CHAPTER II

.

_Duke of Schomberg lands with an Army in Ireland..... The Inniskilliners obtain a Victory over the Irish..... Schomberg censured for his Inactivity..... The French worsted at Walcourt..... Success of the Confederates in Germany..... The Turks defeated at Pacochin, Nissa, and Widen..... Death of Pope Innocent XI..... .King William becomes unpopular..... A good Number of the Clergy refuse to take the Oaths..... The King grants a Commission for reforming Church Discipline..... Meeting of the Convocation..... Their Session discontinued by repeated Prorogations..... Proceedings in Parliament..... The Whigs obstruct the Bill of Indemnity..... The Commons resume the Inquiry into the Cause of the Miscarriages in Ireland..... King William irritated against the Whigs..... Plot against the Government by Sir James Montgomery discovered by Bishop Burnet..... Warm Debates in Parliament about the Corporation Bills..... The King resolves to finish the Irish War in Person ..... General Ludlow arrives in England, but is obliged to withdraw..... Efforts of the Jacobites in Scotland..... The Court Interest triumphs over all Opposition in that Country..... The Tory Interest prevails in the New Parliament of England..... Bill for recognising their Majesties..... Another violent Contest about the Bill of Abjuration..... King William lands in Ireland..... King James marches to the Boyne..... William resolves to give him battle..... Battle of the Boyne..... Death and Character of Schomberg..... James embarks for France..... William enters Dublin and publishes his Declaration..... The French obtain a Victory over the English and Dutch Fleets off Beachy- head..... Torrington committed Prisoner to the Tower..... Progress of William in Ireland..... He Invests Limerick; but is obliged to raise the Siege, and returns to England..... Cork and Kinsale reduced by the Earl of Marlborough ..... Lausun and the French Forces quit Ireland..... The Duke of Savoy joins the Confederacy..... Prince Waldeck defeated at Fleurus..... The Archduke Joseph elected King of the Romans..... Death of the Duke of Lorrain..... Progress of the War against the Turks..... Meeting of the Parliament..... The Commons comply with all the King’s Demands..... Petition of the Tories in the City of London..... Attempt against the Marquis of Cærmarthen..... The King’s Voyage to Holland..... He assists at a Congress..... Returns to England._

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

SCHOMBERG LANDS WITH AN ARMY.

Though the affairs of Ireland were extremely pressing, and the protestants of that country had made repeated application for relief, the succours were retarded either by disputes among the ministers, or the neglect of those who had the management of the expedition, in such a manner that king James had been six months in Ireland before the army was embarked for that kingdom. At length eighteen regiments of infantry, and five of dragoons, being raised for that service, a train of artillery provided, and transports prepared, the duke of Sehomberg, on whom king William had conferred the chief command of this armament, set out for Chester, after he had in person thanked the commons for the uncommon regard they had paid to his services, and received assurances from the house, that they would pay particular attention to him and his army. On the thirteenth day of August he landed in the neighbourhood of Carrickfergus with about ten thousand foot and dragoons, and took possession of Belfast, from whence the enemy retired at his approach to Carrickfergus, where they resolved to make a stand. The duke having refreshed his men, marched thither, and invested the place; the siege was carried on till the twenty-sixth clay of the month, when the breaches being practicable, the besieged capitulated, on condition of marching out with their arms, and as much baggage as they could carry on their backs; and of their being conducted to the next Irish garrison, which was at Newry. During this siege the duke was joined by the rest of his army from England; but he had left orders for conveying the greater part of the artillery and stores from Chester directly to Carlingford. He now began his march through Lisburne and Hillsborough, and encamped at Drummore, where the protestants of the north had been lately routed by Hamilton; thence he proceeded to Loughbrillane, where he was joined by the horse and dragoons of Inniskilling. Then the enemy abandoned Newry and Dundalk, in the neighbourhood of which Sehomberg encamped on a low damp ground, having the town and river on the south, and surrounded on every other part by hills, bogs, and mountains.

THE INNISKILLINERS OBTAIN A VICTORY.

His army, consisting chiefly of new-raised men little inured to hardship, began to flag under the fatigue of marching, the inclemency of the weather, and scarcity of provisions. Here he was reinforced by the regiments of Kirke, Hanmer, and Stuart; and would have continued his march to Drogheda, where he understood Rosene lay with about twenty thousand men, had he not been obliged to wait for the artillery, which was not yet arrived at Carlingford. King James, having assembled all his forces, advanced towards Schomberg, and appeared before his intrenchments in order of battle; but the duke, knowing they were greatly superior in number of horse, and that his own army was undisciplined, and weakened by death and sickness, restrained his men within the lines, and in a little time the enemy retreated. Immediately after their departure, a conspiracy was discovered in the English camp, hatched by some French papists, who had insinuated themselves into the protestant regiments. One of these, whose name was Du Plessis, had written a letter to the ambassador D’Avaux, promising to desert with all the papists of the three French regiments in Schomberg’s army. This letter being found, Du Plessis and five accomplices were tried by a court-martial, and executed. About two hundred and fifty papists being discovered in the French regiments, they were sent over to England, from thence to Holland. While Schomberg remained in this situation, the Inniskilliners made excursions in the neighbourhood, under the command of colonel Lloyd; and on the twenty-seventh day of September they obtained a complete victory over five times their number of the Irish. They killed seven hundred on the spot, and took O’Kelly their commander, with about fifty officers, and a considerable booty of cattle. The duke was so pleased with their behaviour on this occasion, that they received a very honourable testimony of his approbation.

SCHOMBERG CENSURED.

Meanwhile, the enemy took possession of James-Town, and reduced Sligo, one of the forts of which was gallantly defended by St. Sauver, a French captain, and his company of grenadiers, until he was obliged to capitulate for want of water and provisions. A contagious distemper still continued to rage in Schomberg’s camp, and swept off a great number of officers and soldiers; so that in the beginning of next spring, not above half the number of those who went over with the general remained alive. He was censured for his inactivity, and the king, in repeated letters, desired him to hazard an engagement, provided any opportunity should occur; but he did not think proper to run the risk of a battle, against an enemy that was above thrice his number, well disciplined, healthy, and conducted by able officers. Nevertheless, he was certainly blameable for having chosen such an unwholesome situation. At the approach of winter he retired into quarters, in hopes of being reinforced with seven thousand Danes, who had already arrived in Britain. These auxiliaries were stipulated in a treaty which William had just concluded with the king of Denmark. The English were not more successful at sea than they had proved in their operations by land. Admiral Herbert, now created earl of Torrington, having sailed to Ireland with the combined squadrons of England and Holland, made a fruitless attempt upon Cork, and lost a great number of seamen by sickness, which was imputed to bad provisions. The Dartmouth ship of war fell into the hands of the enemy, who infested the channel with such a number of armed ships and privateers, that the trade of England sustained incredible damage.

THE FRENCH WORSTED AT WALCOURT.

The affairs of France wore but a gloomy aspect on the continent, where all the powers of Europe seemed to have conspired her destruction. King William had engaged in a new league with the states-general, in which former treaties of peace and commerce were confirmed. It was stipulated, that in case the king of Great Britain should be attacked, the Dutch should assist him with six thousand infantry, and twenty ships of the line; and that, provided hostilities should be committed against the states-general, England should supply them with ten thousand infantry, and twenty ships of war. This treaty was no sooner ratified, than king William dispatched the lord Churchill, whom he had by this time created earl of Marlborough, to Holland, in order to command the British auxiliaries in that service to the number of eleven thousand, the greater part of which had been in the army of king James when the prince of Orange landed in England. The earl forthwith joined the Dutch army, under the command of prince Waldeck, who had fixed his rendezvous in the county of Liege, with a view to act against the French army commanded by the mareschal D’Humieres; while the prince of Vaudemont headed a little army of observation, consisting of Spaniards, Dutch, and Germans, to watch the motions of Calvo in another part of the Low-Countries. The city of Liege was compelled to renounce the neutrality, and declare for the allies. Mareschal D’Humieres attacked the foragers belonging to the army of the states at Walcourt, in the month of August; an obstinate engagement ensued, and the French were obliged to retreat in confusion, with the loss of two thousand men, and some pieces of artillery. The army of observation levelled part of the French lines on the side of Courtray, and raised contributions on the territories of the enemy.

SUCCESS OF THE CONFEDERATES IN GERMANY.

The French were almost entire masters of the three ecclesiastical electorates of Germany. They possessed Mentz, Triers, Bonne, Keiserswaert, Philipsburgh, and Landau. They had blown up the castle of Heildelberg, in the Palatinate, and destroyed Manheim. They had reduced Worms and Spiers to ashes; and demolished Frankendahl, together with several other fortresses. These conquests, the fruits of sudden invasion, were covered with a numerous army, commanded by the mareschal de Duras; and all his inferior generals were officers of distinguished courage and ability. Nevertheless, he found it difficult to maintain his ground against the different princes of the empire. The duke of Lorraine, who commanded the imperial troops, invested Mentz, and took it by capitulation; the elector of Brandenburgh, having reduced Keiserswaert, undertook the siege of Bonne, which the garrison surrendered after having made a long and vigorous defence. Nothing contributed more to the union of the German princes than their resentment of the shocking barbarity with which the French had plundered, wasted, and depopulated their country. Louis having, by his intrigues in Poland and at Constantinople, prevented a pacification between the emperor and the Ottoman Porte, the campaign was opened in Croatia, where five thousand Turks were defeated by a body of Croates between Vihitz and Novi. The prince of Baden, who commanded the imperialists on that side, having thrown a bridge over the Morava at Passarowitz, crossed that river, and marched in quest of a Turkish army amounting to fifty thousand men, headed by a seraskier. On the thirteenth day of August he attacked the enemy in their intrenchments near Patochin, and forced their lines, routed them with great slaughter, and took possession of their camp, baggage, and artillery. They returned to Nissa, where the general finding them still more numerous than the imperialists, resolved to make a stand, and encamped in a situation that was inaccessible in every part except the rear, which he left open for the convenience of a retreat. Through this avenue he was, on the twenty-fourth day of September, attacked by the prince of Baden, who, after a desperate resistance, obtained another complete victory, enriched his troops with the spoil of the enemy, and entered Nissa without opposition. There he found above three thousand horses and a vast quantity of provisions. Having reposed his army for a few days in this place, he resumed his march against the Turks, who had chosen an advantageous post at Widen, and seemed ambitious of retrieving the honour they had lost in the two former engagements. The Germans attacked their lines without hesitation; and though the Musselmen fought with incredible fury, they were a third time defeated with great slaughter. This defeat was attended with the loss of Widen, which being surrendered to the victor, he distributed his troops in winter quarters, and returned to Vienna covered with laurels.

