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BY
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HISTORY OF ENGLAND,
FliOM THE V1RST
INVASION BY THE ROMANS.
BY
JOHN L1NGARD, D.D.
THE FOURTH EDITION,
COKRECTEU AND CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED;
IN THIRTEEN VOLUMES.
VOL. XIII.
LONDON:
BALDWIN AND CRADOCK,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
1839.
LONDON :
Printed by William Clowes and Son?,
Stamford Street.
CONTENTS
THE THIRTEENTH VOLUME.
Chapter I.
^-s JAMES II.
king's speech on his accession — he levies duties without
authority practises his religion openly — demands
money of louis — parliament in scotland in england
invasion by argyi.e by monmouth their defeat and
execution — cruelties in the west the kings pro-
jects opposed in parliament prorogation intrigues
of the ministers countess of dorchester dispensing
power ecclesiastical commission scotland ireland.
The kind's speech to the council, page 1. He is proclaimed.
2. Addresses, ib. Taxes continued hy royal authority, 3.
The ministers — Rochester, 4. Godoiphin, ib. Halifax. .">.
Sunderland, ib. Secret cabal, 6. The king hears mass
openly, 7. Goes to chapel in state, 8. And discharges
recusants from prison, 9. His designs in favour of the
catholics. 111. His intrigue with Louis for money, 11.
And the displeasure of that prince, 13. Prosecution of the
Scottish covenanters, 14. Parliameut in Scotland, 15. Par-
liament in England, l(i. King's speech, 17. Grant of the
revenue, 18. Debates on new charters, 19. Attempt to
enforce the penal laws, 21. And to exclude the ministers,
ib. Votes against Monmouth, 22. Proceedings in the
house of Lords, 23. Consultation of the exiles in Holland,
24. W'lio send for Monmouth, 25. And for Argyle. ib.
Their plans arranged, 27. Argyle sails from Holland, 28.
Lands in Scotland, 20. Marches towards Glasgow, 30.
Is made prisoner, 31. And biiii'eis ('.eath, 32. Other exe-
a 2
21231iCI
IV CONTENTS.
cutions, ib. Monmouth sails from Holland, ib. Land* at
Lvme. 33. Publishes his declaration, ib. Meets with little
encouragement, 35. Loses Fletcher and Dare, 36. Takes
the title of king, 38. Preparations of James, ib. Despair
of Monmouth, 39. Battle of Sedgemoor, 40. Capture of
Monmouth and Grey, 42. Monmouth writes to James, ib.
His interview with the king, 43. He is followed by lord
Grey, 45. The duchess visits Monmouth, ib. He solicits
again for mercy, 46. Disputes with the bishops, 47. Is
visited again by the duchess, 48. Prepares for death, 49.
And is beheaded, 50. Fate of his followers, ib. Trial and
execution of Mrs. Lisle, 51. And of the rebels in the west,
53. The cause of these severities, 54. The king's projects
in parliament, 55. Diversity of opinion in the council, 57.
And among the catholics, 58. Ferment in the nation, 59.
Second session of parliament, 60. Opposition in the house
of commons, ib. Opposition in the house of lords, 62. Pro-
rogation, ib. Lord Brandon. 63. Hampden, ib. Lord
Delamere, 64. The earl of Stamford, 65. Rival parties in
the cabinet, ib. Their opposite counsels, 67. Respecting
foreign treaties, 69. And the countess of Dorchester, 70.
The king sends her to Ireland, 72. She returns, ib. An
ambassador sent to Rome, 73. The king's dispensing
power, 74. Which is affirmed by the judges, 75. Abolished
at the revolution. 76. Disobedience of the bishop of London.
77. New ecclesiastical commission, ib. The bishop is sus-
pended, 79. New dispensations, 80. Claude's book is
burnt, 81. Catholic chapels opened, ib. An army on
Hounslow-heath, 82. Catholic privy councillors, 83. Dis-
grace of Rochester, 86. Proceedings in Scotland, ib. The
king's letter, 87. Formidable opposition, 89. Prorogation.
90. The king dispenses with the test, ib. Proclaims liberty
of conscience, ib. His reception in Scotland, 91. State of
Ireland, 92. Clarendon lord lieutenant, 94. New arrange-
ments, 95. Clarendon superseded by Tyrconnel, 97. Tyr-
connel's real objects, 98. His proceedings, ib.
Chapter II.
CLOSE TINGS AND REMOVALS — LIBERTY OV CONSCIENCE — CONTEST*
WITH THE TWO UN1VEUSITIES THE NUNCIO CASTI.EMA1NE
PBTRE CAUSES OF DISTKUST BETWEEN THE KINO AND THE
PRINCE — CONDUCT ANDSECUET PREPARATIONS OV THE LATTER
INCHED!' L1TY OK JAMES BIRTH OP A PRINCE OK WALKS
TRIAL OK THE SEVEN BI8HOVS — LOl Is DECLARES WAR AGAINST
CONTENTS. V
THE EMPIRE ALARM OF THE KINO HE SEEKS TO CONCILIATE
THE STATES AND HIS OWN SUBJECTS DECLARATION OF THE
PRINCE HE SAILS AND IS DRIVEN BACK PREPARATIONS OF
THE KING DISGRACE OF SUNDERLAND THE PRINCE SAILS.
AND LANDS NEAR EXETER DESERTION OF LORD CORNBUHY
KING GOES TO THE ARMY AND RETURNS MORE DESERTIONS
THE QUEEN AND HER SON ESCAPE TO FRANCE THE KINO
IS INTERCEPTED AT FAVERSHA31 RETURNS TO LONDON IS
ORDERED TO QUIT BY THE PRINCE ESCAPES FROM ROCHESTER
LANDS IN FRANCE.
The " closetings," 10'_'. And removals from office. 103. De-
claration of libertv of conscience, 104. Addresses of thanks,
ib. Discontent of the churchmen. 105. Dispute with tne
university of Cambridge, 107. And with that of Oxford,
108. Dr. Parker, president of Magdalen College, 110.
Expulsion of the fellows, 111. The nuncio publicly re-
ceived at court, 113. Petre introduced into the council,
114. The treasurer's staff refused to Sunderland, 116.
Dissolution of parliament, ib. The king's progress, ib. The
three questions. 118. Conduct of the prince of Orange, ib.
Causes of distrust between him and 'James, 119: 1. the
reception of the exiles, 120 ; 2. the state of the British
force in Holland, 121 ; 3. the succession of the crown, 1*22 ;
4. the question of the test act, \24 ; 5. the mission of
D'Albeville, 125 ; G. the contrary mission of Dyckvelt, 127.
Change in the conduct of the prince, 130. Mission of
Zuyleistein, 13i. 7. Letter from Fagel, ib. Consequences
of that letter, 132. His artful conduct, 133. He gains
the affection of the people, 134. Foments dissension be-
tween the king and the States, ib. And secretly procures
ships and men. 136. Reports of the queen's pregnancv. 138.
Presentation of Corker, 139. Catholic president of Mag-
dalen College, ib. New declaration of liberty of conscience,
140. Order to read it in the churches, 141. Several bishops
object, ib. They petition against it, 42. Their interview
with the king, 143. He does not revoke the order, 144.
Determines to prosecute the suli'-criliers, 145. Their beha-
viour before the council, 146. They are committed to the
Tower, ib. Birth of a prince, 1 47. The bishops are bailed,
149. Their trial, 150. Their defence, 152. Opinions of
the judges, ib. Verdict of acquittal, 153. Its influence on
the public, 154. Preparation and disappointment of the
prince, 155. Memorial to him from England, 156. Escape
of Herbert, 157. Continental politics, 158, Incredulity of
James, HiO. Memoir of D'Avaux, 161. It is disavowed by
Vi CONTENTS.
James, 1G3. Louis makes war on the empire, ib. James
wishes to conciliate the States, 1G4. Makes concessions u>
his subjects, 165. Augments his forces, 167. Pretended
memorial to the prince, 168. Two declarations by the
prince, 169. His letter to the emperor and king of Spain,
ib. Circular from the States, 170. The force of the ex-
pedition, 171. The prince takes leave of the States, 17:.'.
A solemn fast, 173. He sails and is driven back, 174. The
king proves the birth of his son, 175. Removes Sunderland
from office, 177. Is refused the aid of the bishops, 178.
The prince arrives in Torbay, 170. The kind's counsel-.
180. Anxiety of the prince, ib. Desertion of lord Corn-
bury, 181. Its consequeuces, 182. The king holds a coun-
cil of war, 183. Receives a deputation from the lords, 184.
Escapes a conspiracy at the camp, ib. Desertion of Graf-
ton and Churchill, 185. Of prince George, 186. And of
the princess Anne, 187. The king's cause is desperate,
188. He resolves to send away his sun, 189. Summons a
great council, 190. And a parliament, ib. The young
prince brought from Portsmouth, 191. King determines to.
leave the kingdom, 192. Queen escapes with her child, 193.
James receives report from his commissioners, ib. The
answer given by the prince, 195. The king (puts his
palace in the night, 196. Is apprehended at Faversham.
197. The royal army disbanded, ib. Council of peers in
London, 198. Proceedings of the mob, 199. Alarm in the
night, ib. Arrests, 200. The guards sent to the kjng, 20 1 .
His reasons for returning. 202. He comes to Whitehall,
203. Perplexity of the prince, 204. The Dutch occupy
the palace, 205. The king is ordered to withdraw, 206.
He goes tn Rochester. 207. Writes a declaration, 209. And
escapes to France, 210. Counsels of the prince, 211.
Meeting of the Convention, 213. Votes of the commons.
215. Debate in the lords, 217. Impatience of the prince,
220. The throne declared vacant, 221. Oath of allegiance
altered, 223. Declaration of rights, 225. W'llliam and
Mary proclaimed, 229.
Oil
Notes . . . . ...
General Index to the Thirteen Volumes . • 273
Vll
CONTENTS OF APPENDIX.
1. On king John, Pandulph, and the bishop of Tusculum,
A.D. 1213.
2. " The historie of the arrivall of Edward IV. in England,
&c, A.D. 1471."
3. The protest of the prince of Wales against the precontract
with Catherine, 1505.
4. Account by the duke of Norfolk of the project of marriage
between himself and the queen of Scots, 1569.
5. Object of the insurgents under the earls of Northumber-
land and Westmoreland, 15G9.
6. Plan proposed by Rudolphi to Mary Stuart, 1571.
7. Proceedings on the discovery of the duke of Norfolk's
papers, 1571.
8. Order by the queen for the removal of the duke's arms,
' &c, 1572.
•J. Mary Stuart's letters from Sheffield, 1 574.
10. On the death-bed declaration of Bothwell, 1576.
11. Mary Stuart's, first will, 1577.
12. Leicester's visit to Buxton and Chatsworth, 1577.
13. On Garnet's letter to Persons, 1605.
14. On the papal dispensation from the Spanish match, 1623.
15. On the same from the French match, 1625.
16. Anecdotes of James I.
17. Proceedings of the fleet under prince Charles, 1648.
18. Answer of innocent X. to a letter from Charles II., 1674.
19. Letter of Viscount Stafford to the countess of Arundel.
LINGARD'S
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
JAMES II.
King's Speech on his Accession — He levies Duties without authority —
Practises his Religion openly— Demands Money of Louis — Parliament
in Scotland— In England— Invasion by Argyle— By Monmouth— Their
Defeat and Execution— Cruelties in the West— The King's projects
opposed in Parliament— Prorogation — Intrigues of the Ministers-
Countess of Dorchester — Dispensing Power— Ecclesiastical Commis-
sion — Scotland — Ireland.
From the death-bed of his brother the new king with-
drew to his closet, and, after a decent pause, proceeded
to the apartment in which the council was assembled.
He desired the members to retain the several charges
wliich they held during the late reign, and declared it to
be his wish to imitate the good and gracious sovereign
whose loss they deplored. " I have been reported," he
continued, " a man for arbitrary power : but that is not
the only story which has been made of me. I shall make
it my endeavour to preserve this government, both in
church and slate, as it is now by law established. I
know the principles of the church of England are for
monarchy, and tbe members of it have shown themselves
good and loyal subjects : therefore I shall always take
care to defend and support it. I know too that the laws
of England are sufficient to make the king as great a
VOL. XIII. b
2 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
monarch as I can wish ; and, as I shall never depart
from the just rights and prerogatives of the crown, so I
shall never invade any man's property. I have often
heretofore ventured my life in defence of the nation, and
I shall still go as far as any man in preserving it in all
its just rights and liberties.'' This speech was joyfully
and gratefully received; James assented to the request
that it might be published ; and, as he had not com-
mitted it to paper, a copy was made on the spot by Finch
the solicitor-general, and approved as correct by the
king*.
The moment the council was dissolved, the lords pro-
claimed the new sovereign at the gate of Whitehall, at
Temple-bar, and at the Royal Exchange. In imitation
of the precedent set at the accession of James I. wine
was distributed among the spectators to drink the king's
health, and the crowd, after the usual acclamations,
peaceably dispersed. During his brother's sickness
James had ordered the ports to be closed, and had
stationed strong bodies of troops in different parts of
the city. But the result proved that these precautions
were unnecessary. Not a murmur was heard ; no
attempt at riot or resistance was made ; never did prince
succeed more tranquilly to the throne t.
The king's speech gave universal satisfaction, and the
address of the bishops, presented the next day, served to
Feb. confirm this favourable impression. He had anticipated
7- all their wishes, had promised all that they could ask.
They would treasure his words in their hearts, and
make it their prayer that God would render his reign
happy and suitable to these glorious beginnings, and
afterwards crown him with glory in the world to come.
The same sentiments were repeated by the two universi-
ties, and generally echoed from the pulpits : — so little
did the clergy foresee that in less than three years the
time would come, when they would have to reproach
* Jiimes ii. 3. Fox, App. 16. Kcnnet, 427-
t fox. App. 16. Uuiilloii, 16 Feb. and l'J.
A.D. 1685.] TAXES CONTINUED BY ROYAL AUTHORITY. 3
him with the breach of his promise, and he would charge
them with apostaey from their principles *.
The first question which claimed the attention of the
new monarch was the state of the revenue. The parlia-
mentary grant of one-half of the excise, and of the
whole of the customs, expired at the death of his brother ■}•:
was he then to content himself with a mutilated income,
confessedly inadequate to the wants of government,' or
to continue the former duties till the meeting of parlia-
ment, by his own authority and contrary to law ? He
chose the latter part of the alternative ; but at the same
time, to gratify the wishes of the people, he resolved to
call a parliament, and, that he might claim the whole
merit, to call it before the request should be urged by
any public body, or the advice be suggested by the
privy council. A parliament was accordingly sum-*"eb.
moned to meet on the 19th of May, and a proclamation
issued, which, alleging state necessity as the cause,
ordered the usual duties to be levied on merchandise,
till parliament should have settled the revenue of the
crown. That such a measure was illegal did not admit
of doubt ; nor were the enemies of James slow to point
to it as a proof of the meaning which he attached to his
promise of" never invading any man's property $." But
the nation cheerfully acquiesced. The necessity of
levying the duties was considered as a satisfactory
apology ; and the very language of the proclamation im-
plied an acknowledgment of the constitutional maxim
that money could not he lawfully raised without the
authority of parliament. The barristers of the Middle
* Clar. Corns]., ii. App. 471. Gazette, 2018.
+ One portion of the duties, the additional excise amounting to 550,000/.
a-yeur, might, according to the act of parliament, be farmed tor the space
of three years, and remain in force till the expiration of that term. James
was careful to have the lease renewed and signed bv his brother the (lav
befoie his death. Gazette, 20U-). Fox, App. 39. This portion therefore
he could levy by law.
t Some thought that the duties should lie paid into the exchequer, and
remain there, to be disposed of by parliament, others that no money, but
bonds for subsequent payment, should be taken. Both expedients' were
contrary to law. As the duties were not in existence, neither the money
nor bonds for money could be legally required.
H 2
4 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
Temple presented to the king an address of thanks ; the
great companies of merchants trading to the Baltic, to
the East Indies, to Africa, and to Maryland, Hudson's
Bay, and Jamaica, assured him of their ready compliance,
and imposts contrary to law, which in the reign of
Charles I. would have thrown the whole nation into
commotion, were submitted to without opposition or
complaint*.
Of the ministers of the late king, the only man who
held (and for his undeviating devotion to the interests
of the duko he deserved to hold) a high place in the
favour of James, was the earl of Rochester. He had
not, hitherto, taken possession of his government of Ire-
land, and the death of Charles opened a more brilliant,
prospect to his ambition. James did not wait to be
asked, but without previous solicitation placed the staff
of lord high treasurer in the hands of his friend. The
near relationship of Rochester to the first duchess of
York, joined to his more recent services, justified the
partiality of the king ; and the avowed attachment of
the new treasurer to the interests of the church, in
which point he professed to inherit the sentiments of his
father Clarendon, assured him of the support of all who
sought the welfare of the establishment +.
Lord Godolphin, who, by the elevation of Rochester,
lost his place of first commissioner of the treasury, had
little claim to the gratitude of the new king. But James
had learned to appreciate his value from the services
* Lord Lonsdale, Mem. 4. Fox, App. 18. 39. Burnet, iii. 9. Kennet,
iii. 427. Ralph, 847. Barillon, 22 Fev. Dalrymple has published but
few extracts from the despatches of Barillon utter the death of Charles II.
Mr. 1'ux procured copies of those which were written during the reign of
James, but the appendix to his history, as well as the history itself, is
confined to the transactions of a few months. Mr. Mazurc had access to
all the documents in the Depot des affaires etrangeres, but he contented
himself with embodying the information which he derived (rom them in
his valuable work, Histoire de la Revolution de 1688. In the following
pages, Whenever I annex the date of the letter, the reader will understand
that I refer to the unpublished letters. The same may in- observed of the
references to the despatches of D'Avaus and Bonrepaus. The dates are
according to the new st\!e.
t James, ii.8. 63. Fox. App. 16. 18. 30. 34 50. Burnett, iii. 8.
A.O. 1C8J] THE MINISTERS. 5
which he had rendered to the last monarch, and ap-
pointed him chamberlain to the queen, whose esteem he
soon acquired, and whose confidence he repaid by a long
and devoted attachment. Even after the revolution,
when he had attained to the highest honours under the
new dynasty, Godolphin continued to maintain a clan-
destine correspondence with Maria d'Este till his
death*..
Halifax had more reason to dread the royal resent-
ment : yet, when he attempted to apologize, James in-
terrupted him with this gracious declaration, that of his
former conduct he remembered nothing except his oppo-
sition to the bill of exclusion. But the courtier soon dis-
covered that he possessed no real influence, and that the
arts which he had so lately practised might be turned
against himself. He was compelled to accept the higher
but empty honour of lord president, that he might quit
the more lucrative office of privy seal to the earl of
Clarendon, Rochester's brother')'.
But of all the earl of Sunderland had sinned the most
deeply. After his first offences had been forgiven, after
he had sworn inviolable fidelity to the interests of the
duke, he had recently been detected in a new intrigue
with the duchess of Portsmouth, having for its object
the removal of James from the court. But Sunderland
possessed a wonderful facility of disarming the resent-
ment, and worming himself into the confidence, of those
whom he had offended. He observed to the king that
now, if he were retained in office, he could have no hope
of favour or preferment but from the merit of his ser-
vices; he converted the enmity of the two brothers
Clarendon and Rochester into friendship, by persuading
them that he had privately advocated their interest
with the sovereign ; he procured through Barillon a
stron iT recommendation in his favour from the king of
France ; and, to secure the good will of the catholics, he
• Fox, App. 34. 50. 15umet. iii. 8, note.
t Ibid. 38. Ibiil. iii. 7.
6 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
held himself out to them as the warm and uncompro-
mising champion of toleration in the cabinet. James
yielded to his arguments and entreaties ; Sunderland
was retained in his former office of secretary ; and it
soon appeared that he, Rochester, and Godolphin, were
the only ministers possessing the confidence of the
monarch *.
But Sunderland did not confine his ambition to the
secretaryship ; he aspired to the staff now held by Ro-
chester; and, to supplant his rival, was careful to pro-
pose in council measures in behalf of the catholics, which
he knew that James would secretly approve, and that
Rochester, in accordance with his avowed principles,
would certainly oppose. For greater security he con-
nected himself with three catholics, from whose friend-
ship he hoped to derive considerable advantage, Richard
Talbot, an Irish gentleman, Henry Jermyn, nephew
to the late earl of St. Albans, and Edward Petre, a
Jesuit, and probably a near relation of the lord Petre
who died in the Tower t. Talbot and Jermyn had been
faithful and devoted servants to the duke in all the vicis-
situdes of his fortune, and Petre had long been dis-
tinguished by him with particular marks of friend-
ship. These four, if we may believe the king himself,
met in private, talked over their services and preten-
sions, and engaged to aid each other in the acquisition
of the objects of their ambition, of the treasuryship for
Sunderland, of a peerage and the government of Ire-
land, subject to a douceur to Sunderland, for Talbot, of
a peerage and the captaincy of the horse guards for
Jermyn, and of a cardinal's hat for Petre. In pursuit
of the same object Sunderland established, with the con-
sent of the king, a secret board to watch over the in-
terests of the catholics, which should meet at his office,
*" Lc conseil (hi cabinet no so tient que pour la forme. Le Roi d'A.
confere lous les juiirs avec mylord Rochester, et Sunderland, et mylord
Godolphin, ensemble et separement. C'est avec enz que les resolutions
se prennent." Barillon, 2ii Fev.
t Ex familia piaenouili piimogenitus. Oliver's Collection, 1 10.
A.D. 1685.] THE KING HEARS MASS OPENLY. 7
or at the lodgings of Chiffinich, page of the back-stairs.
The first members were the lords Arundell and Belasyse,
Jermvn who was created lord Dover, and Talbot who
obtained the command of a regiment in Ireland ; to
whom father Petre was soon added, and subsequently
the earls of Powis and Castlemaine. Of these Powis,
Arundell, and Belasyse were considered as the more
moderate in their views: the others advocated bolder
measures, and were supported by the policy of Sunder-
land *.
With this board James debated a question of con- Feb.
siderable delicacy and importance, respecting the prac- 12.
tice of his religion. Of his attachment to the church of
Rome, after the sacrifices which he had made, every
man must have been convinced ; and the question now
was whether, after his accession to the throne, he ought
to be content with the clandestine exercise of the
catholic worship, or openly to attend a form of religious
service still prohibited by law. The latter accorded
better with that hatred of dissimulation which was
believed to mark his character, and was moreover re-
commended to his choice by the reflection, that if he
were ever to make a public profession of his religion, he
might do it with less inconvenience at the beginning,
than at any subsequent period of his reign. As early as
the second Sunday after his brother's death, in opposi-
tion to the advice of the council, he ordered the folding
doors of the queen's chapel to be thrown open, that his
presence at mass might be noticed by the attendants in
the antechamber. This circumstance revealed nothing
which was previously unknown : yet the boldness with
• James, ii. 63, 64. 74, 76, 77- Fox, App. 17. 25. 48. 69. This account,
as far as it imputes ambitious views to Petre, is Dot easily to be reconciled
with the letters of bis brethren at that period fSee extracts in Oliver's
Collectanea, 150), nor with the testimony of the king himself, in a Inter
to the pontiff (, nee quenquam esse credimus cujus animus ah omni amhitu
magis abhorret. Dodd, iii. 513J Yet it rests on the express assertion of
James himself, in his private memoirs, who must either have drawn the
inference from facts within liis own knowledge, or have received informa-
tion of which he was previously ignorant.
8 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
which the king displayed his contempt of the law
alarmed the zeal of the bishop and the clergy of London,
and the pulpits began to resound with declamations
against popery, and predictions of danger to protestan-
tism. James in his turn grew alarmed : he sent for all
the prelates in town : he complained of such treatment
as dangerous to the state, and unprovoked on his part ;
and he renewed his promise of protection to the church,
but with a significant hint, that he should think himself
absolved from his word, the moment the church should
swerve from its engagements to him. The conclusion
was that the bishops undertook to restrain within due
limits the zeal and intemperance of the preachers*.
In a few days the murmurs which had been excited
died away ; but they were quickly revived by the im-
April patience or the imprudence of the king. He could see
15. no reason why difference of religion should make any
difference in the respect usually paid to the sovereign ;
and therefore announced to the council his intention of
going with the usual state to the queen's chapel on par-
ticular occasions, and his expectation that the ministers
and officers of the household would accompany him as
far as the door, and attend on him there on his return.
Sunderland offered no objection, and Godolphin by his
office of chamberlain was compelled to wait on the
queen : but Rochester, aware that his reputation for
orthodoxy was at stake, absolutely refused to be present
without an express order from the king, and was with
difficulty persuaded to accept of the royal permission to
16. spend a short time in the country t. The next day, heing
Holy Thursday, James, accompanied by his guards and
the gentlemen pensioners, proceeded to the chapel and
19. received the sacrament, and on Easter Sunday he was in
the like manner attended by the knights of the garter in
their collars, and by a great number of the nobility,
both as he went, and as he returned to his own apart-
* Fox, App. 37. 44. BarOlon, 22 Fev. ; 12 Mar. See note ( A;
f Kux, App. 46.
\.D. 1G85.] DISCHARGES RECUSANTS FROM PRISON. 9
nient*. The proceeding itself proved nothing more
than his attachment to the parade of royalty : but in the
minds of many it excited considerable uneasiness : men
thought that they discovered in it a design of restoring
step by step the public celebration of the catholic wor-
ship, and they exhorted each other to watch with jea-
lousy the subsequent conduct of the new monarch, and
to hold themselves in readiness to defend on the first
aggression the rights of the established church t.
There happened at the same time another transaction
which served to confirm this impression. The reader
will recollect the attempt made in the last year to pro-
cure the liberation of the catholics and dissenters detained
in prison under the laws of recusancy. In the week
before the death of Charles, the question had been
brought a second time under the notice of the council,
and a second time postponed, that the opinion of the
attorney-general might be obtained. But James was
not to be checked by the cautious motives which swayed
the mind of his brother : he gave it in charge to the
judges to discourage prosecutions on matters of religion,
and ordered by proclamation the discharge of all persons
confined for the refusal of the oaths of allegiance and
supremacy. In consequence the dissenters enjoyed a
respite from the persecution which they suffered under
the conventicle act; and catholics to the amount of some
thousands, quakers to the amount of twelve hundred,
were liberated from confinement $.
• It was the custom for the lord who bore the sword lo enter the chapel
with the king when the latter communicated, and on that account lord
Powis, a catholic, carried it on the first day; on the second it was home
by the duke of Somerset, a protestant, who stopped, according to custom,
at the door. Hut the dukes of Norfolk, Grafton, Richmond, ami Northum-
berland, and many other noblemen, entered and accompanied the king as
far as the gallery. Barillon, : 6 et 30 Avril. Fox. A]>p. 47.
