«- . » • s \ ' ^^^^ ^o. .^^ 4 o L r A -^T^ S , \Stenay ^fo ( / ^'"""^'''"^^^^ ,4 W yer.dw^ mile 'o-Metz •<« This little sketch is intended to form an easy introduction to the study of the period. Those who have not taught the young themselves will hardly know how difficult it is to.^make such an introduction sufficiently easy and simple. It is to be hoped that the reader will supplement this meagre outline of a great *^ epoch." He will naturally turn first to Lord Macaulay's "History of England," and his essay on Sir W. Temple. At the same time he will do well to study carefully Hallam's '** Constitutional History," chapters 12 — 15. For contemporary writings, Burnet's "History of his Own Times/' and the rich mine of Evelyn's Me- moirs are readily accessible. To these should be added Ranke's "History of the Seventeenth Century," vols. 3 — 6 (lately trans- lated) ; for Continental history, H. Martin's "His- vi Preface, toire de France/* vols. 13 and 14; for religious history, Principal TuUoch's *' Rational Theology in England in the Seventeenth Century;" for military details and plans of battles in the Netherlands, there is much to learn from Sir F. Hamilton's " History of the Grenadier Guards," to which I wish to ex- press my own obligations, as also to my friend and late colleague, the Rev. William Wayte. Eton College, March 1876. Cal] Titl Vol. Date' Specj ! 7-36 ^Cl-i:\-'^ M« .ini"3:^:JBfii 1679. 7th PAGE I 3 5 'ge. ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. England in 1678. Discontent Danby and Shaftesbury . The Popish Plot . Fall of Danby .... Third Parliament of Charles II. Habeas Corpus .... Whigs and Tories . Meal-tub Plot Conventiclers in Scotland. Bothwell Briggs . 14 17 18 20 21 26 29 33 36 37 vi Preface. toire de France,** vols. 13 and 14; for religious history, Principal TuUoch's "Rational Theology in England in the Seventeenth Century;" for military details and plans of battles in the Netherlands, there is much to learn from Sir F. Hamilton's *' History of the Grenadier Guards," to which I wish to ex- press my own obligations, as also to my friend and late colleague, the Rev. William Wayte. Eton College, March 1876, LIBRARY OP CONGRESS - BINDING REC( DA435.H2 1887 2- Call No. Date ^Mthor HALE ^ Title FALL OF THE STUARTS & WESTERN EUB TO 1697 Vol. Date Specs. Copy N( Dl Block & Item Reblnd style C. Fold out material 7-56 (rev V72) CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. PAGE 1678. Wars of Europe in the first half of the 17 th century ....... i Peace of Nimwegen, 1678 . . . .3 Lewis XIV. and France, 1678 ... 5 The United Provinces and William of Orange, 1678 .14 Germany and Spain, 1678 . . . .17 CHAPTER II. ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. England in 1678. Discontent . . .18 Danby and Shaftesbury 20 The Popish Plot 21 Fall of Danby 26 1679. Third Parliament of Charles II. Habeas Corpus ....... 29 Whigs and Tories 33 Meal-tub Plot 36 Conventiclers in Scotland. Bothwell Briggs . 37 Vlll Contents, 1680. 1681. CHAPTER III. rH AND FIFTH PARLIAMENTS OF CHARLES. — STATE TRIALS. PAGE Exclusion Bill . 42 Lord Stafford ' . . . . 45 Oxford Parliament, 168 1 . 45 Charles II. and the Whigs . 47 Archbishop Plunket . . 48 Stephen College .... . 49 Shaftesbury indicted . 50 CHAPTER IV. SCOTLAND IN 1680 AND 1 68 1. 1680-81. The Cameronians . . . . 1 68 1. The Scotch Parliament and Ax-gyle 52 54 CHAPTER V. ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND FROM 1 682 UNTIL THE DEATH OF CHARLES II., 1685. 1682. William of Orange, James, Duke of York, and the Duke of Monmouth . . . .56 1682-83. Attacks on the Charters of the Corporations . 58 1683. Rye House Plot 60 1684. Duke of York reinstated in office , , ,66 1685. Death of Charles II 68 CHAPTER VI. LEWIS XIV. AND FRANCE TO THE REVOCATION OP THE EDICT OF NANTES, 1 685. 1678-81. Chambers of Reunion ..... 70 1681-84. Ambition of Lewis XIV 72 Contents. ix PAGE 1675-85. The Huguenots and Revocation of the Edict of Nantes 74 CHAPTER VII. ACCESSION OF JAMES II. OF ENGLAND. 1685, The Policy of James on his Accession . . 80 James II. and Lewis XIV. . . .82 Parliaments in England and Scotland . . Zt^ Trials of Oates, Dangerfield, and Baxter . 86 CHAPTER VIII. REBELLIONS OF ARGYLE AND MONMOUTH. The Refugees in Holland . . .88 Expedition of Argyle . ■ . . ,90 Expedition of Monmouth . . '95 The Bloody Assize .... loi CHAPTER IX. FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC POLICY OF JAMES II. 1685. Second Session of the Parliament of 1685 . 103 1686. League of Augsburg . . . .105 Home Policy of James, 1686. Dispensing Power ..... 107 1687. James and the Universities . . .112 The Autumn of 1687 • • . .114 CHAPTER X. IRELAND UNDER JAMES II. 1660-85. Preliminary Sketch of Ireland . .1x6 1685. Ireland at the Accession of James II. . .1x8 K Contents. PAGE 1686-87. Clarendon and Tyrconnel . , .119 1687. Tyrconnel as Lord Deputy of Ireland . .120 CHAPTER XI. WILLIAM, LEWIS, AND JAMES, 1 687-88. William corresponds with the Disaffected in England . , . . .122 October, 1687 . . . . .124 1688. Trial of the Seven Bishops . . .125 Invitation to William . . . .129 James after the Acquittal of the Bishops . 13 1 Lewis XIV. declares War against the Emperor 133 Proclamation of William . . '134 CHAPTER XII. THE REVOLUTION. William in England . , , '138 Progress of the Revolution . . .140 Lord Churchill . , . . 141 Attempt of James to fly , . , 143 CHAPTER XIII. THE INTERREGNUM. 1688. James leaves England .... 146 1689. The Convention . . , .150 The Revolution in Scotland . . .152 1688-89. The Revolution in Ireland . . .154 Devastation of the Palatinate by Lewis . 155 Contents. xi CHAPTER XIV. FIRST YEAR OF THE REIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY. PAGE 1689. William's first Ministers . . . 158 The Nonjurors and Proceedings in Parliament 159 Scotland in 1689. Killiecrankie . .165 Ireland in 1689. Londonderry . . 168 1689-90. The Grand Alliance . . . .176 CHAPTER XV. WILLIAM III. AND IRELAND. 1690. The English Parliament in 1690 Victory of the Boyne . Lord Torrington William leaves Ireland Marlborough in Ireland Campaign in the Netherlands, 1690 178 181 186 188 190 191 CHAPTER XVI. PACIFICATION OF IRELAND AND SCOTLAND. 169 1. Ireland — Limerick , . , .192 Scotland — Glencoe . . . .198 CHAPTER XVII. THE WAR: 1 69 1 TO 1694. Congress at the Hague .... 202 Campaign of 169 1 . . . . 203 1692. Campaign of 1692. La Hogue and Steinkirk . 206 1693. Campaign of 1693. Neerwinden . . 212 1694. Campaign of 1 694 . . . .218 Xll Contents. CHAPTER XVIII. DEATH OF QUEEN MARY — PARLIAMENT UNTIL 1 696. 21 9 CHAPTER XIX. VARIOUS PLOTS AGAINST WILLIAM. 1691-92. Disgrace of Marlborough . . . 225 1692-95. Plots of Fuller, Grandval, and Chamock . 227 1695. Campaign of 1695. Capture of Namur by William ..... 230 CHAPTER XX. THE NEW PARLIAMENT — THE ASSASSINATION PLOT — THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR — THE PEACE, 1695-96. The Session of 1695-6 xxi£< i:iut . 232 1696. Assassination Plot . 234 Campaign of 1696 . 237 1696-97. The Session of 1696-7 . 238 1697. The Peace of Ryswick, 1697 . • 239 CHAPTER XXI. Literature and Science in England and France in THE latter part OF THE SEVENTEENTH Century ..... 244 MAPS AND PLANS. ermany, Holland, and the Spanish Netherlands to face Title [ap of Flanders and Brabant . . • " P- 204 .rgyle's Campaign page 91 lonmouth's Campaign . . . - . . .94 attle of Sedgemoor 100 /illiam's Campaign in the West of England . 137 ampaign in North-east of Ireland — Battle of the Boyne 175 Western Ireland ....... 194 lencoe 200 attle of Steinkirk 211 attle of Neerwinden 215 THE FALL OF THE STUARTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Section I. — Wars. The history of western Europe in the seventeenth cen- tury is a history of wars. " Wars destroy the morals of mankind by habituating them to refer everything to force, and by necessitating them so often to dispense with the ordinary suggestions of sympathy and justice." This o™ware.'^ is true of wars in general ; but the demora- lizing effect is much greater if wars are civil wars ; or religious wars — wars, that is, between fellow-citizens to serve the ends of some political party, or to enforce the observance of some political truth; or wars between fellow-Christians to force all to follow some religious creed. Moral virtues are in these cases uprooted ; mil- itary virtues, which may exist in the most depraved man or state, flourish. The era of the great Protestant Revolution ushered in the period of religious wars, France was devastated by religious and civil wars combined in the latter half of the sixteenth, and in the B t 2 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. beginning of the seventeenth century. It took part in the Thirty Years' War of Germany (1618-1648) ; it was again the theatre of the civil war of the Fronde, in Religious , . , . , , , and civil which aimless attempts were made to oppose France Ger- the absolutism of the French crown ( 1648- E^T'nd"'^ 1653)- Germany was almost ruined by its great civil and religious Thirty Years' War. England had also suffered in its great civil and partly religious war, which ended in 1648, with the execution of Charles I. The great principle of religious toleration was un- known in the sixteenth century, and taught without sue- Eeligious ^^^^ ^Y ^ ^^^ great thinkers in the seven- persecu- tccnth ccntury. Men believed great truths, tions. . , . , , ° , by believmg which they thought they se- cured their salvation, and they deemed it their bounden duty to make others believe, in order that they too might be saved. So not merely were wars undertaken for the sake of religious tenets, but within the several countries there were persecutions of Christians by Christians, of Englishmen by Englishmen, Frenchmen by Frenchmen, Germans by Germans, Nevertheless it is only through the fire of religioug and civil wars, and of religious persecutions, come of the that the cause of religious and civil liberty InSl comes out triumphant. The fall of the wars and Stuarts, of which we shall treat, is an event persecu- tions, in the successful struggle for civil and reli' gious liberty. The latter half of the seventeenth century was occu- pied by wars of a less demoralizing character than civil and religious wars ; by wars undertaken by o?pow^'r ""^^ one man, Lewis XIV., to obtain certain per- sonal ends. These ends were the suprema- 1678. Peace of Nimwegen. 3 cy of Western Europe, the Imperial crown, and the suc- cession to the throne of Spain. Of what befell Lewis in his attempts to secure the supremacy of Western Europe, and how the "balance of power" was event- ually righted, we shall also treat. Section II. — Peace of Nimwegen, 1678. The sovereigns of the principal states of Europe in 1678 were: — Leopold of Hapsburg, Emperor; Lewis XIV.. King of France; Charles II., King . , _ ° ' _ _ ** A. D. 1678. of England ; Charles IL, King of Spain ; Sovereigns William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder or Europe. Governor of the United Provinces of Holland. Holland and England were the great naval powers ; France coming next to them, and then Spain. Lewis XIV. having designs on the independence of the United Provinces of Holland, prevailed on Charles II. of England to join him in declaring war ^g^jg ^f on Holland in 1672. In England the war !X^"<;^ ^"i^ ' ° Charles of was SO unpopular that when a parliament England A • /■ • 1 , . make war was summoned m 1673 m order to vote sup- with Hoi. plies to carry on the war, the majority in it, ^'^'^^' '^^T^' opposed to the policy of Charles and his ministers, drove the ministry from power, declined to vote further supplies and forced the king in 1674 makes to make peace with Holland. peace, i. 74. The Emperor Leopold and Charles XL, King of Spain, alarmed for the safety of their dominions, ■' Germany which were threatened by the success of and Spam Lewis against Holland, concluded an al- against liance with the United Provinces. France. Although the private intrigues of Lewis XIV. with the King of England kept that country neutral, the sym- pathies of the English nation were so strongly excited on 4 The Fall of the Stuarts y b'c. a.d. behalf of the Dutch and their Stadtholder William of Orange, that it became evident to both Lewis and Charles that this neutral position could not long be maintained. Lewis, by the aid of his ambassador, Baril- lon, attempted to foment dissensions amongst the popu- lar party in the parliament by bribery, the means which _ , ^ he had hitherto effectually employed with England i i • • • t-> i • mediates for Cliarles and his mmisters. But his success P^^^^- was not sufficient to warrant him in advising Charles to oppose the wishes of the nation. In 1677 William of Orange married Mary, elder of the two daughters of James, the Duke of York and heir pre- sumptive of Charles IL, and thus had claims of relation- ship on cliarles, which in the seventeenth century, were considered by politicians more binding than they are now. Charles and Lewis consequently agreed that the former should become the mediator for a peace, by which France should profit, Holland should not suffer, and the pride of the English should be gratified by the prominent position which their country should occupy in the nego- tiations. After many difficulties, overcome chiefly by the diplomatic tact of Sir William Temple, the English ambassador at the Hague on the one hand, and by that of the plenipotentiary of Lewis on the other, a treaty was signed August 10, 1678. This treaty put an end to the war. It was called the Peace of Nimwegen, (Nimeguen), from the smalltown on the frontier between Holland and Ger- PdCC of Nimwegen, many where it was signed. The treaty was ^^^^' drawn up in French, although Latin had hitherto been the diplomatic language, and this is an important fact in diplomatic history, as marking the claim of supremacy in Europe put forth by France. The results of the treaty were that the United Pro- 1678. Lewis XIV. and France. 5 vinces of Holland retained their integrity, Maastricht being restored to them, so that the bound- Territorial aries of the state governed by William of results of . , . 1 . , the peace. Orange were almost identical with those of the present kingdom of the Netherlands. France, however, kept its conquest of Senegal and Guiana, and these settlements were the sole loss of Holland at the conclusion of a terrible war which had threatened to annihilate her. The United Provinces agreed to be neutral in any war which might continue between France and any other powers, and guaranteed the neutrality of Spain. Treaties of commerce between France and Hol- land, conferring equal privileges on both nations for twenty-five years, were also signed. France gained from Spain, a declining power, and therefore the principal suffers, Franche Comte (part of the old duchy of Bur- gundy, now forming the French departments of Haute Saone, Doubs, and Jura) ; and the towns of St. Omer, Valenciennes, Gassel, and the adjacent districts, some- times called French Flanders, and forming the depart- ment of the Nord. Spain retained that part of her do- minions in the Netherlands which is almost conterminous with the present kingdom of Belgium. Lothringen (Lor- raine) was restored to its duke, and again formed one of the states of the Empire, although practically deprived of its independence by being obliged to keep up for Lewis four military roads, each two miles broad, and also to give up its two fortified towns, Nancy and Longwy. It was at the time of the peace of Nimwegen that the power of France, and the glory of Lewis XIV., were at their height. Section III. — Lewis XIV. and France. Lewis XIV. was, when the peace of Nimwegen was signed, forty years old ; his figure was handsome, his 6 The Fall of the Stuarts^ ^'c. a.d. manners were engaging, although at the Character of . ,, . , ° _ ° , . ., Lewis XIV. same time dignihed. He had an excellent constitution, and was able to endure fatigue, cold and hunger. He was not easily moved to anger, nor easily dispirited. These being his natural gifts, he himself, in his " Memoires historiques," tells us the chief motives which influenced his actions. He had the most exalted idea of the kingly office. "It is the will of God,'' wrote he, " who has given kings to men, that they should be revered as His vicegerents, He having reserved to Himself alone the right to scru- tinize their conduct." "It is the will of God that every subject should yield to his sovereign an implicit obedience." "All property within the nation belongs to the king by virtue of his title." " Kings are absolute lords." "L'Etat — c'est moi." (The State — I am the State.) His ambition was unbounded. "Self-aggrandizement," he writes, "is at once the noblest and most agreeable occupation of kings. " Magnificence in daily life, and in pleasures, involving the greatest extravagance, was thus upheld by him — "A large expenditure is the almsgiving of kings." His habitual disregard of treaties was not the result of dishonesty or fickleness, but was the deliberate design of one who preferred pleasant manners to sincerity, who condemned a noble to exile with a sweet smile, and bowed with infinite grace to a courtier who before night- fall was on the road to prison. " In dispensing," he says, " with the exact observance of treaties, we do not violate them ; for the language of such instruments is not to be understood literally. We must employ in our treaties a conventional phraseology, just as we use com- plimentary expressions in society. They are indispensa- i6'jS. Lewis XIV. and France. 7 ble to our intercourse with one another, but they always mean much less than they say. " Lewis' intellectual powers were good, but not extraor- dinary. He was a man of strong opinions, of strong will, of strong health, a practical man of business, but not an originator, a governor rather than a statesman. His private life was regulated by his pleasures ; he, as a king, was subject to none of those laws which rule the lives of ordinary mortals, but his desires were never too strong to make him forget his ambitious designs. From his mother, Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip HI. of Spain, he inherited the Spanish fondness for ce- remony and etiquette. Most of the European monarchs copied Lewis, and many of the silly and unmeaning cere- monies still practiced in some continental courts may thus be traced to a Spanish source. Lewis was a sincere Roman Catholic, but he never allowed his religious feelings to weaken his belief in the prerogatives of a king. He kept the temporalities of the Church in his own disposal. He was for all practical purposes as much the head of the Galilean Church, the Church of France, as Henry VIII. had been of the Eng- lish Church. His most trusted ministers were Colbert and Louvois ; but, as Lewis was an absolute monarch, they were re- sponsible to no one but their master ; both , . . . , . . . Lewis alike were ministers dependent on his will, ministers, but they were directly opposed to each Louvois. other on all questions of home or foreign policy. There was an unceasing struggle between Col- bert and Louvois. During the war just ended, Colbert was continually advising Lewis to make peace ; and, now that the peace was concluded, Louvois was contin- ually urging him to renew the war. This difference 8 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^'c. a.d. which existed between them was a natural result of their respective duties. To Colbert was entrusted by Lewis the direction of finance, commerce, public works, and the colonies ; to Louvois was given the post of minister of war. On one point Colbert and Louvois was agreed, and that was in the employment of Vauban, the great master ,^ , , of the art of fortification. By Vauban "^oo Vauban. the _ . . . , , ., . , military Frcnch fortresscs were either built, repaired, engineer. ^^ enlarged. These fortresses were designed chiefly for the defence of the French frontiers, which offered, and more particularly on the north-east, many vulnerable points. Colbert for his part looked on the money expended in carying out Vauban's plans, as sunk in insuring against the possibility of a war, which might be brought about by the temptation offered to a strong power of overrunning the north-eastern provinces of France, some of the richest provinces of the kingdom. Colbert was a man of unimpeachable integrity, of great industry, and of bold and inventive genius. His political _ , theories may now appear antiquated, but finance. they prevailed universally for many genera- tions, and by some French statesmen of the present day Colbert is considered the great authority on all national financial questions. His leading idea was to protect native produce and industry by placing heavy duties on exports, so heavy as to be almost prohibitory, and in some cases stopping importation altogether. To give an example. He allowed corn to be exported only when there had been an abundant harvest. If he anti- cipated a deficiency, the export was not permitted. Hence no agriculturist cared to cultivate poor land, but threw it out of cultivation, and the results of this were that there was a large extent of waste ground in France, 1678. Lewis XIV. and France. 9 and that the agriculturists were very poor. The poverty of the agriculturists again prevented their being custom- ers of the manufacturers, and thus there was a loss of trade to the manufacturers. Another principle of Colbert's finance, now everywhere recognized as a pernicious principle, was the forbidding, as much as possible, gold and silver to be sent out of the kingdom. Coin, was, therefore, everywhere hoarded, and this practice has continued in the rural districts of France even to the present day. Colbert did not per- ceive that if there was a deficiency of gold or silver in France, and coin consequently became dearer, there would be a rush of coin from other countries, where it was more abundant, and consequently cheaper, to sup- ply that deficiency. In the chief European nations, in England, France, Holland, Germany, Italy, there existed guilds, or com- panies, at the head of each trade and manu- facture. These corporations regulated the ^^gunds"** practice of their trades, and fixed the prices to be paid to the laborers, and to be received for goods. They were often possessed of great wealth, and were of influence in the State. Their power was now beginning to decline, owing to various reasons, amongst others to greater freedom of communication. But Col- bert endeavored in France to prop up their failing influ- ence. He promulgated edicts enforcing the regulations of the guilds ; and these regulations were minute, pedan- tic, and tyrannical. The result was that trades and manufactures were artificially fostered ; that they did not follow the natural wants of the population, as they do when perfect freedom is allowed them, but became pro- ducers and distributors of luxuries rather than of necessa- ries. During Colbert's ministry there were 17,300 persons lo The Fall of the Stuarts i ^c. a.d. engaged in manufacturing lace, a luxury ; whilst 60,400 were all that were employed in woollen manufacture. Colbert was extremely rigorous against those who usurped privileges to which they were not legally entitled. This was in keeping with his action in up- poiicy of holding the authority of the guilds. There *"° ^"^^ were certain privileges claimed by the no- bility, which were assumed by some who had no legal right to do so. All such pretenders were punished by fines and imprisonments. He also endeavored to introduce a uniform tariff throughout the kingdom. In this he only partially succeeded, as newly acquired provinces claimed privileges which had been reserved for them when they were added to France. With more complete success he reorganized the navy of France, and first raised it to the strength of a great maritime power. He codified the French laws. He carried out some magnificent public works ; the most noteworthy of which is the great canal of Languedoc, connecting the Mediterranean and Atlan- tic, completed under his influence by the engineer, Pierre Paul de Riquet. Slavery existed in the West Indian colonies of France, as in those of all other European nations. To Colbert's honor be it stated that, by the Code Noir in- "Code troduced by him, the evils attendant on •^°''^"" slavery were greatly mitigated, and the re- lations thus established between master and slave were not nearly so unrighteous as those which existed in the colonies of other States. All Colbert's financial projects had been deranged during the war just ended. The first period of his minis- try, previous to 1672, had been stvled by Colbert's , . • ^ r ^ ^- ^i. ' j finance dis- him a pcHod of construction ; the second, arranged. ixQvo. 1 672 to 1 678, had been a period of de- 1678. Lewis XIV. and France. 11 struction, owing to the expenses of the war ; the third period he fondly hoped would be one of reconstruction, but this hope was not destined to be realized. In the years 1681 and 1682, Colbert redeemed 90 millions of livres of national debts ; in the same years Lewis in- curred debts to the amount of 100 millions. To meet the expenses of the war, it had been neces- sary to raise large sums by taxation. There was a tax on landed property and persons called the ^ ^. . ^ ^ J ^ Condition " taille, " and almost every necessary of life of the was also taxed, even pewter vessels. One pJopie after of the most hated of these taxes was that ^^^ '^^^• on salt, called the " gabelle. " These burdens were borne almost exclusively by the producing and laboring classes, for among the many privileges of the nobility was that of large exemption from taxation. Those, there- fore, paid least who could best afford to pay most. Dis- tress among the tax-paying classes was universal. Pop- ular tumults arose in numerous districts and were put down with great severity. The wretched peasants were reduced to eating grass and the bark of trees ; and fa- mine slew thousands. The system under which a great portion of the land in France was cultivated, which is called metairie, is an evil one. The metayer, (medietarius, middle- N • r 1 1 -11 The noble, man) or occupier of the land, was provided and pea- by the owner with seed, cattle, and agricul- ^^"'^' tural implements, and in return, besides paying all taxes, gave half the gross produce to the land-owner. Though an advance on the serf system it did not invite peasants to spend money on the improvement of the land, and so produced poor cultivation. Half the pro- duce was also too large a rent. The metayer grew as little corn as possible, and fed his geese in his wheat 12 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. fields, for his half of the gross produce was insufficent to pay for the labor of cultivation. The farms of the metayers were very small, in reality but peasant-hold- ings. The relations existing between the peasant- farmer and his lord were very different from those exist- ing ki England between the village laborer and the squire. The French lord (seigneur) visited his estates only for retrenchment or to squeeze out larger yieldings from his metayers. He lived at the court. The magni- ficence and extravagance of Lewis XIV. were imitated on a smaller scale by all the nobility. Life in the country was looked on by a seigneur as exile. The re- sponsibilities of a landlord were not recognised by him. He sought advancement at court, and for this advance- ment he intrigued and bribed. Even military service he seldom undertook from patriotic motives, but as a means of procuring court favor. When once a nobleman had secured a firm standing and influence at court, he made use of his position to replenish his fortune by selling his influence to less fortunate aspirants. The hereditary and exclusive privileges of the nobility and place-holders were so valuable that Lewis and his ministers increased the revenue by the sale of the titles and offices which conferred such privileges. By degrees monopolies were created. To such an extent was this system carried, that the privilege of exercising the meanest callings, such as those of por- ters, or of mutes at funerals, was reserved to certain families, in consideration of a large money payment. In the provincial estates and parliaments of France existed the elements of civil liberty. The local government of each province was entrusted to its estate. The estate met in assembly in the three 1678. Lewis XIV. a7id France. 13 orders of clergy, nobility, and commons. It Provincial raised the revenue required by the kmg, had authority to borrow money, and superintended the ex- penditure of money to be laid out on local purposes. But in the reign of Lewis, there was placed over each provincial estate a royal functionary, called an intendant, and under him served various officials. He was ap- pointed by the king's wjll, was removable at the king's I pleasure, and, in reahty, controlled everything. The provincial estates often grumbled, but their opposition seldom extended further. The greater nobles lived at court, the clergy were faithful servants of the Crown, the intendant was the king's representative, so that although, theoretically, the power and privileges of the provincial estates still belonged to them, their power and their pri- vileges were practically in the hands of the intendant. Opposition to the wishes of the intendant was easily silen- ced by quartering troops on a refractory district, or by the arbitrary imprisonment of an independent member of the estate. The parliaments of France, originally nine, after- wards fifteen in number, were the supreme legal tri- bunals. The parliament of Paris was na- turally the chief, but each parliament claimed ments" to be independent of every other. They were jealous of each other's authority, and had no com- mon principle of action. Besides their legal functions, they claimed the power of refusing to register, in their archives any law which the king had promulgated, and they asserted that this r.f..sal on their part rendered the law inoperative. Lewis, however, would not admit this claim of the parliaments ; he compelled them to register his laws, he forbade them to prosecute any royal official who disobeyed their orders, and enforced his will 14 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^'c. a.d. by banishing any members of a parliament who upheld this privilege. The legal offices attached to the mem- bership of a parliament were, as those attached to the Crown, saleable. Lewis therefore was soon enabled to fill a great number of these with devoted adherents ; and by cleverly turning to good account the jealousy felt by each parliament for the other, he soon rendered it im- possible for them to take common action in rejecting a royal mandate. ' France did not come out unscathed from the war ended by the peace of Nimwegen. The ambition of its monarch had impoverished the country. The agricul- tural, commercial, manufacturing, and colonial interests had all suffered. The conditions of peace were advan- tageous to France as regarded her territory and military power ; but on the other hand, the protective duties on which the manufacturers, especially those of woolen goods and silk, had relied, were relaxed in favor of Hol- land and England. Lewis's inordinate ambition an4 firm belief in the di- vine rights of kings combined to make him desire to see himself at the head of Europe, not as king of France only, but as Emperor, and king of Spain. France, though impoverished, had great natural resources, and Colbert was there to provide funds, Louvois to look to the "ma- teriel" of his army, Vauban to build his fortresses. One man only stood in Lewis's way, William of Orange. Section IV. — The United Provinces and William of Orange. William of Orange was born November 4, 1650, eight days after the death of his father, the Stadtholder of the United Provinces of Holland. A strong party opposed to the idea of the Stadtholdership being hereditary in the 1678. ' William of Orange. 15 house of Orange, endeavored for some years to carry- on the government. But Holland thus became divided against itself, and an easy prey therefore to its enemies. Seven provinces with independent provincial assemblies, sending members to the States General, afforded a fine field for French diplomacy. In a few years the meetings of the States General were scenes of confusion. To add to the difficulties which stood in the way of unanimity, there were eighteen cities in Holland, governed each by a municipal council, and each of these claimed an inde- pendent voice in many affairs of state. The character of William had, young as he was, become known, and in 1672, Zealand, followed soon provhices^^ after by the other provinces, chose him w?i?-^^ ■' , WiUiam as Stadtholder. The French had invaded Hoi- Stadthoider land, and William took desperate measures to drive them out of his country. He appealed to the patriotism of his countrymen, the dykes were burst open, the whole country was flooded, and the French were forced to beat a speedy retreat. For six years the war continued, and Holland, at first almost ruined, had, at the peace of Nimwegen, preserved its independence and its territory, had gained commercial advantages, and had won the respect of Europe. William had also estabhshed his reputation. He had shown himself, under a cold, calm exterior, to be capable of originating bold designs, and of tenaciously carrying them out. He had proved himself as a diplomatist second to none. He had already gained a hold on the German powers which he presently used to good effect. William, a Calvinist, the upholder of civil and reli- gious liberty, was naturally hated by Lewis, a bigoted Catholic, and maintainer of despotism. William, well aware of this antipathy, was also a far-sighted statesman, i6 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^'c. a.d. who saw that among the many projects of Lewis's am- bition, not the most difficult to be realized, was that of making the whole of Western Europe subservient to France. For if England entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with Lewis, and placed its naval re- Wiliiam and sources at his disposal, then Western Europe Lewis. would be at his feet. Lewis therefore di- rected all his intrigues to gain England to his side. William worked as strenuously to frustrate those intrigues. By William's marriage, he acquired a right to be con- sulted on England's foreign policy, for Charles, the king, was childless, and his only brother, James, had as yet but two children, both daughters, and of them Mary was the elder. William's wife therefore stood not far from the succession. William had many warm friends amongst the liberal-minded and patriotic men there were in the English nobility, although these were few in number, and already (in 1678) had gained influence among Eng- lish statesmen. This influence it was the great aim of Lewis to destroy. He instructed his ambassador, Baril- lon, to work on Charles's love of pleasure and want of money ; to work on the religious feelings of James, who had now the enthusiasm of a convert to Roman Catholi- cism, and also on his hatred of constitutional liberty ; to work on the courtiers by bribery, and by encouraging their jealousies one of the other; to work on the English people by stirring up the spirit of persecution, by pitting Protestant against Papist, by sowing enmity between the country and the court. And well Barillon did his work. The history of the last seven years of the reign of Charles II. of England cannot be understood unless we remem- ber that Charles and his statesmen were but the puppets of the show, that Barillon was the underling who pulled the strings, and that Lewis XIV. was the director, whilst 1678. William of Orange. ly William of Orange sat looking on, a quiet, but by no means unobservant, spectator. Section V. — Germany and Spain. Emperor Leopold and Charles II. of Spain. Germany, already exhausted by the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), had suffered much in the war with France, now ended by the peace of Nimwegen. It was true that no province had been lost, and that Lothringen (Lorraine) again formed a state of the empire ; but the wreathing time, so necessary for it to recover from its frightful losses, had been interrupted ; the power of the Diet had been weakened, the bonds which i . , , . . , Germany. united the various states, never tight, were low more slackened. Lewis had gained over electors ind princes of the empire, by money, by promises of in- :reased dominions, and by flattery ; and he had no occa- pon to trouble himself about the German people. For he German people could be hardly said to exist. Ger- nany was now composed of numerous small courts, nu- nerous small armies, and half-starved wretched peasants. The towns were half depopulated, and the middle class kas almost annihilated. The Emperor Leopold was both mentally and morally y weak man. Of the house of Hapsburg, duke of Austria, nd king of Bohemia and of Hungary, he ad no real power in the empire. Swayed ^°^° ither and thither, as the interest of the moment seemed 5 direct him, he had been at one time the tool of Lewis, ut now he leant on William of Orange, for support. ,ewis' designs on the empire were so manifest that ,eopold, with the greatest tenacity his nature permitted, )ined William in his plans for counteracting them. Spain was fallen from its high position. The kingdom C 1 8 The Fall of the Stuarts , ^ c . a.d. was impoverished. The weahh of its American colonies^ had not enriched the state. Its best blood had been drained away. Every adventu- rous spirit had been enthralled by the desire ofbecomingj rich. Its court was the victim of state etiquette. Its nobless were ill-educated and the slaves of the priests. Its race of statesmen and warriors had died out. Its king, Charles3, 11., was a sickly and feeble boy of thirteen years of age So the conditions of the Peace of Nimwegen com--] pelled Spain to pay. As we have said above (p. 5), Tranche Compte, and some of Spain's best provinces in the Netherlands fell to the share of Lewis. CHAPTER II. ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, 1 678 AND 1 679. Section I. — England in 1678. Lewis XIV. wished to gain England to his side. He^3 endeavored therefore to undermine William's influence ^, g and sow dissension in the nation ; but Eng- land, to be of use to him, must not be weakened. The stronger the nation was, the more help itt could afford him. He hoped by destroying popular govern- ment, and by restoring the Catholic religion in England, , to make it both a strong and ready tool in his hands. The affairs of the two kingdoms, England and Scot- land, will for a time occupy our attention. The news of the Peace of Nimwegen was received in^ England with mingled joy and discontent. Englishmenji were glad that William of Orange, the Stadtholder, thel \ 1678. England in i6y8 . 19 nephew, by marriage, of their king, had come out of his sreat strufifffle with Lewis with unreduced ^. => *^° Discontent dominions, and with increased weight in the in England councils of Europe. Butthere was discontent ^" ^ 7 • for three reasons. First, because the national pride was wounded. In the time of Cromwell, just twenty years ago, England had been the most respected European power, the one power which France courted. It had de- feated the navies of Holland and Spain ; it had been the great upholder of the Protestant cause, as William of Orange now was ; and now this glory had passed away. The second reason for discontent was the fear for the cause of civil liberty. It was rumored that treaties and arrangements had been entered into by the English king with Lewis XIV., which had for their object the subver- sion of the constitution by the aid of foreign troops. Charles had raised troops nominally to aid William of Orange ; but these troops had, by Barillon's intrigues, been kept back, and were in England, not as yet dis- banded. So the old English feeling of distrust of a standing army was aggravated by the fear that French forces might be sent to join those raised by Charles in coercing Parliament. But there was a third reason for discontent in the general hatred felt for Roman Catho- icism. Puritans and churchmen were united in this latred ; it was their one bond of union. The activity shown by the Roman Catholics seems to justify this latred. Jesuit priests were known to be intriguing at :ourt ; the king was suspected of an inclination to papistry ; the Duke of York, the heir presumptive, was declared Roman Catholic, and had married for his ;econd wife the Princess Mary of Modena, also a Roman Catholic. At the same time Lewis XIV., the adviser Df Charles, had already begun on a small scale those •*o The Fall of the Stuarts, &*€. a.djI persecutions of Protestants which in a few years after hei carried out in such a manner as to drive the Protestants of England and Holland wild with anger. This popular discontent found two vents for its ex-; How the pression ; the one in an attempt to drivet disc&ntent is Roman Catholicism from the kingdom, and manifested. ° to exclude the Duke of York from the suc- cession of the throne ; the other in the impeachment of i the minister, Lord Danby. Section II. — The Minister and the leader of the Opposition. Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby, was the minister tO( whom Charles II. had at this time entrusted Satesmen. ^^ chief direction of affairs ; the leader o4 the Opposition was Anthony Ashley Cooper/ Earl of Shaftesbury. Political immorality was as prevalent among English; as among continental, statesmen. The use of bribery) was general. If at any time the expression used in later days by an English statesman that ** every man has his; price," was true, it was true in the time of Charles IL One or two rare exceptions there were, but statesmenr who were considered upright, and patriots who were( famed for their public spirit, condescended to receivee "pensions" from Lewis XIV. for themselves, and to. bribe members of Parliament. This was done with so: little reserve as to make it evident that conscientious meni looked on giving and receiving bribes in another lightl than that in which we are now accustomed to view suchh a crime. ' Osborne, Lord Danby, was not beyond his age. Off good business powers, and ready in debate, he tried to» 1678. The Popish Plot. 21 make parliament subservient to his views by purchasing it wholesale. Himself fond of Danb^ money, he measured every one by his own standard. So thoroughly did he carry out his plan that the parliament which was sitting in 1678, which had, in fact, been sitting since 166 1, has earned for itself in his- tory the name of " Pension Parliament." Danby's own political views were moderate. He was a Protestant, but not a Puritan ; an upholder of the monarchy, but no lover of arbitrary power ; an adherent of the Stuarts, but no mere courtier. Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury, began public life as a royalist, and then united himself to the party of the Commonwealth. During Richard Crom- well's brief protectorate he had joined Monk bJJ^.^^^^*^" in his successful plot for the restoration of he Stuarts. Dry den in his satire of " Absalom and \chitophel " thus describes Shaftesbury under the cha- racter of Achitophel : For close designs and crooked counsels fit, Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit, Restless, unfixed in principles and place. In power unpleased, impatient of disgrace. Uthough written by a political and religious opponent, \istory admits the justice of this description. Section \\\.— The Popish Plot. On August 13, 1678, three days after the signing of the _'eace of Nimwegen, Charles II. received a warning not D walk unaccompanied in the Park, nor to expose his erson heedlessly, " for that his death was determined n." This information was traced through ^. ^ ^ Titus Gates. arious channels to one Titus Oates. Oates as on September 28 brought before the privy council. 