With Marlborough to Malplaquet: A Story of the Reign of Queen Anne

by Herbert Strang

  REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE

  IMPORTANT QUESTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

  1. THE SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN

  This question, especially after the death of all Anne's children,became a most important one. The Whigs and the country in general werebent upon securing a Protestant succession, but there were some,especially amongst the Tories, who were secret supporters of thePretender, James Stuart, son of James II. The Act of Settlement hadprovided for the accession of Sophia as the nearest Protestantdescendant of James I, on the failure of Anne's issue. At one time theScotch Parliament threatened to elect as king a different sovereignfrom that of England, unless Scotland should be given the samecommercial privileges as England possessed. The Act of Security,passed in 1704, declared as much. Both Bolingbroke and Harley were incorrespondence with the Pretender, and it was only through the deathof the Queen earlier than had been expected that a revolution infavour of the exiled Stuarts was averted.

  2. GOVERNMENT BY PARTY

  Until the reign of Anne what we now call Party Government was unknown.We may see the beginnings of the division of politicians into Whig andTory in the Roundhead and Cavalier factions in the reign of Charles I.Government by the one strong man of the time--a Burleigh, a Cromwell,a Marlborough--was the usual thing. Marlborough was the last who triedto govern without party. During the reign of Anne the Whigs and Torieswere combined in varying proportions, till the final return of a ToryHouse of Commons and the formation of a purely Tory ministry, in 1711.From that time Party Government, as we now understand it, hasgenerally prevailed.

  3. POWER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND THE MINISTERS

  Anne was good-natured, and not disposed to give herself too muchtrouble, which made it possible for her ministers to wield more powerover the country and its destinies. Nevertheless, the Queen had a willof her own, and made her influence felt, especially in Church matters.On the whole, however, Parliament and the Ministers gained inimportance and influence during the reign. Marlborough, Harley, St.John, Rochester, Nottingham, were some of the leading ministers, andtowards the end of the reign Sir Robert Walpole is first heard of as apolitician.

  4. THE QUESTION OF THE SUCCESSION TO THE SPANISH THRONE

  When Philip of Bourbon, the grandson of Louis XIV, was proclaimed asPhilip V of Spain, England, Holland, and some other nations felt thatthe peace of Europe, or rather the freedom of the rest of it, werethreatened by the union of two such mighty powers. Accordingly theAllies set up in opposition the Archduke Charles of Austria, and itwas in support of the claims of Charles to the throne of Spain thatall the wars of Anne's reign were waged. When at length Charles becameEmperor, the Allies had no farther reason for fighting, as it wouldhave been equally adverse to the interests of the rest of theContinent to combine Spain and the Empire. Philip thus remained Kingof Spain, though he had to renounce his claims to France.

  5. THE UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

  The project for the union of the two countries had been talked of forsome time, but there were difficulties concerning religious matters,trade, and the refusal of Scotland to pay any of the English debt, inthe way. By the Act of Security Sophia was declared to be ineligiblefor the Scottish throne, and England was in alarm. A commission wasappointed to consider the question of the union, and the Act of Unionwas passed in 1707. Many Scotchmen were greatly opposed to the step,yet it cannot be denied that Scotland herself has been a great gainerby the Union.

  6. THE NATIONAL DEBT

  The borrowing of money to pay for wars did not originate in the reignof Anne, but the War of the Spanish Succession added no less a sumthan twenty-two millions to the indebtedness of the country, and fromthat time the National Debt began to assume large proportions. Manypeople were greatly alarmed at the state of things in this respect,and there were many who prophesied the speedy bankruptcy of thenation.

  7. PEACE AT HOME

  This reign is remarkable for the entire absence of internal risingsand disaffections. Only one person was executed for treason.

  8. LITERATURE, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON POLITICS

  This has been called the Augustan age of English Literature. Pope,Addison, Steele, Swift, Defoe, Sir Isaac Newton, Vanbrugh, Congreve,Farquhar, Prior, Parnell, Colley Cibber, Gilbert Burnet, and othersflourished. The first daily newspaper, the _Daily Courant_, waspublished in 1709. Pamphleteers, chief among them Swift, Addison, andDefoe, by their writings played a great part in politics, there beingno newspaper press to mould people's opinions. No other period inEnglish history, except, perhaps, the times of Shakespeare, hasproduced so many notable writers.

