 CHAPTER XIII. Late though the campaign had lasted, Malboro was not able, even when it was at an end, to go back to England. Now that Lille, the great fortress which guarded the northern frontier of France, was in the hands of the Allies, and the road to Paris seemed to lie open to their conquering armies. It was to be expected that the French would make a great effort in the Netherlands during the next campaign to keep the Allies from entering France. Malboro wished that on their side they should do all they could to be prepared to meet them, that a few more crushing blows might bring down the pride of Louis XIV so low that a really sure and lasting peace could be concluded. The Emperor consented that Prince Eugene's army should remain in the Netherlands during the next campaign, and Malboro exerted himself to persuade the English government to grant supplies which would enable him to reinforce his army. Toward the end of January, Eugene went off to Vienna to settle matters with his court. Malboro at the request of the Emperor and the State's General remained in Holland to look after the troops till Eugene could return and take his place. He wished also to watch the course events were taking. Louis XIV was once more holding out tantalizing offers of a separate peace to the Dutch. This made Malboro uneasy and anxious to be on the spot to see what was going on. He knew also that he was regarded with suspicion and distrust by many amongst the Dutch. After the victory of Audenar de Charles of Austria had repeated his offer of the government of the Spanish Netherlands to Malboro, and it is clear that Malboro would gladly have accepted so important a position to which also a large salary was attached which must have had great attractions to so avaricious a man. But the Dutch were entirely opposed to the proposal, and Malboro knew that it would be impossible to accept it in their present temper. Still he had not definitely refused, and this kept alive the jealousy of the Dutch. At last, in the beginning of March 1709, Malboro was able to return to England for a few weeks. The state of things there did not tend to give him peace of mind. It was just then that the Whigs had at last triumphed over all the scruples and hesitations of the Queen, and filled all the chief places in the government. And who was discontented and out of spirits at the death of her husband, vented her displeasure upon Gadolfin, and was cold and stiff even with Malboro. On the other hand, the Whigs did not feel sure of Malboro and Gadolfin. They treated them with suspicion and were always making new demands upon the unhappy treasurer, so that in the beginning of January he had written to Malboro, the life of a slave in the galleys is paradise in comparison with mine. The Duchess too was out of temper with her old friends the Whigs, who did not treat her with the consideration she thought she deserved, and still more out of temper, at the growing favor shown by the Queen to her rival, Mrs. Masham. All together, Malboro's few weeks' holiday cannot have given him any pleasure. The triumph of the Whigs had not diminished the bitterness of party strife. Parliament was with them, but amongst the people a weariness of the war was beginning to be felt. The burdens of taxation pressed heavily upon them. The French privateers interfered with English commerce, and besides money losses, people murmured over the want of those luxuries with which commerce had formerly supplied them. They no longer cared so much about Malboro's victories, and the old murmurs were raised that the great general was prolonging the war for his own interests. In France the winter had brought terrible suffering with it. The people were utterly impoverished by the long and ruinous wars of their magnificent king. There was the scarcity of everything, above all, of bread. Even the fine ladies at Paris were forced to eat black bread. An exceptionally severe winter increased the sufferings of the people. All the rivers were frozen over, and the half-starved, half-clad peasants were in no condition to bear the bitter cold. Once the people suffered, officials grew rich on their misery. Corn was bought up by monopolists, and only sold again at exorbitant prices. Official mismanagement and jobry increased tenfold the burdens of the war. Brigands infested the roads, and misery would have driven the people to revolt had they not been restrained by military force. Famished they crowded round the gilded gates of their sigh clamoring for bread. Under these circumstances Louis XIV at last determined, as he puts it himself, to forget his glory and make proposals for peace. Monsieur Houillet was sent to Holland to confer with Hensius. As soon as this was known both Malbora and Eugène hastened to the Hague, so that the Dutch might not be led into any separate agreement with France. It was found that the concessions proposed by Houillet on the part of the French King were not nearly sufficient to satisfy the Allies. Houillet sent to Paris for more instructions, and meanwhile Malbora and Hensius discussed together the terms on which peace could be accepted. As soon as they heard any talk of peace, the other Allies hurried to send in their demands, and of course each only thought of what they wanted for themselves. The Dutch cared for nothing but their barrier, and on this point their demands grew more and more exorbitant. The Whig government at home had furnished Malbora with a list of the conditions upon which the English would be inclined to make peace. The terms were hard, for they included the session of the entire Kingdom of Spain to Austria within two months, and the race sure of Dunkirk, the place from which the French privateers sailed to prey upon English commerce. Hensius believed it impossible that the French would accept such terms, but Malbora declared that England would agree to nothing less, and Eugène's demands were equally exorbitant. Both Eugène and Malbora so entirely distrusted the French King that they believed that nothing but the most crushing terms would really humble him and save Europe from his encroachments. The Whigs, too, went even further than Malbora himself. The war was a Whig war. Its success had produced the triumph of the Whigs. They were in no hurry to see it come to an end, unless they could procure a peace so glorious as to strengthen and increase their power. Hens party considerations in England influenced these negotiations more than any wise consideration what would be for the real good of the English people. On the other hand, the Court of Vienna, which had borne none of the costs of the war, wished to reap its full advantages. If they could not get all they wanted now, the war might as well go on, since Holland and England bore all the expense of it. They had nothing to lose and possibly a good deal to gain by its continuance. Their grasping ambition knew no bounds, and though the whole war had sprung from the necessity of preserving the balance of power in Europe against the preponderance of the House of Bourbon, no fear was shown, lest the scale should weigh down too heavily on the other side, and the House of Austria gained that preponderance which had been snatched from France. Probably the other Allies had little fear, knowing as they did the incapacity of the House of Austria. Under these circumstances Royer despaired of bringing the negotiations to any conclusion. He returned to Versailles with the terms offered by the Allies, and Malboro went over to England to discuss the state of affairs once more with the Government. The news brought by Royer filled Louis XIV and his ministers with despair. A contemporary manuscript speaks of the scene in the French cabinet as so sad that it would be difficult to describe it. At last, Torsi, Louis' Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, rose up and offered to go himself to the Hague to see whether it would not be possible to get peace on more easy terms, or at least to prolong the negotiations, and by the prospect of peace keep the Allies from preparing vigorously for another campaign. Louis gratefully accepted his offer, and he set off at once with the passport of a common courier without waiting for a safe conduct. Torsi reached the Hague on the evening of the 6th of May, 1709. He passed through Rotterdam on his way, and his banker accompanying him thence led him straight to the House of Hentzius, who was amazed on learning who his visitor was, while Torsi was equally amazed at seeing the way in which the head of the Government of the State's General lived. He writes in his report that his establishment consisted of one Secretary, one Coachman, one Man-Servant, and one Maid. Torsi was delighted to discover that Malbara and Eugène had not yet come back. He hoped to work upon the self-interest of the Dutch, and by offering them all that they could want for themselves, persuade them to break with the Allies. However, nothing was to be made out of Hentzius. He was cold and unbending in his manner, earnestly desirous for the good of his country, but firmly determined to stand by the rest of the Allies. It was hardly to be expected that he should personally feel much cordiality for the French, for when at the time of the Peace of Nijmegen he had visited Paris to negotiate terms, and had warmly opposed Colbert in discussion, Colbert had gone so far as to threaten to imprison him in the Bastille. Torsi felt that it was quite useless to try and work upon the personal feelings of this stern and determined man. He hoped to be more fortunate with Malbara, of whose morality the French had no high opinion, and whom Torsi, according to the instructions of his court, was to try and bribe, by the promise of large sums of money, to get more easy terms for France. CHAPTER XIII Malbara came back to the Hague on the 18th of May 1709, accompanied by Lord Townsend, a distinguished Whig, who had been sent with him as joint plenipotentiary to arrange the terms of peace. Torsi at once visited him and was received with the Duke's usual courtesy. In him there was no coldness nor sternness, and Torsi was led to hope that there might also be no political morality. The Duke was warm in his expressions of regard for Louis XIV, and spoke of his earnest wish for peace. And he told Torsi that the English government was firmly decided, as to the terms on which peace could be made, and that Townsend had accompanied him as a security that nothing less should be accepted. Malbara's desire apparently was to appear personally willing to do anything in his power to serve Louis XIV, but at the same time to make it clear that he was so tied by instructions from home that he could do nothing of his own accord. Townsend had in truth passed a resolution that no peace should be concluded unless Louis XIV consented to demolish Dunkirk, that nest of pirates, to recognize the Protestant succession and banish the stewards from France. When Torsi spoke of the stewards, Malbara expressed his earnest desire to be of any service that he could to James Edward as the child of the king for whom he would once have been ready to lay down his life. Here we see his old desire to be on good terms with all parties. It could never be certain that the pretender might not be called to the English throne. Malbara wished at least to try and stand well with him, that in such an event he might declare that he had only been compelled by the force of circumstances to oppose him before. But when Torsi vaguely hinted at a bribe, Malbara blushed and turned the conversation, and Torsi was convinced that he could not be bought as Louis XIV had bought so many others. Torsi tried the envoys of each of the allies separately. To the Dutch, to the English, to the Austrians in turn, he offered all that each individual could want, hoping to disturb the understanding that existed between them and to dispose at least one of them to make peace. But the allies remained true to one another, and Torsi only managed to deepen their belief in Louis XIV's insincerity by the way in which he prolonged the negotiations. The demands of the allies meanwhile increased daily. They demanded the session of such towns as would secure the frontiers of Holland, Germany and Savoy, the demolition of Dunkirk, and