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Landau, but defeated, with great slaughter, an army of the allies, under the [PART II. prince of Hesse, who was advancing to its relief.(1) In Italy, where Staremberg commanded for the emperor, the duke de Vendome disarmed, by surprise, the troops of the duke of Savoy, reduced Barsillio, defeated Visconti, and took possession of the territories of the duke of Modena.(2)

The French were less successful in the Netherlands; where the duke of Marlborough, having concerted measures with the states, was enabled to appear early in the field. He opened the campaign with the siege of Bonne, a strong city in the circle of the Lower Rhine, and the usual residence of the elector of Cologne. That prince, brother to the elector of Bavaria, had placed Bonne, with his other dominions, in the hands of the French at the beginning of the war. Though gallantly defended by the marquis d'Alegre, it was forced to surrender, after a siege of twelve days. But notwithstanding this early success, and the supposed weakness of the enemy, Marlborough found it impracticable to penetrate into Flanders; the French army, under the mareschals Boufflers and Villeroy, keeping cautiously within their lines, and the English general not judging it prudent to attempt to force them. (3) He therefore marched back towards the Maese, where he took Huy and Limburg, And Gueldres, after a blockade and bombardment of near eighteen months, also surrendered to the allies.(4)

These acquisitions, however, were by no means a balance to the advan tages of the enemy in other quarters; more especially as the operations of the allies at sea, during the summer, had been languid and undecisive, in some respects unfortunate; and their negligence so great, that the Spanish treasure from the Havana, the joint produce of the mines of Mexico and Peru, had arrived safe, under convoy of a French fleet, and furnished the house of Bourbon with fresh resources for continuing the war. But the confederates were not discouraged by their losses; nor by an insurrection in Hungary, which spread devastation to the gates of Vienna. The English parliament, seized with a kind of military fury, voted the most liberal supplies for the ensuing campaign; and the emperor, emboldened by the alliance of Portugal, from which a passage might be opened into the heart of the disputed monarchy, made his son Charles assume the title of king of Spain, he himself and the king of the Romans renouncing all claim to any part of the succession. Immediately after this ambitious step the archduke set out for the Hague. From Holland he passed over to England; where he was treated with great respect, and conducted to Lisbon by a powerful fleet, having on board a considerable body of land forces.(5)

While the queen of England was exerting herself with so much vigour in a foreign quarrel, in which her subjects were little interested, the greatest disorders prevailed in her own dominions. The ferment in Scotland, occasioned by the miscarriage of the settlement at Darien, had never yet fully subsided; and although that kingdom readily acknowledged the queen's authority, the hottest jealousies there prevailed, among all ranks of men, respecting the independence of their crown, and the freedom of their commerce. These jealousies were fomented by the insidious arts of the jacobites, and the intrigues of the court of St. Germains, aided by a political oversight,

When the English legislature settled the succession of the crown on the house of Hanover, king William had neglected to take the same precaution in regard to Scotland; so that the succession to that crown was still open. This circumstance was now eagerly seized by two sets of men:-by the adherents of the house of Stuart, who hoped to bring in the pretended prince of Wales; and by some real patriots, who meant to make use of it, in order to rescue their country from that abject dependence, and even slavery, into which it had fallen, and in which it had continued, ever since its native sovereigns had added the weight of the crown of England to their ancient pre. rogative. Besides these men, many others, who were well disposed towards

(1) Burnet. Voltaire. Henault.

(3) Duke of Berwick's Mem, vol. i. Burnet, book vii.

the Protestant succession, zealously opposed the settlement of the Scottish crown on the descendants of the princess Sophia, before the ratification of certain articles, which should provide for the independence of the kingdom, or unite it intimately with England.(1)

