DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 2 ) acted as a potent stimulant on the constitution of a nervous subject. It is pleasant to turn to the more useful and generous acts of her reign. The very first act of her government was to give out of her private income 100,000/. towards the alleviation of the public burdens. Shortly afterwards she made over the first-fruits of every benefice or dignity that were conferred by the Crown, and to which she was entitled, as some in- crease to the livings of poor clergymen. This chari- table fund is still maintained, and known as Queen Anne’s Bounty. For the political results of Queen Anne’s reign England is indebted to the appearance of a constella- tion of great men such as had not been known since the age of Elizabeth. Their combined genius shed a lustre on the age, whose borrowed light was reflected on her person. Godolphin and Somers, Oxford and Bolingbroke, alternately led, with consummate ability, the two great parties of the State, the Whigs and the Tories ; the division of Parliament in two parties, the balance of which is supposed to be one of the props of our constitution, dates from the time of Queen Anne’s predecessor, William the Third, but was only clearly defined in her reign. Radicals were unknown, and ag for that rising section of the House of Commons, the Fourth Party,