The Student's note book of English History ... Second edition, revised and enlarged

Preface

. ■ 8 ■— The object of these notes is to give students a complete and sys tematic outline of English History. They have been used by the Author's own pupils for some years with the best results, and he hopes that they will prove equally useful to others. The Author has endeavoured to present the essentials of English History in a concise yet comprehensive manner, and he believes that the tabulated arrangement, which has been preserved as far as possible throughout, will render the book a valuable acquisition to candidates preparing for the various public examinations. This opinion is confirmed by the fact that the contents cover the whole ground taken up by past questions set at the London Matricula tion, Oxford and Cambridge Locals, and College of Preceptors' examinations. The contents have been gathered at long intervals, and from various sources, and it is now almost impossible to enumerate all the works to which reference has been made.

No pains have been spared to make the dates, etc., reliable, but if any errors have crept in, the Author will be very glad to receive corrections and sugges tions. .He would take this opportunity to thank those who have received the book so favourably, and assisted him by their sugges tions for a second edition, of which advantage has been taken to carefully revise the whole and rearrange in part. It is to be hoped that the alterations and additions made will meet with approval, so that the book may permanently retain its present form. CONTENTS. I'AGE 1. Sovereigns — With Dates of Accession — Genealogical Tables — Character Sketches — Descent, Marriage, Children, etc. — Usurpers and their Claims to the Throne — Pretenders — Minors and the Mode of Government adopted — Eldest Sons who did not succeed to the Throne - Deprived of Liberty — Who met with violent deaths — Deposed — Excommunicated — Longest and Shortest Eeigns — Titles of Sovereigns 9 2.

Roman Period — Governors — Provinces — Officers — Towns — Streets — WTaUs — Benefits and Traces of Roman Rule — Causes of Decline of Britain on withdrawal of Romans, 37 3. Saxon Period — Heptarchy — Deities — Divisions of Land — Distinctions of Rank — Witanagemot — Courts of Justice — Modes of Trial — Punishments, 40 4. Notabilia — British Tribes — Introduction of Christianity — Danish Invasions — Trial by Jury — Feudal System — Crusades — English Provinces in France — Growth of Power of Tudor Kings — Suppression of Monasteries — The Reformation — Contentions of Charles I. with his Parliaments — Unconstitutional Methods employed by Charles I. in raising money — Chief sources of Revenue during Middle Ages — Chief Events (with Dates) in Conquest of India — Leading Features of Different Periods — Manners and Customs — Styles of .Architecture, 44 5.

Summary of Leading Events, 70 6. Foreign Wars — WTith Causes, Chief Battles, and Results, . . 90 7. Celebrated Treaties, with Dates and Chief Provisions, . . 108 8. Civil Wars — Riots and Rebellions — Ecclesiastical Quarrels, . 118 9. Celebrated Charters — Acts of Parliament — Parliaments — Trials involving Constitutional Questions, 135 10. Omgin and Development of House of Commons, . . . 155 11. Outline of the British Constitution, 162 12. Explanation of Historical Terms, 168 13. Biographical Outlines of Eminent Men — Leading Authors — British Artists 209 14. Colonies— History and Government — Colonies fonnerly in British Possession — Reigns in which Colonies were acquired — Possessions ceded by Treaty 261 15. Chronological List of Chief Inventions, .... 270 16. Index, SOVEREIGNS OF ENGL.AND.

Saxon Dynasty. Egbert I. 827. Ethelwulf I. 836. Ethelbald I. 858. Ethel bert I. 860. Ethelred I. 866. . Alfred the Great 871. Edward I. 901. Athelstan I. 925. Edmund I. 940. Edred I. 946. Edwy I. 955. Edgar I. 958. Edward II. 975. Ethelred II. 979. Edmund II. 1016. Danish Dynasty. Canute the Great 1016. Harold I. 1035. Hardicanute I. 1040. Saxon Line (Restored.) Edward III. 1042. Harold II. 1066. Norman Period. William I. 1066. William II. 1087. Henrv I. 1100. Stephen 1135. Plantagenet Period. Henry II. 1154. RiclXrd I. 1189. John 1199. Henrv III. 1216. Edward I. 1272. Edward II. 1307. Edward III. 1327. Richard II. 1377. House of Lancaster. Henry IV. 1399. HenX V. 1413. Henry VI. 1422. House of York. Edward IV. 1461. Edward V. 1483. Richard HI. 1483. House of Tudor. Henry VII. 1485. Henry VIII. 1509.