+ Les protectants Mies trouvent tori a redire a cette oouvelle demarche,
lis g'imnginent one l'intention de S. M. B. est d'accontoumer lemonde peu
a peu avoir la religion catholiqne dans l'eclat ouelle doit ctre ici, elant la
religion du prince. Barillon, 26 Avril Fox, il>id.
t The prosecution of Baxter did not form an exception. He was charged
with having preached a seditious sermon, not with any offence under the
conventicle act. The proclamation and the number of quakers liberated
10 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
It has been of late a subject of dispute, whether at
this period of his reign the king had formed an intention
of restoring the catholic religion to its ancient ascend-
ency, by making it the religion of the state, or merely
sought to relieve its professors from the galling restric-
tions and barbarous punishments to which they were
still subject by law. To me, from his frequent and con-
fidential communications with Barillon, it seems evident,
that he limited his views to the accomplishment of two
objects, which he called liberty of conscience and freedom
of worship, and which, had he been successful, would
have benefited, not the catholics only, but every class of
religionists. By liberty of conscience, he understood the
removal of religious tests as qualifications for office ; by
freedom of worship, the abolition of those penal and san-
guinary inflictions which had been enacted for the pur-
pose of extinguishing every form of religious service
except that of the established church. It is not pre-
tended that he was led to the attempt by any enlightened
views of toleration — though he never hesitated to con-
demn the persecution of the dissenters — neither was
he principally actuated by a vehement zeal for prose-
lytism — a zeal which frequently animates converts to a
new religion ;— there existed a much more powerful
motive than either of these, his own security : for he had
persuaded himself that his throne must necessarily rest
on a very precarious foundation, as long as the faith
which he professed should form a disqualification for
holding office in the state, and the worship which he
practised should continue to be prohibited under the
penalty of death. To Barillon, acquainted with the fears,
and jealousies, and prejudices which agitated the public
mind, neither of these objects seemed to be of easy at-
tainment. But the more sanguine disposition of James
made light of such difficulties : he rested his hopes of
may be seen in Sewell. ii. 451. 454. 456. 478. edit. 1T95. About two hun-
dred of the latter were still detained prisoners tor the non-payment of
tithes.
A.D. 1685.] HIS INTRIGUE WITH LOUIS. 11
success on the known loyalty of the church of England ;
and he suffered himself to he deluded by the professions
of attachment to the crown, and of passive obedience to
the monarch, which formed the burthen of the ad-
dresses from the clergy and universities, ignorant, it
would appear, of that which every page of history might
have taught him, that great bodies of men will never
permit themselves to be swayed by abstract principles,
when the actual practice of those principles is opposed to
their prepossessions and their interests *.
With respect to foreign nations, it was to be expected
that the new monarch would adhere to that pacific policy
which he had advised in the reign of his late brother.
He came, indeed, to the throne at a period of continental
tranquillity, but tranquillity of that dubious and ill-
defined description which is usually the precursor of a
storm. Though the conflicting claims, which had grown
out of the peace of Nimeguen, had been suspended by a
truce for eighteen years, concluded at Ratisbon in the
preceding month of August, yet the jealousies and heart-
burnings kindled by those claims had never ceased to
exist. Spain and Holland sought by union between
themselves, and by new confederacies with other states,
to form a counterpoise to the enormous power of France,
and men looked forward with fear to the approaching
death of the old king of Spain, as the signal of a new
and more sanguinary contest for the succession to his
extensive dominions. Under these circumstances Louis
deemed it prudent to secure the good-will of the new
king of England. He had been negligent in the dis-
charge of his pecuniary obligations to Charles : but the
• See Fox, App 19. 33. 45. 69. 104. 106, 107. Barillon, 22 Fey.; 12
Mars ; 28 Anil. With respect to the contested passage in HanUon's
letter of July 16, which in Dalrymple is printed " t.int qu'elle ue sera
pleinment etablie," U"- 1 )' iU "' '" ''"'' "p'" s pleinment," ( 107) I observe
that the reading in Dalrymple is correct ; and that by the *' establishment
"df religion" Barillon understands the liberty of opening chapels for
public worship, and of practising that worship without penalty or dis-
qualification. When he wrote the letter, the catholic worship was pro-
scribed by law.
12 JAMES II. [CHAP. I,
moment he heard of the decease of that, monarch, he
despatched the sum of 500,000 livres to his ambassador,
to be placed at the disposal of James. This act of timely
benevolence was gratefully acknowledged by that prince :
but it did not satisfy his expectations or his wishes ; and
his expression of thanks was followed by a demand of
the arrears due to his predecessor, and of a similar
subsidy for himself during the three following years.
Louis was, or affected to be, surprised : he asked no
favour from his English brother, and was unable to
understand why he should be called upon to furnish
money without any prospect of an equivalent in return.
Barillon, however, was not discouraged, and the earnest-
ness and adroitness with which that ambassador con-
tinued to urge the claim of James, while it does honour
to his abilities, provokes a suspicion, or rather con-
viction, that his services had been purchased by the
promise of an adequate remuneration. He employed
every argument and every artifice which his ingenuity
could suggest. Some reasons he put into the mouth of
the king, some he assigned to the English ministers,
others he suggested as proceeding from his own attach-
ment to the interests of his sovereign. He exaggerated
the wants of James, and the dangers which threatened
him, and painted in colours the most likely to attract
notice, his designs in support of the catholic faitb, and
his devotion to the French monarch ; he appealed to the
pride, the pity, the piety of Louis ; remonstrated against
his parsimony ; persevered in defiance of his displeasure ;
and even ventured to disobey his commands, till, through
dint of importunity, he procured by successive remit-
tances money to the amount of 2,000,000 of livres. Yet
out of this sum he was not permitted to pay to James
more than 470,000 livres, the arrears of the pension due
to the late king. It was in vain that the ambassador con-
tinued to reason and solicit. Louis was inexorable. He
reprimanded Barillon for his officiousness ; and gave
him no other power over the money than to advance a
A. D. 1685.] STATE OF SCOTLAND. 13
certain portion of it to James, if circumstances should
compel that monarch to dissolve the parliament, and
defend himself by arms against his rebellious subjects *.
In fact Louis not only distrusted the ambassador, he
became jealous of the real intentions of the English king,
to whose professions of attachment he paid little atten-
tion, as long as those professions were not confirmed by
his conduct. James had, indeed, declared that he did
not consider himself bound by the treaty between Spain
and his brother, and on that account had evaded the ap-
plication of the Spanish ambassador by referring him to
the ministers. But he was actually in negociation with
the States-General for a renewal of all preceding treaties
between the two powers, and had willingly listened to
the solicitations of the prince of Orange, who now sought
a reconciliation with his uncle. In defiance of the argu-
ments and suggestions of Louis, James accepted his
apology for his past conduct, his promise to break off all
communication with Monmouth, and his engagement to
dismiss from the British regiments in the pay of the
States certain officers, whose loyalty the king had reason
to question. This reconciliation confirmed Louis in the
resolution of keeping his treasure safe in the hands of
the ambassador. There it might act as a lure to draw
the English king to his interest : were it once out of his
possession, he knew not but that it might be employed
against himself t.
In Scotland, during the last years of the reign of
Charles, religious persecution had assumed a new feature.
The theological errors of the Cameronians were merged
• See most of the letters of Barillon published in the appendix to Fox.
and particularly those of April 16, May 17, July 16, and those of Louis of
July '20, and Dee. 6. It appears bom the ambassador's letter of Oetol I I
85, that he had paid to James under one pretext or Other 8WM100 Hues :
and from that of Louis of Dec. 6, that of tins sum 100,000 livres had been
paid without permission. Barillon had, however, alleged in his defence,
that his hands were not tied at the time: and that he deemed it for the
interest of France (o yield iu so small a matter to the demands of tile
l.nglish ministers. Lettre du 8 Nov. After this James received no money
liom Prance during his reign,
t Fox, App. 117—121.
14 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
in their political offences : formerly they had been treated
as obdurate and incorrigible sectarists ; now, they were
regarded in the light of men professing and practising
assassination and rebellion. For the first of these
charges some ground had been afforded by their express
or tacit approbation of the murder of archbishop Sharp ;
and the second was fully proved by their renunciation of
the king's right and authority in their declaration at
Sanquhar. The lords of the council, though they must
have been aware that the crimes which they punished
had been provoked by their own unjustifiable severity,
deemed themselves bound, as depositaries of the royal
authority, perhaps also by the danger to which they
were exposed, to suppress or extirpate this indomitable
sect ; and for that purpose they had recourse to the
usual inflictions of fines, and imprisonment, and torture,
and death. Many of their victims gladly exchanged the
horrors of a close and loathsome confinement for the
service of the planters in Barbadoes ; some suffered on
the gallows by the hand of the executioner, and others
were shot by order of a military commission. The
writers of the party have drawn a veil over the weakness
of those who concealed or abjured their principles ; while
they have ostentatiously recorded the names of the prin-
cipal confessors and martyrs, of those whose constancy'
refused the offer of liberty when it was to be purchased
by renouncing the declaration, or who preferred to for-
feit their lives rather than pollute their consciences by
uttering the words " God bless the king." At first the
accession of James offered the prospect of some allevi-
Feb. ation to the miseries of these infatuated people. When
1U. he was proclaimed, they were, indeed, admonished, in
opposition to their favourite doctrine, that " he was the
" only righteous king and sovereign over all persons and
" in all causes, as holding his imperial crown from God
" alone ; " but this was followed by an amnesty to all
persons who would consent to take the test, with the ex-
ception of the itinerant preachers, of their protectors
A.D. 1685.J PARLIAMENT IN SCOTLAND. 15
among the higher classes, and of the murderers of arch-
bishop Sharp, and of the minister of Cairsphairn. If
many accepted, yet many refused this benefit ; and the
rumour of an approaching invasion, by the fugitive mar-
quess of Argyle, added to the severity of the council.
The prosecutions were continued in the capital; and
Graham of Claverhouse displayed his zeal for loyalty
and episcopacy by hunting down the conventiclers in the
fields, and by putting the most obstinate or most ob-
noxious of his prisoners to death *.
James had summoned the Scottish parliament to meet
on an early day. He expected much from the attach-
ment of those friends, whom he had secured during his
former residence in Edinburgh, and from the hopes of
others, who knew that the royal favour was the shortest
road to wealth and authority ; and he entertained the
expectation that the example of the Scots would prove a
useful stimulus to the more doubtful obsequiousness of
the English parliament. This object was honestly
avowed in his public letter ; and the avowal, being taken
as a compliment by the estates, provoked from their
gratitude a declaration of abhorrence of " all principles
"' and positions contrary or derogatory to the king's
" sacred, supreme, sovereign, and absolute power and
" authority." He asked for the revenue which had been
enjoyed by his brother : they annexed the excise to the
crown of Scotland for ever, and made him " a dutiful
" offer" of 260,000/. yearly, during his life : he called on
them to support the established church (that church, be
it remembered, was not presbyterian but episcopalian) ,
and they passed a most barbarous act, not only ratifying
all former statutes for the security and liberty of the true
church of God, but also imposing the penalty of death on
the preachers at the home, and both preachers and
hearers at the field, conventicles f, and compelling, the
inhabitants of any parish, where a minister should be
Wodrow, ii. 397—50/.
t Scot. Slat. IG«5. c. viii.
16 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
murdered, to provide for the support of his family ac-
cording to the discretion of the privy council : he had
exhorted them to put down rebels and assassins ; and.
they enacted that all persons should take the test under
the penalty of an arbitrary fine ; made it treason to give
or take the two covenants, and to own, or refuse to dis-
own, the apologetic declaration ; ordered that in the
processes then depending before the justiciary, in cases
of treason, or conventicles, or church irregularities, every
person refusing to give an answer should be punished as
if he were guilty of the crime, respecting which he was
interrogated ; and lastly they passed an act of security
and indemnity in favour of the privy council, the secret
committee, the judges, the military officers, and all com-
missioners hitherto employed in the prosecution of those
who are denominated rebels and assassins. There can
be no doubt that in these enactments there was much to
reprehend, much that trenched on the rights of the
subject, that opened a way to barbarous punishments,
and gave encouragement to oppression on the part of the
council : in apology it may be observed that they took
place at a time when either a hostile armament was at
sea, or a civil war was actually raging in the interior of
the kingdom *.
April In England the coronation of the king and queen ac-
^3. cording to the protestant ritual, gave satisfaction to the
friends of the church f , and the tranquillity with which
the elections of members of parliament were conducted
was considered a favourable omen to the new monarch $.
* Scot. Stat. Ifi85. Gazette, 2032.
t James informed Barillon that he considered this ceremony requisite
for the stability of his throne : it might appear Btrange that he. a catholic,
should receive a religious rite from protestant bishops, hut there was a
precedent furnished by Sigismund III., king of Poland, who, on his ac-
cession to the throne of Sweden, was crowned by the archbishop of Upsal,
a Lutheran prelate. He had consulted the pope and the most eminent
theologians. Barillon, 8. 19. 22 Mars ; 19 Avril, 7 Mai.
X Here perhaps I ought to notice two remarkable 1 trials. 1°. In Hilary
term, before the death of Charles, Titus Gates had pleaded not gnil'y to
two indictments for perjury: he had sworn that he was present "ii the 24th
of April, 1678, at a consult of the Jesuits in London to kill Hie king, and
that lie had been present at the commission of treasonable acts by Ireland
A.. U. 1685.] PARLIAMENT IN ENGLAND. 17
As soon as the necessary forms had been complied with,
he addressed the two houses in a short speech which he
read leisurely and distinctly from the throne. He had May
made, he said, a declaration to the privy council on the "*•
day of his accession ; he now repeated it in parliament,
and in the very same words, to show that it was not a
hasty promise suddenly called forth by the excitement
of the moment, but a fixed purpose, the result of long
and mature deliberation. He then stated his expect-
ation, that they would settle on him for life the revenue
which had been enjoyed by his brother. Their own
judgment would satisfy them that in this he asked for
nothing which was not required for the benefit of trade,
the support of the navy, the exigencies of the crown, and
the well-being of government, which ought to stand on
a sure and stable foundation. To some, perhaps, it
might appear more politic to dole out the revenue to him
in successive portions, and thus place him under the
necessity of calling frequent parliaments. But such
persons knew him not : the best way to engage him to
meet them often, would be always to use him well. In
conclusion he informed them that a body of rebels had
the Jesuit in London between the 8th and 12th of August, and on the 2d of
September the same year. At the trials, which took place on the 8ih and
9th of May, 1685, it was proved, beyond the possibility of doubt, that
Oates was at St. Omer on the 24th ol April, and that Ireland left London
fur the country on the 2d of August, and remained there till the 14th of
September. He was convicted on both indictments, and the court in pass-
ing judgment lamented that he could not be made to suffer death in
return for the innocent blood which he had shed by his perjuries. He was
condemned to pay a fine of 1,000 marks on each indictment, to be stript
of his canonical habit, to be twice publicly whipped, and to stand every
year of his life five times in the pillory. After the revolution he brought
wriis of error against these judgments in the house of lords : but the house
reftised to reverse them. The king, however, at their request, pardoned
him the remainder of the punishment, ami moreover allowed him a pension
of bl. per week in lieu of his pensions granted by diaries II. amounting to
846/. per annum. See Stat- Trials, x. 1079—1330. 2° Dangcrlield was
also convicted of perjury, and suffered tie 1 punishment of a whipping to
Tyburn. As he returned in a coach, a gentleman of the name of Francis
asked him, how his back was: Dangerfleld made an abusive reply, ami
Francis thrust at him with his cane. Ii entered the eye of Dangerfleld,
who shortly afterwards died oflhe wound. Francis was tried lor murder,
round juiltv, and executed, the king refusing the application made to hiru
for a paidon. .lames, 11. 47.
VOL. XIII. C
18 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
lately landed in Scotland under the conduct of Argyle,
who had published two declarations charging him with
usurpation and tyranny. It would be his care that the
invaders should meet with their reward, it would be
theirs to support his government, and establish his
revenue *.
By later writers this speech has been subjected to a
most rigorous ordeal. It has been considered as an open
avowal of the king's contempt for the laws, as a threat
that he was prepared to assume arbitrary power, and as
a bold attempt to intimidate and silence the advocates
of a free constitution. By those who were present, it
was heard and understood with very different feelings.
They did not conceal their satisfaction. At the close of
each period their shouts rent the air; and subsequently
both houses waited in a body on the king to express their
loyalty and gratitude t.
They began by assuring him of their support against
the treasonable projects of Argyle, and by settling the
revenue in the manner which he had wished. As he
made no claim in virtue of the prerogative, so they ab-
stained from any complaint of his having levied the du-
ties without authority. He told them that the despatch
with which they passed the bill was as grateful to him
as the bill itself; but in addition circumstances required
an immediate aid to provide for the equipment of the
navy, the discharge of his brother's debts, and the extra-
ordinary expenses to which he was driven by the rebel-
lion. To James the charge of extravagance had never
been objected : he was rather parsimonious in his habits,
and had already reformed the extravagance and manners
of the court. His wishes were gratified even beyond
his demand ; and additional duties were laid on wines,
vinegar, tobacco, and sugar lor eight, and on foreign
linens for five, years $.
* L. Journ. xiv. 9. t Evelyn, iii. 159.
X I,. Joiirn. xiv. 21. 44. 65. "They gave upon the tobacco and sugars
A.n. 1685.] DEBATE ON NEW CHARTERS. 19
In both houses there must have been many who in
the preceding parliaments had distinguished themselves
by their opposition to government, and had voted fur the
exclusion of James from the throne. But these, what-
ever they might think, had the prudence to conceal
their sentiments. The times were altered; the prin-
ciples of the Whigs had grown unfashionable ; and to
come forward in their defence was doubly dangerous at
a time when the standard of rebellion was already un-
furled in Scotland, and a hostile expedition under the
duke of Monmouth was known to be at sea, steering for
the shores of England. Still there were not wanting
questions of considerable interest, under the cover of
which it was possible to carry on a masked opposition to
the measures of government. Several of the new char-
ters had restricted the right of voting for members of
parliament to certain bodies in the interest of the crown •
and it was reported that previous to the recent elections
the earl of Bath had repaired to Cornwall with thirteen
charters of that description in his possession. By this
innovation the influence of the Seymours had been
greatly weakened in that country ; and Mr. Seymour
took an early opportunity, the very first debate on the
revenue, to call the attention of the house to that griev-
ance. He maintained that the new charters were ille-
gal and invalid ; that the right of election still resided
in those to whom it belonged by ancient usage ; and
that no person returned in opposition to that right
could be a lawful member of the lower house. There
never was, he observed, a time in which it could be
more necessary to watch over the purity of the repre-
sentation. The laws, the religion, of the country were
at stake. There existed an intention of abolishing the
" three pence, when sr. Dudley North, the commissioner of the customes
" and manager llbl the kin;;, asked but three half pence." Lonsdale, (>\.
An attempt was made to prove at the bar that the Dew duty would lie
prejudicial to the plantations, "but the king's promise that, if it was
" found inconvenient to the trade, he would remit the imposition, was of
" so much prevalence, that the matter was allowed no further debate "
ill. 4. 5.
C 2
20 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
test, the great bulwark of protestantism, and the writ of
habeas corpus, the chief safeguard against arbitrary
power. If the crown could control the elections, the
liberties of the nation were forfeited for ever. Hence it
was his opinion that their first measure should be an
inquiry into the returns, that they might determine
whether the house, as it was then constituted, could be
said fairly and legally to represent the nation. He was
heard with surprise, perhaps with secret approbation ;
but of those who followed in the debate, not one made
the remotest allusion to his speech. In the course of
the week, however, the subject was again brought
May forward by sir John Lowther, subsequently viscount
27. Lonsdale, who expressed a hope that after the proof of
devotion which the house had given by voting the re-
venue, the motion which he was about to make would
not offend the king, especially as the grievance, the
subject of complaint, had not risen in his, but had
grown up in his brother's, reign. The compulsory sub-
stitution of new for ancient charters amounted in his
opinion to a disseizing of the subject of his freehold
without a trial ; it shook the very foundation of parlia-
ment by transferring the choice of representatives to
other electors, and was pregnant with such important
consequences, as to demand the most serious attention
of the house. He concluded by moving the appoint-
ment of a committee to consider the proper method of
applying to the king for a remedy, and received the sup-
port of several among the more influential members.
But it was then a late hour, and the debate was ad-
journed for two days, when the king, sending for the
house, asked for an additional aid. By this interruption
Lowther's motion was made to give way to another
question of more immediate urgency, and, for reasons of
which we are ignorant, was never afterwards resumed *.
On the same day was debated another question of still
• See Journ. May 27- '29. Lonsdale, 5. 8. Barillon in Fox, A pp. 90. 95.
Evelyn, iii. 160. Hurnet Hi. 28.
A. D. 1685.] ARTIFICE OF THE OPPOSITION. 21
higher interest, and even more calculated to awaken the
angry passions of the members. Under pretence of
danger to the church, it had been proposed in the com-
mittee for religion to petition the king that all the penal
laws against dissenters should be put in immediate exe-
cution. Though James had many friends in the com-
mittee, the motion met with no opposition. He sent for
them the same evening, complained of their timidity, and
ordered all who prized his favour to oppose the resolu-
tion. The following morning it was submitted to the
house, where, to the surprise of those with whom it ori-
ginated, it was condemned as an insult to the sovereign,
whose word it seemed to call in question, as an attempt
to impose on the house, which could not expect the king
to punish men for professing the same faith with him-
self, and as a secret manoeuvre to excite, in aid of the
rebels, dissension between the sovereign and his people.
The friends of the resolution defended it but faintly :
it was rejected without a division, and in its place was
substituted a declaration that the house relied with per-
fect security on the solemn promise of the king to defend
and support the established church which was dearer to
them than their lives*.
On these questions the opponents of the court acted
openly and fairly : but a more astucious leader devised a
new and extraordinary plan of annoyance. Under the
mask of attachment to the royal person, he moved that
all who had formerly voted for the exclusion of James
from the throne, should during his reign be excluded
themselves from places of trust and emolument. It was
expected that the majority of the house would eagerly
snatch at the opportunity of displaying their loyalty, that
the dissensions of a former period would be revived, and
that the present favourites, Sunderland and Godolphin,
who had voted with the exclusionists, would be put on
their defence. But these ministers had received notice
•
• C. Joum. May 26, 27. Reresby, 198. Fox, App. 95.
22 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
of the design ; they admonished their partisans to be
upon the watch ; and the moment the proposal was
brought forward, it met with so fierce and general an
opposition, that its authors suffered it to fall to the
ground *.
June The landing of the duke of Monmouth on the coast of
15* Dorsetshire, appeared to give a new stimulus to the loy-
alty of the parliament. Monmouth was immediately at-
17. tainted, and a price set upon his head t; an additional
supply of 400,000/. was granted to the king ; and
19, a bill for the greater security of the royal person was
prepared. Such bills, arising out of particular circum-
stances, and making temporary additions to the origi-
nal statute of treasons, had been passed in the reigns of
Elizabeth and Charles II., but had always been attended
with some sacrifice of right on the part of the subject.
The present bill seems to have had three objects ; to meet
the difficulty urged at their trials by Russell and Sydney,
and for that purpose to make words and writings overt
acts of treason ; to intimidate the partisans of Monmouth
by enacting penalties against all who should pronounce
him the legitimate son of Charles II. or the heir to the
crown ; and to check the licentiousness of the press by
disabling all persons from holding office in church or
state, who should be convicted of having maliciously and
advisedly endeavoured to excite by word or writing
hatred or dislike of his majesty or of the government
26. established by law J. Serjeant Maynard forcibly objected
to the policy of converting words into treason ; it would
• Fox, App. V-
t Burnet says that this b'll was passed " on the general report and
" belief" of Monmouth's having landed; which ha- given birth to an un-
interesting dispute respecting Buruet's veracity between Rose and Hey-
wood. Sir J. Lowther, indeed, seems to confirm Burnet, in as much as he
says, that it was passed without examining witnesses; but both are con-
tradicted by the testimony ot the journals, that the two messengers wen
examined by the council upon oath, and bore witness to the truth of the
matter at the bar of the house. C. Journ, June 13.
X This act appears to have been the model after which was framed the
act of 36 Geo, 3. c. 7-' Serjeant Ileywoud lias printed them in parallel
columns, p. 238.
A.D. lfiSS. ] PROCEEDINGS IN THE LORDS. 23
lead to the punishment of innocence and the commission
of perjury: facts must be seen, words might be mis-
understood ; and the detection of perjury respecting facts
was comparatively easy, respecting words difficult and
often impossible. Maynard was overruled : but in con- j„ ne
sequence of his objections two provisoes were added, one, 27.
that no writing or teaching in defence of the doctrine or
discipline of the established church against popery or
other dissenting opinions should be considered an offence
within the meaning of the act ; the other, that the infor-
mation should be laid within forty-eight hours after the
words spoken, or the fact discovered, that the prosecution
should begin within six months after the offence, and
that the indictment should follow within the three sub-
sequent months. In this state the bill passed the com- 29.
mons: but the proceedings of Monmouth began to claim
the whole ( attention of government; James requested
the members to repair to their homes, and watch over
the public tranquillity, and the two houses separated by July
adjournment, that the bills already in progress might 2.
not be lost by a prorogation *.
The house of lords, where James in imitation of his May
deceased brother was constantly in attendance, dis- 1 J -
played its loyalty by joining with eagerness in the dif-
ferent votes and bills transmitted from the commons.
On the first day of the session the earls of Powis,
Danby and Tyrone, with the lords Arundell and Be-
lasyse, made their personal appearance at the bar, and
obtained a final discharge. In addition the house re-
scinded the former order stating that impeachments by
the house of commons did not abate by the prorogation
or dissolution of parliament t. This was followed by a 22.
* Mr. Fox printed the bill in his appendix, 152. Sec ;ilso C. Journ.
June 19. 26, 27. 29. Lonsdale, S, 9, Burnet, iii. 39. Rose, IS?. Hey-
wood, 218. Barillon ( Kox, ill ) says that the prat iso respecting preachers
was highly displeasing to the king and queen, and lliat in Ins ( Barillon's)
opinion its introduction accelerated the prorogation of parliament
t The order then rescinded lias since been confirmed in t lie case of
Mr. Hastings. We have now decisions of the bouse of lords that impeach-
ments do abate, and others that they do not abate, in consequence of a
24 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
bill to reverse the attainder of lord viscount Stafford, on
the ground that no doubt could any longer exist of his
innocence, or of the perjury of Titus Oates. It passed
in a very full house, and may be considered as a vindi-
cation of his memory by the same tribunal which had
June previously pronounced his condemnation. In the com-
6- mons it was read twice, and committed : but on the day
appointed for its consideration, all the committees were
12. adjourned on account of the landing of Monmouth, and
no mention was made of it afterwards, owing perhaps to
more important business which occupied the short re-
mainder of the session, perhaps to the reluctance of the
house to admit what the preamble assumed, that the
popish plot was wholly an imposture *.
