51 The defection of Britain saves France, had very nearly succeeded.* The court of Versailles was in despair; the general opinion was, that the king should leave Paris and retire to Blois; and although the proud spirit of Louis recoiled at such a proposal, yet, in taking leave of Marshal Villars, he declared, "Should a disaster occur, I will go to Peronne or St. Quentin, collect all my troops, and with you risk a last effort, determined to perish or save the state."† But the French monarch was spared this last desperate alternative. The defection of the British cabinet saved his throne when all his means of defense were exhausted. Eugene, on opening the cam- May 10. paign on the 1st of May, anxiously inquired of the Duke of Ormond whether he had authority to act vigorously in the campaign, and received an answer that he had the same authority as the Duke of Marlborough, and was prepared to join in attacking the enemy. Preparations were immediately made for forcing the enemy's lines, which covered Quesnoy, previous to an attack on that fortress. But at the very time that this was going on, the work of perfidious defection was consummated. On the 10th of May, Mr. Secretary St. John sent positive orders to Ormond to take no part in any general engagement, as the questions at issue between the contending parties were on the point of adjustment. Intimation of this *La Scarpe une fois passée, toute la province de Picardie fut couverte de partisans ennemies; on vit des hussards Allemands sur les bords de l'Oise, des hardis cavaliers vinrent même à quelquis lieues de Versailles pour effrayer le vieux monarque, dans son palais de Versailles, plein de grandeur et de merveilles.-CAPEFIGUE, Louis XIV., vi., 147, 148. t Mém. de Villars, ii., 197. "Her majesty, my lord, has reason to believe that we shall come to an agreement upon the great article of the union of the monarchies as soon as a courier sent from Versailles to Madrid can return. It is, therefore, the queen's positive command to your grace that you avoid engaging in any siege, or hazarding a battle, till you have further orders from her majesty. I am, at the same time, directed to let your grace know that you are to dis guise the receipt of this order; and her majesty thinks you can not want pretenses for conducting yourself, without owning that which might at present have an ill effect if it was publicly known. P.S.-I had almost forgot to tell your grace that communication is made of this order to the court of France, private order was sent to the court of France, but it was directed to be kept a positive secret from the allied generals. Ormond, upon the receipt of these orders, opened a private correspondence with Villars, informing him that their troops were no longer enemies, and that the future movements of the forces under his command would only be to get forage and provisions. noy, July 16. This correspondence was unknown to Eugene; but circum52. stances soon brought the defection of England to Siege and capture of Ques- light. In the middle of it, the allied forces had passed the Scheldt, and taken post between Noyeller and the Boiase, close to Villars's position. To bring the sincerity of the English to a test, Eugene proposed a general attack on the enemy's lines, which was open and exposed, on the 28th of May. But Ormond declined, requesting the operation might be delayed for a few days. The defection. was now apparent, and the Dutch deputies loudly condemned such dishonorable conduct; but Eugene, anxious to make the most of the presence of the British troops, though their co-operation could no longer be relied on, proposed to besiege Quesnoy, which was laid open by Villars's retreat. Ormond, who felt acutely the painful and discreditable situation in which, without any fault of his own, he was placed, could not refuse, and the investment took place that very day. The operations were conducted by the Dutch and Imperial troops alone; and the town was taken, after a siege of six weeks, on the 16th of July.* 53. dignation cites in the This disgraceful defection on the part of the English government excited, as well it might, the utmost inUniversal in dignation among the allies, and produced mingled which this ex- feelings of shame and mortification among all real allied powers. patriots or men of honor in Great Britain. By abandoning the contest in this manner, when it was on the so that if Marshal de Villars takes, in any private way, notice of it to you, your grace will answer it accordingly.”—Mr. Secretary St. John to the Duke of Ormond, May 10, 1712. BOLINGBROKE's Correspondence, ii., 320. * Eugene to Marlborough, June 9, 1712. COXE, vi., 199. very point of being crowned with success, the English lost the fruit of TEN costly and bloody campaigns, and suffered the war to terminate without attaining the main object for which it had been undertaken. Louis XIV., defeated, and all but ruined, was permitted to retain for his grandson the Spanish succession; and England, victorious and within sight, as it were, of Paris, was content to halt in the career of victory, and lost the opportunity, never to be regained for a century to come, of permanently restraining the ambition of France. It was the same as if, a few days after the battle of Waterloo, England had concluded a separate peace, guaranteeing the throne of Spain to Joseph Bonaparte, and providing only for its not being held also by the Emperor of France. Lord Halifax gave vent to the general indignation of all generous and patriotic men, when he said, in the debate on the address, on the 28th of May, after 54. Speech of Lord Eloquent the