26. In the times that followed Queen Anne's war, the people were greatly dissatisfied with the royal governors. The opposition to those officers took the form of a controversy about their salaries. The royal commissions gave to each officer a fixed salary, which was frequently out of proportion to the services required. The difficulty was finally adjusted by an agreement that the salaries should be allowed annually, and the amount fixed by vote of the assembly. [Sidenote: =King George's War.=] 27. On the death of Charles VI. of Austria, in 1740, there were two claimants to the crown of the empire--Maria Theresa, daughter of the late emperor, and Charles Albert of Bavaria. Each claimant had his party and his army; war followed; and nearly all the nations of Europe were swept into the conflict. England and France were arrayed against each other. The contest that ensued is generally known as the War of the Austrian Succession, but in American history is called KING GEORGE'S WAR, for George II. was now king of England. In America the only important event of the war was the capture of Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island. 28. In 1748 a treaty of peace was concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, a town of western Germany. Nothing was gained but a restoration of conquests. Not a single boundary line was settled by the treaty. The real war between France and England for supremacy in the West was yet to be fought. [Sidenote: =Character of the Puritans.=] 29. The history of Massachusetts has now been traced through a period of one hundred and thirty years. A few words on THE CHARACTER OF THE PURITANS may be added. They were a vigorous and hardy people, firm-set in the principles of honesty and virtue. They were sober, industrious, frugal; resolute, zealous, and steadfast. They esteemed truth more than riches. Loving home and native land, they left both for the sake of freedom; and finding freedom, they cherished it with the devotion of martyrs. Despised and hated, they rose above their revilers. In the school of evil fortune they gained the discipline of patience. They were the children of adversity and the fathers of renown. 30. The gaze of the Puritan was turned ever to posterity. He believed in the future. For his children he toiled and sacrificed. The system of free schools is the monument of his love. The printing-press is his memorial. Almshouses and asylums are the tokens of his care for the unfortunate. He was the earliest champion of civil rights, and the builder of THE UNION.