 CHAPTER XVI Parliament at the beginning of the year 1711 had voted large supplies. The government raised more than half the money by lotteries, the only way in which they could make a loan acceptable to the stock-jobbers. Soon after Malbara's arrival at the Hague, the affairs of the Allies received a great blow by the death of Emperor Joseph. He left no heir but his brother the Archduke Charles, and now the whole energies of the House of Austria were bent to secure the election of Charles to the Empire. Malbara had hoped to be joined at once by Prince Eugène and to open a brilliant campaign, but Eugène was detained at Vienna. He could not reach the camp of the Allies till nearly the end of May, and a few days after he got there he received orders from Vienna to withdraw to the Rhine with the greater part of his army. Malbara was left alone with diminished forces, at a time when he knew that the least false step would bring down upon him a storm of reproaches, and when he suspected that secret negotiations for peace were going on, of which he who had so long directed the war was told nothing. Louis XIV once more sent Villar against him. Villar employed all his skill in causing a series of fortified lines to be made during the winter, which were to defend Arras and Bouchin and prevent Malbara from penetrating any further into France. He was so satisfied with their success that he wrote in his usual boastful way to Louis XIV, saying that he had brought Malbara to a ne plus ultra. Malbara, after the withdrawal of Gen and his troops, felt himself too weak to risk a battle, but determined to penetrate Villar's lines and invest Bouchin. He managed to deceive Villar as to his real object. The French were amused and distracted by being allowed to gain some trifling advantages. Villar was strongly entrenched along the Scarp, from the marching of the Allied troops he gathered, that Malbara's object was to attack, and called in his distant garrisons to aid in the battle, thus leaving several points on his fortified lines but feebly defended. Malbara drew up facing him on the second August, and everyone expected a battle. On the morning of the fourth, the Duke was even to be seen riding along the lines pointing out to the different generals the directions in which the attack was to be made. The French were confident of victory. The Allies, gloomy and dispirited, thought it nothing but madness, to dream of attacking an enemy so strongly entrenched. But Malbara had already dispatched troops to prepare for crossing the enemy's lines, at a point which had been left undefended. A little before nine, orders were given to furl the tents. The attention of the enemy was distracted by the movements of some bodies of light cavalry, and the march of the army began. The Duke himself led the way at the head of fifty squadrons, and through a cloudless night, lit by a full moon, the army marched rapidly on. At daybreak they were met with the news that Cadogan with the advanced troops was in possession of the enemy's lines. The march was accelerated, the stragglers and the weary were left behind to be brought up by a body of horse, and the army pressed on. They crossed the enemy's lines in the morning at the spot which Cadogan had captured on the Sanze, and after a forced march of thirty-six miles, which took sixteen hours, over a country intersected with rivers, the weary troops encamped in the afternoon on the other side of the enemy's lines. Villar had discovered Malbara's intention when it was too late to prevent it. The Allies had penetrated the Naples Ultra, and it was now impossible to prevent the siege of Bouchin, which Malbara at once began. This bloodless victory shows almost more strikingly than the great battles he won, the military genius of the Duke. His enemies in England tried to make people look upon it as a mere trifle, but both at the time and afterwards it aroused the admiration and wonder of military critics as a feat of astonishing skill. During the siege of Bouchin, Malbara gave a proof of his true courtesy by the generous way in which he treated the possessions of Fenelon, the famous Archbishop of Cambrai. His corn magazines were in danger of being plundered by the foraging troops of the Allies, and in consequence Malbara sent a detachment to guard them and to convey the corn and safety to Cambrai. After the fall of Bouchin, Malbara wished to proceed to the siege of Kenua. During the whole of this campaign he wrote with openness to Harley, now Earl of Oxford, telling him of all his plans and asking his approval. Oxford played a double game with much skill. His negotiations with Louis XIV were already far advanced, but he still professed an active interest in Malbara's schemes and a zealous cooperation in his endeavours. The minister who had attained to power through the intrigues of a bed-chamber woman had no liking for a straight and open path, and made his first proposals for peace through a French priest, the Abbe Gaultier, who had come to England as Talard's confessor. Gaultier was secretly sent over to Tursi in January 1711 and asked him whether he wished for peace. It was like asking a dying man whether he wished for life and seemed almost too good to be true. When assured, however, that he might treat with Gaultier, Louis XIV made in April secret proposals for peace, but these were very different from the proposals which he had made before. Conscious that the English ministers now needed peace as much as he did, he resumed once more his haughty tone. He offered only such conditions as he thought would be satisfactory to England and Holland, and made no mention of depriving Philip of the Crown of Spain. The English minister who knew that neither the Queen nor the country would put up with a peace concluded separately from the Dutch, sent over these terms to Lord Rabie, who had succeeded the Whiglord Townsend as English minister at the Hague. Rabie was bitten to show the French terms to Hensius, and Syngen added, the Duke of Malbora has no communication from hence of this affair. I suppose he will have none from the Hague. The Dutch answered by expressing their desire for peace, but said they wanted more particulars. They really wished the proposals to be made to them, and did not like this direct communication between England and France. But Louis XIV who saw that his best chance of peace lay in the wishes of the English ministers preferred to carry on his communications with England. A new messenger was now sent to Paris, Matthew Pryor, the poet, a personal friend of Oxford and Syngen, and formerly Secretary of the Embassy at Paris. His mission was kept strictly secret, and no one knew where he was gone. After considering his proposals, Louis XIV sent him back to London with Ménager, a French merchant, who had taken part in the conferences at Gertrudenberg. Ménager remained secretly in London for some time conferring with ministers, and even with the Queen, but not daring to go out till dark for fear any notice should be taken of him. At last, on the 25th of September 1711, the preliminaries of peace were signed. Louis XIV promised to recognize the Queen's title and the Protestant succession, and to take steps to prevent the crowns of France and Spain from being united on the same head. But there was no question of the session of the Spanish monarchy. He simply promised a secure barrier to Holland and the Empire, and hoped to satisfy the English by decided commercial advantages. Lord Rabie, who had been made Earl of Stratford in