of the public tranquillity, in comparison with their private advantages; that they hazarded nothing, their lives and fortunes not being to be named in the same hour with the repose of their sovereign, whom they were drawing into inextricable labyrinths and especially, when he began to reckon up the several exigences they had by their precipitant counsels brought things to in their former management, the scandal of which lay upon him-and how often he had extricated them, when they were ready to desert both their country and themselves for fear of public justice; ridiculed their new schemes, and the impolicy of their measures, telling them to what distresses they would speedily reduce themselves, what a debt they would owe to the national justice at last, and how unwilling they would be to pay it; the conclusion is irresistible, that his vanity was greater than his judgment, and his profligacy equal to both. What effect such a scene must have had the upon queen, timid woman at best, and now weakened by long and painful illness, may be much easier conceived than described. Most probably it altered those views which she had been supposed for some time to have entertained, for Bolingbroke did not succeed to the treasurership as had been expected. It was bestowed temporarily, as has been supposed, upon the duke of Shrewsbury, which was at once a death blow to the expectations of the Jacobites. However, every thing after this with regard to the political views of her majesty is mere conjecture, as she retired, if not actually in fits, in a state of the most pitiable agitation, which subsiding into a lethargy, was only broken at intervals by strong convulsions, till, on the third day after, August the first, 1714, she died, about half-past seven o'clock in the morning, in the fiftieth year of her age, and thirteenth of her reign.

a

In the person of Anne, may be said to have terminated the kingdom of Scotland, one of the most ancient monarchies in Europe, and the ill-fated dynasty of the Stuarts; for though the race was prolonged for a few generations, and though they were still by courtesy styled royal Stuarts, they were to the last sojourners in a strange land, having no certain dwellingplace, nor any certain means of subsistence, save what their

Secret History of the White Staff, pp. 53-58.

misfortunes extorted from the compassion of their friends, or the generosity of their rivals.*

Like every other public character, that of queen Anne has been represented in very opposite colours, accordingly as the writers were actuated by particular passions, or under the influence of certain prejudices. From the history of her actions, which we have attempted to delineate with the strictest impartiality, it is evident she had no very marked character, and cannot, with strict propriety, be denominated either a very good, or a great woman.

In her person, she was well made, of the middle stature, dark haired, of a sanguine complexion, with strong but not irregular features, and her countenance upon the whole rather dignified than pleasing. In acquired abilities she seems not to have

* James VII. died at St. Germains in the month of September, 1701, leaving one son, James, born in the year 1688, who died at Rome, January first, 1766, leaving two sons, Charles, the Pretender, as he has more commonly been styled in this country, and Henry, who entered into orders, and obtained a cardinal's hat at the age of twenty-two, from his holiness, Benedict XIV. He became afterwards bishop of Trascati, and chancellor of the church of St. Peter. He had also two rich livings in France, the abbeys of Anchin and St. Amand, and a considerable pension from the court of Spain, all of which he lost at the French Revolution. In 1790, in order to assist Pope Pius VI. in making up the sum imposed upon him by the government of France, the cardinal disposed of all the family jewels, among others, an uncommonly rich ruby, valued at fifty thousand pounds, thus depriving himself of the last means of an independent subsistence, and was, in consequence, reduced to great distress. In this situation, old, infirm, and poor, he emigrated to Venice, where Sir John Hippesley Coxe was made acquainted with his circumstances, and communicated them to the British government. His late majesty George III. with that goodness which so eminently distinguished his character, imme diately ordered his minister at the court of Venice, to offer the cardinal, with all possible delicacy, a pension of four thousand pounds per annum, which was accepted with gratitude, and regularly remitted till the cardinal's death, which happened at Rome in the year 1807, in the eighty-second year of his age.

The cardinal dying the last of his race, bequeathed to the royal family of Great Britain, the English stars and garters which had been in his family, together with certain papers relative to the monarchy of that country; and his present majesty George IV., during the time he was prince regent, closed the scene by a liberal donation, for erecting, in Italy, a monument to the memory of the last of the unfortunate race of the Stuarts! Annals of Glasgow, by Dr. James Cleland, vol. i. pp. 74, 75. Douglass' Peerage, vol. i. p. 54.

