E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) The Augustan Reprint Society [DANIEL DEFOE] A SHORT NARRATIVE OF THE Life and Actions Of His GRACE _JOHN_, D. of Marlborough (1711) _Introduction by_ PAULA R. BACKSCHEIDER Publication Number 168 William Andrews Clark Memorial Library University Of California, Los Angeles 1974 GENERAL EDITORS William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles David S. Rodes, University of California, Los Angeles ADVISORY EDITORS Richard C. Boys, University of Michigan James L. Clifford, Columbia University Ralph Cohen, University of Virginia Vinton A. Dearing, University of California, Los Angeles Arthur Friedman, University of Chicago Louis A. Landa, Princeton University Earl Miner, Princeton University Samuel H. Monk, University of Minnesota Everett T. Moore, University of California, Los Angeles Lawrence Clark Powell, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library James Sutherland, University College, London H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles Robert Vosper, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Beverly J. Onley, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Typography by Wm. M. Cheney INTRODUCTION Opinion is a mighty matter in war, and I doubt but the French think it impossible to conquer an army that he leads, and our soldiers think the same; and how far even this step may encourage the French to play tricks with us, no man knows. Swift's _Journal to Stella_, 1 January 1711 ... the moment he leaves the service and loses the protection of the Court, such scenes will open as no victories can varnish over. Bolingbroke's _Letters and Correspondence_, 23 January 1711 The career of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, reflects the political battles of nearly thirty years of English politics. In an age when duplicity, intrigue, personality, and an immediate history of violence characterized politics, John Churchill was a constant, steady military success even while his political and personal fortunes alternately plunged and soared. His military ability insured his importance to the Grand Alliance and his victories brought the reverence of the European powers opposing Louis XIV as well as that of his own people, but, at the same time, his successes also assured his involvement with the fortunes of nearly every major English political figure and movement in the years 1688 to 1712.