E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
The Augustan Reprint Society
[DANIEL DEFOE]
A SHORT NARRATIVE OF THE
Life and Actions
Of His GRACE
_JOHN_, D. of Marlborough
(1711)
_Introduction by_
PAULA R. BACKSCHEIDER
Publication Number 168
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
University Of California, Los Angeles
1974
GENERAL EDITORS
William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles
Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles
David S. Rodes, University of California, Los Angeles
ADVISORY EDITORS
Richard C. Boys, University of Michigan
James L. Clifford, Columbia University
Ralph Cohen, University of Virginia
Vinton A. Dearing, University of California, Los Angeles
Arthur Friedman, University of Chicago
Louis A. Landa, Princeton University
Earl Miner, Princeton University
Samuel H. Monk, University of Minnesota
Everett T. Moore, University of California, Los Angeles
Lawrence Clark Powell, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
James Sutherland, University College, London
H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles
Robert Vosper, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Beverly J. Onley, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Typography by Wm. M. Cheney
INTRODUCTION
Opinion is a mighty matter in war, and I doubt but the French think it
impossible to conquer an army that he leads, and our soldiers think
the same; and how far even this step may encourage the French to play
tricks with us, no man knows.
Swift's _Journal to Stella_, 1 January 1711
... the moment he leaves the service and loses the protection of
the Court, such scenes will open as no victories can varnish over.
Bolingbroke's _Letters and Correspondence_,
23 January 1711
The career of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, reflects the
political battles of nearly thirty years of English politics. In an
age when duplicity, intrigue, personality, and an immediate history of
violence characterized politics, John Churchill was a constant, steady
military success even while his political and personal fortunes
alternately plunged and soared. His military ability insured his
importance to the Grand Alliance and his victories brought the
reverence of the European powers opposing Louis XIV as well as that of
his own people, but, at the same time, his successes also assured his
involvement with the fortunes of nearly every major English political
figure and movement in the years 1688 to 1712.
Marlborough's military career spanned two periods. Aware of the danger
of the "exorbitant power of France" and the corresponding danger to
the Protestant religion, disgusted with James's actions at the
_Gloucester_ shipwreck and in dealing with Scottish Protestants,
Marlborough had joined the bloodless shift to William of Orange. For
William, he led the English forces in Flanders in 1689 and in Ireland
in 1690; in 1691 he was in charge of the British forces in Europe with
the rank of lieutenant-general. In January, 1692, however, Marlborough
was dismissed from all of his offices for a combination of reasons,
each insufficient in itself but all too typical for him--open
opposition to William's Dutch dominated army, rumors that he and
Sarah, his ambitious and sometimes presumptuous wife, were plotting
Anne's usurpation of the throne, and dissension aroused between Anne
and her sister Queen Mary by the quixotic Sarah. When rumors of a
Jacobite uprising began, Marlborough spent six weeks in the Tower.
Although Marlborough was restored to political favor in 1698 partly as
a placatory gesture to Anne, it was 1701 before he resumed his
military career, this time as William's Commander-in-Chief and
Ambassador Extraordinary to the United Provinces. In this second phase
of his military career, he won every battle, took every fort that he
besieged, held the Grand Alliance together, broke the threatening
supremacy of France, and established England as a major power. Yet,
during these ten years, Queen Anne's ministry and Parliament underwent
several major upheavals: the resulting shifts in policy and
personalities alternately inconvenienced and vexed Marlborough. The
year 1711 marked the culmination of warring factions and clandestine
arrangement, and Daniel Defoe's _A Short Narrative of the Life and
Actions of his grace, John, Duke of Marlborough_, published 20
February 1711, originated in this battle. (For discussion of
authorship, please see Appendix.)
Much that happened in these years can be unraveled back to Harley,
Earl of Oxford. His influences and circuitous dealing emerge wherever
a close examination of politics is made.[1] Hiding his activities from
even his closest associates, employing spies and journalists whose
purposes seem contradictory, manipulating the House of Commons'
radical October Club while preaching a "broad bottomed" moderate
government, and buzzing in the Queen's ear in a variety of ways,
Harley was ready for any exigency. England had wanted peace since 1709
when their insistence on "no peace without Spain" and on the XXXVII
Article asking for guarantees of three Spanish towns had rallied the
French behind the war;[2] Marlborough's pleas that peace be made and
Spain be dealt with later were ignored. Although Parliament voted
Malplaquet a triumph, Marlborough's power and prestige were
systematically shorn away, and embarrassing decisions contrived to
force his resignation were effected.[3] Should Marlborough resign, a
scapegoat for defeat or an unfavorable peace would be assured. By
1710, foreign policy had changed--a growing interest in trade and
colonization urged Parliament to end a costly and now unnecessary war
and had united the Tories, Jacobites, the Church party, as well as
such diverse men as the Dukes of Argyll, Somerset, Newcastle, and
Shrewsbury, a Whig. With the election of the radical Tory majority
(240 new members were seated) to the Commons in 1710 and the creation
of twelve new peers,[4] Harley's job of using diverse elements to form
a moderate government became more complex. He found it expedient to
establish and maintain influence with groups ranging from the radical
Tory October Club to Swift's country squire and clergy _Examiner_
readers to moderate Whigs such as Shrewsbury. Moreover, Defoe had
impressed upon him the importance of assuring the nation that moderate
and sensible men were at the bottom of all of the political
changes.[5] Harley, therefore, prepared for at least three apparently
exclusive possibilities--prosecuting the war for several more years,
negotiating a peace with the Allies, or making a separate peace with
France without the Allies. To keep all these possibilities alive,
Harley had to remain in harmony with Marlborough. The general's
popularity with the soldiers and the European powers and France's awe
of his military prowess necessitated the appearance that Marlborough's
command was secure. While the _Examiner_, with its Tory audience and
its emphasis on pressure for peace, was essential to Harley, so were
Swift's and Defoe's appeals for moderation at a time when sympathy for
Marlborough was rampant and the call "no peace without Spain" was
still defended even by the October Club; for the same reasons he was
glad to have Bolingbroke openly associated with the _Examiner_.
