196

A. D.

to

utmost limits.

WHIGS AND TORIES.

Ch. 17 by interest. He was a Tory by profession, but a Whig in policy. He rose with Marlborough, and fell with him, being 1702 an unflinching advocate for the prosecution of the war to the His life was not stainless; but, in an age of 1714. corruption, he ably administered the treasury department, and had the control of unbounded wealth, without becoming rich. It was mainly through the co-operation of this sagacious and far-sighted statesman that Marlborough was enabled to prosecute his brilliant military career.

The

and

During his administration, party animosity was at its height, and the great struggle which has been going on, in England, for nearly two hundred years, between the Whigs and Tories, raged with unusual fierceness. These names originated in the Whigs reign of Charles II., and were terms of reproach. The court Tories. party reproached their antagonists with their affinity to the fanatical conventiclers in Scotland, who were known by the name of the Whigs; and the country party pretended to find a resemblance between the courtiers and the popish banditti of Ireland, to whom the appellation of Tory was affixed. Charles and James sympathized with the Tories; but William III. was supported by the Whigs, who had the ascendency in his reign. Queen Anne was a Tory, as was to be expected from a princess of the house of Stuart; but, in the early part of her reign, she was obliged to yield to the supremacy of the Whigs. Their The advocates of war were Whigs, and those who desired principeace were Tories. The Whigs looked to the future glory of the country; the Tories, to the expenses which war created. The Tories, at last, got the ascendency, and expelled Godolphin, Marlborough, and Sunderland, from power.

ples.

Of the Tory leaders, Harley (Earl of Oxford), St. John (Lord Bolingbroke), the Duke of Buckingham, and the Duke of Ormond, the Earl of Rochester, and Lord Dartmouth, were the most prominent; but this Tory party was itself divided, in consequence of jealousies between the chiefs, the intrigues of Harley, and the measureless ambition of Bolingbroke. Under the ascendency of the Tories the treaty of

DR. HENRY SACHEVERELL.

19:

to

Utrecht was made, now generally condemned by historians of Ch. 17 both Whig and Tory politics. It was disproportioned to the A. D. success of the war, although it secured the ends of the alliance. 1702 One of the causes which led to the overthrow of the Whigs was the impeachment and trial of Dr. Henry Sacheverell, event which excited intense interest at the time, and, though insignificant in itself, touched some vital principles of the constitution.

1714.

Dr. Sa

cheve

This divine, who was rector of St. Saviour's, Southwark, was a man of mean capacity, and of little reputation either for learning or virtue. He had been, during the reign of William, an outrageous Whig; but, finding his services disregarded, he became a violent Tory. The audacity of his railings against Trial of the late King and the revolution, at last attracted the notice of Government; and for two sermons, in which he inculcated, rell. without measure, the doctrine of passive obedience, and repudiated religious toleration, he was in the year 1710 formally impeached. All England was excited by the trial. The Queen herself privately attended, to encourage a man who was persecuted for his loyalty. The first orators and lawyers of the day put forth all their energies on his behalf. Bishop Atterbury wrote the defence, which was endorsed by a conclave of High Church divines. The result of the trial was the condemnation of the doctor, but with it the fall of his adversaries. He was suspended for three years. The trial, while it brought out some great constitutional truths, also more effectually advanced the liberty of the press; it taught men the folly of attaching too much importance to the violence and vituperation of unprincipled libellers.

Eng

land

The great event of this reign was unquestionably the union Union of of Scotland and England, which took place May 1, 1707. land and Nothing could be more beneficial for both countries; and Scotthe only wonder is, that it was not accomplished long before. It was agreed, by the act of Union, that the two kingdoms of England and Scotland should, henceforth, be united into one, under the name of Great Britain;

198

UNION OF SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND.

Ch. 17 That the succession to the United Kingdom should remain A. D. to the Princess Sophia, Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the 1702 heirs of her body, being Protestants; and that all Papists, and persons marrying Papists, should be excluded from, and be for ever incapable of inheriting, the crown of Great Britain;

to 1714.

Conditions

of the

That the whole people of Great Britain should be represented by one Parliament, in which sixteen peers and forty-five commoners, chosen for Scotland, should sit and vote;

That the subjects of the United Kingdom should enjoy an entire freedom and intercourse of trade and navigation, and Union. reciprocal communication of all other rights, privileges, and advantages belonging to the subjects of their kingdom;

Effects

of it.

