Women were not only given to shining in exclusive social circles, but brilliant representatives of the sex were keenly interested in the political trend of the times. The Duchess of Marlborough was one of the most notable and politically active women of the age of Anne. This was a time of ascendency in politics of the Dissenters, who are described by Burton in his history of that age as a clog upon the free movements of the complicated machinery of British social and political life. Another of the famous women at court was the Countess of Suffolk, who appears in Swift's correspondence as Mrs. Howard. These women were thoroughly informed as to the political movements of their time, as is revealed by their correspondence; and they, with others as noteworthy, often shaped state policy. Among names which appear prominently in the political movements of the century are those of the Countess of Bristol, Mrs. Selwyn, who was one of the ladies of the bedchamber to the queen of George II., Lady Hervey, and the Duchess of Queensborough. The latter declared herself so wearied of elections that, in all good conscience, they ought to occur only once in an age. The Countess of Huntingdon, the supporter of Whitfield, the Duchess of Devonshire, and other women of position, had vital interest in public questions. The interest which English ladies took in politics was a matter of constant surprise to foreigners, but it was significant of the awakening to a sense of privilege which led in the next century to the various female declarations of rights, of which the most extreme was the claim to suffrage. CHAPTER XIV THE WOMEN OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY