e daughters of Richard Jennings, a country gentleman
of good family but moderate fortune, her mother being Frances
Thornhurst, daughter of Sir Gifford Thornhurst, of Agnes Court, in Kent,
and his heiress. She was born at Holywell, near St. Alban's, 29th May,
1660, the very day of the restoration of Charles the Second. In
recompense for the services rendered by their father during the civil
wars, the two elder sisters were received when very young into the
household of the Duchess of York.

When only twelve years old, Sarah Jennings had the good fortune to
become the inseparable companion of the Princess Anne, who was about the
same age. Her beauty was not characterised by regularity of feature, but
she possessed an animated countenance, with eyes full of fire. She was
small of stature, more piquante than imposing, and her chief charms
were centered in her magnificent tresses, the delicacy of her features,
and certain peculiar graces of mind and person. These attractions were
enhanced by a conversation full of vivacity and intelligence. Prudent
and virtuous--for even Swift, who was otherwise the remorseless enemy of
the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, renders homage to the virtue of the
latter--in the midst of a corrupt Court, and enjoying the highest favour
of the Royal Family, she had for admirers some men of the highest rank
in England. Amongst those who aspired to her hand may be cited the
admired Earl of Lindsay, afterwards Marquis of Ancaster, "the star and
ornament of the Court," whose suit she rejected for that of the young
and handsome Colonel Churchill. A single trait suffices to prove the
lady's attractiveness--the avaricious John Churchill wooed and wedded
her although all along he knew Sarah to be altogether portionless.

This successful wooer--afterwards Lord Churchill and Duke of
Marlborough--who had entered the army at sixteen, was the son of a poor
cavalier knight who had come to London after the Restoration. Love, not
War, was the first stepping-stone to his subsequent high fortune. The
Duke of York, heir to the Crown, "young and ardent in the pursuit of
pleasure," became enamoured of Arabella Churchill one of the
maids-of-honour to his first wife, and afterwards his avowed mistress.
Through this lady's interest, her elder brother John obtained a pair of
colours in the Guards. In his twenty-third year he made his first
campaign in the Low Countries when Charles and Louis united their forces
against Ho