Queen Anne's Dead

In 1702 Queen Anne came to throne of England. She greatly favored the Church at Rome, and was hostile to the Dissenters in her realm. On August 1, 1714, under her rule, the Schism Act was to be enacted in England. It was aimed at the dissolution of Noncomformist schools . . . this would have certainly led to a period of great persecution of the Protestant church. But Queen Anne died on that very day . . . and the act did not come to pass, and the Dissenters believed that God had specially intervened. For many years the Dissenters greeted one another with "Queen Anne's Dead". Isaac Watts commemorated the occasion with the following hymn:

Our God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come.
Our shelter from the stormy blast
and our eternal home.

Beneath the shadows of thy throne
thy saints have dwelt secure.
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defence is sure.