Nor was the English nation free from discontents. The queen, by throwing herself entirely into the hands of the tories, had roused the resentment of the whigs, who were in a manner proscribed, and debarred from office: and an ardent desire of accomplishing the purpose of the grand alliance, which they themselves had formed, only had prevented them hitherto from obstructing the measures of government. But their patience, under neglect, was at last worn out: they became jealous, and not without reason, of designs against the Protestant succession. The tories, intoxicated with their good fortune, had revived all the exploded high monarchical and high-church principles; and conjecturing that the queen must naturally be disposed to favour the succession of her brother, several of her ministers held a secret correspondence with the court of St. Germains, and hopes were even entertained by that court of obtaining a speedy repeal of the act of settlement.(2) In order to forward these views, and to complete the ruin of their political opponents, the tories pretended, that both the church and monarchy were in danger, from the prevalence of republican and presbyterian principles: and a bill against occasional conformity, which would have excluded all dissenters, and consequently a great number of the whigs, from all civil offices and public employments, was twice presented to parliament, and as often rejected.(3) The failure of this favourite measure, and several other circumstances, indicating the strength of the whigs, induced Marlborough and Godolphin, who are said to have been tories, and even jacobites in their hearts, to conceal their sentiments, and seek support from that powerful party. They foresaw a formidable opposition, and persuaded the queen, that it was necessary to dispel the storm, by bringing some of the more moderate whigs into administration, and dismissing a few of the most violent tories.(4) Mr. Harley, speaker of the house of commons, afterward created earl of Oxford, and reputed a whig, because bred a dissenter, was accordingly appointed secretary of state, in the room of the earl of Nottingham; the office of comptroller-general was bestowed on his friend, Mr. Mansel; and, at his recommendation, Mr. St. John, since better known by the title of lord viscount Bolingbroke, was advanced, while very young, to the lucrative place of secretary at war.(5)

This expedient, however, would have been found insufficient to secure the ministry against the violence of the whigs, had not the extraordinary success of the next campaign silenced all opposition. Marlborough, having concerted with the ministers of the states, during the winter, the plan of operations, set out early in the spring to carry it into execution. As the success of the two foregoing campaigns, by making the allies masters of the Maese and Spanish Guelderland, had provided a strong barrier for the United Provinces, the English general proposed to march into the heart of Germany; in order to protect the emperor, now almost besieged in his capital, by the Hungarian malecontents, on one side, and by the French and Bavarians, on the other. In pursuance of this design, but under colour of penetrating into France, he ordered the confederate forces to march towards Coblentz, where he joined them. Crossing the Rhine at that place, and successively the Maine and the Neckar, he was met by prince Eugene at Mondelsheim.

The result of the conference between these two great generals was a junction of the allied army under Marlborough, with the imperialists commanded by the prince of Baden. That junction being effected, Marlborough forced, though with the loss of five thousand men, the elector of Bavaria's intrenchments, near Donawert, and obliged him to quit the field. In consequence of this victory, the allies got possession of Donawert, and obtained a free passage over the Danube. But as they were incapable, for want of (2) Stuart Papers. (3) Burnet, book vii, (5) Ibid.

(1) Lockhart's Mem. Bur iet, book vii. (4) Hanover Papers, 1704.

magazines, either to continue long on the banks of that river, or to penetrate into Bavaria, their situation was become very precarious, and they eagerly wished to give battle; when the enemy, being reinforced with thirty thousand men, under mareschal Tallard, resolved to afford them the opportunity they desired. Before the engagement, the duke of Marlborough was also joined by prince Eugene, with twenty thousand men, from the Upper Rhine; and, in order to free himself from the timid or treacherous counsels of the prince of Baden, he prevailed on him to besiege Ingolstadt. The opposing armies were now nearly equal, each consisting of about eighty thousand men.(1) But the French generals, Tallard and Marsin, though men of experience and abilities, were much inferior to those of the allies; and the elector of Bavaria, though a brave prince, could not be considered as a commander.

The French and Bavarians were advantageously posted on a hill, having the Danube and the village of Blenheim on their right: on their left, an extensive and thick wood, from which ran a rivulet, along their front, into the Danube. This rivulet its course through the plain, formed an almost continued morass, the passage of which might have been rendered very difficult, if it had been properly guarded. Twenty-eight battalions, and twelve squadrons of dragoons, were thrown into the village of Blenheim: eight battalions were also placed in another village towards the centre; in order to fall, in conjunction with those at Blenheim, upon the rear of the enemy, when they should pass the rivulet. Their line, which consisted chiefly of cavalry, was weakened by these detachments; and by an unaccountable negligence, the allies were permitted not only to pass the brook, but to form without opposition.(2)

Marlborough, who commanded the left wing of the allies, having first passed the brook, ordered the two villages to be attacked by the infantry, while he himself led his cavalry against those of Tallard. The attack on the villages proved unsuccessful; the English and Hessians being repulsed, after three successive attempts. The French horse, however, in spite of their most vigorous efforts, were obliged to give ground. They retired behind the fire of ten battalions, which Tallard had ordered to advance to their relief. But these also were broken by the English foot. Marlborough charged home with his horse; and drove the French eavalry with such precipitation from the field, that most of those who escaped the sword were drowned in the Danube. The ten advanced battalions of the enemy's foot were, at the same time, charged on all sides, and cut in pieces. Tallard himself was taken prisoner, together with many other officers of distinction.

