FROM THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA, IN 1648, TO THE PEACE OF PARIS, IN 1763.
England and Ireland, from the Accession of James I. td the Marder of Bir Thomas Overbury, and the Fall of Somerset, in 1615
In bringing down the general transactions of Europe to the peace of Westphalia, when a new epoch in modern history commences, I excused myself from carrying the affairs of England lower than the death of Elizabeth.
This arrangement, my dear Philip, was suggested by the nature of the subject. The accession of the family of Stuart to the throne of England forms a memorable era in the history of Great Britain. It gave birth to a struggle between the king and parliament, that repeatedly threw the whole island into convulsions, and which was never fully composed, until the final expulsion of the royal family. To make you acquainted with the rise and progress of this important struggle, while your mind is disengaged from other objects, and before I again lead you into the great line of European politics, with which it had little connexion, shall now be my business. By entering upon it sooner, I should have disjointed the continental story, have withdrawn your attention from matters of no less moment, and yet have been obliged to discontinue the subject, when it became most interesting.
The English throne being left vacant by the death of Elizabeth, who with her latest breath had declared, that she wished to be succeeded by her nearest kinsman, the king of Scots, or who in her dying moments had made signs to that purpose, James was immediately proclaimed king of England by the lords of the privy council. He was great-grandson of Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII.—so that on the failure of the male line of the house of Tudor, his hereditary title remained unquestionable. The crown of England therefore passed from the family of Tudor to that of Stuart, with as much tranquillity as ever it was transmitted from father to son. People of all ranks, forgetting their ancient hostilities with Scotland, and their aversion against the dominion of strangers, testified their satisfaction with louder acclamations than were usual at the accession even of their native princes. They foresaw greater advantages resulting from a perpetual alliance with Scotland, than inconveniences from submitting to a sovereign of that kingdom. And by this junction of its whole collective force, Great Britain has risen to a degree of power and consequence in Europe, which Scotland and