The good effects of this well-timed liberality appeared in his interview with the minister, Count Piper. He observes, in the conclusion of his letter:

"Count Piper, at my taking leave of him, promised to acquaint me, for the queen's information, with whatever offers might be made to his master from the court of France. Whereupon I assured him he might certainly depend on the like returns from us, the king himself having been pleased to give me particular assurances that he would adhere to no proposals that might be made him in relation to the mediatorship, until he heard from me that the queen thought it seasonable. He also declared his opinion very freely, that the French were not yet reduced to such an ebb as would make them reasonable.

"I shall trouble you," he adds, "but with one observation more, that is, the uneasiness I perceive in the king of Sweden at the conduct of the court of Vienna. He complains of three particulars, on which he expects satisfaction: the first, for the affront offered to his minister at that court; the next, on account of the two Swedish officers killed at Breslaw; and the third, in relation to the Musc vites on the Rhine, whom he insists to have delivered up to him: but as for this last article, I hope an expedient may be found, by returning the Muscovites to King Augustus, and the Swedes engaging at the same time, that upon the czar's releasing the like number of Swedes, these shall be set at liberty. I have pressed the ministers at Vienna to endeavour to satisfy the king on these articles, as fearing, otherwise, when he comes to march through Silesia, in his way to Poland, he may make them very uneasy. It is certain the king designed likewise to have insisted on that court's giving satisfaction to the Protestants in Silesia, for the usurpation and innovations committed in that province, had I not had the good fortune to convince him, as I told you before, of the unseasonableness of it at present. This is the substance of all that passed between me and the court of Sweden, which I hope will meet with her majesty's approbation, it being very much for the public good and her majesty's service, that we are sure the king has not, nor will have any engagements with the French, so as to disturb us in the prosecution of the war.'

At the conclusion of this important negotiation, the duke received a mark of favour which was not only peculiarly flattering, but highly advantageous. Although Charles, with that jealousy which he always manifested in his military ope-→ rations, would permit no foreign minister to attend him in the field, he yet relaxed so far from his general rule as to allow Mr. Jefferys, the secretary of Mr. Robinson, to accompany the army in the character of a volunteer, by which means a constant communication was maintained by the British commander.*

This narrative is principally drawn from some brief letters of Marl

In his return Marlborough complied with the earnest request of the king of Prussia *, by paying a visit at Charlottenburg. Here his presence was peculiarly necessary to counteract the petty intrigues of Lord Raby, who not only endeavoured to sway the Prussian court, but imprudently threw reflections on the conduct of the ministers most attached to England, by representing them as sacrificing the interests of Prussia to gratify the Duke of Marlborough. It would have been easy to procure the recal of a minister who was personally disagreeable to the king and disliked in the court; but it was difficult to fill his place, as well from his connexions and interest with the grand chamberlain, as from his rank and diplomatic abilities and favour with his sovereign. Marlborough, therefore, overlooked his own complaints, and laboured to restore Lord Raby to such a cordiality with those whom he had offended, as might enable him to fulfil the object of his mission; and although he could not obliterate, he suspended the effects of their mutual jealousies. He prevailed also on the king to desist from his instances for the removal of so obnoxious a minister. During the pause of a day, which was the limit of his stay at the Prussian court, he received from the king many proofs of regard, and settled some points of delicacy. He, in particular, obtained his consent for the restoration of the Upper Palatinate to the elector palatine, and for putting the duke of Mantua to the ban of the empire. "At parting," the duke observes, "he forced on me a diamond ring, valued at 1000 pounds; an unusual instance of liberality in a prince by no means extravagant in presents.

Pursuing his journey with his usual diligence, he passed through Hanover, only to acquaint the elector with his success, and reached the Hague on the 8th of May, having accomplished his disagreeable journey and delicate negotiation within the short space of eighteen days.

borough, written during his continuance in the Swedish camp, and from a more detailed account sent to Godolphin after his return to the Hague. Some information has also been derived from a letter written by Mr. Robinson to the earl of Manchester, and printed in Cole's Memoirs; and from Lediard. These authentic sources render it unnecessary to detain the reader with any refutation of the idle and improbable narratives which Voltaire and others have given of this transaction.

Letter from the king of Prussia to the duke, April 25.

1

This important mission succeeded in every point beyond his expectations. The Swedish monarch was highly flattered by the attention of so celebrated a general, and not only repeatedly expressed his regard and admiration for his person, but acknowledged with pleasure and gratitude the conviction he had drawn from the force of his arguments, and the correctness and extent of his information. Marlborough himself, on his part, was struck with the chivalrous character of the young warrior, and under the rusticity of his manners and eccentricity of his character, saw much to admire and esteem. In a letter to the duchess he observes:

"Hague, April 29.-May 10. — I returned to this place last Sunday, by which you will see that I have used such diligence, that I was but eighteen days on the journey. Now that it is over, I am extremely well pleased to have made it, since I am persuaded it will be of some use to the public, and a good deal to the queen. I shall not enter into particulars, having writ at large to lord treasurer. This journey has given me the advantage of seeing four kings*, three of whom I had never seen. They seem to be all very different in their kinds. If I was obliged to make a choice, it should be the youngest, which is the king of Sweden."

