The Duchess of Marlborough loses two friends-The duke goes abroad-The duchess follows-They meet at Maestricht-They go to Aix-la-Chapelle and Frankfort-She writes to Mr. Jennens of her experiences, also to Mrs. Clayton about a religious proces- sion-She expresses her fear of Louis XIV.'s power-Sarah loses her daughter, Lady Bridgewater-She nurses Mr. Lowther through the small-pox-She writes an account of her grievances to Mr. Hutchinson-Her management of the Privy Purse-Rumours of the Queen's bad health-Anne refuses to allow the Elector into The Elector of Hanover proclaimed king-The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough return to England-Their movements-George I. arrives at Gravesend-Gossipy letter of the period-Princess of Wales arrives-Madame de Kilmansegge-Lord Bolingbroke and the Duke of Ormonde are impeached-Lord Oxford's ill-health- Rising in Scotland--Trial of Scottish peers-Quarrels at court- The Duchess of Marlborough and Bishop Burnet-Lady Sunder- land's death-The Duke of Marlborough's precarious health— Lord Sunderland re-marries-He quarrels with the duchess- Sarah is received coldly at court-South Sea Bubble--The dispute with Sir John Vanbrugh-Her revenge for his slight on the duke- Her letter about Blenheim-Lord Sunderland's death-The duke's indifferent health-His will-His death and funeral-A contem- porary's tribute to his greatness and humanity-The duchess's admirers-Unfortunate differences with her daughters-The Duke of Montague's eccentricities-Sarah's opinion of the medical men The duchess buys large estates-Twice rebuilds Wimbledon Manor- -Correspondence with Mr. Jennens-Her dispute with Sir R. Wal- pole-Her letter to Dr. Hare on the subject-Lady Diana Spencer writes to complain of the entrance to Marlborough House-Death George II. crowned at Westminster-Arrival of Prince Frederick of Wales-His popularity-His parents' dislike of him-Duchess of Marlborough's sympathy for the prince-She loses her grand- son-Her letter on the subject-Her other grandchildren-Her love for John and Diana Spencer-Her generosity-Her wit and agreeable conversation-Her friendship for Lord Chesterfield- Duchess corresponds with Sir R. Walpole about Windsor Park— Queen Caroline's dispute with the duchess over Wimbledon- Further letters about Windsor Park-Queen Caroline dies-Prince Frederick of Wales-Duchess's almshouses at St. Albans-The election there -The ridicule Lord Grimston's play excited— Duchess of Marlborough's offer to Lord Marchmont-Her friend- ship for Mr. Pitt-Her reflections upon life-The publication of her "Conduct"-Her friendship for Pope their correspondence -Handel and Buononcini-The duchess and Windsor Park-She employs two historians to write the duke's life-The friends and relations she survived-Her friendship for Lady Mary Wortley LIST OF SARAH JENNINGS, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH From an Engraving of the portrait painted about 1705 by Sir KING CHARLES II. Frontispiece From the original painting by Mrs. MARY BEALE in the KING JAMES II. From the original painting by Sir GODFREY KNeller in the National Portrait Gallery. THE MARLBOROUGH FAMILY (circ. 1692). Reading From the original painting by WILLIAM WISSING in the MAUSOLEUM ERECTED AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY FOR THE FUNERAL OF MARY II. . From an old print. JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. . From an Engraving of the portrait by Sir GODfrey Kneller. KING WILLIAM III. From the original painting by VOLLEVENS at Welbeck From the original painting by WILLIAM WISSING in the PRINCESS ANNE, WITH HER SON THE DUKE OF From the original painting by MICHAEL DAHL in the KING GEORGE I. From the original painting by Sir GODFREY KNELLER in the KING GEORGE II. . From the original painting by JOHN SHACKLETON in the DUCHESS SARAH CHAPTER I UNDER CHARLES II "When vice prevails and impious men bear sway, On a bright morning in the summer of 1660, a child who was destined to sway the history of England, if not of Europe, first saw the light. Sarah Jennings was born on the fifth day of June in the early days of the "Merry Monarch's" reign, just when a new epoch was about to commence. She was the youngest of seven children of Richard Jennings and Frances his wife, of Sandridge, in the county of Hertford. There is no authentic record of the actual dwelling in which Sarah made her entry into the world; tradition says it was in a small house in St. Albans, now destroyed, and this is borne out by the Duchess herself, who says St. Albans was her birthplace. The ancestral home of the Jennings family was Water End House (now a farm, also supposed to be the scene of Sarah's birth). Situated on the Sandridge estate, it was built by Sir John Jennings, our heroine's great-grandfather, who was knighted by James I. in 1603. This property and that of Holywell on the other side of St. Albans had formerly belonged to a monastery, A |