order that he might be more subservient to the will of the ministers, was given a copy of the preliminaries to carry over to Holland, but in this copy some of the conditions offered to England which the ministers feared might excite the jealousy of Holland were omitted. Though the whole matter had been kept most carefully secret, rumors had got abroad and reached Malbara. He asked Oxford for fuller information, and Oxford with pretended sincerity told him something but gave him to understand that the negotiations had not yet proceeded any length. He affected to enter into his plans for pressing on the war and to wonder at the backwardness of the Dutch. But the Dutch who knew how probable peace was becoming did not care to waste money and men, and through all manner of obstacles in Malbara's way so that he was obliged to give up the siege of Quinoa and abandon his plan of establishing the winter quarters of his troops in France. Everywhere the war during this year had been unproductive of results. An attempt had been made to carry it to more distant quarters, and an expedition had been sent against Quebec under the command of one of Mrs. Masham's brothers, but the ships were scattered by a storm and returned home without doing anything. Affairs in Spain looked worse than ever. Charles had gone to Austria and had been duly elected emperor. This brought a new difficulty before the Allies. They were fighting to prevent the preponderance of the House of Bourbon in Europe. But if Spain were now gained for Charles he would rule over a kingdom vaster in extent than that of Charles V, and all that would be gained by the war would be the preponderance of the House of Austria instead of the House of Bourbon. It cannot be wondered at, therefore, that neither England nor Holland were very anxious to aid the ambitious schemes of Austria, more especially as Austria suffered more and more of the burden of the war to fall upon them, whilst she herself did nothing. CHAPTER XVII. In England the secret of the peace negotiations at last came out. On October 13, 1711, the Daily Current published the preliminaries of peace which had been arranged between Menager and the ministers. A copy had been given to Count Gullis, the imperial minister, and he and his indignation at the way in which the claims of his master were treated in the preliminaries, sent the document which had been communicated to him on terms of the strictest secrecy to the Daily Current. The ministers could visit their displeasure on Gullis by dismissing him ignominiously from the court, but it was more difficult to undo the evil effect of a premature disclosure of their plans. A host of Whig pamphleteers, urged on by the Duchess of Malbora and the Whig leaders, attacked the government and the proposed peace with extreme virulence. The ministers, annoyed by these attacks, did their utmost to suppress the Whig writers. Syngin boasted to the queen that he had found out fifteen and seized thirteen. The government could not be expected to be as vigorous in their punishment of the libels published on their opponents. Malbora had not learnt to bear with patience the attacks made upon him. His conduct of the last campaign had been violently criticised, men in treasure were said to have been wasted on nothing. Crossing the enemy's lines at Bouchin was compared to crossing a kennel. Malbora, in the bitterness of his spirit, wrote to the ministers to complain, speaking of these attacks as giving him a mortal wound. Oxford answered in a tone of lofty superiority, saying, as I know I am every week, if not every day in some libel or other, so I would willingly compound that all the ill-natured scribblers should write ten times more against me upon condition they would write against nobody else. But more serious accusations awaited Malbora than those of ill-natured scribblers. When he went to the Hague after having settled his troops in winter quarters, the English government had appointed commissioners to inquire into the expenditure of the late government. Sir Solomon Medina, the contractor for the supply of bread to the army in the Netherlands, when examined before these commissioners, had stated that he had paid privately into the hands of the Duke of Malbora a large sum every year for his own use. The Duke was therefore loudly accused of having enriched himself at the expense of the public. As soon as he heard the accusations that were made against him he drew up a brief vindication of his conduct and sent it to the commissioners. In a few words he stated that in taking this sum he had only followed the example of previous commanders in the Netherlands and that he had used it for secret service, to get intelligence of the enemy's motions and designs. He then stated of his own accord that he had been allowed by the princes belonging to the Grand Alliance to deduct two and a half percent from the pay of the troops contributed by them to be employed in the same manner, and he added that next to the blessing of God and the bravery of the troops most of the advantages of the war might be attributed to the timely and good advices procured with the help of this money. Malbora soon followed this letter to England and landed at Greenwich on the 17th of November. But he did not go on at once to London, for the 17th was the anniversary of the day on which Queen Elizabeth had come to the throne and it was the custom to keep it in London by burning the effigies of the Pope, the Devil and the Pretender, and the duke did not wish to be mixed up in any riots that might occur in consequence. The government indeed got up a story that the Whigs were going to make this day the occasion for a popular disturbance which they circulated diligently from their desire to make the Whigs appear the enemies of public order. They called out troops to protect the city, seized the effigies which were to have been burnt, and published a long account of the pretended plot, giving out that nothing but their precautions had stopped a serious disturbance. Malbora did not hesitate when he came to London to remonstrate firmly with the Queen about the preliminaries of peace. The Whigs were delighted to find that they were sure of his support as they were beginning to hope for a return to power. The government attacked the financial management of Godolphin, but Robert Walpole, formerly Secretary for War, published a vigorous pamphlet showing the falseness of the charges brought against Godolphin which produced considerable impression. This and other Whig pamphlets had done something towards shaking the credit of the government. The Whigs also managed to profit by the discontent of the extreme Tories, who had never looked with favour upon Oxford's government. A number of Tory peers with nodding him at their head promised to support the Whigs in their opposition to the peace, if the Whigs would refrain from opposing the occasional conformity bill and to gain the support of the extreme Tories, the Whigs were willing to conclude this bargain and sacrifice their principles. At this time, whilst the preliminaries of peace were being attacked from all sides and even the elector of Hanover roused himself to remonstrate warmly with the English government, Swift did the ministry as service which assisted more than anything else the progress of the peace. He published one of his ablest political pamphlets called The Public Spirit of the Allies, in which he showed forth with great vigour and much truth the selfishness of the conduct of the Allies