Queen Anne
War Of The Spanish Succession
(1702-1714).
"The master workman was dead," says Burke, "but his work had been
conceived according to the true principles of art, and it had
been executed in his mind." William of Orange was dead; after a
reign incessantly contested, unpopular and stormy, scarcely had
he breathed his last, when all he had done, and desired, was
attacked, censured and disputed on every side. The edifice,
however, was too firmly constructed, was founded upon moral
principles too true, and based upon political necessities too
serious, for the storms of party passion to overthrow. The
coalition of Europe was to survive the loss of its chief; the
liberties of England were forever delivered from the yoke of the
Stuarts.
{94}
Queen Anne was proclaimed without opposition, and but few even of
the Jacobites affected any astonishment at seeing her ascend the
unoccupied throne. Their prince was still a child, and the last
act to which William III. had put his hand was a bill of
attainder against the Pretender, as King James III. of the Court
of St. Germain began to be called in England. The queen had
successively lost her seventeen children; the hope of the
Jacobites changed its nature, and henceforth they confidently
awaited the future.
Anne was thirty-seven years old, her health was poor and her
intelligence limited; she was honest, and sincerely attached to
the Church of England. Although naturally good and universally
popular, grand views or great political and moral considerations
were foreign to her; she never comprehended them, and allowed
herself constantly to be controlled by some favorite that she
frequently changed for frivolous reasons or caprices of
management. These favorites were of both parties, but she showed
a marked predilection for the Tories. The Whigs long governed
during her reign, and to them belongs the honor of having
continued the work begun by William III. Queen Anne, however,
always regarded them with aversion and distrust. In the depths of
her soul she had remained attached to the house of her father;
her Protestant faith alone separated her from that brother whose
birth she had stigmatized. She was timid, yet at the same time
obstinate, indolent, and passionately attached to her royal
prerogatives; unable to strike a great blow against public
sentiment, but henceforth the mistress of England by the
preponderant action of the House of Commons. Her favorites, all
powerful while they were around her, had to learn the limit of
their influence; their personal faults, and the grave errors of
their conduct, were not the only reasons that led to the fall of
the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Soon constrained to rely
upon the Whigs, as they alone seriously desired the war,
Marlborough, but recently Tory and half Jacobite, was to fall
with them.
[Image]
Queen Anne.
{95}
Marlborough was still counted among the Tories, when Anne
ascended the throne; he shared with Lord Godolphin the political
confidence of the queen. The Duchess of Marlborough, haughty,
violent and avaricious, naturally powerful and domineering, as
well over her husband as over the queen, was the intimate friend
of this little council. The influence of the Duke of Marlborough,
as well as public sentiment, induced Anne to favor the war and
fulfil England's engagements. The first speech from the throne
clearly announced her resolution to continue, on this subject,
the policy of King William III. "We cannot encourage our allies
too much in their efforts to destroy the enormous power of
France." Marlborough was sent as envoy extraordinary to the
Hague, to assure the States-General of the intentions of the
queen. As skilful a negotiator as he was great as a general, he
knew from the first how to gain the confidence of Heinsius, and
to give to the European powers a firm assurance of the
maintenance of the Grand Alliance. On the 4th of May, 1702, a
declaration of war was simultaneously promulgated at London,
Vienna, and the Hague. Marlborough was appointed general-in-chief
of the combined English and Dutch forces. After his first
campaign upon the Meuse, although the successes were very
insignificant, Anne raised him to the rank of Duke. She
overwhelmed her favorite with the most lucrative offices.
Finally, to perpetuate the splendor of his house, she demanded
that parliament confer, with the title which she had given to the
illustrious general, a pension of £5,000.
{96}
The houses refused. The queen multiplied her personal favors;
accepted with repugnance, or magnanimously refused at first, and
subsequently reclaimed with avidity. When, in 1712, the Duchess
of Marlborough had forever lost the favor of the queen, she
demanded and obtained all the arrears of a pension of £2,000 that
she had refused from the privy purse of the queen in 1702.
I have not endeavored to recount in detail the campaigns of the
Duke of Marlborough, and the continual efforts that he made to
obtain the assistance of the allied powers, as well as to control
and harmonize their diverse and contradictory wills. Under an
amiable and seductive exterior, Marlborough possessed by nature a
character calm and impassive. He had not only to struggle against
the obstinacy and patriotic restlessness of the Dutch, which all
the zeal and authority of Heinsius could not control, but also
against the slowness of the emperor and the intestine quarrels of
the empire. The campaign of 1703 was constantly hindered by these
petty jealousies. At the beginning of the year 1704, the general
wrote to Godolphin: "I augur so ill of this campaign that I am
extremely discouraged. May God's will be done, but I have great
reasons for anxiety. In all the other campaigns I saw something
definite for the common cause; this year all that I am able to
hope is that some fortunate accident may permit me to arrive at a
good result." Nevertheless it was in the same year, 1704, that
Marlborough, in the 54th year of his age, laid the foundations of
his glory.
{97}
The French commander, Marshal Villars, a braggart and a boaster,
but bold, ingenious and resolute, had gained some successes in
the preceding campaign. In 1704 he was detained in France by the
Camisard insurrection. Marshals Tallard and Marsin commanded the
French armies in Germany, and these were reinforced by the
Elector of Bavaria. The emperor, threatened by a new
insurrection, recalled Prince Eugene from Italy, where the Duke
of Savoy had abandoned Louis XIV. and joined the Grand Alliance;
and Marlborough united his forces with those of the prince by a
rapid march, that Marshal Villeroi endeavored in vain to
intercept.
On the 13th of August the hostile armies encountered each other
between Blenheim and Hochstardt, near the Danube. The opposing
forces were nearly equal, but on the part of the French the
command was divided, and the corps acted separately. It was to
the honor of both the Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough,
that during this long war they always combined their operations
without jealousy or personal intrigue. "We, the Prince Eugene and
I, will never quarrel about our share of the laurels." The prince
had with great difficulty succeeded in conducting his troops to
their assigned post. While this movement was in progress, public
prayers were begun in the allied army. "The English chaplains,"
says Lord Macaulay, "read the service at the head of the English
regiments. The Calvinistic chaplains of the Dutch army, with
heads on which hand of Bishop had never been laid, poured forth
their supplications in front of their countrymen. In the mean
time, the Danes might listen to their Lutheran ministers, and
capuchins might encourage the Austrian squadrons, and pray to the
Virgin for a blessing on the arms of the Holy Roman Empire. The
battle commences. These men, of various religions, all act like
members of one body."
{98}
Marshal Tallard had sustained alone the attack of the English and
Dutch under Marlborough; he was made prisoner; his son was killed
at his side; the cavalry, deprived of their leader and driven by
the enemy, fled in the direction of the Danube. Many officers and
soldiers perished in the stream; the massacre was frightful.
Marsin and the Elector repulsed five successive charges of Prince
Eugene, and succeeded in securing their retreat; but the
electorates of Bavaria and Cologne were lost. Landau was
recaptured by the allies after a siege of two months. The French
army recrossed the Rhine. Alsace was gained, and Germany was
evacuated. "If the success of Prince Eugene had equalled his
merit," said Marlborough, "we would have ended the war in this
campaign."
The return of the Duke of Marlborough to England was a veritable
triumph. Parliament and the queen vied with each other in
generosity towards him. He received as a gift the estate of
Woodstock, which took the name of Blenheim. The foundations of a
magnificent palace were laid. In vain did the Tories, already
envious of the duke, seek to rival his victorious campaign, by
the maritime successes of Sir George Rooke; all eyes were fixed
upon the general, all hope centered on him; his influence in
England was equal to his power upon the continent. "If the duke
gains the same successes in 1705 as he has gained in 1704," said
the Tories, "the constitution of England will be lost." The
discontented were reassured.
The brilliant results of the campaign of 1705, in Spain, under
the Earl of Peterborough (formerly Lord Mordaunt), were
counteracted, in Germany, by the internal discords of the Grand
Alliance. Masters of Gibraltar since 1704, the English, in 1705,
seized Barcelona. Bold, enterprising and peculiar, but of
brilliant personal valor, Peterborough had taken possession of
Barcelona in spite of his lieutenants and his soldiers. He
rallied and led back to the assault the flying troops. Galloping
to meet them and flourishing a half broken pike in his hand, he
cried, "Return, and follow me, if you do not want the eternal
infamy of having deserted your post and abandoned your general."
{99}
"We have been the object of a miracle," wrote he to the Duchess
of Marlborough. "I know what was the temper of our nation,
especially during the month of November. I believe, however, that
one ought not to complain, but we are as poor as church mice,
without money, and miracles are not sufficient."
In 1706 alternate successes and reverses had successively
delivered Madrid to the princely competitors who disputed the
throne of Spain. Peterborough found at the head of the troops of
King Philip V., his compatriot, the Duke of Berwick. This
nobleman was often engaged, for the service of his party or his
family, in enterprises which did not become his taciturn honesty.
He was faithfully devoted to the service of King Louis XIV.,
although never a favorite with his grandson, and still less
pleasing to the young Queen, Marie Gabrielle, second daughter of
the Duke of Savoy.
Lord Peterborough shared in the same manner the dislike of the
Archduke Charles. "I would not accept my safety from the hands of
my Lord Peterborough," said the Austrian Prince.--"What fools we
are to fight for such imbeciles!" bitterly replied the English
General.
The defeat at Blenheim, in 1704, was a first and terrible blow to
the power of Louis XIV., as well as to the military prestige of
France. The defeat at Ramillies, on the 23rd of May, 1706, was a
second step towards ruin. The personal attachment of the king had
always blinded him regarding the military talents of Villeroi.
Defeated in Italy by Prince Eugene, Villeroi, as presumptuous as
unskilful, hoped to distinguish himself before Marlborough.
{100}
"All the army long for battle. I know that it is the wish of your
Majesty," wrote the marshal to Louis XIV., after his check. "How
can I prevent exposing myself to an engagement which I believe
expedient?" His lieutenants differed with him; they conjured him
to change his order of battle. The troops engaged without
confidence. The Bavarians fled within an hour; the French, heroic
as at Blenheim, realizing the blunders of their commander, soon
followed their example. The rout was complete, the disorder
indescribable. Villeroi did not stop until he was under the walls
of Brussels. He was soon obliged to evacuate that place. The Duke
of Marlborough entered it in the middle of October, master of
two-thirds of Belgium. The emperor offered to the victorious
general the government of the Low Countries. Marlborough greatly
desired to accept it, but the visible opposition of the
Hollanders prevented him. "Assure the States that I have no
desire to give them any embarrassment," wrote he to Heinsius;
"since they do not think it expedient, I willingly decline to
accept this commission." Marshal Villeroi was recalled. "No more
happiness at our age," said the king with great kindness. The
Duke de Vendôme was charged with the command of the army in
Flanders, "in the hope that he would infuse that spirit of
strength and audacity natural to the French nation," said Louis
XIV. "All the world here is ready to take off its hat when the
name of the Duke of Marlborough is mentioned," wrote Vendôme; "if
the soldiers and the cavaliers are of the same mind, then one
might as well take leave at once; but I hope to find better
material."
{101}
All the efforts of Vendôme were not able to prevent the loss of
Ménin, of Ath, and of Dendermonde. Prince Eugene defeated the
Duke of Orleans before Turin on the 7th of September. Marshal
Marsin was killed. "It is impossible to express the joy that I
feel," said Marlborough, in a letter to his wife, "for I more
than esteem, I love the Prince Eugene. This brilliant action
ought to place France low enough to permit us, if our friends
consent to continue the war for another year, to conclude a peace
which will give us repose to the end of our days. But for the
present I do not comprehend the Dutch."
The States-General had, in fact, received overtures from Louis
XIV., which inclined them towards peace. "It is said publicly at
the Hague," wrote Godolphin, "that France is humbled as much as
is desirable, and that if the war is prolonged, it will end in
making England stronger than she ought to be. All that they have
as yet proposed, is a treaty of partition, dishonorable to the
allies and deplorable for the future." War made the glory, the
fortune and the power of the Duke of Marlborough, as well as of
Prince Eugene; both influenced Heinsius, who had remained
faithful to the policy of William III., but without that grandeur
and breadth of mind which knows how to measure advantages with
justice and moderation. The disputes of the States finally ended
in the republic remaining faithful to the allies, and deciding
not to accept any negotiation without their concurrence. Public
opinion was nevertheless modified in Holland. "The Burgomasters
of Amsterdam have passed two hours at my house this morning,
endeavoring to convince me of the necessity of a prompt peace,"
wrote Marlborough, in 1708; "this, on the part of the most
zealous Hollanders, has greatly disturbed me."
{102}
For a time the affairs of France, closely allied to those of
Spain, appeared to improve in that kingdom; the victory at
Almanza, won on the 13th of April, 1707, by Marshal Berwick over
the Anglo-Portuguese army, and the taking of Lerida, which
capitulated on the 11th of November, to the Duke of Orleans,
revived the hopes of the partisans of Philip V., and turned
popular sentiment in his favor. Lord Peterborough, dissatisfied
and irritated, returned to England. Lord Galway, son of the old
Marquis of Ruvigny, and like him a refugee in England, took
command of the English troops. The campaigns of the Duke of
Marlborough and Prince Eugene had not been brilliant. The Prince
and the Duke of Savoy had been repulsed before Toulon, and the
uprising of the peasants compelled them to precipitately evacuate
Provence. Marshal Villars had driven back the Margrave of
Bayreuth from the banks of the Rhine, and had advanced into
Swabia; he also ravaged the Palatinate. All the negotiations of
Marlborough in Sweden, at Vienna and at Berlin, had not been able
to bring about, in time, a combined action of the allied forces;
murmurs of dissatisfaction were heard in England as well as in
Holland. The enemies of Marlborough accused him of designedly
prolonging the war, by his insatiable avariciousness. The
popularity of the duchess with the queen was visibly declining;
all the audacity and cleverness of the great general were
scarcely sufficient to turn aside parliamentary attacks.
Godolphin was threatened in his power. "I am discouraged," wrote
Marlborough to his wife, "and I am astonished at the courage of
the Lord Treasurer. If I was treated as he is--and I probably
will be--and was always upon the point of seeing myself abandoned
by the Whigs, I would not remain at my post for all that the
world might offer; I would not be the first to repent. When I say
this I know well that while the war lasts, I ought to retain my
command; but I do not wish to put my hand to another thing."
{103}
The campaign of 1708 opened badly. Ghent and Bruges opened their
gates to the young prince, the Duke of Burgundy. "The States have
used this country so ill," said Marlborough, "that all the towns
are disposed to follow the example of Ghent when the opportunity
offers."
Prince Eugene advanced to support Marlborough, but he set out too
late; the Elector of Bavaria obstructed his march. "I do not wish
to speak ill of Prince Eugene," said Marlborough, "but he will
arrive at the rendezvous on the Moselle ten days too late." The
English were unsupported when they encountered the French army in
front of Kidenarde. The battle commenced without the presence of
the Duke of Burgundy, who received the news too late. Vendôme,
the commanding general, was defeated. Marlborough proposed to
carry the war into France. Prince Eugene, and the deputies of the
States-General, did not approve of the boldness of the project.
The allies besieged Lille. Marshal Boufflers held the city until
the 23rd of October, and the citadel until the 9th of December,
without receiving any succor. When he surrendered. Prince Eugene
permitted him to march out, with all the honors of war. Ghent and
Bruges were delivered into the hands of the imperialists. "We
have committed folly upon folly in this campaign," says Marshal
Berwick, in his Memoirs, "but notwithstanding even this, if we
had not abandoned Ghent and Bruges we would have had easy work
the next year." The Low Countries were lost, and the French
frontiers were encroached upon by the loss of Lille. The Duke of
Orleans, weary of his forced inactivity in Spain, and suspected
at the court of Philip V., resigned his command: he returned to
France. The English Admiral Leake, and General Stanhope, took
possession of Sardinia, the island of Minorca, and Port-Mahon.
