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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Memoirs of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and of the Court of - Queen Anne Vol. II (of 2) - -Author: Katherine Thomson - -Release Date: July 6, 2021 [eBook #65781] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing, MWS, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF SARAH, DUCHESS OF -MARLBOROUGH, AND OF THE COURT OF QUEEN ANNE VOL. II (OF 2) *** - - - - - - MEMOIRS - OF - SARAH - DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH, - AND OF THE - COURT OF QUEEN ANNE - - - BY MRS. A. T. THOMSON, - AUTHORESS OF “MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF HENRY THE EIGHTH,” “LIFE OF SIR - WALTER RALEIGH,” &c. - - - IN TWO VOLUMES - - VOL. II. - - - LONDON: - HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, - GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. - MDCCCXXXIX. - - - - - LONDON: - PRINTED BY IBOTSON AND PALMER, - SAVOY STREET. - - - - - CONTENTS - OF THE SECOND VOLUME. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Character of Lord Peterborough—Of Lord Montague—Marriage of - the Lady Mary Churchill with Lord Monthermer—Character and - success of her husband—The violence of party spirit at this - era—Conduct of the Duchess in politics—Her dislike to Lord - Rochester—His character—Preferment of Harley to the - secretaryship—Views originally entertained by Marlborough - and Lord Godolphin—Anecdote of Lord Wharton at Bath—A proof - of political rancour _Page_ 1 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Conduct of Lord Sunderland—Influence of the Duchess understood - at foreign courts—Anecdote of Charles the Third of Spain 29 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Complete triumph of the Whigs—Attempts made to bring Lord - Sunderland into the Cabinet—Scheme for insuring the - Hanoverian succession—The Queen’s resentment at that measure 55 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Decline of the Duchess’s influence—Her attempt in favour of - Lord Cowper—Singular Letter from Anne in - explanation—Intrigues of the Tories—Harley’s endeavours to - stimulate the Queen to independence 74 - - - CHAPTER V. - - State of parties—Friendship of Marlborough and - Godolphin—Discovery of Mr. Harley’s practices—Intrigues of - the Court 109 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Vexations and disappointments which harassed the Duke and - Duchess of Marlborough—Vacillations of Anne—Her appointment - of Tory bishops 124 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - 1708—Vacillation of Anne—Invasion of the Pretender—Results of - that event—Secret intrigues with Mrs. Masham—The death of - Prince George—The Duchess of Marlborough’s affectionate - attentions to the Queen on that occasion—Her disappointment 147 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - Trial of Dr. Sacheverell—His solemn protestation of - innocence—Scene behind the curtain where the Queen sat—Fresh - offence given by the Duchess to Anne 164 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - Final separation between the Queen and the Duchess—Some - anecdotes of Dr. and Mrs. Burnet—Dr. Burnet remonstrates - with the Queen—The Queen’s obstinacy—Dismissal of Lord - Godolphin—Letter from the Duchess to the Queen 193 - - - CHAPTER X. - - Anecdotes of Swift and Addison—Publication of the - Examiner—Charge brought in the Examiner against the Duchess 212 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - Return of the Duke and Duchess—Their reception—The Duchess’s - advice to her husband—Political changes in which the Duke - and Duchess were partly concerned 256 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - Third Marriage of Lord Sunderland—Calumnies against the Duke - and Duchess of Marlborough—Interview between the Duchess and - George the First—The result—Her differences with Lord - Sunderland—Illness, death, and character of the Duke of - Marlborough 320 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - Funeral of the Duke of Marlborough—His bequests to the - Duchess—Immediate proposals of marriage made for her in her - widowhood—Character and letters of Lord Coningsby—Character - of the Duke of Somerset—His Grace’s offer of marriage to the - Duchess 352 - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - Anecdotes of the Duchess of Marlborough and the Duchess of - Buckingham—Pope’s “Atossa”—Sir Robert Walpole—The Duchess’s - enmity towards that minister—Singular scene between them—The - Duchess’s causes of complaint enumerated 376 - - - CHAPTER XV. - - State of the Duchess of Marlborough with respect to her - family—Henrietta Duchess of Marlborough—Lord - Godolphin—Pelham Holles Duke of Newcastle—The Spencer - family—Charles Duke of Marlborough—His extravagance—John - Spencer—Anecdote of the Misses Trevor—Letter to Mr. - Scrope—Lawsuit 397 - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - The Duchess of Marlborough’s friends and contemporaries—Arthur - Maynwaring—Dr. Hare—Sir Samuel Garth—Pope—Lady Mary Wortley - Montague—Colley Cibber—Anecdote of Mrs. Oldfield; of Sir - Richard Steele 417 - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - The different places of residence which belonged to the - Duchess—Holywell-house, Wimbledon, Blenheim—Account of the - old mansion of Woodstock—Its projected destruction—Efforts - of Sir John Vanburgh to save it—Attack upon the Duchess, - relative to Blenheim, in the Examiner 436 - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - Old age and decline of the Duchess—Her incessant wrangling - with Sir Robert Walpole—Her occupations—The compilation of - her Memoirs—Her death, and character 460 - - - APPENDIX 507 - - - - - MEMOIRS - - OF THE - - DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - 1703–4. - - Character of Lord Peterborough—Of Lord Montague—Marriage of the Lady - Mary Churchill with Lord Monthermer—Character and success of her - husband—The violence of party spirit at this era—Conduct of the - Duchess in politics—Her dislike to Lord Rochester—His character - Preferment of Harley to the secretaryship—Views originally - entertained by Marlborough and Lord Godolphin—Anecdote of Lord - Wharton at Bath—A proof of political rancour. - - -Amongst those friends who hastened to pour forth their condolences to -the Duchess of Marlborough on the loss of her son, the celebrated -Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough, was one of the first, and -amongst the most eager to testify his concern. This nobleman, whose -enmity towards Marlborough became afterwards conspicuous, was at this -time one of the numerous votaries of the arrogant Duchess. Lord -Peterborough’s extravagances gave a meteor-like celebrity to his general -character. Among many of the celebrated individuals who illumined the -age, he would, nevertheless, have been eminent, even had his course been -less peculiar, and his deportment like that of ordinary men. - -The eventful public life of this nobleman began in the reign of Charles -the Second; at the early age of eighteen, he had distinguished himself -in the cause of patriotism by attending Algernon Sidney to the scaffold, -an act of kindness and of courage, which was the commencement of his -singular career. “He lived,” says Horace Walpole, “a romance, and was -capable of making it a history.”[1] At this period of his life, nature -and fortune alike combined to favour the brilliancy of that career, -which, in its eccentricities, and in the rapid succession of events by -which it was marked, had not a parallel in the times of which we treat. -Lord Peterborough owed much to circumstances. Of high ancestry, an earl -by birth, and afterwards by creation, being the first Earl of Monmouth, -he graced his favoured station by the charm of his manners, by his -varied accomplishments, and by the union of a daring courage with the -highest cultivation of the intellectual powers. Celebrated for the wit -which he delighted to display, his enterprising character was enhanced -in the estimation of all who admired valour, by those personal -advantages which the imagination is disposed to combine with heroism and -with eloquence. In both, he exceeded most other men of his time. Without -being worthy of challenging a comparison with Marlborough, he dazzled, -he interested, he astonished the world. He “was a man,” as Pope truly -describes him, “resolved neither to live nor to die like other men.”[2] -In those days, when a constellation of bright stars threw a lustre over -the annals of our country, Lord Peterborough shone conspicuous, even -whilst Marlborough lived to pursue successive triumphs. - -The varied scenes through which Lord Peterborough passed, contributed to -form “the strange compound” which so much amused society. He began his -warlike exploits in the naval service; and even whilst he cultivated the -Muses, “appeared emulous to mix only with the rough and then untutored -tars of ocean.”[3] Disgusted with a maritime life, he became a land -officer; yet alternately assisted in the council, or dazzled the senate -with his oratory. His brilliant exploits in Spain were the result of -consummate skill, aided by a romantic daring, which converted even the -gallantries into which the profligacy of the age and his own laxity of -principle betrayed him, into sources of assistance to his designs. It -has been said that he employed the illusions of perspective, which he -well understood, to impose on the enemy with respect to the number of -troops under his command. Whatever were his arts, the results of his -wonderful energy and bravery were so effective as very nearly to -transfer the crown of Spain from the Bourbon to the Austrian family. - -The abilities of this nobleman as a negociator were equally remarkable; -nor was the celerity of his movements a circumstance to be overlooked, -in times when such exertions as those which Peterborough made to compass -sea and land, appeared almost miraculous. Ever on the wing, he excelled -even Lord Sunderland in the rapidity of his migrations, and is said “to -have seen more kings and postilions than any man in Europe.” - -So singular a course could not be maintained, nor such unparalleled -dexterity acquired, without the strong, impelling power of vanity. Lord -Peterborough, with all his attainments, after long experience, with some -admirable qualities of the heart, was the slave of that pervading -impulse, the love of admiration. The friend of Pope and Swift, the -associate of Marlborough, delighted to declaim in a coffee-house, and to -be the centre of any admiring circle, no matter whom or what. The vanity -of Peterborough is, however, matter of little surprise: it was the -besetting sin of those wild yet gifted companions of the days of his -early youth, Rochester, Sedley, Buckingham, and Wharton, who competed to -attain the highest pitch of profligacy, characterised by the most -extravagant degree of absurdity and reckless eccentricity. To be -pre-eminent in demoralisation was not, in such times, a matter of easy -attainment; therefore it became necessary for the aspirant for that -species of fame to garnish deeds of guilt which might be deemed -common-place, with such accompaniments of fancy as men utterly lost to -shame, without a sense of decency, without time for remorse, without -fear of hell, or belief in heaven, could, in the depths of their infamy, -contrive and devise. - -Lord Peterborough and Lord Wharton, disregarding all moral obligations, -gave birth to sons, who, reared under their baneful influence, carried -the precepts of their parental tempters into an extremity far exceeding -what even those exemplary parents could have anticipated. In Philip, -Duke of Wharton, the world beheld, happily, almost the last of that -series of rich, profligate, bold, and desperate men, who, like the -second Buckingham, gilded a few fair points of character by the aid of -resplendent talents. It was the destiny of Lord Peterborough to reap -disappointment and chagrin from the seed which he had sown in the mind -of his eldest son and heir, John Lord Mordaunt, whom he survived.[4] - -The regard of Lord Peterborough at this period for the Duchess of -Marlborough was as assiduous as his enmity towards her and the Duke -became afterwards remarkable. In a letter written soon after their -common loss, he urged upon the bereaved father the necessity of seeking -in society the solace to his mournful reflections. In other effusions of -friendship, addressed to the Duchess, the Earl is profuse in the -language of gallantry; and, if we might believe in professions, felt an -ardour of admiration which led him to declare, “that he feared no other -uneasiness than not being able to meet those opportunities which might -contribute to what he most desired, the continuation of the Duchess’s -good opinion.”[5] - -These expressions had a deeper meaning than compliment; and Lord -Peterborough sought also a closer connexion than friendship with the -exalted house of Marlborough. The Lady Mary Churchill, the youngest -daughter of the Duke and Duchess, and, at the time of her brother’s -death, the only unmarried daughter, was one of the most distinguished of -her family for beauty, as well as for the higher qualities of the mind -and heart. Twenty-two years afterwards, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, -speaking of this lovely woman, described her as still so pre-eminent in -her hereditary charms, that she might then (in 1725) “be the reigning -beauty, if she pleased.”[6] Lady Mary, afterwards the object of her -mother’s aversion, was, in her early days, the pride and darling of both -parents, and the frequent subject of mention in her father’s letters. -Even in her sixteenth year there were many suitors who aspired to her -hand, and amongst others the son of Lord Peterborough, the young Lord -Mordaunt, whose suit was urged by his father, but rejected by the Duke -of Marlborough, on account of the dissolute character of the young -nobleman. It was probably this disappointment which first chilled the -friendship of Lord Peterborough, and turned it into rancour. - -Proposals of marriage from the Earl of Huntingdon, son of Lord Cromarty, -were also made to Lady Mary, but in vain;[7] the character of his -father, Lord Cromarty, who was, according to Cunningham, “long looked -upon as a state mountebank,” probably operating against the young man’s -addresses; for the Duchess sought to extend and strengthen her -connexions, and not to endanger the stability of her fortune by an -alliance with the weak or the disreputable. Political reasons, it has -been said by historians, decided the destiny of the fair victim, than -whom “there was not in England,” says Cunningham, “a more acceptable -sacrifice to be offered up for appeasing the rage of parties,” and -caused her finally to become the wife of Lord Monthermer, eldest son of -the Earl of Montague. Marlborough, as Cunningham relates, before setting -out on his latest campaign, “fearing lest Whigs and Tories should -combine together to ruin him, recommended to his wife to propose a -marriage of one of his daughters to the Earl of Montague’s son, as a -means of their reconciliation, and the establishment of his own -power.”[8] - -The projected alliance, in most important respects, appeared to be -highly advantageous. The House of Montague, anciently Montacute, was -already connected with some of the wealthiest and most powerful among -the nobility. Resembling, in one respect, the Churchill family, the -progenitors of the young man on whom Lady Mary’s hand was ultimately -bestowed, had been devoted to the service of the Stuarts. There is a -tradition that one of the race, Edward Montague, who held the office of -Master of the Horse to Queen Katharine, wife of Charles the Second, was -removed from his post, for venturing to press the hand of his royal -mistress,—an offence not likely to be of frequent occurrence, if -historians have not done great injustice to the amiable but ungainly -Katharine of Braganza. - -The father of John Duke of Montague, who married Lady Mary Churchill, -was a singular instance of something more than prudence,—even -cupidity,—combined with liberality and a great mind. This nobleman -enjoyed a fortunate, if not a happy life. He was appointed ambassador at -the Court of France, by the especial favour of Charles the Second; and -conferred on his station, as such, as much honour as he received from so -distinguished a mission. During his residence at Paris, he secured the -hand of the Countess of Northumberland, a rich widow, who had quitted -England to escape the disgraceful addresses of Charles the Second. By -this union he secured an income of six thousand a year; which was -farther increased, upon his return to England, by his purchase of the -place of Master of the King’s Wardrobe, for which he paid six thousand -pounds. The prosperity of the family was, however, checked during the -reign of James the Second, who, in consequence of Lord Montague’s known -enmity to the Roman Catholics, took from him the post which he had -obtained. This disgust prepared the offended nobleman for the -Revolution, towards which he contributed by his influence and exertions. -Honours and fortune then became abundant. The titles of Earl of Montague -and Viscount Monthermer succeeded to that of a simple baron. A second -marriage added to his wealth; for his first wife having died in giving -birth to his only surviving son, he resolved to acquire, by an union -with the Duchess of Albemarle, a revenue of six thousand pounds -additional to his wealth, and, moreover, to unite his family with the -house of Newcastle. The Duchess of Albemarle, whom he for these -interested motives addressed, was the heiress of Henry Cavendish, Duke -of Newcastle, and relict of Christopher March, Duke of Albemarle. There -was only one slight blot upon her perfections as a wife—she was insane. -In her delusion she had resolved to marry no one but a monarch; but her -suitor soon compassed this difficulty, for he is said, with what truth -it is not easy to determine, to have wooed and married her, in 1690, as -Emperor of China, and to have cherished the delusion, which appears to -have lasted nearly forty years; for the Duchess, during her residence at -Newcastle-house in Clerkenwell, where she lived until her death, in -1734, would never suffer any person to serve her, save on the bended -knee.[9] A later acquisition of wealth to the family took place, also, -on the death of the celebrated Sir Ralph Winwood, Secretary of State to -James the Second. - -The vast fortune which had been thus from various sources accumulated, -was spent by the Earl of Montague in a manner peculiarly befitting his -lofty station. He could sustain his rank with splendour and dignity, and -yet think his table honoured, not encumbered, by the presence of learned -men, of no rank, but whose talents shed upon their well-judging patron a -reflected lustre which wealth could not give. At his magnificent -residence in Bloomsbury-house, now the British Museum, the ingenious St. -Evremond, and other eminent foreigners, were seen mingling with the wits -and artists of the time, in saloons and halls, to garnish which the arts -of painting and sculpture had been called into requisition, and -liberally remunerated. The taste of this excellent and high-minded -nobleman for architecture, for gardening, as well as for the other arts -which embellish, was displayed both in his abode in London and his -estate in Northamptonshire. His style of living corresponded with his -lofty ideas, and equalled, if it did not excel, that of the most -princely of his contemporaries. - -From this noble stock sprang John Montague, Viscount Monthermer, who -became the son-in-law of Marlborough. An intimacy had for some time -subsisted between the Earl his father, and the Duchess, his future -mother-in-law.[10] But the Lady Mary Churchill, his destined bride, when -the match was proposed to her, proved averse from complying with the -wishes of her parents, having already, as report alleged, “set her eyes -and her heart upon another young gentleman, a very handsome youth.” “Yet -she must,” adds Cunningham, “have obeyed her mother’s commands -immediately, had not an accident happened, which proved very lamentable -to the Marlborough family.” The event to which he alludes was the death -of Lord Blandford; and the marriage of the reluctant young lady was -suspended until the period of mourning had been duly observed. It then, -however, took place; for it was not the custom of the day to take into -account the affections, in the calculations which were made in -matrimonial contracts. Nor were the family of the young bridegroom -likely to relax in their efforts to promote a favourable issue. Such is -the mutability of human affections, and the folly of our most ardent -desires, that Marlborough appears afterwards to have disliked, and the -Duchess to have despised, though without adequate reason, the man whom -she at this time preferred for her son-in-law. “All his talents,” thus -she wrote of his lordship thirty-seven years afterwards, “lie in things -natural in boys of fifteen years old, and he is about two-and-fifty—to -get people into his garden and wet them with squirts, and to invite -people to his country-houses, and put things into their beds to make -them itch, and twenty such pretty fancies like these.”[11] Such was her -opinion of this son-in-law; how far it was guided by prejudice will be -seen presently. - -The union, when once completed, seems to have afforded many means of -happiness to the beautiful Lady Mary. As far as worldly advantages were -to be considered, she encountered no disappointment. Soon after her -marriage, the father of her husband was created a duke through the -interest of her parents, and the reversion of the post of master of the -wardrobe settled on his son through the influence of the Duchess of -Marlborough, and, as she herself alleges, as part of her daughter’s -portion.[12] - -An unbroken course of prosperity attended the long life of Lord -Monthermer, who had not many years to wait before he attained a higher -title, on the death of his father, the Duke of Montague.[13] The -disposition and character of the Lord Monthermer, those most important -points of all, were, notwithstanding the character given of him by the -Duchess, said, by a keen-sighted judge, to have been truly amiable. -“He was,” says Horace Walpole, writing to his friend Sir Horace Mann, -“with some foibles, a most amiable man, and one of the most feeling I -ever knew.” “He had,” says Lord Hailes, in reference to the Duchess’s -description of the Duke’s childish propensities, “other pretty -fancies, not mentioned in the memoranda of his mother-in-law; he did -good without ostentation. His vast benevolence of soul is not recorded -by Pope; but it will be remembered while there is any tradition of -human kindness or charity in England.” The defects of this nobleman -appear to have been a thirst for gain, producing an inveterate -place-hunting, which detracted from his better qualities. “He was,” -says Walpole, “incessantly obtaining new, and making the most of all: -he had quartered on the great wardrobe no less than thirty nominal -tailors and arras workers,”—employments which were dropped at his -death. This corrupt proceeding he redeemed, in some measure, by great -liberality, paying out of his own property no less than two thousand a -year in private pensions. The Duke of Montague’s talents fitted him -indeed for better things than the grovelling love of gain. Sir Robert -Walpole entertained so high an opinion of his abilities, that he was -very desirous that the Duke should command the forces,—a charge which -his grace, fearful of his own experience, declined.[14] He received, -with his bride, an addition to her portion of ten thousand pounds, -presented on the occasion by the Queen, who had conferred a similar -gift on Lady Bridgewater. What was of still more importance, the -favour of Anne was continued to him when the Marlborough family was -disgraced, and the high offices which he held under George the First -and Second attested the continuance of royal regard. - -1703. The Duke of Marlborough passed the summer of this year in -fruitless attempts to stimulate the timid spirit of the Dutch generals -with whom, as commander-in-chief, he was destined to co-operate, and to -unite the discordant opinions by which his operations against the French -were weakened, and his plans wholly frustrated. So harassed and -dispirited was the great commander at this time, when all his -persuasions could not avail to induce the allied armies to attack the -French lines, that he looked forward with something like pleasure to the -projected siege of Limburg, as to a sort of episode to his weary -existence amongst his friendly, but obstinate coadjutors. One painful -and inconvenient effect of mental anxiety continually attacked the Duke, -in the cruel form of continual and severe headache. To this, and to the -harassed frame and dejected spirits of which it was a concomitant, he -refers, when writing to the Duchess, in terms which ought to have made -an affectionate wife careful lest she should increase his uneasiness by -any line of conduct which she could possibly avoid. - -“When[15] I last writ to you, I was so much disordered, that I writ in -very great pain. I cannot say I am yet well, for my head aches -violently, and I am afraid you will think me lightheaded, when I tell -you that I go to-morrow to the siege of Limburg, in hopes to recover my -health. But it is certainly true that I shall have more quiet there than -I have here; for I have been these last six days in a perpetual dispute, -and there I shall have nobody but such as will willingly obey me.” - -The Duchess was too much absorbed in her own schemes, to regard the -unkindness and impropriety of adding to her husband’s perplexities, -which were already sufficiently overpowering, and which demanded an -undisturbed attention. She was carried along, as it were, by a torrent. -Her hopes, her endeavours, centered all in one point; the abasement of -the high church party, and the establishment of the Whigs at the head of -affairs, were the objects of her political existence. To accomplish this -purpose, she now employed all the force of her arguments, not only to -convert the Duke, but by correspondence, and in conversation, to sway -the mind of her sovereign, and bend it to her purpose. - -The marriage between the two great families of Churchill and Montague -was intended to propitiate the favour both of Whigs and Tories, by -adding connexions among each of those parties to the interests of the -Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Never was there a period in which party -spirit manifested itself with greater virulence than at the present -juncture, and the contentions in parliament were so vehement, that a -dreadful storm seemed impending over the country. The popularity of the -Whigs was increased, and strong suspicions were entertained that even -the Queen’s inclinations began to be favourable to that party. “But what -was matter of hope to the Whigs,” observes Cunningham, “seemed to the -Tories to be only a dangerous tempest ready to break upon the church; -and the furious clergy began to prophesy and report about the country -great dangers of—the Lord knows what! So that it was now easy to -perceive what influence there is in England in the mere cry of -religion.”[16] - -The Duchess of Marlborough was not inactive in the midst of this tempest -of parties. Her dislike to Lord Rochester, and her abhorrence of the -pretensions to superiority in spiritual affairs assumed, according to -her notions, by that nobleman and his partisans, were the main sources -of her adoption of Whig principles. Lord Rochester had, in the former -reign, offended her pride by urging upon the King her removal from the -service of the Princess Anne. The wound was inflamed continually, and, -at last, the enmity rose to open hostilities. Lord Rochester was as -averse to a reconciliation with his haughty foe as the Duchess herself; -their influence bore the semblance of rival-ship; their advice drew the -compliant Queen different ways; Lord Rochester guided the prejudices, -the Duchess governed the affections of her royal slave. Finally, female -influence prevailed: for when have men adequately opposed its sway? Yet -it is certain, first, that Anne long resisted the arguments of her -friend, and, secondly, that the Duchess would never have been completely -successful, had not the violence and arrogance of her foes blazed out, -and proved the most opportune and effectual aid that ever plotting woman -received. To “the mad conduct of the tacking Tories,” as the Duchess -termed the ill-judged manœuvres of that party, she owed, as she -acknowledged, the temporary abatement, for it could not be called a -change, that was effected in the Queen’s high church fervour, and -obstinate, yet honest Toryism.[17] - -Lord Rochester, who, as long as he remained in existence, was the -chief object of the Duchess’s political displeasure—the thorn which, -in the midst of her greatness, rankled in her side—was a man highly -esteemed, not only by the party whose tenets he zealously and -powerfully supported, but by the country in general. Far from being -entirely indebted for the consideration which he enjoyed, to “the -accident,” as the Duchess termed it, which made him uncle to the -Queen, his earnestness and steadiness, during a long political life, -had insured him universal respect, heightened, in the minds of those -of the old school of English politics, by his relationship to the -great historian and advocate of their party. There is a sort of -reputation, a description of influence, which consistency, whether it -be to the most approved or the most unpopular opinions of the time, -can alone purchase. From the time that Lord Rochester, when Mr. Hyde, -had pleaded for his father before the House of Commons, reconciling -his filial love with his public duty, he had held an even, and, as far -as the great changes in affairs would permit, an unequivocal line of -conduct. After the bill against occasional Conformity was rejected, -Lord Rochester first began to evince that “deep discontent with the -Queen and her administration,”[18] which secret jealousies, and a real -difference of sentiment had long been fostering in his mind. In the -previous year, he had, in anger, declined the lieutenancy of Ireland, -upon the Queen’s urging him to go to that country, the affairs of -which required his presence. His resignation was followed, in 1704, by -that of Lord Nottingham, who resigned the secretaryship upon the -Queen’s refusal to dismiss the Dukes of Devonshire and Somerset from -the council. This step on the part of Lord Nottingham was far more -important in its consequences to the future fortunes of the -Marlborough family, than they could, at that moment, possibly have -foretold. After a month’s delay his place was filled up, and Harley, -the prudent, the conciliating, and moderate, but aspiring Harley, -succeeded to it; holding, at the same time, the office of Speaker of -the House of Commons and that of Secretary of State—two appointments -that had hitherto never been assigned to the same person.[19] - -This preferment Harley owed chiefly to the favour of Marlborough and -Godolphin, who considered him as a very proper person to manage the -House of Commons.[20] They knew his talents, but they were not -acquainted with the extent of his ambition, nor with his actual -sentiments. Towards Marlborough, this able and celebrated minister -expressed, at this time, an ardent attachment, and a lively concern in -the recent loss which the great general had sustained in the death of -Lord Blandford. “I will not,” he says, in a letter to the Duke on that -topic, “call it your grace’s loss, but our common misfortune. I do feel -it, that a limb is torn off; therefore I think, for the preservation of -the residue, grief should be moderated: time, I know, is the best -physician in this case; but our necessities require a quicker -remedy.”[21]The Duchess, who must be regarded as the mainspring of all -political changes at this period, had now inadvertently planted an enemy -in the heart of the citadel. Whilst her husband was in Holland, -distracted by contending factions and corroding jealousies, which, to -use his own phrase, “made his life a burthen,” she had been diligently -exerting the faculties of her ingenious mind to displace Nottingham, -Seymour, and Lord Jersey, and to effect an union between her husband and -the Whigs. Her efforts, like female interference generally, embarrassed -rather than aided the Whigs, to whom she extended her gracious aid. They -rendered, also, the path of her husband through the political mazes -which surrounded him, more perplexing. Although the Whig party had -encouraged Marlborough’s favourite schemes for the subversion of the -power of France, neither he nor Godolphin desired to throw themselves -into the hands of a party to whose measures they were from education -averse. It was the wish and intention of these able men to act -independently of party, and to promote the introduction of statesmen of -sound morals and of moderate views into the cabinet, without regarding -the political distinctions which proved so inconvenient to those who -solely desired the advancement of the public good, and the benefit, at -home and abroad, of her Majesty’s interests. - -The violence of the Tories, and their determination to obtain a complete -ascendency, frustrated this well-considered line of conduct on the part -of Marlborough and his friend. Lord Rochester had been supported by -Nottingham, in his opposition to that line of foreign policy which -Marlborough had most at heart. Lord Godolphin had even, at one time, -purposed to send in his resignation; for he found that he and his friend -were losing the support of the Tories, without gaining that of the -Whigs. The Queen overwhelmed the Lord Treasurer with reproaches whenever -he hinted at the necessity of conciliating the Whigs. Godolphin, in -despair, despatched letters to the Hague, filled with complaints to his -friend. Marlborough, though by no means in an enviable situation -himself, regarded that of Godolphin as still more pitiable. “I have very -little rest here,” he remarks, writing from the camp; “but I should have -less quiet of mind, if I were obliged to be in your station.” “I do from -my heart pity you,” he says, in another place, “and everybody that has -to do with unreasonable people; for certainly (and who will not join in -the reflection?) it is much better to row in the galleys than to have to -do with such as are very selfish, and misled by everybody that speaks to -them, which I believe is the case of the author of your two letters.” - -The Duchess was not a person to conciliate differences, nor to soothe -the irritated passions of the two great men over whom she had an -ascendency. She delighted to show her controul over the Queen, and vexed -the weak spirit of Anne by reading extracts from Marlborough’s letters, -complaining of the Tories. In particular, she failed not to transmit to -her Majesty certain hints which Marlborough and Godolphin had thrown out -of their projected resignations. Good Queen Anne then hastened to dispel -such notions, and to reassure her beloved Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, and -their friend and confidante Godolphin, who figured in her familiar -letters under the name of “Montgomery,” of her unabated regard. Thus the -aim of the arrogant Duchess was answered. - -The Earl of Jersey, who was suspected of a close correspondence with the -court of St. Germains, of course seconded the opposition of Rochester -and Nottingham. The Duke of Buckingham, Lord Privy Seal, was equally -devoted to what was termed the high church party, though not so reputed -a partisan of the exiled family as the weak, but dangerous, Lord Jersey. -These noblemen all united in controverting, by every possible endeavour, -the designs and propositions of Marlborough.[22] - -Whilst the fervour of politics was at its height, the Queen was advised -by her physicians to go to Bath. It was singular that Lord Wharton and -Lord Somers were at the same time ordered to go to that fashionable -resort for the recovery of their health. Lord Wharton, exhausted by his -parliamentary exertions, and Lord Somers, frequently an invalid, were -probably not unwilling to avail themselves of this opportunity of -combining business with pleasure. The public, indeed, regarded the whole -as a scheme among the physicians, and considered the Queen’s illness as -only a pretext for meeting these two great Whig partisans on the neutral -ground which a place like Bath affords. Many of the Tories who were in -that city, insulted the Whigs in public meetings and assemblies. The -Whigs returned the insult, nor did the Queen wholly escape some -annoyances, when it was understood that she was willing to see Lord -Somers. But the placid Anne looked on these demonstrations of party -spirit with a smiling countenance, and “hoped to extinguish all their -party flames in the waters of the Bath.” Those praises of her frugality, -her constancy, her “English heart,”[23] which she had been in the habit -of hearing from her subjects, were now no longer expressed; and the -Queen returned to London from Bath, in all the miseries of unpopularity. - -Lord Wharton, the veteran promoter of Whig principles, and father of the -eccentric and infamous Duke of Wharton, had no sooner reached Bath than -he was challenged, upon the pretence of affront, by a Mr. Dashwood, a -hot young Tory, who was desirous of stepping forward to signalise -himself in behalf of his party. Lord Wharton in vain offered the young -man such satisfaction as a man of honour might give, without fighting; -but neither his age nor his infirmities appeased the ardour of Dashwood, -who insisted on a duel. The parties met, fought, as was the custom, with -swords, and Dashwood was disarmed by the old lord, who, in consideration -of the youth and zeal of his opponent, spared his life, and even gave -him the honour of his acquaintance. But Mr. Dashwood, unable to sustain -the reproaches of the world for his cowardice and rude fury in -challenging so old a man, died soon afterwards, it is said, through -shame and vexation.[24] - -Such were some of the effects of that political rancour for which this -free country has been, and probably ever will be, remarkable. The ladies -of the time, it appears, were as zealous in those days as they often -prove in this more enlightened age. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - Conduct of Lord Sunderland—Influence of the Duchess understood at - foreign courts—Anecdote of Charles the Third of Spain.—1703–4. - - -Lord Sunderland, at this time on terms of confidence with his -mother-in-law, the Duchess of Marlborough, was one of the most active -agents of the Whig party, in making overtures to Marlborough and -Godolphin. Of powerful talents, although taunted by Swift with the -imputation “of knowing a book better by the back than by the face,”[25] -and of multiplying them on his book-shelves without caring to read them, -Sunderland, or his politics, were never wholly acceptable to -Marlborough. Yet the Earl, though a violent party politician, knew how, -in circumstances sufficiently trying, to prove his sincerity, and evince -a real elevation of mind, by refusing from the Queen, upon his office of -secretary being taken from him, a pension by way of compensation. His -celebrated answer, “that if he could not have the honour to serve his -country, he would not plunder it,”[26] must have startled less -scrupulous politicians; and, possibly, it might even sound strangely in -our own days of boasted disinterestedness and enlightenment. - -The Duke of Marlborough, in reply to advances made in behalf of the Whig -party by Lord Sunderland, made this memorable answer: “that he hoped -always to continue in the humour that he was then in, that is, to be -governed by neither party, but to do what he should think best for -England, by which he should disoblige both parties.”[27] Thus ended, for -the present, the negociation on the part of the Whigs. - -The cabinet, therefore, continued to be composed of mixed ingredients. -The Duke persevered steadily in that course which he deemed necessary, -as far as foreign policy was concerned, to crush the reviving influence -of the Pretender, whose subsequent attempts to recover the throne of his -ancestors he plainly foresaw. From this conviction, he regarded a -continued good understanding with the Dutch to be of paramount -importance.[28] - -“May God,” he says, writing to the Duchess, “preserve me and my dearest -love from seeing this come to pass;” alluding to a reconciliation with -the French, and consequently with the Pretender and his family, through -the medium of that nation; “but if we quarrel with the Dutch,” he adds, -“I fear it may happen.”[29] - -The influence of the Duchess of Marlborough at the court of Anne was now -well understood by the continental powers of Europe. When England, this -year, received a foreign potentate as her guest, the Duchess was, of all -her subjects, the object peculiarly selected for distinction. Charles, -the second son of the Emperor of Austria, having recently been -proclaimed, at Vienna, King of Spain, in opposition to the Duke of -Anjou, completed his visits to sundry courts in Germany, whither he had -repaired to seek a wife, by paying his respects to Anne of England. He -landed in this country about Christmas, and immediately despatched one -of his attendants, Count Coloredo, to Windsor, to inform the Queen of -his arrival. He soon, conducted by Marlborough, followed his messenger -to Windsor, where Anne received her royal ally with great courtesy, and -entertained him with a truly royal magnificence. All ranks of people -crowded to see the young monarch dine with the Queen in public, and his -deportment and appearance were greatly admired by the multitude, more -especially by the fair sex, whose national beauty was, on the other -hand, highly extolled by Charles. The Duchess of Marlborough, though no -longer young, still graced the court which she controlled. It was her -office to hold the basin of water after dinner to the Queen, for the -royal hands to be dipped, after the ancient fashion of the laver and -ewer. Charles took the basin from the fair Duchess’s hand, and, with the -gallantry of a young and well-bred man, held it to the Queen; and in -returning it to the Duchess, he drew from his own finger a valuable -ring, and placed it on that of the stately Sarah. On taking leave of the -Queen, he received, as might be expected, assurances of favour and -support—a promise that was not “made to the ear, and broken to the -hope,” but was fulfilled by supplies of troops and money afterwards in -Spain. During the time of the King’s visit, open house was kept by the -Queen for his reception and that of his retinue; and the nobility were -not deficient in their wonted hospitality, and the Duke of Marlborough -was twice honoured by receiving the King as his guest.[30] - -It was two years after this visit that Charles sent a letter of thanks -for the assistance granted him by the Queen against the French, which he -addressed to the Duchess of Marlborough, as “the person most agreeable -to her Majesty.” The King might have added, as a partisan most -favourable to the aid afforded him, and most inimical to the sway of -France, which, by the will of the late King of Spain, Charles the -Second, had been unjustly extended over the Spanish monarchy. - -Hitherto the achievements of Marlborough, however admirable, and -compassed as they were with the loss of health and the destruction of -happiness, had not contributed to effect the main objects of the war, in -the manner which he had anticipated. At home, the Tory, or, as some -historians of the day term it, the French faction, disseminated the -notion that Marlborough and his party were squandering away the -resources of the kingdom, in fruitless attempts against the wealthy and -powerful sovereign of France. To combat his political foes, an union was -effected between Lord Somers and Mr. Harley; and Godolphin, by the -directions of Marlborough, endeavoured by every possible means to -strengthen the moderate party in both Houses of Parliament.[31] The -Duchess attacked the Queen with never-ending counsels and arguments; but -all these exertions would possibly have been fruitless, had it not -pleased Providence to bless the arms of Marlborough with signal success -during the ensuing year. - -“The Whigs,” as the Duchess observed, “did indeed begin to be favoured, -and with good reason.[32] For when they saw that the Duke of Marlborough -prosecuted the common cause against the French with so much diligence -and sincerity, they forgot their resentments for the partiality -previously shown by him to their opponents, and extolled his feats with -as much fervour as the Tories decried his efforts.” - -Marlborough, in the spring of the year 1704, embarked for Holland, with -designs kept rigidly secret, embracing schemes of a greater magnitude -than he had hitherto hoped to execute, and sanguine anticipations which -were more than realised. The Duchess was left to combat at home the -prepossessions of her royal mistress, as well as to repel the frequent -projects which Marlborough, dispirited and home-sick, formed of -retiring. He had, after the last campaign, quitted the continent with -that intention; but, on reflection, a sincere and earnest desire to -complete the great work which he had begun, and, possibly, the counsels -of Godolphin and of the Duchess, who were both averse from his -relinquishing his command, had prevailed over feelings of disappointment -and chagrin. - -Whilst affairs were in this position, the Tories made one expiring -effort for power, by reviving the bill against occasional conformity. -Until this time, the hopes of this ever vigorous and sanguine party had -been maintained by the preference of the sovereign, plainly manifested -in the creation of four Tory peers, after the last prorogation of -Parliament.[33] This had proved the more alarming, since it had been -hinted that an exercise of prerogative in the Upper House was the only -means of subverting the opposition of the Lords to the bill. - -The discovery of what was called the Scotch plot, however, checked -materially the triumph of those who secretly favoured the claims of the -Pretender. This famous conspiracy, which had for its object the -interests of the Jacobite faction, produced a more effectual change in -the sentiments of the Queen, and made her more distrustful of her -favourite partisans, than all the services of Marlborough, or the -laborious and steady duty of Godolphin, or even the able arguments of -the Duchess, could possibly have rendered her. Yet, still Anne secretly -favoured the high church party; and it was with reluctance that she -abstained from giving to the last effort for passing the bill against -occasional conformity, her decided countenance. - -The measure was introduced by a manœuvre, and it was further designed to -carry it by a stratagem. By the contrivance of Lord Nottingham, it was -announced in the Gazette, without Lord Godolphin’s knowledge or -concurrence.[34] “It was resolved,” says the Duchess, “to tack the -occasional conformity bill to the money bill, a resolution which showed -the spirit of the party in its true light.”[35] The Queen, -notwithstanding that the Prince of Denmark had been prevailed upon not -to vote on the question, still had her predilections in favour of the -measure, greatly to the irritation of the proud spirit which could not -overcome those deeply-seated notions. - -“I must own to you,” observes Anne, writing to the Duchess, “that I -never cared to mention anything on this subject to you, because I knew -you would not be of my mind; but since you have given me this occasion, -I can’t forbear saying, that _I see nothing like persecution in this -bill_.” - -“I am in hopes,” she adds, “I shall have one look of you before you go -to St. Albans, and therefore will say no more now, but will answer your -letter more at large some other time; and only promise my dear Mrs. -Freeman, faithfully, I will read the _book_ she sent me, and never let -difference of opinion hinder us from living together as we used to do. -Nothing shall ever alter your poor, unfortunate, faithful Morley, who -will live and die, with all truth and tenderness, yours.”[36] - -There is every reason to suppose that the opinions of the Duchess upon -the subject of nonconformity coincided with those of Bishop Burnet, who -was the most energetic champion of the Whigs on this occasion. Dr. -Burnet considered that measure as infringing on the principles of -toleration which he upheld; he represented it as a design of the -Jacobites, to raise such dissensions as might impede the progress of the -war. He has declared, in a lively passage of his celebrated history, -that it was his resolution never to be silent when the subject should be -debated; “for I have looked,” he adds, “on liberty of conscience as one -of the rights of human nature, antecedent to society, which no man can -give up, because it was not in his own power: and our Saviour’s rule, of -doing as we would be done by, seemed to be a very express decision to -all men who would lay the matter home to their own conscience, and judge -as they would willingly be judged by others.”[37] - -It would be agreeable to conclude that the Duchess of Marlborough acted -on principles as high as those which the bishop here maintains. But it -must be allowed that her general conduct would not induce the -supposition. The cherished satisfaction of triumphing over her political -adversaries, and of exhibiting the Queen enchained under her influence, -if not convinced by her arguments, must be regarded as the source of the -steady warfare which she maintained against the predilections of her -sovereign. - -Anne wrote in a strain of humility, which proceeded from the politeness -natural to her, and which impelled her to support the assumed character -of an equal, even when the prejudices of the two friends came into -collision, had ignited, and caused an explosion. - -“I am sure,” she writes, “nobody shall endeavour more to promote it -(union) than your poor, unfortunate, faithful Morley, _who doth not at -all doubt of your truth and sincerity to her_, and hopes _her not -agreeing in everything you say_ will not be imputed to want of value, -esteem, or tender kindness for my dear Mrs. Freeman, it being impossible -for anybody to be more sincerely another’s than I am yours. - -“I am very sorry you should forbear writing upon the apprehension of -your letters being troublesome, _since you know very well they are not, -nor ever can be so_, but the contrary, to your poor, unfortunate, -faithful Morley. Upon what my dear Mrs. Freeman says again concerning -the address, I have looked it over again, and cannot for my life see one -can put any other interpretation upon that word _pressures_, than what I -have done already. As to my saying the church was in some danger in the -late reign, I cannot alter my opinion; for though there was no violent -thing done, everybody that will speak impartially must own that -everything was leaning towards the Whigs, _and whenever that is, I shall -think the church beginning to be in danger_.”[38] - -The bill was again, by a large majority, rejected, and the Queen and -Prince George became, in consequence, extremely unpopular with the high -church party, for the coolness with which they had abstained from using -their influence on this second occasion.[39] - -But the triumph of the Whig party was now fast approaching. Marlborough, -after passing the winter in military preparations proportioned to the -public danger, had, as we have seen, embarked for Holland; “but few,” -says Cunningham, “perceived that England was about to unite her forces -to those of Germany.” - -The progress of the great general through the territories of Cologne to -Colburg, where he left a camp; his march up the Rhine, on which he -carried his sick and wearied in boats between the two armies, marching -on either side of the “abounding river;” his encampment on a vast plain, -beyond Andernach, and his rapid progress to the Danube, are events which -demand almost a separate and distinct history, to relate them as they -merit. It was in this campaign that the gallant Eugene passed high -compliments on the spirit and deportment of the British army, and -requested to serve under the illustrious Marlborough as a volunteer. It -was here that the mutual partiality of these two brave men began, and -that a friendship was contracted between them, which proved no less -delightful to themselves than important to the interests of the war. - -The march of the allied troops to Schellenberg, and the encampment -around its church, on a hill, commanding a plain, bounded by the Danube, -followed this memorable meeting. The battle of Blenheim, which -annihilated the ascendency of France, was the glorious climax of a -series of less important, yet brilliant engagements. It destroyed, at -the same time, the influence of that party in our own country, who had -prophesied, not many weeks before the important victory, that all would -end fatally for Holland and for England. Sir Edward Seymour, the leader -of the opposition in the House of Commons, inveighed against -Marlborough, before the decisive action, and whilst he lay before -Schellenberg, in the bitterest terms, and even threatened the Duke with -a severe censure of Parliament for marching his army to the Danube. - -Nor was the arrogant but able Seymour a solitary railer against the -great deliverer of his country. There was a host of malcontents who -accused Marlborough of exceeding his commission, and of consulting his -private interests in the steps which he had taken; and a clamour was -raised, that the British army was led away to slaughter, in order to -serve the purposes of a single individual. - -The Duchess, in her narrative, refers to the battle of Blenheim in one -short paragraph only, and that in reference to its effect upon the state -of politics in England. - -“The church, in the meanwhile, it must be confessed,” she writes, “was -in a deplorable condition,—the Earls of Rochester, Jersey, and -Nottingham, and the Whigs, coming into favour.” Great were the exertions -used to reanimate the party, and also to resume the great measure -against non-conformists. “But it happened,” says the Duchess, “that my -Lord Marlborough, in the summer before the Parliament met, gained the -battle of Blenheim. This was an unfortunate accident; and, by the -visible dissatisfaction of some people on the news of it, one would have -imagined that, instead of beating the French, he had beat the church.” - -It might be supposed that, from this cool and almost flippant mention of -an event in which her warmest affections ought to have been interested, -the Duchess was an indifferent witness of those stirring and important -scenes in which John Duke of Marlborough played a conspicuous part, and -in which all Europe, figuratively speaking, participated. But, whatever -were her failings, the unpardonable fault of not appreciating _him_; of -not sharing in his lofty hopes nor suffering in his anxieties; of not -prizing his safety, of not being elevated with an honest pride at his -success,—so great a deficiency in all that is healthy in moral or -intellectual condition, could not be imputed to this haughty and -capricious, but not heartless, woman. Yet, notwithstanding this -vindication of the Duchess’s character, she had parted from her husband -(will it be believed?) in anger. Amid the dangers and difficulties to -which Marlborough was exposed, he carried with him the remembrance of -other annoyances, which, whilst it neither abated his ardour nor -weakened his exertions for the great cause, added to the pressure of a -mind overcharged, and of faculties overtasked, a sense of chagrin which -must have aggravated every other care. - -The stings which domestic quarrels always inflict, and which sometimes -can never, by any gentle arts, be removed, were still poignant when the -Duke quitted England for the Hague. Repentance in violent but generous -tempers quickly succeeds the indulgence of the angry taunt, or bitter -sarcasm; and when absence had cooled down those ebullitions of -irritability, which wanted, perhaps, the accustomed object to vent -themselves upon, the Duchess appears to have suffered her better -feelings to prevail, and to have experienced sincere regret that she had -parted unkindly, and perhaps for ever, from him whose life was now -exposed to every possible risk, whilst she sat at home in safety. Her -restless, but not callous mind began to be possessed with nobler -resolutions than, as it seems from his reply, the Duke ever anticipated -from his wife. Soon after his departure, she wrote to offer to join him, -to share in the anxieties, and even in the dangers, to which he was -exposed. To accede to the request was impracticable; but it gratified -the warm and generous heart of Marlborough to know that the Duchess, of -whose affection he seems never to have been fully assured, should wish -to resign for him the attractions of ease and safety, and the luxuries -of home. His letter to her, in reply to this offer, is too beautiful to -be abridged.[40] - - - “_Hague, April 24–May 5._ - -“Your letter of the 15th came to me but this minute. My Lord Treasurer’s -letter, in which it was enclosed, by some mistake was sent to Amsterdam. -I would not for anything in my power it had been lost; for it is so very -kind, that I would in return lose a thousand lives, if I had them, to -make you happy. Before I sat down to write this letter, I took yours -that you wrote at Harwich out of my strong box, and have burnt it; but, -if you will give me leave, it will be a great pleasure to me to have it -in my power to read this dear, dear letter often, and that it may be -found in my strong box when I am dead. I do this minute love you better -than I ever did in my life before. This letter of yours has made me so -happy, that I do from my soul wish we could retire, and not be blamed. -What you propose as to coming over, I should be extremely pleased with; -for your letter has so transported me, that I think you would be happier -in being here than where you are; although I should not be able to see -you often. But you will see, by my last letter as well as this, that -what you desire is impossible, for I am going up into Germany, where it -would be impossible for you to follow me; but love me as you do now, and -no hurt can follow me. You have by this kindness preserved my quiet, and -I believe my life; for, till I had this letter, I have been very -indifferent of what should become of myself. I have pressed this -business of carrying an army into Germany, in order to leave a good name -behind me, wishing for nothing else but good success. I shall now add -that of having a long life, that I may be happy with you.” - - -Upon the entreaty being renewed in the summer, Marlborough again -refused;[41] for he was at that time on his march to the Danube, and, in -case of an unfortunate issue to his projects, he had no place, as he -assured the Duchess, to which he could send her for safety. - -“I take it extremely kind,” he writes, “that you persist in desiring to -come to me; but I am sure, when you consider that three days hence will -be a month, and that we shall be a fortnight longer before we shall get -to the Danube, so that you could hardly get to me, and back again to -Holland, before it would be time to return to England. Besides, my dear -soul, how could I be at ease? for if we should not have good success, I -could not put you in any place where you could be safe.”[42] - -The courageous character of the Duchess was fully requisite to sustain -her during the events of the ensuing months of this memorable summer. -August drew on, and the crisis of the war approached. We know not how -she was supported through anxieties multiplied by rumour, and embittered -by the slanderous accusations of the envious; but the Duke her husband -had one resource, which never failed—he trusted in Providence. Whilst -weaker minds vainly confide in their own strength, or in the effect of -circumstances, which are as reeds driven to and fro by a mighty wind, -the great Marlborough, humbling himself before his supreme Creator, had -recourse to prayer. Previous to the engagement which crowned his fame, -he received the holy sacrament, and “devoted himself to the Almighty -Ruler, and Lord of Hosts,” whom it might please to sustain him in the -hour of battle, or to receive him into everlasting peace if he fell.[43] -There are those who will justly think that the pious ordinances of our -religion were profaned by the cause of bloodshed; and that an -all-merciful Father would look down with displeasure upon the deliberate -destruction of thousands, even when projected with the purest and most -patriotic motives. The better sense of our own peaceful times has -brought us to a due conviction of the wickedness of all war not -defensive: that in which Marlborough was engaged may, nevertheless, be -considered to have borne that character. - -When the great victory was won, Marlborough’s first thoughts were of the -Queen, of the people, of his wife. After a battle which lasted five -hours, having been himself sixteen hours on horseback, and whilst still -in pursuit of the enemy, Marlborough tore a leaf from his pocket-book, -and with a black-lead pencil wrote these hasty lines: - - - “_August 13, 1704._ - -“I have not time to say more, but to beg you will give my duty to the -Queen, and let her know that her army has had a glorious victory. M. -Tallard and the other generals are in my coach,[44] and I am following -the rest. The bearer, my aide-de-camp, will give her an account of what -has passed. I shall do it in a day or two by another more at large. - - “MARLBOROUGH.” - - -The battle of Blenheim silenced everything but acclamations of joy and -gratitude. The Duke, after various other successes, returned to England -on the fourteenth of December, 1704, worn out with hardships, rather -than elated with success. Throughout the whole of the campaign, his -coolness had been combined with an ardent courage, which never lost -sight, for an instant, of the interests of humanity, in so far as the -great lessons of forbearance handed down to us can be united with the -profession of arms. His modesty, as he returned, bringing with him as a -prisoner the famous Marshal Tallard, was no less remarkable. Abroad, he -was treated as a prince, and he consented to wear the character for the -benefit of that cause which he espoused, and for the honour of those -allies whom he represented; but, on returning home, Marlborough became -again the subject, the least obtrusive of men; and, “in point of -courtesy,” on an equal footing with the lowest in England.[45] - -This note was written on a slip of paper torn from a memorandum-book; it -had probably been taken from some commissary’s bill, as it was written, -along with the important intelligence, on a list of tavern expenses, and -an entry of bread furnished to the troops. The precious despatch is -preserved in the archives of Blenheim. Colonel Parker, who carried it to -the Queen, requested, instead of the usual donation of five hundred -pounds, to be honoured by the gift of her Majesty’s picture. The Queen -granted the permission, and presented him with her miniature; and the -gallant officer chose to be represented himself, by the pencil of -Kneller, as wearing the miniature, with the despatch in his hand, and -the battle in the back-ground.[46] - -After innumerable honours paid to the victorious general, and, among -others, a combat of wild beasts for his entertainment at Berlin,[47] the -Duke was able to return to his home, where all his real happiness was -centered. He had owned, in one of his letters from Weissemberg, that his -heart ached at the anticipation of a journey of eight hundred miles, -before he could reach the Hague: and innumerable obstacles delayed his -return until the fourth of December, when the wearied general sailed up -the Thames in one of the royal yachts, landed at Whitehall stairs, and -proceeded the same afternoon to St. James’s, where he was graciously -received by the Queen and Prince George.[48] The French prisoners, whom -he was said by his political enemies to have brought for the purpose of -adorning his triumph, were sent to Nottingham, for the ministry did not -venture to trust these foreigners at Oxford this year; a singular, and -as some persons thought, an indecorous respect and attention having been -shown two years before, by the Oxonians, to some French prisoners of war -who were quartered in their city.[49] - -This was a proud era in the life of the Duchess of Marlborough. The year -1705 began with splendid processions, in which she and her husband acted -a conspicuous part. On the third of January the trophies reaped in the -battle of Blenheim were removed from their first place of deposit, the -Tower, to Westminster Hall. Companies of horse and foot-guards led the -way; persons of rank were intermixed with the troops, and a hundred and -twenty-eight pikemen, each bearing a standard, closed the triumphal -procession. The Queen viewed the whole from the windows of the Lord -Fitzharding’s lodgings in the palace, attended by her favourite, who -heard, in the triumphant acclamations of the excited multitude, signals -of destruction, ominous not only to our foreign foes, but presaging the -downfal of political party opposed to her at home. - -A grand entertainment at the city, in the Goldsmiths’-hall, succeeded -this interesting display. Marlborough was conveyed to the banquet in one -of the royal carriages, and gazed upon with curiosity and enthusiasm by -the multitude. At Templebar he was received by the city marshals with -the usual ceremonies.[50] - -On the eleventh of the same month, the House of Commons unanimously -agreed to send up an address to the Queen, humbly desiring that she -would graciously be pleased to consider of some proper means to -perpetuate the memory of those services which had been performed by the -Duke of Marlborough.[51] - -The Queen, having returned an answer that she would give the subject her -consideration, on the seventeenth sent a message to the House, -acquainting the members that she did incline to grant the interest of -the crown in the honour and manor of Woodstock, and hundred of Wootton, -to the Duke of Marlborough and his heirs; and desired the assistance of -the House on this extraordinary occasion. - -The lieutenancy and rangerships of the Park of Woodstock and Wootton, -with the rent and profits of the manor and hundreds, having been already -granted for two lives, her Majesty thought proper that the encumbrance -should be cleared. - -In compliance with her Majesty’s wishes, a bill was immediately brought -in and passed, enabling her to carry into effect both these -propositions; and the ancient royal domain of Woodstock, under the -illustrious name of Blenheim, became the possession of the Duke of -Marlborough and his heirs, upon the tribute of “a standard, or colours, -with three flowers-de-luce painted on them, for all manner of rent, -services,” &c., to be presented annually, on the second of August, to -the Queen, her heirs and successors.[52] - -This munificent reward was increased soon afterwards by an order from -the Queen to the Board of Works, to build, at the royal expense, a -palace, which was to be entitled the Castle of Blenheim. A model of this -edifice was framed for the approbation of the Queen, and the work begun -under the superintendence of the celebrated John Vanburgh, then -considered to be one of the most able architects of his time. - -The important results of the battle of Blenheim could not be disputed, -even by the bitterest enemies of Marlborough. The French, on their part, -attached such direful effects on their country to this victory, that a -proclamation was published in France, making it unlawful to speak of -it;[53] nor could its consequences be concealed from those who would -have been most desirous not to perceive them. “The power of France was,” -says the Duchess, “broken by it to a great degree, and the liberties and -peace of Europe were in a fair way to be established on firm and lasting -foundations.”[54] Yet scandalous reports were, nevertheless, circulated -respecting Marlborough, and the ungrateful world scrupled not still to -say that he carried on the war for his own private advantage, more -especially for the accumulation of wealth, to which he was generally -supposed to be addicted. But the Duke, although invited by his friends -to spend more freely the vast fortune which he was yearly accumulating, -adhered to those habits of frugality for which he had been remarkable -even in his youth, and which, evincing an orderly mind, may be supposed -to have conduced to the success of his plans through life. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - Complete triumph of the Whigs—Attempts made to bring Lord Sunderland - into the Cabinet—Scheme for insuring the Hanoverian succession—The - Queen’s resentment at that measure.—1705. - - -The gradual removal of the Tory party from the offices of state followed -the brilliant successes of the Duke’s arms. The privy seal was taken -from the Duke of Buckingham; and the Duchess also prevailed on the Queen -to remove from his office Sir Nathan Wright, Lord Chancellor, a man who -was obnoxious to all parties, and of “no use to the Crown.” The -celebrated Lord Cowper, distinguished for his abilities and integrity, -was appointed his successor. - -Lord Somers, “seeing,” says Cunningham, “that the Whigs were now united -to the court, and fearing lest the principles of our ancestors should be -subverted,” retired from all public employments; yet still his powerful -mind swayed one of a less solid character. Lord Sunderland, an able, but -violent, and unpopular man, who would listen to no arguments but to -those of Somers, being in the prime of life, and a man of great -vigilance and activity,[55] was considered by the more determined Whigs, -and by the Duchess of Marlborough in particular, as qualified to play a -leading part in the royal councils. His opinions were no less -objectionable to the nation in general than to the Queen in particular; -and she long resisted the persuasions of her favourite, as well as of -the ministry, now wholly Whig, to appoint this nobleman one of her -secretaries of state in the room of Sir Charles Hedges. The point was -yet undecided, when a measure was adopted by the Tory faction, which -drove her Majesty to the resolution of throwing herself entirely into -the hands of the Whigs. - -After the bill against occasional conformity had repeatedly failed, a -new scheme was, as it were in desperation, suggested. The parliament, -which met in 1705, proved to be chiefly composed of Whigs, or of those -moderate and skilful politicians, to whom it was convenient to appear to -belong to that party. It was now that a plan was formed for inviting -into England the Princess Sophia, Electress Dowager of Hanover, on whom -the succession of the crown had been already settled. - -Different motives have been ascribed for the origin of this proceeding. -The Queen’s private feelings were vehemently opposed to such a measure. -Nothing could offend her more than any great degree of respect offered -to her successor; and her good wishes were with sufficient reason -supposed really to centre in another quarter. The kindly-tempered Anne -had never forgotten that she had involuntarily injured her brother. The -Hanoverian succession could not, therefore, be secured with any hope of -pleasing her; and it was supposed rather to be a snare to her ministry, -who, if they promoted it, would incur for ever the royal displeasure. -The Duchess of Marlborough, observing in which direction her mistress’s -affections lay, nevertheless had repeatedly urged her to invite over the -Electress, or, at any rate, the young Prince of Hanover, afterwards -George the First, in order that he might live in this country as her -son; but to this proposal her Majesty never would listen for an -instant.[56] - -The party who brought this measure into parliament, headed by Lord -Rochester and Lord Nottingham, neither expected, nor even wished, it was -said, to carry their motion, but either to embroil the Whigs with the -Queen, or to draw the enmity of the bulk of the nation upon that party -for opposing the scheme; for the Electress, although a Lutheran, was -regarded as the protectress of the Protestant church; and the safety of -the church was at that time dearer to the populace of England than any -other political consideration whatsoever. - -The stratagem, for such it must be considered, failed entirely. It did -more, it raised the Whigs to a height, which, but for the infatuation of -their enemies, they would never, during the reign of Anne, have -attained. Notwithstanding that, in voting against the invitation to the -Electress, they departed from their principles, the Whigs, upon the plea -that the measure was “neither safe nor reasonable,” contrived to keep -their credit with the nation. They were split, nevertheless, into -factions, upon this delicate subject; but those who were termed “Court -Whigs” were zealous in their opposition to the proposed invitation.[57] - -“I know, indeed,” says the Duchess, “that my Lord Godolphin, and other -great men, were much reflected upon by some well-disposed persons, for -not laying hold of this opportunity, which the Tories put into their -hands, of more effectually securing the succession to the crown in the -House of Hanover. But those of the Whigs whose anger against the -minister was raised on this account, little knew how impracticable the -project of invitation was, and that the attempt would have only served -to make the Queen discard her ministry, to the ruin of the common cause -of these kingdoms, and of all Europe. I had often tried her Majesty upon -this subject; and when I found that she would not hear of the immediate -successor coming over, had pressed her that she would at least invite -hither the young Prince of Hanover, who was not to be her immediate -successor, and that she would let him live here as her son; but her -Majesty would listen to no proposal of this kind in any shape whatever.” - -The Queen, upon this occasion, gave the first indications of anything -like a real reconciliation to the Whig party.[58] Those in the houses of -parliament, and there were many, who were zealously attached to the -Pretender, and abjured him only in order better to serve him,[59] were -infinitely less obnoxious to her than the politicians who dared to -propose planting her extolled successor perpetually before her eyes. -Stronger minds than that which Anne possessed would have shrunk from -such a trial of temper. She was childless, and no longer young; and -perhaps the determination manifested by this proposal to ruin the hopes -of her nephew aggravated her resentment. Her self-love was deeply -wounded. For though she was not, even then, as the Duchess expressed it, -inwardly converted to the Whigs, neither by all that her favourite had -been able to say, nor even “by the mad conduct of the tacking Tories,” -to repeat language which must be readily appropriated by those who know -the Duchess’s style,—yet their conduct in the _invitation_ occasioned a -change in her sentiments, which an insult from one whom she had formerly -regarded with kindly prepossessions completed. - -“She had been present,” says the Duchess, “at the debates in the House -of Lords upon that subject, and had heard the Duke of Buckingham treat -her with great disrespect, urging, as an argument for inviting over the -Princess Sophia, that the Queen might live till she did not know what -she did, and be like a child in the hands of others; and a great deal to -the same effect. Such rude treatment from the Tories, and the zeal and -success of the Whigs in opposing a motion so extremely disagreeable to -her, occasioned her to write to me in the following terms.” - -“I believe dear Mrs. Freeman and I shall not disagree as we have -formerly done; for I am sensible of the services those people have done -me, that you have a good opinion of, and will countenance them, and am -thoroughly convinced of the malice and insolence of _them_ you have -always been speaking against.” - -The insolent remark of Buckingham was armed with a sting which few -females could endure with composure. The Electress Sophia, who was to be -the safeguard of the people in Anne’s dotage, was seventy-six years of -age. The Queen had gone to the gallery of the house with a far different -expectation than that of hearing; observations so calculated to wound -her nicest feelings. She had hoped by her presence to restrain the -violence of language, which she had on a former occasion checked by her -royal presence; but she had not expected that the heat of argument would -be mingled up with insinuations so audacious, which, though pointed at -the Duchess of Marlborough, were most insulting to herself. She had -indulged a desire to hear this celebrated argument, and to judge in -person who were most her friends on this occasion; and she was painfully -chastised for her curiosity.[60] This, and other circumstances, produced -that acknowledgment which the “dear Mrs. Freeman,” to whom it was -addressed, treasured up and reported.[61] - -The Whigs lost both character and consistency, whilst they gained court -favour, by their opposition to the “invitation” projected. The -appointment of Lord Sunderland, so earnestly desired by the Duchess in -opposition to her husband, was not calculated to recover their -popularity. When it did take place, the event justified the predictions -of his enemies, and the apprehensions of his friends. It was not long -before he began to dictate to the poor Queen, who was tolerably inured -to that sort of treatment, but who did not expect it from his lordship. -He raised contentions among the nobility, and disgraced himself and his -station by an indifference to moral character in those whom he took to -be his associates. The old Whigs, Lord Somers among them, predicted that -grievous confusion would accrue in consequence of the boldness and -inexperience of this rash and scheming politician.[62] - -There was another young satellite of the Lord Treasurer’s, whom the -old-fashioned Whigs dreaded and detested. This was Mr. James Craggs, an -early favourite of the Duke of Marlborough, and now a rising star on the -political hemisphere. But Harley stood on a more firm footing than any -of the courtiers who dreaded, or who flattered, the still powerful -Duchess of Marlborough. Her influence and her arrogance were now at -their climax. It is said that, with one glance of her eye, she banished -from the royal presence a Scottish gentleman, Mr. James Johnson, who -came to Hampton Court to treat with the Queen on the affairs of his -country.[63] And, indeed, Harley in vain endeavoured to ingratiate -himself in her favour. He dreaded the violent temper and influence of -that “busy woman,” as she was called; he knew that it had been exercised -to the ruin of others, and that it might affect his prospects. - -Few persons understood the art of adapting his conversation to certain -ends so well as the discerning, artful, and accomplished Harley; few -persons better understood the value of appearances. Although educated in -the Presbyterian faith, he carefully avoided an exclusive preference to -sectarianism, as a barrier to political advancement; and, piqued at the -indifference of the liberal party which he had originally espoused, he -adhered to that which was most likely to insure lasting popularity—the -high church party. Essentially a worldly man, Harley, nevertheless, -failed not to have a clergyman at his dinner-table every Sunday, and, -with characteristic temporising, selected his weekly clerical visitants -alternately from the Episcopalian and Presbyterian faith,[64]—his family -generally following the latter persuasion. It was Harley’s unsuccessful -aim, at this time, to ingratiate himself with the Duchess of -Marlborough, and to gain her over to his interests. Deeply versed in -literature, and a patron of learning, it might have been supposed that -the lettered, the polite, the liberal Harley, could have found means to -gain the good-will of one who knew well how to estimate his talents, and -to prize the deference which he paid to her ascendant star. The Duchess, -however, was not to be blinded or misled by flattery, which she expected -as her due, and which she did not think entitled to any degree of -gratitude on her part. To all Harley’s civilities she could scarcely be -prevailed upon to return a civil answer.[65] The “diverting stories of -the town,” with which he afterwards solaced the Queen’s retirement, when -Mrs. Masham had superseded the lofty Sarah,[66] were condemned to remain -untold, whilst the Duchess frowned on all he said. “She had an aversion -to him,” says a contemporary historian, “and with a haughty air despised -all that gentleman’s civilities, though he had never discontinued his -endeavours, by the most obliging efforts, and all the good offices in -his power, to gain her friendship; but she, without any concern, rode -all about the town triumphant; sometimes to one lady, sometimes to -another; and sometimes she would visit Lord Halifax, who, in compliance -with the humour of the times, was wont to appease that lady’s spirit -with concerts of music, and poems, and private suppers, and -entertainments, for all of which he was well qualified by the natural -ease and politeness of his manners.”[67] - -The causes of the Duchess’s aversion to Harley are fully disclosed in -her “Vindication.” The minister who afterwards effected her downfal had -been promoted by Marlborough and Godolphin, who often saw with different -eyes to those with which the Duchess viewed the map which lay before -her, and on which she traced her future course. Her penetrating glance -detected the deep art, the well-digested designs which lay beneath the -moderation and civility of Harley. But she had a more particular source -of enmity towards Harley, which was that minister’s patronage of Sir -Charles Hedges, into whose post it was her design, or rather -determination, to introduce her son-in-law Sunderland. The Queen had a -reluctance to part with Sir Charles Hedges, and was assisted by Harley -in raising obstacles to the change in the cabinet which the Duchess -desired. The predominating Whig party aided the Duchess, and, as she -relates, “after the services they had done, and the assurances the Queen -had given them, thought it reasonable to expect that one of the -secretaries at least should be such a man as they could place a -confidence in. They believed,” adds the Duchess, “they might trust my -Lord Sunderland; and though they did not think him the properest man for -the post, yet, being my Lord Marlborough’s son-in-law, they chose to -recommend him to her Majesty, because, as they expressed themselves to -me, they imagined it was _driving the nail that would go_.”[68] - -Marlborough and Godolphin, notwithstanding the near connexion of both -with Lord Sunderland, were adverse, nevertheless, to his appointment. -Sunderland was not only conceited and headstrong, but he was unpopular -from a rash and unbecoming practice of running down Britain, its customs -and institutions, laws and rights, and maintaining the superiority of -other countries. The manners of this young nobleman were harsh, and his -temper ungovernable. He was little adapted to conciliate the favour of a -female sovereign; more especially when he came forward in direct -contrast with the bland and accessible Harley, who did not consider it -beneath him to promote courtly gossip for the Queen’s amusement. The -Duchess, however, with less judgment than might have been expected, -urged strongly and incessantly the appointment of her son-in-law; and -was astonished that the Queen should be reluctant to promote the -son-in-law of Marlborough, the hero not only of Blenheim, but of -Ramilies, where a victory was gained whilst yet this matter was in -suspense.[69] She urged her Majesty by letter not to think that she -could continue to carry on the government with so much partiality to -“one sort of men, and so much discouragement to others.” - -The Queen, it seems, had taken some offence at the freedom of a former -letter, for the Duchess thus expostulated with her Majesty in reference -to that epistle.[70] - -“By the letter I had from your Majesty this morning, and the great -weight you put upon the difference betwixt the word notion and nation in -my letter, I am only made sensible (as by many other things) that you -were in a great disposition to complain of me, since to this moment I -cannot for my life see any essential difference betwixt those two words -as to the sense of my letter, the true meaning of which was only to let -your Majesty know, with that faithfulness and concern which I ever had -for your service, that it was not possible for you to carry on your -government much longer with so much partiality to one sort of men, -though they lose no occasion of disserving you, and of showing the -greatest inveteracy against my Lord Marlborough and my Lord Treasurer; -and so much discouragement to others, who, even after great -disobligations, have taken several opportunities to show their firmness -to your Majesty’s interest, and their zeal to support you.” - -She proceeded to point out to the Queen, that if the Lord Treasurer and -Marlborough found it impossible to carry on the government, and were to -retire from it, her Majesty would find herself in the hands of a very -violent party, who, she declared, would have “very little mercy,” or -“even humanity,” for her Majesty. - -The result proved the truth of this prediction; and when, some years -afterwards, the Queen, harassed and intimidated by turns, sank under the -pressure, not of public business, but of party rancour, the value and -good sense of the Duchess’s warnings became manifest. - -“Whereas,” adds the plain-spoken favourite, “you might prevent all these -misfortunes by giving my Lord Treasurer and my Lord Marlborough (whom -you may so safely trust) leave to propose those things to you which they -know and can judge to be absolutely necessary for your service, which -will put it in their power to influence those who have given you proofs -both of their being able to serve you, and of their desiring to make you -great and happy. But rather than your Majesty will employ a party-man, -as you are pleased to call Lord Sunderland, you will put all things in -confusion; and at the same time that you say this, you employ Sir C. -Hedges, who is against you, only that he has voted in remarkable things, -that he might keep his place; and he did so in the last King’s time, -till at last, when everybody saw that he was dying, and he could lose -nothing by differing with that court; but formerly he voted with those -men, the enemies to the government, called Whigs; and if he had not been -a party-man, how could he have been a secretary of state, when all your -councils were influenced by my Lord Rochester, Lord Nott, Sir Edward -Seymour, and about six or seven just such men, that call themselves _the -heroes of the church_?” - -The anathemas of the Duchess were not without effect. Sir Charles -Hedges, dismayed at the vigorous opposition set up against him, deemed -it, eventually, more prudent to retire, than to be turned out of his -post; and, in the winter of 1706, Lord Sunderland was appointed to -succeed him.[71] - -Queen Anne had now thrown herself, to all appearance, wholly into the -hands of the Whig party, who, from her childhood, had appeared to her to -be her natural enemies. Yet still she cherished a secret partiality to -her early counsellors, and exhibited a reluctance to consult with her -ministers on any promotions in the church. - -“The first artifice of those counsellors was,” says the Duchess,[72] “to -instil into the Queen notions of the _high prerogative_ of _acting -without her ministers_, and, as they expressed it, of being Queen -_indeed_. And the nomination of persons to bishoprics, against the -judgment and _remonstrances_ of her ministers, being what they knew her -genius would fall in with more readily than with anything else they -could propose, they began with that; and they took care that those -_remonstrances_ should be interpreted by the world, and presented by -herself, as hard usage, a denial of common civility, and even _the -making her no_ Queen.” Such is the account given by this violent -partisan of the secret power by which her friends were finally -vanquished. - -To operate on her Majesty’s fears, and to gain popularity among a -numerous portion of the people who deemed the Whigs inimical to the -church establishment, an outcry was raised that the church was in -danger. Marlborough and Godolphin were regarded as deserters from the -great cause, and the press was employed in attacking the low church -party, in terms both unscrupulous and indelicate. - -That celebrated libel, entitled, “The Memorial of the Church of -England,” the author of which has been already specified, was published -at this critical juncture; “a doleful piece,” as the Duchess calls it, -“penned by some of the zealots of the party.” This was among the first -and most scurrilous efforts of those who hoped by invective and slander -to produce a deep impression on the public mind. It was dedicated to the -Duke of Marlborough, as being considered still the strength of a party -which he had not explicitly renounced: and was forwarded to him in the -midst of his campaign on the Ische. To his great mind the aspersions of -the anonymous party were too contemptible to merit a moment’s serious -indignation. The vehemence of passionate indignation is, on such -occasions, the ebullition of minds of an inferior stamp. The injustice -and invective which scarcely drew forth an angry exclamation from -Marlborough, produced a feverish heat in the warm temperament of the -Duchess. - -“In this camp,” writes the Duke to Lord Godolphin, his bosom friend and -confidant,[73] “I have had time to read the pamphlet called ‘The -Memorial of the Church of England.’ I think it the most impudent and -scurrilous thing I ever read. If the author can be found, I do not doubt -but he will be punished; for if such liberties may be taken, of writing -scandalous lies without being punished, no government can stand long. -Notwithstanding what I have said, I cannot forbear laughing when I think -they would have you and I pass for fanatics, and the Duke of Buckingham -and Lord Jersey for pillars of the church; the one being a Roman -Catholic in King James’s reign, and the other would have been a Quaker, -or any other religion that would have pleased the late King.” - -To the Duchess he calmly writes:— - - - “Tirlemont, Sept. 7. - -“I received last night a letter from you without date, by which I see -there is another scurrilous pamphlet come out. The best way of putting -an end to that villany is not to appear concerned. The best of men and -women, in all ages, have been ill used. If we can be so happy as to -behave ourselves so as to have no reason to reproach ourselves, we may -then despise what rage and faction do.” - - -This wise and dignified mode of receiving attacks to which eminent -individuals have in every age been exposed, was succeeded by the -exposure and punishment of the scurrilous writer. - -Of that event, with its painful circumstances, a detailed account has -already been given in the preceding volume. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Decline of the Duchess’s influence—Her attempt in favour of Lord - Cowper—Singular Letter from Anne in explanation—Intrigues of the - Tories—Harley’s endeavours to stimulate the Queen to - independence.