70

msTcmy of englam).

chap. must elapse before he should again see the land of his birth, the

“IH— clipped trees, the wings of the innumerable windmills, thenests of the storks on the tall gables, and the long lines ofpainted villas reflected in the sleeping canals. He took no painsto hide the preference which he felt for his native soil and forhis early friends; and therefore, though he rendered great ser-vices to our country, he did not reign in our hearts. As a generalin the field, again, he showed rare courage and capacity: but,from whatever cause, he was, as a tactician, inferior to someof his contemporaries, who, in general powers of mind, werefar inferior to him. The business for which he was preeminentlyfitted was diplomacy, in the highest sense of the word. It maybe doubted whether he has ever had a superior in the art of con-ducting those great negotiations on which the welfare of thecommonwealth of nations depends. His skill in this departmentof politics was never more severely tasked or more signallyproved than during the latter part of 1691 and the earlier partof 1692.

Northern O ne dhief difficulties was caused by the sullen and

powers, menacing demeanour of the Northern powers. Denmark andSweden had at one time seemed disposed to join the coalition:but they had early become cold, and were fast becoming hostile.From France they flattered themselves that they had little tofear. It was not very probable that her armies would cross theElbe, or that her fleets would force a passage through theSound. But the naval strength of England and Holland unitedmight well excite apprehension at Stockholm and Copenhagen.Soon arose vexatious questions of maritime right, questionssuch as, in almost every extensive war of modern times, havearisen between belligerents and neutrals. The Scandinavianprinces complained that the legitimate trade between the Balticand France was tyrannically interrupted. Though they had notin general been on very friendly terms with each other, they