Epochs of Modern History EDITED BY EDWARD E. MORRIS, M.A., J. SURTEES PHILLPOTTS, B.C.L. AND C. COLBECK, M.A. THE AGE OF ANNE. EDWARD E. MORRIS, M.A. EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. Edited by Rev. G. W. Cox and Charles Sankey, M. A. Eleven volumes, i6mo, with 41 Maps and Plans. Price per vol., $1.00. The set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $11.00. Troy— It? Legend, History, and Literature. By S. G. W. Benjamin. The Greeks and the Persians. By G. W. Cox. The Athenian Empire. By G. W. Cox. The Spartan and Theban Supremacies. By Charles Sankey. The Macedonian Empire. By A. M. Curteis. Early Rome. By W. Ihne. Rome and Carthage. By R. Bosworth Smith. The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla. By A. H. Beesley. The Roman Triumvirates. By Charles Merivale. The Early Empire. By W. Wolfe Capes. The Age of the Antonines. By W. Wolfe Capes. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. Edited by Edward E. Morris. Eighteen volumes, i6mo, with 77 Maps, Plans, and Tables. Price per vol., $1.00. The set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $18.00. The Beginning of the Middle Ages. By R. W. Church. The Normans in Europe. By A. H. Johnson. The Crusades. By G. W. Cox. The Early Plantagenets. By Wm. Stubbs. Edward III. By W. Warburton. The Houses of Lancaster and York. By James Gairdner. The Era of the Protestant Revolution. By Frederic Seebohm. The Early Tudors. By C. E. Moberly. The Age of Elizabeth. By M. Creighton. The Thirty Years War, 1618-1648. By S. R. Gardiner. The Puritan Revolution. By S. R. Gardiner. The Fall of the Stuarts. By Edward Hale. The English Restoration and Louis XIV. By Osmond Airy. The Age of Anne. By Edward E. Morris. The Early Hanoverians. By Edward E. Morris. Frederick the Great. By F. W. Longman. The French Revolution and First Empire. By W. O'Connor Morns. Appendix by Andrew D. White. The Epoch of Reform, 1830-1850. By Justin Macarthy. Epochs of Modern History THE AGE OF ANNE. BY EDWARD E. MORRIS, MA. OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD HEAD MASTER OF THE MELBOURNE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, AUSTRALTA WITH MAPS AND PLANS NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 1890. MAY a / I9W H ft 4r*l 5" as f er 1 fEBl905 PREFACE. It would not be fair to this little book to send it forth to take its chance in the world without a pre- face, however much I should prefer that course. My aim in writing the book has been so definite, my ob- ject so distinct, that I particularly wish it not to be tried by an unsuitable standard, nor condemned upon wrong grounds. In the field of history, as with other kinds of knowledge, there are two orders of workers. On the one side are the original writers, who make re- searches, and delve for new ore ; on the other, those who perform the humbler but equally needful ofhce of teaching, of spreading knowledge, and working into shape the material which the former produce. This book is not a contribution to the general fund of historical knowledge. Those who before knew the history of its period will find here no new light. It is offered as an effort to assist in the teaching of history in schools. It is written in the light of a theory, according to the soundness of which and the measure with which it has been followed my book must stand or fall. Much as I should like to study history as it ought to be studied, to ransack Record offices and public libraries for new information, and with its help to place in new aspect facts known before, I can claim no credit for such work. I have had neither the time nor the opportunity. The demands upon a school-master's hours leave him little leisure, and vi Preface. the undue pressure of examination, with which now- adays each school-time closes, destroys the working power of at least a portion of his holidays. But a schoolmaster may fairly be expected to know the kind of book that will be good for the purpose of teaching. This is the reason for my venture ; but I clearly recognise its limits. The theory on which the book is based is the car- dinal theory of the whole series called Epochs of History. I was led some years ago to believe that, in spite of the flood of school histories pouring from the press, there was room for a series, in which short periods could be studied with that fulness without which history is comparatively unprofitable. I had the good fortune to find publishers in the first to whom I applied, and to secure the cordial co-opera- tion of several distinguished writers. As long as I remained in England I edited the series. It would be ludicrous to claim originality for this method. I have always found that schoolmasters who are really educators accept the doctrine. But I am very anxious to state it clearly, for history les- sons have been and are continually ruined by the intrusion of cram — names that are mere shadows, and a profusion of dates. History is not taught in schools that the excellent virtue of accuracy may be learnt. To teach this is the function of other lessons that occupy a much larger portion of the pupil's time. History should be taught for the sake of its human interest. For this reason I have made it my first object to avoii CHAPTER IV. " THE GRAND ALLIANCE." The Emperor . -33 The nine Electors 34 How they ranged themselves : (a) On the French side 35 Bavaria . 35 Cologne 35 (b) On the side of the Grand Alliance ... 35 Brandenburg (kingdom of Prussia) 35 Bohemia 35 Hanover 35 The Palatinate 35 (c) Neutral . . . - . . . .33 Mayence . . ... . . -35 Treves 35 Saxony 35 The central powers of the Grand Alliance . . 36 England and Holland 36 Other allies : Minor princes of Germany and Denmark . 36 Also, after the first year, Savoy and Portugal, who deserted France 37 CHAPTER V. OPENING OF THE WAR. SECTION I. — Marlborough in Flanders. 170a His object .42 To clear the Netherlands of the French ... 42 XH Chronological Table of Contents. PACB 1702 Result of the first campaign 43 French cut off from lower valley of the Rhine. Ven- loo and other towns taken . ... 43 Capture of Bonn on the Rhine and Huy on the Meuse 43"44 SECTION II. — Campaigns in Germany and elsewhere. Co) On the Upper Rhine .... Landau taken by Prince Lewis of Baden (5) In North Italy Victory of Cremona won by Prince Eugene passes into Tyrol secured (c) In Bavaria Imperialists routed by the French (//) In West Indies English under Admiral Benbow worsted and 44 45 45 45 45 45 46 46 704 Section III.— Spain, (a) Failure of attack on Cadiz 46 (b) Treasure ships taken by the English at Vigo . 47 (c) Earl of Galway commands the allies against Duke of Berwick 48 (d) Capture of Gibraltar by Sir George Rooke * 49 CHAPTER VI. RISING IN THE CEVENNES. The strength of the Huguenots in the valleys of the Loire and the lower Rhone The Camisards (/'Wearers of the white frock,") 1703 Rise under Jean Cavalier and others 1684 The Dragonnades urged on by Madame de Main tenon 1704 Failure of the English fleet to help the Camisards The weakness of the Empire in Hungary and Tran sylvania Chronological Table of Contents. xiii CHAPTER VII. BLENHEIM. PAGE 1704 Object of Lewis to. attack Vienna . . . .58 Marlborough's plan— to strike across the Rhine, meet Eugene, and prevent the junction of the French armies in Bavaria 59 Battle of Blenheim 62 The results of the victory 67 The power of Lewis XIV. broken and prestige of French arms destroyed ' 67 CHAPTER VIII. LORD PETERBOROUGH. His character 68 The provinces of Catalonia and Valencia chosen by the allies as points of attack 70 Capture of Monjuich 72 1705 Capture of Barcelona 73 Exploits of Peterborough 75 CHAPTER IX. THE YEAR OF VICTORY— 1706. Section l.—Ramillies. 1706 May 23 The battle ..... -79 Its results 80 Fall of Brussels, Antwerp, Menin, Dendermonde 80-81 Section II. — Turin. Siege of Turin 83 1706 Sept. 7 Battle of Turin 84 Results of Turin . . . ... .84 (1) Disheartening effect on French army . . 84 (2) The French driven from Piedmont . . .85 (3) Naples cut off from France . . . .85 xiv Chronological Table of Contents. SECTION III. — Barcelona and Madrid. PAGE The French besiege Barcelona 85 The siege raised by Peterborough . . . .86 1706 Madrid entered by Earl of Galway . . . .86 Success of the allies checked by the chivalrous loyalty of the Spaniards to Philip 87 CHAPTER X. THE YEAR OF DISASTER — 1707. Neutrality of Charles XII. of Sweden secured by Marlborough 90 1707 March The allies defeated by Duke of Berwick at Almanza 92 Archduke Charles reduced to single province of Catalonia 93 Naples secured by the Emperor . . . .93 Failure of attack on Toulon 94 Defeat of the allies on Rhine by Villars . . .94 Sir Cloudesley Shovel lost off the Scilly Islands . 95 CHAPTER XI. LATER FIGHTING IN THE LOW COUNTRIES. SECTION I. — Oudenarde and Lille. Brabant inclining to French 96 Siege of Oudenarde . ■ 96 Eugene joins Marlborough . . . . .97 1708 July 11 Battle of Oudenarde . .... 97 Siege of Lille 99 Skirmish at Wynendale 100 Surrender of Lille 101 Section II.— Negotiations. State of France 101 Lewis proposes terms 102 The terms of the allies 102 Chronological Table of Contents. xv PAGE Embassy of Torcy 102 Conference at the Hague 102 1709 Lewis finds proposal intolerable and (May), appeals to his people 103 Their answer 104 Section III. — Malplaqtiet. Villars and BoufHers 105 Plan of campaign — Tournai 106 Mons . 107 Sept. 11 Battle of Malplaquet . . . . 108 CHAPTER XII. LATER CAMPAIGNS IN SPAIN. SECTION I. — The three Years that followed Almanza. General Stanhope . . . . . . . 109 1709 Port Mahon taken 11 1 Duke of Orleans succeeds Berwick . . . .111 French withdrawn from Spain 112 1710 Battle of La Gudina 112 Section II. — The final Campaign. Stanhope's advance 113 His victory at Almenara 113 His victory at Saragossa .114 The allies advance and occupy Madrid . . .115 They retreat to Toledo 116 Return to Catalonia 116 English defeat at Brihuega 117 Drawn-battle of Villa Viciosa 118 CHAPTER XIII. THE FORTUNES OF PARTIES. The development of parties and their influences . 120 Opposite views of Whigs and Tories on the Revolu- tion and religious toleration iai Chronological Table of Contents. The queen inclines to the Tories as the Church party Her first Ministry Tory in the main Godolphin and Marlborough gradually go over to the Whig camp .... 1703-1704 Occasional Conformity Bill brought forward three times — its defeat in the Lords . Lord Somers the most eminent Lord Sunderland the most violent of the Whig Junto Abigail Hill comes on the scene She supplants the Duchess of Marlborough 1708 Yet the Ministry is made more Whig by the enforced resignation of Harley and St. John Steady growth of Cabinet government Life-command refused to Marlborough 1710 Dr. Sacheverell's sermon . General election — Tory majority Dismissal of Whigs .... Occasional Conformity Bill passed 122 122 123 124 125 126 126 127 128 128 129 130 131 131 131 CHAPTER XIV. FAG-END OF THE WAR. The two Tory chiefs — Harley, Earl of Oxford St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke Archduke Charles becomes Emperor Marlborough's last campaign 1711 Expedition against Quebec Marlborough's disgrace Death of Godolphin . Twelve Tory peers created Ormond commander-in-chief English troops separated from the allies Eugene still commands the " road to Paris 1712 July 24. Victory of French at Denain and 132 133 134 134 I3S 135 136 136 136 137 137 Chronological Table of Contents. xvii CHAPTER XV. PEACE OF UTRECHT. PAGE Negotiations 138 1706 (a) After Ramillies . .... 138 1709 (&) At the Hague 138 1710 (c) At Gertruydenburg 139 1711 (d) At Utrecht . . . . . . .139 1713 March. Peace of Utrecht signed .... 139 X714 The Emperor makes a separate peace at Rastadt . 139 Results of the Peace of Utrecht .... 139 To France : The Spanish monarchy left in the hands of the Bourbons 140 To England : The possession of Gibraltar and Minorca, Hudson's Bay Territory, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. 140 To Spain : The loss of possessions in Italy and the Nether- * lands ........ 141 To Prussia : The acknowledgment of its status as a kingdom 141 To the Dutch : Gain of a barrier in the Austrian Netherlands against France 142 Arguments for the Treaty : (a) The war a great burden to England and increase of national debt .... 142 (b) Strength of patriotism in Spain enlisted on the side of Philip V 142 (c) The union of Spain and Austria more dan- gerous than that of Spain and France . . 143 Against the Treaty: (a) Necessity for seizing the opportunity of pre- venting danger from France for the future 143 \5) Worthlessness of renunciations . . . 143 (c) The scanty fruits of such splendid triumphs 143 B xviii Chronological Table of Contents. The war a just one, but should have been finished after Ramillies 143 CHAPTER XVI. THE UNION WITH SCOTLAND. SECTION I. — The Union itself. 1704 The Scotch Act of Security passed in opposition to the English Act of Settlement 145 1706 Commission appointed to treat, with Lord Somers as its president 146 1707 The Union accomplished 146 Opposition in Scotland 147 Principles of representation 148 The Scotch law unchanged 149 Adoption of the Union Jack 149 Good results of the Union 150 # Compared with union with Ireland .... 150 SECTION II.— Attempt for the Pretender. *7°7 Jacobite rising 151 Sketch of the old Pretender 151 Failure of the attempt 153 CHAPTER XVII. PETER THE GREAT AND CHARLES XII. SECTION I.— The North- Eastern State System. View of Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and Poland 155 SECTION II. — Peter the Great. His early life 158 His policy IS9 In pursuance of it he travels in Western Europe . 160 He visits Holland and England 160 St. Petersburg founded ... . 161 Chronological Table of Contents. xix PAGE The Patriarchate abolished 162 European fashions introduced 162 The institution of the Tchin 163 SECTION III.— Charles XII. 1697 Charles succeeds to the throne 164 His character 165 He fights Denmark, Poland, and Russia in succession 166 1700 His victory at Narva 167 He becomes the arbiter of Europe .... 168 Section IV. Pultowa. 1708 Charles marches to meet Mazeppa in the Ukraine . 169 1709 July 8 Battle of Pultowa 170 The power of Charles XII. broken .... 171 He takes refuge with the Turks • 172 171 1 Peter the Great crosses the Pruth, and is defeated by the Turks 172 SECTION V.— End of Charles XII. and of Peter. Charles XII. expelled from Turkey .... 173 1718 Dec. 11 His death at the siege of Fredericshall . 173 Peter the Great makes a second journey through Europe . . * 174 1725 Feb. His death 174 CHAPTER XVIII. THE PROTESTANT SUCCESSION. Measures to secure the succession of the nearest Protestant heir 175 1597-169° The Electress Sophia 177 Her mother Elizabeth, daughter of James I. . . 177 Her father Frederick, Elector Palatine . . . 178 Her brother Prince Rupert 179 Sketch of her life 179 XX Chronological Table of Contents. The Jacobites the extreme wing of the Tory party The Tory ministers charged with Jacobite leanings 1714 Quarrels in the Ministry .... The last week of Anne's life Previous career of Shrewsbury . His appointment as Lord High Treasurer The Protestant succession secured 1660-1728 Sketch of George I His merits as a king for England 180 181 182 183 184 185 185 186 187 CHAPTER XIX. END OF LEWIS XIV. 1715 Sept. 1 Death of Lewis XIV. 1643-1715 Events in England parallel with his reign His later life clouded by trouble Death of the Dauphin .... Death of the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy Lewis XIV.'s reign an evil one for France . Policy of the Regent, the Duke of Orleans 1722 1716 1724 1740 CHAPTER XX. THE FRAGMENTS THAT REMAIN. Later career of the Duke of Marlborough . . . 192 His death 193 Fate of the Catalans 193 Victor Amadeus becomes king of Sardinia . . 193 Philip V. of Spain abdicates, but on the death of his son resumes the government *94 Later events in the Life of the Emperor Charles . 195 His death • .^95 Chronological Table of Contents xxi CHAPTER XXI. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL. SECTION I. — Population, Towns, Architecture. PAGH Population in time of Anne roughly estimated at be- tween five and and seven millions . . . 195-196 Population and wealth greatest in the south and east 196 Important towns (London, Bristol, Norwich, York, Exeter, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Derby, Notting- ham, Canterbury) . 197 Steady growth of London 197 Sketch of London life of the period .... 198 The City and Westminster 199 The London Exchange the centre of the commerce of the world 199 Sir C. Wren the architect of St. Paul's . . .201 His style .202 Sir John Vanbrugh, the architect .... 203 Description of Bath . 203 SECTION II, — The Poor. Statistics Gradual improvement in the condition of the poor 204 Pauperism in the reign of Anne .... 206 Prices and wages 207 Distribution of land 207 Corn the staple produce 20? Wool next in importance 20? Cotton manufacture in its infancy .... 2oy Other manufactures . . . . . • • 209 High standard of comfort 209 Consumption of beer diminished by introduction of tea and coffee 210 The " Spectator " on luxuries 211 Claret driven out by port 212 Section III.— National Debt: General principle of a debt ... .213 Later history of the debt 215 xxii Chronological Table of Contents PAGE The policy of repudiation attributed to the Pretender by the Whigs 215 Section IV '.—Strength of Parties. The Tories, their strength in the country . . . 217 The Whigs, their strength in the towns . . . 217 Oxford, the Tory university — Cambridge the Whig . 218 The clergy below the present standard . . .218 Their position improved by Queen Anne's Bounty . 219 CHAPTER XXII. LITERATURE. Section I.— French Literature. Influence of patronage and rules of art . . .219 Literature greatest in first half of reign of Lewis XIV. 220 Strength of the drama 221 3622-1673 The comedies of Moliere 221 1606-1684 The tragedies of Corneille 221 1639-1697 The tragedies of Racine 221 Development of French prose 221 1627-1704 Absolutism in religion advocated by Bossuet 222 1623-1662 Revolt of Pascal against this absolutism . . 222 Reform advocated by the saintly Fenelon . . . 223 Influence of French on English literature. — Later reaction on French literature .... 223-224 Section II.— English Literature. Literature all-powerful and in close alliance with politics 224 1688-1744 Alexander Pope 225 1711 " Essay on Criticism " 227 1712 " Rape of the Lock " 227 1715-1725 "Homer" 227 1732-1734 " Essay on man" 227 Pope's style and influence 228 Chronological Table of Co?ite7its. xxiii PAGE The age of Anne strongest in prose .... 228 Party spirit gives an impulse to pamphlet-writing . 230 1667-1745 Jonathan Swift . , . . . * . 230 1704 '* Tale of a Tub " 231 " Conduct of the Allies " 231 1724 " Drapier's Letters " 232 1726 " Gulliver's Travels " 232 1661-1731 Daniel Defoe 233 *' The True-born Englishman " 233 " Shortest way with the Dissenters " .... 234 1719 " Robinson Crusoe 234 Joseph Addison 235 1705 " The Campaign '' 236 Character of Addison 237 "Cato" 238 1671-1729 Sir Richard Stede . . . . . .238 1711 Joined by Addison in the "Ta tier'' and the " Spec- tator '■' 239 Influence of the " Spectator . . . . 240 Index . . . . . . . . . . . .243 MAPS. Europe, 1700 To face title page PAGE Battle of Blenheim, August 13, 1704 ... 62 Battle of Ramillies, May 23, 1706 . . . . 78 Italy, 1700 • to face 82 The Netherlands 95 Western Europe: showing the principal changes effected by the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt ...... 140 Europe : illustrating the Wars of Charles XII. and Peter the Great ... . 155 THE AGE OF ANNE. CHAPTER I. THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. In the last years of the seventeenth century the minds of all European statesmen were turned towards Spain. Spain had once been the most formidable of monarchies, dangerous to the peace of monarchy" 51 Europe. As far as this formidableness de- pended on material resources and extent of territories, there was no reason why she should not be so again. In the reign of the Emperor Charles V., who was also known as Charles I. of Spain, the Spanish king ruled not only over Spain, but over the rich provinces of the Netherlands, over large districts of Italy, and over un- defined territories in America, rich in silver mines. It is true that from his son Philip II., husband of our Queen Mary, the provinces of the Netherlands revolted, excited by his malignant hostility against the Protestants. Some were successful in their revolt, and formed the country which, released from the Spanish yoke, had since prospered under the name of the United Provinces, or Holland. Portugal, also, which Philip had seized, had again established itself as a separate kingdom. 2 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1700. France had wrested three provinces from Spain. But the greater part of the dominions of King Philip were still joined together, Spain and the Netherlands, Italy and the Indies ; and the crown of this ill-assorted mon- archy was upon the head of Charles II. As long as he should continue to live, no anxiety would be excited in the mind of any statesman. In mind Charle II and body he was, perhaps, the feeblest man in his dominion. In infancy it had been doubtful whether he could be reared Ever since, he had been an invalid ; he suffered from a malformation of his jaw, which prevented the mastication of his food. He was terribly ignorant, and as superstitious as he was ignorant. The kingdom of Spain had been misgoverned before, but in his time it was going to ruin. Every de- partment of the State was in disorder ; the law courts, the army, the finances. As long as he could be kept alive, no foreign statesman would feel in the least afraid of Spanish ambition ; but his death was imminent, and great uneasiness was felt as to the succession to his crown. Charles was childless. The crown would therefore de- volve upon the descendants either of one of his sisters or of his aunt. Their respective claims will claimants ^ e ^ est ex pl ame d by a reference to the ac- companying table. According to the ordi- nary rules of inheritance, the dauphin, as son of his eldest sister, had the best right ; but Lewis XIV. and Maria Theresa had on their marriage renounced for their posterity all claims to the succession, and ratified this renunciation with the most solemn oaths. On the mar- riage of Leopold, the emperor, to her sister, a similar renunciation had been made, though, according to the notions of the day, the oaths were less sacred, and the agreement was regarded as less binding. The issue of The Spanish Succession. PL, V) »— 1 wo t— I c Ph c '£ o 13 fc-S, I— I ft en o £: > 5 : 8 S is -a o " -2 ™ -H S EI ^ £> rt § O e h » > .3*2 6 a B fl i S _£'3 4>2i rt0 «^ Bi^gp „■""£ rB 2 g B C J-S «' H-B !r u >, B js l> CJ * <->S.° ^ ^ u Oho £§<£ o II- S2S •r-H o > . a. b h ^ B f S 1 "5= -3 MS islt '75 ^ W) O rt.S H <0 H Q B B ,«*- o £ rj «>£ ° % . -B O o,C <"T3.Soo O ui u B o m „ *«£ fe "■• >" rt k 2 •^ 'c's ju ra a a. o B rf!<;'>rt».B(X>BbX) ° u ; a^-' o '- -M 5 rl 3 a s a -b b,j3(_; c! fe •- fe *-> b ■ 3 3 ^^ 3 £•— '£ T5 B £ on * • £ H^ S It 3 -O ^ rt^cB « J M « O rt( _l 4 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1700. this marriage was a daughter, who had married the Elector of Bavaria. Her claim would pass to her son, Joseph, the Electoral Prince of Bavaria. The third claimant was the emperor himself, the cousin of King Charles. His claim was the weakest by descent, but the strongest in that, at his mother's marriage, no re- nunciation had been effected. The King of France and the emperor were fully- aware that an absolute union of the Spanish Crown either with that of France or with the em- pire would never be permitted. The dau- phin, therefore, and the emperor, agreed each to waive his right in favor of his second son. The three claim- ants stood forth as Philip, Duke of Anjou; Joseph, the Electoral Prince ; and the Archduke Charles. It was manifest that it would be best for the peace of Europe that the crown should pass to some prince of small power, or one whose power was distant from Spain. Anxiety was especially felt lest it should fall to a French prince ; for France was now occupying the position in Europe once held by Spain, and the prospect of a union of the two countries under princes of the same family caused a genuine alarm, especially amongst Protestant statesmen. Lewis XIV. is called in French history " the great king." He was the founder of that policy of the aggrandisement of France at the expense of her neighbors which has marked French history since. Earlier French statesmen and French kings had the notion of an equilibrium in European politics, France being one amongst equal States ; but Lewis wished to give her supremacy. Owing to her wise interference on behalf of toleration in Ger- many, in the Great Thirty Years' War, France had, about the time of the accession of Lewis, attained very a.d. 1697. The Spanish Succession. 5 considerable power. By unscrupulous encroachments, by interfering in the affairs of Germany — weakened as she was by her long struggle — and by vigorous fighting under most skilful generals, Lewis had increased that power. There was, indeed, reason to fear for the liberties of Europe if Spain were joined to France ; nor was there room for doubt that this power would be hostile to the cause of Protestantism. The wise toleration which Henry of Navarre had granted to the Huguenots by the Edict of Nantes had been cancelled by the revocation of that charter. The influence of the Jesuits was plainly visible on the French Court. Lewis had one great opponent, William of Orange. His ancestor, William the Silent, had opposed Philip of Spain whose power was dangerous to Europe and to Protestantism ; and young William (JSJT ° f devoted his life to the same cause — the de- fence of the liberties of Europe, especially in religion. At first he stood forward only as the ruler of Holland ; but when the Revolution placed him on the throne of England, that country, which, under Charles II., had been but the vassal, the paid servant of France, re- sumed her rightful position at the head of the Protestant cause. It is not necessary here to recapitulate the different events that mark stages in the contest between William and Lewis. The last tedious war, in which England had, for the most part, been successful at sea, and France on land, was ended with the Treaty of Rys- wick, which, whilst it acquiesced in many of Lewis's conquests, yet settled the Jacobite question. Lewis had undertaken to recognise William as King of England, and nevermore to assist the exiled James in his attempts to regain the crown. The peace was eagerly welcomed. England and 6 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1698. France alike were tired of war ; and the rulers of the p two countries, reluctant that the peace of Ryswick. Europe should be disturbed by this new question with ^respect to the succession to the crown of Spain, desired to arrange it without fighting. The negotiations between William and Lewis upon this subject were long and anxious. They began when Bentinck, Duke of Portland, once William's Son tfea? 1 " greatest friend, and still one of his most trusted advisers, was sent on # an embassy to Versailles. They continued when Tallard, a distinguished French nobleman and general, was sent by Lewis on a special embassy to England. They were brought to a point at Loo, William's favourite Dutch palace, to which, when released from cares of State in England, he always hastened. The result was the First Treaty of Pirlition. When Lewis found that the English and the Dutch would not consent to the Spanish dominion passing to a French prince, even if shorn of some of its territories, he agreed that it should fall to the Electoral Prince of Bavaria, provided that France received an eauival^t for this concession. The f)riGe*wa^1^sipIes"anM Sicily, as a separate kingdom for the Duke of Anjou, and the province of Guipuscoa, in the north of Spain, to be added to France. The Archduke Charles was to have the Milanese. Had the King of Spain died, as was expected, soon after the signing of this treaty, there is little doubt it would have been quie"hly carried out. But, Joseph °and instead of the death of King Charles, who tio°n UeatT'" had lon g been ilL and whose death was constantly expected, the young prince Jo- seph fell ill of the small-pox and died at Brussels. All the agreements that had been made were useless ; and a.d. 1700. The Spanish Site cession. 7 the old difficulty returned. Negotiations began again (1700). The claimants were now reduced to two — the dauphin's son, Philip of Anjou; and the Archduke Charles, the son of the emperor. The price of France therefore rose. England and Holland supported the claim of the Archduke Charles. It was therefore at length determined that the archduke should be King of Spain; that Philip of Anjou should have Naples and Sicily as before ; that not only Guipuscoa but also the Milanese should fall to France ; and it was intended that France should exchange the latter province for Lorraine, which lay more convenient. It was natural that these treaties should produce great soreness in Spain. The Spaniards had long been at the head of a great power in Europe ; and now their territories were to be divided, and their irritation of bpam. consent was not even asked. The Castil- ians were the proudest of all Spaniards, and had long been the ruling class in the country ; they felt it the most. The dishonor to Spain was well expressed in a famous political satire, published towards the end of Queen Anne's reign, "Arbuthnot's History of John Bull," from which the popular name for an Englishman is taken. Old Lord Strutt, the King of Spain, is dying ; and there assemble with measuring poles and ink-horns to divide his estate, Lewis Baboon (France), his neigh- bor, John Bull (England), his tailor, and Nick Frog, (Holland), his runaway servant. But the real question as to the iniquity of the partition is not settled here. The peace of Europe was more important than the honour of the Castilians, and the object of the treaty was to keep the nations at peace. The soreness in Spain, however, vented itself in anger not against Lewis, but against William. The ill-feeling 8 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1700. with respect to him, unfortunately, was aggravated by another matter. The Span- iards claimed for themselves the whole coast of Central America. It had occurred some years before to a visionary Scotchman, named William Paterson, who had not always shown the qualities of a visionary, for he was the founder of the Bank of England, to lead a set- tlement to Darien, on the Isthmus of Panama. He re- presented in glowing terms to his countrymen the splendor of the country, where Nature produced her fruits little assisted by the labour of man, and the almost certain wealth that would accrue to Scotland. Paterson predicted that the whole trade with India would be di- verted from its existing channels and pass across the Isthmus of Panama. The scheme created the greatest enthusiasm throughout Scotland. Everyone was anxious to obtain shares in the company which was formed. Two ships were fitted out, and the Darien company obtained a charter from William's representatives, the government in Scotland. The expedition failed, as it was sure to fail, seeing that the settlers knew nothing of the climate or of the country in which they were to settle. It failed utterly and entirely. Many fell victims to disease and starvation ; a few escaped with their lives. This failure brought the ill-will of Scotland against William ; the attempt roused the ill-will of England, jealous for her Indian trade, as well as the fierce anger of Spain. Moreover, the English people did not want to inter- fere in the affairs of Spain. They were tired of fighting, „ . . and on that account hostile to the policy of Opposition l J to William William. A House of Commons had been returned, pledged to a considerable reduc- tion of the armv, and determined to secure that in the a.d. 1700. Spanish Succession. 9 English army there should be no foreigners. William's favourite Dutch regiment, the Blue Guards, had to leave England. There was also indignation against William because he had granted to his Dutch friends estates that had been forfeited to the Crown. The opposition to the king had, indeed, been carried so far that he threatened to resign the crown, and had actually written the speech with which he should resign it, a speech which is still extant. Fortunately he never carried out this threat ; but the conduct of the Spaniards, singling him out for their indignation about the Partition Treaties, shows that his power was not the same three years after as it had been when the Peace of Ryswick was signed. The Spaniards knew well the humiliation which the Parlia- ment was inflicting on him. The ruling classes in Spain, whose one great thought was how to keep the vast monarchy together, found it necessary to select one of the two claimants, and selected the more powerful. There c^T' 11 ^ were two parties at the Spanish Court, the larger and more earnest party in favour of the French succession, and another in favour of the House of Aus- tria. But the French party prevailed. When the event so long expected at last took place, and King Charles died, it was found that he had recently signed a will, by which he left his kingdom undivided to Philip, Duke of Anjou, the second son of the dauphin. William was in no position to resist. Lewis, bound neither by his oaths of renunciation nor by the sacredness of treaties, with- out hesitation permitted his grandson to accept the in- heritance ; and the temper in wbjch he did so was well illustrated by the speech with which he is said to have dismissed him to take up his crown — 77 riy a plus de Pyrenees — " The Pyrenees exist no longer." Philip io The Age of Anne. a.d. 1701. Philip v. went to Spain, where he was crowned and quietly received by the people as Philip V. It would seem as if Lewis were going to have his own way ; and if he had been careful neither to offend the people of England, nor to alarm the Dutch, Lewis makes . . . .. , . . , , three mis- it is more than possible that there would have been no war. William, and the lead- ing statesmen of Holland, might have felt indignation at the undoing of their work, and might have given their sympathies to the Archduke Charles. But they were powerless, until Lewis committed a series of mistakes, which brought the war upon him. (1.) When Philip went to Spain, his grandfather, by letters patent, reserved his right of succession to the French Crown. By this the fear of a union between the two countries was in- creased. (2.) King Lewis put French garrisons into towns of the Spanish Netherlands, showing that he re- garded those towns as now so closely united with France, that he might treat them as his own. He even proposed that the Netherlands should be ceded to him, as his government was so much nearer and more con- venient than that of Spain. By this the fears of the Dutch were excited. But, however strongly William might feel this, the English people were still indifferent. (3.) When James II., the exiled King of England, died at St. Germains, Lewis, visiting him on his death-bed, was moved to promise that he would recognize his son as the King of England. On the death of James, his son James, usually known as the Old Pretender, was, with all due formality, recognised at Versailles ; and the English people were, at last aroused. The English ambassador was recalled from France'; the French ambassador quickly received orders to leave London. The Parliament that had grudged supplies to William A.d. 1702. The Spanish Succession. 11 was. dissolved. Amid the greatest excitement, another was elected, giving a large majority to the friends of William, and the country in many ways was now as eager as it had previously been disinclined for war. For such an occasion as this William had waited. However much he might deplore that the peace of Eu- rope should once more be broken — although „,, „ n , 1 -, r ^ ^ -, The Grand he knew that his own health was feeble, and Alliance of that he could not live much longer, the the Hague - stern purpose of his life did not desert him. That pur- pose had been opposition to the growing power of Lewis. Since the death of King Charles he had laboured to ex- cite resistance to France among the European powers. The backwardness of the English had tied his hands ; but now, through the chivalrous folly or insolence of Lewis, this difficulty had been removed. The league of the European powers, known as the Grand Alliance, was revived, the objects of which were to place the Archduke Charles on the throne of Spain, and to keep down the power of France. It declared first, that France was not to retain the Netherlands, nor to acquire the West Indies, and secondly, that the Crowns of France and Spain were never to be united. But the Grand Alliance was no sooner, formed than its creator died. William had never been a strong man, he had suffered from many complaints, and _ , , r , -rl. . Death of was hardly ever free from asthma. His in- William. domitable spirit had carried him through scenes of toil and fatigue which would have brought even strong men low. His restless energy and his unceasing work had at last worn him out. All his doctors told him to prepare for death, and indeed he was ready for it. " You know," he said to a friend, "that I never feared death ; there have been times when I should have 12 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702. wished it ; but, now that this great new prospect is open- ing before me, I do wish to stay here a little longer." He was riding on his favourite horse Sorrel in Hampton- court Park, when the horse stumbled upon a mole-hill. The king was thrown, and broke his collar-bone. An illness ensued, which ended in a fever, and the fever proved fatal. About the character of William the Third many a battle has been fought His name has been made a cry wherewith to rouse animosities which are better left at peace. As no man is perfect, so in William's government, doubtless, mistakes may be found : perhaps they deserve even a harsher name. But the service that he rendered to England is un- doubted and priceless, and it was not well repaid. Dur- ing his later years his life was embittered by opposition from the English, who no longer felt the pressing need of his services against Stuart tyranny. He was con- stantly reproached with favouring his foreign friends. Would Englishmen have thought better of him if he had left his old and faithful friends unrewarded ? It is not, however, only or chiefly as an English king that William is to be judged — rather as a European statesman. As our fathers fought against pean states- Napoleon to preserve the liberties of Eu- rope, and therewith our own, so William, from his earliest years to his death-bed, held constantly before him the one thought, how best to keep the power of France within bounds Germany had been left so divided at the peace of Westphalia that there was no one great State in Europe which could resist Lewis. The only chance was an alliance : but for an alliance it was necessary that there should be some one to propose and to maintain it ; one who could humour this ally, and a.d. 1643-8. Lewis XIV. 13 persuade that ; one who, penetrated with the greatness of the cause, could forgive petty insults, and by his own warmth make up for the coldness of others. Such an one was William. Though William died, his work lived on. The ma- chine, it has been said, was put together on true prin- ciples, and it continued in motion, though the master- workman was gone. CHAPTER II. LEWIS XIV. It is impossible to understand any period of history without bearing in mind the character of the earlier times. Although this little work is intended as a history of only one and that a short period, the first fourteen years of the last century — it is advisable to give some account of 'the years that pre- Elated ° d ceded it. The war, which gave the chief significance to the period, was the fifth and last act of a long political and military drama, in which, with almost poetical justice, the villain of the play receives his de- serts. Of this drama, France and all that borders on France is the theatre. The chief actor is the King of France. Lewis XIV. succeeded to the throne in 1643, being then only a little boy. He died in 17 14. During almost all the seventy -two years of his reign France was at war. There were five general trea- j^jjjp ^ lY ties of pacification, which mark five stages in the reign, and form the termination of the five acts in the drama. They are called the treaties of West- 14 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1661. phalia, Aix-la-Chapelle, Nymwegen, Ryswick, and Ut- recht. Of the last of these, a much fuller account will be found in its place further on in this volume. The earlier history will be best followed by keeping these treaties as dividing points, and filling up the intervals. The peace of Westphalia was the peace which ended the Thirty Years' War. By judicious interference in the later part of that war France had been able Peace of . - , . ^ ,. . , , Westphalia. to gam her object. Germany was divided 4 ' into many independent states, jealous of each other. By the treaties a balance of power was established in Germany between the two forms of reli- gion, the Roman Catholic and the Protestant. The Protestant party consisted, moreover, of two sections, who bitterly opposed each other — the Lutherans and the Calvinists. The result was, that Germany was weak, and that France had no danger or shadow of danger to fear from that side. It was not until 1870 that Germany recovered from the exhaustion and disunion which were the cruel and lasting effects of the Thirty Years' War. As Lewis was so young on succeeding to his father's throne, he was, of course, at first merely a nominal ruler. The work of his predecessors, and of the ministers who governed France during his minority, prepared the way for his future policy of ambition. On the death of Mazarin, the greatest cf these regents, Lewis, then aged twenty-three, came to his council of ministers and informed them, much to their astonishment, that henceforth he would manage his own affairs. From 1661, until his death, Lewis shaped his own policy, and is alone responsible for it. He had able ministers and was well served by them ; but he was their master. This policy can only be de- scribed as a course of unvarying ambition, and of per- A.D. 1667. Lewis XIV. 15 petual attempts to enlarge and exalt France at the expense of her neighbours. In the history of some countries the personal charac- ter of the sovereign is not an important element in cal- culations. The policy of England for several years wavered less and was more vigorously fe^^xiV* carried out when the feeble Anne was on the throne, than under the energetic and able William. But with French history the case is different, especially with Lewis XIV. Letat, c'est moi I " The State, I am the State ! " was his favourite motto, which he carried out to the letter, so that his reign may be regarded as a per- fect embodiment of absolutism. His best quality, and one most befitting his position, though not too common amongst kings, was industry. He was indefatigable in the details of work. Indeed, he needed, all his indus- try since he took upon himself the work which had be- fore been done by several Secretaries of State. He had capacity also, — " enough," said Mazarin, a competent judge, " for four kings and one honest man." Some writers have credited him with the virtues of generosity and religion. His generosity, however, was only a form of pride ; his religion was bigotry. When James was ex- iled from England, Lewis received him with magnifi- cence, and provided him with a palace as a residence. But such generosity cost him nothing, and it was pleasant to have kings at his board. His religion was a religion of externals. Had he been a sincere Catholic he could not have treated the Pope with the insolence which he showed towards him. Had he been possessed at all by the real spirit of religion, it must have interfered with his cruelty, with his indifference to the sufferings of sub^ jects or foes, with his reckless and insatiable ambition. "By that sin fell the angels." There is an ambition j 6 The Age of Amie. a.d. 1667. which might seem almost worth the price of an angel's fall, but the French king's ambition was only to add to his territory, rood after rood, wrested with or without pretext from his neighbour. In the furtherance of his ambition he was entirely without scruple. In the forty years that intervened between Lewis' real accession to power and the close of the cen- tury, there were three great wars besides minor raids. The first was undertaken against Spain for the main- tenance of a claim upon the Duchy of Brabant. There was a law in Brabant that all the issue of a Succession fi rst marriage, female as well as male, should to Brabant. succeed to a fief or an estate before even the 1667. sons of a second marriage. In virtue of this law, upon the death of the King of Spain and the acces- sion of his son Charles, the weak and sickly prince, whose death caused the contest that filled the commence- ment of the next century, and who was then an infant, Lewis laid claim to the Duchy of Brabant and to other provinces of the Netherlands in right of his wife, who was Charles's half-sister. The claim was bad for two reasons. Firstly, the law applied only to private property, and had never been held to apply to the sovereign. Secondly, as has been said, before Lewis's marriage to the Spanish princess, solemn renunciation had been made of all rights which might pass to him through it. But on this, as on the later occasion, the arbitrary Lewis did not allow such trifles as oaths or treaties to hinder him from acting as he pleased. He had a strong army, and might with him was enough. But opposition ap- peared where he least expected it. During the seventeenth century England was under the dominion of the Stuarts, whose foreign policy cannot a.d. 1668. Lewis XIV. 17 be described as glorious or successful. Dur- En ■ ing the greater part of their reign, the strug- foreign gle with their Parliaments gave them neither seventeenth leisure nor opportunity for foreign affairs. centur y- Whilst the Stuarts were anxious to rule without Parlia- ments, to be kings indeed, like the French kings, and whilst they were meeting with strong opposition from Englishmen who preferred the old lines of the Constitu- tion, it was not likely that they would engage in foreign war. For wars cost money, and as the raising of money was their difficulty, they were, naturally determined to ask for as little as possible. The sympathy of the people of England was very largely with the Protestants of the Continent. Remembering the greatness of Elizabeth's England, the people would very gladly have seen their country take her place at the head of the Protestant cause. When the Thirty Years' War broke out, they would gladly have seen James send support to Elizabeth, his beautiful daughter, for one winter Queen of Bohemia. Four times during the century England came thus to the front, under Elizabeth, Oliver Cromwell, Sir William Temple, and William of Orange. On the third of these our attention must be fixed now. Sir William Temple might have made his name one of the greatest names amongst the statesmen of England. But he did not enjoy the tur- J|ifalcl ple moil of parliamentary struggles, and was fonder of learned leisure than of office. After showing very distinguished talents for diplomacy, he shrank from the effort without which great names cannot be made. It was however he who, at this time, when Eng- lish ambassador at the Hague, conceived the idea of the Triple Alliance, and carried it into execution. 1668 is the only year in the reign of Charles II, on which an 18 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1672. Englishman can look back without a feeling of shame. England, Holland, and Sweden, the three chief Pro- testant powers of the north of Europe, were leagued to- gether to resist the continued growth of France, which they regarded as dangerous to their interests and to liberty. The formation of the League was sufficient to prevent the separation of Brabant from Spain, though in other respects the terms which it obtained Peace of r Aix-la were not hard for France. Yet the French king chafed under the Peace of Aix-la- Chapelle. He thought the best way to treat England was to buy her king, and by the secret Treaty of Dover Lewis bought Charles. The price paid was a sum Dover' *' °^ mone y annually as a pension, and a promise to help him with French troops, if the English Parliament proved troublesome. But against Holland the revenge of Lewis took the shape of one of the worst, because one of the most causeless, Second War. wars in history. His army invaded Holland, Holland ° f which was not ready for him, being dis- tracted by party spirit. One party, under the Grand Pensionary, De Witt, was for yielding to so powerful a foe ; but the terms that Lewis asked were so outrageous, that the mob in Amsterdam rose in fury, and brutally murdered De Witt. The other party regarded as their leader a young man, to whose family Holland owed priceless ^services, but not services which could surpass those which, from this time forward, he himself proceeded to render to Holland and to Eu- u V range?° f ro P e - William of Orange devoted him self to the task of opposing Lewis, the enemy of his country, the enemy of his faith, the enemy of free- dom. His heroic ardour, always keenest when danger a.d. 1678. Lewis XIV. 19 seemed darkest, inspired his countrymen to resistance. But so overwhelming seemed the force of the enemy that the Dutch were very near despair. The proposal was seriously entertained by them to leave their country, and, sailing away in their numerous ships to the Dutch possessions in the East, there to establish a new country for themselves. " There the Dutch Commonwealth might commence a new and more glorious existence, and might rear, under the Southern Cross, amidst the sugar canes and nutmeg trees, the Exchange of a wealth- ier Amsterdam, and the Schools of a more learned Leyden." x This proposal was not adopted, though a resolution almost as heroic was carried out. A great part of Hol- land lies beneath the level of the sea, from which the land has been rescued by the la- Cutting of J the dykes. bour of man. Huge dykes or sea-walls have been erected strong enough to stand against the force of the sea, and high enough to keep out the highest tide. These it was now determined to open, and to sacrifice the labour of centuries rather than submit to the inva- der. The waters were let in upon the land, and Holland became like a great sea from which only the towns stood out. The French troops were not prepared for this con- tingency, nor provided with a flotilla of boats. Before the new defender, the waves, they retreated. It is pain- ful to an Englishman to reflect that during this display of heroism his country, with its king in French pay, was on the side of France, though the Parliament shortly afterwards compelled the king to separate from the alli- ance, and, before the war ended, had certainly shown a change of policy in sanctioning the marriage of William of Orange to Princess Mary, the king's niece. 1 Macaulay. 20 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1681. The war thus shamelessly begun became a European war, into the details of which this is not the place to enter. It was ended with the Treaty of Nymwegen. Nymwegen, which aggrandised France L'"wis 6 the chiefly at the expense of Spain. This peace Great. ma y -^ e re g ar ded as the zenith of Lewis's career. It was after it that courtiers, who knew not wherein true greatness lies, hailed him with the name of Great. This title was formally bestowed on him by the magistrates of Paris. His later treaties mark losses of France rather than gain even in territory : certainly the wars that they closed showed loss of glory. The ancients believed that too great prosperity brought with it the wrath of the gods, and the reason of this belief, probably, is that those who gain Nemesis. ,v • i great success cease to exercise the vigilance that ensures it, and become careless. It seemed to be a special characteristic of Lewis XIV. that success en- gendered an insolence which seems to us almost like madness ; the madness of one whom, according to the proverb, the gods will to destroy. With mere ordinary care, as has been already shown, he might, later in his reign, have avoided the war of the Spanish Succession ; but the insolence that is born of triumph made him insult the English people and their king. So now, in the interval of peace which followed the Treaty of Nym- wegen, and which may be compared rather to a sick Three symp- man's broken slumbers than to the quiet toms of sleep of the healthy, he was guilty of three acts, all unjustifiable and all unnecessary, which brought ruin upon his head. The first was the seizure of Strassburg. In the cessions that were made to France by the Peace of Nymwegen was included all the territory belonging a.d. 1685. Lewis XIV. 21 to certain towns. Lewis intended this to be construed favourably to himself, and insti- I- Se i zure of J btrassburg. tuted Chambers of Re-union, composed ex- clusively of Frenchmen, to decide what territories had at any time belonged to these towns. Under cover of their decisions he made many additions to his do- minions. One, more daring than the rest, was nothing less than the important city of Strassburg, a free city of the empire. Whilst Lewis declared through his am- bassador at the Imperial Court that nothing was meant, a French army, of 40,000 men, approached Strassburg, as if for a review, and before any assistance could be sent from Germany (if any could have been sent by a country so divided) the city yielded to the French. There were only 500 soldiers within : the citizens were at the time stricken with typhus fever, and but few could bear arms. Lewis's Minister of War was present with the army, under whose instructions the fortifications were strengthened by no less an engineer than Vauban himself. If the first act of Lewis's madness was an outrage on the stranger, the second was a violation of justice against his own subjects. It was the tiononidict revocation of the Edict of Nantes. of Nantes. 1685. A century earlier France was torn by civil wars, based upon religious differences. The Hu- guenots, or French Protestants, were not very numerous, but they were very earnest and zealous. At length it chanced that the rightful successor to the throne was upon their side, so that their party, ma- terially strengthened by the addition of those who were in favour of the rightful king, whatever his creed might be, and helped also by his valour and generalship, gained the upper hand. But Henry of Navarre found that it would be more for the interests of 22 The Age of Anne. A. d. 1688. the whole people that he should accept the religion of the majority. He became a Catholic, but he did not forget his old friends. By the Edict of Nantes he guaranteed freedom of worship for the Huguenots, and the religious wars ceased. (1598.) Lewis XIV. had by this time fallen very much under the influence of Madame de Maintenon, who was a bigoted Roman Catholic, and a furious an- Persecution ..-,,__ „. , , and emigra- tagonist of the Huguenots. She persuaded Huguenots. Lewis to revoke the edict of his grandfather, l68s * and apparently after some hesitation he yielded to her entreaties. A persecution commenced, which drove the Huguenots out of the land, for they were not strong enough to resist. France, in this way, lost many peaceful and industrious citizens, who carried their skill and industry into other countries, especially to England and to Holland. The silk-weavers of Spitalfields, where there is still a street called Fleur-de-lys, are descendants of the Huguenot emigrants. Canterbury, Norwich, and other places received colonies of them Men, also, of a higher rank than the weavers, with names famous in literature, were amongst the emigrants. And not only men of peace, but skilful and practised generals, and many soldiers, left the country that repaid their services so ungenerously, and, joining her foes, were found in later battles commanding or serving against France. Nor yet have we finished count of the injury that the revocation of the tolerant edict brought on France. We must also include the rising in the Cevennes, an in- surrection of the persecuted Protestants who lived in the Cevennes Mountains, in the south of France. The Ce- This took place at a time when France was vennes. r hard pressed by external enemies, and in- 1 creased her difficulties in repelling them. a.d. 1688. Lewis XIV. 23 But as if these two acts were insufficient, Lewis added to them a third, which was as ill-timed as it was cruel. Charles II. of England, who had been a confederate of Lewis, was dead. His brother and successor, James, was still more inclined to Lewis, for he was _ , , /-* 1 -i • 1 English a Catholic, heart and soul. During the Revolution. whole of his short reign he was making at- A " D " z tempts to subvert the English Church, and at length the English people were unable longer to endure them. In the early part of 1688 they were beginning to look hope- fully across the water to William of Orange, son-in-law and nephew of the king. When, forty years earlier, the Stuarts had been forcing their will upon the English people, there had been no prominent member of the royal family upon the popular side ; but now the people were more fortunate, and a hope was spreading amongst them that William would deliver them from their troubles. If Lewis had been wise, he would have listened to the voices that warned him how strong the opposition to him would be if England were joined to it. He would have devoted himself to the work of watching William, and protecting James, his ally, from attack. Apparently Lewis was blind ; he allowed his attention to be occupied in another direction with a crime that he was meditating. The capture of Strassburg had opened for him a way into Germany. William of Orange set sail for England on November 1 ; but, in the of th^Pa?" 8 previous month, Lewis had caused a large J^g™* 16 ' army to march into the Palatinate, in order to enforce a claim made by a princess, his sister-in-law, upon those territories, although the case had already been decided against her in the imperial courts. As this army could not continue to hold the country which it had seized, it received deliberate orders to ravage the 24 The Age of Anne. ad. 1697. whole of it, to burn the towns, and to destroy the trees, crops, and vines. The order was as ruthlessly obeyed as it had been barbarously conceived. A thrill of horror passed through Europe. A league of opposition had been forming against Lewis, known under the name of the " League of Augs- burg," which, now that William had been Alliance of successful and the English Revolution had been consummated without hindrance from France, received the accession of England and Holland, and was called The Grand Alliance. The war that followed, the fourth act in the drama of Lewis' ambition, may be divided into two parts : the one — the attempts of Lewis to restore the exiled James, the campaign in Ireland, of which the battle of the Boyne was the centre, and the sea- fights in the Channel ; the other — the Continental War. In the former the English may be said to have been wholly successful ; for though the French won the battle of Beachy Head, that victory had no permanent results, and was soon and fully retrieved. In the Continental War the results were nearly balanced, for though the French won most of the pitched battles, the peculiar genius of William asserted itself, the qualities which made him more formidable after a defeat than others after victory. Three years before the century closed, Peace of **" s war a g a i nst the Grand Alliance was Ryswick. brought to an end by the peace of Ryswick. The nations were tired of war, and wel- comed peace ; but the ambition of Lewis made it rather a cessation of hostilities than a real peace. Once more it was necessary to form the Grand Alliance : once more to resist his encroachments. A.D. j 702. The New Dramatis Personce. 