Chapter XVI: The Reign of Anne (2)

Anne expressed her entire concurrence in these views, and the Lords then presented another address in answer to the second address of the Commons. They charged the Commons with manifesting a want of zeal for the queen's safety, and with showing a strange reluctance that the particulars of the plot should be brought to light, obstructing all through, as much as in them lay, the necessary inquiry; and fresh fuel was immediately furnished to the flame already blazing between the two Houses. One Matthew Ashby, a freeman of Aylesbury, brought an action against William White and others, the constables of Aylesbury, for preventing him from exercising his franchise at the last election. This was an unheard-of proceeding, all matters relating to elections being from time immemorial referred to the House of Commons itself. The circumstances of the case, however, furnished some reason for this departure from the rule. It appeared that four constables made the return, who were known to have bargained with a particular candidate, and to have so managed that the election should be his. In appeals to the Commons the party which happened to be in power had in a most barefaced manner always decided in favour of the man of their own side. Ashby, therefore, sought what he hoped would prove a more impartial tribunal. He tried the cause at the assizes, and won it; but it was then moved in the Queen's Bench to quash these proceedings as novel and contrary to all custom. Three of the judges were opposed to hearing the case, the matter belonging notoriously to the House of Commons; and they argued that, if this practice were introduced, it would occasion a world of suits, and make the office of returning members a very dangerous one. The Lord Chief Justice Holt alone was in favour of it. He contended that there was a great difference between the election of a member and a right to vote. The decision of the election undoubtedly belonged to the Commons, but the right to vote being founded upon a forty-shilling freehold, upon burgage land, upon a prescription, or the charter of a borough, was clearly establishable by a court of law. The judges at length permitted the trial, but, being three against one, the decision was for the constables. This aroused the indignation of the whole Whig party, and the cause was removed by a writ of error to the House of Lords. The Lords, after a full hearing, and taking the opinions of the judges, confirmed the judgment given in favour of Ashby at the assizes.

The Commons now took up the affair with great warmth. They passed five resolutions--namely, that all matters relating to elections and the right of examining and determining the qualifications of electors belonged solely to them; that Ashby was guilty of a breach of their privileges, and they denounced the utmost weight of their resentment against all persons who should follow his example and bring any such suit into a court of law, as well as against all counsel, attorneys, or others who should assist in such suit. They ordered these resolutions to be affixed to the gates of Westminster Hall. The Lords took instant measures to rebut these charges. They appointed a committee to draw up a statement of the case, and resolved upon its Report "that every person being wilfully hindered from exercising his right of voting might seek for justice and redress in common courts of law against the officer by whom his vote had been refused; that any assertion to the contrary was destructive of the property of the subject, against the freedom of election, and manifestly tending to the encouragement of bribery and corruption; and finally that the declaring Matthew Ashby guilty of a breach of privilege of the House of Commons was an unprecedented attempt upon the Judicature of Parliament in the House of Lords, and an attempt to subject the law of England to the will and votes of the Commons."

They ordered the Lord-Keeper to send copies of the case and their votes to all the Sheriffs of England, to be by them communicated to the boroughs in their respective counties. The House of Commons was greatly enraged at this, but it had no power to prevent it, and it had the mortification to see that the public feeling went entirely with the Lords, who certainly were the defenders of the rights of the subject, whilst the Commons, corruptly refusing a just redress to such appeals, endeavoured to prevent the sufferers from obtaining it anywhere else.

One of the most striking acts of this reign was the grant of the first-fruits and tenths of church livings to the poor clergy. The tenths were about eleven thousand pounds a year, and the first-fruits about five thousand pounds. These moneys had been collected by the bishops since the Reformation and paid to the Crown. They had never, says Burnet, "been applied to any good use, but were still obtained by favourites for themselves and friends, and in King Charles's time went chiefly amongst his women and children. It seemed strange that, whilst the clergy had much credit at Court, they had never resented this as sacrilege unless it were applied to some religious purpose, and that during Archbishop Laud's favour with King Charles I., or at the restoration of King Charles II., no endeavours had been used to appropriate this to better uses; sacrilege was charged on other things on very slight grounds, but this, which was more visible, was always forgot." But the fund was too convenient a fund for favourites to get grants upon. It is much to the credit of Burnet that he managed to divert this misused fund from the greedy clutches of courtiers and mistresses, to the amelioration of the condition of the unhappy working clergy. He proposed the scheme first to William, who listened to it readily, being assured by Burnet that nothing would tend to draw the hearts of the clergy so much towards him, and put a stop to the groundless clamour that he was the enemy of the clergy. Somers and Halifax heartily concurred in the plan; but the avaricious old Sunderland got a grant of it upon two dioceses for two thousand pounds a year for two lives, which frustrated the aims of the reformers. Burnet, however, succeeded better with Anne. He represented that there were hundreds of cures that had not twenty pounds a year, and some thousands that had not thirty pounds, and asked what could the clergy be or do under such circumstances? Therefore, on the 7th of February, 1704, Sir Charles Hedges, the Secretary of State, announced to the Commons that her Majesty had remitted the arrears of the tenths to the poor clergy, and had resolved to grant in future the whole of the first-fruits and tenths for the augmentation of small livings. The Commons replied in an address, expressing their sense of her pious care for the Church, and brought in a Bill to enable her to alienate this branch of the revenue, and to create a corporation by charter, to apply the money, according to the queen's intention, in increasing the wretched stipends of the poorer clergy. There was an attempt made to relieve the clergy altogether from the payment of first-fruits and tenths, and to devote some other fund to the relief of the poor clergy; but as Anne's intention was not to relieve the rich but to comfort the poor, she would not listen to it. The Statute of Mortmain was also relaxed by a provision of the Bill, so far as to allow individuals to make augmentations to benefices by deed of gift or by bequest. The Bishops were unanimous for the Bill, and addresses of thanks from all the clergy of England were presented to Anne on the occasion of this noble gift of what has been ever since known as Queen Anne's Bounty. However, Anne was far from being so generous to Dissenters, or to any other sect in the kingdom. On the contrary, she had just before allowed the Parliament of Ireland to stop the poor sum of twelve hundred pounds per annum, which had been paid by the late king to the indigent Presbyterian ministers of Ulster, who had so manfully defended the north of Ireland against James.

