**Churchill** (John), Duke of Marlborough, and prince of the holy Roman empire, a most renowned general and statesman, was born at Ashe in Devonshire in 1650. He was eldest son of Sir Winston Churchill, who carried him to court while very young, and where he was particularly favoured by James duke of York, afterwards king James II., when only twelve. Churchill, twelve years of age. In 1666, he was made an ensign of the guards during the first Dutch war; and afterwards improved himself greatly in the military art at Tangier. In 1672, Mr Churchill attended the duke of Monmouth who commanded a body of auxiliaries in the French service, and was soon after made a captain in the duke's own regiment. At the siege of Nimoguen, which happened in that campaign, he distinguished himself so much that he was taken notice of by the celebrated marshal Turenne, who bestowed on him the name of the handsome Englishman. In 1673, he was at the siege of Maestricht, where he gained such applause, that the king of France made him a public acknowledgment of his service; and the duke of Monmouth, who had the direction of the attack, told king Charles II. that he owed his life to Mr Churchill's bravery. In 1681, he married Sarah daughter and co-heiress (with her sister the countess of Tyrconnel) of Richard Jennings Esq; of Sandrich, in Hertfordshire. The duke of York recommended him in a very particular manner to the king; who, in 1682, created him baron of Eymouth in the county of Berwick in Scotland, and made him colonel of the third troop of guards. A little after king James's accession, he was created baron Churchill of Sandrich in the county of Hertford, and made brigadier-general of his majesty's army in the west; where, when the duke of Monmouth came to surprise the king's army, while the earl of Faversham and the majority of the officers were in their beds, he kept the enemy in play, till the king's forces had formed themselves, and thereby saved the whole army. When James showed an intention of establishing the catholic religion in Britain, lord Churchill, notwithstanding the great obligations he owed him, thought it his duty to abandon the royal cause; but even then did not leave him without acquainting him by letter with the reason of his so doing. Lord Churchill was graciously received by the prince of Orange; and was by him employed first to re-assemble the troop of guards at London, and afterwards to reduce some lately raised regiments, and to new-model the army: for which purpose he was invested with the rank and title of lieutenant-general. In 1689, he was sworn one of the privy council, and one of the gentlemen of the king's bed-chamber; and on the 9th of April following, was raised to the dignity of earl of Marlborough in the county of Wilts. He assisted at the coronation of their majesties; and was soon after made commander-in-chief of the English forces sent over to Holland; and here he first laid the foundation of that fame which was afterwards spread over all Europe. In 1690, he was made general of the forces sent to Ireland; where he made the strong garrisons of Cork and Kinsale prisoners of war. The year following, king William showed the good opinion he had of his conduct, by sending him to Flanders to put all things in readiness, and to draw the army together against his arrival. In 1692, he was dismissed from all his employments; and, not long after, was with some other peers committed to the tower on an accusation of high treason; which, however, was afterwards found to be a false and malicious report, the authors of which were punished. Marlborough was soon restored to favour, and in 1698 was appointed governor to the earl of Gloucester; with this extraordinary compliment from king William, Churchill, "My lord, make him but what you are, and my nephew will be all I wish to see him." The same day he was again sworn one of the privy council; and in July following was declared one of the lords justices of England, for the administration of the government, in which great trust he was three times successively in the king's absence. In 1702 he was appointed general of the foot, commander in chief of the English forces, and ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary at the Hague. Upon the accession of queen Anne to the throne, he was elected into the order of the garter, declared captain-general of all her majesty's forces, and sent ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Holland. After several conferences about a war, he put himself at the head of the army, where all the other generals had orders to obey him. His exploits in the field have been taken notice of under the article Britain, n° 349—370; we shall therefore only take notice in this place, of the rewards and honours conferred upon him for these exploits. After his first campaign he was created marquis of Blandford and duke of Marlborough, with a pension of L. 5000 out of the post-office, to devolve for ever upon those enjoying the title of Duke of Marlborough. In 1703, he met Charles III., late emperor, going to Spain, who presented him with a sword set with diamonds. In 1704, having forced the enemy's lines at Schellenberg, he received a letter of thanks from the emperor Leopold, written with his own hand; an honour seldom done to any but sovereign princes. After the battle of Blenheim, he received congratulatory letters from most of the potentates in Europe, particularly from the States General, and from the emperor, who desired him to accept of the dignity of a prince of the empire, which with the queen's leave was conferred upon him by the title of Prince of Mildenheim in the province of Swabia. After the campaign was ended, he visited the court of Prussia, where he laid such schemes as suspended the disputes with the Dutch about king William's estate; which wise conduct caused the whole confederacy to acknowledge that he had done the greatest service possible to the common cause. Upon his return to England, the queen, to perpetuate his memory, granted the interest of the crown in the honour and manor of Woodstock and hundred of Wotton to him and his heirs for ever. In 1705 he made a tour to Vienna, upon an invitation of the emperor Joseph; who highly cared for him, and made him a grant of the lordship of Mildenheim. After the campaign of 1708, the speaker of the house of commons was sent to Brussels on purpose to compliment him; and on his return to England he was again complimented in the house of lords by lord chancellor Cowper. All his services, however, and all the honours conferred upon him, were not sufficient to preserve him from being disgraced. After the change of the ministry in 1710, his interest daily declined; and in 1712, on the first day of the new year, he was removed from all his places. Finding all arts used to render him obnoxious in his native country, he visited his principality of Mildenheim, and several towns in Germany; after which he returned to England, and arrived there on the day of the queen's death. After being welcomed by the nobility and foreign ministers, Churchill, he attended on king George I. in his public entry through London, who appointed him captain-general, colonel of the first regiment of foot-guards, one of the commissioners for the government of Chelsea hospital, and master-general of the ordnance. Some years before his death, he retired from public business. He died at Windfor-lodge in 1722, aged 73; leaving behind him a very numerous posterity, allied to the noblest and greatest families in these kingdoms. Upon his demise all parties united in doing honour or rather justice to his merit, and his corpse was interred the 9th of August following, with all the solemnity due to a person who had deserved so highly of his country, in Westminster-abbey. The noble pile near Woodstock, which bears the name of Blenheim-house, may be justly styled his monument: but without pretending to the gift of prophecy, one may venture to foretell, that his glory will long survive that structure; and that so long as our histories remain, or indeed the histories of Europe, his memory will live and be the boast of Britain, which by his labours was raised to be the first of nations, as during the age in which he lived he was deservedly esteemed the first of men. If he had foibles, as these are inseparable from human nature, they were so hidden by the glare of his virtues as to be scarcely perceived or were willingly forgotten. A certain parasite, who thought to please Lord Bolingbroke by ridiculing the avarice of the Duke, was foisted short by his Lordship; who said, "He was so very great a man, that I forget he had that vice."