DEATH OF POPE INNOCENT XI.

The French were likewise baffled in their attempt upon Catalonia, where the duke de Noailles had taken Campredon in the month of May. Leaving a garrison in this place, he retreated to the frontiers of France, while the duke de Villa Hermosa, at the head of a Spanish army, blocked up the place and laid Rousillon under contribution. He afterwards undertook the siege in form, and Noailles marched to its relief; but he was so hard pressed by the Spaniards that he withdrew the garrison, dismantled the place, and retreated with great precipitation. The French king hoped to derive some considerable advantage from the death of Pope Innocent XL which happened on the twelfth day of August. That pontiff had been an inveterate enemy to Louis ever since the affair of the franchises, and the seizure of Avignon. [016] _[See note F, at the end of this Vol.]_ Cabals were immediately formed at Eome by the French faction against the Spanish and Imperial interest. The French cardinals, de Bouillon and Bonzi, accompanied by Furstemberg, repaired to Eome with a large sum of money. Peter Ottoboni, a Venetian, was elected pope, and assumed the name of Alexander VIII. The duke de Chaulnes, ambassador from France, immediately signified in the name of his master, that Avignon should be restored to the patrimony of the church; and Louis renounced the franchises in a letter written by his own hand to the pontiff. Alexander received these marks of respect with the warmest acknowledgments; but when the ambassador and Furstemberg besought him to re-examine the election of the bishop of Cologne, which had been the source of so much calamity to the empire, he lent a deaf ear to their solicitations. He even confirmed the dispensations granted by his predecessor to the prince of Bavaria, who was thus empowered to take possession of the electorate, though he had not yet attained the age required by the canons. Furstemberg retired in disgust to Paris, where Louis immediately gratified him with the abbey of St. Germains.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

KING WILLIAM BECOMES UNPOPULAR.

King William found it an easier task to unite the councils of Europe against the common enemy than to conciliate and preserve the affections of his own subjects, among whom he began visibly to decline in point of popularity. Many were dissatisfied with his measures; and a great number even of those who exerted themselves for his elevation had conceived a disgust from his personal deportment, which was very unsuitable to the manners and disposition of the English people. Instead of mingling with his nobility in social amusements and familiar conversation, he maintained a disagreeable reserve which had all the air of sullen pride; he seldom or never spoke to his courtiers or attendants, he spent his time chiefly in the closet retired from all communication; or among his troops in a camp he had formed at Hounslow; or in the exercise of hunting, to which he was immoderately addicted. This had been prescribed to him by physicians as necessary to improve his constitution, which was naturally weak, and by practice had become so habitual that he could not lay it aside. His ill health co-operating with his natural aversion to society, produced a peevishness which could not fail of being displeasing to those who were near his person: this was increased by the disputes in his cabinet, and the opposition of those who were professed enemies to his government, as well as by the alienation of his former friends. As he could not breathe without difficulty in the air of London, he resided chiefly at Hampton-court, and expended considerable sums in beautifying and enlarging that palace; he likewise purchased the house at Kensington of the earl of Nottingham; and such profusion in the beginning of an expensive war gave umbrage to the nation in general. Whether he was advised by his counsellors, or his own sagacity pointed out the expediency of conforming with the English humour, he now seemed to change his disposition, and in some measure adopt the manners of his predecessors. In imitation of Charles II. he resorted to the races at Newmarket; he accepted an invitation to visit Cambridge, where he behaved himself with remarkable affability to the members of the university; he afterwards dined with the lord-mayor of London, accepted the freedom of the city, and condescended so far as to become sovereign-master of the company of grocers.

A GOOD NUMBER OF THE CLERGY REFUSE TO TAKE THE OATHS.

While William thus endeavoured to remove the prejudices which had been conceived against his person, the period arrived which the parliament had prescribed for taking the oaths to the new government. Some individuals of the clergy sacrificed their benefices to their scruples of conscience, and absolutely refused to take oaths that were contrary to those they had already sworn in favour of their late sovereign. These were distinguished by the epithet of nonjurors: but their number bore a very small proportion to that of others, who took them with such reservations and distinctions as redounded very little to the honour of their integrity. Many of those who had been the warmest advocates for non-resistance and passive obedience, made no scruple of renouncing their allegiance to king James, and complying with the present act, after having declared that they took the oaths in no other sense than that of a peaceable submission to the powers that were. They even affirmed that the legislature itself had allowed the distinction between a king _de facto_ and a king _de jure_, as they had dropped the word “rightful” when the form was under debate. They alleged that as prudence obliged them to conform to the letter of the oath, so conscience required them to give it their own interpretation. Nothing could be more infamous and of worse tendency than this practice of equivocating in the most sacred of all obligations. It introduced a general disregard of oaths, which hath been the source of universal perjury and corruption. Though this set of temporizers were bitterly upbraided both by the nonjurors and the papists, they all concurred in representing William as an enemy to the church; as a prince educated in the doctrines of Calvin, which he plainly espoused, by limiting his favour and preferment to such as were latitudinarians in religion, and by his abolishing episcopacy in Scotland. The presbyterians in that kingdom now tyrannized in their turn. They were headed by the earl of Crawford, a nobleman of a violent temper and strong prejudices. He was chosen president of the parliament by the interest of Melvil, and oppressed the episcopalians in such a manner that the greater part of them from resentment became well-wishers to king James. Every circumstance of the hardships they underwent was reported in England; and the earl of Clarendon, as well as the suspended bishops, circulated these particulars with great assiduity. The oaths being rejected by the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of Ely, Chichester, Bath and Wells, Peterborough and Gloucester, they were suspended from their functions, and threatened with deprivation. Lake of Chichester, being seized with a dangerous distemper, signed a solemn declaration, in which he professed his adherence to the doctrine of non-resistance and passive obedience, which he believed to be the distinguishing characteristic of the church of England. After his death this paper was published, industriously circulated, and extolled by the party as an inspired oracle pronounced by a martyr to religious truth and sincerity.

THE KING GRANTS A COMMISSION FOR REFORMING CHURCH DISCIPLINE.

All the clamour that was raised against the king could not divert him from prosecuting the scheme of comprehension. He granted a commission under the great seal to ten bishops and twenty dignitaries of the church, authorizing them to meet from time to time in the Jerusalem chamber, to prepare such alterations of the liturgy and the canons, and such proposals for the reformation of ecclesiastical courts as might most conduce to the good order, edification, and uniting of the church, and tend to reconcile all religious differences among the protestant subjects of the kingdom. A cry was immediately raised against this commission, as an ecclesiastical court illegal and dangerous. At their first meeting the authority of the commission was questioned by Sprat, bishop of Rochester, who retired in disgust, and was followed by Mew of Winchester, and the doctors Jane and Aldrich. These were averse to any alteration of the forms and constitution of the church in favour of an insolent and obstinate party, which ought to have been satisfied with the toleration they enjoyed. They observed that an attempt to make such alteration would divide the clergy, and bring the liturgy into disesteem with the people, as it would be a plain acknowledgment that it wanted correction. They thought they should violate the dignity of the church by condescending to make offers which the dissenters were at liberty to refuse; and they suspected some of their colleagues of a design to give up episcopal ordination--a step inconsistent with their honour, duty, oaths, and subscriptions.

MEETING OF THE CONVOCATION.

The commissioners, notwithstanding this secession, proceeded to debate with moderation on the abuses of which the dissenters had complained, and corrected every article that seemed liable to any just objection; but the opposite party employed all their art and industry to inflame the minds of the people. The two universities declared against all alterations, and those who promoted them. The king himself was branded as an enemy to the hierarchy; and they bestirred themselves so successfully in the election of members for the convocation, that they procured a very considerable majority. At their first meeting the friends of the comprehension scheme proposed Dr. Tillotson, clerk of the closet to his majesty, as prolocutor; but the other party carried it in favour of Dr. Jane, who was counted the most violent churchman in the whole Assembly. In a Latin speech to the bishop of London as president, he, in the name of the lower house, asserted that the liturgy of England needed no amendment, and concluded with the old declaration of the barons, “_Nolumus leges Angliæ mutari_. We will not suffer the laws of England to be changed.” The bishop, in his reply, exhorted them to moderation, charity, and indulgence towards their brethren the dissenters, and to make such abatements in things indifferent as might serve to open a door of salvation to multitudes of straying christians. His injunctions, however, produced no favourable effect; the lower house seemed to be animated by a spirit of opposition. Next day the president prorogued them, on pretence that the royal commission, by which they were to act, was defective for want of being sealed, and that a prorogation was necessary until that sanction should be obtained. In this interval means were used to mollify their non-compliant tempers, but all endeavours proved ineffectual. When they met again, the earl of Nottingham delivered the king’s commission to both houses, with a speech of his own, and a message from his majesty, importing that he had summoned them out of a pious zeal to do every thing that might tend to the best establishment of the church of England, which should always enjoy his favour and protection. He exhorted them to lay aside all prejudice, and consider calmly and impartially whatever should be proposed: he assured them he would offer nothing but what should be for the honour, peace, and advantage of the protestant religion in general, and particularly of the church of England.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

THEIR SESSION PROROGUED.

The bishops adjourning to the Jerusalem chamber, prepared a zealous address of thanks to his majesty, which, being sent to the lower house for their concurrence, met with violent opposition. Amendments were proposed; a conference ensued, and, after warm debates, they agreed upon a cold address, which was accordingly presented. The majority of the lower house, far from taking any measures in favour of dissenters, converted all their attention to the relief of their nonjuring brethren. Zealous speeches were made in behalf of the suspended bishops; and Dr. Jane proposed that something might be done to qualify them to sit in the convocation. This, however, was such a dangerous point as they would not venture to discuss; yet, rather than proceed upon the business for which they had been assembled, they began to take cognizance of some pamphlets lately published, which they conceived to be of dangerous consequence to the christian religion. The president and his party, perceiving the disposition of the house, did not think proper to communicate any proposal touching the intended reformation, and the king suffered the session to be discontinued by repeated prorogations.