On the 3rd of April the queen prorogued Parliament till the 4th of July. The Convocation had during this time kept up its bitter controversy, and had done nothing more except thank the queen for the grant of the first-fruits and tenths, and the Commons for having espoused their cause.

Marlborough had left London for the Hague on the 15th of January whilst Parliament was sitting. He was promised fifty thousand British troops under his own immediate command, and he was planning a campaign which gave the first evidence of a real military genius being at the head of the Allied forces, since these Dutch wars began. He saw that the Elector of Bavaria, by his alliance with the French, was striking at the very heart of the Empire, and that, if permitted to continue his plans, he would soon, with his French allies, be in possession of Vienna. Nothing could be more deplorable than the condition of Austria. Besides the successes of the Elector of Bavaria, the insurgents of Hungary were triumphant, and between the two the Empire was on the verge of ruin. The Elector of Bavaria had possessed himself of all the places on the Danube as far as Passau, and should he come to act in concert with the Hungarians, Vienna would be lost. Prince Eugene put himself into communication with Marlborough, and these two great generals determined on striking a blow which should at once free Austria from its dangers. This was no other than a bold march of a powerful army to the Danube, and the destruction of the Elector of Bavaria.

This was a design so far out of the mediocre range of Dutch campaigns that it was determined not to let its real character become known till it could be instantly put in execution, certain that the States-General, terrified at so daring a scheme, would prohibit it at once. To go securely to work, therefore, by the advice of Eugene, the Emperor applied to the Queen of England to send an army to his rescue. Marlborough supported the application with all his energy, and, having procured the queen's consent, he left England on the 15th of January, was in the Hague on the 19th, and put himself into secret communication with the Grand Pensionary Heinsius. He fully approved of the scheme, and promised to give it his most strenuous support. It was thought, however, imprudent to confide the real extent of the plan to other persons, not only because it was sure to alarm the States-General, but because it had been all along observed that every proposal, as soon as it became known to the Government or heads of the army, was immediately treacherously conveyed to the French. The proposal made to the States-General, therefore, was merely that the next campaign should be made on the Moselle, as if the design were to penetrate into France along that river.

The States-General, as was expected, appeared thunderstruck by even the proposal of carrying the war to the Moselle, and it was only by the zeal of Heinsius that they were brought to consent to it. That accomplished, they were induced to grant a subsidy to the Prince of Baden, and another to the Circle of Suabia, and to take into pay four thousand Würtembergers instead of the same number of Dutch and English despatched to Portugal. There was a promise of money given to the Prince of Savoy, with an assurance of so vigorous a campaign on this side of the Alps that the French should not be able to send many troops against him. Similar assurances of co-operation were given to the Elector Palatine and to the new King of Prussia. These matters being arranged, Marlborough hastened back to England, and persuaded the queen to remit a hundred thousand crowns to Suabia, and to make a large remittance to the Prince of Baden out of the privy purse. He then put himself on a good understanding with the now partly Whig Ministry, himself as well as his indefatigable duchess coming out in Whig colours. He then returned to the Netherlands in the beginning of April. He found in his absence that the terms of his design, little of it as was known, had been actively operating in the cautious Dutch mind, and the States of Zealand and Friesland in particular were vehemently opposed to so bold a measure as carrying the war to the Moselle. Marlborough, who had brought with him to support him in command his brother General Churchill, Lieutenant-General Lumley, the Earl of Orkney, and other officers of distinction, told the States plainly that he had the authority of his queen for taking such measures as he thought best for the common cause, and that he was determined to march with his forty thousand men to the Moselle. This struck with silence the opposers of the measure: the States consented with a good grace to the proposition, and gave him such powers as they never would have done had they any idea to what an extent he meant to use them. Prince Eugene alone, who was commanding the Allied army on the Upper Danube, was in the secret. Leaving Overkirk with a strong force to guard the frontiers of Holland, he commenced at once his march to Utrecht, where he spent a few days with Albemarle, thence to Ruremond, and so to Maestricht, and on the 8th of May advanced to Bedburg, in the Duchy of Juliers, which had been appointed as the place of rendezvous. There he found General Churchill with fifty-one battalions, and ninety-two squadrons of horse.