January of 1711 brought the decisive defeat at Brihuega which
effectively took the issue of Spanish succession away; in the ensuing
witch hunt, Almanza and the peace talks of 1709 were revived to
distract the people. While these inquiries proceeded, England received
word that France was ready to discuss terms. The delay between this (8
February) and France's formal proposal (2 May) was an anxious time for
Harley and his schemers. Defoe was busy setting the stage for the
outcome.
While Swift, the high Tory, could easily set about discrediting
Marlborough, the hero and standard bearer, and, by so doing, weaken
the Whig's position, Defoe's readers required different handling. His
most effective writing at this time was in pamphlets which reached a
wider audience and which were not bound by the consistency of the
Review. Defoe and Swift, primed with the Minister's inside knowledge,
set about to discredit the Whig ministry in basically the same way. In
the 15 February _Examiner_, Swift wrote,
No Body, that I know of, did ever dispute the Duke of Marlborough's
Courage, Conduct, or Success; they have been always unquestionable
and will continue to be so, in spight of the Malice of his Enemies,
or which is yet more, the Weakness of his Advocates. The Nation
only wished to see him taken out of ill Hands, and put into better.
But, what is all this to the Conduct of the late Ministry, the
shameful Mismanagements in Spain, or the wrong Steps in the Treaty
of Peace.... [6]
Defoe remarks, "our General wants neither Conduct or Courage" and
describes his greatest successes as "daughters to preserve his Memory"
while dissociating him somewhat from the Jacobites, Whigs, and
"business of [making] peace and war." When the _Review_ finally
discusses Marlborough's fall, Defoe suggests that the "greatest Guilt
... is the Error in Policy, and Prudence among his Friends."[7] Both
writers presented the Duke as a means to an end and discredited him on
personal grounds (avarice, ambition) thereby protecting the military
hero and the newborn glory of England fathered by his victories.[8]
Faced with Dissenters and moderate Whig readers, Defoe's _Review_ had
to seem to oppose Swift's _Examiner_ with its sneers at trade; not only
must it be consistent but it was obliged to shift its readers'
attention more slowly to the earlier failures of the Whig ministry and
the rich commercial advantages gained in the separate peace.
The _Life of Marlborough_ is part of a stream of pamphlets which Defoe
wrote supporting the Harley administration; _A Supplement to the Faults
on Both Sides_, a discussion of the Sacheverell case by two "displac'd
officers of state," _Rogues on Both Sides_, a study in contrasts
between old and new Whigs, and old, high flyer, and new Tories, and _A
Seasonable Caution to the General Assembly_ were published immediately
before and after. That same year, his pamphlets discuss the October
Club, the Spanish succession, "Mr. Harley," and the state of religion.
By summer when the peace was nearly assured though still secret, Defoe
was writing _Reasons for a Peace; Or, the War at an End_.
Taken in chronological order, Defoe's 1711 pamphlets indicate two
emerging directions: first, the reasons for ending the war become more
positive and entirely unconcerned with the General, and, second,
Defoe's comments about the Duke become less wholeheartedly admiring,
especially in _No Queen; Or, No General_. _Rogues on Both Sides_ is
witty praise for moderate men who act "according to English principles
of Law and Liberty regardless of People and Party" rather than
believing any demagogue who "cries it rains butter'd Turnips." After
this, the pamphlets become more informative and solemn--Defoe
demonstrates Whigs and Tories want the same things and that the country
bleeds to death. _Armageddon; or the Necessity of Carrying on the War_
(30 October 1711), _Reasons Why This Nation Ought to put a speedy End
to this Expensive War_ (6 October), and _Reasons for a Peace: or, the
War at an End_, for example, catalog the economic ailments--taxes,
pirates, hard to replace sailors and soldiers killed, but far worse, a
decline in trade resulting in closed shops and declining manufacturing
increasing unemployment--"the whole Kingdom sold to Usury" and
"Consumption of the Growth of the Country." As the year passed, Defoe
mentioned Marlborough less and less, but the General's possible
mistakes were progressively forced into balance with his victories.
While seeming to be moderate, Defoe both tempers his readers' opinions
of the Duke and turns their attention to other issues.