during the whole course of the war. He pointed out that the English were fighting for Allies who all of them had far more either to gain or to lose by the war than England had, and that yet the chief burden of the war had all along been thrown upon England, that England had always contributed more and more men in money whilst the Allies had continually neglected to furnish their share and had broken their most solemn obligations. He showed that England had fought long enough for selfish and ambitious Allies, and that it would be folly to continue the war in the vain hope of turning the Bourbon out of Spain. This pamphlet produced a powerful effect. It was published on November 27th, and Swift wrote to Stella that it made a world of noise. A second edition was called for on the 30th of November, a third on the second, and a fourth on the 6th of December. Parliament met on December 6th, and the Queen in her speech from the throne stated, that notwithstanding the arts of those who delight in war, both time and place are appointed for opening the Treaty of a general peace. Afterwards, Nottingham began the attack upon the Ministry, violently blamed the preliminaries, and proposed the insertion of a clause into the address stating that no peace could be safe which left Spain and the West Indies in the hands of the Bourbon. The debate proceeded with much heat on either side. Malbara did not speak till directly attacked by Lord Anglesey, who said that peace might have been made after Romulus, had it not been deferred by some persons whose interest it was to prolong the war. Then he had once rose, and with great dignity defended himself from this charge, appealing to the Queen, who was present, to support his statement that he had always laid every proposal for peace before her and her council, while he affirmed with the greatest solemnity that he had always desired a safe, honorable, and lasting peace. My great age, he added, and my numerous fatigues in war, make me ardently wish for the power to enjoy a quiet repose in order to think of eternity. He ended by objecting to the preliminaries of peace on the ground that Europe could not be safe as long as Spain and the West Indies were in the hands of the Bourbon. In the upper house the wigs with the extremetories had a majority, and Nottingham's claws were carried by sixty-four to fifty-two, though a similar claws in the commons was lost by one hundred and six to two hundred and thirty-two. The conduct of the peers threw the government into great embarrassment. Their friends gave up everything for a lost, for at this time they were again uncertain of the feelings of the Queen. Anne was still very fond of Mrs. Masham, but she was also very fond of the Duchess of Somerset, who was a wig, and everyone feared that the Duchess had gained over Anne to the cause of the wigs. Swift was in despair. He begged Oxford to give him a secretary's place abroad that he might be safe from the vengeance of his enemies the wigs when they returned to power. The ministers were supposed to be going to resign in a week, and through it all Oxford remained as smiling and easy as possible. He conferred constantly with Mrs. Masham, sitting as Swift has it, and settling the affairs of the nation with her, and promised the agonized Swift that all would be well. The conduct of the Duke of Malbora, who had supported the wigs with zeal and their opposition to the peace preliminaries, determined Oxford to cherish no more fond hopes that he might be persuaded at last to join heartily with the government. The commissioners who had before brought forward their charge of peculation against the Duke were now bidden to report their proceedings to the members of parliament. To clear himself publicly from the charges brought against him, Malbora caused the letter which he had written from the Hague on the subject to be published in The Daily Current, and as it produced a considerable impression, two days afterwards, on the 29th December, the ministers had the report printed in the same paper. In this way they prepared the public for what was to follow. On the 30th December Swift writes to Stella. The Duke of Malbora was at court today, and nobody hardly took notice of him. The next day there was a cabinet council at which the Queen appeared, and ordered the following note to be made in the council book. Being informed that an information against the Duke of Malbora was laid before the House of Commons by the commissioners of the public accounts, Her Majesty thought fit to dismiss him from all his employments, that the matter might have an impartial examination. The official newspaper The Gazette contained the news that evening, and at the same time stated that the Queen had been pleased to create twelve new peers. Oxford and Mrs. Masham had once more gained over Anne by persuading her that they alone could save her from falling again under the hated dominion of the Whigs. By this large creation of the peers, amongst whom was Mrs. Masham's husband, the government obtained a majority in the Upper House. The Queen wrote to the Duke herself to announce his dismissal, in the same tone that she had written to Gadolphin under like circumstances, complaining of the ill treatment she had received. In a fit of indignation the Duke threw the letter into the fire. He wrote a proud and dignified answer, Madam, I am very sensible of the honour your Majesty has done me in dismissing me from your service by a letter of your own hand, though I find by it that my enemies have been able to prevail with your Majesty to do it in the manner that is most injurious to me. And if their malice and inveteracy against me had not been more powerful with them, then the consideration of your Majesty's honour and justice they would not have influenced you to impute the occasion of my dismission to a false and malicious insinuation, contrived by themselves and made public when there was no opportunity for me to give in my answer. He ends by saying, and it is not my opinion only, but the opinion of all mankind, that the friendship of France must needs be destructive to your Majesty. I wish your Majesty may never find the want of so faithful a servant as I have always endeavored to approve myself to you. The Tories felt somewhat anxious as to the result of these vigorous steps. Swift wrote to Stella, if the Ministry be not sure of a peace, I shall wonder at this step and do not approve it at best. The Queen and Lord Treasurer mortally hate the Duke of Malbara, and to that he owes his fall. However it be, the world abroad will blame us. I confess my belief that he has not one good quality in the world beside that of a general, and even that I have heard denied by several great soldiers, but we have had constant success in arms while he commanded. Opinion is a mighty matter in war, and I doubt the French think it impossible to conquer an army that he leads, and our soldiers think the same, and how far even this step may encourage the French to play tricks with us, no man knows. The creation of the twelve new peers was taken more calmly by the wigs than the Tories had dared to hope. Indeed they could do nothing but submit, and no notice was taken except that when they first appeared in the house, Wharton sarcastically asked whether they were to vote singly or by their foreman. On the twenty-fourth of January, 1712, the commons proceeded to consider the report against the Duke of Malbara, and resolutions were passed stating that his taking money from the contractors was