Being joined by various detachments of Prussians, Hessians, Lüneburgers, and others, and also by eleven Dutch battalions, Marlborough, on the 19th of May, commenced his great expedition into the heart of Germany. On the 26th he was at Coblentz, and from the grand old fortress of Ehrenbreitstein he watched the passage of his army over the Moselle and the Rhine. He wrote to the States-General for fresh reinforcements in order to secure his most important movement, and marched along the banks of the Rhine to Broubach. There he also wrote to the King of Prussia, praising the Prussian troops, and entreating him to send him more of them. While he was at Mainz, he halted a day to rest his troops, and there received the agreeable news that the States were sending after him twenty squadrons, and eight battalions of Danish auxiliaries; but at the same time he was mortified to find that the Prince of Baden had managed so badly as to allow the ten thousand troops forwarded by Tallard to join the Elector of Bavaria without molestation, and had lost the most tempting opportunities, whilst the Elector was marching through narrow defiles, of cutting off his march and reducing him to extremities.

The French were filled with wonder at this march of Marlborough, far out from the usual scene of the English operations, and could not for some time realise the object of it. At one time they expected only an attack on the Moselle, but that river and the Rhine being crossed, they apprehended that his design was to raise the siege of Landau, and this was confirmed by the advance of the Landgrave of Hesse to Mannheim. But when he crossed the Neckar and advanced on Erpingen, and was continually strengthened by fresh junctions of Prussians, Hessians, and Palatines, they began to comprehend his real object. He waited at Erpingen for the coming up of General Churchill with the artillery and part of the infantry, and he employed the time in sending a despatch to warn the Prince of Baden that Tallard and Villeroi were about to unite their armies, pass the Rhine, and hasten to the support of the Elector of Bavaria. He pressed on the prince the extreme importance of preventing this passage of the French army. He told him that they must not trouble themselves about any damage that Villeroi might do on the left bank of the Rhine, if he could only be kept there, as in that case he felt assured that six weeks would see the army of the Elector of Bavaria annihilated, and the Empire saved.

Marlborough was anxious to keep the Prince of Baden engaged on the Rhine, so that he might himself have the co-operation of the far abler Eugene on the Danube. On the 9th of June he crossed the Neckar again, marched to Mondelsheim, and on the 10th met for the first time Prince Eugene, who was destined to be for ever connected with his name in military glory. At Hippach Marlborough reviewed his cavalry in the presence of Eugene, who expressed his utmost admiration at their appearance and discipline. He was equally struck with the lively and ardent expression of the countenances of the English soldiers, which Marlborough handsomely assured him was caused by their pleasure in seeing so renowned a commander. To the intense mortification of Eugene and Marlborough, the Prince of Baden, whom they were anxious to detain on the Rhine, quitted the post where his presence was so much required, and came up and joined them. He was determined to be in the quarter where the greatest share of reputation was to be won, and from his princely rank he did not hesitate to claim the chief command.

This notion of their princely claims, combined with their mediocrity of military talent, has always been the mischief of a campaign in alliance with the small princes of Germany. The whole plan of Marlborough and Eugene was in danger of defeat, and Eugene was compelled to go to the Rhine, and Marlborough to admit of the Prince of Baden taking the command on alternate days. He secretly resolved, however, that any actions of consequence should be entered upon only on his own day. Eugene had now taken his departure, and on the 15th of June was at Philippsburg, on the Rhine, and Marlborough felt it time to press on, for the States-General were now continually sending to him alarming accounts of the French, and entreating him to send back part of his army for their defence. Accordingly, on the 20th, he set forward, and passed successfully the narrow, dangerous, and troublesome pass of Geislingen, lying amongst the mountains which separated him from the plains of the Danube. This pass was two miles long, heavy with the deepest mud, and abounding with torrents swollen by the rains. Once through, he came into contact with the forces of the Prince of Baden, which were posted at Wertersteppen. On the 24th the united armies reached Elchingen, near the Danube. The Elector of Bavaria, who was posted at Ulm, retired, at his approach, along the banks of the Danube to a former encampment of himself and his French allies, in a low and swampy place between Lauingen and Dillingen. Marlborough advanced to the little river Brenz, and encamped within two leagues of the enemy, with his right at Amerdighem and his left at Onderingen. There he waited till the 27th, when his brother, General Churchill, came up with the artillery and part of the infantry. The army now amounted to ninety-six battalions, two hundred and two squadrons, with forty-eight pieces of artillery, pontoons, etc. He still, however, judged it prudent to wait for the Danish horse under the Duke of Würtemberg, which were daily expected.