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.

The parliament meeting on the nineteenth day of October, the king, in a speech of his own composing, explained the necessity of a present supply to carry on the war. He desired that they might be speedy in their determinations on this subject, for these would in a great measure influence the deliberations of the princes and states concerned in the war against France, as a general meeting of them was appointed to be held next month at the Hague, to settle the operations of the ensuing campaign. He concluded with recommending the dispatch of a bill of indemnity, that the minds of his subjects might be quieted, and that they might unanimously concur in promoting the honour and welfare of the kingdom. As several inflammatory bills and disputes, which had produced heats and animosities in the last session, were still depending, the king, after having consulted both houses, resolved to put an end to those disputes by a prorogation. He accordingly went to the house of lords and prorogued the parliament till the twenty-first day of October, by the mouth of the new speaker, sir Robert Atkins; the marquis of Halifax having resigned that office. When they re-assembled, the king referred them to his former speech: then the commons unanimously resolved to assist his majesty in reducing Ireland, and in joining with his allies abroad for a vigorous prosecution of the war against France: for these purposes they voted a supply of two millions.

THE WHIGS OBSTRUCT THE INDEMNITY BILL.

During this session the whigs employed all their influence and intrigues in obstructing the bill of indemnity, which they knew would open a door for favour and preferment to the opposite party, which began to gain ground in the king’s good graces. With this view they revived the prosecution of the state prisoners. A committee was appointed to prepare a charge against Burton and Graham. The commons resolved to impeach the earls of Peterborough, Salisbury, and Castlemain, sir Edward Hales, and Obadiah Walker, of high treason, for having been reconciled to the church of Rome, contrary to the laws of the realm. A bill was ordered to be brought in to declare the estate of the late lord chancellor Jefferies forfeited to the crown, and attaint his blood; but it met with such opposition that the measure was dropped: the house however agreed, that the pecuniary penalties incurred by those persons who had exercised offices contrary to the laws against popish recusants, should be speedily levied and applied to the public service. The lord Griffin being detected in maintaining a correspondence with king James and his

## partizans, was committed to the Tower; but as no other evidence appeared

against him than written letters, found in the false bottom of a pewter bottle, they could not help consenting to his being released upon bail, as they had lately resolved that Algernon Sidney was unjustly condemned in the reign of Charles II. because nothing but writings had been produced against him at his trial. The two houses concurred in appointing a committee to inquire who were the advisers and prosecutors in taking away the lives of lord Russel, colonel Sydney, sir Thomas Armstrong, alderman Cornish, and others; and who were chiefly concerned in the arbitrary practices touching the writs of _quo warranto_, and the surrender of charters. This inquiry was levelled at the marquis of Halifax, who had concurred with the ministry of Charles in all these severities. Though no proof appeared upon which votes or addresses could be founded, that nobleman saw it was necessary for him to withdraw himself from the administration; he therefore resigned the privy-seal, which was put in commission, and reconciled himself to the tories, of whom he became the patron and protector.

INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSE OF THE MISCARRIAGES IN IRELAND RESUMED.

The commons likewise resumed the examination of the miscarriages in Ireland, and desired the king would appoint commissioners to go over and inquire into the condition of the army in that kingdom. Schomberg, understanding that he had been blamed in the house of commons for his inactivity, transmitted to the king a satisfactory vindication of his own conduct; and it appeared that the miscarriages in Ireland were wholly owing to John Shales, purveyor-general to the army. The commons immediately presented an address to his majesty, praying that Shales might be taken into custody; that all his papers, accounts, and stores, should be secured; and that duke Schomberg might be empowered to fill his place with a more able purveyor. The king gave them to understand that he had already sent orders to the general for that purpose. Nevertheless, they in another petition requested his majesty to name those who had recommended Shales to his service, as he had exercised the same office under king James, and was suspected of treasonable practices against the government. William declined gratifying their request; but he afterwards sent a message to the house, desiring them to recommend a certain number of commissioners to superintend such provisions and preparations as might be necessary for that service, as well as to nominate certain persons to go over and examine the state of the army in Ireland. The commons were so mollified by this instance of his condescension, that they left the whole affair to his own direction, and proceeded to examine other branches of misconduct. Instances of mismanagement appeared so numerous and so flagrant, that they resolved upon a subsequent address, to explain the ill conduct and success of his army and navy; to desire he would find out the author of these miscarriages, and for the future intrust unsuspected persons with the management of affairs. They ordered the victuallers of the fleet to be taken into custody, on suspicion of their having furnished the navy with unwholesome provisions, and new commissioners were appointed. Bitter reproaches were thrown out against the ministry. Mr. Hambden expressed his surprise that the administration should consist of those very persons whom king James had employed, when his affairs were desperate, to treat with the prince of Orange, and moved that the king should be petitioned in an address to remove such persons from his presence and councils. This was a stroke aimed at the earl of Nottingham, whose office of secretary Hambden desired to possess; but his motion was not seconded, the court-members observing that James did not depute these lords to the prince of Orange because they were attached to his own interest, but for a very different reason, namely, that they were well known to disapprove of his measures, and therefore would be the more agreeable to his highness. The house however voted an address to the king, desiring that the authors of the miscarriages might be brought to condign punishment.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

WILLIAM IRRITATED AGAINST THE WHIGS.

In the sequel, the question was proposed, Whether a placeman ought to have a seat in the house? and a very warm debate ensued: but it was carried in the affirmative, on the supposition that by such exclusion the commonwealth would be deprived of some of the ablest senators of the kingdom. But what chiefly irritated William against the whigs was their backwardness in promoting the public service, and their disregard of the earnest desire he expressed to see his revenue settled for life. He said his title was no more than a pageant, and the worst of all governments was that of a king without treasure. Nevertheless, they would not grant the civil list for a longer term than one year. They began to think there was something arbitrary in his disposition. His sullen behaviour in all probability first infused this opinion, which was strengthened and confirmed by the insinuations of his enemies. The Scots who had come up to London to give an account of the proceedings in their parliament, were infected with the same notion. One Simpson, a presbyterian of that country, whom the earl of Portland employed as a spy, had insinuated himself into the confidence of Nevil Payne, an active and intelligent

## partisan and agent of king James; by which means he supplied the earl

with such intelligence as raised him to some degree of credit with that minister. This he used in prepossessing the earl against the king’s best friends, and infusing jealousies which were soon kindled into mutual distrust and animosity.

PLOT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.

Sir James Montgomery, who had been a warm advocate for the revolution, received advice that the court suspected him and others of disaffection, and was employed in seeking evidence by which they might be prosecuted. They were equally alarmed and incensed at this intimation, and Payne seized the opportunity of seducing them into a correspondence with the exiled king. They demanded the settlement of the presbytery in Scotland, and actually engaged in a treaty for his restoration. They reconciled themselves to the duke of Queensbury, and the other noblemen of the episcopal party: they wrote to James for a supply of money, arms, and ammunition, together with a reinforcement of three thousand men from Dunkirk. Montgomery had acquired great interest among the whigs of England, and this he-employed in animating them against the king and the ministry. He represented them as a set of wicked men, who employed infamous spies to insnare and ruin the fast friends of the government, and found means to alienate them so much from William, that they began to think in earnest of recalling their banished prince The duke of Bolton and the earl of Monmouth were almost persuaded into a conspiracy for this purpose; they seemed to think James was now so well convinced of his former errors, that they might trust him without scruple. Montgomery and Payne were the chief managers of the scheme, and they admitted Ferguson into their councils, as a veteran in the arts of treason. In order to blast William’s credit in the city, they circulated a report that James would grant a full indemnity, separate himself entirely from the French interest, and be contented with a secret connivance in favour of the Roman catholics. Montgomery’s brother assured the bishop of Salisbury that a treaty with king James was absolutely concluded, and an invitation subscribed by the whole cabal. He said this paper would be sent to Ireland by the way of France, as the direct communication was difficult; and he proposed a method for seizing it before it should be conveyed out of the kingdom. Williamson, the supposed bearer of it, had obtained a pass for Flanders, and a messenger being sent in pursuit of him, secured his clothes and portmanteau; but after a very strict examination nothing appeared to justify the intelligence. Williamson had previously delivered the papers to Simpson, who hired a boat at Deal, and arrived in safety at France. He returned with large assurances, and twelve thousand pounds were remitted to the Scottish undertakers. Montgomery the informer seeing his intelligence falsified, lost his credit with the bishop, and dreading the resentment of the other party, retired to the continent. The conspirators loudly complained of the false imputations they had incurred. The pretended discoveries were looked upon as fictions of the ministry, and the king on this occasion suffered greatly in the opinion of his subjects.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

DEBATES ABOUT THE CORPORATION BILLS.

The tories still continued to carry on a secret negotiation with the court. They took advantage of the ill-humour subsisting between the king and the whigs; and promised large supplies of money provided this parliament should be dissolved and another immediately convoked. The opposite party, being apprized of their intention, brought a bill into the house of commons for restoring corporations to their ancient rights and privileges. They knew their own strength at elections consisted in these corporations; and they inserted two additional severe clauses against those who were in any shape concerned in surrendering charters. The whole power of the tories was exerted against this clause; and now the whigs vied with them in making court to his majesty, promising to manifest the most submissive obedience should this bill be enacted into a law. The strength of the tories was now become so formidable to the house, that they out-voted the other party, and the clauses were rejected; but the bill passed in its original form. The lords debated upon the point, Whether a corporation could be forfeited or surrendered? Lord chief justice Holt and two other judges declared their opinion in the affirmative: the rest thought otherwise, as no precedents could be produced farther back than the reign of Henry VIII. when the abbeys were surrendered; and this instance seemed too violent to authorize such a measure in a regular course of administration. The bill, however, passed by one voice only. Then both parties quickened their applications to the king, who found himself so perplexed and distracted between two factions which he equally feared, that he resolved to leave the government in the queen’s hands and retire to Holland. He communicated this design to the marquis of Carmarthen, the earl of Shrewsbury, and some other noblemen, who pressed him to lay aside his resolution, and even mingled tears with their remonstrances.

THE KING RESOLVES TO FINISH THE IRISH WAR IN PERSON.

