584 C H U R < 
don November 3 . He {hewed Tome caution hr his man¬ 
ner of coming; for happening to land the very night of 
queen Elizabeth's inauguration, when great rejoicings 
were intended by the populace, he continued very pru¬ 
dently at Greenwich, and the next day waited on the 
queeii at Hampton-court, who received him gracioufly. 
He was vifited by the minifters,"and vifited them ; but he 
did not go to council, becauJe a negociation of peace 
was then on the carpet, upon a_ balis which- he by no 
-means approved. He acquainted her majefty in the 
audience he had at his arrival, that as he could not concur 
in the meafures of thole who directed her councils, lb he 
would not dillraft them by a fruitlefs oppofition. Yet 
finding himfelf attacked in the houfe of lords, and loaded 
with the imputation of having protracted the war, he 
vindicated his condudt and character with great dignity 
and fpirit ; and in a molt pathetic fpeech appealed to the 
queen his miftrefs, who was there incognito, for the falie- 
boochof that imputation ; declaring, that he was as much 
for peace as any man, provided it was fuch peace as'might 
be expeCted from a war undertaken on fuel) juft.motives, 
and carried on with uninterrupted fuccefs. This had a 
powerful effeCt upon the houfe, and perhaps made fome 
impreflion on the queen ; but at the fame time it gave 
fuch an edge to the refentment of liis enemies, who were 
then in power, that they refolved at all adventures to re¬ 
move him. Thofe who were thus refolved to divelt him 
of his c.ommiffion, found themfelves under a neceflity to 
engage the queen to take it from him. This neceflity 
aroie chiefly from prince Eugene’s beihg expeCted.to come 
over with a commiffion from the emperor ; and to give 
fome colour to it, an enquiry was promoted in the houfe 
of commons, to fix a very high imputation upon the duke, 
as if he had put very large funis of public money into his 
own pocket. When a queftion to this purpofehad been 
carried, the queen, by a letter, conceived in very o b’fcu re 
terms, acquainted him with her having no farther occa- 
iion-for his fervice, and dilinilTed him from all his em¬ 
ployments. 
The noble duke of Marlborough was from this time 
expofed to a moll: painful perfecution. On the one hand, 
he was attacked by the clamours of the populace, and on 
the other hand, a profecution was commenced againlt 
him by the attorney-general, for applying public money 
to his private ufe ; and the workmen employed in build • 
ing Blenheim-houfe, though fet at work by the crown, 
were encouraged to file him for the money that was due 
to them. All his meritorious aCtions were like wife lhame- 
fully mifreprelented. Thele unkindnefles joined to his 
grief for the death of the earl of Godolphin, induced 
him to gratify his enemies, by going into a voluntary 
exile. Accordingly, he embarked at Dover, November 
14, 1712; and landing at Oflend, went to Antwerp, and 
then to Aix la Chapelle, being every where received with 
the honours due to his rank and merit. The duchefs 
alfo attended her lord in all his journies, and particularly 
in liis vifit to the principality of Mindelheim, which was 
given him by the emperor, and exchanged for another at 
the peace, which was made while the duke was 'abroad. 
The conclufion of that peace was fo far from reftoring 
harmony among the feveral parties in Great Britain, that 
it widened their differences exceedingly : infomuch that 
the chiefs defpairing of fafety in the way they were in, 
are faid to have lecretly invited the duke back to Eng¬ 
land. Be that as it will, it is very certain that he took a 
refolution of returning, a little before the queen’s death ; 
and landing at Dover, came to London, Auguft 4, 1714. 
He was received with all demonlfrations of joy, by thofe 
who upon the demife of the queen, which had happened 
upon the iff, were entrufted with the government ; and 
upon the arrival of George I. he was particularly diftin- 
guifhed by ads of royal favour : for he was again declared 
captain-genera! and commander in chief of all his ma- 
jelty’s laird forces, colonel of the firft regiment of guards, 
and mafter of the ordnance. 
HILL. 