During this delay the Elector forestalled the Allies in securing the fortress of the Schellenberg, situated on a lofty hill overhanging the town of Donauwörth. Marlborough saw the immense advantage thus gained, and determined, cost what it might, to drive them from this stronghold. It was held by the General Count D'Arco, with twelve thousand men; and it was clear that it could not be forced without great loss. But there was no time to delay. So long as the Elector held Schellenberg he kept them in check, and was enabled to wait for the arrival of French forces sent to relieve him. The Prince of Baden was confounded at the daring of such an undertaking, and strongly opposed it; but Marlborough told him that every day's delay only enabled the enemy to strengthen himself by fresh entrenchments both there and in their swampy camp. On the 1st of July Marlborough, having the command for the day, ordered the assault of the Schellenberg. At three o'clock in the morning this hardy attempt began. The picked troops advanced to the front of the Schellenberg, crossing, on bridges prepared for the occasion, the deep and rapid stream called the Wernitz, about noon. The Austrian grenadiers were far in the rear, and it was five in the afternoon before the order was given for the column to ascend. It was a murderous prospect for the assailants. The hill was steep and rugged; the ascent was rendered additionally difficult by a wood, a rivulet, and a deep ravine; whilst the summit of the hill was covered with soldiers ready to pour down the most destructive storm of shot, and that with the prospect of an unlimited supply of soldiers and ammunition from Donauwörth and the camp on the other side of the Danube, which was connected with this side by a bridge. Lord Mordaunt with fifty English grenadiers led the way as a forlorn hope. The officers of the attacking column were nearly all killed, and it appeared likely to be swept down the hill, but a battalion of English Guards stood its ground firmly, and restored the courage of the rest, and once more they advanced. D'Arco then gathered in his flanks and threw the whole weight of his soldiery upon them to annihilate them, still pouring murderous discharges of grape into them. It appeared impossible that any body of men could exist under such disadvantages, and the whole column seemed giving way, when General Lumley rushed forward at the head of a body of horse, rallied the failing ranks, and led them again to the charge. During this terrible conflict the assailants had not been sacrificed unavenged. They had exterminated their enemies almost as fast as they came, and at this moment a powder magazine exploding in the camp of the Bavarians, spread such consternation that the Allies, taking advantage of the panic, rushed forward, burst into the entrenchments, and threw the whole force into confusion. This confusion was put to the climax by the Bavarians observing the Prince of Baden ascending the hill from the side of Donauwörth, at the head of the Imperial troops. The panic was complete; the French and Bavarians broke in every direction, and made the best of their way down the hill to secure the passage of the bridge over the Danube. The Allies gave chase, and made a fearful carnage amongst the fugitives. By the time they reached the bridge, such was the rush and crush to cross it that it gave way. Numbers were plunged into the stream and perished; numbers were driven by the force behind over the banks; numbers were massacred on the spot. Of the twelve thousand troops who had ascended the Schellenberg, only three thousand ever rejoined the Elector of Bavaria, but many came in as stragglers and joined the Allies. There were seven or eight thousand destroyed on that bloody evening.

What was to be expected from the particular spirit which the Prince of Baden had shown, took place. Though he deprecated the attack of the Schellenberg at all, and though he allowed the English to bear the terrible brunt of the ascent, and came up in the rear of the engagement, because he reached the entrenchments before Marlborough himself came up, he claimed the honour of the victory. Had he headed the attacking column, he would have had no other claim but that of a brave officer, for the whole plan of the campaign and the whole plan of the attack of the Schellenberg were Marlborough's. Had the prince had his way, there would have been no battle at all. Marlborough repelled the mean attempt to steal his victory with contempt, and spoke some homely truths to the Prince. It served the Louvestein faction in the Netherlands, however, with a pretext to injure Marlborough, by casting a medal bearing the portrait of the Prince, and on the reverse the lines of Schellenberg. But all over the world, not excepting Germany, justice was done to Marlborough, and from that moment his name became famous, celebrated in songs even by the French, dreaded by French children, whose mothers stilled them with the terrible word "Malbrouk."

But the French were hastening to prevent the destruction of their Bavarian ally. Marlborough received the news that they had promised to send to the Elector, under Tallard, fifty battalions of foot, and sixty squadrons of horse of the best troops in France, which should make him stronger than the Confederates. These troops had already crossed the Rhine, and were making their way through the Black Forest. At the same time Eugene, though obliged to divide his forces, at once to watch Villeroi on the Rhine and to check the march of Tallard, promised Marlborough that he would do his uttermost to retard the junction. Meanwhile the Elector, in too dangerous a proximity to the victorious army, abandoned Donauwörth, broke up his camp, and retreated towards Augsburg, leaving his own dominions open to the incursions of the Allies. Marlborough lost no time in availing himself of the chance. He prepared to cross the deep and rapid river Lech, which was effected on the 7th of July at Gunderkingen.

