 CHAPTER 1 CHURCHALL'S EARLY YEARS, PART 1 John Churchill was born at Ash in Devonshire on the 24th of June, 1650. His father, Winston Churchill was a Cavalier, who throughout the stormy days of the Commonwealth remained faithful to the cause of the stewards. On this account, his family estate of Mintern was burdened by Parliament with a fine so heavy that he could not possibly pay it, and his estate was sequestrated. At the Restoration there seemed a hope of more prosperous days for Winston Churchill. His estate of Mintern was given back to him, and he was soon after nighted. He was returned to Parliament and received some trifling appointments about court. He amused himself with the pursuit of literature and published a work called Diwi Britannica, a ridiculous panagyric on royalty. But though regarded with favour by Charles II, on account of his persistent loyalty, Sir Winston Churchill remained in needy circumstances and had not much money to spend on the education of his children. Before the Restoration, John, his eldest surviving son, had been taught by his father and a neighbouring clergyman. Afterwards, when his father came to London, he was for a short time a scholar at St. Paul's School, where, however, he did not stay long enough to get any literary training, and remained all his life entirely wanting in book learning. Sir Winston Churchill thought it well to make speedy use of the favour he enjoyed at court, and soon after the Restoration took John away from school to place him as Page of Honor with the Duke of York, the King's brother, and John's sister, Arabella, was made Maid of Honor to the first Duchess of York and Hyde. In this way the fortunes of Sir Winston's children were secured. John's interest in military matters was soon noticed by the Duke of York. One day, struck by the eagerness with which he saw his page, watch him direct the exercise of two regiments of footguards, the Duke asked him what profession he would choose for himself. The boy threw himself on his knees before his master and begged that he might be given a pair of colours in one of those fine regiments. His wish was soon fulfilled, and at the age of 16, in the year 1666, he got his commission and went out to Tangiers with his regiment. Tangiers then, a dependency of the English crown, was being besieged by the Moors, and in the chance skirmishes of the siege, Churchill eagerly seized every opportunity of showing his valor and zeal for his profession. He was recalled the same year by the Duke of York and continued for some time in attendance upon his master at court. Churchill was well-fitted to shine amongst the gay and profligate crowd of courtiers who surrounded the pleasure-loving Charles II. He was tall and well-made with fine features, fascinating manners, and an indolent grace which had great charm. He soon showed his ability to rule men. He combined such perfect dignity of manner with so entire a command of temper that even when he was young and insignificant, none dared take a liberty with him. The proud beauties of the court looked with much favour upon the handsome young soldier, and the Duchess of Cleveland, one of Charles II's mistresses, regarded him with special interest. Once he was nearly surprised alone with her by the king, but Churchill's presence of mind did not fail him, and he leapt from the window to avoid discovery. The Duchess rewarded him for this bold feat by a present of five thousand pounds. Though he might be gay and giddy, Churchill already showed that care of money which became such a ruling passion with him in afterlife and prudently invested his five thousand pounds in buying an annuity. Churchill's advancement was also greatly aided by the favour with which the Duke of York regarded his sister, Arabella. James's love for her made him willing to do all in his power for her brother. In 1672 Churchill was sent to Holland with his regiment, which formed part of a detachment of six thousand men, who were led by the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's natural son, to aid Louis XIV, king of France, against the Dutch. For some time Europe had watched with alarm the growing power of Louis XIV. His ambition seemed boundless, and it was hard to see what power existed in Europe sufficiently strong to oppose his schemes. The decaying monarchy of Spain, weak and unmanageable through its vast possessions when not held together by a firm hand, had ceased to be of any account in the affairs of Europe. It was well known that the end of Louis XIV's ambition was to add the Dutch provinces to his dominions, and on the death of the sickly and childless king of Spain, to seat his own grandson on the Spanish throne, and so add that vast kingdom to the dominions of the house of Bourbon. It was clear that nothing could resist him, but a firm union of the remaining powers of Europe. Sir William Temple, English resident at the Hague, and one of the ablest diplomatists of those days, early tried to impress this upon Charles II, and succeeded in persuading him to conclude in 1668 an offensive and defensive alliance with Holland and Sweden called the Triple Alliance. But Charles II cared little for foreign politics. The balance of power in Europe was nothing to him, compared with ease at home and freedom to do as he liked. Louis XIV spared no pains to win from the ranks of his enemies a monarch whose neutrality, could he get nothing more, would be of great importance to him in the future. He promised to grant Charles II a large subsidy which would free him from the control of his parliament by taking away the need for its grants if Charles II would aid him in his projects against Holland and Spain. In 1670 the Triple Alliance was replaced by the secret Treaty of Dover, between Charles II and Louis XIV. Under Cromwell England had once more become a power of the first rank in Europe and the policy of the Triple Alliance would have enabled her to remain so. But Charles II chose to become a cipher in European politics and take up the ignominious position of Louis XIV's pensioner rather than submit to what he considered the vexatious and unwarrantable interference of parliament in the conduct of affairs. The result of the Treaty of Dover was that in 1672 England joined France in making war upon Holland. Charles II that he might have his hands free first of all dissolved parliament in 1671 because in parliament there was a strong party which would never allow an attack upon Holland which they looked upon as the bulwark of Protestantism. Even before war had been declared Charles II treacherously gave his admirals orders to attack a richly laden fleet of Dutch merchantmen on their way back from Smyrna. But the Dutch had learned to be suspicious even in time of peace and were secretly prepared for an attack. The English were beaten back with heavy loss and only succeeded in capturing two vessels. After this war was declared. The conduct of the war at sea was to be left to the English fleet to which Louis XIV contributed squadron whilst Charles II sent some troops under Monmouth to assist the French army. It was with these troops that Churchill went to gain his first experience of a real campaign. Soon after reaching the continent he was made a captain of Grenadiers and Monmouth's own regiment and found abundant opportunity for gaining experience and distinction. Louis XIV nominally commanded the French army himself but the direction of its movements was really left to the two greatest generals of the day, the Prince of Condé and Marshal Turin. Condé, a brilliant military genius, knew how to seize an opportunity which to others seemed hopeless and to snatch victory from an astonished enemy whilst they rested confident in their strength. Turin was a profound master of strategy. He was cold and phlegmatic with the face and appearance of a bourgeois and did not look like one born to command men. He does not seem ever to have been stirred by any spark of passion. Nothing could rouse him to excitement nor even ruffle his imperturbable manner. The horrors of war awakened in him no sentiment of compassion. He gave himself body and soul to his country and never allowed the influence of any personal ambition. Laborious and diligent himself he demanded the same qualities in his soldiers. He did not treat them like machines but tried to train each man to play his part thoroughly and soberly. With indefatigable energy he superintended everything in the camp and in the field himself. He turned every man every chance to account and wasted neither resources nor money. Such was the man under whom Churchill learned the art of war. His native genius enabled him to appreciate Turin's strategy and to learn from it those lessons which in the end made him a greater general than his master. Turin soon discovered the abilities of the young Englishmen. When at the siege of Nijmegen a lieutenant colonel had scandalously deserted a post which he had been bitten to defend to the last Turin said, I will bet a supper and a dozen of claret that my handsome Englishman will recover the post with half the number of men that the officer commanded who lost it. He was not mistaken. Churchill drove out the enemy after a short and fierce struggle and maintained the post. At the siege of Maastricht he so distinguished himself by the desperate valor with which he aided the Duke of Monmouth to recover a lodgement which had been recaptured by the enemy that he was publicly thanked for his services by Louis XIV at the head of the army. The victorious course of Louis XIV's army seemed to threaten the Dutch with total destruction. On sea they were at home and could maintain an equal conflict with their enemies. Their great admiral, Dereiter, had engaged the English fleet in a fiercely contested battle in South Wold Bay, where neither side could claim the victory. But on land the Dutch had only a miserable force of 25,000 raw soldiers to oppose to the magnificent armies of Louis XIV. Besides this the United Provinces were divided amongst themselves. On one side was the dynastic faction which upheld the claims of the House of Orange. On the other side the aristocratic faction at the head of which stood the pensionary David. David had long held the chief control of affairs and the state's general had decreed the exclusion of the members of the House of Orange from the Stotholdership. The command of the troops however was given to young William of Orange, the son of Prince William II of Orange, who had married Mary, daughter of Charles I, King of England. With his raw troops William was unable to do anything to save his country. Louis XIV carried everything before him. David offered terms of peace which seemed humble enough, but Louis XIV refused them and offered terms so humiliating that they could mean nothing but the destruction of the prosperity and the independence of the Republic. At this the Dutch people rose in despair. They turned their anger first upon David, whom they unjustly regarded as one of the causes of their desperate condition. Even their brave Admiral de Reiter was insulted in the streets and the only man in whom they would confide was young William of Orange. The state's general were forced to cancel their own decree and name William Stotholder. Soon afterwards David and his brother were murdered in the streets of Amsterdam by a furious mob. William showed himself equal to the terrible emergency. Both Charles II and Louis XIV tried by the most seductive promises to win him over from the cause of the Republic, but nothing could shake him. He rejected the terms offered by Louis XIV and gave orders that the dykes which kept the sea and the great rivers from overflowing