mortification. He frequently visited the poor monks of La Trappe, who were edified by his humble and pious deport ment. 4. His pride and arbitrary temper seemed to have vanished with his greatness; he became affable, kind, and easy to all his dependants; and at his last illness conjured nis son to prefer religion to every worldly advantage,—a counsel which that prince strictly obeyed. He died with great marks of devotion, and was interred, at his own request, in the church of the English benedictines at Paris, without any funeral solemnity. 5. William, upon accepting of the crown, was resolved to preserve, as much as he was able, that share of prerogative which still was left him. But at length he became fatigued with opposing the laws which parliament every day were laying round his authority, and gave up the contest 6. He admitted every restraint upon the prerogative in Eng. land, upon condition of being properly supplied with the means of humbling the power of France. War, and the balance of power in Europe, were all he knew, or indeed desired to understand. Provided the parliament furnished him with supplies for these purposes, he permitted them to rule the internal polity at their pleasure. 7. For the prose cution of the war with France, the sums of money granted to him were incredible. The nation, not content with furnishing him with such sums of money as they were capable of raising by the taxes of the year, mortgaged these taxes, and involved themselves in debts which they have never since been able to discharge. 8. For all that profusion of wealth granted to maintain the imaginary balance of Europe, England received in return the empty reward of military glory in Flanders, and the consciousness of having given their allies, particularly the Dutch, frequent opportunities of being ungrateful. The war with France continued during the greatest part of this king's reign; but at length the treaty of Ryswick, A.D. 1697, put an end to those contentions, in which England had engaged without policy and came off without advantage. 9. In the general pacification her interests seemed entirely deserted; and for all the treasures she had sent to the continent, and all the blood which she had shed there, the only equivalent she received was an acknowledgment of king William's title from the king of France. 10. William was naturally of 2 very feeble constitution: and it was by this time almost exhausted by a series of con anual disquietuue and action. He had endeavoured to re pair his constitution, or at least to conceal its decays, by exercise and riding. On the twenty-first day of February, in riding to Hampton-court from Kensington, his horse fell under him, and he was thrown with such violence, that his collar-bone was fractured. His attendants conveyed him to the palace at Hampton-court, where the fracture was reduced, and in the evening he returned to Kensington in his coach. 11. The jolting of the carriage disunited the fraċture once more, and the bones were again replaced, under Bidloo, his physician. This in a robust constitution would have been a trifling misfortune; but in him it was fatal For some time he appeared in a fair way of recovery; but, falling asleep on his couch, he was seized with a shivering, which terminated in a fever and diarrhoea, which soon became dangerous and desperate. 11. Perceiving his end approaching, the objects of his former care still lay next his heart; and the fate of Europe seemed to remove the sensations he might be supposed to feel for his own. The earl of Albemarle arriving from Holland, he conferred with him in private on the posture of affairs abroad. Two days after, having received the sacrament from archbishop Tenison, he expired in the fifty-second year of his age, after having reigned thirteen years. Questions for Examination. 'To what situation was James reduced? and what were the designs of his friends? 2. When and where did James die? 3. How did the exiled monarch spend the latter part of his life? 4. What counsel did he gave to his son in his last illness? 5. What was William's resolution on accepting the crown? 6. Did his actions correspond with that resolution? 7. In what manner did William act? 8, 9. What consequences resulted from the war with France? 10, 11. What accident happened to William? and what were the conse quences? 12. What object lay nearest his heart? How long did William reign, and what was his age? 1658 King of Denmark. Emperor of Germany. Louis XIV........ 1643 Christian V....... 1670 King of France. Kings of Spain. Soliman III....... 1687 Philip V 1665 Charles XI..... 1660 1700 Charles XII..... 169 Emperors of the Turks. Charles II.. Kings of Sweden. EMINENT PERSONS. SIR ISAAC NEWTON JOHN LOCKE. Archbishop Tillotson. Bishop Burnet. Duke Schomberg. General Schomberg, son of the duke. Montague, earl Halifax. Russel, earl of Oxford. John, lord Somers. Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftesbury (grandson to the nobleman mentioned in a forme: reign). Sheffield, duke of Buckingham. John, lord Cutts lord Berkley, &c. Admiral Russel CHAPTER XXXIII. ANNE. Bon 1664. Died August, 1714. Began to reign March 8, 1702. Reigned 12 years. SECTION 1. Ye active streams, wher'er your waters flow, Let distant climes and farthest nations know What ye from Thames and Danube have been taught, 1. (A.D. 1702.) ANNE, married to prince George of Denmark, ascended the throne in the thirty-eighth year of her age, to the general satisfaction of all parties. She was the second daughter of king James, by his first wife, the daughter of chancellor Hyde, afterwards earl of Clarendon. Upon coming to the crown, she resolved to declare war against France, and communicated her intentions to the house of commons, by whom it was approved, and war was proclaimed accordingly. 