Out of a variety of anecdotes and testimonies concerning this illustrious personage, collected in the new edition of the Biographia Britannica, the following selection may serve to illustrate more particularly his disposition and manners.

One of the first things which he did, when very young, was to purchase a box to put his money in; an indication this of the economical, not to say aversive, temper that accompanied him through life. Dr. Joseph Warton relates, that, on the evening of an important battle, the duke was heard to chide his servant for having been so extravagant as to light four candles in his tent when Prince Eugene came to confer with him. Mr Tyers, on the other hand, mentioned a circumstance which, if well founded, redounds to his grace's generosity; though in a different respect it is much to his discredit: It is, that during the rebellion 1715 he sent £10,000 to the earl of Mar. We consider the story as only a traditional report, which has not in itself any great degree of probability; and therefore we are by no means convinced of its truth. The late Mr Richardson junior, the painter, hath recorded a pleasing instance of the duke's calmness of disposition; for which, indeed, he was always remarkable. "The duke of Marlborough (says the writer), riding out once with Commissary Marriot, near the commissary's house in the country, it began to rain, and the duke called for his cloak; Marriot having his put on by his servant immediately. The duke's servant not bringing the cloak, he called for it again; but the man was still puzzling about the straps and buckles. At last, it raining now very hard, the duke called again, and asked him, 'what he was about that he did not bring his cloak?' 'You must stay (grumbles the fellow), if it rains cats and dogs, till I can get at it.' The duke only turned to Marriot, Churchill, and said, 'I would not be of that fellow's temper.'"