25 CHAPTER III. THE NEW DRAMATIS PERSONS. In accordance with the provision of the Bill of Rights, confirmed by the Act of Settlement, William was suc- ceeded on the throne by his sister-in-law, ■* Succession Anne, daughter of James II. and Anne of Queen Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon. In character, and in fitness for the position of sove- reign, Anne was very different from William. She had not his discernment, nor his statesmanship, nor his resolution. On the contrary, she was without strength of character. She could not be ex- pected to establish a new policy, nor, through good re- port and evil report, to adhere to one already established. She had always been, and, after her accession she still remained, under the influence of some stronger mind. Such influence was essential to her. There is no feature in her character which is so important to recollect as this, for it explains a good deal of her reign, especially two of its salient events — her adoption and her abandon- ment of the Grand Alliance. Anne, however, though no great ruler of men, pos- sessed personal qualities which would have made her highly esteemed in private life, and which endeared her to her subjects. Her private character was irreproach- able. She was kind, affectionate, and good ; a warm friend, and with a humane heart. But above all she was sincerely religious, like both her grandfathers, and, un- like her father, she was warmly attached to the doctrines and rites of the Church of England. She often shared the unreasonable fears of the High Church party, and 26 The Age of Anne. was easily shaken by the cry — "The Church is in danger!" She was very popular with the English peo- ple, and mainly for this reason, that she was peculiarly an Eiiglish queen, having, as she said in her first speech from the throne, an " entirely English " heart. Coming between a Dutch king, whom many Englishmen had ac- cepted as a necessity, but never loved, and a German prince, who could not even speak their language, the English have always looked back with affection to her reign, and have enshrined her in their hearts as " Good Queen Anne." Anne had married Prince George of Demark, a man of dull understanding and of coarse habits. " I have „ , , tried him drunk, and I have tried him so- Husband. ber," said Charles II., of him, " and there is nothing in him." Had he been a man of more ca- pacity, it is not unlikely that he would have been placed upon the throne as William had been ; but with him it was impossible. To this husband Queen Anne was tenderly attached. By him she had a large family, but all of their children had died in infancy, with the exception of Prince William, who, in the last reign, had been created Duke of Gloucester. In him the hopes of the English people were centred. King William appointed Marlborough as his governor, Bishop Burnet as his preceptor. " My Lord," he who seldom paid compliments had said to Marlborough, on entrust- ing him with his office, "make him but what you are, and my nephew will be all I wish to see." But in the last year of the seventeenth century, the same year which proved fatal to the wretched King Charles of Spain, the young prince died. Upon his death the Act of Settlement was made law, by which it was decided to whom the crown should pass upon the death of Anne, The New Dramatis Personce. 27 for when Anne came to the throne, aged thirty-seven, she was childless. She now appointed Prince George to the office of Lord High Admiral, an office for which he was manifestly unfit- It has been said that the queen was entirely under the influence of favourites. At her accession, and for many years before, during the whole of William's reign, and even earlier, she had been under LacJ y Marlbo- • r- • rorough. the influence of Sarah Jennings, wife of the Duke of Marlborough, a woman of commanding mind, of great ambition, and with a very imperious temper. Her intimacy with the queen , was very close. They were in the habit of corresponding with each other under assumed names. The Queen was Mrs. Morley ; the Duchess, Mrs. Freeman ; their husbands, Prince George and the Duke, were Mr. Morley and Mr. Freeman re- spectively. The name Freeman was, perhaps, adopted by the favourite as a symbol of the liberties which its bearer thought herself entitled to take with her friend. It would not be too much to say that she governed the queen. Some, her husband amongst the number, have had the faculty of charming whilst they ruled, so that the ruling was concealed : she had not. The real hero of this reign, the successor of King William in his policy of consistent opposition to France, was John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. In this man were united the noblest and the ar oroug ' meanest qualities, and it is therefore difficult to form a just estimate of him. For our purpose it will be sufficient to pass very quickly over his earlier life, and to give a short sketch of his character. Fortunately for us, at this point in his career, " that great man is already shaking off the slough of his baser life." Marlborough, as a young man, was attached to the 28 The Age of Anne. household of James, Duke of York, through this dis- graceful fact that his sister was the prince's mistress. At the age of twenty -three he served in a campaign against the Dutch under the great Turenne, whose favourable notice he attracted. He rose quickly through the dif- ferent military grades, and shortly after James's acces- sion to the throne he commanded the English troops sent against the Pretender, Monmouth, whom he de- feated at the battle of Sedgemoor. James wished him to become a Roman Catholic ; but from this step he shrank, and when afterwards the Revolution took place, this proposal was the reason that he gave for his deser- tion. James, placing implicit trust in him, sent Churchill forward with troops against William's invading army. Instead of fighting William, he joined him. During William's reign he is, at the beginning, in positions of trust, but he himself does not seem certain as to his future, or genuine in his sympathy with the Revolution ; for, though he held high office under William, he yet intrigued with the exiled James, probably wishing to be safe whichever side triumphed. William discovered his secret correspondence with the Jacobites, and dismissed him from all his employments. Marlborough boasted of having betrayed to James, and so to the French, the secret of an enterprise that the English were about to make against Brest ; which betrayal led to the failure of the attempt, and the loss of the commander with 800 men. Yet before William's death Marlborough was reconciled to him, and as we have seen was entrusted by him with the important office of governor to the young Duke of Gloucester. It is also said that William, when contemplating the War of the Spanish Succession, designed that Marlborough should command the armies of the Grand Alliance. The New Dramatis Persona. 29 It will be evident, from the above sketch, that if we begin with Marlborough's bad qualities, that which taints all his character and all his actions is self- seeking, which did not hesitate to use even treachery as its instrument. Nor was his treachery only a willingness to shift allegiance. The generation amongst which he had been brought up, which had seen the days of the Commonwealth, and of the restored Stuarts, and, finally, had consigned the Stuarts again to exile, must have held but lightly by the duty of allegiance. But Marlborough's was no common treachery, no ordinary laxity of principles in high places. If others left James easily, gratitude should have kept him, at least, by his side. The imparting of information of a military ex- pedition to the rulers of a country with which his own was at war can be excused by no blaze of glory ; nor can we palliate the sending of money to assist a rival to his sovereign's throne. The self-interest, which seems to have been the leading motive of conduct both in Marl- borough and in his wife, sometimes assumed the baser shape of an inordinate love of money. A nobleman who was once mobbed by mistake for Marlborough in the time of his unpopularity, indulged in this sarcasm at his expense — " I will easily convince you that I am not my Lord Marlborough. In the first place, I have only two guineas about me, and, in the second place, they are very much at your service." Marlborough even grudged a pension to a servant who had saved his life. Yet let no one imagine that Marlborough was alto- gether a bad man. His great vices tainted his public and his private life ; but he had qualities which went far to redeem these, and which enabled him to render almost priceless services to his country and to Europe. He was possessed of consummate 30 The Age of Anne. military genius, and courage dauntless yet not rash. He was never defeated in any battle. He was always ready to expose himself to danger provided that it was neces- sary. He had, also, a virtue more useful than courage to soldier or to statesman — calm patience ; he showed no excitement in the heat of battle ; he was calm and serene in danger as in a drawing-room. Closely allied with this calmness was a suavity of mind and of manners, which fascinated the most critical judge. Marlborough was a singularly handsome man, gifted with a beautiful face and a most perfect figure. It has been said that his calmness proceeded, to a great extent, from a want of heart ; but his affection for his wife was so remarkable that he has often been taunted with being too much under her influence. If she wrote angrily to him, no success in war could make him happy until she had relented. Moreover, as a general, Marlborough was remarkable, for his humanity ; before the battle he would point out to the surgeons their stations, and would take measures to ensure the proper treatment of the wounded. No general was so courteous and considerate to his prisoners. Many a character has been written of Marlborough, varying from the strongest praise to the severest blame. It would seem the true course not to temper the praise with the blame, and produce a verdict that should be neither hot nor cold, but to adopt and combine the strong features from each account, and to leave it to the moral philosopher to decide how it came to pass, as it assuredly did, that one man could combine the blackest treachery and the greediest avarice with the courage, the calmness, and the sweetness of Marlborough. Amongst English statesmen Marlborough had most sympathy with Sydney, Lord Godolphin ; and he in- The New Dramatis Persona. 31 sisted that Godolphin should be appointed to the office of Lord High Treasurer. This doTphin?" office is now in abeyance, or, rather, as the expression runs, it is in commission, that is to say, in- stead of one minister there are five, who are called the Lords of the Treasury, of whom the Prime Minister is one, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer another. From this time forward Marlborough and Godolphin were firm allies. Lord Godolphin, however, was not a statesman of a high order, but one that would be best described as a shrewd man of business. He was able to give Marlborough very useful support, for an army depends on its supplies, and money is the sinews of war. But in private life Godolphin was not superior to the country squires of his time. He had no taste for lit- erature or art, and his favourite pursuits were racing and cock-fighting. In the work which now lay before Marlborough he was very materially assisted by two men, Prince Eu- gene and Heinsius. Prince Eugene was a younger son of the House of Savoy. He Prince was born in France, and educated for the priesthood ; but he showed even in his studies a taste for the life of a soldier. Instead of theological works he was fond of reading Plutarch's Lives. He was a youth of slender figure, and King Lewis on that account refused him the commission for which he asked, and spoke contemptuously of the little abbe- This insult Eugene never forgot. He immediately left France, and entered the service of the emperor. He was thus an Italian, born in France, and living in Germany. In his signature he united the languages of the three countries, " Eugenio von Savoye." The empire had for many years been engaged in con- $2 The Age of Anne. stant wars with the Turks. In these wars Eugene so distinguished himself that he came to be regarded as first general of the empire. Between him and Marl- borough a very warm friendship sprang up, which never cooled. There was no jealousy between them, but, whether they were working together in the same cam- paign, or at a distance at the head of separate armies, they were always one-minded in their aims and policy. Yet Eugene was very different from Marlborough. He had not the same calmness. His courage was mixed with daring. He was like a Fury in the day of battle, and as prodigal of the lives of his soldiers as he was careless of his own. The third in this triumvirate, which broke the power of Lewis and delivered Europe, was not a general, but a statesman. As such, his work is in the background, and has not been much noticed in histories. Yet, though not so visible, the work which he did in holding the members of the Grand Alliance together, in keeping Holland faithful to the cause, and in helping Marlborough with advice, was as true and valuable as the more brilliant exploits of others. An- thony Heinsius was a Dutch statesman. Shortly after William of Orange had carried the English Revolution to a successful issue, he became Grand Pensionary, a title which we may translate into our own political lan- guage by calling him Prime Minister of Holland. On en- tering public life he had preferred for his country a close alliance with France, and had been hostile^to the princes of the House of Orange. But a visit to Versailles opened his eyes to the fact that the Dutch could have no lasting friendship with the French, who despised their government, and persecuted their religion. He changed sides, joined himself closely to William, and a.d. 1 70 1. The Grand Alliance. ^Z became one of his warmest friends and most trusted ad- visers. And William felt that there was no man whom he would leave behind him so competent and so willing to carry out his policy as Heinsius. CHAPTER IV. THE GRAND ALLIANCE. The Grand Alliance being duly formed, it will be well to consider its component parts. At its head we must place the emperor, rather on ac- count of the ancient dignity of the empire than because of its actual power. The office was still nominally elective. At each vacancy the J he J J Emperor. Electors met at Frankfort-on-Maine, and all the forms of an election were gone through. Some- times there was a show of opposition, but the empire had now become practically hereditary in the House of Hapsburg. For nearly three centuries no emperor had been elected who did not belong to that family. Though the empire gave dignity to the family, it did not give them power. Whatever they had of power came to them from their proper hereditary dominions, which were very heterogeneous. They were kings, and nom- inally elective, in Bohemia and in Hungary ; archdukes in Austria and in the Tyrol. The family was by no means incapable, but was selfish, and unable to rise to the conception of a union of Germany. Earlier, the princes of this House had been bigoted Roman Catho- lics, who, indeed, had brought about the Thirty Years' War by this very bigotry. But now the danger of en- 34 The Age of Anne, a.d. 1701. croachment on the part of France, was great, and they were ready to join and to take advantage of the Alli- ance, although its members were chiefly Protestant. Lewis XIV. was declared " Hereditary Foe of the Holy Empire." Leopold I. was the emperor at the outbreak of the war, having been emperor for nearly fifty years. Shortly after the commencement, in the year after Blen- heim, he died, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Joseph, who had won some fame as a soldier, and who was much beloved in his own dominions, being generous and humane. Leopold's second son, Charles, was the candidate whom the allies wished to place upon the throne of Spain. He was by no means equal to his brother in merit. As the form of election to the empire was still kept up, we should notice who were the Electors. By the twelfth century the number had been fixed at £, he seven, three of whom were ecclesiastics — the Electors. Archbishops of Mayence, Treves, and Co- logne ; and four lay princes — the Electors of Saxony, Brandenburg, Bohemia, and the Palatinate. In the seventeenth century an eighth Elector was added, Frederick, the Elector Palatine, son-in-law of James I. of England, having given his consent to be elected, — as a Protestant— to the kingdom of Bohemia, was de- feated by the Austrian prince, who was also Emperor, and was deprived not only of Bohemia, but also of the Palatinate, and, therewith, of his vote, which was given to the Catholic Duke of Bavaria. The Thirty Years' War followed ; and at the peace of Westphalia, which ended that war, it was contended that the vote could not thus be taken from the Elector Palatine. At length, to satisfy both parties, a vote was given to each. In 1692 the Emperor Leopold on his own responsibility gave a A.D. 1 70 1. The Grand Alliance. 35 ninth vote to the Duke of Hanover, whose descendant now sits upon the throne of England, though this vote was not recognized by the Diet of the Empire for four- teen years, that is, after the outbreak of this war. The recognition was claimed by Hanover as its price for con- tinuance in the war. Of the nine Electors two, Cologne and _ , . -, • _ „,, How the y Bavaria, were upon the side of France. The ranged other two ecclesiastics, Mayence and Treves, emse ves * were neutral. Bohemia formed part of the Emperor's dominions. The Elector of Saxony had recently been elected King of Poland, and was very busy at the eastern end of Germany ; he could not spare energies for fight- ing against France. Brandenburg, the Palatinate, and Hanover were members of the Grand Alliance. When we remember what the Palatinate had lately suffered, we cannot wonder that it should join against France. Frederick, the Elector of Brandenburg, named as his price for joining the alliance that his electorate should be made into a kingdom. He was the last of the twelve Hohenzollern Electors of Bran- £ing . of Prussia. denburg, and had been wishing for some time to be king, especially since his neighbour, the Elector of Saxony, had become King of Poland, and another neighbour, the Duke of Hanover, had been made Elector, with the prospect of his family inheriting the English Crown. He took his regal title from another part of his dominions, and, when the Emperor Leopold yielded, his Ministry, it is said, having been richly bribed, Frederick was crowned King of Prussia (1701). It may be well to remember that he was the grandfather of Frederick the Great,- and that this was the beginning of the kingdom (though its earlier history before it was a kingdom is well worth study) which in our own day has 36 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702. extended and prospered, until its monarch has become the new Emperor of Germany. Some other minor princes of Germany joined in the league, such as Lewis, Prince of Baden, and, for at least part of the war, Denmark also contributed Other allies. troops# But> after all a n owance has been made, England and Holland must be considered the central powers of the alliance. The names Holland and Dutch are instances of two different laws that affect names — extension and contrac- tion. The word " Dutch " in England is only applied to the people and language of Holland, but it is the same as the name by which the Germans, of whom the natives of Holland are a branch, call themselves and their speech. The name " Holland," properly applied to two out of the seven United Provinces, North and South Holland, has been extended to the whole seven. Hol- land, when the war broke out, had been a nation for rather more than 120 years. These seven provinces, lying round and to the north of the mouth of the Rhine, had, together with the remaining provinces of the Nether- lands, rebelled against the tyranny and persecution of Spain ; and under the lead of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, great-grandfather of William III. of England, the northern seven had after vigorous and heroic resist- ance gained their independence. They banded them- selves together in the League of Utrecht ( 1 579) into the Federal Commonwealth of the Seven United Provinces. From the time of their freedom they made great pro- gress. Daring mariners, eager and skilful traders, active colonists, in the course of a century they raised their small State to a high rank in Europe. It was for its size far the wealthiest, far the most populous, and far the most important. a.d. 1703. The Grand Alliance. 37 After one year of the war, in 1703, the Grand Alliance was joined by two other powers, which at first had ranked themselves on the side of the French prince, — Savoy and Portugal. Victor Amadeus II. Duke of Savoy, is one of the most romantic characters of the period. Though his territory was small, the part that he played in history was by no means insignificant. He had more than ordinary capacity, both as general and administrator. The virtues of chivalry, bravery, and generosity distinguished him, and made him warmly lOved by his subjects. When a French emissary was taunting him with the destruction of his small army, he answered with spirit: — " I will stamp with my foot upon the ground, and soldiers will spring forth." Flis little land was overshadowed by its more powerful neighbour, and had for at least half a century before his accession been at the beck of the French king. Lewis sent orders to the duke not to harbour Protestants who had fled from France when the Edict of Nantes was revoked, and to persecute those who were in his dominion. Had not his predecessor done it in Crom- th g S ^rV" well's time, and stirred Milton's heart with iore , R y s - wiclc. the tales of atrocity that were told? Victor Amadeus was but half-hearted in the execution of Lewis's cruel will, and a French marshal was sent to demand his capital. This drove him into open resistance, and he joined the League of Augsburg (1686), which had been recently set on foot. The armies sent against him were active and powerful, and he lost two battles. But great efforts were made to detach him from the common cause, and at length he made a separate peace with France, which was as honourable to him as if he had been vic- torious. His territory was to be restored ; the Duke of 38 The Age of Anne. a. d. 1703. Burgundy, the eldest son of the dauphin, was to marry his eldest daughter; he was to be treated like a king. On these terms he changed sides. It was said that he was generalissimo for the Emperor and for King Lewis within one month. But. his separate peace was the first of a series, and the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) soon ended the war. When the second Grand Alliance was formed and the war of the Spanish Succession began, he was at first on the side of the French, but after a very short Spanish time he made a change, as sudden as that Succession which he had made in the last war, but in war. ' the exactly opposite direction. In order to secure his allegiance, not only had the Duke of Burgundy married his eldest daughter, in accordance with the treaty, but his brother Philip, Duke of Anjou, and now, according to the will of the late king, King of Spain, married his second daughter. The insolence, however, of a French marshal, who apparently despised a Prince of Savoy, and the strictness of Spanish etiquette, which would not allow him to sit by the side of his son-in-law, so vexed him, that he meditated deserting his cause. All hesitation was removed by an arrogant letter which he received from Lewis XIV. The following was their correspondence : — (The King to the Duke.) "Monsieur, — Since religion, honour, and your own signature, are of no account between us, I send my cousin, the Due de Vendome, to explain my will to you. He will give you twenty-four hours to decide." (Answer. — The Duke to the King.) "Sire, — Threats do not frighten me. I shall take the measures that may suit me best, relative to the unworthy ad. 1703. The Grand Alliance. 39 proceedings that have been adopted towards my troops. I have nothing further to explain, and I decline listen- ing to any proposition whatever." Lewis XIV. sent orders that the Savoyard troops should be disarmed. Victor Amadeus thereupon changed sides, and was for the remainder of the war bitterly opposed to France. At first he met with many disasters ; but his high courage sustained him through them all, and when Eugene brought an imperial army into Italy, the tide of war turned, and the success of the allies in that portion of the borders of France was by no means the least serious of the blows under which King Lewis staggered. This sketch, which is continued in the main body of the history, may be found of interest, placed side by side with the account of the kingdom of Prussia. As that is the beginning of the modern German Empire, so the descendant of Victor Amadeus is now King of United Italy. The Duchy of Savoy may be said to be the germ of modern Italy, though, strange to say, it now lies with- out the borders of that kingdom. Portugal joined the Grand Alliance in the same year as Savoy. During the Middle Ages Portugal had been a small independent kingdom, which during- v & Portugal. the latter part of that time had devoted itself to the honourable work of discovery and colonisation. On a vacancy of the throne occurring by exhaustion of the previous dynasty, Philip II. of Spain became a can- didate ; but, being doubtful of success, he determined not to wait for an election, but to seize the crown by force of arms. For sixty years Portugal remained subject to Spain ; and for rather more than sixty years since it had been free. In this war the situation of Portugal gave it an importance which its size could not claim. The king 40 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1703. hesitated at first on which side to declare, thinking that France would win, but recognising, also, that the fleets of England and Holland were strong, and that his coasts lay exposed to them. To secure Portugal, the Archduke Charles promised by a secret treaty to cede certain Spanish cities, and the territory called Rio de la Plata in South America. When this was afterwards divulged it created a strong feeling against Charles in Spain. A treaty, called the Methuen Treaty, after Paul Methuen Methuen, the English ambassador at Lisbon, 1 reaty. ' & gained over Portugal to the side of the allies. One of the conditions of this treaty was that the wines of Portugal should be admitted into England at a much lower duty than the French wines. Such was the price of the accession of Portugal — a price which the English continued to pay for no less than 131 years. The alliance between England and Portugal was permanent. Against this league what chance had the French ? The confederacy was very numerous, but no reliance can be placed on the members of a confederacy that they will remain of one mind. France was a monarchy, and a despotic monarchy. It suffered from no divided counsels, but one will ruled over all. Moreover, it had a large and well-disciplined standing army ; and was proba- bly able to bring at once into the field a larger force than the whole confederacy. And, lastly, the French soldiers had hitherto been victorious on every field ; they be- lieved themselves and others held them to be almost invincible. An unprejudiced spectator at the outset would have said that France with Spain on her side would win in this contest. Such an one could not take into account the as yet unproved genius of Marlborough, or the lavish expenditure of money on the part of Eng- land and of Holland. A.d. 1702. Opening of the War. 41 In the same year that Savoy left her side France gained another ally, the Elector of Bavaria. . He had been Governor-General of the Netherlands during the reign of his wife's uncle, Charles II. of Spain. It was a post with an enormous salary, and Brussels, the seat of the government, was a pleasant place of residence, pleasanter than his own capital, Munich. To secure his alliance, a promise was made by Lewis that the Elector should be continued in this post, and so within a year of the outbreak he declared himself on the side of France. His brother, the Elector of Cologne, was a creature of King Lewis, and of course upon his side, but his assis- tance was of no great value. At the beginning of the war Philip, the French can- didate, was aged seventeen, Charles, the Austrian arch- duke, fifteen. They were curiously alike in character. Both were dreamy and sleepy in disposition, but capable of obstinate opposition when once aroused, and after- wards became mere puppets in the hands of their wives. Lord Peterborough, an English general, somewhat free of tongue, asked if it was worth while that great nations should fight for such "a pair of louts." CHAPTER V. OPENING OF THE WAR. Section I. — Marlborough in Flanders. Immediately upon the declaration of war Marlborough was appointed Commander-in-chief of the British forces. Fortunately the Dutch also were easily per- Marlborough suaded by Heinsius to place their troops Commander- under the same command. Indeed, Marl- E 42 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702. borough became almost at once exceedingly popular with the Dutch people, as well as honoured and trusted by the Dutch statesmen. His exquisite manners ac- count for the popularity ; William's opinion of him for the trust. The standing danger of a confederacy is division of counsels ; and it was, therefore, well for the common cause that the troops of both the Dutch and the English — the most important of the allies in that quarter — should be under one general. The fact that there were more commanders than one ruined the cam- paigns elsewhere — on the Rhine and in Spain. But it was unfortunate that the confidence of the Dutch did not go so far as the abolition of their custom of sending with the general field-deputies, civilian members of the Government, without whose consent no important action should be undertaken. This was no special device to annoy Marlborough, but in his early campaigns it had the effect of hindering him and tying his hands. It must be remembered that, immediately on his grandson's accepting the Spanish crown, Lewis had seized all the strong towns in the Spanish £* arl - . , - Netherlands, and occupied them with French borough s r object. First troops. Many of these were fortresses i702 Pa ' f of the first rank, and their fortifications had been repaired by Vauban, Until Marl- borough and the allies could wrest these from him, there could be no security for Holland from a French inva- sion. Before Marlborough arrived to take the command of the united army, the town of Kaiserswerth upon the Rhine, which was under the Elector of Cologne, one of France's few allies, had been taken. Marlborough's object was, starting from this town, to clear as much as he could of the Netherlands. He laid siege to, and captured several towns. At Venloo, a.d. 1702. Opening of the War. 43 the first of them, much gallantry was displayed in an attack upon a fort. One young English nobleman, who had risen from a sick bed, offered every farthing he had to the man who would lift him over the palisades. There was no resisting such a spirit. The town itself soon ca- pitulated, its surrender being hastened by an accident. The besiegers received orders to fire a salute in honour of a victory which the allies had won upon the Rhine. The defenders thought it was the commencement of a general attack, and they yielded at once. Liege was the seat of an independent prince-bishop, but it did not on that account escape its share of war. The French had placed a garrison in it, and the allies took it by storm. The result of this first campaign of Marl- borough was that he cleared from French Result of . . . campaign. occupation a wedge, with Liege as its apex, the Rhine as its base, and the Meuse as one of its sides, and that he had cut the French off from the lower valley of the Rhine, and thereby protected the Dutch frontier at one of its most vulnerable parts. At the conclusion of this campaign Marlborough was very near being taken prisoner. The boat in which he was proceeding down the Meuse was seized Marl . by some Frenchmen, and he himself was borough in danger. only saved by the quick wit of his servant, who put into his hand an old passport belonging to his brother. The news of his supposed capture spread the greatest consternation through Holland, where his ser- vices were beginning to be appreciated. And great was the joy when it was discovered that the capture had not been effected. In honour of his services Marlborough was made a duke, and a solemn Te Deum was played in St. Paul's Cathedral, the queen attending in all state. It was the 44 The Age of Anne a.d. 1702-3. first real check for many years that the French had received. The campaign of the second year was by no means so successful. The French were concentrating their strength on their efforts in other parts ; but Second Marlborough was unable to use his oppor- campaign. ° tunity because he was hampered by the field deputies, and by Dutch colleagues, nominally his subordinates. One of these generals distinguished him- self by running away from the enemy, and himself bringing news that his own troops were cut to pieces, when the truth was that, relieved of his presence, they had fought bravely, even if they had not actually won a vic- tory. Marlborough's own wish was to make a bold attack on Antwerp, but by these thwartings he was pre- vented from carrying out his design. The results of his campaign, therefore, were meagre ; but he managed to widen the base of his triangular- wedge by the capture of Bonn on the Rhine, and to drive it a little further home by the capture of the for- tress of Huy, which is higher up the Meuse Valley than Liege, being about half-way to Namur. At the close of that year the Archduke Charles, on his way to Spain, paid a visit to the Low Countries, and afterwards to England. He presented Marl- duke Charles borough with his portrait and with a sword and Marl- se t [ n diamonds. Thus early in the war borough. ■* must Charles have recognised that almost his only hope of success lay in Marlborough's general- ship. Section II. — Campaig7is i?i Germany a?id elsewhere. Besides Marlborough's first campaign in the Low Countries, there was also fighting elsewhere in the first A.D. 1702. Opening of the War. 45 year of the war. On the Upper Rhine Prince Lewis of Baden succeeded in taking the town of Landau, which was held by the French. It was in honour of this that the salute was being fired which led to the capture of Venloo. Prince Lewis was a soldier of the old school, personally brave, but very difficult to set in motion, very crotchety about the rules of tactics, and not apt to imbibe new ideas about them. He was shortly after this beaten by a French marshal. There was fighting also in Italy, where the allied troops were commanded by Prince Eugene. Mantua and Milan had both declared for Philip of Anjou, and it was necessary for Eugene to ort tay " offer battle, in order to secure the imperial interests in North Italy. He won a brilliant victory at Cremona, in which the French general was taken prisoner. By this he protected the Empire for a time from any invasion by way of the Italian passes into Tyrol. In the second year of the war Lewis and his war ministers seemed to have resolved to make a vigorous attack upon the Empire. The Empire was the weakest of the allies, because the terri- Attack on the Jtmpire. tories of the Empire lay most exposed to attack. An army was sent to co-operate with the Elector of Bavaria, who had now declared in favour of France. It had no difficulty in escaping from Lewis of Baden, and then, by marching through the Black Forest, it effected a junction with the Elector of Bavaria. A campaign in Tyrol ensued, in which the capital Inns- bruck, and the strong fortress of Kufstein, commanding the Brenner Pass, were captured by the Bavarians. But the peasantry rose against the invaders, and D f f they were forced to retire. A battle was allies at fought at Hochstadt, close by the field where and C Landau. 46 The Age of Anne. A. d. 1702. Marlborough defeated the French next year, but the imperialists were routed. Another French army retook Landau, so that the general result of the campaign in Germany was very favourable to the French. Meanwhile in another quarter the English had been engaged in a fight which did not add lustre to their honour. Admiral Benbow was a brave old sailor, popular with his men but hated by his officers, whom he kept to their work. He was acting against a French squadron in the West Indies, and making a most gallant fight, which he would have won if he had not been deserted 6y some of his captains. He was himself struck by several shots and mortally wounded, but he survived long enough to bring the traitors to court-martial. Two of them were shot for cowardice and one dismissed from the service. But it was believed that the reason for their conduct was as much hatred of their admiral as fear of the enemy's cannon balls. Section III. — Spain. It was to be expected that, in a war which was about Spain, an expedition would be made against Spain itself. King William had planned an expedition against Cadiz, once the scene of a great English triumph, when Essex " singed the King of Spain's beard," and it was determined now to carry out this plan. Cadiz, was called the golden gate of the In- dies, because all the wealth of the mines in Spanish America entered Europe there. The Spaniards were very weak : they were without money and without troops. If the English had made a vigorous and well-directed effort, they would probably have taken Cadiz. The com- mand of the force was given to the Duke of Ormond, a.d. 1702. Opening of the War. 47 who had in William's battles shown great bravery, but who had not the faculty of commanding. The navy was entrusted to a gallant sailor, Sir George Rooke. A contingent of Dutch troops was employed under a Dutch general. But Ormond was wholly unable to pre- serve discipline, and national jealousy led to disturbances between the English and the Dutch. The orders were not very clear, and Rooke made merry over them. They were to conciliate the Spaniards to the cause of Charles by making an attack on their towns. The Spaniards armed themselves under a brave old noble- man, the Marquis of Villadarias, who, having but few troops wherewith to defend Cadiz, resorted to the expe- dient of lighting watch-fires sufficient for a large force, and so deceived the allies Two small towns were taken, but the men could not be restrained from plundering them, shamelessly firing even the churches in their Pro- testant fury. Thus, instead of conciliating, they roused the fierce hostility of the Spaniards. After a month a council of war decided that the enterprise should be abandoned. Fortunately for the credit of England, on the voyage home a chance was offered for the fleet to distinguish itself. News was brought that the yearly „ V igo and fleet of Spanish galleons laden with treasure the treasure had put into Vigo Bay. The law of Span- ships * I7 ° 2 ' ish trade was that these galleons could unload only at Cadiz. As the English fleet was in front of Cadiz, they had taken refuge at Vigo. If they could have received permission to unload, all the treasure might have been saved for Spain. The jealous officials at Cadiz, however, refused this permission, and although the higher author- ities at Madrid granted it, it arrived only after a delay that proved fatal. The Spaniards at Vigo placed a 48 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1703, boom or barrier of masts and spars across the mouth of the harbour, where they also manned two small forts. The hope of plunder and the desire to recover the reputation which they had lost before Cadiz stimulated the allies to great efforts at Vigo. Whilst the English soldiers under Ormond scaled and took the forts, a gallant sea-fight ensued, in which victory fell to the English. The ships charged, and broke the boom. It is uncertain what became of the greater part of the trea- s-ve : enough fell into the hands of the assailants to reward them for their enterprise. There are some who think that the remainder still lies at the bottom of Vigo harbour ; but others argue that the interval which elapsed between the appearance of the allies and their attack was sufficient to enable much of it to be landed and re- moved into the interior. The English Government did not send any expedition into Spain in the next year ; but tried first by means of diplomacy to attach the King of Portugal to Earl of ft\e cause of the Grand Alliance and of the Galway in Portugal. Archduke Charles. When they had at length succeeded in this, it was determined to attack Spain at the same time from the east and from the west. The army from the west consisted of Portu- guese levies and English troops : it did not do much, until the command was given to the Earl of Galway, a French Protestant, who, escaping from the intolerance of France, had been honoured with a commission in the English army by King William, and later with an Irish peerage. He had already earned a reputation for bravery at the Battle of the Boyne, and possessed a certain amount of military skill, but he lacked the power of adapting his skill to new circumstances. Strange to say, whilst the allied army was commanded by a French- a.d. 1704. Opening of the War. 40 •jnan, the army that was opposed to it was commanded by an Englishman. For against Portugal Lewis had sent a large army into Spain to help to fight the battles of his grandson. This force he placed under the Duke of Berwick, the illegitimate son of James II. and Ara- bella Churchill, Marlborough's sister — a cold, stern man and an excellent general. Meanwhile Sir George Rooke had been making an attempt upon the opposite coast of Spain. He had prepared to make an attack on Barcelona, an important commercial city, and one that was believed to have much sympathy with the archduke. But the troops which he had on board were insufficient, and the malcontents in the city, who had expected a large force and the pre- sence of the archduke himself, were disappointed. Rooke, therefore, was obliged to retire. As the force was returning, a very important place fell almost by accident, into the hands of the English. Gibraltar was not then the strong place that the art of fortification has made it since; but it was G?braitar° always very strong by nature ; so strong, that Au s- 3, the Spaniards left but a small garrison there, and that garrison was careless in its watching. Rooke determined to make an attempt on Gibraltar, and landed some troops on the narrow strip of land by which the Rock of Gibraltar is connected with the mainland. The day after the bombardment commenced was a Saint's Day, and the sentinels went to hear mass in a neigh- bouring chapel. Whilst they were thus employed, some English sailors clambered by a path, which was almost inaccessible, on to the top of the rock, and there hoisted the British flag. In spite of vigorous efforts on the part of enemies to haul it down, that flag has waved over the Rock of Gibraltar from that day (3rd August, 1704) to this. ijo The Age of Anne. a.d. 1704. CHAPTER VI. RISING IN THE CEVENNES. Two regions of France seem to have been especially open to the influence of Protestant or Huguenot opinions. One is the lower valley of the Loire, where Geography . __ of the Hu- the doctrines of the Huguenots were ac- guenots cepted by the artisans of the great industrial towns, of which Nantes may be taken as representative. This town, as is well known, gave its name to the Edict of Toleration, by which under certain conditions freedom of worship had been permitted to the Hu- Loire valley. guenotSi T } ie district must also be made to include the country to the south of the Loire, as far as La Rochelle, the favourite stronghold of the Huguenots. The other part of France is the lower valley one va ey. ^ ^ Rhone, beginning with Lyons (which in the persecution lost 9,000 of its silk weavers), and the hills which close that valley in. Upon the east side is Dauphiny, the home of the Vaudois ; on the western is the province of Languedoc, in which during the twelfth and earlier part of the thirteenth century the sect of the Albigenses was strong. In several points the Albigenses resemble the later Protestants — in their opposition to the Pope, in their indignation against the corruptions of the Church, and in their vehement zeal for a purer form of faith based upon the Scriptures. The Albigenses were put down after a cruel persecution, which is sometimes dignified with the title of the Albigensian Crusade. But it would seem as if memories of this earlier struggle, the CH. vi. Rising i?i the Cevennes. gt eeed of religion, which is found in the blood of martyrs, /emained in the country where they had laid down their lives. When persecution broke out in the middle of the reign of Lewis XIV., the Huguenots of Northern and Middle France saved themselves by flight to happier countries, or by an acceptance of the dominant faith. The regions where resistance was found were the natural homes of liberty, the mountains of the south, first, among the Vaudois, and, secondly, in the Cevennes. Cevennes is the name of the range of mountains that runs nearly parallel to the Rhone, at some little distance from its right bank. At the southern end the range separates from the direction of the river, trending towards the Pyrenees, leaving a marshy plain between the mountains and the Mediterranean, in the midst of which is situated the town of Nisme. The hills are of volcanic origin though the volcanoes are extinct. They are rough and precipitous, with iruny caves and fissures, yet in many places thickly covered with forest trees. It is just the country in which a few peasants, well acquainted with footpaths and by-ways, might keep at bay a regular army, even though its soldiers were many times more numerous than they. Mixed with the pure religion of this simple mountain folk there was certainly much fanaticism. As the per- secution increased in intensity, many amongst them pro- fessed to be inspired ; and shortly after the opening of the new century the inspirations took the form of exhor- tations to resist. It was remarked that the spirit of prophecy fell chiefly upon the young, and that in the in- surrection which followed the leaders were young. In July, 1702, the very year in which the "War of the Suc- cession commenced, and shortly after that war had been proclaimed, fifty of the persecuted, excited to resistance 52 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702. by the prophets, met in a forest, under three tall beech trees. There they determined to attack their persecutors. The insurgents became known as the Cami- The Cami- sards, or " wearers of the white frock:" but sards. it is not certain whether this was tie ordinary smock-frock of the country peasants, or a special dress, chosen that the wearers might be visible to each other on a dark night. The fighting that arose out of this in- surrection, to which the name "War of the Blouses" has been given, cannot properly be called a war: it was rather a serres of raids. The Camisards would issue forth from their mountain fastnesses, anc'l make an at- tack upon a priest who had persecuted them, upon a monastery, or upon a troop of Royalist soldiers. The attack over, or the enemy proving too strong, they would retreat at once to the hill-tops again. They knew all the paths, and they could climb like their own sheep or goats. All the peasants sympathised with them, and would help them to hide from the royalists. Their troops remind one of the regiments of the English Puritans. Before a battle there would be a meeting for prayer, and preach- ing, and praise, at wfrch men would exhort officers. The Camisards marched to battle, lustily singing a hymn to the God of battles, and when the fighting was over, however great the carnage, on the very field uprose the song of praise and thanksgiving to Him who had given them the victory. Of all their leaders, the most remarkable was Jean Cavalier. In the very year in which the Edict of Nantes was revoked was born this leader of Cavalier ^e re b emon which that revocation caused. He was of humble parentage, his father being a shepherd ; and his mother had trained him in the Protestant doctrines. At the age of fifteen he had A..D. i7°3- Rising in the Cevennes. 53 to fly from the country, and took service with a baker at Geneva, then, as always, a hospitable place of refuge for the exile. Whilst in safety, however, he felt for his kinsfolk and neighbours who were suffering, and at length the "baker's boy" determined to return and to rouse resistance. He was only seventeen, when, on ac- count of his manifest fitness for the post, he was recog- nised as the General of the Camisards. Bravery was a virtue that he shared with all his men : he had other qualities of his own. The education which he had re- ceived could have been but little, and not calculated to fit him for his work. Yet he was a born general, and his manoeuvring on one occasion extorted from the ablest living marshal of France the praise that " it was worthy of Caesar." Three stories from his life in these two years will serve to illustrate his daring, his chivalry, and his uprightness : — 1. On one occasion, as his men wanted powder, he rode, disguised as a merchant, into the town of Nismes to buy some. On entering he found all in __. , J e ° His char- COnfusion, for a rumour had just reached the acter. town that the Camisards were preparing to attack it. The gates were immediately shut. But Cav- alier, having procured the powder that he wanted, and carrying it about his own person, went to the officer commanding a troop of cavalry that was going forth against the rebels, and asked permission to ride with it. The officer complimented the supposed merchant on his courage, but warned him at parting, lest he should meet with the dangerous Cavalier. 2. Riding in disguise, as was his wont, he once acted as guide to a young royalist officer, conducting him to a place of safety and then revealing himself g Q^^ry, to mm as they parted. 54 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1703. 3. Some banditti took advantage of the disturbed state of the country, and, pretending to be Camisards, plundered and murdered a lady. Imme- nesY Pright " diately on hearing of it Cavalier set to work to find the men, and, having found them, hanged them without ceremony. Not hastily, nor without provocation, had the Cami- sards taken up arms. During all the seventeen years of Cavalier'b life the persecution had been terible. Nor had it been limited to these years. The revocation of the Edict was not a sudden reversal of policy, but rather with its results the culmi- nation of one long-continued. It was known that cruelty and severity towards Protestants were a passport to the favour of the French king ; but a legal sanction was given by the formal revocation, made within a few days of the king's secret marriage with Madame de Maintenon, who, instigated by the Jesuits, urged him on to it. What the king had allowed before he ordered now ; all bands of humanity were withdrawn. A regi- ment of dragoons was considered the best body of mis- sionaries. If they could not convert, they could at least kill, and attention was paid to no complaint against these instruments of Holy Church. It was in the pro- vince of Languedoc, in the earlier wars against the Al- bigenses, that when one asked how to distinguish the heretics from the true believers, the savage answer was made — " Kill all ! God will know his own." Peace- ful valleys were turned into scenes of slaughter; and the most cruel tortures, the wheel and the rack, as well as the stake, completed the work that the sabres of the dragoons had begun. It is hardly to be wondered at, though it is much to be deplored, that the Camisards, when at length they turned A.D. 1704. Rising in the Cevennes. 55 upon their persecutors, retaliated with a fearful retribution. Cavalier himself was not e a ia lon " cruel ; but many of the bands of Camisards under other leaders took terrible and cruel revenge, nor was he able to stop it. All the early attempts to put down the rebellion were by means of severity. There was a feeling of irritation, both amongst the local authorities and at the king's court, that so insignificant a body used"? put of peasants — for the insurgents seem never down the to have numbered 10,000 — should dare to resist the royal authority. More troops to catch the rebels, more tortures for them when caught, were the only cures that occurred to their minds. As yet the external war did not press very heavily upon France, and it was thought that the rebellion could soon be crushed. Thus for about two years the insurrection continued with va- rying success ; the insurgents making raids, the royalists sometimes intercepting them, but oftener failing. Meanwhile the Camisards, knowing about the war with the allies, made appeal to foreign Governments for assistance, and especially to England and Holland. With touching simplicity they de- £S| al t0 clared that they were not rebelling against Govern- J fc> fc> ments. their prince, but exercising a right of na- ture. "We arm ourselves but to resist force. We fol- low but the dictates of conscience. We are not to be frightened by numbers. We will meet them. Yet will we harm no persons if they do not harm us. But just reprisals will we ever make upon our persecutors, and in this we are sanctioned by the law and by the Word of God, and the practice of all nations." At first the foreign Governments turned a deaf ear to their appeals ; but it was evident that, if a force of the allies could effect 56 The Age of Anne. ad, 1704. a junction with these insurgents, a great blow would be struck at the, French power. At length, in 1704, a force of ships was sent, under the command of Sir fleet sent. Cloudesley Shovel, a gallant and famous English admiral, who had risen to that dig- nity from the position of a cabin-boy. When the fleet arrived in the Gulf of Lyons the appointed signals were made, which were to be answered from the shore. But correct information had not been brought to Cavalier, and, though he saw the signals, he did not understand them. The admiral had received strict orders to land no troops unless the signals were answered. He, there- fore, sailed away. The rebellion had now lasted for so long a time (upwards of two years) that Lewis determined to send ., , , against the Camisards the first marshal of Marshal ° Viliars' France. He, probably, selected Villars on account of his military skill ; but the selec- tion was good for other reasons. Villars was no bigot, and seems from his first appointment to have resolved upon a policy of clemency. He entertained a great ad- miration for young Cavalier. He opened negotiations with him at once, and the result was that a treaty was made, by which freedom of conscience, and liberty of worship, except in fortified towns, were granted, together with a free pardon for all the insurgents who accepted the treaty, and immunity from taxes for a certain period, until the district should have recovered from the effects of the war. Some of the Camisards were very indignant with Cavalier for signing this treaty because the posses- sion of certain strongholds was not granted E n <*. °f as a guarantee for its fulfilment. They still held out; but by his acceptance of the treaty the rebellion was now very much diminished, and was a.d. 1704. Rising in the Cevennes. 57 without great difficulty put down. The spirit of the treaty was not strictly observed, and a great many of the inhabitants of the Cevennes emigrated. The success of Lewis was in the spirit of the maxim — " Solitudinem faciunt, ftacem appellant" Cavalier himself took service with the English Govern- ment, by whom he was sent into Spain, At the head of a regiment of his fellow-exiles he was en- gaged in the famous battle of Almanza. Cavalier's b ° later life. The story is told how in that battle the Ca- misards caught sight of a regiment of their former per- secutors, and rushed upon them with the bayonet with a fury such as shocked even men accustomed to fierce battles. Of 700 Camisards only 300 survived, and Ca- valier himself, severely wounded, was left among the dead. He afterwards became a general in the English army, was Governor of Jersey, then of the Isle of Wight, and died an old man at Chelsea. As France had a weak point in the disaffection of the Huguenots, so the Empire was weak on its eastern side. From one opponent — the Turks — it had, per- haps, not much to fear ; for the Turks had trouble in suffered severely at the hands of Eugene in ustna. the last war, and were, moreover, obliged now to turn their eyes in another direction, towards the growing power of Russia. But in wars against the Empire the Turks had always found allies in Hungary and Transyl- vania, The disaffection in these two provin- ces was due, partly to the pressure of taxa- un s ai y- lion, partly to differences in religion, but chiefly to that desire for separation from Austria which has so often shown itself in Hungary. The taxes were very heavy throughout all the Austrian dominions. The Protestants in Hungary had been persecuted by the Emperor, and 58 The Age of Anne. ad. 1704. this had led to the last Hungarian insurrection, when the Turks, instigated by the Hungarians, had invaded Austria and besieged Vienna. The desire for separa- tion was constant During the War of the Succession, the condition of Hungary might be compared to a fire that is composed of smouldering embers, ready at any moment to break into a flame. Here and there flames showed themselves when a turbulent noble headed an insurrection. But, as the Empire was on the winning side elsewhere, these rebellions never became formi- dable CHAPTER VII. BLENHEIM. In the spring of 1704 Lewis determined to make a great effort. He raised as many troops as he could, and sent different armies against different members France hi of the Grand Alliance. But his chief attempt making the was to ^ e a g- a i ns t the Emperor. He deter- mined to make a vigorous lunge at Vienna, the heart of the Empire, and to compel the Emperor to make peace under the walls of his own capital. To this object two things helped. Bavaria was Lewis's single ally ; and Bavaria could be used by the French as an advanced outpost, in an attack on the Austrian do- minions. Moreover, whilst the Austrians were thus ex- posed in front, they were also weakened in the rear by the revolt of the Hungarians. The Hungarians had been long in revolt, which had been sedulously fomented with French gold. They were at present quiet ; but it was hoped that the appearance of a French army before A.D. 1704- Blenheim. 59 Vienna would be the signal for a general uprising of the Hungarians ; and Hungary lies dangerously near Vienna. Already a French army under Marshal Mar- sin was in Bavaria with the Elector ; to this others were to join themselves, and then the advance was to be made. Though this well-concerted plan was not divulged, Marlborough with the instinct of genius understood the meaning of the preparations, and determined todefeatthem, He communicated his design boiough's to only one man, Prince Eugene, whom he p an ' promised to meet in Bavaria, that with their united armies they might face the invading French, and thus save the Empire and with it the Grand Alliance. Marl- borough used his influence in England both to have 10,000 men added to the English army, and to have his instructions drawn up with some latitude. He turned the opposition of the States of Holland by marching with the allied army towards the Moselle, and only then re- vealing to the States his intention to march to Bavaria to help the Emperor — with the Dutch troops, if they gave the permission, but if not, without them. The States saw that it was too late to oppose, and not only gave the desired permission, but generously sent reinforcements and supplies. Across the Moselle, and across the Rhine, then up the valley of the Maine Marlborough marched ; the enemy, and even his own soldiers, only conjecturing the object of the enterprise. In the Duchy of Wurtem- burg he met Prince Eugene, and they spent three days together. It was the first time EugiSe" 3 they had seen each other; and now was laid the foundation of the lifelong and unclouded friendship which forms so noble a feature in the character of each. Here they were joined by Prince Lewis of Baden, a 60 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1704. German general of the old methodical school, who claimed precedence over the others. Marl- Lewis of borough proposed that he should devote himself to the task of watching the French frontier, and preventing the expected union of another French army with those already in Bavaria. But Prince Lewis declined, and Eugene had reluctantly to depart upon this duty, for which, however, it was manifest he was much better suited. Marlborough then acquiesced in an arrangement by which Prince Lewis and he should divide the command, taking it on alternate days. The first achievement of the allied army was the storming of the Schellenberg, a hill just above the town of Donauworth upon the Danube. The Storming of . . ; . . . , , „. , Schellen- Bavarians occupied it in force, and the allied troops, when they came up, were tired with a long march. But it was Marlborough's day, and he knew not what the prince would do upon the morrow. More- over, though the hill was strongly fortified, the intrench • ments were not quite completed. So Marlborough gave to his wearied troops the order to attack. Twice they charged up the hill, and twice they were repulsed. The third time they were reinforced by some German soldiers, and led by Prince Lewis himself, of whose personal courage there was no doubt, whatever might be the feeling as to his generalship. This time the Bavarians were routed. In their flight a new disaster fell upon them. They were hurrying across the Danube, over a long wooden bridge, and when some 2,000 had crossed, the weight of the fugitives broke the bridge, and many were hurled into the swift stream. The day after this engagement Marlborough heard that, in spite of the watchfulness of Prince Eugene, a considerable French army, under Marshal Tallard, a.d. 1704. Blenheim. 