As Charles the Second of Spain approached his end, the liveliest interest was felt as to his succession. He had no children, and the hopes and fears of all the continental2 nations were excited by the question of the disposal of the then vast dominions3 of Spain. The principal powers of Europe, dreading4 the consequences of this great empire being added to the power of any one monarch5, entered into a secret treaty, which was signed at the Hague in 1698, by which it was agreed that Spain itself should be ceded6 to the Electoral Prince of Bavaria, with Flanders and the Low countries; Naples, Sicily, Tuscany, and Guipuscoa were to fall to France; and the Duchy of Milan to the archduke, son of the Emperor of Germany. Holland was to gain a considerable accession of territory. England, one of the signatories to the treaty, was to gain nothing by the division.
The contents of this treaty leaked out, and the king of Spain, after a consultation7 with Austria, who was also indignant at the secret treaty, made a will bequeathing all his dominions to the Elector of Bavaria. Had that prince lived, all the complications which ensued would probably have been avoided; but he died, the 9th February, 1699, and the whole question was thereby8 again opened. Another secret treaty was made, between England, France, and Holland, and signed on the 13th March, 1700, at the Hague. By this treaty it was agreed that France was to receive Naples, Sicily, Guipuscoa, and Lorraine; the Archduke Charles Spain, the Low Countries, and the Indies; and the Spanish colonies were to be divided between Holland and England. As both England and Holland were at the time in alliance with Spain, it must be admitted that their secret arrangement for the partition of her territories was of a very infamous9 character.
Louis of France, while apparently10 acting11 with the other powers, secretly communicated the contents of the treaty to Charles II. The Spanish king was naturally dismayed at the great conspiracy12 to divide his kingdom at his death, and he convened13 his council of state and submitted the matter to them. It was apparent that France, by far the most powerful of the other continental states, could alone avert14 the division, and the states general therefore determined15 to unite the interests of France and Spain by appointing the Duc d'Anjou, grandson of the King of France, sole heir to the vast empire of Spain.
The news that Spain and France were henceforth to be united caused the greatest consternation16 to the rest of the States, and all Europe began to arm. Very shortly after signing the bequest17, the old King of Spain died, and the Duc d'Anjou ascended18 the throne. The Spanish Netherlands, governed by the young Elector of Bavaria, as Lieutenant19 General of Spain, at once gave in their adhesion to the new monarch. The distant colonies all accepted his rule, as did the great Spanish possessions in Italy; while the principal European nations acknowledged him as successor of Charles the Second.
The new empire seemed indeed of preponderating20 strength. Bavaria united herself in a firm alliance with France and Spain; and these three countries, with Italy and Flanders, appeared capable of giving the law to the world. England, less affected21 than the continental powers by the dominance of this powerful coalition22, might have remained quiet, had not the French King thrown down the gauntlet of defiance23. On the 16th September, 1701, James the Second, the exiled King of England, died, and Louis at once acknowledged his son as King of Great Britain and Ireland. This act was nothing short of a public declaration of war, not only against the reigning24 monarch of England, but against the established religion of our country. The exiled prince was Roman Catholic. Louis was the author of the most terrible persecution25 of the Protestants that ever occurred in Europe. Thus the action of the French king rallied round William the Second all the Protestant feeling of the nation. Both Houses of Parliament voted loyal addresses, and the nation prepared for the great struggle before it. The king laboured to establish alliances and a plan for common action, and all was in readiness, when his sudden death left the guidance of affairs in other hands.
These hands were, happily for England, those of the Earl of Marlborough, the finest diplomatist, as well as the greatest soldier, of his time.
The struggle which was approaching was a gigantic one. On one side were France and Spain, open to attack on one side only, and holding moreover Flanders, and almost the whole of Italy, with the rich treasures of the Indies upon which to draw for supplies. The alliance of Bavaria, with a valiant27 population, extended the offensive power of the coalition into the heart of Austria.
Upon the other hand were the troops of Austria, England, Holland, Hanover, Hesse Cassel, and the lesser28 states of Germany, with a contingent29 of troops, from Prussia and Denmark. In point of numbers the nations ranged on either side were about equal; but while France, Spain, and Bavaria formed a compact body under the guidance of Louis, the allies were divided by separate, and often opposing interests and necessities, while Austria was almost neutralized30 by a dangerous Hungarian insurrection that was going on, and by the danger of a Turkish invasion which the activity of French diplomacy31 kept continually hanging over it. The coalition was weakened in the field by the jealousies32 of the commanders of the various nationalities, and still more by the ignorance and timidity of the Dutch deputies, which Holland insisted on keeping at headquarters, with the right of veto on all proceedings34.