the lowlands of Holland should be opened. The whole country became one vast lake out of which the towns rose like islands. The invaders had to flee before the waters and the Republic gained a brief respite in its danger. This gave the emperor and the German princes time to come to the aid of the Dutch and the theater of war was enlarged. In 1673 Turin commanded on the Rhine, and this campaign, though marked by no great victory, for he was badly supported and opposed to a fine army under the Imperial General Monte Cucouli, was one of his most brilliant feats of strategy. In 1673 Charles II had been forced to summon Parliament, for he was in need of money, and Louis XIV's own needs were too pressing for him to be able to aid his ally. Parliament vigorously attacked Charles II's policy during the recess, in which he had issued a declaration of indulgence to Roman Catholics and dissenters from the Church of England. He was now compelled to rescind this, and Parliament passed the Test Act, which compelled all persons holding any office to sign a declaration against transubstantiation and publicly received the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England. Parliament went on to compel the king to dismiss some of his ministers, and finally to urge him to make peace with the Dutch. To Sir William Temple was entrusted the task of concluding the peace, which was signed in February 1674. In spite of the peace, Charles II allowed the 6,000 troops which he sent to the French army to remain in Louis's service. Church's ability won him rapid advancement in the army. On the 3rd April 1674 Louis XIV appointed him Colonel of the English Regiment, and he was present during Turin's campaign on the Rhine. There he saw enough of the horrors of war for the July and August of 1674 were devoted by Turin to the total devastation of the Palatinate. He wished to make it impossible for the enemy to subsist there and threaten the French frontier. In these two months one of the fairest provinces of Germany was reduced to a barren waste. With here and there the charred remains of cities and villages. But this terrible sight did not have the effect of making Churchill indifferent to the suffering produced by war. On the contrary, we shall find that when in Supreme Command himself one of his first cares was always for the wounded and that he could never see the miseries of an innocent population without an earnest desire for peace. End of Section 1. Section 2 of Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malbara by Louise Creighton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 1. Churchill's Early Years, Part 2. Louis XIV continued the war for some years. In 1675 the French suffered a severe loss in the death of Turin, who was killed by a chance ball while surveying the enemy's position at Zaspach in Alsace. A general peace was finally concluded at Nijmegen in 1678 from which France reaped all the advantages. In England, Charles II had excited such suspicion amongst the Protestants that nothing would gratify them but affirm alliance with Holland. William of Orange came over to visit his uncles in 1677 and a marriage was concluded between him and Mary, the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York. This marriage roused Louis XIV's wrath and Charles had great difficulty in pacifying him and persuading him that this new alliance meant nothing but was only intended to keep Parliament quiet. Charles finally acted as mediator at the peace of Nijmegen, which could only be regarded as a temporary measure, for the ambition of Louis XIV was still unchecked and his schemes were as dangerous as ever to the peace of Europe. Though Churchill was with the army again after the death of Turin, he seems during the campaign to have occasionally returned to England and to have been in attendance on the Duke of York who successively appointed him a gentleman of his bedchamber and his master of the robes. The licentiousness and unbridled profligacy of the court of Charles II is well known. Fortunately, Churchill was saved from being too deeply entangled in its dissipations by his pure and faithful love for Sarah Jennings, one of the ladies of the Duchess of York's court. Sarah was the daughter of a Mr. Jennings who had been distinguished for his devotion to the cause of the stewards. After the restoration he had found no difficulty in getting places at court for his two daughters. Frances, the elder, was one of the loveliest women of the day. She married first Sir James Hamilton and afterwards, in 1667, Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyr Connell, an Irishman of infamous character, ready to do anything to gain money and power. Sarah, the younger sister, came to court at the age of twelve and grew up as the companion of the Princess Anne, the Duke of York's second daughter. She lacked the regular beauty of her sister but her fine figure, expressive features, and beautiful hair won for her a crowd of admirers. Churchill lost his heart to her when she was only sixteen and she soon singled him out for special favor. They were both of them singularly ambitious of power and influence. Sarah pined to be in a position where she might command. Churchill deeply felt his penniless condition and desired wealth as well as power. It would have seemed that both were unlikely persons to marry for love but in this case passion was stronger than ambition and triumphed over the objections of their parents and all other obstacles to their union. Churchill's parents suggested to him another bride who though plain had a large fortune and the report of his probable marriage brought him bitter reproaches for inconstancy from Sarah Jennings. Her petulant temper did not help to make the days of courtship pass very smoothly for Churchill. His letters to her breathed nothing but the deep devotion of a warm and sensitive heart which was pained by her slightest reproach and could not rest under the sense of her displeasure. She on the contrary delighted to show her power over him. She would make him miserable by her haughtiness in order that the least sign of returning favor might win from him expressions of the most passionate gratitude. But at the bottom her affection was as sincere as his and early in 1678 they were privately married in the presence of the Duchess of York. Marriage only deepened their affection and in that disillet age they formed an example unhappily only too rare amongst the higher classes of a perfect union which though ruffled occasionally by Sarah's overbearing temper was never marred by jealousy or mistrust. About the time of his marriage Colonel Churchill obtained a regiment of foot. During the first years of his married life he had no settled home and was repeatedly separated from his wife. He was sent in 1678 on a mission to the Prince of Orange. At the time when Charles II to gain the favor of parliament affected a desire to renew the Triple Alliance. From Breda he writes to his wife, I would be glad you should hear from me by every post. I would lose no time, for I do with all my heart and soul long to be with you, you being dearer to me than my own life. Toward the end of the year the alliance of Charles II with the Prince of Orange compelled him to send some troops to the Dutch army to help against the French and Churchill accompanied them to take the command of a brigade. But he had hardly reached the continent when the Treaty of Nijmegen was concluded and he was able to come back to his wife. James Duke of York had for some time publicly declared himself a Roman Catholic. In the present temper of the nation which was alarmed at the Catholic tendencies of the king this made him very unpopular. The House of Commons which met in 1679 even hinted that the only way to secure the safety of the religion and liberties of the country was to exclude the Duke of York from the throne. Charles II had to bid his brother retired to the Hague in March 1679 that the people might not be irritated by his presence at court. Colonel Churchill and his wife both went with the Duke and Duchess of York. Toward the end of the year the Duke seized the pretext of a slight illness of Charles II to pay a visit to London with Churchill. Whilst the Duke of York stayed in London Churchill was sent on a mission to Paris for Charles II in spite of his apparent approaches to the Prince of Orange was really as closely in league with France as ever and in the present temper of the nation stood in pressing need of Louis XIV's help. The Duke could not get the permission of the king to return to London but was allowed to remove from the Hague to Scotland where the chief administration was put into his hands. Hither Churchill accompanied him in 1679 and was joined in 1680 by his wife who came to Scotland in attendance on the Duchess of York. Meanwhile affairs in England grew more and more stormy. The first parliament of 1679 had been dissolved and a new one summoned in which Charles hoped to find a more submissive spirit but he was disappointed. The cry for the exclusion of the Duke of York from the throne grew louder than ever. The people hoped that their favorite the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's natural son, might succeed his father and an attempt was made to prove that Charles had been secretly married to Monmouth's mother. The exclusion bill was brought into the House of Commons in October 1680 and was passed by a great majority. It was finally thrown out by the House of Lords chiefly owing to the brilliant eloquence of Viscount Halifax, the most accomplished statesman of the day. It was thought wise that the Duke of York should still for a while stay away from court and Colonel Churchill remained with him in Scotland. Churchill stood high in the Duke's confidence and was several times sent by him on secret missions to Charles II, whom the Duke exhorted not to become a slave to his parliament but to free himself by a still closer alliance with France. The Duke also anxiously begged to be allowed to return to court. Part of the time that Churchill was in Scotland his wife had to stay in London where on the 19th July 1681 she gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Henrietta. The father shows in his letters a tender interest in his child and writes, I hope all the red spots of our child will be gone against I see her and her nose straight, so that I may fancy it to be like the mother, for as she has your colored hair I would have her be like you in all things else. His affection for his children seems to have been very tender even from their earliest years. Later on, after the birth of Anne, his second daughter, he writes to his wife, you cannot imagine how I am pleased with the children. For having nobody but their maid they are so fond of me that when I am at home they will be always with me kissing and hugging me. Their heats are quite gone so that against you come home they will be in beauty. Miss is pulling me by the arm that she may write to her dear mama so that I shall say no more only beg that you will love me always as well as I love you and then we cannot but be happy. He adds a post script for his little girl, I kiss your hands my dear mama, Harriet. At last in 1682 the Duke of York was allowed to return to court. Since the time that the commons passed the exclusion bill with a large majority a reaction had set in and the King and his government had been able to triumph over their opponents. It was during the struggle about the exclusion bill that the names afterwards so familiar in the history of English politics, Whig and Tory first came into use. Tory was the name given to a number of wild Irish rebels who