61 one of the most distinguished French Tallard joins generals, and the same who had been ambassador to King William at the time of the Partition Treaty, had passed through the defiles of the Black Forest, and had effected a junction with the armies of Marshal Marsin and of the Elector of Bavaria. Eugene now joined the others, and it was decided that Ingolstadt should be attacked, a strong and a virgin fortress, and important because it commanded the Dan- ube. His colleagues were glad to find that the attempt upon Ingolstadt was regarded by Prince Lewis as worthy of his dignity ; and they were thus relieved from the presence of an undesirable colleague. Receiving information that the united French forces were at Hochstadt, the scene of their triumph of the previous year, Marlborough and Eugene advanced to. meet them. On August 12, fo^[JSe 0ns the two generals, mounting the church tower in one of the villages on the road, saw the en- campments of the French army. It was at once deter- mined to give battle; and the men joyfully prepared for it. Some of the officers ventured to point out the dan- gers of their position to Marlborough ; but he answered that a battle was necessary, and that he trusted in the bravery of his troops. The early part of that night Marlborough spent in prayer; he then received the Communion at the hands of his private chaplain, and, after a short rest, was again in council with Eugene. With the first streaks of dawn on the morning of August 13, at three o'clock, the army was in motion. A haze covered the ground; but at six they were visible to the French, and a cannonade commenced; to which the English artillery replied, whilst the troops on either side were deploying into line. 62 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1704. The village of Blindheim, or Blenheim, which has given its name to this famous battle, is situated on the ^ north bank of the Danube. The river is Description « , _ , . . oi the about one hundred yards broad, and its groun . stream is very swift; just before reaching the village the river makes a loop to the south. A short distance below the village the Danube is joined by a little brook, the Nebel. Almost parallel with the Danube, about three miles distant, is a low range of thickly- BATTLE of BLENHEIM 13 th.Aug, iJEnsl.MU, ruler Itfarlborouyk iTrencTi u, TriimMaamilim-Jt Marti! TallarS iMarsin r Cavalry ■ •='Jnfantrtf Qn the left of the j ine English troops advanced to attack the village of Blenheim under the command of Lord Cutts, reputed to be the bravest officer in the English army, and so fearless under fire that he had received the nickname of "Salamander." But Blenheim was strongly defended. There was a strong barrier of palisades, and behind them a need- lessly large number of the best regiments of French in- fantry. The English troops were forced back twice, and then received orders to keep up firing, but not again to advance until a diversion had been made. Meanwhile, on the right, Eugene was attacking Mar- shal Marsin and the Elector. First he led his cavalry to the charge : the front line of the enemy ng t- was broken, and a battery of six guns taken. But the second line stood firm, his cavalry recoiled ; and the battery was retaken. Eugene, no longer able to trust his cavalry, galloped off for his infantry, who were chiefly Prussian. It was the steadiness of these Prus- sian infantry that saved the battle on the right wing. In the centre Marlborough was superintending the passage of the Nebel by his cavalry ; but the passage was a matter of difficulty, because the ground was exceedingly swampy. Fascines were thrown in, and pontoons used where possible. Tallard undoubtedly made a great mistake in not at- tacking the cavalry during the crossing. He seems to have thought that when over they would fall an easy prey. It was not until the first line was formed that the French charged, but then without any marked result. To the right of the centre a considerable force of the allies had made an attack on the village of Oberglau. A.D. 1704. Blenheim. 65 They had taken it, and were then attacked in turn, and driven from it by the Irish Bri- gade, a valiant regiment of Irish exiles in the service of France. The Irishmen rushed forward, and had broken the line of the allies, and almost severed the communi- cations with Eugene. Marlborough was told, and at once galloped up, and by his exertions restored the battle, driving back with his cavalry the Irish, who were disordered with their success, and posting infantry so as to enfilade them on their retreat. The afternoon was now far spent ; as yet all that could be said was that there had been an alternation of success, and that both sides were holding their ground. But the generalship and the c £ val ^ exertion of Marlborough were about to be rewarded. At five o'clock the whole body of his cavalry had been brought across, and he ordered the advance. At the sound of the trumpet about 8,000 splendidly mounted horsemen moved up the gentle slope, at first slowly and then more and more quickly. Once the advance was checked, and they recoiled for about sixty paces. Then the signal to advance was sounded again, and at a magnificent pace the whole line charged. The French cavalry fired their carbines, wheeled and fled. " The bulk of our cavalry," said Tallard afterwards, in his official report, " did ill, I say it, very ill." Marlbo- rough had won. The French line was cut in two. Some infantry which had been brought up to support the horse were compelled to surrender. The cavalry were in full flight, part towards Hochstadt, part towards Blenheim. Marlborough pursued the latter, sending a Dutch general after the former. Marshal Tallard was caught before he could make his escape into Blenheim. Marlborough put him in bis own carriage, and then 65 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1704. Marl- hastily wrote in pencil a note to the duchess, borough's . J . . ; report of which his aide-de-camp was to take at once with the news of the victory to England. It is still preserved, and runs thus : — "August 13, 1704. " I have not time to zay more, but to beg you will give my duty to the Queen, and let her know Her Army has had a glorious victory. Monsr. Tallard and two other Generals are in my coach, and I am following the rest. The bearer, my Aide-de-camp, Coll. Parke, will give Her an account of what has pass'd. I shall doe it in a day or two by another more att large. " Marlborough" The French battalions in Blenheim, meanwhile, were hemmed in between the English troops and the Danube. Some, and amongst them their commander, The French tried to swim the river, but it was too swift in rJIenneim. and they were drowned. During the sum- mer evening, and after night came on, the English were firing into the thick masses in Blenheim. Every attempt to escape was stopped. At length it became manifest that nothing could be gained by further bloodshed. Great was the despair of the gallant French soldiers : one regiment burnt its colours. Then they surrendered. Eugene had made repeated attacks upon his oppo- nents. About the time of the great cavalry charge he advanced, and took the village of Lutzingen ; but there was no rout of the Bavarians and French opposed to _ , him. The troops retreated in good order. Eugene's r ° attack on Marlborough ascribed the ill success of Eugene to ill luck ; " if his fortune had been equal to his merit," he said, "this day would have A.D. 1705. Lord Peterborough. 67 finished the war." As a compliment he determined to divide the prisoners, who amounted in all to about 11,000, with Prince Eugene. There is a good deal of different in accounts of the battle, especially as to the numbers of the combatants. It would seem from the best authorities that the allies had about 52,000, the French about 60,000 men : and that of these the former lost 11,000, the latter 40,000, in killed and prisoners. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of this victory, which broke the power of Lewis XIV., and destroyed the prestige of the French arms. Marl- borough was received everywhere with delight. In Eng- land the joy was great. The royal manor of Woodstock was conferred on him and his heirs, and the Palace of Blenheim was commenced as a monument of a nation's gratitude. The Emperor made him a prince of the Empire, and bestowed on him the principality of Mindelsheim in Bavaria. CHAPTER VIII. LORD PETERBOROUGH. In 1705 the English Government determined to make a vigorous push in Spain. The command of the new expedition was given to Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough, one of the most re- Li f e°fPeter- borough. markable soldiers of his time, and especially suited for the work now set before him. - Born two years before the Restoration, he had served when a boy in the Mediterranean fleet. Changing his profession, as 68 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1705. was then often done, he had been subsequently engaged in fighting in Africa. From his seat in the House of Lords he had opposed the will of James II. upon the Test Act. He found it advisable to take refuge in Hol- land, and was the first English nobleman who pressed upon William of Orange that he should stand forth as the deliverer of England. For the two years that pre- ceded the Revolution he was constantly with him ; and when the Revolution was accomplished he was rewarded with the title of Earl of Monmouth, and with the offices of Lord of the Bedchamber, and First Commissioner of the Treasury. Lord Monmouth, however, was not the man steadily to retain the king's favour : and during the reign he lost first his civil, and then all his offices, and was imprisoned in the Tower. His disgrace rested upon doubtful evidence, and he was soon released. In 1697 he succeeded to his uncle's title as Earl of Peterborough ; but it was not until Queen Anne's reign that he again took part in public life. He had been offered and had refused the chief command of the forces in the West Indies. It is said that it was at Marlborough's sugges- tion that this new command in Spain was given to him. This outline of his life gives but a slight indication of his character. Its predominant feature was activity — invaluable where energy was wanted ; other- wise it took the form of restlessness. Had he any definite work to do there was no man so fertile in resources, none who would do it so quickly. But obstacles would fret him : he had not the patience of Marlborough. When unemployed, he would travel over Europe with astonishing rapidity. It was said that he was faster than any courier. He was not like ordinary men, and would have been better suited for the days of knight-errantry. He had all the virtues of chivalry. He Swift's account of him. A.D. 1705. Lord Peterborough. 69 was very generous and devoted to the fair sex. He could inspire troops with enthusiasm ; none was his equal as a leader of irregulars. It must also be men- tioned that he had no mean opinion of himself, and that his open, free way of talking made him many enemies. A few lively lines by Dean Swift give us a very vivid idea of Lord Peterbo- rough : Mordanto fills the the trump of fame : The Christian worlds his deeds proclaim, And prints are crowded with his name. In journeys he outrides the post, Sits up till midnight with his host, Talks politics, and gives the toast : Knows every prince in Europe's face, Flies like a squib from place to place, And travels not, but runs a race. . . . A messenger comes all a-reek, Mordanto at Madrid to seek : He left the town above a week. Next day the post-boy winds his horn, And rides through Dover in the morn — Mordanto's landed from Leghorn. . . . So wonderful his expedition, When you have not the least suspicion He's with you like an apparition — A skeleton in outward figure, His meagre corpse, though full of vigour, Would halt behind him were it bigger. The commission which Peterborough received from the Home Government was purposely drawn with great 70 TIi e Age of Anne. A. d. 1705. latitude, and was exactly calculated to suit borough's his peculiar genius. He had full command commission. oyer ^ ^ m ^ and a -^^ control with gir Cloudesley Shovel over the navy when he was on board. It was pointed out to him that the provinces of Catalonia and Valencia were believed to be favourable to the cause of the Archduke Charles ; and various places along the coast of Spain, and even on the Mediter- ranean shore of France, were suggested to him as in- viting attack. The greatest stress was lai-d on Barcelona, a large commercial town on the sea-coast and the capital of Catalonia. The force amounted to about 5,000 men, two-thirds English and one-third Dutch. It was very badly pro- vided with stores, or with money to pur- Progress of the expe- chase them. Peterborough s first act on landing at Lisbon, to which he first sailed, was on his own responsibility to remedy the want of stores. Here, also, two regiments of dragoons were spared by the Earl of Galway to add to the force. The Archduke Charles, who had been with Galway 's army in Portugal, now joined himself to Peterborough, and when the force stopped a little later at Gibraltar, the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt joined likewise. He had been popular as governor of Catalonia in the last reign, and it was thought that his presence might win over some of the natives. The fleet next cast anchor off Valencia, where Peter- borough proposed a bold scheme, a foretaste of the ro- mantic adventures which have made his ex- Peter 10 ^' pedition memorable. He proposed to march bororgh's at once upon Madrid, which was only 150 miles distant : the road lay through the province of Valencia, which was mainly favourable. a„d. 1705. Lord Peterborough. 71 There was no army at Madrid ; and if the French army that was now facing Galway, on the frontier of Portugal, should turn to Madrid, to expel the bold invaders, it would be exposed to attack upon two sides at once. If the archduke had not been on board the fleet, Peter- borough, having full powers, would doubtless have car- ried out his plan with a result which, from later expe- rience, it is quite possible to guess. But, in a war waged to place the archduke upon the throne of Spain, it was not possible to act contrary to his' wishes. He opposed the plan very strongly when it was laid before him ; and it was rejected altogether by a council of war. It was therefore determined to proceed to Barcelona. But Barcelona was one of the best fortified and strongest cities in Spain. It was absurd that so small a force should think of laying formal siege , ., . t , Barcelona. to it : it was not a quarter large enough even for one line. The garrison was about as numerous as the assailants. The would-be king and the Prince of Hesse were very anxious that an attempt should be made : they especially maintained that the inhabitants of the surrounding country would join. The troops and artillery were landed: some 1,500 Miquelets, as the picturesquely-armed peasants of the province were called, came to the camp. During three weeks there were disputes in the force. The archduke and the Prince of Hesse were taunting Peterborough, and insisting upon an attack. The officers of the navy joined them in re- garding it as feasible. The officers of the army declared that it was hopeless, the general of the Dutch contingent going so far as to refuse to lead his men to certain de- struction. t Peterborough was distracted between them, but he at length gave way to the latter. The heavy guns were again embarked. A public entertainment was 72 The Age of Anne. a.d. 17015. given in Barcelona in honour of the departure of the force. Next morning, however, the English flag was waving from the fort that commanded the city. The town of Barcelona lies between the sea and this strong fort or citadel, which is called Monjuich. It is situated on the last of a range of hills, and, onjulc ' as it really commanded Barcelona, it had been fortified with especial care. It was believed to be impregnable : on this account the soldiers of the gar- rison were negligent. Lord Peterborough, expecting this, determined to attempt a sudden assault. To reach Monjuich from the English camp without giving an alarm it was necessary to march about nine miles. The night was dark ; the force se- Captureof lected consisted of 1,200 foot and 200 horse. Monjuich. Peterborough, as he was moving out of the camp, stopped at the quarters of the Prince of Hesse, inviting him to accompany them to " see whether they deserved the bad character which he had so liberally given them." Much astonished, he came at once. Two nours before dawn the troops arrived beneath Monjuich, but Peterborough did not intend a night attack. He ex- plained to his men the nature of the fortifications. There was an inner circle of works ; round these there was a ditch. The English were to receive the enemy's fire, and then jump into this ditch : the enemy would come forward to attack them, and they were then to advance, driving the enemy back, and following them closely into the inner fortifications. The little force was divided into three columns ; Peterborough, with the prince, attacking the most dangerous part, a bastion on the Barcelona side. As he had said, so it happened. All except the innermost fort fell into Peterborough's hands. The Prince of Hesse there lost his life. A reinforce- A.D. 1705. Lord Peterborough. 73 ment of dragoons was sent from Barcelona to Monjuich. As they entered they were received with cheers. The prince thought the cheering meant that the place had surrendered, and, hastening to secure it, was shot just as he discovered his mistake. An alarm arose that a large force was coming from Barcelona to the relief of Monjuich. Peterborough went to reconnoitre. In his absence a panic seized upon the troops. Some of the soldiers suggested to the officer who was left in com- mand that they should retreat, and he at once adopted the suggestion. Captain Carleton, who has written an ac- count of the campaign, tells us how he himself heard this, and spurred his horse after Peterborough, who without a word galloped back, shouted to the men that they were marching in a wrong direction, restored confidence by the magic of his presence, and promptly recovered the position which had been so rashly endangered. The guns were landed again, and in less than three days the whole of the fortress of Monjuich was in the hands of the English. Great enthusiasm Capture of was now aroused, when Peterborough at Barcelona. once turned to the siege of the town of Barcelona. The sailors wanted to serve in the batteries on shore : the soldiers vied with them in their efforts. Very soon the town capitulated without there being the necessity for an assault. The Catalans from the neigh- borhood were so angry that the town had held out against the cause which they espoused that the English general had great difficulty in preserving order, and in preventing terrible violence and plunder. The results of this brilliant achievement were very important. Almost all Catalonia declared Catalonia for the Archduke Charles. Soldiers of f P r ^ h J e , ■rv, .,. . Archduke, Philip s army deserted in numbers : new re- G 74 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1705. emits came in. The belief that Catalonia was still disaf- fected to the general Government of Spain, and inclined to the House of Austria, because Castile was in favour of the French prince, was fully justified. The example was infectious. The town of Valencia, and the greater part of the province of that name, soon sub- mitted. Peterborough was very anxious to follow up these successes, and to continue the vigo- rous push which, in accordance with his instructions, he had been making. Had he been properly supported, it is difficult to conjecture what would have stopped his success. But unfortunately those with him, whether Dutch generals or English officers, or the Archduke Charles himself, had not his energy. They determined upon letting the navy retire to Lisbon, and sending the army into winter quarters in the different towns which had espoused their side. These contingents were insuf- ficient to hold the towns, and a considerable portion of the army remained useless in Barcelona. On the other hand, the Spanish Government was not prepared to remain idle. They sent 7,000 men, under one of their best generals, to recover San Mateo, a town important, not for its size, but for its situation on a pass between Catalonia and Va- lencia, In this place an English colonel had been stationed with a force of 500 irregulars. Peterborough marched to its relief with only 1,200 men, and raised the siege. He was always well served by spies ; and, by arranging that one should be captured with false de- spatches, he created in the mind of the Spanish general the impression that the relieving army was much larger than his own. He precipitately retreated towards Va- lencia ; but Peterborough was not content with relieving the town. With his small force, and keeping up the A.D. 1705. Lord Peterborough. 75 same impression, although it was the depth of winter, and in a mountainous country, he pursued the retreating army. He had not followed it for more than six leagues, when he received doleful news from Barcelona, that no less than three armies were being concen- trated upon the town, and all the troops Pursuit of Spaniards. were required that King Charles could mus- ter. After some hesitation Lord Peterborough sent his infantry to the sea-port of Vinarez, that they might thence be conveyed to Barcelona. He determined, with his 200 horsemen, to continue the pursuit. By very rapid movements, his men appearing now on the right, now on the left flank of the enemy, and concealing by various devices his inferiority of numbers, he followed the strong Spanish army. The town of Nules, strongly attached to the cause of King Philip, he took in the following manner. He rode up to the gate and asked for a magistrate or priest. A priest came. Peterborough told him that he gave them only six minutes in which to surrender ; else he would, when his artillery came up, assault and give no quarter. They surrendered, but he had no artillery. He heard that the Spaniards had determined on be- sieging the town of Valencia, and he felt it was abso- lutely necessary to relieve it. He sent, Ex ^ Qf therefore, quickly for his own infantry from Peter- Vinarez, and for reinforcements from Cata- lonia. Wanting cavalry, he converted 600 infantry into horse soldiers. A regiment of foot was being reviewed. Peterborough said to the officers, "How would you like your men to be mounted on good horses V He led them on a little further. There were 600 horses ready sad- dled and bridled, which the general had bought at Nules. 76 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1705. At Murviedro the road to Valencia was stopped by a force under an Irish officer in the Spanish service. He was a kinsman of Peterborough, who took advantage of the fact to make proposals to him that he should desert, and when he firmly refused, Peterborough, by means of feigned deserters, spread a report of his treason. The result was, that in the general mistrust Peterborough passed him, and on February 4 entered Valencia. But not yet did he rest there. He heard that a body of 4,000 men was marching to reinforce the Spanish army. At dead of night he set out with one-fourth the number, crossed the river Xucar, attacked and dispersed the force, and returned to Valencia with 600 prisoners. There was no further danger for Valencia. For the remainder of the winter Peterborough and his men en- joyed their well-earned repose. CHAPTER IX. THE YEAR OF VICTORY, I706. Section J. — Ramillies. The year 1706 was the most important in the whole war to the cause of the allies, for in that year they won brilliant successes in three different quar- buccess m x . in three ters. In Spain there was at the same time quar er ^ e triumphant raising of the siege of Bar- celona by Lord Peterborough, and the march of Lord Galway to Madrid. In the Netherlands the easily-won victory of Ramillies led to the recovery of the whole country from the French. In Italy Eugene's brilliant victory brought about the raising of the siege of Turin, a.d. 1706. The Year of Victory 77 and was followed by the overthrow of the French cause throughout the whole of not only Savoy but Italy. Marlborough, knowing the critical state of affairs in Italy, had wished to be allowed to repeat the cam- paign of Blenheim, and, marching his army quickly into Italy, to join with Eugene in Marlborough raising the siege of Turin ; but his army was composed of contingents from different allies, whose leave he had to ask to take them, and this was refused by many of the different Governments. The Dutch were especially afraid that their border would again be left unprotected. Acquiescing in the reversal of his policy, Marlborough set off to meet the enemy "with a heavy heart." Yet he was marching to one of his most bril- liant victories. He had under him in the Netherlands a force of about 60,000 men, most of whom were English and Dutch. Opposed to him was Marshal Villeroy, with a French army of about the same size as his own. With him was the Elector of Bavaria, ready to fulfil his own saying, when offered terms by the allies, that "since the wine was abroach he was ready to drink it to the lees." The French general seems to have known that the allies were late in making preparations, and to have thought that by a speedy advance he might find Marlborough with his English troops alone, and unprepared. He learnt his mistake when they met on the battle-field of Ramillies. The village which has given its name to this battle stands in the middle of a high plain in Brabant. Three rivers rise close by it. The Little Gheet and the Great Gheet, mere brooks, flow north- wards, uniting at some leagues' distance, and then flow- ing into a tributary of the Scheldt. They are separated 7 8 The Age of Anne. A.D. 1706. by a narrow belt of land, at first not more than a mile in breadth, but expanding as they flow apart. The Mehaigne to the south of the field flows eastward, then some miles further on turns south and joins the Meuse. The French right wing rested on the Mehaigne at the village of Tavieres ; their line extended in a large arc, the centre being strongly stationed in the village of Ramillies and at Offuz, which lies a little to its left ; the left of the whole line was at the village of Anderkirk on ^m, Jtnglish, Dutch Danish -Allies the Little Gheet. Marlborough took advantage of this arrangement. It is manifest that if two armies face each other, one in a concave and the other in a convex order, the latter has this advantage, that troops can be more quickly moved from one flank to the other. Behind the French line, between the right and centre where the cavalry were stationed, stands an old barrow called the Tomb of Ottomond. Marlborough saw that this commanded the field, and made it his object to a.d. 1706. The Year of Victory. 79 break through the line and secure it. To conceal his design he made a vehement borough's attack on the French left, to strengthen pan " which Villeroy sent his reserve and all the soldiers that he could spare. Marlborough then, in such a way that they were not missed, detached a large body of troops, who marched, hidden by a slightly-rising ground, to reinforce his own left. But before the attempt to break through the line was carried out, the attack on Anderkirk was followed by assaults on the villages of Ramillies and Tavieres. The latter was quickly carried. RamflUes The real crisis of the battle was the cavalry May 23 v J A.D. 1706. fight that followed. The Dutch general charged, and the first line of the French was driven back. But the second line consisted of the finest troops of France — the Maison du Roi— the French Household Brigade, the regiment which had won Steinkirk, and which consisted now, as then, of the young nobles, fa- mous for their valour, and careless of their lives. The Dutch were driven back. Marlborough ordered up every available sabre, and himself galloped to the front. Just as he was coming forward, he was recognised by some of the French dragoons who nearly made him prisoner. Sword in hand he fought himself free, and tried to make his horse leap a ditch, but he fell to the ground. An aide-de-camp brought him another horse, and as a colonel held the stirrup, a cannon ball took off his head. Saved as it were by miracle, Marlborough headed the charge. The famous French regiment was overpowered by numbers, the village of Ramillies was taken, and immediately afterwards the Tomb of Otto- mond. The French line was thus cut in two. The French still held Anderkirk, the village on their So The Age of Anne. a.d. 1706. left, and the advance of the allies was impeded by the confusion which reigned all over the field. ba«ie° fthe Marlborough halted his troops to re-form their lines, and the French bravely at- tempted to face them. When Marlborough once more ordered the advance to be sounded, a panic seized the French, and they fled. The battle had lasted three hours. Till late into the night the flying French were pursued by the English cavalry. All their artillery, except six guns, fell into the hands of the allies. The French lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 15,000 men; the allies less than a quarter of that number. The battle of Ramillies was by no means so valiantly contested as that of Blenheim. Its results, however, were quite as important. Blenheim saved Ramiifie^ the Empire ; Ramillies conquered the Neth- erlands. Marshal Villeroy and the Elector of Bavaria halted in Louvain ; but they decided that they could not hold it, and the town capitulated next morning. Brussels, the capital of Brabant, i^tohands opened its gates to the conquerors, and pro- of Marl- claimed the Archduke Charles as its sover- borough. . .... eign. Marlborough, in his name, guaran- teed the liberties of the province, as the archduke him- self had done in Catalonia. Moreover, when the Dutch wished to levy a contribu- tion on the inhabitants of Brabant towards the expenses of the war, and the English Government were inclined to adopt the policy, Marlborough protested so warmly, that the scheme was not carried out. Other towns hastened to follow the example of Brussels. The for- tresses occupied by French troops alone held out. Marlborough first proceeded to A.D. 1706. The Year of Victory. 81 Antwerp, which was expected to cause him trouble ; but a quarrel had begun between the French soldiers and the Walloons, who jointly formed the garrison. The latter declared for the allies, and this strong fortress was cap- tured without a blow. Ghent and Bruges, the two chief cities of Flanders, opened their gates. Then Marl- borough advanced upon Ostend, and began the siege with such vigour that it surrendered in nine days. Menin is a strong fortress on the Lys, which now serves as a boundary between France and Belgium, for Vauban, the great French engineer, had fortified it with all his art. Lewis had by this time sent his bravest marshal, Vendome, to restore the for- tunes of France on its northern frontier. He approached Marlborough's army as if with the intention of raising the siege of Menin, but the memory of Ramillies was too much for the courage of his soldiers. " Everyone here," he reports to Lewis, " is ready to doff his hat, if one even mentions the name of Marlborough." It took twenty-three days before Menin fell. Dendermonde, which lay to his rear, was Marlborough's real object. It was so situated on the banks of the Scheldt, that by letting out the waters the governor Dender- could prevent an enemy's approach. " They must have an army of ducks," Lewis had said, " to take Dendermonde." It surrendered, however, to Marl- borough. In his despatch he gives the reason — " That place could never have been taken but by the hand of God, which gave us seven weeks without rain. The rain began the day after we had taken possession, and continued without intermission." Ath surrendered next, after a siege of twelve days, and Marlborough would also have attempted the strong fortress of Mons if the Dutch had been more prompt with supplies. Thus ended 82 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1706. the brilliant campaign of 1706, all the results of which may be traced to the victory of Ramillies. The Emperor and King Charles wished to make Marlborough governor of the country which he had thus conquered. It was a post of importance, borough pro and of considerable emolument ; the Eng- governor of nsn Government would have gladly seen Netherlands. j^ m accept [ tm g ut t h e Dutch, and even his friends amongst them, made so strong an opposition that the plan was allowed to drop. Section II. — Turin. At the beginning of the year 1706 the cause of the allies in Italy looked very gloomy. It seemed that nothing could prevent the capture of Turin, The allied , , ° , l , , „ , . \ cause in that then they must be wholly driven out of 1 y " Italy, and that the Duke of Savoy would be compelled to quit the Grand Alliance, just as he had formerly quitted it before the Peace of Ryswick. Great efforts were therefore made to send strong support. Marlborough even went to Vienna to obtain supplies and reinforcements for Eugene, and his representations were successful, so that Eugene was able to take the field with a larger and better equipped army than before. Just before his arrival in Italy the imperialists had been defeated by Vendome at Calcinate The story ran that, to lull the vigilance of the opposing general, Vendome had pretended to be ill, and suddenly appearing well, and at the head of his army, had routed the imperial- ists. Eugene's first work was to reorganise the defeated troops. Meanwhile the French began the siege of Turin. It was commenced with true French politeness. The a.d. 1706. The Year of Victory. 83 French general, by order of the king, sent to offer safe passports for the princesses of i| ie s e of Savoy, and to say that, if the duke would point out his head-quarters, no bombs should be thrown there. The duke sent answer that his daughters were already safe, and that the French might throw their bombs where they thought proper. Having made all preparations for resisting the siege, the duke left his cap- ital, thinking that the presence of a court might hinder the defence, which he entrusted to Daun, the father of one who was afterwards a famous Austrian general in the Seven Years' War. Messages were sent to inform Eugene how critical was the state of Turin. He marched quickly from Tyrol to its relief. Fortunately for the cause of the allies the battle of Ramillies had just been won, and Lewis recalled Marshal- Vendome from Italy, as. the only French general who could face the victorious Marlborough. In the place of Vendome, whom he so highly valued, he sent his Royal Highness the Duke of Orleans, and, as the fashion was, a general to guide him, Marshal Marsin, who had commanded part of the army opposed to Eugene at Blenheim. The Duke of Orleans was merely ornamental. Marsin's reputation did not stand high. It was said that he had been made a marshal only because Madame de Maintenon held a high opinion of his religious character. Eugene's quick march took him across three rivers, the Po, the largest, giving him most trouble. By a wide circuit to the south he reached the Pass of Stradella, in a spur of the Apennines, run- ning towards the Po. This pass was very important, because it formed the communication between the French and their allies in the peninsula. This occu- pation of the pass and the victory which followed it have 84 The Age of Anne. a. d. 1706. been compared to " a stab in the jugular artery, or a blow on the spinal marrow." Marching from Stradella on Turin, Eugene effected a junction with the Duke of Savoy. After surveying the ground from the heights of Superga, whence the city and the whole State of surrounding country can be seen, the two the siege. ° J ' generals determined on an attack. News reached them that the siege, which had now lasted for more than three months, had reached such a point that the besiegers had twice forced their way within the forti- fications, and twice had been repulsed ; and that the de- fenders had fired away their last barrel of powder. The allies were eager for battle. When Eugene's house steward asked him where he would dine the next even- ing ; " at Turin, at Turin," he enthusiastically answered. The French were stronger than the allies in numbers, and much stronger in position. They were behind in- trenchments, to the attack of which the allies Turin, na d to march across a plain. But bravery Sept. 7, an( j o-eneralship carried the day ; the French A.D. 1706. ° r J ' were signally routed. The duke, accom- panied by Eugene, entered his delivered capital amid the ringing of bells and every sign of enthusiasm. Eu- gene dined that night in Turin. This was the third victory which secured to the allies important results, indeed hardly less important than Blenheim and Ramillies. The first of these Results of , rr , , _ , _ , Turin. was the effect on the minds of the French. French They were taught that Marlborough was not troops are f ne on iy rreneral who could rout them. " I demoralised. J ° am sorry to tell you," wrote one of their own officers, "that I no longer know our men — they are so changed. I will not give you a detail of the disorder in A.D, 1706. The Year of Victory. 85 which they fought at Turin, and of the confusion which prevailed among us, when we turned our backs on an army that, even after the battle, was much inferior to ours. I will draw a curtain over this disagreeable scene ; but I cannot help telling you that our troops hardly think themselves safe here, divided as they are by the Alps from the enemy." The same feeling was thus prevailing in the French army of the South as in that of the North, and the army of the South also was compelled to with- draw within the borders of France. The second consequence was that Savoy was French now secured to the cause of the Grand Al- driven out of Piedmont. liance. The French evacuated all Piedmont except the fortresses. These they lost one by one — Milan last. The Convention of Milan (March 13, 1707) secured North Italy for the allies. But the kingdom of Naples also was thus cut off makefpeace from France by land, whilst the English |P art from fleets prevented troops being sent by sea. Naples made a separate peace with the imperialists, and was never again united to the monarchy of Spain. Section III.-— Barcelona and Madrid. The successes of the Earl of Peterborough in Spain, and the acceptance of King Charles in so large a portion of that country, produced greater vigour on the The French French side than had yet been shown. besiege J Barcelona. Philip himself commanded an army whose object was to recover Barcelona. Lewis sent a fleet under his natural son, the Count of Toulouse, together with a skilled French marshal, to help the inexperienced Philip. Charles's ministers implored him to escape; but he bravely determined to remain in Barcelona, which was soon blockaded by land and sea. The 86 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1706. breaches in the fortress of Monjuich, which Peterborough had taken so quickly, had not been properly repaired ; yet it held out for twenty-three days. Meanwhile Peter- borough with his small forces, chiefly consisting of ir- regular troops, tried to raise the siege, but in vain. The English fleet during Peterborough's romantic enterprise had returned to England. It was now back in the Mediterranean, and a new commission had been sent to Peterborough, which gave him the command of the fleet when he was on board ship. At great risk he put out to sea in a small boat ; on the first night no ship of the fleet was to be seen ; on the second night he was more successful. He did not wish the French mlkes t r h°em h admiral to see the whole fleet, but rather raise the desired to entice him to battle with a part- siege. r and then to bring up the rest as a reserve. But the Count of Toulouse was well informed, and sailed back from Barcelona to Toulon. The land forces soon followed the navy, and the siege was raised. The success upon the east of Spain set in motion the army under the Earl of Galway on the west. Ber- wick, who was opposing it, had forces too small to resist the advance, and fell back on the north. Philip, who was in the north, had hastened to Madrid ; but ^ ntr M°d "d ^ e was obliged immediately to quit it. He was attended on his retreat by his nobles, more faithful to him on account of his adversity. Shortly after Philip had left Madrid, Galway with his English and Portuguese troops entered the Spanish capital. This may be considered the highest point of the suc- cess of the allies. On May 11, the day on which the „,, , , siege of Barcelona was raised, a total eclipse The point of b ' r greatest sue- of the sun took place. It was eagerly re- the war. marked that the sun in his glory had been a.d. 1706. The Year of Victory. 87 the favourite device of Lewis XIV. In the middle of this year 1706, though victory in Savoy was yet in the future, the allies had been successful in the Netherlands, and both upon the east and west of Spain. They were fighting to keep down the power of Lewis, especially to prevent him from attacking Holland, and to place the Archduke Charles upon the throne of Spain. All the strongholds of the Netherlands, were, now in their hands, and the capital of the Spanish monarchy was taken by Galway, who anxiously expected Charles to join him in Madrid. But our account of the year as a year of victory must end here. When the cause of Philip seemed to have reached its lowest stage, a peculiar feature in the character of the Spanish people, especially in that of the Castilians, was shown. They had not seemed loyalty for to care for King Philip in his prosperity: he had excited no enthusiasm amongst them — they had obstructed his government by their apathy, if by nothing else. Now that he was in exile they became enthusiastic in his cause. Never was there such loyalty. One story may serve as an illustration. A Castilian priest brought him 120 pistoles from his small village, which had only 120 houses — " My flock are ashamed," said the good priest with tears in his eyes, "that they are not able to send a larger sum ; but they entreat your Majesty to be- lieve that in the same purse are one hundred and twenty hearts faithful even to death." Against this feeling it was useless for the allies to con- tend. It seems only wonderful that all did not recognise, as Peterborough expressly did, that Charles would never be king in Castile ; for Spain was now divided into par- ties almost as it had once been into kingdoms, and the inhabitants would have gladly acquiesced in a division 88 The Agt of Anne. a.d. 1706. which would have given Castile to Philip and Aragon to Charles. It was an Englishman, General Stanhope, who protested that this would reduce Spain to nought in the councils of Europe. Although Madrid was thus held for him, King Charles could not be persuaded to enter. He pleaded that he must enter in state, and that his carriage was not ready. " Our William the third," reasoned General Stanhope, " entered London in a hack- ney coach with a cloak bag behind it, and was made king not many weeks after." Between the hostility of the natives and the lukewarmness or cowardice of the prince, it was impossible to hold Madrid. As Charles would not come to Madrid, Galway, no longer able to obtain supplies, left Madrid to join the arch- da?way n and duke and the forces under Peterborough, borouhat Charles marched from Saragossa, Peter- Guada- borough from Valencia: they joined each other, and the next day effected a junction with Galway at Guadalaxara. We are told how each army saw with astonishment the smallness of the other. As they left Madrid, Berwick's troops entered ; and as the inhabitants were in favour of his cause, his army was received with enthusiasm. It grew day by day in numbers, whilst the forces of the allies kept wasting. The crisis was past. Never again had the cause of Charles such a chance in Spain as on the day when Galway entered Madrid. Moreover a new difficulty beset the allies. Not only were their troops few, but their generals were many. • Rather than serve under Galway, his senior genial? ° f ' offi cer, Peterborough, determined to go. A clause in his instructions had ordered him to proceed, if he had an opportunity, to the assistance A.D. 1 70 7. The Year of Disaster. 89 of the Duke of Savoy. He set off therefore for Italy, and was chagrined to find that all the officers were glad at his departure. With many qualities that might inspire those under him, Peterborough had something that made him unpopular — a most sarcastic and biting tongue, from which even the prince was not safe. When Peterborough was gone, however, the cause of the allies did not prosper any better. Before the ad- vancing troops of Berwick they retreated to Valencia, where they wintered. CHAPTER X. THE YEAR OF DISASTER — 1707. The year 1707 was a strange contrast to that which preceded it. In almost every quarter it was a year of inaction or of disaster to the cause of the Grand Alliance. It was strange that the campaign in Flanders which followed that of Ramillies was so unfruitful in successes. The campaign of Turin alone seemed to carry forward its results into the fol- lowing year ; but the selfishness with which the Em- peror acted made the success in Italy almost more hurt- ful than useful to the general cause. In Spain, divided counsels had, even in the latter part of the previous year, produced their natural fruit in failure and retreat. They were in this year to be crowned with the greatest defeat which the allies suffered during the war. In other parts of Europe, also, fortune seemed to have de- serted their cause. When Marlborough assumed the command of the H po The Age of Anne. A.d. 1707. army in Flanders, he expected such success as would lead directly to a speedy termination of the borough and war. He had indeed many other things to Charles XII. ^ q t k an mere iy to CO mmand his own army. The Home Government looked to him constantly for advice. It was his work to keep the different members of the Grand Alliance true to the cause, and zealous. In the spring of this year the King of Sweden was causing anxiety to the Emperor. King Charles XII., whose career is described in another part of this volume, was at Dresden with an army not inconsiderable in numbers, but still more formidable from the bravery and reputation of the soldiers. French envoys paid him frequent visits, for Lewis felt that if he could win Charles to his' side, he might yet triumph in the war, as the Em- peror would be paralysed. Marlborough therefore made a hasty journey to the Court of Charles, to try whether his influence could counteract that of these French en- voys. On the way he stopped for forty-eight hours with the Elector of Hanover, who advised him to try the effect of the promise of pensions to the chief ministers of King Charles, and to pay the first year in advance. At Dresden Marlborough did not neglect this advice, but perhaps he relied more on his own power of flattery, for this was his first speech to the king : "I present to your Majesty a letter, not from the chancery, but from the heart of the queen, my mistress, and written with her own hand. Had not her sex pre- vented it, she would have crossed the sea to see a prince admired by the whole universe. I am in this particular more happy than the queen, and I wish I could serve some campaigns under so great a general as your Ma- jesty, that I might learn what I yet want to know in the art of war." a.d. 1707. The Year of Disaster. 91 Charles was naturally pleased, and Marlborough was soon convinced that the Grand Alliance had no reason to fear danger in that quarter, as Charles was meditating a very different design. Charles was unmoved when Marlborough spoke of Lewis, but his eyes flashed fire when he spoke of the Czar. On Marlborough's return to Flanders he was anxious to begin active operations against the French ; but he was thwarted by the Dutch deputies, who seemed to have received orders to that ef- j^J^^ feet from their own Government. The Dutch wanted a cession of territory, in order to secure their border the better from attack ; but as this cession would have to be made at the expense of the Emperor, they anticipated opposition from him, and determined to thwart the progress of the common cause until they could make terms for themselves. Such instructions, combined with the usual phlegmatic slowness of the Dutch deputies, fettered Marlborough's action. The other allies also were backward in sending their con- tingents. Month after month passed, and the whole summer slipped away without anything being done. In the month of March was fought in Spain the battle of Almanza. It was the greatest defeat which the allies suffered during the war, and was inflicted by the Duke of Berwick. The English found SiiSinza, some consolation for their defeat in the March, A.D. 1707. thought that their conqueror was an English- man. Berwick indeed had much of the generalship, the coolness in action, and the bravery of his uncle, Marlborough. Almanza in Valencia is a town situated in an open plain. As Berwick was stronger than the ^ r ° The positions. allies in cavalry, the country was better 92 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1707. suited to him ; but Galway was either ignorant of this fact or disregarded it. Anxious to expel the French from Valencia, he advanced to the attack. Berwick had drawn up his troops, with his infantry and artillery in the centre, and his cavalry on the flanks. The various ele- ments of Galway's forces were more mixed; and he has been especially censured for drawing up infantry in line close in the rear of his cavalry. The battle began about two in the afternoon. Lord Galway, who was as brave in battle as he was cautious in council, led an attack upon the French Total defeat right which, successful for a moment, was of the allies. ° ' ' repulsed by the second line under Berwick in person. In the centre the French were at first success- ful, then driven back : but a French officer prevented any evil result from the repulse by declaring that it was a feigned retreat made by the general's order. Then Berwick came up with reinforcements and restored the battle. The first important disaster befell the allies on their right. The Portuguese cavalry at the charge of the enemy turned and fled, leaving bare and unprotected some infantry of their own countrymen, who were cut to pieces. Some Spanish cavalry also on the other wing made no resistance. The English infantry in the centre, left thus exposed, were attacked on both flank and in front at the same time, were outnumbered and compelled to surrender. A force of thirteen battalions escaped to a wood, but surrendered next day to the French cavalry who surrounded them. Two days after the fight Lord Galway wrote to Marl- borough : — " I am under deep concern to be obliged to tell your lordship we were entirely defeated. Both our wings were broke, and let in the enemy's horse, which sur- a.d. 1707. The Year of Disaster. 93 rounded our foot, so that none could get off. I received a cut in the forehead in the first charge I cannot, my lord, but look upon the affairs of Spain as lost by this bad disaster ; our foot, which was our main strength, being gone, and the horse we have left chiefly Portu- guese, which is not good at all ... . All the generals here are of opinion that we cannot continue in this king- dom." Lord Galway did not exaggerate the importance of the defeat. The whole of the provinces of Valencia and Aragon surrendered to the French. The town of Valencia opened its gates to them th eS d It: f S ° f without any effort at resistance; the few towns which did resist were soon overpowered, and were treated with severity. The Archduke Charles was re- duced to the single province of Catalonia, where the inhabitants were still faithful to him ; but here his army was so small that he could hardly have withstood an invasion, had one been made. Once more it seemed as if the cause of the allies was hopeless in Spain. The only chance for that cause was the appointment of a really able commander with adequate forces. Such a commander shoukThave was Eugene, and such forces could easily keen ^jjj 1 have been sent by sea from North Italy to Barcelona. The English and Dutch ministers used their best endeavours to procure the adoption of this policy. But the Emperor, preferring his own interests, despatched a large force into Naples to secure that kingdom. It" was easy work. The impe- secures rialist troops under Daun, the gallant defen- der of Turin, were received with welcome, and the few who held out for Philip were besieged and taken in 94 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1707. Gaeta. The Island of Majorca also declared for Charles. These victories, however, might have been secured at any time. It was with difficulty that the Emperor could even be brought to sanction a plan on which Marlborough strongly insisted, the invasion, namely, of France in the south-east, so as to produce a diversion from the war in Spain. There was still hope that the Protestants might rise. The English fleet would co-operate. Attempt on The place to be attacked was Toulon, and Toulon. r tit i r the army was to be under the command ot Eugene and the Duke of Savoy. Had the former known how very unprepared the place was, he would probably have attacked it at once and taken it. The engineer whom Lewis sent down to defend To.ulon reported that it was not a fortress, but rather a garden, being over- spread with large country houses, orchards, and con- vents. Whilst he was working hard to get ready and defend the place, Eugene prepared to attack it in due form. But his army was straitened for supplies ; and, threatened by the advance of a large French force, Eu- gene and his cousin who had commenced the attempt half-heartedly, determined to raise the siege. There was yet one other military disaster this year. The imperialist army on the Upper Rhine, which Lewis of Baden had commanded since the year of Sfks a on 0f Blenheim until his death at the beginning of Rhine by fa[ s vear> was now commanded by a still more incompetent general, the Margrave of Bayreuth. His army had to defend the lines of Stollho- fen ; but Villars, the French marshal, surprised him, stormed the strong lines, and entirely routed the German troops. Villars was thus able to break into the Palati- nate, and in imitation of the former French conduct he jf.d. 1708. Later Fighting in the Low Countries. 95 laid much of it waste. Marlborough induced the Em- peror after this to take the command from the Margrave, and give it to a man of greater capacity, the Elector of Hanover, the future King George of England. Yet another calamity befell the English, but not from the hand of the enemy. Sir Cloudesley Shovel was bringing back his fleet to England from the Mediterranean, when it met with stormy ufs^of SiT* weather off the Scilly Isles. On a dark Cloudesley „ . . Shovel. night in October, three ships, including the admiral's, "the Association," were dashed against the Gilstone Rock, and only one man escaped of their crews. The admiral's body was washed ashore and found by some fishermen, who plundered it and buried it in the sand. His large emerald ring, however, was recognised, and, on the fishermen confessing, his body was taken up, and received a grand funeral in West- minster Abbey. At the end of this year the country was sick of the war, and would have welcomed a peace. During the rest of the war this feeling grew, nor did any military glory again diminish it. CHAPTER XL LATER FIGHTING IN THE LOW COUNTRIES. Section I. — Oudenarde and Lille. The discontent felt in England against the war, and the fact that the bonds which held the alliance together seemed to be growing loose, convinced Marlborough that this year (1708) a blow a blow must be struck. He reports that the burgo- g6 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1708. master of Amsterdam, who had hitherto been in favour of the war, had warned him that the Dutch were turning towards the idea of making for themselves a separate peace. Moreover, the inhabitants of Brabant, who had welcomed the success of the allies after Ramillies, and who might have been still warm in their favour if Marl- borough had been permitted to accept the government of the country, which Charles had offered, and still con- tinued to offer, were becoming dissatisfied. The tem- porary government was chiefly in the hands of Dutch commissioners, who were by no means conciliatory, as Marlborough would have been. The Dutch boasted that at the peace they would keep the country ; and as they were Protestants and the inhabitants staunch Catho- lics, the boast was very unpalatable to the latter. This feeling was known to the French, whom the inaction of the previous year also put in good heart. They deter- mined now to make an effort to win the Brabant inclining to country back. Bruges and Ghent opened their gates to French troops. There was disaffection among the soldiers at Antwerp; but Marl- borough, having received information of it, was able to prevent any outbreak. The next place which the French attempted to secure was Oudenarde, a strong fortress on the Scheldt. It was important to them on account of its position, standing between Brabant and their own frontier. The French army was nominally commanded by a royal S ie g e of prince, the Duke of Burgundy; but, as the fashion was with French armies, a general of greater skill was sent with him, whose duty it was to guide him and make up by his skill for the prince's in- experience. This was the Duke of Vendome. But for this arrangement to work well it is absolutely necessary a.d. 1706. Later Fighting in the Low Countries. 97 that the prince and his general should be on friendly- terms, or at any rate have a mutual understanding. The feeling between the Dukes of Burgundy and Vendome was strong repugnance, if not actual animosity. The Duke of Burgundy was a devout Catholic, with the manners of royalty, but lacking military skill. The Duke of Vendome was an infidel, dirty in his habits, and lazy, but with genius as a general. A kingdom divided against itself will not stand. An army in the direction of which there is discord so apparent cannot succeed. Marlborough's army was not so numerous as that of the French duke's ; but he was destined to receive one auxiliary worth a host. As the war in Italy ' . ' -Lugene was finished Eugene was free, and it was joins Marl- arranged that he should join Marlborough at the head of a body of imperialist troops. There were, however, the usual delays in starting : and though Marl- borough wrote to hasten him, it was evident that his army could not reach Marlborough in time. Scenting the battle from afar, Eugene left first his infantry behind, then his cavalry, and arrived in Marlborough's camp attended only by his personal suite. " My men will be encouraged," said Marlborough, "by the presence of so distinguished a commander." The two generals were agreed as to their plans. It was determined to march between France and the French army, so that, in case of defeat, the French could not retreat to their own territory. On the approach of the allies, the siege of Oudenarde was raised, the French marching northwards. The Oudenarde, French, their faces turned towards Paris, J uly "» Q occupied a strong position, defended by some rising ground, The allies moved to the attack at 98 The Age of Anne. a. d. 1708. three in the afternoon of July 11, 1708, greatly to the surprise of the French generals, for the allied army had just marched fifteen miles. Before Marlborough had even got all his army into position, he ordered his cavalry to charge, so that if the enemy had any thought of retiring without ^ a "^ a battle it was too late. In this first charge the Electoral Prince of Hanover, afterwards George II., distinguished himself. The right of the allied army was assigned to Eugene, out of compliment to whom Marlborough made this wing very strong, and placed the English troops in it. He himself commanded the centre, in which no English were fighting, but various corps of the other nations of the Grand Alliance. At the first assault the allied left was broken not long after it had crossed the Scheldt. The enemy, thinking that they were winning, pressed forward to drive the allies back into the river. An obstinate fight ensued, hand to hand, bayonet to bayonet. Indeed a great deal of the battle was of this nature ; it was remarked that artillery was hardly employed at all, the fighting being at too close range. As the French right thus pressed forward, Marlborough saw an opportunity of cutting it off, and he sent a very strong force under the old Dutch general, Marshal Over- kirk, who had fought in William's battles, and in many another. He was now in his last field, for he died this year. The service was well carried out, and the heights behind the French right were occupied. As night came on, Overkirk's men on the allied left and Eugene's men, who had been working steadily forward on the right, almost met. They had even fired some shots into each other's ranks, before the mistake was discovered by the officers. The order was given to cease firing, and through A.d. 1708. Later Fighting in the Low Countries. 