culprit, but the Ministers,
with that good nature which they invariably manifested
towards literary men, procured its remission by the Crown;
and the apparent significance of this act of grace added not a
little to the suspicions of the Whigs.* Richard Steele, who
Was then aspiring to a seat in Parliament, thought proper to
produce a pamphlet on the other side called the "Crisis," to
which his party gave a wide circulation. It consisted merely
of a reprint of the Acts of Parliament relating to the succes
sion, and of a pompous exhortation to every one, especially
clergymen, to read them. The only gratifying result, as far as
can be known, of this book, which, as will shortly be seen,
ruined its author, was that it drew from Swift one of the
wittiest reviews in the language. Defoe, the most imprudent
of geniuses, narrowly escaped being a second time pilloried
and incarcerated. The manner in which the public had misin
terpreted his "Shortest Way with the Dissenters," should have
warned him of the danger of employing irony. He now pub
lished two pamphlets, of which one was entitled "Reasons
against the Succession of the House of Hanover," and the other
" Considerations of the Advantages of the Pretender's possessing
tbe Crown of Great Britain." Tbe object, no doubt, was by
an attractive title to facilitate the sale of a book written with
intentions diametrically opposed to the promise of the title-page.
But, as may well be supposed, twenty persons heard of the
treasonable title for one person who read the book. The
Whigs, without troubling themselves to examine the pages,
raised an outcry. The attention of the Ministers was drawn to
tbe obnoxious little works ; and Defoe, to make his peace, was
compelled to resort to means sufficiently fiumiliating for an
author. He presented a petition to the Queen stating that
the titles and arguments of his books were intended in an
ironical sense ; and this excuse, conveyed to the understanding
of Anne by the good-humoured Oxford, was, after an interval
of anxious delay, admitted as an atonement for the offence.
Fortified by tfiese literary stimulants, tfie electors of England
* There is a long account of this book in Chamberlen's History of Queen
Anne.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 471
proceeded to the poll. It was soon evident that, in spite of
the unpopular treaty of commerce, the great bulk of the nation
remained firm in its attachment to the Tory Administration.
It was in vain that the Whig candidates wore in their hats
locks of wool to remind an ungrateful people by this display of
the staple commodity, of their devotion to the trade and pros
perity of the commonwealth. The oak-leaf which was sported
by their rivals appealed successfully to the hearts of thousands
of rustic voters. The gentleman who bore that beautiful sym
bol in his hat had, it was conceived, a spirit above the sordid
considerations of commerce, of progress, education, and science.
He was hearty in the cause of monarchy and the Established
Church, and abhorred such impious doctrines as that kings might
lawfully be resisted. In London indeed the Whigs recovered
their former position, and after a searching scrutiny into the
votes polled by their opponents, succeeded in carrying all four
seats. But at the close of the elections the party found itself
outnumbered in the House of Commons by at least two mem
bers against one.*
Even for this position the Whigs were indebted to the result
of the elections in Scotland. The assistance they had so
iniquitously afforded to the Scotch members in their attempt to
tear asunder the United Kingdom rendered them for the
moment the popular party in North Britain. The cry for dis
solving the bonds between England and Scotland rang all over
this part of the island. At Edinburgh, the electors who
returned Lockhart placed in his hands a petition that the Union
might be dissolved, with a request that he would present it to
the House of Commons. They then assembled in different
parts of the city to drink to the Queen's health and the speedy
accomplishment of their wishes. It had become necessary to
keep the Jacobites under by military force. A party in the
metropolis which had determined to celebrate the Pretender's
birthday by parading through the streets his effigy clothed in
the royal robes, and by burning the effigies of the Princess
Sophia and the Elector of Hanover, was only prevented from
fulfilling tfieir design by tfie appearance of twelve companies
of horse and foot. At Montrose, where no soldiers were at
* Lettres Historiques ; Oldmixon ; Chamberlen.

472 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
hand, a similar demonstration of feeling actually took place.*
The only consolatory circumstance which an Englishman could
discern in the aspect of Scotland was that at this conjuncture
the commission of the general assembly put forth "a seasonable
warning against the dangers of Popery." The Ministers and
Elders admitted indeed that the Union was a great evil ; but
they argued that to expect a remedy from the Pretender was
nothing but a delusion and a bait to the simple. And even in
the case that the Pretender should be disposed to gratify
Scotchmen on this point, to what, they reasoned, would the
concession amount if it were accompanied with the unutter
able evils of a tyrannical Government and the abominations of
Popery ?
The struggles between the Whigs and Tories of Dublin had,
for some time past, been watched with nervous anxiety by their
partisans in England. One of the first acts of the Ministry
upon acceding to power had been to reward Sir Constantino
Phipps for bis defence of Sacheverell by restoring to him the
Chancellorship of Ireland. This lawyer was pleased to find
upon his arrival at Dublin that Wharton, during the three
months he had resided there as Lord Lieutenant, had not had
sufficient time, with all his energy, to root out the Tories from
the government of the city. The municipal offices were pretty
equally divided between the members of the opposed factions.
The encouragement Phipps afforded to his own party soon
turned the balance. Under his administration of the law the
Whigs complained that the I rish Papists had grown as bold as
when Tyrconnel ruled tbe kingdom as the instrument of James.
The lenity with which he treated political scribblers was the
exact counterpart of the conduct of the Ministers at home. It
seemed that no enunciation of Jacobitical principles could pro
voke him to dart the thunderbolts of the law at the head of the
venturesome author. His strange placability in this respect,
coupled with his interference in a dispute about the election of
a mayor which, for more than a year, had inflamed the city,
enraged the Whigs almost to madness. The Roman Catholic
gentry and the savage hordes of the native population sided on
all occasions with the Tories. The Protestant dissenters, who
* Lockhart's Memoiis; Le.tres Historiques; Wright's History of Scotland.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 473
were numerous, took the part of the Whigs ; and the conse
quence was that Dublin was the scene of continual tumults
which were not unfrequently attended with bloodshed. At
this conjuncture the necessity of obtaining fresh supplies for
carrying on the government of Ireland compelled the summon
ing of a Parliament. It was decided tfiat Shrewsbury, whose
winning address and manners were often found to act as a
charm upon heated politicians, should fill tfie office of Lord
Lieutenant. He was accordingly recalled from France, and,
after a short delay in England, proceeded to Dublin .
If it were a principal object of tfie Ministers to enhance the
power of the Tories and to depress the Whigs, their choice of
Shrewsbury was not a fortunate one. Although this nobleman
had been impelled by envy or patriotic detestation of Marl
borough's monopoly of power to ally himself with Tory states
men, he had never become, or even pretended to become, a con
vert to Tory principles. He was strongly attached to the
scheme of the Protestant succession, and shared the suspicions
which tbe Whigs entertained of men who were for ever talking
of the divine right of kings. The state of exhilaration in which
he found the Papists and Jacobites upon his arrival urged him,
as a matter of conscience, to declare himself without reserve.
The anniversary of William's birthday was celebrated at the
castle with more than the usual magnificence. Iu tfie course
of the banquet the Lord Lieutenant announced that his political
principles were the same as in 1688, and drained a bumper to
the pious and glorious memory of the late King. The Tories
were greatly mortified by this profession of Whiggism, and one
clergyman expressed his vexation in a manner which excited
roars of laughter among the opposite faction. The Bishop of
Cork remarked to his congregation that drinking to the
memory of the dead was a wicked custom, and savoured of
Popery. Drinking to the dead, it seemed to bim, was like
praying for the dead.
Passions were wound up to such a height in Dublin, that it
was apprehended the elections would not pass off without a
riot ; and notwithstanding the precautions taken by the
Sheriffs, a riot did actually occur. The Tory candidates went
to the polling-place with all the rabble of the city at their

474 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
heels. As soon as it became known that the day was going in
favour of the Whigs, there was a rush towards the hustings.
The scaffolding was torn down, and the electors were pelted off
the ground. The soldiers then came on the scene, and tried to
disperse the mob by firing blank cartridges. But the sticks
and stones of the Irish rascals at length proved too much for
their patience. A few of them fired with ball, and several per
sons in the crowd were wounded, though one man only was
shot dead. The Whig candidates were eventually returned.
Shrewsbury, in his speech to the Parliament, made a very
earnest exhortation to unanimity. But words which the sove
reign herself had tried without effect in tfie far less troubled
atmosphere of England were uttered to the winds in Ireland.
It became at once evident by tbe success of the Whigs of the
Lower House in the election of a Speaker, that this faction had
the upper hand in the most effective part of the Parliament,
They soon showed tbeir determination to be contented upon
some matters which lay near their hearts. Their first measure
was to appoint a committee to prepare a bill for attainting the
Pretender and his adherents of high treason, and for offering a
reward to any person who should capture him alive or dead if
be presumed to set foot in Ireland. They next turned with
savage resentment upon Phipps. A Jacobite book named
" Memoirs of the Chevalier de St. George," the publisher of
which had escaped punishment through the intercession of the
Chancellor, was now voted a seditious and treasonable libel ;
and a resolution was passed that an address should be presented
to the Crown praying for the removal of an officer wfio repre
sented as an object of mercy a person so dangerous to tbe Com
monwealth. The House of Lords, where the Tories mustered
in strength, stood forth to befriend Phipps ; and thus two
addresses were soon on their way to London, one complaining
of the oppression under which the kingdom groaned through
the evil administration of the highest legal dignitary, and the
other eulogising the Chancellor as a discerning and vigilant
officer, a true lover of tfie Churcfi, and a zealous assertor of the
prerogative. Fortunately for the Government, the Commons
did not carry their enmity to the point of withholding a supply
until their request was granted. Shrewsbury was enabled

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 475
before Christmas'Day to give the royal assent to a bill renewing
the duties on beer and spirits. He then, in obedience to
instructions from home, prorogued and afterwards dissolved a
Parliament which promised to engender nothing but disputes
between its two Houses.*
Meanwhile the anxiety which had long prevailed in England
respecting tbe Queen's health had culminated in a panic. On
Christmas Eve, Anne, who was then residing at Windsor Castle,
was seized with a paroxysm of fever, arising probably from
suppressed gout, and for several hours remained in a state of
unconsciousness. She recovered ; but several relapses ensued ;
and it was a fortnight before the Ministers were relieved from
their fears for her life by seeing Iter in tortures from tfie open
declaration of the malady. t Their conduct during this critical
period was closely watched and variously interpreted by Whig
and Jacobite spies. Schutz, the Hanoverian agent, attended
Oxford like his shadow ; but could extract little information
from that mysterious personage. An audience at the public
levee which he held at his own house was of small utility : for
although the Minister, with a solemn look of business, would
make a pretence of taking the agent apart, his eye was always
on the company, and he would continually break off the conver
sation to go and salute any acquaintance who chanced to drop
m. Private interviews at the Treasury proved just as futile.
To the most important questions Oxford would reply with polite
inquiries after the Elector's health, and would regret that his
occupations and domestic affairs did not allow of his seeing his
questioner more frequently. J In the City all was consternation.
Humours circulated from time to time that the Queen was dead,
that an armament was in preparation at Brest to convey the
Pretender to these shores, that the Irish regiments were hurrying
towards Calais or Boulogne, and that several clans of High
landers secretly hired by the Ministers were about to march
southward and join the Pretender as soon as he landed. There
was the usual run on the Bank, and the usual assertion by the
Tories that it was excited by the malice of tfie Wfiigs. Tfie
Lettres Historiques ; Historical Mercury ; Wright's History of Ireland.
t Lettres Historiques ; Lamberty ; bolingbroke to Shrewsbury, January
6—16. 1 Macpherson, Hanover Papers.

476 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
stock fell in the course of a few days from a hundred and
twenty-six to a hundred and sixteen, and the Ministers judged
it expedient to fortify the institution with the loan of fifty
thousand pounds. As soon as Anne was sufficiently convalescent
sfie addressed a letter to the Lord Mayor informing him of her
happy recovery, and enjoined him to use his efforts to contradict
the reports spread by disaffected persons to tfie injury of the
public credit.*
To the meeting of the Parliament the Ministers might look
forward with tranquillity. It might perhaps be doubtful to
which side the balance of the Lords would incline ; but of the
Lower House they might feel absolutely secure. Bolingbroke
was, however, anxious to deprive the Whigs of a weapon they
were for ever brandishing in the eyes of the Tories, and which
was likely to be unsheathed with full pomp in the forthcoming
session, — the alleged insecurity of the Protestant succession.
He conceived hopes that he had hit upon the right plan. Two
days before the Parliament assembled Thomas Harley and a son
of the Secretary Bromley were despatched to Hanover with a
letter from the Queen and with instructions to press the Princess
and the Elector for an explicit answer upon one point. Inas
much, these agents were to represent, as the inclinations of her
Majesty, the laws by which the succession had been established
in the House of Hanover, and the oaths which every person who
entered upon office was compelled to take, continued tfie same
as they ever had been, it was impossible that any real danger
could menace the succession of Hanover. Her Majesty would
therefore take it very ill if any countenance was afforded to a
faction in her kingdom whose sole aim was to regain that power
which, when possessed of it, they had abused. If the Princess
or the Elector had any additional securities to propose, which
were consistent with her Majesty's safety and honour, her
Majesty would not only give her consent to but promote tbeir
proposals. But they might rest assured that proposals that
* Lettres Historiques ; Lamberty; Bolingbroke to the Queen, February 3—
14. In this letter is a passage for which the writer deserved hanging. " Your
Majesty's letter to the Lord Mayor was received with transports of joy. and
will, I hope, put some stop to those infamous proceedings by which the Whigs
have on this occasion shown from the highest of them down to the lowest what
they always had at heart, ingratitude and disloyalty."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 4 1 I
came from other quarters, and which were inconsistent with her
Majesty's dignity and security, would be energetically opposed
by her and by all her faithful servants. The Elector, in answer
to these representations, expressed himself satisfied with what
had been done to secure the succession in his family, and
protested that he reposed full confidence in tfie Queen.*
The last Parliament whicfi Anne was destined to see was
opened by commission on the 16th of February. There was no
speech, as the Queen entertained hopes of being soon able to
deliver her sentiments in person. Sir Thomas Hanmer, who,
by his opposition to the generally unpopular treaty of commerce,
had gained the good opinion of the Wbigs without forfeiting the
confidence of the Tories, was elected to the chair by an unani
mous vote. The proceedings were enlivened by an amusing
incident. Steele, the best of good fellows, the most lively,
amiable and indiscreet of men, had contrived to obtain the
suffrages of the electors of Stockbridge, a little decaying borough
of Hampshire, which was disfranchised in 1832. He entered the
House overflowing with importance, and seized the first oppor
tunity of displaying fiis oratorical talents. After making some
remarks on the bill of commerce, and passing an eulogium on
Hanmer, " I rise," he continued, " to do honour to the gentleman
by whose weight and authority that pernicious bill was thrown
out." These observations from a veteran member would doubt
less have excited no animadversion. But a great part of the
assembly Was scandalized that a new member, a mere writer of
gossiping essays, whom the host of country squires considered as
ranking socially little higher than the rope-dancers and fiddlers
who supplied an idle town witfi amusement, should on the first
day of his Parliamentary experience, instead of feeling abasfied
by his own unworthiness and awed by the august company in
which he found himself, aspire to the position of a leader and
bestow his patronage upon a statesman of high reputation. He
was interrupted by loud cries of " Tatler ! Tatler ! " His
unlucky expression of " rising to do honour " to the Speaker
provoked a roar of derision ; and utterly crestfallen he made
* Swift's Four Last Years of the Queen ; Bolingbroke to Strafford, February
13—24. The letter which Harley conveyed to the Elector was published in the
newspapers.

478 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
his way to the door through a lane of contemptuous critics.
Steele's enemies might have been contented with inflicting so
severe a mortification upon bis vanity. But it was soon manifest
that their resentment lay deeper than to be satisfied by a hearty
laugh at his expense.*
The Houses then adjourned for a fortnight. During the
interval the ratifications of tfie treaties of peace and commerce
witfi Spain, wfiich had been delayed for nearly a year, were
exchanged ; and peace with that country was proclaimed in
London on the 1st of March. The most important articles in
these treaties were the cesssion of Gibraltar and the island of
Minorca to the Queen, and the transference to her or to the
company she might appoint of the assiento contract, implying
the exclusive right of importing negroes into some portions of
the Spanish dominions in Arnerica. Philip agreed at the same
time to accord an amnesty to his revolted subjects, the Catalans,
and to yield the kingdom of Sicily to the Duke of Savoy.
It is happily unnecessary to waste time in the present day in
lamenting the moral organization of British Ministers who, but
one hundred and fifty years ago, could desire tfiat tfieir country
should possess the monopoly of supplying Spanish masters with
negro slaves. Morality is evidently a science which constantly
progresses and makes new discoveries. Socrates gently con
demned certain vices which the more advanced morality of
Christian communities now regards as the most abominable of
crimes. The practice of feeding the hungry and ministering
to the helpless sick was accounted a virtue, not an obligation,
in ancient times. No philosopher, Greek or Roman, thought
it wrong on principle that a conqueror should sell his captives,
a creditor the person of his insolvent debtor, or that a rich
man should be absolute master of the energies of thousands of
his fellow-creatures. In truth, the doctrine that every man
owes it to his fellow-creatures to contribute to their happiness
instead of profiting by their misfortunes, advanced but slowly
even in countries professing a religion of which that doctrine is
the foremost tenet. Tbe explorers in mechanical science had
invented the compass, printing, gunpowder, before the moral
philosopher had discovered that liberty was Nature's gift to
* Parliamentary History.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 470
man, of which he could not be deprived without injustice. The
discovery was, however, at length made, and the slavery of
white men ceased in the most enlightened kingdoms of Europe.
But it was necessary that morality should make further pro
gress before it perceived that the same doctrine applied to black
men as to white. Counting from the period which may
be assigned for tbe abolition of the slavery of white men in
England a century elapsed before speculators arose to convince
the world of sin in enslaving the blacks. Tbe acceptance of the
assiento contract was condemned by many contemporary writers
on the ground of its being adverse to the national interest.
But not one person seems to have imagined that there was
anything immoral or unjustifiable in the business itself. Indeed
a doubt on the subject would have been regarded as impious
by that generation ; for as a matter of universal belief the
blacks were the posterity of Canaan, whom God, speaking
through the mouth of Noah, had condemned to serve his
brethren. The origin of the assiento contract was the need experienced
by the Spaniards of procuring labourers for their mines in
Mexico and the Brazils. Having extirpated with improvident
brutality most of tfie aboriginal population of those countries,
they began, in the seventeenth century, to turn with wistful
eyes to that portion of the globe which Nature seemed to have
predestined as a perpetual source of supply to the wants of the
white lords of mankind. As, however, the Spaniards had no
settlements in Africa, it was necessary for them to make terms
with some power possessed of greater facilities for kidnapping
the blacks. Bargains were struck successively with the
Genoese and the King of Portugal. But as the King of Spain
stipulated always to be paid a high percentage upon the value
of every negro imported, neither the Genoese nor his Portuguese
Majesty found the contract sufficiently profitable to tempt them
to renew it. In 1702 a French company undertook the work
with vigour, and for a time, it was asserted, with good pecu
niary results. But whether from the impediments the war
threw in its way, or from other causes, the prosperity of the
company was of brief duration. Indeed, experience went so far
to prove the worthlessness of the contract that the Queen, in

480 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
treating for its cession to herself, prevailed upon the Catholic
king to concede with it a further important privilege. This
was the right of sending two ships annually, each of five
hundred tons burden, to the Spanish dominions in America
with cargoes of merchandize. The manner in which these
provisions of the treaty were subsequently carried out, the
further concessions which the Spanish Government was induced
to make, the encroachments and tricks of our merchants, which
at length forced on a war between the two countries, cannot be
related here, but they form an interesting and instructive
episode in the history of British commerce.
The Directors of the South Sea Company had been led by
Oxford to expect that the privileges thus secured would be
handed over to them without any detraction. They were much
mortified wfien tfie intimation was made that a full quarter of
the profits would be reserved for assignees of tfie Queen. At a
general meeting of the stock- holders some warm speeches were
made against accepting the contract and its appended privileges
upon such conditions. But the Directors, confident that, even
with this abridgment, the gains of the company by the opening
of commercial intercourse with Spanish America would be very
large, exerted all their influence, and a resolution in favour of
accepting tfie contract was eventually carried. Yet still the
clamour did not cease. Who was the party designed by her
Majesty to share in the profits of tfie company ? Tfie Whigs
had of course their suspicions. It was the Pretender ; it was
Lord Bolingbroke, Arthur Moore, Lady Masham. The Lords
were determined to elucidate this mystery, and continued their
inquiries so pertinaciously that the Queen's advisers were at
length worried or terrified into surrender, and it was announced
tfiat the quarter share would be given up.*
On the 2nd of March, Anne, now grown incapable of walking
and almost of standing, was carried in a chair to the House of
Lords, and delivered from her royal lips the reflections, exhor
tations, and reproaches which her Ministers desired to convey
to the Parliament. She expressed herself much pleased witL
the result of her negotiations with Spain. Many advantages,
she said, which the merchants of England formerly enjoyed by
* Parliamentary History.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 481
connivance were now seeured to them by treaty. She assured the
Houses that she would spare no endeavours to render the peace
universal. It was the glory of the wisest and greatest of the
sovereigns her predecessors to hold the balance of Europe, and
to keep it equal by casting in their weight as necessity required.
By such conduct they insured the prosperity of the kingdom,
and made themselves dreaded by their enemies and useful to
their friends. On such principles had she acted, and doubted
not that her successors would follow her example. The geo
graphical situation of the country suggested its true interests :
it could flourish only by trade, and would be most formidable
by the proper application of its naval force. Some sharp
animadversions upon the Whigs followed these remarks upon
the policy which a British Government ought to pursue. Her
Majesty wished that effectual care had been taken, as she had
often desired, to suppress those seditious papers and factious
rumours by which designing men injured the public credit and
made innocent people suffer. There were parties so actuated
by malice as to insinuate that the Protestant succession was in
danger under her rule. The only object they could have in
distracting the public mind with such imaginary evils was to
disturb the present tranquillity and involve the commonwealth
in real misfortunes. Attempts to weaken her authority, or to
render the Crown uneasy to her, could not be the way to
strengthen the Protestant succession. She had done, and would
continue to do, her best for the welfare of her subjects. It was
upon the Parliament that now devolved the duty of assisting
the nation to recover from the exhaustion into which it had
been thrown by a long war.
Loyal addresses were at once voted by both Houses. In her
answer to the address from the Lords, Anne alluded with
unusual energy to the subject which was constantly preying
upon her mind, the Parliamentary invitation threatened by the
Whigs to some member of the House of Hanover. " You,"
she said, " who stand nearest to the throne will first of all my
subjects feel tfie evil consequences of any diminution of the
regal dignity. It is a great comfort to me that I have your
assurances of support. Depend upon it I will never give way
VOL. II. I I

482 HISTORY OF GREAT BRTIAIN
to any attempt either on the just authority of the Crown or on
your rights and privileges."
To cement the recently formed alliance with the Scotch
Members was an important object of the Whigs ; and accord
ingly no sooner did the Peers proceed to business than Wharton
dexterously availed himself of an opportunity to display the
sympathies of his party with the subjects of the northern part
of the island. Steele had in his " Crisis " descanted upon the
desirableness of maintaining tbe Union, and of cultivating tbe
friendship of the Scotch. This had been enough to rouse all
the malignity of Swift's nature. He hated the Union because
it had been the work of the Whigs. He hated the Scotch for
no better reason than that low-minded one which pervaded the
English nation almost to our own times, because they were
poor. He hated Argyle, now the most prominent representa
tive of the Scottish people, because he would not join with his
friends Oxford and Bolingbroke. In his " Public Spirit of the
Whigs," written at Oxford's instigation, or at all events with
his privity, to confute the arguments put forth in the " Crisis,"
Swift went out of his way to express his contempt of the Scot
tish nobility and people. Even he could not deny that the
Union was expedient as a measure of security to England. " It
might probably," he coolly remarked, "have cost us a war of a
year or two to reduce the Scots." But that the Union could be
advantageous to England in any other point of view he defied
any mortal to sfiow. The notion that there was any equality
in the match he treated as ridiculous. " Imagine a person of
quality prevailed upon to marry a woman much his inferior and
without a groat to her fortune, and her friends arguing that she
was as good as her husband because she brought bim as
numerous a family of poor relations and servants as she found
in his house ! " The pensions and employments which had
been conferred upon some of the Scottish nobility aroused his
spleen. " I could point out some with great titles whose whole
revenues before the Union would have ill maintained a Welsh
justice of the peace." Insults so foul and audacious had
naturally excited a tempest of wrath in the hearts of all the
Scottish representatives in London, and Wharton now rendered
them an acceptable service in calling upon the House to vote