22 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*c. a.d. Had it not been for the prevalent feeling of distrust and hatred of the Roman Catholics, the personal ap- pearance and previous career of Gates would have been conclusive evidence of the falseness of his story The son of an Anabaptist, he had early in life conformed to the Church of England, been admitted to holy orders and presented to a living. This he had been compelled to resign, on a charge of perjury, and of using blasphe- mous expressions. He next obtained a chaplaincy on board a man-of-war, but was dismissed his ship for dis- graceful behaviour. Professing then to be a convert to Roman Catholicism, he joined the English college at St. Omer, in France. His present story was that he hadi been entrusted by the highest Romish authorities with letters, written by the Pope himself, the purport of which i was to excite the Catholics to compass the death of King ; Charles by any means. He added that meetings had I been already held in London for that purpose ; and that t Coleman, the Roman Catholic secretary of the Roman i Catholic Duke of York, and Father la Chaise, the con-'i- fessor of Lewis XIV. (whom Gates always calls Father : Lee Shee), were the persons through whom the necessary ' correspondence was carried on. Coleman's house was immediately searched. He had 1 partly destroyed his papers, but some were found con- , taining doubtful expressions, (doubtful, that is, as to i loyalty, but perfectly natural under the circumstances),] setting forth the great hopes which the Catholics in Eng- ' land entertained for the future, when the Duke of York would be king, and Lewis XIV. would be able to afford them more active assistance. In addition to Coleman, Gates accused Wakeman the queen's private physician, who was also a Roman , Cathohc. I 1678. The Popish Plot. 23 In the course of his story Oates said that he had been sent through Spain, previously to his coming to England, and that there he had an interview with Don John of Austria, the young King of Spain's minister, who had promised to aid the English Catholics in the execution of their designs. Charles, who was present at Oates' s examination and was incredulous asked Oates what sort of a man Don John was. Oates replied, " a tall, lean man." This answer amused Charles, for Don John was very short and fat, and made him still more incredu- lous of the tale. But the country received Oates's story as gospel. Oates, after his examination before the privy council, went to Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey, an active justice of the peace, who had been knighted for his Murder of exertions during the great plague, and made ^ir Edmonds- a deposition on oath of the truth of his state- ments. A few days after, the servants of Sir Edmonds- bury were surprised at their master not returning to dinner at his usual hour ; they waited for him the whole afternoon, and at night sent to tell his brothers of his absence from home. Nothing was heard of him that night (Saturday), but on the following Wednesday morn- ing his body was found in a ditch in some fields, near London, now occupied by the Regent's Park. From the marks on the corpse it appeared that the victim had been first strangled, and that some time after death his own sword had been run through him, the sword remain- ing in the body. His money was untouched. The body lay exposed to the public view for two days, and at the funeral strange scenes of excitement took place. Three persons of the queen's household were afterwards tried and executed for the murder, but on perjured and in- sufficient evidence. An attempt was also made some 24 The Fall of the Stuarts, &^c, a.d. time after to prove that Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey had committed suicide, but this failed. Two hypotheses to account for the murder, both probable, remain. The one is that the knight was murdered by zealous Papists to intimidate those who were taking active measures to investigate the alleged Popish Plot ; the other is that the deed was committed by the orders of some of those whose interest it was to provoke more strongly the pre- valent Protestant antipathy to the Duke of York and the Roman Catholics. It has also been stated, that no proof has been offered, that the murder was committed by some of Gates' s gang to add credibility to their state- ment. The popular excitement now rose to the highest pitch. Parliament had met in session. Even if Danby had attempted to bribe, the venal members were Bill against ^ . . Papists carried no longer to be bought. A Committee of the House was appointed to inquire into the murder of Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey and into Gates's disclosures. A day was set apart for a solemn fast. A bill was hurriedly carried through both Houses " for the more effectual preserving the king's person and govern- ment by disabling Papists from sitting in either House of Parliament." The intention of Shaftesbury and the Gp- position evidently was to prepare the way for the exclu- sion of the Duke of York from the succession to the throne, but a special exemption clause was inserted in the bill (partly on the personal appeal to the House of Lords of the duke, who spoke " with great earnestness and with tears in his eyes ") which ran as follows, " Pro- vided always that nothing in this Act contained shall ex- tend to his Royal Highness, the Duke of York." To deal a heavier blow against Roman Catholics, it was also determined that an oath of allegiance to the king, and a 1678. The Popish Plot. 25 declaration of the idolatry of masses should be made by all holders of office under the Crown, as a test that they were untainted by Popery. The Committee of the House of Commons examined Gates, and another witness, one Bedlow, a man of noto- riously bad character, who now came forward to corrobo- rate Gates' s statements. They reported the actual ex- istence of a Popish Plot, having^ for its ob- ^ ^ ° Gates makes ject the death of the king and the destruc- further disclos- tion of the Protestant religion. Gates and his accomplice no longer contented themselves with ac- cusing such inferior persons as secretaries, priests, and physicians, but named five Roman Catholic peers. Lords Powys, Bellasis, Stafford, Petre, and Arundel, who were straightway committed to the Tower. Gates insinuated, Bedlow more than insinuated, that the queen herself was privy to the plot. Charles had acted throughout with duplicity, publicly professing belief in the plot, but to his j intimates treating it as a joke, and saying, "he was ac- j cused of being in a plot against his own life ;" but this accusation against the queen was more than even he could brook, and this portion of the evidence was there- fore not touched upon. j Coleman was tried and executed, as were also three I Romish priests. i The trade of witness or informer brought so much con- sideration from the vulgar, and such flattering hopes of pay from the gratitude of the nation, that many were now found to join Gates and erSlJ."^"'^'"' Bedlow. Among the more prominent of these was Carstairs, a man who had already earned no- toriety by acting as a spy on those who had, in Scotland, been holding conventicles, contrary to the law. The expectations of Gates and his accomplices were 26 The Fall of the Stuarts f &*c. A.D. not unfulfilled. In a few weeks Oates had apartments assigned to him in Whitehall, a guard was appointed to preserve him from the Papists supposed to be thirsting for his blood, and a pension of 1,200/. a year was granted to him. The inferior agents were also well cared for. For the sake of preserving popularity Charles made no attempt, nor did he allow Danby to make any, to quell the popular excitement. In the trials that took place from the numerous accusations laid by the the^ud'^T °^ informers, the conduct of the judges must not be overlooked. The servility of those who sat on the bench, and the shameless way in which they obeyed the dictates of the court, disgraced the name of justice. Scroggs, the lord chief justice, sSoig^"^''" distinguished himself in bullying the wit- nesses for the defence and in pressing for convictions, and showed such zeal and heartiness for "the Protestant cause/' that he shared with Oates the honor of popular applause. He had been raised by Danby to the post he held, and was not fitted for it either by ability, legal attainments, or decency of life. Section IV.— Fall of the Earl of Danby. Whilst the public mind was inflamed by the discovery of these various Popish plots, fresh fuel was added to the , excitement by Ralph Montague presenting Montague's J v j^ r o disclosures to to the Housc of Commons certain letters which had passed through his hands from Lord Danby to Lewis XIV., asking for money. Mon- tague was the representative of England at the court of France. Lewis had been deeply annoyed at the vacilla- tions of Charles in the negotiations which preceded the Peace of Nimwegen, and laid on Danby the blame of his master's indecision. In revenge he now therefore urged 1678. Fall of the Earl of Danhy. 2 7 Montague by bribes and other persuasions to betray Danby. Montague came to England, appeared in par- liament, in which he had a seatj and read two letters ; one of these, signed by Danby, made an offer to Lewis that Charles would be neutral in the war if a pension of 600,000 livres (about ;^24,ooo,) were paid him for the next three years. At the end of a letter was a postscript in Charles's own hand agreeing to the terms. The house was no longer under the minister's control. The im- peachment of Lord Danby was proposed. Danby's defence was that the king alone had, by law, power to declare war or to make peace ; that his duty was to obey his sovereign in all peached!^' things lawful, and that in this case he had no alternative. But the Opposition carried the day. On December 19, 1678, the impeachment was voted by 179 votes to 116, and the charges against Danby were read at the bar of the House of Lords. The charges in the impeachment really only amounted to a misdemeanor, but in the Upper House a motion was made that Danby should be committed to the Tower on a charge of treason ; but this motion was not carried, although Shaftesbury pressed its adoption. The plea under which it was sought to commit Danby was, that the word " traitorously " appeared in the impeachment presented by the Commons. But the majority in the House of Lords rejected the motion for his committal, on the grounds (and solid grounds they appear), that if the Commons by the insertion of a word could convert a mis- demeanor into a treason, they became judges as well as accusers. Charles now determined on dissolving the parliament, in the hope of putting an end to Danby's prosecution, and preventing the disclosure of any fur- ^g _ 28 The Fall of the Stuarts^ ^'c. a.d. ther proofs of the intrigues he had been engaged in with the King of France. The " Pension Parliament " was consequently dissolved January, 1679, Dissolution j ■,• , j r of the "Pen- ^.nd a new parliament was summoned tor ment"^"^^'*" March. The elections " went almost every- where against the court." The Duke of York, afraid that his presence in London might foment the angry feelings of the capital, left Eng- land for Brussels, accompanied by his wife. Charles de- But before his departure Charles, on his Catharine to eamcst entreaty, made a solemn declaration only wife" ^'^ before the privy council, that he had never been married, nor had made a contract of marriage with any woman whatsoever save his wife Queen Catherine. The object of this declaration was to put an end to the pretensions of the Duke of Monmouth, the eldest of King Charles' natural children, whose mother, Monmouth. ^^^^ Walters, was popularly supposed to have been married to Charles whilst he was a refugee at the Hague. The proofs of this marriage were supposed to be concealed in a certain " black box, " to which constant allusions will be found in the pamphlets of the period. The Duke of Monmouth ( the Absalom of Dryden's " Absalom and Achitophel " ) was eminent- ly fitted to attract popular sympathy. He was at an early age wedded to the richest heiress of her day, the Lady Anne Scott, who inherited the vast property of the house of Buccleuch. Of a handsome person, of pleasant and winning manners, of tried bravery, the beloved of Protestants and country gentlemen, he was used as a tool by Shaftesbury for the purpose of crushing the Duke of York. On James' retirement from England, Monmouth for a few months became the petted idol of the court. 1 679- Third Parliament of Charles II. 29 Section V. — The third Parliament of Charles II. ( Habeas Corpus Act. ) Charles, on Danby's fall, called to his councils Sir William Temple, who had been one of the chief negotia- tors of the Nimwegen peace. Temple was a sir William man not only of the most cultivated mind, Temple. but also of the strictest integrity ; he never hesitated to speak the truth to the pU asure-loving Charles, nor to re- tire from public affairs when his country's welfare or his personal honor demanded. Since the Restoration( 1660) he had been employed in diplomacy on the Continent, and had never sat in the House of Commons. In one respect this was a drawback, as he was unable to enter into the feelings and susceptibilities of the House ; in another respect it was a gain, since to his name could not be attached the odious epithet of " pensionary. '* Sir William Temple's first measure was a novel one ; he reconstituted the privy council. It was to consist of thirty members. Fifteen of these were to be the ministers and officers of state, the re- tio^n°of the' maining fifteen to be noblemen and gentle- ^"^y., ° ^ Council. men of high standing. The measure was at first most popular. It was thought by the one party that it would prevent the encroachments of parliament on the prerogatives of the Crown, by the other party that it would hinder the attacks of the Crown on the in- dependence of parliament. Shaftesbury was chosen President, so that he now filled the anomalous position of lord president of the privy council and leader of the Opposition in parliament. But the new privy council was soon found too numer- ous and too divided in opinions to fulfil the purpose of 30 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d- From that a Cab- a vvorkin? council for the kine. Charles met ib formed. . therefore chose from the council four confi- dential advisers : Temple, Capel, Earl of Essex, Spencer, Earl of Sunderland, and Savile, Viscount Halifax. These formed, what in the present day is called the Cabinet. Essex was a politician of good intentions and of , , ^ honorable character, and had therefore Lord Essex. .11 r .-r. 1 gamed the respect of Temple. Sunderland was the product of his day. Clever and unprincipled, he had for years resided at the court of Lewis as envoy of England, and had there derland""' become an adept in intrigues, both political and social. Halifax was a man of great intellectual powers. His natural disposition was kind and tolerant, and this joined to his keen appreciation of probable results, made him take a broad and mode- rate view of party politics. Hence his policy always tended to avoid extreme measures, and he consequently received the nickname of " Trimmer. " The same name was applied to all those who followed him in attempting to hold a middle course between the court and country factions, the two great parties of the day. Halifax's political morahty was expediency. Whatever party best served present purposes he joined ; and he found no difficulties in changing from one side to the other, for his personal dislikes were reserved for those only who were violent and immoderate partisans. But this choice of a small body out of the council was deeply resented by most of the other members, and Shaftesbury prepared a most active opposi- Parliament . , ^ . . .^^ ,. .1 meets. tion to the mmistry. Farliament met on opposition March 6. The first contest took place on to the ^^ choice of a Speaker of the House of court. ^ 1 6 7 9 • Third Parliament of Charles II. 3 1 Commons. The king nominated a member to fill the chair; the Opposition claimed for the Com- mons the right of election, asserting that the only power which the Crown had was to confirm their choice. The Opposition gained the day. After a hot debate, lasting for a week, it was agreed that the right of election was with the House, and that the confirmation by the king followed as a matter of course. This debate at once served to show Charles and his advisers the temper of the House- When this matter had been settled, the Commons took up again the impeachment of Lord Danby. On finding the proceedings renewed, Danby Danby's prepared for flight ; but, on being advised impeach- . ment that if he fled, an act of attainder might be resumed. passed against him, he surrendered. He now pleaded there could be no prosecution, as he held a pardon from the king. Charles had not only granted him a free pardon, but had also given him a warrant raising him to the rank of Marquis of Carmarthen. This enraged the Opposition, who formed the majority in the Commons. They appeared at the bar of the House of Lords, and demanded judgment against Danby, whose plea said they, was void. They also denied the right of the bishops to vote on the validity of the pardon, arguing that if the pardon was not valid, and if Danby were then to be convicted of treason, death would be the punishment, and spiritual lords could not legally vote on questions of life and death. The Lords discussed the questions raised by the Commons ; they agreed to ap- point a Committee of the two Houses to regulate the manner of the impeachment, but they resolved that the lords spiritual had a right to sit and vote in all cases until the actual question of life and death was before the House. 33 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. But the impeachment of Danby was a secondary matter to the great object of Shaftesbury and the Opposi- tion, which was the exclusion of the Duke refdrng1)f ^^ York from the succession to the throne, as Exclusion being a Roman Catholic. The second Bui passes ° the Com- reading of a bill, to effect this object, was carried on May 21 in the Commons by 207 votes against 128. On May 27, Charles, acting by the advice of Temple, who feared the temper of the Commons, prorogued the Habeas parliament, and soon after by proclamation Corpus Act. dissolved it. But this did not take place Dissolution , . '^ of the third until the king had given an unwilling as- mentof Sent to the passing of an Act, commonly Charles 11. ^^^^^^^ ^.j^^ Habeas Corpus Act. Charles assented in order not to provoke a more active hostility to the court in the elections now pending. The Act re- quires a judge, on application, to issue an order to any jailor to produce the body ( habeas corpus ) of a prison- er ; when, if the offence with which he is charged is bailable, and he can give security that he will appear in a court of law to answer the charge, he is set free until the trial. The Act also prevents any one from be- ing sent to prison "beyond the seas ; " it orders every prisoner to be indicted in the first law term after his commitment, and to be brought to trial at latest in the subsequent term. No man, it enacts, after being en- larged, can be recommitted for the same offence. This Act is one which has done much in preserving the lib- erties of Englishmen, but it is no addition to the consti- tutional law of our country. The same rights existed before, but they had been impaired through the criminal servility of the judges and the tyranny of the Crown. The Habeas Corpus Act only re-enacted and re-asserted 1 679' Whigs a7id Tories. 33 the rights and privileges of every Englishman. Black- stone does indeed say in his Commentaries, " The point of time at which I would choose to fix the theoretical per- fection of our public law, is the year 1679, after the Ha- beas Corpus Act was passed, though the years which immediately followed it were times of great practical oppression. " But he also admits the Act was needed only on account of the " pitiful evasions " of judges and court lawyers. Meantime the trials of those accused by Oates and his accomplices were continued during the sprmg and summer. Twelve persons were trials con- found guilty and executed. Wakeman, the • *'""® " queen's physician, was acquitted. Section ^itPfSp In the months of August and September the elections for the new parliament were going on, and the candidates suported by the court were generally de- ch i ' feated. It was evident that the new parlia- fourth Par- ment would meet with a greater majority elected, but against the ministers than the last one. prorogued. Charles placed but little confidence even in his selected ministers. Fearing that he should find a new parlia- ment uncompromising, he had already en- tered into fresh and secret negotiations with treaty with Lewis. He begged him not to lose this ^^^^' opportunity of making England for ever dependent upon France. A treaty was therefore entered into. On con- dition that a pension of 1,000,000 livres (about 40,000^.) was paid to him annually, for the space of three years, Charles agreed not to assemble parliament during thaj- time. He consequently prorogued the new parliament D 34 The Fall of the Stuarts J &*c. a.d. immediately on its meeting in October, without the con- sent, or without having asked the consent, of his council. Temple, Essex, and Halifax resigned their offices. Sunderland, who never willingly resigned a of Temple, place, retained his. The new ministers Ha1!fa:!^ chosen by the king were Lawrence Hyde, ^d^cTT'i -^^^^ °^ Rochester, and Sidney Godolphin, phin take Earl of Godolphin. Rochester was a brother eir paces. Qf t]^g first Duchess of York, a Cavalier as well in politics as in habits of life : a strong adherent of Church principles, he both drank hard and lived hard. Godolphin was a clever and cool-headed courtier, and an enthusiastic sportsman. His political principles sat easily upon him. He was a trimmer, not upon convic- tion as Halifax was, but from interest. He cared only for office, horse-racing, and cock-fighting. Rochester and Sunderland endeavored to persuade Charles to break off his negotiations with Lewis, and to summon the parliament, but the prorogation had been already announced, and Charles was unwilling to run the risk of offending Lewis, and of having the Exclusion Bill thrust upon him. The Duke of Monmouth had been acting as the king's representative in Scotland, but Shaftesbury sent for him to return, for the king was not well. His arrival in London was celebrated by popular rejoicings. The Duke James and °^ York, hearing of Monmouth's presence at Monmouth. court, hastily set off from Brussels, and hurried to Windsor, where Charles lay seriously ill. The king, as the only chance of preserving peace, ordered Monmouth off to Holland, and sent James to Scotland as Lord High Commissioner. He also dismissed Shaftes- bury from the presidency of the Council. Shaftesbury in revenge took still more active steps in 1679* Whigs and Tories. 35 exciting the country to clamor for the Exclusion Bill. The anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth, November 17, was celebrated bury^dis- throughout England with extraordinary missed from manifestations. Loud and deep were the dency of the execrations hurled against Papists and all """^^ ' who were supposed to have any sympathies with Rome ; the effigies of the Pope and the Duke of York were pub- licly burnt; and a "black box" was carried about in triumph. On November 28 Monmouth appeared sud- denly in London, and although ordered by the king to return again to Holland, he obstinately remained. Ad- dresses were signed in every county, and - , • .1 1 • I, Addressers m every borough, praymg the kmg to call and Ab- parliament together at an early day. Shaftes- oarers, bury and the Opposition consequently received the name of "Addressers." The ministers and the court met these addresses by obtaining counter addresses to the king, expressing abhorrence of such proceedings, as tending to interfere with the king's prerogative of sum- moning and proroguing parliament. They were there- fore entitled "Abhorrers." But these party names were speedily changed into the now familiar ones of Whigs, and Tories. The Opposi- tion were nicknamed Whigs, a term of re- whigs and proach which had been originally applied to Tories, the strictest sect of Scottish covenanters, and is said to have been a local expression in Galloway for sour whey. The court party were called Tories, a name borrowed from the most wild and savage of the Irish outlaws. From this period the two great political parties in England have been called by these names ; and students may consider the Whigs as "ranged under the banner ofhberty," the Tories under that of "loyalty;" the 36 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^'c. a.d. Whigs as seeking the security of the constitution " by new maxims of government," the Tories "by an adherence to the old." Section N\\.— Meal-tub Plot. Oates's time of prosperity was not at an end, although the public enthusiasm in his favor had begun to turn. The trade of discoverer of plots informer, Still Seemed a lucrative one, and a man Dangerfieid. named Dangcrfield, a profligate scoundrel who had been branded, whipped, and imprisoned for felony, now appeared on the scene. Prompted probably by some hangers-on of the Duke of York, he discovered to him a supposed conspiracy of the Presbyterian party, to put the king to death and to seize on the government. Being rewarded by Charles and James, he proposed to substantiate the truth of his statement by papers which were concealed in the house of Colonel Mansel, a Pres- byterian. The house was searched and the papers were found, but their forgery was so apparent that no one could be misled by them, and it was easily proved by Colonel Mansel that Dangerfieid had access to the room in which they were found. The alleged Presbyterian plot came to nothing, but the scoundrel now turned on his em- ployers. He swore that the pretended plot was invented in order to disguise a real one ; that this real plot was a Catholic one, and that not the Presbyterians but the Roman Catholics were the culprits. He declared that the papers which would prove the real plot, were con- cealed in a meal-tub in the house of a Mrs. Collins, who had been in the employment of Lady Powys, wife of one of the five Roman Catholic peers now in the Tower. The papers were found. Lady Powys and Mrs. Collins were arrested. The former was soon discharged, the grand 1 679* ^^^ Conventiclers in Scotland. 37 jury ignoring the bill against her; the latter was tried and acquitted. The panic caused by the murder of Godfrey was evidently subsiding, and the popular faith in informers beginning to wane. Section VIII. — The Conventiclers in Scotland. Before England and Scotland were under one king, it was the obvious policy of an enemy of England to stir up strife between the two nations ; and even now, when the same king ruled over both nations, the danger had not passed away, for jealousy still remained to divide them. The Scotch were jealous lest their peculiar laws and customs should be changed and their independence taken from them. The Eng- tions of Eng- lish were jealous lest their trade should suffer H.^"'^ ^"'' by the Scotch being allowed to participate in it on equal terms. England was weakened whenever Scotland was in a state of disquiet, and as Lewis XIV. did not wish the influence of England on the Continent diminished, he, through his ambassador, urged on Charles the necessity of keeping Scotland tranquil. Now there were two means of pacifying Scotland, — conciliation, or severity. Lewis's belief in absolute monarchy led him to recommend the latter. Episcopacy had been introduced for the second time into Scotland at the Restoration. But although the mon- archy was popular in Scotland, the Church of England was not, and in spite of the tred of episco- warnings of those Scotchmen who knew their ^^'^^' countrymen best, Charles and his advisers were bent on forcing the English Church on the people. The'first Lord High Commissioner, Lord Middleton, had allowed considerable latitude to the clergy in their conforming to 38 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. A.D. the Church ; but the Duke of Lauderdale, who had suc- ceeded him, had induced the subservient Scotch parlia- ment (virtually nominees of the Crown) to pass more and more severe laws against Presbyterianism, so that its followers, driven from their chapels, had to hold their meetings by night on the moorside or in the forests. An insurrection of the Presbyterians had broken out in 1666 and had been suppressed. In 1668 Sharp, arch- bishop of St. Andrew's, and the bishop of Sharp, arch- bishop of St. Orkney, were shot at. The bishop was wounded, the assassin escaped, but the arch- bishop had marked well his appearance. Six years after- wards the archbishop recognized in one Mitchell, a shop- keeper and noted Presbyterian, the features of the man who had shot at him. Mitchell was brought before the privy council, and under the promise that his life should be spared was induced to confess. The arclibishop in- sisted on his execution. In order to extract from him the names of his accomplices, if he had any, the poor wretch was several times put to the torture, the arch- bishop himself actively assisting. Then he was placed for some time in solitary confinement, and afterwards, contrary to the promises made him, and in deference to the archbishop's wish, he was executed. Lauderdale and the archbishop forthwith carried per- secution to its utmost limits. The Presbyterians, or con- venticlers, as they were called, were set upon by dragoons at their meetings on the hillsides, and so in d^ns n'st^^*^' self-defence they carried with them their swords as well as their Bibles. Resistance was sure to bring upon them the vengeance of the wild Highland troopers. But in the Western Lowlands, in Galloway, Ayrshire, Kircudbrightshire, Dumfries, where 1 6 79- "^he Conventiclers in Scotland, 39 the hills are rugged and wild, and the towns are few and far between, where the farmers and peasants have always been characterized by a sturdy spirit of independ- ence, and where the names of Prelatist and Papist were held equally accursed, resistance to Lauderdale and his proud archbishop was openly proclaimed. " The Highland host came upon them." So the in- surgents designated the large bodies of fierce Highlanders speaking no language but ar?quanered Gaelic, obeying no law but that of their °"^^^'"- chiefs, who were sent to live in free quarters among them. The conventiclers were goaded into revenge. As, so argued they, Jael's murder of Sisera was acceptable to God, in like manner it would be a worthy deed to com- pass the death of those who persecuted the Lord's saints. Carmichael, the commissioner Murder of of the council, and Archbishop Sharp, had Archbishop by their activity rendered themselves par- ticularly hateful. So a band of fanatics, animated by religious enthusiasm, determined on their murder. Car- michael, " the cruel, bloody man," escaped, but on Magus Muir, five miles west of St. Andrew's, they came upon Sharp. He was in his carriage accompanied by his daughter. Shouting "Judas, come forth," they dragged him from the coach, and, despite his own en- treaties and offers of money, despite the tears, and prayers, and personal struggles of his daughter, they put him to death before her eyes. Then solemnly thanking God for His aid in accomplishing the deed, and leaving on the moor the body of him who had never shown any mercy and to whom no mercy was shown, they made all haste to the West to rouse their brethren to arms. The Highlanders had just been withdrawn, when in- telligence was brought to the council that Sharp had 40 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. been murdered, and that the murderers had escaped to the West. They learnt also that the murderers had been reinforced, and that a village called Rutherglen had burnt the obnoxious acts of parliament which favored episcopacy and placed a declaration of hostility in the Graham of market-place. Graham of Claverhouse was defJaTd°"t* Stationed at Glasgow, with three troops of Drumciog, horse which he had himself raised. Gra- ham was a kinsman of Montrose, v/ho had lost his life in the cause of loyalty, and whose deeds he was desirous of emulating. He had served first in the French army, and had then joined the guards of the Prince of Orange, and had been distinguished for his coolness and bravery. Putting himself at the head of his troops, he marched out of Glasgow to punish the murderers and their fanatical followers. The conven- ticlers, about 600 in number, armed for the most part with pikes and pitchforks, were posted on a rising ground, protected on the two flanks and the front by a marsh, near the village of Drumciog. Graham, not taking the trouble to form his men, attacked the insur- gents with rash impetuosity, and embarrassed by the boggy ground, in which his horses stuck fast, was beaten off with considerable loss. The conventiclers daily received large reinforcements, so the troopers drew off towards Edinburgh. By Lauder- dale's advice, all the king's troops in Scotland were concentrated near the capital. Monmouth, who was at present Charles* representative in Scotland, took the command of the royal army. The conventiclers, whose numbers were now about 4,000, had advanced to Both- B ttl f ^^ Moor, near Hamilton. Here they were Bothweil met by Monmouth at the head of 5,000 Jm^22. regular troops. The insurgents were posted 1 6 79- The Conventiclers in Scotland. 41 in a strong position, with the Clyde flowing be- tween them and Monmouth's army. But there was a bridge over the river, and this bridge they had not de- stroyed. They were unprovided with cannon, whilst Mon- mouth had a strong force of artillery. Monmouth brought his guns to bear upon the bridge, and after a steady resistance on the part of the rebels, cleared the way for the passage of his soldiers. The insurgents retreated in good order to a hill near, called Hamilton Heath Here the dragoons, eager to avenge their former defeat, twice charged them, and each time were driven back. Then a body of the hated Highlanders made one of their fierce onslaughts on them, but with no effect. The am- munition of the conventiclers began, however, to fail. Artillery, when once posted in battle, were as yet not easily moved; but Monmouth, with considerable diffi- culty, got his guns, which had been turned on the bridge, again into position, and their fire completed the dis- comfiture of the conventiclers. They gave way, then retreated, and then fled, for retreat soon changes into flight with irregular and ill-trained troops. Claverhouse and his troopers, eager for vengeance, Cruel treat- charsced amonsrst the panic-stricken fugi- mentofthe ° , . . , . survivors. tives, and, disdammg to make prisoners, butchered them unrelentingly. Monmouth in vain endeavored to restrain them. Graham earned well his name of "bloody Claverhouse." About 1200 of the rebels laid down their arms. For these Monmouth tried to get as good terms as possible from Lauderdale and the servile Scotch parliament. Monmouth's clemency was reported in London. It was at this juncture that Charles* illness took place, and Monmouth was hastily summoned by Shaftes- bury to England. 42 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. The Duke of York arrived in Scotland as Lord High Commissioner. A Roman CathoHc himself, James hated Presbyterlanism with a hatred more intense ScSfand! ^"^"^ *^^ °^ ^^ "^ost devoted adherent to " Church and State " principles. The cruel- ties committed by the privy council when he was at its head, are almost incredible. Any one suspected of having given refuge to a conventicler, or any one thought to be unfriendly to the government or episcopacy, was liable to be put to the question before the council. Con- fessions extorted by torture from some were made use of against others whom the government deemed disloyal. Neither age nor sex insured safety. CHAPTER HI. THE FOURTH AND FIFTH PARLIAMENTS OF CHARLES II. AND THE STATE TRIALS OF 1 68 1. Section I. — Exclusion Bill, All through the winter of 1679 and the spring of 1680, Lewis, through his ambassador Barillon, endeavored in ^gg^ turn to cheat each of the political parties in , . , England. He assured Charles he was the Lewis and ° English only friend on whom he could rely, and ex- par les. horted him to govern without summoning a parliament. He expressed to James his approval of his conduct in Scotland. He told Shaftesbury and the Whigs, that if civil war were forced on them by the obstinacy of the king, France might be reckoned on for support. i68o. Exclusion Bill. 43 In February, 1680, James left Scotland to pay his brother a visit at Windsor. He soon gained a complete ascendency over Charles. This became ap- parent to Shaftesbury, who determined once voSf pre- for all to put an end to the influence of the sented as a ^ recusant. Duke of Yofk. He therefore (June 26) pre- sented James before the grand jury at Westminster as a " Popish recusant." Some of the judges who were present on the bench, in alarm asked Shaftesbury to retire with them into a private room for conference. During their absence the Lord Chief Justice took upon himself the bold step of discharging the grand jury, and thus quash- ing the proceeding. Monmouth in the meantime was making a progress as a royal prince in the West of England, and, in spite of Charles' declaration of his illegitimacy, was received everywhere with joy. Nothing Mon- could shake the faith of the people in their p?o°gress. " idol, the Protestant Duke." The king began to tire of his brother's unpopularity. The Whigs became more and more outspoken, and Charles saw before him no alternative but „ Fourth summonmg the Parliament and sendmg Parliament James back to Scotland as quickly as pos- October 21. sible. The Duke of York therefore returned to the North, and the fourth Parliament, which had been elected a year previously, met for business on October 21. Godolphin and Sunderland urged the king to consent to the bill for excluding the Duke of York from the suc- cession, if it should be again brought forward. A bar- gain was now being struck between Charles and the Whig Opposition. If Charles had been trustworthy the Exclusion Bill would have passed. The proposed agree- 44 The Fall of the Stuarts f &*€. a.d. ment was, that in consideration of the Commons voting the king a large supply of money, the bill should have his sanction. But Charles wished the supplies to be voted first, and then the consideration of the Exclusion Bill to follow. Shaftesbury and his party knew, that if ■„ , . X,.,, this were conceded, Charles would throw Exclusion Bill . . ,, passed by them over, and so the compromise fell rej'ected'by " through. On November ii the Commons the Lords. passed the bill excluding the Duke of York from the succession, and on the 1 5th it came on for discus- sion in the House of Lords. The Upper House rejected it by 63 votes against 30. Essex and Shaftesbury were the great advocates for the bill, Halifax its chief opponent. The king was present at the debate, and brought his personal influence to bear on all who were thought waver- ing. All the bishops in the House, fourteen in number, voted in the majority. The Whigs showed their vexation by acting in the most factious manner in the House of Commons. They car- ried a declaration that the " abhorrers," proceedings (who had signed petitions expressing " ab- °^^^ horrence " of the address to the king asking him to summon parliament), or in other words the whole Tory party, were guilty of contempt of parliament ; and the members of parliament who had presented these petitions were consenting parties to a breach of privilege. They claimed to sit as a court of justice upon all such, thus making the Habeas Corpus Act practically of no effect. They threatened Chief Justice Scroggs with impeachment for discharging the grand jury when Shaftesbury presented the Duke of York. They declared that until the Duke of York was excluded from the succession they would vote no sup- plies. 1 68 1. The Oxford Parliament of i68 1. 45 Charles, and the ministers Rochester and Sunderland, feared that no course was open to them but a dissolu- tion. Section II. — Viscount Stafford. The Lords, after their rejection of the Exclusion Bill, were occupied with the trial of Lord Stafford. He was one of the five peers imprisoned on the ac- Stafford's cusation of Oates and his fellow-informers. trial, On November 30 his trial began before his peers, and on December 7 he was found guilty by 55 votes to 31. Staf- ford, in his defence, clearly proved the untrustworthy character of Oates' evidence, but to no avail. The Whigs, the minority in the House of Lords, were joined in voting for his execution by many of the court party, in- stigated by the king. Charles wished to show, in acting thus, that his firmness in the matter of the Exclusion Bill was not caused by any predilection for papists. Among those also who voted in the majority were all the peers, save one, to whom Stafford was related. " Lord Stafford was not a man beloved, especially of his own family." Stafford's execution took place on December 29. He protested his innocence on the scaffold, and the spectators answered, " God bless you, we tion. believe you, my lord." Section III. — The Oxford Parliament of 16S1. The Commons still continued in a most impracticable mood, and the scenes of violence in the House almost equaled those of 1641, which preceded the outbreak of the civil war. In addition to voting that no supplies should be granted until the Ex- clusion Bill was carried, the Whigs prevailed on the House to declare the king's ministers promoters of popery, and to assert that all who lent the king money 46 The Fall of the Stuarts ^ 6r*€. a.d. The Scotch council met James at Edinburgh. To those nobles who could be depended on was entrusted, with the title of lords justice, the duty of James - . ... 1 <- finally cnforcmg uniformity and of stamping out SoTdand. ^^ Cameronians. James then finally left Scotland, but his policy was still continued with unabated vigor. The persecution suffered by the Cameronians, and by those suspected of aiding them, or of being even friendly disposed towards them, still forms in the present day the staple of the "household" stories of the lowlands of Scotland. Monmouth, to assure his friends and to increase his popularity, adopted the same plan which he had before found successful. As in 1680 he visited the west of England, so now in 1682 he made an almost royal pro- gress through the north-western counties, being every- where welcomed with enthusiasm. Charles was naturally incensed at this, and on Mon- mouth's return to London caused him to be arrested, and to be held to bail in ;!^io,ooo for his future good conduct. The Earl of Shaftesbury, on Monmouth's disgrace, fled to Holland. There he died a few weeks Shaftesbury. afterwards (January, 1683). Section II. — Attacks on the Charters of the Corpora- tions. The failure of the impeachment of Shaftesbury had much annoyed the court party. At the election this year rp (1682) of city officers, the Tories through Sheriffs intimidation and bribery gained an ascen- elected for -,.„.. the City of dancy, and many of the leading Whigs in London. _ , • . London were on various pretences prose- cuted and fined. The new sheriffs, whose duty it was 1 682. The Corporations. 59 to name the grand jury, were carefully selected- One of them was brother to Judge North, soon (December 20) to be appointed lord keeper and created Earl of Guildford. The burgesses or borough representatives in parlia- ment were chosen principally by the corporations of the boroughs. The corporations of most of the towns were Whigs, and were firm supporters of Protestant principles and civil liberty. They were consequently opposed to Charles, or rather to his policy. the^ity of It was thought that a good opportunity pre- backed sented itself to destroy the independence of these boroughs. The majority of the Corporation of the City of London, now composed of Tories, were not likely to offer any violent opposition to a measure of the court. It was determined therefore to make a bold attack on the privileges of the corporation of the chief city of the kingdom, and if this succeeded, to attack the charters of other boroughs in detail. The City of London claimed certain rights and privi- leges, amongst others that of levying tolls on various commodities, on the authority of by-laws passed by itself. A proceeding " quo warranto " was issued, to in- quire by what warrant the corporation exercised their rights and. privileges. If it were found that this warrant was insufficient, it was held that the charter of the cor- poration was forfeited. On June 12 (1683), the City of London was declared to have forfeited its charters. Several other towns lost their charters in a similar manner soon after- ^ ^ ^68^^ wards. The decision, that a corporation. London '^ _ , loses Its by an irregular action on its part, forfeited charter, and its charter and privileges, was not according boroughs to law. It affords another proof of the lil'ewise. shameful sycophancy of the judges. 6o The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. The infamous Chief Justice Jeffreys, soon to acquire unenviable notoriety, was conspicuous in pronouncing judgments agreeable to the king. He is said to have " made all the charters, like the walls of Jericho, fall down before him," and to have " returned " from the circuit " laden with surrenders, the spoils of towns." For many towns, rather than incur the expense and risk of a trial, voluntarily surrendered their charters, and received fresh ones from the Crown. If Charles had summoned another parliament the Whig majority would have been much lessened, for owing to the new constitution of the corporations, crown nominees would have been re- turned. Section III. — 7he Rye House Plot. The successful attack on the corporations marked a great increase in the influence of the court. The Whigs, and not only the Whigs, but all Englishmen who loved their country, knew full well that these attacks on the liberties of the state were instigated by Lewis XIV., and that they were steps in reducing England to the same despotic rule as France. An attempt was therefore made to counteract these schemes for undermining the constitution. A " confederacy " \was formed, ^cy'^fomed" It is doubtful whether the leaders, in carry- ing out their projects, were prepared to go to the length of involving their country in a civil war. Some of them had before disapproved of Shaftesbury's measures, as too revolutionary. They therefore could hardly have contemplated an appeal to arms. But those " agitations " which are undertaken by politicians in the present day for the purpose of obtaining a change of ministry, or the repeal of an obnoxious statute of tax, were then called conspiracies and high treason. 