The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-26 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE LIF 1? OF , DUKE OF MARL-
BOROUGH. 2 Vols. By Archibald Alison.
Second Edition. William Blackwood and Son.
Archdeacon Coxe had already written a very ad-
mirable life of Marlborough, before. the subject had
suggested itself to Mr. Alison as one worthy of de-
manding at his hands any elaborate elucidation.
Ledyard had in like manner given to the world a
biography of the same conqueror, not without ren-
dering his work in many respects singularly merito-
rious. Gleig had, moreover, introduced an excellent
narrative of the career of the victor of Blenheim in
the course of his well-known memoirs of Military
Commander& Besides these volumes, a variety of
others had long before thrown light upon that portion
of our history ; insomuch that the majority of
readers might somewhat reasonably have regarded a
te,
f it,
o p osuint iccanll
uncalled
like o ther
and
superfluous,
on e beforeu
hr
as, oseaye twhaesh
leastte
Dutch account of the War of Succession, for example
in the splendid work of Rousset. There were the let-
ters and dispatches relating to the subject collected
together by Pelot. There was the summary' of the
more remarkable battles in the campaigns of that
ever-memorable contest as presented to us in the mug.
nificent e this of Kausler. Added to all which there
was the masterly life of Churchill, compiled in 1807
by command of the Emperor Napoleon, a life which
the present biographer of the hero has not hesitated
to pronounce "the best military narrative" yet pub-
lished of the exploits of Marlborough! Yet there
still r rnained ample reasons for the undertaking
upon which the historian of Europe ultimately ad-
ventured. In the October of 1842, as is by this time
matter of celebrity, there had been discovered in the
record room of Hensington, near Woodstock, no less
than eighteen manuscript volumes, comprising, among
other thinTs, the whole of the dispatches of the Greet
Duke himself, a journal kept by Dr. Hale, his Grace's
chaplain, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, and a va-
riPty of important letters in the handwriting of Mr.
Cardonnel, his private secretary. These remarkable
documents were soon afterwards laid before the
public, edited, arranged and collected by Sir George
Murray. The discovery was not lets extraordinary
than might have been that of one of the lost books of
Livy in the blurred and mouldering scroll of some
palimpsest manuscript. It was scarcely a jot less
curious than that of the.sbort-hand diary of Pepys,
edited by;Lord Braybreoke. It tended not less sin-
galarly to render the history of John Churchill com-
prehensible, than did the mouldy old papers raked up
by Mr. Carlyle at the British Museum, in reference
to the personal and political history of Oliver Crom-
well. That the volumes in question had remained so
lohg overlooked at Hensington was, of course. a cir-
ctinistance provocative of astonishment. Nut re-
deemed from obscurity, they were at last most fortu-
nately—and the students in military biographies were,
as we have observed, before long gratified by their
publication. Thereupon Mr. Alison was incited to
sit down, himself, and write a new account of the
career and exploits of Marlborough. He at once per-
ceived that there was room for such a composition:
He comprehended, moreover, that there was cause for
it, inasmuch as new lights bad been admitted into
the more dark and questionable recesses of a career
hitherto very grievously misapprehended. Added to
all which considerations, it was undeniable that
Ledyard's Life was not sufficiently impartial, that
Gleig's was not sufficiently well authenticated, and
that Coxe's was, for the general public, both too costly
and too voluminous. Therefore—the original bio-
graphy in one volume, offered by Mr. Alison as a
tribute to the memory of Marlborough. Encouraged
by the success of that volume, our accomplished and
indefatigable author has now produced another edi-
tion of the work, so materially augmented in every
particular as to render it something much
more remarkable than a mere re-publica-
tion. Extended to two volumes, "The Life of
John, Duke of Marlborough," by Archibald Alison,
must in its present form be at once ranked, as it will
in the end become inevitably established, among the
most standard military biographies in our literature.
Referring to the style of the narrative, it will be found
everywhere remarkable for the luminous ability dis-
played by the historian throughout that more ex-
tended production, which still, of course, remains his
masterpiece. With the graces of a flowing and so-
norous eloquence are blended, in the successive chap-
ters, the caution of a minute and scrupulous exacti-
tude. Every paragraph in the two volumes, as was
conspicuously the case in the " History of Europe,"
is closed with a marginal reference to the authorities
upon which its particular statements are advanced.