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 483
the pamphlet a scandalous and seditious libel. Oxford, strongly
suspected of some participation in the work, was challenged,
and took refuge in a falsehood. He disclaimed all knowledge
of the author, and joined with the majority in an order to com
mit the printer and publisher into the custody of Black
Rod. Immediately afterwards he wrote to Swift in a counter
feit hand, and enclosed a bank bill for a hundred pounds,
which he desired might be employed in the defence of those
innocent men.* The Whigs did all in their power to discover
the author. They carried their complaint to the throne, and
Anne so far gratified them as to offer a reward of three hun
dred pounds for the information. But Swift had conducted his
affairs with more prudence than generally belonged to the
political writers of his generation. The printer and publisher
either knew nothing, or at all events understood it to be their
interest to reveal nothing, concerning the authorship. In three
days they were set at liberty, and the matter was suffered to
drop.f A Tory House of Commons could not witness the proscrip
tion of a Tory pamphlet without feeling a desire to make re
prisals. The victim singled out was poor Steele. His "Crisis"
was certainly not a performance to electrify a nation : but the
Whigs had chosen for their own purposes to puff it into fame,
and to give it as wide a circulation as money could effect. Tfie
dislike witfi which the Tories regarded the man as an author
was increased by his busy self-importance, his ambition to make
a figure. A petition against the election had been lodged ; but
it stood low on the list, and a numerous party was desirous not
only of getting rid of him quickly, but of branding him with
some special mark of ignominy. Two Members, therefore,
Thomas Harley and Thomas Foley, both near relations of the
Treasurer, drew the attention of the House to the " Crisis " and
to- a periodical called the Englishman, both written by Steele,
and which, they alleged, contained injurious reflections on the
Queen, and were dictated by the spirit of rebellion. The utter
disregard of all principles of law and justice which pervaded
the Houses during this reign whenever party matters were con-
* The letter is printed in Swift's correspondence.
t Lettres Historiques. I I 2

484 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
cerned was certainly never shown more flagrantly than in this
instance. The object of Steele's writings was to enlist the
support of his countrymen for the Protestant succession which
had been established by the Act of Settlement. That there
was any necessity for admonishing people that there existed,
either in the nation generally, in the Parliament, or in the
Queen and her Ministers, any inclination to set aside that Act,
an historian who views the evidence dispassionately may not
now think. But nothing could be more absurd than to deny
that a Pretender to the Crown, who had indubitably the sym
pathies of a powerful and absolute neighbouring sovereign, of
a considerable part of the population of Scotland and of an
unknown number of fanatics in England was a rival to the
Hanoverian family formidable enough to excite anxiety in well-
wishing Protestants. A person who, at a conjuncture when
the minds of many people are supposed to be wavering, exerts
what abilities or influence he possesses to keep his countrymen
steady to the laws, is usually considered as acting meritoriously ;
and such was precisely Steele's case. The Tories argued, how
ever, that to write in support of an established law was to
inculcate a suspicion that there was either in the Sovereign,
her advisers, or the Parliament a design to subvert that law ;
and that whoever inculcated such a suspicion committed the
crime of sedition.
The Whigs exerted themselves warmly in favour of their
author. Steele, carefully primed by Walpole, and with Addi
son sitting by his side as a prompter, spoke at great length in
his defence, and with a modesty and discretion he did not often
display. After he had withdrawn, several eminent Whigs rose
in succession and endeavoured to shake the determination at
which the majority of the House had but too evidently arrived.
Walpole in a powerful speech threw out imputations upon the
Ministers far plainer and more virulent than any which could
be extorted from Steele's writings. " General invectives from
the pulpit," was one of his arguments, " against drinking or
any other specified vice, are not considered as levelled against
any one in particular, except by those persons who know them
selves to be guilty. From the irritation displayed by the
Ministers against the defender of the Protestant succession, it

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 485
becomes, therefore, a fair inference that the writer has hit upon
tbeir besetting vice, which is to obstruct that succession."
Lord Finch, the eldest son of Nottingham, attempted a maiden
speech. He became embarrassed and resumed his scat in con
fusion. "It is strange," he muttered as he sat down, "that
I cannot speak for this man, though I could readily fight for
him." Tbe words were overheard, were repeated from bench
to bench ; and the House, touched by the manly spirit they
evinced, encouraged the young orator by loud cheers to proceed
But the favour shown to Finch personally was not extended to
the cause he pleaded. It was carried by two hundred and fifty-
five votes against a hundred and fifty- two tfiat tfie writings
complained of were scandalous and seditious libels, and that
Steele should be expelled the House.*
Meanwhile the Lords had entered upon their annual debate
touching the state of the nation ; and Whig influence suc
ceeded in carrying several addresses highly disagreeable to the
Ministers. Oxford made one feeble and blundering attempt to
repel tbe suspicion under which he laboured. He moved for
leave to bring in a bill for further securing the Protestant
succession by making it treason to introduce any foreign troops
into the kingdom. It was retorted upon him that such a law
might be turned against the existing guarantees of the suc
cession ; against the Dutch, for instance, who might send over
their soldiers to aid in the establishment of the Hanoverian
family in accordance with their engagements. His lordship
meant, perhaps, to exclude only those troops whom the Pre
tender or his adherents should attempt to introduce. But in
any case the bill was unnecessary. If such troops were
foreigners the law would regard them as open enemies ; if
natives, as rebels and traitors. Anglesea saved the embarrassed
Minister from further ridicule by saying that a peer who made
such a motion must be unacquainted with the method of pro
ceeding in their House. As every Member could bring in any
bill he thought fit without asking leave, it would be time enough
to consider this bill when it was actually before them.
In the next attack which the Whigs made on the Ministers
they had the advantage of being strongly supported by the
* Parliamentary History ; Lettres Historiques.

486 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
feeling of the country. There was a general opinion that the
Catalans, the only people of Spain who had zealously taken
part with the Allies, had been shamefully abandoned to the
mercy of an enraged sovereign . Philip had indeed consented in
his treaty of peace with Great Britain to accord them an amnesty
for their offences. But those ancient privileges which
secured to the province a special Cortes, certain exemptions
from taxation, and the appointment of its own judges, he was
determined to abolish ; and British diplomacy had failed alto
gether to turn him from his purpose. It was natural that a
King of Spain should feel strongly upon this point. The
existence of these privileges had been a source of irritation to
every monarch from the time of Ferdinand. Several attempts
had been made to extinguish them ; but the brave and hardy
Catalans, then, as still, the most energetic, industrious,
and high-spirited people in the Peninsula, had maintained
them successfully against kings as powerful and resolute as
Philip II. , and ministers as treacherous and rapacious as
Olivarez. Philip V. knew that he possessed some advantages
over his predecessors. In former times a King of France had
been ever ready to send assistance to a people in rebellion
against a King of Spain. But that resource was now cut off
from the Catalans, and open to their sovereign. Philip had a
large army of his own on foot, and could reckon upon his
grandfather's troops, engineers, and marshals to assist him in
case of necessity.
The Catalans had taken up arms at the instigation of Darm
stadt and Peterborough ; they had throughout the war
approved themselves faithful and zealous co-operators : their
claims, therefore, upon the xlllies were similar to the claims
which the Elector of Bavaria had upon the King of France.
Yet while Louis struggled, even at the risk of breaking off
negotiations upon which depended the salvation of his kingdom,
to make good terms for the ally who had suffered in fiis cause,
tfie English Ministers, with almost unlimited power of dic
tating conditions to France and Spain, scarcely made an effort
for the Catalans. The truth really is that Bolingbroke, in his
anxiety to conclude the treaty with France, almost entirely
overlooked the position in which this unfortunate people would

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 487
be left. The few English soldiers who remained in the Penin
sula were withdrawn after the suspension of arms ; and tfie
instructions furnished to Lexington amounted to nothing more
than to intercede with his Catholic Majesty on behalf of his
revolted subjects. The Emperor, now standing single-handed
against France, was utterly powerless to execute the work which
had been neglected by the English. He was compelled to draw
together his resources from every quarter ; and Staremberg,
after an abortive attempt to make conditions with Philip, em
barked bis force on some British vessels towards the end of
July. Yet the spirit of the people thus abandoned rose to
enthusiasm. With one voice the hundred members who com
posed the Council of Barcelona resolved to continue the war in
the name of King Charles. To the Duke of Popoli, who
demanded admittance for the troops of King Philip, a peremp
tory refusal was returned. Thousands of zealous hands set to
work to repair the fortifications of Cardena and Barcelona, and
a black flag was hoisted on the Castle of Monjuich bearing the
inscription, " Death, or our privileges maintained ! " The
Catalans had plenty of time to prepare for defence ; for Philip's
army was, by itself, utterly unable to attack any strong city ;
and Louis was anxious to arrive at' some settlement with the
Emperor before sending troops to the aid of his grandson.
In the spring of this year, however, it became known in
England that orders had been issued to Berwick to march with
fifty thousand men into Catalonia; and much sympathy, not
unmixed with a sense of national shame, was felt for the too
certain fate that awaited the inhabitants. Sunderland and
Wharton, Cowper and Halifax, expressed in strong terms their
indignation at the conduct of the Ministers. The House, they
insisted, ought to inquire strictly how this poor people came to
be abandoned after being drawn in to declare for the Emperor.
Bolingbroke replied that the Queen had done her utmost to
preserve to the Catalans their ancient privileges. Her engage
ments, however, with those allies, he contended, subsisted no
longer than while Charles remained in Spain. As soon as he
chose to retire from the country, her Majesty could do no more
than employ her good offices with the King. The Whig lords
were of course not satisfied witfi tfiis answer. God Almighty,

488 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
they urged, had put more effectual means in her hands than
her Ministers had employed. Yet it must have occurred to
them that the mischief, however easily it might once have been
averted, was now beyond remedy. They were forced to con
tent themselves with an address to the Queen, praying her to
continue her interpositions on behalf of the Catalans.*
The debate on the state of the nation was then resumed.
Several vehement harangues were made upon the dangers to
which Europe in general, and the Protestant succession in
particular, were left exposed by the conduct of the Ministers.
" I was assured not many weeks since," said Sunderland, "by
the Minister of tbe Duke of Lorraine, that, notwithstanding
the earnest applications made last session by both Houses for
the removal of the Pretender, no instances had yet been made
to his master for that purpose." " The same gentleman,"
added Halifax, "told me as much only four days ago." After
these allegations the Whigs ventured to divide the House upon
the question whether the Protestant succession was in danger
under the present Administration. A battle commenced which
raged over a wide field. As every Wfiig felt himself at liberty
to arraign tfie Ministers upon every measure since their acces
sion to power, the contest was protracted for seven hours.
Oxford and Bolingbroke had the mortification of seeing several
of tfieir ablest supporters turn against them. Anglesea made a
public atonement for the part he had taken in politics. He
could not doubt, fie said, after fiearing tfie statements of so
many persons of undoubted honour, statements which the
Ministers did not even attempt to confute, that the Protestant
succession was indeed in danger. " I own," he continued,
"that I gave my consent to the cessation of arms, for which I
take shame to myself, and ask of God, my country, and my
conscience pardon. Yet that fault would never have been
committed had the Council not been assured by a noble lord
that the peace would be glorious and advantageous both to her
Majesty and her allies." Oxford tried to defend himself against
this attack. The peace, he asseverated, was as glorious and
advantageous as could be expected, considering the necessity of
affairs and the opposition which the Queen's Ministers encoun-
* Parliamentary History ; Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 489
tered both at home and abroad. But the unhappy Treasurer,
slow in thought, ungraceful in manner, and unblessed with
fluency of speech, was at once borne down by the vehement
tide of Whig oratory. Never, it was thrown back at him, had
Ministers such an opportunity of making an honourable peace
as had those of the Queen. " When I lately crossed and re-
crossed France," exclaimed Argyle, " I beheld the marks of
desolation all around me. I rode forty miles without seeing a
man fit to bear arms. Tfie people were in tfie extremity of
want. Wfiere could have been the necessity of concluding
peace so precipitately with a prince whose dominions were
exhausted of men, money, and provisions ? " The disbanding
of regiments out of their turn, the removal of a multitude of
officers signalised by their attachment to the House of Hanover,
afforded, the Duke went on to say, a clear indication of what
designs were in hand.
In spite, however, of all that the Whigs could urge, the
Ministers carried the day by sheer weight of numbers. Yet
their assailants had the consolation of perceiving the majority
against them now reduced by desertions to twelve only ; and in
high spirits they began a fresh attack. No sooner had the
last decision been reported, than Halifax moved that another
address should be presented to the Queen to renew her instances
to the Court of Lorraine for the removal of the Pretender.
The motion was received with enthusiasm by his party. The
blood of the Whigs was heated by conflict. In their eagerness
to flourish in the faces of their opponents their zeal for the
House of Hanover, they forgot all considerations of respect and
decency for their existing sovereign. They forgot that the
Pretender and Anne were the children of one father. They
forgot even that they were English gentlemen. Wharton pro
posed that a clause should be added to the address desiring her
Majesty to issue a proclamation offering a reward to any one
who should apprehend the Pretender alive or dead. Tfie Duke
of Bolton moved as a furtfier amendment tfiat tfie reward should
be suitable to the importance of the service. No one rose to
offer opposition, and amid loud cries of "Adjourn ! adjourn ! "
from the Tories, the question was put and carried.
Three days afterwards, when the House again assembled, the

490 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Whigs had grown calmer. The address, with its horrible addi
tions, was reported, and Lord North and Grey then ventured to
point out that in this form it was a direct encouragement to
assassins. To set a reward upon any man's head, he said nobly,
was a practice repugnant to Christianity and inconsistent with
the honour and dignity of a nation hitherto renowned for its
clemency. He was followed in the same strain by Trevor, who
declared himself so fully satisfied that such proclamations were
antagonistic to our laws, that were any man, who had been
tempted by them to commit homicide, brought before him as a
judge, he should not hesitate to pronounce him guilty of
murder. He moved that the reward should be confined to ap
prehending the Pretender in case he should land or attempt to
land in Great Britain or Ireland, and that it should be left to
her Majesty's discretion when to issue the proclamation. This
motion was, after some resistance, carried. Cowper and Halifax
were among the dissentients, and scarcely raised their charac
ters in the eyes of posterity by contending that the practice,
however persons might now recoil from it, was systematically
followed by a nation so civilised as the ancient Romans, and
was not unknown even in England. James II. had afforded a
precedent in setting a price on the head of his nephew, Mon
mouth. It was noticed that the bishops were absent on this
occasion. As the preponderance of them were zealous Whigs,
it may not be unfair to presume that the address, as originally
drawn, met with their approval ; but that the same ecclesiastical
delicacy which prevented inquisitors from signing death-war
rants, prompted the English bishops to step aside while a deed
of blood was being done by profane hands for the advantage of
religion. Even in the harmless form, however, to which the address
had now been reduced, it not unnaturally gave offence to Anne.
This was the third time the Whigs had teased her to take mea
sures which they well knew were most unpalatable to her.
What had she done that these men should labour so pertina
ciously to bring her under the suspicion of her subjects ? Had
she omitted any opportunity of assuring them that the crown
should descend in the manner which the Parliament had marked
out ? It seemed as if nothing would satisfy these tyrants unless

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 491
she showed herself to be totally devoid of all natural feeling,
unless she hunted out of every asylum in Europe a young man
whose innocence and misfortunes would have moved the com
passion of any other mortals but Whigs, unless she invited into
her kingdom a German prince who, while impatiently expect
ing her dissolution, would enjoy a kind of rival sovereignty by
becoming the rallying-point of bad men, atheists, and republi
cans, enemies of the Church, and scorners of the divine doctrine
of hereditary right. She answered the deputation who came
with the address, that she could not see any necessity at present
for such a proclamation : she would issue it if a necessity arose.
" I think," she added sharply, " the best way of strengthening
the Protestant succession would be to bring to a close the
groundless fears and jealousies which are so industriously pro
moted." That same day the leading Whigs, at a consultation held
beneath the roof of Halifax, formed a new proj ect. To get some
member of the Hanoverian family into the kingdom was
regarded by the whole party as a point absolutely essential to
the Protestant succession. Yet it was almost beyond hope that
an invitation to any member of that family could be wrung from
Anne either by violence or persuasion. There was a way, how
ever, by which the Electoral Prince might come over without
committing any offence wfiich the sovereign could publicly
resent. He had been created Duke of Cambridge. He was
consequently a peer of the realm, and as such entitled to the
usual writ of summons to Parliament. Schutz, who was present
at the meeting, undertook to call upon the Chancellor, and
make the demand in the Prince's name. He accordingly
waited upon Harcourt. That personage, taken completely by
surprise, was in great perplexity how to answer his visitor.
He objected faintly that it was not customary to issue writs to
peers out of the kingdom. He was careful, however, to impress
upon the envoy that he did not refuse compliance with his
request. He only thought it proper first to communicate witfi
the Queen. Tfie anger and terror wfiicfi struggled in tfie
breast of tfie poor lady wfien tfiis new stratagem of tfie enemy
was announced to her, may well be imagined. A Cabinet
Council was forthwith held. There appeared no good reason

492 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
for refusing the request, and the Chancellor was therefore
instructed to issue it at once. The master of the ceremonies
waited, however, upon Schutz, and intimated to him that the
Queen's displeasure had been so much aroused by his making
such a demand without previously acquainting her with his
orders upon the subject, that she declined to receive him into
her presence again. This was the sole result of this ill-con
sidered manoeuvre. Schutz, an enthusiast, who participated in
all the wild fears and schemes of the Whigs, had not only acted
without orders from his Court, but even in direct contravention
of what he knew to be the pleasure of his master. George
had plainly declared, both to him and his friends in England,
that without a formal invitation from the sovereign, neither
he nor any member of his family would set foot in the
country.* The first effect, fiowever, of Schutz's application for the writ
was to inspire the Whigs with fresh anticipations of triumph,
and to increase their numbers by some peers who were waver
ing between their duty to or their hopes from the dynasty that
was going out, and the dynasty that was coming in. As her
Majesty's answer to the address about the Pretender was
thought scarcely satisfactory, it was determined to move for a
new address, which, under the pretext of thanking her for her
answer to the former one, should set forth the reasons which
had induced the House to present it. The Ministers strove
their utmost to limit this new emanation of Whiggism to a mere
recapitulation of her Majesty's words. The division of
Members present actually proved equal. Sixty-one peers
voted on each side. A majority of two proxies gave a bare
victory to the Tories.
It was indeed time to distinguish by some definitive test who
were for and who were against the Ministers, and a motion
soon afterwards brought forward in the House of Commons
seems to have been specially designed with this object. On the
15th of April Sir Edward Knatchbull, a Tory, and one of the
Members for Kent, introduced the subject of the Protestant
succession ; and the question was put in committee whether it
* Macpherson, Hanover Papers ; Bolingbroke to Strafford, April 23, May 4.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 493
was in danger under her Majesty's Government. Hanmer, the
Speaker, supported the Whigs, and the division which followed
showed that Hanmer was not the only Tory who had conceived
suspicions of the Ministers. Two hundred and eight Members
against two hundred and fifty-six sfiowed tfiat the majority in
favour of the Ministers was suffering diminution.

494 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

CHAPTER XV.
It was an object of first importance to tfie Ministers to secure a
Parliamentary approval of their treaties of peace before- that
day should arrive — which seemed now to be approaching fast —
when a hostile sovereign would leave them to the mercy of their
enemies. The precarious state of the Queen's health, and the
desertions that had commenced from their ranks, warned them
to delay this measure no longer. The nobleman who under
took to move for the desired address was the Earl of Clarendon.
As Lord Cornbury he had more than a quarter of a century
before distinguished himself as the first English, officer who
openly betrayed the trust reposed in him by his sovereign, and
who set the example of deserting to the camp of the invader.
Since that time he had been during six years Governor of New
York, and had in that capacity also done things which deserve
commemoration. He was one of the first of a series of aris
tocratic imbeciles who widened the breach between England
and her colonies, and who did more by his actions than any
Transatlantic demagogue could have done by arguments to con
vince the Americans of the necessity of their taking up arms to
preserve their dignity and freedom.* Such was the peer who
now moved for an address of thanks to her Majesty for having
by a safe, honourable, and advantageous peace, delivered these
nations from a long and consuming land war. The Whigs
stood aghast at the impudence of the proposal. " My lords,'-
exclaimed Cowper, " this is the most barefaced attempt that
was ever made by a Ministry to secure themselves by obtaining
the approval of the House for what they have done." " I know
of nothing in our history resembling it," observed Nottingham,
* In a letter from Bothmar to Robethon, June 4—15, 1714, it is stated that he
thought it necessary for him as repiesenting tho Queen to dress like a woman.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 495
u except an address of thanks which was procured by the Duke of
Suffolk in the reign of Henry VI. to shield himself from the
consequences of having betrayed the interests of his country in
a treaty he bad made with France. But this man wtts after
wards called to an account notwithstanding, and I stiy no more
of him because he came to an untimely end." Whig eloquence
appears to have shown with special brilliancy in the debate
which ensued. Halifax endeavoured to kindle indignation in
the Tory peers by dwelling upon the anguish which must have
torn the bosom of that true Englishman, the Duke of Ormond,
when he received those shocking orders which compelled him
to restrain the glorious ardour of his soldiers. Burnet tried
to work upon his hearers by logic. " No law or reason," he
argued, " can be given for one ally disengaging himself from
his partners without acquainting them first tfiat fie fiad done
his ultimas conatus, and tfiat to proceed further would be to
bim certa per nicies." "But that," retorted his brother-bishop,
the late plenipotentiary, " was our own case. We had, in fact,
arrived at our ultimus conatus, and for aught I know, to proceed
further would have been for us certa pernicies." " From what
I can gather," observed Wharton, " this is the ultimus conatus
of the Ministers ; and if they fail to carry this address, it will
be to them certa pernicies." Against this raging sea of argu
ment, indignation, and sarcasm, however, the Tories stood their
ground as immovable and, as far as any record remains, as
silent as rocks. They were able to count eighty-two votes
against sixty-nine, and the address, as worded in Clarendon's
motion, was sent down to the Commons for their concurrence.*
This concurrence, from the great preponderance of the
Tories in the Lower House, there cquld be no difficulty in
obtaining. But the Ministers, especially Bolingbroke, had
been greatly irritated by the random reflections and misrepre
sentations which the Whigs had thrown out with regard to
their conduct. It was their desire to set themselves right with
the public. Two documents were accordingly laid upon the
table of the Commons. One of these, which bears marks of
being drawn by Bolingbroke himself, gave a brief history of
the negotiations with France. If, it was contended, there were
* Parliamentary History.