as outlaws had taken refuge in the bogs in the north of Ireland. The Duke of York was supposed secretly to protect these rebels and so the party who supported the exclusion bill gave its opponents the nickname of Tory. In giving them this name they seemed to credit those who had put themselves forward as champions of the prerogative and hereditary right with secret leanings toward Catholicism. The Tories revenge themselves by calling their opponents Whigs from the Whigamores by which name a body of fanatical Scottish covenanters were commonly known in the lowlands of Scotland. The rage of party faction was very violent in England and Louis XIV did all he could to foment it. He did not wish the King and his Parliament to be on good terms for then Charles II would be able to take up an independent position and free himself from his disgraceful position of dependence. Louis XIV therefore at the same time exhorted Charles II not to give way to Parliament and by means of his ambassador secretly bade the Whigs stand firmly to their opposition promising that he would protect them. Meanwhile the violence of the Whigs had terrified the more moderate people and they were eager to show their devotion to the King. Charles II found himself in a position to do without Parliament for a while before he stood in no pressing need of money and besides could draw upon help from Louis XIV. As the law then stood he need not summon Parliament for three years and that would give him time to take severe measures to repress the Whigs. Many of them were brought to trial on fabricated charges of sedition and were found guilty by the jury. The mass of the people seemed willing to go any length in supporting the power of the King and the divine right of Kings and the sin of rebellion were the favorite topics in the pulpit. The Duke of York returned in triumph to London in 1682. Once more took his seat at the Council and resumed the direction of naval affairs. His presence was calculated to increase the violence of the King's measures against the Whigs. In his administration of Scotland the Duke of York had been distinguished for his severity. He had not only ordered the inflection of torture upon state prisoners but had stood by to watch the sufferings of his unhappy victims. He was not likely therefore to urge moderate measures in England. The Test Act should have excluded him from taking any part in public affairs, but Charles could count enough upon the subserviency of the people to venture to infringe it. The discovery of a Whig plot known as the Ryehouse plot gave the government a new excuse for violent measures. The Ryehouse plot had been formed by a few desperate men whose object was to seize the persons of Charles II and the Duke of York, but Charles II resolved that the whole Whig party should share the blame. Virtuous and upright men of whose guilt there was no legal proof suffered death on the scaffold for it. From one illegal act Charles II proceeded to another. Three years had passed since his last parliament and he issued no writs for a new one. Even amongst the Tories murmurs began to be heard. Halifax to whom the rejection of the exclusion bill was mainly due remonstrated against the measures of the government of which he was a member and won the bitter animosity of the Duke of York by advocating greater respect for the Constitution. The Duke of York in these days of prosperity did not forget the faithful services of Colonel Churchill. He was created a peer of Scotland with the title of Baron Churchill of Eymeth and in November 1683 was appointed Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Dragoons which was just being raised as the first regiment of its kind in England. The public had seen no cause to rate highly Churchill's merits and ridiculed his appointment as a piece of favoritism. One lampoon of the time says let's cut our meat with spoons. The sense is as good as that Churchill should be put to command the Dragoons. In 1683 the Lady Anne, James Duke of York's younger daughter was married to Prince George of Denmark and Lady Churchill was appointed her Lady of the Bedchamber. When Sarah Jennings at the age of 12 was received into the Duchess of York's household she had soon become the object of the tender affection of the Lady Anne who was three years younger. As time went on their friendship ripened into greater intimacy. Anne was one of those who was made to be ruled by a more powerful mind. She was of an affectionate disposition but of a slow and stubborn nature. She clung with desperate energy to any opinion which she had once imbibed and showed the same tenacity in clinging to any person whom she had learned to love. She was charmed by Sarah's lively disposition and submitted meekly to her imperious ways. Anne was delighted to have her friend as Lady of her Bedchamber and daily learned more and more to depend upon her. She was an affectionate wife but Prince George was not a man to exercise influence over anyone. He was dull and stupid and cared only for eating and drinking and was as willing as his wife to be ruled by others. Lady Churchill used no arts to gain her influence. She was not one who could stoop to flatter even a princess and she scolded and domineered over Anne with perfect freedom. Anne seemed only to wish to encourage her freedom. She writes to her, Let me beg of you not to call me your highness at every word but to be as free with me as one friend ought to be with another. And you can never give me any greater proof of your friendship than in telling me your mind freely and all things which I do beg you to do. And if ever it were in my power to serve you nobody would be more ready than myself. At last Anne suggested that for the sake of greater freedom they should adopt new names which should put them apparently on an equal footing. She called herself Mrs. Morley and Lady Churchill adopted the name of Mrs. Freeman. In their private correspondence Prince George became Mr. Morley and Lord Churchill Mr. Freeman. End of Section 2. Section 3 of Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malbora by Louise Creighton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 2 James II. Part 1 On the 2nd of February 1685, in the midst of the dissipations of his court, Charles II was suddenly taken ill and died on the morning of the 6th of February. James was proclaimed king without any disturbance. According to custom he had once addressed a short speech to the lords of the council in which he strove to allay the anxiety which was caused by his religion. He told them that he knew he was accused of a love for arbitrary power but that they would find him as lenient as his brother had been. He expressed himself willing to maintain the existing order in church and state and said that it would be his care to support and defend the Church of England. His speech produced a favorable impression and when published did much to diminish the anxiety which had disturbed men's minds. The majority of people dreaded any disturbance and were willing loyally to accept James II if he would be true to his promises. He was 52 years of age and was not likely to reign long. In 1673 he had married for the second time a young and pretty wife, Mary of Modena, but his second marriage had brought him no living child. Both the daughters of his first marriage, Mary, Princess of Orange, and Anne, Princess of Denmark, were zealous Protestants and there was every reason to hope that on his death the throne would again be filled by a Protestant. Till then men were willing to wait patiently. In general James II seemed at first inclined to follow in the steps of Charles II. He made some changes in the ministry, but retained most of those ministers who had stood high in Charles II's favour. He was as anxious as Charles II had been to keep on good terms with France. But it was clear that it would not do to put off any longer summoning a parliament, and in the present favorable temper of the nation it was best to do so as soon as possible. James II begged Barillon, the French ambassador, to assure his master that only the extreme urgency of the moment could have prevailed upon him to take such a step without first consulting Louis XIV. But he promised not to allow parliament to interfere in foreign politics and to dismiss it if it were unwilling to submit to him. James II's brother-in-law and Prime Minister, the Earl of Rochester, was bitten to ask Barillon for more money. Louis XIV had foreseen this demand, and at the first news of Charles II's death had sent 7,500 pounds to Barillon for the use of James II. When Barillon carried the good news to Whitehall, James II shed tears of joy at the thought of Louis XIV's considerate kindness. He determined to send an extraordinary embassy to express his devotion and gratitude, and named Lord Churchill as his ambassador. Churchill, like others, was willing to believe James II's assurance of good government, but was not without some anxiety for the future. He said to Lord Galway in Paris, If the king should attempt to change our religion and constitution, I will instantly quit his service. Churchill returned from Paris in time to be present at the king's coronation, and soon afterwards was raised to the English peerage under the title of Baron Churchill of Sandridge in Hertfordshire. Whilst in England, the accession of James II had been peacefully accepted, there was a band of Whig refugees in Holland who were by no means prepared to witness tamely the destruction of all their hopes. Chief in rank amongst these refugees was the Duke of Monmouth and the Scottish Duke of Argyll. These two men were pushed on by the more violent among their companions to make a dissent on England in the hope of raising a rebellion which would put Monmouth on the throne. The Duke of Argyll was to land in Scotland, where it was hoped that his popularity would induce many to join him, whilst Monmouth was to effect a rising in the west of England where he was well known and much beloved by the people. The Duke of Argyll started first on the 2nd of May, and his attempt proved a disastrous failure. The Scots showed themselves too timid to gather round him. He himself had only the nominal command of the expedition and was hampered at every step by the interference and ignorant folly of his companions. His small force faded away without a battle, and he was made prisoner whilst attempting to escape. He was taken to Edinburgh and suffered death on the scaffold with great dignity on June 30th, 1685. Meanwhile Monmouth headlanded at Lyme on the 11th of June and thousands flocked eagerly to his standard. The Duke of Abomal marched against him with the train-bands and thought that he would easily be able to crush the insurrection at one blow, but alarmed at the resolute appearance of the rebels and still more at the temper of his own troops which made him afraid that they would go over to the enemy in a body, he thought at best to retreat. In London vigorous measures were being taken to meet the danger. Parliament and the great mass of the people showed unwavering loyalty, and even the wigs had no desire to favor Monmouth's cause. The forces of the government were rapidly got together. Churchill was appointed to command a small body of troops assembling at Salisbury, and his vigilance enabled him to scatter many of the detached bands of rebels. Monmouth, who had caused himself to be proclaimed king at Taunton, on June 20th, 1685, sent a trumpeter to Churchill claiming his allegiance and bidding him suspend all hostilities. Churchill took no notice of his letter, except to forward it to James II. With his handful of men he harassed Monmouth on his