1683. The Rye House Plot. 61 The chief persons of the confederacy were Mon- mouth, the Earl of Essex, Lord Russell, Lord Grey, Lord Howard of Escrick, Algernon Sidney, ^^^^^^^ ^^. and Hampden, grandson of the patriot. the con- fcdcrs-CV Lord Essex and Lord Russell were known to be opposed to violent measures. Of the others, Lord Grey was more likely to be reckless. He was a man of bad private character ; he had been the defendant in one of the most disgraceful trials knpwn in the English law records, involving the honor of more than one noble family ; he was looked on as a man whose reputation was already gone, although he was Monmouth's most trusted friend. Sidney also might not have been one of the prudent ones. He was a republican by conviction ; and a philosopher who, although somewhat visionary, aimed consistently at religious and civil liberty, at free- dom of thought and action. Unfortunately for the leaders of the Whigs, certain of Shaftesbury's* followers were aware of the existence of the confederacy, and knew that active . . , ■, r Assassina- measures were bemg planned for over- tion plot, throwing the ascendancy of the Tories. They knew that Monmouth and the Whigs wished to upset the court influence, and to exclude the Duke of York from the succession. They thought that there was a more speedy and effectual way of carrying out their wishes. They plotted to assassinate Charles and the Duke of York as they returned from Newmarket races. A man named Keeling, a vintner, whose trade had fallen off and who was anxious to obtain some share in the pensions and places bestowed on in- formers, told Lord Dartmouth, a favorite of discloses the Duke of York, that a terrible plot for e p o . slaying the king and the Duke of York was preparing in 62 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^'c, a.d. the city. Keeling had borne the character of being an active Whig, and had consequently been entrusted with some of the secrets of the conspirators. His story was that a man named Rumbold had a farm-house called Rye House, not far from Hoddesdon, in Hertfordshire; that this house was close to the high road from Newmarket to London ; that it was proposed to conceal some twenty or thirty men in that house, which was surrounded by a moat, and had also large farm buildings in which horses and accoutrements could be hidden ; that the king's coach, with its small escort of only five guards, was to be surrounded as it passed by the house ; that the guards were to be shot down, and the king and duke killed ; that this plot was to have been carried into execution on the king's previous return from Newmarket, had it not been that the king had returned two or three days earlier than was expected, owing to a fire having broken out in the royal lodgings at Newmarket. As there had been a fire atthe king's apartments on that visit, Keeling's story appeared to be in some degree trustworthy. Rumbold, therefore, and the other conspirators named by Keeling, were arrested, and in their possession were found various letters showing that they were in correspondence with the Whig leaders. Warrants were issued for the arrest of Monmouth, Lord Grey, Lord Russell, Lord Howard of Escrick, Algernon Sidney, Lord Essex, and others. All those engaged in the actual assassination plot who were captured, were tried and condemned on the Howard evidence of Keeling. But of the leaders in turns king's the political plot, or the confederacy, Mon- evidence mouth and Lord Grey escaped; Essex, Howard, Lord Russell, and Sidney alone were taken. Howard offered, when brought before the council, to 1683. ^^^ ^y^ House Plot. d^ turn king's evidence. In 1674 he had been engaged in pohtical intrigues together with Shaftesbury, and when the crown lawyers had declared Lord ° the intrigues treasonable, he had then ob- Russell. tained his pardon and court favor by betraying his ac- complices. He now again adopted the same course. On July 13, 1683, Russell was brought to trial. The counsel for the Crown took advantage of every- thing which might press hard against the prisoner. When Russell requested that some one might take notes on his behalf, he was told a servant might do so. His wife was present, and fulfilled that duty for him. Lord Howard was brought forward to give evidence against the prison- er. He had just commenced by stating that the six leaders of the conspiracy were Monmouth, Essex, Sidney, Russell, Hampden, and himself, when a slight stir was evident in the court, and one of the officials whispered something in the witness's ear. His voice began to falter, and he could hardly be heard. The Lord Chief Justice requested him to speak louder, and asked him why he was so agitated. Howard said, "An unhappy accident hath just happened, that hath sunk my voice." The unhappy accident was the death of Lord Essex. On that morning, just as Lord Russell's trial had begun, the earl asked for a razor ; and, when it was brought him, went into his sleeping-room Loni^Essex and cut his throat. So determined was he, that his head was almost severed from his body ; and many persons doubted whether so fearful a wound could have been self-inflicted. Lord ofRussdr. Russell was found guilty, and sentenced to death. He was executed July 21. No man ever died who was more lamented. He was the most affectionate of husbands. When he had taken 64 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. leave of his wife, he exclaimed, " Now the cnaracter. ^'^ bitterness of death is passed." He was most beloved 15y his friends. Lord Cavendish would have saved him by exchanging clothes with him and remaining in his stead in prison. He was a true patriot ; his defence was that he labored not to change the constitution of his country, but to assert it. His name will always be revered by Englishmen, for his virtues were those which all men honor, his failings those which most men pardon. For his failings were, too credulous trust in such men as Howard, and indiscretion in allowing himself to be carried too far by his indigna- tion at the way in which his country's freedom was being trampled on. Sidney's trial took place in November. Lord Russell had at the commencement of his trial made an objection Trial of ^° ^^^ J^^Y b^cause they were not all free- Algernon holders. The answer to the objection was bidney. _ ■' that the law directed that the jury should be chosen from freeholders, in order to ensure their being men of some property, and therefore by presumption more intelligent; that this would not be necessary in the case of the jury trying Russell, because it was a jury of the city of London, and that in fact a sufficient number of freeholders could not be found, for few of the princi- pal merchants and tradesmen living in the city were freeholders. Sidney was to be tried by a Middlesex jury, and he also objected to some of the members as not being freeholders. Jeffreys presided at the trial as Lord Chief Justice. He overruled the objection, although the prin- ciple had been admitted in Russell's trial, for in that case the exception was claimed for a jury of London, and the reason for allowing the exception would not apply to the county of Middlesex. This overruling of Jeffreys was 1683. The Rye House Plot. 65 delivered in terms which were studiously cruel and vin- dictive. He maintained the same conduct throughout the trial. He hurled bitter invectives against the prisoner, he strained the law against him when the law was doubt- ful, he tightened the fetters of the law when the law was clearly in favor of the Crown. The chief witness against Sidney was Lord Howard. This time he told his tale with greater confidence, and in a more coherent form. The statute which regulates the form of trial for high treason requires that there should be a second witness to corroborate the first. The Crown produced no second witness to corroborate Lord Howard ; but Jeffreys ruled that a manuscript found amongst Sidney's papers might be put in to supply the place of the second witness. The manuscript had never been published, and was not proved to be even in Sid- ney's handwriting. It advocated a republican form of government, and Jeffreys again ruled that it afforded cor- roborative evidence, inasmuch as the doctrines advocated in it were such as, when carried into practice, might lead to such acts as Lord Howard swore to. The Lord Chief Justice therefore allowed opinions to be proof of facts. Sidney argued against this illegal decision in vain. Not- withstanding that prisoners on their trial for treason were allowed counsel to argue disputed points of the law, al- though they might not cross-examine witnesses nor ad- dress the jury, yet Jeffreys refused to allow Sidney any counsel, maintaining that there was no doubtful point of law in his case. Sidney was found guilty, and executed. He died with the calm composure of a philosopher. He was one of the last of that generation of pure republi- cans who could brook neither the enlight- death^and ened rule of a Cromwell nor the senseless character. 66 The Fall of the Stuarts^ &=€. a.d. despotism of a Charles. Of noble family, and of refined habits, he was led by his philosophy to be a despiser of kings and a lover of equality. He advocated religious freedom, not from love of religion, but because his phi- losophy caused him to think all religions equally faulty. His was a speculative and not a practical mind. His habits were rather those of a student than of an active politician. Monmouth having made an abject apology for his offences was pardoned and returned to court, for the king " still loved him passionately." Weak and Ji?d™ned?^ vain though he was, he was not however so Hampden is degraded as to play the part allotted to him, that of evidence for the crown with Howard. It was necessary for Hampden's conviction to find two witnesses, for he had no written papers to be brought against him. Halifax and the Duke of York therefore hoped that Monmouth would by his evidence corroborate that of Howard. This Monmouth flatly refused to do. He was accordingly subpoenaed to appear at the trial. He immediately fled to the Continent. Hampden escaped with a fine of 40,000/, Others who were inculpated in the " Rye House Plot," as they fell one by one into the hands of the Government, suffered on the scaffold. Some of these were even seized abroad, and brought to England for trial and conviction. Section IV. — Duke of York reinstated in Office. The confidence of the king's party, that is, of the ultra- royalists, was unbounded. Tangier, the dowry of the queen, that African town for the possession of which so much diplomacy had been exerted, for which Dunkirk had been aban- dismantled. doncd, and on the fortification of which so 1684. Duke of York reinstated in Office. 67 much money had been expended, was now dismantled, and its garrison brought back to England. The soldiers, instead of being discharged, were still kept in pay. The king had previously had distinctly attached to himself, and paid by him, a cer- ^^^ garrison tain number of guards. This addition was forms the comiHGncc- the commencement of a standing army. mentofa The troops from Tangier (forming regiments army!''^ still existing as the ist Dragoons and the 2d and 4th Foot) brought up the personal army of Charles to 1,700 cavalry and 7,000 foot. Paid by the king, owing allegiance to no other authority than that of the king, this army was looked on with extreme disfa- vor by all lovers of the constitution. For England's constitutional force was the militia, which could be called together by parliament through the lords-lieutenant of the counties. A large standing army was feared as a means by which a tyrant might be able to coerce a free people. This increase to the guards, although as yet the whole army was hardly large enough to intimidate London alone, made the Whigs uneasy, and in like pro- portion raised higher the spirits of the court party. Charles now therefore thought himself strong enough to reinstate his brother in his office of lord high admiral and in his seat at the council. James had ^ ^ ^gg^ been obliged to resign both these offices in James 1673, when the Test Act was passed which forbade any one to hold office unless he qualified for doing so by receiving the sacrament according to the rites of the English Church, and by signing a declaration against the Romish doctrine of Transubstantiation. The king now "dispensed" with the provisions of the Act, and James was restored to his dignities. Although the Whigs were discomfited and 5,000 troops 6S The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c. a.d. were quartered in London, it is doubtful whether this ^ . reinstatement of the Duke of York in his Princess Anne offices would not have caused much indig- Prince nation and outspoken dissatisfaction, had it Denmark ^°^ been for the wedding in the previous year (1683) of Anne, James' second daughter, with Prince George of Denmark, a Protestant. The marriage was a popular one, and did much to remove the suspicion with which James, as an avowed Papist, was regarded. Section V. — Death of Charles II. The year 1685 opened with gloomy prospects for the Whigs. The leaders were either exiled or disgraced, A. D 1685. ^^^ "o Parliament had been summoned Condition since 1681. The courtiers were revelling in of b^ngland ° in 16&5. extravagance and profligacy, and the money for enabling them to do so was received from France. The courts of justice were disgraced by the buUying de- meanor and the undisguised partiality of the judges. Romish priests, in defiance of law, openly exercised their functions and celebrated mass. The air was thick with rumors of plots, Protestant as well as Papist. Many of the chief towns, the strongholds of the national party, had lost their charters altogether, or had paid heavy fines to preserve them with diminished privileges. The English government was directed by Barillon, ambassador of Lewis XIV., and England, under the " Trimmer '* Halifax, was fast settling down into a French province. On February 5, Charles was seized with a fit of apo- plexy. Dr. King, one of the court physicians, happen- ing to be present, bled the king, which gave cSiis^lL ^i"^ temporary rehef ; but on the following day another attack occurred, which carried 1685. Death of Cha?'ies II. 69 him off after a few hours. His death-bed was marked by the same duplicity as his life had been. Bishops filled the room, anxious to administer the sacrament accord- ing to the rites of the Church of England to the dying man, so that all doubt as to his being a sincere member of their church might be removed. But Charles put them off. In the mean time, the Duke of York had, at inter- vals, carried on a whispered conversation with him, which ended in his telling those assembled that it was the king's wish that the room should be cleared of all but two or three of his personal attendants. Clergy and physicians were therefore hurried out of the room, and immediately one Huddleston, a Romish priest, in dis- guise, entered by a back staircase. To him the king made his last confession, and from him received absolution and extreme unction. Thus died Charles II. of England, a tool in the hands of Lewis XIV. of France. A tool by whose use Lewis hoped to gain the supremacy in Western Europe, trust- ing that then the Imperial Crown and Spain might in due course follow. Through Charles also, Lewis hoped that the spirit of Protestantism, the spirit of freedom, which was essentially opposed to his projects, might be so crushed in England as to be unable in future to afford either moral or material support to those on the Conti- nent who persisted in adhering to it. Charles was naturally attractive. He was amiable in conversation, and had the manners of a well-bred gen- tleman ; but of the feelings of a true gen- tleman he was ignorant, for he was a sensu- charfes^Yi. "^ alist and a most selfish one. His great object was to be freed from care, to gratify every passing desire, to be surrounded by smiling faces — faces of hand- some men and beautiful women — to be popular wherever 7o The Fall of the Stuarts, d^'c. a.d. he went, and into what company he might be thrown. Good-tempered, because good temper saved annoyance ; generous to those around him, because it was too much trouble to refuse trifling boons ; he was nevertheless one of the most cruel and hard-hearted of men. For he was the incarnation of selfishnesss ; he would sacrifice any one for his self-gratification ; he believed in no vir- tue and shrank from no vice. " Like master, like man ; " as was the king, so was the court. " We are much indebted, " says Hallam, " to , the memory of the courtiers and favorites court. of Charles II. They played a serviceable part in ridding the kingdom of its besotted loyalty. They saved our forefathers from the Star Chamber and the High Commission Court ; they labored in their vocation against standing armies and corruption ; they pressed forward the great ultimate security of Eng- lish freedom, the expulsion of the house of Stuart. " CHAPTER VI. LEWIS XIV. AND FRANCE, TO THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES (OCTOBER 12, 1685). Section I. — The Chambers of Reunion. Lewis XIV., after the signing of the Treaty of Nim- wegen, resolved to follow the policy advocated by Col- bert, and to give France breathing time to Lewis' replenish her resources ; but he also made c aims. ^p j^jg mind to try what advantages in de- termining the boundaries of the kingdom he might gain 1678. The Chambers of Reunion, 71 by diplomacy, and what privileges over the neighboring states he might venture to exercise. At the Peace of Westphaha (1648), the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, already long possessed by France, had been formally ceded to her. To ^ ^ ^g these bishoprics had been formerly attached Lewis esta- certain fiefs in Germany, and over these fiefs Chambers of _ . 1 • J • i T^u T • Reunion. Lewis now claimed sovereignty. The claim had been left unsettled at the Peace of Nimwegen. Lewis (1679), reopened the question, and added further complications with regard to his newly acquired territo- ries of Elsass (Alsace, 1648), and Franche Comte (1678). This claim of Lewis XIV. may be likened to a king of France demanding of a king of England the recognition of certain rights over English lands, because these lands had formerly been part of the possessions of Norman abbeys, when Normandy and England were under one monarch. In order to give some legal sanction to his claims, Lewis made use of the parliaments of Metz (Lothringen), Besangon (Franche Comt6), and Breisach (Elsass). In these he established chambers, called " Chambres Royales de Reunion," to investigate the claims put forth by the French king. The members of these chambers had been well pre- pared by Lewis' emissaries, and they decided that, by virtue of the Treaties of Westphaha (1648), Decisions the Pyrenees (1650), and Nimwegen, va- °( the . .1 1 1 • 1 r 11 Chambers. nous territories on the borders rightfully belonged to France. The effect of this decision was to take away from the King of Sweden his duchy of Zweibrucken (Deux Ponts) ; and from the Elector of Trier (Treves), the Elector Palatine, the Duke of Wiirtemberg, and other sovereign princes, several counties and lordships. 72 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. The city of Strasburg was an imperial city, but Lewis exerted all his ingenuity to get possession of it. He A.D. 1681. managed to obtain a decree from the ac- Stmsbfrg"' commodating chamber of Breisach, to the by strata- effect that Strasburg had been formerly a dependent fief and could not be alienated from Elsass, which was now French territory. The municipality of the city was gained over to the French cause by bribery. A large force was hastily and secretly assembled in the neighborhood. The magistrates had removed all means of defence. The imperial officer acting as resident in the city had no alternative but to leave. Without one drop of bloodshed, Lewis thus gained possession of a city which was considered the key of the Upper Rhine. Strasburg was forthwith re- fortified by Vauban. It was converted into a fortress of the first magnitude, and became the bulwark of France on its eastern frontier. A medal was struck to com- memorate the completion of the work, bearing the in- scription " Clausa Germanis Gallia" (France closed to the Germans). On October 23, 1681, Lewis entered Strasburg in state. Section H. — Further ambitious Schemes of Lewis. The designs of Lewis on the Imperial Crown were now understood by the European princes. It was there- ^ fore determined that a strong effort should Lewis pre- u j i i ■ pares to DC made to thwart his ambitious projects. A Luxemburg, treaty was therefore concluded iDetween \ort^^l Sweden. Holland, Germany, and Spain, who engaged to enforce observance of the conditions of the Treaty of Nimwegen. Lewis had assembled an army for the Blockade of Luxemburg; but on hearing of this treaty he hastily withdrew his troops, 1 682. Further ambifious Schemes of Lewis. 73 and proposed a mediator to adjudge on the validity of his various claims. The mediator he proposed was Charles II. of England. Pope Innocent XI. (1676-1689) had been unfriendly with Lewis. He disliked the king's encouragement of the Jesuits, and objected to his interference ■' ■' , _ , . A. D. 1682. in purely ecclesiastical matters. But his Affair of the anger was roused by Lewis claiming the ^^^®" right of the " Regale," that is the royal right to present to all benefices in a see as long as the see continues vacant, and to receive the income of the see until the new bishop has taken the oath of allegiance. This right the pope resisted. Lewis accordingly convoked an assembly of the French clergy. Under the influence of Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, the " Declaration of the Clergy of ^^^ Decla- France" was drawn up, March, 1682. The ration of the Clergy declaration asserted: — i, that the pope has no power in temporal matters ; 2, that the pope's spiritual authority is limited by the canons of the Church : 3, that the pope's decrees are not infallible unless confirmed by a general council ; 4, that the pope cannot subvert any of the liberties or constitutions of the Gallican Church. A royal edict converted this " Declaration " into law. The pope condemned the Declaration, and ordered it to be pubhcly burnt at Rome. It was many years before the difficulty was finally arranged, and then not in the life- time of Pope Innocent. He therefore was one of the numerous opponents of Lewis' policy. If we turn to the East, we shall find that (1683), Vienna was threatened by the Turks, whose army lay encamped before the city. Lewis was be- ^ ■' . . A. D. 1683. lieved to have encouraged the Sultan in his Lewis advance into Europe. He hoped that all Spanish the forces and energy of Germany would be Netherlands. 74 The Fall of the Stuarts^ &^c. a.d. engaged in contending with the Turks, and that it would be unable to give assistance to Spain or Holland, He then seized the opportunity to invade the Spanish Netherlands. Courtrai and Dixmuide were taken by him, and Luxemburg was threatened. Spain in vain looked for succor to her allies. Charles of England was in the pay of Lewis ; the Emperor was occupied by the Turkish war; Sweden was powerless; and William, the Stadtholder, could not persuade the States-General, to do more than make strong protests against Lewis' en- croachments. In June 1684 Luxemburg fell, and Trier (Treves), was taken and dismantled. Holland offered to mediate, William being evidently aware that the A. D. 1684. ^ ■' Treaty of present was not an opportune moment to burg^"^ continue the struggle. The preliminary con- dition made by the States was that their territories should be respected. Lewis having agreed to this, Holland concluded a treaty of peace with Lewis for twenty years, and compelled Spain also to accede, Lewis, being permitted to retain Luxemburg, but restoring to Spain Courtrai and Dixmuide. The emperor also agreed to the treaty, and it was formally signed at Re- gensburg (Ratisbon), August 15, 1684. One clause in this armed truce of twenty years (for such only it was) gave to France possession of all those places adjudged to her by the Chambers of Reunion up to August I, 1 68 1, but disallowed any claims put forward after that date. Section III. — The Huguenots, and the Revocation of the Etants. ^ ' soon began the persecution of Protestants. One by one their privileges were curtailed. In 1661 their right of private meetings was taken from them. In 1663 decrees were issued forbidding Protestants to keep schools of an upper grade, and permitting the children of Protestant parents, while of tender age, to change their religion without the consent of their parents. This harsh treatment of the Protestants continued until 1666, in which year Lewis was persuaded by Colbert to stay his hand, and promulgate no new laws against the liber- ty of the Huguenots. In 1675, however, a new disturbing influence made itself felt in the person of Madame de Maintenon. This lady had been born and bred a Huguenot, Madame de ^^yt having embraced the Roman Catholic Maintenon. ° religion, showed all the zeal of a convert for her new faith. She was the widow of a second-rate au- thor named Scarron, and had been employed for many years as governess to some of Lewis' illegitimate chil- dren. Acting in this capacity, she had gained the affec- tions of the king. Lewis was attracted towards her not so much by her beauty, which was mature and ripened, as by her wit, her prudence, her refinement, and her 1 68 4' The Huguenots. 77 rare gift of conversation. He experienced a new pleasure in the society of a woman who flattered him without fawning on him, and who appealed to those sentimental feelings which a man of ill-regulated mind is apt to call his better nature. Under the influence of Madame de Maintenon, Lewis returned to what she was pleased to designate the paths of virtue. Once more he lived on proper terms with his queen, Maria Theresa, and he set his mind on effecting a reformation in the religious belief of his subjects, which should equal the reformation which his own morals had undergone. All France therefore was to be converted to the Roman Catholic religion. In this resolve Lewis was strengthened not only by the se- ductions of Madame de Maintenon, but also by the en- treaties of the celebrated bishop Bossuet, who had been so zealous an ally in his quarrel with the pope, and by the injunctions of his trusted confessor. Father la Chaise. Colbert still strove against these allied influences, and for a time with some effect, but in 1683 Col- ,. ^ A. D. 1683. bert died, and Louvois, now Lewis' minister, Death of put no restraint on the king's wishes. Shortly after Colbert's death, Maria Theresa also died. After a few weeks' interval, Lewis privately, _ , , • ■.• 1 1 TT -1, 1 11- Death of m his chapel at Versailles, bestowed his Maria hand on the widow of Scarron. Henceforth, ancf Lewis' although she was styled only " Madame la wUh"^^^ Marquise de Maintenon," she wielded the Madame de - , , 1 1 T -1 Maintenon. power 01 a queen, and demanded the sub- mission and defence due to a crowned head. Now again burst forth persecutions of the Protestants. Protestant churches were closed. Protestants were for- bidden to plead in the law courts. Mar- ^ _ _ New perse- riages of Protestants with Catholics were de- cutions of ciared illegal, and their children illegitimate. 78 The Fall of the Stuarts, &>€, a. p. To Protestants the tax-gatherer paid daily visits. On Protestant householders were billeted twice the number of soldiers that the law compelled them to entertain. In many parts of France, and more particularly in the south, insurrections broke out ; and to quell these out- „, pj breaks, dragoons (soldiers who were accus- gonnades. tomcd to serve alike on foot or horseback) were employed. In many a town inhabited by Protestants, brutal atrocities were committed by these emissaries of religion. Huguenots, old and young alike, were put to death, and the women were subjected to every indignity. To escape from these dragomtades , as the military persecutions were called, there seemed but one means, flight. Hundreds of Huguenots sold their property, and were welcomed in England and Holland with open arms. This emigration was, however, put a stop to by fresh edicts uttered by Louvois. In 1685 the finishing stroke was put to the work of the conversion of all France by the revocation of the edict of Nantes. By this formal act not Revoca^dok merely were all privileges taken away of the edict fj.Qjj^ ti^e Protestants, but it was ordered that of Nantes. every Protestant church should be demo- lished ; that the exercise of the Protestant religion should be punished by perpetual imprisonment ; that all Pro- testant children should forthwith be baptized by Romish priests ; that all Protestant clergymen should either re- nounce their faith, or immediately quit France. To en- force these ordinances, the dragonnades became more and more severe. Louvois ordered the dragoons to live " licentiously." Fearful were the sufferings of the perse- cuted Protestants. Thousands ( 200,000,) after undergoing perils of every description, escaped to happier lands. Arriving almost 1 685' The Huguenots. 79 penniless, their industry and talents soon provided tiiem with plenty. England, Hoi- emigrate ^ T-v I 1- ana enrich land, Germany, Denmark were each en- foreign riched by the labor of the foreigners. One countries, district of London, Spitalfields, was colonized entirely by weavers of silk from Lyons and Touraine. In Holland manufactures of silk and paper were established by the refugees. Berlin was a small city of 1 5,000 inhabitants ; thither came an influx of 20,000 Huguenots, materially affecting not only an increase of the city, but a corre- sponding improvement in its trade and Wealth. Among the men of eminence who left their country were Duquesne, the first of the naval officers of France, who died in Switzerland ; Marshal Schomberg, afterwards to become the most trusted general of William of Orange ; de Ruvigny, afterwards Earl of Galway ; Rapin, the his- torian ; Papin, the natural philosopher. Many of the great English families of the present day were founded by the Huguenots. The industries of several French towns, such as Tours and Caen, were for a time completely ruined, but the flatterers of Lewis sang his praises. The „, _ ^1 11 1 ^ 11- 1 . • T^« French Chancellor le Tellier, bemg at the pomt of courtiers death, and the news of the revocation of the ^^J°^'^^- edict of Nantes being brought to him, chanted the " Song of Simeon. " Bossuet, the champion of the liberties of the Gallican Church against papal encroachments, com- pared Lewis to each of the heroes of Christendom, from Constantine to Charles the Great. Madame de Sevigne, the refined educationalist, was loud in her praises. The freethinkers and philosophers, the voluptuous courtiers, and the sneering cynics, all applauded an act which re- moved from France the Protestants. For, said they, these Huguenots will one day become dangerous, since 8o The Fall of the Stuarts^ &*c. a.d. their very existence proclaims a principle of revolution which a prudent and far-seeing monarch should stamp out of his subjects. CHAPTER VII. ACCESSION OF JAMES II. OF ENGLAND. Section I. — James' Policy on his Accession. Charles II. had died February 6 ; his brother, James, Duke of York, succeeded him as James II., and was crowned April 23. James knew the opinion of James which his Subjects held of him. At his II ... interview with the privy council he declared that although he had been ever represented as fond of arbitrary power, they should find the contrary ; that he would endeavor to maintain the government both in Church and State as by law established ; and that as, on the one hand, he would never yield the just rights and prerogatives of the Crown, so on the other hand the property and person of every subject should be secure. He added that the members of the Church of England had always been good and loyal subjects, and therefore he would always support and defend their Church. James II., son of Charles I., was born October 15, 1633 ; he was consequently in his fifty-second year at ^, his accession. His education in the trou- of James blous timcs of his boyhood had been much neglected, and his naturally slow perception had not therefore been quickened. He was one of the most obstinate of men ; and his obstinacy often prompted 1685. James' Policy on his Accession, 81 him to run directly counter to the wishes of his ad- visers. When a boy and an exile in France, he with- stood all his mother's entreaties, and all the pressure put on him by the French court and clergy, to become a Roman Catholic ; the more he was urged, the stronger became his Protestant sympathies But when he had returned to England, and found papists hated and feared by English churchmen as well as dissenters, then he be- came a Roman Catholic. Before the Restoration ( 1660) he had been solicited to join in a faction which had for its object the overthrow of the authority exercised by Lord Clarendon in the little H:ourt of the exiled royal fami- ly ; James acquiesced at first, but in the end married Clarendon's daughter, Anne. Joined to this obstinacy was a certain steadiness and regularity in business mat- ters, which would have fitted him to be a good head of a department in the civil service. His administra- tion of the navy from 1660 until 1673 was accordingly respectable, and formed a marked contrast to the mis- erable inefficiency presented by the same service from 1673 until 1685. But James had none of the heartiness of manner which rendered his brother Charles, in spite of his faults, popular. As licentious and selfish as Charles, he had no-ne of the latter's bonko?nie ; narrow-minded, stern, unforgiving, cruel, his character had but few re- deeming points. James' first wife, Anne Hyde, had died in 167 1, leav- ing two daughters ; the elder, Mary, born 1662, and married in 1677 to her first cousin, William, james' Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the United family. Provinces ; the younger, Anne, born in 1665, and married in 1683 to Prince George, brother of the King of Den- mark. James had married secondly, in 1673, the Princess Mary of Este, sister of the Duke of Modena. She had as G 82 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. yet no son, and of her five daughters all had died young. Her only son, James Francis Edward, was not born until June lo, 1688. The accession of James was as peaceful as if he had been the well beloved of his subjects. The speech he made to his privy council had been industri- Jnd reaT'"^^ ously circulated, and had somewhat calmed advisers of ^-j^g natural feelings of alarm entertained by James. ° English churchmen. He retained in office the ministers of the late king. But Lord Halifax was not trusted by him ; he could not forgive his conduct in hav- ing proposed, in the short Oxford parliament, a regency bill which would have curtailed his powers on his acces- sion. The king preferred the other ministers, Rochester, Godolphin, and Sunderland. Atthe same time he gathered around him a secret council of Roman Catholics, whose advice he took rather than that of his ministry. This secret council, which had with him as much influence as can be exercised over an obstinate man, was composed of Father Petre, the Jesuit, and the Lords Tyrconnel, Dover, Arundel, Castlemaine, and Powys. Nothing could have been devised by James more likely to arouse the apprehensions of his subjects than his first „, ^ two public acts after his coronation. He The first ^ . . - public acts assisted at the public celebration of a mass James. ,^ ^^^ royal chapel ; and he ordered the cus- toms and excise duties to be collected as usual, although they could not be legally demanded until they had been voted by parliament. Section H. — Lewis XIV. and James, Some apprehension had been felt by the French am- bassador, Barillon, that James intended to follow a 1685. New Parliaments, 83 policy with regard to France differing from that which had been followed by Charles. trie" the The courtiers openly declared that England bdber°^ was now to be independent, was to assume her proper position in Europe, and that the supremacy of France was at an end. Barillon represented his fears to his master, Lewis XIV. The arrogant bearing of Churchill, newly created Baron Churchill, who had been despatched as special envoy to Versailles to announce the death of Charles and the accession of James, in some de- gree confirmed Barillon's suspicions. Money ° r y ainj James was however already secretly offered to independence James, and Barillon soon found that French ^'^ money was as necessary to the new king as to the late one. James desired the restoration of the Roman Catholic religion, and freedom from the control of parliament. Had he been able to effect these objects •' Mutual without the support of France and without relations of French money, he would have been a happy Lewfs. ^" man, but he was not able ; and therefore he bore with the patronage, and took the money, of Lewis, although at the expense of his pride. Lewis desired to meet with no obstacle in his persecu- tion of the Protestants in France, and to be looked on as the most powerful sovereign of Europe. For these objects England must be kept subservient, and money must therefore be freely provided, both for the private use of the king, and for the judicious bribery of all classes of English politicians. Section IH. — The new Parliaments in England amd Scotland. On April 23, 1685, the Scotch Estates met. As Epis- 84 The Fall of the Stuarts f ^c. a.d. copalians only could sit in them, and as these formed but a small minority of Scotchmen, it was Estates°^^ not probable that the laws passed by them would be acceptable to the great body of the people, who were ardent Presbyterians. Episcopa- lians in Scotland were always Tories, and James asked them to continue the same line of conduct as he had pursued when Lord High Commissioner. His letter to this effect was read at the opening of the session, and was willingly obeyed. A still more rigid law than had been previously in force was passed against the cove- nanters. It imposed the penalty of death and of confis- cation of property on every one who preached in a room, or attended an open-air conventicle. The giving or taking the oath of the covenant was also declared trea- son. The new parliament also proved its adherence to the most extreme form of the doctrine of the divine right of kings, for it solemnly declared its detestation of " all principles and positions contrary and derogatory to the king's sacred, supreme, sovereign, and absolute power and authority." As soon as the act against the covenanters was passed, active steps were taken to carry it out. The counties of Dumfries, Wigton, Ayr, Lanark, and Kirkcud- Persecu- bright, were harassed by bands of regular tions in the soldiers and militia. The leader of these bouth- western bands was the same Graham of Claverhouse who had in 1679 been defeated at Drumclog, and after the battle of Bothwell Bridge had earned the name of "bloody Claverhouse." At the head of his regiment of dragoons, he was foremost in the cruel and murderous attempts to exterminate the covenanters. There are historians who attempt to excuse the cruelties practised as necessary to put down an incipient rebellion 1685. New Parliaments, 85 in a disaffected part of the country ; but the perpetrators of the crimes, in their official reports, never speak of their victims as rebels, but as wilful and obstinate noncon- formists, and as men holding pernicious doctrines. The persecution was religious more than political, and was doubtless an imitation of the dragonnades of Lewis. The murders of Brown, the carrier, in Lanarkshire, of Gillies and Bryce in Ayrshire, of Margaret Wilson and Margaret Maclachlan in Wigtonshire, roused the feeling of hatred against James and episcopacy to the utmost. The South-western Lowlands, although crushed, were forever alienated from the house of Stuart. The English parliament met May 19, 1685. In the attacks made on the charters of many English boroughs, the majority of the electors had lost their privilege of voting, and in such boroughs ^^^E^^i^'^h members who were devoted to James were Parliament returned. Tory principles had also un- ^' doubtedly gained ground. French gold, again, had con- verted many wavering politicians into friends of the court. Yet the combination of all these circumstances hardly accounts for the servility shown to James by both Houses in the two short sessions of 1685. James' attachment to the Roman Catholic religion, so openly displayed, wrought a great change in the feelings of English churchmen. In the reign of Charles parliament had continually opposed England in the court and defended the constitution, an ^iiL^t pa"' the Church had as constantly supported the ^^b^1"nt^ king; but, in the beginning of James' reign, churchmen, in fear of Rome and of attempts being made to reconcile England with the pope, became the de- fenders of the constitution, and formed the Opposition in parliament, which now, for the first time in the 86 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. century, was tamely submissive to the wishes of the sovereign. The first measures passed by parhament showed James „ , he might depend on its zeal and submission. Parliament . r -n- i grants A revenue of two millions was granted to large reve- ^he king. The severities of the law against nue, and treason Were also increased. Amongst other makes fresh ° laws against clauscs it was cnactcd that " any peer of the realm or member of the House of Commons moving to alter or change the descent of the Crown, should be adjudged guilty of high treason, and should suffer accordingly." Section IV. — Trials of Oates, Dangerfield and Richard Baxter. James could not forget how his honor, his religion, and even his life had been attacked in past years by the ^ . , ^ false witnesses in the so-called Popish Plots. 1 rial of "^ Titus Oates. Many of them were dead or had retired into obscurity, but two, Oates and Dangerfield, were still en- joying the proceeds of their false swearing. Oates was tried on a charge of perjury, and was found guilty. Jeffreys, the lord chief justice, presided at the trial. The sentence passed was a barbarous one, taking even into consideration the enormity of the crime which Oates had committed. He was condemned to be degraded from his orders, to be fined heavily, to be imprisoned for life, to be set in the pillory both in the Palace Yard and in front of the Royal Exchange, to be flogged by the common hangman from Aldgate to Newgate on one day, and on the next from Newgate to Tyburn, and if he survived these floggings, to be set in the pillory four times each year as long as he lived. Strange to say, although the floggings were carried out with the utmost rigor, Oates I 1685. Trials of Oates, Dangerfield and Baxter. 8 7 did survive them and lived to see not only his sentence set aside but his pension restored to him. Dangerfield was tried for libel, was convicted, and was also sentenced to be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate, and from Newgate to Tyburn, But in his case the result was more tragic than in that X"^' °^^ , , * Dangerfield of Oates. Half dead from the flogging, he and of was jeered at by a hot-headed Tory lawyer named Francis. Dangerfield with the little strength left him spat in Francis' face, on which the latter struck him on the head with a walking stick, and with such violence that he died in a few hours. Francis was put on his trial for the murder, was found guilty, and was sentenced to death. Great efforts were made to obtain Francis' pardon, but without avail, and the sentence was carried into effect. King James doubtless wished, by this re- fusal to grant a pardon, to gain a character for impar- tiality. Yet another trial must be mentioned, as tending to show that James and the court party intended to treat English dissenters as Scotch covenanters 1 • 1 T^- 1 1 -r. t Trial of were bemg treated. Richard Baxter, the Richard nonconformist divine, had lived to the age of seventy respected by all parties, churchmen as well as puritans. He had even been offered a bishopric by Charles 11. In a Commentary on the New Testament which he had published were certain reflections on the justice of the penal statutes against dissenters. Upon this he was indicted for libel. Jeffreys again presided, and the trial is remarkable for the brutal insolence dis- played by him. Baxter's counsel were insulted, Baxter himself was blustered at and abused, and on arguing, in the course of his defence, that there was no evidence to go before the jury on which they could convict, was 88 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. stopped by Jeffrey's exclaiming, " Don't trouble yourself about that." It is needless to add he was convicted, was sentenced to a heavy fine, and, being unable to pay the fine, was kept in prison for eighteen months. CHAPTER VIII. REBELLIONS OF ARGYLE AND MONMOUTH. Section I. — Refugees in Holland. There were gathered together in Holland a large num- ber of refugees who had fled from England and Scotland to avoid the state prosecutions of the dominant party. Among them were representatives of various political parties, and of various social ranks. There were zeal- ous Presbyterians, flying from the country Refugees i^ which prelacy was sanctioned by law ; areof there were plotting political intriguers, to various ^ . o » political whom every fresh intrigue afforded means ar ics. ^^^ replenishing their scanty purses ; there were large-hearted philosophers, who sought a land in which they might study and print without fear of being tried for libel. Among all these, two noblemen stood forth, pre-emi- nent from their high rank — the Duke of Monmouth and the Earl of Argyle. Monmouth was treated kindly by William of Orange, and was received by him at his court. But William had also hopes that his father-in-law, James, wnfiam"of°^ would not sacrifice the interests of Europe ^ri"§^ and of England to the French alliance ; and with the * ' Duke of by means of his ambassador at the English Monmouth. , , . n • -l • court he was domg ail m nis power to thwart the schemes of Lewis XIV. He therefore en- 1685. Refugees in Holland. 89 deavored to dissuade Monmouth from taking part in, or encouraging, any expedition against James II. To re- move him from the temptation of his English friends in exile or at home, William offered, if he would join the emperor, who was then warring with the Turks, to equip and maintain both himself and relinue as became an EngUsh prince of the blood. Monmouth, however, would not accept this offer. He was entangled in a discredit- able love-affair ; for an English noble lady had thrown her fortune and reputation at his feet, and had inflamed his mind with the hope of becoming king of England. The Earl of Argyle, smarting under his unjust sentence and detesting James as his personal enemy, had kept up constant communication with the whig noblemen in Scot- land. From what he learnt, he thought the time had arrived for dispersing the Scotch parliament and abolish- ing episcopacy in Scotland. He was assured ^ , . 1 1 1 • 1 1 Relations of also that his clan, the Campbells, could be Monmouth trusted to a man. It does not appear that ^^^ ^^^ ^' Argyle had any idea of proclaiming Monmouth as king, for there seems to have been no sympathy between the two. It was evident, however, that some co-operation, and apparent common purpose would conduce to the success of both, and therefore consultations were held. The result of these consultations was that two distinct ex- peditions were determined on ; one under Argyle to land in Scotland, the other under Monmouth in England ; and it was further agreed that Argyle's expedition should be first fitted out. But before either expedition could be made ready, it was necessary to take more of the refugees into council, and to unfold the plans of the leaders to them. „ *■ . Prepara- It was hoped that all would be found united tions for the and eager for action. But among men of "^^^ 9© The Fall of the Stuarts J ^'c. a.d. such different aims and of such various reputations, union could be looked for only if some whom all alike respected took the lead. Neither Monmouth nor Argyle was such. Monmouth was too vain and frivolous, Argyle too proud and distant, to kindle enthusiasm in their followers. A curious plan therefore was adopted from the practice of the Dutch. The Dutch were in the habit of appoint- ing one or more civil commissioners to accompany every general in command of an army. The commissioners had the power of controlling the general's operations, unless these were entirely in accordance with a scheme for the campaign which had been previously agreed on. William had himself, as had also many other Dutch generals, been sadly hampered by this burgher-device. Following then the Dutch precedent, two commissioners were sent with each expedition — with that of Argyle, two Englishmen, Rumbold and Ayliffe, both implicated in the Rye House Plot ; with that of Monmouth, two Scotch- men, Fletcher of Saltoun and Fergusson. Section \\.