The techniques and movement in _No Queen: Or, No General_ (10 January
1712) parallel the techniques and movement in the 1711 pamphlets. In
this 1712 pamphlet, Defoe's double-edged balance sheet is most obvious;
in the first six pages he lists the charges against the General which
he will not discuss--this reminds his readers of every possible failing
and, because of the language ("I'le forbear to lessen his Glorious
Character by Reckoning the Number of the Slain, or counting the Cost of
the Towns"), the significance of each "ignored" charge is increased.
Defoe recounts the economic issues at stake and insists that when
Marlborough's "blinded party" made him its representative, regardless
of his intentions, he became a formidable threat to the Queen and had
to be removed. The pamphlet gradually turns to the destructiveness of
party factions and by the patriotic ending ("Alas, what a Condition
were Britain in if her Fate depended upon the Life, or Gallantry, or
Merit, of one Man"), Marlborough is no longer an issue.
In the _Life_, Defoe defends the general from the charge of avarice,
the most plausible charge that the journalists were propagating.
Marlborough's courage and skill had also been called into question in
such papers as _The Post Boy_, and a spurious debate raged which could
only injure Marlborough over the gratitude of the nation. Defoe alludes
to pamphlets which impugn great men and represent them as "unworthy of
the Favour of the Prince" slanting the charge that Marlborough had been
rewarded perhaps too bountifully in order to imply that such writers
were malicious, uninformed, and ungrateful. Furthermore, Defoe says,
Marlborough deserved his reward, having bought it at a dear rate, and
it was no more than what "in all Times belong'd to Generals." Indeed,
Marlborough's successor, the Duke of Ormond, received the same bread
perquisite and percentage of foreign pay, but Defoe chooses to "defend"
Marlborough not with comparable facts which would destroy the
credibility of the attacking group, but rather with passing references
to the two other generals with whom he had to divide the money and with
the profits of sea captains and petty clerks in yards and stores! With
descriptions of the fitting appearance for generals and Marlborough's
sobriety in the field, Defoe tips the scales in Marlborough's favor.
That he ends the section with
Indeed Generals, tho' the most accomplish'd Heroes, are but Men,
they are not Infallible, but may be mistaken as well as other
Mortals, they are subject to Faults and Infirmities as well as
their Fellow-Creatures; but then their great Services for the good
of their Country ought to be cast into the Ballance, against their
humane Mistakes; and not only Charity, but Self-consideration
should give them very good Quarter, unless their Faults are prov'd
to be Wilful and Contumacious.(38)
is a paradigm of his technique. Coming immediately after this defense,
the argument that his victories should be "cast in the Ballance" is
somewhat degrading and implies that Marlborough may have been mistaken
in what he did and even leaves the question open with the phrase
"unless their Faults are prov'd Wilful and Contumacious."[9] The
following paragraph, however, opens the subject of Marlborough's
invincibility. Under the guise of wondering what an ungrateful nation
would do should he lose a battle, Defoe brings Marlborough's perfect
record, his piety, and the esteem France and his soldiers had for him
to our attention. The paragraph before, then, may be taken to introduce
Defoe's concern--even Marlborough could be mistaken in battle and lose,
and what would such a nation do then? The paragraph on the whole
reflects on the nation and is an eloquent defense of the Duke--he is
human, human beings make mistakes and his great good should excuse him
even more than an ordinary man's mistakes should be forgiven.
Harley knew that Marlborough was essential until peace negotiations
were secured. Marlborough had distrusted Harley throughout 1710, but he
also knew that Harley's stakes in a moderate government were great. In
1711, Rochester and the October Club began to challenge Harley, and
their demands alarmed even Queen Anne. The Queen, Bolingbroke, and
Harley all wrote Marlborough conciliatory letters. Marlborough answered
in kind and his letter after Harley was stabbed expresses deep concern.
Harley became increasingly convinced that only peace would preserve his
power, and Marlborough's power and reputation were essential for an
acceptable peace. As late as July, Harley's letters to Marlborough are
respectful and deceitfully warm:
My lord; I received from the hands of lord Mar, just as I came from
Windsor, the honour of your grace's letter, and I am not willing to
let a post pass, without making your grace my acknowledgments. It
is most certain, that you can best judge what is fit to be proposed
upon the subject you are pleased to mention....
