rough. He assisted at the coronation of their majesties, and was soon after made commander in chief of the English forces sent over to Holland. He acted in that capacity at the battle of Walcourt, in 1689, and gave such extraordinary proofs of his skill, that prince Walleck, speaking in his commendation to king William, declared, that " he saw more into the art of war in a day, than some generals in many years."

In 1690, he was made general of the forces sent to Ireland, where he made the strong garrisons of Cork and Kinsale prisoners of war. The year following, king William shewed the good opinion he had of his conduct, by sending him over to Flanders, to draw the army together against his arrival. All these services, however, did not hinder his being disgraced at court in 1692, in a very surprising manner; for without the least previous notice, he received a message, "that the king had no farther occasion for his services." This strange and unexpected blow, was soon after followed by his being committed to the tower, on an accusation of high treason, which, however, was afterwards found to be a false and malicious report, the authors of which were severely punished.

Marlborough was soon restored to favour, and in 1698 was appointed governor to the Earl of Gloucester, with this extraordinary compliment from king William "My Lord, make him but what you are, and my nephew will be what I want to see him." He continued in favour till the king's death, who, a little before that event, recommended him to Anne, princess of Denmark, as the most proper person to be trusted with the command of the army. Upon the accession of that princess to the throne, in 1704, her majesty, whose principal favourite was Lady Churchill, loaded his lordship with honours. He was elected knight of the garter, appointed captain general of all her majesty's forces, and sent ambassador extraordinary to Holland. She could not have made a better

choice of a general and statesman, for in both these capacities his lordship greatly excelled.

After several conferences about a war, he put himself at the head of the army, where all the other generals had orders to obey him. The earl took the command June 20th 1702, and discerning that the states were made uneasy by the places, which the enemy held on their frontiers, he began with attacking and reducing them. Accordingly, in this single campaign, he made himself master of the castles of Gravenbroeck and Waerts, the towns of Venlo, Ruremond and Stevenswaert, together with the citadel of Liege. These advantages were considerable, and acknowledged as such by the states; but they had like to have been of very short date, for the army separating in the neighbourhood of Liege, Nov. 3d, the earl was taken the next day in his passage by water, by a small party from the garrison of Gueldres; but it being towards night, and the earl insisting upon an old pass given to his brother, was suffered to proceed, and arrived at the Hague, when the army were in the utmost consternation, at the accident, which had befallen him. Upon the close of this campaign, he was created Duke of Marlborough, with a pension of 22,200 dollars per annum, to devolve forever on those enjoying the title of Duke of Marlborough.

The nature of our work, will not suffer us to relate all the military transactions, in which the Duke of Marlborough was engaged. This far, however, may be mentioned, that numerous as they were, they were all successful. In the spring of 1703, the French had a great army in Flanders, in the low countries, and in that part of Germany, which the elector of Cologne had put into their hands, and prodigious preparations were made under the most experienced commanders; but such was the vigilance and activity of the Duke, that he baffled them all. When the campaign was over, he went to Dusseldorf, to meet the late emperor, then styled Charles III. king of

Spain, who made him a present of a sword set with diamonds; soon after which, his grace came over to England.

In April 1704, he again embarked for Holland, where staying about a month, to adjust the necessary steps, he began his march towards the heart of Germany; and at last, on June 21st, very unexpectedly arrived before the strong entrenchments of the enemy at Schellenburgh, whom after an obstinate and bloody conflict, he entirely routed. It was upon this occasion, that he received a letter of thanks from the emperor Leopold written in his own hand, an honour seldom done to any but foreign princes. He followed up this success, till Aug. 2d, when the battle of Blenheim was fought; in consequence of which, the empire of Germany was saved from immediate destruction. Though prince Eugene was joined in command with the Duke, yet the glory of the day was confessedly owing to the latter. The French general Tallard was taken prisoner and sent to England; and 20,000 French or Bavarians were killed, wounded or drowned in the Danube; besides about 13,000 who were taken, and a proportionable number of cannon, artillery, and trophies of war.

After the battle of Blenheim, he received congratulatory letters from most of the potentates of Europe, particularly from the states-general and from the emperor, who desired him to accept of the dignity of a prince of the emprie; which was soon after conferred upon him by the title of prince of Mildenheim in the province of Swabia. After the campaign was ended, he visited the court of Berlin, where by a short negociation, he suspended the disputes between the king of Prussia and the Dutch; and by his wise and conciliatory conduct, caused the whole confedera cy to acknowledge, that he had done the greatest service possible to the common cause. Upon his return to England, the queen received him with marks of the highest esteem, and granted, at the request of

parliament, the manor of Woodstock, to him and his heirs forever.

The next year 1705, he went over to Holland in March, with a design to excute some great schemes, which he had been projecting in the winter. The campaign was attended with some successes, which would have made a considerable figure, in a campaign under any other general; but are scarcely worth mentioning, where the Duke of Marlborough was concerned. After spending some time at the courts of Vienna, Berlin and Hanover, he returned to England towards the close of the year. On the 7th January 1706, the House of Commons came to a resolution to thank the Duke, as well for his prudent negociations, as for his important military services; but notwithstanding this, it very soon appeared, that there was a strong party formed against the war, who, in the prosecution of their object, did not hesitate to bring the conduct, even of Marlborough, the idol of the people, into obloquy and disgrace.

The next year distinguished the Duke, by the victory, which he obtained at the battle of Ramillies, where the enemy had upwards of 8000 killed or wounded, and 6000 taken prisoners. The Duke was twice, here, in the utmost danger; once by a fall from his horse, and a second time by a cannon shot, which took off the head of a gentleman, who was holding the stirrup for him to remount. The advantages gained by this victory, were so far improved, by the vigilance and wisdom of the Duke, that Louvain, Brussels, and even Ghent and Bruges, submitted to King Charles, without a stroke, and Oudenarde surrendered upon the first summons. The city of Antwerp followed this example; so that, in the short space of a fortnight, the Duke reduced all Brabant to acknowledge the title of King Charles. The forces of the allies being about to separate, after this campaign, his Grace went to the Hague, where the proposals, which France had made, for a peace,

were communicated to the ministers of the allies, af ter which he embarked for England.

He arrived in London, Nov. 18th 1706; and, though, at this time, there was a strong party formed against him, at court, yet, the great services he had done the nation, and the personal regard of the queen, procured him an universal good reception. The thanks of both houses of parliament were voted to him, in terms of the highest approbation: the last day of the year was appointed for a general thanksgiving, in which there was this singularity observed, that it was the second thanksgiving within the year, and Blenheim house, which had been erected by her majesty, to perpetuate the celebrity of his fame, was, together with all his honours, by an act of the legis lature, entailed upon the issue of his daughters.

The campaign of the year 1707, proved the most barren one he ever made, which was chiefly owing to a failure on the part of the allies, who began to flag, in supporting the common cause; but, on June 30th, 1708, he defeated the French, at Oudenarde, where they lost 4000 in the field, and about 7000 taken prisoners, and was otherwise so exceedingly successful, that the French king thought fit, in the beginning of 1709, to set on foot a negociation for peace. The house of Commons, upon this occasion, gave an uncommon testimony of their respect for the Duke, by sending their speaker to Brussels, on purpose to compliment him: and, on his first appearance, in the house of Lords, he, likewise, received the thanks of that assembly.

Marshal Villars commanded the French army, in the campaign of 1709; and Lewis XIV. expressed no small hopes of success, from the well known talents of that officer. On the 11th September, however, the allies, under the command of the Duke, forced the French lines at Malplaquet, near Mons, after a bloody action, in which the French lost 15000 men.