urn returned from his
interview with his commanding officer, it was as Cornet, not as
Trooper Fairburn. It was by the Duke's own order, it appeared. That
night the three friends, all with commissions in their pockets now,
made merry in company. Sir George Rooke's desire had been speedily
realized, and George had taken his first step upwards.

Marlborough marched to meet the King of Prussia, whom he persuaded to
send some eight thousand troops to the help of the Duke of Savoy, in
Italy. Then he went home to receive his honours, and the memorable
campaign of 1704 came to an end.

Marlborough was a statesman as well as a brilliant commander, and he
had his work at home as well as abroad, a work the winters enabled him
to deal with. He was now quite aware that his best friends, that is to
say, the chief supporters of his war schemes, were the Whigs, and he
was working more and more energetically to put their party in power.
Harley and St. John took the place of more violent Tories, and in 1705
a coalition of Whigs and Tories, called the Junto, managed public
affairs, more or less under Marlborough's direction. The Duchess still
held her sway over the Queen, and the two ladies addressed each other
as Mrs. Morley (the Queen) and Mrs. Freeman respectively. Already
there were influences at work to undermine the power of the
Marlboroughs, but their political downfall was not yet.

Scottish matters were giving a good deal of trouble to the English
government. Two years before, in 1703, the Scotch Parliament had
passed an Act of Security, the object of which was to proclaim a
different sovereign from that of England, unless Scotland should be
guaranteed her own religious establishment and her laws. Now this
year, 1705, the Parliament in London placed severe restrictions on the
Scotch trade with England, and ordered the Border towns to be
fortified. The irritation between the two countries grew and grew, and
war seemed within sight. A commission was accordingly appointed to
consider the terms of an Act of Union, the greater portion of
Scotland, however, being strongly opposed to any such union at all.

The spring of 1705 found the Allies active once more. The main
interest centres in the Netherlands and in Spain. The Earl of
Peterborough, who took the command in Spain, was one of the most
extraordinary men of his time. His energy and activity were amazing,
and he would dash about the Continent in a fashion that often
astounded