The duke of Marlborough (adds Mr Richardson) did by nature and constitution, what Seneca judged by philosophy ought to be done. Quid est quae ego servat mei hilarium responsum, et contumaciorem vulgum, flagellis et compeditus expiari?

Dr Swift, in one of his letters to Stella, relates the following particulars concerning the duke of Marlborough. "I was early this morning with secretary St John, and gave him a memorial to get the queen's letter for the first-fruits, who has promised to do it in a very few days. He told me 'he had been with the duke of Marlborough, who was lamenting his former wrong steps in joining with the Whigs, and said he was worn out with age, fatigue, and misfortunes.' I swear it pitted me; and I really think they will not do well in too much mortifying that man, although indeed it is his own fault. He is covetous as hell, and ambitious as the prince of it: he would fain have been general for life, and has broken all endeavours for peace, to keep his greatness, and get money. He told the queen 'he was neither covetous nor ambitious.' She said, 'if she could have conveniently turned about, she would have laughed, and could hardly forbear it in his face.' He fell in with all the abominable measures of the late ministry, because they gratified him for their own designs. Yet he has been a successful general, and I hope he will continue his command."

Various characters have been drawn of the duke of Marlborough; most of which we shall omit, as either already sufficiently known, or as not meriting particular notice. That which is given of him by Dr Swift, in his "History of the four last years of the queen," has all the malignity and meanness of a party pamphlet. It is even so foolish as to inferrate, that the duke's military accomplishments were problematical, and that he was destitute of personal courage. Mr Macpherson's character of his grace is very elaborately composed, and displays no small degree of ability and penetration; though it is not, perhaps, entirely free from prejudice. The historian considers it as a fact, that lord Churchill, at the time of the Revolution, had a design of placing his unfortunate master king James II., a prisoner in the hands of his rival the prince of Orange. But this story must be regarded as wholly unworthy of credit. It is founded upon suggestions and informations so groundless, and even ridiculous, that it cannot deserve a formal refutation. On the other hand, Mr Macpherson has done justice to the duke of Marlborough's prosecution of the war in Flanders, and hath shown that he conducted it upon the principles of sound wisdom and good policy.

There are two testimonies to the honour of the duke's memory, by two celebrated noble writers, which cannot be passed over. One is by lord Bolingbroke, in his letters on the Study and Use of History. Speaking of the confirmation raised among the allies of the grand confederacy by the death of king William, and of the joy which that event gave to the French, his lordship observes, that "a short time showed how vain the fears of some and the hopes of others were. By his death, the duke of Marlborough was raised to the head of the army, and indeed of the..." Churchill confederacy; where he, a new, a private man, a subject, acquired, by merit and by management, a more deciding influence than high birth, confirmed authority, and even the crown of Great Britain, had given to king William. Not only all the parts of that vast machine, the grand alliance, were kept more compact and entire, but a more rapid and vigorous motion was given to the whole: and, instead of languishing out disastrous campaigns, we saw every scene of the war full of action. All those wherein he appeared, and many of those wherein he was not then an actor, but abettor however of their action, were crowned with the most triumphant success. I take, with pleasure, this opportunity of doing justice to that great man, whose faults I knew, whose virtues I admired; and whose memory, as the greatest general, and as the greatest minister, that our country, or perhaps any other, has produced, I honour."

The other testimony to the duke's accomplishments is by the earl of Chesterfield, in his Letters to his Son.

"Of all the men (says his lordship) that ever I knew in my life (and I knew him extremely well), the late duke of Marlborough possessed the graces in the highest degree, not to say engrossed them: and indeed he got the most by them; for I will venture (contrary to the custom of profound historians, who always assign deep causes for great events) to ascribe the better half of the duke of Marlborough's greatness and riches to those graces. He was eminently illiterate; wrote bad English, and spelled it still worse. He had no share of what is commonly called parts; that is, he had no brightness, nothing shining in his genius. He had, most undoubtedly, an excellent good plain understanding, with sound judgment. But these alone would probably have raised him but something higher than they found him; which was page to king James II.'s queen. There the graces protected and promoted him: for while he was an ensign of the guards, the duchess of Cleveland, then favourite mistress to king Charles II., struck by those very graces, gave him L.5000; with which he immediately bought an annuity for his life of L.500 a-year, of my grandfather Halifax; which was the foundation of his subsequent fortune. His figure was beautiful; but his manner was irritable, by either man or woman. It was by this engaging graceful manner that he was enabled, during all his war, to connect the various and jarring powers of the grand alliance, and to carry them on to the main object of the war, notwithstanding their private and separate views, jealousies, and wrongheadednesses. Whatever court he went to (and he was often obliged to go himself to some testy and refractory ones), he as constantly prevailed, and brought them into his measures. The pensionary Heinhus, a venerable old minister, grown grey in business, and who had governed the republic of the United Provinces for more than 40 years, was absolutely governed by the duke of Marlborough, as that republic feels to this day. He was always cool; and nobody ever observed the least variation in his countenance: he could refuse more gracefully than other people could grant; and those who went away from him the most dissatisfied as to the substance of their business, were yet personally charmed with him, and in some degree comforted by his manner. With all his gentleness and gracefulness, no man living was more conscious of his situation, nor maintained his dignity better."

