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Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fUmi" i des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est fiim6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 \ ' 'W ' «Bi*"',in ! u">iwji>'i>s¥^ J^'' '■ Epochs of English History EDITED BY THE REV. M. CREIGHTON, M, A. SETTLEMENT of the CONSTITUTION IftlUr « EPOCHS JSETTLI CO J ntOFBSSC ADAM II \ EPOCHS OF ENGLISH HISTORY THE ETTLEMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION 1689-1784 I BY JAMES ROWLEY, M.A. PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY AND LITER ATUB« UNIVERSITY COLLKOE, BRISTOL 7 I" ao WITH FOUR MAPS P I ADAM MILLER AND COMPANY u WELLINGTON STREET WEST TORONTO 1878 47 DA o i II — o e JH « II -J —• i ^ I -O O u "1 •sJ II -1 fl-r ""S 1 nriet 1670 II "T3 a.2 tj ke er. (D 1660.) W " ry, Du loucest dless. fa s.^ £c:s fe *o" ■ — s ■0 V i □0 t,^ *-> -s K M i ^ i 73 to r~ ,.S s w — lJtNH < R u 3 "• ^i ti-O Js.-a 3X Q" ."O s ** -Jq M i 1) ►< S gt^ >-^ " to 0,13 O- o o I— ^r5 •n «i T3 V ■■3 " o I) 3 Q -I i 00 u l-H U ■38 o «0- S=3 00 > u I-" -a ^a. I m ^1 THE 9 SETTLEMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. INTRODUCTION. THE chief aim of this little book is to show the following I. How the Revolution of r688 made the House of 2 HowT'? '5' '^''■""^^^^ ^'^•"^ '^ t'^- State. "^; England engaged in a long and costly war wuh France, the greatest nation in Europe a[ meddlH; r"^'^ ^^^"^' '^■"^ ^'-"^ht fi to meddle ,n her affairs, and how she won much fame and new lands thereby 3. How a new line of kings was set on the throne- and how, during the reigns of the fir t two of these kmgs, the great families among the Fnelish rr:^r^Vntr ^^^ "^ roreLst^S'i; 4. How the rule of the great families broke down at ;t trme when England was called upon to put Vol all her strength ; and how the task of guid'w the country through its troubles was given tf nian of surpassing genius, who raised itfi aheieht of greatness such as it had never beforl ^eachl E,H. U i^Apj^ 5- Settlement of the Constitution. 1689. How a king came to the throne, who strove with all his might to beat clown the strength of the great families, and win for himself some of the power which his forefathers hatl held ; and how, after a hard fighc, he gained his object. BOOK I. THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. . CHAPTER I. ENGLAND AND THE REVOLUTION. I. In February 1689 the Lords and Commons asked William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, to William. become King and Queen of England. William and Mary agreed to do so ; and at once the new order of things which is called the ' Revolution settlement,' began. 2. Though a good many changes in our ruler'; and ways of ruling have been brought about by force, the change made at this time is the only one to which the name 'Revolution' has been 'tiornota given. Yet it is not a good name. For the Ponh^Xuv- ^ hange, though it led to great things m later of 1688-9. ^ times, was not itself a great one. ine laws which were in force under William and Mary were not verv different from those which ought to have been m force under James 11. The rights of the people were much the same. The Declaration of Rights made nothing law that had not been law before. It only stated clearly, so that henceforth there could be no mis- take about them, what the rights of the people were. King, 1689-1702. Mary, Queer, 1689 1694. f a V t; c a S^-J to 1M9. lingland aud tlie Ravtution .ween ..e' ^:TZ "^S^^^tZ^f" "^ House of Commons VlZ' I " "'"='=''■ (^) The the House of L^rds ^n Z T T' P""'^'^"' 'h'™ keeping up an a™, an^d'a IvTrf,'. 1?^^""=" *■" purpose, had first lo be voted bMher*^ P""'"^ the Commons were able hetcfor h to ^eTa'tt; Th" greatly wished to have • for if ,1,/ 1- "">^''""K "''y were unwilling to iss^n! „ , .1 "« °'' ""= ''"'■''^ only .0 refuse'to v«r he'Le 1 'd'^ih^t'"' *'>' '"" Lords Had to assent. lis rue that , hi ^ * ""'' ""= choose his ministers ; but most ' f ,he7 '"*'" "'"' not hke a minister ihev lit , Commons did him away. HcKe Ae fcf„,™h h "'^" ""= '''"« ^""'1 State such men a. hi r •• "* ""' '"'» <"«'« "' (3) Though thl L lere^rrtrit' '" T """'■ wht-ch ,hey were put in force was m„lT f,"'' '" made a law that the judges should sfr^ heir 'Iffi""'^"' long as they save iiwf i,,^ .« ^ ^"^ offices so could „a J fnTuC eSe" ■ as'fr:/""^"^ 'J"« they had been too careful to do hi wil' '"""'"' """ ^° andVlIrh-^dtTb^^^ltdT "r ''"""' '" ^""- fore supposed not^'brlltru" ' ^a llt^ "'^' "-- was °„r::.,td a "ctf T '^^ ^^"P'^ "' -"" ■■■ fK , -^'''I'ned a convention. But it was ""»de a thought dangero IS to have n new ZlLZ' i>["^""'"'' chosen while men'Qmi„^ ' "e\. p.jriiament i-trbruary, Willie men s minds were unsettled • anH '^^9 accordingly , changed itself from a^ontn^n .„ a parlia- 4 Settlement of the Constitution. 1689. ment. It lasted a year longer, and did many things of great importance. 5. The men who had been most helpful in bringing about the late changes did not all belong to one party ; William's ^"'"^ ^'^'"^ Whigs, some were Tories. William firet "*"*'* therefore wished to show no liking for Whigs ministers. ^^^^^ ^j^^^ j.^^. Tories, and took as his ministers men of all parties. Chief among these were the Earls of Danby, Nottingham, and Shrewsbury. This plan, how- ever, did not work well ; and afterwards William had to choose his ministers almost all from the same party ; the Commons would not let him do anything else. Moreover the men who had been most helpful in bring- ing about the late changes were not all of the same way of thinking in religion ; many of them belonged to the Church of England ; many were Dissenters. It seemed, therefore, a fitting time to grant the Dissenters some relief from the harsh laws passed against them in Charles I I.'s reign. Protestant Dissenters, save those who denied the Trinity, were no longer forbidden to have Sn Actf"' places of worship. and services of their own, Apr', 1689. if tViey would only swear to be loyal to the king, and that his power was as lawful in Church as in State matters. The law that gave them this is called the Toleration Act. Men's notions were still, however, very narrow ; care was taken that the Roman Catholics should get no benefit from this law. Even a Protestant Dissenter might not yet lawfully be a member of either House of Parliament, or take a post in the king's service ; for the Test Acts* were left untouched. 6. King William, who was a Presbyterian in his own The Com- land, wanted very much to see the Dissenters prehension ^q„ hds^i to the Church of England, To l^r"' bring this about, he wished the Church to alter those things in the Prayer Book which kept Dis- 1 See Epoch V., pp. 64, 68. I6«9. ^'^i^^'^d and the Revolution. senters from joinintf with her k . would not ],avc anv ctnt a T'' "^ '^^ ^^^rgy the stronger pany in Connie" '"/"'f ^^^^ "^^ the Church i. called- VvSr.n '^'' ^^^^"-"^"^-u of At the same time a re t 1 »^ ^'' ""'^'"^^ ''""^• to be serious, was n.adct 'he Ch ' . '' ''^'"^^ "^^^^ a strong feeling among the der.v '%' "^'''- ^h^re was the banished King, lo IZV^::T ^^ .'^"^ No„- which every man whn h«M "^^^ ^^ -""■"'•*• ^689. or either 0/ tru ' ersfesT^^^^^^ '" ^'^ Church, King VVUham and Queen Marv o T^ ^° ''' ''^' to preferment. Most of the S '° ^'"^ "P his obey this law ; but only ZL77. T ""^''^"^^ to enough to give up their 1 vfnTs ^^Z TvP"^ ftout-hearted thought to be a wicked hinf -k ^'" ^° ^^^t they /«-.., or men who would nofswelr'^Ar' T^ '"«" five out of the seven Bishoos who k "^ ? °"^ ^''^"^ "ere only a year before. The sect nf ''"^^'^^^ ^'^^' "• upon themselves as the o^lr''''Vu "''''' ""'^'^ ^^^^ed spread. But it did no die I'u "h "'r'"""' ^'^ "°t years ago. *■ """^ '-altogether' until seventy 7- It was at this time thar tu and Low-Church hrst can.e n "'''''' H'^h-Church called were ot much the s^l "f "^'^^^ P^^^ties so Churchmen and Low-ChuXr' "' '^'"^^'"^ '^ ^'^h- name, which we shall me'v^vT """ , ^^thernew now first found in o,. Z ^ °^ten, is also , Wished ,0 ^Tn,'l:i',Z7\, ^""1 """ ■■*■^'■ JUS. aa ,h„« Iho heldto wm.j"'"'" T" '<" >«'-) /•««««*«. The Jacobite partv't "= ''""'"' ^' ^'l- to ri.e inarms during rs'^i"'--^"-'^""-"".' enough less, made many i,?a.- ■ ^ ' ''"' " "' very ■».._ ;o*e Goyer„m^^°'',;"2-=^Sood deal of .Lubte William by getting Lewif of 'fc ™/ d" °^'"'''°» r ranee to send an army to 6 Settlement of the Constitution. 1689-90. England. The English never cared much for William. He was a stranger ; his temper was gloomy ; he was cold and distant with all save his old and of'wiiTiam tried friends ; and he took no pains to win the and Mary. j^yg ^f ^j^Qse who Came near him. Mary's character was different ; she was frank, cheerful, and gay ; and her sweetness of temper and grace of manner did more at first to strengthen the new order of things than all her husband's wisdom and valour. But there was a good deal of mismanagement and wicked dealing among William's ministers at th.i time ; some men in office thought the new king and queen would soon be Unpopu tlriven out of the kingdom, and eagerly filled lari^of their pockets out of the king's treasury Se aTfirst. whilst they had the chance. In this way the Government fell into disfavour with the people ; the Jacobites became every day stronger ; and before a year was over it seemed as if the Revolution Settlement would soon be all unsettled again by a second restoration of the Stuarts. 8. Moreover, WilUam was himself ill at ease in England. His Whig ministers quarrelled with his Tory ministers ; Parliament would not give him the SSac- revenue which had been given to James II. ; tion. it would not settle the Crown, as William wished, on the Electress Sophia of Hanover in case he and Mary died childless. Nor would it agree to an Act for granting a full pardon to the agents of tyranny in the late reigns unless a great many men were shut out from its benefits. Early in 1690 the king is said to Revolution have thought of going back to Holland, so Pariiame»t little did he like the way the English were xSo'""*' treating him. However this may be, he deemed it impossible for him to get on with the Parlia- ment that then was ; therefore he put an end t .and ■68, ,o. England and llu- R„.olnlw„. j called^ .^„,.„ „„e, „„,, ,, ,„^,^^ ^,_^^,^ ^_^ ^^,^^ ^ l;r"' '■"■^. .^"'*- ""<- '-e ea 'h S,;,?^'"' colours or mutir ed ciLrainsf hie: ,.«. 1 • very short, and w. o h" 1 f . '• ^' ^'''' '' ^^'-^^ but it has ^ince g owrinto .^'T r"r'"' """^'^'^ °"'^ ^ passed from year to year it h". J '''^'"'^"' ""^ '^ forcing the kllMV , ' '^"' ''^'-'^'"c ^ "»eans of Declaration of Ri, ht 1. /"T ''^^"^ ^^^ '•'^^ «"' of law Th '^'^"'s turned into a regiihr Rights. 1689. iaw. I here are two things, however in it «,. ., not in the Declaration- ^fx ,/,'.". '^ ^'"^h are any King or Queen of Fni^ ""1 '' '' impossible for and (2) ft set &t the r ? ^' ^ ^^°'"''^" <^'^"holic j asideS^awlX^a w'hrer'-'^^rrr only said th-it thr. u, .'"'Y^^,^'^- ^ne Declaration had power .1 ,;:l:l, " ■" "'"^" J™== "-' -«' -ch a CHAPTER 11, SCOTLAND AND THE REVOLUTION .ja. .He .i„, o^r* X'ri". ^:roT "■™ "- cour: 'Tha. '^r; z:sT'' ^ "'""' -' --"-- iving ot Lnjiland. and WniJam ^ . 1 ^^ Piace in K„-,,a„ preacher who had been killed m the evil days. Sent as a garrison to Dunkeld, they held the cathe- dral of that place for four hours of the night agamst 5,000 H ighlanders, whom they beat off at last. But their comi- mander, William Cleland, a very brave man, was killed. Next year the last remnant of the Highland army was caught sleeping, as it lay in Cromdale on the Spcy, by a foice sent from Inverness, and was easily Highland ^^^ ^^ This affair may be said to have ended rSo'" "' th» V =ri -be Highlands. Forts were built to keep the dam ;. iv.e. ^i these the strongest was Fort William in iee => v s , uamed after the king. i '" bell of Glenlyon, marched fV.r. ^ ^""P^^'" ^^"^P- lived asgues'ts ^^nf the ^acdon.Td T ''''' '^^'"^ fell upon their hostf before daw ' " '^''* shot down thirty of then/ T^ one morning and ^^e peals o, 1st ry^:;.3h ed Zn .^f th^ •"^ '^^^""^ • a,rrour.:..g mouniains then dp "[h "'' '"^° is thoueht thnf^ fh.w <- P ^'th snow. It hunge r t w's TfZ^TfT/'':'^''''' ^'^^ "f -'d and greally blimld foV^f '^"ut iUs h^H^^'"''^'" ^^^ ^^^ looked forward to such .tl u ^'^ *° *^'"'' ^^at he his name fntjl ^ *^'"S ^^'"^ ^one uhen he nut "IS name to the warrant Sfill «.k^~ P"t the Scottish Parhampnt Hr 7^"/' ^"''''^ >'^^'''' ^^ter, light, William dTrnTpun Zt .h ' ^""'^ ^^'"^ *« "°t punish as they deserved the men •iBSBHa 12 Settlement of the Constitution. 1688-9, who were chiefly guilty ; the worst of them, Dalrymple, he only sent away from his service. 6. In the meantime the Presbyterian form of Church government had been set up again in Scotland, and henceforth there was less religious strife than before. The zealous Whigs of the west were indeed angry because the Covenant was not also set up again, but the bulk of the people were satisfied. Ji !' CHAPTER III. » IRELAND AND THE REVOLUTION. I. Things took a very different turn in Ireland from what they had taken in Scotland. In that country the Revolution led to a long and deadly war, in which nearly the whole land had to be conquered over again by the English. Ireland, like Scotland, was in 1688 a separate king- dom, with a Parliament of its own. But, unlike Scotland, it was not free to act for itself ; its Parliament could not do what it pleased, as the Scottish Parliament could ; it was generally believed in England that Ireland was The native nothing but an English colony, and that Irish side William and Mary became its king and with James, •' i t? i- ». 1688-91. queen when they were chosen to the English throne. Indeed they at once called themselves so. Most of the Irish people, however, wanted to keep James II. as their king, because he had the same faith as themselves. But the English settlers, who were Protestants, were afraid of being massacred, or at least of losing their lands and" power in the country, if the native Irish got the upper hand. Most of these, there- fore, would have no king but William, and taking up 1688-9* Dalrymple, of Church tland, and an before. ^ because :he bulk of eland from country the hich nearly gain by the irate king- e Scotland, t could not t could ; it reland was , and that king and the English nselves so. id to keep same faith who were or at least intry, if the hese, there- i taking up '689. Ireland and the Revolution. , , arms, tried to hold out a?ain«t t . until help should comeT tLm'^f^VT^' '^P"*^^ were not very successful at firTt Ta t^""^' "^^^^^ beginning of ,689 had only wo 'mn T '^' ^". ^"'^"^'' m their hands Tnn^ ""'^ "vo strong pJaces ^«tiersside France, and sifab ' U'^Tn^ T\ ? /^^''^"^ ^••- D blin^dtel,^ ^-'^^^^^^':t ""^^ ^^^ whichrsi:x^rb::i\:^i:?"-™>' fe°r ^ In this city were^.r.K ? Londonderry. '689. Enghsh setLrr;io'Kd f"'"\*'""^^"^^ ^' '^- fear of the Irish. They IfjT '^''' ^"'"^^ ^^rough last, and would not istenTo I Z ''"'"^^'"^ *° ^he give them if they would v.>>'^"''' '^'^"''^ ^° ^°^- James went back I ZlV it^V""''- J'^^^"P- derry began. ' ^"'^ ^^^ ^'^ge of London- This siege lasted for more Mio« ^u people look upon it ' ""^'^ '^^" th''^ months. Some Wstory. At fifst the Jrisi sofT/'^V^'^^^ '" ^"tish down the town w f h "^''^ *° ''^tter inside had rd:u;irmrd;f"H*'^"^^" P^ thing rather than give waJ ^h^ p' •""'■ '' ""'* the Irish general, tned trTakeThe , '''f ^ "^"^"^«"» the men of Derr^ fought Jell a^. H ', ''^ ^'"^"^ ' ^u back his soldiers The IH h I """^"^"" ^^^ to call want of food should force the tow"" ''"'"^ ^"'^^'^ ""til length, when all seemed over Tr'^'V" ^'"^ '"• ^t England, made their wav Zl '^ '^'P'' ^^"t from the town is built, irsre^o^he , ''7 ^''''^ «" ^^ich to the starving people' rtn the' h' "' ''^^'^'^t food lost heart and marrhpH besiegers ^. fame .i„e .o^oZ^::!^,,:^' *e ^--»* DUI Us defenders allacked , ! r."=","«^0, ■»■»■ near New,„„b„„e, and^l .he™l: St"' '*'' ""^ 'S^'fl StfaSi^m 14 Settlement of the Constitution. 1689-90. 3. The war had now become one of races and reli- gions. Nearly all the Protestants distrusted James, and held to William ; and the Irish longe 1 only to drive the English from the land, and get it to themselves. They did not care for James because he was their rightful king. Doings of but they fought for him because he was a the Irish Roman Catholic, and because they hoped he ParUament, . . , r ^i. ,. i68g. would give them the mastery of the country. It was patriotism, not loyalty, which made them join James. When Parliament met, it passed a bill for doing away with an Act of Settlement made in 1663, that is, for taking away from most of the English settlers the lands whip h that Act had secured to them. A cruel Bill of Attainder was also carried, by which 2,500 persons, whose names were given, were ordered to deliver them- selves up before a certain day, on pain of losing their lands and being put to death without trial. James did not like either of these bills ; but through fear of dis- pleasing the Irish he agreed to them both. This did him much harm in England. 4. Next year, 1690, William himself came to Ireland. Landing at Carrickfergus, he at once pushed towards William Dublin with 30,000 troops, many of whom were lands in French Protestants, Germans, and Danes. june"'^69o. During the winter King Lewis X IV. of France had sent 7,000 French soldiers to aid James ; yet James did not feel himself strong enough to meet his son-in-law in the open field. He therefore posted his army, in number about 30,000, on the right bank of the Boyne, near Drogheda, and there awaited William's commg. But William, on reaching the place, sent a force to cross the river six miles higher up. When James, Battle of the |-gjjri„g ti^at his retreat to Dublin might be jiIly7»69o cut off, hurried with his French soldiers to meet this force, William led his main body across the s army, in 1690-91. Ireland aud the Rez>oluHon, ,5 to France and W Sm ? ^^^' ^^"^^^ ^^^J back thepower hereinTo hehanT 7Tt Dublin, and put after taking severl^ ^^r^^^^c^X^'r,.^''''^ to Limerick, which he thought he could m! ^'^ ^'^ '""" and so end the war Buf fhf ^ ^^''^ ^^'"y ^^sily, general inside the citv P.. ^ /^' ^ ^^''^"^ ''■'"^h it for a time. Then Wiuf ^^'^^^^^^ ''^^ ^^^^d (September .690; ^^'"''"'" ^^"^ ^^^^^ to England^ of the enem. Then J:::::^^':^^^- ^^^ eyes war. The Irish 1 '^ ^''^"^ ^^"'^ of this J"'y. '69',. seemed'^^TiJThty™^^^^^^^ ^or a time it St. Ruth, got killed byT^annon'b H "' ^^^'^ ^-"-al, onset was made by Ginkell'sml'' ''"" ^''^^^ ^^rce ^rish broke and Hed inlZV ^"^ ^^e disheartened before Limerick, the las rT T""'^ ^^'"'^^» ^« There was little hope If h K^' '^ ^'^^ ""^'^^ race, tbeir foes this time^ A tenT ^''"^ '''''' *« beat back which the victors nI.H T.^ ''^' "^^^^ in ^ the Irish ;Sp ^od Tn ,hd""'^'" ^^ ''' ^3? freely as they hacl done in C a LsTl" T' " ''''■ those soldiers of King fames w'. V "''''""^ '' '"°"' counties to keep the land fhl^^ '"•"' ^''^'^ certain meiit would not be bound hv it" a , ^"^^ ^^•"^'a- totake away utterly from n ' '""^" law afrer law teriy from the natives everything they F^f^SSS SSSBM m» \' ' ^! i6 Settlement of the Constitution. 1689. most valued To Protestants only was given any power Ttle State • and even those Protestants who dissented m the SUte . a ^.^ .^ ParUament or hold from he ^'^^'f ^^^^rown. The law forbade Roman any p ace ^^^^^er the Crown^ ^^ ^^^.^ ^^^ Cathohcs to end th^r^c^^^^^^^^^ ^^^. for members of Parliament, to keeP arms o • 1 ^c Hv marrvine Protestant heiresses, 01 to inherit faTdstof CSCtl Roman Catholic bishop^^^^^^^ to be banished f. om ;^::^,^^^^ rZs to Ireland were ^^ °-.^^^/^°^ f ^.^^f ^ faken that no others the Government ; but care was to o ^^^^^^.^ should cte to the ^^^^^y'^JlZ.rnent wanted to was believed to be a rebel , ^"" -p^^s the make the whole Irish people P^ote^^^^t ^^^^ Revolution was far from being a blessing to tne g part of the Irish nation. CHAPTER IV. THE WILLIAMITE WAR WITH FRANCE. E„gWwa^wag,„g a fierce and ^^.^^^^ -r s^"'.-- ""Xtne^tt r;:ouM°n« ■"^- .^^rr'Tt w™ panof the price they had From his youth up " " -" very unpleasant I^^^X'^ a'-".;"I;eU.U.ne^ an., and ^^—^^89. Tke Williarnite War ../,/, France. \j skilful generals, and often useH v lands and towns which tLged to" ''''"^'' '' ""' Once indeed (1672) he hadT.nf Germany or Spain. Holland ; and ever after w II. '" :'™^ '"^^ w-r nothing so much as how to^l^T T'^ ^' ."'