232 



CHURCHILL. 



for llw Clinrdi, tiiat lie would not even inflict person- 

 al cliastisnnent on a blackguard who had once preach- 

 ed from an Episcopalian pulpit. Vet we Ix'lieve lie 

 once threatened to drub C'hurdiill ; ami prolbly for- 

 bore carrying the threat into execution, because he 

 had attackea Scotland. Some of the lines in his Pro- 

 uhecy of Famine, about the poverty of Scotland, are 

 well turned ; but the satire is common-place ; and 

 after the first pleasure of surprise arising from the 

 image images from natural history always please 



" Where half-starved spiders feed on half-starved flics," 



it is felt that such grotesque exaggerations are easy, 

 for once pitch the key, and all the rest of the mono- 

 tonous strain, called satire, follows of course. Severe 

 as was the state of starvation in which Scotland then 

 pined, the poorest cottar that dug in ditch was better, 

 because more honestly fed, on meal and water, with 

 no milk, and little salt, than this hungry knave bilk- 

 ing his bill in taverns to-day feasting on ortolans, 

 yesterday tearing tripe, and to-morrow evening an 

 empty trencher ; but still, on Saturday and Sunday 

 alike, no better than a thief. Scotland must have 

 been very stupid in those days, not to have settled 

 the hash of such a scribbler for, after all, he was not 

 much better ; and had he lived now, we would have 

 gagged him in a single number, and made him for 

 fife a dummy. If any one of his admirers scoff at us 

 for thinking and saying so, why let him play a similar 

 part put himself into Churchill's shoes publish a 

 satire on Scotland and await a month or six weeks 

 for the result. We will so scourge his posteriors with 

 the original of the pretty picture of the Scotch tlustle 

 on the cover of the magazine, that he shall not be able 

 to take his seat among the satirists, though with a 

 seven-fold shield of diaculum-plaster. Tarring and 

 feathering would be a joke to our pastime to have 

 no resting-place for the sole of your foot must be very 

 wearisome indeed ; but oh ! worse, many million 

 times, to have chairs, and sofas, and ottomans, pressed 

 upon you in all parties, in parlour and dining-room, 

 and yet not to dare to sit down for one moment, in 

 fear of perishing of prickles ! The very corpse of such 

 a culprit would need to be laid out on its face. Such, 

 as a satirist, and he was nothing else, was Churchill." 

 CHURCHILL, JOHN, duke of Marlborough, a 

 distinguished general and statesman, was the son of 

 Sir Winston Churchill, and was born at Ashe, in 

 Devonshire, in 1650. He received his education at 

 home, under a clergyman, from whom he derived lit- 

 tle instruction, but imbibed a strong attachment for 

 the church of England. At the age of twelve, he 

 was taken to court, and became page to the duke of 

 York, and, at sixteen, received from him a pair of 

 colours. The first engagement at which he was pre- 

 sent was the siege of Tangier, which seems to have 

 decided him in his choice of a profession. On his re- 

 turn, he remained for some time about the court, and, 

 being very handsome, was a great favourite with the 

 ladle? there. The king's mistress, the duchess of 

 Cleveland, in particular, was much attached to him, 

 and presented him with 5,000, with which he pur- 

 chased a life annuity. In 1672, he accompanied the 

 duke of Monmouth, as captain of grenadiers, when 

 the duke went with a body of auxiliaries to the con- 

 tinent, to assist the French against the Dutch. He 

 there fought under the great Turenne, with whom he 

 went by the name of the handsome Englishman. At 

 the siege of Maestricht, he distinguished himself so 

 highly as to obtain the public thanks of the king of 

 France. On his return to England, he was made 

 lieutenant-colonel ; also gentleman of the bed-cham- 

 ber and master of the robes to the duke of York, 

 whom, in 1:679, he accompanied to the Netherlands, 

 and afterwards, in 1680. to Scotland, where he was 



much noticed by those who wished to pay their court 

 to the duke. In 1680, he had a regiment of dragoons 

 presented to him, and married Miss Sarah Jennings, 

 a lady of great beauty and gotxl family, an attendant 

 upon the princess, afterwards queen Anne. By this 

 union he materially strengthened his interest at court 

 his lady proving a valuable helpmate in all his 

 schemes for advancement. In 1682, he was ship- 

 wrecked, with the duke of York, in their passage to 

 Scotland ; on which event he received a great proof 

 of the duke's regard, who used every eflort to save 

 him, while many persons of quality perished. In the 

 same year, through the interest of his master, he ob- 

 taincd the title of baron of Eyemottth,and& colonelcy 

 in the guards. On the accession of James II., he was 

 sent ambassador to France, and, soon after his return, 

 was created baron Churchill of Sundridge, and, the 

 same year, suppressed the rebellion of the duke of 

 -Moimiouth. During the remainder of this reign, he 

 acted with great prudence and a strict attention to 

 his own interest, and, on the arrival of the prince of 

 Orange, joined him at Axminster, with the duke of 

 Grafton,- and some other officers. His conduct in 

 this affair has been severely censured as ungrateful ; 

 but his own apology (and there is no reason to dis- 

 pute it) was his attachment to the Protestant cause, 

 and the dictates of his conscience. On the accession 

 of William and Mary, in 1689, he was rewarded for 

 his zeal in their cause by the earldom of Marlborough, 

 and appointed commander-in-chief of the English 

 army in the Low Countries. The following year, he 

 served in Ireland, where he reduced Cork, and other 

 places. In 1G92, he experienced a great reverse in 

 his sudden dismissal from all his employments, fol- 

 lowed by his commitment to the Tower on the cliarge 

 of high treason. He soon obtained his release ; but 

 the evidence against him was never legally produced, 

 and the author of the accusations, then a prisoner, be- 

 ing convicted of perjury, he was entirely acquitted. 

 By the publication of Mr Macpherson's state-papers, 

 however, it appears that the suspicions were not alto- 

 gether without foundation, and that a correspondence 

 probably existed between the earl of Marlborough 

 and Lord Godolphin, having for its object the resto- 

 ration of the banished king. However this may have 

 been, during the life of queen Mary, the earl seems 

 to have kept away from court ; and, aided by his 

 countess, exerted great influence over the princess 

 Anne, which circumstance, perhaps, prevented his 

 intrigues from being strictly examined. 



On the death of queen Mary, he was made a privy 

 counsellor, and appointed governor to the young 

 duke of Gloucester; and, in 1700, was created by 

 king William commander-in-chief of the English 

 forces hi Holland, and also ambassador plenipotenti- 

 ary to the States - General. Still greater honours 

 awaited him on the accession of queen Anne, in 

 1702, when he was created captain-general of all the 

 forces at home and abroad, and sent plenipotentiary to 

 the Hague, where he was also made captain-general 

 by the States. In the campaign of the same year, he 

 took several strong towns, among which was Liege, 

 for which he received the thanks of both houses, and 

 was created duke of Marlborough, with a pension 

 granted, by the queen, for his life ; and, moreover 

 carried a motion for the augmentation of the army, 

 abroad, by taking 10,000 foreign soldiers into British 

 pay. The famous battle of Hochstadt, or Blenheim, 

 was fought on the 2d of August, 1704, between the 

 allied army, commanded by the duke df Marlborough 

 and prince Eugene, and the French and Bavarians, 

 headed by marshal Tallard and the elector of Ba- 

 varia. The victory was complete ; Tallard was taken 

 prisoner, and the electorate of Bavaria became the 

 prize of the conquerors. The nation testified its gra- 



