which nature bad so largely gifted, and which man's misgovernment has so debased.
The death of King William on the 8th of March 1702, at first seemed likely to paralyze the league against France "for, notwithstanding the ill-success with which he made war generally, he was looked upon as the sole centre of union that could keep together the great confederacy then forming; and how much the French feared from his life, had appeared a few years before, in the extravagant and indecent joy they expressed on a false report of his death. A short time showed how vain the fears of some, and the hopes of others were."[1] Queen Anne, within three days after her accession, went down to the House of Lords, and there declared her resolution to support the measures planned by her predecessor, who had been "the great support, not only of these kingdoms but of all Europe." Anne was married to Prince George of Denmark, and by her accession to the English throne the confederacy against Louis obtained the aid of the troops of Denmark; but Anne's strong attachment to one of her female friends led to far more important advantages to the Anti-Gallican confederacy than the acquisition of many armies, for it gave them Marlborough as their Captain-General.
- ↑ Bolingbroke, vol. ii. p. 445.