-^^ strength from him U k ^^ ^^'^'^'^ '''' ''^'^• Lewis, and dread "that WsVo ^""P^^^^'^S of dishke of to the other States o^EuZThT"!.' '° ''''^^'"^ ^arm overthrow James IVsJZ' '^' T^f "^^^^^ wish to so long as James was kin^En^S'"'' , ,"^ '"^^^ "-' ^" no part against Lewis butmi,",f T"''' ""^ ""'y take William and his friends He'lLnT '''^ '"^^'^ ^^^^^^'"'^^ 'ittle chance of beating France in X '''''' '^'''' ^^^ apart. William was of cm"r3e "l.T: '', """^'''^"^^ ^'"^^ English Protestantism and fre^n/" ^' ''^'^'^ ^« ^'-^ve all things to draw England ^to r^''"' ^' "'"^"'^^ '-^^ove Spain, Germany, anci H0I1 ^d h^d^^e"?"""" "^'^'^ Lewis XIV. Lewis was Till \^" ^'^^^^ '-^S'-^mst was William's aim ; he w. T'^ ''T' '^'' ^-'^-^ England were add^d to ^" mm bt f\'' ^ enemies he might lose his lordly phcein'p ' '"''" '"^• fore he determin i to try -ind £ r " "'"'P'^- '^here- Bu, France wasihen : \"''""'' ''"»"«• ^'«-- had so "-anyrctch gif Lh"""^ '^'"^ !-»« ■nmisters and able generals ,1, JtS- ""'' '"■^'' «i» allies was no. able .0 do ht „e, , " '"" "'"> "» bi^ 'h.s war as he had hoped mT'^'' "° """'' ''•■"■"' m ■n ii were won by the" Freneh n "?' '"' "'" ''a«les strengthened Lewis againTwHIKr *'"' '"' """^^ £■ II. " vvuiiam-every army that 1 8 Settletnmt of the Constitution. 1689-93. fought for him did what it was bid and at the time it was bid, whereas William could not always get the Spaniards or Germans to come to him just when he needed them. In this way Lewis was able to take for- tresses from William before the smaller armies that made up William's big army could be brought together. 3. For the first two years William was so busy in England and Ireland that he had to leave the fighting on the Continent to others. At first things went ill with the English. Men in office and men in command were sometimes careless, and did not do their duty. Even at Battle of sea the English were beaten. The day before g^^^'Jy the battle of the Boyne the English and Dutch June. 1690. fleets lunder the Earl of Torrington were attacked by the French admiral, Tourville, off Beachy Head, and were forced to flee. 4. Two years later Lewis and James made a plan for landing an army in England, and beating down William Threatened in that way. They hoped that James's English Engilnd"^ friends would rise and join them, and that 1692. even the English fleet would not fight against them. They had indeed good cause to hope that this would be so, for some of William's own servants had written to James promising to help him. One of these was the chief admiral of the English fleet, Edward Russell, who had first asked William to come to England. We may be surprised to learn this, but great men in England were then very base. They thought only of themselves, and were ready to join one king or the other according as each seemed likely to prevail. In May 1692 all was ready ; 30,000 fighting men, Battle of ri^ostly Irish, were encamped near La Hogue La Hogue, in Normandy, waiting to be carried over to May, .692. Tr„„,.^„^ To,,rvil!e then sailed out with his fleet to meet Russell. The English and Dutch at once men. 1692-97. The WiUiamite War zvith France. 19 closed with him ; they had more ships than the French Who got beaten and made for the land. Next day th« Victors gave chase, and falling on the French ships burnt or sank sixteen of the biggest of them. For a time there was no more talk of invading England 5. By land William was less prosperous. The year before he had lost Mons ; this year he lost Namur and wa defeated by the French general, Luxem- « ?»'r,r^^ hard-fought battle of Steinkirk. fSil But Wilham was very skilful in contriving J"'y 't' that the loss of a battle should do the least possible haim to h.s army ; a few days after Steinkirk he had as strong ^v to Lrn ''T' '' ^''°''"' ^"^ Luxemburg dared not try to follow up his victory. ^•IZ'JT" ^'"''"u T "^"'" *'^^^^"- Luxemburg, with 80,000 men, caught him with only 50,000 near the little stream of Landen, and forced him to give battle. He stubbornly withstood the i^^^''^^^ onsets of the French for a long time, but J"b?'%3. had to yield ground at last. Again William soon filled thdr viftTy." '™'' '"' *'' ""''"'' ^""'^ ""'" '^y 6 In 1695 the fortune of war changed. Both Parties had been njuch weakened by the struggle, but England less than France. Death, too, had carried wiml off Lewis's great general, Luxemburg Ac- "^^^^ cordingly when William .aid siege to xNamur Sr* the French were unable to drive him off, and William took the place. This retaking of Namur 'was thTS ie lid C T "i" I" "^^- '' ^^' '^^- ^he last thing he did. For though the war lingered a while longer September 1697 pea -- i!.t<».ie at ivyswicic. By the treaty then made Lewis helping James IL to get back to C2 promised J English give up throne, 20 ^^iM^nent of tfie Constitution. .gg^, and also agreed to look upon William as the lawful King of Peace of England. It was not a peace for PZnglishmen to Ryswick, 1697. be proud of ; but at lea-it it stopped a foreign king from trying to thnist back upon them a ruler whom most of them did not want. CHAPTER V. WILLIAM IIL AND HIS PARLIAMENTS. W.J* M '^"° /™^ f^ Parliament gain so much that it was able to keep lastmgly, as in William III.'s reien One little fact is enough to show what a firm hold upon power Parliament got by the Revolution. During the seven years that went before the meeting of the Con- vention only one Parliament was called, and that one was not allowed to sit for quite two months ; whilst ^^Ilr 1"""^ *^^ ^'^''■t*^^" years that followed six became t'arliaments were chosen, and not a single stronger. year passed without the Houses being brought together, sometimes twice. Many causes worked to- gether to make this change. (,) The Commons took care not to grant so much money to the king personally as had been granted to King James, and to make their grants for a short time only, not for the king's life as formerly. (2) The king's wars were very costly, and he had to ask at least once a year for a great deal more money to keep up his army and navy. (3) Instead of giving these moneys in a lump. Parliament appropriated the supphes-that is, settled the way in which they were to be spent, setting apart so much for one thing, and so niuch for another. (4) The Mutiny Bill, without which the soldiers and caJInre rt^"^^ --'• 1 ' 5 , . • ' ^"-"i" »«"i LTC maae ro obey their commanders, was passed for a short time only, and .689-90. William III. affd his Parliaments. 21 Parliament had to be called together to renew it (c) W.n.am had no right to be king save the ri^ht which Parliament had ,uen him, and therefore co .IcT no^ afford to quarrel w.th it as the kings before him had WilUan?in?ht!'^ "°r ^° °" '^'^ ^"^^^^^ly between vvmiam and his parliaments. Now and then a bad fedmg sprang up between th..., and led more t".n once to a senous misunderstanding. Throughout his reign the - kinerd'h"'"'"^-^" "•^'^'"^ ^'-'^ P-- f I Z th nS of the s7?'T- Z'^^' '"^'^^^ '"^« -'' thebusi! making a sti. fight. ItTele" tl^him'^rrh^t CZ manvThir ""' '^ ''^ ^^^^^^'^ "^^^^' should hav^so many of his own rights taken from him. He would no^ consent to some of the bills which Parliament passed to lessen his authority. Thus he Mould noT wnr consent to a law for making the judges inde- ^^ pendent of him ; or to a law for keeping i>lace. J^w^e?'^ • ^n (men who held piaas under the cfown) out of the House of Commons ; or to a law for putting an end to every Parliament three years after it had been f't c jled -the Triennial Bill, as its name was. Yet he wa made to give way on each of these at some time or ofherfor there was a line which William dared not pass ' H. any class' of his'rij'ects^ "" "ever altogether liked by .Ji.^^,^::t^^''^^'^\^^ -t cross him so much sr n.i« dv^nc. n gave him a fi.xed income of ahn„f ,.00^/. a year, par, of it for life, pa„ fHour 1^^' It wa, also generous in voiing taxes to enable hfm to second par- liament, 1690-95. The origin of the National Debt, 1693. 22 Setttentent of the Constitution. 1690-94. put large armies in the field ; but in doing so was careful to see that the money raised was spent as it wished. William's Two of the plans it was persuaded to agree to are noteworthy. The Chancellor of the Ex- chequer of that time, Charles Montague, who became in later days Earl of Halifax, finding the debts of the State growing bigger and bigger from year to year, thought of having a standmg debt, and laid the plan before the Commons. They agreed to it ; and in this way the National Debt began. This is unlike other debts in that its interest only need be paid. When William died the National Debt had grown to 16,000,000/. The other plan was that a Bank should be founded, which was to have certain powers of dealing in money on condition of lending the Government 1,200,000/. This was the beginning of the Bank of England (1694). 4 William did not give his consent to all the laws that this Parliament passed. In 1693, * The Bill for the frequent calling and meeting of Parliaments,' known as Triennial ^^^ Triennial Bill, fell through in this way ; B^i^ passed, but in 1694 it was again passed and laid before the king. This time he agreed to it • and henceforth until the reign of George I. no king could keep a Parliament longer than three years, no matter how well pleased he was with it. A few days after this Bill became law, Mary the S"""di ^"^^" died of small-pox. She was a wise and DecTmblr! amiable woman, much loved by her husband, '694. who was deeply grieved at her death. In- deed she was a great loss to him, for the English people had always a kindlier feeling for her than ever they had for her husband, and their love for her strengthened William's throne. S- It is to »:his Parliament also that the English owe 1694-96. William in. and his Parliaments. 23 the freedom of their Press. In 1694, the law which had hitherto made it unlawful for A.ritings to be printed un- ess they had been read and approved of by the king's hcenser came to an end In 1695 the Commons would not et this law be renewed. After this time any Englishman might print or get printed betm""' auythmg he pleased. But the Courts miglit ^'''^- '^'»- s^'l punish a man very severely if he printed anything wa^ch the judges thought to be a slander upon the Go- vernment, for, until 1792, the law of libel was very harsh 6. With most of the four Parliaments that came after this one, William had a great deal of trouble. His mmisters were not the same as at the beginning of his^ reign. Nottingham, and Danby were now gone, and their places had been given to Whigs. The wor- thiest of the Whigs was John Sobers, Lord Keeper, who was the best lawyer then in England. But William had to change his ministers very often. The Commons would take a dislike to the highest among them, and would give the king no peace until he sent them away. The truth is that government by party was then just beginning. If most of the Commons were Whigs, they made Beginning tne king choose his ministers from among ofparty- the Whigs ; if most were Tories, froni Tenr among the Tories. For the ministers could not get on. unless most of the Commons were ready to vote for what - they wanted. 7. In 1696 the law 'for regulating trials in cases of Sh'!." ,T.f ^l^"^^' ^^" ""^^'^^^ ^i^h treason had hitherto little chance of being found not guilty, so much against them were the rules that the Courts of Law fol- lowed m trying them. They could not have skilled law- yers to defend them : those who bore witness in thdr favour could not strengthen their witness with an oath. The Act of 1696 did away with these unfair rules. 24 l Settlemmt of the Constitution. ,096-4^. 1 1T'7 X ^e jurors and of the witnesses a^jainst J- or them g. ven to them some days before the day fcr- nlnV.A T'""'. ^^^"^^ ''^onie wicked J men had bound themselves together to AssocMtioii, murder the kincr npni- 'r..r«i r^ 1696. ^ ^"^ King near 1 iirnham Green as he was ndmg home from hunting This ninf was found out, and the chief men engaged in w'ere ed and put to death. Then the Lords and Common" all but a very few, of their own free will signed a bond m which they pledged themselves to stand by Wilham vviilian), to take signal vengeance on his murderers. The,r example was followed by the country atTarge a^d hundreds of thousands put their namp^ L IT tinn Tf ,„oo , names to the assocja- cle"; th t Z "" fr.t T""'"''' °^ ^^y^^'^y' -"d made it Q Ye ft T '^ °//'' P'°P'^ "^'^ "°^ >^obites. 9- Yet for the rest of his life William had an uneasv . way ,n all things, canng little how much pain their doin« gave to tne kmg. (t) William knew that war wUh FranS must soon break out again, and wished a good paTof the Tones, had a horror of standing armies, and voted The Dutch tnat all the troops but 7,000 should be f:r.^6^i' ;^-ba"ded. They went further, and said that the kmg must send back to Holland his Dutch ' See Epoch IV., p. jz. .-"'^^F' ^ ] . 1699-.70.. ^yUliamlll amiinsParliammts. 3|$ guards, who came with him tn Fnnin^ 1 1 ^ was then Chancellor, and would not put the Great Seal to he paper ,n wWch William gave up the Crow" « „ he costs the war ; and Willian, had once promised no' vetncalteniardsfave them to his generals and ministers ThetnanwhogotthelargestsharewtsaDutrh- " Closest ft lend for many years. The Commons .7'°'' , were very angry, and in ,700 passed a bill for "mS° Sf aid the":- ""''^^,?'' ■" -""^^ -- "- 'He • tacked> it ,„ K t'l"-' '™"''' ""' '■"■"^<> *' bill, they tacked It to a b,ll granting the king money so as to In? 7.:i^Tr """f ^'''"»' °' 'h° Co.:? pu°s:.'gi:r,tem. "''' ^"■"^"' *" •""» Pov-ofthe .0. Willian, and Mary had no children ; and in ,700 thatTd "'"'V°f.'^''»"^«'-,.he only child o"a„'„^ that lived beyond nfancv dirrl Ti,«/ Bt.?y"r V^ ->-'.o'intru''tI cTo^b; the" BUI of R,gh.s after the death of William and 1(1^1 '" 1701, therrfore, Parliament settled the cown on ,he Electress Sophia of Ha„ov»- J'-'nof oflhtrr"'!; ^''^''■''"■'''""eof.hechildr™ '7""™""- of that Eh^abeth, daughter of James 1, who in .6.3 had II 26 Settlement of the Constitution. X701. married- the Palsgrave Frederick. She was chosen to come after William and Anne because she was the nearest to the Stuart line who was a ProtesL? The lav. that did this is called the Act of Settlement? i't g^ves P^assinJtf T.'" T '' '''' ^^--- P-likmem „ passmg ,t tried to make the nation's liberties still safer It was now made impossible (i) for any forei^ to sit n Parliament or to hold an office under the CrSir • y) fir the kmg to go to war in defence of countries th^t'd d no[ belong to England, unless Parliament gave 1 im leave o iii^pTacrhr '' ''-' ''' ^---- -^^^ - ^ .JJ' u°"^ ""^^^ ''^'^'' ^^"^ ''""gs before our minds a rulmg the kingdom. By ancient usage the Privv to e"^ :r- ''' '^'^ '"" "^'^^ ^^^ "^^^ -- bound' to seek advice m matters of State ; but of later years the kmg had fallen into the habit of letting his LadTng The ministers only into his secrets, and a body £SeT "^"ifl, ^'"^"^r than the Privy Council formed But the r ^''' '^ ^^''"^*' ^^' ^^-^-"y S it ken ^ T"'"'^°' uneasy about this new on. ' 1 u^ '*' '*°'"^' ^'^'■^^""y hid from every- one, and there was no means of finding out whTch of Its members advised the king to any course which he Commons might think harmful to the'countryTfor the Hlmenr;""*'" 't' "°" ^°"^^ *« ^^ —able' to Par! hament for everything the king did. An attempt was made m his new bill to give back to the Privy Cound Cab .et But ::f ' '"' ^° .^'^^' ^^^ ^^-''^ «^ the ^ab. aet. But nothing came of it ; this part of the Act ot Settlement was done away with in the next reign „nJf' u ^"T"""^ '""^'^ ^'■°w'"g more and more Unrulv. when ciiddenl" a ^--'- u ^ - "»urc T^ J 1-"'" "" "'leni;. a luunsh step taken by Kins Lewis delivered William from them. In September ,70! • See Epoch V. p. 8. ,.j t 1701-2. ^ilHam IIT. and his Parliaments. 27 James II died at St. Germains ; and Lewis took it upon hnn to Pubhcly hail James's son, James Edward, as K of England. This uncalled-for meddling in ^ thejr affairs greatly enraged the English ; and JfeT s?i; Wilham seized the chance of getting rid of his '7": ^ " other Most of the members chosen to this one were well-disposedtohim,and wished to work hearti y with hfm There was now a general eagerness for war wiih FrancT* and William set briskly about getting the nation aX' ' To tell the story of this great war, one of the greatest in our history, will be the chief task ^f the next bfok! BOOK II. IVAR OF THE SFANISff SC/CCESSION. CHAPTER I. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR. I. The War of the Spanish Succession is so called because It was fought to decide who should succe^ Charles IT. on the throne of Spain We mi<.ht w think it mattered little to EngJishme^^h'ther P^ tl T r'" ^^^ ^" ^"^^"^" or ■•' French- r'^-?"" man But the chief desire of William's heart was to see aeafnst the ;"""?J" '^^ ''^'^^''^ -^« tL sVugge against the French king's greed. To gratify this dcsf e he bore patiently with the unruly temper and 1 irst for power o many of his Parliaments, and allowed much of the royal authority to slip away from him. In trmain pp wac ci!/'pf»o<~f,,i . _, • . . ^" '•"*' main . .11 ce^sftil ; uwing lo Ills efforts England won i. place m the front rank of European PoweS wWrshe l»3 never smce lost, William made England feel ,£, 28 Settlement of the Constitution. 1698. 2. Moreover, England's right of settling her own affairs without forcgn meddling was at stake. Lewis XIV as be.ng an absolute prince and a Roman Catholic had a St tru?'T'',"T';^ *^"^^'^ ' ^^^--d P-'tes ant State SI ch as England became after 1688. He hated the Kevolufon and longed to put it down. If he had been v.ctonous in this war, doubtless the. Stuan line wou M have been restored to the English throne,. It mu^ be We m mmd that after the passing of the Act of Settle- ment .t becane a necessary part of the new order of n tl\ V ' "r^ "' "^"«^^'- 'Should succeed Anne in the k.ngsh.p. The friends of the Revolution felt that all would be lost if this arrangement were not carried out herefore they pushed forward the war with France wUh the utmost earnestness. So that in fighting to pkce an Austnan prmce on the Spanish throne the Engl^h were m realuy fightmg for what they most cherished^'natilat 3. The war came about in this way. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, Charles II. of Sp^n Si^^ants of IZ"^''"'^^ "^Tf ^ """•■ ^'^ ^"^- H^ l^ad no the Spanish cftildren ; and his nearest of kin was th^ — Dauphin of France. Next in order of kTnsWp came Joseph, eldest son of the Elector of Bavaria and af^r h.m the Emperor Leopold.- But the dau^Ws Table showing the Spanish^descent^of the above-named persons.- Cliarl ■les I r. Philip IV. Mary Anne. Maria Theresa=Lewis XIV. MarJaret = Leaiold.theEn,pe«,r. The Dauphi,,, ATary Antoinette = Elector of Bavaria. Philip, Duke of Anjo... J<«eph. the EIecto«l Prince. J i J 1698-1700. The Causes of the War. 20 mother and Josepji's grandmother had, when leaving ^\^^ K r c c °- "^ ^^^ ^^y of Leopold. It wa«! the behef of some, however, that no one has power b^ however good hU Lt ™^ I^.roleTT:™^ Spanish ^ZkXZ .'IriSie - ^:':':e";, .t dom,„,„„s of the mightiest prince of Europe fo t. opp'™:rth S"hu%^t?hr „trntf "h^s '^ -^r '° Austrian dominions." WiiharandVelu'^.f^^t""' first thought it possible to settle the question KS oy a frienw.y arrangement. In i6g8 thev ^m"' made a treaty-the First Partition T. ■ called- with each other BvtwJr ^ '''■ "' '' '' urrwhiet2-::^H^-f^ treaty might have saved Europe frj^' IT'^, ?" By this th'e ArcMtr^h^r rs I'ZT,^^ Spatn, the Netherlands, and ,h. I-di"- "'i?.'."" MUan-with power to exchange it for I^r ^^' .atne-was added to the dauphin's "sh^rL C thi. 30 Settlement of the Constitution. ,,«^, of Anjou , ^"^^e countr es belonging to Spain to .r.,. ,, u , T'" ' ^'^^ Lewis, m utter disregard of the treaty he had signed, accepted the bequest for his grand! son. Anjou at once became King of Spain as PhU o V Shortly afterwards war broke out between Lewis XIV and theEmperor (1701). ^cwis aiv. S. At first it seemed as if the King of England would have to look on and see the great game playfd out with. The Com- out him. Parliament had grown angry about r^^atou. ^^^ P^'^it'O" Treaties ; and William dared not .he trea- ..ven ^peak of war to it. Most of the Com- .1, '^^' ^ "J°"u' *''"^^* ""^^^^ '" '"^^'"g those treaties the King had shown small regard for English interests • ana moreover, it was soon found out that they had been made in a way by which the rules of the Constitution had been broken. Throughout his reign William was his own n^Huster of foreign affairs, and in arranging the terms of the hrst treaty had told no one of his English ministers anything about them. Somers, the Chancellor had even put the Great Seal to a paper in which blanks were left for the names of the men who should sign fo England. These and other awkward things came out • i'n^'^f-the J"^ *^^ Commons straightway impeached Whig Somers and three other lords. The kin? was Lords, .,ox. so disheartened by the turn things had Taken that he recognised Philip as King of SpL. hI was afraid the Commons would make him do this some time ' or other. The Lords, however, were not of the same mmd as the Commons, and cunningly contrived that the impeachment of Somers and his friends should come to nothing. The feeling of En?lishm*»„ ^»„.j.