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France, to oppose which England concluded with France and Prussia the defensive Treaty of Hanover, to which Sweden and Holland acceded (Sept. 3, 1725). But after a fruitless attack by Spain upon Gibraltar, and other insignificant hostilities, the French minister, cardinal Fleury, succeeded in restoring peace, the preliminaries of which were signed at Paris, May 31. 1727. It is interesting to trace in this affair the names of what were henceforth the great powers of Europe. Three days afterwards (June 3) George I. had started on his usual visit to Hanover. On the journey he was seized with apoplexy, and died in his carriage before he could reach the palace of his brother, the bishop of Osnabrück (June 11, 1727), in the sixty-eighth year of his age and the thirteenth of his reign. His death is said to have been caused by the shock of receiving a letter from his wife (who had died a few months earlier, after an imprisonment of thirty-two years), in which she summoned him to meet her within a year and a day before the tribunal of God, to answer for his conduct to her.

The reign of George I. completed the system of parliamentary antagonism between the Whig and Tory parties. The former maintained their ascendency during his whole reign; and, contrary to what has since happened, their chief strength was in the House of Lords. The clergy were generally Tories, and many of them Jacobites. The censure which they passed in convocation upon Dr. Hoadley, bishop of Bangor, for a sermon in which he advocated liberty of conscience, led to the suspension of all the powers of convocation. That body was prorogued in 1717, and each new convocation since then has been prorogued at once upon its meeting, till within the last few years.

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Obverse of Medal struck to commemorate the Battle of Dettingen.
(For Reverse, see p. 286.)

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK-continued.

GEORGE II. A.D. 1727-1760.

GEORGE II. was born Oct. 30, 1683. He was therefore in his 31st year when he came over to England with his father, and in his 44th when he mounted the throne. He had learnt to speak English fluently, but in other respects he was almost as uncultured as his father. He possessed, however, good natural sense; his habits were regular, though monotonous; and to great personal courage he added some military skill. He was subject to violent bursts of anger, and was most avaricious. His defects were in part supplied by the talents and graces of his wife, CAROLINE of Anspach, who had always great influence over him, and governed the country during the king's frequent visits to Hanover. They were married in 1705, and had two sons - FREDERICK prince of Wales, born Jan. 20, 1707, and WILLIAM AUGUSTUS duke of Cumberland, born 1721-besides five daughters. Queen Caroline died Nov. 20, 1736. The prince of

Wales was only remarkable for his ungovernable temper and his cabals against his father, which were fostered by Bolingbroke; and he died, unregretted by the people, in 1751, leaving his inheritance to his eldest son, afterwards George III.

The reign of George II. begins with the great development of the country's internal resources under the peaceful administration of Walpole, and ends with the conquests effected by the military genius of the elder WILLIAM PITT. The middle of it is occupied by the war which was signalised by the victory of DETTINGEN (1743) and the defeat of FONTENOY (1745), and which ended with the treaty of AIX-LA-CHAPELLE (1748), and by the last effort of the Stuarts in the REBELLION OF 1745. This outline must be filled up very briefly, for the minute details of the events are either unimportant or such as to require separate study.

Walpole was continued in office, against the king's inclination, by the influence of queen Caroline, and he obtained a decided majority in the new parliament (1727). Spain made overtures for peace, and the treaty of Seville (Nov. 9, 1729) established a new quadruple alliance of England, France, Spain, and Holland, by which peace was maintained for ten years.

During this period, Walpole's skill preserved his power in parliament in face of an opposition growing in numbers and ability, among whom the great WILLIAM PITT the elder made his appearance in 1735. In 1733 Walpole carried some important financial measures, but was obliged to withdraw his Excise Bill. He maintained the Septennial Act against all the force of the opposition (1734), and his decisive majority in the new elections caused the retirement of Bolingbroke to France (1735). The following year was marked by the Porteous Riots in Edinburgh, which have been immortalized by the genius of Scott (1736). In 1738 differences arose with Spain respecting the boundaries of the new American colony of Georgia, the right of searching vessels at sea, and the ill treatment of British subjects. On the second of these grievances it is interesting to see how the right has always been claimed by the chief maritime power for the time being, and resisted by the rest. England now fought against Spain to resist the right of search, and afterwards against Europe and America to maintain it. America went to war with England to resist it in 1813, and all but renewed the war to enforce it in 1861.

