dante was excluded, quitted her own apartments, and, after a temporary stay at Sion Hill, the seat of the duke of Somerset, established her residence at Berkley House.

Common resentment and common mortification gave new strength to the romantic affection which subsisted between the princess and her favourite. To an offer made by the countess of withdrawing from her service, Anne replied with the most tender expostulations, asseverating that she was not the cause of the rupture which had occurred. In one of her notes, she observes "I really long to know how my dear Mrs. Freeman got home; and now I have this opportunity of writing, she must give me leave to tell her, if she should ever be so cruel to leave her faithful Mrs. Morley, she will rob her of the joy of her life; for if that day should come, I should never enjoy another happy minute ; and I swear to you I would shut myself up, and never see a creature."*

Before the surprise occasioned by the preceding incidents had subsided, Marlborough was suddenly arrested, on the 5th of May, on a charge of high treason. Warrants were likewise issued against the earls of Huntingdon and Scarsdale, and Dr. Spratt, bishop of Rochester. Several other persons were also taken into custody, particularly lord Middleton, the lords Griffin and Dunmore, sir John Fenwick, and colonels Slingsby and Sackville, all of whom were known partisans of the Stuart family.

The moment of these arrests was a crisis of peculiar danger and alarm; for a french fleet was on the point of sailing, to convey the dethroned monarch, with a large body of troops, to the british shores. The avowed jacobites were consequently seized by way of precaution, and not on any specific charge. With regard to the earls of Marlborough and Scarsdale, and the bishop of Rochester, the case was different, though the time and mode of their detention seemed to involve them in the designs which popular opinion ascribed to the rest. In fact, they were arrested in consequence of an atrocious scheme, formed by one Robert

Young, then imprisoned in Newgate for the non-payment of a fine. This wretch, who was expert in counterfeiting hands, drew up an association in favour of James the second, to which he annexed the signatures of the earls of Marlborough and Scarsdale, the bishop of Rochester, lord Cornbury, and sir Basil Firebrass. Το give additional colour to his scheme, he also forged several letters from Marlborough. By the agency of Stephen Blackhead, a confederate equally infamous, he found means to secrete the fictitious association in the palace belonging to the bishop of Rochester, at Bromley, in Kent. On the information of Young the palace was searched, and the paper being found, measures were immediately adopted to secure the supposed delinquents.

As peers could not be arrested except on an affidavit, Young made the customary deposition for drawing up the several warrants. When that against Marlborough was presented to the cabinet council, for approbation, three of the members, the earls of Devonshire and Bradford, and lord Montagu, appear to have been struck by the infamous character of the accuser; and instead of affixing their signatures, contemptuously handed it to those sitting next.* It was however sanctioned by the majority, and

was carried into execution.

In the language of conscious innocence, Marlborough made an immediate appeal to those members of the administration in whose integrity he confided. To the earl of Devonshire, lord

high steward, he wrote:

"I am so confident of my innocence, and so convinced, if there be any such letter, that it must appear to be forged, and made use of only to keep me in prison, that I cannot doubt but your lordship will be so kind as to let me find your protection against such a proceeding, which will be a reproach to the government, as well as an injury to, yours," &c.

He made a similar appeal to the marquis of Cacrmarthen, pre

* Conduct, p. 62. In corroboration of this anecdote, preserved by the duchess, it may be proper to observe that lord Bradford visited Marlborough in the Tower.

sident of the council, whose judgment he was convinced would not be biassed by the remembrance of their former contentions.

"Having been informed that it is now publicly discoursed in Westminster-hall to-day, that a letter under my hand was to be produced to the grand jury, to induce them to find a bill against me, I beg leave to assure your lordship, upon my honour and credit, that, if any such letter be pretended, it must and will, upon examination, appear so plainly to have been forged, that as it can be of no credit or advantage to the government, so I doubt not but your lordship's justice will be ready to protect me from so injurious a proceeding, who am, &c.”*

The arrest of Marlborough, though not unforeseen, struck a panic into the court of Berkley House. We find a letter of condolence, written by the princess to her favourite, as soon as the news had transpired :

“I hear lord Marlborough is sent to the Tower; and though I am certain they have nothing against him, and expected by your letter it would be so, yet I was struck when I was told it; for methinks it is a dismal thing to have one's friends sent to that place. I have a thousand melancholy thoughts, and cannot help fearing they should hinder you from coming to me; though how they can do that, without making you a prisoner, I cannot imagine.