Edward VI. 1547. Mary 1553. Elizabeth 1558. Stuart Line. James I. 1603. Charles I. 1625. Commonwealth 1649. Charles II. 1660. James II. 1685. William III. and Mary 1689. Anne 1702. House of Hanover. George I. 1714. George II. 1727. George III. 1760. George IV. 1820. William IV. 1830. Victoria 1837. GENEALOGICAL TABLES. Saxon Dynasty (827-1066). Egbert I. (Family of Cerdic). Ethelwulf I. Ethelbald I. Ethelbert I. Ethelred I. Alfred I. , the Great. Ethelwold. Edward I., the Elder. Athelstan I. Edmund I. , the Magnificent. Edred I. Edwy I., the Fair. Edgar I., the Peaceful. Married (1) Elfleda I (2) Elfrida. Edward the Martyr. Ethelred the Unready. Edmund II., Ironside. Alfred. Edward III., the Confessor, | (Murdered 1036.) Edward the Outlaw. Edgar Atheling. Margaret (married Malcolm of Scotland).

Danish Dynasty (1013-1042). Sweyn. Canute I. (married Emma of Normandy). Harold I. Hardicanute. Table connecting the Anglo-Saxon and Norman Periods. Edmund Ironside. Edward. Edmund. Edgar Atheling. Margaret (married Malcolm of Scotland). Christina. Matilda (married Henry I. of England.) Table showing the connection between Rollo ami William I, Rollo the Sea King. William. I Richard. Richard II. Emma (married Ethelred II.). Richard HI. Robert the Devil. William the Conqueror. Table showing the Pedigree of James I. Henry VII. Marcaret, m. (1) James IV. of Scotland (2) Archibald Douglas. James IV. I James V. Margaret Douglas. MaiRY, Queen of Scots, married Lord Darnley. James VI. of Scotland, I. of England. Charles Stuart. I Arabella Stuart. Genealogy of Victoria from William the Conqueror. William I. | „ ' i i X" !

Robert. William II. Henry. Adela. Matilda (m. Geoffrey Plantagenet). Stephen I Henry II. ! Henry. Richard I. Geoffrey1. John. I I Arthur. Henry III. Edward I. I Edward II. Edward III, I Edward (Black Prince). Lionel, Duke of Clarence. John of Gaunt. Edmund, Duke of York. I III Richard II. Philippa |_ Richard, E. of Cam- (married Earl of March.) bridge | (m. Ann Mortimer). Roger Mortimer. Henry IV. John Beaufort. I I I Ann Mortimer Henry V. John Beaufort. (m. Richard, E. of Cambridge). I Richard, D. of York. Henry VI. Margaret Beaufort. ! Edward IV. Richard III. L_ Edward V. Elizabeth, married Henry VII. ! Henry VIII. Margaret. Mary. I James V. (m. Mary of Guise). Mary. Elizabeth. Edward VI. Mary, Queen of Scots Frances. (married Lord Darnley). James I. Lady Jane Grey. J Charles I. Elizabeth (m. Elector Palatine).

I i I Charles II. James II. Mary (m. Prince of Orange). Sophia (m. Elector of Hanover). William III. (m. Mary). George I. George II. ,, I I Frederick, P. of Wales. Mary Anne. James (Old Pretender). I (m. William III.). George III. Charles Edward I ~~ | i (Young Pretender). George IV. William IV. Edward (D. of Kent). Victoria. Table showing the Claimants to the Throne of Scotland in the reign of Edward I. David I. I Henry, Prince of Scotland. ! I I I Malcolm IT. William the Lion. David, Earl of Huntingdon. Alexander II. I Alexander III. Margaret (married Eric, King of Norway). Margaret, Maid of Norway. i i ~~ i Margaret Isabella Ada (m . Alan, ofGalloway). (m. Robert Bruce). (m. Henry Hastings). I I I Devorglld. Eobert Bruce Henry Hastings. (m. John BaUiol). (Competitor). I I I John Balliol Robert Bruce.

Henry Hastings (Competitor). | (Competitor). Robert Bruce. Table showing the Claimants to the French Crown in the reign of Edward III. Philip III. Charles of Valois Philip IV. | Philip of Valois Louis X. Philip V. Charles IV. Isabella (Claimant). (m. Edward II. of England). | Jane of Navarre. I John. Edward III. Charles the Bad, (Claimant). King of Navarre. Table Illustrating the War of the Spanish Succession. Philip III. of Spain, Philip IV. Anne (m. Louis XIII. of France). Maria Anne (m. E. Ferdinand III.). Louis XIV. (m. Maria Theresa). Leopold I. r~ ~ l i i i Charles II. Maria Theresa Margaret Theresa (by Margaret Theresa). (by Leonora). (m. Louis XIV. of France), (m. E. Leopold I.). | I Maria Antoinette (m. Elector of Bavaria.) Louis the Dauphin Maria Antoinette. Joseph, King of Charles, the || Romans.