march and through constant difficulties in his way. Monmouth had counted on a general rising of the wigs in his favor. He knew that with a crowd of undisciplined peasants he would be able to effect nothing against regular troops. He could form no settled plan of action, but wandered helplessly from place to place. Meanwhile Lord Feversham was advancing at the head of the royalist army and had been joined by Churchill. They encamped at Weston's Island, a village in Somerseture, which rose out of the midst of a march called Sedgemore. Monmouth determined to risk a night attack on the royalist camp, for Feversham was an utterly incompetent commander and the discipline of his camp was lax. Monmouth thought that if he could effect a surprise his chances might not be altogether hopeless. On the night of Sunday, July 6, the attack was made in the midst of a thick mist. The chance report of a pistol alarmed the royalist troops. The rebels lost themselves in the mist and amongst the deep ditches which intersected the moor, and all chance of taking the troops by surprise was gone. Though Feversham was still in bed, the troops under Churchill's orders fell upon the rebels on all sides. Monmouth saw that the day was lost, anxious to save his life at any cost, he fled from the field, whilst those who were risking everything for his sake fought bravely on. By four o'clock in the morning the rebels were completely routed and fled in all directions. Feversham, who had borne no part in the battle, now suffered his soldiers to spread devastation on all sides, and his military executions filled the country with horror. Monmouth had been captured in his attempt to flee into Hampshire, he was taken to London, and though he abased himself to plead for life to James II in the most abject terms, was executed on July 15. James II showed the cruelty and hardness of his disposition by the terrible steps which he took to punish this insurrection. Not satisfied by the horrors of the military executions which had followed the battle of Sedgemore, he sent into the western county's Chief Justice Jefferies, a judge who had earned his favour by his unscrupulous violence and cruelty, to punish all who had had any share in the insurrection. This circuit is commonly known as the bloodiest eyes. Three hundred and twenty rebels were hanged, eight hundred sold into slavery beyond the sea. Even the queen and her ladies were not ashamed to profit by the sale of these unhappy victims. Well might Churchill exclaim, as he struck upon the chimney-piece on which he lent, This marble is not harder than the king's heart. Churchill himself had no share in this cruelty. His energy had really won the battle of Sedgemore, but he only occupied a subordinate place in the army, and Feversham had never trouble to consult with him or confide his plans to him. Churchill bore this neglect with his characteristic self-command, and showed himself so respectful to his incompetent superior, and so zealous in discharging his duties, that Feversham praised his behaviour and promised to report on it to the king. Churchill was appointed Colonel of the Third Troop of Horse Guards for his services at the Battle of Sedgemore. After this he took no part in public affairs during the remainder of the reign of James II. There was no opportunity for military service, and James must have considered Lord Churchill too firm in his attachment to the Protestant faith to deserve promotion to any office of state. End of Section 3. Section 4 of Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malbra, by Louise Creighton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Little by little, James II showed men what he had meant by his promise to defend the Constitution and the Church of England. He wished to make himself strong by means of a standing army, and in a few months increased the number of soldiers in England from 6,000 to nearly 20,000. In violation of the Test Act, Catholics were allowed to hold commissions in the English army. The commons, who at their first meeting after James II's accession had seemed willing to do anything for him, now began to show a different spirit. They refused to grant the supplies which the king needed for the support of his army and criticized in severe terms the king's speech from the throne, till he in anger prorogued them. James II now fell to himself at liberty to act as he chose. He asserted that by virtue of his dispensing power he might admit Roman Catholics to all offices. He presented them, even to ecclesiastical benefits, and set up again the old Court of High Commission by which he hoped to force resisting churchmen to submission. Those of his ministers who objected to his measures and showed themselves unwilling to attack the rites of the Church of England were one by one dismissed from their offices and their places filled by Catholics. At last, on April 4, 1687, he published a declaration of a general indulgence, which annulled all penal laws and all religious tests. In this way he hoped to gain over the Protestant dissenters, but the great mass of them loved their country too well to care for an indulgence which was granted only by the arbitrary use of the royal power. In the midst of the deep anxiety occasioned by these measures, the wigs began to look eagerly across the water to the only man who could give them any help. William of Orange had long watched with interest the struggle of the different factions in England. He cannot be said to have sided with either party. He was neither wig nor tory. His whole being was absorbed in one thought, opposition to France. He alone amongst European statesmen saw clearly the danger with which Europe was threatened by the power of Louis XIV. He knew that the struggle would soon come when it would have to be decided whether or no Louis XIV was to bring the vast dominions of the Spanish monarchy under the rule of the House of Bourbon and to order European politics at his pleasure. In this struggle it would be of immense importance what side England might take, and it was necessary if England were to play an important part in European politics that her King and Parliament should be at peace. Both Louis XIV and William of Orange realized this, and whilst Louis XIV's policy therefore was to fan the discord between King and Parliament, William did all in his power to bring them to an agreement. He had no sympathy with the pretensions of the wigs. He himself hoped one day to wear with his wife the Crown of England, and he would like it to descend to him without one prerogative impaired. But he was willing to sacrifice anything to his great aim, and had always exhorted the King of England to give way to his Parliament rather than attempt to govern without it. He had seen with disgust the support given by many of the wigs to the claims of Monmouth. To declare Monmouth legitimate would of course destroy the right to the Crown of England of the Lady Mary, William's wife. William therefore had supported the rights of James II, and it was mainly in obedience to his exhortations that Halifax had exerted himself to obtain the rejection of the exclusion bill. William watched the struggle of English parties free from the motives by which they were guided. He had no care for England, except insofar as her cooperation was necessary to his purposes. He was one of the greatest statesmen whom Europe has ever seen, and he looked at things from a point of view far above the small party struggles of the day. When almost a boy he had been called to the head of affairs in Holland at a moment when the country seemed to lie helpless at the feet of Louis XIV. But his was that kind of courage which shines most brightly in moments when everything seems lost. He had found means to rescue his country from the extremity of her peril, but he knew that the respite was only for a short time. Meanwhile he must prepare for another struggle. He was a man of indomitable energy and perseverance. Outwardly of a cold and stubborn nature he inspired no sympathy in the minds of men. Only the few who were admitted to his intimacy knew the fire which burnt within him, the almost religious zeal which animated him in his great projects. His constitution was weak and diseased. He was a constant prey to asthma, but the energy of his powerful mind triumphed over his weak body. His face was furrowed with deep lines of suffering and care, but his brilliant eye, his broad and lofty forehead showed the fire of the mind within. To his wife, the Lady Mary William was bound by the deepest affection. The most perfect confidence reigned between them and she had made it clear to him that she would not wear the English crown unless he shared it with her. Both William and Mary strongly disapproved of the declaration of indulgence. William himself held the sight at Calvinistic views, and was in favour of toleration to the English dissenters. But he saw that in publishing the declaration of indulgence, James had usurped a prerogative to which he had no right, and he viewed with alarm and indignation the favour shown to Roman Catholics. Doug Velt, one of the ablest of Dutch diplomatists, was sent to England early in 1687 on a nominal embassy to James II, but with instructions to enter into communications with the leading nobles, both Wigs and Tories. He found everywhere sentiments of profound distrust toward James II, and a growing desire that William would interfere to put an end to the tyranny of the King. Dike Velt returned to the Hague bearing letters to William from many of the leading Englishmen. Amongst others, he took one from Churchill, who was animated by none of that feeling of gratitude or personal devotion that would have led most men to remain under all circumstances faithful to a King to whom they owed everything. James II had been Churchill's friend and patron from his earliest youth, but Churchill's ruling passion was ambition both for wealth and power. Under James II, nothing could be hoped for unless he changed his religion, and that was the one point on which he was not willing to give way. He was anxious to make friends in time, with the man who he foresaw would before long be the ruler of England. It was of great importance to William to know what side would be taken by Churchill, for the Lady Anne, the next heir to the crown after the Lady Mary, was entirely under the influence of the Churchels, and would be sure to feel as they felt. Churchill's letter explained her opinions as well as his own. The Princess of Denmark, having ordered me to discourse with Monsieur Dike Velt, and to let him know her resolutions, so that he might let your Highness and the Prince's her sister know that she was resolved by the assistance of God to suffer all extremities, even to death itself, rather than be brought to change her religion. I thought it my duty to give you assurances under my own hand, that my places and the King's favor I set at naught, in comparison of being true to my religion. In all things but this that King may command me, and I call God to witness that even with joy I should expose my life for his service, so sensible am I of his favors, and I think it may be a great ease to your Highness and the Princess, to be satisfied that the Princess of Denmark is safe in the trusting of me, I being resolved, although I cannot live the life of a saint, if there be occasion for it, to show the resolution of a martyr. The information and the letters brought by Dike Velt showed William very clearly that sooner or later it would be advisable to interfere decidedly in English affairs, but the one or two rash spirits urged him to do so at once. He determined to wait till he could be