The king, the opposition, and the people dragged Walpole into the war, which was declared on Oct. 19, 1739. Operations were commenced against the colonies of Spain. Admiral Vernon took Portobello, on the Isthmus of Darien (Nov. 1740); but failed in a great combined attack on the strong fortress of Carthagena (March 4, 1741). The voyage of Anson round the world (1749-1744) is a

The disasters of the war

romantic episode of these campaigns. completed the overthrow of Walpole. The elections of 1741 went against him; and repeated defeats in the house compelled his resignation, which was reluctantly accepted by the king, who created him earl of Orford. He died in 1745. His pacific administration had reduced the national debt to 46,000,000l. A new government was formed by Pulteney, who was created earl of Bath, with lord Carteret as secretary of state, and virtually prime minister. Two years later the chief power passed to Henry Pelham, who succeeded lord Wilmington (Spencer Compton) as prime minister. In Nov. 1744 his ministry was strengthened by the addition of lord Chesterfield as lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and by the support of Pitt in the House of Commons.

Meanwhile a vast change had taken place from the peaceful policy pursued by Walpole and Fleury. The signal for a new series of European wars was given by the death of the emperor Charles VI. (Oct. 20, 1740), and the almost simultaneous accession to the throne of Prussia by Frederick II., renowned in history as FREDERICK THE GREAT. The hereditary dominions of Charles VI.-namely, the duchy of Austria and the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia-were secured to his daughter MARIA THERESA by the Pragmatic Sanction, but disputed by several claimants. Frederick of Prussia seized Silesia and gained the battle of Molwitz. The elector of Bavaria, assuming the title of duke of Austria, was carried by a French army to Vienna. He was soon afterwards elected emperor by the title of CHARLES VII. Maria Theresa fled to Hungary with her infant son (afterwards the emperor Joseph II.), and threw herself upon the loyalty of the nobles assembled in their diet, who responded with flashing swords and cries of Moriamur pro REGE nostro, Maria Theresa." They expelled Charles from Bohemia and Austria, and he soon died in poverty at Munich (1745).

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England had espoused the cause of Maria Theresa, and voted her a subsidy of 500,000l., in addition to a supply of 5,000,000l. for the war (1742). The earl of Stair was placed at the head of an army composed of British, Hessians, and Hanoverians, to co-operate with the Dutch; but nothing was done this year, and Maria Theresa had to cede Silesia to Frederick by the treaty of Breslau. In 1743 George II. joined the army in person, just in time to extricate it from a dangerous blockade in the valley of the Main, by the victory of DETTINGEN over the French and Bavarians under the duc de Noailles (June 27, 1743). This battle gained the young duke of Cumberland high honour for his courage, and it was the last fought by an English king in person. It delivered Germany from the French, but it led to a declaration of war from France (March 20,

1744). Louis XV. took the field in person with marshal Sare in Flanders, while Frederick, in defiance of the treaty of Breslau, attempted to conquer Bohemia and Moravia, as the ally of Charles VII. At length, by the efforts of England, which had formed a quadruple alliance with Holland, Austria (Jan. 1745), and Saxony, a peace was concluded with Prussia at Dresden. The Austrians kept the French in check upon the Rhine, and covered Frankfort, where Francis duke of Lorraine, the husband of Maria Theresa, was elected emperor by the title of Francis I. (Sept. 15, 1745).

The campaign of this year, in Flanders, was marked by the great battle of FONTENOY. Marshal Saxe had invested Tournay; and the English, Dutch, and Austrians, under the duke of Cumberland, marched to its relief. The column of guards charged the French centre, broke through two lines of infantry, and were advancing upon the village of Antouing, occupied by Louis XV. and the dauphin in person, when they found themselves abandoned by their allies. They left 9000 men upon the field, and the remnant of the army made good their retreat to Ath (May 11, 1745). This victory gave Flanders to the French. In America the English took Louisbourg, the capital of Cape Breton (June 15).

It was at this juncture that CHARLES EDWARD, son of the pretender James Francis, made his great adventure to recover the crown of Great Britain. James himself had fallen into obscurity ever since the attempt of 1715, and was now sinking into old age; but his son, who was born in 1721, seemed to have all the popular merits that his father wanted. In person he was tall, well formed, and active; his face eminently handsome, his complexion fair; his eyes blue; his hair fell in natural ringlets on his neck. His address, at once dignified and affable, was calculated to win attachment; yet his misfortunes had rendered him somewhat jealous of his dignity. He possessed courage and a romantic sense of honour; he was decisive and resolute, yet without much ability as a leader. His letters breathe both energy and affection, but they are ill spelt and written in the scrawling hand of a schoolboy; for his education had been shamefully neglected. In politics and religion he retained all the bigoted notions of the Stuarts; and the end of his life showed that his early promise was not proof against the chill of adversity.

His first attempt was made early in 1744, with the support of a large French fleet and army under marshal Saxe; but the expedition was totally wrecked by a great storm off Dungeness, and the French government abandoned the enterprise. Deprived of their support, and without even his father's knowledge, Charles Edward pawned his jewels and borrowed from his friends to buy arms and ammunition, which he put on board a French ship of war, the Eliza

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