99 the gap that was still open many of the French escaped, but many more were taken prisoners. The number of slain in the battle was not very great. The Chevalier St. George fought on the side of the French. The Duke of Vendome, it is said, wished to fight again the next day, but the Duke of Burgundy and his friends positively refused. "We must then retreat," said Ven- dome, angrily; "and I know," he added, looking at Burgundy, "that you have long wished to do so." A few days after the fight Eugene's army came up, but as the Duke of Berwick, who had been watching it and marching parallel with it, now joined the main body of the French, no real difference was made in the pro- portion of the armies. After a victory the important question is — what use shall be made of it? Eugene wished to attack the strong fortress of Lille on the French frontier. Marlborough proposed to disregard it, and wi^ 1 10 march upon Paris. In this project he would have received the support of the Home Government . but Eugene considered it dangerous to leave such strong enemies in the rear, and the Dutch deputies were aghast at the proposal. The siege of Lille was looked upon with great interest. In all other quarters the war flagged, whilst men's attention was turned upon this important contest. The fortification of Lille was con- Siege of Lille. sidered a masterpiece of Vauban. Boufners, one of the ablest of French marshals, was defending it. It was known that King Lewis was determined to strain every effort rather than let Lille be lost. On the other hand the allied generals were equally determined to take the town. The convoy which brought up the siege train, the heavy artillery and the supplies, was said to have L.ofC. ioo The Age of Anne. A.D. 1708. been thirteen miles in length. Eugene commanded the besieging, Marlborough the covering army, opposed to Berwick and Vendome. The regulations which the allied generals jointly drew up for those who were to serve in the trenches are still considered a valuable lesson for the young soldier. Prodigies of valour were performed by the defenders. When powder failed, a body of French soldiers marched through the enemy's lines, each carrying forty pounds of gunpowder. Through the leader speaking Dutch, many succeeded in passing the sentinels ; but a casual remark in French from an officer betrayed the rear. At another time a French captain took news into the city, swimming through the allied lines down the river Dyle on which Lille is, with his letter in his mouth, and escaping the notice of the sentinels by swimming under water. He returned to the French camp in the same way. The chief trouble of the besiegers was to obtain sup- plies. On one important convoy bringing provisions from Ostend it seemed as if the whole siege w^nlendaie wou ld turn to Eugene's camp. The French therefore sent an army to attack it; Marl- borough detached General Webb for its defence. The French came upon Webb in the wood of Wynendale, but were beaten back, and the provisions reached Eugene safely. This affair was considered of impor- tance, because Webb, as a Tory, was opposed to Marl- borough in politics, and either on that account, or by mistake, Marlborough assigned the glory of the skirmish to another general. In the time of Marlborough's un- popularity afterwards, the Tory House of Commons passed a vote of thanks to General Webb for the victory at Wynendale, As a last resource to prevent supplies reaching Eugene A.D. 1 709. Later Fighting in the Low Countries. 101 the French opened the sluices, and laid the country un- der water. Whereupon the allies built large flat-bottomed boats, and brought the supplies by water. After sixty days of gallant defence, Marshal Boufflers was obliged to capitulate. It was even said that King Lewis wrote that he should not push matters to extremity, but spare the lives of those who of iSe** had fought so well. Eugene, in admiration of the brave defence, allowed Boufflers to name his own terms of capitulation. Lille was not surrendered until all its powder had been fired away, and the garrison had been for some time living on horse-flesh. Section II. — Negotiations. The winter after Oudenarde and the taking of Lille was a terrible time for France. When the spring arrived the country was in a condition of absolute exhaustion. The efforts, which had been re- fSncef quired after such defeats as Blenheim, Ramillies, and Turin, and by the variety of points on which the country was open to the attacks of the allies, had emptied the treasury, and increased to an enormous extent the public debt, had robbed the fields of their cultivators, and caused them to be left untilled. Bank- ruptcy and famine stared France in the face. There was no money to pay the soldiers ; the taxes were unfruitful ; no one seemed to have money to lend. The only quarter whence corn could be imported was the Levant ; but English cruisers swarmed in the Mediterranean, and in- tercepted the corn ships. There was nothing for the people to eat but black bread ; even the fine ladies at Versailles lived on oat-cakes. The winter was one of especial severity. It was terribly cold in England, where the Thames was frozen over for weeks, but its 102 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1709. effects were more terrible in France, for there they were suffering starvation. Lewis XIV., who claimed to be the father of his peo- ple, was touched with their distress, and humbled him- self to apply for peace. He sent an ambas- Lewis pro- sador to Holland with proposals very ad^ poses terms. r xr J vantageous to the allies. He proposed that his grandson should surrender all the Spanish do- minions, except Naples and Sicily, which were to be made into a separate kingdom for him. Marlborough was appointed English plenipotentiary, together with Lord Townshend, an honest but not very able man, who on the accession of George I. The terms of became the Whig Prime-Minister. The the allies. _ ° English insisted on the cession of the whole Spanish monarchy, on the acknowledgment of the queen and the Protestant succession, on the banishment of the pretender, and the demolition of the works at Dunkirk. To these the various allies added other claims, each for their own advantage, at the expense of France. The most important was the Dutch claim for a barrier or chain of strong fortresses to secure them from attack. As to the particular fortresses claimed Marl- borough thought the Dutch were asking too much. When the terms were made known in Versailles the scene at the cabinet is described as most melancholy. The princes of the blood royal even shed Embassy of tears on the condition of France ; but it was Torcy. determined to proceed with the negotiations. M. de Torcy himself, the minister for foreign affairs, was „ , sent to the Hague to see whether he could Conference ° - , of the procure easier terms. He has described several interviews which he had with Marl- borough, to whom he was empowered to offer a large A.D. 1709. Later Fighting in the Low Countries. 103 bribe. But the French minister himself tells us that Marlborough would not listen to the disgraceful offer. The allies adhered to their proposals, adding to rather than abating from them. The conditions with which Torcy returned to Versailles were harder than before : that the whole Spanish mon- archy should be ceded to the Archduke Charles, and that the Dutch should have intolerable proposal. all the frontier towns for which they asked. It was known that Philip would not quietly surrender his hold of Spain, where he had won the love of the Castilians. "God had placed him on the Spanish throne," he said, "and he would maintain himself there with the last drop of his blood." A clause was there- fore added, saying that, unless Spain and Sicily were surrendered within two months, King Lewis was to join the allies in driving his own grandson from his throne. However crushed France was, these terms were intol- erable. However much king and people might long for peace, it was not to be bought thus. Madame de Maintenon indeed wanted Lewis to accept this condition, but another cabinet meeting was held, at which bolder counsels were heard. " If I must continue the war," said Lewis with a spirit that brings back his ■i- 1 << t "ii 1 • Appeal to earlier days, I will contend against my the people, enemies rather than against my own fam- ay I7 ° 9 * ily." He made an appeal to his people to meet the emergency, sending a circular to all the governors of pro- vinces, intending that its contents should be made pub- lic. He spoke of his own desire for peace and his efforts to secure it : he was prepared, he said, to make humiliating sacrifices, but the more he showed himself disposed towards them, the more did the allies rise in their demands; they seemed determined to open to 104 The Age of Anne. a. d. 1709. themselves avenues by which they might penetrate into the heart of France ; even if he had consented to all their conditions it would not have procured peace. " Seeing," he continued, "that our enemies in their pretence to negotiate are palpably insincere, we have only to con- sider how to defend ourselves, and show them that France united can resist the united powers of Europe in their attempts, by fair means or by foul, to ruin her. All the ordinary sources of revenue are exhausted. I come before you for your counsel and assistance, at a time when our very safety as a nation is at stake : let us show our enemies that we are still not sunk so low but that we can force upon them such a peace as shall con- sist with our honour and with the good of Europe." Marlborough and the allies did not expect an answer such as this appeal produced, or such a result to their intolerable and humiliating demands. The The answer French were touched by these words from one whom they had regarded as almost su- perhuman. Poorly clad and half-starved recruits flocked to the standards, but there was a new spirit in their eyes. A war which had been the French king's war became the French people's, and a larger army was set on foot than ever during the war before. Section III. — Malplaquet. Marlborough, who knew the effort that France was making, and the importance which on that account at- tached to the approaching campaign, tk)5T ra ~ pressed upon the English Government the necessity of strengthening his army. He used his best endeavours also to obtain more troops from the other nations of the confederacy. He knew well the military maxim, that in a desperate struggle, victory a.d. 1709. Later Fighting in the Low Counfries. 105 will fall to that side which can bring up reserves when its enemy no longer can. Marlborough succeeded in persuading the home Government to send some extra troops, and not to recall certain regiments from An- twerp: the Dutch also sent 4,000 German troops who were in their pay. But the number of men under arms was already very large, larger than ever before, and reaching more nearly to the size of modern armies. Those with the French standards were about as nu- merous as those in the allied army. There were about 110,000 men in each. But the French were badly sup- plied ; the distress in France showed itself in the army in the scarcity of bread. If a detachment had to march, it was said, it could only have a full breakfast by dimin- ishing the breakfast of the troops that were to halt. The command of the French army was now given to Villars, the only French marshal who had not as yet been defeated in the war. The soldiers be- lieved in his luck, which it was hoped would B'uffl'r" 1 ' 1 not now desert him. Boufflers, who had won himself glory by his brave defence of Lille, offered, although senior to Villars, to serve under him : and this noble example, part as it were of the wave of enthu- siasm which was sweeping over France, did much to kindle the ardour of the soldiers, who, mostly consisting of raw levies, were opposed to the veterans under Marl- borough and Eugene. Villars was the able general who had shown clemency to the Camisards. He was much addicted to boasting on assuming command. The first thing that he did was to announce that his army was much larger than it really was ; the second was to give a ball. The plan of campaign which the allied generals set before them was a continuance of that which had made I 106 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1709. the siege of Lille a necessity. It was to Plan of cam- force their way into France, leaving no stronghold behind. The only formidable fortresses which stood between were Tournai, Mons, and Valenciennes. They would also have to fight the army of Villars, whose business was likewise twofold — to pre- vent the capture of these towns, and to prevent the army of the allies from penetrating across the frontier. With this latter object he began to make strong works behind the rivers Scarpe, Scheldt, and Trouille. Marlborough made an advance, as if to attack the army of Villars, who thereupon hastily withdrew troops from Tournai to strengthen his forces. Then by a night-march the allied troops quickly invested Tournai thus weakened. The place was as bravely defended as it was strongly fortified, and the citadel was especially strong. Vauban's skill had been employed on all these towns along the French frontier, and Tournai was considered his masterpiece. The town was taken in a month ; the remains of the garrison then retired into the citadel, which resisted for five more weeks. The terrors of the siege were increased by the fact that in none of the other sieges were mines so much employed by the besieged. Just when a breach was made in the walls, and the allies were advancing towards it, a mine would be sprung and 300 soldiers blown into the air. Or when a party of the besiegers had discovered a mine, and were congratulating themselves on the dis- covery, they were blown up by the explosion of another mine beneath it. On September 3, however, the garri- son surrendered, and Marlborough in consideration of their bravery let the defenders march out with the honours of war. The next object of attack was Mons; but to invest A.D. 1 709. Later Fighting in the Low Countries. 107 this it was necessary to break through some part of the French lines, and to cross the river Haine. On the night of the surrender, an advance guard was sent to seize St. Ghislain, if possible ; but it was too strong for them. A second and stronger force under the Prince of Hesse pushed further on, and crossed the river above the town of Mons; and then finding a gap between the town and the lines of the French behind the Trouille, which joins the Haine just below Mons, the prince advanced, and invested Mons on the southern side. This movement, which succeeded almost without opposition, was of great service. It made an opening through the French lines, and placed the allies between Mons and France. If Villars wished to stop the siege of the town, his only chance was by risking a battle. He advanced therefore towards Mons from the south, and took up a strong position at Malplaquet. The allied generals were, however, as ready as he was for a battle. They had followed close upon the heels of Hesse, and on September 9 held a council of war. The Dutch deputies were of course opposed to fighting. Marlborough was for an immediate attack before the enemy could intrench himself; but Eugene, who also wished to fight, was yet willing to delay, until more bat- talions which were expected from before Tournai should come up. This, as a middle course was adopted, but there can be no doubt that Marlborough was right. The stubborn resistance that the French made two days later was greatly assisted by the intrenchments which they had thrown up ; and the right policy would have been to attack at once or not at all. The ground round Malplaquet was very thickly wooded. It was originally part of a large forest, which in many places had yielded to cultivation. 108 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1709.. Description To the north, the direction in which Mons of ground. . lay, there were two woods, Laniere and Taisniere, and between them a glade or open space, which was called the Trouee of Aulnoit. At the south- ern end of this glade Villars intrenched himself : he had used the two days well. When the English soldiers ad- vanced, they murmured — " So we have still to fight against moles." Villars had also occupied the woods. The battle that followed was terribly bloody. It was won, not by strategy, but by downright hard fighting. Each wing of the allies was once repulsed. MalVuet The rl S ht had t0 fi & ht itS Wa y thr0U § n the September wood of Taisniere. The left was under the II, A.D. 1709. i <- 1 t-i • r /~\ command of the Prince of Orange ; and when, after most terrible slaughter, it was at length driven back, Marlborough told the prince that this attack was only intended to be a feint. It is uncertain whether this was intended as a consolation to the prince for his repulse, or was really a part of Marlborough's plan. Prince Eugene was wounded in the battle, being shot behind the ear; but when his officers begged him to re- tire and have the wound dressed, he said " there would be time enough for that in the evening, if he survived." On the other side Villars was wounded more seriously, but he also showed the same spirit. He ordered a chair to be brought, that he might continue to direct the battle, but he fainted in it, and was removed from the scene. Boufiiers, on whom the command devolved, found that after four hours' hard fighting his centre was broken, and the intrenchments carried. The French, however, were able to retreat in good order from the field. The loss of the allies in thus dislodging the French amounted to about 20,000 men, or nearly one-fifth of the force that they brought into the field. The French, who fought a.d. 1709. Later Campaigns in Spain. 109 behind intrenchments, lost a little more than half that number. These two facts, the excellent retreat and the loss of the allies, made Malplaquet a very different de- feat for the French from Blenheim, Ramillies, or Oude narde. Lewis's circular had borne good fruit, and there was truth in Villars' boast : " If God vouchsafe that we should lose such another battle, your majesty could count your enemies destroyed." Some such feeling may have influenced also the mind of Marlborough, as well as the loss of his old friends and comrades. He is said to have been unusually distressed after this battle. He became seriously ill, and a report, afterwards expressed in a tri- umphant song, was spread amongst the French that he was dead. But the victory remained with the allies. The siege of Mons was not raised. That fortress surrendered on October 26 ; and the allies went into winter quarters. Marlborough recovered from his fever ; but had he died then, he had, perhaps, been happier in the opportunity of his death. His last great field was fought, his last great victory won. CHAPTER XII. LATER CAMPAIGNS IN SPAIN. Section I. — The Three Years that followed Almanza. The battle of Almanza was a singularly decisive battle, and its effects were long felt. Certainly for three years the allies remained on the defensive, and languid campaigns were the result of that Almanza. defeat. Lord Galway, the defeated English no The Age of Anne. a. d. 1709. general, was recalled from his post, and appointed to the command of the English auxiliary troops in Portugal. In his place, as the Emperor could not be persuaded to send Prince Eugene, an English and a German general were appointed. Of these two, Stanhope, the Englishman, was the abler. As minis- ter at the Court of Charles he had obtained an intimate acquaintance with the state of affairs in Spain. As a general we find him usually in favour of bold plans, and brave in their execution. Without military genius he seems to have had respectable talents for war : in later times he occupied no mean position as Prime-Minister, in the reign of George I. Staremberg, his German col- league, was a methodical general, very slow and cau- tious in his plans, who, without a spark of genius for war, had tried, but in vain, to make up for the deficiency by study. Unsuccessful on the mainland, the allied generals were more successful in the Islands of the Mediterranean. Sardinia declared for Charles almost imme- diately upon the appearance of the English fleet before it. A more important conquest was that of Minorca. Every winter the English fleet had been obliged to return to England for the winter. On this ac- count the English Government pressed upon the atten- tion of their commanders, that they should endeavour to secure some port in the Mediterranean, so as to prevent the necessity for this return. As the attempts on Toulon had hitherto failed, it was suggested that Port Mahon, the harbour of Minorca, considered the best harbour in that part of the sea, would do equally well. Marlborough had strongly advised Stanhope to make an attempt to secure this harbour. " I conjure you, if possible, to take Port Mahon." a.d. 1709. Later Campaigns in Spain. n 1 Stanhope found opposition amongst the naval men to this project, for it was known that Port Mahon was strongly defended. He therefore got to- gether transports, embarked his troops, and p ° rt Mahon then sent word to the navy that he was going. The men of war soon followed. His artil- lery consisted of ships' guns and mortars ; his force amounted to 2,600, including marines. On account of the rocky and steep nature of the coast, it took him twelve days to land his cannon, and get it into position ; but so vigorous then was his attack, that within one day he had effected a breach, and made an entry into the outer works, whilst within four days the place had surrendered. Stan- hope thought so highly of the harbour which he had thus captured, that he filled it only with English troops, and advised the English Government not to surrender it to the Archduke Charles, but to hold it as security against the large sums of money which he owed them. Charles did not like the plan, but made a virtue of ne- cessity. Meanwhile, Berwick had been succeeded as comman- der-in-chief of the French forces in Spain by the Duke of Orleans, an ambitious and bad man, whom we have already seen at the siege of ^" ke of Turin. He was nephew of King Lewis, after his death and during the minority of his successor, Re- gent of France, and ancestor of the House of Orleans, which has given a king to France during this century. From him, Stanhope, on returning from Minorca, re- ceived a proposal, which the Duke of Orleans suggested might be made the basis of an arrangement that would finish the war. He proposed that the allies should withdraw Charles — the French, Philip— because neither party would consent to the candidate of the other reign- ii2 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1709 ing as King of Spain; that both parties should then accept in that capacity him, the Duke of Orleans. Stan- hope answered that he could not betray Charles, but suggested that it might be possible to make an indepen- dent kingdom for the duke out of Navarre and Langue- doc, part of the south of France, where the Protestants had been in rebellion. This was probably intended to keep the duke quiet at least for a time. But his correspondence with the enemy was discovered and carried to King French with- . , . . .. , , , drawn from Lewis, and it was impossible that he could pain ' any longer be the French general in Spain. Indeed, in order to support his negotiations for peace, Lewis had withdrawn or professed to withdraw all his troops from Spain. He had a way of withdrawing with one hand and giving back with the other: it was hinted to the men that they might desert the French for the Spanish standards. But for the present Lewis did not send another French general. In the spring of the next year the army of Portugal, which consisted chiefly of Portuguese troops, but con- tained also some English regiments under Lord Galway, fought an action on the fron- tier between Spain and Portugal, at a place called La Gudina. The battle was indeed but a repetition of Almanza on a small scale. There was the same cow- ardice on the part of the Portuguese horse, not shared in any way by their infantry ; the same personal courage and the same military incapacity in Lord Galway ; the same stubborn bravery on the part of the English troops. Fortunately, the battle was on a smaller scale. Its results were also rendered less serious than they might have been by a threatened attempt by Stanhope on Cadiz. a.d. 1 710. Later Campaigns in Spain. 113 Section II — The Final Campaign. In the spring of 17 10 General Stanhope succeeded in obtaining from the English Government larger forces than had yet been employed in Spain. Using these as arguments, he with great advance GS difficulty persuaded Staremberg, his col- league, to consent to vigorous action, and the Archduke Charles to make a bold stroke for the crown that might be his. He even induced Charles to promise that when the army was ready to advance he would join it. Since Almanza the allies had been confined within the single province of Catalonia, which was always faithful. The attempt was now to be made, to extend their bounds. The river Noguera, during some part of its course the boundary between Catalonia and Aragon, falls into the Segre at Lerida, and is a branch of the Segre which falls into the Ebro. The Spanish army — under the command of Villadarias^ the gallant veteran who had stirred up the resistance to the allies at Battle of Al- r menara. Cadiz, now drawn from retirement by his country's need — was prepared to dispute the entrance of the allies into Aragon. For the greater part of the months of June and July there was no action of impor- tance. Stanhope was always in favour of bolder coun- sels, and always met with resistance from Staremberg and Charles. At the end of July the allies advanced, and had just crossed the river Noguera, when the enemy came in sight. The others were still unwilling to fight, and at about six in the evening the Spaniards sent some squadrons of cavalry down the hill as it were to defy the English to an engagement. A loud cry of shame broke from the English ranks. Stanhope at length obtained a reluctant consent. Though there was but half an H4 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1710. 'hour's daylight left, he drew up his cavalry in two lines and charged, himself at their head. Stanhope himself engaged the general in command of the Spanish cavalry, and killed him with one blow of his sword. This almost Homeric incident is portrayed on the medal struck in honour of the battle. The charge was wholly success- ful, the enemy were routed, and their camp taken. Philip himself was in great danger, and only escaped through the bravery of his friends. The half-hour was sufficient, though Stanhope wished for more time. "If we had had but two hours more of daylight," he wrote, "you may be assured that not one foot soldier of their army could have escaped." " If God had granted us," wrote one of his subalterns, "the same favour that He did to Joshua, to stop the sun two or three hours, none of their infantry, and very few of their cavalry would have escaped." The infantry of the allies was not en- gaged at all. The result of the battle of Almenara was that even Charles and Staremberg consented to advance; but one month later Stanhope had almost the same Battle of difficulty to induce them to fight again. The scene of the next battle was Saragossa, the ancient capital of Aragon, famous in later history for its stubborn resistance to the French. Stanhope managed to take his army across the Ebro without any resistance, though resistance then might have proved a serious ob- stacle. The armies were separated by a deep ravine. Their numbers were nearly equal, the Spanish army being rather the larger, and amounting to 25,000. The battle of Saragossa was fought in full view of the people of the town from which it takes its name. The English and allied troops had to fight without their breakfast, because the convoys had miscarried. The battle began a.d. 1 710. Later Campaigns in Spain. 115 early with cannonading. As seems usual in these bat-' ties in Spain, there was a body of Portuguese horsemen on the left of the allies, who made no resistance to the Spaniards opposing them. The latter pursued them with impetuosity, and thus gave Stanhope an opportunity of pressing forward into the gap. The main body of the allies fought their way across the ravine. Some of the Spanish newly-levied troops ran; but one body of vete- rans would hardly surrender when surrounded. Cannon and standards fell to the conquerors. Almanza was avenged. That night Charles occupied Saragossa, and there the army rested for a short time. Charles and his German advisers seemed to wish to, remain there; but Stanhope* dwelt upon his instructions "^Lice 65 that something decisive must be done. He wished to advance upon Madrid, and summon thither the allied army from the other side of Spain, the army from the command of which Galway had just been re- moved. Once more Stanhope prevailed. The know- ledge that the campaigns were fought to a great extent by means of English money must have weighed with Charles. It is characteristic of Stanhope's eagerness, that on the advance to Madrid he himself commanded the van- guard of light horse. There was hardly a fortnight's interval between the time when M d d°id UPy Philip left Madrid and Charles's entry. But the difference between the return of the defeated Philip and the arrival cf the victorious Charles was instructive. It ought to have taught this lesson — the lesson repeated in our own day — that these Castilians were not a people on whom a king could be thrust by the will of foreigners. One marvels that Charles should have sought to reign n6 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1710. over a people who so manifestly hated him. Once before the allies had occupied Madrid, and the arch- duke could not then be persuaded to go thither. Per- haps it had been better had he then gone, and obtained a convincing proof how unpopular he was in that city, and how hopeless his cause : for the allies were received in Madrid on their second visit in the same way as on their first. The same affection was displayed for a defeated king, which his subjects had been slow to show when he was prosperous ; the same depths of seemingly sluggish natures were stirred. Everyone who could leave Madrid had retired with the king to Valladolid. Delicate and high-born women went on foot rather than stay. The streets were empty ; the shops were shut. There was no demonstration of joy unless* for payment; there were signs of grief on every side. "This city is a desert," Charles angrily exclaimed, and left it. Thus the cause of the heretics, as the allies were called, was at its worst just when it seemed to be most successful. They could with difficulty obtain Tokdcf- 40 supplies in Madrid. The enemy's light horse cut off foraging parties. The allied army in Portugal was then under a Portuguese general, for its new English commander, Galway's successor, had not yet arrived, and it could not be induced to move. Notwithstanding these difficulties Stanhope determined to winter in these parts, with his head-quarters at Toledo. It was said that as Charles left Madrid -the inhabitants rang the bells for joy. The position of the allies, however, in Castile became more and more untenable. Charles himself was anxious to return to his queen at Barcelona. He Catalonia. started off with an escort of 2,000 horsemen, a force which, as the allies had before been A.D. 1 710. Later Campaigns in Spain. 117 weak in cavalry, they were ill able to spare. It was now determined that they should return to Catalonia ; but on account of the difficulty in obtaining supplies the troops were divided into three bodies, which were to march at the distance of some thirty miles apart. It was hoped that they would thus be able to draw supplies from r wider range of country. The Catalans and Portuguese marched on the right ; Staremberg with the Germans in the centre ; Stanhope and his English on the left. In most wars it is found that successful armies in- crease, whilst defeated armies have a tendency to dwin- dle. Yet since the defeat at Saragossa Philip's army had grown, that of the allies Ve nd6me sent had dwindled. Such was the effect of Cas- tilian pride, of Spanish enthusiasm. Moreover Lewis had no longer reason even to appear to withhold help from Philip. He did not send soldiers, but he sent him a general. He sent Venddme, the general who had lost Oudenarde, because he was no match for Marlborough, but who would win victories in Spain, for neither Stan- hope nor Staremberg was a match for him. The faults in Vendome's character have been noticed before ; this was an occasion when, anxious for his reputation, he exerted himself to the utmost. The indolent marshal showed vigour such as none other had shown. He wa? with his army on the alert before the allies marched towards Valencia. When once they were retreating, he marched after them at an incredible pace. He first came upon Stanhope and the English in the town of Brihuega, where they had stopped for the pur- pose of baking bread. The English had _ r & A ° . Defeat of no notion that Vendome was so near. English at Never expecting that the Spanish troops could march so swiftly, Stanhope does not seem to have n8 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1710. even stationed the usual outposts. First some horse- men showed themselves on the heights above Brihuega, which is a small town with an old Moorish wall, and almost surrounded by hills; next, but on the same day, infantry appeared. With difficulty could Stanhope send an aide-de-camp to inform Staremberg of his position, for Vendome's troops quickly invested the town. The night was spent by Vendome in preparations for an attack, while Stanhope prepared for defence. The English built barricades in the street, made loopholes for musketry, and passages from house to house. They had no artillery, and every street was commanded by Vendome's cannon. A summons to surrender was met with a refusal ; but a breach was soon made in the old Moorish wall. When the Spanish troops entered the town there followed a street fight, the English making a most stubborn resistance. When their ammunition was all spent they fought with the bayonet, until, seeing that further resistance was useless, Stanhope capitulated. The troops became prisoners of war upon honourable terms. . Meanwhile, where was Staremberg? He had received the message from Stanhope's aide-de-camp, but had ap- parently delayed, until he could call in the right wing; when, on the morning after the siege, he came near to Brihuega, he heard no firing, and therefore understood that Stanhope had capitulated. The Spanish vnia^ciosa armv was now manifestly the stronger in numbers, but was fatigued after the severe fighting of the previous day. Yet Vendome was anxious for a battle; Staremberg was not. To prevent the re- treat of the German marshal, Vendome ordered a charge of the Royal Guards. Philip himself headed it, and, fired by his presence, the Spanish cavalry upon the a.d. 1 710. Later Campaigns in Spain, 119 right entirely routed their opponents, and captured their cannon. This wing was carried too far in the pursuit, and meanwhile Staremberg himself, upon the German right, was leading a triumphant charge, followed by another equally successful on the centre. He recovered his own, and captured all the Spanish cannon ; then the victorious Spanish right returned from their pursuit, and the battle was renewed, until night put an end to it. The battle, which is usually called after the small town of Villa Viciosa, may be counted as drawn. The Spanish lost all their artillery, but had captured some standards. On the night after the battle, Philip's baggage had not come up, and there was no bed for his majesty. " You shall have the most glorious bed that ever monarch slept on," said Vendome, as he sent for the captured standards, and had them spread before him. Starem- berg certainly, even if the battle be counted his, was in no position to profit by it. Early next morning he spiked all the cannon and retreated quickly, harassed on his march almost as far as Barcelona, which he entered with 7,000 men, the sorry remnant of the army, of the allies. This was the last campaign in Spain. Madrid twice occupied, and twice abandoned for the same reason, the allies saw that it was impossible to hold Spain for Charles, as long as the feeling- of End of the , . war in bpain, the Spaniards remained unchanged. And when the news was brought to Lewis, he also felt that no other attempt would be made, that the point for which he had been fighting was gained. His grandson would remain King of Spain. So there was joy at Versailles, and men sang before the king a song of triumph. 120 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1710. CHAPTER XIII. THE FORTUNES OF PARTIES. It may be doubted whether the fortunes of English parties have ever had so great an effect upon the history of Europe as in the reign of Queen Anne, parfies: The development of parties in that reign is Whigs and a i so important as the beginning of influences which extend to our own days. It has on these accounts been thought advisable to speak cf them at some length, and to collect their history into one chapter. It was indeed at an earlier time than this reign that the two great parties ranged themselves in opposite camps under the names of Whigs and Tories. These parties represent two different principles in the human mind. Some men are more disposed to attach importance to authority, some to liberty. The former will rally round a monarchy, the latter round a republic. In one great earlier contest in English history matters had been pushed to extremes, and one principle had triumphed in the Civil War, the other in the Restoration. But men had learnt a lesson from the history of the seventeenth century, and there were very few on either side who were not content with a more moderate applica- tion of their principle. It may be well to sum up the points of contrast between the two parties at this time. Both parties were content with the shape which the English constitution had assumed. Thus both acquiesced in the monarchy and in government by means of a Par- liament. " The memory of 1660 secured the monarchy A.D. 1702. The Fortunes of Parties, 121 from attack ; the memory of the long contests between the Stuarts and their Parliaments, confirmed by the victory of 1688, secured the privileges of Parliament. The opposition between the parties was therefore nar- rower. The Tories believed in the divine origin of the monarch's authority; the Whigs did not. The Tories wished the sovereign to have greater power ; the Whigs wished him to have less. According to the French epi- gram, in a constitutional monarchy the king reigns, but does not govern. The Whigs held this view of a king's duty ; but the Tories would have made a monarchy more of a reality. The Tories felt that the Revolution of 1688 was a necessity, but one which they disliked, They would have preferred not to disturb the Stuarts : r Party views and the Jacobites, as those were called who of the Re- wished to restore the Stuarts, may be re- garded as the extreme section of the Tory party. That revolution was the work of the Whigs, who always at- tached to it the epithet of "Glorious." William was their favourite king, and the representative of their ideas. Yet William had a much larger share of political power than is thought in the present day to lie within the pro- vince of the sovereign. He had a very great influence in shaping the foreign policy of England. But it was on matters connected with religion that the distinction between the parties was most widely marked. The Tories were the Church party: the^t to whom the rites and doctrines of the Esta- Religious parties. blished Church were dear. They were very hostile to Dissenters, and perhaps scarcely less hostile to the Roman Catholics. The Whig party was in favour o f toleration: to this party the Dissenters belonged Cor they owed to it all the rights which they possessed), 122 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702. as well as those Churchmen who, preferring the doc- trines of their own Church, yet considered other forms of government and modes of worship lawful. Bishop Burnet tells us that in this reign the distinction between High and Low Church was first known, but, when he proceeds to explain it, we see that it is almost the same as the difference between Whigs and Tories. Queen Anne was a Stuart: by nature and training her inclinations were towards the Tory party. It is the duty of a sovereign in this country to belong The queen's to no party. Queen Anne really strove to views. r J ** J rise to the height of this duty, of the impor- tance of which she was fully aware. More than once she herself expressed it. But sometimes her inclinations were too strong for her sense of duty, and whenever this was the case her inclinations led her to favour the Tory party. On being called to the throne she gradually removed the ministers of her predecessors who belonged to the Whig party, and supplied their places with Her first , , / , „, ministry, others of her own selection. She did not change the whole ministry ; for neither in William's reign, nor in the early part of Anne's, was it considered necessary that all the ministers should belong to one party. She was under the influence of the Marl- boroughs. Whilst important places in the royal house- hold and about the queen's person were given to his wife, very high offices in the State were conferred on the Earl of Marlborough, and it was in accordance with his desire that Godolphin was appointed to the office of Lord High Treasurer, which corresponded to the modern position of Prime-Minister Godolphin and Marlborough were Tories, but they threw themselves heartily into the war in accordance a.d. 1703. The Fortunes of Parties. 123 with the plans of King William. Because it was William's policy, the war was dear to SdtiarU the Whigs. Because it was opposed to Lewis, borough rr ' ohange. who was protecting the Stuarts, the Tories were but lukewarm in the prosecution of it. It therefore came to pass that the ministers received warmer support from their opponents, the Whigs, than from their natural allies, the Tories. Nor was it wonderful that under these circumstances a change came over their own views, and that Godolphin and Marlborough gradually passed over into the Whig camp. A measure called the Occasional Conformity Bill may be used to gauge their change- According to the Test Act no one could hold office under the _, , , r . Occasional Crown, or be a member of a corporation, Conformity without taking the Sacrament according ' " to the rites of the Church of England. It had come to be the practice that many who were really Dissenters qualified for office by obeying the Act. They were called Occasional Conformists, and were very obnoxious to the Tories and High Churchmen. A zealous Tory in the House of Commons brought in a Bill punishing this Occasional Conformity very severely. By it anyone who had taken the Sacrament according to the Test Act, and afterwards attended a Dissenting place of worship, was to be prevented from holding his appoint- ment, and fined 100/., besides $L a day for every day that he had discharged the duties of his office after going to the conventicle. This measure quickly passed through the Commons, but in the House of Lords it met with sturdy resistance. The Government strained every effort to overcome the opposition. Even Prince George of Denmark, the queen's consort, himself a Lutheran and Occasional Conformist, was urged to come down T24 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1703-5. to the House of Lords to vote for the Bill. " My heart is vid you," he is reported to have whispered to some who were voting in the opposite lobby. But notwithstanding the zeal of the Government, the Whig Lords so altered the Bill that the Tory Commons re- fused to accept it. A prorogation stopped further dispute. In November of the same year (1703) this measure was brought forward again, but this time the support of the Bill by the Government was very luke- forward a warm. Godolphin and Marlborough were secon time. separating themselves from the High Tories, and beginning to look to the Whigs for at least some support. They tried to dissuade their friends from bringing the bill in, but in the division they voted in its favour. It was defeated in the Lords. Next year the Bill was introduced again, and some members of the House of Commons, indignant that the Bill which they favoured had so often been Brought . ' forward a rejected in the Upper House, proposed to third time. tt ^^ „ ^ to ^ ^ Qf g upply . SQ that if the Lords threw out the Bill they would have the responsi- bility of cutting off the supplies of the Government. It is a rule of Parliament that the House of Lords may not make any alteration in a Money-Bill. They can reject it, but cannot amend it. The practice, therefore, of tacking — that is, joining another Bill to a Money-Bill — would, if unscrupulously employed, enable a majority in the Commons not only to defeat the Lords, but to deprive them altogether of their constitutional right of making amendments. On this account the practice has been made illegal. The proposal to tack, however, was on this occasion rejected in the Commons; and when the Bill came a.d. 1705. The Fortunes of Parties. 125 before the Lords, Marlborough and Godolphin gave their votes against it, though neither of them spoke. In the elections of 1705 the ministers used their influence against the tackers. " Give them no quarter," was Marlborough's advice. The result of that general elec- tion was that the Whigs obtained a majority: and the Occasional Conformity Bill for the present slept. The leaders of the Whig party at this time were five Whig peers, who were called "the Junto." Four of them had been ministers of King William. 1 he Junto. The man of greatest eminence among them Lord was LordSomers. There was no English- man in whom King William had placed such confidence, and no one who had so well deserved it. The son of a Worcester attorney, he had risen to the post of Lord High Chancellor ; yet he so conducted himself that he seemed born in the purple. He was remarkable for the gentleness of his manners and the benevolence of his disposition. His opinions were strongly Whig ; yet he was always remarkable for the moderation of his coun- sels. His virtue and wisdom had raised up enemies against him. Towards the end of King William's reign it was discovered that he had lent money to a sea captain who became a pirate, and was well known as Captain Kidd, It was not proved that Somers knew of any evil intentions on the part of the sailor. But the storm against him raged so furiously that when King William made him a grant of Crown lands the feeling against him was renewed, and, as the easiest way of quieting the storm, Lord Somers was dismissed from office. He lived in dignified retirement, watching the course of public affairs. With or without office he was the leader and guide of the Whig party. Of the five members of the Junto, Charles, Earl 126 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1705. of Sunderland, son-in-law of Marlborough, was the youngest, and had also the reputation of being the most violent Whig, When the two ministers, Marlborough and Godolphin were depending more and more upon the Whigs for support, the Junto stipulated kn? Sunder " tnat Sunderland should be made a Secretary of State as the price of this support, and as a security that measures would not be introduced hostile to the principles of the Whigs The first ally that the Junto secured amongst the ministerialists was the Duchess of Marlborough. She was disappointed at the lukewarmness with which the Tories had carried out the war policy. • She persuaded her husband, and then both of them urged the appointment of Sunderland upon the queen, who resisted long and strenuously. Sunderland received another office, that of ambassador at Vienna: but the pressure for the original appointment was con- tinued. Eighteen months later it was made,- and marks a distinct point in the change of the ministry from Tory to Whig. An influence, however, was at work which was under- mining the Government. It was always said of Queen Anne that it was necessary for her to be under the influence of some stronger mind. While she was Princess Anne, as well as in the early part of her reign, her friend, her second self, was the Duchess of Marlborough. But the favourite's temper was im- perious, and she presumed upon the queen's friendship for her. Her own political views had by this time changed, but she could not bring the queen to alter her views so readily. The queen seems to have been pre- pared to discard her ancient friend, when she was pro- vided with another upon whom to lean. The duchess had placed about the queen's person a cousin of her own, A. D . 1708. The Fortiuies of Parties . 127 who was poor and in need. She never fancied that this act would prove hurtful to her own power. But Abigail Hill, the queen's waiting-woman, was a lady of quiet and pleasant manners, a great contrast to her cousin, the duchess. The first intimation of the decline of her power that the latter received was the intimation that Miss Hill had privately married Mr. Masham, a gentle- man of the queen's household, and that the queen her- self had been present at the marriage. Abigail Hill, or Mrs. Masham, as she must now be called, was not only a cousin of the Duchess of Marl- borough, she was also upon the other side Chan e of cousin of a prominent Tory politician, Ro- the queen's bert Harley, whose influence with her was very strong. Accordingly the new favourite of the queen used all her power in favour of the Tory party, which was already preferred by the queen. This was not then merely a question of court intrigue, of a woman's private likings or dislikings, but a matter fraught with important political consequences. The influence of Mrs. Masham over the mind of Queen Anne led ultimately to the dis- missal of the Whig ministers and to the reversal of their war policy. It led to the ministry of Harley and Boling- broke, and to the peace of Utrecht. Thus it came to pass that " the insolence of one waiting-woman and the cunning of another' 1 changed the fortunes of Europe. It must not, however, be supposed that these changes followed immediately, although in the same summer in which Mrs. Masham was married the queen took the first step in opposition to her ministers. Without even asking their opinion or telling them, she appointed two bishops, men who were excellently fitted for the duties of their office, but were high Tories. But in the following year (1708), while the queen was Yet the ministry is 128 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1708. turning more and more against the guidance of her ministers, she was compelled, in order to please them, to make changes in various made more offices, which were by no means agreeable to herself. While the ministry was not yet wholly Whig, and while Robert Harley was still a Secretary of State, and Henry St. John Secretary at War, a clerk in Harley's office was found guilty of treason- able correspondence with the French: an unsuccessful attempt was made to implicate Harley in the treason. Marlborough and Godolphin represented to the queen that Harley must be dismissed from office. When she refused, on the ground that Harley was a good Church- man, they declined to attend a meeting of the Council, and prepared even to resign their offices. The queen would have found it difficult to continue without the ser- vices of Marlborough ; but she held the meeting of the Council, and, as was then the custom, presided herself. It was on a Sunday : as the queen entered the chamber there were black looks. Harley, however, opened his portfolio and began business. "I do not see how we can do anything," said one, "in the absence of my Lord Treasurer and my Lord General." It was evident that the other ministers would stand by Godolphin and Marl- borough, not by Harley. Soon afterwards Harley and St. John resigned During the autumn of this year the poor queen was much tried by the illness of her husband, whom she tenderly nursed. His illness was asthma. Cabinet After his death Somers was admitted to the government. ministry, being appointed to the office of President of the Council. It was evident now that the ministry was entirely Whig. It is a rule of modern English politics that all the members of a government A..D. 1708. The Fortunes of Parties. 129 shall belong to one party, that they shall prepare their measures in common, be jointly responsible for all mis- takes, and, as the expression runs, stand or fall together. This, which seems an axiom now, was not so regarded at the beginning of Queen Anne's reign. She herself wished to have a ministry recruited from the moderate men of both parties, what in modern political language is called a coalition. Her personal feelings had in this arrangement at first assigned the preponderance of power to the Tory, or, as she called it, the Church party. The course of events had shifted this balance. For the next two years there was a Cabinet entirely Whig, and this was followed by another entirely Tory. King George III. tried to form a government from both parties, but the experiment was not attended with suc- cess. There have also been other coalitions; but all have been unable to stand, and from the year 1708 homogeneous party Cabinets have been the rule in Eng- land. A Cabinet is a Committee of the Privy Council, in which all the chief ministers have seats. Though an important element in English political life, its existence is not recognised by the law. Strange to say, it was almost exactly at the time when the Whigs had secured all the seats in the Cabinet that the causes which led to their ruin began to work. The alienation of the queen from the Duchess of Marl- borough was almost complete. It was said that at a public ceremonial the duchess spilt a glass of water, as if by accident, over the gown of her rival, and she was not again invited to Court. The Duke of Marlborough, fearful lest he should also lose the queen's favour, conceived the idea of having his Jf a u^ s ° r ° u |e' S appointment as Commander-in-Chief con- made Com- _ , i«. e . Van T - • -ii mander-in- firmed to him for life. It is quite possible, chief for life. 130 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1710. indeed, that his motive was patriotic, and that he may have desired the permanent appointment to secure the allegiance of his country to the cause of the Grand Alliance. He was warned by his friends that such an appointment was contrary to the constitution : and one of them, the Lord Chancellor, told him that he would not put the great seal to such a patent. Marl- borough persevered, and actually applied to the queen, who firmly and without hesitation refused. These events ought to have made Godolphin and his ministry careful. Yet their next step seemed most heedless. A not very wise clergyman, named Dr. Sacheverell, a college friend of Addison's, who though of Low Church parentage, had won himself a repu- Sacheverell's tation for extreme Hicdi doctrines, preached sermon. _ * . in London before the Lord Mayor and in Derby at the assizes two sermons in which he attacked the Revolution, maintaining that resistance to a king was never justifiable, and declaring that the Church was in danger " even in her majesty's reign." Not content with this general teaching, he alluded to Godolphin under a nickname borrowed from one of Ben Jonson's plays, of "Volpone," or "the Fox." His sermons were published. The matter was brought before the Cabinet, when its wisest members, such as Somers, were in favour of letting the sermons alone, or at best prosecuting the preacher in a court of law; others, however, and Godolphin most strongly, were for impeachment before the House of Lords. The result was that an important State trial was made out of this trumpery matter. Thinking him persecuted, people took the Doctor's side. He was condemned indeed when the impeachment came before the Lords, but his punishment was almost nominal, for he was only prohibited from preaching for three years, A .D. 1 7 1 o . The Fortunes of Parties. 1 3 1 and his book was burnt by the hangman. As the con- demned clergyman travelled through England, his jour- ney was like a triumph. Crowds came forth to see him and to ask his blessing ; he was received everywhere with enthusiasm. Before this feeling had subsided there was a general election. With the Tory sympathy election. for Sacheverell was united a general weari- majority, ness of the war, and the result of the elec- Dismissal of Whigs. tions was the return of a powerful Tory majority. The queen gladly took advantage of it to get rid of her Whig ministers. The long services of Godol- phin, and a little later the distinguished services of Marl- borough, were repaid with almost ignominious dismissal. The Duchess of Marlborough, who had for some time been kept at a distance from Court, was dismissed from her office, and had to leave her apartments in St. James' Palace. She was so angry that she tore down the mantel-pieces and had the brass locks removed from the doors. The queen did not wish all her former ministers to resign. She pressed Somers to continue in office, for she said "he had never deceived her." Five times she gave back the seals into Cowper's hands. But they stood staunchly by their colleagues, and the new principle pre- vailed.. A new government was formed under Harley and St. John The work of this new ministry remains to be narrated. One incidental result of the change was that the Occasional Conformity Bill, which had Conformity for some time slept, was now passed almost passe without opposition. i$2 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1710. CHAPTER XIV. FAG-END OF THE WAR. Of the two men who were now the leading advisers of the queen and acknowledged chiefs of the Tory party Harley was in the higher position, though Bolingbroke was really the abler man. Rob- ert Harley belonged to a Whig family; his father had even been put in prison on suspicion of being implicated in Monmouth's conspiracy. Entering Parliament for a Cornish borough immediately after the Revolution, Har- ley was very strongly opposed to the Tory party, which he afterwards joined. In William's reign he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. When Godolphin was dismissed, his place as Lord High Treasurer was, at first, not filled up ; the office was put in commission, and Harley was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, but was practically Prime-Minister. Harley was neither eloquent nor a man of genius, but he possessed powers which have sometimes availed more than eloquence or genius— the arts of a courtier. He was more at home in the queen's antechambers than in either House of Par- liament. He was ambitious, unscrupulous, strong in worldly wisdom. An event which nearly cost him his life had the effect of increasing his popularity. A French refugee, who called himself the Marquis of Guiscard, had Attack on made frequent proposals for descents upon the coast of France. Afterwards he had carried on intrigues with France. He was arrested, and A.d. 1 710. Fag- end of the War. 133 under examination before the Council, when he suddenly- seized a penknife from the table and stabbed Harley with it. A scuffle ensued, in which the Frenchman was mortally wounded, and it was then found that Harley's wound was but slight. Great sympathy was expressed for Harley, and shortly afterwards the queen made him an earl, with the double title, Ox- Made Earl of Oxford. ford and Mortimer. She then raised him to the office of Lord High Treasurer. Henry St. John was a man of very different character. In that age, famous for its wits and its literary men, he could hold his own with any of them. He was very intimate with the chief authors of t- the day, especially with Pope and Swift, and the poet- diplomatist, Matthew Prior. He was an accomplished classical scholar, very eloquent, and renowned as an elegant writer. As a politician he was distrusted, and could never have kept his party together. He was bril- liant rather than safe. As a writer, he was very hostile to Christianity. It was nearly a year later than Harley's promotion that St John was elevated to the r , . , , , Made Lord peerage, and he was then only made a Boling- viscount. His title was Viscount Boling- broke. It is said that this inequality of rewards led to ill-will between these members of the same Government. It is probable that from their first acceptance of office they intended to put an end to the war, but they could not well publicly declare this intention ; and whilst they were still feeling their way, an event occurred which promised to provide them with an excellent excuse. The Emperor Joseph died; and his brother, the Archduke Charles, after due formality of an election , ., and a delay of nearly six months, succeeded Charles . . „ n . , becomes him as Emperor; so that it now became Emperor. 