„i.... .._. rather in favour of the course which WiUiJm' desired to o '701-2. The Causes of the War, 3 , James died ; and Lewis took the ta71„ r™ "^l"*^ forward James's son as King of Enrianl Th, '!"'""« large felt this to be a gross insulf T„ ■ f "™ ^ called loudly for war ^^l t \- °"^" ""'' ^higs "f .he utmos't ivSty aJ^suhe f T"' ""^^^ '""» voted laree sums for , ST """i"*"". and heartily zealously to Trl °o .et Z"' "f "'''■ *''"™ >'<'« struggle! ^" ""' "'"'°" "-^ady for the great nveVsre^i'r'td ™d' ^4^""^ ^ ".' ''' "°' -" ' fron, his horse andtot his" rVo^nT 'uri "''™" ■ he'^thXdte" " "'°"« '""" ■■ ^"0 "'"-^ " r r' bSy had 1^„" ^""'"f '"'"•^^- His feeble .'^r^' was but fifty.t„r;ear; old ' ' '"' ^' ''^"™«'™- "« •ook^f s"e."^H:;:td';;:trr "o c i^ •"'-; «- was seldom cheerful save in battle hid a bW "' "'"'^'• way of speaking, and cared nV..h r Y"!""" ratureorart 5 .TT J^™ "othmg for hte- thuaci.,. wasb„™ea' fit" 'f " ™' ='™"8 and tender , he a lock of herl^l'"""? ;:""■, "i^ "^'s dying bed, and death. He had^^mTgravT'far. ^ *»"/'" "is Ws character was noble He wa tie^ ^'' r "'^°'' kings. ™' *' 'ast of our great CHAPTER II. THE WAR ITSELF. ^■^^! l 1 ^ Wl | p l l » lK^J^ 'W l 32 Stttlcmr-t of the Constitution 170a. Anne, Queen, March, 170a- August, 1714. The great Duke of Marl- borough, b. 1650; d. 1772. moor. James il., at once became queen. She was thirty-seven years old, and was married to Prince George of Denmark ; but she was childless, though she had borne many children. She was dull-witted, but kind- hearted, was easily led by anyone whom she trusted and loved; but nothing could move her when her mind was made up. For many years after her coming to the throne, almost the whole power of the State was in the hands of John Churchill, whom Anne made Duke of Marl- borough. Churchill, the son of a Devonshire gentleman, had risen to wealth and honours by the kindness of James II., and had won fame as a soldier in the Low Countries and at Sedge- IJut in 16S8 he deserted James, and did much to make his overthrow sure. He is charged with having been false to William also. William, however, forgave him, took him into favour, and marked him out for high command in the coming war. Marlborough was a general of wonderful skill, firmness, and daring ; he had a temper that nothing could ruffle, and a rare power of working upon the minds of men. But he was over-fond of heaping up riches, and is said to have cared little for anything but his wife and his own greatness. This wife, Sarah Jennings, was in many ways as remarkable as himself. She was a woman of great force of character and overbearing temper, but was deeply loved by her husband. Indeed her husband owed his greatness largely to her ; for Anne had from her early days been very fond of Lady Marlborough, and was always ready to do whatever she wished. That they might talk and write to each other with greater ease Anne called her friend Mrs. Freeman, and was in turn known to Lady MarThnrniirrli ac M.-c Mnrl*"' Tl^" C\-i. ^ ' " .r jjis „^ ..,,.,. xvi^.srivjr. iiiti^accii ijavc iicrscil * See Epoch V., p. 74. i7oa. The War Itself. 33 up altogether to her friend's guidance • and In fh/c Marlborough became, on Wilham'? de.f . .1, ""^^ powerful man in England. ^'"'*"'' ^^^^"> ""^^ most was'mtde\?rd nth T ""' and experienced statesman, a change came over their views. The Tories ^-S' were lukewarm m upholding the war- fi,« axtu- from the Tones and closer to the Whicr^ tk :»'"". i''' Tory .ne^be. ^^ev*'- „„?"'' '= "™ was named Captain- General of the land forces. ^ 3- England had never vet encraapri ,„ „ was earned on at the same time in the Low countries, m Spain, in the Mediterranean Sea Iv^^"" "^ and m thp W<»ct r«j- i ""v-ciu oca, the Low was fm ah^ ^J' ^^'- ^^' ^'■^''^^^^^ battle Coumrie.. obeyed .he grea.E„Xhgen«af "*"" ''"^*"^ 4. No grand deed of arms was done bv M,rIh„ro„„Kv ^JTOy lor me tirst two veai-.: Tl,<.i? 'u --(-g" ^ defensiv,.- ,„j »« ,u '^ ''"' French stood on the Th Marlborough^was much hampered by the I 34 Settlement of the Constitution. 1702-04. Dutch who would not let him give battle when he wished He had to rest content with taking several strongholds. But in 1704 the English captain struck a mighty blow at the power of France. Finding in that year that the French and their allies, the Bavarians were making alarming way against the Austrians in South-western Germany, he marched his army from the Sre^heh!; ,^^'"f ^" ^.'^^ ^^""'^e' ^"d having joined it to August, tJie Austrian force under Prince Eugene of Tn, , . ^''*^«y'C''^me up with the French and Bavarianii at Blenheim. There, on the banks of the Danube, was fought the battle which has shed its chief lustre on Marlborough's name. Tallard, the French marshal, had about 60,000, the Englishman about 50,000 men under his command. For 4 whole day the French held their ground manfully, driving back the Allies at almost even- point. At last, in the evening, Marlborough led a ge- neral assault along the whole line ; the French army was cut in two, and utterly routed. It was a crushing defeat ; almost two-thirds of the beaten army were killed wounded, or made prisoners. Tallard himself fell into Marlborough's hands. The pride of Lewis XIV. was humbled at last. S- Ten days before the battle of Blenheim an English admiral gained a success which, though thought little of at the time, proved to be of vast importanca. Early in August, Admiral Sir George Rooke, who had been cruising along the coast of bpam all the summer, and been able to do nothing landed a few thousand seamen and marines near Gibraltar, and took the place with the utmost ease. This fortress was kept by the English when peace was made • and every ittempt to wrest it from them again has utterly failed. ^ 6. Next year Marlborough is again found warring in Takiiig of Gibrahar, Aug., 1704, f 1705-09. The War ttself. 35 I the Low Countries ; and, though he could get no chance of winning a great battle, ho managed to push the French hard. But in 1706 he again over- gSf/, threw their armie ,, at Ramillies ; and nine of M»y. '7^. the strongest fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands were the fruits of the victory. Another year (1707) of com- parative inactivity followed. Then, in 1708, a third grand victory was won, and the most skilfully-managed siege of the whole war brought to a triumphant close. For the French under the Duke of Vendome, having aid siegeto Oudenarde, Marlborough fell upon Sina°rde them and drove them from their position. He J"'y- '7o8.' then drew -his army round Lille, perhaps the strongest of the strong places on the French border. The garrison hL i 1 Jm ^°"^"^^"ded by Boufflers, the general who had held Namur against William III. This siege lasted moie than three months, and Sf ?„^. was watched with eager interest throughout '^^■' 'i^- Europe. Prince Eugene pushed forward the siege, while Marlborough kept off the French army, which lay in the neighbourhood trying hard to relieve the place. In the end Boufflers had to yield. ,1 7" ^"J,^^ ^campaign of 1709 the great Duke won the vn ^"^,^^J^°^'^st of his successes. The French Marshal, Villars, had entrenched his armyat Malplaquef fortified hi^'l^^K ;^ T' ^^ '*"'■'" ^^^^'^g'y '^^'P'^^-'. fortified heights held by 90,000 stout-heaited Sept":, ,'709. men. They carried them, but at a frightful cost-a loss of 20,000 killed and wounded. The next two campaigns were not marked by any very striking event. But many towns were taken, and France itself was invaded. The upshot of Marlborough's fighting was. that the FrPn-h were swept out of the Netherlands, their renown in'wir was lost, and their kingdom was drained of well-nigh all its D 2 3^ Settlement of the Constitution. ,705-10, sM«ngth. Not often has a great nation been brought so The com- ^ow as France was in this war by Marlborough T^&r\^ But in 17 12 the great soldier was disgiaced ;' borough and the Duke of Ormond was sent to take his • ■ ' - command. How such a thing as this came to be done will be explained farther on. Ormond did nothing worth mentioning here. 8. During these years the war was going on in Spain also. There the Allies were not so successful, perhaps •Die war in ^^^cause they had not a general like Marl- Spain, 1702- borough to lead them. In Spain an effort *''"• was made to carry out directly the chief pur- pose of the Allies— to dethrone l^hilip and set up the « 705-1713. The War Itself. 17 Archduke Charles as King. And in 1705 the Archduke caJhngh.mseIf Charles III., went to the country undeJ the guard of an English fleet. But most of the Spaniards favoured the French prince ; and Charles never had a chance of winning the crown in this way and keeping it It .s true there were some valiant deeds done by the English m Spam. In .705 the Earl of Peterborough took fnn't^K ^''\ '' '''' ^'""" ^"^^^' -"^ marched higher And m 1706 the Allies, under the Earl of Galway ptteTbo r ^"^'"^^^ ^"' ^"^^-^ ^'^''^drid. But' He erborough s strange career soon came to an end; and not only was Galway forced to leave Madrid, but in 1707 his army was destroye.. Yet this ?i''"'*' °^ overthrow did not end the war in those parti ^oT^^' In 1710 the French were beaten in their turn ; and the Allies a second time took possession of Madrid Again however, they found it necessary to march , T ' away from the place. As they were making Ke^^ for the east coast, the French, led by Ven- t'''*^"'^ dome, overtook at Brihuega their left wing, ^.%o. Tope Tan?^"^ '"' commanded by General Stan- hope. Stanhope's troops were surrounded; and after some tough fighting had to surrender themselves pri oraTvilla^V-^' ''Z ^^'^^^"'^^ -- moreX'e ; ous at Villa Viciosa. Yet all they gained was freedom to m Spam. Already, m 1708, the English had conquered Minorca, an island which they fef afterwards held for seventy years. In ,7,3 S'^T'*' peace was made at Utrecht. 38 Settlement oj the Constitution. 1702-03. CHAPTER III. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY DURING THE WAR. th./in^f.K""''"'^'^'"^'^"'^^ *"" '^'^' "^ ^ S^"'^'--'^' truth, that m It the course of things which had been set going HowAn.,es undcr William went on without check. In ftredfrom f"e.^'ay Only did public life change after wm.a„, s wiham's death-there was less strife tetwecn I arhament and the Crown, and more between Whigs and Tones. Anne was an Englishwoman, a Stuart, and a sound Churchwoman. The Tories therefore trusted her far more than they had ever trusted William, and did not seek to weaken the royal power any further. More- over the new settlement had seemingly been made safe- Anne quietly acccfited the position which the Revolution had given her, and so was allowed to enjoy a peace that had been denied to William. There was, however, great stir and noise in her time. Parly spirit ran very high and Whigs and Tories strove with each other as they had seldom striven before. 2 The Tories were not just of the same mind as they had been in the days of the Exclusion Bill.t They did not now struggle to keep the Crown powerful with the same zeal as they had then shown. They not only accepted the arrangement made in 1688-9, but they up held the authority of Parliament often with greater earnestness than the Whigs themselves. Traces of their old faith, it is true, might still be seen in them ; they Whigs fn"** "^""^"^ '■'**'^^'' "^"^^^ ^""^ than WiHiam on Anne's the throne, because in her title there was reign. something of hereditary right ; and those of them who went farthest in Tor)ism were apt to become Jacobites. But they mainly showed their Torvi.m K., ' See Epoch V., p. 69. \ t " \ f 1703-05. Constitutional History during the War. 39 being great friends of the Church, and by disHking Dis- senteis. They wanted to have all the power in the Com- monwealth given to Churchmen alone. The Whigs on the other hand, wished to see all Protestants made equal under the law. Moreover, in Anne's reign the Whigs were very zealous for the war from first to last ; but the Tories both were not over-warm in its support at first and came to dislike it very much at last. 3. The Commons in Anne's first Parliament were mostly Tories, and in their very first session carried a law which would have made it quite impossible for any Dissenter to hold a post under the Crown. Hut the Lords threw out this bill, for in those davs most of the Lords were Whigs. The Lords, as having so much that might be lost by a violent change, are mostly in favour of keeping things as they are, and accordingly were then in favour of the Revolution Settlement, which they thought might in the long run be upset if the Tories always had occasional their way. The aim of this bill was to prevent ^''""'^^'rinitv occasional conformity, as the custom of taking i''"'' the Sacrament according to the Church rKuil, just to fit oneself for holding oificc, was called. Nc.o year the Lords again threw it out. From this time the Tories lost ground 4. The war with p>ance was a Whig war. It was waged to carry out the plans of William, who had become the great Whig hero, and sprang from the ThcWh^s Revolution, which had been a trii, mph of Whio- g-"*'" the principles. Marlborough's victories, therefore" IzS"^* spread a Whiggish feeling through the country ; and, in 170S a House of Commons was chosen in which Whigs had the mastery. What followed will show clearly how the new way of governing was likely to work. The Whiffs were now so sft-r»nfT fhof *!,« i\,i;_:_.„. , , " , '' " ^ ■ ^"'- -"-"^iiy Loitld not get on without them. To win them to his side Marlborough had to promise to get one of their leading men, Charles 1 40 Settlement of the Constitution. ,700-08. Spencer, Earl of Sunderland, raised to some high office. But Anne liked the Tories better than the Whigs ; she thought she haa a right to choose her own Ministers and for a time would not hear of a place being given to bunderland, though he was the husband of Marlboroueh's daughter. Marlborough knew how necessary it was that what the Whigs asked should be done, and eagerly pressed it on. But the queen was most unwilling, and yielded only to Marlborough's earnest prayers. In De- cember 1706 Sunderland was made Secretary of State in 1708 the same struggle took place again on a larger scale The general election of ,708 having again given the Whigs a majority in the Commons, the other The Minis. Whig leaders— the Whig Junto, as they were couir ^^"e^' Pf whom the Lords Somers and Whar- Whg''7*^8. *? r'!,*^^ chief-demanded to be taken *K ^r, '"^V ^ ^°^^''""'^"*- Marlborough, knowing the dislike of Anne to the Whigs, held out for a lonJ tinie against them ; but they made things so unpleasant, and there was so much dread that they would use their strength to work mischief to the Queen's friends, that Anne had at last to give offices to Somers and Wharton Then the Ministry became purely Whig. 5. The most noteworthy change of Anne's reign was the Union of England and Scotland, the blending together England "^ ^^^ ^^'^ kingdoms and two parliaments into fa";' ^7^ !?,! Kingdom and Parliament of Great Britain. ' ' ■ When one looks at what was then going on in the two countries one is rather surprised that such a good thing should have been brought about at that time. For never since Englishmen and Scotsmen had fallen under the sway of the same king had Scottish hearts been so (\ ' !?^^ ^^^'"^* England as in the first few years o. the eighteenth century. England, the Scots said, was working them great and lasting wrongs; and they V I J V I 1700-04. Constitutional History during the War. 41 would never forgive her. There was too much reason for what the Scots said. Many Englishmen were very selfish and greedy, and could not bear that their kinsfolk in Scotland and Ireland should share in the pursuits which brought them wealth. These men, merchants of the great seaport towns of England, had so worked upon Parliament that heavy taxes were laid on all products of Scotland which were carried into England. Scotsmen were not allowed to trade with any country belonging - to England, or with England in anything but what was grown or made in Scotland. Their anger at finding ' their hands tied up by English greed was yearly growing more bitter. In 1 699-1 700 a plan which they had tried to carry out, for planting a trading settlement ac Darien had come to a disastrous end. Its SeS^*" failure brought ruin on a vast number of Scot- ^(>'i9-^i'oo. tish families. The Scots cast the blame on the EngHsh East India Company and on King William ; and their wrath against England rose higher than ever. After William's death the Scottish Parliament passed an Act of Security, by which it was made impossible that the same person who had already been Security, chosen to sit on the English throne after Anne '7°3' ^'*^- died should be chosen to the Scottish throne also, unless security were given for the ' religion, freedom, and trade ' of the Scots. This law made it possible that at Anne's death the two kingdoms should pass to different kings. 6. To the danger arising from this state ot things we owe the Act of Union. The wiser men in England now saw clearly that nothing short of a thorough blending of the two peoples into one would put a stop to their quar- relling, and, to gain this, were willing to give the Scots a.l they wanted. The very last paper that William signed was a message to his English Parliament asking it to consider how such a union could be brought about Act of Union passed. In Scotland, Jan. 1707 ; in England, Mar., 1707. I 42 Settlement of the Constitution. 1 707-1710. Parliament did look kito the question, and gave the Queen power to name men who might meet other men sent from Scotland, and with them try to find out a way of uniting the two countries. But the trading jealousy of many Englishmen and the blind patriotism of many Scotsmen made the task of arranging the terms very hard ; and this attempt failed. The plan, however, was not lost sight of; some Scotsmen longed for freedom of trade; the wisest English statesmen were afraid of Scot- land falling again under French influence. In 1706 there wasa meetingin London of thirty-one men from each king- - - dom ; and these at last found a way to a settle- ment of the question. By the Act of Union Scotsmen were to have the same freedom of trade as Englishmen ; the Presbyterian Church was secured to Scotland ; there was to be but one Parliament for Great Britain, to which Scotland was to send forty-five Commons and sixteen Lords. For a long time many Scotsmen talked of this law as if it were the rum of their country ; but it has undoubtedly done much good to both nations. 7. In 1 7 10 the Whig Ministry fell from power It had foolishly made the Commons impeach a noisy High Church clergyman, called Sacheverell, who had preached against Godolphin, and misrepresented the Revolution The Lords found Sacheverell guilty ; but the trial stirred ?o3ofphin-s Jl^^y'lir'^''''' °^ 2i^^ ^^"'•^h feeling Ministry, throughout the country. The people too were •710. growing rather weary of the war, and of the heavy taxes which they had to pay to keep it going. Marlborough also had lost the Queen's favour. His wife was a woman of violent temper and overbearing ways and in her rages did not spare the Oueen herself. A coldness had grown up between the two old friends. "The Duchess never tried to soothe the Queen's wounded * H ■ r tl 1 ^ V 1 710. TAe Tory Ministry and the Peace. 43 feelings ; and the breach between them went on widen- ing until at last Anne had come to hate her friend as much as she had formerly loved her. One Mrs. Masham, once a Lo-dchamber-woman to the Queen, had already taken the Duchess's place in Anne's affections. The upshot of these changes was. that in the summer of 17 10 iheHariey the Queen sent away her chief Whig Ministers S' John and g;^.^^ the guidance of the nation to ^x^V.\ Robert Harley and Henry St. John. I « CHAPTER IV. THE TORY MINISTRY AND T :aCE OF UTRECHT. 