It was some time before the horrible story of the massacre of Glencoe was publicly known. But little by little it came out, and men were filled with horror and loathing of the cruel deed. It was four years after the massacre that the Scottish Parliament ordered an inquiry to be made into it. But even when its full horrors were made known, the men who had been chiefly guilty of it escaped punishment, for they were too powerful to be treated as they deserved, and the matter was allowed to drop.

XLVI.

QUEEN ANNE AND

THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.

A.D. 1702-1710.

ANNE, the daughter of James II., was still a child when she made a friendship which in after years was important, not only for herself but for her country. She was naturally affectionate, but she was slow and stupid, and not able to form opinions of her own, and she was fascinated by a girl who at the age of twelve was sent to be brought up at the court of Anne's mother, the Duchess of York, and who seemed to have all the qualities which Anne wanted. This girl was Sarah Jennings, the younger sister of a famous court beauty. Sarah and Anne grew up together, and Anne was filled with tender and admiring love for her companion.

Sarah, even as

a girl, liked to command, and it was very pleasant to her to feel how much power she had over one who was so far above her in rank.

As she grew up Sarah became very popular amongst the gay courtiers who, in the careless frivolous days of Charles II., spent their time in idle amusement. Sarah had a face full

of expression, a pretty figure, lively pleasant manners, and a quantity of beautiful hair; her liveliness delighted Anne, who was quite willing to submit meekly to her friend in everything, and Sarah was as pleased to command as Anne was to obey.

Amongst Sarah's admirers the most ardent was a young officer named John Churchill. He was poor, and very eager to make a great place for himself in the world, but he lost his heart to this fascinating girl of sixteen, who was as poor and as ambitious as himself. Churchill's parents wished him to marry a girl with a large fortune, whom they had chosen for him. But he would not hear of her, and married the one woman whom he ever loved, and to whom he was faithful and devoted all his life.

Anne married five years after her friend. The husband chosen for her was Prince George of Denmark, a man even more stupid and dull than she was herself, who cared for nothing but eating and drinking. She was an affectionate wife; but her chief love was still given to her dear Sarah, who had been made her Lady of the Bedchamber. Sarah was not the kind of woman to treat any one, even a Princess, with respect, and she scolded Anne and ordered her about in the freest possible

way. Anne let her do just as she liked; in fact, she was eager that they should behave just like equals. She wrote to Sarah begging her not to call her "your Highness," and proposed that they should each choose new names which might make them seem to be equals. Sarah was quite willing and decided to call herself Mrs. Freeman, whilst Anne took the name of Mrs. Morley.

When Anne, at the age of thirty-seven, became Queen on the death of William III., one of her first acts was to shower favours upon her friend and her friend's husband. John Churchill had by this time become Earl of Marlborough. William III. never liked or trusted him; but he saw what a clever soldier he was, and knew how useful he might be in the wars against Louis XIV., King of France, and so he had made him an earl and shown him some favour. When Anne became Queen, Marlborough became at once the chief man in the kingdom, and Lady Marlborough was of course the chief lady at the court.

But unfortunately Sarah did not grow more amiable as she grew older. Each year she lived, she wished more and more to get her own way and to make others do just as she pleased. Some people can get their own way and manage others quietly, so that no one sees what they are doing. But Sarah tried to get her way by scolding and interfering. She gave her husband a great deal of trouble by the way in which she was always interfering and making mischief in his affairs. When he was away at the war and had quite enough to do to keep him terribly anxious and busy, instead of writing kind, pleasant

letters to him, she used to write letters full of complaints, telling him about all the quarrels at court, as if she wished to annoy him. He always wrote back kindly and gently, telling her how much he loved her, and begging her not to mix in so many quarrels. But he could not persuade her to change her ways.

Queen Anne was very meek, but she was very obstinate too, and when she had once made up her mind about anything it was not easy to get her to change. She and Sarah had very different views as to the men who ought to be the chief ministers, and Sarah would not leave the Queen alone to do as she thought best. She scolded her and bullied her, and treated her with very little respect, telling her that she must remember how other members of her family, meaning her father James II., had been ruined by their obstinacy. At last she wearied even Anne's patience, and Anne, who always wanted some one to be fond of, began to make a friend out of another of the ladies at her court. This was a person of very much less importance than the Duchess of Marlborough, by name Abigail Hill. She was a cousin of the Duchess, and the Duchess herself had brought her to court as a way of helping on a poor relation, and had her made a lady of the bedchamber. She thought that Mrs. Hill would be always grateful to her for her help, and that as she was not at all a clever woman she never could be of any importance at court. But the proud Duchess was quite mistaken. Anne found Mrs. Hill so gentle and submissive that it was a most pleasant change to talk with her instead of listening to the Duchess's scoldings.