ENGLAND. 227 



allies, and to employ the earl of Marlborough, who had been impri- 

 soned in the late reign on a suspicion of Jacobitism, and whose wife 

 was her favourite, as her general. She could not have made a better 

 choice of a general and statesman, for that earl excelled in both ca- 

 pacities. No sooner was he placed at the head of the English army 

 abroad, than his genius and activity gave a new turn to the war, and 

 he became as much the favourite of the Dutch as his wife was of the 

 queen. 



In the course of the war, several glorious victories were obtained 

 by the earl, who was soon made duke of Marlborough. Those of 

 Blenheim and Ramillies gave the first effectual checks to the French 

 power. By that of Blenheim, in 1704, the empire of Germany was 

 saved from immediate destruction. Though prince Eugene was that 

 day joined in command with the duke, yet the glory of the day was 

 confessedly owing to the latter. The French general Tallard was ta- 

 ken prisoner, and sent to England ; and 20,000 French and Bavarians 

 were killed, wounded, or drowned in the Danube, besides about 13,000 

 who were taken, and a proportionable number of cannon, artillery, 

 and trophies of war. About the same time, the English admiral, sir 

 George Rooke, reduced Gibraltar, which still remains in our posses- 

 sion. The battle of Ramillies, in 1706, was fought and gained under 

 the duke of Marlborough alone. The loss of the enemy there has 

 been variously reported ; it is generally supposed to have been 8000 

 killed or wounded, and 6000 taken prisoners ; but the consequences 

 showed its importance. 



After the battle of Ramillies, the states of Flanders assembled at 

 Ghent, and recognised Charles for their sovereign, while the confede- 

 rates took possession of Louvain, Brussels, Mechlin, Ghent, Oude- 

 narde, Bruges, and Antwerp ; and several other considerable places 

 in Flanders and Brabant acknowledged the title of king Charles. 

 The next great battle gained over the French was at Oudenarde, 

 1708, where they lost 3000 on the field, and about 7000 taken prison- 

 ers ; and the year after, September 11, 1709, the allies forced the 

 French lines at Malplaquet near Mons, after a bloody action, in which 

 the French lost 15,000 men. These flattering successes of the Eng- 

 lish were balanced, however, by great misfortunes. 



The queen had sent a very fine army to assist Charles III, in Spain, 

 under the command of lord Galway ; but in 1707, after he had been 

 joined by the Portuguese, the English were defeated in the plains of 

 Almanza, chiefly through the cowardice of their allies. Though some 

 advantages were obtained at sea, yet that war in general was carried 

 on to the detriment, if not the disgrace, of England. Prince George 

 of Denmark, husband to the queen, was then lord high-admiral. At 

 the same time England felt severely the scarcity of hands in carrying 

 on her trade and manufactures. 



As Lewis XIV professed a readiness for peace, and sued earnestly 

 for it, the Whigs at last gave way to a treaty, and the confei'ences 

 were held at Gertruydenburg, 1710. They were managed on the 

 part of England by the duke of Marlborough and the lord Towns- 

 hend, and by the marquis de Torcy for the French. But all the of- 

 fers of ihe latter were rejected by the duke and his associates, as 

 only designed to amuse and divide the allies ; and the war was conti- 

 nued. 



The unreasonable haughtiness of the English plenipotentiaries at 

 Gertruydenburg (as some term it) and the then expected change of 



