m!

However much the duke longed to see the magnificent edifice concluded,
he showed the same calm intrepidity in the building of Blenheim as he
had in its field of action. Aware that if he himself gave any order, or
suggested any alteration, he might be involved in the expense of the
building, he was never to be circumvented--never to be surprised into a
spontaneous emotion of pleasure or disapprobation; on no occasion, he
declares, had he even entered into conversation with the architect
(though his friend) or with any one acting under his orders, about
Blenheim House! Such impenetrable prudence on all sides had often
blunted the subdolous ingenuity of the architect and plotter of
comedies!

In the absence of the duke, when abroad in 1705, Sir John contrived to
obtain from Lord Godolphin, the friend and relative of the Duke of
Marlborough, and probably his agent in some of his concerns, a warrant,
constituting Vanbrugh _surveyor, with power of contracting on the behalf
of the Duke of Marlborough_. How he prevailed on Lord Godolphin to get
this appointment does not appear--his lordship probably conceived it was
useful, and might assist in expediting the great work, the favourite
object of the hero. This warrant, however, Vanbrugh kept entirely to
himself; he never mentioned to the duke that he was in possession of any
such power; nor, on his return, did he claim to have it renewed.

The building proceeded with the same delays, and the payments with the
same irregularity; the veteran now foresaw what happened, that he should
never be the inhabitant of his own house! The public money issued from
the Treasury was never to be depended on; and after 1712, the duke took
the building upon himself, for the purpose of accommodating the workmen.
They had hitherto received what was called "crown pay," which was high
wages and uncertain payment--and they now gladly abated a third of their
prices. But though the duke had undertaken to pay the workmen, this
could make no alteration in the claims on the Treasury. Blenheim was to
be built _for_ Marlborough, not _by_ him; it was a monument raised by
the nation to their hero, not a palace to be built by their mutual
contributions.

Whether Marlborough found that his own million might be slowly injured
while the Treasury remained still obdurate, or that the architect was
still more and more involved, I cannot tell; but in 1715, the workmen
appear to have struck, and the old delays an