REFERENCES THE RISING OF 1715. Brown, Short History of Scotland, 522-528; Fletcher, Introductory History of England, II, i, 257–262; Innes, History of England, 571-575; Oman, History of England, 486-490; Tout, Advanced History of Great Britain, 539-541. THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. - Cross, History of England, 686-688; Innes, 578-581; Jenks, Parliamentary England, 140-144; Oman, 491–492. BEGINNINGS OF THE CABINET SYSTEM. Beard, Introduction to the English Historians, 594-607 (Bagehot); Innes, 581-585; Jenks, 92-97, 114–119. POLITICAL METHODS OF WALPOLE AND THE WHIGS. Beard, 466–477 (Morley); Fletcher, II, i, 154–157; Jenks, 144-154; Tout, 546-550. POLICIES OF ROBERT WALPOLE. Fletcher, II, i, 170-174; Innes, 586–591. PROGRESS IN THE SCOTCH HIGHLANDS. Brown, Short History of Scotland, 557-565. CHAPTER XXI THE AGE OF PITT men of peace. 422. The New Age. About 1740 a new age began in the history of England and of Europe. The men of peace were passing from power: Robert Walpole fell in 1742; Cardinal Fleury the following year. The devotees of war- Passing of the fare were coming into control of important governments: Frederick the Great became king of Prussia in 1740; Maria Theresa inherited the Austrian lands the same year; while by nature the great Hapsburg queen did not love war as Frederick did, circumstances made her a constant disturber of European peace. In England William and Maria Pitt was rising to influence. Pitt never went out with an army; but in the management of a great war he has, perhaps, had no superior. In 1740 a great series of wars began which with intermissions of unstable peace continued till 1815. Frederick II Theresa. 423. The Austrian Succession. The problem in 1740 was whether a woman could inherit the possessions of the Hapsburg dynasty. These possessions were a group of states, The Austrian kingdoms, and duchiès, of each of which the Aus- inheritance. trian monarch was the direct ruler. He was also emperor. Maria Theresa was the heiress of Charles VI. It was clear that she could not hold the German imperial title (she desired that for her husband); but the rulers of Europe had agreed to support her claim to all the various states controlled by the Austrian dynasty. Frederick's seizure of This arrangement was upset by Frederick of Prussia who seized Silesia, one of the Hapsburg possessions to which the Prussian kings had an old but somewhat doubtful claim. Soon France joined Prussia in the war against her old Austrian enemy. George II was a parti Silesia. san of the Austrian queen; and after France attacked her, George had the English nation with him: it was Maria Theresa's father whom William III and Marlborough had planned to place on the Spanish throne forty years before. Another factor in the situation was Spain, with which England at the time was fighting the tedious and uninteresting war of Jenkins' Ear. Since the peace of Utrecht the rulers of Spain and France were both of the Bourbon family. In 1733 the two kings entered into what was called the Bourbon family compact, a secret treaty of alliance which in some degree bound the two nations to united action in case of a European war. The compact was renewed after ten years, and again in 1759. The great powers of western Europe were thus grouped into two hostile camps: Spain, France, and Prussia against England, Austria, and the Netherlands. The Bourbon family compact. 424. England and the War of the Austrian Succession. George II had at last an opportunity to distinguish himself in warfare. Some personal bravery "dapper King George" actually possessed; but of generalship he was absolutely innocent. England did not enter the war at its beginning: but Hanover was fighting on the side of Maria Theresa, and George hastened George II in to the electorate. At Dettingen he was present Hanover. in a battle against the French, and his soldiers won the day. The war continued to 1748 when it was ended by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle. English armies fought chiefly in the Netherlands but had little success; on the sea, however, England was still winning victories. Admiral Anson repeated the great exploit of Francis Drake in the days of Elizabeth:1 with a small fleet of seven badly equipped and circumnavi- poorly manned vessels he rounded Cape Horn, gates the globe. took some valuable Spanish prizes in the Pacific Ocean and returned to England by way of the Cape of Good Hope in 1744, after an absence of nearly four years. Admiral Vernon had some slight successes nearer home: in his fleet served Lawrence Washington, the older Admiral Anson 1744. 1 Review sec. 265. brother of George Washington, and in honor of his commander he named his residence Mt. Vernon. When the war closed Maria Theresa was allowed to keep most of her possessions; but the loss of Silesia to "that wicked man" Frederick and of certain Italian districts to Spain gave Austria a pretext for another war which came eight years later. England received nothing for her outlay and her troubles. 425. The Rising of '45. Soon after England had officially entered the war, the exiled Stuarts began to plan for a rising in their favor. "King" James III, whose capital The "Young was now in Rome, had little faith in the venture Pretender" in Scotland. and did not sanction the activities of his son Charles Edward, the "Young Pretender." With a few followers Prince Charles landed in the western Highlands and called upon the clans to rally about the old standard. The chiefs responded with some reluctance; but a considerable force was collected nevertheless.2 Prince Charles proclaimed his father king and marched upon the old capital. Edinburgh had gained much in an economic sense by the union with England; but this did not compensate for the loss of prestige that it had once enjoyed as a national capital; and the old city rejoiced in the presence of the prince. The government sent a small army against the Pretender which he met and crushed at Prestonpans not far from Edinburgh. With a considerable force the prince now proceeded to invade England and came as far as Derby in the center of the kingdom. But here he found large forces to meet him and a retreat became necessary. This continued into the northern part of Scotland and closed with the defeat of Culloden Moor (1746). The Pretender, after wandering about in the Highlands for some time, finally escaped to the Conti nent. 3 Prestonpans. The defeat at Moor. 1746. No later effort was made to revive the Stuart cause; 1 Review sec. 408. 2 Bates and Coman, 358-360 (Lady Nairn); Innes, II, 208-210. 3 Bates and Coman, 360–361 (Burns, Culloden). the son of James III, Cardinal York, or Henry IX, as he claimed to be, was glad in the last years of his life to accept a pension from George III. The last of the Stuarts. Pelham as prime minister. 426. The Rule of the Pelhams. After the fall of Walpole, Lord Carteret conducted the government for two years; but he was forced to retire and the English administration fell into the control of the Pelhams. Henry Pelham became prime minister in 1744 and served as such till his death ten years later. He was a minister of the Walpole type;1 like his great predecessor he was an advocate of peace and struggled hard against renewal of warfare after the treaty of 1748. Like Walpole, too, he understood and practiced the art of corrupting members of parliament. In this work he had able assistance from his more famous brother The Duke of Thomas, duke of Newcastle. Newcastle had Newcastle. served in Walpole's cabinet and was prominent in the English ministry for more than forty years. He was an able and crafty politician, but as a statesman he was a failure. He is said to have been suprised to learn that New England was not an island. Newcastle was always running about, but he accomplished very little. His wealth was large, and he spent it freely to maintain his position in the government and to secure favorable action on the measures of the cabinet in parliament. The FrenchAustrian alliance. 427. The "Diplomatic Revolution." Scarcely had the War of the Austrian Succession closed before the rulers of Europe began to prepare for a new war. The eight years that followed the treaty of Aix la Chapelle witnessed a "diplomatic revolution" the two rival dynasties, the Hapsburg and the Bourbon, those of Austria and France, which had fought each other for generations, now unexpectedly formed an alliance. This was the work of Maria Theresa, who was anxious to detach France and Spain from her enemy, Frederick II of Prussia, and in this way to form a new combination of European powers. France, on her side, real 1 Innes, II, 215-219 |