Marlborough and Eugene ascended together the tower of a village church
to get a view of the country. There they discovered the French and
Bavarians busy marking out a camp between Blenheim and Lutzingen. They
saw at once the great advantage they should have by falling on the
enemy before they had strongly entrenched themselves, and whilst in
the confusion of encamping themselves. No sooner, however, did they
issue their orders, than some of the general officers demurred as to
the danger of attacking the foe in so strong a position as the one they
had chosen. But Marlborough told them that circumstances compelled them
to fight, and the sooner the better. Marlborough and Eugene were busy
planning the order of the battle, and at two o'clock of the morning
of the 13th of August, the forces were in full advance. In another
hour they were across the Kessell, with a combined force of fifty-two
thousand men and fifty-two pieces of artillery.
Tallard saw the march of the Allied army with great satisfaction.
He thought it would now be easy for him to interpose a strong force
between Marlborough and the army of the Prince of Baden before
Ingolstadt. But the Allies did not mean to give him any time for that.
They pushed briskly forward over very difficult ground, intersected by
rivulets and ditches; and as they were seen at seven in the morning
steadily advancing, the French and Bavarians hastily abandoned the
new lines which they were forming, and retreated towards their old
camp. On still went Marlborough and Eugene, accompanied in advance
by a Prussian officer who had fought there the preceding year, and
knew the country well. They found the enemy posted along the rising
ground from Blenheim to Lutzingen, with a gap between the villages,
which they had endeavoured to render secure by posting there a strong
body of cavalry. At the same time, between Blenheim and the Danube,
was made a strong barricade of waggons, behind which were stationed
a brigade of dismounted dragoons. Three brigades of cavalry took up
their stand in the village, and barricaded all entrances or openings
with waggons, felled trees, planks, or whatever could be found. Tallard
was in command at Blenheim, the Elector of Bavaria and General Marsin
at Lutzingen. The castle and church-tower at Blenheim were filled with
soldiers, and the Count Clerambault was ordered to defend the village
of Blenheim by his artillery to the last.
Against this position, defended by fifty-seven thousand men, or about
five thousand more than the Allies, advanced the Confederate army. In
front of the enemy also ran the little river Nebel, which was deep, and
the bottom muddy. Marlborough led on the left wing against Blenheim,
and Eugene the right against Lutzingen. The first of the army to cross
the Nebel and advance against Blenheim was a body of English and
Hessians under Major-General Wilkes and Lord Cutts. Cutts, who was
famous for a storm, was ordered to make an impetuous attack on the
village; and, getting across the Nebel by means of fascines, he led
his horse under a terrible fire of grape right against the palisadoes
and barricades. The French poured into the assailants, however, such
a storm of grape as mowed down great numbers of officers and men,
amongst whom was General Rowe, who had advanced to the very face of
the palisadoes with his lieutenant-colonel and major. The English in
the van were thrown into confusion and assailed by three squadrons
of gendarmes; but the Hessians advanced to their aid, and the French
were driven back to their lines. Lord Cutts then led on his horse, and
maintained a desperate fight under the fire of the protected French.
Whilst they were engaged in this deadly _mélée_ the brigades of Hudson
and Ferguson had crossed the stream, and marched right up to the
village, silencing some batteries which commanded the fords of the
river. The fight was maintained hand to hand, the opponents thrusting
at each other through the interstices of the palisadoes; but the
contest was too unequal between the covered and uncovered, and with the
soldiers from the old castle and the church-tops pouring down showers
of musket-balls on the Allies.
During this time Marlborough had been leading another body of troops
along the banks of the Nebel, and joining them under a terrible
fire of grape opposite to the gap between the villages, and only
waiting, to bear on this point, for the artillery, under the Prince of
Holstein-Beck, getting over the river. The Prince no sooner had got
partly across the stream than his advance was furiously attacked by the
Irish Brigade, which was in the pay of Louis XIV. They cut the advance
nearly to pieces, and would have effectually prevented the transit of
artillery had not Marlborough himself hastened to the spot and beaten
them off, as well as heavy bodies of French and Bavarian cavalry. He
then posted a body of horse along the river to protect the crossing of
the forces.
Lord Cutts during this had fallen back from the entrenchments of
the village, finding it impossible to clear a way into it without
artillery. But the artillery over, Marlborough united his forces with
those of Eugene, which were bearing on Lutzingen, and was preparing
for his grand design of cutting the French and Bavarians asunder, by
throwing his whole weight on the cavalry posted between the villages.
It was not, however, till five in the afternoon that he was able to
lead on the attack, consisting of two columns of horse supported by
infantry. He dashed rapidly up the hill towards the important point,
on which was concentrated Tallard's cavalry, and part of the infantry
from the village. Marlborough gained the summit of the hill under heavy
loss, but there the enemy stood in such solid force that he was driven
back for a hundred paces. The heat of the battle was at this point, and
if Marlborough had been compelled to give way, there was little chance
of succeeding against the enemy; but he returned with all his vigour to
the charge, by this time his artillery had gained the summit, and after
a desperate struggle the fire of the French began to slacken. As soon
as he perceived that, he made a grand charge, broke the horse, and cut
to pieces or made prisoners of seven regiments of infantry.
Tallard, seeing his cavalry in flight, and his infantry fast being
overpowered, sent messengers to call the Elector to his aid, and to
order up the rest of the infantry from Blenheim. But the Elector was
in full engagement with Eugene, and found enough to do to maintain
possession of Lutzingen. Nor did Marlborough allow time for the coming
up of fresh enemies. He attacked Tallard with such impetuosity,
and such an overwhelming force of cavalry, that he was completely
disorganised, and, turning his horse, galloped off towards Sonderheim,
another part of his cavalry making for Hochstadt. Marlborough pursued
Tallard at full speed, slaughtering his men all down the declivity
towards the Danube, where they had thrown over a bridge between
Hochstadt and Blenheim; but being so pressed, and at the same time
attacked in the flank, numbers were forced into the river and perished.
Tallard, being surrounded, and his son killed, was compelled to
surrender near a mill behind the village of Sonderheim, together with
the Marquis of Montperous, General of Horse, the Majors-General de
Seppeville, De Silly, De la Valiere, and many other officers. Those who
fled towards Hochstadt fared little better. They became entangled in a
morass, where they were cut to pieces, drowned in the Danube, or made
prisoners, except the celebrated brigade of Grignan, and some of the
gendarmes, who regained the heights of Hochstadt.
Meanwhile Prince Eugene had been sharply engaged with the Elector
of Bavaria at Lutzingen, and after receiving several repulses had
succeeded in driving the Elector out of Lutzingen; and, turning his
flank, he posted himself on the edge of a ravine to mark the condition
of the field in general. He there received a message from Marlborough
to say that he was now able to come to his assistance if he needed it;
but the prince replied that he had no need of it, for the forces of
Marsin and the Elector were driven out of Lutzingen and Oberclau, and
that his cavalry were pursuing them to Morselingen and Teissenhoven,
whence they retreated to Dillingen and Lauingen. Marlborough despatched
a body of cavalry to Eugene near the blazing village of Lutzingen;
but the darkness now settling down, the commander, amid the smoke of
powder and of the burning village, mistook the troops of Eugene for
the Bavarians and wheeled round, so that the opportunity was lost of
inflicting fresh injury on the fugitives.
There were still twelve thousand men unsubdued in Blenheim, and
Marlborough began to surround the place. These forces had lost their
commander, Clerambault, who had been carried away in the rush down the
hill and was drowned in the Danube; but the men still made a vigorous
resistance. Every minute, however, they were getting more hemmed in
by troops and artillery. Fire was set to the buildings, and every
chance of escape was cut off. For some time they maintained a killing
fire from the walls and houses; but as the flames advanced, they
made several attempts at cutting through their assailants, but were
driven back at every point. They finally offered to capitulate, but
Marlborough would hear of nothing but an unconditional surrender, to
which they were obliged to assent. Besides these, whole regiments had
laid down their arms, and begged for quarter. Thus was annihilated
at a blow the invincible army of France, which was to have seized on
Vienna, destroyed the Empire, and placed all Germany and the Continent
under the feet of Louis. The event had fully justified the bold
design of Marlborough; instead of fighting the enemy in detail, he
attacked him at his very heart, and closed the campaign by a single
master-stroke.
