BOOK VI. the counterpart of the measure was still wanting; 1714. and he expected the Scotch peers in the house would move for another bill to prevent the growth of schism in their own country. Precedents and authorities had been cited in favour of the present measure, but there was one authority of the highest weight against it which had not yet been mentioned. He acknowledged that it would have come with most force and propriety (turning round to the bishops) from that venerable bench; but since their lordships had been wholly silent in this debate, he would himself tell them, that it was the rule of the Gospel to do unto others as we would be done unto." The earl of Nottingham, whose attachment to the church no one would venture to call in question, owned, "he had formerly been of opinion that the occasional conformity of dissenters was dangerous to the established church, and therefore he had ever promoted the bill to prevent it; but that, the church having now that security, he believed her safe and out of danger, and therefore he thought himself in conscience obliged to oppose so barbarous a law as this." The lord treasurer, agreeably to his weak, wavering, and mysterious policy, contented himself with saying, "that he had not yet considered of the bill, but when he had he would vote according as it appeared to him to be either for the good or detriment of the country: he declared there

1714.

fore for the second reading." But in the subse- BOOK VI. quent stages of the bill he absented himself from the house. A petition from the dissenters to be heard by counsel against the bill was rejected by 72 voices against 66. In the progress of the business a clause was inserted, extending the operation of the bill to Ireland, though the duke of Shrewsbury, lord lieutenant of the kingdom, declared strongly against it, by a majority of 57 to b voices and the general and final question, that the bill do now pass, was carried by 77 to 72 voices. The royal assent was given, on the 25th of June, to the schism act, which was to take effect on the 1st of August following: but, in the destined course of events, on that very day a reverse of fortune fatal to the authors of this infamous bill took place-the dynasty of the Stuarts came to its termination, and the last spark of that direful house went out.

Not to anticipate too far, it is sufficient to say, that this was the ultimate triumph of the tory party, many of whom were undoubtedly disposed to have gone far greater lengths. But the queen's constitution was now so entirely broken, that it was evident she approached towards the conclusion of her life; and the ministers of the crown, in the alarming prospect of her dissolution, thought of little else than their private interests and personal safety. Oxford and Bolingbroke

BOOK VI. were now so exasperated against each other, that 1714. they could not abstain from the most indecent

and bitter altercation, even in the presence of the queen. On the 8th of June the earl of Oxford presented a memorial to the queen, containing a recapitulation of the principal events of his administration-vindicating his own conduct, and reflecting with great acrimony upon that of his antagonist, whom he charged with endeavouring to enlist a separate party for himself in the house of commons from the beginning of February 1711. And in his usual obscure and mysterious language, he declares, "that the transactions which passed during his long confinement and absence from business, from the attempt of Guiscard, were too black to mention." But this remonstrance made no impression upon the mind of the queen, now entirely alienated from the lord treasurer, whose ascendency over her had for some years been unshaken and absolute. Not a single measure however was adopted at this critical period by the confidential Measures ministers of the crown, from which it could be inferred that they entertained designs inimical to the Pre- the protestant succession. On the contrary, attempts having been made to enlist men for the service of the Pretender, a proclamation was immediately issued, promising a reward of 50001. for apprehending the Pretender whenever he should

of the Court

hostile to

tender.

land, or attempt to land, in Great Britain or Ire- BOOK VI. land. Both houses voted an address of thanks for 1714. this proclamation; and the commons, as a further and demonstrative proof of their attachment to the protestant succession, assured her majesty, "that they would, out of the first aids, grant the sum of 100,0001. as a further reward to any who shall perform so great a service to her majesty and her kingdoms; and also that they would heartily concur with her majesty in all other measures for extinguishing the hopes of the Pretender, and all his open and secret abettors: and this address was presented to the queen by the whole house. At the same time, lord Bolingbroke himself brought in a bill, denouncing the penalties of high treason against those who should enlist or be enlisted in the Pretender's service. On the 9th of July the session was terminated by a speech from the throne, in which the queen affirmed, "that her chief concern was to preserve the protestant religion, the liberty of her subjects, and the tranquillity of the kingdom."

of the Earl

of Oxford

On the 27th of July (1714) the earl of Ox- Dismission ford, who in the presence of the queen had thrown out an impotent menace "to leave some persons as low as he found them," was unexpectedly divested of the staff of treasurer; and Bolingbroke found himself elevated to the summit of power by the sudden and total fall of his rival. This splendid pre-eminence, however, he

1714.

BOOK VI.enjoyed only for a moment. The queen, who was perceived to be extremely agitated from the time of the dismission of lord Oxford, never recovered her composure of mind; but, as if altogether exhausted by incessant fatigue, chagrin, and vexation, gradually sank into a kind of lethargy, in which death-like state she remained for several successive days, deriving no relief from any efforts of the medical art.

Whatever projects Bolingbroke might have in contemplation, they were entirely disconcerted by the firmness and spirit with which the leaders of the whig party acted upon this occasion. A meeting of the privy council being convened when the queen was apparently on the verge of departure, the dukes of Somerset and Argyll entered the council chamber, without any previous summons, to the astonishment of the majority of the members but the duke of Shrewsbury arose and thanked them for their readiness to assist the council in that critical juncture. They then took their places; and it being represented as of the highest importance that the office of lord treasurer should be immediately filled, the duke of Shrewsbury, already occupying the posts of lord high chamberlain, and lord lieutenant of Ireland, was proposed and unanimously agreed upon as the fittest person for that great trust. The queen's physicians, on examination, assuring the council that her majesty was still sensible, the