ANNE, 1702-1714 War of the Spanish Succession.—Anne, his successor, was a Tory and a zealous churchwoman. She had disliked William and did not comprehend his policy. She gave office only to Tories, Lord Godolphin becoming treasurer and virtual head of the Gov ernment. There was, however, no break in the conduct of foreign affairs. Anne was dominated by Sarah countess of Marlborough. The countess, a devoted wife, used all her influence to exalt her husband. Marlborough, a lukewarm Tory, adopted without re serve William's foreign policy, which gave full scope for his mili tary and diplomatic genius. Godolphin, who resembled Marlbor ough in temperament and opinions, approved of that policy. They carried queen and parliament along with them. England, Holland and the emperor were joined by several of the German princes and, somewhat later, by Portugal. Victor Amadeus, duke of Savoy, took part, at first with Louis, but afterwards against him. During the first four years of the war the allies were brilliantly successful. They drove the French out of Germany by the victory of Blenheim (17o4), and out of Italy by the victory of Turin (1706). By the victory of Ramillies (1706) they secured almost the whole of the Spanish Netherlands. In Spain they captured Gibraltar and were joined by the Catalans, who hoped to recover lost provincial liberties. Dismayed by so many reverses, Louis at the end of 1706 sued for peace. The allies, who had agreed to recover the whole Spanish inheritance for the archduke Charles, second son of the emperor Leopold, refused the offer. During the next four years they conquered Naples, Sicily, Sardinia and Minorca, but they failed in an invasion of southern France, and in Spain they suffered a ruinous defeat at Almanza. By the vic tories of Oudenarde (1708) and Malplaquet (i 709) they prepared for an invasion of France, but the siege of the border fortresses was a tedious process. Yet the more and more tempting offers made by Louis were obstinately refused.
At home the Godolphin ministry achieved the parliamentary union of Eng land with Scotland. The Scots desired to share in English com merce and colonial enterprise, which they could only do by a closer union with England. Yet the Scots cherished their legal independence ; above all, they were concerned for the safety of the Kirk. In 1 704 the Scottish parliament passed the Act of Security to the effect that upon Anne's death the successor to the throne should not be the same as in England, unless securities were ob tained for the religion and liberties of Scotland. The English parliament replied to the Act of Security with an act which de clared that Scotsmen should be treated as aliens unless the Scot tish succession were settled like the English. This led to the ap pointment of commissioners of both kingdoms to draft articles of union. They finished their work in July 1706. The number of Scottish representatives, 16 in the Lords and 45 in the Commons, was based partly on population and partly on revenue. Scotland retained its own laws and courts of justice, and was to pay f48,000 in land tax when England paid f 2,000,000. Separate acts, incorporated with the Act of Union, ensured the independence of the two Churches. The Union took effect on May 1, 1707. It was highly unpopular in Scotland and could hardly be called popular in England.
The foreign policy of the Government was repugnant to the Tories, who detested a standing army, heavy taxation and the national debt. Marlbor ough and Godolphin were thus compelled to seek help from the Whigs, and by degrees admitted so many to office that at the end of 1708 the ministry was Whig rather than Tory. It therefore lost the queen's goodwill; the duchess of Marlborough, too, had lost the queen's favour and the nation at large was growing weary of the war which, in spite of so many victories, seemed endless. A certain high church clergyman, Dr. Henry Sacheverell, having assailed the ministers in virulent sermons, attracted so much notice that they resolved to impeach him. He became a popular hero, the queen attended the proceedings and the Lords did not venture to inflict more than a nominal penalty. The queen then took courage to dismiss Godolphin, and gave office to Robert Harley and Henry St. John, who in former years had served under Godolphin but had been dismissed. They decided upon a general election, which produced a strong Tory majority. Then they resolved to end the war. They began a separate and secret negotiation with Louis, which became public in the course of 1711. At the end of that year, having collected evidence which cast suspicion of corrupt practices upon Marlborough, they felt able to dismiss him and give the command-in-chief to a Jacobite, the duke of Ormond, who had orders to remain inactive. A congress was opened at Utrecht early in 1712, but Louis became more and more unyield ing, so that the definitive treaties were not signed until April 1 7 13. (See UTRECHT, TREATY OF.) By the treaty England kept Gibraltar and Minorca, and acquired from France Nova Scotia, Hudson bay and Newfoundland. She also obtained trading rights in Spanish America, especially a monopoly of the increasingly valuable slave trade.
At home the ministers tried to secure permanent ascendency for Tories and Churchmen. In 1711 they passed an act requiring a qualification in landed property for members of parliament. A bill to punish the occasional conformity by which dissenters am bitious of office sought to evade the Test Act had been passed by the Commons in 1703, and again in 1704, and both times had been thrown out by the Lords. It was revived and passed into law in 1711. In 1714 the Schism Act took from dissenters the right of educating their own children. But the ministry was weakened by the rivalry, at last rising to enmity, of its two chiefs. Harley, who in 1711 was created earl of Oxford and Mortimer, took alarm at the violence of his followers and wished to moderate reaction. St. John, who in 1712 was created Viscount Bolingbroke, was ready to go all lengths and Intrigued with the Pretender so as to have an alternative if he could not make terms with the elector of Hanover. He induced Anne to dismiss Oxford and to make the duke of Shrewsbury treasurer. Almost immediately afterwards Anne died, Aug. I,
(F. C. M.)
