258 QUEEN ANNE'S DECLARATION TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL. [1702. domineering favourite, who hated William upon the well-known principle that we hate those whom we have injured, could form no independent opinion of his merits as a king. She regarded him as a disagreeable man, generally sullen, and rarely civil. His appointment of Marlborough in the summer of 1700 to an employment of high trust, had probably disposed the new queen to make no hesitation in accepting the great principles of foreign policy which William had rendered triumphant by his unshrinking constancy. It has been attributed to the foresight of the "master workman" in the Grand Alliance, that. he appointed Marlborough to the command of the troops sent to the assistance of the States-General, because he knew that in the event of his own demise, the favourite of his successor would be the chief moving power in English affairs. "The king proposed, by this early step, to engage the earl so much in the war, as to make it his particular interest to pursue it with vigour in the succeeding reign." There was not an hour lost in declaring the policy that the new sovereign was counselled to pursue. On the evening of king William's death, queen Anne, when the Privy Council were assembled as is usual on the demise of the Crown, thus spoke upon the vital question which was the foremost in the public thought: "I think it proper, upon this occasion of my first speaking to you, to declare my own opinion of the importance of carrying on all the preparations we are making to oppose the great power of France; and I shall lose no time in giving our allies all assurances, that nothing shall be wanting on my part to pursue the true interest of England, together with theirs, for the support of the common cause." + By a Statute of 1696, which had regard to the dangers of invasion or conspiracy, it was provided that Parliament should not be dissolved by the demise of the Crown, but might sit for six months after, unless prorogued or dissolved. The queen went to the House of Lords on the 11th of March. She spoke of the late king as having been "the great support, not only of these kingdoms, but of all Europe." She said of herself, "I know my own heart to be entirely English." Words were thus put into Anne's mouth which gave that praise to William which could not be withheld, and stirred up prejudices against his memory which her Tory advisers were ready to keep alive. With regard to foreign affairs she repeated the sentiments she had addressed to the Privy Council. Within five days the earl of Marlborough received the Order of the Garter, and was made Captain-general of the forces. He probably would not have received such immediate and signal honour and preferment if he had not, with his consummate adroitness, made the queen consider that he belonged to the party for which she intended her chief rewards. "As soon as she was seated on the throne," says the wife of Marlborough, “the Tories, whom she usually called by the agreeable name of the Church-party, became the distinguished objects of the royal favour."-"I am firmly * Onslow. Note on Burnet, vol. v. p. 7. + Burnet takes occasion to mention that "she pronounced this, as she did all her other speeches, with great weight and authority, and with a softness of voice and sweetness in the pronunciation, that added much life to all she spoke." Dartmouth says that Anne was taught to speak by Mrs. Barry. Onslow relates that he heard her speak from the throne, and that "it was a sort of charm." The rare faculty, it might seem, has descended as a royal inheritance to the next queen-regnant. 7 & 8 Gul. III. c. 17. 1702.] MARLBOROUGH ENVOY TO THE STATES.-WAR DECLARED. 259 persuaded, that, notwithstanding her extraordinary affection for me,"—adds the all-powerful Mrs. Morley who professed Whig principles,-" and the entire devotion which my lord Marlborough and my lord Godolphin had for many years shown to her service, they would not have had so great a share of her favour and confidence, if they had not been reckoned in the number of the Tories." There could be no mistake about Anne's general preferences. Somers, Halifax, and Orford were struck out of the lists of the Privy Council. Nottingham was appointed Secretary of State, and Seymour Comptroller, Rochester was continued as Lord-lieutenant of Ireland; Normanby, another violent partisan, had the Privy-seal. Gradually, Godolphin and Marlborough obtained such an ascendancy as drove their less-moderate colleagues from office. The Whigs supported their war-policy. The favourite says, "I resolved from the very beginning of the queen's reign, to try whether I could not by degrees make impressions on her mind more favourable to the Whigs.' Anne could not help "being extremely concerned that her dear Mrs. Freeman was so partial to the Whigs," as she writes about half a year after her accession. "I would not have you and your faithful Morley differ in the least thing." Something stronger than Mrs. Freeman's arts drove the violent Tories from office. Something which the faithful Morley could not resist gave the Whigs the preponderance. The war was a magnificent success; and public opinion, whatever was the cost of the war, placed the party in power that had given Marlborough the support which enabled him to win Blenheim and Ramilies. Godolphin and the Duke became united with the Whigs. The Tories had their business to perform of stirring-up new contests at home for what were called "high-flying" principles; and the Jacobites were not yet weary of looking forward to the time when the son of James II. should again have a clear stage to vindicate the great theory of the divine right of kings, and to overturn the notions of constitutional liberty and religious toleration that had taken root under what they deemed the usurpation of 1689. Before the end of March