all of them in the old Greek style of building, which was then more admired than the Gothic. There were many poets, of whom Alexander Pope is now the best known; Jonathan Swift wrote very droll, but coarse and spiteful, books in mockery of the Whig Government and of the foolish and evil habits of the day; and Joseph Addison set up a magazine called the Spectator, which came out twice a week, and in which he and his friends did their best-sometimes seriously, sometimes playfully-to raise and improve people's minds, and to get them out of their bad customs. Tea and coffee were just coming into use, and the wits as the clever men were called-used to meet at coffee-houses for conversation. 5. None of all this brilliancy came near the Queen. She hardly ever read anything, and the persons of her court had little occupation as she grew old except gossip and card-playing, though she was a kind good woman, as far as she knew how to be, and nobody wished to do her any harm ; but much trouble was expected at her death. Her Tory friends, however, quarrelled in her very presence. Harley was dismissed; and she was so frightened and distressed that she had a fit, and while she lay speechless and dying, those about her persuaded her to make a sign that the Duke of Shrewsbury, a Whig, should take Harley's place. 6. Thus the Whigs took all their measures for keeping the country quiet before her death, which took place in August, 1714. They immediately i ACCESSION OF GEORGE I. 157 proclaimed the Elector of Hanover King George I., and sent to invite him over; but he was fifty-four years old, he liked his home in Germany much better than England, and would not thrust himself on the nation unless they were resolved to have him, so that seven weeks passed before he came to London. 7. People were disappointed in him, for he was a silent, awkward man, and could not speak English, nor did he try to make himself at home. He had believed cruel stories of his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Zelle, and kept her shut up in a castle in Germany, and there was so little to like about him that it was only the fear of the Stewarts' love of tyranny and of the Romish Church that kept the nation firm to him. 8. Young James Stewart had only waited for his sister's death to claim the Crown, hoping that she would name him as her heir. Old Louis XIV. promised help, but he had reigned seventy years— through five English reigns—and he died during the winter that followed the death of Queen Anne. However, the Scots who hated the Union, and the English Jacobites, who were very strong in the north, resolved to make a rising in favour of the heir of the Stewarts. 9. In September, 1715, the Earl of Mar and the Highland chiefs raised 10,000 men in this cause and marched to Perth. At the same time the Earl of Derwentwater raised the Jacobites of Westmoreland and the other northern counties. Each army fought a battle on the same day, the 13th of November, 1715. That in Scotland between Mar and the Duke of Argyle was at Sherriff Muir, near Dumblane, and no one could tell who was the winner, for half of each army was victorious and the other half ran away; but it did almost as much harm to the Jacobites as a rout would have done. 10. At Preston, in Cumberland, Derwentwater and his friends were so shut in by the Royal troops that they were forced to surrender. James Stewart, or, as he was called, the Chevalier de St. George, came to Scotland when it was too late, but showed so little spirit, that his adherents were disappointed in him. He soon returned to France, and his chief supporters fled and took service abroad. II. Of the prisoners, twenty-six gentlemen were tried for treason and executed. There were also seven noblemen who were tried by their peers and sentenced to be beheaded. Three of these were pardoned and two made their escape; one, namely the Earl of Nithsdale, by the brave contrivance of his wife, who dressed him in her clothes, so that he safely passed the sentinel, while she remained in his room until the guard was changed, and then, coming out herself, joined him in a small lodging the very night before the time fixed for his execution. There they heard the bell tolling for the beheading of Lords Derwentwater and Kenmare, and after a time they safely escaped to France. 12. It was in this reign that it was decided that Parliament must be dissolved and the Com HAMPTON COURT PALACE. 159 mons freshly elected once in every seven years, instead of every three years, as it had been fixed under William III. Persons: The Electress Sophia-George I.-Sophia Dorothea of Zelle-The Chevalier de St. George-The Earl of Mar The Earl of Derwentwater-The Earl of NithsdaleSir Christopher Wren-Alexander Pope-Jonathan SwiftJoseph Addison, Dates: Union of England and Scotland, 1707-Death of Queen Anne, 1714-Battle of Sheriff Muir, and Surrender at Preston, 1715. XXXIV. HAMPTON COURT PALACE CLOSE by those meads, for ever crown'd with flowers, name. Here Britain's statesmen oft the fall foredoom Here, thou, great Anna, whom three realms obey, 1 Nymph originally meant a goddess of the mountains, woods, or waters. It is now applied to a young woman, especially in poetry. One speaks the glory of the British Queen, For lo, the board with cups and spoons is crown'd, The silver lamp, the fiery spirits blaze, And see through all things with his half shut eyes. From the Rape of the Lock, by Pope, a very fair picture of the solemn frivolity of Queen Anne's Court. XXXV. THE WAR OF THE AUS- I. GEORGE I. never loved England, and spent as much time in Hanover as possible. There he died suddenly in the year 1727. He was succeeded by his son George II., who was not much more English than his father had been. The great Whig Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, who had come into office two years before, could speak neither German nor French, and the King transacted all his business with him in bad Latin. 2. The King had a very clever wife, Caroline of Anspach, who as long as she lived managed his |