domestic life he indulged her caprices; and that conferring offices of more emolument than trust, he occasionally listened to her recommendation. But the whole series of his correspondence shows that she possessed no influence in political affairs of importance, and was suffered to take no share in those arrangements which give character to the administration of government. The whigs, whose interest she particularly claims the merit of promoting, were little indebted to her importunities, and owed their introduction to power to the fears of the treasurer, to their strength in parliament, and above all to the conviction of Marlborough, that the war could not be vigorously prosecuted without their support."

Vol. I. p. 377.

The campaign of 1705, was commenced by Marlborough on the Moselle, but the gross misconduct of the Margrave of Baden, and the prudent tactics of Villars, prevented the accomplishment of his designs; and the movements of Villeroy on the Meuse, induced him to abandon all his previous plans, and to march to the assistance of the Dutch. His arrival changed the aspect of affairs; the French marshal was compelled to fall back, and to shelter himself behind his strong lines on the little Gheet river. Experience has since shown, that excepting under very peculiar circumstances, this kind of bulwark is at best uncertain, and that an enterprising and skilful enemy will always find a method of breaking through it. In fact, the attempt to fortify a whole country is palpably absurd. There will necessarily occur some weak part, some vantage ground to an enemy; the assailant can always find means to make the movements of defence more harassing than the demonstrations of attack, and it will be always extremely difficult for the defensive commander to distinguish between deceptive and genuine manœuvres. Such was the case in the present instance. By a well-devised and boldly executed feint, Marlborough attracted the attention of Villeroy and the elector of Bavaria to a particular point, and

by a series of rapid and skilfully combined marches, forced his passage in a different quarter with very slight loss. But all his subsequent measures for compelling the enemy to a battle on terms advantageous to himself, were completely thwarted by the Dutch generals, and especially by Slangenberg. On one occasion, in particular, where Marlborough had made every disposition for an attack in full confidence of success, this petulant, and vile tempered Dutchman conducted himself with the grossest outrage and insubordination, and, by his influence with the deputies and generals, compelled the duke to abandon his intention, exclaiming, in grief and mortification, " I am at this moment ten years older than I was four days ago." So glaring and insolent an interference with the well-digested schemes of a commander in chief, was not to be tolerated, if any expectation were indulged of vigorous measures and ultimate success; and accordingly, though the duke conducted himself with exemplary moderation, the general indignation produced the salutary effect of exonerating him from blame, and removing Slangenberg from the army. But the mischief was done, and the campaign terminated without any further signal success. Marlborough's time and talents were, however, fully occupied in a variety of intricate negotiations, which induced him to visit Vienna, Berlin, Hanover, and the Hague, previously to his return to England. During these transactions, the different parties at home, were annoying each other by all possible means, and the duke was, as usual, one of the principal objects of aspersion by the advocates of the tory side, who were unable to forgive his coalition with the whigs. A curious anecdote is told of Harley, in this part of the work. Godolphin and his great coadjutor had taken much pains to effect a union of the moderate tories, of whom Harley and St. John were the ostensible leaders, with the whig party, and in furtherance of this desirable purpose,

"A dinner was arranged by the two ministers, at the house of Harley. The company consisted, on one side, of Harley and St. John, and on the other of Halifax, Sunderland, and Boyle, together with Godolphin and Marlborough. Somers was also invited, but going to his country house, sent an excuse in terms which proved that he concurred in sentiment with those who were present. The entertainment passed with great spirit, and apparent cordiality, though the whigs could not refrain from indicating the suspicions which they still fostered of Harley's subtle and trimming character. The anecdote will be best related in the words of lord Cowper, who was himself one of the actors. On the departure of lord Godolphin, Harley took a glass, and drank to love and friendship, and everlasting union, and wished he had more Tokay to drink it in; we had drank two bottles good, but thick. I replied, his white Lisbon was best to drink it in, being very clear. I suppose he apprehended it (as I observed most of the company did) to relate to that humour of his, which was never to deal clearly or openly; but always with reserve, if not dissimulation, or rather simulation; and to love tricks when not necessary, but from an inward satisfaction in applauding his own cunning.'" Vol. I. pp. 522, 3.

