No sooner was Bonn reduced than Marlborough determined to prosecute his original plan of driving the French from Flanders. He now dispatched Cohorn, Spaar, and Opdam to commence operations at Bergen-op-Zoom, whilst he addressed himself to dislodge Villeroi and Boufflers from Tongres. In order to divide the energies of the French, a part of his plan was that the powerful English and Dutch fleet was to keep the coast of that country in alarm from Calais to Dieppe, and actually to make a descent on the land near the latter port. But the French resolved to cut off the division of Opdam from the main army. Boufflers, with twenty thousand men, surprised him, and the Dutch falling into confusion, Opdam believed the day lost, and fled to Breda.

VIEW IN LISBON: THE PRÁÇA DE DOM PEDRO.

[[See larger version]]

Opdam's miscarriage had greatly deranged Marlborough's plan of attack on Antwerp. Spaar and Cohorn were already near Antwerp with their united forces, but the check received by Opdam's division delayed the simultaneous advance. Villeroi lay in the path of Marlborough near St. Job, and declared that he would wait for him; but the moment the duke advanced to Hoogstraat to give him battle, he set fire to his camp and retreated within his lines with all haste. Boufflers had joined Bedmar in Antwerp, and Marlborough advanced and laid siege to Huy, which surrendered on the 27th of August. He now called a council of war to decide the plan of attack on Antwerp, and was well supported by the Danish, Hanoverian, and Hessian generals, but again found opposition from the Dutch officers and the deputies of the States, who deemed the attempt too dangerous. They recommended him to attempt the reduction of Limburg, by which they would acquire a whole province; and despairing now of accomplishing his great object, the reduction of Antwerp, this campaign—having the Dutch officers, the Dutch deputies, and the Dutch Louvestein faction all working against him—he turned aside to Limburg, and reduced it in a couple of days. This acquisition put into the power of the Allies the whole country from Cologne, including Liége; and Guelders being afterwards stormed by the Prussian General Lottum, the whole of Spanish Guelderland remained theirs.

Elsewhere the war went in favour of the French, and the affairs of the Emperor never appeared more gloomy; instead of recovering Spain, Louis was fast depriving him of his Empire. He was supporting against him the rebellious Hungarians, who were in arms under Prince Ragotski, and who had plenty of oppressions to complain of. Suddenly, however, some gleams of light shot across his gloom. The Duke of Savoy, who seldom remained true to one side long, grew alarmed at the French being masters of the Milanese, and was induced to open communications with the Emperor. But the secret negotiations were speedily discovered by the French, and the Duke of Vendôme received orders to disarm the Savoyards who were in his army; to demand that the troops of Savoy should be reduced to the scale of 1696, and that four principal fortresses should be put into the hands of France. But the Duke of Savoy was by no means inclined to submit to these demands. He treated them as insults to an ally, and ordered the arrest of the French ambassador and several officers of his nation. Louis, astonished at the decision of these proceedings, wrote the duke a most menacing letter, informing him that as neither honour, interest, religion, nor the oaths of alliance were regarded by him, he should leave the Duke of Vendôme to deal with him, who would give him four-and-twenty hours to determine his course in. This imperious letter only hastened the duke's alienation. He concluded the treaty with Vienna, and answered Louis's letter by a defiance. He acknowledged the Archduke Charles King of Spain, and despatched envoys to Holland and England. Queen Anne immediately sent an ambassador to Turin; and a body of Imperial horse under Visconti, followed by fifteen thousand foot under Count Staremberg, issued from the Modenese, and in the midst of the most stormy weather and through miry roads marched to join the Duke of Savoy at Canelli. The French harassed them fearfully on the march, but could not prevent their junction, by which Piedmont was placed in security.

In the same way, Portugal had declared for the Emperor. The fear of having Louis in possession of Spain had operated with Portugal, as similar causes had operated with Savoy. The King of Portugal agreed to give his daughter to the Archduke Charles, on condition that the right to the throne of Spain was transferred to him. England and Holland were to support the Portuguese and the new King of Spain from the sea. The treaty was concluded at Lisbon, and a fleet of forty-nine sail, under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, lay off Lisbon to protect the coasts from the French. Charles was to be conveyed to Lisbon by a powerful fleet, having on board twelve thousand soldiers, who were, on landing, to be joined by twenty-eight thousand Portuguese. The allied fleets had done nothing of importance during this summer.

The Archduke Charles, having assumed the title of King of Spain, set out from Vienna about the middle of September, and reached Düsseldorf on the 16th of October, where he was met by the Elector Palatine and the Duke of Marlborough, who was commissioned by Queen Anne to offer his congratulations. Marlborough accompanied Charles of Austria to the Hague, where they were both received with high honours by the States-General. Marlborough then hastened over to England to be ready to receive the royal guest on his way to Portugal. On the 26th of December the new King of Spain arrived at Spithead in the Dutch squadron sent to convey him. The queen dispatched the Dukes of Somerset and Marlborough to conduct him to Windsor, and Prince George met him on the way at Petworth, the seat of the Duke of Somerset, and conducted him to Windsor on the 29th. The king was entertained in great state for three days at Windsor, during which time he was politic enough to ingratiate himself with the Duchess of Marlborough. When the duchess presented the bason and napkin after supper to the queen for her to wash her hands, the king gallantly took the napkin and held it himself, and on returning it to the queen's great favourite, he presented her with a superb diamond ring.

After three days the king returned to Portsmouth, and on the 4th of January, 1704, he embarked on board the fleet commanded by Sir George Rooke, for Portugal, accompanied by a body of land forces under the Duke of Schomberg. The voyage was, however, a most stormy one, and when the fleet had nearly reached Cape Finisterre, it was compelled to put back to Spithead, where it remained till the middle of February. His next attempt was more successful, and he landed in Lisbon amid much popular demonstration, though the Court itself was sunk in sorrow by the death of the Infanta, whom he went to marry.

Before the arrival of Charles in England, it had been visited by one of the most terrible storms on record. The tempest began on the 27th of November, 1703, attended by such thunder and lightning as had never been experienced by living man. The Thames overflowed its banks, and was several feet deep in Westminster Hall. The houses in London seemed shaken from their foundations, and many actually fell, burying the inhabitants in their ruins. The loss in London alone was estimated at a million sterling, and the storm raged with equal fury in other places. Bristol was a great sufferer; but the greatest destruction fell on the fleet. Thirteen ships of war were lost, and fifteen hundred seamen, including Rear-Admiral Beaumont, who foundered in the Downs. Many of the oldest trees in the parks were torn up, and the lead on the churches was rolled up in scrolls. This unparalleled storm raged most fiercely along the southern and western counties, being scarcely felt in the northern ones. The Bishop of Bath and Wells, with his wife, was killed in the episcopal palace by the fall of a stack of chimneys.