The archduke was master of the islands and of the Mediterranean
sea. For a year past Philip V. had not possessed an inch of land
in Italy. The exhaustion and misery of France were extreme, and
Louis XIV. finally decided to negotiate for peace.
{104}
He first addressed himself to Holland, where there existed a
general desire for peace; the war could bring the Dutch no other
profit than a guarantee of security. The king offered this. "In
the midst of the sufferings that hostilities had inflicted upon
commerce, there was reason to hope," wrote the Marquis of Torcy,
in his Memoirs, "that the grand pensionary, regarding principally
the interests of his country, would desire the end of a war, the
burden of which fell upon his own country. Authorized by the
republic, he had no reason to fear any secret intrigue, nor any
cabal to displace him from a post which he occupied to the
satisfaction of his masters, and in which he conducted himself
with moderation. Although the united provinces bore the principal
weight of the war, the emperor alone gathered the fruits. It is
said that the Dutch guarded the Temple of Peace and held the keys
in their hands."
Torcy had counted too much upon the moderation of Heinsius. In
vain President Rouillé, charged with the secret negotiations,
proposed to abandon Spain, provided Naples, Sardinia and Sicily
were assured to Philip V.: Louis XIV. thereby came back to the
second treaty of partition, but recently concluded with the
United Provinces, as well as with England. Heinsius, faithful to
the Grand Alliance, ardent to avenge the past injuries of the
republic, and justly suspicious regarding France, did not
comprehend that he was destroying the work of William III., and
the European equilibrium, if he assured to the house of Austria
the preponderance of which he deprived the house of Bourbon; the
conditions that he exacted, through his delegates, were such that
Rouillé scarcely dared transmit them to Versailles.
{105}
Each of the allies desired a share of the spoils. England claimed
Dunkirk, Germany desired Strasbourg and the re-establishment of
the Peace of Westphalia; Victor Amadeus wanted to recover Nice
and Savoy, and the Dutch demanded that to the barrier stipulated
at Reyswick should be added, Lille, Condé and Tournay. "The king
will break off the negotiations, sooner than accept such
exorbitant conditions," said the deputy of the States-General to
Marlborough.--"So much the worse for France," replied the English
general; "for the campaign once begun, things will go further
than the king thinks. The allies will never relax their first
demands."
The Duke was assured of the fidelity of his allies--he had made a
trip to England. When he returned to the Hague, the Marquis of
Torcy himself had arrived to pursue the negotiations, and was the
bearer of new concessions. The king offered to recognize Queen
Anne, to cede Strasbourg and Lille, and to content himself with
Naples for his grandson. Marlborough protested his pacific
intentions: "You also ought to desire peace for France," said he
to the minister of Louis XIV.; "it is necessary to conclude it as
soon as possible. But if you seriously desire it, be assured that
it is necessary to renounce absolutely the Spanish monarchy; on
this point my compatriots are unanimous. The English will never
permit Naples and Sicily, or even one of those two kingdoms, to
remain in the hands of a Bourbon. An English minister would not
dare even to propose it."
{106}
The Duke insisted that the Pretender should be compelled to leave
France. An attempted descent upon Scotland, assisted by Louis
XIV., although unsuccessful, owing to the bad weather, had
excited the anger of the Whig ministry, and they demanded, in the
negotiations, that France should cease to give her support to the
young prince. "I would like to serve him," said Marlborough to
Torcy--who had not left him in ignorance of the intrigues that
were taking place at the Court of St. Germain; "he is the son of
a king for whom I would have given my life," and he added: "my
colleague Lord Townshend is a Whig: in his presence I am obliged
to speak as the most of the English; but I would like, with all
my heart, to serve the Prince of Wales. I sincerely believe it
would be to his advantage, at this time, to leave France. Is not
the success of the allies a miracle of Providence? When has it
happened before that eight nations have spoken and acted as one
man?"
Torcy had gone to the last limits of concession; he had renounced
Sicily as well as Naples. The allies claimed Alsace, certain
towns in Dauphiné and Provence, and they exacted that the
conditions of the peace were to be executed during the truce of
two months, that they were about to accord; besides Louis XIV.
was to deliver immediately, to Holland, in case Philip V. refused
to abdicate, three fortified cities. To this dishonorable
proposition, the young king replied: "God has given me the crown
of Spain; and while there remains a drop of blood in my veins, I
will defend it."
The demands of the allies passed all reasonable bounds; imprudent
even for the interests of Europe as well as for the maintenance
of a durable peace, their propositions deeply wounded royal honor
and patriotic sentiment in France and Spain. The prudent sagacity
of William III. would have preserved the powers from this grave
error, but the political obstinacy of Heinsius, the decided
hatreds of Prince Eugene, and the avidity of the Duke of
Marlborough for glory and fortune, served the cause that they at
heart desired to ruin forever.
{107}
Louis XIV. broke off negotiations and made a final effort. "If I
must continue the war," said he, "I will contend against my
enemies rather than against my own family." He wrote to all the
governors of the provinces and cities:
"Gentlemen: The hope of an early peace has been so generally
spread abroad in my kingdom, that I believe it due to the
fidelity that my people have testified towards me, during the
entire course of my reign, that I inform them of the reasons
which still prevent their enjoying that repose which I had
designed to procure for them. In order to re-establish peace, I
would have accepted conditions strongly opposed to the safety
of my frontier provinces; but the more readiness I have shown,
and the more desire I have manifested to dissipate the fears of
my power and of my designs that my enemies affect to entertain,
the more they have multiplied their pretensions, refusing to
make any other engagement than to discontinue all acts of
hostility until the first of August, and reserving to
themselves the liberty of then appealing to arms, if the King
of Spain, my grandson, persists in his resolution to defend the
crown which God has given him. Such a resolution is more
dangerous to my people than war, for it assures to the enemy
advantages more considerable than they would be able to gain by
their armies. As I put my confidence in the protection of God,
and as I hope the purity of my intentions will draw his
benediction upon my arms, I wish my people to know that they
would immediately enjoy peace if it depended only upon my will
to procure for them a blessing that they so reasonably desire;
but that it is necessary to acquire it by new efforts, since
the enormous concessions that I would have accorded are useless
for the re-establishment of the public peace.
Louis."
{108}
France might have reproached Louis XIV. for the arrogance which
had drawn her, with him, to the borders of an abyss. Intoxicated
as well as the monarch by an insensate ardor for glory, the
French people had long served the royal passions. They cruelly
expiated their faults, without however allowing themselves to be
overwhelmed by their misfortunes. In France, as well as in Spain,
the people and the army nobly responded to the appeals of the
sovereigns. "It is a miracle that the firmness and the virtue of
the soldier survives the sufferings of hunger," said Marshal
Villars, who took command of the French army in the Low
Countries. He encountered near Malplaquet, on the 11th of
September, 1709, Prince Eugene and Marlborough, who had just
taken possession of Tournay. In vain did Villars, for many days,
implore the king for permission to give battle. When finally, to
his great joy, the orders were given to engage the enemy, his
troops were so eager for the combat that they threw away the
rations which had just been distributed to them. "Vive le Roi!
Vive le marechal!" cried the soldiers. Villars intrenched himself
outside of a woods. "So we have still to fight against moles,"
angrily said Prince Eugene.
During the action Marshal Villars was seriously wounded. "I had
my wound dressed upon the field, and placed myself upon a chair
to give my orders," wrote he in his Memoirs, "but the pain caused
me a swoon, which lasted so long that I was borne unconsciously
to Quesnoy." Prince Eugene, also wounded, while attacking the
centre of the French army, refused all care. "There will be time
enough for that this evening, if I survive," said he calmly. He
remained on his horse. Marshal Boufflers, who had served thus far
as a volunteer, took the command of the French army. Its defeat
was complete, although glorious. The retreat was conducted like a
parade. The allies lost twenty thousand men. "If God vouchsafe
that we should lose such another battle," wrote Villars to Louis
XIV., "your Majesty could count your enemies destroyed." The king
was not deceived; but he sadly renewed the negotiations by
sending Marshal Uxelles, and the Abbé Polignac to Gertruydenberg.
