The History of Great Britain During the Reign of Queen Anne

Nature, by providing Anne with an affectionate heart and a feeble understanding, had predestined her to vassalage of some kind. In default of a husband capable of asserting his empire, she fell under the power of a female tyrant, haughty, avaricious, ungrateful, and perfectly callous to the feelings of others. Whatever amount of pleasure Anne may have derived from the society of Sarah Jennings was more than counterbalanced by the misery she endured from the Duchess of Marlborough. Yet many years elapsed before the timid and vacillating Queen could summon up sufficient courage to escape from that wretched bondage. The influence of her next favourite led to vast consequences to Europe; and it may still be a fair field for argument whether, as regarded the interests of this country, that influence was exerted for good or for evil. But Abigail Hill was at least an attached and considerate servant; and it is probable that from her sympathy Anne derived the chief comfort of her reign. As a sovereign she was still unfortunate. A person born to rule over millions, and possessing a very small share of intellect and a very sensitive conscience, can seldom be happy for long together. She was a Tory, and imagined, with probably a great many kitchen-wenches in her dominions, that the Whigs were a party who wanted to destroy the Church. Her Ministers perceived that, if the war was to be carried on with proper spirit, it was absolutely necessary to make some sacrifices to that party. For years were they endeavouring to force in one direction a conscience which nature and early education had obstinately fixed in another. The patient endured unspeakable agony before she roused up and flung aside her tormentors. Yet she was little less unhappy with the new set of Ministers by whose advice she governed. The disappointed Whigs allowed her no rest. They were always moving something in the Parliament to embarrass and plague her. They were constantly sending messages to the Electoral family to come over and set up a standard of disaffection among her subjects. She found that she had been deceived in the man whom she had made the principal repository of her confidence. Now that he was a Minister he had grown lazy. When he was sober it was not easy to find out what he meant, and when he was drunk he was not only unintelligible but wanting in proper

respect. Both he and his colleagues, in fact, seemed to be more fond of quarrelling with each other than attending to business. It was all one scene of wretchedness and misfortune from the cradle to the grave. "Never, I believe," said Arbuthnot, "was sleep more welcome to a weary traveller than death was to her." Her popularity with all classes of her subjects was extraordinary. No sovereign, except the amiable and highly-gifted lady who now occupies the throne, has been so universally and constantly beloved. It may be conjectured that this popularity arose less from the mild and benevolent character of Anne than from other causes. Whether it proceeds from some inherent chivalrousness of sentiment in the Anglo-Saxon nature, female sovereigns have, as a rule, been extremely popular in this country. There has been little disaffection, even under the provocation of great abuses, during their reigns. But the most apparent reason of Anne's popularity is that her mind happened to be exactly in harmony with the minds of nineteentwentieths of the people she governed. She was known to be strongly attached to the Church; and solicitude for the Church was in her time paramount in the thoughts of her subjects. The elections of 1710 showed how deeply seated was this feeling. The nation was then engaged in a great war. It must have been admitted that a Tory Parliament was far less likely to sustain the honour and reputation of our arms than a Whig one. Yet anxiety for the Church rose above all other considerations, and a Tory Parliament was returned. It is customary to this nation, as to many other nations, by affixing some adjective or substantive to the name of a sovereign, to record the impression that sovereign has left upon their minds. Henry I. was distinguished as the "scholar." Richard III. was dismissed with the contemptuous appellation of "crookback." Henry VIII. escaped with no greater censure than that of being "bluff." His daughter Mary was consigned to everlasting infamy by the word "bloody." Elizabeth was held as "glorious." The compassion or regrets of the nation for the misfortunes of Charles I. are signified in the title of "martyr." The love which the English bore to Queen Anne is touchingly displayed in the prefix of "good."

INDEX.

ABJURATION BILL, i. 35; taken freely

by the Tories, 61; time extended
for taking, 149; scruples of the
clergy, especially of Scotland, to take
it, ii. 396

Act of Conformity, i. 133

Act of Security, presented by Athol,

i. 164; passed, but rejected by the
Queen, 168; finally passed, 307;
reflections upon it by English Par-
liament, 313-315

Act of Toleration, i. 133

Addison, Joseph, Secretary for Ireland,

ii. 91; Member for Malmesbury,
255; attempts to cope with Swift,
262; his Spectator crushed by Stamp
Duty, 294

Aix la Chapelle, peace of, i. 6
Albemarle, Lord, defeated at Denain,
ii. 404
Albergotti, ii. 203, 205

Alcantara captured by Galway, i. 430
Allegre, Marquis de, i. 337
Alliance, treaties of, i. 33, 34
Almanza, battle of, i. 499
Almenara, battle of, ii. 235-237
Amsterdam offers to lend money to
the Provinces, i. 56