1. This daring act of Anne's-the turning awav of her Mmisters-helps us to see plainly the working of'the altered Constitution. The Whig leaders had p,,,^^, been able to wm office in 1 708 merely because vemment. most of the Commons, thought as they did, and were ready to vole as they wished. The Queen had now a strong hope that the members of the new Parliament would be mostly Tory ; and. relying on that hope, had sent away her Whig Ministers and taken Tories in their places. She was not disappointed ; most of the new members were Tories ; and she was able to keep Harley and St. John. But it is certain that, if it had turned out otherwise, she could not have kept these Ministers, and would have been forced to bring back Godolphin, Somers, and Halifax. ' 2 Harley, who was made in 1711 Earl of Oxford.and St. John, who was made in 1712 Viscount Bolingbroke, ruled Enpland fnr npaH" *"- -,— ^ • & '^» this time the war of parties never ceased ^^^'^ *'"''• The great writers of the day took part with one side or 44 Settlement of tfie Constitution. 1711. the other, each doing his utm >3l to make people believe that his party was right and the other wrong. The Swift; stoutest champion of the Tories in this way Addison; was Jonathan Swift, better known as Dean Swift, because in 171 3 he became Dean of St. Patrick's Church in Dublin. Swift had once been a Whig, but in 17 10 had gone over to the Tories. He wote for the Tories with all his might ; and being the peatest genius then living, did a great deal by his writ- ings to spread a Tory feeling throughout the country. The ablest writers on the Whig side were Joseph Addison, a most graceful author and amiable man ; and Sir Richard Steele, an honest but somewhat hot-headed Irishman. Men had not then the same means of reading speeches made in Parliament as they have now, for it was very diffjcult to get any account of a Parliamen- tary debate, and unlawful to print it if it were got. Yet even then it was an important thing for a states- man to be thought well of by the people ; and the only way he had of winning a good name was either to write himself, or to get others to write, in favour of his opinions. -• 3. The clergy and the country gentlemen were zealous for the Tories ; the large towns and trading classes The Whigs heartily upheld the Whigs. The Tories ToriS!* charged the Whigs with trying to destroy the Church ; their cry was that the ' Church was in danger.' The Whigs charged the Tories with wishing to undo the Act of Settlement ; their cry was that * the Protestant succession was in danger.' Whilst Anne lived the Tories were the stronger party, for most Englishmen loved the Church and sent Tories to Parlia- ment. There was, it is true, no general desire for a second Restoration ; but the country thought there was little fear of this, and the cry of the Whigs did not frighten thera. i ■ >7ii. 1711-13. TJte Tory Ministry and the Peace. 45 4. But the point that Whigs and Tories fought most about was the making of peace with France. The Whigs wanted the war to go on until Philip „ . ,,,,,. , . ° . *^ How the Should be driven from ♦!.e throne cf Spain peace of and King Lewis should grant all that the ^^"^ *" Allies asked. The Tories wanted to have the '7ii-i3. war ended at once, and were willing both to allow Philip to stay on the Spanish throne and to let Lewis off very easily. The Whigs said that if the Kings of France and Spain both belonged to the same family they would always take part with each other in wars, and it would not be easy for the other States to hold their own against them. The Tories said that if Charles became King of Spain the House of Austria would be as dangerous to the quiet of Europe as the House of Bourbon, for in 171 1 Charles had been chosen Emperor. The Tories, too, were against the war, because it was a Whig war, and success in it had always given strength to the Whigs. They resolved, therefore, to have peace. But they went about getting it in a very bad way. Some years before Lewis had become so humble from the many beatings his armies had got that he offered not only to cease help- ing his grandson, but also to supply the Allies with money to wage war against him. These offers had not satisfied the Allies ; the war had gone on, and many more losses had befallen Lewis in it. But now Harley and St. John secretly sent a messenger to Lewis to ask if he would agree to a peace. Peace was the thing that Lewis longed for most ; but finding that the English Ministers also were so eager for it, he did not now ofT er to yield what before he had been willing to yield. His grandson, he now said, Tiust be left on the Spanish throne. There was much stealthy going to and fro of messengers between England and France ; and at length the rulers of the two nations came to an understanding with each other. But not a 4^ Settlement of the Constitution. 17,3.14. word of these doings was told to the Dutch or the Emperor, though as the allies of England they had a nght to know everything that was going on. And when at last the English Ministers did tell the Dutch, thev showed them a different treaty from the one that had been drawn up by them and Lewis. In 17 12 they took away the command of the army from Marlborough separated the English army from the Allies, and privatei; settled with Lews a plan for carrying on the war that yea^ .. n. ^f ^ OK -J"^ ^'^'^ '^'y ^° ^'^"^^d ^^' '^^^ signed at Utrecht. Ph^.p was to keep the Spanish throne! but plaTof ""' u ^' *° ^'^^^'' ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ "P ^» claim ever to Utrecht. become Kmg of France. Lewis XIV. pled'^ed 7''" ^^ ^T'^i^ *° ^^^^ "°^^'"ff "^o'-e to do ^ith James Edward, now known in England as the Pretender and to recognise the Protestant succession to the English M T' .^"^i^""* ^^' *° ^^^^ Gibraltar, Minorca, and Newfoundland, and trading rights with the Spanish settlements. The Dutch were given a strong line of fortresses to guard their border; and the House of Austria got the Spanish Netherlands and Naples This has been called 'the shameful Peace of Utrecht ' partly because of the way in which it was made, and partly because nothing was done in it to save the Catalans from the vengeance of Philip, though these had risen in arms at the bidding of the Allies. 6. Anne lived litt'e more than a year longer This was a very anxious time for Englishmen. The Queen's The last health was bad. Oxford and Bolingbroke year^of were thought to be planning to overthrow reign^ the Act of Settlement and bring in the Pre- *7'3-M. tender. The Jacobites were believed to be busy laying plots for having James Edward made Kin? when Anne died. The Tories had seemingly the greater number of the people on their side, for in 17 13 a new , C c w tfa 1 7 14- ^^^ Tory Ministry and the Peace. 47 Parliament was chosen, in which most of the Commons were again Tories. But one thing crippled the strength of their party very much— their chief men, Oxford and Bolingbroke, had come to hate each other, and very often had angry quarrels. In July 17 14 Bolingbroke con- trived to poison the Queen's mind against his rival, and Oxford was turned ojt of office. But it was too late for Bolingbroke to gain anything by Ses^Au'St the change ; three days later Anne died. The '• '7m- day before her death she had named the Duke of Shrewsbury, a nobleman who had been active in bring- ing about the Revolution, Lord High Treasurer. Shrews- bury was a Whig ; and his appointment was a kind of pledge that plots to bring back the Pretender, if there were such, would be crushed. BOOK III. ENGLAND UNDER THE RULE OF THE GREAT FAMILIES. CHAPTER I. THE FIRST YEARS OF THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. I. The Electress Sophia had died two months before Queen Anne ; and the right of succession to the English Crown had then passed to her son, George, Elector of Hanover. Acrordina-I-' '>n Auorns*^ George became King of England as George I. Much fear had been felt throughout the country that the Jacobites would try to hinder his coming to the (leorge I. King, I7i4-a7' 48 Settlement of the Constitution. xix^^i^, throne; but it turned out quite otherwise— no one dared even to raise his voice for the Pretender. Indeed, most people showed great joy when they heard the new .king proclaimed. In foreign lands also George was looked upon as the true King of England ; even Lewis of France kept the promise that he had made in the Treaty of Utrecht. 2, George came to England about seven weeks after Anne's death. As soon as he came the Tory Ministers mijff were sent away, and their places given to fomed? Whigs. For George did not try, like William, »7«4 to allow each party a share in governing ; he thought that the Whigs, who had always been in favour ofhis title, were likely to be more faithful to him thar the Tories. Of course, if the Commons had wished very much that the Ministers should be Tories, they would have made the King take Tories. But the new House of Commons, which was chosen a few months afterwards, had many more Whigs than Tories, and the King was able to keep the Ministers he liked. The foremost man in the new Ministry was Charles, Lord Townshend ; but General Stanhope and Robert Walpole were also very powerful members of it. Walpole had rare skill in finding out the best way of settling questions about money, and thus made himself very useful to his party. 3. In 1715 the quiet of the land was broken in two ways. First, the new Ministers wer*. so angry at what The late ^^^ ^^®" *^""^ '^"'■'" ^^^ last four years of Ministry Anue's reign that they stirred up Parliament *"*^ " • to take steps to puiish the fallen leaders of the Tories. They tried to make out that Oxford, Bojingbroke, and Ormond had been guilty of treason in yielding up to Lewis in the late war more places than they need have done. Bolingbroke and Ormond fled to I'>ance ; but Oxford was not easily frightened, and stayed \ T 171S. First Years !>/ House of Hanover. 49 at home. They were all impeached ; and bills of at- olnL ""n". ""^T P^''"^ "^'"'"^^ Bolingbrofce and Ormond. Oxford was sent to the Tower, where he lay for two years. In 1717 he was brought to trial ; but in he meantmie Walpole had fallen out with the other leading Wh.gs and lost office ; and now, to spite his old friends, he cunnmgly contrived that the Commons should Oxford The Lords, therefore, voted that Oxford was not guilty. Bolmgbroke, soon after reaching France openly jomed the Pretender, but in a short time gave up ^LITV^ ^^Pf '^ ' ^"'^ '" ^723 he was allowed to IZ ^''k '° f "^'""^- ^"^ °™°"d "«ver came back ; he died abroad in 1745. ' 4. Secondly, there were Jacobite risings both in Scot- fLI o^m" ?'"^- ^^'^y •" September John Erskine, Earl of Mar-who some years before had been The jaco- a Whig and helped to bring about the Union bites take -raised the standard of rebellion in Braemar, "7.5."™'' and m a short time found himself in command of a large Highland army. But Mar was very slow in his move- ments, and lingered for six weeks in Perth. The Duke of Argyle, famous as both a warrior and a statesman, was to StfrZ ^°"^°\*° ^^^^ ^^ith this danger ; and going to Stirling, used the time which Mar was wasting in gathering round him soldiers and loyal Lowlanders. While things stood thus in the far north a few hundred Jacobites took up arms in Northumberland under Mr Forster and Lord Derwentwater. Joining with some Highlanders whom Mar had sent to their aid, they marched to Preston, in Lancashire^ ^ The fate of the two risings was settled on the same day. At Preston the English Jacobites and their Scottish aUies had to give themselves up to a small body of £.If. £ AflTair of Preston, 1715. Fight at Sheriffmuir, »7«S Scotland. 50 Settletnent of the Constitution. 1715.16. soldiers under General Carpenter. At Sheriffmuir, about eight miles nonh of Stirling, the Highlanders, whom Mar had put in motion at last, met Argyle's little army in battle, and, though not utterly beaten, were forced to fall back to Perth. There Mar's army soon dwindled to a mere handful of men. Just when things seemed at the worst the Pretender himself landed in But he altogether lacked the daring and high spirit needful to the cause at the time ; and his presence at Perth did not even delay the end which was now sure. Late in January 17 16 Argyle's troops started from Stirling northwards ; and the small High- land force broke up from Perth and went to Montrose Thence James EdWard and Mar slipped away unnoticed and sailed to France ; and the Highlanders scampered off to their several homes. Of the rebels that were taken prisoners about forty were tried and put to death ; and many were sent beyond the seas. Derwentwater and Kenmure were beheaded; the other leaders of rank either were forgiven or escaped from prison. 5- These risings were followed by an important change in an important law. The people were in a rest- Septennuni ^^^^ ^^^^^ ' ^"^ '* ^as feared that trouble might A« passed, befal the country if a new Parliament were '^' • chosen which would be unfavourable to the Ministry. A bill was therefore passed to enable the King to keep the same Parliament for seven years ; and in passing it care was taken that it should apply to the Par- liament that then was, which thus might last till 1722. This bill, which is called the Septennial Act, is in force still. O. The Whips nnw l-ipr-arno ckfn-nrrt^^ i.U„„ T» . -o •-....l^vi t-Haii evci. DUC shortly afterwards Townshend and Stanhope quarrelled upon a grave question of foreign policy ; and a split took t t s F ( t S 4 1717. First Years of House of Hanover. 5 1 place in the Whig party which weakened it much for a time. Townshend and Walpole not only ceased to be Ministers, but also did their l^w ^^'"« utmost to thwart Stanhope and Sunderland '^^ "' who now held the first place in the King's counsels. The question about which the Whig leaders fell out was the right way of forming the Triple Alliance. This treaty, which England, France, and Holland made with one another in .1716-17 eave In- '^'"p'*= Cnn-l^^j — ^ . •/*"•/> Js'ivc Alliance, England great power abroad, and did much '^'^'^■ to strengthen the hold of the Hanoverian family on *he Engish Crown. It seems strange to find the rulers of England and France, who had lately been such deadly foes, now linked together in a close friendship. lUit each had an interest in making a friend of the other. In ch'^S'LdT' '''\''' ''^' ' his great-grandson, a mere child, had become King ; and the Duke of Orleans, who te'tl^T^ V^'^iTT '^^'^ ^'"^ «f ^'^P-'" should ^^^r^Z i J . "^^f^^ ^^ ^^^ ^""^^^ ^y ^he Treaty of Utrecht, held the Regency. But the Duke feared that thought It would be a good thing to have England in his ^'..nH f? . ™J^ '^^ ^°y-^'"S: died. In England, Stanhope felt that France was the only foreign state tha could give any real aid to the Pretender, and thought it would be a good thing if France could be brought to take part with the Hanoverian family. Thus it came about whtr.h ? """' ""^^^ ^''^"'" *^^ ^«^° ^°"ntries, by which their rulers agreed to stand by each other in any troubles that might arise. The Dutch also afterwards signed this treaty (January 171 7). ^ciwaras 7- This alliance eavp rno-lo«/i ^-J ^ »»o;<.: • T- ':> ■ a-...!.. «nu nance a piOUd position in Europe. It was nowthe aim of Stanhope and Orleans to make the other nations abide by the terms of the Peace of Utrecht. They would not le't the qufet t £2 5 2 Settlement of the Constitution. , 7 , 8_ai. Europe be broken V any country. In 17! 8 the Emperor Charles joined the Allianr e, for the King of Spain wanted to take Sicily from him, and sent an army thither for the purpose. Thereupon an English fleet under Sir George Haui« or Byng attacked the Spanish near Cape Passaro, Passarn, 'intl beat it thoroughly. Next year (17 19) •718 French and English armies began to make war m the North of Spain, and took some strong places Then Kmg Philip yield, d, and consented to a peace in which he gave up everything that he had laid claim to (1720). From these things we see how mighty England had become. 8- For a time all went well at home also. In 1720 Stanhope made up his quarrel with Townshend and Whig Walpole; and the Whigs became a united endtT7.o r'^y °"^^ "'°'"^- ^°'* ^''^'P«le f^'-^d shown • how dangerous he might be, by causing the Commons to throw out the Peerage Bill, which Stanhope wished to see passed. This was a bill for taking away from the King the power of making any more peers than SIX over the number that then was. Townshend and Walpole again became Ministers. But soon after their return to office there came a time of great distress for many people. Some years earlier a company had been founded for trading with the South Seas. It grew and prospered ; it often had dealings with the Gc.'crnment, and in 1720 its shares had risen to ten times their original value. An eager desire to get rich very fast then spread throughout the country ; a great many other companies were set up ; and men bought shares m these greedily and thoughtlessly. Soon a change of feeling came ; men got frightened about the mnnev th«„ had laid out in this way, and all tried at once to sell their shares, but no one was willing to buy them. Hence % I The Peer- age Lill, 1719. The 'South Sea Bubble.' I7aa. ftrst Years oj House of Hanover. 53 not only did the new companies fail, but the South Sea •hare3 also fell very low. A loud cry of distress was raised by those who had lest their money ; and all men were deepl) enraged when they heard that some of the Mm.sters had taken bribes from the South Sea Company In the midst of this trouble Stanhope suddenly died. It was thought that Walpole was the ^^v^. only man who knew how to help the people ''' m this misfortune; so he was made Chancellor .if he Fxchequer. He carried laws through Parliament w'>s-'h did much to calm men's minds and revive their \ h m one another's honesty. The nation then saw that Walpole was the ablest man the King had ; and upon the dca h „f Sunderland, in ,722, Walpole became rnme Minister. CHAPTER H. THE MINISTRY OK SIR ROliERT WALPOLE. I. Robert Walpole was a Norfolk squire of good family, who had gained sound judgment and rare skill in the conduct of affairs. He was clear-headed Robert and practical, and was just the man that Eng- Waipoie ; land wanted at this time. A calm had fol- J." Iris- lowed the great storms caused by the Revolution, and the country felt a general longing for a little rest. Now Walpole wished above all things to give the ' nation rest. He tried with all his might to SSi' keep England from going to war, and to help «"*^ Po''cy- her to make herself rich and prosperous. But he never thought of doing great deeds, of doing away with unjust laws and getting just ones made, of setting right some of 54 Settlement of tJte Constitution. 1722. the many evil things that then were, or of helping men to grow wiser and better. Indeed, he believed that most men neither were, nor could be made, good ; his opinion of men was so low that he thought they would do any- thing for money. ' Every man has his price,' he said. There was little in him to love or respect. But he had much good sense, and knew well how to work on men's minds. It was not a time for carrying out great plans ; the people were not in a humour for them, and were quite content to be ruled by Walpole, And they were right ; for on the whole things went well with England during the twenty years that Walpole was Prime Minister. 2. Perhaps Walpole would not have been so long at the head of affairs but for the cunning way in which he The Const! ■ managed the Commons. We have seen how iStelnth*" necessary it was for the King or his chief century. Minister to get most of the members of the Lower House to give him their votes. Walpole, partly because the state of things favoured him, and partly because he was very clever in managing public assem- Llies, got members to vote with him better than any minister who had lived before him. For the ways in which men gained seats in Parliament were very different then from what they are now. Many of the towns that had the right of sending representatives were mere vil- lages ; and in many others, though they were larger, there were only very few people who had a vote. It had there- fore come to pass that the noblemen or gentlemen who , . owned the lands on which these towns stood tionho- could have whatever members they liked roughs. chosen for these places. Besides, the great landowners had often such influence in the counties that the voters in these were willing to please their landlords or noble neighbours by voting for t. e persons whom they favoured. There was also a class of boroughs, chiefly / / 1722. The Ministry of Sir Robert Walpole. 55 seaports, which were quite ready to give their votes to whomsoever the King or his Ministers desired. It is clear, then, that most of the Commons were not represen- tatives of the people, but of the King's Ministers and other great men of the kingdom. 