deprived of his office. But the queen's death, which happened only four days after, and before the new administration was properly formed, left open the succession to the elector of Hanover, and disappointed the hopes of the pretender and his adherents.

AUG. 1.

The character of this princess, who died in the fiftieth year of her age, and the thirteenth of her reign, is neither striking nor complicated. Though not altogether destitute of female accomplishments, she had nothing captivating, as a woman, either in her manner or person: she could only be reputed sensible and agreeable. Her failure of duty as a daughter, excepted, her conduct in private life appears to have been highly exemplary. She was a loving wife, a tender mother, a warm friend, and an indulgent mistress. As a sovereign, notwithstanding the illustrious events of her reign, she is entitled to little praise: she possessed neither vigour of mind, splendid talents, nor a deep penetration into human affairs. A prey to the most enslaving timidity, and continually governed by favourites, she can hardly be said to have ever thought for herself, or to have acted according to her own inclinations. But as her popularity concealed the weakness of her personal authority, the great abilities of her principal servants, to whom she owed that popularity, threw a splendid veil over the feeble qualities of queen Anne.

During an interval of her illness, which was a kind of lethargic dozing, brought on by violent agitation of mind, on account of the critical state of her affairs, she delivered the treasurer's staff to the duke of Shrewsbury. That nobleman was attached to the excluded family; but his caution had hitherto made him temporise, and it was now too late to take any effectual step in favour of the pretender. The whigs were highly elated at the near prospect of an

hitherto made to the court of St. Germains, had been his own interest, in endeavouring to join the jacobites with the tories, and by such means to secure a majority in parliament in favour of the peace; and that, as soon as the treaty was concluded, he thought of nothing but to be upon good terms with the whigs and the house of Hanover. Duke of Berwick's Mem. ubi sup.

event

event which they flattered themselves would not only dispel all their fears in regard to the protestant succession, but prove alike friendly to their power and to their principles. The tories were depressed in an equal degree; and the jacobites were utterly disconcerted, all their projects being yet in embryo. Animated with the ardour of their party, and perhaps by a zeal for the welfare of their country, the dukes of Somerset and Argyle boldly entered the council-chamber, without being summoned. Though their presence was little acceptable, and so unexpected, that their appearance filled the council with consternation, they were desired by the timid Shrewsbury to take their places, and thanked for their readiness to give their assistance at such a crisis. Other whig members joined them; and a multitude of the nobility and gentry being assembled, as soon as the queen expired, orders were given, agreeable to the act of settlement, to proclaim GEORGE, elector of Brunswick, king of Great-Britain 18. A regency was appointed according to his nomination, his title was owned by foreign princes and states, and all things continued quiet in England until his arrival. George I. ascended the throne of Great-Britain in the fifty-fourth year of his age; and the same prudence, which had hitherto distinguished him, in his negociations with the British court, was conspicuous throughout his reign. In contradistinction to the ungenerous and impolitic maxim, too frequently embraced by the princes of the house of Stuart, of trusting to the attachment of their friends, without rewarding them, and attempting, by favours, to make friends of their enemies, he made it a rule never to forget his friends, and to set his enemies at defiConformable to this mode of thinking, which he perhaps carried to excess, he placed not only the administration, but all the principal employments of the kingdom, both civil and military in the hands of the whigs. The treasury and

ance.

SEPT. 17.

18. Monthly Mercury for July 1714. Tindal's Contin. of Rapin, vol. vi.

admiralty

admiralty were put in commission; the command of the army was taken from the duke of Ormond, and restored to the duke of Marlborough; the duke of Argyle was made commander in chief of the forces in Scotland; the great seal was given to lord Cowper, the privy seal to the earl of Wharton, and the government of Ireland to the earl of Sunderland. Lord Townshend and Mr. Stanhope were appointed secretaries of state; the duke of Somerset was nominated master of the horse, Mr. Pultney secretary at war, and Mr. Walpole paymaster-general. A new parliament was called, in which the interest of the whigs predominated, and a secret committee, chosen by ballot, was appointed to examine all the papers, and enquire into all the negociations relative to the late peace, as well as to the cessation of arms, by which it was preceded.