Archduke. Joseph Ferdinand. Joseph Ferdinand (Electoral Prince of Bavaria). I I Louis, Duke of Burgundy. Philip, Duke of Anjou, afterwards Louis XV. of France. Philip V. of Spain. NOTE. — Charles II. having no children, William III. and Louis XIV., in order to preserve the balance of power in Europe, agreed that Spain, the Netherlands, and the Indies should be given to Joseph Ferdinand ; that Louis the Dauphin should have Naples and Sicily, and the Spanish possessions in Tuscany; and the Archduke Charles shorud receive the Duchy of Milan. But as Joseph Ferdinand died, another arrangement was necessary; it was then agreed that Charles was to have what had been given to Joseph, and that Louis the Dauphin should have the remainder. But Charles II. bequeathed his kingdom to Philip, Duke of Anjou, who at once became Philip V. This was the cause of the War of the Spanish Succession.

CHARACTER SKETCHES OF ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS. NORMAN PERIOD. 'William I. — "Stern and ambitious: avaricious in his latter days, and brooking no interference with his will ; of short stature and corpulent ; of a fierce countenance, and devoted to the sport of hunting : he owed the terror of his name both to the force of his passions and to his immense bodily strength." (Collier's British Empire.) " It cannot be doubted that William surpassed all his contemporary rulers in a capacity for command — in war, certainly, and probably also, in peace. Sagacity, circumspection, foresight, courage, both in forming plans and facing dangers, insight into character, ascendency over men's minds — all these qualities he doubtless possessed in a very high degree." (Mackintosh.) "William II. — "Rapacious, prodigal, debauched, and cruel, the character of Rufus bears no redeeming feature.

In person he was short and corpulent, with flaxen hair and red face ; and he stammered in his speech." (Collier's British Empire.) " He seems to have been a violent and tyrannical prince ; a perfidious, encroaching, and dangerous neighbour ; an unkind and ungenerous relative." (Hume.) Henry I. — " Inherited his father's ability, with graces of mind and person which the Conqueror wanted, and a far greater spirit of moderation. Though equally determined and unscrupulous, he was less violent, and his cruelties arose more from passion than policy. In his character we see the old Norman spirit, tempered by the literary culture which he maintained throughout his life ; and, above all, he set the first example of justice to his Saxon subjects." (Smith's Smaller England.) Stephen. — "He seems to have been a man of courage, promptness, and perseverance ; generous to friends, forbearing to enemies and affable to all.

His figure was tall, muscular and commanding." (Collier's British Empire.) "Stephen was courteous alike to high and low, prompt in action and generous to his enemies ; but he is chargeable with forgetfulness of his oath to support the daughter of his patron, and with neglecting to execute justice, whereby his subjects suffered the greatest miseries." (Ross.) PLANTAGENET PERIOD. Henry II.— "He was a mixture of all qualities, good and bad, naturally arising out of a strong intellect, a strong will, and strong passions. His ambition was great, and he was little scrupulous about the means employed to serve his ends, and yet he was not always vindictive, neither was he incapable of generous feelings. Henry possessed considerable knowledge of letters, and through life was attached to literature and learned men."

(Ross.) "Though not free from the vices of his race — violence and dissimulation — he governed justly, and carried England a great step onward towards the settlement of her constitution." (Smith's Smaller England.) Richard I. — " Less wary than his father, less ingenious than John, Richard was far from a mere soldier. A love of adventure, a pride in sheer physical strength, here and there a romantic generosity, jostled roughly with the craft, the unscrupulousness of his race ; but he was at heart a statesman, cool and patient in the execution of his plans, as he was bold in their conception." (Green.) "Richard was full of uncontrolled passion, carrying him at one time to extremes of violence and licentiousness, and at another to acts of extraordinary generosity and disinterestedness. But the evil seemed to outweigh the good ; as a son he was rebellious, as a husband faithless, and as a king thoroughly indifferent to the welfare of his subjects."