{109}
This new victory elated the allies. Heinsius, charged with the
conduct of the conferences, maintained his propositions. "The
States-General were then the arbitors of Europe," wrote Torcy, in
his Memoirs, "but they were so dazzled by the excess of glory to
which the allies had raised them that they would not suffer it to
be said to them that they were working for the aggrandizement of
Austria and England."--"It is evident that you are not accustomed
to conquer," bitterly remarked the Abbé Polignac to the Holland
delegates. The king consented to give guarantees to engage his
grandson to abdicate; he promised, in case of refusal, not only
to sustain him no longer, but to furnish the allies a monthly
subsidy of a million francs, and to grant a passage over French
territory. He accepted the cession of Alsace and Lorraine, and
the return of the three bishoprics to the empire. The abdication
of Philip V. was to be assured, or else Louis XIV. was to aid, by
force of arms, in dethroning him. The just pride of the king and
of the father, revolted against this impudence, and severe
ultimatum. The King of Spain absolutely refused all concessions.
"Whatever may be the misfortunes which await me," wrote he to his
grandfather, "I prefer to submit myself to whatever God may
decide for me in battle, to deciding for myself by consenting to
an accommodation which would force me to abandon a people upon
whom my reverses, up to this time, have produced no other effect
than to augment their zeal and their affection for me."
{110}
Louis XIV. withdrew his propositions; the conferences at
Gertruydenberg were abandoned on the 25th of July, 1710. The king
was no longer able to assist his grandson, but he sent Vendôme.
On the 10th of December, the French general, constantly defeated
during the first part of the campaign, gained over the Austrian
contingent of the archduke, a disputed victory, at Villa Viciosa.
Count Staremberg, who commanded, spiked his cannon, and retired,
while the young king slept upon the field of battle. The allies
now held only Cattalona. In vain had General Stanhope recently
led the archduke to Madrid. "I was ordered to conduct him there,"
said he; "when he is once there, may God, or the devil maintain
him there, or drive him out--that is not my business."
Stanhope had judged well the sentiments of the Spanish people,
more and more attached to Philip V., and faithful to his cause;
neither was he deceived regarding the position that the military
and political successes--that England owed, above all, to the
Duke of Marlborough--had assured to her in Europe. Long charged
with the burden of the war, England had become, by her close
alliance with the Dutch, as well as by her proper predominance,
the veritable mistress of peace or war in Europe. "Our Henry and
our Edward have left behind them an immortal renown," said
Stanhope to the House of Lords, "because they humiliated and
conquered the power of France. It is the glory of Queen Elizabeth
to have humbled the pride of Spain. Turn by turn these two great
monarchies have aspired to an universal domination in Europe;
both have been upon the point of obtaining it, in spite of their
mutual hostility, but no one had foreseen that an effectual
resistance could be opposed to them in Europe, if the two
monarchies were united. We have lived long enough to see these
two formidable powers threatening, at the same time, all the
liberties of Europe. Your Majesty was destined to struggle
against these united forces. They have been attacked and
compelled to ask for peace."
{111}
It was in fact from England that this peace, so desired by France
and Spain, and now become indispensable to both powers, was to
emanate. The great Whig ministry had been, for a long time,
losing favor; the Queen was at length weary of the avidity and
hauteur of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. New favorites
cleverly alienated her and led her back to the friends of her
youth. The Tories replaced the Whigs in power. I will soon tell
by what maneuvres this cause was served. I wish here only to
indicate the political modifications which already made peace
foreseen. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Harley, subsequently
Duke of Oxford, recently become a Tory, with no other passion
than personal ambition; and the Secretary of State, St. John,
known in history under the name of Bolingbroke, Jacobite to the
depth of his soul, by restlessness of mind and taste for
intrigue, equally urged England forward in the road to peace. The
Abbé Gautier, but recently chaplain to Marshal Tallard, and now
residing in England, was charged with a mission to Torcy at
Versailles. "Do you wish for peace?" said the abbé to him. "I
come to bring you the means of obtaining it, and of concluding
it, independently of Holland--unworthy of the kindness of the
king, and of the honor he has shown in addressing her regarding
the pacification of Europe." "To ask a minister of his Majesty,
if he desires peace," replied Torcy, "is to ask a dying man
whether he would wish to be cured."
Negotiations were secretly opened with the English cabinet, and
were often more confidential on the part of Harley and
Bolingbroke than seemed compatible with the fidelity due to their
sovereign, or with the engagements of England with her allies.
{112}
The end was as reasonable as just; but the means employed to
arrive at it were not indisputable. The Emperor Joseph had just
died, leaving only daughters; the elevation of the Archduke
Charles thenceforth threatened Europe with the preponderance of
the house of Austria. England had the honor of first
comprehending the danger, and of playing that part of moderator,
which Holland had so recently exercised, and which had given her
so much grandeur. The natural taste of Harley for secret
intrigues prolonged the mystery for some time; inferior agents
went back and forth between London and Versailles. The poet
Prior, and a deputy from Rouen, named Mesnager, had the honor of
seeing the queen in person. The fatal effects of the war had
oftened saddened her. "It is a good work," said she, to the
modest French plenipotentiary; "I pray God to give you his
assistance; I hold the shedding of blood in horror."
The war, nevertheless, continued, and Marlborough remained at the
head of the allied forces, notwithstanding the disgrace of his
friends, and the withdrawal of his wife, who had definitively
left the court, not however without efforts, as audacious as
violent, to regain the influence which she so recently exercised
over the queen. The campaign of 1711 had been unimportant;
conferences were opened at Utrecht, and preliminaries were signed
with England: they assured to English commerce immense
advantages, besides the cession of Newfoundland and the remainder
of the French territory in Acadia. When the communication was
made to Holland, the negotiators prudently withheld some
articles. Public feeling at the Hague was nevertheless aroused;
the States-General sent a delegate to officially protest.
{113}
"England has borne the brunt of the war," bluntly replied St.
John; "it is but just that she should be at the head of the
parleys for peace." The Count of Gallas, ambassador of the
emperor at London, was so incensed by the tone of the articles
that he had them published immediately, in one of the daily
journals. Queen Anne forbade his appearance at court. The
preliminaries were unpopular, and the guarantees offered by
France did not appear sufficient.
"On Friday the peace will be attacked in Parliament," wrote St.
John, on the eve of the opening of the session. "I am very easy.
I detest the remote dangers which threaten me; we will receive
their fire and put them to rout once for all." The speech from
the throne announced the opening of the conferences, "in spite of
the efforts of those who take pleasure in war."
The queen created twelve new peers, in order to assure, in the
upper house, a pacific majority.
In less than one year, from the 14th of April, 1711, to the 8th
of March, 1712, the royal house of France was overwhelmed by sad
afflictions of Providence. Louis XIV. lost by violent and rapid
sicknesses his son, the Grand Dauphin; and the Duke of Burgundy,
his grandson. Six days later the Duchess of Burgundy, the
charming Marie Adelaide of Savoy; and finally his great grandson,
the Duke of Brittany, four years of age. The little Duke of
Anjou, only an infant in the cradle, and feeble and sickly, now
represented the eldest branch of the House of Bourbon, and was to
become the King, Louis XV. The allies became troubled, and added
to their diplomatic exactions the renunciation by Philip V. of
the crown of France. The good offices of England were not lacking
to the old king, now overwhelmed by the weight of so many
misfortunes, and who attracted the admiration of even his
enemies, by the courageous firmness of his attitude.
{114}
Louis XIV. wrote to his grandson: "You will be informed of the
proposals of England, that you renounce the rights of your birth
to preserve the crown of Spain and the Indies, or renounce the
monarchy of Spain to preserve your rights to the succession of
France, and receive in exchange for the kingdom of Spain, the
kingdoms of Sicily and Naples, the states of the Duke of Savoy,
Mont Ferrat and Mantua, permitting the Duke of Savoy to succeed
you in Spain. I avow that notwithstanding the disproportion of
the states, I have been sensibly touched by thinking that you
would continue to reign, and that I might always regard you as my
successor; assured if the Dauphin lives, of a regent accustomed
to command, capable of maintaining order in my kingdom, and of
stifling cabals. If this child should die, as his feeble
appearance gives me but too much reason to believe, you will
receive the succession according to the order of your birth, and
I would have this consolation of leaving to my people a virtuous
king, capable of commanding them, and who, on succeeding me,
would unite to the crown of France, states as considerable as
Naples, Savoy, Piedmont and Mont Ferrat. If gratitude and
tenderness for your subjects are powerful motives inducing you to
remain with them, I can say that you owe me the same sentiments.
