HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. FROM THE REVOLUTION, 1683, TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE TREATY OF AMIENS, 1802. BY WILLIAM BELSHAM. IN TWELVE VOLUMES. 2 His discreet appointment of ministers 3 Character of the earl of Clarendon . .;...; 4 Change of measures * . . -. . . . <. 5 Act of uniformity ............. .-.... 6 Marriage of the king ; 8 Sale of Dunkirk .*..... 9 First declaration of indulgence 1O First Dutch war ; 11 Disgrace of the earl of Clarendon 11 Triple alliance .' 12 Cabal administration , ; 13 King becomes a catholic 14 Projects of the cabal > ;........ id ^econd Dutch war lQ Second declaration of indulgence 17 Shaftesbury joins the opposition 18 Test act passed ; 10 Spirited conduct of the commons .,.... ' 2O Peace with Holland * ... 2O Insidious policy of the court 22 Secret intrigues of the patriots 23 State of the nation v . 27 Popish plot 28 Impeachment of the lord-treasurer Dauby 30 17821 CONTENTS. Pag* New parliament 31 Bill of exclusion 32 Habeas-corpus act passed , 34 Duke of York presented as a popish recusant 35 New parliament 35 Bill of exclusion revived 36 Oxford parliament . . 37 Triumph of the court .....,/. 38 Death of the king 39 . Accession of James II , j>. 40 Arbitrary measures of the court 42 Embassy to Rome , . *(*.'*; 43 Meeting of parliament 45 Abject complaisance of the commons 46 Rebellion of the duke of Monmputh 48 Battle of Sedgemoor, July 5, 1685 49 Barbarities of Jeffries 51 Execution of Argyle 53 Dissolution of parliament 55 Character of the earl of Sunderland 55 King's dispensing power confirmed by the judge* 55 Affairs of Scotland (34 Ireland . Go New court of ecclesiastical commission 67 Bishop of London suspended 68 Vice-chancellor of Cambridge ejected from his office 68 President and fellows of Magdalen-college expelled 69 Declaration of indulgence 72 Seven bishops committed to the Tower /3 Obstinacy and infatuation of the king 75 Earl of Castlemaine's embassy to Rome 77 Prudent conduct of the prince and princess of Orange .... 79 Birth of the prince of Wales 81 Duplicity of Sunderlaiid . . . . , 83 CONTENTS. Page State of Europe . . . &4 Projects of the prince of Orange 84 Terrors of the king .'. . . ..........; 36 The prince of Orange lands at Torbay QQ King leaves Whitehall. 88 The throne declared vacant, and the prince and princess of Orange king and queen of England gi Dissertation on the character of the earl of Shaftesbury. . . Q3 BOOK 1. Illustrious character of king William 110 State of political opinions Ill Settlement of the government 115 Appointment of the new ministry 1 16 Characters of the ministers 117 Dr. Burnet promoted to the see of Salisbury ,. 120 His character. , 1 20 Convention converted into a parliament . . v 12O Oaths of allegiance and supremacy refused by eight bishops 124 Cabals of the non-jurors 125 Civil list settled . . 126 Hearth-money abolished 1 27 Bill of rights 1 28 indemnity ........... f ^ 1 3O Act of toleration > 132 Bill of comprehension .............. 135 Proceedings of the convocation 139 Affairs of Scotland 142 Perfidy of the earl of Melfort 144 Crown of Scotland declared forfeited by king James. .... 145 and conferred ou king William 143 CONTENTS. Exploits of viscount Dundee y. 148 Highlanders described w^i* "'. 148 Battle of Killicranky yjtf 153 Death of Dundee 153 State of Europe 1 54 League of Augsburg . * ., 155 Invasion of the empire by France 156 War declared by England against France 1 59 Generous reception of king James by Louis XI l6O Invasion of Ireland by the French .... r l6l Treachery of Tyrconnel 162 King James makes his entry into Dublin 163 Battle of Bantry Bay 164 Pretended parliament of Ireland convened by king James 165 .Vt of settlement repealed 165 Extraordinary act of attainder 167 Memorable resistance of Londonderry 170 Siege of Londonderry raised 173 Unprosperous campaign under M. Schomberg 174 Session of parliament 176 Corporation bill 178 Parliament dissolved 179 Proclamation against general Ludlow 18O Meeting of the new parliament 1 82 Conflict of parties , 1 83 Act of negotiation 184 -.; grace 1 87 Triumph of the tories 188 King embarks for Ireland 189 Victory of the Boyne 191 King James abandons Ireland , 194 Successes of king William 195 Siege of Athlone raised : 196 and of Limerick. 10? CONTENTS. Pag* King returns to England ~. 1 98 Earl of Maryborough captures Cork and Klnsale igS. Command the appointment of the earl of Clarendon to the post of prime mentofMi- minister, the admission of Aimesleyj Ashley Cooper, HolliSj Robarts, and Manchester, the leaders of the presbyterian party, to the royal councils, and the act of indemnity passed by the convention parliament,, were measures well cal- culated to conciliate the affections of the nation, and to restore peace, order, and general harmony. During the sitting of the convention parliament, in which the presbyterian interest predominated, and which regarded the proceedings of Ihe govern- ment with a watchful and jealous eye, affairs were conducted with prudence and moderation. That assembly was dissolved in December 1660 ; 9. 4 INTRODUCTION. igO'i. and in May 1661 a new parliament was corf* vened, which quickly appeared to be of a eom^ plexion very different from the preceding one., and from which the perfidy of the king, and the violent arid wretched bigotry of the earl of Clarendon, might expect the highest encourage- eharacter men t an d applause. Tliis celebrated minister of the Larl ofdaren- was possessed of very shining virtues, both in public and private life. His capacity, if not of the first rate, was however not inadequate to his elevated station ; and his integrity and probity are universally acknowledged. He had the in-- terests not only of the king but of the kingdom really at heart ; and though the measures of his administration were often extremely exception- able, they invariably proceeded from a firm per- suasion that they were calculated to promote the welfare and happiness of the community. The grand defect in the character of this nobleman was a want of liberality and comprehension of mind, He was a religious bigot; a character totally incompatible with that of a great statesman. He was under the influence of a thousand weak- nesses and prejudices; his ideas of the nature and extent of regal authority were extravagantly high; he was wholly unacquainted with the prin- ciples of toleration. He was haughty, intractable, conceited, and morose ; and entirely destitute of Jhat spirit of mild wisdom and enlightened bene* INTRODUCTION". volence which constitutes the highest '. perfection V of the. -human character. The first act passed by the new parliament change of Measures. pronounced every person who dared to affirm the king' to be a papist, incapable of holding any employment in church or state a measure which obviously tended to increase the suspicions already entertained respecting this point. The bishops, who had been previously restored to their spiritual functions bv virtue of the royal prerogative ex- ercised under color of the act of supremacy, were tiow admitted to their former stations in parliament, from which they had been so long excluded. The power of the sword, which had bceu the immediate cause of the civil war, was solemnly relinquished, and the doctrine of non- resistance explicitly avowed, The crown was invested with a power of regulating, or rather of new-modelling, all the corporations throughout the kingdom, at pleasure; and all magistrates were obliged to declare, that it was not lawful upon any pretence whatever, to take up arms against the crown. All these different measures, however, were but so many preludes to the fa- mous act of uniformity, which took place in the same session ; and which fell like a thunderbolt on the devoted heads of the presbyterian party, i. e. upon a class of men who constituted at this period at least one half of the nation. 6 . INTRODUCTION. Act of uni- To exhibit this act in its proper colors,, it must formity. be remembered, that the convention parliament which restored the king; was composed chiefly of OJT J presbyterians ; and that iheir generosity had so far exceeded the limits of discretion, as to induce them to rely with unsuspecting confidence upon the royal declaration from Breda, in which they were flattered with the prospect of a general amnesty and liberty of conscience; and to reject the advice of the more sagacious members of that assembly, who were of opinion that specific conditions should be offered to the king, who, in that critical situation of his affairs, would gladly have acquiesced in whatever terms had been pro-r posed. By the act of uniformity, however, the . church was not only re-established in all her pristine rights, but the terms of conformity were made still more rigorous than in any former period, with the express view of excluding all of the presbyterian denomination from the national communion; inconsequence of which, about two thousand of the beneficed clergy voluntarily relinquished their preferments on Bartholomew - 1662. day 1662, when the act of uniformity, by a re- finement of cruelty, was to take place, in order to prevent those who should resign their livings from reaping any advantage from the tythes of tlie preceding year. After making every allow- ance for that mixture of adventitious motives by INTRODUCTION. which, in such situations, human nature will be ever in some degree actuated, this must certainly be regarded as an astonishing sacrifice of temporal interest to integrity and conscience, and as ex- hibiting a striking proof of the deep impression which the Christian religion is capable of making on the heart. But when we examine minutely into the reasons upon which this magnanimous secession was founded, we cannot but stand amazed at their extreme frivolous ness and futility; and our admiration is almost annihilated by contempt. The leaders of the presbyterians, who were many of them men of great learning and abilities, did not object to a national esta- blishment, as such ; they were far even from pro- fessing to disapprove of the government of the church by bishops; to the theological system con- tained in the thirty-nine articles they were very strongly attached ; and the use of a public for- mulary of worship they generally regarded not only as lawful but expedient. To what then did they object ? To submit to re-ordination, by which the validity of the prior ordination by a presbytery would virtually be impugned. They could not in conscience consent to kneel at the sacrament of the Lord's supper; nor could they make use of the sign of the cross in baptism, nor prevail upon themselves to bow at the name of Jesus; nor would they countenance the su- INTRODUCTION. pcrstitions of the Romish church by wearing the ecclesiastical vestments, which they reckoned amongst the detestable abominations of that mo- ther of harlots. It is difficult to determine, whether a greater degree of bigotry was discover- able in insisting upon th,ese petty observances as terms of communion,, *>r in rejecting them as anti'christian and unlawful. This., however, is certain, that Clarendon., who was now possessed of absolute authority., must have drank deep into the spirit *f Laud, to have urged a measure which had a direct tendency to alienate the minds of half the nation from the king's person and government, which plunged a great number of worthy and conscientious men into the depths of indigence and distress, and which laid an exten- sive foundation for a schism, which still subsists, and which has been productive of very pernicious consequences. Though it must be acknowledged, that much good has likewise resulted from it, but of such a nature, that the faintest idea of it could never enter within the narrow views of that ho- nest but mistaken minister. Marriage In the summer of 16C2, the inauspicious mar- riage of the king w ith' Catharine infanta of Por- tugal was concluded; The conduct of the chan- cellor respecting this important event discovers rather acquiescence than approbation. The misr chievous effects of a catholic alliance were surely sufficiently obvious byilhe example*. of the -former reign; and how the, : interests of, this kingdom pould be pronioted fy establishing the independ- ency of Portugal, which .was the great political consequence to be expected from tins union, it were not easy to demonstrate. Spam was already sunk much too low in t)ie scale- of power ; and nothing couifi more effectually contribute to con- firm the dangerous ascendency recently acquired by France, than this violent dismemberment of her empire. - In the same .year a transaction took place, saieof which has usually been : represented as .highly scandalous, and even criminal, the sale of Duns- kirk- But it must be rernembered, that the re- venue of the crown was- at this period very nar- row, and the expence of maintaining Dunkirk disproportionately great, compared either with the amount of the revenue or the advantage aris- ing from the possession. The diminution of the national honor by the sale of the place was there- fore the only reasonable objection to which it was liable. Under the false and visionary idea, that essential benefits are to be derived from the pos- session of fortresses in foreign kingdoms, Calais, Dunkirk, Tangier, Port Mahon, and Gibraltar, have successively been occupied at an immense expence of blood and treasure ; and the obstinate and unjust retention of the last of these place;* INTRODUCTION. shows that the nation is not yet recovered from this species of political mania. Before the close of this year, the king exhibited plain indications of that attachment to the ca- tholic religion which was so remarkable a cha- racteristic of the Stuart family, and which at length terminated in their total ruin. In De- eembcr he issued a declaration,, in which was ex- cla ration of Indulgence. Dressed his intention of mitigating the rigor of the penal laws in favor of his peaceable non- conforming subjects, by virtue of his dispensing power. But the house of commons,, who were equally adverse to papists and presbyterians, strongly remonstrating against the proposed in- dulgence, the king gave the first proof of that cautious and accommodating spirit which never forsook him, even when engaged in the prosecu- tion of the deepest and most dangerous designs, by immediately desisting from his project ; and, jn order to pacify the parliament, a proclamation was soon after issued against Jesuits and Romish priests. From this time, however, it was observed that the earl of Clarendon began to decline from that height of favor he had hitherto enjoyed. The king became sensible that this inflexible minister, notwithstanding his high theoretical principles, could never be brought to support, any designs which might be formed either for the actual ex- INTRODUCTION. J I tension of prerogative, or for the advancement of popery. The resolution taken by the court in the following year, not without the concurrence of the parliament and the approbation of the nation in general, to declare war against Holland, evi u First Dutch dently marked the declension, or rather the an- v nihilation of that nobleman's authority. The king's settled aversion to the manners, govern- ment, and religion of the Dutch nation, was the real ground of this war ; and the jealousy enter- tained of those industrious republicans as com- mercial rivals was the cause of its popularity. It was, nevertheless, so palpably unjust, that the chancellor, whose probity remained unshaken in the midst of temptation, openly remonstrated against it, but without any effect. The w r ar, however, was not carried on with that success which was expected. France and Denmark de- clared in favor of Holland ; and the king, not- withstanding the memorable 1 insult he received from the Dutch fleet commanded by De Ruyter, who, in the summer of 1667, sailed up the Mcd- 1667. Avay, and burnt several men of war lying in that river, thought proper to sign a treaty of peace a 1 1 Breda in July, and to reserve to a more favor- able opportunity the complete gratification of his hatred and revenge. The disgrace of the ch;tn- Disgrace of cellor immediately followed. Popular prejudices clarendon. yan high against him ; and the king had the base- lg INTRODUCTION". ness and ingratitude to encourage a- parliament* tary impeachment for high treason against the man to whom he owed the most important obli- gations, \vho had been the guide and counsellor of his youth, and in whom he had once placed the most unlimited confidence. Happily he found means to escape into France, where he spent the remainder 'of his }ife in philosophic and dignified retirement. Triple Ai~ . The first political measure of the court after pancc. this event has met with very great and deserved applause. This was no other than the famous triple alliance concluded between England, Hol- land, and Sweden, for the avowed purpose of put- ling a stop to the military progress of the French .monarch, whose power began about this time to appear extremely formidable, and who had, in contempt of every appearance of justice, entered the Spanish Low Countries with a numerous army, and threatened to make an entire conquest of those rich and extensive- provinces. Lewis, how- ever, did not choose to risque a rupture with this potent confederacy ; and for a short time Eng- land, in consequence of this spirited conduct, ap- peared in her proper station, as the great bulwark of the common liberties of Europe. Some faint attempts were also now made by Buckingham, the new minister, to procure a relaxation of the terms of conformity ; but the temper of .the com- lNTtl6t)UCTTON, ifitins appeared totally adverse to every idea of that nature. They even inflicted additional pe- nalties upon non-conformists ; and, by a remark- able clause" in the act passed against conven- ticles,, the malignant spirit by which they were actuated^, is strikingly manifested. If any dispute should arise with respect to the construction of the act, the judges are directed^ contrary to the universal practice of the English courts of ju- dicature in the interpretation of penal statutes, to explain the doubt in the sense least favorable to the delinquent, Such was indeed the violence with which the legislature now proceeded, that, had not the political circumstances of the times undergone an unexpected revolution, another Ma- rian persecution was justly to be apprehended. Towards the end of the year 1669, the prin- cipal executive offices of government were filled by Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley Cooper, afterwards earl of Shaftesbury, and Lau- derdale, who composed that administration so well known by the appellation of the CABAL the majority of whom were, in the general opi- nion, men, who, to borrow the language of lord Clarendon, " had heads to contrive, hearts to ap- prove, and hands to execute any mischief." And it may with strict justice be affirmed, that the king, iii concert with a secret, dark, and dange- rous faction, was engaged in a conspiracy against 2 Cabal Ad- ministra- tion. 14 INTRODUCTION. the religion, laws,, and liberties of his kingdom, The dissimulation and perfidy of Charles are such as to make it extremely questionable,, whether he ever really entered into the views with winch the triple alliance was formed. However that may be, it is certain, that within two years after that event his political conduct was totally changed ; and in an interview which took place in the 16/0. spring of the year 1670 with his sister Henrietta, duchess of Orleans, a secret treaty was nego- tiated with the French king for the purposes of subverting the republic of Holland, of making the authority of Charles absolute, and of esta- blishing once more the Romish religion in the realms of Britain ; as a prelude to which, Charles thoiic. was formally absolved, and received into the b0r som of the catholic church*. * The three great objects of the alliance between Lewis and Charles were as stated in the narrative. But Clifford and Arlington only, who were themselves papists, were privy to the whole project. The secret was in part kept from Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale, who were amused with a fictitious treaty, containing all the articles, except those relating to religion, of the former real treaty negotiated and signed unknown to them by lord Anmdel of Wardour. " But," as Mr. Hume observes, " if popery was so much the object of the national horror, that even the king's own mini-- sters either would not or durst not receive it, what hopes could he entertain of forcing the nation into it ?'" The king was so zealous a papist, that he wept for joy when he saw the prospect INTRODUCTION. 1 5 la pursuance of this plan, the king had the unparalleled assurance to convene the parliament m the following winter, and to procure supplies from them to a very large amount, under pre- tence of the danger to be apprehended from the increasing power of France, and of the obliga- tion and necessity of supporting the triple alii- . prospect of re-unitins; his kingdom to the catholic church. f f 03 Dalrymplcs State Papers. King James, in his Memoirs under the year 1663, says, " About this time the duke of York discoursed with the king if he continued in the same mind as to his religion, who as- sured him he did, and desired nothing more than to be recon- ciled." And in the following year we find the account thus confirmed : " The duke speaks of religion to the king, and finds him resolved to be a catholic. The king appoints a pri- vate meeting with lord Arundel, lord Arlington, and sir Tho- mas Clifford, in the duke's closet, to advise on the methods to advance the catholic religion in his kingdoms. They met on the 25th of January. The king declared his mind in matters of religion with great zeal to the duke and other three per- sons at this private meeting. The result of die consultation was, that the work should be done in conjunction with France. The lord Arundel was accordingly sent to treat with the French king, and the treaty was concluded in the beginning of the year 16/0." Macphersoris Papers, vol. ii. p. 50. Pere Orleans, in allusion to the royal declaration of indul- gence, says, " The king, who was no good Christian in his ac- tions, but a catholic in his heart, did all that could be ex- pected from his easy temper to maintain the common liberty, that the catholic church might have a share in it." SPSS ALTERA KOMJS, was found 4nscribed under the statue of tLe duke of York. anee. When money was thus obtained, {he mask was thrown off; and military preparations were P em< y ma gage the nation in a war with France, notwith- standing the apparent incongruity of their public 24 INTRODUCTION. conduct : and in this they concurred with a great majority of the wisest and most dispassionate members of the United States, though not with the sentiments of the stadtholder ; by whose au- thority and influence alone the war, without any adequate political necessity, had been so long continued. The leaders of the opposition in parliament well knew that no real danger was. now to be apprehended from France. The king had it in his power to dictate the terms of the treaty of peace ; and they with good reason en- tertained the strongest jealousies and suspicions, that the immense sums which must be voted, and the vast armaments which must be raised, in order to carry on a war against France, might eventually be directed against the religion and liberties of this kingdom. They were fully ac-r quainted with the deep and dangerous designs which the kinghad formerly harboured against his subjects, and which want of power, and not want of inclination, had at length compelled him to abandon. The court of France, for very differ- ent but very obvious reasons, was equally solicitr ous to prevent the king from joining the coiifeder- racy; in Consequence of which accidental union of interests, intrigues were carried on between the French ambassador and the members of oppo- sition ; and great sums of French gold were dis- tributed, with the approbation or passive con-. INTRODUCTION. 25 currence at least, of even such men as Russel, Sydney, and Hollis, in order to accomplish & great political purpose., which, unhappily, was not to be effected by more open and honorable means. Men of virtue and integrity, who hold the noiseless tenor of their way through the cool sequestered veil of private life, will be incited by the purest motives to feel and express a far greater degree of indignation at these irregular practices, than the nature of the facts, weighed with their attendant circumstances in the impartial scale of reason, will justify. The sublime theories of visionary speculatists but too often ill accord with the humbler lessons of practical wisdom. Fiat justitia mat ccehim, is with such men 3, funda- mental maxim of political morality. They con^ sider not that virtue is itself founded upon utility, or, in other words, its tendency to promote the general good. The end is not to be ultimately sacrificed to the means ; and when the public safety is the end in view, an object of such tran- scendent importance v r ill certainly justify the adoption of such means as are really and indis- pensably necessary to its attainment. There exists not any principle of human action, how- ever just or important, nor, on the other hand,, is it possible to imagine any, even the most neces- sary deviation from such principle, which may #ot be perverted and abused in the application. 26 INTRODUCTION. But the rule and the exception both rest upon the same basis, and aim at the accomplishment of the same object, tlie good of mankind. The po- litician versed in the great volumes of human nature and human life, and who is solicitous to render real service to his country and to the world, will and must suffer his conduct to be guided and influenced by circumstances; regarding- -\vith a watchful and steady eye the ever-varying com- binations of events. The new parliament, which met in March lfi ^ following, 1679, soon displayed a spirit of jealousy New Par- and opposition to the court, at least equal to their predecessors. The impeachment of Danby was T revived ; but the king had previously granted him a pardon under the great seal, which he affixed to it with his own hands. But the commons affirmed, that no pardon could be pleaded in bar of impeachment : and Danby, who had abs- conded, but who chose to make his appearance rather than to incur the penalties of a bill of attainder, \yas immediately committed to the 32 INTRODUCTION. Tower. The house proceeded with equal violence in the prosecution of the pretended popish plot, the existence of which still depended upon the testimony of the infamous Gates and his vile colleagues and accomplices. The vote of the former parliament was renewed ; and colonel Sackville was expelled the house, for presuming somewhat indiscreetly to call in question its reality. Even the courts of justice upon this oc- casion became the mere instruments of parlia- mentary and popular vengeance ; nor did the nation awaken from its delirium till the scaffold had streamed with the blood of various persons of high distinction, and great numbers of inferior rank, both clergy and laity, had fallen a sacrifice to this egregious imposture ; the passions of amazement and horror making that evidence appear credible, which would at any other time have been rejected as an insult to common sense. BUI of Ex- But though it must be acknowledged that nothing was discovered, after the most indefoti- gable investigation of this affair, which could possibly be construed into a plot or conspiracy, by any mind not distempered with the rage of faction, yet the parliament as well as the nation had sufficient grounds to apprehend, that in the event of the king's decease the most vigorous at- tempts would be used by his successor to re-esta- INTRODUCTION 1 . blish the Romish religion in these realms, with its natural, and in this case its inseparable conco- mitant, arbitrary power. It was therefore with the highest degree of public approbation that the house of commons came to an unanimous vote, " That the duke of York's being a papist, and the hopes of his succeeding to the crown, had given the highest countenance to the present designs of the papists against the king and the protestant religion/' This was regarded, and it was unquestionably intended, as the prelude to a bill for excluding him from the throne. Charles, who held his brother's understanding in just con- tempt, and who had little affection to his person, was however fully determined, and he adhered to his determination with a degree of firmness of which he was thought wholly incapable, never to give his assent to a measure which appeared to him in the highest degree violent and unjust. Previous to the introduction of this famous bill, therefore, he proposed to the parliament, in a very gracious and conciliatory speech, a plan of limitations which would have effectually secured the religion and liberties of the nation ; and at the same time declared, that if any thing farther could be devised bv the wisdom of parliament, as an additional satisfaction, without defeating the right of succession, he was readv to consent to it. Upon the ground of that fundamental VOL. i. i> 34 INTRODUCTION. maxim of true policy, which directs us to aim not at that which is best in itself, but at the best of those alternatives which are practicable,, limi- tation and not exclusion ought to have been the object of parliament; though it must be confessed that the king had given so many proofs of the flexibility of his temper in the course of his reign, and of his extreme reluctance to risque a total rupture with parliament,, that there was great reason to believe he might ultimately be induced to concur in the rigorous and popular plan of exclusion. Possessed with these ideas,, the house of com- mons rejected with disdain the compromise offer- ed by the king, and without any delay passed the bill of exclusion by a large majority of votes ; though by a clause of it the duke was declared guilty of high treason, if after the decease of the king he appeared within the limits of the British Habeas- dominions. In the vain hope of mollifying the: pawed! l untoward disposition of the commons, the king at this period passed the memorable habeas- corpus act ; though the duke of York affirmed to him, that with such a law in being no govern- ment could subsist. Finding however that no impression was to be made by any act of grace or condescension, Ire took a sudden resolution to dissolve the parliament ; and writs were at the- same time issued for a new parliament, which: INTRODUCTION. . 35 nevertheless did not meet till the succeeding sum- Duke of mer. In the interim, Shaftesbury, now the oracle of the opposition., attended by Russel, Cavendish,, Grey., and many other persons of the first dis- tinction, publicly appeared in Westminster-hall, and presented the duke of York to the grand jury of Middlesex as a popish recusant. This unpre- cedented act of audacity was intended by the popular party to convince the court, as well as the world, that they were firmly resolved never to listen to any terms of accommodation with the duke, and that his exclusion from the throne was a point which at all hazards they were deter- mined to insist upon. At length, in October 1680, the parliament . New Par- Was convened ; and the session was opened with ii a very judicious, animated, and even affectionate speech from the throne. At this period, if at any time, Charles was sincerely desirous of living upon terms of mutual confidence and harmony with his subjects : his own excellent understand- ing could not but suggest to him, that the nume- rous difficulties and embarrassments in which he had been involved, had arisen almost entirely from his own misconduct. His love of ease, and the advanced age to which he had now attained, were strong inducements to him to avoid those measures which had a tendency to inflame the parliament or to disgust the nation : and since 36 INTRODUCTION. the alliance with the prince of Orange he was less inclined to a close connection with Louis, whose conduct for a certain period immediately preceding the peace of Nimeguen,he had deemed, after allthe obloquy he had incurred upon his account, highly ungrateful and injurious, and of which he still retained a deep resentment. In this speech, truly worthy of a British monarch, he again informed the parliament, that he was willing to concur in any expedient for the secu- rity of the protestant religion, provided the suc- cession were preserved in the due and legal course. After stating his pecuniary wants, for which he trusted parliament would provide, he added, " But that which I value above all the treasure in the world, is a perfect union among ourselves. All Europe have their eyes upon this assembly : if any unseasonable disputes do happen, the world will see that it is no fault of mine. I have done all that it was possible for me to do, to keep you in peace while I live, and to leave you so when I die. But from so great prudence and good affection as yours I can fear nothing of the kind, but do rely upon you all, that you will do your best endeavours to bring this parliament to a good and happy conclusion." The mildness and moderation of the king were Bill ofex- not however attended by any sensible or salutary vivi., effects. In a few davs the bill of exclusion wa* INTRODUCTION. 37 Again introduced., passed by a great majority, and carried up to the lords ; who, influenced chiefly by the eloquence of the marquis of Halifax, after vehement debates, at length determined to reject it. The commons immediately voted an address for the removal of that nobleman from his majesty's councils and presence for ever. And this address was soon after followed by an- other in the highest degree inflammatorv, in which all the abuses of government which had been the subject of complaint almost from the beginning of the king's reign were insisted upon; and " the damnable and hellish popish plot" is openly ascribed to that party under whose in- fluence all the measures of government originated. They likewise voted, " that \fhoever advised fas majesty to refuse the exclusion bill were enemies to the king and kingdom, and that, till this bill were passed, they could not, consistently with the trust reposed in them, grant the king any manner of supply." No farther hopes remaining of bringing the commons to any better temper, the king dis- solved the parliament in January 1681. But, de- jg Q1 sirous of making one more effort to effect a re- conciliation with his people, he summoned ano- ther parliament to meet at Oxford in March. In Oxford Parlia- his speech at the opening of it, he told them in a mem. (one of seriousness and dignity, that, " though he 28 INTRODUCTION. had reason to complain of the unwarrantable proceedings of the former house of commons, no past irregularities could inspire him with a preju- dice against those assemblies. He now afforded them yet another opportunity of providing for the public safety ; and to all the world he had given one evidence more, that on his part he had not neglected the duty incumbent on him." Such however was the infatuation of the house of com- mons., that though the ministers of the crown proposed., by command of the king, that the duke should be banished during life five hundred miles from England ; and that, on the king's demise, the next heir should be appointed regent with kingly power, they deemed no expedient but the absolute exclusion of the duke worthy of at- tention. The patience and moderation of the king, which had stood a very severe trial, now seemed at last to forsake him ; and, before the commons had time to pass a single bill, he sud- denly and unexpectedly dissolved the parliament, with a full resolution not to summon another till the spirit and temper of the times had undergone an essential alteration. Triumphof ^ ne PP u l ar P af ty were struck with conster- the Court. na fj on a t this vigorous procedure; and the na- tion disgusted with the obstinacy of their repre- sentatives, and pleased with the great conces- sions made by the king, joined in applauding the INTRODUCTION. 39 firmness and spirit with which he acted (ftj-this occasion. The desperate measures afterwards resorted to by the patriots,, the fatal catastrophe which ensued, and the tragical end of Sydney, Russel, Essex, and others of the party, too plainly evinced the imprudence and indiscretion of their preceding conduct ; which indeed affords a me- morable lesson to posterity, how solicitous men ought to be, who have great and laudable ends in view, to adopt rational and practicable methods of effecting them. The despotism exercised by Charles from this period was scarcely inferior to that of Henry VIII. ; though it is certain, that, pressed by pecu- niary difficulties, and living in the continual dread of another revolution, his gaiety of spirit forsook him, and he became silent, absent, and melan- choly. It is generally believed, and with good reason, that he was meditating a change of mea- sures, and that he had it in contemplation very shortly to summon another parliament, from which very happy consequences would probably have resulted, when he was suddenly seized with a fit of apoplexy, and died February 6th, 1685, in the 55th vear of his aire and 25th of his rei^n- Death of . the King. Some remarkable circumstances attending his death occasioned a suspicion of poison ; but there does not appear sufficient evidence for an accusa- tion of this atrocious nature. The whole tenor of 40 INTRODUCTION. his actions and policy prove that this monarch, whose superiority of understanding and quickness of penetration were no less conspicuous than his total want of virtue and of principle, might, with more propriety than almost any man, declare that he always discerned the things that were right, though he uniformly adopted those which were wrong*. Accession It j s extremely remarkable, and it may perhaps pf James II. m * : by some be considered as a characteristic trait of that caprice so frequently ascribed to the Eng- lish nation, that, notwithstanding the vehement and furious efforts which had been so recently made to effect the absolute exclusion of the duke of York from the throne, his accession 'to the crown was not attended with any public marks of disgust or dissatisfaction. The storm had spent its rage, and was succeeded by a dead and settled calm. This must not, however, be attri- buted to any radical change in the public opinion respecting the eligibility of this exclusion in itself considered, but to a general dread of the alarming consequences which must have resulted from per- sisting in the prosecution of a project, in which it was apparent that the king would never be in- duced to acquiesce. And though the sudden death of Charles prevented that monarch from exe- -Video meliora probpque. Peteriora sequor. INTRODUCTION. 41 exiting his intention of convening a parliament, in which such restrictions would doubtless have been imposed uporuthe successor as the political situation of the kingdom would have been thought, on a cool and impartial re-consideration of the subject, to require ; yet it was hoped that the understanding and experience of the new king would suggest to him the propriety, or rather the necessity, of regulating his conduct in such a manner as to convince the people that their reli- gion and liberties were not endangered under his government. And reflecting men, who always resort with reluctance to violent and desperate remedies, clearly saw that no serious attempt could be made upon either, but with the most imminent hazard to the kind's authority, not to O / say his safety. James II. was now far advanced in life ; the season of rashness and temerity, it might be reasonably presumed, was past ; and he would deem himself, as people fondly imagined, happy by a mild and popular administration to secure the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of a crown which had once been so nearly wrested from him : and after a reign, probably of no very long duration, a bright and glorious prospect again opened to their view in the acces- sion of the prince and princess of Orange. The event, however, proved how delusive were these Jiopes; and how justly founded the apprehen- 42 INTRODUCTION. sions of those who were but too well apprised of the bigotry, the enthusiasm, the blind and deplo- rable obstinacy of this infatuated monarch. The first act of James's reign, however, seemed not ill calculated to confirm the prepossession which the public were but too ready to encou- rage in his favor. In his declaration to the privy council, which assembled immediately on the death of the late king, he professed his resolution to maintain the established government both in church and state ; and he affirmed, that, though he had been reported to have imbibed arbitrary principles, he knew the laws of England were sufficient to make him as great a monarch as he could wish, and he was determined never to depart from them. Numerous addresses from all parts .of the kingdom were presented to the new monarch, couched for the most part in terms of the grossest adulation ; which no doubt greatly contributed to lull him into that fatal security which was the cause and the fore-runner of his ruin. Though the royal declaration was highly extolled by the partisans of the court, and indeed by the generality of the people, who pleased them- selves with boasting ef that they had now the word of a king to rely upon," yet they had very early proof how weak and fallacious was this ground of dependence. For, in open defiance of the law agreeably to which the greater part of the INTRODUCTION. 43 duties of custom and excise granted to the king expired at his demise, James issued a proclama- tion within a few days subsequent to this decla- ration, commanding those duties to be paid as before. And the second Sunday after his acces- sion, he went openly, with all the insignia of royalty, to mass, to the indignation of most men and the amazement of all. One Caryl also was dispatched to Rome in the Embassy to * Rome. capacity of agent, in order to make submissions to the pope in the king's name, and to pave the way for the re-admission of England into the bosom of the catholic church. Bat these ex- pressions of duty and obedience to the Holy See were not received with much eagerness or satis- C3 faction. This, however, will not excite our wonder, when we recollect the general state of politics in Europe at this period. The grandeur of Louis XIV. had now attained its highest point of elevation. Since the conclusion of the treaty of Nimeguen, the pride and insolence of that monarch knew no bounds ; and the nations of Europe were concerting measures to reduce the exorbitant power of France within its proper limits. The accession of England to this confe- deracy was the object of general and eager desire: and as James was believed to be actuated by a higher sense of national honor and interest than the late king, and by that jealousy of the power 7 44 INTRODUCTION. of France which was naturally to be expected from a king of England, nothing could be more unseasonable, or more opposite to the political views of the principal courts of Europe at this juncture., than a serious intention in James to re- establish the catholic religion in his dominions ; which would inevitably by the means of involving him in domestic contentions of the most alarm- ing kind, and which would not only effectually preclude every idea of his becoming a party in the grand confederacy now actually forming, but ultimately reduce him, perhaps, to the necessity of throwing himself into the arms of France, by whose assistance alone these dangerous projects could ever be carried into execution. The reign- o ing pontiff, Innocent XI. was, in consequence of a recent quarrel, inflamed with animosity against Louis, and devotedly attached to the interests of the house of Austria. And being, moreover, a man of sense and temper, he plainly perceived that the king Avas not only pursuing measures ma- nifestly incompatible with the political sentiments which he affected to embrace, but which would probably terminate in the ruin of himself and of the religion to which he was so passionately de- voted. He counselled him, therefore, to regulate his zeal by the rules of prudence and discretion, and to endeavour, by mildness and moderation, insensibly to effect what force and violence woukl INTRODUCTION. 43 attempt in vain. Ronquillo, the Spanish am- bassador in England, also inculcated the same lessons of wisdom ; \vhich were entirely disre- garded by James, who was under the absolute government of the priests by whom he was sur- rounded, and who were continually urging the necessity of adopting vigorous and decisive mea- sures, in order to accomplish the great work of national conversion during the lifetime of the king, as their labors would otherwise be rendered wholly ineffectual. The general disposition of the people, which was at this time patiently, or rather stupidly, passive, encouraged the king to venture upon measures, which his long experience of the English nation, if he had been a man capable of reflection, must have convinced him would sooner or later arouse that dormant but unconquerable spirit of resistance to regal ty- ranny, which had for many centuries distin- guished the inhabitants of this island. In the month of May 1685 the parliament was convened ; and so low was the credit of the whigs and exclusionists now fallen, and such the success of the measures employed by the court to influence or intimidate the electors throughout the kingdom, that the king declared, upon inspecting the returns, that there were not above forty members chosen but such as he him- self wished for. It is superfluous to add, that the 46 INTRODUCTION. religion and liberties of the nation were never ex- posed to more imminent danger,, than under the government of such a king, and the guardian care of such a parliament. Scarcely had they met than they addressed the king,, to cause the penal laws to be put in strict execution against the dissenters; inconsequence of which, persecu- tion revived with greater fury than before, and it was manifest that the king, who had reason to regard them as his most determined enemies, was no less zealous than the parliament for their de- Abject struction*. By not only settling upon James anceofthe for life the revenue which determined at the de- Commons. cease of the late monarch, but by new grants, which raised the entire receipt of the exchequer to the annual sum of two millions, they virtually passed a law rendering parliaments in future wholly useless. For this revenue, with prudence * Amongst many others, the venerable Baxter, at 70 years of age, was committed to the King's- bench prison ; and being brought to his trial before the infamous Jeffries, was convicted, and sentenced to pay 500 marks, which being unable to dis- charge he remained in imprisonment till a total change of measures took place, two years afterwards. Having moved by his counsel, previous to the trial, for further time, Jeffries declared, " that he would not allow him a minute's time to save his life. ... I know thou hast a mighty party," said this profligate magistrate, " and I see a great many of the brother- hood in corners, waiting to see what will become of their mighty don ; but, by the grace of God, I will crush you all." NEAL s Histoiy of the Puritans, vol. iv, chap. 11. INTRODUCTION. 47 and economy, was fully equal to the ordinary exigencies of government; and James was now at liberty to prosecute his schemes free from the ap- prehension of parliamentary check or control- The speaker of the house of commons, however, on presenting the money-bills, ventured to inform the king, ec that on giving his majesty this signal proof of their loyalty and affection, they shewed how entirely they relied upon his majesty's royal word and repeated declarations to support the protestant religion as professed by the church of England, which was dearer to them than their lives:" a manifest and decisive proof of that national abhorrence of popery, arising almost to phrensy, which could influence this assembly, in other respects so obsequious and abject, to express their feeling in language so bold and energetic. The king received this compliment in rude and ungracious silence. To compensate for a freedom so unwelcome, a bill was introduced into the house of commons, by which any thing said to disparage the king's person and government was made treason. This dangerous bill was very ably and strongly opposed by Serjeant Maynard, one of the few whigs sitting in this parliament, who displayed in striking colors the fatal consequences which would result from any deviation from the famous statute of Edward III. by which an overt act was made the necessary and indispensable 48 INTRODUCTION. proof of treasonable intentions. " If words alone could by any construction of the law be converted into treason., he affirmed that no man's life,, or liberty,, or property, could be secure. Words were so liable to be misunderstood and misrepre- sented, and, by a very small variation, might be made to convey a sense so contrary to what was intended, that a law like this, which seemed ex- pressly calculated for an instrument of tyranny, would be a virtual surrender of all our privileges into the hands of the sovereign." These argu- ments could not but make some impression upon the house, callous as it seemed to the feelings of honor, and regardless of the national interest or safety; and great debates ensued, which were suddenly interrupted by the intelligence of the Rebellion duke of Monmouth's arrival in the west, with an ofMon- ke nos tile armament from Holland. The commons mouth. instantly voted an address, assuring the king of their resolution to adhere to him with their lives and fortunes ; and after parsing a bill of attain- der against the duke, and granting a supply of 400, OOO/. for the suppression of this rebellion they determined upon an adjournment. Immediately on the king's accession, the prince? of Orange, knowing the inveterate animosity of James against the duke, who had for some time past resided at the Hague, thought it expedient to give, him his dismission. The duke retired to INTRODUCTION. 49 Brussels ; but being pursued thither also bv the unrelenting jealousy of James, he adopted a sudden and rash resolution to attempt an invasion of England, at a season in every respect unpropi- tious to such an enterprise. At his first landing at Lyme, in Dorsetshire, he counted scarcely a hun- dred followers ; but so great was his popularity, that in a few weeks he assembled with ease an army of several thousand men, and found himself in a condition to give battle to the king's forces, encamped under the command of the earl of Feversham at the village of Sedgemoor, near Battle of Bridgewater. Though his raw and undisciplined j^f' troops displayed surprising valor and intrepidity 16S5 - in the attack., they were at last overpowered by the superiority of numbers and of military skill. Monmouth himself was taken in the pursuit; and though he implored the king's mercy that mercy which he could never hope to obtain with an earnestness and importunity by no means corre- sponding with the spirit and gallantry by which he had been formerly distinguished, he suffered death on the scaffold with calm resolution and constancy, professing to consider himself as a martyr foj* the people. The fate of this amiable and accomplished nobleman cannot be contemplated without emo- tions of grief and compassion. Educated in the bosom of a corrupt and dissipated court, and VOL. i. B 50 INTRODUCTION". possessed of every exterior and personal advan- tage, he had imbibed just and noble sentiments respecting the nature and ends of government. His capacity, which was rather below than above the common level, did not qualify him for taking the lead in the opposition to the court during the latter years of the reign of Charles II. ; but he zealously concurred in all the measures adopted by the patriots of that period, and in the obsti- nate and reiterated efforts to carry into effect the famous bill of exclusion : after which,, as there is reason to believe, he flattered himself with the hope of obtaining an act of legitimation, which would pave his way to the crown. The king however constantly denied that any contract of marriage had taken place between Lucy Walters, mother of the duke, and himself. And this mar- riage, the report of which gained great credit amongst all ranks of people, and which was never contradicted by clear or demonstrative evidence, still remains involved in some obscurity. The duke was uncommonly handsome in his person, and engaging in his manners ; and his disposition was naturally open, affable, and generous. He had acquired the affections of the people to a very high degree ; and the king his father was per- ceived by the duke of York and his adherents, not without the utmost chagrin, to be still passio- nately fond of him, notwithstanding all his politic INTRODUCTION. 5i cal offences.* Monmouth, in his public mani- festo, charged the king with the burning of the city of London, with the popish plot, the murder of Godfrey, the death of the earl of Essex, and even with the poisoning of the late king. These extravagances gave great offence to all moderate and reasonable persons ; and the duke was joined by very few above the lowest rank and condition of life the folly and temerity of this ill-concerted and ill-conducted attempt being too apparent. The barbarity, however, as well as the number Barbarities of the executions which ensued on the suppres- sion of this rebellion, far exceeded any severities of the kind recorded in English history. The * In die celebrated Memoirs of count Hamilton, the character of the Duke of Monmouth is thus delineated ; r Le due de M. fils naturel de Charles II. parut en ce terns-la dans la cour du roi son pere. Sa figure et les graces exterieures de sa personne etoient telles qye la nature n'a peut-etre jamais rien forme de plus accompli. Son visage etoit tout char- mant. C'etoit un visage d'homme, rien de fade, rien d'effemine ; cependant chaque trait avoit son agrement, et sa delicatesse particuliere ; une disposition merveilleuse pour toutes sortes d'exercises, un abord attrayant, un air de gran- deur, enfin, tous Ie3 advantages du corps parloient pour lui j mais son esprit ne disoit pas un petit mot en sa faveur. II n'avoit de sentimens que ce qu'on lui en inspiroit ; et ceux qui d' abord s'insinuerent dans sa familiarite prirent soin de ne lui en inspirer qxxe de pernicieux. II fit les plus cherei? delices du roi." E 2 52 INTRODUCTION. savage and infamous Jeffries was expressly" se- lected by the king himself, at the ensuing assizes, as the judge best qualified to display the terrors andinfiict the vengeance of the law upon the de- voted inhabitants of the western counties. " After the defeat of Monmouth," says a late historian*, "juries were overborne., judgment was given with precipitation, and the laws themselves were opened trampled upon by a murderer in the robes of a lord chief justice." The king de- lighted to recount the exploits of what he affected to style " Jeffries's campaign/' in which many hundreds suffered under the hands of the common executioner, after the mockery of a trial, in which the innocent and the guilty were almost indiscriminately involved in one common fate. The earl of Argyle, who had, through the. machinations of the duke of York, been convicted in the preceding reign of high treason, on the most frivolous, or, to speak more properly, the most villainous pretences and who, on making his escape from the castle of Edinburgh, had since lived as an exile in Holland attempted an invasion of Scotland in concert with Monmouth ; and appeared, unsupported by any adequate force, in the Western Highlands, nearly at the same time that the duke landed in a state equally * Granger, Biog. Hist. Eng. INTRODUCTION. institute on the southern coast of England. This feeble attempt was suppressed with very little difficulty ; and the earl, being: taken, was exe- . of Argyle. cuted, without any trial, on his former sentence. Ayloffe and Rumbold, who had been concerned in the Rye-house conspiracy, accompanied Ar- gyle on this expedition, and suffered also with him the penalties of the law. They appear to have been men of upright intentions, and of un- daunted resolution. The latter at his execution declared himself a friend to a monarchical rather than a republican form of government, but the de- termined enemy of tyranny in every form. AyloS'e was conveyed to London, under the idea of his be- ing able to make some important discoveries, and was examined by the king in person, who took great pains to extort a confession from him, though to very Jittle purpose. Irritated by the sullen obstinacy of the prisoner, the king at length said, " Do you not know that it is in my power to punish, and in my power to p.irdon?" To which Ayloffe replied, fc I know it is in your jto-xcr to pardon, but not in your nature." This magnanimous indiscretion only served to hasten the execution of his sentence. So elated was.-jtJie king with the continual flow of success which he had experienced from the commencement of his reign, that he seemed to think it scarcely necessary to keep up any/ ap- 54. INTRODUCTION. pearance of regard to his most public and solemn engagements. On the re-assembling of parlia- ment in November (1685), he told the two houses without reserve, " That, having found the militia during the late disturbances of little use, he had levied an additional body of regular forces, for which he demanded an additional supply; and that he had dispensed with the test laws in favor of a great number of catholic officers employed by him, and of whose services he was determined not to be deprived." Openly insulted by this declar . ration, the house of commons began at length to exhibit some faint symptoms of political ani- mation ; and, after passing the vote of supply, they resolved upon presenting an humble address to the king against the dispensing power : to which the king replied in the most haughty and contemptuous termsr declaring, " that he ex-r pected no opposition, after having so positively made known his will upon that subject." This cowardly and servile assembly was thrown into .consternation at this reply. It was followed by a long and profound silence ; and when one of the members at last rose up and said, " that he hoped they were all Englishmen, and not to be frightr ened by a few hard words," the house voted that he should be committed to ihe Tower. On their next meeting, they proceeded to establish funds for the payment of the subsidy], and prepared tq INTRODUCTION. 55 pass a bill for indemnifying those who had in- curred the penalties of the test. But so highly ' -J the Judges. should be established by a solemn judical deci- io & o. sion. For this purpose a domestic of sir Edward Hales, a distinguished catholic, who held a com- njission in the army, was directed to inform 56 INTRODUCTION. against his master for non-compliance with the test, and to claim the reward of 500/. given by law to the informer. Before this interesting cause ame to a hearing,, the judges were privately and separately tampered with, and divers of them dismissed who would not consent to recognise the legality of the dispensing power. Amongst these was the lord chief justice sir Thomas Jones, who, when the king declared that he was resolved to have twelve judges of his own opinion, boldly replied, ce Twelve judges you possibly may find, sir, but hardly twelve lawyers." In favor of this iriost alarming and unconstitutional assumption of authority, it was argued by the court lavv^- yers, " that the exercise of it was very ancient in England ; and that the parliament itself had more than once acknowledged this prerogative of the crown. The great oracle of English law, sir Edward Coke himself, asserts, that no statute can impose such a disability of enjoying offices as the lung may not dispense with ; because the king from the law of nature has a right to the ser- vices of all his subjects. Nor can the dangerous consequences of granting dispensations be ever allowably pleaded before a court of judicature. Every prerogative of the crown admits of abuse. Should the king pardon all criminals, the whole frame of civil polity must be dissolved. Should he declare perpetual war against all nations, in^ INTRODUCTION. 57 evitable ruin must ensue. Yet these powers are equally intrusted to the sovereign ; and we must be satisfied, as our ancestors were, to depend upon his prudence and discretion in the exercise o^f them." Lord chief] ustice Herbert,, who presided on this extraordinary occasion, assumed as certain and incontrovertible propositions, <( that the Jaws were the king's laws ; that the king might dispense with his laws in case of necessity; and that he was the sole judge of that necessity." To these accommodating and courtly doctrines it was indignantly answered, and to the entire approba- tion and conviction of the far greater part of the kingdom, ee that it was false to say the dispen- sing power of the crown had ever been established by law that in cases of real utility or necessity the exercise of that power had indeed long been submitted to and that, in the turbulence of the Gothic and feudal ages, it formed a salutary though certainly an irregular branch of the royal prerogative. For, that the legislature did not even in those dark and barbarous times acknow- ledge the legality of this power, or at least of the unlimited exercise of it, appears from an act of parliament passed in the reign of king Richard II. which expressly granted to the king the power of dispensing with the statute of pro visors for a limited time. The practice of ancient times was however in present circumstances of small importance. 58 INTRODUCTION. The constitution had, in the course of many suc- cessive reigns, been gradually altered and im- proved. The principles of government,, and the great ends of government, were now much hetter understood than at any preceding period. The danger of admitting this extravagant claim of the crown had become fully apparent; and in the last reign it had been solemnly condemned by parliament, and virtually relinquished by the sovereign. Shall it now be revived, and passively submitted to, when the object in view clearly, and almost avowedly, is not to moderate the rigors of public justice, or to gratify the feelings of royal benignity, but to sap the foundation of that im- pregnable barrier which the wisdom of the legis- lature had erected for the protection of the reli- gion and liberty of the state, and which bade de- fiance to the efforts of open violence ? Let the language of the lawyers, and the precedents ad- duced by them, be what they may, it is prepos- terous and contrary to common sense to suppose that a law enacted for the express purpose of guarding against the designs of the crown can be dispensed with at the pleasure of the crown. * In a word, the question, with every true English- man, is not, what has been the practice of farmer times, in different situations and different cir* cumstances; but, what the actual situation and present circumstances of the nation dcmunij. 1 INTRODUCTION. 5$ And who will be absurd and ridiculous enough to maintain that the guardians of their country, and the defenders of its religion and liberties, are bound to make a laborious research into musty parchments and antiquated precedents, in order to ascertain whether they may lawfully resist a claim, which., if once fully established, would su- persede all law, aad render all precedents use- less?" In conclusion, eleven out of the twelve judges gave it as their decided opinion Mr. justice Street the Abdiel of the bench alone dissenting, arid persisting in his dissent that the dispensing power was a legal and indefeasible branch of the royal prerogative : and the nation saw with amazement this new triumph of despo- tism. In consequence of the general alarm now ex- cited, and the refractory spirit displayed by the most zealous royalists, and even by the clergy of the establishment, relative to the test, the court affected to adopt a new language ; and the wis- dom, the justice, and the expediency of an univer- sal toleration in religion becams on a sudden the prevailing and favorite topics of discourse. This language was intended, as indeed it was well cal- culated, to gain the confidence and conciliate the affections of the protestant dissenters, by whose assistance the king was now eagerly desirous to ac- complish that object to which the more obedient INTRODUCTION. and submissive sons of the church appeared so de- cidedly hostile. With this view, the corporations throughout the kingdom were entirely new- modelled ; and the king's once zealous parti- sans, the high churchmen and anti-exclusionists> were discarded, in order to make room for his determined adversaries, the whigs and dissenters* and,, for the most part, such as had most distin- guished themselves by the violence of their ani- mosity against him. The king was perpetually exclaiming with affected abhorrence against the oppressive proceedings of the late reign respect- ing the nonconformists, and reproaching the church with those acts of cruelty of which he was known to be himself the principal instigator. He ordered an inquiry to be made into all the vexa- tious suits by which the dissenters had been ha- rassed in the ecclesiastical courts, and the illegal compositions extorted from them as the purchase of redemption from further persecution. At length he ventured to issue an absolute and ple- nary declaration of indulgence, including an entire suspension of all penal laws in matters of religion: and asserting the service of all his subjects to be due to him by the laws of nature, he pronounced them all equally capable of employments, and suppressed all oaths and tests that restrained or limited that capacity. The dissenters had so long groaned under the INTRODUCTION. rod of spiritual and temporal tyranny, and their minds were so embittered against those whoiii they regarded as the authors of all their sufferings, that it cannot be thought very marvellous they should discover some symptoms of temporary satisfaction, or rather exultation., at this return of prosperity, not very consistent with that jealous regard and firm attachment to the principles of constitutional liberty which they had uniformly professed, and by which their conduct had been in general distinguished. To ingratiate himself further into their good opinion, the king., and the courtiers who were most in his confidence, talked much and loudly of the popular laws which were intended to be enacted in the approaching parliament., and of the additional securities by which the liberties of the subject would be guard- ed. In consequence of these artifices, numerous addresses were presented by the sectaries, contain- ing very ample and indiscreet protestations of gratitude and loyalty. But the more intelligent and respectable per- sons amongst them viewed these gross and pal- pable attempts to deceive with contempt and indignation. The king having signified to the new lord mayor of London, who was a professed dissenter, and appointed by royal mandamus to that office, that he was at liberty to use what form of worship he pleased in Guildhall chapel, 62 INTRODUCTION. that magistrate scrupled not to offer an open affront to the king's authority by referring the legality of this permission to the decision of coun- sel,, by whom it was pronounced null and void ; and the lord mayor had the prudence and mode- ration usually to attend the established worship during his mayoralty. Also, to shew their con- tempt of the dispensing power assumed by the king, he as well as the new court of aldermen qualified themselves for holdingtheir offices agree- ably to the requisition of the test laws. The an- niversary of the gunpowder treason was likewise commemorated as usual, by order of the new magistracy, to the great displeasure of the coitrt. And when the sheriffs by command of the king invited the nuncio, who about this period ar- rived from Rome, to the lord mayor's feast, an entry was made in the corporation books, that it was done without the knowledge or approbation of. the magistracy. Incensed at these repeated marks of disrespect and disaffection, the king de- clared, " that the dissenters were an ill-natured and obstinate people, not to be gained by any indulgence*." In order, however, to carry on * Calamy and Neal, their own historians, acknowledge, and Dr. Zachary Grey has shown in his remarks upon the latter, that the addresses of the dissenters ran high; but those who possessed most weight and character amongst them kept at a distance from the court : " and as thankful as they were for tfieir INTRODUCTION. the farce of moderation and toleration, the French refugees, who now arrived in great numbers in England upon the repeal of the edict of Nantz, were received with favour, and treated with great ostentation of kindness. But this made little im- pression upon the minds of the generality of people, who saw plainly, hy the manner in which affairs were at this very time conducted in Scotland and Ireland, how little was to he expected from the king's lenity, could he once establish his authority upon a firm foundation in England. liberty," says lord Halifax, " they were fearful of the issue: neither can any number of consideration amongst them be charged with hazarding the public safety, by falling in with the court, of which they had as great a dread as their neigh- bours." A general meeting of the dissenting ministers being held hi London, to take the declaration of indulgence into consideration, Mr. Howe, as praeses, delivered his opinion most decidedly against the dispensing power; and another leading person, Dr. Williams, declared " that he apprehended their late sufferings had been occasioned more by their firm Adherence to the constitution than their differing from the establishment ; and therefore, if the king expected they should give up the constitution and declare for the dispensing power, he had rather for his own part lose his liberty, and return^ to his former bondage}" and the motion for an address of thanks was rejected by a great majority. Nevertheless, by the artifices of the court, addresses were subsequently procured from the separate denominations. The king, in return to that from the presbyterian?, told them, " that he hoped to see the day when they should have MAGNA CHART A for the liberty Of Conscience, as well as for their properties." NEAI/S History of the Puritans, vol. iv, chap. 1 1. 64r INTRODUCTION. 1686. In the summer of '1686, the earl of Murray, A Scotland, new convert to the catholic religion, was commis- sioned to hold a parliament at Edinburgh ; and the king by his royal letter recommended in very urgent terms the repeal of all penal laws and tests relative to religion. Though the object of the court was apparent to all, and though the Scottish bishops had been hitherto actuated by an unrelenting spirit of persecution, they exerted on this occasion all their eloquence to persuade the parliament to comply with the king's request, or rather demand : but nothing further could be ob- tained than a suspension of those laws during the lifetime of the king. This concession, though a very important one, was rejected with disdain by James, who dissolved the parliament in great v/rath : and by the express command of the king, the archbishop of Glasgow and the bishop of Dunkeld, who had dared to oppose the motion of repeal, were deprived of their bishoprics ; for which no other motive was assigned but that such was the king's pleasure. That his boasted regard to the rights of toleration, and of private judgment in religion, was mere pretence, appeared perfectly manifest by the proclamation published at this time in Scotland, for ec an entire liberty of consci- ence ;"in which/' by his sovereignauthority, prero- gative, royal and absolute power, which all his sub- jects were to obey without reserve/' he restrained INTRODUCTION. 65 those rights within the most contracted limits. Those styled in the proclamation the moderate presbyterians were allowed to meet in their pri- vate houses only ; and it was declared to be his royal pleasure that field conventicles should be prosecuted according to the utmost rigor of the law : whereas the catholics were released alto- gether from the operation of statutes made in the reigns of king James I. and Mary queen of Scots, ff of blessed and pious memory, without the law- ful consent of the sovereign :" and they are pro- nounced to be as free in all respects as the pro- testant subjects of the king, not only to exercise their religion, but to enjoy all offices and benefices. So that popery was in effect established by virtue of this proclamation as the religion of the state ; though the king thought fit, in conclusion, to de- clare ' ' that it was not his intention to use force or invincible necessity against any man on account of 'his religious persuasion." The privy council of Scotland returned their thanks for this procla- mation, as for some signal favor conferred upon the kingdom.* In Ireland, the earl of Clarendon Affairs of was removed from the office of lord lieutenant, * The English declaration, published at die same time, con- tained indeed loose and vague promises of protection and support to the Anglican church : but Dr. Cartwright, dean of Rippon, in a sermon preached by him at this crisis, took oc- casion to observe, " that the king's promises were free dona- VOL. I. F 06 INTRODUCTION. and the earl of Tyrconnel nominated as his suc- cessor; a most bigoted papist, and a man of such savage ferocity, that even the moderate catholics in England expressed great apprehension and uneasiness at this appointment. And lord Bel- lasis, who succeeded the earl of Rochester in the treasury,, did not hesitate to affirm with an oath " that Tyrconnel was fool and madman enough to ruin ten kingdoms." This man had,, without deigning to seek any colorable pretext, cashiered all the protestant officers in the Irish army, and had put the catholics in entire possession of all the offices of government. He was preparing mea- sures to pack a parliament, which should repeal the act of settlement, and empower the king to restore all the lands of Ireland to his catholic subjects. Rice, chief baron of the exchequer, in menacing terms declared ' ( that he would drive a coach and six horses through the act of settlement :" and Fitton, a wretch convicted of the crime of forgery, and raised from a gaol to the dignity of chancel- lor of Ireland, and who was the principal adviser of Tyrconnel, as well as the chief instrument of his tyranny, scrupled not publicly to affirm tives, and ought not to be too strictly examined or urged, and that they must leave his majesty to explain his own meaning in them." The king was so delighted with this gloss, that he rewarded the author with the bishopric of Chester. Echard t vol. iii. p. 797- INTRODUCTION. 69 from the bench, ee that the protestants were all rogues, and that there was not one in forty thou- sand of them who was not a traitor and a villain." Affairs also in England began every day to wear a more serious and alarming aspect, and seemed manifestly hastening to a crisis. By virtue of the royal supremacy, a new ec- New Court clesiastical court was established in direct oppo- as ticai sition to the act of 1640, by which the former court of high commission had been abolished, and which expressly prohibited its revival in any form. This court, consisting of the archbishop of Can- terbury, the bishops of Durham and Rochester (Crew and Sprat), the lord chancellor Jeffries, the lord treasurer Rochester, and the lord chief justice Herbert, was empowered to proceed discretionally in a summary way in all ecclesiastical matters, any law or statute to the contrary notwithstand- ing. And they did not long wait for an oppor- tunity of exercising their authority. Dr. Sharpe, rector of a parish in the diocese of London, and a very popular preacher of those times, ventured, in direct opposition to the royal injunction ex- pressly prohibiting all controversial topics in the pulpit, to expose and confute the errors and absur- dities of popery without reserve, in a sermon preached by him in his own parish church ; and took occasion to speak in contemptuous language of those who were weak enough to embrace a re- 68 INTRODUCTION. ligion supported by arguments so futile and frivo- lous. This was immediately reported at court, and represented as a personal reflection upon the king; and the earl of Sunderland sent an order to the bishop of London in the king's name., requiring him to suspend Sharpe immediately, and then to examine judicially into the truth of the allegation against him. The bishop replied,, that he had no power to proceed in such a summary way ; but if an examination were regularly brought into his court, he would inflict such censure as could be Bishop of warranted by ecclesiastical law. In consequence suspended, of this refusal the bishop himself was cited before the commissioners, and suspended for contumacy and disobedience to the king's authority; and Jeffries, for his eminent services recently promoted ,to the great seal, treated this prelate with a rudeness and insolence which inflamed the minds of the public still more than the sentence itself. ,Even the princess of Orange, for presuming to intercede with the king in behalf of the bishop, who had long stood high in her esteem and favor, was severely reprimanded for interfering in affairs with which she had no concern. As if the king had formed a determination t& involve himself every day in some new difficulty, a ro y a * mandate was sent to the university of !ffke. his Cambridge, requiring the degree of master of arts to be conferred on Father Francis, a Benedictine INTRODUCTION. 