the recognition of the Protestant succession in England. Louis XIV was to withdraw all support from his grandson in Spain, and acknowledge the rights of the House of Austria to the entire kingdom of Spain, if after a two month's truce Philip refused to withdraw from Spain. Louis XIV was to help the allies to turn him out. These and various other minor demands were drawn up as the preliminaries of peace, and were signed by the English, Dutch, and Austrian plenipotentiaries. Torsi and Vane pleaded for some portion of the Spanish dominions which might be made into a kingdom for Philip. But when he saw that the allies would relax nothing from their demands, he at last appeared willing to accept the preliminaries, only saying that he could not sign them without permission from Louis XIV. He therefore set off for Paris, leaving Oillet behind, who was to sign the preliminaries as soon as instructions came from Paris. Malboro seems to have been full of hope that peace would be concluded. He even began arrangements with Godolphin for the return of the English troops. But Torsi probably knew well that Louis XIV would never consent to such terms and had only affected to accept them for the sake of gaining time. When he reached Versailles, a council was summoned to consider the preliminaries. There was no hesitation in declaring that humbled, though France was, it was impossible to accept them. Or even if they were accepted, they would not bring peace, only a truce for two months, after which Louis XIV would be obliged to help in making war upon his own grandson. For it was hardly to be expected that Philip, who had now entirely gained the love of the Spaniards, would give up his kingdom at his grandfather's bidding. If I must wage war, said Louis XIV, I would rather waged it against my enemies than against my children. The messenger was at once, on the 2nd June, sent to Ruyet, bidding him return to France after telling Hensius that Louis XIV rejected the preliminaries. We cannot wonder at this conclusion, for without doubt the terms of the Allies were harsh and exorbitant. In these negotiations Louis XIV reaped the fruit of his former insincerity and disregard of treaties. No one would trust him. They felt that he must be utterly humbled, or else he might become dangerous again. It was this feeling and the grasping spirit of Austria that provoked the Allies to make such exorbitant demands. After the failure of the negotiations, the Dutch urgently demanded the conclusion of a barrier treaty between themselves and England which would determine the concessions to be made to them when peace was finally concluded. Malboro thought their demands exorbitant, and was afraid that once sure of all they wanted they would desert the cause of the Allies. But Godolph impressed the conclusion of the treaty, and as Malboro refused to give it the authority of his name, it was at last signed by Townsend alone. Malboro was loudly accused by his opponents both at the time and afterwards of prolonging the war for his own interests. They said that his love of money made him hesitate to give up the large salary which he enjoyed as Captain General. On the other hand his private letters to his wife and to Godolph until a very different tale. He repeats as we have seen continually as longing for peace that he may be able to spend his time quietly with his wife and friends. He always speaks of his desire for a firm and lasting peace. Like Eugène he profoundly distrusted Louis XIV, and thought it necessary for the security of Europe to exact great concessions from him. The wigs, too, were decidedly in favor of a continuance of the war for party reasons, and so once more a favorable opportunity of making peace was lost. Meanwhile, the French were roused to new exertions by the efforts of their enemies to humble them. Louis XIV at Torsi's advice addressed the letter to the governors of the provinces, telling them his reasons for refusing to make peace. He bade them publish his letter and call upon the people to make new sacrifices. The people responded bravely to his call. Hunger aided Louis, and sent recruits to his armies who hoped that in the field bread would be less scarce than at home. At court there was a great show of patriotism. The King and the Great Lord sent their plate to be coined, Madame de Mantinon and the other ladies ostentatiously ate black bread. Louis XIV professed to share in all the sufferings which the war brought upon his people, but the same shameful mismanagement of the finances went on. The same monopolies were held by the great lords, who bought up the corn and speculated on the sufferings of the people. One important change was made. Villar was sent to take command of the French army. He was one of the most brilliant of the French generals, vain and extravagant in his conduct and speech, but a hero in action. He knew both how to make wise plans and how to execute them. He was not like von Dom who would rise from orgies of filthy self-indulgence to strike perchance a vigorous blow, or to find he had slept away the right moment. Villar was always on the alert. He had never lost a battle and was much beloved by the soldiers. But when he reached the army on the frontier he was horrified at the condition in which he found it. The magazines were quite empty. The horses were dying from want of fodder. The men were half-starved and half-naked and were selling even their arms for food. But there was plenty of courage in the men, and Villar did his utmost to arouse their spirit. He was constantly in the camp, and by kindly sympathy and inspiring words restored their courage and increased his own popularity. Only imagined, he wrote, the horror to see an army in want of bread. Today it was not delivered till the evening and laid in the evening too. Yesterday, that I might supply the brigades which had to march, I was obliged to impose a fast on those that stood still. His army meanwhile increased till it numbered 110,000, about equal to the army of the Allies. It is a marvel, wrote Villar, how we subsist, and is still greater marvel as the patience with which our soldiers support the feeling of hunger. The Allies were anxious to do something striking to appease those who murmured at the continuance of the war. They must either win a battle or take a town. Villar had entrenched himself in a strong position between Douay and the Lice, so that it was impossible to attack him. Malbara managed, however, to make Villar believe that his object was to fight a battle, and when the French were entirely mystified as to his real intentions, he marched rapidly and silently to invest Turgnay, one of the great frontier fortresses. The governor of Turgnay was quite unprepared for a siege. Some of his garrison were absent, collecting cattle. Many of the officers were away, and the town was poorly provisioned. Still it had been so strongly fortified by the skill of Vova, that Villar hoped the siege would occupy the whole campaign. The investment of the city began on the 3rd of July, and on the 7th the trenches were opened. The heavy rains which had hindered the movements of the troops at the beginning of the campaign still went on. But the allies managed slowly to advance. Villar meanwhile did all he could to harass them by sending out parties to impede their supplies. But Eugène, who commanded the covering army whilst Malbara directed the siege, so posted his army that Villar was no longer able to interfere with the besiegers. Turgnay possessed a fine cathedral, and orders were given by Malbara that great care should be taken that no harm should be done to it by the fire from his artillery. After a siege of only twenty-one days, the governor of Turgnay capitulated, rather than await a general assault, and the garrison retired into the citadel. The citadel was protected by many outworks, and by an elaborate series of mines, which made its attack very difficult and terribly dangerous. The struggle was in great part carried on underground. One party of miners met with another and engaged in desperate fights, and in the darkness friend was often mistaken for foe. Often the mines were blown up when filled with men, for in this ghastly labyrinth there were mines below mines. Once three hundred men were blown up, or stifled in smoke by one explosion. Often men were buried alive, or drowned by the water that inundated the mines. When the miners of the Allies proved insufficient, it was only with the greatest difficulty that the bravest soldiers could be persuaded to engage in this terrible warfare, where they had to struggle with unseen foes and could not know a moment's safety. End of Section 28 Section 29 of Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malbara by Louise Creighton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 13 Malplaqué, Part 3 After about a month's siege the citadel capitulated on the 3rd August and this rich city surrounded by peculiarly fertile country and famous for its manufacturers fell into the hands of the Allies. It covered French Flanders and so from a military point of view its possession was of great importance. Malbara and Eugène next intended to besiege Mons, an important and strongly fortified town which they knew to be poorly garrisoned and badly supplied with provisions, but to get at Mons they had to force the fortified lines of the French which reached from beyond Mons to the River Sambres and if Villar once suspected their design it would be very easy for him to make the lines impassable. Greatest secrecy and diligence had therefore to be observed. Malbara noted the weakest part of the enemy's lines and sent it once a detachment of troops under the brave Prince of Hessa who managed by a rapid march to take the enemy by surprise and invest Mons on the south before the French could prevent him. As soon as Villar guessed what the Allies meant to do he broke up his camp behind the lines of Douay and marched to prevent the investment of Mons. But heavy rains impeded the movements of the infantry, the Prince of Hessa was before him and was soon followed by the rest of the Allies and Villar's communication with Mons was cut off. He was determined to do all he could to save the place. The hostile armies were now close together and constant skirmishes took place with varying success between their advanced parties. New courage was given to the French army by the arrival of Marshal Boufflé, the brave defender of Lille in their camp on the 7th September 1709. Though senior to Villar in rank he came at this moment of peril to his country to serve under him. His devotion roused the enthusiasm of the soldiers who were eagerly impatient to fight. Villar in hopes of recovering communication with Mons and forcing the Allied army to move from its commanding position on the heights above the town took up a strong position in an opening between two woods near a little village called Malplaqué, opposite to the Allies. The ground sloped away in front of his camp and was intersected by numerous little streams with steep banks so that his position was very difficult to attack and he began at once to make it still stronger by throwing up fortifications. These fortifications were to be guarded by the infantry whilst the cavalry was posted behind. The ground was cleared as far as possible of hedges and other obstacles so as to enable the cavalry to act. The Allies were encamped below at only a short distance in full expectation of a battle. They were surprised at the rapidity with which Villar had fortified his position during the night and Malbra and Eugène decided after much consultation with the other generals and the usual opposition from the Dutch deputies that if the enemy did not attack them they would attack. Malbra wished to do so at once before Villar had time to fortify his position further but Eugène thought it wiser to wait till some of the troops which were still on their way from Tournay should join them. The day was therefore spent on making preparations for the attack on the morrow and orders were sent to hasten the coming of the troops from Tournay. General Withers who was some way behind the rest was bidden not to join the general army but to take up a position at a farm called La Follie from once he might attack the