unwarrantable and illegal, and that the two-and-one-half percent deducted from the money for the foreign troops ought to be accounted for. Malbara's friends urged him to appear in the house of commons and answer the charges brought against him, but he thought this beneath his dignity, and contented himself with allowing a vindication of his conduct, which entirely answered the charges, to be drawn up and circulated. He showed that the bread money had always been received by the Commander-in-Chief in the Netherlands, and that the two-and-one-half percent was a free gift to the general from the princes, to whom the subsidies were paid, and that he had had a royal warrant allowing him to accept it. The money had been used for secret service, and never before had the secret service been so admirably managed. Unfortunately, Malbara had such a reputation for avarice that even this complete vindication could not quite undo the effect of the charges which had been made against him. The ministers, however, made no attempt to answer his vindication, and they found it impossible to carry their prosecution of him any further. But his secretary, Mr. Cardinal, was expelled from the house of commons because he had received an annual gratuity from the bread contractors. These proceedings were actuated by the bitter party feeling of the Tories, who desired, now they were in power, entirely to crush their opponents. They went on to consider the conduct of the Allies, and censured the Dutch for not having supplied the troops and money promised by them. They declared the Barrier Treaty to be an infamous compact, and Lord Townsend, and those who had signed it, to be enemies to the Queen and Kingdom. CHAPTER XVII The conduct of the English government caused much alarm and indignation among the Allies, who saw that England meant to make peace without caring much what became of their interests. As a last hope, Prince de Gen determined to visit England himself to see whether he might perhaps be able to persuade the government to continue the war. He landed at Gravesend on the 5th of January, 1712, to find his friend the Duke of Malbora in disgrace, and though he himself was hospitably received by the court, he soon saw that his mission was hopeless. He was lodged at Leicester House, and visited by all the great men. Grand entertainments were given in his honour. As he passed through the streets he was always surrounded by an enthusiastic mob. When he visited the court it was crowded with people eager to see him. Swift had a good look at him once, and described him as plaguey yellow and literally ugly besides. The Queen gave him a magnificent diamond sword worth 4,500 pounds, but he managed to avoid talking with him about public affairs, and he could get nothing but compliments out of the ministers. He learned with indignation the charges brought against the Duke of Malbora in the House of Commons, and was surprised as he the contempt with which his great friend was treated by people who had forgotten all their former enthusiasm. On the Queen's birthday the people crowded round a chair in the park, which they thought contained the Prince, but when they found that it was the Duke of Malbora their shouts of applause were changed to cries of stop, thief. Prince Bigen did not neglect the Duke because he had lost all his power. He treated him with the cordiality of a true friend, visited him frequently, and lost no opportunity of testifying to his greatness. It was the fashion to pretend that it was a mistake to credit Malbora even with courage or any of the qualities of a great general, and Bishop Burnett pointed out to Prince Bigen a passage in one of the pamphlets of the day stating that the Duke of Malbora was perhaps once fortunate. Prince Bigen emphatically replied, It is the greatest compliment which can be given, for he was always successful, and this must imply that if in one single instance he was fortunate all his other successes were owing to his conduct. Another time he was dining with the Lord Treasurer who remarked that it was the happiest day in his life because he saw in his house the greatest captain of the age. If it be so, I owe it to your Lordship, answered the Prince, alluding to the disgrace of Malbora. On the seventeenth of March after a stay of ten weeks Prince Bigen left England, convinced that nothing more was to be hoped for from her, seeing that he had not been able to get the ministers even to discuss seriously the proposals he had brought from the Emperor. The Tories had not failed to circulate ridiculous stories about the object of Bigen's visit, crediting him and Malbora with a plot to seize the person of the Queen and fire the city. Never had party spirit run so high in England, even the ladies shared actively in the party quarrels. The wid ladies would not go to court, and the opinions of a lady might always be told by the side of her face on which she wore her patches. The peace conferences had opened at Utecht on the twenty-ninth of January. The representatives of the Allies were amazed at the terms proposed by Louis XIV, who had grown bold again, now that he saw what firm friends he had in the English ministers. But matters became more complicated by a terrible misfortune that befell Louis XIV. The Dauphin, formerly known as the Duke of Burgundy, Louis's grandson, his young and charming wife, and their eldest boy, all died within a few days of one another of a malignant form of measles. This left only a feeble boy of two as soul heir to the aged king. After this sickly child, the next heir to the throne was Philip of Spain. Even the English ministers could not consent to any peace which did not make it impossible for Philip to reign over both France and Spain. Philip was called upon to choose between France and Spain, and though past events had showed how little the French were to be bound by treaties or formal renunciations, the English government was willing to leave Spain to Philip, provided he would renounce all claim to France. Whilst Philip's answer was awaited, the conferences were suspended. The English government had protested that they would continue the war with vigor if peace were not concluded, and the Duke of Ormond was sent to take Malboro's command in the Netherlands and join Prince Eugene. They were at the head of a formidable army. The French were weak, half starved, and badly supplied. Eugene wished to carry out Malboro's project and march into the heart of France. Ormond was eager for fame. The French were so alarmed that they advised Louis XIV to retire from Paris to Blois. But Louis XIV was not frightened. Messengers were once more busy between Versailles and London, and the English were busy devising new terms of peace. On May 10th an express was sent off to Ormond, bidding him not to engage in any siege or hazard a battle. When Eugene called upon Ormond to join him in attacking the French camp, Ormond refused to the immense indignation of the Allies. His conduct also caused much anger in England, and Lord Halifax called attention to it in the House of Lords, and ended by moving a resolution that the Queen would be pleased to recall the orders sent to her general. Malboro seconded the motion, pointing out what a good effect he would have upon the peace conferences if the Allies gained some important advantage. A fierce debate followed in which the opponents of Malboro sought every possible opportunity of directly and indirectly blaming his past conduct. At last matters reached a crisis when Earl Powlett