496 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
any points in the treaties which fell short of what people might
reasonably expect, those persons were solely to blame who had
multiplied obstructions in the way of the Ministers while the
negotiations were in progress. This was the argument invari
ably put forward by the Ministers and their apologists to justify
the acceptance of terms which, both in that age and for many
subsequent generations, were considered as being far below
what England was in a position to claim on behalf of herself
and her allies. Yet such reasoning could satisfy only those
Tories who, in their determination to disagree with the Whigs,
were not disposed to criticize the actions of the Ministers. If
one ally will persist in carrying on negotiations for peace on a
footing held to be totally inadmissible by all his partners, he
must expect that obstructions will be thrown in his way. An
ally, moreover, who, just at the moment when the common
enemy is believed to be on the point of surrendering at dis
cretion, suddenly withdraws from the war, will be justly
censured to the very end of time if the peace afterwards made
turns out to be less advantageous and glorious than people had
hoped for.
The second document was one of great value, and well cal
culated to have its effect on the minds of that large class of
persons who measure the prosperity of a nation by its accumu
lation of gold and silver, and who could not hear of the heap
diminishing without raising a cry that the country was on the
road to ruin. From this document it appeared that the annual
payments on account of the army, which, at the outbreak of the
war, did not much exceed seventeen hundred thousand pounds,
gradually increased until the year 1710, when the payments
were four millions and a quarter. The total cost of both army
and navy from October, 1701, to the end of September, 1713,
reached nearly sixty-six millions. It was computed that eleven
hundred thousand a year sufficed to maintain army and navy in
time of peace. If then a sum of thirteen millions, representing
the ordinary expenses for a period of twelve years, be deducted
from the sixty-six millions of actual disbursements, the con
clusion is reached that the cost to the country of the war of the
Spanish succession was fifty-tfiree millions.*
* The Report is printed in Somers's Tracts.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 497
Much vehement criticism was expended on the treaty of
commerce with Spain. But the Whigs judged it hopeless to
attempt a division ; and the address of thanks for the peace
was presented by both Houses. Further to strengthen the
security of her Ministers, Anne, in acknowledging the address,
referred to it as the united voice of her affectionate and loyal
subjects. Common fears for the future had induced Oxford and Boling
broke to combine in raising this necessary barrier against the
vengeance which the Whigs would be certain to demand as
soon as the Hanoverian was on the throne. But it was the last
time they acted in concert. Their old friendship, if any feeling
approaching that name ever existed between two such natures,
was now entirely at an end. From the first they had held
dissimilar views as to the line of policy it behoved them to
pursue. Oxford, perfectly contented with having driven the
Marlborough party from its monopoly of power, and seeing
very few Tories qualified by abilities and experience to take
part in the government of the country, had been inclined to
accept the aid of such Whigs who would cheerfully coalesce
with him and submit to consider him their chief. Bolingbroke
had regarded any such compromise as the height of folly. It
was to his judgment unaccountable that when a vast majority of
the landowners of England, great and small, were Tories, when
eighty clergymen out of every hundred might be depended
upon for instilling Tory principles into the hearts of their con
gregations, when three-fourths of the members of the House of
Commons and half the Peers were on the side of the Govern
ment, and when a sovereign was on the throne who held
Whiggish doctrines in horror, any Minister should think it
necessary, or even prudent, to pay court to a party which, how
ever brilliantly composed, was still but a small and unpopular
minority of the nation. The consequences of this policy he
prophesied would be that many influential Tories, whose reason
able claims to office were disregarded, would fall away into
opposition, while the administration would disappoint that
great mass which looked to be gratified by some cruel bill
against tfie Dissenters. But Oxford would not be warned.
More than three years had passed, and still no radical measures
VOL. II. K K

498 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
had been taken against the Whigs. The lords-lieutenants, the
justices of the peace appointed in the time of Godolphin, had
not been changed ; the country remained to a great extent in
Whig hands. Bolingbroke's predictions wexe being verified.
The Tories were dropping away from the side of the Ministers ;
the Whigs were recovering their old ascendency. Tbe Queen
was evidently sinking into her grave. There was not a
moment to be lost. If the demise occurred before tbe entire
Government was in Tory hands, the least that Ministers could
apprehend was to be driven at once and for ever from power.
Bolingbroke, young, vigorous, and ambitious, was determined
not to submit to such a fate without at least an effort to avert
it. He roused all his genius to fling from him the dawdling
politician who was content to wait till ruin overtook the whole
party. A strong suspicion that Oxford was acting the part of
a traitor had taken possession of his mind. That his colleague
was capable of treachery of the meanest kind he had felt con
vinced ever since his disappointment in the matter of the
peerage. He could not imagine why he should neglect measures
so obvious, so essentially necessary to the safety of himself and
others, except upon the supposition that he was trying to make
a private peace for himself with the future sovereign and the
Whigs. Oxford, on his part, seems to have suspected that
Bolingbroke's anxiety to make a clean sweep of the Whigs from
the civil, military, and naval services of the country arose from
some mad design of restoring the Pretender.* Between two
men of frank characters an explanation might have ensued
which would have restored mutual confidence. But it was not
in Oxford's nature to be open, nor in Bolingbroke's to conceal
the contempt he felt for Oxford. It was in vain that mutual
friends expostulated, exhorted, and devised stratagems for
bringing the pair together. Swift prided himself upon his
ingenuity in having once put them in a coach together without
other company, persuaded that an understanding would surely
be arrived at during a four-hours' journey to Windsor.f But
he was disappointed. There, could, in fact, be no understand-
• Compare Bolingbroke's correspondence withOxfo.d's letter to the Queen,
June 9, 1714 ; Cadogan toBothmar, May 7—18, and several other letters in the
Mac|jherson Papers.
t Inquiry into the Queen's Last Ministry ; Macpherson Papers.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 499
ing between daring and energy on the one side and timidity and
distrust on the other. Bolingbroke would be satisfied only with
a crusade against the Whigs ; and Oxford, in addition to his
terror of making enemies, was more than half suspicious that
his colleague was bent on entrapping him into some treasonable
scheme. Under these circumstances Bolingbroke determined to assume
that leadership of the Tory party which Oxford had allowed to
slip out of bis hands. He had now many advantages over his
partner. Time had done much to reverse the original position
which the two statesmen occupied in the eyes of the public.
Only three years before, the name of Harley had commanded
almost universal respect. He was regarded as an excellent type
of what an English gentleman ought to be, moral, grave, learned,
and supremely attached to the Church of England. It had
been expected that under his auspices a new era would com
mence, when Dissenters would be prevented by orthodox and
pious magistrates from encroaching on the spiritual domains of
the Church, and when standing armies, stockjobbing, and such
like unseemly innovations on the good old times, would be
vigorously put down. The Queen looked upon him from much
the same point of view as her people. A man so decorous and
so wise in appearance was the proper repository of the con
fidence of a decorous and pious sovereign. His popularity
reached its zenith after Guiscard's attempt on his life, and from
that period it began to decline. The nation waited in vain for
bills to protect the Church. The crowd of rustic squires in
Parliament waited in vain for permission to occupy the places
of authority still held by Whigs. The result of Oxford's
timorous policy was, therefore, that by the close of 1713 he
found himself with scarcely a single political supporter. One
ally, whose services had once been of inestimable advantage to
him, and whose opportunities to befriend or injure were still
great, he had wholly alienated. For some cause, which rumour
whispered was disappointment about the Assiento contract, Lady
Masham had conceived a spite against her cousin, and was fond
of showing her contempt of him before company. On the other
hand, the commanding talents of Bolingbroke had raised him to
the highest place in the estimation of the Tory party, and it
k k 2

500 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
was to him that men now looked for the measures they had
been so long expecting.
The effect of his determination was speedily shown. On the
12th of May a motion was made in the House of Commons by
Sir William Wyndham, one of Bolingbroke's most intimate
friends, for leave to bring in a bill to prevent the growth of
schism, and for the further security of the Church of England.
The bill was suffered to pass without impediment through the
first stages ; but at the third reading the Whigs mustered all
their strength to defend that oppressed section of their country
men who looked to them for protection. The object of the bill
was to revive and confirm a tyrannical clause in the Act of
Uniformity, which precluded schoolmasters and tutors from
giving instruction without previously subscribing a declaration
of conformity with the Established Church. The Toleration Act
had contained nothing to abrogate this restriction on education.
But during that long period when Whig influence predominated
in the Parliament the operation of the law had been virtually
suspended, and many of the youth of England had been noto
riously brought up by divines whose principles shocked the
consciences and aroused the indignation of orthodox believers.
Tfie bill before tfie House imposed severe penalties upon all
tutors and scfioolmasters wfio presumed to instruct without
having first obtained a licence from a Bishop, which licence
was not to be granted except upon production of a certificate
tfiat tfie applicant fiad received tfie sacrament in the form pre
scribed by the Church.
The bill was not inaptly compared by the Whigs for its cruelty
and subtlety to the famous decree by which the Emperor Julian
attempted to extinguish. Christianity. The natural consequence
of passing such a bill, Stanhope pointed out, would be to increase
the tendency to foreign education. Two evils resulted from
sending our youth abroad : it occasioned a drain of money
from the kingdom ; and the pupils came back full of prejudices
against tbeir native country. "When I consider the mischief
which has been wrought among us by the English popish
seminaries on the Continent," he went on to say, " I can only
wish that, instead of making new laws which oblige Papists to
send their sons out of the country for education, those already

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 601
in force were mitigated." To these arguments the Tories had
nothing to urge beyond the usual commonplaces that the
Dissenters were dangerous to the Church and the State, and that
some parliamentary check ought to be provided against their
encroachments. To show the lengths of impiety to which a
nonconformist could go, William Collier, a Member of no exalted
reputation, read aloud some extracts from a book lately pub
lished by the crazy minister Hickeringhill, until he came to a
passage so blasphemous that the House would hear no more.
The country gentlemen, however, who crowded the benches,
and to whom a Dissenter was an abomination, had made up
their minds about the bill ; and the reasoning of Whig orators,
which at the present time would appear as conclusive as could
be, was lost upon them. They sent up the Schism Bill to the
Lords by a majority of a hundred and eleven votes.
In this new arena the nearer equality between parties
afforded some chance that the bill might be judged by its
merits. In the pithy condensation by a hostile reporter of the
speech in which Bolingbroke recommended it to tfie House
may still be beard the faint echoes of that flow of impressive
and dignified language so often, unfiappily for his fame, exerted
on the side of injustice, which seems to have been fiis principal
characteristic as an orator. Anglesea, on a question affecting
the interests of the Church, again showed himself on the Tory
side, and argued that tbe Dissenters had shown themselves
unworthy of the indulgence granted to them at the Revolution
by their subsequent endeavours to engross the education of
youth. It seems not to have occurred to him that to magnify
the success of the Dissenters in this direction was equivalent to
passing a censure upon the supineness of the Established clergy,
who, with twenty times the pecuniary and political advantages
enjoyed by their rivals, could allow education to pass from
under their control. Wharton, in nearly the last speeches he
was destined to utter, exerted all his powers of raillery against
the main promoter of the bill. The early education of Boling
broke by a Nonconformist minister, the notorious libertinism of
his subsequent conduct, afforded indeed abundant materials for
ridicule. It was an agreeable surprise, fie remarked, to see
some men of pleasure grown on a sudden so religious as to set

502 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
up for patrons of the Church. He could not but wonder, how
ever, that those who had received their training in Dissenting
academies should be so eager to suppress them. They should
remember the debt of gratitude the public owed to the schools
which had bred the great men who had made such glorious
treaties of peace and obtained such advantages for British com
merce. Although he had heard many laws mentioned in the
course of the debate, he said in a subsequent speech, he had
expected that the Bishops would have reminded the House of
one law which was above all others, to "do unto others as we
would they should do unto us." Cowper, Halifax, and Towns
hend all opposed the bill on different grounds. Cowper pointed
out, that as in many of the country towns the elementary schools
for reading and writing were chiefly supported by the Dissenters,
the suppression of those schools would lead to the suppression
of education altogether, and even the reading of the Holy Scrip
tures. Halifax dwelt upon the cruelty and inexpediency of
persecuting the industrious French refugees who had settled in
the country. Nottingham, it might have been expected, would
have returned, like Anglesea, to his former party on a debate
of this nature ; but, to the general surprise, he spoke energeti
cally against the bill. He had been, he owned, for the bill
against occasional conformity ; but now that the Church had
gained that security he considered her safe, and felt himself
bound in conscience to oppose a barbarous law which deprived
parents of their natural right to educate their own children.
As the bill passed through committee, the Whigs succeeded
in introducing several alterations and additions which deprived
it of much of its virulence. Teachers who merely taught
reading, writing, arithmetic, the art of navigation, or any
mechanical art were excepted from its provisions. The power
of convicting offenders was also taken from the justices of the
peace and lodged in the superior courts. On the other hand,
Anglesea procured the extension of the bill to Ireland, where
perhaps three-fourths of the Protestant population were Dis
senters of one sect or another. One exquisitely absurd clause
was adopted, we know not on what grounds nor upon whose
motion, which excepted from the scope of the bill the tutors
employed in the families of noblemen. Stanhope, when the bill

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 503
thus amended was returned, tried but unsuccessfully to obtain
a similar exception for tutors employed by members of the
House of Commons.*
The bill eventually passed, but not without a protest signed
by thirty-three Peers. The reader will perhaps consider the
promoter of this cruel and crafty attempt to suppress Dissent
more deserving of reprobation than the authors of the worst
persecuting Acts of previous ages. We must estimate the
degree of criminality in a mau's actions by tfie light he
possesses, and which is enjoyed by the society in which he
mixes. There is no moral rule by which Torquemada or
Ferdinand II. can be condemned as bad men. They seem to
have thoroughly believed in the truth of those dogmas for
denying which they tortured and slew so many thousands of
their fellow-creatures. They were convinced that, unless they
could extirpate heresy, the people they had in charge would be
the prey of distraction in this world and become the portion of
Satan in the next. Men thus impressed naturally made use of
all tbe powers that Providence had placed in their hands :
they felt it their bounden duty to do so. If the sufferings of a
few could be the means of saving the souls of myriads, pity
itself may have steeled their hearts against pity. But the
intellectual darkness which led to persecution in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries had turned to broad daylight in the
eighteenth. Bolingbroke lived in a scientific and polite age,
and was himself, as regards matters of religion, a philosopher
such as, even in the present day, would be considered as
belonging to a somewhat advanced school. No man despised
more than he the people who could find pleasure in persecuting
for theological differences. He looked down upon tfie fierd of
Tories wfio raged against tfie Dissenters witfi tfie same con
tempt as Pilate from fiis judgment seat looked down upon the
ignorant superstitious rabble who were clamouring for the
blood of Jesus. Yet to gain the applause of the multitude he
was willing to pander to their passions, and deliver up to then-
fury a large, innocent, and valuable section of his countrymen.
He had another motive in introducing this bill besides raising
himself in the estimation of the Tory party. He knew that it
* Parliamentary History ; Lettres Histoilques ; Oldmixon.

504 HISTORY OF GREAT. BRITAIN
would reduce his colleague, Oxford, to a dilemma. The
Treasurer had never ceased to dally with the Whigs, but was
afraid to take any open measure which would cost him the
confidence of tfie Tories. But it was impossible to handle such
a touchstone as the Schism Bill without declaring for one party
or the other. If he voted for it, all hopes of making his peace
with the Whigs would be at an end ; if he voted against it, the
Tories would certainly regard him as an apostate. Under
these circumstances he endeavoured to steer a middle course
which led him still further into general contempt. Being
challenged in the House for his opinion, he replied that he had
not yet sufficiently considered the bill. When he had, he
would vote according as it should appear to him for the good or
the detriment of the country. He did not fulfil his promise,
but absented himself during the subsequent debates and
divisions to which the bill gave rise.
There is great comfort in reflecting that this terrific piece of
legislation was never enforced. Tfie time appointed for its
coming into operation was tfie 1st of August, tfie very day upon
which, the Queen died. The Government which succeeded her
was not one disposed to the persecution of Dissenters ; and the
Act, having remained a dead letter during four years, was then -
repealed. Yet it remains an ineffaceable stain on the character
of a Minister who, for brilliancy of intellect, has not been
surpassed except by Bacon.
Upon the same day that leave was granted to Wyndham to
introduce his bill for the prevention of schism, permission was
obtained by George Lockhart for the introduction of a measure
which fairly illustrates that utter blindness to facts and reck
lessness of consequences which were characteristics of the
Jacobitical party. It was a bill to authorise her Majesty to
resume the revenues of those benefices in Scotland which tbe
Episcopalian clergy had forfeited at the time of the Revolution
1 y refusing to take the oath of allegiance, and which had since
been enjoyed by Presbyterian ministers, in order that the same
revenues might in future be attributed to the support of Episco
palian clergymen. That the object of the promoters of this bill
was to strengthen the Jacobite interest in Scotland no one could
for a moment doubt : but no one who had the least acquaintance

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 505
with Scottish affairs ought to have failed to perceive how
unlikely tbe measure was to conduce to the ends proposed.
The inclinations of the Episcopalian clergy for tfie restoration
of the Pretender were indeed notorious ; but they were an
insignificant knot of men, without influence, hated and despised
by the Presbyterians who formed the great bulk of the nation.
Men thus situated could have rendered but little service to
tbeir cause, while the effect of showing favour to them would
have impressed upon the Presbyterians, many of whom perhaps
wavered between the Stuarts and Hanoverians, the sort of
legislation they must expect if the Pretender recovered the
throne. The Whigs affected to believe that the bill would have
the support of a Jacobite ministry ; but they had never less
cause for alarm. However anxious Bolingbroke may have been
to conciliate Tories of all descriptions, English, Scottish, Irish,
Jacobites, Hanoverians, Episcopalians, he had no desire to
provoke a great outbreak of indignation in Scotland. He
hastened to the Queen, and obtained her promise to refuse her
assent to such a bill if it succeeded in passing the Houses. As
soon as this became known the fate of the measure was sealed.
It was coldly received, and, upon a proposition from a Whig
Member to limit its application to such Episcopalian clergymen
only as would pray for her Majesty and the Princess Sophia,
was quietly suffered to drop.*
While the Tories were taking advantage of their interval of
power to oppress the Dissenters, Schutz, forbidden the Court
for presuming to embarrass the Queen and her Ministers, was
posting to Hanover. He bore with him the writ summoning
the Electoral Prince to take his seat in Parliament and numerous
letters from his Whig friends entreating that his Highness
might be allowed to sail forthwith for England. He found the
little Court still divided by tfie old domestic feuds. Tfie
immediate fieir to tfie English crown, the dowager Electress
Sophia, was so far alive to decorum as to maintain carefully the
appearances of being on friendly terms with her son, the reign
ing Elector ; but her views as to the policy it behoved them all
* Lockhart' .s Memoirs. The origin of this bill was that Lockhart and his
friends, finding that the Ministers would do nothing to facilitate the succession of
the Pretender, determined to do something for themselves.

506 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
to pursue differed essentially from his.* The gloomy prognos
tications which the Whigs drew from the mysterious conduct of
the English Ministers alarmed her greatly. She had the
assurance of Marlborough that, if her grandson would but make
his appearance in the country, arrangements were already made
for proposing to Parliament a settlement upon him of forty
thousand a year. He would be required to do nothing but
make his court to the Queen, to caress the Ministers, and to
abstain from meddling with political affairs, and by so acting
would insure the succession without risk, without expense, and
without war. t Influenced by these considerations the Electress
was supremely anxious for the departure of the Prince. The
controlling authority in Hanover continued, however, to place a
steady and persistent veto on the expedition. The aged Princess
could make nothing of the obstinate sluggishness, as she deemed
it, of her son ; and the fever of impatience into which it threw
her was in reality fiurrying her towards her grave. Although
arrived at the great age of eighty-three years, this descendant of
James I. had all the ambition of youth. To die before she had
once signed her name as Queen of Great Britain was a contin
gency of which the energetic and aspiring old lady could not
think without pain. It seems indeed not a little remarkable
that George should have disregarded advice so urgently and
repeatedly given him by parties whom he must have considered
competent judges of the situation. Yet no representations or
entreaties could move him to take the smallest step to preserve
those claims of his family which were supposed to be imperilled.
It was once impressed upon him that a few trifling pensions
would secure tfie votes of all tfie Scottish representatives in
Parliament, and tfiat a small sum would convert every scribbler
for fiereditary right into a warm partisan for the Protestant
succession. + Yet not a farthing would he devote to such
purposes. Sometimes the Whigs imputed his conduct to want
of ambition, and sometimes to stinginess ; and both sluggishness
of disposition and love of money, of which he had no great store,
afford a probable explanation of much that seems extraordinary
in his behaviour. His partiality to the Whigs and his aversion
* Molynoux to Marlborough, June 9. f Marlborough to Robethon, May 5.
X Macpherson, Hanover Papers.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 507
for the Tories appear to have arisen rather from the views of
the former party coinciding with his own on the subject of
continental politics, than from any gratitude for the zeal they
evinced to preserve the rights of his family to the succession.
In reality, however, George was anxious that some member
of his family should proceed to England provided the Queen
could be brought to acquiesce in such an arrangement. But he
differed from his mother in his prudent determination to take
no measure which would give offence to Iter Majesty. Tfie
strong affection borne to Anne by all classes of fier subjects was
well known to him ; and he doubtless reflected that the least
hint fro'm her would render a stranger to the last degree
unpopular, and might even put in still greater danger the
succession that stranger came to insure. To Thomas Harley,
who had been instructed to demand whether he had any fresh
Parliamentary securities to suggest, fie replied in tfie negative ;
but be sent back the envoy with a memorial on behalf of himself
and bis mother in which the influence of fiis Wfiig advisers
might be traced in every passage. Tfie expediency of removing
the Pretender from Lorraine was urged in courteous but firm
language. His adfierents, it was added for tfie information of
her Majesty, gave out witfi tfie utmost assurance tfiat tfiey were
preparing a descent on Scotland wfiile that kingdom was unde
fended by a fleet and land forces, and that tbeir efforts would
be seconded by powerful support from the Continent. Their
Electoral Highnesses hoped that, in this dangerous condition of
affairs, her Majesty would be impressed with the necessity of
settling in tfie kingdom some member of the Electoral family —
a measure which could not but conduce to her own safety, the
safety of the nation and of the Protestant religion. Whoever
that person might be, it would be his first object, by fidelity and
inviolable attachment to fierself, to show the respect and
gratitude of their Electoral Highnesses.*
From the language of this memorial it was evident that
George had no intention of sending over bis son without an
express invitation from the Queen. But the air was full of
rumours, set in circulation by the Whigs and repeated by Tories,
that the Prince was on the point of embarking for England.
* Macpheison Papers. The memorial is dated May 7.

508 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Anne, whose faculties had become morbidly sensitive through
illness, fell into a paroxysm of rage and terror. To see the
Prince approaching her throne was to her imagination as a visit
from Death himself. Three letters to the Electress, the Elector,
and the Electoral Prince were sent off to Hanover as fast as a
courier could convey them. They were all couched in terms
such as a haughty and irritated superior might address to a
dependant. The Electress was warned that any attempt to
establish a prince of the Hanoverian family in tfie kingdom
during the lifetime of the reigning sovereign might entail con
sequences fatal to the succession of the crown in that family.
There were only too many spirits in the country already eager
to promote sedition, and it was impossible to predict what might
happen if any step were taken to impair the royal authority.
In her letter to the Elector, Anne declared herself unable to
imagine how a prince of his knowledge and penetration could
think of infringing upon her sovereignty. " I am firmly
persuaded," tfie epistle ran, " you would not suffer tfie smallest
diminution of your authority. I am no less sensitive about
mine ; and I am determined to oppose any project which may
interfere with it, however fatal the consequences may be."*
These letters, written on the 19th of May (old style), were
delivered at tfie Court of Hanover on the 26th of the same
month. The aged Electress was greatly disturbed by their
contents. During three hours of that summer night she paced
up and down tbe walks of Herrenhausen, descanting upon her
affairs to an Irish gentleman named Molyneux, who was on a
visit to the Court with letters of introduction from Marlborough.
The next day 'she was unable to leave her bed; but Molyneux
was summoned to her chamber and entrusted with the Queen's
letters, that copies might be made of them and transmitted to
friends in England. Her health appeared perfectly restored on
the following morning. She dressed and dined with the
Elector according to her usual custom, and despatched Moly
neux into the town to fetch the copies which had been made.
He returned to find tfie servants of the Electress in tears
around the dead body of their mistress, who had just expired in
* These letters were made public, and are printed in Lamberty and Old
mixon.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 509
one of tbe public walks of the park. She had been overtaken
by a shower of rain, and in her efforts to reacfi sfielter had
perhaps burst a blood-vessel. It is very probable that Anne's
ppremptory refusal to allow the Electoral Prince to reside in
England — a measure which, if she relied on Marlborough's
opinion,' she must have thought essential to the preservation of
her rights — precipitated her death.* Yet her removal from the
scene was not without some great advantages to the public. It
left the Elector, now become the first in succession to tfie
English throne, at much greater liberty to follow his own
counsels ; and it saved England from the inconvenience, and at
this season the peril, of being ruled by a very aged sovereign,
whose death would have been expected from day to day.
In replying to the violent upbraidings of Anne, George very
earnestly deprecated any design of impairing the lustre of her
authority. He referred, however, to the memorial he had sent
for the reasons which had induced him to suggest the expe
diency of his son's being permitted to settle in England. His
answer gave but little comfort to the failing Queen. Appre
hensions that the Prince might be on his way to the country
preyed incessantly upon her mind. It was decided to send
Clarendon to the Electoral Court to remonstrate against any
such project should it be really in contemplation. The selection
of this nobleman was regarded by those who were intently
watching the rivalry between Oxford and Bolingbroke as an
indication that the influence of the latter was now prevailing in
the royal counsels, t There are grounds for believing that
Oxford, in his anxiety to propitiate the Whigs, went so far as
to recommend the Queen to gratify the wishes of the Electoral
family. If this be the case, it affords a complete explanation of
the disfavour into which that Minister now fell. About a
month before, he had requested permission to lay down his
office ; but the extreme difficulty of filling tfie post of Treasurer
had deterred her Majesty from accepting his resignation.J
* Molyneux to Marlborough, June 9.
t Bothmar to Robethon, June 4—15 ; Kreyenburg to Eobethon, June 25,
July 6.
X Oxford to the Queen, June 9—20. Swift could not comprehend the altera
tion of the Queen's behaviour to Oxford. I have made no use of the " Secret
History of the White Staff," which Defoe wrote to excuse Oxford and blacken
Bolingbroke, and which, I feel convinced, is an impudent piece of invention
from one end to the other.

510 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
The notion that the presence of some member of the
Electoral family was absolutely necessary to preserve the
Protestant succession against the machinations of a Jacobite
Ministry, had taken entire possession of the faculties of the
Whigs. Their failure to move George to send over his son
with or without the Queen's permission raised in them fore
bodings such as now appear ridiculous to the student who,
viewing the ample amount of evidence before him, perceives
how insignificant the Jacobite party in England really was,
and how small was the inclination, and utterly inadequate were
the means, of any of the Continental princes to support the
cause of the Pretender. The Jacobites, as ignorant of their
own weakness as the supporters of the Protestant succession of
their overpowering strength, showed signs of elation. Neither
about the pamphlets they published, nor the meetings they
chose to hold, did the Government give itself much concern.
Yet it seldom happened that six of the party met together in a
tavern without attracting public attention. For the folly of
that set which professed allegiance to James, and which con
sisted generally of Irish Papists, was incredible. A consultation
was sure to end in an orgy, an orgy in a disturbance ; and a
mob would surround the house to throw mud and stones at the
gentlemen who were so ostentatiously tossing off bumpers to the
health of a Popish sovereign.* The frequency of these incidents
engendered false reports as to the number and activity of tbe
Jacobites, and kept the public mind in a chronic state of
uneasiness. There had been recently some attempts in Ireland
to enlist soldiers for the Pretender, and three men had been
hanged for the crime. Two Irish officers, however, named
Hugh and William Kelly, who had been so fortunate as to
escape the gallows, proceeded with much impudence to carry
on the business of recruiting in London. Accounts of what
they were doing soon reached the attentive ear of Wharton.
He lodged an information with Chief-Justice Parker, and the
two brothers were hunted down, captured with five of their
dupes, and thrown into prison. These signs of the restlessness
of the Pretender's agents either irritated Anne or worked upon
* See an account in Oldmixon and Tindal of a Popish meeting at the Sun
Tavern in the Strand.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 511
her fears. On the 23rd of June men of all parties were sur
prised by the issue of the proclamation against the Pretender
for which the Parliament, had applied. If one account of what
passed at tbe Council is to be trusted, Anne acted entirely upon
her own impulses. When the members assembled she drew a
paper from her pocket, ordered that it should be immediately
published, and hastily left the chamber to prevent any dis
cussion about its contents.*
The reward, however, promised to any one who apprehended
tbe Pretender in case he landed in Great Britain, was no more
than five thousand pounds. The Whigs were not a little
disgusted to find that arch enemy who threatened destruction
to the liberties and religion of England rated at such a trifle.
Upon an address of thanks being moved in the Commons, a
Member proposed to add a clause intimating the willingness of
the House to assist her Majesty with a hundred thousand
pounds as a further reward to the person who should execute
so important a service, and the addition was carried after some
objections on the score of its conveying a sort of reflection on
the Queen. In the Lords a similar address was also moved,
and gave occasion to the Whigs to repeat their solicitations that
the Pretender should be removed from Lorraine. " Unhappy
Princess ! " exclaimed Wharton. " Will posterity believe that
the great Queen who struck down the power of France and
provided Spain with a king, whose very Ministers made the
Emperor and States-General tremble — will posterity believe
that she has now grown so feeble as to be unable to force a
petty prince like the Duke of Lorraine to comply with a just
request ? "
The Lords had been so far impressed by the attempt of the
brothers Kelly to enlist soldiers, as to insert a clause in their
address entreating her Majesty to offer a reward for appre
hending any person wfio enlisted men, or wfio suffered himself
to be enlisted, in the service of the Pretender. To the sur
prise of those numerous Peers who considered Bolingbroke's
Jacobitism as a matter upon which there could be no doubt,
that nobleman, who had been absent during the first part of
* Carte's Memorandum Book in the MaophersoniStuart Papers ; Iberville to
Torcy, July 2. Mackintosh Collections.

