number on the side of the allied troops. This was not the only victory won by Marlborough. In the following years this valiant soldier defeated the French at Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet. After fighting for about ten years, a peace was concluded with the French at a town called Utrecht.

The English nation did not fail to show their gratitude to their brave general; large rewards were given to him; an estate was purchased for him at Woodstock, and a splendid mansion built upon it, which was called, after his first victory, “Blenheim.”

About the time that the army were victorious at Blenheim, the fleet under Admiral Rooke took the rock-fortress of Gibraltar, in Spain. All vessels passing from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean must pass by Gibraltar, and whoever possesses the fortress can stop them from going in or

out; therefore the capture of this place pleased the English very much.

Up to the present time, 1707, the English and the Scotch had had separate Parliaments and different laws. William had desired that there should be only one Parliament; and if he had lived longer, he would have brought about the union of the two countries. Queen Anne and her advisers desired the same object; but the opposition of the Scotch was so great that it was not till the year 1707 it could be agreed upon.

It was during the reign of Anne that there were violent disputes between the two great parties who were called Whigs and Tories. These had been words of contempt in the time of Charles II., but now they had different meanings. The name of Tories was given to those who desired to support the Crown and Church; while that of Whigs

was applied to those who wished for greater freedom both in Church and State,

Queen Anne, at the beginning of her reign, governed by means of a Whig ministry; the Duke of Marlborough belonged to that party. His wife, the Duchess, for a long time was a great favourite of the Queen, but at length Anne became so disgusted with her haughty temper, that she dismissed the Whig ministry, and bestowed her confidence on Harley, who was made the Earl of Oxford. The disputes between these two parties became so violent that they embittered the Queen's life, and appear to have shortened her days. She died on the 30th of July, 1714, in the forty-ninth year of

her age.

Queen Anne was not very clever, but she was an amiable and good-tempered woman. She was the last sovereign of the House of Stuart.

GEORGE THE FIRST.

1714-1727.

As it had been settled that no one but a Protestant could be King of England, George I., Elector of Hanover, son of the Electress Sophia, was sent for and proclaimed King. There were, however, many persons both in England and Scotland who thought that one of the old Stuart family ought to have the throne. Those who were in favour of the son of James II. were called Jacobites, from Jacobus, the Latin for James. The Jacobites first tried to get the King of France to help them to place Prince James on the throne of England. But Louis XIV. was now dead, and his successor at this time was only a little child, so they found that they must depend wholly upon themselves.