Meanwhile, prince Eugene, who commanded the right wing of the confederates, after having been thrice repulsed, had broken the French and Bavarians, under the elector and Marsin; and though they could scarce be said to have been routed, they no sooner heard of Tallard's defeat, than they left the field, with every mark of hurry and disgrace. The twenty-eight battalions of foot, and twelve squadrons of dragoons, in the village of Blenheim, all veterans, and the best troops in France, were now abandoned to their fate. After a vigorous, but ineffectual sally, they found themselves obliged to sur render at discretion. (3)-Such, my dear Philip, was the famous battle of Blenheim, in which the French and Bavarians, including killed and taken, lost near forty thousand men. Their camp-equipage, baggage, artillery, and every trophy that can distinguish a complete victory, fell into the hands of the conquerors. These trophies, however, were not acquired without considerable loss of blood. The allies had five thousand men killed, and near eight thousand wounded. (4)

As no modern victory, between disciplined armies, was ever more decisive than this, none could be followed by more sudden or important consequences. The emperor was relieved from his fears; the Hungarian malecontents were overawed; and the conquests and dominions of the elector of Bavaria fell, at once, into the hands of Leopold, who revenged severely on the subjects of

(1) Mem. du Marq. de Fouquieres.
(3) Fouquieres Burnet. Voltaire

(2) Ibid. See also Kane's Campaigns.
(4) Id. ibid.

that prince, the excesses which had been committed on his own. An extent of seventy leagues of country was exposed to all the ravages of war. Broken, ruined, and dispersed, the forces of Lewis XIV. left a free and uninterrupted march to the confederates from the Danube to the Rhine; and the wretched remains of that army, which at the beginning of the season had spread terror to the gates of Vienna, was obliged to take shelter within the frontiers of France. The victors crossed the Rhine: they entered Alsace; and the important fortresses of Landau and Trierbach surrendered to them before the close of the campaign.(1)

But the same good fortune which attended the arms of the confederates in Germany did not extend to every scene of operations. In Flanders, during this summer, the war being merely defensive, produced no event either brilliant or important. On the Portuguese side of Spain, the archduke, who had assumed the title of Charles III., was able to make no progress. On the contrary, Philip V., assisted by the duke of Berwick, carried the war into Portugal; took several places, and defeated all the attempts of the allies to invade Castile.(2) In Italy, the campaign proved, upon the whole, favourable to the house of Bourbon. The castle of Suza, the city of Pignerol, Vercelli, Yvrea, and Sansano were reduced by Vendome.(3)

The operations at sea, during this memorable year, were scarcely less important than those by land. The combined fleet of England and Holland, which carried the archduke to Lisbon, having failed in an attempt upon Barcelona, where a party was supposed to have been formed for the house of Austria, appeared before Gibraltar; and that strong fortress, hitherto deemed impregnable, was taken at the first assault. Astonished at the intrepidity of the English sailors, who ascended the mole sword in hand, the governor immediately surrendered the place; which was committed to the care of the prince of Hesse Darmstadt, for the queen of England. (4)

Nor was the acquisition of this great key of the Mediterranean the only advantage resulting from the enterprise. Part of the Spanish army employed in Portugal being withdrawn, for the purpose of retaking Gibraltar, a stop was by that means put to the progress of Philip V., who might otherwise have advanced to the gates of Lisbon; and the French fleet, to the number of fifty-two ships of the line, under the count de Toulouse, coming to the aid of the besiegers, was defeated off Malaga, by the combined fleet, commanded by sir George Rooke and Calemberg the Dutch admiral. The force on both sides was nearly equal, and the battle was obstinate and bloody, though no ship was either sunk or taken. This was partly owing to the interposition of night, and partly to the shifting of the wind, which enabled the French to elude all the endeavours of the confederates to renew the engagement.(5) Lewis XIV. affected, however, to claim the victory. But it was obvious to all Europe, that the combined fleet kept the sea; and that the French took refuge in their own ports, instead of lending any assistance to the Spaniards before Gibraltar.

These fortunate events, but more especially the memorable victory obtained at Blenheim, which was justly ascribed to English valour, diffused a general joy over the nation. This joy communicated itself to the representatives of

(1) Voltaire. Tindal. Burnet.

(2) Notwithstanding these important services, the duke of Berwick was recalled. Of this matter, he gives the following curious account: "The duke of Gramont, the French minister at Madrid, had taken it into his head that he was to govern there as despotically as the cardinals Richelieu and Mazarine had formerly done in France. I had no objection to this with respect to the civil department; but in the military, I was resolved that he should not have the same sway; thinking it reasonable that I should be consulted in every thing, and even that my plans should be adopted, as I must be answerable for the suc cess of the whole. From these contrary humours it followed, that Gramont took upon him to order every thing, without consulting or communicating with me; and I, on the other hand, steady to my principle, refused to execute any enterprise of which I did not approve." The duke's recall was the consequence of this commendable pride.