said, No one can doubt the Duke of Ormond's bravery, but he does not resemble a certain general, who led troops to the slaughter to cause a certain number of officers to be knocked on the head in a battle, or against stone walls, in order to fill his pocket by disposing of their commissions. At the time this insult was passed by in silence, the debate went on, and Lord Halifax's motion was lost, but twenty-seven peers and Malboro amongst them signed a severe protest against this decision of the House. When the debate was over, Malboro sent Lord Mohan to Earl Powlett asking him to take the heir in the country, the customary way of challenging a man for a duel. Powlett, greatly alarmed, could not conceal his agitation from his wife on his return home. When she discovered the cause, she had once informed the Earl of Dartmouth, the Secretary of State. He had Powlett arrested, and orders were sent from the Queen to Malboro to go no further in the matter, and the duel was avoided. But this gave the pamphleteers a new cause for attacking Malboro, in the examiner blamed him severely for setting the example of party duels. Ormond's position became worse and worse. Stung by the taunts of Eugène, he had at last consented to join in the siege of Quinois. When that town fell, Eugène wished to proceed to the siege of Landressie. Ormond professed to be offended that he had not been told of Eugène's intention before, and ceasing this opportunity at last for separating his army from Eugène's. He said that Eugène was deserting him, and when Eugène broke up his camp on July 16, he ordered the English troops and the mercenaries in English pay to remain with him. The mercenaries indignantly refused, and only one thousand Holsteiners obeyed his commands. That same day Ormond proclaimed a suspension of arms with the French. Bitter was the shame in the English camp. The orders were received with hisses and murmurs. An eyewitness writes that the British camp resounded with curses against the Duke of Ormond as a stupid tool and general of straw. The colonels, captains, and other brave officers were so overwhelmed with vexation that they sat apart in their tents looking on the ground for very shame, with downcast eyes and for several days shrank from the sight even of their fellow soldiers. Whenever they recollected the Duke of Malbara and the late glorious times, their eyes filled with tears. The Dutch governors of Bouchin, Douay, and Tournay refused to receive the English army, and Ormond was obliged to seize Gent and Brugge and establish his troops there. His defection of course placed the French at an advantage. Before the end of the campaign, Villar was able to retake Douay, Kenois, and Bouchin. Never has so deep a stain been cast upon English honour. The ministers, who had won their way to power like conspirators, made peace like conspirators, and did not care if they sacrificed the honour of their country in order to make their own positions secure. End of Section 37 Section 38 of Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malbara by Louise Creighton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 18, Last Days of Malbara, Part 1 After his dismissal, Malbara's position in England became daily more intolerable. The ministry determined to bring a suit against him for fifteen thousand pounds, the sum which he had received by deducting two and a half percent from the pay of the foreign troops. They also encouraged the contractors for the buildings at Blenheim to sue him for the arrears, amounting to thirty thousand pounds due for the works. Both the Duke and the Duchess had always been very careful not to take upon themselves any of the debts contracted at Blenheim and had allowed the works to be suspended rather than pay the workmen themselves. Ministers who paid no heed to the honour of their nation in their dealings with foreign countries could not be expected to care for it in their dealings with a fallen political opponent, and so they did not mind saying that Malbara himself must pay for works which had been undertaken as a free gift from the nation to him. So the buildings at Blenheim were left unfinished for a time, and the Duke could have little hope of being able to finish his days there as he had so often wished to do. The death of his tried friend Gadolph and severed the last tie which kept him in England. Pressed by his enemies on every side he determined to seek a little piece abroad. He got a passport from Oxford, allowing him to go wherever he liked, and sailed from Dover on November 28th, 1712. Abroad men had not learned to look upon the Great General as a coward and a thief. A salute of artillery greeted him as he entered the harbour of Ostend, and the garrison was wading under arms to conduct him to the house which had been prepared to receive him. At Antwerp where he next went he was met by the Governor outside the walls, and greeted by the enthusiastic shouts of the people. He tried by choosing the most private roads to avoid attention, but it was impossible for parties of horse paraded the roads to offer their attendance, and during his whole journey to Exla Chapelle, crowds flocked from every side to see him and pay him honour as their deliverer. He stayed some time quietly at Exla Chapelle, until alarmed by hearing of a plot to seize him, he went to Maastricht where he was joined by the Duchess who had stayed behind in England to arrange their affairs. They went together to Frankfurt, where they stayed some time. In May Maulbura made an excursion to his Principality of Mindelheim where he was received with great honours. When he got back to Frankfurt he heard that the malice of his enemies had discovered more charges against them of peculation, and he had once drew up a refutation which he sent to England. Meanwhile all through the winter the negotiations for peace had continued, and at last on the 31st of March, 1713, peace was signed at Utecht by France and Spain, with England and all the other allies except Austria. By this peace Spain and the West Indies were left to fill up the Fifth who renounced solemnly his claim to the French crown. Louis XIV promised to acknowledge Anne and the Protestant succession, and to demolish the fortifications of Dunkirk. England was to keep Gibraltar and Menorca, and also gained from France certain territories in North America, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Hudson's Bay Territories. From Spain England obtained the Aciento contract, the right which France had formally possessed of importing for thirty years four thousand eight hundred negroes annually into America. This was the article about which the English were most keen. In this shameful manner they hoped to recoup themselves for the expenses of the war. Lille and the other towns on the frontier were given back to France, and the Spanish Netherlands was given to the Dutch Republic to be relinquished to Austria after the conclusion of a barrier treaty. The Duke of Savoy received Sicily, which was afterwards exchanged for Sardinia. Austria tried to carry on the war alone, but the next year peace was signed at Rostadt between Eugène and Villar, by which Austria retained her possessions in Italy, Naples, Sardinia, and Milan. The frontiers of the empire were left as they had been before the war. These were all the advantages gained by the Allies for a war which had lasted eleven years, during which they had won a series of unequaled successes and humbled the great power of France to the dust. This miserable