DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 18) forces and Master-General of the Ordnance, while the Duchess was made Groom of the Stole—a curious title for a lady to bear—Mistress of the Robes, Keeper of the Privy Purse, and ranger of Windsor Park for life. At the time of his assuming the command of the combined armies of England, Germany, and Holland, Marlborough was in the fifty-second year of his life. It is quite beyond the scope of this lecture to enter into a detailed account of his campaign. Much as I regret being obliged to do so, I must omit alto- gether the mention of the war which was simul- taneously carried on by the allied armies in Spain against France, with alternate success and reverse, for its interest is overshadowed by the greater attrac- tions of Marlborough’s victories. In four battles he successively defeated the French, and with such effect that he broke the power of their country, crushed the pride of Louis the Fourteenth, saved Holland and Germany, and freed England from every fear of foreign interference. The battle of Blenheim, which was fought in Bavaria, on a swamp near the Danube, was the first and the most important. On this occasion Marl- borough remained on horseback for fifteen hours, superintending the movement of the allies. ‘I have great reason to hope that everything will go well,’ he calmly wrote to his wife on the eve of