CHAP. IX. 48. Machina Tories to inflame the Queen against Marlborough. course to a pretended conspiracy, which, it was alleged, had been discovered, on the part of Marlborough and 1712. Eugene, to seize the government and dethrone the Queen on the 17th November. St John and Oxford had too tions of the much sense to publish such a ridiculous statement; but it was made the subject of several secret examinations before the Privy Council, in order to augment the apprehensions and secure the concurrence of the Queen in their measures. Such as it was, the tale was treated as a mere malicious invention, even by the contemporary foreign annalists, though it has since been repeated as true by more than one party-historian of our own country. This ridiculous calumny, and the atrocious libels as to the embezzlement of the public money, however, produced the desired effect. They inflamed the mind of the Queen, and removed that vacillation in regard to the measures of Government, from which so much danger had been apprehended by the Tory administration. Having answered the desired end, they were allowed quietly to go to sleep. No proceedings in the House of Peers, or elsewhere, followed the resolutions of the Commons condemnatory of Marlborough's financial administration in the Low Countries. His defence, published in the newspapers, though abundantly vigorous, was tion of Ra- neither answered nor prosecuted as a libel on the com 1 Swift's Queen Anne, 59. Continua pin, xviii. 468. Coxe, missioners or the House of Commons; and the alleged vi. 167-172. Mém. de Stuart conspiracy was never more heard of, till it was Torcy, iii. 268, 269. long after drawn from its slumber by the malice of English party-spirit.1 Meanwhile the negotiations at Utrecht for a general peace continued, and St John and Oxford soon found themselves embarrassed by the extravagant pretensions which their own favour to the cause of France had re CHAP. IX. 1712. 49. Louis rises in his de Utrecht, into a pri between vived in the plenipotentiaries of Louis. So great was the general indignation excited by the publication of the preliminaries at Utrecht, that St John felt the necessity of discontinuing any general negotiation, and converting it into a private correspondence between the plenipo- mands at tentiaries of the English and French crowns.* Great which turns difficulty was experienced in coming to an accommo-vate treaty dation, in consequence of the rising demands of the France and French ambassadors, who, deeming themselves secure of England. support from the English ministry, not only positively refused to abandon Spain and the Indies, but now demanded the Netherlands for the Elector of Bavaria, and the cession of Lille and Tournay in return for the seizure of Dunkirk. The sudden death, however, first of the Dauphiness of France, and then of the Dauphin, the former of whom was carried off by a malignant fever on the 12th, the latter on the 18th February 1712, followed by the death of their eldest son on the 23d, produced feelings of commiseration for the aged monarch, now in his seventy-third year, and broken down by misfortunes, which rendered the progress of the separate negotiations more easy. At length, though not without great difficulty, they arrived at an accommodation. England agreed to abandon its allies, and the main object of the war, on condition that a guarantee should be obtained against the crowns of France and Spain being united on 1 Capefigue, Louis XIV. Coxe, vi. the same head.1 On this frail security, and the promised Hist. de demolition of Dunkirk, the English ministry agreed to vi. 249. withdraw their contingent from the allied army; and to 194. induce the Dutch to follow their example, Ypres was * "The French will see that there is a possibility of reviving the love of war in our people, by the indignation that has been expressed at the plan given in at Utrecht."-Mr Secretary St John to Brit. Plenip., Dec. 28, 1711; BOLINGBROKE'S Corresp. ii. 93. СНАР. IX. offered to them on the same terms as Dunkirk had been to Great Britain. So overjoyed was Louis at the sign1712. ing of these conditions, on the part of Bolingbroke, that he immediately sent Queen Anne a present of six splendid dresses, and two thousand five hundred bottles of champagne. 50. the Allies in Flanders, rate situ ation of Louis. The disastrous effects of this secret and dishonourable Forces of secession, on the part of England, from the confederacy, and French were soon apparent. Great had been the preparations and despe' of the Continental allies for continuing the contest; and while the English contingent remained with them, their force was irresistible. Prince Eugene was at the head of the army in Flanders, and, including the British forces under the Duke of Ormond, it amounted to the immense force of 122,000 effective men, with 120 guns, 16 howitzers, and an ample pontoon train. To oppose this, by far the largest army the French had yet had to confront in the Low Countries, Villars had scarcely at his command 100,000 men, and they were ill equipped, imperfectly supplied