e best of Princes, William of Orange, founder of the Bank of
England,"--the largest and most important financial institution in the
world.

504. William's Death.

King William hasd a brave soul in a feeble body. All his life he was
an invalid, but he learned to conquer disease, or at least to hold it
in check, as he conquered his enemies. He was worn out by overwork,
sickness, and the cares of office. If he could have been assured of
the safety of his beloved Holland, death would have been welcome to
one who had so long been stretched "upon the hard rack of this tough
world." He was never popular in England, and at one time was kept
from returning to his native country only through the earnest
protestation of the Lord Chancellor, who refused to stamp the King's
resignation with the Great Seal (S145).

There were plots to assassinate him, and many who pretended to be
friends were treacherous, and only wanted a good opportunity to go
over to the side of James II. Others were eager to hear of his death,
and when it occurred, through the stumbling of his horse over a
molehill, they drank to "the little gentleman in black velvet," whose
work underground caused the fatal accident.

505. Summary.

William's reign was a prolonged struggle for the great Protestant
cause and for the maintenance of political liberty in both England and
Holland. Invalid as he was, he was yet a man of indomitable
resolution as well as indomitable courage.

Though a foreigner by birth, and caring more for Holland than for any
other country in the world, yet, through his Irish and Continental
wars with James II and Louis XIV, he helped more than any other man of
the seventeenth century, Cromwell alone excepted, to make England
free.

ANNE--1702-1714

506. Accession and Character of Anne.

William (S504) left no children, and according to the provisions of
the Bill of Rights (S497)[1] the Princess Anne, younger sister of the
late Queen Mary, now came to the throne. She was a negative
character, with kindly impulses and little intelligence. "When in
good humor she was meekly stupid, and when in ill humor, sulkily
stupid."[2] But if there was any person duller than her Majesty, that
person was her Majesty's husband, Prince George of Denmark. Charles
II, who knew him well, said, "I have tried Prince George sober, and I
have tried him drunk, and drunk or sober, there is nothing in him."

[1] See the Bill of Rights (third paragraph)