Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-01-19
Marlborough and His Duchess.


kind of fruit.
Marlborough and His Duchess.
In another column will be found an
article from the New York World on the
cool reception given to the notoriously
profigate Duke of Marlborough on his
arrival at his Palace of Blenheim re-
Gently with his newly won American
Duchess. No one who is familiar with
the depraved character of this most
dissolute and worthless scion of English
nobility will deny that the citizens OF
Woodstock were right in not granting
him a public reception. This man,
whose dissolute life and whose personal
character would not gain for him the
entree into respectable bar-room, were
it noEfor his title, could, and did, come to
America and traded the title of Duchess
to a rich American widow for her mil
lions. The cold reception at Woodstock
must have shown her that though
Duchess in name, she has, through her
marriage, lost the respect that would
have been shown her as an American
citizen. Perhaps, if she had read the
history Of the rise of the family whose
head she was about to marry, she would
not, even for the sake of the coronet she
now bears, have allied herself to man
who had shown himself unworthy of any
woman's hand. In the "Peerage" of
Great Britain there are the names of
many men who owe the proud titles they
bear to the illicit amours of one or
other of the prohigate Kings of the
House Of Stuart, and NC trust there
are but few Americans who would care
to trace descent from such source but
the manner in which John Churchill, the
first Duke Of Marlborough, gained his
titles and his wealth is without prece-
dent for base depravity. Here is what
Macaulay says Of him:
"Soon after the Restoration, in the gay
"and dissolute times celebrated by the
"lively pen of Hamilton, King James the
"Second, young and ardent in the pur-
"suit of pleasure, had been attracted by
"Arabella Churchill, one of the maids OF
"honor who waited on his first wife.
'The young lady was not beautiful; but
"the taste of James was not nice; and
"she became his avowed mistress. She
twas the daughter of poor cavalier
"baronet who haunted Whitehall. The
necessities of the Churchills were press.
"ing, their loyalty was ardent, and their
"only feeling about Arabella's seduction
"seems to have been joyful surprise that
$50 plain a girl should have attained
''such high preferment.
"Her interest was indeed of great use
"to her relations, but none of them was
$50 fortunate as her Oldest brother John,
"a fine youth, who carried pair of colors
Gin the foot guards. He rose fast in the
"court and in the army.
ellis education had been so much neg
elected that he could not spell the most
common words of his own language.
"* In his 23rd year he was
''sent with his regiment to join the
French forces, then engaged in opera
"tions against Holland. His professional
''skill commanded the respect of veteran
"oficers. Unhappily the splendid quail
''ities of John Churchill were mingled
with alloy of the most sordid kind. Some
"propensities, which in youth are singu-
"lally ungraceful, began early to show
themselves in him. He was thrifty in
'his very vices, and levied ample con.
''tributions on ladies enriched by the
"epoils of more liberal lovers. He was,
"during short time, the object of the
''violent but tickle fondness of the
"Duchess Of Cleveland. On one occa-
"sion he was caught with her by the
liking, and was forced to leap out of the
window. She rewarded this hazardous
"feat of gallantry with present of five
Thousand pounds. With this sum the
prudent young hero instantly bought
can annuity of five hundred a year."
And Macaulay afterward speaks OF him
as "This man who had owed his rise in
"life to his sisters shame, who had been
"kept by the most profuse, imperious
"and shameless of harlots, and whose
"public life. to those who can look
steadily through the dazzling blaze OF
"glory, will appear a prodigy Of turpi-
"tude."
But this was not the only infamy OF
the Duke of Marlborough. In the hour
of utmost need he deserted the King
who had loaded him with honors and
wealth. His desertion cost his King a
throne. He was afterwards traitor to
the King to whom he had betrayed his |
former master. Not only once, but
twice and thrice was he a traitor to his |
King. This was the man who founded |
the ducal house of Marlborough. Is he
an ancestor of whom any one would be
proud?
Wealthy American ladies have been
charged, perhaps truly, with seeking
alliances with the nobility of foreign
countries. A title can be bought for