Jealousies of continued dis of Marlbor Although, however, Marlborough thus renounced this splendid appointment, the court of Vienna were not 55. equally tractable. It evinced the utmost jealousy the Dutch, and at the no longer disguised desire of the Dutch to interestedness gain an accession of territory, and the barrier of ough. which they were so passionately desirous, at the expense of the Austrian Netherlands. The project also got wind, and the Catholic inhabitants of Brabant, whom difference of religion and old-established national rivalry had long alienated from the Dutch, were so much alarmed at the prospect of being transferred to their hated Protestant neighbors, that the proposal at once cooled their ardor in the cause of the alliance, and went far to sow the seeds of irrepressible dissension among them. The emperor, therefore, again pressed the appointment on Marlborough; but, from the same lofty motives, he continued to decline, professing a willingness, at the same time, to give the emperor privately every assistance in his power in the exercise of the new government, so that the emperor was obliged to give a reluctant consent. Notwithstanding this refusal, the jealousy of the Dutch was such, that on the revival of a report that the appointment had been actually conferred on the Duke of Marlborough, they were thrown into such a ferment, that in the public congress the pensionary could not avoid exclaiming in the presence of the English embassador, "Mon Dieu! est-il possible qu'on voudrait faire ce pas sans notre participation ?"* 56. The French government were soon informed of this jealousy, and of the open desire of the Dutch for an accession of territory on the side of Flanders, at the expense of Austria; and they took advantage of it, Opening of a separate secret negotiation between the Dutch and French. early in the summer of 1706, to open a secret negotiation with the States General for the conclusion of a separate peace with that republic. The basis of this accommodation was to be a rénunciation by the Duke of Anjou of his * Mr. Stepney to Duke of Marlborough, Hague, Jan. 4, 1707. CoXE, ii., 407. claim to the crown of Spain, upon receiving an equivalent in Italy: he offered to recognize Anne as Queen of England, and professed the utmost readiness to secure for the Dutch, at the expense of Austria, that barrier in the Netherlands to which he conceived them to be so well entitled. These proposals elated the Dutch government to such a degree, that they began to take a high hand, and assume a dictatorial tone at the Hague; and it was the secret belief that they would, if matters came to extremities, be supported by France in this exorbitant demand for a slice of Austria, that made them resist so strenuously the government of the Low Countries being placed in such firm and vigorous hands as those of Marlborough. Matters had therefore come to such a pass in October and November, 1706, that Godolphin regarded the state of affairs as desperate, and thought that the alliance was on the point of being dissolved.* Thus was Marlborough's usual winter campaign with the confederates rendered more difficult on this than it had been on any preceding occasion; for he had now to contend with the consequences of his own success, allay the jealousies and stifle the cupidity which had sprung up in the prospect of that magnificent spoil which he himself had laid at the feet of the allies. But in this dangerous crisis, Marlborough's great diplomatic ability, consummate address, and thorough devotion to the common good, stood him in as good 57. Marlborough's address obtains a renewal of the alliance. stead as his military talents had done him in the preceding campaign with Villeroi and Vendôme. In the beginning of November he repaired to the Hague, and though he found the Dutch, in the first instance, so extravagant in their ideas of the barrier they were to obtain that he despaired of effecting any settlement of the differences be * "Lord Somers has shown me a long letter which he has had from the pensionary, very intent upon settling the barrier. The inclinations of the Dutch are so violent and plain, that I am of opinion nothing will be able to prevent their taking effect but our being as plain with them upon the same subject, and threatening to publish to the whole world the terms for which they solicit."-Lord Godolphin to Marlborough, Oct. 24, 1706. COXE, iii., 74. tween them ana the emperor,* yet he at length succeeded, though with very great difficulty, in appeasing, for the time, the jealousies between them and the cabinet of Vienna, and also in obtaining a public renewal of the alliance for the prosecution of the war. The publication of this treaty diffused the utmost satisfaction among the ministers of the allied powers assembled at the Hague; and this was further increased by the breaking off, at the same time, of a negotiation which had been pending for some months between Marlborough and the Elector of Bavaria, for a separate treaty with that prince, who had become disgusted with the French alliance. But all Marlborough's efforts failed to accomplish any adjustment of the disputed matter of the barrier, on which the Dutch were so obstinately set; and, finding them equally unreasonable and intractable on that subject, he deemed himself fortunate when he obtained the adjourning of the question, by the consent of all concerned, till the conclusion of a general peace. After the adjustment of this delicate and perilous negotiation, Marlborough