—1706. - - -Until the period on which we are now entering, the influence of the -Duchess of Marlborough over the mind of her sovereign was not visibly -impaired, by her own indiscretion, or by the arts of her opponents. Yet -those differences of opinion which disturbed the singular friendship of -Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Morley, and of which advantage was finally taken -by the enemies of the Duchess to effect a total alienation between her -Majesty and her former favourite, continued, and were, according to her -fashion, stoutly contested by the Duchess. - -On one important point the Duchess addressed her Majesty with -considerable earnestness. Lord Cowper, whose friendship was an honour -which the Duchess fully appreciated, was at this time Lord Keeper;[74] -and it was the endeavour of the Duchess to throw into his hands that -patronage in the church which, she rightly deemed, he would exercise -conscientiously and judiciously. But it was in vain that she urged the -Queen to allow Lord Cowper to fill up various livings belonging to the -crown, which had now for some time been vacant, and of which Anne -delayed to dispose. She addressed a remonstrance to her Majesty, -representing how safely she might place power in the hands of Lord -Cowper. The Queen returned a kind but unsatisfactory reply; and the tone -in which it was conveyed betrayed plainly the incipient coolness which -had commenced between Anne and her viceroy. - -After apologising for the interval which had elapsed before she had -answered the Duchess’s letter,—a delay for which Anne accounted by the -frivolous reason, that not having time to answer it “before supper,” it -was not very “easy to her to do so after supper,”—the Queen, whilst -assuring Mrs. Freeman that she had a firm reliance on the equity and -judgment of Lord Cowper, observes, “that in her opinion the crown can -never have too many livings at its own disposal; and, therefore,” she -adds, “though there may be some trouble in it, it is a power I can never -think it reasonable to part with, and I hope those that come after me -will think the same.” - -“You wrong me much,” continues Anne, “in thinking I am influenced by -some you mention in disposing of church preferments. Ask those whom I am -sure you will believe, though you won’t me, and they can tell you I -never disposed of any without advising with them, and that I have -preferred more people upon other recommendations than I have upon his -that you fancy to have so much power with me.” With the assurance that -there would soon be “more changes,” and with the further declaration, to -use the Queen’s own words, “that in a little time Mr. Morley and _me_ -shall redeem our credit with Mrs. Freeman,” the Queen, under the humble -signature not yet abandoned, of “your poor, unfortunate, faithful -Morley,”[75] closes this explanation:—a singular reply, manifesting that -the royal composer of the letter was now weary of that subjection from -which she emancipated herself only to fall into other snares; but that -she wanted courage, though not inclination, to throw off the yoke. - -The scheme projected by the Tories, of bringing over the Electress -Sophia into this country, had not only failed, as we have seen, but had -thrown the game entirely into the hands of their opponents. The Queen, -irritated beyond her usual custom, wrote, in the hurry of the moment, in -such terms to her favourite as to authorise the expectation that her -resentment against the Tories would not quickly subside. - -The reasons for Anne’s displeasure continued in force until they were -superseded by others, equally feminine, arising in the royal mind of the -timid, prejudiced, and ill-judging Anne, which renewed her innate -dislike towards the opposite faction. The decline of the Whig party was -arrested this year by the victory of Ramilies, on which occasion the -Queen wrote to Marlborough, assuring him “that she wanted words to -express the true sense she had of the great service he had done his -country and her in that great and glorious victory, and hoped it would -be a means to confirm all good and honest people in their principles, -and frighten others from being troublesome;”—“and _then spoke_,” adds -the Duchess of Marlborough, “of the alloy it was to all her -satisfaction, to consider what hazards he was exposed to, and repeated -an obliging request she had often made, that he would be careful of -himself.”[76] “I cannot doubt,” adds the narrator of this gracious -message, “of the Queen’s kind disposition to my Lord Marlborough at this -time, or of her willingness to oblige him.” - -The recent introduction of Lord Sunderland to office soon gave rise, -however, to a division in the cabinet. Harley, who was offended at the -dismissal of Sir Charles Hedges, was practising upon the Queen’s weak -mind, and endeavouring to persuade her Majesty to “_go alone_,”—a notion -which had been sedulously kept down by the reigning influence, for many -years past; or, as the Duchess expresses it, “to instil into the Queen -notions of the high prerogative of acting without her ministers—(as she -expressed it,) of being Queen indeed.”[77] - -The first proof that Anne gave of her profiting by these doctrines, was -her appointing certain high church divines to fill two bishoprics. This -led several of the Whigs to think themselves betrayed by the ministry; -whereas the truth was, that the Queen was secretly under the influence -of the Tories, and found it irksome to consult with her ministers on any -promotions. The Duke of Marlborough, who, it appears, never lost the -respect of his sovereign, represented to the Queen the impropriety of -thus acting, and “wrote a very moving letter to her, complaining of the -visible loss of his interest with her,” and recommending her Majesty, -“as the only way to make her government easy, to prefer none of those -that appeared to be against her service and the nation’s interest.” - -Notwithstanding the great general’s services, it was, however, manifest -that his influence, and that of the Duchess, were now, from some cause -or other, deeply undermined. The Duke, as well as the Duchess, suffered -great vexation from this new and unforeseen apprehension; for it is easy -to be happy without tasting power, but difficult indeed to part with it -after long possession. It was in the answer to some communications from -the Duchess that Marlborough wrote these touching words, betraying all -the weariness of worldly anxieties. - -“When I writ my last, I was very full of the spleen, and I think with -too much reason. My whole time, to the best of my understanding, has -been employed for the public good, as I do assure you I do in the -presence of God, neglecting no opportunity to let the Queen see what I -take to be her true interest. It is terrible to go through so much -uneasiness.”[78] - -The state of parties was indeed such, that “every service done to the -sovereign, however just and reasonable in its own nature,” was, as an -author justly observed, “made a job by the minister and his tools.”[79] - -The understream of faction was flowing unseen, but deep; and the Duchess -was for a time insensible to the sure course which it had taken. She was -intoxicated with power. Her enemies, indeed, alleged that she -“considered her vicegerency as well established as the royal -prerogative; that she might not only recommend a point or person, but -insist on either as understood in her grant—as a perquisite of her high -office; and that she was privileged to exclude everybody from the royal -presence, who had not the happiness of being in her good graces.”[80] - -It is apparent, however, from the letters which passed between Queen -Anne and the Duchess, that it was not without continual arguments and -remonstrances that the favourite had raised her chosen party to royal -favour; and thus maintained, that it was accomplished only by earnest -endeavours, and with difficulty. The Duchess, it was more than probable, -expected, and sometimes extorted, too much for her friends and -adherents. Marlborough truly said, that “both parties were in the -wrong.”[81] To his sense of justice, his moderation, and calm -observation, the interested views of those who alike professed the -highest motives, only affixing different names to their boasted objects, -were laid bare by a long experience of courts, and by a deep insight -into the minds of men. “The Whigs,” it was said, and not without -justice, “acted on Swiss principles, and expected to be paid the top -price of the market, for coming plump into the measures of the court, at -the expense of their former professions.”[82] - -The Queen, the nervous Queen, was considered as a mere property, “which -was to be engrossed, divided, or transferred, as suited best with the -mercenary views of those state-brokers who had the privilege of dividing -the spoil.”[83] - -It was not, however, until Harley despaired of achieving the Duchess’s -favour, that he became her determined, though secret foe. Even after his -enmity was in operation, the Duchess might have retrieved her fortune by -prudent attention to her royal mistress. She came, however, seldom to -court, a line of conduct which was considered ill judged on her part; -and, when she attended on the Queen, performed her offices of duty, such -as holding her Majesty’s gloves, with a haughty and contemptuous air, -which Anne, who had sunk her own dignity in a degrading familiarity, was -constrained to endure, but could not be obliged to forgive. - -The court suffered no diminution of gaiety on account of the haughty -favourite’s absence; for she is said to have long before ceased to look -upon any but her own family with respect. Lord Godolphin rejoiced at her -remissness on his own account; “for when she was at court, she was -always teasing him with womanish quarrels and altercations, or -continually troubling him with interruptions in the business of the -state; whereas, now the sole direction of the thing was in his own -hands.”[84] - -Mr. Harley, on the other hand, lost no opportunity of ingratiating -himself into the favour of the Queen. Under pretence of business, he -obtained access to her Majesty in the evening, and, disclosing matters -which had been concealed from the royal ear, he discovered her real -sentiments, and, with infinite address, generally contrived to bring her -opinions round to his own views. But all his efforts would have been -unsuccessful without the aid of female ingenuity. Well did Harley know -the temper and peculiarities of the woman whom he desired to supplant. -Well could he judge the more common-place character of the homely Anne, -whose gentle nature could dispense with respect, but could not exist -without a friend; and a friend to supply the void in the Queen’s heart -was soon discovered. - -Before the schemes of Harley were ripened, the Duke of Marlborough had -returned from the victory of Ramillies, laden with honours. He had -received addresses from both Houses of Parliament, who also petitioned -the Queen to allow a bill to be brought in to settle the Duke’s honours -on the male and female issue of his daughters. This favour was obtained; -and the manor of Woodstock and Blenheim-house were, after the decease of -the Duchess, upon whom they were settled in jointure, entailed in the -same manner with the honours. The annuity of five thousand a year from -the Post-office, formerly proposed by the Queen, was now granted; and -the palace of Blenheim was ordered to be built at the public charge. -Harley and St. John, to a profusion of flattery and of good offices, -added their advice to the Duke that he would erect this great monument -of his glory in a style of transcendent magnificence; but with what -motives these counsels were given, afterwards appeared.[85] - -The Queen had not only received Marlborough graciously, and ordered a -triumphal procession for his trophies, but, to please her successful -general, or his wife, had appointed a Whig professor, Dr. Potter, to the -chair of divinity at Oxford. But this was an expedient, by yielding one -small point, to cover a much greater design.[86] - -To aid his schemes, Harley acquired an associate, humble, pliant, needy, -and in every way adapted to perform that small work to which an -intriguing politician is constrained sometimes to devote a mind -professedly and solely embued with the spirit of patriotism, and racked -with anxiety for his country’s welfare.[87] - -Abigail Hill, a name rendered famous from the momentous changes which -succeeded its introduction to the political world, was the appropriate -designation of the lowly, supple, and artful being on whose secret -offices Harley relied for the accomplishment of his plans. Mistress Hill -at this time held the post of dresser and chamber-woman to her Majesty, -an appointment which had been procured for her by the influence of the -Duchess of Marlborough, to whom she was related. The world assigned -certain causes for the pains which that proud favourite had manifested, -to place her kinswoman in a post where she might have easy access to the -Queen’s ear, and obtain her confidence. The Duchess, it was said, was -weary of her arduous attendance upon a mistress whom she secretly -despised. She had become too proud to perform the subordinate duties of -her office, and proposed to relieve herself of some of her cares, by -placing one on whom she could entirely depend, as an occasional -substitute in the performance of those duties which even habit had not -taught her to endure with patience. Since, after the elevation of the -Duke, in consequence of the battle of Blenheim, she had become a -princess of the empire,[88] she was supposed to consider herself too -elevated to continue those services to which she had been enured, first -in the court of the amiable Anne Hyde, then in that of the unhappy Mary -of Modena, and since, near her too gracious sovereign, the meek, but -dissembling Anne. - -According to the Duchess herself, her inauspicious patronage of Mistress -Abigail Hill, afterwards the noted Lady Masham, had a more amiable -source than that which was ascribed to it by the writers of the day. -Lord Bolingbroke says truly, that there are no materials for history -that require to be more scrupulously and severely examined, “than those -of the time when the events to be spoken of were in transaction.” “In -matters of history,” he remarks, “we prefer very justly cotemporary -authority; and yet cotemporary authors are the most liable to be warped -from the straight line of truth, in writing on subjects which have -affected them strongly.” “Criticism,” as he admirably observes, -“separates the ore from the dross, and extracts from various authors a -series of true history, which could not have been found entire in any -one of them, and will command our assent, when it is formed with -judgment, and represented with candour.”[89] - -In following this rule, we must not only take into account the rumours -of the day, but give due weight to those reasons which were assigned by -the Duchess, for her endeavours to promote the interests of the humbled -and unfortunate Abigail Hill. - -The ungrateful kinswoman had been early acquainted with adversity, which -was the remote cause of her ultimate greatness. She was the daughter of -an eminent Turkey merchant, who became a bankrupt, with the encumbrance -of a numerous and unprovided family. Abigail was at one time so reduced, -as to enter into the service of Lady Rivers, wife of Sir John Rivers, -Bart., of Chafford; and was rescued from her lowly situation by the -charitable offices of the Duchess of Marlborough, to whom she had the -good fortune to be related. - -The Duchess has left a succinct account of the degree of kindred in -which her rival stood to her, and of the manner in which she became -acquainted with her destitute condition. It would be impossible to alter -the Duchess’s narrative into any better language than her own. The -unvarnished and uncontradicted statement which she put forth, years -after the clamour against her had subsided, is prefaced with the -following observations.[90] - -“The story of this lady, as well as of _that gentleman_ who was her -great adviser and director, is worth the knowledge of posterity, as it -will lead them into a sense of the instability of court favour, and of -the incurable baseness which some minds are capable of contracting. - -“Mrs. Masham,” she continues, “was the daughter of one Hill, a merchant -in the city, by a sister of my father. Our grandfather, Sir John Jenyns, -had two-and-twenty children, by which means the estate of the family, -which was reputed to be about four thousand pounds a year, came to be -divided into small parcels. Mrs. Hill had only five hundred pounds to -her fortune.[91] Her husband lived very well for many years, as I have -been told, until, turning projector, he brought ruin upon himself and -family. But as this was long before I was born, I never knew there were -such people in the world till after the Princess Anne was married, and -when she lived at the Cockpit; at which time an acquaintance of mine -came to me and said, _she believed I did not know that I had relations -who were in want_, and she gave me an account of them. When she had -finished her story, I answered, _that indeed I had never heard before of -any such relations_, and immediately gave her out of my purse ten -guineas for their present relief, saying, I would do what I could for -them. Afterwards I sent Mrs. Hill more money, and saw her. She told me -that her husband was the same relation to Mr. Harley as she was to me, -but that he had never done anything for her. I think Mrs. Masham’s -father and mother did not live long after this. They left four children, -two sons and two daughters. The elder daughter (afterwards Mrs. Masham) -was a grown woman. I took her to St. Albans, where she lived with me and -my children, and I treated her with as great kindness as if she had been -my sister.” - -It appears from this statement, that Mrs. Hill must have enjoyed -considerable opportunities of studying the character of her patroness; -nor were her means of learning Anne’s peculiarities and defects less -frequent and advantageous. - -“After some time,” adds the Duchess, “a bedchamber woman of the Princess -of Denmark’s died; and as in that reign (after the Princesses were grown -up) rockers, though not gentlewomen, had been advanced to be bedchamber -women, I thought I might ask the Princess to give the vacant place to -Mrs. Hill. At first, indeed, I had some scruple about it; but this being -removed by persons I thought wiser, with whom I consulted, I made the -request to the Princess, and it was granted. - -“As for the younger daughter, (who is still living,) I engaged my Lord -Marlborough, when the Duke of Gloucester’s family was settled, to make -her laundress to him, which was a good provision for her; and when the -Duke of Gloucester died, I obtained for her a pension of 200_l._ a year, -which I paid her out of the privy purse. And some time after I asked the -Queen’s leave to buy her an annuity out of some of the funds; -representing to her Majesty, that as the privy purse money produced no -interest, it would be the same thing to her if, instead of the pension -to Mrs. Hill, she gave her at once a sum sufficient to produce an -annuity, and that by this means, her Majesty would make a certain -provision for one who had served the Duke of Gloucester. The Queen was -pleased to allow the money for that purchase, and it is very probable -that Mrs. Hill has the annuity to this day, and perhaps nothing else, -unless she saved money after her sister had made her deputy to the privy -purse, which she did, as soon as she had supplanted me.” - -Not contented with conferring these important benefits, the Duchess, it -appears, resolved to provide for the whole family. - -“The elder son was,” she says, “at my request, put by my Lord Godolphin -into a place in the Custom-house; and when, in order to his advancement -to a better, it was necessary to give security for his good behaviour, I -got a relation of the Duke of Marlborough’s to be bound for him in two -thousand pounds. His brother (whom the bottle-men afterwards called -_honest_ Jack Hill) was a tall boy, whom I clothed (for he was all in -rags) and put to school at St. Albans to one Mr. James, who had been an -usher under Dr. Busby of Westminster; and whenever I went to St. Alban’s -I sent for him, and was as kind to him as if he had been my own child. -After he had learned what he could there, a vacancy happening of page of -honour to the Prince of Denmark, his highness was pleased, at my -request, to take him. I afterwards got my Lord Marlborough to make him -groom of the bedchamber to the Duke of Gloucester. And though my lord -always said that Jack Hill _was good for nothing_, yet, to oblige me, he -made him his aide-de-camp, and afterwards gave him a regiment. But it -was his sister’s interest that raised him to be a _general_, and to -command in that ever-memorable expedition to Quebec; I had no share in -doing him the honours. To finish what I have to say on this subject; -when Mr. Harley thought it useful to attack the Duke of Marlborough in -parliament, this Quebec _general_, this _honest_ Jack Hill, this _once -ragged boy, whom I clothed_, happening to be sick in bed, was -nevertheless persuaded by his _sister_ to get up, wrap himself in warmer -clothes than those I had given him, and go to the House to vote against -the Duke. I may here add, that even the _husband_ of Mrs. Masham had -several obligations to me: it was at my instance that he was first made -a page, then an equerry, and afterwards groom of the bedchamber to the -Prince; for all which he himself thanked me, as for favours procured by -my means. As for Mrs. Masham herself, I had so much kindness for her, -and had done so much to oblige her, without having ever done anything to -offend her, that it was too long before I could bring myself to think -her other than a true friend, or forbear rejoicing at any instance of -favour shown her by the Queen. I observed, indeed, at length, that she -was grown more shy of coming to me, and more reserved than usual when -she was with me; but I imputed this to her peculiar moroseness of -temper, and for some time made no other reflection upon it.”[92] - -The moroseness of temper, which might be a constitutional infirmity -incident to the family stock, was accompanied, however, with a -suppleness of deportment, a servility, and a talent for artifice, which -are not incompatible with a deep-seated pride, and with a contumacious -turn of mind, subdued to superiors, but venting itself with redoubled -virulence on those on whom it can with impunity be spent. Towards the -Queen, Mrs. Hill displayed, as might be expected, a humility and -sweetness of manner which proved, doubtless, highly acceptable to one -accustomed to receive only a lofty condescension, not to speak of -frequent exhibitions of passion, in her earlier and haughtier friend. -Mrs. Hill’s real sentiments on religion and politics happened to be, -fortunately for herself, in accordance with those of the Queen. Anne, -accustomed to opposition and remonstrance, nay, sometimes, rebukes, upon -certain points which she had at heart, delighted in the enthusiasm of -her lowly attendant concerning matters hitherto forbidden her to dwell -upon. Mrs. Hill was an enemy to the Hanoverian succession, if not a -partisan of the exiled Stuarts,—subjects on which the Queen and the -Duchess were known to have frequent controversies, which sometimes -degenerated into angry disputes. - -These bickerings had, in the sedate and guarded Abigail, a watchful and -subtle observer. It may easily be credited that she turned them -skilfully to account. Not that she was so imprudent as to hoist a banner -on the side of Anne whilst the redoubtable Sarah was present; but her -sympathy, her acquiescence, her responsive condolences, when, after the -storm subsided, the Queen poured forth into her friendly ear -confidential complaints of the absent Duchess, were ever ready, and -effected their purpose. The flattering gratitude and humility with which -she listened and soothed the Queen; their cordial concurrence on topics -which then divided the female world, whilst they employed masculine -minds; gradually worked a way for the lady-dresser into the affections -of the Queen, and gradually, also, ejected, by a subterranean process, -the only obstacle to her undivided ascendency which Mrs. Hill, in her -powerful kinswoman, might have to encounter. - -The Duchess was the last of all the court to perceive the dangerous -influence of Abigail, and to acknowledge the extent of the new -favourite’s power. She depended on Mrs. Hill’s fidelity to her; she -depended on that weakest of all bonds, a sense of obligation; she -considered her cousin as, for her sake, a vigilant observer of the -Queen’s actions, and as a lowly partisan, an attached and useful friend. - -From the time that she had known of the distress of her humble -relatives, she had, as she alleges in her letter to Bishop Burnet, -“helped them in every way, without any motive but charity and relation, -having never known their father:”[93] nor did the peculiar manner of the -humble bedchamber woman rouse the pride or the suspicions of the -mistress of the robes. “She had,” writes the Duchess, recalling -circumstances, possibly, at the moment unobserved, “a shy, reserved -behaviour towards me, always avoided entering into free conversation -with me, and made excuses when I wanted her to go abroad with me. And -what I thought ill-breeding, or surly honesty, has since proved to be a -design deeply laid, as she had always the artifice to hide very -carefully the power which she had over the Queen.”[94] - -Affairs were in this state when a rumour reached the Duchess, of her -cousin’s marriage with a gentleman named Masham, whom the Duchess had -likewise promoted to a place in the Queen’s household. This took place -in the summer of 1707, when the battle of Ramillies had propped up the -declining favour of Marlborough, and consequently repaired, in some -degree, the breaches of confidence between the Queen and the Duchess. -The Duchess, although naturally startled at the intelligence, acted in -the direct and candid manner which strong minds can alone adopt on such -occasions. She went to her cousin, and asked if the report were true. -Mrs. Masham acknowledged the fact, and begged to be forgiven for having -concealed it.[95] - -It was not in the power of her artful relative, nor of her tool, the -Queen, much longer to blind the woman whom they had, with true vulgarity -of mind, gloried in deceiving.[96] The Duchess, in an unpublished -manuscript explanation of her conduct, addressed to Mr. Hutchinson, -describes her incredulity upon the subject of the baseness of one, to -whom she had acted in “the capacity of a mother;” whom she had preserved -from starving; and who repaid her bounty by seizing every opportunity of -undermining her benefactress.[97] - -Mrs. Masham could not assign any adequate reason for the concealment of -the marriage, for it was at once suitable in point of rank, and prudent -in respect to circumstances. Mr. Samuel Masham was the eighth son of Sir -Francis Masham, a Baronet, and was reputed to be a gentleman of honour, -and of worth. Already had he risen from the post of page to that of -equerry in Prince George’s household, and from the office of equerry had -been promoted to that of groom of the bedchamber. The Duchess had -herself, as it has been stated, assisted in his elevation; for it was at -that time understood that no person who was not agreeable to the -Marlborough family, or supposed to be, in particular, acceptable to the -Duchess, could be raised to any office of importance.[98] Hence Mr. -Masham could not be objectionable to the Duchess as a match for her -cousin, except on one ground—he was a relation of Mr. Harley. - -The Duchess, notwithstanding that she felt she had reason to be offended -with Mrs. Masham’s conduct, was willing to impute it to “want of -breeding and bashfulness,” rather than to that deceptive and petty -spirit which rejoices in mystery. She forgave and embraced her cousin, -and wished her joy; and then, entering into conversation with her on -other subjects, began in the most friendly manner to contrive how the -bride might be accommodated with lodgings, by removing her sister into -some apartments occupied by the Duchess. After this point was arranged, -the Duchess, still deceived, inquired whether the Queen were informed of -the marriage, and “very innocently” offered her services to acquaint her -Majesty with the affair. Mrs. Masham, who had, says the Duchess, by this -time learned the art of dissimulation pretty well, answered, with an -untroubled mien, that the bedchamber women had already apprised the -Queen of it,—hoping by that reply to prevent any further examination of -the matter. The Duchess, all astonishment, and probably, though she does -not acknowledge it, all fury, went directly to the Queen, and inquired -why her Majesty had not been so kind as to tell her of her cousin’s -marriage; putting her in mind of a favourite quotation from Montaigne, -adopted by Anne, namely, that it was no breach of secrecy “to tell an -intimate friend anything, because it was only like telling it to -oneself.”[99] - -“This,” to speak in the Duchess’s own words, “I said, I thought she -herself ought to have told me of; but the only thing I was concerned at -was, that this plainly showed a change in her Majesty towards me, as I -had once before observed to her; when she was pleased to say, that it -was not she that was changed, but me; and that if I was the same to her, -she was sure she was so to me.” Upon this the Queen answered, with a -great deal of earnestness, and without thinking to be upon her guard, “I -believe I have spoken to her a hundred times to tell you of it, and she -would not.” - -This answer startled the Duchess very much; and she began to reflect on -the incongruity of her Majesty’s two answers; the first asserting that -she believed the bedchamber women had told her of Mrs. Masham’s -marriage; the second, implying that Mrs. Masham and her Majesty had -repeatedly held consultations upon the subject. - -This reserve, and the evident collusion between the parties, roused the -suspicions of the Duchess, and she instantly resolved to commence a -strict examination into the relative position, and the ultimate end and -object of the parties thus implicated in what she deemed a conspiracy -against her power and peace. Fortunately for her biographers, she has -left ample explanations, carefully preserved, of all those passages of -her life which relate to her ultimate dismissal from the Queen’s -service. In a letter which many years afterwards she is said to have -addressed to Bishop Burnet, she gives a clear statement, which she -corroborates by copies of all the correspondence which passed between -herself and the Queen relative to the great affair of her life. - -It was not long before the Duchess, on instituting an inquiry among her -friends, discovered that the Queen had even gone herself secretly to her -new favourite’s marriage in the “Scotch doctor’s chamber,” a -circumstance which was discovered by a boy, who belonged to one of the -under servants, and who saw her Majesty go thither alone.[100] The -marriage had also been confided to several persons of distinction. - -It was easy to be informed of that which every body but herself knew; -and, in less than a week, the indignant Duchess discovered that her -cousin was an “absolute favourite,” and that when the marriage was -solemnised at Dr. Arbuthnott’s lodging, her Majesty had called for a -round sum out of the privy purse. To this intelligence was added the -still more startling information, that hours of confidential -communication were daily passed by Mrs. Masham in the Queen’s -apartments, whilst Prince George, who was now a confirmed invalid, was -asleep; but who, in spite of the advantage taken of his slumbers, had -been one of the illustrious confidants on this occasion. - -The Duchess could now trace the whole system of deception which had been -carried on to her injury for a considerable time; her relative and -former dependent being the chief agent—her sovereign the accomplice. She -could account for the interest which Harley had now acquired at court by -means of this new instrument. She could explain to her astonished and -irritated mind certain incidents, which had seemed of little moment when -they occurred, but which afforded a mortifying confirmation of all that -she had learned. “My reflection,” she says, “brought to my mind many -passages, which had seemed odd and unaccountable, but had left no -impression of suspicion or jealousy.[101] Particularly I remembered that -a long while before this, being with the Queen, (to whom I had gone very -privately from my lodgings to the bedchamber,) on a sudden this woman, -not knowing I was there, came in with the boldest and gayest air -possible; but upon sight of me stopped, and immediately changing her -manner, and making a most solemn courtesy, ‘_Did_ your Majesty ring?’ -and then went out again.” - -This behaviour needed now no further explanation. The Duchess perceived -too late that she was supplanted; and she was resolved that Mrs. Masham -should quickly know that her injured benefactress was undeceived. She -wrote, therefore, with her usual promptitude and sincerity, the -following candid, but at the same time moderate letter to her rival. -Godolphin, whom she consulted upon all occasions, probably pruned it -into the following careful form. - - -“Since the conversation I had with you at your lodgings, several things -have happened to confirm me in what I was hard to believe—that you have -made me returns very unsuitable to what I might have expected. I always -speak my mind so plainly, that I should have told you so myself, if I -had had the opportunity which I wished for; but being now so near -parting, think this way of letting you know it, is like to be the least -uneasy to you, as well as to - - “Your humble servant, - “S. MARLBOROUGH.” - - -To this letter no immediate reply was returned; for, doubtless, Mrs. -Masham had, on the other hand, her advisers. The Duchess in vain waited -all the day at Windsor, after sending her letter, in expectation of a -reply. Mrs. Masham was, however, obliged to consult with her great -director, before she could frame an answer on so “nice a matter.” It -was, indeed, no easy point to explain, that a poor relation, only a -dresser, as the Duchess remarked, and she a groom of the stole, should -conceal from a relation to whom she owed everything, that affair which -most concerned her; whilst the Queen, who, for thirty years had never -disguised one circumstance from her faithful Freeman, should be led into -the plot. - -The primary origin of her disgrace she imputed, when time had cooled her -resentments, to her efforts to establish the Whigs in the Queen’s -favour. The immediate source of the quarrel was the successful endeavour -of Mrs. Hill to supplant the cousin, to whom she professed to owe great -obligations. For, as the Duchess affirms, even when every word she spoke -had become distasteful to Anne, and when every step she took was -canvassed in the Queen’s closet, still the Queen declared she was not in -the least altered, whilst Mrs. Masham professed the deepest -gratitude.[102] - -At length an answer was sent, the whole construction and style of which -proved it, in the opinion of the Duchess, to be the production of an -artful man, who knew perfectly well how to manage the affair. To Harley -she imputed a deceptive and plotting character of mind, which by others -was termed prudence. “His practices,” as the Duchess called them, “which -were deemed fair in a politician,” were now fully understood by the two -great men, Marlborough and Godolphin, who were their object. To him, -therefore, the Duchess attributed the cautious, polite, and submissive -letter, in which, expressing her grief at her Grace’s displeasure, and -her unconsciousness of its precise cause, the careful Abigail sought to -draw forth an explicit declaration of the cause of the Duchess’s -chagrin, by inquiring who had been her enemy upon this occasion. But she -addressed one whose prudence was, in this instance, stronger than her -passions. The Duchess assured her cousin that her resentment did not -proceed from any representations of others, but from her own -observation, which made the impression the stronger; and she declined -entering further into the subject by letter.[103] - -The Duchess of Marlborough was now, therefore, at open variance with her -cousin. Towards her Majesty she stood in a predicament the most curious -and unprecedented that perhaps ever existed between sovereign and -subject. The amused and astonished court beheld Anne cautiously creeping -out of that subjection in which the Duchess had, according to her -enemies, long held the timid sovereign. - -“The grand inference,” says the authoress of the ‘Other Side of the -Question,’ addressing the Duchess in her days of almost bed-ridden -sickness, after the publication of the ‘Conduct,’ “that your grace draws -from all this is, that you are betrayed. But those of the world are -rather such as these,—that the Queen was captive, and you her gaoler; -that she was neither mistress of her power, nor free to express her own -inclinations; that she was so far overawed by a length of oppression, as -to dread the very approach of her tormentress; that she was forced to -unbosom herself by stealth; and that she durst not venture upon a -contest with your grace, even to set herself free from your -insupportable tyranny.”[104] - -There was, doubtless, considerable justice in these bitter and insulting -reproaches, heaped upon the Duchess when, by a late vindication of her -life, she had drawn her enemies from their long repose. That all the -real affection which the friendship of Morley and Freeman could boast, -existed on the side of the Queen, is probable. Such was the opinion of -their contemporaries. It was in the decline of her influence that the -Duchess began to be querulous upon the subject of those little omissions -of attention which pride and habit, not real, hearty attachment, -rendered necessary to her happiness. It sounds strange to find a monarch -excusing herself to a subject for not inquiring after her health -directly upon the arrival of that lady from a sea-bathing place; yet -such apologies as it neither became Anne to make, nor the Duchess to -exact, are to be found in their published correspondence.[105] - -The Duchess, according to the opinion of one of her confidential -friends, Mr. Mainwaring, was totally deficient in that “part of craft -which Mr. Hobbes very prettily calls crooked wisdom.”[106] “Apt,” as she -herself expresses it, “to tumble out her mind,”[107] her openness and -honesty were appreciated, when at an advanced age, and after she had run -the career of five courts,—by that experienced judge, the Lady Mary -Wortley Montague, who often presumed upon the venerable Duchess’s -candour in telling her unpalatable truths, which none but the honest -could have borne to hear.[108] It was this uprightness and singleness of -mind which rendered the Duchess unwilling to believe in the duplicity -and the influence of her cousin. Warned of it by Mr. Mainwaring, it was -not until she found in the Queen a defender of Mrs. Masham’s secret -marriage, that the Duchess was roused into suspicion. It was then that -she communicated her conviction to Lord Godolphin and to Marlborough, -and besought their assistance and advice. - -Marlborough, acquainted as he had for years been with every cabal in -every court in Europe, was singularly ignorant, in this instance, of -that which was passing at home. Godolphin, better informed, had bestowed -but little attention to it, and had placed but little importance on its -consequences. Towards the middle of this year he received, whilst at -Meldert, complaints from the Duchess, which drew from him this laconic -and stern reply:— - -“The wisest thing is to have to do with as few people as possible. If -you are sure that Mrs. Masham speaks of business to the Queen, I should -think you might, with some caution, tell her of it, which would do good; -for she certainly must be grateful, and mind what you say.”[109] - -To soothe irritations was, on other occasions besides this, the arduous -office of the Duke; and he was induced, from prior impressions, to write -in a conciliatory strain to his often offended Duchess. When, in March, -he had prepared measures for carrying on the war, and had completed -every arrangement for his voyage into Holland, the only thing which -detained him in England was, says Cunningham, “the quarrel among the -women about the court.” He desired his Duchess “to put an end to those -controversies, and to avoid all occasions of suspicion and disgust; and -not to suffer herself to grow insolent upon the favour of fortune; -otherwise,” said he, “I shall hardly be able hereafter to excuse your -fault, or to justify my own actions, however meritorious.” To which the -Duchess replied, “I will take care of those things, so that you need not -be in any fear about me; but whoever shall think to remove me out of the -Queen’s favour, let them take care lest they remove themselves.” - -“Such things as these,” remarks Cunningham, “must be borne with among -women; for few persons have drawn such rash conclusions concerning -uncertain events but fortune has deceived them.”[110] It was not long, -however, before Marlborough perceived that the Duchess was not mistaken -in her apprehensions; nor before he became painfully aware of the fact, -that services of the greatest magnitude are often not to be weighed -against slights, and petty provocations. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - State of parties—Friendship of Marlborough and Godolphin—Discovery of - Mr. Harley’s practices—Intrigues of the Court. - - -The Duke of Marlborough possessed at this time the confidence and amity -of the most eminent of the Whig leaders. Notwithstanding the efforts -which, in conjunction with Godolphin, he made to preserve a dignified, -and, as he deemed it, a salutary neutrality between the two great -parties, the Whigs had, during many sessions, regarded him as their own; -and the jealousy which they are said to have entertained of his -proceedings, guided by a more moderate spirit than their own, was not -manifested when their appreciation of his public character came to be -put to the proof. - -In Godolphin, his dearest friend, his whole confidence was reposed. -These two great men had but one heart, one mind. On all important -subjects they saw, they felt, in the same manner and degree. Their -correspondence breathes the sentiments of a perfect union, and of the -most unreserved communication. Their friendship was the handmaid to -Marlborough’s glory; it was his rock of defence, when from the camp he -turned his longing gaze to England; it was his sure resource, when -buffeted by cabals abroad. To Godolphin, Marlborough owed much; and it -may be said that his glory was reflected upon the honest and experienced -Lord Treasurer. But Godolphin was indebted to his union with the -Marlborough family for some obloquy, and for much jealousy, both at -court and among the people. His close alliance with them was looked upon -ungraciously; and, by some, even the constitution was thought to be -endangered by the overweening influence of Marlborough, and by the fact -that the army, the treasury, and the ascendency at foreign courts, were -all centered in one family.[111] - -Godolphin, however, seems to have been content to share the downfal of -his friends the Duke and Duchess. Hitherto he had supported the -continuance of the war, by every argument which he could suggest to the -Queen, and had thus incurred her displeasure.[112] He had listened to -the faction, whilst consolidating the Union with Scotland, in opposition -to the counsels of Somers, and of Chancellor Cowper, and had thus -forfeited their esteem. To this measure his ruin has been imputed. -“Though that man,” says Cunningham, “had nothing in him that was abject, -nothing mean, nothing low, except the lowliness of his mind, which was -naturally disposed to be humble, yet he had not spirit and magnanimity -equal to the settlement of the kingdoms; and, with regard to posthumous -fame, he was indifferent to all posterity but his own.”[113] - -Yet, perhaps, the instrument which most effectually lowered the -influence of Godolphin was the hatred and consequent ill offices of -Harley. Between these two ministers disunion had long since widened into -entire aversion; and it was the aim of each to disparage and almost to -ruin the other.[114] This disgust added a fresh incentive to the thirst -for power to which Harley’s ambitious nature made him prone; whilst it -was confirmed by his dislike and dread of that Duchess who had ever -recourse to Godolphin’s counsels in times of difficulty. - -The party which supported Marlborough was still, however, unbroken, and -still pre-eminent. Lord Cowper, the distinguished chancellor, who was -the greatest orator of his time, owed his elevation to the great men -with whom Marlborough was allied. Lord Somers, infirm in health, and -almost incapacitated from taking any part in public affairs, still gave -the Whigs the benefits of his wisdom and experience. - -Lord Halifax was in the vigour of his physical strength, and of his -judgment; whilst Wharton, by his activity and industry, was ready to -probe the strength and weakness of those who opposed his party, and -generally succeeded in obtaining a knowledge of their intrigues. These -powerful-minded men were aided by Lord Sunderland and Mr. Boyle, the two -Secretaries of State—men in the prime of life, who with ease fulfilled -the laborious duties imposed on them by their offices.[115] - -These distinguished politicians were now, according to the Duchess of -Marlborough, the objects of Harley’s intrigues. About the same time that -Mrs. Masham’s secret influence over the Queen was discovered, Lord -Godolphin obtained information of Mr. Harley’s practices, both within -and without. His design, according to this partial authority, was “to -ruin the Whigs by disuniting them from the ministry, and so to pave the -way for the Tories to rise again; whom he thought to unite in himself, -as their head, after he had made it impossible for them to think of a -reconciliation with the Duke of Marlborough and Lord Godolphin.”[116] - -The Duchess lost no time in acquainting the Duke, who was still on the -continent, with this discovery. His answer to her communication bespeaks -a mind weary with the contentions of the court, and indifferent, so far -as his personal dealings were concerned, to the ascendency of his own, -or the opposing party. - -“If you have good reason,” he replies, “for what you write of the -kindness and esteem the Queen has for Mrs. Masham and Mr. Harley, my -opinion should be, that my Lord Treasurer and I should tell her Majesty -what is good for herself; and if that will not prevail, to be quiet, and -to let Mr. Harley and Mrs. Masham do what they please; for I own I am -quite tired, and if the Queen can be safe, I shall be glad. I hope the -Lord Treasurer will be of my mind; and then we shall be much happier -than by being in a perpetual struggle.” - -At a later time he remarks— - -“What you write concerning the Queen, Mr. Harley, and Mrs. Masham, is of -that consequence, that I think no time is to be lost in putting a stop -to that management, or else let them have it entirely in their own -hands.” - -This, however, was an easier task for the Duke to advise, than for the -Duchess to adopt. The Queen had still so great a portion of regard left -for her early playmate and friend, that she might yet have relented, if -the Duchess would at least have remained passively in the shade, or -sustained her reverse of favour with dignified equanimity. Such a part -would have been politic, and it might have been successful; for in most -quarrels it is the petty provocations which embitter enmities, whilst -the first grave cause is comparatively but little felt. - -It is evident that Queen Anne had neither the inclination nor the -courage to undertake an open quarrel with her ministry, nor with her -early, and still dreaded, perhaps still beloved, friend. Upon hearing -from Lord Godolphin his suspicions of the mischief that Harley intended -to the party to which he and Marlborough were attached, her Majesty was -at first incredulous; but when assured by the Lord Treasurer that if -Harley remained in the royal favour, he and Lord Marlborough must quit -her Majesty’s service, she became alarmed, and immediately wrote a -letter full of affection, and indeed of submission, to her “dear Mrs. -Freeman.” These extraordinary productions, such as were never perhaps -addressed before, nor since, by a sovereign to a subject, were either -the effect of artful advice, or of pusillanimous caution; since they -were followed by no amendment in respect to certain matters complained -of, nor by any returning kindness for the discarded friend whom she -addressed.[117] - -Lord Godolphin also touched upon private matters, and endeavoured to -enlighten the mind of her Majesty upon the ever-recurring feuds of Mrs. -Masham and the Duchess. “I remember,” relates the latter in her -manuscript Vindication, “he told me he had convinced the Queen indeed -that Mrs. Masham was in the wrong, but that she showed she was very -desirous to think her in the right.”[118] - -This disposition in her Majesty rendered any hopes of a final -reconciliation visionary. But the explanation brought some symptoms of -relenting, from the haughty and elated Abigail. - -The Duchess remained some time at St. James’s, in anxious expectation of -hearing from Mrs. Masham, who, she now supposed, would endeavour to -clear up all uneasiness that had arisen between her and her noble -relative. But, to her surprise, day after day passed, and not even a -message arrived, although the wrathful Sarah and her rival slept twelve -days under the same roof. “At length,” relates the Duchess, “she having -passed by her window one night on my return home, sent one of her maids -to my woman, to ask _her_ how I did, and to let me know she was gone to -Kensington.” - -This behaviour appeared so ridiculous, and probably so absurdly -condescending to the Duchess, that she could not forbear speaking of it -to the Queen, the next time she saw her Majesty. To her surprise and -consternation, the Queen defended Mrs. Masham; she looked grave, and -answered that Mrs. Masham was “mightily in the right not to go near her -grace.” Upon this reply, a sharp altercation ensued. The Duchess -returned with spirit, “that she did not understand _that_, since a -clearing up of a mutual misunderstanding had been left until a meeting -took place between her and her cousin.” To this Anne, who had gained an -unwonted supply of resolution, returned, that “it was very natural that -Mrs. Masham should be afraid of going near the Duchess, when she saw -that she was angry with her.” The Duchess retaliated by saying, “that -her cousin could have no reason to be afraid, unless she knew herself -guilty of some crime.” But she could elicit no further explanation from -the Queen; for Anne was not fertile in argument, and had besides a -practice, when she was obstinately bent upon any point, of repeating -over and over again the same words. This provoking custom of -substituting repetition instead of argument, which, according to the -Duke of Marlborough, the Queen inherited from King James, she now called -into requisition, to repel the fierce interrogatories of her exasperated -and awful friend. “So she continued,” relates the Duchess, “to say it -was very natural, and she was very much in the right.” And all that her -mortified but unsubdued listener could glean from this conversation was, -that the new favourite was deeply rooted in her Majesty’s heart, and -that it would be more advisable to come to open hostilities with her -ungrateful cousin, than to take any measures to mend the breach between -them. It was on one of these occasions that the Duchess closed the door -of the closet in which she and the Queen sat, with such violence, that -the noise echoed through the whole apartment.[119] - -Incensed as she was, a visit from Mrs. Masham, two days afterwards, -failed to soothe the offended Duchess. She was abroad when the lowly -Abigail called; but she took care, on her return, to give a general -order to her servants, to say, whenever Mrs. Masham came, that she “was -not at home.” But, after some time, an interview took place by mutual -appointment. The scene was such as might have been expected. The -conversation began by the Duchess reproaching Mrs. Masham with the -change in the Queen’s sentiments towards her, which she could not fail -to attribute entirely to Mrs. Masham’s secret influence over her -Majesty. She upbraided her cousin for her concealment of that intimacy -and confidence with which the Queen honoured her; and told her that she -considered such artifice as a very bad sign of the motives which -dictated such conduct. “It was certain,” the Duchess added, “that no -good intentions towards herself could influence her actions.” - -Mrs. Masham was, as it seems, prepared with a reply full of -condescension and insult. “To this,” says the Duchess, “she very gravely -answered, that she was sure the Queen, who had always loved me -extremely, would always be very kind to me. It was some minutes before I -could recover from the surprise with which so extraordinary an answer -struck me. To see a woman whom I have raised out of the dust, put on -such a superior air, and to hear her assure me, by way of consolation, -that the Queen would always be very kind to me!” Yet restraining the -impetuous burst of passion which might have been expected, she remained -silent; “for I was stunned,” she observes, “to hear her say so strange a -thing.”[120] - -The Duchess then taunted Mrs. Masham with carrying to the Queen tales -against some, and petitions in favour of other members of her Majesty’s -household. Mrs. Masham, on the other hand, defended herself by saying -that she only took to her royal mistress certain petitions which came to -the back-stairs, and with which she knew that the Duchess did not care -to be troubled. This perversion of facts did not blind the Duchess to -the actual state of affairs, and the conversation ended in a long and -ominous silence, broken by Mrs. Masham’s rising, and saying she hoped -that the Duchess would sometimes give her leave to inquire after her -health. Notwithstanding this condescending speech, the lady in power -never once deigned, nor dared, to visit the dejected and deserted -favourite. - -Partly from policy, and, probably, partly from curiosity to see how -matters stood, the Duchess thought proper, when her cousin’s marriage -was publicly announced, to visit her with Lady Sunderland, purely, -however, as she alleged, out of respect to the Queen, and to avoid any -noise or disagreeable discourse which her refusing that ordinary act of -civility might occasion. Fortunately, however, for the peace of St. -James’s, the ungrateful bride was not at home when this undeserved -honour was paid to her, by one from whom she had merited nothing but -neglect. - -The breach, however certain, and however sure the process by which it -was widened, was not, as yet, perceptible to the court. Possibly all -were reluctant to open a battery of anecdote and scandal against the -redoubtable Sarah, who might be restored to her long-asserted -ascendency. The Duchess was not without hopes of resuming her influence. -During the Christmas holidays, she went to pay her respects to the -Queen; but had the misery of learning from the page, before she went in, -that Mrs. Masham had just been sent for. The last interview in which the -least traces of friendly regard might be observed, must be told in the -Duchess’s own words. It is evident that she had some lingering -expectations that all differences might yet be healed, and that the -Queen’s regard could be revived. - -“The moment I saw her Majesty, I plainly perceived she was uneasy. She -stood all the while I was with her, and looked as coldly on me as if her -intention was that I should no longer doubt of my loss of her -affections. Upon observing what reception I had, I said ‘I was sorry I -had happened to come so unseasonably.’ I was making my courtesy to go -away, when the Queen, with a great deal of disorder in her face, and -without speaking one word, took me by the hand. And when, thereupon, I -stooped to kiss hers, she took me up with a very cold embrace, and then, -without one kind word, let me go. So strange a treatment of me, after my -long and faithful services, and after such repeated assurances from her -Majesty of an unalterable affection, made me think that I ought, in -justice to myself, as well as in regard to my mistress’s interest, to -write to her in the plainest and sincerest manner possible, and -expostulate with her upon her change to me, and upon the new counsels by -which she seemed to be wholly governed.” - -The letter addressed on this occasion by the Duchess to the Queen was -truly characteristic of the honest mind by which it was framed. There is -neither flattery nor violence, in the simple declaration of wounded -feeling, expressed in the Duchess’s forcible language; and Queen Anne -appears to have been touched by the direct appeal to her best -dispositions, which it contains.[121] For some days, indeed, no notice -was taken of this remarkable epistle; but after a short time had -elapsed, an answer was presented to the Duchess, who found in it -symptoms of a relenting spirit in her altered sovereign; and, anxious on -account of others, as well as for her own comfort, to avoid an open -rupture, “she endeavoured once more to put on as easy an appearance as -she could.”[122] - -Upon a review of the circumstances which attended this notable quarrel, -the character of the Duchess appears in a much more favourable light -than, from the many defects of her ill-governed mind, could reasonably -have been expected. In the first instance, she was generous to her -kinswoman, confiding, and lenient. Slow in being aroused to suspicion, -her conduct was straightforward and judicious when the truth was forced -upon her unwilling conviction. She acted with sincerity, but not with -address; and feelings too natural for a courtier to indulge were -betrayed in the course of those altercations in which the character of -Abigail is displayed in the worst colours. Artful and plausible, yet -daring and insolent, according to circumstances—shameless in her -ingratitude, the mean and despicable tool of others, with few advantages -of education,—that abject but able woman acquired an ascendency over the -mind of Anne that was truly astonishing. - -The poor Queen is to be pitied—we dare not say despised—for her -subserviency, her little artifices, her manœuvres in closets and the -back stairs, her degrading connivance at duplicity, her thirst for -flattery, or for what she termed friendship. Her confidence and -affection, thus extended towards an unworthy object, henceforth weakened -rather than adorned her character. - -It is remarkable, that when she learned to dispense with the friendship -of the Marlborough family, the Queen ceased to be great abroad and -respected at home. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Vexations and disappointments which harassed the Duke and Duchess of - Marlborough—Vacillations of Anne—Her appointment of Tory bishops. - - -The ensuing five or six years of the life of the Duchess of Marlborough -present little else than annals of party rivalries and of court -dissensions. Those who once envied her had now their revenge. To thirst -still for power, and to be bowed down ever and anon by a secret but -all-pervading influence; to witness one day the altered countenance of -her royal mistress, and to experience, the next, relentings of her -sovereign’s weak mind; to suffer the sneers of her adversaries, and to -encounter the still more grating pity of her friends; to be blamed by -all parties, and even reviled by almost all the Whig leaders, save the -devoted and moderate Marlborough, or the faithful Godolphin,—these were -the trials of the Duchess’s middle age. - -That her temper was soured by these vicissitudes of hope and fear, and -by the excitement of all those angry passions which disappointment -kindles, cannot be doubted. From the great age which she attained, and -from the clearness of her intellect until the close of her existence, -there is no reason to suppose that her health, or even her spirits, were -eventually impaired by the everlasting contentions of which she was the -centre. - -For a while, after her explanatory letter to the Queen, and her -Majesty’s reply, “the great breach,” as the Duchess calls it, was not -made public.[123] It was some time before Marlborough and Godolphin -could be convinced of the secret influence which Harley exercised, or -that the former, especially, could be induced to take the matter -seriously to heart. The Duchess in vain importuned him to revenge her -wrongs, and harassed him until he was heart-sick with the details of all -that her enemies performed and projected. “You may be sure,” writes the -Duke to her from Helchin, on Sept. 19, 1707, “I shall never mention Mrs. -Masham, either in letter or discourse. I am so weary of all this sort of -management, that I think it is the greatest folly in the world to think -any struggling can do good when both sides have a mind to be -angry.”[124] - -Yet, in spite of this simple philosophy, the poor Duke was constrained -to acknowledge himself “not the same man,” after vexatious and -embarrassing letters had reached him from England. It was not, however, -long before the Queen’s dispositions were completely manifest. It was -said that Prince George was brought into the scheme to co-operate with -Harley against the Whigs, and that his mind was worked on by -representations that he had not his due share in the government, and -that he was excluded from it by the great power which the Duke of -Marlborough and the Lord Treasurer exercised. The Queen, it was alleged -by the new favourites, was a mere cipher in the Duchess’s hands, whilst -the Duke controlled her affairs; and it was moreover declared to her -that there was not now a single Jacobite in the kingdom;[125] an -assertion made to dissipate her fears of the high church ascendency—with -what foundation, the succeeding years fully evinced. - -There were now three bishopricks vacant; and the Queen quickly marked -the course which she meant to pursue, by appointing Dr. Blackhall to the -see of Exeter, and Dr. William James to that of Chester. These divines -were, indeed, men of excellent character, and so far the Queen was able -to justify herself to her ministry that she would have none but such men -appointed to bishoprics. But they were likewise strong Tories, who had -submitted to the Revolution, yet condemned it, and had objected to all -the measures by which that great event had been followed. To qualify -this proceeding, the Queen made other translations more acceptable to -the Whigs; and before the meeting of parliament, in a conference of the -leading members of that party, they were assured that her heart was -wholly with them; yet Harley’s industrious endeavours to convince the -Tories that such was not the case, and that the Queen was weary of their -adversaries, and knew her friends, were calculated to counteract that -impression. - -Marlborough lost no time, when news of these nominations reached him -from England, of expostulating with the Queen upon her choice of the two -bishops. A letter, addressed by him to Lord Godolphin, being shown to -the Queen, drew from her Majesty a vehement defence of Harley, with an -explicit denial, at the same time, of her having been influenced by him -in her late conduct.[126] “Mr. Harley,” she assured her great general, -“knew nothing of her Tory appointments, until it was the talk of the -town.” She disclaimed my Lady Marlborough’s imputation, as she deemed -it, that she had an entire confidence in Harley; and wondered “how Lady -Marlborough could say such a thing, when she had been so often assured -from her that she relied on none but Mr. Freeman and Mr. Montgomery.” - -The Duke, after an earnest expostulation in reply to this letter, -suspended his remonstrances, calmly awaiting the current of events by -which we are carried along in life, often independent of our free wills. -He remained abroad all the summer, endeavouring to draw his affairs in -Holland to a close, and solacing his wearied and vexed spirit with the -hopes of one day enjoying in tranquillity the shades of Woodstock. Much -of his time and thoughts was devoted to the completion and decoration of -that magnificent palace, destined for two as gifted beings and stately -inhabitants as ever trod its banquet-hall. In the midst of war, and, -what harassed him far more, of politics, he turned with almost youthful -delight to the minutiæ of those preparations for his luxurious home, -which had in his mind an association with a deep-felt sentiment. - -“My glasses,” he writes from Meldert, “are come, and I have bespoke the -hangings; for one of my greatest pleasures is in doing all that in me -lies, that we may as soon as possible enjoy that happy time of being -quietly together, which I think of with pleasure, as often as I have my -thoughts free to myself.”[127] - -And when the Duchess, in her letters, responded to these sentiments, his -pleasure was blended with affectionate gratitude. - -“I am obliged to you for your kind expression concerning Woodstock; it -is certainly a pleasure to me when I hear the work goes on, for it is -there I must be happy with you. The greatest pleasure I have, when I am -alone, is the thinking of this, and flattering myself that we may then -live so as to anger neither God nor men, if the latter be reasonable; -but if they are otherways, I shall not much care, if _you_ are pleased, -and that I do my duty to God; for ambition and business is what after -this war shall be abandoned by me.”[128] - -The Duke wrote habitually in this strain; but of late, the hollowness of -those whose personal advancement constitutes the sole business of their -lives, had been painfully manifested to him. Since the knowledge of the -Duchess’s downfal had become general, her failings, and the defects of -the whole “Marlburghian faction,” as it has been called by a -contemporary writer, constituted the subject of general conversation; -“being,” says the caustic, but not dispassionate Cunningham, “bandied -about the town by gossiping women, and by them greedily sucked in; -whilst the inexperienced multitude, who, for the most part, look with -envy on the grandeur and good fortune of their superiors, rejoiced at -the Duchess of Marlborough’s disgrace, and began to carry themselves -with great insolence, as if any one of themselves were to have succeeded -her in the Queen’s favour.”[129] - -The Duchess, meantime, retired to Windsor; and, according to the same -authority, “lived in quiet, nor did she take any pains to appease the -anger of the incensed Queen;” although repeatedly advised by her friend -Mr. Mainwaryng, not to absent herself wholly from the court,—a line of -conduct which he urged, not solely on her own account, but for the good -of her friends. But the Duchess disregarded his admonitions; and by this -indifference the artful Mrs. Masham gained ground, skilfully availing -herself of her rival’s absence to ingratiate herself more and more in -the Queen’s favour. Prince George, it appears, was unfavourable to the -Masham faction. As a spectator, comparatively but little concerned in -all that passed, he probably dreaded the intrigues, the petty -commotions, among the female hierarchy, which disturbed his conjugal -repose. The Queen, at this time, fell into the inconvenient habit of -holding nocturnal conferences with the Harley and Masham confederacy, -and her health suffered in consequence. A humour in her eyes was the -subject of public concern; and Prince George remarked in public, that it -was no wonder she should suffer, but rather that she should not be -otherwise indisposed, from late hours. This remark is said not to have -fallen from him unawares. It was evident, in the sequel, that the Prince -deemed the removal of Harley from the confidence of her Majesty -indispensable. - -The Duchess now aroused herself from her apathy; but it was too late. -She employed spies about the Queen, and gained intelligence of all that -happened. She worked upon the minds of Marlborough and Godolphin, and -besought, if she did not command, their interference in the matter. - -Serious thoughts of quitting her employments, and of resigning her -offices in favour of her daughters, having received from the Queen a -sort of vague promise that her employments should be made over to them, -now occupied her mind. For some time, the advice of friends, and more -especially of her confidential correspondent, Mr. Mainwaring, delayed -the performance of her intention. Yet, before finally giving up the -game, she was anxious to make one more effort against the adverse party. - -Before affairs came to a crisis, the discovery of a treasonable -correspondence between a man named Gregg, and the Queen’s enemies -abroad, arrested the downfal of the Marlborough family, and delayed the -elevation of Harley. Gregg was a clerk in the office of the Secretary of -State, and much in his confidence; and there were many who hesitated not -to consider the secretary as implicated in the delinquencies of his -clerk. Yet it was by Harley that the affair was first brought to -light.[130] More especially, Lord Sunderland charged Harley with being -privy to the crime of Gregg; nor could the asseverations of the culprit, -who was drawn in a sledge to the place of execution, and hanged, wholly -silence the bitter accusations and unworthy suspicions of Sunderland. - -The Queen, when urged to investigate the conduct of Harley, showed -considerable reluctance to act in the matter. She was “moved,” to use an -old-fashioned expression, when Marlborough and Godolphin spoke to her on -the subject.[131] When, irritated by her determined though meek -opposition, they told her plainly that it was impossible for them to do -her Majesty any service whilst Mr. Harley remained in the council, she -was still firm; and to the expressed resolution of Godolphin to leave -her, she seemed insensible. But when Marlborough proffered his -resignation, her royal heart was touched, and she studied by arguments -and compliments to change his determination; but both her Treasurer and -her General quitted her presence in disgust. - -Anne repaired on the same day to the council, where Harley opened some -matters relating to foreign affairs. The whole board seemed to be -infected with sullenness; and, upon the Duke of Somerset remarking that -it was impossible to transact any business whilst the General and the -Treasurer were away, a deeper gloom overspread the faces of those who -were present. The Queen then perceived that she must yield—a conviction -which she received with feminine wrath and perverseness. She sent the -next day for Marlborough, and told him that Mr. Harley should in two -days be dismissed; but she gave her concurrence to this desired measure -with a deep resentment, which her tenacity of impressions rendered -indelible. - -It might now be expected that the Duchess’s restoration to favour would -ensue; but those who looked for such a termination of the political -broil knew nothing of human nature. Anne never forgave being compelled -to part with Harley. Her ministers perceived that they had lost her -confidence; and Harley, through the favour of Mrs. Masham, still enjoyed -opportunities of “practising upon the passions and credulity of the -Queen,” as Lady Marlborough expresses it. - -Among those members of the ministry who went out of office in -consequence of Harley’s dismissal, was the celebrated Henry St. John, -who immortalised the name of Bolingbroke.[132] He at that time held the -office of Secretary at War; but his rise to political influence had -begun in the earliest years of the Queen’s reign. - -Of a most powerful natural capacity, to which were added splendid -attainments, the result of a careful education acting upon an ardent and -grasping mind,—of great but misdirected ambition,—Lord Bolingbroke was -one of those men by whom Fate dealt unkindly, in subjecting them to the -temptations of a political career. There is, indeed, no reason to -conclude that Bolingbroke, untempted by that ambition to which he -sacrificed so much, would have adorned private life by purity and -temperance,—which were not the fashionable virtues of the day. When even -the high-minded and reflecting Somers could tarnish his great qualities -by licentious habits, there can be little cause to wonder that one who, -like Bolingbroke, lived in a whirlwind, could be profane without a -blush, and grossly immoral without contrition. Born not only with strong -passions, but more especially with the most perilous of all, the passion -for notoriety, Bolingbroke had not the protecting influence of a -religious faith to temper his extravagances, nor to chasten his erring -spirit when the dark hour had passed away, and had left his mind free to -admire and worship the beauty of virtue; and to draw the comparison -between his own conduct, and that rule which should have been his guide. -The cable by which he was connected with that anchor which alone can -keep the frail bark firm, was cut away. The infidelity of Bolingbroke, -and his endeavours to impress his opinions upon others, are too well -known to require further comment. - -It may be well, from his intimate connexion with the political affairs -of the day, as well as from the regard which the Duke of Marlborough -once entertained for him, to trace the progress of that extraordinary -mind, and of that inconsistent yet lofty character, of which -Bolingbroke, both in his works and in the history of his life, has left -us ample records. - -It may seem unfair to say, that his early scepticism and his youthful -thirst for distinction may be attributed, in some measure, to his -education among individuals of the Presbyterian persuasion. Not that we -mean, by such an assertion, to cast the slightest reflection upon the -pious and generally conscientious body of non-conformists. But -Bolingbroke, like many other young persons whose friends are opposed on -matters of controversy, was the object of persuasion—the innocent cause -of polemical discussion—the victim of well-meant efforts which drew in -contrary ways. - -This gifted descendant of a long line of eminent and ennobled warriors -and statesmen was born at Battersea, in Surrey, in the year 1672, at the -house of his paternal grandfather, Sir Walter St. John. The civil -commotions, in which his grandfather had taken a prominent part, were -then, in those later days of Charles the Second, hushed, not quelled; -and the effects of political and polemical differences not only still -existed, but were cherished as sacred recollections by the elder -branches of the St. John family, of whom Lady St. John, the grandmother -of Bolingbroke, was an influential member. This excellent and zealous -lady, although a charitable benefactress to the orthodox institutions of -her village, was a steady adherent to the Puritans, and an earnest -promoter of their principles in the mind of her youthful grandson. -Unluckily she adopted that course of instruction which has been found to -be peculiarly unsuccessful in training the minds of youth to certain -religious impressions. It is universally remarked how little we respect -what we have been forced to commit to memory,—however valuable may be -the subject, however attractive the form of what we are thus compelled -to receive into our rebellious imaginations. The spiritual adviser of -Lady St. John, and the instructor of Bolingbroke, was Daniel Burgess, -one of those singular compounds of fanaticism, shrewdness, humour, and -obstinacy, who often obtain so remarkable an influence over the -strongest intellects, as well as the most devout hearts. This zealous -man acted with the usual blindness to the inclinations of youth, and -with the ignorance of human nature which such persons display. “I was -obliged,” says Lord Bolingbroke, writing almost with loathing of his -earlier days, “while yet a boy, to read over the Commentaries of Dr. -Manton, whose pride it was to have made an hundred and nineteen sermons -on the hundred and nineteenth Psalm.” - -These spiritual exercises were, it is more than probable, counteracted, -or at least discouraged, by his grandfather, who, after the Restoration, -conformed to the national church, and received into his family, as -chaplain, the learned Dr. Patrick, afterwards Bishop of Chichester and -Ely, who remained many years in his family. - -Henry, the object of these well-intended cares, claimed, on his mother’s -side, an alliance with the ancient and noble family of Rich, Earl of -Warwick; from which loyal house he probably received those predilections -for the Tory party which a mother could so easily implant; an influence -which no non-conformist divine could readily counteract. But whilst thus -he grew up, culling from different sources contrary opinions, it is -probable that from his Presbyterian tutor he acquired that ardour for -singular distinction, which is the characteristic mark of sectarianism -of every description, and by which, indeed, in conjunction often with -higher motives, its ramifications are extended and maintained. - -It was not until after Bolingbroke had passed the period of early youth, -that this love of display, not to dignify it with the name of ambition, -took a higher aim than the desire of being the most lavish, the most -fearless, the most eccentric, and the most profane profligate of his -age. At Oxford, his powerful comprehension, his ready wit, the subtility -of his reasoning, the extent of his memory, raised expectations of his -career, which were soon dissipated by his mad and outrageous, rather -than sensual course of pleasures. When he moved into the sphere of -fashion to which his birth entitled him, it became his degrading boast -that his mistress was the most expensive of her class; and that he could -drink a greater quantity of wine, without intoxication, than any of his -companions. Yet, in the midst of such associates as envied or extolled -his supremacy, St. John never wholly lost that desire for better things, -that love of knowledge, and value of intellectual excellence, which -afterwards raised him from debasement, and which still ennoble his name, -in spite of his unprincipled political career, and of the obliquity of -his moral conduct. - -It was not until the latter end of the reign of William, and after his -first marriage, that Henry St. John applied himself to politics. He was -then twenty-eight years of age. Unhappily for him, he consulted what he -deemed expediency (his guide through life) in the first respectable -connexion that he formed. He married the daughter and co-heiress of Sir -Henry Winchescomb, a descendant from the famous clothier, Jack of -Newbury, who entertained Henry the Eighth and his suite. The union which -St. John thought proper to form might have been considered prudent by -his friends, but it proved adverse to all improvement in his domestic -conduct. His wife, though commended for her personal and mental -accomplishments, yet failed in fixing the gay, inconstant Bolingbroke. A -separation ensued; and though much of the lady’s fortune, which amounted -to forty thousand pounds, became the portion of her husband, it was -subsequently, with the exception of some estates, given back to her -family after his attainder. - -So far his worldly interests were concerned; but it was Bolingbroke’s -fate, in after life, to attach himself strongly to the wife of the -Marquis de Villette, the niece of Madam de Maintenon, and to be truly, -passionately, and long hopelessly attached. His jealousies, his -uncertainties, the sickness of hope deferred, were a retribution to his -former indulgence of what are too lightly termed the pleasant vices; in -which his vanity, perhaps his passions were concerned, but in which the -heart participated not. - -Bolingbroke entered parliament in 1700, as member for Wotton-Basset, on -the Whig interest. His wife’s connexions, as well as his own, had -considerable influence in the political world. But the natural and -acquired attributes of the young politician were far more potent than -family influence, which can place a man in the national assembly, as one -may plant a tree, but cannot make it grow, nor enable it to stand the -wintry blast. - -It was, perhaps, not among the least of Bolingbroke’s advantages, that -he was one of the handsomest men of his time. Notwithstanding the -dissolute life which he had led up to the period of manhood’s prime, -when he became a noted politician, St. John retained a sweetness of -countenance which usually belongs to innocence alone, combined with a -dignity, the outward token of a high quality of mind, and perhaps the -hereditary mark of ancient blood. His manner was eminently fascinating; -and the awe which his acknowledged abilities might have inspired, was -dispelled by a vivacity which, strange as it may appear, has been almost -invariably the accompaniment of the most profound thinkers, and of the -most energetic actors on the stage of public life. - -To these personal advantages, Bolingbroke, in the maturity of his -intellect, added an astonishing penetration into the motives and -dispositions of men. Perhaps he trusted too greatly to this faculty, for -he was often deceived, where duller spirits might have perceived the -truth. He possessed the art of acquiring an ascendency over all with -whom he conversed. If he could not convince, he was contented to waive -contention, and to gain his point by entertaining. His powers of -eloquence, even in that age, when the art of rhetoric was sedulously -cultivated, were supereminent. Perhaps the greatest merit of eloquence -is perspicuity; and this Bolingbroke displayed in a very uncommon -degree. A prodigious memory, the handmaid of oratory, did not ensnare -him into the fault of pedantry, common to men so endowed. How admirably -he has avoided this defect in his Letters on the Study of History, must -be remembered with gratitude by those who have perhaps sat down to -peruse the work with dread, but have arisen from it, not wearied, but -delighted and informed. - -His eloquence possessed the charm of a noble simplicity. Yet his -language, although apparently only such as would be suggested to any -person speaking familiarly on similar subjects, was selected with a -skill the more refined that it could not be detected. Sometimes he would -pause for a moment’s reflection, when in the midst of an harangue; but -the pause was succeeded by a full, clear, impassioned burst of -eloquence, to which all the stores of his memory, the depth of his -logic, and the elegance of a mind never debased, whatever might be his -immoralities, contributed, like pellucid streams flowing into the one -mighty torrent.[133] - -It was in the dawn of his political career that St. John gained the -approbation, almost the affection, of Marlborough.[134] Until after the -defection of Harley from the ministry, Marlborough and Bolingbroke were -more than political allies. The great general admired the talents of the -young debater, and loved his society; as men who have lived long enough -to appreciate all the various sorts of excellence, love the promise of -the young, and hail its progress with almost prophetic accuracy. -Bolingbroke, on the other hand, whatever were the differences of after -life, whatever the wrongs sustained by Marlborough, whatever his own -tergiversation, reverenced, almost affectionately, the hero of -Ramillies,—a victory achieved whilst he himself was in office. His -eloquent tribute to the great hero’s memory is well known.[135] - -It has been supposed, and not without reason, that St. John was indebted -both to the Duke of Marlborough and to Harley for his introduction to -office, in 1704, as Secretary at War and of the Marine. That he -considered himself chiefly bound in honour and gratitude to Harley, is -evident from his resigning his post, upon the dismissal of that -minister. A friendship of some years had, indeed, at the time of that -event, subsisted between Harley and St. John. But it was a friendship -such as worldly men could alone avow and endure; hollow, interested, and -already verging into rivalry,—as the closest intimacies are found to be -sometimes nearest to the deadliest hatred. Never was there an alliance, -bearing the name of friendship, so ill assorted. Harley was a man of -industry, research, method; a statesman of no extended views, yet an -adept in the craft. His morals were, for his time, more than -respectable, his integrity unimpeachable, although it was not of a -description suited to the nicer notions of our modern days. It was his -aim to conciliate both Whigs and Tories; to maintain the Protestant -succession, yet to conciliate the adverse courts of St. Germains. To -effect his ends, he scrupled not to employ any means which appeared to -him expedient. If not actually deceptive, he was, at any rate, -constantly treading on the brink of that moral precipice, falsehood: -versed in all Parliamentary forms and records, he was at once an able -leader of the House of Commons, as well as a consummate manager of -courts. - -Bolingbroke, on the other hand, with a less share of principle than -Harley, displayed a decision and courage which bore the aspect of -consistency and disinterestedness. His devotion to the Tories, which -proved his ruin, caused him to disapprove the half measures of his -friend and subsequent rival. Yet he was not wholly devoid of a deep, -designing spirit; for Bolingbroke, though in this instance he -misunderstood the general sentiments of the nation, yet was not deceived -in the real, heartfelt secret wishes of his royal mistress, on which he -relied. - -At the period when the “great breach,” as the Duchess of Marlborough -called it, took place, Bolingbroke was, however, the warm adherent of -Harley; and in compliance with their mutual bond, he quitted office, -after three years’ enjoyment of its dignity and emoluments.[136] - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - 1708—Vacillation of Anne—Invasion of the Pretender—Results of that - event—Secret intrigues with Mrs. Masham—The death of Prince - George—The Duchess of Marlborough’s affectionate attentions to the - Queen on that occasion—Her disappointment. - - -Not many days after the dismissal of Harley and the resignation of St. -John, and whilst the world of politics was still occupied in discussing -Gregg’s ignominious life and courageous death, it was announced that a -French fleet, with troops, had sailed from Dunkirk to invade Scotland. - -James Stuart, or, as Queen Anne, for the first time after this attempt -upon her kingdom, permitted him to be designated, the Pretender, was, -however, luckily for himself, prevented from embarking with the -squadron, just at the critical time, by an ague;[137] and the fleet was -put back by contrary winds. When too late to do any good, James set -sail. The fleet, being chiefly filled with landsmen, was greatly -distressed for want of water; and, after being tossed about for nearly a -month in a tempestuous sea, was obliged to return to Dunkirk. Thus was -this vast project, contrived by Louis with the design of drawing off the -troops in Flanders, frustrated; nor would the French monarch have been -inconsolable, had the Pretender fallen into the hands of the English, of -which he ran an imminent risk; for Louis was not particularly anxious to -see the unfortunate Prince again in France; and he would have been -reconciled to the loss of his fleet, if he could have at the same time -been relieved of his guest.[138] The attempt, however, proved nearly -fatal to the Tory party in England: for it was believed that Louis would -not have risked so small a fleet, and forces so incompetent as those -which he sent over, had he not been well assured of assistance in -England and Scotland. - -On the other hand, the Queen, who was alarmed, and, according to her -capability, indignant, on account of her brother’s invasion, perceived -the duplicity of those who had so recently assured her that there was -not a single Jacobite in the nation. Never before this occurrence had -her royal lips been known to mention the Revolution. Her courtiers had -universally endeavoured to separate her title to the throne from any -connexion with that event; although she had no other claim to the crown -than that which was given her by the Act of Settlement. The Queen now, -as Parliament was sitting, addressed the Houses; she named the -Revolution twice; she received addresses in which the word ‘Pretender’ -was applied to her brother: she thus approved that designation, and from -this period he is so called in the generality of histories.[139] She -declared publicly that she considered those who had brought about the -Revolution to be her best friends; and the Whigs as most to be depended -upon for the support of her government. She looked to Marlborough for -assistance, and, for the first time, cordially agreed with her general, -that it was neither for her honour, nor interest, to make the first -steps towards a peace,[140] She wrote to him in the most confidential -and affectionate terms, signing herself his “humble servant;”[141] and -she received from him a respectful and manly answer, assuring her -Majesty that the Duke desired to serve his royal mistress “in the army, -but not as a minister.”[142] - -For a while this good understanding lasted, and the Whigs were sanguine -of their entire restoration to royal favour; but, as the Queen’s fears -subsided, her inclinations returned to their old channel, and her mind -yielded again to the influence of Harley. - -That able and persevering courtier continued, during the whole summer -after his dismissal, to entertain a secret correspondence with the -Queen. Anne, whose nature was quite on a level with that of the most -humble of her household, descended so far as to encourage these stolen -conferences. The lessons which she had learned during her depression in -the court of William and Mary were retained, when the same inducement to -those small manœuvres no longer justified the stratagems which nothing -but the dread of tyranny can excuse. To enjoy in privacy the gossip, for -it could not be called society, of Mrs. Masham, and the flattery of -Harley, “she staid,” says the indignant Duchess, “all the sultry season, -even when the Prince was panting for breath, in that small house she had -formerly purchased at Windsor; which, though hot as an oven, was then -said to be cool, because, from the park, such persons as Mrs. Masham had -a mind to bring to her Majesty could be let in privately from the -garden.”[143] - -The Duchess could not long endure this; and, upon the occasion of a -thanksgiving for the victory of Oudenarde, and after the memorable siege -of Brussels, her wrath broke forth. She still, in spite of her threats, -held the office of groom of the stole, which brought her into frequent, -unfortunate collision with the Queen. The efforts to please, which the -haughty Duchess now condescended to make, were constantly counteracted -by her rival. The following letter is truly characteristic. Pique, -pride, effrontery, are curiously manifested in its expression.[144] - -“I cannot help sending your Majesty this letter, to show how exactly -Lord Marlborough agrees with me in my opinion, that he has now no -interest with you; though, when I said so in the church on -Thursday,[145] you were pleased to say it was untrue: and yet I think -that he will be surprised to hear that, when I had taken so much pains -to put your jewels in a way that I thought you would like, Mrs. Masham -could make you refuse to wear them, in so unkind a manner; because that -was a power she had not thought fit to exercise before. I will make no -reflection upon it; only that I must needs observe that your Majesty -chose a very wrong day to mortify me, when you were just going to return -thanks for a victory obtained by Lord Marlborough.” - -The Queen thought proper to answer this epistle in the following words. -The contest had now arrived at its climax. - - - “Sunday. - -“After the commands you gave me on the thanksgiving-day of not answering -you, I should not have troubled you with these lines, but to return the -Duke of Marlborough’s letter safe into your hands, and for the same -reason do not say anything to that, nor to yours enclosed with it.” - - -It was impossible for the Duchess, on receiving so extraordinary a -letter, to remain silent; and, in truth, she was one of those whom -rebuke could not abash, nor argument silence, nor invective intimidate. -She again took up the pen, not, as she assured her Majesty, with any -view of answering the Queen’s letter, but of explaining what she had -said at church. This explanation, like most others, tended to make the -matter considerably worse. “I desired you,” says the Duchess, continuing -to address the Queen in the character of an equal, “I desired you not to -answer me there, for fear of being overheard; and this you interpret as -if I had desired you not to answer me at all, which was far from my -intention. For the whole end of my writing to you so often, was to get -your answer to several things in which we differed, that if I was in the -wrong you might convince me of it, and I should very readily have owned -my mistakes.” - -The Duchess proceeds to say, that she hopes that, some time or other, -the Queen may find time to reflect upon the unanswerable arguments which -the Duchess had laid before her, and that her Majesty would also -occasionally listen to the advice of my Lord Marlborough, and then she -would never more be troubled with disagreeable letters from her. “The -word _command_,” adds the Duchess, “which you use at the beginning of -your letter, is very unfitly supposed to come from me. For though I have -always writ to you as a friend, and lived with you as such for so many -years, with all the truth, and honesty, and zeal for your service that -was possible, yet I shall never forget that I am your subject, nor cease -to be a faithful one.”[146] - -This correspondence appears to have had the effect only of widening the -breach. It is one peculiarity of our sex, or, at any rate, of the least -reflective portion, that the affections once alienated, cannot, by -reasoning, by persuasion, even by concession, be restored to their -accustomed channel. At Anne’s side there stood a whisperer ever ready to -pour into the royal ear the antidote to all the medicine of too -wholesome truth, which the Duchess, in her hardihood, dared to -administer. It was indeed her boast, that when, without prejudice or -passion, she knew the Queen to be wrong, she should think herself -wanting in her duty not to tell her Majesty her opinion, “and the -rather, because no one else dares to speak out upon so ungrateful a -subject.” - -The poor Queen went on, therefore, much in the same state of indecision -and mystery as that in which her life had been passed for years; -closeted every night with Mrs. Masham and Harley, and watched at every -avenue by the Duchess and her emissaries. When the ministry suspected -that the Queen was under the influence of the discarded but dreaded -Harley, the Duchess despatched a letter full of remonstrances and -reproaches, written with her “usual plainness and zeal.” But finding -that by this mode she could make no impression upon her Majesty, the -Duchess sought an interview, and begged to know what her crime was that -had produced so great an alteration in the Queen. This inquiry drew from -Anne a charge of inveteracy and of persecution against “poor Masham,” -and a declaration that the Queen would henceforth treat the Duchess as -it became her to treat the Duke of Marlborough’s wife, and the groom of -the stole; but she forbore specifying any distinct charge against the -discarded favourite. - -On receiving this letter, the Duchess began a work which it seems she -had some time contemplated; namely, a careful review of all the faithful -services which, for about twenty-six years, she had performed towards -the Queen; of the favour with which she had been honoured, and of the -use which she had made of that favour; and of the manner in which she -had now lost it, by means of one whom she had raised out of the -dust.