troops of the duke of Savoy, took Bersello, and gained an advantage over general Visconti1.

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. Though gallantly defended by the marquis d'Alegre, it was forced to surrender, after a siege of about three weeks. But notwithstanding this early success, and the supposed weakness of the enemy, Marlborough could not distinguish the campaign by any signal achievement; the French, under Boufflers and Villeroy, keeping cautiously within their lines, and the English general not judging it prudent to attempt to force them. therefore contented himself with the conquest of Huy and Limburgh. Gueldres, after a long blockade, also surrendered to the allies1o.

He

These acquisitions, however, were by no means a balance to the advantages of the enemy in other quarters, particularly as the operations of the allies at sea, during the summer, had been languid and indecisive-in some respects unfortunate; and their negligence so great, that the Spanish treasure from the Havanna, 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, or by an insurrection in Hungary, which spread devastation to the gates of Vienna. The English parliament, seized with a kind of military fury, granted very liberal supplies for the ensuing campaign; and the emperor, emboldened by the allies of Portugal, from which a passage might he opened into the heart of the disputed monarchy, ordered his son Charles to 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 he was conducted to Lisbon by a powerful fleet, having on board a considerable body of land forces1.

While the queen of England was exerting herself with so much vigour in a foreign quarrel, in which her subjects were little interested, great disorders occurred in her own dominions. The ferment in Scotland, occasioned by the miscarriage of the settlement at Darien, had not fully subsided; and although that

15 Burnet.-Voltaire.-Henault.

16 Mem. of the Duke of Berwick, vol. i.-Burnet, book vii. 17 Burnet.-Voltaire.

kingdom readily acknowledged the queen's authority, strong 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. Germain, 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 prerogative. Beside these men, many others, who were well disposed to 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.

Nor was the English nation free from discontents. The queen, by throwing herself into the hands of the Tories, had roused the resentment of the Whigs, who were in a manner proscribed, and debarred from office; and only an ardent desire of accomplishing the purpose of the Grand Alliance, which they themselves had formed, had hitherto prevented them 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. Germain, and hopes were even entertained by that court of obtaining a speedy repeal of the act of settlement.

To forward these views, and complete the ruin of their political opponents, the Tories pretended, that both the church and monarchy were in danger, from the prevalence of presbyterian and republican principles; and a bill against occasional conformity, which would have excluded all dissenters, and consequently a great number of the Whigs, from civil offices and public employments, was twice presented to parliament, and as often VOL. IV.

F

rejected. The failure of this favourite measure, A. D. 1704. and several other circumstances, indicating the strength of the Whigs, induced Marlborough and Godolphin, who are said to have been Torias, 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. Mr. Harley, speaker of the house of commons, reputed a Whig because he had been bred a dissenter, was now appointed secretary of state, in the room of the earl of Nottingham; and, at his recommendation, Mr. St. John, since better known by the title of lord Bolingbroke, was advanced to the lucrative post of secretary of war.

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. As the allies, in the two preceding campaigns, by securing the Maes and Spanish Guelderland, had provided a strong barrier for the United Provinces, the duke of Marlborough proposed to march into the heart of Germany, in order to protect the emperor, now almost besieged in his capital, by the Hungarian malcontents on one side, and by the French and Bavarians on the other. In pursuance of this scheme, 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 BaJuly 2, N.S. den. That junction being effected, Marlborough forced, though with the loss of four thousand men, the elector of Bavaria's entrenchments near Donawert, and obliged him to quit the field. In consequence of this victory, the allies gained possession of Donawert, and obtained a free passage over the Danube. But as they were incapable, for want of magazines, either of continuing long on the banks of that river, or penetrating into Bavaria, their situation became 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 desired opportunity. Before the engagement, the duke 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 sixty thousand men. 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 was a thick wood, from which ran a rivulet, along their front, into the Danube. This rivulet, in 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 and eight battalions were placed in another village towards the centre, in order to fall, in conjunction with those at Blenheim, upon the rear of the enemy, when the latter should pass the rivulet. The 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 opposition18.

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 August 13, N.S. 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 cavalry 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 routed. Tallard himself was taken prisoner, 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 scarcely 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 foot and dragoons, in the village of Blenheim, the best troops of France, were now

18 Mem. du Marq. de Fouquieres.-Kane's Campaigns.

abandoned to their fate. After a vigorous, but ineffectual sally, they found themselves obliged to surrender at discretion.

Such, my dear Philip, was the famous battle of Blenheim, in which thirty thousand French and Bavarians were killed, wounded, or captured. The 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 about five thousand men killed, and seven thousand wounded19.

The consequences of this brilliant victory were highly important. The emperor was relieved from his fears; the Hungarian malcontents were over-awed; 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 that prince, the excesses which had been committed on his own.An extent of sixty leagues of country was exposed to all the ravages of war. Broken, ruined, and dispersed, the forces of Louis 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, were obliged to take shelter within the frontiers of France. The victors crossed the Rhine; they entered Alsace; and the important fortresses of Landau and Traerbach were surrendered to them before the close of the year20.

But the same good fortune, which attended the arms of the confederates in Germany, did not extend to every scene of operations. In Flanders, the war, being merely defensive, produced no memorable event. 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, assisted by the duke of Berwick, carried the war into Portugal; took several places, and defeated the attempts of the allies for the invasion of Spain21. In Italy the campaign proved, upon the

19 Feuquieres.-Burnet.-Voltaire.

20 Voltaire.-Boyer.-Burnet.

21 Notwithstanding these 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 success 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 which I did not approve."-The duke's recall was the consequence of this commendable pride.

When the mareschal de Tesse, 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 duke's campaign. She said, that he was much esteemed, and had rendered great service