He at length complied with their request, and determined to finish the Irish war in person. This design was far from being agreeable to the parliament. His friends dreaded the climate of that country, which might prove fatal to his weak constitution. The well-wishers of James were afraid of that prince’s being hard pressed, should William take the field against him in person.

Both houses, therefore, began to prepare an address against this expedition. In order to prevent this remonstrance, the king went to the parliament, and formally signified his resolution. After his speech they were prorogued to the second day of April. On the sixth day of February they were dissolved by proclamation, and a new parliament was summoned to meet on the twentieth day of March. During this session, the commons, in an address to the king, desired that a revenue of fifty thousand pounds might be settled upon the prince and princess of Denmark, out of the civil list; and his majesty gratified them in this particular: yet the warmth and industry with which the friends of the princess exerted themselves in promoting the settlement, produced a coldness and misunderstanding between the two sisters; and the subsequent disgrace of the earl of Marlborough was imputed to the part which his wife acted on the occasion. She was lady of the bed-chamber, and chief confidant to the princess, whom she strenuously advised to insist upon the settlement rather than depend upon the generosity of the king and queen.

LUDLOW ARRIVES IN ENGLAND, BUT IS OBLIGED TO WITHDRAW.

About this period general Ludlow, who at the restoration had been excepted from the act of indemnity, as one of those who sat in judgment upon Charles I. arrived in England, and offered his service in reducing Ireland, where he had formerly commanded. Though a rigid republican, he was reputed a conscientious man, and a good officer. He had received some encouragement to come over, and probably would have been employed had not the commons interposed. Sir Edward Seymour, who enjoyed by grant an estate in Wiltshire which had formerly belonged to Ludlow, began to be in pain for his possession. He observed in the house, that the nation would be disgraced should one of the J parricides be suffered to live in the kingdom. An address was immediately presented to the king, desiring a proclamation might be issued promising a reward for apprehending general Ludlow. This was accordingly published; but not before he had landed in Holland, from whence he returned to Vevay in Switzerland, where he wrote the memoirs of his life, and died after an exile of thirty years.

EFFORTS OF THE JACOBITES IN SCOTLAND.

While king William fluctuated between two parties in England, his interest in Scotland had well nigh given way to a coalition between the original Jacobites and Montgomery’s party of discontented presbyterians. Colonel Cannon, who succeeded the viscount Dundee in command, after having made several unsuccessful efforts in favour of the late king’s interest, retired into Ireland; and the highlanders chose sir Hugh Cameron for their leader. Under him they renewed their incursions with the better prospect of success, as several regiments of the regular troops had been sent to reinforce the army of Schomberg. James assisted them with clothes, arms, and ammunition, together with some officers, amongst whom was colonel Bucan, appointed to act as their chief commander. This officer, at the head of fifteen hundred men, advanced into the shire of Murray, in hopes of being joined by other malcontents; but he was surprised and routed by sir Thomas Livingstone, while major Ferguson destroyed the places they possessed in the Isle of Mull; so that the highlanders were obliged to retire and conceal themselves among their hills and fastnesses. The friends of James, despairing of doing any thing effectual for his service in the field, converted all their attention to the proceedings in parliament; where they imagined their interest was much stronger than it appeared to be upon trial. They took the oaths without hesitation, and hoped, by the assistance of their new allies, to embroil the government in such a manner that the majority of the people would declare for a restoration. But the views of these new cemented parties were altogether incompatible, and their principles diametrically opposite. Notwithstanding their concurrence in parliament, the earl of Melvil procured a small majority. The opposition was immediately discouraged: some individuals retracted, rather than fall with a sinking cause; and mutual jealousies began to prevail. The leaders of the coalition treated separately with king James; made inconsistent demands; reciprocally concealed their negotiations; in a word, they distrusted and hated one another with the most implacable resentment.

THE COURT INTEREST PREVAILS.

The earls of Argyle, Annandale, and Breadalbane, withdrew from their councils and repaired to England. Montgomery, terrified at their defection, went privately to London, after he had hinted something of the plot to Melvil, and solicited a pass from the queen, which was refused. Annandale, having received information that Montgomery had disclosed all the particulars of the negotiation, threw himself upon the queen’s mercy, and discovered all he knew of the conspiracy. As lie had not treated with any of the malcontents in England, they remained secure from his evidence; but he informed against Nevil Payne, who had been sent down as their agent to Scotland, where he now resided. He was immediately apprehended by the council of that kingdom, in consequence of a letter from the earl of Nottingham; and twice put to the torture, which he resolutely bore, without discovering his employers. Montgomery still absconded in London, soliciting a pardon; but finding he could not obtain it, except on condition of making a full discovery, he abandoned his country, and chose to die in exile rather than betray his confederates. This disunion of the conspirators, and discovery of the plot, left the earl of Melvil in possession of a greater majority; though even this he was fain to secure by overstraining his instructions in the articles of patronage, and the supremacy of the crown, which he yielded up to the fury of the fanatic presbyterians, contrary to the intention of king William. In lieu of these, however, they indulged him with the tax of chimney or hearth-money; as well as with a test to be imposed upon all persons in office or parliament, declaring William and Mary their lawful sovereigns, and renouncing the pretended title of king James. All the laws in favour of episcopacy were repealed. Threescore of the presbyterian ministers, who had been ejected at the restoration, were still alive; and these the parliament declared the only sound part of the church. The government of it was lodged in their hands; and they were empowered to admit such as they should think proper to their assistance. A few furious fanatics being thus associated, proceeded with ungovernable violence to persecute the episcopal party, exercising the very same tyranny against which they themselves had so loudly exclaimed.

THE TORY INTEREST PREVAILS IN THE NEW PARLIAMENT.

While the presbyterian interest thus triumphed in Scotland, the two parties that divided England employed their whole influence and attention in managing the elections for a new parliament; and the tories obtained the victory. The king seemed gradually falling into the arms of this party. They complained of their having been totally excluded from the lieutenancy of London at the king’s accession to the crown; and now a considerable number of the most violent tories in the city were admitted into the commission by the interest and address of the bishop of London, the marquis of Carmarthen, and the earl of Nottingham. To gratify that party, the earls of Monmouth and Warrington were dismissed from their employments; nay, when the parliament met on the twentieth day of March, the commons chose for their speaker sir John Trevor, a violent partisan of that faction, who had been created master of the rolls by the late king. He was a bold artful man, and undertook to procure a majority to be at the devotion of the court, provided he should be supplied with the necessary sums for the purposes of corruption. William, finding there was no other way of maintaining his administration in peace, thought proper to countenance the practice of purchasing votes, and appointed Trevor first commissioner of the great seal. In his speech to the new parliament, he gave them to understand that he still persisted in his resolution of going in person to Ireland. He desired they would make a settlement of the revenue, or establish it for the present as a fund of credit, upon which the necessary sums for the service of government might be immediately advanced; he signified his intention of sending to them an act of grace, with a few exceptions, that he might manifest his readiness to extend his protection to all his subjects, and leave no colour of excuse for raising disturbances in his absence, as he knew how busy some ill-affected men were in their endeavours to alter the established government; he recommended an union with Scotland, the parliament of which had appointed commissioners for that purpose; he told them he should leave the administration in the hands of the queen, and desired they would prepare an act to confirm her authority; he exhorted them to dispatch the business for which they were assembled, to avoid debates, and expressed his hope that they should soon meet again to finish what might be now left imperfect.

BILL FOR RECOGNISING THEIR MAJESTIES.

The commons, in compliance with his request, voted a supply of twelve hundred thousand pounds, one million of that sum to be raised by a clause of credit in the revenue bills; but he could not prevail upon them to settle the revenue for life. They granted, however, the hereditary excise for that term, but the customs for four years only. They considered this short term as the best security the kingdom could have for frequent parliaments; though this precaution was not at all agreeable to their sovereign. A poll-bill was likewise passed, other supplies were granted, and both parties seemed to court his majesty by advancing money on those funds of credit. The whigs, however, had another battery in reserve. They produced, in the upper house, a bill for recognising their majesties as the rightful and lawful sovereign of these realms, and for declaring all the acts of the last parliament to be good and valid. The tories were now reduced to a very perplexed situation. They could not oppose the bill without hazarding the interest they had so lately acquired, nor assent to it without solemnly renouncing their former arguments and distinctions. They made no great objections to the first part, and even proposed to enact, That those should be deemed good laws for the time to come; but they refused to declare them valid for that which was past. After a long debate, the bill was committed; yet the whigs lost their majority on the report; nevertheless, the bill was recovered, and passed with some alteration in the words; in consequence of a nervous spirited protest, signed Bolton, Macclesfield, Stamford, Newport, Bedford, Her bert, Suffolk, Monmouth, Delamere, and Oxford. The whole interest of the court was thrown into the scale with this bill, before it would preponderate against the tories; the chiefs of whom, with the earl of Nottingham at their head, protested in their turn. The same party in the house of commons were determined upon a vigorous opposition; and in the mean time some trifling objections were made, that it might be committed for amendment; but their design was prematurely discovered by one of their faction, who chanced to question the legality of the convention, as it was not summoned by the king’s writ. This insinuation was answered by Somers the solicitor general, who observed, that if it was not a legal parliament, they who were then met, and who had taken the oaths enacted by that parliament, were guilty of high treason; the laws repealed by it were still in force: it was their duty therefore to return to king James; and all concerned in collecting and paying the money levied by the acts of that parliament were highly criminal. The tories were so struck with these arguments that the bill passed without further opposition, and immediately received the royal assent. Thus the settlement was confirmed by those very people who had so loudly exclaimed against it as illegal; but the whigs, with all their management, would not have gained their point had not the court been interested in the dispute.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

ANOTHER VIOLENT CONTEST.

