1708 Movements battle. The promptitude of Marlborough anticipated them in this. General Cadogan was sent forward over night to seize upon Lessines, and next day (9 July) the whole army crossed which preat that place, and to the surprise of Vendome posted ceded the themselves between him and the frontier. On this the French marshal relinquished the investment of Oudenarde and fell back to Gavre, lower down the Scheldt. It was now Marlborough's object to cross this river before the enemy, and give them battle on the left bank as they came; but there was a toilsome march of fifteen miles before this object could be attained; and although the French were able to cross the river first and take up a good defensive position on the swelling uplands or "Couters" to the north of Oudenarde, they were quite unprepared for the sudden presence of the allies on the afternoon of the 11th of July, and their readiness to give immediate battle. The French were, moreover, suffering from the evils of divided authority. Louis had appointed his grandson the Duke of Burgundy command. to the supreme command, in deference to his dignity; but the Duke, although instructed to act solely with the advice of Vendome, was not disposed to hold a nominal position, especially as there existed no sympathy between him and the Marshal in command. The consequence was a fatal confusion of orders in the battle which ensued. The French under divided The battle. The engagement began about three o'clock and became general between five and six. It continued till night, when the enemy retreated towards Ghent in great confusion. Scarcely any use was made of artillery, because the march of both armies had been too rapid to allow of their cannon being brought up in time. The veteran Marshal Auverquerque greatly distinguished himself in this battle, and by the fury of his attack almost destroyed the French right wing. The electoral Prince of Hanover, afterwards George II., also gave proofs of his valour, and bravely led his cavalry repeatedly to the charge. The loss of the allied army was about 3000 in killed and wounded; that of the enemy was probably 6000, besides which 9000 prisoners were taken. Bruges Ghent and Bruges were recaptured; the fortified lines of the French near Ypres were destroyed, and Lille, the Ghent and strongest fortress in Flanders, was taken after a siege of three retaken. months (29th of December). This siege was one of the most sanguinary operations Siego and of the war, and was distinguished by a brilliant action capture of in which General Webb, with a detachment of only 6000 Lille. CHAP. II. men, successfully defended a convoy from Ostend, when he was attacked at Wynendale by a French force of more than 20,000 men (27th September, 1708). Marshal The veteran Marshal Auverquerque closed his long Death of and active career at this siege, worn out with the Auverquerque fatigues of the service and the infirmities of premature age (22nd Oct.). ance. In other quarters the allies achieved successes of some importThe island of Sardinia was taken by Admiral Leake; the same enterprising commander also captured Port Mahon in Minorca, in conjunction with General Stanhope, who had considerably retrieved the fortunes of Charles in Cata Capture of lonia.* In May, Commodore Wager with four men of war fell upon the Spanish Plate fleet of seventeen galleons between Carthagena and Portobello, and after a fierce battle destroyed or captured nearly the whole of them. Death of 30. The Whigs force Godolphin to admit them to Office.-The removal of Harley and St. John from the Ministry had by no means satisfied the ambition of the Whigs, who now sought to place Somers in the Presidency of the Council, and to remove Prince George of Denmark from his office of Lord High Admiral. The death of the Prince in October (1708) relieved them of this difficulty. Lord Pembroke was transferred to the vacant post, and his office of President was bestowed on Somers; Wharton became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; and before the close of the year 1709, Russell, Earl of Orford, was again at the head of the Admiralty. Halifax, the remaining member of the famous Whig Junto, obtained no office; but his brother, Sir James Montague, became Attorney-General. None of these changes were agreeable to the Queen, between whom and the Duchess of Marlborough, the estrangement was daily respondence widening, while her secret correspondence with Harley was with Harley. growing closer and more familiar. Under the tuition of The Queen in secret cor this political intriguer, the Queen raised difficulties and objections against everything that her Ministers proposed, and the more they remonstrated with her the more was she incensed against them. In after times, Harley and his associates boasted how they were frequently at Court, secretly giving their advice when Godoland the Whigs were asleep. Such was the commencement of hope's Queen Anne, II., 68-87; Coxe's Marlborough, II., Chapter 69. 1709 hostile to the the system of political intrigue which disturbed the remainder of this reign, and of which there is only one explanation. Anne was secretly hostile to the succession of the House The Queen of Hanover, and cherished a natural although dangerous Hanoverian wish, that her brother might be her successor. Harley succession. adroitly encouraged this humour, and thus secured the Queen's real favour. He was, however, not the only statesman who carried his Jacobitism to the point where it was safe and profitable. It was a matter of calculation with many, whether the Elector of Hanover or the Chevalier St. George, should come to the throne; and even Godolphin and the Duke of Marlborough still regarded the succession of the latter prince, as a chance not wholly unwelcome.* Parliament 31. Parliamentary Session 1708-1709.