Soon after the battle three thousand Germans, who had been serving in
the French army, joined the Allies; and on the 19th of August, six days
after the battle, Marlborough and Eugene began their march towards
Ulm. Three days before that, the garrison of Augsburg had quitted that
city, and Marlborough and Eugene called on the Prince of Baden to leave
a few troops at Ingolstadt to invest it, as it must now necessarily
surrender, and to join them with the rest of his forces, that they
might sweep the enemy completely out of Germany. Marshal Tallard was
sent under a guard of dragoons to Frankfort, and Marlborough encamped
at Sefillingen, near Ulm. There he and Eugene were joined by Louis of
Baden, and, leaving a sufficient force to reduce Ulm, the combined army
marched towards the Rhine. At Bruchsal, near Philippsburg, the Prince
of Baden insisted that they should all stay and compel the surrender of
Landau. This was opposed to the whole plans of Marlborough and Eugene,
which were to give the French no time to reflect, but to drive them
over their own frontiers. The Prince was now more than ever obstinate.
The glory which Marlborough had won, and part of which he had tried
to filch from him, was extremely galling to him, and especially that
so much honour should fall to the lot of a heretic. The generals were
obliged to follow his fancy; they allowed the Prince to sit down before
the town, and Marlborough and Eugene encamped at Croon-Weissingen to
support him. This took place on the 12th of September, and Landau held
out till the 23rd of November, when it capitulated on honourable terms,
and the King of the Romans characteristically came into the camp to
have the honour of taking the place--so fond are these German princes
of stepping into other people's honours instead of winning them for
themselves. By this delay the precious remainder of the campaign was
lost, and the French had time given them to recover their spirits, and
to take measures for holding what was yet left them. After this the
Confederate army sat down before Trarbach, which surrendered to the
hereditary Prince of Hesse-Cassel in the middle of December, which
closed the campaign.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF BLENHEIM: CHARGE OF MARLBOROUGH'S HORSE. (_See
p._ 555.)]
Marlborough had not waited for these insignificant operations, but
had proceeded to Berlin to engage the King of Prussia to suspend his
claims on the Dutch, and to enter more zealously into the alliance for
the perfect clearance of the French from Germany. He prevailed on the
king to promise eight thousand troops for the assistance of the Duke of
Savoy, and to be commanded by the Prince Eugene; and he exerted himself
with the Emperor to effect a settlement with the insurgents in Hungary,
but his own triumphs stood in the way of his success. The Emperor,
since Marlborough's victories, was so elated that he would listen to
no reasonable terms. From Berlin Marlborough proceeded to Hanover,
and paid his court to the family which was to succeed to the Crown of
England. Thence he went to the Hague, where he was received with high
honours by the States-General on account of the victories which he
would never have achieved could they have restrained him. He arrived in
England in the middle of December, carrying with him Marshal Tallard
and the rest of the distinguished officers, with the standards and
other trophies of his victories. He was received with acclaim by all
classes except a few ultra-Tories, who threatened to impeach him for
his rash march to the Danube. As Parliament had assembled, Marlborough
took his seat in the House of Peers the day after his arrival, where he
was complimented on his magnificent success by the Lord Keeper. This
was followed by a deputation with a vote of thanks from the Commons,
and by similar honours from the City. But perhaps the most palpable
triumph of Marlborough was the transferring of the military trophies
which he had taken, from the Tower, where they were first deposited,
to Westminster Hall. This was done by each soldier carrying a standard
or other trophy, amid the thunders of artillery and the hurrahs of the
people; such a spectacle never having been witnessed since the days of
the Spanish Armada. The royal manor of Woodstock was granted him, and
Blenheim Mansion erected at the cost of the nation.
Besides the victories of Marlborough, there had been successes at
sea, and one of them of far more consequence than was at the time
imagined--namely, the conquest of Gibraltar.
Sir George Rooke, having landed King Charles at Lisbon, sent
Rear-Admiral Dilkes with a squadron to cruise off Cape Spartel, and
himself, by order of the queen, sailed for the relief of Nice and
Villafranca, which were supposed to be in danger from the French under
the Duke of Vendôme. King Charles at the same time desired him to make
a demonstration in his favour before Barcelona, for he was assured
that a force had only to appear on that coast and the whole population
would declare for him. Rooke, accordingly, taking on board the Prince
of Hesse-Darmstadt, who had formerly been Viceroy of Catalonia, sailed
for Barcelona, and invited the governor to declare for his rightful
sovereign, King Charles. The governor replied that Philip V. was his
lawful sovereign. The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, however, assured the
admiral that there were five to one in the city in favour of King
Charles, and Rooke allowed the prince to land with two thousand men;
but there was no sign of any movement in favour of Austria. The Dutch
ketches then bombarded the place with little effect, and the troops
were re-embarked, lest they should be fallen upon by superior numbers.
On the 16th of June, Rooke being joined by Sir Cloudesley Shovel,
they sailed to Nice, but found it in no danger; and they then went
in quest of the French fleet, which Rooke in the preceding month had
caught sight of on their way to Toulon. On the 17th of July a council
of war was held in the road of Tetuan, and it was resolved to make an
attempt on Gibraltar, which was represented to have only a slender
garrison. On the 21st the fleet came to anchor before Gibraltar, and
the marines, under the command of the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, landed
on the narrow sandy isthmus which connects the celebrated rock with
the mainland, and called on the governor to surrender. Though cut off
from relief from the land, and with a formidable fleet in the bay, the
governor stoutly replied that he would defend the place to the last
extremity.
The next day Rooke gave orders for cannonading the town. On the 23rd,
soon after daybreak, the cannonading commenced with terrible effect.
Fifteen thousand shots were discharged in five or six hours; the
South Mole Head was demolished, and the Spaniards driven in every
quarter from their guns. Captain Whitaker was then ordered to arm all
the boats, and assault that quarter. Captains Hicks and Jumper, who
were nearest the Mole, immediately manned their pinnaces, and entered
the fortifications sword in hand. They were soon, however, treading
on a mine, which the Spaniards exploded, killing or wounding two
lieutenants and about a hundred men. But Hicks and Jumper seized a
platform, and kept their ground till they were supported by Captain
Whitaker with the rest of the seamen, who took by storm a redoubt
between the town and the Mole. Then the governor capitulated, and the
Prince of Hesse entered the place with his marines, amazed at once at
the strength of the place and the ease with which it had been taken. In
fact, this key of the Mediterranean, which has since defied the united
powers of Christendom, was taken in three days, one day of which was
rendered almost useless by the fierceness of the wind.
Rooke left the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt and the marines to hold the
fortress, and returned to Tetuan to take in wood and water, and again
sailed up the Mediterranean. On the 9th of August he came in sight
of the French fleet lying off Malaga, and ready to receive him. It
consisted of fifty-two great ships and four-and-twenty galleys, under
the Count de Toulouse, High Admiral of France, and all clean and in
the best condition; Rooke's fleet of fifty-three ships of the line,
exclusive of frigates, was inferior to the French in guns and men, as
well as in weight of metal; and, what was worse, the ships were very
foul in their bottoms, and many of them ill provided with ammunition.
Nevertheless, Rooke determined to engage; and on Sunday, the 13th, at
ten o'clock in the morning, the battle began, and raged till two in
the afternoon, when the van of the French gave way. This result would
have been much earlier arrived at, had not several of the English ships
soon exhausted their powder, and been forced to draw out of the line.
During the afternoon firing at longer distances was kept up, but at
night Toulouse bore away to leeward. The next morning the wind favoured
the French, but they did not avail themselves of it, but bore away for
Toulon, pursued by Rooke as well as the foulness of his ships would let
him. Not a ship was lost or taken by either side in the battle, but
the loss in killed and wounded was great. On the part of the English
the killed and wounded amounted to three thousand; on the French side
it was supposed to reach four thousand, including two hundred officers
killed. Sir Cloudesley Shovel, who led the van, said that he had never
seen a sea-fight so furiously contested. The effect of the battle was
to render the French shy of coming to any great engagement on the sea
during the remainder of the war.