From the proceedings in parliament we may now re-
vert to those of the two hostile expeditions under Mon-
mouth and Argyle. During the hitter years of Charles
many individuals who had been marked out for prose-
cution in England and Scotland, found a secure asylum
in the united provinces ; and of these, the Scottish ex-
iles, as soon as the accession of James was known,
assembled in consultation in the town of Rotterdam,
The character of their leaders has been faithfully drawn
by sir Patrick Hume, one of the number. They were
men who looked on themselves as martyrs in the cause
of religion and liberty, who gave to the pretended reve-
lations of Titus Oates the credence due to the best au-
thenticated testimony, and who never suffered a doubt
dissolution. The latter is at present the law of parliament. The con-
trary, however, has been the opinion of very eminent lawyers, such as the
lord chancellor Nottingham and lord Hale, formerly, and of lord Thurlow
and lord Kenyon in the late case of Mr. Hastings; and who can say that
it may not at some subsequent period, when party politics run high, be
again adopted?
« L. .lourn. xiv. 17. 22. 28. 0. Journ. June 4. 5, 6. 12 This act of
justice lias lately been accomplished by the reversal of the attainder.
During the debates on the continuance of the impeachment of Mr. Hust-
ings, "all parties, however differing iu other points, appear t.> have agreed
*' that Oates's plot was an imposture, and that, to use the language attri-
"• tinted loan eminent law lord in his speech on the question, lord Stafford's
" execution was a legal murder.'' Itargrave, Opinion anil Argument,
p. 147-
A.D. 1685.] CONSPIRACY OF THE EXILES. 25
to rise in their minds of the existence of a popish con-
spiracy to eradicate the profession of protestantism, and
establish as a necessary consequence the sway of arbi-
trary power both in England and Scotland. The progress
of that conspiracy had, indeed, been checked by the
executions in 1678 and the subsequent years; but the
mystery of iniquity was still working in darkness ; it had
acquired new facilities of carrying on its design ; it was
fostered by the indolence or connivance of the king, and
by the apathy of the people, who were " intoxicated by
" ease from war and taxes, and a free course of traffic
" and trade." The death of Charles was taken by them
as a confirmation of those notions. He had most cer-
tainly been poisoned by the papists ; the same faction
had raised his brother James to the throne ; and, should
that prince have leisure to consolidate his power by
raising a military force, religion and liberty would in-
evitably be banished from the two kingdoms, and not
only from them but from every country in Europe,
which dared to profess the reformed creed. From such
premises they drew the conclusion that no time was to
be lost ; that an immediate opportunity should be of-
fered to the people of England and Scotland of rallying
round the standard of protestantism and freedom, and
that the duke of Monmouth and the earl of Argyle, as
their natural leaders, should be invited to aid them with
their counsel and concurrence. Messengers with these
resolutions were instantly despatched to the two chief-
tains *.
1. Monmouth, at the death of his father, was still at
the Hague, expecting to be recalled to England, and
living in the strictest intimacy with the prince and
princess of Orange ; who, to accommodate themselves
to his habits, consented to enliven the gloom and soli-
tude of their court with a round of unusual amuse-
ments + ; and, as if they were assured of the secret
* See the narrative of sir Patrick Hume, published by Mr. Rose, 5 9.
t D'Avanx, iv. 103, 106. 109. 113. 120. The most singular thing was,
26 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
approbation of Charles, set at defiance the resentment
of James and the remonstrances of the ambassador.
But on the accession of the new king the prospect was
changed. William saw the necessity of propitiating his
father-in-law, and Monmouth, after several secret con-
ferences with the favourite Bentinck, withdrew privately
to Brussels, where he sought to persuade himself, in the
company of his mistress, Henrietta Wentworth, that the
quiet enjoyment of a retired life was preferable to the
turmoils and disappointments of ambition. But the
arrival of the messenger from the exiles dissipated the
delusion, and revived his former hopes and projects. He
repaired to them at Rotterdam, approved of their plans,
offered to risk his life in the common cause, and ex-
pressed his readiness either to accompany the English to
England, or to serve as a volunteor under Argyle in the
expedition to Scotland*.
2. Argyle manifested less pliancy of disposition.
After his escape to Holland he had withdrawn from
public notice to Leeuwarden, where he found the means
of maintaining an active correspondence with his friends
in Scotland, and of making secret preparations to re-
venge himself at some propitious moment on his enemies
in both kingdoms. His English friends had already
supplied him with a considerable sum of money, said to
he the donation of a rich widow in Holland, and the
intelligence of the king's death summoned him to Am-
sterdam, where he purchased a ship, and arms, and
ammunition. Thence he followed the messenger to Rot-
terdam, not, as he had persuaded himself, to consult but
to command. He explained his preparations to the ex-
iles, bade them commit themselves to his guidance, and
that the prince, to please Monmouth, compelled the princess to learn to
skate on the ice. " C'etoit one chose fort extraordinaire lie voir la prin-
" cesse d'Orange, avec des jupes fort courtes, et a uYnn rctruussces, el des
" pal ins do i'er a ses pies, apprendre a (,'lisser tanlot sur un pie et tantiit
" snr un autre." 121.
• Id. iv. 136. Sir P. Hume, 9. 15. Wellwood, App. .'i'.'.'t. Monmouth's
letter in Wellwood is written to Spence, the secretary of the exiles, and
appears from its contents to be the answer to their invitation.
A.D. 1685.] PLANS ARRANGED. 27
proposed lo sail without delay to Scotland. He was,
however, embarrassed by the presence of Monmouth, of
whose pretensions he betrayed considerable jealousy.
But the two chieftains met in private, adjusted their re-
spective claims, and agreed that there should be two ex-
peditions, one consisting of English adventurers under
Monmouth to land in England, the other of Scots under
Argyle to try their fortune in Scotland*.
3. There remained, however, a third party, whose con-
currence was necessary, the exiles themselves. They
were generally men of republican principles, who felt no
particular reverence for the superiority of hereditary
rank, nor cared to expose themselves to danger for the
mere purpose of setting up one monarch in the place of
another. Before they would move, they drew from Mon-
mouth, though he still gave himself out for the legiti-
mate son of his father, a solemn promise not to take the
title of king, unless it were advised by his associates as
requisite for their common success: and, even in that
case to resign it afterwards, and to content himself with
such rank as the nation should judge an adequate re-
ward for his services f. Argyle was more obstinate.
He had already, and without their aid, formed a plan of
invasion : his birth and exertions gave him, in his
opinion, a title to their obedience ; and the prediction of
an astrologer had dazzled his imagination with indis-
tinct but flattering visions of future »realness. Con-
ferences, disputes, and explanations followed: at last April
necessity compelled him to submit ; and he seated him- 7.
•Sir P. Hume, 9. 12. 15.18.
t 111. 9. 12. 14. The English exiles acted in this matter in unison with
the Scottish. " He ( Monmouth) took deep asseverations in the presence
" of God, that he intended and would do as he had spoken, and repeated
" what before is rehearsed, and said he would give the like assurances to
"the English, as he did very solemnly, whereby his greatest opposers,
" jealous of him as abovesaid (who gave me a full account of the matter, as
" likewise he himself did afterwards at Amsterdam), were cordially joined
" to him, and at peace with him." Id. 14. II' am credit he 'tic to sir
Patrick Hame, Monmouth, instead of joining in the expedition through
importunity and against his own judgment, as is sometimes said, pro-
moted it with all his might.
28 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
self at the board as one of twelve counsellors with sir
John Cochrane for their praeses or chairman. They
constituted themselves a supreme council for conducting
the enterprise, with authority to add to their number,
after their arrival in Scotland; appointed the earl of
Argyle general of the army, "with as full power as
" was usually given to generals by the free states in
" Europe ;" and committed to one of their number the
charge of drawing up a declaration of war against
James, duke of York*.
In the mean time Monmouth having received strong
assurances of support from his adherents in England,
pawned his jewels to make the necessary preparations,
and Argyle added two more ships to that which he had
previously purchased. Each party composed a mani-
festo adapted to the particular circumstances of the re-
spective countries, which was communicated to the other,
and subsequently amended, till it obtained the appro-
bation of both. To preserve the union between them,
two Englishmen, Ayloffe the lawyer, and Rumhold the
maltster, both of Rye-house notoriety, were attached to
the Scottish, and two Scots, Fletcher of Saltoun, and
Ferguson the minister, to the English expedition. They
April separated : Monmouth promised to follow within six
28. days, and the Scots, in number about three hundred
men, proceeded to their ships in the Texel. It was in
vain that the English envoy demanded their arrestation
on the faith of treaties : through the connivance of the
May Dutch authorities they were permitted to pass the Ulie
2. without molestation +.
g. On the fourth day the adventurers with a fair wind
•Id. 14.35. Crookshank, ii. 2G0.
+ Id 30,37. They went on board on tin- 28lh of April. One or their
ships had already passed the UHe.but the other two were not read] to sail
(..■tore the 2d of May. On the S8tli Skelton had laid .1.1 information be-
fore the magistrates, bui could obtain no answer before the 30th, when a
yacht sailed from Amsterdam with orders to stop the two ships: but the
captain kept ;it a distance, and reported that they were alseady under
sail. Hid that one of them had Bred on him. Compare D'Avaiix, v. 4,
with sir P. Hume, 88, 99.
AD. 1685.] ARGYLE LANDS IN SCOTLAND. 29
vuuched Cairston in the Orkneys, where Spence the
earl's secretary, and Blackadder the surgeon, were made
prisoners by the natives* ; an unfortunate occurrence,
as it revealed to the council in Edinburgh the strength
and the destination of the expedition, and taught them A
to prepare for the reception of the invaders. A procla- 2g
mation had already ordered the kingdom to be put in a May.
posture of defence ; and the vassals of Argyle had been 7.
compelled to deliver hostages for their fidelity; now 14.
bodies of militia and regulars were despatched into the
western shires ; several frigates sailed for the isles, and
all suspected persons were imprisoned unless they gave
security for their loyal behaviour. In the mean time
Argyle, taking with him four of the natives as hostages for
the lives of the captives, continued his voyage from the **■
Orkneys, and landing in Lorn and afterwards in Cantire,
published in both places the declaration, which he
brought with him from Holland. It stated at great
length, and in most inflammatory language, all the
grievances real or imaginary of the reign of Charles II.,
attributed them to " a conspiracy between popery and
" tyranny, which had been evidently disclosed by the
" cutting off of the late king, and the ascending of the
" duke of York to the throne," pronounced that prince
incapable of giving the security indispensably required
of him before his entry on the government, and de-
clared that their object was two-fold, first, the restoration
of the true protestant religion, by " the perpetual ex-
" elusion of popery, of its most bitter root and offspring
" prelacy, and of its new and wicked head the supre-
" macy,*' and secondly, the replacing of all men in their
just rights and liberties; that they would never enter
into capitulation or treaty with the said duke of York,
and would indemnify all persons, even their former
enemies, who should assist them against a persecuting
• For what purpose these gentlemen went on shore is not known. It
appears that they had the consent of Argyle ; and thai the council pro-
posed to land and liberate them by lorce, but to that the earl objected,
and seized the lour hostages mentioned afterward, Sir I'. Hume, 41.
30 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
May tyrant, and an apostate party. At Tarbet he published
• a second declaration, displaying his own wrongs, his for-
mer patience under oppression, and the reason of his
present appearance in arras, and immediately sent mes-
sengers with the fiery cross in all directions to summon
his former vassals to the aid of their natural lord *.
It would exhaust the patience of the reader to detail the
subsequent particulars of this ill-concerted and ill-fated
expedition. Few were found to rally round the boasted
standard of religion and liberly ; the Cameronians, though
they renewed their renunciation of the government of
James, could not in conscience support a cause owned by
men of a different interest from their own ; and each day-
was marked by new disappointments, and new causes of
dissension between the earl and his associates. He re-
lied on the attachment of his clansmen in the highlands;
the council of exiles on the deep resentment and more
obstinate character of the lowlanders : he sought to clear
his own country of the enemy ; they demanded to be led
into the western counties, which had so long been the
theatre of religious persecution. The controversy was
determined by the appearance of a hostile fleet on the
coast ; and Argyle having piloted his vessels through
the narrows, and left his stores with a garrison of one
June hundred and fifty men in the castle of Ellengreg, de-
]Q ' parted with the rest of his force, intending to fight his
way to the city of Glasgow. At high water the king's
ships under sir Thomas Hamilton passed in safety be-
tween the rocks : the garrison tied before a single gun
15. had been fired ; and the vessels of the invaders, the four
hostages, five thousand stand of arms, three hundred
barrels of powder, and the earl's standard with the in-
scription " Against Popery, Prelacy, and Eiastianisin,"
fell into the hands of the royalists -i\
• Ibid. 40. 46. Dalrymple, 127. Wodrow, ii. 531, 532. App. 152, 155.
State Trials, xi. 10:35, note.
+ Ibid. 46, 56. Gazette, No. 2044. Barilloa, 2 Juillet. The reader
will recollect that Erastianism was the opinion which gave to the civil
magistrate the right of deciding in matters of religion,
A. D. 1685.] IS MADE PRISONER. 31
The next day Argyle with his associates passed the June
Leven : but wherever he directed his march, he found l< >-
himself opposed or followed by strong bodies of regulars
and militia. Driven from the direct road, he attempted
to thread his way among Ihe hills and morasses ; but
his followers deserted him ; his force dwindled from two
thousand to five hundred men : and, during the dark-
ness of the night, Argyle himself, either by his own
counsel or at the suggestion of his friends, deemed it
prudent to withdraw. Accompanied by Fullarton, he 17
re-crossed the Clyde, but was overtaken and made pri-
soner at the water of the ford of Inchanan. Of the men,
whom he had abandoned, about one hundred, the volun-
teers from Holland, resumed their march, passed the
Clyde in boats, and maintained a sharp skirmish with
the royalists at Luton-bridge. Here they heard of the
capture of their leader, and, despairing of success, lied
during the night in various directions. Thus ended this
unfortunate expedition *.
Thirty-five years before (so it was reported) Argyle
from a private window in Edinburgh had gratified his
revenge with the sight of the indignities heaped on the
unfortunate marquess of Montrose. It was now bis
doom to meet with a similar reception. Bareheaded, 20
with his hands tied behind him, and preceded by the
hangman, he was made to pass under the same gate,
and through the same streets, to the castle. The judg-
ment pronounced on him in 1681 was still in force, and
the council waited only for the royal permission to put
it into execution. His conduct as an insurrectionary
leader had been marked by want of judgment and deci-
sion : but as a prisoner under a capital sentence, he dis-
played a serenity and firmness of mind, which extorted
the praise of his bitterest enemies. Of the lawfulness of
his late attempt he cherished a firm conviction: it was
• Ibid. 56— G7. Wodrow, ii. 533—537. Gazette, 9046. Borlllon, 5
Jnillet. Wodrow pretends that Argyle was deserted b) Us men: Sir P.
Hum.-, who gives a Very Circumstantial detail, assures us that he deserted
tliem.
32 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
justified by the recollection of the wrongs which he had
suffered, and by the prospect of the calamities which to
his apprehension the reign of James would inflict on the
three kingdoms ; and the cause, in which he was about
to lay down his life, was, he could not doubt it, the cause
of his country. Nerved by these considerations, he
mounted the scaffold with the high feelings of a martyr,
June f° r g ave au ms enemies, and uttered with his last breath
30. an indignant testimony against " popery and prelacy and
" all superstition whatsomever *."
Among his fellow captives the principal were his two
sons, sir John Cochrane, and Ayloffe and Rumboid. His
sons were banished ; Cochrane by an ingenuous confes-
sion to the king obtained his pardon ; but Ayloffe's
obstinacy or fidelity was proof against the offer of life,
and, after a fruitless attempt at suicide, he suffered in
England the death of a traitor. Rumboid, who had
served as a private in the parliamentary army, and as
an officer under Cromwell, was brought before the court
of justiciary, where he indignantly denied the first part
of the charge against him, that he had conspired the
death of Charles II. and his brother at the Rye-house
farm, but acknowledged the second part, that he had
been the associate of Argyle in his late attempt. He re-
26. ceived judgment, and was executed the same after-
noon t.
Monmouth had engaged to follow Argyle in the course
of six days ; yet three weeks elapsed before he left
May Amsterdam, a whole month before he joined the expe-
24.
• Wodrow, ii. 538—545.
t See Burnet, iii. 29. State Trials, xi. 874. Fox, App. 156. Wodrow,
ii. 55'2. 556. From all authorities it is plain that he denied the Rye-house
plot bed re his judges, and, if we may believe the Western Martyrology,
he repeated that denial on the scaffold. Bui the Western Martyrology is
not the best of vouchers ; and the fact is hardly consistent with the silence
of Wodrow and Fonntainhall. Indeed the very denial attributed to him
shows that there was something in the charge. " He did not deny but
" that he had heard many propositions at West's chambers, about killing
" the two brothers, and upon that he said it could have been easily exe-
" CUted near his house ; upon which some discourse had followed how it
" might have b managed: but he said it was only talk, and that no
" thing was either laid, or so much as resolved on." Crookshank, ii. 2iU.
A.D. 1685.] MONMOUTH SAILS FROM HOLLAND. 33
dition riding at the mouth of the Texel. It consisted of
a frigate of thirty-two guns, with four small tenders, of
which one was detained by the Dutch authorities, and
of eighty exiles, accompanied by an equal number of
.servants or followers. With this inconsiderable force
the unfortunate adventurer undertook, to win the crowns
of three kingdoms ; but his hopes were buoyed up with
the expectation that multitudes would hasten to his
standard ; and under this persuasion he carried with
him, instead of soldiers, equipments for an army of
cavalry and infantry to the amount of five thousand
men *.
The boisterous state of the weather had relaxed the
vigilance of the royal cruisers; and Monmouth seized'^/
a favourable moment to set sail, stole unobserved down
the Channel, and on the 1 1th of June appeared in front J une
of the small port of Lyme in Dorsetshire. The moment
he landed on the beach, he offered on his knees a fer-
vent prayer for the success of the enterprize, and then,
drawing his sword, marched at the head of his followers,
into the town. The mayor and principal inhabitants
had lied ; but the lower classes were summoned round
a blue Hag planted in the market-place, where they
listened to " The declaration of James, duke of Mon-
" mouth, and the noblemen, gentlemen, and others in
" arms for the defence and vindication of the protestant
" religion, and the laws, rights, and privileges of Eng-
" land." In this instrument, (the tone and acrimony of
which betrayed its real author, Ferguson the minister,)
James is pronounced an usurper, and therefore desig-
nated by his former title of duke of York ; the whole
course of his life is described as " one continued con-
" spiracy against the reformed religion and the rigbts
" of the nation ;"* and to him are attributed the burninsr
of London, the confederacy against the protestant state
of Holland, the support of the popish plot, the murder
of Godfrey, the subornation of witnesses to. swear away
* C. Jouin. Juue 15. BaiilloD, 23 Juin.
VOL. XIII. O
34 JA1IES II. [chap 1.
the lives of the patriots, the assassination of the earl of
Essex, and of those who were privy to that assassination,
and the dissolution of several succeeding parliaments,
that they might not bring him to justice, and make him
suffer the punishment due to these crimes. From his
offences during the life of the late king, the declaration
passes to those which he committed " after he had
" snatched the crown from the head of his brother." He
had authorized the practice of idolatry, he had invaded
the property of every Englishman by levying taxes with-
out authority, he had polluted the fountains of justice
by placing on the bench men who were a scandal to the
bar, he had packed juries, had granted illegal charters,
and had converted the fences against tyranny into the
means of establishing despotism. On all these accounts
the duke of Monmouth and his associates declare war
against him as a murderer, a traitor, and a tyrant, and
engage never to admit of any accommodation with him,
but to continue the war till they shall have brought him
and all hi* adherents to condign punishment.
It then proceeds to describe the object of the invaders.
They intend to establish the protestant religion "beyond
" all probability of its being supplanted ;" to abolish all
penal laws against protestant dissenters, and all san-
guinary laws against any religionists whatsoever; to
procure annual parliaments, which cannot be dissolved,
or prorogued, or adjourned, before petitions have been
answered and grievances redressed ; to have upright
judges, holding their places during their good behaviour,
and subject to the approbation of parliament ; to restore
the ancient charters, to repeal the militia and corpora-
tion acts, to place the choice of sheriffs in the freeholders
of the counties, and to allow no standing army but by the
authority of parliament.
In conclusion it charges the king with having, in order
to expedite the idolatrous and bloody designs of the
papists, to gratify his own boundless ambition, and to
prevent all inquiry into the murder of the earl of Essex,
A.D. 1665.] MEETS WITH LITTLE ENCOURAGEMENT. 35
poisoned his late brother, a brother who loved him so
as to endanger his own crown to save him from punish-
ment : wherefore the duke of Monmouth, in revenge of
the horrid and barbarous parricide committed upon his
father, will pursue the said James duke of York as a
mortal and bloody enemy, and will endeavour to have
justice executed upon him. Not that Monmouth doth
at present insist on his own title — that he leaves to the
wisdom, justice, and authority of parliament— but he
acts as head and captain -general of the protestant forces
of the kingdom, and in that quality he promises to pro-
mote the passing into laws of all the improvements pre-
viously mentioned, that it may never more be in the
power of a single man to subvert the rights and liberties
of the people *.
When Monmouth published this declaration, so in-
temperate in its language, so slanderous in its assertions,
he must have been intoxicated with the assurance of
success, or have made up his mind to conquer or die.
From the king it is evident that after such wanton and
bitter provocation he could expect no mercy. Neither
was it calculated to make a favourable impression on the
public. The falsehood and enormity of many of the
charges shocked the feelings of considerate men : the
liberty offered to dissenters and the allusion to his own
claim united against him the friends of the established
church and those of hereditary descent ; and the notion
that he aspired to the crown, a notion which his affected
moderation served rather to confirm than discounte-
nance, taught thousands to stand aloof, whom their pre-
dilection for a commonwealth would otherwise have
collected round his banners. Not a nobleman, not a
gentleman of interest or opulence openly ventured to
declare in his favour. But the religious and political
prejudices of the populace were excited: they crowded
to offer their services : arms were distributed, companies
• See it in Someis, Tracts, iv. Collect, torn. ii. p. 190 State Trials, xi
I
i
36 JAMES II. LCHAP. I.
June formed, and officers appointed ; and on the fourth day
15 * Monmouth marched from Lyme at the head of four
regiments, amounting in all to more than three thousand
men.
Previously, however, two events had happened, cal-
culated to make him think seriously on the want of
discipline and subordination among his followers. 1. The
two men, on whose immediate services he chiefly relied,
were Fletcher of Saltoun in Scotland, and Dare of
Taunton in Somersetshire. The intrepidity of Fletcher
had been proved in several encounters, the superiority
of his military knowledge was universally acknowledged.
Dare had once been a goldsmith at Taunton ; afterwards,
in quality of a broker at Amsterdam, he had conducted
the correspondence between the malcontents in both
countries; and now he held the offices of secretary and
paymaster, and had proved his influence among his
countrymen by inducing forty horsemen to join the army
13 the clay after landing. It happened that Dare made his
appearance at their head on a beautiful and spirited
charger, better adapted in the opinion of Fletcher for the
u>e of a military officer than of a civilian. The Scot
seized and claimed the horse : the secretary resisted, and
in the struggle was shot with a pistol through the head.
The new levies instantly assembled, and demanded the
punishment of the assassin ; and Monmouth, to screen
him from their vengeance, placed Fletcher under arrest,
sent him on board one of his vessels, and ordered the
captain to sail to the coast of Spain. This untoward
occurrence was a subject of regret and a source of mis-
fortune to the duke : it deprived him both of the only-
officer to whom he could safely trust the military com-
mand, and also of a man who possessed the most exten-
sive influence among the lower classes of the natives*.
2. A body of four hundred men under the command
•Wade, in Miscellaneous State Papers, ii. 317- Heywood, \] p. 29.
Monmouth's vessels which remained .ii Lyme were taken by some frigates,
with a j^ieat uumber of cuirasses. Barillou, 5 Jnillet
A.D. 1685.] TAKES THE TITLE OF KING. 37
of lord Grey, was ordered to drive the militia out of the
neighbouring town of Bridport. They surprised the
bridge at the entrance, and pushed through the long J i' ne
street, till two men fell from a volley of musketry. Grey
with the cavalry instantly tied ; Venner, who com-
manded the foot, followed their example, and the panic
instantly spread through the whole force. By the spirited
conduct of major Wade, who repeatedly turned on the
pursuers, the retreat was effected with inconsiderable
loss : but the skirmish proved to the conviction of the
duke that little reliance was to be placed on the military
prowess of lord Grey, or on the steadiness of men
unused to the casualties of a field of battle *.
In no part of England had the fanatical and anti-
monarchical principles, which prevailed under the com-
monwealth, taken deeper root than in Dorsetshire and
Devonshire. If their growth had been checked by the
restoration, they were still kept alive by religious perse-
cution ; and it was well known that the great body of
the inhabitants, a hardy and turbulent race, cherished a
strong antipathy to the existing government, and were
ready to rise at the call of any man, who should profess
to fight the battle of the Lord against popery and arbi-
trary power. Hence it was to them that the council of
six in the last reign had looked for their principal sup-
port in the event of an insurrection, and among them
that Monmouth had now determined to seek an army of
resolute anil enthusiastic followers. From Lyme he
hastened to Taunton, a rich and populous town, where
he was received with loud acclamations, as the saviour
of the country. The inhabitants presented him with a
stand of colours richly embroidered ; twenty young
maidens, in their gayest attire, came in procession
to offer him a naked sword and a pocket bible, and the
duke assured them in return, that his chief object was to
defend the truths contained in that sacred book, and to
seal them, if it were necessary, with his blood. But
• WaUe, ibid. 317—321. Dalrymple, 129.
38 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
this Hattering reception revived his ambition, and he
began to feel uneasy under the promise which had been
extorted from him at Rotterdam, and which he bad so
recently published in his declaration. It was asked in
council whether, considering all the circumstances, it
were not expedient and necessary that he should assume
the insignia of royalty ; the republicans found them-
selves outvoted by his favourites and flatterers ; and the
adventurer took on himself by solemn proclamation the
June title of king James II. Nor did he delay to exercise
20. his new powers. He touched children for the evil,
declared the duke of A lbemarle, who lay with a body
of militia at a short distance, a traitor *, pronounced the
two houses of parliament, unless they should disperse
within ten days, seditious assemblies, ordered the cus-
toms and excise to be levied for his service, and set a
price on the head of the usurper of the crown, James
duke of York f-
That prince, though cheered by the votes of parlia-
ment, was not without strong grounds of disquietude.
