of 1672, which
brought the French armies to the gates of Amsterdam, and placed the
United States within a hair's-breadth of destruction, was to him
fruitful in valuable lessons. He distinguished himself afterwards so
much at the siege of Nimeguen, that Turenne, who constantly called him
by his _sobriquet_ of "the handsome Englishman," predicted that he would
one day be a great man. In the following year he had the good fortune to
save the life of his colonel, the Duke of Monmouth; and distinguished
himself so much at the siege of Maestricht, that Louis XIV. publicly
thanked him at the head of his army, and promised him his powerful
influence with Charles II. for future promotion. He little thought what
a formidable enemy he was then fostering at the court of his obsequious
brother sovereign. The result of Louis XIV.'s intercession was, that
Churchill was made lieutenant-colonel; and he continued to serve with
the English auxiliary force in Flanders, under the French generals, till
1677, when he returned with his regiment to London. Beyond all doubt it
was these five years' service under the great masters of the military
art, who then sustained the power and cast a halo round the crown of
Louis XIV., which rendered Marlborough the consummate commander that,
from the moment he was placed at the head of the Allied armies, he
showed himself to have become. One of the most interesting and
instructive lessons to be learned from biography is the long steps, the
vast amount of previous preparation, the numerous changes, some
prosperous, others adverse, by which the mind of a great man is formed,
and he is prepared for playing the important part he is intended to
perform on the theatre of the world. Providence does nothing in vain,
and when it has selected a particular mind for great achievement, the
events which happen to it all seem to conspire in a mysterious way for
its development. Were any one omitted, some essential quality in the
character of the future hero, statesman, or philosopher would be found
to be awanting.

Here also, as in every other period of history, we may see how
unprincipled ambition overvaults itself, and the measures which seem at
first sight most securely to establish its oppressive reign, are the
unseen means by which an overruling power works out its destruction.
Doubtless the other ministers of Louis XIV. deemed their master's power
secure when this English alliance was concluded; when the English