CHAPTER XXXIV.

GEORGE II., 1722-1760.

Married Caroline of Anspach.

Children :-Frederic, Prince of Wales; William, Duke of Cumberland, 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 Cumberland, 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

people knew him, and could have earned thirty thousand pounds by betraying him, his secret was kept. After five months of misery and hardship almost amounting to starvation, and many hair-breadth escapes, Charles got to France, and went from thence to Rome, where he died in 1766.

His youngest brother, the last survivor of the Stuart family, became a cardinal in the Romish Church, and died at Rome in the reign of George III. In one of the churches at Rome there is a monument to James III., Charles III., and Henry IX., kings of England. Three kings of England who were never crowned, who never reigned, and can only be called kings in so far that if hereditary monarchy had not been set aside, they had a right to the throne.

George II. lived fourteen years after the battle of Culloden, dying very suddenly in 1760. He had spent so much of his early life in Germany, that he never could really be considered an Englishman. He talked German, he married a German princess, and he cared more for his old country than his new one.

CHAPTER XXXV.

GEORGE III. (Son of Frederic, Prince of Wales), 1760-1820. Married Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Children :-George, Prince of Wales; Frederick, Duke of York; William Henry, Duke of Clarence; Edward, Duke of Kent (father of Queen Victoria); Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland; Augustus Frederic, Duke of Sussex; Adolphus Frederic, Duke of Cambridge; two other sons who died in infancy; and six daughters. Important Events:-Peace with America signed, 1783; Louis XVI. beheaded, 1793.

GEORGE III. was twenty-two years old when he became king. He succeeded his grandfather, George II., who had never very much liked England, as his youth had been spent in Germany. But George III. loved England, and was proud of being an Englishman. He was a very good man, and most anxious to make his people happy. But through his long reign, more from misfortune than from fault, England was almost constantly at war.

After George had reigned a few years, more money was wanted to keep up the expense of defending England against enemies, and so more taxes had to be paid. Taxes are the money given to the king to pay soldiers, sailors, policemen, and other people who take care of us. Taxes also pay for workhouses, prisons, and other necessary institutions. If we had no soldiers and sailors, the kings of other countries would make war upon us and ill-treat us. If we had no policemen, thieves would break into our houses, and perhaps kill us. If we had no workhouses, poor people who are too old and ill to earn their living might starve. If there were no prisons, wicked people who ill-treat their neighbours could not be kept