They were kept in check, indeed, during the reign of William and Mary, but they became bolder upon the accession of Queen Anne.

They hoped to find their efforts facilitated by the fact that she was childless; and they even asserted that upon her death-bed she had favored the succession of the pretender, whom they called James III.
In 1715, the year after the accession of George I., the electoral prince of Hanover,--whose grandmother was the daughter of James I.,--they broke out into open rebellion.

The pretender landed in Scotland, and made an abortive attempt to recover the throne.

The nation was kept in a state of excitement and turmoil until the disaster of Culloden, and the final defeat of Charles Edward, the young pretender, in 1745, one year after the death of Pope.
These historical facts had a direct influence upon English society: the country was divided into factions; and political conflicts sharpened the wits and gave vigor to the conduct of men in all ranks.

Pope was an interpreter of his age, in politics, in general culture, and in social manners and morals.