Marlborough was now in Bavaria, and the garrison at Neuburg retreating to Ingolstadt, he had the whole of the country at his mercy. He posted his camp at Mittelstetten on the 10th, and sent word to the Elector that if he did not choose to come to terms he would do his best to ruin his country; but the Elector, strongly encamped under the walls of Augsburg, and promised early succour by the French, made no sign of treating. Marlborough suffered his troops to levy contributions on the country round, and his army lived luxuriously at the expense of the unfortunate Bavarians. The true policy of the Allies was to march on the Elector, and dispose of him before the French could come up; but for this the Prince of Baden was in too ill a humour. In fact, the two generals were on the worst possible terms with each other, and the consequence was, the obvious interests of the campaign were sacrificed to the feud and jealousy of the leaders. Marlborough proposed to march on Munich, the capital, and take it, but the Prince would not furnish the necessary artillery, and the thing was impossible. Marlborough spent five days in taking Rain, a fortress of little consequence. He also dispatched thirty squadrons to assist Eugene in obstructing the march of the French to join the Elector. He contrived also to open negotiations with the Elector of Bavaria. The envoy of the Emperor offered to the Elector to restore all his dominions, and pay him a subsidy of two hundred thousand crowns, on condition of his breaking with the French and assisting the Emperor with twelve thousand men. But the negotiation came to nothing, for Tallard was now rapidly advancing with his army, and the Elector, instead of keeping an appointment with the Emperor's envoy, sent him word that since the King of France had made such powerful exertions to support him, he thought himself in honour obliged to remain firm to his alliance. The Allied generals were so much exasperated at this result that they gave up the whole country, as far as the walls of Munich, to the ravages of the soldiery, and three hundred burning towns, villages, and castles marked the terrible fury of the Allies, and left an indelible stain on the glories of that campaign.

Scarcely had Marlborough removed from before Augsburg when the Elector quitted his camp and marched to Biberach, and there effected a junction with Tallard.

On the 6th of August Prince Eugene galloped into Marlborough's camp to announce this fact, and to take measures for competing with them. It was resolved between them to get rid of the fatal incubus of the Prince of Baden, with his pride and his jealousy, by leaving him to continue the siege of Ingolstadt, for which purpose they left him twenty-three battalions and thirty-one squadrons. Marlborough then prepared again to cross the Lech and the Danube, and advance to Exheim. Here Prince Eugene, who had set out to bring up his force to form a junction with Marlborough, galloped back to inform him that the united French and Bavarian army was in full march towards Dillingen, evidently intending to attack the little army of Eugene. It was, therefore, agreed that the troops of Eugene should fall back, and those of Marlborough should cross the Danube to make a speedy junction with them. Eugene took possession of the strong camp on the Schellenberg, and had his main position at Donauwörth. On the evening of the 10th Marlborough began to throw detachments of his army across the Danube--an operation of no little difficulty, owing to his having to cross the Aicha, the Lech, and the Wernitz, as well as the Danube, and all these floods were swollen by the rains. The whole of the army, however, was got over at different points on the 11th, and on the 12th Marlborough's baggage and artillery came up.

The English Guards were pushed forward towards Schwenningen, and Marlborough and Eugene ascended together the tower of a village church to get a view of the country. There they discovered the French and Bavarians busy marking out a camp between Blenheim and Lutzingen. They saw at once the great advantage they should have by falling on the enemy before they had strongly entrenched themselves, and whilst in the confusion of encamping themselves. No sooner, however, did they issue their orders, than some of the general officers demurred as to the danger of attacking the foe in so strong a position as the one they had chosen. But Marlborough told them that circumstances compelled them to fight, and the sooner the better. Marlborough and Eugene were busy planning the order of the battle, and at two o'clock of the morning of the 13th of August, the forces were in full advance. In another hour they were across the Kessell, with a combined force of fifty-two thousand men and fifty-two pieces of artillery.

Tallard saw the march of the Allied army with great satisfaction. He thought it would now be easy for him to interpose a strong force between Marlborough and the army of the Prince of Baden before Ingolstadt. But the Allies did not mean to give him any time for that. They pushed briskly forward over very difficult ground, intersected by rivulets and ditches; and as they were seen at seven in the morning steadily advancing, the French and Bavarians hastily abandoned the new lines which they were forming, and retreated towards their old camp. On still went Marlborough and Eugene, accompanied in advance by a Prussian officer who had fought there the preceding year, and knew the country well. They found the enemy posted along the rising ground from Blenheim to Lutzingen, with a gap between the villages, which they had endeavoured to render secure by posting there a strong body of cavalry. At the same time, between Blenheim and the Danube, was made a strong barricade of waggons, behind which were stationed a brigade of dismounted dragoons. Three brigades of cavalry took up their stand in the village, and barricaded all entrances or openings with waggons, felled trees, planks, or whatever could be found. Tallard was in command at Blenheim, the Elector of Bavaria and General Marsin at Lutzingen. The castle and church-tower at Blenheim were filled with soldiers, and the Count Clerambault was ordered to defend the village of Blenheim by his artillery to the last.

