almost occasioned a greater misfortune than that which it failed to prevent. Staremberg had advanced too far to retreat with safety in the face of the enemy. Vendome forced him to an engagement at Villa Viciosa, about two leagues from Brihuega, the place of Stanhope's disaster. Between the armies there was no proportion in numbers, the allies being one-half inferior to the French and Spaniards; yet did Staremberg, one of the ablest commanders in that military age, exert himself so greatly, both as a general and a soldier, that the battle was fierce, obstinate, and bloody. The Spaniards, under Philip V., broke the left wing of the allies. But their right continued firm in spite of all the efforts of the French, while Staremberg made the centre of the enemy give way; so that Vendome judged a retreat necessary, in order to avoid the danger of a total defeat.(1)

The general of the allies however found, on mustering his forces, that, in consequence of the capture of the British troops, and the loss of men during the action, he was not in a condition to keep the field. He was besides in want of provisions, and had no prospect of supply, at that late season: he therefore hastily decamped and continued his march into Catalonia, leaving to the vanquished all the advantages of a complete victory.(2)

These successes revived, in some measure, the drooping spirits of the house of Bourbon; and, during the campaign, a revolution had happened in the English ministry, still more favourable to their affairs. This revolution, with its causes and consequences, merits our particular attention.

Though the great influence of Marlborough and Godolphin had obliged their mistress to dismiss Harley from her councils, they could not deprive him of that confidence which they themselves had lost, and attempted in vain to recover. He had frequent consultations with the queen in private; and, even while invisible, is said to have embarrassed their measures. These interviews were procured by Mrs. Masham, the new favourite, who had now entirely supplanted the dutchess of Marlborough in the queen's affections. But could the ministry have retained the favour of the people, they might have disregarded the private partialities, and in some measure the confidence, of their sovereign. The duke of Marlborough had the sole disposal of all the military employments, and the earls of Godolphin and Sunderland of all civil offices. They were in possession of the whole power of the state. And they had long used that power with so much judgment, ability, and effect, as to disarm envy, silence faction, and reconcile to their measures all men who did not labour under the most incurable political prejudices, or feel the severest pangs of disappointed ambition. The body of the people looked up to them as the worthy followers of king William, our illustrious deliverer from popery and arbitrary power, in the grand line of liberty and national honour :(3) they enjoyed the most unbounded popularity.

But popularity, however well founded, is in itself of a slippery nature. The favour of the multitude in every country, but more especially under free governments, can only be retained by something new. They are totally governed by their hopes and fears; and these must not be too long suspended, or too uniformly reiterated, otherwise they will lose their effect. The Eng

(1) Burnet, book vii. Duke of Berwick, vol. ii, This account of the battle of Villa Viciosa, though different from that of some historians, is confirmed by a letter from Philip V. to his queen, dated at the camp of Fuentes, the 11th of December, 1710. "M. de Vendome," says he (after relating the progress of the action), "seeing that our centre was giving way, and that our left wing of cavalry made no impression upon their right, thought it time to propose retreating towards Truija, and gave orders for that purpose." Notes, No. III. to vol. ii. of the Duke of Berwick's Mem.

(2) Duke of Berwick, ubi sup.

(3) It has been fashionable, of late years, to represent the reign of William as a reign of disgrace; and, in support of that opinion, an address of the house of commons on the meeting of the first parliament of queen Anne is produced, in which the duke of Marlborough is said to have "signally retrieved the ancient honour and glory of the English nation." But, independent of the doubtfulness of these expressions, this was the address of a tory parliament, and framed by men who were no friends to the revolution. The criminal intrigues connected with that glorious event, have not been concealed by the author of these Letters, nor the faults in the administration of William. But admitting all those charges even as urged by his enemies, his reign, though not highly fortunate, must be allowed to have been a reign of vigour, of exertion, and a jealous attention to national honour; which can never, perhaps, be purchased at too high a price, and which had been shamefully neglected during the ignominious reigns of his two immediate predecessors.

lish populace, during this triumphant period, became satiated even with success. Victory followed victory so fast, and the surrender of one town was so soon succeeded by the taking of another, that good fortune had ceased to excite joy and the roaring of cannon and the ringing of bells were heard with indifference. The people began to feel the weight of the taxes levied in order to support the war. And they observed with concern, that in all the negotiations for peace, while liberal concessions were offered to foreign princes and states, no stipulation of any consequence appeared in favour of the queen of England; who, after all her waste of blood and treasure, seemed to have only the glory of conquering and giving away cities, provinces, and kingdoms.(1)