In a conference held with the deputies of the States-general the day after his return, Marlborough repeated the assurances of friendship and good-will which he had received from the king of Sweden. He thus dissipated the alarm which the Dutch had conceived of the hostile designs and supposed engagements of the Swedish monarch with France, which was hourly fomented by the French emissaries, and had already operated with a sinister effect on the minds of so timid a people.

All his friends in England, and every well-wisher to the Grand Alliance, concurred in applauding his success and in giving due praise to the ability and judgment which he had manifested in the negotiation. Godolphin, in particular, expressed his satisfaction in the unstudied language of friendship.

"May 3-14. 1707. - I can never thank you enough for the pains you have taken, in writing so much and so exact a relation of all that has passed; and I think the kingdom can never thank you enough for having settled all things where you have been, so much to your own satisfaction and to our advantage."

* The king of Sweden, Augustus, Stanislaus, and the king of Prussia.

Harley also expressed similar sentiments in his usual style of respect and devotion.

“ April 15–26. — Though I am very sorry that your grace has had so much fatigue as in this journey to Saxony, yet I am sure there was no expectation of any success from any other sort of negotiation. Your grace is born to do those great things for your country, which no man else ever did, or can do; and therefore to your greater share of glory there falls out a greater share of fatigue.’

“ May 3. — It is a fatiguing journey, but I hope your grace will not receive any detriment or prejudice to your health by it. It is your grace's peculiar felicity to have your noble undertakings crowned with success ; and it would be a public calamity that you should suffer in your health while you are serving the public.”

66

May 6.- I hope this will find your grace safely returned to the Hague after your troublesome journey. But as you have a zeal for the public, which makes you refuse no trouble to serve your country, so your grace has a felicity and faculty to do that for the honour of the queen and the nation, which nobody else could perform."

But the best eulogium on his conduct was conveyed in the language of his enemies. The king of France contemplated his mission with a mixture of hope and anxiety. He flattered himself that Charles would not readily forego so honourable a mediation; and he expected that the high spirit of Marlborough would not bend to circumstances, but that, by recurring to menaces, he would wound the pride of a monarch who was no less vain of his success than tenacious of his purpose. These sentiments are strongly expressed in two letters, one from the king himself, and the other from Torcy to Besenval, the French envoy to the king of Sweden, which were intercepted in their passage, and transmitted by the duke to Godolphin.

The reply of Besenval not only dissipated these hopes, but detailed, in the most distinct manner, the heads of the discourse held by Marlborough. It was written under the feigned character of a merchant or tradesman, and transmitted under a cover to M. de Monasterolle, with the address "Pour le Principal," which is evidently intended to designate Louis XIV. It is dated Leipsic, April 28., the day after the audience, and the substance must have been derived from the communications either of Piper or Hermelin, but most probably of the latter.*

* This letter was either intercepted in its passage through Germany, or surreptitiously copied by some spy at the court of France, and is one

"A gazette written by a tradesman, who has no share in the secrets of the times, cannot relate what the king of Sweden replied, or caused to be replied, in secret, to the Duke of Marlborough, on the propositions, remonstrances, or solicitations which he may have made in the name of the queen, his mistress, or on the part of all the allies; since the king of Sweden and his ministers are accustomed to observe silence on all such subjects, and since the Duke of Marlborough will not readily communicate to any others, but to the parties concerned, the result of his mission. Yet it is allowable to imagine what sort of language the British general must have held at the court of Sweden, particularly as he must have employed different channels to insinuate indirectly, and under the guise of conversation, the principles with which the allies have endeavoured for some time to inspire his Swedish majesty. That English lord, who is sense and politeness itself, would doubtless begin by persuading his Swedish majesty that her sex alone prevented Queen Anne from waiting on the king in person; and that the fame of his great and heroic virtues, of his numerous victories, and of his transcendant genius, both in the art of war and in the science of government, was the motive which induced the Duke of Marlborough to quit England, where his important occupations would otherwise have detained him longer, to visit the bravest and most glorious king in the world, and to avow, in his presence, that all the advantages granted by the grace of God to the arms of the allies against France, in the glorious reign of Queen Anne, and under the command of the Duke of Marlborough, must yield to the illustrious exploits of his Swedish majesty.

66

By the opening of so elegant a discourse, to which the pen of a

among many proofs of the accurate and extensive intelligence which Marlborough obtained from every court of Europe. The person by whom it was transmitted, and who was actually the principal agent in this correspondence, was Robethon, who, from an humble origin, raised himself to the post of confidential secretary, first to the duke of Zell, and afterwards to the elector of Hanover. For this purpose he was supplied with large sums of money by the Duke, and the number and value of his communications prove that these largesses were not ill bestowed. him Marlborough was also principally indebted for a disclosure of the communications between Louis and the French agents in Saxony; and his own correspondence, which this year is extremely voluminous, contains an ample detail of the secret proceedings, and even the private sentiments entertained by the different courts of Europe.

To

From the papers published by Macpherson, we also find Robethon engaged in an active correspondence, as well with the ministers as with the Whig leaders in England.

The events of the time gave consequence to so active and intelligent a secretary; and he was among those confidential servants who accompanied George I. on his accession to the British throne. Growing presumptuous from the royal favour, he interfered in political transactions, and excited the jealousy of Sir Robert Walpole. - Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole, chap. xv.