the treaty of union, the English commissioners were not only able statesmen, but, for the most part, well skilled in commercial affairs, which gave them an evident advantage over those of Scotland. Hence they were overmatched by the former, in the great objects which were to give the turn to national prosperity; though they were very careful to preserve all their heritable offices, superiorities, jurisdictions, and other privileges and trappings of the feudal aristocracy. In 1708 there was a warm debate in a committee of the house of lords, occasioned by a bill passed by the commons, for rendering the 'union of the two kingdoms more entire and complete; whereby it was enacted, that, from the 1st of May, 1708, there should be but one privy council in the kingdom of Britain.' Of this affair Mr. Cunningham gives a particular account, and informs us, that he himself had a hand in it, and that he had from his youth borne a just hate to the privy council of Scotland.' The arguments for the dissolution were its enormous stretches of power and acts of cruelty; that it could now be of no other use in Scotland, than that the court might thereby govern every thing at pleasure, and procure such members of parliament as they thought proper; against which both Scots and English ought carefully to guard them selves. On the other hand, it was argued, that the abuse of the power complained of was no argument for the entire dissolution of the council, though it was for a restriction and limitation of it; that it was necessary that a privy council should remain in Scotland, out of regard to the ancient customs of the country, and to restrain the rage of the people, which was then ready to break out beyond all bounds. The dissolution, however, was carried by fifty against forty; after which, the nation being deprived of this last fragment of their ancient government, the opposers of the union raised the animosities of the people to a dangerous height; but the ferment abated, after an ineffectual attempt in favor of the pretender. We now return to the duke of Marlborough, who had gone over to Flanders, where he resolved to push his good fortune. Peace had been offered more than once; treaties entered upon, and as often frustrated. After the battle of Ramillies, the king of France had employed the elector of Bavaria to write letters in his name to the duke of Marlborough, containing proposals for opening a congress. He offered to resign either Spain and its dominions, or the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, to Charles of Austria, and to give a barrier to the Dutch in the Netherlands. But these terms were rejected. The two armies once more met, in numbers nearly equal, at Oude narde. See OUDENARDE. In this engagement the electoral prince of Hanover, afterwards George II. of Britain, greatly distinguished himself, and gained the whole glory of the first attack. His horse was killed under him, and colonel Luschki close by his side. An en gagement ensued in which the French were defeated, and Lisle, Ghent, Bruges, and all the other towns in Flanders soon after fell into the hands of the victors. The campaign ended with fixing a barrier to the Dutch provinces, and it now only remained to force a way into the provinces of the enemy. The French king, being now in a manner reduced to despair, again sued for peace: but the demands of the allies were so high, tha he was obliged to prepare for another campaign, in 1709. The first attempt of the allies was on the city of Tournay, garrisoned by 12,000 men, and exceedingly strong both by nature and art. After a siege, of twenty-one days, the town capitulated; and a month afterwards the citadel, which was still stronger than the town. Next followed the bloody battle of Malplaquet; where the allied army, consisting of 110,000 men, attacked the French consisting of 120,000, strongly posted and fortified in such a manner that they seemed quite inaccessible. See MALPLAQUET. The allied army, however, drove the _French from their fortifications: but their victory cost them 20,000 of their best troops. The consequence of this victory was the surrender of the city of Mons, which ended the campaign. The last campaign of the duke of Marlborough, in 1711, excelled, perhaps, all his former exploits. He was opposed to marshal Villars, who had commanded the French in the battle of Malplaquet, and he so contrived his measures, that, by marching and countermarching, he induced the enemy to quit a strong line of entrenchments, without striking a blow. He then took possesssion of the enemy's line. This was followed by the taking of Bouchain, which was the last military achievement of this great general. By a continuance of successive and almost unparalleled victories, he had gained the allies a prodigious extent of country; had perpetually advanced, and never retreated before his enemies, nor lost an advantage he had obtained over them. He more frequently gained the enemy's posts without fighting; but, where he was obliged to attack, no fortifications were able to resist him He had never besieged a city which he did not take, nor engaged in a battle in which he did not come off victorious. Thus the allies had reduced Spanish Guelderland, Limbourg, Brabant, Flanders, and Hainault; they were masters of the Scarpe; the capture of Bouchain had