CHAPTER 2.

1674-1684.

Attendance of colonel Churchill on the duke of York during his various peregrinations.—Employed on several political missions.-Birth of his eldest daughter.-Created a Peer of Scotland by the title of lord Churchill of Aymouth.Military promotion.— Rise of his wife's favour with the princess Anne.

WE

E must refer the reader to the histories of the times, for an account of the religious and party feuds which agitated the parliament and nation during the remaining part of the reign of Charles, together with the attempts made, either to exclude the duke of York from the throne, as a papist, or to limit his authority, in case of his accession. Nor shall we enter into the shameless cabals of the king, the duke of York, and many of the party in opposition with Louis the fourteenth. Colonel Churchill took no public share in these intrigues and contentions; and it is probable that he did not accept a seat in the house of commons, from a consciousness that the frankness of his temper would involve him in political broils. Yet as he confided in the solemn promises of the duke of York not to interfere in the national religion, gratitude as well as interest prompted him

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to consider the conduct of the party in opposition as equally disrespectful, unjust, and unconstitutional. To a confidential friend, who has given the earliest account of his life, he observed, Though I have an aversion to popery, yet I am no less averse to persecution for conscience sake. I deem it the highest act of injustice to set any one aside from his inheritance, upon bare suppositions of intentional evils, when nothing that is actual appears to preclude him from the exercise of his just rights. But although such were his sentiments, he was too firmly devoted to the church of England to suffer his attachment and gratitude to outweigh the obligations of duty and conscience; and he continued to profess the protestant religion, at a time when a real or pretended conversion was construed into an act of merit, by the prince on whom he depended.

His attachment to his religion did not, however, diminish the confidence reposed in him by his royal patron; for, in the continual negotiations of James with his brother and the king of France, we find him frequently charged with the most secret commissions. When the duke of York was compelled to quit England, in March 1679, he attended him to the Hague and to Brussels, and was accompanied by his wife, who then filled a place in the household of the duchess.

James being soon afterwards summoned to England, by a secret order from the king, who was

* Lives of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, printed in 1713, octavo, p. 13.

seriously indisposed, was accompanied in his journey by the colonel. On their arrival at Windsor, they found the king recovered, but the presence of the duke of York produced a favourable effect; and though he could not obtain permission. to remain at court, he was allowed to transfer his residence to Scotland. During the short interval of this visit, the colonel was dispatched to Paris, to accelerate a treaty between Charles and Louis. He was charged with a letter of recommendation from James, who designates him as the master of his wardrobe, to whom entire credit might be given. *

He returned with the duke to Brussels; and when James established his residence in Scotland, he was, as on other occasions, his constant attendant. During the journey, as well as after his arrival at Edinburgh, on the 4th December, 1679, we find a few affectionate letters addressed to his wife, whom he had left in London. †

James was too deeply interested in the succession to the crown to remain tranquil in Scotland; for on the 24th of February, 1680, he returned to the capital. After a residence of a few months, during which the colonel was again employed in some honourable missions, he was driven back into Scotland by the efforts of the popular party, Churchill was again his attendant, and enjoyed the happiness of his wife's society, who was in the suite of the duchess of York.

* Life of James the Second. - Macpherson, vol. i. p. 94. And his Life, edited by Clarke, vol. i. p. 565.

+ Dalrymple, Appendix to ch. 4. vol. i. p. 321. 8vo.

In January, 1681, he was dispatched by James to London. The first object of this mission was, to press the king not to assemble the parliament, which in the agitated state of the public mind, the duke was apprehensive might propose measures calculated for his own exclusion from the throne, or at least might establish such restrictions, as would greatly limit his power, in case of his accession. The second object was to dissuade the king from forming such alliances with Spain and Holland, as would involve him in a war with France, and consequently in the language of James "render him a slave to his parliament." To this was added a third, namely, a direct alliance with France, which he was charged to represent as the only expedient for the support of the king, and the preservation of the prerogative, without which the country must again fall under the government of a commonwealth. The last point was, to solicit permission for the duke to return, at least for a limited period; or, if this could not be effected, to obtain for him additional powers, and the command of the forces in Scotland.

The extreme delicacy of this commission is proved by the strict injunction given to colonel Churchill not to communicate it to the ministers, especially to lord Halifax. By additional directions he was enjoined to press the king to the adoption of resolute counsels, which, as James contended, the experience of the preceding year had proved to be safest.

Arriving at court, colonel Churchill found the king too much alarmed to embrace the violent

counsels of his brother; yet the dexterous negotiator acquired a new title to the confidence of his patron, by the extreme address with which he executed his commission, and the impression which his representations made on the mind of the king. On his return he gave James a satisfactory account of the state of parties, and of the ministry; and prevailed on him not to re-appear at court, during the bustle of the new elections, lest his presence should awaken suspicion, and exasperate his enemies. *

In the course of the same year, he was deputed several times to London, to promote the interests of his master, and accelerate the conclusion of the long pending treaty with France. In this negotiation the colonel took an active part, and the dispatches of the french minister, Barillon, prove that he counteracted the insidious suggestions of the french monarch, to inflame the mind of James, and provoke a civil war.

Soon after his return to Scotland, he was hailed as a father; for his lady, who had accompanied the duchess, was delivered in London of her first daughter Henrietta, on the 19th of July, † 1681. Several of his letters prove that the pleasing hopes and anticipations of a parent beguiled the pain of his frequent absences. To avoid endless repetitions of the same tender sentiments, we shall insert

* Life of James II., v. i. p. 658. 666.

†The entry of her baptism occurs in the parish register of St. Martin's in the Fields, communicated by the kindness of the vicar, the Rev. Archdeacon Pott. It is also entered in the family Bible, in the duchess's own hand; communicated by earl Spencer.