  9. THE PEOPLE

  The population of England in this reign is supposed to have been aboutfive millions. London itself contained half a million, but even thebest of the provincial towns were small, as we reckon populationsnowadays. Bristol, the second town in size, possessed not more thansome thirty thousand souls, while York, Norwich, and Exeter, whichcame next, had considerably fewer people than that. The bulk of thepeople lived in the country, either in the villages, or in the pettymarket-towns which were not much superior. The country squire classwas the most important in the community. Below this, but likewiseoccupying a very important position in the country, were the clergyand yeomen. Probably at no time was the yeoman class more numerous,more prosperous, and more influential. The squire was in point ofeducation often inferior to the well-to-do farmer of our own day, butvery proud of his family.

  10. THE CLERGY

  The clergymen of the period were, as a rule, especially in the remoterdistricts, men of inferior standing, often of low origin and of littlelearning. They were badly paid, generally speaking, and often had toeke out a slender income by taking to farming pursuits. It was not atall unusual for the clergyman to marry the lady's maid or other of theupper servants in the great family of his neighbourhood. Queen Anne,to relieve the poverty of the poorer livings, founded the fund knownas Queen Anne's Bounty, giving up for the purpose the _first-fruits_and the _tenths_. It is worth noting that the terms Low and HighChurchmen were political rather than religious terms, the former beingapplied to the Whigs, and the latter to the Tories.

  11. DWELLINGS

  The style of architecture known as that of Queen Anne prevailed atthis time, and many a country mansion of this date, red-bricked andmany-windowed, is still to be seen in England. But the houses of thepoor were for the most part still wretched, of mud or plaster, andbadly thatched. The windows were small and few in number; thefurniture was scanty and mean; sanitary matters were scarcely attendedto at all. But the growing prosperity of the country was beginning toshow itself in the better equipment and furnishing of the household,particularly among the yeomen and the rising town tradesmen. Advantagewas taken of the Great Fire to improve the streets and dwellings ofthe capital.

  12. DRESS

  Among the gentry the influence of the magnificent court of Louis XIVbegan to make itself felt in the matter of dress, and both gentlemenand ladies affected gay attire. The hoop-petticoat came into fashion,and the dress was looped up at intervals to show the richly-colouredskirt below. The gentlemen wore knee-breeches and silk stockings, theformer ornamented with knots of ribbon; the scarf was very full andrich, and often fell in folds over the front of the waistcoat; thecoat was usually gaily coloured. Swords were worn by the gallants, andthe periwig was seen everywhere in high society. The dress of thelower ranks was of sober colour, and of stout but coarse texture. Thewomen wore homespun, and sometimes home-woven linsey-woolsies. The useof linen and silk was coming in among those in better circumstances.

  13. FOOD AND DRINK

  Tea was only just beginning to be known, and was a luxury for therich. In London the coffee-houses were everywhere, playing a greatpart in the life of the capital, at least among those whom we shouldnow call clubmen. The common drink was still beer, and, among the farmhands, milk. Port, till the Methuen treaty, was almost unknown inEngland. Even the gentry, as a rule, did not drink wine at ordinarytimes. The poorer classes rarely tasted flesh
meat, except bacon,which latter cottagers in the country were generally able to command,every cottage having its pig. The best white wheaten bread was used bythe richer folk only, the poorer eating coarse and dark bread, ofwhole-meal, of rye, or even of barley. Pewter was the ware in commonuse, except among the labourer class, who had wooden trenchers, or acoarse unglazed delft.

  14. INDUSTRIES

  The main occupation of the country was still farming, with fishing,shipbuilding, and seafaring on the coast. The manufacture of silk,woollen, and linen goods, now occupying so many millions of folk inthe North and the Midlands, was then carried on mainly in the smalltowns and villages, or even in the lonely wayside or moorland cottage.The great manufacturing towns, such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham,and Sheffield are now, were nowhere to be found in the England ofQueen Anne; but their day was coming. London was the great centre ofthe silk trade, and after it came Norwich, Coventry, Derby, andNottingham. The cotton industry of Manchester and the surroundingtowns in South Lancashire was making a start, while Leeds, Bradford,and Halifax, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, were just beginning togive their attention to the cloth trade on a larger scale. The tradewith other countries was growing rapidly, Bristol being, next toLondon, the chief port. Hull, Liverpool, Southampton, and Newcastlewere still small places. It is to be noted that the earliest notionsof what we now call _free trade_ are to be traced back to the days ofthe later Stuart sovereigns. Bolingbroke made certain proposals inthat direction, but his plans were rejected by the Whigs.Stage-coaches began to run, the earliest being those between Londonand York, and between London and Exeter. A vast improvement in thehigh-roads soon came in consequence. The first General Post Office forthe whole kingdom dates back to the reign of Queen Anne.

  CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS

  1702 (February 20). Queen's Accession, on the death of William III.

  War of the Spanish Succession begun (May). England, Holland, and the Empire against France and Spain: to determine the succession to the Crown of Spain. Two claimants, Philip, grandson of Louis XIV, and Archduke Charles of Austria, the latter supported by England and her allies.