512 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
the discussion, rose and intimated to the House that he could
propose a more effectual way to secure the succession in the
House of Hanover. " You should make it high treason," he
continued, " to enlist or to be enlisted in the Pretender's
service." The suggestion was adopted. A bill making it high
treason to enlist her Majesty's subjects in tbe service of . any
foreign power without licence under the sign manual was
brought in, passed through Committee, and was eventually
made a law to continue in operation during three years.*
A day or two afterwards the House reverted to the con
sideration of the commercial relations with Spain which had
been established by the recent treaty. That treaty, it was well
understood, had been superintended through all its stages by
Bolingbroke. During the negotiations he had not condescended
to ask advice from any one who was practically acquainted
with the principles of foreign commerce, except his friend
Arthur Moore. The whole responsibility thus rested entirely
upon him. The City was not long in pronouncing that the
Spaniards had taken advantage of his ignorance and pre
sumption. According to the treaty as first made at Utrecht
the duties payable on merchandise imported into Spain and her
colonies were to have been the same as in the time of his
Spanish Majesty Charles II. This arrangement, however,
Bolingbroke had permitted the Spanish government to super
sede by adding three explanatory articles which provided, in lieu
of the tariff of Charles II. , a uniform duty upon all mer
chandise of ten per cent. As soon as it became known that
this alteration of the treaty had been ratified by the Queen the
City raised an outcry, and the Whigs seized with avidity upon
an occasion of proving to the nation that those who conducted
its most important affairs knew nothing of the business they
undertook. On the 2nd of July a number of merchants engaged in the
Spanish trade were in attendance, and it was moved, after some
sharp reflections fiad been passed upon tfie explanatory articles,
tfiat tfiey sfiould be admitted to give their evidence. This
motion Bolingbroke tried strenuously to frustrate; but the
majority was against him, and conspicuous among his oppo-
* Parliamentary History ; Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 513
nents was his own colleague, Oxford. Upwards of thirty
merchants were then examined, and deposed unanimously that,
unless the articles were rescinded, trade with Spain could not be
carried on except at a loss of twenty to twenty-five per cent.
Moved by tfiis evidence, the Lords applied to the Queen for the
papers relating to the treaty, and begged her to acquaint them
with the names of those persons who had advised the ratification
of tfie three articles.
Anne only returned for reply that, being given to understand
that the three explanatory articles were not detrimental to
trade, she had consented to their being ratified along witfi the
treaty. This answer, evading the main purpose of the appli
cation, caused considerable irritation. " I cannot see what
business we have in this House," Wharton broke out, " if so
little regard is shown to our address." It was then agreed to
represent to her Majesty the opinion of the House that the
future trade with Spain would be attended with insuperable
difficulties unless alterations were made in the treaty as it now
stood. A resolution was also passed to continue the investiga
tion of the subject on the following day, and a request was
sent down to the Commons that such of its Members who were
Commissioners of Trade might then be allowed to attend.
Upon the appearance of the Commissioners Wharton com
menced the examination by grimly remarking that he did not
doubt but one of the gentlemen would try to make out that the
treaty was advantageous. This referred to Moore, who was
among the number. It soon appeared that his brother-com
missioners, aware of the unpopular character of the treaty, had
made up their minds that he should be the scapegoat. One of
them declared that all he knew of the treaty before it was
ratified was derived from fiearing it once read over to tfie
Board by Moore, who, however, refused to leave a copy for the
consideration of the members. To heighten the feeling against
the unfortunate man, the secretary to the Commissioners volun
teered a confession that Moore had shown him a letter addressed
to himself by an agent of Spain, and in which it was intimated
that be must not expect the annuity of two thousand louis d'or
which had been promised him unless he procured the acceptance
of the three explanatory articles. The Lords on the next day
VOL. II. l L

514 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
endeavoured to discover who were the parties destined to profit
by tfie quarter share of the Assiento contract which her Majesty
had reserved for herself, but which had, since their remon
strances, been given up to the South-Sea Company ; but this
mystery baffled all investigation. It was not doubted that a
censure would, at the next sitting, be passed on Moore, and
that an application would be made to the Queen to direct his
being prosecuted for bribery. The stockholders of the South-
Sea Company had already condemned him for a breach of trust,
and had turned him out of his directorship with as much
ignominy as they could put in words. But Bolingbroke now
thought it high time to put a stop to investigations carried on
in a spirit so bitterly hostile to himself and his friends. He
requested the intervention of Anne. The Commons had already
passed the most important of the money bills, and he could see
no use in prolonging the legislative functions of a Parliament
which seemed bent on nothing but worrying and thwarting her
Majesty's Ministers. On the 9th of July, accordingly, Anne
proceeded to the House of Peers, and put an end to the session.
Her speech, the last she was destined to deliver to the repre
sentatives of her subjects, was reproachful and almost angry in
its tone. In the winter she hoped, she said, to meet them
again, and to find them in a temper that would conduce
to the real improvement of commerce and the advantages of
peace. Her chief concern was to preserve to them and their
posterity their religion and liberty : yet it was impossible that
these desirable ends could be attained without a similar dispo
sition on their parts, — unless they laid aside all groundless
jealousies and showed the same regard for her just prerogatives
as she had always shown for their rights.*
The prorogation of Parliament relieved Bolingbroke from
the necessity of waging open war with his Whig tormentors.
The perpetual contests in which he had been oi late engaged
had tasked severely even his vigorous and determined nature.
" If my grooms did not lead a happier life than I have done
this great while," he wrote to Swift a few days after the proro
gation, " I am sure they would quit my service." f His pro-
* Parliamentary History ; Lettres Historiques ; Oldmixon ; Tindal.
it Bolingbroke to Swift, July 13.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 515
spects were indeed gloomy. Both those treaties of commerce,
for which he considered himself entitled to the gratitude of the
nation, had been condemned by the Parliament. In the last
session a House of Commons, although composed of just such
ignorant, fox-hunting, High Church squires as a Tory Minister
could desire, had been fascinated by Whig arguments, and had
declined to bear its part in carrying into effect fiis treaty with
France. The House of Lords, and the unanimous voice of the
merchants, had now declared his treaty with Spain disadvan
tageous and ruinous to the commercial interests of the country.
The Prince, who must shortly become his master, had, it
was but too evident, formed his estimate of him from the
reports of merciless and unscrupulous enemies. From him he
could expect neither sympathy nor protection. With the
opening of the new reign the Whigs would pounce upon him
like a fiungry pack of hounds upon a hare. To be driven from
power, to be impeached as a traitor to his country, to be im
prisoned, banished, — these were the rewards to which he must
look for his services. And that one feeble barrier that inter
vened between bim and ruin was fast giving way. Anne
was plainly sinking under a complication of diseases. Scarcely
a month now elapsed without some fresh fit of indigestion,
gout, or erysipelas spread consternation among her attendants.
But Bolingbroke was not tfie man to submit without a
struggle. His design of filling every office of power and trust
in the State with Tories had hitherto been thwarted by the
timidity of Oxford. Yet much had been accomplished. Those
colonels of the army who resented the dismissal of Marl
borough, or who had rendered themselves conspicuous by their
display of Whiggism, had been quietly deprived as occasion
served, and their places had been supplied by men who were at
least not so loud in parading their attachment to the House of
Hanover. As Oxford declined in the royal favour, a greater de
gree of influence had necessarily drifted towards Bolingbroke. In
the spring of this year an attempt was made to obtain the control
of the City. Eleven Whigs had been chosen by the freemen of
different wards to serve on the Common Council. On the pre
text of some informality the elections were cancelled, and eleven
Tories who had opposed them were substituted. There can be
l l2

516 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
little doubt that, had Anne survived for a few more years, very
considerable changes would have been effected tfirougfiout tfie
country. A vast macfiinery would have been at work to influ
ence the elections ; and George, upon ascending the throne,
would have found himself confronted with a Tory Parliament,
and compelled in consequence to leave matters in the hands of a
Tory Ministry.
The Whigs proclaimed with one voice that the men whom
the Ministry were gradually introducing to office were Jacobites,
and that there was an organized design on foot to secure the
succession of the Pretender. Beyond their own asseverations,
the evidence in support of this accusation is sfigfit indeed*
The opinion of Swift that there were not five hundred persons
of all ranks in England, exclusive of Papists and Nonjurors,
who had any inclination for the Pretender, and that of those
there were not six of any note, seems to err only in being too
high an estimate of the Jacobite party, f All the evidence
which has since come to fight warrants us in believing the
party to have been utterly insignificant. Many persons of high
rank and influence chose indeed to admit agents of the Pre
tender to secret interviews, and to speak of the exiled family in
terms of affection calculated to impress tfieir hearers with the
belief that they were well disposed towards a Restoration.
* The evidence consists principally in letters from Gaultier and Iberville to
Torcy containing accounts of what Oxford and Bolingbroke said to them in
private with regard to the Pretender. The Ministers fostered a belief in these
Jarobite agents that the Queen was in favour of her brother's succession. Torcy,
utterly ignorant of our constitution, and accustomed to regard the will of the
sovereign as everything, and the inclinations of the people as of no importance,
could never comprehend why, if the Queen was of this mind, she did not at
once procure the repeal of every law adverse to her brother and invite him into
the kingdom. It is evident that he considered that the Ministers were only
trying to delude the exiled family. The evidence of Lockhart's Memoirs shows
that the Scotch Jacobites were of the same opinion as to the insincerity of
Bolingbroke. My own conviction is that both Oxford and Bolingbroke regarded
the restoration of the Stunris as a scheme much too wild to be seriously enter
tained. Their objects in seeing their agents and assuring them of their attach
ment to the cause were the same as those of Marlborough — (1), to keep the party
quiet and secure their interest ; (2), to provide for their own safety if, by some
extraordinary turn of the wheel of fortune, the Pretender should gain the day.
Bolingbroke's joining the Pretender a year afterwards was tbe step of a desperate
man. He had an insane thirst for power, and saw no prospect of regaining it
with the Hanoverian on the throne. He considered, moreover, that his life was
in danger through the implacability of the Whigs. He therefore attached him
self openly to the Pretender as a last resource ; but soon abandoned him upon
finding that, under such a prince, success was hopeless.
f Inquiry into the Behaviour of the Queen's Last Ministry.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 517
Marlborough and Godolphin adopted this course. It was con
tinued by Oxford and Bolingbroke. But the utmost that the
agents were able to extract from these professing penitents was
florid expressions of sympathy, exhortations to patience, and
advice that the Prince should change his religion.* As year
after year passed by, the unfortunate Stuarts learned to put less
and less faith in those who pretended to be their friends. Marl
borough was given over as an incorrigible deceiver long before
his power had declined. After three years of trial Oxford was
judged as being no better worthy of credit. Berwick, who
acted as general manager to the exiled family, states in his
Memoirs that, being persuaded of the insincerity of the Trea
surer, he caused a request to be transmitted to Anne that she
would dismiss him from her service ; but whether the request
ever reached her Majesty, or what effect it had upon her if it
did reach her, we are not inform ed.f
It cannot indeed be denied that, as the Ministers bad every
thing to fear from the inveterate Whiggism of George, their
advantage lay in restoring James. That Bolingbroke would
have lent his aid to a Restoration, had the project appeared to
bim a feasible one, can hardly be doubted. Seldom or never
has this country been governed by a statesman in whose breast
patriotism was so thoroughly subordinate to selfisfi ambition.
Retention of power and office was all in all to fiim. But, in
spite of any boastful promises he may have made in secret to
Jacobite emissaries, he knew well his incapability of altering
the succession to the crown established by law. Had not the
nation shown continuously throughout this reign and in the
most unmistakable manner its determination to be ruled only
by a Protestant sovereign ? Had not a clause importing attach
ment to the Protestant succession formed part of at least nine
teen out of every twenty addresses presented to Anne,- and
whether the addresses came from Whig or Tory corporations ?
Did not the perpetual jealousies of her subjects on this head
force Anne to repeat at every session of Parliament that her
* The Pretender, in a letter which be caused to be circulated among his
adherents, expressed his determination not lo change his religion. Many even
of his stiiunchest friends seem from that time to have despaired of his cause, —
Mucpherson Papers.
t Memoires de Berwick.

518 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
resolution to uphold the Act of Succession was unaltered ? Had
Bolingbroke emerged from an anchoret's cell where he had
passed twenty years in devout contemplation, he might have
tried to organize a design of bringing in the Pretender. But
a little reflection should convince any one of the small proba
bility that a Minister, who was thoroughly a man of the world,
could be so utterly ignorant of the feelings of his countrymen
as to imagine that the introduction of a few Jacobites into the
highest offices of state would be sufficient for tfiis purpose.
In a trial at law mere imputations as to design, however
numerous may be tbe parties who make them, are held as of no
value against the express denial of the defendant, unless some
proof more convincing than mere allegations of opinion can be
brought to support them. Now this is very nearly the case as
between the Ministers and their accusers. In such of his corre
spondence at this period as remains to us, Bolingbroke, when
writing to his most intimate friends, persons supposed to be in
the plot with himself, frequently alludes to the rumour of a
design to restore the Pretender as a stale device of the Whigs
to excite hostility against himself and his colleagues.* In a
letter to Sir William Wyndbam, written some time afterwards,
he declares his conviction that no scheme of the kind was ever
entertained by the Ministers ; and in a work published more
than thirty years after the accession of George the statement is
repeated. Bolingbroke had many faults, but want of frank
ness was certainly not one of them. He was too bold a man to
fly for refuge to a, falsehood. To us it seems that he could not
keep his thoughts to himself, however much their publication
would be likely to damage bim. He could not refrain from
informing tfie world of fiis disbelief in Christianity, although
he must have known that his reputation would suffer for it so
long as the majority of society was of another opinion.
But there is yet matter of a still more convincing nature.
Soon after the death of Anne, several of her Ministers were set
on their trial. The Whigs came forth eager to shed blood, and
confident of being able to prove tfieir accusations. Committees
were appointed to investigate the conduct of the administration,
and were composed of men so bitterly hostile to the accused as
* Prior, for instance, and the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Phipps,

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 519
to leave no doubt that whatever discoveries wore made would
be laid before the world. The offices were ransacked for cor
respondence : every person from whom it was thought possible
to elicit information was dragged to the bar and examined. At
length, after months of research, the long-expected report made
its appearance. To the disappointment of cruel men, it contained
not an atom of evidence that a design of restoring the Pre
tender had ever been in contemplation.*
The truth is plain. The Protestant succession never was in
the least danger, nor would it have been thought to be so had
not the Whigs, for party purposes, been constantly sounding
the alarm. But this digression has been rendered necessary by
the circumstance that the silly tale as to the schemes of Anne's
last Ministers has been handed down to our own times, and is
still repeated as historical fact. It is impossible to enter far
upon the examination of the annals of our country without per
ceiving that they are generally corrupted at the source. Almost
every contemporary recorder of events has been either a hot
Protestant or a zealous Whig. From the period of the Refor
mation down to that of the Revolution the principal object
of writers was to abuse the Catholics, to dilate upon their
wickedness, and to excite the indignation of society against
them by imputing to them designs to subvert our religion.
From the time of William to that of George III. the obstinacy
and stupidity of the Tories were the favourite theme. The absence
of any writer on the Catholic side admits of easy explanation. The
tyranny of public opinion was complete. A book written to
disprove the testimony of Protestants would not have been
tolerated for a moment. If the author escaped the clutches of
the civil power, he would have been in danger of being torn to
pieces by the rabble. The Catholics were forced, therefore, to
submit in silence, and to leave to the historian of a calmer age
the duty of vindicating their reputation. But the fact that
there is no counterpoise to the histories of Burnet, Oldmixon,
Tindal, Boyer, and Cunningham cannot be accounted for so
readily, That during the seventy years between William and
George III. the Wfiigs were almost always in power, tfiat
* I admit that we now have evidence as to the dealings of the Ministers with.
Jacobite agents which was unknown to tbe Whigs. But still there is no proof
of any formed design to restore the Pretender.

520 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
authors were needy, and that money was only to be got by writing
for the Government, may not be regarded as a satisfactory
solution. The truth seems to be that the Whig party, although
only a small minority of the nation, comprised nearly all the
active and intelligent spirits in the country. Education, enough
to enable a man to understand the bearings of a political ques
tion and to write a book, sufficed by itself to raise him above
the dull and uninformed masses of Tory gentlemen who encum
bered the benches of the House of Commons. We may not
now consider the works of Oldmixon, for example, as indicating
any high reach of mind. But if we compare Oldmixon with
tbe general level of the society in which he lived, we shall find
fiim towering a fiead and sfioulders above tfie multitude.*
Tfie antagonism of Oxford and Bolingbroke had been so
conspicuous throughout the session as to leave no politician in
doubt tfiat changes would shortly be made in the administra
tion. The decline of Oxford in the royal favour was not as yet
publicly known ; but those who had opportunities for observa
tion might predict in which way the influence of Lady Masham
would be exerted. It was to no purpose that the falling
Minister continued to pay assiduous court to the favourite, and
to plead the services he had rendered her Majesty. She turned
upon him with bitter contempt : " You never did the Queen
any service ; you are incapable of doing her any." f Boling
broke was in great fiopes of being soon freed from his timid and
dilatory colleague. His principal anxiety arose from the con
duct of Shrewsbury, who seemed inclined to support fiis rival.
Tfiere was no nobleman wfio stood so high as Shrewsbury in
the estimation of Anne.
During eighteen days from the rising of Parliament, the town
was kept in suspense. At one time the rumour went that the
dismissal of Oxford had been pronounced. The next day it was
reported that the changes in the public offices would be only
trifling ; and tbe next, tfiat altfiougfi the Treasurer would be
dismissed, his fall would be softened by a pension of £4,000 a
* I must be careful to state that this reasoning is only intended to apply to
the Tory party down to 1760.
t Erasmus Lewis to Swift, July 17. In another letter (July 6) he says,
" The two ladies (Masham and the Duchess of Somerset) seem to have deter
mined the fall of the dragon " (Oxford).

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 521
year and a dukedom.* Meanwhile the Minister had been fre
quently closeted with her Majesty, but the only result of his
interviews seems to have been to convince him that a feeling of
dislike, having once entered the royal mind, was irremovable,
and only went on increasing. On the 27th of July he was
summoned to Kensington to surrender his staff. Anne conde
scended to inform the Council of her reasons for parting with
him. He neglected all business, she said. She could seldom
understand him ; and even when he was intelligible, she could
place no dependence on what he said. He never came punctu
ally at tfie times she appointed. When he did come, he was
often tipsy, and behaved towards her with indecency and dis-
respect.f It is remarkable that in dismissing both the Prime
Ministers of her reign the usually meek and good-natured Anne
displayed a degree of rancour more in keeping with the character
of Elizabetfi tfian fier own. Oxford bore his fall with more
serenity of mind than Godolphin. He betook himself to a
remedy which seems to be equally efficacious in assuaging tfie
sorrows of despairing lovers and discarded statesmen. That
same evening he despatched to Swift some very inharmonious
lines fie had composed, and evidently with no small effort, upon
the ingratitude of princes. J
The greater part of that night was employed by the Queen,
in conjunction with her Council, in deliberating upon the choice
of a successor to the vacant office. Tfie reason wfiy Boling
broke, the person best fitted by abilities and experience for tfie
post, was not selected, we are driven to conjecture. Either he
could not be spared from the duties of the Secretaryship, or the
Queen shrank from the intimacy into which she would have
been forced with a man so immoral and ungodly ; or Shrews
bury, whose advice had great weight with her, was averse to
the appointment. It was determined to put the Treasury in
commission. But the difficulty of finding five Tories of suffi-
* Correspondence of Swift with Charles Ford and Erasmus Lewis. "The
dragon and his antagonist meet every day at the cabinet. They often eat and
drink and walk together as if there was no sort of disagreement. And when
they part I hear they give one another such names as nobody but Ministers of
State could bear without cutting throats."
t Lewis to Swift, July 27.
X Oxford to Swift, July 27. He remarks thnt he had no power since 25th.
July, 1713.

522 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
cient standing and knowledge of business to undertake the
work of the office proved quite insurmountable. The Members
of the Council could not agree as to the selection, and the con
tention was warm. It was not until two in the morning of the
28th that the meeting broke up without having arrived at any
resolution.* It would seem, in truth, that Bolingbroke himself was con
vinced that the scheme he had cherished for years of forming
a Tory administration virulently opposed to the Whigs, and
determined upon rooting out the members of that party from
every civil and military post in the kingdom, had now become
utterly impracticable. There was not a statesman of reputation
who could muster up sufficient courage to join him in the
undertaking. Terror of the Whigs reigned supreme among
the members of the Ministry and of the Council board. Had
Oxford been a man of different spirit, and had the scheme been
commenced in 1710, and carried through with vigour, the
ascendancy of the Tory party would doubtless have been saved.
But little time was now left for action. The aspect of the
Queen was in itself sufficient warning that in a very brief
interval he and everyone else who had been concerned in
making the peace would be called to account by unscrupulous
and merciless enemies. He made one attempt to escape from
his doom. Upon the same day that Oxford had his final
audience witfi Anne, fie entertained at dinner some of tfie lead
ing Wfiigs — Stanfiope, Craggs, Pulteney, and Walpole. t It
is much, to be regretted that no person who was present at the
banquet should ever have furnished an account of the proposi
tions made by the host ; for some attempt at an arrangement
there must surely have been. From the proceedings at the
Council that night, however, it is evident that Bolingbroke left
his guests in despair of being able to effect any compromise
witfi them.
It had been arranged that the Council should meet again at
Kensington on the 29th. But on the morning of that day
* Tindal; Oldmixon. Arbuthnot writes to Swift (August 12), "My dear
mistress's days were numbered even in my imagination. But of that small
number a great deal was cut off by the last troublesome scene of this contention
among her servants."
t Lewis to Swift, July 29.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 523
Anne was too unwell to attend to business, and the meeting
was postponed to the 30th. The importunities to which she
had been subjected during the past fortnight from Oxford, the
embarrassment in which she found herself to fill fiis place, and
tbe long hours during which she had forced herself to continue
at the Council board, had very likely told with fatal effect upon
her impaired constitution. An abscess in her leg, arising from
erysipelas, having ceased its discharges, febrile symptoms set in.
The treatment to which she was at once subjected was that absurd
one of blood-letting, which continued even to our own times to
destroy the chances of life in a feeble patient. On the morning
of the 30th, however, she felt better, rose at her accustomed
hour of seven, and prepared to meet her Council. She went up
to the clock, but continued to stare at it so long that the bed
chamber woman in attendance asked her Majesty whether she
saw anything unusual in its appearance. The Queen turned
round, and the deadly pallor of her countenance so alarmed the
attendant that she called for help. The physicians in waiting,
one of whom was Dr. Arbuthnot, a man whose lively and inge
nious satires have outlived his reputation for medical science,
recommended that her head should be shaved. But, while this
operation was performing, she was seized with a fit, which, was
considered to be apoplectic, and for nearly two hours lay per
fectly insensible.*
Meanwhile the Council, in ignorance of what had passed at
Kensington, had assembled at the Cockpit. Wfiile tfie mem
bers were deliberating a messenger despatched by the Duchess
of Ormond hurried in and acquainted the Duke with the
alarming situation of the Queen. The Council at once broke
up, and the members repaired with all speed to the palace.
There they re-assembled in the council-chamber, and summoned
the physicians to make their report. Arbuthnot thought that
the Queen's case, although undoubtedly most serious, was not
altogether beyond hope. Two other doctors, Sir Richard Black-
more and Shadwell, gave it as their opinion that she would
probably hold out until the next day. But Mead, a surly Whig,
who looked on the Ministers as a pack of Jacobites, and who
was delighted to have it in his power to throw them into con-
* Tindal ; Oldmixon ; Ford to Swift, July 31.