(Ross.) John. — " Of John we know nothing good. He was a mean coward, a shameless liar, the most profligate in a profligate age, the most faithless of a faithless race. In person he was tall, though corpulent ; and his face was a true picture of his degraded mind." (Collier's British Empire.) " It is hard to say whether his conduct to his father, his brother, his nephew, or his subjects, was most culpable ; or whether his crimes in these respects were not even exceeded by the baseness which appears in his transactions with the King of France, the Pope, and the Barons. He first lost by his misconduct the flourishing provinces of France, the ancient patrimony of his family, he saw the prerogatives of his crown diminished by law and still more by faction ; and he died at last when in danger of being totally expelled by a foreign power."

(Hume.) Henry III.— "From the cruelty, the lust, the impiety of his father, he was absolutely free. But he was utterly devoid of the political capacity which had been the characteristic of John, as of his race. His conception of power lay in the display of an empty and profuse magnificence. Frivolous, changeable, impulsive alike in good and evil, false from sheer meanness of spirit, and childishly superstitious." (Green.) " His incapacity was productive rather of inconvenience to himself than of misery to his subjects. Under his weak but pacific sway the nation grew more rapidly in wealth and prosperity than it had done under any of his military pre decessors." (Lingard.) Edward. I. — "He has been called 'the greatest of the Plantagenets,' and in most respects he well deserved Ihe title. His character was manly and truly royal.

He was of majestic figure and au affable presence, and had great skill in military exercises." (Smith's Smaller England.) " In good as in evil he stands out as the typical representative of his race, wilful and imperious as his people, tenacious of his rights, indomitable in his pride, dogged, stuliborn, slow of apprehension, narrow in sympathy, but in the main just, unselfish, laborious, conscientious, haughtily observant of truth aud self-respect, temperate, reverent of truth, religious." (Green.) Edward II. — "Eilward was fickle and indolent. His days were spent in hunting, his Dights in revelry, while the government of his kingdom was left to favourites. His figure resemljled that of his warlike father." (Collier's British Empire.) His unhappy reign and miserable death bear witness to the fact so often noticed, that in this world the penalty of weakness is worse than that of wickedness.

He paid dearly for the negligence and favouritism which were the only charges that even his betrayers and murderers brought against him. He was never accused of cruelty or exaction. His weakness was not without flashes of noble spirit, and his memory seems to deserve compassion rather than contempt." (Smith's Smaller History.) Edward III. — " England has scarcely had a king of more consummate ability and personal virtue than Edward III. He tempered a firm and just administration of the law with a munificent generosity and a noble courtesy." (Smith's Smaller History.) " He was brave, wise and merciful ; and we can pardon him if his ambition to wear the French crown carried him too far." (Collier's British Empire.) " The domestic government of this prince is really more admirable than his foreign victories ; and England enjoyed by the prudence and vigour of his administration, a larger interval of domestic peace ;iu»l tranquillity than she had been blessed with in any former period, or than she experienced for many years after."

(Hume.) Richard II. — "The second Richard and the second Edward were much alike in their character, their policy, and their mysterious fate. Richard's riding passion was the love of display. His dress was stiff with goltl and gems, his attendants numbered ten thousand. His last two years betrayed a spirit of reckless revenge, and a thirst for absolute power, which cost him his life. He was handsome but feminine. His manner was abrupt, his speech impeded." (Collier's British Empire.) " He was not destitute of ability ; but a weak judgment and a violent temper rendered him unfit to govern. When he at length succeeded in asserting his own will, he became a tyrant." (Smith's Smaller History?) HOUSE OF LANCASTER. Henry IV. — " He was daring, watchfid, active. He well understood the temper of the nation and the Parliament.

He was of middle size, and in his last }'ears his face was disfigured by an eruption, which the superstition of the time ascribed to the judgment of Heaven for the execution of Scrope." (Collier's British Empire.) That he was of a bold and enterprisingcharacter is clearly proved by the fact of his having maintained his position, and reduced the country to order in spite of his defective title and the plots of his enemies ; but as an administrator he was certainly incapable. The state of his finances is described as having been deplorable, and his parliaments continually presented remonstrances against his bad government. Henry V.— "This prince possessed many eminent virtues; and if we give indulgence to ambition in a monarch, or rank it as the vulgar are inclined to do, among his virtues, they were unstained by any considerable blemish.