69 monk. The university, plainly perceiving that by a compliance with this mandate a door would be opened for the admission of papists, who would soon become a majority of the senate, peremptorily refused to obey the king's order; and the vice-chancellor was summoned before the ec- clesiastical commissioners to answer this con.- tempt, and by sentence of the court was ejected from his office. The king also chose this oppor- tunity to engage in a quarrel of a still more se- rious nature with the university of Oxford. That learned body had a few years before passed a so- lemn decree in full convocation, approving and confirming the doctrines of passive obedience and non-resistance in the most explicit terms. The time was now arrived to demonstrate the dif- ference between the theory and practice of these absurd principles. The president of Mag-dalen President r . and Fellows college, one of the richest foundations in the uni- . . . len College versity, dying at this juncture, a mandate was sent expelled. in favour of one Farmer, a papist, and a man in other respects by the statutes of the college in- eligible to the office. The fellows of the college made submissive applications to the king to re- call his mandate. But the king not deigning to notice them, they unanimously chose Dr. Hough, a man eminent both for virtue and ability, and who afterwards filled with distinguished reputa- / tio the see. of Worcester. The new president and 70 INTRODUCTION, fellows, being cited before the ecclesiastical com- missioners for this contumacy, brought allega- gations against Farmer of such a nature, that the court did not deem it expedient to insist upon their nomination. But affirming that the college ought to have shown more respect to the king's letter than to proceed to an election in opposition to it, the commissioners took upon them to de- clare Hough's election null, and to put the house under suspension ; and a new mandate was issued in favor of Parker, an abject tool of the court, and lately created bishop of Oxford. The college humbly represented, " that a president having been already legally chosen, it was not in their power to deprive him of his office, or to sub- stitute any other in his place -that, even in case of a vacancy, Parker did not possess the statuta- ble qualifications which by oath they were bound to observe ; and, as their loyalty had been ever conspicuous, they entreated his majesty to be r lieve that their present opposition to his royal will arose solely from their inability to conform to it." No impression however was made on the haughty and inflexible disposition of the king by these arguments ; and, in a visit which he made to the university not long afterwards, he sent for the president and fellows to attend him in person, and in high and menacing language commanded them without further excuse or delay to choose INTRODUCTION. Parker for their president. As the college still refused to degrade themselves by compliance, the new president was at length ejected by actual violence. The doors of his house were broken open, and Parker, by a forcible seizure, put into possession. The fellows, excepting two who were base enough to submit, were likewise de- prived of their fellowships, which were without any process of law bestowed upon men entirely devoted to the king's will and pleasure ; and who, on the sudden death of Parker, choose one Gifford, a doctor of the Sorbonne, as their president, who was also nominated to the vacant see of Oxford. This .act of undisguised despotism inflamed the minds of all ranks and orders of men with anger and indignation. Fellowships being, by the uni- versal consent of the lawyers, of the nature of free- holds, it was evident that no man's property was secure, and that nothing less than the absolute subversion of the whole frame and constitution of government was to be apprehended. Popery could only be established by tyranny ; and the nation began now in earnest to consider of the means of resistance ; and the eyes of all seemed fixed as with one consent on the prince of Orange, from whom alone timely and effectual relief could be expected in this season of difficulty and danger. This daring outrage, however, was quickly followed by a transaction still more extra- 3 72 INTRODUCTION. ordinary, and which displayed the infatiiation and extravagance of the king in colors still more striking and vivid. ^ second declaration of indulgence was pub- duigence. i^foed j[ n terms not materially different from the 1G88 former : and to this declaration an order was sub- joined, that it should be read in all the churches throughout the kingdom, immediately after the celebration of divine service. This mandate be- ing justly regarded by the clergy as a direct and flagrant insult upon their order, by virtually mak- ing them the instruments of the ruin of that church of which they were ordained the ministers, they almost unanimously resolved, notwithstand- ing their rooted prejudices in favor of royalty, to refuse obedience to this injunction. Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury, a man of high monar- chical principles, but of inflexible integrity, after consulting such of his brethren as he could con- vene on this emergency, agreed with them to present a petition to the king against the decla- ration of indulgence ; stating in the most sub- missive terms their reasons why they could not as they expressed themselves, " in prudence, honor, or conscience, so far make themselves parties to it, as a distribution of it all over the nation, and the solemn publication of it, once and again, even in God's house and in the time of divine service, must amount to in common and reasonable con- INTRODUCTION. 73 struction " The king received this petition with vehement marks- of indignation. He told them " he was their king, and would be obeyed/ and that they should feel what it was to dispute his authority/' After the delay of a fortnight, during; wbich s ,f ven B5 ~ j shops com- interval the most moderate even of the catholics ltt ?* to the 1 ower attempted in vain to soften and abate the anger of the king, the bishops, who were seven in num- ber,, were cited to appear before the privy coun- cil. The petition being produced., they were asked whether they would acknowledge it as their petition. To this,, after some hesitation they answered in the affirmative ; upon which a war- rant was made for their commitment to the Tower, and the crown lawyers received orders to prosecute them as the authors of a seditious and scandalous libel. The passions of the people were now completely roused ; and when the day fixed for the trial of these venerable confessors ar- rived, the result of it was expected with inexpres- sible ardor and anxiety. According to the posi- tions maintained by the generality of lawyers, a verdict ought to have been found against the bi- shops without hesitation : for it is affirmed that the law of England allows jurors to be judges only of the fact, and leaves all questions of law to be determined by the courts of law. The fact in 74 INTRODUCTION. this case was indubitable ; the bishops had ex- pressly avowed themselves the authors of the pe- tition : and if the question of law., whether it were seditious or libellous in its tendency, were referred to the court, it may easily be conjectured in what manner it would have been decided. Happily, to the sophistry and subtlety of legal refinement com- mon sense may be ever successfully opposed ; and this best of all instructors teaches us, that when the question of law is so involved and blended with the matter of fact, that the fact it- self, as containing a criminal allegation, can only be ascertained by deciding upon the point of law, then it is not merely the privilege but the duty of a jury, according to the best lights which they are able to attain, to include both in one general verdict ; otherwise juries in such cases becomewholly superfluous, insignificant, and con- temptible. " The traitorous or evil intent," says sir Matthew Hale in his Pleas of the Crown, " is the very gist of an indictment, and must be an- swered by the plea of not guilty : and the jury are bound to take notice of the defensive matter adduced to disprove the allegation, and to give their verdict accordingly. It would be," adds this great magistrate, " a most unhappy case evew for the judge himself, if the defendant's or pri- soner's fate depended upon his directions. Un- INTRODUCTION. 75 happy also for the prisoner; for, if the judge's opinion must rule., the trial by jury would be useless." After a trial of near eleven hours, succeeded by a consultation of the jury which lasted the whole night, the bishops were pronounced ef Not guilty," to the infinite joy and satisfaction of the surrounding multitudes, who filled the air with shouts and acclamations ; and this victory over a monarch, who had now incurred the general de- testation of his subjects, was celebrated by illumi- nations and public rejoicings throughout every part of the kingdom. The king, who was at this period with the army, encamped, as usual for several summers past, on Hounslow Heath, was suddenly alarmed with the appearance of a gene- ral tumult amongst the soldiers, accompanied with wild and extravagant demonstrations of joy. Upon inquiring the cause of the earl of Fever- sham, he was told " that it was nothing but the rejoicings of the soldiers for the acquittal of the bishops." " Do you call that nothing ?" said the king. " But so much the worse for them." Sub- sequent circumstances, however, happily did not allow him to execute the designs, whatever they might be, which his malignant revenge at the moment suggested. The policy of James in thus collecting his obstinacy " . andlnfatu- forces together in one body was much questioned au 76 INTRODUCTION. by the most sagacious of his own adherents. By enjoying the- perpetual means of social inter- course, they encouraged and animated each other to resist the farther progress of despotism, and not to suffer themselves to be made the vile and passive instruments of enslaving their fellow subjects and of extirpating the protestant religion. The spirit by which the army was actuated ap- peared on a variety -of occasions ; but the king was as a man walking on the edge of a preci- pice, obstinately and wilfully averting his eyes from the view of the danger. Having deter- mined to recruit and augment his army from Ireland, the attempt was first made on the duke of Berwick's regiment. The lieutenant-colonel and five of the captains strongly remonstrating against the admission of Irish papists into the army, the order was renewed in terms the most peremptory,, and the duke of Berwick sent in per- son to see it enforced ; upon which the officers de- sired leave to lay down their commisions. The king, transported with passion, commanded them to be tried by a court-martial for mutiny ; and they were broken with disgrace, and declared in- v capable of future service. With the evident de- sign of procuring a parliamentary repeal of the penal statutes by intimidation, if not by^ open force, the king condescended to communicate to the army his sentiments respecting this important INTRODUCTION. 77 object, and required them to satisfy him as to their willingness to concur with him in the mea- sures which he should adopt for that purpose. The first battalion upon whom this singular ex- periment was made, on being commanded to lay down their arms provided they did not think pro- per to enter into his majesty's views on this point, without hesitation grounded their arms ac- cordingly. The king declined any farther trial, and sullenly told them, that for the future he would not do them the honor to apply for their approbation. Undismayed, however, by all the indications Eariof ca*- ,.*,. . i-i tlemaine's oi the public odium and indignation, which be- Embassy t Rome. came every day more and more apparent, he re- solved to send the earl of Castlemaine to Rome, in the character of ambassador extraordinary, for the express purpose of declaring in the most pub- lic and solemn manner the obedience and submis- sion of the crown of England to^he pope, and of reconciling the British realms to the holy and apostolic see. Instead of meeting with a recep- tion corresponding to the dignity and importance of his embassy, this nobleman was treated with a coldness and indifference approaching to con- tempt. The court of Rome ( which at this period, as well as at most other times, made their religion entirely subservient to their politics), fully ap- prised of the egregious indiscretion of James, were 78 INTRODUCTION. careful not to give unnecessary umbrage to the English nation, the perpetual rival of France, with whom the papal see was now at open variance, merely to gratify the senseless bigotry of a monarch whose crown seemed already tottering upon his head. The earl had it expressly in charge from the king to solicit a cardinal's hat for Father Petre, a Jesuit, who had acquired a wonderful ascendant at the English court, and who was generally consi- dered as the secret but principal adviser of the late desperate measures. But the pope replied, that he had made it a rule never to raise any of that order to the purple. The ambassador also urged the ministers of the pope to make satisfaction to the king of France, with whose conduct his holi- ness had been so long and so justly offended; and gave intimations of a project secretly entertained by the king of England, in concert with the king of France, for the utter extirpation of heresy. Perceiving his remonstrances neglected, he de- manded an audience of his holiness, in which he expressed his grief and astonishment that so little regard was paid to the representations of these two great monarchs. He even presumed to throw out some personal reflections on the holy pontiff himself, as apparently negligent of spiritual con- cerns, and engrossed wholly in temporal pursuits, which, he said, had given just cause of scandal to I&TRODUCTIONV 79 all Christendom. And he concluded with a de- claration, that, since the remonstrances and repre- sentations made in his master's name were so little attended to, he should hasten his departure to England. The pope replied laconically, C{ that he might do just as he thought proper." But on quitting his presence, he caused it to be signified to him " that it was the last private audience with which he would be indulged that his holi- ness highly resented the disrespect he had been treated with, which was such as he had never be- fore experienced from any other person on any oc- casion/' The ambassador soon afterwards giving formal notice of his resolution to return, and re- questing to know if his holiness had any thing to give him in charge, it is said the pope sent him word, " that he had nothing to trouble him with, but his advice to travel in the cool of the morning as the heat of an Italian sun might be prejudicial to his constitution." And thus ended this expen- sive, fruitless, and ridiculous embassy. The prince and princess of Orange had hitherto Prudent with great prudence abstained from taking any ac* the Prince tive part in the affairs of England, in order to avoid cess of m giving any just ground of offence to the king. Oran e< But they were now constrained by direct and re- peated applications of the king himself, who ear- nestly wished to procure their consent to the par- liamentary abolition of the test and penal laws, INTRODUCTION. to make an explicit declaration of their sentiments respecting those topics. And pensionary Fagel, by command of their liighnesses., returned a writ- ten answer to Stuart, the confidential agent of his majesty, " that it was the unalterable opinion of their highnesses that no man should be exposed to any species of persecution merely on account of his adopting a faith different from that of the state. They freely consented therefore to the repeal of the penal statutes ; but as to the test laws,, they regarded them as by no means of a penal nature, but as just and necessary precau- tions for the security of the established religion, which would obviously be exposed to the most imminent danger should these bulwarks of the na- tional church be removed *. * On the authority of this declaration, bishop Sherlock has affirmed in unqualified terms, contrary to known and es- tablished facts, that king William was averse to the repeal of the test laws. In reply to the arguments and solicitations of James, the prince and princess of Orange very properly distinguished between the principle of the penal laws and that of the test laws. The object of the first is the forcible sup- pression of pon- conformity as a species of criminal disobedi- ence ; of the second, a just and necessary regard to self-pre- servation against the attacks of a dangerous adversary. While the danger existed, to have consulted to the repeal of the latter would have been making themselves accessary to the na- tional ruin. But when the revolution had taken, place, and the safety of the nation was secured, the civil and political disabilities created by the test, not being warranted by a real INTRODUCTION. 81 Tlie king was highly incensed at this refusal, and declared that he would not accept of the re- peal of the penal laws, unaccompanied by that of the test. He said, he was the head of the family ; and that the prince ought to conform to his will, instead of which he had constantly op- posed him. The king also affected great displea- sure against the states of Holland, and appeared eager to seek occasions of quarrel. On the other hand, the prince, finding that he had wholly lost the favor of the king, and perceiving that the pe- riod was at length,arrived when he might exert himself with dignity, propriety, and effect, scrupled not to dispatch Dykvelt, a man of capacity and address, into England, for the purpose of establish- ing a correspondence with the leaders of all the different parties assuring them of the prince's earnest desire to preserve the constitution invio- late both in church and state, and to concur with them in any measure which they deemed con- ducive to the public interest or safety. About this period happened an event which l668 - Birthofthe. greatly tended to accelerate the progress and fa- Prince of cilitate the 'success of these secret negotiations. This was no other than the birth of a prince of and urgent political necessity, were converted into acts of op- pression and persecution ; and that great monarch displayed his justice, wisdom, and generosity, in the efforts made by him to obtain their repeal. VOL. I. Q 82 INTRODUCTION. Wales, June 10, 1688. Such had heen the un- paralleled infatuation displayed by the king throughout the whole course of his reign, that it cannot be thought strange he should, by the gene- rality of his subjects, be deemed capable of the crime of imposing upon the nation a supposititious child, in order to insure the accomplishment of those projects which he now began to despair of being able to effect within the compass of his own life. It tended strongly to corroborate this suspi- cion, that the queen had been for several years in an ill state of health, arid was now supposed inca- pable of bearing children. During the months of pregnancy, and at the birth, sufficient care was not taken to obviate the jealous surmises which were known to be entertained, but which the pride of tlie kiijg and queen prompted them to treat with disdain. After the reports, at first whispered abroad, were more loudly and generally circulated, and acquired great and increasing credit, attempts were in vain made to ascertain with legal precision the reality of the birth ; though there is certainly no just or reasonable ground to stain the memory of this prince, how- ever odious or contemptible, by imputing to him a designt so flagrantly criminal. The prince of Orange, who perceived in consequence of this event the prospect with which he had been so long Hattcred, of succeeding to the British crown after INTRODUCTION. the demise of the king., suddenly and unexpectedly vanish, was no longer inclined to keep any mea- sures with the English court. And he was now o incited no less by ambitious than patriotic mo- tives to divest the king of that authority which he had so grossly abused ; and a great share of which must, in case of a revolution in the govern- ment,, naturally devolve upon him. The English: nation, on the other hand, after the birth of an heir-apparent, saw no possible refuge or resource from the despotism with which it was threatened, but in the courage, ability, and virtue of the prince of Orange, who was at the same time best qualified and best entitled to take the lead in the plan of resistance now determined upon. Invita- tions to the prince for this purpose, from a great number of persons of the first rank and conse- quence in the kingdom, were carried over by Zuylestein, on his return to Holland from an em- bassy of compliment, which the prince, to preserve the faint appearance of amity, had sent to the king on the birth of his son. It is remarkable that even Sunderland himself, from whose sagacity and penetration these in- " 1 trigues could not be concealed, far from display- ing that firmness and decision which were neces- sary to extinguish or counteract them, entered, as there are strong grounds to believe into a secret and indirect correspondence with the prince, and G 84 INTRODUCTION. adopted such measures as were calculated to faci- litate the success of his intended enterprize. Fully sensible of the dangerous predicament in which he stood,, and filled with doubts and fears respecting the issue of the approaching conflict, this minister exerted all the arts of his insidious policy to provide for his personal safety, whether it terminated in favor of the prince or of the king "Vyhilst he maintained a good understanding with the prince therefore, and directed the royal coun- cils in the manner most likely to promote his de- signs, in order effectually to deceive the king, and to ingratiate himself still farther into his favor and confidence, he took this opportunity of de- claring himself a comert to the Roman-catholic religion: an artifice sufficiently gross, considering the present posture of affairs, had not the king's weakness been still more open and palpable. stateofEu- The state of Europe at this period was peculi- rope arly favorable to tLe enterprise now in contem- plation. A warm dispute actually subsisting- be- tween the courts* of Vienna and Versailles respect- ing the succession to the bishopric, of Liege, af- forded the states of Holland, who were nearly in- terested in the event, an opportunity of augment- ing their forces by sea and land, without giving Pro'ectsof imme diate cause of suspicion or umbrage. After the Prince their naval and military preparations, however, had continued some w.eeks without intermission, INTRODUCTION. 85, D'Avaux, flic French ambassador at the Hague, advised his court, that he had good ground to be- lieve not Liege but England to be the principal object in view. Louis immediate] j transmitted this intelligence to James : but the king of Eng- land treated it as a wild and* incredible surmise ; and repeatedly said, " that whatever the designs of the Dutch might be, he was sure they were not intended against him." The king of Prance, per- ceiving with astonishment the tranquillity of the king of England in this moment of danger, ordered his ambassador at the Hague to represent to the states, that, in consequence of the strict alliance and friendship subsisting between the two monarchs^ his master would consider any hostile attempt against England as a declaration of war against himself. When this was reported to James, he appeared much displeased : and affirmed, " that the amity subsisting between himself and Louis was nothing different from that which usuallv sub- o / sisted amongst princes ; and that, if he Was at- tacked, he knew how to defend himself without soliciting the aid and protection of France." By the advice of Sunderland, he had before refused to accept a body of auxiliary forces which Louis was desirous to send to his assistance: and rejected the proposal of the earl of Meifort to seize the persons of th most powerful and dangerous of the mal-contents. And in this state of unsus- pecting security he remained till the end of Sep- 86 INTRODUCTION. tember, when he recived a letter from the mar- quis of Albeville, his ambassador at the Hague, informing him that pensionary Fagel had at length acknowledged that the invasion of England was the sole end of these mighty preparations. Struck with consternation, the letter dropped from his hand; and, as if awakened from a dream,, he per- ceived at once all the horrors of his situation In this desperate emergency, he had recourse to the earl of Sunderland, on whose capacity and fidelity he chiefly relied ; and this nobleman counsel- led him without delay to rescind those illegal and unpopular measures which had excited the present alarming spirit of disaffection and revolt. He now therefore eagerly offered to enter into a treaty of alliance with the states for their common security : he replaced the magistrates who had been arbitrarily removed from their offices : he restored the charters which had been annulled : he abolished the court of ecclesiastical commission : he took off the bishop of London's suspension: he re-instated the expelled president and fellows of Magdalen college ; and he ordered writs for a new parliament to be made ready for the great seal. The Prince These symptoms, not of remorse but terror, did of Orange lands at nothowcvcr prevent the Prince of Orange's sailing i6S8. from the Texel, November the 1st, 1688, with a fleet of 500 transports, having a large body of land forces on board., under the convoy of a strong INTRODUCTION. 87 squadron of ships of war. A superior English fleet, which lay at anchor at the Nore, was pre- fented putting to sea by a violent easterly gale of wind, which carried the Dutch fleet into Tor- bay on the 4th of November : and on the day following the Prince of Orange landed his troops without the loss of a man. Advancing forwards to Exeter, he was soon joined by great numbers of the nobility and gentry of the western counties; and on the first intelligence of the prince's arrival, every part of the kingdom was in commotion. Associations were daily forming in his favor. The northern counties openly declared for him ; and resistance seemed to be no where thought of. The king came down to Salisbury,, where his army lay encamped ; but finding that no dependance could be placed on its fidelity, and that it was rapidly diminishing by desertion, he retreated to Andover ; from which place prince George of Denmark, who had hitherto attended the king's person, repaired to the head-quarters of the prince of Orange. And on the king's arrival in Lon- don, he had the inexpressible mortification to learn that his daughter, the princess Anne of Denmark, had withdrawn from court in order to put herself under the protection of the insur- gents. Not knowing whither to flee for safety, and overwhelmed with dejection and dismay, the king ftft ' INTRODUCTION. m convened a council of all the peers an$ prelate? who were in London ; and by their advice he de- legated the lords Halifax, Nottingham, and Go- dolphin, as commissioners to treat with the prince of Orange. The demands of his highness were briefly that a parliament might be immediately summoned that those who were not qualified according to law should be removed from their offices that the Tower of London should be con- signed to the care of the citizens that the for- tresses of the kingdom should be put into the hands of protestants that provision should be made for the payment of the prince's army that during the sitting of parliament the armies on both sides should remain at an equal distance from the metropolis finally, that the prince should have free access to the parliament, and be attended by the same number of guards as the king. These terms, though somewhat imperious, were fully justified by the circumstances of the case, and were by the king himself pronounced more favorable than he expected. Kingieaves Instigated however by his own apprehensions, Whitehall. and the incessant importunities of the queen, who was terrified at the idea of a parliamentary im- peachment, from which she was told that the queens of England were not exempted, James embraced the absurd and desperate resolution of retiring from the kingdom; flattering himself that INTRODUCTION. 89 the confusion which lie fancied must inevitably ensue would operate to his advantage, and that he should; soon be solicited to resume the govern- ment. On the 10th of December, at three in the morning, lie left the palace of Whitehall, with sir Edward Hales, in the disguise of a servant ; and proceeded ag far as Fevershara, where he was ac- cidentally discovered. Upon the intelligence being carried to London, the privy-council met, and ordered the king's guards and coaches to be sent to Feversham, in order to re-convey him to London ; and on his arrival in the metropolis he was received with various demonstrations of The prince of Orange, who had heard of the king's departure with great pleasure, and who had, at the express desire of the nobles and privy- council, assumed the executive powers of govern- ment during his absence, was extremely chagrined at his unexpected return ; and a consultation was immediately held, in order to determine in what manner to dispose of the king's person. Some with equal resolution and judgment proposed to commit the king to safe custody, at least till a parliament should be called, and the settlement of the nation finally concluded upqn. Others were of opinion that this bold and" harsh measure would have a tendency to excite the public compasion, and to turn the tide of popularity in his favor. 90 INTRODUCTION. The prince declared himself averse to compulsion, though disposed to act with firmness and vigor. And it was at length agreed, that the authority actually exerci&ed hy his highness from the period of the king's departure ought not to be relinquish- ed ; and that the king's desertion of the nation made it improper to carry on any farther corres- pondence or negotiation with him. The earl of Feversham, who was sent by the king to Windsor with a message to the prince, was put under arrest; and the lords Halifax,, Shrewsbury, and Delamere, were deputed by the prince with a message to the king> desiring or rather command- ing him to leave the palace of Whitehall the next morning, and repair to Ham, or some other seat in the environs of the metropolis. The king in- quired if he might not be permitted to retire to Rochester. This was easily acceded to ; and it was perceived with much satisfaction that the king had another escape in contemplation. The ensuing day he was accordingly conducted to Ro- chester, under the escort of a military guard. Here he lingered for some days, in the faint hope of receiving a second invitation to return to the capital. The'*earl of Middleton, who accompa- nied him, urged his stay, though in the remotest part of the kingdom. *" Your majesty," said he, " may throw things into confusion by your depar- ture, but it will be the anarchy of a month. A INTRODUCTION. 91 new government will be soon settled, and you and your family are ruined." The king's resolu- tion, however, was fixed; and on the last day of December he embarked on board a frigate for France, where the queen and the infant prince of Males were already arrived. And though the king of France had no reason to be highly pleased with his conduct, he had the generosity to give him a very^cordial and friendly reception. The very same day on which the king left Lon- don, the prince of Orange took possession of St. James's. After receiving the numerous congra- tulatious presented to him from all quarters, he ^of summoned an assembly consisting of all the ^ nobles, prelates, and gentlemen who had sat in any parliament during the reign of king Charles 1 1.; and by their advice he issued circular letters to all the counties and boroughs throughout the king- dom, to elect a convention of the estates of the realm in the form of a parliament; which accord- ingly met on the 22d of January 1689, and, after along and interesting debate, declared the throne of England VACANT ; and by a decisive majority of voices conferred the crown, now at the disposal of the nation, upon the prince of Orange, as the just reward of that patriotism and valor by which he had so gloriously rescued them from slavery and ruin. Such was the expedition and such the facility 93 INTRODUCTION. with which a revolution was accomplished, which in its consequences must be acknowledged one of the most interesting and important in the annals of history. From this period a government was established which had for its basis what no other government had ever before expressly as- sumed the natural and unalienable RIGHTS of MAN. From this period the grand question, whe- ther government ought to be exercised for the advantage of the governors or the governed, was finally decided. Government was by the highest authority allowed, and even virtually assertea, to be a trust : and the inference could not with any degree of plausibility be disputed, that the persons in whom this trust is vested, by whatever names or titles they may be distinguished, ARE ULTI- MATELY RESPONSIBLE TO THE COMMUNITY FOR THE PROPER EXERCISE OF IT. 93 DISSERTATION I. ON THE CHARACTER OF THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. V r O character has labored under greater obloquy than that of the earl of Shaftesbury : yet he appears, from the general tenor of his conduct, to have deserved highly of his s parts gf it which are at all questionable have been most grossly and invidiously aggravated. It is the listory to correct these errors, and to distribute with impart ial justice the awards of praise or censure. Un- fortunately for the memory of lord Shaftesbury, the most elo- uent historian of the age, Mr. Hume, has in relation to him ubibed all the prejudices of preceding writers, in all their virulence and all their absurdity. His ideas of this celebrated nobleman are indeed evidently and almost wholly taken from bishop Burnet, low as the authority of that prelate stands with him upon most other occasions. But what Mr. Hume re- marks of the duke of Albemarle is at least as true of lord. Shaftesbury, ff that bishop Burnet, agreeably to his own fac- tious spirit, treats tin's nobleman with great malignity." At the ^period of the Restoration, few persons stood higher in the 11 CHARACTER OF THE esteem of the nation at large than Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper j and though decidedly of opinion, in opposition to general Monk, that conditions ought to have, been proposed for the security of public liberty, the king," nothing offended at his warmth of patriotism, even before his coronation created him a peer by the title of Lord Ashley. And in the preamble to his patent, the Restoration is expressly said " to be ctyefly owing to him ; and that after many endeavours to free the nation from the evils in which it was involved, he at length by his wisdom and councils, in concert with general Monk, de- livered it from the servitude under which it had so long groaned." He was also made governor of the Isle of Wight, chancellor of the exchequer, and lord-lieutenant of the county of Dorset : and he had, in conjunction with three other per- sons his intimate friends, a grant of the great estate of the Wallop family, which they afterwards nobly reconveyed to the original proprietors die deeds of trust and conveyance being still extant. Notwithstanding the appointment of lord Clarendon as first minister, it is perfectly well ascertained, though too su- perficially pas-;ed over by Mr. Hume, that the council were greatly divided in political opinion j and that the harsh, bi- goted, and arbitrary measures of that nobleman were inva- riably opposed by the lords Ashley, Robarts, Manchester, Holies, Annesley, secretary Morrice, See. and even at times by the lord treasurer Southampton himself, the noble friend of Clarendon, arid who was also, to the chagrin of the chan- cellor, not less intimately connected with lord Ashley. The earl of Clarendon was supported by the Duke of York and the whole French interest, which on the other hand the chancellor espoused with strong and dangerous predilection as the ne- gotiations of the count d'Estrades evince beyond all contro- versy. On the disgrace of this minister, A. D. 1667, a new system was adopted ; the French and high church influence EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. 93 seemed at an end $ the triple alliance was concluded ; mild and equitable measures were recommended from the throne to the parliament ; they were exhorted by the king " seri- ously to think of some course to beget a better union and composure among his protestant subjects in matters of religion, whereby they might not only be induced to submit quietly to his government, but also cheerfully give their assistance to the support of it." And the horrible tyranny practised, un- der the sanction of Clarendon, in Scothnd, was checked by a royal letter addressed by the king to the Scottish council, importing " that another way of proceeding was necessary for his service." This system continued for near three years, to the great advantage of the nation, and the proportionate indignation of the duke of York and of the whole French and popish faction ; through whose fatal influence the king, ever wavering between the two parties, was at length induced to adopt new counsels and new measures. Agreeably, however, to his refined and cautious policy, he still retained and treated with great demonstrations of regard divers of the moderate and popular leaders, amongst whom by far the most dis- tinguished was lord Ashley, who was well known by the duke of York to be inveterate in his aversion, and inflexible in his opposition to him and his designs. Nor is it any just subject of reproach to lord Ashley, when such men as Holies, Annes- ley, and Robarts remained in office, that he did not imme- diately quit his connections with the court. Undoubtedly he flattered himself that, by a partial and external compliance with the measures of the sovereign, he aatl his friends might eventually recover their ascendency. With this view he ac- cepted, with the title of Shaftesbury, of the custody of the great seal ; not surely with a design of promoting, but of counteracting the projects of the CAUAL. He was entering, as he well knew, into a scene, not of political harmony, but of discord and confusion. Writing several months before to hi. 96 CHARACTER OF TtfE friend sir William Morrice, late secretary of state, who had retired from public life, he says, " The Lapland knots are un- tied, and we are in horrid storms." It is true that Bucking- ham and Lauderdale, who had originally professed themselves inimical to the measures of the court, now yielded a passive and abject submission to it. But this was so far from being true, or even suspected, of the earl of Shaftesbury, that he embraced, as we are told, a very early opportunity after his appointment as chancellor, by an incident trivial indeed in itself but decisive in its effect, to demonstrate that he was ir- reconcileably at variance with the York and popish faction. The duke of York had been for several years accustomed to place himself, in the house of peers, on the right hand of the throne, upon the seat appropriated to the prince of Wales ; but, on the opening of the session in the spring of 16/3, lord Shaftesbury, as chancellor, refused to proceed to business till his royal highness had removed himself to his proper place on the left hand of the throne. This threw the duke into a vehe- ment passion, an infirmity to which he was extremely subject ; and he refused compliance in the most provoking language, using, without regard to dignity or decorum, the opprobrious terms villain and rascal. To which lord Shaftesbury, with that command of temper and readiness of retort for which he was celebrated, calmly replied, " I am obliged to your high- ness for not also styling me papist and coward." In conclu- sion, the duke was compelled to submit, to his unspeakable chagrin and mortification. When the parliament had declared that disapprobation of the new system, upon which lord Shaftesbury doubtless de- pended for a change of measures, without effect, this noble- man thought it necessary to express publicly his concurrence with the sense of parliament, particularly in relation to the declaration of indulgence. In the same memorable debate lord Clifford defended the court measures with the most in- EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. temperate vehemence. At the termination of it/ the duke of York is said to have whispered to the king, " What a rogue have you of a lord chancellor!" to which the king replied, " What a fool have you of a lord treasurer !" But the king, if surprised, was not enraged at the conduct of Shaftesbury. On the contrary, anxious to preserve that sort of balance hi his councils on which he secretly relied for refuge and safety, and placing the highest confidence in the talents of this noble- man, he immediately gave indications of a change of system, by cancelling the dsclaration, and giving his assent to the test act, which lord Shaftesbury supported in the house of lords, in opposition to Clifford, with such energy of argument and splendor of eloquence, that Andrew Marvel, so famous for his owntpolijical integrity, observes, " Upon this occa- sion it was that the earl of Shaftesbury, though then lord chancellor of England, yet engaged so far in defence of that act and of the protestant religion, that in due time it cost hint his place,, and was the first moving cause of all those misad- ventures and obloquy which he since lies under.'* In hi* excellent speech to the new lord treasurer Danby, June 1673, on his taking the oaths before him in the court of chancery, he remarks, no doubt with a strong feeling of tile difficulties of his own situation, " that the address and means to attain great things are oftentimes v^ry different from those that are necessary to maintain and establish a sure and long possession "of them." Lord Shaftesbury continued to be much con- sulted and caressed by the king during the whole interval which elapsed between the recess of parliament on the 29th March, and its next meeting, late in October. But though the king was prevailed upon to re-assemble the parliament at this Cincture, adverse counsels again predominated in his ever-fluctuating mind ; and lord Shaftesbury was assured that he meant to dissolve the parliament, to renew hi* con- VOL. i. H nections with France, to continue the Dutch war, arid to per-' mk the marriage of the duke of York with the princess of Modena. That nobleman then took his final resolution j and by the language which he used at the commencement of the session, he shewed how little he was disposed to keep any mea- sures with the court. After finishing the speech which he delivered ex officio and by command, he expressed, contrary to the established custom, and to the indignation of the popish junto, " his own hearty wishes and prayers that this session might equal, might exceed the honour of the last that it might perfect what the last begun, for the safety of the king and kingdom that it might be ever famous for having esta- blished upon a durable foundation our religion, laws, and properties." Shortly after he told the king, " that, though he was deeply sensible of the personal obligations he owed him, he was no longer able to serve him that, had his ad- vice prevailed, he would have engaged his life and fortune to have made him the most beloved and powerful prince in Christendom ; and that, seeing him in the hands of a party so contrary to the interests he had been always contending for, he was satisfied the king's next step must be to send for the great seal. The king seemed much affected, and promised never to forsake him or the protestant interest ; but would not be dissuaded from his purpose of dissolving, or at least proroguing, the parliament after a session of a few days. Lord Shaftesbury predicted the dangerous consequences of this step, and the irreparable breach it must create between the king and the nation. But Charles was immoveable : and instigated by the duke of York and the popish faction, he sent as Shaftesbury was prepared to expect, secretary Coventry ta demand the seal November gth, 16/3. " The same day," as we are informed by Dr. Kennet, " he was visited by prince Rupert and most of the peers and persons of quality about the fcARL Otf StfAFTESBURY. fbwn, who acknowledged that the nation had been obliged to him for the just discharge of the trust that had been re- posed in him, and returned him their thanks." Monsieur Rapin, whose knowledge of the transactions of these times was necessarily very defective, had yet the saga- city to discern, and the candor to confess, that there existed much of misrepresentation in relation to the earl of Shaftes- bury. " I must give," says this judicious historian, < ' a very material caution to those who read father Orleans*s history, or such English or foreign authors as espouse the king's cause. All these writers paint the earl of Shaflesbury in very black Colors. He was, according to them, the greatest villain that ever lived : his wickedness was answerable to the extent of his genius and the depth of his penetration. . . . My design in what 1 have said is, to hinder such as have read or shall read the other historians from thinking it strange that I do not every moment exclaim against the earl of Shaftesbury's conduct." Vol. xL p. SQS. M. Rapin justly concludes, from the gene- ral tenor of lord Shaftesbury's political character and con- duct, " that it is highly improbable he should be engaged in a conspiracy to bring the kingdom under subjection to popery and arbitrary power." While a member of the Cabal admini- stration, he was, as M. Rapin clearly perceived, as deter- mined in his opposition to the York faction as at any other time. " The great counsellors," says the contemporary eccle- siastical historian Baxter, " that were said to do all with the king in great matters, were the duke of York, the lord Clif- ford, the duke of Lauderdale, the lord Arlington, the duke of Buckingham, and the lord chancellor. Among all these, the lord chancellor declared so much jealousy of popery, and set himself so openly to secure the protestant religion, that it was wonderful how he kept in as he did.' 1 Baxters Life, p. 26l , But justice to the memory of lord Shaftesbury requires that the confused and invidious statements of Mr. Hume H2 i JOG CHARACTER OF THE. should be more closely investigated, in order to manifest the utter incompetency of that celebrated historian to pass a judg- ment upon this nobleman's character and conduct. Mr. Hume affirms, after Burnet indeed, that sir Orlando Bridge- man was removed from his office for refusing to affix the great seal to the declaration of indulgence, and intimates that Shaflesbury was made chancellor for that very purpose : 1 whereas sir Orlando Bridgeman continued in possession of the great seal eight months after the declaration was signed, sealed, and published, i. e. from the 15th of March to the 17th November 1 6/2, and was then, as stated in the official notice, " permitted to resign on account of his great age and infirmities." Mr. Hume asserts, after Burnet, that lord Shaftesbury suggested to Clifford the infamous advice of shutting up the exchequer : although these statesmen were at this very time inveterate political adversaries . And there is extant a paper of objections, admirably penned, left by lord Shaftesbury with the king, against that violent and iniquitous measure j and also a letter of the same nobleman, in which, adverting to this re- port, he styles it " foolish as well as false. If any man con- sider,'' says he, " the circumstance of the time when it was done, and that it was the prologue of making lord Clifford lord high , treasurer, he cannot very justly suspect me of the counsel for that business, unless he thinks me at the same time out of my wits." And the duke of Ormond, a man of unquestioned honor, though of the Clarendon or York party, .was heard to declare " his wonder why people accused lord Ashley of giving that advice; for he himself was present when it was first moved by lord Clifford, and he heard lord Ashley passionately oppose it." Even North the historian expressly affirms " that this counsel, supposed to be the invention of the earl of Shaftesbury, was as unhappily given, as desperately taken and executed by the lord treasurer Clifford. I verily be- EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. 10* lieve," says that bigoted and prejudiced writer, " the truth was, that, from the very restoration of the royal family, while the earl of Shaftesbury was in office, especially in con- junction with Clifford, he was in close league with the most desperate of the king's enemies. In place or out of place, he moved not the least from his purpose. The noble earl, like Ulysses of old, acted in perpetual disguise. Even during his greatness there are manifest tokens of his working heartily at the root of the royal family, and that he was then in secret conjunction with the mal-contents. His changes were as Caesar's, only mutando rationem belli. The earl governed him- self by principles levelling against sovereign power." Examen, chap. ii. p. 37 41. This is the testimony of a bitter and de- termined enemy j but it serves to prove, better perhaps than evidence more impartial, that the earl of Shaftesbury was never regarded by the courtiers and king's friends as a man whose views in any degree co-incided with theirs, or who en- tertained the most distant idea of promoting any projects fa- vorable to the establishment of arbitrary power. Mr. Hume tells us, that in the famous speech made by lord Shaftesbury as chancellor in the spring session of 16/3, he enlarged on the topics suggested by the king, and added many extraordinary positions of his own. This is extremely inaccurate. According to the fashion of the times, the speech delivered by the chancellor in the king's name was considered as the king's speech, and was previously agreed upon in coun- cil as part of it. Lord Shaftesbury expressed in strong terms, to his friend the famous Locke, his uneasiness at the part which he was thus compelled to act, particularly noticing the ob-. noxious phrase " delenda est Carthago." And M. le Clerc remarks upon the occasion, (C that those (in Holland) who 1 did not know the chancellor spoke only ex offido, conceived a bad opinion of him*." The earl of Clarendon had in the nQ . . i.'d 10 ites.."i; * Bibliotbeque Choisie, tome vi. 103 same manner vindicated, ex officio and in his capacity of. chan* cellar, the first Dutch war, which he had previously and ve- hemently opposed in the cabinet, without any imputation upon his political integrity : and why should there be one standard of rectitude for Clarendon and another far Shaftesbury ? The apology for both must be found in lord Shaftesbury '$ own weighty remark in his address, already quoted, to the earl of Danby. Mr. Hume's narrative evidently implies, if it does not ex- pressly affirm, that lord Shaftesbury abandoned the court be- cause the king, intimidated by the commons, had cancelled, the declaration : whereas the king had as yet given no tokens of an intention to recede from the declaration j and lord Clif- ford had vindicated it in high and lofty terms, calling the vote of the house of commons " monstrum horreridum, ingens !" when lord Shaftesbury arose, and said he must differ tota Ctflo from the noble lord who spoke last ; and then followed his famous speech in condemnation of the declaration. The king, urged by the commons, unsupported by the lords, and alarmed at the defection of his most popular minister, shortly after broke the seal with his own hand, Marcn 7ta ; and the next day lord Shaftesbury, with the king's leave, reported it to the house of lords. " Never," says Mr. Hume, " was turn more sudden, or less calculated to save appearances. Immediately he entered into all the cabals of the country party, and discovered to them, perhaps magnified, the arbitrary designs of the court, in which he himself had borne so deep a share." But this is mere historical romance, Lord Shaftesbury had never relin- quished his connections with the country party, the leaders of which, Lyttelton, Powle, Russel, &c. were his particular friends j and he was never accused or suspected by the pa triots in the house of commons of any design inimical to the ^iberties or interests of his country. On the other hand, if the EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. 103 king conceived his conduct to be as base and treacherous as Mr. Hume represents it, how is his continuance in office for the space of eight months after this period to be accounted for ? and why was he at last dismissed, as the high church historian Echard himself relates, with such unusual marks of respect and regard ? But truth is always consistent with itself ; and the fact beyond all possibility of rational denial is, that lord Shaftes- bury had uniformly opposed the French or popish system with all the weight of his influence and eloquence. By the force of his arguments the king had been often induced to ponder and to hesitate; and that he acted TEEACHEROUSLY is an assertion not only void of proof, but contrary to the whole tenor of evidence. Mr. Hume himself allows, but that is indeed at the distance of some pages, tf that he maintained the character of NEVER betraying those friends whom he deserted.'* In a letter written to the king some years subse- quent to this period, he says, in reference to the former events of his life, " I never betrayed, as your majesty knows, the party or counsels I was of." He rather chose to lie under the imputation of advising the measure of shutting up the ex- chequer, than to reveal the king's counsels confidentially en- trusted to him. " I shall not deny," says the earl in the letter before quoted, " but that I knew earlier of the counsel, and foresaw what necessarily it must produce, perhaps sooner than other men ; but I hope it could not be expected by any who do in the least know me, .that I should have discovered the king's secrets, or Betrayed, his business, whatever my thoughts were of it." And when in avowed opposition to the court, several years afterwards he made some severe reflections oo the then lord chancellor Nottingham, that nobleman arose in great heat, and " thanked God that, whatever his errors might be, he was not the man who had projected the second Dutch war, who had promulgated the declaration of indul- gence, who had advised the shutting up of the exchequer :" - 104 CHARACTER OF THE the earl of Shaftesbury with the utmost calmness observed, in answer to these implied charges, " that there were then in the; house several lords who were in the seci'et of his majesty's counsels at the period alluded to : he would accuse none, but he appealed to all whether he was the author or the adviser of the measures in question." A profound silence ensued : and lord Arlington, going up to the king, who was himself present in the house, remarked to him the generosity of lord Shaftes- bury, and the indiscretion of the chancellor. And upon this the king rebuked the chancellor for meddling with the secrets of the council in so public a place j and told him " he knew nothing of those matters." So much for the charge of treachery. Upon other similar accusations of the historian it is unnecessary to dwell. If, as Mr. Hume asserts, " lord Shaftesbury had surmounted all sense of shame, if he was not startled at enterprises the most hazardous, if he was a man of insatiable ambition/' why did he not steadily persevere in the court system ? Had the opposition any thing better to offer him than the great seal of England ? This nobleman is stigmatized by Mr. Hume, as at the same time under the dominion of furious and ungovernable passions, and practising the insidious arts of a deep and designing de- magogue. But these opposite characteristics are equally re- mote from the truth. He had an extraordinary command of temper upon the most' trying occasions; and 'his speeches, though bold and ardent, 'are not declamatory, but ' acute, sagacious, and argumentative. ' He equally disdained to dis- guise his own sentiments in complaisance to the prince or to the people. " I do not know," said he upon a certain occasion (A. D. 1 679) in the house of lords, " how well what I have to say may be received ; for I never study either to make my court or to be popular. I always .speak what I am COM- KANDED by the dictates of the SPIRIT \vifinx- ME^" EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. 105 In the high stations which he filled, his virtues, if \ve will give any credit to the testimonies of his contemporaries, were? as conspicuous as his talents. His renown was extended far beyond the limits of his native country. On his advance- ment to the chancellorship, M. Cronstrom, a Swede of high distinction, who had been resident in England, wrote his con- gratulations. " This preferment and dignity, my lord," said he, " was due long since to your high merits ; and I do humbly assure your excellency, it is generally believed here the interest of this and your nation will flourish under the wise conduct of such a renowned chief minister of state as you are.'' Though not bred to the profession of a lawyer, none v of his decrees in chancery were ever reversed ; and amidst the voilence and madness of party rage, Dryden himself, in his famous political satire of Absalom and Ahitophel, could not refuse to pay a tribute of praise to the moral and judicial in- tegrity of his character : " In Israel's court ne'er sat an Abethdin J'' * % With more discerning eyes and hands more clean : Unbrib'd, unsought, the wretched to redress, Swift of dispatch, and easy of access." Farther, Mr. Hume is pleased to inform us, " that lord Shaftesbury was reckoned a deist ;" although incontrovertible evidence remains, that this nobleman was a firm believer in Christianity acccording to the most rational system of protes- tantism ; for which he even declared, in a very memorable debate in the house of lords on the non-resistance bill (1675), his readiness to sacrifice his life. And upon this occasion king Charles, who was himself, according to his frequent practice, present in the house, declared " that Shaftesbury knew more law than all his judges and more divinity than all bis bishops." . Jt would extend this digressive dissertation too far, to trace CHARACTER OF THE the misrepresentations of Mr. Hume relative to the conduct of lord Shaftesbury subsequent to his resignation of office, and public junction with the opposition, of which he was imme- diately acknowledged as the head. It must suffice to say that the historian exhibits a character incongruous, incredi- ble, impossible " a character from no one vice exempt/ yet an object of the highest affection and veneration not the veneration of the mass of the people merely, but of the best and wisest men of die age and country in which he lived an Essex, a Holies, a Russel, and a Sydney. And to the inju- rious reproaches of Mr. Hume may with infinitely preponde- rating advantage be opposed the discriminating applause of the celebrated LOCKE, founded on long and intimate know- ledge,- who says of this nobleman, " that in all the variety of changes of the last age he was never known to be either bought or frighted out of his public principles." And M. le Clerc tells us, " that, to the end of his life, Mr. Locke re- collected with the greatest pleasure the delight which he had found in the conversation of lord Shaftesbury ; and when he spoke of his good qualities, it was not only with esteem, but with admiration*." When at length reduced to the necessity of taking refuge in Holland, he was received by the republic, which according to his enemies he had laboured to subvert, with unusual honors. On his arrival at Amsterdam, he was visifed by several of the states and persons of distinction, one of whom smiling remarked, " Mi-lord, nondum est deleta Carthago." They told him they were sensible his sufferings were for the protestant cause, that he had been their real friend, and that he had no enemies but who were theirs likewise. They assured him of their constant protection, and ordered his portrait to be hung up in their public room. On his death, which hap- pened shortly after, they put themselves in mourning. Even - * * Bibliotheque Choisie, tome vi. EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. JQ7 the ship which conveyed his body to England was adorned with streamers and scutcheons, and the whole apparatus was, by an express decree of the states, exempted from the pay- ment of tolls, fees, and customs*. On the subsequent land- ing at Poole in Dorsetshire, it was met by a cavalcade of the principal gentlemen of the county, who attended the proces- sion to his ancient seat of Winborne, where, after all his poli- tical conflicts, he reposed from his labors, and received a peace- ful and honorable interment. Some of these particulars are extracted from original ma* terials furnished by the late earl of Shaftesbury. The re- maining information, and much more to the same effect, was within the reach of every writer possessed of competent dili- gence, and not disdaining the dull labor of research, But the fine pictures of Mr. Hume are too often little better than fancy pieces : and, notwithstanding many beautiful passages, there is no part of the history of that celebrated author more negligently written, or more open to animadversion, than the first fourteen years of the reign of Charles II. * Bibliotheque Choisie, tome ii. j.s . s JOB o-a cbH lcl ' i HISTORY or GREAT BRITAIN. WILLIAM III. . < : *i i BOOK I. Illustrious Character of K. William. State of Political Opi- nions. Appointment of the New Ministry. Convention con- verted into a Parliament, A. D. 168Q. Oatlts of Allegiance and '--Supremacy refused by eight Bishops. Cabals of the Non- jurors. Civil List settled. Bill of Rights. Bill of Indem- nity. Act of Toleration. Bill of Comprehension. Proceed" - ings of the Convocation. Affairs of Scotland. Crown -of Scotland declared forfeited by King James and conferred on ' K. William. Exploits of Viscount Dundee. Highlanders described. State of Europe. League of Augsburg. War , declared by England against France. Generous reception of K. James by Louis XIV. Invasion of Ireland by the French* Treachery of Tyrconnel. K. James makes his Entry into Dublin. Battle of Bantry Bay. Pretended Parliament of Ireland convened by K. James. Act of Settlement repeated. Memorable Resistance of Londonderry. Unprosperous Cam- paign under M. Schomberg. Session of Parliament, Cor- poration Bill. Parliament dissolved. Proclamation against General Ludlow. Meeting of the New Parliament. Con- flict of Parties. Act of Grace. Triumph of the Tories. King embarks for Ireland. Victory of the Boyne. King HO HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. James abandons Ireland. Success of K. William. Siegf of Athlone raised and of Limerick. King returns to Eng- land. Earl of Marlborough captures Cork and Kinsale. Command devolves on General Ginckel. Athlone taken. Victory of Aghrim. Capitulation of Limerick. Queen con* stituted Regent Her amiable Character and discteet Conduct. Naval Defeat ojf'Beachy Head. Session of Parliament. Lord Oodolphin appointed Frist Commissioner of the Treasury His Character. King embarks for the Continent. In Danger of Shipwreck. Congress at the Hague. Conspiracy against the Government. Execution of Ashton. Deprivation of the Non-juring Bishops. Campaign in Flanders, Sfc. 1&Q1. Character of the Emperor Leopold. Death of Pope Innocent XL Session of Parliament. Unpopularity of the King. Affairs of the East-India Company. Disgrace of the Earl of Marlborough. Intrigues carried on with the Court of St. Germaine's. Prince and Princess of Denmark cease to ap- pear at St. James's. BOOK i. ^pHERE are few princes in ancient or modern v^"v"^-* JL 1689. times who have acted a more conspicuous or Illustrious . character important part on the great theatre of the world than King WILLIAM. Scarcely had he attained to the age of complete manhood, when he was called iipon by the united voice of his countrymen to rescue them from the dangers of an invasion which had nearly subverted the republic. When their apprehensions had reduced them to the lowest ebb of despondency, he awakened the drooping genius of the commonwealth ; and Holland, under the aus- pices of a prince of thehouse of Orange, quickly re- assumed her courage and re-established her power. Whenthese nations were threatened with the dread- WILLIAM HI. Ill ful prospect of popery and slavery, this prince was BOOK r. again invoked for aid and assistance; and accom- 1689. plishing with unparalleled happiness and success the glorious and immortal work of their deliver- o ance, was rewarded with that crown which fell from the head of the abdicated tyrant. During the concluding years of his life, he was universally considered as the great bulwark of the liberties of Europe, endangered by the pride and the power of Louis XIV., to whose vast and unprincipled projects of ambition he opposed, in that grand alliance of which he was the former and the head, an insurmountable barrier. Though the two great political factions had stateofpo- htical opi- united in their opposition to the late king James ; and though the tories, alarmed at the magnitude and imminence of the danger, seemed for a time to have abandoned their favourite doctrines of passive obedience and non-resistance ; in the spe- culative discussions which succeeded at the meeting of the convention, they evidently shewed a strong tendency to revert to their original principles, or at least a fixed reluctance to depart from them, farther than the necessity of the case absolutely demanded. Though they acknowledged the king therefore to be incapable of government, they could by no means reconcile their minds to the idea of an actual deposition ; but, as in former cases of incapacity arising from nonage or mental 4 113 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. imbecility, they proposed the appointment of a 10139. regent vested with kingly power. To this plan the wbigs, who constituted a great majority of the lower house of convention, were determined, for obvious and important reasons, not to accede. But wisely endeavouring to accommodate their more dignified and rational ideas in a certain de- gree to the prejudices of their new associates, they passed an unanimous vote, " that king James II. having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom by breaking the original com pact be- tween king and people, and having, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, violated the fundamental laws, and withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." The tories, however, whose influence predominated in the .house of lords, rejected the concluding clause, and changed the term abdicated for deserted, a word of very different import, as it seemed to. imply that the right of resumption still existed. Not clearly comprehending that emergencies may arise of a nature so transcendent as to supersede all legal forms and positive institutions, and that the essence of the constitution is not to be sacrificed to its external sanctions, they argued, " that, how- ever great might be the misconduct of the govern- ment, the law pronounced the king to be in his own person exempt from all responsibility. The WILLIAM III. 113 authors and advisers of the illegal measures pur- BOOK i. sued were indeed deserving of condign punish- 1689 ment; but to the king himself could be imputed not criminality but incapacity merely; and for this in- capacity a regency was the only proper and con- stitutional remedy. If, however, the temporary desertion of the government on the part of the king should, by an unprecedented violence of con- struction, be interpreted into an actual abdication of the regal office, still the right of succession de- volved by law upon the infant prince of Wales, of the legitimacy of whose birth, notwithstand- ing the rumours propagated for malicious and factious purposes, no rational person entertained the slightest doubt." These reasonings must have appeared not only plausible, but unquestionably just and equitable, to very many respectable persons, at a period when the true theory of government had been comparatively little studied, and its general prin- ciples not as yet perfectly understood or very ge- nerally diffused. It is a fact which needs neither disguise nor palliation, that the revolution, ab- stractedly considered, was an unquestionable though an illustrious violation of the law ; and the established maxims which for the purpose of securing the just and genuine ends of government it was then thought necessary to supersede, are VOL. i. I 1 j j HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. since that sera as sacred and inviolable as before. 1680. It is still a principle of the English constitution, that the king can do no wrong i. e. to him no criminality can be imputed ; that the legislative assemblies can exercise no jurisdiction over the . monarch ; and that the crown of England is held by hereditary right. But if former times should roll round again, and any future king of N England should dare to conspire against the civil and religious liberties of his subjects, and sacrilegiously to attempt the subversion of the go- vernment, unless the spirit of liberty were totally extinguished in the land, these feeble barriers, calculated merely to protect the executive power in the just and fearless discharge of its constitu- tional functions, would be instantly burst asunder. And if the safety of the nation demanded that the trophies of public justice should be " raised (to borrow the language of MILTON) on the neck of crowned Fortune proud," no true patriot would hesitate to applaud the sacrifice : nor would it be any impeachment of consistency to demand, at the same moment, the re-establishment of those wise and salutary and constitutional maxims from which the most urgent necessity. alone could jus- tify any departure.* * " The supposition of law," as sir William Blackstone ex- cellently observes, " is, that neither the king, nor either house WILLIAM III. 115 The prudence and moderation, and even the BOOK i. magnanimity of the prince of Orange during the v ~^^ debates of the convention, are justly and generally applauded. Perceiving the house of peers disposed Settlement to favor the establishment of a regency, he thought proper, after observing along and profound silence, to inform some of the leading members of that assembly, " that though he acknowledged their undoubted right to adopt that form of govern- ment which to them appeared most eligible, he was determined, if a regency were appointed, not to take upon him the office of regent ; that, if they chose to settle the crown upon the princess of Orange, he claimed no right of objecting to it, but he would never act a subordinate part in the administration of the government. In either of these cases, therefore, he would return to Holland, of parliament collectively taken, is capable of doing any wrong ; since in such cases the law feels itself incapable of furnishing any adequate remedy j for which reason, all oppressions which may happen to spring from any branch of the sovereign power must- necessarily be out of the reach of any stated rule or ex- press legal provision : but if ever they unfortunately happen, the prudence of the times must provide new remedies upon new emergencies. Indeed it is found by experience, that when- ever the unconstitutional oppressions even of the sovereign power advance with gigantic strides, and threaten desolation to a state, mankind will not be reasoned out of the feelings of humanity, nftr will sacrifice their liberty by a scrupulous ad- herence to those political maxims which were originally estab- lished to preserve it." Blackstone's Commentaries. 