3. In this way it came about that the Revolution, in making the House of Commons the strongest thing in the State, gave the leading part in ruling the nation to a number of great families. These Soif^''"" are known in history as the Revolution /ami- ^amil-s. liesy ox great Whig houses, for most of them belonged to the Whig party. For a long time it would have been almost impossible to carry on the Government without the active support of a good number of these houses ; and their support could be gained only by giving the chief men among them a large share in governing. It is true that the King had still some power j he could give away posts of great dignity and value in Church and State, pensions, peerages, and other honours that many men were glad to have. But the first two kings of the line of Hanover were strangers ; neither of them kne>v much of English ways or English feeling, and did not care to take any trouble to keep up the king's power. Accordingly the heads of the great houses generally had their own way. We shall see that the third king of the line did make a great effort to win back to the Crown the autho- rity it had lost, and succeeded too. 4. For twenty years Sir Robert Walpole was able by wise management to keep on his side both most of the Whig Houses and the king, and thus to get Waipoie's the Commons to vote in the way he wished "manage- on every question that came before them. ComiJ* Moreover, he is believed to have paid away great sums of money in bribing Members. He was not the first to use this means of gaining votes ; but he is said to have J 56 Settlement of the Constitution. 1722-34. used It much more than any other minister ever did It was begun in Charles II.'s reign, and first became com- mon in Wilham 1 II.'s time, when the good-will of the Lower House was seen to be so needful to the King's Mmisters. 5. But we must not think that the King's Ministers need pay no heed to the wishes of the people. Walpole The people himself was more than once forced to give up some ac- his own will and do what the nation bade him count. even when Parliament would have cheerfully agreed to the course he wanted to take. Only the people had to speak out very strongly, and show that they were really in earnest, and wotdd have the matter settled in the way they thought right. They were sel- dom, however, very much in earnest then about anything ; for a time they cared very little how thmgs went on in the State. 6. Few very noteworthy things happened while Walpole ruled England. So long as George I. lived this Minister ran little risk of losing his place, and was able to deal in a high-handed way with er 1 question as It arose. In 1722 the Jacobites tried to make themselves troublesome, but failed ; and next year their leader, Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, was banished for life by Act of Parhament. In 1724 the English settlers in Wood's Ireland flew into a great rage because Walpole hjdfpence. began to issue among them a new supply of halfpence and farthings, made by William Wood, an English ironmaster. They said that these coins were far below the value of simi coins in Eng- land, and that they were issued only to enrich Wood and some worthless people about the English Court. Dean Swift, who owed Walpole a grudge, wrote with great force against this coinage, and so worked upon the minds of his countrymen that they would not receive it on any Df ath of George I., June 1727. George II. King, 1727- 1760. I724-33- The Ministry of Sir Robert Walpole. 57 terms. Walpole, powerful as he was, had to allow the coinage to be withdrawn. Then in 1725 Spain, wishing to get back Gibraltar, made an alliance with Another Austria, and went to war with England. But ^^"■.^•"h none of these things shook Walpole's hold on ms^'^i. power in the least. So quiet had things become that in the session of 1724 there was but one division in the Commons. 7. In June 1727 the reign of George I. suddenly ended. He had gone to visit his German subjects, and was on his way to Osnabruck, when apoplexy seized him, and he died in his carriage. George I. was an upright man, who sought to deal justly with all men, and was much loved in Hanover. But he was silent, awkward, and cold in his manner, and was little liked in England. His son at once became King as George II. The new king at first thought of sending Walpole away, but in a few days he changed his mind and kept him in office. 8. England and France were still fast friends ; for Walpole was bent on keeping the country out of war,' and above all out of a war with France. This, he knew, was the only nation that could help'the S"'^'''''' Pretender in a way that would make him really f "^a"". dangerous ; without aid from France the Jacobites were hai ailess, and could do little mischief. For many years, therefore, the Pretender, owing to Walpole's wisdom, was unable to move ; and thus the new line of kings had time to strengthen themselves on the throne. 9. But Walpole failed in one thing which he had set his heart on getting done. In 1733 he brought a bill into Parliament for levying the duties on certain goor.-.s, tobacco being the first, not as cuslomx —which are paid at the seaports, when the '^33 goods are brought into the country— but as excise, which 1'he K-xcis* scheme, II SB Settlement of the Constitution. 1733-39. is paid when the goods are sent throughout the country He said that it did not cost so much to raise an excise that men could not keep back or steal part of it so easily' and that thus more money would come into the treasury' while the people paid just the same. Bujt most English folk then hated the excise ; the very word put them in an Ul-humour. A loud outcry against Walpole's plan went up from all parts of the country; and Walpole, much agamst his will, gave it up. 10. But this did not weaken Walpole ; both King and Parliament still upheld him, and for a while longer the Walpole's P*'^?^^ ^^so rested contentedly under his rule. ibil°r„°^ ^^^l f ^^ y^^"" P^^sed' leaving Walpole still at the head of affairs, as strong as ever to work his will. But he ;iad made , ne great mistake in his doings. He had always been jealous of able men, and had driven away most of those who had been in office with him. There was hardly one man of merit in his Government whom he did not get rid of at some time or other. Even Townshend had to resign his place. This unwise conduct hurt Walpole in two ways : it chased away from his side the men who were best fitted to help him in the hour of need, and it sent them to jom the ranks of his foes. Thereupon this band of Patriots ^°^^' ^^"^ "^^"^"^ themselves the Patriots, went on steadily growing until nearly every able statesman belonged to it. Its leader in the Commons was William Pulteney, a brilliant speaker, who had once been Walpole's trustiest friend. But the man among the Patriots who had the greatest gifts of mind and noblest character was a young man, William Pitt, who first made himself known by his fiery speeches in Pariiament against Walpole. Seldom has a Minister had so many great men anu,yed against him. II. Yet for many years Walpole held his ground in \ ' • i '^^- Tffni 1739- The Ministry of Sir Robert W alpole. 59 spite of them all. They brought many charges against him. They said that, to please the King, he waipoie took more pains about Hanover than England ; and W»^o«- that he was tamely letting Spain trample upon the honour and the interests of England ; that he was destroying the manly tone and honesty of the nation by his wicked arts, bribery and corruption. On these points they assailed him again and again, but for a time without success. Single-handed Walpole withstood them, and beat them in every division. Indeed, once (1739) they goi so dis- heartened that they left Parliament altogether. At last a great longing for a war with Spain seized upon the people ; and the Patriots turned this into a means of overthrowing their great enemy. 12. At this time fresh life was given in England to the old hatred of the Spaniards by the cruelties which English seamen were said to be suffering at Troubles Spanish hands in the Southern Seas. Spain did *'"'» ^p^"- not like that any country but herself should trade with her colonies in America, and very unwillingly allowed a single English ship to carry goods to them once a year. But the Enghsh found the traffic profitable, and in one way or another contrived to send to Spanish America far more goods than one ship could carry. Fora time the Spaniards took little heed of these things ; but in 1733 their King secretly made an alliance, called a Family Compact, with the French King, and after this the American coasts were more closely watched. English ships that sailed or were driven by opposing winds into their seas were boarded and searched by Spanish officials, who often did their duty very roughly. One of them even tore off the ear of Robert Jenkins, the master of a Jamaica trading sloop. HwprO *\\D. iim*. l^Unl- *V.— -— J-.:_ l-J ^_ •- 1...,, ,,,,j Ti-cn iiict!. mcsc uuuiya iCU lU I^ soir.etimes known as ' the Jenkins' Ear War.' w & The English grew more and more angry as ^"'' ' they heard of these things, and at last began to call hW!* €o Settlement of the Constitution. 1739-44. loudly for war with Spain. Walpole trior! eager'y to pre- vent an outbreak of war ; but his efforts failed. The Enghsh were bent on punishing Spain for ..b!es. Sill he Fall of Wal- ^°"8ht doggedly for his pl-ce. h i , the General |K.le.Keb. Election of 1742 gave tue .^atriols a small major; tv in the Commons, and Walpok was of Orford ''^''^"" ^^ ''^' ""^ '^''' "'"''^ '""^ ""^"^^ ^^'^ 13. i^he war with Spain went on until 1 748; but nothing further that was striking happened in it except Commodore Anson s gr n voyage round the world. In September 1740 Anson iiad been sent with a squadron to do all the daniage he could to the Spaniards along the wester.. : oast of South America. He was away almost foar years, during which he met with many wonderful adventures. In a storm he lost, or was separated from, all his ships but two ; but with these he sei;.ed many sliips and took the town of Paita, in Peru In crossing the Pacific he burned one of his ships. With the other he fought and took a great Manilla galleon near the Philippine Islands. In June 1744 he reached home Anson's voyage. 1 VtA^-44- 61 I CHAPTER III. THE PELHAMS. '. The Ministry that followed Walpole's was not alto« getber m.ide up of new men ; many of those who held the smaller places stayed in office after the fall of The new their icade-'. In those days the Ministers did Ministry, not fi ^rm a close and united body, as they do now. Each sometimes took a course of his own apart from the rest ; so that a change of Ministry often meant little more than a change of leaders. The man who now took the first place in guiding the counsels of the King was John, Lord Carteret ; but Lord Chancellor Hardwicke and the Pel- hams, who stayed with Walpole to the last, were still very powerful. Indeed, only a few of Walpole's foes were taken into the new Cabinet. There was much discontent at this, and the Ministry was not at first very strong in the Commons. 2. Carteret was much liked by George II. He had good parts, was gay and genial in society, but over-fond of strong drink. He was the only Minister who knew German and the right way of dealing with German States. He therefore led the nation into a closer connexion with German affairs than pleased either his brother Ministers or the Commons. Without asking powerf their advice he made treaties, and pledged '742-44- the English people to give away large sums of money. So whilst he rose ever higher in the King's favour he became unpopular. In November 1744 the Pelhams and their friends told the King plainly that they and Carteret— now Earl Granville by his Carteret, -fiuiiici 3 ucuii! — tuuiu itui liny iuii^i;r wurK '"'"'■ ^ether, and that either he or they must give up office. I. e King would gladly have kept Granville rather than 62 Settlement of the Constittition. ^^^-^ the Pelhams ; but the Pelhams had many more followers in the Commons than their rival, and the King had to send away the Minister he hked best. For without a majority in the Commons no Minister could now get on 3. The Pelhams were the Duke of Newcastle and his younger brother, Henry. The Duke was a fussy man ItIS: ,^h\bustled about in a way that made people power. laugh. He had much knowledge of business '74^-54. but little ability. Henry Pelham was in every way superior to his brother, though his powers of mmd were not great. He did not shine either as a speaker or as a ruler ; but he was hard-working, sensible, and clear-headed ; and his training under Walpole had given him some skill in managing affairs. For these reasons he was in 17^ placed at the head of the Ministry This has been called the broad-bottom Ministry, from the number of men of various parties who belonged to it Even Tories held places in it. But its chief strength lay in the support of the great Whig houses, many of whose heads were members of it. On one point only did George II. stand firm: he would not take Pitt into his service as the Pelhams wished. For Pitt had in his speeches spoken of Hanover in a way that had deeply hurt the King. Yet in little more than a year George had to yield on this point also. In February 1746 the Ministers, Ministerial '^"o^v'"& that the King was listening in private JUS1J46 ^° Granville's advice, and was therefore not trusting them, suddenly gave up their places in a body. Granville then tried to get together a Ministry of his own, but failed ; and the King had to take back the Pelhams on their own terms. One of these was that Pitt Pittinoffice. f""^"* ^^^^ ^ P^^*^^ 5 ^"^ he was appointed, first to a minor post, afterwards to that nf Paymaster of the Forces. The great families could now make the King do what he most disUked. I740-43 The Pelkams. 63 4. By this time England had been drawn into a war with France. It is usually called the War of the Austrian Succession. England joined in it as the ally The War of of Maria Theresa, whose title to the ancestral «he Austrian J • • i- 1 r t 1 ^ Succession, dominions of her father, the Emperor Charles 1740-48. VI., was disputed by Bavaria, France, Prussia, and other States. Charles, having no son, had been eager that his daughter should succeed to the rule of the lands that Bad come to him by inheritance ; and, to make her succession sure, had got nearly all the European Powers to sign a paper called the Pragmatic Sanction, by which they bound themselves to uphold her claim. But when he died (1740) the Elector of Bavaria said that by right the Austrian lands ought to come to him, and set about con- quering them ; whilst Frederick II., the young King of Prussia, laid hold of Silesia ; and France, wishing to weaken Germany, sent two armies across the Rhine to aid Bavaria. Only England and Holland loyally stood by their promises In 1743 a united force of British and Hanoverians, 40,000 strong, marched to Aschaffenburg, on the river Main. King George himself came and took the command. Whilst they lay at this place, DeSngIn, Noailles, the French general, blocked them J"''e»743.' up so closely that they could move neither forward nor backward without fighting a battle under great disad- vantages. At last their supply of food became scanty, and one morning, late in June, they started back along the right bank of the Main, hoping to force their way to Hanau, where their bread-stores were. As they drew near to Dettingen they found that there was a French force posted right in front of them on the far side of some marshy ground. Whilst they were putting themselves in battle-array the leader of this French force, Grammont, getting impatient, led his men across the D^arshy ground 64 S^itiementoftheCoustitut^:.n, ^ ^^^ and charged down on the Allies with great . ..iftness Th^.r disorder Then fL Air ^"^^^^^^ '''^^ *» f^a" back in an EnglUh king led a„ army :; Zle ' •"" me4tS.'a: Jhe" ft^^f 'XrlCL^ >'"«''"" the friend nf th.. u^ " Ineresa, France as tngl,sh coast A storm scattered tlic Hcet that carried B>iil< of ">="> i and a declaration of war followed This "'"■ ™. Ziir ""f^," 5"»fly i" ''landers, whe;e the son, the Dute'Tf ctmb Ha„'/ 1^.? ^T'--'"'' ^P-^- fought at Fonteno, int^.^^S- "Vu IS n^'htd ^ vanced with 50,000 British Uutr-u a T Hnvp fi,« IT u L ."""^"' l^Jutch, and Austr ans, to dnve the French bes.eging army from before Tournav Prince Maur.ce of Saxony, the French leader' had ta'.n defers' Cumb'T"d°^H^"' '""^'^ thrown ^p'sfron^ detences. Cumberland, then a hot-headed >outh m ide h.s troops attack these ; but they were beatt "ack at all points. Angry at this repulse, the English general sem a column of British Infantry, 16,000 strong, stra-VVupon he French position. This fearless boc!, .f men marcheS steadily w^nther they had been sent, and, getting inside he French lines, for a time swept from their path ev^ force that strove to check their course. But they we^ Toith w? ^^ °5^^^ - ^- ^-' -^ treyi:^ graced. Then Cumberland led off his army, and 45. >74S. The Pelhams. «5 Charles Edward Stuart tomes to Scotland, «745 Tournayfell. SI ^rtly afterwards the Duke was called back to England to face danger nearer homo. 6. The war with France had given fresh life to the dying Jacobite cause. And there had lately come for- Mrard as the leader of this cause a high- spirited young prince, of handsome person and winning manners, vho believed it was his fate to win back the kingdoms to his house. This was Charles Kdward, sometimes named the Youn^r Chevalier, the elder of the two sons of Jamc? Edward. Towards the end of July 1745 he came with only seven companions ti) the west coast of Inverness-shire, and sought to stir up the Highlanders to take up arms in his father's behalf. The Highland chiefs doubted at first, but many of them were won over by Charles's eager word^ Gathering at Glenfinnan, the clans swept round by Loiryarrick and Blii r Athol to Perth. Sir John Cope had gone northwards M , a snnll force to mret them, but on rearhing Corryaiiick had become afraid, and turned aside to Inverness. The road to the Lowlands then lay open, and Chai . promptly took it. In the third w. ek of SeptemI r the ' hlanders entered Edinburgh. Three day ter the Son^ Prince led them westwards to meet C(j[ic's ^*"''' '745- army, which had sailed to Punbar. They found it near Preston Pa s, and in a single rush almost destroyed it. Returning to Edinburgh, Charles stayed there for six weeks, and then started for England. He had now about 6,000 men under his command. Taking the Western road, his troops went steadily on intil they entered Derby. There rttivi 11;- -1- r'\ 1 - was iiimseii The march to and from Derby, October- Occembtr, 1745- full of hop' and burned to push on to London, ♦he chiefs resolved to go back to Scotland. Few English E-H, 66 -'dtlcwcnt of the Constitution. ,746. had joined them ; and they were dislieartcned. On their way back they l,cat a body of soldiers that ' crtook them at Cliiton, ill Cumberland. On the day before Christmas Ski/ ^I'^y marehed into Glasgow. They then laid !_, ' sieirp tn t;tiri;r.rr Iv* — iilJ .-1 •. T^ . jctr^.r-.j., --- -- ^, uiti vv^Uiu iiui lUKC 11. nut at Falkirk Muir they overcame General 1746 \ i746-':4 The Pelhams. 67 -M Hawley, who had been sent with 8,000 men to reUeve Stirling. Cumberland himself then took the command of the royal troops ; and the Highlanders fell back to Inverness. Next spring the Duke went in search of them, and found tliem at Cwiloden Field, near Inverness. At Culloden the royal troops were handled so well that the wildest rushes of the High- clfcn, landers could not break their firm array, ^v^^l '74«- The mountaineers, thus baffled, soon scattered before the murderous volleys of musketry, and made for their several homes. Thus ended the last Jacobite rising. The poor Highlanders were most cruelly treated by the victorious soldiers. For five months Charles wandered about through the Highlands and Western isles, suflferitig many hardships and meeting with very romantic adventures. But in September he got off safe to France. Of his fol- lowers the Lords Lovat, Kilmarnock, and Balmerinoch were beheaded ; nearly a hundred others were also executed. A law was then made doing away with the special authority of the Highland chieftains over their clans. 7. The war with France still went on ; but in Flanders the Allies were generally unsuccessful. As a set-off to their failures by land the British Peace of gained two victories at sea. At length in 1748 ^^^^"'^,",^ peace was made with France and Spain at 1748^* ^' Aix-la-Chapelle. None of the nations won anything m this war, except Prussia, which was allowed to keep Silesia. 8. Six years of unbroken quiet at home and abroad followed. In 1754 Henry Pelham died, and the strife of statesmen began anew. At the same time Death of things were fast ripening towards the outbreak }?