His abilities appeared equally in the cabinet and the field ; the boldness of his enterprises was not less remarkable than his personal valour in conducting them. He had the talent of attaching his friends by affability, and of gaining his enemies by address and clemency. The English dazzled by the lustre of his character, still more by that of his victories, were reconciled to the defects in his title. The French almost forgot that he was an enemy. And his career in maintaining justice in his civil administration, and his preserving discipline in his armies made some amends to both nations for the calamities inseparable from those wars in which his short reign was almost wholly occupied." (Hume.) Henry VI. — " Henry of Windsor was weak in body and in mind. His long minority formed in him the habit of trusting much to his councillors ; and their faults were often visited upon him.

But in his private character he was meek and inoffensive, more ready to forgive than to punish, and easily led for the sake of peace to betray his own interest." (Collier's British Empire.) " Being of weak mind, Henry is scarcely accountable for the course of affairs during his reign ; his queen and her favourite ministers, Suffolk and Somerset, ruled the nation, aud produced that general dissatisfaction which ended in the downfall of the House of Lancaster." (Ross.) HOUSE OF YORK. Edward IV. — " The love of vicious pleasures was the chief quality of Edward's character. His lustful passions brought shame on many an honest household. Gorgeous dresses, rich meats, costly wines were among his highest enjoyments. He waded to a throne in blood, and he maintained it ljy a spy system, so perfect that nothing could happen around his court or in the most distant country without his knowing.

He was handsome and accomplished ; but his sensual indulgences rendered him in his later years bloated and unwieldy." (Colliers British Empire.) " A prince more splendid and showy than either prudent or virtuous, brave though cruel, addicted to pleasure though capable of activity in great emergencies, and less fitted to prevent ills by wise precautions than to remedy them after they took place by his vigour and enterprise." (Hume.) Richard III. — This monarch is popularly represented as having been a 'cruel monster, deformed alike in body, mind, and soul'. The truth seems to be that, although not by any means a good man, he was not as black as he has been painted. Undoubtedly he was unscrupulously ambitious and had a cruel temper, but he was courageous and possessed of considerable ability, and as a monarch was not unpopular.

He had a withered arm, and a deformity of the shoulders, owing to which he was nicknamed ' Crookback '. TUDOR PERIOD. Henry VII. — " So long as ability and success form the chief test of merit, Henry VII. will be admired as a perfect master of the art of 'Kingcraft'. In this light he is viewed by his great historian, Lord Bacon, who, even while laying bare his avarice and cunning, describes Henry VII., Louis XL, and Ferdinand of Arragon, as 'the tres magi' of kings of those ages. But he was destitute of every amiable quality, and even the services which he rendered to his country may be traced to a motive of advantage to himself ; but still, these services were great, and his profound sagacity and constant vigilance brought England safe out of the confusion and almost ruin of the civil wars."

(Smith's Smaller History.) Henry VIII — "The popular tradition vacillates between admiration of 'bluff' king Hal' and execration of a blood-stained tyrant; and while one historian holds him up as all but 'the ideal model of perfect wickedness,' another ingeniously hammers out the treasures of our old records into leaves to gild over his idol. If the truth lies nearer to the former estimate than to the latter, the severity of our judgment must be modified by the recollection that Henry was not a hero nor a saint, neither was he a monster, but a man, whose fierce temper and wanton selfwill exaggerated faults and vices that were still but human, without overpowering some manly virtues, or extinguishing the sentiment of religion, and whose reign was the season of a work in which a feebler will would have shrunk back and failed."

(Smith's Smaller History.) Edward VI. — " He had a competent knowledge of Latin, Greek, French, and Italian, and was able to converse intelligently on questions of philosophy and religion, nor was he deficient in manly exercises. His sincere piety ever showed itself in the desire to do right." (Smith's Smaller History.) "He was a gentle boy, of very studious habits, and of most promising disposition." (Collier's British History.) Mary. — "With all her faults she must be allowed the praise of sincerity ; for the love she bore to the Roman Catholic religion and the Papacy induced her to advance its interests at her own expense, as well as that of her persecuted subjects, and her chief misfortune seems to have been this, that a genius which would have shone in a nunnery was exalted to a throne.

Her temper naturally sour had been rendered morose by the sufferings which she underwent, and her personal animosity was so wrapped up under the garb of religion, that she probably did not distinguish between the two." (Bishop Short.) In noticing the title " Bloody Queen Mary" which she has won for herself, we must not overlook the pernicious influence of her councillors, for they indeed are greatly to be blamed. Undoubtedly she was a cruel bigot, and it is but a poor apology to add that her bigotry was the result of her own disappointments, and that her cruelty was in accordance with the prevailing spirit of her times. Elizabeth. — "With the haughty spirit of her father, she carried her prerogative sometimes even further than he ventured, but she possessed a far sounder judgment. Early adversity had taught her to put a restraint upon her temper, and she had the wisdom to follow wise councillors."

