insight into military affairs, need only compare them with the plans hitherto published, to appreciate their value.

To major Freeth, of the quarter-master-general's department, I am indebted for much useful assistance on military subjects, and for the plan of the operations on the Danube, during the splendid campaign of 1704, as well as for that of the attack on the french lines in 1705.

In enumerating a list of those who have contributed their aid, it would be injustice not to repeat my grateful acknowledgments to Mr. Hatcher, my late secretary, now postmaster of Salisbury, for his able and indefatigable assistance in preparing these memoirs for the press.

I shall close this Preface with a few explanatory remarks.

Many of the letters are without date, and others are distinguished only by the name of the month or day of the week. The greater part of the correspondence between the duke, the duchess, and lord Godolphin, is also mingled with ciphers, to which there is no key; and the ciphers were evidently changed several times. In all these cases I have endeavoured to ascertain the dates and names, and have generally succeeded. With regard to the ciphers, whenever I could appropriate them with certainty, I have omitted the figures; and where I was doubtful, I have either annexed the cipher to my explanation, or left it unexplained.

In regard to the dates, the difference between the old and new style has occasioned some perplexity. All the letters from the queen, Godol

phin, and the duchess, are in the old style, to which I have occasionally added the new; but the two styles being frequently intermingled in those of the duke, I marked the new style, wherever I could ascertain that the old was used.

I deem it necessary to apprize the reader, that the principal part of the correspondence is taken from the records at Blenheim, to which specific references are omitted, as superfluous; but the papers from other collections are, in most instances, indicated. All the letters from foreign sovereigns and ministers are translated from the originals, which are chiefly written in the french language.

It may, perhaps, appear unnecessary to apologise for the adoption of the modern orthography, in the correspondence, which is interwoven with the narrative. The duke of Marlborough lived in an age, when little attention was paid to the minor departments of grammar; and he, like his friend Eugene, wrote with the carelessness of a soldier, not with the precision of a man of letters. To have given literal transcripts of his epistles, would have afforded little gratification to those who look rather to things than to words, and who are more anxious to be acquainted with his thoughts than with his orthography. Besides, in point of taste, it would be useless to urge how much the pages of an historical narrative would have been disfigured by variations in spelling, arising from haste and inattention, from the careless habit of the times, or from long residence abroad. This innovation is, however, merely literal; for the language of the letters, in all cases, is scrupulously preserved.

To satisfy curiosity, I have given two FacSimiles from the hand-writing of the duke of Marlborough; one of which is evidently a hasty draught of a letter to lord Godolphin, and the other the celebrated note, which he wrote in pencil, announcing the victory of Blenheim. These will sufficiently shew the peculiarities of his orthography.

Memoranda on the Construction of the Maps
and Plans, furnished by Major Smith.

The following mode has been adopted with regard to the Maps and Plans, which it was necessary to re-construct, in order to render the narratives of the military operations intelligible.

The first which became the object of critical scrutiny was, the plan of the attack on the intrenched camp of Schellenberg. Geographical engineers and military draughtsmen can readily discover when the topographical representation of a portion of ground bears evidence of accuracy. In this respect, all the printed plans in Dumont and his copiers betrayed a want of fidelity, and a new survey of the Danube proved the suspicion to be well founded. Luckily, a manuscript plan by a german officer, evidently present at the attack, was found among the Marlborough papers, designed with so much accuracy, in regard to the lines and first position, that after some slight corrections, it was adopted without reserve.

The battle of Blenheim was the next; and it was a matter of some difficulty to construct a new plan, because no materials were extant, which embraced the whole field, on a scale sufficiently enlarged. Recourse was, therefore, again had to the survey of the Danube, which contained about half the space of ground, and to the great Survey of Germany, in 204 sheets. The former was reduced, and the latter expanded to the same scale. A trifling difficulty occurred in this process,

relative to the position of the villages on the north; but all doubt was removed by the superb Plans of the Austrian Operations, in 1796, which were subsequently received. Upon this foundation the first positions, in an engraved plan, now become scarce, compared with authentic documents in the Marlborough Papers, were designed; and it was soon discovered, that what appeared obscure or unintelligible in the old draughts, became evident, when the movements or positions were transferred to a true representation of the locality. By the successive manœuvres of the several corps, their changes of position were easily determined. After the plan was finished, an original survey of the ground was received from the Bavarian quartermaster-general's department; and it was satisfactory to find, that with the trifling exception of the mouth of a rivulet, no correction was required.

The plan of operations between the Saar and Moselle is reduced from Cassini, and the positions marked from a manuscript in the Marlborough Collection.

The original engraved plan of the battle of Ramilies, was drawn by a dutch staff-officer; but without pretensions to accuracy, as he was only partially acquainted with the scene of action. An original survey in his majesty's library was therefore compared with an enlarged plan taken from Feraris; and the character of the ground was laid down from reconnoitrings in the vicinity, and the accounts of several authors.

Nearly the whole site of the battle of Oudenard has undergone personal examination. To the