^"'^y r f , . Pelham, ot one ot the most important wars in history i75«. —the Seven Years' War, as it afterwards came 10 b« named. F2 6S BOOK IV. Tff£ SEVEN YE A lis ' WAIi. CHAPTER I. HOW THE WAR WAS BROUGHT ABOUT Newcastle's ""^"^ ^"^ carry what was thought needful iMinistry, through the HOUSP of i 'r.rr. XT ^^°*"* '754-56. ., Xl ine Mouse of Commons. Newcastle by the Kine Henr. f ' , ''"''' "^"'•^^^er, disliked hnwf^ u . ^ ^°''' ^ ^^^^^^ "^an, who knew well how to humour the Lower House, and had few scLTe kXTnX'''^'^ '"kP^^*'- ^"^ Newcastle wanZ to keep all the power to himself; and it was some time upon Newels le 'tT ^^.^"\^«^ ^--""bles came thick France Id 1; n l TT ^'^' ^^'^^'"^ '"^« ^^^ vv'th 1- ranee, and the Duke, lookmg about for allies wanted to draw closer to Austria, which had secretly enteVrd "mo a fnendsh.p with France. Then the French wfthout declarmg war, besieged St. Philip's, in Mino;cr .nd Adm,ral Bj-ng, who had been sent'wlth a fl et to brine succour to the place, came away without doing anythnT The people grew very angry ; and men began to S more and more of Pitt as the only man who "uld slve SslgnT'^ Zl ''T''' . ^^^^^^t^^ offered to have Byng -'«-. hanged-n,deed, next year Bvn^ w.<= ..V^ by court-martial and shot-but^he people uneasv and freffnl ti,»„ t7_.. , ,-. ., P^"Pie *7S6. ^y ^uuri-martial and shot-but the nennl^ were st.ll uneasy and fretful. Then Fox left NewcasSL and soon his Ministry broke up. JNewcastle, '756-57- The Seven Years' War. 69 Pitt Secre- tary of State, November, 1756 -April, I757' 2. By this time war with France had come in earnest and the voice of the peop'e called loudly for Pitt as the only man fit to have the management of it. Thereupon the King yielded ; and a Ministry was formed in which the Duke of Devonshire, a man of spotless honour, was Prime Minister, and Pitt Secretary of State, In a few months' however, the King— in whose mind the hard things that Pitt had once said about Hanover still rankled— took away his office from Pitt, and asked Newcastle to try and get a ministry together once more. But Pitt had now become the darling of the people, and men gave utter- ance to their feelings in a very marked way. The lead- ing cities and towns sent each its freedom to Pitt in a gold box ; ' for some weeks,' it was said, ' it rained gold boxes.' The King and Newcastle found that it was hopeless to try any longer to withstand the will of the people. Pitt was sent for, again made Secretary, and allowed to become the ruling spirit in the new F'i,t'., great Cabinet. The management of the war and Ministry all dealings with foreign States were wholly JunTl'757. placed in his hands. Newcastle was First Lord of the Treasury, and Anson First Lord of the Admiralty. Thus was brought into being one of the strongest minis- tries that have ever ruled England. It had all the strength that came from Parliamentary support, for most of the Commons voted as Newcastle wished ; and it had all the strength that came from masterly intellect and the hearty love of the people, for Pitt was the largest-minded and most popular statesman that England has known for two hundred years. The King too forgot his old grudge against Pitt, and held loyally by his great minister. William Pitt, known in his own days as ' the Great Commoner,' was the son of a West Country gentlerian. His character was very pure and noble ; when Paymaster . 70 Settlement of the Constitution. y>j^^_^^ he would not take anything but his lawful salary, though •t was then usual for Paymasters to enrich themsdves S William putting out at interest the balance of public d \\1i TT^ ;." *''"'' ^^"^^- "'^ ^^y« of speaking d- <778. and acting were marked by a certain gran deurand statehness, which tilled those who came near him with a feeling of awe. We have had few statesmen equal to him m clearnessof thought and greatness of si" 3. The point that England and France had now re- solved to settle by force of arms was-which of the tw^ K;:^ "f""^ should be master in North America. • The English Colonies there had grown very much of late years; the settlement of Georgia iniTs, had -aised their number to thirteen, and in ,756 their population had reached 1.300,000. The land they dwe m stretched from the river Kennebec almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the sea-coast to the Alleghany mountams. They had no^ spread to the west of these mountains, though some men among them were think! in^A^^rS f5,"^.T'^'? ^ settlement there. Now the French had formed colonies in Canada and T7\ '''"^ "'"^ '"'^^^ ^^^y f- ^--'^ -Ton sts - hardly 60,000 in ail-but many of these were soldiers wh.Is the English had no great skill or training in a ms Abrnit 1749 the French began to claim all the lands wTi' of the Alleghanies ; and the Governor of Canada was ordered to take the needful steps to secure these lands for France. He at once set about raising a line of forts between Canada and Louisiana. This line was to be a border marking off the country which belonged to I ranee from that which belonged to England. By^this arrange! ment the 1,300,000 English would have been shut up in a comparatively narrow strip of land alon^r fh. ...LS. wJmethe6o^ French would have had^Imost all the rest of North America. ^ » 754-56- The Seven Years War. 71 4. Just as the French were beginning to carry out this design a company was formed in England to colonise 500,000 acres of land which King George had granted them on the banks of the Ohio. But a small French force had already built a fort there, which they called Fort Uuquesne. In 1754 George Washington, then a young man, marched across the Alleghanies with 150 Virginians, to drive the French from the place. The French were too strong for Washington, and he returned home. By this time the English (Government had come to see that a great effort must be made to put down the French in America ; and General Braddock was sent out with two regiments to aid the colonists. Braddock started from Virginia with 2,000 men, made his way across the Alleghanies, and led his force Defeat of blindly into the woods. When within 10 miles S*"?i;*' , ot hort Duquesne he was assailed by bodies 1755 of French and Indians, who kept themselves carefully under cover. Braddock, after losing 700 of his small army, and getting mortally wounded himself, was forced to retreat. He died on the way. There had also been much wrangling and much fighting about the border between Canada and Nova Scotia, where the English had lately built the town of Halifax (1749). Clearly the two peoples could not live at peace with each other on equal terms. England and France now went to war to find out which was to have the mastery. 5. Prussia was an ally of England m this war. Frederick the Great, then king in Prussia, was (George II.'s nephew, but hitherto there had been little Alliance friendship between the two princes. Frederick V^"^^ ■ , J , . , „ ... Prussia, had acted with France in the last war, and 1757-62. until 1756 hiul been supposed to be sliil in close alliance with the French king. But in that year it came to light that Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony had i 72 ^^itlemmt of the Constitution. ,756-58. anS'FreH^'"r'?!,/°^'^^'^^ ^° ^^"^^ Prussia utterly' andnedenck gladly made an alliance with his unde' m If"?"'"^^ ^° ^^'^^ ^-^--'^ 670,0^, every See an l'"^".r" ^^"^^^ ^ comn.on\;ar ag'inst other "'"''' "'^ ^° "^^^^ P^-e -ithoul the CHAPTER 11: THE EVENTS OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. «„ ^' ?'°\^'^^^""'" years during which Pitt held the chief power he thought of little else than how to bring the war to a happy endmg for England. It was his fixed resoTve to blot out the rule of the French in North America and Pitfsaims. ^° ^""^ ^^^ sole mastery there to his own nf .1, • ^"""^'■y'"^"- The American nation, now one gL:t:esTt?;h?s\;ar. ^^^^^' "^^ ''' ''-^^^ ^^ ■^- ,^r^" M- ^''^ "^^'^* ^"^^^"^ sot rather the worse. In 1756 Mmorca was wrested from her; and in 1757 a S: a';- ZT^'\ T^J" ^"^^'^^ P^">'' '^d by the Duke Stade on ''1'^''"'^''^''^^' ^^^ back before the French agreed at K ^ "T"'""' ' ^"^ *° ^""^ '^ Cumberland ai,reed at Kloster-Zeven, to let the French keep Hanover the stronger power. In 1758, though they quietly left agamst the place, yet they beat back a body of i^^ooo from Ticonderoga, killing or wounding 2,000 of them nl.n ■ h"/ T'^^^ *^'^'^ ^'""^^' ^''bei happened or were planned before P,tt became Chief Minister. Shortly after The war i„ "'^ 4Ppomtment the war took a favourable turn 1758. ' r,: - »^niany and nmerica. in Germany , r. f ^"^^ ^'■'^'" ^'"^ Frederick a very good general, Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, and set him over ": mmmmmmm> *^.,. 1759. invents of the Seven Years' War. 73 the army which Cumberland had led so badly. Ferdinand at once moved upon the French, drove them back from pomt to point, and at last swept them clean out of Hanover. He even followed them across the Rhine, and overthrew them at Crefeld. Then Pitt added a British force of 12,000 to Ferdinand's army. CreSd.^ Most of our Flighland regiments served for J""«'i758. the first time in this war. Pitt had lately raised these rcguiients from the Highland clans, rightly thinking that in this way he ^> ould turn rebels into loyal soldiers. In 1758 a fleet and army were sent against Cape Breton also. General Amherst was leader of the army, but his second in com- mand was James Wolfe, a young soldier of great skill and daring, simple-hearted and truthful, whom Pitt had picked out for command from among much older men. The French tried to hinder the English ^TdS^"'"' from landing, but failed. Louisburg, the chief '"8. town of Cape Breton, was besieged and taken, whereupon the whole island passed into the hands of the English. 4.. But the great year of the war was 1 759 ; perhaps in no single year has England won so many great successes as in this one. In Germany, in America, in India, off the coasts of Portugal and France mighty deeds of war were done by the English. A writer then living said, ' One is forced to ask every morning what victory there is, for fear of missing one.' 5. (i.) In Germany the campaign began with a defeat. The French having seized the free town of Frankfort, Ferdinand marched swiftly southwards with 30,000 men to try and dislodge them. A SrnTanV!" little way from Frankfort he came upon '759- 35,000 French drawn up at Bergen, fought long and -t„.,;jt:i,,.,. ,^ viccii Lucm iruui liis patH, dul Iiad at last to go back the way he came, leav- S;;:^,;^' ing 2,500 of his troops on the field. Yet in ^'"■ the following August be gained a victory .<;. !-'::iden, I 74 Stttlemmt of the Constitution .. . '759. which more than wiped away the disgrace at Berwh He was standing' at bay on the left bJnk of .he wS; with two French armies before him. These we„., f posted, and he dared „„t attack the m B ^ "ct'' n.ngly tempted the French to come across the river ■ whereupon SI.V English regiments of foot boldly chaZ' orM,,„.„, and scattorcd the French horse. TheFren Knghshfo^:rit'rai::,^-;rdt.hr:ira'^^ .' -^eady musketry-F,re of their foes Then fho ^^ t gcne.^gavethewordforretreat. yJ^ZZI^ to Lord George Sackville, the commander of the Fnlif k horse, to charge the retreating army • and it is H ^ t that, if Lord (George had done so, the F,"'ch a m ^"^m have been utterly crushed. Bu the EntliZ/arf reasons that are not exactly known, would no^ct"' ^"" and the beaten French were able to gerback. ^^l ' nver. They lost 7,000 in this ball ' For thlrn'mot b^t"r'"'^"^r^ P"^-^ of the armyat^S b> Kmg George. The Marquis of Gran by took hi. n m command of the horse. Ferdinand kentth. ^ hand throughout the rest of the anp.i J thl r^^'^l'' armies moving back towards Frankfort ^' '^'"'"'' cause ^it^t^ln''' '''"" *" ^''"''^">' ""^^ '"^PO'tant only be- cause ,t made success m America possible. It was fn The war in .^^"^er.ca that the greatest event of the war A^nca. mdeed Of the century, took place. Thfs was' from the ^^1^^^^^^-^^^, je.e.0, h..h rocks; and the French commaJe;' .hUleloweX:t^^:;r":^--^ i7i9. Events of the Seven Years War. 75 bombarding the town from the other side, but did not get a bit nearer winning it, though he did it much harm. Next he crosbccl to the left bank and tried to force Montcalm from his position. But his foremost troops >verc too eager, and rushing upon theu foes before the 76 Settlenunt of the Constitution. , ^^^ atao., gave up all hope of gcto! ttZV:"' """ Through death and disease his^amTdwindird . i''!.? more than 4,500, and he himseTfell ^ot fevtr h' johnso„:e*;i"4\:r,:.s?a'; rrh^ with his army to ' smash' Z Englth h^L d"' Th' n u T, J vvuue reu , hit by three musket-balls, he &„%. ^"^^^ J"«t ^;7V", ^' '"'^ ''^^^ "^« French ran te^ber. and o Say, 'I shall die happy,' when he breathed 2h . ? T '^^«"'^^»'» too was wounded and died next day. Four days later Quebec surrendered. (3.) Th,s year the French made a grand plan for The^wa^^off mvad.ng England. They got together fle^s Kh"'^ U at^ft"' 'm' u "^ ^^^^^' ^"^^ thought coasts. that If these could be combined success vvas Ot these fleets. In July he sent Admiral Rodney against '• 1759. I and driven rtened, and c that year, d to hardly fever. He fit come to nherst and 'Ut no help sderoga, yet dark night ^nd drifted li'es above ley landed, steep from iwn up in the town. hastened aid. The stock-still n they all dly volley 1 paused arge. In the field, -balls, he ench ran breathed ded, and ered. plan for ler fleets thought :ess was he union ' against Bombard- ment of Havre, J"iy. Battle of Lagos, August. I7S9-60. ^ven^s of the Seven Years' War. '/) Havre, who did much damage to the town and the flat- bottomed boats that were to carry the French soldiers across the Channel. In August, Admiral Boscawen caught the Toulon fleet, which ! ad slipped through the Straits of Gibraltar, off Lagos, in Portugal, and at once closed with it. In this fight five of the largest French ships were taken or sunk, and the rest driven ashore or forced to flee. Yet the French still clung to their plan ; and the preparations at Brest were pushed briskly forward. To Admiral Hawke had been given the duty of watching that port, and he had watched it all the summer and autumn. But in November the French fleet under Conflans, finding that wild weather had driven Hawke from his sta- Battle of tion, put out to sea. Hawke heard of this Q"'beron movement, came back with all speed, fell upon November. Conflans, and beat him utterly. This battle was fought m the midst of a raging storm, among dangerous rocks and shoals, well known to the French, but not to the English. It was an awful scene; three French ships were sunk or burnt ; two struck their flags ; the rest were chased into the river Vilaine or Charente. 6. The war lasted some years longer: but the English always got the better of their enemies. In 1760 three small armies moved at the same time on Canada Montreal, where the French still held out ^o" i^y Montreal surrendered, and the French power fyfe''"'^' in Canada came to an end. Prince Ferdinand too kept his ground in Westphalia against forces much larger than his own, and even gained one or two battles. Never had the name of England been so great. .. .,, T,„^ pcruit Liic rving or Spam thought fit to enter into the war on the side of France. He was a Bourbon, and had a kindly feeling for his cousin of ■■r~— j>j r ranee against Eiigland, 1762. 78 S^ff/e^u„/ of the Consfitutiou. ,75, 63 himself by another Family Compact to go to war w,,l) England if peace were not made l^Z f ':' ''''• ^'" ''^""^ «"' about this Frml Co,npact, and wanted to make war on Spain at once when she was unprepared. But George 1 1, 'iad dtd ?he year before (October. 1760) ; his grandson. (^,eorge JH c7ared ". 'p""' '" "P'°'''"^ ^^'" ^ -- -s not de^ dared ; and Put went out of office. In ,762, however. he ^Span.ardshav.ng got themselves ready, began wa; de^'^aled. ^ f^^""^' ^^'''" ^^"^'^"^ was victO- h.^ ; 1 T^ ^"'^'^ P"""^' ^ Spanish army which had mvaded Portugal, then an ally of England, was forced to .uhdraw ; Havanna, the chief town of tuba was taken at one end of the ec.h , Manilla, the chief - town of the Ph.hppine islands, na. taken at the o her Sh p"aTes "'''"'^ ^'" '"'' ''" ^"'"*^' "^ '•^^ ^'^^'^'•^ ^^^ p ^' '", If^^ ^''^ ^^"^ ^^= brou;;;. to a close by the Peace of Par.s. This treaty has some likeness to the Peace of Peace of Utrecht. The Earl of Bute, George February ' ' 1 ■ s ncw Minister, was so anxious to end the In ■ .u n '^''.'" ^^""^ ^^ "°^ ''"'y abandoned England's ally, the Prussian king, but let off Franc earn! Spain much EnT Tl ""/ ''^' '°P^^- ^-"- --^' over o England, Canada, Cape Breton, and some West India islands and gave back Minorca. To Spain, England restored Havanna and Manilla, getting only Florida in wi ^thr ''"' --^'•^hmen were greatly dispIeaseS w.th th.s arrangement ; but Bute carried ic out neverthe- 1761-63. 79 ne giievous Englishmen lim, on the ii he bound act to go to ■ not made his Family in at once «d died the eorge III., as not de- 2, however, began war was victo- rniy which :land, was 1 of Cuba, , the chief ' the other, victors at se by the !ss to the e, George o end the England's >ain much over to ;st India England lorida in ispleased levcrthe- CHAPTER III. THE RISE OF THE ENGLISH POWER IN INDIA. r. Two things make the Seven Years' War the most fruitful event of modern times for England. The first is, that It overthrew the French power in America, and thus smoothed the way for the revolt of the English colonics. When the colonists no longer needed the help of the mothor-country against foes on their fevln"*"' soil they were sure so(jn to separate them- ^*^''''' ^^^'■■ selves from her altogether. The second noticeable thing aboil this war is, that during it the English began to build up their Empire in India. 2. England owes her sway over India to a mere body of traders. In 1600 some London merchants got from Queen Elizabeth a charter giving them the p^^^ ^^^j. sole right of trading with the East Indies for ComWny"* fifteen years. Thus the great East India December Company was founded. In 1609 James I. 3'. 1600. renewed this charter without fixing any term of years only keeping to himself the power of taking it away at ny time he pleased on giving the company three years' notice. This Company lasted until 1859; br in 1813 other people were allowed to trade with India as well. 3. For 1 50 years the Company went on trading with the East with no other thought than that of gaining riches. Their earliest dealings were not with Earliest India itself, but with the islands beyond, their English first factories being at Acheen, in Sumatra, ttiSe? and Bantam at Java. In 1612, however, they turned their thoughts towards India itself, and built a factory at Surat.^ And in 1615 Sir Thomas Roe was sent to Agra to seek for his countrymen the good-will of Shah Jehan- ghir, the Gr-ai Mogul, as the chief ruler in India was i^J^> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I I^|2j8 12.5 lAo mil 2.0 IL25 i 1.4 1.6 ^^ Photographic SdSces Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. M580 (716) 872-4503 s :0^ ^v V \ ;\ «^' *> ^ ^ ^ <• '^% ' O^ ii. '1A (" ^,-!'* s^^ ^ ^ 80 Settlement of the Constitutiou. ,^,,_^^ called. But it was not all smooth sailing with the Con,' ^X^l Pany at first. The Portuguese and the DuH" others .s,::^ ^S;^'^^^J^- -sh an; trouble. Thev Inrf fn^. I ,. Company much parts, and sou^h."" dn"e U^ ^'"'? .°' "" '" ""•« The EnghSh m'et force rhLe"!^ Ti, ''•^' ">^"- a bitter warfare was kent un i„ .i / ""'">' y'"" n,ade a bold attempt to crush the p" "'^"""S-ese fleet failed. The Uutch'fougl. 'n't a„"f"f "'■'"=■'•"' and having more men »Ih "«"/"'. """•« doggedly ; '-.antheE^nglisCgr.;; ppTa'ndtfa'; "' !""'" I. wantetl very much to reco': ,e the Ou.ch ,nd ,^'Tu tomp,in.es, and twice made ,l,™ ^ ^"^lish But the hatred betwee" .hem wa ,' :^'''. '" " P^^"' ;. built Port sri:"r^: (MaX^r::d"^<::^t- „'a"d*^° lands whch it boup-hf fr^.,, -* """/*o« '*>t. David on Charles "■ gave^B^lb'™" .^^r^WchT/- ""' •..n, by his marHage with a^LceL:? '^tl^irT,: -' trouble bothi: lome^n ' -^ 'Z' 't 1"'" ^^TSgTanrrnififpff'^'' '-^^ "^ 'a^- destroy the old a! .hV '^"''™™'. ^<=™ed likely to in .nia whictkindW hr^^.rr, the'c ="T"'"« Aureng^ebe; and it In.t fL a • u Great Mogul, ■nentslhich ittad' foniefat" H»gX' "C' 'T' years both clouds na«*.ri o. "°°S"'y- «ut in a few suaded to take'the'crmVa: "agatll't ™ '^^ granted it «n.^« i.^j ;, '^..