[147] To savour her apology with some sacred associations, the -Duchess prefixed to it the directions given by the author of “The Whole -Duty of Man,” with regard to friendship; and the directions in the -Common Prayer before the Communion with regard to reconciliation, -together with the rules laid down by Bishop Taylor on the same head; and -in offering this memorial, the subdued, but not humiliated Duchess, gave -her word to her Majesty, that if, after reading these compilations, she -would please to answer in two words that she was still of her former -opinion, she, the Duchess, would never more trouble her on that head as -long as she lived, but would perform her offices with respect and -decorum, remember always that Anne was her mistress and her Queen, and -resolve to pay her the respect due from a faithful subject to a Queen. - -This despatch was sent from St. Albans, and the Queen promised that she -would read and answer it. But ten days afterwards the paper was unread, -and the only consolation which the Duchess received for this negligence -was a kind look and a gracious smile from her Majesty, as she passed to -receive the communion; “but the smile and the look,” adds the Duchess, -“were, I had reason afterwards to think, given to Bishop Taylor and the -Common Prayer Book, and not to me.” - -Meantime the Queen, after more than twenty-five years of matrimony, -became a widow. Prince George, in October, sank under the effects of a -long-continued asthma, which, during the last few years of his life, had -kept him hovering on the brink of the grave. The Queen, who had been -throughout the whole of her married life a pattern of domestic -affection, had never, during the last trying years of his life, left the -Prince either night or day. She attended him with assiduity, and -proffered to her sick consort those patient services which are generally -supposed only to be the meed of females in the humbler walks of life. - -The Prince merited her affection; his manners were amiable, and his -conduct respectable; and he had not embarrassed the Queen by taking a -conspicuous share in politics. The “Monsieur est il possible” of King -James was neither deficient in sense nor in information; but his powers -of expression were inferior to his capacity for gaining knowledge.[148] - -The Queen, unsentimental though well intentioned, plunged deeper and -deeper into petty political intrigues, after the respectable occupation -of tending her invalid husband was at an end. Her grief was as edifying -as her conjugal affection had been exemplary; yet the parliament, not -thinking it too late for such addresses, petitioned her Majesty that she -would not allow her grief for the Prince’s death to prevent her from -contemplating a second marriage. But Anne continued to be, or, as some -said, to seem inconsolable. She avoided the light of day, and could not -endure the conversation of her dearest friends, but seemed, as in -affliction it is natural so to do, to revert to those companions of her -earlier years who had witnessed the felicity of her married life. - -Several weeks had elapsed since the Queen and the Duchess had met, when -the latter was apprised that the existence of the Prince of Denmark was -drawing to a close. The Duchess, warm in her temper, warm in her -feelings, wrote on this occasion to her royal mistress to express her -determination to pay her duty, in inquiring after her Majesty’s health, -and to declare that she could not hear of so great a misfortune and -affliction as the condition in which the Prince was, without offering -her services, if acceptable to her Majesty. - -This letter was scarcely penned, before further tidings of the Prince’s -danger arrived; and the Duchess, setting off for Kensington, carried her -letter with her, and sent it to the Queen, with a message that she -waited her Majesty’s commands. Anne could scarcely be much flattered by -a tribute of respect, which was prefaced by the Duchess with these -offensive words:—“Though, the last time I had the honour to wait upon -your Majesty, your usage of me was such as was scarce possible for me to -imagine, or for any one to believe,” &c. &c. She received her haughty -subject “coolly, and as a stranger.” The Duchess, however, touched by -her royal mistress’s impending calamity, persevered. It was her lot, -after witnessing the nuptials of the Queen with the Prince of Denmark, -and after participating for years in their sober privacy, to be present -at his last moments. It was her office to lead the Queen from the -chamber of death into her closet, where, kneeling down, the Duchess -endeavoured affectionately to console the widowed sovereign, remaining -for some time before her in that posture of humiliation. - -The Queen’s conduct in this peculiar situation, and at this critical -moment, was singularly characteristic of her feeble, vacillating -character, on which no strong impression could be made. Whilst the -Duchess knelt before her, imploring her Majesty not to cherish sorrow, -by remaining where the remembrance of the recent solemn scene would -haunt her, but to retire to St. James’s; whilst the arrogant but -warm-hearted Duchess forgot all past grievances in her attempts to -solace a mistress from whom she had received many favours; the poor -Queen’s fluttered spirits were affrighted by the recollection of Mrs. -Masham, and of the party who would resent this long and private -interview. She yielded, however, to the Duchess’s remonstrances, and -promised to accompany her to St. James’s; and, placing her watch in the -Duchess’s hand, bade her retire until the finger of that monitor had -reached a certain point, and to send Mrs. Masham in the interval. A -crowd was collected before the antechamber, and the Duchess, emerging -from the royal closet, determined, though the game was lost, at least -not to betray her defeat. She behaved on this occasion with the address, -and dignity, and self command, which a knowledge of her own well-meant -intentions, and her long experience in the world, imparted. She ordered -her own coach to be prepared for the reception of the Queen, and desired -the assembled courtiers to retire, whilst her Majesty, amidst her -complicated feelings of grief and embarrassment, should pass through the -gallery. The Queen, moved like a puppet to the last by the spirited and -intellectual woman who was formed to command, came forth, leaning on the -arm of the Duchess. “Your Majesty,” said the lofty Sarah, “must excuse -my not delivering your message to Mrs. Masham; your Majesty can send for -her at St. James’s, how and when you please.” - -The Queen, apparently insensible to the spirit of this reply, or -preoccupied by fears as to what “poor Masham” would think, moved along -the gallery, whispering some commission to Mrs. Hill, the sister of Mrs. -Masham, as she went along, and casting upon Mrs. Masham, who appeared in -the gallery with Dr. Arbuthnot, a look of kindness, though without -speaking. She was sufficiently composed, on entering the carriage, to -intimate to Godolphin that she wished the royal vaults at Westminster to -be inspected previous to the interment of the Prince, in order to -ascertain whether there would be room for her body also,—if not, to -choose another place of interment; and in these topics the drive from -Kensington to St. James’s was occupied. It was not thought by the Queen -incompatible with the deep feeling which she professed, to busy herself -with those minutiæ to which minds of a common stamp affix so much -importance, connected with the disposition of the dead.—The Duchess has -commented upon the Queen’s particularities, with the freedom natural to -her. After a conference with Lord Godolphin at St. James’s, during which -the Duchess retired, the Queen, to use her own expression, “scratched -twice at dear Mrs. Freeman’s door,” in hopes of finding the Lord -Treasurer within the Duchess’s apartments, in order to bid him, when he -sent his orders to Kensington, order a great number of yeomen of the -guard to be in attendance to carry the “dear Prince’s body” down the -great stairs, which were very steep and slippery, so that it might “not -be let fall.” - -The transient reconciliation which thus took place between the Queen and -the Duchess was not of long duration. Mrs. Masham, indeed, retired that -same evening from the supper-room, where the Duchess appeared to attend -upon her Majesty; and Anne cautiously forbore to mention “poor Masham’s” -hateful name. But when in private, Anne was almost continually attended -by the insidious Abigail, and the Duchess rarely entered the royal -presence without finding her rival there, or, what was worse, retiring -furtively at her approach; and she soon ascertained that the very closet -where she had knelt in sorrow and compassion before her sovereign—where -she had striven to act the part of consolation—was the scene of Mrs. -Masham’s influence. It seemed, indeed, strange that Anne should select -for her daily sitting-room the closet which her deceased consort had -used as his place of retirement and prayer, and the prying Duchess soon -penetrated behind the screen of widowed proprieties. She has laid bare -the occupations of the royal mourner, whilst closeted for many hours of -the day in Prince George’s apartments. The Duchess, indeed, suspected -that some peculiar motive could alone induce Anne to disregard the -mournful associations with that retreat; and resolving to ascertain the -cause, she had the mortification to discover the true reason of Anne’s -choice: this was, that the “back-stairs belonging to it came from Mrs. -Masham’s lodgings, who, by that means, could bring to her whom she -pleased.”[149] - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - Trial of Dr. Sacheverell—His solemn protestation of innocence—Scene - behind the curtain where the Queen sat—Fresh offence given by the - Duchess to Anne.—1709–1710. - - -The year 1709, which witnessed the almost final alienation of the Queen -from her early favourite, was disgraced by the strange spectacle of Dr. -Henry Sacheverell’s trial, his punishment, and triumph. - -A celebrated female historian has well observed, that it is difficult to -say “which is most worthy of ridicule,—the ministry, in arming all the -powers of government in their attack upon an obscure individual, or the -public, in supporting a culprit whose doctrine was more odious than his -insolence, and his principles yet more contemptible than his -parts.”[150] - -This “trumpeter of sedition,” as Cunningham calls him, or, according to -the ladies and other zealous partisans of his day, this persecuted -saint, was a preacher of little merit, but of great pretensions; who, in -a discourse delivered on the fifth of November, 1709, at St. Paul’s -cathedral, attacked Queen Elizabeth, decried the authors of the -Revolution, abused the ministers of the reigning sovereign, and upheld -the doctrines of divine right, in one “incoherent jumble,” at once -passionate, ill constructed, and, one would have supposed, innocuous. - -The subsequent trial and conviction of this agitator of the unsettled -times in which he lived, have been copiously detailed in history. There -has doubtless been many a more solemn, but there assuredly never was a -more singular scene than that which was exhibited in Westminster Hall on -the day of his trial. A court was prepared exactly in the form of a -tribunal in the House of Lords, and seats were placed for the peers. The -Queen herself attended, as a private individual, in a box placed near -the throne, with a curtain drawn between her and the assembly. The hero -of the piece, Dr. Sacheverell, came forward to the bar with Dr. -Atterbury and Dr. Smalridge, two Tory prelates, and made his obeisance -to the court, with all the effrontery and indifference which marked his -whole career. - -The court was thronged without by an infuriated mob, ready to wreak, in -deeds of vengeance, the excitement which they called religious zeal, on -the opposing party, should Sacheverell suffer the penalties of the -misdemeanors with which he was charged. Within, the enclosure of the -stately pile was lined with ladies of rank, who dreaded, says -Cunningham, lest the “Observer” or the “Tatler” should satirise their -dress and conduct; yet none who could enter, absented themselves from a -scene so full of interest and diversion. The known inclination of the -Queen to favour the doctrines advanced by Sacheverell, however -preposterous and derogatory to her own right, induced many fair -politicians, who went to see and to be seen, to harass their minds with -discussions upon those knotty points, the fallaciousness of which it is -far better to leave to practical experience to prove, than to seek to -expose by arguments which only inflame the passions. - -All listened with interest to the numerous charges, amongst which was -the grave accusation of having plainly called the Lord High Treasurer of -this kingdom “Volpone;” but, after the elaborate and learned speeches -made in this famous cause by the managers of the House of Commons; when -the lawyers and judges had been duly listened to,—after the doctor’s own -counsel had spoken, he himself replied to the charges in an able -oration, stated not to be his own. After expatiating upon the dignity of -the holy order to which he belonged, he called solemnly upon the -Searcher of hearts to witness that he entertained no seditious designs, -and was wholly innocent of the crimes alleged against him. When he had -concluded, a general sentiment of indignation pervaded the assembly. The -Countess of Sunderland, pious, sincere, young in the ways of a corrupt -court, was so affected by this appeal to God, that she could not help -shedding tears at what she believed to be falsehood and blasphemy.[151] - -Sacheverell, however, returned in triumph to his lodgings in the Temple; -and his sentence, which was suspension from preaching for three years, -though not so severe as had been contemplated, was followed by riots, -both in London and in the country, similar in spirit and outrage to the -famous disturbances which Lord George Gordon, a fanatic less -reprehensible, and of less political importance, contrived many years -afterwards to excite. - -But the Whigs, unhappily, had failed in this trial of their power, and -had foolishly betrayed their weakness. The Duke of Marlborough, who had -recommended the prosecution of Sacheverell, “lest he should preach him -and his party out of the kingdom,” must have repented, when it was too -late, the adoption of counsels which hastened on the crisis that -approached. Happily for the common sense of the nation, Sacheverell, -intoxicated by the applause of the multitude, soon showed his motives -and character in their true light. He paraded the country, intermeddling -with the affairs of others, and assuming a sort of spiritual authority -wherever he went. He performed a tour to congratulate his party on his -and their common safety; and, as is usual, alas for womankind! his -proselytes, his confidantes, the compassionate consolers for the -contumacy which he received from men worthy of the name, were all -misled, devoted, prejudiced women. - -The Duke of Argyll, who had opposed his sentence, hearing that -Sacheverell was going to call upon him to return him thanks, refused to -receive him or his acknowledgments. “Tell him,” said the Duke, “that -what I did in parliament was not done for his sake.”[152] - -The Duchess of Marlborough, constrained by the duties of her office to -wait upon the Queen, was present during the whole of the trial of -Sacheverell; and whilst the assembled throng in court were intent upon -the scene below the bar, small intrigues for favour and secret -heart-burnings were carried on behind that curtain, screened by which, -her Majesty sat to hear the singular proceedings in court. The Duchess -has given the following account of the new causes of offence which she -was so unfortunate as to give to her Majesty.[153] - -“This was at Dr. Sacheverell’s trial, where I waited upon the Queen the -first time she went thither, and having stood above two hours, said to -the vice-chamberlain, that when the Queen went to any place incognito -(as she came to the trial, and only looked from behind a curtain) it was -always the custom for the ladies to sit down before her; but her Majesty -had forgot to speak to us now; and that since the trial was like to -continue very long every day, I wished he would put the Queen in mind of -it: to which he replied very naturally, ‘Why, madam, should you not -speak to the Queen yourself, who are always in waiting?’ - -“This I knew was right, and therefore I went up to the Queen, and -stooping down to her as she was sitting, to whisper to her, said, ‘I -believed her Majesty had forgot to order us to sit, as was customary in -such cases.’ Upon this, she looked indeed as if she had forgot, and was -sorry for it, and answered in a very kind easy way, ‘By all means, pray -sit;’ and, before I could go a step from her chair, she called to Mr. -Mordaunt; the page of honour, to bring stools, and desire the ladies to -sit down, which accordingly we did—Lady Scarborough, Lady Burlington, -and myself. But as I was to sit nearest to the Queen, I took care to -place myself at a good distance from her, though it was usual in such -cases to sit close to her, and sometimes at the basset table, where she -does not appear incognito; but, in a place of ceremony, the company has -sat so near her as scarce to leave her room to put her hand to her -pocket. Besides this, I used a further caution, of showing her all the -respect I could in this matter, by drawing a curtain behind me in such a -manner, betwixt her and me, as to appear to be as it were in a different -room from her Majesty. But my Lady Hyde,[154] who stood behind the Queen -when I went to speak to her, (and who I observed, with an air of -boldness more than good breeding, came up then nearer to hear what I -said,) continued to stand still in the same manner, and never came to -sit with the rest of us that day, which I then took for nothing else but -the making show of more than ordinary favour with the Queen. - -“The next day the Duchess of Somerset came to the trial, and before I -sat down I turned to her, having always used to show her a great deal of -respect,[155] and asked her if her grace would not be pleased to sit; at -which she gave a sort of start back, with the appearance of being -surprised, as if she thought I had asked a very strange thing, and -refused sitting. Upon this I said it was always the custom to sit before -the Queen in such cases, and that her Majesty had ordered us to do so -the day before, but that her refusing it now looked as if she thought we -had done something that was not proper. To which she only answered, that -she did not care to sit; and then she went and stood behind the Queen, -as Lady Hyde had done the day before, which I took no farther notice of -then, but sat down with my Lady Burlington as we did before. But when I -came to reflect upon what these two ladies had done, I plainly perceived -that, in the Duchess of Somerset especially, this conduct could not be -thought to be the effect of humility, but that it must be a stratagem -that they had formed in their cabal, to flatter the Queen by paying her -more respect, and to make some public noise of this matter that might be -to my disadvantage, or disagreeable to me. - -“And this I was still the more confirmed in, because it had been known -before that the Duchess of Somerset, who was there with her lord, was to -act a cunning part between the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. The -Whigs and Tories did not intend to come to the trial. - -“As, therefore, it was my business to keep all things as quiet as -possible till the campaign was over, and preserve myself in the mean -while, if I could, from any public affront, I resolved to do what I -could to disappoint these ladies in their little design; and in order to -this, I waited upon the Queen the next morning, before she went to the -trial, and told her that I had observed, the day before, that the -Duchess of Somerset had refused to sit at the trial, which I did not -know the meaning of, since her Majesty was pleased to order it, and it -was nothing more than what was agreeable to the constant practice of the -court in all such cases; but however, if it would be in any respects -more pleasing to her Majesty that we should stand for the future, I -begged she would let me know her mind about it, because I should be very -sorry to do anything that could give her the least dissatisfaction. To -this she answered, with more peevishness than was natural to her, in -these words: ‘_If I had not liked you should sit, why should I have -ordered it?_’ - -“This plainly showed that the cabal had been blowing her up, but that -she could not, however, contradict her own order. What she had now said -was still a further confirmation of it, and made it more difficult for -the cabal to proceed any farther in this matter, and therefore the next -day the Duchess of Ormond and Lady Fretchwell came to the trial, and, to -my great surprise, sat down amongst the rest of us. And thus this matter -ended; only that the Duchess of Somerset used some little arts -afterwards, which are not worth mentioning, to sweeten me again, and -cover her design, which I suppose now she was ashamed of.”[156] - -Whilst proceedings were pending against Sacheverell, the Queen’s design, -to disgust her ministers and to induce them to resign, became apparent. -Notwithstanding the open warfare between “poor Masham” and the Duchess, -Anne, upon a vacancy occurring, wrote to the Duke of Marlborough to -obtain the colonelcy of a regiment for Mr. Hill, the brother of that -Abigail who had undermined all the Duke’s greatness, and put to flight -the small portion of the Duchess’s forbearance. - -Of this scion of the notable family to whom he belonged, the Duchess has -given an account in her Vindication. Jack Hill, as she calls him, was a -younger brother of Mrs. Masham, and, like the rest of the family, was -provided for by the Duchess. The occupations which these dependent -relations held were suitable to their lowly conditions, and, as the -Duchess seemed to think, to the inferiority of their condition to her -own. It has been already specified how she had provided for them. The -younger sister had, as we have seen, been appointed by the Duke of -Marlborough laundress to the Duke of Gloucester, and, when that prince -died, had received a pension of two hundred a year out of the privy -purse, coming directly from the Duchess’s hands. The elder brother -obtained, through the Duke’s interest, a place in the Custom-house; and -upon security being required, previously to his being promoted to a more -responsible situation, the Duchess persuaded a relation of the Duke’s to -be guarantee for that sum. - -Thus had she laboured successfully to provide for these indigent -relations, who afterwards proved briers in her path of life. Mrs. -Masham, the elder sister, whom she had treated as her sister, and to -whom she had given an asylum in her house, availed herself of -opportunities to supplant her. It was the fortune of “honest Jack Hill,” -as his boon companions called him, to bring a second humiliation upon -the Duke his patron. - -Years had passed away since these favours had been shown to Mr. Hill, -and he was now a partisan of those who were foes to his benefactors, -having long since forgotten by whose means he was raised from abject -poverty to respectability. - -It was concerning the promotion of Mr. Hill to the command of a -regiment, vacant by the death of the Earl of Essex, that the first open -rupture between the Queen and the Duke of Marlborough occurred. The plot -which Harley and the Masham party had woven, appeared now, according to -the opinions of the Duchess, in undisguised colours. Already had they -induced the Queen to prefer bishops who were not acceptable to the -ministry; and it was now their successful aim to lead her Majesty into -another snare. They therefore persuaded her to make military -appointments without the consent of her general; and the choice of Mr. -Hill for the purpose of mortifying the Duke was, it must be allowed, -eminently successful, if they wished to lower the authority of that -great commander. A double design was thus intended. If the Duke -permitted his relative’s promotion, the whole army would feel the -injustice done to their profession; if he resisted it, it would lend new -force to the arguments by which the weak and credulous mind of Anne was -perpetually assailed, namely, that she was but a cipher in the hands of -the Marlborough family; and thus, the Duke and his wife were by the same -dexterous arrangement equally injured, or at any rate insulted. - -The wary but high-minded Duke resented this measure loftily and stoutly. -He waited at first on her Majesty, and endeavoured respectfully to -change her resolution, by representing the injustice which the promotion -of a young and untried officer would be deemed by the army. He argued -earnestly upon the encouragement which would be given to the party -adverse to the ministry, by promoting Mrs. Masham’s brother. But he -could extract from the sullen Queen no kind expression, and only the -cautious reply, “That the Duke would do well to consult with his -friends.”[157] Godolphin, at this time writhing under the agonies of a -mortal disorder, which his cares and vexations must have aggravated, -went also to the Queen, and sought by persuasion to change her -obstinate, Stuart-like determination; but without success. - -Marlborough, indignant, left London, on the fifteenth of January, on a -council day. Her Majesty took no notice of his absence; but the world -spoke resentfully of an injustice done to their great and once popular -general; and the House of Commons testified by some votes their sense of -the impropriety of Anne’s conduct. Eventually she was obliged to yield; -for her new counsellors perceived that they had gone too far, and her -Majesty was obliged to write word to the Duke that he might dispose of -the regiment as he thought fit, and also to order his return to court, -and to “assure him that he had no ground for suspicion of change in her -Majesty’s good intentions.”[158] - -This seeming disposition to relent in favour of the Marlborough family -was, however, the effect of a deep policy. Anne, naturally obstinate, -and close in her expressions, had been taught lessons of duplicity, and -rendered more than ever the tool of a faction. Mrs. Masham’s influence -was, indeed, becoming too notorious to be endured, not only by the -Whigs, but by men of influence and popularity, who were not especially -attached to either party. The sway of the lofty and arbitrary Duchess -had been, for many reasons, endured with a degree of patience which the -world could not extend to her rival. The great associations with the -name of Churchill, the extensive patronage which the Duke and his -Duchess possessed, the intermarriages of their beautiful and admired -daughters into families of influence; and perhaps, not least of all, the -habit into which society had grown of considering the rule of the -Marlborough family as indestructible, had lessened the disgust which men -evince towards female domination, and had reconciled the public mind to -that of which all could complain, but of which none could anticipate the -decline. Besides, there was something imposing in the ascendency which -the high-bred and intellectual Duchess haughtily assumed—something -almost magnificent in the unfair, yet lofty habit of rule which suited -her so well, and to which she seemed born. The Duke, by common -acclamation the first of subjects, seemed to merit such a companion, -such an ornament of his greatness, a star always conspicuous in its -steady brilliancy on the political horizon. - -But when the artful, humble, prudent Mrs. Masham crept into royal -favour, and planted herself behind that throne near which the Duchess -had proudly stood, the odious features of intrigue appeared despicable -in comparison with the fearless demeanour, and open defiance of her -enemies, which the Duchess had exhibited. Anne, that automaton moved -successively by secret springs of different construction and power, -seemed to the world to have degenerated in her greatness when she fell -into the meaner hands of the lowliest of her waiting women, one who had -been a “rocker” in the royal household, scarcely of gentle blood, and -whose ready subserviency spoke so plainly of her early initiation into -those prying, petty ways which a long apprenticeship in the services, -still menial, of the royal bedchamber, was likely to produce. - -It was during the heat of Sacheverell’s business, and before that -notable comedy had been brought to a close, that several of the privy -counsellors, disgusted by Mrs. Masham’s influence, consulted privately -as to the expediency of moving an address for her dismissal from the -royal confidence.[159] These conferences, which were held late at night, -were kept profoundly secret. They were attended by Lords Somers, -Wharton, Halifax, and Sunderland, the Chancellor Cowper, and the Lord -Treasurer. Halifax and Wharton, the most violent of the party, with all -duty to the Queen, are said to have insisted modestly, that evil -counsellors of one sex might be as well removed from the royal councils -as those of another, by the advice of parliament. Somers, Godolphin, and -Cowper were of a different opinion, and judged that such a remonstrance -could not be made, consistently with the laws of the land. Sunderland -was violent and impatient, and bitterly inveighed against the moderation -of Somers, formerly his oracle, but now no longer able to control the -rash spirit of his once enthusiastic votary. Marlborough, also, resisted -the impetuosity of his son-in-law; and whilst he had proved himself -capable of frustrating, by manly determination, the arch-enemy’s plans, -resolved, with Somers, to wait until a favourable opportunity of -annihilating her influence should occur; not, unconstitutionally, to -force the Queen to abandon her favourite, as Sunderland required. Even -in his chariot, when setting off for Holland, Marlborough is reported to -have refused the importunities of his son-in-law.[160] - -The Queen, meantime, fearing, lest some motion relative to Mrs. Masham -should be made in parliament, rallied her friends around her, and -occupied herself in sundry closetings, which included many avowed -enemies to the Revolution, and gave, says the Duchess, “encouragement to -the Jacobites, who were now observed running to court, with faces as -full of business as if they were going to get the government into their -hands.” - -The Queen, elated with the notion infused into her, that she was by -these preferences gaining a victory over the Marlborough family, became -more and more estranged from one to whom she had, in her ignorance of -the meaning of the word, professed true friendship. It was reported, -that as the peers returned out of her closet, she said to them -severally, “If ever any recommendation of mine was of weight among you, -as I know many of them have been, I hope this one may be specially -regarded.”[161] It is difficult to say whether, at this time, the Duke -and Duchess of Marlborough were most injured by their professed friends, -or by avowed enemies. It is, perhaps, a problem which we may often -vainly endeavour, in our progress through life, to solve, whether -injudicious zeal or open enmity should most inspire us with -apprehension. Enthusiasm in friendship is the parent of indiscretion; -and what is termed devotion, in a human sense, has so often as its -source a fund of selfishness, that we are apt to consider ourselves -safer when encountering indifference, than when constrained to bend to -the persuasions of ardent attachment. - -Godolphin was, undoubtedly, amongst all the band of adherents, the only -true friend whom the Duke and Duchess possessed. His attachment to them -was genuine; their confidence in him was entire. No variations of -temper—no differences of opinion, seem to have disturbed that perfect -accordance in sentiment, that respectful admiration on one side, and -that reposing of every thought or wish on the other, which is the true -elysium of affectionate hearts. Godolphin now experienced, in the -decline of his fortunes, the mutability of all other friendships, the -hollowness and selfishness of public men. It is easy to the interested -to persuade themselves that they really contemn those who are not only -no longer useful to them, but whose friendship might even be -prejudicial. The Duke of Somerset, once the friend of Marlborough, as -his Duchess had been of the Duchess—a man of great pride, and of -considerable influence—now seceded from his once intimate associates, -piqued by the Duke’s refusing a regiment to his son. The Duke of Argyll -and the Earl of Rivers had already made a friendly compact to divide -between them the offices which they expected soon to be vacant, on the -disgrace or resignation of Marlborough. Other noblemen were drawn in by -their necessities to desert to the opposite party. But the most -remarkable defection from the Whig party was that of the Duke of -Shrewsbury, the early friend of Lord Somers, but now the partisan of -Harley, the associate of Swift, and the husband of a Roman Catholic -wife, an Italian lady, who had followed him to Augsburg from Rome, and -whose ardent passion for the accomplished Shrewsbury had induced him to -make her Duchess of Shrewsbury. - -The influence of these noblemen, joined to the enmity of others, amply -sufficed, with the Queen’s aid, to level the fortunes of the Marlborough -family. Before the trial of Sacheverell, it was even expected that the -Duke would resign all the offices which he held, except the command of -the army, which could not, without injury to the cause of the -continental confederates, be surrendered to his political foes. But the -Duke could not, without a struggle, relinquish the cherished honours -which had been long the aim of his arduous life, to which he had looked -as the reward of a career of exertion wholly unexampled. His feelings at -this crisis may be readily conceived. Stung to the heart, sick of -courts, of princes, and of politicians, it is said that he contemplated -the resignation of all his civil offices, yet not without a compromise; -but that he could not bring himself to give up that military command, -which, says an historian, “no good man envied him.”[162] - -Harley, meantime, was sedulously availing himself of an opportunity to -work up his way to the ephemeral and precarious power which he -afterwards enjoyed so little, and with so much personal risk. During the -ferment which the trial of Sacheverell produced, he courted familiarity -with persons of all persuasions. He fasted with the prime zealots of the -different sects, or he invited the more convivial believer. He promised -all that was asked of him; he dispersed hopes and expectations around -him; yet kept his own designs secret, except to those whom he could -confidently trust. - -The Duchess, meantime, before resigning her offices, made one effort -more to win back the Queen’s lost regard, or at any rate to efface from -her Majesty’s mind every impression unfavourable to her. She had heard -that Anne was given to understand that she spoke disrespectfully of her -in company; and as she knew herself to be innocent of this charge, she -waited on her Majesty on the third of April, 1710, and entreated to be -favoured with a private interview. Three several hours were named by the -Duchess, when she knew her Majesty to be usually alone; but the Queen -appointed six o’clock in the afternoon, the time for prayers, when there -was little probability of finding her Majesty at home for any private -conversation. But even this appointment was broken, and a note was sent -from the Queen, to command that whatever the Duchess should have to say, -should be put into writing, “and to beg her to gratify herself by going -into the country as soon as she could.” The Duchess waited on the Queen, -and used all the arguments she could to obtain a private hearing, -adding, “that she was now going out of town for a long time, and should -perhaps never have occasion to trouble her Majesty again as long as she -lived.” The Queen still refused her request several times, “in a manner -hard to be described,” but yielded, so far as to appoint the next day -after dinner: yet, on the following morning, this appointment was broken -also, and another note from her Majesty arrived, telling the Duchess -that she was going to Kensington to dinner, and desiring her to put her -thoughts in writing. - -These weak pretexts either prove that Harley and Mrs. Masham still -dreaded a revival of the long-asserted influence which they had -successfully combated, and that Anne was the undignified tool of their -manœuvres—or they betray the Queen’s dread of again encountering the -earnest, and, doubtless, violent disputant, whose “commands” in the -chapel royal were still fresh in the royal memory. Stouter nerves than -those of the weak and harassed Queen may have been shaken by the lofty, -and at times not very courteous demeanour of the Duchess. - -Persevering in her attempt, the Duchess again wrote to the Queen, and -again pressed an interview, assuring her Majesty that she would give her -no uneasiness, but only clear herself from charges which had been -wrongfully made against her; adding, that if the afternoon were not -inconvenient, she would come every day and wait until her Majesty would -allow her an interview. The particulars of this remarkable scene would -lose much of the diversion which they must necessarily produce, if given -in any other language than in that of the chief actor in the -comedy.[163] - -“Upon the sixth of April,” says the Duchess, “I followed this letter to -Kensington, and by that means prevented the Queen’s writing again to me, -as she was preparing to do. The page who went in to acquaint the Queen -that I was come to wait upon her, stayed longer than usual; long enough, -it is to be supposed, to give time to deliberate whether the favour of -admission should be granted, and to settle the measures of behaviour if -I were admitted. But at last he came out, and told me I might go in. As -I was entering, the Queen said, she was just going to write to me; and -when I began to speak, she interrupted me four or five times with these -repeated words, ‘_whatever you have to say, you may put in writing_.’ I -said, her Majesty never did so hard a thing to any as to refuse to hear -them speak, and assured her that I was not going to trouble her upon the -subject which I knew to be so ungrateful to her, but that I could not -possibly rest until I had cleared myself from some particular calumnies -with which I had been loaded. I then went on to speak, (though the Queen -turned away her face from me,) and to represent my hard case; that there -were those about her Majesty who had made her believe that I had said -things about her, which I was no more capable of saying than of killing -my own children; that I seldom named her Majesty in company, and never -without respect, and the like. The Queen said, _without doubt there were -many lies told_. I then begged, in order to make this trouble the -shorter, and my own innocence the plainer, that I might know the -particulars of which I had been accused; because if I were made to -appear guilty, and if I were innocent, this method only could clear me. -The Queen replied that _she would give me no answer_, laying hold on a -word in my letter, that what I had to say in my own vindication _would -have no consequence in obliging her Majesty to answer, &c._; which -surely did not at all imply that I did not desire to know the particular -things laid to my charge, without which it was impossible for me to -clear myself. This I assured her Majesty was all I desired, and _that I -did not ask the names of the authors or relators of those calumnies_; -saying all that I could reasonable to enforce my just request. But the -Queen repeated again and again the words she had used, without ever -receding; and it is probable that this conversation would never have -been consented to, but that her Majesty had been carefully provided with -those words, as a shield to defend her against every reason I could -offer. I protested to her Majesty, that I had no design, in giving her -this trouble, to solicit the return of her favour, but that my sole view -was to clear myself, which was too just a design to be wholly -disappointed by her Majesty. Upon this the Queen offered to go out of -the room, I following her, begging leave to clear myself; and the Queen -repeating over and over again, ‘_You desired no answer, and shall have -none_.’ When she came to the door, I fell into great disorder; streams -of tears flowed down against my will, and prevented my speaking for some -time. At length I recovered myself, and appealed to the Queen, in the -vehemence of my concern, whether I might not still have been happy in -her Majesty’s favour, if I could have contradicted or dissembled my real -opinion of men or things? whether I had ever, in the whole course of our -long friendship, told her one lie, or played the hypocrite once? whether -I had offended in anything, except in a very zealous pressing upon her -that which I thought necessary for her service or security? I then said -I was informed by a very reasonable and credible person about the court, -that things were laid to my charge of which I was wholly incapable; that -the person knew that such stories were perpetually told to her Majesty -to incense her, and had begged of me to come and vindicate myself; the -same person had thought me of late guilty of some omissions towards her -Majesty, being entirely ignorant how uneasy to her my frequent -attendance must be, after what had happened between us. I explained some -things which I had heard her Majesty had taken amiss of me; and then -with a fresh flood of tears, and a concern sufficient to move -compassion, even where all love was absent, I begged to know what other -particulars she had heard of me, that I might not be denied all power of -justifying myself. But still the only return was, ‘_You desired no -answer, and you shall have none_.’ I then begged to know if her Majesty -would tell me some other time? ‘_You desired no answer, and you shall -have none_.’ I then appealed to her Majesty again, if she did not -herself know that I had often despised interest, in comparison of -serving her faithfully and doing right? and whether she did not know me -to be of a temper incapable of disowning anything which I knew to be -true? ‘_You desired no answer, and you shall have none_.’ This usage was -severe, and these words so often repeated were so shocking, (being an -utter denial of common justice to me, who had been a most faithful -servant, and now asked nothing more,) that I could not conquer myself, -but said the most disrespectful thing I ever spoke to the Queen in my -life, and yet, what such an occasion and such circumstances might well -excuse, if not justify: and that was, that I was confident her Majesty -would suffer for such an instance of inhumanity. The Queen answered, -‘_That will be to myself_.’”[164] - -“Thus,” observes the Duchess, “ended this remarkable conversation, the -last that I ever had with her Majesty. I shall make no comment on it. -Yet,” she adds, with her inherent magnanimity, “the Queen always meant -well, however much soever she may be blinded or misguided.” And she adds -to this temperate observation a passage from a letter of her husband’s, -the Duke, written about eight months before, in which she says, “There -is something so pertinent to the present occasion, that I cannot forbear -transcribing the passage.”[165] - -“It has always been my observation in disputes, especially in that of -kindness and friendship, that all reproaches, though ever so just, serve -to no end but making the breach wider. I cannot help being of opinion -that, however insignificant we may be, there is a Power above that puts -a period to our happiness or unhappiness. If anybody had told me eight -years ago, that after such great success, and after you had been a -faithful servant for twenty-seven years, that even in the Queen’s -lifetime we should be obliged to seek happiness in a retired life, I -could not have believed that possible.” - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - Final separation between the Queen and the Duchess—Some anecdotes of - Dr. and Mrs. Burnet—Dr. Burnet remonstrates with the Queen—The - Queen’s obstinacy—Dismissal of Lord Godolphin—Letter from the - Duchess to the Queen—1710. - - -The Queen and the Duchess never met again. But, in the midst of enemies, -there were not wanting friends, faithful to the Duchess, and true to the -Queen and constitution, who ventured to remonstrate with her Majesty -upon the hazardous change in her counsels which her whole demeanour -augured. - -Amongst those who privately and earnestly pointed out the impending -dangers and difficulties, was the Bishop of Salisbury, Dr. Burnet, who -has done ample justice to the “economy and fidelity of the Duchess to -the Queen, and justice to those who dealt with the crown,” which the -Duchess of Marlborough manifested in her brilliant, but arduous -career.[166] - -Dr. Burnet had been assimilated with the Duchess in political, and in -what was then considered almost as the same thing, religious, opinions. -A close intimacy existed between the Duchess and the exemplary and third -wife of the excellent prelate, the last of his three consorts, all of -whom had been distinguished either in rank, in piety, or attainments. -Mrs. Burnet took an active part in the concerns of the Duchess, who -frequently communicated with her, and received letters in return, -discussing the topics which then agitated the world, within the -precincts of the court. At this time a staid matron of nine-and-forty, -Mrs. Burnet could well remember the agitated times of James the Second, -during whose reign she had retired with her first husband, Mr. Berkley -of Spetchley Castle, Worcestershire, to Holland, to avoid the calamitous -scenes which she expected to witness, and had remained at the Hague -until the Revolution. Distinguished for piety, benevolence, and virtue, -it was the lot of Mrs. Berkley, after a happy union with her first -husband, to be left an opulent widow, in the prime of life. It was her -choice to devote herself, for the seven years of that isolated, but -possibly not dreary state, to works of charity, and to studies which -would have adorned the leisure of the learned lords of creation. By her -exertions, schools for the poorer classes, then little regarded in -general, were established in the neighbourhood of Worcester and -Salisbury. By her superior, although not classical attainments, she -obtained the friendship of Dr. Stillingfleet, who declared that he knew -not in England a more considerable woman than Mrs. Berkley. In his union -with this amiable woman Bishop Burnet was eminently happy. Her influence -in society tended, as that of every woman should, to make virtue throw -its beams “far in a naughty world;” to elevate domestic, sober qualities -in the eyes of men, by proving them to be compatible with the highest -attainments; to be the counsellors as well as the solace of those whose -vocation leads them to dive into the troubled waters of life. - -The Bishop, who proved to all his wives an excellent husband, left to -this, his last and his best, the disposal of her own fortune, and the -entire charge of his numerous family. Mrs. Burnet, it is evident from -many passages in the Duke of Marlborough’s letters, was not only the -intimate associate and correspondent of the Duchess, but the object of -respect and esteem to all the great leaders of the Whig ministry. She -gained that ascendency, doubtless, in a great measure by her -moderation—a quality which proves to the actors in difficult times as -beneficial as the mariner’s compass to a vessel at sea. It was a quality -in which her eminent husband was peculiarly deficient, and the want of -which obscured those great and good qualities, and that real regard for -truth, for which his contemporaries did not give him justice, and which -posterity has slowly and, as it were, reluctantly assigned to him. - -Mrs. Burnet, unhappily for those whom she instructed by her example, or -guided by her influence, was, at this time, no more. The winter of 1708 -had witnessed her death, from a pleuritic fever attending the breaking -up of the frost in January. With consistent attention to all her -engagements, she was buried at Spetchley, by the side of her first -husband, in compliance with a promise made to him. And on this delicate -point she thought it proper to leave an explanation in her will, for the -consolation of her second helpmate, Dr. Burnet.[167] - -The afflicted and then aged prelate did not survive his wife more than -six years; and the close of his eventful and laborious life was saddened -by seeing those principles which he had consistently contemned, triumph, -and produce renewed confusion and contention. Dr. Burnet was, however, -unhappily for his party, but little qualified to advance its popularity -by his courtesy, or to gain proselytes by any other measures than an -earnest, sincere preference of certain principles. His conversation was -singularly deficient in the arts of address; his sincerity was -involuntary, and in certain situations provokingly obtrusive. His love -of politics, in which he took perhaps too great a share for one engaged -in concerns of far higher importance, was derived, according to his own -account, from the conversation of his father, who had the same fondness -for politics as the excellent prelate himself, and whose arguments and -anecdotes engendered that taste in the mind of his son.[168] Hence -sprang up that ardent, active, and unquiet character, adapted to do some -good, but to incur much censure, in such times as those in which the -Bishop lived. The character of Burnet, written by the Marquis of -Halifax, and given by that nobleman himself to the Bishop, portrays with -much delicacy of touch, and probably in not too severe a light, both the -brilliant parts and the strong shadows of Burnet’s mind: it brings to -view the singleness of heart, the impetuosity of temper, the quickness -to be offended, the readiness to forgive, the disinterestedness, the -christian heroism, which were offensive to lesser men, from the high -example which they presented, and which could not, without inconvenience -to more selfish minds, be imitated. - -Qualified thus to obtain respect, and having long exercised a -considerable control over the Queen’s spiritual concerns, Dr. Burnet now -undertook, in the crisis of her affairs, to remonstrate with his -obstinate, and as he considered, misled sovereign. Perhaps, if certain -anecdotes be true, there could not be a person less qualified in manner, -although admirably in intention, for so delicate a task. The Bishop had -an awkward habit of remembering any circumstance disgraceful to an -individual, and a still more awkward practice of letting those facts -escape, in conversation, just at the moment when all the proprieties of -life required that they should be concealed. When Prince Eugene, some -time after this period, visited England, Dr. Burnet, anxious to see so -remarkable a person, requested the Duke of Marlborough to accomplish a -meeting between him and the Prince in society. The Duke consented, on -condition that the Bishop would be careful to let nothing drop from him -which might offend the feelings of his illustrious guest; and Dr. Burnet -was invited to dine, in company with the Prince, at Marlborough-house. -It was not beyond the remembrance of most of the party assembled, and -certainly still in that of the Bishop, that Prince Eugene’s mother, the -famous Countess of Soissons, had been imprisoned, about thirty years -previously, with several other ladies of Paris, on suspicion of -poisoning.[169] The Bishop had assuredly no intention of reminding -Prince Eugene of this circumstance, and indeed, conscious of his -infirmity, he resolved to sit incognito during dinner, and to listen, -not to converse. Unluckily for the rest of the party, however, the brave -Eugene, seeing a prelate at table, inquired of the Duke of Marlborough -who it was, and being told it was Bishop Burnet, addressed himself to -him, and inquired, by way of conversation, when he had last been in -Paris. The Bishop answered with precipitation, “that he did not exactly -remember the year, but it was at the time that the Countess of Soissons -was imprisoned.” As he spoke, his eye met that of the Duke of -Marlborough, himself the quintessence of caution and courtesy; the poor -Bishop was overpowered, and, by way of making the offence ten times -greater, hastily asked pardon of his highness for his error. - -The worthy Bishop’s asking after “that wicked wretch, the Countess of -Wigton,” of her son, the Earl of Balcarres, and his avoiding Lord Mar -because he did not like him, and knew that he could not avoid “babbling -out something which would give him offence,” proved his involuntary -propensity of speaking his thoughts, and his consciousness of that -inconvenient propensity. - -Dr. Burnet now, during the winter of 1710, undertook to speak to the -Queen on her affairs, more freely than he had ever in his life done -before. He told her the reports that prevailed, of her intention to -favour the design of bringing the Pretender to the succession of the -crown, on condition of her holding it during her life. He represented to -her Majesty that her accordance in such a scheme would darken all the -glory of her reign, and would arouse her people to a sense of their -danger, and to the necessity of securing the Protestant succession; in -which, the good Bishop assured her, he would plainly concur. He sought -to work upon Anne’s timid temper, by declaring to her, that if such were -her plans, he believed that her brother would not wait until the term of -her natural life for his possession, but take some means to shorten it; -and that he doubted not, when the Pretender was on the sea, there were -“assassinates” here, who, upon the news of his landing, would try to -despatch her. To these emphatic arguments the Queen listened patiently, -and for the most part in silence, and, with her usual timid and crooked -policy, gave the Bishop to understand that she thought as he did. Yet -his remarks produced no effect upon her mind; and no other consolation -was left to the Bishop than that of having honestly and forcibly -delivered his sentiments.[170] - -The appointment of the Duke of Shrewsbury to the office of Lord -Chamberlain, in room of the Marquis of Kent, who was made a peer, was -the next event talked of, after the last stormy interview between the -Queen and the Duchess. Godolphin, who was at Newmarket when the staff -was given to Shrewsbury, remonstrated in vain with the Queen; and -although the most positive assurances of fidelity to the Whigs were -given by Shrewsbury, it was impossible for the ministry not to entertain -considerable suspicions of his sincerity. - -The dismissal of the Earl of Sunderland from the post of secretary of -state, in the month of June, was the first decisive blow struck against -the power of the Marlborough family. It was aggravated by the refusal of -the Queen to listen to the remonstrances of Marlborough, and the -epistolary arguments of Godolphin. - -“No consideration proper to myself,” writes the Duchess, “could have -induced me to trouble the Queen again, after our last conversation. But -I was overcome by the consideration of Lord Marlborough, Lord -Sunderland, and the public interest, and wrote in the best manner I -could to the Queen, June seventh, 1710, begging, for Lord Marlborough’s -sake, that she would not give him such a blow, of which I dreaded the -consequence; putting her in mind of her letter about the victory of -Blenheim, and adding the most solemn assurances, that I had not so much -as a wish to remove Mrs. Masham, and that all the noise that there had -been about an address for that purpose had been occasioned by Lord -Marlborough’s discontents at that time, which most people thought were -just. To this the Queen wrote a very short and harsh answer, complaining -that I had broken my promise of not saying anything of politics or of -Mrs. Masham; and concluding that it was plain, from this ill usage, what -she was to expect for the future.”[171] - -There is little doubt but that the Duchess’s interference in this -design, as she herself says, hastened its execution; certainly it did -not retard it; for Lord Sunderland was dismissed from his office, -greatly to the joy of the high church party, who extolled the Queen for -her spirit in delivering herself from that arbitrary junto by whom she -had been kept in an inglorious dependence. The Duke of Beaufort, one of -this party, on appearing to pay his respects to her Majesty, -complimented her “that he could now salute her as Queen indeed.” But -poor Anne, unfortunately, scarcely ever enjoyed more than the shadow of -that authority which was disputed by factions, both equally intent upon -personal aggrandisement. - -Changes in the ministry were now of daily occurrence. Henry St. John, -the eloquent advocate of Tory principles, was made secretary of state. -The Duke of Marlborough, whose skill in discovering the depth of any -man’s capacity was acknowledged to be most profound, had already -prognosticated that he would become an eminent statesman; but he wanted -the firm foundation of integrity. Lord Chancellor Cowper resigned the -seals, at first much to the discomposure of the Queen, who, with an -unusual earnestness, begged him to keep them one day longer; but the -next day, having consulted Harley and Masham, she received them readily, -and gave them to Sir Simon Harcourt, an avowed adherent of the -Pretender.[172] - -Yet it was not until after other steps had been taken that affairs -arrived at that point, according to the opinions of Godolphin and the -Duchess, in which the game might be considered as utterly lost. For some -months, indeed, the Whigs agreed to unite more firmly on these -occasions, and determined that none of them should think of quitting, -“but should rub on in that disagreeable way as long as they could.” -Eventually, however, the current against them proved to be too strong -even for an unanimous cabinet to contend against. - -The most ungracious act of Anne’s reign was her dismissal of the -disinterested, the faithful, loyal, and hard-working Godolphin. His -disagreement with the Duke of Somerset, called, in derision, by his -party, “the sovereign,” tended doubtless to split the forces which the -Whigs could ill spare. Somerset was a proud, interested, and equivocal -politician, whose personal views made him vacillate from side to -side.[173] From the correspondence between Mr. Maynwaring and the -Duchess of Marlborough at this time, it is evident that the Whigs -depended much on the Duke of Somerset’s movements to decide the balance -of power, notwithstanding the opinion entertained by the Duke of -Marlborough “that he was an ill-judging man.” It is also obvious that -the utmost persuasions were adopted, both by Maynwaring and by Mr. -Craggs, to induce the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough not prematurely, -nor unnecessarily, to throw up their employments; and there were even -many persons who recommended the Duchess to “live easy with Mrs. -Masham,” and who resented the Duchess’s indignant refusals to truckle, -as the Duke termed it, to her arch-enemy. - -At last the final blow against the ministry was struck, by the dismissal -of Lord Godolphin. The probability of this event had been asserted ever -since the removal of Lord Sunderland, but had been positively denied by -Anne,—who, through her former secretary, Mr. Boyle, had sent assurances -to foreign courts that no more changes would be made in her ministry. -“And yet,” relates the Duchess,[174] “in less than two months after -this, and even the very day after the Queen had expressed her desire to -my Lord Godolphin himself that he would continue in her service, she -dismissed him; and her letter of order to him to break his staff was -sent by no worthier a messenger than a man in livery, to be left with -his lordship’s porter,—a proceeding which in all its parts would remain -very unaccountable, if the Queen had not, to those who expostulated with -her, made this undoubtedly true declaration, that she was sorry for it, -but could not help it. Unhappy necessity!” - -The Duchess could not view these changes without making one more -struggle. It was probably at the united desire of the party that she -wrote a long, an able, and a characteristic letter to the Queen, of -which the precise date (for, like many ladies, she did not always date -her letters) is unknown. It was written, however, before the dismissal -of Lord Sunderland, whilst yet the ministry remained entire, and whilst -the “collection,” (as the Duchess termed those statesmen who were talked -of to succeed her friends) were in expectation only of the places and -honours which they attained. - -This celebrated and extraordinary epistle, penned with the freedom of an -equal, was intended by the Duchess, as she declared, to express to the -Queen freely those truths which no one else appeared to speak to her -Majesty. It contained the strongest remonstrances, not only on the -injustice done to the Duke of Marlborough by the new system of policy -pursued, but on the injury which public affairs would receive, from the -loss of credit and of confidence in the government. With respect to the -proposed dissolution of parliament, the Duchess says—“When once the -parliament is dissolved, and the credit of the nation lost, it will be -in nobody’s power to serve you, but the French will come upon you -unawares. I heard a comparison of our credit, as it now stands, which I -was pleased with. It was said to be like a green flourishing tree full -of blossoms, which, upon the least change of ministry, would be nipped -and blasted, as fruit is by a north-east wind. And I was told of a very -unlikely man to understand the matter of parties, that is, Sir Godfrey -Kneller, who, upon the news of Lord Sunderland’s being out, was going to -sell all he had in the stocks, but a friend advised him to wait till it -was done. If such a man as this thinks of doing so, it is easy to -imagine that the alarm will work very far. And I cannot for my soul -conceive what your Majesty would do all this for.”[175] - -These exhortations were of no avail; and perhaps added fresh inducements -to the strong determination of the exasperated Queen; they certainly -served to put the new favourites on their guard. But the Duchess wrote -no letters to her Majesty without submitting them to the perusal of -Godolphin,—the Duke of Marlborough being unfortunately abroad at this -critical period. - -The Duchess, in the meantime, resided chiefly at Windsor; the works -were, nevertheless, still going on actively at Blenheim; and the Duke, -in his letters of this period, earnestly entreats her to hasten the -completion of the great court leading to the offices, and of the north -side of the house, that he and the Duchess might have one side of the -house “quiet;” “for, one way or other,” adds the wearied and -broken-spirited Marlborough, “I hope to be there next summer.”[176] - -Early in June, however, the Duchess, it appears, was prevailed upon to -come to London, not entirely with the Duke’s approbation, for he was -fearful that her coming to town, and not waiting upon the Queen, might -have an awkward appearance. He commended her letter to the Queen, yet, -in a subsequent despatch, begged her to write no more, since the -behaviour of her Majesty did not warrant nor encourage other addresses. - -The summer passed in anxious surmises on the part of the Duchess, whose -sanguine spirit was sometimes buoyed with hope, though checked by the -experienced Marlborough’s more rational fears of utter ruin to their -cause. At length, in the beginning of August, the dismissal of Godolphin -destroyed every prospect of recovering the favour that had been so long -actually withdrawn. Even Marlborough was not, it appears, prepared for -this last blow, although sufficiently expecting mortifications.[177] The -event was unexpected even by Godolphin, to whom the Queen had, only the -day previously, as has been already stated, expressed her wish that he -should continue in office. - -Mr. Harley was made one of the first of the seven lords commissioners of -the Treasury;[178] and, in September, Lord Somers was dismissed, and the -Earl of Rochester appointed president of the council in his place. -Various other changes were made, which sufficiently proved to the -country that henceforward a total change of measures would be adopted; -and from this time the glory of Anne’s reign may be said to have -departed. - -Whilst these occurrences were passing in London, Sacheverell was -parading the country after the manner of a royal progress, and great -violences were committed by the mob who followed him. Yet government -took no notice whatsoever of these outrageous and scandalous -proceedings, so derogatory to the cause of religion, which was made a -pretext for these insults to her sacred name. - -The Duchess, meantime, received the condolences and counsels of her two -friends, Mr. Maynwaring and Dr. Hare, afterwards Bishop of Chichester. -She also still assembled about her a little party of friends, and -received without displeasure the compliments of a certain nobleman, Lord -Lindsey, whom her friends called “her lover,” and on whose devotion many -jests were passed by her familiar associates. The joke was too freely -used to infer any foundation for it, even in the most scandalous -chronicles of that scandalous day; yet was the Duchess still beautiful; -still did she surpass the four most noted toasts of the times, her -lovely daughters; still, and even to a late age, did she retain the -freshness and vigour of youth—hair unchanged, complexion, spirits, -activity, and a sparkling wit, to which the utmost candour gave an -indescribable charm.[179] - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - Anecdotes of Swift and Addison—Publication of the Examiner—Charge - brought in the Examiner against the Duchess. - - -It augured ill for the Whig party when men of letters, who were not -attached to any faction, took up their position, at this juncture, under -the Tory banners. Amongst these, the most obnoxious was the Dean of St. -Patrick’s, whose intimacy with the leaders of both parties rendered the -choice which he meant to take still a problem. In one of his letters, he -declared, that the best intelligence he got of public affairs was from -the ladies; Mr. Addison, his friend, being nine times more secret to him -than to anybody else, because he had the happiness of being thought his -friend. - -Addison was right: for Swift’s friendship, at this period more -especially, conferred no credit on any public man. Like that changeable -reptile, the chameleon, he appeared of one colour in the morning, of -another in the afternoon. Disappointed in the preceding year by Lord -Halifax, who had written to him that he and Addison had entered into a -confederacy never to “give over the pursuit, nor to cease reminding -those who could serve him,” till his worth was placed in that light in -which it ought to shine, Swift was now seriously undertaking to devote -his great powers to that cause which prospered best, retaining still the -friendship of Addison, and enjoying a free admittance into the houses of -Halifax and Somers. - -It was in January, 1710, that the first invitation of Bolingbroke to -Swift to dine with him, had foreboded no good to the party whose -weakened fortresses such generals in literature were to attack. Swift’s -answer, with his wonted assumed independence and freedom, that “if the -Queen gave his lordship a dukedom and the garter honours, and the -Treasury just at the end of them, he would regard him no more than he -would a groat,”—meant no more than that he intended to accept the -invitation, and all the good things that might follow this token of -favour. - -It was in this year that a series of attacks on the former ministry was -concerted between Bolingbroke, Swift, Atterbury, and Prior, in defence -of the Tory party. They were published weekly, but were of short -continuance, under the name of the “Examiner.” The essays contained -nothing but political matter, very circumstantially and forcibly placed -before the reader, and carried on with a subdued, but bitter irony, -perhaps better calculated to influence the public mind than those bursts -of indignant eloquence which startle the passions, and do not always -convince the understanding. - -Addison, writing to Swift at this period, declares, after expressing his -wish again to eat a dish of beans and bacon in the best company in the -world, (meaning his friend,) that he is forced to give himself airs of a -punctual correspondence with Swift at St. James’s coffee-house, to those -friends of Swift who have a mind to pay their court to the then Irish -secretary:[180] yet Swift at that very time had satirised Lord Wharton, -Addison’s patron, in terms so outrageous as to meet with the reprobation -of the learned and moderate Dr. King, Archbishop of Dublin. - -Such a paper as the “Examiner” had been, in the opinion of Swift, long -required, to enlighten the public mind, and to disabuse the ignorant of -those errors into which they had fallen respecting the late ministry; -and, accordingly, one of its most elaborate papers is occupied in -discussing the charge of ingratitude, made against the Queen and her -advisers, for dismissing the Duke of Marlborough from his employments. - -After a long enumeration of the benefits which had been conferred on the -Duke, and stating, in a manner unparalleled for ingenuity and eloquence, -the unexampled rewards and privileges he had received, he follows the -attack upon the Duke by another, still more insidious, on the -Duchess.[181] - -“A lady of my acquaintance appropriated twenty-six pounds a year out of -her allowance for certain uses which the lady received, or was to pay to -the lady or her order, as was called for. But after eight years, it -appeared upon the strictest calculation that the woman had paid but four -pounds a year, and sunk two-and-twenty pounds for her own pocket; ’tis -but supposing twenty-six pounds instead of twenty-six thousand, and by -that you may judge what the pretensions of modern merit are, where it -happens to be its own paymaster.” - -From this hateful insinuation the Duchess amply cleared herself, in her -Justification. Doubtless Swift was indebted to the female politicians -who gave him such good information, for the dark hints which he threw -out in so ungallant, so dastardly a manner, couched in terms to which it -would be difficult to reply. Years afterwards, when most of the actors -of those days except herself were in the grave, resting alike from -political turmoils, and from the disturbances of their own passions, the -Duchess met the accusations brought against her, and justified her -character.[182] Her arguments, succinctly detailed in her Vindication, -include the following observations. - -At the time of her first disagreements with the Queen, she endeavoured, -as she asserts, through a friend, to remove those impressions against -her which Anne had imbibed. She wrote long accounts of the malice of her -enemies, and stated her own grounds of justification. On one point only -did the Queen vouchsafe an observation. “When,” says the Duchess, “I had -set forth the faithfulness and frugality with which I had served her in -my offices, and had complained of the attempts made by the agents of her -new friends to vilify me all over the nation, as one who had cheated my -mistress of vast sums of money, her Majesty, on this occasion, was -pleased to say, ‘_Everybody knows_ cheating is not the Duchess of -Marlborough’s crime.’” - -After seven-and-twenty years’ service, the Queen, when the question as -to her offences was urged by the Duchess, alleged none but that of -inveteracy against “poor Masham;” “yet,” says the Duchess, “the ready -invention of others, who knew nothing of my conduct, but whose interest -it was to decry me, could presently find in it abundant matter of -accusation.”[183] - -These gross calumnies, eagerly devoured by the credulity of party rage, -determined the object of such unwarrantable censures, to write and -publish something in her own justification, and produced a memorial, -which for various reasons did not at that time see the light, but which -the Duchess eventually wove into the form of that animated narrative, -her “Conduct.” - -Her performance of her trust as mistress of the robes was attacked in -libels, and charges of exorbitance and of peculation assailed her on all -sides. - -Her explanation of the circumstances under which she exercised her -office, completely exonerates her from these grave accusations. But, -through her clear and business-like vindication, few readers of our day -will care to follow her. Interspersed with inuendoes against Harley, who -“hired his creatures to misrepresent her as no better than a -pickpocket,” and interwoven with letters, and with compared accounts, -between the expenses of Queen Mary and those of Queen Anne, the -Duchess’s defence, on these heads, will readily be taken for granted. It -appears that in 1712 she drew up a statement, which, for certain -reasons, was not published. Horace Walpole, looking at the close only of -her Vindication, as critics are wont to do, might well call it the -“Chronicle of a Wardrobe, rather than of a reign.” Yet against such -enemies as the Duchess encountered, it was essential to preserve, and to -insist upon, those accounts of mourning and other expenses, of new -clothes and old clothes, sums given for the decorous attire of the maids -of honour after the Prince of Denmark’s death, coronation accounts, and -other matters, which the calumniated Duchess was obliged to produce, to -justify her integrity. - -The following passage is curious, as showing the accurate and close -manner in which the Duchess dealt, and the strict manner in which she -insisted upon all points of expense being referred to herself.[184] - -It was the custom, according to her account, for the tradesmen who were -employed by the royal family, to pay immense sums to the masters of the -robes for that privilege, and to reimburse themselves by putting -extravagant prices upon their goods. This dishonest practice, -disgraceful to the royal household, was first broken through by the -Duchess, who exacted no such perquisites from the tradesmen; neither -would she suffer them to charge exorbitantly, as had been their custom. -In discharging their accounts she was equally exact. Every bill was paid -when the goods were delivered. A certain Mrs. Thomas, a confidential -agent of the Duchess, was the person to whom the office of payment was -given; and she was remunerated “by old clothes and other little -advantages,” to the amount of between two and three hundred a year; but -never allowed to take money from tradespeople. - -The Duchess next expatiates upon her management of the privy purse, the -yearly allowance for which was twenty thousand pounds,[185] “not,” as -she declares, “half the sum allowed in King William’s time, and indeed -very little, considering how great a charge there was fixed upon it by -custom—the Queen’s bounties, play money, healing money,[186] besides the -many pensions paid out of it. The allowance was augmented to twenty-six -thousand pounds before I left the office. But in those two years Mrs. -Masham was become the great dispenser of the Queen’s money, I only -bringing to her Majesty the sums that were called for.” - -But the responsibility of these places, which was so ungraciously -requited by the public, was soon finally closed. On the return of the -Duke of Marlborough from the Hague, in December, he perceived that all -confidence in the Whig ministry was at an end: the Queen herself telling -him that he was not, as usual, to receive the thanks of the two Houses -of Parliament, but that she expected he would live well with her -ministers. At first the Duke, still anxious to carry on the war, -resolved to be patient, and to retain his command; but finding that the -Duchess had again, by express command of the Queen, been forbidden to -come to court, he resolved, perhaps too late for his own dignity and -that of his wife, to carry to her Majesty the surrender of all her -employments. It was readily accepted. The Duchess of Somerset was made -groom of the stole, and had charge of the robes; and Mrs. Masham was -appointed keeper of the privy purse. - -The Duchess may now be considered to have retired for a season wholly -from political life; and, indeed, the bright but harassing course which -she had passed was never resumed. - -It would be curious to inquire into the actual nature of her feelings -upon this occasion. Her employments were, as we have seen, reluctantly, -and not without urgent reason, resigned. The love of money has been -assigned as a cause of this tardy compliance with the evident, though -not expressed, wishes of the Queen. But whilst it is impossible wholly -to defend both the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough from this charge, -much may also be accorded to the hope, which the Duchess retained to the -last, of regaining the affections of her alienated sovereign. Reproached -by the Whigs as the cause of their dismissal, prompted by Godolphin, and -perceiving that the fame of her husband, or at least the final -accomplishment of his too extensive projects, depended on the party -being kept together, there is every reason to excuse, on other grounds, -the late surrender of what she had so long maintained. The promise that -her employments should be bestowed on her daughters, was now wholly -neglected; for the Queen’s partiality had become little less than -personal hatred, and it was not long before the affections of the Duke -and Duchess of Marlborough were assailed in their tenderest point. - -From Somers, who blamed her as the cause of the misfortunes of his -party, the Duchess received but little condolence on the loss of all her -honours.[187] In Sunderland, whom she lately censured, in language the -most vituperative, as the imprudent source of much mischief to the Duke -her husband, she now beheld a warm and fearless advocate of the Duke, -and of her own cause. Godolphin, himself deserted by those of his party -who had not courage to let their fortunes sink with his, was still -faithful and kind, and if he reproved, condemned her not. - -Godolphin was now, by the new parliament, accused of having occasioned -the national debt, and of misapplying the public money. He defended -himself with the eloquence of truth. At last, driven from every charge, -the adverse party, headed by the Earl of Rochester, accused him of -embezzling twelve thousand pounds paid by the Duke of Queensbury into -the exchequer. Godolphin, wishing to expose the malignant temper of his -adversaries, made excuses, as one who had forgotten, but who would call -to mind what he had done with the sum. Many of the members inveighed -against him with bitterness at this excuse. “The old man,” says -Cunningham, “made a show of falling into a fit of the epilepsy, and of -being quite dejected: at last, when he had sufficiently tried and -discovered the temper of the House, and how they stood affected towards -him, behold her Majesty’s warrant and sign manual, which he produced for -the twelve thousand pounds in question.” On the sight of this his -adversaries were silenced. - -In the ensuing year, 1711, the Duke of Marlborough was dismissed from -all his employments; and with this event the Duchess’s account of her -conduct closes. The influence of the French, the existence of strong -prepossession in favour of the Pretender among most of the ministers, -with the exception of Harley, and the necessity of sacrificing to the -desire of a peace the general who had always opposed that measure, were -the inducements, in the opinion of the Duchess, to this act on the part -of the Queen. It was executed with as little feeling as could well be -imagined. Historians have compared this act of ingratitude to the -conduct of Justinian to Belisarius. The dismissal was written by the -Queen herself, and in reply she received from Marlborough a calm, -respectful, dignified, but fruitless remonstrance.[188] - -At the close of her “Vindication,” the Duchess makes the following -observation to the nobleman to whom that work was addressed.[189] “Thus, -my lord, I have given you a short history of my favour with my royal -mistress, from its earliest rise to its irrecoverable fall. You have -seen with admiration how sincere and how great an affection a Queen was -capable of having for a servant who never flattered her. And I doubt not -but your friendship made some conclusions to my advantage, when you -observed for how many years I was able to hold my place in her regard, -notwithstanding her most real and invariable passion for that phantom -which she called the church—that darling phantom which the Tories were -for ever presenting to her imagination, and employing as a will in the -wisp to bewilder her mind, and entice her (as she at last unhappily -experienced) to the destruction of her quiet and glory. But I believe -you have thought that the most extraordinary thing in the whole fortune -of my favour, was its being at last destroyed by a cause, in appearance -so unequal to the effect,—I mean Mrs. Abigail Hill. For I will venture -to affirm, that whatever may have been laid to my charge of ill -behaviour to my mistress, in the latter years of my service, is all -reducible to this one crime—my inveteracy to Mrs. Masham. I have, -indeed, said that my constant combating the Queen’s inclination to the -Tories, did in the end prove the ruin of my credit with her; and this is -true, inasmuch as without that her Majesty could never have been engaged -to any insinuations against me.” - -The Duchess of Marlborough was now at liberty to follow the bent of her -own inclinations, and to fix her residence where she pleased. She gave -up her apartments in St. James’s Palace, immediately after the surrender -of her offices of state, but she retained that of Ranger of the great -and little parks of Windsor, one of the grants from her sovereign that -she valued most. The Lodge of the great park was, as the Duchess -remarks, a very agreeable residence, and Anne had remembered, in the -days of their friendship, that the Duchess, in riding by it, had often -wished for such a place. The little Lodge, which was only a fit abode -for the under-keepers, was given by the Duchess to one of her -brothers-in-law, who laid out some five or six thousand pounds upon it; -whilst her grace spent a scarcely less sum on the great lodge. The -office, by virtue of which the Duchess claimed this residence, was -afterwards the source of endless contentions, and of epistolary -controversies, which, if they served no other purpose, exhibited the -powers of mind which the Duchess possessed, in the clearest manner.[190] - -For some time after her retirement from court, the Duchess, however, -lived at Holywell House, St. Albans: she maintained as much magnificence -as any subject ever displayed, both when she resided in the country, and -also when she made Marlborough House, in London, her abode.[191] - -That the Duke’s popularity was still considerable among the lower -classes, was apparent from the reception which he met with upon his last -return from Holland, on which occasion a crowd met and attended him from -the city, and he had some difficulty in avoiding the acclamations which -were uttered.[192] Yet it was at this time that he was greeted by that -scurrilous pamphlet entitled, “Reasons why a certain general had not the -thanks of either of the two Houses of Parliament, &c.” - -We may now presume, the storm being over, although its fury had not been -weathered, that since their political career was for a time closed, the -Duke and Duchess might return to private life, contented to pass -together the remaining portion of their married life. The frequent -separations, which war had rendered necessary, had been a perpetual -source of regret to the good Duke, whose heart was framed for domestic -life. In all his letters, he expresses that longing for home, that -desire for an uninterrupted union with one whom he idolized, which -hitherto had been precluded, both by the great general’s arduous duties, -and by the necessary attendance at court, imposed on the Duchess by her -offices, even during the short intervals when Marlborough was permitted -to relax from his toils. - -That yearning for the fulfilment of his dearest hopes—hopes cruelly -deferred—was, at length, gratified. Marlborough, the slave of his -country, the instrument and the controller at once of states and allied -armies,—Marlborough, at length, was free,—at length he was permitted, -even constrained, to return to the ordeal of private life; for to all -men who have played a conspicuous part on the great theatre of the busy -world, a domestic sphere must prove an ordeal which few, so situated, -sustain with credit. - -Since the first years of their early marriage, the Duke and Duchess of -Marlborough had scarcely passed a year of uninterrupted conjugal -enjoyment. The youth and beauty of the Duchess had been the ornament of -the court, in the absence of her husband, and had been the source of his -pride, augmenting his anxiety to return home to one who was -pre-eminently formed to fascinate the imagination. They were now -reunited; but the Duchess was no longer the youthful beauty whose very -errors charmed, and whose slightest word of kindness enraptured the -doating heart of her fond husband. She was a disappointed woman: morose, -captious, and, though not penurious, yet to an excess fond of wealth. -The cares of a numerous family had proved temptations, not incentives to -virtue and exertion. Her children loved her not; and her later days were -passed in family differences, which wring the tender heart, and bow down -the feeble spirit; but which aroused all the ardour of a fiery and -unrelenting temper, such as that which the once lovely Duchess, now “old -Sarah,” displayed.[193] - -She was one of those persons whom misfortunes chasten not. It is related -of her, that even during the Duke’s last illness, the Duchess, incensed -against Dr. Mead, for some advice which she did not approve, _swore_ at -him bitterly, and following him down stairs, wanted to pull off his -periwig.[194] Dr. Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester, was present at this -scene. - -The violence of her temper is incontestibly proved; her affection for -the Duke has been doubted. But, however she may have tried the -deep-felt, and, even to the last, ardent attachment of the incomparable -Marlborough, there is every reason to conclude that she honoured, she -even loved, the husband whom she often grieved in the waywardness of her -high spirit. No man can retain a sincere, a strong attachment for a wife -who loves him not. Conjugal affection, to endure, must be reciprocal. -There must be a fund of confidence, that, in spite of temper, in -defiance of seeming caprice, assures a real kindness beneath those -briery properties. Marlborough knew that he was beloved. - -To the domestic hearth he brought, on the other hand, qualities such as -few men engaged in public life could retain; such as few men in those -days, in any sphere, could boast. Since his marriage, a holy and -high-minded fidelity to the object of his only pure love, to his wife, -had marked invariably his deportment. He brought home, therefore, a mind -undebased, virtuous habits, conscious rectitude; and confidence in his -wife, and self-respect, were ensured.[195] - -In his love for his children, as a son, as a brother, as a master, -Marlborough was equally amiable. “He was, in his private life, -remarkable for an easiness of behaviour, which gave an inimitable -propriety to every thing he did and said; a calmness of temper no -accident could move;[196] a temperance in all things which neither a -court life nor court favours could corrupt; a great tenderness for his -family, a most sincere attachment to his friends, and a strong sense of -religion, without any tincture of bigotry.”[197] Such is the epitome of -his private character. He was, also, endowed with that rare quality in -man, patience; his campaigns, and all their attendant hardships, had -taught him not to expect, like most of his sex and class, that every -event in domestic life should contribute to his individual comfort. An -anecdote told by Mr. Richardson, the painter, exemplifies this rare and -super-excellent quality. - -Riding one day with Mr. Commissary Marriot, the Duke was overtaken by a -shower of rain. The Commissary called for and obtained his cloak from -his servant, who was on horseback behind him. The Duke also asked for -his cloak; his servant not bringing it, the Duke called for it again, -when the man, who was puzzling about the straps, answered him in a surly -tone, “You must stay, if it rains cats and dogs, till I get at it.” The -Duke only turned to Marriot, saying, “I would not be of that fellow’s -temper for the world.” - -The Duke possessed another attribute, peculiarly essential to the -tranquillity of private life;—freedom from suspicion. It was his -superiority to little jealousies which rendered him the rival, without -being the enemy, of those great men with whom he was associated;—the -friend as well as coadjutor of Eugene, the beloved of generals and -potentates, as well as of soldiers. The same quality pervaded his calm -mind in his domestic sphere. With the strongest affections, he was the -husband of a beautiful and gifted woman, yet, devoid of misgivings -respecting the lofty and sincere character of her whom, being -constrained to leave, he quitted without a fear, to encounter all the -adulation of courts: a perfect reliance on her prudence, her conduct, on -all but the control of her temper, marks his letters to the Duchess. - -The same feature of mind is conspicuous in the friendships of -Marlborough. Though the scandalous world imputed to the intimacy of his -wife with his dearest friend, Godolphin, motives which it is easy to -attach to any friendship between persons of different sex, the -confidence which Marlborough reposed in that friend, in absence, under -circumstances the most trying, was never shaken. He knew the principles -of action which actuated his wife; principles far more adequate to keep -a woman pure, and a man faithful, even than the strongest attachment. -Integrity of purpose is the only immutable bond. - -For his generous and happy confidence, Marlborough was well repaid. His -friendship for Godolphin, the only stay of his public career, and his -affection for his wife, ended only with existence. - -We must recur to the question, what were the feelings, the pursuits, the -enjoyments of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough in private life? In -order adequately to discuss this subject, it is necessary to draw a -sketch of the state of the country, and of parties, after the retirement -of the Duke and Duchess; and to show how, unhappily, the leisure of -these, their latter days, was disturbed by cabals, and by schemes of -ambition with which they would have done wisely to have dispensed; and -which darkened those years which might otherwise have been devoted to -objects of higher and more enduring interest. - -Dr. King, Archbishop of Dublin, writing to Swift, in alluding to the -various factions which had prevailed in England, remarks, “I believe I -have seen forty changes; nor would I advise my friend to sell himself to -any (government) so as to be their slave.”[198] - -This advice was not very likely to be acceptable to the individual, nor -to the age in which the good prelate wrote. Swift, as it is apparent in -those letters which he addressed to the unhappy and infatuated -Stella—letters sufficiently disgusting to have cured any woman of an -ill-placed attachment—betrays with an unblushing coarseness, -characteristic of the times, his readiness to prostitute his talents to -which party soever would be the least likely, as they had found him -“Jonathan,” “to leave him Jonathan.”