enemies left and perhaps turn their flank. The enemy were busy all day and through the night throwing up new works. On the next morning the 11th of September a thick mist hid the two armies from one another. Already at three o'clock divine service was performed in the camp of the Allies and afterwards in the thick fog their heavy guns were moved forward. Up till the last the French were working at their entrenchments but now they laid down their spades took up their arms and awaited the attack in their appointed positions. They were full of enthusiasm and greeted their general as he rode along the ranks with shouts of Vivre Roix, Vivre la Maréchal de Villard. At half past seven the sun conquered the fog and the cannonade began. The Allied troops took up their several positions. They regarded the entrenchments of the French with contempt and disgust and exclaimed that they were again obliged to fight against the moles. The first attack was made on the enemies left and the troops encouraged by Prince Eugène tried to penetrate into the wood of Thaignière which was strongly defended by earthworks. Malbra at the same time led the attack on the center and withers advanced to attack the flank of the enemies left from La Follie. The terrible fire of the French from behind their entrenchments beat back the Allies several times but the gaps in the ranks were speedily filled up by their energetic leaders and they were again led on to the attack. Half an hour after the battle had begun the young Prince of Orange without waiting any longer for orders led on in person his detachment against the enemies right his imprudent fowler had terrible results. The frightful storm of shot that greeted him mowed down his men and killed his horse but he pressed on on foot and planted his colors on the entrenchment calling his troops to follow him. The Dutch fought with desperate courage but were again and again driven back. Two thousand men were said to have perished. Reinforcements were urgently demanded and Malbra and Eugène hurried to the spot to see with sadness the havoc wrought by the enemies' batteries. But the spirit of the Dutch did not fail and the wounded men after they had retired to have their wounds dressed might be seen bravely returning to the fight. The Allies had gained little with all their losses. On the right Eugène had only managed to advance to the other side of the wood of Tenière. He had been wounded behind the ear but refused even to have his wound dressed saying if I am fated to die here to what purpose can it be to dress the wound if I survive it will be time enough in the evening. Vilar was wounded more severely below the knee. He too refused to leave the field and had himself carried in a chair till he fainted in agony of pain and had to be borne away. The moment for which Malbra had prepared was now come. Though the Allies had not advanced much either on the right or the left they had the enemy so sorely that Vilar on the left and Bufle on the right had been obliged to draw all the infantry from the center to enable them to resist the onward progress of their enemy. The French cavalry in the center therefore stood exposed and a cannonade was opened upon them from the Allies' batteries followed by an impetuous cavalry charge led by the brave Prince of Auvergne. They met the splendid French Jean-Dameurie, thrice they charged and thrice were driven back. Then they were reinforced by both Malbra and Eugène with their cavalry and this time the French could not resist their onset. The Prince of Orange too had taken advantage of this moment to renew his attack and by a daring movement turned the flank of the enemy's right. It was now three in the afternoon and the battle had lasted since eight in the morning. They who since Vilar had been carried away, held the supreme command saw that further resistance was impossible. His center was pierced his right driven back from its entrenchments and he was cut off from his left. With bitter sorrow he ordered a retreat but it was no precipitated flight. The troops retreated slowly in a good order and gradually reassembled at a camp between Kenois and Valenciennes. The Allies were too exhausted to think of pursuit and encamped that night near the field of battle. They had won the victory but at a frightful price. Their killed and wounded numbered over eighteen thousand men. Amongst whom were a great many officers and generals. The French on their side lost about fourteen thousand men. There was indeed some ground for Vilar's boast in his dispatch to the king. The enemy would have been annihilated by such another victory. As Ballingbroek wrote many years afterwards, a deluge of blood was spilled to dislodge them for we did no more at Malplaqué. It may well be questioned whether dislodging the enemy from their position was worth this price and it is probable that Malboro would never have fought this battle but for the state of political parties in England. His letters home showed little exaltation over the victory. He was depressed at the time by a quarrel with the Duchess who wished that he should remonstrate with the queen for the way in which she treated her. Malboro would not agree to do this and the Duchess assailed him with bitter and violent reproaches. On the eve of the battle of Malplaqué he wrote sadly to her, I can't hinder saying to you that though the fate of Europe, if these armies engage, may depend upon the good or bad success, yet your uneasiness gives me much greater trouble. On the eleventh of September he adds a post script. I am so tired that I have but strength enough to tell you that we have had this day a very bloody battle, the first part of the day we beat their foot and afterwards their horse. God Almighty be praised, it is now in our power to have what peace we please and I may be pretty well assured of never being in another battle, but that nor nothing in this world can make me happy if you are not kind. The number of wounded left on the field of battle was very great, the battle had been so fierce that little quarter was given, and the number of prisoners was small, most of these even were wounded. Malboro learned after the battle that numbers of the wounded French officers and soldiers had crept into the houses or into the woods and were in a miserable condition. He therefore sent to Marshal Villar to beg that a French officer should be allowed to meet Cadogan to make arrangements for the sending of carts and wagons to take away the wounded French, on condition that they would not serve again unless English soldiers were given up in exchange. Some three thousand wounded were rescued from a lingering death on the field of battle by the care of the Duke. The grief at the suffering which he saw, and the fatigue of the battle told upon his health, and for a few days he was seriously unwell. A report got about amongst the French that he had been killed in the battle, and this gave rise to a popular song, Malbrook Saint va ton guerre, which tells how the news of his death was taken home to his wife. As soon as possible after the battle, Mons was invested, Eugène directed the siege whilst Malbrook with the Covering Army encamped at Avres. Convoys of artillery were safely received from Brussels, after some delay caused by violent rains, and on the 25th September the trenches were opened and the attack began. The siege was carried on with vigor, and the danger of Mons made the French eager to do all they could to save it. But they dared not attack the Covering Army in its strong position, and on the 20th of October Mons surrendered. After this success Malbrook determined to settle his troops in winter quarters. The harvest had been very bad, and it was most difficult to get forage, so it was thought impossible to do anything more that campaign. The winter was coming on, the heavy rains and a good deal of sickness in the army made Malbrook reluctantly give up his hopes of besieging mauveurge. But the capture of Lille, Mons, and Tournay gave entire security to the Spanish Netherlands. There was no need to fear another such surprise as that of Ghent and Brugge in the beginning of the last year. Besides this the Allied Army need not now depend upon forage from Holland. They could send their foraging parties into France to get what they could from the wretched peasantry whose sufferings were terrible. Malbrook wrote to the Duchess July 1709. The misery of all the poor people we see is such that one must be a brute not to pity them. He always enforced strict discipline among his soldiers and insisted on their paying for all they took. In Germany and Spain the campaign of 1709 again was unproductive of any important results. But in Spain the peace negotiations had produced a great impression. The Spaniards were disgusted to see the readiness which Louis XIV showed to divide their monarchy. They were indignant that there should be any question of taking from them a king whom they had learned to love. Neither can we wonder that Philip should be indignant at the idea that he might be called upon at the bidding of his grandfather to resign his kingdom. The Spaniards saw that they must depend more upon themselves and less upon Louis XIV for France had enough to do to defend herself. Philip V as he grew older had shown more spirit and energy and had succeeded in gaining the love of the Castilians and Andaluthians. He declared that he would suffer anything even death rather than lay down his crown at the bidding of anyone. The grandees gathered around him with enthusiasm and Charles could maintain himself only in Catalonia. End of Section 29. The State of Things which Malbara found on returning to England was not likely to increase his peace of mind. The disagreement between the Queen and the Duchess was greater than ever. In the spring of 1708 the Duchess and the Queen of Malbara found that there was no peace of mind between Malbara and the Duchess. The state of things which Malbara found on returning to England in 1708 the Duchess, furious at the growing influence of Mrs. Masham, had threatened to retire from court and asked that the Queen would give the offices she held to her daughters. The Queen listened to her violent reproaches mixed with passionate tears with some confusion. She tried to put an end to the scene by saying, you and I must never part. But the Duchess insisted upon her that in case she had to withdraw from court her offices should be given to her daughters. This promise she afterwards managed to get from the Queen in writing, but her important conduct was not likely to win back for her the Queen's favour. She was so mortified by the treatment she met with at court that she at last decided to retire for a time to the country and wrote to the Queen, Your Majesty will neither be surprised nor displeased to hear that I am gone into the country. Since by your very hard and uncommon usage of me you have convinced all sorts of people, as well as myself, that nothing would be so uneasy to you as my near attendance. After the battle of Audinarda the discord between the Queen and the Duchess broke out in a public quarrel. The Duchess, as mistress of the robes, had arranged the jewels which the Queen was to wear at the thanksgiving service for the victory. The Queen, for some reason or another, refused to wear the jewels selected by the Duchess who at once put this down to Mrs. Masham's influence. As they were in the coach on the way to church she began to scold the Queen for her conduct, and even during the service whispered her reproaches in Anne's ear. When Anne wanted to answer she interrupted her and bade her be silent lest they should be overheard. Not content with this outrageous conduct she afterwards, when sending a letter from the Duke to the Queen wrote with it a letter containing still more violent reproaches. The Queen's anger at this conduct was so great that she no longer sought to disguise it by kind words. She wrote to the Duchess, after the commands you gave me in the church on the thanksgiving of not answering you, I should not have followed you with these lines but to return the Duke of Malvara's letter safe into your hands. The Duchess could not be silenced and wrote still more rudely. I should think myself wanting in my duty to you if I saw