— Argyle' s Expedition. On May 23, 1685, King James in a speech to the par- liament, announced that Argyle had landed in Scotland. The earl had sailed with three ships from fbr¥cotlTnd Holland on May 2, and, after touching at the Orkneys, had sailed down the west coast of Scotland, and had landed at Campbelltown, on the east side of the peninsula of Cantyre. Yet live there still who can remember well, How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, Both field and forest, dingle, cliff and dell, And solitary heath, the signal knew ; And fast the faithful clan around him drew, 1 685. Argyle's Expedition. 91 What time the warning note was keenly wound, What time aloft their kindred banner flew, While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, And while the Fiery Cross glanced like a meteor round. And from Tarbet the fiery cross was sent forth to sum- mon thither all the Campbells to join the standard of the great earl. To the number of about ^rgyle lands. 2,000 the clansmen assembled, but amongst \^^ AKGYLE'S CAMPAIGN^ Russell i- Struther»,N.T, them no noblemen or gentlemen of mark. From the neighboring western Lowlands came no supporters, as Argyle had hoped, for they dreaded to bring again upon 92 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.Dc themselves the visits of Claverhouse's soldiers. Meets with but ^nd in the councils of the little army dis- uttle support. •' sensions soon arose, as was to be expected, from the presence of the commissioners, Rumbold and Ayliffe. Contrary to his own better judgment, Argyle marched southwards into the Lowlands ; but meeting there with but small encouragement, he determined to retrace his steps. The few Cameronians who had joined the rebels refused, however, to march farther north than Inverary. Argyle was now in perplexity, and to add to his trouble, intelligence was brought him that his stores, which he had landed and placed for security in a castle at the mouth of Loch Riddan, and near which for greater protection he had moored his three ships, had been cap- tured, and that his ships had been burnt. Supplies failed him, and the clansmen began to disband. No other course seemed open to Argyle but again to turn southwards, and to make an unexpected attempt on J- , Glasgow in the hopes that if he succeeded towards he should awaken the enthusiasm of the Lowlanders. With reduced numbers, the army marched into Dumbartonshire, and in the rugged country between Loch Long and Loch Lomond, found their progress constantly harassed by the royal troops who were gathering round them. Argyle proposed to attack the royal forces, for they were for the most part but newly raised militia; but he was met by objections from the commissioners, who had seen soldiers in scarlet uni- form among them. It was therefore hastily determined to endeavor, under the cover of night, to slip through the hostile lines, and to make for Glasgow with all speed. Movements of troops by night are at all times, and under any circumstances, hazardous, but if the troops 1 685- Argyle' s Expedition. 93 are irresrular, such as the Highlanders were, ^ . ..*='. Argyle's such operations are, m ninety-nine cases out troops of a hundred fatal. So it was with Argyle's isperse. army. The watch-fires were left burning to deceive the enemy, and the night march began. The guides lost their way in the darkness, and led the troops into some boggy ground. Suddenly a report arose that they were betrayed. They fled in all directions ; some fell into the hands of the enemy, others struggled back into Argyle- shire and the islands, to carry thither the news of the defeat of their great chief. When morning broke, it was found that but 500 had kept together. Nothing was now left but to disperse as best they could. On June 17, Argyle, disguised as a carter, was ca^ptured taken prisoner and led to Edinburgh. andexe- ■^ " cuted on Thither also Rumbold, one of the com- his former scntciicc missioners, who was wounded, was taken. Ayliffe, the other, was captured and sent to England. No trial awaited the Earl of Argyle. His former sen- tence of death for leasing-making was still unrevoked. On this sentence it was determined to execute him at once. Argyle's fortitude never forsook him, for he be- lieved in the justice of his cause, and he thought that for his country and religion he was bound to take up arms. So he calmly met his end. Rumbold and Ayliffe were also executed, the latter in England, his head being placed on Temple Bar. The usual atrocities followed the defeat of the rebel- lion. The country for miles around Inverary was laid waste. Hundreds of Campbells were trans- „ . , , . , Punish- ported to the plantations (that is, to work ments in- as slaves in the West Indies), the men with the clan the loss of one ear, the women scarred and Campbell, branded. The boats and fishing-nets of the islanders 94 The Fall of the Stuarts ^ dr'e. A.D. 1685. Monmouth' s Expedition. 95 were destroyed. Many suspected persons had at the outbreak of the rebeUion been confined in the castle of Dunnottar, on the east coast of Scotland. Crowded into one dungeon, many of them died. The survivors were transported. James and his advisers hoped and thought that now, at all events, Scotland was quieted. Section III. — Momnouth' s Expeditio7t. It was early in the month of June that Monmouth with his expedition left the coast of Holland. At the request of the English ambassador, William sent an ° Monmouth s order to the authorities at Amsterdam to de- expedition, tain the ships. But the board at Amster- wiiUamin- dam made excuses. They said the vessels attemSs w were chartered for the Canaries, and before detain it, . sets sail. they could venture to detain them they must have formal proof that their intended destination was England. Monmouth determined to put to sea before further steps could be taken. The expedition consisted of three vessels, conveying Monmouth, Lord Grey, and only 80 followers, but with arms and equipments for a small army. William, however, as a proof of his anxiety to assist King James, sent back to London, with all speed, three Scotch regiments in his service. Escaping the English cruisers in the Channel, Mon- mouth, after a stormy voyage, arrived on June 11, ofif Lyme, in Dorsetshire, and landed. A few \ , , Monmouth militia were in the town. These ran away, lands in and the townspeople welcomed him with shire, " shouts of " A Monmouth ! a Monmouth ! " J"""^ "• His standard was set up in the market-place, and a pro- clamation, of which Fergusson, the commissioner, was 96 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. A,b. said to be the author, was put forth. It recited various charges against James ; that he was endeavoring to sub- vert both the Protestant rehgion and the English consti- tution ; that he had caused London to be burnt in 1666 ; that he had been the originator of the Popish plot dis- closed by Oates ; that he had assassinated the Earl of Essex, and had poisoned the late king. The proclama- tion asserted also that Monmouth was the legitimate son of Charles 11. , and therefore rightful heir to the crown of England. The common people flocked to Monmouth's standard. The day after the landing, 1,500 foot and a few horsemen had joined him. The summer of 1684 had Many "^ people join been a very dry one; it had been followed onmout . ^^ ^ winter so severe that for months all agri- culture had been stopped, and this hard winter had been again succeeded by a long drought. Great distress, therefore, existed, and particularly in the West of Eng- land. Popular distress often produces popular disaffec- tion. The government of James was credited with much of the scarcity caused by the inclemency of the seasons. Monmouth's advent was therefore hailed with delight by the ignorant peasantry, and Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Somersetshire supplied recruits for his forces. A few half-trained militia were the only troops to op- pose Monmouth. Bridport was garrisoned by 300 of these. Monmouth detached Lord Grey Skirmish of from Lyme to attack Bridport. He placed Lord Grey. ^^^^^ ^.^ Orders about 400 rebel foot and all his small body of horse. The militia marched out of Bridport to meet Grey. An indecisive engage- ment took place. The militia first wavered and then stood firm ; their firmness dismayed Grey's cavalry ; these took flight, and did not draw bridle until, accompanied 1685. Monmouth^ s Expedition. 97 by Lord Grey, they had reached Lyme. The rebel foot, although deserted by the cavalry, withdrew in good order. The militia of Devonshire, under the command of the Duke of Albemarle, lord lieutenant of the county, were assembled at Exeter for their annual train- ^ _. • 1 • ir 11 1 r Devonshire ing. Puttmg himself at the head of 4,000 militia of these, Albemarle marched to meet the in- mm- """ surgents. Coming up with their advanced worthy, guard at Axminster, his men proved so untrustworthy that, although he was in much greater force, he feared an engagement, and retreated to Exeter. Monmouth declined to follow Albemarle, and continued his march to Taunton, at which town he arrived on June 18. Monmouth's entry into Taunton was a triumphant one. The church bells rang out ; the young girls of the town strewed flowers before him ; standards, Monmouth embroidered with the royal arms, were pre- ^^ Taunton, sented to him. Intoxicated with this reception, Mon- mouth caused himself to be proclaimed king. Although none but the lower orders had as yet joined him, the Whig nobility and gentry of the western counties had looked on his expedition with no unfriendly eyes, and were doubtful as to the course which they should them- selves adopt. But by allowing himself to be proclaimed king, Monmouth disclosed his intentions, and at once caused the waverers to draw back. The heir to the throne of James was as yet his eldest daughter, Mary, mar- ried to the great statesman of Europe, who alone held his own against the King of France. Nor were the Whigs disposed to substitute for him the handsome, weak, licentious Monmouth. Henceforth the failure of Monmouth's expedition was but a question of time. On the news reaching London of Monmouth's having landed in Dorsetshire, the parliament was hastily aa- H 9^ The Fall of the Stuarts, d:'c. a.d. . journed until the autumn. The militia of News oi Monmouth's Wiltshire was called out under the Earl of b^rought to Pembroke, and that of Gloucestershire under London. ^-^g Duke of Beaufort. The Sussex militia, under Lord Lumley, marched westward. Thither also were dispatched all the troops in London, except the three Scotch regiments, which, having been sent back to James by William, were retained for the defence of the capital. The regular troops under the command of Lord Feversham numbered 2,500 men, and about three days' march in advance of them was sent the regi- ment of the Blues under Lord Churchill. Monmouth marched from Taunton to Bridgewater with 6,000 men, 1,000 being cavalry; but these latter were ill-disciplined, and their horses not being trained to stand fire, were more dangerous to their friends Monmouth s ^ marchings than to their foes. From Bridgewater he counter- proceeded to Glastonbury, thence to Wells, marchings. ^^^ f^.^^^ -^^jlg j^g Tiva.di^ for Bristol, which town was supposed to favor his cause. But Bristol was occupied by Beaufort and his militia, and was thought too strong to be attacked. Monmouth now retreated in the direction of Bath, Churchill hanging on to his rear and flanks, and cutting off his stragglers. The garrison of Bath was too strong to be taken by a coup-de-main, and Feversham with his army was close to the city. Monmouth therefore turned southwards to Frome, re- pulsing on his way an attack made by the advanced guard of the royal troops. From Frome he returned to Wells, and thence again to Bridgewater, his forces being reduced in numbers by the long marches and bad weather. The main body of Feversham's army had now reached Sedgemoor, about three miles from Bridge- water, where they encamped. 1685. MonmoutK s Expeditio7t. 99 Sedgemoor is a morass, intersected by deep and broad ditches called rhines, and Feversham's encampment was covered in front by one of these, called the ^ , . -^ Battle of Old Bussex rhine. Monmouth took the Sedgemoor, resolution of attacking the royal army in its encampment, and of doing so by a surprise by night. As has been said before, irregular troops cannot be trusted to carry out movements such as night attacks, which require the utmost discipline and order. Mon- mouth's guides brought him to the brink of the rhine, fronting Feversham's encampment. This was too deep to be crossed. The insurgents halted in doubt. Shots were fired across the rhine, and these roused Fever- sham's troops. Making a detour, they fell on Monmouth's army. Lord Grey and his horse were the first of the in- surgents to give way. The stout peasants and miners of the west country fought with desperation. The wagons filled with ammunition had been cut off by the Blues. Grey reported that his cavalry had fled, so Monmouth made up his mind that all was lost. In the early dawn he, with Lord Grey and two others, rode off as fast as they could towards the New Forest. Deserted by their leaders the insurgents endeavored to fly ; but Colonel Kirke, at the head of his Tangier troops, followed them in close pursuit. As the regulars came up with the stragglers, they put them to death, often under circum- stances of the greatest barbarity. The villages round were searched, and all persons found sheltering fugitives were arrested. On the flag carried by Kirke's soldiers was a paschal lamb, a badge which had been conferred on them when fighting- against the Mahomedans. The peasantry of the West in irony called them " Kirke's lambs." The battle of Sedgemoor, if battle it can be called, was the last which was fought on English soil. TOO The Fall of the Stuarts ^ &*c. A.D. 1685. The Bloody Assize. loi Monmouth and Grey, when their horses were worn out, proceeded on foot in the disguise of countrymen. On Tuly 7, they separated, and Grey was ; -r, • 1 ^, , Monmouth soon taken near Rmgwood. The next day and Grey Monmouth also was found, concealed in a capture . ditch, and half dead from want of food. Both prisoners were at once dispatched to London : Monmouth exhibit- ing both fear and depression. Grey appearing more calm and collected than on the field of battle. On being taken into the presence of the king, Mon- mouth made the most degrading appeals that his life miyht be spared ; but Tames was inexorable. o • ^ r ^ ^^ i MonmoUth beemg therefore that all was over, he re- executed. covered his equanimity, and at his execu- "^^^ lion behaved with fortitude. He was brought to the scaffold July 15. A serious tumult had nearly arisen at the last, for the executioner blundered at his work, and the spectators yelled with fury. With the mob Mon- mouth had always been popular, and for years his memory was reverenced by them as that of a Protest- ant hero and martyr. Lord Grey, who was wealthy, was allowed to ransom his life by the payment of 40.000/0, and in the succeeding reign, as Earl of Tankerville, he again took an active part in politics. Section IV. — The Bloody Assize. James, ever revengeful, thought the proceedings of Kirke and his lambs too lenient. He therefore dis- patched Jeffreys on a special commission, to try all those who were implicated, either ^^^\^7^ ^" ' ^ the West. as rebels or as having given shelter to rebels. This assize, known as the "Bloody Assize," was by James called Jeffreys' campaign. The result of I02 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. the trials was that about 300 persons were executed, nearly 1,000 more transported to Virginia and the West Indies, and many besides were whipped and fined. A bribe of 2,000/. was paid to the maids of honor of the queen, in order to obtain the pardon of the young girls of Taunton who had presented Monmouth with a stan- dard. But no trial was conducted with greater harshness, in none did the brutal coarseness of Jeffreys show itself less undisguised, no sentence, and conse- cution ofLady qucnt execution has excited so great indig- Alice Lisle. nation, as that of Lady Alice Lisle. Hers was the first trial, and she was the first victim. The aged widow of John Lisle, one of the judges who had presided at the trial of Charles L, she had long lived a retired life in the neighborhood of Winchester. She was now accused of harboring fugitives from Sedgemoor. The jury hesitated to find her guilty, but after being bullied and browbeaten by Jeffreys, they gave a reluc- tant verdict. The sentence passed by Jeffreys was that she should be burned alive. With the greatest difficulty her friends (amongst whom were Lord Feversham, the victor at Sedgemoor, and Lord Clarendon, the king's brother-in-law), obtained the commutation of the sen- tence. She was to be beheaded, and not burned. Five days after the trial, the sentence was carried into effect at Winchester. 1685. Second Session of Parliament. 103 CHAPTER IX. FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC POLICY. Section I. — Second Session of Parliament in 168^. The parliament, which had been hastily adjourned on the news of Monmouth's landing in Dor- A. D. 1685. setshire, was ordered to reassemble on No- vember 9. As it had already proved so reassembles obedient to his wishes, the king hoped to November 9. find it in a tractable mood. But two events had in the interval occurred, which ma- terially affected the views of those Tory members of par- liament who were not bhnd adherents of the court, and had not been corrupted by French gold. The first of these events was the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Court endeavored to prevent the intelligence of the edict having been revoked from spreading in England. The Gazettes, published twice weekly, did not mention what was passing in France. It was only by private letters, and by the arrival of nu- Temper of •' '^ •' parliament. merous French refugees on the shores of England, that the news was promulgated. Evelyn, in his diary, remarks, " Whence this silence I list not to conjecture, but it appear' d very extraordinary in a Pro- testant countrie, that we should know nothing of what Protestants suffer'd." The second event was the dismissal of Lord Halifax from his Habfax dis- missed, office of president of the council. James found Halifax, although a " Trimmer," of not sufficient- ly facile principles. He had in his place in the council, told the king that he could not sanction by his vote the I04 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. A.D. repeal of either the Test Act or the Habeas Corpus Act. On the repeal of these obnoxious statutes James had fixed his heart, and although Halifax had been the chief agent in setting aside the Exclusion Bill, and should for this reason have earned the gratitude of James, he was abruptly dismissed and his place given to Lord Sunder- land. Halifax had, with more consistency than was usually shown by him, always strenuously opposed the policy of Lewis XIV. William of Orange therefore Effect of , . , • J. • 1 , , Halifax's leamt from his dismissal, that the promises William of of his father-in -law, that England should not Orange. support the ambitious schemes of the French kinsr. were not to be relied on. The Stadtholder conse- quently took active measures to devise some coalition by which independently, and in spite of James, these schemes might be counteracted. In his speech on the meeting of parliament, James asked for a " supply " to enable him to keep in his service the regular troops now under arms, as the experience of the militia in the late troubles proved that they could not be depended on. He also added poS?tr°' that as some of the officers of the army polish the could not comply with the requirements of the Test Act, he haped that this act might be repealed. Now the Test Act, which had been passed in 1673, compelled all persons holding any office or com- mission under the Crown to take the sacrament accord- ing to the order of the English Church, and to sign a declaration against the Romish doctrine of transubstan- tiation. It was owing to the passing of this Act that James himself had, in days gone by, been obliged to resign the office of lord high admiral. The Act, more- over, was looked on not only by the Whigs, but also by 1 686. Foreign Policy ofJai?ies. 105 all moderate Tories and churchmen, as the great safe- guard against the encroachments of the Romish Church. The Commons at once acceded to one of the king's requests, and were prepared to grant 700,000/. as a supply for the troops. This proved them to be in a compliant mood, for they conceded the principle of a standing army, which was so generally repugnant to English statesmen and patriots. But the repeal of the Test Act, which would enable Popish officers to be in command of the newly-formed army, was a measure which the court, with all its influence could not carry. The House was subservient to James, but not his slavish tool. In a division, the court party was beaten by a majority of one (183 to 182). Halifax's influence was strong enough to prevent the Lords placing themselves in opposition to the Commons. James therefore, enraged and bitterly disappointed, resolved to prorogue parliament at once. He did not even wait until the 700,000/. was formally voted, but prorogued the Houses on November 27. The same parliamment never again met for the des- patch of business. It was formally prorogued twice in 1686, and finally dissolved in July, 1687. Section II. — Foreign Policy of James; 1686. League of Augsburg. The Elector Palatine, brother of the Duchess of Or- leans, had died without issue in 1685. His nearest male relative had succeeded. The duchess claimed certain lands as hers, by right of succession to her brother. At her marriage with the Duke of Orleans, she had renounced all claims on the Palatinate. io6 The Fall of the Stuarts, d^c. a.d. ScE?ti-" Lewis, following out his policy of sowing nate fostered dissension in the empire, supported the by Lewis. claims of the duchess. The elector Palatme appealed to the Emperor to protect him. William of Orange saw a good opportunity of re- straining Lewis. He arranged a league of all the princes League of of the empire, consisting of the Emperor, the Augsburg. Kings of Spain and Sweden, as holders of principalities in the empire, the Electors of Bavaria and Saxony, and all the inferior princes. The object of the league, called the league of Augsburg, was to maintain the provisions of the Treaty of Nimwegen ; and to en- force the observance of the treaty, an army of 60,000 men was to be raised, and the necessary funds supplied, by the princes who subscribed to the league. The league was to continue in force for three years. William was not himself a party to the actual league, since he was not a prince of the empire, but he was the ruling agent in its formation. During all the intrigues and counter-intrigues on the Continent, Lewis and his able representative Barillon were striving to persuade James to enter into favors a formal alliance with France. On the ^^^^' other hand, William of Orange, the Emperor and the Pope were endeavoring to keep James from com- mitting himself with Lewis. The Pope (Innocent XL), already vexed with Lewis' pretensions, was actuated in this step by his desire not only to prevent the aggrandize- ment of Lewis, but also to arrest the increasing influence exercised over James by the Jesuits, an order to the prin- ciples of which he was much opposed. The proceedings of James were evidently of the greatest interest, for his open e.spousal of Lewis' policy might turn the scale in the balance of power. It was soon apparent to whose I 1 686. Home Policy of James. 107 side his inclinations leaned. The sovereign who had re- voked the Edict of Nantes was one congenial to James. Sunderland was, from his long residence in France, well known to Lewis. Bribed by an annual pension of 6,000/. he consented to advocate Lewis' measures in the council ; and he agreed, Sunderland moreover, secretly to embrace the Romish by Lewis, faith. The confessor of James, the Jesuit Father Petre, per- suaded him to send an embassy to the Pope, in order to try and detach his Holiness from any alii- ^ •' ^ James sends an ance with the Emperor. On account, how- embassy to the ever, of the pope's known antipathy to the ^ ' Jesuits, the ambassador selected, Lord Castlemaine, was instructed not to enter into any engagements with the Papal See without the consent both of the General of the Order of Jesuits and of the French ambassador at Rome. James thus openly showed his predilection for the French alliance, and whilst he looked coldly on his ministers, Rochester and Clarendon, who remained staunch to the English Church, he made Sunderland, the convert, his confidential adviser. Section III. — Home Policy of fames ; 1686. James next showed that he was bent on overstepping the limits placed by the constitution on the power of the Crown. He claimed the dispensing power ^ ° "^ James en- Df the sovereign ; he obtained from a bench croach- 3f judges a verdict allowing this claim ; he theconsti- sstablished a new ecclesiastical commission ; tution. md in order to overawe the capital he encamped his regular troops on Hounslow Heath. There were certain cases in which lawyers had held io8 The Fall of the Stuarts , ^c. a.d. that the Crown had power to grant dispensation from complying with the terms of statutes. But these were only private cases involving no public interests, and the dispensations were such as are granted by daTms the bishops whcn they excuse a parish incum- power^'"^ bent from residence, and were always dis- pensations from statutes a too rigid inter- pretation of which might cause a private injury. But no lawyer had ever held that the Crown had power to dis- pense with the conditions required by the common law of the land. James, however, claimed as his prerogative that he might practically set aside the Test Act by grant- ing a dispensation from the prohibitions and penalties laid down by it. In order to try the power of the Crown an indictment was laid against Sir Edward Hales, a Papist, who had Case of Sir been appointed by the king colonel of a Hale^'^^ regiment and governor of Dover castle, and had not, previously to entering on the duties of these offices, qualified according to the terms of the Test Act. The case was heard before the Court of King's Bench, twelve judges being present. The court was pre- sided over by the new chief justice, Herbert; Jeffreys having been made lord chancellor. On June 2i| 1686, James' judgment was delivered in favor of the ac- fowed^b" cused. Eleven out of the twelve judges the King's agreed that the king had power by his pre- Bench. . ,. rogative to dispense with penal laws, and for reasons of which he was sole judge ; and that this pre- rogative of the king could not be restrained by statutes. The effect of this judgment was to declare the sovereign absolute, and uncontrolled by laws made by parliament. This decision was another proof to Englishmen that their constitutional liberties were in danger of being 1 686, Hotne Policy of James. 109 again trodden under foot by a Stuart, and caused a strong feeling to arise in favor of the next heir, Mary and her husband, Wilham of Orange. Lewis, on the other hand, congratulated James that he would now be able to rule as befitted a Petreand monarch. Taking advantage of the judg- Catholic ment in his favor, Tames created several p^.^''^ ^^^^ ' •' privy coun- Roman Catholic peers, and his confessor, cillors. Father Petre, privy councillors. A collection had been authorized to be made in the churches, for the purpose of relieving the refugees whom the tyranny of Lewis XIV. had thrown on the Enghsh shores. But James had at the forms^an ec- same time ordered the clergy to desist from ciesiastical °-' _ commission preaching on controversial subjects, and to keep from discussing in their pulpits the conduct the clergy, and character of the French king. He re- quired the several bishops to see this order carried out. The dean of Norwich, who was also rector of St. Giles, London, disobeyed the order. For this disobedience the bishop of London (Compton) was requested to sus- pend him from his clerical duties and emoluments. The bishop declined to punish the dean more severely than by withdrawing for a few months his license to preach. In order to show the bishops and the clergy that he was not to be trifled with, James forthwith established a new ecclesiastical commission. This proceeding was illegal on the king's part. The ecclesiastical commission court of Queen Elizabeth had been long abolished by act of parliament, and the same act had provided that nu new court of like powers should be constituted. In spite of this act, James issued a new commission in the very words which had created the original court. The court was composed of the archbishop of Canter- no The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c, a.d^ bury (who never took his seat), the bishops of Durham ^, and Rochester, the Lords Sunderland and J. he new commission Rochester, Jeffreys, the lord chancellor, and the^Bishop Herbert, the lord chief justice. Three of of London. these might form a quorum, but it was pro- vided that the chancellor should be always one of the quorum. Immediately on its creation, the court sum- moned before it the bishop of London, and after delibe- rations extending over several days, suspended him from his office. The army encamped on Hounslow Heath consisted of nearly 13,000 men. It was commanded by Lords Feversham and Dumbarton, both of whom James ... visits his were Papists. Hither James continually ^'^^^' repaired, treating both officers and men with studied good-will. '„ Samuel Johnson, a clergyman of the Church of England, was in prison for an alleged libel on James, when Duke of York, in a book called Johnson is "Julian, the Apostate." From his prison Httempring° ^^ wrote an address to the Protestant sol- '^°id'^e''^ ^^ diers encamped at Hounslow, adjuring them not to allow themselves to be tools in the hands of a tyrant bent on persecuting and ex- terminating the Protestant faith. Johnson was again placed on his trial for this, and sentenced to lose his gown, to be placed in the pillory, and to be whipped through London. To add to the distrust excited by Roman Catholics sitting at the privy council, various orders of Roman Catholics were permitted to open schools in Spread of London, and to found monasteries. Bene- Roman ' Catholicism. dictines were located in Saint James', the Jesuits in the Savoy, the Franciscans in Lin- 1 686. Home Policy of James. iii coin's Inn Fields, the Carmelites in the City. Schools were opened by the Jesuits, and owing to the high repu- tation of that order for education, attracted many scholars. Pamphlets were also printed, and distributed widely, in defence of Romanism. James endeavored to propitiate the nonconformists also by allowing them equal privileges with the Roman- ists. Formal declarations of liberty of con- science were pubhshed both in England ^^Pi^^^J'^gjfJ'g^ and in Scotland. No restraint was to be placed on any sect in the exercise of its religious ser- vices. But this affectation of liberality on the part of James deceived few. The Anabaptists, and some of the more extreme sects, insignificant, in point of num- bers and influence, alone thanked the king, and took advantage of the indulgence. The great battle between Protestantism and Roman- ism, still undecided on the Continent, had, at the begin- ning and middle of the seventeenth cen- ^, ® The contest tury, merged in England into the contest of between Pro- ■r- . AT- 11 testantism Episcopacy or Anglicanism, supported by and Roman- the Crown, against nonconformity and lib- '^™' erty of conscience. But at the close of the century it had in England again reverted to the old form of struggle. Now the fight was between Protestantism, championed by the Church of England, and Papacy, protected by the King. The Crown had secured for itself the support of the bench, and of all the lawyers who aspired to a seat on the bench. The lawyers of the Temple ^ , ^ Subservien- made themselves indeed notorious for their cy of the sycophancy by sending an address to the ^^yers. king, thanking him for the declaration of indulgence, and concluding by stating their determination to defend. 112 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. if need were, with their Uves and fortunes, the divine maxim, "a Deo rex, a rege lex" (the king is made by God, and the law by the king.") Section IV. — Attack of fames on the Universities. James, feeling sure of the support of his law officers, aimed a blow at the universities, and through them at the Established Church, which raised a ferment through- out his kingdom never allayed during the remainder of his reign. The universities had never, in the darkest hour of the Stuarts, flinched from their loy- feit * aga'inst ^^ty to the throne ; and as a reward for their sympaihy"'^ constancy, they were now attacked. No for the uni- wouder, then, that the country squires and versities. , _, . . country rectors, the Tory supporters of the doctrine of the divine right of kings, felt that no sacri- fices on their part would insure their safety from the spoiler, the encroaching Romish Church, since the uni- versities, whose teaching and whose loyalty they had followed, were not spared. At Cambridge a small band of philosophical students resided, who had long incul- cated the doctrine of religious liberty, and had endea- vored to show that this liberty existed in, and was best fostered by, an Established Church. They were held in respect by the Whigs and by moderate nonconformists, but they now learnt that their own doctrine might be perverted into one which was injurious to the liberties of their Alma Mater. The rights of the Established Church and of the uni- versities were encroached on by James in the following instances. The bishopric of Oxford was made given to Dr. Parker, who, although a mar- Oxford°^ ried man and nominally a Protestant, had 1687. Attack on the Universities. 113 nevertheless declared that he held absolutely all the doc- trines of the Romish Church. In December, 1686, the deanery of Christ-church, Ox- ford, became vacant. Massey, a Romanist, was in- stalled as dean by the king's orders. James Dr. Massey informed the papal nuncio that what he had ^^christ" done at Oxford he would also do at Cam- church, bridge. In February 1687 a degree was demanded from the University of Cambridge for a certain Francis, a Bene- dictine monk. The vice-chancellor, Dr. Pechell, master of Magdalen College, declined to accede to this demand unless Francis consented to take the oaths required by the university. Francis refused, and Dr. . . . A. D. 1687. Pechell and the other university authorities Dr Pechell were summoned before the ecclesiastical deprived of the commission. Pechell was deprived of his To'SSof^^^' office as vice-chancellor and suspended Cambridge, from the emoluments of his mastership. The presidentship of Magdalen, Oxford, fell vacant. The court recommended to the fellows, for the vacant post, one Anthony Farmer. By the statutes of the college the president must have been Mag(kLn, a fellow either of Magdalen or of New Col- ^e t d' lege. Farmer had been a fellow of neither, and he besides possessed every disquahfication for such an office He had escaped expulsion from Cambridge by hurriedly quitting that university ; he had then joined the dissenters, afterwards had entered at Magdalen, Ox- ford, and had earned notoriety by his profligacy and evil life. He had now turned Papist as an easy means of rising in the world. The fellows met, and in spite of the royal recommendation elected Dr. Hough, one of their body, a man well fitted for the post. The fellows I 114 The Fall of the Stuarts f dr*c. a.d. were cited before the ecclesiastical commission. The proofs of Farmer's unfitness were so convincin^^ that the commission did not try to force him on the college, but Hough's election was declared invalid. James soon after sent a letter ordering the fellows to elect as their presi- dent, Parker, the bishop of Oxford. The fellows replied that the presidentship was not vacant. They remained firm, although James sent several influential men ( Penn, the Quaker, amongst the number ), to remonstrate with them. At last a troop of soldiers was sent to expel the recalcitrants. Bishop Parker was formally installed, two only of the fellows being present. James said that no further steps should be taken against the disobedient fellows if they would ask for pardon and acknowledge their error. This they refused to do, and they were consequently deprived of their fellowships. In a few months all the revenues of Magdalen College were en- joyed by Papists. Section V. — The Autumn of 1687. The camp was again formed on Hounslow Heath, and was frequently visited by the king and queen, both in state and privately. On July 3 the king received in state the papal nuncio. He could hardly venture on this outrage on Protestantism in London, so Windsor saw a train of thirty- Reception . . 1 ■ 1 1 / of the papal SIX Carriages, amongst which were those ot nuncio. ^^^ Bishops of Durham and Winchester, conducting with unwonted pomp the ambassador of the pope. James had discussed with his council the expediency of this step, and also of dissolving the parliament, which had not met for business for twenty months. 1687. The Autufnn of idSy. 115 The more moderate members of the council, Resignation 01 several although they were firm Tories and loyal to privy coun- the reigning house, were opposed to both these measures of the king, and when they found him resolved on them, thought it advisable to resign their seats at the council-table. Lord Sunderland and Father Petre were now virtually the sole ministers, and James, with their concurrence, dissolved the parliament, hoping that a more subservient one would be elected. With this Parliament dissolved. object the work of remodelling the corpora- tions was pressed on, in order that the members of the corporations should be confined as much as possible to such as were of the Romish faith, or were nonconformists. In the autumn of 1687 James made a progress through the West of England, in the hope of gaining over that part of the country in which Monmouth had found his chief support. Among his suite on this occasion was William Penn, the Quaker, whose presence James thought would conciliate the dissenters. The king ex- pressed himself as everywhere satisfied with the marks of affection and loyalty shown to him ; but a disinterested and keen-sighted spectator, Barillon, the French ambas- sador, reported to his master, Lewis, that there was no real enthusiasm for James, and that he saw on the other hand evident signs of disaffection. Ii6 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c, a.d. CHAPTER X. IRELAND UNDER JAMES II. Section I. — Preliminary Sketch of Ireland. The people of Ireland were of two distinct races ; the native Irish, who were Celts and Roman Catholics, and the colonists, who were, in Leinster and the Population of <-,, /--r~>i*-ii Ireland, how Settled part of Munster, of English descent and in Ulster, the northern province, of Scotch descent. A great number of English settlers were old soldiers of Cromwell and Nonconformists ; the re- maining English were descendants of the colonists of Elizabeth's reign, and were Episcopalians. The settlers of Ulster, the Scotch colonists, were for the most part Presbyterians. Although the Irish parliament, sitting in Dublin, was composed entirely of Protestants, the penal laws against Roman Catholics, which were in force in Eng_ Religious -I'll' liberty in land, had not as yet been introduced into Ireland, and Roman Catholics enjoyed free exercise of their religion. The native Irish, occupying the whole of the province of Connaugh, and some small parts of Munster, led hves ., , which were almost barbarous. Sept, or clan- Uncivilized .,, , , , -i rx-i • state of native law. Still held sway amongst them. Iheir chiefs were but little more civilized than the common people, their one great virtue being that of hos- pitality, and this was exercised to such an extent as to keep them impoverished. Continually had the Irish been in rebellion, and each rebellion, as it had been put down, had been followed i66o. Preliminary Sketch of Ireland. 117 by the confiscation of the lands of the rebels. ^ . , Cromwell s During Cromwell's firm and severe adminis- treatment of tration, the Irish had been forcibly driven into Connaught, or transported to the plantations in America ; while thousands of the better class, permitted to emigrate, had taken service in the armies of Spain and other foreign nations. The population of Ireland may be roughly estimated as at this time about one million native Irish, and about two hundred thousand English and Scotch -^y , . ° . Number of colonists. But all the influence in the thepopula- country was exercised by the latter, for the Irish, divided amongst themselves, were utterly deficient in that power of organization which would have rendered them, by reason of their superior numbers, formidable. After the Restoration (1660) the Episcopalian Church became again the Established Church in Ireland. This anomaly caused a numerous hierarchy and ^ , •^ . Episcopacy a large number of inferior clergy to be ap- established pointed, to take spiritual care of a scattered population, not equaling in souls one of the smaller Eng- lish dioceses. On the re-establishment of the monarchy in England, the chief settlers in Ireland, many of whom were old Cromwellian soldiers, offered the crown of Ireland to Charles II., on the condition that the lands they were now in possession of should be legally se- cured to them. An Act of Settlement was ac- the disaffec- cordingly passed, by which the actual holders of land, on payment of a small fine to Charles, became its legal possessors. Of the lands not claimed, or thus legally settled, a great part was granted to James, Duke of York, and to courtiers of the king. But many of the native Irish, both nobles and gentry, had been ii8 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c, a.d. i warm supporters of the Stuarts against the commonwealth, and had suffered for their loyalty, and these were loud in their complaints of Charles* want of faith and justice. A court of claims accordingly sat, and after many hun- dred claims had been heard by it, and pronounced valid, the Irish parliament passed a compromise, called an Act ' of Explanation, by which one-third of the grants under the Act of Settlement were yielded to the Irish royalists, in order to satisfy their demands. But this concession was not nearly sufficient, and consequently a feeling of disaffection became widespread throughout the native Irish. Section II. — Ireland and the Accession of fames 11. , i68^. At the accession of James II., in 1685, he found the native Irish, all of whom were Roman Catholics, opposed to the English rule, as to that of a conquering minority, whilst the few nobles who, not of choice but from interest, were inclined to be friendly to England, were prevented by their religion from sitting in the Irish parliament. Of the settlers, the Scotch Presbyterians shared the feel- ings of their brethren in their native country, and hated Episcopalians with the true religious fury. Parties in In the Irish Parliament the Presbyterians lel'-f"'^*" and Episcopalians were nearly balanced, whilst the Protestant Nonconformists, in numbers almost equaling the other two parties, had but few seats in the Parliament. The Episcopalians alone were hearty supporters of the house of Stuart; the Pres- byterians and Nonconformists were Whigs. James was in almost favorable position for tranquil- Policy of lizing Ireland, for, as a Roman Catholic, he James. ^^^ much morc acceptable to the native Irish than his predecessors had been. Had he followed 1687. Clarendon and Tyrconnel. 119 his true interests, he would have endeavored, firstly, to unite together, as firmly as possible, the English settlers m Ireland, and secondly, by wise acts of mediation, to bridge over the differences between the English and Irish. Thus he might have welded them into one peo- ple. James, however, followed a directly opposite policy, and the results of this misgovernment of Ireland are visible at the present day. The Duke of Ormond was at the time of the death of Charles II. both lord lieutenant and commander of the forces. He was a staunch Protestant, and as being an inhabitant of Ireland, descended ^^^^^^ oiOt- from an English colonist, and of great wealth and high rank, he was the natural head of the English in Ireland. But soon after his accession James recalled him, and the office of lord lieutenant was be- stowed on his own brother-in-law, Lord Clarendon, whilst the post of general of the troops was given to Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel. Section III. — Clarendon and Tyrconnel. Talbot was descended from one of the old Norman families settled in Leinster, but his immediate ancestors had fallen into poverty and were in no wise to be distinguished from the native Irish ^^^''^^^'''^ ^^^' gentry. He had come to London, when young, as an adventurer. He soon gained an evil no- toriety, and was employed by both Charles II. and James in many discreditable deeds, in which he had shown that he was deterred by no scruples from shedding blood or from breaking his oath. He was a coarse, vulgar, tru- culent ruffian, greedy and unprincipled ; but in the eyes of James he had great virtues, for he was devated to the Romish Church and to his sovereign. " Lying Dick I20 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. Talbot," as he was called, was raised by James to the peerage as Earl of Tyrconnel. Lord Clarendon was, from the time of his appoint- ment, hampered by his associate. He was anxious to govern the country justly, and to sow the Clarendon's seeds of union. He wrote to James long de- Iii63.surcs opposed by spatches, entering minutely into the condi- Tyrconnei. ^^^^ ^f Ireland, and pointing out the mea- sures by which he thought the mutual animosities of the faces might be allayed. But Tyrconnel violently op- posed all his plans, and at last set off for London to have an interview with James. The result of that interview was the recall of Claren- don. With his fall from power was associated that of his brother, Lord Rochester, who was at the Hy'de^ dis- Same time dismissed from his office of lord imssal from treasurer and from his seat on the ecclesi- astical commission. The disgrace of the king's two brothers-in-law, supposed to have been caused by the attachment of both to the Protestant faith, was deeply felt both in England and Ireland. In England it was considered to be one further blow aimed at Pro- testantism. But the English in Ireland knew that it meant nothing less than that the Papists and Irish were in the ascendancy, and that their lives and property were in jeopardy. To add to these feelings of insecurity, Tyr- connel returned, not indeed as lord lieutenant, but with the power which Ormond had formerly held, although under a new title, that of lord deputy. Section IV. — Tyrconnel as Lord Deputy of Ireland. The rule of Tyrconnel entirely subverted the old order of things. Protestants were disarmed, and Protestant soldiers were disbanded. The militia was 1687. Tyrconnel, Lord Deputy of Ireland. 