116 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. satisfied with the glory he had acquired by the ^Q^ service he had been so happy as to render them." This judicious and well-timed declaration put a sudden termination to the debate : and the two houses of convention came to a final resolution, Feb. 13, 1689, to offer the crown, in the name of all the people of England, to the prince and princess of Orange, as joint sovereigns ; vesting at the same time the sole administration of govern- ment in the hands of the prince. This offer, which was no- less agreeable to the princess, who indig^ nantly disclaimed every idea of an interest sepa- rate from that of her husband, than to the prince, was accepted without hesitation; and their high- nesses were crowned at Westminster king and queen of England, by the names of WILLIAM, and MARY, April the llth, 1689, with great and uni- versal acclamations. Appoint- The first public act of the new reign was a merit of the new Mi- proclamation confirming all protestants in the offices held by them on the 1st of December 1688. A new privy council was in a few days after nomi- nated, consisting chiefly of whigs. The grand difficulty rested in the appointment of a new mi- nistry, in the formation of which it would have been highly impolitic entirely to have excluded the tones, who had taken a very active and zealous part in the late revolution. Tne jealous animosity subsisting between the two state fac- WILLIAM III. H7 tions began immediately to re-appear; and it was BOOK i. with little satisfaction to either that the king at ^^7** last made his final arrangement. The earl of Danby, a zealous tory and high-churchman., who characters boasted the splendid merit of devising and effect- ing the marriage of the prince and princess of Orange, and who was one of the seven patriots who risqued their lives and fortunes by signing the original invitation to the prince*, transmitted to him through the hands of M. Zuylestein, aspired to the office of lord high treasurer,, which he had held during the reign of Charles II. But the king determined to put the treasury into com- mission ; and lord Mordaunt, created earl of Monmouth, a zealous whig, was declared first commissioner. This nobleman possessed a most extraordinary force and versatility of talents ; and his genius in the sequel taking a military direction, he attained to the highest degree of celebrity under his subsequent title, by descent, of earl of * The others were Shrewsbury, Devonshire, Lumley, the bishop of London, admiral Russel, and H. Sydney. The earl of Nottingham had been applied to, and had once assented to the invitation j but his heart failed him, and (as Sydney wrote to the prince, June 30,) " he retracted, under pretence of scruples of conscience though they all concluded it to be another passion." He nevertheless kept the secret inviolate. The prince of Orange, knowing the selfish and unprincipled versatility of Halifax, forbade any positive or explicit commu- nication of the design to that nobleman. US HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. Peterborough. Danby, thus excluded from the ^SJj^ treasury, was obliged to content himself with the post of president of the council,, and the title of marquis of Carmarthen. The earl of Shrewsbury, a man of capacity, of moderation, and of pro- bity, whose character stood high with both parties, was appointed secretary of state, in conjunction with the earl of Nottingham, a determined tory, immovcablein his prejudices, grave in his deport- ment, austere in his morals, artful, able, and am- bitious. This nobleman had refused to sign the invitation to the prince, but declared himself willing to share the responsibility as far as con- cealment would go : and though in the conven- tional debates he had vehemently opposed the vote of abdication, he subsequently declared with much plausibility, " that though he would not make a king, yet upon his principles he could obey him better than those who did." The mar- quis of Halifax, a man of wit, genius, and elo- quence, had conducted himself with such duplicity, or, to speak more properly, with such flagrant inconsistency, as entirely to lose the confidence of both parties. He had originally acted with the whigs, to whom he gave mortal offence by the decided part which he took in opposition to the exclusion bill, and by supporting the flagitious measures of the last years of Charles II. and the first of his successor, under whom he held the WILLIAM IH. 119 office of president of the council. In order to BOOK i. recover his credit with the whigs, who were now jgg^ likely to attain a permanent ascendency, he op- posed with all the force of his oratory in the con- vention the project of a regency, and even went so far as to move that the prince should be declared king, and the princesses next in succession. This proposition, though immediately negatived, so far answered his purpose as to raise him high in the king's favor; hut it made him odious to the whole body of the tories. To him was consigned the privy seal. The great seal was put into commis- sion ; Maynard, Keck, and Rawlinson, being no- minated commissioners : and sir John Holt, a man of great ability and equal integrity, w r as de- clared chief justice of England. Admiral Herbert, a very popular and reputed a very skilful seaman, was placed at the head of the admiralty. The white staves were best owed on the dukes of Devon- shire and Dorset ; the first being appointed lord steward, and the latter lord chamberlain. M. Bentirick, a native of Holland, who had long en- joyed the king's confidence, was advanced to an honourable station in the king's household, and soon afterwards created earl of Portland. Mr. Sydney, brother to the famous Algernon Sydney, a man of engaging manners and graceful address, was distinguished in the new promotions, and in the sequel advanced to very high offices in the 8 120 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. ._ . state, and created earl of Romney. The diocese BOOK. I. ^v^ of Salisbury being at this time vacant by the death of the learned Dr. Seth Ward, the king of his own motion nominated as his successor Dr. Burnet, who had embarked onboard the Dutch fleet on the late Dr. Bumet expedition to England, and been an active and zealous instrument in accomplishing the revolu- tion. This prelate, equally famous in his political and theological capacity, has been described, not unhappily, as ec a man of some parts and great industry, moderate in his notions of church dis- HisCha- ciplinc, inquisitive, meddling, vain, and crecjji- lous*" but, as it ought to be added, honest, dis- interested, and sincere. An unexpected difficulty occurred in the positive refusal of the primate Sancroft to consecrate the new bishop : but, as the time approached, dreading the penalties of a pr&munire, he granted a commission to the bishop of London and three other suffragans to exercise his metropolitical authority; thus, as bishop Bur- net with some degree of spleen remarks, 4t leration whenever a favorable period should ar- BOOK i. rive, but of a liberal comprehension by rendering ^Q^ the terms of conformity less rigorous. The king had given a striking proof of his own freedom from religious bigotry, when,, in his speech to the two houses on passing the bill for suspending the habeas corpus act, he took occasion to express " his hope that, in providing against papists, they would leave room for the admission of nil protes- tants who were willing and able to serve ; and he affirmed that such a conjunction would unite them the more firmly amongst themselves, and strengthen them against their common adver- saries." Accordingly, when the bill for abrogat- ing the old and appointing the new oaths was brought forward, a clause was inserted to remove the necessity, as to protestants, of taking the sa- cramental test as a qualification for office; which, though strongly supported by the leaders of the whigs, particularly by the marquis of Halifax, - who now aspired to the distinction of head of the whig party, was ultimately negatived, A pro- * test, framed in terms remarkably spirited, was signed by the lords Delamere, Wharton, Mor- daunl, &c. against the rejection of this clause, in which they declare cc that a hearty union amongst protestants was a greater security to church and state than an v test that could be invented; and {hat a greater caution ought not to be required 134 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. from such as were admitted into offices, than 1689. from the members of the two houses of parlia- ment,, who are not obliged to receive the sacra- ment to enable them to sit in either house." And in a second protest it is affirmed to be ce hard usage to exclude from public employments men fit and capable to serve the public, for a mere scruple of conscience, which could by no means render them suspected, and much less disaffected to the present government ; that to set marks of distinction and humiliation on any sorts of men who have not rendered themselves justly suspected to the government, as it is at all times to be avoided by the making just and equitable laws, so might it be of ill effect to the reformed interest at home and abroad in this present conjuncture, which stood in need of the united hearts and hands of all protestants." In order to conciliate the tories, the king was willing and even desirous to mitigate the severity of the bill, by vesting a dis- cretionary power in the crown to dispense with the oaths with respect to the established clergy, who were for the most part notoriously inimical to the present government. In vindication of which provision, it was said, "" that in former changes of government oaths had not proved so effectual a security as was imagined. Distinc- tions were found out, and senses put upon words by which they were interpreted so as to signify WILLIAM m. 135 but little when a government came to need BOOKL v_ x*~V"^^ strength from them. The acquiescence of the 1689. clergy must be presumed from the use of the li- turgical forms. If that formidable body were reduced to the hard necessity of taking these oaths, or of resigning their preferments, there was indeed little doubt of a general compliance : but far from producing any beneficial effect, it would only tend to inflame their minds and to confirm their animosity. It was also remarked, that dur- ing queen Elizabeth's long and glorious reign, in w r hich she had to guard both against the pre- tended title of the queen of Scots and the de- posing power of the pope, this was the mode adopted ; and it was found by experience, that to leave the tendering of oaths to the queen's discre- tion was the most effectual way of preserving the public safety and tranquillity." As the intem- perate zeal of the tories had defeated the former clause, so the .equally misguided violence of the whigs prevented the adoption of the latter ; and the king himself appeared to be almost the only man in the kingdom who had the wisdom and moderation to approve and patronize both- With a view to accomplish the truly Christian BUI ofCom- , _ . . prehension. and catholic project of a comprehension, a bill was introduced into the house of lords, under the title of a bill for uniting their majesties' pro- testant subjects ; by which many trivial points 136 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK j. in dispute between the church and dissenters re- 1689. specting the use of the cross and surplice, &c. were conceded to the latter, and some verbal alte- rations admitted in the Book of Common Prayer. This giving little satisfaction to divers of the lords, a proviso was offered, extending much farther the prospect of reformation, c< that, in imitation of the acts passed in the reigns of Hen. VIII. and Edw. VI. a number of persons, both of the clergy and laity, might be empowered to prepare such a reformation of things relating to the church, as might be offered to the king and parliament in order to the healing of our divisions, and the cor- recting what might be amiss or defective in our constitution," This was vehemently opposed by bishop Burnet, who, impatient to signalize him- self as a champion of the church, argued with great warmth against taking this business out of the hands of the clergy, to whom in his opinion it solely and properly appertained. And in conse- quence of his intervention if he does not in the relation of this affair over-rate his own import- anceit was thrown out by a small majority. Against this decision an admirable protest was nevertheless entered upon the journals of the house, in which the protesting peers remark, t( that, though upon Romish principles the clergy alone are entitled to meddle in matters of religion, yet with us, where the church is acknowledged WILLIAM III. 137 and defined to consist of clergy and laity, they BOOK L can have no such claim ; that the things to be 1689. considered are of hunian institution, and derive their origin from the civif power; that any altera- tion or improvement of them must depend on the exercise of human reason ; and that the clergy can have no pretence for insisting upon the ex- clusion of the laity., unless they mean at the same time to set up a claim to divine inspiration. And as to the differences and delays which might arise from the mixture of laymen and ecclesiastics, they could afford no ground of objection, unless those who advance this plea suppose the clergy to have distinct interests or designs from the lay part of the same church ; in which case it would undoubt- edly be proper to exclude one or oilier of the op- posing parties, not from the present commission merely, but from the upper house of parliament itself, in order that the national business should suffer no obstruction." This futile bill was at length sent down to the commons, where it was opposed by the whole strength of the high church party ; and being also but faintly supported by the friends of the dissenters, the leaders of whom were secretly averse from a scheme of comprehen- sion which would diminish their influence and importance, it was finally lost. At the same time an address to the throne was moved and carried by the opponents of the bill, in which the 138 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. lords, after a high debate, concurred, thanking l6sg. his majesty for his gracious declarations and re- peated assurances that he would maintain the church of England established by law and hum- faly praying, that, according to the ancient usage and practice of the kingdom in time of parlia- ment, his majesty would be pleased to issue his writs for calling a convocation of the clergy, to be advised in ecclesiastical matters ; and, by way of compromise with the other party, assuring his majesty that it was their intention forthwith to proceed to the consideration of giving ease to protestant dissenters. The way being thus paved for the act of toleration, it passed rapidly through both houses, and received the royal assent with the most decided approbation of the public : and though in itself very defectively framed, it has in fact operated as a charter of religious li- berty ; for very few attempts have been made to oppose the letter to the spirit of the act, and in , recent times it has been explained, improved, and enlarged. From this toleration the papists were expressly excluded : but the mild and benignant disposition of the king effectually protected them from the fury of their protestant persecutors*. * Burnet, vol. iii. p. 14, 15. Ralph, vol. ii. p. 74, 75, Mr. Locke thus expresses himself in a letter to M. Lirn- berch, in relation to the act of toleration : " Tolerantiam apud uos jam tandem lege stabilitatam te ante haec audiisse WILLIAM III. 139 In conformity to the address of the two houses, BOOK i. and as the only remaining chance of effecting any 1689. plan of ecclesiastical comprehension, the king; . Proce * d - O ings of the summoned a convocation, which met in the au- Conv tion. tumn of the present year ; previous to which a special commission was issued under the great seal, to ten bishops and twenty dignitaries of the church, to prepare such alterations of the liturgy and canons as might be fit to lay before the con- vocation. This was not only a prudential but a necessary legal precaution, as the clergy in con- vocation would have subjected themselves to the penalties of a prcemunire by attempting to frame new canons without the king's leave first ob- tained. A great majority of these divines were of the moderate or low church party ; but, to avoid, as far as might be, the reproach of partiality, in the number were included several of a different complexion ; such as Lamplugh, archbishop of York ; Mew and Sprat, bishops of Winchester and Rochester ; Jane, divinity professor at Ox- ford; and Aldrich, dean of Christchurch. No sooner were they convened in the Jerusalem chamber, and the commission opened, than the nullus dubito. Non ea forsan latitudine quS tu et tui similes veri, et sine ambitione vel invidia Christiani optarent. Sed aliquid est proclire tenus. His initiis jacta spero sunt liber- tatis et pacis fundaments, quibus stabilienda olim erat Christi ccclesia." J40 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK r. legality and authority of it were called in qucs- 1689. tin D J Dr. Sprat, who had himself been one of the members of the criminal and tyrannical court established by the late king James thus proving himself one of that odious and pharisaical frater- nity who can strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. And though he was informed that the commissioners pretended to no authority., but were met merely to consult upon such matters as it might be necessary to arrange and prepare for the consideration of the convocation, he retired in high disgust., attended by Mew, Jane, and Aid- rich. The commissioners nevertheless proceeded in the business of their commission, and digested a plan of reform, nearly resembling that contained in the bill of comprehension. But on the en- suing meeting of the convocation, it immediately appeared that the court or moderate party would be left in a minority, by the choice of Dr. Jane as prolocutor, in opposition to Dr. Tillotson. When presented for approbation to the bishop of London, who officiated as prasses of the convoca- tion during the suspension of Sancroft, the pro- locutor, in an eloquent Latin speech, delivered it as the sense of the lower house, that such was the transcendent excellence of the liturgy established by law in England, above those of all other Christian churches, that it needed no amendment; and he concluded in their name with the famous WILLIAM III. 14J: declaration of the barons of England at the par- BOOK L liament of Merton, fc Nolumus leges Anglive mu~ i^gy, tari" A prorogation forthwith took place, in the vain hope of mollifying these flaming furious spirits ; and at their second meeting ( Dec. 4, 1689) the earl of Nottingham delivered to them a message from the king, couched in the softest terms, and exhorting them <: calmly and impar- tially to attend to the propositions which were td be laid before them, and which would assuredly tend to the honor, peace, and advantage of the protestant religion in general, and particularly of the church of England, which was so eminent a part of the Reformation." After much conten- tion and difficulty, the lower house of convoca- tion acceded, to an address proposed by the bi- shops, the true worship of God, &c." Here the king, much moved, interrupted the earl, and protested that he did not mean to bind himself by these words to become a persecutor. And the commissioners replying that neither the meaning of the oath nor the law of Scotland did import it, his majesty rejoined, " that he took the oath in that sense, and called upon the commissioners themselves and others present to witness that he did so." The convention of Scotland having at their first meeting declared so decidedly against the late king James, the whole kingdom seemed to sub- mit to their authority without hesitation or diffi- culty; the castle of Edinburgh excepted, of which the duke of Gordon, a papist, was governor : and i, 2 14$ - HISTORY OF GREAT BBITAIN. BOOK i. who, -upon being summoned by the convention, 1089. peremptorily refused to deliver up the fortress ; upon which he was,, at the high cross by the heralds at arms, proclaimed a traitor and rebel. But a Exploits of formidable opposition to the new government was Viscount * P Dundee, soon excited by the celebrated viscount Dundee, who had formed himself upon the model of the heroic Montrose, and was possessed of the same commanding talents and graceful accomplish- ments. Having left the convention with the rest of the seceuers,, he quitted Edinburgh at the head of about fifty horse. Being asked whither he was going., he replied, " Wherever the spirit of Mon- trosc shall direct me/' Repairing to the interior parts of the country, he soon collected a very con- siderable force. Dundee had inflamed his mind with the perusal of the ancient poets and histo- rians, and yet more by listening to the heroic achievements celebrated in the popular and tradi- Highkn- tionary songs of his countrymen. His army was entirely composed of HIGHLANDERS a singular people, of whom it is not sufficient barely to men- tion the name. Amidst the clouds and darkness which envelop the high and remote periods of historic antiquity, it appears from strong pre- sumptive evidence, that at this sera the Highland nation exhibited the unmixed remains of that vast Celtic empire which once stretched from the Pil- lars of Hercules to the Sea of Archangel. The WILLIAM III. a 149 Highlanders were composed of a number of tribes BOOK i. or clans, each of which bore a different name,, and 1689. lived upon the lands of a different chieftain. The members of every clan were connected with each other not only by the feudal but the patriarchal bond ; and each of them could recount with pride the degree of hi* affinity to the common head. The castle of the chieftain was open and easy of access to every individual of the tribe : there, all were hospitably entertained in times of peace, and thither all resorted at the sound of war. They lived in villages built in glens or deep val- leys, and for the most part by the sides of rivers. At the end of spring they sowed their grain, and at the commencement of winter they reaped their scanty harvest. The rest of the year was all their own, for amusement or for war. During the short interval of summer they indulged themselves in the enjoyment of a bright and lengthened sun, and in ranging over a wild and romantic country; frequently passing whole nights in the open air among the mountains and the forests. They spent the winter in the chace while the sun was up; and in -the evening, assembling round a blazing hearth, they entertained themselves with the song, the tale, and the dance. Their vocal mu- sic was plaintive even to melancholy, but their in- strumental was bold, martial, and animating. In order to cherish high sentiments in the minds of 150 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. J500K i. all, every considerable family had an historian jsO'p. who recounted, and a bard who sung, the deeds of the clan and its chieftain,, or, on more solemn occasions, the glorious exploits, of their heroic ancestors*. The vastness of the objects which surrounded them., lakes, mountains, rocks, ca- taracts, seemed to expand and elevate their minds ; and the severity of the climate, with the nature of the country, and their love, in common with other semi-barbarous nations, of * Many beautiful specimens of Highland poetry might be selected from the works of the most celebrated Gaelic bards, and more particularly from those of Ossian. But the pleasure we derive from them would be much enhanced could their pretensions to the high antiquity they claim be more satisfac- torily ascertained. Ossian's address to the sun, to adduce no other instance, is truly sublime : " O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers, whence are thy beams, O Sun ! whence thy everlasting light ? Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty 5 and the stars hide themselves in the sky. The moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave. But thou, thou thyself movest alone ! Who can be a companion of thy course ? The oaks of the mountains fall 3 tte moun- tains themselves decay with years 3 the ocean shrinks and grows again 5 the moon herself is lost in heaven : but thou art For ever the same, rejoicing in the brightness of thy course ! When the world is dark with tempests 3 when thunder rolls And lightning flies, thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds, and laughest at the storm. But to Ossian thou lookest iij vain ! for he beholds thy beams no more 3 whether thy yellow hair fiov/s or) tbo eastern cloud, or tjbou tremblest at the gates rflhewes*.- WILLIAM III. 151 the chace and of war, forced them to great BOOK I. corporeal exertions ; while their want of regu- 1689. lar occupation, on the other hand, led them to contemplation and social converse. They re- ceived the rare and occasional visits of strangers with a genuine and cordial hospitality, never in- dulging in a rude or contemptuous ridicule of manners opposite to their own. Considering the inhabitants of the Lowlands in the light of in- vaders and usurpers, they thought themselves en- titled to make reprisals at all convenient oppor- tunities. What their enemies therefore called violence and rapine, they termed right and jus- tice ; and in the frequent practice of depredation they became bold, artful and enterprising. An injury done to one of the clan was held, from the common relation of blood, to be an injury to all. Hence the Highlanders were in the habitual prac- tice of war ; and hence arose in various instances between clan and clan mortal and deadly feuds, descending from generation to generation. They usually went completely armed with abroad sword, a durk or dagger, a target, musquet, and pistols. Their dress consisted of a jacket and loose lower garment, with a roll of light woollen, called a plaid, wrapt around them so as to leave the right arm at full liberty. Thus equipped and accoutred, they would march forty or fifty miles in a day, sometimes even without food or halting, over HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIX. BOOK i. mountains, along rocks, through morasses ; and i oag. they would sleep on beds formed by tying branches of heath hastily and carelessly together. Their advance to battle was rapid ; and after discharg- ing their musquets and pistols, they rushed into the ranks of the enemy with their broad swords ; and in close fight, when unable to use their ordi- nary weapon,, they suddenly stabbed with the durk. Their religion., which they called Christi- anity., was strongly tinctured with the ancient and barbarous superstitions of the country. They were universally believers in ghosts and praeter- uatural appearances. They marked with eager attention the variable forms of their cloudy and changeful sky, from the different aspect of which they foretold future and contingent events ; and, absorbed in fantastical imaginations, .they per- ceived in a sort of ecstatic vision things and per- sons separated from them by a vast interval of space. Each tribe had its peculiar dogmas and modes of faith, which the surrounding clans re- garded with indifference, or at most with a cold dislike far removed from the rancor of religious hatred: and persecution for religion was happily a species of folly and wickedness unknown and unheard of amongst them. By extraordinary efforts of activity and valor, riscount Dundee, at the head of his gallant coun- trymen, made a vapid and alarming progress; arid, WILLIAM III. 153 receiving great promises of support from the late BOOK L king, he flattered himself with the vain hope of i6sg. ultimately restoring the royal authority in North Britain. But being closely followed by general Mackay, who commanded for the reigning mo- narch in Scotland, after various marches and counter-marches, the two armies came to an en- gagement May the 26th, 1689, at the pass of Kil- licranky, some miles above Dunkeld. Such was the impetuosity of the Highlanders, incited by the Battle of conduct of their gallant chieftain, that the Eng- ky. glish troops were entirely broken in less than ten minutes. The dragoons fled at the first charge, and the whole train of artillery fell into the hands of the enemy. Nothing could be more decisive than the victory thus obtained, .when a random shot put an end to the life of Dundee; and gene- Death of Dundee. ral Mackay, taking advantage of this unexpected and fortunate incident, rallied his men, and re- trieved with great courage and address the battle thus to appearance irrecoverably lost. The High- landers, struck with grief and consternation, were never after able to make head ; and the clans, wearied with a repetition of misfortunes, at length almost universally laid down their arms, and took the benefit of the pardon offered by king William to those who should submit within the time limited in his proclamation. The duke of Gordon, also, despairing of relief, surrendered the castle of 154 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. Edinburgh at discretion on the 13th of June iQsg. 1689 : so that the whole island of Great Britain now acknowledged the sovereignty of the new monarch ; but Ireland was far from following this example. state of In order to form a just estimate of the political state of this kingdom as connected with Great Britain, it will be necessary to fix our previous attention upon the situation of affairs on the con- tinent. The rising power of France, and the im- measurable ambition of its sovereign Louis XIV., had long excited the most serious apprehensions of the European potentates. \\ holly negligent of the rules of policy,, the pride of that monarch incited him to attempts no less insulting to the feelings., than injurious to the rights of his neigh- bours. Immediately on the conclusion of the peace of Nimeguen, Feb. 1678-9., two pretended courts of justice were erected, the one at Met/., the other at Brisac, under the appellation of * clared by following:, 1689, war was in form declared against England against the French monarch. France. This was a measure which occasioned great joy to all the European courts confederated against France ; and no less was looked for and expected from England. King William had on his acces- sion to the British throne written to the States General, cc that his new dignity, instead of dimi O / * nishing the affection he ever had, or the care ho ever took for the preservation and prosperity o their republic, would only serve to enable him to discharge his offic e of stadtholderw T ith more weight and success towards the benefit and advantage of their state ; and that during his reign he would make it his constant business and endeavour to establish and maintain a perfect intelligence, as also an inviolable friendship, between his kingdoms and the United Provinces, for the safety, welfare, and repose of both states, and support of the pro- testant religion." And throughout the whole course of his reign, agreeably to the tenor of this declaration, he exerted his utmost influence to 160 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. unite the efforts, to consolidate the interests,, and iGsg. to identify the aims of the two countries, of which he was the common guardian and head. Generous Qn the abdication of James, and his subse- Reception ofK.James quent arrival in France, he had been received by by Louis * v. Louis with an hospitality and kindness approach- ing even to ostentation. The palace of ^t. Ger- mains was assigned him for. his residence, his household supported with great magnificence, and hopes, or rather assurances, were given him that he should be speedily re-established on tlie throne of England. The conduct of James, however, in this situation, discovered no symptoms either of spirit or understanding. He showed little sensibility at the loss of his crown. His faculties were absorbed in the most abject superstition and bigotry. His favorite occupation was holding con- ferences with the Jesuits, into which order he had been initiated, on the mysteries of religion ; and of the personal courage which had distinguished him in his early years no traces were discernible. He became the theme of the public contempt and derision in France ; and the sarcastic remark was every where circulated of the archbishop of Rheims, brother to M. Louvois, who seeing this monarch returning from chapel with his priests about him exclaimed aloud, " There goes a pious soul, who has abandoned three kingdoms for the sake of a mass !" The extreme bigotry of 10 WILLIAM III. 161 prevented, however,, his seeing the character of BOOK i. James in its most odious and ridiculous point of 1689. view : and great naval and military preparations were made with the purpose of accomplishing the promise of his restoration . Early in March , a fleet of fourteen ships of the line was collected at Brest, on board of which James embarked with a con- siderable body of troops, Irish, French, and En- glish, commanded chiefly by French officers, un- der M. Rosen, a general of approved skill and courage. At parting, the king of France, em- bracing with demonstrations of high regard the king of England, said, (e The best thing I can wish your majesty is, that I may never see you again." The whole armament arrived safely at Kinsale, invasion of where a landing was effected without opposition the French. March 22, 1689. The conduct of the earl of Tyrconnelhad beeu peculiarly artful and insidious, having intentio- nally excited in the English government amusive hopes of submission, for the purpose of delay; so that no timely measures were taken to guard the coasts of Ireland against invasion. At an extra- ordinary council held at the castle of Dublin, im- mediately consequent to the desertion of James, the chief justice Keating, a protestant, declared that it would be in vain to contend with the ruling powers that Ireland must necessarily follow the fortunes of England and exhorted the lord lieu- VOL, i. M 162 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. tenant to a wise and honorable accommodation. 1689. Tyrconnel heard his advice with seeming temper o/Tyrcon- anc ^ moderation ; and, professing to enter into these ideas, he proposed to lord Montjoy, a man of abilities and of great consideration amongst the protestants, to accompany the chief baron Rice, a furious papist, little likely to regard honor or keep faith with heretics, to represent to king James the weakness of Ireland, and the necessity of yielding to the times, and of waiting a more favorable opportunity to avail himself of the ser- vices of his Irish subjects swearing solemnly to Montjoy, that he was in earnest in this message, and that he knew the court of France would op- pose it to the utmost of their power ; for, careless of the interest and indifferent even to the destruc- tion of Ireland, it sought merely to give to the arms of the prince of Orange a temporary di- version. With generous indiscretion, Montjoy, against the advice of his more wary friends, ac- cepted this hazardous commission. But on his arrival in France he had full proof of the treachery of Tyrconnel, being himself immediately com- mitted to the Bastile. It is notwithstanding very possible that Tyrconnel might have been originally inclined to submission ; and it seems not easy to conjecture why his disposition in this respect was not brought to an early and decisive test. On being urged to recognise the new go- WILLIAM III. 163 verntnent, he declared c ' that the government itself BOOK had not required it of him Would you,, he ex- K^ claimed, " have me throw my sword over the castle walls ?" In consequence of the ambiguous aspect of af- fairs in Ireland, lieutenant general Hamilton, an Irish officer of great address, and at this time a prisoner of war, having served in the armies of France, was at his own desire suffered to go on his parole to Ireland, with a view to persuade Tyrconnel to surrender the government. But if there was any previous indecision in the counsels of the lord lieutenant, it vanished on his interview with Hamilton, who/ with the most profligate desertion of every principle of honor, used all imaginable arguments to confirm him in his at- tachment to king James,, and exerted himself with the utmost ardor and activity in support of the same cause. On the arrival of the abdicated mo- narch in Ireland, the whole kingdom seemed to be at his devotion. Tyrconnel had disarmed the protestants, and assembled an army of 40,000 ca- tholics well provided by means of the supplies sent from France ; and about the end of March, K Jameg James made his public entree into Dublin, amid makes hi Entry uit the acclamations of the inhabitants, being met at Dublin. the castle-gate by a procession of popish bishops aiid priests in their pontificals, bearing the host, HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. which the king publicly adored ; after which he 1689. assisted at a solemn Te Deum. The court of London now endeavored to com- pensate for its former remissness by the vigor of its present exertions. A powerful squadron under admiral Herbert was fitted out with all expedi- tion., in hope of intercepting the French fleet on its return ; and on the first of May he came in sight of the enemy, then lying at anchor in Ban- Battle of try Bay. Perceiving an engagement inevitable, the French bore down in a regular line of battle ; but the English admiral not being able to gain the wind., the ships fought at a great distance., and the engagement was extremely indecisive, both sides as usual in such cases boasting of the advan- tage : and admiral Herbert having made every possible effort, king William pleasantly remarked, ' f that in the commencement of a war it might be allowed to pass for a victory." But the French were with some reason elated with the success of the Irish expedition ; the count de Chateau-Re- naud, commander of the fleet, having landed his troops, repulsed the enemy, taken several rich prizes, and brought his ships back to Brest in good condition atid without loss, in the short space of about six weeks. The land forces destined for the reduction of Ireland being not yet in readiness, king James reigned without control, and almost WILLIAM Ilf. 165- without resistance in that country. A parliament BOOK T. \Vas convened by him to meet in Dublin on the 7th it* g. of May ( 1689 )., by which the famous act of settle- ment,, passed soon after the Restoration, was itn- mediately repealed with loud acclamations of tri- umph, and scarcely a shadow of opposition. B this repeal, two-thirds of the protestants in the P ealed - kingdom, \vho had now for near forty years held their estates in virtue of the arrangement made at the termination of the civil wars, and subsequently modified and confirmed by the authority of king* and parliament, were deprived of them, without any exception .or consideration whatever for those who had made purchases under the existing laws. Even the estate of sir Phelim O'Neill, the famous rebel, was unconditionally restored to his heirs. In the upper house, the bishop of Meath ventured to urge some objections against both the principle and the provisoes of the bill. This prelate ob- served, " that no penalty was enacted against such as should enter estates without injunctions no consideration for improvements no saving for remainders no time given forthe'removalof the stock of cattle or corn no provision for widows." " Either," said he, fc iViy lords, there was a f both armies went into quarters, to the great discontent of the English nation, who had formed very high and probably extravagant expectations from the skill and conduct of the general, session of The parliament of England met., after a very short recess., on the 19th of October 1689, and the session was opened by a very popular and exr cellent speech from the throne, which was remark- able for being the composition of the king himself, who produced it unexpectedly on the day pre- ceding at the council board, written with his own hand. ec He did not," he said, " engage in the war into which they had just entered out of a vain ambition, but from the necessity of opposing the designs that were formed against us. It was well known how far he had exposed himself to rescue this nation from the dangers that threatened not only their liberties, but the protestant religion in general, of which the church of England was one of the greatest supports; and for the defence whereof he was ready again to venture his life. He urged the necessity of providing liberal sup- plies at the most early period, there being a ge- neral meeting appointed at the Hague of all the princes and states confederated against France, in order to concert the measures for the next cam- paign; and till the determinations of the English parliament were known, their determinations must be necessarily suspended. He concluded with WILLIAM III. 177 recommending in strong terms a bill of indem- BOOK r. nity, that, the minds of his good subjects being 1639. quieted, they might all unanimously concur in promoting the welfare and honor of the kingdom/' In return, the house of commons expressed their, unanimous determination to prosecute the war against the French, in conjunction with the al- lies, with vigor and effect: and a large sup ply was immediately voted. A committee was then ap- pointed to examine who were the advisers and prosecutors of the murders of Russel, Sydney, Armstrong, &c. and who were chiefly concerned in the arbitrary practices touching the writs of quo varranto, and the surrender of charters. This enquiry was levelled at the marquis of Ha- lifax, who had a short time before resigned his office of speaker to the house of lords, and now saw the necessity also of relinquishing the privy seal, and withdrawing entirely from court, re- gretted only by the king. Perceiving himself the object of the detestation of the whig party, he now endeavoured to reconcile himself to the tories, who were glad to avail themselves of his abilities, though they despised his tergiversations, and placed no confidence in his sincerity. The whigs had on several occasions given much offence to the king, particularly by their pertinacious resistance to the bill of indemnity, and their invincible re- luctance to settle a permanent revenue on the VOL. I. N 178 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. crown; by means of the first holding the rod over i6scj. their adversaries the tories, and by the last keep- ing the crown itself in dependency. On the other hand, the tories had paid uniform and assiduous court to the king ; and the earl of Nottingham in particular had, as bishop Burnet affirms, furnished the king with a scheme of all the points of the prerogative, and their connection with each other, and which he insinuated the whigs designed sys- tematically to attack. And at this very period pressing instances were made by the tories to the king to dissolve the present parliament lavishing promises and professions of loyalty and attach- ment, should the king transfer the powers of go- corpora- vernment to them. These court intrigues coming >tion Bill. . . to the knowledge of the whigs, a bill was intro- duced by them into the house of commons for re- storing corporations to their rights and privileges. The chief strength of the whig interest lay in the Corporation boroughs and commercial companies the gentlemen of large landed property being for the most part tories. In this bill was inserted the following clause, dictated by the spirit of party violence " that every mayor, recorder, &c. of any city or borough, who did consent to or join in the surrender of any charters, or did solicit or contribute to the charge of prosecuting any scire facias or information in the nature of a quo war- ranto, shall be judged incapable of holding or WILLIAM III. 179 executing any office of trust in such capacity for BOOKI. the space of seven years." This was opposed by 1690. the whole strength of the tory party, as a clause fatal to their interest. After a fierce contest, the clause was negatived by a small majority, the influence of the court being powerfully exerted against it. In this state the bill was transmitted to the lords, by whom it was still farther modified and meliorated, though not without much debate and difficulty. The tories, however, had per- suaded the king, that to give his assent to the bill, even in its present form, w r ould be a virtual sur- render of himself to the whigs. Resolved, there- fore, to risque the consequences of a rupture with the latter, he went to the house of peers on the 27th of January 1690, and, after announcing his in- tention to repair in person to Ireland, prorogued the parliament to the 3d of April : but on the Parliament . . ~ dissolved. nth of February a proclamation was issued tor its dissolution, and a new parliament summoned to meet on the 20th of March 1690. The king was so chagrined and embarrassed at the necessity he felt himself under, in consequence of the introduction of the corporation bill, of throwing himself into the hands of one or other of the two state factions, so opposite to his policy of balancing and mediating between them, in order to maintain his just authority over both, that we are told, by bishop Burnet, he entertained serious intentions at this period of retiring to Hoi- 180 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. land, and abandoningthe government to the queen. Kxjo. and that the marquis of Carmarthen and the carl of Shrewsbury., by the force of their eloquence, dissuaded him from carrying this design into exe- cution*. While the parliament was yet sitting,, the prociama- f amous general Ludlow, a member of the high ^^ s ^-court of justice which passed a too justly merited Iow - sentence, though by a very questionable authority, on king Charles I.., unexpectedly made his appear- ance in England,, with a view of being employed in Ireland, where lie had formerly served with great reputation. Being excepted in the act of indemnity passed at the Restoration,, he had re- tired to Vevay in Switzerland, where he had re- sided many years under the generous protection * It is, indeed, not improbable that in the, first emotions of his vexation and resentment, the king, who was subject to occa- sional gusts of passion, might throw out violent and menacing expressions in the presence of these noblemen ; but he was too much accustomed to struggle with difficulties, and possessed too much fortitude of mind to think seriously of executing such a project. Wearied and provoked no doubt at the " ingratitude* of base mankind," he once told the duke of Hamilton, as lord Balcarras informs us, " that he wished he were a thousand miles from England, and had never been king of it." On another occasion he declared to the marquis of Halifax, " that all the difference he knew between the two parties was, that the tories would cut his throat in die morning, and the whigs in the afternoon." These, however, were the indiscreet and angry effusions of the moment. The king knew well the per- manent dislike which the tories in general harboured against his person and government, and that zealous attachment to both which characterized the great body of the whigs. ./I/-- WILLIAM "HI/ 181 of the lords of the council of Berne. His pater- BOOKI nal seat and estate, at Maiden Bradley in AVilts, 1&90 was held under a grant of the crown by sir Ed- ward Seymour, a member of the house of com- mons, and a distinguished leader of the tory party, who took the first opportunity of representing to the house " how highly it reflected on the honor of the nation, that one of the regicides of that blessed sovereign, whose death was regarded by the church of England as a martyrdom, should not only be suffered to live unmolested in this country, but also entertained with hopes of pre- ferment." Upon this the commons voted an ad- dress to the king, to issue his royal proclamation for the apprehending general Ludlow, which the king complied with, but not till Ludlow was safely arrived in Holland, whence he returned to his former residence at Vevay ; where he wrote li^s celebrated Memoirs, which no unprejudiced per- son can read without being impressed with a high idea of his courage, constancy, patriotism, and probity. The dissolution of the convention parliament was a severe blow to the whigs, who had given mortal offence by the late corporation bill to great numbers of individuals, who, though mdde- rate in principle, had been more or less involved in the proceedings of the late reigns. On the re- turn of the writs, it appeared that a great majority 4 183 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. of tories were elected. The king's displeasure at 1690. the whigs appeared by the dismission of the lords Monmouth and Delamere from the treasury, of which sir John Lowther, created earl of Lonsdale, was appointed first commissioner, Mr. Hampden Meeting of acting; as chancellor of the exchequer. The com- the new Pariia- plexion of the new parliament at once appeared by their choice of sir John Trevor as speaker, who had occupied the same office in the only parlia- ment held in the late reign. In his speech, the king, after repeating the former declaration of his intention to prosecute the war in Ireland in person, , urged upon them the settlement of the revenue, and informed them, that having often unavailingly recommended a general indemnity to the last par- liament, he now proposed sending them an act of grace, with such exceptions only as might be sufficient to shew his great dislike of their crimes. He made mention of an union between England and Scotland, as an event which would be pro- ductive of great benefit to both nations ; and the parliament of Scotland having nominated com- missioners for that purpose, he wished that com- missioners might be nominated by the English parliament to treat with them. Though the tory interest predominated in the new parliament, the whigs retained sufficient in- fluence to prevent the revenue being settled for life : but a sort of compromise took place between WILLIAM HI. 1SS the parties,, and it was agreed that the hereditary BOOK i. excise should be granted for life, and the customs IQ^Q. for four years from Christmas 1690 ; with which the king appeared tolerably well satisfied. The first great trial of strength between the two parties Conflict of was occasioned by a bill introduced by the whigs into the house of lords, recognising their majesties as the rightful and lawful sovereigns of these realms, and declaring all the acts of the last parliament to be good and valid. This reduced the tories to an unpleasant dilemma. The words tc rightful and lawful" were strongly objected against, and by the too easy consent of the house dropped as super- fluous*. It would perhaps have been wise not to have added to the causes of irritation by offering * Nevertheless bishop Burnet, with his usual and charac- teristic inaccuracy, affirms " that these words passed with little contradiction." The History of this prelate is in fact a sort of loose and confused political diary, writteo apparently from vague memorandums and imperfect recollection, though in many parts highly interesting and entertaining/ Sir John. Jleresby informs us, " that the earl of Danby declared to him, that as to the terras rightful and lawful, they were mere non- sense for that, had the prince of Wales been made king, he could never have been deemed our lawful sovereign while hi* father lived. His lordship condemned, nevertheless, the bi- shops for their squeamiahness about taking the oaths ; expressing his concurrence with lord Nottingham, that as his highness was here, and we must owe our protection to him as king de facto, he thought it just and legal to swear allegiance to him.' 1 Such were the heads of the present administration. HISTORY 6t GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. these obnoxious words : but the rejection of them 1690. when offered was peculiarly unfortunate. The disaffected clergy,, who endeavoured to establish the distinction of a king de jure and a king de facto, boasted,, with some appearance of reason, that they were fully justified in this distinction ActofNe- f or e ven the parliament itself would not venture gouauon. m , . to declare the king a rightful and lawful sovereign. As to the latter clause, the tories would only con- sent to enact, that the laws passed in the last par- liament should be good for the time to come absolutely refusing to declare them valid for that which was past. After a vehement debate the bill was committed : but the declaratory clause was lost on the report by six voices ; which gave rise to one of the most able and decisive protests recorded on the journals of the house of peers ; at the conclusion of which the protesting lords thus express themselves : - secution, and without exemption from common pardons at pleasure, could amount to no more than to make the people hope in vain for some vindication of public justice. Time has shewn the craft of this contrivance, by the indemnity of all the persons excepted that are not since in rebellion against our king. No process has issued against any of them ; not a penny of their estates, nor one hair of their heads, hath been touched, and several of them have ever since sat in the house of lords as our legislators." The earl of Shrewsbury was so highly disgusted at the turn things had now taken, that he deter- mined upon resigning the seals as secretary of state, not yielding even to the pressing entreaties of the king to retain possession of them till his re- Triumph of turn from Ireland. Affairs were now entirely in ' the hands of Carmarthen and Nottingham, who were regarded as the heads of the high-church and tory party, who hated the whigs as republicans WILLIAM III. 189 and levellers,, and by whom they were equally and BOOK i. reciprocally detested as men of intolerant, arbitrary, 1090. and despotic principles. On the 4th of June 1690 the king set out for Ireland, attended by the prince of Denmark, the duke of Ormond,, and many other noblemen and gentlemen, and on the 14th arrived at Belfast, where he was met by marechal Schomberg. That general had obtained several advantages during the winter campaign. Colonel Wolseley, at the head of a detachment of 1500 infantry and 1200 {avalryj had charged sword in hand and totally routed a body of 7 or 8000 Irish an exploit -which did not tend to remove the opinion pre- viously entertained of the too great caution of the commander in chief. The important post of Charlemont was reduced, and several others less considerable ; so that, upon the whole, the pro- vince of Ulster was nearly recovered. Advice of a prudential nature, conformably to the slow and dilatory system on which the war had been hitherto conducted, being offered again in council respect- ing the future operations of the army, the king declared ' c that he did not come to Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet." On a general re- view of the troops on the arrival of all the rein- forcements, they were found to amount to no less than 36,000 effective men, English and foreignem. The king immediately began his march, to Duu- 190 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK r. dalk, afterwards advancing to Ardee. Struck with locjO. the fertility and beauty of the surrounding pro- spects,, he exclaimed, " This is a country worth fighting for!" The Irish, with the late king at their head, quitted Ardee upon his approach,, and repassed the Boyne, encamping in a very advan- tageous situation on the southern banks of the river. The Irish army was by no means equal even in number, and much less in courage or dis- cipline, to that of the English. But James, con- trary to the advice of his officers, who proposed strengthening their garrisons and retiring beyond the Shannon, was determined to risque a general engagement on this spot. The river was deep, and rose high with the tide; and his front being farther secured by a morass and rising ground, he could not be attacked without manifest disadvan- tage ; so that he expressed much confidence of success, and declared the satisfaction he felt in this opportunity of fighting one fair battle for his crown. On the 30th of June kins; William en- ~ camped at break of day with his whole army on the northern side of the Boyne, with a full resolu- tion, notwithstanding the remonstrances of mare- chal Schomberg, to pass the river and attack the enemy on the next day. Upon reconnoitring the enemy's camp, the king made at one place so long ft stop, that it was perceived by a party of horse on the opposite side ; who bringing a couple of WILLIAM III. 191 field-pieces to bear upon him, at the first discharge BOOK i. killed a man and two horses very near to his per- ibyo. son, and by the second the king himself was slightly wounded, the ball grazing his right shoul- der. This William treated as a trifle, but it occa- sioned great confusion amongst his attendants ; and the report of his death flew rapidly to Dub- lin, and even to Paris, where it w r as celebrated with bonfires and illuminations. The king rode through the ranks by torch-light, previous to his retiring to his tent, in order by ocular demonstration to excite the most perfect conviction of his safety. The plan of the battle, without any previous com- munication, being transmitted by the king to marechal Schomberg late in the evening, that ge- neral received it with marks of dissatisfaction and discontent declaring that it was the first which had ever been so sent to him. Early in the morning of the 1st of July 1690, victory of the army passed in three bodies at Slanes to the u westward, Old Bridge in the centre, and certain fords near Drogheda to the left. The different di- visions of the English army seemed to vie with each other in gallantry, and with great resolution repulsed the attempts of the Irish to impede the passage. M. Caillemotte, a French refugee officer of great merit, receiving a mortal wound at the head of his regiment, was carried back to the English camp, and meeting otheis crossing the 192 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. river, encouraged them by exclaiming : fc . A la 1690. gloire, mes enfans a la gloire!" M. Schomberg perceiving the French protestants exposed, and in some disorder, from the loss of their commander, passed the river in haste without his armor, with all the ardor of youth, to put himself at their head.. But the battle in this quarter being peculiarly hot and bloody, the marechal in a short time fell ; \vhetherby the fire of his own men, as was gene- rally believed, or of the enemy, could not in that scene of carnage and confusion be clearly ascer- tained. This celebrated personage was regarded as one of the first military characters of the age ; and he possessed all the virtues and accomplish- ments of a hero. He was nobly rewarded in Eng- land, for services expected, rather than performed by him, with a dukedom and a parliamentary donation of 100,000/. Walker the clergyman, \vlio had rendered himself so famous by his defence of Londonderry, also lost his life in this action, gloriously combating in the cause of his country. Inflamed by the irresistible impulse of military enthusiasm, he could not, after his brows had been encircled with the laurel wreath of victory, recon- cile himself to his former habitudes and with him the GOWN ceded to ARMS. The courage, activity, and presence of mind of the king himself, were ex- tremely conspicuous during the whole of this en- gagement; in the course of which he repeatedly WILLIAM IJii ]Q3 charged the enemy sword in hand. An English BOOK r. soldier in the heat of the battle pointing his piece at the king, he turned it aside without emotion,, saying only, f( Do you not know your friends ?" The day was far advanced, when the Irish at length began to retire on all sides ; and general Hamilton, who commanded the horse, making a furious charge, in the desperate hope of retrieving the battle, was wounded and taken prisoner. On being brought into the presence of the king, who knew him to be the life and soul of the Irish army, William asked him " if he thought the enemy would make any farther resistance t" to which Hamilton replied "Upon my honor, I believe they will." The king eyeing him with a look of dis- dain repeated " Your HONOR!" but took no other notice of his treachery. The Irish now quitted the field with precipitation ; but William having neglected the advice of M. Schomberg to secure the pass of Duleek in the rear, they suffered little comparative loss in their retreat, which was co- vered by the French and Swiss troops under M. de Lauzun. The king also, recalling his troops from the pursuit, expressed himself averse to the unnecessary effusion of blood. The rival monarch, far from contending for the prize of empire in the same spirit of heroism., kept his station with a few squadrons of horse on the hill of Dunore, to the south of the rivef*, VOL. i. o HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. viewing through a telescope from the tower of lOyo. the ehiirch the movements of the two armies- On receiving intelligence from count Lauzim that he was in danger of being surrounded, he inarched off to Duleek, and thence in great haste to Dub- lin. On his arrival in that city he assembled the magistrates and council, and told them., witli equal indiscretion and ingratitude, fe that the army he had depended upon had basely fled the field, nor could they be prevailed upon to rally, though the loss in the defeat was but inconsider- able ; so that henceforward he determined never more to head an Irish army, but resolved to shift for himself, as they themselves must also do." Sdo'S 68 Having staid at Dublin one night, he departed Ireland. for \y a t e rford, attended by the duke of Berwick, the marquis of Powis, and the earl of Tyrconnel 7 ordering the bridges to be broken down every where behind him. At .Water ford he embarked on board a French vessel, and was quickly con- veyed to his former residence in France. This dastardly conduct exposed him to the personal contempt of those who were most strongly at- tached to his cause colonel Sarsfield, as it is said, declaring, " that if they could change kings, he should notbe afraid to fight the battle over again." Immediately consequent to the victory, Drogheda was invested ; but though the governor seemed at first resolute to defend the place, upon being WILLIAM lit. told that if he compelled the king to bring up his BOOK i. heavy cannon he must expect no quarter, he 1690. thought proper to surrender. On the 5th of July the king encamped at Finglass, within two miles of Dublin, where he received advice of king James's flight to Waterford, and subsequent em- * barkation for France. The principal catholics having also abandoned the metropolis, the pro- tcstants had recovered their ascendency ; and a deputation being sent requesting the king to honor the city with his presence, he made his public entrance the next day into Dublin, where he was received with triumphal acclama- tion. The Irish army had now retired in confusion Successes . 111 ,, of kino- towards Athlone, a strong town on the banks of wiiiiim. the Shannon. Dividing his forces, therefore, the king detached general Douglas to pursue the flying enemy, prosecuting himself his march to the southward, and taking possession successively of the towns of Carlow, Kilkenny, and Water- ford acquisitions of great importance. About y this period, a proclamation of grace and pardon was published, which the king was desirous to have made much more comprehensive ; for the general and vague exception it contained, of * Earl of Athlone and Baron Aghrim were conferred upon him, in perpetual commemoration of his heroic achievements. The articles of Limerick, so violently exclaimed against by men devoid of the feelings of huma- nity, as too lenient and favorable to the Irish re- bels, were in the sequel carried into exact and punctual execution. Nay, such was the justice and generosity of the king, that divers doubts arising out of certain ambiguous words were ex- plained in favor of the Irish; and thus mercy, hid- ing the fatal sword of vengeance in wreaths of flowers, crowned the conquest achieved by valour *. On the king's departure for Ireland, the queen Queen con- was constituted sole regent, with a cabinet coun- gent. * " O thou who sit'st a smiling bride By Valour's arm'd and awful side, Gentlest of sky-born forms, and best ador'd ! Who oft with songs, divine to hear, Win'st from his fatal grasp the spear, And bid's t in wreaths of flowers his bloodless sword." COLLIXS'S Ode to Mercy. VOL. I. P 10 Her ami- able cha- racter and discreet conduct. HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. cil consisting of nine persons *, four of whom were whigs ; but the real power was supposed to re- side in the lords Carmarthen and Nottingham. The whigs, therefore, had little reason to be satis- fied with this arrangement. The queen had hi- therto led a very private and domestic life, occu- pied with the amusements of reading and working with her ladies of honor; very charitable and ex- emplary in her social and religious duties, wholly inattentive to political transactions. But it now appeared that she was by no means destitute of talents for business; and, notwithstanding the perpetual conflict between the two state factions, she governed with such mildness, which on no oc- casion degenerated into weakness, and mediated with such address, without any tincture of dupli- city or artifice, that by a rare fortune she rose hio-her than ever in the estimation of both. En- dowed with all the accomplishments of her sex, she conciliated the most stubborn by the enga- ging affability of her manners. Dignified in her per- son, of a pleasant and cheerful countenance, frank * These were, the marquis of Carmarthen, president of the council; the earl of Nottingham, secretary of state j the earl of Pembroke, who had superseded admiral Herbert, created earl of Torrington, in the admiralty ; earl of Lonsdale, first commissioner of the treasury ; and the earl of Marlborough, who were all accounted of the tory party. The whigs were, the earl of Devonshire, lord steward ; earl of Dorset, lord cham- berlain j the earl of Monmouth, and Mr. Edward Russel. 11 WILLIAM III. and noble in her disposition,, above all disguise and BOOK r. ^^^^If^^J concealment, studying only how to promote the 1690. \velfare and happiness of the nation who had raised her to her present exalted pre-eminence, and to deserve their love and confidences-history exhibits perhaps no character which will endure the test of a more rigorous investigation. How unjustly she has been accused of a want of sensi- bility, her letters to the king her husband clearly demonstrate. During the Irish war, notwith- standing the complacency of her outward deport- ment, her heart was torn with apprehension and solicitude ; and the intelligence of the victory of the Boyne appeared, as the earl of Nottingham informs us, to afford her no pleasure till he assured her of the safety of the king her father*. The first great object of the government during Naval de. the regency was to fit out a fleet, equal at least to Beachy- that which the French were preparing in the har- bour of Brest. In this, however, the English ad- miralty was not successful. By the surprising ex- ertions of M. de Seignelay, the marine minister of France, a fleet of no less than seventy-eight ships of the line, commanded by the count de Tourville, entered the English channel, and were discovered off Plymouth on the 20th of June 1690. Theearlof Torrington, commander in chief of the combined squadrons of English and Dutch, fell down to St. * Dalrymple's Appendix. HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 2SLj* Helens, in order to give the enemy battle, thougli 1690. inferior in force by no less than twenty-two ships of the line thirty ships of war lying in Plymouth Sound not being able to join them. Lord Tor- rina^ton, extremely chagrined at this disappoint- ment, would have avoided an engagement : but the queen was over-persuaded to send him posi- tive orders to fight ; so that, after standing far up the channel, he again bore down upon the enemy off Beachy-head, on the 30th of June, making two hours after day-break the signal for battle, which the French were not disposed to decline. The Dutch squadron, \vhich led the way, were soon engaged with the van, and the blue division of the English with the rear of the French ; but the red, which formed the centre, under the command of Torrington in person, could not, or at least did not, come into action till ten : and even then a wide interval was left between the centre and the van, of which the French took the advantage, and surrounded the Dutch ships in such a manner, that they would have been entirely cut off or destroyed had not the centre division at length bore down to their assistance, and drove between them and the enemy. About live in the after- noon the action was interrupted by a calm : and the English admiral, perceiving how severely the fleet had suffered, thought it expedient to wave a renewal of the engagement : and weighing anchor WILLIAM III. at the close of day., he retired eastward with the BOOK i. tide of flood. The French, who had neglected to 1690. anchor, drifted to the westward, and in the morn- ing were descried at almost viewless distance : and pursuing also in a regular line of battle, less damage was sustained than there was reason to apprehend. They nevertheless followed as far as Rye ; and the English were compelled to burn the disabled ships, that they might not fall into the hands of the French. Upon the whole, this was the most signal victory ever gained by the French over the English upon their own element. Such, indeed, was the heroic bravery with which the van and rear divisions fought, oppressed as they were with the superiority of numbers, that no ves- sel would strike its colors : but three Dutch line of battle ships were sunk in the engagement, and three more stranded and burnt in the pursuit ; besides two ships lost by the English. The Gallic admiral giving over the farther chase as fruitless, the earl of Torrington brought the shattered re- mains of his fleet into the Thames, whence, devolv- ing the command upon sir John Ashley, he im- mediately repaired to the metropolis, which he found in a state of the greatest consternation he himself being the chief object of the popular rage and resentment. Nothing less than an imme- diate invasion was expected ; but the French fleet, after insulting the coasts, now wholly de- 214 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. fenceless, made the best of their way back to the lOgo. harbour of Brest. rSoiute d "-^ke conduct of the queen in this critical cmer- thToue!in f enc .y indicated great fortitude and spirit. She issued a proclamation, requiring the immediate service of all able seamen and mariners, with bounties for rendering themselves voluntarily, and penalties for disobedience. She ordered a great number of new commissions for the army, and a camp to be formed in the vicinity of Torbay, where a descent was deemed most probable. She caused to be apprehended the earls of Litchfield, Aylesbury, Castlemaine, and the lords Preston and Bellasis, with various other disaffected persons. She deprived the earl of Torrington of his com- mand, and sent him prisoner to the Tower ; and Earl ofTor- deputed an envoy extraordinary to the States graced. General, to inform their high mightinesses ' ' how much she was concerned at the misfortune which had befallen their squadron in the late engage- ment, and at their not having been seconded as they ought; which matter her majesty had di- rected to be examined into, in order to recom- pense those that had done their duty, and to pu- nish such as should be found to have deserved it ; that she had directed twelve great ships to be fitted out, and hoped the states would do their utmost to reinforce their fleet in this conjuncture." How .."'.' WILLIAM III. g] far the earl of Torrington, allowed to be one of BOOK-J. the best and bravest seamen of his time, was cen- ifigo. surable in this business, seems not perfectly clear. The Dutch exclaimed against him with the bit- terest acrimony, and the French accounts repre- sent him as extremely deficient in naval conduct. The earl of Nottingham., in his official letter to lord Dursley, ambassador at the Hague, expressly charges him with treachery ; and the earl of Tor-" rington, on the other hand, brought an accusation against Nottingham for > purposely suppressing the necessary intelligence. After lying many months in the Tower, he was at last brought to a trial by a court-martial, and, to the indignation of the country, acquitted; but the king dismissed him from the service, and he never afterwards re- covered any share of reputation*. * It must be confessed, that Lord Torrington's official letter off Beachy to lord Carmarthen is extremely vague and un- satisfactory. He only says, " That on the preceding day, according to her majesty s order, they had engaged the enemy's fleet. The Dutch had the van. By the time they had fought t\vo hours, it fell calm; which was a great misfortune to them all, but most to the Dutch, who being most disabled, it gave he French an opportunity of destroying all their lame ships j which he had hitherto prevented by falling with the red squadron between them and the enemy." He acknowledges, nevertheless, " it is utterly impossible to make good their retreat, if pressed by the French ;" and exclaims, " I pray God send us well off!'* " Had I," says he, " undertaken 216 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. On the 2d of October 1690, the English parlia- 1690. nient assembled at Westminster; and the leading session of topics of the speech from the throne were the suo parlia- ment. this of my own head, I should not well know what to say; but it being done by command, will, I hope, free me from blame." On the 2d of July, 1690, the queen, in a private letter to the king, thus expresses herself : " What lord Torrington can say for himself, I know not 3 but I believe he will never be forgiven. The letters from the fleet, before and since the en- gagement, shew sufficiently he was the only man there who had no mind to fight j and his not doing it was attributed to orders from hence. I am more concerned for the honor of the nation than any thing else. But I think it has pleased God to punish them justly ; for they really talked as if it were impossible for them to be beaten." On the intelligence of the victory at the Boyne, the queen writes, July 17 ' " How to begin this letter I do not know, or how ever to render God thanks enough for his mercies. Indeed they are too great, if we look on our deserts : but, as you say, it is his own cause : and since it is for the glory of his great name, we have no reason to fear but he will perfect what he has begun. When I heard the joyful news from Mr. Butler, I was in pain to know what was become of the late king, and durst not ask him. But when lord Nottingham came, I did venture to do it, and had the satisfaction to know he was safe. I know I need not beg you to let him be taken care of, for I am confident you will for your own sake ; yet add that to all your kindness, and for my sake let people know you would have no hurt come to his person." August 5th : " We have received many mercies, God send us grace to value them as we ought ! But nothing touches people's hearts here enough to make them agree; that would be too much happiness." August Igth : " Holland has really spoiled me in being so kind to me. That they are so to you, 'tis no wonder. Would to God it were WILLIAM III. 21 cess of the \var in Ireland, the late naval defeat, BOOK and the necessity of acting with vigour in support ^^ of the confederacy abroad. The most loyal ad- the same here!" August 26th: "I am in greater fears than can be imagined by any who loves less than myself. I count the hours and the moments, and have only reason enough left to think that as long as I have no letters all is well. Yet 1 must see company upon my set days, I must play twice a week, nay I must laugh and talk though never so- much against my will. J believe I dissemble very ill ; yet I must endure it. All my motions are so watched, and all I do so observed, that if I eat less, or speak less, or look more grave, all is lost, in the opinion of the world." DALRYMPLE State Papers. King William told lord Carmarthen before his departure for Ireland, as lord Dartmouth in his MS. memorandums on bishop Bumet's History informs us, " that he must be very cautious of saying any thing before the queen that looked like a disrespect to her father, which she never forgave ; and that the marquis of Halifax had lost all manner of credit with her for his unseasonable jesting upon this subject. That he, the duke, might depend upon what she said to him to be strictly true, though she would not always tell the whole truth ; and that he must not take it for granted that she was of his opinion every time she did not think fit to contradict him." This princess, asking the cause of her father's resentment against M. Jurieu, was told by bishop Burnet, " that it was on account of some indecencies spoken of Mary queen of Scots." Ou -which she replied, " Jurieu must support the cause he defends in the best way he can. If what he says of the queen of Scots be true, he is not to be blamed for the use he makes of it. If princes will do ill things, they must expect the world will take revenge on their memories, since they cannot reach their persons." 218 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. dresses were returned, and extraordinary supplies it> Treves, Mentz, Cologne, and the elector pala- tine ; the dukes of Savoy and Hanover ; the bi- shops of Munster, Liege, &c. &c. To this illus- trious assembly his Britannic majesty addressed himself in an eloquent and pathetic speech, repre- senting to them ef the imminent dangers to which they ^vere exposed from the power and HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN BOOK r. ambition of France. In the circumstances they iGyi. were in," he said, " it was not indeed a time to deliberate so much as to act. Everyone ought to be persuaded, that their respective and parti- cular interests were comprised in the general one. If /not opposed with united vigor, {be enemy would like a torrent carry every thing before them. Against such power and such injustice it was in vain to oppose complaints or clamors, or unprofitable protestations. Nothing but the force of superior armies could put a stop to his conquests, or rescue Europe from the impending ruin. As to himself, he would neither spare his forces, credit, nor person, in so just and neces- sary a design. And he proposed to appear, in the spring, himself at the head of the army of the allies, and they might depend upon his royal word for the strict performance of his engage- ment." Actuated by the same spirit, and animated by the example of their head, the assembly came, without delay or hesitation, to the most vigorous resolutions : and it was agreed to employ in the ensuing campaign 222,000 men against France, of which aggregate number each state was to furnish its specific and equitable proportion. The congress broke up early in March ; and it is re- marked by historians, that no disputes relative to precedency, or any perplexing etiquette of state, WILLIAM III. 223 i so common in assemblies of this nature, impeded BOOK i. their deliberations. In the presence of the king 1691. of England, whose character was marked by sim- plicity., who was above all ostentation, and whose dignity descended not to call in the assistance of pride to its support, those frivolous and minute distinctions which appear in the eyes of the vul- gar of all ranks so important, shrunk into their native nothingness. : The king, after passing some weeks at his fa- vorite residence at Loo, embarked for England, and arrived safely at Whitehall on the 13th of April (1691). The chief event which occurred Conspiracy against the during the absence of the king, was the discovery G of a conspiracy against the government, ill-con- certed indeed, and imperfectly digested. No- tice being given to lord Carmarthen, about the end of December, by the owner of a vessel at Barking in Essex, that it was taken up to carry some unknown persons to France, it was so con- trived that it should be boarded under the pretext of searching for seamen the moment she fell down to Gravesend ; when three passengers were found in the hold, who proved to be lord Preston, secre- tary of state to king James ; Ashton, who had occupied a place in the household of the late queen ; and one Elliot. Certain p'apers which Ashton attempted to throw into the sea were also secured, and lord Preston's sea) of office. 224- HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK r. Upon examining the papers, they were found of 1691. a very miscellaneous nature. The most remark- able of them was styled ' ( The Result of a Con- ference between some Lords and Gentlemen, both Tories and Whigs, respecting the Restora- tion of King James/' though, as the paper adds, " without endangering the protestant religion and civil administration according to the laws of this kingdom." For such was the rage of faction, as to prevent their discerning the utter incompa- tibility of these things ; and even to cast a veil over the deep moral and political guilt of endea- vouring, from motives of personal animosity., in- terest, or caprice, to subvert a government law- fullv established. The counter-revolution in view *j being however professedly founded on whig prin- ciples, and designed to be carried into effect by the instrumentality chiefly of the whig party, this strange paper was drawn up in a high strain of liberty, such as would have given probably at the court of St. Gennaine's nearly as much of- fence as the most hostile manifesto. " The na- tural wealth and power of these kingdoms being," as it is expressed, "in the hands of the protest- ants, the king may think of nothing short of a protestant administration, nor of nothing more for the catholics than a legal liberty of conscience He may reign a catholic in devotion, but he must reign a protestant in government He must WILILAM III. 225 give us a model of this at St. Germaine's, by pre- BOOK T. ferring the protestants tiiat were with him above the catholics." And from the general tenor of this paper, and of the declaration annexed, it is plain that the whigs concerned in this political intrigue for with regard to them the business had not advanced,, and in all probability never would 'have advanced farther insisted upon no- thing less, on the part of the king, than an entire surrender of himself into their hands. Among a great number of letters, were two by Dr. Tur- ner, bishop of Ely, -to the king and queen, under the names of Mr. aad Mrs. Redding, full of ex- pressions of high-flown Joy alty, and assuring them tf that he spoke the sentiments of his elder bro- ther and the rest of his relations." In a paper of memorandums in the hand-writing of lord Preston were found the names of the lords Dorset* Cprnwallis, Montague, Stamford, Shrewsbury,, Macclesfield, Monmouth, Devonshire immedi- ately after which follow the words * and both lord Pnton and Mr. Ashton were pronounced guilty. The latter, a blind and honest bigot, suffered with great resolution ; but the former, who was supposed to have com- municated the whole secret of the intrigue or conspiracy to the government, was ultimately pardoned. Shortly after, a proclamation was is- sued for the apprehending the bishop of Ely, Mr. James Graham, and Penn the famous quaker, noted for his attachment to the Stuarts. But they had previously absconded, as it was, appa- rently, the intention of government they should. The earl of Clarendon, uncle to the queen, who had refused the oaths, was committed to the Tower : but after a confinement of some months, though his guilt was indubitably ascertained bjr the intercepted letters, he was released by the king's order, out of tenderness to the queen^ and merely confined to his house in the country. Lord Dartmouth was also sent to the Tower, where he soon after died, and was buried with funeral honours. Upon the whole, the wisdom and dis- cretion of the government were conspicuous in the whole of this transaction: no one of the whig lords, supposed privy to it, being questioned ; but on the contrary the evidence against them was WILLIAM III. 227 assiduously suppressed ; and all things reverted BOOK L to their former state, without any farther or more 1091. valuable sacrifice than the life of the unfortunate Ash ton. At this period it was, however, judiciously de- Eepriva- J tion of th termined to brine matters to a crisis with respect N< . Bishops. to the non-juring bishops and clergy, who were now deprived of their sees and preferments, to the general satisfaction of the nation. Even those of the prelates who had acquired such unbounded popularity by their opposition to royal despotism, in the late reigri, experienced little sympathy in their present sufferings in consequence of what was now called their obstinate and factious defiance of the national will. The vacancies were supplied with men of such known candor and moderation, that it was plain the present tory ministers were either too wise to attempt, or had too little influ- ence to effect, the revival of the high church maxims usually associated with the political prin- ciples of their party. Amongst these promotions we find the eminent and venerable names of Til- lotson, Sharp, More, Cumberland, and Patrick. Nothing more provoked the resentment and cha- grin of the non-juring party at this juncture, than the defection of the famous Sherlock, master of the Temple, after a long and pertinacious refusal to submit to the oaths, and his public justification of his conduct in so doing. This was a great tri- umph to the court ; and he was immediately re- q2 HISTORY OF CHEAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. warded, for what one party styled his happy .1-691. conversion, and the other his faithless apostacy, by the acquisition of the rich deanery of St. Paul's. Campaign Early in the month of May ( 1691 ) the king;, in pursuance of his resolution to command, in person the grand confederate army, embarked for Hol- land, and after a speedy and prosperous voyage arrived safely at the Hague. The affairs of the continent were at this period in a truly critical cha " c ' er state. Leopold, emperor of Germany, nominal peror Leo- chief of the league of Augsburg, was not one of those princes whose characters are calculated to adorn the page of history. Weak, haughty, superstitious, and exercising a cruel despotism over his own subjects, he was ill qualified or en- titled to stand forward as the champion of the liberties of Europe. Vain and insolent in pro- sperity, mean and pusillanimous in adversity, he possessed neither the esteem nor affection of his co-estates of the empire : from his want of capa- city only he was not the object of their fears*. It * When the capital of this empire was besieged by the Turks, the emperor retired for safety to Lintz, without making any effort for averting the impending ruin. After the ever memorable defeat of the Ottoman army under the walls of Vi- enna, by the famous John Sobieski, this imperial ingrate sought to decline an interview with his deliverer and, finding it un- avoidable, he conducted himself with the most disgusting cold- ness sad affectation of superiority. The king of Poland, per- WILLIAM III. 229 was the power of France which excited the uni- BOOK versal dread : and the empire had never, since the 1691. aera of the rivalship of the two great houses of Bourbon and Austria, been so entirely united in interest, design, and desire. But averting their eves with disdain from their immediate chief, as altogether incompetent to the accomplishment of so great an object, the Germanic princes fixed their attention exclusively on the king of Eng- land, even previous to his elevation to the royal dignity, and while merely prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, as the real and efficient head of the grand confederacy formed for the pur- pose of humbling the pride, and of opposing an insuperable barrier to the encroachments of France. They saw in him all the qualities of a patriot and a hero ; and the influence of preju dice and calumny operating feebly beyond a cer- tain sphere, his character appeared in a higher and truer light to the surrounding nations than to the majority of persons in England itself* where, in his situation, every word and action of ceiving and despising his meanness, only said in return to his reluctant acknowledgments : " I am glad, brother, that I have been able to do your majesty this little service." By a popular 3nd felicitous allusion the cardinal archbishop of Vienna preach- ed on tliis great occasion a thanksgiving sermon, in the cathe- dral of St. Stephen, on the text of scripture, " There was 3 man sent from God, whose name was JOHN." 230 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. his life was liable to the most injurious and ma- 1691. lignant misrepresentations. "Retrospect ft has already been related,, that the continen- of the Af- * fairs of the tal war began on the part of France with a fu- Continent. ^ D f rious irruption into the empire, and the most horrid devastation of the provinces bordering upon the Rhine. The confederacy against France was such as had never been equalled in Europe. All the contiguous countries., Switzerland ex- cepted, were engaged in it as principals ; yet it was remarked, and it could not fail to excite ad- miration, that, though thus every way sur- rounded with enemies, she neither displayed any signs of despondency, nor made any unbecom- ing submissions. But, on the contrary, she pre- pared to exert her strength, spirit, and genius, in proportion to the difficulties and dangers that threatened her ; and, single as she was, entered the lists against them all. But the honor she ac- O quired by her magnanimity she sullied by her cruelties ; and the smoking ruins of the cities of Spire, Worms, Manheim, Oppenheim, and Hei- delberg, were the trophies of her detestable tri- umphs. 1689. At the commencement of the campaign of 1689, the French were almost entire masters of the three ecclesiastical electorates ; but the marechal de Duras, who commanded their armies on the Rhine, found it extremely difficult to WILLIAM III. 231 maintain his conquests. Early in the same year BOOK i. an offensive and defensive confederacy, which KJSQ. afterwards obtained the name of the Grand Al- liance, from the number and rank of the princes England and potentates who acceded to it, was signed be- ^Grand tween the emperor and the States General at Vi- enna, to which the king of England was eagerly invited, and in a short time assented to become- a party; though the treaty was not signed in form by the ambassadors of England till the 9th of December ( 1689). By the articles of this con- federacy it was agreed that neither of the high contracting powers shall enter into a separate ne- gotiation, and that no peace shall be concluded till the treaties of Westphalia and the Pyrenees shall be fully vindicated and restored. To this treaty were appended two secret articles ; by the first of which England and Holland engaged to assist the emperor, in case of the death of the king of Spain without issue, to take possession of the Spanish monarchy with all its dependencies; and, by the second, to use their endeavours that the emperor's eldest son, the archduke Joseph, should be speedily elected king of the Romans, The imperial court, in conjunction with the States General and the princes of the empire, brought three great armies into the field. At the bead of the first, the duke of Lorraine, a general of the highest talen^ invested the city of Mentz. 232 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK T. The grand battery against this place was opened i<58p. with a general and tremendous discharge of can- non, bombs., &c. accompanied by a grand cho- rus of hautboys,, trumpets., and kettle-drums. The garrison of it under the able conduct of M. Capture of D'Uxelles, governor of Mentz, made frequent fierce and desperate sallies ; and the Germans., who considered themselves as the avengers of their bleeding country, repelled the several attacks with heroic courage. ' ' Every day the sun rose and set in Woodland every hour produced some new spec- tacle of horror *." After a gallant defence of two months, this formidable fortress surrendered on honorable terms of capitulation. The elector of Brandenburg, receiving from the baron de Berensau the keys of Rheinberg, sat down before Keisarswart, which held out but a short time. He then attempted Bonne, a Snccessesof much more important place. Here his success ies ' was doubtful, till the duke of Lorraine led part of his army, after the conquest of Mentz, to his assistance. Bonne then demanded to capitulate, after fifty-five days' blockade and twenty-six days' close siege. This was the last campaign in which the great duke of Lorraine, as he is generally styled, ap- peared in the field. This prince died at Veltz, a village near Lintz, early in the succeeding * Ralph, vol. ii. p. 160. WILLIAM III. 233 spring, about forty-eight years of age. Upon BOOKI. his death-hed he wrote the following letter, ex- 1639. pressive of the magnanimity of his character, to the emperor Leopold: "In compliance with Death of . ' f theDukeof your sacred majesty s commands 1 set out trom Lorraine. Inspruck to repair to Vienna, hut I am stopped here hy a more powerful master. I am going to give an account to him of a life which I have entirely devoted to your service. Rememher that I leave behind me a wife who is nearly re- lated to you, children who have no inheritance but my sword, and subjects who are in oppres- sion." In Flanders, the prince of Waldeck was op- posed by the marechal d'Humieres, at the head of a superior army Nothing memorable passed on this side, except that on the 15th of August ( 1689) an attempt was made by the French gene- ral to surprise the allies, then encamped near Walcourt, while a part of the army was engaged on a grand foraging excursion. The enemy were, however, repulsed by extraordinary efforts of ac- tivity and valor, with the loss of 2000 men. The English troops under the earl of Marlborough particularly distinguished themselves on this oc- casion; and the prince of Waldeck declared, that the English general had acquired in one day what others could gain only in years. On the side of Catalonia, the due de Noailles 234 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK L took the town and citadel of Campredon \vhicli i6s J vf Baden, dinary virtues and talents, he lost his life, A. D^ 1691, gloriously fighting in an engagement with the Germans., commanded by the Prince of Baden, at Salankaman on the Danube. His death was followed, as might be expected, by a total defeat of the Turkish army ; and the empe- ror was now anew prompted to persevere in the prosecution of a war, in the course of which he \VILLIAM III. 243 had risen from a state of the lowest political de- BOOK T. pression to so exalted a height of fortune. The 10*91. apprehensions of his imperial majesty respecting the defection of his great ally the king of Poland, who was married to a French princess, and whose sentiments in relation to the object of the Augs- burg confederacy had been regarded as some- what doubtful, were now also happily removed. 1691. barrassed bj the Indian governors, opposed by the French,, the Butch, and the Danes, they admitted that their returns had diminished, and the ma- nagement of their affairs was become more diffi- cult ; that nevertheless the company was so far from being in a bankrupt condition, that they were abundantly able to satisfy all demands, and to c.irry on their trade with as large a stock, and, as they had now reason to believe, to as much advantage as ever ; that in truth it was not on account of their supposed poverty, but their sup- lows : "ALL the ENGLISH having made an humble submissive petition, that the ill crimes they have done may be pardoned ; and requested a noble phirmaund to make their being forgiven manifest, and sent their vakeels to the heavenly palace, the most illustrious in the world, to obtain the royal favor ; and Ettimaund Chaune the governor of Snrat's representation to the famous court, equal to the skies, being arrived, that they would prestiit the great king with a fine of 150,000 rupees to Lis nohld trea; Ui'y resembling the sun, and would restore the merciian*V goo'is they took away to the owners of them, and would walk by the ancient customs of the port, and behave themselves for the future no more in such a shameful manner : WHEREFORE his majesty, according to his daily favor to all people of the world, hath pardoned their faults, mercifully forgiving them ; and out of his princely condescension agrees that the present be put into the treasury of the port, the merchants' goods be returned, the town flourish, and they follow their trade as in former times, and Mr. Child, who did the disgrace, be turned out and expelled. THIS OKDER is IRREVERSIBLE." WILLIAM III. 251 posed wealth, that all this clamor had been let BOOK j. loose against them ; that, as to their postponing 1691. their payments, it was no more than had been done, not only by the chamber of London, but even the exchequer itself; that, upon the whole, they had done nothing to forfeit the protection of the government, the good opinion of the people, or the powers and privileges granted to them by their charters ; and whatever national improve- ments the trade was capable of, might be as well obtained on the present model as under any other." After long and vehement debates, the house of commons passed a series of resolutions upon the ground of which fc it might be proper to prolong and continue the charter of the present com- pany." The company thought good to accede to these conditions, among which were several very hard of digestion ; particularly the resolu- tions enjoining that no one person should have or possess any share of East India stock exceed- ing 5000/., and that all persons now having above the sum of 5000/. in the stock of the present company, in their own or other persons' names, be obliged to sell so much thereof as should ex- ceed the said sum of 5000/. at the rate of 100/. in money for every 100Z. stock. A committee was at length appointed to prepare and bring in a bill to establish an East India company accord- 252 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. ing to the regulations and resolutions agreed to 1(392. by the house. In the month of January 1692, a bill was brought in accordingly ; but the efforts .of their enemies were now redoubled ; new peti- tions were presented against them; the temper of the house suddenly changed, and they came to an ultimate resolution, ee that an humble address be presented to his majesty, to dissolve the East India company, according to the powers reserved in their charter, and to constitute another East India company, for the better preserving of the East India trade to this kingdom, in such man- ner as his majesty in his royal wisdom should think fit." This address was presented by the whole house ; and though it could not be unac- ceptable to the court, as throwing the power en- tirely into their hands, the king replied with ap- parent indifference, " that this was a matter of very great importance to the trade of the king- dom ; that he would consider of it ; and that in a short time he would give the commons a posi- tive answer." The farther management of this iiitricate business was now transferred to the privy council ; but when the earl of Nottingham as^secretary of state, in the May following sent the company a copy of the conditions agreed upon by the lords of the council, in order to a re- newal of their charter, they objected to almost every article, and generally with very good WILLIAM III. 253 reason, as imposing absurd and impolitic re- BOOKI. straiiits on the freedom of commerce : and in a 1692^ separate memorial, they endeavour to shew that the present constitution of the company needed no material alteration, and admitted no essential improvement ; and in this state of suspense the contest remained till the commencement of the succeeding session. On the 29th of February 1692, the king, in a gracious speech, had ac- quainted the two houses with his intention of going beyond sea very speedily, and prorogued the parliament. Somewhat previous to this period, the earl of D ; s?raceof MarTborough, who had ever appeared to be ItJiSSi** high favor with the king, was suddenly disgraced; rou s h the earl of Nottingham demanding of him, by the king's order, the resignation of all his offices, civil and military : and in May following he was committed to the Tower on a charge of high treason ; and, as it is expressed in the warrant of council, (C of abetting and adhering to their ma- jesties* enemies." Though the specific accusa- tion on which the warrant was issued proved sub- sequently false and scandalous, there unhappily intrigue* exists incontrovertible evidence that the earl of with the Marlborough, in common with many other per- st. Ger. sons of high rank and consequence, held a clan-* n destine and unlawful correspondence with the court of St. Germaine's ; and the disgrace of that HISTORY OE GREAT BRITAIN. nobleman was beyond all reasonable doubt ow- ing to the authentic information received by the king of his treasonable practices. The dark and crooked policy of those who engaged in this ex- traordinary scene of dissimulation, makes it ex- tremely questionable whether any measures were really taken by them with a view to facilitate the restoration of the late king. The earl of Marl- borough, who was perhaps the greatest adept in this Machiavelian school, wrote, as appears, let- ters of deep contrition to the court of St. Ger- maiae's, imploring pardon and forgiveness for his past conduct, which James thought it expedient to grant, though he justly entertained the greatest doubts respecting his present sincerity, and which his recent services at Cork and Kinsale \vere ill calculated to remove. A message was moreover sent by Marlborough to James, en- gaging to excite a revolt in the army ; of which being after a considerable interval reminded, he declared that he had been misunderstood by the person, captain Lloyd, who conveyed it. On which James remarked, " that he suspected Churchill wished to regain his confidence only to be able a second time to betray him." Not only were such flagitious or problematic characters as Sunderland, Halifax, Monmouth, Marlborough, &c. deeply involved in these machinations and cabals, but men of the greatest private, and, in WILLIAM III. 253 other respects, public virtue Godolphin, Shrews- BOOK i. bury, and Russel. Even the marquis of Car- ^JQ^ marthen, one of the heads of the present ad- ministration, became a plotter or pretended plot- ter against the government : but the character of the earl of Nottingham, to his lasting honor, stands untainted and unimpeached *. About the end of the year 1690, it appears that colonel Bulkley and colonel Sackville arrived from St. Germaine's in England, and applied with success to the lords Godolphin., Halifax, and Marlbo- rough ; and a promise of pardon being not only obtained, but executed in form, Shrewsbury and Carmarthen professed their conversion. The ad- mirals Russel and Carter followed their example ; and in a short time also the princess of Denmark joined the same party. Some months afterwards the earl of Middleton was sent over to England. A considerable time was spent in adjusting terms,, because the whigs, and particularly Russel, con- tended for concession after concession for the se- curity of the constitution. At length all things were settled, and the court of St. Germaine's ob- tained assurances that the army would be di- rected by Marlborough, the fleet by Russel, and * Vide the Dalrymple and M'Pherson Collections of State Papers, passim, 256 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. EOOK i. the church by the Princess Anne. Marlborough 1692. was, at his own request, and as a refinement of dissimulation, excepted from the declaration of pardon. During the preparations for an inva- sion, the correspondence between Rugsel and James continued ; in the course of which Russel entreated James to prevent the two fleets from meeting, warning him, that, as an officer and an Englishman, it behoved him to fire upon the first French ship that he met, although he saw James upon the quarter-deck : arid he complained that proper provision was not yet made for the secu- rity of the subject so that James was provoked to say, tc RusseFs views were not so much di- rected to serve him, as from republican principles to degrade monarchy in his person. If he missed the French fleet, he would claim credit with him; if he met it, he would, as was manifest, use his utmost efforts in favor of his rival." In the books of the privy council, May 3, 1692, there is a warrant for seizing Bulkley, Lloyd, and Middleton ; and on the 23d of June following the names of Shrewsbury, Halifax, and Marl- borough, were struck out of the council-book. The most easy and obvious mode of^ccounting for the prevalence of a conduct so treacherous, is the extreme apprehension which appears to have been almost universally entertained of the even- WILLIAM III. 57 fuil restoration of the late king. For the extra- POOKL ordinary political revolutions which had taken 1693. place in the course of the last half century the dethronement and death of king Charles I. the establishment of a commonwealth., with its sudden subversion the consequent restoration of king Charles II. the deposition and expulsion of James., and the surprising advancement of the prince of Orange to the crown, made the re- establishment of the late king appear incompa- rably more feasible to the contemporary actors than it is now easy, to credit or conceive sup- ported, as it must ever be remembered, James at this period was, by the mighty and, in the cur- rent opinion of numbers, irresistible power of France. A great coolness had for some time subsisted Prince and Princess of between the king and queen, and the prince and Denmark princess of Denmark, on account of an ap plica- pear at the tion made by the princess to parliament for an St. James's. independent revenue without the privity of the king, and tne actual grant of the sum of 50,0007. per annum, by the house of commons, out of the civil list for that purpose. This misunderstand- ing was now much heightened by the refusal of the princess, at the request or rather command of the queen, to dismiss the countess of Marlbo- rough from her household, where she had long occupied the station of first lady of the bedcham- VOL. i s 258 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK i. her, and had possessed the highest place in the 1693. affection and favor of her royal mistress. From this time the prince and princess of Denmark no longer appeared in the court of St. James's, and the rupture in the royal family became unavoid- ably public #nd visible to all. 'ihcd') *: t^njjsTi 'ip. ,{>3uiio WILLIAM III. 259 BOOK II. King embarks for Holland. Namur captured by the French. Battle of Ste:nkirk. Grandcal's Plot. Campaign on the Rhine, $rc. Hanover erected into a ninth Electorate. Ma- chinations of the Jacobites. Victory off La Hogue. Session of Parliament. Earl of Marlborough released from the Tower. Dismission of Admiral Russel. Affairs of the East India Company. Royal Assent refused to the Triennial Bill. Enquiry into the State of Ireland. Sir John Somers made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. Battle of Landen. Charle- roy taken by M. Luxemburg. Campaign on the Rhine. Sack of Heidelberg. Battle of Marsiglia. Smyrna Fleet captured. Affairs of Scotland. Massacre of Glencoe. Re- markable Declaration of K. James. Intrigues of the Court of St. Germaine's. Earl of Nottingham dismissed. Earl of Sunderland in favor with the King. Death of the Mar- aids of Halifax. Whigs regain their Ascendency. Pacific Advances of France rejected. Royal Assent refused to the Place Bill. Bank of England established. Affairs of the East India Company. State of Ireland. The Lords Justices Coningsby and Porter impeached. Mr. Montague constituted Chancellor of the Exchequer. Campaign in Flanders, #c. Admiral Wheeler -shipwrecked. Disastrous Attempt on Brest. Session of Parliament. Triennial Act passed. Death of Archbishop Tillotson and of Bancroft. Illness and Death of the Queen. Princess of Denmark reconciled to the King. Speaker of the House of Commons expelled the House. Duke of Leeds impeached for Malversations in Office. Sir William t 2 260 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. Trumbull made Secretary of State. Affairs of Scotland. African Company established. State of Ireland. Wise Go- vernment of Lord Capel. ^^ ON the 5th of March 1692 the king embarked 1692. f or Holland, and arrived in a few davs afterwards King em- barks for at Loo ; whence he quickly repaired to the army, now assembled near Louvain. Through the in- fluence and at the express recommendation of the t king of England, the Elector of Bavaria had been recently appointed governor of the Spanish Ne- therlands, through whose care and activity those provinces exhibited a.much better posture of de- fence than formerly ; and great hopes were anew entertained of a successful campaign, especially as M. de Louvois, who was supposed the soul of the French councils, was now dead. The offices so long held by that minister had been* con- ferred upon his son, the marquis de Barbesieux, whose capacity was considered and proved by sub- sequent experience to be of a very inferior class. The king of France took the field in person, at- tended by a vast retinue, in Asiatic pomp, and on the 20th of May 1692 joined the army under the command of marechal Luxemburg, which he found in excellent order, furnished with all things necessary for the attempting some great exploit. The French army being put in motion on the 23d, the confederates were in pain for Charlcroy : but the storm burst on the other side. On a sudden, WILLIAM lit. the French monarch, assisted by the mareclials BOOK IL JBoufflers and Vauban, sat down before Namur, 1^3. while the duke of Luxemburg covered the sieire. o NAMUR, situated at the confliix of the Sarnbre Namurcap- . . .turedbythe and Maese, is accounted one of the strongest French, fortresses in the Low Countries* and it was de- fended by a numerous garrison commanded by the prince de Barbazon. Of this officer the king had conceived an ill opinion ; but the elector of Bavaria, loth to disgrace a person of his high rank upon a mere suspicion, contented himself with ordering the count de Thian to accompany him in the siege, with instructions to watch his conduct. But the event shewed how essential to the success of great designs are the qualities of vigor and decision. The French army opened their trenches in the night of the 29th of May ; and on the 5th of June, when the attack had scarcely com- menced, the town capitulated, on condition that thegarrison should be allowed forty hours to retire into the citadel. King William was on his march towards the Mehaigne, in order to relieve the place, when he received notice of this surprising event, and that the French had invested the cita- del. Having received large reinforcements, and. his army now amounting to upwards of 100,000 men, he resolved to venture a battle, in the hope of savingthisgrundbulwark of the Low Countries. 262 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK IT. Unfortunately, very heavy rains falling swelled to 1692. a great height the waters of the Mehaigne, which flowed between the king's army and that of mare- chal Luxemburg, and swept away the bridges. When the floods had abated, the French general had fortified the passes to his camp in such a manner as to render an attack impracticable. The citadel of Namur was covered with a new work called Fort William,, constructed by the famous Cohorn, and defended by that great en- gineer in person. This fort being attacked by M. Vauban, a name no less celebrated in mili- tary tactics, an extraordinary contention of scien- tific and professional skill was now exhibited. But by a fatal mischance, M. Cohorn himself being dangerously wounded in one of the assaults, all spirit and confidence was extinguished, and the cliamade forthwith beat, on the presumption that the fort was no longer defensible. The cita- del, after a faint and feeble resistance for a place of such strength and importance, surrendered on the 30th of June ; and the king of France im- mediately left the camp in order to celebrate his triumph at Versailles, having prepared his way by an ostentatious letter addressed to the arch- bishop of Paris, commanding a solemn Tc Deum to be sung on this great occasion in the cathedral church of Notre Dame. Disappointed in his attempt to raise the siege WILLIAM TIL of Namur, king William formed a design of sur- BOOK ir. prising the city of Mons ; but was prevented 1692. by the vigilance of Luxemburg. After various marches and counter-marches, the French army took a very advantageous positionbetween Enghien and Steinkirk, covered by a wood and thickhedges, traversed by narrow and intricate defiles. Here the king of England, passing the Senne in view of the enemy, determined upon a general attack, having received very erroneous information re- specting the nature of the ground, which was found in the event extremely impracticable. On Sunday, July 24th, 1692, the prince of Wirtein- Battle of 7 J Steinkirk berg, sustained by General Mackay at the head of the British infantry, advanced to the assault of the enemy's right, through a deep defile, ter- minating in a small plain in view of the French camp. The word being given, the onset was made with such vigor, that the French, surprised and thrown into consternation, abandoned their lines in the utmost disorder and confusion ; and if the first column of attack had been properly supported, according to all appearances the battle had been won. But . count Solmes, who com*- manded the centre, though repeatedly applied to by messages to march forward in order to sustain the van, still delayed ; and when a positive com- mand from the king himself at length arrived, he detached a body of cavalry, which he knew from 264 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. the nature of the ground could not act, and ,1692. ordered the foot to halt, saving to those about him, " Let us see what sport these English bull- dogs will make us !" The king astonished and enraged at this disobedience, brought up in person the reserve of infantry to the relief of the van. But it was now too late. M. de Luxemburg had time to rally his broken battalions, which task he performed with great and consummate skill ; the princes of the blood and nobles leading them, under his direction, back to the conflict, and charging sword in hand. Four hours this dread- ful, scene of carnage lasted, and never was en- counter more obstinate and bloody. The allies at length overpowered by numbers, and exhaust- ed by fatigue, were compelled to give way, de- spairing of effectual support. The king, who had impatiently expected the approach of count Solmes, was heard repeatedly to exclaim, " O my poor English ! how they are abandoned !" He now displayed all the ability and presence of mind of a great general, in re-forming the troops and restoring order and confidence. But the night drawing on precluded a renewal of the at- tempt, and a general retreat was thought neces- sary, which was performed, under the immediate direction of the king, with great judgment and military skill. The conduct of count Solmes on this disastrous day could never be adequately WILLIAM 'III.V! 205 ' accounted for. It was only known, that he hated BOOK it. the English, and was extremely jealous of the ICKO. prince of Wirtemberg, having himself aspired to the command of the column of attack. Being- an officer in great estimation with the Dutch, he was never punished for his misconduct as he deserved; but the king would not admit him into his presence * - for many months after. Previous to the engage- ment, Millevoix, a detected spy, had been com- pelled by menaces to mislead the French general with false intelligence, importing that lie need not be alarmed at the motions of the allies., who intended next day to make a general forage. .The reputation lost by Luxemburg upon this 00 casion, in suffering himself to be surprised, he more than retrieved by his subsequent exertions The loss of the French, nevertheless, in this en- gagement, was at least as great as that sustained by the allies, who had to regret two excellent officers, in the generals Mackay and Lanier, and about 6 or 7000 men killed, wounded, and pri- soners. M. de Feuquieres acknowledges, " that the design of the king of England in this attack was truly great, but that he ought not to have disposed his forces in order of battle when they had passed through the defiles; but, as he marched them in different columns through those defiles, he should have attacked the front of the French camp in the same order, and on the same direc- 66 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. tion, to take the whole benefit of the enemy's 1692. first surprise, to penetrate their lines, to hinder their forming at all, and to improve the confusion so created into a perfect rout." After this action, nothing of consequence \vas attempted on cither side during the remaining part of the campaign. A horrid conspiracy against the life of king K:. William was discovered in the month of August 1692. It appears that this plot was formed in the course of the last year; that M. de Grandval, a captain of dragoons in the French service, M. Dumont, and colonel Parker, had proposed this assassination to M. Louvois, wholistened to it with approbation. But the design proved abortive through the want of resolution on the part of Dimioiit, who retired in the close of the year to Hanover. Suspicions arising from hints dropped by Dumont, and reported to the king's envoy at Hanover, that some dangerous design was in agitation, one Leefdale, a Dutchman, was sent to France as a spy, who, ingratiating himself into the confidence of Grandval, pretended to engage as an accomplice in the conspiracy; and Dumont at length revealed all the circumstances of the plot to the duke of Zell. Grandval, having ac- companied Leefdale to Holland, was arrested at Eyndhoven. When he found that Dumont and Leefdale had turned informers, he made a free and full confession of the >vhole business. Being WILLIAM III. afterwards tried by a court-martial, of which tlie BOOK 11. earl of Athlone was president, he was unani- i yj. mously convicted, and soon afterwards executed in the camp. The particulars of his confession, as enumerated in the sentence of the court-martial, are extremely remarkable. It appears, " that the marquis de Barbesieux, having found the project of this plot among his father's papers, held several conferences with the assassins respect- ing it ; and that the plan was finally agreed upon with this minister that on the 16th of April 1692, Grandval, Leefdale, and Parker, went to St. Germaine's to speak with the late king James about the said design, who had knowledge of it, and to take leave of him before they began their journey that the prisoner had audience of the king, the queen being present ; the king telling him : ' Parker has given me an account of the business : if you and the other officers do me this service, you shall never want.' That the prisoner, with Chanlais (quarter-master general to the French king) and Leefdale, were agreed in what manner the assassination should be committed ; viz. that when the king should ride along the lines, or should go out to take any view, &c. Dumont should lie in ambuscade and fire upon the king ; that Chanlais should be w 7 ith 3000 horse at the duke of Luxemburg's grand guard : the prisoner saying, that it little concerned them whether HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. Dumont should be taken or not, provided they 1602 could escape themselves that the prisoner, as they were travelling, told Leefdale, that, their design taking place, the alliance among the con- federate princes would be broken ; that the princes concerned would each of them recall their troops, that, the country being thereby left without soldiers, the king of France would easily make himself master of it, and king James would be re- tored again that the prisoner, with Leefdale, went to the mayor of Bois-le-duc, and was appre- hended at Eyndhoven." However black the colors in which this confession, which was verv lon: and / cm circumstantial, exhibited the courts of Versailles and St. Germaine, no disavowal or attempt at confutation appeared, but it was suffered to pass with every symptom of conscious guilt into silent oblivion. campaign The campaign on the Rhine this year furnished Rhine &c. no evem *- worthy of historic notice. The same lb92 * may be said of the war in Catalonia. In Hungary, the important town of Great Waradin surrender- ed to the Imperial arms after a long blockade. The superiority of the confederates seemed this year conspicuous, chiefly on the side of Italy ; the duke of Savoy, accompanied by M. Schom- berg and prince Eugene, making a formidable irruption into Dauphine, crossing the Durance, reducing Fort Guiliestre, with the towns of WILLIAM III. 269 Anibrun and Gap. Marechal Catinat, at the BOOKIL head of an inconsiderable force, exerted himself itkp. in vain to stop the progress of the allies, who threatened the city of Grenoble, and even Lyons itself. Large contributions were levied, and near eighty chateaus and villages destroyed, in revenge for the ravages committed by the French in the Palatinate. France has rarely been exposed to a more dangerous attack. M. Schomberg, who commanded the English auxiliaries, published a declaration in the name of the king of England, inviting all persons to repair to his standard, and assuring them " that his majesty had no other aim in causing his forces to enter France, than to restore the nobility and gentry to their ancient splendor, the parliaments to their former autho- rity, and the PEOPLE to their just privileges." This manifesto, however honorable and noble its object, produced in the present enslaved and torpid condition of the country very little effect; and it may easily be supposed not very palatable to the other powers of the alliance. From what- ever cause they might originate, dissensions arose and differences of opinion prevailed amongst the generalsof an army composed of Italians, English, Germans, and Spaniards. A dangerous illness which at this time seized the duke of Savoy, the vigilance of Catinat, who had possessed himself of some important passes, and the approach of 270 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN", JBOOK IT. winter, made it expedient to think of a retreat ; 1692. an d after demolishing the fortifications of Am- brun, they evacuated their conquests with a faci- lity and rapidity not inferior to that with which they had been acquired. The protestaiit interest in Germany acquired v erected into . a ninth this year an accession of strength,, by the creation Electorate. . . , of a ninth electorate in favor of Ernest Augustus duke of Hanover. Renouncing its ancient con-* nection with France, that serene House now formed new ties of amity and alliance with Encv land; and it was in consequence of the powerful interposition of king "William that the Emperor at length reluctantly consented to bestow upon it this high and envied dignity ; to which was annexed the office of great marshal of the empire ; but though honored with the imperial investiture, the duke was not yet admitted to take his seat in the electoral college, the unanimous assent of the electors being found unobtainable. 3VTach5na. Towards the end of October 1692 the king; f ions, of the Jacobites, returned to England, where events of great im- portance had taken place in his absence. On the presumption that he would pass the summer months on the continent, the Jacobites had re- newed their machinations with incredible zeal and activity. So early in the year as January, co- lonel Parker arrived in England, and communi- cated in confidence tp yarious persons the design WILLIAM m. 271 of assassinating the king in Flanders, and of EOOKIJ. making at the same time a descent upon England. 10^2. He assured them that their lawful sovereign would once more visit his dominions, at the head of 30,000 men, to he embarked at La Hogue, the transport* heing already collected, and a fleet equipped for their convoy. He therefore exhorted them to he speedy and secret in their prepara- tions, that they might he in readiness to take arms and co-operate in effecting his restoration*. King James himself at the same time published a declaration, which was assiduously circulated by Parker and his other emissaries in England, importing, " that the king of France had enabled him to make another effort to retrieve his crown i and soliciting all persons to join his standard making grievous complaints of the treatment which he had met with from his infatuated sub- jects. Seeing himself deserted by his army, and betrayed by his ministers, he had for his personal safety taken refuge in France; and his retreat from the malice and cruel designs of the usurper Jiad been construed into an abdication, and the whole constitution of the monarchy destroyed by {i set of men illegally assembled. He promised pardon, and even rewards, to all those who * Vide depositions of Blair, Goodman, &c. taken before the secretary of state. 1 272 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. should return to their duty ; and engaged to pro- 1602. curc * n k* s ^ 1S * parliament an act of indemnity., with the exception nevertheless of a long cata- logue of names *, enumerated in the declaration, concluding with vague and general promises of protection to the church as by law established ; and pompous protestations of paternal care and watchful attention to the welfare and happiness of all his subjects." The agents of the late king were indefatigable in enlisting men for his service; and were particularly succe.ssfui.in the counties of York, Lancaster, and Durham, where the chief strength of the papists lay. By this time James had repaired in person to La Hogue, and was ready to embark with his army, consisting of a body of French troops, together with a con- siderable number of English and Scottish refugees, and the regiments transported from Ireland by virtue of the capitulation of Limerick. The government of England was well informed of these proceedings, in part by some agents of James, who betrayed his cause, and partly by admiral Carter, who, having been tampered with by the Jacobite emissaries, was instructed to * Amongst these were the duke of Ormond, the lords Sun- derhnd, Danby, Nottingham, Churchill, Delamere, Cornburj, &c. &c. ; the bishops of London and St. Asaph, Drs. Tillotson and Burnetj and Ed\vaids, Stnplcton, and Hunt, fishermen at Fevorsham. WILLIAM III. 273 amuse them with a negotiation. The queen BOOKII. issued a proclamation commanding all papists to ^&^"' depart from London and Westminster. War- rants were expedited for apprehending divers dis- affected persons. The earls of Huntingdon,, Marl- borough, Dunmore, and Middleton, &c. were committed to the Tower : and various other sus- pected persons imprisoned in Newgate, amongst whom was the notorious Ferguson, said to have been engaged in every plot against the govern- ment for the last thirty years. The bishop of Rochester was confined to his own house, and the lords Brudenel and Fanshaw secured. The train-bands of London and Westminster were armed by the queen's direction, and she reviewed them in person. And the grand channel fleet, under admiral Russel, was ordered to put to sea with all expedition. In consequence of a very prevailing report, not to say belief, of the'disaf- fection of the officers, the queen ordered lord Nottingham to write to the admiral, that she would change none of them ; and that she imputed the reports that had been raised to the contrivances of her enemies and theirs. This step, equally politic and generous, produced a very warm and loyal address from the naval commanders and captains, in which they vowed they were ready to die in her cause and that of their country. Far from prohibiting James's declaration, she VOL. i. T 274 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. ordered it to be published with an answer drawn ^Mfa^ by Lloyd bishop of St. Asaph thus manifesting that she submitted her title to the reason of her subjects., instead of betraying a fear that it could not stand the test of examination. On the 5th of May (1692) the admiral sailed from the Nore ; and., being anxious to join the squadrons of Carter and Delaval, then cruising on the coast of France, after being himself joined by the Dutch, he plied through the sands with a scanty wind from the Nore to the Downs, and with much difficulty and excellent seamanship ef- fected the desired junction off Beachy-head ; thus disappointing the hopes of Tourville, the French admiral/who had formed a plan to intercept them. Victory F On the 19th of May they descried the enemy's La Hogue. fleet to windward, bearing down upon them with full sail Cape Barfleur being then about seven leagues to the S. W. The English and Dutch fleets conjoined consisted of no less than ninety- nine ships of the line, being, next to the Spanish armada, the greatest armament ever seen in the English channel. The count de Tourville, though far inferior in force, had positive orders from his court to fight, under the persuasion that the Dutch had not yet left their harbours : and when he discovered his mistake, it was too late to re- treat. The count himself, in the Soleil Royal of 1 10 guns, bore down upon the English admiral WILLIAM III. 275 with great courage. The battle soon became gc- BOOK r. neral, and lasted from ten in the morning till ^ 2 . four in the afternoon,, when a thick fog arose, and for a time separated the combatants. The sun at length breaking out afresh, admiral Russel perceived the French towing away in great dis- order. The signal for a general chase was then made, which continued during the remainder of the evening, and the whole of the night, to the westward supposing they would make for the harbour of Brest? The next morning, thirty-four of the enemy's ships were seen crowding all their sail, and steering westerly. The pursuit con- tinued with redoubled vigour, without regarding the order of battle, every ship making the best of her way. - On the morning of the 22d, part of the French fleet was descried near the Race of Alderney, some at anchor, and some driving to the eastward with the tide of flood. The Soleil Royal, having lost her masts, ran ashore, together with the Admirable, another first-rate, and the Conquerant of 80 guns, near Cherbourg, where they were followed and burnt by sir Ralph De- laval. Eighteen other ships of the enemy's line stood for La Hogue; and, being unable longer to keep the sea or elude the pursuit, as a last re- source, stranded themselves as far as possible on the beach. Vice-admiral Rooke immediately ordered the boats and fireships of his squacuon, 276 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK IL under cover of several frigates, to attack them. "~^fo^ Of this extraordinary scene the troops destined for the invasion of Great Britain, and encamped at La Hogue, the late king; himself, the niarcchal de Bellefonds, the count de Tourville, &c., in common with many thousands of the people in- habiting the surrounding country, were the amazed spectators. The ships were protected on one side by cannon planted on platforms ; and on the other by shallops, manned by numerous crews with all the means of tnnovance. Re- / gardless of danger, the British sailors rent the ait* with shouts ; they crowded to the boats with an emulation of eagerness; and no sooner had they reached the ships, than they attacked them in swarms. Scarcely was there an interval between their rising from below, and their appearing masters above ; which was immediately proclaim- ed by their turning the guns upon the enemy : and all opposition being thus disarmed, they pro- ceeded to burn the ships amidst acclamations of triumph ; and, having accomplished their design, returned unmolested to the fleet. Thirteen capital ships were thus destroyed, from 84 to 60 guns each, besides transports and store-ships. During the conflict James repeatedly exclaimed with involuntary admiration, " See my brave English !" conscious, nevertheless, that he was S3 \ievving the extinction of his hopes. Sir John WILLIAM III. 277 Ashby, and admiral Allemond the Dutch com- BOOK n mander, pursued the remainder of the French ^^^ fleet,, which escaped with great difficulty through the Race of Alderney. The loss of the English and Dutch was altogether trifling. The only flag- officer killed was rear admiral Carter, who fell in the first day's engagement, leaving orders with liis captain, almost at his latest breath, to light the ship as long as she could swim. At the close of the action, James returned in mournful silence to the convent of La Trappe, there to burv in so- Despair of J theabdi- litude and despair the remembrance of his former cau-a mo - t _ .. unrch. greatness. :c He now began," as he expresses himself in his Memoirs, " to perceive that Provi- dence meant to lead him through paths of afflic- tion to his grave." From the bosom of his retreat he addressed a letter to the king of France, ac- knowledging that lf this last disaster had entirely overwhelmed him that he knew too well it was his own unlucky star which had drawn this mis- fortune upon his forces, always victorious but when they fought for his interests. He therefore entreated his Most Christian Majesty no longer to regard as an object of his concern a monarch so unfortunate as himself but permit him to retire with his family to some corner of the world, where he might cease to obstruct the usual course of his Most Christian Majesty's prosperity and con-^ quests." Louis endeavoured to alleviate his af- 278 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOKT. fliction by a kind answer, in which he generously ^160^ P rom * se d never to forsake him in the worst of his extremities. Queen Mary was no sooner informed of the glorious victory gained at La Hogue, than she sent 30,0001. to Portsmouth, to be distributed amongst the sailors. She caused medals to be struck in honour of the victory, and as tokens to the officers ; and ordered the bodies of admiral Carter and captain Hastings, killed in the battle, to be interred with great funeral pomp. A de- scent upon the coast of France was also pro- jected, and the troops actually embarked on board the transports ; but this scheme was, to the disappointment of the public, ultimately laid aside, and the regiments destined for the service sent to join the army in Flanders. WILLIAM was received on his return from abroad with very great acclamation,, notwithstand- ing the ill success of the continental campaign : the minds of the people being impressed with the idea of the naval victory, and their consequent de- liverance from a French invasion ; and their admiration excited by the heroism of the king's character, no less than their indignation at the Session of atrocious conspiracy against his life. On the Parliament. ^ Qf Noyember ( IQ^ the par li ament me t, and were addressed by the king in a very popular speech. " I am sure/' said this great monarch WILLIAM III. 279 in conclusion, cc I can have no interest but what BOOK n. is yours : we have the same religion to defend, ^Q^^ and you cannot be more concerned for the pre- servation of your liberties and properties,, than I am that you should always remain in the full possession and enjoyment of them." At a very early period after the commencement of the ses- sion, the earls of Huntingdon, Scarsdale, and Marl borough, who had been committed in May last prisoners to the Tower, where they had lain during some weeks, complained to the house of peers, that, on appearing before the judges of the King's Bench at the Michaelmas term pre- ceding, the court had refused to discharge them from their bail, or to bring them to trial, con- formably to the provisions of the habeas-corpus act. On this great debates ensued ; and the house came to a resolution, " that no peer shall be remanded to prison by the King's Bench upon his appearing before them by virtue of the habeas-corpus act, after having entered his prayer to be tried as the said act directs, or kept under bail, unless there be against him two witnesses upon oath, or in a capacity to be sworn." A day being appointed to consider in what manner to discharge the lords under bail for their re- cognizance, the house was informed, that the king had given orders for their releasement. The earl of Marlborough had been committed 280 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. to the Tower on the information of one Young 1 , i6q2. a prisoner in Newgate, who had,, as it afterwards Mad f proved, framed the draft of a treasonable asso- borough ciation to assist kins: James on his landing., to released from the seize on the person of the princess of Orange, &c. ; to which he had forged the names of archbishop Sancroft, the bishop of Rochester (Sprat), the earls of Marl borough and Salisbury, lord Corn- bury, sir Basil Firebrace, and John Wilcox. One of his emissaries had found means to secrete this paper in the library of the bishop's palace at Bromley in Kent, where it was found by the king's messengers. On the subsequent exami- nation of this prelate by the privy council, the whole villanous imposition was detected, the bishop honourably discharged, the earl of Marl- borough admitted to bail, and a bill of forgery and subornation of perjury found by the grand jury of Middlesex against Young. A misunderstanding having taken place, after the victory of La Hogue, between admiral Rus- sel and the secretary of state lord Nottingham, it was now transferred to the two parliamentary fac- tions, and converted into a political and party contest. In the house of lords the interest of the court predominated, and the earl of Nottingham was completely exculpated. In the house of commons, the advantage remained with Russel. The lower house returned the papers of the se- WILLIAM III. 281 cretary of state transmitted from the lords, with BOOKII. the declaration, that thev had read and well con- ^^C \.\}\jji, sidered the papers in question, and had unani- mously resolved, " that admiral Russel in his command of the fleets had behaved with fidelity, courage, and conduct." They also came to a very pointed vote, " that his majesty be humbly advised, for the necessary support of his govern- ment, to employ in his councils and management unavailing of his affairs such persons only whose principles oblige them to stand by him and his rights against the late king James and all other pretenders whatsoever." This was extremely invidious, and even unjust. According to the earl of Notting- ham's explanation of his own principles, when the new settlement took place, he could very con- sistently obey that king whom the nation had elected; and he had in fact served him ably, zealously, and faithfully : and the vote could have no propriety, except the earl had in any point swerved from the allegiance he had so- lemnly sworn, which might be affirmed of various of his adversaries with a much nearer approach to truth than of him. The house passed another vote, probably as little acceptable to the earl, for an address to the king, "'that in future all orders for the management of the fleet should pass through the admiralty." Also, in a grand com- mittee, the commons came to an unanimous HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. v t e * " that there had been an apparent miscar- V O^^*' rjage in the management of affairs relating to the descent the last summer." Yet on the ultimate criminatory resolution, " that one cause of the said miscarriage was the want of giving timely and necessary orders by such persons to whom the management of this matter was committed/' the friends of the earl of Nottingham so vigo- rously exerted themselves, that it was carried by a single vote only, viz. 165 to 164 so that this deep-laid project of the whigs for the disgrace and removal of the carl of Nottingham proved Admiral abortive. The king, who well knew that the Hussel di&- _ , 'ii-i missed. failure of the plan of descent was ascribable to far other causes than the negligence or incapacity of the secretary of state, took a decided part in favour of the minister, and dismissed admiral Rus- sel from the service. Affairs of In this session the affairs of the East-India Ldia com- company were resumed, and a bill ordered in for regulating, preserving, and establishing the East- India trade to this kingdom which was in fact a bill for establishing a new company under new regulations. But the progress of the bill through the house was much impeded by the interests of the old proprietors, and the whole business ter- minated in an address to the king, " that he would be pleased to dissolve the company upon . three years' warning, according to the condition WILLIAM III. 283 of their charter;" to which the king replied in &BOOK IL ambiguous terms,, declaring his intention, with a lt ^ 2 view to the good of the kingdom, to take this ad- dress into consideration. A hill of a very popular nature was at this period brought into parliament by the whigs, whose opposition to the ministry became now very powerful, " for free and impartial proceed- ings in parliament," rendering all members of the house of commons incapable of places of trust or profit. This bill, the first of a long series of place-bills which met with the same fate, passed the house of commons without difficulty, and was, after vehement debate, rejected by the lords. The earl of Mulgrave exhausted his eloquence in a celebrated speech in support of the bill ; con- cluding with the observation, Cf that, whatever success the bill might have, there must neads come some good effect of it : for, if it passes," said his lordship, cc it will give us security ; if it be ob- structed, it will give us warning." A bill of still greater importance was soon afterwards introduced by the earl of Shrewsbury, te for the frequent calling and meeting of parlia- ments." By this bill it was enacted, that a ses- sion of parliament should be held every year, and a ne\v parliament summoned every third year. It was therefore known by the appella- tion of the Triennial Bill. This bill passed the HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK IT. lords by a great majority, and, contrary to the < ^^" general expectation, was well received by the commons, notwithstanding the opposition of the courtiers ; for the whigs and the tories were now Royal AS. running a race for popularity. But the bill was sent re- rrien- ?* cx t reme ty unacceptable to the king, who regarded #11. it as a dangerous novelty, and a serious invasion of his prerogative. When he came to the house., therefore, to pass the bills which were ready, after suffer ing that in question to He long on the table, and exciting the eager curiosity and anxious ex- pectation of the by-standers, he at length refused the royal assent. Complaint having been made to the house of commons of a pamphlet written by Charles Blount, esq. entitled " King William and Queen Mary Conquerors/' it was ordered to be burnt Pastoral by the common hangman, together with a pasto- Bishop of ral letter of Burnet bishop of Sarum, containing burnt. t ne same dangerous and unconstitutional asser- tion. A similar doctrine had been inculcated by Lloyd bishop of Worcester, in a sermon preached before their majesties November the 5th, 1690, and afterwards licensed by authority, on the text, cc For promotion cometh neither from the east nor from the west, nor from the north nor from the south; but GOD is the judge, he putteth down one and setteth up another." This was mentioned in the house with great disapproba* WILLIAM III. 285. tion, but out of respect to majesty ho vote passed BOOK n. relative to it. i6g f 2. A very great proportion of the present session Enquiry was occupied in the investigation of the affairs of state of Ireland. Ireland, where gross and flagrant abuses were said to have been committed under the admini- stration of lord Coningsby and sir Charles Porter, lords justices of that kingdom, previous to the appointment of lord Sydney as lord lieutenant. Various witnesses were examined at the bar of ihe house; particularly Mr.Slone and sir Francis Brewster, both members of the Irish parliament, who gave a long and interesting detail of the heavy oppressions under which the Irish nation labored. In the sequel, the house presented an address to the king, stating both the real and imaginary grievances of that country in strong language. Under the former head may be ranked the miseries of free-quarters, and the licentious- ness of the army, the with-holding the soldiers' pay, and the embezzlements practised, and frauds committed, respecting the forfeited estates : un- der the latter, the protections granted to papists, the reversal of outlawries, and the indulgence ex- tended to catholics by Ihe capitulation of Lime- rick. The king, in reply, engaged to remedy whatever was found to be amiss respecting these matters. The complaints of the Iridi had by no means 286 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. ceased in consequence of the appointment of 1692. present governor, who had given much disgust to the Irish parliament by his haughtiness, ' ( There never was/' as Mr. Slone declared, " an house of commons of that kingdom of greater property or better principles than those which met under lord Sydney's administration : nor could any men be more gratefully sensible of the kindness which in their distress they had received from the English nation, or more cordially disposed to make such returns to the crown as became them. After parliaments had been discontinued for about twenty-seven years, with an exception to that held by king James, nothing could be more wel- come than such a meeting. The civil and mili- tary lists having been laid before them, Mr. Pulteney, secretary to the lord lieutenant, de- manded a fund for the raising 70,000/. per an- num, to make the income of the government an- swerable to its expences. Though the country was so exhausted with the late war as to be rather in a condition to demand abatements than to grant fresh contributions, such was their zeal, that they adopted the secretary's motion, and re- solved to make provision accordingly. "Ways and means came next under consideration ; but such was the impatience of the court, that two bills were sent down to them ready drawn from the council board, which they were required to pass WILLIAM III. 287 without any farthei ceremony. One of these ^^JE^, was an impost of excise upon beer, ale, and other liquors ; and the other laid a tax of fifteen- pence per acre on all corn throughout the king- dom. The first of these was not objected to as to the matter, but the second was universally re- probated. Then, as to the manner of introducing these bills, though by Poyning's law no bill was to be passed in Ireland, till it had first received the sanction of the English privy council, it was never pretended that the commons of Ireland were by that act foreclosed from taxing themselves in their own way Not to give colour, however, to misre- presentation, they suffered the excise bill to lie before them, and prepared a poll bill to make up the deficiency thereof. But the courtiers refused to give ear to any such temperament. They said publicly, "That if their money bills were not passed in their own way, the army should continue at free quarter." At this period there were various national bills depending in the house, viz. a ha- beas-corpus bill, a bill for restraining the juris- diction of the council board; a bill to prevent the buying and selling of offices, &c. which were in- tended to accompany the tax bills. But the ne- cessity of an immediate supply was so earnestly pressed, that the house consented to pass the ex- cise bill, with proviso that it should never be drawn into precedent. At the same time they 288 HISTOFxY OF GREAT BRITAIN BOOK n. rejected the corn bill, for the express reason that 1692. it did not take its rise among the commons. All the courtiers joined in this compromise ; and the house had every reason to believe that his excel- lency the lord lieutenant was perfectly satisfied with it. On -the 2d of November he sent for the committee to wait on him in council upon the 4th, with the heads of their new laws yet, no sooner was he in possession of the new excise, /, c. on the 3d, than he reprimanded them severely for entrenching- on his majesty's prerogative and the rights of the crown of England by their votes and rejection of the corn bill, and entered his protest in the lords' journal against those votes after which he prorogued them to the 16th of April. " This behaviour of the lord lieutenant," Slone said, " had opened the eyes of the members, and they resolved to send over agents of their own to England, to guard against his devices, by lay- ing a plain and true state of their whole conduct before their majesties. In order, however, that their conduct might be in all respects unexcep- tionable, they determined to ask the consent of the lord lieutenant. The answer they received was, c that they could not have a better agent than the king himself but if they would have leave for any to go over and beg the king's par- don for their riotous and disorderly meetings, they might have it.' Nor was this all : an order was WILLIAM III. 289 issued to prosecute them upon an information in BOOK a the King's Bench, but stopped on better advice, 1692, the gentlemen being resolved to defend what they had done. Lastly, to shew how reasonably the petition to send agents to court was founded, it was farther alledged bySlone^thatthe papists were in actual possession of that liberty which, if ex- tended to protestants, would have prevented the necessity of rendering the Irish house of com- mons obnoxious by the rejection of so miny bad bills with fair titles, viz. the bill for confirming the act of settlement, so worded as to make the remedy worse than the disease another, to re- verse the proceedings under king James's act of attainder,, which had a clause no one dared to ac- cept a third, for punishing mutiny and deser tion, but without any clause for regulating quar- ters, for a stated term of three years, and from thence to the next session of parliament, which it was in the power of the crown to postpone for twenty-seven years longer and a fourth, for a new establishment of the militia, which required some counties to raise more men than the pro- testant inhabitants in them amounted to ; and imposed such arbitrary methods of raising the money for their support upon all, under such se* vere penalties, that the house, though desirous to render the militia useful, rejected it as a burdea, too grievous to be borne." This is a brief snm- VOL. i. u 290 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN- BOOK ir. mary of Slone's famous evidence, and it affords a 1692. wide scope for deep and serious reflection. The king finding that lord Sydney had made him- self extremely obnoxious to the Irish nation, had the good sense immediately to recall him, though he still retained the high place he had al- ways held in the king's personal favor. The go- vernment of the kingdom was again committed to lords justices, who were lord Capel, sir Cyril Wyche, and Mr. Buncombe. 1693. The session of parliament in England termi- nated on the 14th of March 1693 ; the king inform- ing the two houses in his speech, that the posture of affairs necessarily required his absence abroad. The tories still retained their ascendency at court ; and the earl of Nottingham was considered as the minister who possessed the chief credit with the king. Nevertheless it was the policy of William hi a certain degree to balance the two parties ; the whigs had at no time, therefore, been totally excluded from the great executive offices of go- vernment ; and the genius of the king himself pervading the whole tenor of the administration, the general spirit of it was mild, sagacious, and beneficent. With the public it was evident that the earl of Nottingham's reputation was on the wane ; though the accusations laid to his charge appear to have been false or futile. It was im- possible but that some miscarriages should hav* ill WILLIAM III. taken place, in a ministry now of several years BOOK a duration. The language of opposition is almost 1692. always popular; the conduct of a minister is often necessarily unpopular. The victory of Russel had fascinated the nation, and his prejudices and animosities were adopted by the multitude with little knowledge or discrimination. The king-, perceiving the necessity of farther conciliating the whig party, at this period gave the seals, vacated by Lord Sydney, to sir John Trenchard, who had been engaged in Monmouth's rebellion, and after- wards lived some years on the continent. He was a man of much calm resolution, strongly attached to the principles of liberty, and well acquainted with foreign affairs. On the same day sir John sir John Somers, attorney general, was declared lord made Lord keeper of the great seal, which had been now th several years in commission. No appointment could be more popular, or more judicious. So- mers was a man of strict integrity, of great capa- city for business, of the mildest and most engag- ing manners, of the most generous and liberal principles. Not satisfied with the reputation of being the first lawyer and statesman of the age, he was also an exquisite judge and most muni- ficent patron of literary merit. In a word, in him were united, in a very uncommon degree, all the virtues and accomplishments which can make a character either great or amiable ; and history u 2 292 HISTORY OF. GREAT BRITAIN BOOK ii. is proud to exhibit him as one of those exalted 1693. personages who occasionally appear to adorn and to enlighten a world too often ignorant or insensible of their merits. The department of the admiralty was now placed in the hands of sir Cloudesley Shovel., an officer distinguished hj his professional and personal merit, assisted b,j the admirals Killegrew and Delaval. Kmg em- The KING embarked for Holland March the 31st, barks for . Holland. 1693, and immediately repaired to the army in Flanders, where the French had assembled a force far superior to the confederates. The king of France having joined his army in person,, it was concluded that some grand design was in con- iiik i iie templation either upon Maestricht, Brussels, or Liege. But the king of England having with great diligence possessed himself of the strong position of Parke near Louvaine, the measures of the enemy were broken; and Louis, after de- taching a bpdy of 20,000 men to the Upper JR,hine, left the care of the army to the marechals Luxemburg and Boufflers, and returned in some disappointment to Versailles. The duke of Luxemburg now removed his camp to Meldeii, .within half a league of the allies and an engage- ment was hourly expected; but neither side found a favorable opportunity of attack. The duke of \t irtemberg, however, with a detachment of thirty-three battalions and squadrons, forced the French lines between the Scheld arid the Lys, WILLIAM nr.'^ r 29S and laid the whole country as far as Lisle under BOOKII. contribution. On the same day (July the 18th) 1093. on which the enemy's lines were forced, marechal Luxemburg quitted the camp of Meldert, and moved towards Huy, which was next day in- vested by marechal Villeroi : and, after a feeble defence capitulated on the 23d. The French general then inarched forward to Liege ; but, the allies had taken the precaution of throwing ten battalions into the place. Marechal Luxem- burg nevertheless made such dispositions as seemed to threaten an approaching siege : but, on a sudden, early in the morning of the 28th. he quitted his post at Hellicheim, seven leagues -distant from the camp of the confederates, and, marching in four columns, passed the Jaar, and before the close of day reached the village of Roucotix. The king of England, on discovering the van-guard of the enemy, resolved to wait the attack ; as an attempt to retreat would have left his rear exposed, and the chief towns of the pro- vince of Brabant uncovered. The duke of Wirtemberg, not having yet re- Battle of joined the army, marechal Luxemburg was supe- rior, as it is said, by 30,000 men to the allies. But the king depended on the strength of his po- sition. The right of the confederate army ex- tended to the banks of the Geete, the front being covered with hedges and hollow ways, stretching to the village of Neer-Winden in the centre. The 294 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. left reached Neer-Landen, on the rivulet of that 1693. name : and the two villages were joined by aq entrenchment, the approaches being covered with above 100 pieces of cannon. But the experienced and vigilant eye of Luxemburg discovered a great defect in this disposition. From the vicinity of a morass bordering on the Geete, at the back of the camp, and the nature of the ground in front, he saw that great part of the allied cavalry would be unable to act with effect. And on re~ connoitring the ground previous to the engage- ment,, he exclaimed., ' f Now I believe that W al- deck is really dead!" that general having been famous for his skill in encampment. The French began the battle at sun-rise, by a furious attack on the villages of Neer-Winden and Landen; for the entrenched front was unapproachable, while they were exposed to the fire of the two villages, in flank. After a, desperate conflict, the enemy made themselves masters of these important posts. M. de Luxemburg then ordered a gene- ral charge upon the whole line, which was carried into execution with an impetuosity that sur- mounted all resistance. The king of England, who was seen by turns in every post of danger, behaved with the most heroic courage, bringing up in person the English cavalry to the succour of the Dutch and Hanoverian horse, and charging twice at the head of the battalions at the en^ trenchment. The elector of Bavaria, after mak- WILLIAM III. 295 ing every possible effort, retreated overthe bridge BOOKII. thrown across the Geete, and rallied the fugitives. 