I hope it will be needless to renew the assurances to your grace,
that I will not omit any thing in my power, which may testify my
zeal for the public, and my particular honour and esteem for your
grace; and I doubt not, but when the lord you mention comes, I
shall satisfy him of the sincerity of my intentions towards your
grace.[10]
Harley's perfidy allowed him to assure Marlborough he would "never do
any thing which shall forfeit your good opinion" while pretending to
plan to restore Marlborough to the Queen's confidence. Further, when
Marlborough appealed to him to silence the libellous attacks by
journalists, Harley replied, "I do assure your grace I neither know nor
desire to know any of the authors; and as I heartily wish this
barbarous war was at an end, I shall be very ready to take my part in
suppressing them."[11] Details about the financing of Woodstock and
mutual friends crop up in the letters. So successful is Harley's
deception that when Sir Solomon Medina accuses Marlborough of graft,
Marlborough writes Harley:
Upon my arrival here, I had notice that my name was brought before
the commissioners of accounts, possibly without any design to do me
a prejudice. However, to prevent any ill impression it might make,
I have writ a letter to those gentlemen ... and when you have taken
the pains to read the inclosed copy, pray be so kind as to employ
your good offices, so as that it may be known I have the advantage
of your friendship. No one knows better than your lordship the
great use and expence of intelligence, and no one can better
explain it; and 'tis for that reason I take the liberty to add a
farther request, that you would be so kind to lay the whole, on
some fitting opportunity, before the queen, being very well
persuaded her majesty, who has so far approved, and so well
rewarded my services would not be willing they should now be
reflected on.[12]
Defoe points out that criticism of the Duke "may prove Dangerous and
Fatal" and the joy in the French court at each step in Marlborough's
fall reinforces Defoe's and Harley's opinion[13] Defoe recounts
Marlborough's greatest military victories beginning as far back as his
campaign in Brabant (reminding his readers of possible wealth gained
through a shipwreck and of the betrayal of Dunkirk as he goes along),
includes descriptions of his exemplary behavior including regular
prayers for the Camp, and praises Marlborough as a "finish'd Hero." The
conclusion to the pamphlet warns the nation again of Marlborough's
importance; his battles are bringing the enemy to "reason," procuring
"an honorable and lasting peace." References to the detrimental effect
of discrediting the general are found intermittently throughout the
pamphlet in allusion to Hannibal.
Defoe, then, served Harley's purposes well. He defended Marlborough and
shored up his prestige in a time when it was important for the French
to think that Marlborough could prosecute the war freely. As a known
employee of Harley's, Defoe furthered Marlborough's impression that
Harley could be depended upon.[14] Finally, he began to prepare the
moderate Whigs for peace by presenting the economic considerations and
disassociating Marlborough from the Queen's and the ministry's
"business of peace."
The possibility that Defoe acted independently in this writing cannot
be discounted.[15] Defoe had praised Marlborough since the beginning of
his career and the extent to which he and Godolphin adopted William's
policies added to Defoe's admiration; admiration is clear in this
pamphlet. Defoe had worked for Godolphin and Sunderland, and may have
used "by an Old Officer in the Army" as a disguise from Harley or even
as a means of publishing independently. That Defoe resented attacks on
his hero can hardly be doubted--the _Review_ and his pamphlets are
a catalog of the general's triumphs, and no where does he attack
unequivocably; even in _No Queen_ he puts chief blame on rumors and on
Marlborough's party. Harley's failure to make permanent provisions for
Defoe may suggest some dissatisfaction, but even if the possibility
that the _Life_ was not expressly ordered by Harley is considered, it
is noteworthy that nothing in it is offensive to Harley, and, more
important, remarkable that it serves Harley's needs and ends at the
time so well.
Definitely Defoe's, however, are veiled but telling attacks on Swift
and his type. Although the purpose of the _Examiner_ was to "furnish
Mankind, with a Weekly Antidote to that Weekly Poison,"[16] Defoe
parodied this by saying his pamphlet was to "undeceive the People." The
"base Pamphleteers" are labeled uninformed and ungrateful; they have
no way of making right judgments in the matter of perquisites and
soldier's pay; they go out to see a battlefield as they might a well
laid-out garden, and, of course, their "Mouths go off smartly with a
Whiff of Tobacco" (an obvious ridiculing contrast to the cannon fire of
the real fighters).
Furthermore, compared to attacks on Marlborough in libels such as _The
Duke of M***'s Confessions to a Jacobite Priest_, _The Land-Leviathan_:
_or_, _the Modern Hydra_, and _The Perquisite Monger_, Defoe's pamphlet
was exemplary in its moderation. Even Swift's attacks are moderate
beside the majority of these 1711-12 pamphlets; not even he conjured
up memories of regicide and rebellion as did the more numerous and
libellous pamphleteers. For example, _The Mobb's Address to my Lord
M***_ (1710) linked Marlborough to Sacheverell and assured the Duke his
"most dutiful Mobb, will use our utmost Care and Diligence to raise all
riotous and tumultous Assemblys, and with undaunted Vigour ... oppose
... all who will keep up the Authority of the Crown." _Oliver's
Pocket Looking Glass_ (1711) while more erudite was scarcely less
inflammatory--shades of Cromwell were called up, a "Colossus" with an
"Army compos'd of almost all nations" faced the "body politic."
