Cassell's History of England, Vol. 4 (of 8): From the Fall of Marlborough to the Peninsular WarAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 4 (of 8): From the Fall of Marlborough to the Peninsular War
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
On the 6th of January there landed at Greenwich an illustrious visitor
to the Court on an unwelcome errand--namely, Prince Eugene. The Allies,
justly alarmed at the Ministerial revolution which had taken place in
England, and at the obvious design of the Tories to render abortive
all the efforts of the Whigs and the Allies through the war, from mere
party envy and malice, sent over Eugene to convince the queen and
the Government of the fatal consequences of such policy. Harley paid
obsequious court to the prince as long as he hoped to win him over. He
gave a magnificent dinner in his honour, and declared that he looked on
that day as the happiest of his life, since he had the honour to see in
his house the greatest captain of the age. The prince, who felt that
this was a mean blow at Marlborough, replied with a polite but cutting
sarcasm, which must have sunk deep in the bosom of the Lord Treasurer,
"My lord, if I am the greatest captain of the age, I owe it to your
lordship." That was to say, because he had deprived the really greatest
captain of his command. The queen, though she was compelled to treat
Eugene graciously, and to order the preparation of costly gifts to him
as the representative of the Allies, regarded him as a most unwelcome
guest, and in her private circle took no pains to conceal it. The whole
Tory party soon found that he was not a man to be seduced from his
integrity, or brought to acquiesce in a course of policy which he felt
and knew to be most disgraceful and disastrous to the peace of Europe;
and being fully convinced of this, they let loose on the illustrious
stranger all the virulence of the press. Eugene returned to the
Continent, his mission being unaccomplished, on the 13th of March.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account