In 1697, by the death of his uncle, Charles became Earl
of Peterborough, and passed the next four years in private life,
emerging only occasionally to go down to the House of Peers and
make fiery onslaughts upon abuses and corruption. In the course of
these years, both in parliament and at court, he had been sometimes
the friend, sometimes the opponent of Marlborough; but he had the
good fortune to be a favorite of the duchess, and when the time came
that a leader was required for the proposed expedition to Spain,
she exerted herself so effectually that she procured his nomination.

Hitherto his life had been a strange one. Indolent and energetic
by turns, restless and intriguing, quarreling with all with whom
he came in contact, burning with righteous indignation against
corruption and misdoing, generous to a point which crippled his
finances seriously, he was a puzzle to all who knew him, and had he
died at this time he would only have left behind him the reputation
of being one of the most brilliant, gifted, and honest, but at the
same time one of the most unstable, eccentric, and ill regulated
spirits of his time.



CHAPTER II: IMPRESSED


When the Mayor of Southampton opened the official document empowering
and requesting him to obtain recruits for the queen's service he
was not greatly pleased. This sort of thing would give a good deal
of trouble, and would assuredly not add to his popularity. He saw