GEORGE. 



prifoned, or driren inte exile. Tliefe meafures were the 

 caufe of great difTatisfaftion ; tumults were excited in 

 various parts of the kingdom, and at length, in September 

 1715, tlie earl of Marr let up the il uidard of rebellion, and 

 proclaimed, with due honours, th ; pretender. The plan 

 was ill concerted, and very weaklv Uipported, and early in the 

 following year it was entirely q,;:-llcd, but fevcral of the 

 leaders lolt their lis-es on the fcaffold. Still a large body of 

 the people were difafieiled to the new family, and the 

 power of the Tory party was fo formidable, that the miniftry, 

 to eftabliih their authority, had recourfe to feptennial par- 

 liaments, inftead of triennial ones, according to the law of 

 the land. It was agreed by men of all parties, who were 

 not perfonally interefted in the change, that this inno- 

 vation was a moll grofs violation of the principles of 

 the conftitution, which no temporary neceflity could 

 juftify. The king had, about this period, acquired by 

 purchafe the duchies of Bremen and Vcrden, in order to 

 extend his power aseieftor of Hanover. By the acquifiti'on 

 he was involved in a quarrel with Charles XII, of Sweden, 

 who threatened to invade Scotland in favour of the claims of 

 the pretender. The czar Peter alfo concurred in the fcheme. 

 T'o obviate the danger, the king entered into a triple alliance 

 with Holland and France, a fleet was fent up the Baltic to 

 awe the Swedes, and all commercial intercourle with that 

 . nation was fufpended : but the death of Charles XII. in 

 1717, and the fubfequent changes in the poUtics of Sweden, 

 put an end to the alarm in that quarter, and fecured George 

 in the quiet pofTefTiun of his newly acquired continental ac- 

 <}uiiltioiis. The ambition of the court of Spain, governed 

 by ^cardinal Alberoni, diilurbed the peace of Europe, and 

 occaiioned a quadruple alhance between the three powers 

 zljove-mentioned, with the accclTion of the emperor. The 

 feizure of Sardmia, and invafion ot Sicily by the Spaniards, 

 gave a pretext for fending a powerful Englifh fleet into the 

 Mediterranean under hr George Bvng, who fell in with, and 

 almoft totally dellroyed the Spaniih fleet. This fucceis was 

 followed by the recovery of Sicily and Sardinia, and Spain 

 was under the neceflity of acceding to a peace dictated by 

 the allied powers. A pacification of the north of Europe 

 was alfo cffefted by the mediation of England. The na- 

 tional delufion and calamity in the year 1720, (fee Bubble,) 

 recalled the king from a vifit to his German dominions, and 

 the prudent meafures of parliament produced the reiloration 

 of public credit. In 1722 a new conlpiracy againll the 

 government was difcovered, and fevcral pcrions were ap- 

 prehended in confequence of it, among whom was Dr. Atter- 

 bury, bifliop of Rocheiler, who was puniflicd with perpe- 

 tual bari'ifhment. The minlllers of France and England, 

 Fleury and Walpole, being friendly to peace, preferved a 

 good underitanding between the two countries tor many 

 years. Several treaties were negociated under the pretence 

 of maintaming the balance of jjower, but uiually other pri- 

 vate ends were to be anfv.-ercd by them. The leading 

 principle of George I. was the fafcty and profperity of his 

 German dominions, to the intereils of which, thofe of 

 Great Britain were, on various occalions, faid to be facri- 

 ficed. In 1725, a treaty between the emperor and the 

 king of Spain excited thejealoufy of king George fo much, 

 that he counteraAcd it by another at Hanover, compriflng 

 mofl; of the other European powers, and he fent a fleet to 

 the Weft Indies under admiral Hofier, in order to block up 

 the Spanifti galleoTis at Portobello. The death of the ad- 

 miral and moft of his crew from difeafe, was confidered as 

 cne of the moil inglorious difafters of the reign. The Spa- 

 niards then befieged Gibraltar, but all differences were finally 

 fettled by a negociation. The king of England fee;ne4 at 

 Vol. XVL 



length to have furmounted all his political difficulties, and » 