He dared not trust the decision of the contest to the
militia of the counties, whose fidelity was as doubtful, as
their inexperience was certain : of the regular force,
which in the whole kingdom did not exceed five thousand
men, a great portion was required to awe the metropolis,
in which, it was supposed that Monmouth had a con-
siderable party, and where two hundred suspected per-
sons were placed under arrest as a measure of precau-
tion ; and in the three Scottish regiments, which were
sent to his assistance by the States, it was discovered
that many of the officers had been previously seduced
from their allegiance by the exiles. Unable for the mo-
ment to arrest the progress of his opponent, he gave the
command to lord Feversham, with instructions to secure
* Bee tlic papers which passed between them in Mr. Ellis's First Scries
of Original Letters, iii. 340. Also Dalrymple, 131.
j There have been many disputes respecting tin- origin of this measure.
I think it plain from Wade (ji'j'2, 323), that it came from Monmouth him-
self, and was advocated hy lord (jrcy and Ferguson.
A. D. 1665.] DESPAIR OF MONMOUTH. 39
Bristol, but not to hazard a battle without a regular
force ; ordered the bodies of militia to surround the
enemy at convenient distances, that they might check
his motions, and intercept his supplies; and gave the
Scottish regiments to understand that, as soon as they
had recovered from the fatigue of their voyage, they
should proceed to the defence of their own country*.
Monmouth, on the other hand, reaped little benefit
from the assumption of royalty. He wandered from
place to place without any apparent object. No person
of quality offered his services ; his friends in the capital
and the country remained quiet ; Bath and Bristol
refused to admit him within their gates ; and, if the
militia constantly retired before him, yet his rear was as
constantly pressed by several squadrons of cavalry.
Despondency succeeded to confidence ; he became fret-
ful, melancholy, and indolent ; and, when he received
at Frome the news of the fate of Argyle, he exclaimed
that his last hope was gone, and in an agony of despair June
proposed to the principal officers to desert their followers - 7 -
in the night, ride to the nearest sea-port, seize on a
boat, and commit themselves to the mercy of the winds
and waves. But from this unworthy counsel he was
diverted by the spirited expostulation of lord Grey, who,
whatever he might be in the field, showed no want of
energy in the cabinet. After several contradictory reso-
lutions, it was resolved to cross the Avon at Keynsham-
bridge, the Severn at Gloucester, and to march along
the right bank of the last river till they should be joined
by their friends from Cheshire : but Vunner and Mason,
two of his most distinguished partisans, dissenting from
this advice, and conceiving themselves released from
their obligations to him, made their escape t.
The duke still lay at Bridgewater, when the royal
army reached Somerton. Not a moment was lost, and
* Fox, App. 113. BariUon. 25, 23 Jain, 9 Juillet. Mem. of James,
ii 36.
t Wade 327.
40 JAMES II. [CHAP. 1.
his men were already filing out of the town, when addi
tional news arrived that Feversham had quartered his
cavalry, five hundred strong, in the village of Weston,
and had encamped his infantry to the amount of twi
thousand regulars on Sedgemoor. It thus became doubt-
ful whether he could reach Keynsham before his oppo-
nents, and a resolution was therefore taken to surprise
the royal camp during the night. Having distributed a
considerable quantity of liquor among his troops, he led
them from Bridge water by a circuitous route to avoid
the patroles on the road, and reached the edge of the
moor about one in the morning. But his arrival was
soon discovered, and the alarm given ; lord Grey, with
five squadrons of horse, pushed forward to burst without
July delay into the camp; but their advance was suddenly
6 arrested by a broad ditch lined on the opposite bank
with the royal infantry ; and, as they rode along the
margin to discover a passage, a few volleys compelled
them to wheel to the right; when, after a skirmish in
the dark with their own men, this body of cavalry was
totally dispersed *. Another body of three squadrons,
under colonel Jones, had followed the first. They made
a gallant attempt to force the passage of the ditch, but
were repulsed and formed again at a distance. Mon-
mouth, as soon as the action began, ordered the foot to
advance with the utmost expedition: they halted at
the distance of eighty paces from the enemy, and con-
. tinued to fire for a considerable time, though they were
answered only by the royal artillery. In the meanwhile
Feversham had brought the cavalry from Weston, and
posted them on the right Hank of the enemy. The mo-
ment it became light, he ordered the infantry to cross
the ditch ; the cavalry charged at the same time; the
insurgents, after a short resistance with scythes and
• It was alleged that Monmouth and liis follower-, knew not of the
exislciu f the ditch. This I think doubtful: al all events it is plain,
from Paschull'e account, that it wai pageable in different parts, anil wo
find that lire iuy.il infantry actually passed it in face of the enemy tu
charge them.
A. D. 1685. CAPTURE OF MONMOUTH AND GREY. 41
the butt-ends of their muskets, were broken ; and the
moor was covered with scattered parties of runaways
and pursuers in every directions. The victors lost three
hundred men in killed and wounded : of the van-
quished five hundred fell on the Celd, and thrice that
number were made prisoners *.
It might have been expected that Monmouth, aware
of the doom which must be his lot, if he should fall into
the hands of his enemies, would have preferred to
perish in the company of the brave men, whom he had
induced to risk their lives in his service. But he was
already several miles from the field of battle. Under
the persuasion that his followers, however numerous,
were unable to cope with a disciplined force, he had
placed all his hopes of success on the confusion which
might be created by a nocturnal surprise ; and the
moment he learned from lord Grey that the royalists
were on their guard, and had repulsed the cavalry, he
left the army under the covert of darkness, and in the
company of Grey and Busse, an officer formerly in the
service of the elector of Brandenberg, proceeded at full
gallop along the road leading to the north. From the
summit of an eminence they turned to take a last view
of the field, witnessed the sanguinary defeat of their
adherents, and, resuming their pace, hastened to the
Mendip-liills, where they disguised their persons, and
turned towards the New Forest, in the hope of procur-
ing on that coast some conveyance beyond the sea. On
Cranborn Chase they quitted their horses, and, letting
them loose, proceeded on foot. But the result of the
action at Sedgemoor was already known ; and parties of
cavalry from Kingwood and Pool were scouring the
country to prevent the escape of the fugitives. Early
in the morning lord Grey and the guide were made pri-
* I have given the best account I could collect of this battle from the
official pagjr i'i rlaynes, ii. 305. 314. Wade, ibid, 339. Paachall in
Heywood, App. 29. 37.40,41.43. Barillon, 9 Juillet DalrVmple, 132.
134, James, ii 30 Burnet, iii. 30. Unmet, iii. 48. Ecliard, 1065; and
Evelyn, who says that most of the slain were Mendip miners, iii. 164.
42 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
J"ly soners at the junction of two cross-roads: Monmouth
'■ and Busse had time to hurst through a hedge, and con-
ceal themselves in the fields : but they had been seen
by a woman, who gave information ; lord Lumley and
colonel Portman, the commanding officers, agreed to
divide the reward, 5000/., between their respective par-
ties ; a line of sentinels was drawn in a circle round the
spot ; and the rest of the men were employed to beat the
enclosures. During the remainder of the day the two
fugitives eluded the search of the pursuers : but at five
the next morning the Brandenburgher was taken, who
owned that he had parted from the duke only four hours
before. At seven, Monmouth himself was discovered,
8. lying in a ditch, and covered with fern. The captors
conducted him to Kingwood, whence, after two days'
repose, he was removed to the capital*.
From the timidity of Monmouth in the field, it could
not be expected that he would face with steadiness thp
death which now awaited him on the scaffold. By the act
of attainder he was already condemned, and could have no
hope of life but from the pity or generosity of the king.
But what claim had he on that prince ? Twenty months
had not elapsed since he had obtained the pardon of
James on a solemn promise to be the first to draw the
sword in defence of his rights ; and yet he had ungrate-
fully levied an army against him, had set the crown on
his own head, had publicly declared the king a mur-
derer, a tyrant, and an usurper, and had announced to
the world that on account of his crimes he would pursue
him to the death. Still, in the face of this provocation,
the love of life taught him not to despair, and from
Kingwood he wrote to James a supplicatory letter, ex-
pressive of his deep remorse for his ingratitude and
rebellion, attributing the blame to the counsels of " false
"and horrid" companions; and soliciting the favour of
a personal interview, as much for the king's sake as for
• Account of the Manner of Taking the late Duke of Monmouth. Hat-
ill Miscellany, vi. 321. Gazette, 2058.
a.u. 1685.] monmouth's interview with the king. 43
his own. He had that to reveal which he could not
commit to paper, that which would secure to the
monarch a long and happy reign. A single word, did
he dare write it, would be sufficient to prove his repent-
ance for the past, and his loyalty for the future. To this
letter he added two others of similar import, one to
Rochester, the favourite minister, and another to the
queen dowager, who had repeatedly interceded in his
favour with the last sovereign *.
Monmouth, on his arrival in London, was conducted, July
in company with Grey, to the apartment of Chiffinich at 13 -
Whitehall. After dinner, having his arms loosely tied
behind him, he was introduced to the king, who re-
ceived him in the presence of Sunderland and Middle-
ton, the two secretaries of state. He threw himself on
his knees, and implored forgiveness in the most passion-
ate terms : but to James his protestations of remorse
and attachment appeared too vehement and extrava-
gant to deserve credit, and his solicitations for life too
abject for one who boasted of royal blood in his veins,
and had undertaken to act the part of a king. In ex-
tenuation of his offence he urged that he had been
deceived by messages from England, and by the advice
of the exiles in Holland, on whom he liberally bestowed
the appellation of rogues and villains. The declaration
had been composed by Ferguson, and the royal title had
been forced upon him against his own judgment and
inclination. This he said in general : what particular
information he communicated did not transpire ; but
so much is certain, that he made no disclosure answer-
able to the pretensions set forth in his letter. He then
threw himself a second time on his knees, supplicating
for mercy; but James replied, that by usurping the title
of king he had rendered himself incapable of pardon ;
and, reminding him of his early education under the
Oratorians in Paris, requested to know if he wished for
* State Trials, xi. 1072, note. Clar. Concsn. i. 143. Ellis, iii. 343 lia-
rfllOD, -.'3 Juliet. See note f li).
44 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
the aid of a catholic priest? Monmouth instantly
asked, Was there then no hope ? but the king was silent,
and lord Dartmouth received orders to conduct him to
the Tower. In the carriage he implored the protection
of that nobleman, offered to accept of life on any terms,
threw the blame of his usurpation on every one but him-
self, and betrayed a meanness of spirit, which excited
pity and surprise *.
The interview with Monmouth has subjected the
king to much severe, but perhaps unmerited, censure.
He has been accused of want of feeling, in consenting to
behold a nephew on his knees with a predetermination
not to grant him mercy, and of cruelty in adding to the
sufferings of his victim by exciting hopes which he was
resolved to disappoint. But his predetermination to
refuse the prayer of the criminal has been assumed with-
out any proof; and the interview itself was not of the
king's seeking : it was reluctantly granted by him as a
favour to the prayers of Monmouth, and of Monmouth's
intercessors, and on the representation that the disclo-
sures to he made by the prisoner would, on account of
their superior importance, cancel his crimes of treason
and usurpation. In such circumstances the refusal of
the interview might, with greater reason, have been ad-
duced as a proof of cruelty. As to the alleged relation-
ship of uncle and nephew, it could not operate with
much force on the mind of a prince, who disputed the
history of Monmouth's birth. Lucy Barlowe had other
lovers at the Hague, in addition to Charles Stuart ; and
• James, ii. 36. 40. Heresby, 212. Dairy mple, 134. Barillon, 23 .luil-
let. Kuse, App. 65. Mazure, ii. 8. These authorities show that no
credit is due to the account of this interview in Keunet. — Of Monmouth's
discourse with lord Dartmouth in the carriage as they proceeded to the
Tower, this statement is given by the son of that nobleman :— Mini-
" mouth pressed him in a most indecent manner to intercede once
" more with the king for his life on any terms. M\ father said the king
" had told him the truth, which was, that he had made ii impracticable to
" save his life, by having declared bimsell king. ' That's my misfortune,'
"said he, 'and those that i>ut me upon it will fare better themselves;'
" and then told him that lord Qreyhad threatened to leave him on his
" first landing, if he did not do it." Buruet, hi. 51, note.
A..D. 1685.] THE DUCHESS VISITS MONMOUTH. 45
it was the belief not only of James, but of many besides
James, that the real father of her child was colonel
Robert Sydney *.
On the removal of Monmouth, Grey was introduced.
His manner and language offered a striking contrast to
that of the leader, whom he had followed. His beha-
viour to the king was respectful, and his answers to the
royal questions were delivered with modesty and firm-
ness : but he made no disclosure, and asked for no
favour. James himself could not abstain from allowing
him the praise of resolution. Monmouth received no-
tice to prepare for death within forty-eight hours : Grey,
who had not been attainted, was reserved for trial ac-
cording to the due course of law t.
The first person who visited the duke in the Tower,
was his wife, in company with the lord privy seal, the earl
of Clarendon. Few persons thought that she could feel
much interest in the fate of a husband who, though she
had brought him a princely fortune, had always treated
her with neglect, and for the last two years had deserted
her for a rival, Henrietta Wentworth. But she deemed it
her duty to preserve the inheritance of the Buccleugh
family for her children, and with that view was anxious
to prove to the king that she had no participation in the
treason of her lord. Monmouth received her coldly, but
improved the opportunity to plead his cause with lord
Clarendon, in the same manner as he had so recently
done with lord Dartmouth. Clarendon replied that the
sole object of their visit was to afford him the opportu-
nity of speaking in private, if he wished it, with the
duchess: that to excuse himself by accusing his ad-
visers was useless. The plea had been once admitted,
and he had been pardoned. He could not expect the
same result a second time. Monmouth, however, per-
sisted in the use of similar arguments till he was inter-
rupted by the duchess inquiring, whether she had ever
* .lames, i. 491. Evelyn, iii. 168. MacpheiBOD, i. 77.
t Dalrymple, 134. Barillon, 20 Juillet.
14.
46 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
received any information from him respecting his late
attempt, or had approved of his political conduct for
some years, or had ever given him occasion of displea-
sure on any question, except it were his attachment, to
other women, and his disobedience to the late king. He
replied that he had found her a loving and dutiful con-
sort, had no charge to make against her as wife, mother,
or subject, and had been frequently advised by her to
pay greater deference than he had done to the commands
of his deceased father*.
July After their departure the unfortunate prisoner con-
tinued to delude himself with the hope of saving his life,
and spent the night in devising plans to move the pity,
or subdue the resolution of the king. In the morning
he despatched letters or messages to James +, to the
queen regnant, to the queen dowager, and to the lords
Annandale, Dover, Tyrconnel, and Arundell. He of-
fered to profess himself a catholic: he solicited a second
interview with the king; he prayed at least for a respite
of a few days ; a petition which might naturally arise
from his love of life, but which was attributed to his
faith in the prediction of an astrologer, that if he should
survive the feast of St. Swithin (the next day), he should
live afterwards many years. But these efforts were
fruitless. Lord Feversham came, indeed, to receive his
communication for the king ; but it proved a mere repe-
tition of his discourse of the preceding day, and the
bishops of Ely and Bath and Wells soon afterwards ar-
rived to prepare him for death on the following morn-
* See the account of this interview in the Buccleugh MS. published by
Mr. Hose, Ap)>. p. 65. From iis contents I eolleet that the object of the
duchess was such as I have represented it in the test, Barilloo >,i\s
that their language was " assez aigre de par; el amir, el nu'il no lui parln
qu'avec dedain,'' ^Barillon, 26 Juillet ; Dalrymple, 188); expressions
much too strong, if their conversation has been faithfullj recorded in the
MS. Evelyn (Diary, iii. 167) and liurnet (iii. 50 I »aj thai thej treated
each other coldly. See alio EUresby, 213, and lite of James, ii. 37, in
which we are told that when he tn st beard of the wish of the duchess
to see him, he disowned her, instead of sajinjj; that she might beinlro-
duoed.
+ The letter to the kin;r Ins been published 1)' Mr. Ellis, first series,
iii. .'i; .
A.D. 1685.] HE DISPUTES WITH THE BISHOPS. 47
ing *. At the announcement he seemed lost in an
agony of terror : but the struggle was quickly over • the
very absence of hope restored the serenity of his mind;
and from that moment he was able to look, death in the
face with an air of composure which assumed almost the
appearance of indifference.
It was not long before the two prelates discovered
that they had undertaken no very grateful task. Mon-
mouth had imbibed opinions which shocked their ortho-
doxy, and adhered to them with a pertinacity which
embarrassed their zeal. They considered the profession
of the doctrine of passive obedience an indispensable test
of adhesion to the church of England : he strenuously
maintained the lawfulness of resistance to authority in
cases of oppression. They looked upon him as guilty of
the sin of rebellion, and responsible for the blood which
had been shed in his quarrel : he denied that there was
anything sinful in the attempt, though he should cer-
tainly feel regret if it had occasioned the loss of a single
soul among the men who perished on his account. They
called on him to repent of his adulterous connection with
lady Harriet YVentworth : he replied that his union with
that lady (though she had already borne him a child f)
was innocent in the sight of heaven. He had, indeed,
married the heiress of Buccleugh : but he was then too
young to understand the nature of the contract; and
the consequence of this premature union was, that for
several years he indulged without restraint in every
vicious gratification. At length he saw the lady Har-
* Burni't, iii. 51. James (Memoirs), ii. 40. Reresby, 213. " M\
" uncle," says lonl Dartmouth, " showed me several charms that were, tied
" about him when lie was taken ; and hifl table hook was full of astrological
•' figures, which nobody could understand. He told my uncle that they
" had been given him sume years before in Scotland, but said lie now bund
" they were hut foolish conceits." Burnet, iii. 51, note. Barillon says
that, iii the book.il y avoil dea secrets de magie et denchantment nvec des
chansons, des recettes pour des maladies, el des prieres. Maxnre,ii. 9
Barillon, 26 Juillet. The charms were supposed to have the power of
opening the doors of a pi Iron, and of curing the wounds received in battle.
Reresby, ibid.
t " Dont il a un enfant." Barillon, 2G Juillet.
48 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
riet. He loved, and was loved by her : both prayed that
God would root out this mutual affection, if it were dis-
pleasing to him. But it continued to grow: its growth
was to them a proof of the divine approbation ; and from
that moment he sought by prayer and fasting to obtain
the mastery over' his passions, and carefully abstained
from all commerce with other women. The lady Har-
riet was his real, the duchess of Monmouth nothing
more than his legal, wife. Unable to convince him of
his error, they refused to administer the sacrament, and
with difficulty obtained from him a promise to recom-
mend the matter to God during the night, and to pray
that his mind might be enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
July The next morning he was visited at his request, and
1 5. with the royal permission, by Dr. Hooper, afterwards bi-
shop of Bath and Wells, and by Dr. Tennison, afterwards
archbishop of Canterbury. These divines concurred in
doctrine with the two prelates: but Monmouth had
prayed : no change of sentiment followed his prayer ; and
on that account he was more confirmed in his former opi-
nions. His children by the duchess, who for precaution
had been sent to the Tower when their father took the title
of king* , were now introduced, and were followed by
that lady herself, whom he received with a greater show
of kindness than on her former visit. He repeated what
he had previously said in her praise, acknowledged that
for the last year she had held no correspondence with him
even by letter, and begged her to forgive his failings,
and continue her kindness to their children. At these
words she sunk to the ground, embraced his knees, and
requested him to pardon her, if she had given him just
cause of offence. But her frame was too delicate to sup-
port the poignancy of her feelings, and she was carried
away senseless in the arms of her attendants. " Noe
" bystanders," says the author of the narrative, " could
• It has sometimes been said that the duchess was confined with her
children. But she went there voluntarily, to take care of them. " Ma
dame de Monmouth a voulu les y auivre. liarillon, 23 Juillet.
A.D. 1685.] AND IS BEHEADED. 49
" see this, the mourningest scene in the world, without
" melting in tears: he (Monmouth) did not show the
" least concernedness."
At ten the prisoner was conducted to the place of ex-
ecution on Tower-hill. On the scaffold his reverend and
right reverend assistants renewed their exhortations
with an importunity, which, though it arose from a sense
of duty, appeared to many to savour of hard-heartedness.
They extorted from him an acknowledgment of sorrow
for the hlood which had been shed, and prevailed on him
after some demur to utter a tardy and reluctant amen to
the prayer for the king : but on the two other subjects,
the doctrine of non-resistance, and the lawfulness of his
connection with Harriet Wentworth, he retained his
former opinion. The only speech which he had pre-
pared was in defence of that lady. He declared that she
was " a woman of virtue and honour, a virtuous and
" godly woman : that he had committed no sin with her,
'" and that what had passed between them was honest
'• and innocent in the sight of God." While he was pre-
paring himself for the block, the four divines prayed, but
in terms which indicated their opinion of his spiritual
blindness, "that God would accept his repentance — his
" imperfect repentance — his general repentance." But
Monmouth was still unmoved. He had already told
them that he repented of whatever evil he had com-
mitted ; that God had forgiven him his sins ; and that
he should die with cheerfulness and like a lamb, not
because he was naturally without fear, but because he
felt within him a supernatural assurance that he was
ascending to heaven.
There is something most appalling in the conclusion of
this tragedy. Monmouth warned the headsman not to
mangle him, as he had mangled lord Russell ; and the
very admonition seems to have unnerved the man for
the execution of his task. He took his aim so unskil-
fully, or struck so feebly, that he inflicted but a slight
gash, and the sufferer, raising his body from the block
vol. xm. t
50 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
turned his head to the left side, as if he meant to com-
plain. After two more strokes, life seemed to be extinct,
and the executioner, alarmed at his own bloody work,
threw down the axe, asserting with an oath that his
heart faded him, and that he would do no more. But
the sheriffs compelled him to resume the implement of
death, and at the fifth blow he severed the head from
the body *.
While the leader thus paid the forfeit of his ambition
in the capital, his followers in the country were aban-
doned to the mercy or discretion of the conquerors.
Some of the royal commanders displayed their loyalty by
the execution of martial law on the rebel prisoners ; and
of these the most active was Colonel Kirk, a roue;h sol-
dier from Tangier, of whose wanton and unfeeling bar-
barity stories were related, which, if true, ought to have
rendered him an object of horror to every human being,
but which probably were false, since they did not prevent
him from being caressed and distinguished by the prince
who expelled James from the throne. To such proceed-
ings an end was put by the peremptory order of the
• See for ;ill these particulars the tiuccleugh MS in Rose, Apy>. 65.
Account of the execution of the duke of Monmouth, Blgned by the lour
divines and tin: sheriffs, Somers, Tracts, Collect, i. vol. i. )>. 216. Letter
from Lloyd, bishop of St. Asaph, to Pell, bishop of Oxford, in Hearne's
Hemingfonle, i. 177' Barillon, 26 Juillet. Reresby, 213. Evelyn, iii. 167-
Dalrymple, 135. Gazette, i03:>. 1m hard, 1037. State Trials, xi. 1068—
1083. On the scaffold Monmouth delivered to the sheriffs a paper Btating
that he had taken the title of king through compulsion, and acknowledging
that he had been assured of his own illegitimacy by his father ; wherefore
he prayed that Ids children might not be made to surfer on account of his
offences. That prayer was granted, in as much as James restored every
thing to the family with the exception of the English title : but I question
the story of his having called on the duchess the day after the execution at
breakfast, and given her a remission of her husband's forfeiture. It is not
noticed by the author of the Buccleugh MS., who wrote his narrative thut
day, and merely says that the king was exceedingly satisfied with her con-
duct, and had assured her that he would take care of her and her children :
nor by Barillon, who writes on August 3, that she had twice been in com-
pany with the king and queen; and it is inconsistent with the proceedings
which took place in Scotland respecting the trial and I rleituie of Mon-
mouth on the 21st of December, and the judgment « iiirh was pronounced
on the loth of February. See them in Howell's State Trials, zi. 1023 —
1067. Barillon, on June". 1686, mentions the restoration of the property
as having recently occurred (Dalrym pie, App. I68)j and Clarendon also
on June 12. Clar. Corresp. 444.
A.D. 1G85] TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF LISLE.- 51
kinf? •' not tliat he sought to release the rebels from the
consequences of their guilt ; — for the danger to which
the throne and the church had been exposed from the
fanatical and republican principles of the insurgents
called in the opinion of many for a severe and memor-
able example * — but that he wished the punishment to
follow according to due course of law, and after the forms
of criminal justice. With this view a commission was
appointed, consisting of Jeffreys, who three months
Defore had been raised to the peerage, of Montague, the
chief baron, and of three puisne judges. On account of • 3lU '~-
the danger to which they might be exposed in the re-
volted counties, they were accompanied by a strong
military escort, the command of which, with the tempo-
rary rank of lieutenant-general, was entrusted to Jef-
freys ; and it was probably this singular union of the
military with the judicial character, that induced the
wits to give to his progress during the circuit the nick-
name of " Jeffreys' campaign t."
They opened the commission at "Winchester, where
the only trial connected with Monmouth's invasion, was .„
that of Alicia Lisle, the relict of him who had been one
of the judges of Charles I., a joint commissioner of the
great seal, and chief judge of the High Court of Justice
under the commonwealth. The offence with which this
aged female was charged offers a sufficient reason why
she was called to plead for her life ; though some writers
have sought it in the revengeful disposition of the cava-
liers, anxious to punish on the widow the sins of her
husband, and others in the displeasure occasioned by
the countenance which she had always given to the doc-
trines of the " good old cause." After the battle two of
the combatants, Nelthorpe, an outlaw on account of the
• " Such an inundation of phanatica and men of impious principles must
" nerds have caused universal disorder, cruelty, injustice, rapine, sacrilege,
" and confusion, an unavoidable civil war, ami misery without end "
vn, iii. 16'.*, 170.
+ James himself gives it this name in two letters to the prince .it
Orange. Dalryrople, 165.
e2
52 . JAMES II. [chap. I.
Rye-house plot, and Hicks, an obnoxious non-conformist
minister, had found an asylum in her house, and had
been denied by her to colonel Penruddock, who had re-
ceived information of their concealment. At her trial
she put to the court this very pertinent question, whether
she could be convicted of harbouring a traitor, before the
person so harboured had himself been convicted of
treason : and, when Jeffreys overruled the objection on
the ground that it was sufficient to prove that she had
been cognizant of the treason *, she maintained that of
Nelthorpe she knew nothing, as she had not even heard
his name, and Hicks she had received under the suppo-
sition that a warrant was issued against him for some
breach of the conventicle act. That this excuse was in
truth a mere pretence must be evident to any one who
attends to the unwilling testimony of the witnesses but
the jury, consisting of some of the first commoners in
the county, sought to give her the benefit of the least
doubt, and inquired of the court if there were sufficient
proof of her knowledge that Hicks had been in the rebel
army. Jeffreys in strong language expressed his sur-
prise at such a question. They might, indeed, doubt,
and of the fact they were the judges ; but for his own
part he thought the proof as strong as proof could be t.
