Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/583

Rh the whole of Brabant and Flanders to the allies. Five days afterwards the victor entered Brussels in state, and the inhabitants acknowledged the rule of the archduke. Antwerp and Ostend surrendered themselves with slight lass. Menin held out until three thousand of the soldiers of the allies were laid low around its walls, but Dender- monde, which Louis had forty years previously besieged in vain, quickly gave itself up to the resistless Marlborough. Again a year of activity and triumph was succeeded by a period of languor and depression. During the whole of 1707 fortune inclined to the other side, with the result that early in the next year Ghent and Bruges returned to the allegiance of the French, and Marlborough, fearing that their example might be followed by the other cities, advanced with his whole army towards Oudenarde. Had the counsels of Vendome, one of the ablest of the French generals, prevailed, the fight might have had a different issue, but his suggestions were disregarded by the duke of Burgundy, the grandson of Louis, and the battle, like its predecessor, ended in their defeat. After this victory Marlborough, ever anxious for decisive measures, wished to advance on Paris, but he was overruled. The allied army invested the town of Lille, on the fortifications of which Yauban had expended an immensity of thought; and after a struggle of nearly four months, and the loss of thirty thousand men, the citadel surrendered. By the end of the year Brabant was again subject to the rule of the allies. The suffering in France at this time weighed so heavily upon the people that its proud king humbled him self to sue for peace. Each of the allies in turn did he supplicate, and his minister endeavoured by promises of large sums of money to obtain the support of Marlborough to his proposals. These attempts were in vain, and when the winter passed away a French army of one hundred and ten thousand, under the command of Villars, took the field. On the 3d of August 1709 Tournay capitulated, and the two leaders, Marlborough and Eugene, led their forces to Mons, in spite of the attempt of Villars to prevent them. For the last time during the protracted war the two armies met in fair fight at Malplaquet, llth September 1709, where the French leader had strengthened his position by extensive earthworks. The fight was long and doubtful, and, although the French ultimately retreated under the direction of Boufflers, for Villars had been wounded on the knee, it was in good order, and their losses were less than those of their opponents. The campaign lasted for a year or two after this indecisive contest, but it was not signalized by any such &quot; glorious victory &quot; as Blenheim. All that the English could plume themselves on was the acquisition of a few such fortresses as Douai and Bethune, and all that the French had to fear was the gradual tightening of the enemy s chain until it reached the walls of Paris. The energies of the French were concentrated in the construction of fresh lines of defence, until their com mander boasted that his position was impregnable. In this way the war dragged on until the conclusion of the peace of Utrecht.

All that Marlborough had effected on the battlefield during these years of war had not prevented his position from being undermined by party intrigues at home. In the early part of Queen Anne s reign his political friends were to be found among the Tories, and the ministry was chiefly composed of members of that party. After a year or two, however, the more ardent Tories withdrew, and two younger adherents of the same cause, Harley and St John (both of whom were at present content to conceal their animosity to Marlborough), were introduced into the ministry. The duchess, partly through the influence of her son-in-law, the earl of Sunderland, and partly through the opposition of the Tories to the French war, had gone over to the Whig cause, and she pressed her views on the sovereign with more vehemence than discretion. She had obtained for her indigent cousin, Abigail Hill, a small position at court, and the poor relation very soon began to injure the benefactor who had befriended her. With Hill s assistance Harley and St John widened the breach with the queen which was commenced by the imperious manner of the duchess. The love of the two friends changed into hate, and no opportunity for humiliating the family of Marl- borough was allowed to pass away neglected. Sunderland and Godolphin were the first to fall (July-August 1710); a few months later the duchess was dismissed from her offices; and, although Marlborough himself was permitted to con- tinus in his position a short time longer, his full was only delayed until the last day of 1711. Life in England had become so unpleasant that he went to the Continent, and he remained abroad until the death of Anne (1st August 1714). Then he once more returned to the shores of England and resumed his old military posts, but he took little part in public affairs. Even if he had wished to regain his commanding position in the country, -ill health would have prevented him from obtaining his desires. Johnson, indeed, says, in the Vanity of Human Wishes, that &quot;the streams of, dotage &quot; flowed from his eyes; but it is not desirable to examine too critically the assertions of a poem which relied for its success upon the strength of its comparisons. It is certain that at the time of his death he was able to understand the remarks of others and to express his own wishes. At four o clock on the morning of the 16th June 1722, he died at Cranbourn Lodge near Windsor. His remains were at first deposited in West minster Abbey, in the vault at the east end of King Henry VII. s chapel, but they now rest at Blenheim.

His widow, to whom must be assigned a considerable share both in his rise and in his fall, survived till October 1744. Those years were spent in bitter animosity with many within and without her own family. Left by her husband with the command of boundless wealth, she used it for the vindication of his memory and for the justification of her own resentment. Two of the leading opponents of the minis try, Chesterfield and Pitt, were especially honoured by her attentions. To Pitt she left ten thousand pounds, to the other statesman twice that sum and a reversionary interest in her landed property at Wimbledon. Whilst a widow, she received numerous offers of marriage from many titled suitors. She refused them all : from her marriage to her death her heart had no other inmate than the man as whose wife she had become almost a rival to royalty.

Marlborough obtained his first start in life through a handsome pension, and his rapid rise to the highest position in the state was due to his singular tact and to his skill in the management of men. In an age remarkable for grace of manner and for adroitness of compliment, his courteous demeanour and the art with which he refused or granted a favour extorted the admiration of every one with whom he came in contact. Through his consideration for the welfare of his soldiers he held together for years an army drawn from every nation in Christendom. His talents may not have been profound (he possessed &quot; an excellent plain understanding and sound judgment &quot; is the opinion of Lord Chesterfield); but they were such as Englishmen love. Alike in planning and in executing, he took infinite pains in all points of detail. Nothing escaped his observation, and in the hottest moment of the fight the coolness of his intellect shone conspicuous. His enemies indeed affected to attribute his uniform success in the field to fortune, and they magnified his love of money by drawing up balance sheets which included every penny which he had received, but omitted the pounds which he had spent in the cause he had sincerely at heart. All that can be-