Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- BOOK XX WILLIAM III AND PARLIAMENT DURING THE WAR WITH FRANCE, 169O–1697
- BOOK XXI THE LATER YEARS OF WILLIAM III, 1697—1702
- BOOK XXII REVIEW OF ENGLISH HISTORY TO THE YEAR 1760
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAP. I The First Years of the Reign of Queen Anne
- CHAP. II The Latter Years of Queen Anne
- CHAP. III George I
- CHAP. IV George II
CHAP. I - The First Years of the Reign of Queen Anne
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- BOOK XX WILLIAM III AND PARLIAMENT DURING THE WAR WITH FRANCE, 169O–1697
- BOOK XXI THE LATER YEARS OF WILLIAM III, 1697—1702
- BOOK XXII REVIEW OF ENGLISH HISTORY TO THE YEAR 1760
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAP. I The First Years of the Reign of Queen Anne
- CHAP. II The Latter Years of Queen Anne
- CHAP. III George I
- CHAP. IV George II
Summary
Queen Anne undertook the government with the promise that she would maintain the Protestant succession, the government introduced by law in Church and state, and would spare no pains to carry out the war so long prepared against France, in conjunction with her allies.
She stands now, says the Earl of Sunderland, in the King's place; she has the same interests as he had. If she acts as she speaks, she will be happy, secure, and revered; if not, she will bring herself and the country to ruin.
It very rarely happens, however, that a succession to the crown is accomplished so simply. Nor was it so in this case. With regard to herself and her interests Queen Anne had not only a different past from that of her predecessor, but a different position. Of the two principles, between which, so to speak, the Revolution of 1688 held the middle ground, the one is represented rather in William III, who had no claim to the English throne. He took his stand on the side of the rights of the people, just as after the death of his wife, and again in the last conflicts, he held chiefly to the Whigs. In Queen Anne, on the other hand, the principle of hereditary right to the throne came to the front, under the provision of the succession being limited to Protestants; and in fact it was stronger in her than it had been in her sister Mary; for her husband, Prince George, accepted the condition, which William had rejected, and was willing to be nothing more than his wife's subject.
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- Information
- A History of EnglandPrincipally in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 310 - 337Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010