which she has ever since maintained in the affairs of Europe. Marlborough sympathized warmly with the misfortunes of the heroic sovereign, for whose genius and gallantry he had conceived the highest admiration. But he was too sagacious not to see that his disasters, like those of Napoleon afterward in the same regions, were entirely the result of his own imprudence, and that, if he had judiciously taken advantage of the terror of his name and the success of his arms in the outset of his invasion, he might have gained all the objects for which he contended without incurring any serious evil.*

50.

Character of

of Russia.

Peter the Great, who gained this astonishing and decisive success, was one of the most remarkable men who Peter the Great ever appeared on the theater of public affairs. He was nothing by halves. For good or for evil he was gigantic. Vigor seems to have been the great characteristic of his mind; but it was often fearfully disfigured by passion, and he was not unfrequently misled by the example of more advanced states. To elevate Russia to an exalted place among nations, and give her the influence which her vast extent and physical resources seemed to put within her reach, was throughout life the great object of his ambition; and he succeeded in it to an extent which naturally acquired for him the unbounded admiration of mankind. His overthrow of the Strelitzes, long the Prætorian guards and terror of the czars of Muscovy, was effected with a vigor and stained by a cruelty similar to that with which Sultan Mahmoud, a century after, destroyed the Janizaries at Constantinople. The sight of a young and despotic sovereign leaving the glittering toys and real enjoyments of royalty to labor in the dock-yards of Saardem with his own hands, and instruct

*"If this unfortunate king had been so well advised as to have made peace the beginning of this summer, he might, in a great measure, have influenced the peace between France and the allies, and made other kingdoms happy. I am extremely touched with the misfortunes of this young king. His continued successes, and the contempt he had of his enemies, have been his ruin."-Marlborough to Godolphin, August 26, 1709. Disp., V., 510.

his subjects in ship-building by first teaching himself, was too striking and remarkable not to excite universal attention. And when the result of this was seen-when the Czar was found introducing among his subjects the military discipline, naval architecture, nautical skill, as well as other arts and warlike institutions of Europe, and, in consequence, long resisting, and at length destroying, the mighty conqueror who had so long been the terror of Northern Europe, the astonishment of men knew no bounds. He was celebrated as at once the Solon and Scipio of modern times; and literary servility, vying with great and disinterested admiration, extolled him as one of the greatest heroes and benefactors of his species who had ever appeared among men.

51.

His errors, and

But time, the great dispeller of illusions, whose mighty arm no individual greatness, how great soever, can long withstand, has begun to abate much of this colos- delusion resal reputation. His temper was violent in the garding him. extreme; frequent acts of hideous cruelty, and occasional oppression, signalized his reign: he was often impelled, by illdirected zeal for the advancement of his people, into measures which in reality and in the end retarded their improvement. More than any other man, he did evil that good might come of it. He impelled his people, as he thought, to civilization, though, while launching into the stream, hundreds of thousands perished in the waves. Peter the Great," says Mackintosh, "did not civilize Russia: that undertaking was beyond his genius, great as it was; he only gave the Russians the art of civilized war." The truth was, he attempted what was altogether impracticable. No one man can at once civilize a nation he can only put it in the way of civilization. To complete the fabric must be the work of continued effort and sustained industry during many successive generations. That Peter failed in raising his people to a level with the other nations of Europe in refinement and industry, is no reproach to him. It was impossible to do so in less than several centuries. The real particular in which he erred was, that he de

parted from the national spirit, that he tore up the national institutions, and violated, in numerous instances, the strongest national feelings. He clothed his court and capital in European dresses; but men do not put off old feelings with the costume of their fathers.

