favourites, to one of whom, created duchess of Kendal, it was reported he was engaged by a ceremony sometimes resorted to in Germany—a marriage with the left hand.

There was nothing prepossessing about the king. Advanced in life, ungraceful and slovenly, his immediate favourites were much of the same description. His two female companions, who were ugly, and far from young, excited much ridicule and disgust. But the popular feeling was not opposed to the vice or licentiousness, if it had been presented in what the world deems a more elegant aspect. Of this the friends of the Pretender availed themselves, and described that individual as all that was excellent and graceful: this made little impression upon reflecting minds, who were well aware of his demerits and similarity in character to the other Stuart princes.

Schemes in favour of the Pretender were formed; Bolingbroke was actively engaged in his service; and many, especially in Scotland, were ready to promote an attempt at invasion. These plans were checked by the failures of the duke of Ormond, who had fled to France after vain attempts to make a rising in the west of England, and still more by the death of Louis xiv., on September 1st, 1715. That event must not be suffered to pass without remarking the contrast presented by the first and last portions of his reign. For a long time he prospered; but becoming an unrelenting persecutor, and, at last, repealing the edict of Nantes, the Protestants were driven from France, many suffering death for their religion in various forms. From that time the prosperity of Louis declined, and the kingdom was a prey to every kind of suffering. Never was there a stronger instance of Divine retribution; it says to all rulers, "Be wise, now, therefore, O ye kings be instructed, ye judges of the earth."

The regent Orleans was anxious to secure his own succession to the crown of France, in case the sickly child, then monarch, should die, which made him willing to be on good terms with the English government.

The attempt at insurrection was precipitated by an order from the Pretender to the earl of Mar to take up arms in Scotland: this was sent unknown to the principal advisers of the Pretender, and was a rash, unfeeling measure. Early in September, 1715, Mar set up his standard

at Brae Mar, in Aberdeenshire; but active measures were taken by the government to oppose his progress. Some attempts were also made in England, but these were mostly checked at once, and the more active partizans were apprehended. An armed force was sent to Oxford, the members of that university being at that time foremost in disloyalty. Some officers of the Pretender, who had taken shelter in that city, were apprehended.

Forster, with the earl of Derwentwater, headed a rising in the north of England, where they proclaimed the Pretender, but were driven from the walls of Newcastle. Being joined by others from the south of Scotland, they proceeded as far south as Preston, where, being attacked by general Wills, the greater part surrendered on November 13th. On the same day, 3000 Dutch troops arrived at Deptford, and were afterwards sent by sea to Scotland. At this time, the archbishop of Canterbury published a declaration, signed by himself and thirteen of the bishops of his province, declaring their abhorrence of the rebellion. Atterbury and Smallbridge, the bishops of Rochester and Bristol, refused to sign, on which the latter was removed from his office of lord almoner.

Mar made some progress in Scotland, but showed little ability. A battle was fought at Dumblane, near Sheriffmuir, on November 13th, in which one-half of each army was victorious. Argyll, the commander of the royalists, kept the field, but retreated the next day to Stirling; while Mar, who had neglected to improve the advantages at one time in his power, withdrew to Perth ; each thus returning to the places they had occupied before the combat.

When accounts were received of the success of the insurgents, the French government had been disposed to support the Pretender; but the failure of the attempt in England, with the able negotiations of earl Stair, the British ambassador at Paris, stopped the assistance once promised; the Pretender, however, sailed for Scotland, and landed at Peterhead, on December 22. Early in January he arrived at Scone, where the Scottish kings were crowned, and ordered preparations to be made for his coronation. The episcopal clergy of the diocese of Aberdeen presented a flattering address to the Pretender, which he graciously received; but the general feeling of the nation was against him, and

only two ministers of the Scottish Established Kirk prayed for him as king. Even his partizans began to grow cold; they began to make terms for themselves, while he was not less disappointed to find the

number of his followers in arms so few.

The preparations of the English government advanced, notwithstanding a very severe winter season. Argyll was rapidly approaching Perth at the end of January. Instead of the coronation taking place, the Pretender retired, and secretly left his supporters on February 4th, to embark on board a small French vessel, with Mar and a few followers. His army soon dispersed; more than a hundred of the principal gentlemen sailed in open boats from Moray for the Orkneys, but nearly fifty of them were drowned. On his arrival in France, the Pretender went to Paris, where he dismissed lord Bolingbroke, the only man of ability among his advisers, and then retired to Avignon, under the protection of the pope. The effort in his behalf was thus at an end, but many had to regret the part they had taken.

Lord Derwentwater and lord Kenmure were beheaded, but very few others suffered execution. Lord Nithsdale, Forster, and general Mackintosh, escaped to the continent, the wife of the former managing his escape from the Tower in female attire. Some severe examples were made, both of those concerned in the rebellion, and others who were active in rioting and seditious attempts; but the degree of lenity displayed by the government on this occasion contrasted favourably with the atrocious, illegal proceedings of James II., after the defeat of the duke of Monmouth, and spoke strongly in favour of the Protestant government, contrasted with the late Popish ruler, especially considering the far greater extent of this effort. Nearly a hundred estates were forfeited; the total value was estimated to be 1,652,450l.; the largest were those of the duke of Ormond, upwards of 20,000l.; the earl of Derwentwater, 6,000l.: and lord Widdrington, 5,000l. per annum.

