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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
JOHN CHURCHILL, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.
-
Lord Churchill Created Earl of Marlborough by William
III. and Sent to Holland in Command of the English
Forces - Present at the Battle of Walcourt - Goes Over
to Ireland, and Reduces the Towns of Cork and Kinsale-
Anecdote of the Duke of Wirtenburg - Prince Vaude-
mont's Character of Marlborough- Deprived of All His
Appointments, and Arrested by Order of King William-
Proved to Have Maintained a Close Correspondence with
the Exiled Court at the Period of His Arrest - His Ava-
rice and Ambition-Betrays to James II. the Project of
the English Government to Destroy the French Ships in
the Harbour of Brest - Restored to All His Honours by
King William, and Appointed Governor to the Young
Duke of Gloucester, and Soon Afterward Ambassador
Extraordinary to the States - Made a Knight of the
Garter and Captain-General of the Queen's Forces in
England and Elsewhere - His Successes in the Cam-
paign against France, for Which He Is Created Mar-
quis of Blandford and Duke of Marlborough - Pension
of Five Thousand per Annum also Conferred on Him
Death of His Only Son at Cambridge
CHAPTER II.
PAGE
Resumption of the Campaign against France - Marlborough
Joins Prince Eugene - Battle of Blenheim Marl-
21
borough's Letter to the Duchess on the Occasion - Anec-
dotes Fresh Honours and Emoluments Heaped on the
Duke - Addison's Poem of "The Campaign"— Char-
acteristic Anecdotes of Marlborough by Lord Dartmouth
and Evelyn His Narrow Escapes at the Battle of
Ramillies - Great Moral Effects Produced by the Battle
- Marlborough's Reckless Daring at the Siege of Ostend
He Returns to London, and Again Receives the Thanks
of Parliament - Battle of Oudenard - The House of
Commons Order the Speaker to Transmit Their Thanks
to Marlborough Abroad - Sanguinary Battle of Mal-
plaquet - Description of the French Army - Dreadful
Havoc among the English Troops — Decline of Marl-
borough's Political Influence with Queen Anne - Curi-
ous Unpublished Letters Addressed by Him to Lord
Coningsby - Anne's Determination to Break with the
Duke and Duchess of Marlborough · - Singular Interview
between Her and the Duchess - The Duke's Son-in-law
Superseded in His Office of Secretary of State - Ex-
pulsion of the Whigs from Office- Marlborough's Te-
nacity of Place - Extracts from His Correspondence at
This Period - His Humiliating Treatment by the Tories
- Letters from
· Anecdote Related by Lord Dartmouth
the Duke to Lord Coningsby - The Duchess of Marl-
borough Resigns All Her Offices in the Royal House-
hold.
38
CHAPTER III.
Marlborough's Downfall Determined on by His Enemies –
He Is Attacked in the House of Lords, and Defends
Himself with Pathos and Eloquence - He Is Accused of
Bribery, and Dismissed from All His Employments—
King of Prussia's Remark on Hearing of the Duke's
Disgrace - Extract from Burnet-Charge of Peculation
Brought against the Duke- His Explanation of the
Affair
- Attorney-General Ordered to Prosecute Him-
He Is Constantly Attacked by the Hireling Scribblers
and Pamphleteers of the Day - He Suddenly Quits
England for Ostend- - Probable Causes of His Depar-
ture Erasmus Lewis's Statement of the Duke's In-
trigues with the French Court in 1706- Extract from
a Letter of Louis the Fourteenth to the Marquis de
Torcy Private Interview between the Duke and the
Earl of Oxford - - Anecdote Related by Dalrymple
Extract from the Biographia Britannica - Curious Anec-
dote of the Duke and Lord Harley - Marlborough
Makes Overtures to the Tory Ministry during His Ab-
sence in France His Intimacy with Lord Bolingbroke
His Letter to the Duchess of Berwick - He Renews
His Professions of Attachment to the Exiled Court-
Extract from Swift's Letters to Stella - The Duke's
Double Dealing with the Elector of Hanover and the
Pretender Bolingbroke's Character of Marlborough
64
CHAPTER IV.