opened for them a way into the heart of France, and another campaign might have made them masters of Paris; but, on the duke's return from this campaign, he was accused of having taken a bribe of £6000 a-year from a contractor, and the queen thought proper to dismiss him from all his employments. On his removal, the command of the British forces was given to the duke of Ormond. Prince Eugene complained much of the inactivity of this general, though he seemed to be unacquainted with his treachery; while the whole army loaded him with execrations, calling him 'a stupid tool, and a general of straw.' All this, however, was in vain; the duke continued to prefer the queen's commands to every other consideration. The disgrace of the duke of Marlborough had been owing to the prevalence of the Tory party, who had now ejected the Whig ministry; the consequence was, that in spite of all the remonstrances, memorials, &c., of the allies, the British army in Flanders was ordered not to act offensively. The operations of the allies therefore languished; a considerable body was cut off at Denain, and the French took some towns At last, in 1713, a peace was concluded. In the treaty it was stipulated, that Philip V., now acknowledged king of Spain, should renounce all right to the crown of France; that the duke of Berry, Philips brother, and after him in succession, should also renounce his right to the crown of Spain, in case he became king of France; and that the duke of Savoy should possess the island of Sicily with the title of king, together with Fenestrelles, and other places on the continent. The Dutch had the barrier granted them which they so much desired; and the house of Austria was taxed to supply the wants of the Hollanders, who were put in possession of the strongest towns of Flanders. The fortifications of Dunkirk were demolished. Spain gave up Gibraltar and the island of Minorca. France resigned her pretensions to Hudson's Bay, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland; but was left in possession of Cape-Breton, and the liberty of drying fish upon the shore. Among the articles glorious to the British nation, their setting free the French Protestants, confined in the prisons and galleys for their religion, was not the least meritorious. For the emperor it was stipulated, that he should possess the kingdom of Naples, the duchy of Milan, and the Spanish Netherlands. The king of Prussia was to have Upper Guelder; and a time was fixed for the emperor's acceding to these articles, as he had for some time refused to assist at the negociation. This famous treaty was signed at Utrecht on the last day of March, 1713. The year 1713 was also remarkable for an attempt of the Scottish peers and commons to dissolve the union. During the debates on this subject, the earl of Peterborough endeavoured to prove the impossibility of dissolving the treaty, which he compared to a marriage, that, being once contracted, could not be dissolved by any power on earth. He observed, that though England, who in the national marriage, must be supposed to represent the husband, had in some instances been unkind to the lady, she ought not so speedily to sue for a divorce; and added, when the union was termed a mere political expedient, that it could not have been made more solemnly, unless, like the ten commandments, it had come from heaven. The duke of Argyl declared that, unless it were dissolved, he did not long expect to have either property left in Scotland, or liberty in England. The motion, however, was overruled in the house: but the discontent of the people continued. Whether, indeed, the ministry at this time did not wish to alter the line of succession, cannot be clearly made out; but certain it is, that the Whigs firmly believed it, and the Tories but faintly denied the charge. The suspicions of the former became every day stronger, when they saw a total removal of the Whigs from all places of trust and confidence, and their employments bestowed on the professed advocates of an unbroken hereditary succession. The violent dissensions between these two parties, their unbounded licentiousness, cabals, and tumults, made the queen's situation a very perplexing one; her health visibly declined; and, on the 28th of July 1714, she fell into a lethargic insensibility. The next day the physicians de spaired of her life. All the members of the privy council, without distinction, were now summoned from the different parts of the kingdom; and they began to provide for the security of the constitution. A letter was sent to the elector of Hanover, informing him of the queen's situation, and desiring him to repair to Holland, where he would be attended by a British squadron to convey him to England. At the same time they despatched instructions to the earl of Stafford at the Hague, to desire the States General to be ready to perform the guarantee of the protestant succession. Precautions were also taken to secure the sea-ports and the fleet. On the 30th of July the queen seemed to be somewhat relieved by the medicines which had been given her. She arose from her bed about 8 A. M. and walked a little. She was soon after, however, seized with an apoplectic fit; and, continuing all night in a state of stupefaction, expired the following morning, a little after seven o'clock, in the fiftieth year of her age, and thirteenth of her reign. This princess seemed rather fitted for the duties of private life than a public station: being a pattern of conjugal fidelity, a good mother, a warm friend, and an indulgent mistress. To her honor it must be recorded, that during her reign none suffered for high treason. 