1693. The king, seeing the battle lost, yet remained in the field, to give the necessary orders for the pafety of the troops, displaying in the opinion of all, no less conduct than valour. " I saw," said the prince of Conti in an intercepted letter to his princess, ec the king of England exposing himself to the greatest dangers. Surely so much valour well deserves the peaceable possession of the crown he wears." The duke of Berwick being taken prisoner in the heat of the battle, was car- ried to the king by general Churchill. " The first thing which," as that nobleman afterwards der clared, " struck him, who had never seen the perr son of the prince of Orange before, w r as his eye like that of an eagle." He took off his hat with- out speaking to the duke, and continued giving his orders with a calmness which shewed the most perfect negligence of danger. The French com- mander himself joined in the general applause; and when the king of France read the accounts transmitted to him of this battle, he declared, " that Luxemburg had attacked like Conde, and that the prince of Orange had retreated like Tu- renne." ' ' Whatever reason," says marechal Ber- wick, " I may have not to be fond of the memory of this prince, I cannot deny him the character of pi great man, and even of a great king, had he not been an usurper." Memoirs of M. BERWICK. 295 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. The loss sustained by the two armies was nearly I6y3. equal; about 9 or 10,000 men. On the part of the confederates, count Solmes, whose name had been rendered odious by his misconduct at Stein- kirk, was mortally wounded ; and on that of France fell the gallant Sarsfield, created lord Lucan by king James, and promoted to an high rank in the French service. King William be- ing joined in a few days by the duke of Wirtem- berg, and recalling his detachment from Liege, found himself immediately in a situation to risque another engagement *. Both armies however re- mained for some weeks inactive till marechal Boufflers having led back the reinforcement de- tached some months since to the Upper Rhine, siege was laid to Charleroy, 'which the utmost ef- forts of the allies were inadequate to relieve, i After a very gallant resistance of thirty-one days, * " Ses malheurs/' says the president Renault, speaking of this monarch. " ne servireat qu' & faire voir les resources de son genie, et il fut toujoari battu sans avoir jainais etc defait." Histoire de Prince. " Les alli6s battns a Fleurus, i Steinkerque, a Nerwinde, ne 1'avaie.it jamais ete d'une manicre complette. On ne parlait qne de victoires ; eependant Louis XIV. avail autrefois conquis la moitie de la Hoilanae et de la Flandre, toute la Franche- Comii; sans donaer un seul combat ; et maintenant apres les plus grands efforts et les victoires les plus sanglantes on ne pouvait entamer les P.ovinces-Uuies. On ne pouvait nieme faire le siege de Bruxelles." VOI.TAIKE Histoire Generate, vol. v. p. 213. WILLIAM m. 297 the governor capitulated on the most honorable BOOK n. conditions; and the reduction of the place was 1693. celebrated with a Te Detim and other rejoicings at Paris. The conquest of Charleroy concluded the campaign in the Netherlands. The French army on the Rhine, commanded Campaign - on the by the marechal de Lories, passed that river in Rhine. J Sack of May, and invested the city of Heidelberg, which, Heidei- being taken by storm, was delivered up to all the horrors of cruelty, lust, and rapine. Every house was ransacked and plundered. The churches were no longer sanctuaries. The same impious hand that robbed the altar, left it stained with human gore. The capuchins, on imploring that their monastery might be spared, were told, that not one stone would be left upon another. Even the sacred monuments of the dead were violated, and the bones of the electoral family torn with unhallow T ed rage from the vault where they had reposed for ages. All the quarters of the town were set on fire, and the inhabitants, without re- spect to age, sex, or condition, were driven al- most naked to the castle to enforce a capitula- tion. \\ hen on the surrender of the citadel they were set at liberty, numbers of them died on their march, which was by night along the banks of the Necker, of hunger, cold, weariness, and all the anguish of mind arising from such a burst of calamities. All Europe rung with the horrors of so dire a tragedy. Prince Lewis of Baden, who HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN". BOOK i. commanded the imperial army, astonished and shocked at these atrocities, sent a message ta marechal de Lorges, " that he was come from a war against the Turks, and that he expected Christian enemies would have treated each other with Christian usage; but that he found the French acted more like barbarians than their Turkish allies He should therefore in future make such reprisals as would teach them, from con- cern to themselves, to shew compassion to others." The Most Christian king was no sooner ap- prised of the infamous success of his arms at Heidelberg, than he sent his royal mandate to the archbishop of Paris to celebrate this joyful event by a Te Deum. " I ordered," said he, " my cousin the marechal due de Lorges to make himself master of Heidelberg; and he has exe- cuted my orders. This conquest, which begins the campaign so gloriously, affords me time, a freer entrance into the heart of the empire, and an almost certain presage of farther success*." But though M. de Lorges continued his march to Hailbron, and made several attempts to pass the Necker in order to attack the prince of Baden, * On this occasion a medal was struck by order of the French monarch representing the city of Heidelberg in flames, with the impious inscription " Rex dixit et factum est." Who that hears or reads of these scenes of barbarity and devastation can wonder that Louis XIV. should be the object of horror to his contemporaries. WILLIAM in. 299 he was invariably renulsedj and at length obliged BOOK n. to retreat, by way of Philipsburg, back to France, i Q^ f In Catalonia, the Spaniards suffered the loss of the important town of Rrses, almost without re- sistance. In Piedmont the French had., as in all other parts during this summer, greatly the ad- vantage. The campaign opened on the part of the allies with the siege of Pignerol ; in which the duke of Savoy had made some progress when he understood that marechal de Catinat had de- scended into the plains, and menaced the city of Turin. Alarmed at the danger of his capital, the duke immediately drew off his army from Pigne- rol, and marched in quest of the enemy, whom he found encamped in the \ 7 icinity of Masiglia. The left of the confederate army, composed of Battle of Spanish troops and imperial cavalry, was com- manded by the marquis de Leganez ; the right, of imperial and Piedmontese cavalry and infan- try intermixed, by the duke himself, assisted by the Count de Caprara ; and the centre, which consisted of imperial, British, and Piedmontese infantry, by prince Eugene of Savoy and the count de Las Torres. The duke of Schomberg, who had been denied his just rank, fought in the capacity of colonel only, at the head of his own regiment. Early in the morning of the 4th of October (1693), the enemy advanced to the at- tack with undaunted resolution, charging with fixed bayonets at the cud of their fusees, with- 500 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. ou t firing a shot at that time a very unusual JtxjS. m de of fighting. The confederate troops de- fended themselves with equal spirit ; till, the left wing at length giving way, the infantry in centre were attacked in rear and flank by the enemy's horse. Here the battle raged more desperately than ever ; and the British troops had an oppor- tunity particularly to signalize themselves. After the third attack the count de Las Torres con- descended to solicit the duke of Schomberg to take upon him the command, and secure the re- treat of the centre and right wing : but that able officer,, instead of a magnanimous compliance, coldly replied, " that it was necessary first to have his royal highness's order; in the mean time they had no option but to conquer or die." After exhibiting prodigies of valour, the duke received a mortal wound; and the confederates were finally compelled to abandon the field of battle, covered with heaps of slain, to the enemy, with almost all their artillery, and above 100 standards. But the French army was so weakened by this vie* tory as to be incapable of attempting any farther offensive operation. The war in Hungary was still carried on to the disadvantage of the Turks, who this year lost the fortresses of Jeno and Villaguswar. But the im- perialists;, under the due deCroy, were repulsed in an attempt on -the city of Belgrade. After the prodigious loss sustained by the WILLIAM III. SOI French at the battle of La Hogue the preceding BOOK IL year, their naval exertions during the present "^^^ summer were truly astonishing. So early as the Smyrna month of May, while the British ships were still in harbour, the different squadrons, having joined, formed a grand fleet of no less than seventy-one men of war of the line. In the beginning of June the English and Dutch ships sailed down the channel. On the 6th sir George Rooke was detached to the straits with a squadron of twenty- three ships, as convoy to the Mediterranean and Smyrna trade the whole fleet accompanying him fifty leagues to the south-westward of Ushant, for greater security to the merchant ships., amount- ing to near four hundred in number. Unsuspi- cious of danger, Rooke proceeded on his voyage; and on the 17th descried to his astonishment the whole French fleet cruising about sixty leagues off Cape St. Vincent. In this emergency there was no alternative than to make signal for the merchantmen to shift for themselves the convoy maintaining as well as they were able a running fight for their protection. In the result, two men of war, one English and one Dutch, were burnt, and two Dutch ships after a desperate resistance taken by the enemy, who also captured about forty of the merchantmen, several of them Smyrna ships richly laden, and destroyed about fifty more The greater part saved themselves in Faro, St. Lucar or Cadiz. Sir George Rooke bore away 30$ HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. for the Madeiras, whence he arrived at Cork in 1693. August. The French admiral, M. de Tourville, after insulting the coasts of Spain, and burning several English and Dutch vessels at Malaga Alicant, and other places, returned in triumph to Toulon. The greatest clamors were not without some appearances of reason excited in England by this misfortune. The whigs and anti-courtiers renewed their attacks on the earl of Nottingham, through whose criminal negligence, if not more criminal treachery, it was affirmed this unpa- ralleled calamity had happened. The admirals Killigrew and Delaval, both strongly attached to the tory, not to say the Jacobite, party, also fell, and with far more reason, under great and grievous suspicion. No attempt was made to retrieve the honor of the British flag, except by an attack on St. Maioes, a noted rendezvous of privateers, by a squadron under commodore Benbow, who canno- naded and bombarded the town, to the great con- sternation of the inhabitants, for three days sue* cessively. tf Still more dreadful than the calamities occa- sioned by the conflict now raging in Europe were those cavised by the war of nature and the com- motion of the elements. At the commencement of the year, Malta and Sicily were visited by a succession of earthquakes; particularly on the 9th January ( 1693 ), when they were alarmed with a tremendous nocturnal shock, which they hoped WILLIAM m. SOS would have been the last. But this only proved BOOK n. a prelude to another, and far worse, which took 1693. place on the llth, at three in the afternoon ; and a r r e t a if_ ful which in Malta shook every building to its f oun -^Uaand dation, ruined some, and damaged many. But sic %* its chief violence was reserved for Sicily, where the effects produced were so terrific as to excite the idea, and almost the apprehension, that the globe itself was about to dissolve, and return to its pri- maeval atoms. Etna seemed to be heaved from its basis. The air, obscured by sudden darkness, was praeternaturally illuminated by an uninter- mitted blaze of lightnings, accompanied by the , rolling of perpetual thunders. The crash of falling edifices in every direction, the frightful chasms disclosing themselves to view, the mountainous billows rushing with impetuous fury from the sea, and threatening to overwhelm the earth, completed the horror of the scene. Between thirty and forty towns and cities, with a vast extent of country, were involved in this amazing calamity; and of these the far greater part were wholly swallowed up. More than 70,000 persons are said to have perished; and 18,000 in Catanea alone, which sunk down at once with as much noise as if the fabric of the earth had rent asunder. In the spring of the present year 1693, a session Affairs of Scotland. of parliament was held in Scotland, of which it is necessary to give some account, as well as of the general state of affairs io that kingdom for some 304 HfSTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ir. years back. The system of government which it was the part of wisdom to adopt consequent to the revolution in Scotland,, it was difficult to define, and yet more difficult to execute. The majority of the convention and of the nation at large being presbyterians, who were strongly at- tached to the new government, as the espicopa- lians on the other hand for the most part were to the old., it was a matter of necessity rather than choice in the king to confide the administration of affairs to that party. The earl of Melville was raised to the office of secretary of state ; a nobleman of honest intentions,, but of very slender capacity; firm to presbytery, accounted some- what avaricious., but not a man of violence or ma- lignity. He was personally known to the king, having taken refuge in Holland from the perse- cutions of the late reigns, and had the merit of advising and adventuring in the memorable ex- pedition to England. But the king was thought chiefly to rely on the councils of Dalrymple vis- count Stair, constituted president of the college of justice (father to Dalrymple the commissioner), a man of great craft, who had formerly been an instrument of oppression in the hands of Lauder- dale, but who now strove to recommend himself -. to favor by his zeal in support of the new estab- lishment. By the promotion of Melville great and indeed mortal offence was given to sir James Montgo- WILLIAM III, 305 mery, one of the leaders of the presbjterian BOOKII. party, of far greater ability, but of proportion- ^^ ably less moderation and less principle; and who now affected on all occasions to head the party of the discontented whigs. The parliament of Scot- land met on the 17th of June 1689. In the Scot- session of i T r- *-* 11 i Parliament. tish Remonstrance of Grievances, the 1st article was as follows : " The estates of Scotland do represent that the committee of parliament called ' The ARTICLES' is a great grievance to the na- tion, and there ought to be no committee of par- liament, but such as are freely chosen by the estates to prepare motions and overtures that are first made in the house." The committee in question, generally denominated Lords of 'Articles, by the gradual usurpation of the crown consti- tuted indeed a grievance which might well be pronounced intolerable in a free nation. In the instructions of the duke of Hamilton, lord high Duke of . . , ,, . Hamilton commissioner, the consent ot the king was given Lord Hih to the reform and regulation of this committee, oner. but not to its abolition so reluctant are the best and most patriotic sovereigns to relinquish power, however invidious or flagrant its misuse. The king indeed was told, that to part with the lords of articles was to part with the brightest jewel in his crown. When apprised of the warmth excited by this refusal, he transmitted an addi- tional instruction to the commissioner, to con- TOL. i. x 305 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. CC( le to the three estates of nobles, knights or { ^~*-^ J barons, and burgesses, the choice of eleven dele- gates each, to be chosen monthly or oftener if they thought fit; and a clause was added to en- able the parliament not only to take any matters into consideration which had been rejected in the committee of articles agreeably to the original instructions, but primarily to move and regulate the same. But the patriots in parliament de- clared that, if the institution remained, the griev- ance would remain with it ; and they would hearken to no modification of so detestable and unconstitutional an appointment. This com- mittee was of obscure and remote origin, and was apparently intended merely to prepare and facilitate the business of parliament without as- suming any species of separate or independent power. But they soon shewed a disposition to innovate on the rights of parliaments, and almost every reign added something, to their encroach- ments, till Charles I. iu the parliament held A. D. 1033, when he was in the height of his greatness, divested by his own royal and sove- reign power the respective estates of the privilege of choosing their respective commissioners, and virtually consigned the whole appointment over to eight bishops, nominated by himself or the lord high commissioner, who were to choose eight noblemen, and the sixteen were then to nominate 7 WILLIAM III. 307 eight barons and eight burgesses ; and these BOOK n. thirty-two persons, in conjunction with the offi- cers of state as supernumeraries., should be the whole and sole lords of articles, exclusive of all others. And to them was committed the right and liberty of bringing in motions, of making overtures for redressing wrongs, and of proposing means a,nd expedients either for the relief or the safety and benefit of the subject. Neither was it lawful for any member or number of members not of the committee to make the least proposal or motion either for the repealing of an ill law, or for the enacting of a good one*. Such was the nature of the institution, which the wisdom and virtue of the Scottish patriots aimed not merely to meliorate or modify, but for ever to annul and abrogate. The parliament being now, in consequence of the disappoint- ment they had sustained, in a very discontented mood, a bill was introduced to incapacitate fe all persons of whatever rank or degree from occupy- ing any public trust or employment who in the former evil government had been grievous to the nation, by acting in the encroachments which in the claim of rights were declared to be contrary to law, or had shewed disaffection to the late * Vide the masterly tract entitled " Proceedings of the Scottish Parliament vindicated," &c. HISTORY* OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. happy change,, &c." To this the lord commis- sioner refused, not without good reason, the royal assent ; it being evidently the effort of a faction to avenge themselves upon their enemy, and to engross the whole power of the government. On the king's accession to the crown of Scot- land, he had filled up the vacancies in the judicial department as in England, where no opposition to so obvious and necessary an exercise of the prerogative was thought of. But it was suggest- ed by the disaffected and discontented in the par- liament of Scotland, that by a vacancy in the throne all commissions were vacated; that, though the king by his prerogative had a right to fill such partial and occasional vacancies as might occur in the usual course of things, a general nomina- tion could only be made by the authority and concurrence of parliament : and a bill was or- dered in for that purpose. But this the king con- sidered as an high affront; and positive orders were given to the commissioner to reject it. Another bill was introduced for repealing the act of supremacy, passed in 1069 under the ministry of Lauderdale, which carried the authority of the king in matters ecclesiastical so high, that it seem- ed within the limits of his prerogative to establish any religion that he saw fit in Scotland. This was specified, and justly, in the instrument of govern- ment, as a fundamental grievance ; and the king WILLIAM -III.* 30'J in his instructions had authorized the lord com- BOOK it. missioner to assent to its repeal : but the assent was nevertheless refused. An act, however, passed early in the session for the abolition of episcopacy, and, as the act expresses it, ".the pre-eminence of any orders in the church above that of presbyter;" and it vaguely and generally declared " that the king and queen's majesties,, with the advice and con- sent of parliament, would settle by law that church in the kingdom which was most agreeable to the inclinations of the people:" and by a subsequent proclamation, "all such ministers as were in posr session of the ministry upon the 13th day of April were allowed to continue there undisturbed." This change in the constitution of the ehurch of Scotland gave much offence to the bigotted English episcopalians, who made no allowance for the mo- tives of policy by which the king was in present chv cumstances necessarily guided . The conduct of the Scottish bishops had made episcopacy odious to the nation. The king himself expressed his surprise what could be become of the episcopal party in Scotland-^-no person of consequence even naming episcopacy to him*. The pertinacity and ill-hu- mor of parliament seemed to encrease as the ses- ^ion drew into length. They passed a resolution that it was illegal for the judges nominated by the king to continue in the exercise of their functions * OLDMIXON-, vol. ii. p. 23; ^3 310 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. and forbade them to open their commission. The judges were on the contrary required and com- pelled to act by the authority of the privy council; and such was th e ferment, that it was thought necessary to order a number of troops into the neighbourhood of Edinburgh in order to preserve the public peace. In the midst of this confusion, his grace the lord commissioner adjourned the parliament to the 8th of October following : but such a flame did the refusal of the court to accede to the measures of the patriots excite, that, immediately subsequent to the adjournment, a remonstrance was framed by a majority of the members in strong and energetic language, representing to his majesty the evil consequences which must ensue from a refusal " so contrary to his majesty's acceptance of the claim of right, and to his declaration promising the redress of grievances/' The king, sensibly touched with these reproaches, caused his instruc- tions to his commissioner to be published, by which it appeared that his grace was authorized to have made greater concessions than he chose to do respecting the points in question ; and it was to be inferred that the king, who had little know- ledge of Scottish affairs, was not well pleased with the conduct of those on whom he had placed his reliance. The ambition of some, and the dis- gust of others, who conceived that the king had WILLIAM III. 311 violated his engagements, induced them to enter BOOK 11. into dangerous cabals and intrigues with the high episcopal and Jacobite party, for the restoration of the abdicated monarch, who in his present situation was supposed willing to concede what- ever might be demanded. At the head of these mal-content whigs was sir James Montgomery, who, being disappointed in his views of obtaining the secretaryship of state, with the chief manage^ ment of affairs, became the most virulent opposer of the government. Cherishing the same chime- rical projects with the discontented whigs in Eng- Conspiracy land, he formed a close connection with the earl Scottish of Monmouth, the duke of Bolton, and other headfd b men of the same stamp and they were so far Mo actuated by the spirit of faction and foil), as to mer >'* imagine that the national happiness and safety could be permanently established only by a coun- ter-revolution that king James, convinced of his errors, would detach himself entirely from the French interest; and that, if his restoration were effected by the whigs, he would entrust himself and his interests wholly into their hands. The particulars of this conspiracy were disclosed by the brother of Montgomery to bishop Biirnet. He affirmed that a treaty was settled with king James, articles agreed on, and an invitation subscribed O bv the whole cabal. During the recess of parliament, endeavours 312 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK IT. were used by the court to soften the rage of oppo- sition by an artful distribution of places almost every considerable office of government being put into commission, in order to provide for as great a number as possible. The great seal was committed to the custody of the duke of Hamil- ton,, the earl of Argyle, and the earl of Sutherland: the privy seal to the earl of Forfar, the earl of Kintore, and the lord Carmichael ; the treasury was divided among the earl of Crawford, the earl of Cassilis, and the earl of Tweedale, the lord Ruthven, and the master of Melville ; and the clerk register's office between the lord Belhaven and four other persons. As the supplies granted by parliament had been for obvious reasons very scanty, it was absolutely necessary either to disband the army or speedily to convene another meeting. As the least of these evils, a session was held in the following Earl of spring, April 1690 the earl of Melville being appointed appointed lord high commissioner. Such was the Commissi- strength of the different parties united in oppo- sition, that, on the first division on a trivial ques- tion respecting a contested election, the majority in favor of the court was not more than six or seven voices. Even this majority would have been lost, if all the Jacobites who were returned had taken their seats in parliament, and, of course, the oath of allegiance; agreeably to the secret wishes WILLIAM III. 313 and instructions of the court of St. Germaine's, BOOKIL and to the earnest entreaties of those who had the most zeal and the least conscience of the party; among whom mention is particularly made of Paterson, the deprived archbishop of Glasgow. Although the violent whigs and the violent tories were equally eager to obstruct the measures of government, their views and designs were so irreconcileable, that no cordial coalescence could long subsist. There were in fact three distinct parties in opposition the Jacobites, headed by the dukes of Athol and Queensberry, the lords Annandale, Brcadalbane, Balcarras, &c. the dis- affected whigs, led by sir James Montgomery, colleagued with the lords Argyle, Ross, &c. and the discontented revolutionists, at the head of whom was the duke of Hamilton ; who think- ing his merits not sufficiently rewarded, and aiming at the chief direction of affairs, had no farther design than the ruin of the lords Melville and Stair. The court saw the necessity, in order to dissolve this connection, of making those con- Popn i ar cessions whichhad been formerly refused. The lord commissioner now therefore gave the royal assent J \ merit, to the bill for rescinding the act of supremacy ; to another for the direct establishment of presby- tery and annihilating the right of patronage ; and to a third fjr the abolition of the lords of article*. HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. By these decisive measures, those members who were actuated by public and patriotic motives, and whose discontent had never risen to disaffec- tion., were at once conciliated, a clear majority ascertained, and the bills of supply voted without difficulty. It is remarkable, that sir James Mont- gomery, imagining the court would not dare to assent to the unreserved establishment of pres- bytery in Scotland, from the jealousies it wa* calculated to excite in England, made a vehement and inflammatory speech in parliament, declaring Duplicity " that he knew there were instructions for settling religion, and he thought it a shame it was not done ; but some, to flatter the court, against their own principles had delayed it. He knew like- wise some were for one kind of government, some for another ; some were for a certain kind of presbytery called Erastianism, like that of Hol- land : but he told them there could not and ought not to be any other established in Scotland than the presbyterian model of 1648, which was the government most conformable to the word of GOD, and best able to control the extravagant power of kings, under which they had groaned so many years." " This speech/' says lord Balcarras .in his ACCOUNT of the affairs of SCOTLAND, " to us that knew his secrets, seemed a little extraordi- nary : but he excused himself by being obliged to do so, otherwise he should all lose credit with his WILLIAM m. SI 5 party; and that it signified nothing, since lie knew BOOK IL that lord Melville never durst pass it, though it came to be approved/' The projects of the par- ties were now entirely disconcerted, and mutual reproaches succeeded. " To all your friends/' said lord Balcarras in the celebrated tract now quoted, and addressed by him to the abdicated monarch, " it was very evident how great an advantage might be had by joining with the violent party ; for by that we thought ourselves sure of breaking* their army, which consisted of about 10,000 men, and which must immediately be disbanded when they saw the parliament establish no fund, neither for paying their arrears nor subsistence : and all having gone in confusion, and your majesty being then in Ireland, and the Highlanders in a better disposition to rise, it were easy to make a good use of their disorders. Sir James, in the first meeting we had with him, laid out the great advantages your interest would obtain if this suc- ceeded ; the strength of his party, and all the in- fluence he had over them. He told us likewise of their sending a messenger to your majesty, with assurances of their returning to their duty ; but said nothing of (he instructions, commissions, and pernicious advices he had sent along with them, believing undoubtedlv it would have hindered us from joining with them. For by this .we should have clearly seen it was only trying to make a 315 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK H. better bargain for themselves that made -them change parties, and not out of any sentiments of conviction for having done amiss." A direct rupture however did not take place between these jealous and distrustful friends,, till the arrival of a messenger from the late king with a great -black box of papers,, directed to sir James Montgomery. This sir James first opened alone, and afterwards disclosed to the lords Argyle, Arran, and Ross, who agreed that various of the papers were improper to be seen by the other party. Sir James Montgomery therefore again AmTices of Closed and sealed the box, and appointed a meet- Montgo- mery de- ins* a t the apartments of the marquis of Athol, tected. at which the marquis himself, and the lords Lin- lithgow, Ross, Breadalbane, and Bale arras, attend- ed. At, this meeting, sir James informed the persons present that a box of papers had arrived, which he had determined not to open but in their presence : protesting, as lord Balcarras in his narrative of this transaction affirms, in the pre- sence of Almighty GOD, that he was entirely ig- norant of the contents. But the lords present, strongly suspecting the integrity of Montgomery examined the box and seals with the greatest at- tention, and plainly perceived not only that the cord was changed, but that the seals themselves wore, by a strange inadvertency, Montgomery's own impression. A scene of the utmost confusion WILLIAM III. 317 now ensued, not merely from the detection of 30 EOOKBL infamous a collusion, but from the actual inspec- tion of the papers ; by which, notwithstanding the withdrawment of those deemed most obnox- ious, it appeared that the king had consented to put the whole power of the government into the hands of the presbyterians. fe They/' says lord Balcarras, " were in no less confusion than we ; finding we saw their folly in undertaking things they had not the least shadow of power to perform. They had promised to get all the parliament to de- clare for your majesty, and immediately meet in your name; and the earl of Argyle commissioner, who was made a marquis, and sir James made earl of A r, and Ross likewise an earl ; and all employments of church and state, and army, entirely put into their hands and those of their friends, who were generally the greatest enemies to monarchy. There were likewise great bundles of letters not directed, but left to their direction, to be given to any of your friends they thought fit to trust ; which indeed we thought a little hard to be put into their hands, who had been for fighting your majesty, and also endeavouring to ruin us on your account." All confidence being now for ever lost, th onlv question at issue between the parties seemed to be, which should first impeach the other. The lord Ross, after protesting with SIS HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. oaths, as lord Balcarras informs us, that HE never would make any discovery, communicated to a fanatic minister at Edinburgh that he was under great trouble of conscience, and desired his prayers to enable him to open his heart to him. After long prayers and many sighs and tears., he told him all he knew. The minister repeated next morning to lord Melville the result of this conference, and desired a passport to London for lord Ross; who before his departure informed Melville in general terms that there were dangerous matters in agi- tation against the king and government, in which dsh con- he had too great a share, and for which he sought God's pardon, but was denied, and was now going to seek it from the queen. On his arrival in London and examination before the lords Not- tingham and Danby, being thought to prevaricate in his evidence, he was committed close prisoner to the Tower. The earls of Argyle, Annandale, and Breadalbane, withdrawing also under different pre- tences to England, Montgomery himself repaired to the earl of Melville, and made a full discovery of the whole conspiracy. The good-nature and credulity of Melville, mistaking consternation for contrition, furnished this man also with a passport to London, and a letter to the queen in his favor . But, on his subsequent examinations, having, from a sense of honor not to be expected from a man who had acted, a part so treacherous, per* WILLIAM III. 319 sisted in his refusal to reveal the names of tlrose BOOK n with whom he carried on a correspondence in Eng- land, he failed in obtaining his pardon. After absconding and lying concealed some months in London, he made his escape to the continent, where his plotting genius involved him in new dangers and difficulties, till at length spleen and vexation put an end prematurely to a turbulent and miserable life ; and he may be regarded as one of the many striking examples which history exhibits, how great is the curse of possessing splendid talents, when unaccompanied by judg- ment, and disgraced by moral depravity. The earl of Annandale also threw himself upon the queen's mercy, and, as he had not personally treated with any in England, he could make no discoveries to their disadvantage. He gave how- ever a deposition on oath against one Neville Payne, as the man who had been the chief medium of connection and correspondence between the English and Scottish malcontents. Being taken in Scotland, Payne was twice put to the torture, according to the barbarous custom of that country, without making any confession : and it does not appear that the extent of this conspiracy, which the government shewed much solicitude to fathom, was ever perfectly ascertained ; though, according to the accustomed lenity of this reign, f/ee pardon was granted to manv who acknowledged them- 320 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. selves concerned in it. Several of the Scottish lords were set at liberty, on giving their words of Lenity of honor not to disturl) the government : but lord the Go- Arran refused,, saying., " he was certain he should not keep it." Upon the whole, the session of parliament, which opened with so dark an aspect, terminated very prosperously. During the sitting, also, it was announced that a hody of highlandcrs to the number of about 2000, commanded by the colonels .Buchan and Wachop, who had rendez- voused at Strathspey, with a view to a descent into the low country, were surprised and defeated with great slaughter by the king's troops under sir Thomas Levingstone. And this was the last military effort of any consequence made by the party of king James in Scotland. The power of the churchbeing now in the hands of the presbyterian clergy, the episcopalians suf- fered from the former sufferers a persecution as rigorous as the benign spirit of the new govern- ment would pe.rmit. For, though the history of the world exhibits no characters more illustrious than those of many individuals of the clerical order whose ardent and generous minds have as it were burst the bonds of their own intellectual thraldom, no truth is more certain, as a general axiom, than that priests of all religions are the same all, col- lectively speaking, tainted with the spirit of holy malignity, of lordly pride, of barbarous dog- WILLIAM III. tnatism, of relentless intolerance. All this is very BOOK it. consistent with the practice of many amiable and estimable virtues in social and domestic life. Such is the imbecility of human nature, and such the pernicious and fatal tendency of this aspiring and dangerous profession : " having/' as has been observed,, {f what Archimedes only wanted,, an- other world on which to fix their engines,, no wonder they move this world at their pleasure." A general assembly as it is styled, or synod of the church of Scotland, having been convened ia the autumn of the present year, 1690, the pro- ceedings of the clergy were so disagreeable to the court, that the assembly was, little to their sa- tisfaction, dissolved by an act of state, and an- other convoked for the following year- In the mean time the kins: determined in some measure O to restore the balance of the parties, by bringing ome of the tories and episcopalians into office. The earl of Melville, as the man most obnoxious, was removed from his post of secretary of state, and made lord privy seal. James Johnstone, late envoy to the elector of Brandenburg, and sir John Dalrymple, styled the master of Stair, were con- stituted joint secretaries; lord Tweeddale, created a marquis, a man of sense and moderation, was appointed chancellor; the earl of Lothian, high commissioner; and the earl of Crawford, president of the council. But this motley administration VOL, i. Y ' HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK II. did not conduct the affairs of government with much skill or success. The general assembly met at the close of the year 1691 ; and during the recess of parliament the two parties were eager to try their strength in this subordinate scene of action. The presbyterians since the late changes were grown extremely jealous of the court. They said their friends were disgraced, and their bitterest enemies were admitted into favor. The king re- commended to the assembly, by the high com- missioner., to receive the episcopal clergy into the church, and to concur in such measures as would be necessary to effect a general comprehension. ts The prelatists now gave out/' says bishop Burnet, (( that the king was theirs ; in answer to which the presbyterians affirmed that the law was theirs, and they would abate in no point of their govern- ment." Both parties being much inflamed, and no likehood of accommodation remaining, the king ordered the assembly to be dissolved, without appointing any other time or place of meeting. But the presbyterian clergy, according to their high notions of church government,, affirmed, that they had a right to an annual meeting, from which nothing could cut them off. They pre- tended that the king's power of calling synods and assemblies was cumulative, and not privative that is, he might call them if he would, and appoint time and place; but that, if he did not WILLIAM m. 323 convene them, they might meet by virtue of the BOOK n. right inherent in the church : therefore they ad- journed themselves, having first protested against the regal dissolution. This appeared to the king an high strain of insolence,, and a gross invasion of the prerogative of the crown ; and there were Bumet, not wanting those who were eager to embrace every opportunity of incensing him against the presbyterians. Thus the episcopal party acquired additional credit with the king: for in this respect the folly and fury of one faction operated in much the same manner as the actual exercise of wisdom and moderation in the other. At this period a very unfortunate event took Massacre 1 . of Glencoe, place., tending to throw a great odium upon the government of the king, already sufficiently un- popular. The earl of Breadalbane, one of those noblemen who had been concerned in the late plot and received his pardon., in order to concili- ate the favor of the court, formed a scheme of quieting the highlanders, and ensuring their sub- mission,, by distributing large sums of money among their chiefs : and 15,OOOJ. were remitted from England for this purpose. By the conniv- ance of government he informed the highlanders, who were not unacquainted with his zeal in the same cause, that the best service they could do king James was to lie quiet, and to reserve them- selves to a more favorable time ; and in the mean HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOKII. while they were justified in taking the oaths, and sharing the money he had received for the purpose among them. Many of the highland chieftains were persuaded by his arguments to a compli- ance ; but others were obstinate., or made such extravagant demands, that lord Breadalbane found his scheme with regard to them impracticable. The most refractory of these rebel chieftains was M'Donald of Glencoe, between whom and Bread- albane a cause of private animosity subsisted, originating, as it is said, from an antient feud between the families. During the course of hos- tilities McDonald had plundered the lands of Breadalbane ; and this nobleman insisted upon being indemnified for his losses, from McDonald's share of the money now to be distributed. This McDonald not only absolutely refused, but was successfully assiduous in influencing others to re- ject the offers made to them. He also communi- cated to the duke of Hamilton and other enemies of lord Breadalbane the dangerous secret of this nobleman's being still avowedly attached to the interests of the dethroned monarch. Breadal- bane, exasperated at this conduct, by an act, not of sudden passion, but of cool and deliberate re- venge, devoted the chieftain and his clan to utter destruction. King William had by proclamation offered an indemnity to all the Highlanders who had been in arms against him, provided the/ WILLIAM III. 325 would submit and take the oaths by a certain day. BOOK ir. The day had been twice or thrice prolonged ; and it was at last carried to the close of the present year, with a positive denunciation of proceeding to military execution against such as should hold out beyond the end of December 1691. All were so terrified that they came in; and even McDonald himself no less intimidated^ though somewhat more tardy than the rest, went to the governor of Fort William on the last of December, and offered to take the oaths : but he being only a military man could not legally tender them, and M 'Donald set out immediately for Inverary, the county town of Argyle. Though the ground was covered with snow, and the weather intensely cold, he reached Inverary in a very few days, or, ac- cording to some accounts, within a single day, after the term prescribed by the proclamation had elapsed. Sir Colin Gampbell, sheriff of the county, being informed of the circumstances of the case, administered the oaths to him and his adherents, and they returned in peace and full confidence of security to their own habitations in the valley of Glencoe. Before this happened the earl of Breadalbane had repaired to London, and made his report to the king of the diligence with which hehad endeavoured to effect the service entrusted to him, and to return that part of the money which he had not disposed of. He ern- 326 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. POOR n. braced the opportunity of representing McDonald to the king as the chief person who had defeated the good design as an incorrigible rebel as a ruffian inured to blood and rapine, who would never be obedient to the laws of his country, nor live peaceably under any sovereign. He observed that McDonald had paid no regard to the royal proclamation; and., at once to gratify his own re- venge, and, as there is great reason to believe, to make the king odious to the highland tribes, Rread- albane proposed that orders should be sent for a military execution on the men of Glencoe. This representation was strongly enforced, from causes which do not so distinctly appear, on the part of secretary Stair. It is indeed said, that the clan of Glencoe had distinguished itself by its cruelties in thelate reigns on the conventiclers; and it is known that Dalrymple was a fierce and bigoted presbyte- rian. Of the degree of malignity which possessed his mind some notion may be formed from the te- nor of his dispatch to lord Breadalbane, dated at so early a period as December 3, 1691 ; in which he says, (( By the next I expect to hear either these people are come to hand, or else your scheme for mauling them for it will not delay. Menzie, Glengary, and all of them have written letters, and taken pains to make it believed that all you did was for the interest of king James therefore look on, and you shall be satisfied of your RE- 7 WILLIAM IH. 327 VENGE." Shortly after the expiration of the term BOOK n. to which the proclamation of grace was limited, a paper of instructions was drawn by the secretary, and addressed to colonel Levingstone, commander of the forces in Scotland., specifying, " that such as had not taken the oaths by the time limited should be excluded the benefit of indemnity and that they be destroyed by fire and sword" With this express mitigation nevertheless, in the 4th article, cc that the rebels may not think them- selves desperate, we allow you to give terms and quarters: but in this manner only; that chieftains and heritors, or leaders, be prisoners of war, their Ihes only safe, and all other things in mercy and the community, taking the oaths of allegiance, &c. are to have quarters and indemnity for their lives and fortunes ; and to be protected from the soldiers." By an extraordinary singularity shew- ing very artful contrivance, this instrument, dated January 11, 1692, was both signed and counter- signed by the king. This order, however, nojt being deemed sufficiently full and explicit, a paper of additional instructions was prepared by secretary Stair, who, with the same wary caution, procured it to be, as before super-signed and counter-signed by the king: in which, aftergiving directions for receiving the submission of those who had made application for mercy, it is in words most fatally memorable said : " If the tribe of 328 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. Glencoc can well be separated from the rest, it will be a proper vindication of public justice to extirpate that sect of thieves." Bishop Burnet expressly affirms, " that the king signed this paper as his custom too often was, in a hurry, without examining into the import of it:" but, without laying any great stress upon this assertion, it may easily be conceived that the matter might be represented to him in such false colors as to persuade him of the necessity of one example of great severity, to ensure the permanent peace of the country. Having thus obtained the king's warrant for what Breadalbane and the master of Stair appear to have pre-concerted and pre-determined, it was not long suffered to remain dormant. In a letter to the commander in chief, Levingstone, dated January the llth, 1692, the secretary says: (c Just now my lord Argyle tells me, that Giencoe hath not taken the oath; at which I REJOICE. It is a great work of charity to be exact in root- ing out that damnable sect, the worst of the high- landers. The winter is the only season in which we are sure the highlanders cannot, escape us." In his dispatch of the 16th of January 1692, ac- companying the additional instructions, he writes, after some mention made of the royal mercy, ff But, for a just example of vengeance, I entreat ttje thieving tribe of Giencoe be rooted out to WILLIAM III. 329 purpose/' And in his letter to colonel Hill, go- BOOK n. vernor of Fort William, January 30, he directs, - no wned of his ancestors : and in his opinion his chiefest interest to leave no umbrage for jealousy in relation to religion, liberty, and property." intriguesof This declaration gave extreme offence to the earl the Court of St. GCT- o f Melfort, secretary to king: James, and to the maine's. . whole party who were desirous of re-establishing the abdicated monarch without fettering him with terms and conditions. And the earl of Middle- ton being at the head of the opposite or moderate party, the court of St. Germaine's was divided into the two factions of COMPOUNDERS and NON- COMPOUNDERS : the latter of whom were far mor-tf 'WILLIAM III. 337 in the favor and confidence of the king : but the BOOK ir. former being accounted more numerous and 1693. powerful, it was deemed politic to dismiss the earl of Melfort from his post of secretary,, and transfer the seals to the earl of Middleton. It is curious to observe, that all who came under the denomination of COMPOUNDERS were regarded by James as of the republican party. In a memo- rial presented by this monarch to Louis XIV., November 1692, he affirms, (< There are two ostensible parties of protestants who are for him in England the episcopals and the republicans. The first are against, the second for, concessions^ TJiese are to be suspected. Nevertheless," he says, ' c ALL who are of this party have not been traitors. The earl of Middleton, who was secre- tary of state when he left England, never did a false step ; general Sackville never failed in his duty; and the earl of Shrewsbury, who was secre- tary of state to the prince of Orange, laid down that employment by his orders." These are men whom he extols as cc equally clear-sighted and in- corruptible*." At this period, if any credit is to be given to the secret correspondence kept up by the court of St. Germaine's with their friends or pretended friends in England, disaffection to the new go- * Macpherson's State Papers, Tpl. L p. 433 10. VOL. I. 4 338 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN, BOOK it. vernment bad risen to an alarming; height. The 1093. abdicated monarch in his MS. Memoirs, so far back as the preceding year 1692,, writes: " Many begin to be dissatisfied with the prince of Orange's government. The number of flit Icing's friends increased daily they proposed schemes for his restoration the correspondence- with CHURCHILL was kept up." We are assured, i that the cities of Bristol and Exeter had signified their loyalty to James. The earl of Litchfield promised for the county and city of Oxford ; the earl of Lindsey for the county of Lincoln ; sir John Friend hoped to possess himself of the Tower ; the marquis of Carmarthen, president of the council, engaged for Hull. Exclusive of the non-juring clergy, four-fifths of those who had taken the oaths were ready to join the king. The arch-traitor Sunderland wrote a letter to James, full of contrition for his past conduct, assuring him, ff that an invasion could not fail of success, and promising to contribute all he could to his "service." Godolphin, Marlborough, and Shrews- bury, also continued their clandestine and illegal intercourse with the late sovereign. Earl of The KING returned to England in the month ham'dfl of October 1693; and he was now prompted by >e ' various concurring motives to resolve upon a farther change in the administration. The unpo- pularity of the earl of Nottingham had so far in- WILLIAM lit 339 fcreased as to make the ministry, of which he was BOOK n. considered as the head, collectively odious. It 1693. was therefore signified to him, that the king had no farther occasion for his services. And though WILLIAM was perfectly assured of the fidelity of that nobleman, and by no means ignorant of the cabals of his adversaries at the Court of St. Ger-* maine's, he saw the necessity of again having re- course to the whigs. It is very remarkable, that Earl of Sunderland the person with whom he chiefly advised upon in Favor *! ' 1 U 1 11. Whhth narch to be the reduction of the power of France, and that, notwithstanding the ill success of the war and the heavy burdens it brought on the country, he was still eager in the prosecution of it, this nobleman determined to display still more ardor, if possible, in pursuit of the same object. In order to attain his grand purpose, viz. the reinstatement of himself in power, he saw clearly the necessity of declaring openly and decidedly in favor of the whigs, who were be- yond comparison more zealous than the to- ries in their support of the war, and more vehe- ment in their dread and detestation of the Gallic greatness, Death of The marquis of Halifax also attempted at this quis of Ha- critical juncture, though with inferior address and far less success than Sunderland, to retrieve his credit with the whig party by his eagerness and ardor in the same cause ; in defence of which he published a political tract, in which he affirmed it <( to be of the last consequence to every true Englishman that the present war should be carried on for the preservation of our liberties and reliV WILLIAM III. 341 gion, against the common enemy of both ; not- BOOK IL withstanding the false and foolish insinuation of 1693. some discontented Jacobites, that a peace with France is more necessary than a war, and that it is more carried on for the sake of others than our- selves." Perceiving himself shunned, neglected, and despised, this nobleman spon after terminated a restless and eventful life in a state of political chagrin strangely blended with religious contri- tion ; andhe died as bishop Burnet, who attended him, had the charity to hope fe a better man than he lived/' He possessed an exquisite talent for keen and sarcastic raillery ; and was one of those statesmen who had rather be admired for saying a witty thing, than approved for doing a wise one. He had by turns been the idol of both parties ; but lived to see himself the contempt of both. So much were his fine talents obscured and disgraced by his want of steadiness, consistency, and principle*. The tories who remained in office did not Whigs r&. . . S A ' ia their tamely acquiesce in the measures of their anta- Ascen- . . . ... dancy. gonists, or yield up their superiority without a struggle. Lord Godolphin, retaining his place at the head of the treasury, presented to the king at this period an admirable letter or memorial, in ' which, after stating the principal difficulties of * The marquis of Halifax died in the month of April, HITSORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. continuing the war, he represented the great and 1693. manifold advantages which would attend the con- clusion of a speedy peace, in very forcible terms- " I presume," says the memorialist in fine to (C say, that, the war being ended, a new par- liament called, and such measures pursued ( /. e. guch measures as would tend to raise the govern- ment above a dependency upon either faction for support), your majesty would quickly find that the Jacobites .would turn moderate churchmen, and loyal subjects, and the whigs much more ob- sequious courtiers and easier servants than they now are." But the counsel of Sunderland was far more acceptable to the king than that of Go- dolphin ; and a resolution was taken to engage the most popular leaders of the whig party in the administration. Admiral Russel was restored to the command of the fleet, and in a short time placed at the head of the board of admiralty; and the commissions of lieutenancy, &c. throughout the kingdom were altered in favor of the whigs. The tender of the seals to the earl of Shrewsbury was attended with very singular, and curious cir- cumstances. Captain Lloyd, in his subsequent report to the court of St. Germaine's says, (C I went to wait on the countess of Shrewsbury : she told me how her son the earl had been obliged to ac* cept of an employment. The prince of Orange had sent for him to offer him the post of secretary .71: WILLIAM l\l. 313 of state, which he refused on account of ins bad BOOK If - health. Bat the prince of Orange shewed him Kicja. that he had a very (UfFerent reason, by repeating to him a discourse which he had held about your majesty. This surprised the earl of Shrewsbury much, and convinced him of the danger of re- fusing the employment. He demanded some time to go to the country on pressing business ; and, on his return, was, to his great regret, obliged to Macpherj accept of the seals/' It is traditionally reported, sc that the king sent a colonel of the guards to the earl with the seals of office in one hand, and a warrant of commitment to the Tower in the other. It may easily be supposed that he did not long hesitate which of these to accept. Notwithstanding the series of triumphs which Pacific Ad- had hitherto almost invariably attended the arms France re- of the king of France, that monarch was anxious je for the return of peace : and this he scrupled not repeatedly to express. He was fully sensible that an insurmountable barrier was raised against any farther permanent acquisition of power. In con- sequence of the exertion made by France in the course of this arduous contest, the resources of the kingdom were exhausted, and from a succes- sion of unfavorable seasons the harvests of that country had proved extremely deficient : so that while the external appearance of things dazzled the eye with the false and artificial glare of mag 344 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. nificence, the interior exhibited a deplorable i6yj. scene of misery and wretchedness. In the course of the present winter, the king of France was from these motives induced to make a very equi- table and reasonable proposal for the accommo- dation of differences,, through the respectable me- diation of the court of Denmark ; purporting in substance the restitution of the conquests he had made during the war, the renunciation of his pre- tensions to the Low Countries in the event of the death of the king of Spain, and the re-establish- ment of the former treaties of commerce. In the memorial presented by the Danish ambassador on this occasion to the court of London, December 1693, he with dignity and propriety states, "that the desolation this present war has carried into most parts of Europe, together with the duty in- cumbent upon a Christian king, oblige the king his master to impart to his Britannic majesty those proposals of peace which the Most Christian king has communicated to him that otherwise the king his master might have reason to decline his offices towards the peace of Europe, and taking upon him so important a negotiation ; since the advances he has already made, as well as the king of Sweden, have not only proved ineffectual, but likewise have been so misconstrued as to render them suspected." Of the terms thus fairly and honorably tendered, the tory ministers were justly WILLIAM III. 845 supposed to have, signified to the king their entire BOOK IT. approbation. But the measures of the court JGC^. were decided; and the king had already an- nounced in his speech to parliament., November 1, 1693., " the necessity of increasing the na- tional forces both by sea and land, the next year, us essential to the honor and security of the king- dom informing them that the continental powers had on their part resolved upon making propor- tionable additions, and demanding a supply equal to the present exigency." The house of com- mons, highly gratified with the late changes, Toted unanimously., (< that they would support their majesties and the government, and grant a sufficient supply for the vigorous prosecution of the war." The bill for rendering all members of the house Royal AS- sent rc~ of commons incapable of places of trust and profit, fused to tha which had been brought in last session under the title of a bill touching free and impartial pro- ceedings in parliament, and rejected by the lords, now passed with an high hand through both houses but when presented to the king, with the land-tax and other bills, the royal assent was re- fused, to the great astonishment and indignation of the commons, who immediately came to a vote, " that whoever advised the king not to give ihe royal assent to the bill in question, was an enemy to their majesties and the kingdom." And 346 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN". BOOK IT. an address was unanimously agreed to, represent-- j6(j3. m g the grief of the commons, that a measure which tended so much to the clearing the reputa- tion of the house should be rejected by his ma- jesty after their great exertions for the public service. (< We humbly beseech your majesty," says this high-spirited and patriotic house of com- mons, (e to believe that none can have so great a concern and interest in the prosperity and happi- ness of your majesty and government as your two bouses of parliament ; and do therefore humbly pray, that for the future you would be graciously pleased to hearken to the advice of your parlia- ment, and not to the secret advices of particular persons, who may have private interests of their own, separate from the true interest of your ma- . ' : jesty and your people." The king's answer ex~ pressed his high esteem for the constitution, and the great regard he should ever pay to the advice of parliament ^-assuring them cc that he should consider all such persons as his enemies who should advise any thing that might lessen it.'* This was so evasive, that a motion was made to address the king for a farther and more explicit answer ; but, on a division, over-ruled by a great majority. In the course of a tedious enquiry into the naval miscarriages of the last year, lord Falkland, who had for some time past occupied the higU 9 WILLIAM HI. 347 titation of first lord of the admiralty, fell under BOOK IT. parliamentary displeasure. The admirals were itjpa. exculpated: and Russel, after a short interval, and with unusual powers, placed at the head of the board. But the earl of Nottingham silenced, though unahle to disarm, the malice of his ene- mies, by the clearest and most satisfactory vindi- cation of his own conduct. The session of parliament was rendered me . England morable by the establishment of a national bank, established under the denomination of the bank of England ; the original capital stock of which, amounting to 1,500,0001. was subscribed in ten days. This proved a very sensible relief to government in matters of pecuniary concern, and raised sur- prisingly the value of .exchequer-bills, tallies, and pther government securities, which had suffered under a great depreciation. The act however did not pass without animadversion. Some prophe- tic politicians intimated their apprehensions, *' that an institution of this kind would soon be- come a mere creature of the government that pare would be taken to give it none but govern- ment operations that on any sudden emer- gency, or even general panic, the Bank might find itself unable to answer the demands of its credi- tors, and that the failure of a national bank must be attended with national ruin that such an in- stitution, under the influence of the executive go S-iS HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. vernment, would throw more real power into its i(x}3. hands, and add more facility to the projects of ar- bitrary and despotic ministers, not to say mo- narchs, than the erection of a citadel : that the shutting up the exchequer in the last reign but one, after the bankers had been induced to de- posit the money there, was alone sufficient to ma- nifest the danger of trusting any mighty mass of wealth within the reach of power : -and in fine, that, from the time this new wheel was added to the machine of government, all its motions would be mysterious and unintelligible; and a very little eunning might serve to. destroy what all the wis- dom and virtue of the nation could never re-; store., As no decisive measure had been resolved on the East- . . . ladia com- during the last session to the prejudice of the East-India company, the proprietors flattered themselves that they had the best of the contest. And they had in consequence made application to government for a new charter, to enable them to take in additional subscriptions to the amount of 756,OGO/. which was necessary to raise the aggregate of their capital to one million and a half, which had by a vote of the house of corn-: mons been declared necessary for carrying on the trade: and had actually obtained an order of council to the attorney-general for preparing one, with such additional regulations as were pre- WILLIAM III. 34-9 viously agreed upon. But on the other hand, BOOK n. the antagonists of the company had preferred ^^j^* their petition to government, praying, as before, the queen, and the bearer of this letter. - 1 ^?~*~ > have endeavoured to learn this some time ago from admiral Russel; but he always denied it to me, though I am very sure that he knew the design for more than six weeks. This gives me a bad sign of this man's intentions. I shall be very well pleased to learn that this letter comes safe to your hands *." In order to remove the public depression occa- sioned by this disaster., lord Berkeley had orders to stretch over to the coast of France, and use every means in his power, consistent with the laws of war, for the annoyance of the enemy. Agreeably to his instructions, therefore, he sailed BO,^.,^ first to Dieppe, and threw a prodigious number . em of of bombs and carcases into the place, so that the Grace. town was in a manner ruined and destroyed. From Dieppe the fleet directed its course towards Havre-de-Grace, which met with nearly the same fate. They then attempted Dunkirk and Calais; but the whole country being by this time alarm- ed, and prepared for defence, these attacks were attended with very imperfect success. A general consternation however was excited, and some retaliation made for the horrid excesses com- mitted by the French on the banks of the Rhine ; * Macpherson's State Papers, vol. i. p. 48*. HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. which indeed was the only justifiable motive that M>94. could be assigned for so barbarous a mode of waging war. The honor of the British flag was much more effectually maintained during this summer by admiral Russel, who rode triumphant in the Mediterranean,; and after relieving Barcelona, and driving the French fleet into their ports, he received orders from England to winter with his whole fleet at Cadiz. On the appearance of this vast armament, consisting of 60 ships of the line,, in the Mediterranean., the Italian powers of Ve- nice and Tuscany thought proper to acknowledge the title of the king, which they had hitherto evaded : and the duke of Savoy in all probability was prevented from concluding a separate treaty with France. session of On the 9th of November 1694- the king landed at Margate, and was met by the queen at Ro- chester. Their progress to the metropolis was every where attended with loud acclamations. On the 12th the session of parliament was opened ; and the king in his speech congratu- lated the house on the favorable posture of af- fairs by sea and land ; and earnestly recom- mended to the commons to provide such supplies as might enable him to prosecute the war with vigor. Loyal addresses were returned, and sup- plies to the amount of five millionsj at that thus WILLIAM III. 363 considered as an immense sum, readily granted. BOOK n. But, with the supply bills, the bill for the fre- quent meeting and calling of parliaments kept pace, it was prepared by order of the com- ed - mons, and brought in by Mr. Harley, a mem- ber of the house, now rising to great parliamen- tary eminence, on the 22d of November, and, in a few days passing the house, was sent up to the lords, who gave it their concurrence without any amendment ; four days after which, Decem- ber the 22d, the king, sensible of the impro- priety of longer resisting the national will on this favorite point, gave it the royal assent. It enacted, that a new parliament should be called every third year, and that the present parliament should be dissolved before the 25th of March 1696. This act was received by the nation with great joy, as the most satisfactory security ever yet obtained for the perpetuation of their rights and liberties. But unhappily, in the earnestness of their zeal for the acquisition of one great constitutional point, they entirely overlooked another ; and it was not considered that the purity and equality of the national representa- tion were of no less importance than the term of its duration an oversight which the succeeding generations have had reason bitterly to lament, and which the most strenuous efforts of patriotism Jjave not yet been able to repair. HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. At this period the church of England sustained a great loss, in the sudden death of its metropo- litan, archbishop Tillotson, a prelate, who in a very difficult and critical situation had con- ducted himself with great wisdom, temper and moderation. He had a clear head, with a tender and compassionate heart; and, like his cele- brated predecessor Cranmer, was a faithful and zealous friend, but a gentle, generous, and pla- cable adversary. He was succeeded in his high office by Dr. Tennison bishop of Lincoln, a man highly respectable for understanding, piety and, fndof candor. Bancroft, the deprived metropolitan, had died some months before Tillotson greater in his village retirement than on his archiepiscor pal throne, which he appeared in the times in which he lived but ill qualified to fill. Though he could never conscientiously take the oaths to the new government,, he discovered nothing of a factipus or seditious spirit, and abstained from whatever had a tendency to violate the public peace. In a conference which during his last illness we are told he held with one of his con- forming chaplains, it seems evident that he died in charity with all men. " You and I," said the dying prelate, ' ' have gone different ways in these late affairs ; but I trust heaven's gates are wide enough to receive us both. What I have done, WILLIAM III. 363 % I have done in the integrity of my heart indeed BOOK IL in the great integrity of my heart*." 1694. But the nation was destined at this period to J l " a ~" d feel another and yet heavier loss. In December tlie Q ueea * the queen was attacked with what appeared a transient indisposition, from which she soon in a great degree recovered. But the disorder return* ing with more serious symptoms, the physicians of the household were called in, who pronounced it to be the measles ; and very improper reme- dies were applied, for it was soon ascertained to '.ft o; /;,/ iii;Lrott * It is a soothing and consolatory reflection, that men who think and act in a manner widely different may be equally deserving of esteem and reverence. Of archbishop Tillotson king William said to Mr. Chad wick, his son-in-law, " I loved your father: I never knew an honester man, and never had a better friend.'' JJishop Burnet preached his funeral sermon : " the most mov- ing," says Mr. Oldmixon, " I ever heard, and to the most crouded auditory I ever saw interrupted only by sighs and tears." Of prchbishop Sancroft it is affirmed by Mr. Wagstaffj a clergyman who published an account of that prelate's last illness, " any man might read the pleasure in his breast by the constant serenity and cheerfulness of his aspect. It was in- deed," says he, " an unspeakable comfort and satisfaction to us, and we reflected on the mighty power of a well-spent life. Drawing near his end, he said, that his profession was real and conscientious j and that, if the same thing was to be acted over again, he would quit all he had in the world rather than violate his conscience.*' The archbishop died November 24, 1693, and was buried, according to his own directions, in the hurch-yard of the parish of Fresingfield, where he resided. 366 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN- BOOK n. be the small-pox of the confluent and most malig-* 1694. nant sort. She probably thought herself in dan- ger from the first,, as in an early stage of the illness she shut herself up in her closet for many hours,, and, burning many papers, put the rest in order. The new archbishop attended her; and when no hope of recovery remained, he, with the king's approbation, communicated to her the true state of her condition. She received the intelligence with the most perfect composure, and said, " she 5 thanked God she had always carried this in her mind, that nothing was to be left till the last hour she had nothing then to do but to look up to God and submit to his will;" and continued to the last uniformly calm and resigned. She gave orders to look carefully for\ small escritoire, to be delivered to the king. The day before she died she received the sacrament- all the bishops who were attending being admitted to receive it with her ; after which she had her last interview with the king, to whom she ad- dressed a few broken sentences imperfectly un- derstood. Cordials were administered, but in vain. She lay silent for some hours, and from a few words which then dropped from her lips it was perceived that her thoughts were wandering. In conclusion, she died on the 28th of December 1694, about one in the morning, in the thirty- third year of her age and sixth of her reign, She WILLIAM III. 357 was buried at Westminster with unusual honors, BOOK 11. both houses of parliament assisting at the solem- 16^4. nity : and her memory was consecrated by the tears of the nation. All distinctions of party seemed for a moment to be forgotten and absorbed in one general sentiment of affection- ate and grateful admiration*. The king was justly inconsolable for her loss. During her ill- ness he had given way to the most passionate bursts of grief : and after her death he seemed for many weeks and months plunged into the deepest melancholy. The necessity of attending to the great affairs of government at length roused him in some measure from his lethargy ; and he gradually recovered his composure 'of mind ; but to the last moment of his life he re- tained the fondest and tenderest affection for her memory. The misunderstanding between the king and p r ; nc sof queen and the prince and princess of Denmark had arisen to a great height : but during the illness of the queen the princess had requested to be permitted to visit her. This was civilly * Yet such is the tendency ofjaction to debase and brutalise the mind, that a certain non-juring clergyman was capable of insulting the memory of this accomplished princess, by preach- ing, on the occasion of her funeral, on the following remarkable text: "Go now see this accursed woman and bury her, for she is a kjng's daughter.'