A. D. 1715.

The committee of secrecy prosecuted their enquiry with the greatest eagerness; and, in consequence of their report, the commons resolved to impeach lord Bolingbroke, the earl of Oxford, and the duke of Ormond of high-treason. The grounds of these impeachments were, the share which Oxford and Bolingbroke had in the clandestine negociations with France, and Ormond's acting in concert with Villars, after the fatal suspension of arms'9. More timid, or conscious of superior guilt, Bolingbroke and Ormond made their escape to the continent, while Oxford continued to attend his duty in parliament, and was committed to the Tower. His behaviour, throughout the prosecution, was firm and manly. When impeached by the commons at the bar of the house of lords, all the arguments of his friends being found insufficient to acquit him, he spoke to the following purport: "The whole charge against me may be reduced to the negociating and concluding the peace of Utrecht: and that peace, bad as it was represented, has been approved of by two successive parliaments. As I always acted by the immediate directions and commands of the queen my mis

19. Report of the committee of secrecy.

tress,

tress, and never offended against any known law, I am justified in my conscience, and unconcerned for the life of an insignificant old man; but I cannot remain unconcerned, without the highest ingratitude, for the reputation of the best of queens. Gratitude binds me to vindicate her memory.

"My lords," added he, "if ministers of state, acting by the immediate command of their sovereign, are afterward to be made accountable for their proceedings, it may, one day or other, be the case of every member of this august assembly. I do not doubt, therefore, that out of regard to yourselves, your lordships will give me an equitable hearing; and I hope that, in the prosecution of this enquiry, it will appear I have merited not only the indulgence, but the favour of the present government20." The government seems at last to have been made sensible of the truth of this assertion; for Oxford, when brought to his trial, after lying near two years in prison, was dismissed for want of accusers, the commons not choosing to appear against him.

To these prosecutions, which have been represented as vindictive, and the partiality of the king to the whigs, the rebellion that disturbed the beginning of this reign has been ascribed, but very unjustly. The prosecutions were necessary, in order to free the nation from the imputation of having connived at a shameful breach of public faith; and if George I. had not thrown himself into the hands of the whigs, he must soon have returned to Hanover. Of all the parties in the kingdom, they only were sincerely attached to his cause, or could now be said firmly to adhere to the principles of the revolution. The more moderate tories might perhaps have been gained, but the animosity between them and the whigs was yet too keen to admit of a coalition. Beside, such a coalition, though it might have quieted, in appearance, some factious leaders, and produced a

20. Parl. Hist. 1715.

momentary

momentary calm, would have been dangerous to the established government.

The tories were in general inclined to jacobitism. The heads of the party, both in England and Scotland, held a secret correspondence with the pretender; and, although no regular concert had been formed, a tendency toward an insurrection appeared among them, from one end of the island to the other, and the most artful means were employed to inflame the body of the people, as well as to secure particular adherents. The disbanded officers were gained by money; scandalous libels were published against the electoral family; the pretender's manifestoes were every where dispersed; all the whigs were brought under the description of dissenters, and the cry of the danger of the church was revived.

During these discontents and cabals, which were chiefly occasioned by the disappointment of the jacobites and more violent tories, in consequence of the premature death of queen Anne, the zeal and loyalty of the whigs only could have supported king George upon the throne of Great-Britain; and a small body of foreign troops was only wanting, to have made the conquest doubtful between the house of Stuart and that of Hanover. Such a body of troops the duke of Ormond, and other zealous jacobites in England, eagerly solicited from the pretender, as necessary to render their designs in his favour successful.

Convinced of the reasonableness of this demand, the duke of Berwick used all his influence, but in vain, to procure a few regiments from the court of Versailles. Lewis XIV. now broken by years and infirmities, and standing on the verge of the grave, was unwilling to engage in a new war, or hazard any measure that might disturb the minority of his great-grandson. He therefore declined taking openly any part in the affairs of the pretender; and the vigilance

21. Duke of Berwick's Mem. vol. ii.

22. Id. Ibid.

of