134 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1711. doubtful whether it would be in accordance with the views of the allies to continue a war which had been begun nominally in. order to give him the crown of Spain. But such a feeling was gradual, not immediate. In order to secure the election at Frankfort from any fear of a French invasion, Eugene received orders from Vienna to withdraw with all his troops from the army under Marlborough in Flanders. Villars, the French marshal, had fortified his position with great care, and boastqd that Marlborough could not pass Marlborough's mt0 France. He called his lines the Non last campngn. phis ultra. Marlborough, however, although the allied forces were weakened by Eugene's withdrawal, entered the Non phis ultra with ease. He then laid siege to Bouchain, and captured it; but these were the only military achievements of the allies during the year 171 1. Coming events were already casting their shadows before. The ministers planned an expedition against Quebec, and entrusted the command of it to Colonel Hill, the brother of Mrs. Masham, the queen's fa- Expedition . ...... - . against vounte. It was thought that if this expedi- te ec, t j on was success f u i > } t would ac t as a coun- terpoise to the great achievements of Marlborough. But the fleet of transports was badly provided with sup- plies, and had great difficulties in procuring pilots skilled in the navigation of the dangerous seas at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. Unfortunately it met with a violent storm, and several of the ships were wrecked. The result was that the expedition returned to England a failure. Meanwhile negotiations had been secretly opened with France, as the ministers had determined on peace — in concert with the allies, if the allies preferred ; if not, without them — and upon terms as favourable for them- A.D. 1 71 1. Fag-end of the War. 135 selves as possible; but the consideration of terms was not to be allowed to stand in the way of peace. One obstacle it was necessary to remove. The great general who had won four great battles Safiborou*" h for the cause, who had never besieged a town without taking it, who had been the heart and spirit of the alliance, must be sacrificed. To break the blow, the queen did him the honour of writing a letter with her own hand, dismissing him from all his em- ployments. The reason alleged was that an accusation had been made against him, that he had taken per- quisites from a Jew, who had contracted to supply the army with bread, and that during the ten years this allowance amounted to the sum of 63,000/. There was also a charge that Marlborough had deducted 2% per cent, from the pay which England gave to foreign troops, and that this amounted, in .the ten years, to no less than 177,000/. His letter of reply was very dignified. He made answer, first, that the payments were quite according to precedent, and, secondly, that he had taken the money, not for his private use, but to obtain secret intelligence about the enemy. There can be no doubt that this defence is perfectly satisfactory, but his oppo- nents were bent on his disgrace. Prince Eugene hastened to England to endeavour to prevent its falling away from the alliance. He was received with all civility and even cordiality, but no representations that he could make could have any effect in reinstating his old companion in arms. Within a year of Marlborough's disgrace, his old friend and colleague, Godolphin, Godol °hin died at his house. Partly from sorrow, partly because of the unpopularity into which he had now fallen, Marlborough went abroad. 136 The Age of A fine. a.d. 1711, The ministers, being determined to have a majority in both Houses of Parliament, strained the royal pre- rogative, and induced the queen to make Twelve peers. twelve p eers> Some were eldest sons of peers, who would have become peers in the course of nature ; two were prominent lawyers ; one of them was Mr. Masham. All of course were Tories. When they appeared in the House, an opponent, alluding to their number, asked sarcastically whether they voted sepa- rately or by their foreman. Meanwhile the Duke of Ormond was appointed to an unpleasant post. It was difficult enough to succeed Marlborough as commander-in-chief, but it Ormond Com- ° . mander-in- must have been absolutely humiliating for him to hold that office, and yet to receive secret orders, tying his hands and bidding him do nothing. "A general of straw," he was called. As no one likes to be a dummy, the duke must have felt it a positive relief when an armistice between the English and the French was declared. He received orders to separate the troops in the pay of England from the army of the allies. But many of these troops, acting under orders from their own Governments, refused to obey, and he withdrew with the native English sol- Separafon ' of English diers. Eye-witnesses have described the roops. indignation with which the English soldiers and officers received the orders, and the shame with which they parted from their former comrades in so many fields. Ormond was followed by only 12,000 sol- diers. The smallness of this number points to the fact that England had been fighting in this war with money rather than with men. The number of native British soldiers was very small compared with the number of foreign mercenaries that England paid — Hessians, Pala- A^d, 1712. Fag-end of the War. 137 tines, and Germans of other small States, especially in the Rhine valley, where a century of wars, beginning with the terrible Thirty Years' War, had ruined their homes, and implanted in their breasts the love of a military life. Notwithstanding the departure of the English troops, Eugene was still at the head of an army of 100,000 men in an excellent position. His lines were called the "road to Paris," because it seemed ugene. that when once he had taken Landrecies, a town which he was besieging, nothing could stop him from entering France. General alarm was felt in that country, and the king wrote to Marshal Villars that he trusted all to him, but that if defeat should await him, he himself would mass all his troops, and at their head perish or save the State. It is curious that King Lewis should have thought such extreme language necessary, when the alliance was breaking up, and deliverance was so near. Eugene's lines were so widely extended, that if one part were at- tacked it could not quickly receive succour from an- other. Villars made a feigned attack on Eugene's camp before Landrecies, and then, hurling all his strength upon Denain, there won a brilliant p ictol 7 of victory. It is said that Eugene himself came Denain, . . July 24, A.D. up in time to witness, but not to stop, the i 7 i 2 . defeat. There can be no doubt that this battle had a great influence in determining the Dutch to make peace. They saw that, with the English troops, victory had departed. Eugene was compelled to raise the siege of Landrecies, and Villars retook three towns from the allies, one of them being Bouchain, the sole conquest of the previous year. 138 The Age of Anne. a. d. 1712. CHAPTER XV. PEACE OF UTRECHT. In January 171 1 a messenger arrived from London at Paris, who, calling upon Torcy, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, began his conversation with these Peace at words : " Do you wish for peace, sir ? If so, I bring you the means of procuring it." "It was," says Torcy in his memoirs, " like asking a dying man whether he would wish to be cured." It is not necessary to describe in detail all the negoti- ations which had preceded and which followed this. After Ramillies and the year of victory, tiore°? ia " terms had been indirectly offered by the (?) A £ er French, including the surrender of Spain to Kamuhes. ' ° r the archduke, on condition that Philip had Naples, Sicily, and Milan as a separate kingdom. Marlborough thought that the offer of France was in- sufficient, and would not allow it even to be made the basis of a conference. In 1709, after the defeat at Oudenarde and the cap- ture of Lille, the bad harvest, and the terrible frost, the position of Lewis was so much worse that {V) The jj e was prepared to surrender even the con- dition of a monarchy for Philip. He was ready to accept all the terms of the allies laid down at the Conference of the Hague, except the article in which they insisted that, if his grandson did not resign the Spanish Crown, he should himself compel him by force of arms. A.D. 1711-13. Peace of Utrecht. 139 Next year, after Malplaquet, the French king made another effort. A conference was held at Gertruyden- burg, a small town near the mouth of the Waal, which place the Dutch rulers selected ^SjJ™ 7 " lest at any more important town the envoys might incline the natives towards peace. But the allies insisted on the same hard condition, and this conference was as abortive as that of the Hague. But, in January 171 1, for the first time, the proposals were made from the side of the allies, and not from that of France ; and as Lewis was always well • r , , 1 r -r- t 1 *.- (*0 Utrecht. informed about the state of English parties, he began the new negotiations with quite a different hope. Terms which he would gladly have accepted in the pre- vious year he would not hear of now. The English ministry, thinking the allies intractable, were now ne- gotiating without them, and had signed the preliminaries even before Marlborough's disgrace and Ormond's ap- pointment. A congress was held at Utrecht, to which the allies at last consented to send Utrecht representatives. Diplomacy was very long- winded, but after many months the Peace of Utrecht was signed in March 171 3. There were several treaties made between the different belligerents, which, together, form what we call the Peace of Utrecht. Charles VI., the new Emperor, held out obstinately. He did not wish for peace, and was very angry with the allies, espe- jf ? d p s er out daily with the English, that they were not willing to continue fighting his battles. But what could he do, single-handed ? He held out for peace rf nearly one "year longer, but Villars vigor- Rastadt, ously turned his forces against him, and seized a town or two. Then, in the following spring, 140 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1713. the Emperor accepted the peace, which he could have enjoyed earlier. The peace between France and the Emperor personally was called after the town Rastadt, that between the French and the Empire after that of Baden. The Spanish monarchy — the main point in dispute — together with the vast American possessions, was left in the hands of Philip V. If the allies had The Spanish been fighting to take it from him, they had monarchy. o o j missed their object. Solemn renunciation was, however, made by the King of Spain of all his claim to the French Crown, at least as long as he re- tained the Spanish Crown. Both Lewis and Philip swore that the Crowns of France and of Spain should never be united. Lewis swore, "on the faith, word, and hon- our of a king," that he would acknowledge Queen Anne and the Protestant succession, and that he would give no further assistance to the Pretender, but induce him to leave France. He agreed also to demolish the fortifica- tions and to fill up the harbour of Dunkirk. Though the English seem to have regarded Dunkirk as a standing menace to their commerce, and to have eagerly desired this article, it was never car- England's r } e( j out England was to keep Gibraltar gain. ° r and Minorca, but she promised that they should not be a place of refuge either for Moor or Jew. England also gained from France certain ice-bound ter- ritories in North America, which France did not value — the Hudson's Bay Territory, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. They were valuable as fishing grounds, and also for the fur-hunters ; but the French reserved in the treaty the right to fish. There had been, indeed, as many English as French settlements in these places, and per- haps more English settlers. The possession of the first A. P. 1713- Peace of Utrecht. 141 two had been long in dispute ; but Nova Scotia — called by the French Acadia — had been formally ceded to the French in the reign of Charles II. It is important to notice that, in this article, England was commencing a policy of colonial aggrandisement which brought later wars on her. England further obtained from Spain the Assiento contract, which France had before enjoyed, viz. the privilege of importing 4,800 negro slaves into America within thirty years. In addition to these treaties there was further proposed a treaty of commerce between England and France, but the House of Commons threw it out. It shows how ^nlightened a statesman Bolingbroke could prove him- self, for it would have established free trade between England and France. Neither of the nations were to tax each other's manufactures, and each was to grant to the other whatever privileges it conferred on the most fa- voured nation. France, it may be seen, suffered little by the treaty, for she lost no territory, and was left with the same boundaries that she had reached in the year of the Eng- lish Revolution. Spain lost her possessions in Italy and in the Netherlands, of which pau Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Netherlands fell to Austria, while Sicily, which was afterwards exchanged for Sardinia, fell to the Duke of Savoy, who was further, indulged with the title of King. The Elector of Bavaria, France's luckless ally, was reinstated in his dominions and at the same time the Elector of Hanover was fully and finally recognised. Prussia, which a month before the treaty of Utrecht passed under the rule of its second king, famous in his- tory as the eccentric father of Frederick the Prussia. Great, secured its own recognition as a king- £42 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1713. dom by the King of France. Moreover, its territory of Orange was exchanged for land that lay more conve- nient in Guelderland. On the death of our William III. without children, his claim to Orange had passed to his sister, who married the first King of Prussia. The little principality of Orange was surrounded entirely by France, into which it was manifestly more convenient that it should now be swallowed up. Whether it belonged to a king of England or a king of Prussia, the French could at once overrun it with troops in case of war. Lastly, the Dutch obtained certain towns, and had the satisfaction of seeing the Netherlands in the hands of Austria, a barrier between them and France. It was not a very substantial result of all their efforts, but, if the English would not go on fighting, it was not in the power of the Dutch to obtain better terms. Holland, however, learnt the futility of engaging in wars like this, and henceforth pursued a policy of non- interference, and her influence declined in Europe. The Peace of Utrecht has been often criticised, and generally in a sense hostile to its promoters — the English ministry. It may be as well to express shortly the argu- ments on both sides. Those who supported it said that the war was becom- ing a great burden upon England ; that her for S pStce of national debt was growing to such an enor- trec t. mous size that posterity would not be able to pay it ; that in consequence of the peculiar spirit of the Castilians, Spain could never be conquered nor taken from Philip except at a terrible cost, and that English- men who did not want the Pretender had no right to force a king upon reluctant Spain ; that the terms of the treaty secured Europe from the danger of a union of the Crowns of France and Spain, indeed, that .a similar A.D. 1 713. Peace of Utrecht. 143 danger was more to be feared on the other side, for the Grand Alliance was intended to prevent the union of the Spanish Crown with that of any other first-rate power, and that the Austrian claimant was now Emperor. France, therefore, being humbled and threatening no danger to Europe, if England continued to fight, she would be fighting the battles of her allies, not her own. To these arguments answer was made: Debt or no debt, commerce flourishes. France, which has been for half a century a source of danger, is now at our mercy. Her fortresses are broken down, Arguments ■' against it. and Marlborough has cleared his road to Paris. Let us bind her now, so that she never can be dangerous again. It will never be safe to have France and Spain under kindred kings. The Bourbons are all of a piece, and this Philip may yet succeed his grand- father. In such case renunciations are valueless; we know that France always regards them as invalid. After all Marlborough's victories, the allies are wrong not to secure results more substantial. As the Peace of Utrecht ends the war, this is the right place to ask the question — was this a just and ne- cessary war? And the answer must be that J General con- it was. We must place ourselves in the sideration position of the statesmen who knew Lewis and his ambition, or of the people who had suffered and seen others suffer from his encroachments. Even after the Peace of Ryswick, there can be no doubt that he was dangerous to the liberties of Europe. But as decidedly the war should have been ended earlier. Peace ought to have been made after the battle of Ramillies. The war would then have lasted four years instead of eleven, and much would have been saved. It was the heartfelt mis- trust of Lewis that made Marlborough, Eugene, and 144 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1713. Heinsius, the Whig ministers in England, and the Dutch statesmen, refuse to treat. But they could then have obtained the same terms that they secured afterwards, or better. From that time forward the allies were in the wrong, and at each negotiation, at the Hague and at Gertruydenburg, they plunged more deeply into it. After the disaster at Villa Viciosa, all claim on Spain should have been surrendered. The allies asked too much, and they were forced to take too little. For, that Bolingbroke and Oxford granted terms too easily, and mismanaged the negotiations, there is no manner of doubt. When peace was proclaimed in London there was a grand Te Deum in St. Paul's Cathedral, Handel's music probably being played. But the Te Deum raised by Lewis and his courtiers should have been louder, for in the Peace of Utrecht Lewis gained the most. CHAPTER XVI. THE UNION WITH SCOTLAND. Section I. — The Unio?i itself. One of the most important works of Queen Anne's reign was the Union with Scotland. Until that was car- ried out, Great Britain was divided into two attempts at unequal kingdoms, with the same sovereign, but in every other respect distinct. There was no real security that even the union under the same sovereign would be permanent, and that under different sovereigns the old hostility, perhaps even war, would not arise. Statesmen had therefore long wished that A.D. 1703. The Union with Scotland. 145 the two kingdoms should be fused into one. Oliver Cromwell, who may be said to have anticipated the principle of Parliamentary Reform, also anticipated the Union, and summoned representatives from Scotland to one assembly with those of England. But the Restora- tion overthrew his arrangement, and perhaps the memory of Cromwell's change caused in the times that followed a prejudice against any imitation of his policy. William III. had been strongly in favour of the change, but other matters had occupied his time and attention. In his last message to Parliament he had recommended the project of Union to the members. In the first year of the reign of Queen Anne commissioners were ap- pointed and met. But they were not in earnest about their work. It was often difficult even to procure the attendance of a quorum of the English commissioners, and so the matter dropped. A step of the Scottish Parliament, the passing of the Act of Security, made the absolute necessity of the Union evident not only to statesmen but to all thinking men in England. As Queen siu^ ° f Anne was childless, steps had been taken even in her predecessor's reign to settle the devolution of the English crown. In the last year of William's life the Act of Settlement was passed, by which it was deci- ded that the sovereign of England must be a Protestant, and that in the case of the death of Anne without heirs. the crown should devolve upon the Electress Sophia, grand-daughter of James I., and upon her heirs who were Protestant. This measure excited no enthusiasm, and yet all parties in England seemed to acquiesce in it. In the Scotch Parliament no such bill was passed, but two years later the Act of Security was carried, the effect of which was quite opposite. It declared that, on the death 146 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1704-6. of the queen without issue, the Estates (that is, the Scotch Parliament) should name a successor from the Protestant descendants of the House of Stuart, but not the same as should succeed to the crown of England, unless cer- tain securities were given for the religion, freedom, and trade of Scotland. The Government, however, instruct- ed the queen's commissioner not to touch the Act with the sceptre. It did not therefore become law ; but the irritation in the Scotch Parliament was so strong be- cause of this refusal that the commissioner prorogued it without obtaining any subsidy. Next year (1704) the Act was passed again by the Parliament. Godolphin yielded to their persistency, and the measure became law. The effect, however, not on his mind only, but on that of almost all Englishmen, was that it was no longer safe to postpone the Union. In the summer of 1706 commissioners met in London, thirty-one from each kingdom. Lord Somers presided over their meetings : to his bland temper Commission an d moderating wisdom much of the success appointed. ° of their treating was due. Once or twice the queen attended at the deliberations to encourage the commissioners by her presence; and it was evident that they were animated by a different spirit from that of the first year of her reign. It is a law of physics that a larger body attracts a smaller. As England was three times as large, four times as populous, and probably forty times ments g pro- as rich as Scotland, it was evident that the posed. latter kingdom would have to adopt the con- stitution of the former. But the English commissioners were prepared to treat the Scotch in a liberal spirit. The doctrine that the minority must yield to the majority required that the English weights and measures and the A.D. 1706. The Union with Scotland. 147 English coinage should be the standard for the United Kingdom. As, however, the Scotch might lose by these and similar changes, it was proposed that a sum of money should be paid by the English Parliament, to which the name of the Equivalent was given. Elabo- rate calculations were set on foot to fix its amount, which was ultimately settled at 400,000/. It was to be thus employed. All the debts of the kingdom of Scotland were to be paid off, and for this it was estimated that 160,000/., or about a year's revenue of that kingdom, would be required. The shares of the Darien Company were to be bought up with a second portion, and the company then dissolved. A third portion was to recoup the losses caused by the change in the coinage. But when the gold arrived in Edinburgh, there was a riot, and the waggons that brought it were near being plun- dered. The people regarded it as a bribe. In England there was hardly any real opposition to the Union, but in Scotland there was a great deal. This may have been partly due to the anger of shopkeepers and citizens of Edinburgh, in- ^Scotland dignant that their beautiful city should cease to be a capital ; partly to that of members of Parliament, who would lose their importance when the capital went south. There was also a general feeling, strongest amongst the uneducated, but not confined to them, that Scotland was going to be placed in subjection to England. The ancient glory of their kingdom was departing. But the strongest feeling was aroused on the question of their religion: there was a general fear lest by union with England, which had an Episcopal Church, the Presby- terian constitution of the Scotch Church should be in danger. And to this feeling a sort of echo was heard in England when the High Churchman seemed to regard 148 The Age of Anne. A.D. 1706 it as unworthy to ally themselves with a Presbyterian body. It was determined that no change should be made in either Church ; and Acts of Parliament were passed, both by the Scotch and by the English Parliaments, to secure that each Church should preserve its constitution and its in- dependence. There was to be one State, but two Churches. The Scotch share of the land tax was fixed at one- fortieth. If taxation had been taken as the basis of representation, the Scotch would not have Represen- been allowed more than thirteen representa- tation. * tives in the House of Commons. But it was felt that this number was insufficient, considering the population and the ancient reputation of the northern kingdom. After some negotiation the number was fixed at forty-five. Of these thirty were assigned to shires, fifteen to towns. Edinburgh had a member to itself. Sixty-six other boroughs formed fourteen groups. No shire had more than one member, nor has this system been altered by later reforms. The total number of forty-five has been increased to sixty, eight having been added by the great Reform Bill in 1832, and seven more by the Reform Bill of 1867. This number of sixty is now divided thus— shires, 32 (two or three shires being di- vided, but still having only one member for each division) ; towns, 26 (Glasgow having three members, Edinburgh and Dundee two each) ; and two being as- signed to the Universities in two groups of two each. The Scotch peers and representatives sat in one house. Henceforward they would follow the practice of Eng- land, and sit in two. The number forty-five formed one-twelfth of the enlarged House of Commons of the United Kingdom. This proportion was therefore adopted for the Upper House also. Sixteen peers were to be elected as representatives for each Parliament. It was a.d. 1707. The Union with Scotland. 149 decided that no more peers of Scotland should be made. The peers who were not representatives were not allowed to sit in the Lower House either for English or Scotch constituencies, and an old Scotch restriction that the eldest sons of Scotch peers could not be elected was re- tained. This latter, however, was repealed in 1832. The Scotch law and administration of justice was to remain unchanged. In many important points, notably in the law of marriage, there is still a, wide difference between the Scotch and English law, the former following the old Roman law. Other matters caused less difficulty. It was easily settled that the national flag should be formed by a junction of the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew. This was a flag which James I, had tried to introduce upon succeeding to the English throne, but without success. Henceforward it became the flag of which both nations are proud, under the name of the Union Jack. At the Union with Ireland this flag underwent a further change, the red cross of St. Patrick being laid upon the white cross of St. Andrew. The arms of the two countries, the three lions of England and the lion rampant of Scotland were to be quartered according to the laws of heraldry. A new seal was to be made. This United Kingdom was to receive the name of Great Britain. This scheme, which was drawn out by the commis- sioners in 1706, 'met with much opposition in the Scotch Parliament. But it was firmly maintained and eventu- ally carried in 1707. It is said that bribery was exten sively used, as was certainly the case at the Union with Ireland nearly a century later, but this charge has been investigated and disproved. If there was any bribery, it was on a very small scale. 150 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1707. In spite of the opposition then made to the Union, an opposition which died away only gradually in the minds of Scotchmen, there has not for generations been even a semblance of a wish for a repeal of the Results. Union. This cannot be said for the Union with Ireland; and if the proof of the goodness of political work is the way that it stands the test of time, no work of the kind was ever so effectively accomplished. No act of the Government of Queen Anne so much deserves the honour and respect of succeeding generations, whether English or Scotch. England was strengthened by having a warm ally instead of a lukewarm neighbour, who might prove a dangerous foe. Scotland shared in the prosperity which she had often envied, acquired a large share of commerce, and yet did not lose the separate features of the Scottish character or in any way smother the indi- vidual glory of her historic memories. It may be well to add a note on the difference between the Union with Ireland and that with Scotland with re- spect to the peerage. No more Scotch peers w°th P Unlon were to be created, and no Scotch peer is with Ireland. permitted t0 s j t in the House of Commons. In the Irish peerage, one new peer may be created for every three peerages that become extinct, and an Irish peer may sit in the House of Commons, but not as re- presentative of an Irish constituency. Ireland has now 105 members in the House of Commons, and 28 repre- sentative peers. The total number of Scotch peers is now 82, of Irish, 185; but of these so many are also peers of the United Kingdom, that only 26 Scotch and 80 Irish noblemen are without seats in the House of Lords. In the Union with Scotland, moreover, the two national Churches were kept distinct, whilst in that with Ireland they were united. But in the latter case the A.r>. 1707. The Union with Scotland. 151 Churches were alike Protestant and Episcopalian. The injustice rather consisted in the fact that the dominant Church in Ireland was not the Church of the people, a very large majority of whom were Roman Catholics. It is certainly a fact that requires notice, that whilst the Scotch do not desire a repeal, the Irish as a nation do. Section II. — Attempt for the Pretender. The immediate unpopularity of the Union in Scotland suggested to the minds of the Jacobites that an attempt might be made in that country in favour of the Pretender. An avowed Jacobite, Colo- Jacobite J rising. nel Hooke, moved about the country sound- ing other Jacobites, and returned to Versailles when he had obtained promises that a force of 30,000 men should rise in Scotland, if only Lewis would send a French army to form a nucleus. Lewis, not unmindful of the ancient friendship between Scotland and France, as- sented. He may have known that in the present state of Scotch feeling there was a good chance of success, or that at any rate a diversion would be created in the war, and that possibly Marlborough, certainly some of Marlborough's army, would be recalled from the Nether- lands. The Jacobite cause had always more supporters in Scotland, especially in the Highlands, than in Eng- land. The feeling of loyalty was encouraged by the clan system : the Stuarts were a Scotch family. James Francis Edward, son of James II. and Mary of Modena, was born in 1688, the year of the Glorious Revolution. Indeed his birth may be counted one of the immediate causes of that Sjjtender Revolution, for as long as James his father had no son, the English people felt that, however tyran- nous his reign might be, upon his death the tyranny j 52 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1707 would be overpast; for his daughters, Mary and Anne, following the religion of their mother, were Protestantx and members of the Church of England. When thb prince was born, all was changed. He would be brought up, men said, in the religion of both his parents: a long line of Roman Catholic sovereigns stretched itself before the eyes of their excited imaginations. King James, moreover, had unwisely not taken the usual steps on the birth of an heir to the throne. The high officials of State and Church, whose duty it is to be present, were not invited. A story, therefore, for which there is no evidence except this omission, and which has long been abandoned even by the strongest opponents of the House of Stuart, gained credence, that this prince was no prince at all, but that he had been brought into the royal bedchamber in a warming-pan. In honour of this belief it is recorded that on his birthday in each year, whilst Jacobites wore white roses in their button- holes, staunch Whigs wore little farthing warming-pans. This young prince it was whom Lewis XIV. had promised the exiled James upon his death-bed that he would recognise as King of England: which promise had drawn this long war upon his head. At St. Ger- main's, the place which Lewis had granted to James and to his family, he had been brought up as a Catholic prince, and amidst the despotic ideas of the Court of Lewis. He was not trained to acquiescence in the exile of his house. All around him called him King of Eng- land; and he certainly made it the object of his life to become king in reality. In English history, to distin- guish him from his son, he is known as the Old Preten- der. But a title which friend or foe alike might give him, and which was therefore used in negotiations with the French Court, was the Chevalier de St. George. That a.d. 1707. The Union with Scotland. 153 he was not deficient in personal bravery he had no opportunity in this attempt to show ; but he showed it afterwards when fighting (one might think somewhat unwisely), against his countrymen at the battles of Oudenarde and Malplaquet. He was now nearly twenty. The French force that King Lewis was going to send to aid him consisted of five men-of-war with transports, conveying about 4,000 soldiers. Just as it was about to sail from Dunkirk, when se- Failure of attempt. crecy and speed were all-important to such an expedition, the young prince fell ill of the measles. The ships could not start without him. During the delay the English Government received information, and sent Admiral Sir George Byng with a fleet of fifteen ships which blockaded Dunkirk. The army in Scotland was small, but large forces were collected at York. Byng's fleet was driven from its moorings by high winds, and the French ships escaped. When they appeared off the coast of Scotland, signals were made according to agree- ment, but the Jacobites on shore made no answer to the signals. The French admiral thereupon insisted upon returning. He had received positive orders not to risk a landing unless there was a rising of the Jacobites to co-operate with the French troops. The Chevalier and many of those with him wished very much to land to try the effect of their presence, confident that his friends would rise then if not before. The French admiral re- turned, however, to France as quickly as possible, for Byng's ships had followed, and were close behind him. They caught the rearmost of his vessels, but the others escaped. As the result of this attempted rebellion, to be followed after seven, and again after thirty seven years, by others, which were more successful for a time, and finally more disastrous, two bills were passed through M 154 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1707. Parliament, one a temporary suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, so that the Government might be enabled to arrest people upon suspicion ; the other, a law that a Justice of the Peace might make anyone appear before him and take an oath abjuring the Pretender. It is as well to notice that though this attempt was a miserable failure, its chance of success was probably bet- ter than either in the Fifteen or in the Forty- Its chance fi ve Rebellion. The attack of measles and of success. the unpreparedness of the Jacobites on shore were fortunate for the United Kingdom. At that time, it must be remembered, the feeling of irritation against the Union was exceedingly strong in Scotland, and Eng- land was engaged in a great Continental war which taxed her strength. Time was the healer of the first wound. Against this we must set the reflections that in the rebel- lion against George I. the house was new to the throne, and that even by the reign of his son it had done nothing to gain the affections of the people. After the accession of George III., "born and bred a Briton," not "an Eng- lishman," there is no more suspicion of disloyalty in Scotland. CHAPTER XVII. PETER THE GREAT AND CHARLES XII. Section I. — The North Eastern State- System, In the north-east of Europe there was a group of coun- tries which, though not without influence upon the his- North- tory of the rest of Europe, for nations can- not live separate lives without intercourse with their neighbours, may yet be regarded as forming a separate State System. This Peter the Great and Charles XII 155 group must not, however, be left undescribed, partly on account of this connexion, but more especially on ac- count of the remarkable character of two monarchs, one of whom influenced the future of his own country, and, through it, of Europe, to an extent which has been grant- ed to few in the whole course of history. This State System consists of Denmark, £°, u ? d the ■' ' Baltic. Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Just as the nations that occupy the stage of what we call ancient history are grouped around the Mediterranean Sea, so are these nations gathered round the Baltic. Of the four, Russia had as yet no territory on the shores of the Baltic, but she had already turned her eyes in that direction, seeing the advan- tage which a footing on the coast would give. Her rulers had already shaped their policy ; her oppo- nents, notably the famous Gustavus Adolphus, had planned resistance to it. Poland had two provinces, West Prussia and Livonia, on the coast of the Baltic. She had also a feudal suzerainty over two others. The three countries, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, had for about two centuries preserved a balance of power in the Baltic basin. At one time one of them would be stronger, then another. Of the three, Denmark was now the least important. Nearly two centuries had elapsed since it had been at the height of its power, but its territory was still much larger than that which it has to-day. The kingdom of Norway was under its crown, and the duchies of Schleswig and Hol- stein had the King of Denmark for their duke, an ar- rangement which remained in force until the Danish war of 1864. Yet, although separately Denmark was not to be feared by its neighbours, it might become important at any time as a factor in a combination. 1 5 6 The Age of Anne. Sweden, also, had passed the epoch of her greatest power, but very substantial results remained Sweden. behind. Not only did she hold all the coun- try which is now Sweden, but also the province of Fin- land, on the east of the Gulf of Bothnia, which had long been hers, but which now belongs to Russia ; and in Germany, upon the other side, to the south of the Baltic, she still held part of Pomerania. The period of Swe- den's greatest power was during the two years when her king, Gustavus Adolphus, placed himself at the head of the Protestants of Germany, and turned back the tide of defeat from the Protestant cause. Whatever may have been his motives, and those who have studied his history most are agreed to place them very high, the aggrandise- ment of his country was certainly the result of his cam- paign. During the remainder of the century Sweden was looked upon as the chief Protestant power in Europe. England, indeed, alone of other States, was capable of disputing the position. Under Cromwell, England was the chief Protestant State, and Cromwell valued the alliance of Sweden. In the reign of Charles II., when the counsels of Sir William Temple prevailed over baser counsels for a short year, and England determined again to assume that position, it was Sweden that with Holland joined England in the Triple Alliance, the mere forma^ tion of which was sufficient to bring France to terms. Sweden, however, did not join the Grand Alliance, prob- ably because she felt that she had work to do nearer home ; by that time, moreover, her influence in Europe was beginning to wane. The kingdom of Poland had large territory, and yet did not exercise much influence on the politics of Europe. The reason for this is to be sought in the Poland. , , nature of its government. Poland was an Peter the Great and Charles XII. *57 Elective Monarchy. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the monarchy had been nominally elective but really hereditary. But on the extinction of the house of Jagellon, which during that time had been on the throne, the nominal character of the monarchy became real. At each vacancy of the throne there had been the form of an election by the Diet, but after 1572 this form became a reality. The evils to which an elective monarchy is liable showed themselves in Poland. All the nobles had a right to elect, and all the sons of nobles were nobles themselves. A hundred thousand armed men appeared on horseback at the elections. The candidates, before election, pledged themselves to increase the privileges of their electors, until all the kingly power was given away, and Poland became what has been well termed a demo- cracy of nobles. Foreign powers also interfered and used every means in their power by bribery, corruption, intimidation, to influence the elections. Defeated candi- dates raised up factions : and ultimate dismemberment of Poland, after two centuries of this experience, how- ever unjustifiable on the part of those engaged in it, was the natural fruit of the form of its government, and of the conduct of its own nobility. Of the four nations forming the north-eastern group, Russia, though on the eve of a forward start which would in an incredibly short space of time make it a first-rate power in Europe, was the least known. It was usually called Muscovy, from the name of its capital city. It possessed very little of European civilisation. The often quoted phrase of Napoleon — " If you scrape a Russian, you will find a Tartar," which means that under a superficial European polish the Russian is still at heart an Asiatic, would, before the ac- cession of Peter the Great, have required the modification 158 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1689. of omitting the first clause. The superficial polish was not there. Few in the West of Europe knew anything about Russia. It was not an element in the calculations of statesmen. The Russians in return knew nothing about Europe. They were a nation of uncivilised bar- barians closely connected with Asia, slightly connected with Europe. The Russian empire had spread only in the direction of the north and east. At the accession of Peter it had none of the coast line either on the Baltic or the Black Sea. Yet Peter's predecessors had already begun to covet it. There is extant a letter by Gustavus Adolphus, in which he showed that Russia would become formidable, a dangerous neighbour to Sweden, if it held certain places which he regarded as the keys of the Baltic. He thought he had taken measures sufficient to secure these from falling into the hands of the Russians. It certainly is a tribute to his foresight that those very places stand about St. Petersburg. The rise of Russia to a prominent place amongst European kingdoms, however the way may have been prepared for it, was due to one man, Peter the Great, whose character and work we proceed to describe. Section II.— Peter the Great. Peter's father was married twice. He had two sons by the first marriage — Feodor, a delicate invalid, and Ivan, who was half an idiot, besides several daugh- ters, of whom the most remarkable was the Princess Sophia, an ambitious and talented woman ; by the second marriage, he had only Peter and one daughter. When Feodor succeeded his father, Sophia obtained all the real power in the State, and when he died, after a short reign, she managed still to preserve power as regent and guardian of her two brothers. Lest Peter should A.d. 1689. Peter the Great and Charles XII. 159 wrest it from her, she did her best to stunt his education ; she dismissed the tutor in whom his father „ , Real acces- had placed confidence, and surrounded him sionto with worthless companions. But it was all P ower - in vain. When he was nearly seventeen, the party in the State who were opposed to his sister encouraged him to throw off her tyrannous regency. He sent her into a convent, and her advisers into exile. This was in 1689, the year after the English Revolution. Peter owed nothing to education. But by the mere force of genius, on taking up the reins of power, he im- mediately saw the state of his country, and made up his mind to reform it. He recog- IS p ° lcy * nised that Russia was backward as compared with European nations ; and his policy, conceived at the first and resolutely followed, may be summed up in the one phrase that he wished to make Russia European. With this object he sent many of his subjects abroad, to study how Russia could learn improvements from the other nations of Europe, and after a time he determined to travel himself. We know his appearance almost as well as if he lived in our own days, so often has it been described. He was very tall and had the figure of a power- ful, strong man. His features were strongly ^ce &Ppear marked, a fine, massive forehead over which great clusters of jet-black hair would hang, massive brows, from under which his black eyes flashed, now fierce, now piercing, as if he would read the very secrets of the heart. His mouth gave tokens of power. His smile was very gracious, but his frown terrible to behold. When at rest there was majesty about his face ; but at times a troubled, nervous look would come over it, then would follow a wild twitch of face and of hands, then a convul- 160 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1697. sion during which he was ungovernable. This seems to have been hereditary ; he tried to conquer it, but never could. His visit to England was well remembered. In his travels, the countries that he most wished to see were England and Holland, for he de- sired to make Russia a maritime power, and he thought that from these two countries he could learn useful lessons. There was something very far-sighted in this desire, for in the whole of his dominions Desire for a there was only one port, Archangel, and that was in a sea which was inaccessible for half the year. The Russian navy had to be created from the very beginning, for there was not, as yet, a single ship. Moreover, owing to an accident which he had suffered when a child, he had a great distaste, almost amounting to a nervous horror, of water. But he conquered this so completely that, in a storm, he once was able by his calmness to quiet the terrified seamen. "Fear not! Who ever heard of a Czar being lost at sea ?" He visited Holland first, and there, in the dockyards of Zaandam, he worked with his own hands as a ship's carpenter. He lived as the other workmen, and worked very hard. Thus he learnt the arts of shipbuilding and navigation. After nine months in Holland he passed on to London. At first he lived in a house in Norfolk Street which overlooked the Thames. He was anxious to see every- thing in England, but he did not wish to be seen him- self. At the theatre he witnessed the play from the very back of his box, screened from public gaze by his at- tendants. He looked down upon a sitting of the House of Lords through a small window, where the king and the lords saw him and burst out laughing. When he A.d. 1698. Peter the Great and Charles XII. 161 went to the king's palace, he was admitted at a back door. He "went privately to Oxford, but, being soon discovered, he immediately came back to London with- out viewing those curiosities he intended." He moved from London to Deptford, where he occupied the house of John Evelyn, an English gentleman of letters, who has left a diary that gives considerable insight into the social life of his day. He says that the Czar and his people were "right nasty " in their habits. At Deptford Peter spent his time as at Zaandam. But neither in England nor in Holland did he confine himself to the work of a ship's carpenter. He was making inquiries about State matters, about laws and law courts, about religious matters. He was inducing Englishmen, Scotch- men, Dutchmen, to settle in Russia, and take their skill with them. He visited Sweden and Brandenburg, and returned to his dominions after an absence of about a year and a half. The most significant of all Peter's reforms was the removal of the capital. The traveller from Moscow to the shores of the Baltic sets his face west- ward. Peter was looking to the west for his model, and wished Russia to be European and no longer Asiatic. The old associations of Moscow drove him from it: the connexion with Europe enticed him to the Baltic. But it well illustrates the power of Peter over his subjects that he could make them quit their old capital. For the Russians loved Moscow with peculiar love. They call it still "the City of God," they reverence it as their " Holy Mother." At the first sight of its towers and pinnacles the Russian pilgrim falls upon his knees in awe. Yet, notwithstanding this affection and the conse- quent opposition of nobles, citizens, and priests, Peter carried out his plan. Nor was he even deterred by the 162 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1700. physical difficulty of his task. The ground on which Petersburg is built was a marshy swamp. The city had to be built on piles, like a Dutch city. Thousands, it is said, lost their lives during the building, but Peter did not hesitate, and Petersburg, called after his own name, stands as a monument of his firmness. The alteration of the calendar also was Change in another of Peter's reforms. The Russians calendar. hitherto had dated from the creation, but he adopted the system in use in the rest of Europe. It is to be noted that the Russians still reckon by the old style. Peter the Great was a reformer in ecclesiastical as well as in political matters. He abolished the Patri- archate, thus making the union of Church Patriarchate and State com P lete - Hitherto the Patriarch had power over the Church as despotic as that of the Czar over the State. Henceforth there was to be but one head. On the death of the last Patriarch he kept the see unfilled ; and when the priests, disconso- late at seeing the vacant chair, asked him to appoint another, he said " I will be your Patriarch." Even the fashions of Europe were to be imitated by his subjects. The habit of shaving the beard, the smoking of tobacco, the very shape of dresses, the bringing the women out of seclusion, all of these he forced upon his reluctant people. There was so much resistance to the fashion of shaving that at length a tax was imposed upon those who wished to retain their beards, and a medal, bearing a head ornamented with beard and whiskers, was given as a token that the tax had been paid. Tobacco-smok- ing was not unknown in Russia before, having been in- troduced by English merchants at Archangel. The A.D. 1700. Peter the Great and Charles XIL 163 chief opposition to it was raised by the priests, on the ground that " not that which goeth into a man but that which cometh out of a man defileth him." Patterns of dresses were hung up at the entrance to a town, and the inhabitants were to be punished if their clothes were not cut in accordance with the Government pattern. But the social change which did most mischief was his determination that the women were to be drawn from their Oriental seclusion, a change for which they were wholly unprepared, and which, coming suddenly, could only do them harm. The most important of his domestic reforms was the institution of the Tchin. From early times there has been a powerful hereditary nobility in Rus- The Tchin sia. A custom had almost grown into a law abureau- & cracy. that no man whose ancestor had held a higher place than the ancestor of another man could serve under him without a stain upon his honour. The inconvenience of such a custom is manifest. Peter's predecessor had caused all the nobles to bring the records of their genealogies as if to compare them, and had then publicly burnt them. This was a severe blow to the prin- ciple of hereditary nobility ; but Peter substituted for it an official nobility, called the Tchin, publishing a table of fourteen degrees, civil and military, by which all questions of rank were to be decided, the lower grades being duly subordinate to the higher. Thus he substi- tuted what is called a Bureaucracy for an Aristocracy. On his return from his first journey Peter found a for- midable conspiracy against his authority. He put it down with great severity, actually assisting with his own hands at the execution of the con- !? e ,-. btrehtzes. spirators. A corps of troops called the Strelitzes, holding a position of great importance, in the 164 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1697. State somewhat analogous to that of the Praetorians at Rome, formed the centre of this conspiracy. Peter abol- ished the corps. With the help of artisans from Holland and England he created a navy. When a child he delighted in a little boat which he saw upon the river that flows through Moscow. He made that little boat the germ of the Rus- sian navy. He christened it " the Little Grandsire," and had it removed to Petersburg. Section III. — Charles XII. Of the States which formed the North-Eastern State System, there is no doubt that at the end of the seven- teenth century Sweden was the most power- A h D rl i% XI1 ' ^' * ts ver y P ower » an d the fact that the power was of recent growth, excited the ani- mosity of its neighbours ; and when, in 1697, Charles XII. succeeded his father, at the early age of fifteen, they thought that they saw their opportunity. Each one of the neighbours wanted some part of the Swedish do- minions. The Czar Peter wanted the Baltic Provinces, without which it would be impos- sible for him to keep up intercourse with Western Europe- Frederick Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, wanted to rescue the Provinces of Livo- nia and West Prussia, which had formerly belonged to Poland, but had been wrested from her by the Swedes. Frederick, King of Denmark, wanted Holstein. The Duke of Holstein was brother-in-law of Charles of Swe- den, as well as his boon companion ; in spirit similar to Charles, he had been his associate in every mad exploit. Holstein, as was natural, stood under the protection of Sweden, although not part of the dominions of Charles. These three neighbours formed a league ; from different a.d. 1697. Peter the Great and Charles XII. 165 quarters they were to make a simultaneous attack on Sweden. According to his father's will, Charles was to remain for some time under a regency. But the States met and declared him no longer a minor, although he was only fifteen. Until the arrival of the Beginning of J his reign. news of the triple league which had been formed against him, he was contented to allow the Coun- cil of Regency to govern for him. He sat at the council table — some say "on it " — but appeared to take no in- terest in the the business transacted. But when the news was brought that the league had been made against him, he suddenly said: — "I am resolved never to begin an unjust war, nor to finish a just one except by the destruc- tion of my enemies. My resolution is fixed. I will at- tack the first who declares against me, and, having con- quered him, I shall be able to strike terror into the others." The inert beginning of his reign was, indeed, no clue to the extraordinary character of this young prince. He was very self-willed, and had apparently set , . . 1 ■■ 1 1 r 1 • • . 1 His character. his aims clearly before him quite early in life. When he was a boy, Q. Curtius was his favourite author, Alexander the Great his favourite hero. To play the part of Alexander, in the altered circumstances of the world, was his ambition. It has been well said he was not Alexander, but he should have been Alex- ander's first soldier. Among his predecessors, Gustavus Adolphus was the one whose career he wished to imitate, especially in the two glorious years when he was victo- rious arbiter of the fortunes of Germany. But he differed from Gustavus, in that he made military glory the end rather than the means of his ambition. Napoleon the Great denied the right of Charles even to the title of a 166 The Age of Anne. A.D. 1697. great general. He was certainly a born soldier. He loved fighting. He loved danger. He said the noise of musket balls was the sweetest of music to him. He could endure all hardships, hunger, cold, fatigue. The pleasures and the splendour of a court had no attraction for him. He was simple, almost mean, in his attire, Spartan in his way of life. But he was self-willed and headstrong, and would not take advice. It is said that at his coronation he snatched the crown from the hands of the Archbishop, and placed it himself upon his head. It had been agreed that the attack of his three oppo- nents should be simultaneous, but either their arrange- ments were imperfect, or the quickness of He fights Charles defeated them. He kept his word Denmark. r and attacked the first who invaded his ter- ritory. He began with Denmark, whose king was in- vading Holstein. Charles himself attacked Copenhagen, and in six weeks the King of Denmark was at his feet, promising to leave Holstein unmolested, and to quit the alliance. Frederick Augustus the Strong was the second. He could not persuade the Polish nobility to bear any part in the invasion, and was therefore obliged to The King of f a ^ back upon his hereditary dominions, his subjects in which were not so independent. The unfortunate Saxons had no interest in the war, but they were obliged to submit. The inhabitants of the provinces which he wished to recover were not pleased to see his army, and kept quickening his footsteps. He had just commenced besieging Riga, when he found that the victorious Charles was coming against him, and he hastily retreated. He then turned towards the Czar Peter, who was laying siege to the town of Narva. His army was in- A. D. 1700-6. Peter the Great and Charles XII. 167 trenched and defended with 140 pieces of cannon. Charles's army amounted only to Narva" 1 ! at 8,000 men, whereas that of Peter consisted according to some accounts of ten times the number, according to his own account, of about 45,000. But the Swedes had still the admirable discipline of Gustavus Adolphus, whilst very few of the Russians had any dis- cipline at all; they were raw recruits, serfs, fresh from the woods, who had never smelt powder. On the day before the attack of the Swedes, Peter left the camp to hasten the arrival of some reinforcements. The Rus- sian officers were angry that he left a foreigner in com- mand ; there was a spirit of mutiny among the Russian troops, and the whole army, in spite of its intrench- ments, fell an easy prey, to Charles. The battle was fought during a snow-storm, and there seems to have been a good deal of confusion in the Russian ranks. But the ease with which he won the battle of Narva was the cause of Charles' ruin. Thinking that he could at any time finish the struggle with Peter, for whom he entertained a profound contempt, he turned aside to fol- low and to dethrone the King of Poland. The Czar could have desired nothing better. This breathing time enabled him to recruit and drill his army : from their enemies, the Swedes, Peter was learning how to beat them. Charles, meanwhile, followed Augustus the Strong into Poland, and then into his hereditary kingdom of Saxony. Five years Charles wasted in needless cam- paigns, but at length he compelled Augustus formally to renounce the crown of Poland. His ministers wished him to take the crown of Poland himself, but in that un- quiet monarchy he preferred the part of king-maker, and he forced the Diet of Nobles to elect, as king, a young Polish nobleman, named Stanislaus Leczinski. 