The Parliament of England met on the 29th of October, and the queen
congratulated the two Houses on the remarkable success which had
attended her arms, and trusted that it would enable her to secure
the great object for which they fought--the liberty of Europe. She
encouraged them to carry on their debates without contentions, and
avowed her determination to be indulgent to all her subjects. But
nothing could prevent the animosity which raged between the Whig
and Tory factions from showing itself. The Lords congratulated her
Majesty on the glorious victories of Marlborough, without noticing
those of Sir George Rooke; and the Commons, to whose party Rooke, an
old Tory, belonged, exalted his exploits to an equality with those of
Marlborough. Notwithstanding the queen's promise of being kind and
indulgent to all her subjects, a strenuous attempt was again made to
carry the Occasional Conformity Bill. At the suggestion of Mr. William
Bromley it was tacked to the Land Tax Bill, and was so sent up to the
Peers. The queen went to the House of Lords to listen to the debate,
where she heard Tenison, the Archbishop of Canterbury, honestly
denounce the illiberal and persecuting spirit which had suggested such
a Bill. This praiseworthy language was strongly echoed out of doors by
De Foe, whose pen was never idle on such occasions, and the Court now
seemed to be convinced that it had gone too far. Godolphin, who had on
former occasions voted for it, now opposed it, and the Lords threw it
out by a majority of one-and-twenty votes.
The two Houses of Parliament continued fighting out the remainder of
the Session with the case of the Aylesbury election. Encouraged by
the conduct of the Lords and the declaration of Lord Chief Justice
Holt--that if any messengers of the Commons dared to enter Westminster
Hall to seize any lawyer who had pleaded in favour of the Aylesbury
electors, he would commit them to Newgate,--five fresh electors sued
the constables, on the ground of their having been impeded in the
exercise of their franchise. The Commons committed these five persons
to Newgate, and they thereupon applied to the Court of Queen's Bench
for a Habeas Corpus. The Court refused to interfere. Two of the
prisoners then petitioned the queen to bring their case before her in
Parliament. The Commons immediately prayed the queen not to interfere
with their privileges by granting a Writ of Error in this case. She
replied that she would not willingly do anything to give them just
cause of offence, but that this matter relating to judicial proceedings
was of such high importance to the subject that she thought herself
bound to weigh and consider everything relating to it. The Commons,
fearing from this answer that the queen might be induced to grant the
prisoners a Writ of Error, sent and took them from Newgate, and kept
them in the custody of their Serjeant-at-Arms, at the same time voting
all the lawyers who had pleaded in favour of the prisoners guilty of a
breach of privilege. The prisoners then appealed to the Lords, and the
Lords, after seeking a conference with the Commons to arrive at some
conclusion as to the right in this case, but with no result, appealed
to the queen, declaring that the Commons were assailing the birthright
of every subject, and violating Magna Charta by refusing these citizens
the right of appealing to a court of justice; and they prayed her
to give orders for the immediate issue of the Writs of Error. Her
Majesty assured them that she would have complied with their request,
but that it was now absolutely necessary to prorogue Parliament, and
therefore further proceedings, they would see, must be useless. The
Lords considered this as a triumph, the queen's words implying that
they had right on their side, and thus equally implying a censure on
the Commons. In fact, the queen was glad to get rid of the dilemma and
of this troublesome Tory Parliament at the same time. The same day
that the Lords waited on her she went to their House and prorogued
Parliament till the 1st of May, 1705; but on the 5th of April she
dissolved it by proclamation, and writs were issued for calling a new
one.
Marlborough in 1705 went early to the Continent. On the 13th of March
he embarked for the Hague. He had a splendid plan of operations for
this campaign on the Moselle, but he found, notwithstanding his now
grand reputation, the usual obstacles to daring action in the Dutch
phlegm. Having conquered this, and obtained leave to convey the troops
to the Moselle, he was met by a still more mortifying difficulty in
the conduct of the Prince of Baden, who was at the head of the German
contingents. This man had never been cordial since the first successes
of Marlborough. He was consumed with a deadly jealousy of his fame, and
thought it no use fighting in company with him, as Marlborough would be
sure to get all the honours. He therefore hung back from co-operation
in Marlborough's plan, pretending illness; which, had the illness
been real, should, at such a crisis for his country, have induced him
to delegate the command of the forces for its defence to some other
general. To add to the difficulties of Marlborough, the inferior French
generals, Villeroi and others, who had risen into prominence through
the interest of Madame de Maintenon and her priests and Jesuits, were
removed from this quarter, and Villars, the most able commander now
of the French, sent instead. The intention was to besiege Saar-Louis,
but the wretched Prince of Baden did not keep his engagement. He had
advanced, not with a strong army but only a small body of Imperial
troops, to Kreutznach, where he again feigned illness, went off to the
baths at Schlangenbad, and left the troops in the command of the Count
Friez. The defection was so barefaced that many began to suspect him of
being corrupted by the French; but he was really sick--of Marlborough's
renown.
The duke, thus deceived, was unable to carry out his enterprise, and
fell back instead of attacking Villars. In his contempt of the Prince
of Baden, before retreating he sent a trumpet to Villars, saying,
"Do me the justice to believe that my retreat is entirely owing to
the failure of the Prince of Baden; but my esteem for you is still
greater than my resentment of his conduct." But though forced to this
mortifying expedient, Marlborough saw that he could quickly vindicate
his reputation by uniting with the army of the Netherlands, and
carrying operations against the enemy there. General Overkirk had not
been able to stand his ground. The French had invested and taken Huy,
and Villars had commenced the siege of Liége. Marlborough marched to
Treves, where he called a council of war, and it was resolved to drive
Villars from the walls of Liége. On the 19th of June the army commenced
its march, and proceeded with such expedition that it passed the Meuse
on the 1st of July. Villars, on Marlborough's approach, abandoned Liége
and retired to Tongres, and thence retreated behind his lines, which
extended to Marche aux Dames on the Meuse, along the Mehaigne as far
as Lenuève. No sooner did Marlborough come up with Overkirk than he
determined to recover Huy, and sent General Scholten, who reduced it in
a few days. To wipe out as quickly the impression of his retreat from
the Moselle, he despatched General Hompesch to the States-General to
demand permission to attack the French lines, which was granted him.
[Illustration: ANNE.]
Marlborough then detailed his plan of operation in two successive
councils of war, where it was generally approved, but still opposed
as rash by some of the Dutch generals. The enemy had manned his lines
with a hundred battalions and forty-six squadrons; the forces of the
Confederates were something more than that in amount; and in order
to weaken the enemy on the point where he contemplated his attack,
the duke directed Overkirk to make a feint, as though he were about
to attack the lines on the Mehaigne. The ruse succeeded. The French
weakened their lines where Marlborough really contemplated the attack,
in order to strengthen them in the direction of Namur. All being ready.
Marlborough marched in the night between the 17th and 18th of July, to
force the lines at Heyselem, the castle of Wauge, and the villages of
Wauge, Neerhespen, and Oostmalen. This succeeded, and after some hard
fighting the duke extended his forces within a portion of the French
lines, capturing the Marquis D'Alègre, Count Horne, a major-general,
two brigadier-generals, and many other officers, besides ten cannon
and numerous standards and colours. In consequence of this defeat the
Elector of Bavaria and Marshal Villeroi retreated across the Geete and
the Dyle in all haste. Marlborough marched after them, capturing twelve
hundred prisoners who could not keep up with the retreating force, and
on the 15th was at Mildert, whence he marched the next day to Genappe,
and thence to Fischermont, driving in the enemy's post as he advanced.
He was now on ground destined to become much more famous in our time.
On the 17th Overkirk had his headquarters at Waterloo, the enemy
lying in their front across the roads to Brussels and Louvain, near
the wood of Soignies. Here Marlborough proposed to come to a general
engagement with them, but again he was thwarted by the Dutch officers
and deputies, and most determinedly by General Schlangenburg. The
duke, indignant at this dastardly obstruction of his operations, wrote
very plainly to the States-General, complaining of the uselessness of
pursuing the campaign if they had yet no confidence in his prudence
and military talent. In order that the Dutch people should know of his
complaints, he took care to have the letter published in the papers
at the Hague, and that similar complaints should reach his own Court.
These being made public, roused a storm of indignation against the
meddling Dutch field-deputies, who presumed to justify their conduct to
the States-General in several letters. But the anger of both England
and Holland soon roused the States-General to a sense of their folly.
Hearing that the queen was about to despatch the Earl of Pembroke,
the President of the Council, as Envoy Extraordinary to the Hague, to
remonstrate on their suicidal conduct, the States-General hastened to
apologise to the duke, and to remove Schlangenburg from his command.
The opportunity, however, of a decisive blow on the French had been
missed, and little was achieved this campaign.