'The exertions of Marlborough were acknowledged by the emperor Joseph, in the strongest terms; and in 1705, he was created a prince of the empire, with the additional grant of the territory of Mindelheim, yielding an annual revenue of nearly 2000l. This territorial acquisition did not, however, remain long in his possession. It had originally belonged to Bavaria, and was restored at the conclusion of peace.

"Notwithstanding the brilliant successes of Marlborough, he had been so completely counteracted by the jealousy, or perhaps, in some instances, the treachery of his coadjutors, as to be prevented from following up and completing them, by a transfer of the seat of war to the country of the enemy. But his military character began now to stand so high, and

the true interests of the grand alliance to be so much more clearly understood, that he obtained a greater degree of confidence from the different powers, and a more implicit defer ence from the officers of all nations by whom he was surrounded. Still, however, he was pressed upon by many and formidable difficulties. The emperor urged him to resume the command on the Moselle: but it was his own wish to join Eugene in Italy, where the activity of Vendome had so shattered the forces of the imperialists, as to reduce them to a system cautiously defensive.

'This plan was defeated by various circumstances; but the alarm occasioned by the success of Villars against the prince of Baden on the Upper Rhine, extorted from the Dutch an assurance that the plans of the general should no longer be thwarted by the cabals of nominally inferior authorities. Still, Marlborough entered upon the service of the campaign with (in his own phrase)" a heavy heart." Expecting that the French commanders would limit themselves to defensive manœuvres, he anticipated no such results as would give a favourable and decided change to the general aspect of the war. His active and well-conceived measures were, however, successful in compelling his antagonists to alter their plans. Trusting to a secret intelligence with an inhabitant of Namur, he determined, by possessing himself of that important fortress, to turn the right flank of the French lines, and with this view he advanced on Tirlemont, with a force somewhat inferior in amount to that of the enemy. Namur was a possession of too much value to be lost without an effort to preserve it. Villeroy accordingly put his army in motion without delay, and having established himself in the strong position of Mont St. Andre, awaited the attack of the allies. The celebrated action of Ramillies which followed, seems to have been most admirably fought, on the part of Marlborough. His first movement, which, by alarming Villeroy for his left, led him to ungarnish his centre and right,

contributed essentially to the success of the day. Every subsequent error of the enemy was marked and turned to account by the vigilance of the English general, and after some hard fighting and skilful manœuvring, he succeeded in routing the right wing of the French, and in establishing his troops on the heights of Ottomond, the key to their position. An attempt on the part of the enemy, to accomplish their retreat in good order, was rendered ineffectual by a series of vigorous charges, and the French army was driven, in rapid flight, behind the canal of Brussels. It was impossible, as it seems to us, for the duties of a commanding officer to have been more consummately discharged than they were by Marlborough on this occasion. His person was, at one time, in the greatest danger, and it was by his own specific exertions, most ably seconded by the gallant Dutch veteran Overkirk, that the decisive movements of the battle were effected. But a higher praise than this, the praise of careful humanity, belongs to the British general; and we are happy to advert to it in this place, because he has been accused, on most respectable authority, of gross failure in this respect. In Dr. Doddridge's life of Colonel Gardiner, in reference to this very battle it is affirmed to have been the duke's "constant method" to pursue his advantages, "without ever regarding the wounded." In one of his own letters on a subsequent occasion, we find Marlborough declaring it" most scandalous" to leave behind " cannon and wounded men;" and in the present instance Mr. Coxe affirms that

"The humanity displayed by the victorious general towards his prisoners, deserves to be recorded for the applause of an impartial posterity. The sick and wounded were lodged in hospitals, and treated with the same care and attention as the troops of the allies. The prisoners were conveyed into Holland with the sympathy due to their misfortune; and supplied with all the comforts which their situation required. To the beneficent example which Marlborough display