Hanover, to concert with the elector; but I shall excuse myself, that I
may get five or six days to come over, and inform the queen fully of the
measures that shall have been taken, to which end I keep the yacht and
convoy on this side."

With Eugene, Marlborough entered into a confidential
communication on the state of foreign affairs, and the views
of his sovereign. In these preliminary discussions, two
points, in particular, occupied his attention, namely, the de-
mands of the emperor, for the levy-money of the troops
whom he had engaged to furnish; and the claims of the
duke of Savoy on the Austrian court.

On the first head, Marlborough referred the discussion to
the treasurer and the British cabinet, from a reluctance to
acquiesce in demands which he deemed exorbitant, and an
unwillingness to offend the emperor by a direct refusal.

The adjustment of the second point was still more delicate;
for the duke of Savoy, on the one hand, demanded the imme-
diate fulfilment of the treaty concluded in 1703, by which he
was to receive part of the Montferrat, forfeited by the duke of
Mantua, while the emperor delayed the investiture, under
the pretence that the cession of the said territory would in-
fringe the rights of the house of Loraine. Marlborough was
particularly anxious to effect an accommodation, because the
success of the campaign in Italy depended on the union of
the two courts; and because his friends in England, espe-
cially the treasurer, made the conduct of the emperor the
theme of perpetual invective, and censured him for continu-
ing to rely on a prince, whose engagements had been so
seldom fulfilled. With this view, Marlborough despatched
General Palmes to Vienna and Turin; but his principal
hopes of success rested on the mediation and influence of
Eugene.

The result of their amicable negotiation was highly satis-
factory. From Eugene he received assurances, that the
emperor was gratified by the resolution of parliament to
continue the war till the whole monarchy of Spain was
restored to the house of Austria, and would faithfully
redeem the pledges he had repeatedly given, in exerting his
whole strength to promote the objects of the Grand Alliance.
That the army on the Rhine should be increased to the
amount of 20,000 men, with every requisite for action, by the

-206-