"I am just told by pretty good hands, that as soon as the wind turns westerly, there will be a guard set upon the prince and me. If you hear there is any such thing designed, and that 'tis easy to you, pray let me see you before the wind changes; for afterwards one does not know whether they will let one have opportunities of speaking to one another. But let them do what they please, nothing shall ever vex me, so I can have the satisfaction of seeing dear Mrs. Freeman; and I swear I would live on bread and water, between four walls, with her, without repining; for as long as you continue kind, nothing can ever be a real mortification to your faithful Mrs. Morley, who wishes she may never enjoy a

From copies in the hand-writing of the duchess.-Marlborough Papers.

moment's happiness, in this world or the next, if ever she proves false to you."*

Whether the hint which the princess conveys, of a design to place her and her consort under restraint, was an effect of mere rumour; or whether William was unwilling to hazard so decisive a measure, we cannot ascertain. But the princess suffered no other mortification than the imprisonment of her zealous adherent, and the loss of the honours attached to her high station.

In endeavouring to trace the causes of this mysterious transaction, we must distinguish between the disgrace and arrest, and the subsequent detention of Marlborough.

Some who were well acquainted with his early history, especially the duchess, ascribe his disgrace and imprisonment to the zeal he displayed in promoting the grant of a permanent revenue to the princess of Denmark. Others have imputed these mortifications to the jealousy which his popularity and military talents raised in the mind of William; to an accusation that he attempted to sow divisions in the army; and to his disclosure of a design formed for the surprize of Dunkirk. Finally, the cause has been sought in the bickerings between the two courts, and the imprudent remonstrances which Marlborough presumed to make against the partiality of the king towards his dutch adherents, and his reserve towards the English.

Of all these different conjectures, the last alone is sufficient to account for the dismission of Marlborough: for the magnanimous character of William exempts him from the slightest imputation of personal jealousy; the charge of endeavouring to sow divisions in the army was a mere vague rumour of the day; the design against Dunkirk did not take place till the ensuing August; and

* Marlborough Papers, Copy.

+ Conduct.

‡ Lord Basil Hamilton in a letter to the duke of Hamilton, Jan. 29, 1692, announcing the dismission of Marlborough, observes, "Every body makes their guesses what are his crimes. Some say he was endeavouring to breed divisions in the army, and to make himself the more necessary; besides his endeavouring to make an ill correspondence between the princess and the Court. Dalrymple, vol. 3, p. 256.

the earl was confidentially employed by the king, more than two years after the discussion relative to the revenue of the princess.

For Marlborough's subsequent detention, we must seek another cause, namely, his clandestine intercourse with the exiled family. We have already adverted to the commencement of that intercourse; and whether the motive which induced him to listen to the overtures of the Stuart agents, arose from disgust with William, or the fear of a counter-revolution, we cannot doubt that it must have operated with double force, during the course of the preceding winter, when he was personally implicated in the dispute between the princess and the king; and when a powerful expedition was preparing in the french ports, to restore the exiled monarch. So general was the panic felt on this occasion, that even the princess of Denmark herself made overtures to her father, towards the close of 1691.* Such a correspondence could not have entirely escaped the vigilance of William; and he might naturally have ascribed the overture of the princess to the advice of Marlborough and his countess, who possessed her full confidence. But whatever were his suspicions, the evidence on which they were founded was too slender to justify severer measures; for otherwise the powerful cabal, whom Marlborough had so grievously offended, would scarcely have failed to push their vengeance farther than mere detention.

The letter from the princess Anne to her dethroned father, which is printed in Clarke's Life, vol. 2, p. 477, was dated December 1, 1691; but the king observes, that he did not receive it till after the battle of La Hogue, though he seems to hint that previous overtures from her were among the reasons which prompted him to undertake the expedition.

On the conduct of Marlborough he again observes:

"The correspondence with my lord Churchill was still kept up, for though so much former treachery, and so little other proofs of a change than words and protestation, made his intentions liable to suspicion; yet he put so plausible a face upon his reasons and actions, that if they were not accompanied with truth and sincerity, they had at least a specious appearance of fair and honest dealing; and had this reason above all others to be credited, that not only he but his [blank in original] was out of favour with the prince of Orange, and reaped no other benefit for their past infidelities, than the infamy of having committed them; and the most interested men's repentance may be credited, when they can reasonably hope to mend their fortune by repairing their fault, and better their condition by returning to their duty,” Vol. 2, p. 476