The private character of Marlborough was adorned by many virtues, but lessened by some weaknesses which laid him very open to the venomed ridicule of his enemies; we allude to his avarice, and his deference for his busy and imperious wife. He was prudent, clearsighted, and not deceived nor led away by his passions; faithful to his domestic, and diligent in the performance of his religious, duties. In the field he was humane, sedulous to promote the comfort of his soldiers, and especially anxious, after battles, to minister all possible help and relief to the wounded. He was zealous in enforcing respect to the observances of religion, and in endeavouring to raise the moral character of his troops. “His camp,” says a biographer who had served in it, “resembled a great, well-governed city. Cursing and swearing were seldom heard among the officers; a sot and a drunkard was the object of scorn; and the poor soldiers, many of them the refuse and dregs of the nation, became, at the close of one or two campaigns, tractable, civil, sensible, and clean, and had an air and spirit above the vulgar.”
The Duchess of Marlborough collected ample materials for her husband’s life, and committed the task of writing it first to Glover, then to Mallet. Neither of them, however, executed the commission. Ledyard, who served under the Duke, published a life of him (from which the above quotation is taken), in three volumes 8vo., in 1736. The latest and the most important is that of Mr. Coxe. The materials for the Duke’s military history are abundant, but scattered: they will be found indicated and referred to in Coxe. His political history will be found in the histories of the times; and the literature of the age—the works of Burnet, Swift, Bolingbroke, and others—contain abundant references to the public and private actions of this great man.
[Blenheim House.]
Engraved by J. Posselwhite.
ABBÉ DE L’EPÉE.
From the original by Desine in the possession of the
Abbé Salvan, at Paris.
Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
London. Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street, & Pall Mall East.
DE L’EPÉE.
Among those persons who possess the highest claim to the gratitude of mankind, that of having devoted their lives, without a selfish motive, to the alleviation of human misery, the Abbé de l’Epée claims a high and honourable place. Time, as is usual in cases of real excellence, has established on a sure basis merits which were at first slowly acknowledged. Unknown, and unappreciated, this good man lived for many years in obscurity; and, worse than this, he had to endure intolerance and persecution during the greater part of his beneficent career. There exists no memoir worthy of his exalted character. The brilliant genius of Bouilly has glanced upon his virtues and his talents; the eulogy of Bébian (himself a living and a worthy successor in the art of teaching the deaf and dumb) has shed additional lustre on a fame already bright; but still we have much to desire. Our glimpses of the good Abbé in his public capacity, and in the retirement which he loved and courted, only present us with a faint outline of his character,—an outline, however, which is sufficiently distinct to show that the finished picture would have been surpassingly beautiful.