You owe them to your house, and to your country, before you owe
them to Spain. All that I am able to do is to leave you the
choice; the necessity of concluding the peace becomes each day
more urgent."
{115}
The English negotiators were without doubt assured in advance of
the choice of the King of Spain, when they allowed Louis XIV. to
expect such enormous concessions. Philip V. did not hesitate an
instant. He renounced all his rights to the succession of the
throne of France, and the Cortes solemnly ratified his decision.
"I will live and die a Spaniard," said the young king.
The English required that the Duke of Berry and the Duke of
Orleans abandon their rights to the crown of Spain. The peace was
the object of violent attacks in the English Parliament, above
all in the House of Lords. Marlborough vigorously defended
himself from having been hostile to it. "I can declare with a
safe conscience," said he, "in the presence of her Majesty, of
this illustrious assembly, and of the Supreme Being, who is
infinitely above all the powers upon earth, and before whom,
according to the ordinary course of nature, I must soon appear,
to give an account of my actions, that I was ever desirous of a
safe, honorable and lasting peace; and I was always very far from
any design of prolonging the war for my own private advantage, as
my enemies have most falsely insinuated. But at the same time, I
must take the liberty to declare, that I can by no means give in
to the measures that have lately been taken to enter into a
negotiation of peace with France, upon the foot of the seven
preliminary articles. I am of the same opinion with the rest of
the allies, that the safety and liberties of Europe would be in
imminent danger, if Spain and the West Indies were left to the
House of Bourbon."
The enemies of Marlborough were powerful around the queen, and
also in the House of Commons. His military successes had given
him a strength that it was necessary to take from him, at all
hazards; his pecuniary avidity and the malversations of which he
was suspected furnished a ready arm against him. He was accused
before Parliament, and was at the same time deprived of all his
offices, "in order," said the official note, "that the inquiry
might be impartial and free." The Duke of Ormond, honest but
feeble, and popular but without great military talents, was given
the command of the army.
{116}
The commotion was great among the allies. Prince Eugene himself
came to England, eager to assist his companion-in-arms. The queen
received him coldly, would accord him no private interview,
excusing herself on the plea of ill-health, and sent him to her
ministers. When the great Austrian general returned to the
continent, recalled by the necessities of the war, which had
recommenced in the spring of 1712, in spite of the negotiations,
he soon learned that the Duke of Ormond had received orders to
take no part in the military operations. St. John wrote to the
duke, on the 10th of May: "Her Majesty has reason to believe that
we shall come to an agreement upon the great article of the union
of the two 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."
The duke was informed, at the same time, that these instructions
were to be kept secret from Prince Eugene, but were nevertheless
known to Marshal Villars.
It was virtually an armistice that England accorded to France,
and this could not long be concealed. Prince Eugene began the
siege of Quesnoy, and urged Ormond to take part; the latter
finally consented. "My Lord Ormond was not authorized to risk a
battle," said the Lord Treasurer Harley to the House of Commons,
"but he could not refuse to sustain a siege." Marlborough arose:
"I ask," said he, "how it is possible to reconcile the declaration
of my Lord Treasurer with the laws of war, for it is impossible
to undertake a siege without risking a battle; in case the enemy
sought to succor the place, there would remain no other
alternative than to shamefully raise the siege."
{117}
An armistice was signed with France. Orders were given to the
Duke of Ormond to withdraw from the allied army, and to take
possession of Dunkirk--placed as security in the hands of the
English. The auxiliary regiments, recently in the pay of England,
declared their intention of remaining in the service of the
emperor. A certain discontent manifested itself among the English
troops. The queen solemnly communicated to the two houses the
conditions upon which she hoped to conclude peace. "I will
neglect nothing to bring the negotiations to a happy and prompt
issue," said her Majesty, "and I count upon your entire
confidence and loyal co-operation."
The clever maneuvres of Harley and St. John, in Parliament, were
crowned with success. Notwithstanding a protest from Marlborough,
Godolphin, and some other peers, addresses favorable to the
peace, were passed in both houses.
Louis XIV. had confided to Marshal Villars the last army and the
last hopes of the French monarchy. When taking leave at Marley,
the old king said: "You see my state. There are few examples such
as mine, where one has lost in the same week, a grandson, a
grand-daughter, and their child, all of very great promise and
very tenderly loved. God punishes me, and I have well merited it.
But I must suspend my griefs concerning my domestic misfortunes
and see what can be done to prevent those which threaten the
kingdom. If reverses happen to the army which you command, listen
to what I propose; afterwards give me your opinion. I would go to
Peronne or St. Quentin, mass there all my troops, and with you,
make a last effort to save the state, or perish together. I will
never consent to allow the enemy to approach my capital."
{118}
Louis XIV. was not deceived regarding the plans of his
adversaries. Although enfeebled by the withdrawal of the English,
Prince Eugene, who had taken Quesnoy on the 3rd of July, proposed
to follow the former plan of the Duke of Marlborough, and to
resolutely advance into the heart of France. Marshal Villars
placed himself before him upon the road from Marchiennes to
Landrecies, "the road to Paris," said the imperialists. He threw
bridges over the Escaut, and on the 23rd of July, 1712, crossed
the stream between Ponchain and Denain. The Duke of Albemarle, at
the head of seventeen battalions of auxiliary troops, commanded
this small town. Prince Eugene advanced by forced marches to
relieve Denain. Villars lost no time in preparation: "We have
only to make fascines," said he; "the first body of our men who
shall fall in the trench, will hold the place for us."
Prince Eugene was unable to cross the Escaut, guarded by the
French. Denain was taken under his very eyes. "I had not taken
twenty steps in the town, when the Duke of Albemarle, and six or
seven lieutenant-generals of the Emperor, halted my horse," says
the Marshal in his Memoirs. The allies retreated. Marchiennes was
invested by De Broglie, and Prince Eugene was unable to save it.
His troops raised the siege of Landrecies. The Marshal seized
Douai and recaptured Quesnoy and Ponchain. The imperialist, who
had been unable to accomplish anything, retired towards Brussels.
The fortune of war had once again inclined victory to the side of
France; she profited by it to obtain an honorable peace. "The
time to flatter the pride of the Dutch is past," wrote Louis XIV.
to his plenipotentiaries at Utrecht; "but it is necessary, in
treating with them, in good faith, that it be with a becoming
dignity."
{119}
The delegates of the States-General themselves comprehended the
necessities of the situation, and henceforth they also desired
peace. "We take the position that the Dutch held at
Gertruydenberg, and they take ours," said Cardinal Polignac: "it
is a complete revenge."--"Gentlemen, we will treat for peace in
your country, for you, and without you," said the French to the
Dutch deputies. Heinsius had not known, in 1709, how to shake off
the influence of Marlborough and of Prince Eugene, in order to
take the initiative in a peace necessary to Europe; and in
consequence of this ignorance he had delivered this power into
the hands of Harley and St. John. Henceforth the history of
Holland, as a great power, was ended. She owed her liberty, her
independence, and her influence in Europe, to the superior men
who had so long directed her destinies. William the Silent, John
De Witt, and William III. were no more; able and faithful as
Heinsius had been, he nevertheless was compelled to arrest the
progress and glory of his country at that threshold of grandeur
which God alone is able to pass. With the development of material
resources, the day of small countries passes forever.