with artillery, and grievously depressed in spirit by a long series of disasters. Eugene commanded the forces of the confederates; for although the English ministry had been lavish in their promises of unqualified support, the Dutch had begun to entertain serious suspicions of their sincerity, and bestowed the command on that tried officer instead of the Duke of Ormond, who had succeeded Marlborough in the command of the English contingent. But Marlborough's soul still directed the movements of the army; and Eugene's plan of the campaign was precisely that which that great commander had chalked out at the close of the preceding one. This was to besiege Quesnoy and Landrecies, the last of those fortresses forming the iron barrier of France CHAP. IX. which in this quarter protected the frontier, and immediately after to inundate the open country and advance as rapidly as possible to Paris. It was calculated they 1712. might reach it in ten marches from Landrecies; and it was well known that there was neither a defensible position nor a fortress of any sort to arrest the invaders' march. Already the light horse had overspread the country as far as the Oise, within forty miles of Paris, and a plan had even been formed for surprising the King in his palace of Versailles, by a body of hussars, which had very nearly succeeded. The uniforms of the allied light horse had been seen within a few leagues of Versailles, where they had spread unbounded terror through the palace of the Grand Monarque. The court of France was in despair; the general opinion was, that the King should leave Paris and retire to Blois; and although the proud spirit of Louis recoiled at such a proposal, yet, in taking leave of Marshal Villars, he declared, with a spirit worthy of his race-" Should a disaster occur, I will go to Peronne or St Quentin, collect all my troops, 1 Mém. de and with you risk a last effort, determined to perish or 197. Capesave the state. I will put myself at the head of my army, de Louis and command it in person I shall gain the battle, fall in combating: there is no other part to take; it the only one that is glorious, and worthy of me." 1 Villars, ii. figue, Hist. XIV. 251 or 257. Hist. de Marlb. is iii. 425. But the French monarch was spared this last desperate alternative. The defection of the British cabinet saved his throne, when all his means of defence were exhausted. Eugene, on opening the campaign on the 1st May, * "La Scarpe une fois passée, toute la province de Picardie fut couverte de partisans ennemis; on vit des hussards Allémands sur les bords de l'Oise, des hardis cavaliers vinrent même à quelques lieues de Versailles pour effrayer le vieux Monarque, dans son palais de Versailles, plein de grandeur et de merveilles."-CAPEFIGUE, Louis XIV. vi. 147, 148. IX. 1712. 51. tion of Bri tain saves France, May 10. CHAP. anxiously inquired of the Duke of Ormond whether he had authority to act vigorously in the campaign, and received an answer from that gallant and high-spirited The defec- general, that he had the same authority as the Duke of Marlborough, and was prepared to join in attacking the enemy. Preparations were immediately made for forcing the enemy's lines, which covered Quesnoy, previous to an attack on that fortress. But at the very time that this was going on, the work of perfidious defection was consummated. On May 10, Mr Secretary St John sent positive orders to Ormond to take no part in any siege or general engagement, as the questions at issue between the contending parties were on the point of adjustment.* timation of this private order was sent to the court of France, but it was directed to be kept a positive secret from the allied generals. Ormond, upon the receipt of these orders, opened a private correspondence with Villars, informing him that their troops were no longer enemies, and that the future movements of the forces under his command would only be to get forage and provisions.1 1 Bolingbroke's Corresp. ii. 320. Hist. de Marlb. iii. 419, 420. In This correspondence was unknown to Eugene; but circumstances soon brought the defection of England to "Her Majesty, my lord, has reason to believe that we shall come to an agreement upon the great article of the union of the monarchies, as soon as a courier sent from Versailles to Madrid can return. It is, therefore, the Queen's positive command to your Grace that you avoid engaging in any siege, or hazarding a battle, till you have further orders from her Majesty. I am, at the same time, directed to let your Grace know, that you are to disguise the receipt of this order; and her Majesty thinks you cannot want pretences for conducting yourself, without owning that which might at present have an ill effect if it was publicly known.-P.S. I had almost forgot to tell your Grace that communication is made of this order to the court of France, so that if the Marshal de Villars takes, in any private way, notice of it to you, your Grace will answer it accordingly."-Mr Secretary St John to the Duke of Ormond, May 10, 1712; BOLINGBROKE's Corresp. ii. 320. |