you so much in the wrong as without prejudice or passion I think you are in several particulars and did not tell you of it. The letter was followed by an interview in which the Duchess grew so angry that the loud tones of her voice penetrated to the anti-room. She came out with eyes bathed in tears and the Queen was found also weeping. The Duchess could not let the matter rest though Malvara wrote to her that he wished she would see that the Queen is not capable of being changed by reason so that you must be quiet till the time comes in which she must change. The Duchess did at last take the resolution of neither speaking nor writing any more to the Queen and for a few weeks there was no intercourse between them. The death of the Prince of Denmark again brought them together in apparent friendship. The Duchess hurried up to Kensington from Windsor as soon as she heard of the Prince's danger. She was present at his death led the Queen away from his death bed and knelt by her in her closet trying to soothe the violence of her grief. She then persuaded Anne to move to St. James's palace for a change of scene and the Queen agreed. But much offended the Duchess by giving her her watch and bidding her withdrawal till the hand had reached a certain point and meanwhile send Mrs. Masham to her. The Duchess went but would not send for Mrs. Masham as she did not like to give such a sign of her rival's favour before the crowd in the anti-chamber. The Queen however managed to send a message to Mrs. Masham to join her at St. James's with the Duchess now conducted her. Anne's grief was easily diverted by the business of arranging the small details of the funeral. The Duchess wrote some years after. Her love to the Prince seemed in the eyes of the world to be prodigiously great and great as was the passion of her grief, her stomach was greater for that very day he died she ate three very large and hardy meals so that one would think that as other persons' grief takes away their appetites her appetite took away her grief. Nor was it less remarkable where there was so great an appearance of love the peculiar pleasure she took before his funeral in setting the order of it and naming the persons that were to attend and placing them according to their rank and the rules of precedence which was the entertainment she gave herself every day till that solemnity was over. Anne sent a note to the Duchess the very evening after the Prince's death begging her to tell the Lord treasurer to see that there may be a great many yeoman of the guards to carry the Prince's dear body that it may not be let fall the great stares being very steep and slippery this renewal of intercourse between the Queen and the Duchess came to nothing for the Duchess only obtained new proofs of Mrs. Masham's favor she always found her either with the Queen or just leaving the room in fact things did not go well with the Duchess in those days she had lost the Queen's favor and she was beginning to quarrel with her friends the Wigs too the Wigs had been ready to court her when they hoped to make her of use but now that they were in power they adopted a more haughty tone both to Good Dolphin and the Duchess they demanded the Duchess's rights what they had before sued for as favors the Duchess deeply offended at the tone of the Wigs abused them in her letters to the Duke as violently as she had before abused the Tories bitterly declared her intention of having no more to do with party politics and accused the Wigs of intriguing with Harley and Mrs. Masham Malbara was appealed to by the Queen Good Dolphin and the Duchess in all their difficulties convinced that now he could hope for nothing from the Tories he wished to work an entire concord with the Wigs and was disappointed to find that they still looked upon both him and the treasurer with suspicion the Duchess's conduct only increased as uneasiness even if she did not seek to see the Queen she could not refrain from writing angry letters to her reproaching her for her fondness for Mrs. Masham and her supposed intercourse with Harley in vain the Duke urged upon her to let the matter rest be obliging and kind to all your friends he wrote and avoid entering into cabals but this is just what the Duchess could not do each mark of her loss of the Queen's favor was only the occasion of more violent letters on one occasion she sent her a long letter full of extracts from the whole duty of man and from the prayer book and Bishop Taylor's works reminding her that none could conscientiously partake of the Lord's supper unless they were at peace and in charity with all mankind when the Duchess many years afterwards published the justification of herself which she called her conduct she said of this letter nor had my papers any apparent effect on her majesty except that after my coming to town as she was passing by me in order to receive the Communion she looked with much good nature and very graciously smiled upon me but the smile and the pleasant look I had reason afterwards to think were given to Bishop Taylor and the common prayer book and not to me the Queen worried past endurance by the Duchess's tempers and scoldings lent more and more upon Mrs. Masham and through Mrs. Masham Harley found a way of access to her he had a passion for mystery and intriguing as singin said of him in days long after when both were again out of power no man was more desirous of power and he had a competent share of cunning to wriggle himself into it but then his part was over and no man was more at a loss how to employ it Harley was now in his element he had the ear of the Queen who clung to him on account of his high church views and whilst she hated the wigs because she looked upon them as Latitudinarians Mrs. Masham was always at hand to introduce him up a back stair into the Queen's presence or to carry messages between the two but as most of the servants about the court owed their places to the Duchess of Malbara the Queen feared lest they should act despise upon her and chose at this time often to live in a small house at Windsor rather than so that she might safely carry on her intercourse with Harley she chafed at the bondage in which she was held by the Malbara's and the wigs and without courage to break the bonds herself listened with pleasure to the plans and suggestions of Harley the suspicion of all this intriguing and the knowledge that he no longer enjoyed the Queen's favor so entirely as formerly made Malbara anxious to attain to a position where he could be safe from the change of fortune he thought that it might be possible to get a patent from the Queen naming him Captain General for life before leaving for the continent in the spring of 1709 he spoke to the Lord Chancellor Cooper on the subject the Lord Chancellor at once declared that such a grant would be unconstitutional at Malbara's entreaty he searched the public records to see whether he could find a precedent for it but in vain Malbara would not give up his object he again communicated with the Lord Chancellor on the subject from Flanders but with the same result and even then not discouraged wrote to the Queen and made his demand it reached the Queen just when Harley and Mrs. Masham and their friends were doing their utmost to persuade her of the danger she was in from the excessive power of the Malbara's and seems seriously to have alarmed her Swift tells us that she consulted privately with several friends whether there would be any danger in refusing the Duke's request and the Duke of Argyle said she need not be in pain for he would undertake whenever she commanded to seize the Duke at the head of his troops and bring him away either dead or alive finally she positively refused his request and the Duke so far forgot his wanted courtesy and moderation as to write an angry letter to her reproaching her for want of regard for his services and for her bad treatment of his wife and encouragement of Mrs. Masham the whole proceeding was most unwise particularly in the Queen's existing temper for it gave color to the accusations of his enemies who continually told the Queen that it was dangerous to allow such great power to be in the hands of a subject even insinuated that the Duke might aspire to be a second Cromwell and place himself upon the throne whilst secret plans were being made for their destruction the Wigs had attained to the summit of their desires and the government was entirely in their hands but there was one body in the state and that perhaps the most important with which the Wigs were by no means in high favor this was the church the leaders had been of comparatively little importance in politics so that men had forgotten a little the enormous hold it had upon the people during the reign of Charles II the doctrine of the divine right of kings had been enthusiastically maintained the clergy had proclaimed Charles I as a martyr and had not hesitated to compare his sufferings to those of Christ himself only James II's declarations of indulgence the favors heaped by him upon the Catholics had made them reluctant participators in the revolution a large body known as non jurors had refused to take the oaths of allegiance to William III they had hailed with delight the accession of Anne for in her they recognized a legitimate sovereign and Anne's care for the church had satisfied their warmest wishes Anne gave many substantial proofs of her strong attachment to the church of England in 1704 she surrendered her claim to the first fruits of ecclesiastical benefits and devoted them to the creation of a fund called Queen Anne's Bounty out of which small livings were to be augmented and by this just and generous act earned the gratitude of the clergy and special favor was given to the high church party she thought the low church to whom the Wigs were more inclined to bury in in their views the high church party were full of veneration for the rights of the sovereign and began to take up again with zeal soon after the accession of Anne the doctrine of the divine right of kings to which the Wigs as promoters of the revolution were strongly opposed the Tory doctrine of passive obedience was loudly proclaimed and the clergy began to raise the cry that the church was in danger and to attack more or less openly the ministers whom they accused of desires to conciliate the nonconformists a small thing sufficed to show the strength of the clergy and the hold they had upon the people and of section 30 section 31 of the life of John Churchill Duke of Malboro by Louise Creighton this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Pamela Nagami part 2 Dr. Sachevorel, fellow of Modlin College, Oxford, and Rector of St. Saviour, Sutherk, preached a sermon before the Lord Mayor and Alderman of London in St. Paul's on November 5, 1709. He was a man in no way remarkable for his ability, but he was a violent and aggressive high churchman. He preached on the perils from false brethren, and maintained at length the duty of passive obedience, spoke of the church as in great danger, and insinuated that the ministers were among the false brethren. The sermon was afterwards printed, and had a large circulation. Forty thousand copies are said to have been sold in a few days. The wigs were very indignant. They were in a large majority in both houses of parliament, and they determined not to let Sachevorel go unpunished. The ministers met early in December to consider what should be done. Summers with his usual wise moderation recommended that if anything were done it should only be an ordinary prosecution, and he was supported by Malbara. Sunderland, always extreme, wished Sachevorel to be impeached by the House of Commons and tried by the House of Lords. Gadolfin partly from terror at the applause which Sachevorel's sermon had met with, and partly from a personal feeling of indignation at the nickname of Volpone which Sachevorel had applied to him, supported Sunderland's view. Unfortunately they prevailed. The public impeachment and trial of Sachevorel was enough to rouse all the slumbering animosity of the church against the wigs, and the church had the ear of the people. Sachevorel was looked upon as a martyr for the church. Prayers were offered up for him in most of the churches and even in