On the side of the allies the following were the arrangements for the opening of the campaign. A German army under Louis, Margrave of Baden, was to be collected on the upper Rhine to threaten France on the side of Alsace. A second corps35, 25,000 strong, composed of Prussian troops and Dutch, under the Prince of Saarbruck, were to undertake the siege of Kaiserwerth, a small but very important fortress36 on the right bank of the Rhine, two leagues below Dusseldorf. The main army, 35,000 strong, under the Earl of Athlone, was destined37 to cover the frontier of Holland, from the Rhine to the Vecun, and also to cover the siege of Kaiserwerth; while a fourth body, of 10,000 men, under General Cohorn, were collected near the mouth of the Scheldt, and threatened the district of Bruges.
Upon the other side the French had been equally active. On the Lower Rhine a force was stationed to keep that of Cohorn in check. Marshal Tallard, with 15,000 men, came down from the Upper Rhine to interrupt the siege of Kaiserwerth, while the main army, 45,000 strong, under the Duke of Burgundy and Marshal Boufflers, was posted in the Bishopric of Liege, resting on the tremendous chain of fortresses38 of Flanders, all of which were in French possession, and strongly garrisoned40 by French and Spanish soldiers.
At the time, however, when the vessel41 containing Rupert Holliday and Hugh Parsons sailed up the Scheldt, early in the month of May, these arrangements were not completed, but both armies were waiting for the conflict.
The lads had little time for the examination of the Hague, now the dullest and most quiet of European capitals, but then a bustling42 city, full of life and energy; for, with the troops who had arrived with them, they received orders to march at once to join the camp formed at Breda. Accustomed to a quiet English country life, the activity and bustle43 of camp life were at once astonishing and delightful44. The journey from the Hague had been a pleasant one. Rupert rode one of the two horses with which the Earl of Marlborough had presented him, Hugh the other; and as a portion of the soldiers with them were infantry45, the marches were short and easy; while the stoppages at quaint46 Dutch villages, the solemn ways of whose inhabitants, their huge breeches, and disgust at the disturbance47 of their usual habits when the troops were quartered upon them, were a source of great amusement to them.
Upon reaching the camp they soon found their way to their regiment48. Here Rupert presented to Colonel Forbes the letter of recommendation with which the Earl of Marlborough had provided him, and was at once introduced by him to his brother officers, most of them young men, but all some years older than himself. His frank, pleasant, boyish manner at once won for him a cordial acceptance, and the little cornet, as he was called in the regiment, soon became a general favourite.
Hugh, who had formally enlisted49 in the regiment before leaving England, was on arrival handed over to a sergeant50; and the two lads were, with other recruits, incessantly51 drilled from morning till night, to render them efficient soldiers before the day of trial arrived.
Rupert shared a tent with the other two officers of his troop, Captain Lauriston, a quiet Scotchman, and Lieutenant Dillon, a young Irishman, full of fun and life.
There were in camp three regiments52 of British cavalry53 and six of infantry, and as they were far from the seat of war, there was for the present nothing to do but to drill, and prepare for the coming campaign. Rupert was delighted with the life, for although the work for the recruits was hard, the weather was splendid, supplies abundant--for the Dutch farm wives and their daughters brought ducks, and geese, and eggs into the camp--and all were in high spirits at the thought of the approaching campaign. Every night there were gatherings54 round the fire, when songs were sung and stories told. Most of the officers had before campaigned in Holland, under King William, and many had fought in Ireland, and had stirring tales of the Boyne, of the siege of Athlone, and of fierce encounters with the brave but undisciplined Irish.
At the end of a month's hard work, Rupert began to understand his duties, for in those days the amount of drill deemed necessary for a trooper was small indeed in proportion to that which he has now to master. Rupert was already a good rider, and soon learnt where was his proper place as cornet in each evolution, and the orders that it behoved him to give. The foot drill was longer and more difficult, for in those days dragoons fought far more on foot than is now the case, although at this epoch55 they had already ceased to be considered as mounted infantry, and had taken their true place as cavalry. Rupert's broadsword drill lasted but a very short time; upon the drill sergeant asking him if he knew anything of that weapon, he said that he could play at singlestick, but had never practised with the broadsword. His instructor56, however, found that a very few lessons were sufficient to enable him to perform the required cuts and guard with sufficient proficiency57, and very speedily claimed the crown which Rupert promised him on his dismissal from the class.