-The first Parliament of Great Britain existed no more than one session, and a new one assembled on the 16th of November, 1708. The A new Whigs preponderated, so that the changes in the Ministry with a Whig just related, received the support of the new legislature. majority. A bill for assimilating the law of treason in Scotland to that of England, and abolishing the use of torture, was brought in and carried; and an Act of Grace was also passed, pardoning all those who had committed treason before the signing of the former Act (19 April, 1709) except such as had so offended on the sea, in the Pretender's recent attempt to invade Scotland. Act for the Another statute passed in this session, is still in existence. The Russian ambassador was arrested for debt by a London tradesman. The Czar resented this insult to the repre- immunity of sentative of his sovereignty, and an Act was passed (7 ambassadors. Anne, c. 12) by which all process against an ambassador, or any of his domestic servants, is declared null and void.† Pecuniary This Parliament was not less liberal than the previous one in granting supplies, and £6,500,000 were voted. A loan of £400,000 was obtained from the Bank of England, for which the company was compensated by the renewal of its charter for twentyone years, and authority to double its capital by subscription. So abundant were both money and confidence at the country. this time in the city, that the Bank filled up its new subscription book in one morning, to the extent of more than two millions. prosperity of Knight's Popular History, V., 339; Stanhope's Queen Anne, II., 94. Distressing condition of France. CHAP. II. 32. Attempts to negotiate a Peace.-Far different was the position of France. The winter of 1709 was unusally severe, in that country; an inteuse frost continued for many weeks, and the grain, the vines and the olive trees were destroyed. The price of bread rose enormously. Dividends upon public loans were unpaid; taxes were rigorously levied, the coin was debased, and everything rose in price. In such a grievous strait, Louis expressed his willingness to accept terms of peace. In the following May the allies presented forty preliminary articles, enumerating all the concessions required from France, and demanding from Louis that, if King Philip refused to surrender the crown of Spain and the Indies to the House of Austria (which the French king himself had offered to do) he should join the allies in dethroning his grandson. The pride of the Grand Monarch was roused by this last insulting demand, and in a full Council of his ministers at Versailles, he haughtily rejected it, exclaiming, "If I must wage war, I would rather wage it against my enemies than against my children." He then issued a circular letter through all the provinces, and appealed to the people. The national honour and martial spirit of the French were roused; contributions came in from all classes for the support of the war; recruits flocked to the army in vast numbers; and the allies saw before them the prospect of a harder campaign, than any they had yet undertaken.* One portion of the negotiations conducted at this time, deserves particular mention. As early as 1701 when the Grand Alliance was formed under the auspices of William III., the Dutch had demanded a chain of fortresses as a barrier between them and France. In 1706 this question was again discussed, but the States General then extended their demands, and claimed a portion of the adjoining provinces also. Marlborough refused his consent to The Barrier this, and the matter was accordingly referred to a future negotiation. The question of the barrier, therefore, again came up during the negotiations of 1709, and a treaty was concluded by Lord Townshend, whom the Cabinet had sent as second plenipotentiary with Marlborough, in which it was agreed that in return for the States General guaranteeing the Protestant Succession in England, the latter power would insist upon certain fortified places in the Spanish Netherlands being surrendered to the Dutch, as a barrier against France, and would furthermore maintain them, if necessary, by force of arms. Marlborough objected to the surrender of two of the fortresses named (Dendermond and the Castle of Ghent), and declined to sign the treaty.† * Knight, V., 343; Stanhope, II., 102-113. +Stanhope's Queen Anne, II., 102-105, and 114; Coxe's Marlborough, I., 479; II., 412, 413. Dyer's Modern Europe, III., 197. 1709 6.-MARLBOROUGH'S DECLINE AND GODOLPHIN'S FALL. 33. The Battle of Malplaquet.-Hopes of peace having thus vanished, hostilities speedily recommenced. On the 21st of June, both Marlborough and Eugene took the field at the head of 110,000 men, and encamped in the plain before Lille, with the design of marching upon Paris. But Marshal Villars had strongly entrenched himself on the plain of Lens, between Douai and the Lys, and the allies not daring to leave him in their rear, and finding his position too strong to be assailed, suddenly changed their plans and invested Tournay. The town surrendered in three weeks (29th of July), but the citadel held out until the 3rd of September. Siege of Tournay. After the fall of Tournay, Marlborough and Eugene proceeded to invest Mons, and were followed thither by Villars, who had now been joined by Marshal Boufflers, and also by the Chevalier St. George. After some slight operations, Villars took up a strong "between position at Malplaquet, at a "Trouée" or "cleared space' of the two the wood of Lanières on his right, and that of Taisnières, with the wood of Sars on his left. His centre was Positions protected with intrenchments and abattis of trees, armies. thrown up in front of the camp. The allied forces were posted in the plain, fronting the opening between the woods; Eugene commanded the right opposite Villars, and Marlborough confronted Boufflers with the left and centre. The two armies were nearly equal in strength, each containing about 90,000 men, and both were eager for action. Marlborough's determination to attack the enemy in such a formidable position has been considered rash; but the maintenance of the siege of Mons rendered a battle inevitable, and at eight o'clock on the The attack. morning of the 11th September the onset was made. The French right was covered by a morass. This obstacle was rapidly overcome, and the allied left wing, composed of Dutch and Highlanders, and led by the Prince of Orange, then made a fierce rush upon the intrenchments, the first and second lines of which they carried, but were unable to hold for want of reserves. Marshal Villars during this, withdrew the Irish Brigade and some Breton regiments from his centre, and sallying from his works, fell furiously upon the English and Prussians in the wood of Taisnières. Marlborough instantly took advantage of this movement, |