• This was contrary to the doctrine of Hale, that such person should
not be tried on a separate indictment till the principal was convicted,
because the receiver is so far an accessary, that he cannot be guilty if the
principal be innocent. State Trials, xi. 371, note.
t Burnet's account of the trial abounds with inaccuracies. Giving
credit to the public prints (Coke, ii. 339.) lie tells us that the jury re-
turned twice a verdict of not guilty, anil were at last compelled to return a
verdict of guilty by a threat of attaint from the judge : but of these three
verdicts there appears no notice either in the printed ti i.il, or in the paper
which Mrs. 1. isle delivered to the sheriffs at her death. Moreover, if we
may believe him, Jeffreys " affirmed to the jury on his honour that the
"persons had confessed that they had been with the duke, which was
"the turning a witness against her." (Jlurnet, lii. 60.) Hut this is a
representation calculated to mislead the reader. After a long ami most
severe examination, accompanied with threats and adjurations, Jeffreys
had extracted the truth from a prevaricating witness, ami an acknowledg-
ment that the first part ot his testimony was false. The judge then, to ac-
e-mint for what must have appeared extraordinary in his own conduct,
observed, that it proceeded front his knowledge that the witness was per-
jured, because Nelthorpe himself, oue of the parties, had privately con-
A'.D. 1685.] EXECUTION OF REBELS IN THE WEST. 53
The unfortunate woman was found guilty ; and James,
to those who solicited him in her favour, replied that he Aug.
could do nothing, that he had left the case in the hands 31 -
of the chief justice. He substituted, however, decapita- s
tion for the legal punishment of burning: a mitigation o.
of the judgment which his opponents have termed an
usurpation of power contrary to law, as if our princes
had not always exercised that power, on the ground that
he who may lawfully remit the whole punishment by a
pardon, may at his discretion commute it for another
infliction less painful or less infamous*. .
From Winchester the court proceeded through Salis- 23
bury to Dorchester, Exeter, Taunton, Bristol, and Wells,
in each of which places a multitude of prisoners awaited
their doom from the mouth of their stern and inex-
orable judge t. That they had forfeited their lives by
the laws of their country cannot be denied ; and that
many among them were incorrigible enthusiasts, who
publicly avowed the righteousness of their cause, and
their readiness to renew the attempt, is also true: yet
the demands of justice might surely have been satisfied,
and a salutary example have been made, without that
deluge of blood so unsparingly poured out by Jeffreys
and his associates. All who at their trials were con-
victed, suffered in the course of twenty-four hours : the
great majority, who pleaded guilty, were gratified with
a short reprieve, during which they made with different
success applications for mercy. Out of the whole number
some were pardoned ; many whipped and imprisoned ;
fessed to him all the circumstances. Aware, however, that in making this
remark he had gone too far, he added that he "would not mention any
"such thing as any piece of evidence to influence the ease, but lie could
" not but tremble to think, alter what he knew, that any man should dare
" so much to prevaricate with <i"d and man. as to tell such horrid lies in
" the face of the court." State Trials, xi 355.
• At the revolution the attainder of'thisl idywaa reversed, together with
several others, for two reasons, because Hicks, the principal, at tlie time of
her trial had not been convicted, and because the verdict of the jury had
1 11 extorted " by the menaces, and violences, and other illegal practices of
the judge." State Trials, xi 381.
t In a letter to Sunderland (Sep Id.) he states that he had* dispatched,'
tli it is, tried, ninety-eiijlit on that day. App. to Mackintosh, 6-ib.
54 JAMES II. < [CHAP. I.
above eight hundred given to different persons to be
transported for ten years to the West Indies ; and three
hundred and thirty executed as felons and traitors. The
chief justice seems to have taken for a precedent the
sanguinary conduct of those who in the reign of Eliza-
beth punished the northern insurgents ; and like them
he permitted no town or hamlet in the rebellious district
to escape, without the useful lesson to be derived from
the execution of some of the guilty. Many instances are
also related of the indecent haste with which he con-
signed his fellow-creatures to the gallows, and of the
sarcastic levity with which he stung the feelings of those
who interceded in their favour ; but these tales, though
perhaps not abhorrent from the disposition of the man,
depend for their credit on the veracity of those whose
hatred he had deservedly earned by his cruelty, and who
gratified their revenge by heaping disgrace on his
character. There is better evidence to show that his
zeal to punish the wrong done to the king did not
withdraw his attention from his own interest : and that
during the circuit he amassed a considerable sum of
money, probably by the sale of his friendship and pro-
tection *.
But if Jeffreys executed his task with a rigour far
beyond that which the circumstances of the case required,
where are we to look for the cause of his severity ? To
the temper of the judge, or to the orders of the monarch ?
On the one hand, according to Burnet, James received
a daily account of the proceedings from Jeffreys, and
spoke of them in terms of satisfaction both at his table
and in the drawing-room + ; and according to a respect-
* From the parliamentary inquiry instituted in the next reign it appears
that he was paid Hit',/. LO*. by the crown solicitors, Graham and Burtoa.
It is also stated that he extorted 14,50;'/. from Mr. Prideaux, to save him
from prosecution. (Com. Journ. 1 May, 1689.) When, however, a bill
was introduced alter the revolution to recover that sum out of his estates,
n was defeated chiefly by the influence of Pollexfen, the lord chief justice,
one of his trustees. See' Memoirs of Judge Jeffreys,
t Burnet, iii. 56. Burnet, however, was no) in England at the time, but
says that he received these particulars from Dykveldt, the Dutch ambas-
sador, who was no great friend of James.
A.D. 1583.] THE KING'S PROJECTS IN PARLIAMENT. 55
able tradition, the chief justice on his death-bed in the
Tower, declared that " what he did, he did by express
" orders, and that he was not half bloody enough for the
" prince who sent him thither * : " on the other, a wit-
ness who had the means of knowing the truth, the earl
of Mulgrave, afterwards duke of Normanby and Buck-
ingham, assures us that James " compassionated his
" enemies so much, as never to forgive Jeffreys in ex-
" ecuting such multitudes of them in the west, contrary
" to his express orders + ; " and we are moreover told that
when bishop Kenn and sir Thomas Cutler, the com-
manding officer at Wells, solicited mercy for some of the
convicts, the king not only granted their request cheer-
fully, but afterwards meeting sir Thomas, thanked him
for his intercession, and expressed a wish that others had
imitated his humanity J.
James was now triumphant over his enemies ; and
this very circumstance, which seemed to have established
his throne, mainly contributed to its downfall, by inspir-
ing him with an erroneous notion of his own security,
and teaching him to despise the murmurs and opposi-
tion of his subjects. During the last, session of parlia-
ment he had obtained, what he could hardly expect, an
augmented income for life : in the next he hoped to ac-
complish three things on which he had set his heart, the
establishment of a standing army, the employment o*"
catholic officers, and a modification of the habeas corpus
act. 1. In common with his late brother he had always
considered a king without an army as possessing little
more than the name of a sovereign ; and therefore viewed
• See a note by speaker Onslow in Burnet, iii. 61. Onslow received the
auecdote from Jekyl, Jekvl front lord Somers, and Somen from Or. Scot
who attended the dyin,; man.
t Accounts of the Revolution, amidst the Castrations in his Works, ii.
p. xi. I do not think that thin is contradicted by the expression in Sun-
derland's letter to Jeffreys, " that the kiiif; approved entirel} ol nil liis
" proc lings of which lie bad given an account in liis letter.' ( Mackin-
tosh, App. 685.) For that account was given as early as the day after he
opened the court at Dorchester, and of course refers only to his conduct
before that period.
J Unmet, ii. 61, note.
56 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
with regret the disbanding of the numerous force which
had been raised by Charles to oppose the encroachments
of Louis in Flanders. On the landing of Monmouth he
found himself compelled to intrust the defence of the
throne to the militia of the neighbouring counties.
Experience showed the utter inefficiency of this species
of force. For several weeks, as the reader has seen,
the invaders traversed the country at their pleasure ;
and there is little doubt that, had they brought with
them a body of regular troops, or had their partisans
risen simultaneously in several places, the attempt would
have led to a protracted contest, if not to a very different
result. James was thus confirmed in his former opinion.
During the danger he gave out commissions for the levy
of new regiments, till he raised the army to the amount
of fourteen thousand men* ; and now he was resolved to
keep the whole force embodied, with, as he hoped, the
approbation of parliament. 2. Among the officers who
had obtained command in the new levies were several
catholics, men who had faithfully served the crown on
former occasions, and on whose fidelity the king relied
the more firmly, because they professed the same religion
with himself. But by law they were not only incapable
of holding any commission in the army, but also liable
to penalties for the part which they had taken in the
suppression of the rebellion. James determined to shelter
them from prosecution, to retain them in their respec-
tive offices, and even to procure the repeal of the test
act, of which, though he himself had been the object,
they had become the victims. 3. The statute of the 31st
of Charles II., which enforced and improved the writ of
habeas corpus, was not less objectionable in the royal
estimation than the test act itself. It abridged the right
formerly claimed by the crown of retaining suspected
* According to BariUon, (f> Aout, 1685) to flfteen thousand foot, three
thousand horse, and one thousand dragoons. "Thus," says lord Lons-
dale, " my lord Russell plott Hirst made the kins;, when duke, popular ;
•■ and Monmouth's rebellion gave occasion for raising an armie which con-
" tinues to this day." Lonsdale's Memoir, p. 13.
A.l). 1685.] DIVISION IN THE COUNCIL. i>7
persons in custody; and though its beneficial effects
had been repeatedly experienced by the friends of the
monarch, yet in the committals on account of the Rye-
house plot and of Monmouth's invasion, it had furnished
many, whom James believed criminal, with the means
of obtaining their discharge, before legal evidence of
their guilt could be collected. On this account the king
declared that till some alteration should be eifected in
that act, the government was left without the arms
necessary for its own protection *.
It was not to be expected that on these three questions
all the members of the cabinet should coincide in opinion
with the sovereign. The example of foreign nations
showed that the establishment of a standing army
generally led to the introduction of despotism ; and it
was argued that the two acts, the objects of his aversion,
were the chief bulwarks of religion and liberty ; that, if
the test were abolished, the church could not stand
under a catholic monarch, and that, if the writ of habeas
corpus were taken away, the rights of the people might
be trampled under foot at the pleasure of any prince
who should chance to sit on the throne. Such had long
been the avowed sentiments of the marquess of Halifax,
lord president of the council, and such, though more
warily expressed, were the real opinions of the earl of
Rochester, who, whatever might be his attachment to
the doctrines, sought like his father to be looked up to
as the patron, of the church -K But James, who did not
approve the temporizing policy of his brother, had laid
it down for a maxim, that it was folly in a sovereign to
allow any man to remain in office, who would employ
the influence of office to thwart the measures of gbvern-
ment. After a decent interval he removed Halifax Oct.
from the council, with expressions, indeed, of regard and 20.
• Barilloii, in Fox. App. 127. Dalrymple, 166. 1/0. 177- " Le feu roi
d'A. et celui-ci m'ont gouvent <lit. qu'un gouvemment ae pcut subsiste
:ivec one telle lui" ^'habeas corpus). Itarillon, 10 Dec.
+ North, the lord keeper, was also of the same party (BariUon, 2 Aoflt),
but died on the 5th of September.
58 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
kindness, but for reasons which he deemed it expedient
to keep locked up within his own breast. Tbose reasons,
however, were not unknown, and operated as a useful
admonition to Rochester, who unwilling to promote the
objects sought by the king, but equally unwilling to
forfeit the emoluments of office, indulged the delusive
hope of retaining the royal favour by his passive acqui-
escence in the royal measures. But his conduct was
watched, and his views were penetrated by the subtle
and insinuating Sunderland, who, to ingratiate himself
with the king, warmly advocated all the projects of
James ; and to prejudice his rival, as warmly complained,
that the resistance to those projects was caused or en-
couraged, if not by the intrigues, at least by the known
hostility, of the lord treasurer. By the expectants of
place and emolument it was soon perceived that Ro-
chester declined daily in influence, while Sunderland
slowly but steadily crept up to the eminence still occu-
pied by that minister *.
The same diversity of opinion which existed in the
council prevailed among the leading catbolics. Of the
immediate advantage to be derived by them from the
repeal of the test act, no one could doubt : yet many,
aw are that the spirit of discontent was stirring, depre-
cated any alteration which might afterwards provoke a
reaction. They deemed it imprudent to risk the tran-
quillity which they enjoyed, for the pursuit of a greater
but uncertain benefit, and were content to submit to the
privations imposed by the laws, provided they might be
relieved from the penal and sanguinary statutes pro-
hibiting even the private exercise of their worship. But
those among them, who possessed the confidence of
James, and formed the board at Sunderland's office,
concurred in opinion with that minister. They conjured
the king not to forfeit by procrastination the present
opportunity : this was the time to demand the consent
•Hariilon. ibid. 127. 130. 143, et lettres du 22 Oct., 1 Nov. Dalrymple,
173. Reresby, 214. 217. 223.
A.D. 1685.] FERMENT IN THE NATION'. 59
of the two houses to his three favourite measures : his
enemies lay prostrate at his feet ; and no man would
have the boldness to dispute his pleasure *.
As the time for the meeting of parliament approached,
the minds of men became daily more and more agitated.
During the rebellion, the levy of forces and the appoint-
ment of catholic officers created no great alarm, — the
urgency of the case supplied a sufficient justification, —
but months had now passed since the battle of Sedge-
moor, and the army was still kept up to its former com-
plement. It began to be rumoured that the king
cherished designs against the liberties of the country,
and it was soon known that he proposed to accomplish
the repeal of the two acts. By a strange fatality it Oct.
chanced that at this moment of suspense and disquietude ^
the kins: of Fiance revoked the edict of Nantes, and
numbers of French protestants sought an asylum in
England from the persecution which they suffered in
their own country f. The jealousy, which already
existed, was instantly blown into a flame ; and the press
and the pulpit concurred in pouring out invectives in
every shape against the intolerant spirit of popery. It
was to no purpose that James laboured to allay the fer-
ment : that he openly declared his disapprobation of
every species of religious persecution, and that he pro-
moted with all his influence the measures devised for
the relief of the refugees. His sincerity was questioned ;
the belief of a secret understanding between him and
Louis prevailed ; and the people everywhere called on
• Les Oatholiques, says Barillon, ne sont pas tout a fait d'accord entre
eux. Les plus habiles, et ceux qui ont le plus de part a ki cuuliance du
roi, connoiasent bieu que la con] uncture eat la plus favourable qu'on puiue
esperer, et que si on la laiase eahapper, elle pourra bien u'Stre de louf;
temps si avautageu.se. Les Jesuits soul dr ee sentiment, <( in satis doute est
le plus raisonable: maia les catholiquea riches et eatablia CTaignent
l'avenir, et appreliendetit uu retour, qui les ruineroit, &«. liaiillou, ibid.
135.
+ One of the objects of the mission of Bonrepaua to England was to in-
duce the refugees to return to Fiance. It appear* (rora his letter of the
Mh of May, 16^6, that the whole number amounted to about 4,500, out of
whom he prevailed on 5o9 to return to their native country.
60 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
their representatives to rally in defence of the religion
and the liberties of the country *.
Nov. On the appointed day the king opened the session with
9. a speech from the throne. Having congratulated the
two houses on the restoration of domestic tranquillity, he
called their attention to the conduct of the militia dur-
ing the invasion, which had revealed to the world how
little reliance could be placed on the resistance of that
force to the progress of a foreign and enterprising enemy.
On this account he had deemed it necessary for the
safety of the nation and the stability of the government
to augment the regular army, and he now called on par-
liament to provide the means of defraying the additional
expense. He was aware that some persons bore com-
missions in that army who were not qualified by law.
But they were for the most part personally known to
him, and on many occasions had given convincing proofs
of their loyalty. " And," he added, " to deal plainly
" with you, after having had the benefit of their services
" in the time of danger, I will neither expose them to
" disgrace, nor myself' to the want of their assistance,
" should a second rebellion make it necessary ." In con-
clusion he expressed a hope that this matter would pro-
duce no dissension between him and the two houses ;
and promised that, if they were only steady and loyal to
him, he would make them the best return in his power,
and venture his life in the defence of their interests t.
The house of lords returned an address of thanks :
the house of commons resolved to consider the speech
by paragraphs. The leaders of the court party were the
two secretaries, lord Middleton, and sir Richard Graham,
lately created viscount Preston of Scotland : of the oppo-
sition Seymour, Clarges, Twisden, and Maynard, men of
considerable weight, and long parliamentary experience.
I3 # On the first division the latter obtained the majority by
a single vote : in a day or two they held at command a
• Barillon, ibid. 132. 135. Burnet, iii. 81.
f Com, Journ. Nov. 9.
A.D. 1685.] OPPOSITION IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 6 I
majority of thirty or forty voices. 1 . The house resolved
to errant a supply, but at the same time, that they might
mark their disapprobation of the measure suggested by
the king, accompanied it with a bill for the improvement
of the militia. 2. Instead of assenting to his proposal Nov.
in favour of the catholic officers, they promised to relieve ltj -
them from the penalties by a bill of indemnity, and pre-
sented an address, praying that, since to keep them in
employment was to dispense with the law without au-
thority of parliament, he would give such orders for their
discharge as might remove all apprehension and jealousy
from the hearts of his faithful subjects. 3. Having thus
signified their wishes, they proceeded to the amount of
the supply. The ministers had asked for twelve, their
opponents offered four, the house voted seven hundred
thousand pounds. But this sum was in reality held out
as a lure to the king, the more tempting, because, being
unappropriated to any particular object, it might be
applied by him as he pleased. James, however, was not
a thoughtless, penurious spendthrift, like his brother.
His economy was equivalent to an augmentation of
revenue ; and he resolved to sacrifice the money rather
than yield to the discharge of the officers. Sending for \j
the commons, he declared to them in a tone which
marked his displeasure more strongly than his words,
that he was surprised at their address, that he had
already warned them against the evils which might
spring from jealousy and dissension ; and that he had
hitherto persuaded himself that his character for sin-
cerity was a sufficient motive for confidence in his word.
However, their jealousy did not make him repent of the
promises which he had given, nor would he ever be pro-
voked to break them, ill as he might be treated by the
suspicious temper of that house.
The next morning, as soon as this speech had been 18.
read, Mr. Coke exclaimed, " I hope we are Englishmen,
" and not to be frightened from our duty by a few high
" words.'' But the house, looking on his language as
62 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
disrespectful to the king, sent him, on the motion of
lord Preston, to the Tower : for it was the advice of the
leaders to pursue their plan steadily but warily ; to
maintain at all events the inviolability of the test act,
but at the same time to avoid every unnecessary cause of
offence *.
At length the spirit displayed by the commons awak-
Nov. ened a similar spirit among the lords. The praise of
originating the question was seized by the marquess of
Winchester, who called the attention of the house to the
illegal employment of catholic officers in the army, and
was warmly supported by the lords Anglesey, Halifax,
Nottingham, and Mordaunt, and by no one with more
effect than by Compton, bishop of London, who stated
that he spoke the united sentiments of the episcopal
bench, when he pronounced the test act the chief secu-
rity of the established church. The ministers, with the
exception of Jeffreys, offered but a faint and doubtful re-
sistance, and it was ordered that the house should be
summoned for the following Monday to take the king's
speech into consideration. James, who, like his brother,
attended daily, listened to the debate with, feelings of
vexation and disappointment. He saw the strong oppo-
sition which was arrayed against him, and perceived that
many of his dependents, even while they spoke in his
favour, hoped for his defeat. But it was not in his dis-
position to yield : whether it were firmness of mind, as
his flatterers called it, or obstinacy as it was termed by
his enemies, he usually pursued his object with the
greater ardour in proportion to the number of obstacles
thrown in his way ; and now, instead of conceding to the
ascertained opinion of the two houses, he suddenly pro-
rogued the parliament to the 10th of February, with the
20. secret resolution of accomplishing by his dispensing
power that object which he was not permitted to effect
• C. Joorn. Nov. 12, 13. 16, 17, 18. 20. Bullion in Pox, 189. Ml. 146.
Reresby, 215. 220. Burnet, iii. 86. Dalrymple, 172. l'.irl. Hist. 1367.
1386.
A.D. 1GS5.] TRIALS OF LORD BRANDON, &C. 63
constitutionally, with the consent of the lords and com-
mons*.
On the suppression of the rebellion the vengeance of
the law had fallen chiefly on the insurgents actually in
arms : after the prorogation several persons of higher
rank, the suspected, though not avowed, associates of
Monmouth, were called upon to establish their inno-
cence. 1. Of these the first was lord Brandon. During
the summer lord Grey, the companion of Monmouth in
his flight, had betrayed a disposition to make disclosures ;
the manner in which the overture was accepted, encou-
raged him to proceed ; and he sent to the king a written
confession detailing the whole history of the Rye-house
plot, and of the invasions of Monmouth and Argyle.
James was satisfied : Grey, having received a pardon, Nov.
became a legal witness, and on the trial of lord Brandon, 12.
repeated in the presence of the court the substance of 26.
his previous confession. Notwithstanding the odium
which naturally attaches to the man who impeaches his
associates, the jury gave credit to his testimony, and the
prisoner received judgment of death, but afterwards, on
the confession of his guilt, obtained a pardon through the
influence of Mason, his wife's sister, and one of the
king's mistresses t. 2. The next person arraigned at the
bar was Hampden, not for any participation in the late
attempt of Monmouth (for he had been two years in con-
• L. Journ. xiv. 88. Barillon, 29 Nov.; 3 Dec. Reresby, 220. 222.
Burnet, Hi. 85. Rochester bad advised the king to purchase votes; bu't
lie replied that lie had learned the folly of such policy in his brother's
reign I when every man who wished to be bought, opposed Hit; court, till
he received his price. Barillon, Dee. 13.
t Bar. 10 Sep.; 6. 22 Nov.; 13 Dec. Pair. 173. Bonrepaus, 7 Aout.
State Trials xi. 1091, note. This was lord Brandon's second escape ; for
he had been condemned for murder, but pardoned in the last reign.
Reresby, 222. With respect to lord Grey, it may be observed that Ids
outlawry was not reversed till the 1/th of lour, 1686, when he was re-
stored in blood. Of his character no man cm form any favourable
opinion, who recollects his seduction of his sister in law, the lady Henri-
etta Berkeley, and his cowardice at the skirmish at liridport. It is,
however, but justice to observe that there is no evidence to show that he
misbehaved at the battle of Sedjjemoor, or w.is guilty of any substantial
misrepresentation in hio confession. Such misrepresentation would have
been impolitic by misleading James, and must have rendered the witness
himself very obnoxious after the revolution. Yet he was created by
6 J JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
finement), but for his share in the Rye-house plot. To
his plea that he had been already tried for that offence,
it was answered, that in the first instance there appeared
but one witness against him, and he was therefore
charged only with a misdemeanor : now a second, the
lord Grey, would be produced, and he was therefore
charged with a different offence, that of high treason.
The prisoner, aware of the consequences, preferred to
plead guilty, and throw himself on the royal mercy.
He was reprieved, a pardon followed ; and the court, in
obedience to the king's writ, reversed the outlawry *.
1686. 3 Th e i or( j Delamere, the son of the celebrated sir
George Booth, was arraigned before Jeffreys, who had
Jan. lately been appointed lord chancellor t, and now sate as
14- lord high steward, with twenty-seven peers as his asses-
sors. Delamere's objection to the jurisdiction of the
court, and his claim to be tried in parliament, were over-
ruled: but there appeared against him only one positive
witness, whose prevarication was too evident to be con-
cealed ; and hence, though of his intention to rise in sup-
port of Monmouth no doubt could exist, he obtained an
unanimous acquittal. James, who watched the proceed-
ings, concurred in the propriety of the verdict : but
declared that Saxton the witness, who, to save his own
life, had offered himself as an informer, should suffer
the punishment both of his perjury and his treason. Of
* e ^- this threat the first part was put in execution. Saxton,
having been convicted, stood thrice in the pillory, was
king William earl of Tankerville, and appointed to the offices of rirst lord
of the admiralty and of lord privy seal.
* If we may believe Hampden, in his answer to the house of lords after
the revolution, " his friends offered 6,000/. for his pardon to some in
" power, who were the lords Jeffreys and Mr. Petre. This was effectual.
" He pleaded guilty, and obtained his pardon." L. .lourn. xiv. 379. He
died by suicide in 1696.
t The lord keeper died Sep. 5. The next , day the great seal was de-
livered to the king, "who went immediately to council, everybody
"guessing who was most likely to succeed ibis greal officer: most
" believing it could be no other than my lord chief justice Jefferies."
Evelyn, iii. 1/3. See also Harillou, 17 Sep. James wrote to him to ex-
pedite the business of the circuit, and gave him the appointment on
Sep. 28.
A.D. 1686.] RIVAL PARTIES IN THE CABINET. 65
twice publicly whipped, and then committed to prison
till he should pay a fine of three hundred marks*.
4. The earl of Stamford was equally fortunate with his
associate lord Delamere. A day had been appointed for Mar
his trial in parliament: it was postponed by the proroga- lo-
tion, and the king consented that he should take the be-
nefit of an act of amnesty which was published in the
spring f. The advocates of James have often appealed to
these instances of clemency in answer to the charge so
repeatedly advanced by his opponents, that he was a
cruel and inexorable enemy, who delighted in shedding
the blood of his victims.
In the mean time the diversity of opinion, which pre- 1685.
vailed in the council before the last session of parliament,
had led to the formation of two hostile parties at court
under the rival statesmen, Rochester and Sunderland.
Rochester still held the first place in the administration :
his attachment to James in the time of adversity gave him
a strong claim on the gratitude of the monarch ; and his
interest was supported by the duke of Ormond, the lords
Feversham, Dartmouth, Middleton, and Preston, by the
majority of the episcopal bench, by the envoys of all the
powers hostile to the ambitious projects of Louis XIV.,
by the moderate party among the Roman catholics, who
promised themselves more real benefit from his conniv-
ance than from the interested zeal of his competitor, and
(which may surprise the reader) in some measure by
d'Adda, the papal representative, who, though he took no
prominent part in politics, secretly sought and followed
the counsels of the Spanish ambassador, the friend of
Rochester. On the other hand, Sunderland, aware of the
• State Trials, xi. 509. 600. Dalryraple, 166. Ellis Cor. i 1C. 89.
