Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/715

 GEORGE I. 703 Geometer uber Porismen, protective Methoden, Q-eometrie der Lage, Transversalen, Dualitdt und Reciprocitat, by Steiner (Berlin, 1832) ; four books of Pliicker of great merit, the Ana- lytische geometrische Entwickelungen (2 vols., Essen, 1828-'31), System der anoJlytischen Geo- metrie aufneue Betrachtungsweisen gegriindet (Berlin, 1833), Theorie der algebraischen Cur- ven, gegriindet auf eine neue Behandlungsweise der analytischen Geometric (Bonn, 1839), and System der Geometric des JRaumes in neuer analytischer Behandlungsweise (2d ed., Diissel- dorf, 1852) ; Lehrbuch der Geometric, by Karl Snell (Leipsic, 1841) ; Grundlinien der neueren Geometric, by Dr. Benjamin Witzschel (Leip- sic, 1858) ; and Die AusdeTinungsleJire voll- stdndig und in strenger Form bearbeitet, by Dr. Hermann Grassmann (Berlin, 1862). GEORGE (Lewis) I., king of Great Britain and Ireland, first sovereign of the Hanoverian line, born in. Osnabriick, May 28, 1660, died near that place, June 10, 1727. He was the eldest son of the elector Ernest Augustus of Hanover and the electress Sophia, granddaugh- ter of James I. In 1681 he went to England to pay his addresses to the princess (afterward queen) Anne; but immediately upon landing he received his father's orders not to proceed in the business, and returning home, he mar- ried in the following year his cousin Sophia Dorothea, daughter of the duke of Celle. He served in the armies of the empire against both the Turks and the French, and succeeded to the electorate in 1698. In 1700 he led a force to the aid of the duke of Holstein against the king of Denmark, and raised the siege of Tonningen. He held to the English alliance throughout the war of the Spanish succession, and in 1707-' 9 commanded the imperial forces against the French; but he did not approve the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, standing out with the emperor till the peace of Rastadt in 1714. By acts of convention and parliament of 1689 and 1701 the succession of the Eng- lish crown had been fixed as follows : James II. and his son being excluded, the next heirs were: 1, the princess Mary of Orange, eldest daughter of James II. ; 2, the princess Anne of Denmark, his younger daughter ; 3, William of Orange, son of Mary, eldest daughter of Charles I. After the decease of Mary and William with- out issue, the crown should descend to the princess Anne, and on her decease without is- sue to the heirs of, William. In the failure of such heirs the succession was further limited to the electress Sophia of Hanover, passing over nearer heirs who were Roman Catholics. By the treaty of union with Scotland in 1707 the same succession was secured for the crown of Scotland. The Hanoverian succession was guaranteed by treaty with Holland in 1706, 1709, and 1713, and by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The electress Sophia died May 28, 1714, and her son George Lewis became heir apparent, and succeeded Queen Anne at her death on Aug. 1 of the same year. In spite 352 VOL. vn. 45 of schemes to place upon the throne the son of James II., the accession of George I. was without disturbance. He arrived with his eldest son at Greenwich in September, and was crowned the next month. The ministers of Queen Anne, Bolingbroke, Oxford, and their associates, were impeached, and a whig minis- try came into power, Viscount Townshend and Sir Robert Walpole being its most influen- tial members. The opposition broke out into rebellion in Scotland and the north of Eng- land, but was overcome in the battle of Pres- ton, Nov. 12-13, 1715 ; and although the pre- tender landed in Scotland in December, 1715, his presence did not strengthen his cause, and he soon fled. The leading rebels were cap- tured, and some of them punished with se- verity. The dangers of this rebellion led to the repeal of the triennial act, and an act was passed allowing parliament to sit for seven years unless dissolved by the crown. On Jan. 4, 1717, a triple alliance was formed with France and Holland against Sweden and Rus- sia. The Swedish ambassador was arrested, and among his papers were found evidences of a plot for an insurrection in England, and an invasion of Scotland by the king of Sweden. In the preparations for defence, jealousy of Sunderland led to a schism in the ministry, and Walpole and others resigned. Stanhope now took the lead of the ministry. In 1718 a quadruple alliance was formed with Hol- land, France, and the emperor. In the short war that followed Admiral Byng annihilated the Spanish fleet at Cape Passaro, Aug. 11. There had long been hostility between the king and the prince of Wales, on account of the prince's mother, the unhappy Sophia of Celle. This lady had been suspected of an intrigue with Count Konigsmark, who sud- denly disappeared and was supposed to have- been assassinated, while the princess was di- vorced in 1694 and imprisoned from that time" till her death in 1726. The prince of Wales- was attached to his mother, and the enmity with his father broke out into open hostility at the end of 1717. The prince left St. James's^ palace, and his residence, Leicester house, be- came a rival court. An important event of 1718 was the passing of a bill for the relief of Protestant dissenters. At this time arose the' financial enterprises which culminated in the South sea company, of which the king was elected governor. Among the companies of the time were many of real value, but the principle of financial combination was extrava- gantly overrated ; and when in 1720 the great South sea bubble burst, the general panic was overwhelming. The ministry was held re- sponsible, and it was even expected that the king would abdicate. Lord Stanhope, in re- plying to an attack in the house of lords, was seized with a fit and died; on the following day (Feb. 5, 1721) Craggs, secretary of state, died of the smallpox, and Sunderland left the treasury. Walpole came to the front again*