Meanwhile the Spaniards were making a desperate effort for the recovery
of Gibraltar. Marshal Tessé laid siege to it, whilst De Pointes
blockaded it by sea. These French officers pushed on the siege with
vigour, and the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt sent a despatch to Lisbon,
desiring Sir John Leake to hasten to his assistance. Sir John set
sail at once with five ships of the line and a body of troops, and on
the 10th of March came in sight of five ships of De Pointes, who was
evidently aware of him and getting out of the way. Leake gave chase,
took one, and drove the rest on shore to the west of Marbella. The rest
of the French ships in the bay of Malaga made the best of their way to
Toulon. Gibraltar being thus again open from the sea, the Marquis de
Tessé withdrew the greater part of his forces, leaving only sufficient
to maintain the blockade on land.
But a far more striking demonstration was made from another quarter.
This was made on Valencia and Catalonia by the witty and accomplished,
and equally unscrupulous, Earl of Peterborough, formerly known as
Lord Mordaunt. This dashing nobleman, become Earl of Peterborough by
the death of his uncle, was despatched with reinforcements amounting
to five thousand soldiers and a strong fleet under command of Sir
Cloudesley Shovel. On the 20th of June they arrived at Lisbon, where
they were joined by Sir John Leake and the Dutch Admiral Allemonde.
They proposed to put to sea with eight-and-forty ships of the line,
and cruise between Cape Spartel and the Bay of Cadiz to prevent
the junction of the Toulon and Brest fleets. But the Prince of
Hesse-Darmstadt, who had arrived from Gibraltar, assured them that
the people of Catalonia and Valencia were strongly attached to King
Charles, and only required the presence of a sufficient force to
declare themselves. The adventure was just of the kind to charm the
active spirit of Lord Peterborough. It was proposed that King Charles
should sail with them on board the fleet, and that they should make a
descent on Barcelona. On the 11th of August they anchored in the Bay
of Altea, and issued a proclamation in the Spanish language, and found
that the people flocked in to acknowledge King Charles. They took the
town of Denia and garrisoned it for Charles with four hundred men under
Major Ramos.
Such was the enthusiasm of the inhabitants that Peterborough proposed
to make a forced march right for Madrid at once, and set Charles on
the throne without further delay, declaring that he was confident of
taking the capital by a _coup de main_; and there is little doubt but
he would have succeeded had he had the sole command. But such daring
projects, the flashes of genius, only confound matter-of-fact men;
the plan was looked on as little short of madness, the adventure was
overruled, the fleet sailed, and on the 22nd arrived in the bay of
Barcelona. There was a garrison of five thousand men within the town
and castle of Barcelona, and the English force amounted to little
more than six thousand. But the inhabitants displayed the utmost
loyalty to the new king; they received him with acclamations, and the
English landed and invested the town. Here again, however, the erratic
genius of Lord Peterborough startled more orthodox commanders. By all
the rules of war the town ought to be taken first, and the castle
afterwards; but Peterborough saw that the castle commanded the town,
and must be continually inflicting injury on them in the course of
the siege. He determined, therefore, not by the laws of war, but of
common sense, to take the castle first. None but the brave Prince of
Hesse-Darmstadt held his view of the matter, and to him alone did he,
therefore, communicate his plans; but he took a close survey of this
strong castle of Montjuich, convinced himself that it was not so well
garrisoned as was represented, and that it might be taken by address
and promptitude. He instantly began to re-embark some of his troops, as
if about to abandon the enterprise, so as to throw the Spaniards off
their guard, and then suddenly, on the night of the 3rd of December,
sent about fourteen hundred men by two different routes to attack the
castle. He himself, accompanied by the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, led
the first of these bodies, General Stanhope the other. It was not
till about daybreak that the earl made his attack on the outworks of
the castle, and established himself on a platform with a few small
field-pieces and mortars. There they awaited the coming up of General
Stanhope; but he had missed his way, and did not arrive in time. The
governor of the castle, seeing the small number of the assailants, made
a headlong sally from the castle, thinking to sweep the rash detachment
down the hill, but he found himself mistaken; and whilst Lord
Peterborough was in close engagement with him, General Stanhope came
up, and the governor withdrew within the walls. The English then began
to throw bombshells into the castle, and one of these speedily ignited
a magazine, and blew it up with a tremendous explosion. The governor
himself was killed by it, and the garrison in consternation surrendered.
Lord Peterborough could now not only invest the city without
annoyance from the castle, but could turn the guns of the castle on
the Spaniards, showing the correctness of his ideas in opposition
to the red-tape of war. He pursued the siege with such effect that
Velasquez, the governor, agreed to surrender in four days if he did
not receive relief in that time; but he was not able to hold out even
these four days, for the country swarmed with Miquelets, a sort of
lawless Catalans, who declared for the Austrians. Numbers of these,
who had assisted the seamen in throwing bombs from the ketches into
the city, and in other operations against the town, now clambered
over the walls, and began plundering the inhabitants and violating
the women. The governor and his troops were unable to put them down.
They threatened to throw open the gates and let in whole hordes of the
like rabble, to massacre the people and sack the place. Velasquez was
therefore compelled, before the expiration of the four days, to call in
the assistance of the Earl of Peterborough himself, who rode into the
city at the head of a body of troops with General Stanhope and other
officers, and amid the random firing of the Miquelets, by his commands
and by the occasional use of the flat of their swords, the marauders
were reduced to quiet. Having quelled this frightful riot, Lord
Peterborough and his attendants again quitted the city, and awaited
the rest of the four days, much to the astonishment of the Spaniards,
who had been taught to look on the English as a species of lawless and
heretical barbarians. Barcelona surrendered on the day appointed, and
immediately the whole of Catalonia, and every fortified place in it,
except Rosas, declared for Charles.
The Earl of Peterborough did not, however, pause in his movements. He
marched for San Matteo, at a distance of thirty leagues, to raise the
siege carried on by the forces of King Philip. Through roads such as
Spain has always been famous for down to the campaigns of Wellington,
he plunged and dragged along his cannon, appeared before San Matteo
in a week, raised the siege, and again set forward towards the city
of Valencia, which he speedily reduced, and took in it the Marquis
de Villagarcia, the Viceroy, and the Archbishop. Soon every place in
Catalonia and Valencia acknowledged the authority of King Charles
except the seaport of Alicante. The whole campaign resembled more a
piece of romance than a reality. The earl's own officers could scarcely
believe their senses; and as for the Spaniards, they said he had a
devil in him, and was master of all magic and necromancy.
When the Parliament met on the 25th of October, it was found that a
strong majority of Whigs had been returned; and, in the struggle for
the Speakership, the nominee of the Tories, Mr. Bromley, was rejected,
and the nominee of the Whigs, Mr. John Smith, chosen by a majority
of two hundred and fifty to two hundred and seven. The speech of the
queen was said to be the composition of the new Lord Keeper, Cowper,
but to have undergone considerable revision in the Council. In this the
Whig policy shone strongly forth. She expressed her determination to
continue the war till the Bourbon prince was driven from the throne of
Spain, and the Austrian prince established.
In the House of Lords, Lord Haversham proposed that, for the security
of the Protestant succession and of the Church, the House should
address the queen, praying her to invite over the heir-presumptive to
the Crown--that is, the Electress Sophia of Hanover. The Tories trusted
that if they could get over the Princess Sophia and her son George,
they would be able to play off one Court against the other; that,
though the Whigs had got possession of the queen, they should then be
able to ingratiate themselves with her successor, and thus prepare to
supersede the Whigs altogether in the new reign. At the same time
they should be supporting the popular feeling regarding the Protestant
succession, and annoying the queen, who had dismissed them from her
favour. There had been for some time a party called the Hanoverian
Tories, who were bent on securing their interest with that House; and
the Jacobites joined this party, hoping, under cover of a pretence
for the Protestant succession, they might yet find an occasion for
promoting the hopes of the Pretender. But this was a hazardous policy
for both parties; for, as Anne was mortally jealous of her successor,
as is generally the case with princes, the Tories only more completely
lost all chance of regaining her favour; and as the Electress Sophia,
knowing Anne's feeling, was obliged to disclaim any wish to come to
England during the queen's life, she was thus, in fact, obliged to
disown the efforts of the Tories. Sophia, indeed, wrote to the queen
herself, informing her that an agent from the discontented party in
England had come to her Court to invite herself and the Electoral
Prince, her son George, into England, assuring them that a party there
was ready to propose it; but that she had caused the said person to
be acquainted that she judged the message to come from such as were
enemies to her family, that she would never hearken to such a proposal
but when it came from the queen herself, and that she had discouraged
the attempt so much that it was believed nothing more would be heard of
it.