sure of complete success. He had no wish to provoke a civil war in England, for that would leave Louis XIV at liberty to do as he liked on the continent. End of Section 4. Section 5 of Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malbra by Louise Creighton this LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 3 The Revolution In August 1687 James II went on a royal progress to reconcile the people to the late changes and to judge of their temper. During this progress, Lord Churchill waited upon him and seized an opportunity when, along with the king and the deans' garden at Westminster, to represent to him the alarm with which his measures had inspired the great mass of the people, reminding him that he himself and at least nine-tenths of the English people were determined to live and die in the Protestant faith. James II angrily interrupted him. I tell you, Churchill, he exclaimed, I will exercise my own religion in such a manner as I think fitting. I will show favour to my Catholic subjects and be a common father to all my Protestant subjects of what religion so ever, but I am to remember that I am king and to be obeyed by them. As for the consequences, I shall leave them to providence and make use of the power God has put into my hands to prevent anything that shall be injurious to my honour or derogatory to the duty that is owing to me. Nothing could teach James II wisdom. In his narrow-minded bigotry, he clung pertinaciously to his own ideas and would only listen to those who agreed with him. Even the moderate Roman Catholics disapproved of his violent measures and would have infinitely preferred a toleration obtained by legal means. The Pope himself disapproved of his policy and received his ambassador coldly. But James II committed one arbitrary act after another throughout the winter, till it seemed as if every post in the kingdom was to be filled by a papist. In April 1688 he published a second declaration of indulgence to show that his mind was unchanged since last April and ordered it to be read in all churches at the time of divine service for two successive Sundays. The clergy, who a few years before had proclaimed from the pulpit with zeal the doctrines of the divine right of kings and of passive obedience, refused almost to a man to obey the royal command. Archbishop Sandcroft and six bishops who were then in London held a meeting in which they drew up a moderate petition to James II against the indulgence. Furious at this conduct, James II determined to punish the bishops. He found that the only way in which he could proceed against them was by prosecuting them for seditious libel. Proceedings were opened, and the bishops who refused to accept bail were taken to the tower, followed by crowds who hailed them as martyrs, and kneeling around them implored their blessing. At the trial, in spite of all the endeavors of the government, a verdict of not guilty was returned which was received with tumultuous rejoicings by the people. Even at the camp at Hounslow, the soldiers on whom James II thought he could rely, raised a shout of joy when they heard that the bishops were acquitted. Whilst the bishops were in the tower, on the 10th of June, 1688, the queen gave birth to a son. She had had four children before, but none had outlived infancy, and it was five years since the last had been born. In their excited temper, men suspected that the child was not really the queens, and that an heir to the throne was being palmed off upon them. Before the child was born, papists had confidently predicted that it would be a son. The great mass of the nation now looked upon the whole affair as a papist hoax. At any rate, whether the true child of James II or not, it was certain that the little prince would be brought up as a Catholic. Men could no longer look forward to the end of the tyranny under which they groaned. There could be no hope of the peaceable accession of Mary and William. On the day of the acquittal of the bishops, a letter was dispatched to William of Orange at the Hague, containing an invitation to him to land in England with some troops. He was assured that thousands would at once flock to his standard. This letter was signed by seven of the leading personages who had for some time been in communication with William, all men of high rank and position, the Earl's of Shrewsbury, Devonshire and Danby, Lord Lumley, Edward Russell, Henry Sidney and Compton, Bishop of London. William saw that his time was come. Many difficulties still surrounded him, but he began with diligence to prepare for an expedition to England. New offers of aid and support arrived daily. Even Sunderland, James II's chief minister and the supporter of all his schemes, who had been willing in order to please James II secretly to profess himself a Catholic, opened communications with William. He saw that there was no hope that James II would be able to maintain himself, and thought it wisest to provide for the future by offering to communicate to William the most secret plans of James II and his government. Churchill assured William that he would do his utmost to bring the army over to him and wrote, If you think there is anything else that I ought to do, you have but to command me. Nothing could rouse James II from his obstinate folly. To the last, he could not believe in the danger which was clear to everyone else. The only step he took made matters worse. Thinking to increase the forces at his command, he brought over some Irish troops, which irritated to the last degree both the English soldiers and the people who looked upon the Irish as Papist barbarians. On October 10th, William published his declaration, in which after drawing attention to James II's illegal acts, he stated that at the invitation of many lords spiritual and temporal, he was about to invade England for the purpose of securing a free and legal parliament by the decision of which he would abide. On the 5th of November 1688 he landed at Torbay in Devonshire, and soon after entered Exeter. His landing in the west of England had not been looked for, and the preparations of his friends there were not ready, so that William was at first mortified by finding that no persons of importance joined him, though the people everywhere hailed him as their deliverer. Meanwhile James II had at last been roused to a sense of his danger and was trying by every possible means to win back the favour of his people. He promised at once to summon a parliament. He abolished the Court of High Commission, and conferred with those bishops who were in London as to the means he had best take. But the people were not in a mood to value highly concessions which they saw had only been wrung from him by fear. Day by day James II heard of new persons of importance who had gone to join William. The army had been sent on to Salisbury, and James II set out to join it himself. He heard that in the north the nobility and gentry were rising in William's favour, and he was anxious to engage William in battle before his position was more secured. But at Salisbury he soon saw signs that his army could not be trusted. One night Lord Churchill and the Duke of Grafton, a natural son of Charles II, stole away to join the Prince of Orange. Churchill left a letter behind him in which he tried to explain away his treachery by saying that only the inviolable dictates of his conscience and a necessary concern for his religion could have led him to take such a step adding, I will always with the hazard of my life and fortune endeavor to preserve your royal person and lawful rights. James II was still further alarmed by hearing that others of his officers refused to obey his commands. He felt that his own person was not safe, and an alarm broke up his camp and ordered the army to retreat on London. Everything was in confusion as the army retreated one by one the nobles who had accompanied James deserted. He reached London only to hear that his daughter the Princess Anne had fled to join the rebels in the north accompanied by Lady Churchill and Compton Bishop of London, and it soon became clear that only two courses were open to him. Either he must submit to the will of the nation and enter into negotiations with the Prince of Orange, or else he must fly. James II was determined to do anything rather than submit. He professed to be willing to enter into negotiations with William, so as to gain time for his wife and child to escape to France. When he had heard of their arrival there, he fled himself to join them, having first destroyed all the rits which had been prepared for summoning a new parliament. He hoped to make matters more difficult for his enemies by leaving everything in confusion behind him, and as he crossed the Thames, he flung the Great Seal into the water. He had also left orders that Febesham was immediately to disband the army. When his flight was discovered the greatest terror reigned in the city, there was no government, no one owned the authority necessary to keep order. It might be several days before William could reach London. Till then it seemed as if the mob would have full license to rob and plunder at their will. At this alarming moment prompt measures were taken by such peers and prelates, as were then in London. Together with the city council, they formed themselves into a provisional government to maintain order till the Prince should arrive. James II's flight made it easy, even for the most staunch supporters of the prerogative, conscientiously to take up the part of the Prince of Orange, for it was impossible to pay obedience to a king who had voluntarily abdicated his kingdom. Matters were complicated by the capture of James II at Sheerness, whilst he was trying to escape. The lords ordered him to be set at liberty, and he once more came back to London. William, who was then at Windsor, saw that it would be impossible to keep order if both he and James II were in London at the same time. After much deliberation, he sent some of his troops before him to occupy the city and sent orders to James II to leave Westminster at once. James II asked to be allowed to go to Rochester, and permission was gladly given. William and all his friends wished nothing more than that James II would again try to escape. James II knew that they wished it, and saw well that it was the worst thing he could do. But fear had completely unnerved him, and he only longed to feel himself far away from his enemies. He was so negligently guarded that escape was easy, and before many days were over, he was safe in France, where Louis XIV received him with tender cordiality, and gave him the palace of Saint-Germain as his residence. William's first steps were full of difficulties. The machinery of government was destroyed, and he could not consistently, with his declaration, assume the power of King and act as conqueror. He first summoned a meeting of the peers and a meeting of all those members who had sat in the parliaments of Charles II, and then in conformity with their desires, provisionally assumed the government, and issued rits to summon a convention of the free estates of the realm. His wise measure soon brought back a feeling of order and security, and the elections were quietly and speedily carried on. When the convention met, for a time a great difference of opinion showed itself between the different parties as to the steps which were to be taken. Some wished for a regency, others that Mary should be queen alone, others again that William should be king and his wife only queen consort. For a time William kept himself aloof from the discussion and did not allow his own opinion to be known, but at last he made it clear that he would consent neither to be a regent nor to be the subject of his wife. Mary, too, on learning the way in which her rights were advocated by some wrote a letter in which she stated that she would never be queen alone. At this crisis, her perfect devotion to her husband helped to make clear the only course which could safely be taken. It was decided to offer the crown jointly to Mary and William. By the influence of the Churchels, Anne was brought to waive her rights, so far as to consent that should William survive his wife, he should be king for his lifetime, but should have no power of passing on the crown to children born to him by any wife but Mary. On the 12th of February 1689 Mary landed in England, and on the 13th William and Mary were proclaimed king and queen amidst general rejoicing. Before accepting the crown they had given their adhesion to a document called the Declaration of Right, which bound them to govern in accordance with the principles of the English Constitution. This declaration stated that the dispensing power claimed by James II had no legal existence, that no sovereign could raise money or maintain a standing army without the consent of Parliament, that the nation had a right to free representation in Parliament. So this great revolution was peaceably accomplished. The rights of the people were once more clearly affirmed, and the attempt of the stewards to set up a personal monarchy ended in complete failure. Henceforth it became impossible for any monarch in England to govern without the support of Parliament, or to rule except in accordance with the will of his people. Section 6 of the Life of John Churchill, Duke of Malboro by Louise Creighton. