Marlborough house and its occupants, present and past . me, all unconscious of her destiny, abright young girl, playmate of Princess Anne at Palace, was developing the qualifications ofmind and body that would fit her to be the consortof the distinguished young officer. Needless tosay, this was Sarah Jennings, who, at the age ofsixteen, became engaged to John Churchill, andwas married to him in the presence of Mary otModena, Duchess of York, whose maid of honourshe was when but a child. A glorious couple theymust have been; he in the maturity of manlybeauty, ten years her senior, and
Marlborough house and its occupants, present and past . me, all unconscious of her destiny, abright young girl, playmate of Princess Anne at Palace, was developing the qualifications ofmind and body that would fit her to be the consortof the distinguished young officer. Needless tosay, this was Sarah Jennings, who, at the age ofsixteen, became engaged to John Churchill, andwas married to him in the presence of Mary otModena, Duchess of York, whose maid of honourshe was when but a child. A glorious couple theymust have been; he in the maturity of manlybeauty, ten years her senior, and she, radiant assome half-opened rose with youthful freshness andloveliness. And now, the future Dukes career may be saidto have commenced in earnest ; for with a helpmatewhose ruling passion was ambition, no chance wasmissed, no opportunity lost, in the race that ulti-mately led to power, fame, and fortune almostbeyond the dreams of avarice. To James Churchill was indebted for his rapid advancein the army ; and during the opening years of that. The first Duke of Marlborough. From a miniature in the possession of His Grace the Duke of Marlborough. Facing page 303. NOTE.—This interesting portrait of his illustrious ancestor has been very kindly selected for 1 y His Grace the Duke of Marlborough from his collection ol miniatures at Blenheim figure to the right is probably that of James, the first Pretender. Marlborough House. 303 monarchs reign, he had, by his victory overMonmouth at Sedgemoor, fully vindicated theKings confidence in his talents. Then came hisdesertion of the last of the Stuarts, when Williamof Orange landed at Torbay, and the expedition toIreland, which, though lasting but five weeks,resulted in his brilliant capture of Cork andKinsale. In 1692, Churchill was summarily dis-missed by William III. from all his public offices,and commencing to intrigue for the restoration ofJames II., he was consigned to the Tower for someweeks, though
Size: 1781px × 1403px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectedwardv, bookyear1896
