ENGLAND.] DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.

He again received the thanks of parliament, and the grant of the manor of Woodstock, with the hundred of Wotton. May 12, 1706, he fought the famous battle of Ramillies; in which his life was frequently in the most imminent danger, a cannon shot taking off the head of Colonel Bingley as he was assisting the duke to remount. He arrived in England in November, and received fresh honours and grants from the the queen and parliament. A bill was passed to settle his titles upon the male and female issue of his daughters; and Blenheim House was ordered to be built, to perpetuate his gallant actions.

The following campaign presented nothing worth recording; but the ensuing one was pushed with such vigour, that the French king was glad to enter into a negociation for peace, which, however, had no effect. In 1709 he defeated Marshal Villars at Malplaquet; for which victory a general thanksgiving was solemnized. In 1711 he returned to England, having added considerably to his laurels; but soon after was dismissed from his employments. To add to this unjust treatment, his character was vilified by the writers of the day, and a prosecution was commenced against him for applying the public money to his private purposes. It must however be admitted, that his avarice was excessive. Stung at this ingratitude, he went into voluntary banishment, accompanied by his duchess, and remained abroad until 1714, when he landed at Dover, amidst the acclamations of the people. Queen Anne was just dead, and her successor restored the duke to his military appointments; but his infirmities increasing, he retired from public employment, and died at Windsor Lodge, having sur

vived his intellectual faculties, June 16, 1722. His remains were interred with great pomp in Westminster Abbey.

Though the Duke of Marlborough was appointed commander in chief of the forces by George the First, he never had his confidence; and had so little weight with him, that when he wished only to appoint a friend to an ensigncy, he used to direct Mr. Pulteney, then secretary at war, to go to the king in his name. The king, when he was elector of Hanover, was displeased with him for drawing down, every campaign, such large bodies of German troops to his own army in Flanders, that the army of the empire upon the Rhine was always obliged to act upon the defensive.

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.

MARY Queen of Scotland, daughter of James V. was born in the royal palace of Linlithgow, on the Sth of December, 1542. Her mother was Mary, the eldest daughter of Claude, Duke of Guise, and widow of Louis, Duke of Longueville. Her father dying a few days after her birth, she scarcely existed before she was hailed queen.

At an early age Mary was conveyed to France, where she received her education in the court of Henry II. She soon acquired a knowledge of the Latin tongue, and became a proficient in the French, Italian, and Spanish languages. She walked, danced, and rade with uncommon grace, and was qualified by nature as well as art to attain to distinction in painting, poetry, and music.

Whilst Mary resided in the court of Henry II. her personal charms made a deep impression on the mind of the Dauphin. It was in vain that the constable Montmorency opposed their marriage with all his influence. The importance of her kingdom to France, and the power of her uncles, the Princes of Lorraine, were more than sufficient to counteract his intrigues, and the Dauphin obtained the most beautiful princess in Christendom.

Though this alliance placed the Queen of Scotland in the most conspicuous point of view, it may be considered as having accidentally laid the foundation of the greatest part of her future misfortunes. Elizabeth, who swayed the English sceptre, had been de