The Tories thought that they had now placed the Whigs on the horns
of a dilemma; that they must either offend the House of Hanover and
the popular feeling of the country by opposing the motion, or lose
the favour of the queen by conceding this specious measure; for Anne
would have resented above everything the slightest suggestion that
her successors were waiting for her throne in England, and courted by
whichever party was in opposition.
But the Whigs had weighed all the dangers of the dilemma, and were
prepared with special remedies for them. So far did they profess
themselves from wishing to weaken the certainty of the Protestant
succession that, without adopting the very dubious measure recommended,
they proposed to appoint a regency to hold the government, in case
of the death of her present Majesty, for the successor, till he or
she should arrive in this country. By this adroit measure the queen
was spared the annoyance of seeing her successor converted into a
rival, and yet the prospects of this succession were strengthened.
Accordingly, a Bill was brought in, appointing the seven persons who
should at the time possess the offices of Archbishop of Canterbury,
Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, Lord Treasurer, Lord President,
Lord Privy Seal, Lord High Admiral, and Lord Chief Justice of the
Queen's Bench, as a regency, who should proclaim the next successor
throughout the kingdom, and join with a certain number of persons,
named also regents by the successor, in three lists, to be sealed up
and deposited with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Keeper, and
the Minister residentiary at Hanover. These regents were to conduct the
administration; and the last Parliament, even though dissolved, should
reassemble and continue to sit for six months after the decease of her
Majesty. This Bill, notwithstanding the opposition of the Tories, was
carried through both Houses.
To prevent any unpleasant feeling at Hanover, the Whigs immediately
passed another Bill, naturalising not only the Princess Sophia but
all her descendants, wheresoever or whensoever born, and they sent
over to Hanover the Earl of Halifax, with letters from Lord Somers,
Lord Cowper, and other leading Whigs, but, above all, from the Duke of
Marlborough, and conveying to the Prince George the Order of the Garter
from the queen. By these measures the Whigs completely turned the Tory
stratagems against that party itself, whose attempts to damage them
they thus rendered the means of a perfect triumph, not only retaining
the warm favour of the queen, but establishing an alliance with the
House of Hanover which, with few interruptions, continued to the
commencement of the reign of George III.
On the 19th of March, 1706, the queen prorogued Parliament till the
21st of May. Towards the end of April Marlborough proceeded to Holland
to commence the campaign. The severe defeat which the troops of Louis
had received in Germany the last year nerved him to fresh exertions. He
had little fear of dealing with the Prince of Baden on the Upper Rhine;
but Marlborough in the Netherlands, Eugene in Savoy, and Peterborough
in Spain, demanded his whole vigour, and he determined to act with
decision on all points, and especially against Marlborough. He heard
that the Danes and Prussians had not yet joined the Confederate army,
and he ordered Villeroi to attack it before these reinforcements
could come up. In consequence of this order Villeroi and the Elector
of Bavaria--who, in spite of his severe chastisement, still adhered
to France against his own country--passed the Dyle, and posted
themselves, on the 19th of May, at Tirlemont. They were there joined by
the cavalry under Marshal Marsin, and encamped between Tirlemont and
Judoigne.
Marlborough assembled his army between Borschloen and Groswaren, and
found it to consist of seventy-four battalions of foot, and one hundred
and twenty-three squadrons of horse and dragoons, well supplied with
artillery and pontoons. Hearing that the French were advancing towards
him, Marlborough, being now joined by the Danes, set forward and
appeared in eight columns before the village of Ramillies. The French,
who had already taken possession of Ramillies, and strongly fortified
it, entrenched themselves in a strong camp, the right extending to the
Mehaigne, and covered by the villages of Tavière and Ramillies, and
their left to Autre-Église. The duke posted his right wing near Foltz,
on the brook of Yause, and his left at the village of Franquenies.
Villeroi had committed the capital blunder of leaving his wings
sundered by impassable ground, so that they could not act in support of
each other.
It was about half-past one o'clock when Marlborough ordered General
Schulz, with twelve battalions, to attack Ramillies, whilst Overkirk
attacked Autre-Église on the left. Schulz, who had twenty pieces of
cannon, opened fire on Ramillies, but met with so warm a reception that
he had great difficulty in maintaining his ground; but Marlborough
supported him with column after column, and the fight there was raging
terribly. In the midst of it Marlborough, seeing some of the men driven
from the guns, galloped up to encourage them. He was recognised by the
French, who made a dash and surrounded him. He broke through them,
however, by a desperate effort; but in endeavouring to regain his own
ranks, his horse fell in leaping a ditch, and the duke was thrown. As
the French were hotly upon them, another moment and he must have been
taken, but Captain Molesworth, one of his aide-de-camps, mounted him
on his own horse. As he was in the act of springing into the saddle,
a cannon-ball took off the head of Colonel Brenfield, who held the
stirrup; but Marlborough himself escaped, and regained the main body
unhurt, except for a few bruises. Meanwhile Overkirk, with the Dutch
guards, and by help of the Danes, had succeeded in driving the French
from the enclosures of Autre-Église, cutting off the communication
between the two wings, and driving numbers of the French into the
Mehaigne. The Bavarians under the Elector fought bravely; more so
than the French, for these were become dispirited by their repeated
defeats, and especially the rout of Blenheim. Their veteran troops were
extremely reduced in numbers; and Louis, to fill the ranks, had forced
the unwilling peasantry into the army, sending them even in chains to
the campaign to prevent them from deserting on the way. Such troops
could not do much against the victorious Allies under a general like
Marlborough.
On Marlborough regaining the ranks, he led up the attack with fresh
vigour. The village of Ramillies was carried and most of the French
who defended it were cut to pieces. The Prince of Würtemberg and the
Prince of Hesse-Cassel got into the rear of Villeroi, and the panic
became general. The infantry began to retreat--at first in tolerable
order, protected by the cavalry, which were posted between Ossuz and
Autre-Église; but the English cavalry, under General Wyndham and
General Ward, having managed to get over a rivulet which separated
them, fell on them with such spirit near the farm of Chaintrain that
they were thrown into confusion. The Bavarians suffered severely, and
the Elector had a narrow escape for his life. Villeroi himself with
difficulty made good his flight. In the midst of the rout a narrow
pass, through which the French were flying, suddenly became obstructed
by the breakdown of some baggage waggons. The cavalry, pressing on
in their rear, then made terrible havoc amongst them. The flight was
continued all the way to Judoigne, and Lord Orkney, with some squadrons
of light horse, never drew bit till they had chased the fugitives into
Louvain, nearly seven leagues from Ramillies. The baggage, cannon,
colours--everything fell into the hands of the Allies. There were one
hundred and twenty colours, six hundred officers, and six thousand
private soldiers captured.
Besides these, it was calculated that eight thousand were killed and
wounded. Of the Allies, Marlborough declared that only one thousand
fell, and two thousand were wounded. The Prince Maximilian of Bavaria
and Prince Monbason were among the slain; amongst the prisoners were
Major-Generals Palavicini and Mezières, the Marquises De Bar, De
Nonant, and De la Baume (the son of Marshal Tallard), Montmorency
(nephew of the Duke of Luxemburg), and many other persons of rank.
Villeroi had fled to Brussels, but Marlborough was soon at the gates;
the French general took his departure, and Marlborough entered that
city in triumph, amid the acclamations of the people. The whole of
the Spanish Netherlands was recovered by the battle of Ramillies;
Louvain, Mechlin, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, threw open their
gates. Ostend, Menin, Dendermonde, and Ath, made some resistance, but
successively surrendered and acknowledged King Charles. The delighted
Emperor and King Charles offered to make Marlborough Governor of
Flanders, which he willingly accepted, but was compelled to relinquish
the honour by the indomitable jealousy of the Dutch. At the beginning
of November Marlborough sent his army into winter quarters--the
English at Ghent, the Danes at Bruges, and the Germans along the River
Demer--and betook himself to the Hague, to hold consultations on the
plan of the next campaign, and to receive proposals from Louis, which,
however, ended in nothing.