5. The history of Great Britain from the accession of the house of Hanover to the death of George II.-With the foregoing reign ended the line of the Stuarts: a family equally remarkable for their misfortunes and misconduct. The queen had no sooner resigned her breath than the privy council met, and three instruments were produced by which the elector of Hanover appointed several of his known friends to be added as lords justices to the seven great officers of the kingdom. Orders were also immediately issued for proclaiming George king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The regency appointed the earl of Dorset to carry him the intimation of his accession, to the crown, and to attend him in his journey to England. They sent the general officers, in whom they could confide, to their posts: reinforced the garrison of Portsmouth, and appointed the celebrated Mr. Addison secretary of state: but no tumult, no commotion, rose against the accession of the new king. King George I. landed at Greenwich, where he was received by the duke of Northumberland, captain of the lifeguards, and the lords of the regency. He was fifty-four years old when he ascended the British throne. His mature age, his sagacity and experience, his numerous alliances, and the general tranquillity of Europe, all contributed to establish his interests, and promise him a peaceable and happy reign. Soon after his arrival in England, he was heard to say, 'My maxim is, never to abandon my friends, to do justice to all the world, and to fear no man.' To the qualities of resolution and perseverance, he joined great application to business. He, however, studied the interests of the people he had ruled, more than those of Great Britain. When he retired to his bed chamber, after his first landing, he sent for such of the nobility as had distinguished themselves by their zeal for his succession, and expressed the greatest regard for the duke of Marlborough, just then arrived from the continent. He professed the same friendship for the other leaders of the Whigs; but the Tories found themselves at once excluded from favor. An instantaneous change was made in all the offices of trust, honor, or advantage. The Hanoverians, as they were called, governed the senate and court, oppressed whom they would, and bound the lower orders of people by severe laws against this the Tories or Jacobites raised the most terrible outcries; and, had the pretender been a man of any judgment or abilities, a fair opportunity was now offered him of striking a decisive blow. They affirmed that, under a Whig administration, heresy and impiety were daily gaining ground. The lower orders of the clergy joined in these complaints, and pointed out several tracts published in favor of Arianism and Socinianism. The ministry, however, not only refused to silence the delinquents, but silenced the clergy themselves, and forbad their future disputations on these topics. The parliament was now dissolved, and another called by a very extraordinary proclamation. In this the king complained of the evil designs of men disaffected to his succession; and of their having misrepresented his conduct and principles. He expressed his hopes, that his subjects would send up to parliament the fittest persons to redress the present disorders. He intreated that they would elect such in particular, as had expressed a firm attachment to the protestant succession, when it was in danger. In the election that ensued, uncommon vigor was exerted on both sides; but by dint of the monied interest that prevailed in corporations, and the activity of the ministry, a great majority of Whigs was returned both in England and Scotland. Upon the first meeting of parliament, the most rigorous measures were resolved upon against the late ministry. A committee was appointed to inspect the papers relative to the treaty of Utrecht, and to select such as might afford grounds of accusation against the negociators. The earl of Oxford was impeached of high-treason, and sent to the Tower. The violence of the house of commons produced equal violence without doors. Tumults became every day more frequent, and served only to increase the severity of the legislature. An act was now passed, declaring that if any persons to the number of twelve, unlawfully assembled, should continue together one hour after being required to disperse by a justice of peace or other officer, and after hearing the acts against riots read in public, they should be deemed guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. These proceedings excited the indignation of the people, who perceived that the avenues of royal favor were closed to all but a faction. Great discontent arose in Scotland, where, to their other grievances, they joined that of the union, which they were taught to consider as an oppression, and the malcontents of that country found active friends in England. Some of the Tory party, who were attached to the Protestant religion, and of moderate principles in