Against this position, defended by fifty-seven thousand men, or about five thousand more than the Allies, advanced the Confederate army. In front of the enemy also ran the little river Nebel, which was deep, and the bottom muddy. Marlborough led on the left wing against Blenheim, and Eugene the right against Lutzingen. The first of the army to cross the Nebel and advance against Blenheim was a body of English and Hessians under Major-General Wilkes and Lord Cutts. Cutts, who was famous for a storm, was ordered to make an impetuous attack on the village; and, getting across the Nebel by means of fascines, he led his horse under a terrible fire of grape right against the palisadoes and barricades. The French poured into the assailants, however, such a storm of grape as mowed down great numbers of officers and men, amongst whom was General Rowe, who had advanced to the very face of the palisadoes with his lieutenant-colonel and major. The English in the van were thrown into confusion and assailed by three squadrons of gendarmes; but the Hessians advanced to their aid, and the French were driven back to their lines. Lord Cutts then led on his horse, and maintained a desperate fight under the fire of the protected French. Whilst they were engaged in this deadly _mélée_ the brigades of Hudson and Ferguson had crossed the stream, and marched right up to the village, silencing some batteries which commanded the fords of the river. The fight was maintained hand to hand, the opponents thrusting at each other through the interstices of the palisadoes; but the contest was too unequal between the covered and uncovered, and with the soldiers from the old castle and the church-tops pouring down showers of musket-balls on the Allies.

During this time Marlborough had been leading another body of troops along the banks of the Nebel, and joining them under a terrible fire of grape opposite to the gap between the villages, and only waiting, to bear on this point, for the artillery, under the Prince of Holstein-Beck, getting over the river. The Prince no sooner had got partly across the stream than his advance was furiously attacked by the Irish Brigade, which was in the pay of Louis XIV. They cut the advance nearly to pieces, and would have effectually prevented the transit of artillery had not Marlborough himself hastened to the spot and beaten them off, as well as heavy bodies of French and Bavarian cavalry. He then posted a body of horse along the river to protect the crossing of the forces.

Lord Cutts during this had fallen back from the entrenchments of the village, finding it impossible to clear a way into it without artillery. But the artillery over, Marlborough united his forces with those of Eugene, which were bearing on Lutzingen, and was preparing for his grand design of cutting the French and Bavarians asunder, by throwing his whole weight on the cavalry posted between the villages. It was not, however, till five in the afternoon that he was able to lead on the attack, consisting of two columns of horse supported by infantry. He dashed rapidly up the hill towards the important point, on which was concentrated Tallard's cavalry, and part of the infantry from the village. Marlborough gained the summit of the hill under heavy loss, but there the enemy stood in such solid force that he was driven back for a hundred paces. The heat of the battle was at this point, and if Marlborough had been compelled to give way, there was little chance of succeeding against the enemy; but he returned with all his vigour to the charge, by this time his artillery had gained the summit, and after a desperate struggle the fire of the French began to slacken. As soon as he perceived that, he made a grand charge, broke the horse, and cut to pieces or made prisoners of seven regiments of infantry.

Tallard, seeing his cavalry in flight, and his infantry fast being overpowered, sent messengers to call the Elector to his aid, and to order up the rest of the infantry from Blenheim. But the Elector was in full engagement with Eugene, and found enough to do to maintain possession of Lutzingen. Nor did Marlborough allow time for the coming up of fresh enemies. He attacked Tallard with such impetuosity, and such an overwhelming force of cavalry, that he was completely disorganised, and, turning his horse, galloped off towards Sonderheim, another part of his cavalry making for Hochstadt. Marlborough pursued Tallard at full speed, slaughtering his men all down the declivity towards the Danube, where they had thrown over a bridge between Hochstadt and Blenheim; but being so pressed, and at the same time attacked in the flank, numbers were forced into the river and perished. Tallard, being surrounded, and his son killed, was compelled to surrender near a mill behind the village of Sonderheim, together with the Marquis of Montperous, General of Horse, the Majors-General de Seppeville, De Silly, De la Valiere, and many other officers. Those who fled towards Hochstadt fared little better. They became entangled in a morass, where they were cut to pieces, drowned in the Danube, or made prisoners, except the celebrated brigade of Grignan, and some of the gendarmes, who regained the heights of Hochstadt.

Meanwhile Prince Eugene had been sharply engaged with the Elector of Bavaria at Lutzingen, and after receiving several repulses had succeeded in driving the Elector out of Lutzingen; and, turning his flank, he posted himself on the edge of a ravine to mark the condition of the field in general. He there received a message from Marlborough to say that he was now able to come to his assistance if he needed it; but the prince replied that he had no need of it, for the forces of Marsin and the Elector were driven out of Lutzingen and Oberclau, and that his cavalry were pursuing them to Morselingen and Teissenhoven, whence they retreated to Dillingen and Lauingen. Marlborough despatched a body of cavalry to Eugene near the blazing village of Lutzingen; but the darkness now settling down, the commander, amid the smoke of powder and of the burning village, mistook the troops of Eugene for the Bavarians and wheeled round, so that the opportunity was lost of inflicting fresh injury on the fugitives.