Marlborough's Public Entry into London on the Day after
Queen Anne's Death Doctor Sacheverel Inveighs
against His Conduct on This Occasion from the Pulpit
Marlborough Is Appointed Captain-General and Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Land Forces, and Master of
the Ordnance But Is Reduced to the Shadow of His
Former Authority - Is Personally Disliked by George
the First Reasons for This Dislike - Rebellion in 1715
Defeated by Marlborough's Prudent Counsels to Govern-
ment His Character as a Negotiator and an Orator
Burnet's Sketch of Him - Marlborough's Strong Relig-
ious Feelings - His Decorous Conduct after Marriage
- Extract from Adam Smith - Marlborough's Humanity
in War - Anecdotes of His Evenness of Temper - Curi-
ous Anecdote Related by Lord Bolingbroke - Swift's
Opinion of Marlborough - His Avarice and Duplicity -
--
Extract from Spence's Anecdotes, and from Doctor
King's Anecdotes of His Own Times - Singular Instance
of Marlborough's Liberality - Prince Eugene's Opinion
of Him - Compliment Paid Him by Peter the Great,
and by the Emperor, Joseph the First- Anecdote of
Charles the Twelfth of Sweden - Marlborough's Do-
mestic Habits and Favourite Pursuits at Blenheim -
Extract from Coxe's Life - Private Theatricals at Blen-
heim - Marlborough's Last Years - His Failing Powers
of Understanding Exaggerated by Party Writers - His
Death and Public Funeral - Enumeration of His Chil-
dren.
87
CHAPTER V.
SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.
Swift's Character of the Duchess - Her Birth in 1660, and
Private Marriage at the Age of Eighteen, to Colonel
Churchill, Afterward Duke of Marlborough Her Ap-
pointment as Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princess
Anne Extract from the Duchess's Memoirs - Familiar
Conversation and Correspondence between Anne and
the Duchess - Extract from Colley Cibber's "Apology"
Horace Walpole's Opinion of the Duchess's Beauty —
She Is Appointed by Queen Anne Groom of the Stole,
Mistress of the Robes, and Keeper of the Privy Purse
- Her Unbounded Influence at Court Causes of Her
Subsequent Fall - Her Insolent Bearing to the Queen -
Singular Instance of It Related by Lord Dartmouth-
She Is Ordered to Resign All Her Offices in the Royal
Household Extract from Harley's Letter to the
Elector of Hanover - Instance of the Duke of Marl-
borough's Want of Self-respect - Coxe's Allusion to It
in His Memoirs of the Duke Anecdote Related by
Lord Dartmouth - The Duchess's Rage and Mortifi-
cation at Her Loss of Power-She Is with Difficulty
Prevented from Publishing the Queen's Private Corre-
spondence with Her - Swift's Letter to Mrs. Dingley —
Memorandum by Lord Dartmouth Singular Anecdote
Related by Mrs. White-Speaker Onslow's Portrait of
the Duchess Anecdotes of Her Sarcastic Humour
Her Grandson Sues Her for His Birthright in a Court of
Law - She Defends Her Own Cause in Person
. 113
CHAPTER VI.
The Duke of Marlborough's Affectionate Letters to the
Duchess Singular Instance of His Uxoriousness
Anecdotes Illustrative of the Duchess's Violent Temper
- Her Regard for the Duke's Memory - Lord Con-
ingsby and the Duke of Somerset Become Suitors for
Her Hand
· Her
Her Noble Reply to the Former
Daughters the Reigning Toasts of the Day - Her Dis-
like of the Eldest, Lady Henrietta Churchill - Lady
Henrietta's Family - Account of Her Sister, Lady Anne
Churchill, and of Her Family - Elizabeth, Duchess of
Bridgewater, Marlborough's Third Daughter - Granger's
Description of Her
Marlborough's Fourth Daughter,
Lady Mary Churchill, Duchess of Montague, and Her
Family Pope's Poetical Portrait of the Duchess of
Marlborough - Anecdote of Pope Letter from Lord
Bolingbroke to the Earl of Marchmont - Pope's Remark
to Spence on the Duchess's Liberality. Letter from
the Duchess to the Earl of Marchmont, and from Pitt
to the Same - The Duchess Publishes Her Memoirs in
Her Eighty-third Year - Horace Walpole's Opinion of
Them Lady Bute's Reminiscences of the Duchess
Quotation from Dryden by the Duchess - Her Disbelief
in Religion Her Letter to Lord Marchmont - Her
Death in 1744 ·
CHAPTER VII.
----
Early Habits of Study, and Subsequent Love of Pleasure