the royal chapel. Sermons were preached all over the country in his favor. The common people showed the greatest zeal for him. They insulted those who would not join in the cry of High Church and Sachevorel. In their ardor they attacked the meeting-houses of the dissenters, burnt the pews and five of them, and threatened the houses of those members of the government who were supposed to hold specially latitudinary envies. The whole House of Commons wished to be present at the trial. Orders were therefore given to fit up Westminster Hall for it, and the task was assigned to Sir Christopher Wren, the famous architect. All this delay only gave the more time for the popular feeling to manifest itself. The whole town was in a ferment. At last, on the 27th of February, the trial opened. Wren had arranged Westminster Hall like an amphitheater. One hundred and thirty-nine piers in their robes were seated on the floor of the hall. On their right the Commons rose on tiers of benches one above another. On their left were seated such strangers as had been fortunate enough to gain admission. As Sachevorel drove to the trial from his lodgings in the temple, his coach was surrounded by an excited mob, eager to kiss his hand, and every head was uncovered as he passed, whilst the windows were crowded with ladies waving their handkerchiefs. Sachevorel appeared surrounded by a number of friends amongst whom two of the Queen's chaplains might be seen. The ablest council had been engaged on either side, and the right of resistance on the one side, and the duty of passive obedience on the other, were argued at length. The Queen herself came to listen. Perhaps there was little doubt which way her sympathies went, and the crowd pressed round her sedan chair crying, God bless your majesty. We hope your majesty is for high church and doctor Sachevorel. It is amazing to think how small a cause and how small a man had produced this ferment. Their secution had turned Sachevorel into an important personage and a saint. The wigs possessing a large majority in both houses were easily able to obtain a conviction, but in the state of the public temper it was not thought wise to impose more than a nominal penalty. Sachevorel was merely suspended from preaching during three years, and his sermons were ordered to be burnt. The people regarded the sentence as a triumph. London and many other towns were illuminated, and bonfires blazed in honour of Sachevorel. A few months afterwards a living was given him in Shropshire, and his journey dither was like a triumphal progress. The inhabitants turned out in crowds from the different towns through which he had to pass to meet and escort him amidst the peeling of the church bells through streets decorated with flowers. One thing was clear from this, that the church could influence the mind of the people more than the splendid success of their armies. It only needed something to bring out the sentiments of the people, and it became clear that what they wanted was a government under which they could feel that the church was secure rather than a government under which the war could be carried out with vigor. The great mass of the country people were decidedly and zealously Tory. In London a new class had sprung up, the stock-jobbers. The monied men, about whom we hear so much in the political writings of the times, who now that the government had had to raise such large loans for the prosecution of the war, grew rich by speculating in the funds. The stock-jobbers and the military men were those who as a rule made a figure in the town. It needed something like the trial of Sachevorel to make the people speak out and show what they felt. During the course of all this excitement about Sachevorel, the Queen's secret advisors did not fail to point out to her what might be learned from the decided manifestation of the Tory sympathies of the people. Harley, in one of these interviews when Mrs. Masham at the Queen's request, brought him up by the back stairs, told her that she should gradually lessen the exorbitant power of the Malboras and Gadolphin by taking the disposal of employments into her own hands. The Queen began at once to act upon this advice. She appointed Earl Rivers, a wig whom Harley had gained over to the Lord Left Tendency of the Tower, without waiting to see whether Malbora had anyone to recommend. Next she sent Malbora orders to give a regiment that was vacant to Colonel Hill, Mrs. Masham's brother. This Malbora could not endure. By letter and in a personal interview he remonstrated with the Queen, stating that it was impossible to pre-fer so young an officer as Colonel Hill, without creating serious discontent in the army. When the Queen would not yield he retired into the country. A cabinet council was held without him and his declining favour might be seen by the fact that no one remarked on his absence and everything went on as if nothing was wrong. The wigs did not care enough about him to stick by him if he was out of favour. In the country he wrote a letter to the Queen, stating that unless Mrs. Masham were dismissed he would resign his appointments. The letter was first sent to the leading members of the government for their consideration. Gadolphin, timid as usual, was terrified at the thought of so bold a course. Sunderland, warmly approved of it and even proposed to bring a motion into Parliament demanding the dismissal of Mrs. Masham. Summers thought that a more moderate course had better be tried first. Both he and Gadolphin had several interviews with the Queen on the subject. They at last persuaded Malborra to write a letter in which, though he complained warmly of the influence of Mrs. Masham, he did not demand her dismissal. Malborra yielded, though both he and the Duchess would have preferred the more decided course. The Duchess writes on the subject, if he comes to town and hears the Queen repeating Abigail's advice to satisfy him he will make a strange figure. Before Malborra's letter reached the Queen, she had determined, under the pressure of her ministers, to give way, for she was terrified lest any motion should be brought into Parliament against Mrs. Masham. She sent word to Malborra that she would not insist upon the promotion of Colonel Hill, and when he came to see her, she treated him with great kindness. Soon after this, as the Dutch were eager for the Dukes returning to the Netherlands, an address was brought into Parliament asking the Queen to send him abroad. Harley, who felt how much better he could carry on his plans if the Dukes were absent, allowed this address to pass without opposition. Gadolphin had prepared the Queen's answer to the address in which he made her speak of the Dukes' services in warm terms, but the Queen insisted on having some changes made, so that, as the Dukes' friend said, the answer was made very dry. He left England in the midst of the excitement about the trial of Cecheverelle, which caused him much anxiety. He wrote to the Duchess that in time it must have a good effect upon England, but ended the same letter by saying, We have a good many disagreeable accounts come from England to this country, both as to the intentions of the court, as well as the inclinations of the people for Cecheverelle, which does great hurt. 15. The Fall of the Whigs, Part 1 Ever since the breaking off of the peace conferences at the Hague in the spring of 1709, secret negotiations had been carried on between the French and the Peace Party in Holland. In the beginning of 1710, Louis XIV once more made overtures for peace, and though the Allies still distrusted his sincerity and made active preparations for war, it was decided to hold a conference at Gertrutenberg to take his proposals into consideration. Louis XIV declared himself ready to make any sacrifices for peace if only he could preserve some fragment of the Spanish monarchy as a kingdom for his grandson, and could escape from the obnoxious condition of aiding with his own arms to turn him out of Spain. But the conduct of the French in the course of these negotiations had made the Allies more than ever doubtful of their sincerity. They knew that in spite of his professions to the contrary, Louis XIV still continued to encourage his grandson and promise him help. Austria, moreover, was fully determined to continue the war until the entire Spanish monarchy was handed over to Charles. The distress of the French was such that the English government expressed themselves confident that peace would be concluded, but that the Liberations came to nothing, and the French ascribed their failure mainly to Austria, whose ambition once fairly aroused passed all bounds. The Duke of Malbora acted throughout as the mouthpiece of his government. He spoke of himself as a white paper on which they could write their wishes. His letters portray his keen consciousness of his gradual loss of favor. He could no longer order everything freely as he would, but met with opposition on every side, so that he tried to confine himself as much as possible to his immediate duties as Captain General. As soon as it became clear that the negotiations would lead to nothing, Eugène and Malbora at once began the active business of the campaign. A great effort was to be made in the Netherlands, with a view of preparing everything for an invasion of France, and at the same time the Duke of Savoy was to enter France from Piedmont, with the hope of stirring up the disaffected Protestants in Dauphiné to aid the Allies. Malbora began the campaign in bad spirits. I am so discouraged by everything I see, he wrote to his wife, that I have never during this war gone into the field with so heavy a heart as I do at this time. I own to you that the present humours in England give me a good deal of trouble, for I cannot see how it is possible they should mend till everything is yet worse. His object was to take such fortresses as yet remained to the French on their northern frontier. He began with a siege of Douay, the possession of which would be of the greatest importance to him, for there was water communication from it the whole way to Amsterdam, and if they held it the Allies would be able to get their supplies brought by water from Amsterdam and stored at Douay for future enterprises. Malbora found the sufferings of the wretched peasantry on the French border greater even than in the year before. He writes, it is impossible without seeing it to be sensible of the misery of this country. At least one half of the people of the villages since the beginning of last winter are dead and the rest look as if they came out of their graves. It is so mortifying that no Christian can see it but must with all his heart wish for a speedy peace. And again he writes, the churches and the villages are full of the poor country people, the greatest part of them being sick and most of the towns being infected with a spotted fever. It is no wonder that the Allied Generals when they saw this misery thought that no terms were too exorbitant to ask Louis XIV in return for the blessing of peace. In spite of Vila's boasts the French were unable to prevent the capture of Douay. During the siege Malbora was much disturbed by the news which reached him from England. Some of the leading wigs, afraid of the intrigues of Harley and Mrs. Mashem, had earnestly pressed the Duchess of Malbora to return to town after the Duke's departure to aid them with her influence. Sunderland wrote to the Duke, without her I know we shall all sink. The great difficulty was to get the treasurer to act like a man, and it was well known that the Malboras were the only people who could possibly stir up the timid Godolphin to show any decision. But it would doubtless have been better to keep the Duchess out of town if possible. She was not likely to do anything to smooth matters with the Queen. She intended to resign her offices at the conclusion of a peace when the Duke would be free to enjoy a little leisure with her, and she wished to feel sure that the Queen would keep her promise of transferring in that case her offices to her daughters. Anne tried to evade her request, and when the Duchess pressed her for an answer she said, I desire that I may never be troubled any more on the subject. Disgusted at the