The _Life_ exemplifies many of Defoe's life long interests and opinions
and points to the fiction he was to write. Virtues espoused throughout
his career are praised here. Ingratitude was a deplorable but all too
common failing of mankind--that Marlborough should be "undervalued and
slighted" was "no new Thing, all the Histories of the World are full of
Examples to this purpose" and his greatness provides but a mark at
which the envious may shoot. In _Atalantis Major_ Defoe elaborates on
the causes of the nation's ingratitude: the debt was too great for
payment and resentment was the natural result. A second interest was
the military hero; much of Defoe's fiction--_Memoirs of a Cavalier_,
_Captain Singleton_, for instance--involved military men, and
Marlborough along with King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, another
soldier who scorned the conventional seventeenth century chess game
tactics, furnished a model. The "finish'd Hero" described includes all
of the virtues of Defoe's fictional leaders from Robinson Crusoe to
John in _Journal of the Plague Year_ to the Cavalier--"Prudent, and
Vigilant, and Temperate, Alert, and industrious, with an humble
Submission to the Will of the Almighty" (26), "Temperate, Sober,
Careful, Couragious, Politick, Skilful, so he is Courteous, Mild,
Affable, Humble, and Condescending to People of the meanest Condition"
(45). The Duke's virtues as well as Gustavus's enable the reader of
_Memoirs of a Cavalier_ and _The Memoirs of Captain George Carlton_ to
judge the commanders as Defoe would have. Above all, the "assured
Skill" and "daring Courage" appealed to Defoe--Robinson Crusoe's
campaigns against the cannibals and in the Far East repeat the daring,
risk-all quality of Ramilles. Defoe's enjoyment of marching vicariously
over great battles has led biographers such as J. R. Moore to say that
it was unfortunate his military genius was never used,[17] and is
obvious in almost all of his fiction. So skillful are his descriptions
that J. H. Burton pauses to note "the character and claims of a book
(_Memoirs of Capt. George Carlton_, 1728) that has afforded him
valuable instruction on the general character of the war, along with
special instructions in its leading events."[18]
Defoe's _Life_ was his first biography; other "memoirs" of the Duke of
Melfort (1714), Daniel Williams (1718), and Major Ramkins (1719)
suggest the progression to _The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures
of Robinson Crusoe_ (1719) and two other lives in that same year.
Defoe's sometimes troublesome skill with narrative voices is, in the
_Life_, a shadow of the competence displayed in _Moll Flanders_.
Although the "old Officer's" voice is sustained and there are excellent
touches, the distinctiveness and absorbing intimacy are only hinted at.
The polemist appeals too apparently to his readers while the opening
pages approach a declamation. The persona protests that he doesn't
"pretend in this Narrative to Inform the great People at Court,
concerning this thing," and that he writes only for the common people.
Defoe does limit carefully his material to events which were common
knowledge or would have been open to an old soldier--while he describes
the key maneuver of Ramilles, he certainly lacks a complete overview.
Many of the virtues praised would appeal most strongly to men who might
have been common foot concerned with regular bread, a well-run camp,
and a conscientious strategist, or to simple, pious women glad to hear
that their general prayed and provided Sunday sermons. Allusions to
Satan, "the cunning engineer," Solomon, and Moses were common enough,
while those to Hannibal and Raleigh had been exploited in Defoe's
other writing. Perhaps the most graphic section in this voice is the
description of the common soldier's misery in a rainy season march and
siege. A few passages have the confidential, gossipy tone of ordinary
people around a tavern table--Sarah was admired abroad, but in her own
country it was said she was "guilty of more Folly than a Retainer to
the College in Moore-Fields,"[19] an experienced old general knows more
coffeehouse quarterbacks, and the soldier naively speculates with
relish how "my Lord" narrowly escaped being "torn in Pieces" for the
rumor that he spoke words which would be "brutal from the mouth of
a Porter." Naive arguments (no man would continue in so hard an
undertaking from selfish motives), sincere patriotism (defense of his
King and Queen and praise for a nation "with a generous Race of Warlike
People" ready to risk their lives), and honest indignation at
"barbarous Lies" authenticate the narrator.
Defoe's writing--fiction and non-fiction--is all of a piece. The same
subjects and opinions reoccur and the techniques and style are nearly
indistinguishable. Expository material alternates with narrative
examples (which may in turn be followed by a paragraph or two drawing a
conclusion or a "moral") in all of his writing. The primary difference
is in the length of the narrative examples--in the fiction they are
naturally much longer. Over the years, they become increasingly
dramatic as may be seen in books such as _The Fortunate Mistress_ and
_Conjugal Lewdness_. _A Short Narrative_ conforms to this structural
pattern. Sentences which direct the reader's attention to this
structure are common. For instance, Defoe defends Marlborough's courage
with descriptions of the battle of Brabant, Ramilles, references to
Hannibal, and concludes, "And thus then you see, that our General wants
neither Conduct or Courage." Defoe's skill with these short, dramatic,
illustrative examples developed with the years. Defoe was always
concerned with presenting a case clearly and persuasively. Clearly
marked structure and "reasonable" conclusions alternate with anecdotes
and reminiscences intended to hold the reader's interest and dramatize
Defoe's points.[20]
Defoe's _Life of Marlborough_ serves as a kind of barometer for the age
and for Defoe. A reliable if sketchy list of the Duke's military
successes and the major charges raised against him at various times
during his life may be matched to the struggles in the English
government and on the continent. The time had nearly come for the
Jacobites, whom Marlborough had offended by deserting James, and the
Tories, who had long thought him a presumptuous general and a former
Tory (or a lukewarm Tory as Marlborough might have thought himself) who
had perverted a Tory Queen, brought the Bill of Occasional Conformity
to defeat, and driven Tories out of office, to collect the debt that
they felt Marlborough owed them. The biography, written in the interim
between two foreign policies when so many momentous plans were
proceeding backstage, mirrors the age. It is also a barometer by which
Defoe's development can be measured; his journalistic involvement and
employment, his non-fiction techniques as well as his progress toward
the fiction are implied.