121 composed wholly of Roman Catholics. The Roman Ca- ,. ^ . ^ . . , . tholics fa- dispensmg power m the royal prerogative vored by set aside the statutes of the kingdom, aud yrconne . the bench and privy council were occupied by Ro- man Catholics. Vacant bishoprics of the Established Church remained unfilled and their revenues were devoted to Romish priests. Tithes were with impunity withheld from the clergy of the Establishment. Tyrconnel proposed to summon a parliament, but James withheld his permission. Barillon had told the king that Tyrconnel had traitorous designs in summoning a parliament; that he intended to declare Ireland an in- dependent kingdom, and had even asked ^ , . /• • T r n • 1 French m- the assistance of Lewis XIV. for his plans. trigues in Tyrconnel, on being called on for an expla- nation, said that all his schemes were laid in order to prepare a safe asylum for James and the royal famiiy in case of a successful Protestant revolution. The actual truth was, that Tyrconnel was also in the pay of Lewis XIV. ; that Barillon's disclosures to James revealed only half the matter ; that these disclosures were made be- cause it was thought that James might discover the in- trigue through some other source; and that, in case James died without male issue (at this time a most pro- bable event), Tyrconnel was to declare Ireland a depen- dency of France, and, if the parliament were summoned, was to have induced that body to support his declaration of separation from England. The hatred of the Irish Roman Catholic towards the Protestant settlers was excited to the utmost under Tyr- connel's rule. The former now hoped to h ed f mete out to the latter a full measure of re- Roman taliation. The breach was widened owing wards Pro- to the fear and distrust openly showed by testants. 122 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. the Protestants and has never since been effectually re- paired. CHAPTER XI. WILLIAM, LEWIS, AND JAMES DURING THE WINTER OF 1687 AND SPRING AND SUMMER OF I688. Section I. — William gathers Information and opens a Correspondence with the Disaffected in England. The general insecurity felt in England in 1687 had caused many influential noblemen to urge on William of Orange an active interference. William, however, with that calm judgment and patient for- Wiiiiam bcarauce which were characteristic of him, p^'^r^not^^ decided that the opportune time had not as sufficiently yg^ comc. For the defence of Germany he ripe. •' '' had negotiated the League of Augsburg, and had thus frustrated the schemes of Lewis XIV. in that quarter. But James had not yet openly committed him- self to an offensive alliance with France, and Lewis' in- terference in English politics had been confined to per- sonal advice to James, to bribery of the nobility and leading politicians, and to various underhand intrigues. The Stadtholder, however, sent over to London a trustworthy agent, Dykvelt, to report to him on the state of affairs. He engaged also a Whig refugee, Dr. Bur- net, afterwards bishop of Salisbury, to go to William as- j ^ i • ^ • sistsDykveit the Haguc and act as his secretary m cor- and Burnet. responding with his English friends. Bur- net (whose " History of his own Time " is one of the 1 688. William gathers Information, 123 chief sources of information for students of the Revolu- tion of 1688) was a Scotchman, and had been a profes- sor at Glasgow, whence he had gone to London, and had been made a chaplain to Charles II. ; but on ac- count of his intimacy with Russell and the leaders of the Whig party, he had thought it prudent, soon after the Rye House Plot, to retire to Holland. Dykvelt, oq arriving in London, held interviews with many influential statesmen, both there and in the country, without in any way committing his master. He sought the opinions of both Tories and Whigs, avoiding only those who were tainted with Romanism. His reports confirmed William in his policy of waiting. When he returned to Holland Dykvelt took with him ^ , , ^ Dykvelt letters from Lords Danby and Halifax, as- returns to suring William of their co-operation when- ever and however he might think fit to move more ac- tively. Lord Churchill, the petted proteg^ of James, wrote also to William, offering him his services, and pro- fessing himself ready to die the death of a martyr for the Protestant religion. But when the Hydes (Lords Clarendon and Roches- ter) were dismissed from their offices, such feelings of distrust were raised that men of both political parties in England importuned William to take some decided step. William, determined accurately to gauge the state of the country, dispatched another agent, not as before a diplo- matist like Dykvelt, but a soldier, Zulestein, able to ob- serve with a soldier's eye the signs of loyalty or disaffection to Tames in the army on Zulestein •' ■' England Hounslow Heath, and to judge with a sol- dier's perception what reliance, in a military point of view, could be placed on William's adherents, and more particularly on his friends in the English navy. Zules- 124 ^^^ Fall of the Stuarts, &*c. a.d. tein was connected by ties of family with William, and was therefore a person of sufficient distinction to be in- vited to the houses of the English nobility ; and as he did not visit England officially, his presence did not bring down on his hosts the suspicions of James. On his return to Holland, Zulestein made a much more fa- vorable report than Dykvelt had, of the strength of William's party. He also brought back with him fresh letters of adherence. Henceforth, the friends of William in England kept up a constant correspondence with the Hague. Section H. — October, 1687. Another event occurred to strengthen the views of those who advised William of Orange to take immediate action. Mary, William's wife, was at present heiress- ^ . presumptive to the throne of England, and pected con- onc of William's reasons for inactivity was nemen . ^_^^ sooner or later he would be able to make use of the power of England in restraining the inordinate pretensions of the king of France. But now, (October, 1687), to the astonishment of every one, it was announced that the birth of a child was expected by the queen. She had already borne James four children, all of whom had died in their infancy, and six years had elapsed since the birth of the last. She was no longer young. The announcement was received at first with incredu- lity, but as by degrees its importance began of it was re- to bc realized, the joy of the Roman Catho- lics knew no bounds. They declared that the expected event was owing to the direct intervention of the Deity ; and that it was a miracle vouchsafed to the prayers of the faithful. They likened the queen to 1 6 8 8 . Second Declaration of Indulgence. 125 Sarah and to Hannah, mothers in Israel. The Protestants, both Whig and Tory, beheved that it was an impudent attempt of the Papists to foist a supposititious child on the country ; and that it was a Jesuitical plot and intrigue against WiUiam, the champion of the Protestant faith in Europe. So, uneasily, passed the winter of 1687-88. Section III. — The Second Declaration of Indulgence^ and Trial of the Seven Bishops. In April, 1688, James put forth a second declaration of indulgence. As in the former one published in 1687, this also suspended all penal laws against nonconformists, and abolished religious tests as qualifications for office ; but it con- Declaration tained this important addition, that the king dukence. would employ no one, in either a civil or military appointment, who refused to concur in this new declaration. Concurrence, therefore, in the declaration was made the new test. James announced also his intention of summoning a parliament in November, and appealed to james talks his subjects to choose representatives who of calling would aid him in carrying the measures he Parliament. had so much at heart. On May 4 an order of council was passed command- ing the clergy of all denominations to read Declaration the declaration from their pulpits on two be^^readin successive Sundays. The first of these Sun- churches. days was to be for London parishes. May 20 ; for the country ones, June 3. Meetings of the clergy took place on the publication of this order. The High Church party, who had thus far always preached the doctrine of 126 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*€. a.d. passive obedience and of the divine right are indig- of kings, agreed that this order was an in- sult to the Church which even their princi- ples would not compel them to put up with. The more liberal-minded clergy, and those who were inclined to the politics of the Whigs, declared that, under the guise of liberty of conscience, a blow was aimed at the Esta- blished Church, the maintenance of which they held to be the safeguard against Rome and intolerance. At a general meeting held at Lambeth, a petition to the king w^as drawn up, and signed by the archbishop of Canterbury and six bishops. It prayed the Protest of , . -^ . . -,.,.,,, the Seven kmg not to msist on their readmg the decla- ops. ration, which contained " such a dispensing power as Parliament had declared illegal." The names of the "seven bishops," as they are commonly called, should not be forgotten. They are — Bancroft, archbishop of Canterbury ; Ken, bishop of Bath and Wells ; Lake, bishop of Chichester ; Lloyd, bishop of St. Asaph ; Sir J. Trelawny, bishop of Bristol ; Turner, bishop of Ely ; White, bishop of Peterborough. As the archbishop, owing to his refusal to sit on the ecclesiastical commission, had been forbidden the court, the six bishops carried to James their petition. The king was furious. He told the bishops they were rebels, but that there were still left seven thousand of the Church who had not bowed their knee to Baal ; that he would keep the petition, and would not forget who had signed it ; that no good churchman ever vet denied Interview ° of the the dispensing power of the Crown. Ken with James. asked James to grant to them the same lib- erty of conscience which he granted to others. On James refusing to do this, the bishop re- joined, " We have two duties — one duty to God and one 1 6 8 8 . Trial of the Seven Bishops. 127 duty to your Majesty. " The king became yet more angry, and dismissed them. Ken, as he retired, ejacu- lated, " God's will be done." In very few churches or chapels in the kingdom was the declaration read. The primate and his six suffragans v/ere summoned be- fore the king in council. They acknow- ledged the petition to be theirs. They committed were accordingly ordered to find bail to an- tower, swer a criminal information for libel in the King's Bench. This they declined to do, as it would be yielding up their legal privileges as peers of the realm. They were accordingly committed to the Tower. Their passage to the Tower, by water, resembled a triumph- al procession. Between two lines of boats the bishops passed, amidst shouts of " God bless your lord- ships ! " On June 10 an infant prince was born. No time could have been more inauspicious. Through- out England James was unpopular. The birth ^Tnce"^ * of the prince produced a fresh complication in the tangled web of European politics. On June 1 5 the archbishop and bishops were brought into court to plead. Their counsel took legal objections to their commitment ; but these commhted^^ were overruled, and the trial was fixed for *° *^"*^- June 29. During the intervening fortnight tumults took place. Papists were insulted. Huge bonfires were lighted. In the West of England, where ^"^^^*= ^^^'^^- ° ° ' ment. the memory of Monmouth was still revered, the peasantry prepared again to take up arms. The Cornish miners, who loved Trelawny as the representa- tive of an old cherished Cornish family, sang 128 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. A.D. "And shall Trelawny die, and shall Trelawny die? Then twenty thousand Cornish boys will know the reason why." On the appointed day the trial commenced. The defendants were charged with publishing a false, mali- cious, and seditious libel. The counsel for the defence urged that there was no publica- tion, for the petition was placed in the king's hand ; that the petition was not false, for all that it contained was in the journals of Parliament ; that it was not malicious, for the defendants had not sought to make strife, but had been placed in the situation in which they found them- selves by the action of the Government ; that it was not seditious, for it was seen by the king alone ; that it was not a libel but a decent petition, such as subjects might lawfully present to their king. Two great constitutional questions were thus before the court — the denial of the dispensing power of the king, the claim of the right of every subject to petition. The counsel for the prosecution were A^eak in their speeches. The high-handed measures of Lord Chancellor Jeffreys had so disgusted all the more digni- '^^\- fied of the legal profession that the crown found difficulty in filling the higher offices of the law. There were four judges on the bench. Two summed up in favor of the crown ; the other two, Hol- loway and Powell, in favor of the bishops. The jury retiring to consider their verdict, sat all night in consul- tation, and at ten in the morning brought in a verdict of * not guilty.* The joy of the populace knew no bounds. West- minster Hall resounded with shouts, which were taken up throughout London and its suburbs. James How the ° . . ■' verdict was had gone to Hounslow to visit the camp. An express messenger arrived announcmg the 1 683. The Invitation to William, 129 verdict. The soldiers raised cries of exultation at the acquittal of the bishops. This prosecution united all classes in opposition to the Government. The cause of the Church and the cause of freedom was for once the same. The great majority of the peers, both lay and spiritual, the universities, the clergy, the dissenters, the army, the navy, the landed gentry, the merchants, all, in short, who called themselves Protestants, were firmly knit together to oppose the king and his Romish advisers. The tories no longer held to their doctrine of passive obedience ; they now maintained that extreme oppres- sion might justify resistance, and that the oppression which the nation now suffered was extreme. Section IV. — The Invitation to William. In May, Edward Russell had gone over to the Hague to represent the actual state of affairs in England, and the necessity of active interference on the part of William. Russell (a cousin of Wil- Edward Ham, Lord Russell), was an officer in the Rusgiito navy, and had once been a member of James' household, when James was Duke of York, but had resigned on the fall of the Whigs. William spoke most cautiously to Russell. He told him he wanted written invitations and promises of support from men of position of all parties. Russell answered that it was necessary to the success of the design that it should not be known to a great many. To this William assented, and said he would be satisfied if the signatures were few in number, provided they were those of statesmen repre- senting great interests. Thus commissioned, Russell returned to London. To Dykvelt William remarked, " Aut nunc aut nunquam " — " Now or never." On the 30th of June, the day of the acquittal of the K 130 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^c. a.d. bishops, Admiral Herbert, disguised as a common sailor, , Admiral ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ Dutch coast. He was the Herbert bearer of a paper signed in cypher. Those William an who had signed were but seven. They were the Earl of Devonshire, who represented the old Whig party ; the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, bred a Roman Catholic, had been converted to Protestantism by Archbishop Tillotson ; the Earl of Danby, a Tory, who had been driven from power by the Whigs, but whose chief political maxim was hostility to France and Lewis XIV. ; Compton, the suspended bishop of Lon- don, who represented the clergy ; Henry Sidney, brother of Algernon Sidney, who represented those holding the more extreme political views for which his brother had suffered on the scaffold ; Lord Lumley, who had hitherto been attached to the cause of James, and had done good service in suppressing Monmouth's insurrection ; and Russell, who represented the chief officers of the navy. Some have called these seven " the seven patriots." The letter, which invited William to land in England with a body of troops, assured him " that the greatest The terms P^^^ ^^ ^^^ nobility and gentry are as much ?^*^^ . dissatisfied as themselves ; that nineteen out invitation. of every twenty are desirous of a change ; that very many of the common soldiers do daily show such an aversion to the Popish religion that there is the greatest probability they would desert; and amongst the seamen there is not one in ten who would do James any service." William made up his mind at once to sail for Eng- land. Before entering on an account of William's success, it will be well to point out briefly the difficulties of his position. i688. William^ s Proclamation, 131 He was at the head of a small republic, which at great sacrifices and with great difficulty had succeeded in pre- serving its independence against the assaults Difficulties of Lewis XIV. He had now to prepare an of William's ■^ , . situation. expedition, neither too small, lest it might be crushed by James ; nor too large, lest it should drain the resources of his country, and leave her unprotected. He had to guard against the jealousy of his Dutch sub- jects. He had to trust the representations of the " seven ipatriots," who might after all be judging of their coun- trymen by their own wishes. He could not but see that the English nation had displayed for some years past but little love of freedom or spirit of resistance to tyranny. He knew that Monmouth and Argyle had both failed. He knew also, that however loudly the nation exclaimed against Popery, the pulpits of its Established Church had for years been filled by clergy who preached the doctrine of passive obedience, its seats of justice had been occupied by lawyers who pronounced that doctrine to be the law of the land, and its later parliaments had admitted the same fatal principle. These difficulties must be borne in mind in order to form a fair estimate of the great man who in the face of them formed his determination, and in spite of them succeeded in his design. Section V. — James Proceedmgs after the Acquittal of the Bishops. As soon as the news of the acquittal of the bishops* was brought to Hounslow, James took horse and hurried to London. He had thus the mortification of seeing the rejoicings, the bonfires and ge^s housed, the fireworks which the result of the trial produced. The spirit of revenge, which was natural to T32 The Fall of the Stuarts y &^c. a.d. him, was aroused. He issued an order to the archdean- cons to report to the High Commissioners the names off all the clergy who had omitted to read the declarations He dismissed from the bench the two judges, Hollowayy and Powell, who had summed up in favor of thee bishops. He rewarded those who supported his ownn views, and, still further to vex English churchmen, andd to gain over the dissenters, Dr. Titus, a noted Presbyte-:- rian, was made a member of the Privy Council. James learnt, from the acclamations of the troops at^ Hounslow, that they were not to be depended on. Hee therefore broke up the encampment in July,, appointed and trusted by a personal appeal to eacWi with the . . , . , , , , . troops, regnnent smgly, to wm them back to theirr li-ishf '^^^^ fidelity, and to engage their aid in carrying^ into effect his determination concerning thee test. He made his first attempt at extracting a personall engagement from the men of each corps with Lord Lich- field's regiment, now the 12th Foot. In this he failed,, the soldiers with hardly an exception declining to sign any)' engagement. James left the ground on which the regi- ment was paraded, exclaiming, "I shall not do you the? honor to consult you another time.*' Thus baulked, he de- termined to bring over Irish battalions, raised and trained! by Tyrconnel, and also to enlist in English regimentss Irish recruits brought over from their country for thatt purpose. These steps, however, still further increased] the disaffection of the army. English and Irish hated; each other with a deadly hatred. In some cases, thes attempt to introduce Irish recruits into a regiment t excited a mutiny. Disafifection The Spirit of disloyalty raised by the trial of H increases. ^^ bishops was aggravated by these various acts of James in the months of July, August and September. 1 688. Lewis declares War. 133 Section VI . — Lewis Declares War Against the Emperor. We have seen how the claims of the Duchess of Or- leans to some of the possessions of the Elector Palatine had been supported by Lewis, had then been referred to the Emperor, and by him had been disallowed ; and we have also seen how Lewis' attempted interference by arms was frustrated by the League of Augsburg. Another quarrel now arose between the French and Imperial courts. The archie- abourthe piscopal electorate of Koln (Cologne) had KSm^"^^'^ °^ become vacant. Lewis was desirous that a protege of his, von Fiirstenberg (brother of the bishop of Strasburg, who had been instrumental in gaining pos- session of that city for the French), should be elected to fill the vacancy. The Emperor, on the other hand, wished to place a Bavarian prince in the electorate. The Pope, opposed to Lewis, supported the Emperor's candidate. The Chapter of Koln had to decide between the rivals. French influence prevailed, and von Fiirs- tenberg was elected by the majority of the Chapter (15 votes to 9). This election the Pope declared invalid, insisting, further, that the Bavarian was the rightful elector. Against this decision Lewis appealed to arms. In spite of the Pope, he proclaimed war against the Em- peror. All the German princes who had joined the League of Augsburg were united against France. Lewis had been informed by his Lewis takes •' up arms, ambassador at the Hague that William was fitting out an expedition, but with such skill had the des- tination of it been concealed that it was not until the 134 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. A.D. month of September that the ambassador James of learnt it was intended for England. Lewis dislgnr ^ ^^^^ ^° ^^.Ti\^ in warning James of the de- signs of William, and in offering him assist- ance. Had Lewis been free now to direct a large army on Holland, the States-General would not have allowed William to move from home, nor to take witToeTmany with him Dutch troops ; but the war with the ^P'^^r-n?^^ Emperor demanded all the French troops, for William. ^ f and for weeks before the actual declaration of hostilities the army stationed on the borders of Flanders had been steadily making towards the Rhine. Lewis did, indeed, instruct his ambassador to inform the States-General that if any direct act of hostility was com- mitted by Holland against his ally, the King of England, he should consider it as a declaration of war. James, on his part, after receiving the warning of Lewis, gave him no encouragement to interfere more actively. To the offer by the French king of naval James . ,. , . refuses Lewis' assistance James replied m a contemptuous ep. jj^j^nner, either wishing his subjects to sup- pose that he himself felt safe on his throne, or giving way to one of those outbursts of sullen pride to which he was subject. The unpopularity of James with his subjects and the war against Germany undertaken by Lewis Chances of . .... William's sue- were two great aids in ensuring the ultimate cesses are <- ittt-it great. success 01 William. Section Vll. — WillianCs Proclamation. In September a proclamation was drawn up for William which was translated into Enghsh by Burnet for circulation. It was dated from the Hague, October 1 688. William^ s Proclamatio7i. 135 10, and set forth in temperate language the various grievances to which the English people had been sub- jected. It stated that their liberties, laws, and religion were imperiled ; that the birth of the young prince was attended by such grave suspicions as to demand the strictest and most impartial investigation ; that at the request of many lords, both temporal and spiritual, and of other persons of all ranks, he (William) had been requested to repair to England, accompanied by such forces as would be sufficiently strong to repel violence. It concluded by solemnly assuring English- ^^^ ^^^^ men that in thus acting William had no mation of thoughts of conquest, that the troops should be kept under the strictest discipline ; that as soon as the nation was free he could send them back to Holland, and that his sole object was to obtain the assembling of a free and legal parliament which should decide all questions public and private. James now became fully alive to the situation. He was willing to make concessions. He gave audience (October 2) toall the bishops then in London, and listened to their advice without bursting James makes " concessions. into a passion. They counselled him to return to a legal course of government, to summon a parliament, to abolish the Ecclesiastical Commission, to redress the wrongs done to the corporate towns and the universities, and, if possible, to rejoin the church of his father and grandfather. As if to add force to the counsel of the bishops, and to quicken James' decision, riots broke out in London, and several Romish chapels were burnt. Some of the suggestions of the bishops were adopted by James. Many dignitaries who had been displaced — Compton, bishop of London, among them — were rein- 136 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. stated. The charter of the city of London was carried back in state to the Guildhall. The Ecclesiastical Com- mission was abolished. The president and fellows of Magdalen were restored to their college. Sunderland and Father Petre were dismissed from their seats in the council. But the king would not yield his claim of the " dispensing power." On October 21 James met at Whitehall all the peers, both spiritual and temporal, who could be collected, the ^ . . judges, the Lord Mayor and aldermen of Proofs of T 1 J 1 -J 1. i- T the birth London, and laid before them mmute proofs princ^e of the birth of the Prince of Wales. The produced. evidence was sufficient to convince impar- tial minds, and all those present were satisfied. But the great majority of the people were still unconvinced ; they were not impartial, and there were few English Protes- tants of that generation who did not consider the young prince an impostor, whom the Jesuits were endeavoring to foist on the country. Burnet's translation of the '* Declaration " of William reached London about November i, and was secretly and swiftly passed from hand to hand. William's Proclamation. 137 138 The Fall of the Stuarts, &>€. a.d. CHAPTER XII. THE REVOLUTION. Section I. — William in England. On the i6th of October William took leave of the Dutch ,„.„. , Estates. He told them that he went to Eng-- Wllll3.m tl3.1C6S leave of the land in defence of the reformed religion, and of the independence of Europe ; " that he might not return, but in that case left his beloved wife in their care." He himself spoke with unfaltering voice, but the Assembly was not equally calm, many of the members being moved even to tears. But William re- mained "firm in his usual gravity and phlegm." On the 19th, the embarkation took place at Helvoet- sluys. The fleet consisted of 50 men of war, wniiamsets 35 frigates, some fire ships, and 400 trans- ports, having on board 4,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry fully equipped. Much discussion and some difference of opinion had arisen as to the part of England on which the descent should be made. Lord Danby had been anxious it should be in Yorkshire, and thither the fleet was first steered. But few hours had passed at sea before a violent west wind arose, which drove the ships back to Contrary winds harbor. An English fleet, commanded by delay the fleet. *=* ^ Lord Dartmouth, lay at the mouth of the Thames. An east wind, which would be favorable to William, would prevent James' fleet from leaving its anchorage. For days, however, the west wind blew, and Dartmouth was prepared, on the first intelligence of 1 688. WilliaiTi in England. 139 William's fleet putting to sea, to sail for the Yorkshire coast. During this delay, William altered his plans. He resolved to land in the West of England, in that West which had before shown its at- William sails down channel. tachment to Protestantism by proclaiming Monmouth, and had in consequence suffered so much from James and his creature Jeffreys. The wind at length changed on the ist of November; a favorable easterly breeze set in, "a Protestant wind." For the second time William put to sea. The transports were in the centre ; to windward and leeward the Dutch men-of- war were formed, William's flagship among them, to protect the transports. The rear of the fleet was brought up by a squadron under Admiral Herbert, so that in case Lord Dartmouth should come up with the fleet, he would find himself confronted by English ships. But the east wind effectually prevented Dartmouth from following William. Favored by a fresh gale, William's fleet rapidly sailed down channel without meeting a hostile ship. Off Torbay the fleet cast anchor, and William landed. The day of his landing was November 5, the day already endeared to Protestants, the WilHain anniversary of the discovery of the Gun- powder Plot. Dr. Burnet was amongst the first to dis- embark and present himself to William. Understanding nothing of military matters, he fussily interrogated Wil- liam as to his plans, as to which way he intended to march, and when, and desired to be employed by him in whatever service he should think fit. William was "cheerfuller than ordinary." He replied by asking Burnet what he now thought of predestination, and by advising him, if he had a mind to be busy, to consult the canons. 140 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. William now set to work to make arrangements for the landing of his troops. By noon of the Marches to (^\^^ ^^ whole force was on its way to Exeter. There William remained for ten days. He was at first disappointed at not being joined by the nobility and gentry. Lamplugh, the bishop, had fled from the city, to join James. But before a week was over, the news of William's arrival at Exeterwith a large army had spread, and many men of consideration joined his standard. The Dutch troops of William were regarded with friendly feelings. The farmers, the trades- The Dutch men, and the peasants of the West, were troops well 111 t ttt-h- . received. struck by the contrast between William s soldiers and those whom James had for- merly billeted on them. Instead of living at free quar- ters amongst them, all provisions were punctually paid for, and the people consequently willingly sold to the soldiers whatever they required. Section II. — Progress of the Revolution. But it was not in the West of England only that the standard of William was raised. Lord Delamere in Revolution in Cheshire put himself at the head of his ten- the North. ants, and rode through Manchester, rous- ing the townspeople. The Earl of Danby, at the head of one hundred gentry and yeomanry, dashed into York, and gaining over the militia, who received him with shouts of "a free Parliament and the Protestant re- ligion," placed the governor under arrest, and won the city for William. The Earl of Devonshire, equally successful in Derby, marched thence to Nottingham, where he was joined by Lords Manchester, Stamford, Rut- land, Chesterfield, Cholmondeley, and Grey de Ruthyn. i688. Loi'd CJmrchill. 141 Norwich was seized for William by the Duke of Nor- folk. Oxford, the headquarters of Toryism, welcomed Lord Lovelace with acclamations, town and ,j tast and gown uniting in shouts of "No Popery. Centre of Lord Feversham, commander-in-chief of "^^" the royal forces, had despatched troops to the West with the utmost speed, in order to check William's ad- vance. James' army greatly exceeded in numbers that of William, but his officers were not to be trusted. The van, consisting principally of cavalry, had reached Salisbury, where it had halted. The officer in com- mand was Lord Cornburv, eldest son of the ^ , . ' Defection of Earl of Clarendon, and nephew to the Lord Com- king. On the 14th of November he led ^^^' three regiments out of the town towards Blandford, under the pretence of surprising an advanced outpost of the Prince of Orange. On the road he tried to induce the soldiers to join him in deserting to William. Finding himself less successful than he anticipated, he, with a few followers, galloped off, leaving the troops to return to Salisbury. News of this desertion reached James on the 15th. His grief, and that of his queen, was excessive. But the man under whose influence Cornbury had acted was Lord Churchill. Section IIL — Lord Churchill. John Churchill had been in boyhood a page of the Duke of York. He stood high in James' favor, and his interests were well looked after. He received a com- mission in the Guards, and served in Africa. ^, . Churcnill s He afterv/ards accompanied James both on early career the Continent and to Scotland, and was ^° mamage. with him when he was shipwrecked. In 1681 he mar- ried Sarah Jennings, an attendant on the Princess Anne. 142 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. The influence of Lady Churchill over Anne was un- bounded. By her interest, Churchill, in 1682, was pro- , , moted to a colonelcy in the Guards, and to Churchill. a Scotch peerage. On the accession of James the Scotch peerage was converted into an English one. In the suppression of Monmouth's rebeUion, Churchill was high in command under Feversham. But notwith- standing the confidence placed in him by James, and the favors he had received, Churchill entered corresponds ^^^° Correspondence with William, before with that prince had resolved on his expedi- Wilham. ^ tion to England. He saw that the cause of James was a losing cause. Therefore he deliberately set about to betray his patron. By his connivance, a wide- spread conspiracy among the officers of the army was arranged, and the first fruit of this was the defection of James' nephew Cornbury. Churchhill's after career showed him to be a man of the greatest genius. He shone alike as a general and a di- Character of plomatist. But his character for faithlessness Churchill. j^g never lost. Loving his wife with a devo- tion which was almost romantic, he threw himself heart and soul, into her schemes ; and her schemes were all directed to personal aggrandizement and to heaping to- gether wealth. Churchill was true only to that cause, or that master, who best requited his services. He un- hesitatingly sacrificed his patriotism, his promises, and his friends to his own and his wife's greed and ambition. It is true that he had been brought up in a profligate and unprincipled court, that his education had been entirely neglected, and that his conduct was not worse than that of many of the politicians of the day. But the glory he afterwards achieved, and the greatness of his natural 1 688. Collapse of the Court Party. 143 powers, bring into stronger light the base motives which regulated his conduct. Section IV. — Collapse of the Court Party and attempt of the King to fly. Jarnes called together the chief officers of his army- still in London, and consulted them as to the spirit of disloyalty which had manifested itself. Among those present at this council were Churchill, the Duke of Grafton, Kirke, and Trelawnv, Churchill ' ' and other brother of the bishop of Bristol. All swore officers swear they would be true to the last drop of their blood. A large body of peers, both lay and spiritual, with the archbishop, Bancroft, at their head, presented to James a petition, asking him to summon a parlia- . rr«i. • •■• 1 J Toleration communion of spirn. Iheir writings had Bills. from the first attracted attention, and latter- ly had gained some few converts. Various schemes of comprehension were advocated by politicians and theo- logians. William was himself interested. He had noth- ing of the religious bigot in his composition. He had no desire to persecute a man for his religious opinions, nor to confine within narrow limits the creed of the nation. He therefore heartily concurred in two bills, the Compre- hension Bill and the Toleration Bill, being laid before the Houses of Parliament. But the country was not as yet prepared to enlarge the basis of the English Church. Freedom of ,. . , , , . , , , , . Comprehen- religious thought and opinion, although it ^on Bill has always maintained a struggling existence in the English Church, had not as yet become popular. After various vicissitudes in Parliament, the Comprehen- sion Bill was eventually referred to Convocation, the parliament of the clergy, and there it expired. A better fate awaited the Toleration Bill, for it was passed without much difficulty. The bill, „ . ^ , ^ ' Toleration inasmuch as it only exempted those who Bill passes, had taken the new oaths of allegiance and supremacy from any penalties incurred for non-attend- ance at church, may appear to us to accord a very small amount of religious liberty. It was nevertheless a great step towards freedom of religious opinion. The Commons had to provide money for the exigen- cies of the Government. It was hoped by William that the sums voted to James for life would be Appropria- continued to himself and Mary. But the su"lfes M 1 62 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*c. a.d. Lower House at once showed that it had no such intention. It did not interfere with the crown lands, the hereditary revenue of the sovereign. It voted a sum of money for immediate necessities, and repaid the Dutch their expenses of 600,000/. But it ordered the Ex- chequer to furnish annual estimates of expenditure and income, it determined that supplies should be annually voted in accordance with these estimates ; that each par- ticular estimate should have a certain sum appropriated to it ; and that no sum should be expended on any other purpose than that for which it had been voted. This principle of the appropriation of supplies had been gen- erally the practice of the parliaments of Charles II., al- though not of that of James II., but it was now formally declared to be necessary, and annually in every session from that time until the present the supplies have been appropriated. The principle is one of the great safe- guards against the encroachments of the crown, or of an administration which cannot command a parliamentary majority. Early in the Session, a Mutiny Bill was passed. The necessity for it arose thus. A Scotch regiment ( now the 1st Royals ) had been ordered to embark for Holland, ,, . T..» and Schomberg, WiUiam's trusted Dutch Mutiny Bill. ° . general, was nominated to be its colonel. This nomination William had intended as a compliment to the regiment. But the officers were indignant, and, moreover, claimed that their regiment was under the control of the Scotch, and not the English government. On the march for the east coast the regiment mutinied and broke off for Scotland. Overtaken by superior forces in Lincolnshire, and surrounded, it surrendered. But there was no law by which the mutineers could be punished. The existence of a standing army without 1689. Proceedings in Parliament. 163 the consent of Parliament, as reasserted in the Declara- tion of Rights, was illegal. Consequently, unless this consent were given, no soldier could be punished, nor could a court martial be held. For the necessary con- trol of the army, Parliament, therefore passed a Mutiny Bill ; the passing of such a bill showing its consent to the maintenance of a standing army. The bill conferred on officers of the army the power of enforcing discipline, and of billeting the soldiers in private houses. But this power was granted for one year only, and each year Parliament renews this power. - Parliament, therefore, annually grants money for the payment of an army, and annually passes a bill for the discipline of that army, so that a sovereign cannot pay an army, nor raise an army, without consent of Parlia- ment. The very existence of an army, therefore, de- pends on the existence of Parliament, so that the sove- reign must take care, if he wishes to retain an army, that Parliament holds a session each year, and that after the dissolution of a Parliament, a year should not elapse be- fore a new Parliament meets. In the Mutiny Bill, therefore, is found another great constitutional safe- guard. The most important Act passed by this Parliament was the Bill of Rights. It confirmed the various clauses of the Declaration of Rights, and embodied them in the bill. It also settled the succession of the crown, first on William and Mary, Rights jointly, then on the survivor of either, then passed. on the heirs of Mary ; in default of any heirs of Mary, it was settled on the Princess Anne and her heirs ; and in default of these on the heirs of William by any sub- sequent marriage. The bill also provided that no papist should ever hold the crown. By the Bill of Rights the 164 The Fall of the Stuarts i &*c. a.d. doctrine of Divine Right received its death-blow. From the passing of this bill, the sovereign of England reigns solely by virtue of an act of Parliament. Carmarthen, (Danby), the Tory lord president, had in- troduced a bill of general indemnity. William was anx- ious it should be carried. Parliament had reversed the T.-n ,T attainders and sentences passed on the Bill of In- . cemuity Whig sufferers m the last two reigns, and William trusted that no new prosecutions would be instituted against those who had opposed the revolution which had placed him and Mary on the throne. The Whigs were not so forgiving. They had now the upper hand, and were not inclined to mercy. So the Bill of Indemnity was dropped. It must be remarked that the great constitutional rights estabhshed in the first Parliament of William and Mary were not forced from an unwilling monarch, as had been the case with all concessions to the liberty of the subject made by the Tudor and Stuart sovereigns. The Parliament was finally dissolved in January, 1690, its last days being marked by a struggle which had a great effect on the elections for the next Parliament. The Whigs, becoming daily more uncomprising ners dis- ' ^.nd more vindictive, introduced a bill to ex- Sie^wwgs elude from any municipal office for a period of seven years, any functionary who had been a party to the remodelling of a corporation, or to the surrendering the franchises of a borough. The rights of nearly every corporate town had under Tory municipalities been thus tampered with. If the bill, as proposed by the Whigs, had passed, all the leading Tories in the English boroughs would have been de- barred from office. After stormy debates the bill was rejected, but the vindictiveness displayed by the Whigs 1 689. Scotland in i68g. 1 5 caused not merely a strong reaction against tliem, but even alienated the more moderate of their own party. Section III. — Scotland in i68g. The Earl of Argyle and two other commissioners pro- ceeded in April from Scotland to London to tender the coronation oath to William and Mary. The last clause of the oath was " that they would be careful to root out all heretics and enemies to the true worship of God." William objected. He said "he would not lay himself under any obligation to be a persecutor." The commis- sioners assured him that neither the words of the oath nor the laws of Scotland re- ofreUgfouf quired this. On this assurance William and parties'"^''^^^ Mary took the oaths. But the " rabbling " of the episcopal clergy, and the continual occurrence of acts of mob violence committed under the guise of re- ligion, showed William that his opinions about toleration were neither understood nor shared in by his Scotch subjects. Nor was less animosity exhibited by the con- flicting political parties. Whig and Tory, puritan and episcopalian alike, gave vent to the most bitter feelings of hatred. Dundee, who, to avoid arrest, ^, „. , . . The High- had fled from Edinburgh mto the High- landers lands, there raised the standard of James. theslanda"d The Highlanders knew but little of passing of James. events. Uncivilized, cut off from communication with the more fortunate Lowlands by want of roads, forced to live by stealing, agriculture being almost unknown amongst them, they had come to elevate robbery into an accomplishment and a virtue. The only law which bound them was obedience to their chief. By their Lowland neighbors they were regarded with disgust not unmixed with fear. Their chieftains quarrelled and 106 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c, a.d. fought amongst themselves either for their possessions or for supremacy. At one time the Macdonalds had been the strongest clan ; but they had been deprived of their leadership by the Campbells, the chieftain of whom was Argyle. The fall of Argyle had been hailed with delight by those clans who opposed the Campbell. The event of William of Orange therefore meant for them the return of Argyle and the restoration of the power of the Campbells. Without therefore caring for James, without either knowing, or troubling themselves to look into the political or religious aspects of the Revolution, the Macdonalds, the Macnaghtens, the Macleans, the Camerons, eagerly joined Dundee, in order to fight against their ancient antagonists, the Campbells. Tiio River Garry, before its junction with the Tay, flows through a succession of valleys, from the last of which it emerges through the pass of Killiecrankie. ^"mair'"^'^ Inside this pass, commanding the vale, stood Blair Castle, the seat of the Marquis of Athol. This important and commanding position had been seized by Dundee's followers. General Mackay commanded William's army in Scot- land. His troops consisted of the three strength of Scotch regiments, which had been serving Mackay.