Anglesea, Earl of, insults Marlbo-
rough, ii. 338; befriends Oxford

60; her coronation, 70; reception
at Oxford, 125; at Bath, 126; in-
stitutes Queen Anne's bounty, 233;
attends Parliament to hear a debate,
315; her wrath against a libeller on
Marlborough, 364; commencement
of her complaints against Duchess of
Marlborough, 381; her dread of
having the presumptive heir in
England, 383; her resentment
against the Tories, 385; her dislike
of Sunderland, 477; appoints two
bishops, 521; her wretchedness,
523; excuses to Marlborough, 525;
her estrangement from Marlborough
and Godolphin, and partiality for
Harley, ii. 7-10; forced to yield,
12-15; her obstinacy, 38; receives
advice from irresponsible servants,
85; her answer to Marlborough;
her letter to the Duchess intimating
the decay of her friendship, 149;
her charity to the Palatines, 157;
determined to mortify Marlborough,
163; attends Sacheverell's trial, 171;
dismisses Marquis of Kent, 190;
last interview with the Duchess,
196; renews her insults to Marl-
borough, 206; her dissimulation,
220; dismisses Godolphin, 223;
Parliament, 230; her re-
Marlborough, 263; dis-
he Duchess, 265; gives
Ménager, 316; tries to
efractory peers, 334; at-
ouse of Lords, 336, 341;
be wavering, 342; her
ty to argument, 343;
elve peers at once, 348;
Marlborough, 351; forbids
ng a duel, 389; her injus-
im about Blenheim Castle,
r declining health, 440; her

debts, 457; dislike of turbulent
clergymen, 465; alarming illness,
475; her humanity with regard to
the Pretender and terror of the
Hanoverians, 490; her angry re-
monstrances with the Electoral
court, 508; issues proclamation
against Pretender, 511; dismisses
Oxford, 521; taken ill, 522; makes
Shrewsbury Treasurer, 524;
founded statements about her last
hours, 526; her death, 528; funeral,
530; remarks on her life, 531. See
also Parliament and Thanksgiving.
Antwerp captured by Allies, i. 410
Arbuthnot, Doctor, ii. 523, 532
Arco, Count de, i. 183; at Schellen-
berg, 250, 252

un-

Argyle, Duke of, commands the horse-
guards, i. 160; in Scottish Parlia-
ment, 163; High Commissioner; his
character, 368; at Ramilies, 407;
his anger against Marlborough, ii.
152, note; accuses him of prolong-
ing the war, 201; his rude speech
against him, 270; criticizes his
military conduct, 388; eager to
repeal Union, 453; his speech on
that subject, 454; denounces the
peace, 489; repairs to the Council,

525

Artois ravaged by Allies, ii. 54, 68
Asfeld, Chevalier de, i. 292
Asgill, John, ii. 185, note

Ashby . White, the great case, i.
227-231, 317-322

Assiento contract, ii. 306; remarks on,
478

Athlone, Earl of, a competitor with
Marlborough, i. 83; defeats a pro-
ject of French army, 85; his death,
198
Athol, Marquis of, presents Act of
Security, i. 164; his resentment
against Frazer, 222; clears himself
from suspicion, 225; made a duke,
303; protests against introduction of
bill for an Union, 376; opposes the
Union, 452; protests against it, 465;
his dealings with Hooke, ii. 25; ex-
culpates himself, 30

Atterbury, Francis, champion of High
Church party, i. 154; attends
Sacheverell upon his trial, ii. 170,
note; made Bishop of Rochester,
465

Augsburg, city of, captured by Prince
of Baden, i. 188

Augsburg, league of, i. 10

Augustus, King of Saxony, at Lille,
ii. 5.

Barré, Sieur de, his memorial to the
States, i. 57

Barrier treaty, ii. 142, 425, 426
Bath, account of, i. 126

Bavaria, Elector of, sides with Louis,
i. 95; surprises Ulm, 96; consterna-
tion he spreads, 179; meets Villars,
182; his folly, 183; invades the
Tyrol, 184; retreats, 185; his dis-
like of Villars, 187; captures Passau,
241; his irresolution, 254; folly in
seeking a battle, 257; retreats from
Blenheim, 265; his unfortunate
position, 276; with Villeroi in the
Netherlands, 336; at Ramilies, 405;
his proposal for a negotiation, 492;
removed to the Rhine, ii. 41; be-
sieges Brussels, 70; retreats, 74
Bavaria, Electress of, i. 256, 270, 275
Bavaria laid waste by Allies, i. 255
Baville, Sieur de, his cruelty, i. 177
Bay, Marquis de, defeats Galway, ii.
139; defeated at Saragossa, 238
Bayreuth, Margrave of, his character,
i. 507

Beauvilliers, Duke de, i. 21
Belcastel, ii. 238

Belhaven, Lord, his speech against the
Union, i. 464, 467; arrested ii. 30;
dies, 96

Bellasis, Sir Henry, i. 111; dismissed
the service, 112

Benbow, Admiral, his character, i. 121;
his combat with a French squadron,
123; dies, 124