The tories, encouraged by the successful intrigues of Harley, and this change of humour in the people, which they had secretly contributed to produce, began to entertain hopes of once more holding the reins of government. In order to realize these hopes, they attempted to make use of an engine which had often been played off against themselves. As the whigs, who were now in possession of the administration, could no longer rouse the jealousies and apprehensions of the populace on account of their civil and religious liberties, which were sufficiently secured by the revolution and the act of settlement, the tories endeavoured to awaken the same fears, by touching another string. They represented the church and monarchy as in imminent danger, from dissenters and men of levelling principles; under which description they comprehended the whole body of the whigs.

This inflammatory doctrine, as we have seen, had been zealously propagated from the pulpit, by the high-church party, ever since the beginning of the present reign. The vulgar, as may naturally be supposed, gradually began to give credit to what they heard so often and so vehemently urged; for, notwithstanding the formal censure in parliament of that groundless opinion, it still continued to be propagated. And a champion was not wanting openly to brave such high authority, and to improve on the seditious clamour, and even to bring home the charge to the ministry.

This bold son of the church was Dr. Henry Sacheverell; a man of no superior talents, but who, by his violence in railing against the dissenters, occasional conformists, and the whig party in general, had recommended himself to the tories and the majority of the established clergy. After having distinguished himself in the country, by such declamations, he was called, by the voice of the people, to a church in the borough of Southwark, where he had a more extensive field for propagating his seditious doctrines; and being appointed to preach in St. Paul's cathedral, on the 5th of November, 1709, the anniversary of the gunpowder plot, he delivered a sermon, before the lord-mayor of London and the court of aldermen, into which he poured the whole collected venom of his heart. He not only inveighed, in the most indecent language, against the dissenters, and the moderate part of the church of England, whom he denominated false brethren, but threw out severe and pointed reflections against the principal persons in power, and inculcated, in strong and unequivocal terms, the slavish and exploded doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance; animating the people to stand up in defence of the church, which he declared was in imminent danger, and for which, he said, he sounded the trumpet, desiring them to put on the whole armour of God!(2) The majority of the court of aldermen, being attached to the principles of the revolution, against which these doctrines militated, refused the usual compliment to the preacher, of desiring him to print his sermon, and were even shocked at the violence of the invective. But the lord-mayor, who was a zealous high-churchman, not only encouraged Sacheverell, to publish his discourse, but accepted a dedication still more violent and inflammatory than the performance itself. The merit of both was magnified by the tories. and forty thousand copies are said to have been circulated in a few weeks.(3)

(1) Publications of the Times.

(2) Burnet, book vii. See also the Sermon itself among Sacheverell's Discourses.
(3) Burnet, ubi sup,

No literary production ever perhaps attracted so much attention as this scurrilous sermon, which had no kind of excellence to recommend it, except what it derived from the spirit of party. It divided the opinions of the nation: and Sacheverell himself, extolled by the tories as the champion of the church, now on the brink of ruin! and execrated by the whigs as an enemy to the revolution, as an advocate for persecution and despotism, and a devoted friend to the pretender, was thought of sufficient consequence to be made the object of a parliamentary prosecution. That was what he desired above all things, and what the ministry ought studiously to have avoided. But they allowed, on this occasion, their passion to overcome their prudence. Godolphin being personally attacked in the sermon, was highly irritated against the preacher; and as the offence was not deemed punishable by common law, it was resolved to proceed by impeachment. Sacheverell was accordingly taken into custody, by command of the house of commons: articles were exhibited against him at the bar of the house of lords, and a day was appointed for his trial, which, to complete the folly of this impolitic measure, was ordered to be in Westminster-hall, that the whole body of the commons might be present.(1) The people are often wrong in their judgment, but always just in their com passion, though that sentiment is sometimes misplaced. Their compassion was roused for Sacheverell, whom they considered as an innocent victim; a meritorious individual, doomed to be crushed by the arm of power, for daring to tell the truth. They forgot all his slavish doctrines: they remembered only his violent declamations, in regard to the danger of the church and monarchy; and they saw him exposed, as they imagined, to persecution for his honest boldness. They now believed more than they formerly feared. Neglecting their private affairs, and all the common avocations of life, their concern was turned wholly towards public welfare. Many, who seldom entered the church, trembled for the safety of the established religion. They wandered about in silent amazement, anxiously gazing on each other, and looking forward to the trial of Sacheverell, as if the fate of the nation or of nature had depended upon the awful decision.