There was another violent contest between the two parties, on the import of a bill requiring all subjects in office to abjure king James on pain of imprisonment. Though the clergy were at first exempted from this test, the main body of the tories opposed it with great vehemence; while the whigs, under countenance of the ministry, supported it with equal vigour. It produced long and violent debates; and the two factions seemed pretty equally balanced. At length the tories represented to the king that a great deal of precious time would be lost in fruitless altercation; that those who declared against the bill would grow sullen and intractable, so as to oppose every other motion that might be made for the king’s service; that, in case of its being carried, his majesty must fall again into the hands of the whigs, who would renew their former practices against the prerogative; and many individuals, who were now either well affected to him, or at least neutral, would become Jacobites from resentment. These suggestions had such weight with king William, that he sent an intimation to the commons, desiring they would drop the debate and proceed to matters that were more pressing. The whigs in general were disgusted at this interposition; and the earl of Shrewsbury, who had interested himself warmly in behalf of the bill, resented it so deeply that he insisted on resigning his office of secretary of state. The king, who revered his talents and integrity, employed Dr. Tillotson and others, who were supposed to have credit with the earl, to dissuade him from quitting his employment; but he continued deaf to all their remonstrances, and would not even comply with the request of his majesty, who pressed him to keep the seals until he should return from Ireland. Long debates were likewise managed in the house of lords upon the bill of abjuration, or rather an oath of special fidelity to William, in opposition to James. The tories professed themselves willing to enter into a negative engagement against the late king and his adherents; but they opposed the oath of abjuration with all their might: and the house was so equally divided that neither side was willing to hazard a decision, so that all the fruit of their debates was a prolongation of the session.

KING WILLIAM LANDS IN IRELAND.

An act was prepared for investing the queen with the administration during the king’s absence; another for reversing the judgment on a _quo warranto_ against the city of London, and restoring it to its ancient rights and privileges; at length the bill of indemnity so cordially recommended by the king passed both houses. [021] _[See note G, at the end of this Vol.]_ On the twenty-first day of May, the king closed the session with a Short speech, in which he thanked them for the supplies they had granted, and recommended to them a punctual discharge of their duties in their respective counties, that the peace of the nation might not be interrupted in his absence. The houses were adjourned to the seventh day of July, when the parliament was prorogued and adjourned successively. As a further security for the peace of the kingdom, the deputy-lieutenants were authorized to raise the militia in case of necessity. All papists were prohibited to stir above five miles from their respective places of abode; a proclamation was published for apprehending certain disaffected persons; sir John Cochran and Ferguson were actually arrested on suspicion of treasonable practices. On the fourth day of June the king set out for Ireland, attended by prince George of Denmark, the duke of Ormond, the earls of Oxford, Scarborough, Manchester, and many other persons of distinction: on the fourteenth day of the month he landed at Carrickfergus, from whence he immediately proceeded to Belfast, where he was met by the duke of Schomberg, the prince of Wirtemberg, major-general Kirke, and other officers. By this time colonel Wolsey, at the head of a thousand men, had defeated a strong detachment of the enemy near Belturbat; sir John Lanier had taken Bedloe castle; and that of Charlemont, a strong post of great importance, together with Balingary near Cavan, had been reduced. King William having reposed himself for two or three days at Belfast, visited the duke’s head-quarters at Lis-burne; then advancing to Hillsborough, published an order against pressing horses, and committing violence on the country people. When some of his general officers proposed cautious measures, he declared he did not come to Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet. He ordered the army to encamp and be reviewed at Loughbrilland, where he found it amount to six-and-thirty thousand effective men, well appointed. Then he marched to Dundalk; and afterwards advanced to Ardee, which the enemy had just abandoned.

JAMES MARCHES TO THE BOYNE.

King James trusted so much to the disputes in the English parliament, that he did not believe his son-in-law would be able to quit that kingdom; and William had been six days in Ireland before he received intimation of his arrival. This was no sooner known than he left Dublin under the guard of the militia commanded by Luttrel, and with a reinforcement of six thousand infantry, which he had lately received from France, joined the rest of his forces, which now almost equalled William’s army in number, exclusive of about fifteen thousand men who remained in different garrisons. He occupied a very advantageous post on the bank of the Boyne, and, contrary to the advice of his general officers, resolved to stand battle. They proposed to strengthen their garrisons and retire to the Shannon to wait the effect of the operations at sea. Louis had promised to equip a powerful armament against the English fleet, and send over a great number of small frigates to destroy William’s transports, as soon as their convoy should be returned to England. The execution of this scheme was not at all difficult, and must have proved fatal to the English army; for their stores and ammunition were still on board; the ships sailed along the coast as the troops advanced in their march; and there was not one secure harbour into which they could retire on any emergency. James, however, was bent upon hazarding an engagement; and expressed uncommon confidence and alacrity. Besides the river which was deep, his front was secured by a morass and a rising ground, so that the English army could not attack him without manifest disadvantage.

WILLIAM RESOLVES TO GIVE HIM BATTLE

King William marched up to the opposite bank of the river, and, as he reconnoitred their situation, was exposed to the fire of some field-pieces which the enemy purposely planted against his person. They killed a man and two horses close by him; and the second bullet, rebounding from the earth, grazed upon his right shoulder so as to carry off part of his clothes and skin, and produce a considerable contusion. This accident, which he bore without the least emotion, created some confusion among his attendants, which the enemy perceiving, concluded he was killed, and shouted aloud in token of their joy. The whole camp resounded with acclamation; and several squadrons of their horse were drawn down towards the river as if they had intended to pass it immediately and attack the English army. The report was instantly communicated from place to place until it reached Dublin; from thence it was conveyed to Paris, where, contrary to the custom of the French court, the people were encouraged to celebrate the event with bonfires and illuminations. William rode along the line to show himself to the army after this narrow escape. At night he called a council of war, and declared his resolution to attack the enemy in the morning. Schomberg at first opposed his design; but finding the king determined, he advised that a strong detachment of horse and foot should that night pass the Boyne at Slane-bridge, and take post between the enemy and the pass of Duleck, that the action might be the more decisive. This council being rejected, the king determined that early in the morning lieutenant-general Douglas, with the right wing of infantry, and young Schomberg, with the horse, should pass at Slane-bridge, while the main body of foot should force their passage at Old-bridge, and the left at certain fords between the enemy’s camp and Drogheda. The duke, perceiving his advice was not relished by the Dutch generals, retired to his tent, where the order of battle being brought to him, he received it with an air of discontent, saying, It was the first that had ever been sent him in that manner. The proper dispositions being made, William rode quite through the army by torchlight, and then retired to his tent, after having given orders for the soldiers to distinguish themselves from the enemy by wearing green boughs in their hats during the action.

BATTLE OF THE BOYNE.

At six o’clock in the morning, general Douglas, with young Schomberg, the earl of Portland, and Auverquerque, marched towards Slane-bridge, and passed the river with very little opposition. When they reached the farther bank, they perceived the enemy drawn up in two lines, to a considerable number of horse and foot, with a morass in their front, so that Douglas was obliged to wait for a reinforcement. This being arrived, the infantry was led on to the charge through the morass, while count Schomberg rode round it with his cavalry to attack the enemy in flank. The Irish, instead of waiting the assault, faced about and retreated towards Duleck with some precipitation; yet not so fast but that Schomberg fell in among their rear and did considerable execution. King James however soon reinforced his left wing from the centre; and the count was in his turn obliged to send for assistance. At this juncture, king William’s main body, consisting of the Dutch guards, the French regiments, and some battalions of English, passed the river, which was waist high, under a general discharge of artillery. King James had imprudently removed his cannon from the other side; but he had posted a strong body of musqueteers along the bank, behind hedges, houses, and some works raised for the occasion. These poured in a close fire upon the English troops before they reached the shore; but it produced very little effect: then the Irish gave way; and some battalions landed without further opposition. Yet, before they could form, they were charged with great impetuosity by a squadron of the enemy’s horse; and a considerable body of their cavalry and foot, commanded by general Hamilton, advanced from behind some little hillocks to attack those that were landed, as well as to prevent the rest from reaching the shore. His infantry turned their backs and fled immediately; but the horse charged with incredible fury, both upon the bank and in the river, so as to put the unformed regiments in confusion. Then the duke of Schomberg, passing the river in person, put himself at the head of the French protestants, and pointing to the enemy, “Gentlemen,” said he, “those are your persecutors;” with these words he advanced to the attack, where he himself sustained a violent onset from a party of the Irish horse which had broke through one of the regiments, and were now on their return. They were mistaken for English, and allowed to gallop up to the duke, who received two severe wounds in the head; but the French regiments being now sensible of their mistake, rashly threw in their fire upon the Irish while they were engaged with the duke, and instead of saving, shot him dead upon the spot. The fate of this general had well nigh proved fatal to the English army, which was immediately involved in tumult and disorder; while the infantry of king James rallied, and returned to their posts with a face of resolution. They were just ready to fall upon the centre, when king William having passed with the left wing, composed of the Danish, Dutch, and Inniskilling horse, advanced to attack them on the right. They were struck with such a panic at his appearance that they made a sudden halt, and then facing about, retreated to the village of Dunore. There they made such a vigorous stand that the Dutch and Danish horse, though headed by the king in person, recoiled; even the Inniskillmers gave way; and the whole wing would have been routed, had not a detachment of dragoons, belonging to the regiment of Cunningham and Livison, dismounted, and lined the hedges on each side of the defile through which the fugitives were driven. There they did such execution upon the pursuers as soon checked their ardour. The horse, which were broken, had now time to rally, and returning to the charge, drove the enemy before them in their turn. In this action general Hamilton, who had been the life and soul of the Irish during the whole engagement, was wounded and taken--an incident which discouraged them to such a degree, that they made no further efforts to retrieve the advantage they had lost. He was immediately brought to the king, who asked him if he thought the Irish would make any further resistance; and he replied, “Upon my honour, I believe they will; for they have still a good body of horse entire.” William, eyeing him with a look of disdain, repeated, “Your honour! your honour!” but took no other notice of his having acted contrary to his engagement, when he was permitted to go to Ireland on promise of persuading Tyrconnel to submit to the new government. The Irish now abandoned the field with precipitation; but the French and Swiss troops, that acted as their auxiliaries under Lausun, retreated in good order, after having maintained the battle for some time with intrepidity and perseverance.

DEATH OF SCHOMBERG.