Bergueick, Count, i. 489; ii. 44
Berwick, Duke of, commands French
in Spain; his character, i. 288; in-
vades Portugal, 290; retires, 293;
in the Cevennes, 329; retires before
Galway, 430; drives Galway to
Valencia, 437; defeats him at Al-
manza, 499; his sternness, 517;
joins Vendome in the Netherlands,
ii. 59; has disputes with him, 68;
removed to the Rhine, 69; forced to
waylay the King's money to feed his

troops, 137; with Villars, 204;
marches against the Catalans, 487;
desires Oxford's dismissal, 517
Bingfield, Colonel, i. 405, 408
Binks, Doctor, i. 68

Blackmore, Sir Richard, ii. 523
Blandford, Marquis of, i. 198
Blansac, i. 266

Blenheim, battle of, i. 258-270
Bolingbroke, Viscount (formerly St.
John, which see), his proposals to
Louis about Dunkirk, ii. 400; his
visit to France, 407; negotiations
with Torcy, 408; introduced to
Louis, 410; determined to make
peace, 413; indignant at some diffi-
culties started by Louis, 430; im-
patient to conclude treaty, 432;
consults no one but Moore on his
treaty of commerce, 447; his pro-
bable views about the succession,
461; his plans, 464; anxious to
quiet the alarm about succession,
476; his neglect of the Catalans,
486; quarrels with Oxford, 497;
supports Schism bill, 501; reflections
on his conduct, 503; proposes bill
to prevent enlisting for the Pre-
tender, 512; his uneasy life, 514;
his gloomy prospects and attempts
to strengthen his position, 515
probable explanation of his conduct
regarding the Pretender, 516, note,
517-519; effort. for a reconciliation
with the Whigs, 522; proposes
Shrewsbury for Treasurer, 524; his
reception by the people, 530
Bonn captured by Allies, i. 199
Bothmar, Baron, his memorial, ii. 323
Bouchain captured by Allies, ii. 301;
retaken by Villars, 413
Boucher, James, i. 219

Boufflers, Marshal, commands French
army, i. 84; failure of his operations,
91; wins battle of Eckeren, 201;
commands at Lille, ii. 57; his
energy, 66; surrenders city, 67;
and citadel, 74; serves as a volun-
teer under Villars, 128; superin-
tends retreat from Malplaquet, 135
Bounty, Queen Anne's, i. 231-236
Bourlie, Abbé de. See Guiscard
Boyer, Abel, remarks on his annals, i.
52, note

Boyle, Henry, against tacking Occa-
sional Conformity bill, i. 311: made
a Secretary of State, ii. 15; resigns,
231

Bradbury, Tom, ii. 175

Brancaccio, Don Scipio, i. 106
Brandenburg, Margrave of, i. 88

Brihuega, combat of, 247
Bristol, Robinson, Bishop of, his career,
ii. 356; appointed plenipotentiary,
357; his speech about Ormond's
orders, 384; proposes suspension of
arms, 410; signs treaties of Utrecht,
433; translated to see of London,
465

Bristol, city of, flooded during the
Great Storm, i. 211

Bromley introduces Occasional Con-
formity bill, i. 216; defeated as
candidate for Speaker, 379; attacks
the Duchess, 382; made Speaker, ii.
256

Brown, Joseph, i. 391

Bruce, Sir Alexander, i. 80
Bruges captured by Allies, i. 410; re-
taken by French, ii. 46; by Allies,

76
Brussels captured by Allies, i. 408;
besieged, ii. 70; relieved, 74
Buckinghamshire, Duke of (formerly
Normanby), made Privy Seal, i. 61;
dismissed, 379; supports motion for
bringing over presumptive heir, 383;
made Steward of the Household,
his character, ii. 232; his reply to
Oxford, 337

Burgess, Daniel, his character, meet-
ing house destroyed, ii. 173
Burgundy, Duke of, commands French

army; his character, i. 84; retires,
91; his campaign on the Rhine, 190;
́associated with Vendôme, ii. 41; his
disputes with him and loss of battle
of Oudenarde, 48-53; his indolence,
69, 73; his sudden death, 377
Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, communi-

cates news of William's death to
Anne, i. 51, note; remarks on his
history, 53, note; opposes Occasional
Conformity bill, 135; intolerant to
Papists, 173; arguments against
Occasional Conformity bill, 217;
originator of Queen Anne's Bounty,
232; his bill for a regency, 383; his
speech about the Church, 389;
against Sacheverell, ii. 180; his
blundering oratory, 181; his auda-
cious remonstrance with Anne, 195;
his prophecies about the peace,

334

Buys, Pensioner, his representations
about the field deputies, i. 341; in-
clined to accept French offers, 398;
confers with Rouillé, ii. 106; his
manner of conducting business, 113;
at Gertruydenburg, 200, 212; comes
to England, 322; plenipotentiary,

372

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