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 4 William and Mary, Part 1 In the disputes as to the way in which the government was to be settled, Lord Churchill voted for a regency, probably from some lingering attachment to the cause of James II, but this did not prevent his being rewarded by William with decided tokens of favour for the services which he had rendered. On the 14th of February he was sworn a member of the Privy Council, and was made a Lord of the Bedchamber, and on the 9th of April he was created Earl of Malboro. He probably chose this title because his mother had been connected with the Lays, Earl's of Malboro, a family which had become extinct in 1679. As he had no family estate he built himself a house called Holywell House near St. Albans on a property which had belonged to his wife's family. She had a liking for the place, which on the death of her brother had passed to her and her sisters, and to please her, Malboro bought up the shares of her sisters and built a splendid mansion there which was long their favourite residence. Though William had thought it proper to reward Malboro for his services, he put little confidence in him, and gave him no share in the government. But he soon found occasion to make use of his military talents. The peace of Nijmegen had left Europe still alarmed at the power of Louis XIV, and at the constant encroachments which he made on the dominions of neighbouring princes. In 1686 the German princes had bound themselves closely together by the Treaty of Augsburg for the purpose of mutual defence. The Emperor's successes had freed him from any further danger on the side of Turkey, and he was now in a position to resist Louis XIV. The Treaty of Augsburg was joined by the King of Sweden and by the King of Spain, who wished to secure the safety of the Netherlands from the attacks of France. In 1688, just at the time when William was meditating his descent upon England, the attitude of the Empire and the German princes had become so threatening that Louis XIV decided to declare war at once. His wisest plan would have been to send his troops into Holland, which would have made William's descent upon England impossible. For under such dangerous circumstances, the Dutch could not have spared their captain general with the flower of their troops. But Louis XIV's aim was to crush the House of Austria so as to render easier his future schemes on Spain. He seems to have lacked the intuition, which would have shown him that William of Orange was really his most formidable enemy, and that everything should be sacrificed to keep him from establishing himself in England. The French troops were ordered into the Palatinate and laid siege to Philip's book, and the Dutch, whom Louis XIV had estranged by his interference with their commerce and by his persecution of the Protestants, no longer hesitated to give William of Orange full liberty to act as he liked. Louis XIV was then at the height of his power and had been on the throne for 45 years. He had become king at the age of four-and-a-half, and for the first 18 years of his reign, all power had been in the hands of his great minister, Cardinal Mazaron. But on Mazaron's death in 1661, Louis XIV showed at once that he meant to be king indeed. Mazaron had no successor, and Louis XIV himself was his own first minister. He astonished everyone by this decision, for till then none had suspected that he was possessed of any great powers. His education had been shamefully neglected, he was entirely illiterate, and was said to have shown as a boy an utter incapacity to learn. But he soon made it clear when he took the management of affairs into his own hands that he possessed enormous industry and an indomitable power of will. He had no real greatness. He could never rise above personal ambition and desire for personal aggrandizement, which with him was an intense passion. He believed implicitly in himself and in his own greatness, and knew with consummate art how to act as a great king. Mazaron, whilst accumulating an immense fortune for himself, had always kept Louis XIV short of money, and magnificence at court had been impossible under his rule. Louis XIV, when he became his own master, set to work at once to make his court the most magnificent in Europe. With his love for hard work, he united a great delight in the amusements of life. His fine person and elegant manners fitted him to be the centre of a gay and splendid court. He disdained none of the accomplishments of a courtier, and was distinguished by his graceful dancing. His court was as licentious as that of Charles II of England, but there was more decorum in its licence. It absorbed into itself all the life of the French nation. This was the great age of French literature, and all the poets and writers of the day formed part of Louis XIV's court and wrote for him and at his bidding. Paris was adorned with splendid works of art to commemorate his greatness. The Louvre and Saint-Germain were embellished. The splendid Palace of Versailles was built because Louis XIV wished to have his court away from Paris. In all his actions we see an intense desire to gratify himself and to add to the greatness of his house. For France itself he had no care. In his personal relations he was equally cold and selfish. He was incapable of real passion, and though he loved one woman after another, his love was to him nothing but a necessary amusement, and when he tired of one favourite he quickly turned to another. By himself he would never have reached the pitch of greatness which he did, but fortune surrounded him with a number of great ministers whose talents he knew how to value. Cardinal Richelieu and his successor and pupil, Cardinal Masaril, had raised France to a political importance in Europe which he had never before enjoyed. Louis XIV inherited the fruits of their policy. To his minister of finance Colbert he owed an enormous increase in the wealth and resources of the nation. Colbert encouraged manufacture and created French commerce. He introduced almost every year some new manufacture into France and watched over it with fostering care. This prosperity was not likely to last, for it chiefly depended on the manufacture of the luxuries demanded by an expensive court and a magnificent king, and Colbert's theory was in all cases to encourage trade by protection. But he made the country rich enough to supply the enormous demands made upon it by Louis XIV, both for his domestic expenses and his wars. In Lyon, his minister for foreign affairs, Louis XIV possessed one of the most acute diplomatists of that or any other age. Colbert, during his later years, experienced much opposition from Levoix, the minister of war, a man of strong overbearing character with great genius in military matters, who had no scruples as to the means he employed and desired to have the entire management of affairs in his own hands. It was from him that Louis XIV received the most powerful support in his aggressions upon Europe. Louis XIV desired to remake his frontier according to his own pleasure. In 1674 he added France Conte to his dominions. In 1679 he established chambers of reunion to examine the changes made in the frontier by the treaties of Westphalia, Ex-La-Chapelle, and Nijmegen. Of course these chambers settled all disputed points, as Louis XIV wished, and he at once occupied with his troops the districts which they awarded to him. He strengthened his frontier by an iron chain of fortresses planned by Vauban, the most skillful engineer of the day, and was not afraid to defy all Europe. The death of Colbert and Lyon left things more than ever in his own hands, and Louis XIV felt himself competent to manage everything. Colbert had humored him by letting him believe that he did everything himself, and Louis XIV believed implicitly in his own capacity. But difficult times were at hand, for he had managed by his aggressions to set all Europe against him, and by his impolitic zeal for the Catholic religion he weakened his position at home. During the latter half of his life he fell completely under the influence of Madame de Manteno. She was a woman of a serious and religious turn of mind who came to the palace as governess to some of Louis XIV's children. After the death of the Queen Maria Teresa in 1683, Louis XIV was privately married to Madame de Manteno, though she was never acknowledged as Queen. Under her influence the character of the court gradually changed and religion became the fashion. The Jesuits obtained complete mastery over the King, and he thought to atone for his former irregular life by acts of bigoted religious zeal. The climax of his Catholic zeal was the revocation in 1685 of the Edict of Nantes, by which Henry IV had granted sufficient toleration to the Huguenot to enable them to live in safety. Louis XIV had begun by permitting the most horrible persecutions and encouraging forced conversions brought about by quartering soldiers on the unhappy Protestant families. Now Protestant worship was entirely forbidden and all children were ordered to be brought up as Catholics, whilst severe measures were taken to prevent any Huguenot from flying the country. This treatment of the Protestants was not only cruel, it was also most foolish and shortsighted. At the beginning of Louis XIV's reign there were nearly two million Huguenot in France. They were the most industrious and intelligent citizens in the country, they had produced some of the bravest soldiers and some of the ablest financiers, and were clever artificers in every branch of manufacture. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes compelled these loyal and useful subjects to flee at peril of their life, leaving all their goods behind them to countries where they might find toleration for their religion. Many went to England, many to Holland, to Switzerland, and the Protestant countries of Germany. Everywhere they were welcomed and protected, for if Louis XIV could not appreciate their value, other governments were not slow to see the advantages that might be reaped from their thrifty habits and skill in manufacture. Even now it is easy to see the way in which English manufacture profited by the aid of the French refugees, and amongst the wealthiest, as well as the poorest of our fellow countrymen, we continually noticed names which show us that their ancestors were amongst those whom the cruelty of Louis XIV forced to seek a new home in a foreign land. In 1688 Louis XIV's power and magnificence seemed as great as ever, but there were not wanting signs which showed that the fabric which he had raised was a hollow one and could not last. Colbert was dead and could no longer keep the finances in order by his wise measures. Lyon was no longer there to keep foreign courts in good temper by wise and flattering words. Only Louvoir remained to stir up the willing king to new wars and new aggressions. William of Orange had been allowed to gain peaceable possession of the English crown, and now, as soon as he had settled the government in England, he was enabled to obtain from parliament what indeed was the chief object of his schemes, a declaration of war against France. England, whom by more cautious measures Louis XIV might have kept neutral, if not his ally, was now with the rest of Europe arrayed against him. In May 1689 William sent some of the best English regiments under the Earl of Malbara to join the Dutch army which was commanded by the Prince of Valdek. They were opposed by a French army of superior numbers and were only able to act on the defensive. But Malbara found opportunities of showing his skill and promptitude in a manner which called down upon him the warm praise of the Prince of Valdek and of William himself. During Malbara's absence on the continent, his wife had employed herself in an agitation to secure a large income for the Princess Anne. Anne, as heir presumptive to the throne, was a person of considerable importance, and she was at present entirely under the influence of the Malbara's. They felt that they could best increase their importance by increasing hers, and encouraged her to demand from Parliament a large income which should be independent of the crown. Lady Malbara employed all her energy in canvassing the Tories to gain their support to this proposal. William and Mary were deeply hurt when they discovered what was being done without any consultation with them. Mary remonstrated with her sister but found her quite obstinate. Attempts were made to persuade Lady Malbara to desist from her endeavours, but she showed an insolent determination to go her own way. Anne was extremely popular. The Tories were in a majority in the House of Commons, and it was hoped that by an appeal to Parliament Anne might get a larger income than she could obtain from a private arrangement with William and Mary. But when her friends named seventy thousand pounds a year, they found that they had asked too much from a country already overburdened by the demands made upon its resources. At last a compromise was effected. Anne declared herself contented with fifty thousand pounds, and William agreed that it should be settled on her by active Parliament. Anne at once rewarded Lady Malbara by giving her a pension of a thousand pounds a year. These proceedings did not tend to make William and Mary look upon Lady Malbara with much favour. After his first campaign in Holland, Malbara was not immediately sent back to the Continent. His presence in England was thought advisable to form one of a Council of Nine, who were to advise Mary on the conduct of affairs whilst William was compelled to be absent in Ireland. The State of Affairs in Ireland was alarming and called for active interference. James II had appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland the Earl of Tyr Connell, an unscrupulous Papist. Tyr Connell had refused to enter into any communications with William, and having raised a large army of Irish Catholics sent to summon James from France to place himself at their head. Louis XIV agreed to furnish James and the Irish with troops and money, hoping that disturbances in Ireland would make it impossible for William to interfere actively in continental affairs. Louis XIV parted from James with warm expressions of friendship. I hope, he said, that we are about to part, never to meet again in this world. But if any evil chance should force you to return, be assured that you will find me to the last such as you have found me hitherto. James landed in Ireland in February 1689 and found most of the country in the hands of Tyr Connell, but he had to suffer much from the quarrels of his partisans. Tyr Connell and the Irish Catholics really cared nothing for James. Their object was to seize this opportunity of freeing themselves from the supremacy of England. James was only useful because he brought with him the aid of the King of France. The English Jacobice, on the other hand, looked upon James's success in Ireland only as a step to his return to England. But though James's court at Dublin was disturbed by disputes, the position of Irish affairs was very formidable to William. Fortunately, James's proceedings in Ireland were not such as to awaken any sympathy for him in England. He showed that Miss Fortune's had not taught him wisdom, for he favored none but Catholics and allowed the Irish to persecute the English colonists. In July 1689 William was at last able to send an army into Ireland. He chose as its general a French Protestant, the Duke of Schaumburg, who rather than lay aside his faith had left a great position in France and gone out into the world as a refugee when nearly eighty years of age. He had accompanied William in his descent upon England as general of his army and was extremely popular amongst the English. But in spite of his veteran skill he was able to do little in Ireland with an army of raw troops, William determined to go to Ireland himself with a greater force and bring the struggle to an end. Louis XIV took steps to strengthen James's position by sending him a reinforcement of French troops. At the same time he dispatched a great French fleet into the English Channel. Mary and her council sent orders to the English admiral Torrington to engage the French in battle. Torrington fought in a half-hearted way and the French gained a decided victory off Beecheehead. Whilst London terrified at this defeat was hourly dreading a French invasion, news came that William had won a decisive battle on the Boine, July 1st, 1690. The veteran Schaumburg had perished on the field, but the Irish and French forces were completely routed. James fled to Dublin whilst the battle was still raging and escaped to France. The Battle of the Boine settled the course of the war in Ireland. Nothing remained to be done except the gradual reduction of such places as still stood out for James. In the Council of Nine, Malbara recommended that as there was no longer any danger of invasion since the French fleet had returned to France, an English fleet with five thousand troops on board should be sent to the south of Ireland, where some important places still held out for James. The majority of the council strongly opposed him, but Mary referred the proposal to William, who heartily approved and the conduct of the expedition was entrusted to Malbara. William returned to London in the autumn and Malbara was then at Portsmouth waiting for a fair wind to take his ships to Ireland. He sailed on the 18th September and reached Cork on the 21st. He acted with great promptitude. The Irish made a stout resistance, but in 48 hours the place was taken. Malbara lost no time and a few hours after Cork had fallen sent his cavalry on to Kinsale. This too was speedily captured. It was the most convenient port for intercourse with France and its forts were found to be stocked with wheat and wine. The damp climate was so trying to the English that disease soon showed itself amongst Malbara's troops and compelled him to bring the campaign to an end. He returned to Kensington only five weeks after he had sailed. William welcomed him most warmly. No officer living, he said, who has seen so little service as my Lord Malbara is so fit for great commands. Affairs on the continent next demanded William's attention. The strength of the coalition against Louis XIV had been increased by the support of the Duke of Sevoix, who had been won over from the side of Louis. The advantages of the war had on the whole been with the French, but William's success in Ireland enabled him to go abroad himself with more troops, and though no battle was won, nothing was lost. William's absences on the continent and the importance of foreign politics left conspirators at home ample opportunity to plot against the government. There were plenty of discontented minds in England, men who thought that the new state of things had not done for them all that they expected and deserved, men again who now that they no longer felt the tyranny of James II repented that they had been led away to rebel against their king. The greater part of the conspirators were actuated by no decided principles. They had no particular wish to restore James II, but the future seemed to them so dark and uncertain that they held it wise for their own interests to be if possible, unfriendly terms with James, so that they might not suffer should he be restored. It is hopeless to look for high principles amongst the statesmen and courtiers of those days. Political morality never sank so low as it did after the restoration, and the men who administered the government of William and Mary had been trained at the Court of Charles II. Some of the chief men in the government now entered into communications with James. One of these was Edward Russell, a leading Whig, who as admiral of the fleet commanded the United Forces of England and Holland. He was irritable and discontented by nature and thought that sufficient favour had not been shown to his relatives. Malbara, who had not scrupled to betray James II to William, now did not scruple of his own accord to offer all the assistance in his power to the Jacobite conspirators. He was entirely wanting in those qualities which would have made him a faithful adherent to any cause. With all his splendid ability he had no fine sense of honour, no motive higher than self-interest. He would serve William as long as it seemed clear that William was on the winning side, but as soon as he saw there was any chance of the Jacobite plot succeeding he thought it well to make friends with James again. He knew that James regarded him with bitter anger that he had said repeatedly he would never forgive him. He therefore made humble approaches to the Jacobite conspirators. He expressed his deep sorrow for his former base treachery and his willingness to do anything in his power to show his repentance. He kept up during several years communications with James's court at Saint-Germain and from time to time gave information of the measures of the government at home. But he never threw himself entirely into the cause of the exiled king nor fulfilled all the promises he made him. He only did just enough to secure for himself a promise of pardon should James be restored to the throne. It was partly owing to Malbara's influence that Lord Godolphin, the First Lord of the Treasury, was at last persuaded by the Jacobites to enter into communications with James. Godolphin and Malbara were bound to one another by a sincere friendship, proceeding partly from a sense of community of interest, but at any rate rare in those days. For till Godolphin's death nothing