Rollins College
Winter Park, Florida
NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION
1. Harley as a "trickster is a doctrine as deeply rooted in historical
opinion as the military skill of Marlborough and the oratorical
accomplishments of Bolingbroke." John Hill Burton, _A History of the
Reign of Queen Anne_ (New York: Scribner & Welford, 1880), iii, p. 71.
See also Elizabeth Hamilton, _The Backstairs Dragon: A Life of Robert
Harley, Earl of Oxford_ (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1969).
2. Winston S. Churchill, _Marlborough; His Life and Times_ (New
York: Scribner's, 1938), vi, pp. 85-6.
3. Marlborough was systematically deprived of the men upon whom he
relied most. The ministry took over Army promotions and dismissed
existing officers under the guise of protecting the Queen. Churchill,
vi, pp. 334-5.
4. Burton, iii, pp. 92-3.
5. Defoe to Harley, July 28, 1710. George Healey, ed., _The Letters
of Daniel Defoe_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1955).
6. _Examiner_, February 15, 1711. Herbert Davis, ed., _The Prose
Works of Jonathan Swift_ (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1940), p. 87.
7. Defoe's _Review_, January 22, 1712.
8. Cf. discussions of this in John Ross, _Swift and Defoe: A Study
in Relationship_ (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1941);
Richard I. Cook, _Jonathan Swift as A Tory Pamphleteer_ (Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 1967), and Irvin Ehrenpreis, _Swift:
The Man, His Works and the Age_ (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1967), ii, pp. 450ff. and 526ff.
9. This is similar to an argument Defoe uses to distinguish between
types of debtors in the _Review_ (iii, 83-4 and 397-400). Whether or
not the crime was "Wilful" was very important to Defoe; perhaps his
revised opinion of Marlborough as most obvious in his tribute to him
at his death is the result of his change of opinion about Marlborough's
motives and removing him from the list of heroes who possessed the
"courage of honor" as described in _An Apology for the Army_.
10. William Coxe, _Memoirs of John, Duke of Marlborough with his
Original Correspondence_ (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown,
1820), vi, p. 48.
11. Coxe, vi, p. 123.
12. Coxe, vi, 126.
13. The advantage France gained from Marlborough's fall and their
complete awareness of it is discussed in Churchill, vi, pp. 462-69.
14. Coxe, vi, p. 126; Hamilton, p. 172, and _The Letters and Dispatches
of John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough_ (London: John Murray,
1845), v.
15. J. R. Moore, _Daniel Defoe: Citizen of the Modern World_ (Chicago:
U. of Chicago Press, 1958), pp. 255-56; Defoe's _An Appeal to Honor and
Justice_; and Chalmers says Defoe wrote what "either gratified his
prejudices or supplied his needs."
16. Davis, "_A Letter to the Examiner_," p. 221.
17. Moore, pp. 58-61.
18. Burton, ii, p. 171.
19. Bedlam and Grub Street as the colleges in the vicinity of
Moorefields were standard jokes. Moorfields was also associated with
cheap lodging, prostitution, theft, and the Pesthouse Burying Ground,
altogether an unhealthy environment.
20. Defoe discusses this in _Robinson Crusoe_, _Serious Reflections_,
and a _Collection of Miscellaney Letters_ and several other places. He
says, for example:
The custom of the ancients in writing fables is my very laudable
pattern for this; and my firm resolution in all I write to exalt
virtue, expose vice, promote truth, and help men to serious reflection,
is my first moving cause and last directed end.
(Preface to the Review)
Things seem to appear more lively to the Understanding, and to make a
stronger Impression upon the Mind when they are insinuated under the
cover of some Symbol or Allegory, especially where the moral is good,
and the Application obvious and easy.
(_Collection of Miscellaney Letters_, iv, 210)
21. For this and many other examples of Defoe's distinguishing
qualities in this appendix, I am deeply indebted to the late Professor
John Robert Moore.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The facsimile of Defoe's _A Short Narrative of ... Marlborough_ (1711)
is reproduced from a copy (Shelf Mark: *PR3404/S5451) in the William
Andrews Clark Memorial Library. The total type-page (p. 7) measures
153 x 79 mm.
A SHORT NARRATIVE OF THE
Life and Actions Of His GRACE
JOHN, D. of _Marlborough_,
FROM THE Beginning of the REVOLUTION,
to this present Time.
WITH SOME REMARKS on his CONDUCT.
_By an Old Officer in the Army._
_LONDON_,
Printed for _JOHN BAKER_, at the _Black-Boy_ in _Pater-noster-Row_,
1711.
Price Six-Pence.
A short NARRATIVE OF THE ACTIONS
Of his GRACE _John_, Duke of _Marlborough_.
Seeing the Press is open, and every body dares Write and Publish what
he pleases, and Persons of the highest Honour and Virtue, to the great
Shame and Scandal of our Country, are expos'd to the World, in base
Pamphlets; and according to the Malice or Misunderstanding of the
Authors, are represented to the World unworthy of the Favour of the
Prince, as well as Obnoxious to the Common-Wealth, in which they live:
It becomes every honest Man, who knows more of the Matter, to set
things in a true Light, to undeceive the People, as much as he is able,
that they may be no longer impos'd on by such false Reports, which in
the end may prove Dangerous and Fatal.
