Churchill), the ablest commander, except Wellington perhaps, that England has ever produced, and the hardly less noted Prince Eugene of Savoy.
For thirteen years all Europe was shaken with war. During the progress of the struggle were fought some of the most memorable battles in European history,—Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet,—in all of which the genius of Marlborough and the consummate skill of Prince Eugene won splendid victories for the allies.
Finally, changes wrought by death in the House of Austria brought the Archduke Charles to the imperial throne. This changed the whole aspect of the Spanish question, for now to place Charles upon the Spanish throne also would be to give him a dangerous preponderance of power, would be, in fact, to reestablish the great monarchy of Charles V. Consequently the Grand Alliance fell to pieces, and the war was ended by the treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Rastadt (1714).
By the provisions of these treaties the Bourbon prince of Anjou was left upon the Spanish throne, but his kingdom was pared away on every side. Gibraltar and the island of Minorca were ceded to England; while Milan, Naples, Sardinia, and the Netherlands (Spanish) were given to Austria. France was forced to surrender to England considerable portions of her possessions in the New World,—Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the Hudson Bay territory.
Death of the King.—Amidst troubles, perplexities, and afflictions, Louis XIV.'s long and eventful reign was now drawing to a close. The heavy and constant taxes necessary to meet the expenses of his numerous wars, and to maintain an extravagant court, had bankrupted the country, and the cries of his wretched subjects clamoring for bread could not be shut out of the royal chamber. Death, too, had invaded the palace, striking down the dauphin, the dauphiness, and two grandsons of Louis, leaving as the nearest heir to the throne his great-grandson, a mere child. On the morning of September 1st, 1715, the Grand Monarch