That the laws, in regard to public rights and civil government, should be the same in both countries, but that no alteration should be made in the laws respecting private rights, unless for the evident utility of subjects residing in Scotland;

That the Court of Session, and all other courts of judicature in Scotland, should remain as before the union, subject, however, to such regulations as may be made by the Parliament

of Great Britain.

Beside these permanent regulations, a sum of three hundred and ninety-eight thousand pounds was granted to Scotland, as an equivalent to the augmentation of the customs and excise.

By this treaty the Scotch became identified with the English in interest. If they lost in independence, they gained security and peace, and rapidly rose in wealth and consequence. The advantage was mutual.

Of the illustrious men who adorned the literature of England in this brilliant age, Addison, Swift, Bolingbroke, Bentley, Warburton, Arbuthnot, Gay, Pope, Tickell, Halifax, Parnell, Rowe, Prior, Congreve, Steel, and Berkeley. were the most distinguished. Dryden belonged to a preceding period. The wits of Queen Anne's reign were political writers as well as poets, and their services were sought for and paid by reigu. the great statesmen of the times. Of these, two only can here be noticed,-Addison and Swift. Addison was born in 1672.

Wits of

Queen
Anne's

WITS OF QUEEN ANNE'S REIGN.

199

A. D.

1702

Addi

He had distinguished himself at Oxford, and was a fellow of Ch. 17 Magdalen College. His early verses attracted the notice of Dryden, then the great autocrat of letters, and the oracle of the literary clubs. At the age of twenty-seven, he was pro- to vided with a pension from the Whig Government, and set out 1714. on his travels. He was afterwards made secretary to Lord Halifax, and elected a member of the House of Commons, Joseph but was never able to make a speech. He however made son. up for his failure as an orator by his power as a writer. He was also charming in conversation, and his society was everywhere cultivated by statesmen and scholars. In 1708 he became secretary for Ireland, and, while in Dublin, wrote those delightful papers on which his fame chiefly rests. Next to Addison in fame, and superior in genius, was Swift, Dean born in Ireland in 1677, educated at Dublin, and patronized by Sir William Temple. He was very useful to his party by his political writings. He was a great master of venomous satire, sparing neither friends nor enemies. He was ambitious, misanthropic, and selfish. His treatment of women was disgraceful and heartless in the extreme. But he was witty and learned. He was never known to laugh himself, yet he convulsed the circles into which he was thrown. His distinguishing power, however, was unscrupulous sarcasm.

Swift.

of Anne.

With these brief notices we must conclude our remarks on this period. In 1714, soon after the conclusion of the Death treaty of Utrecht, the Queen died, and the Elector of Hanover ascended the throne, under the title of George the First. To his reign we shall devote a separate chapter.

REFERENCES.-Lord Mahon's "History of England," which commences with the peace of Utrecht, is one of the most useful and interesting works which have lately appeared; Smollett's continuation of Hume should be consulted; Hallam should be read in reference to all constitutional questions; Coxe's "Life of Marlborough" throws great light on the period, and is very valuable. See, also, Bolingbroke's "Letters," and the Duke of Berwick's "Memoirs."

200

EARLY HISTORY OF RUSSIA.

A. D.

CHAPTER XVIII.

RUSSIA AND SWEDEN UNDER PETER THE GREAT AND

CHARLES XII.

Ch. 18 WHILE Louis XIV. was prosecuting his schemes of aggrandizement, and William III. was opposing those schemes; while 1682. Villeroy, Villars, Marlborough, and Eugene were contending, at the head of great armies, for their respective masters, a new power was arising at the north, destined soon to become prominent among the great empires of the world.

Russia:

its Scla

ter.

The political importance of Russia was not appreciated at vonic the close of the seventeenth century, nor, indeed, until the charac- great resources of the country were brought to the view of Europe by the extraordinary genius of Peter the Great. Its history, before the reign of this distinguished prince, has not excited much interest, and is not particularly eventful or important. The Russians are descended from the ancient Sclavonic race, supposed to be much inferior to the Germanic or Teutonic tribes, to whom most of the civilized nations of Europe trace their origin.

mir.

The first great event in Russian history is the nominal conversion of a powerful king to Christianity, in the tenth Vladi- century, named Vladimir, whose reign was a mixture of cruelty, licentiousness, and heroism. Seeing the necessity of some generally recognized religion, he sent ten of his most distinguished men into all the various countries then known, to examine their religious systems. Being semi-barbarians, they were disposed to recommend that form which had the most imposing ceremonial, and appealed most forcibly to the