524 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
sternation, declared bluntly that she could not live two minutes.*
The most celebrated physician of that age was not in attendance.
John Radcliffe was then lying ill at Carshalton, slowly ap
proaching the close of a long and distinguished career. His
success in the treatment of small-pox and gout had been so
extraordinary that the public imagination attributed to him
something like a magical power over disease. To him indeed
belongs the credit of having delivered the science of medicine
from the trammels of some absurd errors of long standing. His
uncourtly manners, however, and his habits of plain speaking
and rough jesting had given offence to more than one great
personage. Anne fiad, even before her accession, struck off
bis name from the list of her physicians, and had never since
admitted him to her presence. Her friends had, however,
frequently consulted him about her ailments, and it would seem
that Lady Masham now sent to implore him to come and pre
scribe for her mistress. Had Radcliffe been able and disposed
to accept the invitation, it is doubtful whether he could have
reached Kensington in time to be of any service. He did not,
however, stir from Carshalton, but contented himself with inti
mating his approval of the treatment adopted by Mead. A
report became current immediately after the Queen's death that
he had been summoned by the Council, and had returned a
boorish refusal to exert his skill on behalf of his dying sovereign.
The apprehension of being subjected to violence by the mob in
consequence of this report is said to have embittered and
shortened his few remaining days.f
From the reports of the physicians the Council could not but
conclude that, in all human probability, the Queen had not
many hours to live. It was at such a time of great importance
that the highest ministerial post in the kingdom should be
filled. It was fiastily determined to abandon the design of
putting the Treasury into commission. Bolingbroke turned to
Shrewsbury, and proposed that he should undertake the office of
Treasurer ; and Shrewsbury, rising to a height of courage of
which he had been till then thought incapable, agreed to accept
it. As soon as Anne was sufficiently recovered, Bolingbroke
* Ford to Swift, July 31.
t Life of Radclilie in the " Biographia Britannica."

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 52T)
approached her bedside, and stated that the Council was of
opinion that it would be for the public service that Shrewsbury
should be Lord Treasurer. Anne immediately consented, and
gave the staff into the Duke's hand.* He thus became invested
with an unprecedented accumulation of power ; for in the
emergency of the moment he retained his offices of Lord Cfiani-
berlain and Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
Intelligence that the Queen had been struck with apoplexy
spread quickly through London. Some of the leading Whigs,
whose names were still retained on the list of councillors, but
who had for some time forborn to use their privilege, hastened
to Kensington, and made their way to the council- chamber.
Among the first arrivals were tfie Dukes of Somerset and
Argyle ; and in tfie afternoon Somers mustered up sufficient
strength to appear. The Council continued to sit throughout
the day and all through the succeeding night, the members
taking turns to go out and refresh themselves. The WThigs
flocked in until their numbers gave them a very decided pre
ponderance at the board, and a variety of orders was issued to
insure the tranquillity of the metropolis and the peaceable suc
cession of George. The state of Portsmouth was one of the
first subjects taken into consideration. A report, it seems, had
been recently sent to the Ministers by Sir John Gibson, the
governor, with intelligence of an armament preparing at Havre,
and praying for reinforcements of troops, artillery, stores, and
provisions. But the report had been neglected by Ministers,
whose whole time was taken up in quarrelling with each other,
and who, if they gave any consideration to it at all, probably
set down the rumour of an expedition preparing in France
against this island as a very idle one. Orders were now sent,
not without some sharp reflections upon the remissness of
those in power, that a regiment should march instantly to
Portsmouth. Directions were at the same time despatched to
four cavalry regiments quartered in distant counties to march
up to London. The guard of the Tower was tripled, and the
trained bands of the City were called out. A general officer
* Ford to Swift, July 31. In another letter of August 5 he says, "The
Whigs were not in council when Shrewsbury was recommended. Lord Boling
broke proposed it there, as well as to the Queen." The ordinary narrative is
that Somerset and Argyle proposed Shrewsbury.

526 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
was sent to Scotland to place the forces of that kingdom in
condition for action ; a messenger was despatched to Flanders
to require the immediate return of most of the troops which
still remained on the Continent ; and Craggs the younger
departed forHanover with instructions to pass through the
Hague on his road, and bid Strafford summon,the States-general
to make ready to fulfil tfieir guarantee of tfie Protestant suc
cession if occasion sfiould arise for tfieir assistance. An
embargo, a customary precaution at times of public danger,
was laid upon all tfie sfiipping in Britisfi ports.
The City, meanwhile, had been agitated by the usual variety
of reports. The Pretender was on the seas with a French
armament. The wild Irish were crossing St. George's Channel.
The savage clans of the Highlands were assembling for a march
into England. But towards noon on Saturday, tfie 31st, it
became distinctly known tfiat Shrewsbury had been appointed
Treasurer, and that the Council was thronged with un
doubted friends to the Protestant succession. The funds, upon
this cheering intelligence, recovered three per cent, at a
bound. The morning of the 31st found Anne in a lethargic state,
and evidently drawing near her end. The Council, which had
adjourned for a brief interval, again assembled at eight.
Kryenburg, the Hanoverian resident, was summoned to attend
with the black box which contained the instrument by which
the Electoral family nominated such persons as they chose to
act as Lords Justices of the realm in addition to the seven great
officers of tfie departed sovereign. Tfie heralds were directed
to be in readiness for proclaiming the new king.*
Throughout the day and the succeeding night Anne appears
to have remained in a state of complete unconsciousness. The
Bishop of London remained in the apartment, hoping that a
lucid interval might afford him an opportunity of administering
the sacrament ; bnt no such opportunity came. Her will,
directing that her remains should be deposited in the same
* I have compiled this narrative of Anne's last hours almost entirely from the
letters of Ford and Lewis to Swift. Both were so pLiced as to be able to obtain
the most correct information, and they wrote at the time. I have rejected
many statements in Tindal, Oldmixon, and Lamberty as mere emanations i of
Whig malice.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 527
vault with Prince George, and bequeathing legacies to some of
her servants, lay unsigned by her bedside.* The accounts of
her dying hours, her ravings about her brother, and the story
of her charging the Bishop with some commission on his behalf,
rest on no competent authority, and may be dismissed as mere
inventions. It was firmly rooted in the public mind that Anne
cherished a warm affection for her brother, and that, whatever
she might be compelled to say to the Parliament, she was
secretly anxious for his succession. Both Whigs and Jacobites
had, from opposite motives, assisted to spread this delusion. It
is not strange, therefore, that there should have been a large
manufacture of reports seasoned to the public taste, and sure to
be welcomed with greedy credulity.! But that Anne was
troubled on her death-bed by remorse or anxiety about her
brother, no one who calmly considers the circumstances will
think likely. Let it be remembered tfiat sfie had never seen
him. At his birth she had, in common with the whole nation,
laughed to scorn the notion that he was her father's child ; and
not a word of hers has been recorded by any person who had
any degree of intimacy with her which might seem to indicate
that she had changed her opinion. For nearly a quarter of a
century the Duchess of Marlborough was the friend of her
bosom and the chief repository of her thoughts. In 1742 that
lady chose to publish a volume concerning her relations with
Anne. The twenty-eight years which had elapsed since the
death of her old friend and mistress, the substantial benefits
wfiich sfie was still enjoying from fier benevolence, fiad done
notfiing to soften tfie resentment witfi wfiich. she looked back
on her dismissal in 1711. The work, indeed, was composed in
a frame of mind so spiteful that, had her Grace been able to
charge Anne with a wish to alter the law of succession esta
blished by Parliament, she would most certainly have done it.
But there is not a line from which it can be inferred that her
Majesty entertained even the slightest affection for tfie Pre
tender. The Duchess was succeeded in the office of confidant
* Tindal ; Arbuthnot to Swift, August 14.
t See the narrative in Lamberty, who says he had his information from the
Hanoverian Secretary Guteky, " et Bur d'autres avis et notions sures et de
source." As he did not publish his narrative till twenty-two years afterwards,
he might have ventured to give the names of these other informants.

528 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
by Lady Masham. Lady Masham was the intimate friend of
Swift ; and when the latter declares that to his certain know
ledge the Queen hated and despised the Pretender, it is but
reasonable to assume that his authority was the royal favourite.
A year after the death of Anne, Swift writes, " Whoever knew
anything of the Queen's disposition must believe that she had
no inclinations at all in favour of the Pretender. She was
highly and publicly displeased with my Lord Bolingbroke
because he was seen under the same roof with that person at
the opera when his lordship was sent to France. Her Majesty
said that he ought immediately to have withdrawn upon the
appearance of the other. And at her toilet among her women,
when mention happened to be made of the Chevalier, she
would frequently let fall expressions of such a nature as made
it manifest how little she deserved those reproaches which had
been cast upon her on that account since her death."* Now,
when it is remembered that Swift was the close friend and corre
spondent of Lady Masham, the Duchess of Ormond, the Duke
of Ormond, Oxford, Bolingbroke, and the royal physician
Arbuthnot, all persons in constant attendance upon the Queen,
and all of them near her in her last hours, we are forced to
choose between two alternatives. Either the Dean was a liar of
extraordinary audacity, or his testimony must be allowed to
outweigh reports which cannot be traced to any source.
A few minutes after seven on the morning of Sunday, the
1st of August, Anne drew her last breath. The antechambers
of the palace were crowded with privy councillors. Everything
was prepared for inaugurating the new reign. Kryenburg was
in waiting with the black box. The Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Lord Chancellor, with whom had been deposited dupli
cates of tfie commission, were also in attendance. Tfie names
of eighteen noblemen appointed to act as regents in conjunction
with the seven highest functionaries of the realm were now
read aloud. The list excited some surprise. Although but
recently revised, it was not composed so exclusively of Whigs
as had been expected. It comprised five Tories wfio fiad pub
licly signified tfieir approbation of the peace, and had joined in
the address which pronounced it safe, honourable, and. advan-
* Inquiry into the Behaviour of the Queen's Last Ministry.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

529

tageous. On the other hand, the omission of some illustrious
names gave rise to much speculation. Neither Marlborough,
nor his son-in-law Sunderland, nor Somers, nor Wharton was
mentioned. Why the honour of being one of the conservators
of a throne he had laboured so diligently to establish was not
accorded to the hero, has never been conclusively explained. It
has been argued that he was abroad when the list was framed ;
that he had offended George by keeping from him the secret of
the campaign of 1708, and by paying his chief court to the
Electress Sophia ; that tales had reached Hanover of his dealings
with the Pretender. But a glance at the list of names suggests
another reason for his exclusion. It comprised no one who was
personally disagreeable to Anne, and whose introduction might
have been interpreted as a slight to her memory*
During the morning a proclamation notifying the death of
Anne and the accession of George, Elector of Brunswick-
Lunenburg, to the throne, was signed by upwards of a hundred
persons — peers, privy- councillors, members of Parliament, civic
dignitaries. It is interesting to observe in the list the names
of Mar, Ormond, and Bolingbroke, whom ambition, petulance,
or persecution afterwards drove into the service of the Pre
tender. In the afternoon the proclamation was read by the
heralds with the usual solemnities and at the usual points of
London and Westminster. The carriages of the regents, the
Ministers, and the principal personages of the kingdom formed
a long procession ; and a vast crowd signified by acclamations
its approbation of the proceedings. Not a single Jacobite
presumed to lift up his voice. All London, it seems, after
having been disquieted for years with the terror of a disputed
succession, was surprised, when the critical moment came, to
find itself perfectly unanimous upon this subject. The people,
however, signified witfi their accustomed candour their dis
approval of the conduct and supposed designs of some of the
late Ministers. Oxford was unmercifully hissed, and halters
were flung into his carriage. In the evening a most innocent
nobleman, Lord Bingley, who had been appointed ambassador
to the Court of Spain, underwent a beating for him by mistake.
* Coxe offers no explanation of Marlborough's omission from the list of
regents. VOL. II. M M

530 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN
Bolingbroke, whose name was less known to the public, mel;
with a somewhat motley reception. But Ormond was enthu- '
siastically cheered. Neither his connection with the Ministry
nor the inglorious part he had played in Flanders had availed
to diminish his popularity. People seem to have done him the
honour of regarding him as a mere tool in the hands of a
wicked faction, and were not a little indignant that such a
worthy nobleman, the owner of a name so illustrious, should
have been imposed upon so foully.*
The funeral took place on the night of the 24th of August.
It was conducted with that pomp with which the sovereigns of
this country are usually consigned to the tomb. The Duchess
of Somerset, as first lady of fionour, was tfie cfiief mourner ;
and tfiere was a large attendance of peers and peeresses, privy-
councillors and judges. Tfie remains of Anne were deposited
in a vault on the south side of Henry VII. 's Chapel in West
minster Abbey. The good Queen reposes beside her uncle
Charles IL, her brother-in-law William III., her sister Mary,
and her husband Prince George, t
Her life had been far from happy. She was thoroughly
unfortunate in all her domestic relations. As a daughter she
had been forced to choose between her conscience on the
subject of religion and her filial duty, and to bear a part in
dethroning her father. During the reign of Mary the pleasant
intercourse which might have subsisted between two amiable
sisters was constantly interrupted by petty jealousies and
quarrels fomented by interested partisans. No lady was ever
more in need of an affectionate and intelligent fiusband ; but
fortune allotted to fier not only an uncompanionable simpleton,
but a weak and ailing creature wfio required constant nursing.
But it was as a motber that the sorrows of Anne were multi
plied beyond ordinary measure. We can conceive no affliction
so desolating to the heart of a woman as to undergo the pangs
of maternity without being rewarded by that joy which effaces
the remembrance of suffering. Yet again and again had she
to bear this dreadful disappointment. One child, as if by a
refinement of cruelty, was spared for nine years and then
snatched from her embraces.
* Ford to Swift, August 6. . f Lettres Historiques.

DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 531
Nature, by providing Anne with an affectionate heart and a
feeble understanding, had predestined her to vassalage of some
kind. In default of a husband capable of asserting his empire,
she fell under the power of a female tyrant, haughty, avari
cious, ungrateful, and perfectly callous to the feelings of others.
Whatever amount of pleasure Anne may have derived from the
society of Sarah Jennings was more than counterbalanced by
the misery she endured from the Duchess of Marlborough. Yet
many years elapsed before the timid and vacillating Queen
could summon up sufficient courage to escape from that wretched
bondage. The influence of her next favourite led to vast con
sequences to Europe ; and it may still be a fair field for argu
ment wfiether, as regarded the interests of this country, that
influence was exerted for good or for evil. But Abigail Hill
was at least an attached and considerate servant ; and it is
probable that from her sympathy Anne derived the chief com
fort of her reign. As a sovereign she was still unfortunate. A
person born to rule over millions, and possessing a very small
share of intellect and a very sensitive conscience, can seldom be
happy for long together. She was a Tory, and imagined, with
probably a great many kitchen-wenches in her dominions, that
the Whigs were a party who wanted to destroy the Church.
Her Ministers perceived that, if the war was to be carried on
with proper spirit, it was absolutely necessary to make some
sacrifices to tfiat party; For years were they endeavouring to
force in one direction a conscience which nature and early
education had obstinately fixed in anotfier. Tfie patient endured
unspeakable agony before she roused up and flung aside her
tormentors. Yet she was little less unhappy with the new set
of Ministers by whose advice she governed. The disappointed
Whigs allowed her no rest. They were always moving some
thing in the Parliament to embarrass and plague her. They
were constantly sending messages to the Electoral family to
come over and set up a standard of disaffection among her
subjects. She found that she had been deceived in the man
whom she had made the principal repository of her confidence.
Now that he was a Minister he had grown lazy. When he was
sober it was not easy to find out what he meant, and when he
was drunk he was not only unintelligible but wanting in proper

532 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.
respect. Both he and his colleagues, in fact, seemed to be more
fond of quarrelling with each other than attending to business.
It was all one scene of wretchedness and misfortune from the
cradle to the grave. " Never, I believe," said Arbuthnot, " was
sleep more welcome to a weary traveller than death was to her."
Her popularity with all classes of her subjects was extraordi
nary. No sovereign, except the amiable and highly-gifted lady
who now occupies the throne, has been so universally and con
stantly beloved. It may be conjectured that this popularity
arose less from the mild and benevolent character of Anne than
from other causes. Whether it proceeds from some inherent
chivalrousness of sentiment in the Anglo-Saxon nature, female
sovereigns have, as a rule, been extremely popular in this
country. There has been little disaffection, even under the
provocation of great abuses, during their reigns. But the most
apparent reason of Anne's popularity is that her mind hap
pened to be exactly in harmony with the minds of nineteen-
twentieths of the people she governed. She was known to be
strongly attached to the Church ; and solicitude for the Church
was in her time paramount in the thoughts of her subjects.
The elections of 1710 showed how deeply seated was this feeling.
The nation was then engaged in a great war. It must have
been admitted that a Tory Parliament was far less likely to
sustain the honour and reputation of our arms than a Whig
one. Yet anxiety for the Church rose above all other con- '
siderations, and a Tory Parliament was returned. It is cus
tomary to this nation, as to many other nations, by affixing
some adjective or substantive to the name of a sovereign, to
record the impression that sovereign has left upon their minds.
Henry I. was distinguished as the "scholar." Richard III.
was dismissed with the contemptuous appellation of " crook-
back." Henry VIII. escaped with no greater censure than that
of being "bluff." His daughter Mary was consigned to ever
lasting infamy by the word " bloody." Elizabeth was held as
"glorious." The compassion or regrets of the nation for the
misfortunes of Charles I. are signified iu the title of " martyr."
The love which the English bore to Queen Anne is touchinglv
displayed in the prefix of " good."

INDEX.

Abjuration Bill, i. 35 ; taken freely
by the Tories, 61 ; time extended
for taking, 149 ; scruples of the
clergy, especially of Scotland, to take
it, ii. 396
Act of Conformity, i. 133
Act of Security, presented by Athol,
i. 164 ; passed, out rejected by the
Queen, 168 ; finally passed, 307;
reflections upon it by English Par
liament, 313—315
Act of Toleration, i. 133
Addison, Joseph, Secretary for Ireland,
ii. 91 ; Member for Malmesbury,
255 ; attempts to cope 'with. Swift,
262 ; his Spectator crushed by Stamp
Duty, 394
Aix 1% Chapelle, peace of, i. 6
Albemarle, Lord, defeated at Denain,
ii. 404
Albergotti, ii. 203, 205
Alcantara captured by Galway, i. 430
AUegre, Marquis de, i. 337
Alliance, treaties of, i. 33, 34
Almanza, battle of, i. 499
Almenara, battle of, ii. 235—237
Amsterdam offers to lend money to
the Provinces, i. 56
Anglesea, Earl of, insults Marlbo
rough, ii. 338 ; befriends Oxford,
485 ; turns against Ministers, 488 ;
supports Schism bill, 501
Annandale, Lord, i. 369, 460
Anne, Queen of Great Britain, her
accession and personal description,
i. 44 ; her education as a Protestant,
45 ; her marriage, premature death.
of her children, and friendship for
Lady Churchill, 46 ; her partiality
for the Tories and abhorrence of the
Whigs, 50 ; her speech to the Council,
62 ; proclaimed queen, 53 ; devotes
part of her revenue to public service,

60 ; her coronation, 70 ; reception
at ^Oxford, 125 ; at Bath, 126 ; in
stitutes Queen Anne's bounty, 233 ;
attends Parliament to hear a debate,
315 ; her wrath against a libeller on
Marlborough, 364 ; commencement
of her complaints against Duchess of
Marlborough, 381 ; her dread of
having the presumptive heir in
England, 383 ; her resentment
against the Tories, 385 ; her dislike
of Sunderland, 477 ; appoints two
bishops, 521 ; her wretchedness,
623 ; excuses to Marlborough, 625 ;
her estrangement from Murlborough
and Godolphin, and partiality for
Harley, ii. 7 — 10; forced to yield,
12 — 15 ; her obstinacy, 38 ; receives
advice from irresponsible servants,
85 ; her answer to Marlborough ;
her letter to the Duchess intimating
the decay of her friendship, 149;
her charity to the Palatines, 157 ;
determined to mortify Marlborough,
163; attends Sacheverell's trial, 171 ;
dismisses Marquis of Kent, 190 ;
last interview with the Duchess,
196 ; renews her insults to Marl
borough, 206 ; her dissimulation,
220 ; dismisses Godolphin, 223 ;
dissolves Parliament, 230 ; her re
ception of Marlborough, 263 ; dis
missal of the Duchess, 265 ; gives
audience to Menager, 316; tries to
win over refractory peers, 334 ; at
tends the House of Lords, 336, 341 ;
thought to be waverings 342 ; her
immovability to argument, 343 ;
creates twelve peers at once, 348;
dismisses Marlborough, 351 ; forbids
his fighting a duel, 389 ; her injus
tice to h,im about Blenheim Castle,
421 ; her declining health, 440 ; her

534

INDEX.

debts, 457 ; dislike of turbulent
clergymen, 465 ; alarming illness,
475 ; her humanity with regard to
the Pretender and terror of the
Hanoverians, 490 ; her angry re
monstrances with the Electoral
court, 508 ; issues proclamation
against Pretender, 511 ; dismisses
Oxford, 521 ; taken ill, 622 ; makes
Shrewsbury Treasurer, 524 ; un
founded statements about her last
hours, 526 ; her death, 528 ; funeral,
530 ; remarks on her life, 531. See
also Parliament and Thanksgiving.
Antwerp captured by Allies, i. 410
Arbuthnot, Doctor, ii. 523, 532
Arco, Count de, i. 183; at Sehellen-
berg, 250, 252
Argyle, Duke of, commands the horse-
guards, i. 160 ', in Scottish Parlia
ment, 163 ; High Commissioner; his
character, 368 ; at Ramilies, 407 ;
his anger against Marlborough, ii.
152, note ; accuses him of prolong
ing the war, 201 ; his rude speech
against him, 270 ; criticizes his
military conduct, 388 ; eager to
repeal Union, 453 ; his speech on
that subject, 454 ; denounces the
peace, 489 ; repairs to the Council,
525
Artois ravaged by Allies, ii. 54, 68
Asfeld, Chevalier de, i. 292
Asgill, John, ii. 185, note
Ashby v. White, the great case, i.
227—231, 317—322
Assiento contract, ii. 306 ; remarks on,
478
Athlone, Earl of, a competitor with
Marlborough, i. 83 ; defeats a Jpro-
ject of French army, 85 ; his death,
198
Athol, Marquis of, presents Act of
Security, i. 164 ; his resentment
against Frazer, 222 ; clears himself
from suspicion, 225 ; made a duke,
803 ; protests against introduction of
bill fox an Union, 376 ; opposes the
Union, 452 ; protests against it, 465 ;
his dealings with Hooke, ii. 25 ; ex
culpates himself, 30
Atterbury, Francis, champion of High
Church party, i. 154 ; attends
Sacheverell upon his trial, ii. 170,
note ; made Bishop of Rochester,
465
Augsburg, city of, captured by Prince
of Baden, i. 188
Augsburg, league of, i. 10
Augustus, King of Saxony, at Lille,
ii. 5

Aumont, Duke de, ii. 420, 460
Auvergne, Prince of, at Malplaquet, ii,
Bank op England, run upon it, ii.
17 ; arrangement with the Govern
ment, 92 ; directors remonstrate
with the Queen, 223 ; panic upon
Godolphin's dismissal, 224 ; refuses
to lend money to new Government,
225 ; run upon it, 475
Barcelona attempted, i. 278 ; captured,
356 ; besieged, 425
Barra, ii. 10
Barre, Sienr de, his memorial to the
States, i. 57
Barrier treaty, ii. 142, 425, 426
Bath, account of, i. 126
Bavaria, Elector of, sides with Louis,
i. 95 ; surprises Ulm, 96 ; consterna
tion he spreads, 179; meets Villars,
182; his folly, 183; invades the
Tyrol, 184 ; retreats, 185 ; his dis
like of Villars, 187 ; captures Passau,
241 ; his irresolution, 264 ; folly in
seeking a battle, 257 ; retreats from
Blenheim, 265 ; his unfortunate
position, 276; with Villeroi in the
Netherlands, 336 ; at Ramilies, 406 ;
his proposal for a negotiation, 492 ;
removed to the Rhine, ii. 41 ; be
sieges Brussels, 70 ; retreats, 74
Bavaria, Electress of, i. 256, 270, 275
Bavaria laid waste by Allies, i. 255
Baville, Sieur de, his cruelty, i. 177
Bay, Marquis de, defeats Galway, ii.
139 ; defeated at Saragossa, 238
Bayrenth, Margrave of, his character,
i. 507
Beauvilliers, Duke de, i. 21
Belcastel, ii. 238
Belhaven, Lord, his speech against the
Union, i. 464, 467 ; arrested ii. 30 ;
dies, 96
Bellasis, Sir Henry, i. Ill ; dismissed
the service, 112
Benbow, Admiral, his character, i. 121 ;
his combat with a French squadron,
123 ; dies, 124
Bergueick, Count, i. 489 ; ii. 44
Berwick, Duke of, commands French
in Spain ; his character, i. 288 ; in
vades Portugal, 290 ; retires, 293 ;
in the Cevennes, 329 ; retires before
Galway, 430 ; drives Galway to
Valencia, 437; defeats him at Al-
manza, 499 ; his sternness, 517 ;
joins Vendome in the Netherlands,
ii. 59 ; has disputes with him, 68 ;
removed to the Rhine, 69 ; forced to
waylay the King's money to feed his

INDEX.