returned to England, where he was received with transports of exultation by all classes. He was conducted in one of the royal 58. His return to England, and splendid reception there. carriages, amid a splendid procession of all the nobility of the kingdom, to Temple Bar, where he was received by the city authorities, who feasted him in the most magnificent manner at Vintners' Hall. Thanks were voted to him by both houses of Parliament; and when he took his seat in the House of Peers, the lord-keeper addressed him in these just and appropriate terms: "What your grace has performed in this last * "My inclinations will lead me to stay as little as possible at the Hague, though the pensionary tells me I must stay to finish the succession treaty and their barrier, which, should I stay the whole winter, I am very confident would not be brought to perfection; for they are of so many minds, and are all so very extravagant about their barrier, that I despair of doing any thing good till they are more reasonable, which they will not be till they see that they have it not in their power to dispose of the whole Low Countries at their will and pleasure, in which the French flatter them."-Marlborough to Godolphin, Oct. 29, 1706. Coxe, iii., 79. campaign has far exceeded all hopes, even of such as were most affectionate and partial to their country's interest and glory. The advantages you have gained against the enemy are of such a nature, so conspicuous in themselves, so undoubtedly owing to your courage and conduct, so sensibly and universally beneficial to the whole confederacy, that to at tempt to adorn them with the coloring of words would be vain and inexcusable. Therefore I decline it, the rather because I should certainly offend that great modesty which alone can and does add luster to your actions, and which in your grace's example has successfully withstood as great trials as that virtue has met with in any instance whatsoever." The House of Commons passed a similar resolution; and the better to testify the national gratitude, an annuity of £5000 a year, charged upon the Post-office, was settled upon the duke and duchess, and their descendants male or female; and his dukedom, which stood limited to heirs-male, was extended also to heirs-female, "in order," as it was finely expressed, "that England might never be without a title which might recall the remembrance of so much glory." 50. Jealousy against him arises among both the Whigs and Tories, but he prevails at court. So much glory, however, produced its usual effect in engendering jealousy in little minds. The Whigs had grown envious of that illustrious pillar of their party; they were tired of hearing him called the just. Both Godolphin and Marlborough became the objects of excessive jealousy to their own party ; and this, combined with the rancor of the Tories, who could never forgive his desertion of his early patron the Duke of York, had wellnigh proved fatal to him when at the very zenith of his usefulness and popularity. Intrigue was rife at St. James's. Parties were strangely intermixed and disjointed. Some of the moderate Tories were in power; many ambitious Whigs were out of it. Neither party stood on great public principles a sure sign of instability in the national councils, and tending to the ultimate neglect of the national interests. Harley's intrigues had become serious, and the prime minister, Godolphin, had threatened to resign. In this alarming juncture of domestic affairs, the presence of Marlborough produced its usual pacifying and benign influence. In a long interview which he had with the queen on his first private audience, he settled all differences; Godolphin was persuaded to withdraw his resignation; the cabinet was reconstructed on a new and harmonious basis; Harley and Bolingbroke were the only Tories of any note who remained in power; and these new perils to the prosecution of the war and the cause of European independence were removed. Great error quent policy Marlborough's services to England, and the interests of European freedom in this campaign, recall one 60. mournful feeling to the British annalist. All that in the subsehe had won for his country-all that Wellington, of England. with still greater difficulty, and amid yet brighter glories, regained for it, has been lost. It has been lost, too, not by the enemies of the nation, but by itself; not by an opposite faction, but by the very party over whom his own great exploits had shed such imperishable luster; not amid national humiliation, but at the height of national glory; not in faithfully defending, but in basely partitioning an ally. Antwerp, the first fruits of Ramillies-Antwerp, the last reward of Waterloo-Antwerp, to hold which against England Napoleon lost his crown, has been abandoned to France.* An English fleet has combined with a French army to tear from Holland the barrier of Dutch independence, and the key to the Low Countries. The barrier so passionately sought by the Dutch has been wrested from them, and wrested from them by British hands; a revolutionary power has been placed on the throne of Belgium, the theater of Ramillies and Malplaquet, of Oudenarde and Waterloo. Flanders, instead of the outwork of Europe against France, has become the outwork of France against Europe. The tricolor flag waves in sight of Bergen-op-Zoom; within a month after the first European * "If I could have made up my mind to give up Antwerp, I might have concluded peace at Chatillon."-Napoleon in LAS CASES. |