ON the death of William, Anne succeeded peaceably to the crown. She was then in the thirty-ninth year of her age: she had married, in 1683, George, son of Frederick III., king of Denmark, and had many children, who all died in their infancy, except one son, prince George, whom I mentioned to you at the end of William's reign. This young prince lived to be eleven years old. His death was occasioned by catching cold, after

having been heated with dancing. It caused the most bitter grief to his parents, especially to his mother, who after that event never regained her former vivacity. Anne had a good natural capacity, but it had been very little cultivated. Her temper was mild and obliging: she attached herself ardently to her friends and favourites, and often suffered herself to be too much influenced by them. In private life she would have been an estimable character, but she wanted the decision and

energy necessary to make a great queen. Her person was engaging, but without dignity. Her features were regular, but her complexion was too florid, and her face too full and plump to be perfectly handsome.

The undivided administration of government was vested in the queen, prince George having no greater dignities in the state than those of generalissimo of the queen's forces, and of lord high admiral. He was a man, indeed, who had no wish to interfere in the management of public affairs. The political animosities between the Whigs and the Tories ran very high during the whole of this reign. The leading difference in the views of the two parties was on the subject of the succession to the crown, in case Anne should die without children. The Tories were in favour of the pretender and of the house of Stuart, while the Whigs were friends to the house of Hanover and the Protestant succession, as established by the act of settlement in the latter end of William's reign.

Louis XIV. was now become more than ever formidable to all the other states of Europe; his power having been greatly augmented by the devolution of the crown of Spain to his grandson the duke of Anjou, to whom Charles II., the late king of Spain, had left it, contrary to his promise to the archduke Charles, son of the emperor of Germany. The duke of Anjou had thus become king of Spain, by the title of Philip V. The curbing of this exorbitant power, and the placing the archduke on the throne of Spain, were the great objects of the alliance which had been made, towards the close of William's reign, between the Dutch, the king of England, and the emperor.

Anne, on her accession, declared herself resolved to pursue the same line of policy in which her predecessor had engaged so warmly: and she sent Marlborough to conduct the war on the continent, at the same time appointing him ambassador to the Dutch; whose confidence he acquired so thoroughly, that they also invested him with the chief command of their own army.

The first campaign was on the whole successful, but was not distinguished by any great event. There is a story told of a remarkable escape from being taken prisoner, which, on the dispersion of the troops into winter quarters, Marlborough himself met with. He had embarked on the Meuse, in the month of November, with some Dutch deputies, and a guard of soldiers, and was intending

to return to the Hague. At the close of the evening, some French troops who had been lurking about, and were on the watch for plunder, suddenly darted out from amongst the reeds by the river side, and seizing the hauling rope, rushed into the boat. They immediately secured the soldiers, and would have made the Dutch deputies prisoners also, had they not produced their passports. Marlborough was not provided with a passport, but one of his attendants having an old passport in his pocket, slipped it into his hand; and the French officer, not taking time to examine it, let him go, after plundering the boat, and carrying off the soldiers. Marlborough and his companions arrived safely at the Hague, where they found the town in the utmost consternation, a report having reached it that they had been all carried off by a party of the

enemy.

In the spring of the next year, 1703, Marlborough, who was now created a duke, rejoined the allied army in Flanders, and the war was carried on on both sides with great activity. The year following, 1704, a junction was formed between the English and Dutch army, and that of the Imperialists; and the seat of the war was transferred to the Danube, where the French, with whom the Bavarians had joined, had a powerful army.

On the 11th of August the combined armies, under the command of Marlborough and prince Eugene, came in sight of the enemy, who were

advantageously posted on a hill near Hochstedt, on the banks of the Danube, and not far from the village of Blenheim. On the 13th a most severe battle was fought between the two armies, in which the imprudence of Tallard, the French general, and the skill of Marlborough, decided the victory for the allies. The French and Bavarian army had amounted, before the battle, to sixty thousand men, ten thousand of whom were left dead upon the field; and many more perished in attempting to cross the Danube. Thirteen thousand were taken prisoners, and they lost a hundred pieces of cannon, besides an immense quantity of baggage, which fell into the hands of the allies. The consequences of this great victory were very important. The emperor took entire possession of Bavaria, and the broken army of the French was obliged immediately to retreat beyond the Rhine.

The duke of Marlborough was from this time looked up to as the greatest commander of his age. Compliments and honours were heaped on him by the emperor, and on his return to England he was received with universal joy. The queen bestowed on him the royal manor of Woodstock, near Oxford, and a noble mansion was there built for him at the public expense, and in honour of his great victory was named Blenheim.

In the meantime the archduke Charles had applied for the assistance of England in asserting his claim to the crown of Spain; and a fleet was sent,