The peace which was signed at Utrecht on the 11th of April, 1713,
and of which St. John--recently made Viscount
Bolingbroke--determined the final conditions, in a journey which
he made to Paris, has been often and bitterly attacked. It was
concluded by France, England, the United Provinces, Portugal, the
King of Prussia, and the Duke of Savoy. Louis XIV. consented to
recognize the Protestant succession in the House of Hanover,
although the Elector still refused to separate himself from the
Emperor, and the Pretender was to leave France. This was a great
bitterness for the king; the difficulty was aggravated by the
obstinacy of the Chevalier St. George, who desired to live at
Fontainebleau. "Let M. de Torcy recall his journey to the Hague,"
said Bolingbroke, "and let him compare the plans of 1709 and
1712."
{120}
England kept Gibraltar and Minorca; the fortifications of Dunkirk
were to be razed. Sicily was given to the Duke of Savoy. Louis
XIV. regained Lille and some cities in Flanders, by fortifying
the barriers of the Dutch. The King of Spain protested for some
days, but finally signed. The Emperor and the Empire alone
resisted; the taking of Speyer, of Kaiserlautern, of Laudan and
of Friburg--seized one after the other by Villars, triumphed over
the anger and pretensions of the Germans. Villars and Prince
Eugene negotiated together at Radstadt. On the 6th of March,
1714, peace was finally signed. All Europe was once more at
peace. The terms of the treaty were more favorable to France than
had been expected, and were glorious and profitable for England,
notwithstanding the attacks of the Whigs and their violent
protestations against the Treaty of Commerce.
The peace assured for a time the equilibrium and liberties of
Europe, as well as the preponderance of England in the councils
of Europe. It had been concluded by a bold decision on the part
of the English ministry, to the detriment and against the will of
their allies. The dangers which were permitted to still remain,
were more apparent than real, but the Treaty of Commerce was
unmistakably favorable to France. French wines threatened to
replace the Portuguese. The city of London was violently
agitated, and the bill for the execution of the treaty was
rejected, on the 18th of June, 1713, by a majority of nine.
The address of the Queen, on the dissolution of Parliament,
showed great anger. Triumphant in war with the Whigs, and in
politics with the Tories, Queen Anne nevertheless failed on a
commercial question before her Parliament. It was the precursory
symptom of a great disquietude and profound distrust.
{121}
The general elections took place in August, 1713. The country
vaguely felt, without fully realizing the serious reasons, the
danger concealed under the indolence of the Earl of Oxford and
the intrigues of Lord Bolingbroke, which threatened one of the
questions which had gravely occupied it for fifteen years.
I have desired to recount without interruption the events of the
continental war, and that series of successes which carried
England to the summit of power and influence in Europe. I have
shown her powerful enough to sustain the struggle against Louis
XIV., and wise enough to put an end, for a time, to the evils
which her people endured, without exacting the ruin of her
enemies. I have not wished to mix in this recital the
complications of her internal policy: active and powerful
regarding the military affairs of Europe, while the Whigs
remained and Marlborough was at the head of the armies, but
without serious effect upon the fate of Europe. The Tories gave
peace to France; this was their supreme effort and triumph. The
two great internal questions which agitated the reign of Queen
Anne: the Protestant succession and the political union of
Scotland with England, were regulated at the foundation, by a
tacit accord between the moderates of both parties.
We have seen King William III., in concert with his Parliament,
in 1701, decide the question of the succession to the throne of
England, by an act of foresight and political sagacity worthy of
the monarch who inspired it, and resolutely maintained by the
nation, in spite of great obstacles, and notwithstanding serious
objections. The intrigues of the Jacobites had never entirely
ceased; they had lessened during the first part of Queen Anne's
reign, while the war absorbed all thoughts, and seemed to widen
the gulf between England and that young prince who aspired to
govern her, even though fighting in the ranks of the enemy at
Malplaquet.
{122}
The gradual enfeeblement of the health of the queen, who had lost
her husband on the 28th of October, 1708, the interest which she
manifested regarding her brother, and the indifference that she
felt towards the House of Hanover, all contributed to revive the
hopes of the Jacobites, as well as the anxieties of those who
remained attached to the great work of William III.
Of the two questions which had occupied the last days of William
of Orange, the one still remaining was noisily disputed, but
without real or serious danger; the other, involving the honor
and happiness of England and Scotland, had been regulated after
long negotiations and alternate difficulties. The union of the
two kingdoms was the object of the last message of the dying king
to parliament, and was the last thought which had pre-occupied
that clear and far-seeing mind, even to the very gates of death.
Party violence in Scotland, the jealousy of the feebler kingdom
against the predominance of her ancient rival, and the religious
questions, always inflammable, had more than once disturbed the
conferences. The order of the succession to the throne, regulated
by the English parliament, had been contested. The Scotch
commissioners had attempted to assimilate the projected measure
to an act of federation and not of union. The firm resolution of
some wise minds, the prudent and moderate management of Lord
Somers, at the head of the English commissioners, finally
triumphed over all obstacles. The financial questions were
difficult to regulate in regard to a poor country whose products
were not over abundant. A uniform system of taxes was established
upon equitable bases; Scotland was at first exempted from certain
taxes, and a considerable sum was fixed upon as an indemnity for
the new charges which were to be levied upon her.
{123}
The representation of Scotland in the united parliament of Great
Britain was appropriate to her historic dignity as an independent
kingdom, rather than in proportion to her population: forty-five
commoners and sixteen Scotch peers were to sit in parliament. The
national sentiment exacted an Act of Security for the
Presbyterian Church, everywhere troubled and anxious. The
opposing passions of the Jacobites as well as of the Cameronians,
excited popular movements, and many disturbances took place in
Edinburgh. Even to the last moment, the vote on the Act of Union
remained doubtful in the Scotch Parliament.
On the 16th of January, 1707, its partisans finally triumphed, at
Edinburgh. Early in March the English Parliament, in its turn,
passed the bill. The queen desired to give her assent to this
great measure of national interest in person. She came to
Westminster.
"I consider this union," said she, "as a matter of the greatest
importance to the wealth, strength, and safety of the whole
island; and, at the same time, as a work of so much difficulty
and nicety in its own nature, that till now all attempts which
have been made towards it in the course of above a hundred years
have proved ineffectual. I therefore make no doubt but it will be
remembered and spoken of hereafter, to the honor of those who
have been instrumental in bringing it to such a happy conclusion.
I desire and expect from all my subjects, of both nations, that
from henceforth they act with all possible respect and kindness
to one another, that so it may appear to all the world they have
hearts disposed to become one people. This will be a great
pleasure to me, and will make us all quickly sensible of the good
effects of this union."
{124}
On the 23rd of October, 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain met
for the first time. The work was accomplished: there had been
bitter and continued opposition, not without corruption and
rancor, but finally wise and powerful reasons of patriotic policy
and morality triumphed, to the great and increasing advantage of
both countries. Without losing any of their distinctive and
persistent qualities, the English and the Scotch have equally
served, since then, the honor and prosperity of their common
country, without ever becoming either confounded or separated.
The primitive thought of the union was the last title of glory of
King William III. It was to the honor of the councillors of Queen
Anne, Lord Somers in particular, that they accomplished the work,
and affixed the seal to the undertaking, in spite of all violence
and all obstacles.
It was during the reign of Queen Anne, and in the full enjoyment
of free institutions, without despotic or revolutionary
interruptions, that the two great parties were formed, which
have, since then, divided and disputed the government of Great
Britain. The Tories, above all, attached to conservative
principles and to the established Church, and the Whigs, on the
other hand, partisans of progress and constant defenders of
tolerant measures, succeeded each other in power, without violent
shocks, under the authority of a queen personally favorable to
the Tories and sincerely devoted to the Anglican Church. The
intrigues of the court and the influence of the Duchess of
Marlborough--long dominant, but finally supplanted in the favor
of the queen, by Lady Masham, played their parts in the
ministerial revolutions. The state of the parties, in the country
and in Parliament, changed more often and more completely than
was generally conceded or believed. Four ministries succeeded to
power during the twelve years of Anne's reign.
