tyrannical if officers came into their shops and houses to see what was there for sale, and they fancied that they would have to pay more for what they bought than they had paid before. Walpole knew that this would not really be so, but when he saw how excited the people were he preferred to give up his proposal rather than take the chance of open resistance. He thought that no improvement was worth the risk of an insurrection.

6. Walpole and the War with Spain.-Some time after this the people again became excited. This time it was about a quarrel with Spain. In those days no country liked to allow freedom of trade, and colonies were not permitted to buy or sell unless when they traded with persons coming from the mothercountry to which they belonged. In the Treaty of Utrecht, however, Spain had been obliged to promise that one English ship only in the year might sell goods to the Spanish colonies in South America. The English had not kept strictly to their part of the bargain. One great English ship came near the shore, and the goods on board were unloaded in the day-time. But she was accompanied by several smaller vessels which remained out of sight of land, and which came up in the night-time and filled up with fresh goods the space in the large ship which had been emptied the day before. Besides this trickery there was a great deal of smuggling going on. English vessels sailed to the West Indies to put their goods on shore whenever they could escape the notice of the Spanish coastguards. Of course, the coastguards were very angry, and did not treat the

English smugglers very well when they caught them. One day a man named Jenkins appeared before the House of Commons, and produced one of his ears out of a box where it was wrapped up in cotton. He said that it had been cut off by the Spaniards in the West Indies, and that they had bidden him to carry it to his king. Many people believe that this story was untrue, and that he had lost his ear in the pillory. Whether it were true or not, England was enraged. Parliament and people called on Walpole to go to war with Spain. Walpole believed that this was unjust, but he weakly consented to do what he was asked to do. When war was declared, the bells rang loudly for joy. They are ringing the bells now,' said the Prime Minister. They will be wringing their hands soon.'

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7. Fall of Walpole. To make war when he knew that it was unjust was the worst thing that Walpole ever did. It was also the most unfortunate thing for himself. It would have been better for him if he had been honest; and if he had resigned, rather than do what he thought wrong, he would probably have been asked before long to take office again. As it happened, the war did not go on as well as people thought that it ought, and they threw the blame on Walpole. They said that he did not take any trouble about it because he did not like it. At last the opposition grew so strong that he was obliged to resign, and in 1742 his long Ministry came to an end.

8. The Ministry of the Pelhams.--After Walpole had been turned out there was a new set of ministers,

but they bribed the members of Parliament just as much as Walpole had done. After a short time the leading ministers were two brothers. The younger, Henry Pelham, was Prime Minister. He was a very good man of business, and managed to keep the House of Commons quiet by giving office to everybody who could speak well, without caring what his principles were. For this reason his ministry was known as the Broad-bottomed Administration. The elder brother, the Duke of Newcastle, was very ignorant, but he knew how to keep people who had votes in Parliament in a good humour. Every day his rooms were filled with men who wanted something. One wished his brother or son to be made a bishop or a general. Another had some poor friend for whom he wanted a clerkship or some lower office. Newcastle gave offices to some and civil speeches to every one. By obliging people in this way he got many votes for the Government, though he was himself very ridiculous. He was always in a bustle, and it was said of him that he seemed to have got up half an hour too late every morning, and to be running about all day to try to catch it.

9. The Young Pretender in Scotland. In 1745, after Henry Pelham had been in office for a short time, Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, as he was called in England, landed in the Highlands of Scotland. He was the son of the Old Pretender, who called himself James III. of England and James VIII. of Scotland, and, as his father was still alive, he called himself Prince of Wales. The Highlanders were quite ready to join him, and he soon found himself

able to march at their head to Edinburgh. Many of the people of Edinburgh were much pleased to see him. Scotland had prospered since the union with England, but the people of Edinburgh did not forget that there was no Parliament meeting in their city any longer, and that the members went up to London

to spend their money instead of spending it in the Scottish capital. Charles Edward, too, was a brisk and handsome young man, and that always counts for something. The Prince, however, could not stay long in Edinburgh, as an English army was coming against him, and was at Preston Pans, a few miles east of Edinburgh. He therefore marched to attack

them there. The Highlanders fought as they had fought at Killiecrankie. They rushed upon the English soldiers with their broadswords flashing, and swept them away. The victory of the Highlanders was complete in a few minutes. The conquerors plundered the slain, and often did not know the value of the things which they found in the pockets of the Englishmen. One Highlander took a watch, and when he heard it ticking he fancied that it was alive. As he did not wind it up, it soon ceased to tick. He then sold it for very little, and thought that he had made a good bargain. 'I was glad,' he said, 'to be rid of the creature, for she lived no time after I caught her.'

10. The Young Pretender in England. The Pretender resolved to try whether he could not win England as he had won Scotland. He crossed the Border and marched steadily southwards, hoping that his father's old friends would rise to support him. But there were few of his father's friends left. England was well off, and did not want a change. Men could not be very enthusiastic on behalf of George II., and still less about Newcastle, but even those who did not care anything about politics knew that the country was much better off under the kings of the House of Hanover than it had been under James II. As soon as it appeared that Englishmen would not rise for Charles Edward, it became quite certain that he would have to go back. He and his Highlanders could not conquer England. He reached Derby, and found that if he went on further he would soon be surrounded by George's armies