but towards the conclusion of William's reign an alliance was agreed upon between the emperor, the king of England, and the Dutch, which led soon afterwards to a renewal of the war Will.am was engaged in making active preparations, when an accident put a sudden end to his life. On the 21st of February, 1702, as the king was riding to Hampton Court, from Kensington, his horse fell with him, and he was thrown with so much violence that he broke his collar-bone. From the consequences of this accident he never recovered, but on March the 8th, he expired, in the 52d year of his age, and the fourteenth of his reign. After his death, a ring containing some of the late queen's hair was found fastened by a black ribbon round his arm. He married Mary, eldest daughter of James II., and left no children. King James II. died at St. Germains a few months befcre William; and his son James Francis was proclaimed king of England by Louis. At William's accession the English parliament had set the claims of James totally aside, and had settled the succession, after William and Mary, and in the event of their leaving no children, on the princess Anne and her children. William and Mary having no children, and the duke of Gloucester, the only surviving child of the princess Anne having died in the latter part of William's reign, a new act was passed in 1701, settling the crown, on failure of the direct line, on the electress Sophia and her Protestant descendants. Sophia was daughter of the queen of Bohemia, electress palatine and was grand-daughter of James I. She married the duke, afterwards elector of Hanover, a Protestant prince of the house of Brunswick. The duchess of Savoy who was daughter of Henrietta, youngest daughter of Charles I., protested, as being in a nearer line of succes Did the peace Ryswick effectually preserve peace in Europe? Whom did the parliament pronounce successor to William III.? on, against this settlement; but her claims were unat erled to, both she and her children being Catholics. William appropriated the park and palace at Greenwich s a hospital for disabled seamen. The bank of England vas established in this reign. The expenses of the king's oreign wars had occasioned a continual drain for money, and he first burdened the country with a national debt, he foundation of what is called the public funds. The national debt is an exceeding large sum of money, amounting at the present time in England, to many hundred millions of pounds sterling—a debt which has been ncurred at different times by government, which has borrowed money from private persons to pay the army and defray other expenses, and that money, still unpaid, is due co the lenders or their heirs. These receive in return perpetual annuities; or else payment is due to persons who have acquired a portion of those annuities from those whe actually lent the money; for these annuities have been di. vided and subdivided, sometimes into very small portions and have been sold and resold over and over again. The most famous military man of William's time was John, duke of Marlborough. His family name was Churchill; and his father had some inferior place in the court of Cha les II. Young Churchill entered the army at twelve years old, and was engaged in active service nearly the whole of his life, which proved a long one. Churchill was made earl of Marlborough by William, who had a high value for him, and appreciated his great abilities. Indeed, he was a man of such an extraordinary military genius, that it is said so skilful a commander had not been seen in England since the days of the Black Prince. Who founded Greenwich hospital? When was the Bank of England established? What is the national debt of a country? Who was the great warrior of William and Anr e's reign? Was Marlborough's genius compared with that of any other wenior? The house in which sir Isaac Newton was horn. On the death of William, Anne succeeded peaceably to the crown. She was then in the thirty-ninth year of her age: she had married, in 1683, George, son of Frederick III., king of Denmark, and had many children, who all died in their infancy, except one son, prince George. This young prince lived to be eleven years old. His death caused the most bitter grief of his parents, especially to his mother, who after that event never regained her former vivacity. Anne had a good natural capacity, but it had been very little cultivated. Her temper was mild and obliging. The undivided administration of government was vested in the queen, prince George having no greater dignities in the state than those of generalissimo of the queen's forces and of lord high admiral. He was a man, indeed, who What were Queen Anne's domestic circumstances, and her pers:ns character? Had prince George of Denmark any royal function in England? rs. no wish to interfere in the management of public af The political animosities between the Whigs and Tories ran very high during the whole of this reign. The leading difference in the views of the two parties s on the subject of the succession to the crown, in case ne should die without children. The Tories were in or of the pretender and of the house of Stuart, while e Whigs were friends of the house of Hanover and the otestant succession, as established by the act of parliaent in the latter end of William's reign. Louis XIV. was now become more than ever formidee to all the other states of Europe. The curbing of this orbitant power, and the placing the archduke Charles, n of the emperor of Austria, on the throne of Spain, were e great objects of the alliance which had been made, wards the close of William's reign, between the Dutch, e king of England, and the emperor. Anne, on her accession, declared herself resolved to rsue the same line of policy in which her predecessor d engaged so warmly and she sent Marlborough to nduct the war on the continent, at the same time apinting him ambassador to the Dutch; whose confidence eacquired so thoroughly, that they also invested him with Le chief command of their own army. Marlborough, on account of his military A. D. 1703. talents and his achievements on the conment of Europe was created a duke, and the nation beowed upon him the manor of Woodstock, and a splenid palace called Blenheim House in commemoration of ne of his victories on the banks of the Danube near the llage of Blenheim. After the archduke Charles had applied for the assistnce of England in asserting his claim to the crown of pain; a fleet was sent under Sir George Rooke, to coney the archduke to Lisbon, where he landed. From hence he marched into Spain, with a considerable body troops, but was unable to make any progress. Sir George Rooke proceeded into the Mediterranean ̧ What was the matter of contention between the Whigs and Tories of ueen Anne's reign? What appointments did the Queen bestow upon Marlborough ? What national honors were bestowed on the duke of Marlborough ? and, after an unsuccessful attempt on Barcelona, attacked and took the fortress of Gibraltar, which has since proved one of the most valuable possessions to England, and has resisted every endeavor to retake it. A fleet was sent, under sir Cloudesly A. D. 1705. Shovel, having on board five thousand soldiers, commanded by the earl of Peterborough, to the assistance of the archduke. The flect, taking the archduke on board at Lisbon, sailed for the coast of Catalonia, where he was supposed to have many friends. Barcelona, though defended by a large garrison, was now forced to surrender, chiefly through the extraordinary vigor and ability with which Peterborough pressed the siege. The English under command of earl Galway were afterwards defeated in Spain, and the cause of the archduke was abandoned, and the Bourbons retained the throne. At the head of very inconsiderable forces, Peterborough at one time nearly gained Spain for the archduke, whom he caused to be proclaimed as Charles III., and he almost drove Philip V. out of Spain. But in the midst of his victorious career he was recalled to England, and the command of the army in Spain was given to the earl of Galway. In 1707, sir Cloudesly Shovel's ship, with three others were wrecked on the rocks of Scilly. Sir Cloudesly perished and out of the four ships' crews only one captain and twenty-four seamen were saved. In the following year prince George of Denmark died. The duke Marlborough meanwhile increased his renown abroad, and gained many splendid victories; of which the most celebrated are those of Ramillies, which was fought on the 23d of May, 1706; of Oudenarde, fought July 11th, 1708; and of Malplaquet, Sept. 11th, 1709. The war was carried on till 1712, and is marked by the adventurous career of Lord Peterborough in Spain as well Who took Gibraltar? Who conveyed the Archduke to Catalonia? Was the Archduke established on the throne of Spain? What became of sir Cloudesly Shovel? What were Marlborough's great victories? How long did the continental war in which Marlborough engaged laet? |