As king William did not think proper to pursue the enemy, the carnage was not great. The Irish lost fifteen hundred men, and the English about one-third of that number; though the victory was dearly purchased, considering the death of the gallant duke of Schomberg, who fell in the eighty-second year of his age, after having rivalled the best generals of the time in military reputation. He was descended of a noble family in the Palatinate, and his mother was an English woman, daughter of lord Dudley. Being obliged to leave his country on account of the troubles by which it was agitated, he commenced a soldier of fortune, and served successively in the armies of Holland, England, France, Portugal, and Brandenburgh. He attained to the dignities of mareschal in France, grandee in Portugal, generalissimo in Prussia, and duke in England. He professed the protestant religion; was courteous and humble in his deportment; cool, penetrating, resolute, and sagacious; nor was his probity inferior to his courage. This battle likewise proved fatal to the brave Caillemote, who had followed the duke’s fortunes, and commanded one of the protestant regiments. After having received a mortal wound, he was carried back through the river by four soldiers, and though almost in the agonies of death, he with a cheerful countenance encouraged those who were crossing to do their duty, exclaiming, “_A la gloire, mes enfans; à la gloire_. To glory, my lads; to glory!” The third remarkable person who lost his life on this occasion was Walker the clergyman, who had so valiantly defended Londonderry against the whole army of king James. He had been very graciously received by king William, who gratified him with a reward of five thousand pounds, and a promise of further favour; but his military genius still predominating, he attended his royal patron in this battle, and being shot in the belly, died in a few minutes. The persons of distinction who fell on the other side were the lords Dongan and Carlingford, sir Neile O’Neile, and the marquis of Hoequincourt. James himself stood aloof during the action on the hill of Dunmore, surrounded with some squadrons of horse; and seeing victory declare against him, retired to Dublin without having made the least effort to re-assemble his broken forces. Had he possessed either spirit or conduct, his army might have been rallied, and reinforced from his garrisons, so as to be in a condition to keep the field, and even act upon the offensive; for his loss was inconsiderable, and the victor did not attempt to molest his troops in their retreat--an omission which has been charged upon him as a flagrant instance of misconduct. Indeed, through the whole of this engagement, William’s personal courage was much more conspicuous than his military skill.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

JAMES EMBARKS FOR FRANCE.

King James no sooner arrived at Dublin than he assembled the magistrates and council of the city, and in a short speech resigned them to the fortune of the victor. He complained of the cowardice of the Irish; signified his resolution of leaving the kingdom immediately; forbade them, on their allegiance, to burn or plunder the city after his departure; and assured them, that, though he was obliged to yield to force, he would never cease to labour for their deliverance. Next day he set out for Waterford, attended by the duke of Berwick, Tyrconnel, and the marquis of Powis. He ordered all the bridges to be broken down behind him, and embarked in a vessel which had been prepared for his reception. At sea he fell in with the French squadron, commanded by the Sieur de Foran, who persuaded him to go on board one of his frigates, which was a prime sailer. In this he was safely conveyed to France, and returned to the place of his former residence at St. Germain’s. He had no sooner quitted Dublin than it was also abandoned by all the papists. The protestants immediately took possession of the arms belonging to the militia, under the conduct of the bishops of Meath and Limerick. A committee was formed to take charge of the administration; and an account of these transactions was transmitted to king William, together with a petition that he would honour the city with his presence.

WILLIAM ENTERS DUBLIN.

On the morning after the battle of the Boyne, William sent a detachment of horse and foot, under the command of M. Mellionere, to Drogheda, the governor of which surrendered the place without opposition. The king at the head of the army began his march for Dublin, and halted the first night at Bally-Breghan; where, having received advice of the enemy’s retreat from the capital, he sent the duke of Ormond with a body of horse to take possession. These were immediately followed by the Dutch guards, who secured the castle. In a few days the king encamped at Finglas, in the neighbourhood of Dublin, where he was visited by the bishops of Meath and Limerick, at the head of the protestant clergy, whom he assured of his favour and protection. Then he published a declaration of pardon to all the common people who had served against him, provided they should return to their dwellings and surrender their arms by the first day of August. Those that rented lands of popish proprietors who had been concerned in the rebellion, were required to retain their rents in their own hands until they should have notice from the commissioners of the revenue to whom they should be paid. The desperate leaders of the rebellion, who had violated the laws of the kingdom, called in the French, authorized the depredations which had been committed upon protestants, and rejected the pardon offered to them on the king’s first proclamation, were left to the event of war, unless by evident demonstrations of repentance they should deserve mercy, which would never be refused to those who were truly penitent. The next step taken by king William was to issue a proclamation reducing the brass money to nearly its intrinsic value. In the meantime, the principal officers in the army of James, after having seen him embark at Waterford, returned to their troops, determined to prosecute the war as long as they could be supplied with means to support their operations.

VICTORY GAINED BY THE FRENCH.

During these transactions, the queen, as regent, found herself surrounded with numberless cares and perplexities. Her council was pretty equally divided into whigs and tories, who did not always act with unanimity. She was distracted between her apprehensions for her father’s safety and her husband’s life: she was threatened with an invasion by the French from abroad, and with an insurrection by the Jacobites at home. Nevertheless she disguised her fears, and behaved with equal prudence and fortitude. Advice being received that a fleet was ready to sail from Brest, lord Torrington hoisted his flag in the Downs, and sailed round to St. Helen’s, in order to assemble such a number of ships as would enable him to give them battle. The enemy being discovered off Plymouth on the twentieth day of June, the English admiral, reinforced with a Dutch squadron, stood out to sea with a view to intercept them at the back of the Isle of Wight, should they presume to sail up the channel, not that he thought himself strong enough to cope with them in battle. Their fleet consisted of seventy-eight ships of war, and two-and-twenty fire-ships; whereas, the combined squadrons of England and Holland did not exceed six-and-fifty; but he had received orders to hazard an engagement if he thought it might be done with any prospect of success. After the hostile fleets had continued five days in sight of each other, lord Torrington bore down upon the enemy off Beachy-head, on the thirtieth day of June, at day-break. The Dutch squadron, which composed the van, began the engagement about nine in the morning; in about half an hour the blue division of the English were close engaged with the rear of the French; but the red, which formed the centre, under the command of Torrington in person, did not fill the line till ten o’clock, so that the Dutch were almost surrounded by the enemy, and, though they fought with great valour, sustained considerable damage. At length the admiral’s division drove between them and the French, and in that situation the fleet anchored about five in the afternoon, when the action was interrupted by a calm. The Dutch had suffered so severely, that Torrington thought it would be imprudent to renew the battle; he therefore weighed anchor in the night, and with the tide of flood retired to the eastward. The next day the disabled ships were destroyed, that they might not be retarded in their retreat. They were pursued as far as Rye; an English ship of seventy guns being stranded near Winchelsea, was set on fire and deserted by the captain’s command. A Dutch ship of sixty-four guns met with the same accident, and some French frigates attempted to burn her; but the captain defended her so vigorously that they were obliged to desist, and he afterwards found means to carry her safe to Holland. In this engagement the English lost two ships, two sea-captains, and about four hundred men; but the Dutch were more unfortunate: six of their great ships were destroyed. Dick and Brackel, rear-admirals, were slain, together with a great number of inferior officers and seamen. Torrington retreated without further interruption into the mouth of the Thames; and, having taken precaution against any attempts of the enemy in that quarter, returned to London, the inhabitants of which were overwhelmed with consternation.

TORRINGTON COMMITTED TO THE TOWER.

The government was infected with the same panic. The ministry pretended to believe that the French acted in concert with the malcontents of the nation; that insurrections in the different parts of the kingdom had been projected by the Jacobites; and that there would be a general revolt in Scotland. These insinuations were circulated by the court agents in order to justify, in the opinion of the public, the measures that were deemed necessary at this juncture; and they produced the desired effect. The apprehensions thus artfully raised among the people inflamed their aversion to nonjurors and Jacobites. Addresses were presented to the queen by the Cornish tinners, by the lieutenancy of Middlesex, and by the mayor, aldermen, and lieutenancy of London, filled with professions of loyalty and promises of supporting their majesties as their lawful sovereigns, against all opposition. The queen at this crisis exhibited remarkable proofs of courage, activity, and discretion. She issued out proper orders and directions for putting the nation in a posture of defence, as well as for refitting and augmenting the fleet; she took measures for appeasing the resentment of the states-general, who exclaimed against the earl of Torrington for his behaviour in the late action. He was deprived of his command, and sent prisoner to the Tower; and commissioners were appointed to examine the particular circumstances of his conduct. A camp was formed in the neighbourhood of Torbay, where the French seemed to threaten a descent. Their fleet, which lay at anchor in the bay, cannonaded a small village called Teign-mouth. About a thousand of their men landed without opposition, set fire to the place, and burned a few coasting vessels; then they re-embarked and returned to Brest, so vain of this achievement that they printed a pompous account of their invasion. Some of the whig partizans published pamphlets and diffused reports, implying that the suspended bishops were concerned in the conspiracy against the government; and these arts proved so inflammatory among the common people, that the prelates thought it necessary to print a paper, in which they asserted their innocence in the most solemn protestations. The court seems to have harboured no suspicion against them, otherwise they would not have escaped imprisonment. The queen issued a proclamation for apprehending the earls of Litchfield, Aylesbury, and Castlemain; viscount Preston; the lords Montgomery and Bellasis; sir Edward Hales, sir Robert Tharold, sir Robert Hamilton, sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, colonel Edward Sackville, and some other officers. These were accused of having conspired with other disaffected persons to disturb and destroy the government, and of a design to concur with her majesty’s enemies in the intended invasion. The earl of Torrington continued a prisoner in the Tower till next session, when he was brought into the house of commons and made a speech in his own defence. His case produced long debates in the upper house, where the form of his commitment was judged illegal: at length he was tried by a court-martial appointed by the commissioners of the admiralty, though not before an act had passed, declaring the power of a lord high-admiral vested in those commissioners. The president of the court was sir Ralph Délavai, who had acted as vice-admiral of the blue in the engagement. The earl was acquitted, but the king dismissed him from the service; and the Dutch exclaimed against the partiality of his judges.

PROGRESS OF WILLIAM IN IRELAND.

