218 A. D. THE DEATH OF CHARLES. Ch. 18 game, not of defence, but of conquest. Europe beheld the extraordinary spectacle of this infatuated Monarch passing, in 1715 the depth of a northern winter, over the frozen hills and icebound rocks of Norway, to conquer that hyperborean region. 1718. So inured was he to cold and fatigue, that he slept in the His to death. open air, on a bed of straw, covered only with his cloak, while his soldiers dropped down dead at their posts from cold. In the month of December, 1718, he commenced the siege of Fredericshall, a place of great strength and importance, but having exposed himself unnecessarily, was killed by a ball from the fortress. Many, however, suppose he was assassinated by his own officers, who were wearied of a course which involved nothing but disaster to their exhausted country. His death was considered as a signal for the general cessation of arms; but Sweden never recovered from the consequences of his insane enterprises. The national finances were disordered, the population decimated, and the provinces dismembered. Peter the Great gained what his rival lost. Charles died unlamented and unhonored, having through life unscrupulously sacrificed both friends and enemies to gratify a selfish and a depraved passion. REFERENCES. - Voltaire's "History of Russia," a very attractive book, on account of its lively style; Voltaire's "Life of Charles XII.” is equally fascinating. There are also tolerable histories of both Russia and Sweden in Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia. ENGLAND-GEORGE THE FIRST. 219 CHAPTER XIX. REIGNS OF GEORGE I. AND GEORGE II. QUEEN ANNE, who died in 1714, was succeeded by George I. Ch. 19 Elector of Hanover. He was grandson of Elizabeth, only A. D. daughter of James I., who had married Frederic, the King of 1714. Bohemia. He was fifty-four years of age when he ascended Accesthe English throne, and imperfectly understood the language sion of of the nation whom he was called upon to govern. George I. George I. was not a sovereign who materially affected the interests or destiny of England; nor was he one of those striking characters that historians like to delineate. It is generally admitted that he was prudent and moral; amiable in his temper, sincere in his intercourse, and simple in his habits, qualities which command respect, but do not excite interest. It is supposed that he understood the English Constitution, and was quite willing to be fettered by the restraints which Parliament imposed. He supported the Whigs, the dominant party at the time of his accession, and quietly acquiesced in the rule of his ministers. From the accession of Power the house of Hanover, the political history of England is little liament. more than a history of Parliament, and of those ministers who represented ruling opinions. A notice, therefore, of that great minister who headed the Whig party, and who, as their organ, swayed the councils of England for nearly forty years, demands our attention. His political career commenced during the reign of Anne, and continued during that of George I., and part of the reign of George II. Sir Robert Walpole belonged to an ancient and honorable of Par 220 Sir Robert ATTEMPT OF THE PRETENDER. Ch. 19 family; was born in 1676, entered Parliament soon after A. D. obtaining his first degree at King's College, Cambridge, in 1715. 1700, and in 1706 became Secretary at War. On the accession of George I. he was made paymaster of the forces, and became one of the most influential members of the GovernWalpole ment, which was composed of Lords Cowper, Marlborough, Wharton, Sunderland, Devonshire, Oxford, and Somerset. Townsend was made Secretary of State. The great leaders of the Tory party, Ormond and Bolingbroke, were now impeached and disgraced, on account of their supposed intrigues in favor of the Stuarts, who still meditated the recovery of the crown. Nor was the charge without foundation. The der. The first event of importance, under the new ministry, was the invasion of Great Britain, in the year 1715, by Prince James Frederic Edward Stuart, only son of James II. His Preten- early days had been spent at St. Germains, the palace which the dethroned monarch enjoyed through the hospitality of Louis XIV. He was educated under influences utterly unfavorable to the recovery of his natural inheritance, being devoted to the Pope and to the interests of absolutism. But he had his adherents, who were called Jacobites, and they were chiefly to be found in the Highlands of Scotland. In 1705 he had made an unsuccessful effort to regain the throne of his father, but the disasters attending it prevented any further movement until the death of Anne. His par tizans. When she died, many a discontented Tory fanned the spirit of rebellion; and Bishop Atterbury, a distinguished divine, openly advocated the Stuart claims. Scotland was ripe for revolt. Alarming riots took place in England. William III. was burned in effigy at Smithfield. The Oxford students pulled down a Presbyterian meeting-house, and the sprig of oak was publicly displayed on the 29th of May. The Earl of Mar hurried into Scotland to fan the spirit of insurrection; while the gifted, brilliant, and banished Bolingbroke joined the standard of the Chevalier. The venerable and popular Duke of Ormond also assisted him with his counsels. MINISTRY OF SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. 