On the heels of Ramillies came the tidings of a still less expected
defeat in Savoy. The Duke de Vendôme was recalled from Piedmont after
the defeat of Ramillies to supersede Villeroi, and the Duke of Orleans,
under the direction of Marshal de Marsin, was sent to Piedmont, with
orders to besiege Turin. This siege was carried on through the summer;
and when the Duke of Savoy had refused all offers of accommodation
made by France, the Duke de Feuillade, having completed his lines of
circumvallation, made the last offer of courtesy to the impassive
Duke of Savoy. Eugene was beyond the Adige, and knew the formidable
obstacles in his path; but at the call of the distressed duke he forced
his way in the face of every opposition, crossed river after river,
threaded his way between the lines, and at length formed a junction
with the Duke of Savoy. After this union they advanced undauntedly on
Turin, and reached its vicinity on the 13th of August. They crossed
the Po between Montcalier and Cavignan, and on the 5th of September
captured a convoy of eight hundred loaded mules. They then crossed the
Doria, and encamped with their right wing on that river, and their
left on the Stura. The entrenchments of the foe had the convent of
the Capuchins, called Notre Dame, in their centre opposite. The Duke
of Orleans proposed to march out of their entrenchments and attack
the army of Savoy, but Marsin showed him an order from the Court
of Versailles forbidding so much hazard. The Prince did not leave
them long to deliberate, but attacked them in their entrenchments,
he himself leading up the left wing, and the duke the centre. After
some hard fighting both commanders forced the entrenchments, and
drove the French in precipitation over the Po. The Savoyards had
about three thousand men killed and wounded. Prince Eugene pursued
the Duke of Orleans and the Duke de Feuillade to the very borders of
Dauphiné. Unbroken gloom now hung over Versailles. Louis affected to
bear his reverses with indifference; but the violent restraint he put
upon himself so much endangered his health that his physicians were
compelled frequently to bleed him. The only gleams of comfort which
broke through the ominous silence of the gay Court of France were
afforded by an advantage gained by the Count de Medavi-Grancey over
the Prince of Hesse-Cassel in the neighbourhood of Castiglione, and
the forcing him to the Adige, with a loss of two thousand men. Besides
this, the mismanagement of King Charles in Spain, which prevented the
success of the Earl of Peterborough, was calculated in some degree to
solace the confounded French.
King Philip had made a great effort to recover the city of Barcelona.
Early in the spring he appeared before that city with a considerable
army of French and Spaniards, and invested it. He was supported by
a fleet under the Count de Toulouse, and succeeded in re-taking the
castle of Montjuich; and King Charles, who was cooped up in the town,
sent urgent despatches to Lord Peterborough at Valencia to come to his
assistance. Peterborough immediately marched to his relief with two
thousand men, but found Philip's besieging army too numerous to engage
with. On the 8th of May, however, Sir John Leake, who had sailed from
Lisbon with thirty ships of the line, showed himself in the bay, and
the Count de Toulouse sailed away for Toulon without attempting to
strike a blow; and Philip no sooner saw himself abandoned by the French
fleet, and in danger of an attack from both land and sea, than he made
as hasty a retreat, leaving his tents with the sick and wounded behind
him.
Philip had recalled to his service the Duke of Berwick, who had only
been dismissed because he was no favourite with the queen, and he was
posted on the Portuguese frontiers. But, notwithstanding this, the Earl
of Galway crossed these frontiers with an army of twenty thousand men,
took Alcantara, and made prisoners of the garrison, numbering four
thousand men. He then advanced on Madrid, Lord Peterborough engaging
to meet him, with King Charles, at the capital. At his approach Philip
fled with his queen to Burgos, carrying with him all the valuables
he could convey, and destroying what he could not take. About the
end of June the Earl of Galway entered Madrid without resistance;
and had the Earl of Peterborough, with the king, met him, according
to agreement, the war would have been at an end. But Peterborough,
who, had he been at liberty to act as he pleased, would have soon
been in Madrid, was sorely hampered by the king. Charles had reached
Saragossa, and been acknowledged sovereign of Aragon and Valencia; but
he was afraid of advancing towards the capital, lest they should be
cut off by the enemy. In vain did Peterborough urge and entreat, and
show the necessity of despatch to meet Galway. The wretched monarch
had made his chief councillor the Prince of Lichtenstein, who had
none of the brilliant dashing qualities of Peterborough, and against
that dead German weight Peterborough strove in vain. The timid stupid
king was immovable, till Galway--finding that he was unsupported in
Madrid, and that the Spaniards looked with indignation on an army of
Portuguese with a heretic general in possession of their capital--took
his departure. Meanwhile King Philip and the Duke of Berwick had
met, and, on the frontier, had received fresh reinforcements from
France. They therefore returned and availed themselves of Galway's
unfortunate position to recover the capital. Galway evacuated the
place on their approach without a blow, and retreated towards Aragon
to form a junction with Peterborough and the king. On the 6th of
August Charles and Peterborough came up with Galway at Guadalaxara;
but, notwithstanding this increase of force, nothing could persuade
the dastard Austrian prince to advance. Peterborough, who had all the
fiery temperament of a hero of romance, instead of the patience of
Marlborough, which had so often triumphed over German pride and Dutch
phlegm, lost all patience and gave up the enterprise. He returned to
the coast of the Mediterranean, and with him went all chance of Charles
of Austria securing the Spanish throne. Peterborough set sail with a
squadron to endeavour to aid the Duke of Savoy, the victory of Eugene
not yet having occurred.
When Peterborough was gone, nothing but distraction raged in the camp
of the confederates. Lord Galway could assert no supreme command
against the Prince of Lichtenstein and the Portuguese general; every
one was at variance with his fellow-officer, and all were disgusted
with the Austrian counsellors of Charles, and with his inert and
hopeless character. The Duke of Berwick, availing himself of their
divisions, marched down upon them, and they made a hasty retreat
towards Valencia and the mountains of New Castile. After incredible
sufferings they reached Requena, the last town of New Castile, where,
considering themselves secure, from the nature of the country, they
went into winter quarters at the end of September, and Charles and
his attendants proceeded to Valencia, where he wrote to the Duke
of Marlborough, recounting his misfortunes--the result of his own
incapacity--and vehemently entreating for fresh forces and supplies
from England and Holland. Could a large army have been sent under the
Earl of Peterborough, with authority for his undisputed command, there
is no doubt but that he would very speedily have cleared Spain of the
French; but against this was supposed to operate the influence of
Marlborough himself, who did not wish to see another English general
raised to a rivalry of glory with him.
The victory of Prince Eugene rendering the presence of the Earl of
Peterborough unnecessary in Piedmont, he made a second voyage to
Genoa, to induce that republic to lend King Charles and his Allies
money for his establishment. The English fleet in the Mediterranean
continued sailing from place to place with six or eight thousand men
on board, seeking some occasion to annoy the coast of France, whilst
these men might have been of the utmost service in Spain if commanded
by Peterborough. As it was, half of them are said to have perished in
this objectless cruise; and another squadron under the Earl of Rivers,
sent to join Lord Galway at the siege of Alicante, suffered as much.
In short, no campaign ever appears to have combined more mismanagement
than this in Spain, including the movements of the fleet to support it.
But whilst these various fortunes of war were taking place on the
Continent, a victory greater than that of Ramillies or of Turin was
achieved at home. This was the accomplishment of the Union of the two
kingdoms of Scotland and England, and with it the extinction of those
heartburnings and embarrassments which were continually arising out
of the jealousies of Scotland of the overbearing power of England. In
the last Session nothing appeared farther off; nay, a Bill--the Bill
of Security--had passed, which threatened to erect again two thrones
in the island, with all the rivalries and bloodshed of former years.
