ment. The second of these articles was repealed soon after the accession of George I., in order to enable him to visit his Hanoverian possessions at his will.

17. William did not live to see the result of the new alliance. Early in 1702, as he was riding through Bushey Park, he fell from his horse and fractured his collar-bone. Fever ensued, and, after a short illness, death.

William had not many popular qualities; but as a sovereign, he is, perhaps, one of the noblest on the page of English history. He rescued the nation from tyranny and Romanism, and encouraged a toleration, to which as yet it was a comparative stranger. He upheld the honour of his nation in a war with the then greatest power of Europe, and pursued a line of foreign policy at once dignified and sagacious. If he was ambitious, it was not for private ends, but in support of those principles to which his whole life was devoted. A new era dates from his reign-the era of complete parliamentary control over the government of the nation.

Contemporaries.-18. France, Louis XIV.; Spain, Charles II., Philip V.; Sweden, Charles XI., Charles XII.; Russia, Peter the Great; Sir Isaac Newton and Boyle, eminent natural philosophers; Defoe, author of 'Robinson Crusoe;' Locke, the famous metaphysician, and Dryden, poet.

ANNE.

Born A.D. 1664; Reigned 12 years (1702-1714).

Family.-1. Anne was the second daughter of James II. and Anne Hyde. She married George Prince of Denmark, and had nineteen children, all of whom died young.

Prince George was of a weak character. Charles II. once said of him, "I have tried Prince George sober and I have tried him drunk; and, drunk or sober, there is nothing in him." James II.'s opinion of him has been already stated. He was

not allowed the title of king, and sat among the peers as Duke of Cumberland.

Chronicle.-2. Anne ascended the throne without any opposition, the Jacobites mostly believing that, as she had no children, she would leave the succession to her brother. She was a woman of sluggish understanding, obstinate, and a ready slave to natures stronger than her own. Through life she was the dupe of confidantes, who swayed her, except in her stubborn moments, at their will. The first and most notorious of these favourites was the Countess of Marlborough.

She had been brought up from childhood with the Princess Anne; and a close friendship had sprung up between them. Anne was quiet and submissive; her favourite vivacious and domineering. This difference was probably the bond which united them together. Anne's marriage made no difference in her relations with her idol, and Prince George was soon obliged to succumb to the same active mind which governed his wife. All restraint of etiquette was throw off between them. In private Lady Churchill called the princess Mrs. Morley, and Anne called her favourite Mrs. Freeman; and as such they addressed each other long after Anne had ascended the throne.

3. Cherishing a deep-rooted hatred to the memory of William, Anne commenced her reign by forming a Tory ministry, at the head of which was Lord Godolphin, now made lord high treasurer. But it was only Tory in name, and its foreign policy was identical with that of William. War was at once declared against France, and Marlborough was appointed to the command of the army. So far as the justice of this war is concerned, little can be said in its defence. Spain was at perfect liberty to choose her own sovereign; and, as regards the disturbance of the balance of power, the danger would be as great from the accession of the arch-duke Charles as from that of Philip. The conduct of Louis, however, in acknowledging the claims of the Young Pretender, excited a strong feeling of animosity against France, and where such a feeling exists, the nation is not long in finding a pretext for its ebullition. Marlborough commenced operations in the

Netherlands, and, in the first year of the war, succeeded in driving back the French, who were threatening its frontiers. In acknowledgment of his services, he was raised, in 1703, to the rank of Duke of Marlborough.

Our naval operations did not meet with the same success An expedition against Cadiz failed, and Admiral Benbow, through the disaffection of his subordinate officers, narrowly escaped defeat by the French fleet in the West Indies. His captains hung back at the signal for engaging, but, nothing daunted, he entered the action alone against a fleet of ten sail of the line, and, in endeavouring to board the French admiral's ship, was severely wounded. He then opened fire on another first-rate and succeeded in disabling her. At this juncture a cannon-ball carried away his leg. Still unconquered, he caused himself to be placed on deck and continued the command. He now summoned a council of war, but the four of his ships, which were still in sight, refused to renew the fight, and the French then withdrew. His captains were afterwards tried for cowardice, and two of them were shot. Benbow's bravery won even the admiration of his enemies, and the French admiral, in an eulogistic letter to him, concluded by saying, "As for those cowardly captains who deserted you, hang them up, for they well deserve the rope." Grief and vexation broke the old man's heart and within a few weeks he died. His courage was indomitable. When in the heat of the conflict an officer expressed his sorrow for his accident, he replied, "I'm sorry for it, too, but I had rather have lost my two legs than have seen this dishonour brought on the English nation; but, d'ye hear? if another shot should take me off, behave like brave men, and fight it out!"

4. The Tory party soon betrayed its want of unity. One section of it favoured the Hanoverian succession, the other was opposed to it. On one point only they were unanimous, viz., in hatred to the dissenters. The two parties united to pass the bill against occasional conformity, which enacted that all persons who had conformed with the provisions of the Test Act, and afterwards entered a dissenting conventicle, should be excluded from all civil offices, and be punished, after certain repetitions, with transportation. This intolerant measure was thrown out by the Lords, but was reintroduced in 1711, and was then passed.

Prince George of Denmark, following the inclination of Anne, voted for this bill in the Lords, though an occasional conformist himself. At the same time he expressed his own disapprobation of it, and observed to one, who voted on the other side, "My heart is with you." The act against occasional conformity was repealed by the Whigs in 1719.

5. In 1703 Marlborough resumed active operations on the Upper Rhine, and, at the same time, the French and Bavarians prepared to invade Germany. Το prevent this movement he crossed into Bavaria, and effected a junction with Prince Eugene, thereby intercepting the invading army. In 1704, he and Eugene gave battle to the French and Bavarians at Blenheim, and obtained a most decisive victory, Marshal Tallard, the French general, being taken prisoner, with 1200 of his officers. Marlborough received the thanks of parliament for this exploit, and was rewarded with a grant of crown lands at Woodstock, on which it was intended to erect for him a princely castle. The Empire also showed its sense of the English hero's great services by conferring upon him the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, with the territory of Mindelheim.

Another success lends its lustre to the annals of the year 1704. Admiral Rooke, with a few sailors and 1800 marines, took Gibraltar, the strongest fortress in the world, from the Spaniards. This important stronghoid has remained in our possession ever since.

6. The time had now come for Godolphin and Marlborough to throw off the disguise of Tories and act with the Whigs, whom Anne, through the influence of the Duchess of Marlborough, had come to regard more favourably. The Whig administration, however, which followed was never heartily supported by Anne. Its most sagacious measure was the union of England and Scotland, which was effected in 1707.

The treaty ci incorporation provided-1. That the succession of the united kingdom should remain to the Princess Sophia and her heirs, being Protestants; 2. That all privileges of trade should belong equally to both nations; 3. That the episcopal