535

troops, 137; with Villars, 204;
marches against the Catalans, 487 ;
desires Oxford's dismissal, 517
Bingfield, Colonel, i. 405, 408
Binks, Doctor, i. 68
Blackmore, Sir Richard, ii. 528
Blandford, Marquis of, i. 198
Blansac, i. 266
Blenheim, battle of, i. 258—270
Bolingbroke, Viscount (formerly St.
John, which see), his proposals to
Louis about Dunkirk, ii. 400 ; his
visit to France, 407 ; negotiations
with Torcy, 408 ; introduced to
Louis, 410 ; determined to make
peace, 413 ; indignant at some diffi
culties started by Louis, 430 ; im
patient to conclude treaty, 432 ;
consults no one but Moore on his
treaty of commerce, 447 ; his pro
bable views about the succession,
461; his plans, 464; anxious to
i quiet the alarm about succession,
476 ; his neglect of the Catalans,
. 486; quarrels with Oxford, 497;
supports Schism bill, 501 ; reflections
on his conduct, 503 ; proposes bill
to prevent enlisting for the Pre
tender, 512 ; his uneasy life, 514 ;
his gloomy prospects and attempts
to strengthen his position, 515 ;
probable explanation of his conduct
regarding the Pretender, 516, note,
517 — 519; effort for a reconciliation
with the Whigs, 522 ; proposes
Shrewsbury for Treasurer, 524 ; his
reception by the people, 530
Bonn captured by Allies, i. 199
Bothmar, .Baron, his memorial, ii. 323
Bouchain captured by Allies, ii. 301 ;
retaken by Villars, 413
Boucher, James, i. 219
Boufflers, Marshal, commands French
army, i. 84; failure of his operations,
91; wins .battle of Eckeren, 201;
commands at Lille, ii. 57 ; his
energy, 66 ; surrenders city, 67 ;
and citadel, 74 ; serves as a volun
teer under Villars, 128 ; superin
tends retreat from Malplaquet, 135
Bounty, Queen Anne's, i. 231 — 236
Bourlie, Abbe de. See Guiscard
Boyer, Abel, remarks on his annals, i.
52, note
Boyle, Henry, against tacking Occa
sional Conformity bill, i. 311 : made
a Secretary of State, ii. 15 ; resigns,
231
Bradbury, Tom, ii. 175
Brancaccio, Don Scipio, i, 106
Brandenburg, Margrave of, i. 88

Brihuega, combat of, 247
Bristol, Robinson, Bishop of, his career,
ii. 356 ; appointed plenipotentiary,
357 ; his speech about Ormond's
orders, 384 ; proposes suspension of
arms, 410 ; signs treaties of Utrecht,
433 ; translated to see of London,
465
Bristol, city of, flooded during the
Great Storm, i. 211
Bromley introduces Occasional Con
formity bill, i. 216 ; defeated as
candidate for Speaker, 379 ; attacks
the Duchess, 382 ; made Speaker, ii.
256
Brown, Joseph, i. 391
Bruce, Sir Alexander, i. 80
Bruges captured by Allies, i. 410 ; re
taken by French, ii. 46 ; by Allies,
76
Brussels captured by Allies, i. 408 ;
besieged, ii. 70 ; relieved, 74
Buckinghamshire, Duke of (formerly
Normanby), made Privy Seal, i. 61 ;
dismissed, 379 ; supports motion for
bringing over presumptive heir, 383 ;
made Steward of the Household,
his character, ii. 232 ; his reply to
Oxford, 337
Burgess, Daniel, his character, meet
ing house destroyed, ii. 173
Burgundy, Duke of, commands French
army ; his character, L 84 ; retires,
91 ; his campaign on the Rhine, 190 ;
associated with Vendome, ii. 41 ; his
disputes with him and loss of battle
of Oudenarde, 48 — 53 ; his indolence,
69, 73 ; his sudden death, 377
Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, communi
cates news of William's death to
Anne, i. 51, note; remarks on his
history, 53, note; opposes Occasional
Conformity bill, 135 ; intolerant to
Papists, 173 ; arguments against
Occasional Conformity bill, 217 ;
originator of Queen Anne's Bounty,
232 ; his bill for a regency, 383 ; his
speech about the Church, 389 ;
against Sacheverell, ii. 180 ; his
blundering oratory, 181 ; his auda
cious remonstrance with Anne, 195 ;
his prophecies about the peace,
334
Buys, Pensioner, his representations
about the field deputies, i. 341 ; in
clined to accept French offers, 398 ;
confers with Rouille, ii. 106 ; his
manner of conducting business, 113;
at Gertruydenburg, 200, 212 ; comes
to England, 322 ; plenipotentiary,
372

536

INDEX.

Byng, Admiral, frustrates the Pre
tender's expedition, ii. 19 ; at Ostend,
62
Cadiz, scheme of expedition to, i. 103 ;
its failure, 113
Cadogan, General, i. 402 ; ii. 48, 71,
127, 299
Csesar, Charles, i. 481
Calcinato, battle of, i. 421
Cameronians, their history and insur
rection, i. 469
Canada, proposed conquest of, ii.
312
Cassano, battle of, i. 346
Castel Branco captured, i. 291
Castel de Vida captured, i. 293
Castile, Admiral of, his opinions, i.
197
Catalans in favour of Charles, i. 352 ;
debate in Parliament about them, ii.
486 ; their enthusiasm, 487
Catinat, Marshal, commands French
army, i. 93 : out of favour, 94
Caya, battle of the, ii. 139
Cevennois, insurrection of the, L 177,
327 ; preachers in London, ii. 31
Chamberlayne, Hugh, hie scheme of a
land-bank, i. 370
Chamillart, French minister, his insuf
ficiency, i. 325 ; uneasy about Ville
roi, 400 ; visits the camp, 413 ; um
pire between Vendome and Berwick,
ii. 68
Charlemnnt, Lord, at Barcelona, i. 355
Charles IL, King of England, i. 7, 45,
46, 47
Charles IL, King of Spain, question
about his successor, i. 14 ; his Aus
trian predilections, 17; bequeaths
the crown to Philip, and dies, 20
Charles, Archduke, made King of Spain,
i. 198 ; his interview with Marl
borough, 204 ; lands in England,
239 ; his appearance, 240 ; proceeds
to Barcelona, 350 ; his triumphal
entry, 367; disgusted with the States-
general, 418 ; iufluenced by his
German favourites, 426 ; behaves
well during siege of Barcelona, 427;
loses crown of Spain for want of
energy, 434 ; separates from the
army, 497 ; his resentment against
English and Dutch, ii. 141 ; with
the Allied army at Almenara and
Saragossa, 234 — 239; at Madrid,
242 ; becomes Emperor of Germany,
293 ; his indignation against Eng
land, 373; inveterate against peace,
412 ; his powerlessness, 427 ; de
mands »pon France, 428

Charles XII., King of Sweden, terror
he inspires ; i. 33 ; appealed to by
Louis for assistance, 502 ; visited by
Marlborough, 504
Chateaurenaud, Admiral, i. 115 ; bis
fleet burned, 117
Chelsea College, its funds diverted, ii.
443
Chevalier de St. George. See Pre
tender
Cholmondeley, Earl of, made Comp
troller of the Household, ii. 15
Churchill, Charles, i. 246, 250, 266_
Churchill, George, his sway over Princa
George, i. 208 ; member of Admiralty
Council, his character, 314 ; attacked
by the Whigs, 534
Churchill, John, friendship entertained
for him by James, i. 48. See Marl
borough, Duke of
Churchill, Sarah, appointed lady of
Anne's bedchamber, i- 46 ; her
character, 48. See Marlborough,
Duchess of
Ciudad Rodrigo eaptured by Allies, i.
431
Clarendon, Lord, his- character, ii. 494 f
sent to Hanover, 609
Clergy, Anglican, their poaitioa. ia
seventeenth century, i. 231
Clerambaut, i. 266
Cohorn, the engineer, i. 83, 199
Cologne, Elector of, i. 95.
Compton, Bishop of London, preceptor
of Anne, i- 45 ; asseverates that the
Chureh is in danger, 387 ; suspend*
one of his clergy, ii. 180
Conduct of the Allies, ii. 334
Constable, Captain, dismissed the ser
vice, i. 124
Convocation of tike Clergy, i. 163 ;
their dissensions, 154; prorogued,
155 ; renew their dissensions, 392
Corporation Act, i. 135
Cotterell, Sir Simon, ii. 319
Cowper, Lard William, his reasoning;
in case of Ashby v. White, i. 229 ;
made Lord Keeper, 381 ; progresses
in Queen's favour, 477: consulted
by Marlborough, ii.151 ; his thoughts-
about peace, 202; tries to remon
strate against dissolving Parliament,
230 ; resigns, 231 ; his reproof of
Strafford, 390 ; his inhumanity
against Pretender, 490; his indig
nation against the Ministers, 494 ;
opposes Schism bill, 502
Craggs, James, ii. 161, 526
Crawford, Earl of, i. 160
Crequi, Duke de, i. 4, 8
Cromarty, Earl of, i. 304

INDEX.

537

Cutts, Lord, at Venloo, i. 89 ; at Blen
heim, 261 ; speaks against tacking
Occasional Conformity bill, 311
Dahien, the scheme for a colony, i. 77
Darmstadt, Prince of Hesse, i. 18 ;
suggests the Cadiz scheme ; his cha
racter and opinions, 103; attempts
Barcelona, 278 ; captures Gibraltar,
281 ; his activity during the siege,
284; with Peterborough, 349; his
death, 355
Dartmouth, Lord, made Secretary of
State, ii. 209 ; appointed to confer
with Meoager, 309 ; his surprise at
the creation of twelve peers, 348 ;
Privy Seal, 466
Dauphin, the, his speech at the
Council, i. 21
Dawes, Sir William, made Bishop of
Exeter, i. 521
Declaration of war by England, i. 74 ;
by the Emperor and States-general,
75
Defoe, Daniel, remarks upon him, i.
139; set in the pillory, 141; his
labours to promote the Union, 473 ;
his treatises upon finance, ii. 258 ;
his Review crushed by the Stamp
duty, 394 ; starts a commercial
periodical, 448 ; again in trouble, 470
Denain, battle of, ii. 404 — 406
Dendermond captured, i. 416
Denmark, King of, i. 33
Denonville, Marquis de, i. 267
Denton, barrister, i. 319, 321
Devonshire, Duke of, dismissed, ii. 231 ;
his indignation about Ormond, 387
Dissenters of England, their alarm at
accession of Anne, i. 73 ; advantage
they have been to the country, 74 ;
their struggle with the Church, 131 ;
country roused against them by
Sacheverell, ii. 156 ; hostility of the
Tories, 497 ; Schism bill passed
against them, 501
Dolben, John, ii. 159
Donauwerth captured, i. 253
Douai captured by Allies, ii. 205 ; re
taken by Villars, 413
Dover, treaty of, i. 7
Drake, Doctor, prosecuted for a libel,
i. 68 ; Ms memorial of the Church
burned by hangman, 386
Dublin, riot in, ii. 473
Du Casse, Admiral, i. 102 ; his engage
ment with Benbow, 123
Dunkirk, prejudicial to English com
merce, i. 411; Pretender's expedi
tion from, ii. 16; English garrison
admitted, 400

Dutch, their terror of Louis, i. 6 ; their
fury at Philip's accession to Spain,
25 ; at the capture of their garrisons,
27 ; their consternation at death of
William, 56. See States-general
Dykvelt, President, i. 67
Eckeren, battle of, i. 201
Edinburgh, turbulence of the crowd in,
i. 169; riots, 458
Edwin, Sir Humphrey, i. 133
Emperor. See Leopold, Joseph, Charles
Empire, the, poverty and feebleness
of, i. 40 ; inconsistency of its inte
rests with those of Holland, 41 ;
unable to place its troops in the field,
241
England uneasy about Louis, i. 6 ; her
indifference ; her fears about Pre
tender; her indignation at his being
recognised as king by Louis, 30 ;
her army, fleet, and revenues, 38 ;
least interested of all the Powers in
the war, 42 ; her rage at the King's
rejection of the preliminaries, ii.
121 ; terms she obtains at Utrecht,
437, 438
Episcopalians, Dissenters in Scotland,
i. 77 ; their joy at accession of Anne,
78 ; thought to be stronger than
they were, 158; their wild hopes,
159; their assurance, 161 ; legislation
by Parliament in their favour, ii.
394
Enrol, Earl of, i. 460 ; ii. 30
Eugene, Prince, Mb parentage and
previous career, i. 98 ; commands
Imperialists in Italy, 101 ; his diffi
culties, 176 ; his meeting with Marl
borough, 248 ; at Blenheim, 258 —
270 ; at battle of Cassano, 345 ; re
turns to Italy, 420 ; wins battle of
Turin, 423 ; besieges Toulon, 514 ;
at Oudenarde, ii. 47 — 53 ; in the
Netherlands, 125; at Malplaquet,
130 — 135; his proposed visit to Eng
land, 350 ; rumours to which it gives
rise, 359 ; arrives in England, 360 ;
his popularity, 361 ; his honse the
headquarters of the opposition, 368 ;
departs, 371 ; appointed to command
the Dutch troops, 381 ; besiegeB
Quesnoy, 398 ; refuses to proclaim
suspension of arms, 399 ; besieges
Landrecy, 404 ; loses battle of De
nain, 406 ; Ms anxiety, 414
Fagel, General, Ms defeat, i. 291
Faille, La, ii. 46
Fairborne, Admiral Sir Stafford, i. 213
Ferguson, Robert, imprisoned, i. 226

538

INDEX.

Finch, Lord, his maiden speech, ii. 485
Finlay, a Jacobite insurgent, i. 471
Fitzhardinge, Lord, made Treasurer
of the Chambers, i. 61
Fletcher, Andrew, of Saltoun, his opi
nions, i. 162 : proposes limitations
upon the royal authority, 165 ; his
scheme of government, 168 ; his
hostility to England, 308 ; repro
duces his scheme, 374 ; opposes the
Union, 453 ; arrested, ii. 30
Foley, Thomas, made a peer, ii. 349
Forfar, Earl of, i. 160
Fourbin, Chevalier de, Ms captures of
merchant fleets, i. 532; fails in the
expedition to Scotland, ii. 19
Fox, Sir Stephen, made Paymaster of
the Forces, i. 150
France, her resources declining, i. 11 ;
her sufferings, 13 ; her army, fleet,
commerce, and revenues, 37 ; her
impoverishment, 323 — 327 ; dreadful
winter of 1708—9, ii. 109 ; her joy
at return of success, 414; emerges
unscathed from the war, 438
Franche Comte reduced by Louis, i.
6,8
Frazer, Simon, Lord Lovat, Ms career,
i. 221 ; Ms deception in the matter
of the Scotch plot, 224 ; imprisoned
in the Bastille, 227
Freind, Doctor, i. 540
French, their delight at annexation of
Spain, i. 24 ; effect upon them of the
King's appeal, ii. 122
Friedlingen, battle of, i. 97
Fuller, William, punished for a libel,
i. 69 ; Ms autobiography, 70
Furstemberg, Cardinal, i. 10
Gallas, Count, his indignation at the
French proposals, ii, 317 ; forbidden
tbe court, 319
Galway, Lord, commands English
troops in Portugal, i. 294, 358 ;
invades Spain, 429 ; occupies Madrid,
433 ; ignorant about Ms colleagues,
435 ; Ms retreat to Valencia, 437 ;
Ms plans for regaining Madrid, 497 ;
defeated at Almanza, 500 ; his sub
sequent movements, 518 ; returns to
Portugal, ii. 79 ; defeated on the
Caya, 139 ; persecuted by the Tories,
267 ; Ms narrative, 268 ; resolutions
passed reflecting upon Mm, 269,
271
Garrard, Sir Samuel, ii. 156, 161
Gaultier, Abbe, his mission to France,
ii. 291 ; is joined with Prior, 306 ; sent
again to Paris, 356 ; as a. Jacobite
agent, 516, note

George, Elector of Hanover, comes to
England to pay Ms addresses to Anne,
i. 46 ; Ms politics, 361 ; his dissatis
faction with Marlborough and
Eugene, ii. 38 ; Ms campaign on
the Rhine, 137 ; Ms reply to Marl
borough's professions of attachment,
227 ; Ms neglect of precautions to
insure Ms succession, 506 ; his
memorial to the Queen, 507 ; pro
claimed King of England, 529
George, Electoral Prinoe, in the Nether
lands, ii. 43 ; at Oudenarde, 49
George, Prince of Denmark, married to-
Anne ; his character, i. 46 ; made
Lord High Admiral, 62 ; fails to
obtain command of Dutch forces, 83 ;
accompajuies Anne to Bath, 125 ; votes
for Occasional Conformity bill, 138 ;
settlement upon him, 145 ; his journey
to Petworth, 239; Ms council at
tacked, 530 ; a medium for conveying.
George Churchill's notions to the
Queen, ii. 41 ; his death, 90
Gertruydenburg, conferences there for
peace, ii. 200 ; their failure, 213
Ghent captured by Allies, i» 410 ; re
taken by French, ii. 45 ; by Allies, 7©
Gibraltar captured by English, i. 280 ;
besieged, 284; siege raised, 357;
ceded to the Queen, ii. 478
Gibson, Sir John, ii. 625
Glasgow, insurrection there, i. 471
Gloucester, Duke of, i. 46
GodolpMn, Earl of, made Treasurer, i.
62 ; Ms character and previous career,
63 ; votes for Occasional Conformity
bill, 137 ; ignorant of the compara
tive strength of Scottish parties, 158 ;
Ms impolicy with regard to Scotland,
170 ; Ms difficulty to conciliate that
kingdom, 364 ; Ms facility in raising
money, 393 ; his wise choice of Com
missioners for negotiating the UMon,
441 ; loses the Queen's favour, 476 ;
tormented by the Whigs, 520; sus
pects that advice is secretly given to
the Queen, 521 ; Ms perplexity, 525 ;
determines to extort Harley's dis
missal, ii. 9 ; his success, 15 ; appa
rent security of his position, 16 ;
object of Ms intrigues with the
Stuarts, 21 ; teased by the Whigs,
89 ; his misery, 104 ; his wrath
against Sacheverell, 159 ; his appre
hensions from the headstrong fury of
the Whigs, 165 ; his remonstrances
with the Queen about changing her
Ministers, 192; hisanxietyaboutSun-
derland's dismissal, 208; dismissed,
223 ; his poverty and death, 280

INDEX.

539

Goez, Imperial ambassador, i. 26
Goor, General, i. 251
Gower, Sir John, i. 73
Granville, George, ii. 232, 349 _
Green, Captain, hanged for piracy, i.
367
Gregg, William, arrested, ii. 10 ; ex
ecuted, 12
Griffin, Lord, ii. 20
Grumbkow, General, i. 503
Guiscard, Marquis de, his character and
career, ii. 275 ; arrested, 276 ; stabs
Harley and is mortally wounded, 277
Halifax, Lord, dismissed from Privy
Council, i. 65 ; opposes Occasional
Conformity bill, 137 ; persecuted by
the Commons, 150 ; replies to Roches
ter about danger of the Church, 387 ;
secures Cottonian MS. to public
use, 393 ; moves an address about
Ormond's instructions, ii. 386 ; dis
plays his zeal against Pretender, 486 ;
and his inhumanity, 490 ; opposes
Schism bill, 502
Hamilton, Duke of, leader of Episco
palian party, i. 78 ; protests against
legality of the Parliament, 79; leader
of the opposition, 305 ; Ms treachery
to his party which saves the UMon,
376 ; again leader of the opposition,
451 ; idolized by the mob, 457 ; his
treachery towards the Cameronian
and Jacobite insurgents, 472 ; Ms
dealings with Colonel Hooke, ii. 25 ;
Ms wily conduct and brief imprison
ment, 30 ; precluded from entering
Parliament as Dukeof Brandon, 344 ;
appointed ambassador to France,
415 ; killed in a, duel with Mohun,
416
Hamilton, Sir David, ii. 264
Hanmer, Sir Thomas, against treaty of
commerce, ii. 449 ; Speaker of House
of Commons, 477
Hanover, Elector of, see George
Sappy Return, the sMp, i. 366
Harcourt, Marquis de, i. 18
Harcourt, Sir Simon, made a Privy
Councillor; Ms supposed Jacobite
tendencies, i. 65 ; Solicitor-General,
66 ; against tacking Occasional Con
formity bill, 312; resigns, ,ii. 15;
advocate for Sacneverell, 162 ; his
defence, 176 ; Ms popularity, 194 ;
made Attorney-General, 230 ; Lord
Keeper, 232 ; perplexed about issuing
a writ to Electoral Prince, 491
Hare, Francis, ii. 328
Harley, Robert, made Secretary of
State, i. 238 ; Ms character, 239 ;

against tacking Occasional Confor
mity bill, 312; Ms relationsMp to Mrs.
Masham, 524 ; endeavours to exone
rate himself from suspicion, 527 ;
laxity prevailing in his office, ii. 10 ;
resigns, 15 ; Ms intrigues, 216 — 220 ;
made a Commissioner of the Trea
sury, 224; his moderating scheme,
229 ; finds Mmself compelled to pro
cure dissolution of Parliament, 230 ;
declines in popularity, 273 ; stabbed
by Guiscard, 277; recovers Ms popu
larity, 278 ; Ms South Sea scheme,
285 ; raised to the peerage and made
Lord Treasurer ; remarks upon him,
289 ; determines to conclude the war,
290. See Oxford, Earl of
Harley, Thomas, Ms mission to Utrecht,
ii. 377 ; to Hanover, 476
Harrach, Count, i. 18
Hartington, Marquis of, i. 73
Haversham, Lord, against Occasional
Conformity bill, i. 217 ; his character,
312 ; Ms speech upon state of the
nation, 313 ; Ms motion to bring over
presumptive heir, 383 ; his speech
about Scotland, ii. 96, 102 ; in favour
of Sacheverell, 180
Hautefort, Baron de, ii. 71
Hay, George Henry, made a peer, ii.
349
Hay, Lord John, i. 252
Heathcote, Sir Gilbert, ii. 223, 225, 253
Hedges, Sir Charles, made Secretary of
State, i. 62 ; speaks against tacking
Occasional Conformity bill, 311
Heinsius, Grand Pensionary, labours
to form alliances, i. 31 ; his charac
ter, 59 ; communicates French offers
to Marlborough, 398, 489 ; thinks
them reasonable, ii. 108; Ms recep
tion of Torcy, 113; Ms opinions of
the King's proposals, 145; Ms dis
satisfaction with the English minis
ters, 304
Herberville, Count de, i. 185
Hesse Cassel, Prince of, defeated at
Spires, i. 191 ; captures Traerbach,
273 ; at Ramilies, 405 ; killed, 408
Hickeringhill, Edmund, a crazy parson,
i. 388
Hill, Abigail, her rise at court, i. 522.
See Masham
Hill, Colonel, ii. 163, 314
Hoadly, Benjamin, i. 388 ; ii. 162, 169
Hochstadt, first battle of, i. 186
Holland, incapability of, to contend
against Louis, i. 2; her prosperity,
39; inconsistency of her interests
with those of the Emperor, 41. See
States-general

540

INDEX.

