542.  War of the Austrian Succession, 1741; Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle,
     1748.

On the death of Charles VI, of the House of Austria, Emperor of Germany, his daughter Maria Theresa succeeded to the Austrian dominions.  France now united with Spain, Prussia, and other European powers to overturn this arrangement, partly out of jealousy of the Austrian power, and partly from desire to get control of portions of the Austrian possessions.  England and Holland, however, both desired to maintain Austria as a check against their old enemy France, and declared war, 1741.

During this war George II went over to the Continent to lead the English forces in person.  He was not a man of commanding appearance, but he was every inch a soldier, and nothing exhilarated him like the smell of gunpowder.  At the battle of Dettingen, in Bavaria, he got down from his horse, and drawing his sword, cried:  “Come, boys, now behave like men, and the French will soon run.”

With that, followed by his troops, he rused upon the enemy with such impetuosity that they turned and fled.  This was the last battle in which an English king took part in person.  It was followed by that of Fontenoy, in the Netherlands (Belgium), in which the French gained the victory.  After nearly eight years fighting the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748, secured a peace advantageous for England.

543.  Invasion by the “Young Pretender”; “The Forty-Five."[1]

[1] “The Forty-Five”:  so called from the Scotch rising of 1745.

While the War of the Austrian Succession was in progress, the French encouraged James II’s grandson, Princle Charles Edward, the “Young Pretender” (S535), to make an attempt on the English crown.  He landed (1745) on the northern coast of Scotland with only seven followers, but with the aid of the Scotch Jacobites (SS495, 535) of the Highlands he gained a battle over the English at Prestonpans, near Edinburgh.  Emboldened by his success, he now marched into Derbyshire, England, on his way to London.  He hoped that as he advanced the country would rise in his favor; but finding no support, he retreated to Scotland.

The next year he and his adherents were defeated, with great slaughter by “Butcher” Cumberland, as the Scotch called him, at Culloden, near Iverness (1746). (See map facing p. 120.) The “Young Pretender” fled from the battlefield to the Hebrides.  After wandering in those islands for many months he escaped to France through the devotion and courage of the Scottish heroine, Flora Macdonald.  When he left the country his Highland sympathizers lost all hope.  There were no more ringing Jacobite songs, sung over bowls of steaming punch, of “Wha’ll be king but Charlie?” “Over the Water to Charlie,” and “Wae’s me for Prince Charlie”; and when (1788) Prince Charles Edward died in Rome, the unfortunate House of Stuart, which began with James I (1603), disappeared from English history.[2]