result was due mainly to the conduct of Oxford and Bollingbrook and their influence over the Queen and the political parties in England, aided by the cleverness of Louis XIV in taking advantage of the state of affairs in this country. The whole course of the war shows how disastrous is the influence of purely party government upon foreign policy. It is clear that peace should have been concluded after the Battle of Rommelies, when France was willing to grant the Allies any terms they could reasonably demand. But the war was prolonged, partly to suit the interests of the Whigs, and partly on account of the great distrust felt by Malbora, Eugène, and Hensius for Louis XIV. At last peace was made to suit the interests of the Tauris, who were led by party feeling treacherously to desert their allies and make friends with Louis XIV, even whilst still at war with him. In making peace they gave up almost everything for which they had been fighting. We cannot blame them for giving up the intention of continuing the war until Spain was rested from the hands of Philip and made over to Austria. Time had shown that Philip had gained a firm hold upon the affections of the Spaniards and to fight for the purpose of taking away from a people a king whom they adored and imposing upon them one whom they despised would have been an absurdity which could never have been crowned by success. Besides, circumstances had arisen which would have made it more dangerous to the security of Europe for Charles to rule in Spain than for Philip. Time also showed how vain was the fear that the strength of France would be increased by the accession of a Bourbon Prince to the Spanish throne. Louis XIV had considerable influence over Philip, but he found it hopeless to govern Spain from France. Philip had become a Spanish king and cared more for the interests of Spain than for those of France. But though it was clear that Spain must be left to Philip, some care should have been taken for the interests of the Catalan's who had fought devotedly for Charles and were abandoned without a word to the vengeance of the Spanish government. Equally incomprehensible is the way in which all the advantages gained by the Allies on the northern frontier of France were given up, and an opportunity for reducing the immoderate power of France was hopelessly lost. Even more shameful than the peace itself is the manner in which it was concluded, the secrecy, the treachery to all the Allies, and the utter disregard of the honour of the nation. We can well imagine the bitter feelings of the Duke of Malbra as he heard at Frankfurt of the conclusion of the negotiations and the news which he received from England caused him still further anxiety. In the summer he had removed to Antwerp, both to be nearer home and to be out of the way of the hostilities between France and the Empire, and here he watched with anxiety the course of events in England. Both Oxford and St. John, now Viscount Bollingbrook, were intriguing with the pretender, who had been allowed to remain in Lorraine after the peace of Utecht. The Queen was supposed herself to be inclined to favour the cause of her brother. She was repeatedly ill, her death might occur at any moment, and no one could feel sure of what would happen afterwards. Under these circumstances Malbra and the Whigs drew closer to the House of Hanover, and Malbra entirely adopted their cause, partly no doubt from motives of sincere patriotism, partly because matters had gone too far between him and the Tories for there to be any hope of reconciliation. The electress Sophia of Hanover died in 1714. She had always rather inclined to the Tories, but she had had great confidence in the Duke of Malbra. On her death her son the Elector showed without reserve that he intended to make common cause with the Whigs. The Jacobite plotters grew busier and busier. Oxford was looked upon as too slow and not zealous enough. The Queen was growing tired of him, and Bollingbrook had managed entirely to gain her ear. Oxford was dismissed, and Bollingbrook hoped to bring his Jacobite plans to a successful issue. But at this moment, and before a new treasurer could be appointed, the Queen fell seriously ill. Malbra so keenly shared the general anxiety that he determined to come to England so as to be on the spot to aid the cause of the Elector should any disturbance occur. At this critical moment, Shrewsbury, who had always vacillated between the two parties, for once acted firmly, and by so doing secured the protestant's succession. A number of influential men waded upon the Queen in one of her last moments of consciousness and persuaded her to name him Lord Treasurer to the consternation of Bollingbrook and his party. The Whig privy councillors showed great energy, troops were called out, and every possible measure taken to prevent a Jacobite rising. In the end, everything went off quietly, and died early on the morning of the 1st of August, and the Elector was immediately proclaimed George I. The Duke of Malbra had begun his journey to England sometime before. The Duchess was delighted, for she declared that she would rather die in a cottage in England than in a palace abroad. On his way from Antwerp to Ostend, Malbra avoided passing through Ghent so as not to attract attention. But the Chief Magistrates came out to meet him on the road, and prepared a very handsome breakfast for him and his suite in a little village, at which one of their ladies did the honours. The news of his journey caused a great deal of commotion. Prior wrote to Bollingbrook, We are all frightened out of our wits upon the Duke of Malbra's going to England, whilst the Whigs were delighted. He landed it over on the very day of the Queen's death, and was warmly received. The guns were fired in his honour, and the Mayor, and an enthusiastic crowd, came to meet him as he landed. On his way to London he was much mortified to learn that neither he nor Lord Sunderland were among the Lord's Justices who had been named to govern England until the King could arrive. This slight was partially made up for by the reception he met with on entering London. The member for Sutherk came out to meet him at the head of two hundred gentlemen on horseback, and was followed by a long train of carriages containing the Duke's friends and relations. So escorted he entered the city, amidst the shouts of the people, and drove to his house in Palmel. He appeared afterwards at the House of Lords, but soon retired to Holywell House, where the Hanoverian agents visited him, and tried by apologies to make up for his not having been named a Lord Justice. He declared that he was firmly resolved never to take any office under government again. The Duchess says that she begged him on her knees never to accept any employment, and he retired to Bath. End of Section 38. Section 39 of Life of John Churchill Duke of Malbara by Louise Creighton. This Librovox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 18. Last Days of Malbara, Part 2. George I landed in England on August 18th, and Malbara hastened to join the crowd of peers who were eager to welcome the new king. Malbara was treated with much distinction, especially by the heir apparent who had served under him at Audenarda. The hopes of the Whigs were speedily realized, for the new government was chosen entirely from their party. Malbara listened to the entreaties of his friends and consented to resume his former office of captain general and master of ordnance. Sunderland