* S68 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. declined, tlie physicians deeming it not advisa- 1694. ble; but a forgiving message was sent by the queen to the princess, and after her decease a reconciliation was effected between the king and the princess, through the sole intervention of the earl of Sunderland*. By his advice a letter of respectful condolence was written to his majesty by the princess, who was again received at court, and treated.with great demonstrations of regard f. * Vide duchess of Marlborough's Account, p. 110. f The letter was expressed in the following handsome terms : " SIK, I beg your majesty's favorable acceptance of my sincere and hearty sorrow for your great affliction in. the loss of the queen ; and I do assure your majesty I am as sensibly touched with this sad misfortune as if I had never been so unhappy as to have fallen into her displeasure. It is my earnest desire your majesty would give me leave to wait upon you as soon as it can be without inconvenience to you, and without danger of in- creasing your affliction, that I may have an opportunity myself, not only of repeating this, but of assuring your majesty of my real intention to omit no occasion of giving you constant proofs of my sincere respect and concern for your person and interest, as becomes, SIR, your majesty's most affectionate sister and . servant, ANNE," What appears most extraordinary in this reconciliation is, that lord Sunderland should have had the ad- dress to acquire for himself the merit of accomplishing it. By what arts of insinuation he ingratiated himself into the confi- dence of the princess we are not informed ; but certain it is, that she had at a former period expressed herself in very vehe- ment and indignant terms respecting him. In a letter addressed to her sister, the princess of Orange, a short time previous to the Revolution, she styles him " tho subtiiest workingestvillaia. WILLIAM III. 369 r ^^ f A -y >. . ' Ttirr xit n ^ri&*~ The king appropriated the palace of St. James's BOOK if. for her residence, and presented her with the iQ$4, greater part of the queen's jewels but a mutual jealousy and dislike subsisted under these 'exte- riors of friendship and esteem. On the demise of the queen, a very perplexing question of law was started in the Upper house by the lords Rochester and Nottingham, the chiefs of the tory party., who insisted that the parliament was dissolved in consequence of that event, the writs being issued in the joint names of the king and queen. The earl of Portland with indignation replied, "that this was a matter not fit to be mentioned, and much less debated" irea^ 'io elanolo? s^r.'io -ibiifcrij . en the face of the earth." It is worthy of remark, that at this precise period we find lord Arran, in a dispatch to king James, dated March ] 3, 1&Q5, thus expressing himself: ." With regard to news, it is certain that the preparations that are made here for the Mediterranean are designed for attacking Toulon, if it is possible. It is lord Sunderland who has given me in charge to assure your majesty of this." MTherson, vol. i. p. 4S/. On comparing this intelligence with a letter from admiral Kussel to the earl of Galway, it appears strongly corroborated. The admiral desires his lordship " to let him know, whether there was a probability of doing any service with the fleet at the French ports ; and particularly, if with our troops, and such strength as the duke of Savoy could add to them, they and the fleet together might not attempt even TOULON itself with hopes of success." This letter was communicated to his royal high- ness and the marquis Leganez, who were of opinion, " that not tiny thing could be done therein." VOL. I. B B 370 "HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. in which sentiment the house seemed unanimously 1695. to concur ; and the people at large, being satis- fied with the provisions made by the triennial act for a speedy dissolution, disapproved the unsea- sonable suggestion of a legal scruple, which might be attended with such dangerous consequences. In the course of public business, soon after Christmas, a petition was presented from the inhabitants of Royston, complaining of oppres- sive usage from the officers and soldiers of colonel Hastings 's regiment quartered there, in exacting subsistence-money, &c. by a sort of coercion little short of military execution. The house, inflamed with this intelligence, set on foot an enquiry into the conduct of the colonels of regi- ments and army-agents, several of whom were committed to custody in consequence of a re- presentation to the king, and Hastings was ca- shiered: also a proclamation issued against all such illegal and criminal practices. This enquiry led to other investigations of a still more interesting nature ; and it appeared that several of the leading members of the house had been guilty of receiving bribes to facilitate the passing of certain bills. A bill called the Orphans' Bill, brought into the house by the corporation of London, after several years fruit- less solicitation, it was remarked, had passed in the course of the last session without difficulty. WILLIAM III. 37 1 On appointing a committee to examine the BOOK IL chamberlain's books, the copy of an order was 1695. found for paying Sir John Trevor, the SPEAKER of the HOUSE of COMMONS, one thousand gui- neas so soon as the said bill should be passed, with an intimation from Barrat the city solicitor that unless the said sum was given the bill would not pass. On receiving the report, the speaker was reduced to the unparalleled mortification of putting the question, " that sir John Trevor, [j^**- speaker of this house, in receiving a gratuity f Com - of one thousand guineas from the city of London, peiied the * . House. after passing the Orphans' Bill, is guilty 7 of a high crime and misdemeanour." This being carried in the affirmative, the speaker thought it expedient to abdicate the chair, and was imme- diately expelled by an unanimous vote of the house, and Paul Foley, esq. chosen speaker in his room. Mr. Hungerford, chairman of the committee on the Orphans' Bill, having also been proved guilty of corruption, was in like manner expelled the house. But the investigations of the house did not investiga- tion of the terminate here. The same committee being* affairs of the East empowered to examine the books and accounts i ndia con? - pany. of the East India Company, it appeared on inspection, that whereas the sum issued for special or secret service did not in the year 1688 Amount to more than 1284/. and in the two u B 2 372 HISTORY OF QREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. following years to more than 2096J. and 3056/. ^^ in the last year 1693 it rose to 167,00(k Sir Tho- , mas Cookc, a member of the house, having been governor of the company during the last year, was called upon to declare in what manner this money had been expended. Cooke, refusing to answer, was committed to the Tower ; and a bill of pains and penalties brought in, obliging him to discover how the sum mentioned in the report of the committee had been distributed. This bill was vehemently opposed by the duke of Leeds in the house of lords, as contrary to law and equity ; and furnishing a precedent of a a- most dangerous nature. The warmth of the tions of the Duke of lord president only tended to create farther suspicion, especially as his grace was loud and earnest in the protestations of his own innocence, although no accusation had been exhibited against Mm. The bill ultimately passed, with a clause indemnifying Cooke from any offence committed by him in the distribution of the money in question : on which Cooke delivered in a statement of the various sums paid by him to various persons : amongst the rest, 40,000/. to sir Basil Firebrace for favors and services done to the company. Sir Basil, being examined as to the nature of the services he had performed for the company, fell into great confusion and loss of memory complained of illness, and WILLIAM III. S73 requested that the examination might be deferred BOOK n. said he had done the company service by his ^5. solicitations; but knew not of any money or stock given to any person whatsoever for procuring a new charter. On his re-examination he could now recollect that, in consequence of a treaty with Mr. Bates, whom he thought able to do service in passing the charter, he had given him two notes for 5500 guineas that Bates had acquaintance with several great lords, particu- larly the LORD PRESIDENT, to whom he, i. e. Firebrace, had free access after the notes were given ; arid found him easy and willing to grant the company his assistance respecting the renewal of the charter. Sir Basil farther said, that, having at the first intimated to Bates that a present of j* * 2000Z. or 3000/. might be made for the service required ; Bates replied that more than this had been offered by the other side. Sir Basil at last consented to give 5000 guineas : on which Bates said, " this was nothing to HIM : he ought not to .be employed for nothing" on which an addition of 500 guineas was made to the 5000: and finally, that, about a week ago, Bates desired to return the 5000 guineas, saying it might make a noise the 500 still remaining in his hands. Bates, being summoned, deposed, that Firebrace had ap- plied to him for his interest, saying, that the .com- pany would be very grateful for it that he did 374 HISTORY OF GREAT -BRITAIN. BOOK ii. accordingly use his interest with the lord presi- 1695. dent, who said he would do .what service he could, agreeably to the opinion he had delivered in public, viz. that the charter ought to be con- firmed that he did receive the notes in question that he told the lord president of it, and would li&ve passed them upon him; but his grace refused them that counter-notes were given, making the payment of the money wholly dependent on the renewal of the charter that the money, when paid, was lodged in the hands of a foreign domes- tic of the lord president, monsieur Robart, where it had remained till he had returned 'the present to sir Basil, from the apprehension of the noise it might make and that the whole was to be applied to his own private use. This account was corroborated by the lord president in a vin- dicatory speech delivered in his place as a lord of parliament; when, his grace receiving notice that the commons were proceeding to a vote of im- peachment against him, abruptly broke off, and, presenting himself at the door of the lower house, caused the house to be informed, that he desired to be heard in his own defence. He was accord- ingly admitted, and complimented with a chair within the bar, and leave to be covered. Then rising with his hat off, he ff thanked them for the favor they had granted, and expressed his impa- tience to justify himself from whatever might ap- WILLIAM III. 375 pear to deserve the censure of that house. His BOOK ir. grace then assumed a very lofty tone, ill suited 1695. to the occasion, and declared it to he a hold word indeed, but a truth, that the house would not have been sitting at this time but for him That he had been formerly pursued for being in the French interest, but that he hoped that all the actions of his life would justify him from the charges brought against him. As to the present matter, it was true Firebrace had been intro- duced to him but that, upon his faith and honor, he had neither directly nor indirectly touched one penny of the money ; nor did he think Bates was a man to be concerned in an ill thing. He insinuated that a design had been framed against him, previous to the naming the committee that relative to this business he had a thread which he hoped to spin finer still. That he asked nothing but justice, but he trusted that no severe sense would be put on what would bear a candid one. He trusted that the house would reconsider this matter ; and if they were deter- mined to proceed, he hoped it would be speedily; for that he would rather want counsel, want time, want any thing, than lie under their displeasure And he prayed that he might not suffer upon a rack, or under a blast, till a parliament should sit again; but that he might have speedy justice/' The duke being withdrawn, it was remarked fay 376 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. his enemies in the house, that speedy justice was K5cj5. indeed to be wished ; and that if any malicious contrivance against him could be traced hy the means of any such clue as his grace boasted to have in his possession., he would no doubt be cleared by his peers, who were the proper judges of the merits or demerits of the charge. The house then resolved, 1st, that the impeachment Impeach- 1 should be immediately carried up to their lord- ESeof' 1 * ships' bar by Mr. Comptroller Wharton, &c. ; Leeds * and 2dly, that the committee do forthwith draw up articles of impeachment in due and regular form. In a few days the articles were reported to. the house, and, being agreed to, were engrossed and sent up to the lords ; char- ging the duke of Leeds with , e( \ high crimes and misdemeanours, in that, being president of the council, and sworn to give their maj*esties true and faithful advice, he had, contrary to his oath, office, and duty, &c. contracted and agreed with certain merchants trading to the East Indies, to procure a charter of confirmation, &c, for the sum of 5500 guineas," During this interval Robart, in whose hands the money had been depo- sitedj thought it expedient to abscond : and the duke of Leeds, knowing the evidence to be now incomplete, urged anew the immediate prosecu~ tion of the impeachment, and talked in high terms of the hardship and injustice of delay. WILLIAM in. 377 He moved the house of peers, that, if the house BOOK 11. of commons did not reply to the answer he A (jy 5 ^ had put in, the impeachment might be dis- charged, otherwise he might lie under the re- proach of it .all his life. The commons, con- founded at this incident, acknowledged that the withdrawment of M. Robart since the impeach- ment was drawn up, was the reason why they were not in readiness to make it good. His grace the lord president then, exclaiming in severe terms against the commons for doing such an unheard-of and unprecedented thing, as to charge a man with crimes before they had all the evidence to make it good, informed the house, that from a letter left by Robart, from the tem- per of the man, and from a particular knowledge he had both of him and the thing, he would not be seen here again in haste. " So," said his grace, " if this man be insisted upon as a material evi- dence, and that my trial is to be delayed till he is forthcoming, when am I likely to be tried ?" And he concluded with again urging " that the impeachment shall fall, if not immediately pro- ceeded upon." A prorogation of parliament tak- ing place at this precise juncture, and in the midst of these proceedings, the enquiry, though not formally, was virtually relinquished : but the most disgraceful imputations adhered from this time to his grace's character. It ought at the 378 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ii. same time to be recorded, to the honor of the earls *^frjs^ of Portland and Nottingham, that itappeared from the report of the committee, that these noblemen refused with indignation the presents or bribed severally offered them from the same quarter, and for the obtainment of the same object. Notwithstanding the stigma thus indelibly af- fixed to the duke of Leeds, he still continued, little to the satisfaction of the public, at the head of the council. His name, however, was not to be found amongst the lords of the regency ap- pointed by the king on his departure for the con- tinent. These consisted of the archbishop of Can- terbury, the lord keeper Somers, the lord privy seal Pembroke, the lord steward Devonshire, the lord chamberlain Dorset, the secretary of state Shrews- bury, and the first lord of the treasury Godolphin. sir wu- About this time sir John Trenchard, secretary liamTrum- . , i >: bull made of state, removed from his office by the mighty of state, mandate of death, was succeeded by sir William Trumbull, a man formed very much upon the model of sir William Temple; and w r ho, like him and a few others, had been employed in the con- duct of affairs previous to the Revolution, with honor to himself and advantage to the public. Being envoy in France when the edict of Nantz was repealed, he acted a most humane and worthy part in assisting the protestants to escape with their property from the rage of persecution. From Paris WILLIAM III. $79 he was sent to Turkey, and resided several years at BOOK IT. Constantinople with great credit and reputation. 1695. In the present spring (1695) a session of liament was held in Scotland the marquis of Tweeddale being high commissioner. In the course of it a very remarkable act passed for the establishing a company by the name the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies. This company, in which almost the whole commercial strength of Scotland was com- prehended^ were authorized to freight their own or hired ships for ten years from any of the ports or places in that kingdom, or from any other ports or places in amity with his majesty, to any lands, islands, &c. in Asia, Africa, or America; and there to plant colonies, hold cities, towns, or forts, in or upon the places not inhabited or possessed by any European sovereign or state: with an ex- clusive right against all persons not of the said company provided that all the ships so freighted should make their returns to Scotland, on pain of confiscation. And an exemption from all im- positions, duties, and taxes, was granted to the company for the term of twenty-one years. This very important act, which was passed by the lord commissioner under the general instructions he had received for passing such laws as might tend to the encouragement of trade, excited in Scot- land the most eager and flattering hopes, and in England the most alarming jealousies and appre- 30 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK n. hensions ; and it was in the sequel productive of 3695. ver j serious consequences. During the session a severe inquisition was made into the affair of Glencoe, and heavy censures passed on the prin- cipal actors in that dismal tragedy. The fourth fair of resolution of the report from the commissioners of pre-cognition declared., uselaar, left the command to the prince de Vaudemont; and at the head of agrand division of the troops joined the elector of Bavaria and t^ie earl of Aihlone, and took the command of the covering army before Namur. The season, far from being remarkably rainy, as was the case in 16~>2, was now so dry that the convoys of provir sion and ammunition could not be s.ent up the Sambre and Maese for want of water. The main body of the forces, late under the separate com^ mandofM. Boulilers, having joined M. Villeroi, that general was expected to march to the relief of the besieged. But the prince of Vaudemont J)eing posted in an exposed situation three leagues only from the French camp, he determined first to attack and destroy this inferior enemy, and then to proceed on his expedition to Namur, The presumption of the prince de Vaudemont in choosing so indefensible a position has incurred the* severe censure of that great military critic M. dc Feuquieres ; who at the same time re- marks of M. de Villeroi, ct that he was as blind as Fortune herself, who had so undeservedly be- stowed this opportunity upon him." For, when the enemy wq,s thus evidently in his power, the marecbal resolved, in opposition to all the in- stances that could be made to the contrary, to <|efer the attack till the next day. But the prince, sensible of his danger, made ,in the mean time ad- WILLIAM III. 391 mirable dispositions for a retreat. He posted his BOOK m. cavalry in a manner so artful as to conceal the l6 . 5 complicated manoeuvres of the infantry ; and a errand movement taking* place with the utmost Celebrated Retreat of exactness and regularity, the French with amaze- the Prince f deVaude- ment saw a whole army vanish as it were from mom. before their eyes at once. Towards the close of the evening, the prince reached the plain of Oyendonck, where he designed to have taken post : but recollecting, as he afterwards said, a maxim of the great duke of Lorraine, " that, when an army is retreating, it must be sure to retreat beyond the enemy's reach/' he continued Jiis march all the night, after refreshing his troops, and by nine in the morning found himself per- fectly safe under the walls of Ghent. The retreat was extremely admired and cele- brated by all military judges; and the king of England wrote with his own hand a letter to the prince, in which he compliments him by saying, that it demonstrated more consuinmate skill in the art of war than if he had won a battle.* * The following is a translated copy of king William's letter to the prince cle Vaudemont : " COUSIN, " You cannot believe how much your letter of yesterday noon, which I received this morning by break of day, disturbed me. On the other side, how joyful I was upon the receipt of the other letter, dated from Mary-kirk, near Ghent, this day, ,at three in .the morning. I am much obliged to you ; for in 3D3 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. ... BOOK in. Marechal Villeroi was com pelled to content himself ^^^ with the capture of the petty fortresses of Dixmuyde and Deynse, which he dismantled, and detained the garrisons contrary to the conditions of the cartel established between the belligerent powers. In the mean time the siege of Namur was car- ried on with the greatest vigor and success, under "the direction of the celebrated Cochorn. The allied generals seemed to feel that they had no longer a Luxemburg to contend against, and exerted themselves with unusual activity and pe,r- severance. The king and the elector inspired courage in every breast, by sharing the toils and dangers of the siege equally with the men whom they commanded. On the storming of the first counterscarp, the king remained exposed in the trenches a considerable time to a very hot can- nonade from the enemy ; which killed several per- sons about him, and among the rest Mr. God- frey, deputy governor of the bank, who came over to establish certain regulations relative to the army remittances ; and was curious to see tills retreat }ou have given greater marks of a general, consum* mate in the art of war, than if you had gained a victory. I ab^ solutely approve of your conduct upon this occasion : and I hope it will hinder the enemy from undertaking any thing far-r ther of the same nature. Nevertheless, I shall be impatient till I know which way they bend their march, since this bk>w has failed them." ^WILLIAM III. 393 something of the nature of military attacks.* BOOKIIL On the 4th of August 1695, the town \vas sur- lt ^ 5> rendered by count de Guiscard, on condition of being allowed to withdraw the garrison into the citadel. M. Villcroi now advanced with his forces as if determined to attempt the relief of the castle: but on a sudden he defiled with his whole army towards Brussels, at that time the residence of the electress of Bavaria, to whom a polite message was sent by the marechal, that he had orders to bombard the place, but would spare the quarter where she had her abode. This terrible menace was immediately put in execution ; above 20CO bombs and a prodigious number of red-hot shot were thrown into the place, a great part of which was in consequence laid in ruins. This w r as said to be a retaliation upon the English for the bom- bardment of the French maritime towns. Re- gardless of this barbarity, the siege of the citadel of Namur was continued with unabating vigor ; and M. JJoufflers, fearing a speedy surrender, and * The following conversation is said to have passed between the king and Mr. Godfrey, a very few minutes before the can- non-ball came which deprived the latter of his life. KINO. <( As you are no adventurer in the trade of war, Mr. Godfrey, I think you sliould not expose yourself to die hazards of it." * GODFREY. " Not being more exposed than your majesty, should I be excusable if I shewed more concern ?" Ki^o. " Yes : I am in my duty, and therefore have a more reasonable claim to preservation." 394 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. J3OOKIU. dreading the disgrace of a capitulation, formed a ^Iffa^* desperate attempt to break through the allied camp with his cavalry, but was prevented by the vigilance of the king. On the 21st of August the batteries opened with a general discharge from 166 pieces of cannon and sixty mortars; so that the very hill on which the castle is situated seem- ed, according to the strong expression used on this occasion, " to reel with the violence of the shock*." On the 28th of August M. Villeroi, having received a great reinforcement from the Rhine, took post at Gemblours, and drew out his army in battalia as near the allies as the ground would permit. On the other hand the king quitted his lines, and made every disposition to receive his attack. But in the night the marechal decamped, and retreated along the banks of the Mehaigne. A general assault was made on the castle the day succeeding this retreat ; and, after a dreadful carnage on both sides, a lodgment was made near an English mile in extent. Prepara- tions being in a few days in forwardness for a se- cond assault, the governor, count de Guiscard., de- sired to speak with the elector ; and an offer was made to surrender the Coehorn fort. But the elector refusing to treat for less than the whole, M. de Boufflers consented to a capitulation terms the m'ost honorable being granted to the garrison. The king of Great Britain had there-* WILLIAM III. 395 fore the honor of taking in seven weeks one of the BOOK ^ strongest fortresses in Europe, defended by a ^Z^ jnarechal of France, in sight of an army of 100,000 capture of men commanded by another marechal of France. This was justly accounted the most glorious of all the warlike exploits of this martial and heroic monarch.* On the marching out of the garrison, * The celebrated P?IOR, who in his various attempts at the more elevated arjd sublime poetry is uniformly unfortunate, but who traverses with ease and grace the lighter and gayer walks of Parnassus, has ridiculed with exquisite humor the pompous ode of Boileau on the taking of Namur, three years before this period j and has celebrated this achievement of king William in a very agreeable strain of pleasantry. Boileau, in his ostentatious performance, had said : Mais qui fait s'enfler la Sambre ? Sous les Jumeaux effrayes Des froids torrens de Decembre Les champs partout sont noyes. Ceres s'enfuit, eploree De voir en proye a Bor6e Ses guerets d' epics charges, Et sous les urnes fangueuses Des Hyades orageuses Tous ses tresors submerges ! Deployez toutes vos rages, Princes, vents, peuples, frimats : Ramassez tous vos nuages : Rassemblez tous vos soldats ! Malgre vous Namur en poudr* S'en va tomber sous la foudre 396 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. marechal Boufflcrs was arrested, bv way of repri- l^^^-Vy"^*^ J ' ** V t 1695. sal for the detention of the garrisons of Dixmuyde and Deynse. He appeared at first much incensed, and declared that the king his master would re- Qui domta Lille, Courtray, Gand la superbe Espagnole, Saint-Omer, Bezangon, Dole, Ypres, Mastricht, et Cambray 1 Thus happily parodied by the English poet : Will no kind flood, no friendly rain, Disguise the marshal's plain disgrace ? No torrents swell the low Mehaigne > The world will say he dnrst not pass. Why will no Hyades appear, Dear poet, on the banks of Sambre, Just as they did that mighty year When they turn'd June into December ? The water-nymphs are too unkind To Villeroi Are the land-nymphs so ? And fly they all at once combin'd To shame a general and a beau ? Truth, justice, sense, religion, fame, May join to finish William's story : Nations set free may bless his name, And France in secret own his glory : But Ypres, Maestricht, and Cambray, Bezancon, Ghent, St. Omers, Lisle, Courtray, and Dole ! Ye critics, say, How poor to this was Pindar's style ! With ekes and alsos tack thy strain, Great bard ! and sing the deathless prince Who lost Namur the ( same campaign He bought Dixmuyde, and plunder'd Deynse ! WILLIAM III. vtenge tlie insult. But he was told, that,, far from BOOK TIL int nding any personal affront, it was the highest ^^7*'' compliment to detain him, as alone equivalent to the thousands included in the captive garrisons. The arrest of Boufflers being made known to the French court, orders were dispatched for the in- stant release of the garrisons ; and the marechal, '. on his return to Versailles, was received with dis- tinguished marks of esteem and regard. Satisfied with the success already gained, the king left the command of the army to the elector of Bavaria, and forgot the cares of royalty for a few weeks, after such exertions not ingloriously passed, at the beautiful retirement of Loo. The campaign on the Rhine, where the oppo- Campaign site armies were again commanded by the mare- Riiine* chal de Lorges and the prince of Baden, was dis- tinguished only by inaction and insignificance. In Italy, the duke of Savoy recovered the im-, in Italy. poiiant fortress of Casal, with so little shew of re- sistance on the part of the French, as to furnish an additional proof of the secret understanding supposed to subsist between the courts of Turin and Versailles. By the terms of the capitulation, Casal was to be restored to its rightful proprietor, the duke of Mantua. The war in Spain, also, was feebly prosecuted. "* s P aia * The king of France was impatient for peace, and contented himself with acting every where oa the 1 398 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK m. defensive. The siege of Barcelona was rendered ^0^ impracticable by the superiority of the British fleet, which, under the command of admiral Rus- . . sel, still gave law to the Mediterranean . And to have adventured farther into the interior provinces beyond the Catalan frontier, would have required exertions which the French court were not pre- pared to make. On the contrary, orders were sent to abandon Palamos and the whole tract of coun- try in their possession beyond Gironne. ^c mar itime powers were not yet able to suc- ceed in their favorite design of effecting a peace between the imperialists and the Turks. Lord Paget, ambassador from England, had arrived at Adrianople in the beginning of February 1695, with full instructions relative to a pacification ; but was informed that the death of the grand seignor Achmet II. had just taken place. He was succeeded by his nephew Mustapha II., son of the deposed emperor Mahomet IV., who declared hisf resolution tp take the field in person, and restore the glory of the Ottoman arms. In effect, the campaign was carried on vigorously on the part of the Turks, and very feebly on that of the Ger- mans, who had expected no such extraordinary exertion. The command in Hungary was this year conferred on the elector of Saxony, accom- panied by general Caprara. But before the im- perial army was completely formed., and even be- WILLIAM III. 399 fore the Saxon troops had arrived, the whole Otto- BOOK m . man force had passed the Danube, and reduced ^^* the fortresses of Lippa and Titul, which they de- molished and abandoned. The elector, putting at length his army in motion towards the enemy, was informed in his march, that the Turks had fallen with a prodigious superiority of numbers upon general Veterani, who commanded in Tran- sylvania; and, after a very long and brave resist- ance, the general himself being mortally wouad- ed, forced his camp, and cut to pieces the, greater part of the troops. The town of Caransebes was then seized upon and demolished. After these exploits the grand seignor re passed the Danube ; and the imperialists were unable, during the re- mainder of the campaign, to obtain any advantage which might serve as an equivalent for these se- vere and repeated losses. In the beginning of the summer, a considerable naval force under lord Berkeley, joined by a Dutch squadron under admiral Allemonde, was employ- ed, though with little effect, in the odious service of bombarding the maritime places of Dunkirk, Calais, and St. Malo. But they had the satisfac- tion of totally destroying the neighbouring town of Grandval, which was less prepared for defence. These repeated outrages furnished but too just a pretext for the bombardment of Brussels, as a ne- cessary jetaliation on the part of the French and 00 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. it seems to have answered the purpose intended, *~^Q^' The event proved, that the ships thus employed in the destruction of the property of the enemy would have been more beneficially engaged in the protection of our own : for the trade of the king- dom suffered greatly during the summer from the depredations of the French privateers; many mer- chant vessels from Barbadoes and the neighbour- ing islands, and no less than five East Indiamen, valued at a million sterling, having fallen into their hands, to the equal wonder and discontent o,f the commercial world ; the English fleets being now every where masters of the sea. Parliament The kins: returned to England early in October dissolved. r 1695, and was received as a conqueror with great and universal acclamation. A resolution was taken in council forthwith to dissolve the parliament, which might yet have sat another session. During' the election, the king made a progress to the north ; and partook, as before, of the diversions of the turf at Newmarket, where he received the compli- ments of the university of Cambridge. Having staid there three days, he went on the 21st to Althrop, a seat of the earl of Sunderland, who was now publicly known to be in high credit with the king. From Althrop he proceeded to Castle- Ashby and Boughton, the mansions of the earls of Northampton and Montague; thence to Burghley, \\ elbeck, Warwick Castle, and Wood- WILLIAM III. 401 stock. From this place he repaired on the 9th o r BOOK in. November to Oxford, and was waited on by the 10^5. duke of Ormond, chancellor of the university, and the heads of colleges, professors, &c. in their formalities ; the conduit at Carfax running all the time with wine. And so much gratified was the university with his majesty's condescensions, and , so well reconciled to his government at this period, that sir William Trumbull, the new secretary, was chosen to represent them in parliament. Throughout the kingdom the whig interest pre- whig in- vailed in the new elections ; and at the meeting of gains its the new parliament, November 22d, 1695, the dency" king expressed in his opening speech his entire satisfaction at the choice which his people had made. Mr. Foley was again placed in the speaker's chair; and the two houses, in their addresses to the throne, congratulated the glorious success of his majesty's arms ; and engaged effectually to assist him in the prosecution of the war, which they con- firmed by voting very large and liberal supplies. Four days after the meeting of parliament, a Treason bill, which had been formerly offered and rejected, for regulating trials in cases of high treason, was once more brought into the house by the tories. The design of it, according to bishop Burnef- seemed to be to make men as safe in all treason- able conspiracies and practices as possible ; it be- ing enacted, " that all persons indicted for high VOL. i. D 402 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. treason, or misprision of treason, shall have a copy *^Q*^ of the whole indictment five days, and of the panel of the jurors two days, at least, before the trial; that they shall be permitted the assistance of coun- sel ; that they shall not be convicted but upon the oaths of two witnesses, joining to evidence some overt act; that the indictment be found within three years after the offence be committed ; that no evidence be admitted of any overt act not ex- pressly laid in the indictment; that they shall have like process to compel their witnesses to ap- pear for them, as is usually granted to witnesses against them; and that they be allowed pe- remptorily to challenge thirty-five of the jury." The whigs, in common with the court, loth openly and directly to oppose so equitable and popular a measure, were contented to argue that the secu- rity f the subject was best provided for when the best provision was made for the security of the government. And that, therefore, the law ought to continue on its ancient footing, at least till the war should be brought to a conclusion. Amongst those who rose in support of this bill, and particu- larly that clause of it which allows the assistance of counsel to the parties accused, was lord Ashley, grandson of the great earl of Shaftesbury, and pupil of the famous LOCKE ; at this time little known, but at a later period of his life universally admired, and celebrated as the author of " The 10 WILLIAM in. 403 Characteristics." Although he had premeditated BOOK in, his speech, it so happened, that, struck with the 1695. august presence and deep attention of his audi- tory, he was disconcerted and unable to proceed. After a pause, recovering from his embarrassment, he converted, by the happiest effort of ingenuity, this incident, so common and trivial, into an ar- gument in favor of the bill irresistibly powerful and impressive. ff If I, sir," said this youthful and ingenuous speaker, " who rise only to give my opinion on the bill now depending, and have no personal concern in the question, am so con- founded that I am unable to find voice or words to express the least portion of that which I pro- posed to say, what must the condition of that man be, who, without any assistance, is pleading for his life, and suffering under the immediate apprehensions of being deprived of it ?" This sudden appeal to the heart operated more power- fully than the most labored eloquence. The bill passed in a tumult of applause; and it was im- mediately transferred to the lords, who added to it a clause formerly rejected by the commons : " that to the trial of a peer all the peers should be summoned." Contrary, however, to the hopes of the court, the commons, rather than risque the bill, agreed to the amendment ; and the act re- ceived the royal assent. The final success of this attempt, after the repeated failures of the patriots D D 404 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOKin. respecting this great point, confirmed anew the 1695. maxim of lord Coke, " that seldom or ever any good bill or good motion, which had once been entered on the journals of the house, though it miscarried at first, was wholly lost to the nation." Tne iw state of the silver coina g e > which had long been a subject of grievous complaint, was this session taken into the serious consideration of parliament. Such was the depreciation of the current coin, in consequence of the practice of clipping and other infamous frauds, that thirty shillings in the common course of exchange were equivalent only to one guinea. A resolution was therefore taken, to call in and re-coin the whole of the silver currency : and though confident pre- dictions were hazarded of the evils that would en- sue from the temporary suspension of the usual medium of commerce, the whole project was car- ried into speedy and successful execution, under the able and dexterous management of Mr. Mon- tague, chancellor of the exchequer, who conduct- ed himself in this difficult business entirely to the satisfaction of the parliament and of the public. An affair of a very different nature was nearly gant Grant . . J to the Earl at the same time canvassed in parliament, which exposed the king to severe censure, and excited in his breast very sensible chagrin. The carl of Portland, a man highly and upon many accounts deservedly esteemed by the king, but of a dispo- WILLIAM III. 405 sition too prone to rapacity and avarice, had re- BOOK TI ceived repeated marks of the royal bounty such iQg$. as in the opinion of the nation at large were at least adequate to his services. This nobleman, to whom the king,, indifferent himself to pecuniary concerns, knew not how to refuse any thing,, had lately solicited and obtained from the crown a grant, to him and his heirs for ever, of the lord- ships of Denbigh, Bromfield, and Yale, in the county of Denbigh. This was no sooner made known to the gentlemen of Wales residing in that vicinity, than they determined in the spirit of ancient Britons to resist it to the utmost of their power : and while the warrant was yet pending in the public offices, they petitioned the lords of the treasury for a hearing. This being complied with, sir William Williams, in the name of the rest, represented to the board, " that these lord- ships were part of the ancient demesnes of the prince of Wales ; and always considered by the Welsh nation as inalienable that in the statute for granting of fee-farm rents, there was a parti- cular exception of the Welsh rents and it was added that the salaries of the Welsh were pay- able out of the re venues in question." Lord Go- doiphin having asked whether the earl of Leicester had not those lordships in grant to him in queen Elizabeth's time; sir Robert Cotton answered,' ee that the earl of Leicester had a grant from the queen of the lordship of Denbigh only that this 405 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK HL was so much resented as to occasion an insu'r- 1695. rection in the principality, for the part they took in which several of his family had capitally suf- fered ; but that the earl had been compelled in the end to relinquish his grant." Lord Godol- phin, after giving the petitioners a patient and candid hearing, declared ff that they had offered weighty reasons for their opposition, and that he would not fail to represent them to his majesty." The affair after this was suffered to lie several months dormant : but the grant not being for- mally revoked, the Denbighshire gentlemen re- solved to petition parliament against it ; and Mr. Price, himself a member of the house of com- mons, introduced the petition with a bold and energetic speech, of which a very curious and ample report yet remains. This gentleman, amongst a great variety of observations equally just and forcible, said, ' c that he would gladly be informed from those who were better versed in prerogative learning than himself, whether his majesty can, by the bill of rights, without the consent of parliament, alienate or give away the inheritance or absolute fee of the crown lands. If he can, I would likewise know," said he, " to what purpose was the crown settled for life, with a remainder in succession, if the tenant for life can give away that revenue which is incident to the crown ? Can the king have a larger power of disposal over the revenue than over the crown to WILLIAM III. 407 which it belongs ? Far be it from me to speak BOOK HI. in derogation of his majesty's honor it cannot 1695. be expected that HE should know our laws who is a stranger to us, and we to him but it was the province and duty of ministers to have ac- quainted the king of his power and interest that the ancient revenue of the crown is sacred and unalienable in time of war and the people's neces- sities. By the old law., it is part of the corona- tion oath of the kings of England,, not to alien the ancient patrimony of the crown without con- sent of parliament. But as to those oaths of of- fice, most kings have court casuists enough about their persons to inform them that they have a prerogative to dispense with those oaths, espe- cially when their interest, as it generally happens, goes along with their counsel. It has been the peculiar care of parliaments in all ages to keep an even balance between king and people ; and therefore, when the crown was too liberal in its bounties, the parliament usually resumed those grants. Kings have their failings as well as other men : being clothed with frail nature, and apt to yield to the importunities of their favorites and flatterers : therefore it becomes necessary that the great council of the nation should interpose for the interest of king and people. And when- ever our princes entertained foreigners as their counsel or chief advisers, the people of England 40S HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. were restless and uneasy until they were removed 1695. out of the king's council ; NAY, out of the king- dom. WE see most places of power and profit given to foreigners. We seethe revenues of the crown daily given away to one or other, \vho make sale of them, and transmit their estates elsewhere. If these strangers find themselves involved in an opposition of interests,, to whose interests are they most likely to adhere ? I would have us to consider that we are Englishmen, and must, like good patriots, stand by our country, and not suffer it to become tributary to others if we submit to see our properties given away, our liberties will soon follow." Thrown into a flame by this speech, the house instantly agreed upon an address to the king, framed in very deci- sive terms, to recall his grant to the earl of Port- land ; which the king, not with a very good grace, engaged to do. He declared, ff that he had a kindness for the earl of Portland which he had deserved by his long and faithful services that he should not have given him those lands, if he had imagined the house of commons could have been concerned he would therefore recall the grant, and find some other way of shewing his favor to him." This was accordingly done ; and in the month of May succeeding, a fresh grant was made to the earl of the manors of Grantham, Dracklow, Pevensey, East Greenwich, &c. &c. WILLIAM III. 409 in the several counties of Lincoln, Chester, Sus- BOOK in. sex, and Kent, together with the honor of Pen- 1695. rithinthe county of Cumberland. Of these ex- travagant donations the parliament did not think proper to take farther cognizance ; but the best friends of the king lamented that he should expose himself to such unnecessary obloquy, for the sake of gratifying the insatiable claims of a haughty and rapacious favorite. The discontent of the commons more conspi- cuously appeared in an affair of a nature much against the more important and national. The recent esta- d blishment of the Scottish commercial company, p ' with such extensive privileges and exemptions, excited in England both envy and apprehension. At a conference of the two houses, an address to the throne was agreed upon, which had the air rather of a remonstrance than a petition, repre- senting " that by reason of the great advantages granted to the Scots East India Company, and the duties and difficulties to which that trade was subject in England, a great part of the stock and shipping of this nation would be car- ried thither. By this means Scotland might be made a free port for all East India comirfodities and consequently those several places in Eu- rope which were supplied from England would be furnished from Scotland much cheaper than could be done by the English. And further* 410 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. that when that nation should have settled them- it)t)5. selves in plantations in America, the English commerce in tobacco,, sugar, cotton, wool, skins, masts, &c. would be utterly lost, because the privileges of that naiion granted to them by this act' were such, that that kingdom must be the magazine for all commodities and that by a clause in the said act, whereby his majesty pro- mised to interpose his authority to have repara- tion made for any damage done to the ships and merchandize of the said company, his majesty did seem to engage to employ the shipping and strength at sea of this nation to support this new company, to the great detriment even of this kingdom." To this address the king made an- swer, " that he had been ill served in Scotland ; but he hoped some remedies might be found to prevent the inconveniences which might arise from this act." As a convincing proof of the king's sincerity Marquis of in this business, the marquis of Tweeddale, dismissed! high commissioner, and the two secretaries of state, were indignantly dismissed from their offices, and the seals of secretary given to lord Murray, son of the marquis of Athol. This Scottish act of parliament was a truly unfortu- nate business, and boded nothing but disaster. It is certain that the marquis of Tweeddale and the discarded secretaries were men of honor and WILLIAM III. 411 integrity; but, actuated by a very pardonable BOOK m. partiality to their native country., they had, 1695. without sufficient warrant of authority, and with little foresight of consequences, promoted and patronized a project which could not in the nature of things but give extreme umbrage to the English nation though it is highly probable that the act itself was in an abstract view wisely planned. The infant blossoms of commercial adventure, which had with such extreme diffi- culty survived the chilling blasts of the winter of poverty, required and demanded the fostering warmth of legislative indulgence to mature and expand their foliage. Such a competition was far too feeble to excite any rational alarm. As well might the stately oak fear to be oversha- dowed by the trembling osier. In fact, Scotland could have gained no accession of wealth and prosperity of which England would not have been an immediate and almost equal participant. Not satisfied with the steps already taken., the house of commons appointed a committee to examine by what methods this bill was obtained. The committee having in a short time made their report, and delivered a copy of an oath de fideli taken by the directors of the Scottish India Company, it was resolved, (( that the directors of the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies, administering and taking here in 412 HISTORY .OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK IN. this kingdom an oath de jiddi, and, under color 1(X)5. of a Scots act of parliament,, styling themselves a company, were guilty of a high crime and mis- demeanor : and that lord Belhaven, William Paterson, David Nairne, and eighteen other per- sons named in the resolution, be IMPEACHED of the same." On the other hand, when the Scottish nation was apprised that the king had disowned the act for the establishment of their company, it is not easy to describe the indignation which was ex- cited ; for they had indulged the most extrava- gant and chimerical expectations from the suc- cess of their project. Instead of the bleak and barren hills of their native land, mountains of gold rose in blissful vision before their eyes; and they resolved, in spite of all the opposition that England could give, to persist in the prose- cution of a plan which had now the sanction of law, and which the king, however he might dis- approve, could neither alter, suspend, or repeal. An attempt, though unsuccessful, of a nature sta- too remarkable to be entirely passed over with- fBoar4 out notice, was made in the course of the present session, in consequence of the mercantile losses lately sustained, to establish a council of trade with extraordinary and independent powers. And the house of commons proceeded so far in the business as to vote, 1st. That a council of WILLIAM III. 413 trade should be established by act of parliament, BOOK in. with powers for the more effectual preservation Kjyj. of the trade of this kingdom. 2dly, That the commissioners constituting the said council be nominated by parliament. 3dly, That none of the said commissioners should be of this house, &c. And a bill was ordered to be brought in upon the basis of these resolutions. This project was greatly disapproved, and warmly opposed by many of the most respectable and intelligent members of the house, who joined the courtiers in affirming, " that the establishment of a council of trade on such principles must be regarded as a radical change of the constitution. They urged, that the executive part of the government was by law wholly vested in the king; so that the ap- pointment of any permanent executive council by act of parliament began a precedent of encroachment upon the prerogative, which might be carried to the most dangerous lengths. It was indeed alleged that the council would be much limited as to its powers : yet if the parliament named the persons, how low soever their powers might be at first, they would probably be quickly enlarged ; and from being merely a council of trade, they would be next authorised to appoint convoys and cruizers. This in time might be extended to the whole business of the admiralty, and the dis- posal of that part of the revenue which was appro- 414 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. priated to the navy so that the monarch would 1096. gradually be reduced to the level of a doge of Venice. To the general surprise,, the earl of Sunderland declared loudly in favor of the bill ; doubtless to ingratiate himself with the popular, or what the cotemporary writers of these times frequently style the republican, party ; of whom, as the king truly remarked to bishop Bur net, Sunderland, from a retrospect of his past con- duct, stood in perpetual fear. William was much displeased with his temporising policy in this instance; but his resentment does not appear to have been very serious or lasting.' The argu- ments urged in opposition to the project in con- templation had probably their weight with the house ; as the bill was delayed, and ultimately lost the attention of the house being forcibly diverted to a less doubtful topic, and of more immediate interest and general concern. On the 1 1th of February 1696, a captain tion Plot. Fisher waited on the earl of Portland, to inform him, that there was a design in agitation to seize the person of the king, which was to be followed bv a general insurrection in England and Scot- land, and an invasion from France the ships being actually prepared, and a body of troops ready to embark, with king James at the head of them. On his subsequent examination before sir William Trumbull, secretary of state, he con- WILLIAM III. 415 firmed this account with many additional circum- BOOK nr. stances, saying that a commission had been itxfi. brought over from the late king, authorising this attempt on the person of the prince of Orange, and that more than forty persons were engaged in the said design, which was called cc attacking the prince of Orange in his winter quarters." He further declared, that Saturday the 15th instant was the day fixed upon for putting their plan in execution, and that the attempt was to be made on a certain spot between Brentford and Turn- ham Green, as the king came in the evening from hunting, according to his usual custom : and that, in case of resistance from the guards, he was to be killed. But this informer pertina- ciously persisting in his refusal to specify the individuals engaged in this plot, the king, who was little subject to alarms, treated the whole story as a fiction, and declared his resolution to hunt in the forest as usual on the succeeding Saturday. But in the evening of the 14th, lord information n i i * i f Pendi- .rortland, going late to his apartments at White- grass. hall, found a person of the name of Pcndergrass, who desired to speak with him on a subject of the highest importance, which could not be deferred : and being admitted to an audience, he accosted the earl in these words : " My lord, persuade the king to stay at home to-morrow ; for, if he goes to hunt,, he will be assassinated." He thea pro- 416 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK IIL ceeded to give a detail, in substance the same \fy6. with what had been already recounted by Fisher. This informer acknowledged himself to be " an Irishman and a papist." But he declared, " that when this business was proposed to him, he was struck with horror, and immediately resolved to discover it that his religion was accused of au- O thoiising and encouraging such actions ; but that he for his part abhorred such principles, though in all other respects he was a true catholic. And he thought it most advisable to impart it to his lordship, as the person whose zeal and fidelity were Attest to be relied on." Like Fisher, how- ever, he absolutely refused to mention the names of any of the parties concerned in the plot. The earl of Portland immediately repaired to Kensington, though at a late and unseasonable hour ; and, having obtained access to the king, who had retired to rest, informed him of the additional evidence by which the reality of the conspiracy was now confirmed. On hearing this, the king thought proper to alter his resolution of hunting on the morrow. This appears to have excited no alarm amongst the conspirators, as being attributed to accident ; and the execution of the design was postponed to the following Saturday. In the interim, a third witness, named De la Rue, came to sir William Trumbull, and discovered not only the particulars of the conspi- WILLIAM III. 417 racy as before related, but the names of divers of BOOK in. the conspirators,, who were said to be sir George 1696. Berkeley, sir William Perkins, Charnock, Parker, Porter, &c. &c. Fisher and Pendergrass, hear- ing this, consented at length to come forward as legal witnesses. No suspicion being even yet entertained by the conspirators of a discovery, they met at Porter's lodgings, Pendergrass and De la Rue being of the number, on the morn- ing of the 22d ; and in the midst of their consul- tations they received intelligence that the king's hunting was a second time put off; upon which the company fell into a consternation, and talked of treachery : and, after drinking confusion to the prince of Orange, they separated in great confu- sion themselves. Warrants being issued the evening of the same day, various of the conspirators were apprehended in their beds. At this critical juncture advices were received from the elector of Bavaria, govern- or of the Low Countries, that the French troops stationed on the coasts of Normandy and Picardy were in motion, and ships of war and transports assembling in different ports of the channel. It was resolved, therefore, without farther delay, to communicate the whole of this extraordinay business to parliament; and on Monday the 24th of February, the king in an-interesting speech VOL. I. E E 418 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in from the throne apprised the two houses that he 1690. na> d received several concurring informations of a design to assassinate him ; and that the enemies of the kingdom were very forward in their prepa- rations for a sudden invasion. The parliament, astonished and inflamed at this intelligence, voted unanimously a most loyal and affectionate address, " expressing their detestation of so villainous and barbarous a design, and their resolution to revenge the same on his majesty's enemies and their ad- herents." A bill was immediately ordered in for suspending the habeas-corpus act ; and the mo- del of an association was immediately drawn, to be signed by the members of the house, nearly in the terms of the address, solemnly declaring that his present majesty king William is rightful National anc i i aw f K i kmjr of these realms. Above 400 Associa- tion, members of the house signed this association immediately ; and an order was made, that all members should sijm the same, or declare their C3 * refusal, on or before the 16th of March. This was a procedure extremely obnoxious to the high tories and concealed Jacobites. ' ' The distinction of a king de facto and a king de jure was revived on this occasion ; and all the ability of the party was exhausted in their endeavours to shew, both from authority and argument, that they ought not to be pressed on this head; and that compli- WILLIAM m. 419 Jirice or non-compliance ought not to be esteemed the test of a good subject*." In the house of lords, where the same associa- tion was proposed, the words rightful and lawful were strenuously attacked on the old ground, as not applicable to an elected sovereign ; and the earl of Rochester moved, that in the stead of them should be inserted ff that his present majesty king William hath a right by law to the crown of this realm ; and that neither Jking James, nor the pretended prince of Wales, nor any other person, hath any right whatsoever to the same." This was indeed a very nice and curious, if not rather a senseless and untelli- gible, distinction : yet it served as a salvo for the honor of the party ; and it was wisely adopted by the house, in order to conciliate the more moderate tories, who throughout the kingdom signed the association of the lords^ while the whigs adhered to that of the commons. And the originals of both were, conformably to an address of the commons to the king, lodged among the records in the Tower, there to remain as a perpetual memorial of the national loyalty. As a further proof of their attachment to the pre- sent establishment, towards the close of the ses- sion a bill was introduced with general approba-* Ralph, vol. ii. p. 623. 420 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK ni. tioir, for the better security of his majesty's per- 1696. son ana< government, which enacted, that such as refused to take the oaths should be subject to the penalties of popish recusants convict; that it should be penal to declare, by writing or otherwise, that king William was not lawful and rightful king of these realms ; that no person should be capable of any office of profit or trust, civil or military, that should not sign the association ; or of sitting in that house after the termination of the present parliament. On the 27th of April 1696, the king closed the session with a short but gracious speech, in which he ' e congratulated the parliament that the designs of their enemies had, by the blessing of GOD, no other effect than to let them see how firmly they were united." Before this period, several of the principal conspirators had been brought to trial ; not only De la Rue and Pendergrass, but Porter, Goodman, Harris, and various others, Execution being admitted as witnesses for the crown. The nock, first who suffered was Robert Charnock, one of Perkins. i the two fellows of Magdalen college who in the reign of James had renounced the protestant religion. Sir John Friend and sir William Per- kins were tried and convicted soon after. They both persisted in their ignorance of any assassina- tion plot, but acknowledged that they had been present at meetings held for the purpose of con- WILLIAM III. 49| spiring against the government. It was strongly BOOK in. urged by the former, that, according to the famous ifyQ. statute of Edward III., a consultation to levy war was not treason ; and that the being at a trea- sonable consult was but a misprision of treason. The statute being read in court, lord chief justice Holt, a man to whom even the malignity of fac- tion did not dare to impute any violation of integrity, declared, cc that, though a bare con- spiracy or design to levy war was not within this law treason; yet if the design or conspiracy be either to kill the king, or to depose or imprison him, or put any force or restraint upon him on any pretence, and the way proposed to effect any of these ends is by levying war, there the consultation and conspiracy to levy war is high treason, though no war be actually levied." This is a construction, however originally forced or artificial, so ancient, and so universally adopted by the courts of judicature and incorporated into their decisions, that no odium can attach to the chief justice for stating it as law. And it has been so long and invariably acquiesced in by the nation and by the legislature, as to acquire in equity the force of law, inconsistent as it appears with the original intent and meaning of the sta- tute. At the execution of these state criminals they were attended by three non-juring clergy- men, who had the effrontery to give them solemn HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. ?OOK in. absolution in the view of all the people t for 1696. which insult to the government they were com- mitted to custody, but discharged after a short confinement with only a reprimand from the court. One of these clergymen was the celebrated Col- lier, author of the View of the English Stage ; a man who to the superstition of a monk added the piety of an apostle, and the courage of a martyr. On this occasion a declaration was signed by the two archbishops, and twelve other bishops, among whom were Crew of Durham, Mew of Winchester, and Sprat of Rochester, containing a severe censure on the performance of this office of the church, without a previous confession made, and abhorrence expressed by the prisoners of the heinous crimes for which they died. To this declaration Collier with undaunted spirit published a reply, ec maintain- ing the absolution to be every way defensible as to matter, manner, persons, and occasion." The trials of Rookwood, Lowick, Cranbourne, &c. succeeded to those of Friend and Perkins ; but afford no circumstances of sufficient moment to arrest historic attention. The great problem to be resolved on inspecting these trials, is how far the late monarch was concerned in that part pfthe conspiracy which affected the life of the reigning king ? From the whole tenor of the evidence, as well as from the confession of WILLIAM III. 423 ral of the conspirators, it appears that a com- BOOK in. mission of an extraordinary nature, written, as \QgQ t . affirmed in evidence, by king James's own hand, was delivered by that monarch to sir George Berkeley, to levy war against the prince of Orange and all his adherents. And the conspi- rators had instructions from the king to obey the orders of sir George Berkeley, an officer of great experience, courage, and address, who was consi- dered by them as the head and chief of the whole enterprise ; and to confer and consult with Avhom the duke ofBerwick had in the preceding winter made a voyage to England, accompanied by the well-known colonel Parker, an active and furious partisan of the late king, who had recently escaped from the Tower. From the uniform and dying testimony of the conspirators, it is morally certain that the commission did not expressly authorise the assassination of the prince of Orange. " This," as bishop Burnet observes, " is an odious word, and perhaps no person was ever so wicked as to order such a thing in so crude a manner. 5 ' Nor is it perfectly clear, that the letter of the commission extended even to the seizure of the person of the prince. None of the crown wit- nesses pretended to have seen the original com- mission ; and sir George Berkeley, in whose pos- session it was, having effected his escape and reconveyed it to France, the transaction is left 424 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK rn. in impervious obscurity. Porter deposed, " that 1096. Charnock told him, Berkeley had a commission from king James to make an attempt on the person of the prince of Orange ; which was con- firmed to the deponent from the mouth of Berke- ley : and also, that he the witness had heard the same thing affirmed in discourse by sir William Perkins, with the additional circumstances, "that he had himself seen the commission ; that it was written by the king's own hand, because he would not trust his ministers ; and that the purport of it was for levying war on the person of the prince of Orange." Blair, another witness, deposed, " that father Harrison a monk, an agent of king James in London, told him, that if the business , in hand," i. e. the seizure or assassination of the prince of Orange, c ' miscarried, it would hinder king James from coming " And Blair express- ing his dislike of any such attempt, saying "" there was no authority for it either from GOD or man ;" Harrison rejoined, " that there was an authority or warrant from king James, which he, Harri- son, had seen, though it was not fit every body should see it." Fisher deposed, cc that sir George Berkeley proposed to him, in the presence of Harrison the monk, the design of seizing the person of the prince of Orange ; and that Harri- son had assured him king James had sent orders for executing the design aforesaid ; and that sir WILLIAM III. 425 George Berkeley had brought over with him the BOOK IIL said orders from France." Harris, an officer *~J^g^ serving in the late king's body-guard, swore, " that, being in France in the month of January last, he was sent for by the king, who informed him, 'that, being sensible he had served him well, he should send him to England, where he was to follow Berkeley's orders, in which case he would take care of him.' That on his arrival in Eng- land, he was ordered by Berkeley to keep close till there was occasion for his service ; that after a short interval, repairing by appointment to the lodgings of one Counter, he found several per- sons there assembled. Sir George Berkeley then coming in, declared ' these were his Janizaries ; adding, that he hoped they would bring him the garter ;' and talked something about attacking which very much startled the deponent, who till then had heard nothing of the matter*. That on meeting captain Rookwood the next morning, he asked him whether they were to be the mur- * " Sir George Berkeley had with him twenty-two men of king James's guards, beside officers. Some came before him, others followed. Strict secresy was enjoined ; and the king declared at his levee, that it was his pleasure none should pre- sume to talk of* their departure ; and that he would severely punish those who should give him the least occasion to believe they were more curious to enquire into his affairs than zealous to obey his orders." OLDMIXON, vol. ii. p. 131. 426 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. derers of the prince of Orange ? to which Rook- 1695. wood replied, he was afraid they were engaged in it. That at another time walking in Red Lion Fields with Lowick, Bernardi, and Rook- wood, and considering what a barbarous thing they had to do., Lowick said he would obey orders,, adding, ' Sure sir John Berkeley would not undertake it without orders!' Upon which Rookwood often repeated, ' the king had sent him to obey Berkeley's orders:' and both Bernardi and the deponent acknowledged they lay under the same obligation." Upon the whole, it can- not admit of any doubt that sir George BerKeley, who appears to have been in very high favor at the court of St. Germaine's, acted with a perfect understanding of its views, and an en- tire conformity to its inclinations. The real ob- ject of the commission was the removal by what- ever means of the prince of Orange ; and a veil was artfully cast over the villainy of the attempt, by endeavouring to give it the air of a military enterprise. Impartiality, nevertheless., requires the mention that sir William Perkins, in the paper written by him, and left in the hands of the sheriff, contradicts in part the evidence of Porter, in the following words : " I thank GOD I am now in a full disposition of charity, and there- fore shall make no complaints either of the hard- ships of my trial, or any other rigors put upon WILLIAM III. 427 me. However, one circumstance I think myself ^BOOK in. obliged to mention : It was sworn against me 1696. by Mr. Porter, that I had owned to him that I had seen and read a commission from the king to levy war upon the person of the prince of Orange. Now I must declare, that the tenor of the king's commission which I saw was general, and directed to all his loving subjects to raise and levy war against the prince of Orange and his adherents, and to seize all forts, castles., &c. But as for any commission particularly levelled against the person of the .prince of Orange, I neither saw nor heard of any such." After all, this distinc- tion is of little importance, for whether the term person was expressly mentioned in the commission or not, it seems apparent from the authorised construction of sir George Berkeley, that it was included in the design and spirit of it. The memoirs composed or corrected by king James contain, notwithstanding, a peremptory denial of this charge. (f The king/' it is said, " was pressed to make another attempt upon England. He was prevailed upon by conceiving the kingdom to be much better disposed, and the conjuncture more favorable. Before the king entered upon his expedition, he found great dif- ficulties about wording his declaration. Melfort had been dismissed at the solicitations of his friends Jo England. Middleton, who succeeded him, 428 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. was of opinion that the king ought to adhere to 1696. his last declaration. The king left St. Germaine's February 28. The troops intended for the inva- sion began to draw near Dunkirk and Calais. He was hastened off too soon by the court of France. The alarm was taken before things were ripe,, and the intended expedition fell to the ground. Besides the misfortunes common to this expedition with the rest of the king's attempts, it brought obloquy upon him, by its being thought that he was privy to or approved of the design on the person of the prince of Orange. Certain gentlemen, thinking to do the king good service by it, combined among themselves. Their first project was to surprise and seize the prince of Orange, and carry him into France. But finding that impracticable if they scrupled his life, they were by degrees drawn into a resolution of at- tacking him as he came from Hampton Court, or from hunting ; and if they found no possibility of carrying him off alive, to make no difficulty of killing him. The king was neither privy to this design, nor did he commission the persons, though he suffered most undeservedly both in his repu- tion and interest. For those unfortunate gentle- men by mistaking messages on the one hand, and their too forward zeal on the other, most of them lost their own lives, and furnished an opportunity to the king's enemies of renewing their calumnies WILLIAM III. 429 against him*." It appears by this account, there- BOOK HI fore, that the persons concerned in this dark and IQQQ. desperate business imagined they were acting under the sanction of the court of St. Germaine's : and it is not easy to conceive how it was possible in such a ease to mistake the messages or instructions to which we are necessarily led to infer that they meant to conform. The duke of Berwick relates " that he was, during his residence in London, in- formed by sir George Berkeley of a conspiracy which was carrying on against the person/' or, as he afterwards explains it for the seizure of the person, "of the prince of Orange. The duke hast- ened his return to France, that he might not be confounded with the conspirators, whose design appeared to him difficult to execute^." Far, how- ever, from disapproving this conspiracy, he de- clares that he thought himself bound in honor not to dissuade sir George Berkeley from it. And on communicating the project to the French king at Marli, that monarch gave orders that all things should be in readiness to pass over to Eng- land in case it should prove successful. It seems on the whole too evident that the seizure of the prince of Orange's person was, with all the parties concerned in this nefarious business, sufficiently understood as a phrase nearly equivalent to as- sassination. In a cause so sacred as that of the * MACPHERSON'S State Papers. f. Memoirs o/M. BEEWICK. 