[199] - -The Whig party in literature, boasted, in 1710, when faction was at its -height, the names of Addison, Steele, Burnet, Congreve, Rowe, and -others. The Tory side, those of Bolingbroke, Atterbury, Swift, and -Prior. But when Swift, after a vigilant study of the political -atmosphere, declared himself ready to take the whole burden of -periodical warfare on his shoulders, Addison meekly retired from the -contest, leaving his friends to be assaulted and laid low by this -irresistible champion. - -A series of attacks upon all the members of government was now carried -on with vigour for some years; but Swift, the intimate associate of the -Masham family, directed his inuendoes, and the force of his irony, -chiefly against the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, both in prose and -verse. Those well-known stanzas, beginning - - “A widow kept a favourite cat, - At first a gentle creature; - But when he was grown sleek and fat, - With many a mouse and many a rat, - He soon disclosed his nature,” - -are attributed alike to the Dean and to Prior. The virulent observations -on eminent persons, in Swift’s “Four Last Years of the Reign of Anne,” -excited even the indignation of Bolingbroke. - -These attacks extended, of course, to the Duchess; but after her -complete retirement from a public career, and when the total cessation -of all intercourse between her and Queen Anne annihilated the former -favourites, such animadversions on her, in particular, became of rare -occurrence. - -The retirement of St. Albans was, indeed, more than once invaded by the -scurrilous sneers of those who, perhaps, envied the calm but not -neglected retreat of the injured Marlborough. Contented, as he was wont -to say, with his share of life and fame, he had, at this time, doubtless -made up his mind to bid adieu for ever to politics; but his adversaries -gave even to his amusements some peculiar meaning; and various comments -in the newspapers of the day were intended at once to point out the -party of friends with whom he held frequent commune, and to introduce a -reflection side-ways, on the imputed narrowness of the Duke’s -conduct.[200] - -The visit of Prince Eugene, in 1712, broke upon this privacy. Eugene -became acquainted with the dismissal of Marlborough, when on his -passage, at the Nore, receiving at the same time a caution from Mr. -Drummond, a spy of Bolingbroke’s, who was despatched by government to -receive him, “that the less he saw of the Duke of Marlborough the -better,”—a caution which the fine spirited Prince sedulously and openly -disregarded. The well-known and happy allusion which he made to -Marlborough’s disgrace showed the good-breeding and amiable feeling -which subsisted between these mighty men, and was conceived in better -taste than most compliments. When Harley, entertaining Eugene, declared -that he looked upon that day as the happiest of his life, since he had -the honour to see the greatest general of the age in his house, Eugene -wittily replied, “that if it were so, he was obliged to his lordship for -it;”—alluding to Harley’s dismissal of Marlborough from his command of -the army. - -Stung by his country’s ingratitude, and threatened even with a -prosecution, which for the credit of England was stopped, Marlborough -was driven on one occasion, and one occasion only, to abandon his -usually cool and dignified forbearance. When the Earl of Poulett, in a -debate in the House of Lords, referred to him, under the description of -a “certain general, who led his troops to the slaughter to cause a great -number of officers to be knocked on the head, in a battle, or against -stone walls, in order that he might dispose of their commissions,” the -patience of the Duke could endure no longer. He challenged the Earl, and -a duel was only prevented by the interposition of the Secretary of -State, and by the express command of the Queen.[201] - -The death of Lord Godolphin, an event which took place under the Duke’s -own roof, at St. Alban’s, on the 15th of September, 1712, determined -Marlborough to quit England, and to reside abroad until better times -should return. The Duchess fully concurred in this scheme; which became -the more and more necessary to their mutual peace, since not even could -she and the Duke enjoy and return the ordinary courtesies of society, -without incurring observation and provoking suspicion. Marlborough was -furnished with a passport, it is said, by the instrumentality of his -early favourite, and secret friend, Bolingbroke; and in October the Duke -sailed from Dover for Ostend. - -His request to see the Queen, and to take leave, was refused, and they -never met again. But her Majesty is declared to have expressed her hopes -that the Duke would be well received in foreign parts, and some say that -Lord Treasurer Harley, not Bolingbroke, granted the passport, in -opposition to the general opinion of the ministry, who dreaded -Marlborough’s influence at the court of Hanover. - -In February, 1713, the Duchess, having remained to settle her husband’s -and her own affairs, followed his grace, and joined him at Maestricht, -whence they went to Aix-la-Chapelle. It was during her residence abroad -that the Duchess employed her leisure hours in writing that portion of -her vindication, which she addressed to Mr. Hutchinson.[202] - -Thus was the Duke of Marlborough, then sixty-two years of age, and the -Duchess in her fifty-second year, driven from their country by the -machinations of a party too strong for them to resist without the -especial favour of the Queen. Anne is said coolly to have remarked to -the Duchess of Hamilton, “The Duke of Marlborough has done wisely to go -abroad.”[203] But no expressions of regret are recorded of her -Majesty’s, upon the occasion of two old and long esteemed friends having -thus quitted her dominions. - -Notwithstanding that the passport permitted the Duke, with a limited -suite, to go into foreign parts, wherever he might think fit, and -recommended him to the good offices of all “kings, princes, and -republics,” he had some reason to apprehend a plot for seizing his -person, at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he lived incognito.[204] - -As if misfortune had set its mark upon him, the death of Godolphin was -followed by that of his faithful friend, and the affectionate -correspondent of the Duchess, Arthur Maynwaring, whose death was caused -by a cold caught in walking late in the gardens of St. Albans, with the -Duchess. - -The sentiments of the Duke upon the subject of his wife’s consent to -quit, for the first time, when no longer in the prime of life, her -native country—a sacrifice in those unsettled days,—are expressed in a -letter written before the Duchess joined him at Aix-la-Chapelle, with a -warmth of gratitude truly touching. - -At Frankfort the Duke and Duchess resided for some time, and there they -heard, in security, but in dismay, of events which affected the -interests of the country they had left behind. The peace of Maestricht, -the details of which “our enemies will tell with pleasure,” as Bishop -Fleetwood observed, was a source of the deepest mortification to -Marlborough, who thus beheld the labours of his life, the blood of -thousands, and the resources of his country, utterly thrown away. - -The secession of England from the grand alliance, and the renewed -intercourse between her court and that of France, first clandestinely, -and afterwards openly, must have added sharp stings to the private -vexations of Marlborough. - -Yet the people of England, indignant at the suspected project of -altering the succession, marked their sense of the attempt by heaping -insults upon the Duc d’Aumont, the French ambassador. They assembled for -days before the gates of Ormond-house, where he resided; they uttered -acclamations whenever they saw him of “No Papist! no Pretender!” and put -up a bunch of grapes at his door, in derision of his alleged sale of -French wines and other goods, free of duty, for his own and his master’s -profit.[205] - -The return of several noted Jacobites who had been outlawed, their -insolence in the elections, and the publication of popular tracts in -favour of the Pretender’s title, all contributed to this party clamour. - -In the midst of these discontents, the increasing maladies of the Queen -were the subject of universal alarm, both to Whigs and Tories,—the -former dreading lest her death should again engage the country in a -civil war; the latter trembling for that power of which her life was the -sole stay. - -The latter days of the once apathetic Anne were overshadowed by the -gloom of mental uneasiness, and of corporeal suffering. Her frame was -racked by the gout, her mind by the contending counsels of interested -advisers, and by the dread of being governed by those to whom she gave -the fair-sounding name of friends. She was harassed with repeated -applications to strengthen the Act of Settlement by naming her -successor. Her former professions of zeal for the Protestant religion, -and the heartfelt conviction that her brother ought, by right of -inheritance, to succeed her, created a struggle in her weak but -conscientious mind. “Every new application to the Queen concerning her -successor was,” says an eminent historian, “a knell to her heart, -confirming, by the voice of a nation, those fearful apprehensions which -arose from a sense of her increasing infirmities;” whilst the motion of -the Earl of Wharton, that a premium should be offered for apprehending -the Pretender, whether _dead_ or _alive_, excited an indignation in the -unhappy Queen, which caused, in her reply, a departure from that -official dignity to which she was so much attached.[206] - -The Duchess of Somerset had first succeeded the Duchess of Marlborough -in the Queen’s regard and confidence. This lady appears to have been -much more worthy of the trust, either than her predecessor, or the -intriguing Lady Masham, who succeeded her. A Whig at heart, the Duchess -of Somerset acted, secretly, as a counterpoise to the too violent -tendencies of the ministry from which her husband was dismissed. She -probably tended to preserve Anne from an avowed predilection, that -secret desire, which lay at the Queen’s heart—the succession of her -brother; and she had the great merit of preventing Swift from being made -a bishop.[207] But even the Duchess exercised not that ascendency over -the mind of Anne which had been attained by her earliest companion, the -Duchess of Marlborough. The Queen, like many persons who have been -disappointed in the objects of their regard, became suspicious, and -extremely tenacious of her free-will. She even took pleasure in refusing -those who were dearest to her, favours which they required, lest she -should be suspected of again being governed. She became slow and -cautious in conferring obligations; differing from her former practice, -when she had been wont to thrust benefits upon the Duke and Duchess of -Marlborough, and to command them to receive, “and make no more words -about it.”[208] The attention, and, as it was probably with justice -called, obsequious service of the Duchess of Somerset, soothed the pride -which had been irritated by previous neglect. Mrs. Masham often offended -her Majesty by what the Queen called too much party spirit; but -eventually her influence prevailed. - -The consideration which the Duchess of Somerset acquired was of slower -growth than that obtained by her artful rival. The Duchess of -Marlborough, indeed, attributed to a desire of acquiring the Queen’s -favour, a little incident, of which she gives the following lively -account, in her letter to Mr. Hutchinson. The narrative shows upon what -a slender fabric royal approbation is founded. - -“There was one thing more that happened about this time, in which the -Duchess of Somerset was particularly concerned, and which was turned to -a very malicious story against me. The case was this. At the christening -of the child of Mr. Merydith’s, in which the Duchess of Somerset was to -stand godmother with me, I was pressed very much to give the name, which -it was properly her place to do, and upon that account I refused it, -till at last, to end the dispute, it was agreed by all that the child -was to have the Queen’s name. After this had been settled, I turned to -the Duchess of Somerset, and said to her in a smiling way, that “the -Duke of Hamilton had made a boy a girl, and christened it Anne, and why -should not we make this girl a boy, and call it George?” This was then -understood to be meant no otherwise than a jest upon the Duke of -Hamilton, as it plainly was, and the Duchess of Somerset laughed at it, -as the Queen herself, I dare say, would have done, if she had happened -to be present. But this, as I had it afterwards from very good hands, -was represented to the Queen in as different and false a way as -possible, who was told that I said, ‘Don’t let the name of the child be -Anne, for there was never one good of that name.’ I leave you to judge -who was the most likely to give this story this ridiculous turn; and who -was to find their account in it. - -“When some such stories as those had made a great noise in the world, -and all my friends were much offended at the baseness of this way of -proceeding against me, in order to make a greater breach betwixt the -Queen and me, I remember particularly Mrs. Darcay, falling upon that -subject, I suppose accidentally, would needs persuade me to try and set -all things right again with the Queen, by clearing up some of the false -stories which had been made of me to her, of disrespectful things I was -said to have spoke of her, several of which she repeated to me, and said -she was sure the Queen had been told of them. These were some of them -nothing else but what are properly called Grub-street stories; and -therefore, as it was with some reluctancy that she had brought me to -talk so much upon this subject, so I had still less inclination to -engage in the defence of myself about these matters.”[209] - -The poor Queen was not long destined to enjoy her partialities in peace. -When the preference which Harley had received from the Queen declined, -or rather when he had offended Lady Masham, that mercenary favourite -could then discover and disclose to others, that the “Dragon,” as Harley -was called in derision by her and her familiar associates, had been the -most “ungrateful man” to the Queen, and “to his best friends, that ever -was born,” and had been “teasing and vexing the Queen without -intermission for the last three weeks.”[210] The same lady draws a -mournful picture of the annoyances, importunities, and almost unkind -usage, with which the poor Queen was assailed, by those whose party -spirit she had fostered by her own vacillations. - -The Tories beheld with dismay the undoubted decline of the Queen, and -hailed each transient improvement in her health with undue elation. In -the latter years of her life, political tergiversation became so common -as scarcely to excite surprise. “Lord Nottingham,” says Swift, “a famous -Tory and speechmaker, is gone over to the Whig side; they toast him -daily, and Lord Wharton says, it is Dismal (so they call him from his -looks) will save England at last.”[211] - -“The least disorder that the Queen has,” says Swift, writing, in 1714, -to Lord Peterborough, “puts us all in alarm; and when it is over, we act -as if she were immortal.”[212] Harassed by political rivalships, each -combatant, “the Dragon,” and Mercurialis, (Bolingbroke,) being resolved, -as it was said, to die hard, the Queen and the Duchess of Somerset were -supposed to entertain the notion of there being no “Monsieur le -Premier,” but that all power should reside in the one, and profit in the -other. - -“Never,” wrote Dr. Arbuthnot to Dean Swift, “was sleep more welcome to a -weary traveller than death to the Queen. It was frequently her lot, -whilst worn with bodily suffering, to be an agitated and helpless -witness of the bitter altercations of the Lord Treasurer Harley and of -her Secretary for Foreign Affairs. It was her office, good-naturedly to -check the sneers of the former, and to soothe the indignant spirit of -Bolingbroke. In their mutual altercations ‘they addressed to each other -such language as only cabinet ministers could use with impunity.’[213] -Yet the Dragon held fast with a dead grip the little machine, or in -other words, ‘clung to the Treasurer’s staff.’”[214] - -To the disgrace both of Harley and Bolingbroke, if anything could -disgrace politicians so venal, they each had recourse, in their -extremity, to men of totally opposite principles to those which they had -long professed. Harley addressed himself to Lord Cowper, and to the Duke -of Shrewsbury, whose popularity with those who favoured the house of -Hanover was greatly increased by his late conduct in Ireland. But -neither of these influential personages would link themselves to the -equivocal measures and falling fortunes of Harley. - -Bolingbroke formed a scheme which proved equally unavailing, to rescue -him from impending ruin. His superior influence with Lady Masham, and -his correspondence with the Pretender, had secured him, as he believed, -the favour of the Queen: yet he courted the Whig party, and resolved to -avail himself again of that support which had been his earliest stay—the -friendship and co-operation of the Duke of Marlborough. - -The Duke had been expected, several times during the last year of Queen -Anne’s reign, to arrive in England. At one time it was said that St. -James’s, at another that Marlborough-house, was in preparation for his -reception. - -As affairs drew on towards the crisis, both Whigs and Tories solicited -Marlborough to add his influence to their wasting strength. The Duke had -been accused of having entered into an amicable and political -correspondence with both parties; but from this charge he has been ably -and effectually vindicated.[215] Throughout the political conflicts -which had agitated the court of England since he had left her shores, -Marlborough had maintained a steady correspondence with his friends, but -had expressed a firm refusal to deviate from those principles which had -occasioned his exile, or to approve of the peace of Utretcht, or to -abandon his desire for the Hanoverian succession. Acting as a mediator -between the Electoral Prince and the party well affected to him in -England, he distrusted the sincerity of Harley’s pretended exertions, -and resolutely decided that he would hold no intercourse with a minister -of whose hollowness he had already received many proofs. Nor was the -Duchess less determined never to pardon the injuries which she conceived -herself and her husband to have received from Harley. All offers of his -aid, all attempts to lend to him the influence which Marlborough’s -military and personal character still commanded, were absolutely -rejected. - -At the court of Hanover, the Duke and Duchess saw, as it were, -reflected, the cabals of their native country. - -The year 1714, marked by other signal events, witnessed the death of the -Electress Sophia, at a moment when the Elector was hesitating whether to -accept an invitation from the Hanoverian party in England, to repair to -that country, and to take his seat in the House of Lords as Duke of -Cambridge, the writ to which title he had recently received. The -Electress died in May; her sudden decease having been hastened, it was -supposed, by her anxiety that Prince George should make the important -journey to which he had been solicited. The earnest hope of this -accomplished and ambitious Princess had been, to have “Sophia, Queen of -England,” engraved on her tomb; and she missed this object of her -desires only by a space of two months. - -The last hours of Queen Anne’s weary existence were now drawing to an -end. As she had begun her life in a political tempest, so was it to -close. Sharp contentions between Lady Masham and Harley permitted little -of peace, and no chance of recovery, to the easy and broken-spirited -Queen. Lady Masham had now bid open defiance to Harley, nor could the -mediation of the Duke of Shrewsbury, from whom much was expected, effect -a truce of amity in the distracted cabinet. - -What the intentions of the dying Queen actually were, with respect to a -new ministry, cannot now be determined. It is not improbable but that, -had she lived, Bolingbroke would have succeeded Harley. The dismissal of -Harley took place on the twenty-seventh of July, three days only before -the Queen’s death. Her Majesty explained to the lords of the privy -council her reasons for requiring him to resign the staff; namely, his -want of truth, his want of punctuality, “the bad manners, indecency, and -disrespect,” with which he treated her.[216] A cabinet council was held -on the evening of the twenty-seventh of July, to consult as to what -persons were to be put into commission for the management of the -Treasury. Five commissioners were named; but it is remarkable that -several of those so specified declined taking office in times so -perilous, and of a nature so precarious. The consultations upon this -matter lasted until two o’clock in the morning, and were accompanied by -contention so bitter and violent, that the Queen, retiring, declared to -one of her attendants “she should not survive it.”[217] - -This conviction of her approaching end seemed to be prophetic. On -Thursday, the twenty-ninth of July, the cabinet council were to have met -again, but the Queen had then sunk into a state of stupor, which was -relieved by cupping, an operation which she preferred to the common mode -of bleeding. Her physician, Dr. Shadwell, declared that recent agitation -had driven the gout to her head. Her case was now considered almost -hopeless, and the council was deferred; yet her Majesty appearing to be -relieved by the operation which she had undergone, hopes were again -kindled. On the ensuing evening she rested well, rose with an impetus of -vigour sometimes given to the departing spirit, and, after undergoing -some duties of the toilet, looked earnestly upon a clock which stood in -the room. One of the bedchamber women, observing that her gaze was -fixed, asked her Majesty “what she saw in the clock more than usual?” -The Queen answered her not, but turning her head towards her, the -affrighted attendant saw death written on her countenance. She was again -bled, and again she revived. - -Meantime the privy council assembled at the Cockpit were apprized, -through the Duchess of Ormond, of her Majesty’s condition. The memorable -scene which ensued has been often told. The ministers immediately -adjourned to Kensington, and the physicians being consulted, and having -declared that their sovereign was still sensible, she was recommended by -the unanimous voice of the council to appoint the Duke of Shrewsbury -Lord Treasurer. Anne, expiring, could summon strength to approve this -choice, and to place the Treasurer’s staff in the hands of the Duke, -begging him to use it for the good of her people. After this effort she -sank unmolested into her last slumber. - -The heralds-at-arms, and a troop of the life guards, were in readiness -to mount twenty-four hours before the Queen’s death, to proclaim the -Elector of Brunswick King of England; so great was the apprehension of -the Pretender. After this, even, and when despatches had been sent to -the Elector of Brunswick, the Queen’s pulse became stronger, she began -to take nourishment, and many around her entertained hopes. “But this,” -says her historian, “was but the flash of a dying light.” The Bishop of -London in vain stood by, ready to administer the eucharist, which she -never revived sufficiently to receive. She died without signing the -draught of her will, in which bequests were made to her servants. By -this informality, Lady Masham, Dr. Arbuthnot her physician, and others, -were deprived of legacies. - -Thus, though long expiring, Anne’s last offices of religion were -incomplete, her wishes unfulfilled.[218] Her subjects, expectant of her -death, were, for the most part, frightened to the last lest she should -recover. She had erred in rendering herself the head of a faction, -rather than the impartial ruler of a free people. Yet such was her -peculiar position on coming to the throne; so important a barrier did -she constitute against the dreaded restoration of her brother and his -line; so unoffending was her personal deportment, so sincere her love -for the church, and, according to the extent of her capacity, so -excellent were her intentions, that Anne reigned in the hearts of the -people. Her faults as a governor were viewed with a forbearing and -extenuating spirit. Her errors were attributed to her advisers. Her -simplicity of character, her ignorance of the world, and her credulity, -the consequence of these two negative qualities, were well understood. -She was easily intimidated by the notion, diligently infused into her -mind, that she should one day experience from the Whigs the same sort of -conduct as had cost her grandfather, Charles the First, his crown and -life.[219] Her capacity was slow in receiving, and equally slow in -parting with impressions. She had a great diffidence in any person -placed in an office of responsibility, an unfortunate one of her own -judgment, which rendered her too yielding to the persuasions of those -whom she called her friends. The bitter pen of the Duchess of -Marlborough, which attributes to her character unbounded selfishness, -must not be too readily credited. Her early surrender of her superior -right to William, her attention and affection to her consort, her very -faults as a monarch, prove her to have been remarkably devoid of that -quality, when we consider her isolated position in society. That Anne -was not blessed, nor cursed, as it may prove, with that sensitiveness -which belongs to higher minds, and which can only by such be turned to -the best of purposes, does not detract from her amiable and domestic -qualities, but rather heightens the value of that principle which could -render her an affectionate wife, patient and unwearied in the hours of -sickness; a generous friend, whose partiality caused her to overstep the -landmarks of etiquette, and to disregard the boundaries of rank; a -beneficent patron of the poor clergy; an excellent, because a just, -orderly, and economical mistress. It has been justly said, that her -conduct to her father was the only stain upon her domestic virtues; and -she appears to have atoned for it by a continual penitence. She died -childless, attended on her deathbed only by interested dependents,[220] -and followed to her grave by many who had earnestly desired her death. -Her decease was followed by the return of early friends from whom she -had been long separated, and who awaited that event before they could -cease to be exiles. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - Return of the Duke and Duchess—Their reception—The Duchess’s advice to - her husband—Political changes in which the Duke and Duchess were - partly concerned.—1714. - - -On the day before the Queen’s demise, the Duke and Duchess of -Marlborough arrived at Ostend from Antwerp, for the purpose of embarking -for Dover. This step had been for some time in contemplation by the -Duke, although the reasons which finally decided him to return to his -country have never been exactly ascertained. He had refused, so late as -the month of July, 1714, to sign the Whig association, presented for his -approval by Lord Onslow, the deputy of that party.[221] He was addressed -both by Bolingbroke and by Harley, but not claimed as an adherent by -either of these politicians. So confident were both these ministers of -his aid, that they ordered him to be received at the ports with the same -honours as he had met with on returning after his victories; but these -directions were countermanded, when it was understood that he would not -participate in any of the politics of the day.[222] - -The Duchess had already announced to her correspondents in England the -project entertained by herself and the Duke, of again residing in their -beloved England. On arriving at Ostend, she wrote to her friend, Mrs. -Clayton, whose husband, a clerk in the treasury, was one of the managers -of the Duke’s estates during his absence. - - “July 30, 1714. - -“I am sure my dear friend will be glad to hear that we are come well to -this place, where we wait for a fair wind; and in the mean time, are in -a very clean house, and have everything good but water. It is not to be -told in this letter the respect and affection shown to the Duke of -Marlborough, in every place where he goes, which always makes me -remember our governors in the manner that is natural to do; and upon -this journey, one thing has happened that was surprising and very -pretty. The Duke of Marlborough contrived it so as to avoid going into -the great towns as well as he could, and for that reason went a little -out of the way, not to go through Ghent; but the chief magistrates, -hearing he was to pass, met him upon the road, and had prepared a very -handsome breakfast for all that was with us, in a little village, where -one of their ladies staid to do the honours; and there was in the -company a considerable churchman that was lame, and had not been out of -his room for a great while, but would give himself this trouble. This is -to show you how the Roman Catholics love those that have served them -well. Among the governors of that town there were a great many officers -that came out with them on foot; and I was so much surprised and touched -at their kindness, that I could not speak to the officers without a good -deal of concern, saying I was sorry for what they did, fearing it might -hurt them; to which they replied, very politically or ignorantly, I -don’t know which, sure it was not possible for them to suffer for having -done their duty. The next day Mr. Sutton met us with other officers, and -did a great many civilities, in bringing wine and very good fruits, but -I was not so much surprised at that, because he is so well with the -ministers he may do what he pleases. The Duke of Marlborough is -determined to stay here till he has a very fair wind and good weather, -and not to be at London till three or four days after he lands at Dover, -because we have so many horses and servants, that we can’t travel -fast.”[223] - -After a few days of suspense as well as of delay at Ostend, the Duke and -Duchess set sail, and, after a stormy passage, were met, and their -vessel was boarded, by a message from Sir Thomas Frankland, the -postmaster-general, who announced the Queen’s death.[224] The Duke -landed on the first of August, memorable for the accession of George the -First, and was received by the Mayor and Jurats of the town with all -formalities, and saluted by a discharge of great guns from the platform, -but not from the castle, which pays such tribute to no one but the -sovereign. Amid the acclamations of the assembled crowds, the Duke and -Duchess proceeded to the house of Sir Henry Furnese, whose hospitable -roof had received the great general, previous to his departure for his -exile on the continent. - -These rejoicings were much censured, as being indecent on the very day -after the Queen’s death; and it was affirmed in excuse, that even the -worshipful authorities of Dover were not apprised of that event when -they received the Duke with noisy honours.[225] But the Duchess, sincere -in all things, left in her narrative an explicit statement that the Duke -had been informed of Anne’s decease whilst he was at sea. - -Meantime, by an act of parliament passed in the fourth and fifth years -of the late reign, a regency, consisting of the seven highest officers -of the realm, came into immediate operation: and to these lords justices -were added seventeen other noblemen, all heads of the Whig party, whom -George the First was empowered, by the same act, to appoint. The Duke of -Marlborough might reasonably have expected to find himself included -among the persons thus honoured; but, on his progress to Sittingbourne, -he was met by a former aide-de-camp, with the intelligence that neither -his name nor that of Lord Sunderland was included in this catalogue. - -Marlborough received this communication with the calmness that became a -superior mind. His exclusion is said to have been the result of pique in -the Elector, father of the King of England, on account of some want of -confidence reposed in him by Marlborough, with respect to the operations -of the campaign of 1708. It was attributed by others to the reported -correspondence between Marlborough and the Stuart family. Be the cause -what it might, this ungracious conduct was received both by the Duke and -Duchess with a becoming spirit. They continued their journey to the -metropolis, intending to enter it privately; but their friends would not -suffer that Marlborough should thus return to dwell among them again. A -number of gentlemen had attended them to Sittingbourne, and by them, and -by others who met him there, he was, in part, forced to permit the -honourable reception which awaited him. Sir Charles Cox, the member for -Southwark, met him as he approached the borough, and escorted him into -the city. Here he was joined by two hundred gentlemen on horseback, and -by many of his relations, some of them in coaches and six, who joined -the procession, the city volunteers marching before. In this manner the -Duke proceeded to St. James’s, the people exclaiming as he passed along, -“Long live King George—long live the Duke of Marlborough!” - -At Temple Bar the Duke’s coach broke down, but without any person -sustaining injury, and he proceeded to his house in St. James’s, in -another carriage, the city guard firing a volley before they departed. -The evening was passed in receiving friends and relations; with what -sweet and bitter recollections, it is easy to conceive. - -On the following day the Duke was visited by the foreign ministers, by -many of the nobility and gentry then in the metropolis, and by numerous -military men. He was sworn of the privy council, and once more appeared -in the House of Lords, where he took the oaths of allegiance. But, on -the prorogation of parliament to the twelfth, he retired to -Holywell-house, there to conquer the vexation and disappointment which -his exclusion from the regency undoubtedly occasioned him. On this -occasion, the spirit of Lady Marlborough displayed itself, with a -magnanimity and sound discretion which redeemed her many faults. -Bothmar, the Hanoverian minister, visited the Duke in his retreat, and -sought to apologise for the omission of his illustrious name from among -the distinguished statesmen who were appointed lords justices. The Duke -listened to these excuses with his usual courtesy, but he wisely adopted -the advice of the Duchess, and declined at present again holding any -official appointment. - -“I begged of the Duke of Marlborough, upon my knees,” relates the -Duchess, “that he would never accept any employment. I said, everybody -that liked the Revolution and the security of the law, had a great -esteem for him, that he had a greater fortune than he wanted, and that a -man who had had such success, with such an estate, would be of more use -to any court than they could be to him; that I would live civilly with -them, if they were so to me, but would never put it into the power of -any king to use me ill. He was entirely of this opinion, and determined -to quit all, and serve them only when he could act honestly, and do his -country service at the same time.”[226] - -Six weeks elapsed between the death of Queen Anne and the arrival of her -successor. On the sixteenth of August, the King embarked at -Orange-Holder, and landed two days afterwards at Greenwich. Every ship -in the river saluted the royal vessel as it sailed, and multitudes -thronged the banks of the Thames, uttering loud acclamations of joy at -the arrival of the monarch. Yet George the First, a man of plain -understanding, without ambition, the romance of monarchs, felt, it is -said, that he had arrived to claim a crown not his own, and had an -uncomfortable notion all his life, that he was somewhat of a character -to which nature had little disposed him, an usurper. In the evening of -his landing, the royal house at Greenwich was crowded with nobility and -gentry, amongst whom the Duke of Marlborough (who was regarded as a kind -of martyr to the “criminals” of the last reign, as it was now the -fashion to term Queen Anne’s last ministry) was pre-eminently -distinguished by the new sovereign.[227] - -The character of King George the First was well adapted to put an end to -the furious factions by which the court had now for many years been -disgraced, public business had been impeded, and peace long delayed, and -obtained by the sacrifice of consistency. Of a plain exterior, simple -habits, devoid of imagination, ignorant of English, and endowed with a -vast proportion of German good nature and German indolence, the King had -little of that propensity to favouritism which had filled the courts of -his Stuart predecessors, and even of the just and stern William, with -cabals. It may be said, that the reputation of George the First was far -greater before he came to the throne of England, than after he ascended -to that, in his time, uncomfortable eminence. He had distinguished -himself in military operations, yet, when King of England, had the -wisdom to forego a desire of fame which might have proved ruinous to his -adopted people. His career as a warrior began and ended early. He had -governed his German subjects with regard to the principles of the -English constitution. It was the work of a corrupt English ministry to -lead him from these honest intentions and worthy practices. It has been -wittily said by Lord Chesterfield, that “England was too large for -him.[228]” He found the court thronged with Whigs, to whom he showed -marks of decided preference; yet not, it was suspected, without a design -of borrowing strength to his still disputed title, by conciliating some -of the Tory party. - -One of the King’s first measures was to restore Marlborough to his post -as captain-general of the land forces, to make him colonel of the first -regiment of foot-guards, and master-general of the ordnance. The Earl of -Sunderland was appointed Lord-lieutenant of Ireland; and a Whig cabinet -was soon completely formed. - -Dr. Arbuthnot, who, in his semi-medical, semi-political capacity, dived -into the intricacies of court intrigues, remarks, that it were worth -while living to seventy-three, from curiosity to see the changes in this -strange medley of events, the world. It was but lately that the Duke of -Marlborough had yielded to the solicitations of his Duchess, that he -would accept of no employment whatsoever in the administration; he now -broke through that wise resolution, tempted, it is supposed, by the -appointment of his son-in-law to various offices in the royal household. -Lord Godolphin had the post of cofferer to the household; and Lord -Bridgwater was appointed chamberlain to the Prince of Wales. The Duke -and Duchess of Montague had also preferments of importance. - -But, with respect to Marlborough, these marks of royal favour availed -but little: he never regained political influence. Sunderland, whose -active spirit might have re-established the interests of his family, -was, in fact, banished from the court by his appointment, and his great -father-in-law ceased to be consulted in matters of state, and sank, -finally, into a private station. The routine of his office, indeed, -rendered his visits to the metropolis imperative; but it was unconnected -with any political importance. - -The invasion of England by the Pretender drew Marlborough somewhat from -the state of neutrality with regard to public affairs, in which he -reposed. Whatever might have been his previous conduct with regard to -the exiled Stuarts, he now, with other eminent and loyal men, -contributed a voluntary loan to the Treasury, to meet the emergencies of -the state, and, on his private credit alone, raised a considerable sum -within the space of a few hours. With the foresight of long experience, -he foretold the disastrous engagement at Preston, and even marked the -distinct spot on which all the hopes of the gallant and ill-fated enemy -were doomed to be foundered.[229] - -The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough retired almost wholly to their house -at Holywell, where, assembling at times their children and grandchildren -around them, they tasted at length of that happiness for which one of -this distinguished couple, at least, had continually pined, in absence. -The peaceful retirement, which had so often been the theme of -Marlborough’s letters, came at last; but, like many long-desired -blessings, it came hand in hand with care. It was not at this period -that the broken health and weakened mind of Marlborough cast a gloom -over that circle of young and old, of which he was the life and centre. -For some years after the accession of George the First, Marlborough -continued to be a healthy and an active man; riding on horseback or -driving about, and delighting, when he was at Blenheim, in walking about -the grounds, inspecting those beautiful ornate scenes which his taste -and wealth had caused to flourish around him. In the evening he received -his friends without ceremony, and joined in the games of ombre, basset, -and picquet, or of whist, his favourite game; and the illustrious and -amiable Marlborough often descended to a pool of commerce with his -grandchildren. - -It was during this season of retirement that the Duchess began the -compilation of “Memoirs of the Duke,” a work which was not published. -That she prized his fame far more than her own justification, is -manifest from her commencing this undertaking when her faculties were in -their full vigour, and her opportunities of consulting living testimony -were still, in most cases, to be obtained; while she left the completion -of her own Vindication until a late period of her existence.[230] - -Amongst the more important and less peaceful occupations which engaged -the attention of the Duke and Duchess, the building of Blenheim formed -one of the circumstances most obnoxious to his tranquillity of mind. - -The disputes, to which the management of this national gift gave rise, -might occupy a volume; they must, however, remain to be discussed at a -more advanced period of this work. But the erection of that superb -habitation, which the Duke of Marlborough lived not to see completed, -induced an acquaintance with one of the most versatile wits of the day, -Sir John Vanburgh. - -The character and conduct of this distinguished dramatist and -indifferent sculptor had no inconsiderable effect upon the tranquillity -of the Duchess of Marlborough, with whose confidence this experienced -man of the world was honoured. A very singular, and to both the writers -a very discreditable correspondence, between the Duchess and Vanburgh, -is preserved among the manuscript stores of the British Museum. Since it -elucidates some passages of the Duchess’s domestic life, and unfolds -some material points of character, a few extracts from this singular -correspondence may not be uninteresting, more especially as the letters -have never been introduced in any publication, either in their original -form, or in substance. Before entering upon the occurrences to which it -refers, a brief account of one of the parties is necessary. - -Sir John Vanburgh was descended from a family originally from Ghent; his -grandfather, Gibes Vanburgh, or Vanburg, being obliged to fly from that -city on account of the persecution of the Protestants. The father of Sir -John Vanburgh became a sugar-baker in Chester, where he amassed a -considerable fortune, and, removing to London, obtained the place of -comptroller of the treasury chamber. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter -of Sir Dudley Carleton of Ember Court, Surrey. - -The future dramatist and architect was one of eight sons, and was -destined for the army. A love of desultory reading, and a youthful -acquaintance with Congreve, led him, however, to the stage. So early as -1698, the youth, relinquishing a soldier’s life, produced two comedies, -the “Relapse” and the “Provoked Wife;” both remarkable for the wit of -their dialogue, and for the licentiousness of the sentiments. - -For some years the fascinations of public applause riveted this -capricious genius to the occupation of a dramatist. During the first -years of Anne’s reign, he accomplished the erection, by subscription, of -the Haymarket Theatre, for the building of which he had interest enough -to obtain a sum of three thousand pounds from thirty persons of rank, -each of whom subscribed a hundred pounds. At this time the courtly -Vanburgh paid a public tribute to the Marlborough family, by inscribing -on the first stone that was laid of the theatre, the words, “The Little -Whig,” in compliment to Lady Sunderland, popularly known by that -designation. It was in this theatre that, in conjunction with Congreve, -he managed the affairs of Betterton’s company, and produced for their -benefit comedies which would not now be tolerated for a single evening, -on a stage, pure in its subjects as compared with that of the last -century. - -It is said by Cibber that Vanburgh eventually repented of the immoral -tendency of his works, and that he would willingly have sought to -retrieve his errors by more chastened publications. Those authors, who -degrade themselves, and debase the minds of others, should remember, -that it is impossible to counteract the baneful effects of that species -of poison, which of all others is the most easily disseminated. The -envenomed shaft of licentious wit never flies in vain, nor can its -direful progress be recalled. - -It is uncertain at what time Vanburgh became an architect; but he must -very rapidly have attained eminence, since his first great work, “Castle -Howard,” was completed before Blenheim became habitable. - -Handsome in countenance, witty, accomplished, and not of lowly birth, -Vanburgh soon won the favour of those with whom he was, from his -occupations, brought into contact. His cheerfulness was never -overclouded by any misfortune. Even during a temporary confinement in -the Bastile, his spirits were unabated, and the great secret of his -composure was employment.[231] - -It appears extraordinary that so inferior a sculptor as Vanburgh should -have been selected to build a palace raised at the expense of the -nation. Although satirised by Swift, Walpole, and Pope, Sir John -Vanburgh had, however, his admirers, and received high encomiums from -Sir Joshua Reynolds, who declares, “that in his architectural works -there is a greater display of imagination than in any other.” “He had,” -says Sir Joshua, “great originality of invention; he understood light -and shadow, and had great skill in composition.” These, with other -commendations, from the same great judge, might have rescued many -characters from the reproaches of posterity; but Blenheim, massive -without grandeur, and laboured in style, without unity of design, stands -an everlasting reproach to its architect. - -The intimacy of Vanburgh with all the leading characters of the day -accounts for the confidence with which he was treated by the Duchess of -Marlborough, on the nicest of all points—the disposal in marriage of -those in whom she was deeply interested. The singular correspondence -which we shall presently introduce to our readers, marks the intimacy -which subsisted between the architect and the patron. Like many such -unequal alliances, familiarity, in this instance, produced contempt. - -The Duchess, indignant as she became at the impertinence and assurance -of Vanburgh, never assisted him to any office; but, in 1704, Vanburgh -was, by the interest of Charles Earl of Carlisle, promoted to the -appointment of Clarencieux king-at-arms; a proceeding which was -naturally resented by the whole college of heralds, who were indignant -at having a stranger, and one without the slightest knowledge of -heraldry or genealogy, made king-at-arms.[232] - -Sir John was appointed controller of the royal works, and surveyor of -the works at Greenwich Hospital. He resided at Vanburgh Fields, Maize -Hill, Greenwich,[233] where he built two seats, one of them called the -Bastile, and built on the model of that prison, where, it is said, the -whimsical architect had once been confined and treated with -humanity.[234] Another house, built in the same style, at Blackheath, -and called the Mincepie House, was lately inhabited by a descendant of -its first proprietor.[235] - -Alluding to Blenheim, Swift observes— - - “That if his Grace were no more skilled in - The art of battering walls than building, - We might expect to see next year - A mouse-trap-man chief engineer.” - -Such was the opinion entertained by a contemporary wit, of Vanburgh’s -architecture. In heraldic science he is said to have been less skilled -than the least of the pursuivants. His comedies, renowned for the -well-sustained ease and spirit of the dialogue, are, to those who deem -the gratification of curiosity cheaply bought by an acquaintance with -all that is accounted most licentious, curious as pictures of the -manners of the times in which they were written. - -We have seen how successfully the Duchess of Marlborough contrived to -connect her family, by alliances of her daughters, with several of the -most exalted families in the kingdom. Her energetic mind now devoted -itself with equal zeal and perseverance to the proper settlement of her -eldest granddaughter, the Lady Harriot Godolphin, in whose matrimonial -prospects she took a lively interest, notwithstanding that the Countess -of Godolphin, the young lady’s mother, was still alive. The Duchess -fixed her hopes, as a son-in-law, on Thomas Pelham Holles, maternal -nephew of John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, whose title he obtained by -creation. Pelham Holles, at the time when the Duchess’s speculations -were first directed towards him, was Earl of Clare, under which -designation we find, in the correspondence between her grace and her -confidential agent, that the future Duke was mentioned. - -It was in the beginning of 1714 that a marriage treaty between the house -of Marlborough and that of Newcastle was first contemplated by the -Duchess.[236] It is needless to specify, what is well known, that in -those times, and in the rank which the Duchess filled, marriage was -seldom an affair in which those mainly interested were allowed to judge, -or to reject. It was usually a contract between relations, acting, as -they considered, most effectually for the happiness of two individuals -whom they wished to see betrothed; the condition being that the parties -were well assorted in station, the portion of the lady competent, and -the fortune of the gentleman equivalent to what she or her friends had a -right to expect. The negociation which is unfolded in the correspondence -of the Duchess and Sir J. Vanburgh, is a perfect specimen of this -species of contract, in which the parties had not even seen each other, -until matters had advanced somewhat too far to be withdrawn. - -Lord Clare, or, to call him by his subsequent title, the Duke of -Newcastle, appears, however, to have had higher and juster views of the -state of matrimony than most of the noblemen of his day, who regarded it -as a mere tie of convenience, or means of aggrandisement, and who -troubled themselves very little about the disposition or sentiments of -the family into which, for sundry reasons, they entered. The character -of Pelham Holles, Duke of Newcastle, seems, at the period of the -correspondence of which he was the subject, to have been singularly -discreet and amiable. He was not, indeed, a man of high qualities, nor -of such extensive and solid attainments as to justify the extraordinary -success which afterwards, in attaining the highest posts in the -government, he enjoyed. Devoted to politics, and to the party of -Townshend and Walpole; a zealous promoter of the Protestant succession; -he led a life of bustle, and was constantly in search of popularity; -always in confusion, often promising what he could never grant, yet -performing well the domestic duties of his station. Kind, though exact, -as a master, and energetic in all his official duties, he might -certainly be deemed highly respectable. - -Not foreseeing the great eminence to which he was destined to rise, the -young nobleman, at this period of his life, earnestly desired to connect -himself in marriage with some family suitable to his own in wealth and -influence. His views might not have been directed to the Marlborough -family, had not the Duchess, to whom Vanburgh was at that time a willing -agent, imparted from her grace some hints that a matrimonial connexion -between her granddaughter and Lord Clare would not be unacceptable.[237] -Vanburgh, like a true votary of the great, in those days of patronage, -took his cue from the Duchess’s expressions; and as the dramatist had -many opportunities of sharing Lord Clare’s leisure hours, the Duchess -could not, in some respects, have employed any person more likely to -promote her speculations. - -Vanburgh thus described the commencement of those operations which were -intended to unite the great houses of Churchill and Pelham Holles. -Writing to the Duchess, he says—“I have brought into discourse the -characters of several women, that I might have a natural occasion to -bring in hers, (Lady Harriott’s,) which I have then dwelt a little upon, -and, in the best manner I could, distinguished her from the rest. This I -have taken three or four occasions to do, without the least appearance -of having any view in it, thinking the rightest thing I could do would -be to possess him with a good impression of her, before I hinted at -anything more.”[238] - -This skilful generalship for some time did not appear to meet with the -success which it merited. Lady Harriott, unfortunately, was not -handsome; the family stock of beauty which she inherited from her mother -had been sadly amalgamated with the flat and homely features of Sidney -Lord Godolphin, than whom a more ordinary individual, if one may judge -from his portraits, seems not to have existed. Moreover, her portion was -undecided, and the noble suitor whom her friends sought for her, at -first but coldly allowed her merits; hinting, though “but very softly,” -that whilst he admired the fine qualities which Sir John described, he -could have wished her external charms had been equal to those of her -heart and understanding.[239] - -This half-disclosed objection, Sir John Vanburgh met with the -observation, that though he “did not believe Lady Harriott would ever -have a beautiful face, he could plainly see that it would prove a very -agreeable one, which he thought infinitely more valuable, especially -when he observed one thing in her—namely, a very good expression of -countenance.” “In short,” added the skilful reasoner, “it was certain -Lady Harriott’s figure would be good; and he would pawn all his skill in -such matters, if in two years time the Lady Harriott would not be as -much admired as any lady in town.” - -Lord Clare did not in the least contradict what Sir John said, but -allowed “that he might very possibly be right.” This conversation took -place in January, 1714; and two years elapsed before the subject was -formally resumed between the Duchess’s subservient friend, and his -patron, Lord Clare. In the course of these two years, Lord Clare became -Duke of Newcastle, and the Duchess of Marlborough’s anxiety to hail him -as a relative was probably not diminished by that circumstance. The -Duke, meantime, had seen no woman who exactly came up to his ideas of -what his wife ought to be, in order that he might expect from her that -domestic happiness to which he appears to have aspired. The idea of -being connected with the Marlborough family, and the expectation of a -considerable fortune if he connected himself with a member of that -wealthy house, added to the constant representations of Sir John -Vanburgh in favour of the alliance, maintained the desire, which the -Duke had always in some degree cherished, of uniting himself with the -Lady Harriott. At the same time, having made many observations upon the -bad education given to ladies of rank in that day, the Duke felt, as he -expressed to his friend Vanburgh, a much greater anxiety to find in his -wife an intelligent and amiable friend and companion, than to carry away -what would be commonly considered a prize, either of beauty or of -fortune. But at length, weary of delay, he wrote to his friend Vanburgh -that he had formed a resolution of marrying somewhere before the winter -was over, and again entered upon the subject of Lady Harriott.[240] - -This cessation of the treaty is explained by the Duchess of Marlborough, -in the curious correspondence from which this narrative is taken. The -original proposal, on her side, to Lord Clare, was to be so managed as -to save him the pain of sending her grace a refusal, if he declined it: -a negociation, with respect to fortune, was carried on between Vanburgh -and a mutual friend of Lord Clare and of the Duchess. - -As it might be expected, the treaty had gone on very smoothly, until the -conversation turned upon money. Some “civil things about the alliance,” -to use the Duchess’s phrase, had been said; but the dowry required to -make the plain Lady Harriott saleable was no less a sum than forty -thousand pounds. Upon this demand the Duchess had broken off the -negociation, concluding, as she afterwards declared, that the Duke of -Newcastle or his friends must think such a demand the most effectual way -of breaking off the affair; “since,” as she added, “Lady Harriott was -neither a ‘monster nor a citizen,’ and she had never heard of such a -fortune in any other case, unless it were an only child.” Yet to show, -as she states, that she was not mercenary, she had afterwards refused a -most considerable offer for her granddaughter, where she could have had -her own conditions. In such business-like and bartering terms did the -custom of the day lead the Duchess to express herself upon a matter of -no less importance than happiness, or unhappiness, the utmost bliss or -the most hopeless misery. - -Two years, therefore, had elapsed before anything more was done; and -Lady Harriott, meantime, had been introduced by her grandmother into the -fashionable circles of Bath; and that circumstance again aroused the -apprehensions of the cautious Pelham Holles. Whether he dreaded that she -would there have formed some acquaintance which might have produced an -entanglement of the heart—whether he fancied that the influence which -her grandmother exercised over her might induce the young lady to accept -a desirable match when her affections were elsewhere bestowed; or -whether he was merely desirous of ascertaining how far the scenes of -dissipation had power to elicit foibles and failings in the young Lady -Harriott—does not appear. From the strict inquiries which he anxiously -and repeatedly made when the treaty was renewed, of her conduct at Bath, -we must however conclude that the peer, in spite of his determination to -marry before the winter was over, was not so indiscreet in his haste as -to rush into bonds, unless he were well satisfied that they would -produce a happy union. Such were his notions of the sex at this time, -that, to use his own words to Vanburgh, he almost despaired of meeting -with a woman whose ideas of conjugal duty would accord with his own -expectations. Impressed with the difficulty of a choice, he earnestly -and emphatically entreated Sir John Vanburgh to inform him if he knew -anything of the lady, that could abate the extraordinary impression that -he had received of her merits. - -Sir John could add nothing disparaging to the high encomiums which he -had passed on Lady Harriott, and a fresh negociation was accordingly -entered upon with the Duchess, who expressed herself delighted with the -renewal of a treaty which she had considered as finally abandoned. Sir -John, meantime, was very zealous, and the affair proceeded -flourishingly, and ended, eventually, in the marriage of Lady Harriott -and the Duke of Newcastle.[241] - -So far Vanburgh seems to have acted well his part of a friend and -mediator; but he soon found that matchmaking was by no means the most -desirable occupation in the world. Although he had, by successful -arguments, brought the Duke of Newcastle “into the mind to marry Lady -Harriott,” the Duchess appears to have acted towards him unhandsomely -and ungratefully. It seems to have been her grace’s mode for avenging -Sir John’s errors of taste and miscalculations at Blenheim, to remove -her confidence from him in the nice affair which he had had her commands -to bring about to another useful friend. Whilst the architect and his -patroness were together at Bath and at Blenheim, she never mentioned a -syllable of the projected marriage to him, but, by transferring the -negociation to one Mr. Walter, implied that Vanburgh was no longer -worthy of the trust she had reposed in him. It was not long before -Vanburgh, indignant at her conduct, addressed to her grace a letter, -explanatory but respectful, excepting when, in the conclusion, he -declares that he should be surprised, but not sorry, to find that she -had imposed her commands and entrusted her commission to some other -person.[242] - -The Duchess, in her reply to Sir John Vanburgh, entered distinctly into -the whole process by which the match had been revived and perfected. She -acknowledged her obligations to Sir John Vanburgh; she explained her -conduct, if not satisfactorily, at least graciously; and concluded by -declaring, “that if any third person should say that she had behaved ill -to Sir John, she should be very sorry for it, and should be very ready -even to ask his pardon.”[243] - -Before this temperate letter reached him, Sir John Vanburgh, not to his -credit, had sent a very abusive, coarse, and insolent epistle. It -appears that he had discovered that the Duchess had devolved the -completion of Blenheim into other hands. Under the excitement produced -by this discovery, he gave vent to a torrent of invective, which seldom -accompanies a good cause. - -The Duchess, as it happened, received this singular ebullition from her -former confidante before her own letter was despatched; whereupon she -took up her pen, and, in the excess of her wrath, added a postscript; -concluding in these words:—“Upon the receiving of that very insolent -letter, upon the eighth of the same month, ’tis easy to imagine that I -wished to have had the civility I expressed in the letter back again, -and was very sorry that I had fouled my fingers in writing to such a -fellow.”[244] - -Sir John Vanburgh’s reply had called forth this elegant conclusion; he -appears to have been resolved to prove that he could equal her grace in -vituperation. In order clearly to understand the merits of the case, it -is necessary to give at length the letter which the Duchess “fouled her -fingers” to answer. It would be a pity to garble so characteristic a -document. - - - SIR JOHN VANBURGH TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[245] - - - “Whitehall, Nov. 8th, 1716. - -“MADAM,—When I writ to your grace on Thursday last, I was much at a loss -what could be the ground of your having dropped me, in the service I had -been endeavouring to do you and your family with the Duke of Newcastle, -upon your own sole motion and desire. But having since been shown, by -Mr. Richards, a large packet of building papers sent him by your grace, -I find the reason was, that you had resolved to use me so ill in respect -of Blenheim, as must make it impracticable to employ me in any other -branch of your service. - -“These papers, madam, are so full of _far-fetched laboured accusations, -mistaken facts, wrong inferences, groundless jealousies, and strained -constructions, that I should put a very great affront upon your -understanding if I supposed it possible you could mean anything in -earnest by them, but to put a stop to my troubling you any more. You -have your end, madam, for I will never trouble you more, unless the Duke -of Marlborough recovers so far to shelter me from such intolerable -treatment_. - -“I shall in the mean time have only this concern on his account, (for -whom I shall ever retain the greatest veneration,) that your grace -having, like the Queen, thought fit to get rid of a faithful servant, -the Tories will have the pleasure to see your glassmaker, Moor, make -just such an end of the Duke’s building as her minister Harley did of -his victories, for which it was erected. - - “I am your Grace’s - “Most obedient servant, - “J. VANBURGH. - -“If your grace will give me leave to print your papers, I’ll do it very -exactly, and without any answer or remark _but this short letter -attached to the tail of them, that the world may know I desired they -might be published_.” - - -The Duke of Marlborough, it appears, was kept in ignorance of all the -missiles of abuse which were passing between his Duchess and her once -faithful servant. But, observing that Vanburgh absented himself from -Marlborough-house and Blenheim, the kind-hearted Marlborough inquired -into the cause of that circumstance. Throughout the whole affair he -seems to have been moderate, unoffending, and just, as it was his nature -to be; but eventually he coincided with his wife, and the building of -Blenheim was transferred to other hands. - -Upon hearing that the Duke had inquired for him, Vanburgh wrote a long -explanation, in which some traces of regret are discoverable. Since it -is, in the main points, merely a recapitulation of the whole affair, we -must refer the reader, who may be curious to judge for himself upon this -amusing controversy, to the Appendix of this volume. - -Severe and real trials awaited the Duchess, and ought to have bowed her -head in humility, and softened her vindictive feelings to others. But -the discipline of events appears to have effected but little change in -her proud and fierce disposition. - -Whilst wealth and undisputed honours might procure a cheerful -retirement, it was the will of Providence that the decline of these two -celebrated persons into the sear and yellow leaf should be visited by -those bereavements which anticipate Time in his devastations upon the -frame of man, and aid him of his privilege in furrowing the brow, and -making the cheek wan. From the period when they could discern the -opening characters of infancy in their children, the Duke and Duchess of -Marlborough had considered themselves peculiarly blessed in two of their -daughters—Elizabeth Countess of Bridgewater, and Anne Countess of -Sunderland. The world corroborated by its testimony the good opinion of -the parents. Lady Bridgewater was domestic in her habits, affectionate, -dutiful, and religious. She appears to have taken less part in political -affairs than her sisters, Lady Rialton and Lady Sunderland, who were -evidently esteemed by the Tory party to be the chief female supporters -of their adversaries.[246] Yet Lady Bridgewater, in common with the rest -of her family, had evinced her displeasure at the dismissal of her -mother, and the change of the ministry in 1711–12. When, at that time, -it happened that the presentation of Prince Eugene took place, and all -the Tory courtiers, “monstrous fine,” as Swift described them, thronged -to see the Queen present him with a diamond sword, the Countess of -Bridgewater is thus mentioned among the “birth-day chat” with which -Swift consoled Stella for his absence. - -“I saw Lady Wharton, as ugly as the devil, coming out in a crowd, all in -an undress; she had been with the Marlborough daughters and Lady -Bridgewater in St. James’s, looking out of the window, all undressed, to -see the sight.”[247] - -This is one of the few instances in which we find Lady Bridgewater -mentioned in public; and, in March 22nd, 1714, her brief career closed, -the small-pox proving fatal to her, as it had done to her brother. She -was only twenty-six years of age at the time of her death. - -Lady Sunderland had a more distinguished, and, as far as we may judge, a -more arduous part in life to act, than either of her sisters. Unlike -Lady Rialton, afterwards Lady Godolphin, and the Duchess of Manchester, -she retained the affection of her imperious mother, even through -political turmoils, in which the Duke of Sunderland often differed from -the Duchess, and displeased the Duke of Marlborough. The Countess was -one whom remarkable worldly advantages could not withdraw from a -consciousness that this state, however blessed, is only a preparatory -process by which the human heart is to be purified. She lived in the -world uncorrupted; uninjured by admiration, which pursued her, from -friend or foe; untainted by ambition, the besetting failing of her -family; beautiful, but nobly aspiring to be somewhat more than the -beauty paramount of the day; accomplished, yet humble; of a lively -imagination, yet of unimpeached prudence, and of sound judgment. -Station, fashion, and, yet more, the conscious influence of her -fascinating qualities, were enjoyed by her in safety; for she had that -within, a pure and devout heart, which kept her unspotted from the -world. - -Lady Sunderland had been much at court, until, upon the Queen’s -dismissal of her mother, she resigned her offices. Her social reputation -was such, and her power in consequence so acknowledged, that Swift, who -stood watching which way the gales of royal favour blew, was not ashamed -to own his adulatory advances towards her, on one occasion when the -Queen’s indecision left him in considerable doubt as to which party -would prevail. - -“I was to-day at court,” writes the double and obsequious divine, in -1711, “and resolved to be very civil to the Whigs, but saw few there. -When I was in the bedchamber talking to Lord Rochester, he went up to -Lady Burlington, who asked him who I was, and Lady Sunderland and she -whispered about me. I desired Lord Rochester to tell Lady Sunderland, I -doubted she was not as much in love with me as I was with her, but he -would not deliver my message.”[248] - -After the return of the Duke and Duchess to England, it was the arduous -office of the Countess of Sunderland to interpose her mild influence -between the hasty temper of her husband and the overbearing spirit of -her mother. She was the only one of “Marlborough’s daughters” who could -brook the maternal authority, exercised even over her grown-up children -with unsparing rigour; and Marlborough regarded this dutiful and -forbearing child with peculiar affection, on that very account. Yet it -was evident, after her decease, that she both respected and loved her -mother, since to her care she confided those whom she herself most -loved.[249] - -In her husband’s temper and propensities, Lady Sunderland found that -counterbalance to her many worldly advantages, which those who enjoy the -happiest lot must in this world experience. Lord Sunderland, from the -account of historians, appears to have been of a factious, unhappy -spirit; to have quarrelled with his best friends; to have failed in his -ambition, not from want of abilities, but from want of conduct, and to -have been alienated, by his rash and conceited deportment, from those -who could alone save and serve him.[250] He had also a turn for -extravagance, and a passion for gaming; and the last years of his more -discreet wife were embittered by anxiety respecting a suitable provision -for his children, an anxiety which events fully justified in the -imprudent marriage which the Earl formed after her death. - -Yet was the Countess sincerely devoted to this uncongenial being, to -whom political interests had caused her to be united at an age when she -was too young to form a judgment upon such matters. When he was absent -in Vienna, on an embassy, she composed a prayer, found among her papers -after her death, dictated by the most ardent attachment to her husband, -and by the purest and most exalted devotion to her Maker.[251] One would -be apt to think highly of that man who could inspire such a woman with -such an affection, but that daily and hourly we witness how the most -disinterested and warmest feelings are bestowed by female hearts on -unworthy objects, and how they are perpetuated by a sense of duty, by -habit, by gratitude. - -Lady Sunderland had long suffered from the approaches of a mortal -disorder, which she sustained with the spirit that became her. In her -patience and christian resignation, she was consistent to the rest of -her conduct. On the 15th of April, 1714, very shortly after the death of -her sister, she was removed to a happier state; a fever, with which her -impaired constitution could not struggle, closing, thus abruptly and -mercifully, a life which might have lingered underneath the less violent -attacks of a chronic disease. - -Her death was a severe blow to both her parents. In her, the Duchess -lost the only solace which filial duty could supply; for her remaining -daughters loved her not, and even from her grandchildren she failed to -experience comfort. Among her mother’s papers was found the following -letter, eloquent in its simple beauty, and deeply affecting to the -parents, who could trace, in its touching requests, the pure but fretted -spirit of their anxious child. The Duchess, according to her usual -custom, had endorsed it with these words: “A copy of what my dear -daughter wrote to her Lord, not to be given to him till after she was -dead.”[252] - - - “Altrop, Sept. 9, 1716. - -“I have always found it so tender a subject (to you, my dear,) to talk, -of my dying, that I have chose rather to leave my mind in writing, -which, though very, very insignificant, is some ease to me. Your dear -self and the dear children are my only concern in the world; I hope in -God you will find comfort for the loss of a wife, I am sure you loved so -well, not to want a great deal. I would be no farther remembered, than -what would contribute to your ease, which is to be careful (as I was) -not to make your circumstances uneasy by living beyond what you have, -which I could not, with all the care that was possible, quite prevent. -When you have any addition, think of your poor children, and that you -have not an estate to live on, without making some addition by saving. -You will ever be miserable if you give way to the love of play. As to -the children, pray get my mother, the Duchess of Marlborough, to take -care of the girls, and if I leave any boys too little to go to school; -for to be left to servants is very bad for children, and a man can’t -take the care of little children that a woman can. For the love that she -has for me, and the duty that I have ever shown her, I hope she will do -it, and be ever kind to you, who was dearer to me than my life. Pray -take care to see the children married with a prospect of happiness, for -in that you will show your kindness to me; and never let them want -education or money while they are young. My father has been so kind as -to give my children fortunes, so that I hope they won’t miss the -opportunity of being settled in the world for want of portions. But your -own daughter may want your help, which I hope you will think to give -her, though it should straiten your income, or to any of mine, should -they want it. Pray let Mr. Fourneaux get some good-natured man for Lord -Spencer’s governor, whom he may settle with him before he dies, and be -fit to go abroad with him. I beg of you to spare no expense to improve -him, and to let him have an allowance for his pocket to make him easy. -You have had five thousand pounds of the money you know was mine, which -my mother gave me yearly; whenever you can, let him have the income of -that for his allowance, if he has none any other way. And don’t be as -careless of the dear children as when you relied upon me to take care of -them, but let them be your care though you should marry again; for your -wife may wrong them when you don’t mind it. You owe Fanchon, by a bond, -twelve hundred pounds, for which I gave her four score pounds a year -interest. Pray, whenever it is in your power, be kind to her and to her -children, for she was ever faithful to me. Pray burn all my letters in -town or in the country. We must all die, but it is hard to part with one -so much beloved, and in whom there was so much happiness, as you, my -dearest, ever were to me. My last prayers shall be to the Lord Almighty, -to give you all blessings in this world, and grant that we may meet -happy in the next. - - “A. SUNDERLAND.” - -“Pray give Lady Anne my diamond earrings; the middle drops are my -mother’s; and give Dye my pearl necklace and watch; and give Lady -Frances Spencer my diamond buckle; and give Mr. Fourneaux the medal of -gold which you gave me when I was married; and the little picture I have -of yours and of Lord Spencer’s.” - - -This letter was immediately forwarded by Lord Sunderland, through his -steward, to the Duchess, who lost no time in announcing to him her ready -compliance with her daughter’s last request; and she is said to have -conscientiously performed the important duties which, from maternal -affection, she had undertaken. Her zeal, and her real though unaffected -and unsentimental grief for her daughter’s loss, are naturally -exemplified in the following letter.[253] - - - “May 13, 1716. - -“I send you enclosed that most precious letter you sent me yesterday by -Mr. Charlton. You will easily believe it has made me drop a great many -tears, and you may be very sure that to my life’s end I shall observe -very religiously all that my poor dear child desired. I was pleased to -find that my own inclinations had led me to resolve upon doing -everything that she mentions before I knew it was her request, except -taking Lady Anne, which I did not offer, thinking that since you take -Lady Frances home, who is eighteen years old, she would be better with -you than me, as long as you live, or with the servants that her dear -mother had chose to put about her, and I found by Mr. Charlton this -thought was the same that you had. But I will be of all the use that I -can to her, in everything that she wants me, and if I should happen to -live longer than you, though so much older, I will then take as much -care of her as if she were my own child. I have resolved to take poor -Lady Anne Egerton, who, I believe, is very ill looked after. She went -yesterday to Ashridge, but I will send for her to St. Albans, as soon as -you will let me have dear Lady Dye; and while the weather is hot, I will -keep them two and Lady Harriot, with a little family of servants to look -after them, and be there as much as I can; but the Duke of Marlborough -will be running up and down to several places this summer, where one -can’t carry children, and I don’t think his health is so good as to -trust him by himself. I should be glad to talk to Mr. Fourneaux, to know -what servants there are of my dear child’s you do not intend to keep, -that if there is any of them that can be of use in this new addition to -my family, I might take them for several reasons. I desire, when it is -easy to you, that you will let me have some little trifle that my dear -child used to wear in her pocket, or any other way; and I desire Fanchon -will look for some little cup she used to drink in. I had some of her -hair not long since that I asked her for, but Fanchon may give me a -better lock at the full length.” - - -The children thus entrusted to their maternal grandmother became a -solace to the Duke and Duchess, and were nurtured with attention, both -to the elegance of their minds and to their happiness. There is nothing -more touching than the affection of the old for infants, nothing more -consolatory than to observe how beautifully Providence renews the -greatest of all pleasures, in restoring to the grandfather the -tenderness, and the consequent parental joys, of the father. Those who -have represented Marlborough as of a narrow spirit, and a cold, -designing heart, should have beheld him gazing with delight upon his -youthful granddaughters, when taking lessons in music and dancing, or -performing such parts as were suited to their capacity in certain -dramas, which turned often upon the exploits of the grandfather, and on -the gifts and graces of the grandmother. In the decline of life, -Marlborough listened, with a pleasure which he cared not to conceal, to -the recital of his own deeds from infantine lips; and there were others, -distinguished in their way, who deemed it not beneath their high -vocations to aid such entertainments as were the recreations of the -beloved grandchildren at Holywell House, or at Windsor Lodge.[254] - -Dr. Hoadley, at this time Bishop of Bangor, and afterwards of -Winchester, was the intimate associate, and, as it seems from certain -anecdotes, the spiritual friend of Marlborough in his latter days. He -was a controversialist of the first order, had signalised himself in an -intellectual combat of this kind against Atterbury, and also, on a later -occasion, in the noted Bangorian controversy, in which his adversary, -the celebrated William Law, is said to have gained the ascendency. The -Bishop, with all his learned acquirements, was formed to enliven society -by his cheerfulness, as well as to elevate its tone by his superior -intellect. He entered, with the kindness that becomes the learned so -well, into the amusements and pursuits of the young favourites of his -illustrious friend. Though not a dramatist himself, he was the father of -two very celebrated dramatists, at this time children; the one, Dr. -Benjamin Hoadley, physician to George the Second, and the author, among -other plays, of the “Suspicious Husband;” and the other, Dr. John -Hoadly, a clergyman, whose most serious composition was the oratorio of -Jephtha, but who thought it not inconsistent with his sacred character -to write humorous farces, and to perform with Garrick and Hogarth a -parody upon the ghost scene of Julius Cæsar.[255] - -Dr. Hoadley, though the father of dramatists, was not, if we may believe -Pope, the most lively writer among the many noted controversialists of -the day. He dwelt in long sentences, to which Pope alluded when he wrote - - “——Swift for closer style,[256] - But Hoadly for the period of a mile.” - -Yet the younger performers in the play of “All for Love,” to which the -good-natured Bishop wrote a prologue, thought his effusions, no doubt, -of the highest merit; and they turned upon a subject which they could -both comprehend and enjoy, the great exploits of Marlborough. Perhaps it -was the Bishop’s elaborate verses which occasioned the Duchess’s -aversion to poetry, when so employed, and which produced the clause in -her will, bequeathing to Glover and to Mallet one thousand pounds, upon -condition of their not inserting a single line of verse in the biography -which they had engaged to write of her husband.[257] - -“All for Love”[258] was enacted with all the proprieties, the Duchess -“scratching out some of the most amorous speeches, and no embrace -allowed.”[259] “In short, no offence to the company,” Miss Cairnes, -daughter of Sir Alexander Cairnes of Monaghan, and afterwards married to -Cadwallader, eighth Baron Blayney,[260] was domesticated in the -Marlborough family at the request of the Duchess, who, esteeming her -mother, Lady Cairnes, took the daughter into her family and brought her -up with her granddaughters, under the care of a governess, Mrs. La Vie, -a relation of Lady Cairnes, and the daughter of a French refugee. Both -these ladies were important additions to the social enjoyments of -Holywell, or the Lodge. Lady Blayney, who lived to the age of eighty, -became and continued an attached friend to the family. Her recollections -furnished the descendants of the famed Duke with several anecdotes of -their ancestors, and amongst others with the foregoing account of the -play. - -Mrs. La Vie, the other inmate of the family, was a woman also of -considerable attainments. She translated into French a letter addressed -by the Duchess to George the First, on one occasion, in order to clear -up some suspicions of her loyalty. Mrs. La Vie was also a frequent -visitant amongst the select parties given under the agreeable form of -suppers, by Lady Darlington, to George the First, where, excepting his -Majesty, persons of taste and distinguished talent were alone -admitted.[261] - -Surrounded by this agreeable domestic society, the Duke and Duchess -might have expected to pass serenely into an old age of peace. But both -public and private events occurred, which depressed, though they could -not render morose, a mind so kindly and amiably constituted as that of -Marlborough, whilst certain circumstances aroused once more the fiery -spirit of the Duchess, who rejoiced in the whirlwind. - -She had lived to see, among other strange vicissitudes, her former foe, -Harley, deprived not only of power, but of liberty; he had been -imprisoned two years in the Tower, when his impeachment, and the sudden -abandonment of that contested measure, excited public curiosity as to -the cause of so unaccountable an affair. - -The Duke of Marlborough was present at several of the debates which -related to this singular business. He voted with the minority who were -opposed to Harley. The Duchess was reported, also, to have been -“distracted with disappointment,” when the proceedings against Harley -were quashed by some secret influence. Yet, notwithstanding her -well-known hostility to Harley, and her equally well-known adherence to -Whig principles, there have been distinct statements of her having -intrigued with the Jacobite party, at that time justly formidable to the -King of England. - -Before the acquittal of Lord Oxford took place, report at that time, and -tradition has since, alleged, that Mr. Auditor Harley, the unfortunate -statesman’s brother, waited privately on the Duchess of Marlborough, and -showed her a letter which had been written formerly from the Duke to the -Pretender. Mr. Harley, after reading this letter, declared to the -Duchess that it should be produced at Lord Oxford’s trial, if that -proceeding were not instantly abandoned. The Duchess, it is stated, -seized the letter, committed it to the fire, and defied her foe. Mr. -Harley then thus addressed her:—“I knew your grace too well to trust -you; the letter you have destroyed is only a copy; the original is safe -in my possession.”[262] This is one anecdote, unsupported by any -authority, implicating the Duchess in the charge of a treasonable -correspondence. It may be remarked, that the previous vacillating and -crooked course which Marlborough had pursued with respect to the exiled -family, in the time of William the Third, may have given rise to this -imputation. - -Another statement, bearing an aspect of greater probability, was -communicated by Mr. Serjeant Comyns, afterwards Chief Baron of the -Exchequer, to the late respected and gifted Benjamin West, Esq., -President of the Royal Academy. Mr. West transmitted the circumstance to -Mr. Gregg, a barrister, from whose handwriting the anecdote was noted -down in the Biographia Britannica. - -Lord Harley, the eldest son of Lord Oxford, attended by Mr. Serjeant -Comyns, waited, it is said, on the Duke of Marlborough, to request his -grace’s attendance at the trial of the attainted peer. The Duke, -somewhat discomposed, inquired what Lord Oxford wanted of him, and was -answered by Mr. Comyns, that it was only to ask his grace a question or -two. The Duke became more and more agitated, and walked about the room -for a quarter of an hour, evidently much embarrassed; but at length he -inquired of Lord Harley on what account his attendance at the trial was -required. Lord Harley answered, that it was only for the purpose of -certifying his handwriting; and, to the still further questions of the -Duke, informed him that Lord Oxford had in his possession all the -letters which he had ever received from the Duke since the Revolution. -Upon this, Marlborough became extremely perturbed, pacing the room to -and fro, and even throwing off his wig in his passion; and to the -further interrogatories of Mr. Comyns, as to what answer they should -carry back to Lord Oxford, he returned for answer, “Tell his lordship I -shall certainly be there.” “This,” adds the retailer of this anecdote, -“is the true reason why Lord Oxford was never brought to trial.”[263] - -This strange story has been refused credit by the able biographer of -Marlborough, who has dismissed the imputation with contempt. It appears, -indeed, on several accounts, not to be worthy of credit. Harley might -have produced such letters long before, if he had it in his power, in -order to weaken the party opposed to him, amongst whom the most violent -was Lord Sunderland, son-in-law of Marlborough, who was greatly incensed -when the trial of Harley was stopped. Yet Sunderland, it afterwards -appears, was not devoid of suspicions regarding the Duchess’s fidelity -to the ruling powers; or, probably, domestic differences caused him, at -a subsequent period, to imbibe, with unfair readiness, prejudices which -were diligently inculcated to her disadvantage. There were, also, other -public events which aggravated dissensions already begun, and widened -differences of opinion, even among the few who could remain -dispassionate observers of the greatest of all national infatuations, -the South Sea scheme. - -The pernicious policy of William the Third, in borrowing money from the -public, and paying the interest of those sums by means of certain taxes, -has been justly blamed as the origin of much embarrassment and calamity -to the country.[264] A species of gaming, new to the nation, and arising -out of the uncertain state of public credit, became fascinating to the -commercial world, and a spirit of adventure pervaded all ranks and -conditions of society. - -The anxiety of both Houses of Parliament to reduce the national debt -fostered a scheme, brought to bear in the eleventh year of Queen Anne’s -reign, of forming a fund for paying the interest of the debt, in an -annuity of six per cent. All taxes upon wines, sugar, vinegar, tobacco, -India silks, and other goods, were appropriated to the aid of this fund, -and to the shareholders was granted the monopoly of a trade to the South -Sea, or coast of Peru, in Mexico; and proprietors of navy bills and -other securities were incorporated into a company which, under the name -of the South Sea Company, was soon regarded by the public as a community -possessing the most enviable privileges. The first scheme of this -notable project was framed by Harley. Sunderland afterwards carried it -on, and by this means sought to strengthen his parliamentary interest. A -wild spirit of speculation inflamed the minds of innumerable suitors to -the ministers, through whose influence shares were alone obtained; and -even the prudent and experienced Marlborough was tempted, upon the -revival of the scheme in the present reign, to increase the share which -he had originally held in the stock.[265] - -Sir John Blount, a scrivener, who matured, if it could be so called, the -South Sea scheme, had formed his plan upon the Mississippi scheme, which -in the preceding year had failed in France, and had ruined whole -families. Undeterred by this warning, even the wary Duchess of -Marlborough sought and obtained from Lord Sunderland subscriptions for -herself, and her friends and connexions, as the greatest boon that -ministerial power could grant. - -But to her sound, shrewd mind the fallacy of all the expectations which -a greedy public formed, was very soon apparent. The Duchess was not one -of those stars of our later days, before whom an astonished world bends -with adoration. Mathematics and logic had never directed her powerful -understanding. She was no political economist; her speculations on all -such subjects arose out of the great practical lessons which she had -witnessed. Her education had been limited. To arithmetic as a science -she was a stranger. “Lady Bute,” says the ingenious writer of recently -published anecdotes of Lady Mary Wortley Montague, “sat by her (the -Duchess) whilst she dined, or watched her in the curious process of -casting up her accounts—curious, because her grace, well versed as she -was in all matters relating to money, such as getting it, hoarding it, -and turning it to the best advantage, knew nothing of common arithmetic. -But her sound, clear head could invent an arithmetic of its own. To -lookers-on it appeared as if a child had scribbled over the paper, -setting down figures here and there at random; and yet every sum came -right to a fraction at last, in defiance of Cocker.”[266] - -Yet it was this untaught mind, disturbed often by bursts of passion, and -in love with wealth and all other worldly advantages,—it was the Duchess -of Marlborough, who, of all her class, was the first to detect the -fallacy of that scheme by which a whole nation had been ensnared. When -the value of the stock rose to an unprecedented height, and the public -were more than ever infatuated by false hopes, she saved her husband and -her family from ruin, not only by her foresight but by her firmness. Let -those who would wholly preclude women from any participation in -masculine affairs, remember how often their less biassed judgment, their -less employed hours, have been made available to warn and to save. The -Duchess happily had sufficient influence over her husband to rescue his -disposable property from any further investment in the South Sea Stock. -She resisted all the entreaties of Sunderland to employ any further -portion of capital in the scheme; she foresaw that no profit would now -satisfy the public mind, excited to an unnatural degree, and predicted -that the fall of the stock would be as rapid as the rise. She not only -withheld the Duke’s hand, but persecuted him to sell out his shares, by -which prudent step he realised, it is said, a hundred thousand -pounds;[267] and this clear-sightedness on the Duchess’s part was the -more admirable that it was wholly singular. It was the age of -speculation and of companies; and many of the nobility were at the head -of some new ephemeral speculation. The Prince of Wales was made governor -of the Welsh Copper Company; the Duke of Chandos, of the York Buildings; -and the Duke of Bridgewater formed a third for building houses in -London.[268] - -Whilst these bubbles were engaging the public mind, the blow which -severed Marlborough for ever from public life, and rendered even his -beloved home cheerless, was struck whilst he was yet mourning at -Holywell-house the death of his beloved daughters, more especially of -the Countess of Sunderland. Throughout the whole of his life the Duke -had suffered from intense headaches and giddiness,—warnings disregarded, -as they often are, in the feverish pursuit of power, in the race for -worldly honours, which the exhausted mind and irritable nerves permit -not, ofttimes, even the most successful to enjoy. - -On the twenty-eighth of May, 1716, not two months after his beloved -daughter Anne had been removed from him, the Duke was attacked by palsy, -which for some time deprived him of speech and of recollection. He was -attended on this occasion by Sir Samuel Garth, who not only managed his -disease with skill, but attended him with the devoted zeal of a partial -friend.