1. When queen Anne died, the crown of England went to a German prince, named George, the elector or sovereign of Hanover, whose mother was grand-daughter of James the First.
2. He was rather advanced in age, and being a stranger to the manners of the people, and to the language and laws of the country, was not likely to become a popular monarch; yet it was thought better that he should succeed to the throne, than to let the son of James II., who was now about six-and-twenty, be king of Great Britain.
3. But there were a great many people in Scotland who wished to see the family of their ancient kings restored, and some of the great men, there, raised an army, and invited prince James Stuart, who is usually called the Pretender, to place himself at the head of it, and go to war with George the First.
4. The Pretender went to Scotland, and two battles were fought, one near Dumblane, and the other near Preston, in Lancashire; but the English troops gained the victory at both places, and the prince was glad to get back to France again.
5. A great many English had joined in this rebellion, for, as I said before, the new king was not very generally liked; and it was mostly the English party that fought for the Pretender at Preston, and, I am sorry to say, all who were made prisoners were very cruelly treated. The leaders were put to death, and those who had fought under their command, were mostly sent to America, and sold for slaves.
6. You remember how the American colonies were first settled. Well, they had now become large populous places, and cities had been built there; but the people were cultivators, and had no manufactures of any kind, for they were obliged to have all they wanted of manufactured goods, either for clothing, or any other purpose, from England, which was a great advantage to this country, by furnishing employment for English manufactures.
7. Perhaps you will say, why could they not have things from other countries, as well as from England?—but you must bear in mind that the American states were then under British government, and remained so till the reign of George the Third, when the Americans established a government of their own, and went to war with Great Britain, as you will presently read, and with the assistance of France, made themselves independent of this country.
8. George the First died in 1727, having reigned nearly thirteen years, and he was succeeded by his son, George the Second.
9. There had been a great change in the mode of dress since the time of the Stuarts, for queen Anne had introduced a fashion of setting out the gowns with hoops; and gentlemen wore coats with broad square-cut tails, waistcoats with long flaps, colored stockings drawn up over the knee, lace ruffles, large shoe buckles, wigs with rows of stiff curls, three-cornered hats bound with gold-lace, and swords.