  Duke of Marlborough, in command of allied forces, took the strongholds of Venloo, Ruremonde, and Liege; France cut off from Holland and Lower Rhine. Marlborough made a duke.

  Spanish fleet at Vigo captured by Sir George Rooke.

  Godolphin appointed Lord Treasurer, and Nottingham a Secretary of State.

  Louis of Baden defeated by French at Friedlingen.

  Battle of Cremona: French stopped by Eugene of Savoy from entering the Tyrol.

  1703 Second Grand Alliance. (First Grand Alliance in 1689.) Nearly all Germany, and Savoy join the coalition against the French.

  French marching in the direction of Vienna.

  Methuen Treaty; Portugal joined the Alliance.

  Marlborough hampered by the Dutch Government and unable to follow the French.

  Marlborough took Bonn; giving command of Upper Rhine.

  1704 Battle of Donauwoerth. Eugene joined Marlborough.

  (August 4). Gibraltar taken by Sir George Rooke, Sir George Byng, and Sir Cloudesley Shovel.

  (August 13). Blenheim. Marlborough and Eugene defeated French and Bavarians under Marshals Tallard and Marsin. Vienna saved: Marlborough received Woodstock Manor as a reward.

  Act of Security passed by Scotch Parliament.

  1705 Marlborough opposed by Allies, and prevented from marching into France.

  Barcelona taken by Lord Peterborough; the Catalan district of Spain won for the Archduke Charles.

  Coalition between the more moderate Tories and the Whigs.

  1706 Ramillies (May 12), won by Marlborough against Villeroy:

  Allies occupied Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, a line of fortresses cutting off French from Holland.

  Turin besieged by French: siege raised by Prince Eugene.

  1707 Capitulation of Milan signed by Louis: Milan and Naples secured to Archduke Charles.

  Minorca captured by General Stanhope.

  Battle of Almanza (Spain): English under Lord Galway surrendered.

  Ghent and Bruges retaken by French.

  Whig resolution not to make peace so long as a Bourbon ruled in Spain.

  Union with Scotland (October 23): Scotland to send sixteen peers and forty-five Commoners to United Houses of Parliament: Law and Church of Scotland left untouched: privileges of trade and coinage to be the same for both countries.

  1708 Harley and St. John dismissed: Whigs came into power (July 11). Oudenarde: Marlborough and Eugene defeated Vendome: Lille secured. Bruges and Ghent retaken by Allies.

  Attempted landing in Scotland by the Pretender prevented.

  1709 Peace Conference at the Hague. Louis declined to remove his grandson from the throne of Spain.

  (September 11). Malplaquet: Marlborough and Eugene defeated Villars.

  Mons taken by the Allies.

  Quarrel between the Queen and the Duchess of Marlborough.

  Dr. Sacheverell's sermons.

  1710 Peace proposals by Louis at Gertruydenberg rejected.

  Dr. Sacheverell sentenced: Tory party greatly helped thereby.

  Battle of Almenara (Spain): French and Spanish defeated by Stanhope.

  Battle of Saragossa: French and Spanish defeated by Stanhope.

  Battle of Brihuega: Stanhope beaten by Vendome.

  Battle of Villa Viciosa: General Staremberg defeated by Vendome: Spain secured for Philip V.

  Bouchain taken by Marlborough.

  Fall of the Whigs.

  General Post Office established.

  St. Paul's Cathedral finished.

  1711 All Whigs dismissed from office, and Tories alone to form the Ministry, thus establishing the principle that the members of the Cabinet should all be of the same political party.

  Duchess of Marlborough supplanted by Mrs. Masham.

  Death of the Emperor Joseph, and accession of Archduke Charles: no farther need now to continue the war.

  Tories determined to put an end to the war.

  1712 Twelve new Tory peers created to destroy the Whig majority which was in favour of continuing the war.

  Marlborough deprived of his command: Ormonde to succeed him.

  Peace Conference at Utrecht.

  Act against Occasional Conformity.

  1713 (March 3). Treaty of Utrecht: Spain to Philip: Minorca and Gibraltar to England: Spanish lands in Italy and Netherlands to Emperor Charles: Sicily to Savoy. Prussia made a kingdom.

  1714 Quarrel between Harley and Bolingbroke: Harley dismissed.

  Schism Act: schoolmasters to belong to the Church of England.

  Bolingbroke's free trade proposals defeated by the Whigs.

  Death of Electress Sophia: George of Hanover now heir to the British throne.

  (July 30). Death of Anne: Accession of George I.

  Oxford: HORACE HART, Printer to the University

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