Kings & rulers > History of Charles XII, King of Sweden

BOOK III. CHARLES XII. 117
to oppose the schemes which the Duke was about to
lay before them, the Duke caaie, spoke to them in
French, a language in which he expressed himself but
very indifferently, and brought them all over to his
opinion. This account I had from Lord Bolingbroke.
In conjunction with Prince Eugene, the compan¬
ion of his victories, and Heinsius, the grand pension¬
ary of Holland, he supported the whole weight of the
war which the allies waged against France. He knew
that Charles was incensed against the empire and the
Emperor; that he was secretly solicited by the French;
and that if this conqueror should espouse the cause of
Louis XIV. the allies must be entirely ruined.
True it is, Charles had given his word in 1700, that
he would not intermeddle in the quarrel between
Louis XIV. and the Allies; but the Duke of Marl¬
borough could not believe that any prince would be
so great a slave to his word as not to sacrifice it to his
grandeur and interest. He therefore set out from the
Hague, with a resolution to sound the intentions of
the King of Sweden. M. Fabriqius, who then attend¬
ed upon Charles XIL assured me, that the Duke of
Marlborough on his arrival applied secretly, not to
Count Piper, the prime minister, but to Baron de
Gortz, who now began to share with Piper the confi¬
dence of the King. He even went to the quarters of
Charles XII. in the coach of this gentleman,* be-
* When the Duke arrived at the quarters of Count Piper,
of whom he had demanded an audience, he was told the
Count was busy, and obliged to wait half an hour before the
Swedish minister came down to receive him. Then the
Duke alighted from his coach, put on his hat, passed the
Count without saluting him, went aside to the wall, where
having staid a few minutes, he returned and accosted Piper
with the most polite address.