CHAP. XII. 1714. 20. Circum stances liate these faults in him. the most conspicuous one, of the prevailing disposition In justice to Marlborough, however, it must be recollected that he lived in an age of revolutions, when the which pal crown had been recently twice subverted, and a new dynasty placed on the throne; when men's minds were confused and their ideas unhinged with regard to public duty; and when that fatal effect of revolutionary success had taken place-the assigning to public actions no other test but success. And yet, so mixed is the condition of mankind, and so great the ascendency of selfishness in human affairs, that Marlborough's extraordinary rise and long-continued power is in great part to be ascribed to these moral weaknesses in his character. Had he possessed the noble spirit of one of the old Cavaliers, he would have adhered to James in his misfortune, and become a respectable but unknown exile at St Germains, instead of the illustrious leader of the coalition. He thus affords another instance to the many which history affords of the truth of Johnson's saying, "That no man ever rose from a private station to exalted power amongst men, in whom great and commanding qualities were not combined with meannesses that would be inconceivable in ordinary life." 21. and elevated ideas in the Marlborough was often accused of avarice; but his conduct through life sufficiently demonstrated that in His private him the natural desire to accumulate a fortune, which character belongs to every rational mind, was kept in subjection disposal of to more elevated principles. The great wealth which he money. acquired from his numerous appointments, and the royal and parliamentary rewards bestowed on him for his services, were sufficient to excite the envy of the vulgar, and this feeling was eagerly fed by those who pandered to their passions. Swift contrasted, in a popular diatribe, the scanty rewards of Roman triumph with the half million which had attested British gratitude. But there was no real foundation for this aspersion. His conduct belied it. His repeated refusal of the government of the Netherlands, with its maint appointment of £60,000 a-year, was ash one proof how much he despised money when ind was public duty; his splendid editas batrader and purpose but as it might be sowie and wa Blenheim, attest how little he reade objects. * Like many othe *Marlborough's house in Londe ly of ,ii. CHAP. XII. 1714. 1 Coxe, vi. 400. 22. architects of their own fortune, he was economical in his habits, and little inclined to spend money on personal gratifications. But on great occasions he exhibited a splendour worthy of his station and his character; he could give all the money in his possession to the wounded among his enemies, and present a friendless and deserving officer with a thousand pounds to purchase a commission.1 He possessed the magnanimity in judging of others His magna- which is the invariable characteristic of real greatness. nimity and humanity. Envy was unknown, suspicion loathsome to him. He often suffered by the generous confidence with which he trusted his enemies. He was patient under contradiction, placid and courteous both in his manners and demeanour, and owed great part of his success, both in the field and in the cabinet, to the invariable suavity and charm of his manners. His humanity was uniformly conspicuous. Not only his own soldiers, but his enemies, never failed to experience it. Like Wellington, his attention to the health and comforts of his men was incessant; which, with his daring in the field, and uniform success in strategy, endeared him in the highest degree to the soldiers. Troops of all nations equally trusted him; and the common saying, when they were in any difficulty, "Never mind, Corporal John' will get us out of it," was heard as frequently in the Dutch, Danish, or German, as in the English language. He frequently gave the weary soldiers a place in his carriage, and got out himself to accommodate more; and his first care, after an engagement, invariably was to visit the * Capefigue, field of battle, and do his utmost to assuage the sufferings of the wounded, both among his own men and those of the enemy. After the battle of Malplaquet, he Louis XIV. vi. 129. divided all the money at his private disposal among the wounded officers of the enemy. CHAP. XII. 1714. 23. ter as drawn Smith and broke. The character of this illustrious man has been thus portrayed by two of the greatest writers in the English His characlanguage, the latter of whom will not be accused of by Adam undue partiality to his political enemy. "It is a char- Bolingacteristic," says Adam Smith, "almost peculiar to the great Duke of Marlborough, that ten years of such uninterrupted and such splendid successes as scarce any other general could boast of, never betrayed him into a single rash action, scarce into a single rash word or expression. The same temperate coolness and selfcommand cannot, I think, be ascribed to any other great warrior of latter times, not to Prince Eugene, nor to the late King of Prussia, nor to the great Prince of Condé, nor even to Gustavus Adolphus. Turenne seems to have approached the nearest to it; but several actions of his life demonstrate that it was in him by no means so perfect as in the great Duke of Marlborough." By King William's death," says Bolingbroke, "the Duke of Marlborough was raised to the head of the army, and indeed of the confederacy, where he, a private man, a subject, obtained by merit and by management a more decided influence than high birth, confirmed authority, and even the crown of Great Britain, had given to King William. Not only all the parts of that vast machine, the Grand Alliance, were kept more compact and entire, but a more rapid and vigorous motion was 1 Smith's given to the whole; and instead of languishing or timents, ii. disastrous campaigns, we saw every scene of the war lingbroke's full of action. All those wherein he appeared, and many the Study of of those wherein he was not then an actor, but abettor, 172. however, of their actions, were crowned with the most 66 Moral Sen 158. Bo Letters on History, ii. CHAP. XII. 1714. 24. The five triumphant success. I take with pleasure this opportunity of doing justice to that great man, whose faults I know, whose virtues I admire, and whose memory, as the greatest general and greatest minister that our country or any other has produced, I honour." Five generals, by the common consent of men, stand forth pre-eminent in modern times for the magnitude of great gene- the achievements they effected, and the splendour of dern times. the talents they displayed - Eugene, Marlborough, rals of mo 25. Leading characteris Frederick, Napoleon, and Wellington. It is hard to say which appears the greatest, whether we regard the services they have rendered to their respective countries, or the durable impress their deeds have left on human affairs. All had difficulties the most serious to contend with, obstacles apparently insurmountable to overcome, and all proved in the brightest parts of their career victorious over them. All have immortalised their names by exploits far exceeding those recorded of other men. All have left the effects of their exploits durably imprinted in the subsequent fate of nations. The relative position of the European states, the preservation of public rights, the maintenance of the balance of power, the salvation of the weak from the grasp of the strong, have been mainly owing to their exertions. To their biography is attached not merely the fortune of the countries to which they belonged, but the general destinies of Europe, and through it of the human race. To give a faithful picture, in a few pages, of such men, may seem a hopeless, and, compared to their merits, an tics of each. invidious task. A brief summary of the chief actions of those of them least known to ordinary readers, is, however, indispensable to lay a foundation for their comparison with the character of those whose deeds are as |