-t Gazette, 2120. This pardon contained ■» great numbei ol exceptions,
anion;,' which the most singular was that ol the girls who presented the
bible anil sword to Monmouth at Taunton, nut that it was intended to
bring tin 'in lo punishment, but to make the parents, the real delinquents,
paj for the disloyal office which they bad imposed On their children.
Fur the pardon of each a line uas required proportionate to the circum-
stances of the parent, and the whole sum was divided among the queen's
maids of honour. Memoirs of the life of judge Jeffreys, SJ5
VOL. XIII. F
06 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
offence which he had given in the late reign, laboured to
atone for his past misdeeds by a blind devotion to the
pleasure of the sovereign. Among the protestants he
was assured of the hearty co-operation of Jeffreys, and
he indulged a persuasion that he might also rely on
the more doubtful support of lord Godulphin: but his
principal hope of success was in the influence of father
Petre, of the queen-dowager, and of the ultra-catholics,
whom he had bound to his interests by constantly put-
ting himself forward as their devoted friend and cham-
pion. In point of rank and patronage a secretary of
state was indeed no match for a lord high treasurer: but
Sunderland did not despair of obtaining the staff on
some future occasion, and, as an intermediate step, at-
1686. tempted to add to the office which he held that of presi-
Mar. dent of the council. On the removal of Halifax, he
16, asked it of the king, and met with a refusal. He next
employed the good offices of Jeffreys, but Jeffreys
proved equally unsuccessful. As a last resource Petre
was brought forward, to represent to James that it was
as much his interest to reward the man, who seconded
his views in favour of the catholics, as to disgrace him
by whom they had been thwarted. His reasoning or
importunity prevailed : after the prorogation Sunder-
land, without resigning the secretaryship, took his
place as president of the council ; and this promotion
was hailed by his dependents as a proof of increasing in-
terest with the king, though it still remained a problem
with many which of the rival ministers would ultimately
prevail*.
It seems never to have entered into the minds of
statesmen at this period, that it might be a duty to
* See Barillon, 1. 5. 26 Nov. 17 Dec. Fox. Apyi. 127. '30. 144, Though
Barillou foretold thai his friend Sunderland would \w successful, yet Hon-
rep;ii'.s, Che other French agent, was as confident oi" the triumph of
Rochester. As late as March 2S. L686, he writes : "jo n'ai pas une si
•• grande idee du credit de myl. Sunderland, el je juge toujours qu'il y a"
" plu ■ de olidite dans la fortuuo de myl. Rochester "
A.I). 1686.] THEIR OPPOSITE COUNSELS. 67
resign office, rather than lend the sanction of their
names to measures which they condemned. Their oath
bound them to express their opinion in council : when this
was done, they conceived that they had discharged their
consciences ; and it only remained for them to expiate
their presumption in differing from the sovereign by
their humble submission to the royal will. Hence the
two leaders continued to act together in the cabinet,
though guided by opposite views, and pursuing opposite
interests. On the one hand, Rochester and his friends
allowed no opportunity to escape them of diverting the
king from his favourite plans in behalf of the Roman
catholics. They conjured him not to alienate the affec-
tions of his people by the pursuit of measures repugnant
to their prepossessions and their feelings. Rather let
him attach them to himself by entering into treaties
with foreign princes, for the purpose of establishing a
balance of power in Europe, and of restraining within
its ancient limits the overwhelming preponderance of
France. This would raise him to a higher degree of im-
portance and reputation than had fallen to the lot of any
among his predecessors : this would restore harmony be-
tween him and his parliament: this would enable him
to obtain from the gratitude of his people much that he
could not now accomplish without risk both to himself
and the objects of his favour. On the other hand it was
the study of Sunderland and the ultra-catholics to watch
and defeat the manoeuvres of their opponents. They
constantly reminded James that if ever he suffered him-
self to be drawn into a war, from that moment he would
become dependent on the good pleasure of his parlia-
ment. The present was a favourable opportunity of re-
scuing the catholics from oppression. If he listened to
the advice of their enemies, he would forfeit it, and pro-
bably for ever. On the contrary, he had only to preserve
peace abroad, and he might give the law at home;
to keep himself from dependence on parliament, and
F 2
68 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
the parliament would at last fall into dependence upon
him*.
Much as James had set his heart on the relief of his
catholic subjects, there were times when he seemed
disposed to follow the opposite advice of Rochester, in-
duced by his ambition of military fame, and his im-
patience under the superiority assumed by the French
monarch t. Of this Louis himself was aware. From
the first he doubted the sincerity of the attachment
which the English prince professed for him to Barillon,
and had not long to wait before this suspicion was fully
Aug. confirmed. Within six months after his accession James
17? concluded a treaty with the States General, which re-
newed the former treaties between the two powers, and
in particular the defensive alliance of 1678. On the re-
ceipt of the intelligence, Louis reprimanded the am-
bassador for his want of vigilance or of foresight ; and
instructed him to abstain, indeed, from noticing what was
passed— for it was beneath the dignity of a king of
* See Barillon's letters of Nov. 12 aud 26, in Fox, App. 135. 143; and
his unpublished letters of Nov. 22. Dec. 13, Feb. 7, and Feb. 2a. "On
" n'omct aucun soin, aucun artifice pour engager le roi a tenii une con-
«' duite moins ferine Lea catholiques sont partages entreux. Les
•• uns voudroient qu'on se servit de l'occasioii piesente. .... lesautres
•' craigneot l'avenir Ceux qui out le plus de relations a la cuur de
" Rome sont de cet avis si le roi etoit dans des interets opposes
" a ceux de la France, il auroit les eoeurs du peuple, et de grands secours
" du parlement. Le danger de cet avis est conuu des catholiques qui ont
'• le plus de part a la conliance du roi Les jesuites sont joints a
" ceux-ci Les autres attendent beaucoup des miuisues du pape. Ce-
" pendant, M. d'Adda est circonspect et reserve . . . . Le P. Piters je-
•• suite est le plus autorise. Mvl. Arundel, myl. rirconnell, myl. Puiivres
" consistent souvant avec myl. Sonderland. C'est par eux que les pun-
- cipales affaires se dirigent. Le grand trlsoner se renferme dans la
"fonction tie sa charge. II est regarde comme le soutien de la religion
•' protestante aupres du K.d'A Use finite de pouvoir se conserver
"dans le post ou il est. . . . Myl. Sonderland va to.ijours son cliemin. et
<• suil aveuglemenl Irs rolontes de son maitre. Le chancelier est entirf-
■' ment renin avec mvl Sonderland. Myl. Godolphw mSme paroit agir
-de concert avec eux, quoiqu'il ait beaucoup de circonspection M.
" d'Adda craint qu'on n'en fasse trop, et eela lui est inspire par 1 ambassa-
•■ deur d' Espagne, qu'il voit tons les jours. . . . .
+ •• On le eroit Bitte de L'envie de tenn la balance dans les affaires de
•' l-Europe.et d'etre regarde comme le seul capable de mettre des bomei
"a la puissance de votre majeste et a ses desseins. Hanllon, li
Dec.
A.D. 168G.] FOREIGN TREATIES. 69
France to complain — but to watch with jealousy the
subsequent proceedings of the English cabinet, to prevent
by every means in his power the conclusion of similar
treaties with other states, and to keep up a secret under-
standing with some members of parliament, who, in the
event of an alliance between James and the enemies of
France, might labour to embarrass and defeat the
measures of government*. It happened that the very
circumstance, which alarmed Louis, encouraged the
Spanish ambassador to propose not only a renewal of the
last treaty with Spain, but also of the triple alliance
against France. All the agents of friendly powers at
the British court came forward to his assistance ; the ad-
herents of the prince of Orange, the mortal foe of Louis,
added their endeavours; and Rochester with his de-
pendents advised and entreated the king to assent. But
Barillon was on the watch : against this formidable host
he arrayed Sunderland and the ultra-catholics ; and
James, after some hesitation, declared his resolution not
to enter into any engagement which in its consequences
might probably draw him into hostilities. Louis was not
ungrateful on this occasion. He granted to Sunderland
an annual pension of 60,000 livres (4,500/.): then, on
the representation of that wily statesman, he consented
to pay it half-yearly in advance ; and afterwards, on more
than one occasion, he doubled the amount, to mark his
sense of the distinguished services rendered to him by
the English minister +. Never, perhaps, was the French
monarch more egregiously deceived. He persuaded
himself that he had made an advantageous purchase,
* Barillon, 16, 19 Nov. Fox, App. 136. The object of Louis during the
reigo of James was Ihe same :is it had been during that of Charles, to
prevent the king of England from interfering to his prejudice in the affairs
of the continent Hence Barillon was instructed on the one hand to nr^e
James to the adoption of measures in favour of the catholics, measures
which would necessarily embroil him with his protestanl subjects, and ou
ilif oilier to provide ;i party in parliament ready to oppose any project
formed by James, which might prove hostile to the policy of Louis. The
one uid the other he was to effect by the same expedient! promises and
presents ol monev. Despatch to Barillon ol Nov. 19.
t Barillon, 26 Nov.; 6 Dec. ; 18 Fev.
70 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
but in three years the whole profit was reaped by his
most formidable enemy, the prince of Orange.
This was followed by a more mysterious intrigue,
in which, after a doubtful contest, Sunderland again
obtained the victory. Though James had sacrificed
place and power to the profession of his religion, he
was unwilling to sacrifice hit pleasures to the observ-
ance of its precepts. To his favourite mistress, Arabella
Churchill, he had substituted one of the maids of honour
to the queen, Catherine Sedley, daughter of Sir Charles
Sedley of profligate memory., Of personal charms she
was unable to boast : her power of captivating her lover
was owing to her wit and conversation ; and the duke,
though report assigned to him a successful rival in
colonel Graham, the keeper of his privy purse, was will-
ing to believe himself the father of her two children*,
settled on her an income of 2,000/. a-year from his pri-
vate estate, and made to her a present of a spacious
mansion in St. James's-square. Soon after his accession
the catholics remonstrated against the scandal given by
this amour. Overcome by their entreaties, he consented
to bid her an eternal farewell ; but at the same time to
appease her discontent, doubled her yearly allowance,
and commissioned Graham to decorate her house, and
furnish it at his expense. Sedley was aware of her
empire over his heart : though he refused to see her, she
kept possession of her apartment at Whitehall ; after
three months by accident or design they met at the
lodgings of Chiffinich; the amour was renewed; he
t,„ visited her, at first clandestinely, afterwards more
•' nn» 'ill
21. openly, and at last put into her hands a patent creating
her countess of Dorchester. This was perhaps a spon-
• One of them died young ; the other, lad; Catherine Darnley, was mar-
ried to the earl of Anglesey, and afterward* to the duke of Buckingham.
The mother herself married the earl of Portmore. When queen Mary,
the daughter of James, after the revolution, turned her back on the
countess, that lady exclaimed, " I beg your majesty to remember that, if I
" broke one of the commandments with your father, you broke another
"against him. On that score we are both equal." Lord Dartmouth, in
notes to Burnet, iii. 114.
A.D. 1686.] THE COUNTESS OF DORCHESTER. 7i
taneous act on the part of the king or might have been
wrung from him by the importunity of Sedley : but at
court both the friends and foes of Rochester attributed
it to the policy of that statesman, who sought to place
her in the situation occupied by the duchess of Ports-
mouth in the last reign, and persuaded himself that he
should be able to govern the king through the influence
of the mistress.
The queen, Maria d'Este, possessed not the mild and
submissive temper of the consort of the late monarch.
She upbraided her husband with his infidelity; she de-
clared that she would withdraw to a convent, rather than
witness her own degradation ; and it was remarked that,
on two successive days at dinner, she neither ate, nor
uttered a word to the king. Sunderland was at hand to
inflame her jealousy, and point her resentment against
Rochester : he called the principal catholics to her aid,
representing to them that all their hopes of relief would
vanish, if they suffered a protestant mistress in the inte-
rest of their adversary to be established near the throne ; J ^-
and he advised the queen to summon to her' apartment " *
himself, the lord chancellor, Mansuete, a capuchin friar
from Lorrain, who was the king's confessor, Petre the
Jesuit, with the most distinguished of the catholic clergy-
men, and all the catholic noblemen at court. When
James entered to visit the queen, he was instantly as-
sailed by their united remonstrances against an attach-
ment so injurious to his consort, so disgraceful to his
religion, and so prejudicial to his own interest. He was
surprised, abashed, and subdued. Having pledged his
word to separate from Sedley for ever, he sent her an 27.
order to withdraw from Whitehall to her own house, and
thence to France, or Flanders or Holland; but in the
order itself he betrayed a consciousness of his own weak-
ness, by acknowledging that he dared not trust himself
so far as to communicate his resolution to her in person.
Sedley treated both the message and the messenger with
scorn : she was an Englishwoman, and would dwell
v 72 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
where she pleased: if the king determined to remove
her, he must do it by force ; and in that case she would
apply for a writ of habeas corpus, and recover her liberty.
James submitted to her caprice : a personal interview
was granted, and in conclusion she consented to quit
p ch England, and fixed her residence on an estate in Ireland,
17, a present to her from her lover*.
Her departure was celebrated as a triumph by Sun-
derland, who had not only defeated the machinations of
his competitor, but also rendered him an object of sus-
picion, if not of aversion, to the queen. On the other
hand Rochester was not wanting to himself. He endea-
voured by numerous protestations to convince her of his
own innocence, and to lay the whole blame exclusively
on the king'l". But in a short time the friendship or en-
mity of the queen became to these ministers a matter of
small moment. It appeared that she possessed no political
influence with her husband, unless it was at the time of
their domestic bickerings, when, to mitigate her dis-
pleasure, he seemed to listen to her advice, and granted
her requests. But the eclat of their late quarrel proved
a lesson to them both. Sedley, indeed, returned after
'' an exile of six months, and the king continued his visits
to her as well as to other women : but he now laboured
by every artifice in his power to conceal his amours from
the eyes of others, and Mary had generally the good
sense, even when she was apprised, still to appear igno-
rant, of his misconduct %.
From these intrigues we may pass to the measures
adopted by the king in favour of the catholics. On his
* The-e particulars are selected from several letters of Barillon (22 Fev.
1685:31 Jan.; 4 7- t*-28 Fev. 1(586). who espoused the part of Sunderland
mill from others of Bonrepaus (.fl Jan. : 4. "J. 11 Fev.), » ho was ii ierjdly to
Rochester. See also the Kllis Correspondence, i. 23. 35. 38. 42. 47. 58.'92;
Reresby, 230; Evelyn, Hi. 200; and Unmet, 113.231
t There is. however, reason to suspect thai he «as not accused unjustly,
from the valuable presents which lie had previously made to her, and the
.ie.it intimacy in which she afterwards lived with him .and his brother.
See Clarendon's diarv for the \e..r 1690 ; and Mr, Snivel's note, p. 313.
J Barillon, 2. 5. 23 Sept. 1686. Bonrepaus, 4 .luin ; 21 Juillet; 21 Aofit,
1686; and an anonymous memoire in vol. 1.54 du Ministers des Affaires
Ktrangeres, Supplement, It 8,", 1688.
CHAP. I.] AX AMBASSADOR SENT TO ROME. "3
accession he had sent Mr. Caryll, a gentleman of talents
and fortune, to Rome, as an unavowed but confidential
agent, to solicit the dignity of cardinal for Rinaldo
d'Este, the queen's uncle, and a mitre for Dr. Leyburn,
auditor to cardinal Howard. To the first request the
pope, Innocent XL, though he did not return a positive 1685.
refusal, thought proper to demur : but Leyburn was in- Se r f -
vested with the episcopal character, and, on his arrival
in London, received lodgings in Whitehall, with a yearly
pension of 1,000£. out of the privy purse. He was fol-Nov.
lowed by Count Ferdinando d'Adda, with the powers of 6 -
papal nuncio, but without any public character. This
agent had been instructed to respect the religious pre-
possessions of those among whom he was to sojourn, to
exhort the king to temper his zeal with prudence and
moderation, and to solicit his intercession with the French
monarch in favour of the French protestants. It was
previously known to James and his more zealous advisers
that the pontiff disapproved of their ardour and precipi-
tancy : but they laid the blame on the timidity of Caryll,
and advised the appointment in his place of lord Castle-
maine as royal ambassador ; his public character would
insure attention to his representations ; and his past
Bufferings in consequence of Oates's plot would be a re-
commendation in his favour. There seemed something
ridiculous in the selection of the husband of the duchess
of Cleveland for this mission to the pontiff", and it was
with unfeigned reluctance that Castlemaine himself
accepted the office. His instructions bound him to seek 1686.
the advice of the general of the Jesuits, and to live on J*°-
terms of intimacy with the French ambassador ; instruc- '•
tionsill calculated to beget the good-will of the pontiff,
who was no great friend to the " society," and still less
to France or the connections of France. The parade
with which Castlemaine entered Rome, and the enthu-
siasm with which he was hailed by the Romans, might
gratify the vanity, but the issue of his negotiation, as
will be afterwards shown, disappointed the expectation,
of his sovereign.
74 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
Jan. At home the king pursued with ardour his project in
9 - favour of the catholic officers in the army, and at first
had the satisfaction to find himself successful. Patents
under the great seal were issued, discharging them from
the penalties to which they were liable by the statute of
the 25th of Charles II. and enabling them to hold their
commission, " any clause in any act of parliament not-
" withstanding." This kind of expedient had first been
suggested to James in the reign of his brother by Herbert,
chief-justice of Chester, who waited on the duke on his
return from Scotland, and informed him, that, if he
sought to resume his office of lord high admiral, the test
act could oppose no effectual bar to his desire, because it
was in the power of the king to dispense with that
statute. The opinion of Herbert was confirmed by that
of Jeffreys after his elevation to the bench ; and it is not
improbable that such a dispensation was secretly obtained
by the duke, before he entered on the duties of a privy
counsellor and lord high admiral towards the close of the
last reign *. He now asked for the opinions of the several
judges separately and in private : those who doubted, he
A pi .;i desired to argue the question with the lord chancellor ;
29. and the indocility of four was punished by their removal,
and the vacancy filled by others, of more courtly prin-
ciples or less scrupulous ambition t. The result was now
certain, and Godden, coachman to sir Edward Hales,
received instructions to bring an action for the penalty
of 500/- to which his master was subject, for holding the
commission of a colonel in the army without having pre-
viously qualified according to the provisions of the test
act. Hales pleaded a dispensation under the great seal :
and the cause was heard in the court of king's bench
before the same Herbert, now lord chief justice, and
a lawyer whose upright and blameless conduct was
* James (Memoirs), ii. 81. Ellis Correspondence, i. 7.
+ On the first of January Barillon informed hi* court of lliis determina-
tion, adding : " il faudra que toua lea juges conferment cette dispensation,
outrement ils tie conserveront pas leui a places." The office of chief justice
of the common pleas was worth 50001, per annum. Barillon, 10 Jan.; 25
KVv. ; '25 Avril; 2 Mai. See also Ellis Correspondence, i. 44.
A.D. 1686.] THE DISPENSING POWER. 73
calculated to give weight to his judicial decision. He
openly professed to entertain no doubt : but the question
was of the first importance ; and before the court gave
judgment, he would consult the rest of his brethren.
Nine concurred with him in opinion : of the two dissen-
tients Powel, after some delay, came over to the majority,
and the only one who persisted was Street, a judge of a
very indifferent reputation. Fortified in this manner J "" e
Herbert delivered judgment in favour of the defendant,
on the ground that the king of England was a sovereign
prince, and that the laws were his laws, whence it fol-
lowed that it was part of his prerogative to dispense with
penal laws in particular cases and upon necessary reasons,
of which necessities and reasons he was the sole judge ;
and that this was not a trust committed to him by the
people, " but the ancient remains of the sovereign pre-
" rogative which never yet was taken, nor can be taken,
" from the kings of this realm *.
The decision of the court gave much dissatisfaction ■
hut, though it was severely censured, it does not appear
to have been contrary to law, as the law at that period
was generally understood. That it is subversive of the
principle on which the legislative authority is established,
cannot be denied : but the dispensing power had at all
times been claimed and exercised by our kings ; and its
existence was admitted by the lawyers, though they dif-
fered in opinion as to the limits within which it ought to
be confined, a question the solution of which depended
on the judgment and political bias of each individual.
Had James been a protestant, or had the dispensation
regarded any other matter than religion.it is possible
that his claim would not have been disputed : but men
were alive to the danger which, it was said, threatened
the established church; they looked on the test act as
its principal bulwark ; and when they found that this
• State Trials, xi. 1165—119'.). The tract of Sir Edward Herbert in
i, port of his judgment, and the opposite treatises uf Sir Hubert Atkiu:.
and Mi. Attwood follow in the same volume, ll'J'J — 1315.
76 JAMES II. [chap. I.
bulwark could be undermined by the dispensing power,
they argued that such power ought no longer to be in-
trusted to the crown. James was not of a disposition to
concede to these apprehensions. He exercised his claim
without restraint; and every repetition served to add to
the dissatisfaction and alienation of his subjects, till the
despair of obtaining redress from the good sense of the
monarch urged them to place another prince on the
throne. Yet even then, in the declaration of right,
which the two houses made at the time when they
tendered the crown to William and Mary, they did not
absolutely deny the power of the sovereign to dispense
with the law in particular cases, but in more cautious
and qualified language asserted, " that it was illegal, as
" it had been assumed and exercised of late." The con-
sideration, however, of what was past, induced them
subsequently to provide for the future ; and the claim of
the sovereign was very wisely abolished by the bill of
rights which enacted, that " after the then session of
" parliament no dispensation with any statute should be
" valid, except where the king is especially authorised to
" dispense by act of parliament.''
The reader is aware that the first among the prelates,
who ventured openly to join the standard of opposition
in the house of lords, was Compton, uncle to the earl of
Northampton, and formerly an officer in the army. He
Jai1, was soon made to feel the royal displeasure, by his re-
moval from the council and from the office of dean of
the chapel, but was amply repaid for the loss with the
general approbation of the people. His example ex-
cited a similar spirit among the clergy of the metropolis ;
and the pulpits were constantly supplied with preachers,
who fiercely declaimed against the erroneous doctrines
imputed to the church of Rome, and in warm language
exhorted their hearers to a steadfast adhesion to the re-
formed faith*. The king was surprised, perhaps
• Evelyn, iii. 199. Rereslw, 22G. 232. Ellis Corrcsp. i. 3. 6. Barillon
3Janv. 29Avril.
A.D. 1G86.] DISOBEDIENCE OF BISHOP OF LONDON. 77
alarmed : for the obvious tendency of their sermons was
to infuse a jealousy of his designs, and to prepare the
popular mind for resistance. He considered such dis-
courses as inconsistent with the established doctrine of
passive obedience, and contrary to the professions of
attachment to his person, which had formed the burthen
of the numerous addresses from the ecclesiastical bodies.
Hitherto he had committed no positive act of aggression
against the church : but from this time he seems to have
argued, that the clergy, by breaking their promises to
him, had also released him from his engagements to
them. In virtue of his ecclesiastical supremacy he sent
to the two archbishops certain directions for preachers,
commanding them to lay aside questions of controversy,
and to confine their discourses to subjects of moral
divinity and of a holy life. Many complied ; but many
also refused, and gloried in a disobedience which obtained
for them the applause of their hearers. The first who
was visited with any mark of the king's displeasure, May
was Dr. Sharp, dean of Norwich, and rector of St. Giles's, 2.
who had preached a sermon animadverting in no very
measured terms on the motives of the new converts to j lin
the church of Rome ■ but the bishop of London, instead 17.
of executing the royal order to suspend him from the
office of preaching, was content with advising him to re- T ,
. J illy
main silent, till he had satisfied the king of the propriety ]
of his conduct. This disobedience of the prelate led to
the establishment of a new ecclesiastical commission.
By the first of Elizabeth it had been enacted that the
kings and queens of England should have full power to
appoint persons to exercise for them their ecclesiastical
authority, and to visit, redress, correct, and amend all
errors, schisms, offences, contempts, and enormities
which by any manner of ecclesiastical power could be
lawfully redressed, corrected, and amended. It was,
indeed, true that by another statute of the 17th of
Charles I. the clause granting that power was repealed
and all letters-patent erecting new courts similar to
the high commission court, and all powers and author-
78 JAMES 11. [CHAP. I.
ities granted thereby, were declared utterly void and of
no effect. But this last act had also in its turn been re-
pealed by the 13th of Charles II. c. 12, which, while it
put down the high commission court with its extraor-
dinary powers of imposing fines, committing to prison,
and tendering the oath ex-officio, preserved to the
spiritual courts the exercise of their ordinary jurisdic-
tion, and to the crown that of its ordinary supremacy-
James, to whom it seemed incongruous that he, a mem-
ber of the church of Rome, should inquire by virtue of
the supremacy into ecclesiastical offences committed by
members of the church of England, consulted the judges,
and was by them advised to appoint a standing court of
delegates with ordinary powers to hear and determine
ecclesiastical causes, and to pronounce on offenders ec-
•Ju'y clesiastical censures. To this effect a commission in
' most ample form was directed to the archbishop of
Canterbury, to the bishops of Durham and Rochester,
the lord chancellor, the lord treasurer, the president of
the council, and the chief justice of the common pleas*,
who (with the exception of the metropolitan) sum-
moned the bishop of London before them to answer for
Aug. his contempt in omitting to suspend Dr. Sharp. They
3- refused to listen to his plea in bar of their jurisdiction ;
but allowed him sufficient time to prepare his answer.
31. He alleged that to comply witli the royal mandate by
any judicial act was not in his power, because the offence
had never come judicially before him, but that he had
complied with it in substance by advising and inducing
Sharp to abstain from preaching. If, however, he had,
in the opinion of the commissioners, erred through mis-
take, he was ready to beg the king's pardon, and willing
to make reparation for his fault.
The commissioners were divided in opinion. Roches-
* See it in History of King James's ecclesiastical commission, p. 2.
