not eloquent, but
acquired considerable skill as a debater. In 1705, Lord Godolphin, the
prime minister of Anne, made him one of the council to Prince George
of Denmark; in 1706, Marlborough selected him as secretary of war; in
1709, he was made treasurer of the navy; and in 1710, he was the
acknowledged leader of the House of Commons. He lost office, however,
when the Whigs lost power, in 1710; was subjected to cruel political
persecution, and even impeached, and imprisoned in the Tower. This
period is memorable for the intense bitterness and severe conflicts
between the Whigs and Tories; not so much on account of difference of
opinion on great political principles, as the struggle for the
possession of place and power.

On the accession of George I., Walpole became paymaster of the forces,
one of the most lucrative offices in the kingdom. Townshend was made
secretary of state. The other great official dignitaries were the
Lords Cowper, Marlborough, Wharton, Sunderland, Devonshire, Oxford, and
Somerset; but Townshend and Walpole were the most influential. They
impeached their great political enemies, Ormond and Bolingbroke, the
most distinguished leaders of the Tory party. Bolingbroke, in genius
and learning, had no equal in parliament, and was a rival of Walpole
at Eton.

[Sidenote: The Pretender.]

The first event of importance, under the new ministry, was the
invasion of Great Britain by the Pretender--the Prince James Frederic
Edward Stuart, only son of James II. His early days were spent at St.
Germain's, the palace which the dethroned monarch enjoyed by the
hospitality of Louis XIV. He was educated under influences entirely
unfavorable to the recovery of his natural inheritance, and was a
devotee to the pope and the interests of absolutism. But he had his
adherents, who were called _Jacobites_, and who were chiefly to be
found in the Highlands of Scotland. In 1705, an unsuccessful effort
had been made to regain the throne of his father, but the disasters
attending it prevented him from milking any renewed effort until the
death of Anne.

When she died, many discontented Tories fanned the spirit of
rebellion; and Bishop Atterbury, a distinguished divine, advocated the
claims of the Pretender. Scotland was ripe for revolt. Alarming riots
took place in England. William III. was burned in effigy at
Smithfield. The Oxford students pulled down a Presbyterian
meeting-house, and the sprig of oak was publicly displa