^K^'" '"to favour, and .a..d= on tne liooghly. There in 1698 I6I2-I698. th the Com- :' the Dutch, fidies before t wish any ipany much If in those y by force, many years •giiese fleet Surat, but doggedly ; the Indies le. James >d English a peace. g out, and d its own In 1640 f^avid on ■• Next come to i. After J"y pros- : go! into A new f trade ; likely to iTiething : Mogul, ? settle- in a few as per- ir, and In 1698 1702-48. Rise of the English P<-iver in India. 81 it raised Fort William, round which the present Indian capital Calcutta, afterwards grew up. And, in .70., fhe old and new Companies made up their quarrel by uniting themselves together. Thus quiet came, and fresh pros perity along with it. ^ 5. In 1740 things stood thus. Each station-Fort St George, Fort William, and Bombay-formed a kind of little state m itself, with a ruling body named by the Company, and a small army, partly XdS'' Europeans and partly natives. These latter '74o. T'^uf^t ^^'P^y'' ^'""^ ^^^ "^^t'^e ^^«'-rf for soldier th p -^V J^'"'!!>'-"'^'''"^ ''•'^^ «^'" the only thought of .nl I 7^^ "^*'"" "^ '^""Sing any part of India under the.r rule seems never to have entered their heads. «ut m 175, they were drawn, almost in spite of them- selves, into the quarrels of the native princes, and were thus tempted to enter on a wider field of action 6. At this time there v as a French East India Com- pany also with its chief stations in the island of Mauritius and at Pondicherry, south of Madras. In • 746 the. Governor of Mauritius was La fScUn"** Bourdonnais, an able and honourable man • '"d'- and the Governor of Pondicherry was Dupleix, also a man of great ability, but ambitious and vain. As war was then going on between England and France, La Bourdonnais sailed with 3,000 men to Madras, which to 'h?n;'"^T^ to withstand his greater force, surrendered to him. The Frenchman promised to give back the place to the English when they had paid him a large sum of money But Dupleix claimed Madras as his con- quest ; and when La Bourdonnais sailed away he not only kept the place, but laid siege to Fort St. David, from Fort St. David he was frightened awav hv th. comiiig ot a new force from England. In 1748 the war in Europe ceased, and Madras again became English. 82 Settlefnent of the Constitution. « 748-51. '740-51. ^^, breakin^p , each "IZ^X ZZ "Zo'l • as independent in (1,^ I j "'^; was as good in Southern Ind^ He vv^ '''"'''''' ^'^^ ^^''^•'^^^^^ '"an He pulled down one N.bob of '? T'T""'' ''' ' ''^^^^ '^e pulled down the Viceroy oM! e" n'"^ ''' "^ ^"°^»^^'- ' as he was called-and s!m n I ^^«c«^an- the Nizam, rule of South Eastern Indirr'''"", '" ""'' P'^^^' ^he Cape Comorin wl put imo iT"". '^> "'''' ^''^^"^ ^« waslaw a.ong thirt/n" -1^ o^f';^':;;^ '^^'' ' ''^^ ^^^ The Kn«,ish Sent T feV hundl ' '°""'? altogether, and "ucrf.re^ Aii r ,""^'^^ "^cn to help Mahommed in Trichinopl^i."';,: /ll''^'" ^^'^^^^^^ -'- still helTo^'t and shut up wUh their UvinTT' ^"^^^--^""y beaten, He was the sTn of . si .'"'' ""'""^' '^e English. first a clerk in the Con-7' ' '^'"''"'"' ''^ '^^" and then a clerk a^,.nf 5 ' '''''''' ^'^^" «" officer, 5cx>.en,ofwho';;rt"3ootr:rr;^^^^^^^ arvew, .;sr marched straight ^oTlZlTS ing a blow • td Chv:at?"'^- '^^^'"^ ^^" ^'^^-^ ^'"•^- gof all things retdy7or a ^''r'^'ir^ ^^^ -"« -^ closed round Arcot but for fi ft ] '" '^f "'^"^ '"^" ««°" . ».„g u^., ..„ve went m search of the retreaUng '• » 748-51. no rest to as now fast as as good hfs govern- I'y niixing catest man for a lime. P another ; he Nizam, ace. The Kistna to > ; his will adras got -ther, and ihommed I held out ly beaten, was just >g man of led, came Enghsh. ad been J officer, head of 1 August he chief 'ut strik- alls and en soon them at e place, A body ommed reatJng 1751-56. Rise of the English Potver in India. 83 army, overtook it at Arnee, and beat it thoroughly. Clivc then „,ent on from success to success ; the siege of Trichi^ nopo y was ra.sed, and Mahommed Ali was made Nabob of A cot. Dupe.x worked hard to undo the effect of Chyes danng deeds, but in vain. The upshot of he strife was that Dupleix was .ecalJed to France and a peace favourable to the English was made in ,754 The year before tins, however. Clive had fallen into i 1 health and gone back to England. ' For?sI"i7^^^''*r. '''^"'*' ^^^^'^ to ^ndiaas governor of M K ^ r , ' ^'"^'"'^ '" "^"Sal. The young The Black Nabob of Hengd, Surajah Dowlah, was jeal P}^^ ous of the prosperity of the strangers who had S"""' Tn^ k"?^*;'' '''''' ''"''' '" '756, led an army to take and rob Calcutta. The English governor and'the chief th^ m "" T?^ ' ""^ '^^ ''^^" ^'^^"^o" had to give up officers. They thrust their 146 prisoners, une of whom called the Black Hole, in which hardly a score of ,,eopIe The ,r*';^r^ stifled forwantofairtheysh^S to be let out ; but the men on guard were afraid to do wa rlrn V" 'T *'^ ^'^^'^"^^ -^ the Nabob was asleep, and no one dared to wake him. Thev were herefore kept in all night. The scene was horuble he prisoners trampled on one another in their agony • Xnthfd'^ °""^ """ "^"^ •"^^- ^-t mofnTng; when thb doors were opened, 123 were corpses. Yet the the fewT "'''' -^'1°'"^^ ""^""^^^^ ■' '- P»tson e of the few survivors in chains, and took Calcutta to himself Butin some months Clive was sent from Madras ^:lh 2400 men. He soon won bark ralrnt*- fmr- -"-a Natab's soWier. ; and when .he Nabo-b came d^w^ « the place wuh a mighty host, Clive struck such fear into G 2 84 Settlement Qf the Constitution. jyjy. hini by a march which he made through his camp that the Nabob was glad to agree to a peace. lo. This peace lasted only a short time. The Nabob soon came to hate and dread the English more than ever ; and Clive, thinking there would be no safety for his countrymen so long as Surajah Dowlah was lord of Wengal, made a plot for his overthrow. Meer Jaffier his chief general, was to be made nabob in his room.' In The plot this affair Clive stooped to do a very shameful Sah *^'"S- Omichund, a Hindoo merchant, who Dowlah. had been taken into the plot, threatened to tell Surajah Dowiali of it unless he was pro- mised 300,000/. in the treaty made by the persons en- gaged m the design. To quiet Omichund, Clive caused a false copy of the treaty to be drawn up; and when Admiral Watson would not sign this, Clive had his name put to It by another man. In this, which was shown to Omichund, the promise of 300,000/. was made to the Hmdoo, bu,' there was not a word about the monex in the true treaty. Clive marched at the head of 3,000 men towards Moorshedabad, the chief town of Bengal At Plassey he met the Nabob's army, 50,000 strong, led by Kl:/ the Nabob himself. Here took place the first Junes.,; great battle fought by the English in India '"7. The Nabob's army broke almost at once before the onset of Clive's little band, and rushed wildly from the field. Surajah Dowlah fled far away, but was caught, brought before Meer Jaffier, and slain in prison. Clive went on to Moorshedabad, and there set up Meer Jaffier as nabob of Bengal. Then Omicuuid was told of the trick that had been played upon him The shock was so great that he became an idiot, and soon afterwards died. The new nabob granted the English me lorasinp of a wide tract of land as the reward of their services to him. ( I757-6I- ^ise of the English Power in India, 85 11. Clive's second stay in India lasted three vears longer. He was not idle during this time. He put to flight the army of the Great Mogul's eldest son ciive's from before Patna. He destroyed a Dutch 0":'''*' a • t • 1 doings, fleet anc army which were on their way up 1757-60. the Hooghly to Chinsurah, a Dutch station, because he believed they had been sent to work evil to his country- men. He never faltered, and everything he put his hand to prospered. Early in 1760 he sailed home, and - was at once made an Irish peer as Lord Clive, and got a seat among the Commons. 12. Whilst Clive was busy in Bengal, the English at Madras were in serious danger. Count Lally Tollendal, a brave and skilful but rather fiery general, i,aiiy had been sent out frcn France with 1,200 '/'ojlenJa' i" • , ,. India, 1758- tramed soldiers to strengthen the French at 176' Pondicherry. In 1758 he laid siege to Fort St. David, took it and levelled it to the ground. Next he went against Madras itself ; but after trying every means he could think of to win the place, he had to give up his design and march away. In 1760 he was End of overthrown by Eyre Coote, a famous English '••"e"*^*'. ■' ' ' *> ijower in soldier, at Wandewash. Next year Pondi- India, 1761. cherry was taken by the English. With t j fall of Pondicherry the French power in India came to an end. It was now clear that the English were to be masters of India, if India was to have foreign masters. I i 86 BOOK V. THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE KING AND THE WHIG HOUSES. CHAPTER I. THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF GEORGE III.'S REIGN. .wi» ^"^ ^T"^^: '760 George 11. suddenly died, and his eldest grandson became king as George III. The new cmg was twenty-^two years old ; and his character wa^ m many ways urflike that of the earlier kings of his line He was thoroughly English in feding as^in birth ; he George IIF. "f ^ much good scnse ; he was fully alive to K.«g. .760- h.s dut.es as a king, and strove to fulfil them faithfully; and he had always a warm desire o do good to his people. He had also high courage a" d sp>nt. - jrhaps his most marked quality was his unflinch .ng pursuit of any end that he had once set before h.t Character "'^ '"'^ was pure, and his tastes were homely of George But his powers of mind were not great • his and h« 1, ""^^'■^tf "di"& was narrow and untrained u and he had httle knowledge. Eleven months after hi accessmn he marned Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelit a lady l.ke-mmded with himself. Queen Charlotte became the mother of many children, and lived tn^J 2. George III.'S coming to the throne wrought great changes, but not at once. The Jacobites and Hfgh P.tt;s Min- Tones indeed, who had held aloof in dislike jtoysin or enmity from the first two Georges, saw in - v^curge i i 1. a native king to whom they could be loyal, and crowded to his Court. The Earl of But^ iy6i. First Ten Years of George II r.s Rain. 8y a new course, 1761. who had hitherto been his great friend and counsellor, was made one of the Secretaries of State ; and there were some other little signs that a new order of things was at hand. But the Ministry of William Pitt was still kept in power. The whole management of the war and of foreign affairs was still left to him. 3. But in October Pitt withdrew from office, because his advice to make war at once upon Spain was not fol- lowed ; and the king straightway struck into .|,,g ^j a new path. Taking as his guide John Stuart, «"««»•« upon Earl of Bute, he set to work to make himself king in reality. For almost fifty years the King of England had been helpless in the hands of the great Whig houses. The Constitution still gave him a large measure of power ; but the heads of these houses had come to look upon this power as their own. The king could not withhold from them anything they were firmly bent on having ; for everything now hung on the vote of the Commons, and the Whig leaders had the means of getting this vote whenever they wished. As George II. had once said, * in England the Ministers were king ; ' and these must be taken from the ranks of the great Whig lords and of those whom these lords favoured. But George III. made it the grand purpose of his life to wrest from the Whig lords the foremost place in the State. Thus began a struggle that lasted for many years, in which George had his own way in the end. 4. One or two things make this fight for power unlike other struggles of the same kind in our history, (i.) It was not a strife between the king and the people, but between the king and a few men oHhe* had left to the king a fair share of power ; he could declarf; war ; make peace ; call together and send away 88 Settlement of the Constitution. 1763. I • -1 703. t" be used by ,1,. t "f, T?r ""■''" ""'^ !»»■«' Oouso,,? Ceo J tin'^e "rl:: f^ '"l ^^"'^ ;^-. .,. .Ha. «r;:",::;r.'e Tin^'^.ct ;'t ,'?-«'" former days had soiurlu to wnrl. .. ^n ''^ '*'"^'s »' Commons; but Ciec^rgl ouX^^ the Commons. To Jn hk . u '"' '"' ^'^ ^''''"^^^'^ could think of to gen e^^^^^^^^^ ^-X -eanshe he wi.hed. An'd it vronK . ' ''^'?'^'»«»t to vote as voting as he w^hed th u t ' "'7f "'"^ "' P^-rU.n.om This, then, is the nt.nit of Th' "''' '" ^^^^'" '^'^ ^'"^s. resolved that hfs wi^ sLod" be of'"""'"" ''""''^^ "'^^ ruhng of the countr nni , '""'' ''^^"""^ *" the £■■•«. Pn™ '"' »""« 'i'"e held all the p„„" 5 a Pr ° «.™^ M„,,^er ,„e„ Ueca„,e so i,.",.,,," "also X i'-if showed wh!.i,rw„: ;""",'" ^" '■«'' "" "«« <» had been i„ the se v ce ofTll T ^™/ ," ''"'"K- »>"« fas. fnendship of ;e\f„^r , i'",f '""";''' '■■^'' "■>" *' tutor of .he king hiLef*' He , J' ""?'''' """ "» mind than his fellows and no ?, "" ''"'" ^ifts of but he had .he £o°d wni^f H T"'"^ "' "" sla.esn,a„ , Chief ruler of r^:i":ziS' St:' r, r- trial of strength between »h,.i.;., "'^ y"wn. The hrst - eager .o^un.blrwTs l';!:: ,t^ ""." "-»» '" trance in ,;6.. Hen^ Fox u„der.ook f^;^ u,^:";^,^ 176a. 1762-65. First Ten Yearsof George III: s Reign. 9g to get a vote in its favour from the Commons. He fulfilled his promise thoroughly. Only 65 of the Commons voted against the Peace, whilst 319 voted for it. George now felt himself to be indeed King of Eng- land. Hut the wrath of the people at these ^^n^!'' doings showed itself so plainly that Mute got '*''"'• •''3- frightened and threw up his office. 6. George Grcnville, whose sister was I'itt's wife, was then placed at the head of affairs. It was thought that Grenville would not only carry out the king's Orenville. wishes, but would also be willing to follow t'/''"'' Hutes guidance. But Grenvdie complained 1763-65 so much to George about Bute's iutluence that George soon became anxious to get rid of him. There were, however, few statesmen willing to be the king's min- isters on the king's terms. George made several at- tempts to win over Pitt to form a new Ministry ; but they all fell through. At last in 1765 the Kinfj's dislike of Grenville overcame his dislike of the Whig lords ; and a Ministry of the old kind, with the Marquis of Rocking- ham as its leader, came into bffice. 7. Englishmen will long remember Grenville's Min- istry for two causes, (i.) It begun and carried on a legal persecution of John Wilkes, a member of Parliament who had written against the Government in a paper called the * North Briton.' Wilkes was seized along with several others on a ' general warrant,' that is, a warrant in which no per- sons were named, but which simply empowered the king's officers to arrest those that had done a certain thing supposed to be unlawful. The Court of Common Pleas released Wilkes because no one had a right to arrest a member of Parliament for libel. There was much excitement ihiouglioul the country, and Wilkes became very popular. He soon, however, got into Win- .. ' gen- »l warraut^. 90 Settlement of the ConsHtution. 176S-6& trouble again, was wounded in a dui-I (K.A , v and was outlawed H..f Chi r i ' ^ '" ^''^"ce, Lord Canulen, " ve a so em^ .i"'" ^"'•^' ''''^""•''^^' f..iL ? " judjrment against the law- The Ameri- ^"'""^ of general warrants ; and they h^l c.n S..P never been used since. (.) GrenviPe cartd up a strong iSVgt"^^^^ ^'^ '"^ ''''I''' '^'^ ^^'-d England.. Thswaf an Art r*"'"'" '"'^"'"^ =*^'^'"^^ A.eH.ans ., .e.ro?: ^ «; s^^ ^^rpJr ''' 8. Rockingham's Ministry ln<;fi>r? •! i * *^ •.. vpTi- Ti,« I • ,• , '""='"/ ''^sted no longer than a *» '" ^merica, and indeed could not h#» {■."'PS,,, tjf"™''-' """he king looked c„lcll,."„,ht were alwayl r d^ « ^^ "„'^°"'r- -- -1,0,1 who the side op„„se,l eo i^ T1,"V ""-' '"''' """"• '""^ able .0 nX in ^ L„^ K,ng moreover, w.-,s a, last was disJii ed/ 1: "r Z',"'''' '''"• '^ocKingham Chatham, took hi place "' "»» cre.n.ed Earl of firs.\^"bera"tu«::r^":^ ,t-^t' - ^"""- - •>'= „.... success. For this there were several gin'd ;;^7»'' . "« "ad test the love of the ,«„„ j than to him. Put hTrl L^L ^^^'"^ "'°''" '° *''^ ^'^^ lait there was a sadder cause still. Early ' See Epoch VII.. p, 6. "SeeJipoch VII., p. 7. 1768. First Ten Years of George 11 Ts Reign. 91 in 1767 a strange disease laid hold upon him ; his mind seems to have given way ; and for eighteen months he was utterly helpless, being unable to take the slightest part in the management of affairs. During this time everything went wrong, for the Duke of (Grafton, Prime Minister in name, was too weak to hold in check the other ministers. Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, got Parliament to agree to a bill laying duties on tea and other goods imported to America ; ' and thus the wound which the repeal of the Stamp Act had almost healed was torn open anew. In 1768 Chatham's henlth of mind came back to him ; but the first use he made of it was to give up his place in the Ministry. 10. Grafton stayed in office for some time longer. During this the King was making good way towards the object he was seeking after, for neither Grafton nor Lord North, whom the death of Charles Townshend had made Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1767, cared to thwart him. The noisiest question this Min- istry had to deal with was one that arose out mSmS*. of the election of Wilkes to Parliament. In '768-70. ' 1768 Wilkes had returned from Paris and been chosen one of the members for Middlesex. Put he was sent to gaol for two years in punishment of the libels he had written. Whilst in gaol he wrote a £' rigM"'* letter which the Commons regarded as a libel' o*^ '''^"ors. on the Secretary of State, Lord Weymouth. They therefore expelled Wilkes from their House. Middlesex again elected him. A second time the Commons ex- pelled him. Middlesex elected him a third time. Put on his being expelled a third time, another man, one Colonel Luttrell, stood for Middlesex ; and, though three times as many votes were given for Wilkes, che Commons took Luttrell as their member. Many people thought » See Epoch VIL. p. 7. 92 ^^itlement of the Constitution. ^,j^ that the Commons in taking this course did a eross wrong to the electors. ^^ In 1 770 Grafton resigned, and Lord North at once be- came the chief of a new Ministry. CHAPTER H. GEORGE IF I. AND LORD NORTH. Guildfo^rd^'^?''''" "" ''' ''^''' ^°" «^ ^he Earl of Ou Idford. He was a very good-humoured, even-tem- Lord Nonh. pere^ man : it was almost impossible to make Minister. h.m angry. To most people his Ministry at Z V ?' '^*""^'* ^^""y "^^^^ '-^"d "'^t likely to live ong. Yet .t lived for twelve years. Many things worked Kmg s Fr ends were hearty in upholding it The Kin^r found m Lord North a Minister to his mind, and ued h.s power and influence to the uttermost to keep him !n The (Cins's ^^'^^' "c toolf pains to find out how each course of member of Parliament voted, and gave or withheld his favours according as he voted for or against Lord North. Then the old Torv parfy had come together again, and, true to its principles; held [o the man wlu.m the king delighted to honour. Lastly he oSto Ro^k''^'""'"' r^ ^^^"^'"^ *° Chatham, others to Rockingham as their leader. And George who longed to do away with party-government, now and break with his party. * 2. The kine had now faiViv cr^t fu_ ,, • , J • , " --.. J ^,;i xivc Upper nana • ZZl^r '^^^"^ ^'"" ^" ""^ '" ^^^"-y ^^^y the real ruler of the nation. He and Lord North thought alike ■ji-jilLjJijri lH> I77I. George III. and Lord North. 93 about the rights of the people and the rights of the king, for Lord North was a stout Tory. Moreover, George was a man of masterful will, Lord North was of an easy, yielding temper, and did little more than carry out the King's wishes. The bulk of the Commons cheerfully agreed to everything that the ministers laid before them. 3. Yet in 1771 the Commons foolishly thrust them- selves into a quarrel which ended in a way that, in the long run, weakened the king's power, and helped forward great changes in Parliament itself. At this time men outside Parliament had not the means which they have now of easily learning what members said in their debates. Neither the Lords nor the Commons would let anyone publish in an open way any account of their debates. In 1771 certain newspapers began to give to the world reports of speeches in Parliament without dis- guise. The Commons grew angry, and called upon the printers to come before them and answer for what they had done. One or two of the printers thus summoned would not come, and an ofificer of the House was sent to arrest them. But this officer was himself seized and brought before the Lord Mayor on a charge of having tried to arrest a citizen of London without a lawful warrant. The Lord Mayor ordered him to be sent to prison. In this way the House of Commons and the City of London got into a bitter dispute, in the course of which tl!?