Rapin tells us (xv. "4.) thai several catholics were in the commission, an
extraordinary mistake as is evident from the instrument itself. Neither is
it trui 1 thai thr commission w as ap|).iinlcil in April but not Opened til]
August on account of the doubts entertained of its legality. The day on
which the patent was sealed was Jul) Hih. ( Evelyn, iii, '213. )
A.D. 16SG] HE IS SUSPENDED. 79
ter (and he was feebly seconded by Jeffreys) contended
that it was but fair to allow the prelate time to do now,
what he had been ordered to do at first : Sunderland and
the bishop of Durham, that as delegates they ought to
lay the whole matter before the king, and abide by his
decision. But James had no compassion on the delin-
quent : it was to him, when duke of York, that Compton
owed his nomination to the see of London, and yet that
prelate had been the first to excite the jealousy of the
clergy, and the alarm of the people to the prejudice of
his benefactor. The king insisted that he should suffer
in punishment of his ingratitude. Immediately Roches-
ter, the protector of the church in council, withdrew his
opposition ; the commissioners suspended Compton from Sept.
the exercise of the episcopal jurisdiction during the 6.
royal pleasure, and the administration of the diocese was
entrusted to the three bishops of Durham, Rochester, and
Peterborough. Sharp was also suspended, but restored on 1687.
his submission. His diocesan's more warlike spirit re- ^ aa -
fused to bend. He remained in disgrace, deprived,
indeed, of ecclesiastical authority, but invested with
the honours of a martyr in the estimation of the people,
who gave to his judges the title of the congregation de
propaganda fide, transferred from Rome to London. *
Such were the principal events of the second year of
the reign of James: hut with them were intermixed
several other occurrences, of minor interest it is true, but
strongly calculated, in the existing disposition of the
public mind, to foment the jealousy of the people, and to
diminish the popularity of the monarch. 1. about the
• See the whole process in the Slate Trials, xi. 1156 — 1 16C, and the
nistnry of 111.- ecclesiastical commission. Also Ellis Corresp. i, 60, and
Barillon, 12. 19. 23 Sept. The archbishop would not act. lie objected to
the superior authority given to a layman, the chancellor, who »;is to he
always present, ami excused himself on account of Ins age and infirmi-
ties. (See his petition in App. to Clarendon's diary.) .limes saw his
true reason, and erased his name not only h the list uf commissioners,
but also of privy counsellors, saying that if he was too infirm to he of the
first, he was equally so to 1 f the other. Barillon, 96 Aout, 2 Oct.
Lord Mul -rave was substituted tor him.
80 JAMES II. [CHAP. '•
beginning of the year several protestant clergymen pro-
1G86 * esse d themselves converts to the Roman catholic faith,
Feb. among whom were Obadiah Walker, master of Univer-
April sity College, Boyce, Dean, and Bernard, fellows of dif-
May ferent colleges, and Sclater, curate of Putney and Eshare.
3.
5.
James hastened to grant them dispensations, by which
they were empowered to enjoy the benefits of their re-
spective situations without taking the oaths, or attending
the established worship * ; though at the same time he
imposed on Sclater the obligation of providing fit minis-
ters to perform his clerical duties according to the book
of common prayer. In defence of his conduct James
maintained that it was incumbent on him to see that no
man should suffer, because he had the courage to follow
the dictates of his conscience ; but even this shallow pre-
text was wanting with respect to another proselyte, Mas-
Dec, sey, fellow of Merton, whom the king appointed dean of
J6- Christchurch, giving him at the time of his appointment
a similar dispensation, in virtue of which he occasionally
took his seat in the meetings of the chapter. What-
ever he might have thought of the other cases, this was
so manifest a violation of the rights which he had pro-
mised and sworn to uphold, that it is difficult to con-
ceive by what sophistry the misguided prince could jus-
tify it to his own satisfaction t. 2. The condition of the
* Soon after his accession, the king had found in the closet and in the
strong-box of his brother, and in his hand-writing! two papers on the re-
spective claims of the churches of England and Home, and giving the pre
ference to those of the latter. He showed them at first as a favour to
different individuals, to Barillon, to the archbishop of Canterbury, to
whom he said, in a tone of triumph, (hat whenever they were refuted he
would become a protestant (James, Memoirs, ii. 8), and to Pepys, to
whom he also gave a copy (Evelyn, Diary, iii. 181 ; iv. 279). Evelyn
(ibid.) and Buruet (ii. 47) did not think Charles capable of composing
them, but Halifax (Character of Charles II.) saw no reason to question
his being t lie author. The same inference must be drawn from the fact
that according to Evelyn (ibid.) (hey were "blotted and interlined," and
according to Barillon had been corrected in several places, "com me s'il y
" avoit mis la main plus dune fois.'' 2 Avril, 1C85. Of course the anee-
dote told by Macpherson, Hist. i. 4SS, must be unfounded. In 1636
.lames permitted them to be printed. They may be seen in Harris,
Charles II. p. 65.
t Gutch, Miscel. i. 287. 290. 294. Itcresby, 233. Ellis Cor. i. 55. 210.
a.d. 1G86.] Claude's book is burnt. 81
French refugees continued to claim the public attention.
A brief was read in all the churches for their relief, and
several tracts were published to excite in their favour the
commiseration of the people. Among these was the
translation of a treatise in the French language, written
by the celebrated minister Claude, and describing in vi-
vid colours the inhumanity of Louis and the wrongs of
the sufferers*. Barillon complained of it as a libel on his
sovereign, and James declared his pleasure in the council
that it should be burnt by the hands of the public ex-
ecutioner. Jeffreys objected that it was a foreign book,
on foreign matters, and containing nothing against the
peace of the realm : but the king replied that it was the
common duty of sovereigns to protect each other from
the pens of libellers ; the obnoxious pamphlet was ig- May
nominiously delivered to the flames ; and this treat- 5.
nient, while it added to the circulation of the book,
excited considerable discontent in the people, and was
taken as a sign that James approved in his heart of the
persecuting measures pursued by the French monarch t.
3. Though the ancient worship was still proscribed by
law under the penalties of imprisonment, forfeiture, and
death, the catholics for the last four years had been
permitted to practise it in private houses without mo-
lestation. But James was not satisfied with mere con-
nivance: he deemed it both his duty and his interest to
give protection to the public exercise of his religion : and
with this view he threw open the old chapel at St.
James's, which had been closed for a considerable
period, persuaded Sandford, an Englishman, and envoy April
218. 21 Mars. At Gloucester t lie new mayor refused the oallis in
virtue of a similar dispensation. Id. 31 Oct. The conversion of si later
lasted :is Ion;,' Ollly as . I, mies was on the throne : mi May :■>, lOM'J, lie
recanted publicly, ami becal nee more an orthodox protestaut.
• " I.es plainies des protestants cruellement persecutes dans le royaume
1 de France."
t Barillon, 13 Mai. Before this letter reached I'aris, Louis had written
to the ambassador to abstain from noticing the book, " cei sortes de
" livrea, perdant ordinairement leur credit par le peu d'attention qu'on y
" fait." 17 Mai.
VOL. XIII. (i
81 .JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
from the elector palatine, to fit up a second chapel at his
residence in the city, and built for his own use a third at
jj ec- Whitehall, which was opened with great solemnity at
25. the festival of Christmas. Successively colonies from
the several religious orders established themselves in
different places, one of Benedictines at St. James's,
another of Carmelite friars in the city, a third of Fran-
ciscans in Lincoln*s-inn-fields, and a fourth of Jesuits
7 in the Savoy, under a rector of the name of Palmer.
M 'The last opened a large school which was frequented by
24. protestants as well as catholics, on an understanding
that the teachers should not interfere with the religious
principles of their pupils *. 4. As these novelties were
of a nature to beget irritation, so they provoked, as was
to be expected, occasional breaches of the peace on the
part of the lower classes : but James had prepared an
effectual check on the ebullition of popular resentment
by the presence of an army of about 16,000 men, con-
sisting of twelve battalions of infantry and thirty-five
27. squadrons of cavalry, encamped on Hounslow-heath.
Recollecting his employment as general in the French
service, he felt a pride in modelling his troops, and
fatigued himself and them with repeated inspections
and reviews. In the general opinion this army was the
best paid, the best appointed, and the best disciplined in
Europe. But at the same time rumour was busy in at-
tributing the king's diligence to designs against the re-
ligion and the liberties of his subjects. It was remarked
that several of the officers were catholics ; the piety of all
good protestants was scandalized by the public celebra-
tion of mass in the tent of lord Dunbarton, the second
* James, ii. 79, SO. liarillou, 29 Avril. C Mai. Ellis, Torres, i. 84. 118.
The success of this establishment at the Savoy exec eded the king's expec-
tations. In a short time the scholars, attracted by the celebrity of the
teachers, amounted to about -100, half protestants and half catholics
(James, ii. 80), He was even induced to found a second school in the
city, of which Charles, the brother of Edward Petre.v ith six other Jesuits,
took possession on March 2j ; 16^. Hut the revolution followed too
quickly to permit it to flourish like the former. Oliver, Collect. 149.
A. D. 1686.] CATHOLIC PRIVY COUNSELLORS. S3
in command * : and in a short time a printed paper was May-
circulated through the camp, calling on the men " to ' 24 -
" be valiant for the truth ; not to yoke themselves with
" bloody and idolatrous papists, and to refuse a service
" the object of which was to set up mass-houses, and to
" bring the nation under the tyranny of foreigners.''
That the publication was libellous and seditious, no one
could deny : it was traced to Dr. Samuel Johnson, for-
merly chaplain to lord Russell, and convicted in the last
reign of having published " Julian the apostate," a libel
on the duke of York. For this second offence he was Nov.
tried at the bar of the king's bench, found guilty, and 16.
adjudged to stand thrice in the pillory, to be whipped from
Tyburn to Newgate, and to pay a fine of 500 marks.
Much intercession was made for him : but James was in-
exorable : and therefore, previously to his punishment, to
save the honour of the clergy, he was solemnly degraded
from the order of priesthood, in the chapterhouse of St.
Paul's, by Crewe, Sprat, and White, the bishops of Dur- 20.
ham, Rochester, and Peterborough f. 5. The king was
not content with empowering catholics to hold commis-
sions in the army, or to retain situations in the universities,
he resolved to introduce them into the privy council, and,
soon after the declaration of the judges in favour of the July
dispensing power, he ordered the lords Powis, Arundell, 1 7.
Belasyse, and Dover, to take their places at the board,
without having previously qualified themselves by the
test according to law. It was, he maintained, a part of
his prerogative to avail himself of the advice of any of
his subjects, whatever might be theii religious opinions :
but the people, instead of admitting the claim, looked
upon it as an open avowal of his intention to subvert
the protestant establishment. He made at the same
time another appointment, which, had it been known,
would have added considerably to the public irritation.
Of the catholics no one, whether it was owing to the
Bullion, 6 Juin, 11 Juillet.
+ State Trials, 1339. 1350. Ohlmixon, 709. Ellis, Cones, i. 190. 197.
G 2
84 JAMES II. [CHAP. I
merits of the individual or the arls of Sunderland, had
obtained so high a place in his favour and confidence as
father Petre. To him had been given the superintend-
ence of the royal chapel ; he was lodged in the same
apartments at Whitehall which James had occupied
when he was duke of York, and he was named a privy
councillor at the same time with the four peers *. The
impolicy of this appointment was too glaring to escape
the notice of any man of ordinary apprehension. James
owns that he himself was aware of it : and can allege no
other plea in excuse, but that "he was so bewitched by
" my lord Sunderland and father Petre, as to let himself
"be prevailed upon to' doe so indiscreete a thing -I'.'
What induced Petre to accept the office is not mentioned.
But the policy of Sunderland is obvious. He made the
presence of the Jesuit a screen for himself: for, as long
as the former occupied a place in the council, to him
chietiy would attach the odium of every measure offen-
sive to the feelings, or prejudicial to the interests, of pro-
testants %• The catholic lords, however, were alarmed :
they communicated their apprehensions to the queen ;
and with the aid of her entreaties James was at length
persuaded, not, indeed, to revoke the appointment, but
to suspend its publication. In effect, he waited only for
the result of Castlemaine's negotiation at Rome, and per-
suaded himself that, when his friend was, as he expected
he would be, invested with the episcopal character, less
objection would be offered to his introduction into the
council §. G. Petre repaid the services of Sunderland by
the employment of his influence to effect the removal of
Sunderland's competitor. Tne disapprobation, which
Rochester constantly expressed in council, of the mea-
sures taken by James, mortified the king: but his
resentment was as often checked by the humble submis-
* Ibid. Ellis, Curresp. i. 149. 196. Barillon, W. '20 Juillet, 21 Nov.
t James (Memoirs, ii. ?7)- t Life ol James, ii. 77-
I bid ;,ini see tin' oext chapter.
A.U. 16S6. DISGRACE OF ROCHESTER. 80
sion of that minister to the royal will, after he had once
delivered his opinion. The two intriguers adopted a
new argument. They represented to James that he
must never expect to carry the abolition of the test act
in parliament, as long as the opposition was led by one
of his own ministers, the highest in rank, and the first
in influence and patronage*. This the king admitted ;
but his reluctance to disgrace an old and tried adherent
suggested to him the hope of escaping from the diffi-
culty by the conversion of Rochester to the Roman
catholic faith. At his request the earl conversed in pj 0Vi
private with Dr. Leyburn on two subjects, the real doc- 12.
trine of the Christian church during the first five cen-
turies, and the necessity of an infallible authority in
matters of faith : afterwards the question of the real 30
presence was debated before him and the king without
any attendants, by the doctors Jane and Patrick on one
side, and Leyburn and Godden on the other: and Ro-
chester in conclusion observed that the disputants " had
" discoursed learnedly, and that he would attentively
" consider their arguments." The king was disap-
pointed ; he complained to Barillon of the obstinacy and
insincerity of the treasurer "1 ; and the latter received p ec
from the French envoy a very intelligible hint tliat the 3.
loss of office would result from his adhesion to his reli-
gious creed. He was, however, indexible, and James, 19.
after a long delay, communicated to him, but with con-
siderable embarrassment and many tears, his final de-
termination. He had hoped, he said, that Rochester,
by conforming to the church of Rome, would have
spared him the unpleasant task : but kings must sacri-
fice their feelings to their duty. That interest which he
owned and supported, the earl opposed: it was necessary
to put an end to such opposition. If time were required
• Barillon, 23 Sept. ; 4. 18. 31 Nov.
t Barillon, 12. 'JO Dec; 9 Janv. While James complained on one lide
of liis obstinacy, the zealous protests nti complained on the other, " that
" he remained so far m suspense aa n"i to declare which Bide had the
" better." The True Patriot Vindicated, p. 88.
8G JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
for deliberation, he should have it: if not, he might still
be assured that his past services would never be for-
gotten, and that he would always find in his sovereign a
friend and protector for himself and his family. What
answer was returned we know not: but its import may
1687 be collected from the result. James abolished the
Jan.* office of lord high treasurer, whose duties were intrusted
3. to a board of commissioners, and the fallen minister re-
ceived, as a proof of the royal gratitude, lands to the
yearly value of 1700/. out of the forfeited estate of lord
Grey, and an annuity of 4000/. out of the private estate
of James himself, to continue to him and his son for
the term of ninety-nine years, but to determine on the
death of the survivor * .
The disgrace of Rochester spread alarm among the
friends of the established church. In him they had lost
their most powerful support. But, though they com-
plained of the past and feared for the future, they did
not yet suffer their discontent to goad them into acts of
resistance. From the fate of the insurgents under
Monmouth they had learned a salutary lesson, and
deemed it more expedient to wait with patience for
redress from a protestant successor, than to make the
uncertain and hazardous experiment of an appeal to the
passions and violence of the people.
Before we close the present chapter it will be proper
to pass in review the principal occurrences in the king-
doms of Scotland and Ireland. 1. In Scotland a violent
dissension had broken out between the two chief officers
of government, the duke of Queensberry and the earl of
Perth, of whom the first was lord treasurer, the second
* Barillon, 12 Dec ; 2. 13. '20 Janv. James, ii. 100. 102. Dodd, iii. Il ( .».
Clarendon Corresp. ii. 68. 90,91. 116. Evelyn, iii. 221. Ellis's Corresp.
i. 212, 223. 228. The new commissioners of the treasury are thus described
by Barillon : " My lord BelasMs est un homme de qualite qui a beaucoup
" souffert pour le roi d'A., et pour la religion catholique. Myl. Godolfin
"a deja dirige les finances, et y estestime fori habile. Myl. Douvres a ele
'• attache a S. M. 11. depuis son enfauce, el tnerite l>i«'n cet emploi : il est
" riclie et econome. I- 1 ' chev. Knieley est un ancien offlcier des finances,
" <!ui e'n Bail la routine; el le chev. Fox esl immensement riche, et donne
• du credit aux autres commissuires." Barillon, 13 Jauv.
A. D.I 686.] PROCEEDINGS IN- SCOTLAND. 87
chancellor and a recent proselyte to the catholic worship. 1686.
Both appealed to the justice of the sovereign, who refused * e "*
to decide between them, but gladly seized the oppor-
tunity of appointing for his representative at the
approaching session of parliament the earl of Murray, a
man unconnected with either of the parties, and possess-
ing the entire confidence of the king. This appoint-
ment led to other arrangements. The treasury was put 26.
in commission, by which the duke became only the third
person at the board ; the government of the castle of
Edinburgh was, with his apparent consent, transferred
from him to the duke of Gordon ; and all that the
waning influence of Rochester could effect in favour of
Queensberry, whose son Drumlanerig had married lady
Rochester's niece, was to make him president of the
council with a salary of 1000/. per annum. The real
object of these changes was to facilitate in the Scottish
parliament the repeal of the test act, as an example for
the imitation of the English parliament. The opposi-
tion of Queensberry, which the king had anticipated,
was after his loss of office a matter of little consequence ;
the duke of Hamilton had promised his co-operation
and that of his numerous dependents ; and Mackenzie,
lately created viscount Tarbet, pretended to show, from
the roll of the members, that there existed a large ma-
jority at the command of the court. But his assertion
was disputed, and the measure itself was strongly opposed ,
by the two archbishops ; and, after several consultations •!%'
it was resolved that permission to exercise their respect- Apr.
lve forms of worship should be granted to the catholics 1() -
and the covenanters, but that the repeal or continuation
of the test should be left to the discretion of parlia-
ment *.
The session opened with a letter from the king, in 29
which, having given due praise to the loyalty of the
Scots, he stated his own attention to their interests, and
• liiirillon, 11 Mars; 22,29 Avril. lillis, Corresp. 40. 50. 53. 50. C9. 72.
%. IP.'. '
88 JAMES II. [chap. I.
his wish to extend their commerce and add to their
prosperity. He had instructed his commissioner to
establish, with their concurrence, certain regulations for
the opening of a free trade with England, and had
sent down an act of amnesty to be passed in parliament,
pardoning all rebellions and offences against the crown.
In return he asked nothing for himself; the only boon
which be expected was some indulgence for his Roman
catholic subjects, that they might enjoy, in common with
others, the protection of the laws, without lying under
obligations incompatible with their religious creed. The
commissioner spoke in a similar strain: but, both in his
speech and in the royal letter, all mention of the exact
measure of relief was cautiously avoided *.
The number of the catholics in Scotland was so in-
considerable, that no danger could be feared from them
in consequence of the toleration of their religion. But
that jealousy of the king's designs, which prevailed in
England, had penetrated into the neighbouring king-
dom ; and the protestant leaders in London, the Scottish
refugees in Holland, and even the prince of Orange,
through the secret agency of the pensionary Fagel, made
every effort to animate the Scots to resistance. The
persuasion that protestantism was in danger rapidly
diffused itself through the nation. The more religious
could not be convinced that it was lawful to connive at
the exercise of a religion which they had been taught to
believe idolatrous ; and men, who for years had felt no
sense of religion at all, were suddenly inspired with a
holy impulse to put down the errors of popery together
with the hopes of the papists -K From the support
which he had always given to the episcopal church of
Scotland, James conceived himself entiiled to its gra-
titude and services ; but of the bishops, with the excep-
• James ii. 64— (>"]. Wodrow, ii. 530.
+ •' God/' sa\< Founlainhall, " raised up men to appear for the protest-
nnt interest, who were not very strict in any religion. State Trials, xi.
IiJj.
A.D. 16SC] OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT. 89
tion of Ross and Paterson, some were passive, others
decidedly hostile ; and of the clergy the greater part
laboured to create by their discourse and their sermons
the most decided opposition : while the presbyterians,
their ancient adversaries, stood aloof, silent but not in-
different spectators of the contest. In the council,
though an appearance of unanimity was preserved, a
diversity of inclination existed— even Hamilton, not-
withstanding his engagement, gave but a faint and
qualified assent * — and in parliament, according to the
ancient policy of several families, if the father supported
the court, the son placed himself in the ranks of its
opponents. The patrons of the measure began to fear
the result. To reduce the number of their adversaries,
they ordered several military officers to rejoin their regi-
ments ; and, to influence the minds of the timid, they
removed other members from their situations under the
government. But these proceedings added to the obsti-
nacy of their opponents ; and the predominant feeling in
the house was sufficiently manifested by the guarded
answer returned to the king's speech, that " they would May
" take the case of the Roman catholics into their serious 6.
" and dutiful consideration, and go as great lengths as
" their consciences would allow . " the first time, it was
observed, that a Scottish parliament had talked of con-
science since the restoration f.
At length the lords of the articles laid the draught of 27.
an act before the house. It provoked a long and animated
debate, in which several of the speakers displayed the
bitterness of their zeal in the most inflammatory lan-
guage. " Our fathers," exclaimed a voice, " are re-
" preached with having sold their king: let it not be our
" reproach that we have sold our God ■ " while another
sounded in their cars the imprecations against the w
• " Tiiis excuse was made for duke Hamilton and the president's going
" alongst, that, by slaying in that party and giving them moderate coun
" sels, thej could do the protestant religion better Bervice." Ibid, "ii
the other hand, the king did not believe that Hamilton acted sincerely,
and received from him the Bame son of apology, qu'il n'a pas cru devoir
hazarder sou credit en s'opposant inutilement au torrent. Barillon, 27
Mai. t Wodrow, ii 591. App. LS8.
90 JAMES II. [CHAP. I-
of Babylon, from the book of Revelations*. The draught
was returned to the lords of articles for amendment, and
was reproduced in the following form : " That those of his
" majesty's subjects who are of the Romish religion are,
" and shall be, under the protection of his majesty's
" government and laws for their private and civil
" interests ; and shall not, for the exercise of their
" religion in their private houses (all public worship
" bein^ hereby excluded), incur the danger of san-
" guinary and other punishments contained in any acts
" of parliament made against the same." By this form
the benefit was restricted to persons at that time pro-
fessing, not who might afterwards profess, the catholic
religion : whether it would have passed with such a
June restriction is uncertain : but the king was already
i'o. offended, and the commissioner received the royal com-
mand to prorogue the parliament f.
This sudden resolution did not proceed from any
change of sentiment. James persisted in his design,
but condemned himself of folly in having asked as a
favour what he could have granted by his own authority.
Sept. After an interval of a few months he despatched a suc-
9- cession of letters to the council, ordering them to extend
14 - the protection of government to his catholic as well as
^ ' his protestant subjects, authorising the exercise of the
"i2 ' catholic worship in private houses, and enjoining that
18. certain individuals by name should be admitted to offices
in the state, as well as the conforming clergy in general
to livings in the church, without the obligation of taking
the test;}:.
After this preparatory step he ventured on the
execution of the great measure which he meditated.
By two successive proclamations he declared his re-
solution that, as he would not force the conscience
of any man himself, so neither he would not allow
any man to force the consciences of others ; his inten-
• Barillon, 1 Juillet Wodrow, ii. App. 101, " that they should eat her
" flesh, and burn her with lire." Rev. xvii 16.
t Wodrow, ii. 691 App. 160. Fuuntainhall, in Stale Trials, xi. 1170—
1177. t Fountainhall, 117/ .
CHAP. I.] LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE GRANTED. 91
tion of preserving inviolate to the bishops and clergy 1687
of the established church of Scotland their churches, Feb.
rights, and property, and to laymen the possession of all "'
church and abbey lands which had been secularized at j u i y
the reformation ; his grant of full and free toleration to 5.
presbyterians, quakers, and catholics, so that they might
exercise their respective worships in houses and chapels,
but not in field-conventicles, for which there could be no
longer any pretext ; his suspension of the cruel and san-
guinary statutes against catholics, which had been made,
during the minority and without the consent of his
grand fat her, by men in rebellion against queen Mary,
their lawful sovereign, and which were in their provi-
sions so abhorrent from the principles of humanity that
for years they had not been carried into execution ; and
his design of employing men in his service without
respect of their religion, and in proportion to their merits
and qualifications. That by this measure the king took
upon himself to suspend, for a time at least, the execu-
tion of numerous laws, cannot be denied : but that he
might legally do it seems to follow from the unlimited
authority in ecclesiastical matters which the Scottish
legislature had previously conferred on the sovereign*.
By the clergy of the episcopal church in Scotland this
declaration was viewed with feelings of abhorrence. It
licensed in their opinion the existence of schism, and
blasphemy, and idolatry. Nor did the presbyterians
themselves, who would reap the benefit equally with
the catholics, unite in approving it. The more rigorous
deemed it a sin to have any communication with James
Stuart, " an apostate, bigoted, excommunicated papist,
" under the malediction of the Mediator, yea, heir to the
" imprecation of his grandfather." They maintained
• State Tracts, ii. 2S5. Fountainhall, 1179 1181. At the same time he
granted separate auma of 200/. a-year lor the aupport of the chapel royal,
of tb* mission in the Highlands, of the secular missionaries, the Jesuit
missionaries, and of the Scotch colleges at Duuai, Paris, and Rome Mao
kiiiio-.h, 1 12. May \'J, 1(387, an additional sum of 1200/. was giveu to the
college at Paris.
92 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
that he could not exercise regal authority, because he
had not taken the oath required by law ; and that the
establishment of toleration was not within the power of
the civil magistrate, because toleration was " inconsistent
" with the law of God, its object to set up tyranny, its
" tendency to unite the hearts of protestants with papists,
" as if the latter were neighbours, and by taking in
" bishops and quakers as well as papists, to legalize
" heresy and blasphemy no less than idolatry." But by
the majority of the preshyterian ministers the boon was
accepted with cheerfulness. It was no concern of theirs
to inquire by what authority, or for what object, it had
been granted. To preach the gospel was their duty :
hitherto they had been restrained by the strong hand of
power : it would be extraordinary, indeed, if they were
now to restrain themselves, when the obstacle was re-
July moved. Under this impression they met in Edinburgh,
21. and subscribed an address to the king, expressive of their
loyalty to his person, their gratitude for the indulgence,
and their resolution to merit by their conduct the con-
tinuation of his favour *.
2. In Ireland the same causes of dissension, which had
so long agitated that kingdom, were still in constant
operation, — diversity of religion, and opposition of in-
terests. Of the two the latter proved the more danger-
ous and irritating evil •!•. Where the Catholics formed
the great majority of the population it was seldom safe,
frequently impracticable, to execute the intolerant laws
which inflicted penalties on the professors, death on the
ministers, of their religion : but the opposition between
the English and Irish interests, as they were called, was
continually kept alive by the daily fears of one party,
and the protracted sufferings of the other. The English
interest, that is, the planters and adventurers from Eng-
land, who had obtained the lands of the natives during a
» Wodrow, ii. G24. App. 187 192. 194, 195. Fountaiuhall, Stale Trials,
x. 7.!") : xi. 1 179.