[269] The Duke slowly recovered to a condition not to be termed -health, unless a man on the edge of a precipice can be said to be in -safety. As a public man he was, indeed, no more; but it is satisfactory -to the admirers of this great man to recollect that his last military -counsels had been as judicious and as effective as those which he had -originated on former occasions. His latest act as commander-in-chief was -to concert those measures for defeating the rebellion which proved so -successful; his latest prognostic with respect to public affairs was, -that that rebellion would be crushed at Preston.[270] - -From the first attack of the Duke’s disorder, to his release from a -state of debility, though not, as it has been represented, of -imbecility, a gloom hung over his existence. His bodily and mental -sufferings are said to have been aggravated by the Duchess’s violent -temper, and petulant attempts to regain power.[271] The assertion cannot -surprise those who have observed, under various circumstances, -characters which are not regulated by high and firm principles. The -Duchess had kind and generous impulses, but no habit of self-government. -The arbitrary spirit of an indulged wife had now become an unlimited -love of sway; her affection for the Duke was not strong enough to teach -her to quell for his sake the angry passions, or to check the bitterness -of her satirical spirit, because the stings which she inflicted might -wound the enfeebled partner of her youthful days. - -After some weeks of indisposition, Marlborough was enabled to remove to -Bath, where he was recommended to try the waters. When he entered that -city, he was received with honours which he was little able to -encounter. A numerous body of nobility and gentry hailed his approach, -and the mayor and aldermen came, with due formalities, to greet him. It -appears that he must very soon have recovered some portion of his former -activity, if the following anecdote, related by Dr. William King, a -contemporary, and principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxon, be credited. - -“That great captain, the Duke of Marlborough,” says Dr. King, “when he -was in the last stage of life, and very infirm, would walk from the -public rooms in Bath to his lodgings, in a cold, dark night, to save -sixpence in coach-hire. If the Duke,” he adds, “who left at his death -more than a million and a half sterling, could have foreseen that all -his wealth and honours were to be inherited by a grandson of my Lord -Trevor’s, who had been one of his enemies, would he have been so careful -to save a sixpence for the sake of his heir? Not for his heir, but he -would always have saved a sixpence.”[272] - -Whilst thus retaining what was more in him a habit than a passion, the -Duke left Bath, to view with peculiar pleasure the progress of the great -palace at Blenheim, where he expressed satisfaction on beholding that -tribute to his former greatness. But the enjoyments of Marlborough’s -declining years were few and transient, whether they consisted in the -exalting contemplation of a noble structure, the suggestion, though not -the gift, of a nation’s gratitude; or in the small, the very small -gratification of saving a sixpence, imputed to him by his contemporary; -though it is possible, and to the good-natured it may appear probable, -that to the humbled invalid, conscious of decay, the satisfaction of -being able to resume old habits of activity, the habits of military -life, may have been one source of the pleasure. - -During November, however, in the same year of his first attack, the Duke -was threatened with immediate death. The remaining members of his family -hastened to bid him what they expected would prove a last farewell. -Their parent, however, was for the time spared to them. Again he -recovered his health sufficiently to remove to Marlborough house. His -reason was happily restored to him, but the use of speech for some time -greatly impaired. He recovered it, however, and conversed, though he -could not articulate some words. His memory, and the general powers of -his mind, were also spared. The popular notion of his sinking into -imbecility is, therefore, unfounded, and in this respect it is unfair, -and erroneous, to couple him with Swift. - - “From Marlborough’s eyes the streams of dotage flow, - And Swift expires a driveller and a show,” - -are lines so familiar, that it is difficult to dispossess the -imagination of the ideas which they have lodged there. Both of these -celebrated men, indeed, suffered from the same mortal and humiliating -disease; and the dire malady, which is no respecter of persons, -afflicted the kindly, the humane, the pure, the religious Marlborough, -and abased also the vigorous intellect of the coarse, selfish, and -profane Swift. Both suffered from the same oppressing consciousness of -diminished mental energy. The lucid intervals of Swift were darkened by -a cruel sense of present powerlessness, and of past aberrations; and -Marlborough is said, when gazing upon a portrait of himself, painted in -his days of vigour, to have uttered the affecting exclamation, “That -_was_ a man!”[273] But here the similitude of the two cases ends. -Marlborough was never reduced to that last degree of human distress, -insanity; it appears by the journals of the House of Lords that he -attended the debates frequently for several years after the commencement -of his illness, and he performed the functions of his public offices -with regularity. Marlborough was permitted by his Creator the use of -reason, the power of reflection,—time, therefore, to arrange complicated -worldly concerns, and to prepare for a happier sphere. Venerated by his -friends, domestics, and relatives, Marlborough was permitted to his -latest hour to share in the hallowed domestic enjoyments which by no -immoral courses he had forfeited, by no disregard of others destroyed. - -The very different termination of Swift’s career—the retributive justice -which, if we believed in spirits, poor Stella’s ghost might have -witnessed—the joyless close of an existence which no affectionate cares -sought to cheer; the consignment of the wretched and violent lunatic to -servants and keepers; the moody silence of the once eloquent and witty -ornament of courtly saloons; the deep despair to which medicine could -not minister, but which a moral influence might have alleviated, but -which no son nor daughter’s tender perseverance, with untaught, but -often, perhaps, effectual skill, sought to solace;—these, with all other -gloomy particulars of Swift’s awful aberrations and death, on which not -one light of consciousness was shown, must be by all remembered. Unloved -he died; the affection which could, for the gentle Cowper, brave the -desolating sight and company of hopeless insanity, was not the portion -of one who, in this world of great moral lessons, had ever sacrificed -others to his own gratification. - -It was one of Marlborough’s first acts, after his partial recovery, to -tender to the King, through Lord Sunderland, then in power, the -resignation of his employments; but George the First, with a delicacy of -feeling which could scarcely have been expected from his rugged nature, -declined receiving it, declaring that “the Duke’s retirement from office -would excite as much pain as if a dagger should be plunged in his -bosom.” Marlborough, therefore, reluctantly, and certainly to the injury -of his health, remained in office; and that accordance with his -Majesty’s wishes was attributed by the Duchess to Lord Sunderland, who -stood in need of his father-in-law’s assistance, in the administration -which he had lately formed to the exclusion of Walpole and Townshend. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - Third Marriage of Lord Sunderland—Calumnies against the Duke and - Duchess of Marlborough—Interview between the Duchess and George the - First—The result—Her differences with Lord Sunderland—Illness, - death, and character of the Duke of Marlborough.—1721–22. - - -The Duchess of Marlborough tasted at this time sufficient of the real -troubles of life to chasten a spirit less elastic than that which she -possessed. Amongst various mortifications, Lord Sunderland inflicted a -bitter pang, by marrying for the third time. His last wife, Judith, the -daughter of Benjamin Tichborne, Esq., was not only of an unsuitable age, -but inferior in rank, property, and connexions, to the Earl’s station -and circumstances. He aggravated this affront to the family of his -former wife, by settling on her successor a portion of his property, to -the injury of his children. No remonstrances on the part of the Duchess -could prevent this annoying union, and subsequent arrangement; but her -letters to Lord Sunderland teemed with invective, whilst his lordship’s -replies were filled with bitter recriminations. - -A mind so constituted as Lord Sunderland’s was not calculated to rise -above the littleness of revenge, when opportunity occurred. A report, -which became current among the higher circles, that the Duchess favoured -the Pretender, gave him probably less concern than it would at a former -period have imparted. The Duchess, from consideration for her husband, -concealed the rumour from him; but Sunderland summoned his father-in-law -suddenly to his house, and acquainted him, in a coarse and unfeeling -manner, with the calumny. The Duke returned to the Duchess greatly -disturbed, and, in answer to her inquiries, informed her that she was -accused of favouring the Pretender, and assisting him with a sum of -money in his designs upon the throne. - -The Duke, shattered in nerves, was greatly agitated by this abrupt -disclosure; but it was received by the Duchess with disdain, and by an -endeavour to soothe his irritation. But when her husband informed her -that the King had heard the report, and that even the Duke was supposed -to share her treasonable practices, she resolved, with her wonted -courage, to appear at the drawing-room, in order to ascertain how deeply -the poison of calumny had worked. - -On her first appearance she was received coldly; and when on a second -occasion she repaired to court, a reception equally chilling, and -equally contrasted with the marked attention which had formerly been -paid to her, confirmed her fears; and upon this demonstration of -displeasure she resolved to make her wrongs and her innocence known to -the King. - -The person through whose mediation the Duchess did not think it unseemly -to address his Majesty, was the Duchess of Kendal, formerly Madame -Schulemberg, the mistress, or, as some supposed, the left-handed wife of -George the First; a lady whose mental and personal qualities were not, -fortunately for the safety of virtue, such as to cast a lustre over the -equivocal, if not disgraceful position in which she stood. - -The Duchess of Kendal was at this time a “tall, lean, ill-favoured old -lady,” who had lived for forty years in all the contentment which virtue -merits, and without the usual attractions of vice; mistress to a King, -unimpassioned, inert, and respectably vicious—an “honest, dull German -gentleman,”[274] to whose darkened conscience habitual profligacy -offered no offence. - -The Duchess of Kendal, when she arrived in England, was destined to -learn a lesson new to her; and the desire of political influence which -she acquired, led to an interference of which she had never before -dreamed. Her hatred to the Walpole family, whom the Duchess also -detested, might probably account for their making common cause together, -on the occasion which must now be described. - -It was through the persuasion of the Duchess of Kendal that the Duchess -of Marlborough obtained an interview with the King, at the apartments of -his mistress in St. James’s palace, in the same suite of rooms which -were afterwards inhabited by the Countess of Suffolk, the favourite of -his equally profligate and equally uninteresting son. - -The Duchess of Marlborough, when thus introduced to the sovereign, -delivered to his Majesty a letter containing a distinct denial of the -charges against her. The plain and homely German monarch seems to have -received her address favourably, nor was he a man to daunt, by his stern -dignity, one who had been formerly often in the presence of the cold, -repulsive William of Orange. George was one who could scarcely offend or -be offended, and who never sought to awe, and rarely to repulse. His -manners and appearance were those of an elderly gentleman, rather of the -middle than of the higher class, and his temper resembled that of other -elderly gentlemen arrived at a comfortable period of life, when the -composure, though not the apathy and weakness of age, begins to be -manifested. The King required importunity to rouse him to exertion.[275] -He has been described, from recollection, as a tall personage, somewhat -pale, with an aspect rather good than august, and dressed in a style -equally unobtrusive with his character: a dark tie-wig, a plain coat, -waistcoat, and breeches, of snuff-coloured cloth, with stockings of the -same colour, and a blue ribbon over all, constituted an attire widely -different from the gay and costly habiliments of the gallants of his -court, amongst whom the fantastic and studied style of dress of the -Stuart days had not yet subsided into the mediocrity of modern days, -which has gradually departed more and more widely from the models of -former times. - -The address delivered by the Duchess to his Majesty expressed in strong -terms her surprise that any person “should, after all the trouble and -danger she had been exposed to from her zeal for his Majesty and his -family, suppose her capable of holding a correspondence with the King’s -greatest enemy, and that she should have been represented guilty of so -black and foolish a crime.” She entreated, in conclusion, to be allowed -“to justify herself in such a manner as should seem possible to his -Majesty’s great wisdom.” - -After presenting her petition, the Duchess retired, and though pressed -by the Duchess of Kendal to return, she refused to do so. It is -remarkable, that notwithstanding the period of her exile, and her -frequent intercourse with distinguished foreigners, the Duchess could -not speak French;[276] any conversation, therefore, with the King was -impracticable, for his Majesty neither understood English, nor ever took -the slightest pains to acquire the language. - -The reply of his Majesty to her grace’s petition fully evinced the -coolness of his sentiments towards her, however he might respect and -confide in the Duke.[277] - - - “St. James’s, Dec. 17, 1720. - -“Whatever I may have been told on your account, I think I have shown, on -all occasions, the value I have for the services of the Duke, your -husband; and I am always disposed to judge of him and you by the -behaviour of each of you in regard to my service. Upon which I pray God, -my Lady Marlborough, to preserve you in all happiness. - - “GEORGE R.” - - -The Duchess was deeply disappointed upon the receipt of this letter. It -was, she doubted not, dictated by the ministry at that time in power, of -whom Horace Lord Walpole, Lord Sunderland, and Mr. Secretary Craggs, -formed the most influential members. - -Lord Walpole, the younger brother of the great minister, to whom the -dislike of the Duchess extended, had been the early friend and fellow -collegian of her deceased son; and what, perhaps, occasioned a greater -bond of union in a mind so constituted, during the whole course of his -political career, a genuine Whig, and, in conjunction with Newcastle, -Addison, Pulteney, Craggs, and others. He was, also, a member of the -Hanover club, who had gone so far, in 1713, as to show their hatred of -the Jacobite cause, by parading effigies of the Devil, the Pope, and the -Pretender, in solemn procession from Charing Cross to the Exchange, and -back to Charing Cross, where they were burnt.[278] But, notwithstanding -the similarity of their political opinions, that administration from -which the Duchess had once expected great results, had failed to secure -her regard; probably from the little attention which they proffered to -that vanity which, like some weeds, grew more vigorously in the shade. - -The Duchess was not only already at variance with Lord Sunderland, -another ministerial friend, but Mr. Craggs had fallen under her severe -displeasure. Upon this statesman of equivocal character the suspicions -of the Duchess now rested,[279] of having some years previously sent her -an anonymous letter of an offensive kind. She, therefore, in her reply -to the King’s laconic letter, gave vent to her suspicions, that since -there was only one person in all the world whom she knew capable of -calumniating her, that person “who might, perhaps, have malice enough to -her, and dishonour enough in himself to be guilty of it, is Mr. -Secretary Craggs.”[280] - -Her charge, daring as it was, fell to the ground. No notice was taken of -this epistle, except a brief answer referring to the King’s former -reply; but the painful consequence of the Duchess’s surmises was a total -alienation from her son-in-law, Lord Sunderland; an alienation which -lasted nearly until his death, which took place in 1722. So singular was -the fate of this extraordinary woman in private life, that scarcely did -she possess a tie which was not severed, or embittered, by worldly or -political considerations. - -The affair of the South Sea bubble, as it was called, a scheme -designated by Lord Walpole as “weak in its projection, villainous in its -execution, and calamitous in its end,”[281] was, in part, the cause of -the coolness which thus severed Lord Sunderland from the family with -whose interests his own had been so long bound up, and with whom he held -an hereditary alliance of affection, cemented by his happy marriage with -one of its best and purest ornaments. Scheming and ill judging, but not -venal, Lord Sunderland, during the height of the national infatuation, -availed himself of that singular crisis, and made use of the South Sea -bubble only as a political engine, and not to benefit his own -embarrassed fortunes. - -The frenzy of this memorable scheme is said to have aided the settlement -of the house of Hanover on the throne, by drawing off the attention of -the people from the delirium of faction, to the almost equally dangerous -mania for speculation.[282] As an aid to his party designs, Lord -Sunderland, weakly, and with shortsighted policy, encouraged its -transient influence. He incurred the deepest displeasure from his -mother-in-law the Duchess; who might, perhaps, have forgiven him his -share in the great imposition, had her family and his lordship’s own -children not have suffered in the general crash. His neglect of the -interests of his children formed one of her greatest grounds of -complaint; yet she received, supported, and educated several of those -children, when, from his lordship’s improvidence and his death, he left -his numerous family to suffer from his embarrassments. Amongst other -debts, he owed ten thousand pounds to the Duke of Marlborough; but his -library, which, says Dr. Coxe, “was only rivalled by that of Lord Oxford -in rarity and extent, was one of the items of his personal property, and -now forms the basis of the noble collection at Blenheim.” - -It may appear reasonable to suppose that the Duke and Duchess of -Marlborough, having now tasted of the enjoyments, or endured the -annoyances, of four successive courts, would gladly retire from all such -scenes, thankful to escape to the quiet possession of leisure, and to -the participation of such blessings as were spared to their old age. -Vast riches were superabundantly their portion. Yet even wealth, which -becomes a blessing or a curse according to the quality of that nature to -which it is attached, has its inconveniences; and the immense -accumulation of ready money appears to have caused the Duke considerable -embarrassment. - -“I beg pardon for troubling you with this,” he wrote about this time, to -a friend, “but I am in a very odd distress—too much ready money. I have -now one hundred thousand pounds dead, and shall have fifty more next -week; if you can employ it in any way, it will be a very great favour to -me.”[283] - -Surely so strange a dilemma as that of having a hundred and fifty -thousand pounds too much for one’s peace of mind, and of being able to -dispense with the interest of such a sum, is of rare occurrence. - -The Duchess, it appears, was not only averse to speculations in the -South Sea scheme, but dreaded, at times, lest the national debt should -be cancelled by a “sponge,” as she frequently expressed it;[284] though -that phrase relates to a later period, when the hated Walpole was in -power. - -The mere possession of wealth could, however, only have satisfied a mind -far less grovelling than that of the Duchess. Power was her aim, her -delight; a little brief authority her foible; intrigue her element, -faction her recreation. It was impossible that the habits of a long life -could be laid aside, and nothing could pacify her busy spirit. -Accordingly, we find her just as much devoted to the acquisition of -court favour in the decline of life, as she had been, before death had -deprived her of those bright ornaments of society for whose sake she may -have been supposed to have coveted royal favour with peculiar avidity. -Neglected by the King, she received with eagerness the attentions of the -Prince and Princess of Wales, who were at variance with the court, and -who consequently cherished the malcontents. The Princess, afterwards -Queen Caroline, was eventually a favourite with the Duchess; but, at an -earlier period, it was perhaps sufficient that George the First -habitually called his daughter-in-law “_cette diablesse Madame la -Princesse_,”[285] to render the Duchess, who was affronted by the small -account made of the Duke, and of her own influence, a warm partisan of -the Princess of Wales. - -Eager to pay her utmost court to the Princess, in June, 1720, the -Duchess wrote to her friend Mrs. Clayton[286] a glowing description of a -visit to Richmond, which she had paid to their royal highnesses the -Prince and Princess of Wales, whose reception, as she declares, “of the -Duke of Marlborough and poor me” would fill more than the paper on which -she wrote. Not only was she graciously received by the Prince and -Princess, but by the Lord Chamberlain and attendants, even to the pages -of the bedchamber; so that the Duchess, long unused to receive such -certain demonstrations of favour, fancied herself in a new world. Music -of a superior kind gave gaiety to the entertainment; but the shrewd -Duchess could very plainly see that the Princess was more charmed with -the “music of the box and dice” than with any other instrument. Their -royal highnesses had, at that time, a charming residence at Richmond, -with beautiful walks, and woods wild and charming, but with a house -scarcely handsome enough, as the Duchess thought, for the heir apparent. - -The fashionable amusement of the day was ombre, a game in which the -Duchess delighted, and in which she freely indulged with one Mr. Nevill, -her companion on this occasion, whilst she acknowledged that listening -to Mr. Nevill’s singing, in which he excelled, was almost as good an -amusement, and a qualification that pleased her grace mightily, at no -expense. Yet ombre riveted her, in spite of its ruinous expenses; and, -what was more, she enjoyed her visit to Richmond greatly, -notwithstanding that she lost a considerable sum of money. Royal -condescension could gild over the unpleasant features even of that -incident, although, as the Duchess humorously remarked, “she lost a -great deal of money for one who is not in the South Sea!” Yet she came -away, nevertheless, with the intention of playing at ombre as long as -she could keep my Lord Cardigan and Mr. Nevill at Woodstock, considering -that there were but few now in whom she had any interest after her death -to induce her to save. - -Such were some of the reflections of the Duchess, in quitting the lovely -and cheerful scenes of Richmond Park. She came away, delighted with -little and great things, full of commendations of the Princess, who had -enchanted her, more especially by calling back one of her grandchildren -and bidding her hold up her head; a thing of which the Duchess was -telling Lady Charlotte every day; and reflecting how well princes might -govern without bribing parliament, and be as absolute as they pleased, -if they chose ministers of good reputation, who had the interest of -their country at heart.[287] - -It is evident, from these comments, that the Duchess expected to resume -her influence, when the heir apparent should succeed to the throne of -his father. Her daughter, the Duchess of Montague, was, indeed, -appointed mistress of the robes to Queen Caroline. But the Duchess of -Marlborough discovered that her influence was but little appreciated by -the Walpole party, from whom she expected so much. It could not even -obtain a commission for her grandson; it could not prevent constant -broils with Queen Caroline, which engendered hatred in the mind of the -Duchess towards that eulogised Princess. - -Seventeen years after the pleasant day at Richmond, when age and -infirmity had soured her temper, and time had plainly proved to her that -her importance in the society of the great was for ever fled, the -Duchess altered her opinion of Queen Caroline.[288] So mutable are -opinions in this world; and so transitory those fashions which -capriciously hold up to public favour, or to general execration, the -characters of royal personages. - -The Duke of Marlborough had continued for some years in the same -precarious state of health, to which his first attack of disease had -reduced him. He had lingered six years after the first stroke of palsy, -suffering repeated attacks of the formidable disorder. His mind, though -not totally enfeebled, must, in all probability, have been affected in -some degree by those visitations which shackle the limbs, impede the -motions of the tongue, and usually render the nervous system cruelly -susceptible. Yet still the Duke retained many of his usual habits, -underwent the fatigue of journeys, entered into society, and occupied -his latter days in arranging the testamentary disposition of that vast -wealth which he had laboured so long and so eagerly to accumulate. - -The Duke of Marlborough is vaguely stated, by his biographer, Dr. Coxe, -to have died “immensely rich;” others have declared his fortune to have -amounted, at his death, to nearly a million sterling. It therefore -became a matter of much solicitude with him, and it appears to have been -so with the Duchess, that his grace should make such a will as should -prevent any of those harassing and destructive litigations which are -sometimes entailed upon a family to whom great wealth is bequeathed. It -was, in this instance, more particularly requisite that every precaution -should be adopted. The Duke left a numerous posterity of grandchildren, -some of whom might, if so disposed, represent their illustrious -progenitor as incapacitated by his infirmity from making an adequate -disposition of his effects. The Duchess, with her usual acuteness, -foresaw that such obstacles to the administration of his affairs, after -his death, might arise; and she adopted the plan of writing a detailed -account of her husband’s condition, and of his last actions, from which -narrative the following extracts are taken.[289] - -“I think it proper, in this place, to give some account of the Duke of -Marlborough’s distemper, and how he was when he signed his will. The -Duke of Marlborough was taken very ill at St. Albans, in May, 1716, with -the palsy; but he recovered it so much as to go to Bath. He lived till -June the sixteenth, 1721; and though he had often returns of this -illness, he went many journeys, and was in all appearance well, -excepting that he could not pronounce all words, which is common in that -distemper; but his understanding was as good as ever. But he did not -speak much to strangers, because when he was stopped, by not being able -to pronounce some words, it made him uneasy. But to his friends that he -was used to, he would talk freely; and since his death, Mr. Hanbury, the -dowager Lady Burlington, and many others of my friends, have remarked to -me, with pleasure, the things that they had heard him say, and the just -observations he had made upon what others had said to him; and he gave -many instances of remembering several things in conversation that others -had forgot.” - -A year or more after this time, the Duke found it necessary to alter his -will, and gave directions to Sir Edward Northey and Sir Robert Raymond -to that effect. These gentlemen kept the will a long time, but, after it -was returned to his grace, in 1721, it was formally signed by him, in -the presence of Lord Finch, of General Lumley, and of Dr. Samuel Clarke, -the celebrated divine, Rector of St. James’s. All of these gentlemen had -read the will, at the request of the Duchess, before it had been signed. -They were invited, on this occasion, to dine at Marlborough-house. The -Duchess, in her plain, straightforward manner, gives the following -account of the Duke’s deportment in this, almost the last effort of his -weakened understanding and sinking frame; the closing scene of that -drama of many acts, in which he had played the parts of General, -Statesman, and Diplomatist. - -“As soon as dinner was over,”[290] writes the Duchess, “he asked if Mr. -Green was come, (he was Sir Edward Northey’s clerk;) and as soon as he -came into the room he asked him how his mother did. Upon Mr. Green’s -being come to put the seals to the will, the Duke of Marlborough rose -from the table, and fetched it himself out of his closet; and as he held -it in his hand, he declared to the witnesses that it was his last will, -that he considered it vastly well, and was entirely satisfied with it; -and then he signed every sheet of paper, and delivered it in all the -forms. After this the witnesses all sat at the table, and talked for -some time. Lord Finch and Dr. Clarke went away first, about business; -and when General Lumley rose up to go, who staid a good while longer -than the others, the Duke of Marlborough rose up too, and went to him -and embraced him, taking him by the hand and thanking him for the favour -he had done him.” - -Some months after this occurrence, the Duke made his last appearance in -the House of Lords, leaving London in the spring, according to his usual -custom. - -On the sixteenth of June, 1722, this great, brave, and good man was -removed from a world which probably would have ceased to be to him a -scene of enjoyment, had not the benevolence of his disposition, and the -strong nature of his domestic affections, secured to him a serenity -which disease could not, with all its pangs, entirely destroy. Repeated -attacks of palsy had shaken his once powerful frame. His intellect was -weakened, but not wholly darkened. He had the blessing of being able, on -his deathbed, to receive the consolations of prayer. Whilst he lay for -several days exhausted by disease, but aware that the great change was -at hand, the Duchess, who remained with her husband until the spirit had -passed away, inquired of her lord whether he had heard the prayers which -had been read to him. “Yes, and I joined in them,” were the last -intelligible words which the dying Marlborough uttered. He was removed -from a sofa to his bed, at the suggestion of his wife, and remedies were -fruitlessly applied to assuage the sufferings which were soon to -terminate. The Duchess, and the Duke’s usual attendants remained near -him; the rest of his family withdrew, as no symptoms of immediate danger -were apparent. About four o’clock in the morning of the sixteenth of -June, 1721, his soul returned to his Maker. - -Thus sank to rest one of the bravest, and one of the most -kindly-tempered of men. It were useless to descant at length on the -character of one whose actions are indelibly engraved on every British -heart, and with some of whose personal qualities we are rendered -familiar from infancy. Yet, notwithstanding the able delineation of his -intellectual and moral qualities, which has been at no remote period -given to the world by Archdeacon Coxe, sufficient justice has not -hitherto been done to the amiable and respectable attributes which -characterised Marlborough in private life. - -It is remarkable, that of three biographers who were selected by the -Duchess or her family to write the history of the hero, all died -successively, before the task was even commenced. An impartial -biography, if such a work be compatible with the weakness and prejudices -of human nature, by a contemporary, a friend, an associate of -Marlborough, would have been invaluable. The well-weighed opinions and -careful narratives of those who knew him not, can but ill supply the -deficiency. - -Of the early education which was bestowed upon the great general, we -know but little, except that it was extremely limited. He may be termed -self-educated; necessity first—ambition afterwards, being his -preceptresses. Yet the disadvantages of early neglect were never, even -by the assiduous and gifted Marlborough, wholly overcome. To the close -of his life, after his extensive commerce with the continental world, -after serving under Turenne, and enjoying the intimacy of Eugene, he -could not speak French without difficulty. He was probably wholly -unacquainted with the dead languages: it was said that he never could -master even the orthography of his own.[291] With this disadvantage he -rose to be one of the most accomplished courtiers, and one of the ablest -diplomatists, in Europe. The energy and compass of a mind which could -thus overcome difficulties of such vital importance as those which he -must have encountered, when, from the pursuits of a mere soldier, he was -compelled by his rapid elevation to enter into the arduous duties of -despatches and correspondence, demand our admiration. - -The moral character, as well as the intellectual powers, of Marlborough, -underwent a remarkable change in the course of his chequered career. Few -of those men, perhaps erroneously called heroes, could ever look back -upon their progress to military fame with so little cause for remorse as -John Duke of Marlborough. He left a name unsullied by cruelty. A -remarkable combination of strong affections, with a natural suavity of -temper, rendered him the beloved friend of men whose nature was not -disposed to friendship. The crafty Sunderland and the unimaginative -Godolphin loved him, after a fashion not of the world. To his own family -he was peculiarly endeared, and, considering the effect of -circumstances, singularly affectionate. His devotion to his wife, his -love of his children, were not the only proofs which he gave of a kindly -nature: his affections extended to all his numerous relatives. In one of -his letters to the Duchess, he begs her to speak two kind words to his -brother George, “as brother to him that loves you with all his heart;” -and he is incessantly interceding for his sister, Mrs. Godfrey, whilst, -at the same time, he owns that she was very indiscreet.[292] - -Those graces of manner which, in Marlborough, are said to have disarmed -his disappointed suitors, and to have conciliated men of all pursuits -and all stations, proceeded from the kindliness of a happy temper, on -which the habit and necessity of pleasing engrafted a dignified -courtesy, of a higher quality than mere good breeding. His respect for -himself and for others appeared alike in his conduct to his soldiers, -and in his forbearance to the factious courtiers who forsook him when, -on his dismissal from his employments in the reign of Anne, to know him -was to know disgrace. He was, in the thorough sense of the phrase, as -far as outward deportment was concerned, the kindly, high-bred English -gentleman. Upon this fair picture some shadows must appear. - -As a man of strict principle, and as a statesman of unsullied integrity, -the character of Marlborough cannot so readily be delineated, as in his -domestic sphere. The principle of self-advancement grew with his growth, -and soiled those beautiful attributes of a nature so brave and -benignant, that we are unwilling to believe he could indulge a selfish -passion, or even cherish a weakness. From the days when he was a page in -the court of the second Charles, permitting, to say the least, the -disgraceful mediation of the Duchess of Cleveland, to the hour when, for -the last time, he carried the sword of state on New Year’s day before -George the First, the ruling passion of Marlborough was gain—gain of -patronage, of money, of fame, of power. For patronage he forbore to -spurn the loose preference of a debased woman; for objects of less -immediate acquisition he deliberately abandoned the interests of a -sovereign and of a master at whose hands he had received unbounded -favours. But it may be pleaded, that in deserting the cause of James the -Second he adopted, in accordance with the first men of the day, the only -measures by which his country could be rescued from the tyranny and -bigotry of that wretched ruler. The plea may hold good, but no similar -excuse can palliate his resuming a correspondence with the exiled King, -whose cause he had upon such just grounds relinquished. - -The conduct of Marlborough in prosecuting the war so long, and, as it -was urged, without adequate necessity, is even more open to censure than -the previous passages of his public career. His success was -intoxicating, even to his calm temper, and well-poised mind. But the man -who could kindly familiarise himself with his soldiery, share their -hardships, so as to obtain the name of the “Old Corporal,” and inculcate -the necessity of religious observances upon those who looked up to him -with enthusiastic respect, was not likely to sacrifice those troops to a -wanton desire for fame, unconnected with some signal public good. The -letters of Marlborough plainly show that such was his conviction, and -the treaty of Utrecht seemed to justify the conclusion that peace had -arrived too soon,—if ever, except at the expense of future tranquillity, -it can arrive too soon. - -The tenderness of Marlborough towards the lowest in degree; his piety, -which led him never to omit the duty of prayer before and after a -battle; the sinking health which rendered his later campaigns severe -trials to his harassed frame; his pining for home, and for her whom he -regarded as the day-star of his existence; all tend to encourage the -opinion, that concerning the much-contested question of the war, he was, -if in error, a sincere believer in the necessity of its continuance, and -a sanguine expectant of much good to be derived from its ultimate -success. - -In moral conduct, the Duke of Marlborough, after the early period of his -youth, gave to the world an edifying and an uncommon example. Numerous -as his enemies were, they could not, even with the assistance of Mrs. -Manley, bring home one accusation of gross immorality to his charge, -after his early, and it must be allowed for many years, happy marriage. -His foes, at a loss for subjects of invective, passed on to another -theme, regarding which one would gladly be silent: the charge of -avarice. This is one of his failings, respecting which we would gladly -say with Lord Bolingbroke, when checking a parasite who sought to please -him by ridiculing the penuriousness of the Duke of Marlborough; “He was -so very great a man, that I forget he had that vice.”[293] His enemies, -indeed, took care that it should not be forgotten. It became proverbial -in their mouths. “I take it,” says Swift, in one of his letters, “that -the same grain of caution which disposeth a man to fill his coffers, -will teach him how to preserve them at all events; and I dare hold a -wager, that the Duke of Marlborough, in all his campaigns, was never -known to lose his baggage.”[294] The story of the Duke’s chiding his -servant for his extravagance in lighting four candles in his tent when -Prince Eugene came to confer with him,[295] is of that species of -anecdote to which no one can attach either credit or importance. - -That anecdote, so generally in circulation, which describes Marlborough -creeping out of a public room at Bath, with sixpence that he had gained -at cards, and walking home to save the expense of a chair, we would -willingly, with Lord Bolingbroke, forget. His taste, and the good sense -which characterised his mind, led him, in an age of extravagance, to -avoid ostentation. His table was in the old English style, which by many -persons was considered too plain for his rank.[296] His attendants were -few; and his dread of increasing the necessary evils of a numerous -retinue appears, from some portion of the correspondence between him and -Sir John Vanburgh, to have been very great. His dress was habitually -simple, except on state occasions, when its magnificence is referred to -by his contemporary, Evelyn. - -With those habits of care, not to say penuriousness, which have been -universally ascribed to the Duke, he joined a willingness to relieve the -destitute, for whose sake he forgot, when occasion required it, the -objects which would have been dearest to a selfish man.[297] - -“This great man,” John Duke of Marlborough, say the newspapers of the -day, “was completely under the management of his wife, as the following -story, well known in the family, evinces. The Duke had noticed the -behaviour of a young officer in some engagement in Flanders, and sent -him over to England with some despatches, and with a letter to the -Duchess, commending him to her to procure some superior commission in -the army for him. The Duchess read the letter and approved of it, but -asked him where the thousand pounds were, for his increase of rank. The -young man blushed and said, that really he was master of no such sum. -‘Well, then,’ said she, ‘you may return to the Duke.’ This he did very -soon afterwards, and told him how he had been received by the Duchess. -The Duke laughingly said, he thought it would be so; but he should, -however, do better another time; and presenting him with a thousand -pounds, sent him over to England. This last expedition proved -successful.” - -We may be assured that the petty penuriousness which was ascribed to -Marlborough has at all events been greatly exaggerated,—as such errors -are always magnified by report. His early narrowness of fortune produced -notions of exactness, into which men of business-like habits are prone -to fall; and when wealth flows in, it is not easy to discard the small -practices which have crept in upon us, step by step, imperceptibly, and -which originated in a virtuous principle. Marlborough, however, had one -great attribute, possessing which, no man ought to be severely -deprecated for penuriousness. He was just. If, unlike Turenne, he had -not the greatness and disinterestedness to neglect, in his campaigns, -opportunities of amassing wealth, he encroached not upon others in -private life; he economised, when economy was needful to preserve him -from debt; he spent freely on a large scale. It was in trifles that his -“regina pecunia,” as Prince Eugene called it, was his household deity. -He maintained many noble establishments, and expended upon Blenheim sums -which the nation refused to pay. And finally, immense as it was, he left -his wealth in the right channel. No disgraceful connexions, no -propensities to gaming, nor to destructive speculations, impaired his -fortune, or entailed disgrace upon his name. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - Funeral of the Duke of Marlborough—His bequests to the - Duchess—Immediate proposals of marriage made for her in her - widowhood—Character and letters of Lord Coningsby—Character of the - Duke of Somerset—His Grace’s offer of marriage to the Duchess.—1722. - - -All that funereal honours could add of splendour to the great hero’s -memory, was duly executed. His Majesty George the First, and the nation -in general, how divided soever in their tributes to his name when -living, were unanimous in paying such honours to it as the vulgar prize. -The King himself offered to defray the expenses of the funeral, but the -Duchess, with the Duke’s executors and relations, declined accepting -this gracious proposal. - -We spare the reader the entire enumeration of those revolting details -which accompany the barbarous custom of a body lying in state; the bed -of black velvet, as Collins describes it with true heraldic pleasure, -“properly adorned;” the coffin, with its water-gilt nails; the suit of -armour placed upon that mournful symbol, decorated with all the honours -of the great defunct; a general’s truncheon in the hand; the garter, the -collar, the pendant George, and the now useless sword, in a rich -scabbard fastened to the side. These, with the ducal coronet, the cap of -a prince of the empire, the banner, the crest, were all duly examined -and appreciated by the nobility and others who thronged to -Marlborough-house, where this sad and absurd pageant was performed. -Suites of rooms were likewise opened, and adorned with escutcheons, with -ciphers and badges interspersed, all lighted by silver sconces and -candlesticks, with wax tapers, prepared for the crowds who were obliged -to wait, previous to penetrating into the room of death. - -On the sixth of August, the solemn procession, one of the most imposing -that the metropolis of England had ever witnessed, took place, Garter -King-at-arms directing the whole ceremony. The coffin, with the suit of -armour, as on the bed of state, lying on an open bier, was preceded by -horse-guards, foot-guards, and artillery, all in military mourning, -amongst whose still gorgeous array, detachments of forty riders, at -intervals, in mourning cloaks, added to the solemnity of the scene, -whilst a band of out-pensioners of Chelsea Hospital, seventy-three in -number, corresponding to the age of the Duke, constituted an interesting -portion of the attendants. Many of these poor men doubtless remembered -the great general in the day of his fame. - -The Duke of Montague, as chief mourner, followed the bier, in the coach -belonging to the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough; whilst the Earls of -Sunderland and Godolphin, as supporters to the chief mourner, succeeded -in that of the present Duchess of Marlborough. Then came eight Dukes and -five Earls, amongst the former of whom was the Duke of Somerset, who at -no very remote period proposed to the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough to -change her illustrious name to that of Somerset. The coaches of the King -and of the Prince of Wales preceded a long line of carriages in the -procession, which drove along Piccadilly, and through St. James’s, Pall -Mall, and Charing Cross, to the west door of Westminster Abbey. The body -was deposited in a vault at the foot of Henry the Seventh’s tomb. Amid -the sound of anthems, and the solemnities of our beautiful church -service, were the remains of Marlborough lowered to the dust. - -The Bishop of Rochester, Dean of Westminster, in his cope, read, -“Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God,” &c.; and the choir sang, “I -heard a voice from heaven.” Then Garter King-at-arms advanced, and -recalling the spectators to the vain honours of the world, enumerated -the titles of the deceased, proclaiming, “Thus hath it pleased Almighty -God to take out of this transitory world, into his mercy, the most high -and noble prince, John Duke of Marlborough,” &c. The attendant officers -broke their staves of office, and delivered them to Garter, who threw -them into the grave. Thus the vain ceremonials, most exacted at the -period when they can least avail to elevate and honour the poor fragile -dust, were terminated. - -The body was afterwards removed to the mausoleum at Blenheim, erected by -Rysbach, under the superintendence of the Duchess.[298] - -And now was Sarah Duchess of Marlborough left alone, for the only -relative who truly loved her was in the tomb; her grandchildren were -young, and in her surviving daughters she had little or no consolation. - -What were her feelings on the final separation with the partner of so -many years, we can but conjecture. It is said that there were certain -traits of his conduct to her that she could not, long after the Duke’s -death, recal without tears.[299] She had attended him sedulously, and -even devotedly, during his long illness;[300] and that the Duke -appreciated her devotedness, is obvious from a passage in one of the -numerous codicils to his will. - -The Duchess’s personal comforts, as far as they depended on her -pecuniary interests, were carefully considered in the Duke’s disposal of -his property. On the first arrangement of his affairs, he bequeathed to -her the income of ten thousand a year, free from all taxes and charges, -with the option of changing five thousand pounds a year which his grace -received from the post office, for an annuity on his property, -reflecting that the public grant ought to devolve on the person who -should bear his title. But, some years after this bequest was made, the -Duke, in the following terms, added another, to mark more forcibly his -affection and gratitude to the Duchess. - -“And whereas in and by my said herein-before recited will, I gave to my -said wife and her assigns, during the term of her natural life, the sum -of ten thousand pounds per annum, clear of taxes; and whereas my -personal estate is since greatly increased, and my said wife has been -very tender and careful of me, and had great trouble with me during my -illness; and I intending, for the consideration aforesaid, and out of -the tender affection, great respect, and gratitude which I have and bear -to her, and for the better increase of her title and honour, to increase -her said annuity five thousand pounds a year,” &c.[301] - -The title and the honours of the dukedom of Marlborough descended upon -his daughter Henrietta, Countess of Godolphin, with a reversionary -entail upon the male issue of any of her sisters. The Countess’s son, -Lord Rialton, was to receive, in consequence, a more ample allowance -than his cousins, together with various heirlooms of great value. -Amongst these, the service of gold plate presented to the Duke by the -Elector of Hanover, and the diamond sword given to him by the Emperor -Charles, are particularly enumerated. - -To the Duchess of Marlborough were left the plate and jewels belonging -to the Duke. She was permitted to dispose, by will, of the estate at -Sandridge, which the Duke had purchased; but was requested to leave -Marlborough-house, the site of which had been granted to her by the -crown, to the successor in the title. She was also appointed one of the -trustees to the Duke’s will, in conjunction with his three sons-in-law, -and with several gentlemen. - -The Duchess was likewise entrusted with a bequest of much importance, as -matters then stood. This was the sum of fifty thousand pounds to be -expended in equal instalments, in five years, for the purpose of -completing the palace and other works at Blenheim, under the sole -control of the Duchess. Wealthy, independent, and still agreeable in her -person, the Duchess had not been many months a widow before endeavours -were made to induce her to change that state, and to enter once more -into matrimonial life. Those who thus sought to ensnare her, were, -however, but little acquainted with the Duchess’s real sentiments. - -The earliest, and not the least ardent suitor to her grace, was Thomas -Earl of Coningsby, whose admiration of the Duchess appears to have -commenced even before Marlborough was committed to the tomb. Lord -Coningsby was a politician of a sort peculiarly acceptable to the -Duchess; and, as was her habit with other friends, she had maintained an -occasional correspondence with this active Whig peer, who had always -expressed the most sincere devotion to her husband. This attachment -appears to have been returned by Marlborough, who professed, in writing -of Lord Coningsby, to place considerable reliance upon his judgment; -whilst Coningsby, on occasion of the Duke’s leaving the kingdom in 1712, -went so far as to say, that “he had now not a friend in the country.” - -Such were the terms on which the subsequent suitor stood with the -husband of his “dearest, dearest Lady Marlborough,” for so he repeatedly -calls her in his letters. - -Lord Coningsby, when he offered his hand and fortunes to the Duchess, -did not degrade her by the addresses of a man unknown to distinction. -Not only their old friendship, and a correspondence bordering all along -upon the line which separates friendship from love,[302] but a high -reputation for courage and abilities, might authorise his lordship not, -at least, to expect a contumacious rejection. Early in life he had -signalised himself at the battles of Aughrim and the Boyne; and, upon -the latter occasion, had the honour to be near his Majesty King William -the Third, when slightly wounded in the shoulder, and the good fortune -to be the first to apply a handkerchief to his Majesty’s hurt.[303] - -For his services on this occasion, Coningsby was elevated by William to -the peerage of Ireland; and in 1715 the honour was extended by George -the First, and he was created Earl of Coningsby, with his title in -remainder to his eldest daughter Margaret. - -Lord Coningsby having thus graced an ancient name by well-merited -distinction, acquired the confidence and good-will of his political -friends by his consistency as an advocate for the Protestant succession, -and by the solidity of his judgment upon all parliamentary affairs. It -appears to have been the desire of Godolphin and Marlborough, -frequently, to consult one who had taken an active share in the -settlement of the great national question at the time of the Revolution. -“Upon all parliamentary affairs,” says Godolphin, writing to Marlborough -in 1708, “I value very much Lord Coningsby’s judgment and experience.” - -Lord Coningsby, at the time of Marlborough’s death, having been twice -married, his eldest daughter by his second marriage[304] was created, in -her father’s lifetime, Baroness and Viscountess Coningsby of Hampton -Court, in the county of Hereford. Besides this favoured daughter, Lord -Coningsby had four others, two of whom appear still to have been -unmarried, and residing under his parental care, at the time of his -lordship’s singular correspondence with the Duchess of Marlborough. - -Scarcely four months after the death of the Duke,[305] we find, by a -letter preserved among the Coxe Papers in the British Museum, that the -Earl of Coningsby had begun his invasion upon the Duchess’s new state of -independence, and had commenced his siege like a skilful pioneer. He -begins by expressing the most poignant apprehensions on account of her -grace’s health. The letter is dated London, Oct. 8, 1722.[306] - -“When I had the honour to wait on your grace at Blenheim, it struck me -to the heart to find you, the best, the worthiest, and the wisest of -women, with regard to your health, and consequently your precious life, -in the worst of ways. - -“Servants are, at the best, very sorry trustees for anything so -valuable; and that which terrified me, and which has ever since lain -dreadfully heavy on my thoughts, was the coolness I imagine I observed -in yours, when you lay, to my apprehension, in that dangerous condition -which it was my unhappiness to see you in. - -“Think, madam, what will become of those two dear children which you, -with all the reasons in the world, love best, should they be (which God -in heaven forbid) so unfortunate as to lose you. - -“I can preach most feelingly on the subject, having been taught, from -the ingratitude of the world, the want of true friendship in it; and, -from the most unnatural falsehood of nearest relatives, how uneasy it -is, upon a bed of sickness, to think of leaving helpless and beloved -children to merciless and mercenary (and it is ten million to one but -they prove both) trustees and guardians; and had I not trusted in God, -in my late dangerous indisposition, that he would not bereave my two -dearest innocents of me their affectionate father, such thoughts had -killed me. But God has been merciful to me, and so I from my soul pray -he may be in preserving you to them. - -“I could give many more reasons for your grace’s being in this place at -this time; but these will prove sufficient to one so discerning,” &c. - -Lord Coningsby’s children appear, indeed, to have been the objects of -his tender solicitude; and it seems to have been his aim to have -interested the heart of the Duchess in behalf of these little innocents, -as he calls them; to whose newly acquired rank, doubtless, some portion -of the courted lady’s wealth would have been an agreeable addition. It -must have been, indeed, no easy task to address in terms of passion the -Duchess, whose shrewd mind would instantly dispel the colouring which -was so coarsely dashed over the real purpose of the valiant lord. The -Duchess, be it remembered, was now in her sixty-second year, at which -age women may be venerable, but never attractive. It would be well if -our sex would learn discrimination, and remember the difference. - -In November, the Earl gained courage to write a still more explicit -letter to his beloved friend; and his letter contains something like an -intimation that the subject of a more intimate union than that of -friendship had already been broached between himself and the Duchess. -The reader may judge for himself, from the following extracts, since it -is difficult and dangerous to take the interpretation of love-letters -entirely into one’s own hands. The letter is so extremely characteristic -and absurd, that since it has never before been published, we are -disposed to give it almost ungarbled to the reader. - -After premising that he found the innocent glee of his children his -great and only solace, when returning tired, and more heartless than -ever, on account of the dismal state of the country, from the House of -Lords, his lordship observes—[307] - - - “Albemarle-street, Nov. 20, 1722. - -“And these little innocents have been my only comforters and -counsellors, and, under God, my support, from the most dismal day I was -so unfortunate to be deprived of the most delightful conversation of my -dearest, dearest Lady Marlborough, to whom alone I could open the -innermost thoughts of my loaded heart; and by whose exalted wisdom, and -by a friendship more sincere than is now to be met in any other breast -among all the men and women in the world, I found relief from all my -then prevailing apprehensions, and was sometimes put in hope that the -great and Almighty Disposer of all things would, out of his infinite -goodness to me, at his own time and in his own way, establish those -blessings (which he then showed me but a glimpse of, and suffered me to -enjoy but a moment,) to me for the term of my happy life. - -“How these pleasing expectations were frightfully lessened by the ill -state of health I found you in at Blenheim, I need not tell you, because -you could not but see the confusion the melancholy sight put me into. -And it was no small addition to my concern to see (as I imagined at -least) so much indifference in the preservation of a life so precious -amongst those entrusted with it; and had I not been deluded to believe -that I should soon have the honour to see your grace here, I had, before -I left Woodstock, sent to you to know by what safe method I might -communicate to you any matter necessary for you to be informed of, -relative to my dear country, or your still dearer self. - -“But I was not only disappointed of these intentions by the long -progress you have made, and during which time, by inquiring every day at -your door, I learnt from your porter that he knew not how to send a -letter to you till you returned to St. Albans, and where, the moment I -knew you were arrived, I presumed to send you the letter to which you -honoured me with an answer by the post, but likewise by your letter -coming in that way; and now I am altogether at a loss to tell my dear -Lady Marlborough whether the pleasure that dear letter brought me, or -the terrors it gave me, had the ascendant in me, and of this doubt you, -and you alone, must judge. - -“First, then, the pleasure was infinite to hear that your health was -restored to you. - -“But then the terror was unutterable when you took so much pains to let -me know how little you valued a life that I thought inestimable. - -“Again, the pleasure was vastly great in reading those delightful words -which so fully expressed sincere Lady Marlborough’s regard to me, and -concern for me and my dearest children. - -“But then the terror was insupportable upon me, when I found you were -unalterably determined not to see this place this winter, but likewise -your letter being sent by the post, and which was opened by the -miscreants of the office, seemed to be a sort of dreadful indication to -me that you designed to put an end to all future correspondence with me. - -“And when I had the additional mortification of being assured that you -had been in town, and at your own house, for a day and a night, and -would not allow me or mine the least notice of it, which, with the -dismal thoughts that it brought into my head and heart, I will for my -own ease strive for ever, for ever to forget. - -“Your commanding my dearest Peggy to show me the letter your most -beloved writ to her will help me to this happiness, and makes me hope I -shall receive an assurance, under your dearest hand, that you designed -it for that purpose. - -“Though I desire above all things in this world to see you for a moment, -yet so much do I prize Lady Marlborough’s safety above my own -satisfaction, that I would not have you in this distracted place, at -this dismal juncture, for any consideration under heaven. I intend, by -God’s permission, to leave it myself soon; but whither to go, or how to -dispose of a life entirely devoted to you, I know not till I receive -your orders and commands. - -“But I live in hopes that the great and glorious Creator of the world, -who does and must direct all things, will direct you to make me the -happiest man upon the face of the earth, and enable me to make my -dearest, dearest Lady Marlborough, as she is the wisest and the best, -the happiest of all women. - -“I am, your grace knows I am, with the truest, the sincerest, and the -most faithful heart, - - “Your Grace’s - Most dutiful and most obedient - Humble Servant, - CONINGSBY. - -“There is no such cattle or sheep as your grace desires, to be had till -July next.” - - -Such were the terms in which the devoted Lord, devoted certainly to some -fascinating object personified in her form as its representative, -addressed the venerable Duchess. Her reply, most unfortunately, is not -preserved; and with this remarkable letter the correspondence, as far as -we can glean, closes. Dr. Coxe, whilst with tantalising brevity he has -described Lord Coningsby’s letters as “the rapturous effusions of a -love-sick swain,” has not deemed it important, nor perhaps correct, to -leave us any further details of these singular addresses, which so grave -an historian, as he who has commemorated the fortunes of John Duke of -Marlborough, has considered as impertinent in so serious a narrative. - -Lord Coningsby did not long survive his disappointment. He died in 1729; -and his daughter, Lady Coningsby, leaving no issue, the title, in 1761, -became extinct. - -The Duchess was, at the time of the Duke’s death, sixty-two years of -age. Her health appears to have been still unbroken; her beauty far less -impaired than that of many much younger women. Her income was more than -ample, since she found means, even when maintaining a princely -establishment, to accumulate sums, and to purchase lands, which she left -to her grandchildren. Her wit, her experience, her consequence in -society as the widow of Marlborough, all contributed to give her a proud -distinction in that gay world to which she was devoted. - -After the Duke’s decease she resided principally at Windsor Lodge, -employing herself chiefly in the management of the affairs which had -devolved upon her, and in the superintendence of those cares which she -had bound herself to bestow upon her grandchildren. But there were those -who thought that Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, her wealth, or her former -influence, might add dignity even to those already exalted in their own -estimation above the majority of their fellow creatures.[308] - -Charles, sixth Duke of Somerset, at this time a widower, proposed, -within a year or little more after the death of the Duke of Marlborough, -to the Duchess to unite herself to him. He pleaded even a long and -respectful passion, and addressed her grace with a humility which only -the fashion of those times could have extracted from one who bore the -appellation of the “proud Duke.” - -This nobleman had long been acquainted with the widowed Duchess of -Marlborough. In former days, before the Duchess of Somerset had -supplanted the proud Sarah in the affections of Queen Anne, the Duchess -of Marlborough appears to have occasionally employed her talents and -address in soothing the offended pride of the Duke of Somerset, whom it -was necessary for the Whig party to conciliate.[309] Lord Godolphin, -however, could not be brought to enter into the Duke’s scheme “of being -a great man at court.”[310] For the “proud Duke” did no injustice to the -quality of his intellect by the absurd state, and wearisome -self-importance which he affected, even to the annihilation of natural -feelings. He was a man of no talent, but of unbounded pretensions. Mr. -Maynwaring justly observes, in writing to the Duchess, speaking of the -Duke’s desire to exalt his importance as a party-man, “For a man that -has no talents to do any one thing in the world, to think that he is to -do everything, and to have all preferments pass through his hands, is -something so much out of the way, that it is hard to find a name for -it.” - -The Duchess of Marlborough had, in former days, thoroughly understood, -and as thoroughly despised, the shallowness of his grace of Somerset’s -understanding, and the unbounded arrogance of his pretensions. The Duke -was one of those beings, of whom a simple delineation in works of -fiction would be called exaggeration. Holding his exalted station by a -disputed right,[311] he took precedence in his degree, in consequence of -the first Duke of the nation being a Catholic. This pre-eminence, -hazardous to one of limited capacity, was maintained by the Duke almost -in a regal style. He intimated his commands to his servants by signs, -not vouchsafing to speak to them. When he travelled, the roads were -cleared of all obstruction, and of idle bystanders. His children never -sat down in his presence; it was even his custom, when he slept in the -afternoon, to insist upon one of his daughters standing on each side of -him during his slumber. On one occasion, Lady Charlotte Seymour, being -tired, ventured to sit down, and he left her, in consequence, twenty -thousand pounds less than her sister. He gave precedence to no one but -the Duke of Norfolk. - -Notwithstanding these absurdities, the Duke possessed some fine -qualities. His pride was accompanied by a sense of honour, and his -conversation graced by a nobleness of sentiment, which, in spite of a -hesitation in his speech, must have well become a man who aimed at so -much. He was a firm and generous friend; patronised the fine arts, and, -what was perhaps of some importance to a widower disposed to marry -again, possessed a fine exterior. At the time when he made proposals to -the Duchess of Marlborough, he had, however, passed his prime, and was -sixty-five years of age. Already had he linked himself to one of the -noblest families in the land by his marriage with his first Duchess, the -Lady Elizabeth Percy, the heiress of the Percys, and the widow -successively of two husbands, Lord Ogle, and Thomas Thynne, Esq., the -last of whom was shot in his coach by Count Coningsmark, in hopes of -carrying off the heiress of the Percys. This Duchess of Somerset had -been on apparently friendly, but actually, scarcely on good terms with -the Duchess of Marlborough, who perceived, through the veil of courtesy -and submissive sweetness, the ambitious designs of the “great lady,” as -Swift termed her. She fixed her eyes, as the Duchess discovered, upon -the place of groom of the stole, an office which proved a temptation to -many; “but covered the impertinence of her ambition and expectation -within, with the outward guise of lowliness and good humour.”[312] Such -was the Duchess of Marlborough’s opinion of the Duke’s first wife; and -when she further discovered that the Duchess of Somerset was secretly -undermining her at the very time that she pretended to lament the -misunderstandings between her and the Queen, it is not to be supposed -that the pretended good-will which was still maintained, was anything -but a very hollow alliance. - -To the Duke, however, the Duchess of Marlborough’s conduct had been -friendly. She gave him timely notice, through the Duchess, of a -resolution of a “certain great man,” probably Harley, to dismiss the -Duke from the post of master of the horse, for telling cabinet council -secrets. Eventually the Duke was dissatisfied with the conduct of the -Queen, and retired from court, but his Duchess remained, to gain -unbounded ascendency over the weak Queen’s mind, and to continue her -attendance on her, until her demise. - -Notwithstanding the difference of their political career, the Duke of -Somerset never forgot that his first Duchess was a Percy, and, as such, -entitled to devotion and respect. Possibly he thought that he could -alone pay her a suitable compliment in soliciting the Duchess of -Marlborough to succeed her, and to console him for the loss of his first -Duchess.[313] But she to whom he addressed himself answered his proposal -in a manner worthy of her superior understanding, becoming her years, -and admirable as addressed to the “proud Duke.” She declined a second -marriage as unsuitable to her age; but added, that were she addressed by -the emperor of the world, she would not permit him to succeed in that -heart which had been devoted to John Duke of Marlborough.[314] - -The Duke received this refusal with submission, and even consulted the -Duchess respecting the choice of a wife. At her grace’s recommendation, -he married the Lady Charlotte Finch, second daughter of Daniel Earl of -Nottingham and Winchilsea.[315] The Duke, it is said, never forgot the -distinction between a Percy and a Finch. “The Duchess,” says Granger, -“once tapped him familiarly on the shoulder with her fan;” he turned -round, and with an indignant countenance said, “My first Duchess was a -Percy, and she never took such a liberty.” Whatever had been the early -opinion entertained of the Duke by the Duchess of Marlborough, she -became, in the latter part of her life, extremely friendly towards this -absurd nobleman of the old school, and consulted him frequently on the -management of her affairs.[316] - -The Duchess, notwithstanding such temptations to her resolution, formed -no second marriage. The Duke of Somerset survived her grace, and lived -to attend the funeral of George the Second, as he had done that of -Charles the Second, James the Second, Queen Mary and William the Third, -of Anne, and of George the First. The long period of twenty-two years, -during which the Duchess of Marlborough survived her husband, if they -proved less eventful than her youth and middle age, are not wholly -devoid of interest, when considered in conjunction with the eminent -characters who figured at the same era. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - Anecdotes of the Duchess of Marlborough and the Duchess of - Buckingham—Pope’s “Atossa”—Sir Robert Walpole—The Duchess’s enmity - towards that minister—Singular scene between them—The Duchess’s - causes of complaint enumerated. - - -Extraordinary as the displays of violent passion in the Duchess of -Marlborough may appear in modern days, when every exhibition of natural -feeling, whether good or bad, is carefully suppressed by the customs of -society, there were not wanting, in her own sphere, ladies of high rank, -equally arrogant though less gifted, between whom common report -hesitated on which to bestow the distinction of being the most absurd, -outrageous, and repulsive. - -Among those ladies who, in the reigns of George the First and George the -Second, formed a link with the times of the Stuarts, was the Duchess of -Buckingham, natural daughter of James the Second by Catherine Sedley, -Countess of Dorchester—a parentage of which the Duchess was shamelessly -proud. Possessing the arrogance of her contemporary Duchess, without her -masculine sense, and exhibiting equally a love of display, pertinacity, -and violence of temper, the Duchess of Buckingham laboured with -unceasing pains to procure the restoration of her half-brother, the -Pretender. She frequently travelled to the Continent in hopes of -furthering that end; she stopped ever with filial devotion at the tomb -of James, shedding tears over the threadbare pall which covered his -remains; but her filial duty extended not to replace it by a newer and -more sumptuous decoration. - -These two Duchesses both possessed, from the same cause, some influence -in the sphere of politics. Around them gathered the malcontents of the -two parties: both were in enmity to the court—both detested Sir Robert -Walpole. Tories and Jacobites thronged the saloons of the Duchess of -Buckingham; the malcontent Whigs, those of Marlborough-house. The -anecdotes related by Horace Walpole must always be adopted with much -caution. He states that the Duchess of Buckingham, passionately attached -to shows and pageants, made a funeral for her husband as splendid as -that of Marlborough. She wished afterwards to borrow for the procession -at her son’s interment the car which conveyed the remains of Marlborough -to the tomb. “It carried my Lord Marlborough,” was the Duchess of -Marlborough’s angry reply, “and it shall never carry any other.” “I have -consulted the undertaker,” retorted the Duchess of Buckingham, “and he -tells me I may have the same for twenty pounds.” The same authority -informs us, that when the illegitimate daughter of James the Second -received Lord Hervey as a suitor to her granddaughter, she appointed the -day of her royal grandfather’s martyrdom for the first interview, and -appeared, when he entered, seated in a chair of state, of deep mourning, -in weeds and weepers, with her attendants in similar suits.[317] - -Her rival Duchess, Sarah of Marlborough, suffered from the satirical -castigation of Pope, in one of those epistles which Bolingbroke -pronounced to be his best.[318] The famous and certainly in their way -unequalled lines on Atossa were shown to the Duchess of Marlborough, as -if they were designed for her grace of Buckingham. But the shrewd Sarah -knew the faithful, though highly-coloured portrait. She checked the -person who was reading to her, and called out aloud, “I see what you -mean; I cannot be so imposed upon.” She abused Pope violently, but was -afterwards reconciled to the great satirist, and is said to have given -him a thousand pounds to suppress the character.[319] Such is the -statement; but it would have been more like the Duchess to have braved -the world, and to have permitted the inimitable satire to see the light. -She could scarcely be rendered more unpopular than she had hitherto -been. - -The death of George the First produced no change in the station held as -first Lord of the Treasury by Sir Robert Walpole; a minister who seems -to have been, as a man, peculiarly obnoxious to the Duchess of -Marlborough, and with whom she was, at various periods of her life, at -variance. - -Since the death of Lord Sunderland, Sir Robert Walpole had been making -rapid advances to the office of prime minister. He resumed that office, -on the accession of George the Second, with an accumulated national debt -amounting to fifty millions.[320] Although coinciding with Sir Robert in -what she termed her Whig principles, the Duchess could never assimilate -with a character so unlike the statesmen whom she had known and revered; -so opposite in his nature to the disinterested Godolphin, whom she had -seen placed upon a similar eminence, and whose fidelity and honour she -constantly extols. Even the popular qualities of this noted minister -were repulsive to her aristocratic notions; and with the Duchess -prejudice was ever more powerful than reason. Sir Robert was, in her -estimation, one of “the worst bred men she ever saw;” and coarse as the -Duchess has been represented, no one had more insight into character, -nor had greater experience of those manners which charm the fancy and -elevate the tone of social life. Sir Robert Walpole’s most popular -qualities were beneath her praise. His good-nature she might admire, but -it was accompanied by freedom of manners, vulgarity of language, and -profligacy in conduct. The dignity of station was never understood by -him. He had neither elevation of mind to compass great designs, nor -depravity to conceive schemes of wickedness. Yet he injured virtue -daily, by ridiculing that nice sense of her perfection which we call -honour. “When he found,” says Lord Chesterfield, “anybody proof against -pecuniary temptations—which was, alas! but seldom—he laughed at and -ridiculed all notions of public virtue, and the love of one’s country, -calling them the chimerical schoolboy flights of classical learning, -declaring himself, at the same time, no saint, no Spartan, no -reformer.”[321] His demeanour thoroughly corresponded with these -professions. Of very moderate acquirements, he entertained no value for -the higher branches of literature, a knowledge of which might have -redeemed his common-place mind from vulgarity. Higher tastes might have -rendered that flattery revolting, in which he found such delight, that -no society in which it was enjoyed could be too low, no characters too -reprobate for this minister’s familiar intercourse, whilst they -administered to his vanity. With assumed openness of manners, he kept, -nevertheless, a careful guard over his real sentiments, whilst he -possessed, beyond every other man, the art of diving into those of -others. He lowered the attributes of ministerial power, by converting -the degeneracy of the times to his own advantage, by his connexion with -the monied interests and with stock-jobbing, the only science to which -he seems to have applied his mind. His corrupt administration must ever -be remembered with disgust by those who wish to see the national -character continue on the high footing which it has generally, with some -melancholy interruptions, preserved.[322] - -The Duchess of Marlborough, be it however remembered, could endure the -freedom and ill-breeding of Sir Robert Walpole until personal wrongs -roused her resentments. Sir Robert owed to her, if we may believe her -uncontradicted statement, the appointment of treasurer to the navy, -which she procured for him, not much to her credit, since he had at that -time been expelled the House of Commons for peculation.[323] She -prevailed with difficulty in his behalf, and received acknowledgments -from Sir Robert for this service. “Notwithstanding which,” she adds, “at -the beginning of his great power with the present family, he used me -with all the insolence and folly upon every occasion, as he has treated -several, since he has acted as if he were king, which it would be -tedious to relate.”[324] - -The “folly” of which the Duchess complains might be a trait of Walpole’s -habitual manners; from the “insolence” which she attributes to him he -was generally free, except when irritated beyond endurance in the House -of Commons. No man was more liked and less respected. His disposition -was not vindictive. His raillery proceeded from a kindly temper, of -which refinement formed no feature. His conduct in the domestic -relations of life has been greatly extolled, but surely by those who -have forgotten his licentiousness of character, which tainted his -conjugal life, and the impure example which he gave to his children. - -It was about a year before the death of George the First that the -Duchess and Sir Robert Walpole came to an open rupture. Her influence, -and the obligations which he had acknowledged to her grace, had hitherto -delayed the hostilities which now commenced. - -The Duchess, it appears from the Private Correspondence lately -published, had lent the government a very considerable sum of money for -several years, on which account Sir Robert Walpole was particularly -desirous, as he told her grace’s friend, Dr. Hare, to serve and oblige -the Duchess.[325] Upon this, and other matters, a variance having arisen -between the Duchess and Sir Robert, Dr. Hare, afterwards Bishop of -Chichester, who appears to have been really attached to the Duchess, and -to have had more influence over her than any one else, perceiving a -great degree of bitterness and resentment to have been excited in her -grace’s mind, addressed her by letter on the subject. This excellent man -availed himself of the best privilege of friendship, that of speaking -the truth. He did not disguise from her grace that he perceived and -lamented the violence of her passions; but he began his mild and just -remonstrances by an appeal to her best feelings. “I hope and believe, -madam, that I need not tell your grace that I have the most affectionate -esteem for you, and not only esteem, but really admire you for your fine -understanding and good sense, and for the just and noble sentiments -which you express on all occasions in the best language, and in the most -agreeable manner, so that one cannot hear you without the greatest -pleasure; but the more I esteem and admire what is excellent in your -grace, the more concerned am I to see any blemishes in so great a -character.” - -Dr. Hare understood well the person to whom he addressed his well-meant -remarks. “Ill-grounded suspicions,” he observes, “violent passions, and -a boundless liberty of expressing resentments without distinction from -the prince downwards, and that in the most public manner, and before -servants, are certainly blemishes, and not only so, but attended with -great inconveniences; they lessen exceedingly the influence and -interests persons of your grace’s fortune and endowments would otherwise -have, and unavoidably create enemies.”[326] - -The Duchess’s reply to this admirable advice was worthy of a disposition -candid and upright beyond dispute. Far from resenting Dr. Hare’s good -counsels, she declared herself of Montaigne’s opinion, that a greater -proof of friendship could not be given than in venturing to disoblige a -friend in order to serve him. She entreated Dr. Hare to believe that she -regarded him the more for his sincerity. “I beg of you,” she added, in -her own natural way, “never to have the least scruple in telling me -anything you think, for I am not so partial to myself as not to know -that I have many imperfections, but a great fault I never will have, -that I know to be one.” Having thus premised, she proceeded to explain -how affairs stood between herself and Sir Robert Walpole, and to justify -herself in Dr. Hare’s opinion. - -The Duchess had not, as she declared, sought an interview with Sir -Robert, but Sir Robert had sent to speak to her. She found it was the -old subject, the trust-money, and she listened to him patiently. Sir -Robert wanted to borrow two hundred thousand pounds, which he owned -would be of great service to him. But when he pretended that he -requested this loan from the Duchess and her family in preference to -others, for their advantage, the high-spirited lady was not to be -deceived. Her anger rose at the attempt to delude her. Lord Godolphin, -her son-in-law, had lost by lending to Sir Robert at such low interest, -and the Duchess was aware, how “impossible it was for Sir Robert to have -the appearance of sinking the public debt, if she had not consented to -lend him the trust-money.”[327] - -It is scarcely necessary to recal to the reader’s recollection, that -before this period the formation of the sinking fund had taken place; -and, as of this treasure the nation was to be relieved from the national -debt, members of both houses were solicitous individually to raise large -sums upon the people, not only on account of the credit they acquired by -aiding a scheme then popular, but also because they exacted from -government a large share of the dividend.[328] - -The Duchess despised and distrusted Sir Robert Walpole; and his anxiety -to obtain the sum, and his duplicity in pretending that it was for the -advantage of those for whom the Duchess held the money in trust that his -disinterested advice proceeded, irritated his shrewd, and irritable, and -experienced listener; and after much formality and great coldness, a -warm explanation between Sir Robert and the Duchess took place. The -interview might have ended with the ceremony in which it began, but for -one expression of the minister, namely, “that he should be always ready -to serve her.” This was the first time, since he had been a great man, -that Sir Robert had offended the Duchess by such condescension, and it -produced, what possibly he desired, a scornful enumeration of all the -favours which the Duchess had ever required from him, and of the manner -in which those demands had been received. Sir Robert laughed—laughed -either with anger or contempt, the Duchess knew not which; but she knew -that his laugh was expressive of one or other of those passions. -However, he would not allow that her grace had anything to complain of; -and said that she had enumerated trifles, and provoked, of course, a -burst of invective. “Great men,” retorted the Duchess, “seldom heard the -truth, because those who spoke to them generally wanted their favour; -and when anybody told them the truth, they always thought that person -mad. Whenever,” added the Duchess, “Sir Robert should wish to hear the -truth, she should be happy to see him again; that she had now vented her -anger, and she could talk to him easily on other subjects.” Sir Robert -proved to be patience itself; he had a little more discourse with his -fiery friend; they parted civilly, and she lent him the money he -desired, not so much in accordance with her own opinion, but in -compliance with the desire of her grandson, Lord Godolphin, for whom she -held it in trust, as the future Duke of Marlborough, and who -particularly wished that it should be so applied. - -Eventually the Duchess extremely regretted that she had been enticed -into this compliance; and felt, perhaps, as enraged that Sir Robert had -outwitted her, as she was vexed that her heir should lose, as he -actually did, by so appropriating the sum; for Sir Robert, far from -being grateful to the Duchess, gave Lord Godolphin a lower interest than -he had done before, and saved the public money for once at the expense -of a friend. With the ready wit of an unprincipled man, he played the -Bank off against Godolphin, and Godolphin against the Bank. When his -lordship demurred, and stipulated, through his grandmother, it may be -presumed, for a larger interest, Sir Robert told him, if he hesitated, -he could have the money from the Bank. When the governors of the Bank of -England (established 1693) held back from granting the loan, demanding a -higher rate of interest, the minister assured them he could have the -money from Lord Godolphin.[329] Certainly one cannot pity the Duchess, -nor any individual who, comprehending, as she undoubtedly did, the -character of the minister with whom she dealt, could have any -transactions with such a man. We must compassionate a dupe; but that -title cannot be applied to one equally wary with the ensnarer, and -conscious that he with whom she negociated possessed not one honourable -sentiment, nor was capable of a single hour of remorse. - -The “trifles” of which the Duchess also complained to Sir Robert, were -trifles indeed; but they were such affairs as generally move the minds -of women in no ordinary degree. It is observed, that women are much more -tenacious of their rights than men; those who have fortunes, generally -take better care of it than men, under the same circumstances, would -employ. It is seldom that, amid the changes and chances of the world, -one hears of a single lady of good fortune being ruined by her own -extravagance; and it is remarkable that widows, from the habit of -self-dependence, often become more careful after the decease of their -husbands, than before they were left to move alone in society. Hence the -opinion given by Dr. Johnson, that women of fortune, being accustomed to -the management of money, are usually more exact, even to penuriousness, -than those whose means are either very moderate, or who have no means at -all to depend upon. - -The Duchess of Marlborough defended her rights, and guarded her -possessions, with the undaunted demeanour of an imperious, managing, -clever woman. She generally had reason, and sometimes law, on her side. -Litigation was not disagreeable to her. - -One of the complaints which she addressed to Sir Robert was, that an -attempt was made to compel her to pay taxes upon her house in Windsor -Park, and that the officers were perpetually threatening to seize her -goods, which she believed could not be done, as the lodge stood in the -old park. Sir Robert had suggested her applying to the Treasury to be -repaid such charges, and had complained of her not submitting to do -business in the usual mode. But the Duchess resisted, and gained her -point. “I make,” she writes to Dr. Hare, “no advantage of the park, but -to eat sometimes a few little Welsh runts, and I have no more cows than -I allow the under-keepers, which are to each six, but I have laid out a -good deal of money, which is called being a great tenant, and I never -was so mean as to bring any bills, like _other_ great _men_ on such -occasions, for what I did for my own satisfaction.”[330] Subsequently -the matter was settled by a proposal of her grace, which was accepted; -this was, “that she should deposit such a sum of money as should be -thought reasonable, in proper hands, for the benefit of the poor of the -parish,” and so be exempted from all further claims for taxes.[331] - -The more important of the “trifles” with which Sir Robert taunted the -Duchess, is yet to be described. The Duchess of Buckingham, or, as the -Duchess of Marlborough significantly calls her, “the Duke of -Buckingham’s widow,” assumed and maintained the privilege of driving -through St. James’s Park whenever and however she liked, whilst the Duke -of Marlborough’s widow was prohibited even “from taking the air for her -health,” though allowed, in former reigns, to drive through that -privileged enclosure. This refusal, which the Duke of Marlborough’s -widow traced, as she thought, to Walpole, was the more unjust, as the -arrogant daughter of Catherine Sedley had written a very impertinent -letter to the King, and ought to have been forbidden the park. The -Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline, had proffered a request on -the part of the Duchess of Marlborough to the King, and it had been -refused. It was therefore urged by Sir Robert, that the Princess would -be offended, if the boon were subsequently granted to another -applicant.[332] How the matter ended, it does not appear; nor at what -period Marlborough’s widow was enabled to pass Buckingham’s widow in her -airings along the stately promenades. - -Such were some of the altercations which disturbed the Duchess in her -widowhood. She was likewise generally on indifferent terms with the -court. Queen Caroline, though much commended by the Duchess as Princess -of Wales, became, in process of time, everything that was disagreeable -in the eyes of the Duchess; and as her grace “could not deny herself the -pleasure of speaking her mind upon any occasion,” to use her own words, -and as there are always a number of people who trade in retail upon the -speeches of others, Queen Caroline, that pattern of prudence and -forbearance, and her very uninteresting consort, were soon aware of the -animosity, for to that it at last amounted, that the Duchess bore to -them, and to their court and administration. - -For this dislike there was, it must be allowed, considerable reason on -the part of the Duchess; and in her letters to Mr. Scrope, secretary to -the minister, Mr. Pelham, she unfolds her wrongs, and reflects great -discredit on the character of the Princess. - -Years afterwards, when the Duchess was so aged and infirm that she had -forgotten the dates of the occurrence, she thus writes to her polite -correspondent, Mr. Scrope. - -“You have not,” she says, “forgot the time that his Majesty’s name was -made use of to pay no more six hundred pounds a year: this was done by -Queen Caroline, who sent me word, if I would not let her buy something -of mine at Wimbledon, that would have been a great prejudice to my -family, and that was settled upon them, I was in her power, and she -would take away what I had for Windsor Lodge.” - -This threat, equally ungracious and fruitless, roused all the Duchess’s -spirit of resistance. In the first place she did not believe that the -Queen had the power to do what she threatened, or if she had, she would, -as she declared, have valued a smaller thing of her own much more than -one which depended on the crown; and she sent her Majesty a respectful -refusal.