queen of Great Britain, second daughter of King James II. by his first wife, Anne Hyde, was born in 1664. In 1683, she married George, prince of Denmark, by whom she had several children, but none of them arrived at the age of maturity. On the death of King William, she ascended the throne, A.D. 1702, and her reign comprehends one of the most illustrious periods of English history. Possessed, however, of a very feeble character, which did not permit her to act for herself, this period is the reign of her counsellors, and favourites; and she exhibited no decided inclination which could influence state affairs, except a strong desire for tory principles, both in church and state. In the commencement of her reign, being entirely governed by the duchess of Marlborough, she was induced to follow out the premeditated designs of her predecessors with respect to Louis XIV. king of France, and for many years repeated successes attended her armies with glory. These were at length, after a fruitless prolongation of hostilities, terminated by the peace of Utrecht, in 1713. This peace was chiefly owing to the acquired influence of a female favourite of the opposite party. By an act of the legislature in the year 1706, the union of the English and Scottish nations was formed, which event contributed more than the former towards the prosperity of the kingdom. Yet these successful events prevented not the contention of parties which prevailed during the greatest part of her reign. And about the close of it, when this spirit was just on the eve of breaking into a flame, the queen manifested an ardent desire, that the exiled part of her family should succeed to the throne, and so conducted towards the superiority of the tories, as Anne, that they were inclined to push to the utmost extremity their plans, with respect to the government both of the church and state. The death of Queen Anne in August 1714, of a dropsy, in the fiftieth year of her age, and thirteenth of her reign, was therefore equally to the disappointment of the one, and to the triumph of the other. In her private station she supported the character of an amiable woman, and not devoid of understanding, although her indolence and yielding temper prevented her from exerting it. She was generally well beloved by her subjects, whose prejudices coincided with her own, and the title of the Good Queen Anne best expresses their sentiments. Although her own dispositions and accomplishments had no share in the honour, yet this age was rendered a sort of Augustan age of British literature, on account of the several eminent writers who flourished under her reign (Gen. Biog.).