William is said to have intercepted all the papers of his father-in-law and Tyrconnel, and to have learned from them not only the design projected by the French to burn the English transports, but likewise the undertaking of one Jones, who engaged to assassinate king William. No such attempt however was made, and in all probability the whole report was a fiction, calculated to throw an odium on James’ character. On the ninth day of July, William detached general Douglas with a considerable body of horse and foot towards Athlone, while he himself, having left Trelawny to command at Dublin, advanced with the rest of his army to Inchiquin in his way to Kilkenny. Colonel Grace, the governor of Athlone for king James, being summoned to surrender, fired a pistol at the trumpeter, saying, “These are my terms.” Then Douglas resolved to undertake the siege of the place, which was naturally very strong, and defended by a resolute garrison. An inconsiderable breach was made, when Douglas, receiving intelligence that Sarsfield was on his march to the relief of the besieged, abandoned the enterprise after having lost above four hundred men in the attempt. The king continued his march to the westward; and, by dint of severe examples, established such order and discipline in his army, that the peasants were secure from the least violence. At Carlow he detached the duke of Ormond to take possession of Kilkenny, where that nobleman regaled him in his own castle, which the enemy had left undamaged. While the army encamped at Carrick, major-general Kirke was sent to Waterford, the garrison of which, consisting of two regiments, capitulated upon condition of marching out with their arms and baggage, and being conducted to Mallow. The fort of Duncannon was surrendered on the same terms. Here the lord Dover and the lord George Howard were admitted to the benefit of the king’s mercy and protection.

HE INVESTS LIMERICK; IS OBLIGED TO RAISE THE SIEGE.

On the first day of August, William being at Chapel-Izard, published a second declaration of mercy, confirming the former, and even extending it to persons of superior rank and station, whether natives or foreigners, provided they would, by the twenty-fifth day of the month, lay down their arms and submit to certain conditions. This offer of indemnity produced very little effect, for the Irish were generally governed by their priests, and the news of the victory which the French fleet had obtained over the English and Dutch, was circulated with such exaggerations as elevated their spirits, and effaced all thoughts of submission. The king had returned to Dublin with a view to embark for England, but receiving notice that the designs of his domestic enemies were discovered and frustrated, that the fleet was repaired, and the French navy retired to Brest, he postponed his voyage and resolved to reduce Limerick; in which Monsieur Boisseleau commanded as governor, and the duke of Berwick and colonel Sarsfield acted as inferior officers. On the ninth day of August, the king having called in his detachment and advanced into the neighbourhood of the place, summoned the commander to deliver the town; and Boisseleau answered, that he imagined the best way to gain the good opinion of the prince of Orange, would be a vigorous defence of the town which his majesty had committed to his charge. Before the place was fully invested, colonel Sarsfield, with a body of horse and dragoons, passed the Shannon in the night, intercepted the king’s train of artillery on its way to the camp, routed the troops that guarded it, disabled the cannon, destroyed the carriages, waggons, and ammunition, and returned in safety to Limerick. Notwithstanding this disaster, the trenches were opened on the seventeenth day of the month, and a battery was raised with some cannon brought from Waterford. The siege was carried on with vigour, and the place defended with great resolution. At length the king ordered his troops to make a lodgment in the covered way or counterscarp, which was accordingly assaulted with great fury; but the assailants met with such a warm reception from the besieged, that they were repulsed with the loss of twelve hundred men either killed on the spot or mortally wounded. This disappointment, concurring with the badness of the weather, which became rainy and unwholesome, induced the king to renounce his undertaking. The heavy baggage and cannon being sent away, the army decamped and marched towards Clonmel. William having constituted the lord Sydney and Thomas Coningsby lords justices of Ireland, and left the command of the army with count Solmes, embarked at Duncannon with prince George of Denmark on the fifth of September, and next day arrived in King road, near Bristol, from whence he repaired to Windsor.

CORK AND KINSALE REDUCED.

About the latter end of this month the earl of Marlborough arrived in Ireland with five thousand English troops, to attack Cork and Kinsale in conjunction with a detachment from the great army, according to a scheme he had proposed to king William. Having landed his soldiers without much opposition in the neighbourhood of Cork, he was joined by five thousand men under the prince of Wirtemberg, between whom and the earl a dispute arose about the command; but this was compromised by the interposition of La Mellionere. The place being invested, and the batteries raised, the besiegers proceeded with such rapidity that a breach was soon effected. Colonel Mackillicut the governor demanded a parley, and hostages were exchanged; but he rejected the conditions that were offered, and hostilities recommenced with redoubled vigour. The duke of Grafton, who served on this occasion as a volunteer, was mortally wounded in one of the attacks, and died regretted as a youth of promising talents. Preparations being made for a general assault, the besieged thought proper to capitulate, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. Besides the governor and colonel Bicaut, the victor found the earls of Clancarty and Tyrone among the individuals of the garrison. Marlborough having taken possession of Cork, detached brigadier Villiers with a body of horse and dragoons to summon the town and forts of Kinsale, and next day advanced with the rest of the forces. The old fort was immediately taken by assault; but sir Edward Scott, who commanded the other, sustained a regular siege until the breach was practicable, and then obtained an honourable capitulation. These maritime places being reduced, all communication between France and the enemy on this side of the island was cut off, and the Irish were confined to Ulster, where they could not subsist without great difficulty. The earl of Marlborough having finished this expedition in thirty days, returned with his prisoners to England, where the fame of this exploit added greatly to his reputation.

THE FRENCH FORCES QUIT IRELAND.

During these transactions count de Lausan, commander of the French auxiliaries in Ireland, lay inactive in the neighbourhood of Galway, and transmitted such a lamentable account of his situation to the court of France, that transports were sent over to bring home the French forces. In these he embarked with his troops, and the command of the Irish forces devolved to the duke of Berwick, though it was afterwards transferred to M. St. Ruth. Lausan was disgraced at Versailles for having deserted the cause before it was desperate: Tyrconnel, who accompanied him in his voyage, solicited the French court for a further supply of officers, arms, clothes, and ammunition for the Irish army, which he said would continue firm to the interest of king James if thus supported. Meanwhile they formed themselves into separate bodies of freebooters, and plundered the country, under the appellation of rapparees: while the troops of king William either enjoyed their ease in quarters, or imitated the rapine of the enemy; so that between both the poor people were miserably harassed.

SAVOY JOINS THE CONFEDERACY.

The affairs of the continent had not yet undergone any change of importance, except in the conduct of the duke of Savoy, who renounced his neutrality, engaged in an alliance with the emperor and king of Spain; and, in a word, acceded to the grand confederacy. He had no sooner declared himself, than Catinat the French general entered his territories at the head of eighteen thousand men, and defeated him in a pitched battle near Saluces, which immediately surrendered to the conqueror. Then he reduced Savillana, Villa Franca, with several other places, pursued the duke to Carignan, surprised Suza, and distributed his forces in winter quarters, partly in Provence and partly in the duchy of Savoy, which St. Ruth had lately reduced under the dominion of France. The duke finding himself disappointed in the succours he expected from the emperor and the king of Spain, demanded assistance of the states-general and king William: to this last he sent an ambassador, to congratulate him upon his accession to the throne of England. The confederates in their general congress at the Hague, had agreed that the army of the states under prince Waldeck should oppose the forces of France, commanded by the duke of Luxembourg in Flanders; while the elector of Brandenburgh should observe the marquis de Boufflers on the Moselle: but before the troops of Brandenburgh could be assembled, Boufflers encamped between the Sambre and the Mouse, and maintained a free communication with Luxembourg.

PRINCE WALDECK DEFEATED.

Prince Waldeck understanding that this general intended to cross the Sambre between Namur and Charleroy, in order to lay the Spanish territories under contribution, decamped from the river Piéton, and detached the count of Berlo with a great body of horse to observe the motions of the enemy. He was encountered by the French army near Fleuras, and slain: and his troops, though supported by two other detachments, were hardly able to rejoin the main body, which continued all night in order of battle. Next day they were attacked by the French, who were greatly superior to them in number: after a very obstinate engagement the allies gave way, leaving about five thousand men dead upon the field of battle. The enemy took about four thousand prisoners, and the greatest part of their artillery; but the victory was dearly bought. The Dutch infantry fought with surprising resolution and success. The duke of Luxembourg owned with surprise, that they had surpassed the Spanish foot at the battle of Rocroy. “Prince Waldeck, said he, ought always to remember the French horse; and I shall never forget the Dutch infantry.” The Dutch general exerted himself with such activity, that the French derived very little advantage from their victory. The prince being reinforced with the five English regiments, nine thousand Hanoverians, ten thousand from the bishopric of Liege and Holland, joined the elector of Brandenburgh; so that the confederate army amounted to five-and-fifty thousand men, and they marched by the way of Genap to Bois-Seigneur-Isaac. They were now superior to Luxembourg, who thought proper to fortify his camp, that he might not be obliged to fight except with considerable advantage. Nevertheless, prince Waldeck would have attacked him in his intrenchments, had he not been prohibited from hazarding another engagement by an express order of the states-general; and when this restriction was removed, the elector would not venture a battle.

ARCHDUKE JOSEPH ELECTED KING.

By this time the emperor’s son Joseph was by the electoral college chosen king of the Romans; but his interest sustained a rude shock in the death of the gallant duke of Lorraine, who was suddenly seized with a quin-sey at a small village near Lintz, and expired, not without suspicion of having fallen a sacrifice to the fears of the French king, against whom he had formerly declared war as a sovereign prince unjustly expelled from his territories. He possessed great military talents, and had threatened to enter Lorraine at the head of forty thousand men, in the course of the ensuing summer. The court of France, alarmed at this declaration, is said to have had recourse to poison, for preventing the execution of the duke’s design. At his death the command of the imperial army was conferred upon the elector of Bavaria. This prince having joined the elector of Saxony, advanced against the Dauphin, who had passed the Rhine at Fort-Louis with a considerable army, and intended to penetrate into Wirtemberg; but the duke of Bavaria checked his progress, and he acted on the defensive during the remaining part of the campaign. The emperor was less fortunate in his efforts against the Turks, who rejected the conditions of peace he had offered, and took the field under a new vizier. In the month of August, count Tekeli defeated a body of imperialists near Cronstadt, in Transylvania; then convoking the states of that province at Albajulia, he compelled them to elect him their sovereign; but his reign was of short duration. Prince Louis of Baden, having taken the command of the Austrian army, detached four regiments into Belgrade, and advanced against Tekeli, who retired into Valachia at his approach. Meanwhile the grand vizier invested Belgrade, and carried on his attacks with surprising resolution. At length a bomb falling upon a great tower in which the powder magazine of the besieged was contained, the place blew up with a dreadful explosion. Seventeen hundred soldiers of the garrison were destroyed; the walls and ramparts were overthrown; the ditch was filled up, and so large a breach was opened that the Turks entered by squadrons and battalions, cutting in pieces all that fell in their way. The fire spread from magazine to magazine until eleven were destroyed; and in the confusion the remaining part of the garrison escaped to Peterwaradin. By this time the imperialists were in possession of Transylvania, and cantoned at Cronstadt and Clausinburgh. Tekeli undertook to attack the province on one side, while a body of Turks should invade it on the other: these last were totally dispersed by prince Louis of Baden; but prince Augustus of Hanover, whom he had detached against the count, was slain in a narrow defile, and his troops were obliged to retreat with precipitation. Tekeli however did not improve this advantage: being apprized of the fate of his allies, and afraid of seeing his retreat cut off by the snow that frequently chokes up the passes of the mountains, he retreated again to Valachia, and prince Louis returned to Vienna.

MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENT.

King William having published a proclamation requiring the attendance of the members on the second day of October, both houses met accordingly, and he opened the session with a speech to the usual purport. He mentioned what he had done towards the reduction of Ireland; commended the behaviour of the troops; told them the supplies were not equal to the necessary expense; represented the danger to which the nation would be exposed unless the war should be prosecuted with vigour; conjured them to clear his revenue, which was mortgaged for the payment of former debts, and enable him to pay off the arrears of the army; assured them that the success of the confederacy abroad would depend upon the vigour and dispatch of their proceedings; expressed his resentment against those who had been guilty of misconduct in the management of the fleet; recommended unanimity and expedition; and declared, that whoever should attempt to divert their attention from those subjects of importance which he had proposed, could neither be a friend to him nor a well-wisher to his country. The late attempt of the French upon the coast of England, the rumours of a conspiracy by the Jacobites, the personal valour which William had displayed in Ireland, and the pusillanimous behavour of James, concurred in warming the resentment of the nation against the adherents of the late king, and in raising a tide of loyalty in favour of the new government. Both houses presented separate addresses of congratulation to the king and queen, upon his courage and conduct in the field, and her fortitude and sagacity at the helm in times of danger and disquiet. The commons, pursuant to an estimate laid before them of the next year’s expenses, voted a supply of four millions for the maintenance of the army and navy, and settled the funds for that purpose.

COMMONS COMPLY WITH THE KING’S DEMANDS.

They proposed to raise one million by the sale of forfeited estates in Ireland: they resolved that a bill should be brought in for confiscating those estates, with a clause, empowering the king to bestow a third part of them on those who had served in the war, as well as to grant such articles and capitulations to those who were in arms, as he should think proper. This clause was rejected; and a great number of petitions were offered against the bill, by creditors and heirs who had continued faithful to the government. These were supposed to have been suggested by the court, in order to retard the progress of the bill; for the estates had been already promised to the king’s favourites: nevertheless, the bill passed the lower house, and was sent up to the lords, among whom it was purposely delayed by the influence of the ministry. It was at this juncture that lord Torrington was tried and acquitted, very much to the dissatisfaction of the king, who not only dismissed him from the service, but even forbade him to appear in his presence. When William came to the house of lords to give the royal assent to a bill for doubling the excise, he told the parliament that the posture of affairs required his presence at the Hague; that, therefore, they ought to lose no time in perfecting such other supplies as were still necessary for the maintenance of the army and navy; and he reminded them of making some provision for the expense of the civil government. Two bills were accordingly passed for granting to their majesties the duties of goods imported, for five years; and these, together with the mutiny-bill, received the royal assent: upon which occasion the king observed, that if some annual provision could be made for augmenting the navy, it would greatly conduce to the honour and safety of the nation. In consequence of this hint, they voted a considerable supply for building additional ships of war,* and proceeded with such alacrity and expedition, as even seemed to anticipate the king’s desires. This liberality and dispatch were in a great measure owing to the management of lord Godolphin, who was now placed at the head of the treasury, and sir John Somers, the solicitor-general. The place of secretary of state, which had remained vacant since the resignation of the earl of Shrewsbury, was now filled with lord Sidney; and sir Charles Porter was appointed one of the justices of Ireland in the room of this nobleman.

* This supply was raised by the additional duties upon beer, ale, and other liquors. They also provided in the bill, that the impositions on wines, vinegar, and tobacco, should be made a fund of credit: that the surplus of the grants they had made, after the current service was provided for, should be applicable to the payment of the debts contracted by the war: and, that it should be lawful for their majesties to make use of five hundred thousand pounds out of the said grants, on condition of that sum being repaid from the revenue.--_Ralph_.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

PETITION OF THE TORIES.

Notwithstanding the act for reversing the proceedings against the city charter, the whigs had made shift to keep possession of the magistracy: Pilkington continued mayor, and Eobinson retained the office of chamberlain. The tories of the city, presuming upon their late services, presented a petition to the house of commons, complaining, That the intent of the late act of parliament, for reversing the judgment on the quo warranto, was frustrated by some doubtful expression; so that the old aldermen elected by commission under the late king’s great seal still acted by virtue of that authority: that sir Thomas Pilkington was not duly returned as mayor by the common-hall: and, that he and the aldermen had imposed Mr. Leonard Eobinson upon them as chamberlain, though another person was duly elected into that office: that divers members of the common-council were illegally excluded, and others, duly elected, were refused admittance. They specified other grievances, and petitioned for relief. Pilkington and his associates undertook to prove that those allegations were either false or frivolous; and presented the petition as a contrivance of the Jacobites to disturb the peace of the city, that the supply might be retarded and the government distressed. In the late panic which overspread the nation, the whigs had appeared to be the monied men, and subscribed largely for the security of the settlement they had made, while the tories kept aloof with a suspicious caution. For this reason the court now interposed its influence in such a manner, that little or no regard was paid to their remonstrance.

ATTEMPT AGAINST CARMARTHEN.

The marquis of Cærmarthen, lord president, who was at the head of the tory interest in the ministry, and had acquired great credit with the king and queen, now fell under the displeasure of the opposite faction: and they resolved if possible to revive his old impeachment. The earl of Shrewsbury, and thirteen other leading men, had engaged in this design. A committee of lords was appointed to examine precedents, and inquire whether impeachments continued in statu quo from parliament to parliament. Several such precedents were reported; and violent debates ensued: but the marquis eluded the vengeance of his enemies in consequence of the following question: “Whether the earls of Salisbury and Peterborough, who had been impeached in the former parliament for being reconciled to the church of Rome, shall be discharged from their bail?” The house resolved in the affirmative, and several lords entered a protest. The commons having finished a bill for appointing commissioners to take and state the public accounts, and having chosen the commissioners from among their own members, sent it up to the house of lords. There the earl of Rochester moved, That they should add some of their number to those of the commons: they accordingly chose an equal number by ballot; but Rochester himself being elected, refused to act: the others followed his example, and the bill passed without alteration. On the fifth day of January, the king put an end to the session with a speech, in which he thanked them for the repeated instances they had exhibited of their affection to his person and government. He told them, it was high time for him to embark for Holland: recommended unanimity; and assured them of his particular favour and protection. Then lord chief baron Atkins signified his majesty’s pleasure, that the two houses should adjourn themselves to the thirty-first day of March.*

* In this year the English planters repossessed themselves of part of the inland of St. Christopher, from which they had been driven by the French.

THE KING’S VOYAGE TO HOLLAND.

William, having settled the affairs of the nation, set out for Margate on the sixth day of January; but the ship in which he proposed to embark being detained by an easterly wind and hard frost, he returned to Kensington. On the sixteenth, however, he embarked at Gravesend with a numerous retinue, and set sail for Holland under convoy of twelve ships of war commanded by admiral Rooke. Next day, being informed by a fisherman that he was within a league and a half of Goree, he quitted the yacht and went into an open boat, attended by the duke of Ormond, the earls of Devonshire, Dorset, Portland, and Monmouth, with Auverquerque and Zuylestcin, Instead of landing immediately, they lost sight of the fleet, and, night coming on, were exposed in very severe weather to the danger of the enemy and the sea, which ran very high for eighteen hours, during which the king and all his attendants were drenched with sea-water. When the sailors expressed their apprehensions of perishing, the king asked if they were afraid to die in his company? At day-break, he landed on the isle of Goree, where he took some refreshment in a fisherman’s hut; then he committed himself to the boat again, and was conveyed to the shore in the neighbourhood of Masslandsluys. A deputation of the states received him at Hounslardyke: about six in the evening he arrived at the Hague, where he was immediately complimented by the states-general, the states of Holland, the council of state, the other colleges, and the foreign ministers. He afterwards, at the request of the magistrates, made his public entry with surprising magnificence; and the Dutch celebrated his arrival with bonfires, illuminations, and other marks of tumultuous joy. He assisted at their different assemblies; informed them of his successes in England and Ireland; and assured them of his constant zeal and affection for his native country.

HE ASSISTS AT A CONGRESS.

At a solemn congress of the confederate princes, he represented in a set speech the dangers to which they were exposed from the power and ambition of France; and the necessity of acting with vigour and dispatch. He declared he would spare neither his credit, forces, nor person, in concurring with their measures; and that in the spring he would come at the head of his troops to fulfil his engagements. They forthwith resolved to employ two hundred and twenty-two thousand men against France in the ensuing campaign. The proportions of the different princes and states were regulated; and the king of England agreed to furnish twenty thousand. He supplied the duke of Savoy so liberally, that his affairs soon assumed a more promising aspect. The plan of operations was settled, and they transacted their affairs with such harmony that no dispute interrupted their deliberations. In the beginning of March, immediately after the congress broke up, the siege of Mons was undertaken by the French king in person, accompanied by the Dauphin, the dukes of Orleans and Chartres. The garrison consisted of about six thousand men, commanded by the prince of Bergue: but the besiegers carried on their works with such rapidity as they could not withstand. King William no sooner understood that the place was invested, than he ordered prince Waldeck to assemble the army, determined to march against the enemy in person. Fifty thousand men were soon collected at Halle, near Brussels: but when he went thither, he found the Spaniards had neglected to provide carriages, and other necessaries for the expedition. Meanwhile, the burghers of Mons, seeing their town in danger of being utterly destroyed by the bombs and cannon of the enemy, pressed the governor to capitulate, and even threatened to introduce the besiegers: so that he was forced to comply, and obtained very honourable conditions. William, being apprized of this event, returned to the Hague, embarked for England, and arrived at Whitehall on the thirteenth day of April.*

* A few days before his arrival, great part of the palace of Whitehall was consumed by fire, through the negligence of a female servant.

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