n the queen, found her tears and reproaches
unavailing. In her anger she had told the queen she wished for no
answer, and she was now met by a stony and exasperating silence, broken
only by the words constantly repeated, "You desired no answer and you
shall have none."

The fall of the Whigs, now no longer necessary on account of the
successful issue of the war, to accomplish which Harley had long been
preparing and intriguing, followed; and their attempt to prolong
hostilities from party motives failed. A friend of Harley, the duke of
Shrewsbury, was first appointed to office, and subsequently the great
body of the Whigs were displaced by Tories, Harley being made chancellor
of the exchequer and Henry St John secretary of state. The queen was
rejoiced at being freed from what she called a long captivity, and the
new parliament was returned with a Tory majority. On the 17th of January
1711, in spite of Marlborough's efforts to ward off the blow, the
duchess was compelled to give up her key of office. The queen was now
able once more to indulge in her favourite patronage of the church, and
by her influence an act was passed in 1712 for building fifty new
churches in London. Later, in 1714, she approved of the Schism Bill. She
gave strong support to Harley, now earl of Oxford and lord treasurer, in
the intrigues and negotiations for peace. Owing to the alliance between
the Tory Lord Nottingham and the Whigs, on the condition of the support
by the latter of the bill against occasional conformity passed in
December 1711, the defeated Whigs maintained a majority in the Lords,
who declared against any peace which left Spain to the Bourbons. To
break down this opposition Marlborough was dismissed on the 31st from
all his employments, while the House of Lords was "swamped" by Anne's
creation of twelve peers,[11] including Mrs Masham's husband. The
queen's conduct was generally approved, for the nation was now violently
adverse to the Whigs and war party; and the peace of Utrecht was finally
signed on the 31st of March 1713, and proclaimed on the 5th of May in
London.

As the queen's reign drew to its close, rumours were rife on the great
subject of the succession to the throne. Various Jacobite appointments
excited suspicion. Both Oxford and Bolingbroke were in communication
with the Pretender's party, and on the 27th of July Oxford, who had
gradually lost influence and quarrelled with Bolingbroke, resigned,
leaving the supre