government, began to associate with the Jacobites, and to wish in earnest for a revolution. Scotland first reared the standard of revolt. The earl of Mar, assembling 300 of his vassals in the Highlands, proclaimed James III. at Castleton; and assumed the title of lieutenant general of his majesty's forces. To second these attempts, two vessels arrived from France, with arms, ammunition, and officers, together with assurances to the earl, that the pretender himself would shortly follow. In consequence of this, the earl soon found himself at the head of 10,000 men well armed and provided. He secured the pass of Tay at Perth, made himself master of the whole province of Fife and of the sea-coast on that side of the frith of Forth; and marched thence to Dumblain, as if he had intended to cross the Forth at Stirling bridge. But here he was informed, that the duke of Argyle, who on this occasion was appointed commander in chief of all the forces in North Britain, was advancing against him, and he retreated. Soon after, however, being joined by some of the clans under the earl of Seaforth, and general Gordon, he resolved to face the enemy, and directed his march towards the south. The duke of Argyle resolved to give him battle near Dumblain. In the morning, therefore, he drew up his army, which did not exceed 3500 men, in order of battle; and, when the earl attempted to surround him, he received on his left wing the centre of the enemy. Though much inferior in strength and numbers, the royal forces seemed for a while victorious, and the earl of Clanronald was killed. But Glengary, who was second in cominand, undertook to inspire his intimidated companions with courage; and waving his bounet cried out several times Revenge! This animated the rebel troops to such a degree, that they followed him to the point of the enemy's bayonets, and got within their guard. A total rout of this wing of the royal army began now to ensue. In the mean time the duke of Argyle, who commanded in person on the right, attacked the left of the rebels; and drove them before him for two miles. Having entirely broken that wing of the enemy, and driven them over the river Allan, he returned to the field of battle; where, to his great mortification, he found the enemy as decidedly victorious, and patiently waiting for the assault. Neither party, however, cared to begin the attack. In the evening both drew off, and each claimed the victory. All the advantages of a victory, however, belonged to Argyle. He had interrupted the progress of the rebels; and in their circumstances delay was defeat. The earl of Mar, in fact, soon found it so. The castle of Inverness was delivered up by lord Lovat, who had hithesto professed to act in the interest of the pretender; the marquis of Tullibardine forsook the earl, in order to defend his own part of the country; and many of the clans, seeing no likelihood of coming to a second engagement, returned at once home. In the mean time, the cause of the rebels was still more unsuccessfully prosecuted in England. James had undertaken so heedlessly the project, in which the duke of Ormond and lord Bolingbroke were engaged, that lord Stair, the English ambassador at Paris, penetrated all his designs, and sent faithful accounts of all his measures to the ministry at home. Upon the first rumor, therefore, of an insurrection, several lords and espoused the interest of the excluded family, was gentlemen were imprisoned. But these precau- just dead; and the duke of Orleans, who suctions were not able to prevent an attempt of ceeded in the government of the kingdom, was the Jacobites in the western counties. All averse to lending the pretender any assistance. their preparations, however, were weak and ill Though James therefore might, at this period, conducted; every scheme was betrayed to go- easily have seen that his affairs were desperate; vernment as soon as projected. The university yet, with his usual infatuation, he resolved to of Oxford was treated with great severity on this hazard his person among his friends in Scotland. occasion. Major general Pepper, with a strong Passing through France in disguise, and emdetachment of dragoons, took possession of the barking in a small vessel at Dunkirk, he arcity at day break, declaring that he would in- rived after a voyage of a few days on the coasts stantly shoot any of the students, who should of Scotland, with only six gentlemen in his presume to appear without the limits of their train. At Fetteresso he was met by the earl of respective colleges. In the northern counties, Mar, and about thirty noblemen and gentlemen the insurrection came to greater maturity. In of the first quality; and here he was solemnly October, 1715, the earl of Derwentwater and proclaimed. Hence he went to Dundee, where Mr. Forster took the field with a body of horse, he made a public entry; and in two days more and, being joined by some gentlemen from the arrived at Scoon, where he ordered thanksgivings borders of Scotland, proclaimed James III. to be offered for his safe arrival; enjoined the Their first attempt was to seize upon Newcastle, ministers to pray for him in their churches; and, in which they had many friends; but, finding without the smallest share of power, went the gates shut, they retired to Hexham. To oppose through the ceremony of a