They liked the fighting very much, and the plunder of the rich Lowlanders and English still better.

24. It was hoped that, when once a beginning was made for them, many of the English would rise also in support of the prince. But very few of them did so. The English government arrested some of the most influential men who were thought likely to join the insurrection, and the few who did really rebel were defeated at Preston. A battle was also fought in Scotland at Sheriff-muir, but not much came of that, for it was never decided which party got the best of it. As the old ballad quoted in the Heart of Midlothian' has it

The whole rebellion was so unsuccessful that the Chevalier was very glad to escape safely to France. He made one or two other efforts during the reign of George I., getting different foreign nations to help him,-once the King of Sweden, once the King of Spain, but all to no purpose. Nor had his son any better success when his turn came to try his fortune.

"

25. Neither of these two princes, James's son and grandson, were great or good men, worthy to be kings of England. The elder one is said "not to have been absolutely wanting in capacity or courage," but it was added that he gave the most undeniable evidence of being his father's own son (which we saw was disbelieved by every one at his birth) "by constantly resisting the counsels of wise men.' Every one feels a romantic interest in his son, Prince Charles Edward, because of his adventures, and because we know most about him from the Waverley novels; but those who knew him best give a very different view of his character from the chivalrous one of Sir Walter Scott. One of his friends and supporters was obliged to confess, "I never heard him express any noble or benevolent sentiment, the certain indications of a great soul and a good heart, or discover any sorrow or compassion for the misfortunes of so many worthy men who had suffered in his cause."

26. When George I. died his son George II. succeeded him without any dispute, and it was not till many years after that there

1745.

The second

Jacobite rising.

was any more trouble with the Stuarts. But when the young Prince Charles Edward was about twentyfive he came over to make one more effort in his father's cause and his own. The Highlands rose

again, and for a time all things went well with him. He gained a victory over the English at Preston-Pans in Scotland, and kept a gay court in Edinburgh, though the castle still held out for the English. He then marched into England at the head of a wild little army of Highlanders, hoping that the Tory lords and gentlemen would join him in great numbers. But he was disappointed. These lords and gentlemen were safe, free, and prosperous under the government of George II.; and though they might grumble a little sometimes, and perhaps think kindly of the exiled family, their feelings were very tepid, and they did not care enough to risk their lives and fortunes by rebelling. The common people were still more indifferent. They seemed inclined, as was observed at the time, to look on and cry, "Fight dog! fight bear!" without taking any part themselves if they could help it; but feeling very angry with the Pretender for coming to disturb the peace of the kingdom.

27. When the prince had marched as far as Derby, and had found no support in England, he had to march back again. A last decisive battle was fought at Culloden in Scotland, and then he too had to flee. He was hiding about in the Highlands for five months, and had as many adventures as his great uncle Charles II.; at last he arrived safely in France. This was the last serious attempt of the Stuarts. Though the Jacobites continued to drink the health of the "king over the water" till nearly the end of George II.'s reign, they did nothing more for him. He was never brought back in triumph as Charles II. had been. A few years later the English Roman Catholics even began to pray for the royal family of the House of Hanover.

28. The gradual dying out of Jacobitism is rather amusingly illustrated in the life of Dr. Johnson. He gloried in being a Tory to the last hour of his life, and had, doubtless, some little sentimental attachment to the House of Stuart. This, however, did not prevent him from being fervently loyal to the reigning family and receiving a pension from King George. It appears that certain "reflections" were cast upon him for accepting this pension, as being inconsistent with his principles. When this was mentioned to him, "Why, sir," said he, with a hearty laugh, "it is a mighty foolish noise that they make. I have accepted of a pension as a reward which has been thought due to my

literary merit; and now that I have this pension I am the same man in every respect that I have ever been; I retain the same principles. It is true that I cannot now curse (smiling) "the House of Hanover; nor would it be decent for me to drink King James's health in the wine that King George gives me money to pay for. But, sir, I think that the pleasure of cursing the House of Hanover and drinking King James's health are amply overbalanced by £300 a year."