His.adyice was of great' ufe in concerting thofe mea- 
fures by which the rebellion in 1715 was crufhed; and 
his advice on this occafion was the laft effort he made in 
refped to public affairs: for his infirmities' increafing 
with his years, he. retired from bufmefs, and (pent the 
greateft part of Iris time, during the remainder of his life, 
at one or other of iris country feats. liis death happened 
June 16, 1722, in bis feve'nty-third year, at Windfor- 
lo<Jge ; and his corpfe, on Auguft 9, was interred with 
the highelt folemnity in Wefttrrinfter-abbey. . Befides the 
marquis of Blandford, whom we have already mentioned., 
he had four daughters, who married into the belt families 
of the kingdom. 
The noble pile near Woodftock, which bears the name 
of Blenheim-houfe, may be jultly ltyled his monument : 
but without pretending to the gift of prophecy, one may 
venture to foretel, that his giory will long' f'urvive that 
ftrudlure; and that fo long as our lriftories remain, or in¬ 
deed the lriftories of Europe, his memory will live and be- 
the board of Britain, which by Iris labours was raifed to 
be the firft of nations, as during the age-in which he lived 
he was defervediy efteemed the firft of men. If he had 
foibles, as tlrefe are infeparable from human nature, they 
were fo hidden by the glare of Iris virtues as to be fcarcciy 
perceived, or were willingly forgotten. 
Various characters have been drawn of the duke of 
Marlborough, molt of which appear to have been made 
up either as it fuited the regard of his friends, or the ma¬ 
lice of his enemies, who never loft fight of his greateft 
infirmity, avarice! There are however, two teftiinonies 
to the honour of the duke’s memory, by two celebrated 
nobie writers, which cannot be palled over. One is by 
lord Bolingbroke, in his letters on the Study and ufe of 
Hiftory. Speaking of the confternation raifed among the 
allies of the grand confederacy by the death of king Wil¬ 
liam, and of the great joy which that event gave to the 
French, his lordfhip oblerves, that “ a fhort time Ihewed 
how vain the fears of fome and the hopes of others were. 
By his death, the duke of Marlborough was raifed to the 
head of the army, and indeed of the confederacy : where 
he, a new, a private man, a fubjeCt, acquired, by merit 
and by management, a more deciding infitience than high 
birth, confirmed authority, and even the crown of Great 
Britain, had given to. king William. Not only all the 
parts of that vaft machine, the grand alliance, were kept 
more compadt and entire, but a more rapid and vigorous 
motion was given to the whole: and inltead of languifh- 
ing out difaftrous campaigns, we favv every icene of the 
War full of aCtion. All thofe wherein lie appeared, and 
many of thofe wherein he was not then an adtor, but 
abettor only of their adlion, were crowned with the moll 
triumphant fuccefs. I take, with pleafure, this opportu¬ 
nity of doing juftice to that great man, whofe faults I 
knew, whofe virtues I admired and whole memory, as 
the greateft general, and as the greateft minifter, that our 
country, or perhaps any other, has produced, l honour.” 
The other teftimouy to the duke’s accomplifliments is 
by the earl of Chelterfield in his Letters to his Son. “ Of 
all the men (fays his lordlhip) that ever I knew in my 
life, the late duke of Marlborough polTefted the graces in 
the higheft degree, not to fay engroffed them : and indeed 
he got the molt by them; for I will venture (contrary to 
the cuftom of profound hiftorians, who always aflign deep 
caufes for great events) to aferibe the better half of the 
duke of Marlborough’s greatnefs and riches to thofe 
graces. He was eminently illiterate; wrote bad Englifli, 
and.fpelt it ftill worfe. He had no fhare of what is com¬ 
monly called parts ; that is, he had no brightnefs, no¬ 
thing fliining in his genius. He had, molt undoubtedly, 
an excellent good plain underftanding, with found judg¬ 
ment. But thefe alone would probably have railed him 
but fomething higher than they found him, which was 
page to James II’s queen. There the graces protected 
and promoted him : for while he was an enfign of the 
guards, the duchefs of Cleveland, then favourite miftrefs - 
to 
