A Popular History of England, From the Earliest Times to the Reign of Queen Victoria; Vol. IV

by François Guizot

We have seen King William III., in concert with his Parliament, in 1701, decide the question of the succession to the throne of England, by an act of foresight and political sagacity worthy of the monarch who inspired it, and resolutely maintained by the nation, in spite of great obstacles, and notwithstanding serious objections. The intrigues of the Jacobites had never entirely ceased; they had lessened during the first part of Queen Anne's reign, while the war absorbed all thoughts, and seemed to widen the gulf between England and that young prince who aspired to govern her, even though fighting in the ranks of the enemy at Malplaquet. The gradual enfeeblement of the health of the queen, who had lost her husband on the 28th of October, 1708, the interest which she manifested regarding her brother, and the indifference that she felt towards the House of Hanover, all contributed to revive the hopes of the Jacobites, as well as the anxieties of those who remained attached to the great work of William III.

Of the two questions which had occupied the last days of William of Orange, the one still remaining was noisily disputed, but without real or serious danger; the other, involving the honor and happiness of England and Scotland, had been regulated after long negotiations and alternate difficulties. The union of the two kingdoms was the object of the last message of the dying king to parliament, and was the last thought which had pre-occupied that clear and far-seeing mind, even to the very gates of death.

Party violence in Scotland, the jealousy of the feebler kingdom against the predominance of her ancient rival, and the religious questions, always inflammable, had more than once disturbed the conferences. The order of the succession to the throne, regulated by the English parliament, had been contested. The Scotch commissioners had attempted to assimilate the projected measure to an act of federation and not of union. The firm resolution of some wise minds, the prudent and moderate management of Lord Somers, at the head of the English commissioners, finally triumphed over all obstacles. The financial questions were difficult to regulate in regard to a poor country whose products were not over abundant. A uniform system of taxes was established upon equitable bases; Scotland was at first exempted from certain taxes, and a considerable sum was fixed upon as an indemnity for the new charges which were to be levied upon her. The representation of Scotland in the united parliament of Great Britain was appropriate to her historic dignity as an independent kingdom, rather than in proportion to her population: forty-five commoners and sixteen Scotch peers were to sit in parliament. The national sentiment exacted an Act of Security for the Presbyterian Church, everywhere troubled and anxious. The opposing passions of the Jacobites as well as of the Cameronians, excited popular movements, and many disturbances took place in Edinburgh. Even to the last moment, the vote on the Act of Union remained doubtful in the Scotch Parliament.

On the 16th of January, 1707, its partisans finally triumphed, at Edinburgh. Early in March the English Parliament, in its turn, passed the bill. The queen desired to give her assent to this great measure of national interest in person. She came to Westminster.

"I consider this union," said she, "as a matter of the greatest importance to the wealth, strength, and safety of the whole island; and, at the same time, as a work of so much difficulty and nicety in its own nature, that till now all attempts which have been made towards it in the course of above a hundred years have proved ineffectual. I therefore make no doubt but it will be remembered and spoken of hereafter, to the honor of those who have been instrumental in bringing it to such a happy conclusion. I desire and expect from all my subjects, of both nations, that from henceforth they act with all possible respect and kindness to one another, that so it may appear to all the world they have hearts disposed to become one people. This will be a great pleasure to me, and will make us all quickly sensible of the good effects of this union."

On the 23rd of October, 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain met for the first time. The work was accomplished: there had been bitter and continued opposition, not without corruption and rancor, but finally wise and powerful reasons of patriotic policy and morality triumphed, to the great and increasing advantage of both countries. Without losing any of their distinctive and persistent qualities, the English and the Scotch have equally served, since then, the honor and prosperity of their common country, without ever becoming either confounded or separated. The primitive thought of the union was the last title of glory of King William III. It was to the honor of the councillors of Queen Anne, Lord Somers in particular, that they accomplished the work, and affixed the seal to the undertaking, in spite of all violence and all obstacles.

It was during the reign of Queen Anne, and in the full enjoyment of free institutions, without despotic or revolutionary interruptions, that the two great parties were formed, which have, since then, divided and disputed the government of Great Britain. The Tories, above all, attached to conservative principles and to the established Church, and the Whigs, on the other hand, partisans of progress and constant defenders of tolerant measures, succeeded each other in power, without violent shocks, under the authority of a queen personally favorable to the Tories and sincerely devoted to the Anglican Church. The intrigues of the court and the influence of the Duchess of Marlborough—long dominant, but finally supplanted in the favor of the queen, by Lady Masham, played their parts in the ministerial revolutions. The state of the parties, in the country and in Parliament, changed more often and more completely than was generally conceded or believed. Four ministries succeeded to power during the twelve years of Anne's reign. The first cabinet, which remained Whig in principle and in majority, even when Godolphin became Lord Treasurer, was overthrown soon after the declaration of war, in 1702. The Duke of Marlborough, already powerful, inclining sometimes towards the Tories and sometimes towards the Whigs, and solely occupied with military interests and his personal grandeur, embarrassed the new Tory ministry, and the enthusiastic majority that the new elections had assured it in Parliament, by his demands for the subsidies necessary for the prolongation of hostilities. The animosity of the party opposed to the revolution of 1688, manifested itself in the first address from the House of Commons to Queen Anne, congratulating her Majesty on having, by the hands of the Duke of Marlborough, raised up with honor the ancient reputation and glory of England. At the same time, and in order to boldly testify their attachment to the Anglican Church, the Tories presented a bill against Occasional Conformity, ordering prosecutions against all those who habitually frequented dissenting worship, although occasionally conforming to the rites of the established Church, as exacted by law from all public functionaries. The queen was favorable to the bill, although Prince George of Denmark was among the delinquents. After having sustained numerous checks, the bill—as dangerous to the Church as it was unjust—was presented anew by the last Tory ministry of Queen Anne, and finally passed in 1711. During seven years it preserved the force of law. The queen, on her part, gave to the Church a touching testimony of sympathy, by renouncing the revenues from the "first fruits," recently given to the crown, in order to donate the same to the poor clergymen. The fund from which indigent curates are still to-day sustained bears the significant name of "Queen Anne's Bounty."

The Tories, with Lord Nottingham at their head, returned to their first principles; they were, in reality, hostile to the war. Violent and exacting, they wished to exclude from the council the Dukes of Somerset and Devonshire, the only Whig representatives. Upon the refusal of the queen, Nottingham retired, and the influence of Marlborough caused him to be replaced by Harley; the latter took with him St. John. That moderate ministry soon underwent a grave transformation by the entrance into power of Lord Sunderland.