When the day arrived, the populace assembled in vast crowds, and attended the criminal to Westminster-hall. During the whole course of his trial, which lasted three weeks, they continued the same attentions; and, in the height of their frantic zeal, they destroyed several dissenting meeting-houses, insulted a number of non-conformists, some whig members of the house of commons, and committed a variety of other outrages. London was a scene of anarchy and confusion. At last, Sachevérell was found guilty; but the lenity of his sentence, in consequence of the popular tumults, was considered as a kind of triumph by the tories. He was only suspended from preaching for three years, without being precluded from preferment, his sermon being ordered to be burned by the hands of the common hangman. (2) The famous decree of the university of Oxford, passed in 1683, recognising the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance, was also, by a vote of the lords, ordered to be burned at the same time.(3)

The mildness of Sacheverell's punishment was justly ascribed by the populace to the timidity, not to the moderation, of the ministry. Proud of heir victory, they every where expressed their joy on the occasion, by bonåres and illuminations; and notwithstanding the vote of the lords, addresses were sent from all parts of the kingdom, asserting the absolute power of the crown, and condemning the doctrine of resistance, as the result of antimonarchical and republican principles. (4) Of these principles the whigs, as a body, were violently accused by the heads of the tories, who now wholly engrossed the confidence of their sovereign, and inspired her with jealousies of her principal servants.

The queen herself, who had long affected to adopt measures which she was not permitted to guide, was glad of an opportunity of freeing herself from that political captivity in which she was held by her popular and too

(1) Burnet, book vii.

(3) Journals of the Lords, March, 1710.

(2) Id. ibid.
(4) Burnet, book vii.

powerful ministers. She accordingly took advantage of this sudden and extraordinary change in the sentiments of the people, in order to bring about a total change of the persons employed in the administration of her government. The duke of Shrewsbury, who had distinguished himself in the cause of Sacheverell, was made chamberlain, in the room of the earl of Kent: Godolphin received an order to break his staff, as lord treasurer of Great Britain: the treasury was put in commission; and Harley, as a prelude to higher promotion, was appointed chancellor of the exchequer; while his friend, St. John, succeeded Mr. Boyle as secretary of state. The duke of Marlborough alone, of the whole party to which he belonged, remained in office: and that mark of distinction he owed to his own high reputation, not to the favour or forbearance of his enemies. Though his fall was already determined on, they were afraid that the temper of the people was not yet sufficiently prepared for the removal of so great a commander.(1)

Marlborough, whose character is one of the most complicated in modern history, appears to have been fully sensible of his own consequence, as well as of the dangerous designs of the new ministry. At the same time that he was making professions of attachment to the court of St. Germains(2) (though for what purpose, it is impossible to determine), he wrote, in the following strong terms, to the elector of Hanover, with the interests of whose family, he said, he considered those of his country and all Europe to be inseparably connected. "I hope," adds he, “the English nation will not permit themselves to be imposed upon by the artifice of Harley and his associates. Their conduct leaves no doubt of their design of placing the pretended prince of Wales on the throne. We feel too much already their bad intentions and pernicious views. But I expect to be able to employ all my attention, all my credit, and that of my friends, in order to advance the interests of the electoral family, and to prevent the destructive counsels of a race of men, who establish principles and form cabals, which will otherwise infallibly overturn the Protestant succession, and with it the liberty of their country and the freedom of Europe."(3)

The new ministry were no less liberal in their declarations of attachment to the house of Hanover:(4) and Harley, soon after appointed lord treasurer, and created earl of Oxford and Mortimer, was perhaps sincere in his professions. Bred up in the notions of the presbyterians, to which he still adhered, and perhaps tinctured with republican principles, he had only made use of the high-church party as a ladder to his ambition; and although a sincere friend to the Protestant succession, he was accused, from this circumstance, of abetting the hereditary descent of the crown, and all the maxims of arbitrary power.(5)