continual slights she received, the Duchess retired again to the country, and in spite of the entreaties of her wig-friends refused for some time to come to court. Her enemies took the opportunity of blaming her for neglecting her duties, and spread stories of the disrespectful language which she used about the Queen. She found it impossible to stay quiet long, and give people occasion to say that her favor was entirely lost, and early in April she appeared at court again and demanded an interview with the Queen. Anne tried hard to escape a private meeting. She put it off on various pretexts and begged the Duchess to put what she had to say in writing, but the Duchess was remorseless. She wrote saying that all she had to say related to her own vindication, and that she would ask for no answer from the Queen. This letter she followed to Kensington without waiting for an answer, and sent the page of the back stairs to ask whether she might be admitted. Whilst he was gone she sat down in the window waiting as she says, like a scotch lady with a petition expecting an answer whilst the Queen doubtless consulted with Mrs. Masham. At length she was admitted, and the interview must have been sufficiently comic. The Duchess was all tears and passion, the Queen was sullen and obstinate. Whilst the Duchess justified her conduct in passionate words the Queen looked contemptuous and impatient, and remarked at any pause in the flow of words, you can put it in writing. When tired of this remark she next repeated at intervals, you desired no answer and you shall have none. At last when the storm could not be stopped she said, I will quit the room. But the Duchess followed bursting into floods of tears, and continued her vindication to which the Queen rejoined as before, you desired no answer and you shall have none. At last beside herself with passion the Duchess exclaimed, I am confident you will suffer in this world or the next for so much inhumanity. The Queen retorted with indignation, that is my business and withdrew. The poor Duchess had to sit down and dry her tears by herself, and after a while scratched at the Queen's door to say that if it pleased the Queen she would not go to her Lodgett Windsor as long as the Queen was at the castle. But the Queen answered to the door that she might come if she pleased, it would give her no uneasiness. This was the last personal interview between them. At this time the wigs were kept in constant alarm by rumours of an approaching dissolution of Parliament, and of changes in the Government. The Queen was determined to show that she was no longer kept in bondage by Malbara and Gadolfin, and would act for herself. Without consulting the treasurer she dismissed the Wig Lord Chamberlain appointing the Earl of Shrewsbury in his stead. Shrewsbury had been a long while on the Continent and had come back to England with an Italian wife. He had been cautiously watching the party conflicts to see which side it would be wisest to join, and whilst professing friendship for Malbara had allowed himself to be gained over by Harley. Gadolfin ventured to remonstrate with the Queen, but when he saw that she meant to have her own way, both he and the other Wigs determined to put up with this affront, and persuaded Malbara to do the same. Next the Queen bade the Duke give promotion to Colonel Masham and Colonel Hill, Mrs. Masham's husband and brother. Malbara with some reluctance consented to promote Colonel Masham, but the Queen insisted with all the more obstinacy upon the promotion of Hill also, because she had had before to give way on this point, and Malbara was obliged to yield, for he saw that the Wigs would not support him in a refusal. The Wigs were determined to cling to power as long as possible. They hoped to temporize, above all, to put off the dissolution. They even submitted tamely when at last the long dreaded blow was struck, and Sunderland was dismissed from office, and succeeded as Secretary of State by the Earl of Dartmouth, Azele's Tory. The Queen had always disliked Sunderland, and his conduct in an office which brought him into frequent personal contact with herself had increased her distaste for his violent, arrogant temper. Malbara could not but feel the disgrace of his son-in-law as a blow aimed at himself. He hoped at least to defer it, and wrote in a letter to be shown to the Queen. What I desire is that she would be pleased to defer the removal of Lord Sunderland till the end of this campaign, and then she may have the winter before her to take measures with the Allies for the command of this army. This is what I beg in reward of all my faithful services. If it must be otherwise, and that nothing but my immediate retiring will content those that have at this time the power, I must submit, with the satisfaction that everybody must be sensible of my readiness to have served if it might have been allowed with honour. But Harley's intrigues were too much for the Duke. He himself talked over such wigs as he could, and made the Queen talk over summers. Divided by jealousies and suspicions the wigs had no common policy, and shared only the desire to keep an office if possible. The dolphin was terrified at the thought that the Duke might carry out his intention of resignation, and at a meeting of the Ministers he suggested that a memorial should be drawn up and sent to him, begging him to retain his command for the good of his country. This was done, and signed by all the Ministers except Shrewsbury and Somerset, whom Harley had gained over. It was not difficult to persuade Malbara. He had already made up his mind not to let his personal matter make him do anything which might be harmful to the common cause. He attempted to regard the disgrace of Sunderland as having no bearing upon himself. It is clear that the position held by him during the first years of Anne's reign, when he controlled every appointment and was consulted on every detail, was anomalous, and could not possibly last. But this did not make it easier to bear the gradual loss of power and the curtailment of his authority to what belonged to him as Captain General. His letters are full of despondency and disgust with the State of Affairs. A new quarrel between the Queen and the Duchess did not tend to make matters better. The Duchess could not let the disgrace of Sunderland pass. She sent one of her angry letters to the Queen, blaming her in her usual, disrespectful manner, for the favor shown to Mrs. Masham, and hoping to make mischief between the Duke of Somerset and the Queen, she sent an old letter in which Somerset had spoken of the Queen with very little ceremony. Anne judged from this that the Duchess would not scruple if it served her purpose to publish abroad the tender letters which in former days Mrs. Morley had written to Mrs. Freeman. She therefore demanded that the Duchess should send back to her all her strange scrawls. This the Duchess refused to do in a violent letter, to which the Queen sent no answer, and after this there was no more direct correspondence between them. CHAPTER XV. THE FALL OF THE WIGS, PART II. The deep dislike with which the Duchess had managed to inspire the Queen greatly helped Harley's schemes. He was a most Detroit intriguer, and knew well how to turn the weakness of his enemies to his own advantage. He had no wish to strike a violent blow which might rouse his opponents to united and spirited action. He could buy this time, and weaken the opposition he met with by sowing discord among the Wigs. The Wig leaders had never quite lost their distrust of Malbora and Godolphin. Harley did his utmost to revive this distrust, and to convince them that their interests did not lie with those of the Treasurer and the General. Some like Somerset and Shrewsbury he managed to gain over, and he succeeded in entirely destroying the Queen's confidence and affection for the Treasurer who had served her so long and so faithfully. Others went about the city that Godolphin was to be dismissed and spread terror amongst the monied men who considered that the security of the public credit depended upon Godolphin's careful management. For the first time we hear a fall in the funds spoken of as a sign of the political condition. The Bank of England in alarm sent a deputation to the Queen which represented to her the anxiety that the dismissal of Sunderland had caused, and begged her to make no further changes. She answered by saying that she had no desire to do so at present, and this was taken for an assurance that Godolphin would not be dismissed. Harley did not wish him to be dismissed until he could feel that his disgrace would not lead Malbora to resign. Little by little the proud Duke, who had been accustomed for so many years to manage everything at his pleasure, had been brought to bear patiently one humiliation after another, and in the same way the country was to be gradually accustomed to see the government pass into new hands. It was early in July 1710 that Sunderland was dismissed. During the following month, Godolphin, who met with nothing but coldness from Anne, grew daily more uneasy. On the 6th of August he begged an audience of the Queen, and remonstrated with her for allowing herself to be governed by secret advisers whilst her real ministers lost all power. At last he asked her whether it was her wish that he should continue to serve her, and she replied without hesitation yes. Great, therefore, was his surprise when next morning he received a note from the Queen telling him that it was impossible for her to continue him any longer in her service and adding, I desire that instead of bringing the staff to me you will break it, which I believe will be easier for us both. She promised at the same time to give him a pension, but in spite of her promise the pension was never paid. Godolphin had managed the public finances in the most honourable manner and with the strictest economy. He came out of office a poor man and too proud to ask for the pension which was not paid him he was left in straightened circumstances until the death of his brother increased his fortune. He was a useful and careful public servant, but he was not fit to be the leader of a party. His timidity made him shrink from decided action at the moments when decided action was necessary for his cause. He had no political principles strong enough to make him willing to suffer on their behalf. He seems to have been entirely ruled by Malbora and the Duchess, but on the other hand his timid fears never failed to produce their effect upon Malbora's mind and continually kept him from acting decidedly in political matters. The disgrace of Godolphin produced a panic in the city. The bank shares fell at once from one hundred and forty to one hundred and ten. Harley's first desire was to restore public confidence. The treasury was put into a commission of which he himself was one and the other members were all men so moderate that Godolphin wrote to Malbora that the commission would utterly discuss the Tories. Still, in spite of all kinds of reassuring statements the panic in the city continued and when the commissioners demanded a new loan shortly after their appointment it was refused. Godolphin on the other hand had never found any difficulty in raising money on easy terms. From these signs the Whigs hoped that the new commissioners would not be able to keep their places long. They determined therefore to keep their offices and weighed in the hopes that a favorable turn of events might bring back power into their hands again. Harley, who became Chancellor of the Exchequer and Virtual Prime Minister, was very willing to coalesce with the Whigs. He had no liking for the extreme Tories and wished to govern by means of the moderate men. Malbora was entreated by Godolphin and the Whigs to remain at his post and the Queen who wrote herself to tell him of Godolphin's dismissal that he might hear it first from her, promised that he and his army should want for nothing. The news caused Malbora the deepest anxiety. He could see the effect produced upon the continent by the changes in the English government and indeed foreigners rated their importance even higher than the English, for they regarded Malbora as the mainstay of the Grand Alliance