was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and his other sons-in-law, Lord Godolphin and the Earl of Bridgewater, obtained offices about the royal household, whilst his daughter the Duchess of Montague was made Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princess of Wales. George I could not avoid treating the great general with honour, but he could not forget his old jealousy of him and remembered with bitterness how the Duke had absorbed all the honours of the war whilst he had had only a very secondary part to play. Malbara soon found that he had no real power in the new government, and that he would no longer be able to play a leading part in public affairs. If we believe the frequent expressions in his letters of longing wishes for peace and retirement, he cannot have regretted this exclusion from public life. He spoke once or twice on military affairs in the House of Lords, and his opinion always carried great weight. In the autumn of 1715 an attempt was made in Scotland and various parts of England to assert the claims of the pretender. Malbara took part in the preparations made to resist him. He had the pleasure of sending his favourite general Cadogan to crush the rising in Scotland, and Cadogan was made appear on his return. Malbara's last years were saddened by the death of two of his daughters. Elizabeth, Countess of Bridgewater, a gentle and amiable woman, died in 1714 in her 26th year, and in April 1716 he had a still greater loss in the death of Anne Countess of Sutherland in her 29th year. Anne was perhaps the most remarkable of his daughters, beautiful and accomplished, she had shown the most admirable tact and judgment in the way in which she dealt with her husband, one of the most irritable of men, and her mother, one of the most overbearing of women. She had prevented political differences in the family from becoming feuds, and had lived on the most affectionate terms both with her husband and her mother. She left behind a most touching letter for her husband, containing her last wishes. She wished her mother to take care of her girls and the boys, who were too young to go to school. The Duchess gladly accepted and made every arrangement for having the children thoroughly cared for. She also showed that she had her soft side by asking Lord Sutherland to let her have some trifle that her dear child used to wear in her pocket, and some little cup that she used to drink out of, and also a lock of her hair. Soon after this great grief the Duke of Malbara was attacked by paralysis, but he speedily rallied and was able to go to bath to drink the waters which did him much good. In the autumn he visited Blenheim to see the progress of the works. He had at last undertaken to finish the building at his own expense, but had waited till in the first year of George I an act had been passed declaring the crown responsible for the debts on the building before the works had been suspended. In spite of this act, however, the debts were not all paid. The Duke was personally sued for them, and it was not till after his death that the matter was finally settled by the court of chancery and the arrears paid by the government. Meanwhile the works were carried on at the Duke's expense, and the Duchess busied herself actively to get them finished. She quarreled with Sir John Vanbara, and after much correspondence between them, the finishing of the building was entrusted to another architect, and actively directed by the Duchess herself. Little progress was made till after the Duke's death, and though he always took a lively interest in it, it was not possible to settle permanently there, or do more than pay occasional visits. He had collected on the continent many works of art to adorn his palace. It was an age when great attention was given to the art of furnishing and decorating houses, and every rich man was an eager collector of pictures and all kinds of objects of art. Foreign powers were fond of presenting the Duke with fine pictures as marks of gratitude for his services. The city of Brussels gave him a magnificent picture by Rubens, the full-length portrait of the painter himself with his wife and child. The Emperor gave him two other paintings by Rubens, who was his favorite artist, Venus and Cupid restraining Adonis from the Chase, and Lot and his daughters. The Duke of Savoy gave him a set of painted leather hangings representing the loves of the gods, which were long supposed to be by Titian, but were really painted from designs by Perino del Vaga. These have since been destroyed by fire. The Duke bought many pictures himself, amongst others, a fine portrait of Charles I by Van Dyke, which he found at Munich. Malboro House in Palmel was adorned with a series of paintings by a French artist Laguerre, representing the military exploits of the Duke. Laguerre also painted the ceiling and walls of the inner hall at Blenheim. A series of tapestry hangings were made for the Duke in Flanders, representing his own victories and those of Alexander the Great. Clostromen painted, under the special direction of the Duke, a large family group of the Duke and Duchess and their children, and during the painting of this picture, the artist and the Duchess quarreled so much, that the Duke said to him, It has given me more trouble to reconcile my wife and you than to fight a battle. The Duchess had to finish the works begun by the Duke. She added at her own expense the triumphal arch at the entrance, and the column in the park bearing the statue of the Duke with the record of his victories at the base. In all, three hundred thousand pounds were spent on the buildings at Blenheim, two hundred and forty thousand of which were supplied by the nation, and the remaining sixty thousand pounds by the Duke himself. Malboro passed the greater part of the last years of his life and retirement. He still attended the sittings of the House of Lords and fulfilled the duties of his offices, but he was without power, and in no way possessed the confidence of the King. He lived either in London, in Malboro House which had been built in Palmel, or in Hollywood House, the first and favorite home of himself and the Duchess, or at Windsor Lodge, paying occasional visits to Blenheim to look after the building. He took special interest in the gardens at Blenheim, which he had helped to plan himself. He was fond of riding and driving and very sociable in his tastes. He liked to be surrounded by his grandchildren and his intimate friends, and amused himself with playing games of cards, ombre, basset, pique. He took a great deal of interest in the education of his granddaughters. They used to sing and dance before him, and sometimes acted little plays for his amusement. The Duchess was very careful of propriety. She would scratch out some of the most amorous speeches in the plays and allowed no embraces. The splendid brocades which had been got from Brussels as curtains for Blenheim were allowed to be used as decorations for the occasion, and even the sword which the Emperor had given the Duke was worn by one of the performers. Sometimes the Duke and Duchess visited the Prince and Princess of Wales, by whom they were always treated with much distinction. The Duchess writes enthusiastically about the Princess and says that all the attendants at her court were so civil that she thought herself in a new world. The restless spirit of the Duchess would not let her keep out of politics. Sunderland had now become head of the government, and she quarreled with him because