QUEEN ANNE.—1702 to 1714.
How Princess Anne became Queen because she was a Protestant; how the
union of Scotland with England was brought about; how the Duke of
Marlborough gained the battle of Blenheim; how Admiral Rooke took
Gibraltar; how the Queen was governed by her ladies.
The Princess Anne, who was the second daughter of King James the
Second, and sister to King William’s wife Mary, became Queen of
England when King William died, because she had been brought up
a Protestant; while her little brother was taught to be a Roman
Catholic; so that by law he could never be king of England. He is
commonly called the Pretender, and he and his son often gave trouble
in England, as you will read by and by.
The first ten years of Queen Anne’s reign were very glorious; but
the last part of her life was much troubled by the quarrels of some
of the great men who wished to be her favourites, and to direct her
affairs.
We will begin her history, however, with the most useful thing that
was done in her reign; and that is, the union of Scotland with
England.
You know that when Queen Elizabeth died, her cousin, James, king of
Scotland, became king of England, so both countries had one king;
but, as they had separate parliaments, and different ministers, and
a different form of religion, they were always quarrelling, and many
disputes, and even battles, took place, which were as bad as civil
wars. These disputes were often on account of religion, because the
king and his counsellors in England wanted to force the Scots to
worship God in the same way, using the same words with the English.
This was very unjust; so a great many Scotchmen joined together and
made a COVENANT, or agreement, to preserve their own way of worship,
even if they should be obliged to fight for it.
I told you that in William’s reign it was wisely settled by law that
the Scotch should do as they chose about their religion; and that
wise king saw that it would be better for both nations if they could
be so united as to have but one parliament; and if he had lived
longer, he meant to make this union. After his death Queen Anne and
her friends were wise enough to desire the same thing; but it was
several years before the Scotch and English people would agree to
it. At last, however, it was settled; and now the Scotch must wonder
that they ever thought it a bad thing. Since that time they have been
equal in everything with England. They keep their own religion and
laws, as well as the English; and when new laws are made, they are
contrived to be fit for both countries; or, if they will only suit
one, then they are made on purpose for the people in that one. As
there are plenty of Scotch lords and gentlemen, as well as English,
in the parliament, they are always ready to take care of their own
country, which is right.
Although Queen Anne and her ministers were busy about this union
of Scotland with England, they were obliged to attend to what the
French, under their ambitious king, Louis the Fourteenth, were about.
They had begun to attack the Protestants again, in so many ways,
before King William died, that there was likely to be a war; and now
he was dead, Louis thought there was no country in Europe strong
enough, or with a good soldier enough, to fight him, or prevent his
conquering as many countries as he pleased. But he was mistaken.
The English were as much determined in Queen Anne’s time as in King
William’s to prevent Louis from forcing upon them a Popish king and
from oppressing the Protestants; and Queen Anne possessed in the
Great Duke of Marlborough a far more skilful general than William had
ever been. Indeed King William in the last year of his life intended
to give him the command of the whole army, for he thought he should
be too ill to command it himself. The English had a great many fine
ships too, and Queen Anne’s husband, Prince George of Denmark, was
admiral. So England was quite ready for war against King Louis, and
the people and parliament were ready to give the queen all the money
she wanted to pay the soldiers and sailors.
Besides this, the Dutch were glad to fight on our side, as well as
some of the princes in Germany; and another firm ally of the English
was Prince Eugene of Savoy, who was Queen Anne’s cousin, and was
almost as good a general as the Duke of Marlborough.
When Anne had been queen about two years, the greatest battle that
had ever been heard of was fought at a place called Blenheim, near
the village of Hochstet, in Germany, between the English and French.
The English had the Dutch and an army of Germans on their side; their
generals were Marlborough and Prince Eugene. The French had a good
many Germans and Spaniards and Italians with them; their generals
were Marshals Marsin and Tallard, and the Elector of Bavaria.
[Illustration: Marlborough at Blenheim.]
The English had to march through a little brook to attack the French,
who stood very steady for a little while; but so many were killed,
that the rest began to run away. Some were drowned in the great
river Danube, which was very near them, and a great many were taken
prisoners, with their general, Tallard amongst them. The fighting
lasted six hours on a very hot day. A cannon-ball very nearly hit
the Duke of Marlborough just as the fight began: it struck the earth
so close to him that the cloud of dust it sent up hid him for some
minutes from the sight of the people about him. The English and Dutch
and Germans took all the guns, and money, and food of the French
army, besides a very great number of prisoners. There were more than
twelve thousand French killed, and a great many wounded; and about
half as many English and Dutch and Germans.
So you see that, whichever side wins in a great battle, there is sure
to be misery for a great many families on both, who have to grieve
for their fathers, and sons, and brothers, killed or hurt.
This was a good battle, however, for it saved many countries from
the cruel government which Louis the Fourteenth set up wherever he
conquered.
Nearly at the same time with the battle of Blenheim, a place called
Gibraltar was taken by the English Admiral Rooke, which is of great
use to England.
If you look at the map of Europe, you will see that where the
Mediterranean Sea joins the great Atlantic Ocean Gibraltar is placed.
Now all captains of ships who want to go into the Mediterranean must
pass that way. You would be surprised if you could see the number of
ships of all sizes that pass there every day. They fetch figs, and
currants, and silk, and fine wool, and shawls, and velvets, and wine,
and oil, and a great many other useful things from the Mediterranean;
and whoever Gibraltar belongs to can stop the ships going in and out.
So the English were very glad that Admiral Rooke took Gibraltar for
Queen Anne.
At last, after Marlborough had gained several other battles, peace
was made with the French at a place called Utrecht, and Queen Anne
died the very next year.
Queen Anne was kind and good-natured, but not very clever. She was
rather lazy, and allowed the Duchess of Marlborough to govern her
for several years. Afterwards she quarrelled with her, and then some
other ladies governed her.
In the reign of Queen Anne there were a great many clever men in
England, some poets, and many writers of other things. Pope was the
great poet, and Addison wrote the most beautiful prose. But our
little history would not hold an account of half of them.
Queen Anne’s husband and all her children died before her, and though
she did not love any of her Protestant cousins, it was settled by law
that the son of her cousin Sophia, who was married to the Elector of
Hanover should be king after her.