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tians that ever lived. His father was a gentleman of small estate at Woolstrop, in Lincolnshire, and died when he was very young. His mother married again, and sir Isaac was employed by his father-in-law as a shepherd boy.

One day, while Isaac was keeping the sheep, a gentleman passing by observed that he was deeply occupied in some book, and had the curiosity to ask him what it was. To his surprise he found it was a book of practical geometry. This circumstance was mentioned to some of his mother's relations, who rescued him from his humble employment, and placed him at a school at Grantham.

Newton's progress there was quite astonishing, and he was "noted for his strange inventions and extraordinary inclination for mechanics. He had a little shop of tools, as little saws, hatchets, and hammers, with which he amused himself in making models in wood of various things."

Newton's extreme modesty and gentleness of temper were more extraordinary than even his talents and acquirements. He retained the full use of his powers of mind to the last day of a long life, and was never guilty of any one excess, unless it might be that of an excess of study.

Marlborough was a man of extreme calmness and tranquillity. Nothing flurried, nothing disconcerted him. His judgment and presence of mind were ready for all occasions. Commanding an army composed of officers and men of different states and nations, whose interests were perpetually clashing, he listened to no cabals or jealousies, but acted in a straight forward manner for the public Of his command of temper one very striking instance is recorded. It has been mentioned that the duke of Marlborough was not beloved by the English, but he possessed some qualities worthy of respect and imitation. Prince Eugene had proposed, at a council of war, that

cause.

Was Newton distinguished when a child?

Did Newton ever exhibit a taste for mechanics?
Were the moral qualities of Newton admirable?
Was the example of Marlborough worthy of imitation?
Did Marlborough decline a challenge?

an attack should be made the next day on the enemy. Though nothing could be more evidently judicious than this proposal, the duke positively refused to consent to it. The prince called him a coward, and challenged him; but Marlborough kept his temper, and declined the challenge. On this the prince, being violently enraged, left the council.

Early the following morning prince Eugene was awoke by Marlborough, who, coming to his bedside, desired him to rise as he was preparing to make the attack, and added, "I could not tell you my determination last night, because there was a person present who I knew was in the enemy's interest, and would betray us. I have no doubt we shall conquer, and when the battle is over, I will be ready to accept your challenge."

Prince Eugene was overpowered by Marlborough's greatness of mind, and asked his pardon for his own intemperate conduct. The duke accepted his apologies, saying. "I thought, my dear prince, you would in time be satisfied."

CHAP. XXXVI

GEORGE I.

[Years after Christ, 1714-1727.]

Anne died, as I have already said, August 1, 1714, and the elector of Hanover was immediately proclaimed. He arrived in England Sept. 16, and was met at Greenwich, where he landed, by many persons of high office and rank. Amongst these was the duke of Marlborough, who had lately returned to England, and whom, both at this time, and ever after, the king treated with great distinction. George, at his accession, was in the fifty-fifth year of his age. George was a man of plain steady understanding, grave in his manner, and simple in his habits, and had the repu

What reasons did Marlborough offer for his conduct?

Was prince Eugene reconciled to the duke of Marlborough?
Under what circumstances did George I. arrive in England?

tation of being a sagacious politician. He spoke English very imperfectly, and was too much of a German in all his notions and habits to be very popular in England.

George I. had one son and a daughter. The son had married Caroline, daughter of the margravine of Anspach, and at the time of his father's coming to the throne had three young daughters. He was created prince of Wales, and came with his family to England; as did also one of the king's brothers, the bishop of Osnaburg, who was created duke of York.

The spirit of party still ran very high in A. D. 1715. England. The king showed a decided preference for the Whigs. At this the Tories were much exasperated, and they soon began to show a spirit of disaffection to the house of Hanover. Lord Oxford, the great Tory leader, was sent to the Tower, where he remained two years; but the two houses of parliament disagreed so violently as to the proceedings to be taken in regard to him, that he was at last acquitted without a trial. The duke of Ormond and lord Bolingbroke were impeached, but escaped to France. They were then attainted, and their names were erased from the list of English peers.

These severities towards the leaders of the Tories excited

great murmurs; and the Jacobites, who had been very active ever since the queen's death, made a strong party in Scotland. The earl of Mar proclaimed prince James Stuart, Sept. 6, 1715, and set up his standard. James, however, was not then in a condition to come and take the crown that was proffered him.

Louis XIV., who had given the Pretender a small supply of arms and ammunition, with the promise of more, died on the first of September this year, and the duke of Orleans, who was regent of France during the minority of Louis XV., (the infant great-grandson of the late king,) was not a friend to the Pretender's cause.

The earl of Mar, nevertheless, continued in arms, and at Who were the king's family?

What was the state of parties in England in the first years of George's reign?

Who proclaimed James Stuart king of England?

How did Louis XIV. and his successor regard James Stuart's enterprise?

What Scottish nobles befriended and opposed the Pretender?

length assembled a body of ten thousand men, which was farther increased by some English Jacobites. On the other hand, the duke of Argyle, who was appointed commander of the king's forces in Scotland, advanced against the rebels at the head of his own clans, assisted by some troops from Ireland.

In the meantime the Pretender's party in the north of England organised themselves in battle array: but they were encountered by the militia and other troops sent against them, and were punished for their attempt. Some were hanged at Tyburn; twenty-two persons were executed in Lancashire, and about one thousand were sent to the North American colonies.

. On December 22, the Pretender, after having been long expected, at last arrived in Scotland. He came attended only by six gentlemen. The earl of Mar soon joined him, and he was proclaimed king; and in the expectation that all Scotland would rise in his cause as one man, he fixed Jan. 16, 1716, for his coronation at Scone. But before that day arrived, he was so closely pursued by the duke of Argyle, that he was glad to abandon his rash enterprise, and to get back again to France.

The attention of the nation was chiefly A. D. 1720. occupied by a scheme called the South Sea Scheme. It was principally contrived by sir John Blunt, a busy, speculating man; and the object of it was to enable a company of merchants, called the South Sea Company, to buy up all the national debts, and to concentrate them into one fund.

Many persons, in the expectation of receiving a high interest, advanced large sums of money towards this purchase; but in a few months the whole was discovered to be a fraudulent scheme. The principal actors in it were punished by parliament, and measures were adopted to give some redress to the injured parties; but a very large number of the imprudent speculators suffered severely. The king, who was much attached to Hanover, and had visited it several times,

A. D. 1727.

How did the English government treat the Pretender's adherents?
When did the Pretender land in Scotland?

What speculation engaged the English nation, A. D. 1720 ?
When and where did George I. die?

set out with the intention of going there once more. He had got as far as Delden, a small town near the frontiers of Germany, when he was taken extremely ill. He had set his mind on reaching his brother's palace at Osnaburg, and ordered his people to hasten forwards. But he did not live to get there. It was found, when the carriage stopped at the gate of the palace, that he had already breathed his last. He died June 11, 1727, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, and the thirteenth of his reign.

George Augustus, prince of Wales, succeeded his father.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]

An officer and sergeant of the reign of George the First.

The news of the sudden death of George I. reached London June 14, and George II. was proclaimed the next day. He was in the forty-fifth year of his age. His abilities were inferior to those of his father, and his temper hasty. He was simple in all his tastes and habits, and singularly

What was the character, and who composed the family of George II.?

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