The whole reign of Anne was taken up with the strife of political
parties at home, and the War of the Spanish Succession abroad. The
Whigs (S479) were always intriguing through the Duchess of Marlborough
and other leaders to keep up the war and to keep out the so-called
"Pretender"; the Tories (S479), on the other hand, were just as busy
through Mrs. Masham and her coadjutors in endeavoring to establish
peace, and with it the Divine Right of Kings (SS419, 429).
The extreme Tories hoped for the restoration of the Roman Catholic
Stuarts in the person of James Edward, the so-called "Pretender." The
War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the defeat of Louis XIV and
the confirmation of that Act of Settlement (S497) which secured the
English crown to a Protestant prince.