* Lord Mayor was sent to the Tower. But the men of London showed so dangerous a temper, that the Com- mons took care never to bring on themselves a similar trouble again. Henceforth newspapers have been al- lowed to publish as full reports of Parliamentary debates as they can get. 4. Statesmen had now begun to watch the growth of Parliament- ary debates first allowed to be printed, 177I. ^ ^^''^^^^nt of the Constitution £ngl.sh power in India with "'^'^^ gSS °^ '■"/ --« 3p.^ading Thr/r''"'^ ' ^"^ - feel. Po|S„ the head of EnJsl^ al ""^^ ^^^'^ ^^re at India, oftpn K-. ^"s"sn affairs in fhaf i j . 'i<^\. °" ''een guilty of wronc^r I i^ '^"^ ^^d , ,. ^ ^760 the onwarW / '^"''"S^^"' deeds. After ^nd.a had gone on unchecked T^ °' '""^ Enghsh n Calcutta, who had shortfv K / " '^^3 the Council' Ir and made Meer Co„ ^ "f^""^ ^^^ aside Meer ? « took offence rMeeTcTs^^^ ^ "^^^^ -^s ^i^:' throw him aJ<:n u °^^""- 'ind sent an r,r«, f ^ ' became nabob onceL""' "r"™"'" -« EVT" g..*„f himself, Shah Alum ,t,j ^ *^'''="' Mogul .»-'. more powerful r,Z^'^( ol''^ . ^i™'-. 'h. riiarched a force «f . ''''' ^''Jah Dowlah meddling strangers A, R '°'°°° m™ again., .C shamefully rou,^ by ScLo Se" ""'= '"^= ""^ "« a„H ted by Major Hector mCT' !,"" ''^«> Europkn" ---f.bec„mra„r;Krru;-7-t^«^^^^ 5- But by this timp »K« ^- servants had reached sch a Tefs "'' °' '"' Company-, *'«• t"; i'-r ^"'^ ""^ " go out :°,?;; "■« ■•" J.n'he„X^1„S:^« A^r^rC-" »gam m India ; Sujah D„»L f "'"''^ """ Clive was "P, and the Great Mog^ "^f "' ™« y^Wed himreW English liked, Clive lai S T^^ '" ^o anything h" greater part „f Oude^ S„ he ? f"^"'' »o»lah the "ake over to the Com'ol„ L""!.?"' "= «'«« Mogul V„ ^^■. .he rule of Beng^ o;^^^; bX'^?-' F-is* ..___, '■''''' 1760,65, t ; and a feel- ^ who were at '^at land had deeds. After - Enghsh in 2 CounciTof Mecr Jaffier, " his place, "■my to over- ^eer Jaffier "ded way of 'pleasing to 'eat Mogul ^'zier, the ih Dowlah, gainst the 5 met, and -uropeans, ^'"ni, glad 'PPed into placed in re Indian ^mpany's >nipany's ■> that in I time to fear kn live was himself »mg the 'ah the ogu] to rent of In this 1765. George III. and Lord North. 95 way the English in India became lords of a region larger than England itself, Clive found his own countryman much harder to deal with. They were loth to give up trading on their own account and taking gifts from the 96 'J tfu Constitution f ny, which Jay at M ^ ^^ ^'^^^'"^' verv r\ u ^^^'•'essly to his nurn ^^''"'' '""''"'ed j'u^ rr ^^ ^^« P"t down with a'^^"'"' ^'^^ "mutiny at m T" '^°°^ P'-'y of the rl ''■''''^ hand, and ^ ^'''"ff^'r was England. '^'"'''^ '-^^'^^n forced ChVe ? ""'''' ^^^^ . ^•^"-srero.n.sdid ^^Pected from ..em , "°^ ^^ «nce work all th Pi.sorde«.d were W. •'" '76; the Eno^I.th ^^ ^^o^^ ««eofthe ,t /^'^^"^n into a costiv , "^^'^'^ at Afadras Cj^pan,, he Raiah of Mysore 'the'"' '' ""'''' ^^> y--' %htin;tie'?i' ''' -c-ntered""' J^'^"^^-- O'Ta thircrofThJ "^ '" ^^7oa dreadfu, r ""•^'^''"'^ '^^Y deeper and [h^''P^"°^ Bengal tIJ r"'"'"" ^•^'•"ed Jaw set im o „« -^ J-ord Norfh t.l. passed a vote «f ^ ^^^ Commons oi omaal Octh Of acts ""?'"'■" ''^ ^°--ci Sive f '°"" ^^^«^ CHve, acts m India, thou^rh X ^°'' ^^'ne of his Nov..b., done great things foThis?'' '""^^^^ ^e had and towards'he' '°? '""'^ ^~V;r'- ^"ve, ho:. , 7. But it was unon r"'"^ >'^^« oW. ^°"d°n ' See Epoch Vli.. pp. «_; ^'' ^^^ *irst half f tion. '765-74. ^ery rich. The «"t Clive stood Wonghir was •y man in the ^^"''"- Late to return to •all the good \ at Afadras " HyderAIi, 5t dangerous »nd after two 1 which they nine carried ■^Pany sank 'ament felt e of things. > had been d given in 'e Regula- "•th. This called the ;who then General of I's official oon after ae of his he had v^e, how- o heart, London s were rsthalf opinion on the Ameri- can war. »774-77. George III. and Lord North. 97 of his time of office the chief work of Parliament was to agree to those laws— laid before them by the King's trusted Minister— which led to the colonists Lord taking up arms against the mother-country ; North's during the second half, Parliament, Lord North, i-f""^' and the King were vainly striving to undo America. the mischief they had done. The Commons must share with George III. theblameof having driven the Americans into war, and seen their mistake only when it was too late. Nor should it be forgotten that the country at large was of the same mind as King and Par- Public liament regarding the justice of their cause ; the English people, save a few deep-thinking and far-seeing men, approved of the course that the King and his Minister were taking. 8. Such, however, was not the opinion of Lord Chatham. He often spoke with great force and earnestness against the laws and doings that were angering the Amtiicans, and in 1775 he brought in a bill for doing Lord away with all causes of quarrel between the Chatham two countries. This bill the Lords at once ventwa?.'*" threw out ; but Chatham still tried hard to save his coun- try from herself. When the war had broken out, he told his countrymen that they could not * conquer the Americans,' and again and again spoke warmly in favour of peace. "U hen the news of the disgrace at Saratoga in 1777 came/ and France made an alliance with America, there was a general wish that Chatham should be made Prime Minister, and Lord North would gladly have given place to him. But the frank words that Chatham had often uttered regarding the management of American affairs had greatly displeased the king, and he was slow to see the necessity of taking the great statesman into his counsels ; and before the king could make up his mind ' Sec Epoch VI 1„ p. 15. E.H. H 98 Chatham was dead Tm a •, '" !"' f "e to .he House . L„^:, ll'' ''J »•■>". '''ough very ■n favour of pe.,„ , f„jL;^f; ° spcak again.ta mo.ion Amenca, Ch.aham would ^o, ' ' :?"" '""'' J™"'" ChA.1,.-,™ spoken against elie m„ P''"'^'^ • ^^ had Five weeks )nt«r k i- V " "'^c*^ "i a fit , rH''""^«'--"h'^Postw^^^^^ Lord Nonh, eager had gone, the heads of the WhT^ h ''^ '^ '^^^^ ^^ he •"^o power; and the kin 's,id '. houses must have come crown I wear than be a. t h ' ' '''?"^'' "'^'^^her lose the under //,..> shackles.' '^"°"^'"y "f possessing it 9- Vet Lord North l,^ i -y able men, sn:::^";;^^^^^^^ A group of . the C(^mmons and ^u! I ' ^^"'^^ ^*"^ '" these the deepest thinker ,^ ^'"' "« '"est. Of "^ent by Lord Rocki;.!.",, ';' .^^^ " 'T^^ '"to Parlia- ^^ •" the ranks o^'ti ^ ^'f b^ T'^T ^'^^^ b. 1728, intellect. J},„.k/ ^^ ""^ ^^eer force of ^•--- powerfully/- '^,':, 7"'^ - -ell as spoke g'-eatest political writc^r 7!! " ^^^'""'^'^ to be our g'-oup was Charles Jam;s Fov /''"''''' 'P''''^'- "^ the Ch.-,ries Fov Af r ! r^ ^' "^ younger son of Henrv James Fox ^t hrst Pox had been n T "enry 5. 174.. ' m office for some vp^. J^ '^' ^"^ ^een ;• ''^^- but he chan'e l^ ""''"' ^^^"^ North ; became a Whig and ^1 ^"^'^ ''^^ time went on i-d- in the Sn^monT r/^afn^'f "^''^^^ "^ ^^h'^' h;n.self themost skilful a^dtJlp^f"' "''^ he made «f the day. Oeber Wh" o "mf ^."'"'""^^y^Peaker and Mr. Dimning. " ^ '"^''^ ^^re Colonel Barre ^^orth h' every" wa'v T''"" ^''"'^ "^^" -''hstond r ,,. I ■jj nys^ 1779 82. George III. and Lord North. 99 warned him of the fatal course he was taking in taxing and then trying to conquer the Americans, and frankly said that they thought the Americans right in resisting the armies of England. They were nearly always beaten by large majorities, but they were not disheartened, and never ceased from their attacks on the Minister. The thing they were most bitter against was the Economic great and growing power of the king. To cut ^'^^'""•''n J , . 1 , . movement, down this power they hit upon a plan for les- 1779-82. sening the king's influence, which they named Economic Reform, and strove zealously to get Parliament to approve of it. It was Burke who thought out, and was most eager in pushing forward, this plan. It sought to do away with all useless offices, to bring down the pension list to a fixed sum, 60,000/, a year— in fact to make the work of ruling the nation less costly. But its grand aim was to weaken the king's influence ; most of the useless offices were in the king's household ; many of the men who held them sat among the Commons, and readily voted as their master wished. A brief sentence states the whole evil which Burke wanted to destroy— ' The king's turnspit was a member of Parliament.' Efforts were made to carry this plan through Parliament from time to time, but they all failed so long as Lord North was Prime Minister. n. But in March 1782, owing to the ill-success of the English arms in America,' the Commons began to show signs of turning against Lord North ; and the Lord North king at last consented to let him go. Once more George had to fall back on the Whig houses, and to take Lord Rockingham , Minister, Still he was able to keep a high place for at least one of his friends ; Lord Thurlow re- mained Chancellor, Fox was one of the Secretaries of ' See Kpoch VII.. p. i8. h2 resigns. Rocking- ham Primp Mini.sier, March. 1782. lOO Settlement of the Constitution. 1782-83. State, and Burke Paymaster of the Forces. This Ministry lasted but a few months, for Rockingham died in the following July. It had time enough, however, to carry a part of Burke's plan for Economic Reform. This put an end to a good many useless offices, and cut down the pension hst ; but it was far from doing all that had been hoped for. 12. Rockingham was no sooner dead than the weak- ness of the Whig party showed itself The Earl of Shel- Sheihume, burne had become the leader of the Chatham iS'ldy"" Whigs after Chatham's death, and with his 1782.' ' friends had taken office undei Lord Rocking- ham. But now the king gave the first place to the Earl of Shelburne \ and Fox, Burke, and the other friends of Rockingham resigned in a body, and became the enemies of the new Ministry. They did worse ; they took the fatal step of uniting themselves with the party of the man against whom they had fought sq long and bitterly. Lord North. This conduct brought down upon them the wrath- both of king and people, and led, after a short struggle, to their utter overthrow. Early in 1783 the * Coalition,' as the combined party of Fox and Nortb was called, outvoted Shelburne on a question that Fox had himself set in motion — the making of peace.* Shelburne had to retire. They then forced the king to take them as his ministers ; and George for nearly a year had to listen to the counsels of men whom he hated. He made no secret of his enmity to them, and thwarted them by every means in his power. Yet the two statesmen had most of the Commons at their command, and the king was helpless in their hands. But in December 1783 he felt that he could bear the yoke no longer ; and when an xxiuia Ijul Ox 1* ox 3, wiiiCix tnc ^^-omnions i«a\* c»p^. -^^^^i^ v»j » See Epoch VII., p. aa. !• The ' Coali tion Miniv try,' Feb.- Dec. 1783. f 1784. George III. and Lord North. lOI went up to the Lords, the king let it be known that he would look on every lord who voted for it as his enemy. The Lords therefore threw out the bill ; and the king not only turned away his bated ministers, but boldly oflfered the post of Prime Minister to William Pitt, a younger son of Lord Chatham's, then only twenty-four years old. Pitt, with even greater boldness, accepted the king's offer (December 1783). 13. For three months the new Minister had to hold his place against a House of Commons that promptly voted against him on every question. Pitt William was beaten over and over again ; the * Coali- Pitt, Prime tion' strained every nerve to drive him from Decimter, office. But Pitt manfully stood his ground. '783. A strong feeling against Fox and North was setting in throughout the country, and Pitt was resolved to wait until this feeling had reached its height. Late in March 1784 he saw that the proper time had come, and asked the king to dissolve Parliament. The king did so ; and in the general election which followed, by far the greater number of members chosen were pledged to give their votes to Pitt. The S^dSJof king had won ; the election of 1784 gave the '78*- Tories the rule of the country for almost fifty years. When we look closely at the ninety-five years of English history which we have just passed through, side by side with the times which go before, the thing that we see most clearly is this— the ^""""^'y- House of Commons has now come to be all-important in the State. But when we look at the history of these same years side by side with the times that come after, the thing that strikes us most is— the House of Commons I02 Settlement of the Constitution. is not yet a body that has a mind of its own and can act for itself. Owing to the way in which most of its members are chosen, it willingly puts itself into the hands of others, and gives them its power to use as they wish. At one time some powerful men among the nobility manage to bind together their friends among the Commons, and through these to make and unmake the king's Ministries at their pleasure. At another time a resolute king, by bringing into play the means still left in his power, can win over most of the Commons to his side, and carry out his will in every part of the State. It is clear, however, that any great change in the way of choosing men to sit in Parliament might take away from the king and the^ great folk the power of getting any kind of vote they want from the Commons, and might thus alter very much the manner of ruling the people. Such a change has since come, as will be told in a later work in this series. But for a hundred years the people were pretty well satisfied with the order of things they lived under, and desired no change. Many men were growing rich ; trade was spreading swiftly ; there was a rude plenty among the tillers of the soil, and there was little complaining. And there is much in the history of this time for English- men to be proud of. It is true, they lost the American colonies of their own planting ; but, on the other hand, they twice overcame in war the most warlike European power, wrested from this same power its great American colonies, crushed its strength in India, and began build- ing up in that country a grand empire for themselves. >' INDEX OF PERSONS. -•*►- • ADD A DDISON, Joseph, 44 ■**• Amherst, (General, 73, 76 Anne, Queen, a^. 26, 28, 31-47 Anson, Commuilore, 60; Lord, 69 Arcot., Nabob of, Ka Argylc, Karl of, g Argyle, Duke of, 4^ Atterbury, Francis, Bishop of Rochester, 56 Aurengzebe, So DaRRE, Colonel, 98 ■^ IJentinck, Earl of Portland, 25 Koscawen. Admiral, 77 Houfflers, Marshal, 35 Braddock, General, 71 Burke, Edmund, 98, 99 Bute, Earl of, 78, 87, 89 Byng, Sir George, 52 Byng, Admiral, son, 68 C^AMDEN, Lord, 90 ^ Cameron, Richard, 10 Campbell of Glenlyon, Captain, II Carpenter, General, 50 Carteret, Lord, 61 ; Earl Granville, 62 Charles IL, King of England, <; Charles IL, King of Spain, 27, 28, 29. 30 Charles IIL, Kinu of Spain, 77 C'liarles, the Archduke:, 29, 36 ; EmpKiror, 45. 52, 63 ' 'mrles Edward, Prince, 65, 67 Cha'Ifs, Elector of Bavaria, 63 ; Em >er(ir, 64 Chari 'tie. ( *uoen, 86 Cl^lan J, William Colonel, 10 GEO Olive, Robert, 82, 83, 84 ; Lord, 85, 94. i/' . , Conflans, Admiral, 77 Coote, Kyro, 85 Copu, Sir John. f>=, Cumberland, William, Duke of, 64, 67, 72 D^ (ALRYMPLK, Sir John, 11 Danby, Karl of, 4, 23 Dauphin, the, j8, 2q, 30 Derwentwater, Karl of, 49 Devonshire, Duke of, 69 Dunning, Mr., 98 Dupleix, Governor of Pondicherry, 81, 82 P LIZABETH, Queen, 24, 79 ^'' Elizabeth of Bohemia, 25 Eugene of Savoy, Prince, 34, 35 P E k 1 ) I N A N D of Brunswick, ^ Duke, 72, 73, 75, 77 Forster, Mr., 49 Fo.\, Henry, 68, 88 Fo.v, Charles James, son, 98, 99, 100 Frederick, the Palsgrave, 20 Frederick IL, King of Prussia, tho Great, 63, 71 P'reeman, Mrs., 32 f ALWAY, Earl of, 37 ^-^ George of Denmark, Prince, 3a George I., King, 47-57 George XL, King, son, 57-78, 87 Cienrge III., King, grandson, 76. 104 mn Ifldex of Persons. Ginkell. General , Grammont, Duke of. 61 Grenv.lle. CeorRe, 89 * Guildford. Earl of. 92 HAMir.TON. Richard. ,3 Hardwicke, Lord 61 Hastings, Warren, 96 Hawkc, Admiral, 77 Hawley. General, 67 HyderAli, 96 ' J.me. Kdwar'd, t^he^ Vetender, ,7 J *,'.* ■♦y. 51. 57.64 '' Joseph, Electoral Pri 30, 39 SAC Prince of Bavaria, M.rlborouKh, Duke of. „ ,, „ Marll..rouKh. DuchcM of, wifc. 3^ Mary II , Queen, a , « , o Maurice of Saxony, Prince, 64 Meer Co.ssini, 94 ' ' Meer Jaffier, 84, 94 ^"^u/. the ar,„t\^ 80 8c ^riC;4^''-'- - ^-' «- Morg'^irf^^r'^ "'■•'■•-*' Miinr... Hector. Major, 94 Niz.t,n, 'the, 8a Noailles, Marshal, 63 '^ouj'irors, the, s QMJCHUND. Hindoo n,.n:h«„, Orleans, Duke of 51 Ormond, Duke of, 36, 48, 49 K^iJi^„U,?i:Ear'of,.9..3o -- v-^x^, i^ari 01, 49 c( Kilmarnock, Earl of, 67 PELHAM. Honry. 6,, 68 P . l"'"'^'"^ 'he. 61-67 Peterborough, fcarl of, 37 LallyTollendnl r,>.,„. o. I Pitt wi'lll^™ o. '|\-^'ir;f^«ch\';£.^^ Piu.^William, the younger. „„, 57. Pulteney, William, 58 r I. "i,"''owl,.h, 94 " Surajah Dowiah, 83, 84 Sunderland. Earl of 40, 5, „ Swift. Jonathan, Dean, 44.' 5^6 7ALLARD. Marshal. 34 T-^-^''"''°^' Lord, og ^* T«)iniigton, E«rl of. ,r U'(»o lOJ Tourville. Arlniiral, 18 lownshend, Lord. 48, 50. ji „ ,• lown,hend. CharleV|r.;,?d,;o*„';iJ Tyrconnel, Duke of. 13 VENDOME. Dukeof. „ v;u ^'V""''- Qi'cen. 26 » illars, Marshal, 35 WAI'POLE. .Sir Robert. .8. 50. g^^5..52.53-6o;EarlofArfoM! Washington. George, 7, Waison, Admiral. 84 (^fy'""'"^!- Lord. 9, Wharton I hoi.ias. Lord, 40 w i'"' •('Jt"' «?• 90. 91 INDEX OF PLACES. ABR A BRAHAM. Heights of, 76 ■* * Acheen, 79 Agra, 79 Aix-la-Chapelle, 67 Alleghany Mountains the, 70 Almanza, 37 America, 59, 70, ji, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, 90, 97, 99 Arcot, 82 Amee, 82 Aschaflenburg, 63 Athlone, 15 Aughrim, 15 Austria, 57, 68 B^ JAHAR, 94 liuntani, 79 Barcelona, 37 Bavaria, 34, 63 Beachy Head, 18 Bclfiiuin, 33 Bengal, 83 84, 85, 94, 96 Lergen, 72 Blair Athol, 10, 65 Blenheim, 34 Bombay, 80, 81 Boyne, the, 14 Braem'ir, 49 Brandenbiir;r, 17 Brest, 7f, 77 ' Brihuega, 37 Buxar, 94 PALCUITA, 81, 83 "^ Campeachy iiay, 78 Canada, 70, 73, 74. 77, 78 Uape Breton, 73, 78 FRA Carrickfergus, 14 Carthagena, 60 Chinsurah, 85 Clifton, 66 Comorin, Cape, 82 Corryarrick, 65 Crefeld, 73 Culloden, 67 Cromdale, 10 r)ANUBE, the, 34 ^-^ Darien, 41 Deccan, the, 82 Derby, 65 Dettingen, 63 Drogheda, 14 Dublin, 13, 14, ,5, 44 Dunbar, 65 Dunkeld, 10 EDINBURGH, 6s . Empire, the, 17, 30 l-nntskillen, 13 pALKIRKMuir,66 Florida, 78 Fontenoy, 64 Fort Duquesne, 71, 7a Fort St. David, 80, 8i, 85 Fort St. George, 80, 8i Fort William, Scotland, n Fort William, India, 80, 8i Foyle, the, 13 Frsr,.-c, 16, 17, 24, 33, 34, 35, 36, 50, 57. 03, 65, 6 ,68. 69, 70, 71, 78, Frankfor io8 Index of Places. 'Oko QEORGIA. 70 Glasgow, i^' ^ • ^' Glencoc, n Glenfinnan, 65 pTALIKAX. 7. Hanau, 64 Hanover, 25 33, 57, 63, 69, 7a Havanna, 78 li avre, 77 H°"a"p. '7, 24, 51, 63 Hooghly, 80 Hooghly, the, 85 I ^Pf.^' f.t'"' 79-85. 9a-96 * India. West, 78 Indies, the, 29, 33 Inverary, u Invemesji, 67 Inverness shir^, 65 ' Ireland, 13, i6, i8, 41, 56 J AVA, 70 tJ-ENNEBEC, the, 70 iTMi Kensington, 31 Kilhecrankie, 9 Kistna, the, 8a Kloster-Zeven, 7a 1 AGOS, 77 ••- La Hogue. 18 Laqden, 19 Limenck, 15 Lochaber, 9 London, 42, 65, 93 Londonderry, 13 Lorraine, '^q Loujsburg, 73 Louisiana, 70 M^?,RAS,8o 8i.8a,8s,9S .. , Madrid, 36 Malp aquet, 35 Manilla, 78 Mauriiiub, Si Mayn, the, 6j vn Mediterranean Sea. %\ Mexico, Gulf of, 7? '^ Miiiden, 73 Middlesex, 91 Milan, 29 Minorca, 35, 46 68, 7a, 78 Monghir, 96 Mons, 19 Montreal, 77 Montrose, 50 Moorshedabad, 84 Mysore, 96 ISJAMUR, ,9, 33 ., , ^(aples, 29, 46 Nedierlands, the Spanish, 29. 33, 35, Newfoundland, 46 Newtonbutler, 13 Niagara, 76 Nova Scotia, 71 QHIO, the, 71 Onssa, 94 Osnabruck, 57 Oude, 94 Oudenarde, 35 PACIFIC, the. 60 * Paita, 60 Paris, 78 Passaro, Cape, 53 Paina, 85 Perth, 50, 6s Philippine Islands, 60, vt Piassey, 84 Pondicherry, 8t, 85 Portobello, 60 Portugal, 73, 77, 78, 80 Jrreston, 40 Prest»n Pans, 65 Prussia, 17, 63, 67, ^x Pyrenees, the, 29 QUEBEC. 74. 76 >C Quiberon Bay, 77 Russia, 71 Ryswick, ig, ?9 .63 I ■■triM WTT-irnaEiwi '9i 33> 35f SAI CT. GERMAINS, 47 o „?'.-..^*'*nce. the, 74 St. Philips, 68 Saratoga, 97 Savoy, 17 Saxony, 71 Scotland, 7-12, 41 4,, 65, 67 sedgenioor, 32 Sheriffmuir, 50 bilesia, 63, 67 South Seas, 53, 59 Spain, 17 27, 29, 30, 33, 3C, 5,, jg 59, 67, 87 Stade, 72 Steinkirk, 19 Stirling, 50, 66 Index of Places. 109 WOL Sumatra, 79 Surat, 79, 80 TTOURNAY, 64 Ticonderoga, 76 Trichinopoly, 82, 83 UTRECHT, 37, 45, 46, 48. St. H V^^^J','^^,the,77 Vdia Viciosa, 37 WANDEWASH, 85 * * Weser, the, 74 ^ Wolfe's Cove. 76 1