A perusal of the above passage will convince us of the frivolous turn of the earl of Chesterfield's mind. His lordship, in his zeal to exalt the duke of Marlborough's external accomplishments, either forgets or depreciates the far greater talents of which he was possessed. There is an observation upon the subject in the British Biography, with which we entirely concur.

"That the duke of Marlborough (says the writer) was eminently distinguished by the gracefulness of his manners, cannot be questioned: but the earl of Chesterfield appears to have attributed too much to their influence, when he ascribes—the better half of the duke of Marlborough's greatness and riches to those graces. That the uncommon gracefulness of his manners facilitated his advancement, and contributed to the success of his negotiations, may readily be admitted; but surely it must have been to much higher qualities that he owed the esteem of king William and of prince Eugene, his reputation throughout all Europe, and his many victories and conquests. It was not by a polite exterior that he obtained his laurels at Schellenberg, at Oudenarde, at Ramillies, and at Blenheim."

How much the duke of Marlborough has been celebrated by our poets, is well known by Addison's "Campaign," and Phillips's "Blenheim." Mr Addison, in his Roland, has properly assumed another and voluntary occasion of paying a fine compliment to his grace's military exploits, and the glory by which they would be followed. Upon the duke's removal from his places, an ode was inscribed to him by Mr Somerville, animated with all the zeal of whiggish enthusiasm, and containing some passages that are truly poetical. Another ode, not much inferior in spirit, was addressed to his grace, on occasion of his embarking for Ostend in the year 1712.

The duke of Marlborough's Scots title of Baron Eymouth, being to heirs-male, died with himself; but his English title going to his daughters and their heirs-male, went into the Spencer family, who retain their own surname of Spencer.

