and produced the important precedent of the nation's changing the regular order of succession in its rulers, when those in the direct line had forfeited all claim to its confidence. These writers have taken a vast deal of trouble to prove that James was extremely illused; that the profligate lover of Arabella Churchill was a Lear, and his daughters, Mary and Anne, the unnatural Regan and Goneril of his pitiful tragedy.-We are not inclined to say much for the wives of the Princes, William of Orange, and George of Denmark, simply because, aware of their origin, we know that much could not be expected from them. They were daughters of James II, and were the sort of daughters to be produced by such a father.-They were Stuarts, and they acted with that selfishness, weakness, falsehood, and vanity, which, from the time of their first progenitor, have ever been the characteristics of their race. Were we inclined to take up the cudgels for these queens, we should say that however indifferent was their conduct, they were far superior in many points to the rest of their family: they were faithful to their marriage vows-a singular quality in the Stuarts and they seemed to have some sense of honesty and honour-a sense, which in several of their ancestors, appears to have been altogether absent.

The people of England in preferring these sisters to their father, acted upon the very old maxim which recommends in a choice of evils to choose the least. No doubt they would very gladly have obtained more creditable tenants for the throne that had been left

vacant by their ostracism of James, but they were forced to be content with what they could get. There have been few things more important in our parliamentary history, than the various legislative enactments framed during the seventeenth century, for the protection of the Protestant religion, whilst determining the line of succession in favour of a series of Protestant sovereigns. When we review the encroachments upon the liberty of the subject, the attempts to destroy the most valuable privileges of Englishmen, and the strenuous efforts made to drag back the nation under the yoke of spiritual despotism and monarchical absolutism from which it had only just escaped, there is no danger of our undervaluing the importance of the succession question, which was so frequently debated in the House of Commons at the close of the reign of William III.

The Tories and the Whigs were at this period in a state of intense fermentation respecting the succession to the Crown; the former desired the return of the exiled James, the latter determined to admit no right but that of his daughter, the Princess Anne of Denmark, with remainder to the Electress of Hanover (grand-daughter of James I) and her offspring. This, though but one feature in the aspect of affairs, remained the predominating one for nearly half a century; it required and obtained Walpole's earnest attention, and he acted

steadily upon the views he then formed, through all the stormy proceedings of Parliament that marked the next ten years. He joined the Whigs, he assisted in passing the Act of Settlement, he was an ardent admirer of Lord Somers, to whom he shortly became favourably known, and a determined opponent of the partizans of the Stuarts, who soon began to regard him as an enemy. Notwithstanding all his zeal in the cause he advocated, and all his former experience in declamation, it is said that during his first speech in the House, he was too much embarrassed to give either one or the other fair play. Nevertheless, one discriminating critic was found to predict his success as an orator; and by the strict attention he was giving to his parliamentary duties, it was soon generally observed that he was preparing for this vocation.

Walpole had not been long a member, when he discovered that his schoolfellow St. John possessed the ear of the House, and had already gained a high reputation for eloquence. This stimulated Walpole to further exertion, and though his progress was not rapid, it was of that steady character which often finally achieves a more prominent success than the more brilliant qualities that at first produce greater effects. He assisted in all those measures which were passed to

* In other respects his reputation was far from being creditable. As Lord Brougham observes, "his youth was a course of unrestrained and habitual indulgence. In a libertine age he was marked as among the most licentious."

secure a line of Protestant Sovereigns to this country, and in the first parliament of Queen Anne, having been returned for Lynn Regis, he put himself forward in a manner that showed he was gaining influence in the House, as well as confidence in himself. He attracted the favourable notice of the Duke of Devonshire, with whose heir, the Marquis of Hartington, he lived on terms of the strictest friendship. He became known to Charles, Viscount Townshend, (an intimacy which shortly ripened into the most friendly alliance), to Spencer Compton, afterwards Earl of Wilmington, James, afterwards Earl Stanhope, the Earl of Sunderland, and Lord Halifax. Even the Lord Treasurer Godolphin looked upon him as worthy of attention, and introduced him to the great man of his the famous Duke of Marlborough.

age,

John Churchill was born on the 24th of June 1650, at Ashe, in Devonshire, and was the second surviving son of Winston Churchill, who has left us some record of his intelligence in a history of England, which is considerably more curious than useful.* His fortune had suffered in the civil wars; this gave him. a claim upon the gratitude of Charles II,- too which had the good fortune to be acknowledged; for the claimant was allowed to remain at court-an

attendant upon the person of a very forgetful creditor.

* Divi Britannici, being a remark upon the Lives of all Kings of this Isle, from the year of the World 2855, unto the year of Grace 1660. By Sir Winston Churchill, Kt., 1675.

He obtained a few instalments of his debt, and, as Sir Winston Churchill, soon became better known as a courtier, than he had ever been as a soldier. When his children had arrived at a sufficiently interesting age, Sir Winston was further favored by having his eldest son, John, taken into the service of the Duke of York, as page of honour, while his daughter, Arabella, became maid of honour to the Duchess. The boy appears to have had but very little education, and this little he obtained afterwards in the metropolitan school of St. Paul's: but like many other great men he became his own instructor, by availing himself of those opportunities for observation that are thrown away upon individuals of less discernment. If the education of the girl had been better cared for, it was unproductive of good result. Both children were gifted with what was at this period the highest possible recommendation, personal beauty of a very attractive character. As they grew towards adolescence, this gift became more and more valuable, and with minds developed in such a forcing-house as was the Court of Charles II, it can scarcely be doubted that they were aware of its importance, and inclined to take it to the best market.

The personal characteristics of Charles II, are sufficiently well known; less familiar perhaps to the reader, are those of his brother James, Duke of York, whose habits of life at this time, were nearly as bad as those of any of the most notorious libertines of the