Marlborough, which attributes to her character unbounded selfishness, must not be too readily credited. Her early surrender of her superior right to William, her attention and affection to her consort, her very faults as a monarch, prove her to have been remarkably devoid of that quality, when we consider her isolated position in society. That Anne was not blessed, nor cursed, as it may prove, with that sensitiveness which belongs to higher minds, and which can only by such be turned to the best of purposes, does not detract from her amiable and domestic qualities, but rather heightens the value of that principle which could render her an affectionate wife, patient and unwearied in the hours of sickness; a generous friend, whose partiality caused her to overstep the landmarks of etiquette, and to disregard the boundaries of rank; a beneficent patron of the poor clergy; an excellent, because a just, orderly, and economical mistress. It has been justly said, that her conduct to her father was the only stain upon her domestic virtues; and she appears to have atoned for it by a continual penitence. She died childless, attended on her deathbed only by interested dependents,[220] and followed to her grave by many who had earnestly desired her death. Her decease was followed by the return of early friends from whom she had been long separated, and who awaited that event before they could cease to be exiles. CHAPTER XI. Return of the Duke and Duchess—Their reception—The Duchess’s advice to her husband—Political changes in which the Duke and Duchess were partly concerned.—1714. On the day before the Queen’s demise, the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough arrived at Ostend from Antwerp, for the purpose of embarking for Dover. This step had been for some time in contemplation by the Duke, although the reasons which finally decided him to return to his country have never been exactly ascertained. He had refused, so late as the month of July, 1714, to sign the Whig association, presented for his approval by Lord Onslow, the deputy of that party.[221] He was addressed both by Bolingbroke and by Harley, but not claimed as an adherent by either of these politicians. So confident were both these ministers of his aid, that they ordered him to be received at the ports with the same honours as he had met with on returning after his victories; but these directions were countermanded, when it was understood that he would not participate in any of the politics of the day.[222] The Duchess had already announced to her correspondents in England the project entertained by herself and the Duke, of again residing in their beloved England. On arriving at Ostend, she wrote to her friend, Mrs. Clayton, whose husband, a clerk in the treasury, was one of the managers of the Duke’s estates during his absence. “July 30, 1714.