"He no doubt," says Boswell, "had an early attachment to the House of Stuart; but his zeal had cooled as his reason strengthened. Indeed, I heard him once say that after the death of a violent Whig, with whom he used to contend with great eagerness, he felt his Toryism much abated."

Charles Edward fell into most disgraceful and degrading habits abroad, and died very little respected by any one. His brother became a cardinal, and died in the beginning of this century. So passed away royal House of Stuart.

younger

the

1807. The end of the Stuarts.

LECTURE LIII.-SLEEP AND WAKING.

The Whigs and Walpole. Decline of enthusiasm. Foreign wars. Disasters and despondency. The elder Pitt. Canada and Wolfe. India and Clive. The Methodists.

1727. George II.

man,

1. GEORGE II. was not much more interesting than his father, nor was his private character any better. Though he could at least speak English, he did not feel like an Englishbut took far more interest in Hanover. The Whigs continued to govern England, with Sir Robert Walpole as prime minister. Walpole was a shrewd, sensible man, and the country became more and more pacific under his influence. The Tories and the Church grew reconciled to the new dynasty; the Dissenters were placed in a better position. In order to enable them to hold offices in their towns as mayors, aldermen, &c., from which the Test and Corporation Acts shut them out, a law was passed called the Indemnity Act, which excused them from receiving the sacrament of the Church of England. The same Act was passed again and again, until about fifty years ago, when the Test and Corporation Acts themselves were repealed.

2. Both Whigs and Tories learnt to act with more moderation, and not to regard each other as mortal enemies. But though Walpole sincerely desired the good of the country, Walpole. he did a great deal to degrade its character. The principal means by which he kept everything so quiet, and was able to get his own way, was by bribing people, right and left. The high spirit of English gentlemen was sunk so low that many, even members of parliament, would sell their votes for Walpole's bribes. Sometimes he bribed them by giving them places and offices with comfortable salaries attached; sometimes by presents of good hard money, which were delicately called "gratifications." In this way he could nearly always get majorities in the House of Commons.

3. The government had also a great deal of influence in the

elections. It was almost worse now than it had been in the days of Jack Cade. In many places the government could make people elect any one whom they chose to appoint; in others great noblemen could do the same. Some places, which in old days were rich and important, and used to send members to represent them in parliament, had now dwindled away into poor little villages, or much less than villages, where there might be only a few sheep and shepherds left. Still they went on sending members to parliament. These came to be called "rotten boroughs." Other places which had formerly been insignificant hamlets had now grown into large towns, with thousands of inhabitants; these might not send any members at all.

4. Thus it was evident that parliament did not fairly represent the opinion of the country. Walpole knew this very well; he knew too that it was his duty to act according to the sense and will of the nation; and however well he might have bribed the parliament, and however sure he might be of a great majority in the House, if the people outside really cared about the matter, and showed that they objected to his plans, he always gave way.

1741. Foreign

wars.

5. George II., being a brave man and a good soldier, was fond of interfering in Continental wars, with which England need not have been burdened. These wars are very confusing, and have not much to do with English history. The first of them is called the War of the Austrian Succession, and it was not popular in England, because the people believed that the king took part in it for the good not of England, but of Hanover, of which they were jealous. William Pitt, a patriotic young member of parliament who was just rising into note, and afterwards became the most eminent man in England, said, "It is now too apparent that this great, this powerful, this formidable kingdom is considered only a province to a despicable electorate." The king liked war, and he loved Hanover, so he hated Pitt for this saying. One of the politicians in this reign, who had succeeded Walpole as prime minister, summing up in a few words his own ideas about the foreign wars, called it “ a noble ambition to knock the heads of the kings of Europe together, and jumble something out of it which may be of service to this country."

6. The principal advantages which resulted to England out of the "jumble" were not in Europe at all, but in Asia and America. England had long possessed large colonies in America, but Canada, the part which at present belongs to us, was at that time colonized by the French. Our colonies were part of what