There were still twelve thousand men unsubdued in Blenheim, and Marlborough began to surround the place. These forces had lost their commander, Clerambault, who had been carried away in the rush down the hill and was drowned in the Danube; but the men still made a vigorous resistance. Every minute, however, they were getting more hemmed in by troops and artillery. Fire was set to the buildings, and every chance of escape was cut off. For some time they maintained a killing fire from the walls and houses; but as the flames advanced, they made several attempts at cutting through their assailants, but were driven back at every point. They finally offered to capitulate, but Marlborough would hear of nothing but an unconditional surrender, to which they were obliged to assent. Besides these, whole regiments had laid down their arms, and begged for quarter. Thus was annihilated at a blow the invincible army of France, which was to have seized on Vienna, destroyed the Empire, and placed all Germany and the Continent under the feet of Louis. The event had fully justified the bold design of Marlborough; instead of fighting the enemy in detail, he attacked him at his very heart, and closed the campaign by a single master-stroke.

Soon after the battle three thousand Germans, who had been serving in the French army, joined the Allies; and on the 19th of August, six days after the battle, Marlborough and Eugene began their march towards Ulm. Three days before that, the garrison of Augsburg had quitted that city, and Marlborough and Eugene called on the Prince of Baden to leave a few troops at Ingolstadt to invest it, as it must now necessarily surrender, and to join them with the rest of his forces, that they might sweep the enemy completely out of Germany. Marshal Tallard was sent under a guard of dragoons to Frankfort, and Marlborough encamped at Sefillingen, near Ulm. There he and Eugene were joined by Louis of Baden, and, leaving a sufficient force to reduce Ulm, the combined army marched towards the Rhine. At Bruchsal, near Philippsburg, the Prince of Baden insisted that they should all stay and compel the surrender of Landau. This was opposed to the whole plans of Marlborough and Eugene, which were to give the French no time to reflect, but to drive them over their own frontiers. The Prince was now more than ever obstinate. The glory which Marlborough had won, and part of which he had tried to filch from him, was extremely galling to him, and especially that so much honour should fall to the lot of a heretic. The generals were obliged to follow his fancy; they allowed the Prince to sit down before the town, and Marlborough and Eugene encamped at Croon-Weissingen to support him. This took place on the 12th of September, and Landau held out till the 23rd of November, when it capitulated on honourable terms, and the King of the Romans characteristically came into the camp to have the honour of taking the place--so fond are these German princes of stepping into other people's honours instead of winning them for themselves. By this delay the precious remainder of the campaign was lost, and the French had time given them to recover their spirits, and to take measures for holding what was yet left them. After this the Confederate army sat down before Trarbach, which surrendered to the hereditary Prince of Hesse-Cassel in the middle of December, which closed the campaign.

Marlborough had not waited for these insignificant operations, but had proceeded to Berlin to engage the King of Prussia to suspend his claims on the Dutch, and to enter more zealously into the alliance for the perfect clearance of the French from Germany. He prevailed on the king to promise eight thousand troops for the assistance of the Duke of Savoy, and to be commanded by the Prince Eugene; and he exerted himself with the Emperor to effect a settlement with the insurgents in Hungary, but his own triumphs stood in the way of his success. The Emperor, since Marlborough's victories, was so elated that he would listen to no reasonable terms. From Berlin Marlborough proceeded to Hanover, and paid his court to the family which was to succeed to the Crown of England. Thence he went to the Hague, where he was received with high honours by the States-General on account of the victories which he would never have achieved could they have restrained him. He arrived in England in the middle of December, carrying with him Marshal Tallard and the rest of the distinguished officers, with the standards and other trophies of his victories. He was received with acclaim by all classes except a few ultra-Tories, who threatened to impeach him for his rash march to the Danube. As Parliament had assembled, Marlborough took his seat in the House of Peers the day after his arrival, where he was complimented on his magnificent success by the Lord Keeper. This was followed by a deputation with a vote of thanks from the Commons, and by similar honours from the City. But perhaps the most palpable triumph of Marlborough was the transferring of the military trophies which he had taken, from the Tower, where they were first deposited, to Westminster Hall. This was done by each soldier carrying a standard or other trophy, amid the thunders of artillery and the hurrahs of the people; such a spectacle never having been witnessed since the days of the Spanish Armada. The royal manor of Woodstock was granted him, and Blenheim Mansion erected at the cost of the nation.

Besides the victories of Marlborough, there had been successes at sea, and one of them of far more consequence than was at the time imagined--namely, the conquest of Gibraltar.