(Smith's Smaller History.) " Elizabeth was learned, but her tastes were very coarse ; she was a maiden queen, but her court was dissolute ; and though a monarch of a constitutional government, her sway was marked by much that was despotic. A much better woman than her enemies describe her, she nevertheless possessed fewer virtues than are attributed to her b}- her friends." (Ross.) "The wise ministers and brave warriors who flourished under her reign share the praise of her success ; but instead of lessening the applause due to her, they have made great addition to it. They owed ail of them their advancement to her choice ; they were supported by her constancy, and with all their abilities they were never able to acquire any undue ascendency over her." (Hume.) STUART PERIOD. James I. — " His capacity was considerable, but better fitted to discourse on general maxims than to conduct any intricate business ; his intentions were just, bnt more adapted to the conduct of private life than to the government of kingdoms.

Awkward in his person and ungainly in his manners, he was ill-qualified to command respect ; partial and undiscerning in his affections, he was little fitted to acquire general love. Of a feeble temper more than of a frail judgment, ; exposed to our ridicule from his vanity, but exempt from our hatred by his freedom from pride and arrogance." (Hume.) " His better qualities were neutralised by his overweening conceit of his own wisdom and his royal authority. Though the conflict which he provoked only came to an issue under his son, there was not a claim of prerogative made by Charles, nor an assertion of privilege by his earlier parliaments which had not been first put forward under James." (Smith's Smaller History.) Charles I. — " The public and the private life of Charles I. present a strange contrast.

In politics his leading motives were an attachment to Episcopacy, and that thirst for absolute power which he inherited from his father, and which he bequeathed in even greater intensity to his second son. Double dealing was his most fatal vice. But in the domestic relations of life he displayed many admirable qualities. A love for his wife and children, and a refined taste in works of art, especially paintings, adorned his character. We know him best from his portraits by Vandyke. A dark-complexioned man, with mild and mournful eyes, lofty brow, long curling hair, moustache and pointed beard ; this is Vandyke's head of the hapless monarch." (Collier's British Empire.) Cromwell. — " Great decision and energy marked the character of Oliver Cromwell. The secret of his success lay in his splendid military talents, which, dormant for forty years, were stirred to life by the troubles of the Civil War.

He was less successful in ruling the English nation than in drilling his great army. He disliked all show and ceremony. In private life he was fond of playing rough practical jokes on his friends. He was a man of coarse and heavy figure, about the middle size. His eyes were grey and keen ; his nose was too large for his face, and of a deep red. His look was harsh and forbidding ; his manner to the last blunt and clownish. But within this rugged frame there burned a great, and— let us believe -a truly religious soul." (Collier's British Empire.) Charles II. — " He was a mean-spirited, treacherous, dissolute man, who, thoroughly vicious himself, scoffed at the idea of virtue or honour in others. Much of his time was spent in worthless company. He was an active tennis player, an untiring walker, and often amused himself with chemical experiments."

(Collier's British Empire.) " Charles was good-tempered, but it arose from indolence ; he was not cruel but he allowed innocent men to be executed. That he had designs against the liberties of England is clear, though it was only in the last few years of his reign that they were fully understood." (Ross.) James II. — " In many respects James was a better man than his brother. His private life, though not free from reproach, was far less scandalous ; and his sense of the dignity of his station preserved him from submitting to be a pensioner of France to the same extent that Charles had done ; yet he was weak in judgment, bigoted in his principles, cold in his nature, and stern in the administration of justice." (Ross.) " His zeal for the Roman Catholic Church, strengthened and sharpened by the thirst for despotic power common to all the Stuarts, cost him a throne.

His perversity and petty spite, his childishness and meanness, glare out from every page of his history. Even the diligence and punctuality in the despatch of business, for which he was remarkable, cease to excite our admiration, when we remember that these qualities, good in themselves, became in his case instruments of the worst tyranny." (Collier's British Empire.) William III.— " For literature and science he had little love. He possessed a courage that was calm amid every species of danger, and never did he rejoice so much as in the day of battle. His frame was feeble, his cheek was pale and thin from long continued disease ; but to his latest day the flashing of his eagle eye, and the compression of his firmly cut lips, told at once that bodily anguish had never tamed the iron soul within."