be a king, is not likely to have his head turned when he comes to the throne. Those who are born to grandeur and fine clothes and riches get used to them, and are not hurt by them. Those who become grand late in life often get disagreeable and conceited.

Now you have read enough history to know that, although for hundreds of years the crown of England has been called hereditary-that is, professing to go always to the right heir, there has often been quarrelling (as in the wars of the Roses) as to who was the right heir; and sometimes, for some reason or other, hereditary right has been set aside.

When James II. abdicated it was settled that the crown should go always to the next Protestant heir; and, therefore, when Queen Anne died, the throne did not go to her half-brother, James Edward, because he was a Roman Catholic, but was given instead to George, Elector or King of Hanover, who was the great-grandson of James I.

George I. was sent for from Hanover in a great hurry, but either he did not much care about the crown of England, or he felt sure of it, for it was six weeks before he landed at Gravesend. He seems to have been a rather disagreeable man, but to have had a good deal of pluck and determination.

He had a wife, but, having quarrelled with her, and shut her up in a castle some years before we have to do with his history, she never came to England.

George, when he first came over, was received quietly enough; but, unfortunately, he could not let well alone, and, because he fancied his ministers did not like him,

began by turning them out, and filling their places with men with whom he thought he should get on better. Of course those who lost their situations were vexed; many people took their parts, and a great deal of rioting ensued.

The consequence of the rioting, and of George's punishment of it, was this-numbers of people began first to grumble at the king, and then to plot rebellion against him. In the year 1715 a Scotch nobleman, the Earl of Mar, collected an army, and proclaimed James Edward, the son of James II., king. Numbers of discontented Englishmen joined the Scotch, and the rebellion would have been serious, but, fortunately for George, his enemies began to quarrel among themselves. The result was that half the army dwindled away, and the other half was easily defeated.

George was now too severe, and made himself still more unpopular by his harshness. Several noblemen were put to death, some were led in chains through London to the Tower, and there imprisoned. Privates were shut up in a very close, unwholesome prison, where many died from bad air and bad food; and a thousand men were spared only on condition that they went out to the colonies and became slaves.

George I. died in Germany, after having reigned in England eight years. He was never a popular king, and his one merit in the eyes of the people seems to have been that he was a Protestant.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

GEORGE II., 1722-1760.

Married Caroline of Anspach.

Children:-Frederic, Prince of Wales; William, Duke of Cumber land, who both died before their father; and five daughters. Principal Event:-Battle of Culloden.

GEORGE II. was the son of George I. About eighteen years after he became king there was a war in Flanders, in which the king, the Duke of Cumberland, and many of the troops were engaged. Now it happened that some Highlanders had, against their will, been forced to enlist in the king's army. They did not like it, and deserted. They were pursued, and persuaded to return to their regiment, but after they had done so, were punished. Three were hung as a warning to others, and the rest were sent into exile.

Now Highlanders are a very affectionate set of people, and the disgrace of these men was felt by all their race as a personal injury. So the Highlanders were ready to quarrel with the Government, when Charles Edward, the son of James Edward, of whom you read in the last chapter, made an attempt to drive George off the throne. Prince Charles landed in Scotland with only seven followers; but before many days were over the Highlanders had flocked round him, until he had between three and four thousand men.

Then the English Government became frightened. The king was sent for from Germany, and soldiers went off to Scotland. The first battle fought between George II.'s

troops and Charles Edward's was at Prestonpans. There the king's men were entirely routed, and Charles Edward gained arms and plunder. He retired in triumph to Edinburgh, where he proclaimed his father king, and set up his court in an old palace called Holyrood. Here for six weeks he enjoyed himself, playing, as it were, at being king.

Meanwhile the people who sided with George were not idle. Thirty thousand pounds were offered to any one who would kill Charles Edward or take him prisoner. Charles Edward offered the same sum to any one who would deliver George into his hands. George's friends called Charles Edward the "young Pretender." They had nicknamed his father the "old Pretender." Charles would not own that George was King of England, and spoke of him only as the Elector of Hanover,

But soon the question was to be determined. In point of fact the quarrel, as far as the nation was concerned, lay between those who wished to have a Protestant king and those who wished to retain hereditary monarchy. George was a Protestant, but had not the best right, as far as birth went, to the throne. James Edward, and next to him, his son Charles, had the best right to the crown, but they were Roman Catholics.

After living in Edinburgh for six weeks, Charles marched into England. The town of Carlisle submitted to him, the mayor offering him the keys of the city on his knees. The Highlanders, headed by the young prince, marched on, but a large army of English soldiers, well drilled and trained, under the command of the Duke of Cum berland, was advancing against them. The Scotch

gentlemen who were the prince's advisers got alarmed, and told him that instead of pushing on towards London, he had better retreat into Scotland. He was obliged to yield to their opinion, and some people say never smiled again.

On the 16th April, 1746, the two armies met on the plain of Culloden, in Scotland. The Highlanders, headed by Charles Edward, fought magnificently, but they were overpowered by numbers. At the end of twenty minutes the fight was over, and with it Charles Edward's hopes of a kingdom. One regiment of Highlanders, and one only, was able to retreat in good order, with pipes playing, and the prince's colours flying.

And then came terrible slaughter. The English soldiers had been put out by their former ill-success, and now they did not seem to understand the meaning of mercy. Many people were killed by mistake who had come to look on at the battle from curiosity, and many more were slaughtered on purpose. Indeed, the Duke of Cumberland got then the nickname of "the Butcher." Women and children were turned out of their homes to see their husbands and fathers killed. For fifty miles round Culloden villages were burned, and the inhabitants either killed or turned out homeless.

The chief of "the rebels," as the prince's friends were called, were put into prison to await their trial in England. These men were mostly put to death. Charles Edward wandered for five months among the Highlands of Scotland, sometimes disguised as a woman, often passing through the midst of his enemies, without being discovered. Though it is calculated that at least fifty