been deficient, especially when we consider that her natural talents were few, and those few not of a very brilliant order. She understood music, loved painting, and recited her own speeches with a melodious propriety that seemed generally to charm her audience. The most marked feature of her mind was extreme timidity, whence, in many instances, flowed a kind of insipid compliance, which has, we think, been pretty generally mistaken for good nature. The general tone of her feeling seems to have been querulous and peevish. Fond of being flattered with professions of warm and lasting attachment, she was ready to make the most extravagant declarations in return; but once offended, she appears to have been obstinately irreconcilable. In her assumed character of Mrs. Morley, we find her writing thus to the dutchess of Marlborough, who was at that time her favourite, "My dear Mrs. Freeman," the name she bestowed upon the dutchess, "I beg it again for Christ Jesus' sake, that you would not do so cruel a thing as leave me. Should you do it without my consent, which, if ever I give you, may I never see the face of heaven, I will shut myself up, and never see the world more, but live where I may be forgotten of human kind." This is certainly sufficiently strong language, but may be found an hundred times repeated in these letters, and yet how impossible it was for the dutchess to find the least favour with her majesty a few years afterwards, all the world knows.*

Her religion, though it is to be hoped it was sincere, like that of all her family, was strongly tinged with superstition, and zeal for the church, with her eclipsed all other merit. Hence she patronized and promoted such incendiaries as Sacheveral, Higgins, and Greenshields, while with characteristic obstinacy, she could scarcely, with all his merit and attachment to her interests, bear to hear Dr. Swift's name mentioned before her.

Her views of prerogative were of the very highest order; and though she had no title to the throne excepting an act of parliament, listened with avidity to the tale of legitimacy, and felt highly flattered by the jargon of indefeasible hereditary right. She even ventured occasionally upon sayings from the

* Vide Coxe's Life of Marlborough. Letters of Mrs. Morley, &c.

chair of authority, not unworthy of James VI., whose conceits procured him, from the flattery of his own age, what the contempt of all succeeding ones has perpetuated, the appellation of the British Solomon; but, like his, the pusillanimity of her character rendered them harmless, and happily she did not, like him, find a successor that was disposed to improve upon them.

In her expenses she was moderate, and even economical. She was on some very rare occasions generous, sometimes liberal, but never profuse.

If we consider her in the relations of domestic life, her character is more amiable than as the ruler over a great nation. As a child, perhaps, her conduct can scarcely be held up as an example that can be generally instructive. But in this respect her situation was singular and extraordinary. As a wife and a mother she afforded a bright example, worthy of being followed by all. Though encumbered with the cares of royalty, and often depressed by bodily infirmity, she attended carefully to the minutest conjugal duty, and waited upon the sickbed of her husband with a tenderness and a respect, which is but seldom exhibited in the higher walks of life. Her children she loved with the fondest affection, and their health and education were the objects of her most assiduous attention; but she was bereaved of them all in infancy, and her mind was clouded with the dark idea, that this was the hand of retributive justice stretched out against her, for having deserted her father in the hour of his extremity, and possessing herself of a throne, of her title to which, it does not appear that at any period of her life, she was fully assured.

THE

HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.

BOOK III.

Consequences of the death of the Queen-Lords Justices-George I. Proclaimed-Precautions for preserving the public peace-Parliament is assembled-Prorogued, on account of the Queen's Funeral-Is further Prorogued, and finally is dissolvedVigorous proceedings of the Regency towards Sweden and Spain-Conduct of the late Ministry towards the Catalans—Prince Royal created Prince of Wales-Bolingbroke discarded-Jacobites in Scotland-A reward offered for the Chevalier-King prepares for leaving his German dominions—Honourably received by the DutchArrives in England-Duke of Marlborough-King takes the oath for securing the Church of Scotland-New Privy Council-Coronation Congratulatory AddressesProceedings of the Tories-The Chevalier de St. George-Papists-New Parliament -Criminate the late Ministry-Tory mobs-Scotish Jacobites-General Assembly— Mr. Carstares-Intrigues with the French-Suspension of the Habeas CorpusBritish fleet puts to sea—Assistance is demanded from the States General-Scotish loyalists-Activity of the Chevalier-Earl of Marr-Erects the standard of Rebellion -Attempt on the castle of Edinburgh-Rebel Declaration—Fix their Headquarters at Perth-Clans attempt Inverlochy-Despatch from the Chevalier-Death of Louis XIV.-Earl of Argyle takes the command in Scotland-Calls forth the Volunteers -Encamps at Stirling-Rebels levy contributions-Sufferings and exertions of the Presbyterians.

THE unexpected death of the queen, put an end at once to all the delusive dreams, with which her ministry had been amusing themselves, during the four last years of her reign, and they were, by the pressure of circumstances, compelled to do every thing for the new succession, that its best friends, had they held the same situations, could have done. The bitter animosity, which subsisted between the lords Oxford and Bolingbroke, had, from the very beginning of their career, grievously obstructed their progress, and, upon the resignation of the former, the appointment of the duke of Shrewsbury to the treasurership, involved them in still deeper perplexity ;* but the dukes of Argyle and Somerset, on the alarming report of the queen's illness, going into the council chamber,

* Secret History of the White Staff, pp. 62-68.