430 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAI3ST. BOOK m. restoration of the lawful sovereign, they deemed i&gQ. all the common obligations of morality suspend- ed ; and with them, as well as with political en- thusiasts of a directly opposite description, it ap- pears to have been an axiom secretly cherished as incontrovertible in relation to usurpers, that " killing was no murder." Great Na- The government having with such success fal exer- tion*, detected and punished the authors of this daring and dangerous conspiracy at home, the most vigorous efforts were at the same time made to counteract the machinations of the enemies of the nation abroad. Admiral Russel, having with incredible diligence collected a vast fleet of fifty ships of the line, stood over to the French coast, and discovered in the port of Calais between 3 and 400 transports, drawn up close in shore, as also seventeen or eighteen men of war lying among the sands of Dunkirk, which were intended to cover the embarkation. The enemy, astonished at the sudden appearance of the English fleet, instead of continuing their preparations for a descent on the adverse coast, became anxious for the safety of their own. The English admiral, after detaching sir Cloudeslcy Shovel, an officer of great merit, to bombard the town of Calais, and completely disconcerting the designs of the court of Versailles, returned in triumph to the Downs. King James, after having tarried some weeks at Calais, with a view to embark for Eng- WILLIAM III. 431 land as soon as matters were sufficiently ripe, BOOK m< now returned disconsolate to St. Gerraaine's. 1696. The troops assembled for the purpose of invasion were marched back into the interior of the coun- try; and the people of France exclaimed, " that the malignant star which ruled the destiny of James, had blasted this and every other project formed for his restoration." Early in May 1696 the king of England em- P barked, as for several preceding years, to take**- upon him the command of the allied army in Flanders. Some weeks previous to his arrival, a spirited attempt had been made, under the con- duct of the earl of Athlone and general Coehorn, on a vast magazine of ammunition and military stores, which the French had collected at Givet, in order to enable them to make an early opening of the campaign. Such was the success attend- ing this enterprise, that, alter a bombardment of a few hours, the whole was set on fire, and before the close of the day completely consumed ; the two generals returning to Namur without loss or molestation. \ast armies were this year brought into the field without any visible end or purpose, no offensive operations being attempted cither by marechal Villeroi or the king of Eng- land; and a more striking proof could not be exhibited of the folly of continuing a war at so immense an expence, without the prospect., or, 432 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. in this mode of conducting it, the possibility, of i(x)l>. advantage. The campaign on the Rhine resembled that in Flanders, and consisted wholly of marches and counter-marches, affording no incident which can be supposed to claim the slightest attention of the general historian. In Catalonia, M. de Vendome, an officer rising into great reputation, who had superseded the due de Noailles, passing the Ter, attacked and forced the Spanish army under the prince of Hesse Darmstadt, encamped near the town of Ostalric. The Spaniards, however, upon this occasion made a good defence, and a regular retreat under the cannon of Ostalric; so that no farther advantage could be gained over them ; and it appeared on this and many other occasions that the state of imbecility into which Spain had for near a century fallen, was owing not to any Want of energy in the people, but to the miserable and wretched policy of a senseless and distracted government. Defection The most important event of the present yeaf oftheDuke of savoy, was the defection, of the duke of Savoy, who, finding the leading powers of the alliance still reluctant to meet the advances of France, and at the same time, as Lamberti affirms, secretly apprised by the court of Versailles of the infol-* lible restoration of king James in consequence of 11 WILLIAM III. I 433 the measures then concerted, thought it expedient BOOK m. to provide for his own security by a separate treaty, I6g signed early in the spring, privately and confiden- tially, at Loretto, to which place the duke had repaired on a pretended pilgrimage ; and openly and avowedly towards the close of the iummer. The emperor and the kings of Spain and Eng- land were highly exasperated at this desertion. One of the conditions of the treaty was to esta- blish a neutrality in Italy, and the consequent eva- cuation of that country by the confederate armies. To this the courts of Vienna and Madrid refused with disdain to accede ; upon which the duke of Savoy, taking upon him the command of the combined forces of France and Piedmont, entered the duchy of Milan, and invested thp "fortress of Valentia. After the trenches had beett.opened for thirteen days, a courier arrived with signifying the consent of his catholic majesty to the proposed neutrality; on which the imperial and French troops retired to their respective coun- tries ; and his Most Christian majesty ordered a most solemn Te Deum to be sung at Notre Dame for the termination of the war in Italy, and splendid fireworks to be exhibited before the H6tel de Ville, with the happy device of Alex- ander cutting the Gordian knot. In Hungary the imperial armies were again commanded by the elector of Saxony, who dk- TOL. I. F F 434: HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK IIL tinguished himself as a general rather by his bra-* 1696. very than his military skill and conduct. A fierce but indecisive engagement between the two armies took place August 1696,, on a plain bordering on the river Deque ; after which a sort of cessation Conquestof o f hostilities seemed to ensue. The attention of Asoph by theRus- Europe was, however, forcibly drawn to this side sians. of the continent, in consequence of the sudden and successful attack made by Peter czar of Muscovy on the Turkish dominions, and the sur- render of the important city of Asoph, situated at the mouth of the Tanais, to the Russian arms. The emperor Leopold was eager on this event to conclude a treaty of alliance with the czar ; and Europe now for the first time began to entertain some faint idea of the greatness of that power, which was destined to make so distinguished a figure in the transactions of the succeeding cen- tury. The talents of the young czar, clouded and obscured as they were by the defects of a barbarous education, already appeared in the view of penetrating observers to bode extraordi- nary changes and events. His father Alexis, who died in 1675, left three sons, Theodore, Ivvan, and Peter, and a daughter, Sophia. Theo- dore dying in 1682, constituted I wan and Peter joint sovereigns; and, on account of the imbe- cility of Ivvan, and the tender years of Peter, Sophia was declared regent of the empire. She WILLIAM III. 435 was a woman of great courage, address, and BOOKIIL ambition. Her administration was violent and Kjge. bloody ; and she harboured the design of seizing on the empire., to the exclusion of her brothers. But Peter, who had now attained to the age of seventeen, with equal sagacity and resolution attacked the princess suddenly at Moscow, de- feated her partisans, and, making her a prisoner, compelled her to retire within the walls of a monastery. Iwan dying in the present year, Peter now reigned sole emperor, and soon gave indications of an ardent and aspiring mind, formed for vast and boundless enterprise. The court of Versailles having renewed its overtures for peace, and even delegated M. de Callieres to the States General with specific proposals, the maritime powers, alarmed at the defection of the duke of Savoy, seemed at length to lend a serious ear to the propositions of France. And on the 3d of September 1696, their high mightinesses, with the approbation of the king of England, came to a solemn resolution, " that, in consequence of the concessions of France tp the imperial demands, matters were now brought to such a crisis, that, in concert with their allies, the mediation of Sweden might be accepted." But Spain and the emperor in haughty terms sig- nified their opinion, that the declarations of France were not yet sufficiently explicit- they insisted FF2 436 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. upon the re-establishment of the treaty of West- 1690. phalia in all its parts ; and they added this extra- ordinary condition to their acceptance of the me- diation, " that the king of Sweden, as guarantee of the treaty of Westphalia, should join his forces to those of the allies, in case France should refuse to accede to the terms proposed." The prospect of a peace, therefore, was to appearance still very distant ; and the king of England, after ad- justing measures for the next campaign, returned early in the month of October to England. State of Af- During: his absence in the summer, a session fairs in Scotland of parliament had been held in Scotland lord Murray, created earl of Tullibardine, presiding as high commissioner. A spirit of loyalty seemed to pervade the whole of their proceedings ; the supplies demanded by the court were granted without difficulty ; and an association similar to that of England was adopted with equal unani- mity. Stateof AT- Ireland this year sustained a great public loss fairs in Ireland, by the death of the lord deputy Capel. Peace and order seemed, however, in a great measure restored. The government of that kingdom was transferred to sir Charles Porter, lord chancellor, and the earls of Montrath and Drogheda, a* lords justices. A session of parliament being held, the association of the English legislature was signed by all the members, excepting one WILLIAM III. 437 Sanderson, who was thereupon indignantly ex- BOOK m. pelled the house. 1696. On the 20th of October 1696, the day fixed Se *>Jon of * Parliament. for the meeting of the parliament of England, the king acquainted the two houses,, ee that over- tures for peace had been made on the part of the enemy. But/' said he, " I am sure we shall agree in opinion> that the only way of treating with France is with our swords in our hands/' In reply to which, the commons presented an Ma s nani - mous Con- address framed in the spirit of Roman ma&'nani- duct of the Commons, mity. " This is the eighth "year," say they, " in which your majesty's most dutiful and loyal sub- jects, the commons in parliament assembled, have assisted your majesty with large supplies for car- rying on a just and necessary war in defence of our religion, preservation of our laws, and vindi- cation of the rights and liberties of the people of England, which we have hitherto preserved, and by the blessing of God on your majesty's conduct and good government will stedfastly maintain, and entail on our posterity. This has cost the nation much blood and treasure : but the hopes of accomplishing so great and glorious a work have made your subjects cheerfully support the charge. And to shew your majesty and all Christendom that the commons of England will not be amused or diverted from their firm resolu- tions of obtaining by war a safe and honorable 438 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK TII. peace, we do, in the name of those we represent, icx}6. renew our assurances to your majesty, that this house will support your majesty and your govern- ment against all your enemies both at home and abroad ; and that they will effectually assist you in the prosecution and carrying on the present war against France/' The king, highly pleased and gratified with these assurances, replied in warm terms, " that the continuance of their zeal and affection was what of all things in the world he valued most ; and that he would make the good and safety of the nation the principal care of his life/' Novel The professions of the commons by no means of Finance! evaporated in mere words. The estimates of the necessary sup plies being laid before the house by Mr. Montague, it appeared that near six mil- lions were wanting for the current expences of the" year ; and upwards of five millions of floating debt, occasioned by the deficiency of former funds and taxes, were to be provided for. Meet- ing the embarrassments of the moment with firmness and fortitude, they came to a resolu- tion, e( that the supplies for the service of the year 1697, should be raised within the year;" which was effected by a land-tax of three shil- lings in the pound, and a very heavy capitation tax, in addition to the existing burdens, The arrear of 5,160,000/, was provided for by loans WILLIAM III. 439 and exchequer bills, which till this time, from BOOK IIL the delay and uncertainty of payment, had suf- 1696. fered an enormous depreciation'. But the most vigorous and effectual measures were now taken for the restoration of the public credit. An in- terest of ?/. 12s. per cent, was allowed upon these bills ; they were taken by the government as money, in the payment of all duties excepting the land-tax ; and the commissioners of the trea- sury were authorised by parliament to contract with such individuals or bodies corporate as they thought fit, to exchange these bills or tallies for ready money at a certain premium ; which was first fixed at ten per cent, but afterwards sunk to four ; till in a short time, to the astonishment of the public, who had so long seen them at 20, 30, or 40 per cent, discount, they rose to par, in consequence of these very easy and obvious, but at this period novel and marvellous, operations of finance. There were, nevertheless, those who mourned in secret to see national profusion and extravagance organised into a system, and mil- lions upon millions lavished and dissipated, as if the national wealth could never be exhausted, and the heart's-blood of the public were destined eter- nally to feed the insatiable vulture of war.* * " Few people," says lord Bolingbroke, " at this period foresaw .how the creation of funds, and the multiplication of 410 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK irr. So anxious were the commons to retrieve and 1666. establish parliamentary and public credit, that they condescended to take very great alarm at a trifling jesting paragraph in a certain periodical Freedom of paper published at this time, called the Flyinsr the Press r * J in danger. Post, expressed as follows : " We hear that when the exchequer notes are given out upon the capi- tation fund, whosoever shall desire specie on them will have it, at Jive arid a half per cent,, of the society of gentlemen that have subscribed to advance some hundreds of thousands of pounds/' They voted this passage to be (C a malignant insi- nuation in order to destroy the credit and cur- taxes, would increase yearly the power of the crown, and bring our liberties by a natural and necessary progression into more real though less apparent danger than they were in before the Revolution. I am not, however, so uncharitable as to believe that the authors of these measures intended to bring upon their country all the mischiefs that we who came after them experi- ence and apprehend. No : they saw the measures they took singly and unrelatively, or relatively alone to some immediate object. The notion of attaching men to the new government by tempting them to embark their fortunes on the same bot- tom was a reason of state to some; the notion of creating a " " / new, that is a moneyed interest, in opposition to the landed in- terest, or as a balance to it, was a reason of party to others : and the opportunity of amassing immense estates by the ma- nagement of funds, by trafficking in paper, and by all the arts of jobbing, was a reason of private interest to those who sup- ported and improved this scheme of iniquity, if riot to those who devised it." Letters on History, vol. i. p. 45. WILLIAM III. , 441 rency of the exchequer bills." They ordered the BOOK in. printer, John Salisbury, to be taken into cus- IQQQ. tody ; and gave leave to bring in a bill to prevent the writing, printing, or publishing, any news without licence. And yet, when such a bill was presented by Mr. Pulteney, it was* to the ever- lasting honor of the house, thrown out before a second reading ; because, though they saw the mischiefs of the liberty of the press, they knew not where to fix the power of restraint. This was happily the last attempt ever made to fetter the freedom of the press, that palladium of our liberties. Soon after the Restoration, an act, founded chiefly on the star-chamber decree of 1637, passed, to subject the press to the restric- tive power of a licenser ; but this, as the cele- brated Blackstone observes, " is to subject all freedom of sentiment to the prejudices of one man, and make him the arbitrary and infallible judge of all controverted points in learning, religion, and government. The will of individuals ought to be left free : the abuse only of that iree will is the proper object of legal punishment." The licensing act determined in 1679, but was revived by statute in the first year of James II. and con- tinued till Io92, when it was again renewed for two years, and finally expired in 1694, when the press became properly free, as it will now in all probability remain till the constitution of En- 10 442 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK iii. land,, already shaken to its centre, shall perish ^^ with it.* The attention of the house was for a great part of the session engaged and almost engrossed by a business., which, in the view of distant posterity, can by no means appear of that moment and importance which it accidentally and artificially acquired in consequence of the temporary warmth Case of sir of political contention. Sir John Fenwick, a man deeply concerned in the late conspiracy, had been apprehended in the month of June at New Rom- ney, in his way to France. He had been accom- panied during part of his flight by one Webber, to whom he entrusted a letter to his lady, which was unfortunately intercepted. In this confiden tial effusion of affection arid terror, he said, " that nothing could save his life, but the endea- vours of lord Carlisle his brother, the family of the Howards, &c. or else the securing a jury." * " It seems not more reasonable/' says Dr. Johnson, " to leave the right of printing unrestrained, because writers may be afterwards censured, than it would be to sleep with doors unbolted, because by our laws we can hang a thief." Thus, by a dangerous illusion, are wit and metaphor too often by men of parts substituted for grave and solid argument. In the present instance, the edge of the remark has been with great felicity turned against the remarker, by the counter-observation, " that to suffer no book to be published without a licence is tyranny as absurd as it would be to suffer no traveller to pass along the highway without producing a certificate that he is not a rob* ber." HAYLEY'S Life, of Milton. WILLIAM III. 443 On his jexamination before the lords of the re- BOOK IIL gency, he resolutely denied the charges brought 10^0. against him : but at length the letter was pro- duced ; the surprise of which so affected him, that he could not conceal his dismay and confusion., and no longer persisted in his former protestations of innocence. Soon after this, on hearing that a bill was found against him by a grand jury, he petitioned for a delay of trial, and offered to dis- cover all he knew, on condition he might have a pardon, and be excused from appearing as an evidence. This proposal was transmitted to the king, then in Flanders, who refused to accede to it ; and declared, that he w 7 ould be left at full liberty to judge both of the truth and importance of his discoveries. Sir John then, resolving to throw himself upon the king's mercy, sent him a paper, in which, after a very slight and unsatis- factory account of the plots and projects of his friends the Jacobites, he had the egregious indis- cretion to bring forward an accusation against the earls of Shrewsbury, Maryborough, and Bath, the lord Godolphin and admiral Russel, for hav- ing made their peace with James, and engaged to act for his interest. By this imprudence lie made of course the most powerful men in the kingdom his inveterate and determined enemies -r- and the charge Having its foundation in truth, though blended perhaps with some inaccuracies 444 HISTORY OF GR'EAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. and exaggerations, it behoved them to adopt bold ifrjd and decisive measures to silence the accuser whose safety he himself had rendered incompatible with their own. " Till the year before the business of La Hogue," says sir John Fenwick, in that fatal Confession, which of itself constituted a crime too great for absolution,, cc we knew only of my lord Godolphin concerned in this government who held a correspondence with him (i. e. king James) from the time he went over. This winter my lord Middleton came to town, who had often been desired to go over (i. e. to St. Germaine's), believ- ing it would be of great service to king James to have him there in his business. He alleged he could do little service by going, unless he could engage and settle a correspondence here before he went that he had entered into this affair with lord Shrewsbury and lord Godolphin already ; and there were some others whom he believed he should gain, and then he would go. Soon after captain Floyd, a groom of the bed-chamber to king James, was sent over to him from my lord Marlborough and admiral Russel, with an assui> ance from them of their interest in the fleet and army, which they did not doubt to secure to him jf he would grant them his pardon for what was past. At his return, which was within a month, he acquainted me with some things king James had ordered him, and told me he had no difficulty WILLIAM III. 445 in Mr. Russel's affair : but the answer to lord Marl- BOOK in. borough was,, that he was the greatest of crinai- 1690. nals, where he had the .greatest obligations : but if he did him extraordinary services, he might hope for pardon. My lord Middleton,, hav- ing settled his correspondence, went over ia March following. Sir Ralph Delaval and Killi- grew were both engaged to serve kj^g James : their opinion was asked of Shovel ; they said, he was not a man to be spoke to, &c." This information was treated with great con- tempt. The king would not appear to give any sort of credit to it ; and an order was issued for bringing him to trial, unless he made fuller and more material discoveries.* But various delays * No doubt the parties concerned endeavoured to vindicate themselves as well as they were able from these accusations: but the duke of Devonshire, to whom sir John Fenwick read the papers, told him, " that the king was acquainted with most of those things before." There is a curious letter extant from Shrewsbury to the king, in the Kensington cabinet, dated Sep- tember the 8th, 1696, containing protestations of innocence to which it is unpleasant to be obliged to refuse credit. " I want words," says he, " to express my surprise at the impudent and unaccountable accusation of sir John Fenwick. I will, with all the sincerity imaginable, give your majesty an account of the only thing I can recollect that should give the least pretence to such an invention. After your majesty was pleased to allow me to lay down my employment, it was more than a year be- fore I once saw my lord Middleton. He told me, he intended to go beyond seas, and asked if I would command him no ser- 446 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK m. intervened ; and sir John Fenwick, perceiving ^^^ how little chance he had of escape from this quarter, thought it necessary to play a new game, vice. I then told him, by the course he was taking, it would never be in his power to do himself or his friends service 5 and if the time should come that he expected, I looked upon myself as an offender not to be forgiven. He seemed shocked at my answer, and never mentioned any thing else to me, but left a message with my aunt (lady Middleton) ' that I might depend upon his good offices upon any occasion ; and in the same man- ner he relied upon mine here, and had left me trustee for the small concerns he had in England.' I only bowed, and told her I should always be ready to serve her, or him, or their children. Your majesty now knows the extent of my crime 5 and, if I do not flatter myself, it is no more than a king may forgive/' In a subsequent letter, October 1696, he craved permission to resign the seals on account of the ill state of his health, and the suspicion he lay under but to this the king would by no means hearken. Mr. Macpherson, on the autho- rity of the MS. Memoirs of king James, imputes the attainder of sir John Fenwick to a personal enmity of Wiiliam against him. Macpherson's Hist. vol. ii. chap. iii. But, as Dr. Somer- ville in his History of Political Transactions, &c. justly and judiciously observes, " If the Life of James is admitted as authentic, on the one hand, with respect to every allegation and fact favorable to his own character, and as equally authen- tic on the other, in establishing every insinuation reproachful to the character of William, it is obvious what the consequence must be, and how unfairly a person trusting to such information must judge of the conduct of James and William. Had he been prone to resentment, he might have gratified it more ex- tensively and effectually by saving sir John Fenwick, and ad- mitting him as an evidence against those men whose treachery- was aggravated by ingratitude j but upon this and many other WILLIAM III. 447 and began with great art and assiduity to prac- BOOK in. tise upon the witnesses who were to be produced iGgG. against him. These were Porter and Goodman, both of them men very obvious to corruption. The first, being the most considerable person of the two, was offered the sum of 600 guineas to bear his charges to France, and an annuity of 3001. for life. Porter, instead of accepting these proposals, thought he consulted his interest better in divulging the offers made by the prisoner, to the government. But Goodman, being also tampered with, proved more compliant; and when the time of the trial approached, it appeared that, one of the witnesses having absconded, no legal conviction, as the law of treason now stood, could take place all collateral evidence, how- ever cogent or satisfactory in itself, being invalid and nugatory : and the prisoner had great reason to flatter himself that he was in a state of perfect safety. But the enemies of Fenwick were far too powerful to suffer him thus to reap the bene- fit of his own artifices. On the 6th of November 1696, admiral Russel acquainted the house of commons, fe that his majesty had given leave to lay before them the several papers which had occasions William sacrificed resentment to considerations of prudence and generosity/' In this, as in almost every other instance, Mr. Macpherson's poisoned shaft misses its mark, and " iiits the woundless .air." .448 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK m. been given in by sir John Fenwick, in the nature idyO. f informations against himself, and several other persons of quality ; and he desired that those papers might be read, that so he might have an opportunity of justifying himself, or, if he did not, that he might fall under the censure of the house." The papers being read, Fenwick was ordered to the bar of the house, and interrogated by the speaker as to his knowledge of the de- signs and practices of the enemies of government; being at the same time told, that to make a full and clear discovery was the best and only method he could take to deserve the favor of the house. To this he made a very weak and prevaricating reply declaring ee that he had already, in the hope and prospect of pardon, discovered all he knew, and the answer constantly was, ' This is not satisfactory;' so that," said the pri- soner, if leave was give* WILLLVM III. 453 them, would settle there*. It farther appears from the Memoirs of King James recently pub- lished, that the king of France proposed to the king of England to obtain a parliamentary settle- ment of the crown after his decease upon the no- minal prince of Wales, a child not as yet nine years of age ; and that William did not indicate any aversion to restore the prince io that inherit- ance of which he had been deprived by the ex- treme, and, in relation to him, unmerited rigor of fortune. The overture made to the English mo- narch was consonant to the generosity of his na- ture ; and it seemed no less agreeable to the prin- ciples of policy than of justice, as it obviated the dangers to be apprehended from a disputed suc- cession : and the king owed no obligation to the princess of Denmark, whose personal interests were of little moment in his estimation. But oa the communication of this project to James, he opposed it with great vehemence. He said, fi lie could not support the thoughts of making his own child an accomplice to his unjust dethronement: he could suffer with Christian patience the usurpa- tion of the prince of Orange, but not that of his own son. Should even the prince of Orange," aid the abdicated monarch in a letter addressed to the king of France, " induce the parliament of * Tercy, vol. i. p. 25> 464 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK m. England to repeal the act of settlement, it would 1697. be always on condition of having the prince 01 Wales placed in their hands., without their being able to give any security either for his person or his conscience." Most undoubtedly king Wil- liam could not for a moment entertain the idea of re-instating the prince, but on the condition of his residence in England for the purpose of edu- cation ;- a concession he could scarcely expect from the known bigotry of James. We have also the authority of the duke of Berwick for this re- markable fact, who, in the Memoirs of his life *, relates, that on the proposition in question being made by the king of France, the queen, being present at the conversation, would not allow her husband time to answer, but passionately de- clared, " that she should rather see her son dead than in possession of the crown to the prejudice' of his father." The idea of his being educated a protestant filled them with horror; and, per- suaded that the acquisition of a temporal, must be attended with the loss of a celestial crown, they declined without hesitation an offer which appeared to them so extremely disadvantageous. The campaign on the Rhine, on- the banks of which vast armies were every year regularly assembled, passed, like several of the preceding, * Memoirs of tire Duke of Berwick, vol. i. p. 157.- WILLIAM Hi, 465 furies, in almost total inaction. The chief effort of BOOK in. the French this summer was made in Catalonia : Kjy/. for the court of Versailles, being fully aware that the pride of Spain was the grand obstacle in the way of peace, was resolved to convince them how unable they were to carry on the war, un^ supported by those allies they now affected to neglect or contemn. Towards the end of May Barcelona the due de Vendome advanced at the head of a powerful army towards Barcelona ; and the Spa- niards retiring at his approach, the city was in- vested on the 1 2th of June ; and the coast being no longer defended by an English fleet, the count d'Estrees, with a squadron of men of war and gal- leys, at the same time blockaded the port. The prince of Hesse Darmstadt, governor of Barce- lona, made a most able and heroic defence ,' but the place, after a siege of nine months, was com- pelled to capitulate, and the court of Madrid, by a loss so great and irreparable, was thrown into the utmost consternation* Intelligence if possible still more alarming reached them nearly at the same moment. In the beginning of the year the French court had dispatched a squadron from Brest to the West Indies, with a view to seize the Spanish plate fleet. M. de Pointis the commander, finding on his arrival at St. Domingo that the galleons had already reached the Havanna, proceeded to Car- VOL. I. H H 466 HISTORY OF GREAt BRITAIN. BOOK HI. tliagcna ; of which, after a stout resistance^ n ^0^^ made himself master, and found in it an immense booty in specie and merchandize, to the amount, as De Pointis says in his account, of eight mil-' lions of crowns. The French evacuated the place after demolishing the principal fort, and stood to sea with their plunder. Shortly after he left Car- thagena he fell in with the English fleet, cruizing iti those seas, near the Straits of Bahama, and much superior in force. But by favor of the winds he had the good fortune to escape, after a long and dangerous chase. victory These events caused the Spanish court ex-* over the Turks at treinelv to lower the loftiness of its tone, ana s / +> much facilitated the conclusion of the treaty. The reluctance of the' emperor still remained to be surmounted. The campaign in Hungary had this year been in the highest degree glorious to the imperial arms-: Prince Eugene of Savoy, al- ready conspicuously distinguished by his tatents and conduct in the Italian war, was, by a happy choice, appointed commander in chief of the im- perial armies-on the Danube. The grand seignor again took the field in person ; and his first mo- tions indicating a design of penetrating into Tran-* sylvania and the Upper Hungary, prince Eugene advanced by forced and rapid marches to covey the important fortress of Peter waradin, appa- rently menaced by the Turks, The grand; in. 467 afeig'rior, probably despising the youth and inei- BOOK in. perience of the new general, halted at Zenta, 1697. dnd threw a bridge over the Theysse, which he passed with his cavalry, leaving hi? infantry open and exposed to an attack on the other side. The prince in the same moment saw and seized the advantage. Whilst the cavalry were still con- fusedly passing, dnd two hours of day-light only remained, the imperial tr6ops came up, and in- stantly charged the enemy with a spirit and vi- gor which sufficiently slfewed the confidence* they felt in their commander. In a 1 short time aH was disma'y on the part of the Ottomans ; and the tokens of art absolute rout became visible throughout the field. Retreat soon changed into flight; and no quarter being given, the carnage was terrible. The bridge, which all endeavoured to gain, was choked up with dead bodies, and thousands threw themselves into th'e rifer to avoid the fury of the sword. Of the enemy's camp, and all the tents, not excepting the magnificent pavilion of the grand seignor himself, of afl their stores, ammunition, and provision, 130 pieces of cannon, several hundred pair of colours, 6000 cameh, 5000 horses, &c. &c. prince Eugene re^ mained master. The grand seignor saved him* Self by flight, which the night, favored : but the grand viz/ier was killed, arid the seal of the era* ire presented to the conqueror. Theaga of the 468 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. D OK in. janizaries and twenty-seven bashaws were found 1697. also among the dead, the number of whom was said to exceed 30,000, including those drowned in the Theysse ; while the loss of the Germans amounted to little more than 2000 men. His imperial majesty,, on receiving this intelligence, immediately dispatched a courier to the States General, with a letter written in his own hand, acquainting them with the news of this decisive action, which he hoped would have induced them to retard, perhaps to break off, the negotiation,. But the measures of their high mightinesses, con- certed with the king of England, were unalterably fixed ; and they received the news of this great victory with cold indifference, if not rather w ith secret vexation. The intrigues of the court of Vienna in Poland, at this period, were productive of no less satisfac- tion to the emperor than the success of his arms in Hungary. One of the most signal events of the preceding year was the death of the celebrated John Sobieski, king of Poland, whose latter days cast a shade over the splendor of his former fame. On his demise the kingdom was, as usual, distract- ed by the rage of opposing factions. The can- didates for the vacant crown were very numerous. -The duke of Lorraine, the princes of Baden and .Neuberg, and Don Livio Odeschalchi, nephew to the late pope Innocent XI. were amongst WILLIAM III. 459 the earliest competitors for this tempting prize; BOOKIII but, finding their weakness, soon withdrew their ""^^7^ pretensions : and the contest was then confined to prince James, eldest son of the late king, the prince of Conti, and Augustus elector of Saxony, who was the last to declare himself. The abbe Polignac, ambassador of France at Warsaw, had, by great address and lavishing vast sums of money, secured, as was thought, a decided majo- rity of votes in favor of the prince of Conti. But prince James, perceiving the prospect of success hopeless as to himself, was prevailed upon to throw his interest into the scale of the elector of Saxony, who by this means greatly outnumbered his antagonist the prince of Conti, But the arch- bishop of Gnesna, primate of Poland, whose office it was to declare the election, being in the interest of France, protested against the compromise as a collusion, and proclaimed the prince of Conti. Repairing forthwith to the cathedral, he caused Te Deum to be sung for an act which threatened to involve the kingdom in a civil war. On the Elector of Saxony other hand, the bishop of Cujavia proclaimed the chosen elector king of Poland, and sung Te Deum on the Poland, spot ; and the new king afterwards made his entry in triumph into Warsaw. The prince of Conti, on his subsequent arrival, found his oppo- nent already in possession of the kingdom ; and after a short and ineffectual struggle he was com- pelled to return full of chagrin and resentment to 4?0 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK m. France. The elector of Saxony was under ilia ^QT^ disgraceful necessity of changing his religion,, in order to qualify himself to fill the throne of Po- land; and from this sera the house of Branden- burg acquired the great political advantage of being regarded as the head of the prote&tant in- terest in Germany; while the strength and riches of Saxeny \vere exhausted, to enable the elector king to maintain possession of a crown, which proved to be a crown of thorns. During the negotiations at Ryswick, the court of St. Germaine's amused itself by publishing a succession of manifestoes, of which no one conde- scended to tajke the slightest notice. In a me- morial addressed to all the princes and powers of Memorial Europe, dated June 8th, 1690^ king James sor Ct.-^iof lemnly protests against all that should be con.- maine'7. eluded to the prejudice of his incontestable rigltfs. ff We beseech," says this forlorn and abandoned monarch., " those princes to consider how dan- gerous the example they give may prove to them- selves; and that the case of all sovereigns is inir plicated in ours. We make it our demand, that they would contribute to re-establish us in our kingdoms ; that they would reflect on the glory they would derive from a resolution so conformr aide to tke interests of those who have an inherit- ance in their dominions. In conclusion, he denounces as utterly invalid, all acts which di* yectly or indirectly confirm, authorise^ or approvj WJLLTAM HI. 471 Ke usurpation of .the prince of Orange., the acts BOOK HI. of his pretended parliament, and all others tend- \tyj. ing to reverse the fundamental laws of the realm touching the order of succession ; reserving all Jiis regal rights and claims,, which do remain, ac- cording to the words of the instrument, and shall .remain in their full force, and which no extremity .shall oblige us to renounce or compound." James King James soh^ had, through the medium of his ambassador the cits the A C\f jcarl of Perth, solicited the pope to exert his in- Ices of the fluence with the catholic princes, to prevent any peace being made injurious to his interests, which the ambassador said would be a stain upon his lioliness's .reputation, and a reflection upon the apostolic chair. The pope acknowledged this to be true. y solemn stipulation within the very walls BOOKIJI. of sovereigns of a different religion, are the advan- jGy7. iages of this last treaty." The king of England returned from the conr- tinent in the month of November, and was received in the metropolis with every demon- stration of loyalty and satisfaction ; and addressee of congratulation were presented from every part .of the kingdom, on the conclusion of a peace the fair and reasonable terms of which were justly .ascribed throughout Europe, not to the modera- tion and equity of Louis XIV., who had given, /during his reign so many proofs of unbounded and ynprincipied ambition, but to the wisdom, forti- tude, and resolution of the king of England, who would listen to no conditions which left France in possession of its insolent claims and unjust en- croachments. Even Luxemburg, the favorite ac- quisition of the Most Christian king, was restored without reserve to Spain, a full equivalent made for Strasburg, and all those re^unions in Germany and the Low Countries relinquished, which had formed the original ground for entering into tin? long and bloody contest. " It excited the astor nishment of Europe and the discontent of France, ^ays M. Voltaire, that Louis XIV. should have jpiade a peace as if he had been vanquished*." "J'he parliament met on the 3d of December * jLILtoire Generate, vol. v. p. 225, 476 HISTORY OF GHEAT BRITAIN. BOOK m. 1697; and the king expressed his satisfaction 1097. that the war into which he had entered by the a( * v * ce f h* s P eo pl e wa s at length terminated by an honorable peace. In the course of his speech he pronounced the circumstances of affairs abroad to be such as to oblige him to declare his opinion, that, FOR THE PRESENT, England could not be safe without a land force; " and I hope/* said the monarch, f( that we shall not give those who mean us ill the opportunity of effecting that under the notion of a peace which they could not bring to pass by a war." This paragraph of the king's speech threw the parliament and the nation into the highest fer- ment. It plainly indicated the king's pre-deter- mination to maintain a standing army in time of peace a thing odious to the friends of freedom ; and which was in this country unknown and imattempted by any of our sovereigns till the late reign, when it was directed to the worst of purposes. The revival of this execrated project was universally ascribed to the earl of Sunder- land; who, in the insignificant post of lord cham- berlain, acted as first minister -and whose per- nicious counsels were, by a strange fatality, with no less eagerness embraced by the present than the former monarch. The commons in their address, which was framed in very high terms of respect congratulating his majesty as having by the late honorable and advantageous peace com- WILLIAM rn. 477 pleted the glorious work of national deliverance BOOK in. preserved a profound silence on this topic. And 1697. the question came within a few days to be debated in the house, the patriots and anti-cour- Vote f the r m House of tiers, exerting: their united strength, carried, on common* ft . for dis- a division of 185 members against 148, of whom bandingthe Arrnv. 116 were placemen, a resolution importing that all the forces raised since the year 1680 should be disbanded. By this vote 3 the whole number of troops to be maintained did not exceed 8000 men. " A standing army was affirmed to be inconsistent with a free government, and abso- lutely destructive of the English constitution. A STANDING ARMY ONCE ESTABLISHED, WAS ESTA- BLISHED FOR EVER : and the records of every country and of every age had shewn that the establishment of a military force had been ever fatal to liberty. A people are no longer free when the sword is wrested out of their hands, and transferred to an army of mercenaries. If the people have not a power within themselves to defend themselves, they are no free nation. It is an opinion professed by the famous Machiavel*- and which he undertakes to prove in form, that the prince ought not to suffer the people to ac- quire the knowledge of arms. No writer, it was said, had ever treated on the subject of a free government, without expressing his detestation of a standing army.* ' Whoever/ says lord Bar ' doth use them, though he may spread his 478 HISTORY 0"F GREAT BOOK in. feathers for a while, will mew them soon after- 1&97 ' wards-' In a word, if a standing army is once? established, all that the natron has gained by th eager to supplant them, was revived with undi- minished animosity. It had been intimated to the company at one of their general courts, by persons supposed to be in the confidence of ministers, that, in consideration of a loan to be advanced by them to government at a low in- terest, their charter might now be renewed, and a monopoly of the trade secured to them. Too hastily believing all opposition at an end, they received this proposition with unexpected cool- ness ; an which Mr. Montague, chancellor of the exchequer, set on foot a negotiation with the merchants their antagonists* No sooner was this intelligence conveyed to them, than they made an offer of the sum of 100,0001. at the low interest of 4 per cent. But the opposite party had already closed with the terms of Mr. Mon- tague, and agreed to advance the sum of no less than two millions at 8 per cent, to government^ WILLIAM III. 481 in consideration of a new charter securing to BOOK HI. them an exclusive trade to India ; arid in the i6u/. month of May a biH was ordered to be brought into the house conformable to these conditions. The existing company, now fully roused, and in the highest degree alarmed, made their appeal to the justice and equity of the parliament, re- presenting " their rights and claims under a suc- cession of charters, particularly the last, no for- feiture of which either had been or could be pre^ tended. They urged the regard due to the pro- perty of above a thousand families interested in their stock, especially of the new adventurers, who had subscribed, agreeably to the resolutions Of parliament^ no less a sum than 744,000/. on the credit and faith of the new charter. They alleged that they had expended upwards of a million sterling in their buildings and fortifica^ tions in India ; that during the war they had lost twelve ships, worth 1, 500,000*. They tated the great sums they had paid in custom^ and taxes, and the services they had rendered to government in the circulation of exchequer bills, and in various other respects, which were at the! time acknowledged to be seasonable and import- 1 ant. And they observed it was the constant custom in farms, bargains, and offers" of the like nature^ not to close with a new proposal till the first bidder be asked "whether he is able to ad* VOL. i. 4 * 482 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN, BOOK ^ii. vance farther. For though a power was reserved 1098 to the king, by a clause in the last charter, to dissolve the company upon three years' notice,, it could never be imagined that this power would be arbitrarily or capriciously exercised ; and no apprehension had been, entertained that such dis- solution would take place in favor of a set of interlopers, but in consequence of some culpabi- lity chargeable on the company, or some injury sustained by the nation/' To this the advocates for the new company replied, " that the charter upon which the exist- ing company laid so great a stress was well known to have been obtained by indirect and corrupt means, as the vast sums paid out of the com- pany's stock for special service, agreeably to actual depositions at the board of council, and the reports of the house f commons, clearly proved that .the charter was in itself illegal and void, as the persons they were pleased to style interlopers had demonstrated before the late queen and privy council the crown having no power to grant ^ny such exclusive commer- cial monopoly. That in queen Elizabeth's time a variety of similar patents or charters of mono- poly had been, in consequence of the representa- tions of parliament, revoked and cancelled ; and that itAvas never deemed a breach of public faith, or any derogation from the honor of the crown, WILLIAM III. 483 to annul by act of parliament such grants as BOOK HI. were thought by thje great council of the nation 1698. not to be profitable, or to be against the com- mon right of the subject. That, by deluding a number of persons into a new subscription to the amount of several hundred thousand pounds in the then condition of the company's affairs, they were guilty of a fraud upon the public ; though the subscribers themselves were little entitled to compassion after the repeated warn- ings they had received. And that it might be presumed, from the severe notice which had been taken of the delinquencies of the directors in par- liament, that, if the great affairs of the nation had not been so urgent, they would have had such justice done them as would have effectually precluded all complaints of that imaginary injus tice to which they now stood exposed." It is material to observe, that from the com mencement of this intricate investigation the tory interest greatly predominated amongst the members of the old company, and that the asso- ciated merchants were chiefly or entirely whigs ; so that this was in fact a political as much or more than a commercial contest. And the dif- ferent administrations of this reign being them- selves composed of heterogeneous materials, the arguments for or against the establishment of a new companv were found to be more or less HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN". BOOK in. convincing*, as whigsor tories acquired thcasceit- V ~^C*"' dency in parliament o't the cabinet. At this period the whigs possessed the chief share of power and influence ; and in the business of finance,, in particular, Montague, though only chancellor of the exchequer, was much irio're- regarded than lord Godolphin, a tory, who filled, and with great knowledge and integrity, the post of first lord of the treasury. Under the powerful patronage of MontagUe, therefore, the bill for the establishment of the new company finally passed the bouse of commons, and Was sent up to the lords, where it had the same spe- cies of opposition to encounter. The qtiestioa for the second reading of the bill wa's carried by C5 voices against 48 ; twenty-one of whom, with lord Godolphin himself at their head, signed a: vigorous protest against it. The oppositibn had now exerted their utmost strength, and the bill, after passing through the usual forms, received the royal assent. Such was the popularity of the new act, and such the zeal and opulence of its supporters, that hi three days after opening the subscription-books the whole sum of two millions was subscribed, contrary to the prediction hazarded by the pro- testers ; and to the astonishment of foreign na- tions, to whom this incident furnished a very striking proof, at the termination of a war of 1 WILLIAM III, 485 eight years' duration, of the unexhausted ami BOOKIIF. apparently inexhaustible resources of the British JIOQS. nation. There were not however wanting* iixany individuals of clear discernment, who., rising siir .perior to tb,e violence and to the prejudice of party, maiataj^ied that it was highly irrational to estahlish jt>y law any corporation of commej> cial monopolists either foreign or domestic. " In the present instance, that the East India com- panywhether the old or new, made no difference in the argument constituting in fact only one buyer of all commodities proper for India, and joiic seller of all brought from thence, will endear- yoii.r to make themselves so much masters of the, *narkets in both cases as to buy and sell at iheir owa stated promts ; whereas, private free traders, beixig ignorant of each other's designs, must take the markets every where as they find them : and it is most certain, that from the year 1653 to 1657, while the trade was free and open, the Dutch East India company suffered much by ihe low prices whereat the Indian commodities were sold by the English merchants. In the late reigns the East India company and tjie great bankers were thought dangerous to' the nation, by the loans of great sums made on the credit of the exchequer only. And in the present . reign, the bank of England was expressly re*- strained bv law from lending to the crow a other w *^J 486 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK m. wise than on funds granted by parliament, with i(j8. borrowing clauses authorising such loans. But if a new corporation with so great a capital be established free from such restriction, and at liberty., under pretence ef extending its com- merce, to encrease that capital to any amount, without any umbrage of hazard to the constitu- tion, then may the nation be concluded for ever out of danger from any similar source of political abuse*." The apprehensions entertained by the most enlightened patriots of this period were but too well founded. Through the medium of the great commercial companies, the creation of that hi- deous phenomenon, a funded national debt,, and the consequent rapid encrease of the national taxes, mortgaged for the payment of the annual interest accruing to the stock-holders, the crown now began to acquire an influence absolutely unknown to the constitution, and which, advan- cing with an accelerated velocity, has in the course of a century risen to a height threatening at the present moment to involve liberty, property, and the whole system of laws, commerce, and consti- tution, in one vast and remediless ruin. Complaint being in the course of the present session made of a book written by William Moly- * Fide LETTER concerninsr the East-India Trade. RALPH, WILLIAM III. 487 neux, 'esq. of Dublin, entitled,, ce The case of Ire- BOOK in. land's being bound by Acts of Parliament in Eng- land/' in which the dependence of that kingdom on the authority of the parliament of England was slveMea ~ f sures em- peremptorily denied ; a committee was appointed brace . d re - * spectmg to examine the same. And on the report of the committee it was unanimously resolved, " that the said book was of dangerous consequence to the crown and the people of England, &c/'-^- and an address was thereupon presented to the king,, stating the bold and pernicious assertions contained in the aforesaid publication, which they declared to have been more fully and authentically affirmed fry the votes and proceed- ings of the house of commons in Ireland, during their late sessions and more particularly by a bill transmitted under the great seal of Ireland, entitled, An act for the better security of his majesty's person and government ; whereby an act of parliament made in England was pre- tended to be re-enacted, and divers alterations therein made ; and they assured his majesty of their ready concurrence and assistance in a par- liamentary way to preserve and maintain the dependence and subordination of Ireland to the imperial crown of this realm; and they humbly besought his majesty, that he would discourage all things which might in any degree lessen or impair that dependence." To which the kin 488 HISTORY OF GREAT "BRITAIN. BOOK in. replied, ' c that he would take care that what was 1698. complained of irjight be prevented and redressed, as the commons desired." Such was at this time the extreme political depression of Ireland, that this haughty procedure of the English parlia? ment excited no visible resentment on the part of the Irish legislature; but a spirit very different lias since arisen, which has produced great and momentous consequences. To that spirit .alone., operating uniformly respecting its object, though variously as to its modes, in the successive and unremitting efforts of her heroes, statesmen, an4 patriots, and not to the justice or generosity of Britain, does the Irish Ration owe whatever she at this day possesses of liberty. The commercial no less than the political jea^ lousy of the English parliament being now awak- ened with respect to Ireland, a second address,, no less extraoroUnary in its kind than the first, was soon after presented to the king, represent- ing to his majesty, " that, being very sensible that the wealth and power of this kingdom do in a great measure depend on the preserving the "woollen manufacture as much as possible entire . 1090- versy between two divines of profound erudition, Sherlock and South, respecting the mystery of the Trinity the former of these maintaining the existence of three eternal minds ; and the latter, of ithree personal subsistences in one divine , essence. The two grand combatants could boast on either side a numerous band of partisans and admirers ; each branding the other with HERESY, and hostility to the Christian faith. When noise impolitic i i i i i T* ' Interfer- and nonsense were at the height, and tins mise- enceofFar- rable contention of folly against folly on the eve therefore of subsiding, the king was addressed by the commons, the whole house attending, as on the most solemn occasions, with the speaker at their head, " to issue his royal proclamation for putting into execution the gootl laws now in force against profaneness and immorality and that he would give effectual orders for the sup- pression of all pernicious books and pamphlets containing impious doctrines against the Holy Trinity/' For there were very many persons, who, finding the learned doctors of the church so much at variance amongst themselves on this subject, ventured openly to deny and reject the whole affirming that reason and Scripture con- curred in teaching that there was but one only Jiving and true God ; that the Trinity was a 492 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN, .BOOK in, popish term, and a popish invention no traces 1698. f which were to he found in the genuine canon of Scripture, But the house of commons., not satisfied with what they had already done., enacted,, with the ready concurrence of the upper house, " that if any person educated in the Christian religion should deny the same to be true, or the holy scriptures to be of divine authority, or impugn the doctrine of the holy Trinity, he shall be incapable t of holding any office or place of trust, and for the second offence be disabled from bringing any action, or from acting as guardian, executor, legatee, or purchaser of lands, and shall suffer three years' imprisonment without bail." Thus did this parliament arrogate an authority utterly inconsistent with the first principles of protestant* ismwhich can never rest upon any other foun- dation than the broad and solid basis of the right .of private judgment in matters of religion. If this is relinquished, the church of England herself is guilty of heresy and schism in separating from the church of Rome, which condemns those to the flames who deny the mystery of trans ubstantia- tion, with incomparably greater consistency than the protestant church or parliament of England can inflict penalties worse than death on those who reject the mystery of the Trinity. On the 5th of July, 1698, the king in a WILLIAM in. 493 some speech expressed to the parliament this BOOKIU. sense he entertained of the great things done by ^698* * them for the safety and honor of the crown., and the support and welfare of the people. The par- liament was then prorogued, and in two days after dissolved,, having now sat its full period of three years. j The power of government was at this aera Tested chiefly in the hands of lord Somers, lord Grford, and Mr. Montague a bold and aspiring genius, who had recently attained the summit of his ambition by superseding lord Godolphin as first commissioner of the treasury. He was ori- ginally introduced into public life under the pa- tronage of lord Sunderland. In this connection each had hi* purpose to serve, and the high- spirited Montague quickly learned to throw off his dependence, and rely with confidence on his own resources and abilities for support. The A< j vaiTO . chief alteration discernible in the state of things "old AH** at court, was the earl of Portland's decline of marle - favor \\ith the king, and the rapid rise of the carl of Albemarle, son of M. Pellant lord of Keppel in Guelderland a young man of an agreeable person and address, and endowed with all the arti and accomplishments of a complete courtier. The earl of Portland, like other court favorites, Earl of i . . i . i . . Portland^ aw tins rivalship with extreme uneasiness ; but Embassf to Paris. t94 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. his remonstrances served only to excite dislfke ^0^ and displeasure. The king, however, \vhose esteem survived his affection, sent this noble- man, at the conclusion of the war, on an ho- norable embassy to Paris, where he displayed, and was in return entertained with, unusual splendor and magnificence. The secretary of the embassy was the celebrated Prior ; who passing, as it is related, through the grand apartments of Ver- sailles, and being shewn those fine pieces of Le Brim which represent the victories of Louis XIV., was asked by the officer who attended., " whe- ther king William's actions were also depictured in his palace?'* " No, sir," replied the English- man,, " the monuments of my master's actions are to be seen every where but in his own house." The earl of Portland, on his return, finding his influence over the king in a manner extinguished, and the star of Keppel predominant, resigned in unspeakable chagrin the places he had held for near ten years in the royal household. Sir Wil- liam Trumbull, his intimate and confidential friend, had been some months before, superseded in his office of secretary of state by Mr. Vernon^ a man long conversant in business, and who had been several years under-secretary to the duke of Shrewsbury. The duke of Glocester, only son cf the prince and princess of Den-mark, having now attained WILLIAM in. 49* to the tenth year of his age, the king allotted him BOOK nr. a separate establishment, appointing the bishop io'g8. of Salisbury his preceptor, and for governor the earl of Marlboro ugh, who was now fully rein- stated in the royal favor. On delivering the young prince into his hands, the king said, "My lord, teach him to be what you are your- self, and I am satisfied. 31 It must not be omitted, that Peter czar of czarof IVluscovy Muscovy, whose ardent genius incited him to visits traverse Europe for the purpose of transplanting the arts of civilisation from foreign countries into his native land, passed several months of the preceding winter in England ; but no indi- cations were visible, except to the discerning few, of those great talents which, in the sequel, ren- dered his name so illustrious *.^ ff The vulgar," * During the residence of the Czar in London, bishop Burnet, as that prelate informs us in his history, " waited often upon him, having directions from the king to offer him such informations of our religion and constitution as he was willing to receive." The account transmitted to us of this great monarch by the learned prelate is very curious and amusing. " He is a man of a very hot temper, soon inflamed, and very brutal in his passion. He wants not capacity, and has a larger measure of knowledge than might be expected from his education, which was very indifferent. A want of judgment, with an instability of temper, appear in him too often and too evidently. He is mechanically turned, and seems designed by nature rather to be a ship-cnrpenter than a great prince. Thi$ was his chief study and exercise- whila 4% HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK in. according to the observation of M. Voltaire, XT^' " saw nothing in this monarch but his gresd ioyy. external demeanour, the effect of a neglected education ; the legislator, the creator of a nevr empire, the great man., escaped them." Affiursof In the course of the summer a session of par* liament was held in Scotland ; the earl of March - mont, lord chancellor,, being appointed high com- missioner. That kingdom was in a state of great and general inflammation, in consequence of the steps taken in England in relation to the famous commercial bill passed in the former session : and at an early period of their meeting, art animated representation was presented to par- liament by the company, stating " the loss and disappointment they had suffered from the with-* drawment of the English subscriptions; in lieu of which they had published similar proposals in the city of Hamburg, which had met with extra- he staid here. He tokl me he designed a great fleet at Asoph and with it to attack the Turkish empire : but he did not seem capable of conducting so great a design. He was dis- posed to understand our doctrines ; but he did not seem desirous to mend matters in Muscovy. He is resolute, but understands little of war, and seemed not at all inquisitive that v.-ay j" i. e. doubtless he did not solicit information on tliis topic from the learned prelate : nor perhaps would he have questioned an Eugene or a Marlborough upon any points of church discipline or doctrine. Burnet, vol. iii. p. 806. WILLIAM in. 497 Ordinary success, 200,0001. being subscribed by BOOK IIL the merchants there in a very short time. But, 1693. to their great surprise, a stop was put to this business, by a memorial delivered to the senate by special warrant from his majesty, not only disowning the authority under which they acted, but threatening both senate and inhabitants with the king's utmost displeasure if they should coun- tenance or join with them in any treaty of trade or commerce. The parliament participating strongly in the feelings of the nation, voted immediately a petition to the king, in which, not content with 502 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. BOOK m. The scheme being thus far perfected, the king 1698. wrote a letter from Loo to lord Somers, dated August the 15th,, 1698, expressed in the follow- ing cautious terms : " I imparted to you before I left England, that in France there was expressed to my lord Portland some inclination to come to an agreement with us concerning the succes- sion of the king of Spain; since which count Tal- lard has mentioned it to me, and has made such propositions ; the particulars of which my lord Portland will write to Vernon, to whom I have given orders not to communicate them to any other besides yourself, and to leave to your judg- ment to whom else you would think proper to impart them: to the end that I might know your Opinion upon so important an affair, and which requires the greatest secrecy. IF IT BE FIT this negotiation should be carried on, there is no time to be lost; and you will send me the full powers tinder the great seal, with the names in BLANK, to treat with count Tallard/'* In reply, the chancellor, then indisposed at Tunbridge, wrote to the king, saying, " that lord Orford, Mr. Montague, and the duke of Shrews- bury, had been made acquainted with the subject of his majesty's letter;" and stating, though in faint and feeble terms, the various objections which occurred to them on the perusal of the papers * Hardwicke Papers. WILLIAM III. 503 transmitted by the earl of Portland. " As to BOOK irr. what would be the future condition of Europe if 1693. the proposal took place, we thought ourselves/ 1 says the chancellor, with surely too great a refine- ment of modesty, " little capable of judging. But it seemed, that if Sicily was in the French hands, they will be entirely masters of the Levant trade ; that if they were possessed of Finale and those other sea-ports on that side, whereby Milan would be entirely shut out from relief by sea, or any other commerce, that duchy would be of little signification in /the hands of any prince ; and that, if the king <|f France had possession of that part of Guipusdoa which is mentioned in the proposal, besides fce ports he would have in the ocean, it does seem, he would have as easy a way of invading Spain on that side as he now has on the side of Catalonia. *' After all, lord Soniers concedes in the king's favor the grand points, that England was not disposed to enter into a new war ; that France could not be expected to relinquish so rich a succession without consider- able advantages : and that the king would no doubt reduce the terms as low as can be done ; and he, concludes with sending the blank com- missions under the great seal, as required. The ebject of William was most assuredly to J on the propos T? T 11 Treaty o in Europe. But could it be imagined by a Partition. on te prevent a future desolating and destructive war proposed T? T 11 Treaty o{ 504? HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN 1 . BOOK m. prince so celebrated for sagacity that the em- 1693. peror would acquiesce in an arrangement so inju- rious to his interest, and so contrary to his pre- tended rights ? No ; it is evident, from the tenor of his letters to the pensionary Heinsius, that the king of England did not so far flatter or de- ceive himself. Would the court of Madrid ever be prevailed upon to confirm this arbitrary distri- bution of its territories, equally incompatible with national dignity and national prejudice ? Could the sincerity of France itself be depended upon in this business ? The court of Versailles had probably too much political penetration to expect this project to be peaceably executed. They hoped by these means to secure the amity, or at least the neutrality, of England ; and any oppo- sition from the emperor would disengage them from the obligation of Confining themselves, if Successful, within the letter of the treaty. rince. And Sdly. That lord Sunderland had made such avowals and declarations to the Dutch ambassador, as he was confident would be satisfactory to the prince. Had lord Sunderland determined at all events to maintain his fidelity to the king, knowing the very ill terms on which the king and the prince at iliis time were, he never could have chosen to express himself in language of such high and unnecessary compliment, as to assure the prince, " that he would on all occasions exactly obe,r APPENDIX. Ms commands." From this period the earl of Sunder- land seems to have acted with a duplicity which gradu- ally, and in consequence of the pressure of circumstances, rose to the most artful and refined treachery. The pre- sumptions upon which this opinion is founded are as follow. In June, (1687) lady Sundcrland wrote a letter to the prince of Orange earnestly exhorting him not to consent to the repeal of the test laws, which lord Sun- derland at the very same time was avowedly employing every effort to accomplish. It appears also that lady Sunderland had for some time past kept up a correspond- ence with Henry Sidney, uncle to lord Sunderland, who resided in Holland, and was in high favor with the prince. Upon all the late political questions she had indeed affected to appear as a zealot in the cause of protestantism, and wholly adverse to the designs in which her husband took so great a part. But her cha- racter was that of a political intriguer, and a very good understanding under this artful veil, as there is strong reason to believe, subsisted between her and her lord. Had not lady Sunderland's letter been written at the suggestion, and with the concurrence of that wily states- man, it must have appeared to the prince as mere im- pertinence, and lady Sunderland herself, who possessed a great share of sense and shrewdness, knew the prince's character too well to doubt of this. The pretended mis- understanding between lord and lady Sunderland seems to have obtained little or no credit in the world. The princess of Denmark, writing to her sister the princess, of Orange, March 1688, says, " You may remember I have once before ventured to tell you that I thought lord Suu- derland a very ill man, and am more confirmed ever/ APPENDIX. day in that opinion. Every body knows how often this man turned backwards and forwards in the late king's time, and now to complete all his virtues, he is working with all his might to bring in popery. This worthy - lord does not go publicly to mass, but hears it privately ut a priest's chamber, and never lets any body be there but a servant of his." Lady Sunderland she styles " a flat- tering, dissembling, false woman. To hear her talk you would think she were a very good protcstant. It is cer- tain that her lord docs nothing without her." And in a following letter she says, " Lady Sunderland runs from church to church after the famousest preachers, and keeps such a clatter with her devotions, that she reallj turns one's stomach. Sure there never was a couple so well matched as she and her good husband, for she is throughout in her actions the greatest jade that ever was, so he is the subtilest workiugest villain that is on the face of the earth." Lord Clarendon in his diary declares without reserve, tl that lord Sunderland imparted the king's secrets to his uncle, Henry Sidney, who resided with the prince, and lady Suiiderland to the princess of Orange." Dalrymple, vol. i. About the close of the year 1687, Skelton, en- voy at Paris, suggested to the French court his suspi- cions that lord Sunderland was secretly in the interest of the prince of Orange ; upon which Barillon received orders to watch him narrowly. In his dispatches to Louis Xiy., particularly that of January 5, 1688, this minister, indeed, absolves Sunderland from the imputa- tion of treachery ; but it seems evident that Barillon was completely duped by him. " It remains for me," says the ambassador, " to give your majesty an account APPENDIX, of what relates to the suspicions, which M. Skelton thinks may fall upon lord Sunderland, of a secret connection with the prince of Orange. I have discovered nothing that can make it believed : on the contrary, I see that this minister engages himself every day more in what- ever can be most opposite to the interest of the prince of Orange, and that he holds a conduct inconsistent with the design which it is pretended he has to keep measures with him. He is the person who, for a long time past, has ardently pressed all the resolutions which have been taken in favour of the catholics. He pursues with firm- ness whatever can lead to the abolishing the penal laws and test, which is what the prince of Orange fears the most. I know that he is resolved to declare himself a catholic whenever the king, his master, will have him." So satisfactory was this account to the French court, that a large pecuniary gratification, in addition to his pension, was bestowed by Lewis on the English minister. In his dispatch of July 8th, following, M. Barillon says, " My lord Sunderland has declared himself openly a catholic. The king of England has testified much joy at this. There has been for these two days past great talk at court respecting what lord Sunderland has done, and it is believed that his Britannic majesty will avail himself of it for the purpose of urging other persons who are attached to him to do the same thing. My lord Sunderland has made no new abjuration of heresy, hav- ing done this more than a year ago in the presence of father Petre."* * " Milord Sunderland s'est declare ouvertement catholique. Le Roi d'Angleterre en a temoigne beacoup de joie. On parle fort i la cwur depuis deux jours de ce qu'a fait milord Sunderland, APPENDIX. 525 The suspicions ofSkclton were by no means abated in consequence of the credulity of Barillon ; and they were strongly corroborated by the concurring opinion of M. D'Avaux the French ambassador at theHa I have this to sup- port me, that my thoughts as well as actions have been, are, and I dare say ever will be, what they ought to be to your majesty. Long before your glorious undertak- ing, I cannot but hope, you remember how devoted I was to your service.