he married a third wife. She managed to quarrel with most of her old friends the Whigs, and even with Cadogan, and so annoyed them with her letters and her remonstrances, and the violent views which she had no hesitation in uttering, that they were glad in their turn to give credit to a story of her having engaged in a plot in favour of the pretender. She justified herself with much indignation, and when she found that the King received her justification rather coldly, her antagonism to the court increased, and she entirely broke with Sunderland, who died in 1722, rather more than a year afterwards. On the 27th of November, 1721, Malbara appeared for the last time in the House of Lords. He stayed the rest of the winter in London, and in May went to Windsor Lodge. In June he was stricken with a violent paralytic attack. He lived for some days afterwards and was quite conscious, so that the evening before he died, prayers were read to him, and when the duchess asked if he heard them, he answered distinctly, yes, and I joined in them. The following morning he died quite calmly at four o'clock in the seventy-second year of his life. His body was embalmed and taken to Malbara house where it lay in state. The funeral was celebrated in Westminster Abbey with great magnificence. Military bands preceded the cavalcade, followed by a detachment of artillery, and a large number of officers who had served under him. The coffin was placed upon an open car, and on top of it a complete suit of armour, and above it a splendid canopy adorned with shields and military trophies and banners to illustrate the battles he had won and the towns he had taken. The coffin was followed by a large number of the aristocracy and an immense train of carriages. The service was performed at the Abbey by Bishop Adderbury amidst a vast crowd of spectators, and the body was temporarily deposited in Henry the Seventh's chapel. After the nation had in this way done honour to the memory of the great general, his body was taken to the chapel at Blenheim, and the duchess caused an elaborate mausoleum to be erected over it by rice-brack. So passed away, the great man, who for a while held the destinies of Europe in his hand. He has been in turn held up for the most extravagant praise and for the most pitiless blame. In reality it is equally absurd to make out of him either a spotless hero or a mean trader. It is impossible to explain away his faults, which are of a kind for which it is hard to feel any sympathy. But on the other hand, it is impossible not to be impressed more and more by his great qualities the more we study him. His military genius is sufficiently displayed by his astonishing career, and as a diplomatist he was equally great. He could manage men as well as he could manage armies, and in the same way could rule himself. In the midst of the bitterest provocations, of the deepest anxiety, of the most terrible excitement, he always remained calm and dignified. No one could ruffle his serene temper. No one could resist his winning courtesy. Lord Chesterfield gives him as an example of perfection in the art of pleasing. In a disillute age he remained a pure and devoted husband, enduring with patience the overbearing temper of his wife, without allowing her to influence him unduly in important matters. He was a tender father and a true and faithful friend, as the long years of uninterrupted friendship with Godolph improve. Free himself from the vices of drunkenness and swearing, then so common amongst the very highest classes, he tried to make his soldiers sober and well-behaved. His camp was clean, quiet, and orderly, and his soldiers followed him with implicit trust and confidence. He cared for them in all circumstances and as correspondences full of instances of his desire to lessen as much as possible the sufferings of war. One little trait of his thoughtfulness for others is especially pleasing. He had a letter sent him from a young lady who was in love with a certain Conte de Lyon, then in England, and speaking of her in a letter to Godolph and he asks, as I do wish from my heart that nobody were unhappy, that the young man may have leave to spend four months in France to visit his lady. All his affairs were always arranged with the utmost order. His soldiers were regularly paid and he insisted that they should pay for all their provisions and allowed no plunder. As a politician he tried for some time to play an impossible game. He hated party squabbles and intrigue, and utterly disliked the way party conflicts were carried on by mutual revilings, suspicions, and accusations. For many years he hoped that it might be possible to belong to no party and govern without party. But it was in the party intrigues of those days that party government first took root. It came as the natural growth of parliamentary government and was fostered by the spirit of self interest which the Jacobite struggles produced, which made men lose sight of the good of their country as a whole in the desire that their party might triumph. The political atmosphere of the times fostered Malbora's bad qualities. He, like everyone else, sought primarily his own interest, and so became a trader to James II, a trader to William III, and would have been a trader to Anne, could it have served any purpose. Self interest and the love of power and money were the chief motives that actuated him. But besides these he was urged on by the consciousness of the danger of the power of Louis XIV, which he had learnt from William III. He raised England, abased by the servility of Charles II, to the position of the champion of European liberty, and led her again to play a leading part in European politics. Malbora's greatness must be judged by the work which he did and the way in which he did it. The greatness of his work is not diminished by the fact that the motives were not entirely worthy. Malbora left behind him a great fortune which proves the care with which he and the Duchess amassed money during the years of his power. By his will he left the Duchess fifteen thousand pounds a year for life, as well as Blenheim Palace and Malbora House. The remainder of his money was left to his different grandchildren. His eldest daughter Henrietta, Duchess of Montague, succeeded to his title, but as both she and her son died without issue the title passed to the children of the Countess of Sunderland. Her eldest son was dead, but the second, Charles, became Duke of Malbora in 1733 on the death of the Duchess of Montague. Sarah, Duchess of Malbora, lived for 22 years after her husband, and died in 1744 at the age of 84. Her wealth attracted new suitors, and in the first two years after the Duke's death she was asked in marriage by Lord Conningsby and the Duke of Somerset. She replied by saying that she would not allow even the Emperor of the World to succeed in that heart which had been devoted to the Duke of Malbora. Sarah, with all her faults which were but too evident, had her good qualities too. She was a devoted wife, and though she often plagued her husband, it was only because she wanted him to play a great part in the world, and thought her way must be better than his. We hear a great deal about her faults, but she must have had her charms too, to keep the heart of the Duke, both absent and present, so unalterably true to her. End of Section 39, Recording by Pamela Nagami MD, April 26th, in the Year of the Plague, 2020. End of Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malbora, by Louise Creighton