Sir George Rooke, having landed King Charles at Lisbon, sent Rear-Admiral Dilkes with a squadron to cruise off Cape Spartel, and himself, by order of the queen, sailed for the relief of Nice and Villafranca, which were supposed to be in danger from the French under the Duke of Vendôme. King Charles at the same time desired him to make a demonstration in his favour before Barcelona, for he was assured that a force had only to appear on that coast and the whole population would declare for him. Rooke, accordingly, taking on board the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, who had formerly been Viceroy of Catalonia, sailed for Barcelona, and invited the governor to declare for his rightful sovereign, King Charles. The governor replied that Philip V. was his lawful sovereign. The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, however, assured the admiral that there were five to one in the city in favour of King Charles, and Rooke allowed the prince to land with two thousand men; but there was no sign of any movement in favour of Austria. The Dutch ketches then bombarded the place with little effect, and the troops were re-embarked, lest they should be fallen upon by superior numbers. On the 16th of June, Rooke being joined by Sir Cloudesley Shovel, they sailed to Nice, but found it in no danger; and they then went in quest of the French fleet, which Rooke in the preceding month had caught sight of on their way to Toulon. On the 17th of July a council of war was held in the road of Tetuan, and it was resolved to make an attempt on Gibraltar, which was represented to have only a slender garrison. On the 21st the fleet came to anchor before Gibraltar, and the marines, under the command of the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, landed on the narrow sandy isthmus which connects the celebrated rock with the mainland, and called on the governor to surrender. Though cut off from relief from the land, and with a formidable fleet in the bay, the governor stoutly replied that he would defend the place to the last extremity.

The next day Rooke gave orders for cannonading the town. On the 23rd, soon after daybreak, the cannonading commenced with terrible effect. Fifteen thousand shots were discharged in five or six hours; the South Mole Head was demolished, and the Spaniards driven in every quarter from their guns. Captain Whitaker was then ordered to arm all the boats, and assault that quarter. Captains Hicks and Jumper, who were nearest the Mole, immediately manned their pinnaces, and entered the fortifications sword in hand. They were soon, however, treading on a mine, which the Spaniards exploded, killing or wounding two lieutenants and about a hundred men. But Hicks and Jumper seized a platform, and kept their ground till they were supported by Captain Whitaker with the rest of the seamen, who took by storm a redoubt between the town and the Mole. Then the governor capitulated, and the Prince of Hesse entered the place with his marines, amazed at once at the strength of the place and the ease with which it had been taken. In fact, this key of the Mediterranean, which has since defied the united powers of Christendom, was taken in three days, one day of which was rendered almost useless by the fierceness of the wind.

Rooke left the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt and the marines to hold the fortress, and returned to Tetuan to take in wood and water, and again sailed up the Mediterranean. On the 9th of August he came in sight of the French fleet lying off Malaga, and ready to receive him. It consisted of fifty-two great ships and four-and-twenty galleys, under the Count de Toulouse, High Admiral of France, and all clean and in the best condition; Rooke's fleet of fifty-three ships of the line, exclusive of frigates, was inferior to the French in guns and men, as well as in weight of metal; and, what was worse, the ships were very foul in their bottoms, and many of them ill provided with ammunition. Nevertheless, Rooke determined to engage; and on Sunday, the 13th, at ten o'clock in the morning, the battle began, and raged till two in the afternoon, when the van of the French gave way. This result would have been much earlier arrived at, had not several of the English ships soon exhausted their powder, and been forced to draw out of the line. During the afternoon firing at longer distances was kept up, but at night Toulouse bore away to leeward. The next morning the wind favoured the French, but they did not avail themselves of it, but bore away for Toulon, pursued by Rooke as well as the foulness of his ships would let him. Not a ship was lost or taken by either side in the battle, but the loss in killed and wounded was great. On the part of the English the killed and wounded amounted to three thousand; on the French side it was supposed to reach four thousand, including two hundred officers killed. Sir Cloudesley Shovel, who led the van, said that he had never seen a sea-fight so furiously contested. The effect of the battle was to render the French shy of coming to any great engagement on the sea during the remainder of the war.

The Parliament of England met on the 29th of October, and the queen congratulated the two Houses on the remarkable success which had attended her arms, and trusted that it would enable her to secure the great object for which they fought--the liberty of Europe. She encouraged them to carry on their debates without contentions, and avowed her determination to be indulgent to all her subjects. But nothing could prevent the animosity which raged between the Whig and Tory factions from showing itself. The Lords congratulated her Majesty on the glorious victories of Marlborough, without noticing those of Sir George Rooke; and the Commons, to whose party Rooke, an old Tory, belonged, exalted his exploits to an equality with those of Marlborough. Notwithstanding the queen's promise of being kind and indulgent to all her subjects, a strenuous attempt was again made to carry the Occasional Conformity Bill. At the suggestion of Mr. William Bromley it was tacked to the Land Tax Bill, and was so sent up to the Peers. The queen went to the House of Lords to listen to the debate, where she heard Tenison, the Archbishop of Canterbury, honestly denounce the illiberal and persecuting spirit which had suggested such a Bill. This praiseworthy language was strongly echoed out of doors by De Foe, whose pen was never idle on such occasions, and the Court now seemed to be convinced that it had gone too far. Godolphin, who had on former occasions voted for it, now opposed it, and the Lords threw it out by a majority of one-and-twenty votes.