Holstein Beck, Duke of, killed at Blen
heim, i. 263
Holt, Lord CMef Justice, his judgment
in Ashby v. White, i. 228, 319 ; anec
dote of Mm, 323 ; tries case of Peter's
ambassador, ii. 101 ; dies, 179
Home, Earl of, i. 161
Hompesch, General, i. 265 ; ii. 300
Hooke, Colonel, Ms mission to Scot
land, ii. 23—26
Hopson, Admiral, his gallantry at
Vigo, i. 116; knighted and pen
sioned, 121
House of Commons, House of Lords.
See Parliament
Howe, John, made a Privy Councillor,
i. 65 ; Paymaster of the Forces, 66 ;
moves for a settlement upon Prince
George, 145
Hungary, revolt in, i. 188
Huntingdon, Earl of, at Venloo, i.
89
Huy captured by Allies, i. 202
Jacobites, what persons entitled to this
distinction, i. 65 ; inclinations of the
party in Scotland at accession of
Anne, 78 ; encouraged by policy of
English Ministers, 159 ; active to
frustrate Union, 451 ; their schemes
of insurrection, 472; their intrigues
with Louis, ii. 22 — 25 ; much ex
cited, 439 ; their political insigmfi-
cance in England, 466 ; kept under
by military force in Scotland, 471 ;
their folly, 510; Swift's opimons
about their numbers, 516
James IL, death of, i. 30
James III. See Pretender
Jennings, Frances, her wild character,
and marriages, i. 47
JenMngs, Richard, i. 46
Jersey, Earl of, dismissed, i. 236 ; re
commends Gaultier to miMsters, ii.
290 ; appointed to confer with Me
nager, 309; bought by Louis, 311,
note ; dies, 357
Joseph, Emperor, i. 272 ; Ms accession
and poverty, 358 ; raises a loan in
England, 392 ; appoints Marlborough
governor of the Netherlands, 418 ; his
Italian schemes ; captures Naples,
493, 494 ; his plans, 501 ; is recon
ciled with the Pope, ii. 84 ; his de
mands upon France, 117; begs
Marlborough not to desert the cause,
211 ; his death, 293
Kaiserswekth captured, i. 83
Kelly, the brothers, arrested, ii. 610

Kent, successively Earl, Marquis, and.
Duke of, made Lord Chamberlain, i.
238 ; dismissed, ii. 190
Ker of Kersland, i. 471
Killigrew, Admiral, i. 382
King, Sir Peter, ii. 179
Kirkby, Captain, executed for coward
ice, i. 124
Kit Kat Club, ii. 331
Knatchbull, Sir Edward, ii. 492
Kryenburg, ii. 526, 528
La Feuillade, General, retires from
Turin, i. 344; besieges Turin, 421 ;
at battle of Turin, 423
Lamothe, Count de, ii. 63, 76
Landau captured by Prince Louis, L
95 ; by Tallard, 191 ; invested by
Marlborough, 271
Law, John, his career and financial
schemes, i. 372
Leake, Sir John, i. 283 ; defeats Pointis,
286 ; delivers Barcelona, 428 ; cap
tures provision ships, ii. 80 ; reduces.
Sardinia, 81 ; and Minorca, 82 ; head
of the Amiralty, 232
Lechmere, banister, i. 319, 321 ; ii. 171,
194
Leopold, Emperor, intrigues at the
court of Spain, i. 17 ; commences-
war against Louis, 26 ; Ms character,
40 ; Ms poverty, 241 ; death, 358
Lerida captured by the French, i. 518
Lettres Historiques, as an authority, u
52, note
Leven, Lord, ii. 17, 29
Lexington, Lord, ii. 415
Liege captured by Allies, i. 91
Lille besieged by Allies, ii. 66; sur
rendered, ii. 67 ; also citadel, 74
Lockhart, George, of Carnwarth, Com
missioner for negotiating the Unions
i. 442 : deceived by Hamilton, ii. 31 ;
tries to procure repeal of the Union,
453 ; his bill in favour of Episco
palian clergy, 504
London, the Sacheverell riot in, ii.
175 ; elections there, 253 ; in favour
of peace, 390; peace proclaimed,
444; consternation occasioned by
Queen's illness, 475 ; against treaty
of commerce, 5 i2; Common Council
remodelled, 515; agitated by reports,
526
Lottum, Count, ii. 71, 132
Louis XIV., King of France, Ms law
less ambition, i. 1 ; assumes the
government ; vigorous assertion of
his power, 3 ; aids the Portuguese to
revolt; lays claim to provinces in-
the Netherlands, 4 ; makes the peace

INDEX.

541

of Aix la Cbapelle ; his resentment
against the Dutch, 6 ; invades their
Republic, 7 ; dictates peace of Nime-
guen; Ms title of "Great;" seizes
Strasburg, 8 ; war with Spain ; in
troduces bombarding, 9 ; captures
towns on the Rhine, 10 ; lays waste
the Palatinate; his success in war,
11 ; insensible to the sufferings of
his subjects, 13; concludes treaty of
partition, 16 ; accepts bequest of the
Spanish crown ; his anxiety about
England and Holland, 22 ; surprises
Dutch garrisons in the Netherlands,
27 ; recognizes the Pretender as
King of England, 30 ; Mb haughty
memorial to the States, 58 ; his un
willingness to declare war ; sends
Burgundy to the army, 84 ; his
energy, 175 ; his indignation against
Duke of Savoy, 194 ; declares war
against Mm, 196 ; effect upon him
of Ms defeat at Blenheim, 268 ; Ms
energy to repair Ms losses, 324 ; Ms
financial schemes, 325 — 327 ; nego
tiations for peace, 398 ; Ms hopes of
having a superiority in the Nether
lands, 398 ; Ms calmness after defeat
of Ramilies, 413; Ms fondness for
Villeroi, 414; his inveteracy against
Savoy, 421; his anxiety for peace,
487 ; Ms proposals to the Dutch,
489 ; their failure, 492 ; turns to
Charles XII., 502; to the Pope,
605 ; promotes an invasion of Scot
land by the Pretender, ii. 23 ; re
opens negotiations with the States,
105 ; Ms extreme longing for peace,
111; rejects the preliminaries, 119;
appeals to his subjects, 120 ; his in
structions to Uxelles and Polignac,
198 ; opens communications with
English MiMsters, 292 ; his high
hopes, 297 ; revival of his lofty tone ;
Ms memorial to English Mii.isters,
303 ; his amicable relations with
English government, 355 ; his offers
at Utrecht, 374 ; Ms despair in a
military point of view, 382 ; agrees
to place English in possession of
Dunkirk, 399 ; refuses to convoke a
States- general, 409; his delight at
victory of Denain, 410; resumes Ms
haughty attitude, 414 ; insists upon
some reservations in treaty of com
merce, 428
Louis, Prince of Baden, i. 11 ; captures
Landau, 95 ; defeated by Villars at
Friedlingen, 97; blockades Villars
on the Danube, 185 ; takes Augs
burg, 188 ; outwitted by Tallard,

247; meeting with Marlborough,
249 ; at battle of Schellenberg, 250 ;
undertakes siege of Ingolstadt, 256 ;
invests Landau, 271 ; his inactivity,
331 ; again beaten by Villars, 396 ;
his death and epitaph, 507
Louvaine captured by Allies, i. 408
Louvois, death of, i. 12
Lumley, General, i. 252, 262
Luxemburg retires from Holland, i.
7 ; his death, 12
Macartny, General, ii. 416, 417
Maclean, Sir John, i. 225
Madrid, confusion in, i. 432 ; occupied
by Galway, 433 ; by Stanhope, ii.
242 ; abandoned, 246
Maintenon, Madame de, i. 487 ; ii.
127
Malaga, naval battle of, i. 282
Malines, captured, i. 408
Malplaquet, battle of, ii. 131—136
Mancera, Marquis de, ii. 241, 243
Manchester, Earl of, Ms interview with
Torcy, i. 22 ; dismissed, 62 ; in
structed to remonstrate with Em
peror, 494
Manley, Mrs. de la Riviere, her
character and business, ii. 325
Mansell, Sir Thomas, made Comp
troller of the Household, i. 238 ; re
signs, ii. 15 ; made a peer, 349
Mar, Earl of, i. 160 ; eager to repeal
the Union, ii. 453 ; made Secretary
of Slate, 465
Marchmont, Lord, Ms fanaticism, i.
8 1 ; Ms bill to secure Presbyterian
religion, 162; his reply to Belhaven,
465
Marion, Elias, ii. 31 — 34
Marlborough, Duke of, destined by
William to command the troops, i.
31 ; his popularity, 49 ; his political
wishes, 50 ; made Captain-general,
55 ; envoy to the Hague, 57 ; jus
tifies the war, 71 ; teased by his wife,
82 ; made Commander-in-chief of
Dutch forces, 83 ; assembles his
army, 85 ; annoyed by the field
deputies, 87, 88 ; narrowly escapes
capture, 92 ; his welcome at the
Hague, 9 3 ; votes for Occasional
Conformity bill, 137 ; thanked by
Parliament, 143 ; made a duke, fails
to obtain a pension from Parliament,
144 ; returns to Holland, 199
thwarted by the Dutch, 200—203
his interview with Charles, 204
dissatisfaction excited by Ms mono
poly of power, 205 ; Ms opiMons as
to the necessity of the war, 206 ;

542

INDEX.

disinclined to desert tbe Tories, 23'8;
his good opimon of Harley and St.
John, 239 ; marches to the Danube,
246 ; meets Eugene and Prince
Louis, 248 ; wins battle of Sehellen-
berg, 250 — 253 ; Ms compassion for
tbe Bavarians, 255 ; wins battle of
Blenheim, 258 — 270 ; forms siege of
Landau, 271 ; Ms multifarious occu
pations, 274 ; repairs to Berlin, 275 ;
returns home, thanked by Parlia
ment, dines with Lord Mayor, 299 ;
is awarded manor of Woodstock,
300 ; Ms sensitiveness to blame, 301;
Ms plans of campaign, 329 ; visits
Prince Louis, 331 ; retires from the
Moselle, 334 ; complains of domestic
enemies, 335 ; breaks into French
lines, 336; Ms difficulties with
Dutch deputies, 338—342; visit to
Vienna, 359 ; made a prince of the
empire, 360 ; visits Berlin and Han
over, 361 ; Ms horror of libels, 363 ;
his scheme of marching to relief of
Savoy, 394 ; uneasy lest the Dutch
should accept the offers of Louis,
399 ; wins battle of Ramilies, 402 —
408; Ms hopes disappointed, 411;
offered governorship of the Nether
lands, 418; his admiration ' for Eu
gene, 420 ; misgivings about forcing
Sunderland into office, 478 ; Mb
titles and estates settled upon his
daughters; his apprehensions about
the Queen, 485 ; and the Dutch, 486 ;
his thoughts about peace, 490, 492 ;
his plans for besieging Toulon, 494 ;
visits Charles XII., 504; his pa
tience with the Dutch deputies, 510 ;
visited by Peterborough, 511 ; his
advice about the Harley and Masham
difficulties, 525 ; his remonstrances
with Anne, 526 ; concerned for his
brother George, 535 ; Ms anger at
Rochester's attempt to reduce the
army, 538 ; determined to extort
Harley's dismissal from Anne, ii.
9 — 15; apparent security of his
position, 16 ; object of his messages
to the Stuarts, 21 ; his military plans,
36 ; keeps them secret from Elector
of Hanover, 38 ; apprehensions of
the peace party in Holland, 33 ; wins
battle of Oudenarde, 47 — 63 ;
anxious about the Queen, 53 ; his
plan negatived for marcMng directly
into France, 54 ; besieges Lille, 55 ;
forces passage of Scheldt and relieves
Brussels, 71 ; retakes Ghent and
Bruges, 76 ; Ma letter to Berwick
about peace, 78 ; his exalted position

and difficulties, 84 ; remonstrates
with Anne, 87 ; at variance with
Heinsius about peace, 108 ; his con
versation with Torcy, 115; besieges
Tournay, 125 ; wins battle of Mal
plaquet, 130 — 135 ; excuses himself
from participating in Barrier treaty,
144 ; his advice to his wife, 148 ; ap
plies to be made Captain-general for
life, 149 ; trick put upon him by Lord
Rivers ; determined not'to yield pro
motion of Colonel Hill, 163 ; Ms
irresolution, 164 — 166 ; returns to
Holland, 170 ; his reflections, 197 ;
conduct about the peace negotiations,
202 ; yields promotion of Hill and
Masham, 206 ; earnest entreaties
about Sunderland, 207 ; determines
to retain his post, 210; takes Be
thune, 214 ; draws closer Ms re
lations with Hanover, 226 ; endea
vours to beguile the Stuarts, 227 ;
tone adopted towards him by new
Ministers, 260 ; depreciated by
Tory writers, 261 ; his reception in
London, 263 ; intercedes for his wife,
265; defends Galway, 268—270
remonstrates with Oxford, 297
breaks into French lines, 299
opinion entertained about him at
French court, 302 ; his bitter re
flections, 324 ; agony caused him by
libellers, 325 ; accused of peculation,
328 ; his answer, 329 ; his appeal to
Oxford for protection, 330 ; returns
to London, 331 ; speaks upon the in
sufficiency of the French proposals,
338 ; dismissed, 350 ; unpopularity
into which he falls, 361 ; resolutions
of the Parliament against Mm, 364 ;
attacked by Argvle and Powlett,
387; challenges Powlett, 388; his
remarks on the French proposals,
389 ; probable reasons for hi * with
drawing from the country, 420 ; Ms
reception abroad, 423 ; omitted from
list of regents, 529
Marlborough, Duchess of, becomes a
Whig, i. 50; loaded with favours,
70 ; declines two thousand a. year
from the privy purse, 71 ; her morti
fication at Anne's Toryism, 207 ; her
treatment of her husband, 245 ; and
of Anne, 381 ; her habit of lecturing
the Queen, 478; folly of her con
duct, 486 ; discovers that Anne has
secrets from her, 522 ; importunes
Anne to bestow the reversion of her
places upon her daughters, ii. 36 ; her
behaviour to Anne upon the thanks
giving-day for Oudenarde, 86; her

INDEX.

543

importunities to be restoredto favour,
149 ; her last interview with Anne,
196 ; threatens to publish her letters,
264 ; dismissed 266
Marsin, Marshal, succeeds Villars in
Germany, i. 187 ; with the Elector,
257; sent to Italy, 416; defeated
and killed at battle of Turin,
423
Masham, Mrs., her marriage, i. 622 ;
tries to exonerate herself from sus
picion of counselling Anne, 526 ; a
medium between Anne and Harley,
ii. 219 ; fears that Anne is wavering,
342 ; her spite against Oxford, 499,
620 ; sends for Doctor Radcliffe, 524 ;
her intimacy with Swift, 528
Masham, Samuel, his marriage, i.
522 ; made a peer, ii. 349
Mayenee, Elector of, i. 248, 508
Maynwaring, Arthur, ii. 262, 325, 327
Mazarin, Cardinal, his death, i, 2
Mead, Doctor, ii. 523
Medavi, General, i, 493
Medina, Sir Solomon de, ii. 328
Menager comes secretly to England,
ii. 308 ; his conferences with the
Ministers, 309— 312,315— 316; pleni
potentiary at Utrecht, 372 ; his
quarrel with Rechteren, 411
Menin captured, i. 416
Merci, Count de, defeated, ii. 137
Methuen, Paul, i. 197
Middleton, Earl of, ii. 21
Minas, Marquis das, his character, i.
292 ; refuses to submit to Peter
borough, 437 ; defeated at Almanza,
499
Minorca reduced, ii. 81 ; ceded to Eng
land, 478
Mohawks, the, ii. 370
Mohun, Lord, against Occasional Con
formity bill, i. 217; wants to send
Nottingham to the Tower, 316;
speaks in favour of former adminis
tration, ii. 270 ; second to Marl
borough in a contemplated duel, 388 ;
killed in a duel with Hamilton,
416
Monjuich captured, i. 355
Mons besieged, ii. 128 ; taken, 136 -
Montague, Sir James, i. 319, 321 ; ii.
171, 230
Moore, Arthur, ii, 448, 513
Morton, Earl of, i. 160
Munden, Admiral Sir John, tried by
court-martial, i. 102
Musgrave, Sir Christopher, i. 144
Nash, Richard, Ms work at Bath, i.
127

Nassau-Saarbruck, Prince of, a com
petitor with Marlborough ; besieges
Kaiserswerth, i, 83 ; captures Venloo,
90; dies, 198
Nassau-Weilburg, Count of, defeated
at Spires, i. 191.
Naturalization Act, passed, ii. 98 ; re
pealed, 391
Newcastle-under-Lyne,meeting-houses pulled down, i. 73
Newcastle, Duke of, ii. 233, 357
Nicholson, Francis, bis Canadian
scheme, ii. 312
Nimeguen threatened by French, i.
85
Noailles, Duke de, ii. 245
Normanby. See Buckinghamshire
Nottingham, Earl of, made Secretary of
State, i. 62 ; Ms dislike of support
ing Cevennois, 208 ; narrowly escapes
vote of censure, 226 ; resigns, 236 ;
expatiates upon impolicy of passing
Act of Security, 315 ; opposes the
UMon, 482 ; joins the Whigs, ii.
332 ; speaks upon the insufficiency
of the preliminaries, 336 ; brings
forward Occasional Conformity bill,
344 ; indignant against Ministers,
494 ; opposes Schism bill, 502
Noyelles, Count de, i. 498
Occasional Conformity Bill, i. 131,
134 — 139 ; introduced a Becond time,
216 ; passes Commons, 217 ; rejected
by Lords, 218 ; again introduced,
312 ; finally passed, ii. 344
October Club, the, ii. 274
O'Hara, Sir Charles, i. Ill, 112
Oldmixon, ii. 262 ; remarks on his
history, 327
Onslow, Sir Robert, made Speaker, ii.
91
Opdam, General, Ms narrow escape, i.
91 ; Ms character, 199 : defeated at
Eekeren, 201 .«
Orange, Prince of, at Malplaquet, ii.
132
Orford, Lord, head of Admiralty, ii.
147 ; resigns, 231
Orkney, Lord, i. 266 ; ii. 127, 134
Orleans, Duke of, sent to Italy, i. 416 ;
defeated at Turin, 423 ; goes to
Spain, 495 ; Ms straits for money, ii.
80
Ormond, Duke of, his popularity ;
commands the forces for Cadiz, i.
106 ; his difficulties, 108 ; his dis
inclination to abandon the enter
prise, 113 ; his success at Vigo, 117 ;
desires 'to winter in Spain, 120 ; his
reception at home, 142 ; thanked by

544

INDEX.

Parliament ; his quarrel with Rooke,
143 ; opens Parliament of Ireland,
170; dismissal, ii. 91; again Lord
Lieutenant, 232 ; succeeds Marl
borough, 352 ; under control of
Ministers, 381 ; his embarrassment,
383,398, 399 ; separates from Eugene,
401 ; reflections upon this step, 402 ;
marches to Ghent, 404; pension
awarded him, 465; his popularity
undiminished, 530
Ostend captured, i. 412
Oudenarde, battle of, ii. 47 — 53
Overkirk, General, his reputation, i.
199 ; at Ramilies, 404 ; at Oude
narde, ii. 51
Oxenstiern, Count, ii. 133
Oxford, its reception of Anne, i. 125;
of Sacheverell, ii. 220
Oxford, Earl of (see Harley), appointed
to confer with Menager, ii. 309 ; his
reply to Marlborough's appeal about
libellers, 327; his mistake in Parlia
mentary procedure, 337 ; rallies
Swift on his cowardice, 343 ; roused
to a sense of his danger, 347 ; re
commends creation of twelve peers,
348 ; depreciates Marlborough to
Eugene, 362 ; his dealings with
Plunket, 369; his answer about Or
mond's orders, 386 ; attempt on his
life, 413; Ms dispute with Sunderland,
455 ; his probable inclinations about
the succession, 461 ; his conduct a
puzzle to the Jacobites, 463 ; be
friends Defoe, 470 ; falsehood about
Swift, 483 ; tries to clear himself
from suspicion, 485; defends the
peace, 488 ; his quarrel with Boling
broke, 497 ; declines in popularity,
499 ; Ms tactics on the Schism bill,
| 604 ; suspected cause of his loss of
Anne's favour, 509 ; remarks upon
Ms intrigues with the Jacobites, 516
— 519; dismissed, 621 ; his unpopu
larity, 529
Packington, Sir John, i. 216, 390,
481
Page, barrister, i. 319, 321
Palatines, the poor, in England, ii. 157,
281
Papists, severe laws enacted by Irish
Parliament, i. 172
Parke, Colonel, i. 268
Parker, Sergeant, ii. 179
Parliament of England, 1701, hostile
to William ; impeaches his Minis
ters, i. 28. 1701— 2, attaints Prince
of Wales; passes Abjuration bill,
i. 35 ; addresses Anne, 53 ; settles

X1

revenue upon her, 60 ; sanctions the
war, 72 ; motion for dismissing alien
officers from Ihe army, 73 ; address
for issmng letters of marque, 75.
1702—3, meets, i. 129; debates on
Occasional Conformity bill, 135 —
139 ; settlement upon Prince George,
145 ; votes supplies, 146 ; consents
to augment forces, 147 ; quarrel
between the two Houses, 148 ; con
tests about Ranelagh and Halifax,
149—152; prorogued, 152. 1703—
4, meets, i. 216 ; debates on Occa
sional Conformity bill, 216—218;
quarrel between the two Houses
about the Scotch plot, 219—221;
the case of Ashby v. White ; pro
rogued, 231. 1704—5, meets, i. 309 ;
quarrel renewed between the two
Houses, 310 ; determination of the
Tories to pass the Occasional Con
formity bill, 31 1 ; debates upon the
state of the nation, 313 — 316 ; em
powers Anne to name Commissioners
to treat for Union, 316; the case of
Ashby v. White, 317—321; dis
solved, 322. 1705—6, meets, i. 379 ;
passes a billforappointingaregency,
385 ; repeals some clauses obnoxious
to the Scotch, 386; declares Church
not in danger, 390 ; prorogued, 394.
1706—7, meets, i. 475; debates
upon the Union, 481 ; passes Act of
Ratification, 483; prorogued, 484.
1707 — 8, meets, i. 628; attack on
the Ministers, 529; the short-com
ings of the Admiralty, 530 — 537 ; re
solution for no peace without Spain,
639; legislation with regard to the
Union, ii. 4 ; address about the
Pretender, 17; dissolved, 36. 1708
— 9, meets, ii. 91; debates upon
Scotland, 93 — 98 ; passes Act of
Grace and Act of Naturalization,
98 ; Act securing immunity to Am
bassadors from arrest, 101. 1709 —
10, meets, ii. 152; passes Lottery
bill, 153 ; resolves to impeach Sache
verell, 161; prorogued, 187; dis
solved, 230. 1710—11, meets, ii.
25<3 ; difficulty in raising money,
257 ; inquires into conduct of war in
Spain, 267 ; and abuses in the navy,
272 ; vote about the thirty-five
millions, 279 ; bill for renewing
grants of William, 282 ; passes Quali
fication Act, 283 ; votes sum for build
ing churches, 284 ; incorporates
South Sea Company, 285 ; reflects
upon previous administration ; pro
rogued, 287. 1711 — 12, meets, ii.

INDEX.

545

335 ; debate on the preliminaries for
peace, 337 — 341 ; twelve new peers
introduced, 358 ; debates upon Wal
pole and Marlborough, 362 — 364 ;
denounce the policy of previous admi
nistration as to the war, 365 ; debate
upon Ormond's orders, 386 ; upon
the French proposals, 389 ; repeals
Naturalization Act, 391 ; imposes
stamp duty on books and news
papers, 391-4 ; passes laws in favour
of Scottish Episcopalians, 394 — 396 ;
\ prorogued 397. 1713, meets, ii. 440 ;
corruption prevailing in government
departments, 442 ; debate on the
Treaty of Commerce, 445 ; it is re
jected, 450 ; extends malt tax to
Scotland, 462 ; attempt to repeal
the Umon, 454 ; debate upon the
Pretender, 456 ; prorogued, 460 ;
dissolved, 466. 1714, meets, 477;
debate on the state of the nation,
485 ; upon the Catalans, 486 ; the
Protestant succession, 488 ; address
against Pretender, 489 ; votes suc
cession not in danger, 493 ; peace
safe, honourable, and advantageous,
495 ; cost of the war, 496 ; passes
Schism bill, 500 ; offers reward for
apprehending Pretender, 511 ; debate
on the treaty of commerce with
Spain, 512 ; prorogued, 514
Parliament of Ireland, 1703, meets, i.
170 ; grievances of the colonists,
171; adjourned, 174. 1713, meets,
ii. 473 ; zeal against Pretender, 474 ;
dissolved, 475
Parliament of Scotland, 1702, opened,
i. 78 ; its legality disputed, 79 ; laws
passed, 80 ; prorogued, 81 ; dissolved,
157. 1703, riding of the Parliament,
i. 160; debates, 161—170. 1704,
opened, i. 303 ; its hostility to Eng
land, 305 ; prorogued, 308. 1705,
opened, i. 368 ; passes act empower
ing Queen to nominate Commis
sioners for an UMon, 376 ; adjourned,
377. 1706, opened, i. 451 ; debates
upon the Union, 453 — 468 ; act recti
fying the treaty passed, 474
Partition, first and second treaties of, i.
16 ; indignation they excite, 17
Pembroke, Earl of, dismissed from
office, i. 62 ; befriended by Anne, ii.
39 ; made Lord High Admiral, 91 ;
resigns, 147
Petcum, ii. 144, 146, 304
Peter the Great, his ambassador ar
rested for debt, ii. 99—102
Peterborough, Earl of, opposes Occa
sional Conformity bill, i. 137 ; his
VOL. II. N

character and career, 348 ; his opi
nions, 350 ; captures Barcelona, 352
— 357 ; his advice to Charles, 424 ; his
quarrel with Charles's counselors ;
his marvellous activity, 426 ; his
plans > frustrated by Charles, 4o J ;
retires from Spain, 437 ; returns ;
his advice ; his final retirement, 49.) ;
remarks upon him, 496 ; visits Marl
borough, 511; endeavours to clear
Mmself before Parliament, 510; his
charges against the officers, ii. 267 ;
thanked by Parliament, 270 ; speaks
in defence of the Union, 454 ; his
remark about the Pretender, 456
Phelypeaux, i. 193
Philip V., King of Spain, crown be
queathed to him, i. 20 ; proclaimed,
22 ; influence exercised over him,
289 ; invades Portugal, 290 ; returns
to Madrid, 294 ; invests Barcelona,
425 ; retreats, 428 ; flies from Madrid,
433 ; use he makes of his power,
518 ; courts his subjects, ii. lo9 ;
with his army, 234 ; his second
flight from Madrid, 240 ; causes of
Ms popularity, 241 ; determines not
to abandon Spain, 245 ; independent
of his grandfather, 340 ; renounces
his claim to French crown, 415 ;
determined to reduce the Catalans,
486
Phipps, Sir Constantine, ii. 472 ; his
unpopularity among the Irish Whigs,
474
Picardy, contributions levied on, ii.
54.
Piper, Count, i. 502, 505, note
Plunket, John, a Jacobite, Ms fabrica
tions, ii. 368
Pointis, Baron de, his defeat, i. 286
Polignac, Abbe, appointed plenipoten
tiary, ii. 198 ; recalled, 213 ; at
Utrecht, 372
Pontchartrain, Count de, i. 21
Pope, the, in the French interest, i.
345 ; distresses of Clement XL, ii.
83
Portalegre captured by French, i. 292
Port Mahon captured, ii. 81
Porto-Carrero, Cardinal, i. 19, 20
Portugal, King of, joins the Allies, i.
196 ; receives Charles, 277 ; Ms in
ertness, 287 ; his private interests,
430 ; Ms demands upon France, ii.
117 ; proclaims suspension of arms,
424 ; terms he obtains, 437
Potter, Doctor, ii. 8
Powlett, Earl, his insult to Marl
borough ; challenged by him, ii.
388

546

INDEX.