Churchill (Charles), a celebrated satirist, the son of Mr Charles Churchill curate and lecturer of St John's, Westminster, was educated at Westminster school, and received some applause for his abilities from his tutors in that famous seminary. His capacity, however, was greater than his application, so that he acquired the character of a boy that could do good if he would. As the slightest accounts of persons so noted are agreeable, it may not be amiss to observe, that having one day got an exercise to make, and from idleness or inattention having failed to bring it at the time appointed, his master thought proper to chastise him with some severity, and even reproached his stupidity: what the fear of stripes could not effect, the fear of shame soon produced, and he brought his exercise the next day, finished in such a manner, that he received the public thanks of all the masters. Still, however, his progress in the learned languages was but slow; nor is it to be wondered at, if we consider how difficult it was for a strong imagination, such as he was possessed of, to conform and walk tamely forward in the trammels of a school education: minds like Churchill, like his are ever starting aside after new pursuits; desirous of embracing a multiplicity of amusing objects; eager to come at the end, without the painful investigation of the means. In short, for want of proper skill in these languages, he was rejected from Oxford, whither his father had sent him; and probably this might have given occasion to the frequent invectives we find in his works against that most respectable university. Upon his return from thence, he again applied to his studies in Westminster school, where, at 17 years of age, he contracted an intimacy with a lady, to whom he was married, and their mutual regard for each other continued for several years. At the usual age of going into orders, Mr Churchill was ordained by the late bishop of London, and obtained a small curacy in Wales of £30 a-year. Thither he carried his wife: they took a small house; and he passed through the duties of his station with affluency and cheerfulness. Happy had it been for him had he continued there to enjoy the fruits of piety, peace, and simplicity of manners. He was beloved and esteemed by his parishioners; and though his sermons were rather above the level of his audience, they were commended and followed. But endeavouring to advance his fortune, by keeping a cider cellar, it involved him in difficulties which obliged him to leave Wales and come to London. His father dying soon after, he stepped into the church in which he had officiated; and, in order to improve his income, which scarcely produced £100 a-year, he taught young ladies to read and write English at a boarding-school, kept by Mrs Dennis, where he behaved with that decency and decorum which became his profession. His method of living, however, bearing no proportion to his income, he contracted several debts in the city; which being unable to pay, a jail, the terror of indigent genius, seemed ready to complete his misfortunes: but from this state of wretchedness he was relieved by the benevolence of Mr Lloyd, father to the poet of that name. Mean while, Mr Lloyd, the son, wrote a poetical epistle called the Ador; which being read and approved by the public, gave the author a distinguished place among the writers of his age. This induced Mr Churchill to write the Rofiad. It first came out without the author's name; but the justness of the remarks, and the severity of the satire, soon excited public curiosity. Though he never disowned his having written this piece, and even openly gloried in it; yet the public, unwilling to give so much merit to one alone, ascribed it to a combination of wits: nor were Messrs Lloyd, Thornton, or Colman, left unnamed upon this occasion. This misplaced praise soon induced Mr Churchill to throw off the mask, and the second edition appeared with his name at full length. As the Rofiad was the first of this poet's performances, so many are of opinion that it is the best. In it we find a very close and minute discussion of the particular merit of each performer; their defects pointed out with candour, and their merits praised without adulation. This poem, however, seems to be one of those few works which are injured by succeeding editions: when he became popular, his judgment began to grow drunk with applause; and we find, in the latter editions, men blamed whose merit is incontestable, and others praised that were at that time in no degree of esteem with the judicious.

His next performance was his Apology to the Critical Reviewers. This work is not without its peculiar merit; and as it was written against a set of critics whom the world was willing enough to blame, the public read it with their usual indulgence. In this performance he showed a particular happiness of throwing his thoughts, if we may so express it, into poetical paragraphs; so that the sentence swells to the break or conclusion, as we find in prose.

But while his writings amused the town, his actions disgusted it. He now quitted his wife, with whom he had cohabited many years; and resigning his gown and all clerical functions, commenced a complete man of the town, got drunk, frequented taverns; and, giddy with false praise, thought his talents a sufficient atonement for all his follies. In some measure to palliate the absurdities of his conduct, he now undertook a poem called Night, written upon a general subject indeed, but upon false principles; namely, that whatever our follies are, we should never attempt to conceal them. This, and Mr Churchill's other poems, being shown to Dr Johnson, and his opinion being asked, he allowed them but little merit; which being told to the author, he resolved to requite this private opinion with a public one. In his next poem, therefore, of the Ghoft, he has drawn this gentleman under the character of Pomposo; and those who disliked Mr Johnson allowed it to have merit. Mr Johnson's only reply to Churchill's abuse was, "that he thought him a shallow fellow in the beginning, and could say nothing worse of him still." The poems of Night and the Ghoft had not the rapid sale the author expected; but his Prophecy of Famine soon made ample amends for the late paroxysm in his fame. In this piece, written in the spirit of the famous North Briton, he exerted his virulent pen against the whole Scotch nation; adopting the prejudices of the mob, and dignifying scurrility by the aid of a poetic imagination. It had a rapid and extensive sale, as prophesied by Mr Wilkes; who said, before its publication, that he was sure it must take, as it was at once personal, poetical, and political. After its appearance, it was even asserted by his admirers, that Mr Churchill was a better poet than Pope. This exaggerated adulation, as it had before corrupted his morals, began now to impair his mind: several succeeding pieces were published, which, being written without effort, are read without pleasure. His Gotham, Independence, The Times, seem merely to have been written by a man who desired to avail himself of the avidity of the public curiosity in his favour, and are rather aimed at the pockets than the hearts of his readers.—Mr Churchill died in 1764, of a miliary fever, with which he was seized at Boulogne in France, whither he had gone on a visit to Mr Wilkes. After his death his poems were collected and printed together in two volumes 8vo.