When the mareschal de Tessé, who succeeded to the chief command in Spain, arrived at Madrid, he naturally inquired of the queen if she had not reason to be satisfied with the campaign which the duke of Berwick had made. She said he was much esteemed, and had rendered great service to the kingdom. "Why, then," answered Tessé, "have you had him recalled?"—" If I must tell you," replied the queen, peevishly, "he is a great obstinate devil of an Englishman, who will always have his own way."" Ber wick's Mem. tom. i.

Henault, 1704.

(4) Burnet, book vii. Lives of the Admirals, vol. iii.

(5) Id. ibid.

the people, who granted very liberal supplies for prosecuting the war with the utmost readiness; and the whole business of parliament was not only conducted with harmony, but carried forward with zeal and expedition. Pleased with the humiliation of the house of Bourbon, the whigs, instead of opposing the ministry, used every endeavour to engage the duke of Marlborough in their cause; and Godolphin, either from policy or principle, threw himself entirely into their hands.

The queen dissolved the parliament; and the whigs, whose principles recommended them to the independent part of the kingdom, having the countenance of government, and the support of the moneyed interest, obtained a decided majority in the new house of commons. The elections went generally in their favour, notwithstanding the clamour raised by the tories of the danger of the church, and the growth of presbyterianism. Both houses now passed a vote, that the church was in a safe and flourishing condition, and that whoever should suggest that the established religion was in danger, was an enemy to the queen, the church, and the kingdom. They also, to the great disappointment of the tories, already mortified by the foregoing vote, repealed two severe laws against the commerce and people of Scotland, in order to induce the parliament of that kingdom to settle the crown on the house of Hanover, as well as to listen to proposals for a treaty of union with England;(1) measures highly necessary to the welfare of both kingdoms, and essential to the security of the Protestant succession.

While the English parliament was taking these prudent steps for securing the peace of the kingdom, as well as for prosecuting the war with vigour, France was not only depressed by external misfortunes, but distracted by internal commotions. Though the Hugonots were chiefly exterminated, or induced, from motives of fear or interest, to conform to the established religion, by the rewards that were held out to them, and the severe persecution which they had suffered, both before and after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, yet many of them had taken refuge in the Cevennes, a mountainous country in the south of France, where they led a savage life along with the rude natives, under the name of Camisards, and enjoyed their religion in a state of barbarity. Like zealots of all sects, when ignorant and persecuted, they believed themselves to be the peculiar favourites of heaven, and laid claim to the highest gifts of inspiration. They had their prophets and prophetesses, who assumed absolute authority over them, and are said to have excited them to the most atrocious cruelties, both against the Catholics and the refractory part of their own sect.(2)

At length, encouraged by these visionaries, by their increasing numbers, and by the promises of the confederates, the Camisards, on the commencement of the war, in 1701, began to mingle politics with their religion. They demanded "liberty of conscience, and an exemption from taxes!" and took arms to support their pretensions. Several generals were sent against them, with various success, and among others the celebrated mareschal Villars; who, after making them sensible of his power, entered into treaty with them, in 1704. But they, suspecting the sincerity of the court, broke off the negotiation, when it was almost finished; and Villars being recalled, in order to enter on a more important scene of action, the duke of Berwick was despatched against them, on his return from Spain. As severity was now become as necessary as it was formerly impolitic, the duke exercised it without reserve, and soon reduced the Camisards to obedience. (3)

(i) Journals, 1705. Burnet, book vii.

(2) Duke of Berwick's Mem, vol. i. "I have heard mareschal Villars relate," says Voltaire, “that, asking Cavalier, the most considerable of their chiefs, how, at his years, being little above twenty, he could acquire so much authority over a headstrong undisciplined rabble? he replied, that whenever they refused to obey, his prophetess (known among them by the name of the Great Mary) was instantly seized with a fit of inspiration, and condemned the refractory to the punishment of death, without any form of a trial. And having myself," adds the historian," put the same question to Cavalier, he returned the same answer." Siècle, ehap. xxxii.

(3) For this severity, the duke of Berwick makes the following manly apology: " Assisted by the understanding and advice of M. de Basville, one of the most sensible men in France, I made it my business to prevent every thing that might tend to excite commotions; and declared, that I came neither as a perse cutor nor a missionary, but with a resolution to do equal justice to every one; to protect all who should