Marlborough had been sent as an envoy extraordinary to the States-General. On the 31st of March, he delivered a speech to their "High and mighty Lordships," in which he declared the resolution of his queen to maintain the alliances which "king William of glorious memory" had formed, and to enter into such other alliances as might most conduce to the interests of both nations, and the preservation of the liberty of Europe. Marlborough did not stay more than a week in Holland; but he arranged for a joint declaration of war against France by England, the States, and the Emperor, on the same day, May 4th ;* and he concerted the plan of the first warlike operations. The skilful negotiator left the Hague on the 3rd of April. On the 4th of May war was proclaimed with the usual solemnities in Westminster and the City of London. The Parliament was prorogued on the 25th of May. It was dissolved on the 2nd of July. The Civil List that had been granted to king William was continued to queen Anne. Her majesty was empowered to appoint Commissioners to treat for Union between England * This is the date used for this declaration, according to the Old Style, which we must still follow, to prevent discrepancies in dates. After 1700 the difference between Old and New Style is eleven days. The 4th of May Old Style, is the 15th of May New Style. 260 MARLBOROUGH'S FIRST CAMPAIGN. [1702. and Scotland, not without some insolent reflections from sir Edward Seymour and others, in the same coarse and haughty spirit which had greatly irritated the Scotch in 1700. The queen's speech at the close of the Session was somewhat ambiguous on one point: "I shall be very careful to preserve and maintain the Act of Toleration, and to set the minds of all my people at quiet: My own principles must always keep me entirely firm to the interests of the Church of England, and will incline me to countenance those who have the sincerest zeal to support it." When we open the valuable collection of Marlborough's Letters and Dispatches, we at once perceive the high position in which he is recognised by the princes and states of the Alliance. Immediately on his return from Holland, we find him writing from St. James's to the king of Prussia and elector of Hanover, as one speaking with authority about "the common cause." Marlborough left London on the 18th of May; was detained at Margate by contrary winds; but soon after his arrival at the Hague was appointed by the States as Generalissimo of all their forces. He appears to have succeeded, as if by common consent, to the power which was wielded by king William-he, a man who had fought his way up to promotion by no very honourable means; who had alienated two kings by his treachery; who was known to have the most especial eye to his own interests; who had not acquired any high reputation as a general, though no doubt from want of opportunity; but who was now considered to have the entire favour of the new sovereign of England, and, what was of no small importance, had been trusted by William in the latter part of his life, and had justified the trust by his consummate ability. Marlborough went vigorously to the work before him. He drew the allied forces together, so as to be at the head of a powerful army. He carried Venloo by storm on the 18th of September, when, as he writes to Nottingham, the secretary of state, "the English grenadiers had the honour of being the first that entered the fort." He besieged and took Ruremonde and Stevenswart. He captured Liège by storm on the 23rd of October, the English being the first that got upon the breach; and in a few days afterwards the castle of the Chartreuse was surrendered to him. In these operations he had the same aid that was so valuable to William-the scientific knowledge of Coehorn, the great rival of Vauban. Marlborough, at the close of the campaign, had an adventure, in which he was compared to Cæsar amongst the pirates. He was seized in a boat, as he was going down the Maese, by a body of French partisans, and after some detention escaped, after being plundered by those who did not know the value of the man they had intercepted. For a short time the Allies were in consternation. But Marlborough safely returned to London, to receive high honours and rewards. Whilst he was fighting at Liège, and only a few hours before the surrender of the place, he wrote a letter to Nottingham which shows how thoroughly he had his eye upon all the distant arrangements for carrying on a vigorous war: "I had written a very long letter in answer to two of your lordship's ; but yours of the 6th of October, which I received this morning, that brings the ill news of Cadiz, has made me burn my letter, most of it being my thoughts * "Letters and Dispatches of John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, from 1702 to 1712." Edited by sir George Murray. 5 vols. 1845. 1702.] EXPEDITION TO CADIZ.-VIGO. 261 of what I wished might be done if we had been successful. I am sorry from my heart if it proves otherwise." He was not one to be daunted by misfortune. He might have learnt the value of perseverance from the great example of the man who took Namur after he had been defeated at Landen. "I hope il success will not hinder you from advancing with sea and land officers, if this matter be capable of being retrieved."” * The ill success at Cadiz was the failure of an expedition which had been planned by king William. It was carried out with the usual results of divided counsels and separate commands. A large combined fleet of Dutch and English ships, with fourteen thousand troops of both nations on board, after many delays had reached the bay of Cadiz on the 18th of August. There was a commander of the fleet, sir George Rooke; and there was a superior commander of the land and sea forces, the duke of Ormond. There was an English general and a Dutch general at the head of