[333] - -The affairs of Windsor Park occupied much of her time. As ranger, she -could not but lament, as well as remonstrate against, the pitiful -economy, if such a word can be applied to Walpole, or the shameful -neglect of that source of pride to our country which was permitted -during his administration. She wrote, perhaps, as much for the purpose -of annoying Sir Robert, as of getting repairs done to the park; and, as -her custom was, as she said, “to tumble out the truth just as it came -out of her head,” her manner of stating her opinion was not the most -gracious that could be adopted.[334] - -Another object of the Duchess’s wrath and aversion was Charles, second -Duke of St. Albans, who had been constituted, in 1730, governor of -Windsor Castle, and warden of Windsor Forest.[335] This nobleman was not -the greater favourite with the Duchess, from his being one of the lords -of the bedchamber at that time. He had the misfortune to come into very -frequent contact with her grace, in the discharge of his duties in -Windsor Park. No one is so offended by a vain show as the ostentatious; -it seems to harrow up all the pride in their nature. The Duchess was -outrageous when she saw the Duke of St. Albans coming into the park with -coaches and chaises whenever he pleased, under pretence of supervising -the fortifications, a term which she thought very ridiculous, unless he -meant by it “the ditch around the Castle.” No one, except the royal -family, or the ranger, had ever been allowed, during her experience of -fifty years, such a liberty before. But that was not all the offence. -The Duchess, in addressing her complaints to Pelham Holles, Duke of -Newcastle, who had married her granddaughter, Lady Harriot Godolphin, -assured his grace that the Duke of St. Albans had, to use a military -phrase, “besieged her in both parks, and been willing to forage in them -at pleasure.” Having got the better of him in some points, he had -pursued her to the little park; and her only resource was to address her -relative, then secretary of state, to intercede with the Queen that the -intrusive warden might not be permitted to have a key. Which of the -belligerent powers prevailed, does not appear. - -Such were some of the Duchess of Marlborough’s annoyances, perhaps to -her spirit occupations only, in what may be called her official life. In -the next chapter we shall discuss the subject of her domestic and family -troubles, after the Duke had left her the charge of numerous and -important concerns; in discharging the care of which, the government of -her own temper was one of the most difficult and most material points. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - State of the Duchess of Marlborough with respect to her - family—Henrietta Duchess of Marlborough—Lord Godolphin—Pelham Holles - Duke of Newcastle—The Spencer family—Charles Duke of Marlborough—His - extravagance—John Spencer’s anecdotes of the Miss Trevors—Letter to - Mr. Scrope—Lawsuit. - - -It was not the happy lot of the Duchess of Marlborough to assemble -around her, in the decline of life, children and grandchildren, -affectionately attached to her, who would seek to soothe her -mortifications, and to repair the losses which she had sustained in the -early death of their brother and sisters, and in the still severer -calamity with which she had since been visited. A woman who is not -beloved by her own children can have very little claim to the affection -of others. The fault must originate in herself, however odious the -consequences appear in those, who, if they could not bestow upon her the -filial love which her temper had blighted, ought never to have omitted -that filial duty which no differences ought to destroy. - -Henrietta Countess of Godolphin, who now, by an act of parliament passed -in 1706, succeeded to the title as Duchess of Marlborough, was long at -variance with her mother, and, according to some accounts, was never -reconciled.[336] She was beautiful, it is said, but in her disposition -her parents appear to have found but little comfort. The Duchess -survived this daughter, who died in 1733. Her son, Francis Earl of -Godolphin, appears, from the letters lately published, to have been an -especial favourite of his grandmother. She complains, indeed, of “his -not being so warm in some things as he should be,” (possibly in her -quarrels,) but commends his truth and goodness, and declares she never -forgot anything that his lordship said to her. By Dr. Hare, also, Lord -Godolphin is described as one of the most reasonable and dispassionate -creatures in the world. But this amiable character, unhappily for the -mother and grandmother, whose asperities he might have softened, was, -like most of the promising members of this ill-fated family, removed at -an early age: he died in 1731, two years before his mother, Henrietta -Duchess of Marlborough. - -One daughter of the Godolphin branch of the Marlborough family remained. -This was Harriott, married, as we have seen, in 1717, to the extolled -and favourite minister, Pelham Holles, Duke of Newcastle, one of the -most liberal statesmen of those venal days. To his grace the Duchess -had, as we have already seen, addressed her complaints of the Duke of -St. Albans, and his siege in Windsor Park; and she could not have -bespoken the interest of any one more able to promote her wishes. The -Duke had been a steady promoter of the Hanoverian interests. Consistency -in those days was uncommon, and he was rewarded with honours and places -innumerable; yet, far from enriching himself by his public services, or -by no services at all, according to the mode then in fashion, the Duke -retired from his posts, according to Lord Chesterfield, at least four -hundred thousand pounds poorer than when he began life; at any rate, -with an income greatly reduced.[337] - -The character of this amiable, and, in some respects, high-minded -nobleman, which gained, it may be presumed, upon her grace’s affections, -after she had with much pains and anxiety achieved that connexion which -has been alluded to,—has been ably, but perhaps unfairly, drawn by his -relation and contemporary, Lord Chesterfield. Satire was not only the -natural propensity of Lord Chesterfield’s mind, but the delight and -practice of the day. The pungent remarks of Horace Walpole, as well as -those of Chesterfield, must be taken with reservation. Neither friend -nor foe was to be spared, when a sentence could be better turned, or a -witticism improved, by a little delicate chastisement, all done in -perfect good humour, and with unspeakable good-breeding, by these not -dissimilar characters. - -Lord Chesterfield depicts in the Duke of Newcastle an obsequious, -industrious, and timorous man, whom the public put below his level, in -not allowing him even mediocre talents, which Chesterfield graciously -assigns to him; a minister who delighted in the insignia of office; in -the hurry, and in the importance which that hurry gives, of business; as -one jealous of power, and eager for display. “His levées,” says the -Earl, “were his pleasure and his triumph;” and, after keeping people -waiting for hours, when he came into his levée-room, “he accosted, -hugged, embraced, and promised everybody with a seeming cordiality, but -at the same time with an illiberal and degrading familiarity.”[338] The -world, however, forgot these weaknesses, in the generosity, the romantic -sense of honour, and the private virtues of this respectable nobleman. - -Anne Countess of Sunderland, the second daughter of the Duchess, left -four sons and one daughter, with a paternal estate greatly impoverished. -It was, amongst all his faults, a redeeming point in Lord Sunderland’s -character, that his patriotism aimed not at gain. We have already -referred to a fact not to be forgotten: when, on being dismissed from -the ministry in Queen’s Anne’s reign, he was offered a pension, he nobly -refused it, with the reply, that “since he was no longer allowed to -serve his country, he was resolved not to pillage it.”[339] His children -were, however, amply provided for by the will of their grandfather. The -eldest son, Robert Earl of Sunderland, the object of his mother’s -peculiar solicitude on her deathbed, perhaps from being more able to -comprehend the characters of both of these distinguished parents before -he lost them, displayed symptoms of the same aspiring mind that his -father possessed. The aversion which George the Second had imbibed -towards his father, prevented the spirited youth from obtaining any -employment. At last, in despair, and wishing to bring himself before the -notice of men in power, the Earl entreated Sir Robert Walpole to give -him an ensigncy in the guards. The minister was astonished at this -humble request from the grandson of Marlborough, and inquired the -reason. “It is because,” answered the young man, “I wish to ascertain -whether it is determined that I shall never have anything.”[340] He died -early in 1729,[341] and the Duchess appears, from a letter addressed to -Lady Mary Wortley Montague, to have very deeply lamented the loss of -this scion of the only branch she could “ever receive any comfort from -in her own family.” On this occasion the poor Duchess remarks, “that she -believes, having gone through so many misfortunes with unimpaired -health, nothing now but distempers and physicians could kill her.”[342] -She is said to have, indeed, loved Lord Sunderland above every other tie -spared to her by death. - -Two sons and a daughter now remained of this beloved stock. Charles, who -succeeded his brother Robert, and became afterwards Duke of Marlborough, -was never, according to Horace Walpole, a favourite of his grandmother, -although he possessed many good qualities. He was not, however, endowed -with the family attribute of economy; neither could he brook the control -of one, who expected, probably, far more obedience from her -grandchildren than young persons are generally disposed to yield from -any motive but affection. Unhappily, the Duke’s sister, Lady Anne -Bateman, whom the Duchess had, in compliance with her mother’s wishes, -brought up, was but ill disposed to soothe those differences which often -arose between her grandmother and the young Duke. She introduced her -brother, unhappily for his morals, to Henry Fox, first Lord Holland, one -of those unprincipled, but agreeable men, whose conversation soon -banishes all thirst for honour, and sense of shame. By Fox, a Jacobite -at heart, but an interested partisan of Sir Robert Walpole, the young -Duke was won over to the court party; upon which occasion was uttered -the Duchess’s sarcasm, “that is the Fox that has won over my goose;” a -remark which, like every thing that she said, was industriously -circulated. Fox considered public virtue in the light of a pretext in -some, as an infatuation in others: self-interest was, in him, the -all-prevailing principle;[343] Sir Robert Walpole being, in that -respect, his model. - -Lady Anne Bateman, intriguing and high-spirited, exercised over her -brother an ascendency which was shared by the “Fox.” Influenced by -dislike to her grandmother, she introduced the Duke into the family of -Lord Trevor, one of whose daughters he married. The Duchess had a -peculiar antipathy to Lord Trevor, who had been an enemy of her husband, -and with her usual violence she banished the Duke from Windsor Lodge, -and then, in derision of the new Duchess, who had, she alleged, stripped -the house and garden, she set up eight figures, to personate the eight -Misses Trevor, cousins of the young Duchess, representing them, in a -puppet-show, as tearing up the shrubs, whilst the Duchess was portrayed -carrying away a hen-coop under her arm. This anecdote originates with -Horace Walpole, and, from its source, it must be regarded with caution: -there are other exhibitions of passion in this extraordinary woman, -which rest upon better authority. - -The Duchess never forgave Lady Anne Bateman; and whilst we acknowledge -the wickedness of that vindictive spirit, it must be owned that the -Duchess had much provocation from this grandchild. In addition to the -ingratitude of Lady Anne, she had the vexation, when Lord Charles -succeeded to the Marlborough estates, to see him and his younger -brother, Lord John, squander away their patrimonial property, and vie -with each other in every wild and mad frolic. At length their -complicated quarrels ended in what was professedly an amicable lawsuit -between the heir and his grandmother, for the settlement of some -disputed portion of the property. To the amusement of the world, and -certainly _not_ to the annoyance of those of her relatives who rejoiced -in exposing her eccentricities, the Duchess, who was capable of any act -of effrontery, appeared in court to plead her own cause. The -diamond-hilted sword, given by the Emperor Charles to the great -Marlborough, was claimed by Lord Sunderland. “What!” exclaimed the -Duchess, indignantly, “shall I suffer _that_ sword, which _my_ lord -would have carried to the gates of Paris, to be sent to a pawnbroker’s, -to have the diamonds picked out one by one?”[344] Harsh and revolting as -this exhibition of passion was, her prognostic was somewhat verified in -the career of Charles Duke of Marlborough. His life presents a history -of embarrassments, which, as the Duchess truly asserted, nothing but -prudence on his own part could have prevented. To her correspondent, Mr. -Scrope, for whom she appears to have imbibed a sincere regard, she -unfolds all her troubles respecting her grandson in the subjoined -paragraph. The tenor of the letter from which this passage is taken, -places the Duchess’s character, as a grandmother, in a very different -light from that in which the popular writers of her day have chosen to -place it. The world, judging, as it often does, most erroneously when it -takes up family quarrels, had condemned the Duchess as hard-hearted and -relentless. The following simple statement of facts is calculated to -mitigate that sentence.[345] - -“When I saw you (Mr. Scrope) last, you said something concerning the -Duke of Marlborough, which occasions you this trouble, for you seemed to -have a good opinion of him, and to wish that I would make him easy. This -is to show you, that as to the good qualities you imagine he has, you -are mistaken, and that it is impossible to make him easy. I will now -give you the account of what has happened not long since. - -“When he quitted all his employments, he wrote me a very good letter, -saying that he had heard I liked he had done it; there are expressions -in this letter full as strong and obliging to me as those in this, dated -from Althorpe, October 26th, 1733. I answered this civilly, saying, that -as his behaviour to me had been so extraordinary for many years, I -thought it necessary to have a year or two’s experience how he would -perform his great promises, and that I wished him very well. This was -giving him hopes, though with the caution of a lawyer. Soon after this -he treated with a Jew to take up a great sum of money. He wanted my -assistance to help in the security, for Lamb has secured all in his -power, and would not lessen his own securities on any account. To this -letter I gave him a grandmother’s advice, telling him the vast sums he -had taken up at more than twenty per cent. were as well secured as when -the people lent the money; that I thought he would make a much better -figure if he lived upon as little as he possibly could, than ever he had -done in throwing away so much money, and let his creditors have all that -was left out of his estate as far as it would go, and pay what more was -due to them, when accidents of death increased his revenue, for I could -not join in anything that would injure myself, or the settlement of his -grandfather. I should have told you this before, but in this last -professing letter to me, he tells me that he would rather starve than -take up money that I did not approve of: notwithstanding which, in a -very few days after my letter, I am assured that Lamb has found a way to -help him to a great sum of money; and without saying one word to me, the -Duke has mortgaged my jointure as soon as I die, which he certainly may -do for his own life; and if he lives till his son is twenty-one, he may -starve him into joining with him, and destroy his grandfather’s -settlement upon the whole family; for when the settlement was made, -there were so many before him, that the lawyers did not think of giving -his son any allowance in his father’s lifetime; and I can think of but -one way to prevent all this mischief, which I have a mind to do, and -that is, when he is of a proper age, to settle out of my own estate such -a sum to be paid yearly by my trustees which will hinder him from being -forced by his father, upon condition that if he does join with him to -sell any of the estate, that which I gave him shall return back to John -Spencer, who I make my heir. Whether this will succeed or not, as I wish -it, I cannot be sure, but it is doing all I can to secure what the late -Duke of Marlborough so passionately desired. He has a great deal in him -like his father, but I cannot say he has any guilt, because he really -does not know what is right and what is wrong, and will always change -every three days what he designed, from the influence and flatteries of -wretches who think of nothing but of getting something for themselves; -and if I should give him my whole estate he would throw it away as he -has done his grandfather’s, and he would come at last to the Treasury -for a pension for his vote. But I believe you have seen, as well as I, -that pensions and promises at court are not ready money.” - -The Duke died in 1758, having, according to Horace Walpole, greatly -impoverished his estate; so that his death, before his son came of age, -was considered to be an advantage to the property, since the young man -might have been induced to join his father in the last mournful -resource, according to the same writer, “to sell and pay.”[346] - -On the honourable John Spencer, commonly called by the writers of those -days Jack Spencer, the affections of the Duchess were, after the death -of his eldest brother, chiefly centered. Not all his extravagance, nor -the low-lived pranks in which he figured; not even the prospect of -seeing him squander away every shilling which he possessed, could -alienate from him this fantastic and unjust partiality on the part of -his grandmother. He died, after a profligate and disgraceful career, at -the age of six or seven and thirty, “merely,” says Horace Walpole, -“because he would not be abridged of those invaluable blessings of a -British subject, namely, brandy, small-beer, and tobacco.”[347] -Notwithstanding these propensities, the Duchess left him in her will a -clear income of thirty thousand a year, to the enjoyment of which was -annexed a condition, characteristic enough, that he should not accept -any place or pension from any government whatsoever. Whilst she thus -enriched her unworthy grandson, she disinherited Charles Duke of -Marlborough of all the property which was vested in herself to bequeath. - -Lady Diana Spencer, the youngest of the Sunderland family, was also a -favourite of her grandmother. She appears to have been an object of -solicitude to the Duchess, who, it may be remembered, expressed much -satisfaction when the Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline, -called “her Dy” back to bid her hold her head up, which, added the -Duchess, “was what I was always telling her.” She also quoted “her Dy,” -with much satisfaction, in her letter to Dr. Hare, when she extenuated -her behaviour to Sir Robert Walpole. - -In 1731, the Duchess was much gratified by the marriage of “her Dy” with -Lord John Russell, afterwards third Duke of Bedford. Writing from -Blenheim to Lady Mary Wortley Montague, the Duchess, in speaking of this -wedding, declares to her gifted correspondent, that it is very much to -her satisfaction. “I propose to myself more satisfaction than I thought -there had been in store for me.” These were the expressions of hope; -but, alas! like almost every other object of the Duchess’s regard in her -own family, Lady Diana Russell died early, surviving her marriage only -four years. It is impossible to note these successive deprivations -without feeling sincere compassion for the harassed and bereaved old -Duchess, who beheld, one by one, her only comforts taken from her old -age. - -Lord John Russell, when Duke of Bedford, became Secretary of State, and -Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The well-known strictures on his character -by Junius, though not historically just, were not without foundation; -but, whatever were his faults, he attained eminence as a statesman; and -to see her favourite grace the high station in which this alliance would -have placed her, would, doubtless, have gratified the heart, already too -proud, of her aged but worldly grandmother. - -“Her Torrismond,” as the Duchess termed John Spencer, indeed survived -her, though not many years. His marrying suitably was an event which she -had much at heart. “I believe you have heard me say,” writes her grace -to Lady Mary Wortley, “that I desired to die when I had disposed well of -her, (Lady Diana,) but I desire that you would not put me in mind of it, -for I find I have a mind to live till I have married my Torrismond, -which is a name I have given long to John Spencer.”[348] Unhappily, -Torrismond was too frequently to be found in the watchhouse, in company -with other young noblemen, to think of domesticating according to the -Duchess’s desire. - -Lady Anne Egerton, the only child of Lady Bridgewater, was also -undutiful, according to the Duchess’s notions, and to be derided and -insulted accordingly. She had been brought up by her grandmother, who, -finding that she was neglected after the death of her mother, took -charge of her when her other grandchildren were left to her care. Lady -Anne married Wriothesley Duke of Bedford, the elder brother of Lord John -Russell, to whom his title descended. - -In Lady Anne the grandmother’s spirit was apparent. Their quarrels were -continual and violent; and the Duchess, charmed, one must suppose, with -her conceit of the eight puppet Misses Trevor, invented the same sort of -vengeance in effigy for Lady Anne. She had procured her granddaughter’s -picture, of which she blackened the face over, and writing on the frame -in large letters, “She is much blacker within,” placed it in her own -sitting-room, for the edification and amusement of all visiters.[349] - -The Duchess of Montague, (Lady Mary Churchill, the youngest of her -grace’s daughters,) like her eldest sister Henrietta, lived in constant -altercation with her mother, whom she survived; the only one of her -children whom the Duchess did not follow to the grave. The character of -the Duke of Montague, and the honours which he received, have been -before mentioned. The Duchess mingled greatly in the world; her concerts -and assemblies are mentioned frequently in the letters of Lady Mary -Wortley. Her daughter Isabella, Duchess of Manchester, by her sweetness -of temper and superior qualities, fastened herself upon the affections -of that heart where so few could find a place. - -Such are some of the details which relate to the domestic troubles of -the aged Duchess. Her frequent absence from her children when they were -young; the absorbing nature of political pursuits, for which she -sacrificed the blessings of affection, and the enjoyment of a peaceful -home; the consequent necessity of consigning her children wholly to -instructors and servants; perhaps, too, the manners of the times, which -conduced to banish love between parent and child by a harsh, unnatural -substitution of fear as the principle of conduct;[350] all contributed -to alienate those young minds from her, whilst yet the angry passions -which maturity draws forth were unknown. Consistency, impartiality, and -a freedom from selfishness, are the qualities essential to win back the -filial affection of which nature has implanted the germ in every bosom -if, unhappily, it be destroyed. The Duchess was not only totally -deficient in these attributes, but she possessed not that easy and -kindly temper which can secure affection, even if it fail to command -respect. In her family, notwithstanding all their advantages of person -and fortune, she was singularly unfortunate; and she affords a striking -instance of the incompatibility of a political career with the habits -and feelings of domestic life. It cannot be, therefore, a matter of -surprise that her latter days were clouded by depression; that she found -herself neglected, and that she hovered between a state of irritated -pride, and that condition of low spirits in which we fancy ourselves of -no importance to the world, and as well out of it as cumbering the -ground. Often, describing herself as generally very “ill and very -infirm,” she declares that life has ceased to have any charms for her; -that she only wishes “to make the passage out of it as easily as -possible.” To her correspondent, Mr. Scrope, from whom she declares she -received more civility than she had met with for years, the Duchess -partially discloses her feelings. He seems kindly, and we hope with no -interested motive, to have entered into the feelings of a morose old -woman, who had placed all her felicity in a consciousness of importance, -and who found herself “insignificant.”[351] A few short years -previously, and who would have anticipated such a confession? Yet the -mortifications of an unhonoured old age appear, if we may trust Mr. -Scrope’s charitable version of the case, to have improved the chastened -character on whose tenderest points they bore. In reply to one of her -low-spirited letters, he thus addresses her: “I hope your grace will -excuse the freedom with which I write, and that you will pardon my -observing, by the latter part of your letter, that the great Duchess of -Marlborough is not always exempted from the vapours. How your grace -could think yourself insignificant, I cannot imagine. You can despise -your enemies, (if any such you have;) you can laugh at fools who have -authority only in their own imaginations; and your grace hath not only -the power, but a pleasure in doing good to every one who is honoured -with your friendship or compassion. Who can be more insignificant?” And -he concludes this well-meant expostulation with professions of respect -and regard. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - The Duchess of Marlborough’s friends and contemporaries—Arthur - Maynwaring—Dr. Hare—Sir Samuel Garth—Pope—Lady Mary Wortley - Montague—Colley Cibber—Anecdote of Mrs. Oldfield; of Sir Richard - Steele. - - -There must have been, undoubtedly, some attaching, as well as admirable -qualities in the Duchess of Marlborough, when we consider the number and -quality of those friends whom she found it possible to retain until -their death; for most of them she survived. - -The Duchess’s earliest political friend, Lord Godolphin, was never, as -far as we can learn, replaced in her confidence and regard by any man in -power. Shortly before his lordship’s death, she had the misfortune to -lose another intimate though humbler friend, her accomplished -correspondent, Arthur Maynwaring. - -Mr. Maynwaring, like the Duke and Duchess themselves, had set out in -life a zealous Jacobite. Early in life he had even exercised his pen in -favour of King James’s government; and it was only after becoming -acquainted with the chiefs of the Whig party, that he wholly changed his -opinions. After mingling for some years in the literary society of -Paris, Maynwaring, returning to London, was made one of the -commissioners of Customs, and afterwards, by Lord Godolphin, appointed -auditor of the Imprests, a place worth two thousand pounds per annum -during a pressure of business. Thus provided for, Mr. Maynwaring became -the firm and confidential friend of the Duke and Duchess, and of -Godolphin; and his judicious advice was often resorted to by his -illustrious friends. In return for his zeal and friendship, those by -whom he was so much valued, sought to turn him from a disgraceful and -unfortunate connexion, into which Maynwaring’s literary and dramatic -tastes had involved him. This was a connexion with the celebrated Mrs. -Oldfield, to whom he became attached when he was upwards of forty, and -whom he loved, says his biographer, “with a passion that could not have -been stronger, had it been both his and her first love.” This gifted -actress owed much of her celebrity to the instructions of Maynwaring, -who wrote several epilogues and prologues for her benefits, hearing her -recite them in private. By his friends, Maynwaring was so much blamed -for his connexion, that Mrs. Oldfield herself, frequently but -ineffectually, represented to him that it would be advantageous for his -interests to break it off; but for this disinterestedness Maynwaring -loved her the more. He died very suddenly, from taking cold whilst -walking in the gardens of Holywell-house, in 1712. He divided his -personal property, and an estate which came from a long line of -ancestry, between Mrs. Oldfield and his sister. For this he was greatly -blamed by the “Examiner,” but vindicated in a paper supposed to be -written by his friend Robert Walpole, afterwards the great minister. - -Maynwaring was a man of considerable attainments. His style of writing -was praised even by the “Examiner;” his memory is preserved by Steele’s -dedication of the “Tatler” to him. He was honoured by the entire -confidence of the Duchess of Marlborough, and he accorded to her his -warmest admiration of her talents, and a partial appreciation of her -motives. And he proved himself to be, what she most liked, a sincere -friend, not an indiscriminate panegyrist. He told her grace freely what -he thought; strove to moderate her resentments; and, whilst he lived, -contributed to maintain a good understanding between her and the Queen, -by seeking to mollify the hasty judgments of the often irritated Mrs. -Freeman. - -Possessing an intimate knowledge of the dispositions of all the actors -in that busy scene, Mr. Maynwaring, nevertheless, foresaw that the reign -of Queen Sarah, as it was called, would not be of long duration. With -the sincerity of a true friend, he strove to warn her of this probable -issue of the “passion,” as he justly called it, with which the Queen -regarded her spoiled friend.[352] He appreciated her Majesty justly, -when he hinted that she had not “a very extraordinary understanding,” -and that she would, in all probability, eventually prefer the servant -who flattered and deceived her, to the one “who told truth, and -endeavoured to do good, and to serve right.” Sometimes his sincerity -displeased the Duchess; and, according to the fashion of most of her -grace’s correspondents, we find him writing to justify his “poor -opinion,” which had, he feared, been too hastily expressed. If he wrote -from the heart, Maynwaring was, nevertheless, a true admirer of the -Duchess’s good qualities. He constantly expressed his conviction of the -openness and truth of her disposition. Of cunning, or that part of craft -which, says Maynwaring, “Mr. Hobbes very prettily calls crooked wisdom,” -he declares her to be entirely exempt. And the advice which he was at -times eager to press upon her grace, to conceal her discontent, and to -return to court “with the best air that she could,” proved that in this -view of her character Maynwaring was sincere.[353] He died at a critical -moment, and in him the Duchess lost one of those assiduous and attached -adherents, whom it is sometimes the fate of impetuous, but generous -characters, to secure as personal friends. - -Amongst her advisers and correspondents, Dr. Hare, Bishop of Chichester, -performed a grave and conspicuous part. It was his office, seriously -though kindly, to admonish her grace; to point out to her the -inexpediency of indulging violent passions, upon higher grounds than -those defined by her indulgent, and, in some cases, too lenient husband, -or by her partial friends Lord Godolphin and Mr. Maynwaring. Yet Dr. -Hare, if we may believe the slanderous pen of one of the party writers -of the day, was not, in his conduct or opinions, free from a degree of -laxity which bordered upon heterodoxy. Having been tutor to the Marquis -of Blandford, the deceased and only son of the Duchess, he had acquired -a peculiar interest in the regard of those chastened and bereaved -parents. By their aid, chiefly, he had obtained, first, the appointment -of chaplain-general to the army, and afterwards the deanery of Worcester -and bishopric of Chichester. To Dr. Hare’s conversation, the free and -decided opinions of the Duchess upon matters connected with the church, -and upon some religious subjects, may, in all probability, be traced. -Like herself, the bishop was even accused of scepticism, a charge so -monstrous as not for an instant to be entertained in either case. He -held, however, opinions of a very questionable nature; and in a work -which he published upon “The Difficulties and Discouragements which -attend the Study of the Scriptures in the way of Private Judgment,” his -style appeared to the convocation so irreverent and absurd, that he -thought it best to attempt to conceal his being the author. He -translated the Book of Psalms into the original Hebrew metre, which he -pretended to have discovered; and employed much of his time in the -Bangorian controversy with Dr. Hoadly, another intimate friend of the -Duchess of Marlborough. Upon the accession of George the First, the -bishop had the mortification of being dismissed from his chaplaincy to -that monarch, on account of his irregular and obnoxious opinions.[354] - -That the Duchess should entertain peculiar feelings towards this -singular man, feelings which led her to receive meekly from him counsels -which few others would have presumed to offer, is not a matter of -surprise. Those who have lost a tenderly beloved child, know with what -an enduring regard even the lowest menials who have shared our offices -of affection, and hours of affliction, are naturally considered; how -much more must the instructor who formed the mind of a promising son, be -endeared to the parents from whom it had pleased the Creator to summon -away those early budding virtues, the combination of mental and -corporeal superiority! The Duchess, it appears, was so much affected -upon her first interview with Dr. Hare, after the death of her son, that -he thought it necessary to write an apology to her grace for his too -early intrusion into her presence.[355] Eventually the Duchess appears -to have derived considerable comfort from the frequent correspondence of -Dr. Hare, who accompanied the Duke of Marlborough in several of his -campaigns. - -After the decease of his distinguished patron, Dr. Hare performed an -important and friendly duty to the widowed Duchess. He gave her sincere -and disinterested counsels; and in so doing evinced his gratitude to the -memory of one who loved, with all her faults, the irascible and -discontented woman whom he had left to buffet with storms of her own -creation. Not all her possessions, nor her rank, nor the acknowledged -purity of her conduct in an immoral age, nor even the influence of her -husband’s great name, could procure the Duchess mental repose, nor -ensure to her good-will. She lived, to imitate her own military simile, -in constant hostilities. Nor was the garrison of her home faithful and -friendly. Mutinies broke out, conspiracies were hourly framed against -her dominion, and foreign auxiliaries called in to quell her power and -abate her pride. Dr. Hare alone, of her surviving friends, as far as her -published correspondence enables us to judge, found courage to point out -to his warlike friend, that the sources of these skirmishes existed in -her own “ill-grounded suspicions and violent passions.” With what -candour and right-minded gratitude the Duchess received these -admonitions, has already been remarked. - -Another friend, whom the Duchess of Marlborough survived, was the -amiable Doctor Garth, author of the “Dispensary,” and the intimate -associate and physician of the Duke. Garth had the good fortune to -retain his popularity at court, and to be appointed the King’s -physician, when the Duke and Duchess were regarded with coldness. Yet a -signal compliment, it was thought, was paid to this humane and -accomplished man, when George the First knighted him with the Duke of -Marlborough’s sword. Dr. Garth was of decided Whig opinions, as were -most of the Duchess’s associates; and he was of suspected scepticism, as -were also many of those in whom she placed confidence. It was, however, -so prevalent an imputation in those days, that few eminent men escaped -the charge. It must also be allowed, that it was a species of -fashionable affectation, for affectation it most probably was, to -express, for the poor credit of belonging to a certain philosophical -order, a degree of doubt concerning the great truths upon which every -hope of human nature depends. Sir Samuel Garth was, says Pope, “a good -Christian without knowing himself to be so.” It is to be regretted that -he did not know it, for he has bequeathed to the members of his -profession the imputation to which, at all events, he thoughtlessly -contributed, of being averse to the religious belief of our church, as -they are often obliged to be aliens to its observances. This charge, -notoriously unjust in the present day, was not, however, fairly urged -against Dr. Garth, who died, according to the somewhat partial evidence -of Pope, in the communion of the Roman Catholic church. - -Whilst he afforded the relief of his art, and the enjoyment of his -conversation, to patients of the higher classes, Dr. Garth was not, as -the prosperous are apt to be, unmindful of the lowly and suffering. His -character appears to have presented a rare compound of bland and -conciliating manners with an independent spirit. His labours at the -College of Physicians were directed to purposes of charity, which then -engaged the attention of that body. His literary talents were applied to -satirize the unworthy members of his profession, and to elevate its -character. He was an uncommon instance of a man possessing literary -attainments and acquiring professional eminence. In those days, and even -so late as the time of Darwin, the pursuit of the belles lettres was not -inimical to the extension of a medical practice, and Garth’s celebrated -satire on a portion of his professional brethren introduced him into all -that a physician most prizes. Finally, when the corpse of the -illustrious Dryden lay neglected and unburied, Dr. Garth brought the -deserted remains to the College of Physicians, raised a subscription to -defray the expenses of the funeral, and, following the body to -Westminster Abbey, had the office, peculiarly honourable to him under -such circumstances, of pronouncing an oration over the grave in which -the rescued clay was deposited. - -Such was the physician and friend of Marlborough. It appears an endless -task to enumerate and to portray the numerous literary characters who -poured forth their tribute to the greatness of the Duke, or who shared -the favour of the Duchess of Marlborough. Devoid as they both were of -any decided literary bias, they were nevertheless, in various ways, so -much connected with some writers and wits of the day, that it may not be -deemed irrelevant to bring forward a few of those who were thus -distinguished. - -The offensive lines written by Pope upon the character of the Duchess, -as Atossa, could not have been the production of a friend. That the -Duchess, in her intercourse with the great and gay, encountered -frequently the master-spirit of the day, whose religious and political -prepossessions led him to write her attributes in characters of gall, -cannot be doubted. Pope, however, was not, it appears, one of her -correspondents; and subsequently, in her intimacy with Lady Mary Wortley -Montague, the Duchess cherished his bitterest enemy. That gifted woman, -indeed, found in the Duchess a kindred spirit. The collision of such -minds must have been remarkable. Lady Mary was yet in her prime, when -the Duchess, morose, and a cripple, delighted to visit her, and to -entertain her brilliant friend, and be in turn entertained. The great -world, its hollowness, and its consequent disappointments, were -sufficiently unveiled to both, to render the confidence of social life -comparatively delightful. Yet both still loved the world too well; both -were essentially worldly in their natures. The one turned her -calculating mind to power; the other to admiration. The career of their -youth, brilliant in each, was in each succeeded by a joyless, an -unloved, almost a despised old age. - -It was the pleasure of the Duchess, in her later days, to receive, -without ceremony, Lady Mary and her daughter Lady Bute, who frequently -sat by her Grace while she dined, or went through the process of casting -up her accounts. Both Lady Mary and her daughter were especial -favourites, and enjoyed, accordingly, the rare fortune of never -quarrelling with her grace. To them she unfolded the events of her long -and harassing life; to them she communicated, with tears, the anecdote, -so often quoted, of her cutting off the fair and luxuriant hair of which -she was even, at that age, proud, to provoke her stoical husband, when -he had one day offended her. The mode in which the provocation was -offered, and was received, was characteristic of both parties. The -Duchess placed the tresses which the Duke had prized in an antechamber, -through which he must often necessarily pass, in order that they might -attract his view. The Duke showed no symptoms of observation and -vexation, appeared as calm as was his wont, and the Duchess thought that -her scheme had failed: she sought her ringlets, but they had -disappeared. Years afterwards, she discovered them in a cabinet -belonging to the Duke, after his death, amongst other articles which she -knew he prized the most of all his precious collections. And at this -point of her story, the Duchess, as well she might, melted into -tears.[356] The noble, kind heart which had been devoted to her was cold -in the grave, and those of her family who remained, were worse than -indifferent to her joys or her woes. - -The Duchess’s early admirer, Colley Cibber, must not be omitted in the -list of those who have contributed to exalt her fame. Cibber, as we have -seen, wrote with enthusiasm of her personal charms, which with equal -liberality he alleged to have outlived the days of her youth. And not -only from the custom, at that time fashionable, of admitting actors and -actresses, even of doubtful character, into the society of the great, -but in the practice of his profession as a player, Cibber must have had -frequent opportunities of marking the gradual ripening to perfection, -and the less gradual process of decay of those charms which riveted his -faculties. The company of comedians to whom Cibber belonged were called -the King’s servants, and styled gentlemen of the great chamber. They -wore a livery of scarlet and gold, and were made the peculiar concern of -the court, the King frequently interfering in their concerns and -management. This company performed at Drury Lane, except when by royal -command it was transported to Hampton Court, or to Windsor, to entertain -the assembled court.[357] On such occasions, the Duchess must frequently -have encountered the sculptor’s son, who, elated with a commission in a -regiment of horse, had had, when first they met, indulged brighter -day-dreams than his future existence realised. The stage, nevertheless, -was at that time at its height of prosperity: all classes contributed to -honour and support its ornaments. The original Lady Townly and Lady -Betty Modish, the beautiful but the frail Mrs. Oldfield, is said to have -acquired her inimitable art of representing the manners of aristocratic -females, from the number of high-born ladies whom she visited, whilst -yet under the acknowledged protection of General Churchill, and, -afterwards, of Arthur Maynwaryng. Bolingbroke, with all his Jacobite -notions, thought himself not degraded by an intimate friendship with -Booth. The spirit of the age was dramatic, as Steele’s “extravagant -pleasantry” exemplifies. Being asked, by a nobleman, after the -representation of Henry the Eighth, at Hampton Court, how the King, -George the First, liked the play, “In truth,” answered the accomplished -manager, “so terribly well, my lord, that I was afraid I should have -lost all my actors; for I was not sure the King would not keep them to -fill the posts at court, that he saw them so fit for in the play.”[358] - -Cibber, nevertheless, was, in the commencement of his career, after he -had exchanged the show and uniform of the cavalry for the sock and -buskin, not only contented, but delighted, with a salary of ten -shillings a week. It is well known, also, that he kept back his play of -the “Careless Husband,” in despair of not being able to find an actress -to personate, as in those critical days it would be necessary to -personate, the woman of fashion, that Lady Betty Modish whom Mrs. -Oldfield improved afterwards to perfection, by the society and -connexions of her accomplished and high-born admirers. She is -acknowledged, indeed, by Cibber, to have been the prototype of that -lively being of the dramatist’s fancy; “the agreeably gay woman of -quality, a little too conscious of her natural attractions;” or, in less -courtly language, a well-bred coquet.[359] - -Originally of the same profession that Cibber had adopted when he waited -upon the Duchess of Marlborough at Derby, Sir Richard Steele, afterwards -appointed to be the head of the royal company of comedians, deserves to -be noticed, from his projected connexion with the fame of the -Marlborough family. For Steele, in his paper called “The Reader,” has -left an account of his intention to write a life of the Duke of -Marlborough, confining himself to the Duke’s military career: a project -which, unhappily, was never executed, but the materials for which were, -according to Steele’s assertion, in his possession. - -The conduct and the conscience of Steele were incessantly at variance. -His natural disposition was amiable, but so incautious, that his famous -parallel between Addison and himself must be admired equally for its -candour and its truth. “The one,” says Steele, speaking of his friend, -“with patience, foresight, and temperate address, always waited and -stemmed the torrent; while the other often plunged himself into it, and -was as often taken out by the temper of him who stood weeping on the -bank for his safety, whom he could not dissuade from leaping into it.” -This beautiful description of true friendship is indeed characteristic -of him who found it inconvenient to have written the “Christian Hero,” -from the comparisons between his practice and his precepts which were -incessantly drawn by his associates. Steele had all the brilliancy, and -many of the failings, of his gifted countrymen. That his mind was never -debased by the irregular pursuits and dissolute society to which he gave -his time, is apparent from the beautiful sentiments which pervade that -exquisite comedy, the “Conscious Lovers,” one of the most elegant -delineations of that species of love which borders on romance, in the -range of our dramatic literature. Those who remember the most pathetic -and elevated strain of reflection which is displayed in a certain paper -of the Spectator, in which this feeling writer describes his -introduction suddenly into the apartment of a dying friend, must allow -Steele to have possessed infinite power over the passions of the human -heart. Devoted to the House of Hanover, reviled by Swift, and expelled -from the House of Commons for his paper, the Englishman, in which he -advocated principles congenial to those of the Duchess of Marlborough, -Steele was doubtless an approved acquaintance, though perhaps not on the -footing of an intimate friend. - -A strange contrast to the preceding characters whose peculiarities have -been faintly touched, was the celebrated William Penn, who appears among -the list of the Duke of Marlborough’s correspondents; and, if slight -expressions may be trusted, was among the number of the Duchess’s -privileged acquaintance. Penn, in a letter to the great general, whom he -addresses as “my noble friend,” in 1703, speaks of sending a letter -under “my Lady Duchess’s cover,” and mentions the Lord Treasurer -Godolphin, whose correct judgment he commends in the incidental manner -of one, intimate with the circle to which he refers. This singular and -high-minded personage, whom Burnet severely calls “a vain, talking man,” -came into constant collision with the Duke and Duchess at the court of -James the Second, where, in spite of his refusal to uncover in the -King’s presence, he was received with distinction. Penn was perhaps not -the less acceptable to the Duchess from his non-conformist principles. -His fearlessness, and the persecutions which, for conscience sake, he -sustained in the early part of his life, perhaps redeemed, in her eyes, -the visionary nature of his religious impressions, the absurdity, to her -strong mind, of his secret communications from God, and the suddenness -of his conversion. At all events, the sterling character of Penn, and -his contempt of worldly advantages, must have formed an agreeable -variety among her numerous, and dissimilar associates. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - The different places of residence which belonged to the - Duchess—Holywell-house, Wimbledon, Blenheim—Account of the old - mansion of Woodstock—Its projected destruction—Efforts of Sir John - Vanburgh to save it—Attack upon the Duchess, relative to Blenheim, - in the Examiner. - - -Having given a short sketch of those associates in whose conversation -the Duchess delighted, or on whose aid, public or private, she depended, -it remains now to describe those stately abodes where she lived in sober -grandeur, but the splendour of which could not procure her peace of -mind, nor ensure her even the attentions due to her rank and years. - -The earliest, and perhaps the favourite residence of Sarah Duchess of -Marlborough, was Holywell, the spot where she first saw the light, and -the scene with which her youthful associations were connected. The site -of the house in which Richard Jennings of Holywell, as he is designated, -resided, when his daughter Sarah was born, has already been described. -The dwelling was, in modern days, inhabited by Dr. Predy, rector of St. -Alban’s Abbey, but now, like some other traces of its celebrated inmate, -it is levelled to the ground.[360] - -Near the tenement, comparatively humble, in which the Duchess was born, -the Duke of Marlborough built a mansion of many rooms, and of handsome -external appearance. Its extensive gardens, laid out in the -old-fashioned style, are well remembered by the inhabitants of St. -Albans; and Holywell was endeared to them, not only by revered -associations with the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, but by more -recent recollections connected with a respected descendant by marriage -of the Spencer family, who long dwelt at Holywell. Travellers who passed -near the pile which John Duke of Marlborough erected, regarded that -early abode with interest. Of infinitely less elegance than Wimbledon is -reputed to have been, of far less splendour than Blenheim, it presented -the true features of a respectable and substantial English mansion; it -bore the aspect of comfort; it appeared like an emblem of the Duke’s -early prosperity—a sort of stepping-stone to Wimbledon and Blenheim. -Perhaps, had he rested there, his lot in life might have been more -peaceful, though less distinguished.[361] - -At all events, Holywell was a spot replete with interest, and the boast -of St. Albans, for there the Duke of Marlborough lived as a private -gentleman; sufficiently near to the town for its inhabitants to claim -his grace as a neighbour, yet distant enough for dignity, and, if -desirable, even for seclusion. - -That the Duke and Duchess felt no small pride and pleasure in St. Albans -is evident; and probably at one period of their lives, the height of -their ambition, as far as residence was concerned, was to build a house -at the place where their humble fortunes could be progressively traced. -A spacious and costly pew in the Abbey, adorned with beautiful carving, -still attracts admiration on entering that venerable edifice. - -These remarks might induce the traveller through St. Albans to search -with some interest for Holywell-house. Unfortunately it exists no -longer. Several years ago it passed from the Spencer family into other -hands; and although the house was not in a dilapidated state, and -appeared to be a fitting residence for a gentleman of a good -establishment; although even higher considerations might have had some -weight with the parties concerned; who must, one would suppose, have -deeply regretted the expediency of destroying the old place; yet it -_was_ destroyed. The work of devastation terminated with a sale; and the -materials were disposed of by auction.[362] - -The House at Wimbledon, in which the Duchess lived, has also perished, -though from a different cause. The manor of Wimbledon is of considerable -celebrity. Sir Thomas Cecil purchased it from Sir Christopher Hatton, -whilst he was in possession under the grant from Queen Elizabeth, and in -1588 rebuilt it in a most magnificent manner. - -In 1599, Queen Elizabeth is said to have visited the Lord Burghley here, -and to have staid three days; after which she proceeded to Nonsuch.[363] - -In 1628, the house received considerable damage by the blowing up of -some gunpowder. It was afterwards repaired and beautified. The outside -was painted in fresco by Francis Cleyne. Fuller calls Wimbledon-house “a -daring structure,” and says that by some it has been thought to equal -Nonsuch, if not to exceed that far famed royal residence.[364] - -The estate was afterwards purchased for Henrietta Maria, Queen of -Charles the First, and here the King and she sometimes resided. “The -mansion at Wimbledon,” says Mr. Lysons, in his work on the Environs of -London, “is mentioned among the houses as belonging to the crown, in the -inventory of the jewels and pictures of King Charles the First. It is -remarkable that that monarch was so little aware of the fate preparing -for him by his enemies, that, a few days before he was brought to trial, -he ordered the seeds of some melons to be planted in his garden at -Wimbledon. It was afterwards sold to Baynes, and by him probably to -Lambert, the parliament’s general. When he had been discarded by -Cromwell, he retired to this house, and turned florist, having the -finest tulips and gillyflowers that could be got for love or money. He -also excelled in painting flowers, some specimens of which remained for -many years at this house.” - -A fate seems to hang over certain estates and houses. The Restoration -gave back Wimbledon to Queen Henrietta, who sold the house to Lord -Bristol, and he to the Marquis of Carmarthen, whose trustees sold it to -Sir Theodore Janseen. Sir Theodore, for what reason does not appear, -pulled down the magnificent house in which Charles and his Queen had -resided, and began to build a new one, probably on a smaller scale than -the old building. The South Sea business involving Sir Theodore in the -general ruin, the estate was purchased by the Duchess of Marlborough. -She, in her turn, destroyed what Sir Theodore had built, and erected a -new house on the north side of the knoll on which the present house -stands, after a design of the Earl of Burlington.[365] - -This fabric was not doomed long to stand, for the Duchess, not approving -of the situation, desired his lordship to give her a design for a house -on the south side; and having obtained a plan, she pulled down her -partly-erected house, and constructed another. But this mansion was -destined to destruction also; it was bequeathed by her to John Spencer, -Esq., from whom it came to his son, Earl Spencer, in whose time, and on -Easter Monday, 1785, it was almost entirely burnt down by accident. The -ruins were cleared away, and the grounds levelled and turfed, so that -scarcely a trace even of the foundation was left. Such was the fate of -this abode of the Duchess, which, in her later days, she preferred to -all others. The present house was built in 1798. It stands in a park -seven miles in compass, containing about twelve hundred acres, (laid out -by Browne,) which affords a beautiful home prospect, with a fine piece -of water towards the north, and an extensive view over Surrey and Kent -to the south. - -The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, could they have foreseen these -occurrences, might have been excused if superstitious fears had assailed -them, when on the eve of devoting a portion of their wealth to some new -structure. The desire of Marlborough, so feelingly expressed, that he -might live at Blenheim in peace, was not to be gratified. The progress -of that structure was attended by difficulties and vexations truly -inimical to quiet; and various accounts have been given of the cause and -details of those wearying disputes and disappointments which embittered -Marlborough’s associations with Blenheim. Upon the proposal of Queen -Anne, and the vote of Parliament, it had been determined, in 1704, that -the British nation should build the Duke of Marlborough a structure -suitable to the residence of their great and wealthy general, and -emblematic of national gratitude and of royal munificence. Half a -million was voted for the building, and on the eighteenth of June, 1705, -the first stone of the Castle, as it was called, was laid.[366] - -Notwithstanding the vote of parliament, the Duke of Marlborough, -considering, as he well might, the uncertainty of public favour, and the -slender nature of that cobweb entitled public honour, deemed it prudent -never to issue any orders for the building except through the -Treasury.[367] There is a manuscript letter of his extant, which -expressly enforces this caution. The architect selected for the great -work was Sir John Vanburgh, probably appointed from interest, when we -reflect that Sir Christopher Wren was in all his strength and fame, and -actually made a plan of one side of the building, of which Lord -Godolphin approved much more highly than of anything that was -subsequently done by Vanburgh; adding to his commendations, that he was -sure nothing that was designed by Vanburgh or Hawkesmoor would please -him so well. Wren was afterwards employed in the construction of -Marlborough-house. - -No sooner was the work commenced, than we find, by the manuscript -letters, that the Duchess took a considerable share in the management of -the works, combating stoutly against the extravagances and impositions -of Sir John Vanburgh in detail, though she was wholly unable to check -the gross amount of his charges. - -On a contract for lime to build Blenheim, made, in 1705, between the -Duke and Vanburgh, the Duchess wrote these characteristic words: “Is not -that, sevenpence-halfpenny per bushel, a very high price, when they had -the advantage of making it in the park? besides, in many things of that -nature, false measure had been proved.”[368] It is no wonder that Sir -John Vanburgh, very soon afterwards, began to call the Duchess very -“stupid and troublesome,” and ended by venting upon her grace the -coarsest terms of abuse that anger, unmitigated by good breeding, could -devise. - -In 1709, the works at Blenheim had progressed so far as to enable -Vanburgh to flatter the Duke with a hope that the house would be ready -for his grace’s reception soon after his return from the continent, -where Marlborough then was. In the same letter in which this intimation -was given, a minute detail of all the offices was also set forth; so -that notwithstanding the difficulty of procuring stone, of which -Vanburgh complained, and other hindrances, there seemed to be every -prospect of a favourable termination to the long-deferred hopes of the -noble owners of Blenheim.[369] - -And now a question arose, in which, without any partiality to Sir John -Vanburgh’s conduct, we must acknowledge that his taste and judgment were -conspicuously displayed, and that to him we owe an effort (fruitless, -unfortunately,) to preserve and restore one of those remains, truly of -English character, which are so fondly prized by all British hearts. - -The manor-house, or ancient palace of Woodstock, was, in 1709, before -the ravages of improvement, and the chimeras of the landscape gardener, -attacked and laid it low, still standing in tolerable repair. It -appears, from an old print,[370] to have been a picturesque building, -with a quadrangular court, and towers at each corner. It occupied a -slightly elevated spot near the river Glyme, then a narrow stream, at a -short distance from the grand bridge now thrown across the lake. The -situation was extremely beautiful, for art had not then lowered the -rugged hill, of which Vanburgh in his letters complains. Rich coverlets -of wood concealed the old house, whilst in front flowed the gentle -stream on whose banks Chaucer wandered. The manor was not only -distinguished as the scene of several parliaments which were held there, -but had still more romantic claims to respect and preservation. It was -within its precincts that a bower, or retired dwelling, was erected by -Henry the Second for his Rosamond, in whose gentle name, seclusion, and -misfortunes, we are apt to forget her error, and the cause of her fate. -The fabled labyrinth is said to have derived its origin from being -confounded with the structure of the palace gardens, which were formed -of the Topiary work—twisted alleys resembling a maze. A gate-house in -front of the palace gave dignity to the whole tenement, and enclosed at -one time Elizabeth of England, the captive inmate of the manor, from a -window of which she is said to have viewed with envy a milkmaid, and to -have written on a shutter, with some charcoal, those beautiful lines -expressive of her wishful desire for freedom, which are extant. - -These legends are familiar to us all; yet it is impossible, in -describing the fate and fall of the manor, to revert to them without -regret. Such associations, combined with the recollection of Chaucer, -who resided in an old house at Woodstock, and who, in his “Dream,” has -described the Bower, must be called up with pleasurable though -melancholy sensations. In later days, the manor formed an abiding place -for those daring Roundheads, whose concealments, and the stratagems of -which they made use to maintain their privacy, have been woven into a -tale of such powerful interest, that it requires few other arguments to -enhance regret for the old manor, than that it has been a subject for -the pen of Walter Scott. - -In 1709, the manor became the subject of correspondence between the -Duchess of Marlborough and Vanburgh. The Duchess had, it seems, -repeatedly visited Blenheim in company with Lord Godolphin, who -represents her as “extremely prying,” and not only detecting many errors -in that part of the building of the Castle which was finished in 1706, -but as well mending such as could be rectified without waiting for the -Duke’s opinion. “I am apt to think,” adds the Lord Treasurer, “that she -has made Mr. Vanburgh a little +,[371] but you will find both pleasure -and comfort from it.”[372] - -It is worthy of remark, however, that the friendly Lord Treasurer dwells -much upon the forward state of the garden and the grounds, but passes no -opinion upon the building. - -When the subject of taking down or leaving the old manor came to be -debated, Sir John Vanburgh temperately, and to his credit, explained his -reasons for wishing to retain so beautiful an object within view of -Blenheim. The arguments which he advanced were excellent and such as -would readily present themselves to any intelligent mind. But he -addressed himself to one who had far more pleasure in adding up a sum of -compound addition in her own curious, but infallible way, than in gazing -upon any beautiful ruins. To her the recollection of fair Rosamond was a -vain fancy; the notion of Sir John’s keeping the old manor in -preservation, a whim; and besides, there was a yet more cogent reason -for sacrificing, than for preserving the ruins. Already had an attempt -made by Vanburgh, to convert the manor into an habitation, caused an -expenditure, according to the Duchess, of three thousand pounds; from -the acknowledgment of Vanburgh, eleven hundred pounds; and the shrewd -Sarah began to suspect, when the architect became anxious upon the -subject, that he designed the manor as an habitation for himself, and -had some sinister motive for the perseverance which he showed on the -subject. After many discussions, in the course of which Godolphin, on -being applied to for his opinion, said “that he might as well hesitate -about removing a wen from his face, as delay taking down so unsightly an -object from the brow of the hill,” the old manor was demolished; and the -work of devastation was finished with the chapel, which Vanburgh made -one final struggle to save, but which was condemned.[373] Several -curious relics were found when the ground was levelled, for the hill -behind it was of a rugged, intractable shape, as Vanburgh described it. -Amongst other things, a ring, with the words inscribed on it, “Remember -the Covenant,” was given by the masons to Lady Diana Spencer. - -The main work at Blenheim proceeded very slowly. In 1710, it was very -abruptly, and as Vanburgh thought, very unceremoniously, stopped by the -Duchess, who sent directions to the workmen that the orders of the -architect were to be wholly disregarded. The Duchess’s disgrace at court -had possibly, however, some share in this unexpected proceeding. During -that year Vanburgh’s estimate of the expenses of the house was, that -they would not exceed two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. In October, -1710, he had received two hundred thousand pounds from the Treasury. -Letters between him and the Duchess, the one remonstrating, the other -justifying the enormous sums which were laid out, are to be found in the -Manuscript Correspondence. By a warrant from Godolphin, Sir John -Vanburgh was authorised to make contracts, &c., and to lay them before -the Lord Treasurer.[374] Every expectation might reasonably be formed, -that the government would complete the building at its own cost. In -October and November, 1710, it appears that Vanburgh received, in -addition to the assistance of eight thousand pounds, the sum of one -thousand pounds weekly to pay the workmen.[375] In 1712, the building -expenses were put a stop to by the Queen, who alleged, among other -reasons, the puerile excuse that the Duchess of Marlborough having taken -away slabs and locks from her rooms at St. James’s, she would not build -her a house. The fact was, the Queen, as well as the Duke’s enemies, -were startled at the immense sums which had been spent, without the -interminable structure being nearly completed. - -In 1714, a statement being sent in by Sir John Vanburgh, two hundred and -twenty thousand pounds were found to have been received from the -Treasury, and the debts due by the crown for the building amounted to -sixty thousand pounds.[376] After this crisis in the affairs of -Blenheim, the Duke of Marlborough took the completion of the work into -his own hands, and desired that an estimate of the expense might be -given by Vanburgh. At this time even the shell of the building could -not, it was calculated, be completed without many thousand pounds more. -It was also necessary to get an act of parliament passed, devolving the -responsibility of the debts already incurred, on the crown; a measure -which was, happily for the Duke and his heirs, carried in the first year -of George the First. Affairs now seemed to be placed on a safe footing; -but Blenheim was never, at that period, likely to be finished for -Marlborough to inhabit. “Besides,” adds the Duchess, writing to her -friend Mrs. Clayton, “all without doors, where there is nothing done, is -a chaos that turns one’s brains but to think of it; and it will cost an -immense sum to complete the causeway, and that ridiculous bridge in -which I counted thirty-three rooms. Four houses are to be at each corner -of the bridge; but that which makes it so much prettier than London -Bridge is, that you may sit in six rooms, and look out at window into -the high arch, while the coaches are driving over your head.”[377] - -The Duchess, as it may be perceived by this satirical description, was -not very well pleased with Vanburgh. In fact, upon a previous -examination of the accounts, many charges grossly extravagant were -detected; as well as abundant errors of design. - -In the course of the fabrication of the palace, nervous fears seem to -have assailed the Duke and Duchess, concerning the immense income -requisite to maintain an establishment in such an overgrown palace. It -is amusing to find Sir John Vanburgh thus consoling the Duchess by his -parallel of Castle Howard, respecting the size of which the noble owners -had had the same fears. After discussing some other matters, he writes, -in 1713, thus:—[378] - -“He (Lord Carlisle) likewise finds that all his rooms, with moderate -fires, are ovens, and that this great house does not require above one -pound of wax and two of tallow candles a night to light it more than his -house at London did; nor, in short, is he at any expense more whatsoever -than he was in the remnant of an old house; but three housemaids and one -man to keep the whole house and offices in perfect cleanliness, which is -done to such a degree, that the kitchen, and all the offices and -passages under the principal floor, are as dry as the drawing-room; and -yet there is a great deal of company, and very good housekeeping. So -that, upon the whole, (except the keeping of the new gardens,) the -expense of living in this great fine house does not amount to above a -hundred pounds a year more than was spent in the old one. - -“If you think the knowledge of this may be of any satisfaction to my -Lady Marlborough, pray tell her what you hear; and (if you think it -proper) as from yourself, I could wish you to say what you know to be -true, that whether I am quite convinced or not of my having been so much -in the wrong in my behaviour to her as she is pleased to think me, yet, -while she does think me so, I can’t but set the greatest value upon her -_generosity in urging my Lord Marlborough in my favour_. I must own to -you, at the same time, that her notion, that I had not done what I did, -but upon her declining at court, has been no small inducement to me to -expose myself so frankly as I have done in my Lord Duke’s and her -particular cause; for though I could have borne she should have thought -me a _brute_, I could not endure she should think me a _rascal_.” - -At his decease, the Duke left, as has been stated, “ten thousand pounds -a year” to the Duchess, according to Sir John Vanburgh, “to spoil -Blenheim her own way; and twelve thousand pounds a year to keep herself -clean and go to law.” Be that as it may, the Duchess had the credit and -satisfaction of completing the palace, which was nothing like an -habitation in Marlborough’s time, at the cost of half the sum which had -been entrusted to her out of his estates for the purpose. The triumphal -arch, and the column on which the statue of Marlborough stands, were -erected at her own expense. The united sums paid by government, and by -the Duke and his widow, are computed to amount to three hundred thousand -pounds.[379] - -Of the enjoyment of law, the Duchess had indeed abundant opportunities. -In 1721, she and the Duke’s executors were sued by Edward Strong, sen. -and jun., for debts incurred on Blenheim, but were defended so -successfully that they came off triumphant. It was on an occasion of -this nature, either in this suit, or in the action brought against her -by her grandson, that she sat in court during the trial, and was so much -delighted with the address of Mr. Murray, afterwards Lord Mansfield, who -was her counsel, that she presented him, immediately after the -termination of the trial, with a fine sword, as a perpetual retainer in -her favour.[380] - -The feuds which had commenced between the Duchess and Vanburgh never -subsided. Some years after all communication between them had ceased, it -was the wish of the architect to visit Blenheim, which his patroness, -Lady Carlisle, and some of her family, were desirous to inspect. Sir -John stayed two nights at Blenheim, but there was an order issued to the -servants, under the Duchess’s own hand, not to let him enter the castle, -and lest that should not mortify him sufficiently, having heard that his -wife was to be one of the party, she sent an express the night before -they came to Woodstock, with orders that if Lady Vanburgh came to -Blenheim, the servants should not suffer her to see the house and -gardens. The enraged architect and his lady were therefore obliged to -remain at the inn whilst the Castle Howard ladies viewed the -building.[381] - -Such petty revenge augured a miserable old age; but the Duchess gloried -in the storm. With all her immense revenue, computed to be about forty -thousand pounds a year, she continued to wrangle about the building -debts of Blenheim, and obtained an injunction against Sir John Vanburgh -in Chancery, on the score of a sum which she could much better afford to -lose than the poor artificers, or even the architect, whom she refused -to pay, alleging that they were employed by government, and not by the -Duke of Marlborough. Upon this, Vanburgh produced Godolphin’s warrant, -and for once his interests and those of the Duchess coincided. Long and -curious details of this cause are to be found in the Coxe manuscripts; -but, however agitating and anxious the subject may have been to the -Duchess and to her enemy, the litigation to which they were obliged to -have recourse has lost its interest in modern eyes. - -There is, however, no doubt but that Vanburgh was justly accused by the -Duchess of extravagance in many instances, and of exceeding his -commission in others. She even taxed him with building one entire court -at Blenheim without the Duke’s knowledge. She detected his bad taste and -grasping spirit, and despised his mismanagement,—of which latter the -best proof was, that when, upon the death of the Duke, the whole charge -of the building fell into her hands, she completed it in the manner, and -at the reduced expense, which has been described. - -That “wicked woman of Marlborough,” as Sir John Vanburgh termed the -Duchess, had perhaps no greater error in his eyes than the penetration -with which she discovered his narrow pretensions, his inadequacy, and -wanton waste, not to say peculation. - -It may not be deemed impertinent to sum up the foregoing account of all -the perplexities and errors which attended the building of Blenheim, by -an extract from the Duchess’s opinions of the whole affair, written many -years after the virulence of her animosity may be reasonably supposed to -have ceased. - -Regarding the attack upon herself in the Examiner, which gave an account -of the sums which had been exhausted on Blenheim, the Duchess observes: - -“Upon the subject of Blenheim, which every friend I have knows I was -always against building at such expense, and as long as I meddled with -it at all, I took as much pains to lessen the charge every way, as if it -had been to be paid for out of the fortune that was to provide for my -own children; for I always thought it too great a sum even for the Queen -to pay, and nothing made it tolerably easy to me but my knowing that as -she never did a generous thing of herself, if that expense had not been -recommended by the parliament, and paid out of the civil list, she would -have done nothing with the money that was better. But I never liked any -building so much for the show and vanity of it, as for its usefulness -and convenience, and therefore I was always against the whole design of -it, as too big and unwieldy; whether I considered the pleasure of living -in it, or the good of my family that were to enjoy it hereafter; besides -that the greatness of the work made it longer in finishing, and -consequently would hinder Lord Marlborough from enjoying it when it was -reasonable to lose no time; and I made Mr. Vanburgh my enemy by the -constant disputes I had with him to prevent his extravagance, which I -did effectually in many instances, notwithstanding all the follies and -waste which, in spite of all that could be said, he has certainly -committed.”[382] - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - Old age and decline of the Duchess—Her incessant wrangling with Sir - Robert Walpole—Her occupations—The compilation of her Memoirs. - - -It is now necessary to touch upon the closing scene of the Duchess’s -long and eventful life. Let it not be supposed that it passed in a calm -retirement from the turmoils of the world, or in the agitating though -small sphere of domestic faction. She was a politician to the last; but -the gales which had in early life driven her along, now blew from a -different direction. She despised and reviled the Whig administration of -Sir Robert Walpole, with as much inveteracy as she had formerly -manifested towards Lord Rochester and Lord Oxford. She considered the -mode of managing public affairs to be disgraceful to her country.[383] -She professed to deem it a sacred duty to use every exertion to defeat -the measures of the minister, Walpole; and perhaps that profligate -minister had, in the three kingdoms, no enemy more potent, as far as the -influence of property was concerned, and certainly not one more -determined, than Sarah Duchess of Marlborough. - -It was in vain that the minister attempted to conciliate her by -proffered honours. Few of the favours which he had to confer came up to -her ideas of what her family and her influence merited. Sir Robert had -revived the order of the Bath, a measure described by his son as an -“artful bank of thirty-six ribbons to supply a fund of favours in lieu -of places.” “He meant too,” adds the lively historian, “to stave off the -demands for garters, and intended that the red should be a step for the -blue, and accordingly took one of the former himself.” He offered the -new order to the Duchess for her grandson, the Duke, and for the Duke of -Bedford, who had married one of her granddaughters. The answer he -received was a haughty intimation that her grandson should take nothing -but the garter. “Madam,” answered Sir Robert, “they who take the Bath -will sooner have the Garter.” He proved the sincerity of this assurance, -by taking the garter himself in the year following, with the Duke of -Richmond, who, like himself, had been previously installed knight of the -Bath.[384] - -On the accession of George the Second, the hated ascendency of Walpole, -greatly to the wrath of the Duchess, gained fresh strength. The King -doubtless preferred another man, but the Queen’s influence was -all-powerful; she had long desired Sir Robert, whose stability in power -was, in this instance, based upon his knowledge of mankind, and who -proffered to her Majesty that respectful devotion which the rest of the -world assigned to the mistress, not to the wife of George the Second. -The Queen repaid this proof of discernment by a preference which ceased -only with the existence of the minister. Before the real choice of the -King had become public, and when it was still supposed that Sir Spencer -Compton was to be premier, the King and Queen received the nobility at -their temporary abode at Leicester-house. Lady Walpole, as her son -relates, could not make her way between the scornful backs and elbows of -her late devotees, nor approach nearer to the Queen than the third or -fourth row. But no sooner did the gracious Caroline perceive her, than -she exclaimed, “There, I am sure, I see a friend.” The crowd fell back, -and, “as I came away,” said her ladyship, “I might have walked over -their heads.”[385] - -This predilection would, independent of her injuries, be sufficient to -account for the Duchess’s aversion to the very Princess whom, some years -before, she had extolled as a model of excellence. The Queen, it might -have been thought, would have possessed a hold over her good opinion, -from the very nature of her education, which she received from the -careful and judicious hands of the electress Sophia, the “nursing -mother” of the Hanoverian interests. But nothing could mitigate the -aversion and contempt of the Duchess towards the new school of Whiggism, -which, to her penetrating view, but little resembled the disinterested -spirit of Godolphin, or the unflinching adherence of her son-in-law -Sunderland to what he termed patriotism. That word had now gone quite -out of fashion, and it consisted with Sir Robert Walpole’s notions of -perfect good-breeding, upon which it was his weakness to pique himself, -to laugh generally at those high-minded sentiments which the Duchess, to -her credit, ever professed, and the absence of which, however often they -might be violated in the frailty of human nature, could not be -compensated by the “pompous pleasantry”[386] with which Walpole -satirised all that is good and great. - -The Duchess has left on record the workings of her powerful mind. With -an intellect unenfeebled by age, whilst she described herself, in 1737, -as a perfect cripple, who had very little enjoyment of life, and could -not hold out long, she gave ample proof that her reasoning faculties -were unimpaired, her discernment as acute as it had ever been; and that -wonderful power, the result of both qualities, of seeing into the events -of futurity as far as the concerns of this world are involved, had in -her arrived at a degree of perfection which can scarcely be too much -admired. - -It was her practice to write down her impressions and recollections of -the various circumstances in which she had been engaged, and to entrust -them to such friends as were likely to be interested in those details. -Many of these productions she put into the hands of Bishop Burnet. Her -character of Queen Anne; her able account of Sacheverell, written with -impartiality and clearness; her character of Lord Halifax, of the Duke -of Shrewsbury, Lord Somers, Lord Cowper, Swift and Prior, and others, -have been preserved among her papers, and were composed expressly for -her friends.[387] It was during the Duchess’s residence abroad that she -is supposed by Dr. Coxe to have written her long letter in vindication -of her general conduct to Mr. Hutchinson; from which unpublished -document many facts in this work have been taken. But in 1788, a little -book, called “Opinions of the Duchess of Marlborough,” collected from -her private papers, was printed, but not published, with a preface, and -notes by an anonymous editor, known to be Sir John Dalrymple, afterwards -Lord Hailes. These memoranda, for they scarcely deserve a more imposing -name, were commenced in the year 1736, and terminated in 1741. They are -undoubtedly genuine, and are written with a spirit and fearlessness -which plainly speak their source.[388] The learned antiquary and eminent -historian who collected and honoured them with a preface, was not an -admirer of the high-spirited lady, upon whose political conduct he has -commented unsparingly in his memorials of Great Britain. Yet he could -scarcely have done more to place the Duchess on a footing with the many -other female writers who have added to the stores of British literature, -than in preserving, as the shadow of his name must preserve, these -specimens of the occupations of her solitary hours. - -The aversion of the Duchess to Sir Robert Walpole appears to have been -the ruling passion of her mind. “I think,” she writes, “’tis thought -wrong to wish anybody dead, but I hope ’tis none to wish he may be -hanged, for having brought to ruin so great a country as this.” Yet she -declares herself still partial to the Whig principles, observing, -nevertheless, that both parties were much in fault; and the majority in -both factions she calls by no milder term than “knaves,” ready to join -with each party for the sake of individual benefit, or for the purpose -of carrying any particular measure.[389] - -Like many other old persons, the Duchess viewed the world through the -medium of a dark veil, which years and disappointments had interposed -before her intellectual perceptions. The world was no longer the same -world that it had been. Honour, patriotism, loyalty, had fled the -country, and she, “though an ignorant old woman,” as she called herself, -could anticipate that national degradation begins with laxity of -principle. She upheld stoutly the purity of former times, of that -“well-intentioned ministry,” of which Swift had successfully sapped the -foundations. Deceived by everybody, as she averred, and not able to -depend upon a thing which she heard, she yet perceived that, as long as -Walpole continued in power, the general demoralisation was progressing; -and that he would continue in power until the Queen died, she was -equally and mournfully certain. - -The Duchess was not a character to sit still and complain, and her -efforts to resist what she justly deemed the influence of a corrupt -administration were earnest and laudable. She resolved, as she said, for -the good of her country, that wherever she had an ascendency, the -partisans of the hated minister should meet, in the elections, with a -spirited resistance. It was in her power to procure the return or the -rejection of any members that she pleased, in Woodstock and in St. -Albans. On one occasion she managed to defeat an objectionable -candidate, in a manner truly ingenious and characteristic. A certain -Irish peer having put up at St. Albans, daring to brave her dislike to -him and to his party, she took the following method to vanquish him. His -lordship had formerly written and printed, at his own expense, a play. -He had also offered it to the managers of one of the theatres, by whom -it had been rejected. It was, however, circulated, but treated with so -much contumacy by the critics, that the peer bought it up; and some -curiosity being excited upon the subject, the copies that remained -dispersed became extremely valuable, and were sold for a guinea a piece. -Expensive as they were, the Duchess resolved to collect all she could, -even at that price. She was even at the expense of having a second -edition printed, and hundreds of them given to the freemen of St. -Albans, and people hired to cry them up and down the town whilst the -election was going on. The result was, that the unfortunate nobleman -lost his election, through the ridicule that was thus skilfully pointed -at him with his own weapons.[390] - -The Duchess at first hailed with delight the rising talents of Lord -Carteret, whose disinterested and aspiring mind excited her lively -admiration. Upon the motion of censure upon Sir Robert Walpole, made by -Mr. Sandys, her hopes of the country revived, yet she dreaded lest the -influence of the minister behind the throne might continue, after a -“golden bridge” had been made for him to pass over to his unhonoured -retirement. She lived to see Sir Robert Walpole driven to the very -threshold of the Tower, and to learn that he had been compelled to the -expedient, almost unparalleled in effrontery, of offering through the -Bishop of Oxford a bribe to the Prince of Wales of fifty thousand -pounds, to detach him from the party by whom he had been espoused. The -indignant refusal of the Prince to accept of any conditions while Sir -Robert Walpole remained at the head of affairs, completed the downfal of -the despised, but still indefatigable minister. The Duchess had the -mortification of seeing him, in spite of contempt, protected by the -sovereign, and honoured by a peerage; and still more, of learning that -he had succeeded by bribes and insinuations to corrupt and divide his -foes, and to frustrate the scheme of his impeachment, the only proof of -public honour that had been signalised for many years.[391] - -Lord Carteret, her favourite, who had spoken against Walpole, in her -grace’s opinion, as well as man could, who had exerted against the -minister the powers of what was, in the estimation of an incomparable -judge,[392] the ablest head in England, was, with Mr. Sandys, the first -to embrace the offers of a court, and to accept employments and honours, -upon the condition that Walpole should remain unpunished. This the -Duchess, in her own manner, foretold. She who knew courtiers and -statesmen well, “was confident that there was nothing Sir Robert Walpole -so much desired as to secure himself by a treaty of quitting with -safety;” and “that there were some so desirous to have the power, that -they would give him a golden bridge to go over; and that there would be -a scheme to settle a ministry from which she could not believe that -England would receive any good.” Events proved the justness of this -prediction. - -It was not until two years before her death that the Duchess ventured to -give to the world what she considered as a complete vindication of -herself. When the work, entitled “An Account of the Dowager Duchess of -Marlborough, from her first coming to Court in the year 1710,” was -published, she was eighty-two years of age. Her conviction must have -been that she could not live long; to life she had, according to her own -statement, become indifferent, but she still cherished a desire for -justification in the eyes of posterity. The charges alleged against her -were avarice, insolence, and ingratitude to her royal mistress. Doubtful -of her own powers of executing a complete and connected work, the -Duchess selected as the nominal historian of her life, Nathaniel Hooke, -best known as the compiler of a Roman history, and long the companion, -and in some respects a dependent, of the great and learned. Hooke had -been a sufferer in the South Sea bubble, after which epidemic -infatuation he described himself, in a letter to the Earl of Oxford, as -in some measure happy to find himself at that time “just worth nothing;” -that being considered, at the period in question, as an escape compared -with the heavy burden of debts. The cause of the Duchess’s preference to -Hooke is not discoverable, since he was a Quietist and a Mystic, and had -evinced the sincerity of his religious opinions by taking a Catholic -priest to Pope on his deathbed, to the great annoyance of -Bolingbroke.[393] The Duchess did not object to Hooke on that account, -and gave him the large sum of five thousand pounds, on condition that he -would aid her in her work. She would not, however, allow him to make use -of all her letters, and they were, according to the historian’s -statement, sadly garbled at her grace’s desire.[394] In the course of -their mutual task, however, certain conversations arose, in which the -Duchess perceived, or fancied she perceived, an intention on the part of -Hooke to beguile her into popery. The result was a violent quarrel; but -whether before or after the completion of the work does not appear. -Hooke, in extenuation of the quarrel, stated, on his own part, that -finding her grace without religion, he had attempted to infuse into her -mind his own opinions. - -Whether this account be true or not, it is acknowledged that by the -united efforts of the Duchess and the historian in her pay, a work was -produced of singular power and interest. A reference to the passages -from this curious narrative, quoted in this work, will prove the truth -of the foregoing observation. The distinctness of the statements, the -nervous simplicity of the language, and the fearlessness of the -sentiments of the work, convey to the mind a conviction of the sincerity -and conscious rectitude of the writer. No traces of mental decay are -evident; but it is not difficult to perceive in the abrupt termination -of some passages, the curtailing hand of some cautious critic, according -to Horace Walpole, that of the historian. - -No sooner did the “Account” appear, than it was attacked by various -anonymous writers. The Duchess had compiled her work in the form of a -letter, and a similar framework was adopted in the construction of -several of the answers to her Vindication. It is remarkable that she -addressed her justification to Lord Cholmondeley, the third Earl of that -name, the son-in-law of Sir Robert Walpole. The public eagerly perused -the publication, yet it is said not to have made any considerable -impression in favour of the Duchess at the time in which it appeared. - -The “Vindication of her Conduct,” as it is entitled, was not, however, -the only work that the Duchess compiled in her own defence. Several of -her manuscript narratives are now for the first time made serviceable in -compiling this work. But there appears, from a passage in one of her -letters to Mr. Scrope, to have been another book, which she showed only -to a few confidential friends, and, among the number, to Mr. Scrope. - -“I am going,” she writes to him, “to make you a more unreasonable -request than I ever have yet done, or I hope ever shall, which is, that -you will give me one hour of your time to read the enclosed book, some -time when you happen to have so much leisure, and send it me back when -you have done with it; for though it is printed, I would not by accident -have it made public. When I printed a letter to vindicate my own -conduct, when I had the honour of serving Queen Anne, I thought it -necessary to say something upon the subject of the enclosed book; but -after it was done I thought it was better to show it to a few of my -particular friends, because they were so near relations that would be -exposed by it, for all the facts are as well proved as what I think is -possible you may have read in the accounts given of my honest endeavours -to serve her Majesty Queen Anne; and as to all that relates to accounts, -from your own office, you must know the relation is true.” - -To this communication Mr. Scrope replies, after, in his answer, -referring to other matters, “I herewith return to your grace the book -you were pleased to send me, which I read with an aching heart.”