and were terrified at the signs which showed the diminution of his power in England. The Dutch states and the Emperor had even remonstrated with the Queen when Sunderland was dismissed, but Malbora discouraged foreign interference in the internal affairs of England, for he saw that it did harm rather than good. His only anxiety now seems to have been to prepare for the future by drawing as close as possible to the Elector of Hanover. Neither did he neglect, from time to time, to send messages to the Pretender expressing entire devotion to his cause. He did this in the hope of securing his safety in case, as many men thought at that time, the stewards should be restored to the English throne. But he was really entirely in favor of the succession of the House of Hanover and meant to use all his influence in the cause of the Elector. At present he was determined for many reasons to retain his command. He saw plainly that if he retired the affairs of the Grand Alliance would fall into confusion. His wig friends entreated him to keep his post, for they still clung to the hope that the Tory government would be unable to maintain itself and that they would return triumphantly to power. Besides these considerations, Malbora's own desires must have led him to wish to keep at the head of an army which he had so long led to victory. If only, as the Queen promised, he could be sure of supplies. He hoped still to bring the war to a triumphant end. In England change followed change. Harley had at first meant to keep some of the wigs in office, but he soon found that no arts could gain them over to his cause. The wigs who found themselves treated by the Queen with coldness and want of confidence saw that it was useless to cling to office any longer. On the 21st of September Parliament was dissolved, and by degrees a new government was formed. The change was complete, and every post of importance was given to a Tory. Harley's friend Stingen, a man far more able than himself, became Secretary of State. The new elections gave opportunities for the same manifestations of popular feeling as had accompanied the trial of Cecheverelle. The cry everywhere was for the church. Electors on their way to the hustings were hustled and knocked down unless they promised to vote for the church candidate. The result was that in the new Parliament the Tories had an overwhelming majority. Harley, not content with having triumphed so far, lost no opportunity of still further strengthening his position. The Tories were quicker than the wigs to recognize the use that could be made of the press. Stingen, himself an accomplished and learned writer, was on terms of intimacy with most of the literary men in the town. Stingen had found his amusement in cock-fighting, bedding, and horse-racing at Newmarket. Malburra's defective education had given him no literary tendencies, and his time and thoughts were so absorbed by the great part he had to play that he had no time for the cultivation of personal tastes. He seems to have cared about no amusements, and the only relief he allowed himself was planning the adornment of Plenum, and buying pictures and ordering hangings and carpets to be made for his magnificent house. Both he and Godolphin neglected to pay any attention to the literary men who at that time remained in London. Amongst the leading wigs, Summers and Halifax were the only two who possessed real cultivation and literary tastes. Both Harley and Stingen saw how easily the public ear might be reached through the press. This was the great age of political pamphlets. The people possessed no reports of the debates in Parliament, and the ministers could not hope to influence them by their speeches in Parliament. The easiest way was to get some clever writer into their confidence and make him employ his pen in their service. Never has literature played so remarkable a part in English politics. Each important event called forth a shower of pamphlets on either side, whilst various writers tried to influence public opinion by little papers on political and social subjects which appeared daily or weekly, and were the subject of comment and discussion in the coffee houses, then the centre of political life. Literary men no longer lived as they had done in the reign of Elizabeth, a wild and careless life in back streets. But they mixed as equals with great politicians and were rewarded for their devotion to their patron's cause by promotion to important political offices. When Harley came into power, the Tory started a political paper called The Examiner to attack the faults of the last government and revile the Duke of Malbara. At first it was conducted by Stingen himself, prior and one or two other less important writers. But Stingen was quick to find out and gain over to his cause the greatest genius of that age. Dr. Swift had just come over from his living in Ireland on a mission to the Queen to demand the remission of the first fruits payable by the Irish clergy to the crown. Swift, who had grown up in Sir William Temple's house and had long been his private secretary, was a wig, though not a very ardent one. He had moreover a bitter hatred for Wharton, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland had treated him with neglect. Neither had he been satisfied with the way in which Cadolphean received him on a former occasion. Therefore, when he reached London, just at the time of the fall of the wigs, and found as he says in the journal which he kept for the friend of his youth, Stella, a girl who had grown up with him at Sir William Temple's and followed him to Ireland, that the wigs were ravished to see me and would lay hold on me as a twig while they were drowning. He did not feel inclined to hold out his helping hand to them. He saw without sorrow the wigs lose office, though he confesses to feeling a little shocked at the suddenness of the change, but adds that he does not care if they are all hanged. The wigs made the greatest efforts to gain Swift, especially Lord Halifax, who invited him to Hampton Court and treated him with the greatest respect and kindness. Swift found himself in a position which much gratified his pride, for he was courted on all sides as Harley too received him with the warm kindness of an old friend. But he distrusted the friendship of the wigs, who had forgotten him when they were in power and only remembered him in their distress. Harley and St. John understood both the use he might be to them and how to gain him. Swift was intensely proud, and they treated him as if he were their equal. He was able to feel that great men sought him out and that he did not seek them. Never has any man, not in office, had so great an influence on public affairs. Harley was in the habit of having little dinners every week of the chief members of the government and a few of their supporters, and Swift was generally present on these occasions. His voice was listened to in everything. He advised and found fault with the ministers with perfect freedom, and chaired their most secret councils. Through him they were able to influence the public. He was the greatest master of political pamphleteering there has ever been. With consummate skill and the most withering irony, he showed forth in forcible style the weaknesses of his opponents and guided public opinion almost at his pleasure. The examiner was at once handed over to his care, and he wrote thirty-two numbers of it in succession. In these his great object was to show that the Whig government under which the country had seemed to rise to such a marvelous pitch of power and prosperity had really brought nothing but misery upon the people, that the resources of the country had been recklessly wasted by an extravagant ministry, and that its money had flowed into the pockets of an unprincipled set of stock-jobbers. That the great general, whom they had worshipped almost as a god, was nothing but a very faulty mortal after all, who had prolonged the war to enrich himself. These and other similar views were set forth week after week in the examiner, with all the subtle wit, all the profound irony, all the stirring eloquence of the greatest humorist whom England has ever seen, and did more than anything that Harley and his colleagues could do to destroy the credit of the last government. The Whigs had no writer of equal genius to oppose the Swift. Addison in his own way as gifted a writer as Swift and a firm Whig tried what he could do, but the genial and graceful critic of literature and society was powerless in the field of politics and soon deserted it. His spectators were read daily by every lady a fashion of the time, but his political writings produced no effect. In Steele the Whigs had another firm friend, but honest Dick Steele with his warm, open heart and kindly way of laughing at the foibles of others, as often drunk as sober, was no match for the stern Swift who had no feeling for the weaknesses of others and would crush an adversary as remorselessly as he would forget a friend. A host of Whig pamphleteers tried to answer Swift, but only brought down upon their unhappy heads more bitter sarcasm than before. Swift also superintended the work of a number of other Tory writers. He was courted by all who wished to make friends with the new government, and often complains bitterly of the way in which he was pestered with requests of all kinds. In the journal which he kept for Stella and sent her every month he tells all his experiences and writes to a friend who he knows will value the smallest detail. The journal gains much interest by the light which all the little personal details throw upon the character of the writer and the manners of the times, as well as upon the great affairs of the nation. The changes in the government are not given any more importance than his own little bodily ailments. The doings of the ministry are not told more carefully than the places where Swift dined each day. End of Section 33 Section 34 of Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malboro by Louise Creighton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 16 Peace Negotiations Part 1 The campaign of 1710 was full of disappointment to Malboro. He had hoped to carry the war into the heart of France, but after Douay fell, Villar so placed his army that it was impossible either to attack him or to besieger us as Malboro had intended. He was obliged to content himself with the capture of Bethune, Saint-Venant and Air. Heavy rains and a great deal of illness among his troops prevented further operations. Besides this, his energy was somewhat paralyzed by the changes which had taken place in England. He felt that if he failed in anything now he would meet with the severest censure, and on this account an expedition which he had planned at the beginning of the campaign against Calais and Boulogne were given up as being too hazardous. In the uncertainty of his position, Malboro thought once more of the offer which in former days had been repeatedly made to him by the Emperor and the Archduke Charles, and he wrote to Charles, asking whether he would now make him Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. Charles managed to evade his request by saying that he would be willing to do so if it were agreeable to the Dutch. This was the same as a refusal, for the Dutch had always objected strongly to the proposal. When the Duke went to the Hague at the close of the campaign, he was entreated by all the representatives of the Allies to continue in his command. If he was out of favor at home, at least the foreign powers recognized his importance as the one man who could keep the alliance together. But the English Parliament, which met at the end of November 1710, had for the first time omitted to pass a vote of thanks to him, though a public thanksgiving had been held for the successes in Flanders. When a vote of thanks was moved by Scarborough in the House of Lords where the Whigs had a majority, the Government managed to have the question dropped and St. John wrote, One would imagine that Lord Scarborough was hired by somebody who wished the Duke of Malboro ill to take so unconcerned and so ridiculous a measure. The people, however, had not yet lost their admiration for the Great Duke. When