an heir, and about to die, selected as his
successor Leopold of Bavaria, a boy five years of age, whose
grandmother was Maria Theresa. But there were also two other
claimants--the Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV., whose claim
rested in being the grandson of Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV.,
and sister of Charles II., and the Emperor of Germany, whose mother
was the daughter of Philip III. The various European states looked
with extreme jealousy on the claims of the Emperor of Germany and the
Duke of Anjou, because they feared that the balance of power would be
seriously disturbed if either an Austrian or a Bourbon prince became
King of Spain. They, therefore, generally supported the claims of the
Bavarian prince, especially England and Holland.

But the Prince of Bavaria suddenly died, as it was supposed by poison,
and Louis XIV. so successfully intrigued, that his grandson was
nominated by the Spanish monarch as heir to his throne. This incensed
Leopold II. of Germany, and especially William III., who was resolved
that the house of Bourbon should be no further aggrandized.

On the accession of the Duke of Anjou to the Spanish throne, in 1701,
a grand alliance was formed, headed by the Emperor of Germany and the
King of England, to dethrone him. Louis XIV. long hesitated between
his ambition and the interests of his kingdom; but ambition triumphed.
He well knew that he could only secure a crown to his grandson by a
desperate contest with indignant Europe. Austria, Holland, Savoy, and
England were arrayed against France. And this war of the Spanish
Succession was the longest, the bloodiest, and the most disastrous war
in which Louis was ever engaged. It commenced the last year of the
reign of William III., and lasted thirteen years.

[Sidenote: Duke of Marlborough.]

The great hero of this war was doubtless the Duke of Marlborough,
although Prince Eugene gained with him as imperishable glories as war
can bestow. John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, cannot be said to be
one of those geniuses who have impressed their minds on nations and
centuries; but he was a man who gave great lustre to the British name,
and who attained to a higher pitch of military fame than any general
whom England has produced since Oliver Cromwell, with the exception of
Wellington.

He was born in 1650, of respectable parents, and was page of honor to
the Duke of York, afterwards James II. While a mere boy, his bent of
mind was dis