^""^ in Holland, one English regiment (now the 13th Foot), two regiments of Scotch militia, and a small body of cavalry, — in all about 3,000 men. Dundee occupied Blair with 3,000 Highlanders, and 300 Irish from Ulster. Mackay was desirous of at once quashing the insur- rection before all the Highlands rose in arms. He was fully aware of the want of cohesion in irregular troops, and knew that a blow speedily struck might at once dis- perse them. Putting his soldiers, therefore, at once in I 1689- Scotland in i68g. 167 motion, he pressed on to meet Dundee. It was at the close of a long and weary march, that, on July 27, Mackay neared the pass of Killiecrankie. Instead of halting his men, and ordering the fresher Fight of Kii- troops to the front, he pushed them on iiecrankie. through the narrow defile, hoping to gain the broader valley at its other extremity before the Highlanders were aware of his approach. The greater part had got through the pass, and, wearied and footsore, had thrown themselves on the ground, when musket shots were heard. Mackay hastily formed his troops, and prepared as quickly as he could for battle. Dundee, however, gave him but little time for preparation. Put- ting himself at the head of his wild followers, he gave the order to charge. The Highlanders, throwing dowii their muskets and their plaids, and with their broad- swords in their hands, with a loud shout sprang at the Southerners. Mackay's troops, tired, and with their cumbrous weapons of defence not yet made ready (for the muskets and bayonets of those days were not quickly loaded or fixed), began to waver. A few mo- ments of struggle ensued, and then all was over. In a headlong flight they rushed down the pass, sweeping away with them their own cavalry and rearguard For four-and-twenty hours the Highlanders pursued, and the disheartened fugitives found no rest until they had reached Castle Drummond. In the hour of victory a chance shot Death of struck down Dundee. His death caused Dundee and dispeision ot the usual bickerings among the chieftains, the High- and their dissensions were speedily followed by the dispersion of their followers. The news of the death of Dundee was received with delight in London, for it more than compensated for Mackay's defeat, and 1 68 The Fall of the Stuarts^ ^'c, a.d. by the Scotch Cameronians it was regarded as a sure sign of the Divine approval of the cause of William that their cruel persecutor had been slain. William's Scotch ministers placed little confidence in Mackay ; but William judged otherwise, and, disre- garding his first want of success, continued him in his command. The insurgents still keeping the field were rapidly scattered. In the following spring cautions of Mackay built a strong fort in Invernesshire, ^^' called Fort William, to serve as a depot of provisions and a point d'appuiior the regular troops, and he set about making roads along which military convoys could be moved. In order to ensure prompt action in Scotch matters, William nominated Sir John Dairy m pie of Dalrymple ^ . . , , • , and Stair, a man of great talent and mdustry, to be lord advocate, and attached to his own court Lord Melville, to advise him on Scotch matters. By these two men, who had William's entire confidence- Scotland was governed for some years. Section IV. — Irelandin i68g. Although the rapid success of the Revolution in Eng- land and Scotland surprised and disappointed Lewis XIV., he received some consolation in hearing of the resolute measures adopted by Tyrconnel to uphold the cause of James in Ireland. The life at St. Germains was a happy change for James. Treated with every mark of refined courtesy and respect, he was in no hurry to quit his palace for Ireland. But Tyrconnel sent him pressing messages. He reported that thousands were ready to fight for him, that they needed only his presence and a supply of arms to drive every Protestant and every ad- herent of the Prince of Orange into the sea. Lewis re- 1689. Ireland in 1 68 g. 169 commended, and even pressed him to go. iir 1 1 11 c • 1 1 ■ James leaves He told fames that he would not furnish him France for -Til with soldiers, as he had a sufficient number ^^ *" * in Ireland, but that in every other respect he would do his utmost for him. He accordingly supplied James with the most costly outfit for his personal use ; he ordered the Count of Avaux, a distinguished noble of his court, to accompany him as ambassador to Ireland ; he gave him arms and ammunition for 10,000 men ; he pro- vided him with 100,000/. in money to pay his troops ; he commanded the Brest fleet to convey him and his suite to Kinsale. Lewis, moreover, ordered the Marshal von Rosen, with a large number of skilled officers under him, to join the fleet, and to place himself and staff at James* disposal, in order that the rough native Irish might under their training be reduced to discipline. Von Rosen, a Livonian soldier of fortune, of coarse, brutal manners, but of long and varied service in war, was a man well fitted for his post On March 12 James landed at Kinsale. Thence he marched to Cork, being received in all the towns with every mark of respect. At Cork he was joined by Tyr- connel, who brought him cheering news of the progress of his cause, and reported that, except in the North, William had no adherents under arms, and that London- derry and Enniskillen were the only strong places that had declared for him. Tyrcon- J^"?^?' ^"'^^s ^ ■' Dublin. nel told his master that these towns could not long hold out against the troops which, under General Hamilton, he had sent against them. On the 24th James entered Dublin amidst enthusiastic shouts of welcome. The streets through which he passed were spread with flowers and leaves of trees, and carpets and tapestry were hung from all the windows. 170 The Fall of the Stuarts^ ds^c. a.d. Contrary to the advice of Von Rosen and Tyrconnel, James determined to join his army in the North. He thought that his presence would animate his troops, and „ would increase his popularity with the Irish. James sets on to join He believed that Londonderry would not ^'^™^' stand a siege, and that it would make a strong impression on the conquered if he were there, as a vic- torious general, to share in the triumph of his arms. The position of the Protestants in Londonderry was becoming day by day more precarious. The town, en- closed by its crumbling walls, had already twice as many inmates as it had accommodation for. Its walls had no moat around them, and being built on gently London- rising ground, it was exposed to the fire of a besieging force. The river Foyle ran past the town, and about two miles lower down were two forts, one on each bank, Grange Fort and Charles Fort, commanding the approach by water. On April 14, two vessels with troops arrived from Eng- land. Lundy, the governor of Londonderry, ordered the officer in command not to disembark his men, for it was useless to attempt to hold the town, and the troops would only swell the number of prisoners. He had de- termined to play the traitor, and his council of war was accordingly a packed one. But the citizens g^vernoJ. ^ of Dcrry got intelligence of what was going escapes from ^^ looking from the walls saw the Eng- ine town. ' o ° lish ships slowly floating down the river. In- spirited by the harangues of a clergyman, George Walker, one of those who had taken refuge in the town, they determined to defend to the last their Protestant city. They vowed vengeance against the traitor Luudy, and had he not, aided by Walker, escaped, would have exe- cuted speedy justice on him. 1689. Ireland in 168 g. 171 It was at this juncture that James appeared before the city at the head of his army. He summoned the inhabi- tants to open their gates. His summons was met by a fire from the walls, amid cries of "No surrender!" Walker, a divine of the true puritan type, assisted by Major Baker, took direction of the defence. London- All the able-bodied inhabitants, 7,000 in derry number, were enrolled in the garrison. Although by the permission of James, ten thousand of the Protestant refugees were allowed to leave London- derry and return to their homes, 20,000 non-combatants were still left to embarrass the defenders. The city had provisions for about twelve days, and its cannon numbered but twenty. The forces of the besiegers were between twenty-five and thirty thousand. On April 20 the siege began, and on the 29, James, finding the siege likely to be more tedious than he expected, returned to Dublin, leaving the French general, Maumont, to con- duct the operations. Soon after assuming the command, Maumont was killed in one of the numerous sorties of the garrison, and was succeeded by General Hamilton, who turned the siege into a blockade. Lewis ordered constant supplies of arms and other military stores to be forwarded to Ireland. Admiral Herbert, in command of the English fleet, heard that some of these, protected by a French fleet, were being landed in Bantry Bay. He sailed thither, and attacked the French while they were at anchor. His „ , , - ...■'.. „ , Battle of force was mferior and he was compelled to Bantry retire. He " came off with greate slaughter *^* and little honor." Both courts claimed the victory. At Dublin the Te Deum was sung, at Westminster the Com- mons pased a vote of thanks to Herbert. The Irish Parliament, convoked by James, met at 172 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*€. a.d. Dublin, May 7. It repealed the Act of Settlement ; con- sequently English or Anglo-Irish landlords would be replaced by Celtic ones It passed an act vesting in An Irish Par- King James the property of absentees. By liament meets, another act the tithes were conveyed from the Protestant to the Roman Catholic clergy. The legislative independence of Ireland was asserted in another act. But in the Act of Attainder the Parliament showed most conspicuously its want of wisdom. The act mentioned by name some 2,500 persons, Act of Attain- ^lt^^ ordered them to surrender themselves der passed. before a certain day, and if they failed to do so, sentenced them, untried, to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, and their property to be confiscated. The list included the names of half the Irish peerage, of the wealthiest merchants and farmers, of the Protestant clergy, and most of the English settlers. The act was virtually a declaration of war to the knife against the English and the Protestants of the North of Ireland. Before the prorogation of the Dublin Parliament, the persecution of the Protestants began. The Protestant fellows of Trinity College were ejected from Persecution , . . „ , • t^ , of Protes- their fellowships. Protestant clergy were forcibly driven from their livings. The arms of all Protestants were seized. Avaux, the French am- bassador, proposed a general massacre of Protestants, prompted, it is thought, by his sovereign, Lewis ; but to this James would not consent. The Irish exchequer, although liberally aided by Lewis, was empty. To replenish it James resorted to the device of debasing the coinage, and trades- Coinage de- men refusing to accept the spurious coin were threatened with a visit from the pro-, vost-marshal. 1689. Ireland in 1 68 g. 173 Meanwhile the blockade of Derry dragged on its tedi- ous length. The defenders were reduced to great extremities from the scarcity of provisions. The besiegers had captured Forts Charles and Grange, and between these two forts had stretched a strong boom of fir-trees, at the narrowest part of the Foyle, so as to 1 • 1- 1 1- /. /- , London- prevent ships ascendmg to the rehef of the derry still town. An English fleet arrived in Lough ^^^^^^^^^d- " Foyle, on June 1 5, having on board Colonel Kirke, troops, arm, ammunition, and provision. But no attempt was made to force the boom, and Kirke lay, for weeks, inac- tive in the Lough, whilst the defenders of Derry were starving. Von Rosen now succeeded Hamilton in the conduct of the siege. In order to increase the difficul- ties of the besieged, he collected the Protestants from the surrounding district, drove them under the walls, and left them there to starve, for the garrison dared not add to their distress by admitting more mouths into the town. Walker, in retaliation, threatened to hang all the pris- oners taken. For three days, the crowd, almost mad with hunger and disease, wandered round the city ; at the end of that time Von Rosen allowed the survivors to withdraw. But still the defenders held out, and still Kirke re- mained at anchor in Lough Foyle. Although each man's allowance of provision was reduced to the lowest point at which life could be sustained, yet on July 30 supply for two days only remained. Not more than three thousand of the garrison were able to stand to their arms, for famine had brought its companion, fever ; but no one breathed the word surrender. In England the news of the heroic defence had raised the strongest feelings of pity. London was bound by the closest ties to the Protestant city of the 174 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. English North. The name Londonderry implies sympa. y. x\A^. Many of the great city companies held, and still hold, large property there. The "prodi- gious sloth of our fleet " excited indignation, and peremp- tory orders were sent to Kirke to relieve the city. Amongst the merchantmen attached to Kirke's fleet was the Mountjoy, commanded by one Browning, a native of Derry. Browning volunteered to make an at- tempt to break the boom, and persuaded another merchant captain to risk his ship also. Kirke London- , , - . , , derry Ordered a frigate to accompany them, and relieved, ^^ silence the fire of the forts and cover the merchantmen. The two ships, side by side, with all sail set, favored by a strong wind, were steered straight at the boom. The mass of timber first swayed, then cracked, then gave way, and the two ships were carried through on the rising tide, and Londonderry was saved. The gallant Browning was killed by a shot from blockade Fort Charles as his ship was breaking the raised. boom. On July 30 each fighting man of Derry had received half a pound of tallow and three quarters of a pound of salted hide ; on the 31st, the ra- tions served out to each one of the garrison were two pounds of beef and three pounds of flour. On August I Von Rosen raised the siege, which had now lasted 105 days, and with his troops retreated towards Strabane. Enniskillen was more fortunate than Londonderry ; it was situated on an island, in the river joining the upper and lower parts of Lough Erne, and therefore could not be invested. Nevertheless the inhabitants were in great peril, for 5,000 Irish were marching against them. On July 29 they received from Kirke timely aid, consisting of arms and ammunition and a few experi- CAMPAIGN IN IVORTII-EAST OF IRELAND Ruaaell ^ StrutheruJC^. 176 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c. a.d. enced officers, at whose head was Colonel Wolseley. Wolseley at once determined, with all the forces he could muster, 3,000 only, to strike the first blow, and „ , , attack the Irish. He met them at the vil- Battle of Newtown lage of Newtown Butler, and gained a de- cisive victory over them, the gentlemen and yeomen composing his forces behaving with the great- est gallantry. On the same day on which Browning broke through the boom that blocked the passage of the Foyle, the Irish army that was to destroy the Protestants of Enniskillen was in rapid flight, leaving 1,500 killed on the field, and in the hands of the victors 400 prison- ers, and all their cannon and ammunition. Making the best of their way to the Norfh, the fugitives, on July 31, met, near Strabane, the army of Hamilton retreating from Londonderry. The news of the defeat at New- town Butler spread dismay through Hamilton's force, already dispirited. Thinking that they were about to be attacked on both front and rear, their retreat soon changed into a flight. Each town, as they passed through it was evacuated by its garrison, and was soon after occupied by Kirke's troops, so that in a few days the North of Ireland was again freed from James' sol- diers. Section V. — The Grand Alliance, and Campaign on the Continent in 1689. The interference of Lewis in Ireland on behalf of James caused William to mature his plans for a great Continental confederacy against France. On May 12, 1689, William, as Stadtholder of the United Provinces, had entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with the Emperor against Lewis. On May 17, as King of England, he declared war against France ; and on 1690. The Grand Alliance. 177 December 30 joined the alliance between the Emperor and the Dutch. The example was followed on June 6, 1690, by the King of Spain, and on October 20 of the same year, by Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy. The confederation was called the " Grand Alliance.''' Its main object was declared to be, to curb the power and ambition of Lewis XIV. ; and to force him to surrender his conquests, and to confine his territories to the limits agreed upon between him and the Emperor at the treaty of Westphalia (1648), and between France and Spain at the treaty of the Pyrenees (1659). The league of Augs- burg, which William had with so much trouble brought about, had now successfully developed into the Grand Alliance. The campaign of 1689 between Lewis and the Em- peror was marked by little of importance. The Emperor, although engaged on his eastern fron- tier with the Turks, managed nevertheless to bring an army of 80,000 into the field. Lewis placed campaign of one army in position on the Rhine, another ^^^9 in •' ^ (jermany. in the Netherlands, and a third on the Spanish frontier. The general result was somewhat favorable to the allies, for the Emperor's troops recap- tured Mainz and Bonn, and the French in the Nether- lands suffered defeat. But Lewis and Louvois had formed a plan which they hoped would break up the alliance. This was to obtain command of the Channel, and thus to secure the maritime supremacy „ , ^ _ "' Naval pre- of Europe. All through, therefore, the winter paraiions of 1689, and the early part of 1690, the dock- yards of France were busied in building and equipping ships, and every French man-of-war in the Mediterra- nean was brought round to Brest. N 178 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c, a.d. CHAPTER XV. WILLIAM III. AND IRELAND. Section I. — The English Parliament m 1690. On the dissolution of Parliament in January, 1690, the writs for a new Parliament, the second of Parliament William and Mary, were at once issued. The Tories were placed by the elections in a decided majority. But this result did not prove that the principles of the Revolution were unacceptable to the nation. It showed that the attempt made in the late Parliament by the Whigs to exclude from majority office the Tories who had, in their several boroughs, assisted James in remodelling the corporations, was regarded by moderate men with dis- favor, as being illiberal and revengeful. " The at- tempted exclusion provoked also," says Burnet, " all those whom it was to have disgraced." The first duty of the new Parliament, which met in March, was to consider the revenue. The late Parlia- ment had granted to the Crown money for immediate necessities. It was requisite that the present Parliament should come to some definite settlement. The hereditary revenue of the Crown, which had passed into the posses- sion of WilUam and Mary, produced annually from 400,- 000^. to 500,000/. In the reigns of Charles and James, the excise and customs duties had in addition been voted for life to the sovereign. These duties were supposed to produce annually about 900,000/. William The Civil hoped and believed, that these would be set- tled on him and his queen, as had been done 1690. The English Parliament in i6go, 179 before. But the Parliament considered that its too great generosity in former days had made the Crown more in- dependent of Parhament than was conducive to the pub- lic hberty. William was much hurt. He said that he " who had preserved the religion and laws of England was less trusted by Englishmen than they who tried their best to destroy them." His remonstrances were, how- ever, not entirely without avail. The excise duties, esti- mated to produce about 300,000/. a year, were settled on William and Mary for their lives, and these, added to the hereditary revenue, formed the "Civil List." The customs duties, yielding about 600,000/. a year, were granted to the Crown for four years only. The Civil List provided for the support of the royal household, the per- sonal expenses of the king and queen, and the payment of civil offices and pensions. The Parliament again acknowledged William and Mary as joint king and queen, affirmed the legality of the measures of the late Parliament, and provided that William, whilst in England, should have the sole ad- ministration of the government, but that when he was absent Mary should rule. The Whigs introduced into both Houses in succession a Bill of Abjuration, the object of which was to deprive of office of every kind all persons who did notsolemnly abjure James as king. The first Abjuration bill, drawn up with extreme severity, was re- by both jected by the Commons. The second bill. Houses. which was less stringent, was introduced into the Lords, and was warmly supported by Shrewsbury, William's Whig minister, whilst Danby, the Tory minister, who , had been raised to the marquisate of Carmarthen, was as strenuous in opposing it. The Marquis of Carmarthen succeeded in getting it thrown out. i8o The Fall of the Stuarts i dfc. a.d. On the rejection of these bills, William himself drew up an Act of Grace, which was a full pardon and indem- nity for all political offenders. It was pre- i^ct of Grace ggnted to both Houses, and was passed by passed. _ ^ ■' both Houses without one dissentient voice. By this act William trusted to set at rest political ani- mosities and to be able to prorogue Parliament so that he might be set free to proceed at once to Ireland, in or- der to drive James and the French out of the island. But Shrewsbury was incensed with William for thus, as he thought, truckling to the Tories. He was a man of morbid sensitiveness ; his pride was wounded, and he resolved to resign. The king was disinclined thus to part with one of the " seven patriots," and personally so- licited him to continue in office. Shrews- Shrewsbury bury vacillated, but at length came to his turns traitor. •' ° final determination and resigned. When he first thought himself no longer trusted by William, heat once made overtures to James ; these overtures were ac- cepted, and the resignation of his seal of office marked his adhesion to the Jacobite cause. Halifax, the treasurer, had also resigned office, so Halifax Carmarthen (Danby) and Nottingham, who resigns. were both Tories, were William's sole re- maining ministers. Thus the attempt of William to conciliate all parties by a coalition ministry proved un- successful. But he still determined to show that he did not consider himself the king of a party. Having pro- rogued Parliament on May 20, and made preparations for his Irish campaign, William, before his departure, chose a council of nine privy councillors to assist Mary. Of these four were Whigs, the remaining five, among whom were Carmarthen, Nottingham, and Churchill (now Earl of Marlborough) were Tories. 1690. The Victory of the Boyne. 181 Section II. — The Victory of the Boyne. Marshal Schomberg landed at Belfast in the autumn of 1689, soon after the victory of Newtown Butler, with an army of 10,000 men. Thence he schomberg marched to Carrickfert^us, and beings arrives in _ Ireland, and joined by the Protestants of Enniskillen, lorm:, a camp ,. , , . 1 T-N 1 1- at Uundalk. directed his movements towards Dublin, in hopes of striking a decisive blow before the winter set in. James' forces were collected at Drogheda, to the number of 20,000. On reaching Dundalk, Schomberg found that his men, for the most part raw English peas- ants, hastily recruited, not only stood in need of addi- tional drilling, but were, besides, fatigued by their marches, and half-starved by the shortcomings of the commissariat service. He therefore resolved to halt near Dundalk, form an entrenched camp, and devote his own time and that of his officers to teaching his musketeers how to load and fire, and his cavalry how to ride. James, having joined his troops at Drogheda, marched to within a few miles of Schomberg's camp, as if to at- tack it. Von Rosen, however, recommended more pru- dent measures, and James withdrew his army. Schomberg's troops, supplied with bad food, and suf- fering from the constant rain, fell easy victims to fever, ague, and dysentery. In every regiment Sufferings of the sick outnumbered those who were fit for ^^^ English. duty. Treachery, also, was suspected. Colonel Shales, formerly commissary-general to King James, was the officer at the head of the commissariat. It was said that the peculations of his subordinates, in which he shared, were carried on not merely to enrich themselves, but to ruin the army. Shales was eventually dismissed 182 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. the service, in consequence of the House of Commons presenting an address against him. In November James sent his troops into winter quar- ters. Schomberg immediately broke up his ia winter camp, Sent the sick on board ship, or into quarters. hospital at Belfast, and dispersed the troops still fit for service among the towns and villages of Ulster. Early in the spring of 1690 William sent reinforce- ments to Schomberg, not, as last year, English peasant „^.„. lads, but sturdy Dutch and Danish soldiers, William ^ ■' arrives in scasoncd in many campaigns. With these arrived a body of exiled French Hugue- nots, and a few picked English regiments. They all assembled at Belfast, and thither followed William, leaving London on June 4, and arriving at Belfast on the 14th. Schomberg was ordered to rendezvous with his troops at Loughbrickland, a small town on the Lough of Brickland, lying a mile or two to the east- ward of the high road running from Lisburn to Newry and Dundalk. James had sent urgent appeals to Lewis for reinforce- ments, dwelling much on the uselessness of his Irish troops. Lewis promised to exchange French soldiers for Irish ones, at the rate of two Frenchmen Lauzun sent by Lewis for every Irishman, and on the arrival at forcemem's Brest of 4,ooo ragged, but strong, Irish, there for James. were scnt to Dubhn 8,000 good French soldiers, under the command of Count of Lauzun. Lau- zun was placed in command at the special request of James and his queen, with whom he was in high favor, but he was a drawing-room soldier, who shone more at Versailles than on the battle-field. James and Lauzun had almost reached Dundalk, when they heard of Wil- liam's arrival in Ireland. 1690. The Victory of the Boyne. 183 When William had reached his army he found that it had been joined by the volmiteers from Enniskillen and Londonderry, and was thus raised to 36,000 men. With the men of Derry made bishop marched Walker, the clerical defender of ° ^'^^' the city. The bishopric of Derry had just fallen vacant, and Williams' first act was to appoint Walker to the see. But neither episcopal ease nor episcopal zeal tempted him to leave his " prentice boys." James' army numbered about 27,000. On hearing the strength of William he resolved to fall back until he could form his troops on scround James takes ^ ° up a position. where natural advantages should counter- balance their inferiority in numbers. He therefore with- drew towards Drogheda, and crossed the river Boyne at the ford at Old Bridge. Here he drew up his army on the south side of the river, with Drogheda, garrisoned by Irish, a few miles to his right, and to his left the bridge at Slane, guarded by a strong body of his caval- ry under O'Neil. On June 30 William came in sight of the combined Irish and French army on the other side of the Boyne. He could not restrain his delight at coming up with them. " Gentlemen, I am glad to see ,„.,. , ° . Wiliam you," he exclaimed; adding, "It is my comes up r 1. -r '• TT .1. with James. fault if you escape me now. He at once rode forward to reconnoitre the position of James' army. While he was thus engaged he was observed by the ene- my, and two field-pieces were brought up to open fire upon him and his staff. The first shot of each took effect, the one killing the horse of Prince George of Hesse and bringing its rider to the ground, and the other wounding William in the shoulder. The wound fortu- nately was a slight one, but for a moment dismay spread 1 84 The Fall of the Stuarts J &*c. a.d. through his staff. After the wound was dressed, the in- domitable spirit of WilHam enabled him again to mount his charger. On that day he was for nineteen consecu- tive hours on horseback. On the following morning, July i, William gave his final orders. The right wing, under a son of Schom- berg, was to cross the bridge at Slane, and, BatUeofthe after driving away O'Neil's dragoons, to turn the left flank of James' army. Wil- liam's left wing, composed entirely of cavalry, under his own immediate command, was to cross nearer Droghe- da and operate on the right flank of the enemy. The centre, all infantry, led by Schomberg, was to force the passage of the Boyne. Lauzun saw at once that if their left flank was turned, retreat, if it should be necessary to retreat, was impossi- ble. He therefore moved the French contingent, the most trustworthy part of the army, to reinforce O'Neil on the left. Schomberg's son had already crossed the bridge at Slane, and pushed back the dragoons, but by the arrival of the French he was held at bay at the pass of Duleek. The Irish alone were left to form the centre of James' army. The Dutch allies, and French refu- gees and Irish Protestants, under Schomberg, wadin-^; up to their arm-pits, forced the river, and made good their footing on the other side. No sooner did the Irish infantry see this, than they turned and fled. The Irish cavalry, under Hamilton, came to the rescue and pressed back the allied troops. Schomberg urged his horse through the river to rally his wavering troops. " Voila vos persecuteurs ! " he shouted to the retreating French Huguenots, who rallied and came again to the attack. At this critical moment the brave old marshall was struck dead from his horse, and Bishop Walker received his 1690. The Victory of the Bcyne. 185 death wound. William, however, having made good his passage of the river, formed up his cavalry, and then putting himself at their head, wheeled to the right, and came down on the right flank of the Irish horse. These latter, pressed in their turn by this fresh body of troops, gave way. The allied infantry re-formed their ranks, and began again to advance. In a few minutes James' army was in full retreat. Fortunately for James the French held firm the pass of Duleek, and then formed in the rear, and covered the flying army. Had it not been for the foresight of Lauzun, the slaughter of the fugitives would have been immense. As it was, the loss of the Irish was estimated at 1,500, that of William's allied troops at 500 only. James, when he saw the day was lost, galloped off to Dublin with all haste, and made preparation for his immediate return to France. When William was told of Schomberg's death his grief was great, and his usually phlegmatic nature was deeply moved. But when he was told that Bishop Walker also had met with his death at the passage of the Boyne, " What took him there ? " said he. His remark to Burnet, at the landing at Torbay, was to the same purport. He thought divines should keep to their studies and their pulpits, and not interfere with soldiers or statesmen. The slight wound received by William on the day before the battle had been reported at Versailles as fatal. Great was the consequent rejoicing. The bells of Notre Dame at Paris, rung only on the most important occa- sions, now pealed forth their notes of triumph. On July 5 a letter arrived from James, dated from Brest, an- nouncing his safe arrival there, and the defeat he had sustained. The reaction caused by this bad news, com- 1 86 The Fall of the Stuarts y &*c. a.d. ing after the good news, increased James' unpopularity at the court of Lewis. In London, on the other hand, the intelHgence of the victory at the Boyne caused the greatest enthusiasm. London, indeed, stood in need of consolation. Since William's departure for Ireland a great blow had fallen. The French had obtained the command of the Channel. Section III. — Herbert, Lord Torrington. The work of the French dock-yards had produced great results. A magnificent fleet, well equipped, con- sisting of no less than seventy-eight ships of the line, besides frigates and smaller vessels, and carrying in all 4,702 guns, put to sea under the command of the Count of Tourville. The combined English and Dutch fleet, under Admiral Herbert ( now raised to the peerage as Lord Torrington ), mustered only fifty-six ships of the line, mounting 3,462 guns. Torrington, cruising to the south-west of the Isle of Wight, sighted Tourville's fleet off the Needles, and at once made for the straits of Do- _ , ^ ver. The queen sent down from London to Defeat off ^ . _ . Beachy the coast messengers to mtercept Tornngton, and give him imperative orders to engage. The message reached him when his fleet was off Beachy Head. With reluctance he obeyed, and formed in order of battle. He placed the Dutch under Admiral Evert- sen, a brave and skillful seaman, in the van, and gave the signal to engage. The Dutch fought bravely, but were coldly supported by the English. At length Evert- sen unwillingly withdrew from the contest, leaving one of his ships as a prize to the French. Torrington, taking in tow those of his vessels which were damaged, made with all haste for the Thames. It was fortunate indeed for England that Tourville did not follow up his victory 1690. Torrington Defeated. 187 with energy. If he had done so, the 30th of June would have been a day long to be mournfully remembered by Enghshmen. Tourville, instead of pursuing Torrington, sailed westwards, burned Teignmouth in Devonshire, and then waited in daily expectation of a rising in Eng- gland in James' favor which should warrant his more active interference. It is doubtful if any victory of the English arms would have done more to strengthen William's cause than the defeat off Beachy Head. English sailors were fondly supposed to be invincible, and it was at once as- serted that their defeat was due to treachery. Public opinion declared that Torrington was a traitor. The Londoners now became alarmed for the safety of their city, and their fear increased their hatred of the French, and for the cause favored by the French king. It was at this moment that the news reached Lon- don of William's victory at the Boyne. feeUnf^in Mary had from the first been almost idol- ^w^\ °^ nam. ized by those brought into contact with her. Her popularity was now shared by her husband. Torrington was sent to the Tower, and in the following December was tried by court-martial, for having, "through treachery or cowardice, misbehaved in his office, drawn dishonor on the British nation, and sacri- ficed our good allies the Dutch." He and his friends declared he was being made a victim to the resentment of the Dutch, who had been destroyed by their own rashness. The idea that an Englishman was being sac- ficed to Dutch interests caused a reaction in public feeling. The result of the trial Torrington ^ *=" _ dismissed. was a verdict of not guilty, and the popu- lace hailed the verdict with joy, although, five months previously, Torrington's name was never uttered with- 1 88 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. out an evil epithet attached to it. Notwithstanding the verdict, William dismissed hini from the service. Section IV. — William leaves Ireland. James' army, flying from the Boyne, reached Dublin Lauzun agreed with Tyrconnel, whom James had nomi- nated his lord-lieutenant, that it was impossible to make a stand for the defence of the capital, so dispirited were the soldiers. They therefore rapidly withdrew their troops and marched towards the west. On July 6 Wil- liam entered Dublin, and returned thanks William . . •/-.■!-. -ii/^iii enters Dub- for his Victory m St. Patrick s Cathedral. It ^'^' was on this day that William heard of the French victory off Beachy head. He at once came to the conclusion that it was absolutely necessary to se- cure Waterford, the finest harbor in the south-east of Ireland, and a more secure anchorage for his transports than the bay of Dublin. On July 21 William appeared before Waterford, and it immediately surrendered. He now prepared to leave Ireland for England. As he approached Waterford Dublin he heard that Tourville, after burn- ing Teignmouth, had returned to France, and that the appearance of a French fleet in the Thames was no longer to be dreaded. He therefore re- joined his force near Cashel, who were following the still retreating army of James. The Irish army had reached Limerick, and here some proposed to make a stand. But Lauzun and Tyrconnel both held that Limerick could not be de- fended, that "its battlements might be bat- tered down with roasted apples," and that the army, by remaining there, would be sure to fall an easy prey to William. But the Irish wished for an opportunity to 1690. William leaves Ireland. 189 retrieve their character, and Patrick Sarsfield J'^^'^j.^'^ , . , .... barsfield. Stood forth as an exponent of their views. Sarsfield had formerly held a commission in the Eng- lish life-guards, had seen much service abroad, and had, with his regiment, fought against Monmouth at Sedgemoor He represented the county of Dublin in the Irish Parliament. He was handsome, of high stature and great strength, brave, generous, talented, and every- where popular. Descended from one of the early Eng- lish colonists, his family had often intermarried with the native Irish, and Sarsfield himself had become one of those called *' Hibernis Hiberniores " (more Irish than the Irish). Sarsfield pointed out the strong advantages of defence offered by Limerick. He expatiated on the natural strength of the city, the greater part of which stood on an island in the Shannon, with only one bridge con- necting it with the mainland, the river itself ° Limerick being held by a French squadron. The defended by result of the deliberations was that Lauzun and Tyrconnel, with the French, retired northwards to Galway, leaving the Irish army of 20,000 to defend Limerick. On August 9 William arrived before the city, and pitched his camp on the left bank of the Shannon. His heavy artillery had not yet come up. On the loth Sars- field, at the head of 500 cavalry, left Limerick by the right bank of the river, to reconnoitre. Intelligence was brought him of the whereabouts of William's artillery train. Crossing the Shannon at artiii'ery ^ Killaloe, he came down on it as it was i^^^l^y^'^ ^y barsneld. parked for the night, put to flight the escort, blew up the powder, buried or burst the guns and was safe back in Limerick before the morning. 190 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. A regular siege was now out of the question, so William rapidly pushed forward the trenches in order to carry the place by assault. Rain fell without intermission. The English and Dutch soldiers, working in water up to their knees, began to suffer from dysentery. The com- missariat, as usual, was deficient. From the 17th to the 27th the progress made by the besiegers was slow, and on the latter day it was determined to try the effect of an assault. Desperate fighting took place for four hours, William fails ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ assailants were repulsed, before Although the English had entered that part of the town which lay on the left bank of the river, they were unable to make good their footing, and were driven slowly back to their camp. On the night of the 27th rain fell heavier than ever. The English camp became a swamp. The light field-guns and the commissariat wagons began to sink into the treacherous soil. On the 29th a council of war was held, and Wil- liam reluctantly gave orders to raise the siege. The king started immediately for Waterford, and sailed thence for England, landing at Bristol on Septem- ber 6. Section V. — Marlborough in Ireland. When Tourville was threatening the southern coast, troops under the command of Lord Marlborough had been despatched to garrison Portsmouth. All danger from the French having passed away, Marlborough pro- posed to Queen Mary to send the troops to the south of Ireland, to reduce Cork and Kinsale. Mary laid the plans before the council of nine. The council v/as di- vided as to the expediency of the enterprise. Marlborough William, who was in Ireland, was appealed Ireland. to, and approved, ordering Marlborough, 1690. Campaign in the Netherlands. 191 who had proposed the scheme, to command the expedi- tion. On September 22 the force, consisting of 5,000 men, disembarked near Cork, and was joined by some of the Dutch troops under the Duke of Wiirtemberg, who had been engaged in the siege of Limerick. After a siege of forty-eight hours Cork capitulated. In a few hours afterwards the Enghsh cavalry appeared before Kinsale, and summoned the garrison to surren- der. The Irish replied by setting fire to the town, and then retired to two forts, called the Old and New Forts. The English put out the fire Kinsafe faU. with difficulty. Marlborough, on coming up with the rest of his forces, attacked the Old Fort with scaling ladders, and captured or killed all its garrison. The New Fort, after being besieged for six days, capitu- lated on terms, and its garrison was allowed to retire to Limerick. The climate now began to affect Marlborough's troops, and it was determined that all William's troops in Ire- land should go into winter quarters. On November i Marlborough presented himself to William at Kensing- ton, and was most graciously received by him. Wiliiam now held the provinces of Ulster and Leins- ter, and Enniskillen, Londonderry, Belfast, Dundalk, Drogheda, Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Kinsale were garisoned by his troops. Section VI. — Campaign in the Netherlands. Contrary to the wishes of his minister, Louvois, Lewis had given the command of the French army in the Netherlands to the Duke of Luxembourg-. , ° Luxembourg Luxembourg, a biter enemy of Louvois, was and Wai- a bold and original general, rapid in his movements, and sometimes even rash. The Prince of 192 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. Waldeck, who carried on war according to the rules of the tacticians, commanded the ImperiaHsts. Waldeck had taken up a strong position behind the Sambre, to the eastward of Namur. Luxembourg forced the passage of the Sambre, attacked Waldeck at Fleu- rus, and defeated him in a decisive battle on June 30, the same day which witnessed the English de- victoriousat feat off Beachy Head. Waldeck lost 5,000 killed, 8,000 prisoners, 50 pieces of artillery, and more than 100 standards. The standards were sent to Notre Dame, and the wits of Paris dubbed Luxem- bourg "le tapissier de Notre Dame " ( the upholsterer of Notre Dame ). Luxembourg wished to follow up his victory by attack- ing either Namur or Charleroi ; but Louvois had suffi- cient influence with Lewis to stop him in his victorious path, and he was ordered to remain inactive. Another French general, Catinat ( the first instance in France of a man rising to that rank who was not of the order of the nobility ), was also victorious in Savoy over the troops of Victor Amadeus. CHAPTER XVI. Pacification of Ireland and Scotland. Section I. — Ireland — Limerick. In the spring of 169 1 Tyrconnel returned to Ireland as lord-heutenant of James. He landed at Limerick, and was soon afterwards joined by St. Ruth, a French g^rv- ^ ^ , eral, whose reputation in that capacity was St. Ruth. , J 1 • n 1 • • based chiefly on his success in the '* Dra- 1 6 9 1 . Ireland — Liftierick. 193 gonnades. " St. Ruth was supposed to understand and appreciate the Irish character, because the Irish regi- ments in the French service had been under his com- mand. He set to work to reorganize the forces placed •at his disposal, but was bitterly disappointed with their progress. Added to this, he found that Sarsfield was the favorite of the soldiery, so that both St. Ruth and Tyrconnel, jealous of Sarsfield's influence, made a point of employing as little as possible the best officer Ireland possessed. On June i, St. Ruth thought his forces J -11 J rr • 1 ^ ■, ^ , , St. Ruth takes drilled sufficiently to take the field. the field for Ginkell, an experienced Dutch officer, had J^™^^* been placed by William under command of Ginkell com- •^ mands Jing- the English and the allied Dutch troops. lish, St. Ruth had placed a strong garrison in Athlone, a town on the Shannon about 70 miles north of Limerick. Ginkell had concentrated his forces at Mullingar, in Westmeath, 28 miles due east of Athlone. On the 7th he captured Ballymore and its tolthKne^^ garrison. Having strengthened the fortifica- tions, he left the garrison there, so that it might serve as a place to fall back upon in case of reverse. On June 19 he appeared before Athlone. The town of Athlone was divided by the Shannon into two parts. On the right bank was the Celtic town, com- manded by an old castle. On the left bank had been the English town ; but this now lay in a heap of ruins, having been burnt by the Irish. Athlone cap- The two banks of the river were connected by a bridge, and this bridge was also commanded by the castle. About 600 yards below the bridge was a deep and dangerous ford, covered by earthworks on the Irish or right bank. After a few hours' fighting, Ginkell O 194 The Fall of the Stuarts, 6^r. A.D. :^69i. Ireland. 