2. This declaration of war, on the part of the English, was seconded by similar declarations by the Dutch and Germans on the same day. The French monarch could not suppress his anger at such a combination, but his chief resentment fell upon the Dutch. He declared with great emotion, that, as for these gentlemen pedlars, the Dutch, they should one day repent their insolence and presumption in declaring war against one whose power they had formerly felt and dreaded. 3. However, the affairs of the allies were no way influenced by his threats. The duke of Marl borough had his views gratified, in being appointed general of the English forces: and he was still farther flattered by the Dutch, who, though the earl of Athlone had a right to share the command, appointed Marlborough generalissimo of the allied army. 4. And it must be confessed, that few men shone more, either in debate or action, than he; serene in the midst of danger, and indefatigable in the cabinet; so that he became the most formidable enemy to France that England ever produced, since the conquering times of Cressy and Agincourt. 5. A great part of the history of this reign consists in battles fought upon the continent, which, though of very little advantage to the interest of the nion, were very great additions to its honour. These triumphs, it is true, are passed away, and nothing remains of them but the names of Blenheim, Ramilies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, where the allied army gained great, but (with: respect to England) useless victories. 6. A conquest of much greater national importance was gained with less expense of blood and treasure in Spain. The ministry of England, understanding that the French were employed in equipping a strong squadron in Brest, sent out sir Cloudesly Shovel and sir George Rooke to watch their motions. Sir George, however, had further orders to convoy a body of forces in transport-ships to Barcelona, upon which a fruitless attack was made by the prince of Hesse. 7. Finding no hopes, therefore, from this expedition, in two days after the troops were re-embarked, sir George Rooke, joined by sir Cloudesly, called a council of war on board he fleet, as they lay off the coast of Africa. In this they resolved to make an attempt upon Gibraltar, a city then be longing to the Spaniards, at that time ill provided with a garrison, as neither expecting nor fearing such an attempt. 8. The town of Gibraltar stands upon a tongue of land as the mariners call it, and defended by a rock inaccessible on every side but one. The prince of Hesse landed his troops, to the number of eight hundred, on the continent adjoining, and summoned the town to surrender, but without effect. 9. Next day the admiral gave orders for cannonading the town; and, perceiving that the enemy were driven from their fortifications at a place called the South Mole Head, ordered captain Whitaker to arm all the boats, and assault that quarter. Those officers who happened to be nearest the Mole immediately manned their boats without orders, and entered the fortifications sword in hand. 10. But they were premature; for the Spaniards sprung a mine, by which two lieutenants and about one hundred men were killed or wounded. Nevertheless, the two captains, Hicks and Jumper, took possession of a platform, and kept their ground until they were sustained by captain Whitaker, and the rest of the seamen, who took a redoubt between the Mole and the town by storm. Then the governor capitulated, and the prince of Hesse entered the place, amazed at the success of the attempt, considering the strength of the fortifications. 11. When the news of this conquest was brought to England, it was for some time in debate whether it was a capture worth thanking the admiral for. It was at last consi dered as unworthy public gratitude; and, while the duke of Marlborough was extolled for useless services, sir Georg Rooke was left to neglect, and soon displaced from his com mand for having so essentially served his country. A striking instance, that, even in the most enlightened age, popular applause is most usually misplaced. 12. Gibraltar has ever since remained in the possession of the English, and continues of the utmost use in refitting that part of the navy destined to annoy an enemy, or protect our trade in the Mediterranean. Here the English have a repository capable of containing all things necessary for the repairing of fleets or the equipment of armies. 13. While the English were thus victorious by land and sea, a new scene of contention was opened on the side of Spain, where the ambition of the European princes exerted itself with the same fury that had filled the rest of the continent. Philip the Fourth, grandson of Louis the Fourteenth, had been placed upon the throne of that kingdom, and had been received with the joyful concurrence of the greatest part of his subjects. 14. He had also been nominated successor |