e vice of intemperance, which he acquired in Scotland. He died
of apoplexy, in 1788, and left no legitimate issue. The last male heir
of the house of Stuart was the Cardinal of York, who died in 1807, and
who was buried in St. Peter's Cathedral; over whose mortal remains was
erected a marble monument, by Canova, through the munificence of
George IV., to whom the cardinal had left the crown jewels which
James II. had carried with him to France. This monument bears the
names of James III., Charles III., and Henry IX., kings of England;
titles never admitted by the English. With the battle of Culloden
expired the hopes of the Catholics and Jacobites to restore
Catholicism and the Stuarts.

The great European war, which was begun by Sir Robert Walpole, not
long before his retirement, was another great event which happened
during the administration of the Pelhams, and with which their
administration was connected. The Spanish war was followed by the war
of the Austrian Succession.

[Sidenote: Maria Theresa.]

Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, ascended the oldest and proudest
throne of Europe,--that of Germany,--amid a host of claimants. The
Elector of Bavaria laid claim to her hereditary dominions in Bohemia;
the King of Sardinia made pretension to the duchy of Milan; while the
Kings of Poland, Spain, France, and Prussia disputed with her her
rights to the whole Austrian succession. Never were acts of gross
injustice meditated with greater audacity. Just as the young and
beautiful princess ascended the throne of Charlemagne, amid
embarrassments and perplexities,--such as an exhausted treasury, a
small army, a general scarcity, threatened hostilities with the Turks,
and absolute war with France,--the new king of Prussia, Frederic,
surnamed the Great, availing himself of her distresses, seized one of
the finest provinces of her empire. The first notice which the queen
had of the seizure of Silesia, was an insulting speech from the
Prussian ambassador. "I come," said he, "with safety for the house of
Austria on the one hand, and the imperial crown for your royal
highness on the other. The troops of my master are at the service of
the queen, and cannot fail of being acceptable, at a time when she is
in want of both. And as the king, my master, from the situation of his
dominions, will be exposed to great danger from this alliance with the
Queen of Hungary, it is hoped that, as an indemnification, the queen
will not offer him