_There is nothing new_, saith Solomon, _under the Sun_; the same Causes
will always produce the same Effects; and while Mankind bear about
them, the various Passions of Love and Joy, Hatred and Grief, the
cunning Engineer, that stands behind the Curtain, will influence and
work these Passions according to his Malice, to the destruction of
Persons of highest Worth.
I shall therefore give a _short Narrative_ of the _Actions_ of the most
Illustrious _John_ Duke of _Marlborough_, with some Reflections on
them, that People may not wonder how it comes to pass, that such a
Great Captain, equal no doubt to any in all Ages, considering the
Powers whom he has Oppos'd, after all his Victories, should be
represented in the publick Writings of the Town, as over-Honoured and
over-Paid for all his past Services, and neglected and almost forgotten
in the midst of all his Triumphs, and his Name almost lost from the
Mouths of those People, who for several Years last past, and not many
Months since, have been fill'd with his Praises.
The first time that I had the Honour of seeing _John_, Earl of
_Marlborough_, (for so I shall call him till he was created a Duke) was
at a place call'd _Judoigne_ in _Brabant_, where our Army was Encamp'd,
I think about three Months after the late King was Crown'd. He was sent
over the King's Lieutenant, with the _British_ Forces under his
Command, which could then be spared for that Service. Our united Forces
were Commanded in general, by the Old Prince _Waldeck_.
After several Marches, we came to the Confines of _Haynault_, within a
League of a small Town call'd _Walcourt_, and on St. _Lewis_'s Day, a
Saint suppos'd to be prosperous to the _French_ Nation, their Army,
Commanded by Mareschal _d'Humiers_, very betimes in the Morning,
Marched to Attack us.
An _English_ Colonel guarded a Pass towards the aforesaid little Town,
to which the Enemy bent their Course; and being in Distress, was
reliev'd by my Lord in Person, who ordred his Retreat to such an
Advantage, that he flank'd the Enemy with perpetual Fire; and this was
the first Cause that cool'd them in their Design of pushing our Army.
At his return, the Prince receiv'd him with a great deal of
Satisfaction, and assured him that he would let the King know that he
saw into the Art of a General more in one Day, than others do in a
great many Years.
At the end of this Campaign, my Lord _Marlborough_ was ordered, with
half of the Forces under his Command, to Embark for _Ireland_; where I
come to relate what he performed there: As soon as he arrived in the
Harbour of _Kingsale_, having Landed his Forces, without the least loss
of Time, Marched directly to the Fort or Citadel of that Place, which
is a strong Fortification, and at that time, well provided with a good
Garrison, and all things necessary for a strong Defence.
My Lord did not stand to use Forms with them, which might look like a
Siege; but with a conquering Resolution, and perpetual Volleys, so
terrified them, that they soon Surrendred.
And now at this Place it was where the Duke's Actions began to be
Envied, and evil Reports touching his good Name and Reputation were
industriously spread abroad; and I am apt to believe, such back Friends
as these will hardly leave him so long as he remains in the World.
There was a Ship at that time in the said Harbour, which 'twas reported
had some Money on Board for paying of the Forces in these Parts; which
Ship, by some untimely Accident, was blown up and lost; and presently
after it was given out by some ill People there present with my Lord,
and by them sent into _England_ to their Party, that he had gotten the
Money beforehand to himself, and that the Ship was destroyed by his
Contrivance; that he had vast Sums of Money in _Holland_, and at
_Venice_; nay, some went farther and affirmed, that he had settled a
good Fund, upon Occasion, at _Constantinople_: And I am sure some such
like Reports and palpable Falsities are continued on him to this very
Day.
And now I suppose it could not be in this Year that the strong City of
_Dunkirk_ was to be betrayed by the Governour of it, and Surrendred to
some of the King's Forces.
In the next Campaign in _Flanders_, the Old _Waldeck_ was severely
beaten by Duke _Luxembourg_, at the Battle of _Flerus_: We were only
Six Battalions of _British_ left in _Ghent_, under the Command of the
then Brigadier _Talmach_: We had Orders to march, and to join the grand
Army at least a Fortnight before the Fight happened; but as we were
about to march out of the City, the City Gates were shut against us by
the People of that Place, because we had no Money to pay our Quarters.
Mr. _Sizar_, whom my Lord brought over with him the Year before, was
our Pay-Master-General, and at this time was gone down into _Holland_
to get some Money upon Credit, till our Supply was returned from
_England_; and then I remember there was a barbarous Lie spread up and
down among us, that our Money was kept in the Hands of Merchants by the
contrivance of my Lord and Mr. _Sizar_, that they might reap such a
particular Benefit, which could not be much, for the use of it.
_Waldeck_ being beaten, the Elector of _Brandenbourg_, for supporting
of him, was oblig'd by long Marches, to come and join us; after which,
nothing more of Consequence happened this Year. And now I suppose it
could not be in this Year that _Dunkirk_ was to be given up to some
party of the King's Forces; both his Majesty and my Lord _Marlborough_
being absent from us, and we had no Marches towards that part of the
Country, and good Reason for it, for we could not if we would.
