A short history of England . y the RoyalSociety to the Sandwich Islands tomake observations of the transit ofVenus. In command of the vesselsas navigator was Captain Cook. Hemade many surveys of the smallerislands of the Pacific, then circum-navigated the great island of NewZealand, and sailed along the easterncoast of Australia, naming BotanyBay and claiming possession for Eng-land of the region which afterwards became the rich and popu-lous colony of New South Wales. 516. Summary of the Period.—During the seventy-five yearslying between the Revolution of 1688 and the Peace of Paris of1763 th
A short history of England . y the RoyalSociety to the Sandwich Islands tomake observations of the transit ofVenus. In command of the vesselsas navigator was Captain Cook. Hemade many surveys of the smallerislands of the Pacific, then circum-navigated the great island of NewZealand, and sailed along the easterncoast of Australia, naming BotanyBay and claiming possession for Eng-land of the region which afterwards became the rich and popu-lous colony of New South Wales. 516. Summary of the Period.—During the seventy-five yearslying between the Revolution of 1688 and the Peace of Paris of1763 the new line of kings, the Orange-Stuarts, and their succes-sors, the House of Hanover, kept the throne, notwithstandingthe struggle of 1690 and the two Jacobite risings of 1715 and1745. All desire on the part of the English people to returnto the old line gradually passed away. This was partly at leasta result of the unimportance into which the office of king wasgradually falling. The power of parliament was really Medal given to Captain Cook FOUNDATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 5/3 England was practically an aristocracy, governed by the leadersof the classes which were represented in parliament. The growthof the power of parliament, of the cabinet which drew its powerfrom parliament, and of the prime minister who could speak inthe name of the majority in parliament, had reduced the royalpower to little more than a right to accept the advice whichthe ministry gave. Ministers are the king in this country,George II once said, and his complaint was scarcely an exag-geration of the fact. Commerce and the wealth drawn from commerce were becom-ing constantly more important and more influential. AlthoughEngland was still fundamentally an agricultural country and thelanded aristocracy were the most influential class in the nation, yetthe interests of commerce and the prominence of money ques-tions were far greater than they had been in any previous Bank of England was
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