Real character

Peter's civilization extended no further than the surface. 52. He succeeded in inducing an extraordinary degree of his changes. of discipline in his army, and the appearance of considerable refinement among his courtiers. He effected no material ameliorations in the condition of his subjects; and by endeavoring to force them at once up to a level with the states of Western Europe, he not only rendered his government unpopular with the rural population, but also prevented his improvements from penetrating the great body of the people. It is easier to remodel an army than change a nation; and the celebrated bon-mot of Diderot, that the Russians were "rotten before they were ripe," is too happy an expression, indicating how much easier it is to introduce the vices than the virtues of civilization among an unlettered people. To this day the civilization of Russia has never descended below the higher ranks; and the efforts of the really patriotic czars who have since wielded the Muscovite scepter, Alexander and Nicholas, have been mainly in abandoning the fictitious career into which Peter turned the people, and the reviving with the old institutions the true spirit and inherent aspirations of the nation. The immense, though less obtrusive success with which their efforts have been attended, and the gradual, though still slow descent of civilization and improvement through the great body of the people, prove the wisdom of the principles on which they have proceeded. Possibly Russia is yet destined to afford another illustration of the truth of Montesquieu's maxim, that no nation ever yet rose to durable greatness but through institutions in harmony with its spirit. Yet was Peter's attempt, though in many respects a mistaken, a great and glorious one: it was the effort of a rude, but lofty and magnanimous mind, which attributes to

mankind in general that vigor and ambition of which it is itself conscious. And without shutting our eyes to his many and serious errors, in charity let us hope that the words of Peter on his death-bed have been realized: "I trust that, in respect of the good I have striven to do my people, God will pardon my sins."

CHAPTER VI.

CAMPAIGN OF 1710.-PASSAGE OF VILLARS'S LINES.-CAPTURE

OF DOUAY, AIRE, BETHUNE, AND ST. VENANT.-LAST CAMPAIGN OF MARLBOROUGH IN 1711.-SECOND PASSAGE OF VILLARS'S LINES.-CAPTURE OF BOUCHAIN.-FALL AND DEATH OF MARL

BOROUGH.

1. Renewal of the

the Hague.

Still exposed

On his arrival in Holland on the 18th of March, 1710, Marlborough again found himself practically involved in the still pending negotiations for peace, negotiations at over which, from the decline of his influence at court, he had ceased to have any real control. to the blasting imputation of seeking to prolong the war for his own private purposes, he was, in reality, doing his utmost to terminate hostilities. As the negotiation with the ostensible plenipotentiaries of the different courts was at an end, though Louis still continued to make private overtures to the Dutch, in the hope of detaching them from the confederacy, Marlborough took advantage of this circumstance to endeavor to effect an accommodation. At his request, the Dutch agent, Petcum, had again returned to Paris in the end of 1709, to resume the negotiation; and the Marlborough Papers contain numerous letters from him to the duke, detailing the progress of the overtures.* On the very day after Marlbor

* Marlborough to the Earl of Sunderland, 8th of Nov., 1709. Disp., iv., 647. COXE, iv., 167.

Y

ough's arrival at the Hague, the plenipotentiaries made their report of the issue of the negotiation; but the views of the parties were still so much at variance, that it was evident no hopes of peace could be entertained. Louis was not yet sufficiently humbled to submit to the arrogant demands of the allies, which went to strip him of nearly all his conquests; and the different powers of the confederacy were each set upon turning the general success of the alliance to their own private advantage.

mands of the

Zenzindorf, on the part of Austria, insisted that not the 2. smallest portion of the Spanish territories in Italy Rigorous de- should be ceded to à prince of the house of Bourallies. bon, and declared the resolution of his Imperial master to perish with arms in his hands rather than submit to a partition which would lead to his inevitable ruin. King Charles expressed the same determination, and contended further for the cession of Roussillon, which had been wrested from Spain since the treaty of the Pyrenees. The Duke of Savoy, who aimed at the acquisition of Sicily from the spoils of the fallen monarch, was equally obstinate for the prosecution of the war. Godolphin, Somers, and the Dutch Pensionary inclined to peace, and were willing to purchase it by the cession of Sicily to Louis; and Marlborough gave this his entire support, provided the evacuation of Spain, the great object of the war, could be secured.* But all their efforts were in vain. The ambitious designs of Austria and Savoy prevailed over their pacific counsels; and we have the valuable authority of De Torcy, who in the former congress had accused the duke of breaking off the negotiation, that in this year the rupture was entirely owing to the efforts of Count Zenzindorf. Marlborough, however, never ceased to long for a termination of hostilities, and took the field with a heavy heart, relieved only by the hope that one more successful cam

* Coxe, iv., 169. LAMBERTI, Vi., 37–49.

t Note to Petcum, August 10, 1710. Marlborough Papers; and COXE, iv., 173.