Preliminary articles of peace, ii. 117 ;
rejected by LoMs, 119
Presbyterians of Scotland, their ascen
dancy and sentiments, i. 77; three
divisions of them in Parliament, 158 ;
their strength, 161
Pretender, the, recognized King of
England by Louis, i. 30 ; attainted
by Parliament, 35 ; his expedition to
Scotland, ii. 16 — 19 ; Ms character,
20 ; at Dunkirk, 26, 27 ; chances of
his success, 28, 29 ; serves in French
army, 42 ; Marlborough's conversa
tion with Torcy about him, 116;
serves in Villars's army, 129 ; at
Malplaquet, 134; again with Villars,
204 ; difficulties in the way of his
succession, 227 ; again with Villars,
296 ; retires to Lorraine, 457 ; pro
clamation against him, 511
Prior, Matthew, his mission to France,
ii. 305 ; arrested, 308 ; fails to become
a plenipotentiary, 357 ; journey to
France with Bolingbroke, 407
Prussia, King of, joins Allies, i. 82 ;
lends eight thousand men to Savoy,
275 ; his death, ii. 437
Public Accounts, report of Commis
sioners, i. 149
Quebec, expedition to, ii. 312 ; its
failure, 314
Qneensberry, Duke of, appointed High
Commissioner, i. 78 ; Commissioner
for arranging an Union, 155 ; in Par
liament of 1703, 161 ; Ms difficulties,
166; returns to London, 170; Ms
imagined discovery of a Scotch plot,
219, 224, 225 ; in Parliament of 1706,
451 ; his unpopularity and courage,
457, 458 ; Ms narrow escape from
the mob, 468 ; suppresses Cameron-
ian insurrection, 471 ; his reception
in England, ii. 2 ; arrests he makes
on suspicion, 95 ; enters Parliament
as Duke of Dover, 346
Quesnoy besieged, ii. 398 ; taken, 400 ;
retaken by Villars, 413
Raby, Lord. See Strafford
Radcliffe, Doctor, ii. 524
Ragotzky, Prince, insurrectionary
leader in Hungary, his career, i. 188
Ramilies, battle of, i. 402—408
Ranelagh, Earl of, charges against
Mm, i. 149 ; expelled the House,
151
Rechteren, Count de, ii. 41 1
Revenues of England, i. 38 ; ii. 92,
258 ; of France, i. 37, 325 ; of Hol
land, i. 39, 243, 398

Rivers, Lord, in command of reinforce
ments for Spain, i. 497 ; made Lieu
tenant of the Tower, ii. 163 ; Master
of the Ordnance, 352
Rochester, Earl of, Lord- lieutenant of
Ireland, i. 62 ; his discontent, 66 ;
his arguments against undertaking
the war, 71 ; dismissed, 208 ; com
plains of the expenditure, 316 ; the
danger of the Church, 387 ; Ms views
about conducting the war, 538 ;
President of the Council, ii. 232 ;
dies, 289.
Rooke, Sir George, made Vice-admiral
of England ; commands fleet for
Cadiz; his character, i. 104; disin
clined to the enterprise, 105 ; his
dissensions with Ormond, 108 ; his
energy at- Vigo, 116; exonerated by
the Commons, 143 ; Ms unfitness for
high command, 208, 210 ; attempts
Barcelona, 278 ; captures Gibraltar,
281 ; his combat with Toulouse, 282 ;
against tacking Occasional Confor
mity bill, 312
Ross, General, i. 266
Rota captured, i. 109
Rouille negotiates for peace, i. 398 ;
sent to Holland, ii. 106 ; his report
to Louis, 109 ; announces the King's
rejection of the preliminaries, 119
Rowe, General, killed at Blenheim, i.261
Roxburgh, Earl of, i. 166, 169, 306
Ruremonde captured, i. 90
Russell, Lord Edward, dismissed, i. 61
Sacheverell, Doctor Henry, his career
and character, ii. 154 ; Ms sermon at
St. Paul's, 155 ; its effect, 156 ; called
to the bar of the Commons, 160 ;
resolution to impeach him, 161 ;
articles against him, 166 ; his trial,
170 — 183 ; enthusiasm he excites,
185 ; his progress through the pro
vinces, 220 ; recommences preaching,
444 ; made rector of St. Andrew's,
Holborn, 465
Saint John, Henry, a manager for the
Commons ; his character, i. 137;
Secretary at War, 238 ; against tack
ing Occasional Conformity. bill, 312 ;
resigns, ii. 15 ; made a Secretary of
State, 232 ; appointed to confer with
Menager, 309 ; his lofty tone towards
the States- general, 320 ; his instruc
tions to the English representatives,
377 ; his reproof to the States, 385;
his exultation at defeating the Whigs,
387 ; made a peer, 397 ; his resent
ment against Oxford, 398. See
Bolingbroke

INDEX.

547

Salvaterra captured by French, ri.
290
Saragossa occupied by Charles I., 435 ;
battle of, ii. 237
SardiMa reduced, ii. 81
Savoy, Duke of, his feelings and inter
ests, i. 193 ; joins the Allies, 196 ;
his character, 296 ; his appeal to
England, 297 ; his victory at Turin,
423 ; his hopes of acquiring French
territory, 512 ; besieges Toulon, 513;
retires, 515 ; his demands upon
France, ii. 117 ; discontented with
the Emperor, 137 ; terms he obtains,
437
Saxe, Marshal de, ii. 5
Scarborough, Lord, ii. 260
Schellenberg, battle of the, i. 250—253
Schism bill, ii. 500 ; remarks upon it,
503
Schomberg, Duke of, commands En
glish in Portugal, i. 278 ; his com
plaints, 278 ; his inaction, 294
Schomberg, Marshal, conqueror at
Villaviciosa, i. 4
Schulemberg, General, ii. 132
Schutz, Baron, watches Oxford, ii. 475 ;
applies for writ for Electoral Prince,
491; forbidden the Court, 492; re
turns to Hanover, 505
Scotch plot, the, i. 219—227
Scotland, at accession of Anne, i. 76 ;
lamentation about her distressed con
dition, 163 ; difficulty to conciliate
her, 364 ; popular fury against the
UMon, 451, 466 ; Privy Council
abolished, ii. 6 ; peers of, 94 ; inse
curity of her defences, 102 ; wrath
about ecclesiastical grievances, 395
Seafield, Earl of, Ms character, i. 159 ;
moves for repealing the Union, ii. 454
Serclaes, Prince of, i. 290
Seton, William, i. 462
Seymour, Sir Edward, Comptroller of
the Palace, i. 61 ; dismissed, 236 ; his
remark on Marlborough, 301
Shadwell, Doctor, ii. 623
SMppen, William, ii. 443
Shovel, Sir Cloudesley, i. 120; Ms un
successful voyage to gulf of Lyons,
209; combat with Toulouse, 282; off
Toulon, 513 ; drowned, 515
Shrewsbury, Duke of, joins the Tories,
ii. 189 ; made Lord Chamberlain,
190; Ms dissimulation, 193, 219;
appointed to confer with Menager,
309; a little in disgrace, 342; de
clines to be a pleMpotentiary, 356 ;
ambassador to France, 420 ; Lord-
lieutenant of Ireland, 473 ; made
Treasurer, 524

Slangenberg General, his criticisms
upon Marlborough, i. 202, 338—
340
Smalliidge, Doctor, ii. 170, note ; made
Bishop of Bristol, 465
Smith, Speaker of House of Commons,
i. 379
Soissons, Countess of, her follies and
calamities, i. 98
Sjmers, Lord, dismissed from the
Council, i. 65 ; opposes Occasional
Conformity bill, 187; his narrative of
ease of Ashby v. White, 322 ; his
claims to the woolsack, 380 ; his
amendments of legal procedure, 393 ;
Ms opinion upon Marlborough's
being appointed governor of Nether
lands, 419 ; proposed by Whigs for
President of Council, ii. 39 ; so ap
pointed, 91 ; his advice about Sache
verell, 159 ; tries to reconcile the
Queen to Marlborough, 165 ; dis
missed, 231 ; organizes Whigs to
repeal Union, 454 ; repairs to the
Council, 525 ; omitted from list of
regents, 529
Somerset, Duchess of, ii. 189 ; gains
affections of Anne, 335 ; thought to
be working her round, 342; chief
mourner, 530
Somerset, Duke of, supports Marl
borough at Council, ii. 14 ; becomes
hostile to him, 188 ; dissatisfied>with
Ministers, 233 1 ; a favourite of Anne,
342 ; repairs to the Council, 525
Sophia, Princess, her politics, i. 361 ;
her views about insuring the succes
sion, ii. 505 ; her death, 508
South Sea Company incorporated, ii.
285 ; Assiento contract transferred to
it, 480
Spain, destitution of, i. 38
Spaniards, their decay as a nation, i.
1 ; their indignation against France,
ii. 138
Sparre, General, i. 114 ; ii. 133
Spires, battle of, i. 190
Stamp duty upon books and news
papers, ii. 391
Stanhope, General, i. 29 ; Ms exhorta
tion to Charles, 435 ; his remon
strances with him, 498 ; made
general, ii. 79 ; reduces Minorca, 81 ;
manager for Sacheverell's impeach
ment, 173; wins battle of Almenara,
235 ; and Saragossa, 237 ; disputes
with Staremberg, 239 ; occupies
Madrid, 242 ; retreats, 247 ; taken
prisoner at Brihuega, 248 ; loses his
election at Westminster, 254 ;
against Schism bill, 500

548

INDEX.

Staremberg, Count von, joins Duke of
Savoy, i. 196 ; commands in Spain,
ii. 80 ; at Almenara, 235 ; and Sara
gossa, 237; his military plans, 239;
retreat, 247 ; at Villaviciosa, 249 ;
retires from Spain, 487
States-general, the, memorialize Louis,
i. 25 ; recognise Philip, 27 ; their
answer to Louis's memorial, 58;
complain of financial difficulties, 242 ;
their terror of Louis, 330 ; their ob
jects in the war, 362; anxious to
retain Marlborough in the Nether
lands, 396; their discontent with the
Austrian Princes, 417; fury at Marl
borough's being appointed governor
of the Netherlands, 419 ; impede his
designs, 420 : their treatment of the
conquered cities, 486 ; views of the
peace party, 489 ; their delight at
Gal way's defeat, 501 ; inclination to
close with King's offers, 509 ; a
deputation of peace party waits on
Marlborough, ii. 40 ; irritation they
cause to captured cities, 46 ; conclude
Barrier treaty with England, 143 ;
desire of concluding peace, 200 ;
their displeasure against the new
Ministers, 322 ; forced to yield, 333 ;
anxious about Ormond's orders, 384;
memorialize the Queen, 385 ; refuse
to proclaim suspension of arms, 410 ;
inveterate against peace, 411 ; show
signs of yielding, 414 ; join with
England, 426; terms they obtain,
437
Steele, Richard, his " Crisis," ii. 470 ;
ridicule he excites, 477 ; expelled
from Parliament, 485
Stepney, i. 244
Si evens libels Marlborough, i. 363
Stevenswaert captured, i. 90
Stirum, Count, defeated by Villars, i.
186
Stolhoffen, lines of, i. 179, 508
St-irm, the great, i. 211 ; address upon
the subject ; fast-day, 218
Strafford, Earl of, ii. 304 ; ambassador
to the States, 320 ; puts pressure
upon them, 333 ; plenipotentiary,
357 ; tries to deter Eugene from
visiting England, 359 ; attacks
Marlborough, 389 ; his haughty re
presentations to the States, 425 ;
signs treaties, 433
Strathmore, Earl of, i. 162
Stratton, Captain, i. 452
Sunderland, Earl of, married to daugh
ter of Marlborough, i. 50 ; opposes
Prince George, 146 ; his character,
380, note; Anne's dislike of him,

477 ; a Secretary of State, 479 ; Ms
treatment of the Queen, ii. 88 ; his
wishes about Sacheverell, 169 ; and
Mrs. Masham, 165; dismissed, 209;
sanguine about the new Parliament,
226 ; vote pointed against Mm for
bringing over the Palatines, 280 ;
against the preliminaries for peace,
337 ; his sarcasm upon Oxford, 455 ;
'his zeal against the Pretender, 488 ;
omitted from list of regents, 529
Surville, de, ii. 126
Swift, Jonathan, his articles in the
Examiner, ii. 259 ; intimacy with the
Ministers, 261 ; libels Marlborough,
263 ; success of his writings, 289 ;
his *' Conduct of the Allies," 334 ;
fears of the Duchess of Somerset,
335 ; determined to save himself,
342 ; Ms remark upon the stamp
duty, 394, note ; narrow escape of
being killed, 418 ; made Dean of St.
Patrick's, 466 ; his " Public Spirit
of the WMgs," 482; tries to recon
cile Oxford and Bolingbroke, 498 ;
Ms opinion of the strength of the
Jacobites, 516 ; his information about
the Queen, 528
Tallard, Marshal, on the Rhine, i. 1 76 ;
wins battle of Spires, 191; outwits
Prince Louis, 247 ; his folly in seek
ing a battle, 257 ; defeated and taken
prisoner at Blenheim, 264, 265 ; Ms
remarks, 268 ; his captivity, 299
Tekyll, Sir Joseph, i. 229
Tesse, Marshal de, i. 26 ; besieges
Gibraltar, his character, 285 ; cruelty
of the soldiers, 357 ; invests Barce
lona, 425 ; secures Toulon, 513
Test Act, i. 133, 467
Thanksgiving day for Vigo and suc
cesses in the Netherlands, i. 142 ;
for Blenheim, 298 ; for penetrating
the French lines, 343 ; for Ramilies,
440 ; for the Union, ii. 3 ; for Ou
denarde, 86 ; for Almenara and Sara
gossa, 256 ; for the peace, 459
Thaun, Count, i, 494
Tirlemont captured, i. 342
Toledo occupied by Allies, ii. 246
Torcy, Marqms de, his speech in favour
of accepting Spanish crown, i. 20 ;
his representations to Manchester,
22 ; repairs to the Hague, ii. 113;
Ms notions about the dissimilar in
terests of the Allies, 114 ; his inter
view with Marlborough, 115; de
spairs of success, 117; returns to
Louis, 119; his first interview with
Gaultier, 291 ; Ms views of the Eng-

INDEX.

549

lish proposals about commerce, 306 ;
ignorance of English constitution,
516, note
Tories, their hostility to William and
Ms Whig ministers, i. 28 : their dis
inclination for the war, 50 ; their joy
at William's death, 51 ; how far they
may be considered as Jacobites, 65 ;
their advantage at elections of 1702,
128 ; stigmatize William, 130 ; their
hostility to Dissenters, 131 ; general
sentiments of the party, 148 ; their
opinions upon the war, 205 ; wishes
to keep the clergy poor, 234 : hos
tility to Marlborough, 301, 309 ;
determined to tack Occasional Con
formity bill, 311 ; become unpopular
by their conduct in the case of the
Aylesbury voters, 378 ; annoy the
Queen, 382 ; their plans to oppose
the Union, 480 ; insult Marlborough,
ii. 104 ; their activity at elections
of 1710, 251 ; apprehensions about
them entertained in commercial cir
cles, 259 ; their great preponderance
in Parliament, 271 ; their wishes,
273 ; their fears that the Queen is
wavering, 343 ; misgivings about
Marlborough's dismissal, 353 : defend
the Union, 454 ; inconsistency of
their conduct with their party watch
words, 467
Toulon, its dockyards, i. 494 ; besieged
513
Toulouse, Count de, i. 279 ; his combat
withRooke and Shovel, 282 ; invests
Barcelona, 426
Tournay besieged, ii. 125; taken,
126
Townshend, Lord, appointed plenipo
tentiary, ii. 115 : concludes Barrier
treaty, 143 ; declared an enemy to
Queen and kingdom, 366
Traerbach taken, i. 273
Treves taken, i. 273
Trevor, Sir Thomas, made a peer, ii.
349 ; Ms humanity about the Pre
tender, 490
Trimnell, Doctor, made Bishop of Nor
wich, ii. 8
Triple Alliance, i. 6
TuUibardine, Marquis of, killed at
Malplaquet, ii. 133
Turenne, Marshal, i. 5
Turin besieged, i. 421 ; battle of,
423
Tweeddale, Marquis of, i. 161 ; High
Commissioner, 303 ; Ms failure,
305
Tyrawley, Lord, ii. 268
Tyrol, invasion of the, i. 184

Union between England and S3otland,
meeting of Commissioners in 1702,
i. 155 ; their failure, 157 ; act em
powering Anne to nominate Com-
misaiopera passed by English Par
liament, 316 ; by Scottish Parliament,
376 ; general anticipation of their
failure, 440 ; meet at the Cockpit,
442 ; the negotiations, 443 — 450 ;
Act of Ratification passed by Scottish
Parliament, 474 ; by Commons, 481 ;
by Lords, 483 ; satisfaction with
which it is regarded in England, ii.
2 ; some difficulties with regard to
customB duties, 4 ; attempt to repeal
it, 451
Ursins, Princesse des, her influence in
Spain, i. 289
Usson, Count de, i. 186
Utreclit appointed for holding the Con
gress, ii. 334 ; meeting of plenipo
tentiaries, 371 ; conferences broken
off, 410 ; renewed, 427 ; treaties
signed, 433
Uxelles, Marshal de, appointed a pleni
potentiary, ii. 198 ; recalled, 213 ; at
Utrecht, 372 ; is reconciled to the
Dutch, 427
Vaoabonds, act about, i. 236
Valencia reduced, i. 426
Valliere, a smuggler and spy, ii. 10
Vanburgh, Sir John, i. 301
Vanderdussen, Pensionary, ii. 106, 113,
200, 212, 372
Vaudemont, Prince of, i. 26, 493
Velasco, Don, i. 356
Vendome, Grand Prior, i. 345
Vendome, Marshal, sent to command
in Italy, i. 101 ; fails to penetrate
into Tyrol, 192 ; disarms Piedmon-
tese regiments, 194 ; Mb demands
upon Savoy, 195 ; besieges Verrua,
297 ; at battle of Cassano, 346 ; ap
pointed to command in the Nether
lands ; Ms criticism on Villars, 415 ;
wins battle of Calcinato, 421 ; Ms
dissatisfaction at being associated
with Burgundy, ii. 41 ; loses battle
of Oudenarde, 48 — 53 ; foiled by
Marlborough, 73; assumes command
in Spain, 244; captures English regi
ments in Brihuega, 248 ; and fights
Staremberg at Villaviciosa, 249
Venloo besieged and taken, i. 88, 90
Vernon, Secretary, dismissed, i. 62
Verrua, siege of, i. 297 ; surrenders,
343
Vigo, i. 115; battle of, 117 ; specula
tion about value of captured cargoes,
118

550

INDEX.

Villadarias, Marquis de, i. 108 ; Ms
reply to Ormond's messenger, 109 ;
besieges Gibraltar, 284 ; commands
Philip's army, ii. 234 ; superseded,
238
Villaviciosa, battle of, ii. 249
Villars, Marshal, wins battle of Fried-
lingen, i. 97; Ms early commence
ment of the campaign, 179 ; takes
Kehl, 180 ; joins Elector of Bavaria ;
his plans to take Vienna, 182 ; re
monstrates with Elector, 183 ; wins
battle of Hochstadt, 186 ; his com
plaints of the Elector ; is recalled,
187 ; in the Cevennes, 328 ; on the
Moselle, 333 ; beats Prince Louis,
396 ; his rapacity, 415 ; sums he
wrings from the German princes,
508 ; removed to DaupMuy, ii. 42 ;
appointed to command in the Ne
therlands, 123 ; famished condition
of Ms troops, 124 ; defeated and
wounded at Malplaquet, 130 — 135 ;
kindness of Louis to him, 135 ; again
commands in the Netherlands, 203 ;
a tMrd time, 295 ; his rash boast,
296 ; unable to penetrate the designs
of Louis, 297 ; out-manoeuvred by
Marlborough, 299 ; opens communi
cations with Ormond, 383 ; pub
lishes suspension of arms with the
English, 402 ; wins battle of Denain,
405
Villeroi, Marshal, taken prisoner, i.
101 ; affection of Louis for him, 175 ;
joined with Boufflers, 176 ; in Ger
many; his terror of the Allies, 271,
273 ; out-manoeuvred, 336 ; retreats
to Louvaine, 337 ; his presumption,
400 ; defeated at Ramilies, 406 ; Ms
vanity and ingratitude to Loms, 414
Wade, Captain, executed for coward
ice, i. 124
Wager, Commodore, ii. 90
Wake, William, i. 154
Walker, Sir Hovenden, ii. 314
Walpole, Robert, member of Prince
George's Council, i. 380 ; Secretary
at War, ii. 15 ; resigns, 231 ; de
fends the former administration,
280 ; committed to the Tower, 362 ;
liberated, 397 ; speaks in defence of
Steele, 484
Ward, Edward, i. 392, note
Wauchope, Colonel, ii. 20 *
Webb, Major, his victory at Wynen
dale, ii. 64 ; thanked by Parliament,
104
Week, General, ii. 133
Wertmuller, Colonel, i. 403

Westminster elections, ii. 253
Wharton, Lord, dismissed, i. 61 ;
opposes Occasional Conformity bill,
217; his speech for appointing a
regency, 384 ; about the Church,
390 ; attacks the Mimsters, 529 ;
Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, ii. 91 ;
resigns, 231 ; Ms sarcasm upon Ox
ford, 337 ; his quip upon the twelve
peers, 358 ; taunts Oxford, 387 ; his
address for removing the Pretender,
456 ; moves a resolution against the
" Public Spirit of the Whigs," 482 ;
Ms cruel address against the Pre
tender, 489 ; opposes the Schism bill,
501; Ms speech against the Pre
tender, 511; upon the treaty with
Spain, 513 ; omitted from list of
regents, 529
Whetstone, Admiral, i. 533
Whiglove and Double, a Tory libel, i.
68
Whigs, their influence predominates
in last Parliament of William ; re
gard all Tories as Jacobites, i. 35,
65 ; their unpopularity at com
mencement of reign, 128 ; their poli
tical creed, 148 ; recover their popu
larity, 379 ; their compact with the
Ministers, 476 ; increasing imperi-
ousness of their demands, 477 ; their
intellectual superiority, 519 : tem
porarily coalesce with the Tories,
529 ; reconciled to the Ministers,
537 ; increase of their ascendancy,
ii. 35 ; renew their quarrel with
Ministers, 38 ; their success at elec
tions of 1708, 89 ; against accepting
French king's offers, 107 ; their
mercilessness towards Louis, 121 ;
become unpopular after Sacheverell's
sermon, 156 ; effect of their impeach
ing Sacheverell, 161: entreat 'Marl
borough to retain his post, 209 ;
their ill-founded confidence in the
future, 225, 230 ; their inactivity at
the elections, 254 ; accused of hor
rible 'designs, 256 ; their contempt
for popular opimon, 280 ; their im
policy in striving to prolong the war,
293 : rumours about their designs,
331 ; coalesce with Nottingham, 332;
their dismay at Marlborough's dis
missal, 353 ; defence of their policy
respecting the war, 367 ; are san
guine of defeating the Ministers,
386 ; their failure, 390 ; remarks on
their conduct of the war, 435 ; join
the Scotch in trying to repeal the
Union, 451 ; alarmed for the suc
cession, 468 ; elections against them,

INDEX.

551

471 ; determined to get a member of
the Hanoverian family into the
kingdom, 510 ; flock to the Council,
525
William III. becomes King of Eng
land, i. 9 ; accepts treaty of Rys-
wick, 12 ; Ms treaties of partition,
16 ; Ms despair at obstacles thrown
in Ms way by Parliament, 24 ; takes
Tories into favour, 28 ; recognises
Philip, 29 ; his last speech to Par
liament, 32 ; his death, 44 ; his un
popularity, 54 ; epigrams upon him ;
charged with attempt to alter suc
cession, 67 ; Ms funeral, 70 ; his
policy towards Scotland, 76
Wirtemberg, Duke of, i. 397, 401, 404 ;
ii. 399
Wood, General, i. 252, 406

Worcester, its reception of Sacheverell,
ii, 221
Worcester, a ship, i. 365
Wratislaw, Count, i. 26, 271
Wren, Sir Christopher, ii. 170
Wright, Sir Nathan, hia character, i.
66 ; his speech to commissioners, 155 ;
his meanness, 238 ; removed, 380J
Wyndham, Sir William, introduces
Schism bill, ii. 500
Wynendale, battle of, ii. 64
Xativa razed to the ground, i. 517
Yecla taken, i. 498
Zinzendorf, Count, i. 26 ; plenipo
tentiary, ii. 373

THE END.

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