1697-1703 THE FIRST EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE

The first Eddystone Lighthouse, erected in 1697; destroyed in 1703

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freeing the Dutch from this danger. In these two years he took Kaiserswerth and Bonn, on the Rhine, and Roermonde, Liège and Huy on the Meuse. The roads by which a French army could approach the Dutch frontier were thus barred against attack.

4. The Occasional Conformity Bill. 1702-1703.—At the close of the campaign of 1702 Marlborough was created a duke. He spent the winter in England, where he found Parliament busy with an Occasional Conformity Bill, the object of which was to inflict penalties upon Dissenters who, having received the sacrament in church in order to qualify themselves for office, attended their own chapels during the tenure of the office thus obtained. The queen, the High Tories, and most of the clergy were eager to prevent such an evasion of the Test Act, especially as the Dissenters who occasionally conformed were Whigs to a man. The Bill passed the Commons, where the Tories were a majority. It failed to satisfy the House of Lords, in which the majority was Whig. In the next session, at the end of 1703, the Bill again passed the Commons, but was rejected by the Lords. Though Marlborough and Godolphin voted for it to please the queen, they disliked the measure, as causing ill-will between parties which they wished to unite against the common enemy.

5. Progress of the War in Italy, Spain and Germany. 17021703.—In 1702 and 1703, whilst Marlborough was fighting in the Netherlands, Prince Eugene of Savoy, the Austrian commander, and a general of the highest order, had been struggling against the French in Italy. In 1703 he won over the Duke of Savoy from his alliance with Louis, but he could not prevent a great part of the Duke's territory from being overrun by French troops. In the same year Portugal deserted France and joined the allies. By the Methuen Treaty now formed, England attached Portugal to her by community of interests, engaging that the duty on Portuguese wines should be at least one-third less than that on French, whilst Portugal admitted English woollen goods to her market. During the first two years of the war, however, little of military importance took place in any part of the Peninsula. By the end of 1703 the combined forces of the French and Bavarians had gained considerable successes in Germany, and, by the capture of Augsburg, Old Breisach and Landau, had secured the communications between France and Bavaria.

6. Ministerial Changes. 1703-1704.-Before Marlborough could assail Louis' position in Germany he had to make sure of his own position at home. The High Tories weakened him not only by

1703-1704

A COMPOSITE MINISTRY

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the war.

alienating the Dissenters, but by their lukewarmness about Their leaders, the Earls of Rochester and Nottingham, held that the war ought to be mainly carried on at sea and to be purely defensive on land, and had no sympathy with Marlborough in his design of destroying the predominance of Louis in Europe. Early in 1703 Marlborough found an opportunity of getting rid of Rochester. In the spring of 1704 he came into collision with Nottingham. There was a rising of the Protestant subjects of Louis in the Cevennes, usually known as the rising of the Camisards, because they fought with their shirts over their clothes. Marlborough was anxious to assist them, but was thwarted by Nottingham, who held it to be wrong, in any case, to support rebellion. Nottingham was accordingly dismissed, and the vacant places were filled by Harley and St. John. Both of the new ministers called themselves moderate Tories. Harley was an influential member of Parliament, with a talent for intrigue and a love of middle courses. St. John, profligate in his life, was the most brilliant orator and the ablest and most unscrupulous politician of the day. A few Whigs, of no great note, also received places. It was Marlborough's policy to

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secure the support of a body of ministers who would avoid irritating anyone, and would thus help him in his military designs. An attempt made by the High Tories in the Commons to force the Lords to accept the Occasional Conformity Bill, by tacking it (see p. 670) to a Bill for a land tax, was defeated with the help of Harley and St. John.

1704. The campaign of The French and Bavarians

7. The Campaign of Blenheim. 1704 was likely to be a critical one. intended to push on to Vienna and to compel the Emperor to separate himself from his allies. Marlborough, perceiving that if the French were allowed to carry their project into execution they would become the masters of Europe, anticipated them by marching to the Upper Danube, carrying with him the Dutch army in spite of the reluctance of the Dutch Government. Having effected a junction with the Austrian commander Prince Eugene, and with Louis of Baden who was at the head of the forces of other German states, the combined armies stormed the Schellenberg, a hill over Donauwörth, and then devastated Bavaria. A French army under Marshal Tallard hastened to the aid of the Elector of Bavaria. Marlborough and Eugene, between whom no jealousies ever arose, turned round, and utterly defeated Tallard at Blenheim. It was Marlborough's genius which had foreseen the surprising results of a victory on the Danube. His success marks the end of a period of French military superiority in Europe. The French had won every battle in which they had been engaged since 1643, when they defeated the Spaniards at Rocroi. It was, however, something more than prestige which was lost by France. The whole of the territory of the Duke of Bavaria, the most important German ally of Louis, was at the mercy of the allies, and before the end of the year scarcely a vestige of French authority was left in Germany. Marlborough received a grant of the manor of Woodstock, on which the huge and ungraceful pile which bears the name of Blenheim was built for him at the public expense.

8. Operations in Spain. 1704-1705. In 1704 the Archduke Charles, assuming the name of Charles III. of Spain, landed at Lisbon. The Spaniards regarded him as a foreign intruder, whilst they cherished Philip V. as if he had been their native king. The first foothold which Charles acquired in Spain was at Gibraltar, which surrendered in August to the English admiral, Sir George Rooke. In 1705 the French and Spaniards tried in vain to retake the fortress. The most important success of the allies in 1705 was the capture of Barcelona-an achievement of which the chief merit