Week after week passed in inactivity, and the troops chafed58 mightily59 thereat, the more so that stirring events were proceeding33 elsewhere. The siege of Kaiserwerth, by a body of 15,000 German troops, had begun on the 18th of April, and the attack and defence were alike obstinate60 and bloody61. The Earl of Athlone with his covering forces lay at Cleves, and a sharp cavalry fight between 1000 of the allied26 cavalry and 700 French horse took place on the 27th of April. The French were defeated, with the loss of 400 men; but as the victors lost 300, it is clear that both sides fought with extreme determination and bravery, such a loss--700 men out of 1700 combatants--being extraordinarily62 large. The spirit shown by both sides in this the first fight of the war, was a portent63 of the obstinate manner in which all the battles of this great war were contested. For two months Kaiserwerth nobly defended itself. Seventy-eight guns and mortars64 thundered against it night and day. On the 9th of June the besiegers made a desperate assault and gained possession of a covered way, but at a cost of 2000 killed and wounded. A week later the place capitulated after a siege which had cost the allies 5000 men.
General Boufflers, with his army of 37,000 men, finding himself unable to raise the siege, determined to make a dash against Nimeguen, an important frontier fortress of Holland, but which the supineness of the Dutch Government had allowed to fall into disrepair. Not only was there no garrison39 there, but not a gun was mounted on its walls. The expedition seemed certain of success, and on the evening of the 9th of June Boufflers moved out from Xanten, and marched all night. Next day Athlone obtained news of the movement and started in the evening, his march being parallel with the French, the hostile armies moving abreast65, and at no great distance from each other.
The cavalry covered the British march, and these were in the morning attacked by the French horse under the Duke of Burgundy. The British were outnumbered, but fought with great obstinacy66, and before they fell back, with a loss of 720 men and a convoy67 of 300 waggons68, the infantry had pushed forward, and when the French army reached Nimeguen its ramparts bristled69 with British bayonets. Boufflers, disappointed in his aim, fell back upon the rich district of Cleves, now open to him, and plundered70 and ravaged71 that fertile country.
Although Kaiserwerth had been taken and Nimeguen saved, the danger which they had run, and the backward movement of the allied army, filled the Dutch with consternation.
The time, however, had come when Marlborough himself was to assume the command, and by his genius, dash, and strategy to alter the whole complexion72 of things, and to roll back the tide of war from the borders of Holland. He had crossed from England early in May, a few days only after Rupert had sailed; but hitherto he had been engaged in smoothing obstacles, appeasing73 jealousies, healing differences, and getting the whole arrangement of the campaign into something like working order. At last, everything being fairly in trim, he set out on the 2nd of July from the Hague, with full power as commander-in-chief of the allied armies, for Nimeguen. There he ordered the British troops from Breda, 8000 Germans from Kaiserwerth, and the contingents74 of Hesse and Luneburg, 6000 strong, under the Prince of Zell, to join him.
As these reinforcements brought his army up to a strength superior to that of the French, although Marshal Boufflers had hastily drawn75 to him some of the garrisons76 of the fortresses, the Earl of Marlborough prepared to strike a great blow. The Dutch deputies who accompanied the army--and whose timidity and obstinacy a score of times during the course of the war thwarted77 all Marlborough's best-laid plans, and saved the enemy from destruction--interfered to forbid an attack upon two occasions when an engagement would, as admitted by French historians, have been fatal to their whole army. Marlborough therefore was obliged to content himself by outflanking the French, compelling them to abandon Cleves, to cross the Meuse, and to fall back into Flanders, with some loss, and great haste and disorder78.
In vain the French marshal endeavoured to take post so as to save the Meuse fortresses, which stood at the gates of Flanders, and by their command of the river prevented the allies from using the chain of water communications to bring up supplies. Marlborough crossed the line by which his siege train was coming up, and then pounced79 upon Venloo, a very strong fortress standing80 across the Meuse--that is to say, the town was on one side, the fort of Saint Michael on the other.
After this chapter, devoted81 to the necessary task of explaining the cause and commencement of the great War of Succession, we can return to the individual fortunes of our hero.
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1
devastated
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| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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dreading
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| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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ceded
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| v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的过去式 ) | |
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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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convened
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| 召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合 | |
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avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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bequest
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| n.遗赠；遗产，遗物 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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preponderating
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| v.超过，胜过( preponderate的现在分词 ) | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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coalition
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| n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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neutralized
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| v.使失效( neutralize的过去式和过去分词 )；抵消；中和；使（一个国家）中立化 | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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garrisoned
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| 卫戍部队守备( garrison的过去式和过去分词 )； 派部队驻防 | |
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41
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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50
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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53
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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54
gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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55
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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instructor
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| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
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proficiency
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| n.精通，熟练，精练 | |
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58
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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portent
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| n.预兆；恶兆；怪事 | |
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mortars
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| n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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waggons
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| 四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 )； 铁路货车； 小手推车 | |
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bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ravaged
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| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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appeasing
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的现在分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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74
contingents
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| （志趣相投、尤指来自同一地方的）一组与会者( contingent的名词复数 )； 代表团； （军队的）分遣队； 小分队 | |
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75
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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76
garrisons
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| 守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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77
thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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78
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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79
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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80
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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81
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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