peace in the enumerating the proud list of victories which, since the commencement of the war, had attend- House of Peers. ed the arms of England, "But all this pleasing prospect is totally effaced by the orders given to the queen's general not to act offensively against the enemy. I pity that heroic and gallant general, who, on other occasions, took delight to charge the most formidable corps and strongest squadrons, and can not but be uneasy at his being fettered with shackles, and thereby prevented from reaping the glory which he might well expect from leading on troops so long accustomed to conquer. I pity the allies, who have relied upon the aid and friendship of the British nation, perceiving that what they had done at so great an expense of blood and treasure is of no effect, as they will be exposed to the revenge of that power against whom they have been so active. I pity the queen, her royal successors, and the present and future generations of Britain, when they shall find the nation deeply involved in debt, and that the common enemy who occasioned it, though once near being sufficiently humbled, does still triumph, and design their ruin; and are informed that this proceeds from the conduct of the British cabinet, in neglecting to make a right use of those advantages and happy occasions which their own courage and God's blessing had put into their hands."* Marlborough seconded the motion of Halifax in a speech of Marlborough's onding the mo 55. peculiar interest, as the last which he made on the speech in sec- conduct of this eventful war. "Although," said tion of Halifax. he, "the negotiations for peace may be far advanced, yet I can see no reason which should induce the allies or ourselves to remain inactive, and not push on the war with the utmost vigor, as we have incurred the expense of recruiting the army for the service of another year. That army is now in the field; and it has often occurred that a victory or a siege produced good effects and manifold advantages when treaties were still further advanced than in the present negotiation. And as I am of opinion that we should make the most we can for ourselves, the only infallible way to force France to an entire submission is to besiege and occupy Cambray or Arras, and to carry the war into the heart of the kingdom. But as the troops of the enemy are now encamped, it is impossible to execute that design, unless they are withdrawn from their position; and as they can not be reduced to retire from want of provisions, they must be attacked and forced. For the truth of what I say, I appeal to a noble duke (Argyll), whom I rejoice to see in this house, because he knows the country, and is as good a judge of these matters as any person now alive." Argyll, though a bitter personal enemy of Marlborough, thus appealed to, said, "I do indeed know that country, and the situation of the enemy in their present camp, and I agree with the noble duke that it is impossible to remove them without attacking and driving them away; and, until that is effected, neither of the two sieges alluded to can be undertaken. I likewise agree that the capture of these two towns is the most effectual way to carry on the war with advantage, and would be a fatal blow to France."t * Parl. Hist., May 28, 1712. Lockhart Papers, i., 392. the 56. The ministers falsely declare parties to the negotiation. Notwithstanding the creation of twelve peers to swamp Upper House, it is doubtful how the division would have gone, had not Lord Strafford, a cabinet minister, observed, in reply to the charge that the the allies to be British government was about to conclude a separate peace, "Nothing of that nature has ever been intended; for such a peace would be so foolish, villainous, and knavish, that every servant of the queen must answer for it, with his head, to the nation. The allies are acquainted with our proceedings, and satisfied with our terms.” This statement was made by a British minister, in his place in Parliament, on the 28th of May, eighteen days after the private letter had been dispatched from Mr. Secretary St. John to the Duke of Ormond, already quoted, mentioning the private treaty with Louis, enjoining him to keep it secret from the allies, and communicate clandestinely with Villars. But such a declaration, coming from an accredited minister of the crown, produced a great impression, and ministers prevailed by a majority of sixty-eight to forty. In the course of the debate, Earl Poulett let fall such cutting expressions against Marlborough for having, as he alleged, led his troops to certain destruction, in order to profit by the sale of the officers' commissions,* that the duke, without deigning a reply, sent him a challenge on leav ing the house. The agitation, however, of the earl, who was less cool than the iron veteran in the prospect of such a meeting, revealed what was going forward, and, by an order from the queen, the affair was terminated without bloodshed.† 57. Conditions It soon appeared what foundation there was for the assertion of the queen's ministers, that England was engaged in no separate negotiation for a peace On the 6th of June, the outlines of the treaty, which 6th June. afterward became so famous as the PEACE OF UTRECHT, were of the Treaty of Utrecht, * "No one can doubt the Duke of Ormond's bravery; but he is not like a certain general who led troops to the slaughter, to cause a great number of officers to be knocked on the head in a battle, or against stone walls, in order to fill his pockets by the sale of their commissions."-COXE, vi., 196. + Lockhart Papers, i., 392. COXE, vi., 196-199. |