their respective contingents. Three days were spent in debate upon the plans to be pursued. The leaders were "not only divided, eea against land, but land against land, and sea against sea." They knew nothing of the localities where they proposed to disembark, and nothing of the force that might be brought against them. The marquis of Villadaria, the captain-general of Andalusia, was a man of energy and military skill. He had roused the population; and when some troops had landed and marched to Port St. Mary's, an unwalled place-which safe course had been preferred to a descent upon the Isle of Leon, and a vigorous attack upon Cadiz-they found the old town deserted. There was, however, abundance of specie and other valuables there, to satisfy a rapacious soldiery, under very imperfect discipline. The prince of Darmstadt had joined the expedition, in the hope that the Andalusians would declare for the cause of the Austrian archduke, who claimed the title of king of Spain. The Spaniards were disgusted by the outrages of those who held out the hand of friendship to the people, but acted as brutal enemies. No serious attempt was made to accomplish some object worthy of such an armament. If the army remained longer on shore the probability was that they would have become wholly undisciplined, and have fallen sacrifices to the just revenge of the indignant population. The troops re-embarked in the middle of September. But there was a prize yet to be reached. The Spanish fleet, which yearly arrived from the Indies, laden with bullion and rich merchandise, finding Cadiz blockaded, had run into Vigo. It was against the monopoly of the Cadiz merchants that any other port should receive these annual treasures. The galleons could not land their cargoes until the tardy officials at Madrid had given permission. Ormond and Rooke had obtained information that there were richer trophies to be won than the honour of fighting for the stronghold of Cadiz. They made for Vigo, which, during their useless sojourn at Port St. Mary's, had been strengthened, and a boom thrown across the harbour. Two thousand men were landed. galleons fled down the bay, and attempted to put some of their valuable cargo on shore. The English squadron pursued them; and then the Spaniards threw their wealth into the sea, and fired their ships. Six galleons * "Dispatches," vol. i. p. 47. + Letter of Colonel Stanhope, quoted in Lord Mahon's "War of the Succession," p. 47. The 262 PARLIAMENT.-TORY MAJORITY. [1702. The loss of life Much of the were seized by the English, and seven French ships of war. on the side of the Spaniards and French was terrific. The destruction of property was immense, exceeding eight million dollars. treasure taken was embezzled. "The public was not much enriched by this extraordinary capture, yet the loss our enemies made by it was a vast one."* The first Parliament of queen Anne met on the 20th of October. Harley was chosen Speaker. The royal speech contained no decided expression which could indicate what temper of the Houses would be most agreeable to the Court. It was well known that there would be a large Tory majority. It was now thought desirable by this majority to compliment the queen upon the progress of the war under the command of Marlborough, and to insult the memory of him whose firmness and perseverance had alone enabled England and Holland to hold in check the power of France. It was carried in the Commons by a majority of a hundred and eighty against eighty, that these words should be used in their Address to the queen "The wonderful progress of your majesty's arms, under the conduct of the earl of Marlborough, have signally retrieved the ancient honour and glory of the English nation." Those who proposed to substitute the word "maintained," had to learn that the grave is no shelter from the violence of party-spirit. This was harmless malice. But there was something more than the gratification of the old hatred of a constitutional king, when the queen was told, in the same Address, that as she had always been an illustrious ornament to the Church, "we promise ourselves, that, in your reign, we shall see it perfectly restored to its due rights and privileges." Under the Toleration Act of 1689, the Protestant Dissenters, a numerous and wealthy body, had been relieved "from the penalties of certain laws," as the title of that Act expressed. Dissenting ministers might teach and preach, having subscribed some of the articles of the Church of England; and their followers were free to frequent conventicles, having subscribed the Declaration against Popery, prescribed by the Statute of Charles II. Complying with these requisitions, the offices of Corporations were open to the very influential class that differed in some points from the Established Church under various denominations. In 1697 a violent excitement was produced in the city of London, by the lord-mayor, sir Humphrey Edwin, attending a Meeting-House, with the trappings of his office-a circumstance which Swift had in mind when he told "how Jack's tatters came into fashion in court and city; how he got upon a great horse, and ate custard."+ During the reign. of William, the feud between the Church and Dissent was confined to the preachers and the pamphleteers. The State looked on without taking any part in the quarrel about Occasional Conformity, by which the Dissenters kept their share of civil power, without compromising, as most of them believed, their rights of conscience. But when Anne came to the throne, the High Church party were for extreme measures against the separatists; and one of the first proceedings of the Tory ministry in the new Parliament was to bring in a Bill to prevent Occasional Conformity. The spirit of the time of Burnet, vol. v. p. 45. "Tale of a Tub." The Lord Mayor's great horse is of higher antiquity than the Lord Mayor's state coach, |