Feeling the importance of having the continued support of the present Parliament, and of avoiding a general election, when a rebellion had been so lately ended, the ministers caused an act to be passed, extending the duration of Parliaments to seven years, and prolonging for that period the existence of the Parliament then sitting. At the same time an act was

passed, excluding all who held pensions from the crown at pleasure, or for a fixed period. This measure having placed the king at ease, as to his English crown, he proceeded to Hanover, in July, 1716, where he engaged in the politics of the continent, his immediate object being to secure the possession of two small districts, Bremen and Verden; for this paltry acquisition he hazarded committing England to a war with the northern powers. These states formerly belonged to Sweden, but had been seized by the king of Denmark, and made over to the elector of Hanover, which brought George into hostility withCharles XII.of Sweden; who, choosing to identify the king and the elector as the same person, threatened to take up the cause of the Pretender, and to invade England. It is much to be regretted that, when conferring the crown of England on the elector of Hanover, the latter was not required to relinquish his continental dominions to some other of his family. In the present instance, the desire to enlarge those possessions, by a petty district less than a middle-sized English county, induced the king to form alliance upon alliance, and expend vast sums of British money, as subsidies to German rulers.

A series of political intrigues followed, which contributed to strengthen the ascendency of Sunderland; while Townsend and Walpole were displaced. In June, the earl of Oxford obtained his liberty, the proceedings against him being terminated by a purposely-contrived dispute between the Houses of Parliament; the Lords refusing to enter into a mixed charge of treason and misdemeanour, and requiring that the heaviest allegations should first be examined, a course which the Comions refused to adopt. Although there is full evidence of Oxford's correspondence with the exiled family, no acts of treason could be substantiated against him.

The prince of Wales and his royal father had not been on good terms for some time; the former was ordered to retire from court in November, 1717, when he became the main support of an opposition to the German ministry. The Hanoverian princes were for the most part unhappy in their families. Though free from Popish error, they were not influenced by scriptural principles; therefore their conduct, in many respects, was not honourable to the Protestant religion they professed.

An incident which attracted some attention at this time, was the execution of a man named Shepherd, for treason. He was attended by one of the non-juring clergy, who publicly gave him absolution, and when questioned for what he had done, claimed a priestly power thus to grant absolution-a wide departure from the views and proceedings of the English Reformers.

The affairs of England now became increasingly mixed up with those of the continental states; but it is not possible here to give a minute detail of those proceedings, excepting when England was actively concerned. All seemed tending to a general war; but in December, the Swedish madman, Charles XII., was killed, and, like many others whom the world calls heroes,

"He left a name at which the world grew pale, To point a moral, or adorn a tale."

This interfered with some of the intrigues then on foot, stopped his threatened support of the Pretender, and the proceedings of the czar of Russia against Hanover; but war was declared against Spain by France, supported by the king of England, who, to induce the French monarch to sanction his claim to retain Bremen and Verden, involved his kingdom by interfering to oblige Philip to give up Sardinia to Austria, respecting which those powers were in dispute.

The ministers brought forward in Parliament a law to relieve Protestant Dissenters, which was carried with difficulty, after a debate in which bishop Kennet did not hesitate to aver that the high church party in the reign of Charles 1. had brought scandal and contempt on the clergy, and ruin both on church and state, by promoting arbitrary measures, and persecutions. Another act, which proposed to limit future appointments to the peerage, failed, the Commons not being inclined to close the opportunity for preferment against themselves.

Austria and Spain were in active warfare in the Mediterranean, the latter power having invaded Sicily, and threatening Naples. Into this dispute the English nation was now thrust, by a large fleet being sent to assist the Austrians, and their allies. An engagement took place, though war had not been formally declared, when the Spanish fleet was almost entirely destroyed. A declaration of war followed.

In March, 1719, the Pretender was invited to Spain, and received as monarch of Britain. An expedition was fitted out, to be commanded by the duke of Ormond, but only two vessels reached Scotland, where about 300 Spanish soldiers were landed; the greater part of the ships were dispersed; some were lost in a storm. The Spaniards, joined by a few Highlanders, remained quiet in Rosshire, till general Wightman attacked them on June 10th, when the invaders surrendered: those by whom they had been joined, dispersed. After the failure, cardinal Alberoni got rid as soon as possible of the Pretender, who retired to Rome. During the latter part of this year and the next, there were active hostilities in the Mediterranean, especially in Sicily, between the French and Spaniards, in which the English fleet took an active part. The main supporter of this war, Alberoni, was disgraced in December, 1719.

When Parliament assembled in November, 1719, the king took credit to himself for having laid the foundation of a union among the great Protestant princes; but he had been acting in unison with France, and had secured his own petty object, of acquiring Bremen and Verden, by a complicated set of alliances. The Peerage Bill was again rejected, and the act for the South Sea Company was passed. At the close of the session, the prince and his royal father were reconciled, Walpole and Townsend being admitted again to office. Sweden had been induced to give up its claims on Bremen and Verden for about 230,000l. ; while the czar had been kept quiet, by the appearance of an English fleet in the Baltic.

NIGHT TRAVELLING.

To the traveller who is in a hurry, says Dr. Granville, and desires to enjoy as many of the comforts of a railroad as he can procure, the night train is unquestionably to be preferred. The very sight of its preparation for departure is inspiriting; and there is hardly a more striking or soul-stirring scene enacted by gaslight anywhere in London, than that which may be witnessed every evening under the colonnade of the Euston-square station.

The arrival of the mail train from the country at an early hour in the morning, at the same station, is tame in comparison.