he reached London in December on his return from the Hague, they crowded round his carriage with enthusiastic shouts. Anxious to avoid an uproar which he knew would tell against him with the Government, instead of going straight to St. James as he had intended, he turned aside to Montague House and waited there till the crowd had dispersed and he could go unobserved to the Queen. She received him with embarrassment and talked of the weather. From the first he was made to feel how entirely his position had changed. The man who but a short while before had been consulted on the smallest trifle, encoded by everybody, was now treated with coolness and reserve by the Queen and the Ministers alike. Mother Blow was preparing for him. Harley and St. John were only waiting to be convinced that the Duke would keep his command whatever happened before they recommended the Queen to dismiss the Duchess from all her offices. Anne was eager to do so. She had been still more angered against her former friend because the Duchess had threatened to publish her letters and she had also used Sir David Hamilton, one of the Queen's physicians who owed his place to her favour as a means of sending continual messages to the Queen, justifying herself against the accusations made against her and demanding a return to her former favour. The Duchess was much enraged by a number of the examiner which appeared on November 23, 1710, in which swift, ridiculing those who spoke of the ingratitude shown to the Duke of Malbora drew up, for comparison, the two following bills. A bill of Roman gratitude in premature, for frankincense and earthen pots to burn it in, four pounds, ten shillings, a bull for sacrifice, eight pounds, an embroidered garment, fifty pounds, a crown of laurel, two pence, a statue, one hundred pounds, a trophy, eighty pounds, a thousand copper medals value, half pence a piece, two pounds, one shilling, eight pence, a triumphal arch, five hundred pounds, a triumphal car, valued as a modern coach, one hundred pounds, casual charges at the triumph, one hundred and fifty pounds, total charges, nine hundred and ninety-four pounds, eleven shillings, ten pence, a bill of British ingratitude, imprimatur, wood stock, forty thousand pounds, blenum, two hundred thousand pounds, post office grant, one hundred thousand pounds, Mindelheim, thirty thousand pounds, pictures, jewels and etcetera, sixty thousand pounds, Palmall grant and etcetera, ten thousand pounds, employments, one hundred thousand pounds, total charges, five hundred and forty thousand pounds. Neither did Swift spare the Duchess, but insinuated that as mistress of the robe she had perloined in eight years, twenty-two thousand pounds. The Duchess in her indignation drew up a vindication for herself which she sent to the Queen, who after reading it fully justified the Duchess from the charges brought against her by remarking, everyone knows that cheating is not the Duchess of Malboro's fault. The thought of the probable disgrace of his wife caused the Duke much agitation. He was ill and harassed and made the Duchess so anxious that she wrote a very humble letter to the Queen, promising never to do anything that could be disagreeable to her. The Duke went to present it himself to the Queen, hoping by its means and by his own entreaties to soften Anne's resolution. He had some difficulty in persuading the Queen even to read the letter, and when at last she did so, she only said, I cannot change my resolution. Then the Duke exerted all his eloquence to move the Queen. For a long while he pleaded, but Anne, when she had once made up her mind to anything, had all the obstinacy of her family. She only answered by insisting that the golden key, the badge of the Duchess's office, should be brought to her in three days. Then the Duke so far forgot his dignity as to throw himself on his knees and beg for a rest but even of ten days. But Anne answered more shortly than before, this time saying that she must have the key in two days. The Duke saw it was of no use. He rose from his knees and began to speak of another indignity which he had suffered by the punishment of three officers for no other crime than drinking his health with some expressions of opprobrium for the existing ministers. But the Queen interrupted him, saying, I will talk of no other business till I have the key. With melancholy feelings he told the Duchess the Queen's decision. The Duchess passionately tore the key from her girdle and flung it into the middle of the room, bidding him pick it up and carry it to whom he pleased. The Duke took it to the Queen that very evening. The Duchess's offices were soon disposed of to the Queen's new favorites. Mrs. Masham became keeper of the privy purse, but she did not reign without a rival, for the more important office of Groom of the Stole was given to the Duchess of Somerset, who was gaining great favor with the Queen. The Duchess of Malbara determined to revenge herself as far as possible. In former days when Anne's fondness for her knew no bounds, she had begged her to take, in addition to her other salaries, a pension of two thousand a year from the privy purse. This for some reason or other the Duchess never drew, but she now determined to claim it, and to demand also the arrears for the past nine years. This she did when she sent in her accounts to the Queen, and Anne ordered the sum to be paid. Some months after the Duchess was told to give up her apartment since St. James's palace, as the Queen had need of them. In petty spite she ordered when her furniture was to be removed, the brass locks which she had put on the doors to be torn off, and the marble chimney pieces to be pulled down. The Duke, who was then in Holland, was by no means pleased when he heard of these orders and wrote to her begging her not to remove the chimney pieces. He wasn't time to save them, but the brass locks were torn off, and the Queen, who heard of the orders the Duchess had given, was most indignant, and said, referring to the building at Blenheim, that she would build no house for the Duke of Malbara when the Duchess had pulled hers to pieces. The Duke did not resign as he had threatened to do when the Duchess was dismissed. It would have been better for his dignity had he shown more firmness at this time. As it was, he acted exactly as Harley wished him to act, for it would not have suited Harley's plans had he then resigned. The ministers were delighted to find that the Duke would bear any humiliations they chose to heap upon him. Even Swift thought they pressed him a little too hard, for he was wise enough to see that they let personal quarrels mingle too much with their proceedings. Ever since Harley came into office his great object had been to bring the war to an end. The Tories had accused their opponents of needlessly prolonging the war for their own interests, and had always declared themselves in favour of peace. It would not therefore do for them to continue the war when they were in power. At the same time, nothing could be done suddenly. The people were proud of the military glory won by English arms. If any of the acts of the new government tended to diminish it, they might easily take back their allegiance to the Whigs, under whose rule such great things had been done. Harley's first care, therefore, was to show what great faults the Whigs had committed, even in the management of the war and of financial matters. In the campaign of 1710, affairs in Spain had at first gone greatly in favour of the Allies, and Charles had once more occupied Madrid. But he founded a desert, for the inhabitants had either shut themselves in their houses, or followed their beloved Philip. Adversity gave Philip new strength. The Spaniards gathered round him. Louis XIV sent him Van Dom to command his forces. It was impossible for the Allies to remain in Castile, and by the end of the campaign they had lost nearly all they had gained, and had moreover learnt the hopelessness of trying to drive Philip from Castile, where he had gained so firm a hold upon the affections of the people. The English generals in Spain were Whigs. It was determined, therefore, to hold the parliamentary inquiry into the causes of the failure of the war in Spain, and to bring out, in contrast to the failure of the Whigs, the successes of Lord Peterborough, whose cause the Tories had made their own. Galway, maimed and scarred with the wounds which he had received in the war, was called before the peers to be examined. He had been unsuccessful as a general, but the many wounds which he had received showed at least he was not deficient in personal bravery. The Whig Lord spoke in his favour, and Malborough said, It is somewhat strange that generals who had acted to the best of their understanding, and had lost their limbs in the service, should be examined like offenders about insignificant things. But he produced no effect, and the end of the proceedings was a vote of censure on Galway, and a vote of thanks to Peterborough. Meanwhile Swift and the other Tory pamphleteers were continuing the work of reviling Malborough and destroying his popularity. He felt this deeply and speaks of it in his letters to his wife as, This villainous way of printing which stabs me to the heart. He disliked the whole method of fighting party battles through the press and writes, I do not love to see my name in print, for I am persuaded that an honest man must be fortified by his own actions and not by the pen of a writer, though he should be a zealous friend. Another way in which his loss of favour was shown was the difficulty of obtaining the necessary payments for the continuation of the works at Blenheim. When the palace had first been projected as the gift of a grateful nation to their great general, Anne had taken such an interest in it that she had caused a model of the building to be placed in Kensington Palace. Now it was difficult to get the necessary money out of the government to pay the workmen, and that attempt had even been made to make the Duke pay them himself, but the Duchess was too clever to suffer this and preferred that the works should remain unfinished rather than that they should take the cost of them upon themselves. Things altogether were so unpleasant that the Duke was eager to get away from England as quickly as possible, and he returned to his army in February. Harley's own position at this time was not very satisfactory. He had pleased nobody entirely, his design of co-operating with the wigs had failed, and he had proved unwilling to adopt the decisive measures which would have satisfied the extreme Tories. They had formed themselves into a club called the October Club, in which they discussed the measures to be pursued. They objected to Harley for his moderation and his undecided mysterious ways, and considered him unfit to be the leader of their party. He himself was without anxiety, and distracted his friends by his easygoing ways and apparent indifference. A fortunate accident, however, restored his popularity. A French refugee, the Marquis of Guy Scar, was discovered to be engaged in a reasonable correspondence with France. He was brought before the Privy Council to be examined, and then, in a desperate desire for revenge, stabbed Harley with a penknife. Harley's wound was not dangerous, but it was bad enough for his friends to make a great talk about it. Swift was in despair and wrote to Stella, my heart is almost broken. In reality, nothing more fortunate could have happened to Harley. He appeared to the people as a sufferer for the cause of the nation, and became at once the object of the most enthusiastic popularity. He was raised to the peerage as Earl of Oxford, and soon after made Lord Treasurer. At the same time he was relieved from the presence of a dangerous rival by the death of the Queen's uncle, the Earl of Rochester, who had great influence among the Tories, and he seemed for the time supreme. He busied himself with playing the sort of double game in which he most delighted, whilst secretly engaged in the role of the Queen. Whilst secretly engaged in negotiations with Louis XIV, he wrote friendly letters to Malbara, assuring him of his support and of his anxiety in prosecuting the war. End of Section 34.