The provisions of this Bill, which practically excluded the House of
Hanover from the throne of Scotland, were much resented in England, and
the two nations seemed to be on the brink of war. The Commissioners,
however, appointed by England and Scotland to decide the terms of
this agreement, met on the 16th of April in the council-chamber of
the Cockpit, near Whitehall, and continued their labours till the
22nd of July, when they had agreed upon the conditions, and on that
day mutually signed them. In discussing the proposed plans of this
Union, the Scots were found to incline to a federal Union, like that
of Holland; but the English were resolved that, if made at all, the
Union of the two kingdoms should be complete--a perfect incorporation
of Scotland, so that there should be for ever an end of the troubles
and annoyances of the Scottish Parliament. The last reign, and the
present, had shown too clearly the inconveniences of that Parliament,
the means it gave to disaffected men--and especially to such as were
disappointed of their ambitious aims by the Government--of fanning up
feuds and stopping the business of the country; nay, of threatening,
as of late, to establish again their own independent state, and their
own king. Therefore the English Commissioners would listen to nothing
but a thorough amalgamation. The Lord Keeper proposed that the two
kingdoms should for ever be united into one realm by the name of Great
Britain; that this realm should be represented by one and the same
Parliament; and that the succession to the Crown should be such as was
already determined by the Act of Parliament passed in the late reign,
called "An Act for the Further Limitation of the Crown and the Better
Securing the Rights and Liberties of the Subject." The Scots, whilst
seeming to comply with this proposal, endeavoured to introduce various
clauses about the rights and privileges of the people of Scotland in
England, and of the English in Scotland, and that the Crown should be
established in the same persons as those mentioned in the Act referred
to; but the Lord Keeper declined to enter into any consideration of any
proposals, but simply for a full and complete Union of the two kingdoms
into one, with the same universal rights, declaring that nothing but
such solidification would effect perfect and lasting harmony. The Scots
gave way, and the terms agreed upon were mutually signed on the 22nd of
July, 1706.
[Illustration: GREAT SEAL OF ANNE.]
The conditions of this famous treaty were--That the succession to
the throne of Great Britain should be vested in the Princess Sophia
and her heirs, according to the Act passed by the English Parliament
for that purpose; that there should be but one Parliament for the
whole kingdom; that all the subjects should enjoy the same rights and
privileges; that they should have the same allowances, encouragements,
and drawbacks, and lie under the same regulations and restrictions as
to trade and commerce; that Scotland should not be charged with the
temporary duties on certain commodities; that the sum of three hundred
and ninety-eight thousand one hundred and three pounds should be
granted to the Scots as an equivalent for such parts of the customs and
excise charged upon that kingdom in consequence of the Union as would
be applicable to the payment of the debts of England, according to the
proportions which the customs and excise of Scotland bore to those
of England; that as the revenues of Scotland should increase, a fair
equivalent should be allowed for such proportion of the said increase
as should be applicable to payment of the debts of England; that
the sums to be thus paid should be employed in reducing the coin of
Scotland to the standard and value of the English coin, in paying off
the capital, stock, and interest due to the proprietors of the African
Company, which should be immediately dissolved, in discharging all the
public debts of the kingdom of Scotland, in promoting and encouraging
manufactures and fisheries under the direction of Commissioners to be
appointed by her Majesty, and accountable to the Parliament of Great
Britain; that the laws relating to public right, policy, and civil
government, should be alike throughout the whole kingdom; that no
alteration should be made in laws which concerned private right, except
for the evident benefit of the people of Scotland; that the Court of
Session and all other courts of judicature in Scotland should remain
as constituted, with all authority and privileges as before the Union,
subject only to the power of the Parliament of the United Kingdom;
that all heritable offices, superiorities, heritable jurisdictions,
offices for life, and jurisdictions for life, should remain the same as
rights and properties as then enjoyed by the laws of Scotland; that the
rights and privileges of the royal boroughs in Scotland were to remain
unaltered; that Scotland should be represented in Parliament by sixteen
peers and forty-five commoners, to be elected in a manner to be settled
by the present Parliament of Scotland; that all peers of Scotland and
the successors to their honours and dignities should, from and after
the Union, take rank and precedency next and immediately after the
English peers of the like orders and degrees at the time of the Union,
and before all English peers of the like orders and degrees as should
be created after the Union; that they should be tried as peers of Great
Britain, and enjoy all privileges of peers of England, except that of
sitting in the House of Lords and the privileges depending thereon, and
particularly the right of sitting upon the trials of peers; that the
crown, sceptre, and sword of State, the records of Parliament, and all
other records, rolls, and registers whatsoever, should still remain as
they were in Scotland; that all laws and statutes in either kingdom
inconsistent with these terms of Union should cease and be declared
void by the Parliaments of the two kingdoms.
[Illustration: THE PEOPLE OF EDINBURGH ESCORTING THE DUKE OF HAMILTON
TO HOLYROOD PALACE. (_See p._ 571.)]
But though the Articles of the Union had received the sanction of
the Commissioners, they had yet to receive that of the Scottish and
English Parliaments, and no sooner did the matter come before the
Scottish one than a storm broke out in Scotland against the Union,
which convulsed the whole country, and threatened to annihilate the
measure. The Jacobites and discontented, because unemployed, nobles set
to work in every direction to operate on the national pride, telling
the people they would be reduced to insignificance and to slavery to
the proud and overbearing English, and arousing the _odium theologicum_
by representing that no sooner would the Union be complete than the
English hierarchy would, through the English Parliament, put down the
Presbyterian religion and set up Episcopacy again, and that the small
minority of Scottish members in each House would be unable to prevent
it.
On the 3rd of October the Duke of Queensberry, as Lord Commissioner
for the queen, opened the last Session of the Scottish Parliament.
Queensberry, who with the Earl of Stair, had been on the Commission,
and had laboured hard to bring it to a satisfactory issue, now laid the
Treaty before the Parliament, expressing his conviction that the queen
would have it carried out with the utmost impartiality and care for
the rights of all her subjects. He read a letter from Anne, assuring
them that the only way to secure their present and future happiness,
and to disappoint the designs of their enemies and her Majesty's, who
would do all in their power to prevent or delay the Union, was to
adopt it with as little delay as possible. The Commissioner then said,
to appease any fears on account of the Kirk, that not only were the
laws already in existence for its security maintained, but that he was
empowered to consent to anything which they should think necessary
for that object. He then read the Treaty, and it was ordered to be
printed, and put into the hands of all the members of Parliament. No
sooner were the printed copies in the hands of the public than the
tempest broke. The Dukes of Athol and of Hamilton, the Lords Annandale
and Belhaven, and other Jacobites, represented that the project was
most injurious and disgraceful to Scotland; that it had at one blow
destroyed the independence and dignity of the kingdom, which for two
thousand years had defended her liberties against all the armies and
intrigues of England; that now it was delivered over by these traitors,
the Commissioners, bound hand and foot, to the English; that the few
members who were to represent Scotland in the English Parliament would
be just so many slaves or machines, and have no influence whatever;
that all Scotland did, by this arrangement, but send one more member
to the House of Commons than Cornwall, a single county of England; and
that the Scots must expect to see their sacred Kirk again ridden over
rough-shod by the English troopers, and the priests of Baal installed
in their pulpits.
Defoe, who had the curiosity to go to Scotland and watch the
circumstances attending the adoption of this great measure, has left
us a very lively account of the fury to which the people were worked
up by these representations. Mobs paraded the streets of Edinburgh,
crying that they "were Scotsmen, and would be Scotsmen still." They
hooted, hissed, and pursued all whom they knew to be friendly to the
Treaty, and there was little safety for them in the streets. "Parties,"
he says, "whose interests and principles differed as much as light
and darkness, who were contrary in opinion, and as far asunder in
everything as the poles, seemed to draw together here. It was the most
monstrous sight in the world to see the Jacobite and the Presbyterian,
the persecuting prelatic Nonjuror and the Cameronian, the Papist and
the Reformed Protestant, parley together, join interests, and concert
measures together; to see the Jacobites at Glasgow huzzahing the mob,
and encouraging them to have a care of the Church; the high-flying
Episcopal Dissenter crying out the overture was not a sufficient
security for the Kirk."
From the 3rd of October, when the Parliament opened, to the 1st of
November, the fury of the people continued to increase, and the utmost
was done to rouse the old Cameronian spirit in the West of Scotland by
alarming rumours of the intention of England to restore Episcopacy by
force. The whole country was in a flame. Under such circumstances the
Articles of the Treaty had to be discussed in the Scottish Parliament.
The opponents did not venture to denounce any Union at all, but
they insisted that it ought only to be a federal one, by which they
contended Scotland would still, whilst co-operating with England in
everything necessary for the good of the realm at large, maintain her
ancient dignity, retain her Parliament, her constitution, and ancient
sovereignty. When they found themselves in a minority even on this
point they contended that it was not in the power of Parliament to
settle so momentous a question; that the Session ought to be adjourned
for a short time, in order that members might go down to their
constituents, and thus learn what was really the mind of the nation.
Failing in this, they exerted themselves to get a host of petitions
sent up from the boroughs, claiming to have a right on the part of the
constituents to instruct and limit their representatives, and warning
them, above all things, to go no further than a federal Union.