 profpeft of permanent peace and tranquillity appeared to 

 open upon him. The toils, and dangers, and anxietira 

 which he had felt during his whole reign fecmed at laft to 

 be rewarded with glory, happinefs, and rcpofe. He thought 

 every circumftance was favourable to his vifiting liis elec- 

 toral dominions, and embarked for that jwrpole at Green- 

 wich, June 3, 1727. He landed in Holland 09-ll"C ?'•'• 

 but in his journey from thence to*Har:over hcTiifkrod a 

 paralytic feizure, and feeling that he was near the end of hi» 

 long journey, he exclaimed to his attendant, frC'ett fait de 

 moi." He reached the palace of his brother, the bi(hop of 

 Of^aburg, but could not advance farther. He died Juno 11, 

 1727, in the fixty-eighth year of his age, *and the 13th of 

 his reign. He has been charafterizcd as plain and fimpic in 

 his appearance, grave and fedate in his manner, but ea^ and 

 famihar among his intimates, in whofe fociety he was fond 

 of relaxing from tB? cares of the ilate. He pofleflcd ir.uch 

 natural prudence and good fenfe, and well underftood hit. 

 intercfts, at leall as far as the objeAs neareft his heart were- 

 concerned. Acceding to the crown of Great Britain when 

 far advanced in life, he feemcd ever to conlider himfelf rather 

 as eleflor than as king, and the influence and power of Great 

 Britain were of lit'.l ■ cltimation in his eyes when direfted 

 to any other end than the aggrandizement of his native 

 country. In the view of Europir at large, he iuftained th-^ 

 charafter of a prudent, able, and fortunate prince. His 

 government was not witi'.cut defefts in the adminiflration, 

 but he wns unqueftionably a zealous friend to civil and 

 religious liberty. He had female favourites, but was not 

 governed by them. He had httle or no tafte for literature 

 and fcivnce, and was unable to appreciate their value, yet 

 he founded in each univerflty a profcfTorfliip of mocjjm 

 hillory. He was, however, a lover of mulic ; and foon 

 after his accefilon eflabliihed reguhtions for the conduft of 

 this part of the fervice in the royal chapel. He had married 

 in 1681, l:is coufin Sophia Dorothea, daughter of the duke ■ 

 of Zell, a match that was attended with little domeftic 

 happinefs. He left behind him one fon, who fucceeded 

 him in his crown. 



Geokge Algu.stI/S II. king of Great Britain, <bn of 

 the preceding, was bt-rn in 1683, and came to England with 

 his father in I 714, where he received the rank and title of 

 Prince of Wales. In 1 7 16, he was appointed regent during 

 the king's abfence. After this, on account of fome privat* 

 difference between father and fon, th.e latter lived for fom« 

 time in a ftate of cftrangemcnt from the court. Hr- 

 fucceeded to the throne in 1 727, and adopted the fam» 

 minifters and meafures which had governed the nation during 

 tlie hfe of George I. He inherited alio, in full force, th« 

 attachment which his father fhewed to his German interefts, 

 which fwayed the -cbuncjls of his cabinet, though it was 

 frequently ' obliged to give way to other oonliderations. 

 Europe, for fome time, was i:i a llate of peac.-, through the 

 influence of the treatis of Seville and Vienna, the latter of 

 which guaranteed the Pragmatic fanction, or the law by 

 which the female heirs of the emperor Charles VI. were to 

 fucceed to the hereditary dominions of Auftria. In 1732 

 Walpole introduced into parliament the financi.il fcheme of 

 a great e.^enfion of the cxcife ; but the violent oppofition it 

 met with from the nation obliged him to rehnquifh tha 

 objed. What the people refufed to fubmit to at that 

 period has been iince adopted alinoll without a murmur. In 

 the year 1737, complaints were made againil the govern. 

 ment for abridging liberty, by a bill for limiting the number 

 of playhoules, and fubmitting dramatic writings to the 

 kfptcl'iou of the lord thambedain. Difputes had long pre. 

 P, vailed 