I come now to our third Campaign, which was made in _Flanders_; and if
ever _Dunkirk_ was to be betrayed in some secret manner to the late
King; and if ever the Secret thereof was reveal'd by his Majesty to the
Earl of _Marlborough_; and if my Lord did reveal the same weighty
Secret to his Wife; and if by her it was discovered to her Sister at
_St. Germans_, and by her to the _French_ King, it must be placed in
this Year, or else it must be _extra anni solisque Vias_, the Lord
knows when and where.
I am sure that the pretended Discovery of this same Secret hath lain
hard on my Lord's Name for a great many Years; and upon most Discourses
of the Affairs in _Flanders_, that business of _Dunkirk_ is trump'd up
against my Lord to this very Day.
For as soon as this Story was sent abroad, it flew like Lightening, and
like the sham tragical Report which was put upon the _Irish_ at the
Revolution, it was scattered over all the Kingdom in an instant. The
loss of _Dunkirk_ is not to be forgotten, and 'tis fresh in the Minds
of the common People, both in Town and Country; and not only the
Farmers over a Pot of Ale at Market, will shake their Heads at
_Malbur_, (for so they call him) for losing of _Dunkirk_; but also
Gentlemen of good Rank and Condition believe it to be true, and talk of
it with a great deal of Regret to this very time. I don't pretend in
this Narrative to Inform the great People at Court, concerning this
thing; without doubt they very well know there was no great matter in
this mighty Secret; but most of it a design to Disgrace my Lord
_Marlborough_, that he might the more easily be turn'd out of his
Places at Court and in the Army: I write this to the common People
only; to vindicate the Innocent, and to undeceive a good part of the
Nation, who have not had an Opportunity to be better Informed.
This Summer then being our Third Campaign, the King came to the Army,
and with Him my Lord _Marlborough_, and several other Persons of
Quality: Among the rest was Count _Solmes_, a nigh Relation to his
Majesty, and Colonel of the great Regiment of _Dutch_ Blue Guards; and
then it was after two or three Marches that my Lord was observ'd to be
somewhat neglected, and his Interest in the Army to decay and cool; and
upon a certain Morning, as we were in full March, a Man might judge by
what then happened that it was so: For it seems the Count had ordered
his Baggage and Sumpters to take Place of my Lord's, and to cut them
out of the Line; of which Affront my Lord being inform'd by his
Servants, soon found him out, and having caus'd his Baggage to enter
the Post which was his due, with his Cane lifted up, and some hard
Words in _French_, 'twas thought by a great many that it would end in a
single Combat; but the Count thought fit to shear off, and we heard no
more of it.
All this Summer was spent in a great many Marches after the _French_,
to bring them to a Battle, but they Industriously and Artfully declin'd
it. The Summer being spent, the King committed the Army again to Prince
_Waldeck_, and went in haste to the _Hague_. Our Regiment was sent to
Garrison at _Mechlen_, where came the _Dutch_ Foot Guards to Winter
also. Count _Solmes_, as he designed for _Holland_, took this City in
his way, and there he assured a certain _English_ Colonel, who not long
before had been check'd by my Lord, about some Disorders in his
Regiment, that the Earl of _Marlborough_ had made his Peace with
_France_, and in a short time he would hear, that he would be call'd to
an Account for it.
When I went to _England_ that same Winter, my Lord's Appartments were
at the _Cock-pit_. 'Twas fine to see them full of Gentlemen and
Officers of all Ranks, as they are now to be seen every Day at his
Levee at St. _James_'s; but no sooner had my Lord _Sidney_ brought him
word from the King, that His Majesty had no farther Service for him in
the Court, or in the Army, but my Lord was forsaken by all his Shadows,
and his House left in a profound Silence.
Now a Person of my Lord's high Posts, especially having been so
eminently instrumental in the Revolution, could not be well laid aside
from all his Employments, without some Reasons were given to the People
for it; and in a short time the pretended Reasons were produced, and
they prevailed mightily.
The first was, That at the King's Levee at the putting on of the Shirt,
my Lord should speak scornfully of the Person of the King, who at the
same time having made a great Spitting (for his Majesty was a long time
troubled with a Consumptive Cough) that my Lord should say to some
Gentlemen nigh him, that _he wish'd it might be his last_.
As soon as this gross Affront was made known to the King, by a certain
Party, who can calumniate stoutly, and blast as well as blacken, it was
in a Moment all over the Court and Town; and 'tis a wonder my Lord was
not torn in Pieces.
But now to the Truth of this Matter. My Lord has been always esteem'd a
nice Courtier, well guarded in his Words, and one of the most Mannerly
best-bred Men of the Nation; and no Man of Sense can believe that a Man
of his Character could be so Indiscreet, as to drop such Words, which
would be Barbarous and Brutal from the Mouth of a Porter, much more
from the Lips of a Noble-Man and a General.
The other Reason was, That through his or his Lady's Treachery or
Indiscretion, the contrivance about _Dunkirk_ was discovered to the
_French_, or else 'tis very probable it would have been in our
Possession. And now to clear this Aspersion also.