195 gained possession of what remained of the English town, and on June 21 he began to erect batteries. He began the bombardment on the next day, and in a short time the Irish town was in ruins, and the castle much damaged. But St. Ruth had encamped with his army outside Athlone to support the garrison, and the English could not cross the bridge, which was stoutly held by the Irish. So matters continued until the 30th, when a council of war was called together by Ginkell. Bearing in mind the successful passage of the Boyne, the coun- cil resolved, while making a feint of forcing the bridge, to attempt to cross the Shannon by the ford, and so carry the covering earthworks with a rush. The bold idea was carried out, and was successful. With a loss of only 12 killed and 30 wounded, the English crossed the river, and took in rear the defenders of the bridge. A crowd of fugitives, rushing pell-mell into his camp, brought to St. Ruth the intelligence that the town had fallen. De- jected and disguised, he rapidly struck his tents and re- treated westward toward Galway. St. Ruth, in order to retrieve his character as a general, determined, contrary to the advice of Sars- field, to risk a general engagement. He A^"}fi°^ knew that he should incur the displeasure of Lewis, when the latter learnt that he had led a reliev- ing army to the walls of Athlone and had then retreated without striking a blow to aid the garrison. He knew also that his troops could not be relied on, but at the same time he did what skill could do to counteract their unsteadiness. He therefore chose a strong position at Aughrim which could be strengthened artificially. He drew up his men on the slope of a hill, at the foot of which was a marsh. He further strengthened his front by erecting breastworks, from behind which his men could 196 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^c, a.d, fire on the enemy as they struggled through the boggy ground to the attack. On July 11 Ginkell had marched to Ballinasloe, four miles westward of Aughrim. On the 1 2th the English and Dutch attacked the Irish. For two hours they could make no impression ; " the action was very hot, for the Irish disputed the matter obstinately." At length, on the extreme of the English right, a squad- ron of the Blues found somewhat firmer ground, and suc- cessfully crossed the morass. Laying down hurdles, they formed a road along which the whole of the English cavalry moved. As soon as they had passed the bog, the cavalry formed, wheeled to the left, and charged the Irish on their flank. At this critical moment, St. Ruth was killed. The Irish began to give way. Sarsfield, who com- manded the reserve, remained inactive, for he had been ordered by St. Ruth not to advance unless he received direct orders to do so from him. St. Ruth being dead, no orders were given, and the Irish, pressed by the English infantry (who again and again came to the attack in their front) as well as the cavalry on their flank, finally broke and fled. In the pursuit which followed, few prisoners were taken but many hundred fugitives were slain. The cannon and baggage of the Irish fell into the hands of the victors. Sarsfield drew off a few regiments and reached Galway. The Irish lost, out of a force of 28,600, no less than 7,000 killed and 400 prisoners. Ginkell' s army of 20,coo had 600 killed and 1,000 wounded. Galway capitulated as soon as Ginkell appeared before it, on condition that its garrison should be Galway sur- allowed to withdraw to Limerick. In renders. Limerick, then, all those bearing arms for James were assembled. Tvrconnel himself made every preparation Death of n . ^ r r ■, • tT r i Tyrconnel. for the defence of the city. Before, how- 1 6 9 1 . Limerick. 197 ever, the army of William appeared, a fit of apoplexy carried off the man who was most feared and hated by the Protestants of Ireland. Ginkell began the bombardment of Limerick on Au- gust 12. When William was foiled, a French squadron commanded the Shannon ; now, however, the river was held by an English fleet. Ginkell, taking a strong body of troops across the river in boats, dispersed the Irish cavalry encamped on the right bank, and carried a detached fort, protecting the bridge ^?^' °( , which connected the two parts of the city. It was evident to both besiegers and besieged that Limerick must soon fall. Offers of capitulation were made and a truce of a few days was arranged whilst the terms of the capitulation were being drawn up. On October i two treaties were signed, the one mili- tary, by Ginkell, the other civil, by the lords justices. By the military treaty, all Irish officers and soldiers electing to leave their country, and retire to France, were to be conveyed thither by ^^'^^^i °^ English transports. Ten thousand availed themselves of this condition, and were formed into the Irish brigade which afterward did such good service to the French kings. The civil treaty provided that the Irish who were Roman Catholics should enjoy all the privileges in the exercise of their religion which they had enjoyed in the reign of Charles II.; that they should have permission to carry arms, to exercise their professions, and should receive full amnesty for all offences against the government of WiUiam and Mary. This treaty was subsequently confirmed by the Eng- lish Parliament. With the departure of the Irish soldiers the last ves- 198 The Fall of the SticartSy &*€. a.d. tige of opposition to the House of Orange disappeared. The lords justices appointed by WiUiam ruled the coun- try with great harshness. An Irish Parliament — which, according to the law, was composed entirely of Protes- tants—was summoned to meet at Dublin in 1695. It re- fused to accept the conditions of the treaty of Limerick, and this refusal earned for that town the name of "The city of the violated treaty." Penal laws of Ireland kept ^ . ^ i in submis- the utmost seventy agamst the Roman Cath- olics were carried. Ireland was led into bondage, and its chains were riveted by the Irish Prot- estants, who thus took vengeance for the wrongs they had suffered at the hands of the Stuarts. So effectual were the means of repression taken, that in the two insurrections in favor of the Stuarts which broke out in the i8th century, not a pike was sharpened, not a sword was drawn, not a shot was fired, in all Ire- land, on behalf of the last Catholic king. For nearly one hundred years the Catholics of Ireland were kept in such subjection that they could hardly ^entu^^'^'^ ^ ^^ ^^^*^ ^° exist as a political party, and were objects neither of distrust nor fear to the English Government. Section 1 1 . — Scotland — Glencoe. Lord Breadalbane, one of the clan Campbell, had early in the year 1691, laid before Dalrymple a scheme for the pacification of the Highlands. He proposed that William should offer a free pardon and a sum of money to all the chiefs who would take the oath of allegiance, and whose clans would bring their arms to Fort William before a certain day. The sum to be divided amongst ' them was to be from ten to fifteen thousand pounds. Dalrymple approved of the plan, for he hoped that the 1 69 1. Glencoe. 199 pride of the chieftains would be too great to allow them to accept the offer, and that their wkh°thy^°"^ refusal might afford a pretence for carrying ^aS^^"^^ fire and sword into their territories. Wil- liam agreed to the proposal. December 31, 1691, was fixed on as the last day on which the chieftains could accept the conditions offered. Dalrymple's hopes were not realized. He had given the officers in command instructions as to the way they were to deal with the chiefs, and hoped "the government would not be troubled with the prisoners." But by the 31st all had laid down their arms except the ]\tacdonalds of Glencoe. Glencoe, a Highland valley near Loch Leven and Ben Nevis, was almost surrounded by the lands of the Campbells. It was held by the Macdonalds, 11 1 1 11 -1 Glencoe. a small clan, but very troublesome neigh- bors to the Campbells. The Macdonalds were hated by the Campbells, and Glencoe was a very Naboth's vine- yard to both Lords Breadalbane and Argyle. When first negotiations were opened with the High- land chiefs, Breadalbane told Macdonald of Glencoe that he should retain any money which might be due to Macdonald on submitting, as a compensa- . ...... Macdonald tion for various injuries inflicted at various of Glencoe times by the Macdonalds on the Campbells. gfvml in bis The old chieftain had consequently no in- submission. ducement to offer to his men to lay down their arms, and was also fearful that if they were disarmed the Camp- bells would become troublesome. But when, at the close of 1 69 1, Macdonald heard that every other clan had submitted, he presented himself on December 30 before the governor of Fort William to take the oaths. The governor, not being a magistrate, was unable to admin- 200 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. A.D. >^ GLENCOE • ■"■ ■ ~- -^ nt' Etive Mt. Rusaeil ^ Struthers.N. T ister them, but he gave him a letter to the sheriff of Inverary, who administered the oaths, to Macdonald on January 6. Breadalbane informed Dalrymple that all had sub- mitted save the Macdonalds of Glencoe. Dalrymple then obtained from William a written order " to ex- tirpate that sept of thieves, for the vindica- tion of public justice." "The king," says Burnet, "signed this without any inquiry, for he was too apt to sign papers in a hurry without examining them." This was caused by the ac- ' cumulation of business papers. But William was kept in ignorance of Macdonald's having offered to take the oaths before the appointed time, and of having actually taken them a few days afterwards. The fatal order reached the governor of Fort William, and was transmitted by him for execution to the colonel command- ing Argyle's regiment of soldiers. The colonel sent 120 men of his regiment, under a Captain Campbell, who was connected by marriage with one of the Macdonalds. William orders justice to be done on Glencoe. 1691. Scotland. 201 The Macdonalds entertained the soldiers on their arrival in the valley hospitably. They thought, as they had heard nothing to the contrary, that their submission was accepted. On the thirteenth day of their stay in Glencoe, Captain Campbell received full instructions from his colonel, and in accordance with this, the soldiers, at day- break of February 13, fell on their unsuspecting hosts. Forty of the Macdonalds were slain at once. The rest of the clan, with women and children, made their escape to the mountains There, cold, wearied, and starved, the greater number perished in the snows of that incle- ment winter. When the news of the "massacre of Glencoe" reached the French court, Lewis XIV. openly ex- pressed his abhorrence. The author of the ^^"^ked Dragonnades, the persecutor of the Hugue- nots, the master of those who devastated the Palatinate, could not find words adequate to express his abhorrence of William for this outrage on humanity. The Scotch Parliament in 1695 entered on an inquiry into the matter. The inquiry had been ordered before, but for one reason or anotherhad been postponed. The result was that Parliament recommended the prosecution of the officers of Argyle's regiment, and brought to light the double-dealing of Breadalbane and Dalrymple. Breadalbane was in consequence committed to prison on a charge of high treason, and Dalrymple's resignation of his office was accepted by William. The prosecution, however, of the officers never took place. ^ , ,, ^ Breadalbane The trial of Breadalbane was delayed until escapes the session of Parliament came to an end, and then was dropped. " Political necessity," it is said, "bears down justice and honor." But William's charac- ter is stained by the careless signing of an inhuman 202 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. order, and by the protection granted to the instigators and perpetrators of the Glencoe massacre. The Highlands being now pacified, the work of final- ly establishing William and Mary on the Scotch throne went on rapidly. The Presbyterian Church was restorea as the Church of Scotland. A Toleration Act was pro- posed by William, but to this the Scotch tranquil. Parliament remained unalterably opposed. ■ William was obliged to yield, but during his reign no persecution for religion took place. For the remaining years of the seventeenth century Scotland caused no disquiet to the reigning sovereign, nor did the Jacobites succeed in gaining in that kingdom many fresh adherents to their cause. CHAPTER XVII. The War during 1691, 1692, 1693, 1694. Section I. — Congress at the Hague. In January 1691 a congress assembled at the Hague. William arrived there at the end of that sides^Tthe^' nionth, and found already assembled the congress at greater number of the German electors and the Hague. ° sovereign princes, and plenipotentiaries from the Emperor, from the Kings of Spain, Sweden, Den- mark, and Poland, and from the Duke of Savoy. He presided at the formal opening of the congress. After a few days' deliberation it was agreed that the allies should keep in the field an army of The resolu- ^ . _ tions agreed 220,000 men to operate agamst France. °"' The contingents to be furnished by each of 1692. Battle of Steinkirk. 203 the allies were fixed, and the various details of the ensu- ing campaign were settled. Two essentials for military success, full authority vested in one man, and perfect secrecy, are seldom to be found in coalition. Moreover, in a coali- it is difficult for two allies to be in such ''°"" complete agreement that no cause for jealousy or mis- understanding should rise between them. But here there were not two, but twenty powers combined together, and supposed to act as one. There may be a moral strength added to a cause in its being supported by many allies ; but the moral strength is more than counterbalanced by the weakness inherent in a coalition. That the Grand Alliance did not break up altogether is due to the consum- mate judgment and statesmanlike management of William, exercised not once, but over and over again. On the other hand, many of the successes in the ensuing campaigns which attended the French armies may be traced to the fact that Lewis XIV. was his own master, made his own plans, consulted no other sovereign, and kept his own counsel. Section II. — Campaign of i6gi. The plan of operations agreed on by the allies was, that the Emperor sliould, with an army, ,„. , ' Allies have hold the Rhme and threaten the eastern four armies frontier of France ; that the Duke of Savoy should be prepared with another army to enter France through the passes of Piedmont ; that Spain should have an army acting on her frontier ; and that William and the northern allies should defend the Low Countries, and reduce the fortresses in French Flanders. The frontiers of the Low Countries of Spanish Flan- 204 The Fall of the Stuarts i &*€. a.d. ders, Hainault and Brabant, extended con- fenlfe Tn the tinuously for about 200 miles. They were knds^"^' defenjded by fortified towns, all of which were in the hands of the allies. Beginning on the west, we find Nieuport, Furnes, Dixmuide, Deynse, Oudenarde, Ath, Mons. Behind these, and joining a second line of defence, were Ostend, Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels. From Mons the line of defence was continued to the east by the river Sambre, with the fortress of Charleroi, to the north-east by the Meuse, with the fortified towns, Namur, Huy, Liege, and Maestricht. During the coming campaign many of these towns were captured and recaptured, and the attempts to relieve their garrisons by either one side or the other were the causes of most of the battles. When the congress broke up, the French were supposed to be unpre- Lewis and ^ 111. \ 1 i Luxembourg pared, and to be disposed to act only on the defensive. But suddenly Luxembourg ap- peared before Mons, with an army of 100,000 men. Lewis himself was also present, provided with every luxury to which he was accustomed at Versailles, and attended by a numerous retinue, including his troop of players, his musicians, his valets, and his cooks. Vau- ban, the engineer-in-chief, was also with the army. William, with some difficulty collecting a force of 50,000, marched to the relief of Mons. • But before he had arrived near it he heard that Mons had fallen (April 9). William accordingly withdrew towards Brussels, left the Prince of Waldeck with a force of 18,000 men to defend that city, and placed his English troops in an entrenched camp. He then paid a hasty visit to England to ar- range for the Irish campaign, and returned to Flanders in May. On the fall of Mons, Lewis returned in triumph to Ver- 5* A*//M E J^ R\\ si /ri)en(lei'monae! V >Hai7e7jcr* Nffrlduden f ^^Tonffrci/ 'alplnqact p S*' flliiy Liuwoura^ \ Vet\e\ia MAI' OK 'p/«n,,so/>| FLANDERS and BRABANT TO ILLUSTRATE CAMPAIGNSOF WILLIAM III 1690-1696 liUlippeville i,i;/V . . ._ Scale,of Miles * Din ant -^ JP JtuuMtairutAm.X r. I 1 69 1. Campaign of i6gi. 205 sallies, leaving Luxembourg to repair the damages done to the fortifications of the captured fortress, and to con- tinue the campaign. With an army of 40,000 men, Luxembourg set out in May to surprise Brussels, Mar- shal Boufflers being detached with another French di- vision of almost equal numbers to attack Liege. Waldeck had made the best dis- oAhe allies position possible of his small army, and p^ench^ William was able to bring up his English contingent, and not only to check Luxembourg's ad- vance, but also to send succor to Liege. Every day fresh reinforcements joined the allies, and at length, William, finding himself superior in numbers to Luxem- bourg, tried to bring on a general action. Luxembourg, however, could not be tempted out of his lines. Rash when rashness was likely to succeed, he could be, when necessary, as cautious as William himself. Nothing further was done this year in the Spanish Ne- therlands. The troops went into winter quarters, and William returned to England on October 19. The French gained some slight successes over Spain on the Spanish and French frontier, and , _^ , - ^ • T-.- 1 Campaign over the Duke of Savoy m Piedmont. On ends abort- the Rhine nothing of importance took ^^^^' place. Lewis suffered a loss during this year for which many victories could not compensate. Louvois died in July. At enmity with Madame de Maintenon, bitterly mortified by the favor shown by Lewis to his rival and enemy Luxembourg, jealous and envious of .Death of the glory won at Mons, he suddenly fell ill and died. Lewis openly expressed his satisfaction, for he had for some time grown weary of the temper and insolence which his v/ar minister displayed. But he 2o6 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. soon found it impossible adequately to supply his place. Pre-eminent in military organization, and unequalled in powers of administration, the ingenuity and activity of Louvois would have been of incalculable value to Lewis in the war which was now taxing the resources of France to the utmost. Section III. — Campaign of 1692. La Hogue and Steinkirk, The failure of James' party in Ireland was a great blow to Lewis. He had hoped that the war in tjiat island would be sufficient to engage William's attention, and to prevent his affording material aid to the allies on the Continent. He gave out, therefore, that he would make a great descent on England, and bring back for James his lost kingdom. Extraordinary pre- paradon^^^" parations were therefore made in the winter of 1691-2. On this expedition, and on the attack in the Netherlands, all the strength of France was to be employed. Lewis mustered altogether, in this year, and strength. 45o,ooo soldiers and 100,000 sailors. For the actual invasion of England 30,000 troops were told off, and were stationed at Havre, Cherbourg, and Fort la Hogue. Five hundred transports were col- lected for their conveyance, and a fleet, in which were fifty sail of the line, commanded by Tourville, was or- dered to protect the passage. For service in the Nether- lands an army of 100,000 was placed under the command of Luxembourg, and Lewis again joined them and opened the campaign in person. William, who was commander-in-chief of the allies in the Netherlands, found himself at the head of 80,000 men to oppose Luxumbourg. James caused to be circulated in England a " declara- 1692. Campaign of i6g2. 207 tion" calling on his subjects to join his stan- dard; in this he exhorted them not to be Slimes °" afraid of the vengeance of William, because French troops would soon land in sufficient numbers to protect them, and to overcome opposition ; while at the same time he threatened various noblemen and prelates with punishment for their disloyalty. No sooner was this unwise declaration made public, than Mary and her council caused it to be printed and distributed in every direction. The effect of the publication was to unite Englishmen of all ranks and all political parties, to dis- gust even the Jacobites, and to make the statesmen, soldiers, and sailors who had been entrapped into cor- respondence with James, ashamed of their conduct, and return to their duty. Amongst those on whom the "declaration" thus acted was Admiral Russell, now commanding the English fleet. James left Versailles to witness the embarkation of the force intended for England, and pitched his tent in the camp formed at Fort la Hogue, a small but strongly fortified place on the east coast of the Cotentin penin- sula, not many miles from Cherbourg. On May 17 the French transports began to receive their troops. On the same day Russell, with the combined English and Dutch fleet, numbering ninety sail of the line, appeared off the coast of Cotentin. Tourville, with forty-four sail of the line, determined to give attSs the battle. James had shown Tourville a cer- fe"f ''^^ tain correspondence which had passed be- tween himself and Russell, and had assured him that the greater part of the English captains and crews were Jacobites, who would desert on the first opportunity. James little knew the good done to the cause of his enemies by his " declaration." Tourville, therefore, in 2o8 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. coming to this apparently rash determination, reckoned that if any resistance were offeted to him, it would be but a lukewarm one. The two fleets met about 20 miles from the French coast. The wind was at first favorable to the French, and permitted only half the allied fleet to come tk)gue° De- ii^^o action. The battle had lasted for five Tourville hours ; but, although Tourville momentarily expected part of the English fleet to yield or retire, no sign of defection appeared. The wind then shifted, and brought together all the allies. Tourville saw that it was useless to contend longer against such odds, and gave the signal to retire. Every French ship made its way, as best it could, to the shores of France. Some 01 the fleet, making for St. Malo, escaped in safety through the dangerous channel known as the Race of Alderney. Three ships reached Cherbouig; one of these was the Royal Sun, the finest ship in the French navy, in which Tourville had hoisted his flag during the earlier part of the engagement. The remainder, 13 in number, were, under the orders of Tourville, stranded at La Hogue, with their broadsides turned towards the sea. A few days afterwards they were attacked by Sir G. Rooke with frigates, fireships, and boats from the squadron, and James had the mortification of being an eye-witness of their destruction. The Royal Sun and her two consorts were also burnt at Cherbourg by an English squadron under Admiral Delaval. James' last chance of regaining the English throne vanished with the victory of Russell at La oHnSon' Hogue. No armament was ever again ^y ^^^'^ raised by Lewis for the invasion of England. Some military critics doubt whether Lewis intended the invasion, and think that he meant only to 1692. Battle of Steinkirk. 209 make a feint, in order to cause William to withdraw with his English troops from the Netherlands. If so, the stratagem had not the desired effect. When on June i, Lewis and Luxembourg invested Namur, William had with some difficulty collected an army near Huy of 70,- 000 men, with whom he hoped to force the French army, of more than 100,000, to raise the siege. Namur is a fortified town situated at the junction of the Sambre and Meuse. Its defences had been greatly strengthened under the direction of Cohorn, the great Dutch engineer, the rival of Vauban. Cohorn was now present in the town to aid the garrison with his skill. Vauban was with Lewis to advise him in the conduct of the siege. Lewis himself undertook the re- duction of the town, having detached Luxem- capture of bourg with 80,000 men to cover the siege ^\^\^ ^^ operations, and ward off any offensive move- ment of William. Luxembourg contented himself with always presenting a bold front to the allies, so that, if William should resolve on attacking him, it would be at a disadvantage. A continual downpour of rain, lasting for some days, caused the rivers to overflow their banks, and laid all the surrounding country under water, so that William was, by this means alone, unable to send any help to the garrison. On June 8 the town surrendered, but the citadel held out until the 23d. Lewis made a triumphant entry into Namur, and then returned to Ver- sailles, to receive the congratulations of Madame de Maintenon and the flatteries of his courtiers, whilst Luxembourg was left to conduct the campaign. William, in his hopes of finding some opening in Luxembourg's lines through which he might reach Namur, had moved constantly to his right, so that on the day of the surrender of the capital he was about P 2 1 o The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a. D. ten miles to the westward of the town. He at once with- drew his forces and took up a position at Genappe, close to the plain of Waterloo, so as to be able to defend Brussels against an army advancing from either Mons or Namur. Here, on August i, he heard that Luxembourg had ad- vaced from Mons, and had already reached the village of Steinkirk, and had there encamped his right wing, leaving his left wing, under the command of Boufflers, at Enghien, a village about four miles to the westward. William hoped by a rapid march to his right, to sur- prise the French. On the morning of the 3d he ordered his advanced guard of English and Dutch, Battle of numbering about 5,000 men, to attack the right wing of the French. The attack was vigorously made, and a French corps in advance of the right wing was pushed back, and threw those in rear somewhat into confusion. But the attacking party was not supported quickly. Luxembourg ordered his right to advance, supported it with regiments from his centre, and sent orders for the left wing to march ob- liquely from Enghien, and so threaten to outflank Wil- liam's right. The surprise was now over, and the as- sailants were fighting against great odds. Gallantly the Enghsh and Dutch held their own, gaining, perhaps, a few feet of ground. The English foot-guards, in par- ticular, covered themselves with glory. William could not, owing to the nature of the country, make sufficient use of his cavalry, and it was, in fact, itself in danger from the advance of the French left. Reluctantly, therefore, William gave the word to fall back, and the allied army, in good order and unpursued, retired from the field. The French loss at the battle of Steinkirk was about 7,000 killed and wounded; that of the allies was about 1692. Battle of Steinkirk. 211 ^^""^ IWIt GC fO H n H 00 )-» H > r !s< H )H M H f^ P" J?v M 10 !5( 212 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^c. a.d. the same in number, but the English alone lost 2,000 killed and 3,000 wounded. Although the French were victorious, William gained the object he had in view, for Luxembourg was stopped on his march to Brussels, and compelled to Result of the ^^2A\ eight days at Enghien, reorganizing his army. Finding that William had again taken up a strong position in front of Brussels, Luxembourg turned his army westwards, and after various marches and counter-marches on both sides, both armies went into winter quarters. William himself left for England, September 26. The war this year languished on the Rhine and on the Spanish frontier, but the Duke of Savoy gained some trifling successes over the French in the Alps. Section IV. — Campaign oJ*i6gj — Neerwinden. William reached Holland again on March 31, 1693. It was with considerable difficulty that he smoothed over dissensions amongst the allies, and contrived to take the field in May, at the head of 50,000 men. Lewis also joined his soldiers under Luxembourg and Boufflers. They numbered more than double those which William commanded. Finding himself so strong, quks^the°army. Lewis thought it would be easy for him to drive William out of Brabant, and annex that province. William had drawn up his army before Louvain, and so skilful were the dispositions he had made, that Lewis found the task he had undertaken more difficult than he had anticipated. Luxembourg assured his master that it would be impossible to move William without fighting a pitched battle. Now battles il were not to Lewis' taste. In them he knew he ran some personal risk, and that, even if he gained a victory, . \ I I 1693. Campaign of i6qj. 213 it might prove to be a barren one, a mere precursor of another engagement. In a siege, on the other hand, he had found by experience that he need not expose him- self, and the captured town was a material proof of his military prowess. So finding there was no fortress to be invested, but a tough battle to be fought, Lewis took leave of his generals and hurried back to Versailles, having first sent half of his troops to reinforce the army on the Rhine. Luxembourg was left in sole command of the French army in Flanders, which, although thus reduced, still far outnumbered that of William. William, however, having received some reinforce- ments felt himself strong enough to send a division, under the Duke of Wurtemberg, into French Flanders, to threat- en Tournay and Lille. Luxembourg withdrew his army southwards and laid siege to Huy. William moved from his position before Louvain, to attempt ^^ , Huy captured the relief of Huy. He had advanced two by Luxem- days' march beyond Tirlemont, when he °"'^^' heard that Huy had surrendered, and that Luxembourg was preparing to invest Liege and Maestricht. He there- fore hastily sent troops to reinforce the garrisons of these fortresses, and with his reduced army formed an encamp- ment near Landen. But Luxembourg having thus induced William to weaken his army by sending off reinforcements, con- centrated his own troops, and, in hopes of crushing William by mere force of numbers, marched to give him battle. On July 28 he arrived in sight of William's camp, which he found formed on a well chosen spot, between the river Little Gheet and a small stream called the Landen, and in the rear of the three villages of Laer, Neerwinden, and Romsdorf. The ground sloped down gradually from the camp towards these villages. The 214 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^c. a.d. whole front of the position was strengthened by ditches, breastworks, and redoubts, in which nearly loo guns were mounted. William although he might Disposition of have retreated, thought that, even with his Williain s army. ° inferior numbers (for he had barely 50,000 men to oppose to 70,000 under Luxembourg), the position could be held, and therefore waited the attack of the French. He drew up his army so that his left rested on the Landen, and was posted on rising ground to the rear of Romsdorf; his centre occupied the entrenchments in front of his camp, and his right held in force the villages of Laer and Neerwinden. Luxembourg made his first attack with his own centre on that of William, but after two hours' hard fighting had made no impression. Retiring his centre and sending from it regiments to strengthen each of his Battle of wings, with his right wing he occupied and held Romsdorf, with his left he attacked Laer and Neerwinden. These latter formed the key of the position, for, if they were taken by the French, William's right flank would be turned. A desperate struggle, therefore, took place round these villages. The defenders repulsed two attacks of infantry and three of cavalry. But William was obliged to move regiments from his centre to strengthen his extreme right at Laer, although the English guards and the Hanoverian con- tingent, without aid, held fast Neerwinden. Luxem- bourg now made a feint on the left of the allies, whilst he prepared for a last great effort on Neerwinden. He ordered to the attack the French guards, who were fresh and had been kept in reserve. These delivered a fierce assault on the defenders, who had been now engaged for seven hours, and who were driven slowly out of the vil- lage, stubbornly contesting every yard of ground. Lux 1693. Campaign of i6^j. ?^5 2i6 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. embourg, once having gained Neerwinden, was able to use his cavalry with fatal effect on the right wing of the allies. William saw that the day was lost, and that he must retire. He had previously ordered a body of dra- goons to hold the village of Dormael, about a mile in rear of his camp, and thither he directed his troops to fall back. This they did, but with no sign of disorder. The English troops covering the retreat, and led by "William in person, again and again faced about and at- tacked the French, so that Luxembourg, after twelve hours' fighting, gave orders for his men to halt, and allowed the allies to continue their retreat without further molestation. The losses of both the French and the allies at the battle of Neerwinden (or Landen, as it is sometimes called) were numerous. Luxembourg is corn- Losses of puted to have lost, in killed and wounded, each army. '^ 17,000 men. The total loss of the allies was 6,000. William leisurely retired on Brussels, whilst Luxem- bourg, having halted a day on the field of battle, moved a few miles to his rear, and spent a fortnight in reorgan- izing his army. During this time William was joined by all the troops he had detached to French Charleroi Flanders. Luxembourg, on hearing this, withdrew southwards to Charleroi, and in- vested that fortress. After a siege of two months, Charleroi surrendered. Both armies soon after went into winter quarters, William arriving in England Octo- ber 29. In spite of the great losses at La Hogue, the naval re- sources of France were such that, in the year 1693, no less than 71 ships of the line, besides smaller vessels, were afloat. A gleam of success came to console Tour- 1693- Campaign of i6gj . 217 ville under the despondency from which he had suf- fered since his defeat. The Enghsh and Dutch mer- chant fleet, bound for Smyrna, was escorted as far as the coast of Spain by a large fleet of Enghsh men-of-war, but thence it was allowed to continue its voyage towards the Mediterranean with a convoy of only Great loss of 20 men of war, commanded by Sir G. English and Rooke. Tourville lay in wait for the fleet, chantmen.^'^' with a squadron of ships of the line greatly superior in force to that under Rooke. On June 27 he attacked the fleet, and destroyed the greater part. It was owing entirely to the valor and seamanship of Rooke that any escaped. Great indignation was felt in England and Holland at the carelessness of the Admi- ralty officials in allowing so valuable a fleet to be so in- efficiently protected. The merchants of both countries were heavy losers by this disaster. The French army on the Rhine effected but little. In Savoy, however, the army of Lewis gained a great victory at Massagha (October 4), but on Rhljfe" in for want of reinforcements was unable to ^^'^py' '^^^ bpain. follow it Up. In Spain the result of the campaign was, on the whole, favorable to the French. Both by land and sea, Lewis had in this year proved his power. Nevertheless he desired peace. He had put forth every effort, and had strained his resources to the utmost, and yet had Lewis wishes for gained no substantial success. A few peace, fortresses in Spanish Flanders, and glorious but barren victories, were his only reward. Louvois, too, was dead, and there was no longer his fertile brain to devise expedients for replenishing the treasury. The taxes of France were increased to the utmost. The coinage was debased as much as possible. The nation 2i8 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. was in the deepest distress. "The people were perish- ing to the sound of Te Deums." The new Pope (Innocent XII.) who, in 1691, had succeeded Alexander, endeavored to mediate. Spain and Savoy were willing to enter into negotiations, and so also were Denmark and Sweden, but William urged the Emperor to continue the war,, showing come to ^°°^ him that now was the time, when France through Wii- was becoming exhausted, to crush perma- liam's imwii- nentlv the power and pretensions of Lewis. lingness. •' ^ i i • j- i William's arguments and his diplomacy were successful, and both the allies and France pre- pared for the campaign of 1694. Section V. — Campaign of 1694. A large fleet, with a considerable force of soldiers on board, was collected at Portsmouth, and from thence sailed to reduce Brest. But the French had Naval incidents of been Warned beforehand ( it is said through ^ ^*' Lord Marlborough having treacherously given information to James ), and the fortifications had been strengthened by Vauban. The English troops were landed, but were repulsed, and the expedition proved a failure. However, Dunkirk, Calais, Dieppe, and Havre were in the course of the summer bombard- ed by the English, and much damage done. On the other hand, both the English and Dutch trade suffered considerably from French privateers. William proceeded to the Netherlands on May 6. The campaign was productive of few events of importance. Luxembourg, who again commanded the French army, was now inferior in numbers to the allies, and skilfully managed to avoid a general engagement. Huy was, i6-)4- Parliament, i6go-i6gs- 219 however, recaptured from the French on ^^^^^^.^^ j„ September 29. William returned to Eng- Netherlands, land in the beginning of November. Lewis this year put out his greatest strength against Spain. He hoped thus to force the King of Spain to make peace ; but although his army captured some im- portant towns, the presence on the coast of r *■ 111- and in a Strong Enghsh fleet prevented the reahza- Spain, tion of his plans. In Savoy and Germany nothing noteworthy oc- curred. The result of the campaign, however, was what William anticipated. France was still further weakened. Lewis could no longer strike a strons^j blow. His re- sources were amost exhausted. He would be unable to continue the contest much longer. CHAPTER XVin. PARLIAMENT UNTIL 1695. DEATH OF QUEEN MARY. In the session of 1693-4 an important constitutional change was quietly inaugurated. WiUiam had found a great difficulty in carrying on the government, owing to the disagreement amongst his ministers on matters of state policy, Tories and Whigs could hardly be expected to take the same views. He therefore resolved to consult a man whose judgment of party pohtics, and tact in dealing ,vith factions, both English and foreign statesmen held in the highest es- 2 20 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. ,„„ teem. This man was Sunderland. Sun- William consults derland, having escaped to Holland in 1688, had lived a retired life in that country for two years, but had kept up a constant correspondence with influential friends in England, in order to pave the way for his return. Excluded by name from the Act of Grace, he yet ventured, when that bill became law to re- turn to England. Not, however, until the close of the session of 1692 did he dare to appear in the House of Lords. From that time, however, he was constant in his attendance in the Upper House. William, after consulting Sunderland, came to the conclusion that in future his ministers should be taken from one party in the state, so as to insure unanimity of opinion and action, and that that party from which he should first choose the united ministry should be the Whigs. A Whig ministry was accordingly The Junto. ^ , • , , r t / \ formed, to which the name of Junto ( a word signifying a joining together or union ) was given. Somers, the great lawyer, was made lord keeper of the privy seal. R'ussell ( his treasonable correspondence with James being overlooked as a reward for his victory at La Hogue ) went to the Admiralty. Lord Shrewsbury, created a duke, became one of the secretaries of state. Thomas Wharton, the eldest son of Lord Wharton, be- came the other secretary. Wharton was a man of con- siderable ability, but his character was so bad that no one respected him. His profligacy was notorious, and his companionship was shunned even in an age of lax morality. He was also a gambler and a duellist. He was true to one thing only, and that was to the Whig party. But his powers as a party leader were extraordinary. Montague, a young man of only thirty-five years of age, who had already earned a reputation in Parliament by 1694- Parliament, i6go-i6g^. 221 his oratory and his criticisms on financial matters, was made chancellor of the exchequer. In 1692-3 the National Debt may be said to have had its commencement. The revenue did not suffice to pro- vide for the extraordinary expenses of the war, and it was necessary to adopt some of^the"'"^ expedient for procuring more money. The d^k.""^^ wealth of the nation had greatly increased since the middle of this century. Money was more plenti- ful, and means of employing this money was scarce. London had been, consequently, for the last four years, overrun with speculators proposing all kinds of ridicu- lous schemes for employing money and realizing enor- mous profits. A hill was introduced into Parliament and carried, by which, adopting an expedient familiar to the financiers of Holland and France, the Government was empowered to borrow a million of money, and to grant in repayment annuities bearing interest at the rate often per cent, per annum. Certain excise duties were set apart to form a fund for the purpose. The public, re- cognizing the superiority of such security to that offered them by the speculators, readily responded, and the money was obtained with a promptitude which surpassed expectation. In the next session, 1693-4, the revenue still failed to meet the expenses of the war. A sum of 1,200,000/. was accordingly raised by borrowing it of a company of merchants, who undertook to provide it J- • r 1- • • J • -L Bank of on condition of being incorporated, with England certain privileges guaranteed by an act of °^^^ parliament. The scheme was originally proposed by WiUiam Paterson, a Scotchman, but was now adopted by Montague with great success. The subscribers were formed into a corporation as the Governor and Company 222 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. of the Bank of England. The original rate of interest was fixed at eight per cent. A great part of the time of this Second Parliament was spent in discussions on the proper securities for justice in trials for treason, on which the difference be- tween Lords and Commons was such that the decision was delayed until the first session of the next Parliament ( chapter xx. ). Another debated question was the Place Bill. Its aim was to prevent all persons holding offices of trust and emolument under the crown from sitting in the House of Commons. Doubtless, it is dis- advantageous that the Lower House should be filled with office-holders, but, on the other hand, nothing could be more injurious to the welfare of the country than to ex- clude from the Commons all the great functionaries of state. Those who voted for this bill probably did not consider that the inevitable result of its becoming law would have been, that all the great offices of state would be filled, and the country governed by members of the House of Lords. The bill passed the Commons in 1692- 3, but was rejected by the Lords by a small majority of three. In 1693-4, the Place Bill passed both Houses, but the king refused his assent. On this being anounced, a „ -,.„ warm debate arose in the Commons, and it Place Bill passed, but was proposed that the king should be asked revised! his reason for refusing assent. The motion was, however, rejected by a large majority, the House thus, with great moderation, acknowledging the power of giving a veto as then resting with the crown. Another bill on which there was a similar difference between king and parliament came to a different issue. 