864 Ann. Naval Expeditions, &c. of the English’ Book V # Ch

1714.

'The Parlia-ment meets.

Commission-ers of theAdmiraltyappointed.

Death ofthe PrincessSophia j

The sixteenth of February, 1714.the Parliament met; And,, the secondof March, the Queen, coming to the'House of Lords, made a Speech to BothHouses, which was followed by theirAddresses of Thanks, as usual.

The Beginning of April, a Commis-sion pals’d, constituting the Earl ofStafford, Sir John Leake, Sir WilliamDrake, Sir James Wijhart, GeorgeClarke, Esc]; and Sir George Beaumont,Lords Commissioners for executing theOffice ot Lord High Admiral, &c. And,before the End of this Month, Advicecame, that the Harbour, Fortificationsand Citadel of Dunkirk were entirelydemolished.

The eighth of June, of this Year,died her Royal Highness, the Princess

Sophia, His present Majesty’s Grand- 1714*mother, of an Apoplectick Fit, in theGardens of the Electoral Palace ofHerrenhausen, near Hanover . She wasnot long survived by Her Majesty jFor, on the nine and twentieth of July,

She was seized with an Indisposition,

■which, the next Morning heightned toan Apoplectick Fit, from which Shewas, by Bleeding, relieved for the Pre-sent ; But, relapsing again, She lay dos-ing and insensible, all that Day, and thefollowing Night, when the Physicians j n( { 0 f Adeclared there was no Hopes of Her Ann.

Life; And about seven, the next Morn-ing, being the first of Auguji, this Greatand Excellent Princess (<?) expired, inthe fiftieth Year of her Age, and thir-teenth of her Reign.

(e) I shall not attempt, nor do I think it neces-sary, to give Her Character ; All that can besaid, to Her Advantage, or Disadvantage (if anyThing is or can be) is too recent to need any Re-capitulation ; And tho’ the Transactions of thelatter Part of Her Reign have laid Her open tosome Censure ; Yet, (as Bishop Burnet fays) weare not to doubt, but Her Intentions were, as shedeclared them to be, all for the Good and Happi-

ness of Her People, tho’ She may have been mis-guided, and lead into some Prejudices and Mi-stakes ; And, if this be granted, She then mayundoubtedly be pronounced to have been, in HerPublick Capacity, a Great and Excellent Prin-cess : And for Her Private Virtues, which I shallnot need to enumerate, they have been univer-sally acknowledged worthy the Imitation of themost virtuous Princesses of future Ages.

The End of the Fifth BOO K.

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