DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( lo) in more trifling matters, such as her devotion to sport. She hated the play, and never went to the theatre, or sent for actors to perform in her presence ; but she patronised racing at Ascot and Newmarket, and was passionately fond of hunting. Before she succeeded to the throne she bought a small lodge in the vicinity of Windsor Castle, and hunted in the forest. As the Queen grew too stout to ride she followed the hunt in a light chaise—a most dangerous vehicle on two high wheels, ‘on which she drove herself, for some forty or fifty miles in one day.’ Owing to the limited compass and the weakness of her intellect, Queen Anne was content to occupy herself with the ceremonials of her court and the provision for her creature comfort. This gives us the clue to her conduct towards her father and brother. Moralists blame her for com- plying with the acts which dethroned them, and wearing their crown. A more strong-minded person might have re- nounced the crown in favour of some Protestant prince, but the country never would have submitted to the restoration of a Stuart who was living in France, where he identified himself with the enemies of the country and with the religion of its enemies. Queen Anne was a zealous Protestant, and viewed with the same terror as her subjects the possibility of