{125}
The first cabinet, which remained Whig in principle and in
majority, even when Godolphin became Lord Treasurer, was
overthrown soon after the declaration of war, in 1702. The Duke
of Marlborough, already powerful, inclining sometimes towards the
Tories and sometimes towards the Whigs, and solely occupied with
military interests and his personal grandeur, embarrassed the new
Tory ministry, and the enthusiastic majority that the new
elections had assured it in Parliament, by his demands for the
subsidies necessary for the prolongation of hostilities. The
animosity of the party opposed to the revolution of 1688,
manifested itself in the first address from the House of Commons
to Queen Anne, congratulating her Majesty on having, by the hands
of the Duke of Marlborough, _raised up_ with honor the
ancient reputation and glory of England. At the same time, and in
order to boldly testify their attachment to the Anglican Church,
the Tories presented a bill against _Occasional Conformity_,
ordering prosecutions against all those who habitually frequented
dissenting worship, although _occasionally conforming_ to
the rites of the established Church, as exacted by law from all
public functionaries. The queen was favorable to the bill,
although Prince George of Denmark was among the delinquents.
After having sustained numerous checks, the bill--as dangerous to
the Church as it was unjust--was presented anew by the last Tory
ministry of Queen Anne, and finally passed in 1711. During seven
years it preserved the force of law. The queen, on her part, gave
to the Church a touching testimony of sympathy, by renouncing the
revenues from the "first fruits," recently given to the crown, in
order to donate the same to the poor clergymen. The fund from
which indigent curates are still to-day sustained bears the
significant name of "Queen Anne's Bounty."
{126}
The Tories, with Lord Nottingham at their head, returned to their
first principles; they were, in reality, hostile to the war.
Violent and exacting, they wished to exclude from the council the
Dukes of Somerset and Devonshire, the only Whig representatives.
Upon the refusal of the queen, Nottingham retired, and the
influence of Marlborough caused him to be replaced by Harley; the
latter took with him St. John. That moderate ministry soon
underwent a grave transformation by the entrance into power of
Lord Sunderland.
In 1708, the Whigs having a majority in the new house, and always
the true partisans of the war, firmly seized the power. The five
Lords of the Junta, Somers, Oxford, Wharton, Halifax and
Sunderland, found themselves reunited in the same cabinet with
the Duke of Marlborough and Lord Cowper. Robert Walpole, who had
been a member of the house since 1700, but who had as yet
occupied only insignificant positions, replaced St. John as
secretary of state. This was the beginning of a rivalry which was
to last throughout their lives.
During two years the Whig ministry governed with a power which
seconded the victories of the Duke of Marlborough. It was
nevertheless constantly threatened by the want of personal liking
of the queen, as well as by the intrigues of the court, which
secretly undermined the influence of the Duchess of Marlborough.
Handsome, imperious and brilliant, as well as arrogant and
ambitious, Sarah Jennings had for a long time maintained over
Queen Anne an authority which increased as her favors multiplied.
That domination which she exercised to the very last over her
illustrious husband, was slowly declining with the queen.
Marlborough had for some time succeeded in maintaining his power
by changing from the Whigs to the Tories, and from the Tories to
the Whigs. He was sustained at first by the Whigs, formerly his
adversaries; a Tory ministry that was to cause his fall was
preparing.
{127}
Weary of the violences and inequalities of the temper of her
haughty favorite, the queen had found some consolation in the
affection of a young and adroit woman, a relative of the Duchess
of Marlborough. Abigail Hill was simply a waiting-maid to the
queen, who had married her, at the suggestion of her protectress,
to a Mr. Masham, a poor gentleman of the chamber. At first she
was not even admitted to the royal dressing-room. It was little
by little, and through chance indiscretions, that the Duchess of
Marlborough recognized that she was being supplanted in the
confidence of the queen, who was naturally capricious.
Notwithstanding her long fidelity to the duchess, the queen could
not endure restraint. Mrs. Masham secretly introduced Harley; the
anger of the duchess was to serve the ambition of the former
Secretary of State, and the aspirations of the Tories towards
power.
An unfortunate trial, begun against an insolent and declamatory
clergyman. Dr. Sacherevel, embittered religious passions. The
High Church and the fashionable world were ardent and pronounced
in favor of the accused. His sermon upon the "_False
Brethren_," had not formally attacked the revolution of 1688,
but had extolled the absolutism of the prerogative in sustaining
the doctrine of non-resistance. His suspension for three years,
by the House of Lords, was equivalent to an acquittal. "This
fatal trial makes me sick," said Godolphin; "the life of a
galley-slave would be a paradise for me." The Tories triumphed.
"The ministers have a curate to roast," ironically said St. John,
"and they have made so great a fire that they have roasted
themselves."
{128}
On the 8th of August, 1710, after many significant changes in the
cabinet. Lord Godolphin received by a messenger from the royal
stables, a note from the queen, praying him to break the white
rod--his insignia of office. The queen appeared before Parliament
to dissolve it; the Chancellor, Lord Cowper, endeavored to speak,
but Anne silenced him. The power passed from the powerful junta
of the Whigs, and Harley was named Chancellor of the Exchequer;
Lord Rochester became President of the Council, and St. John
Secretary of State.
The Duchess of Marlborough, disgraced without being dismissed, no
longer saw the queen. Anne, overwhelmed by reproaches and
insults, left the chamber where the duchess insisted upon
remaining. Some months later the humility and prayers of the
great general were unavailing to maintain the duchess in her
position at court; he was obliged to pick up from the floor the
golden key--the sign of office of the mistress of the robes--that
his wife had flung away in her anger.
"She has conducted herself strangely," avowed the duke, "but
there is nothing to be done, and it is necessary to endure many
things to obtain peace in the household."
The day of grandeur of the Duke of Marlborough had passed; his
administration of the funds of the army was condemned by
Parliament. He defended himself ably, with that bold moderation
which habitually characterized him. He was accused of having
taken moneys from the contractors of supplies: he replied,
declaring it was the custom in the Low Countries, and that
although it was true, that no English general had ever before
exercised this right, yet it had been for the simple reason, that
no English general had ever before been commander-in-chief in the
Low Countries. Walpole, unjustly included in the same
condemnation, would not defend himself, and in consequence was
confined in the Tower, as a prisoner, until the end of the
session.
{129}
The elections of 1713 were not favorable to the ministry; the
country was uneasy and suspicious; the cabinet was divided. The
perfidious ability and moderation of the Earl of Oxford were
opposed to the bold ambition of Bolingbroke, and that marvellous
eloquence, the memory of which remained so powerful among his
contemporaries and successors, that Pitt, when asked what he
would prefer to recover from the shades of the past, replied:
"One of the lost decades of Titus Livius, and a speech of
Bolingbroke."
The secret rivalries suspected by public opinion, and the
violence of party struggles, manifested themselves upon all
sides, through the press, now almost absolutely free from
restraint, and directed during the reign of Anne by men of great
talents, nearly all of whom were engaged in the political
contests. Addison and Steele were members of the House of
Commons, and also at the same time, publishers of _The
Spectator_. Addison had even occupied a place in the Whig
ministry. Swift, the intimate friend of Harley and Bolingbroke,
employed in the defence of their policy all his bitter and
sarcastic wit, without, however, being able to obtain--owing to
the legitimate repugnance of the queen--the ecclesiastical
preferments which he desired.
Defoe arduously defended the principles of the revolution of
1688, in brilliant pamphlets whose renown, for a time, exceeded
the popularity of his Robinson Crusoe. The poet Prior was
actively employed in diplomatic negotiations by Bolingbroke.
Isaac Newton alone withdrew from politics, after having taken an
unimportant part, and thenceforth consecrated his life to the
study of the laws of nature. Pope, however, took no part in the
struggles of the day, but devoted himself purely to literature.
{130}
The intrigues increased and multiplied in all directions. The
Earl of Oxford hesitated between the Stuarts and the Protestant
succession, but was disposed to rely upon the Duke of
Marlborough, who courted his favor. Bolingbroke was resolved to
supplant the prime minister, and was at the same time imprudently
engaged in the Jacobite plots. The Queen was ill, and
low-spirited; she may even have felt remorse and doubts. The
ecclesiastical advancements had been of a character favorable to
the fallen house. The Dean of Christ Church, Francis Atterbury,
able, restless, and an enthusiastic Jacobite, was appointed
Bishop of Rochester. It was in accord with him that Bolingbroke,
the notorious sceptic and libertine, presented to Parliament an
act of schism, forbidding the right to teach to all persons who
had not accepted the test and furnished proof that they had
partaken of the communion within a year. "I am agreeably
surprised that some men of pleasure are, on a sudden, become so
religious as to set up for patrons of the Church," said Lord
Wharton. The bill was passed, but was never enforced.
