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CHAPTER VI.

CONTINUATION OF THE WAR.

DEATH OF THE EMPE

offers

ROR JOSEPH. INTRIGUES AT LONDON. DISGRACE OF
MARLBOROUGH, AND PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE.

THAT dreadful conqueror, who, in 1672, subHumiliating dued almost all Holland, and, by refusing tolerof Louis. able conditions to the conquered, inspired them with the courage of despair, now found himself under the necessity of begging a humiliating peace from these same Hollanders, from a persuasion that he could not obtain it by any other means. He offered them a barrier, in which Tournay and Lille were comprehended; to restore Strasburg and Brisac, to fill up the harbour of Dunkirk, to acknowledge the archduke king of Spain, and to give no assistance to Philip V. We may judge by these offers how much the kingdom was exhausted, and to what a dreadful situation it was reduced.

They

If the general welfare could have prevailed could not be over particular passions, undoubtedly the allies prudently would not have hesitated. Were not they likewise sufferers? Were they not exhausted? Were they always secure of victory? Could not a

rejected.

single reverse of fortune wrest from them those great advantages, which might have been secured to them by a stroke of the pen? But, on the one hand, the ambition of Eugene and Marlborough made them desirous to continue the war; on the other, the pride of the grand pensionary Heinsius flattered him with the hopes of crushing Louis XIV. Holland was without a stadtholder ever since the death of William III.; however, Heinsius, who was not so ambitious as William, followed the same political system with regard to France, and gave himself up entirely to the guidance of these two generals.

to

The French ambassadors, who were received Wish him into the little town of Gertruydenberg by way dethrone his of favour, for they would not deign to admit grandson. them to the conferences with the other plenipotentiaries, seeing their offers rejected with a tone of contempt, humbled themselves so far as to promise assistance, in money, to carry on the war against Philip V. The allies carried their barbarity to such an excessive length, as to require that he should turn his arms against him, and be obliged, without assistance, to dethrone him in a couple of months; without which condition, they refused to treat. This was to make a peace impossible, and to render themselves, in the sight of mankind, guilty of all the cruelties of an unjust war.

misfortunes

To complete these evils, the arrogance of New the allies was cherished by success. They took of France. Douai, Bethune, Saint-Venant, and Aire; the barrier towns of France fell one after another, and the public misery occasioned universal despair. A new edict imposed a tax of the tenth

of all the revenues; and this burden, unfortunately necessary, was registered without obstruction. The affairs in Spain succeeded no better, and the moment was arrived in which all hope was at an end.

Philip V. After the battle of Almanza in 1707, the again leaves Madrid. marquis de Bay gained another victory in 1709, at Gudina in Estremadura, yet Philip found himself upon the point of being driven out of his kingdom. Louis XIV. had been obliged to recal his troops for his own defence; and the Spaniards, twice beaten in Catalonia, were again defeated at Saragossa, by the celebrated German general Stahrenberg, and Philip once more quitted his capital. The archduke again entered Madrid, and caused himself to be proclaimed anew; but the sorrow with which the countenances of the Castillians were impressed, declared their fidelity to their lawful king.

Vendome in

Spain,

One man only was asked from the court of France, the famous duke de Vendôme, who had not served since the unfortunate campaign of Lille. No general ever knew better than he how to inspire his army with a military enthusiasm; and, upon his arrival, the Spaniards thought they had found a Saviour. The grandees of that country were deliberating on what rank should be given to him: Any rank is sufficient, said the hero; I do not come to contend for precedence, but to save your king. He very soon was provided both with an army and money; and the zeal of the nation was such, as to seem to do more than was possible. The archduke quitted Madrid; and Vendôme having conducted the king thither, hastened to attack his

astonished enemies. He besieged the English general, Stanhope, in Brihuega, made him prisoner with five thousand men, and next day gained a decisive victory over Stahrenberg at Villaviciosa; upon which occasion Philip acquired great honour. Both he and the archduke had been blamed for not having animated their troops by their own presence. After the battle of Almanza, the earl of Peterborough said, People are very good-natured to fight for them.

emperor

The emperor Joseph I., whose good fortune Death of the had never failed him, who had dismembered a Joseph. part of the Spanish monarchy for his own ad- Charles VI. vantage, who had most arbitrarily disposed of the dominions of the elector of Bavaria, rejoiced at the humiliation of the king of France, and had defeated the Hungarian rebels, died at the age of thirty-three, at the height of human prosperity. His brother, Charles VI., whom he attempted to raise to the throne of Spain, was his heir, and, after an inter-regnum of six months, was elected emperor. Peace was naturally expected to be the consequence of this unlooked-for event.

Secret intrigues in

to effect a peace.

Some preparations had been making for it a considerable time in England; and the intrigues England of the court were of use to the cause of humanity. This is too remarkable a circumstance not to engage the attention, and nothing serves better to show the influence which caprice, whim, and trifles, have on the fate of kingdoms and empires.

The

Whigs rule

There was always an opposition between the Whigs and Tories, which proved the more keen, in London. that religious sentiments were added to politics

Harley and

broke.

to foment the division. The first favoured some of the principles of the Presbyterians, and the second were zealous sticklers for Episcopacy. Marlborough having declared in favour of the Whigs, that faction not only ruled, but even persecuted. An enemy of peace, it entered into all the views of the general, whose credit and immense fortune had their foundation in war. A love of money, that disgraceful passion in so great a man, contributed, as much as the honours which were conferred upon him, to render him an irreconcileable enemy to the family of Bourbon. His wife governed queen Anne; Godolphin, the treasurer, was his friend, and the father-in-law of one of his daughters; and the earl of Sunderland, secretary of state, his sonin-law, was equally devoted to him; so that, while there was no change of ministry, he disposed of every thing as he pleased.

But the duchess of Marlborough, who was Boling: haughty to a degree of insolence, forgot that favour should be skillfully employed, to be secure against disgrace. She made the queen too sensible of her influence, and gave so much reason for disgust, that in 1708 another favourite, lady Masham, who was her relation and creature, was already become a rival, by whom she was on the point of being supplanted; and from that time cabals against the duke began to be formed. The hopes of the Tories were revived. Harley, afterwards earl of Oxford, secretary of state, and the famous St John, afterwards viscount Bolingbroke, formed the plan of a revolution.

Sacheverel,

In those countries where the affairs of the government are influenced by the populace, it is

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