Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/140

 large armies and great generals, and his troops had been successful in many battles during the preceding half century.

Marlborough had many difficulties to overcome abroad and at home. The Allies were not always willing to do as he wished, and the Tories in England put obstacles in his way. Yet he never lost patience, and by his tact and winning manners gradually succeeded in getting the Allies to follow his advice and leadership. His ability as a commander was not fully known until this war began; but he soon proved himself to be one of the greatest generals in all history. He was calm and heedless of danger on the battlefield, and his readiness of resource was equal to every occasion. He was great, also, as a statesman and diplomatist; but he was faithless and cold-hearted, and his love for money amounted to avarice. The pleasantest feature of his character and career was his love for his wife.

Marlborough could not do much during the first two years of the war, on account of the timidity of the Allies, and the hindrances their quarrels placed in the way. Meanwhile the Tories in England were trying to prevent, by an ‘‘Occasional Conformity Bill,” the Dissenters from holding any office. Some of the Dissenters, in order to get into parliament, would take the sacrament in the English church, and then attend worship in their own chapel. This the Tories sought to stop; but the Bill they brought in was defeated by the Whigs in the House of Lords.

Not until 1704 was the war carried on with much vigor. A large French army was then sent by Louis to Bavaria to attack Austria. Marlborough saw the danger, and, by a stratagem, managed to get his Dutch allies away from their own frontier. He then marched straight to Bavaria, where he joined Prince Eugene near the little village of Blenheim. Then was fought one of the most important battles of modern times. With an army not so numerous as that opposed to him, Marlborough defeated, with terrible loss, on the 13th of August, 1704, a veteran French force commanded by one of France’s best generals. Henceforth the French soldiers were no longer thought to be invincible. The same year the great rock fortress, Gibraltar, was taken by Admiral Rooke, and it has remained in England’s possession ever since. Marlborough’s great victory made the Whigs very popular in England, and Marlborough himself became the idol of the people.

In 1706, the Allies under Marlborough won another great victory