was averted.

2. GOVERNMENT BY PARTY

Until the reign of Anne what we now call Party Government was unknown.
We may see the beginnings of the division of politicians into Whig and
Tory in the Roundhead and Cavalier factions in the reign of Charles I.
Government by the one strong man of the time--a Burleigh, a Cromwell,
a Marlborough--was the usual thing. Marlborough was the last who tried
to govern without party. During the reign of Anne the Whigs and Tories
were combined in varying proportions, till the final return of a Tory
House of Commons and the formation of a purely Tory ministry, in 1711.
From that time Party Government, as we now understand it, has
generally prevailed.

3. POWER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND THE MINISTERS

Anne was good-natured, and not disposed to give herself too much
trouble, which made it possible for her ministers to wield more power
over the country and its destinies. Nevertheless, the Queen had a will
of her own, and made her influence felt, especially in Church matters.
On the whole, however, Parliament and the Ministers gained in
importance and influence during the reign. Marlborough, Harley, St.
John, Rochester, Nottingham, were some of the leading ministers, and
towards the end of the reign Sir Robert Walpole is first heard of as a
politician.

4. THE QUESTION OF THE SUCCESSION TO THE SPANISH THRONE

When Philip of Bourbon, the grandson of Louis XIV, was proclaimed as
Philip V of Spain, England, Holland, and some other nations felt that
the peace of Europe, or rather the freedom of the rest of it, were
threatened by the union of two such mighty powers. Accordingly the
Allies set up in opposition the Archduke Charles of Austria, and it
was in support of the claims of Charles to the throne of Spain that
all the wars of Anne's reign were waged. When at length Charles became
Emperor, the Allies had no farther reason for fighting, as it would
have been equally adverse to the interests of the rest of the
Continent to combine Spain and the Empire. Philip thus remained King
of Spain, though he had to renounce his claims to France.

5. THE UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

The project for the union of the two countries had been talked of for
some time, but there were difficulties concerning religious matters,
trade, and the refusal of Scotland to pay any of the English debt, in
the way. By the Act of Security Sophia was declared to be ineligible
for the Scottish throne, and Engla