[395] - -Happily for her grace’s fame, she was vindicated by one man of ability, -Henry Fielding, whilst her traducers, except in one instance, were -devoid of talents sufficient to bear down the testimony of her plain -facts, or to weaken the effect of her shrewd arguments.[396] The Duchess -was unfortunate in provoking the malignant wit of Horace Walpole, whose -satire, couched in terms of playful gossip, like nauseous medicines in -sweet syrup, has been spread far and wide in his universally popular -works. Horace Walpole is an instance, that to be what Dr. Johnson calls -a “good hater,” it is not necessary to cherish the brooding enmities of -a misanthropic retirement, in which the angry and vindictive passions -are supposed to be fostered with propitious care. The only proof of -attachment which he evinced to his family was his bitterness towards -their foes, a bitterness indulged with all the rancour of a worldly man, -who knows not the virtue of forbearance. His estimate of the Duchess’s -character is well known. He allows her not one good quality, and seems -to experience a gratification such as fiends might betray, when, in a -tone of exultation, he announces her death. - -The dislike which the Duchess manifested for Sir Robert Walpole was -attributed by his son to a base spirit of revenge. Among the few -favourites whom she possessed among her relations, was Lady Diana -Spencer, afterwards Duchess of Bedford. It became, according to Horace -Walpole, a scheme of the Duchess of Marlborough to marry this young lady -to Frederic Prince of Wales. She offered her to his royal highness with -a fortune of a hundred thousand pounds. He accepted the proposal, and a -day was fixed for the nuptials, which were to be solemnized secretly at -the Lodge in the Great Park at Windsor; but Sir Robert Walpole gained -intelligence of the plot, and “the secret was buried in silence.”[397] - -In the gloom of the sick chamber, to which by the infirmities of old age -she was frequently confined, the unbroken spirit of the Duchess showed -itself still. “Old Marlborough is dying,” writes Horace Walpole to his -friend Sir Horace Mann; “but who can tell? Last year she had lain a -great while ill, without speaking; her physicians said she must be -blistered, or she would die; she called out, ‘I won’t be blistered, and -I won’t die.’ If she takes the same resolution now, I don’t believe she -will.”[398] - -This passage forms a melancholy sequel to hints of infirmities, and -reflections on approaching death, contained in the Duchess’s Opinions. -As on this subject the least reserved of our species are seldom disposed -to converse, since the stranger knoweth not the heart, and -“intermeddleth not” with its joys or sorrows, we may receive, as her -genuine sentiments, the plaintive reflections of the feeble and -declining Duchess, couched in such terms as these. - -“It is impossible,” she writes in 1737, “that one of my age and -infirmities can live long; and one great happiness there is in death, -that one shall never hear more of anything they do in this world.” - -In another passage, she expresses herself so weary of life, that “she -cared not how soon the stroke was given, and wished only that it might -be given with as little pain as possible.” - -Her grace’s amusements became yearly more and more circumscribed. In -former years she had occupied her shrewd and masculine mind with -purchases of land, which she bought in the firm belief, or at least with -the excuse of belief to her own mind, that a “sponge” might do away with -all the funded property, and that land would “hold longest.” It appears -from her will that she was incessantly making additions to the immense -landed property in which she possessed a life interest, and even went to -the city herself, when nearly eighty years of age, to bid for Lord -Yarmouth’s estate. Her quarrels with Sir Robert Walpole began, as we -have seen, upon the subject of “_trust-money_,” and they seem to have -hinged upon that same matter even so late as the year 1737.[399] - -As the darkened day drew to its close, the poor Duchess was fain to be -contented to amuse herself by writing in bed, in which shackled position -much of her “Vindication” was penned by her.[400] She frequently spoke -six hours a day, in giving directions to Hooke. Then she had recourse to -a chamber-organ, the eight tunes of which she was obliged to think much -better than going to an Italian opera, or an assembly.[401] Society -seems to have afforded her little pleasure. Like most disappointed and -discontented persons, she became attached to animals, especially to her -three dogs, who had those virtues in which human beings, in her -estimation, were so greatly deficient. Satiated with the world, the -Duchess found, in the numerous visitants to Marlborough-house, few that -were capable of friendship. Hers was not a mind to cull sweetness from -the flowers which spring up amid the thorns of our destiny. She knew no -enjoyment, she declared, equal to that accompanying a strong partiality -to a certain individual, with the power of seeing the beloved object -frequently; but she now found the generality of the world too -disagreeable to feel any partiality strong enough to endear life to the -decrepit being that she describes herself to have become. - -The Duchess, during the latter years of her life, changed her residence -frequently. Sometimes she remained at Marlborough-house, but exchanged -that central situation for the quiet of Windsor-lodge or of Wimbledon. -Yet at Windsor-lodge she was tantalised with a view of gardens and parks -which she could not enjoy; and Wimbledon, she discovered, after having -laid out a vast sum of money on it, was damp, clayey, and, consequently, -unhealthy.[402] Wrapped up in flannels, and carried about like a child, -or wheeled up and down her rooms in a chair, the wealthy Duchess must, -nevertheless, have experienced how little there was, in her vast -possessions, that could atone for the infirmities of human nature. - -A very few months before her death she requested an extension of the -lease of Marlborough-house, the term of which had been extended in the -reign of George the First. This residence had been built at the entire -expense of the Duke of Marlborough, who had likewise paid Sir Richard -Beelings two thousand pounds for what the Duchess calls a pretended -claim which he had upon the land; so that she considered that she had as -just a claim “to an extension as any tenant of the crown could have;” -yet she deemed it prudent to make the application to government whilst -Mr. Pelham was at the head of the Treasury, “he being the only person in -that station who would oblige her, or to whom she would be obliged;” -adding to this remark, that Mr. Pelham “had been very civil to her, and -was the only person in employment who had been so for many years.” The -letter in which this petition was contained was written in June 1744, -and the Duchess died in October. Such was the clearness of her -faculties, and so strongly were her desires still fixed upon all the -privileges which she thought she merited. - -Had she been blessed with an exalting and practical faith, such a faith -as elevates the heart, and chastens those angry passions and wilful -discontents which embitter the dark valley of old age far more even than -bodily suffering, the Duchess, looking around her upon those whom she -had the power to bless, might have been happy. But, without by any means -imputing to her that scepticism with which it was the fashion of the day -to charge her, it must be allowed that there is no reason to suppose -that the Duchess’s path in life was illumined by those rays which guide -the humble and practical Christian through the changes and chances of -the world. Her views were all bounded to the scene before her: a spoiled -child, the victim of prosperity, as well as its favourite, she received -the bounties of Providence as if they had been her due, whilst she -aggravated its dispensations of pain by a murmuring spirit.[403] - -In the midst of her unenjoyed wealth, some acts of charity employed her -later days. Such persons as had fallen into decay, were never, if they -bore good characters, repulsed by her.[404] Imposition of any kind she -detected instantly, and exposed it in her own eccentric and fearless -manner. Having, on one occasion, sent a costly suit of clothes to be -made by a certain fashionable dressmaker, Mrs. Buda, the Duchess, on the -dress being completed, missed some yards of the expensive material which -she had sent. She discovered and punished the fraud in the following -manner. Mrs. Buda had a diamond ring which she valued greatly, and wore -frequently when attending the Duchess’s orders. The Duchess pretended to -be pleased with this ring, and begged a loan of it as a pattern. Having -kept it some days, she sent it to Mrs. Buda’s forewoman, with a message -importing that it was to be shown to her, as a token between her grace -and Mrs. Buda that a certain piece of cloth should be returned instead. -The woman, knowing the ring, sent the Duchess the remnant of cloth which -had been fraudulently kept by Mrs. Buda; upon which the Duchess sent for -Mrs. Buda, and putting the ring into her hand, said, that since she had -now recovered the cloth which had been stolen from her, Mrs. Buda should -regain the ring which the Duchess had kept.[405] - -As she grew older, the firm grasp with which she had ever endeavoured to -hold her temporal possessions became more tenacious. She seems to have -tired out the Treasury with frequent complaints respecting disputed -points which concerned her office of Ranger of Windsor Park, and to have -been wonderfully grateful to the powers that had the ascendant for -civility to which for years she had been unaccustomed. “You have drawn -this trouble upon yourself,” she writes to Mr. Scrope, secretary to Mr. -Pelham, “by a goodness I have not found in any body these many -years.”[406] And with corresponding humility she begs him to excuse the -length of her letter, for, having none of her servants in the way, she -found herself obliged to make use of a female secretary, who was not -very correct; “but the hand,” adds the poor old Duchess, “is plain -enough to be read easily; the worst of it is, that it looks so -frightfully long, that a man of business will turn it before he reads -it.”[407] Such was the subdued tone in which the Duchess, a year before -her death, addressed the official whom in former days she would have -commanded. - -The vigour and clearness of intellect which had ever distinguished the -Duchess, were spared to her until the last. Even in her letters to Mr. -Scrope, written mostly in 1743, there is an exactness, distinctness, and -force not often to be met with in female correspondence at an earlier -age. Her letters on business, and she seems to have passed her days in -writing them, are peculiarly clever; sufficiently explicit, but without -a word too much. Throughout the Duchess’s letters there is, -notwithstanding the asperity of her general remarks, no appearance of -discourtesy. In her correspondence with Mr. Scrope, she begins as if -addressing a stranger, but, on perceiving that he to whom she wrote -entered kindly into her concerns, she becomes gracious, then friendly, -and, lastly, even confidential. - -To her other concerns was added the charge of Windsor Park, and all the -affairs contingent on that office, which the Duchess rendered, when she -had nothing else to employ her, a source of irritation, and of -occupation. - -Queen Caroline, as we have seen, upon the refusal of the Duchess to sell -some part of her property at Wimbledon to her Majesty, threatened to -take away the annuity of six hundred pounds a year, coupled with the -office of Ranger. The threat, to the disgrace of that eulogised -Princess, was put into execution; and during Mr. Pelham’s -administration, and very shortly before her death, the Duchess applied, -through Mr. Scrope, for the restitution of her salary. “Though,” she -says, “I have a right to the allowance, I have no remedy, since the -crown will pay, or not pay, as they please.” Her arguments for her -claims are written with admirable clearness, but couched in terms of -earnestness at which one cannot but smile, when we reflect that the -writer, now upwards of eighty, who displayed such solicitude for the -restitution of the sum of six hundred pounds yearly, not to talk of -arrears, which she seems to think were hopeless, was in the receipt of -an annual income of at least forty thousand pounds. But it was her -right; and the pleasure, perhaps, of triumphing over the injustice of -Queen Caroline, then in her grave, moved her to exertion on this -subject. - -“I have a right,” says this pattern of exactness, “by my grant, to five -hundred pounds a year for making hay, (in Windsor Park,) buying it when -the year is bad, paying all tradesmen’s bills, keeping horses to carry -the hay about to several lodges, and paying five keepers’ wages at -fifteen pounds a year each, and some gate-keepers, mole-catchers, and -other expenses that I cannot think of. But as kings’ parks are not to be -kept as low as private people’s, because they call themselves kings’ -servants, I really believe that I am out of pocket upon this account, -besides the disadvantage of paying ready money every year for what is -done, and have only long arrears to solicit for it.”[408] - -A more satisfactory and genial occupation, one would suppose, than -wrangling for rights and sums of money which would soon be useless to -her, might have occupied many of the Duchess’s declining days. In the -month of September, previous to her death, she describes herself as -having entered into a “new business,” which entertained her extremely; -tying up great bundles of papers to assist very able historians to write -a Life of the Duke of Marlborough, which would occupy two folios, with -the Appendix. - -The arrangement of these papers seems to have afforded the Duchess -considerable pleasure. Her feelings were rendered callous by age, and -she could now peruse with a poignant regret the correspondence of her -husband and of Godolphin. The Lord Treasurer, occupied and harassed as -he always was, took no copies of his letters, but desired his friend to -keep them, so that they had been carefully preserved, and amounted to -two or three hundred in number. - -Such materials, together with the minute accounts of all continental -affairs, would form, the Duchess felt assured, “the most charming -history that had ever yet been writ in any country; and I would rather,” -she adds, in a spirit with which all must sympathise, “if I were a man, -have deserved to have such an account certified of me, as will be of the -two lords that are mentioned, than have the greatest pension or estate -settled upon me, that our own King, so full of justice and generosity, -will give to reward the quick and great performances brought about by my -Lord Carteret, and his partner the Earl of Bath.” - -With this reverence for the dead, and contempt for the living, the -Duchess proceeded with her task; observing, (then in her eighty-fourth -year,) “that it was not likely that she should live to see a history of -thirty or forty years finished.” - -As autumn approached, her strength seemed more and more to fail. In -answer to Mr. Scrope’s inquiries respecting her health, she replies, “I -am a little better than I was yesterday, but in pain sometimes, and I -have been able to hear some of the letters I told you of to-day; and I -hope I shall live long enough to assist the historians with all the -assistance they can want from me: I shall be contented when I have done -all in my power. Whenever the stroke comes, I only pray that it may not -be very painful, knowing that everybody must die; and I think that -whatever the next world is, it must be better than this, at least to -those that never did deceive any mortal. I am very glad that you like -what I am doing, and though you seemed to laugh at my having vapours, I -cannot help thinking you have them sometimes yourself, though you don’t -think it manly to complain. As I am of the simple sex, I say what I -think without any disguise; and I pity you very much for what a man of -sense and honesty must suffer from those sort of vermin, which I have -told you I hate, and always avoid. I send you a copy of a paper, which -is all I have done yet with my historians. I have loads of papers in all -my houses that I will gather together to inform them; and I am sure you -will think that never any two men deserved so well from their country as -the Duke of Marlborough and my Lord Godolphin did.” - -One of the last topics of courtly gossip which seems to have disturbed -the Duchess’s mind, was the quarrel between George the Second, his son, -and the Princess of Wales, upon occasion of the Princess’s sudden and -hazardous removal from Hampton Court to St. James’s, previous to the -birth of his Majesty George the Third. The Duchess warmly espoused the -part of the Prince and Princess, wished them well out of their -difficulties, and esteemed Queen Caroline a very hard-hearted -grandmother, because, instead of being mightily glad that the Princess’s -hour of trial was “well over,” she was extremely angry with the Prince -for not consulting the usual ceremonies on this momentous occasion. - -Several charitable institutions perpetuate the Duchess’s bounty, and the -principal of these, the almshouses of St. Albans, was founded upon a -scheme equally benevolent and judicious. It was intended for decayed -gentlewomen, and until, for electioneering purposes, the character of -its inmates was changed, it retained its useful character of a -respectable home and shelter for gentlewomen whose pecuniary -circumstances rendered such an asylum desirable. - -Several other anecdotes of her benevolence and generosity are recorded; -among others, one of munificent generosity is supplied by the newspapers -of the day. One of the firm of the Childs was oppressed, nearly to his -ruin, by an opposition from the Bank. Upon this occasion, a member of -the family stated his case to the Duchess of Marlborough, who placed the -following order in his hand:— - - -“Pay the bearer the sum of one hundred thousand pounds. - - “SARAH MARLBOROUGH. - - “To the Governor and Company - of the Bank of England.” - - -It is needless to state that the Bank dropped the quarrel; but their -persecution made the fortune of the banker. - -Until the beginning of October, 1744, the Duchess of Marlborough appears -to have continued capable of transacting business; for we find, on the -sixth of that month, a letter written to her from Mr. Scrope, whom she -had presented with her picture, begging for an interview with her grace; -and in a previous letter he intimates that he has some message from Mr. -Pelham to deliver to the Duchess. Thus, to the last, her concerns, those -of Windsor Lodge, the renewal of the lease of Marlborough-house, and the -more commendable, but too late deferred task of compiling the memoirs of -her husband, engrossed her mind. What portion of her thoughts was given -to the Maker who had sent her into the world endowed with singular -faculties, who had entrusted her with many talents, for which soon she -would be responsible to her God, does not appear. She sank, at length, -to rest. Her death took place at Marlborough-house, on the 18th of -October, 1744.[409] - -The personal qualities of this remarkable woman require little comment; -in the narrative of her life they are sufficiently displayed. The -advantages with which nature qualified her to play a conspicuous part in -society have been rarely combined in woman. Of extraordinary sagacity, -improved alone by that species of education which the world gives, her -mind displayed almost masculine energy to the latest period of her -existence. Her judgment, though biassed by her passions, exemplified -itself in the clear and able estimate which she made of the motives, -opinions, and actions of her contemporaries. Time has proved the value -of her observation. - -To an extraordinary capacity for business, the Duchess of Marlborough -united great facility in expressing, and in making others comprehend, -all that she desired them to understand. From her earliest years, her -mind soared above the pursuits of her young companions. The puerile -recreations of a court could not shackle the vigorous intellect which -disdained the captivity of etiquette. Compelled by circumstances to -endure the society of a Princess whom she despised, her mind never sank -to the level of that of the placid and unaspiring Anne. Even amidst the -irksome duties of perpetual attendance on one who had little to -recommend her except good nature, the grasping intellect of the youthful -favourite was gaining opinions on topics generally connected with -politics, and with such themes as affected her interest and that of her -future husband. The capacity of Anne remained stationary; and that of -her companion, amid similar occupations to those of her young mistress, -and enjoying only the same opportunities, like a plant entangled amongst -others of slower growth, although shackled, yet acquired vigour. - -With few opportunities of mental culture, except such as society offered -her, with scarcely the rudiments of education, Sarah Duchess of -Marlborough became, at an early age, the affianced wife of a man who -was, like herself, practical, not erudite, the scholar of the world, the -pupil of fortune. At the time of this early engagement, she probably -possessed, along with the vivacity, the sweetness and attractions -natural to her sex. The world, and a love of politics, that bane to -delicacy and grace in woman, had not then hardened her nature, and -increased the acrimony of her temper. She became the wife of -Marlborough, the associate of his associates, the companion, the friend -of the eloquent, of the lettered, and the brave. Her capacity grew in -the congenial sphere now formed around her. Her observation, by nature -accurate, was exercised upon subjects worthy of her inspection. She -learned, by conversation, by experience, to think and to reason. For -many years she took but a trivial share in the public events which -agitated the nation; but she viewed from “the loophole of retreat” all -that was important, with a mind enlightened by the sound and moderate -opinions of Godolphin, from whom she was, in fact, much more rarely -separated than from her husband. The Lord Treasurer could never, indeed, -teach her to love William the Third, who had graciously overlooked his -defection; but he restrained her vehemence, he regulated her -expressions; and it was not until Godolphin had sunk under the cruel -disease which consumed him, that the Duchess became intractably violent. -Thus, formed by circumstances into a reflecting, shrewd, and energetic -being, the Duchess of Marlborough, when her mind attained, along with -her frame, its full growth, and that lasting vigour for which both were -remarkable, began to turn with disgust from the irksome duties which her -offices at court imposed upon her unwilling mind. The daily round of -ceremonials which she was compelled to witness became revolting to her; -the monotony of Anne’s mind inspired her with contempt. It was with -difficulty, as she confessed years afterwards, that she brought herself -to endure the society of one whose conversation consisted, like that of -James her father, in a constant repetition of one favourite idea; a -species of discourse far more dispiriting than absolute silence. - -The imperious temper of Sarah was fostered by the meek disposition and -mean understanding of her royal mistress. As she grew into political -importance, she probably ceased to be the engaging and attractive woman -whose loveliness gained universal admiration. Henceforth, her empire, -excepting with regard to her husband, appears to have been over the -intellect alone; and whilst she was at once the pupil and the adviser of -Godolphin, she was no longer beloved as a parent; her influence over the -affections of those with whom she was connected melted away when -politics absorbed her thoughts. - -There can be no doubt but that, whilst the virtues of the Duchess were -not many, her faults were egregiously exaggerated by contemporary -writers. The principal accusations against her relate to avarice, -ingratitude towards Anne, arrogance of demeanour, and a spirit of -intrigue. The grounds upon which this formidable array of demerits -rests, have been fully discussed in the foregoing portion of this work. -That the Duchess was of a most grasping disposition, that she coveted -money, thirsted for power, place, honour, everything that could raise -her to a pinnacle in that world which she loved too well, cannot be -denied. The attempts at peculation, and the corrupt and dishonest -practices with which she has been charged, are, however, succinctly and -satisfactorily disproved by her. Though greedy to an excess of wealth, -she was not dishonest. Queen Anne truly said that cheating was not the -Duchess’s crime; and no individual could be a more exact or competent -judge than the Princess who uttered that sentence. It appears, indeed, -that the Duchess endeavoured very diligently to reform the royal -household; that she caused an order to be passed, prohibiting the sale -of places; that she never exceeded, and, in some instances, refused the -usual perquisites of her office; that, far from encroaching on royal -bounty, she refused frequently large sums from the Queen when Princess; -and that, after Anne’s accession, the value of her presents to the -Duchess was so contemptible that the latter, in her letter to Mr. -Hutchinson, has given a list of them, which borders, from its meanness, -on the absurd. - -The conduct of the Duchess towards her sovereign has been, by party -writers, severely stigmatised, and not without justice. There was, on -both sides of this memorable quarrel, much to blame. A long course of -arrogance, imprudence, and negligence, on the part of the Duchess, led -to the alienation of Anne. Yet even the Queen specifically declared, and -reiterated, that she had no fault to allege against the haughty Sarah, -except “inveteracy to poor Masham.” It was not in the Duchess’s nature -to check that inveteracy. A generous, high-minded line of conduct was -beyond her power. Yet, at any rate, the alleged cause of her disfavour -was not a crime of heinous character. It was the mode in which she -revenged the injuries which she received, that constitutes her -delinquency. Her character of her royal mistress was written in the -spirit of revenge; her pen was fledged with satire as it traced the -lines in which the follies and defects of Anne are described. Years -failed to soften the bitterness of her vindictive spirit. Death had not -the power to disarm her rancour. The publication of certain letters, an -act with which she frequently threatened the Queen;[410] the careful -insertion in her narrative of every circumstance that can throw ridicule -upon a mistress once her benefactress, one who descended from her high -rank to claim the privileges of friendship: these are acts which must be -heavily charged upon the Duchess. Age and affliction ought to have -taught the relentless writer a better lesson. The Queen was no more—the -Duchess tottering towards the tomb. Their mutual animosities should not -by the survivor have been dragged forth to gratify revenge. - -Such a breach of confidence, such an outrage upon the sacred name of -friendship, society ought not to pardon. Such an offence, of too -frequent occurrence, where disgust has superseded confidence, renders -affection a snare to be dreaded by the unsophisticated mind, and must -entirely preclude those who hold offices of responsibility from the -necessary relief of confidence; and, were such acts of treachery -excused, monarchs might indeed tremble, before they indulged the amiable -inclinations of minds not corrupted by the intoxicating possession of -power. - -The office which the Duchess held about the person of the Queen rendered -silence an imperative claim of honour; but, with an unrelenting -coarseness, the Duchess laid bare the very privacies of the closet, the -foibles, the vacillations, the manœuvres, the weaknesses, the -peculiarities of her sovereign. No self-justification could be worth -such a price—revenge upon the memory of one silent in the grave. - -As a wife and as a mother, the Duchess stands not pre-eminently high. -She was born for the public, and to the public she was devoted. Her -sentiments of patriotism, however commendable, would have been well -exchanged for duty to her husband, and patient affection for her -children. Her gross partiality to some of her grandchildren, in -preference to others, revealed the source of her misfortunes as a -mother. Wherever such a noxious fungus as injustice grows within the -domestic sphere, peace and affection take their leave. Hence those -divisions which the possession of a large fortune in the hands of a -family entails upon the junior branches, among whom there is not the -foundation of a happy confidence. The precise sources of those -irritating bickerings does not appear in the published correspondence -relating to the domestic concerns of the Duke and Duchess of -Marlborough; but it is too probable that the miserable dissensions -between his wife and daughters, which embittered the Duke’s life, -originated in jealousies on pecuniary matters. - -In what is commonly termed purity of morals, the character of the -Duchess of Marlborough has descended to posterity without a stain. -Whatever direction the calumnies of the day may have taken in that -respect, their influence was ephemeral. No historian of respectability -has dared to attach a blemish to the purity of her lofty deportment. She -esteemed the probity, and she was powerfully influenced by the sterling -sense, of Lord Godolphin; but her attachment was in no degree greater -than that of the Lord Treasurer’s affectionate friend, her husband. No -similar aspersion with respect to any other individual appears in the -lampoons of the day. In a moral sense, in so far as it comprises the -purity of a woman’s conduct, the Duchess is therefore unimpeached. She -was in that respect worthy of being the wife of the great hero who -worshipped her image in absence, with the romantic devotion of love, -unabated even by indifference. But when we speak of female excellence, -to that one all-important ingredient must be added others, without which -a mother, a wife, and a friend, cannot be said to fulfil her vocation. -Sweetness, forbearance, humanity, must grace that deportment, in the -absence of which virtue extorts with difficulty her need of praise. The -lofty temper which could scarcely be restrained in the presence of the -staid and decorous Queen Mary, expanded into acts of fury, when time and -unlimited dominion over her sovereign and her husband had soured that -impetuous spirit into arrogance. - -In reviewing the long life whose annals we have written, it is not easy -to point out the benefits which the Duchess conferred upon society. -Endowed with natural abilities of a very uncommon order; with a person -so remarkably beautiful, that it would have bestowed a species of -distinction upon a female in a humble station; possessing a most -vigorous constitution, which seemed destined to wear out, with -impatience, her heirs and her enemies; raised to rank, her coffers -overflowing with wealth; she appeared marked out by destiny to effect -some signal good for a country in whose concerns she took an active -part. What distress might she not, with her enormous wealth, have -relieved; what indigent genius might she not have brought forth to -light; what aids to learning by endowments might she not have bestowed; -what colleges might she not have assisted; what asylums for the -miserable might she not have provided! Of these laudable undertakings, -of intentions so beneficent, we find, compared with her enormous means, -but few instances. There are some laudable endowments, some impulses of -benevolence recorded, which make one hope that there may have been more, -unseen, unknown. But a truly amiable mind would not have been solely -occupied by what she deemed her claims and her wrongs; it would, when -the fervour of the noon-day was over, have delighted in those kind acts -which cheer the evening of life. To the last she was grasping, -accumulating, arranging. To the world, in its worst sense, she gave up -the powers of a mind destined for higher things. The immense -accumulation of her wealth spoke volumes against the extension of her -charity. To each of her heirs, Charles Duke of Marlborough, and to his -brother, Lord John Spencer, she bequeathed a property of thirty thousand -a year, besides bequests to others, particularly enumerated in her -singular will.[411] - -But taking into account all the errors that she committed, and the good -acts which she omitted, Sarah Duchess of Marlborough had still some -noble qualities to command respect. Her hatred of falsehood stands -foremost in bold relief among these attributes. Supposing that the great -world of those days resembled, in its leading features, the luxurious -and fashionable portion of the community in these, her sincerity was a -virtue of rare occurrence. Her motives, her very foibles, were laid bare -for the inspection of her associates. Her unadorned and accurate account -of all those affairs in which the busy portion of her life was passed, -was never attacked for untruth. She resolutely exposed all that she -hated and despised; but she was equally averse to duplicity in her own -personal conduct, and resentful towards it in others. Her plain dealing -with the Queen, even her loss of temper and occasional insolence, rise -high in estimation when contrasted with the vile duplicity of Mrs. -Masham, and the servility and intriguing meanness of Harley. That she -was not able to cope with such enemies as these, is to her credit. With -her indignation at the stratagems by which she was secretly undermined, -we must cordially sympathise. There was something high-minded in her -endeavours to prevent the Duke from ever taking office again; and in the -last conditions to her will, that those who so largely benefited by it -should forfeit their share if they ever took office under a monarch whom -she disliked, and a ministry whom she despised. Her virtues, like her -faults, were of the hardy order. There was nothing amiable in the -Duchess’s composition, to present her good qualities in fair keeping, or -to render her an object for affectionate veneration in her old age. Her -sincerity was ever too busy in unveiling the faults of others: it was -unaccompanied by charity. Her resentments ended only with her existence. - -The Duchess of Marlborough was interred in the sumptuous monument at -Blenheim, in the chapel, in the same vault which contained the remains -of the Duke, after they were removed thither from Westminster Abbey. - -In the Duchess’s will, which occupied eight skins of parchment, she -ordered that her funeral should be strictly private, and with no more -expense than decency required, and that mourning should only be given to -those servants who should attend at her funeral. - -She appointed Hugh Earl of Marchmont, and Beversham Filmer, Esq., her -executors, to whose charge she left in trust her almost countless -manors, parsonages, rectories, advowsons, lands, tenements, and -hereditaments, in no less than eleven counties. - -By a proviso in her will, she rendered it void, as far as he was -concerned, if ever her grandson Lord John Spencer should become bound or -surety for any person, or should accept from any King or Queen, of these -realms, any office or employment, civil or military, except the -rangership of the Great or Little Park at Windsor. She left ample -bequests to many of her servants, not forgetting twenty pounds a year to -each of her chairmen. One of the most remarkable items of her codicil -was the sum of ten thousand pounds to William Pitt, Esq., afterwards -Earl of Chatham, for the noble defence he had made in support of the -laws of England, and to prevent the ruin of his country. But the sum of -twenty thousand pounds to Philip Earl of Chesterfield, accompanied by -the bequest of her best and largest diamond ring, appears sadly -disproportioned to the small sums which she bequeathed to near -relations. Those who are desirous of further particulars can satisfy -their curiosity by referring to the Appendix. The Duchess was said to -have left, besides her numerous legacies, property to the amount of -sixty thousand pounds per annum to be divided amongst her two grandsons, -Charles Duke of Marlborough, and his brother Lord John Spencer. It is -remarkable that one clause in her will prohibits the marriage of any of -her grandsons under the age of twenty-one, on penalty of losing the -annuity bequeathed to them, and of having half of the proposed sum -transferred to their wives. - -In closing this narrative of a long life—this estimate of a remarkable -person, it must be observed that many allowances are to be made for the -errors and failings displayed by the individual whose character has been -described. Her youth witnessed an age of self-indulgence, and of moral -degradation: the period of her maturer years was marked by civil strife, -and by the anarchy of faction. A perilous course of prosperity attended -the middle period of her career. Disappointment, dissensions, calumny, -misfortune, and neglect, commenced with her decline, and accompanied her -slow decay, to the last moment of her existence. Those who hopelessly -covet wealth, honour, and celebrity, may read the life of Sarah Duchess -of Marlborough with profit, and rise from the perusal, resigned to fate. - - - - - APPENDIX. - - - _The following letter is taken from the Coxe Manuscripts, vol. xv. p. - 123. It is referred to by the Duchess, in her Account of her Conduct._ - - - THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO THE QUEEN. - -I have said something in answer to the letters I had the honour to -receive last from your Majesty in one of these very long papers, and -there remains nothing to observe more, but that your Majesty seems very -much determined to have no more correspondence with me than as I am the -Duke of Marlborough’s wife, and your groom of the stole. I assure your -Majesty I will obey that command, and never so much as presume, as long -as I live, to name my cousin Abigail, if you will be pleased to write me -word in a very short letter that you have read this history, which is as -short as I could make it, and that you continue still of the same -opinion you were as to all your unjust usage of me. You will know all I -have writ is exactly the truth, and I must desire that you will be -pleased to do this before you receive the holy sacrament; and my reason -for it is this: everybody considers that as the most serious and -important thing they have to do in the world; and in order to prepare -themselves for it in such a manner as the greatness of the mistery -requires, they are directed to take a strict account of their lives, and -to be sorry for any wrong thing they have done, and to resolve never -more to do the same; and I know your Majesty on that occasion always -observes the great rule of examining yourselfe, and, justly considering -what a sacred work you are going about, constantly makes use of that -opportunity to search and try your wayes, and take a solemn view of your -actions. Now, upon the head of examination which I find in “The Whole -Duty of Man,” I observe there are these that follow Neglecting lovingly -to admonish a friend; forsaking his friendship for a slight or no cause; -unthankfulness to those that admonish, or being angry with them for it; -neglecting to make what satisfaction we can for any injuries we have -done him. And we are directed, in the same place, to read this catalogue -carefully over, upon days of humiliation, and to ask our own hearts as -we go along, Am I guilty or not of this? And when we are guilty, to -confesse it, particularly to repent of it, and to make what amends we -can, as the nature of the fault requires. - -This rule is what I would beg your Majesty would be pleased to observe -upon the four articles which I have now written exactly as they stand in -that book, and upon the first to ask your own heart seriously whether -you have ever told me of any fault but that of believing, as all the -world does, that you have an intimacy with Mrs. Masham; and whether -those shocking things you complain I have said, were any more than -desiring you to love me better than her, and not to take away your -confidence from me after more than twenty-five years’ service and -professions of friendship. - -Upon the second, whether you have not forsaken my friendship upon slight -or no faults? - -Upon the third, whether you have ever taken well any kind advice that I -have endeavoured to give you, but have been always angry at me for it? - -Upon the fourth, whether you have attempted ever, by the least kind -word, to make me any amends upon all the just representations I have -made of the wrong done me in the business of my office, in Mrs. Masham’s -using my lodgings, and all that you have said upon those occasions? - -I beg your Majesty will be pleased to weigh these things attentively, -not only with reference to friendship, but also to morality and -religion; and that if ever I have said anything to you, of the truth of -which you are not convinced, you will be so favourable to let me know -what it is. - -In the warning before the Communion, in the Common Prayer Book, we are -enjoined so to search and examine our consciences that we may come holy -and cleane to such a heavenly feast, and to reconcile ourselves, and -make restitution to those that we have done the least injury to; and if -we have given any reall cause of complaint, to acknowledge our fault, in -order to regain the friendship of those we have used ill, and not to -think it a disparagement to speak first, since ’tis no more than our -duty; and I have read somewhere, that God himself does not forgive the -injurys that are done to us, till we are satisfied and intercede for -those that did them, who are afterwards obliged to make suitable returns -by all offices of Christian love and friendship. The Scripture itself -does explain this matter in these words:—First be reconciled to thy -brother, and then offer thy gift. The meaning can be no other but that -if at any time we are going to receive, and remember that we have used -any one ill, we should first endeavour to make satisfaction, it being -but reasonable and just that whoever has done wrong should confess and -acknowledge it, and to the utmost of his power make reparation for it. -To this purpose I beg leave to transcribe a passage in Dr. Taylor. “He -that comes to the holy sacrament must, before his coming, so repent of -his injurys as to make actual restitution, for it is not fit for him to -receive benefit from Christ’s death, as long as by him his brother feels -an injury; there is no repentance unless the penitent, as much as he -can, makes that to be undone which is done amiss, and therefore because -the action can never be undone, at least undoe the mischiefe. Doe -justice and judgement. That’s repentance. Put thy neighbour, if thou -canst, into the same state of good from whence by thy fault hee was -removed,—at least, make that it should be no worse. Doe no new injury, -and cut off the old. Restore him to his fame and his lost advantages.” - -And I beg leave to quote one other passage of the same author. - -“Examine thyself in the particulars of thy relation, especially where -thou governest and takest accounts of others, and exactest their faults, -and art not so obnoxious to them as they are to thee; for princes and -masters think more things are lawful to them towards their inferiors -than indeed there are.” - -Upon the whole, it appears by the authority of this great man, that the -first steps towards a reconcilliation should always be made by those -that did the injury, and not by those that received it. On the first -part, there should be shown some effects of repentance—some returns of -kindness and friendship, and then it will be the duty of the other to -remember it no more. This is as far as any one can go in this matter by -the rules of justice. If anything I have written now, or at any time, -appears to bee too familiar from a subject to a sovereign, I hope your -Majesty will think it less wrong, if you consider its coming from Mrs. -Freeman to Mrs. Morley, which names you so long obliged me to use that -it is not easy for me now quite to forget them; and I still hope I have -a better character in the world than Mrs. Masham tells your Majesty of -inveteracy and malice, as I mentioned before, for I do not comprehend -that one can be properly said to have malice or inveteracy for a viper, -because one endeavours to hinder it from doing mischief: for I think -when I know there is such an one, and do not acquaint you with it, I -should fail in my duty, and I can’t see how that can be called being -malicious. But since you make so ill returns for all the information -which I have given you, which I know to be right from the dear-bought -experience of that ungrateful woman, I will never mention her more, -after I have had what I desire at the beginning of this, that you will -say upon your word and honour that you have read these papers in the -manner desired, and that you are not changed, though I wish you may not -repent it and alter your opinion of this wretch, as you did of Mr. -Harley, when it is too late: and I do assure your Majesty that I have -not the least design of recovering what you say is so impossible (your -kindness) in the letter of the twenty-sixth of October. What I have -endeavoured is only with a view of your own safety and honour, and the -preservation of the whole. I have but one request more, and then I have -done for ever, upon the conditions I have written, and that is, that you -will not burn my narratives, but lay them somewhere that you may see -them a second time; because I know, sometime or other, before you die, -if you are not now, you will be sensible how much you have wronged both -yourself and me; but after you have read these papers and performed what -Dr. Taylor recommends, whatever you write I will obey. - -If I continue in your service, I will come to you noe oftener than just -the business of my office requires, nor never speake to you one single -word of anything else. And if I retire with the Duke of Marlborough, you -may yet be surer that I will come no oftner than other subjects in that -circumstance do. - - - 1711. - - - _A statement written by the Duchess of Marlborough relating to her - removal from St. James’s; respecting which many curious anecdotes had - been circulated._ Taken from the Coxe MS., vol. xv. p. 143. - -I have given some account in a former paper of what the Queen said, when -she desired Lord Marlborough’s things should be removed out of St. -James’s, and of the way I took to make Mrs. Cowper tell the Queen that -her lodgings were part of my grant, that, for her own case as well as -mine, she might get for herself some rooms in St. James’s, before they -were all disposed of; and I think I have observed in that paper, how -much civiller her Majesty’s answer was upon this occasion than in the -message the Duke of Shrewsbury reported to Mr. Craggs, when she ordered -my lodgings to be cleared; which confirms me in my opinion that his -grace did not speak to the Queen in the manner that he ought to have -done, though he pretended to think her Majesty was in the wrong. But the -answer I received from Mrs. Cowper was to this effect. - -After I had desired her to acquaint the Queen with what I have said, she -came to me the next morning and told me that her Majesty having been -spoken to, was pleased to say, I would have you tell the Duchess of -Marlborough, that I do know your lodgings are in her grant, _and I will -be sure to give you some others before I go out of town_. It did not -appear by this that the Queen was angry, as indeed she had no reason to -be; and to show that Mrs. Cowper had no thoughts of that, she sent me a -very civil message, a day or two before she went to Windsor, that she -had often put the Queen in mind of giving her some lodgings, and her -Majesty had always said she would do it, one day after the other, but it -was to be hoped she would name them the next day, being the last she -should stay in town, and as soon as it was done, I should certainly have -notice. - -After this had passed, which I thought very void of offence, the next -thing I heard was that my Lord Oxford having offered her Majesty a -warrant to sign for money to go on with the building at Woodstock, she -had refused it, saying, that she would not build a house for one that -had pulled down and gutted hers, and taken away even the slabs out of -the chymneys, and had lately sent a message by Mrs. Cowper, which she -had reason to be angry at. This last is as I have mentioned it just now; -and the other ground of offence is still more extraordinary, because her -Majesty went herself through all those that were my rooms just before -she left the town, and must therefore see with her own eyes that there -was no one chymney piece, floor, or wainscote touched, but every thing -in good order, and every room mended, and nothing removed but glasses -and brass locks of my own bringing, and which I never heard that anybody -left for those that came after them; nay, the very pannels over the -doors and chimneys were whole, the pictures having been only hung upon -the wainscote; yet her Majesty suffered my Lord Oxford to send Lord -Marlborough word that he would endeavour to serve him, and get over this -great offence as soon as he could, but that at present the Queen was -inexorable. This he said to a friend of Lord Marlborough’s, desiring he -might be acquainted with it, making at the same time great professions, -and wishing to hear of some good success, which he said would set all -things right, and declaring how well he could live with Lord -Marlborough; and when the person he spoke to represented the diffycultys -Lord Marlborough was under, and complained of the libels that came out -against him, My Lord Oxford replyed, that he must not mind them, and -that he himself was called _rogue_ every day in print, and knew who did -it, yet he should live fairly with that person; adding, that the -Examiner himself had been upon him lately; which was so very ridiculous -that it made me laugh, since it is certain that all the lyes in that -paper are set about by himself. Now, whether he invented these last for -the pleasure of telling them, and hurting me with Lord Marlborough, or -for a pretence to get off from his promise of finishing Blenheim, I -can’t tell; but this I am sure of, that before he found out that excuse, -he had lost the best season for the work, for this answer was given in -the beginning of July, and if they had actually ordered money then, the -winter would have come on so fast before stones and materials could have -been got, that little or nothing could have been done. But as it was -natural for me to endeavour to clear myself, when I know such a message -had been sent to Lord Marlborough, and such lyes were made about myself, -I made my servant write in my name to the housekeeper of St. James’s, -and desire he would examine all the lodgings, and send word in what -condition he found them, that I might know whether my servants had -observed my orders, which were to remove nothing but what is usual, and -called by all people furniture. Upon this the housekeeper took with him -the servant I sent with the letter, and after he had gone through all -the lodgings, he sent me word that they were in very good order, and -that the report of my having taken anything out of them that did not -belong to me, was false and scandalous. Having received this account, I -desired Mr. Craggs, who had been with me at St. Albans, where I then -was, to go to the Lord Chamberlain, who was the proper officer to apply -to upon such occasions, and to give him an account of what had been -reported, and to desire that he would send somebody to examine the -lodgings; but my Lord Chamberlain not being in town, Mr. Craggs went of -himself to my Lord Oxford, and told him what misrepresentations had been -made to her Majesty about the lodgings; to which he answered, that there -could be none, since the Queen had viewed them herself, and had been -much displeased at the taking away the brass locks, which she believed -_were mostly her own_; but as to the message by Mrs. Cowper, he knew -nothing of it, only he understood it was something that had disturbed -her Majesty. Mr. Craggs told him there was no message from me to the -Queen, but only a discourse, that was very natural with Mrs. Cowper, and -necessary to her getting some lodgings for herself, since those she had -were in my grant, as her Majesty was pleased to say she knew they were; -who made a very civil answer upon the subject of my conversation with -Mrs. Cowper. It was some comfort, however, to find that all the outcry -that was made about the chymnies and getting the lodgings were let fall, -and ended only in her Majesty being angry at my taking away brass locks, -which she only _thought were mostly her own_, and therefore was in some -doubt whether they were not mine; but when so much disagreeable noise -had been made about this matter, I thought it would be right to have the -housekeeper of St. James’s sign a paper to the same effect with what he -had said; upon which I sent him such a one, which I desired him to sign -for the justification of my servants, who had orders to remove nothing -but furniture, and if he had any difficulty in doing it, I desired him -to ask my Lord Chamberlain if he might not sign to what was the truth; -and if it were not true, then he had but to show where my servants had -done wrong, and I would punish them for it. The housekeeper at first was -unwilling to give anything under his hand, notwithstanding what he had -declared by word of mouth, and the message he had sent to me; but he was -afraid, I suppose, of being put out of his place: yet upon my sending -him the paper I mentioned just now, which was all true, and nothing but -the fact, he signed it at last, though it was directly contrary to what -my Lord of Oxford reported from the Queen, in which he said, _there -could not possibly be any mistake, since her Majesty had been in the -lodgings herself_; but, in the conclusion, his lordship was so good as -to say he was sorry anything should happen to put the Queen out of -humour, and the best way was to say no more of it, for he had prevailed -with her Majesty to sign a warrant for twenty thousand pounds to go on -with Blenheim, and he would order weekly payments forthwith; but the -same person that writ me this account, added, that his lordship’s airs -and grimaces upon this occasion were hard to represent, and that it was -pretty difficult to make anything out of what he had said, or to guess -what was the occasion of this quick turn, and so far I agree with him; -yet if I had not taken so much pains to expose his lyes.... - -Soon after my Lord Oxford had made a merit to my Lord Marlborough of his -having prevailed with the Queen to continue money for the building, I -received a letter from abroad, dated the 26th of July, by which it -appeared there was no hope that the French would give such a peace as -even so bold a villain as my Lord Oxford durst accept, and therefore -’tis probable he ordered this money to delude Lord Marlborough, so far -as to make him continue in the service for the sake of having that great -work finished, since his lordship would have too many difficulties, when -no peace could be had, to fall out quite with Lord Marlborough; and -besides that, a whole year is lost. - -I hear the money is to be paid in such little sums, if at all, that it -looks like a design rather to keep still some hold of Lord Marlborough, -rather than to do him any good; and for what concerns the Queen’s part -in this whole affair, there is nothing surer than that Lord Oxford and -Mrs. Masham did first persuade her Majesty to stop the warrant, and -afterwards instruct her in those fine reasons which she gave for doing -it, for she has no invention of her own, as I have often told you; but -then she makes up that defect by thorough industry, in getting by heart -any lesson that is given to her; and though she would not therefore, of -herself, have told all these storys about gutting of the lodgings, and -pulling down the marble chymney pieces, nor ever intended to have stopt -any money upon it, yet as soon as she heard Mrs. Masham say it was wrong -in me to presume to remove anything, she would not fail to echo to that, -and to say that truly she believed the brass locks were _mostly her -own_; and if by chance she had heard my Lord Oxford or Mrs. Masham say -that I had taken anything else out of the lodgings which she knew to be -still there, she would be so far from doing me justice, that she would -have said anything they would have put into her mouth, to make that -falsehood be believed; nor is it in her nature to make any reparation -for injuries of this kind, nor to be sorry or ashamed for what she has -done wrong at any time, but, on the contrary, to hate the persons she -has prejudiced, especially if they endeavour to vindicate themselves, -and by that, to put her in the wrong, or those that govern her. - - -_Character of Queen Anne written by the Duchess, and inscribed on the -statue at Blenheim._[412] - -Queen Anne had a person very graceful and majestic; she was religious -without affectation, and always meant well. Though she believed that -King James had followed such counsells as endangered the religion and -laws of her country, it was a great affliction to her to be forced to -act against him even for security. Her journey to Nottingham was never -concerted, but occasioned by the sudden great apprehensions she was -under when the King returned from Salisbury. - -That she was free from ambition, appeared from her easiness in letting -King William be placed before her in the succession; which she thought -more for her honour than to dispute who should wear first that crown -that was taken from her father. That she was free from pride, appeared -from her never insisting upon any one circumstance of grandeur more than -when her family was established by King Charles the Second; though after -the Revolution she was presumptive heir to the crown, and after the -death of her sister was in the place of a Prince of Wales. Upon her -accession to the throne the Civil List was not encreased, although that -revenue, from accidents, and from avoiding too rigorous exactions, (as -the Lord Treasurer Godolphin often said,) did not, one year with -another, produce more than five hundred thousand pounds. Yet she paid -many pensions granted in former reigns, which have since been thrown -upon the publick. When a war was found necessary to secure Europe from -the power of France, she contributed, for the ease of the people, in one -year, out of her own revenue, a hundred thousand pounds. She gave -likewise the first fruits to augment the provisions of the poorer -clergy. For her own privy purse she allowed but twenty thousand pounds a -year, (till a very few years before she died, when it was encreased to -six and twenty thousand pounds,) which is much to her honour, because -that is subject to no account. She was as frugal in another office, -(which was likewise her private concern,) that of the robes, for in nine -years she spent only thirty-two thousand and fifty pounds, including the -coronation expense, as appears by the records in the Exchequer, where -the accounts were passed. - -She had never any expense of ostentation or vanity; but never refused -charity when there was the least reason for it. She always paid the -greatest respect imaginable to King William and Queen Mary. She was -extremely well bred, and treated her chief ladies and servants as if -they had been her equals. To all who approached her, her behaviour, -decent and dignified, shewed condescension without art or manners, and -maintained subordination without servility. - - SARAH MARLBOROUGH. - - 1738. - - - _Papers relating to Blenheim._ - _Description of the Buildings and Gardens at Woodstock._ - - - LORD GODOLPHIN TO THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.[413] - - Woodstock, Sept. 25th, 1706. - -Before I left Windsor, I writ to you so fully for two or three posts -together, that I shall have nothing left to say from hence but of what -belongs to this place. - -The garden is already very fine, and in perfect shape; the turf all -laid, and the first coat of the gravel; the greens high and thriving, -and the hedges pretty well grown. - -The building is so far advanced, that one may see perfectly how it will -be when it is done. The side where you intend to live is the most -forward part. My Lady Marlborough is extremely prying into, and has -really not only found a great many errors, but very well mended such of -them as could not stay for your decision. I am apt to think she has made -Mr. Vanburgh a little[414] ... but you will find both ease and comfort -from it. - -Lady Harriot and Wiligo have walked all about the garden this evening. I -hope, when we do so again, we shall have the happiness of your company. - - - SIR J. VANBURGH TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[415] - - (_Extract._) - - June 11, 1709. - -Madam,—As to the main concern of the whole, madam, which is as to the -expense of all, I will, as I writ your grace yesterday, prepare in a -very little time a paper to lay before you that I hope will give you a -great deal of ease upon that subject, notwithstanding there is -134,000_l._ already paid. But I beg leave to set your grace right in one -thing which I find you are misinformed in. The estimate given in was -between ninety and a hundred thousand, and it was only for the house and -two office wings next the great court; for the back courts, garden -walls, court walls, bridges, gardens, plantations, and avenues were not -in it, which I suppose nobody could imagine would come to less than as -much more. Then there happened one great disappointment; the freestone -in the park quarry not proving good, which, if it had been, would have -saved fifty per cent. in that article. And besides this, the house was -(since the estimate) resolved to be raised about six feet higher in the -principal parts of it. And yet, after all, I don’t question but to see -your grace satisfied at last; for though the expense should something -exceed my hopes, I am most fully assured it will fall vastly short of -the least of your fears. And I believe, when the whole is done, both the -Queen, yourself, and everybody (except your personal enemys) will -easilyer forgive me laying out fifty thousand pounds too much, than if I -had laid out a hundred thousand too little. - - I am your Grace’s most humble - And obedient servant, - J. VANBURGH. - - - SIR JOHN VANBURGH TO THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.[416] - - Oxford, Oct. 3, 1710. - -My Lord Duke,—By last post I gave your grace an account from Blenheim, -in what condition the building was, how near a close of this year’s -work, and how happy it was that after being carried up in so very dry a -season, it was like to be covered before any wet fell upon it to soak -the walls. My intention was to stay there till I saw it effectually -done; the great arch of the bridge likewise compleated and safe covered, -and the centers struck from under it. But this morning Joynes and Robart -told me they had read a letter from the Duchess of Marlborough to put a -stop at once to all sorts of work till your grace came over, not -suffering one man to be employed a day longer. I told them there was -nothing more now to do in effect but just what was necessary towards -covering and securing the work, which would be done in a week or ten -days, and that there was so absolute a necessity for it, that to leave -off without it would expose the whole summer’s work to unspeakable -mischiefs: that there was likewise another reason not to discharge all -the people thus at one stroke together, which was, that though the -principal workmen that work by the great, such as masons, carpenters, -&c., would perhaps have regard to the promises made them that they -should lose nothing, and so not be disorderly; yet the labourers, -carters, and other country people, who used to be regularly paid, but -were now in arrear, finding themselves disbanded in so surprising a -manner without a farthing, would certainly conclude their money lost, -and finding themselves distressed by what they owed to the people where -they lodged, &c., and numbers of them having their familys and homes at -great distances in other countys, ’twas very much to be feared such a -general meeting might happen, that the building might feel the effects -of it; which I told them I the more apprehended, knowing there were -people not far off who would be glad to put ’em upon it; and that they -themselves, as well I, had for some days past observed ’em grown very -insolent, and in appearance kept from meeting, only by the assurances we -gave them from one day to another that money was coming. But all I had -to say was cut short by Mr. Joynes’s shewing me a postscript my Lady -Duchess had added to her letter, forbidding any regard to whatever I -might say or do. - -Your grace won’t blame me if, ashamed to continue there any longer on -such a foot, as well as seeing it was not in my power to do your grace -any farther service, I immediately came away. - -I send this letter from hence, not to lose a post, that your grace may -have as early information as I can give you of this matter; _which I am -little otherwise concerned at, than as I fear it must give you some -uneasyness_. I shall be very glad to hear no mischief does happen on -this method of proceeding; but ’tis certain so small a sum as six or -seven hundred pounds to have paid off the poor labourers, &c., would -have prevented it; and I had prevailed with the undertakers not to give -over till the whole work was covered safe. - -I shall, notwithstanding all this cruel usage from the Duchess of -Marlborough, receive, and with pleasure obey, any commands your grace -may please to lay upon me; being with the defference I ever was, - - Your Grace’s most humble - And most obedient servant, - J. VANBURGH. - - - SIR JOHN VANBURGH TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[417] - - _Extract from a Letter, dated Blenheim, July 27, 1716._ - - * * * * * - -And I hope you will, in almost every article of the estimate for -finishing this great design, find the expense less than is there -allowed. Even that frightful bridge will, I believe, at last be kindlier -looked upon, if it be found (instead of twelve thousand pounds more) not -to cost above three; and I will venture my whole prophetic skill in this -one point, that if I lived to see that extravagant project compleat, I -shall have the satisfaction to see your grace fonder of it than of any -part whatsoever of the house, gardens, or park. I don’t speak of the -magnificence of it, but of the agreeableness, which I do assure you, -madam, has had the first place in my thoughts and contrivance about it: -which I have said little of hitherto, because I know it won’t be -understood till ’tis seen, and then everybody will say, _’twas the best -money laid out in the whole design. And if at last_ there is a house -found in that bridge, _your grace will go and live in it_. - - - _A Letter respecting a Suit in Chancery, which one Gardiner had - commenced against her._ - - (This probably relates to the expenses of Blenheim. Supplied by W. - Upcott, Esq.) - - Marlborough-house, the 9th of July, 1712. - -Sir,—I thank you for your letter which I received yesterday, which makes -me have a mind to tell you what perhaps you may not have heard -concerning Gardiner, who has acted, I think, with as much folly as -knavery. You must have heard, I don’t doubt, that he began his suit in -chancery with a charge upon me of nothing but lies, which I am told the -law allows of, as a thing of custom. I was always pressing to have it -come to a conclusion; but a thousand tricks were plaid for him to delay -it; and at last, when they could hold out no longer, he begun a suit at -common law. The court would not suffer a suit for the same in two -courts, so he was obliged to make his election which court he would -choose, and he chose the Exchequer. I thank you for your civil offer of -being ready to do me any service; but my cause is so good and so -strongly attested, that I have no occasion for anything more than I have -already. But I have a curiosity to know whether Gardiner did subpœna you -to be a witness, because I have never yet known him tell the truth in -anything, and what he has lately done seems very extraordinary. In the -first place, he made an excuse to my lawyer for having delayed the -hearing, but said it should come on in Mic. Term, and yet, immediately -after that, surprised him with a notice of trial for to-morrow. Some of -my witnesses being nearly eighty miles off, it was a very difficult -thing for me to bring them on so short a notice. However, I did compass -it; but while the master was striking a special jury, Gardiner -countermanded it. However the master finished it; and Gardiner’s reason -for countermanding it was, because he said his witnesses had -disappointed him. I don’t care what they do. And what he will do next I -cannot guess; but I think he must pay considerable costs, not having -given notice time enough to prevent my witnesses coming to London; for -he countermanded the trial last Monday night, which was to be on Friday -following, and Dr. Farrar came to London on Tuesday. - - I am, Sir, - Your humble servant, - S. MARLBOROUGH. - - - _Correspondence relative to the destruction of the old Manor of - Woodstocke._ - - - SIR JOHN VANBURGH TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[418] - - Thursday, June the 9th, 1709. - -Madam,—Whilst I was last at Blenheim I set men on to take down the ruins -at the old manor, as was directed; but bid them take down the chapell -last, because I was preparing a little picture of what had been in -general proposed to be done with the descent from the avenue to the -bridge, and the rest of the ground on that side, which I feared was not -perfectly understood by any explanation I had been able to make of it by -words. This picture is now done, and if your grace will give me leave, I -should be glad to wait upon you with it, either this morning, or some -time before the post goes out to-night; for if you should be of opinion -to suspend any part of what they are now executing, I doubt the order -would be too late if deffered till Saturday. - -I hope your grace will not be angry with me for giving you this one (and -last) moment’s trouble more about this unlucky thing, since I have no -design by it to press or teaze you with a word; but only in silent paint -to lay before and explain to you what I fear I have not done by other -means, and so resign it to your owne judgment and determination, without -your ever hearing one word more about it from - - Your Grace’s - Most obedient humble servant, - J. VANBURGH. - - - SIR J. VANBURGH TO LORD GODOLPHIN.[419] - - (_Extract._) - -Your Lordship will, I hope, pardon me if I take this occasion to mention -one word of the old mannor. - -I have heard your Lordship has been told there has been three thousand -pounds laid out upon it; but upon examining into that account, I find I -was not mistaken in what I believed the charge had been, which does not -yet amount to eleven hundred pounds, nor did there want above two more -to complete all that was intended to be done, and the planting and -levelling included. And I believe it will be found that this was by one -thousand pounds the cheapest way that could be thought on to manage that -hill, so as not to be a fault in the approach. I am very doubtful -whether your Lordship (or indeed my Lord Duke) has yet rightly taken the -design of forming that side of the valley, where several irregular -things are to have such a regard to one another, that I much fear the -effects of so quick a sentence as has happened to pass upon the remains -of the manour. I have, however, taken a good deal of it down, but before -’tis gone too far, I will desire your Lordship will give yourself the -trouble of looking upon a picture I have made of it, which will at one -view explain the whole design, much better than a thousand words. I’ll -wait upon your Lordship with it as soon as I come to town, and hope in -the mean time it won’t be possible that the pains I take in this -particular, should be thought to proceed only from a desire of procuring -myself an agreeable lodging. I do assure your Lordship that I have acted -in this whole business upon a much more generous principle, and am much -discouraged to find I can be suspected of so poor a contrivance for so -worthless a thing; but I hope the close of this work will set me right -in the opinion of those that have been pleased to employ me in it. - - I am - Your Lordship’s, &c. - J. VANBURGH. - - - (Endorsed thus by the Duchess.) - - Nov. 9. - -All that Sir J. V. says in this letter is false. The manour house had -cost me three thousand pounds, and was ordered to be pulled down, and -the materialls made use of for things that were necessary to be done. -The picture he sent to prevent this was false. My Lord Treasurer went to -Blenheim to see the trick: ... and it is now ordered to be pulled down. - - - _Reasons offered for preserving some part of the Old Manor, by Sir J. - Vanburgh._[420] - - June 11, 1709. - -There is, perhaps, no one thing which the most polite part of manhood -have more universally agreed in, than the vallue they have ever set upon -the remains of distant times: nor amongst the several kinds of those -antiquitys are there any so much regarded as those of buildings; some -for their magnificence and curious workmanship; and others as they move -more lovely and pleasing reflections (than history without their aid can -do) on the persons who have inherited them, on the remarkable things -which have been transacted in them, or the extraordinary occasions of -erecting them. _As I believe it cannot be doubted, but if travellers -many ages hence shall be shewn the very house in which so great a man -dwelt, as they will then read the Duke of Marlborough in story; and that -they shall be told it was not only his favourite habitation, but was -erected for him by the bounty of the Queen, and with the approbation of -the people, as a monument of the greatest services and honours that any -subject had ever done his country—I believe, though they may not find -art enough in the builder to make them admire the beauty of the fabric, -they will find wonder enough in the story to make ’em pleased with the -sight of it._ - -I hope I may be forgiven if I make some slight application of what I say -of Blenheim, to the small remain of Woodstock manor. It can’t indeed be -said it was erected upon so noble or so justifiable an occasion; but it -was raised by one of the bravest and most warlike of the English kings; -and though it has not been famed as a monument of his arms, _it has been -tenderly regarded as the scene of his affections_. Nor amongst the -multitude of _people who came daily to view what is raising to the -memory of the great Battle of Blenheim, are there any that do not run -eagerly to see what ancient remains may be found of Rosamond’s Bower. It -may, perhaps, be worth some little refection upon what may be said, if -the very footsteps of it are no more to be found._ - -But if the historical argument stands in need of assistance, there is -still much to be said upon other considerations. - -That part of the park which is seen from the north front of the new -building has little variety of objects, nor does the country beyond it -afford any of value. It therefore stands in need of all the helps that -can be given, which are only five; buildings and plantations—those -indeed, rightly disposed, will supply all the wants of nature in that -place: and the most agreeable disposition is to mix them, which this old -manour _gives so happy an occasion_ for, that were the enclosure filled -with trees, principally fine yews and hollys, promiscuously set to grow -up in a wild thicket, so that all the building left, which is only the -habitable part, and the chapel, might appear in two risings amongst -them, it would make one of the most agreeable objects that the best of -landskip painters cou’d invent. And if, on the contrary, this building -is taken away, there remains nothing but an irregular, ragged, and -ungovernable hill, the deformitys of which are not to be cured but at a -vast expense; _and that at last will only remove an ill object, and not -produce a good one_. Whereas, to finish the present wall for the -inclosures, to form the slopes and make the plantation, (which is all -that is now wanting to complete the design,) wou’d not cost two hundred -pounds. - -I take the liberty to offer this paper, with a picture to explain what I -endeavour to describe, that if the present direction for destroying the -building shou’d hereafter happen to be repented of, I may not be blamed -for neglecting to set in the truest light I cou’d, a thing that seemed -to me at least so very materiall. - - J. VANBURGH. - - - _Remarks upon this Letter by the Duchess._ - -The enclosed paper[421] was wrote by Mr. Robard, who lived always at -Blenheim, and, as I have said, was taken into Mr. Bolter’s place. He -wrote these directions from the Duke of Marlborough’s own mouth. And -when he was gone, for fear of any contest, I suppose, in which he must -disobey my Lord Marlborough’s orders, or disoblige Sir John Vanburgh, he -brought it to me, and I wrote what you see under the instructions, which -anybody would have thought might have put an end to all manner of -expense upon that place. The occasion of the Duke of Marlborough’s -giving these orders was as follows:— - -Sir John Vanburgh having a great desire to employ his fancy in fitting -up this extraordinary place, had laid out above two thousand pounds upon -it, which may yet be seen in the books of accounts; and without being at -all seen in the house, excepting in one article for the lead, which I -believe is a good deal more than a thousand pounds of the money. Mr. -Traverse, who calls himself the superintendent and chief of Blenheim -works, let this thing go on (I will not call it a whim because there has -been such a struggle about it) till it was a habitation; and then he -came and complained of the great expense of it to me, desiring me to -stop it; and Sir John having another house in the park where he lived, -and where he had made some expense, Mr. Traverse was unwilling to think -he designed this other for his own use, and very prudently wrote to my -Lord Marlborough into Flanders, to ask for this old manour for himself, -he having no place for the dispatch of his great business in carrying on -these great works. The Duke of Marlborough made no answer, but when he -came into England, I remember upon a representation that these ruins -must come down, because they were not in themselves a very agreeable -sight, but they happened to stand very near the middle of the front of -this very fine castle of Blenheim, and is in the way of the prospect -down the great avenue, for which a bridge of so vast an expense is made -to go into. Upon this the Duke of Marlborough went down to Blenheim, and -there was a great consultation held, whether these ruins should stand or -fall; and I remember the late Earl of Godolphin said, that could no more -be a dispute than whether a man that had a great wen upon his cheek -would not have it cut off if he could. And upon hearing all people’s -opinion, and the Duke of Marlborough seeing the thing himself, he gave -this paper of directions, which prevented anything more from being done -upon the ruins; but it had not the intended effect of pulling them down. - -In August third, 1716, when I was at the Bath, Mr. Robart wrote to me -that Sir John Vanburgh had ordered some walling about the old manour to -plant some fruit-trees upon, which he would pay for. This, I suppose, -was to save himself, because of the orders he had to do nothing there; -and by the advance of what is done at that place, I believe it must have -been begun a good while before I had this notice of it. I am sure it was -upon the nineteenth of June, which was never mentioned by Sir John -either to Lord Marlborough or to me. I thought this a little odd, but I -had so great a mind to comply with Sir John, (if it were possible,) that -I took no notice of this, nor wrote any to Mr. Robart concerning it, -only that I was sure the Duke of Marlborough would never let Sir John -pay for anything in his park, and I heard no more of it till I came -here; only that I observed that several officers and people that had -come by Blenheim to the Bath, when they talked of this place, and of the -workmen that were employed about it, could hardly keep from laughing. - -Since Sir John went to London, the Duke of Marlborough and I, taking the -air, went to see these works, where there is a wall begun; I wish my -park or some of my gardens had such another; the first having none but -what you may kick down with your foot, nor the fine garden but what must -be pulled down again, being done with a stone that the undertakers must -know would not hold; but it was not their business to finish, but rather -to intail work. If one may judge of the expense of this place by the -manner of doing things at Blenheim, there is a foundation laid for a -good round sum. There is a wall to be carried round a great piece of -ground, and a good length of it done, with a walk ten feet broad that is -to go on the outside of this wall on the garden side, which must have -another wall to enclose it. There are to be fruit-trees set, but the -earth not being proper for that, it is to be laid I know not how many -feet deep with stone, and then as much earth brought to be put upon -that, to secure good fruit. And there is one great hole that I saw in -the park that must be filled up again, already occasioned by making -mortar for that part of the wall that is already done. What I have -wrote, I saw myself, and upon my commending the fancy of it, the man was -so pleased at my liking it, who lives in the house, and has some care of -the works about the causeway, that he told me with great pleasure the -whole design. - - -_Correspondence between the Duchess of Marlborough and Sir John Vanburgh -on the subject of a Marriage between the Lady Harriot Godolphin and the - Duke of Newcastle._ - - - SIR JOHN VANBURGH TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[422] - - January 16, 1714. - -Madam,—Sir Samuel Garth mentioning something yesterday of Lord Clare -with relation to my Lady Harriot, made me reflect that your grace might -possibly think (by my never saying anything to you of that matter since -you did me the honour of hinting it to me) I had either forgot or -neglected it: but I have done neither. ’Tis true, that partly by company -being in the way, and partly by his illness when I was most with him, I -have not yet had an opportunity of sounding him to the purpose. What I -have yet done, therefore, has only been this,—I have brought into -discourse the characters of several women, that I might have a natural -occasion to bring in hers, which I have then dwelt a little upon, and, -in the best manner I could, distinguished her from the others. This I -have taken three or four occasions to do, without the least appearance -of having any view in it, thinking the rightest thing I could do would -be to possess him with a good impression of her before I hinted at -anything more. I can give your grace no further accounts of the effect -of it, than that he seemed to allow of the merit I gave her; though I -must own he once expressed it with something joined which I did not -like, though it showed he was convinced of those fine qualifications I -had mentioned; and that was a sort of wish (expressed in a very gentle -manner) that her bodily perfections had been up to those I described of -her mind and understanding. I said to that, that though I did not -believe she would ever have a beautiful face, I could plainly see it -would prove a very agreeable one, which I thought was infinitely more -valuable; especially since I saw one thing in her, which would -contribute much to the making it so, which was, that we call a good -countenance, than which I ever thought no one expression in a face was -more engaging. I said further, that her shape and figure in general -would be perfectly well; and that I would pawne all my skill, (which had -used to be a good deal employed in these kind of observations,) that in -two years time no woman in town would be better liked. He did not in the -least contradict what I said, but allowed I might very probably be -right. - -Your grace may depend upon me that I will neglect nothing I can do in -this thing, for I am truly and sincerely of opinion that if I coud be an -instrument in bringing it about, I shoud do my Lord Clare as great a -piece of service as my Lady Harriott. - - I am your Grace’s - Most humble and obedient Servant, - J. VANBURGH. - - - SIR J. VANBURGH TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[423] - - Whitehall, Nov. 6, 1716. - -Madam,—When I came to town from Blenheim, I received a letter from the -Duke of Newcastle out of Sussex, that he wou’d in a day or two be at -Claremont, and wanted very much to talk with me. But I, having engaged -to Mr. Walpole to follow him into Norfolk, cou’d not stay to see him -then. At my return from Mr. Walpole’s, which was Friday last, I found -another letter from the Duke, that he was at Claremont, and deferred -returning back to Sussex till he could see me; so I went down to him -yesterday. - -He told me the business he had with me was to know if anything more had -passed on the subject he writ to me at Scarborough, relating to Lady H., -and what discourse might have happened with your grace upon it at -Blenheim. I told him you had not mentioned one word of it to me. He said -that was mighty strange, for you had talked with Mr. Walters upon it at -the Bath, and writ to him since, in such a manner as had put him upon -endeavouring to bring about a direct negotiation. _He then told me, that -before he cou’d come to a resolution of embarking in any treaty, he had -waited for an opportunity of discoursing with me_ once more upon the -qualities and conditions of Lady H. For that, as I knew his whole views -in marriage, and that he had hopes of some other satisfaction in it than -many people troubled themselves about, I might judge what a terrible -disappointment he should be under, if he found himself tied for life to -a woman not capable of being a usefull and faithful friend, as well as -an agreeable companion. That what I had often said to him of Lady H., in -that respect, had left a strong impression with him; but it being of so -high a consequence to him not to be deceived in this great point, on -which the happiness of his life wou’d turn, he had desired to discourse -with me again upon it, in the most serious manner, being of opinion (as -he was pleased to say) that I cou’d give him a righter character of her -than any other friend or acquaintance he had in the world: and that he -was fully persuaded, that whatever good wishes I might have for her, or -regards to my Lord Marlborough and his family, I wou’d be content with -doing her justice, without exceeding in her character, so as to lead him -into an opinion now, which, by a disappointment hereafter, (should he -marry her) wou’d make him the unhappiest man in the world. - -He then desired to know, in particular, what account I might have heard -of her behaviour at the Bath; and what new observations I might myself -have made of her at Blenheim; both as to her person, behaviour, sense, -temper, and many other very new inquiries. It wou’d be too long to -repeat to your grace what my answers were to him. It will be sufficient -to acquaint you, that I think I have left him a disposition to prefer -her to all other women. - -When he had done with me on these personal considerations, he called Mr. -Walters (who was there) into the room, and acquainted him with what had -passed with your grace through me at several times, and then spoke his -sentiments as to fortune, which Mr. Walters intends to give your grace -an account of; so I need not. - -And now, madam, your grace must give me leave to end my letter by -telling you, that if the Duke of Newcastle was surprised to find you had -said so much to Mr. Walters at the Bath, and nothing to me on the -subject at Blenheim, I was no less surprised than he, after the honour -you had done me of opening your first thoughts of it to me, and giving -me leave to make several steps about it to his friends and relations, as -well as to take such a part with himself as you seemed to think might -probably the most contribute towards disposing his inclinations the way -you wished them. - -I don’t say this, madam, to court being further employed in this matter, -for matchmaking is a damned trade, and I never was fond of meddling with -other people’s affairs. But as in this, on your own motion, and at your -own desire, I had taken a good deal of very hearty pains to serve you, -and I think with a view of good success, I cannot but wonder (_though -not be sorry_) you should not think it right to continue your commands -upon - - Your obedient, humble Servant, - J. VANBURGH. - - - LETTER FROM THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO SIR JOHN VANBURGH.