coronation. Scarcely these, general Carpenter was despatched to the had he concluded this piece of unimportant north by government with a body of 900 men. parade, when he resolved to abandon the enterThe rebels took the route to Jedburgh, where they prise. Having made a speech to his grand hoped to leave Carpenter on one side, and penetrate council, he informed them of his want of money, into England by the western border. This was an arms, and ammunition, for undertaking a cameffectual method of cutting themselves off from paign, and therefore deplored that he was obliged retreat or assistance. A party of Highlanders, to leave them. Then he re-embarked on board who had joined them by this time, at first re- a small French ship, that lay in the harbour fused to accompany them in such a desperate of Montrose, accompanied with several lords, incursion, and one-half of them actually returned his adherents, and in five days arrived at Graveto their own country. At Brampton Mr. Fors- lines. ter opened his commission of general, which had been sent him by the earl of Mar, and there proclaimed James III. They continued their march to Penrith, where the body of the militia that was assembled to oppose them fled. From Penrith they proceeded by the way of Kendal and Lancaster to Preston, of which they took possession without resistance. But this was the last stage of their ill-advised excursion; for general Wills, at the head of 7000 men, came up to attack them; and from his activity there was no escaping. They now, therefore, began to raise barricadoes about the town, and to put the place in a posture of defence: repulsing the first attacks of the royal army with success. Next day, however, Wills was reinforced by Carpenter, and the town was invested on all sides. In this deplorable situation, to which they were reduced by their own rashness, Forster hoped to capitulate with the general; and accordingly sent to him colonel Oxburgh, who had been taken prisoner, to propose a surrender. Wills, however, alleged that he would not treat with rebels, and that the only favor they had to expect was to be spared immediate slaughter. These were hard terms, but no better could be obtained. They accordingly laid down their arms, and were put under a strong guard. To intimidate their partizans, in the neighbourhood, a few of the officers, that had deserted from the royal army, were shot by order of a court martial: the soldiers were imprisoned at Chester and Liverpool; and the noblemen and considerable officers were sent to London, where they were led through the streets pinioned and bound together. In the mean time Louis XIV., who had always General Gordon, who was left commander in chief of the forces, now proceeded at their head to Aberdeen, where he secured three vessels to sail northward, which took on board such persons as intended to make their escape to the Continent. He then continued his march through the Highlands, and quietly dismissed his forces as he proceeded. With such expedition was this retreat made, that the duke of Argyle, with all his activity, could never overtake his rear, which consisted of 1000 horse. The rebellion being ended, the law was put in force with all its terrors; and the prisons of London were crowded with those deluded persons, whom the ministry seemed resolved not to pardon. The commons, in their address to the crown, declared they would prosecute in the most rigorous manner the authors of the late rebellion; and their measures were as vindictive as their resolutions were speedy. The earls of Derwentwater, Nithsdale, Carnwath, and Wintown,. the lords Widrington, Kenmuir, and Nairne, were impeached; and, upon pleading guilty, all but lord Wintown received sentence of death. No intreaties could prevail upon the ministry to spare these unhappy noblemen. The house of lords even pre sented an address to the throne for mercy, but without effect; the king only answered, that ou this, as on all other occasions, he would act as he thought most consistent with the dignity of the crown and the safety of the people. Orders were accordingly despatched for executing lords Derwentwater, Nithsdale, and Kenmuir, imme diately; the rest were respited. Nithsdale escaped, his wife most adroitly contriving to substitute her own person for his, the day before his intended execution. An act of parliament was next passed, for trying the private prisoners in London, and not in Lancashire where they were taken: a step considered by lawyers as an alteration of the ancient constitution of the kingdom, by which every prisoner should be tried in the place where the offence was committed. In the beginning of April, commissioners for trying the rebels met in the court of common pleas, when bills were found against Mr. Forster, Mr. Macintosh, and twenty of their confederates. Forster escaped from Newgate, and reached the Continent in safety; the rest pleaded not guilty. After this, Macintosh, and several other prisoners, also broke out of Newgate. The court proceeded to the trial of those that remained; four or five were hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn; twenty-two were executed at Manchester and Preston, and about 1000 were transported to North America. The rebellion being thus extinguished, the danger of the state was made a pretext for continuing the parliament