By, this means a confidence is justly established in the
correctness and authenticity of the narrative, and the
reader is, enabled at pleasure to test the accuracy of
the biographer. . . . That a memorial account of
the great Duke of Marlborough must at all times
secure the attention and arouse the interest of every
well-educated Englishman cannot require anything
at all approaching to a deliberate or argumentative
demonstration. His glory is a portion, and a che-
rished portion, of our national heritage. His genius
as a captain has tended to extend and to elevate the
power of the British empire, and not only its power
but its reputation. As one of the most illustrious
heroes of our race his fame must remain imperishable,
or perishable only with our language. Together with
the celebrity of the venerableconqueror still living, his
name will descend to posterity as that of a commander-
in-the-field who was never once vanquished. The
Duke of Marlborough and the Duke of Wellington
will participate in that high and enviable renown,
being the two most memorable among the military
captains of England—men the recollection of whose
achievements must always excite a noble feeling of
emulation in the hearts of their compatriots. The ce-
lebrity of Marlborough has become so much a favourite
among the historical memories of his fellow-country-
men, that it:was with no small degree of indignation that
even the most enthusiastic admirers of Mr. Macaulay
listened to his scornful and depreciatory allusions to
the victor of Malplaquet in the course of the second
volume of his " History -of England "—allusions
breathing in every syllable the bitterness of a blind
and obdurate prejudice, and altogether as undeserved
in their uncompromising severity as the brilliant but
exaggerated verse in which the poet designated Lord
Verulam—" the wisest, brightest, meanest of man-
kind." Already we have referred to the magnificent
tribute paid to the glory of Marlborough by the most
wonderful hero of modern times—in mentioning the
circumstance of the history of his career caused to be
written, in 1807, by the Emperor Napoleon. Con-
scious of the value of such incidents, Mr. Alison him-
self takes occasion to remind his reader before the
commencement of the present biography, that " Napo-
leon hummed the well-known air Mar/brook s'en va-t
en guerre, when he crossed the Niemen," to commence
that wonderful campaign into Russia, the most won-
derful and successful of all his campaigns, according
to the opinion of Lord Brougham. Precisely in the
same spirit, also, our author calls to mind in his
Preface the fact that "the French nurses frightened
their children with stories of Marlbrook, as the ori-
entals, when their horses start, say they see the
shadow of Richard Coeur de Lion crossing their path."
Marlbrook, in fact, was to the French children in those
days, what Boney was to the English children of the
last generation. Mr. Alison passes rapidly over the early
portion of the life of his hero, scarcely pausing for a mo-
ment in his manner, until he comes to the period when
John Churchill first participated in the affairs of Govern..
ment. Hence, we hear from his present biographer
little more in reference to the birth and parentage of
the great Captain, than the record of the facts that he
was born on the sth of July, 1650, at Ash, in Devon-
shire, being the son of Sir Winston Churchill,
a distinguished cavalier, who fought for
Charles 1., being subsequently driven into exile by
Cromwell. This succinctness, however, will not be
matter of surprise to those who recognise how en-
tirely and sedulously the writer dedicates his energies
to the recounting of events of importance, such as
everything here relating particularly to the War of
Succession. Having recorded the circumstances of
his education, Mr. Alison mentions the first appear-
ance of Marlborough at Court and his early promotion
there, not forgetting, of course, his curious intrigue
with the Countess of Castlemaine. Afterwards we
come to the account of his services under Louis XIV.
and Turenne in Flanders. Then follow his marriage,
his journey into Scotland, and,his memorable services
on the occasion of Monmouth's rebellion. His
_ weulti-
mate
desertion of James IL is rather oddly, and
b the
cannot but think inappropriately compared z
biographer with Ney's desertion of Louis XVIII.—
there being no sufficient parallel between those
occur-
rences, seeing that Ney bad been the s the
friend, the favourite, and the subject of
far the
honours, titles, and wealth attesting bow
Emperor had been his benefactor.
—the Prince of
entirely different in the other instance—the cclaims upon the
e hereas it was
Orange having no such p
future Duke of Marlborough.-
the Dutchman, we
ow
berAufter the attainment
campaign in 1690
William
of the throne of England
Y
follow Churchill through his
shortservices in 1691
in Ireland, and through his • in
• Me. Alison
XIV.,
takes occasion
of the War of Succession,.
Flanders. Prior to the commencement orflls account
L9uldsirect the attention
of •
to pourtray the characters
111., and of James IL—a portion the work before
influenced by the partizan prejudices
of
of
us to which we would seriously
tchtetrhaotf,oLfouis )(Iv.
.w Napoleon.ith
in-
comparable
111, is drawn
of those who are
of Mr. Macaulay.
boldness and vigour, and while the
is here ingeniously compared Ihechawrai
The character of William
heroic qualities he does not writerover-
look
of an annalist to the depth of a
does jusacetoits
most undeniable failings, and thus sink
Duration. The character of James 11.,
its many most
from the
slavish admiration.
with singular ability, our author
moat sl
again, .
doing full justice to the goodness and heroism of his
nd patriotic labours in restoring the navy
nature, to his renowned battles against Holland, and
are altogether and
his Great
noble al3ritain—truths which