ever produced a difference between them, and they worked together an entire concord. Godolphin had first risen to importance in Charles II's reign as a commissioner of the Treasury. He was a patient, hardworking man, and so thoroughly mastered the details of finance that he became an invaluable servant to any government. He had no passions, no decided principles which would lead him to prefer one party to another. He was ready to work with any government if he could secure for himself a comfortable and lucrative position, and he was so honest and trustworthy in financial matters as to ensure for himself wonderful success in public life. Charles II had said of him, Sydney Godolphin is never in the way and never out of the way, and the truth of this saying is shown by the manner in which each successive government made use of him. Even James II, who has a rule trusted only papists, gave Godolphin his confidence. He was made Chamberlain to James' queen and did not scruple in fulfilling the duties of his office to give her his hand when she went to mass. Later James II made him a commissioner of the Treasury. William so clearly saw his usefulness that in 1690 he made him first commissioner of the Treasury and put complete confidence in him. It was only unwillingly at first that Godolphin listened to the proposals of the Jacobites, but like Marlborough he soon felt that it would be wise to secure a promise of pardon from James, and to gain this he too made occasional communications about the measures of the government to Saint-Germain. Chapter 4 William and Mary Part 3 These treacherous proceedings were not at all suspected. In 1691 William took Marlborough with him to the continent where he assisted in preparations for the next campaign. His talents drew considerable attention upon him. When William asked the Prince of Vaudemont, one of the ablest commanders in the Dutch service, his opinion of the English generals, he answered, Kirk has fire, linear thought, mackey skill, and culturester bravery. But there is something inexpressible in the Earl of Marlborough. All their virtues seem to be united in his single person. If I can read what is written in his face, no subject of your majesty can ever attain such a height of military glory as that to which this combination of sublime perfections must raise him. William answered with a smile, I believe the Earl of Marlborough will do his part to verify your prediction. That his return to England, Marlborough entered into closer connection than ever with the Jacobites. He determined to make use of the growing feeling of discontent among the English at the favor shown by the King to his own countrymen and to bring an address into the House of Lords, requesting the King to remove all foreigners from his service. Marlborough hoped in this way to get rid of all the Dutch troops in England. He thought that his popularity with the English army would enable him to lead it as he liked, and that by a bloodless revolution he could bring back James to the throne. But the Jacobites distrusted his promises. They thought that once master of the situation he would not use it for the benefit of James, but would prefer to place the Princess Anne on the throne, since his influence over her was such that, were she queen, he would be able to rule the country in her name. His plans were therefore made known to William by the Jacobites themselves, and William saw at once that it was impossible to leave a man capable of such treachery in high command in the army. In January 1692, Marlborough was deprived of all his offices and forbidden to appear in the royal presence. The true cause of his disgrace was not known at the time. It would have been impossible to make the Jacobites appear publicly against him, and many surmises on the subject were afloat. The truth has become known to us through the memoirs of James II. Though the Princess Anne was told by her sister of the causes which had led to Marlborough's disgrace, she would not be separated from her beloved friends. After three weeks, she even allowed Lady Marlborough to go to court with her. This was too much for Mary. She wrote an angry letter to Anne bidding her at once dismissed Lady Marlborough from her service. Anne answered that there was no misery she would not rather suffer than to be parted from her friend. But William and Mary remained firm, and Anne left the court rather than lose Lady Marlborough. She removed with her household to Sion House on the Thames, and during the remainder of Mary's life lived either there or at Barkley House in Piccadilly. The breach between her and William and Mary was complete. They spared no pains to show their indignation at her conduct. Her income could not be touched, but her guard of honor was taken away, and the foreign ministers no longer waited upon her. On the 5th of May of the same year, Marlborough was suddenly arrested on a charge of high treason and carried to the tower. A wretched man named Young, who was at that time imprisoned in Newgate on a charge of forgery, hoped to gain distinction for himself by making known an imaginary plot to the government. He had forged the signatures of Marlborough and other distinguished persons in a document in which the subscribers bound themselves to take up arms in the cause of James. The whole thing was such a transparent forgery that after a few weeks' detention in the tower, Marlborough was released on bail. This false accusation was really useful to him, for the people regarded him as an innocent man wrongly accused, and had little idea how near Young came to the truth. It was thought that the loss of his offices a few months before might be as undeserved as his imprisonment in the tower, but this imprisonment increased his hostility against the government, and he lost no opportunity of opposing it in the House of Lords and keeping up his communications with James at Saint-Germain. In 1694 an opportunity presented itself of doing an act which would convince James of his sincerity. The war on the continent still went on, and Louis XIV, anxious to strike a blow on Spain, determined to send his fleet into the Mediterranean to attack Barthelona. William sent Russell after the French fleet with the greater part of the combined Dutch and English fleets, and made arrangements for a descent upon breasts by a body of troops under General Tolmache. He hoped that in the absence of the French fleet the place might easily be taken. The plan was kept a profound secret, but Malbora discovered it and gave notice of it to James, who gave information to the French government. Preparations were at once taken to meet the attack. Adverse Gaels detained the English and gave the French ample time. Tolmache, confident that his attack was unexpected, landed in spite of clear signs that there were troops ready to oppose him. He was greeted by heavy fire and was himself one of the first to perish. His troops only succeeded in re-embarking after suffering terrible loss. Tolmache was one of the ablest English generals, and Malbora is said by some to have betrayed him from a desire for the death or disgrace of a possible rival. But the baseness of his conduct remains the same, whether it arose from mere personal ambition or from a desire to ingratiate himself with James. Whilst the country was mourning over this disaster, of which he was the cause, he presented himself at Whitehall and asked permission to use once more his sword for William and Mary. William knew well his splendid abilities and often regretted that he could not make use of them, but he had learnt to regard him with deep suspicion and sent back from the Netherlands where he then was a short and dry refusal to Malbora's entreaty. I can say no more, he wrote, than that I do not think it, for the good of my service, to entrust the command of any troops to him. Malbora's whole attitude was changed by the death of Queen Mary in 1694. Mary was still in the prime of life when, after a few days' illness, she was carried off by smallpox. William's grief was so violent that after he had been carried away insensible from her bedside, men feared for his reason and his life. The Queen's bright, amiable nature had gained her the love of her people and never had the death of a sovereign cause such genuine and profound grief. But to Malbora her death opened a bright prospect. It was entirely unexpected. William's wretched constitution had made his early death highly probable. Then Mary might have married again and had children to succeed her on the throne. At any rate, she was little older than Anne and was strong and vigorous. There was no reason for thinking that Anne would ever come to the throne. Now everything was changed. William, with his feeble health, could not live long. A few years would see Anne on the throne and then Malbora would be all powerful. He could afford to bide his time. A reconciliation between Anne and William followed immediately on Mary's death and William's animosity to the Malbora's gradually decreased. But in 1696 Malbora was suddenly threatened by a disclosure of his treasonable relations with James. A well-known Jacobite conspirator, Sir John Fenwick was arrested and imprisoned. In terror for his life he sought to save himself by promising to make a confession to the King of all he knew about the Jacobite plots. He drew up his confession and named as the chief conspirators Russell, Godolphon, Malbora and Shrewsbury, then Secretary of State. To William it was no news that these men were engaged in atreasable correspondence, but he knew well that except for a few rare exceptions he would look in vain amongst the English statesmen of that day for men upon whose fidelity he could count. He now professed surprise and incredulity at Fenwick's confession which he forwarded at once to Shrewsbury himself. Malbora's perfect command of temper enabled him to listen to the accusation with the contempt and indifference of conscious innocence. The matter was brought before the House of Lords, and there Malbora arose and said, I assure your lordships that since the accession of his present majesty I have had no intercourse with Sir John on any subject whatever and this I declare on my word of honour. His words may have been true, but they are nothing more than a clever quibble when we consider the treason of which he was really guilty. Godolphon excused himself with many protestations, but Shrewsbury, though the least guilty of them all, was too ashamed to appear and insisted on resigning his secretarieship. Godolphon had resigned his office as soon as Fenwick's confession became known, the wigs who hated him as the one Tory in high power brought pressure upon him to do so, and William gladly accepted his resignation. Fenwick's attempts to save his life by accusing others were useless, and he was executed under a bill of attainder. Fenwick's confession made no difference in William's feelings about Malbora. He saw that self-interest would make him a useful servant for the future, and so the past might be forgotten. Anne's eldest child, the Duke of Gloucester, was now nearly nine years of age, and it was thought that he ought to have a separate establishment. In accordance with Anne's earnest wish, William appointed the Earl of Malbora his Governor, whilst his literary training was confided to Burnett, Bishop of Salisbury. Malbora's appointment was received with general favour, as he was then extremely popular. Shortly afterwards he was again sworn a member of the Privy Council, and when the King was about to go to Holland in 1698, Malbora was named one of the nine lords justices who were to govern the country in his absence. End of Section 8