beyond the term fixed for its dissolution. An act, therefore, was passed, repealing that by which it was to be dissolved every third year, and extending the term of its duration to seven years. The people might murmur at this encroachment, but expediency and power united to plead for it at the time, and it has ever since been found inexpedient to think of redress. Domestic concerns being thus adjusted, the king resolved upon a voyage to the Continent. Charles XII. of Sweden was highly provoked against him for having entered into a confederacy with the Russians and Danes during his absence at Bender, and for having purchased from the king of Denmark the towns of Bremen and Verden. In consequence of this, Charles maintained a close correspondence with the dissatisfied subjects of Great Britain; and a scheme was formed for landing a body of Swedish forces, with the king at their head, to erect the standard of the Pretender in some part of the island. Count Gyllenburg, the Swedish minister in London, was active in the conspiracy; but, being seized with all his papers, the scheme was rendered abortive. A bill, however, was passed by the commons forbidding all commerce with Sweden; and George I. now entered into a new treaty with the Dutch and the regent of France, by which they agreed mutually to assist each other in case of invasion. But the death of the Swedish monarch, who was soon after killed at the siege of Frederickshall, put an end to all disquietude from that quarter. Among the many treaties for which this reign was remarkable, one had been concluded, which was called the quadruple alliance. It was agreed between the emperor, France, Holland, and Britain, that the emperor should renounce all pretensions to the crown of Spain, and exchange Sardinia for Sicily with the duke of Savoy; and that the succession to the duchies of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, should be settled on the queen of Spain's eldest son, in case the present possessors should die without male issue. This treaty, however, was by no means agreeable to the king of Spain; and it became consequently prejudicial to the English, as it interrupted their commerce with that kingdom. A war soon after commenced between Spain and the emperor, who was considered as the principal contriver of the treaty; and a numerous body of Spanish forces was sent into Italy to support Philip's pretensions in that quarter. The regent of France attempted in vain to dissuade him; the king of England also offered his mediation in vain; their interposition was considered as partial and unjust. ́A Spanish war was then resolved on; and a squadron of twenty-two ships was placed under the command of Sir George Byng, and ordered to sail for Naples. Here he was received with the greatest joy, and informed that the Spaniards, to the amount of 30,000 men, were then just landed in Sicily. On learning this he resolved to sail thither to pursue the Spanish fleet, and coming round Cape Faro perceived two small Spanish vessels; pursuing which, he was led to their companions, whom, before noon, he discovered in line of battle, amounting to twenty-seven sail. Notwithstanding their superiority in number, the Spaniards attempted to make their escape: but, finding it impossible, they kept up a running fight; in spite of which, they were all taken except three. Sir George Byng behaved on this occasion with great prudence and resolution; and the king wrote him a letter with his own hand, approving his conduct. This rupture with Spain was thought to be favorable to the interests of the pretender; as it was hoped, that, by the assistance of cardinal Alberoni, the Spanish minister, a new insurrection might be excited in England. The duke of Ormond was even fixed upon to conduct this expedition; and he obtained from the Spanish court a fleet of ten ships of war and transports, having on board 6000 regular troops, with arms for 12,000 more. But fortune was still as unfavorable as ever. Having set sail, and proceeded as far as Cape Finisterre, he was encountered by a violent storm, which disabled his fleet, and frustrated the expedition. This, together with the bad success of the Spanish arms in Sicily and other parts of Europe, induced Philip to wish for a cessation of arms; and he at last consented to sign the quadruple alliance, by which peace was again restored to Europe. A Tranquillity being thus established, the ministry proceeded to secure the dependency of the Irish parliament on that of England. Mr. Maurice Annesley had appealed to the British house of peers from a decree made by the Irish peers, and their decree was reversed. The British peers ordered the barons of the exchequer in Ireland to put Mr. Annesley in possession of the lands he had lost. But, when the barons obeyed this order, the Irish peers passed a vote against them, as having attempted to diminish the just privileges of the parliament of Ireland; and ordered their lordships to be taken under the custody of the black rod. On the other hand, the house of lords in England resolved, that the barons of the exchequer in Ireland had acted with great courage and fidelity; and addressed the king to signify his approbation of their conduct. To complete their triunph, a bill was prepared, by which the Irish house of lords was deprived of all right of final |