[424] - - Woodstock, Thursday night. - -I am sure nobody can be more surprised at anything than I am with your -letter of the sixth of this month, in which you seem to think I have -proceeded in a very extraordinary manner concerning Mr. Walter. I will -therefore go back to the very beginning of the negotiation, that you or -anybody else may be able to judge whether there is any ground for the -reproaches which you have made me. - -Some time after I came from Antwerp, having a great mind to dispose of -Lady Hariot well, and knowing that you had opportunity of speaking to -the Duke of Newcastle, I desired your help in that affair, if you found -he would marry, and were persuaded, as I was, that he could not find a -young woman in all respects that was more likely to make him happy than -she is, for I never imagined that you would endeavour to serve me upon -any other account. This you engaged in very readily, and I thought -myself much obliged to you for it, and I shall always be thankful for -any good offices upon that subject, though ’tis no more than justice and -speaking the truth. After the conversation, you may remember that I -allowed you to say that you knew my mind in this concern, and you said -you would speak to Mr. Walpole; but we agreed that you should manage it -in such a manner as not to give the Duke of Newcastle the uneasiness of -sending any message to me, in case he did not like the proposal. Some -time after this, you came to me, and gave me an account of your -conversation with Mr. Walpole, in which there were some civil things -said as to the alliance, but at the same time you said, what they -expected for her fortune was forty thousand pounds; and from that time -till you wrote to me from Scarborough, I never spoke to anybody of this -matter, nor so much as thought of it; for I concluded that the Duke of -Newcastle or his friends thought that great demand the most effectual -way of putting an end to my proposal, since Lady Harriot is not a -citizen nor a monster, and I never heard of such a fortune in any other -case, unless now and then, when it happens that there is but one child. -After this I had the most considerable offer made me that is in this -country, and, considering all things, I believe, as to wealth, as great -a match as the Duke of Newcastle, and in a very valuable family; but to -show that money is not the chief point, this match was refused, where I -could have had my own conditions; and I had not then the least -imagination that I should hear any more of what I am now writing of. But -when I was at the Bath, you gave me an account of a letter you had from -the Duke of Newcastle, which lookt as if he wanted to hear something -more from you concerning Lady Harriot: and upon that I writ to you, that -I was not so much at liberty as I had been to give her a portion when I -first proposed this match, having many other children that were so -unhappy as to want my help; but that I still liked it so well that there -was nobody who I could imagine had power with the Duke of Marlborough -that I would not endeavour to make them use it in compassing this thing, -which I thought so very agreeable; and some other reasons I gave, which -ought to induce my Lord Marlborough to come into it; which you approved -of entirely in your answer to this letter, and concluded by giving me an -expectation of hearing from you when you had heard from the Duke of -Newcastle, or rather when you had seen him, for you repeated something -of his having desired you to cast an eye upon some of his houses in your -way home; but from that time till your letter of the sixth of November, -though you were here some days, you never writ a word of this matter, -nor mentioned it to me. And I think it was your turn to speak, after -what I had written; and not at all reasonable for you to find fault with -what passed between Mr. Walter and me at the Bath. I never saw him in my -life before I was there; but upon his giving me an occasion, it was not -very unnatural, and not unreasonable, I think, in me to own how much I -wished an alliance with the Duke of Newcastle. He professed a great -value and respect for him, seemed to think this match, as you did, as -good for him as for anybody else; and since you left Blenheim, he writes -to me upon that subject, but not what you mention of letting me know the -Duke of Newcastle’s sentiments as to the fortune; but he said something -civil from the Duke of Newcastle, and deferred the rest till we met in -town, thinking it was better to speak than to write of such matters. - -This letter I answered in my usual way, professing all the satisfaction -imaginable in the thing, if it should happen to succeed, (which, by the -way, I have not thought a great while that it will). I have now given a -very true relation of this whole proceeding, and if any third person -will say that I have done anything wrong to you in it, I shall be very -sorry for it, and very ready to ask your pardon; but at present I have -the ease and satisfaction to believe that there is no sort of cause for -your complaint against - - Your most humble Servant, - S. MARLBOROUGH. - -I have two letters of yours concerning the building of this place, which -I will not trouble you to answer after so long a letter as this; -besides, after the tryal which I made when you were last here, ’tis -plain that we can never agree upon that matter. - -Upon the receiving that very insolent letter upon the eighth of the same -month, ’tis easy to imagine that I wished to have had the civility I -expressed in this letter back again, and was very sorry I had fouled my -fingers in writing to such a fellow. - - -_Explanatory Letter from Sir John Vanburgh, concerning his disagreement - with the Duchess of Marlborough._[425] - -The Duke of Marlborough being pleased, some time since, to let me know -by the Duke of Newcastle he took notice he had never once seen me since -he came from Blenheim, I was surprised to find he was not acquainted -with the cause why I had not continued to wait on him as I used to do; -and I writ him a letter upon it, in which I did not trouble him with -particulars, but said I wou’d beg the favour of your lordship, when you -came to town, to speak to him on that occasion. - -And since your lordship gave me leave to take this liberty with you, I -will make the trouble as little as I can, both to yourself and to the -Duke of Marlborough, by as short an account as possible of what has -happened since his grace’s return to England, in two things I have had -the honour to be employed in for his service, purely by his own and my -Lady Duchess’s commands, without my applying or seeking for either, or -ever having made any advantage by them. I mean, _the building of -Blenheim_, and _the match with the Duke of Newcastle_. - -As to the former, as soon as the Duke of Marlborough arrived in England, -I received his commands to attend him at Blenheim, where he was pleased -to tell me, that when the government took care _to discharge him_ from -the claim of the workmen for the debt in the Queen’s time, he intended -to finish the building at his own expense. And, accordingly, from that -time forwards he was pleased to give me his orders as occasion required, -in things preparatory to it; till, at last, the affair of the debt being -adjusted with the Treasury, and _owned to be the Queen’s_, he gave me -directions to set people actually to work, after having considered an -estimate he ordered me to prepare of the charge, to finish the house, -offices, bridges, and out-walls of courts and gardens, which amounted to -fifty-four thousand pounds. - -I spared for no pains or industry to lower the prices of materials and -workmanship, on the reasonablest considerations of _sure and ready_ -payment, which before (as experiments show) was _precarious_. I made no -step without the Duke’s knowledge while he was well; _and I made none -without the Duchess’s after he fell ill_; and was so far, I thought, -from being in her ill opinion, that even the last time I waited on her -and my Lord Duke at Blenheim, (which was last autumn,) she showed no -sort of _dissatisfaction on anything I had done_, and was pleased to -express herself to Mr. Hawkesmore (who saw her after I had taken my -leave) _in the most favourable and obliging manner of me_; and to enjoin -him to _repeat to me_ what she had said to him. - -Thus I left the Duke and Duchess at Blenheim. But a small time after I -arrived in London, Brigadier Richards showed me a packet he had received -from her grace, in which (without any new matter having happened) she -had given herself the trouble, in twenty or thirty sides of paper, to -draw up a charge against me, beginning from the time this building was -first ordered by the Queen, and concluding upon the whole, that I had -brought the Duke of Marlborough into this unhappy difficulty, either to -leave the thing unfinished, and by consequence useless to him and his -posterity; or, by finishing it, to distress his fortune, and deprive his -grandchildren of the provision he inclined to make for them. - -To this heavy charge I know I need trouble the Duke of Marlborough with -nothing more in my own justification than to beg he will just please to -recollect that I never did anything without _his approbation_; and that -I never had the misfortune to be once found fault with by him in my -life. - -As to the Duchess, I took the liberty, in a letter I sent to her on this -occasion, to say, “that finding she was weary of my service, (unless my -Lord Duke recovered enough to take things again into his own direction,) -I would do _as I saw she desired_, never trouble her more.” - -I thought after this I could not wait on the Duke when she was present; -and that if I endeavoured to do it at any other time, she would not like -it. There has been no other reason whatever why I have not continued to -pay my constant duty to him. - -The other service I have mentioned, which her grace thought proper to -lay her commands upon me, was the doing what might be in my power -towards inclining the Duke of Newcastle to prefer my Lady Harriot -Godolphin to all other women who were likely to be offered him. Her -grace was pleased to tell me, on the breaking of this matter, I was the -first body she had ever mentioned it to; and she gave me commission to -open it to the Duke of Newcastle’s relations, as well as to himself, -which I accordingly did, and gave her from time to time an account of -what passed, and how the disposition moved towards what she so much -desired. - -Her grace did not seem _inclined to think_ of giving _such a fortune_ as -should be any great inducement to the _Duke’s prefering this match_ to -others which might probably be offered; but she laid a very great and -very just stress on the extraordinary qualifications and personal merits -of my Lady Harriot, which she was pleased to say she thought might be -more in my power to possess him rightly of than any other body she knew; -and did not doubt but I would have that regard for the Duke of -Marlborough, _and the advantage of his family_, as to take this part -upon me, and spare no pains to make it successful. - -This thing her grace desired I should do was so much with my own -inclination, and what I was to say of the personal character of my Lady -Harriot so truly my own opinion of her, that I had no sort of difficulty -in resolving to use all the credit I had with the Duke of Newcastle to -prefer the match to all others. - -His grace received the first intimation with all the regard to the -alliance that was due to it, and the hopes of having a posterity -descended from the Duke of Marlborough had an extraordinary weight with -him; but I found he had thoughts about marriage not very usual with men -of great quality and fortune, especially so young as he was. He had made -more observations on the bad education of the ladies of the court and -towne than any one would have expected, and owned he shou’d think of -marriage with much more pleasure than he did, if he cou’d find a woman -(fit for him to marry) that had such a turn of understanding, temper, -and behaviour, as might make her a usefull friend, as well as an -agreeable companion; but of such a one he seemed almost to despair. - -I was very glad to find him in this sentiment; agreed entirely with him -in it, and upon that foundation endeavoured, for two years together, to -convince him the Lady Harriot Godolphin was, happily, the very sort of -woman he so much desired, and thought so difficult to find. - -The latter end of last summer he writ to me to Scarborough, to tell me -he was come to an absolute resolution of marrying somewhere before the -winter was over, and desired to know if I had anything new to say to him -about my Lady Harriot. - -Upon this I writ to the Duchess of Marlborough at the Bath, and several -letters past between her grace and me on this fresh occasion, in which -she thought fit to express her extreme satisfaction to find a thing -revived she so much desired, though for some time past had retained but -little hopes of. - -Not long after, I waited on her and the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim; -but not happening to be _any time alone with her_, and being to see the -Duke of Newcastle before there you’d be anything new to speak upon, I -did not wonder she said nothing to me of that matter. But when I came to -London, I was much surprised to find the cause of it. - -I met with two letters from the Duke of Newcastle, expressing a great -earnestness to see me. I went immediately to him to Claremont, where he -told me his impatience to see me had been to know what I might have -further to say of Lady Harriot; what I had learnt of her conduct and -behaviour at the Bath; what I might have observed of her at Blenheim; -and, in short, that if I knew anything that could reasonably abate of -the extraordinary impression I had given him of her, I would have that -regard to the greatest concern of his life not to hide it from him, for -that if he marryed her, his happiness would be entirely determined by -her answering, or not answering, the character he had received of her -from me, and upon which he solely depended. That he had therefore -forborne making any step (though prest to it by Mr. Walters) that cou’d -any way engage him, till he saw me again, and once for all received a -confirmation of the character, so agreeable to his wishes, I had given -him of my Lady Harriot. - -As I had nothing to say to him on this occasion but what was still to -her advantage, he came _to an absolute resolution of treating_: and -asking me what the Duchess of Marlborough had said to me at Blenheim -about the fortune, the letter at Scarborough having (amongst other -things) been on that subject, I told him she had not said a word to me -of it, or anything relating to the matter in general. - -The Duke seemed much surprised to hear me say so, and told me he took it -for granted she had let me know what lately passed through Mr. Walters, -whom she had accidentally fallen acquainted with at the Bath, and -engaged him in this affair. That he had even pressed him to enter into a -direct treaty, but that he had made pretences to decline it, being -undetermined till he had once more had an opportunity of talking the -whole matter over with me, especially on what related personally to my -Lady Harriot, having resolved to make that his decisive point. - -I told him it was very extraordinary the Duchess of Marlborough, after -two years employing me, and finding I had succeeded in the very point -she judged me fittest to serve her in, and by which point almost alone -she hoped to bring this match about, shou’d drop me in so very short a -manner; and that I cou’d conceive no cause good or bad for it, unless -she was going to dismiss me from meddling any more in the building, and -so judged it not proper to employ me any further in this other part of -her service. - -The Duke seemed inclined to hope I might be mistaken in that thought, -and so desired I wou’d continue to act in this concern with her; upon -which (calling Mr. Walters into the room) he was pleased to relate all -that had passed through me from the beginning, with the Duchess of -Marlborough, Lord Townsend, Mr. Walpole, &c., and ended in desiring we -wou’d both join in bringing the matter to a conclusion, he being now -determined to treat; and that we wou’d both write to the Duchess of -Marlborough the next post. - -I writ accordingly, and in the close of my letter mentioned the surprise -I had been in to find she had not been pleased to continue her commands -to me in a thing I had taken so much pains to serve her, and not without -success. - -But when I came to London, I heard of the charge her grace had thought -fit to send up against me about the building, and so found I had not -been mistaken in what I had told the Duke of Newcastle I apprehended -might be the cause of her dropping me in so very easy a manner in what -related to him. - - - _The following Remarks were added by the Duchess to the above Letter._ - -Upon this false assertion of what the Duchess of Marlborough had said to -Mr. Hawkesmoor, she met him at Mr. Richards’ at Black Heath, and told -him what Sir John Vanburgh had said as to the Duchess of Marlborough’s -message by him, upon which Mr. Hawkesmoor protested, as he had never -seen her after Sir John went away, he never said any such thing to him; -and that it had given him a great deal of trouble very often to see the -unreasonable proceedings of Sir John. - -What he repeats out of his own letter is quite different, as may be -seen. - -My Lady Harriot Godolphin had twenty-two thousand pounds to her portion, -procured by the Duchess of Marlborough. - - - FROM THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.[426] - - Friday. - -Sir,—I beg pardon for troubling you with this, but I am in a very odd -distress; too much ready money. I have now 105,000_l._ dead, and shall -have fifty more next weeke: if you can imploy it any way, it will be a -very great favor to me. - -I hope you will forgive my reminding you of Mr. Sewell’s memorial for a -majority; if any vouchers are wanting for his character, I believe Mr. -Selwin will give him a very good one. I am, with great truth, - - Your most obliged - And obedient servant, - MARLBOROUGH. - - - LORD CONINGSBY TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[427] - - December 11, 1712. - -The shortest day of the year dates this letter, and to me the most -melancholy, because it is the first after I heard of thirty-nine’s -(Marlborough’s) leaving the kingdom (under God) he had saved. I who have -not a friend left, now he is gone, (yourself excepted,) have this only -comfort, that I am sure his greatest enemies on the side of the water -where he now is, will be much kinder to him than many of the pretended -friends he left behind him have been for some years past. They have, -however, their full reward, and being true Irishmen, by cutting the -bough they stood upon themselves, have fallen from the very top of the -tree, and have broke their own necks by their senseless politics of -breaking his power, who alone had acquired by his merits interest enough -to support theirs. Though I know more of this than any man now alive, -yet I shall never make any other use of it but to beg that you, during -his absence, will never trust to anything they, or any one they can -influence, shall either say or do, since, to my certain knowledge, they -were ever enemies to you and yours; and so thirty-nine (Marlborough) -knows I have told him long; and if I had been so happy to have been -credited, others had travelled, and not dear thirty-nine (Marlborough.) -But past time is not to be recalled. God preserve him wherever he goes. - -It is time to return my thanks for the paper I have received about the -chaplain, and to assure you that now thirty-nine (Marlborough) is gone, -there is nobody behind him in this kingdom more heartily concerned for -the happiness of you and yours, &c. - - - LORD CONINGSBY TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[428] - _Letters of Lord Coningsby to the Duchess of Marlborough, after the - death of the Duke._ (Referred to in vol. ii.) - - Hampton Court in Hertfordshire, Oct. 14, 1720. - -I received with the greatest pleasure imaginable your grace’s commands, -as I shall ever do to the last moment of my life, and obey them with a -readiness as becomes one to do, who, with all his faults, has not those -fashionable ones of fickleness and insincerity, which the dear Duchess -of Marlborough has, to my knowledge, so often met with in this false -world. - -I am sure your grace is overjoyed to hear the Duke is so well, and the -more so because it is truth beyond contradiction, that as we owe our -liberties to him, so he, under God, owes his life to the care and -tenderness of the best of wives. - -My dearest girls order me to present their duty to your grace, and their -services to Lady Dy and Lady Hun. - -There is not upon the face of the earth anybody that is more than I am, -and ever will be, &c. - - - LORD CONINGSBY TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[429] - -Did I not know myself to be so entirely innocent as never to have had a -single thought, that if you had known it would have given the least -umbrage of offence to your grace, the usage I have lately met with would -be to me insupportable; but since that is my case, I can, though with -great uneasiness, bear it now, as I did once before, till the happy time -will come when your grace will be convinced that I am incapable of being -otherwise than your faithful servant; and that those who have persuaded -you to believe the contrary are as great enemies to your grace, as I -know they are to the true interest of their country. In the mean time, I -beseech Heaven to let me learn by degrees to be without that agreeable -conversation which I valued more than I can express. I can say no more, -but conclude with assuring your grace, that, use me as you will, it is -not in your power to make me otherwise than your grace’s, &c. - - Saturday, Six o’Clock. - - - _Letters between Mr. Scrope and the Duchess of Marlborough._[430] - - - MR. SCROPE TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH. - - April 20, 1744. - -Madam,—The letter which I had the honour to receive from your grace the -26th, hath given me great uneasiness, for I have always made it a rule -not to intermeddle in family affairs, even of my relations and friends, -and I should not have been so unguarded in what I presumed to mention to -your grace about the Duke of Marlborough, had you not been pleased to -hint what you inclined to do for his son, and had not my veneration for -the name of a Duke of Marlborough, and my passion and desire to have it -always flourish, and make a figure in the world, provoked me to say what -I did, which I hope your grace will pardon. I know nothing of the Duke’s -affairs, nor how or with whom he is entangled; but sincerely wish he had -your prudence and discretion, for the sake of himself and family. I -herewith return to your grace the book you pleased to send me, which I -read with an aching heart. - - I am, with the utmost duty and esteem, - Madam, - Your Grace’s most dutiful - and obedient humble servant, - J. SCROPE. - - - THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO MR. SCROPE.[431] - - June 4, 1744. - -Sir,—Your repeated civilities to me persuade me that you would willingly -employ yourself to do me any reasonable service; and what I am now going -to trouble you about is, I think, not unreasonable; at least I am told -it is very customary, and almost a matter of form. I mean the -prolongation of my term in Marlborough-house. I had it prolonged, I -think, in the late king’s time, and am now desirous to prolong it again -for as long as I can, paying what is usual upon such occasions. Some -years ago I asked Sir Robert Walpole to add the term of years that was -lapsed to my lease of Marlborough-house, and likewise to do another -little favour for me: he answered me, that as to Marlborough-house he -would do it, because he could do it himself, but that for the other he -must ask it of the king. Somebody then advised me to wait a little, and -they would be both done together; and I was fool enough to take that -advice. However, I have still half the term left. The house was entirely -built at the Duke of Marlborough’s expense, and moreover, I paid two -thousand pounds to Sir Richard Beeling, for a pretended claim which he -had upon part of the ground, so that I think I have as just a claim as -any tenant of the crown can have. The late Lord Treasurer, I remember, -granted a new term in a house upon crown land to Lord Sussex, an avowed -enemy to the government, even when his first term was within a month of -expiring, saying, it would be too great a hardship to take it from him. -I am sure I am no enemy to the government, though possibly no friend to -some in the administration, and therefore I hope that what would have -been thought too hard in that case, will not be thought reasonable in -mine. I am always sincere, and, for aught I know, some people may think -me too much so; and I confess to you freely, that I take this -opportunity, while Mr. Pelham is at the head of the Treasury, he being -the only person in that station who, I believe, would oblige me, or to -whom I would be obliged; and this I find, by the answer I have already -mentioned from Sir Robert Walpole, is entirely in his power to do. He -has been very civil to me, and the only one in employment who has been -so for many years. I therefore desire you to mention this affair to him -at a proper time, of which you are the best judge, and I put off my -application till now, in order to be as little troublesome to him as -possible, knowing that he has much less business in the summer. Your -assistance and friendship in this matter will very much oblige - - Your most faithful, - and most obliged, - humble servant, - S. MARLBOROUGH. - - - THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO MR. SCROPE.[432] - - June 7, 1744. - -I am very much obliged to you for your application in my behalf to Mr. -Pelham, and to him for his civil answer to it. I desire you will make -him my compliments and acknowledgements. I would much rather have the -lease under the exchequer seal only, and not trouble his Majesty about -this affair; but as you desire me to ask advice of counsell thereupon, I -have accordingly sent it to my lawyer for his opinion. I shall employ -one Mr. Keys, who is used to matters of this kind, to attend this affair -through the offices, and he will draw up my memorial in the proper form -to be presented to the treasury. Mr. Keys informs me that the lease of -the Duke of Richmond’s and the Montague’s houses in Whitehall, and many -others, are only under the exchequer seal; so that I make no doubt but -that the opinion of my counsell will agree with my own inclinations. As -I cannot express, as I would do, my acknowledgements to you for the -kindness you have shewn, and the trouble you have taken in this affair, -I will only say that I am, with great esteem and truth, - - Your most faithful, - humble servant, - S. MARLBOROUGH. - - - THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO MR. SCROPE.[433] - - September 11, 1744. - -Sir,—’Tis a great while since I have troubled you with either thanks for -the favours you have done me, or with any solicitations. The first, I -believe, you don’t care for; and I know, you have so much business that -I was willing to delay, as long as I could, giving Mr. Pelham or you any -trouble concerning Windsor parke. You know the whole history about that -matter, how Queen Caroline took the allowance away, which her Majesty -sent me word she would do, if I would not let her buy something out of -my estate at Wimbledon, which was settled upon my family. This I -refused, but in a very respectful manner. After this she kept her word, -and took the allowance away, which I have in my grant. And I am sure you -know that I never gave any occasion for it by bringing any bills for -what I did there on my own account. I certainly have as much right to -this allowance in my grant as I have to any part of my own estate, and -there is no person that has a grant from the crown, that has not an -allowance more or less for taking care of his Majesty’s deer. I desire -no favour, but only strict justice; and you will oblige me extremely if -you will direct me in what manner I should proceed. I lost a -considerable arrear, which his present Majesty did not think right to -pay me, when King George the First died; saying, he was not obliged to -pay his father’s debts. And since the Queen stopped the allowance, I -have been at great expenses. I have a right by my grant to five hundred -pounds a year for making hay, buying it when the year is bad, paying all -tradesmen’s bills, keeping horses to carry the hay about to several -lodges, and paying five keepers’ wages at fifteen pounds a year each, -and some gate-keepers, mole-catchers, and other expenses that I cannot -think of. But as kings’ parkes are not to be kept so low as private -peoples’, because they call themselves king’s servants, I really believe -that I am out of pocket upon this account, besides the disadvantage of -paying ready money every year for what is done, and having only long -arrears to sollicit for it. But I think, by your advice, this matter may -be settled better, and that the treasury will either comply with my -grant, or allow me to send the bills of what is paid upon his Majesty’s -account. If they think anybody will do it honester or cheaper than I -have done, I shall be very glad to quit the allowance, and I should have -quitted the parke long ago, if I had not laid out a very great sum in -building in the great parke, and likewise in the little parke, where -John Spencer lives. - -I have another small trouble at this time with Mr. Sandys the cofferer. -The custom has ever been to serve venison for the royal family and the -nobles; and the cofferer sends to know what venison the parks can -furnish. My Lord Sandys, to shew his breeding, made a letter be sent to -ask this question, I believe from some footman. I sent to the keepers to -know what they could furnish without hurting the parke; the number was a -very great one, but I have always chosen to send more by a great many -than any other ranger ever did. However, his lordship was pleased to -sent warrants for two more than the number, which I ordered the keepers -to comply with. Since that, he has given out four warrants more above -the number, which I forbade them to serve. For this year has been so bad -for venison in all parkes but my own at Blenheim, that it has been -seldom good. And Mr. Leg sent one of these warrants from the cofferer, -who gave me a great deal of trouble, by being very impertinent in -drawing warrants himself upon this park, signing only “_Leg_.” He -certainly is a very great coxcomb; but I will say no more of that. The -keepers send me word that it has been so bad a season this year, that I -must buy a great deal of hay for the deer, or they will be starved this -winter;—for though ’tis a great parke, it is full of roads; and there is -nothing beautiful in it but clumps of trees, which, if Mr. Pelham does -not prevent it, will be destroyed by the cheats of the surveyors, which -in a great measure I have prevented for more than forty years. - -Pray forgive me this long trouble, and be assured that you never obliged -anybody in your life that is more sincerely, though I am insignificant, - - Your friend and - humble servant, - S. MARLBOROUGH. - - - THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO MR. SCROPE.[434] - - September 17, 1744. - -Sir,—I give you many thanks for your enquiring after my health to-day. I -am a little better than I was yesterday, but in pain sometimes, and I -have been able to hear some of the letters I told you of read to-day; -and I hope I shall live long enough to assist the historians with all -the information they can want of me; but it is not possible for me to -live to see a history of between thirty and forty years finished. I -shall be contented when I have done what lies in my power. - - * * * * * - -I cannot make up this letter without telling you something I have found -in these papers, in the few I have heard read. My Lord Godolphin was -prodigious careful to save all he could of the money of England, and to -make the allies bear their proportion, according to the advantages they -were to have, not to allow of anything that the parliament did not -appropriate—and there were proper vouchers, and no douceurs. I have not -found yet no more than so many crowns asked upon some occasions; now, -one hears nothing but one hundred and fifty thousand pounds repeated -over and over. That I suppose has been occasioned by the great success -we have had, and that it was reasonable that one commander should have a -great share himself, for his courage in standing all the fire, and for -his wisdom in directing the whole matter. There is one letter of my Lord -Godolphin’s that pleased me much, though of no great consequence, but it -shewed his justice and humanity. There was some money returned from -England, the value of which was more in that country than it was here, -and Lord Godolphin writes to the Duke of Marlborough that the advantage -of that gain should be to England, or given amongst the soldiers, and -that the paymaster should not have it. Contrary to that notion, I have -been told, and I believe it is true, that Mr. Hanbury Williams had a -place made for him, quite unnecessary, with fifteen hundred a year -salary, and that it is lately found out that he has cheated the -government of forty thousand pounds. I am not sure that this last part -is true, but I hope it is, for I am sure there is not a more infamous -man in England than he is in every part of his character. - - - THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO MR. SCROPE.[435] - - September 20, 1744. - -Sir,—Since I have heard from you, I have heard a great many things read -which you seem to think would be of use in the history, and besides what -I have mentioned before, of the great numbers writ in his own hand of my -Lord Godolphin’s to the Duke of Marlborough, I have found a great number -of books of the Duke of Marlborough’s letters, copied by Mr. Cardenoll; -some of them to my Lord Godolphin, treasurer, Mr. St. John, Mr. Harley, -and to a great number of others. My Lord Godolphin’s own letters shew -that he was a very knowing minister in all foreign affairs; though you -never heard, I believe, that he boasted of the great respect that the -Princess abroad had for him, nor did he tell ever any of the lords of -the cabinet counsell that they knew nothing, and that France trembled at -his name. I need not say anything of my Lord Godolphin’s management and -honesty in the treasury, for you know enough of that; but perhaps you do -not know that he was so far from having pensions and grants, that if his -elder brother had not died just before Mr. Harley turned him out, he -must have been buried, as a great man in Plutarch’s Lives was, by the -public or his friends; though he never spent anything himself, excepting -in charity and generosities to any of his friends that happened to be -poor; for he was not so ingenious as some people are in making places -for insignificant people, and quartering them upon the crown; and by -some of the letters I have heard read, I find the demands he consented -should be paid in the war were sometimes so many livres, and I have not -yet come to anything higher than crowns, neither of which amounted to -any very great sum. I believe there are at least twenty great books, of -Mr. Cardenoll’s copying, of the Duke of Marlborough’s letters to the -minister at home, and to the Princes abroad; and, in short, to those in -England that were at all useful to contribute anything to the good of -the common cause. It is impossible to read what I have done lately, -without being in vapours, as you call it; to think how these two men -were discarded after serving so many years, when she was Princess, and -assisting her when she was perfectly ignorant what was to be done in a -higher station. My Lord Treasurer was taken leave of by a letter sent by -a groom. That was because I suppose Mrs. Harley was ashamed to see him -after all the expressions she had made to him, and for all his -disinterested services. When Mr. Freeman was discharged, it was by a -letter also; though he was so remarkable for having always a great deal -of good temper, it put him into such a passion, that he flung the letter -into the fire; but he soon recovered himself enough to write her an -answer, a copy of which I can shew you whenever you care to read it. One -would think that my Lord Sandys had been at the head of the councill -upon these occasions. Mr. Freeman had nothing to do with the management -of the money, but only the war for the security and grandeur of the -Queen and England, and had gained more than twenty sieges and pitched -battles. How this business will end by the great undertaking of C. and -his partner D., I cannot pretend to say, but I could say something in -behalf of Lord ——, if he had not taken the last grant for the pension, -after he had taken all the money out of the treasury. I am sure you -can’t suspect my being partial to him, and he really has some good -qualities that made me love him extremely, as my Lord Marlborough and my -Lord Godolphin did for many years, but I know they both thought he had -not good judgment; and I thought he did not want it so much as to be -persuaded by his friend C. to take the last pension, since his family -was so vastly provided for. I thought he would have chosen rather to be -his own master, and to have contributed what he could to secure his own -great property, by endeavouring to recover our very good laws, and -secure our once happy island. - -I am glad to find I have so much judgment as to trouble you no longer at -this time, but I must beg of you that you will read one paper more, -which I will send as soon as I can; who am - - Your most obliged and troublesome - Humble servant, - S. MARLBOROUGH. - - - MR. SCROPE TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.[436] - - September 21, 1744. - -Madam,—When your grace can spare a quarter of an hour, I should be -extremely obliged to you if you would give me leave to wait on you to -return my humble thanks for the pleasure and honour of your picture and -your other favours, and to acquaint your grace what progress is made in -the commands you were pleased to commit to the care of, - - Madam, - Your grace’s most faithful and most - Obliged humble servant, - J. SCROPE. - - -LETTER ADDRESSED BY THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. - - _Communicated by W. Upcott, Esq._[437] - - Marlborough House, August 25, 1735. - -My Lord,—I was ill in bed (as I frequently am) when I received the -honour of your grace’s letter. I find by it, notwithstanding the many -civil expressions you are pleased to make use of, that I must be forced -to sitt down contented with a refusal, and the Duke of St. Albans is to -be gratified at my expense. Some people, perhaps, may wonder it should -be so, but I have for a long time ceased wondering at anything. - -If I enter any farther into this affair, ’tis not, I assure you, with -the least view that anything I can urge will have an effect; but ’tis -some satisfaction to show that I apprehend myself still in the right, -though I should have the misfortune not to prevail by doing so. There -can be but three considerations to induce the Duke of St. Albans to -insist on this point, which are, that he believes he has a right to it, -or that it will be of use to him, or that it will mortifie me. I think I -have already sufficiently proved that he has not the least glimmering of -right to it. I have beat him, if I may say so, out of his -fortifications, and forced him in his castle to yield up the constable’s -pretensions; and I will now as plainly shew that it can be of no use to -him: and then the third reason alone will subsist, which is, that ’tis -done to mortifie me, against which there is no arguing. All I can say -is, I think I have not deserved it. The Duke lives, as other constables -have done, at the Keep; and, unless he chooses to goe out of his way, -(which for ought I know he may,) I can’t see the least benefit it can be -to him. It is not his road to London, neither is there any road through -the park, and I hope none will ever be made, and for this reason, as I -told you before, nobody but the royal family and ranger were ever -suffered to goe in with their coaches. The Duke of Marlborough gave the -Duke of St. Albans a key to walk in it at his pleasure, but little -imagined to have his civility requited in the manner it was, by having -other keys made from it, the Duke distributing them as he thought fit, -coming into the park with his coach and chaise, and making use of it in -many other respects, just as if he had been the ranger. But your grace -tells me this favour could not well be refused him, and that he is not -to go through the park in right of his office, but by her Majesty’s -leave. I am sorry your grace imagined that this way of turning it -softened the point, because, in my poor apprehension, it seems extremely -to aggravate the injury. To give the Duke leave, contrary to my earnest -representations and entreaties, (who am ranger of the park,) when he -owns he has no right to it, seems so manifest a partiality in his -favour, that it cannot be but exceeding mortifying to me. If his grace’s -merit be not very great, it is natural to conclude my demerit must be -so; and as I am not conscious of having deserved this disregard, I am -the more concerned to find it. I have formerly been in courts as your -grace is now, and I there observed that the ministerial policy always -loaded people with favours in proportion to their abilities, and the use -they could be of in return to them. Perhaps I may be mistaken, but I ask -your grace, Is the Duke of St. Albans a man of that high importance as -to be worth making a precedent for—which may be attended with ill -consequences, and in process of time bring difficultys on the crown -itself? How can others who live at Windsor be refused this favour, which -has been granted to the Duke of St. Albans, simply as such? His -predecessors in his office, I may say without wronging him, have some of -them been as distinguished as himself. Prince Rupert, son to the Queen -of Bohemia, and nephew to King Charles, was one of them that frequently -resided at the Keep, and never desired nor ever enjoyed this privilege; -the Dukes of Northumberland and Kent, Lord Cobham, Lord Carlisle, and -others, never thought of asking it; but though his predecessors never -had it, will his successors for the future ever be content without it? -No, though they should not be of equal merit with his grace. So that, in -truth my lord, you see I am not pleading on my own account singly, but -I’m endeavouring to support the true interest of the crown, and making a -stand against an innovation that will hereafter bring difficultys upon -them. But I cannot flatter myself that anything I can say will gett this -leave revoked; therefore I should be glad to have it explain’d how far, -my lord, it is to extend. Is the Duke to have the privilege of giving -keys, as he actually has done, to whomsoever he pleases? Are they all to -come into the park with their coaches and chaises? This will greatly -prejudice the park, but may be done if her Majesty pleases to order it. -But as to his putting cattle, and authorising his gamekeepers to kill -game for his own use and the Dowager Duchess of St. Albans, this I take -to be an encroachment on my grant, and that I presume is not intended, -nor can I be content to suffer it. I am sensible I have made this letter -too tedious; but ’tis extremely natural to say all one can in defence of -what one takes to be one’s right. This, my lord, must plead my excuse, -and engage you to pardon - - Your Grace’s most obedient - And most humble servant, - S. MARLBOROUGH. - - -To the Duke of Newcastle. - - - _An Abstract of the last Will and Testament of Sarah Duchess of - Marlborough._ - -This is the last Will and Testament of me, Sarah Duchess Dowager of -Marlborough, made this eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord, -1744. - -My will and desire is that I may be buried at Blenheim, near the body of -my dear husband John late Duke of Marlborough; and if I die before his -body is removed thither, I desire Francis Earl of Godolphin to direct -the same to be removed to Blenheim aforesaid, as was always intended. - -And I direct that my funeral may be made private, and with no more -expense than decency requires; and that no mourning be given to any one, -except such of my servants as shall attend at my funeral. - -As concerning my estate, I give the same in manner and form following. - -I devise to Hugh Earl of Marchmont, and Beversham Filmer, of Lincoln’s -Inn, Esq., their heirs, &c., all my manors, parsonage, rectory, -advowsons, messuages, lands, tenements, tithes, and hereditaments in the -several counties of Surrey, Oxford, Buckingham, and Huntingdon, which -were lately the several estates of Richard Holditch, Francis Hawes, -William Astell, and Robert Knight, Esqrs. - -And also my manors, &c., in the said county of Buckingham, which were -late the estate of Richard Hampden, Esq., deceased. - -And also my manor, rectory, &c., in the county of Buckingham, which were -some time the estate of Sir John Wittewronge, Bart., deceased. - -And also my manor, &c. in the same county, formerly the estate of Sir -Thomas Tyrrel, Bart., deceased. - -And also my manor, &c. in the county of Bedford, which were late the -estate of Sir John Meres, Knight. - -And also my freehold and copyhold messuages, &c. in the county of -Bedford, which were late the estate of Bromsall Throckmorton, Esq. - -And also my manor, &c. in possession and reversion, in the county of -Bedford, which were late the estate of Edward Snagg, Esq. - -And also my rectory and tithes of Steventon, in the county of Bedford, -which were late the estate of Peter Floyer, Esq. - -And also my lands, &c. in the county of Bedford, which were the estate -of John Culliford, Esq., and Mary his wife. - -And also my manor, &c. in the county of Berks, which were the estate of -Richard Jones, Esq. - -And also my manor, &c. in the county of Berks, which were the estate of -Robert Packer, Esq. - -And also my messuage, lands, &c. in the county of Berks, which were late -the estate of Thomas Bedford, clerk. - -And also my manor, &c. in the county of Oxford, which were late the -estate of Sir Cecil Bishop, Bart. - -And also my manors, &c. in Northamptonshire, which were late the estate -of Mrs. Elizabeth Wiseman. - -And also my manor, &c. in the county of Northampton, late the estate of -Sir William Norwich, Bart. - -And also my manor, &c. in the county of Northampton, late the estate of -Nathaniel Lord Crewe, Lord Bishop of Durham. - -And also that part of my estate at St. Albans still retained by me. - -And also my manors, &c. in the county of Stafford, which were the estate -of Viscount Fauconberg. - -And also my manor, &c. freehold and copyhold, in the county of Norfolk, -late the property of Gabriel Armiger, Esq. - -And also my manors, &c. in the county of Leicester and Northampton, -which were the estates of Sir Thomas Cave. - -And all other my manors, &c. in the counties of Surrey, Oxford, -Huntingdon, Buckingham, Bedford, Berks, Northampton, Hertford, Stafford, -Norfolk, and Leicester, (always subject to charges made by indenture on -the marriage of my grandson, John Spencer, Esq. to Georgiana Carolina, -his now wife, daughter to Lord Carteret.) - -John Spencer, the son of my said grandson John Spencer, shall have, -arising from the said estates &c., an annuity (during the life of his -father) of 2,000_l._, which he shall be empowered legally to enforce. - -And whereas the late Duke of Marlborough directed by his will that a -yearly sum of 3,000_l._ should be charged upon the estates devised upon -Hugh Earl of Marchmont, and Beversham Filmer, for each and every of the -sons which may be born to Charles Spencer, (now Duke of Marlborough,) -and the grandson of the same; I, with a desire to carry out such -intention, hereby direct that the said sum be chargeable upon the said -estates so devised, during the joint lives of the said Charles Duke of -Marlborough and such son or grandson: Always provided that such son or -grandson shall not covenant to do or do any act which shall set aside or -bar any intent declared or expressed in the will of the late Duke of -Marlborough; in which case such annuity shall utterly cease. - -Upon such son or grandson marrying and attaining the age of twenty-one -years, the said annual sum of 3,000_l._ shall no longer be paid to him; -but an annual charge not exceeding 1,500_l._ shall be paid to any woman -with whom he shall marry, for the term of her life. - -Provided always, that my said estates shall never be chargeable with -more than one such annuity, as a provision for any such woman, at one -and the same time. - -And all my said manors, &c. devised to Hugh Earl of Marchmont, and -Beversham Filmer, subject to the annuities and charges therein -expressed, I will and direct the same to be in TRUST for my grandson -John Spencer, for and during the term of his natural life; and after -that, to the USE of the said Hugh Earl of Marchmont, and Beversham -Filmer, and their heirs, during the natural life of John Spencer, in -TRUST, to preserve the contingent uses thereof; the said John Spencer to -receive the rents and profits thereof, (with similar covenants relating -to John Spencer the younger, and succeeding heirs.) - -And whereas the dean and chapter of Christ’s Church—Canterbury, did -lease unto me the scite and court lodge of the manor of Agney, in the -county of Kent, I hereby bequeath the said court lodge, &c. - -And also my lands, &c. held on lease in the county of Buckingham. - -And also all other my leasehold estates (excepting such as I shall -otherwise dispose of) to the USE of the said Hugh Earl of Marchmont, and -Beversham Filmer, in TRUST for such uses and persons as are herein -expressed concerning my various manors and freeholds. - -ITEM, I give unto Hugh Earl of Marchmont, and Beversham Filmer, all my -manor of Wimbledon, &c. in Surrey. - -And also my leasehold rectory of Wimbledon, for their USE, and in trust, -&c. (with similar covenants respecting John Spencer and his heirs.) - -And my will is, that all my household goods, pictures, and furniture -that shall be in my said buildings and gardens at Wimbledon, shall be -considered as heirlooms. - -And my will is, and I hereby expressly declare, that if the said John -Spencer (my grandson) shall become bound or surety for any person or -persons whatever for any sum or sums of money, or if he, or any person -or persons in _trust_ for him, shall take from any king or queen of -these realms any pension, or any office or employment, civil or -military, (except the rangership of the great or little parks at -Windsor,) then shall all these my intents and covenants in behalf of the -said John Spencer become void, as if he were actually dead. - -(_The same with regard to John Spencer the younger._) - -And whereas by lease from the crown I am possessed of all that capital -messuage which I now inhabit, called _Marlborough-house_, with all its -appurtenances, within or near the parishes of St. James, the liberty of -Westminster, and St. Martin in-the-Fields, in the county of Middlesex, -for the term of fifty years: - -Now I hereby give and bequeath all my interest in the said capital -messuage, &c. unto my executors (subject to such charge thereon as is -hereinafter mentioned) upon the TRUSTS following: That is to say, in -_trust_ for the said John Spencer the father, for so long a period of -the fifty years as he shall live; and then in trust for George Spencer, -commonly called Marquis of Blandford, eldest son and heir apparent of -Charles Duke of Marlborough; and after his decease, in trust for any son -of the said George Spencer who shall attain his majority. - -Provided the said George Spencer shall have no son, then in _trust_ for -Charles Spencer, second son of Charles Duke of Marlborough, and his son, -(with similar provisions, provided Charles Spencer shall have no son, -conferring the interest upon such other son of Charles Duke of -Marlborough as shall attain his majority.) - -Provided always, that should any attempt be made by any of these -legatees to dispose, let, exchange, or give up possession in any manner -of Marlborough-house, or commit any act likely to subvert any of the -declared intentions of the late Duke of Marlborough with respect to his -will, such bequest shall become utterly void, and my executors are -hereby empowered to dispose of all my interest in the said messuage, and -pay over the money as part of my personal estate. - -I am likewise possessed of another lease from the crown, bearing date -Feb. 13, 1728, not yet expired. - -Now I give and bequeath the said lease to my executors in _trust_ for -the holder of Marlborough-house for the time being, and subject to the -same conditions and limitations. - -And whereas I am empowered by the Duke of Marlborough’s will to dispose -of such goods as are my own in Marlborough-house, and of which there is -an inventory: - -Now I bequeath all such goods, furniture, pictures, &c., to my grandson -John Spencer, his executors, &c. - -ITEM, I give unto my grandson, Charles Duke of Marlborough, all my -furniture, pictures, &c., which shall be in Blenheim-house, in -Oxfordshire, at the time of my decease; but upon the express condition -that he do not remove any of the goods or furniture from Althorp-house, -but permit the same to be enjoyed by my grandson, John Spencer, except -the same shall be of greater value than those in Blenheim-house; then -may he remove such part thereof as shall leave no more in value than -shall be equal to that which at the time of my decease was in -Blenheim-house; and should he not perform this condition, then I leave -the said furniture, &c. in Blenheim-house, to John Spencer my grandson, -his executors, &c. - -And my will is, that all my goods, &c. in my mansion-house at Holywell, -in St. Albans, in the county of Hertford, shall continue there, and be -always held therewith, as far as the law will permit of. - -And whereas by letters patent on the 18th day of July, in the eighth -year of her reign, her late majesty Queen Anne granted me the -_rangership of Windsor Great Park_, giving the said place in TRUST to -James Craggs, Samuel Edwards, and Charles Hodges, for me and my heirs: - -Now I will that the said Samuel Edwards shall hold the same in trust for -my grandson John Spencer, his heirs, &c. - -And I give all the goods, &c., which may be in the chief lodge, -belonging to me, to my said grandson John Spencer. (_Similar provisions -with regard to the Little Park._) - -I give unto my granddaughter Isabella Duchess Dowager of Manchester all -my piece of ground and the messuage thereon in Dover-street, in the -county of Middlesex; together with all the goods, furniture, &c., in the -said messuage. - -I give unto Hugh Earl of Marchmont, and Beversham Filmer, Esq., and -James Stephens, all my leasehold piece of ground and brick messuage in -Grosvenor-street, in the parish of St. George’s, Hanover-square, in -_trust_ for _John Spencer the son_. - -ITEM, I hereby give unto Hugh Earl of Marchmont, Beversham Filmer, -Thomas Lord Bishop of Oxford, and James Stephens, my joint executors, -2,000_l._ each, for their care and trouble about this my will. - -All other property whatsoever, comprising money, mortgages, securities, -&c., after payment of my just debts, and such bequests as herein before -or after in any codicil mentioned, I bequeath to my said executors, in -trust for John Spencer, my grandson. - - * * * * * - -This will, which occupies in the original eight skins of parchment, is -witnessed by the following persons, and signed and sealed by the -Duchess. - - FANE. - EDMUND LONDON. - W. LEE. - JOHN SCROPE. - - - THE CODICIL. - -This is a CODICIL to the last will and testament of me, _Sarah Duchess -Dowager of Marlborough_, which I duly made and published, bearing date -the eleventh day of August instant, and which will I do hereby ratify -and confirm in all respects. - -Whereas I am possessed of several long annuities, amounting to the -yearly sum of two thousand six hundred pounds, - -Now I bequeath the same to my executors, in _trust_ for the following -uses— - -To James Stephens, 300_l._ yearly. - -To Grace Bidley, 300_l._ yearly. - -To Robert Macarty, Earl of Clancarty, the yearly sum of 1000_l._ - -To Elizabeth Arbor, the yearly sum of 200_l._ - -To Anne Patten, the yearly sum of 130_l._ - -To Olive Lofft, the yearly sum of 40_l._ - -To John Griffiths, the yearly sum of 200_l._ - -To Hannah Clarke, the yearly sum of 200_l._ - -To Jeremiah Lewis, the yearly sum of 50_l._ - -To John Dorset, the yearly sum of 50_l._ - -To each of my two chairmen, John Robins and George Humphreys, the yearly -sum of 20_l._ - -To Walter Jones, the yearly sum of 30_l._, and to each of my footmen -that shall continue in my service to the time of my decease, the yearly -sum of 10_l._ - -To Margaret and Catherine Garmes, the yearly sum each of 10_l._ - -The overplus of such long annuities to be paid to John Spencer. - -I give to John Spencer ALL my gold and silver plate, seals, trinkets, -and small pieces of japan. - -I give to the wife of John Spencer, the son of my said grandson, (if he -should live to be married,) my diamond pendants, which have three -brilliant drops to each, and all the rest of my jewels which I shall not -otherwise dispose of; and in case he die unmarried, I give the same to -his father. - -I give to my granddaughter, Mary Duchess of Leeds, my diamond solitaire, -with the large brilliant diamond it hangs to; also the picture in water -colours of the late Duke of Marlborough, drawn by Lens. - -I give to my daughter, Mary Duchess of Montagu, my gold snuff-box, that -has in it two pictures of her father, the Duke of Marlborough, when he -was a youth. Also a picture of her father covered with a large diamond, -and hung to a string of small pearls for a bracelet, and two enamelled -pictures for a bracelet of her sisters, Sunderland and Bridgewater. - -I give to Thomas Duke of Leeds 3000_l._ - -I give to my niece, Frances Lady Dillon, 1000_l._ - -I give to Philip Earl of Chesterfield, out of the great regard I have -for his merit, and the infinite obligations I have received from him, my -best and largest brilliant diamond ring, and 20,000_l._ - -I give to William Pitt, Esq., the sum of 10,000_l._, upon account of his -merit in the noble defence he made for the support of the laws of -England, and to prevent the ruin of his country. - -I give to Mr. Burroughs, Master in Chancery, 200_l._ to buy a ring. - -I give to my executors 500_l._ each to buy them rings. - -I give to the Earl of Clancarty, above what I have already given him, -1000_l._ - -Whereas John Earl of Stair owes me 1000_l._ upon bond, and his wife -bought me some things in France, but always declined telling me what -they cost, I desire him to pay my Lady Stair, and to accept the residue -of the 1000_l._, together with such other sums as I have lent to him. - -I give to Juliana Countess of Burlington my bag of gold medals, and -1000_l._ to buy a ring, or something in remembrance of me. - -I give to the Duchess of Devonshire my box of travelling plate. - -I give to James Stephens, over and above what I have already given him, -the sum of 1300_l._, and as a further compensation for the great trouble -he will have as my acting executor, the yearly sum of 300_l._ - -To Grace Ridley I give, over and above what I have already given, the -sum of 15,000_l._; an enamelled picture of the Duke of Marlborough; a -little picture of the Duke in a locket, and my own picture by Sir -Godfrey Kneller, and my striking watch, which was the Duke of -Marlborough’s. - -I give to Anne Ridley the sum of 3000_l._ - -I give to Mrs. Jane Pattison my striking watch, which formerly belonged -to her mistress, Lady Sunderland. - -One half of my clothes and wearing apparel I give to Grace Ridley, and -the other half equally between Anne Patter and Olive Lofft. - -I give to each of my chairmen 25_l._ - -I give to each of my servants one year’s wages. - -I give to the poor of the town of Woodstock 300_l._ - -I desire that Mr. Glover and Mr. Mallet, who are to write the history of -the Duke of Marlborough, may have the use of all papers and letters -relating to the same found in any of my houses. And I desire that these -two gentlemen may write the said history, that it may be made publick to -the world how truly the late Duke of Marlborough wished that justice -should be done to all mankind, who, I am sure, left King James with -great regret, at a time when ’twas with hazard to himself; and if he had -been like the patriots of the present times, he might have been all that -an ambitious man could hope for, by assisting King James to settle -Popery in England. - -I desire that no part of the said history may be in verse. - -And I direct that the said history shall not be printed without the -approbation of the Earl of Chesterfield and my executors. - -I give to Mr. Glover and Mr. Mallet 500_l._ each for writing the -history. - -(Here follows a contingent provision for the younger children of Charles -Spencer, Duke of Marlborough.) - -I give to Thomas Duke of Leeds my estate near St. Albans, and my -freehold at Romney Marsh, Kent. - -I give to Philip Earl of Chesterfield my manor at Wimbledon, and also my -manors in Northampton and Surrey. - -I give to the Earl of Clancarty my manors and lands in the county of -Buckingham. - -To William Pitt I give my manor, &c., in the county of Buckingham, late -the estate of Richard Hampden, Esq.; and leasehold in Suffolk; and -lands, &c. in Northampton. - -And to —— Bishop, Esq., my grandson, my manor, &c. in Oxford, with the -furniture, &c. - -To Hugh Earl of Marchmont, my manor, &c. in Buckingham, late the estate -of Sir John Witteronge, Bart.; and also my manor, &c. in the same -county, late the estate of Sir Thomas Tyrrel. - -To Thomas Lord Bishop of Oxford, my manor, &c. in Bedford. - -To Beversham Filmer, Esq., my manors, &c. in Leicester and Northampton, -late the estates of Sir Thomas Cave. - -To Dr. James Stephens, my estates, &c. in Berks and Huntingdon. - -And all other undisposed of estates or effects to John Spencer, his -heirs, &c. - - SARAH MARLBOROUGH. - - -Dated August 15th, 1744. - - - (Witnessed by) - - SANDWICH. - GEO. HEATHCOTE. - HENRY MARSHALL. - RICHARD HOARE. - - - THE END. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - Royal and Noble Authors, art. Peterborough. - -Footnote 2: - - Pope’s Letters to Swift, p. 76. - -Footnote 3: - - Noble, vol. ii. p. 43. - -Footnote 4: - - The Earl married, first, Carey, daughter of Sir Alexander Frazer, and, - secondly, the accomplished Anastasia Robinson, the daughter of a - painter. The story of his lordship’s lovesuit to this lady shows at - once the licentiousness and the eccentricity of his character. Whilst - he admired the virtues of Miss Robinson, and her efforts in her - vocation as an opera singer and a teacher of music and Italian, to - support an aged father, he did not deem it beneath him to endeavour to - make her his mistress. His arts were unsuccessful, and Anastasia - became privately his wife. In 1735 it suited his fancy to proclaim his - marriage. Being at Bath, in the public rooms, a servant was ordered to - call out distinctly, “Lady Peterborough’s carriage waits;” on which - every lady of rank and respectability rose, and wished the new - Countess joy.—Granger, vol. ii. p. 45. - -Footnote 5: - - Private Correspondence, vol. i. p. 4. - -Footnote 6: - - Lady M. W.’s Letters, vol. ii. p. 168. - -Footnote 7: - - Coxe, vol. i. p. 232. - -Footnote 8: - - Cunningham, b. vi. p. 328. - -Footnote 9: - - Noble, vol. ii. p. 36. - -Footnote 10: - - Boyer, App., p. 46. - -Footnote 11: - - Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 197. - -Footnote 12: - - Cunningham, b. vi. p. 328. - -Footnote 13: - - Boyer. - -Footnote 14: - - Walpole’s Letters, vol. ii. p. 401. - -Footnote 15: - - Coxe, vol. i. p. 284. - -Footnote 16: - - Cunningham, book vi. p. 350. - -Footnote 17: - - Conduct, p. 159. - -Footnote 18: - - Conduct, p. 141. - -Footnote 19: - - Burnet. - -Footnote 20: - - Conduct, p. 171. - -Footnote 21: - - Conduct, p. 172. - -Footnote 22: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 23: - - Cunningham, b. vi. p. 351. - -Footnote 24: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 25: - - Examiner, No. 26. - -Footnote 26: - - Boyer, p. 472. - -Footnote 27: - - Coxe, p. 280. - -Footnote 28: - - Coxe, p. 279. - -Footnote 29: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 30: - - Coxe, p. 294, and Cunningham. - -Footnote 31: - - Cunningham, b. vi. p. 369. - -Footnote 32: - - Conduct, p. 145. - -Footnote 33: - - Somerville, vol. i. p. 48. - -Footnote 34: - - Coxe, p. 295. - -Footnote 35: - - Conduct, p. 145. - -Footnote 36: - - Conduct, p. 156. - -Footnote 37: - - Burnet, vol. v. p. 157. - -Footnote 38: - - Conduct. - -Footnote 39: - - Burnet. - -Footnote 40: - - Coxe, vol. i. p. 239. - -Footnote 41: - - Cox, vol. i. p. 246. - -Footnote 42: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 43: - - Lediard, vol. i. p. 365. - -Footnote 44: - - As prisoners. - -Footnote 45: - - Cunningham, b. vii. p. 402. - -Footnote 46: - - Coxe, vol. i. p. 306. - -Footnote 47: - - Lediard. - -Footnote 48: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 49: - - Cunningham, p. 402. - -Footnote 50: - - History of Europe. Lediard. Coxe. - -Footnote 51: - - History of Europe. Lediard. Coxe. - -Footnote 52: - - Lediard, p. 478. - -Footnote 53: - - Cunningham, book viii. p. 442. - -Footnote 54: - - Conduct, p. 147. - -Footnote 55: - - Lediard. Cunningham. - -Footnote 56: - - Conduct, p. 156. - -Footnote 57: - - Conduct, p. 150. - -Footnote 58: - - Conduct, p. 155. - -Footnote 59: - - Cunningham, p. 456. - -Footnote 60: - - See Conduct. Somerville, chap. vi. p. 113. - -Footnote 61: - - Conduct, p. 159. - -Footnote 62: - - Cunningham, p. 458. - -Footnote 63: - - Cunningham. - -Footnote 64: - - Lediard, vol. iii. - -Footnote 65: - - Cunningham, b. viii. p. 461. - -Footnote 66: - - Lediard, vol. ii. p. 3. - -Footnote 67: - - Cunningham, p. 452. - -Footnote 68: - - Conduct, p. 161. Cunningham. Lediard. - -Footnote 69: - - Conduct, p. 170. - -Footnote 70: - - Ibid. p. 165–167. - -Footnote 71: - - Conduct, p. 173. - -Footnote 72: - - Ibid. p. 174. - -Footnote 73: - - Coxe, p. 515. - -Footnote 74: - - He was made Lord Keeper in 1705, and Lord Chancellor in 1707. - -Footnote 75: - - MSS. Letters British Museum, Coxe Papers, 45, 4to. p. 2. - -Footnote 76: - - Conduct, p. 171. - -Footnote 77: - - Ibid. p. 176. - -Footnote 78: - - Conduct, 161. - -Footnote 79: - - Other Side, p. 259. - -Footnote 80: - - Ibid. p. 261. - -Footnote 81: - - Conduct, p. 162. - -Footnote 82: - - Other Side, p. 261. - -Footnote 83: - - Cunningham, b. ix. p. 77. - -Footnote 84: - - Cunningham, p. 77. - -Footnote 85: - - Cunningham, p. 55, and Biographia Britannica. - -Footnote 86: - - Conduct. - -Footnote 87: - - Conduct, p. 177–181. - -Footnote 88: - - Lediard, vol. ii. p. 2. - -Footnote 89: - - Letters on the Study of History. Letter IV. - -Footnote 90: - - Conduct, p. 176. - -Footnote 91: - - In her letter (supposed to Bishop Burnet) endorsed “An answer to the - person that asked what first stuck with me,” in the Coxe MSS. the - Duchess calls Mr. Hill “a merchant, or projector,” who was in some way - related to Mr. Harley, and by profession an Anabaptist.—Coxe MSS. vol. - xlv. p. 11. - -Footnote 92: - - Conduct. - -Footnote 93: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlv. p. 11. - -Footnote 94: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 95: - - Political pamphlet, entitled a “Continuation of the Review of a late - Treatise,” &c. London, 1741, p. 31. - -Footnote 96: - - MSS. B. M. Coxe Papers, vol. xliv. - -Footnote 97: - - Conduct, p. 183. - -Footnote 98: - - Mr. Masham was first page of honour to Queen Anne and to Prince - George, and also equerry to the latter. In 1710 he was preferred to - the command of a regiment of horse, and advanced to the rank of - brigadier-general. At the famous creation in 1711, he was made a peer, - by the title of Lord Masham of Oates, in the county of Essex. By his - lady, who died in 1734, he had three sons and two daughters. Anne, his - lordship’s eldest daughter, married, in 1726, Henry Hoare, grandson of - Sir Richard Hoare, formerly Lord Mayor of London.—_London Chronicle._ - -Footnote 99: - - Conduct, p. 181. - -Footnote 100: - - MS. Letter to Mr. Hutchinson, B. M. - -Footnote 101: - - Conduct, p. 185. - -Footnote 102: - - Coxe, Papers vol. xlv. p. 13. - -Footnote 103: - - Conduct, p. 190. - -Footnote 104: - - Other Side of the Question, p. 311. - -Footnote 105: - - Private Correspondence, vol. i. p. 63. - -Footnote 106: - - Ibid. p. 105. - -Footnote 107: - - MS. Letter, British Museum. - -Footnote 108: - - Preface to Lord Wharncliffe’s Ed. of Lady M. W.’s Letters, p. 74. - -Footnote 109: - - Conduct, p. 197. - -Footnote 110: - - Cunningham, b. ix. p. 82. - -Footnote 111: - - Lediard, vol. ii. p. 5. - -Footnote 112: - - Other Side, p. 316. - -Footnote 113: - - B. ix. p. 80. - -Footnote 114: - - Conduct, p. 70. - -Footnote 115: - - Lediard. - -Footnote 116: - - Conduct, p. 191. - -Footnote 117: - - Conduct, p. 202. - -Footnote 118: - - Coxe Papers, vol. xliv. - -Footnote 119: - - London Chronicle, 1763. - -Footnote 120: - - MS. - -Footnote 121: - - See Appendix. - -Footnote 122: - - Conduct. - -Footnote 123: - - Conduct. - -Footnote 124: - - Coxe, book i. p. 377. - -Footnote 125: - - Burnet, vol. v. p. 358. - -Footnote 126: - - Coxe, p. 370–372. - -Footnote 127: - - Correspondence, vol. i. p. 83. - -Footnote 128: - - Ibid. p. 84. - -Footnote 129: - - Cunningham, b. ix. p. 141. - -Footnote 130: - - Cunningham, vol. x. p. 132. - -Footnote 131: - - Burnet, p. 373. - -Footnote 132: - - Burnet. - -Footnote 133: - - See Lives of St. John Lord Bolingbroke, by Goldsmith. Biog. - Britannica, &c. - -Footnote 134: - - Cunningham. - -Footnote 135: - - Letters on History. - -Footnote 136: - - See Lives of Bolingbroke—Coxe, Burnet, Lediard. - -Footnote 137: - - Lediard, vol. ii. p. 9. - -Footnote 138: - - Lediard, vol. ii. p. 9. - -Footnote 139: - - Burnet, b. v. p. 384. - -Footnote 140: - - Conduct, p. 214. - -Footnote 141: - - Ibid. 216. - -Footnote 142: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 143: - - Conduct, p. 222. - -Footnote 144: - - Conduct, p. 219. - -Footnote 145: - - Aug. 19, 1708. - -Footnote 146: - - Conduct, p. 222. - -Footnote 147: - - Preserved in the Coxe MSS. B. M., and given in the Appendix to this - volume. - -Footnote 148: - - Burnet, vol. iv. p. 247. - -Footnote 149: - - Conduct. Also Narrative, by the Duchess, of the events which took - place after the Prince of Denmark’s death. Coxe, vol. iv. p. 234. - -Footnote 150: - - Macauley. History of England from the Revolution, p. 218. - -Footnote 151: - - Cunningham. - -Footnote 152: - - Cunningham, book ii. p. 300. - -Footnote 153: - - MS. Letter to Mr. Hutchinson. This curious and natural account of an - amusing scene is contained in a manuscript Vindication of the Duchess, - addressed to Mr. Hutchinson, preserved in the Coxe MSS. in the British - Museum, and has never before been quoted or published.—See Coxe - Papers, vol. xliv. p. 2. “The good-nature yet weakness of Anne’s - character is strongly exemplified in the details in the text.” - -Footnote 154: - - Lady Hyde, afterwards Countess of Rochester, from whom the Duchess - states herself to have received many affronts on the back-stairs.—Coxe - MSS. vol. 44. - -Footnote 155: - - The Duchess of Somerset, wife of the proud Duke of Somerset, so called - from his excessive pride of rank and ostentation, was a Percy; and, as - such, considered to merit precedence, and great deference, both by her - husband and by the Duchess of Marlborough, who always called her “the - great lady.” There seems to have been a friendly understanding between - the two Duchesses, for Mr. Maynwaring, in one of his letters to the - Duchess of Marlborough, says, “I am glad the Duke and Duchess of - Somerset were to dine with you, for notwithstanding the faults of the - one, and the spirit of Percy blood in the other, I think they both - naturally love and esteem you very much.”—Coxe MSS. vol. xli. p. 248. - -Footnote 156: - - MS. Letter. Coxe Papers, p. 44. - -Footnote 157: - - Conduct, p. 230. - -Footnote 158: - - Conduct, p. 230. - -Footnote 159: - - Cunningham, b. xii. p. 279. - -Footnote 160: - - Cunningham, b. xii. p. 279. - -Footnote 161: - - Cunningham, b. xii. p. 279. - -Footnote 162: - - Cunningham, book xii. p. 282. - -Footnote 163: - - Conduct, from p. 238 to 244. - -Footnote 164: - - See another account of this scene, in Private Correspondence of the - Duke of Marlborough, vol. i. p. 295. - -Footnote 165: - - Conduct, p. 244. - -Footnote 166: - - Burnet’s History, b. iv. vol. vi. p. 314. - -Footnote 167: - - Biographia Britannica, art. Gilbert Burnet. - -Footnote 168: - - Biographia Britannica. - -Footnote 169: - - The Countess de Soissons was one among many ladies of rank, and some - belonging to the court, who, merely to satisfy curiosity, ever - powerful in female hearts, visited a woman of the name of Voisin, who - carried on a traffic in poisons, and was convicted by the _Chambre - Ardente_, and burnt alive on the twenty-second of February, 1680. This - woman kept a list of all who had been dupes to her imposture; and in - it were found the names of the Countess de Soissons, her sister the - Duchess de Bouillon, and Marshal de Luxembourg. In order to avoid the - disgrace of imprisonment without a fair trial, the Countess fled to - Flanders; her sister was saved by the interest of her friends; and the - Marshal, after some months’ imprisonment in the Bastile, was declared - innocent.—_See_ _Beckman’s History of Inventions_, vol. i. p. 94, 95. - -Footnote 170: - - Burnet, Hist. p. 290. - -Footnote 171: - - Conduct, p. 254. - -Footnote 172: - - Cunningham, Burnet, Tindal. - -Footnote 173: - - Private Correspondence, vol. i. p. 317. - -Footnote 174: - - Conduct, p. 260. - -Footnote 175: - - Private Correspondence, vol. i. p. 343. - -Footnote 176: - - Ibid. p. 351. - -Footnote 177: - - Private Correspondence, p. 366. - -Footnote 178: - - Conduct, p. 261. - -Footnote 179: - - See Cibber’s Apology. Lady M. Wortley Montague, preface. - -Footnote 180: - - Swift’s Letters, xiii p. 47. - -Footnote 181: - - Examiner, No. xvii. - -Footnote 182: - - Conduct, p. 263. - -Footnote 183: - - Conduct, p. 273. - -Footnote 184: - - Conduct, p. 279. - -Footnote 185: - - Conduct, p. 282. - -Footnote 186: - - Alluding, probably, to the custom of touching for the King’s evil. - -Footnote 187: - - Cunningham, b. xix. p. 348. - -Footnote 188: - - Conduct, p. 269. See Appendix. - -Footnote 189: - - Ibid. p. 270. - -Footnote 190: - - Coxe, MS. vol. xliii. - -Footnote 191: - - Lediard, p. 283. - -Footnote 192: - - Lediard, p. 278. - -Footnote 193: - - See Coxe—Lediard—Biog. Brit. - -Footnote 194: - - Warton’s Essay on Pope, p. 119. - -Footnote 195: - - See Archdeacon Coxe. - -Footnote 196: - - The Duchess herself remarks it, as an extraordinary occurrence, that - her husband should, even upon a most trying occasion, be betrayed into - anger. When he received from Queen Anne the letter containing his - dismissal, he flung it, she says, “in a passion,” into the fire. Coxe, - MS. vol. xliii. - -Footnote 197: - - Biog. Britannica. - -Footnote 198: - - Swift’s Works, vol. xiii. p. 36. - -Footnote 199: - - See Swift’s Letter. - -Footnote 200: - - Lediard, vol. ii. p. 399. - -Footnote 201: - - Lediard, p. 391. - -Footnote 202: - - See Appendix. - -Footnote 203: - - Lord Cowper’s Diary. - -Footnote 204: - - Ibid. vol. iv. p. 229. - -Footnote 205: - - Somerville, chap. xxiii. p. 125. - -Footnote 206: - - Somerville, p. 554, 555. - -Footnote 207: - - Sheridan’s Swift, p. 143. - -Footnote 208: - - Conduct. - -Footnote 209: - - Coxe MSS. vol. xliv. p. 2. - -Footnote 210: - - Swift’s Correspondence, vol. xv. p. 111. - -Footnote 211: - - Swift’s Correspondence, vol. xv. p. 73. - -Footnote 212: - - Ibid. p. 76. - -Footnote 213: - - Swift’s Correspondence, vol. xv. p. 77. - -Footnote 214: - - Swift’s Letters. - -Footnote 215: - - Coxe, p. 297. - -Footnote 216: - - Letter of Erasmus Lewes to Swift, vol. xv. p. 108. - -Footnote 217: - - Boyer, p. 714. - -Footnote 218: - - Boyer. Arbuthnot’s Letter to Swift, vol. xv. - -Footnote 219: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 147. - -Footnote 220: - - Her early medical attendant, and that of her family, Dr. Ratcliffe, - the singular benefactor of Oxford, was not present at her sick-bed. He - died soon afterwards. This humorist, and shrewd physician, had - offended her Majesty some time previously, by saying that her - complaint was nothing but “_vapours_.” Possibly he was so far right, - that repose, not medicine, was what the poor, harassed Queen required. - Dr. Ratcliffe had been sent for to Prince George by the Queen’s - express desire. On that occasion he had given her Majesty no hopes; - telling her that however common it might be for surgeons to use - caustics in cases of burning and scalding, “it was irregular for - physicians to expel watery humours by the same element.” To this - dogmatic assertion he added a promise that the dying Prince should - have an easy passage out of this world, since he had been so “tampered - with,” he could not live more than six days.—_Ingram’s Memorials of - Oxford_, vol. iii. p. 8. - - For some further notice of this extraordinary man, see the concluding - portion of this volume. - -Footnote 221: - - Somerville, Appendix II p. 656. - -Footnote 222: - - Lediard, p. 447. - -Footnote 223: - - Coxe, vol. vi. p. 296. - -Footnote 224: - - Ibid. p. 305. - -Footnote 225: - - Lediard, p. 453. - -Footnote 226: - - Coxe, p. 6. 308. - -Footnote 227: - - Macauley. Lediard. - -Footnote 228: - - Macaulay. Chesterfield. - -Footnote 229: - - Coxe, vol. iii. p. 610. - -Footnote 230: - - A portion of that task, namely, her letter to Mr. Hutchison, she is - stated, in a note in Dr. Coxe’s handwriting, to have begun during her - residence abroad. - -Footnote 231: - - The principal of Sir J. Vanburgh’s works, besides Castle Howard and - Blenheim, were Eastleving, in Dorsetshire; King’s Weston, near - Bristol; the Opera House, and St. John’s Church, Westminster—not to - mention his own residence at Whitehall, of which Swift writes— - - “At length they in the rubbish spy - A thing resembling a goose-pie.” - -Footnote 232: - - Swift’s pun on this occasion was, that he might now “build houses.” - -Footnote 233: - - Hist. Vanburgh’s House, 1708. - -Footnote 234: - - This anecdote is pronounced by Mr. D’Israeli, in his “Curiosities of - Literature” (1823), to be a mere invention. - -Footnote 235: - - Vanburgh died in 1726. - -Footnote 236: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 76. - -Footnote 237: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 76. - -Footnote 238: - - Coxe Papers. - -Footnote 239: - - Coxe Papers. See Appendix. - -Footnote 240: - - Coxe Papers, vol. xlvi. p. 148. - -Footnote 241: - - This marriage, unhappily for the Duke, was childless, thus - disappointing his hopes of being able proudly to deduce the origin of - his posterity from the great Marlborough.—Coxe Papers, vol. xlvi. p. - 148. - -Footnote 242: - - This letter, together with the rest of this curious correspondence, is - to be seen in the Appendix. - -Footnote 243: - - Coxe MSS. - -Footnote 244: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 148. - -Footnote 245: - - Ibid. p. 145. - -Footnote 246: - - See Swift’s Letters. - -Footnote 247: - - Ibid. vol. xiv. p. 131. - -Footnote 248: - - Swift’s Letters, vol. xiv. p. 90. - -Footnote 249: - - Coxe, vol. vi. quarto, p. 615. - -Footnote 250: - - See Cunningham and others. - -Footnote 251: - - See Appendix. - -Footnote 252: - - Coxe, p. 361. - -Footnote 253: - - See Coxe, p. 619, and also Lord Sunderland’s answer. - -Footnote 254: - - Coxe, vol. iii. p. 645. - -Footnote 255: - - Hogarth personated the Ghost of Brutus, but, being wholly deficient in - memory, he was unable to commit to memory the few lines which - constituted his part. The verses he was to deliver were therefore - pasted in very large letters on the outside of an illuminated lantern, - so that he could read them as he came on the stage, with that - appropriate implement in his hand. - -Footnote 256: - - Biographical Dict., Art. Hoadly. - -Footnote 257: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 258: - - The play-bill of “All for Love; or the World Well Lost,” has been - given at length by Dr. Coxe. It runs as follows: - - _Marc Anthony_, Captain Fish, Page of the Duchess. - _Ventidius_, Old Mr. Jennings. - _Sarapion, the High Priest_, Miss Cairnes. - _Alexis_, Mrs. La Vie. - _Cleopatra_, Lady Charlotte Macarthy. - _Octavia_, Lady Anne Spencer. - _Children of Marc Anthony_, Lady Anne Egerton, Lady Diana Spencer. - (Scene, the Bow-window Room.) - (Great screens for changing scenes.) - -Footnote 259: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 260: - - His second wife. He married first a Miss Talbot, niece of the Duke of - Shrewsbury.—Burke’s Peerage. - -Footnote 261: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 262: - - Biographia Britannica. - -Footnote 263: - - Biographia Britannica. - -Footnote 264: - - Macauley, p. 290. - -Footnote 265: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 266: - - Anecdotes of Lady M. W., edited by Lord Wharncliffe, vol. i. p. 74. - -Footnote 267: - - Coxe, vol. i. p. 625. - -Footnote 268: - - Macauley, p. 308. - -Footnote 269: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 270: - - Biographia Britannica. - -Footnote 271: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 272: - - Political and Literary Anecdotes of his Own Time, by Dr. King. - -Footnote 273: - - Scott’s Life of Swift. - -Footnote 274: - - Lord Chesterfield’s Characters. - -Footnote 275: - - Lord Chesterfield. Horace Walpole. - -Footnote 276: - - Such was also the case even with the great Lord Clarendon, after many - years of exile. See Mr. James’s Life of Louis Quatorze, vol. iii. - -Footnote 277: - - Coxe, p. 629. - -Footnote 278: - - Mem. of Lord Walpole. Coxe, p. 8. - -Footnote 279: - - The origin of Mr. James Craggs is said by Lady Mary W. Montague to be - derived from a very low source. His father was footman to the Duchess - of Norfolk, and a footman of the old school, who managed his - mistress’s intrigues as well as other household affairs.—Lady M. W. - M.’s Letters. Hence the epigram in Horace Walpole’s Letters. - -Footnote 280: - - Coxe, Appendix. - -Footnote 281: - - Life of Lord Walpole, p. 20. - -Footnote 282: - - Horace Walpole, Reminiscences. - -Footnote 283: - - For the rest of this curious letter, see Appendix. It was kindly - pointed out to me by Deputy Holmes, Esq. keeper of the Manuscripts, - British Museum. That gentleman found it crumpled up among Dr. Coxe’s - papers, while he was arranging those manuscripts in their present - convenient form. To this letter there is neither date nor address: on - the back it is endorsed, “From the Duke of Marlborough;” Mr. Holmes - surmises, in the handwriting of Lord Godolphin. Archdeacon Coxe has - not noticed the Duke’s perplexity on the point expressed in this - letter. - -Footnote 284: - - See Opinions. - -Footnote 285: - - Horace Walpole, Reminiscences. - -Footnote 286: - - Coxe, p. 646. - -Footnote 287: - - Coxe, vol. vi. octavo, p. 646. - -Footnote 288: - - “Our bishops,” says the Duchess, writing of the Princess, whose - condescension she had so greatly extolled, “are now about to employ - hands to write the finest character that ever was heard of Queen - Caroline; who, as it is no treason, I freely own that I am glad she is - dead. Upon her great understanding and goodness there come out - nauseous panegyrics every day, that make one sick, so full of nonsense - and lies. There is one very remarkable from a Dr. Clarke, in order to - have the first bishoprick that falls, and I dare say he will have it, - though there is something extremely ridiculous in the panegyric; for, - after he has given her the most perfect character that ever any woman - had, or can have, he allows that she had sacrificed her reputation to - the great and the many, to show her duty to the King and her love to - the country. These are the clergyman’s words exactly, which allows she - did wrong things, but it was to please the King,—which is condemning - him. I suppose he must mean some good she did to her own country, for - I know of none she did in England, unless taking from the public - deserves a panegyric.”—Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 169. - Duchess of Marlborough’s Opinions. - -Footnote 289: - - See Dr. Coxe, p. 648. - -Footnote 290: - - Coxe, p. 649. - -Footnote 291: - - Newspapers of the day. - -Footnote 292: - - Coxe Papers, vol. xli. p. 76. - -Footnote 293: - - Warton’s Essay on Pope, vol. ii. p. 303. - -Footnote 294: - - Swift’s Correspondence, vol. xv. p. 236. - -Footnote 295: - - Biographia. - -Footnote 296: - - London Chronicle, November 21, 1758. - -Footnote 297: - - His avarice has been attributed greatly to the Duchess’s influence. - -Footnote 298: - - Collins’s Baronage, vol. ii. - -Footnote 299: - - See Lady M. W. Montague’s Letters. - -Footnote 300: - - Coxe, p. 653. - -Footnote 301: - - Coxe, p. 653. - -Footnote 302: - - See some curious letters in the Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 70. - -Footnote 303: - - Burke’s Extinct Peerage, art. Coningsby. - -Footnote 304: - - By Frances, daughter of the Earl of Ranelagh. - -Footnote 305: - - Oct. 8, 1722. The Duke died June 16, 1722. - -Footnote 306: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 70. - -Footnote 307: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 71. - -Footnote 308: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 309: - - Private Correspondence, p. 206. Letter from Mr. Maynwaring to the - Duchess. - -Footnote 310: - - Ibid. See also Horace Walpole’s Letters. - -Footnote 311: - - Burke’s Peerage, art. Somerset. - -Footnote 312: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 147. - -Footnote 313: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 147. - -Footnote 314: - - Coxe, p. 656. - -Footnote 315: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 316: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 317: - - H. Walpole’s Reminiscences. - -Footnote 318: - - Warton on Pope. - -Footnote 319: - - Warton on Pope, p. 141. - -Footnote 320: - - Macauley. - -Footnote 321: - - Chesterfield’s Characters. - -Footnote 322: - - Chesterfield, Smollett, Tindal, &c. - -Footnote 323: - - See Macauley, p. 225. - -Footnote 324: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 161. - -Footnote 325: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 152. - -Footnote 326: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 495. - -Footnote 327: - - Private Correspondence, p. 495. - -Footnote 328: - - Macaulay, p. 370. - -Footnote 329: - - Private Correspondence, p. 461. - -Footnote 330: - - Private Correspondence, p. 465. - -Footnote 331: - - Letter from Lord Godolphin to the Duchess. Private Correspondence, p. - 479. - -Footnote 332: - - Private Correspondence, p. 467. - -Footnote 333: - - Coxe MSS. vol. xliii. p. 123. - -Footnote 334: - - Private Correspondence, p. 472, 473. - -Footnote 335: - - Burke’s Peerage. - -Footnote 336: - - Horace Walpole, Reminiscences. - -Footnote 337: - - Chesterfield. Annual Register. Collins’ Baronage. - -Footnote 338: - - Chesterfield’s Characters. - -Footnote 339: - - Note in Chesterfield’s Characters, p. 50. - -Footnote 340: - - Lord Wharncliffe, vol. i. p. 2. - -Footnote 341: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 342: - - Collins’s Baronage. - -Footnote 343: - - Chesterfield. - -Footnote 344: - - Lady M. W. Montague. - -Footnote 345: - - This letter is given literally as it is written, without any - alteration of grammar or punctuation.—Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 148. - -Footnote 346: - - Letters to Sir Horace Mann, vol. iii. p. 286. - -Footnote 347: - - Letters to Sir Horace Mann, vol. ii. p. 144. - -Footnote 348: - - Dallaway’s Memoirs of Lady M. W. Lord Wharncliffe. Edition of Lady M. - W. - -Footnote 349: - - Horace Walpole mentions this anecdote of Lady Bateman, but a later - account specifies Lady Anne Egerton as the heroine of the blackened - picture. - -Footnote 350: - - Those who have read the novels of Richardson, faithful delineations of - manners, cannot but recal to mind the descriptions given of parental - authority, and of filial fear, by that prolix, but, in some points, - incomparable novelist. - -Footnote 351: - - Coxe MSS., vol. iv. - -Footnote 352: - - Private Correspondence, vol. i. p. 103. - -Footnote 353: - - Private Correspondence, vol. i. p. 100–102. - -Footnote 354: - - Memoirs of the Life of Whiston, p. 102. - -Footnote 355: - - Private Correspondence, vol. i. p. 6. - -Footnote 356: - - Lord Wharncliffe, vol. i. p. 76. - -Footnote 357: - - Life of Colley Cibber, p. 66. - -Footnote 358: - - Life of Colley Cibber, p. 461. - -Footnote 359: - - Such was her excellence in the “Provoked Husband,” that the managers - made her a present of fifty guineas above her agreement, which was - only a verbal one; “for they knew,” says Cibber, “that she was - incapable of deserting them for another stage.” One of the many good - traits in the character of this erring woman was her refusing to - receive her salary, when disabled by illness from performing, although - her agreement entitled her to receive it.—Life of Colley Cibber, p. - 291. - -Footnote 360: - - It was not situated exactly on the spot, but near to the summer-house, - which has been mentioned in p. 10. vol. i. of this work. The - summer-house is also pulled down. - -Footnote 361: - - In Holywell-house, the Dowager Lady Spencer, mother of the beautiful - Duchess of Devonshire, long resided. Her ladyship received among her - guests the late antiquary, —— Browne, Esq. of St. Albans, whose death, - at a very advanced age, took place very recently. The authoress had - the honour of conversing with this venerable antiquary, but could not - learn from him that there were any particular traces in Holywell-house - of the Duchess or her children, though there are several, as Mr. - Browne informed her, of the Spencer and Cavendish family, more - especially of the present Duke of Devonshire, whose visits to Holywell - in childhood were frequent. - -Footnote 362: - - From the catalogue, Holywell-house must have been very commodious; but - the rooms, though numerous, were not large. The authoress saw it on - the eve of its destruction, and, not being at all aware of its - peculiar interest to her, was struck by its massive though not - picturesque appearance. It commanded a fine view of St. Alban’s Abbey. - -Footnote 363: - - On this occasion the churchwardens of Kingston paid “twenty pence” for - mending the ways when the Queen went from Wimbledon to Nonsuch. - -Footnote 364: - - The survey taken of it by order of parliament, in 1649, describes it - minutely, and is very curious. It is printed in the Archæologia of the - Society of Antiquaries, vol. x. p. 399, 8vo., from the original in the - Augmentation Office. - -Footnote 365: - - There is a view of this, the Duchess’s house, in the fifth volume of - the “Vitruvius Britannicus.” - -Footnote 366: - - The following account, supplied by William Upcott, Esq., from some one - of the daily papers of that day, is curious. “Woodstock, June 19. - Yesterday being Monday, about six o’clock in the evening, was laid the - first stone of the Duke of Marlborough’s house, by Mr. Vanbrugge, and - then seven gentlemen gave it a stroke with a hammer, and threw down - each of them a guinea; Sir Thomas Wheate was the first, Dr. Bouchel - the second, Mr. Vanbrugge the third; I know not the rest. There were - several sorts of musick; three morris dances; one of young fellows, - one of maidens, and one of old beldames. There were about a hundred - buckets, bowls, and pans, filled with wine, punch, cakes, and ale. - From my lord’s house all went to the Town-hall, where plenty of sack, - claret, cakes, &c., were prepared for the gentry and better sort; and - under the Cross eight barrels of ale, with abundance of cakes, were - placed for the common people. The stone laid by Mr. Vanbrugge was - eight square, finely polished, about eighteen inches over, and upon it - were these words inlayed in pewter—_In memory of the battel of - Blenheim, June 8, 1705, Anna Regina._” - -Footnote 367: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. - -Footnote 368: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 8. - -Footnote 369: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 8. - -Footnote 370: - - In the possession of William Upcott, Esq. - -Footnote 371: - - The word is expressed thus + in the original letter. - -Footnote 372: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xli p. 14. - -Footnote 373: - - For the correspondence on this subject, hitherto unpublished, see - Appendix. - -Footnote 374: - - Appendix. - -Footnote 375: - - Coxe MSS. - -Footnote 376: - - Coxe Papers. - -Footnote 377: - - Coxe, p. 642. - -Footnote 378: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 74. - -Footnote 379: - - Coxe. - -Footnote 380: - - Newspapers. Anecdote supplied by W. Upcott, Esq. - -Footnote 381: - - Letter from Vanburgh to Tonson. D’Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature. - 1823. - -Footnote 382: - - Letter to Mr. Hutchinson, Coxe MSS. - -Footnote 383: - - Life of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough. Published in 1745. - -Footnote 384: - - Walpole’s Reminiscences, p. 293. - -Footnote 385: - - Reminiscences. - -Footnote 386: - - Chesterfield’s Characters. - -Footnote 387: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. - -Footnote 388: - - Granger’s Biog. Hist. of Great Britain. Art. Jennings. - -Footnote 389: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 179. - -Footnote 390: - - Life of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough. - -Footnote 391: - - Macauley. - -Footnote 392: - - Lord Chesterfield. - -Footnote 393: - - Biographical Dictionary. - -Footnote 394: - - Manuscript Notes in the copy of the Duchess’s Opinions in the British - Museum. - -Footnote 395: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 123. - -Footnote 396: - - He conducted the paper called the “Champion.” His sister Sarah, a - literary character also, was the intimate friend of Dr. Hoadly. - Possibly, from her name, she may have been a god-daughter of the - Duchess. - -Footnote 397: - - Reminiscences, p. 308. - -Footnote 398: - - Letters of Walpole, vol. i. p. 42. - -Footnote 399: - - Private Correspondence. Life of the Duchess. - -Footnote 400: - - Manuscript Notes to her Opinions. - -Footnote 401: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 168. - -Footnote 402: - - Private Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 209. - -Footnote 403: - - Coxe. Private Correspondence, &c. - -Footnote 404: - - Life of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough. - -Footnote 405: - - Life of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough. - -Footnote 406: - - The details of her grievances are to be found in the Appendix. - -Footnote 407: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 123. - -Footnote 408: - - Coxe MSS. - -Footnote 409: - - As her early and only biographer expresses it, at her house at the - Friery, St. James’s. Friery Passage was formerly close to - Marlborough-house. - -Footnote 410: - - Coxe MSS. - -Footnote 411: - - See Appendix. - -Footnote 412: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xv. p. 151. - -Footnote 413: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xli. p. 14. - -Footnote 414: - - Blank in manuscript. - -Footnote 415: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 28. - -Footnote 416: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 56. - -Footnote 417: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 127. - -Footnote 418: - - Coxe MSS., vol xli. p. 25. - -Footnote 419: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 24. - -Footnote 420: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xli. p. 31. - -Footnote 421: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 29. - -Footnote 422: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 76. - -Footnote 423: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 68. - -Footnote 424: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvi. p. 142. - -Footnote 425: - - Coxe MSS. vol., xlvi. p. 148. - -Footnote 426: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xv. p. 150. - -Footnote 427: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xlvii. p. 8. - -Footnote 428: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 63. - -Footnote 429: - - Ibid. vol. xliii. p. 9. - -Footnote 430: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 132. - -Footnote 431: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 133. - -Footnote 432: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 134. - -Footnote 433: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii, p. 136. - -Footnote 434: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 142. - -Footnote 435: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 144. - -Footnote 436: - - Coxe MSS., vol. xliii. p. 147. - -Footnote 437: - - This letter is probably in continuation of the Duchess of - Marlborough’s to the Duke of Newcastle, of August 1, 1735.—See vol. - ii. p. 476. - - LONDON: - IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. 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