221 sion of Advised by these great men, assisted by the King of France, Ch. 19 and flattered by the Jacobite faction, the Pretender made pre-A. D. parations to recover his rights. His prospects were apparently 1716. better than were those of William, when he landed in England. The Earl of Mar was at the head of ten thousand men; but Invathe Chevalier was no general, and was unequal to his circum- Scotstances. When he landed in Scotland, he surrendered himself land. to melancholy and inaction. His sadness and pusillanimity dispirited his devoted band of followers. He retreated before inferior forces, and finally fled from the country which he had invaded. The French King was obliged to desert his cause, and on Jan. 7th, 1716, the Pretender retreated to Italy, where he died at the advanced age of seventy-nine. By his flight the insurrection was easily suppressed, and the country was not again molested by the intrigues of the Stuart princes for thirty years. The year which followed the invasion was signalized by the Septenpassage of the famous Septennial Act, which prolonged Parlia- nial Bill. ment from three to seven years. So many evils had practically resulted from frequent elections, that the Whigs resolved to make this change. It was a wise measure, and contributed greatly to the tranquillity of the country, and to the establishment of the House of Brunswick. The duration of an English Parliament has ever since, constitutionally, been extended to seven years, but the average period of their existence has been less than six years. cial genius of After the passage of the Septennial Act, the efforts of Walpole were directed to a reduction of the national debt. His genius was eminently financial, and his talents were pre- Financisely those which have ever since been required of a minister. The great problem of any Government is, how to raise money Walpole, for its necessities; and the more complicated the relations of society are, the more difficult becomes the problem. At the period in question the English nation was under the influence of one of those singular commercial delusions which from time to time return and ravage civilized countries. 222 A. D. THE SOUTH SEA COMPANY. Ch. 19 During the war of the Spanish Succession, the prime minister, Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, in order to raise 1717 money, projected the South Sea Company. This was in 1710, to when the public debt was ten million pounds sterling, an 1720. amount thought at that time to be insupportable. The interest The South Sea Company. on the debt was six per cent. Of the new Company money was borrowed at five per cent., great advantages of a commercial kind being given in return. The gain of one per cent. was to constitute a sinking fund. But the necessities of the nation increased rapidly, and in the year 1720, a plan was arranged by which the South Sea Company should become the sole national creditor, and should loan to the Government new sums, at an interest of four per cent. New monopolies were to be given to the Company; and it, on the other hand, offered to give a bonus of three million pounds to the Government. The Bank of England, jealous of the proposal, offered five millions for the same advantages. The directors of the Company then bid seven millions for their charter, nearly enough to pay off the whole redeemable debt of the nation. This however could not be accomplished, so long as there were, in addition, irredeemable annuities to the amount of eight hundred thousand pounds yearly. To get rid of these, became therefore now the first object of the Government, and this, it was seen, would be effected, if the national creditor could be induced to accept of shares in the South Sea Company, instead of his irredeemable annuities, or, as they are now variously called, consols, stocks, or funds. Wild So many monopolies and advantages were granted to the Comtchemes pany, that the national creditor, at length, consented to give up his security for South Sea stock. The Government, therefore, got rid of the irredeemable annuities, and obtained seven millions besides, becoming, of course, debtor to the Company. financial A body which could apparently afford to pay so large a bonus to Government for its charter, and to loan such large sums as the nation needed in addition, at four per cent., was supposed to be making most enormous profits. Its stock rose |