168 The Age of Anne. A. D. 1707. Objection being taken to the candidate's age, Charles silenced it by saying, " He is as old as I am." Charles kept his camp at Alt Ranstadt, near Leipzig. He was now at the summit of his career, and his position „. , was very proud. The destinies of Europe Charles x arbiter of may be said to have been in his hand. On urope. t ^ e one s jj e 1^ was tempted to imitate his ancestor, Gustavus Adolphus, and, declaring himself the "protector of the Evangelical religion," to form a great Protestant confederation, which would be the Grand Al- liance with the Austrian element omitted. On the other hand, Lewis XIV., who was with difficulty resisting the combination against him, had sent ambassadors to im- plore his aid. Had Charles turned his steps westward, it is not easy to predict what would have resulted from his interference. The Grand Allies knew the danger, and Marlborough himself paid a visit to the Swedish conqueror, with more than his usual honey of flattery on his lips. Conqueror of Blenheim and of Ramillies, he told Charles that he would gladly take lessons from him in the art of war. But Marlborough soon under- stood that Charles would not interfere, and that all his preparations were designed against Russia. Amongst the lessons in war which Charles could teach, we may wonder whether it was one to allow a defeated enemy time to gather up his strength again ? Section IV. — Pultowa. Whilst Charles XII. was campaigning, king making, sitting as arbiter of Europe in his camp at Alt Ranstadt, Peter was steadily preparing to fight him again. His soldiers were overcoming their fear of the Swedes, for, in the absence of their king, Peter had beaten them once, had captured Narva itself, and had conquered the A.d. 1708. Peter the Great and Charles XII. 169 province of Ingria. He took a Swedish town, and, whilst he strengthened its fortifications, he renamed it Schlusselburg or Key-town, because he said that it was the key to Sweden. When Charles at length determined to carry on the war with Russia, it is probable, if he had known his own mind clearly and carried out his plan, that he must have prevailed. Napoleon criti- campaign cised this campaign very unfavourably. r^ 17 - 51 There is no doubt that Charles should have marched straight upon Moscow, for, when once he had reached the Russian frontier, a fortnight's hard march- ing would have brought him under its walls. On ac- count of his delay the Russians were enabled to lay waste the country. With a strange fatality Charles turned southwards, having been tempted by the promise of a remarkable, though not a trustworthy, ally. Mazeppa was by birth a Pole. Having been found guilty of misconduct, he had been tied naked on a wild horse, which carried him amongst the Cos- sacks of the wild barren country called the Ukraine. The Cossacks received him kindly. He en- joyed their warlike, roving mode of life, and rose amongst them till he became their hetman, or. chief. He had been a great favourite of Peter, but he wanted to become an independent sovereign. On this account, and be- cause of an insult which he suffered at the hands of the Czar, he intrigued with Charles, and promised that he would join him in the Ukraine, at the head of 30,000 Cossacks. But the Cossacks, when they discovered his intention, refused to desert the Czar, or to follow Mazeppa ; and when, after weary marching, Charles reached the trysting place, Mazeppa could only bring to him a mere handful of men. N 170 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1709. The Swedish army was by this time suffering terribly from the want of supplies, and from the frequent attacks of the Russian mounted skirmishers. Through- Reinforce- out ^g sev ere cold of the Russian winter merits for Swedes de- Charles would not let his army rest in win- ter quarters. He was very ignorant of the country, and wasted his strength in fruitless marches and countermarches. His only hope now lay in the rein- forcements and supplies which he hoped that one of his generals was bringing to him ; for he had made a strategi- cal mistake in coming so far from his base of operations without a proper line of communication. The reinfor- cing army was beaten by the Russians ; its remnant suf- fered terribly as it struggled on, and at length joined the main body, few in numbers, without supplies, and, in many cases, even without shoes. The town of Pultowa is situated upon a branch of the Dnieper, called the Vorskla. It was a magazine of stores. For this reason Charles thought it Battle of hjg \y es t chance to attack it, and Peter was Pultowa. July 8, a. d. equally determined on its defence. Peter had much the larger army, and his soldiers were better equipped and well entrenched. Peter con- trived that Charles's army should fight with their backs turned towards the angle made by the Vorskla falling into the Dnieper. Charles had been wounded in the heel in a skirmish a few days before the battle. He was obliged to be carried about during the battle in a litter. It gives some idea of the fury with which the battle raged, when we hear that it only lasted a few hours, and that, out of twenty-four bearers of this litter, twenty-one were killed. Both of the kings fought bravely, for they knew that the future of their countries depended on the issue of the fighting. The battle began very early in the A.D. 171 o- 11. Peter the Great and Charles XII. 171 morning, and the Swedes charged with such impetuosity that they broke the Russian lines. But by some mistake the Swedish cavalry was not ready to follow up this ad- vantage. The Russians had time to rally. Peter brought up a great force of cannon, and, at the same time, sent a general to attack the Swedish reserve. A final charge of the Russians followed, and the Swedes were com- pletely overcome. Mazeppa himself went up to Charles, and, knowing that persuasion was vain, made a sign to his attendants to place him on a horse ; then, holding the bridle, he made their horses swim the river. They fled to Turkey. Four days later the whole Swedish army surrendered. There was no alternative for the proud troops that had always been conquerors. Peter expressed great admiration of them, but sent them into Siberia. The results of the battle of Pultowa are very impor- tant. On the very day of the battle Peter wrote, " Thank God, the foundations of Petersburg at length stand firm." The province of Livonia and baSfe te ° f part of Finland fell at once into his hands. Demark laid claim to Scania, Prussia to Pomerania. The Swedish monarchy was reduced to its original limits, from which the genius of one man had raised it, and to which the folly of another had now brought it back again. Sweden's financial difficulties made her regret that she had attempted work that was too much for her. But the country in which most joy was expressed was Poland, where Charles's nominee was at once driven off the throne, and Augustus the Strong resumed his place. But before Peter could consolidate his conquests, he had one more serious crisis through which to pass, and one which almost overwhelmed him. Partly War between because Charles had taken refuge in Tur- Turkey and key, and partly because Turkey was jealous 172 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1711-14. of the growing power of Russia, a war sprang up be- tween those two powers. It was by no means the last of such wars, and some people think that it is the tra- ditional policy of Russian statesmen never to cease struggling for the possession of Constantinople. On this occasion Peter imitated his late antagonist's rashness and contempt for his enemy. Promises had been made by traitorous subjects of the sultan; he be- The affair lieved them as Charles had believed Ma- ofthePruth. . . zeppa. He crossed the Pruth with his army, but found himself hemmed in by a much larger number of the enemy. The Russian army was rescued by the Czarina Catherine, a Livonian woman of humble birth, who had been taken prisoner by the Russians on the very day of her marriage to a Swedish sergeant who was killed at the same time. After various vicissitudes of fortune she had attracted the notice of the Czar by her beauty and her wit : and he had publicly announced his marriage to her when setting out from Moscow on his expedition against Turkey. She was a woman of very sweet temper, and had remarkable influence over her husband, being the only person who could control him during his fits. He had not wished her to accompany the army ; but she had begged hard, and to the great delight of the soldiers she was allowed to go with them. In the great strait of the Russian army it was Catherine who proposed that a very rich present should be sent to the Grand Vizier, giving her own jewels for the purpose and encouraging others to give. Negotiations followed. The Czar surrendered all claim to Azov and to the Black Sea; and he further engaged not to interfere in the afXairs of Poland. A.D. 1 714-18. Peter the Great and Charles XII. 173 Section V. — End of Charles XII. and of Peter. Since Pultowa Charles had been at Bender, a town not far from the frontier of Turkey. When he reproached the Grand Vizier with letting Peter the Great escape, he received in reply the taunt: "It Charles Xil. is not good that all kings should be away from their peoples." The Turks had made their illus- trious guest an allowance, but this was now stopped. A little later he received a direct order to depart, and when that failed he was actually besieged in his own house at Bender by the Turkish troops. He fought them from room to room. When he was at length overpowered, he was carried to a place where he feigned illness for some months. After this madness, having received pressing letters from Sweden, and hearing of her reverses, he suddenly determined to go home. He travelled through Germany on horseback, in disguise, with only two companions. In sixteen days he arrived before Stralsund, and it is said that he had ridden so fast that his boots had to be cut off from his legs. Stralsund was the last town that the Swedes had been able to retain on the south of the Baltic, and very soon a force was be- sieging it, composed of Danes, Saxons, Prussians, and Russians. He was obliged to escape secretly from the town, and immediately after his departure it surren- dered. Not even his terrible experiences were sufficient to teach the fiery Swede. He had learnt nothing, he had forgotten nothing. With enemies enough around him, and with his country exhausted, December he proposed to invade England and restore "' A ' D ' * ?I ' the Pretender. He actually did invade Norway, and met his death at the siege of Fredericshall. 174 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1725. His fall was destined to a barren strand, A petty fortress, and a dubious hand ; He left the name, at which the world grew pale, To point a moral or adorn a tale. Johnson, " Vanity of Human Wishes." The later history of Peter the Great need not detain us long. He made another journey through the differ- ent countries of Europe, in which he visited Great. e Holland again, and Prussia, and spent six Second months in France, where he romped with journey. r the young king, and stood in admiration before Richelieu's picture. " Great man," he said, " I would gladly give thee half my dominions if thou wouldst teach me to rule the other half." While he was visiting the mint in France, a medal dropped at his feet: picking it up he found on it his own likeness, with the motto, Vires acquirit eundo. One dark cloud hangs over this part of Peter's life. He had a son by his first wife, a boy of strange temper, who, sympathising with the party of rebellious priests, had always opposed his father. On Peter's return his son ran away, first to Vienna and then to his^on° Naples. He was brought back by promises that he should not be punished, but on his return he was condemned as guilty of conspiracy. It was given out in a proclamation that Alexis had died in a convulsive fit, but there were many who thought that the father himself had put him to death. Not long after, to his great grief, he lost his other son, Peter, the son of Catherine, and in February 1725, he ~ , e died himself. He died in the faith of a Death of Peter the Christian. " Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief," and then, "hereafter." These were his last words. What he meant by them no one a.d. 1 713. The Protestant Succession. 175 can say, but they certainly may be taken as a motto of his work. It was for posterity, not for himself : therein lies his true claim to the name of Great. The later his- tory of Russia is his best monument. Yet the civilisation which he gave to Russia was superficial, and there is a world of meaning in the phrase of the witty Frenchman, who said, " The Rus- sians were rotten before they were ripe." CHAPTER XVIII. THE PROTESTANT SUCCESSION. After the great war England was exhausted and glad of rest. From the Peace of Utrecht to the end of Queen Anne's reign it may be said that there is no incident of historical importance, except the events connected with the question of the succession to the throne, and of this the interest culminates towards the end. Bearing in mind what the Revolution of 1688 wrought for England, and what it prevented, it was felt to be im- portant that its work should not be undone. During William's life the cause of the Revo- ^urePro- lution, or, to put it in other words, of consti- testant suc- '■■ * cession. tutional government, had been quite safe. As long, also, as Anne should live, there was no danger; but the friends of the cause felt that there was a risk with respect to her successor. Immediately after the Revolution the Bill of Rights, the first statute of William and Mary, had decided that the crown should pass first to the heirs of Mary, then to Princess Anne and to her 176 The Age of Anne. 1 § J3 2 .2 d C Co Sh »jh "■3 u v \—i ^"SS. |] aj .5 pL,VO tuO "8| 00 }-< " H 0) tJ Sophia,: 1630, m. 8, d. 1714. Geor 06 d -c ° II x <" c 1 p, to d O -S • ^ s II . . 00 00 1— 1 ^00 C3 " rj U 4 d T3 J3 vo" d rt £2 a w a !_, H vo 2r ».p B H2 is ^ i a •"3 ^ c to,n . a -2i 3u^ £ d t3 Q O 01 d ^ 00 £ O -s d rou'O II 1 Anne, J . 1665, succ. 1702, d. 1714. =Ann< II V sf d fl 10 rD 00*2 s 2 ££ to Si 1 n 58 in . Charles I.=Heni b. 1600, succ 1 of 1625, d. 1649. c/j a pi d 72 1° tn III.=Mary, , succ. b. 1662, . 1702. succ. 1688 d, 1694. .0" in 3 c3 -a ■j-c 00 en hH "^ • ^"c3_j l_4 1) 10 W ts.00 CO 2*> ~"**h l-i T3 3 * „ 4) . S£s A. d . 1 7 1 3 . The Protesiafit Succession. 177 heirs, after that to the heirs of William by any subse- quent marriage. But towards the end of William's reign, when Mary had died childless, when it was evident that William would not marry again, and when the death of the Duke of Gloucester, the only one of Anne's nu- merous children who reached even boyhood, had dis- appointed the hopes of the nation, new steps were taken to secure the succession in safe hands. By the Act of Settlement, passed in 1701, the provisions of the Bill of Rights were strengthened by the declaration that upon failure of heirs to Anne and William, the Electress Sophia was to succeed, and that her claim should pass to her heirs. As her grandson was a grown man, it seemed as if heirs in this line would not be likely to fail. The principle upon which the Parliament, both in the Bill of Rights and in the Act of Settlement, proceeded was that of selecting the nearest heir to the English throne who was a Protestant. It was stipulated as a further security that the sovereign must be in communion with the Church of England. There was no descendant of King Charles I. who satis fied these conditions. If there had been, the English people, with their affectionate memory of , TT1 r . r J Who was the him, would have very much preferred such Electress an one. But besides the family of James II., op Henrietta Maria, alone of the children of Charles I., had left issue ; but, as she married the Roman Catholic Duke of Orleans, their children were excluded from the English crown. In order, therefore, to find a satisfactory successor for the throne it was necessary to turn to the descendants of Elizabeth, sister of Charles I. Her name takes us back some distance Elizabeth"' in English and in Continental history. When her father, King James I., ascended the English throne, 178 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1713. uniting the crown of England and Scotland, she was a little girl not quite seven years of age. She grew up a very beautiful princess, whose praises poets sang, and wearing whose colours, soldiers of fortune were ever ready to fight. Her hand was sought for a dauphin of France, but without success. She was not seventeen when, in February 161 3, she married Frederick, the Elector Palatine of the Rhine, whose capital was Hei- delberg. From that time forward her life was stormy and full of trouble, intimately mixed up with the early part of the disastrous Thirty Years' War, then with the diffi- culties of her brother Charles and his house. But living through these she survived the Restoration, and came with her nephew to England, dying two years after it in London. Elizabeth's husband, Frederick, the Elector Palatine, was elected King of Bohemia by the Protestant party in that country. But the house of Austria had FrederidT' regarded the process of election as a mere form, and claimed that the succession to the crown of Bohemia was theirs. A war was the result. Germany at that time being in a state of disunion and hostility between the two great religious parties, the war became a religious war, and continued to spread until the dispute about the succession in Bohemia had set the whole of Europe in a flame. But the first portion of the Thirty Years' War was entirely a triumph for the house of Austria and the Roman Catholics. Not only was Bohemia in a few months wrested from the hands of Frederick, called in derision the Winter King, but he was driven forth an outcast from his own hereditary dominions, and his electorate was given to the Duke of Bavaria. At the peace of Westphalia, in 1648, part of these dominions was restored to Frederick's family, and an eighth electorate established to avoid disputes. a.d. 1713. The Protestant Succession. 179 Frederick and Elizabeth had a large family, the Elec- tress Sophia, who inherited her mother's claim to the English crown, coming twelfth out of thir- ,, * , 1 , 1 ! " . Her brother, teen. Amongst her elder brothers and sis- Prince ters, two have names famous in English his- uper tory, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice. Prince Rupert, who commanded the right wing of the royalist army at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642, and whose impetuous charge carried that wing triumphantly forward, re- gardless of the rest of the battle, was brother to the Electress Sophia, who, if Queen Anne had died in the spring of 17 14 instead of in the summer, would have been Queen of England. His impetuosity led to the de- feats of Marston Moor and Naseby, and to the surrender of Bristol. The license in plundering which he allowed his soldiers was a reminiscence of his early experience in the German wars. After the conclusion of the Civil War Prince Rupert had distinguished himself, first as a naval commander, and later in the domain of science. The Electress Sophia was born at the Hague in 1630, some three months after Gustavus Adolphus landed in Germany. She married Ernest Augustus, titular bishop of Osnaburg, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, who in 1692 was raised by the Emperor, in return for services ren- dered, to the dignity of Elector of Hanover. ** 1 • 1 * 1 1 . , 1 Life of the Sophia had her mother s beauty, and was Electress remarkable for the evenness of her temper op la " and for her acquirements. When English ambassadors came to her they found that she spoke English as fluently as themselves. But she was equally well versed in other languages — in French and Italian as well as in Dutch and German, about which there might be a dispute which should be called her native tongue. At first she was not particularly eager to accept the succession to i So The Age of Amie. a.d. 1713. 'the English crown. When the Act of Settlement was passed, in which she was named as successor, she did not think it likely that she would survive Anne, and she doubted whether her son George was not of too despotic a nature loyally to recognise the limitations of sove- reignty in England. Her opinion was that it would be better for the Prince of Wales, as she called him, that is the Old Pretender, to change his religion and accept parliamentary government. When, however, the Act of Settlement was formally presented to her she accepted the position, and expressed a hope that her descendants " would never give the English people cause to be weary of them." All who stood nearer in point of blood to the English throne were excluded as Roman Catholics, but Sophia cannot be regarded as a very strong upholder of the Protestant faith if the story be true that, when a French agent asked what religion her daughter pro- fessed, she answered, "She is of no religion as yet." She was waiting to see what would be the creed of her future husband. Later, when the aged Electress still lived, and it became doubtful whether she might not survive Anne, it is said that she used to declare that she would die happy if she could have " Queen of England" written on her coffin. But it was fortunate for England that her wish was not gratified, and that the two deaths, which followed each other within less than eight weeks in the summer of 17 14, fell as they did. The Electress was in her eighty-fourth year, and, as there was some danger that the change of dynasty might lead to a rebel- lion, it is evident that two successions coming close together would be still more dangerous. It is somewhat difficult to estimate the real strength Th t v °^ ^ e J acomte P art y- Exaggerated on the one side by the zeal of friends and accredited a.d. 1 7 14. The Protestant Succession. 181 agents, who wished to show that the party was strong enough to be up and doing, it was exaggerated also on the other side by the real or feigned alarms of enemies, who wished violent measures to be adopted against it. Certainly many who had been loyal subjects of William and of Anne were prepared passively to ac- cept the Old Pretender upon his sister's death ; many even might have taken active measures to secure his succession. Probably if the young man would have consented to change his religion, a large majority of the English people would have argued that the Stuarts had learnt lessons enough to make them refrain from any further attack on constitutional government. Yet the atmosphere of the despotic court in which the prince had been trained was not calculated to make him a good constitutional king. " The uses of adversity " are sweet only if we accept its lessons, and those cannot be taught who are determined not to learn. At any rate it must be said in James's honour that he never for an instant entertained the proposal to renounce his religion. The Jacobites may be regarded as an extreme wing of the Tory party. Their opponents used unfairly . to say that all Tories were Jacobites, and nection with indeed an air of suspicion that they were in favour of the exiled family hung over all the more pro- minent and staunch members of the Tory party. The country gentry were mostly Jacobites, and it was asserted that at their gatherings they drank the health of '' The king across the water." During the last years of the queen's reign a Tory min- istry was in power, and its opponents confidently as- serted that the object of the ministers was to restore the Pretender. When with the ministers? new reign these opponents came into power 1 82 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1714. the Tory ministers were impeached ; but though the facts elicited by the Committee of the House of Com- mons are quite clear as to the misconduct of the ministry with respect to the Peace of Utrecht, and prove that they had sullied the honour of England, there is no real evidence of a formed design to restore the Pretender. The evidence against the ministers Bolingbroke and Oxford falls under two heads— their own letters and the statements of Whig historians. The latter, if unsup- ported, may be dismissed as of no value ; and with re- spect to the former it must be remembered that these ministers, like many other prominent men of the day, were anxious to stand well with both sides, and there- fore to the Stuarts exaggerated or invented their services in the Jacobite cause. Of the two Oxford is generally acquitted of overt treason ; but as Bolingbroke after- wards entered the service of the Pretender, and became his Secretary of State, this is generally taken as a proof that his treason began at an earlier date. It is, however, only a presumption and not a conclusive proof. It may be true, according to the usual story, that Bolingbroke was scheming to restore the Pretender; that, finding Oxford would not go the whole length with him, he de- termined to oust him from the ministry, and that it was only the sudden death of the queen and the promptitude of the leading Whigs which prevented the scheme from being carried into effect. But if Bolingbroke's heart had been in such scheming, it is difficult to believe that he could not have done more. The following feeling also actuated him : If he was not in favour of the Preten- der, he certainly wished to secure the continuance of his party in power ; but he knew that the Elector George was likely to call the Whigs to office, and he had been constantly impressing upon Oxford that gradually every a.d. 1714. The Protestant Succession. 183 position in the State, whatever its seeming importance, should be given to a Tory, so that when the new king came he might find the Tories too powerful and united to remove. As Oxford was half-hearted in this scheme, his rival at length resolved to drive him from the ministry. The last week of Queen Anne's life was an exciting time. In the early part of it there was a quarrel in the ministry, which led to the ejection of Ox- ford. Oxford had nominally higher power we ek? St than Bolingbroke. Holding the office of Quarrels in ° the ministry. Lord High Treasurer, he was what we should now call Prime Minister, and Bolingbroke seems almost from the first to have been jealous of him upon this ground ; and this jealousy was increased by the con- tempt which he did not care to conceal for Oxford's un- derstanding. Moreover, Oxford, whose strength lay in Court interest, had the 'misfortune to offend one who had been his chief ally, Lady Masham. Herewith he fell also under the queen's displeasure. It is said that an open quarrel between Oxford and his rival took place in the presence of the queen and Lady Masham, and that Anne dismissed Oxford with contumely, taking from him the white staff, the badge of office, and afterwards telling the council her reasons — that he was unpunctual; that she could seldom understand him, and when she could, that no dependence was to be placed on what he said; that he was often tipsy; and that his conduct to her was improper. The question now arose, who was to succeed Oxford as Lord High Treasurer ? and after long deliberations it was decided to put the office into commission. But before anything could be settled the queen was taken ill, from which illness she never recovered. She had long 184 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1714. suffered from a complication of diseases, gout and erysi- pelas ; now apoplexy followed. We must now give an account of a man in whom at this time the queen was much inclined to trust. Charles Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, was born in the Shrewsbury. . His previous year of the Restoration. He was a man ot such winning manners that King William gave him the pleasant name of " King of Hearts." He was not, however, made of the stern stuff that public life requires, and though he was a good deal mixed up with affairs of State, he was never happy in them. His timidity of character not only caused him to shrink from office, but made his conduct as a statesman uncertain. He early became a Protestant, though his family was Catholic, and this conversion brought the ill-will of King James upon him. He was one of the seven who signed the declaration inviting William of Orange to come over to England. As a friend to the Revolution he became Secretary of State with the title of Duke of Shrewsbury under William III., and though he more than once expressed a wish to be released from office, the king would not consent to it. Shrewsbury was ac- cused of treasonable correspondence with the Stuarts, and though there was reason to believe that the accusa- tion was not wholly unjust, William, with great mag- nanimity, would pay no attention to it. Shrewsbury's conscience, however, would not let him rest, and he not only retired from office, but, leaving England, went to live at Rome. After five years' absence he returned in Anne's reign, bringing with him an Italian wife. At first he acted with Marlborough and the Whigs ; but the great Whig ladies treating his wife with disdain, he was estranged, and Harley seized the opportunity to win him to the other side. He voted with the Tories on the A.d. 1 714. The Protestant Succession. 1S5 Sacheverell trial. The queen liking him personally ap- pointed him Lord Chamberlain. Later he was also made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In the crisis at the end of the reign he assumed a very prominent position. Almost the last words that Queen Anne uttered were in giving to Shrewsbury He is ap- the staff of Lord High Treasurer : " Use it pointed for the good of my people." Who it was in the Council that proposed Shrewsbury's name for recommendation to the queen is a point in dispute. Some say that it was Bolingbroke himself, seeing that his own policy had become impossible ; others that it was the work of two Whig lords, who, without summons but with the connivance of Shrewsbury himself, had entered and taken their seats at the Council. Whatever may have been the veerings in Shrews- bury's career, to one point he was staunch at the end as at the beginning of it — his loyalty to the Protestant succession. If he had been guilty tan ^ su r cces" of treasonable correspondence with the ex- ^ safe at iled family, he had quite made up his mind now. With Shrewsbury, one of the original inviters of King William, at the head of affairs, it was felt at once that the Jacobites had no chance. They themselves seem to have been thoroughly taken aback. Every pre- paration was made to secure the Hanoverian succession, and when the queen died, August 21, 1714, George Lewis, Elector of Hanover, was quietly proclaimed King of Great Britain and Ireland. It was said that a Jacobite bishop offered himself in lawn sleeves to proclaim King James III. at Charing Cross, but his friends induced him to abstain from so mad a project. George I., the new King of England, was born in the year of the Restoration. He was therefore fifty-four 1 86 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1714. years old when he began his reign. He had George I. been trained as a soldier, and had served in campaigns against the Turks, and in the late war had commanded in one campaign the army upon the Rhine. He was one of the allies, though it usually ery rave. re q U i re d English money to set the Hano- verian, as well as other German troops, in motion. His son, afterwards George II., fought bravely at Ouden- arde, as he did later at Dettingen. Even their enemies never accused either George of want of courage. He succeeded his father as Elector of Hanover in the last year of the seventeenth century, and was very much beloved in his own hereditary dominions. Good These he was very slow to leave when he Elector. 3 heard that the English crown had fallen to him ; and when he did arrive in England he was never popular with the English people. They looked upon him as a necessity, and perhaps were even thankful to him for saving them from the Pretender and French in- fluence in England, but how could they ciuKo? r; love a km g who could not speak a word of EiTlish t ^ ie ^ r l an £ ua g e ! Sir Robert Walpole, who was Prime-Minister during the greater part of his reign, could not speak German, so that the con- versations between the sovereign and his minister were carried on in bad Latin. George I., like William III., was never happy in England, and always rejoiced when he could return to Herrenhausen, as his palace near Hanover was called. His manners in pub- Phlegmatic 1}c were c()ld and phlegmatic, but it is said that in private he could be very sociable. Over his pri- vate life there hung a great cloud. When only just of age he had married Sophia Dorothea daughter of the Duke of Zell ; but, finding her guilty of unfaithfulness, he k. d. 1 715 End of Lewis XIV. 187 caused her to be shut up in a castle in the midst of a desolate heath, from the name of which she was called the "Duchess of Ahlden." For twenty-eight years she was shut up in this dreary place, surrounded by soldiers with drawn swords whenever she went forth. She died shortly before the king, whom she is said to have summoned to meet her at God's throne. George I. was not liked in England, and his private life was not fair to behold, but he did not prove a bad king for the country. His mother's doubt about him was unfounded ; so far from de- f 00 £ ki , n § ' for England. siring to be despotic, he left the English people alone to govern themselves. His reign was a time of peace, a peace policy being emphatically that which the king, as well as Walpole and his supporters, wished to pursue. The material prosperity of the country went forward with great strides during the thirty years which followed the accession of the House of Hanover. "Happy," says the proverb, "is the nation that has no history." This interval seems barren in our annals, but on that very account it was doubtless a better time for people to live in. In all other reigns, from William III. to Victoria, the National Debt has increased — it was the glory of George I.'s reign that in it alone the debt was diminished. CHAPTER XIX. END OF LEWIS XIV. Lewis XIV. died September 1, 1715, just thirteen months after the death of Queen Anne. He was seventy-seven years of age, and had reigned for the enormous number of seventy-two years. His reign began in May 1643. 1 88 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1715. It was just one month before John Hamp- Lewis XIV. d en fell mortally wounded in the skirmish Events in England in Chalgrove Field. Lewis was nominally Eis life. W1 reigning over France soon after the Great Rebellion began in England. He lived to see its principles triumph in the Commonwealth, and fall at the Restoration, to see them reasserted in a more moderate and therefore more durable form in the Glorious Revolution. Of these principles he had been the determined enemy, as he had been constant to the cause of the Stuarts. But this enmity and this support had cost him dear, and in his old age Lewis acknow- ledged the principles of constitutional government as finally triumphant by the recognition of Queen Anne which he made in the treaty of Utrecht, and in the peaceful recognition which he so soon afterwards ac- corded to the House of Hanover. The last years of Lewis were clouded and overcast. Beyond the precincts of the Court were disaster and de- feat, which during the whole war of the Troubles at succession had been his portion, an empty treasury and an exhausted country. Fa- mine had done its work, driving men into the army from sheer impossibility of obtaining food. In his family rela- tions the king had grievous trouble, blow coming after blow upon his unfortunate head. In 17 11 sickness rageq through Europe. The same epidemic of Death of small-pox which served to bring the war to Dauphin. r ° an end, by the death of the Emperor Joseph at Vienna, proved also fatal in Paris to Lewis the Dauphin a man of fifty. He had not indeed played a very im- portant part in the Court, but he was heir to Burgundy. the throne. His eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, the elder brother of the King of A. d. 1715. End of Lewis XIV. 189 Spain, was a prince of whom high hopes were enter- tained. Great care had been taken with his education, and that of his brothers, the superintendence of which had been entrusted to Fenelon, afterwards Archbishop of Cambray, a man famous alike for learning and for the gentleness of his character. The Duke of Burgundy was Fenelon's favourite pupil, rion. edUCa " and the one whose character he had been able to mould most nearly after the pattern of his own. Fenelon's famous romance, the " Adventures of Telema- chus," was written to serve as a model for this young prince. Its author did not wish to publish the book, but a servant stole a copy from which it was printed. Pass- ages in it, finding fault by implication with matters in France, were too outspoken for the Court of Lewis, and the work was for a time suppressed. But Fenelon hoped that the princely virtues which he had inculcated would not so readily pass from the mind of his pupil. Three years before his father's death the Duke of Burgundy was in the field, the nominal commander of the French troops before Oudenarde. Want of harmony between him and Marshal Vendome may be considered as one of the chief reasons of the loss of the battle there fought. He married the daughter of Victor Amadeus, of Savoy, his brother the king of Spain marrying her sister. The Duchess of Burgundy was a graceful, winning princess, the life of the whole Court and the especial darling of the old king. But in less than a year after the death of the Dauphin, the Duchess of Burgundy was carried off by malignant fever ; and D^e and within a week her husband fell a victim to g^nd * the same disease. Theu their eldest son died ; and their second son, Lewis, Duke of Anjou, was now heir to the throne. 190 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1 7iS- LEWIS XIII.=Anne of Austria, d. 1643. I Lewis XIV. d. 1715. Lewis the Dauphin, d. 1711. Henrietta Maria,=Philip,=Charlotte dau. of Charles Duke of Elizabeth I. of England. Orleans, dau. of Charles, d - ^oi- Elec tor Palatine. Philip, Duke of Orleans (Regent of France, 1715-1723). Lewis,=Mary Ade- laide of Savoy, d. 1702. Duke of Burgundy, d. 1712. Philip V., King of Spain. Duke of Brittany, d. 1712. Lewis XV. succ. 1 71 5, d. 1774. Lewis the Dauphin, d. 1765. Lewis XVI.=Mary d. 1793- Antoinette. Charles, Duke of Berry, d. 1714. Philip. Lewis Philip (Egalite), d. 1793. Lewis Philip, King of the French, 1830-1848. On these losses in the roya, family of France followed the Peace of Utrecht, which Lewis survived a little more than, two years. His great-grandson suc- Contras^ V ' ceeded him. Born in 1 710, he was now five years old. Lewis XIV. also had been five when he succeeded to the throne : but what a contrast the beginning and close of that long reign presents, and what a lesson does the contrast read upon the hollow- ness which its so-called magnificence hid ! Lewis had succeeded to a throne with power consolidated by wise government. He had squandered its resources in the at- tempt to extend that power and to prop up falling causes. He possessed all the externals of a king, but he was lack- ing in the true virtues of a ruler. His condemnation is that he left France exhausted, and that under him her a.d. 1715. End of Lewis XIV. 191 people endured years of misery. In all the reign that followed, since true statesmen were wanting, there was no recovery from this wretchedness. In Lewis XIV.'s despotism, misgovernment, and cruel persecution of the Huguenots, the seeds of the Revolution were sown. When the Camisards were being tortured, the drummers played. Drums were beaten also when Lewis the Great's own descendant perished by the guillotine. No sooner had the old king closed his eyes in death, than there passed through France a sigh of relief, one might almost say a cry of delight. What- , , , S , ' . , , t Joy at death ever the future might be, men thought that of Lewis it could not be as bitter as the past. Nobles banished from the Court were glad to return ; men of religious creeds not tolerated in it again held up their heads. The power of the Jesuits was thought to have passed away ; so that even the late king's Jesuit con- fessor was hardly safe from the popular fury. The new king was five years old. Who then was to govern the country during his infancy ? Of the princes of the blood royal, the nearest akin to him, except the King of Spain, was Philip, Duke Who ^J 1 * of Orleans, a. man of considerable ability, but unscrupulous, an avowed infidel, and of dissolute life. The last years of Lewis XIV. had been embittered with the thought that this man, his nephew, was the rightful regent to his grandson. He had therefore made a will, by which a Council of Regency was appointed, with the Duke of Orleans as president, for in France at least the hereditary principle must not be entirely set aside ; Lewis however, even when drawing his will up, did not deceive himself as to its value. " As soon as I am dead," said he, " they will put it aside. I know too well what was done with my own father's will." s 192 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1715. His prophecy came true. The Duke of Orleans be- came regent without any council to limit his power. His policy also was in many respects a reversal of that of _ , a the old king. He formed a close alliance Duke of . ° Orleans. with England, under George I. and his Whig is po icy. ministers, and a little later with Holland against Spain, whose king disputed his title to the re- gency. The duke caused strict investigation to be made into the finances, and often by harsh and unjustifiable measures materially reduced the burden on the country. But the reign of Lewis XV. had received from its pre- decessor too vast a heritage of disorder, and before its distant close it was marked by terrible and costly wars, and by misgovernment greater than the nation could endure. CHAPTER XX. THE FRAGMENTS THAT REMAIN. There are several who have played parts more or less important in this history, and whose later careers we must follow to an end before parting with them. The great Duke of Marlborough had lived in dignified retirement on the Continent during all the latter part of the queen's reign. Hearing that the queen iB uk il of u was not likely to live, he made preparations Marlborough. J r r to return to England. Having been for some time detained by contrary winds at Ostend, on landing at Dover he received the news of the queen's death and of the quiet accession of the new sovereign. When George I. reinstated the Whigs in office, Marl- borough was made captain-general or commander-in- a.u. 1715. The Fragments that Remain. 193 chief of the army. In that capacity he superintended the military arrangements that suppressed the rising of 17 1 5. A little later he suffered from a severe attack of paralysis, but not such as to hinder his attendance in the House of Lords and the performance of official du- ties. In 1722 he died, and was honoured with a splendid funeral in Westminster Abbey. The Duchess of Marl- borough survived her husband many years, and died at the advanced age of eighty-four. She occupied herself in drawing up a vindication of the duke's conduct and her own, which offers valuable material to the his- torian. In the treaty of Utrecht, the interests of one people had been shamefully neglected by the allies. The peo- ple of Catalonia had taken up arms at the instigation of the English, especially of . The Cata ' Lord Peterborough. They had fought val- iantly for the cause of the Austrian claimant. But in the negotiations the allies deserted them. When the English made peace they withdrew the remnant of their troops from Barcelona. When the emperor continued the war by himself, in order to concentrate his forces he was obliged to withdraw his soldiers also. The King of Spain was about to treat them as subdued rebels. But the inhabitants determined to resist to the uttermost. They fought valiantly, and gallantly defended Barcelona; but the Spanish king was able to procure French sol- diers, and the services of Marshal Berwick ; and thus the heroic resistance was in vain. In the September after the death of Queen Anne, Barcelona was stormed and taken. By the treaty of Utrecht, Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, was made King of Sicily. Five years later, Sicily was exchanged for Sardinia. His descend- 194 The Age of Anne. a.d, 1713— Victor ants remained kings of Sardinia, until in Amadeus, Duke of our own time the title was merged in the Kingo?" greater title of King of Italy. During this ofs'/rdinia 1 period of peace he displayed as great talents for administration of his kingdom as he had previously shown for war. In 1730 he determined to abdicate in favour of Charles Emanuel, his only surviving son. By no Hisabdi- means an able man, Charles had hitherto cation. been kept at a distance by his father, who frequently avowed his dislike of him. A little more than a year after his father's abdication, the new king of Sardinia held a meeting of his council, at which it was decided that the old king should be placed under arrest. He was very harshly treated, soldiers being sent in the night-time, who tore him from his wife and hurried him away to prison. In a little more than a year again, he died in confinement. It was said that he had shown a desire to regain the crown which he had surrendered, but he had no force at his disposal, and there is no evidence that the charge was true. He really fell a victim to the ambition of a minis- ter who wished to establish a greater influence over the young king. In Spain a singular act of abdication took place. Philip, who remained king as the result of the War of Succession, abdicated in 1724 in favour of in Spain." his son, and retired to a monastery, but upon 2tLn bdl " kis son's death in the next year resumed power, though professing that it was against his will. It remains to give an account of the other and un- successful claimant of the Spanish crown, whom we have known as Archduke Charles, and after the death of his a.d. 1 714. Economic and Social. 195 brother, Emperor. He never could be in- duced quite to give up his claim on Spain, per or m * and the result was that he was never on good Charles. terms with that country. But his latter history is chiefly famous on account of the war that ensued upon his death. He had no son that lived beyond infancy, but he had a daughter, the beautiful and famous Maria Theresa. On this account he prepared a document called the Prag- matic Sanction (a name given to certain very important State documents), by which he decreed that, failing male issue, his daughter was to succeed to his hereditary do- minions. To securing promises of adhesion to this Prag- matic Sanction, Charles seems to have devoted all the energies of the last fifteen, years of his life. His diplo- macy seemed successful ; but when he died in 1740, the promises were not kept, and a tedious war arose, Eng- land taking the part of Maria Theresa, France and Prussia supporting the Duke of Bavaria against her. CHAPTER XXI. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL. Section I. — Population. Towns. Architecture. Before we consider the social and economic condition of the people of England in the reign of Queen Anne, it would be advisable to discover how many people there were. Unfortunately there is opu a 10r no census to guide us, as it was not until the beginning of this century that statesmen had the wisdom to require an accurate calculation on which taxation could be based. The elements for an estimate are twofold. First, we 196 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702^ know the number of houses that paid the hearth tax, which might have been called a house tax, for it was a certain sum from every house ; and we can multiply that by what is known to be the average number of inmates of a house, viz. five. Secondly, there was a register of deaths, and a calculation can be based upon the average rate of mortality. This information is not as precise as a census, and the calculations make the population of England and Wales vary between five and seven millions. It is now about twenty-four millions. He was a wise man who wrote — It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make man better be ; and a country is not to be considered as necessarily in a better condition because its population has increased ; on the contrary its condition is worse, unless the growth has been proportionate in other respects. Of the whole population of England and Wales one- tenth was at that time included within London, but with that exception the country had a very much rather than larger share than the towns. Bristol, the next town in population, was only one- seventeenth of London, and many towns which were considered of importance had populations which would now be thought very small. During the period from Queen Anne's time to our own the growth of manu- factures has been continually drawing the people from the country into towns. If a line be drawn from the mouth of the Severn to the junction of Ouse and Trent, where the river Humber commences, one might say that, roughly speaking, it would now divide the manufactur- ing from the agricultural parts of the country, that with the exception of London the great towns lie to the north and west of the line, and that the preponderance of po- A . d . 1714- Economic a fid Social. 197 litical power rests with them. With equal confidence one might assert that in Queen Anne's time this line separated the important from the unimportant parts of England, all that lay to the north and west being com- paratively unimportant. The facilities of locomotion which have helped the growth of manufacture, brought about, first, by the improvement in roads, then in coaches and waggons, lastly in railways, have also conspired to send the coun- try people into the towns, have emptied the small into the larger towns, have in favour of London destroyed the social prestige of country capitals, and of towns which were social centres of large districts. The follow- ing may be regarded as a list of the chief English towns, after London, in the order Important ° ' towns. of their importance, during Queen Anne's reign : — Bristol, the chief sea-port ; Norwich, the largest manufacturing city ; York, the capital of the northern counties ; Exeter, the capital of the western district ; Shrewsbury, of the counties along the Welsh border, and well situated for intercourse with Wales ; Worcester, in which the porcelain manufacture was beginning to rise. To these would have to be added Derby, Notting- ham, Canterbury. The population of London was then about 700,000, that is, one-tenth of that of England and Wales. Modern London, with all its suburbs, in the widest circuit that is called London, that is to say, the postal districts, covers a much larger area, and contains about 4,000,000 inhabitants. This makes it considerably more than one-tenth of the United King- dom, and one-sixth of England and Wales, so that if the growth has been remarkable elsewhere, it has been por- tentous in London. The earlier growth had been 198 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- noticed, and had caused concern to the Government. In the reign of Elizabeth, and under the Stuart kings, build- ing had been prohibited. But it was found impossible to stop the growth of London ; it would have been as practicable to stop a tree from putting out its branohes and its leaves. A great calamity befell London in the reign of Charles II It was burnt down ; but far from checking the growth, this only made room for a fresh start. Here was an opportunity to build the city anew on a systematic plan, and the Government of the day commissioned the greatest living architect, Sir Christo- pher Wren, to draw up such a plan for the city. This can still be seen, with his own Cathedral of St. Paul's standing in a free space in the centre, broad wide streets leading from it, spacious squares at due intervals, wide and convenient quays along the banks of the Thames ; but, building in accordance with the plans not being strictly enforced, the opportunity was lost. London was built hastily after the fire, and many con- veniences which are now thought necessary, and which might have been supplied had a little more time been taken, were neglected. Not only were the streets narrow and irregular, but there was no arrangement for sewers, and there were no gutters to the streets. The police service also was very bad ; " the watch '' was wholly insufficient in numbers, and was composed chiefly of old men. The streets were badly lighted of a night, and it was quite easy for anyone bent on mischief to overpower the watch. Of course thieves and robbers availed themselves of the power ; but others also, who should have known better, took occasion not to rob but to riot. Young men of birth and fashion used ' to form themselves into clubs, banded together for the sole purpose of creating disturbances. The most fashion- A. d . 1 7 1 4. Economic and Social. 199 able of these, the Mohawks, were a terror to all peace- loving citizens, their name being taken from the wild tribe of North American Indians- An ancient writer mentions it as a sign of progress in civilisation when men cease to wear swords. This stage had not been reached in Queen Anne's reign, when the young bucks and dandies of society were always ready to draw their rapiers, and the honest citizens had to arm themselves with bludgeons. The London of Queen Anne's day consisted of two parts, then more distinct than now, the City and West- minster. The space between them was not built over. But London proper, what is strictly called the City, was no longer sufficient to contain all the inhabitants, and fashionable life had already begun that movement to the West which is so remark- Westmin*" able a feature in the history of London. The sten fashionable quarters then were the neighbourhood of Great Ormond Street and Queen's Square. To the West lay Kensington, a separate village where was King William's Palace. Both London and Westminster may be said each to have had two centres, one secular and the other ecclesiastical : London, the Exchange and St. Paul's ; Westminster, the Parliament Houses and the Abbey, or Minster, whence the place had its name. The Exchange was the commercial centre, and indeed may be said at this time to have become the centre of the commerce of the world. In the Middle Ages Venice was the centre of the world's T u he Ex " , __ _ change and trade. The invention of the compass took London's :- . r _,. . commerce. away this supremacy from Venice, as man- ners were no longer confined to coasting voyages. The extreme commercial activity of the Netherlands next made Bruges and Antwerp the centre, and they retained 2oo The Age of Anne. A. D. 1702- this supremacy during the Reformation period. The persecution of the Protestants by the Spanish Govern- ment, and the fierce fighting which followed the Revolt of the Netherlands, destroyed this. Commerce was driven from Antwerp through the long siege by the Duke of Parma, which ended in the year that followed Eliza- beth's death. During the next century, the seventeenth, the supremacy of trade lay between Amsterdam and London, the former having the best of it until the Eng- lish Civil War was over ; but in the latter half of the century London was beginning to prevail. The com- mercial rivalry between the English and the Dutch was very keen, and their commerce was nearly equal; but the plan was slowly though surely passing to England. Tyre in Fenelon's" Telemaque," is supposed to be Am- sterdam ; but if he had written a quarter of a century later he would probably have described London. The following passage from the "Spectator" gives Addi son's picture of the Exchange, which, it must be remem- bered, is neither the Exchange that now is, nor that origi- nally built by Sir Thomas Gresham, but the second, namely, that which was built after the Great Fire, and wnich was itself destroyed by fire in 1838 : — " There is no place in the Town which I so much love to frequent as the Royal Exchange. It gives me a secret Satisfaction, and in some measure gratifies my Vanity, as I am an Englishman, to see so rich an Assembly of Countrymen and Foreigners consulting together upon the private Business of Mankind, and making this Metro- polis a kind of Emporium for the whole Earth. I must confess I look upon High Change to be a great Council, in which all considerable Nations have their Representa- tives. ... I have often been pleased to hear Disputes adjusted between an Inhabitant of Japan and an Alder- A. D. 1 714. Economic and Social. 201 man of London, or to see a Subject of the Great Mogul entering into a League with one of the Czar of Mus- covy." The only art that really nourished in Queen Anne's time was Architecture, and that because England hap- pened to possess an architect of consummate genius. Sir Christopher Wren was a man of 3^° c te w"en great attainments, being especially learned in astronomy and in mechanics, and one of the first members of the Royal Society founded in the reign of Charles II. He was as modest as he was learned, and perhaps would have been treated with more respect in that age if he had more firmly asserted his own rights, He was not especially educated for the profession of an architect, but when he was appointed king's surveyor he at once showed himself a master of the art. With all the architects of his day, he evidently preferred the classical style. Before the Fire, he was asked to restore old St. Paul's, which was in the Gothic style, and he did add some towers to Westminster Abbey, which are amongst his least successful productions. But whilst the question of the restoration of St. Paul's was being debated, and the battle of the styles being fought, the Great Fire put an end to the controversy. St. Paul's is Wren's greatest work, though some say that the church of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, is a more perfect specimen of his art. It was a dean of St. Paul's that wrote of the Cathedral: "What eye, trained to all that is perfect in architecture, does not recognise the inimitable beauty of its lines, the majestic yet airy swelling of its dome, its rich, harmonious orna- mentation?" As the subscriptions for the rebuilding of St. Paul's did not come in fast enough, Parliament voted that a P 202 • The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- portion of the duty on coals should be ap- plied to the purpose. The total cost of the cathedral was 747,661/. lay. ^d. The first stone was laid in Wren's presence. June 21, 1675, the nine years since the fire having been spent in making designs, and the highest stone of the lantern in the cupola was also set by his son in his presence in 1710. It is rare in the history of great buildings, especially of cathedrals, that they should be finished in the lifetime of the original architect. Indeed, it was a marvel both on account of its cheapness, and because of the short time in which it was built. After the completion of the cathedral, it was voted by the Parliament in 171 1 that fifty new churches should be built, and that the portion of the coal duty which had been expended on St. Paul's should be ap- plied to that purpose. It is not known how many of these churches were actually built. Yet we may say that most of the London churches, built since the Fire, are of Wren's designing. Fault is found with him because his churches are not Gothic, an objection which seems to imply that there is only one order of ecclesiastical architecture, and surely narrows the art ; and also because he mixed the styles in putting steeples, which are a feature of Gothic archi- tecture, over buildings, and especially over porticoes, in the Greek style. The defence is this, that architecture having had its full development, and absolutely new in- vention being impossible, the originality of a modern architect consists in skilful composition and harmonious proportions. If the combination does not offend the eye, it is pedantry to object that it runs counter to the traditions of the art. By way of contrast with Sir C. Wren, it may be well to mention another architect of the day. Sir John A.d.i 714. Economic and Social. 