In order to lead to a popular demonstration, the opponents moved that
there should be a day set apart for public prayer and fast, therein
seeking the will of God as to the Union. The Parliament did not oppose
this, and the 18th of October was settled for this purpose; but it
passed off very well both in town and country, and the incendiaries
were disappointed. Another mode of overawing the Parliament was then
resorted to. Rumours were set afloat that the people would turn out all
together, and come to the Parliament House and cry, "No Union!" They
would seize on the regalia, and carry them to the castle for safety.
And in fact a great mob followed the Duke of Hamilton, who was carried
to and from the House in a chair, owing to some temporary lameness;
but the Guards stopped them at the gates of Holyrood, whereupon they
declared that they would return the next day a thousand times stronger,
and pull the traitors out of their Houses, and so put an end to the
Union in their own way. And the next day, the 23rd of October, they did
assemble in dense crowds, filling the Parliament Close, and crowding
the door, so that members had much difficulty in getting out at the
close of the sitting. As soon as the Duke of Hamilton entered his
chair, they raised loud hurrahs, and followed his chair in a body. But
the alarm was given, a troop of soldiers appeared, cleared the street,
and seized half a dozen of the ringleaders. More soldiers were obliged
to be called out, and a rumour being abroad that a thousand seamen were
coming up from Leith to join the rioters, the City Guard was marched
into the Parliament Close, and took possession of all the avenues. A
battalion of Guards was also stationed at the palace, the garrison in
the castle was kept in readiness for action, and a troop of dragoons
accompanied the Ministers wherever they went.
Defeated in their object of overawing the Parliament, the opposition
now cried mightily that the Parliament was overawed by soldiers,
and that the Treaty was being rammed down the throat of the public
by bayonets; that this was the beginning of that slavery to which
the country was about to be reduced. But Queensberry and his friends
replied that there was much greater danger of coercion from an ignorant
and violent mob than from the orderly soldiery, who made no attempt
whatever to influence the deliberations. Every Article indeed was
resisted _seriatim_. Hamilton, Athol, Fletcher of Saltoun, Belhaven,
were vehement and persevering in their opposition; but still, with
some modifications, the Articles were carried one after another. In
the midst of the contention Hamilton was confounded by receiving a
letter from Lord Middleton, at the Court of St. Germains, desiring,
in the name of the Pretender, that the opposition to the Union should
cease; for that his Grace (the Pretender) had it much at heart to give
his sister this proof of his ready compliance with her wishes, nothing
doubting but that he should one day have it in his power to restore
Scotland to its ancient weight and independence. Hamilton was desired
to keep this matter, however, a profound secret, as the knowledge of
it at this time might greatly prejudice the cause and the interests of
his master both in Scotland and England. Hamilton was thus thoroughly
paralysed in his opposition, and at the same time was in the awkward
position of not being able to explain his sudden subsidence into
inaction.
On the other hand, the English Government saw the advantage of
distributing a liberal sum of money amongst the patriots of Scotland;
and the grossest bribery and corruption were unblushingly resorted to.
Twenty thousand pounds were sent down for this purpose, and the passage
of the Union aided by a still more profuse distribution of promises of
places, honours, and of compensation to those who had been sufferers
in the Darien scheme. By these means the opposition was sufficiently
soothed down to enable the Ministers to carry the Treaty by a majority
of one hundred and ten. An Act was prepared for regulating the election
of the sixteen peers and forty-five commoners to represent Scotland
in the British Parliament; and on the 25th of the following March,
1707, the Scottish Parliament suspended its sittings. Amongst those
who contributed mainly to the carrying of this great measure, and
that against an opposition which at one time appeared likely to sweep
everything before it, were the Dukes of Queensberry and Argyll, the
Earls of Montrose, Seafield, and Stair, assisted by the Earls of
Roxburgh and Marchmont, who had come over from the opposite party
through promises of favour and distinction.
[Illustration: COSTUMES OF THE REIGN OF ANNE.]
So ended the year 1706; and the English Parliament was informed by the
queen, on the 28th of January, 1707, that the Articles of the Treaty,
with some alterations and additions, were agreed upon by the Scottish
Parliament, and should now be laid before them. She said, "You have now
an opportunity before you of putting the last hand to a happy Union
of the two kingdoms, which, I hope, will be a lasting blessing to the
whole island, a great addition to its wealth and power, and a firm
security to the Protestant religion. The advantages which will accrue
to us all from a Union are so apparent that I will add no more but
that I will look upon it as a particular happiness if this great work,
which has been so often attempted without success, can be brought to
perfection in my reign."
But the Tories did not mean to let it pass without a sharp attack. They
saw the immense accession of strength which the Whigs, the authors
of the measure under King William, would obtain from it. Seymour and
others denounced it, not merely with vehemence, but with indecency. The
High Churchmen took particular offence at Presbytery being established
in Scotland, and insisted much on the contradiction of maintaining one
religion in Scotland and another in England, and the scandal of the
queen, who was a Churchwoman, being sworn to maintain Presbyterianism
in opposition to it. The Lords Grey, North, Stowell, Rochester, Howard,
Leigh, and Guildford, protested against the low rate of the land-tax
charged in Scotland, complaining, with great reason, that it was fixed
at only forty-eight thousand pounds, which was never to be increased,
however the value of property might rise in that country; and Lord
Nottingham said that it was highly unreasonable that the Scots, who
were by the Treaty let into all the branches of the English trade, and
paid so little towards the expense of the government, should, moreover,
have such a round sum by way of equivalent. The Lords North, Grey,
Guernsey, Granville, Abingdon, and others, supported that view.
But the discussions on the various Articles were cut short by a clever
stratagem adopted by Government in the House of Commons. There, as the
same arguments were being urged, and Sir John Packington was declaring
that this forced incorporation, carried against the Scottish people by
corruption and bribery within doors, by force and violence without,
was like marrying a woman against her consent, Sir Simon Harcourt,
the Solicitor-General, introduced a Bill of ratification, in which he
enumerated the various Articles in the preamble, together with the
Acts made in both Parliaments for the security of the two Churches,
and, in conclusion, wound up with a single clause, by which the whole
was ratified and enacted into a law. The Opposition was thus taken
by surprise. They had not objected to the recital of the Articles,
which was a bare matter of fact; and when they found themselves called
upon to argue merely on the concluding and ratifying clause, they
were thrown out of their concerted plan of action of arguing on each
point in detail, and lost their presence of mind. The Whigs, on the
other hand, pressed the voting on the clause of ratification with
such vehemence that it was carried by a majority of one hundred and
fourteen before the Opposition could recover from their surprise,
occasioned by the novel structure of the Bill. Being then hurried
up to the Lords, the fact that it had passed the Commons seemed to
take the edge off their hostility. The Duke of Buckingham, indeed,
expressed his apprehensions that sixteen Scottish peers, thrown into
a House where there were rarely a hundred peers in attendance, might
have occasionally a very mischievous effect on English interests.
Lord North also proposed a rider, purporting that nothing in the
ratification of the Union should be construed to extend to an
approbation or acknowledgment of Presbyterianism as the true Protestant
religion; but this was rejected by a majority of fifty-five. The Bill
passed, but under protests from Nottingham, Buckingham, and seventeen
other lords.
On the 4th of March Anne gave the Royal Assent to the Bill, and
expressed, as well she might, her satisfaction at the completion of
this great measure, the greatest of her reign or of many reigns. On the
11th of March both Houses waited on her Majesty to congratulate her on
the "conclusion of a work that, after so many fruitless endeavours,
seemed designed by Providence to add new lustre to the glories of her
Majesty's reign." No man had more contributed, by his wise suggestions
and zealous exertions, to the completion of this great national act
than Lord Somers.
As the Act did not come into effect till the 1st of May, numbers of
traders in both kingdoms were on the alert to reap advantages from
it. The English prepared to carry quantities of such commodities into
Scotland as would entitle them to a drawback, intending to bring them
back after the 1st of May; and the Scots, as their duties were much
lower than those of England, intended to import large quantities of
wine, brandy, and similar articles, to sell them into England after
the Union. Some of the Ministers were found to have embarked in these
fraudulent schemes, which so alarmed the English merchants that
they presented a remonstrance to the Commons. The Commons began to
prepare a Bill on the subject, but it was discovered that the previous
resolutions of the House sufficiently provided against these practices;
and, as the 1st of May was now so near, the matter dropped.