The Church of England had for some time been urging the Pretender
to return to her bosom, and had even flattered herself that she
would succeed in the illustrious conquest. The illusions and
imprudence of the Jacobites were increasing: they began to speak
openly of a restoration. The majority in Parliament, as well as
in the country, remained firmly attached, nevertheless, to the
Protestant succession. The nation was anxious and disturbed. On
the 12th of April, 1714, the Hanoverian minister, Baron Schutz,
who had come to an understanding with the chief of the Whigs,
called upon the Chancellor, Sir Simon, afterwards Lord Harcourt,
and demanded of him, in the name of the Elcctress Sophia, the
summons for her son, the elector, to the House of Lords, in his
quality as Duke of Cambridge.
{131}
The queen, being at once consulted, peremptorily and angrily
refused. Schutz was obliged to leave London. Anne wrote
personally to the electress absolutely forbidding the prince, her
son, to set foot on English soil. Some days later, on the 28th of
May, 1714, the prince became the heir presumptive to the crown of
England by the death of his mother. "I would die happy if there
could be written upon my coffin: Here lies Sophia, Queen of
England," said the electress.
Upon the advice of the House of Lords, alarmed at the ardor of
the Jacobites, the queen consented to issue a proclamation
offering a reward of £5,000 to any one who would arrest the
Pretender if he should set foot upon the soil of England. The
peers were preparing to vote an address of thanks, when
Bolingbroke entered the house; he was taken unawares. "The best
measure of defence for the Protestant succession," said he,
"would be to arraign for high treason all who are enrolled in the
service of the Pretender." They took him at his word, and the
house placed him at the head of the committee appointed to draw
up the bill. "Neither the proclamation nor the bill will do us
any harm," said Bolingbroke to the French envoy, D'Iberville. He
had undertaken, with the Duke of Ormond, to reorganize the army
in the interests of Marlborough, with the ultimate view of
delivering it into the hands of the Jacobites. By one of those
deliberate calculations, which often resemble a ruse, the Lord
Treasurer did not furnish the necessary funds in time. Oxford had
lost the confidence of the queen; he had quarrelled with Lady
Masham. "You have never rendered her Majesty a service, and you
are not now in a position to render her one," angrily said the
favorite. Oxford did not reply; he clung tenaciously to the
remnants of his power. "The least indisposition of the queen
causes us great alarm," wrote Swift; "when she recovers, we act
as if she was immortal."
{132}
On the 27th of July, after a stormy interview with the queen, and
surrounded by his most desperate enemies, Lord Oxford delivered
the white rod into the hands of her Majesty. It was publicly
rumored, and the Duke of Berwick affirms it in his Memoirs, that
the Court of St. Germain had insisted upon the dismissal of the
minister. "Come and see me," wrote Oxford to Swift, on the day
following; "if I have not, at other times, wearied you, hasten to
one who loves you. I believe that in the mass of souls ours were
made for each other. I send you an imitation of Dryden, which
occurred to me on my way to Kensington: To wear out with love,
and to shed one's blood is approved of on high; but here below
examples prove that to be an honest man, brings misfortune."
From the doubtful political honesty of Harley, Queen Anne passed,
it was believed, to the imprudent and bold intrigues of
Bolingbroke. From France there was suggested a bold and daring
stroke: "The queen," said the Duke of Berwick, "should go to
Westminster with her brother, and present him to the two houses
as her successor." When dying, James II. had pardoned his
daughter, charging Mary of Modena to say to her that he prayed
God to convert her and to confirm her in the resolution to repair
to his son the wrong which had been done to himself. It was upon
this favor of the queen that the Jacobites counted,
notwithstanding a letter of the Pretender declaring himself
irrevocably attached to the Catholic faith. Bolingbroke had
foreseen the value of the death of the queen. Scarcely had the
power fallen into his hands when he assured the Abbé Gautier that
he should hold the same sentiments regarding the prince, provided
he took measures which were agreeable to the honest people of the
country.
{133}
The day following the sudden death of Queen Anne, the French
envoy D'Iberville, wrote to Louis XIV.: "My Lord Bolingbroke is
overwhelmed with grief; he has assured me that all his
precautions were so well taken, that in six weeks' time things
would have been in such a state that we would have had nothing to
fear from that which has just happened."
The Whigs, as well as Bolingbroke, had also taken their measures;
they awaited the Duke of Marlborough, still in the Low Countries.
On the 14th of July, Bolingbroke wrote to Lord Strafford: "The
friends of Marlborough announce his arrival; I hold it for
certain, without knowing whether it is owing to the bad figure
which he makes abroad, or in the hope of making a good one among
us. I have reason to believe that certain persons who would move
heaven and earth sooner than renounce their power or make a good
use of it, have recently made overtures to him, and are in some
measure in accord with his creatures." Contrary winds detained
the Duke at Ostend, but General Stanhope disembarked at the Tower
of London.
The queen had been seriously disturbed by the altercation which
had taken place in her presence at the time of the dismissal of
the Earl of Oxford. "I shall never survive it," said she to her
physicians. On the morning of the 30th of July, 1714, she had an
attack of apoplexy. As a strong indication of public opinion,
stocks rose at the news of her illness, and declined when the
physicians announced a gleam of hope. The privy council assembled
at Kensington; the Dukes of Argyle and Somerset had not been
called, but being secretly informed by their friends, they
presented themselves. The Duke of Shrewsbury thanked them for
their readiness and invited them to seats. Prudent, often
hesitating, always reserved, the Duke of Shrewsbury had at last
chosen his side, and had not forgotten the part he took in the
revolution of 1688.
{134}
The great Whig lord proposed to fill the office of lord
treasurer, which remained vacant. In the pressing danger of her
Majesty, they suggested the name of Shrewsbury. Bolingbroke,
concealing his spite and anger, found himself constrained to
enter the royal chamber with the two other secretaries of state,
Bromley and Lord Mar, in order to propose to the dying queen the
choice which was to destroy all his ambitious hopes. "Nothing
could be more agreeable to me," murmured the queen; and extending
to him the white rod, she said, "use this for the good of my
people." Lord Shrewsbury wished to resign the important offices
that he already held. "No, no," replied Anne; then she sank into
a lethargy which prevented her from articulating a word.
On the 1st of August, 1714, an embargo was put upon all the
ports; the order of embarkation was given to a fleet, and
considerable forces were called to London. The Elector of Hanover
had been requested to pass into Holland, and the entire privy
council was convoked, when Queen Anne expired, without having
regained her consciousness, and without having been able to
receive the sacraments or to sign her will.
The regency was instantly established, and the fleet put to sea,
to receive the new sovereign. Atterbury alone dared to propose to
Bolingbroke the proclamation of James III. at Charing Cross. He
desired to walk at the head of the heralds in his episcopal
robes. Bolingbroke, as well as all the other ministers, had
signed the measures taken in favor of the Protestant sovereign.
"Behold the best cause in Europe lost for want of boldness,"
cried the Bishop. "The Earl of Oxford was dismissed on Tuesday,"
wrote Bolingbroke to Swift; "the queen died on Sunday. What a
world this is, and how fortune mocks us!"
[Image]
Shrewsbury Invested With The White Rod.
{135}
Other blows were in reserve for this adroit and artful intriguer;
imprudent and chimerical, always ready to attempt new adventures,
and counting upon the resources of his fertile genius. "The
Tories seem resolved not to be crushed," wrote he, on the 3rd of
August, "and this suffices to prevent its being done. I have lost
all by the death of the queen, except my energy of spirit; and I
protest to you that I feel it expanding within me. If you wish,
in a month, all the world shall say that the Whigs are a lot of
Jacobites."