203 Vanbrugh had distinguished himself as a writer of very coarse comic dramas. As men -vaiibmgh used to change from soldier to sailor, so Sir J. Vanbrugh became an architect. He built his own house out of the ruins of Whitehall. A brother architect compared it to "a flat Dutch oven," and Swift has a funny little poem about the house, describing everyone as hunting for it up and down the river banks and un- unable to find it, until at length they did — In the rubbish spy A thing resembling a goose-pie. This was the architect who , was chosen to build for a grateful nation, at an expense of half a million pounds, Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock, to be presented to the victorious Duke of Marlborough. It is imposing chiefly on account of its size, but the style is very heavy, and justifies the epigram written on the architect : Lie heavy on him, earth, for he Laid many a heavy load on thee. The immense improvement in one city should be men- tioned, because it began within this period. Bath was known as a watering-place as long ago as _, . -_..._ Bath. the Roman occupation of Britain. It seems always to have preserved its reputation, but it was so uncomfortable that no one cared to stay there, unless for the purposes of health. In the first year of Queen Anne's reign a man of fashion — one Richard Nash, nicknamed Beau Nash — paid it a visit, as some say, in order to replenish a purse emptied by gambling, as well as to mend health broken by dissipation. He at once set to work to increase the cheerfulness of the place, 204 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- and to provide amusement for those who resorted to it. His genius for organization was quickly recognised, and he was appointed Master of the Ceremonies in 1704. From that time, for a period of nearly fifty years, he may be described as king of Bath, whilst squares and terraces, pump-rooms and public buildings, rose almost like magic ; till under his auspices Bath be- came the well-ordered city that it now is, deserving, with its magnificent situation, the title of the queen of water- ing-places. Section II. — The Poor Statistics. It seems advisable to collect under one head some scattered information on the history of the English poor. Under the feudal svstem the poor man was History of ._.,.„* , the poor. a serf. The difference between a slave and a serf is that the former is a personal chattel and might be sold, the latter could not be sold away from the estate, but had no personal liberty. He was not able to move from the place where he was born, and he was obliged to serve one particular lord. In A. D. 1346 came the pestilence known as the Black Death, which cut off half the labouring population of England, and by a well-known economic law raised the position Black f those that were left, because as there were Death. ' fewer labourers their services were more in demand. The result was that Parliament passed the Statute of Labourers to compel the labourer to work for certain wages. That the position of the labourers was improved is shown by the fact that their class, under Walter the tiler and others, raised an insurrection at the opening of the next reign, a thing which their grandsires would never have dreamt of doing. The next great event in the history of the poor was A. d. 1714. Economic and Social. 205 the suppression of the monasteries. There can be no doubt that the monasteries supplied bed and 1 l . suppression board to those who asked, thus conferring a of monas- great blessing on those who could not, and an equally great bane on the idle who would not, work. The suppression of these religious houses in the reign of Henry VIII. had the effect of letting a flood of poor loose upon society ; and its necessary results may be seen in two Acts of Parliament — the first Poor Law and the first Statute of Vagrants. The statue against vagrants in Henry VIII. 's reign enacted that the " sturdy and valiant " beggar, the man who can work and will not, was to be whipped at the cart's tail; the statute of Statute of rr ' Vagrants. Elizabeth enacted that he was to be whipped and branded in the ear, that whoever liked might put a collar on him and make him a servant ; the statue of Charles II., that he should be transported to the Eng- lish plantations beyond the seas. In Queen Anne's reign a statute was passed that beggars should be put into the army, and as soldiers were well paid, they should cer- tainly have felt that this was kind treatment. The Poor Law of Henry VIII. was modified in the reign of Elizabeth, but the statute then passed lasted until the great Reform Bill. Churchwardens and overseers were to " provide work, build poor-houses, and apprentice paupers." It is generally allowed that what the poor can fairly claim is relief for the sick and the infirm, who cannot work, and work for those who are able-bodied, but who are absolutely unable to find it. It is with the latter in view that what used to be called the poor-house is now called the work -house. The work -house should not be made too comfortable, because men should be taught 206 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- that they ought to support themselves, and not be sup- ported by others. In Queen Anne's reign Pauperism there were 1,330,000 paupers, or nearly one Anne's in five of the whole population. Men often complain, now-a-days, of the burden of pauperism ; but the proportion of paupers has very much diminished. In the year 1873 there were, in round num- bers, 890,000. It is thought that this number is too large, and with discreet measures can, and will be reduced. Yet, this is only one in twenty-seven of the population. Side by side with this calculation one must, however, place the cost. The paupers of Queen Anne's reign cost 900,000/. in the year, or about 14s. apiece, whilst the poor rate in 1873 amounted to 13,000,000/., or 14/. apiece. Now, the decrease in the value of money since that time is not nearly in the ratio of one to twenty. This shows, therefore, that the pauper is more expensively housed and cared for in the present day, and probably, also, that he is a more permanent charge ; for the pauper of Queen Anne's day can only have been at times " upon the parish," as the 14.?. would not suffice to keep him more than a third of the year. As some must have been permanently upon the parish, others, who were but a temporary charge must be included in the calcu- lation. There is no doubt that the value of money has con- siderably decreased since the reign of Anne, but it is not easy to find the exact figure by which our money should be multiplied. It is said that the price of a sheep was js., and of an ox 2/. This would make meat rather less than a penny a pound. The same observer says that 2/. $s. would keep a labouring man in food for a year. But prices varied from year to year much more than they vary now, because the country was much more depend- a.d. 1 714. Economic and Social. 207 dent on its own harvest than it is now. In the pres- ent day so much corn is imported, that the deficiency of an English harvest can be made up, without a great or sudden change in general prices. The fluctuations in the price of wheat were remarkable : at 56.9. 6d. a quarter in 1699, it went down to 25s. 6d. after the abun- dant harvest, of 1702. There was a deficient harvest next year, and prices doubled. In 1706 again we are told that the kingdom was blessed with plenty, and the people cheerfully contributed to the expenses of the war. But the winter of 1708 in England, as in France, was terribly severe; it was noticed that the wheat was all de- stroyed on the north-east side of the furrows, a fact which points to the prevalence of cutting north-east winds. Wages averaged about lod. a day. The pay of a soldier was 8^/., whereas the French soldier only had 3d. A private in the present day receives is. 2d., besides barrack-room, pension,, and facilities for buying food cheaper. The labourer probably had better wages, but he had no facilities for saving beyond an old stocking. There were no investments open to him, and no savings bank. England and Wales may be said roughly to consist of thirty-seven million acres ; and a glance at the following table will show how these acres were and are distributed : — The land. Then. Now. Arable . . . . 9 — 14! Meadow (including park) . 12 — 12 Woods . . . . 6 — 2 Unfit for cultivation . . 10 — 8J The staple produce of England was corn. The popula- 2o8 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- tion being so much smaller, and, at the same time, a larger part of it being employed in agricul- ture, the country was easily able to supply her own needs of wheat. The second produce was wool. England had long been a wool-growing country ; her meadows were famous for the breed of sheep ; her chancellor sat upon the woolsack. But it had been the custom to send all the wool over to the Continent to be manufactured. Many English statesmen had regretted this, but the wool still went over. Then came small beginnings of the cloth manufacture in England. Edward III. had imported families of cloth-workers from the Netherlands ; and it is said that, in his reign, the name " worsted " was given to the yarn made from spun wool, after a small town of that name in Norfolk. In order to foster the manufacture in England, various statutes were made to encourage the natives to exclude the foreign cloth : in 1696 the latter was absolutely pro- hibited, and in the reign of Charles II. it had been de- creed that everyone was to be buried in woollen cloth. In old church registers one may find the entry, "buried in wool." Further, Irish wool was prohibited, and not only Irish wool but Irish linen. Of course Englishmen could not complain when the same protective policy was repeated in another country, and British as well as Irish woollen goods absolutely prohibited in France. Of the English manufacture Leeds was already the centre, but it was a town of very different size from the Leeds of to-day. Its population is now thirty-seven times as large. But in our days the woollen manufacture is only the third of English manufactures— that of cotton being about two and a half times as large, and iron standing second. a.d. 1 714. Economic and Social. 209 Cotton was then beginning to raise its head, and the policy that had always discouraged all rivals to English wool was repeated. A statute was passed in 1700 (the year in which Charles II. of Spain died), prohibiting the importation of cotton goods, such as Indian muslins and chintzes. The competition, how- ever, most to be feared was not the manufactured goods, but the fibre imported from America to be made in Eng- land into goods ; and that business must have assumed some dimensions when, in 1701, cotton goods worth 23,000/. were exported. The amount is now three and a half times as many millions as thousands then. Other manufactures were still very young. The coal fields were not largely worked, as coal was only re- quired for domestic purposes. That from Newcastle-upon-Tyne was considered the Manufac- r J . tures. best. Sheffield, famous for its " whittles " even in Chaucer's time, kept up its reputation for cutlery, though the manufacture was on a small scale. The French refugees who settled in England, and who vexed the Tories because their Protestantism was not that of the English Church, introduced several valuable branches of manufacture ; silk weaving was the chief, but to these also must be added, glass, paper, and hats. All the gold and silver came into Europe from America, through Spain, entering by Cadiz, "the golden gate of the Indies." There can be no doubt, as regards the standard of com- fort, that the English people were far beyond other European nations. Ambassadors wrote to express as- tonishment that the food was so good, that the consump- tion -of beer, spirits, and foreign wine was so large, and that articles of luxury imported from dis- , n . , , „ Standard of tant lands were in such general use. An comfort. 210 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- English writer of the time estimates, indeed, that only half the labouring class ate animal food more than twice a week, but in proportion to wages meat was much cheaper then than it is now. The consumption of beer seems enormous. It was calculated that in the year after the Revolution a quart a day was brewed for every man, woman, and child in England ; whereas the same calculation makes the amount in the present day sixty quarts per annum, or just one-sixth. It would not be a fair conclusion that the English are now a more sober people because less beer is drunk, for a great deal that was brewed was very small beer. The majority of the English people have three meals a day — breakfast, din- ner, and tea, and it is only at one of these that the larger portion ever touch beer. The choice then lay between wine or spirits, cider, beer, milk, or water. It is to two beverages that have since passed into com- mon use, tea and coffee, that the diminution in the amount of beer is due. Tea, or as it was then aiways pronounced, tay, (And gentle Anna, whom three realms obey, Does sometimes counsel take and sometimes tea. — Pope.) was first brought into England by the Dutch nearly a century earlier, but during the whole seventeenth cen- tury it was regarded as a rare luxury. Mr. Pepys drank his first cup of tea on September 25, 1661, describing it as — " A China drink, of which I had never drunk before." In the reign of Charles II. the East India Company pre- sented the king with two pounds of tea. But during the latter years of the century and through the reign of Queen Anne its use as a beverage was rapidly spreading. We have an estimate of the consumption just after the A.D. 1 7 1 4. Economic and Social. 211 accession of George II. It amounted in the year to 700,000 lbs., and the price, depending on the quality, varied between thirteen shillings and twenty shillings a pound. The amount imported into England in 1872 was 185,000,000 lbs. Coffee was making its way at the same time. Coffee was imported from the Levant, which it easily reached from Arabia, its home. It was first brought into England by a Cretan gentleman, who made it his common beverage at Balliol College, Oxford, in the year when the Long Parliament first met. Coffee became a social power earlier than tea. The Greek servant of an English Turkey merchant from Smyrna is said to have started the first coffee-house in London in the time of the Commonwealth. About the end of the seventeenth century, coffee-houses were very com- mon, and important as a means of social and political intercourse amongst men. They filled the place that is now filled by the London clubs. Some were chiefly political places of resort for only one party ; others, es- pecially the famous Wills', in Covent Garden, were literary. Those who wished to see, to hear, or perhaps to bow to a prominent literary man, such as Dryden or Addison, would find him at the coffee-house. These houses had great influence in the formation of opinions. Men now-a-days often take their opinion from their club or their newspaper ; then they took it from the coffee- house, On the general question of the far-brought supply of . luxuries one may, with advantage, read the following passages from the paper in the "Spectator" which begins with the glories of the Ex- change : — " Almost every Degree produces something peculiar 212 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- to it. The Food often grows in one Country, and the Sauce in another. The Fruits of Portugal are corrected by the Products of Barbadoes, the Infusion of a China Plant sweetened with the Pith of an Indian Cane. The Philippick Islands give a Flavour to our European Bowls. The single Dress of a Woman of Quality is often the Product of a hundred Climates. The Muff and the Fan come together from the different Ends of the Earth. The Scarf is sent from the Torrid Zone and the Tippet from beneath the Pole. The Brocade Petticoat rises out of the Mines of Peru, and the Diamond Neck- lace out of the Bowels of Indostan. " Our Ships are laden with the Harvest of every Cli- mate : our Tables are stored with Spices and Oils and Wines: our Rooms are filled with Pyramids of China, and adorned with the Workmanship of Japan : our Morning's Draught comes to us from the remotest Corners of the Earth : we repair our Bodies by the Drugs of America, and repose ourselves under Indian Cano- pies. My Friend Sir Andrew calls the Vineyards of France our Gardens : the Spice Islands our Hot-beds : the Persians our Silk-weavers, and the Chinese our Potters." England and Wales consumed eleven million pounds of tobacco, and sent on no less than seventeen millions to the Continent, all of which came from the English plantation in Virginia. One other point should be especially noticed— the change in the taste for wine which was brought about during this reign. Since the days of the Wine " Black Prince, and earlier, there had been a large English trade with Bordeaux. The favourite wines in England were the French, which passed then, as often now, under the general name of claret. In A.d. 1 714. Economic and Social. 213 the year before the English Revolution, the P° rt ousts amount of French wine imported was three and a half times as much as that from Spain and Port- ugal together. The Methuen Treaty with Portugal, however, decided that the tax upon Portuguese wines admitted into England should always be one-third less than that on French, for which privilege Portugal was to import no woollen goods but English. The old Tories, and especially those in Oxford Common Rooms, were very strong in favour of their Burgundy, and would gladly have seen the Methuen Treaty cancelled : but the result of that treaty was a change in the public taste ; and for more than a century port reigned supreme, until that in its turn became a sort of emblem of Toryism. One evil followed. The port was much stronger than the claret, but men drank the same quantity with very bad results: a great deal of the hard drinking which distinguished the eighteenth century can fairly be traced to the Methuen Treaty. Firm and erect the Caledonian stood ; Sweet was his mutton and his claret good. " Thou shalt drink port," the English statesman cried; He drank the poison, and his spirit died. Section III. — National Debt. The account of this time would not be complete with- out some statement of the debt of the country. It was not indeed in this reign that the practice of making pos- terity pay began, but in this reign the practice was vig- orously carried on. The principle of a National Debt is just the same as that of a debt incurred by a private individual. If some- 214 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- thing has to be done, the advantage of which General & r , ' * principle of is not confined to one year, there is no reason that a man should pay for it out of income. It is quite fair to make posterity pay in part for advantages which posterity will enjoy : and circum- stances may arise which justify placing part of the bur- den of a war on the future. Strictly, however, such a war should be defensive, for in self-defence the nation is defending posterity's freedom as well as its own ; but, with respect to other quarrels, posterity may be expected to have its own. There was a small national debt in England before the Revolution, Charles II. having taken the money of the goldsmiths and having told them that he would pay interest, though he would not repay the principal. The payment of interest was so neglect- ed by the Treasury, that the owners of the money had well-nigh given up hope, when the Revolution took place. The debt was then acknowledged, and became the nucleus of the Funds. Whatever blessings the Glorious Revolution conferred upon England, it is to the Revolution that we owe the National Debt. The system of funding was brought from Holland, and the policy of interference in Continental wars was commenced by the Revolution. This is not the place to consider how far England was bound in honour to enter upon those wars, or whether the " balance of power " was a delusion. It is in Queen Anne's reign that we first hear of stocks going up or down, forming what has been described as a national pulse, so that the skilful man may be able to tell whether the state of the nation is healthy. The crea- tion of the public funds has undoubtedly helped in the formation of a moneyed class in opposition to the landed interests. But unfortunately when once the rulers had learnt a.d . 1 7 1 4. Economic and Social. 215 how easy it was to raise a loan, and throw the payment on the future, the necessity for care was re- moved. They were spending another genera- L , ate * hi r > to J y tion's money, not their own. The following table will show with what fatal readiness the lesson was learnt. The figures represent millions of pounds : — Loans, or posterity's share. William's War, ending with Peace of Ryswick . . 13$ The Spanish Succession War 38 The wars in George II. 'a reign, and including the whole of the Seven Years' War 86 War of American Independence 121 Great French or Napoleonic War 600 In the earlier wars the taxation was nearly equal to the loans. But in the worst and most unnecessary, the American, the taxation did not amount to one-third of the debt incurred. The example has been followed also by other nations, and the debts of the world now amount to no less than 4,000,000,000/. The change of public sentiment on the subject of the debt is shown by the fact that Swift thought the amount so great that he was in favour of repudiation. The Whigs always made out that such a Repudia- policy would have been pursued if the Pre- tender had been restored. Addison, with his usual feli- city, describes a dream which fell upon him after a visit to the bank. It is a vision of Public Credit, a beautiful virgin, whose touch could turn what she pleased to gold. Magna Charta, the Acts of Uniformity, Toleration, and Settlement are on the walls. She is easily affected by news, wastes quickly away, and recovers with equal quickness. Then, in a dance, entered hideous phan- toms, two by two, at sight of which the lady fainted. 216 The Age of Anne. A.D.1702- They were Tyranny and Anarchy, Bigotry and Atheism, the Genius of a commonwealth, with a young man about twenty-two years of age. He had a sword in his right hand, which in the dance he often brandished at the Act of Settlement. A citizen whispered that he saw a sponge in his left hand. This was the Pretender, and the sponge was to wipe out the national debt. The scene vanished, and a second dance entered of amiable phantoms, Liberty and Monarchy, Moderation and Religion, a third person (whom Addison had then never seen, the Elector of Hanover), with the Genius of Great Britain. Whereupon Public Credit revived, and there were pyra- mids of guineas. Statesmen of the present day see the need of making a provision for repayment, though, as money continually decreases in value, the burden continually becomes of less weight in proportion. When the French war ended the amount was 840, and it is now 780 millions. "Woe to England," has been the warning of thinkers, " when the coal fields are exhausted and the national debt remains unpaid ! " Section IV. — Strength of parties. The Clergy. As it was in the reign of Anne that parties began to assume the shape which they have kept almost to our Parties own ti mes > li seems advisable to consider the The bulk of classes of society from which the two par- no party. . , , , . , ^ ties respectively drew their strength. One must premise that the great bulk of the English people belongs to no party, but, being as it were between the two, sways from one to the other, according as their sense of justice or the prejudices of passion may incline them. When the Long Parliament met, the bulk of the people were opposed to the Court. Twenty years later at the A. d. 1 7 1 4. Economic and Social. 217 Restoration they were as certainly for the Stuarts, and as surely at the Revolution against them. We may note also the sudden change in the queen's reign, when the same mob that had cheered Marlborough shouted for Dr. Sacheverell. The same reflection helps to explain sudden changes of our own as well as of other days. The strength of the Tories lay in the country rather than in the towns, in the small boroughs rather than in the large towns, in the agricultural rather than in the moneyed interest. The tenant farmers were mostly Tories. Almost all the clergy, and especially the country clergy, were to be found in the Tory ranks. As an extreme wing of the Tory clergy must be ranked the non-jurors, those who resigned place rather than take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, a sect numerically unimportant, but comprising several men who were distinguished for learning and for piety. The Whigs were strong in the large towns, London being especially staunch to them. The merchants and bankers, as well as most of the small free- holders in the country, were Whigs. A good lgs ' many of the lords and of the bishops belonged to that party ; but this was because the former had been created, and the latter appointed, by King William. To these must be added the whole body of the Dissenters, who were estimated to amount to 4 per cent, of the popula- tion. As the Universities were the recruiting ground of the clergy, we should expect that the Tory party would be strong in them. It was, however, much stronger at Oxford than at Cambridge. Shortly after the accession of George I., at the time of the rising for the old Preten- der, it was found necessary to send soldiers down to Q 218 The Age of Anne. a.d 1702- Oxford to keep order. At the same time the king hap- pened to be sending a present of books to the sister University. An Oxford epigram was written — The king observing, with judicious eyes, The state of both his universities, To Oxford sent a troop of horse ; and why ? That learned body wanted loyalty ; To Cambridge books he sent, as well discerning How much that loyal body wanted learning. A Cambridge man replied — The king to Oxford sent a troop of horse, For Tories own no argument but force ; With equal skill to Cambridge books he sent, For Whigs admit no force but argument. There was a great difference between the clergy of the towns and of the country ; the London clergy, especially, were often men of mark. But the great majority of the clergy were both in learning and in social position far below the standard of the present day. It The clergy. . \ . J Queen Anne's was estimated that not one benefice in forty was worth 100/. a year, so that the " pass- ing rich on 40/. a year," of Goldsmith's poem would not then have excited the smile that it now does ; and as the Church of England wisely allows its clergy to marry, there was very general misery and distress amongst their families. Bishop Burnet claims the credit of having suggested a method of improving their position, first to William and then to Anne. The humane heart of Anne at once approved the suggestion, and Parliament was found quite willing to sanction the plan. In the times before the Reformation it had been the practice to give to the Pope first-fruits and tithes, that is, the whole of A.d. 1 714. Literature. 219 the first year's revenue, and a tithe of all later years. When Henry VIII. pillaged the Church this revenue was seized by the Crown, and Burnet's suggestion was to apply this fund to the improvement of the livings of the poorer clergy. It is still called Queen Anne's Bounty. CHAPTER XXII. LITERATURE. Section I. — French Literature. The age of Lewis XIV. is often called the Augustan Age of French Literature. That name compares it with the time when under the rule and patron- „ -_. ,. ■ Augustan Age age of Augustus, Roman literature reached of French its most polished if not its most original Llterature - epoch, and when the masterpieces of most of the great Latin authors were written. The period is often made to include works which really belonged to earlier times. Nor did the system of State patronage begin with Lewis. Some of his predecessors had encouraged literature. To one of them, Cardinal Richelieu, France owes the esta- blishment of the Academy, which, itself to a great extent the creature of patronage, was intended in a sense to be the vehicle of the king's pa- a ronage ' tronage to others. Pensions were freely bestowed on authors, and literature was intended to become a branch of the civil service. The Academy was to draw up a code of laws for the literary, by producing treatises on rhetoric and poetics, and to compile a dictionary of the French language, which, in the seventeenth century, was assum- ing its present shape. Patronage certainly cannot create 220 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702-* genius any more than rules can make a poet. It is within its power to promote culture ; but it will be found that its tendency is to dwarf genius. Despotism cannot give genius, but it can stifle it ; for really great men will not long endure to live in the atmosphere of a despotic court, and to shape their voices only to speech that is agreeable there. They may for a time be content to dedicate their works to a king who is their paymaster, and to let their dedications be fulsome. Racine died in disgrace because he spoke out about the miserable con- dition of the French peasantry, and Boileau left the Court saying, "What should I do there? I know not how to flatter." It is impossible to separate from the system of pa- tronage the most marked characteristic of the era, that everything must be done according to rule. All accord- jf patronage stifled genius on one side, rules ing to rule. r o o stifled it on the other. The drama was hide- bound by the doctrine of the three unities — of time, of place, and of action, fetters to which Shakespeare had never subjected his genius. It was an age in which poetry was reduced to an art, that is, a body of rules which can be taught. Boileau, in imitation of Horace, wrote the "Art of Poetry." Pope, in turn, in the so- called Augustan Age in England, copied Boileau as well as Horace in the " Essay on Criticism." An instructive lesson with respect to the age of Lewis XIV., is to be learnt in the fact that its great _ authors and artists fell within the first half Greatness in first half of of it. The year 1688, which witnessed the English Revolution, divides the real reign of Lewis XIV., that is, the time during which he himself governed, into two equal halves. It has been noticed that almost all the great ornaments of the time died be- A.d. 1 714. Literature. 221 fore this year. It would seem to follow that the effects of patronage are only spasmodic and not permanent. The literary greatness of the reign was over at the same time as its military successes ; and with the beginning of the new century, and in the general misery of the Spanish Succession War, the character of the literature changed. A new epoch had begun whose tone breathed rebellion against the previous spirit. It is, however, necessary to sketch in outline the prominent features of the literature of the whole reign, in order to understand both its results, and the rebellion against its influence. First, the reign was very strong in the drama, having, besides minor authors, three illustrious dramatists, Moliere, Corneille, and Racine, of whom the first wrote comedies, the other two chiefly tragedies. At first Moliere seems only to have had in view the amusement of an audience ; but he soon learnt that the poet should also teach. Whilst standing well with the Court he attacked, in an exquisitely ludicrous style, the follies and foibles of the day ; at one time the pedantic affectation of the learned women, at another the cumbrous and antiquated jargon of the doctors, then the pious hypocrite, the citizen who imitated the nobility, or the frivolous noble. Corneille has the title of Father of French Tragedy. He is distinguished for simplicity. He paints the conflict between private and public passions, the conflict between love and honour, or religion or duty. He drew both the subjects of his plays and his method of treatment from Spain ; whilst Racine who succeeded him drew his inspiration rather from ancient Greece. In his hands French tragedy was framed upon Greek models, and almost all his subjects 322 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- are taken either from classical or from sacred antiquity. " Andromaque" was his first and " Athalie" his last play. His plays are remarkable for grace of expression, rhythm and correctness. He always conforms to the three unities, that there shall be no impossibilities on the stage, no asking the audience to pass over time or space. The age of Lewis XIV. is, secondly, famous for the development of French prose, and therein especially for the composition of letters and of rae- prose. mo j rs> yj^ i et j- ers f Mida7iie de Sevigne and the memoirs of the Due de Saint Simon, chief cham- berlain at the King's Court, may be selected as repre- sentatives. The former are witty, tender, and always in good taste. The latter, which belong, perhaps, rather to a later age, are full of the gossip of this and the succeed- ing reign, every species of anecdote, everything small and great being recorded by a vivacious eye-witness. It was to be expected that theology would flourish ; but it was for the most part a courtly theology, and inspired by the Jesuits. The eloquence of the pulpit Theology. became very famous. Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, was the chief of the preachers, and his excellence lay especially in funeral orations. Bossuet may be said to have applied to religion the teaching which Lewis inculcated in politics. With him all oppo- sition was wrong, whether it took the form of Protestant- ism and absolute revolt from the Church, or the minor form of holding different views within her pale. Such a revolt was shown in Pascal, who, after dis- playing a precocious and extraordinary ge- nius for mathematics, at an early age turned his attention to theology, and just before Lewis took up the reins of government, published his " Provincial Letters," a book which attacked the teaching and views of the Jesuits. A.d. 1714- Literature. 223 Pascal belonged to a sect called the Jansenists, because its members held certain views first promulgated by a Bishop Janseniuson the subject of predestination. There was a fierce controversy between them and the Jesuits. But the latter having the ear of the Papal Court were enabled to procure from the Pope a Bull against their opponents. It was called from its first word, the Bull Unigenitus, dated September 17 13, in which the Jansen- ists were condemned, and the king insisted on the ac- ceptance of the Bull throughout France. One of the leading theologians was Fenelon, Arch- bishop of Cambray. On account of the saintliness of his character he had been appointed tutor to the young Duke of Burgundy. " Tele- maque " is a book which he wrote for the use of his pupil, and, under veil of describing antiquity, it contains a strong condemnation of the Government, as well as a sort of programme for reform, which his pupil would probably have carried out if he had reached the throne. As a result of the age of Lewis XIV. the French language acquired a great ascen- F^enchon *" dency in Europe. It became the language English x . t • literature. of diplomacy and of polite society. Its in- fluence upon English literature is well worth notice. Pope, the leading poet of the time, shows many traces of a study of French writers. Addison spent a long time in France, and one can see the same influence in his polished and easy style. After the peace of Utrecht, the current of influence seemed to pass the other way. Many Frenchmen visited England and conceived the greatest admira- French tion for the spirit of English politics, English a^^ards laws, and English society. It would be inspired by hardly too much to say that some of the 224 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- seeds of the French Revolution were sown in their minds and the admiration first acquired, of which they after- wards gave such practical expression, of the way in which the English treated their kings in general, and Charles I. in particular When Lewis XIV. died, Voltaire was a young man j ust of age, and Jean Jacques Rousseau was in the nursery. Though the former never quite shook off his feeling of reverence for the king, one cannot help feeling that it was opposition to the spirit of the French Government and knowledge of its results that led both these thinkers and writers to fan the spirit of liberty. So that here, also, the Revolution was being prepared, though there were years and years of weary misgovernment before its outbreak. Section II. — English Literature. The reign of Queen Anne, likewise, is usually called the Augustan Age of English Literature. It was a time when England was as great in literature as Augustan in war. Writers of deeper tone and weightier English calibre have lived at other times ; but there is probably no period so short in which so many famous books have been given to the world, or in which forces have had their roots destined so powerfully to influence the future. There are many who regard the name as wholly inappropriate, for the Latin litera- ture was fostered by the judicious patronage of Augus- tus. However great may be the affection of posterity for "good Queen Anne," it cannot be included amongst her virtues that she cared for or helped literature. But Augustus was assisted in the exercise of his patronage by the taste and discrimination of his great minister Maecenas. Was there, then, a Maecenas in Queen A.d. 1 714. Literature. 225 Anne's reign? Was there any influential subject who made it his pride and his pleasure to help men of letters ? The only subject who could be compared in extent of power to Maecenas was Marlborough ; and he did not care for poetry, and was nervously sensitive to the least attack on himself. But if there was no one great patron standing out above the rest, alike prominent and anxious to make the assistance of literature his glory, it would yet ° J J Patronage be fair to say that the time of Queen Anne with many was, like the Augustan age, a time of patron- pa r age, a time, not of one, but of many patrons. There probably never was a time in which successful literature was so well rewarded : probably never a time in which the alliance was so close between politicians and literary men. Intimacy even must have been great when a poet like Prior, and a statesman like Bolingbroke, would write to and of each other as Matt and Harry. Pope was the representative poet of the age, and he is proud to boast of his friendly intercourse with Bolingbroke (who supplied him with the ofSSJ 5011 subject-matter of one of his greatest poems), and of the assistance that Peterborough gave him in gardening — There my retreat the best companions grace, Chiefs out of war, and statesmen out of place. There St. John mingles with my friendly bowl The feast of reason and the flow of soul ; And he, whose lightning pierced the Iberian lines, Now forms my quincunx, and now ranks my vines, Or tames the genius of the stubborn plain, Almost as quickly as he conquered Spain. No " statesman out of place " probably ever had no- men with statesmen. 226 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702— bier eulogy passed upon him than that with which Pope honoured Harley — A soul supreme in each hard instance tried, Above all pain, all passion, and all pride, The rage of power, the blast of public breath, The lust of lucre, and the dread of death. Alexander Pope was born in 1688, the year of the Revolution. His father was a London linen-draper, who, on retiring from business, went to live near Windsor. The boy was deformed, and al- most a dwarf: throughout his life he suffered a great deal from disease. An undercurrent of unhappiness, caused by his bodily ailments, and a nervous irritability, which is not uncommon with very short men, can be traced through all his life. Unable to engage in the sports of boyhood, he showed poetical talents at a very early age: I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. So great was his reverence for Dryden, the poet of his boyhood, that, in the last year of the seventeenth cen- tury, when he was twelve years old, at his own express desire, he was taken up to London, to Wills' coffee- house, in order to see him. Dryden died in that very year. His mantle and a double portion of his spirit fell upon Pope. The following are his most famous works, given in the order in which they were composed: "Essay on Criticism," "Rape of the Lock," " Messiah," Translation of Homer's Iliad and part of the Odyssey, "Dunciad," " Essay on Man," "Imitations of Horace," and "Epis- tles." Most of these were written after the reign of Anne, at the time of whose death he was engaged in translating the Iliad. a.d. 1714- Literature. 227 The " Essay on Criticism" may be said to be an imi- tation of the " Ars Poetica" of Horace, but there is this difference between the writers: Horace was an experienced and practised poet, Pope a criticis^m " young man of twenty-three. Though the former may claim the palm for originality in the treat- ment of such a subject, honour must also be given to the genius of the young man, which enabled him to utter thoughts worthy of the wisdom of age. The "Rape of the Lock" is a playful poem, mock heroic. It has been called the true epic of the time. A young cavalier of the Court cut a lock of hair from off the head of a beautiful maid " R fP e of the .Lock." of honour. The place that the gods occupy in epic poems, Pope supplies in this airy pleasantry with sylphs and gnomes, and the whole subject is treated in so graceful a style that the poem may serve as a model for this species of composition. On Pope's " Homer," his best-known but not his greatest work, his contemporary Bentley, the greatest classical critic of all time, has passed a criti- cism to which, even now, we can add nothing. " A very pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but please don't call it Homer." The sonorous dignity of the original and its natural freedom have vanished, and been replaced by the stiffness of an artificial style. But it is the work of a true poet, and, if it does not reproduce Homer, is yet well worth reading for its own sake. It is said that Lord Bolingbroke supplied Pope with the material out of which he composed the four epistles that form the "Essay on Man," a treatise on the relation of man to the universe, to Man" 7 ° n himself, and to society, and on man's pur- suit of happiness. The matter is, however, certainly the 228 The A g£ of Anne. A.D. 1702^ least valuable portion of it ; as to treatment it may be regarded as Pope's masterpiece. The merits of Pope's poetry shine forth in it; these merits not ope s sty e. ^ e i n g originality or sympathy with nature, or insight into character, virtues which distinguish greater poets, but grace, smoothness, correctness, the perfection of taste. He pays infinite attention to the form of his verses, making the subject-matter a secon- dary consideration. His lines remind one of the exqui- site chiselling of a master sculptor. In few English poets can we find such melody of rhythm. Dr. Johnson compares his prose to that of Dryden in language which may be applied also to their poems. " The style of Dryden is capricious and varied, that of Pope is cautious and uniform ; Dryden is sometimes vehement and rapid, Pope is always smooth, uniform, and gentle. Dryden's page is a natural field, rising into inequalities, and diver- sified by the varied exuberance of abundant vegetation ; Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe, and levelled by the roller." Pope's influence upon English poetry may be said to have lasted to the end of the century, and it cannot be regarded as beneficial. Poetry consists of Pope's in- j- w0 par ts — the outward form and the inward fluence. r meaning. Some writers have neglected one, some the other. The absence of heart and of nature in the poetry of the last century seems to be due to imita- tion of Pope. For his style is like Ulysses' bow, it re- quires a master's hand to make it really effective. The real strength, however, of the age of Anne lay not in poetry, but in prose; and its prose, Party' still more than its poetry, influenced the politics. times that followed, and is making its influ- ence still felt in our own day. There was a close alii- a.d. 1 714. Literature. 229 ance between politics and literature, bat politics took more than ever the form of party politics. A great de- velopment had taken place in parties, for not only was there the contest raging between Whigs and Tories, and side by side with it the sister contest between Low and High Church, but also there was a new aspect of the fight between the Ins and the Outs. Before the end of the reign it came to be understood that all the ministers should be of one party, whilst the other was in opposi- tion. This gave a new — almost a pecuniary — interest to the contest. If there was no Augustus and no Maecenas, party spirit took their place. The elections to the House of Commons were all-important, and Patronage r by parties. the question arose — How were they to be influenced ? Now-a-days, elections still being of impor- tance, more influence is due to the speeches of a few eminent men, delivered in Parliament or in public places, and to the articles in the newspapers, than to the views of candidates at each election. But at the outset of Queen Anne's reign there were hardly any newspa- pers and no reporters. Nay, more, there was a law against reporting, and valuable debates are in conse- quence wholly lost to history. Even to our own times the practice lasted that any member might exclude re- porters by merely calling the Speaker's attention to their presence. Members of Parliament might be influenced by speeches ; those outside could be reached only by pamphlets. Able pens were therefore in demand for pamphlet writing, and able men, whether they liked it or not, were compelled to declare for a party. It is quite true that the best literary men protested against this compulsion. Swift made it a point in his satire of the contest between the Big endians and Little-endians. 230 The Age of Anne. A.d. 1702- Addison humorously tells of the boy who, asking his way, was abused by one as a Popish cur in asking for St. Ann's lane, and cuffed for irreverence when he asked for Ann's Lane. Pope protests vehemently that the matters are not worth the fighting for : " For forms of government let fools contest, Whate'er is best administered is best." Pamphlets were not a new invention. Our great Milton during the middle stage of his life was a pam- phleteer. But the profusion with which amp e s. pamphlets were poured forth was new, and formed a marked characteristic of the time. We are so much accustomed to our daily papers that we sometimes wonder how people used to get on without them. At Athens of old they supplied the want by con- versation in the market-place. In Queen Anne's reign it was done partly by pamphlets, partly by clubs and coffee-houses, which were beginning to have considerable influence on political and social life. The greatest pamphleteer, probably the greatest genius of his time, was Jonathan Swift. He was of English extraction, but born and educated in Dublin. At the age of twenty-one, in the year of the Revolution, he entered the service of Sir William Temple, a distant kinsman, apparently in the capacity of secre- tary. His position seems to have been unpleasant to him, for he left it, and took holy orders ; but he returned to it again, and though not proud of the connexion, yet he edited Temple's works when his patron died. Tem- ple had retired from political life, but was often consulted by William III., when the king wanted an opinion less interested than that of the partisans who surrounded him. King William taught Swift how to cut asparagus A.D. 1 714. Literature. 331 in the Dutch, fashion, and offered him a cornetcy in a troop of horse. It is said also that his name was entered in William's note-book for preferment ; but William died, and Swift's own conduct prevented preferment coming from the king's successor. His first work was the "Tale of a Tub," a very ludi- crous story of three brothers, Peter, Jack, and Martin, who represent respectively the Roman Catho- lic, the Calvinist, and the Lutheran religion. '-Pffi of a The story is told of their attempts to carry out their father's wishes in agreement, and of their quarrel at the Reformation. The whole tendency of the book was to cast ridicule upon religion. Failing in his efforts for promotion, Swift changed his party, and went over to the Tories, who received him with open arms ; but the queen would not consent to the wish of her ministers to make him a bishop. Ultimately he was appointed Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin. He was naturally of a sour temper, and the continued disappointments of his life made him very bitter. He' is a furious assailant, sparing no insult to gain his point. He seems to have had little heart. His humour is won- derful, such that no English writer has ever equalled it. Ireland alone could have produced it. One could desire no addition to it but a little kindliness. His pamphlets are indispensable to the historian of the reign of Queen Anne. Their name is Legion. One of them probably had greater influence than any other pamphlet ever had. When the "he°Alh U e?° f Whigs were turned out of office, the public opinion in England, especially in the City, was still strongly in favour of the prosecution of the war. The effect of the " Conduct of the Allies," showing that the 232 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- English people were paying the allies that they might be allowed to fight their battles for them, was magical in turning the tide of opinion. Stocks fell when the Whigs were turned out ; stocks were unaffected by the cessation of arms which showed that negotiations were genuine. In King George's reign Swift wrote " Drapier's Letters," against a new Government Coinage, and the "Drapier's result was that the coinage was withdrawn, Letters. ° ' whilst Swift became the darling of the Irish people. But of course Swift's really greatest work is "Gulliver's Travels," which may be described as a satire upon humanity, with contemporary allusions. In Travei:T"' S ^ e v °y a & e to Lilliput is represented the littleness of mankind, as seen by beings of a larger growth. In Brobdingnag the absurdities of men are shown, seen, as it were, through a magnifying glass. Then Gulliver travels to other lands, wherein learning and science are satirised, and at length Swift bursts forth into terrible descriptions of the Yahoos, which read like a savage attack on mankind. Swift outlived his genius, and before his death sank into absolute idiocy. The story is told how death' 8 towards the end of his life he took up one of his own books and said, "Good God, what a genius I had when I wrote that book ! " So Swift expired, a driveller and a show. The following epitaph in St. Patrick's Cathedral he composed for himself: — Hie jacet Jonathan Swift, S. T. P. ubi saeva indignatio cor ulterius lacerare nequit. Abi, viator, imitare, si poteris. Swift was the great Tory pamphleteer, famous as the a.d. 1 714. Literature. 233 author of " Gulliver." A writer on the Whig side was none other than the author of "Robinson Crusoe." Daniel De Foe was born in 1661, the year after the Restoration. His real name was Foe, for though he had this strange fancy for prefixing de to his 1. * I XT V -U tt- DeFoe, name, he was a true-born Englishman. His father was a London butcher, a Whig and a Dissenter, and he was himself engaged in business as a hosier; but his strong sympathy with that extreme section of the Whig party which the Dissenters formed soon drew him from commerce, in which he was unsuccessful, to litera- ture. He had a very facile pen, and it often got him into trouble; but neither pillory nor imprisonment could restrain him from writing again. As a faithful and ex- treme Whig he had joined Monmouth, and taken refuge abroad after the defeat of Sedgemoor. He was a great friend of the Glorious Revolution, and during the reign of William was always ready to defend the king and his cause, even with respect to acts which were unpopular. His career as a pamphleteer may be said to have begun one year before the Revolution, and to have ended about a year after the end of Queen Anne's reign. The two most famous of his pamphlets are " The True-born Englishman," which appeared in the former, and " The Shortest Way with Dissenters," in the latter. " The True born Englishman" is a poem in which De Foe defends King William. The verse is not melodious, and may be said in parts to descend to doggerel ; but its sterling sense caused a very large sale. Con- sidering the services that William and his eSIw?.'' Dutch soldiers had conferred upon England, even a true-born Englishman can forgive him for liking his old friends better than his new subjects. The former at any rate had been true to hin% R 234 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702^ The foreigners have faithfully obeyed him, And none but Englishmen have e'er betrayed him. The writer vigorously maintains the principles of the Revolution against the tyranny which James had wished to establish. The claims of kings should be broad-based upon their people's will. Titles are shadows, crowns are empty things, The good of subjects is the end of kings. The "Shortest Way with Dissenters" was a pamphlet called forth by the Occasional Conformity Bill. The Church party, knowing that the queen was " Shortest . . ., , Way with ^ on their side, were anxious to persecute the Dissenters, until they were entirely rid ot them. They wished legislation to run in the groove of Charles II. 's reign, not in that of William's. De Foe wrote under the disguise of a Churchman, and his short- est way was this : "If one severe law were made and punctually executed, that whoever was found at a con- venticle should be banished the nation, and the preacher be hanged, we should soon see an end of the tale." The Churchmen were delighted, and De Foe had to publish an explanation of his sarcasm, at which they were pro- portionately enraged. The result was the pillory and imprisonment. The pamphlet is really an argument in favour of complete toleration, for he also attacks his own friends the Dissenters, because when they had the power they did not respect their opponents. Now, like the cock in the stable, they are quite willing to propose to the horses, "let us all keep our legs quiet." De Foe's greatest work is, of course, " Robinson Crusoe." He was nearly sixty when he wrote it. It is founded upon the adventures of Alexander Crusoe." Selkirk, a seaman who had been marooned A.d. 1 714. Literature. 235 upon the island of Juan Fernandez, that is to say, put on shore by his captain and left there on pre- tence that he had committed some great crime. The adventures of Robinson Crusoe, his shipwreck, his life upon the island, his attempts to provide himself with the common necessaries of life, his meeting with Friday, the boat too big to launch, and ultimately the escape, have delighted many generations of readers, young as well as old. Written in an exceedingly simple style, it has all the air of a real narrative. But the most famous Whig writer of the time, and one whose life is closely mixed up with its history, is Joseph Addison. He was educated at the Charter- house, which was then, and indeed until late years, a London school, but has now been moved into the country. A modern novelist, himself educated at the same school, writes with great pride of Addison, as the head boy at the Charter-house. Addison distin- guished himself at school, and went thence to Oxford, where he obtained a fellowship at Magdalen College. He had a great reputation for Latin scholarship and es- pecially for Latin verses. He also tried English verses, and some of them arresting the attention of Lord Som- ers, that enlightened nobleman procured Addison a pen- sion, wherewith he travelled over France and Italy. He stayed a long time in France, and the influence of a close acquaintance with French literature can be plainly traced in Addison's style. On King William's death the pen- sion ceased, and he returned to England. He published an account of his travels, which was not successful, and for some years Addison lived in poor, but dignified and contented retirement in lodgings in the Haymarket, up two pairs of stair?. When the battle of Blenheim was fought, its glory w'j ung by many poetasters in miser- 236 The Age of Anne. a. d. 1702- able verses, which seemed to the ministers to mar it. Godolphin, the Prime-Minister, did not know to whom to turn. A Whig nobleman suggested an application to Addison, on condition that all due respect be shown in making it. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was sent as a deputation to Addison, who consented to write, and when the Chancellor came again the poem was com pleted as far as the following passage : — But O my Muse ! what numbers wilt thou find To sing the furious troops in battH join'd? Methinks I hear the drum's tumultuous sound The victor's shouts and dying groans confound; The dreadful burst of cannon rend the skies, And all the thunder of the battle rise. 'Twas then great Marlborough's mighty soul was proved, That, in the shock of charging hosts uunoved, Amid confusion, horror, and despair, Examined all the dreadful scenes of war: In peaceful thought the field of death surveyed, To fainting squadrons sent the timely aid, Inspired repulsed battalions to engage, And taught the doubtful battle where to rage. So when an angel, by divine command, With rising tempests shakes a guilty land (Such as of late o'er pale Britannia passed), Calm and serene he drives the furious blast ; And, pleased the Almighty's order to perform, Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm. This simile carried the minister away with enthusiasm, and the same feeling was quickly spread throughout the country when the whole poem called " The Campaign " was published. All the critics allow that the merit of the rest of the poem is by no means equal to that of this passage, and that its great praise is that it recognises a.d. 1 714. Literature. 237 the truth, that in a modern battle the general does not engage hand to hand with the enemy, and slay thousands with his own sword, but is the directing mind of the whole. By this poem Addison's career was made. He was appointed in turn Commissioner of Appeals, Secretary to Legation at Hanover, Under-Secretary of State, Secre- tary for Ireland, and ultimately, three years after the accession of King George L, Secretary of State. He married the Countess of Warwick, to whose son he had formerly been tutor, and lived at Holland House, which has been for so many generations the haunt of a brilliant literary society. The character of Addison has made him almost the model of a literary man. He had only one weakness, inability to resist the temptation of wine, and that was, perhaps, the fault of his age rather than of himself. He was humane, genial, modest, and, in the best sense of the word, religious. The wits of his day used to call him "a parson in a tye-wig" — the lay- man's wig — as we might say, " a clergyman in a black tie : " indeed, the benevolent morality of his writings and their earnest Christianity have probably had more effect for good than many sermons. Pope quarrelled with Addison, and inserted in one of his poems the following magnificent declamation against him : — Peace to all such ! but were there one whose fires True genius kindles, and fair fame inspires ; Bless'd with each talent and each art to please, And born to write, converse, and live with ease ; Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne, View him with scornful, yet with jealous eyes, 238 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702-* And hate for arts that caused himself to rise : Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer ; Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike ; Alike reserved to blame or to commend, A timorous foe, and a suspicious friend ; Dreading e'en fools, by flatterers besieged. And so obliging that he ne'er obliged ; Like Cato, give his little senate laws, And sit attentive to his his own applause ; While wits and Templars every sentence raise, And wonder with a foolish face of praise — Who but must laugh, if such a man there be? Who would not weep, if Atticus were he ? It is said that in the first draft, Addison's name stood without even the veil of " Atticus." There can, how- ever, be no doubt that this attack is very unfair, and proceeded from the spiteful venom of the poet. It is quite true that Addison had a band of faithful admirers, to one of whom we shall presently advert. But jealousy was not Addison's failing, though it was Pope's. The allusion to Cato would show that the passage was intended for Addison, even if there were no direct evi- dence. Cato was the name of Addison's single tragedy. It was first acted in 17 13, the month after the Peace of Utrecht was concluded. A great deal of it had been written much earlier, but the play was only recently finished. Pope, then friendly to Addison, wrote a prologue to it, and as Addison surrend- ered all the profit of the performance to the actors, they did their utmost to make it a success. It was a time when party feeling ran very high. The Whigs ap- plauded every passage in praise of liberty, and the Tories, not to be outdone, applauded also. Marl- a.d. 1 714. Literature. 