much opposition, was at length carried, and the queen, in giving her assent to it in Parliament, truly said: “I consider this union as a matter of the greatest importance to the wealth, strength, and safety of the whole island; and I make no doubt that it will be remembered and spoken of hereafter to the honour of those who have been instrumental in bringing it to such a happy conclusion."

The Tory ministry recalled Marlborough from the scene of his triumphs, and threatened to impeach him for corruption. They made peace with France by the Treaty of Utrecht, on what were thought by most men, very disadvantageous terms, considering the English successes. By this treaty England became possessed of Gibraltar, (which had been captured by Sir George Rooke in 1705), Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Hudson's Bay; and she also acquired, what we should now consider the disgraceful privilege, of exclusively supplying African slaves to the Spanish West India islands.

Harley (now created Earl of Oxford) and St. John, Lord Bolingbroke, entered into negotiations with the Pretender, for the purpose of bringing him over to England on the queen's death: and to strengthen their interest with the high church party, they passed severe laws against Dissenters, and even threatened to repeal the Toleration Act.

But the illness and death of Queen Anne frustrated their schemes. A few days before she died, the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Duke of Argyll entered the council chamber, and induced the dying queen to appoint the former of them Lord Treasurer. Measures were immediately taken for the security of the Pro

testant succession, and when Anne died on the 1st of August, 1714, the son of the Electress Sophia was proclaimed without opposition, under the title of George the First.

Queen Anne's reign has been called the Augustan age of English literature, in consequence of the number of eminent writers who flourished in her time. These were unquestionably men of great ability; but the age of Anne cannot be compared to the age of Elizabeth, or the succeeding age of George the Third, for originality and genius in literature or art. Most of the writers aimed at polish and refinement rather than force and depth; yet the humorists and wits of the time will always hold a high place amongst English classical writers. Two of the best known among them, Addison and Steele, originated and conducted the "Tatler" and "Spectator," two daily magazines, which are still read with delight for their elegant style and quiet humour. Addison was in his own day thought a good poet; but his reputation as such has long since decayed. Jonathan Swift, the author of "Gulliver's Travels," ""Tale of a Tub," &c., was one of the greatest masters of humour, irony, and satire, who ever lived. He was the companion of Harley and Bolingbroke, the queen's ministers, who were liberal patrons of learned

men.

Prior and Pope are the best known poets of this period. The poetry of Pope exercised the greatest influence on all the literature of the eighteenth century; indeed, till the time of Cowper, all English poets seemed to be mere imitators of him.

Sir Isaac Newton flourished during this reign, and pur

sued the discoveries he had begun in the preceding century. Other writers, who deserve mention in this brief notice, are Richard Bentley, the great classical scholar, Dr. Samuel Clarke, the theologian, and Bishop Berkeley, the metaphysician.

CHAP. XXXV.

GEORGE I. 1714-1727.

GEORGE THE FIRST, on the news of Queen Anne's death reaching him, immediately set out for England, and landed at Greenwich on the 18th of August, 1714. His first measure was to restore the Whigs to all the places of honour and power from which they had been excluded. The king felt himself entirely in the hands of that party; to them he owed his throne. Yet he unwisely became too much the king of a faction, and not of the whole nation; for had he included in his ministry some of the more moderate of the Tory party, he and his family might have been saved from the dangerous intrigues of the Jacobites, which more than once almost succeeded.

By the great bulk of the nation the king's accession was hailed with satisfaction; the only murmurs heard were from those who had been in correspondence with the Pretender. The City of London and all the manufacturing and trading towns throughout England were supporters of the new government, and the Noncon

formists hoped to receive from it a relaxation of those unjust laws enacted in the queen's reign against them.

A new Parliament met in March 1715, in which the Whigs had a great majority. They proceeded to investigate the misdeeds of the ministry of the Earl of Oxford, and it was resolved by the Commons that Oxford, Bolingbroke, and Ormond should be impeached. Bolingbroke and Ormond fled to France, and Oxford was thrown into the Tower. This same Parliament passed the Septennial Act, by which the duration of Parliament was extended from three to seven years.

It was very evident that the adherents of the Pretender in England and Scotland were awaiting a favourable opportunity for rising against George's government. Their expectations of assistance from France had been disappointed by the death of the aged Louis the Fourteenth, in 1714, after a long and brilliant reign of seventy-two years. His great grandson, Louis the Fifteenth, was a child, and the government was entrusted to the Duke of Orleans, who was not inclined to give any aid to an invasion of England, but recognised George as king, and informed him of the Pretender's designs.

Among the Highlanders the memory of the Stuarts was still dear, and the chiefs were in constant correspondence with the Pretender. The mass of the people were ignorant, warlike, and rapacious, and ready to follow their chiefs (who had an almost irresponsible power over them) against any enemy. The Lowland Scotch, on the other hand, as Protestants and Presbyterians, detested the Stuarts, and supported George. On the 6th of September, 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the standard

of rebellion at Braemar, and proclaimed the Pretender as James the Eighth of Scotland and Third of England. His army consisted of about 6000 men; and with this force he attempted to surprise Edinburgh, but without success. In the north of England the Jacobites rose in arms, headed by the Earl of Derwentwater; but at Preston they were defeated by the royal troops, and most of the leaders made prisoners. On the 13th of November the Duke of Argyle, commander of the royal army, met the Earl of Mar at Sheriff Moor, where a fierce battle was fought, in which both sides claimed the victory. The Pretender arrived in Scotland in December; but, finding his followers disheartened, and the royal armies everywhere victorious, he soon after returned to France. The lords who had been concerned in the rebellion were tried, in Westminster Hall, by their peers, and condemned. The Earl of Derwentwater and Lord Kenmure were executed on Tower Hill. Lord Nithsdale, by the exertions of his wife, escaped in woman's clothes from the Tower. Several other prisoners of inferior rank were executed, or transported to the West Indies.

The principal minister during the first years of this reign was General Stanhope. He was an upright man, firmly attached to the Hanoverian settlement, and a friend of all liberal measures, which he was only prevented from successfully carrying by the powerful opposition of the Tories and disaffected Whigs.

In 1718 a bill was introduced into the House of Lords, and passed by a large majority, by which it was proposed to limit the House of Peers to the then number of 170, and to prohibit the creation of any more.