Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/139



1. Queen Anne.— William was succeeded by Anne, the second daughter of James II. The nation was glad to have once more an English sovereign, and ‘‘Good Queen Anne” was, throughout her reign, popular with all classes of her subjects. She was a dull but kind-hearted woman, who had won the pity and sympathy of her people by losing all her many children. Her inclinations and feelings were on the side of the Stuarts and against the line of Hanover, which was to come after her. It would have pleased her much if her brother James, the Pretender (as he was called), had consented to give up his Roman Catholic faith and become a supporter of the English Church. This James refused to do, and Anne felt compelled, through her love for the Church, to refuse her assent to his claim to the throne.

Anne was much under the influence of Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough, a beautiful but violent-tempered woman, who had been Anne’s friend from early years. They were on very familar terms, and called each other ‘‘Mrs. Morley” and ‘‘Mrs. Freeman.” This friendship had a great deal to do with the politics of the time, for in consequence of it Anne, though a Tory at heart, kept a Whig government in office for many years, because the Whigs supported the war in which the Duke of Marlborough was the chief commander. Marlborough himself, and Godolphin, the High Treasurer, were Tories, but they had to join the Whigs as the Tories were bitterly opposed to the war against France.

2. War of the Spanish Succession.—This war was to prevent Louis XIV. from placing his grandson on the throne of Spain. William had formed a Grand Alliance, the principal members of which were England, Holland, Portugal, Savoy, Prussia, Austria, and a small portion of Spain. Louis had Bavaria and nearly all Spain on his side. The chief leaders among the Allies were Marlborough, Prince Eugene of Savoy, and Heinsius of Holland, while the Earl of Peterborough during the early years of the war did good service for them in Spain. Louis, on the other hand, had