239 borough's application to be made captain-general for life being still fresh in men's memories, Lord Bolingbroke made a capital hit by sending for the chief actor between the acts, and presenting him with a purse of 50/. " for defending the cause of liberty so well against a perpetual dictator." The saying went round the Tory benches that the Whigs meant to make as good a present, when they could accompany it with as good a speech. The play is constructed after French models, and is certainly neither admired nor read in the present day ; it is too frigid. But a few lines from it still pass as the current coin of every-day quotation. A fellow-worker on the same side, and intimately con- nected with Addison, was Mr, Richard Steele. They were educated at the same school, and were contemporaries and friends at Oxford. But whilst Addison was steady, and distinguished himself, Steele was idle. At length, no longer able to bear the restraints of Oxford life, he ran away and enlisted as a private in the Blues. Later, he obtained a cornetcy, and we find him afterwards a captain in the Fusiliers. Steele's name, like Swift's, was down in William's note-book for promotion; but William's death destroyed the value of the entry. It has been said of Steele that he spent his life in "sinning and repenting/' Whilst notorious for his gaiety and the dissipation of his life, he astonished the town by bringing out a little book called the "Chris- tian Hero," which breathes the very spirit of piety. When his party was in power, places were found for him, and at length Sir Richard Steele was appointed editor of the "Gazette." It occurred to him, that the early information which he thus obtained might be made of use in a paper, and that the dulness of news might be relieved by an occasional essay 3140 The Age of Anne. a.d. 1702- on some subject not political. This idea took form in the "Tatler," which, when the Whigs lost office and Steele his place, was merged afterwards in the more famous "Spectator," in which Steele received great assistance from Addison. The share which Addison and Steele had in this constitutes their chief claims upon the notice of posterity. It was a small sheet, published three times a v/eek, at the price of one penny, containing a short essay on two of the pages and news on the others. The subjects of the essays were infinitely varied : now a criticism on manners, now on the hoops worn by ladies, on their absurd practice of wearing patches on the face, or on cherry-coloured ribbons. These lighter subjects would be matched by reflections on Westminster Abbey, on the Exchange, on the Bank, or by criticisms of de- cided value on Milton's " Paradise Lost," and on the old ballad of " Chevy Chase." Put a sort of thread of con- nexion was given to the papers by the character of the Spectator, a quiet observer of men and and manners, and by the account of the club, with its types of English society of the day, the first sketch of which is due to Steele. The character of Sir R oger de Coverley, its lead- ing member, the representative of the English country gentleman, was adopted and improved by Addison, who wrote all the later papers about him, until Steele again tried his hand, placing the old knight in improper com- pany ; and to prevent such a liberty being taken again, Addison wrote a very touching account of his death. The influence of the " Spectator " has been very re- markable. One may regard the modern newspapers and the modern magazine as its children. For Influence on , . • ,. • . , the future. newspapers combine criticism with news, magazines present essays without the news. A.d. 1 714. Literature. 241 Surely the most significant feature of modern literature is to be found in the merit and profusion of its periodi- cals that are poured forth daily, weekly, monthly, from the press. Their transparent fault is that they are tran- sitory ; but the gain is, that knowledge which once re- mained upon the mountain-height, is now brought down to water the plain. Who shall measure their influence I INDEX. ANN ACADEMY, French establishment of, 218 Addison, Joseph, his sketch of the Exchange, 200 ; his dream, 215 ; early life, 235 ; his character, 237 Adolphus, Gustavus, 156, 158 " Ahlden, Princess of, 1S7 Aix-la-Chapelle, peace of, 18 Albigenses, the, 50 Allies, the, campaigns in Germany and elsewhere, 44 ; defeat the French at Blenheim, 65 ; victory at Ramillies, 79 ; Madrid relinquished by, 88 ; the year of victory, 76-89 ; the year of disaster, 89-95 ; defeated at Almanza, 91 ; results of their defeat 93 ; fighting in the Low- Countries 95-109 ; victory at Oude- 'narde, 98 ; overtures for peace by France, 102 ; terms insisted on by, 102 ; victory at Malplaquet, 108 ; later campaigns in Spain, 109-119 ; victory at Almenara and Saragossa, 113. 114 ; advance and enter Madrid, 114. 115 ; retreat to Toledo, 116 ; re- turn to Catalonia, -116; English de- feated at Birhuega, 117 ; battle of Villa Viciosa, 118 : end of the war, 131 ; separation of English troops from, 136; defeated at Denain, 137. Almanza, battle of, 91 ; the positions of the armies and total defeat of the allies, 92; results of defeat, 93; effects of, 109 Almenara, battle of, 113 Anderkirk taken, 79 Anne, daughter of James II., Queen of England, succeeds to the throne, 25 ; her character, 25 ; her children and husband, 26 ; development of BEN English parties in her reign, 120 ; her impartial views, 122 ; her first Tory ministry, 122 ; gradually alie- nated rom the Duchess of Marlbo- rough, 126 ; change of her ministry, 127; dispute as to her successor, 171 ; the last week of her reign, quarrels in the ministry, 183 Antwerp falls into the hands of Marl- borough, 80 '• Arbuthnot's History of John Bull," a political satire on the dishonour to Spain, 7 Architecture, flourishing condition of, 201 Assiento contract, the, 141 Ath, siege of, 81 Augsburg, league of, 24 Augustan age, of French literature, 218 ; of English literature, 223 Augustus, Ernest, Duke of Bruns- wick-Luneburg, 179 Austria, trouble in, 57 BADEN, peace of, 140 Barcelona taken, 73 - besieged by the French, 85; stormed and taken, 193 Bath, Beau Nash's improvements in, 203 Bavaria, Elector of, his alliance with France, 40 ; at the battle of Ramil- lies, 77 ; reinstated, 141, 142 Bavarians, routed at Schellenberg, 60 Beachy Head, battle of, 24 Beau Nash, 203 Beer, enormous consumption of, 210 Benbow, Admiral, 46 Bentinck, Duke of Portland, 6 243 244 Index. CAM Berwick, Duke of, commands the French forces, 49 ; enters Madrid, 88 ; defeats ihe allies at Almanza, 92 Black Death, the, 204 Blenheim, battle of, preparations for battle, 62 ; description of the ground, 62 ; position of the armies, 63; the battle begins, 63 ; the result, 67 Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock,203 Bohemia, Elector of, 34 Bolingbroke, Lord (see St. John, Henry; Bonn taken, 44 Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, 222 Bouchain taken, 134 BoufHers, Marshal, his defence of Lille, 99 ; capitulates, 101 ; e erves under Villars in Flanders, 105 ; named to the command at Malpla- quet, 108 Brabant, duchy of, claims to, 16 ; inclining to French, 96 Brandenburg, Elector of, 34 Brihuega, battle of, 117 Bristol, proportion of population to London, 196 Bruges taken, 81 Brussels falls into the hands of Marl- borough, 80 Burgundy, Duke of, commands in Flanders, 97 ; defeated at Oude- narde, 99 ; his education, 189 ; his marriage, 189; his death, 189 Burg indy, Duchess of, her death, 189 Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, 26 ; cred'ted with the improvement of the position of the clergy, 218 Byng, Admiral Sir George, 153 CABINET government, 128, 129 Cadiz, English expedition against, 46 Calendar, change in Russian, 162 Camisards, the, rebellion of, 52 ; per- s- cured by Dragonades, 54; their retaliation, 5=; ; severity used to put down the rebellion, 55 ; appeal to foreign governments, 55; end of the war, 56; their bravery, 57 Campaign of 1702, 42 ; of 1704, 5$ ; of 1705, 68; of 1706, 76; of 1707. 89; of 1708, 96; of 1709, 104; of 1710, 133 " Campaign, the, 236-7 CON • Carleton, Captain, 73 Castilians. the, 7, 115 Catalans, the, 73 Catalonia subdued, 74 Catalans, the, 193 Catherine, Czarina, rescues the Rus- sian army, 172; married to Peter the Great, 172 Cato, 238 Cavalier, Jean, hi' daring character, 52 ; hii chivalry and uprightness, 54; his later life, 57 Cevennes, the, 22 ; rising in, 50-58 Charles II. of England, secret treaty with Louis XIV., 17; his opinion of Prince George of Denmark, 26 Charles II. of Spain, claimants to the throne on his death, 2 ; his will, 9 Charles V., Emperor, 1 Charles XI I., King of Sweden, visited by Marlborough. 90; his enemies, 164 ; beginning of his reign, 165; his character. 165; subdues Denmark and Poland, 166 ; defeats the Ru' sians at Narva, 166 ; arbiter of Europe, 168 ; his campaign against Russia, 169; defeated by Peter the Great at Pultowa, 170 ; overpowered at Bender, 173; his death, 173 Charles Emanuel, son of Victor Amadeus, 195 Charles the Archduke, claimant to the ihrone of Spain, 4; joins Lord Peterborough. 70 ; refuses to enter Madrid, 88; takes part in the cam- paign of 1710, 113; enters Madrid, 115 ; becomes Emperor, 133 ; holds out against the peace of Utrecht, 139 ; his later policy, 194 ; his death, J 95 Church, High and Low, origin of, 121 Churches of England and Scotland, unaffected by the Union, 147 Churchill, Lord John (see Marl- borough, Duke of) Claret, a favourite wine in England at this time, 212 Clergy, the, their position, 218 Coal-fields, 209 Coffee, introduction of, into England, 211 Cologne, Archbishop of, 35 ; Elector of, 41 Commerce, increase in, 200 " Conduct of the Allies," 231 Continental war, the, 24 Index. 245 • ENG Corn, the staple produce of England, 208 Corneille, 220 Cotton, importation of, 209 Cremona, victory of Prince Eugene at, 45 "Criticism, Essay on," 227 Cromwell, Oliver, his anticipated union with Scotland, 143 Cutts, Lord, 64 DARTEN Company, the, 8; pro- posed dissolution of, 147. Daun, Marshal, 83,93 Defoe, Daniel, his character and books, 233 Denain, battle of, 137 Dendermonde, siege of, 81 Denmark, her territory on the shores of the Baltic, 15s Dover, treaty of, 18 Dragonades, 54 Drama, French, the, 221 " Drapier's Letters," 232 Drunkenness in the eighteenth cen- tury, 213 Dryden, compared with Pope, 228 Dutch, application of the word, 35 ; their anxiety for peace, 96 ; effect of the war on, 142 ECONOMIC condition of the peo- ple of England, 195 Election, general, of 1710, 131 Electors, th i, how they ranged them- selves, 34 Elizabeth, si ter of Charles I., her descendants, 177 England, indignation against William III. in, 8; foreign policy in the seventeenth century, 17 ; formation of league with Holland and Swe- den, 18 ; revolution of 1688, 23 ; de- claration of war, 42 ; victory at Schellenberg, 60 ; victory over the French at Blenheim, 65 ; defeats the French at Ramillic... 80 ; troops separated from the allies, 136 ; her gains by the war of Spanish succes- sion, 140 ; social and economic con- dition of the people at this time, 195-218; compared with other Eu- ropean nations, 209 ; un'on with Scotland (see Union with Scotland) English Literature, 324-241 FRE Equivalent, the, 47 Eugene of Savoy, Prince, his cha- racter and intimacy with Marl- borough, 32 ; his victory at Cre- mona, 45 ; his meeting with Marl- borough, 59; his position in ihe battle of Blenheim, 63, 64 ; his attack on Lutzingen, 66 ; marches to Turin, 82 ; his victory at Turin, 84; besieges Toulon, 94; jJns Marlborough in the battle ofOu- denarde, 97 ; besieges Lille, 99 ; wounded at Malplaquet, 108 ; his mission to England, 135 ; separated from Ormond, 136 Evelyn, John, 161 Exchange, the, 199, 200 FENELON, Archbishop of Cam- bray, 223 ; his " Adventures of Telemachus," 189 Feodor, 158 Finland, falls into the hands of Rus- sia, 171 Flag, national, changes in, 149 France, her position at the com- mencemt nt of the eighteenth cen- tury, 4 ; injuries caused to, by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 21 ; her chance against the league, 40 ; her object in making the campaign of 1704, 58; defeated at Blenheim, 65 ; defeated at Ramilhes, 80; commen:es the siege of Turin, 82 ; demoralization of troops, 84; defeated at Turin, 84 ; defeats the allies at Almanza, 91 ; her endea- vours to win Brabant back, 96; defeated by the allies at Oudenarde, 97 ; public misery in, 99 ; intolerable proposal by the allies and appeal to the people, 103 ; and the answer to it, 104; troops withdrawn fiom Spain, 112 ; victory at Denain, 137 ; effect of the war on, 141 Frederick Augustus, the Stronsr, of Poland, 164 ; defeated by Charles XII., 167 Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick, the Elector Palatine, 34; 178 Frederick, King of Denmark, 164; defeated by Charles XII., 166 Fredericshall siege of, 173 French Literature, 218-224 French prose, development of, 222 246 Index. HES GALWAY, Earl of, in Portugal, 48 ; enters Madrid, 86 ; junction, with Peterborough at Guadalaxara, 88 ; defeated at Almanza, 92 ; his letter to Marlborough regarding his defeat, 92 ; appointed to the com- mand in Portugal, no George L, Elector of Hanover, pro- claimed King of England, 185 ; his early life, 186; his bravery, 186; a good Elector, 186; unpopular: could not speak English, 186 ; phlegmatic, 186; his wife, 187; a good king for England, 187 George II., son of George I., 187 George, prince of Denmark, marries Anne, 26 ; appointed Lord High Admiral, 27 ; his sympathy with the Occasional Conformity Bill, 123 Germany, weakness of, 14 ; campaign in, 44-45 Gertruydenburg, conference at, 139 Ghent taken, 81 Gibraltar taken by the English, 49 Godolphin, appointed Lord High Treasurer, 31, 122 ; his character, 31 ; goes over to the Whig party, 123; loses favour with Anne, 128; dismissal from office, 131 ; his death, 135 Grand alliance of the Hague, the, n, 24 ; its component parts, 31-41 ; progress of, 36 Guadalaxara, junction of Galway and Peterborough at, 88 Guiscard, Marquis of, assails Harley, 132 "Gulliver's Travels,' 232 H AGUE, the, conference of, 102, Hampden, John, 188 Hanover, Electoral Prince of, 98 Hanoverian succession secured, 185 Hapsburg, House of, 33 Harley, Robert his ministry, 127; as Secretary of State, 128 ; as chief of the Tory party, 132 ; attack on his life, 132 ; made Earl of Oxford, 133 ; dismissed from office, 183 ; lines from Pope on, 225 Heinsius, Anthony, Pensionary, a friend of Marlborough, 32 Henry of Navarre, 21 Hesse, Prince of, 70 ; his death, 72 ; his successor invests Mons, 107 High Church, origin of, 122 LAG ■ Hill, Abigail, in favour with Annt, 126 ; marries Mr. Masham, 127 ; (see Masham, Mrs.) Hill, Colonel, commands an expe- tion against Quebec, 134 Hochstadt, battle of, 45 Holland, invasion of, 18; formation of league with Holland and Swe- den, 18 ; cutting of the dykes, 19 ; application of the word, 36 ; de« chne of her influence in Europe, 143 Holstein, Duke of, 166 " Homer," 227 Hooke, Colonel, 151 Horace, compared with Pope, 227 Hudson's Bay Territory, acquired by England, 140 Huguenots, effect of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 21 ; perse- cution and emigration, 22 ; geo- graphy of their country, 50 Hungary, its condition during the war of the Spanish succession, 57- 58; revolt in, 58 Huy, fortress of, taken, 44 INGOLSTADT fortress, 61 Innsbruck captured by the Ba- varians, 45 Italy, North, war in, 45 ; campaign in, 77 ; the allied cause in, 82 Ivan, 158 JACOBITES, the, rising of, 151; J their real strength, 18 j ; their con- nection with the Tories, 180 James II., King of England, 10, 23 James Stuart, Francis Edward, sur- named the Pretender, his character 1 5 I t 1 S 2 ; Jacobite r sing in favour of, 151 ; acknowledged as king by lewis XIV., 152 Jennings, Sarah, wife of the Duke of Marlborough, 27 Joseph, Electoral Prince, claimant to the throne of Spain, 4 ; his death 6 Joseph, succeeds his father Leopold I. as emperor, 34; his death, 133 Junto, the, 125 KAISERSWERTH, siege of, 43 Kidd, Captain, 125 Kufstein, fortress of, captured by the Bavarians, 45 LABOURERS, statue of, 205 La Gudina, battle of, 112 Index. 247 * LIT Landau taken, 45 ; retaken, 45 Landrecies, siege of, 137 Law, Scotch, not changed by the Union act, 149 Leczinski, Stanislaus, elected King of Poland, 168 Leopold, emperor, 34 Lewis XIV., renounces his rights to the throne of Spain, 2 ; his power in Europe, 4 ; his quarrels with William of Orange, 5 ; his nego- tiations With William of Orange, 6 ; his mistaken policy, 9, 10 ; claims the Netherlands, 10 ; his reign, 13; his ambition, 14; his character, 15; lays claim to the duchy of Brabant, 16; secret treaty with Charles II., 18; at war with Holland, 19; the title of "Great" bestowed on him, 19; his three symptoms of madness, 20; seizure of Strassburg, and revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 21 ; ravaging of the Palatinate, 23 ; " Hereditary Foe of the Holy Empire," 34 ; op- poses the Duke of Savoy, 38 ; cam- paign of 1704, 58 ; his overtures for peace, 102 ; his appeal to the people of France concerning the terms of the allies, 103; the answer to it, 104 ; withdraws his troops from Spain, 112 ; his offers to.the allies, 138 ; his new proposals, 139 ; his death, 187 ; events in England parallel with his life, 188 ; troubles at the end of his reign, 188 ; joy at his death, 191 ; disputes regarding the regent on his death, 191 Lewis XV., succeeds to the throne of France, 190; commencement of reign contrasted with that of Lewis XIV., 190-191 Lewis, Prince of Baden, 36 ; takes Landau, 45; his disputes with Marlborough, 60 Lewis the Dauphin, his death, 188 Li a ge taken, 43 Lille, siege of. 101 ; surrenders, 101 Literature, English, Augustan age of, 223 ; connexion of literary men with statesmen, 225; alliance with politics, 228, 229 Literature, French, Augustan age of, 218 ; greatness in first half of reign, 220; influence on English litera- ture, 223 ; afterwards inspired by England, 223 K Little Grandsire," the, 164 MAR Livonia falls into the hands of Russia, 171 Loire valley, the, 50 London, population of, 197 ; disturbed life in, 198 ; divided into the City and Westminster, 199; the Ex- change and commerce, 199; arch- itecture, 200 Louvain taken, 80 Low Church, origin of, 122 Lutzingen taken, 66 Luxuries, far-brought supply of, in the eighteenth century, 211 MACAULAY, extract from, 19 Madrid, relinquished by the allies, 88 Mahon, Port, taken, in Maintenon, Madame de, 22, 103 Majorca declares for allies, 94 Malplaquet, battle of, preparations, 104 ; description of ground, 108 ; the battle, 108 ; and result, 109 " Man, Essay on," 227 Manufactures, growth of, 196, 209 Margrave of Bayreuth, 94 Maria Theresa, wife of Lewis XIV., renounces right to the throne of Spain, 2 Maria Theresa, daughter of the Em- peror Charles VI,, 195 Marlborough, Earl of, afterwards Duke, (John Churchill) as Gover- nor to the Duke of Gloucester, 26 ; early life, 27; dismissed from all his employments, 28; aids James, 28 ; restored to favour, 28 ; his char- acter and virtues, 29 ; appointed Commander-in-Chief, 41 ; in Flan- ders, 41-44; his object and first- campaign, 42 ; result of campaign, 43 ; in danger, 43 ; results of second campaign, 44 ; made Duke, 43 ; his plans and meeting with Prince Eugene, 59 ; his victory at Schel- lenberg, 60 ; preparations for the battle of Blenheim, 61 ; report of his victory at Blenheim, 66; his de- signs upon Italy, 77; his c.mpaiga of 1706, 77; narrow escape of being taken prisoner, 79 ; his plans, 79 ; his victory at Ramillies, 80 ; takes Brussels and Antwerp, 80; pro- posed as Governor oF Netherlands, 82 ; his campaign of 1707, 89 ; visits the King of Sweden, 90; in 248 Index. NET Flanders, 91 ; his campaign of 1708, 95 ; defeats the French at Oude- narde, 97 ; preparations for the cam- paign of 1710, 104; defeats the French at Malplaquec, 108 ; ascen- dency of, 112 ; change in his poli- tical views, 123 ; loses favour with Anne, 128 ; request to be made Commander-in-Chief for life re- fused, 129 ; his last campaign, 134 ; disgrace of, 135 ; libels against him, 135 ; returns to England and is again appointed Commander-in Chief of the army, 192; his death, 193 Marlborough, Lady, the favourite of Anne, 27; her influence over Anne, 27; allied to the Junto, 126.; dis- missed from Court, 131 ; her death, I 93 Marsin, Marshal, in Bavaria, 59; routed at Blenheim, 64 ; commands at siege of Turin, 83 ; defeated at Turin, 84 Masham, Mrs. (Abigail Hill), her in- fluence over Anne, 127 Maurice, Prince, 179 Maximilian, Elector of Bavaria, at the battle of Blenheim, 63 Mayence, Archbishop of, 34 Mazarin, on Lewis XIV., 14 Mazeppa, 169 Menin, siege of, 81 Methuen Treaty, the, 40 ; hard drink- ing traced to it, 213 Milan, convention of, 85 : ceded to Austria, 141 Minorca, taken by the English, no Mohawks, the, 199 Moliere, 224 Monasteries, suppression of, 205 Money, value of, in this reign, 206 Monjuich, capture of, 72 Mons, besieged, 107; taken, 109 Mordaunt, Charles, Earl of Peter- borough {see Peterborough, Earl of,) NANTES, Edict of, revoked, 21 Naples, makes peace apart from Spain, 85 ; secured by the Emperor, 93 ; ceded to Austria, 141 Narva, battle of, 167 Nash, Richard, 203 Na lonal Debt, the general principle of, 2x3 ; later history of, 214 Nebel, passage of the, 64 Neth :rlands, the war in, 77; ceded to Austria, 141 > PET Newfoundland, ceded to England* 141 Noguera river, 113 Norch-Eastern State System, com- prising Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Russia, 154-158 Nova Scotia, ceded to England, 141 Nules taken, 75 Nymwegen, treaty of, 20 OBERGLAU, village of, 65 Occasional Conformity Bill, description of, 123 ; defeated in the House of Lords, 124 ; passed, 131 Orange, Prince of, takes part in the battle of Malplaquet, 108 Orleans, Duke of, commands at Turin, 83 ; succeeds to the com- mand of the French forces, lit; becomes regent on the death of Lewis XIV., 191 ; his policy, 192 Ormond, Duke of, 46 ; appointed Commander-in-Chief, 136 Ostend, siege of, 81 Ottomond, tomb of, 79 Oudenarde, battle of, 96 ; battle be- gins, 97 ; sequel of battle, 99 Overkirk, Marshal, 98 Oxford, Earl of, impeached, 182 PALATINATE, ravaging of the, 23 ; Elector of, 34 Pamphlets, 230 Parties, strength of, 216 ; at the Uni- versities, 217 ; patronage by, 229 Partition, first treaty of, 6; second treaty of, 6; results of these trea- ties in Spam, 7 Pascal, 222 Paterson, William, his expedition to Darien, 7, 8 Patriarchate abolished in Russia, 162 Patronage of French literature, 218; of English literature, 224; by par- ties, 229 Pauperism in Anne's reign, 206 Peace, negotiation^ for, 138 Peerage, Irish and Scotch, 148 Pepys, Mr., his first cup of tea, 210 Peter the Great, his early life and real accession to power, 158; his policy, 159; his appearance, 159; his desire for a navy, 160; visits Holland and England, 160 ; changes the capital and calendar of Russia. Index. 249 PRO i6r ; abolishes patriarchate, 162 ; adopts European fashions, 162 ; in- stitutes the Tchin, 163 ; defeated by- Charles XII. at Narva, 167; his victory over Charles XII. at Pul- towa, 170; at war with Turkey, 171 ; his second journey to Europe, 174' death of his son, 174; his death, 174 Peterborough, Earl, of (Mordaunt), his early life, 67 ; sent to command in Spain, 68 ; his character, 68 ; progress of his expedition, 70; his proposals regarding Valencia, 70; before Barcelona, 71 ; takes Mon- juich, 72 ; takes Barcelona, 73 ; subdues Catalonia and Valencia, 74 ; his energy, 71 ; his success at San Mateo, 74 ; his winter cam- paign, 75 ; relieves Barcelona, 75 ; raises the siege, 85, 86; junction with Galway at Guadalaxara, 88 ; quits the army, 88 Philip II. of Spain, 1 Philip, Duke of Anjou, Philip V. of Spain, claimant to the throne ot Spain, 4 ; proclaimed King of Spain, 9 ; besieges Barcelona, 85 ; Spanish loyalty to, 84 ; heads the army at Villa Viciosa, 118 ; re- nounces claim to the French crown, 140 ; his abdication, 194 Piedmont, evacuated by the French, 85 Poland, her territories, 156 Police service, inefficiency of, in the eighteenth century, 198 Politics, alliance of, with literature, 228-229 Pomerania claimed by Prussia, 171 Poor law, the, 206 Pope, his life and most famous works, 225 ; compared with Horace, 227 ; his influence, 228 ; his style, 228 ; compared with Dryden, 228 ; his lines on Addison, 237 Population during this reign, 195 Port, a favourite drink in England, 213 Port ousts claret, 212 Portugal, joins the Grand Alliance, 39 ; subject to Spam, 39 ; accedes to the Grand Alliance, 46 Pragmatic Sanction, the, 195 Pretender, the (see James) Prose, French development of, 222 Protestant Succession, measures to secure to it, 175 : secured, i&$ SAV "Provincial Letters," the, 223 Prussia constituted a kingdom, 35 ; recognised by France, 141 Pruth, the affair of the, 172 Pultowa, battle of, 170 ; results, 171 QUEBEC, expedition against, 134 Queen Anne's Bounty, 218 RACINE, 22 Ramillies, battle of, the armies and ground, 77 ; the battle, 79 ; result, 80 " Rape of the Lock," the, 227 Rastadt, peace of, 139 Religious distinction between Whigs and Tories, 121 Representation of Scotland in par- liament, 148 Repudiation, 215 Revolution of 1688, party views of the, 121 Rhone valley, the, 50 Rights, Bill of, 25 " Robinson Crusoe," 234 Rooke, Sir George, 47; captures Gibraltar, 49 Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 224 Rupert, Prince, 179 Russia, her territories, 155, 157; foundation of St. Petersburg, 161 ; patriarchate abolished, 162 ; Euro- pean fashions adopted, 162; war with Turkey, 171 Ryswick, peace of, 5 SACHEVERELL, Dr. his sermon and parliamentary proceedings against him, 130 St. George, Chevalier, 99 St. John, Henry, as Secretary at War, 128; his character, 132; created Lord Bolingbroke, 133; his schemes, 183 St. Paul's, rebuilt by Sir C Wren, 201 ; cost, 202 St. Petersburg, foundation of, 161 Saint Simon, Due de, memoirs of, 222 St. Stephen's, Walbrook, 201 San Mateo, siege of, 74 Saragossa, battle of, 114 Sardinia taken, no Savoy, joins the Grand Alliance, 37; secured to the cause of the Grand Alliance, 85 250 Index. STA Savoy, Duke of, (see Victor Amadeus) Saxony, Elector of, 34 Scania, claimed by Denmark, 171 Schellenberg, storming of, 60 Schlusselburg taken, 169 Scilly Isles, shipwreck off, 95 Scotland, ill-will of, against William III., 8; union with England (see Union with Scotland) Security, Act of, 145 Serf, a, 204 Settlement, Act of, 26, 145 Sevigne, Madame de, her letters, 222 " Shortest way with Dissenters," 234 Shovel, Sir Cloudesley, is ship- wrecked off the Scilly Isles, 95 Shrewsbury, Earl of (see Talbot) Social condition of the people of England, 195 Somers, Lord, the leader and guide of the Whig party, 125; as presi- dent of the Council, 128 Sophia, princess, sister of Peter the Great, 158 Sophia, electress, her descendants, 177; her wife, 179; named suc- cessor to Anne, 180 Sophia Dorothea, of Zell, wife of George I., 186 Spain, monarchy of, 1 ; claimants to the throne on the death of Charles II., 2 ; anxieties regarding the crown, 4 ; and anger against Wil- liam, 7 ; English expedition against, 46 ; invasion of, 49 ; Peterborough's campaign in, 70-76 ; later campaign in, 109 ; French troops withdrawn from, 112 ; defeated at the battle of Almenara, 113; defeated at Sara- gossa, 114; end of war, 119; her losses by the war, 141 Spanish galleons destroyed at Vigo, 48 Spanish monarchy in the hands of Philip V., 140 Spanish succession, the, 1-13; open- ing of the war, 41-56; the point of greatest success in the war, 86 ; general considerations on, 143 " Spectator," the, 240 : its influence, 240 Stanhope, General, 88, no; com- mands the British troops, no ; takes Minorca and Port Mahon, in ; ad- vances and passes the river No- guera, 113 ; his victory at Almenara, . 113; and Saragossa, 114; enters Madrid, 115: winters at Toledo, 116; defeated at Brihuega, 117 TOR Staremberg, no ; colleague of Stan, hope, 113 ; his victory at Saragossa, 114 ;. gives battle at Villa Viciosa, no Steele, Richard, his character, 239, 240; his works, 239-240 Stradella, pass of, 83 Stralsund, siege of, 173 Strassburg, seizure of, 21 Strelitzes, the, 163 Sunderland, Earl of, as Secretary of State, 126 Sweden, formation of league with England and Holland, 18; her ter- ritory on the shores of the Baltic, 156; her power, 156; defeated at Pultowa, 170 Swift, Dean, on Lord Peterborough, 69 ; in favour of repudiation, 213 ; his life and works, 230-233 ; hi« death, 232 T ACKERS, the, 124 Talbot, Charles, Earl of Shrews- bury, his previous career, 184 ; as Secretary of State, 184 ; retires from office, 184; appointed Lord High Treasurer, 185 " Tale of a Tub," 231 Tallard, General, 6; joins Marsin, 61 ; his position at the battle of Blenheim, 63 ; taken prisoner, 65 " Tatler," the, 239 Tavieres taken, 79 Tchin, the, institution of, 163 Tea regarded as a luxury, 210 Te Deum in St. Paul's Cathedral, 144 Temple, Sir William, 17 Test act, the, 123 Theology, French, 222 Tobacco, great consumption of, 212 Toledo, winter quarters of the allies, 116 Toleration, Edict of, 50 Torcy, M. de, at the Hague, 102; anecdote of, 138 Tories their principles, 120; their views of the Revolution of 1688, 121 ; their religious views dis- tinguished from the Whigs, 122 ; majority at general election of 1710, 131 ; election of twelve peers, 136 ; the Jacobites, connection with, 180 ; the ministry at the end of Anne's reign, 181 ; strength of, 216 Index. 2 5* VIC Toulon besieged, 9* Toulouse, Count of, 85; besieges Barcelona, 85 Tournai taken, 106 Towns, important, 197 Townshend, Lord, 102 Treasure ships, destruction of, at Vigo, 47 Treves, Archbishop of, 34 Triple alliance, the, 17 " True-born Englishman, the, 233 Turin, siege of, 82 ; state of the siege, 83 ; battle of, 84 ; result of the bat- tle, 85 Turkey, war with Russia, 171 UNIGENITUS Bull, the, 222 Union Jack, the, 149 Union with Scotland, earlier attempts at union, 144 ; commissioners ap- pointed, 146 ; arrangements pro- posed, 146; opposition in Scotland, 147 ; results, 150 : compared with the union with Ireland, 150 Unterglau, 62 Utrecht, peace of, 138-144 ; congress at, 139; peace signed, 139; argu- ments for, 142 ; arguments against, 143 VAGRANTS, statute of, 205 Valencia, subdued, 74; recov- ered by the French, 92 Vanbrugh, Sir John, 203 Vendome, Duke of, 81 ; defeats the Imperialists at Calcinato, 82 ; com- mands in Flanders, 96 ; defeated at Oudenarde, 99 ; sent to com- mand in Spain, 117; defeats the English at Brihuega, 117 Venloo, capitulation of, 42 Victor Amadeus II., Duke of Savoy, his character, 37 ; his part in the war before Ryswick, 37; in tbe Spanish succession, 38 ; his corres- pondence with Lewis XIV., 38 ; opposes him, 39 ; joins Prince Eu- gene, 84; made King of Sicily, 193 ; his abdication and death, 194 WYN Vigo Bay, battle in, 48 Villadarias, Marquis of, 47 ; com- mander of Spanish army, 113 Villars, marshal, commands in the Cevennes, 56; defeats the allies- on the Rhine, 94; commands in Flan- ders, 105 ; wounded at Malplaquet, 108 ; defeats Prince Eugene at Denain, 137 Villa Viciosa, battle of, 118 Villeroy, marshal, commands in Flan- ders, 77 ; defeated at Ramillies, 80 Voltaire, 224 WALPOLE, Sir Robert, as prime minister, 186 War of the Blouses, 52 Webb, General, his victory at Wyn- endale, 100 West Indies, war in, 46 Westphalia, peace of, 14 Wheat, fluctuations in the price of, 207 Whigs, their principles, 120; their views of the Revolution of 1688, 121 ; their religious views distin- guished from the Tories, 121-122; strength of, 217 William III., prince of Orange, 36; his quarrels with Lewis XIV., 5 ; his negotiations with Lewis XIV., 6; opposition in England, Scotland to, 8; his death and character, 11 ; as a European statesman, 12 ; at war with Lewis XIV., 18; expe- dition against Cadiz, 46 ; his influ- ence on foreign policy 121 William, Duke of Gloucester, 26 Wine, great change in the taste for, 212 Witt, De, massacred, 18 Wool, exportation of, 208 Wren, Sir Christopher, his plan for the city of London, 198 ; his char« acter, 201 ; rebuilds St. Paul's, 201; his style of architecture, 202 Wynendale, skirmish at, 100 \ ' ' The volumes contain the ripe results of the studies of men who are authorities in their respective fields.'" — The Nation. EPOCHS OF HISTORY EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY Eleven volumes, i6mo, each $1.00. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY Eighteen volumes, i6mo, each $1.00. The Epoch volumes have most successfully borne the test of experience, and are universally acknowledged to be the best series of historical manuals in existence. They are admirably adapted in form and matter to the needs of colleges, schools, reading circles, and private classes. Attention is called to them as giving the utmost satisfaction as class hand-books. Noah Porter, President of Yale College. "The 'Epochs of History' have been prepared with knowl- edge and artistic skill to meet the wants of a large number of readers. To the young they furnish an outline or compendium. To those who are older they present a convenient sketch of the heads of the knowledge which they have already acquired. The outlines are by no means destitute of spirit, and may be used with great profit for family reading, and in select classes or reading clubs. " Charles Kendall Adams, President of Cornell University. '*A series of concise and carefully prepared volumes on special eras of history. Each is also complete in itself, and has no especial connection with the other members of the series. The works are all written by authors selected by the editor on account of some especial qualifications for a portrayal of the period they respectively describe. The volumes form an excellent collection, especially adapted to the wants of a general reader." The Publishers will supply these volumes to teachers at SPECIAL NE T RA TES, and would solicit correspondence concerning terms for examination and introduction copies. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers 743-745 Broadway, New York THE GREAT SUCCESS THE SERIES OF is the best proof of its general popularity, and the excellence of the various volumes is further attested by their having been adopted as text-books in many of our leading educational institu- tions. The publishers beg to call attention to the following list comprising some of the most prominent institutions using volumes of the series : Smith College, Northampton, Mass. Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. Yale Univ., New Haven, Conn. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass. Bellewood Sem., Anchorage, Ky. Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, Tenn. State Univ., Minneapolis, Minn. Christian Coll., Columbia, Mo. Adelphi Acad., Brooklyn, N. Y. Earlham Coll., Richmond, Ind. Granger Place School, Canandaigua, N. Y. Salt Lake Acad., Salt Lake City, Utah. Beloit Col., Beloit, Wis. Logan Female Coll., Russellville, Ky. No. West Univ., Evanston, 111. State Normal School, Baltimore, Md. Hamilton Coll., Clinton, N. Y. Doane Coll., Crete, Neb. Princeton College, Princeton, N. J. Williams Coll., Williamstown, Mass. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N. Y. Illinois Coll., Jacksonville, 111. Univ. of South, Sewaunee, Tenn. Wesleyan Univ., Mt. Pleasant, la. Univ. of Cal., Berkeley, Cal. So. Car. Coll., Columbia, S. C. Amsterdam Acad., Amsterdam, N. Y. Carleton Coll., Northfield, Minn. Wesleyan Univ., Middletown, Mass. Albion Coll., Albion, Mich. Dartmouth Coll., Hanover, N. H. Wilmington Coll., Wilmington, O. Madison Univ., Hamilton, N. Y. Syracuse Univ., Syracuse, N. Y. Univ. of Wis., Madison, Wis. Union Coll., Schenectady, N. Y. Norwich Free Acad., Norwich, Conn. Greenwich Acad., Greenwich, Conn. Univ. of Neb., Lincoln, Neb. Kalamazoo Coll., Kalamazoo, Mich. Olivet Coll., Olivet, Mich. Amherst Coll., Amherst, Mass. Ohio State Univ., Columbus, O. Free Schools, Oswego, N. Y. Bishop J. F. HURST, ex-President of Drew Theol. Sem. " It appears to me that the idea of Morris in his Epochs is strictly in harmony with the philosophy of history — namely, that great movements should be treated not according to narrow geographical and national limits and distinction, but universally, according to their place in the general life of the world. The historical Maps and the copious Indices are welcome additions to the volumes." EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. A SERIES OF BOOKS NARRATING THE HISTORY OF GREECE AND ROME, AND OF THEIR RELATIONS TO OTHER COUNTRIES AT SUCCESSIVE EPOCHS. Edited by Rev. G. W. Cox and Charles Sankey, M.A. Eleven volumes, i6mo, with 41 Maps and Plans. Sold separately. Price per vol., $1.00. The Set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $11,00. TROY— ITS LEGEND, HISTORY, AND LITERATURE. By S. G. W. Benjamin. " The task of the author has been to gather into a clear and very readable narrative all that is known of legendary, historical, and geographical Troy, and to tell the story of Homer, and weigh and compare the different theories in the Homeric controversy. The work is well done. His book is altogether candid, and is a very valuable and entertaining compendium." — Hartford Courant. "As a monograph on Troy, covering all sides of the ques- tion, it is of great value, and supplies a long vacant place in our fund of classical knowledge." — N. Y. Christian Advocate. THE GREEKS AND THE PERSIANS. By Rev G. W. Cox. ' ' It covers the ground in a perfectly satisfactory way. The work is clear, succinct, and readable." — New York Independent. ' ' Marked by thorough and comprehensive scholarship and by a skillful style." — Congregationalist. "It would be hard to find a more creditable book. The author's prefatory remarks upon the origin and growth of Greek civilization are alone worth the price of the volume." — Christian Union. EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE-From the Flight of Xerxes to the Fall of Athens. By Rev. G. W. Cox. " Mr. Cox writes in such a way as to bring before the reader everything which is important to be known or learned ; and his narrative cannot fail to give a good idea of the men and deeds with which he is concerned." — The Churchman. "Mr. Cox has done his work with the honesty of a true student. It shows persevering scholarship and a desire to get at the truth."— New York Herald. THE SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMA- CIES. By Charles Sankey, M.A. " This volume covers the period between the disasters of Athens at the close of the Pelopenesian war and the rise of Macedon. It is a very striking and instructive picture of the political life of the Grecian commonwealth at that time." — The Churchman. "It is singularly interesting to read, and in respect to arrangement, maps, etc., is all that can be desired." — Boston Congregationalist. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE— Its Rise and Culmination to Death of Alexander the Great. By A. M. Curteis, M.A. "A good and satisfactory history of a very important period. The maps are excellent, and the story is lucidly and vigor- ously told." — The Nation. " The same compressive style and yet completeness of detail that have characterized the previous issues in this delightful series, are found in this volume. Certainly the art of conciseness in writing was never carried to a higher or more effective point." — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. #%, The above five volumes give a connected and complete history of Greece from the earliest times to the death of A lexander. EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY EARLY ROME— From the Foundation of the City to its Destruction by the Gauls. By W. IHNE, Ph.D. " Those who want to know the truth instead of the tra- ditions that used to be learned of our fathers, will find in the work entertainment, careful scholarship, and sound sense." — Cincinnati Times. " The book is excellently well done. The views are those of a learned and able man, and they are presented in this volume with great force and clearness." — The Nation. ROME AND CARTHAGE— The Punic Wars. By R. Bosworth Smith. ' ' By blending the account of Rome and Carthage the ac- complished author presents a succinct and vivid picture of two great cities and people which leaves a deep impression. The story is full of intrinsic interest, and was never better told . " — Christian Union . " The volume is one of rare interest and value." — Chicago Interior. "An admirably condensed history of Carthage, from its establishment by the adventurous Phoenician traders to its sad and disastrous fall." — New York Herald. THE GRACCHI, MARIUS, AND SULLA. By A. H. Beesley. ' ' A concise and scholarly historical sketch, descriptive of the decay of the Roman Republic, and the events which paved the way for the advent of the conquering Caesar. It is an excellent account of the leaders and legislation of the repub- lic." — Boston Post. "It is prepared in succinct but comprehensive style, and is an excellent book for reading and reference." — New York Observer. " No better condensed account of the two Gracchi and the turbulent careers of Marius and Sulla has yet appeared." — New York Independent. EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY THE ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES. By the Very Rev. Charles Merivale, D.D. " In brevity, clear and scholarly treatment of the subject, and the convenience of map, index, and side notes, the volume is a model." — New York Tribune, "An admirable presentation, and in style vigorous and picturesque. " — Hartford Courant. THE EARLY EMPIRE— From the Assassina- tion of Julius Caesar to the Assassination of Domitian. By Rev. W. Wolfe Capes, M. A. " It is written with great clearness and simplicity of style, and is as attractive an account as has ever been given in brief of one of the most interesting periods of Roman History." — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. "It is a clear, well-proportioned, and trustworthy perfor- mance, and well deserves to be studied." — Christian at Work. THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES-The Roman Empire of the Second Century. By Rev. W. Wolfe Capes, M.A. " The Roman Empire during the second century is the broad subject discussed in this book, and discussed with learning and intelligence." — New York Independent. " The writer's diction is clear and elegant, and his narra- tion is free from any touch of pedantry. In the treatment of its prolific and interesting theme, and in its general plan, the book is a model of works of its class. " — New York Herald. " We are glad to commend it. It is written clearly, and with care and accuracy. It is also in such neat and compact form as to be the more attractive." — Congregationalist. %* The above six volumes give the History of Rome from the founding of the City to the death of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY, A SERIES OF BOOKS NARRATING THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND AND EUROPE AT SUCCESSIVE EPOCHS SUBSEQUENT TO THE CHRISTIAN ERA. Edited by Edward E. Morris. Eighteen volumes, i6mo, with 74 Maps, Plans, and Tables. Sold separately. Price per vol., $1.00. The Set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $18.00. THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES- England and Europe in the Ninth Century. By the Very Rev. R. W. Church, M.A. "A remarkably thoughtful and satisfactory discussion of the causes and results of the vast changes which came upon Europe during the period discussed. The book is adapted to be exceedingly serviceable." — Chicago Standard. "At once readable and valuable. It is comprehensive and yet gives the details of a period most interesting to the student of history. " — Herald and Presbyter. "It is written with a clearness and vividness of statement which make it the pleasantest reading. It represents a great deal of patient research, and is careful and scholarly." — Boston Journal. THE NORMANS IN EUROPE— The Feudal System and England under the Norman Kings. By Rev. A. H. Johnson, M.A. "Its pictures of the Normans in their home, of the Scan- dinavian exodus, the conquest of England, and Norman administration, are full of vigor and cannot fail of holding the reader's attention." — Episcopal Register. " The style of the author is vigorous and animated, and he has given a valuable sketch of the origin and progress of the great Northern movement that has shaped the history of modern Europe." — Boston Transcript. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY THE CRUSADES. By Rev. G. W. Cox. " To be warmly commended for important qualities. The author shows conscientious fidelity to the materials, and such skill in the use of them, that, as a result, the reader has before him a narrative related in a style that makes it truly fascinating." — Congtegationalist. " It is written in a pure and flowing style, and its arrange- ment and treatment of subject are exceptional." — Christian Intelligencer. THE EARLY P L A N T AGEN ETS-Their Relation to the History of Europe; The Foundation and Growth of Constitutional Government. By Rev. W. Stubbs, M.A. "Nothing could be desired more clear, succinct, and well arranged. All parts of the book are well done. It may be pronounced the best existing brief history of the constitution for this, its most important period." — The Nation. "Prof. Stubbs has presented leading events with such fair- ness and wisdom as are seldom found. He is remarkably clear and satisfactory." — The Churchman. EDWARD III. By Rev. W. Warburton, M.A. " The author has done his work well, and we commend it as containing in small space all essential matter." — New York Independent. ' ' Events and movements are admirably condensed by the author, and presented in such attractive form as to entertain as well as instruct." — Chicago Interior. THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK —The Conquest and Loss of France. By James Gairdner. "Prepared in a most careful and thorough manner, and ought to be read by every student. " — New York Times. "It leaves nothing to be desired as regards compactness, accuracy, and excellence of literary execution." — Boston Journal. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY THE ERA OF THE PROTESTANT REVO- LUTION. By Frederic Seebohm. With Notes, on Books in English relating to the Reformation, by Prof. George P. Fisher, D. D. "For an impartial record of the civil and ecclesiastical changes about four hundred years ago, we cannot commend a better manual." — Sunday- School Times. "All that could be desired, as well in execution as in plan. The narrative is animated, and the selection and grouping of events skillful and effective." — The Nation. THE EARLY TUDORS— Henry VII., Henry VIII. By Rev. C. E. Moberley, M.A., late Master in Rugby School. "Is concise, scholarly, and accurate. On the epoch of which it treats, we know of no work which equals it." — N. Y. Observer. " A marvel of clear and succinct brevity and good historical judgment. There is hardly a better book of its kind to be named." — New York Independent. THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. By Rev. M. Creighton, M.A. " Clear and compact in style ; careful in their facts, and just in interpretation of them. It sheds much light on the progress of the Reformation and the origin of the Popish reaction during Queen Elizabeth's reign ; also, the relation of Jesuitism to the latter." — Presbyterian Review. " A clear, concise, and just story of an era crowded with events of interest and importance." — New York World. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR-1 61 8-1 648. By Samuel Rawson Gardiner. "Asa manual it will prove of the greatest practical value, while to the general reader it will afford a clear and interesting account of events. We know of no more spirited and attractive recital of the great era. " — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. " The thrilling story of those times has never been told so vividly or succinctly as in this volume. " — Episcopal Register. EPOCHS OF MODERN- HISTORY. THE PURITAN REVOLUTION; and the First Two Stuarts, 1 603- 1 660. By Samuel Rawson Gardiner. " The narrative is condensed and brief, yet sufficiently com- prehensive to give an adequate view of the events related." — Chicago Standard. ' * Mr. Gardiner uses his researches in an admirably clear and fair way " — Congregationalist. * ' The Aetcn xz concise, but clear and perfectly intelligible." —Hartford Courant. THE ENGLISH RESTORATION AND LOUIS XIV., from the Peace of Westphalia to the Peace of Nimwegen. By Osmund Airy, M.A. " It is crisply and admirably written. An immense amount of information is conveyed and with great clearness, the arrangement of the subjects showing great skill and a thor- ough command of the complicated theme." — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. "The author writes with fairness and discrimination, and has given a clear and intelligible presentation of the time." — New York Evangelist. THE FALL OF THE STUARTS; and Western Europe. By Rev. Edward Hale, M.A. " A valuable compend to the general reader and scholar." — Providence Journal. "It will be found of great value. It is a very graphic account of the history of Europe during the 17th century, and is admirably adapted for the use of students." — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. ' 'An admirable handbook for the student. " — The Churchman. THE AGE OF ANNE. By Edward E. Morris, M.A. "The author's arrangement of the material is remarkably clear, his selection and adjustment of the facts judicious, his historical judgment fair and candid, while the style wins by its simple elegance." — Chicago Standard. "An excellent compendium of the history of an important period, " — The Watchman. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. THE EARLY HANOVERIANS— Europe from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Aix- la-Chapelle. By Edward E. Morris, M.A. " Masterly, condensed, and vigorous, this is one of the books which it is a delight to read at odd moments ; which are broad and suggestive, and at the same time condensed in treatment. " — Christian Advocate. "A remarkably clear and readable summary of the salient points of interest. The maps and tables, no less than the author's style and treatment of the subject, entitle the volume to the highest claims of recognition." — Boston Daily Ad- vertiser. FREDERICK THE GREAT, AND THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. By F. W. Longman. "The subject is most important, and the author has treated it in a way which is both scholarly and entertaining." — The Churchman. "Admirably adapted to interest school boys, and older heads will find it pleasant reading. " — New York Tribune. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, AND FIRST EMPIRE. By William O'Connor Morris. With Appendix by Andrew D. White, LL.D., ex-President of Cornell University. " We have long needed a simple compendium of this period, and we have here one which is brief enough to be easily run through with, and yet particular enough to make entertaining reading." — New York Evening Post. " The author has well accomplished his difficult task of sketching in miniature the grand and crowded drama of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire, showing himself to be no servile compiler, but capable of judicious and independent criticism." — Springfield Republican. THE EPOCH OF REFORM— 1 830-1 850. By Justin McCarthy. " Mr. McCarthy knows the period of which he writes thoroughly, and the result is a narrative that is at once enter- taining and trustworthy." — New York Examiner. " The narrative is clear and comprehensive, and told with abundant knowledge and grasp of the subject." — Boston Courier. IMPORTANT HISTORICAL WORKS. THE DAWN OF HISTORY. An Introduction to Pre-Historic Study. New and Enlarged Edition. Edited by C. F. Keary. i2mo, cloth, $1.25. This work treats successively of the earliest traces of man ; of language, its growth, and the story it tells of the pre-his- toric users of it ; of early social life, the religions, mythologies, and folk-tales, and of the history of writing. The present edition contains about one hundred pages of new matter, embodying the results of the latest researches. " A fascinating manual. In its way, the work is a model of what a popular scientific work should be. " — Boston Sat. Eve. Gazette. THE ORIGIN OF NATIONS. By Professor George Rawlinson, M.A. i2mo, with maps, $1.00. The first part of this book discusses the antiquity of civiliza- tion in Egypt and the other early nations of the East. The second part is an examination of the ethnology of Genesis, showing its accordance with the latest results of modern ethnographical science. "A work of genuine scholarly excellence, and a useful offset to a great deal of the superficial current literature on such subjects. " — Congregationalist. MANUAL OF MYTHOLOGY. For the Use of Schools, Art Students, and General Readers. Founded on the Works of Pet- iscus, Preller, and Welcker. By Alexander S. Murray, Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum. With 45 Plates. Reprinted from the Second Revised London Edition. Crown 8vo, $1.75. " It has been acknowledged the best work on the subject to be found in a concise form, and as it embodies the results of the latest researches and discoveries in ancient mythologies, it is superior for school and general purposes as a handbook to any of the so-called standard works." — Cleveland Herald. "Whether as a manual for reference, a text-book for school use, or for the general reader, the book will be found very valuable and interesting." — Boston Journal. IMPORTANT HISTORICAL WORKS. THE HISTORY OF ROME, from the Earliest Time to the Period of Its Decline. By Dr. Theodor Mommsen. Translated by W. P. Dickson, D. D. , LL.D. Reprinted from the Revised London Edition. Four volumes, crown 8vo. Price per set, $8.00. "A work of the very highest merit; its learning is exact and profound ; its narrative full of genius and skill ; its descriptions of men are admirably vivid." — London Times. "Since the days of Niebuhr, no work on Roman History has appeared that combines so much to attract, instruct, and charm the reader. Its style — a rare quality in a German author — is vigorous, spirited, and animated." — Dr. Schmitz. THE PROVINCES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. From Caesar to Diocletian. By Theodor Mommsen. Translated by William P. Dickson, D.D., LL.D. With maps. Two vols., 8vo, $6.00. " The author draws the wonderfully rich and varied picture of the conquest and administration of that great circle of peoples and lands which formed the empire of Rome outside of Italy, their agriculture, trade, and manufactures, their artistic and scientific life, through all degrees of civilization, with such detail and completeness as could have come from no other hand than that of this great master of historical re- search." — Prof. W. A. Packard, Princeton College. THE HISTORY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. Abridged from the History by Professor Theodor Mommsen, by C. Bryans and F. J. R. Hendy. i2mo, $1.75. " It is a genuine boon that the essential parts of Mommsen's Rome are thus brought within the easy reach of all, and the abridgment seems to me to preserve unusually well the glow and movement of the original." — Prof. Tracy Peck, Yale University. "The condensation has been accurately and judiciously effected. I heartily commend the volume as the most adequate embodiment, in a single volume, of the main results of modern historical research in the field of Roman affairs." — Prof. Henry M. Baird, University of City of New York. IMPORTANT HISTORICAL WORKS. THE HISTORY OF GREECE. By Prof. Dr. Ernst Curtius. Translated by Adolphus William Ward, M.A., Fellow of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, Prof, of History in Owen's College, Manchester. Five volumes, crown 8vo. Price per set, $10.00. " We cannot express our opinion of Dr. Curtius' book bet- ter than by saying that it may be fitly ranked with Theodor Mommsen's great work." — London Spectator. "As an introduction to the study of Grecian history, no previous work is comparable to the present for vivacity and picturesque beauty, while in sound learning and accuracy of statement it is not inferior to the elaborate productions which enrich the literature of the age. " — N. Y. Daily 7 ribune. C/ESAR: a Sketch. By James Anthony Froude, M.A. i2mo, gilt top, $1.50. 1 ' This book is a most fascinating biography and is by far the best account of Julius Caesar to be found in the English language." — The London Standard. "He combines into a compact and nervous narrative all that is known of the personal, social, political, and military life of Caesar ; and with his sketch of Caesar includes other brilliant sketches of the great man, his friends, or rivals, who contemporaneously with him formed the principal figures in the Roman world." — Harper's Monthly. CICERO. Life of Marcus Tullius Cicero. By William Forsyth, M.A., Q.C. 20 Engravings. New Edition. 2 vols., crown 8vo, in one, gilt top, $2.50. The author has not only given us the most complete and well-balanced account of the life of Cicero ever published ; he has drawn an accurate and graphic picture of domestic life among the best classes of the Romans, one which the reader of general literature, as well as the student, may peruse with pleasure and profit. "A scholar without pedantry, and a Christian without cant, Mr. Forsyth seems to have seized with praiseworthy tact the precise attitude which it behooves a biographer to take when narrating the life, the personal life of Cicero. Mr. Forsyth produces what we venture to say will become one of the classics of English biographical literature, and will be wel- comed by readers of all ages and both sexes, of all professions and of no profession at all. " — London Quarterly. VALUABLE WORKS ON CLASSICAL LITERATURE. THE HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE. From the Earliest Period to the Death of MarCUS AurellUS. With Chronological Tables, etc., for the use of Students. By C. T. Cruttwell, M. A. Crown 8vo, $2.50. Mr. Cruttwell's book is written throughout from a purely literary point of view, and the aim has been to avoid tedious and trivial details. The result is a volume not only suited for the student, but remarkably readable for all who possess any interest in the subject. " Mr. Cruttwell has given us a genuine history of Roman literature, not merely a descriptive list of authors and their productions, but a well elaborated portrayal of the successive stages in the intellectual development of the Romans and the various forms of expression which these took in literature." — N. Y. Nation. UNIFORM WITH THE ABOVE. A HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE. From the Earliest Period of Demosthenes. By Frank Byron Jevons, M.A., Tutor in the University of Durham. Crown 8vo, $2.50. The author goes into detail with sufficient fullness to make the history complete, but he never loses sight of the com- manding lines along which the Greek mind moved, and a clear understanding of which is necessary to every intelligent student of universal literature. " It is beyond all question the best history of Greek litera- ture that has hitherto been published. " — London Spectator. ' ' With such a book as this within reach there is no reason why any intelligent English reader may not get a thorough and comprehensive insight into the spirit of Greek literature, of its historic development, and of its successive and chief masterpieces, which are here so finely characterized, analyzed, and criticised." — Chicago Advance. TRANSLATIONS OF PLATO. THE DIALOGUES OF PLATO. Translated into English, with Analysis and Introduc- tions. By B. Jowett, M.A., Master of Balliol College, Oxford. A new and cheaper edition. Four vols., crown 8vo, per set, $8.00. " The present work of Professor Jowett will be welcomed with profound interest, as the only adequate endeavor to transport the most precious monument of Grecian thought among the familiar treasures of English literature. The noble reputation of Professor Jowett, both as a thinker and a scholar, is a valid guaranty for the excellence of his perfor- mance." — New York Tribune. SOCRATES. A Translation of the Apology, Crito, and parts of the Phaedo of Plato. Containing the Defence of Socrates at his Trial, his Conver- sation in Prison, with his Thoughts on the Future Life, and an Account of his Death. With an Introduction by Professor W. W. Goodwin, of Harvard College. i2mo, cloth, $1.00 ; paper, 50 cents. TALKS WITH SOCRATES ABOUT LIFE. Translations from the Gorgias and the Republic Of PlatO. i2mo, cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. A DAY IN ATHENS WITH SOCRATES. Translations from the Protagoras and the Republic Of PlatO. Being conversations between Socrates and other Greeks on Virtue and Justice. i2rao, cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. "Eminent scholars, men of much Latin and more Greek, attest the skill and truth with which the versions are made ; we can confidently speak of their English grace and clearness. They seem a ' model of style,' because they are without manner and perfectly simple." — W. D. Howells. "We do not remember any translation of a Greek author which is a better specimen of idiomatic English than this, or a more faithful rendering of the real spirit of the original into English as good and as simple as the Greek." — New York Evening Post. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 743 and 745 Broadway, New York. I < I I I m I wSa mm LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 702 278