In consequence of these appearances, the pretender was encouraged to write to his sister, queen Anne. He put her in mind of the affection that ought to subsist between two persons so nearly related; he recalled to her memory her repeated promises to their common parent :-"To you," said he, "and to you alone, I wish to owe eventually the throne of my fathers. The voice of God and of nature are loud in your ear! the preservation of our family, the preventing of intestine wars, and the prosperity of our country; combine to require you to rescue me from affliction, and yourself from misery. Though restrained by your difficult situation, I can form no doubt of your preferring a brother, the last male of an ancient line, to the remotest relation we have in the world. Neither you nor the nation have received any injury at my hands: therefore, madam, as you tender your honour and happiness-as you love your family-as you revere the memory of your father as you regard the welfare and safety of a great people, I conjure you to meet me, in this friendly way of composing our difference! The happiness of both depends upon your determination: you have it in your power to

(2) Stuart Papers, 1710.
(4) Ibid.

(1) Burnet, book vit. State of Europe, 1720. (3) Original Letters in the Hanover Papers, 1710. (5) Stuart and Hanover Papers. See also Bolingbroke's Letter to Sir William Wyndham, and the Duke of Berwick's Mem. vol. ii.

deliver me from the reproach that invariably follows unfortunate princes, and to render your own memory dear to posterity."(1)

But whatever effect the warm remonstrances of a brother might have on the mind of the queen of England, the solicitations of his agents made no impression on her prime minister. Harley is said even to have been hitherto ignorant of the sentiments of his mistress, in regard to the succession of the crown. He knew, that, with a natural jealousy of her own authority, she was averse to the appearance of the legal successor in the kingdom; but a more intimate acquaintance, if not a more perfect confidence, only made him sensible, that she wished to leave, at her death, the sceptre in the hands of the pretender. (2) He was too far engaged, and too fond of power, to retreat. He hoped, however, instead of injuring the Protestant cause, more effectually to secure, by his eminent station, the succession of the house of Hanover, and with it the religion and liberties of his country. He was, therefore, under the necessity of accommodating himself, in some measure, to the wild projects of the more violent tories, as well as of flattering the queen's affection for her brother, by seeming to second her designs in favour of that prince. And hence the great line of his political conduct was in direct contradiction to his private opinions.

In this respect, Oxford was exactly in the same predicament with Godolphin, his predecessor in office; who, though a tory and a jacobite, had been obliged, from the circumstances of the times, as we have seen, to place himself at the head of the whigs, and was considered as the leader of that party by the world. But Oxford, without the strong abilities of Godolphin, who was one of the ablest statesmen of any age or nation, had still greater difficulties and more obstinate prejudices to struggle with. Even while using all his efforts against the restoration of the excluded family, and laying himself in the dust at the feet of the legal heirs of the crown, he was be lieved, not only by his countrymen, but by the court of Hanover itself, to be a firm friend to the pretender. His professions were considered as only so many baits to deceive; yet did he persevere in his principles, and in his endeavours to defeat all attempts to the prejudice to the Protestant succession!

The new administration, in England, was introduced with a new parlia ment; the former having been dissolved, in compliance with the warm addresses of the high-church party. In the election of the members of this parliament, the most unwarrantable methods had been taken to keep out the whigs; and methods, still more unjustifiable, were taken to exclude the small number of that party who had found their way into the house. Petitions were presented against most members supposed to favour the old ministry.(3) The tories, however, though now possessed of a decided majority on every motion, and though convinced that peace was equally necessary to the safe enjoyment of their own power, and to the execution of those designs which they had formed in favour of the excluded family, durst not yet venture to reveal their sentiments to the nation. The new ministry, therefore, resolved to follow, for a time, their predecessors in the line of hostility. The most liberal supplies were accordingly voted for the future support of the war, as well as to make up for the past deficiencies: in all to the amount of near fifteen millions.(4)

This appearance of vigour left the whigs no occasion of murmuring at a change of measures. But their complaints would have broken out on the first symptom of relaxation; and Harley and the tories, in pursuing, contrary to their own inclination, the hostile system of the confederates, while jealously watched by their political enemies, would have found themselves involved in insurmountable difficulties and embarrassments. Happily for the English ministry, as well as for the house of Bourbon, an unexpected event gave a new turn to the politics of Europe. This was the sudden death of the emperor Joseph, whose reign had been one continued flow of success,

(1) Stuart Papers.

(2) MS. in the possession of Mr. Macpherson.

(3) Burnet, book vii.

(4) Journals, 1711. The exact sum raised and provided for was 14,573,3191. 19s. 84d.