*' In what mode lord Sunderland could haVe contributed to the success of the prince's undertaking, or have dis- played his devotion to the prince's service, excepting by his artful efforts to dupe and deceive the late monarch in regard to the reality of the design of invasion, and con- sequently to prevent his taking those timely and neces- sary precautions which common sense pointed out, in order to counteract the danger^ seems impossible to con- jecture, and it is what no historical investigation has hitherto been able in any degree to ascertain. Upon the whole it is too clearly manifest, that the carl of Sunderland was a man utterly destitute of moral VOL; i. MM 620 APPENDIX. or political principle. So long as he conceived that the* nefarious designs of the monarch, whom he served, were likely to prove ultimately successful, he appeared zealous and active in his endeavours to promote them ; and if he occasionally inculcated milder and more moderate coun- sels, he never scrupled to acquiesce in the most violent measures, or to assist in carrying them into execution. When the folly of the king became at length so egregious as to induce a suspicion, and by degrees an expectation of some calamitous catastrophe, he entered into secret in- trigues with his enemies, with a view merely to his own eventual security : for there exists not the slightest proof or presumption, that in case of the relinquishment or failure of the prince of Orange's design, he would have changed, in any degree, the tenure of his conduct, or have ceased to enforce the most exceptionable measures by the most exceptionable means. Thinking it probable that the invasion would succeed, but possible that it might not, he gave his secret assistance to the prince, while he cajoled the credulous monarch by the most plausible professions, and all the subtile artifices of courtly dissimulation; thus dexterously contriving to preserve his credit with them both, and providing not only for his safety, but even for his future views of in- terest and ambition, whatever might be the result of the great and hazardous projects at this crisis in contempla- tion. 531 BILL OF RIGHTS A. D. 1680. ON the 1 3th of February 1688-9, the two houses of con- vention went in state to the palace of Whitehall, where the prince and princess of Orange being seated under a canopy at the upper end of the Banqueting-house, and the members being admitted and properly disposed, the clerk of the crown, with a loud voice, read the declara- tion previously agreed u pon ,which subsequently receiving the royal assent, and becoming a fundamental law of the realm, has long been known and celebrated under the appellation of the BILL of RIGHTS. It is as follows : WHEREAS the late king JAMES II. by the assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges, and ministers, employ- ed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the protestant religion, aftd the laws and liberties of this kingdom, by assuming and exercising a power of dis- pensing with, and suspending of laws, and the execu- tion of laws without consent of parliament ; by com- mitting and prosecuting divers worthy prelates, for humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power ; by issuing, and causing to be executed, a commission under the great seal for erect- ing a court called the court of commissioners for eccle- siastical causes ; by levying money for and to the use of the crown^ by pretence of prerogative for other time, and in other manner, than the same was granted hy parliament ; by raising and keeping a standing army ft Xi 532 APPENDIX. within this kingdom, in time of peace, without conscrtf of parliament ; and quartering soldiers contrary to law ; by causing sevefal good subjects, being protestants, to be disarmed, at the same time when papists were both armed and employed contrary to law ; by violating the freedom of election of members to serve in parliament ; by prosecution in the court of King's Bench, formatters arid causes cognizable only in parliament, and by divers other illegal and arbitrary courses : And whereas of late years partial, corrupt, and unqua- lified persons, have been returned and served on juries in trials, and particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason, which were not freeholders ; and excessive bail bath been required of persons committed in criminal causes, to elude the benefit of the laws for the liberty of the subject, and expensive fines have been imposed, and illegal and cruel punishments inflicted, and several grants and promises made of fines and forfeitures, before any conviction or judgment, against whom the same was to be levied; all which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and statutes and freedom of this realm: And whereas the late king, James II., having abdicated the government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his highness the prince of Orange, whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious instrument of deli- vering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power, did, by the advice of the lords spiritual and temporal, and divers principal persons of the commons, cause let- ters to be written to the lords spiritual and temporal^ being protestants, and other letters to the several coun- ties, cilies, universities, boroughs, and cinque ports, for the chusing of such persons to represent tliern as were of APPENDIX. $33. light to be sent to parliament, to meet and sit at West- minster, January 22, 1689, in order to such an estab- lishment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties, might not again be in danger of being subverted ; upon which) letters, elections have been accordingly made: And thereupon the said lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now assembled in a full and free repre- sentation of this nation, taking into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the ends afore- D said, do in the first place, as their ancestors in like cases have usually done, for the vindicating their antient rights and liberties, DECLARE That the pretended power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of parliament, is illegal. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the executing of laws, by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal. That the commission for erecting the late court of commissioners for ecclesiastical causes, and all other commissions and courts of the like nature, are illegal and pernicious. That the levying money to or for the use of the crown, by pretence of prerogative, without grant of parliament, for longer time, or in any other manner than the same is, or shall be, granted, is illegal. That it is the right of the subject to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petition- ing are illegal. That the raising and keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be by consent of parliament, is against law* 4 534. APPENDIX. That the subjects being protestants, may have for their defence suitably to their condition, and as al- lowed by law. That the election of members of parliament ought to. Ipe free. That the freedom of speech, or debates, and proceed- ings in parliament, ought not to be impeached, or ques- tioned in, any court or place out of parliament. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor ex- cessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments;; inflicted. That jurors ought to be duly impannelled and return-, ed ; and jurors which pass upon men in. trials for high treason ought to be freeholders. That all grants and promises of fines, and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction, are illegal and void ; and, That for redress of all grievances, and for the amend- ing, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parlia-.. ments ought to be held frequently. AND they do claim, demand, and insist upon, all and singular the premises, as tlieir undoubted rights and pri- vileges, and that no declarations, judgments, doings, or proceedings, to the prejudice of the people, in any of the said premises, ought in any wise to be drawn here- after in consequence or example- To which demand of their rights they are particularly encouraged by the declaration of his highness the prince of Orange, as being the only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein. Having therefore an entire confidence that his said highness the prince of Orange will perfect the deliver-. a ; nce so far advanced by him, and will still preserve APPENDIX. ,535 them from the violation of their rights which they have here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their religious rights and liberties ; The said lords, spiritual and temporal, and commons, assembled at Westminster, do RESOLVE, That WILLIAM and MARY, prince and princess oF Orange, be, and be declared, king and queen of Eng- land, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to them the said prince and princess during their lives, and the life of the sur- vivor of them ; and that the sole and full exercise of th royal power be only in, and executed by, the said prince of Orange, in the names of the prince and princess, during their lives, and after their deceases the said crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to the heirs of the body of the said princess ; and for de- fault of such issue, to the princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body ; and for default of such issue, to the heirs of the body of the said prince of Orange. And the said lords, spiritual and temporal, and com- mons, do pray the said prince and princess of Orange to accept the same accordingly. And that the oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all persons of whom the oaths of allegiance and supre- macy might be required by law instead of them ; and that the said oaths of allegiance and supremacy be abro- gated. N. B. Here followed the oaths appointed to be taken. In the oath of allegiance, as formerly expressed, a pre- vious and inherent title seemed to be asserted, the sove-, feign being sworu to as rightful and lawful kin^. And APPENDIX. great stress was placed in debate upon the consideration that these words could not apply to a king who had not a precedent right, but was elected by the voice, and reigned by the will, of the nation. In order to obviate, this legal scruple, the oath was reduced to its ancien^ simplicity of swearing, to bear true allegiance to the king, which, by the famous statute of Henry VII., was unquestionably agreeable to law. The new oath of supremacy consisted ; 1st, of a renunciation of the Damnable doctrine, that princes excommunicated by the pope might be deposed or murdered, &c. ; and 2dly, a declaration that no foreign prince or power had, of ought to have, any jurisdiction here. The marquis of Halifax, as speaker of the House of !Lords, as soon as the clerk of the crown had finished reading the declaration of rights, made, in the name of the people of England, a solemn tender of the crown to their highnesses, the entire executive power residing and remaining in the prince, to which he replied in tfce faU lowing words : MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, This certainly is the greatest proof of the trust; you have in me that can be given, which is the thing that makes me value it the more ; and as I had no other Intention in coming hither than to preserve your religion, laws, and liberties, so you may be sure that I shall en- deavour to support them, and shall be willing to concur in any thing that shall be for the good of the kingdom, and to do all that is in my power to advance the wel- fare and glory of the nation. 5S7 AFFAIRS OF IRELAND. A. D. 1689. / THE two acts of general attainder, and repeal of th* act of settlement and explanation, passed in the reign of Charles II., enacted by the parliament., convened and held by king James in person, May 1689, at the castle of Dublin, are certainly to be ranked amongst the most atrocious violations of right, and of the first principles of civil society, to be found on historic record. By the former of these, two archbishops, seven bishops, one duke, seventeen earls, eighteen viscounts, and about thirty barons, with about two thousand four hundred persons of inferior note, were expressly designated and attainted by name ; but it virtually included multitudes unnamed. The act itself was so carefully concealed, that no protestant was permitted even to see, much less to take a copy of it, till the time limited for pardons was past ; but this precaution was unnecessary, for the seem- jng indulgence of allowing the delinquents a certain time to come in, archbishop King tells us, was a mere nothing, the embargo in both kingdoms being so strict, that nei- ther could those in Ireland correspond with their friends abroad, nor those abroad return home, on any consid, r ation whatsoever; nor, indeed, durst any body in Ire- land have sent any such advices had the ports been open ; for by the clause in the act of repeal, which made it treason to correspond with any rebel, they would have been liable to such prosecutions as might have ruined them, only for endeavouring to prevent the ruin of 533 APPENDIX. others. As to the clause limiting the power of pardon in the crown, it is not easy to ascertain how far it was conformable to the real inclination of the king. For though archbishop King affirms this parliament to be a slave to the king's will, we know that they ventured upon several measures by no measures agreeable to him, insomuch, that he exclaimed with much passion, in re- sentment at their opposition, " I find all commons are the same :" and the archbishop himself informs us, " that when the act of attainder was under consideration, they would not hear of a clause to enable the king to dispense with it in any instance whatever." On the other hand, he hesitated not resolutely to oppose the repeal of Poyn- ing's act, which, though a primary object with this as- sembly, was given up in consequence of the king's avow* ed disapprobation. And James himself declares, in his memoirs, that he " foreclosed himself in the act of at- tainder from the power of pardon, from unwillingness to disgust his only friends." This bloody sacrifice seems, upon the whole, to have been made by him with much apathy, and if he really felt any reluctance on this oc- casion, it proceeded not from motives of humanity, but pride and resentment, that the parliament should pre- sume to fix any bounds and limits to the exercise of his prerogative. The whole tenor of his conduct respecting the repeal of the acts of settlement, discovers a mind steeled against every feeling of compassion, every senti- ment of honour. " What is become," exclaimed the unhappy sufferers in the representation of their case, drawn up by the chief justice Keating, and presented to the king by the earl of Granard, " of the frequent declara-* tions made by the earl of Clarendon, and the earl, APPENDIX. duke,of Tyrconnel,of his majesty's fixed resolution never to lay aside the acts of settlement and explanation ? Why did the judges, in their several circuits, declare, in all places where they sat, unto the counties there assem- bled, that your majesty was resolved to preserve the acts of settlement and explanation ? and that they were ap- pointed, by the then chief governor here, to declare the same unto them ; from whence they took confidence to proceed in their purchases and improvements ; and, with submission be it spoken, if this bill pass are deluded." The repeal nevertheless took place, and was carried into effect with every circumstance of cruelty and aggrava- tion, the orders of restitution being issued, with scarcely any previous notice, by the lords lieutenants of counties, and executed by troops of horse and dragoons. A spe- cimen of these terrific mandates is preserved in the ap- pendix to Archbishop^King's State of Protestants in Ire- land, and is as follows : SIR, Naas the 8th April 1690. This is to let you understand that I am authorized to give the proprietor possession of the lands of Bally- sannan, &c, according to the act of parliament, and that you may not be surprised therein, I give you this notice from, SIR, Your loving friend and servant, CHARLES WHITE. For John Annesley, Esq. or in his Francis Annesley, Esq. tliese. 40 APPENDIX. Second order for Ballysannan. WHEREAS Luke Fitzgerald, Esq. has proved himself before me, to be the ancient proprietor of the town and lands of Baltysannan, and that his ancestors \vere pos- sessed of their Mansions-house there in the year 1641, I do therefore in pursuance of his majesty's orders unto me, appoint the under r named persons to give possession of the Mansion-house there to Luke Fitzgerald, Esq. and for so doing this shall be your warrant. Given un- 4er my hand and seal this 6tb day of May 1G90. CHARLES WHITE, J do hereby appoint captain Walter Archbold, or paptain John Dillon, of Athy, to give possession of the Mansion r house of Ballysannan, to Luke Fitzgerald } Esq, PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING A COMPREHENSION. A. D. 1689. DURING the reign of king James II. and particular* ly in the latter part of it, when the dissenters were much courted by that monarch, the necessity of a union amongst protestants, and the advantage and propriety of a comprehension, by admitting of a farther reforma- tion in the church, and by relaxing the terms of confor- mity, was a prevailing topic of discussion and consul- tation amongst the leading members of the establishment. And even the seven bishops, the venerable champions of the church, in their famous petition to the king, had de- clared their readiness, in relation to the dissenters, to come to such a temper as should be thought fit, when the matter should be considered and settled in parliament and convocation. The prince of Orange in his decla- ration had, in consequence, announced it to be one of the purposes of his undertaking, to enable the two houses of parliament, freely and lawfully assembled, to prepare such laws as they should think necessary for establish- ing a good agreement between the church of England and all protestant dissenters ; as also for the securing of all such who would live peaceably under the government from all persecution on account of their religion ; refer- ring, in the first place, evidently to the project of a comprehension, and next to the subsidiary design of a toleration. $42 APPENDIX. Scarcely was tlie new king fixed upon the tnrOrie tliaii the earl of Nottingham, secretary of state, a noblemaii whose attachment to the church was above and beyond all question, moved for a bill of comprehension and in- dulgence similar ttf one formerly prepared in the reigrt of king Charles II. during the debates on the exclusion. This was received with so much favour, even by those who were adverse to the repeal of the test, that the eari had the thanks of the house of peers voted him ; and such of the bishops as forsook their seats in parliament to avoid taking the oaths, recommended it before they did so.* Very formidable obstacles, however, soon arose in the way of its accomplishment. " The clergy," says the bishop of Salisbury, " began now to shew an im- placable hatred to the non-conformists, and seemed to wish for an occasion to renew old severities against them.'* On the other hand it was shrewdly and strongly suspected that the professed advocates of the bill in par- liament, and even very many of those for whose benefit the bill was avowedly designed, were secretly averse to its success. The earl of Nottingham himself, indeed, ap- pears to have behaved with honour and sincerity through* out the whole of this business : bat there were those of the high-church party who, according to bishop Bur- net, " acted a very disingenuous part ; for while they studied to recommend themselves by this shew of moder- ation, they set on their friends to oppose it, and such as were very sincerely and cordially for it were represented as the enemies of the church." But a more remark- able circumstance is, that the leaders of the low-church * Ralph, vol. ii. p. 72. APPENDIX. 543 party were no less unfavourably disposed to the bill. " They set it up," says the same prelate, " for a maxim, that it was fit to keep up a strong faction both in church and state. And they thought it was not agreeable to that, to suffer so great a body as the presbyterians to be made more easy or more inclinable to unite to the church. They also thought that the toleration would be best maintained when great numberfe should need it and be concerned to preserve it."* That the heads of the pres- byterian party themselves were also adverse to the bill appeared from the intemperate tenor of their writings at this time, respecting the establishment, though it was remarked " that during the late reign, none of their mi- nisters, not even their mufti Baxter, had engaged in tlie controversy against popery. "t Sir John Reresby tells us that the marquis of Halifax, in a conference with the bishop of Salisbury and him- self, acknowledged " that the church people hated the presbyterians, and would rather turn papists than re- ceive these sectaries among them. But he added, that the presbyterians were to the full as rank and inveterate against the church, and he complained that their con- duct at this very time in relation to the bills pending in their favour was such as must disgust those from whom they looked for indulgence." Certainly the wise and beneficent plan of compre- hension could not have been introduced under more un- favourable auspices. But there are at all times those who, rising superior to vulgar follies and prejudices, are ever ready and anxious to promote the genuine and * Burnet, vol. iii. p. 14, }5. f Ralph, vol. ii, p. /2, 544 APPENDIX. , . . ' ( - i -*. > permanent interests of mankind in opposition to that invincible weakness and blindness usually predominant, and which excites in minds imbued with tliegenuine spirit of philosophy and humanity, not resentment but com- passion. Of this description it should seem were those enlightened friends of the bill in question, who knowing how easily the passions of a popular assembly were in- flamed by entering into discussions of this nature, of- fered a proviso that, in imitation of acts passed in king Henry Vllf . and king Heiiry the Sixth's time, ** a num- ber of persons, both of clergy arid laity, might be em- powered to prepare such a reformation of things relating to the church as might be offered to king arid parlia- ment, in order to the healing our divisions and the cor= recting what might be amiss or defective in our ecclesi- astical constitution.'* This proposition was vehemently opposed both by the insidious enemies and the undis- cerning friends of the bill, amongst the latter of whom must be classed the bishop of Sarum, who attributes the final rejection of the proviso to the influence of a speech which he made against it. He was credulous enough, as he himself confesses, to imagine that " the clergy would have come into this design of reformation with zeal and unanimity ; and hie feared that the appoint- ment of laymen as joint commissioners, would be looked Upon by them as taking the matter out of their hands.'* On this occasion the following incomparable protest \vas entered on the journals by the lords Winchester} Mordaunt, LovelacQ and Stamford : APPENDIX. 545 DISSENTIENT, 1st. Because the act itself being, as the preamble sets forth, designed for the peace of the state, the putting the clergy into the commission, with a total exclusion of the laity > lays this humiliation on the laity, as if the clergy of the church of England were alone friends to the peace of the state, and the laity less able or less con- cerned to provide for it. 2dly. Because the matters to be considered being barely of human constitution, viz. the liturgy and ce- remonies of the church of England, which had their establishment from the king, lords spiritual and tempo* ral, and commons assembled in parliament, there can be no reason why the commissioners for altering any thing in the civil constitution should consist only of men of one sort of them, unless it be supposed that human rea- son is to be quitted in this affair, and the inspiration of spiritual men to be alone depended on. odly. Because though upon Romish principles the clergymen have a title alone to meddle in matters of re- ligion, yet with us they cannot, where the chuch is ac- knowledged and defined to consist of clergy and laity ; and so those matters of religion which fall under human determination being properly the business of the church belong equally to both ; for in what is of divine instilfc- tion neither clergy nor laity can make any alteration at all. 4thly. Because the pretending that differences and delays may arise by mixing laymen with ecclesiastics to the frustrating the design of the commission is vain and out of doors ; unless those that make use of this pretence VOL. J. N N 546 APPENDIX. suppose the clergy-part of the church have distinct in- terests or designs from the lay part of the same church ; and this will be a reason, if good, why one or other of them should quit the house for fear of obstructing the business of it. 5thly. Because the commission being intended for the satisfaction of dissenters, it would be convenient that laymen of different ranks, nay, perhaps, of different opinions too, should be mixed in it the better to find expedients for that end, rather than clergymen alone of our church who are generally observed to have very much the same way of reasoning and thinking. Gthly. Because it is the most ready way to facilitate the passing the alterations into a law, that lay-lords and commons should be joined in the commission who may be able to satisfy both houses of the reasons upon which they were made, and thereby remove all fears and jea- lousies ill men may raise against the clergy of their en- deavouring to keep up, without grounds, a distinct in- terest from that of the laity, whom they so carefully ex- clude from being joined with them in consultations of common concernment, that they will not have those have any part in the declaration who must have the greatest in determining. Tthly. Because such a restrained commission lies li- able to this great objection, that it might be made use of to elude repeated promises, and the present general ex- pectation of compliance with tender consciences, when the providing for it is taken out of the ordinary course of parliament 'to !>e put into the hands of those alone who were latest in admitting any need of it, and who may be thought the more unfit to be the sole composers APPENDIX. 547 of out differences when they are looked upon by^ome as parties. Lastly; Because after all, this carries a dangerous supposition with itj as if the laity were not a part of the church, nor had any power to meddle in matters of re- ligion ; a supposition directly opposite to the constitu- tion both of church and state, which will make all alter- ations utterly impossible, unless the clergy alone be al- lowed to have power to make laws iji matters of religion; since what is established by law cannot be taken away or changed but by consent of laymen in parliament ^ the clergy themselves having no authority to meddle in this very case in which the laity are excluded by this vote but what they derive from lay-hands* The proposal of appointing a commission being over- ruled by a very small majority,* the bill was sent down to the commons, where it was suffered to lie neglected on the table, and an address was moved and carried, humbly beseeching his majesty " that according to the antient usage and practice of the kingdom in time of parliament, his majesty would be graciously pleased to issue forth his writs for calling a convocation of the clergy to be advised in ecclesiastical matters." To this address the concurrence of the lords was, though not without great debate and opposition, obtained : and thus under the joint sanction of both houses it came before * This is the account of bishop Burnet, who was himself present at the division; but Ralph, a much more accurate writer, affirms, that the numbers were equal on the division, in which case, accord- ing to the rules of the house, the question was decided in the ne- gative, N N 2 '548 APPENDIX. the throne. The king returned an answer suitable to his high character for wisdom, concluding with an ear- nest recommendation " that the occasions of differences and mutual animosities might be removed, and that as soon as might be, he would summon a convocation.*' Nothing further being done during the course of the session respecting the business of comprehension, the king resolved, as the last expedient, to summon a con- vocation, which met early the ensuing winter, 1689-90, when the parliament was again convened . That no precaution which prudence could dictate might be wanting to facilitate the favourable reception of this design, a special commission was issued under the great seal to ten bishops and twenty dignitaries of the church, impartially selected, " to prepare," in the words of the commission, " such alteration of the liturgy and the canons, and such proposals for the reformation of ecclesiastical courts, and to consider of such other matters as in their judgments might most conduce to the ends proposed." But it immediately appeared how different was the spirit now prevalent amongst the clergy from that which actuated them in the last reign, when the aid of the dissenters was supposed to be wanting to rescue the church from the dangers which then impended over her. In the famous address from archbishop San- croft to the bishops of his diocese, containing heads of advice and instruction to their lordships, adapted to those difficult and distressing times, the primate thus, in conclusion, summed up his sentiments. " And in the last place that they," i. e. the clergy of the different dioceses, " warmly and most effectually exhort them," i. e. the pro- testant dissenters, from the members of the two houses of parliament, who are not obliged to receive the sacrament to enable them to sit in either house." On a negative being put upon the first clause, a second was moved, that the producing a certificate undor the 552 APPENDIX. hand of a minister not conforming to the established church and two other credible witnesses, that the party therei specified had received the sacrament, should be deemed a sufficient qualification. This being also re- jected, the following excellent protest was signed by the lords Oxford, Mordaunt, Lovelace, Montague, Whar* ton and Paget, ^<> ; ' l$*(fU!at$&^ KtliAfJjQ.Yt'ttKXti;:;] ;) DISSENTIENT, BECAUSE it gives great part of the protestant freemen, of England reason to complain of inequality and hard usage, when they are excluded from public employ- ments, by a law depriving the king and kingdom of di- vers men fit and capable to serve the public in several cases ; and that for a mere scruple of conscience, which could by no means render them suspected, much less dis- affected to the government. That his majesty, as the common indulgent father of his people, having expressed an earnest desire of liberty to tender consciences, and to his protestant subjects, and the bishops having divers of (hem, on several occasions, expressed an inclination to, and owned the reasonable- ness of, such a Christian temper, they apprehended it would raise suspicions in men's minds of something dif- ferent from the case of religion or the public, or a design to heal pur breaches, when they should find that by con- fining secular employments to ecclesiastical conformity, those were sfruck oqt from civil affairs whose doctrine and worship might be tolerated by authority of parlia- ment, there being a bill before them, by order of the Ibouse, to that purpose j especially when without this APPENDIX. J53 exclusive rigour the church is secured in all its privi- leges and preferments, nobody being hereby let into them who is not strictly conformable. That to set marks of distinction and humiliation on any sorts of men who have not rendered themselves justly suspected to the government, as it is at all times to be avoided by tlie making just and equitable laws, so might it be of ill effect to the reformed interest at home and abroad, in this present conjuncture, which stood in need of the united hands and hearts of all pro- testants against the open attempts and secret endeavours of a restless party and a potent neighbour, who was more zealous than Rome itself to plant popery in these kingdoms ; and laboured with his utmost force to settle his tyranny upon the ruins of the Reformation all through Europe. That it turned the edge of a law, they knew not by what fate, upon protestants and friends to the govern- ment, which was intended against papists ; to exclude them from places of trust, as men avowedly dangerous to our religion and government ; and the taking the sa- crament, which was enjoined only as a means to disco- ver papists, was now made a distinguishing duty amongst protcslants to weaken the whole by casting out a part of them. That mysteries of religion and divine worship are of divine original, and of a nature so wholly distant from the secular affairs of politic society, that they cannot be applied ta those ends ; and therefore the church by the Jaw and the gospel, as well as common prudence, ought tp take care not to offend either tender consciences within 554 APPENDIX. itself, or give offence to those without, by mixing their sacred mysteries with secular interests. That they could not see how it could consist with the law of God, common equity, or the right of any free- born subject, that any one be punished without a crime. That if it be a crime not to take the sacrament ac- cording to the usage of the church of England, every one ought to be punished for it, which nobody affirms ; and if it be no crime, those who were capable, and judged fit for the king's service, ought not to be punished with a law of exclusion for not doing that which is no crime to forbear. Lastly, That if it be urged still as an effectual test to discover and keep out papists, the taking of the sacra- ment in those protestant congregations where they are members, and known, would be at least as effectual to that purpose. 355 AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND. A. D. 1689. THE meeting of the convention of the estates of Scot- land, summoned by letter of the Prince of Orange, as in England, was fixed for the 14th March, 1689. Lord Balcarras affirms, that king James allowed his partisans, at the election of the convention, to make all the interest they could that members might be rightfully chosen. The lords and commons being met accordingly in one house, conformably to the custom of that kingdom, the bishop of Edinburgh, a zealous adherent of the dethroned monarch, was appointed chaplain: and in officiating in this capacity, he scrupled not publicly to pray that God would have compassion on king James, and that he would restore him. This was a very unpropitious commencement of the session. : but the real sentiments of the convention were soon to be put to a decisive test. The first great point to be settled was the choice of a president. The marquis of Athol was set up by the high, and the duke of Hamilton by the low party. Con- trary to the general expectation, the duke carried it by forty voices. " Upon which," says lord Balcarras, " above twenty more who had engaged to us, and voted for us, seeing we were the weakest party, and that (lie other had both forces and the shew of authority on their side, left us." On the 18th March, a messenger arrived with a letter to the estates, from the kin^of England. And one Crane having also at the same time a letter to deliver from king James, who still remained king of 556 APPENDIX. Scotland, a warm debate arose which letter should be first read. But the marquis of Lothian remarked, that this compliment was due to the king of England, since the assembly itself was convened at his desire ; and the question being put, it was carried in the affirmative, and the said letter was read accordingly as follows ; To the Meeting of the Estates of SCOTLAND. MY LORDS, AND GENTLEMEN, WE are very sensible of the kindness and concern that many of your nation have evidenced to- wards us and our undertaking, for the preservation of religion and liberty, which Mere in such imminent dan- ger. Neither can we in the least doubt of your confi- dence in us, after having seen how far so many of your nobility and gentry have owned our declaration, coun- tenancing and concurring with us in our endeavors, and desiring that we should take upon us the administration of affairs, civil and military, and to call a meeting of the estates for securing the protestant religion, the an- tient laws and liberties of that kingdom, which accord- ingly we have done. Now it lies on you to enter upon such consultations as are most probable to settle you on. sure and lasting foundations, which we hope you will set about with all convenient speed with regard to the public good, and to the general iriterest and inclina- tions of the people, that after so much trouble and great sufferings they may live Itappily, and in peace, and that you may lay aside all animosities and frictions that may impede\o good a work. We were glad to find that so many of the nobility and gentry, when here at APPENDIX. $# London, were so much inclined to an union of both kingdoms, and that they did look upon it as one of the best means for procuring the happiness of those nations, and settling of a lasting peace among them, which would be advantageous to both ; they living in the same island, having the same language, and the same common in- terest of religion and liberty, especially at this juncture, when the enemies of both are so restless, endeavouring to make and encrease jealousies and divisions, which they will be ready to improve to their own advantage and the ruin of Britain. We being of the same opinion as to the usefulness of this union, and having nothing so much before our eyes as the glory of God, the establish- ing of the reformed religion, and the peace and happi- ness of these nations, are resolved to use our utmost en- deavours in advancing every thing which may conduce to the effectuating the same. So we bid you heartily farewell. From our Court at Hampton, the 1th day of March, 1689. WILLIAM R. The king of England's letter being read, a committee was forthwith appointed to draw up a respectful answer to it. A motion being then made for reading the letter from king James, it was strongly opposed, on the ground that it might contain some authoritative clause to dissolve the assembly or annul their proceedings. At length it was decided that the letter should be read - the following declaration being previously sigried^y the members of the convention : FORASMUCH as there is a letter from king Seventh, presented to the meeting of the estates, that 558 APPENDIX. they, before opening thereof, declare and enact no : withstanding of any thi; g that may be contained in that letter for dissolving them or impeding their pro- cedure, yet that they arc a free and lawful meeting of the estates, and will continue undissolved until they settle and secure the protestant religion, the government^ laws and liberties of the kingdom. This paper having been signed almost unanimously by those present, the letter brought by Crane was read as follows : JAMES R. MY LORDS, AND GENTLEMEN, WHEREAS we have been informed that you, the peers and representatives of shires ahd boroughs of that our ancient kingdom, who are to meet together at our good town of Edinburgh, sometime in this instant March, by the usurped authority of the Prince of Orange, we think fit to let you know that we have at all times relied upon the faithfulness and affection of you our antient people so much, that fn our greatest mis- fortunes heretofore we had recourse to your assistance, and that with good success, to our affairs ; so now again: we require of you to support our royal interest; ex- pecting from you what becomes loyal and faithful sub" jects, generous and honest men, that will neither suffer yourself to be cajoled nor frightened into any action mis- becoming true-hearted Scotchmen. And that to sup- port the honour of the nation, you will contemn the base example of disloyal men, and eternize your names by a loyalty suitable to the many professions you have made APPENDIX. 550 to us, iii doing whereof you will clmse (he safest part : since thereby you will evite the danger you must needs undergo ; the infamy and disgrace you must bring upon yourselves in this world, and the condemnations due to the rebellious in the next. And you will likewise have the opportunity to secure to yourselves and your poste- rity the gracious promises we have so oft made of secur- ing your religion, laws, properties, liberties, and rights, which we are still resolved to perform as soon as it is possible to us to meet you safely in a parliament of our antient kingdom. In the mean time fear not to declare for us your law- ful sovereign, who will not fail, on our part, to give you such speedy and powerful assistance as shall not only enable you to defend yourselves from any foreign at- tempt, but put you in a condition to assert our rights against our enemies, who have depressed the same by the blackest of usurpations, the most unjust, as well as most unnatural of all attempts, which the Almighty God may for a time permit, and let the wicked prosper, yet then must bring confusion upon such workers of ini- quity. We farther let you know that we will pardon all such as shall return to their duty before the last day of this month inclusive; and that we will punish with the rigour of our law all such as shall stand out in re- bellion against us or our authority. So, not doubting that you will declare for us, and suppress whatever may oppose our interest, and that you will send some of your number to us with an account of your diligence and the posture of our affairs, we bid you heartily farewell. Given on board the St. Michael) the 1st March, 1689. By his Majesty's command, MELFORT. 00 APPENDIX. The convention were so far provoked at the insolent though impotent menaces contained in this letter, as td order Crane the messenger into custody, but he was soon released, and no farther notice taken of him or his mes-. sage. On the other hand, they passed a vote of thanks to William for the great benefit done by him to their nation in delivering them from the near danger which threatened the overthrow of their laws and of their reli- gion, and desiring him to accept the administration of the government. They required, by proclamation, all persons from sixteen to sixty, to be in readiness to take arms when the house should call upon them* They set forth another proclamation for securing all disaffected persons, and they dispatched the following reply by lord Ross, to the letter of the king of England. Edinburgh, March 23, 1689. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, As religion, liberty and law are the dearest concerns of mankind, so the deep sense of the extreme hazards these were exposed to, must produce suitable re- turns from the kingdom of Scotland to your majesty, whom in all sincerity and gratitude we acknowledge to be, under God, our great and seasonable deliverer. And we heartily congratulate that as God has honoured your majesty to be an eminent instrument for the preservation of his truth, so he has rewarded your undertakings with success in the considerable progress which you have made in delivering us, and in preserving to us the pro- tflitant religion. We return our most dutiful thanks to your majesty APPENDIX. S6i for your accepting the administration of public affairs^ and convening the estates of this kingdom, and we shall with all convenient diligence take your gracious letter into our consideration, hoping shortly, by the blessing of GOD, to fall upon such resolutions as may be accept- able to your majesty, secure the protest ant religion, and establish the government, laws and liberties of this king- dom upon solid foundations, most agreeable to the ge- neral good and inclinations of the people* As to the proposal of the union, we doubt not your majesty will so dispose that matter that there may be an equal readiness in the kingdom of England to accomplish it, as one of the best means for securing the happiness of these na* tions, and settling a lasting peace. We have hitherto, and still shall endeavour to avoid animosities or preju- dice which might disturb our councils ; that as we de- sign the public good) so it may be done with the gene* ral concurrence and approbation of the nation. In the mean time we desire the continuance of your majesty's care and protection towards us in all our concern^ whereof the kind expressions in your gracious letter have given us full assurance. Signed in the name of us the Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland^ by our President. May it please your Majesty ', $c. HAMILTON. It is remarkable that) in the consideration of the af- fairs of Scotland, the idea of an union with England was first, and last, and midst, in the mind of king William* He embraced the earliest opportunity which offered to VOL, i. o o 562 APPENDIX. recommend this salutary measure to the Scottish cotr- rention of estates ; he frequently insisted upon it as oc- casions occurred in the course of his reign, and it was the subject of his latest message to the English parlia- ment, when he had his dissolution in immediate pros- pect. To the great stress which this penetrating and patriotic monarch placed upon this union must we at- tribute its final and happy accomplishment in a few years after his death. From the aera of the Revolution it became a grand and leading object of policy. There existed, however, at this period, obstacles to its success not to be surmounted. The majority of the Scottish convention were presbyterians ; who were secretly de- termined upon the abolition of episcopacy. But had a treaty of union been immediately set on foot, neither would the English parliament have consented to th abolition as a condition of the treaty, nor could any hope be entertained that it would be granted in conse- quence of any application to the united legislature sub- sequent to the treaty. Thus the union projected soon fell to the ground, but the settlement of the government was prosecuted with all imaginable diligence, and in a very few days the convention passed a vote, with five dissentient voices only, declaring that the late king James Vlf . had forfauUed the right of the crown, and that the throne was become vacant. An act was im- mediately prepared for settling the crown upon king William and queen Mary, who were, on the llth April, 1689, which was the day of their coronation in England, proclaimed king and queen of Scotland, at the high cross of Edinburgh, by the lord president in person, assisted by the lord provost and all the magistracy of thai APPENDIX* 563 city. This ceremony was followed by another procla- mation, " to certify the lieges that none should presume to acknowledge the late king James for their king, or obey him, nor accept of, nor assist any commissions from him, nor hold any correspondence with him, and that none, upon their highest peril, by word, writing, sermon, or any other manner of way, impugn or dis- own the royal authority of king William arid queen Mary." The conduct of king William, at the commencement of his reign, respecting the affairs of Scotland, taken in a general view, and allowing for the almost insuperably difficulties of his situation, appears to have been very judicious. Totally free from all bigotry and narrow- ness of mind in whatever related to the externals of re- ligion, he gave no other preference to one or other of the different forms of church government urged upon hi* acceptance by the opposing factions of that kingdom, than as the choice made by him would influence the peace and happiness of the people ; solicitous only, with that superior wisdom and benignity which it is ar- dently to be wished might ever be found associated with superior rank and power, to secure a free and full tole- ration to those who could not, or would not, conform to the terms of the national establishment. The king him- self appears inclined to favour the continuance of the episcopal form of church government in Scotland, pro- perly modified and limited, as more analogous to the monarchical constitution of the state, and more agree- able to the sentiments of his English subjects. Soon after his arrival at St. James's, the episcopal party in Scotland sent up the dean of Glasgow to London, in or- o o 2 5,64 APPENDIX. der to ascertain his intentions respecting them. The deaA was introduced to the presence of the king, then Prince of Orange; who promised " to do all he could for their preservation, provided a full toleration wag granted to the prcsbyterians ; but this was in case they concurred in the new settlement of the kingdom. For- if they opposed that, and if by a great majority in par- liament resolutions should be taken against them, he could not make a war for them." But it very soon ap- peared that things were taking such a turn in Scotland, as to render it highly impolitic for the king to stand for- ward as the champion of episcopacy. In the instru- ment of gover.'iment and statement of grievances an- nexed, which was presented to the king by the Scottish commissioners deputed from the convention, with the offer of the crown, it is declared, 21, " That prelacy and superiority of an office in the church above presby- ters is, and has been, a great and insupportable burden to this nation, and contrary to the inclinations of the ge- nerality of the people ever since the Reformation, they having reformed popery by presbytery; and ought therefore to be abolished."* On the other hand r . the Scottish prelates, inflamed by the spirit of faction, and relying on the sanguine assurances of lord Dundee, who predicted another speedy revolution in favour of the late sovereign, engaged with great zeal and ardour in the opposition to the new settlement ; and the episcopalians in general following their example, and embracing, with decided predilection, the interests of king James, the present monarch was thrown entirely into the hands of the presbyterians. The disaffection of the episcopal * Burnet, vol. iii. p. 3 1 . APPENDIX. sflss party was also increased by the spirit of rancor displayed by divers of the ministers appointed by the king. The earl of Melville, secretary of state, who was re- garded as the head of the new administration, was in- deed himself a man of mildness and moderation, but his talents were unequal to his situation, and he connived at the violence practised by his colleagues, particularly the earl of Crawford, president of the parliament, who distinguished himself in council by his eagerness to de- prive such of the clergy of their benefices who had omit- ted to read the proclamation as enjoined by the con- vention, in their several churches., by a certain day, de- claring the forfeiture of the crown in the person of the late king, and its transmission to the present sovereigns. On the 1st of July, 1689, an act passed for the abo- lition of episcopacy (he convention being converted, as in England, into a parliament, and the duke of Hamil- ton appointed high commissioner. But notwithstand- ing this great concession, the public business went on very heavily. The demands of the patriots were so nu- merous, and the compliances of the court so reluctant and lardy, that extreme discontent was excited, strong symptoms of anger and resentment were apparent, and the parliament was hastily adjourned by the lord high commissioner to the 8th of October (1689). Immedi- ately consequent to the adjournment, the majority of the members met, and drew up the following bold and spi- rited remonstrance or memorial, which was soon after- wards presented to the king at Hampton Court. 566 APPENDIX. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, NOTHING save the great and general surprize of this long distressed, and at present unsettled king- dom, upon the late adjournment of your most loyal par- liament for so long a time, and in so critical a season, with the deep concern of your royal interest therein, could possibly have induced us to this so necessary a petition. But the visible consternation and discourage- ment of thousands of your good subjects delayed in the relief and comfort which at this time they assuredly ex- pected, with the advantages that we apprehend your majesty's enemies, both within and without the king- dom, may think to reap by such an interruption, being our only motives, we cannot, we dare not be silent. And therefore, to prevent these evil consequences, we, in the first place, most solemnly protest and declare, in the presence of God and men, our constant and in- violable fidelity and adherence to your majesty's royal title, right and interest, so frankly and cheerfully recog- nized by us in this current parliament, wishing and praying for nothing more under the sun than your long and prosperous reign, as that wherein the security of all our lives and liberties, as also of our holy religion, more dear to us than both, is infallibly included. It was the persuasion we had of the justice as well as the necessity of your majesty's heroic undertaking for the delivery of these kingdoms, with the conviction of the divine con- firmation that appeared in its glorious success, that moved most, if not all of us, to endeavour nnd concur most heartily in the late meeting of estates for the ad- vancement and establishment of your majesty upon the -APPENDIX, 5tff throne, when some discovered their disaffection, aiul were too open retarders and obstructors of that good de- sign. And it is from the same true affection and zeal that we do now most heartily make the above-mentioned protestation, to obviate all the misconstructions your enemies may make- in this juncture. Nor are we less assured of your majesty's most sincere and gracious intentions to perform for us, to the utmost, all that the estates of the kingdom have either demanded or represented as necessary and expedient for securing the protestant religion, restoring their laws and liberties, and redressing of their grievances, according to your majesty's declaration for this kingdom. Neither can it be imagined that so wise and just a king as your ma- jesty will ever be persuaded that so loyal a parliament as this can be induced either to wish or design any pre- judice to, or diminution of, your true interest and prero- gative. But such as have slavishly served and flattered arbitrary power and tyranny, will be always studying for their own sinister ends, to state a separate interest betwixt king and people ; a practice which we are con- fident your majesty abhors. But that we may clear our- selves upon this present occasion to your majesty's full satisfaction, and the refuting of all misrepresentations we can incur on any hand, we shall briefly rehearse to your majesty the votes passed in this present parliament to which the royal assent is not given, with such short reflections as we hope may tend to the better vindication of all concerned . The first act upon which the vole of parliament has passed, is that declaring the privileges of the estates of parliament io nominate and appoint committees as they 568 APPENDIX. thai! think fit : and excluding therefrom the officers of state unless they be chosen. And omitting what the parliament hath already represented to your majesty as reasons of their vote, it is humbly conceived that this act is exactly framed to the extent of that grievance which, together with the rest, is desired in the instru- ment of government to be redressed unto us in parlia- ment. The second was an act abrogating the act of parlia- ment, 1669, asserting the king's supremacy over all per- sons, and in all causes ecclesiastical ; and this act is so exactly conform to the second article of the above-men- tioned grievances, and the foresaid act of supremacy in itself is so dangerous to the protestant religion, as well as inconsistent with the establishment of any church go- vernment, that we doubt not your majesty will ever ap- prove all that voted to it. The third is an act anent persons not to be employed in public trusts. And all the ruins and distresses of this kingdom have so certainly flowed from the persons therein noted, especially such as by their contriving of, and concurring in, the dispensing power, have thereby imminently endangered our religion, and overturned all the fences of our liberties and properties ; which we have good ground to believe the parliament would have extended but to few persons. And your majesty, in your declaration, hath so justly charged the same upon evil and wicked counsellors the only persons pointed at in this act, that we are persuaded that you will find |t absolutely necessary for attaining all the ends of your jnajesty's glorious undertaking for our relief. tended with hatred and envy, and preserved with pain and difficulty. Impressed with these considerations^ the French monarch had already made various secret, but ineffectual advances towards obtaining a peace. So early as iu the year 1691, overtures had been made to the court of Vienna, without success. At the com- mencement of the present year (1693), was discovered an artful and insidious intrigue of the court of Ver- sailles in Holland, for the same purpose. M. Hal- APPENDIX. JO.S lewyn, senior burgo-master of Dordt, was accused of going into Switzerland, and there entering into a con- cert with M. Amelot, the Frerch minister to the can- tons, for setting on foot an unauthorized and clandestine negotiation for peace, in contempt of the several edicts prohibiting all correspondence with France. On the examination of this magistrate, king William himself attending in person, it appeared that he had received at his house an emissary from France, named M. Roberti du Plesis, who was empowered to promise him the pay- ment of 20,000 crowns, in case he could prevail upon the city of Dordt to declare for peace, and that the example of Dordt should be followed by other cities, so as to came under the cognizance of the states general. The whole intrigue being clearly proved, the burgo-master was sentenced to imprisonment for life, and the confiscation of property. The French monarch perceiving the ne- cessity of a more public disclosure of his sentiments^ commissioned the Dauphin, who accompanied M. de L'Orges, in the summer of 1695', into Germany, to pub- lish a manifesto, containing proposals of accommoda- tion, on the basis of the treaties of Westphalia and Nimeguen, offering Montroyal and Traerbach as an equi- valent for Strasburg, an annual revenue to the duke of Lorraine in lieu of his dutchy, and expressing his will- ingness to submit the questions arising from the re- unions to the arbitration of the republic of Venice. Memorials having been presented from the court of Versailles to the kings of Sweden and Denmark, con- formable to this manifesto, and requesting their good offices, the ministers of those powers communicated the contents of them in form to the imperial diet assembled VOL. i. e a $04 APPENDIX. at Ratisbon, by whom the conditions proposed were treated with much contempt, and it was declared that no satisfaction would be accepted short of a restitution of all that France had usurped or acquired since the treaty of the Pyrenees. Not discouraged by these dis appointments, the king of France, at the end of the year, made new overtures of peace to the court of Co- penhagen, in. which were included various new conces- sions. And the Danish minister resident in London, presented, in consequence, to the king of England, by orders of his sovereign, the fallowing memorial, dated December llth (O.S.) 1693: SIR, THE desolation this present war carries into most parts of Europe, together with the duty incumbent on a Christian king to apply all the remedies that lie in his power to so general a calamity, oblige the king of Den- mark, rny master, to impart to your majesty those pro- posals of peace which the most Christian king has com- municated to him. My master might have reason to decline his offices towards the peace of Europe, and taking upon him so important a negotiation, since the advances he has already made, as well as the king of Sweden, have not only proved ineffectual, but likewise have been so misconstrued as to render them suspected. Nevertheless it is most evident that, without any pros- pect of private interest (the union of the northern crowns, for the security of the trade of their respective subjects, being so well established, and enjoying the privileges of neutrality, that the continuation of the war might very much encrease the riches of thsir majesties' dominions) APPENDIX. 595 the public welfare of Europe, and the desire to see a just and lasting peace restored, have prevailed above all other considerations. Wherefore the king, my master, has represented to the most Christian king, that the pro- posals which he has made hitherto towards a general peace have been looked upon by the confederates rather as a means to disunite them, and to crush and subdue them one after another, than as a mark of his sincere intentions of settling the public repose. But his most Christian majes'y, to remove all manner of distrust, has not only by repeated protestations assured the king, my master, of the sincerity of his sentiments in this affair, but has likewise delivered a project of general peace, and added to the conditions that concern the empire, and which are already known to your majesty, some others relating to the rest of the allies, which are com- prehended in the following heads : I. That, notwithstanding the advantages his arms have gained this campaign, no alterations shall be made in the conditions his most Christian majesty has already offered to the emperor, the princes and states of the empire, and the dukes of Lorraine and Savoy. II. His majesty shall restore to the catholic king the important place of Roses, that of Belvers, and whatever has been conquered in Catalonia during the present war. III. Towards the forming a barrier in the Low-coun- tries, which may remove all manner of jealousy and un- easiness from the states of Holland, his most Christian majesty shall, upon that consideration, restore the places of Mons and Namur to the king of Spain, and cause Charleroy to be razed. QQ2 SQ6 APPENDIX. " IV. His said majesty shall restore to the bishop of Liege the town and castle of Huy, and recompense him for Dinant and Bouillon, by annexing, upon that ac- count, to his bishopric such a portion of the country of Luxemburg as shall be most convenient to that bishop, and judged equivalent by arbitrators. 11 V. His majesty consents that the treaty of commerce made at Nimeguen, with the states, be renewed without any alteration. " VI. His majesty thinks the states of Holland will be glad to obtain such important restitutions, and to put an end to the war by a peace so advantageous both to Spain and all the allies ; especially after the prosperous campaigns of France, which may still be attended with others no less successful. But that neither Holland nor any other state of Europe may have any ground of ap- prehension that, upon pretence of new rights, his ma- jesty will extend the boundaries of his dominions in the Low-countries beyond what shall be regulated by the treaty, his majesty declares, that in case the king of Spain dies without issue, he consents that the Low-coun- tries fall to the share of the duke of Bavaria, upon con- dition that the emperor makes the same declaration. And his majesty shall as well for himself, as for the Dauphin, his son, confirm the said renunciation by all the formalities necessary for that purpose in behalf of his electoral highness. " His most Christian majesty hopes that this last en- gagement will more than any thing besides secure der to see a prince, who lias for so long a time sought to take away his life in the blackest methods, endeavour no\v, likewise, to attack his honour even in the indecent- est expressions, of which the late memorial is full. The late king, while he was in Ireland, did himself concert with one Jones, the way of murdering the king. But so tender was his majesty of the honour of a person so nearly related to him, that .he gave order to suppress that 604 APPENDIX. matter, though the authentical proofs of it are yet ex- tant in letters and other papers taken in the late earl of Tyrconnel's cabinet.* Grandval's confession is well known; and sir John Femvick did lately claim merit, by his diverting another design to murder the king, pur- * The account given by bishop Burnet, from whom alone we have any particulars of this nefarious design, is as follows: " Among the earl of Tyrconnel's papers there was one letter writ to queen Mary, at St. Germaine's, the night before the battle, i. e. of the Boyne. But it was not sent. In it he said he looked on all as lost, and ended it thus: ' I have juow no hope in any thing but in Jones's business.' The marquis of Carmarthen told me, that some weeks before the king went to Ireland, he had received an advertisement that one named Jones, an Irishman, who had served so long in France and Holland, that he spoke both languages well, was to be sent over to murder the king. And sir Robert Southwell told me that he, as secretary of state for Ireland, had looked into all Tyrconnel's pa- pers, and the copies of the letters lie wrote to queen Mary, which lie had still in his possession. And he gave me the copies of two of them. In one of these he writes that Jones was come ; that his pro- position was more probable and liker fo succeed than any yet made. His demands were high, but he added if any thing can be high for such a service. In another he writes, that Jones had been with the king, who did not like the thing at first : but, he added, we have now so satisfied him both in conscience and honour, that everything is done that Jones desires. Southwell farther told me, that Neagle, the attorney-general, had furnished him with money, and a poignard of a particular construction. He was for some time delayed in Dub- lin, and the king had passed over to Ireland before he could reach iiim. We could never hear of him more : so it is likely he went away with his money. A paper was drawn of all this matter, and designed to be published ; but upon second thoughts, the king and queen had that tenderness for kjng James, that they stopped the publishing to the world so shameful a p/actice. The king said upon this to himself, that God had preserved him out of many clangers, and he trusted he would still preserve him." Burnet, vol. iiL p. 7ft. APPENDIX. 605 suant to a commission, that though it was not come over, yet was affirmed to be signed by the late king. His having laid the design of murdering the king a year ago, and his having sent over persons, and a commission to that effect, have been so undeniably proved, that all Europe is still full of horror at it. At such practices heathens would be ashamed. The pursuing them year after year deserves severer words than the king thinks fit to use, even after such a provocation ; such regard is had to the high birth and the rank which that prince once held in the world. The king had the less reason to expect such practices from the late king, because, though he had him so long in his power he did him no hurt nor put him under any restraint. He refused to hearken to the advices that many gave him of securing his person till a general peace should be made ; or at least till Ireland should be reduced. Some who offered those advices are now in the late king's interest; and can, if they please, inform him of the truth of this mat- ter. The late king himself desired to be attended by some of the Dutch guards when he went to Rochester, and sent to the count de Solmes to that effect ; who im- mediately ordered it, without any direction of the king, who was not then come to London. When the king knew of it, he sent orders to those guards to wait about thelatekingin what manner he himself should command. His majesty did not come to England on design to de- throne the late king, but declaring a full purpose to leave the care and settlement of the nation to the parliament. And when some lords were sent to him by the late king, to ask him what it was that he proposed, his answer was, that lie desired that the administration of the govern- APPENDIX. ment might be brought into a state conformable to the laws then in being ; so that no persons who were under legal incapacities might continue in public offices or trust, and that a parliament might be called and sit in full freedom, both armies being at an equal distance from it : that so proper remedies might be applied to all the distempers into which those violent counsels had thrown the nation. By (his it appeared how firmly the king had adhered to his declaration. During this ne- gotiation, and after the late king had notice given him what the king's demands were, he, upon reasons best known to himself, threw up all, and abandoned the go- vernment : and left his army loo^e upon the nation, and the rabble upon the city of London, and withdrew him- self; by which lie did all that in him lay to cast these kingdoms into most violent convulsions, and exposed even his own friends to all the hardships that might have been apprehended from enraged multitudes. For if the providence of God, and the natural gentleness of the people of England, had not proved effectual re- straints, this nation had become a scene of fire and blood, which the enemies of this kingdom persuaded the late king to venture on, rather than to stay and suffer a parliament to inquire into the causes of the miseries the nation was fallen under, and to secure their religion and property. Upon this, that part of the nation, which had till then adhered to the late king, finding them- selves abandoned by him, desired that the king would assume the administration of his forsaken government ; which he consented to do till a convention of the states should be brought together to give it a full and legal sanction. He did take a most particular care that the 8 APPENDIX. 60? elections should be carried on with all possible freedom; not only without violence and threatenings, but even without recommendations or any sort of practice, how usual and how innocent soever. The like care secured their liberty when they met. Every man argued and voted in the great deliberations then on foot, both with freedom and safety. Nor did the king speak to any person, or suffer any to speak in his name to persuade, much less to threaten, those who seemed still to adhere to the late king's interest : so strict was he in observing *-j O the promises he had made in his declaration. It was thought a remissness and a hazarding the public too much to interpose or move so little in those matters as he then did. The convention came to a full resolution, and judged that the late king had broke the original contract upon which this government was at first founded, and after that had abandoned it; so that it was neces- sary for them, being thus forsaken by him, to see to their own security. And as they judged that the late king's right to govern them was sunk, so they did not think it was necessary or incumbent on them to examine that which the whole nation in general, as well as the king in particular, had just reason to call in question, concerning the birth of the pretended prince of Wales. When the late king had quite dissolved the tie of the nation to himself, they thought they had no fartiier con- cern upon them to inquire into that matter ; and there- fore they thought fit to let it remain in that just doubt- fulness under which the late king's own method of pro- ceedings had brought it. Besides that, a particular care had been taken by the late king to cause all those who had been in the management of that matler, or Cos APPENDIX. were suspected of having a share in the artifices about it, to be carried over into France, so that it was not pos- sible to come at those persons, by the interrogating of whom, truth might have been found out. The king ex- pressed no ambitious desires of mounting the throne. The addresses of both houses, and the state of Europe, which seemed desperate without a mighty support from England, determined him in that matter. But as he can appeal to God of the sincerity of his intentions^ who alone knows them, so he has an infinite number of wit- nesses who saw, and can justify, his whole conduct in the progress of that revolution, if it were fit for him to appeal to them." In the answer to the second memorial of king James, it is observed in justification of the Revolution, " that nothing was done in the progress of it but that which he made inevitable by some act or other of his own. It went not upon false suggestions, nor barely upon the pretences of redressing particular grievances or some d ubtful oppressions, much less on the ambitious de- signs of his majesty, that are so often and so maliciously represented as the true causes of the Revolution. It wa& the late king's open throwing off the restraint of law, and his setting about a total subversion of the con- stitution, that drove the nation to extreme courses. The oaths of allegiance can be understood only in the sense limited by law, and so they cannot be conceived to bind subjects to a king who would not govern them any longer unless he might be allowed to do it against law. A re- volution so brought about carries in it no precedent ajjainst the security of government or the peace of man- APPENDIX. 609 kind. That which an absolute necessity enforced at one time, can be no warrant for irregular proceedings at any other time, unless it be where the like necessity shall re- quire the like remedies. But since the late king thinks fit to reflect on the oaths of subjects, he ought also to remember the oath which he himself swore at his coro- nation, to defend the church of England, and to main- tain the laws ; to neither of which he shewed any regard in his whole government, but set himself to overturn both. The many alterations that have been made in the succession to the crown of England upon occasions that were neither so pressing nor so important as those of late were, should have obliged those who penned this memorial to be more reserved and less positive in affirm- ing things so contrary to the known history of this kingdom. These revolutions were confirmed by laws which were not afterwards, upon succeeding changes, repealed; for they continue still in force. Nor was the crown of England ever reckoned to be such a property to those who held it, that they might use it or dispose of it at pleasure, as the memorial seems to suppose.'* A third manifesto or protest against the peace about to be concluded, " without his participation," dated June 8, 1687, and addressed to ALL the princes and powers of Europe, was afterwards published by king James, of which no sort of notice was taken in any mode whatever, by any of the parties concerned. VOL. I. R R 610 CONFERENCES OF HALLE. A. D. 1697. THERE can be no doubt, from (he positive testimony of king James's memoirs, corroborated by those of the duke of Berwick, that in the famous conferences held at Halle, between marshal Boufflers and the earl of Port- land, pending the negotiations at Ilyswick, overtures on the part of the king of France were made by the former in favour of the infant son of James, which were not wholly rejected by William : but the folly and bigotry of the abdicated monarch rendered all such projects im- practicable. We have, from two very high authorities, narratives somewhat vague and general indeed of what passed at these conferences ; but neither bishop Burnet, who re- ceived his account from the earl of Portland, or M. de Torcy, who had his information, in all probability, from M. Boufflers, make the least mention of the over- tures above alluded to ; both the negotiators being, no doubt, under strong injunctions of secresy as to this point. The statement of Dr. Burnet is as follows: " While they were negotiating, by exchanging pa- pers, which was a slow method, subject to much delay, and too many exceptions and evasions, the marshal Boufflers desired a conference with the earl of Portland, and by the order of their masters -they met four times, and were long alone. That lord told me himself that the subject of these conferences was concerning king 6 APPENDIX. 611 James* The king desired to know how the king of France intended to dispose of him, and how he could own him and yet support the other. The king of France would not renounce the protecting him by any article of the treaty ; but it was agreed between them that the king of France should give him no assistance, nor give the king any disturbance on his account, and that lie should retire from the court of France, either to Avi- gnon or Italy/ On the other hand, his queen should have 50,000 /. a year, which was her jointure settled after his death, and that should now be paid her, he being reckoned as dead to the nation ; and in this the king very readily acquiesced. These meetings made the treaty go on with more dispatch, this tender point being once settled." Bishop Burnet's History , vol. iii. p. 277. It is obvious to remark on this account, that the bi- shop erroneously supposed the object of the conferences to have been merely the satisfaction of king William, in relation to the disposal of the person of king James : although, had this been the fact, the first overture must doubtless have proceeded from the king of England, and not from the king of France, contrary to the bi- shop's own statement. The narrative of the marquis de Torcy is more full and satisfactory. " Vers la fin de 1'ete, J697, les traites de la pant generale etant prets a signer a Ryswick, & les armees en- core en campagne, le marechal de Boufflers eut a la vue de 1'une et de Tautre armee, quatre conferences avec le comte dc Portland, ne Hollandois, confident intime du roi d'Angleterre dont il avoit etc page. On a fausse- ment public que le partage de la succession d'Espagne 612 APPENDIX. avoit etc regie dans les conferences ; il n'en ful pag question, elles roulerent sur trois articles. " Le roi Guillaume demandoit par le premier, que ses ennerais ne re9ussent ni secours ni assistance de la part de la France. II specifioit particulierement le roi Jaques II. son beau-pere : et pour plus grande surete, Portland insistoit a faire sortir de France ce Prince in- fortune. et a Tobliger a porter ses malheurs, soit a Rome, soit en tel autre lieu de 1'univers qu'il lui plairoit de choisin " Le marechal de Boufflers demandoit de la part du roi, Finserer dans le traite de paix qu'il seroit accorde une amnestic generate aux Anglois qui avoient suivi le roi Jaques en France, & de plus, la restitution de leurs biens, condition que le comte de Portland rejetta, sous pretexte que le roi son maitre ne seroit pas en surete en Angleterre s'il conseritoit a 1'accorder. " Le troisieme article agite dans ces conferences re- gardoit la ville d'Orange. Le marechal de Boufflers demandoit que i'entree & toute habitation dans cette ville fussent interdites aux sujets du roi, qui prevoyoit que les nouveaux convertis attaches encore a leurs pre- mieres erreurs, accoureroient des provinces dont Orange est environnee, & s'etabliroient dans cette ville, s'ils en avoient la liberte. " Portland soutint que 1' interdict ion demandee seroit contraire a la pretendue souverainete d'Orange ; toute- fois il convint que le roi son maitre donneroit secrete- ment parole d'empecher tout sujet du roi de s'etablir a Orange sans la permission de sa majeste. ' li Les conferences roulerent sur ce$ difterens articles." Memoir es de M. de Torn/, vol. i. p. 24-5. PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE FIRST PARTITION TREATY. A. D. 16