1694- Parliament J i6go-i6gS' 223 This was a bill for triennial Parliaments. It Triennial was a very short bill, and only provided ^i'l- that no future Parliament should last longer than three years. It was intended to prevent the recurrence of such conduct as that of Charles II,, in continuing one Parlia- ment for seventeen years. The king had refused his assent to this bill, when it passed both Houses in 1692-3. Two years afterwards this Triennial Bill at last became law. In 1694-5, Parliament coupled it with a Triennial bill of supply, and the want of these supplies, ^''' passed. and the fear of probable disturbances if Mary died (for the queen was now seriously ill), perhaps induced Wil- liam to give his assent. The Triennial Act remained in force until the Septennial Act was passed, twenty years afterwards. Small-pox was particularly virulent in the year 1694. Among those attacked in the month of December was Oueen Mary. Great alarm was at once felt by her friends, and William showed so much death^oT grief as to astonish those around him, for he ^il^^ was never in the habit of letting others see him exhibit strong feeling. Now, however he broke down. He burst into tears and said, "that from being the happiest he was now going to be the miserablest creature upon earth." In a few days all hope was at an end. Mary's behaviour to the last was remarkable. She never once allowed an impatient word to escape her; with the utmost calmness she gave the last directions to her ser- vants ; she addressed expressions of comfort and conso- lation to the king, and showed the greatest pleasure and satisfaction at the attendance of the ministers of religion. She died on December 20, aged 33. The grief for her death was not confined to the court, for her charity was great. "She never inquired of what opinion persons 2 24 The Fall of the Stuarts , &>€. a.d. were who were objects of charity." Handsome in per- son, and Uvely in manners, no word of slander was ever breathed against her. " Her debts were small, and every- thing in that exact method as seldom is found in any private person." " I'm sure," says one who was no par- tisan of William of Orange, " she was as admirable a woman, as does if possible, outdo the renowned Queen Elizabeth." No act of James* life showed more his mean and revengeful disposition than his request to Lewis that the French court should not put on mourning for his daugh- ter's death. The liberty of the press was recognised in 1695. Hitherto the publication of books had been Censorship of press restrained by an act of parliament, renewed abandoned. ,, i • i • j i i every three years, which required every book to be licensed. All legal works had to receive the " im- primatur," or permission to be printed, of the lord chan- cellor or his deputy ; all books on history and politics, the license of one of the secretaries of state or his deputy ; and all treatises on divinity, physic, or philosophy, that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The last act to re- strain unlicensed printing had been passed in 1692, and in 1695 the time for which it was in force expired. No new act was brought forward in the House, and thus the censorship of the press was quietly abandoned. The last weeks of the session of 1695 disclosed a sys- tem of wide-spread corruption among the members of both Houses. The Speaker of the House vlJen?' ^'^^" °^ Commons, confessing to having received bribes, was expelled the House. The Com- mons prepared to impeach various officials. The Duke of Leeds (to which title the Marquis of Carmarthen, for- merly Earl of" Danby, was now raised), proposing to de- 1 695- Disgrace of Marlborough. 225 fend some of those accused, was himself threatened with impeachment. At this juncture the king suddenly prorogued the Parliament, and in J^spfv^d?' the following October it was dissolved. CHAPTER XIX. VARIOUS PLOTS AGAINST WILLIAM. PROGRESS OF THE WAR IN 1695. Section I.— Disgrace of Marlborough, In narrating the defeat off Beachy Head, and the conse- quent court-martial on Torrington, attention was directed to the extraordinary reaction in the public feeling, which, at first directed against Torrington, suddenly turned in his favor. The cause of this reaction was stated to be jealousy of the Dutch. This jealousy continued to in- crease. William was supposed to look after _- , . . ^ , Jealousy felt Dutch mterests m preference, and some- by the Eng- times in opposition, to English interests HolkiTd?^^ Few Englishmen of that day could appreci- ate the Continental policy of William. He was popular- ly thought to be carrying on the war to maintain the in- tegrity of the United Provinces, and to secure his own seat on the English throne. Englishmen could not un- derstand that he was struggling to deliver Europe from slavery to Lewis XIV. Marlborough probably shared these popular preju- dices, or, if he did not, he made use of them for his own purposes. At all events, he thought he was not suffi- Q 226 The Fall of the Stuarts y &=€. a.d. ciently rewarded by William. After his brilliant and dashing campaign in the south of Ireland, he saw a Dutchman, Ginkell, appointed in the next spring to lead ^. ^ . the army in Ireland, whilst he was carried Disaffection of Marl- off by William to attend on him in the °^°"^ ■ campaign of 1691, and was not entrusted with an independent command. Marlborough's spirit chafed against being employed in a secondary position. He had confidence in his own military genius, and knew it to be superior to that of William's favored Dutch gene- rals. He was determined no longer to serve a master who did not value him. He strove in the first place to weaken William's influence by fomenting, among offi- cers in the army and navy, and members of both Houses of Parliament, the feeling of jealousy towards the Dutch. He next entered into close communications with the late king at St. Germains. But he was sure that England would not submit to the resumption of the throne by James Stuart. He therefore planned another solution of the difficulty, which would at the same time promote his own interests. Lady Marlborough was the attendant and confidentis^ friend of the Princess Anne. The princess was indolent, good-tempered, and pliant. Lady Marl- borou^^and borough was strong-minded, imperious, and Anne""^*^^^* ambitious. They were on such familiar terms that the princess was habitually ad- dressed by Lady Marlborough as Mrs. Morley, and Lady Marlborough by the princess as Mrs. Freeman. Marl- borough's scheme was by making use of the feeling of jealousy towards the Dutch to render William hated ; then, with the co-operation of France, to drive him out of England; and then to proclaim the Princess Anne, who would be ruled altogether by himself and his wife. 1692. Grandvar s Plot. 227 Thus he hoped to outwit William, Lewis, and the Jacobites. But there were those at borough's the court of St. Germains who remembered rev^leZto the perfidy of the former proteg6 of James, Wiiham. and who placed no trust in the sincerity of his present professions. They thought he was either endeavoring to gain further favor with William by betraying the Eng- lish Jacobites, or that he had some scheme in his head similar to the one he had so adroitly planned. They therefore forwarded to the English minister a full ac- count of Marlborough's dealings with the court of James. William would have liked to bring Marlborough to trial ; but since the evidence of his guilt could not be produced in court without betraying the con- fidence of those who had sent the informa- and^his°w?fe^ lion, he dismissed him from all his offices cSiTt.''^"^ ^'''"" on January 10, 1692. The Princess Anne was ordered at the same time to send away Lady Marl- borough, This she would not consent to do. Anne, therefore, and her husband, Prince George of Denmark, were desired forthwith to leave the court, and they re- tired to Sion House, remaining for a long time in disgrace with William. Section IL — Plots of Fuller, Grandval and Chamock. All through the winter of 169 1-2 vague misgivings were floating through society, those misgivings which are so indicative of deep-seated popular dissatisfaction. Men felt that plots were being hatched, and that the times were troublous. This was a condition favorable to the growth of false witnesses. An apt pupil of Titus Gates, one Fuller, a man who had failed to make a living by obtaining money under false pretences, came forward, and accused more than fifty noblemen and gentlemen 2 28 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^^c. a.d of signing an address to Lewis, which begged him to pu forth one more great effort for the Stuarts. Doubtless some such address was being prepared b] ^"d*d^ T^' ^^ Jacobite party in England, for addresse; of this kind were constantly forwarded t( St. Germains for transmission to Versailles. But the per sons accused by Fuller were able to escape conviction On cross-examination his tale broke down, ministers an( lawyers proving less credulous than in the time of hi tutor, Oates. So Fuller was himself tried, and was con victed and sentenced as a common rogue and vagabond William fortunately escaped falling a victim to dangerous plot which was concocted against his life Louvois, Lewis' minister, when on his death-bed pre posed that William should be murdered whilst with th allied army in the Netherlands. He found a Frenchma named Grandval willing to undertake to carry out th design. Grandval accordingly sought fc G^ij^^^val's accomplices, and thought he had found fittin ones in Dumont, a Walloon, and Liefdal( a Dutchman. In company with these he entered th Low Countries, but soon found himself brought a prisont into the camp of William, for both his accomphces ha betrayed him. Soon after the battle of Steinkirk he Wc tried by a court-martial. Before his judges he made full confession, and acknowledged that he had had parting interview with James and his wife, both of whoi had been gracious to him, and promised him large r( wards if successful. Grandval was found guilty an executed. Both Louvois and his master Lewis showed in th affair, as in the devastation of the Palatinate, their utt( disregard for the laws of war among civilized nation The discovery of this plot made the Whigs sympathij 1692. Gi'andvaV s Plot. 229 more with William, and show less antipathy to his tried Dutch friends. They now became aware of the dangers to which he was exposed. The Jacobites also let James and Lewis know that any further attempts against the person of William would, if un- pio^ts^agalnst successful, serve only to render William wnn'am^^ more popular, and, if successful, would not assure the return of James to England. No fresh con- spiracies against the life of William had therefore been encouraged by James, until after the death of Queen Mary, although Jacobite intrigues against William's government were being continuously carried on. But in the year 1695 the position of affairs was altered. Queen Mary was dead, and William sat alone on the throne, a foreigner, and not very popular. At the same time the French resources were failing, and the allies were gaining strength. Home politics in England were in an unsettled state. The Jacobites therefore began to bestir them- selves more actively, and to urge their correspondents in England to be on the alert. Thus roused, a conspi- racy was formed, of which the ruling spirit was Charnock, a late fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, who, whilst James was reigning, had become a convert to Romanism, and was now an unscrupulous Jacobite agent. With him were associated Porter and Goodman, men of infa- mous character. Sir William Parkyns, a prominent Tory lawyer, and Sir John Fenwick, formerly member of par- liament for Northumberland, who had made himself notorious by passing Queen Mary in public without saluting her, and in such a manner as to show that he intended to insult her. Time slipped away, so that before the conspirators had matured any possible plan, William had started for Holland. They determined, therefore, to send Charnock to St. Germains to arrange 230 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*€. a.d. with the ministers of James their future plans, and to obtain the approval of James and the active co-opera- tion of Lewis XIV. Section III. — Capture of Namur by William. On January 5, 1695, Marshal Luxembourg died. This was a great loss to Lewis, for he had no other general of equal ability. In place of Luxembourg, Marshal Villeroi was sent to the Netherlands. Villeroi was a great fa- ,^.„ . vorite at court, and had the reputation of Villeroi com- mands the bemg a consummate master of the art of Netherlands.^ war. One of the French court historians says that the opening of this campaign was a beautiful game of chess. William, however, through- out the campaign, fairly out-generalled Villeroi. He had never out-generalled Luxembourg. The allied forces in the Netherlands numbered about 125,000. Villeroi had under him over 100,000. At the beginning of June William was ready to begin the cam- , . paign. His plan was to threaten Ypres, to William's ^ ^ „ , ^ , , . , ,. • tactics draw all the French forces m that direction \^rieroi. to the westwards, and then suddenly to be- siege Namur in force. In accordance with this design, he marched from Brussels to Rousselaer with 53,000 men. Thence he made a strong demonstra- tion against Villeroi's camp near Ypres. Finding Vil- leroi in strength, William withdrew from the allied army, taking with him the main body of his cavalry, and leaving Charles Henry, Prince of Vaudemont, to com- mand a force reduced to about 35,000. William reached the army of the allies, which was commanded by the Elector of Bavaria, and consisted of 36,000 men, and marching eastward with these, effected a junction with 1 695- Capture of Namur. 231 the Brandenburgers (now Prussians) who were about 12,000 strong. The united army appeared before Namur. The garrison of Namur, consisting of 12,000 men, was commanded by Boufflers, Villeroi, knowing how comparatively weak Vaude- mont was, hoped to crush him easily ; but ,., V>i Villeroi Vaudemont retreated so speedily to Ghent bombards that Villeroi was unable to bring him to '^"^^^ "' action. Villeroi early in July took Dixmuide and Deynse, and then intended again to march against Vaudemont. But as Vaudemont had by this time marched eastwards from Ghent, Villeroi turned aside to bombard Brussels (August 11), and then set out to relieve Namur. Vaudemont had already joined William before Namur. Namur was closely invested by William, who during the month of July pressed on the siege, ,, •• ri_j William each day gammg some fresh advantages. captures On August 4 the town surrendered, but the amur. citadel (into which the garrison, reduced now to 7,000 men, had retired) still held out. On August 30 the allies tried to carry the citadel by storm, but were re- pulsed with great loss. Villeroi, who had arrived near the investing army, in vain sought to find some weak point through which he might pierce the line of the allies and relieve the besieged. But William's position was too strong for him, and he was eventually compelled to withdraw. Boufflers, seeing the besiegers preparing to make another assault on the citadel, proposed (Sep- tember i) to capitulate, and his proposal was accepted by William. The loss of the garrison during the siege was 6,500, that of the besiegers no less than 9,000. With the capture of Namur the campaign of 1695 in the Netherlands virtually came to an end. William re- 232 JTie Fall of the Stuarts, &*c. a.d. turned to England, and about the same time Villeroi sent his army into winter quarters. Nothing of importance occurred this year on the Rhine. The Duke of Savoy had been se- TOyin°secret cretly gained over by Lewis. Although league with ^^^ nominally a party to the Grand Alliance, he had promised Lewis to do all he could in the councils of the allies to promote the wishes of the French king. In consideration of this, and to blind the eyes of William and the Emperor, Cassale, in North Italy, after a mock siege, was surrendered by the French to the Duke of Savoy. The campaign resulted in a great gain to the allies. Lewis' resources were still further weakened, and the French had no longer a superiority in generalship. Moreover, the capture of Namur, following closely on that of Huy, made a great moral impression on Europe. Namur was the first of Lewis' conquests of which he had been deprived by force, and this seemed to make a turn in the tide. CHAPTER XX. THE NEW PARLIAMENT. THE ASSASSINATION PLOT. THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR, 1696. Section I. — The Session of i6gyi6g6. On October ii, 1695, William dissolved Parliament, and summoned the new one to meet on November 22. When it assembled, it was proved that it contained a decided Whig majority. There were causes, partly political and partly social, for the change from a Tory 1 695* New Parliament. 233 majority to a Whig one. The poHtical causes were the dislike felt by the country to the continued factious opposition of the Jacobites, not JJ^/f™^^^'^ only to William, but also to English inte- "^^ Parlia- rests; and the feelmg of msecunty pro- voked by the constant apprehension of plots and insur- rections. The social causes were the high price of corn and the bad state of the coinage. At this time consid- erable distress was felt in England. From 1692 to 1699, a succession of bad seasons produced bad crops. These years were in the west of Europe known as the "seven barren years." For some years past the silver coinage of England had suffered continual depreciation by the knavery of a gang of thieves known as "clippers," who had, by various ingenious tricks, diminished the weight of the coins by one half. Those into whose hands good coins of full weight came, hoarded them, so that only the bad money was in circulation. It is stated that four millions of bad money were in use. The price of corn and all necessary articles of food and manufacture seemed, therefore, still further artificially increased by the dearth of good money, and the depreciation of that which was in use. The session lasted until April, 1696. The state of the coinage at once occupied the attention of Parliament. An act was passed calling in the "clipped" money, and raising 1,200,000/. by a duty on houses to defray the consequent loss. The act also ]^^.^ -" * Coinage. announced that the depreciated coin would be received as payment of taxes. A new coinage was ordered to be struck, and in order that every possible care might be taken to insure that the new money should be of correct weight, the great mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton, was appointed master of the mint. 234 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^c. a.d. An important bill, for regulating trials for treason, had been introduced into the House of Commons in the ses- sion of 1690-1 ; but, on its being sent up to the Lords, a clause was introduced to which the Commons would not assent, and the bill was conse- quently dropped. Though three attempts were made, the bill never passed the Lords during the continuance of the second Parliament. As it passed in the Commons, it was an additional safeguard to the liberties of Englishmen. It enacted ( I.) That the accused, in trials for treason, should be furnished with a copy of his indictment at a small fee; (2.) That he should be allowed counsel to de- fend him ; (3.) That no one should be indicted except on the oaths of two witnesses, and within three years of the alleged commitment of the offence ; (4.) That a list of the jury should be furnished to the accused ; (5.) That the accused should have the power of summoning witnesses. During the first session of this new Parlia- p^sai."^ ' ment the Treason Bill at length passed both Houses, and became law. Section II. — The Assassination Plot. The Jacobites had vainly solicited Lewis XIV. to send an army into England whilst William was absent in Hol- land in 1695, and their representations to the court of Versailles had been supported by Charnock, Lewis again • , x .- i, aA A encourages m whom James seems to have confided, ejaco ites. jsjq^^ however, that Namur had fallen, Lewis found himself reduced to desperate straits, and thought it advisable again to encourage conspirators. He was not averse to any means that would rid him of his enemy, William of Orange. Two plots were accord- 1696. Assassination Plot. 235 ingly matured, of both of which the courts of Versailles and St. Germains were cognizant. The one plot proposed an invasion of England, to follow a rising of the Jacobites. The Duke of Berwick, an illegitimate son of James, was accordingly sent in dis- guise to England to make arrangements for the insurrection, and at the same time a Proposed invasion. large body of troops was collected at Calais, under the command of Boufflers, to cross the straits of Dover so soon as the Jacobites should have declared themselves. The other plot had for its object the assassination of King William. The carrying out of this plot was in- trusted to Sir George Barclay, a Scotch follower of Dun- dee, and a bold and unscrupulous man. He obtained the assistance of Charnock, Fenwick, Parkyns, and of all those who had joined with Charnock in the prece- ding year. Numerous consultations took place, and at last a scheme of assassinating William on his return from hunting at Richmond was finally adopted. The day fixed for the deed was February 1 5 ; but Bentinck, Earl of Portland, the old and tried friend of WiUiam, had received information from one of the conspirators of the intended attempt, and had persuaded the king not to hunt on that day. The conspirators had assem- bled to the number of forty, and were in high spirits, for they thought they were sure of success, as they had managed to gain over by bribery some of the royal guards, when they were told that the hunt had been postponed to that day week, the 22d. Portland, in the meantime, obtained further proof of the plot. Again the hunting party was countermanded, and the conspirators began to fancy they were discovered. Their uncertainty lasted but a short time, for before the end of the day 236 The Fall of the SiuartSy &*c. a.d. many were arrested, Charnock and Parky ns Assassination amongst them, whilst a few, amongst whom were Fenwick and Barclay, escaped. Char- nock immediately offered to turn king's evidence. He said that if his punishment were commuted from death to imprisonment he would reveal the names of all those in England cognizant of either of the present plots, and also of past ones. William knew that the fortunes of his false and treacherous courtiers would be at his mercy, but magnanimously refused to hear Charnock' s confessions. Most of those who were taken were convicted and executed. The failure of the Assassination Plot caused the postponement of the proposed Jacobite rising, and of the consequent invasion of England by French troops. Both Houses of Parliament received the intelligence of the Assassination Plot with horror and disgust. The plan of an "Association" was forthwith forme?fo?"the drawn up on paper. This " association for defence of ^j^g defence of their sovereign and coun- try," bound the subscribers to defend Wil- liam, to avenge his death if he were killed, and to sup- port the order of succession framed by the Bill of Rights. Nearly all the members of both Houses signed this paper. Similar documents were distributed through- out the kingdom, and were signed by the greater num- ber of the country gentry and men of influence. The formation of the Association not merely strength- ened William's seat on the throne, but also Consequence of the failure gave additional influence to the Whigs. The ^ ^^ collapse of the plot, and the treachery of one or more of the conspirators, proved also to those Englishmen who were still inclined to intrigue with St. 1696. Campaign of i6g6. 237 Germains, that but little reliance could be placed on the good faith or discretion of James and his advisers. Many, therefore, of those who were wavering in their allegiance to William, no longer opposed him. Section III. — The Cajnpaign of i6g6. The campaign of this year was rendered almost ridicu- lous by the paltry results gained by the large armies in the field. Lewis, prevented by the failure of the Assas- sination Plot from making any direct attempt on Eng- land by invasion, was at the same time unwilling to risk his troops against the strong army collected by the allies in the Netherlands, for William and Vaude- Inaction in mont had at least 250,000 men under their the Nether- command. The French soldiers were not only inferior in numbers, but were, also, for the most part, raw recruits, and were discontented, being in ar- rears of pay. Villeroi accordingly did nothing but watch William, who, on his side, was unwilling to risk in battle the advantages he saw that he must gain by merely compelling Lewis to keep large armies in the field, at a time when the French, both as regarded their finances and recruits, were in so exhausted a condition. The Duke of Savoy openly declared his desertion from the allies, and concluded ( August 14 ) an offen- sive and defensive alliance with Lewis. Immediately joining his army to the French one. Neutrality under Catinat, he threatened Milan. In con- o^ Italy, sequence of this an agreement was entered into between the allies on the one hand, and the Pope and the other Italian powers on the other hand, that the Italian pe- ninsula should be deemed neutral. Lewis had therefore no longer to provide for the safety of his south-eastern 238 The Fall of the Stuarts^ dr'c. a.d. frontier, and had the army of the Duke of Savoy at his disposal. Section IV. — Tht; Session idgd-idgj of the Parliament. Sir John Fenwick had, after the discovery of the As- sassination Plot, attempted to fly to France ; but, al- though for some time he continued to escape those who were seeking for him, he was eventually captured when in hiding at New Romney in Kent. The chief evidence implicating Fenwick had been given by Goodman and Porter; but before Fenwick could be brought to trial, Goodman had been persuaded to leave England, so that now Porter was the only witness against him. As the _,.„ - . Treason Act, passed in the last session, re- BiU of attain- , , ^ der against quired two witnesses, it became impossible Fenwick. to obtain a conviction in course of law. But Fenwick was personally so odious to William, on account of his behaviour to the late Queen Mary, that the ministers were pressed by the king to de- vise some means of punishing him. There was no moral doubt of Fenwick's guilt, and there was direct proof that Lady Mary Fenwick ( his wife ) had tampered with Goodman and got him out of the kingdom. A bill of attainder against Sir John Fenwick was con- sequently brought into the Commons, so that the legal evidence could be supplied by the depositions previous- ly made by Goodman before the privy council, and by what he had sworn before the grand jury in the trial of the others concerned in the plot. The discussions which took place in the Commons were long and lively, and the motion for the bill was ultimately carried by a very small majority. In the Lords, it is doubtful if the bill would have been carried at all, had not Fenwick injudi- ciously offered to make disclosures of the intrigues of 1697* Peace of Ryswick. 239 various English statesmen with James. Many Tories, therefore, Marlborough amongst them, voted for the bill, in order that Fenwick's confession might be averted. The strong opposition to the bill, which provided for the punishment of a man obviously guilty, and which was wished for by the king, is a proof of the jealous and watchful care for the liberty of the subject now taken by the Parliament. Fenwick was, on January 11, 1697, "convicted and attaintedof high treason, and condemned to suffer the pains of death, and to incur all fx^cuted forfeitures, as a person in due course of law convicted of high treason.*' On January 28 he was exe- cuted. Another attempt was made this session to revive the licensing of the press. One of the newspapers estab- lished since the censorship of the press had been aban- doned (1695) had inserted a paragraph which was stated to call in question the credit of the exche- quer bills issued by the Government. A bill licensing the was therefore brought into Parliament to PgcTed^^' prevent the publication of news without the authority of the secretary of state, but it was rejected. On April 16 William adjourned Parliament, and on the 26th sailed for Holland. Before his departure he cre- ated Somers a peer, and made him lord chancellor; Montague he made first lord of the treasury, and Russell was created Earl of Orford. Section V. — Peace of Ryswick, The year 1697 broke with a gloomy outlook for all the warring nations, but most of all for France. The " seven barren years " were felt more in France than in England. Since 1692 the distress had increased 24© The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c. A.D. yearly. The taxes failed to produce money Franc" '" enough to support the war, and yet many heads of families were unable to earn in the course of the year as much as they were expected to pay in taxes alone. The crops failed utterly. Absolute ruin stared Lewis in the face, and French financiers could devise no remedy. England and Holland also were not ^ , , . averse to peace, if only France was hum- Ji,nglana and ^ ^ H.Uandde- bled, the pretensions of Lcwis to direct the policy of Western Europe brought to an end, and the claims of the Stuarts set at rest. EngHsh and Dutch commerce had suffered much from the depreda- tions of French privateers, and England had besides its own currency troubles, and had also suffered from a partial failure of the crops. The health of the King of Spain was becoming worse. If he were to die, the succession to the Spanish sue- throne would be disputed, and William felt sure that fresh complications would arise which would endanger the alliance. He therefore thought the present a good opportunity to propose pre- liminaries of peace. The Emperor was not so desirous or willing, but he was informed that if he would not consent to discuss preliminaries, England and Holland would conclude a peace with France on their own account. He therefore agreed to send plenipotentiaries to Ryswick, a village in Holland, between the Hague and Delft, where William had a palace. A congress met there on tiaries meet May 9 at which Were present accredited yswic . agents from all the allies, and from Lewis and the Duke of Saxony. For weeks the congress discussed matters, but could arrive at no satisfactory conclusions. i697« Peace of Ryswick. 241 Near Brussels the English and French armies faced each other. Bentinck, Lord Portland, was with the Eng- lish army ; Boufiflers commanded the French. William proposed that these two should Bentinck^" meet, and see if they could not agree to ^^^°^ some basis on which treaties could be ar- ranged. Lewis consented, and after six meetings the chief points of the negotiation were settled and written out. On September 20 three several treaties were made, between France on the one hand, and England, Hol- land, and Spain on the other. The treaty with Great Britain provided that both France and England should restore the conquests they had respectively made in America; that Lewis should no longer foster intrigues in tween England, and that William should not en- Engknd."'^ courage French Protestants in rebellion; and that Lewis should recognize William III. as lawful king of Great Britain and Ireland, and should no longer afford any assistance to James Stuart. By the treaty with Holland, France gave the J^|e J" ^®' Dutch certain commercial advantages, and France and received back from them Pondicherry, in and between India, which they had conquered. By the I'^^l'; ^"'^ treaty with Spain, Lewis restored all con- quests in Catalonia, and all those places in the Spanish Netherlands taken by him in the war, and those which the " chambers of reunion " had granted him since the peace of Nimwegen. The Emperor still held aloof. A special article had been inserted in the treaties already signed, that the month of October should be allowed to the Emperor and the princes of the empire to come to a decision. On October 30 the plenipotentiaries of the R 242 The Fall of the Stuarts y &*c. a.d. Emperor signed a treaty with Lewis. By this treaty Lewis restored all the provinces and towns between which he had taken by decrees of the France and "chambers of reunion," except Elsass (jermany. (Alsace), which now became a French pro- vince. Lothringen (Lorraine) was again restored to its duke. Lewis inserted one clause, viz, " that the Roman Catholic religion should remain in the places restored on the same footing as it then was." This clause has been, and still is, productive of much social dissension among Germans. Had the Emperor been less backward in concluding the treaty, he would have obtained more ad- vantageous terms, but Lewis having already made sure of peace with England, Holland, and Spain, was able to hold out more firmly against the demands of the Empe- ror, and to insist on the retention of Elsass (Alsace). The results of the treaty of Ryswick may appear Results of small as far as territorial changes are con- ^e peace of sidered. France, however, now lost ground. She was again forced to confine herself, with one exception (Elsass), to the limits set down for her at the peace of Nimwegen (1678). But the great result was that England formed in Western Europe the coun- terpoise which preserved the balance of power. The alliance of England was henceforth sought by any state suffering from the encroachments of France, Europe ^^"^ ^"^^ °^^ hundred and fifty years it con- tinued to be the policy of England to ally herself with those nations opposed to France. A second, though temporary, result was that Europe now had some breathing time to prepare for what William knew was imminent, the general struggle which must take place at the death of the childless King of Spain, and the consequent breaking up of the great Spanish dominions. 1 69 7- Peace of Ryswick. 24 j The result of the treaty of Ryswick to Great Britain was much more advantageous than it at first appeared. By acknowledging William as king of Eng- land, and giving up the House of Stuart, England Lewis practically relieved England from all fears of invasion, and of losing its independence. " For," says a great modern historian, "that danger which has sometimes been in our countrymen's mouths, with little meaning, of becoming a province to France, was then close and actual ; for I hold the restoration of the House of Stuart to be but another expression for that ignominy and servitude." What was the result of the nine years' fighting as regards France ? On the one hand a slight territorial gain, which has caused a constant irritation between her and Germany ; on the other hand the people had become impoverished, and in France. consequence oppressed by nobles and tax- gatherers ; the love of war and glory was engendered amongst the soldiers, forming them into a distinct class, with few feelings in common with the nation ; a desire had arisen amongst all Frenchmen for increase of ter- ritory ; and there had been a loosening of all the ties which unite society together. Many of the horrors of the French Revolution, and the sufferings of France in the present century, may be directly traced to the pernicious policy of Lewis XIV. and his courtiers. England had made great strides since the accession of Charles II. Her exports had wonderfully increased. The North American Colonies and West Indies had opened great fields for trade. Her connection with Hol- land under William III. had widened her commercial dealings. The Huguenot refugees had become some of her most industrious citizens. The war which had ruined 244 The Fall of the Stuarts y 6r'4(?/ JOHN F. HURST, Ex-President of Drew Theological Seminary. "The volumes contain the ripe results of the studies of men who are authorities in their respective fields."— 7%^ Nation. *'To be appreciated they must be read in their entirety ; and we do no more than^simple justice in commending them earnestly to the favor of the studious public." — The New York World. The great success of the series is the best proof of its general popularity, and the excellence of the various volumes is further attested by their having been adopted as text-books in many of our leading educational institutions, including Harvard, Cornell, Wesleyan, Vermont, and Syracuse Universities; Yale, Princeton, Amherst, Dartmouth, Williams, Union, and Smith Colleges ; and many other colleges, academies, normal and high schools. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. A SERIES OF BOOKS NARRATING THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND AND EUROPE AT SUCCESSIVE EPOCHS SUBSEQUENT TO THE CHRISTIAN ERA. Edited by Edward E. Morris. Sixteen volumes, i6mo, with 70 Maps, Plans and Tables. Sold separately. Price per vol., $1.00. The Set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $16.00. THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES— England and Europe in the Ninth Century. By the Very Rev. R. W. Church, M. A. THE "NORMANS IN EUROPE— The Feudal System and England under Norman Kings. By the Rev. A. H. Johnson, M.A. THE CRUSADES. By the Rev. G. W. Cox, M.A. THE EARLY PLANTAGE NETS— Their Relation to the History of Europe : The Foundation and Growth of Constitutional Government. By the Rev. Wm. Stubbs, M.A. EDWARD III. By the Rev. W. Warburton, M.A. THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK— The Conquest and Loss of France. By James Gairdner. THE ERA OF THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION. By Frederic Seebohm. With Notes on Books in English relating to the Reformation. By Prof, George P. Fisher, D.D. THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. By the Rev. M. Creighton, M.A. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, 1618-1648. By Samuel Rawson Gardiner. THE PURITAN REVOLUTION; and the First Two Stuarts,^ 1603-1660. By Samuel Rawson Gardiner. THE FALL OF THE STUARTS; and Western Europe. By thej Rev. Edward Hale, M.A. THE AGE OF ANNE. By Edward E. Morris, M.A. THE EARLY HANOVERIANS— Europe from the Peace of Utrechtc the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. By Edward E. Morris, M. " FREDERICK THE GREAT AND THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. B^ F. W. Longman. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND FIRST EMPIRE By William O'Connor Morris. With Appendix by Andrew D. White, LL.D., Ex-Pres't of Cornell University. THE EPOCH OF REFORM, 1830-1850. By Justin McCarthy. These volumes, read consecutively , form the best history oj Modern Times. EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. A SERIES OF BOOKS NARRATING THE HISTORY OF GREECE AND ROME, AND OF THEIR RELATIONS TO OTHER COUNTRIES AT SUCCESSIVE EPOCHS. Edited by Rev. G. W. Cox and Charles Sankey, M.A. Eleven volumes, i6mo, with 41 Maps and Plans. Sold separately. Price per vol., $1.00. The Set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $11.00. TROY— ITS LEGEND, HISTORY, AND LITERATURE. By S, G. W. Benjamin. THE GREEKS AND THE PERSIANS. By the Rev. G. W. Cox. THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE— From the Flight of Xerxes to the Fall of Athens. By the Rev. G. W. Cox. THE SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACIES. By Charles Sankey, M.A. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE— Its Rise and Culmination tv the Death of Alexander the Great. By A. M. Curteis, M.A. The five volumes above give a connected and complete history of Greece from, the earliest times to the death of Alexander. EARLY ROME— From the Foundation of the City to its Destruc tion by the Gauls. By W. Ihne, Ph.D. ROME AND CARTHAGE— The Punic Wars. By R. Boswortb Smith, M.x\. THE GRACCHI, MARIUS, AND SULLA. By A. H. Beesly, M.A. THE ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES. By the Very Rev. Charles Merivale, D.D. THE EARLY EMPIRE— From the Assassination of Julius Caesar to the Assassination of Domitian. By the Rev. W. Wolfe Capes, M.A. THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES— the Roman Empire of the Second Century. By the Rev. W. Wolfe Cape«, M.A. The six volumes above give the History of Rome from the founding of the City to the death of Marcus A melius Antoninus, .EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. A NEW VOLUME JUST READY, THE EARLY HANOVERIANS. By Edward E. Morris, Professor of English in the University of Mel- bourne, Editor of the Series. One volume, i2mo, with Nine Maps and Three Tables. Price, $1.00. Though the name of this volume is taken from English History, " The Early Hanoverians," like others of the series, is devoted largely to Con- tinental affairs, and is, in fact, a brief history of Europe from the Peace of Utrech to the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. This period, itself, so full of interest, is treated with the same vividness and charm which marked the author's former contribution to the series, of which ihe Hart/ord Times says: " Such history, told with the interest of a story, makes the most lasting impression on the memory of the reader." To all interested in Modem History this volume will be welcome as the best brief account of Europe at an important epoch, and to readers of the series it will have an additional value, as filling the interval between the "Age OF Anne," by the same author, and "Frederick the Great," by F. W. Longman. EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. A NEW VOLUME JUST READY. THE SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACIES. By Charles Sankey, M.A., late Scholar Queen's College, Oxford, joint Editor of the Series. One volume, i6mo, with Three Maps and Two Plans, Price, $1.00. The period of history covered by this little book is full both of interest and importance. It was the transition period from the glories of the Athenian empire to the degradation of the Macedonian conquest, and it was then that Athens numbered Socrates and Xenophon among her citizens. As descriptive of the time of these writers, or as a text-book to accompany their study, the book is invaluable. With three others of the series — "The Greeks and Persians," "The Athenian Empire," and "The Macedonian Empire" — it makes, perhaps, the best short history of Greece, and one particularly adapted to the general reader and the class-room. Copies of the above two volumes will be supplied in Roxburgh style. Maroon or Green, to those wishing to complete their sets. The volumes of this Series are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, on receipt of price by the publishers. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 743 AND 745 Broadway, New York. A New Edition^ Library Style. @lip I^isforg of %mx, FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO THE PERIOD OF ITS DECLINE. By Dr. THEODOR MOMMSEN. Translated, with the author's sanction and additions, by the Rev.W. P, Dickson, Regiu* Professor of Biblical Criticism in the University of Glasgow, late Classical Examiner of the University of St. Andrews. With an introduction by Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, and a copious Index of the whole four volumes, prepared especially for this edition. REPRINTED FROM THE REVISED LONDON EDITION. Four Volumes, crown 8vo, gilt top. Price per Set, $8.00. Dr. Mommsen has long been known and appreciated through his re- searches into the languages, laws, and institutions of Ancient Rome and Italy, as the most thoroughly versed scholar now living in these depart- ments of historical investigation. To a wonderfully exact and exhaustive knowledge of these subjects, he unites great powers of generalization, a vigorous, spirited, and exceedingly graphic style and keen analytical pow- ers, which give this history a degree of interest and a permanent value possessed by no other record of the decline and fall of the Roman Com- monwealth. "Dr. Mommsen's work," as Dr. Schmitz remarks in the introduction, " though the production of a man of most profound and ex- tensive learning and knowledge of the world, is not as much designed for the professional scholar as for intelligent readers of all classes who take an interest in the history of by-gone ages, and are inclined there to seek information that m^-y guide them safely through the perplexing mazes of modern history." CRITICAL NOTICES. * A work of the very higXest merit ; its learning is exact and profound ; its narrative fuU of genius and skill ; its descriptions of men are admirably vivid. We wish to place oa record our opinion that Dr. Mommsen's is by far the best history of the Decline and FjH of the Roman Commonwealth." — London Times. "This is the best history of the Roman Republic, taking the work on the whole — the juthor's complete mastery of his subject, the variety of his gifts and acquirements, his graphic power in the delineation of national and individual character, and the vivid interest which he inspires in every portion of his book. He is without an equal in his own sphere.'' ^—Sdinbiirgh Review. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers, 743 AND 745 Broadway, New York. A New Edition, Library Style, S|p Ijisforg of (Irppfp. By Prof. Dr. ERNST OUETIUS. Tijinslated by Adolphus Wiixtam Ward, M. A., Fellow of St. Peter's College, Cai» bridge, Prof, of History in Owen's College, Manchester- UNIFORM WITH MOMMSEN'S HISTORY OF ROME, ilve volmmes, crown 8vo, gilt top. Price per set, $10.00. Curtius's History of Greece is similar in plan and purpose to Mommsen's History of Rome, with which it deserves to rank in every respect as one of the great masterpieces of historical literature. Avoiding the minute de- tails which overburden other similar works, it groups together in a very picturesque manner all the important events in the history of this king- dom, which has exercised such a wonderful influence upon the world's civilization. The narrative of Prof. Curtius's work is flowing and ani- mated, and the generalizations, although bold, are \2hil0s0phical and sound. CRITICAL NOTICES. ** Professor Curtius's eminent scholarship is a sufficient guarantee for the trustworthiness of his history, while the skill with which he groups his facts, and his effective mode of narrat- ing them, combine to render it no less readable than sound. Prof. Curtius eveiywhere maintains the true dignity and impartiality of history, and it is evident his sympathies are on the side of justice, humanity, and progress." — London AthcTUButn. " We cannot express our opinion of Dr. Curtius's book better than by saying that it may be fitly ranked with Theodor Mommsen's great work." — London Spectator. "As an introduction to the study of Grecian history, no previous work is comparable to the present for vivacity and picturesque beauty, while in sound learning and accuracy of statement it is not inferior to the elaborate productions which enrich the literature of the age." — N. Y. Daily Tribune. " The History of Greece is treated by Dr. Curtius so broadly and freely in the spirit of the nineteenth century, that it becomes in his hands one of the worthiest and most instruct- ive branches of study for all who desire something more than a knowledge of isolated facts for their education. This translation ought to become a regular part of the accepted course of reading for young men at college, and for all who are in training for the free political life of our country." — A^. V. Evening Post. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers, 743 AND 745 Broadway, New York BD- 142 ^°v ,-y ,^ % few *p. 4 *- .*'/////>>^ ■» - *» Dons BROS. ' 8 ^*5 ^fv o v^^^§ * A V«^ - ^S^^ « L^ ^ ST. AUGUSTINE . ' \^. ^O ^-^^ .-^^^ ^^^ <^