BERWICK, THE DUKE OF, was natural son of James II. by Mrs Arabella Churchill, sister to the great duke of Marlborough. He followed the fate of his father, and came into France after the revolution with James II. Here the duke of Berwick was recommended to the court by his superior merit. He was created marshal of France, knight of the Holy Ghost, duke and peer of France, grandee of Spain, commander in chief of the French armies; in all which stations his behaviour was such, that few equalled, perhaps none surpassed him. He lived in an age when the renowned prince of Orange and many other of the greatest men commanded against him. His courage was of the cool steady kind; always possessing himself; taking all advantages; not foolishly, rashly, or wantonly throwing away the lives of his soldiers. He kept up on all occasions the most strict discipline; and did not spare punishment among
among his soldiers for marauding and other crimes, when properly deserved; for which some inconsiderate people have blamed him. He has been reflected upon, by the very zealous and violent adherents of the Stuart family, for not being sufficiently attached to that party, which was his own family. But by a cool examination of his actions, it will appear, that his behaviour in this particular was, as in most parts of his life, sensible and just. When he accepted of employments, received honours, dignities, and became a naturalized Frenchman, he thought it his duty, as an honest man, to become a Frenchman, and a real subject to the monarch who gave him bread; and to be, or not to be, in the interest of the Stuart family, according to the will and commands of the sovereign whom he served, and in the interest of France according to time and circumstances; for there is no serving two masters well. But when ordered by his king to be in that family's interest, he acted with the greatest sincerity; and took the most effectual and sensible methods to serve that unhappy house, as the following anecdote, if true, and it has great appearance of probability on its side, proves. The duke of Marlborough, after the signing of the treaty of Utrecht, was censured by the British parliament for some of the army contracts in relation to bread and forage; upon which he retired into France: and it was then credibly asserted, the duke of Marlborough was brought over to the interest of the Stuart family; for it is now past a doubt, that Queen Anne had a very serious intention of having her brother upon the throne of England after her death: and several circumstances, as well as the time of that duke's landing in England, make many people believe he was gained over to the Stuart party. If the duke of Berwick was, directly or indirectly, the means of gaining his uncle over to that interest, he more effectually served it, than that rash mock army of unhappy gentlemen who were taken prisoners at Preston in 1715 had it in their power to do. In a word, the duke of Berwick was, without being a bigot, a moral and religious man; and showed by his life and actions, that morality and religion are very compatible and consistent with the life of a statesman and a great general; and if they were oftener united in these two professions, it would be much happier for the rest of mankind. He was killed by a cannon-ball at the siege of Philippsburg in 1738.