+ ■' The contest here is not About religion, but between English ami
" Irish, ami that is the truth." Clarendon to Rochester, i. o59.
A.D. 1GS7.] STATE OF IRELAND. 93
period of rebellion and anarchy, trembled for their se-
curity, and lived in perpetual fear of a reaction : and the
Irish interest, the men of native descent, among whom
numbers had been reduced to poverty for the enrichment
of strangers, looked forward to the time when the suf-
ferers might recover the possessions of their fathers
by the exclusion of these foreign intruders. The two
parties regarded each other as sworn enemies ; they at-
tributed to one another the most barbarous counsels ;
they suffered their passions to be blown into a tiame by
the most improbable and unfounded rumours ; and they
watched each other like two hostile armies, anxiously
looking for the first favourable opportunity of surprise
and victory. The duty of maintaining tranquillity be-
tween them had for some years been painfully but suc-
cessfully exercised by the vigilance and firmness of the
duke of Ormond, the lord-lieutenant : nor was it till
the last days of his reign, when he had gained the
ascendancy over his opponents in England, that Charles
took into serious consideration the state of things in the
sister island. Here, with the aid of the church and its
doctrine of passive obedience, he had put down the men
whom he considered enemies of the throne ; but in Ire-
land he saw, or thought he saw, that almost all who
exercised the civil or the military authority were re-
publicans by principle, because they derived their wealth
and importance from the conquests and regulations of
the late commonwealth. It was resolved to remove
them gradually from their situations, and to introduce
into offices of trust and power natives of monarchical
principles, and consequently in a great proportion
catholics, who, as they would derive the benefit from the
favour, would attach themselves through interest to the
person, of the sovereign. At the same time he deter-
mined to intrust this delicate task to another lord- lieu-
tenant, whether it was suspected that Ormond would
disapprove of the plan, or that an honourable retreat was
required for Rochester, to shelter him fror" the unceas-
94 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
ing attacks of his rivals in the ministry. The duke
received notice that he would he recalled at the expira-
tion of six months, and a new patent was made out for
Rochester as his successor : but the death of Charles
disturbed this arrangement ; Rochester was raised to
the office of lord treasurer in England, and on the de-
parture of Ormond the reins of government fell into the
hands of the archbishop of Armagh and lord Granard,
with the title of lords justices*. James, however, did
not lose sight of the new system, which had been settled
with his concurrence during the reign of his brother.
After the suppression of Monmouth's rebellion, he
ordered the militia to be disbanded and disarmed in Ire-
land as well as in England ; an order which in the for-
mer kingdom created considerable alarm. There the
militia consisted principally of the English planters,
who alone had been allowed by law to carry arms, and
who, when these were taken from them, considered
themselves without defence against the enmity of the
natives. Reports of intended massacres were immedi-
ately circulated, and numbers, under the impulse of
terror, disposed of their property and quitted the island.
But it soon appeared that the alarm was groundless, and
that the regular army, amounting to eight thousand
men, was able to preserve the public tranquillity t.
Sunderland had been pointed out to James as a fit
person to fill the office of chief governor of Ireland. But
that wily statesman had no wish to be exiled from court,
and to leave his competitor in the undisputed possession
of power. His intrigues were successful : lie even con-
trived to diminish the influence of Rochester in the
cabinet, by procuring the appointment of Clarendon,
Rochester's brother, to the office which he himself had
declined^. To Clarendon the kin£ explained his inten-
• CUt. Corresp. i. 96. 97, 98. 100. 104. 108. 112. 158.
+ Ibid. i. 158. In the "secret consults" it is said that " thousands" fled
to England and five hundred to the plantations (p 50). Tins amount is
much overrated. Bonrepaus.
X Barillon, 13 Sep. U'.y5.
A.D. 1686.] CLARENDON LORD-LIEUTENANT. 93
tion with respect to the government of Ireland. 1. It
was always to be borne in mind that Ireland was a con-
quered country, and that of course the English ascend-
ancy and the act of settlement must be maintained. At
the same time it would be for the lord-lieutenant to
devise some means of rewarding several of the native
Irish, who had rendered important services to the crown,
and had nevertheless been deprived of their patrimony.
2. The king was a catholic, most of the natives were
catholics : it was his will that they should enjoy the free
exercise of their worship, that civil disqualifications for
religious opinions should cease, and that in Ireland
catholics should he admitted to offices in the state, and
to the freedom of corporations, equally with his protest-
ant subjects. 3. It should be remembered that in the
army were to be found many individuals of dangerous
principles, whom it would be necessary to remove : and
for that purpose he should reserve to himself, as his
brother had done in the patent to lord Rochester, the
power of granting military commissions *.
With these instructions Clarendon took possession of 1686
his government. In a short time three catholic lawyers ^ an -
were raised to the bench ; several catholics were admitted '
into the privy council ; others, as had been the custom
before the rebellion, filled the offices of sheriffs and ma-
gistrates ; and out of the rents of two vacant bishoprics
the sum of 2190/. was set aside to be distributed annu-
ally among the twelve catholic prelates t. On all these April
points Clarendon, though he deeply condemned, faith- ^-
fully executed, the orders of the sovereign : but the
reform of the standing army was intrusted to a more
confidential agent, Richard Talbot, with whom the
reader is already acquainted by the title of the earl of
Tyrconnel. He was descended from one of the first
English settlers in Ireland, had entered at an early age
into the service of James, and had merited by his fidelity
• Clar. Corresp, i. 339. 461 ; ii. 25.
r Ibid. L 576. 247.
96 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
to his master to be selected by Oates for one of his vic-
tims. By a timely flight to the continent he escaped
from the fangs of the informer ; and on his return
was rewarded by the king with rank and office. Tyr-
connel was brave and generous, and devoted to the
person of his benefactor ; but rash, impetuous, and con-
June fident. To spare the feelings of the lord- lieutenant,
°' James compelled him to receive his commission of lieu-
tenant-general from Clarendon : but he executed his
orders with a vigour, perhaps violence, which did not
earn the approbation, though it subdued the timidity, of
the chief governor. Every officer suspected, whether
justly or unjustly mattered not, of cherishing revolution-
ary principles, was cashiered ; and, under pretence of old
age or deficient stature, every fourth man among the
privates was discharged*. Of the first class many ac-
cepted the commissions offered them by the prince of
Orange in the British regiments serving in Holland,
and afterwards gratified their revenge by accompanying
him in his subsequent expedition into England. The
others carried their complaints into every part of Ire-
land ; their discharge was attributed to a design of
raising an army of catholics ; the old alarm of a mas-
sacre was revived, and several families emigrated to
England. But the king, and the lord lieutenant by his
order, declared that the act of settlement should be reli-
giously observed, and the panic in a short time sub-
sided t.
Having reformed the army, Tyrconnel repaired to
court, to urge upon the king the expediency of repealing
the act of settlement and of removing the lord-lieute-
nant. In the first he failed. That to many innocent
families the act of settlement had been an act of oppres-
sion and injustice, was agreed : but the probable conse-
quences of a repeal were so alarming, that few of the
* Ibid. i. 342. 435. In the olil army the catholics amounted tu twa
thousand. The recruits were two thousand three hundred, of whom three
hundred only were proteslanta, [bid. 502. 514. 534. 57' r >-
t Ibid. 3^6. 417. 404.
CHAP. I.] CLARENDON SUPERSEDED. 97
council dared to sanction it with their approbation *. In
his second object he was more successful, though at
first he met with strong opposition from the queen, at
the request of her friend lady Rochester. Clarendon
could no longer shut his eyes to the lot which awaited
him: from his official correspondence with Sunderland,
he foresaw that he must expect nothing but hostility
from the secretary whom he suspected of concealing his
despatches from the knowledge of the sovereign ; and it
was plain that the intriguers who sought the fall of his
brother would involve him in the same disgrace. At
length the treasurer's staff was taken from Rochester ;
and Clarendon at the same time received notice of his
recall. But who was to be his successor? Tyrconnel, 1C87.
when his name was previously mentioned, had, with J^n.
affected moderation, replied, that the infirm state of his
health would not permit him to accept the office for more
than a very limited period. But most of the catholic
counsellors had no wish that he should be invested with
it at all. They objected his violence and presumption:
the queen aided them with her influence ; and the earl
of Powis was put forward as a competitor. The ambition
of Tyrconnel now disclosed itself. He called upon Sun-
derland and Petre to fulfil their former promises in his
favour; and after a long contest, in which the expedi-
ents suggested by one party were uniformly rejected by
the other, he succeeded in obtaining the object of his
wishes, not, however, in the capacity of lord lieutenant,
but with the inferior title of lord deputy. Powis, after Mar
the refusal of several other offices, was content to accept 10.
the higher rank of marquess ; and Clarendon, having . (
resigned the privy seal to lord Arundell, received from
the king a pension of 2000/. per annum t.
• The day after tlie question had been debated in council, Tyrconnel
obtained permission to discuss it with Sunderland alone in the kin»'s pre-
sence. At the conclusion Sunderland professed himself a convert to the
0|iiuion of Tyrconnel. I)' Adda, 15 Nov. 1086. This was probably n lurce
concerted between the two.
t D'Adda, ibid. Clar. Corresp. ii. 10. 26. 68. 134. Barillon, Jan. 27
Fev. 13.20; Mars 20. 24, N. S.
VOL. XIII. H
i
9i
98 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
It had been given in charge to Tyrconnel to raise the
Irish to a decided superiority over the English " in-
" terest," to the end that Ireland might oiler a secure
asylum to James and his friends, if by any subsequent
revolution the king should be driven from the English
throne : but the lord deputy had a further and more na-
tional object in view, to render his native country inde-
pendent of England, if James should die without male
issue, and the prince and princess of Orange should inhe-
™JS« rit the crown. For tins purpose he employed the agency
of Bonrepaus in England, and of Seignelay in France, to
acquaint Louis XIV. with his intention, and to solicit
a |P his powerful aid. The French monarch, who looked on
the prince of Orange as the most formidable of his ene-
mies, received the overture with pleasure, and gave to
Tyrconnel strong assurances of support : and it was
v mutually agreed that the project and all the subsequent
proceedings should be carefully withheld, not only from
the knowledge of Sunderland, to whom it was said
that Tyrconnel was bound to pay the yearly sum of
4000A out of his emoluments, but also from that of
Barillon, whose intimacy with Sunderland exposed him
to the suspicion of betraying every secret to that mi-
nister *.
In the prosecution of these views Tyrconnel turned
his attention to the courts of law and the different cor-
porations. On his arrival he found three catholics, in
a short time he left but three protestants, on the bench ;
and in imitation of the proceedings in England, he ob-
tained by promises, or intimidation, or writs of quo war-
ranto, possession of most of the charters formerly
granted to the cities and boroughs, and issued in their
place others, which secured the nomination of members
of parliament in favour of the court. Conceiving him-
• For this interesting fact we are indebted to the industry of Mazure,
who discovered it In the dispatches of Bonrepaua. Mazure, ii. -87. See
note (C).
A..D. 1687.] tyrconnel's proceedings. 99
self sufficiently powerful to bear down all opposition, he
solicited of the king licence to hold a parliament, in
which, under the pretext of passing a supplementary
act for the relief of the Irish claimants under the act of
settlement, he might restore to the natives most of the
property, of which they had been deprived during the
sway of the commonwealth. Two of the judges, Nugent Apr.
and Rice, arrived in England to explain the project to
James, who considered it as amounting in substance to
a repeal of the act, and likely to lead, in its conse-
quences, to the dismemberment of Ireland from the
English crown*. Not only did he refuse his assent,
but seemed to lend a favourable ear to those who ad-
vised the removal of the lord deputy- Sunderland in
his apology (out the reader will recollect that it was
written after the revolution, and to mitigate the odium
which he had incurred), claims the merit of having
caused the failure of this project, and moreover of hav-
ing rejected (what he was never known to have done
on any other occasion) a bribe of 40,000/., perhaps
50,000/., offered to him by Tyrconnel. If we may be-
lieve one who was in the secret, both these assertions
are equally false t. The public gave the whole credit
to the opposition of the lords Powis and Belaysye, the
latter of whom was reported to have said that the lord
deputy was fool and madman enough to ruin ten king-
doms 'j;. This was the last transaction of importance,
* When this was proposed in the preceding year by Tyrconnel, Barillon
writes, " Le renversemeut ile cat etablissomenl fait en favour dea rebelles
et des officiers il • Cromwell est regarde ici comma ce qu'il y a de plus im-
portant, ft s'ii prut fire execute sans opposition, ee sera uoe entiere sepa-
ration de l'Irelande d'avec l'Aiigleterre t c'est le aeniiment general des
Anglais." Baiillon, L6 Oct 168/. Thepretext for it arose from this cir-
cumstance, that many of the Irish, who by the act of settlement ought to
have been restored in their estates as soon as tin" existing occupants
could be reprized, had never been restored in fact, because the fund for
reprisals was soon exhausted, Clar. CoTesp, i. 560.
t Sheridan, the secretary ofTyrconnel, in the Stuart Papers.
$ Secret Consults, 119. This tract, which "a, written by a warm par-
tisan of king William at the time in which Janus wis in possession of
H 2
100 JAMES II. [CHAP. I.
with respect to the state of Ireland, at the time when
the prince of Orange landed in England.
Ireland, though often cited, is, from its frequent contradiction of more
authentic documents, entitled to very little credit It may show what re-
ports circulated in Ireland, but cannot be assumed as authority for facts.
Even Kalph, who was obliged to have recourse to it for facts, deemed him-
self authorised to desert it, and give to those facts " such a turn, as seemed
" to him best to tally with the characters of the persons spoken of, and
" the general state of things." i. 975.
101
CHAPTER II.
JAMES II.
Closetings and Removals — Liberty of conscience — Contests with the two
Universities— The Nuncio — Castlemaine — Petre — Causes of distrust
between the King and the Prince— Conduct and secret preparations of
the latter — Incredulity of James— Birth of a Prince of Wales — Trial of
the Seven Bishops — Louis declares War against the Empire — Alarm of
the kiug — He seeks to conciliate the States — And his own Subjects —
Declaration of the Prince — He sails and is driven back — Preparations
of the King— Disgrace of Sunderland— The Prince sails, and lauds near
Exeter — Desertion of Lord Cornbury — King goes to the Army and
returns— More Desertions — The Queen and her Son escape to France —
The King is intercepted at Faversham — Returns to London — Is ordered
to quit by the Prince — Escapes from Rochester — Lands in France —
A Convention called— Debates on the Vacancy of the Throne — Decla-
ration of Rights — William and Mary proclaimed King and Queen.
Two years had now elapsed since the accession of James.
His popularity was already gone ; the hopes excited
by his first speech had been blighted by his subsequent
conduct ; and his assumption of the dispensing power,
joined to the reckless and irritating manner in which he
exercised it, had taught the friends of the established
church to question their favourite doctrine of passive
obedience. But the king, though aware of this change
of public opinion, clung the more obstinately to his pur-
pose, and it now became the first object of his policy to
secure a majority against the next session of parliament.
To effect this in the house of lords, it had been sug-
gested to him, that he might confer the honours of the
peerage on several new families, or might call to the
house the eldest sons of peers whose views were in con-
formity with his own *. But, unwilling to adopt either
• See Sunderland's conversation with the Nuncio, in the correspondence
of d'Adda. Mackintosh. f>.'14 Then- were about 200 placemen and pen-
sioners in the house jf commons. Ibid.
1C2 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
expedient without an absolute necessity, and trusting
that the fate of Rochester — of one to whom he had been
so constant and so munificent a friend — would teach
others what they might expect from the royal displea-
sure, he resolved to exact from every public functionary
the promise of his vote as the condition of his remaining
in office. With this view he had recourse to private con-
ferences, which obtained the denomination of " closet-
" ings." Of the men exposed to that ordeal there were
many, who professed a readiness to submit their own
judgment to the superior wisdom of the sovereign: but,
there were also many, who either boldly avowed their
persuasion, that the test acts were passed for the security
of the church, and therefore, if necessary under a pro-
testant, must be still more necessary under a catholic,
monarch ; or sufficiently intimated their opinion, while
with more courtly language they begged to be excused
from answering, because they could form no judgment
till the question had been debated in parliament. James
was accustomed to reply, that he sought nothing but
freedom of conscience, the natural right of man, aright
so evident, that he would not insult their judgment by
undertaking to prove it. But he would deny that the
test acts were enacted for the preservation of the church
— that was only the pretext — the real motive of those
with whom they originated was to take from the throne
the services of a body of men strongly devoted to its
interests : but, even were it otherwise, the catholics
formed, and for a long course of years must form, so
small a minority among the people, that it was ridiculous
to apprehend from them any danger to the established
church. But what, he would ask, had been the conse-
quence of penal laws on account of religion? Instead
of putting down the non-conformists, they had engen-
dered jealousies, and heart-burnings, and persecution.
Repeal them, and dissension would cease : men of dif-
ferent sects would look on each other as brothers, and
all would unite in furthering the prosperity of the king-
A.:>. 1687.] REMOVALS FROM OFFICE. 103
i
dun. In conclusion, he observed that he would never
force any person's conscience ; men must act as they
judged most fitting; but they could not expect him to
keep in employment those who would use the influence
of office to oppose the measures which he deemed it his
duty to pursue *.
This menace was put in execution : but in many in-
stances it failed of success, and men seemed more
desirous to obtain the honour of deprivation than to
preserve the emoluments of office. The lords Derhy, Aug.
Thanet, Shrewsbury, Lumley, and Newport, vice-admi- 13,
ral Herbert +, and several others, cheerfully resigned
their respective employments and commands; and the
royal advisers, among whom from this period we are to
number Penn, the celebrated quaker, seized the oppor-
tunity to wean the king from his notions in favour of the
established church, and to turn his attention to the
dissenters. From the churchmen, with all their preten-
sions to loyalty, it was now plain that he could expect
no aid. They had already displayed, some an open,
others a masked, hostility. But let him divest himself
of his prejudices against other religionists; let him win
their services by employing his dispensing power in their
favour; let him establish by proclamation in England,
as he had already done in Scotland, universal liberty of
conscience. Then non-conformists of every class would
be eager to display their gratitude : and interest, if not
affection, would bind them to support the royal prero-
gative. He might then call a new parliament: the
friends of religious liberty would rally round the throne;
and the repeal of every penal statute would be accom-
plished without difficulty.
• This account of the reasoning of the kintr, aod of t lie answers of the
ted, is taken from Barillon 17 Han, lt>-<7- See also the mils Corre-
spondence, i. 2 6. S59. 265. :ioa. :i:ss.
t Tin* king was most surprised and indignant at the refusal <if Herbert,
who was indebted to him for nil that lie possessed. Milord Sunderland
mi ha parlatocoa gmnd indignazione 'l<'l fatto del detto Sebert (lleibert)
i luilu ta sua ingratitudinfl ed imiigniia. D'Adda, 21 Mar.
104 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
Mar. Under this impression James had addressed a short
18 # speech to the privy council. During the four last reigns,
he said, law upon law had been passed to enforce uni-
formity of doctrine. But experience had shown the
uselessness of such enactments. Under them dissent
had increased ■ they had led in his father's time to the
destruction of the government in church and state ; they
had perpetuated to the present hour division in the
nation, and all those evils which necessarily grow out of
civil dissension. It was time to put an end to such a
state of things. Conscience could not be forced ; per-
secution was incompatible with the doctrines of Chris-
tianity ; and it was therefore his resolve to grant reli-
April gi° us liberty to all his subjects. In a few days the royal
4. proclamation appeared. Though calculated to produce
the same effect as the previous declaration in Scotland,
it was expressed in very different language. As the
English law did not recognise absolute power in the
sovereign, nor give to the head of the church unlimited
authority in ecclesiastical matters, he did not pretend to
" cass, disannul, and remove," as he had done in his
other kingdom, but was content " with suspending the
execution of all penal laws for religious offences, and
with forbidding the imposition of religious oaths or tests
as qualifications for office ; " to which he subjoined an
intimation, that he had no doubt, of the concurrence of
both houses of parliament in these two measures at their
next meetina; *.
By the different bodies of non-conformists the boon
was received with feelings of gratitude and exultation.
They paused not to consider its legality, or to enquire
whether the prince, who thus suspended at his pleasure
the execution of one description of laws, might not on
subsequent occasions with equal right set aside the ex-
ecution of others. In the delirium of their joy they
crowded round the throne to express their gratitude for
• Gazette, 2231.
A.D. 1657.] ADDRESSES OF THANKS. 105
the benefit of religious liberty. The example was shown April
by the anabaptists ; the quakers followed ; then the in- 18 -
dependents; next came the presbyterians; and after May
them the catholics, who were careful to attest their satis- -•
faction that the benefit was extended to all christian sects 23.
without exception, and their pride that it had proceeded
from a prince of their own communion. James received
these addresses with self-gratulation. He boasted that
he had made his subjects an united people, that he had
changed those, whom persecution had before rendered
the most bitter enemies, into firm and interested sup-
porters, of the throne *.
But in all this there was much of delusion. If he had
gained on one hand, he had lost on the other. The de-
claration confirmed the existing estrangement of the
churchmen, who placed little reliance on his promise to
preserve all the rights of the bishops and clergy, when
they suspected him of a design to raise his own church
to a superiority over theirs. There was another circum-
stance which added to their alarm, a rapid and unex-
pected defection from the pale of the establishment: for
numbers, who, to avoid the penalties, had hitherto con-
formed to the legal form of worship, withdrew, as soon as
it could be done with impunity, to attend those religious
meetings which accorded better with their own senti-
ments t. In such circumstances they naturally sought
to make allies of those whom they had formerly perse-
cuted, and to infuse their own jealousies into other pro-
• Rennet, 463—465. EohaH, 1084. Ellis Correspondence, 260. 269.
274.285. Gazette, SJ234. 2238. 2241. 2243, 2214, Barillon, 28 Avril; 12
Mai; 2 Join. The quakers, that they might, without abandoning their
principle*, conform to tin- etiquette ol the court, left their hats in Sunder-
land's office, bo ili it the) might of necessity be uncovered when tin y were
introduced to the king. Barillon, LS Mai There were al8n addresses from
the bishops ami clergy of Chester, Durham, Lincoln, Lichfield and Co-
ventry, and St. David's, and the chapter of the collegiate church of Rippon,
but chiefly to thank the king for his promise of preserving the rights of
the clergy.
t See Evelyn's Diary, Ap. 10. " There was a wonderful concourse of
"people at the dissenters' meeting house in this pari-li, and the parish
" church ( Deptford) left exceeding thin, What this will cud In, God Al-
'* nighty knows !'' iii. 228.
10G JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
testant societies. They maintained that James had no
right to the merit which he claimed ; that he was at
heart an enemy to liberty of conscience ; that his real
object was to blind the eyes of protestants, till he had
placed himself in a condition to oppress both churchmen
and dissenters. They had before them the example of
the king of France and the duke of Savoy. James
would act like those princes *. In a few years the as-
sertor of religious freedom would throw off the mask,
and confine liberty of worship to the professors of his
own creed. He had a standing army ready to draw the
sword at his nod : he claimed a right to suspend the ex-
ecution of the laws : where then could be the security for
protestants, whether they belonged or did not belong to
the establishment. These suggestions made impression :
the feelings of gratitude were checked by doubts and ap-
prehensions ; and James himself, whether it was through
the precipitancy of his zeal, or the credulity with which
he listened to the counsels of others, contrived by his own
conduct to confirm the charges and predictions of his
enemies f.
1. It was obviously the interest of a prince in his cir-
cumstances to abstain from every act which might be
interpreted as an encroachment on the rights of the
established church ; and yet he seems to have chosen
this very time to indulge in freaks of arbitrary power,
which proved how little he cared for the immunities of
the clerical bodies, and how much he despised their
enmity and resentment. Some one had suggested to
him that it would be highly beneficial if a few catholics
were admitted to reside in the universities on the same
footing with protestants: the experiment had been tried
« It has been said that lie betrayed such intention when " he declared
" his approbation of the cruelties •it' Louis 1IV. against liis protestanl sub-
"jects." Mackintosh, 131. But in the passage broukhl in proof ot this
assertion there is not even the shadow of anj tuch approbation "J'espere,"
eaiit James to Barillo'n, • que le Roi votre maitre m'aidera.el que noun
Ittrons de concert de grnodes choses pour la religion." Baril. IS Mai, I687.
t licUard, 1083. liuiilloti, 17 Aviil. IS Mai, 2 Jain, S:o. Burnet, iii. 153.
A.D. 1687.] DR. PEACHELL DEPOSED. 107
in Germany with the most happy result ; and those an-
tipathies, which usually divide religious sects, had been
insensibly softened down by the intercourse of social life.
This was the avowed, but there was another more secret,
motive, the hope of inducing men to profess themselves
catholics, when they saw that the honours of the univer-
sity were equally accessible to the members of both com-
munions. James sent a mandatory letter to Dr. Peachell, Feb.
the vice-chancellor of the university of Cambridge, to 7.
admit to the degree of master of arts, without exacting
from him the usual oaths, one Alban Francis, a Bene-
dictine monk, and catholic missionary in that neighbour-
hood. It was natural that the vice-chancellor should
demur : he ascertained, though in an irregular manner,
the sense of the senate, and a message was taken to 21.
Francis by the esquire-beadles, that his admission would '
be granted, subject to the usual qualifications. A second
mandate was sent similar to the first, and after a long Mar
delay a petition was returned to the king, representing 11 -
the reasons on which the senate had proceeded. That
degrees had been conferred without any oaths on the
Mahommedan secretary to the ambassador of Morocco,
on foreign gentlemen in the suite of foreign envoys, and
on natives of the rank of noblemen in the university,
could not be denied : but it was contended that the case
of Francis differed from all these: it was not with him
a merely honorary distinction : his admission would open
a <rap through which men of all religious persuasions
might find their way into the senate, and then vote on
matters highly interesting not only to that body, but to
the established church. It was now no longer a question
whether Francis should be admitted, hut whether the
royal authority should he despised with impunity, and
the unfortunate vice-chancellor was summoned before
the ecclesiastical commission to answer for his disobe-
dience. He pleaded in his favour the several statutes, Jl"
and his duty of enforcing those statutes: the crown law-
yers replied, that the university had not exacted the
108 James ii. [chap. ii.
oaths in the case of Dr. Lightfoot, that there was no
instance of the refusal to obey a mandatory letter from
the king, and that it was not to he tolerated that a
literary body should presume to deprive the crown of the
dispensing power, which had been awarded to it by the
decision of the judges. In conclusion, Peachell was de-
May prived of his office, and suspended during pleasure from
*• the mastership of Magdalen college ; and this judgment
was followed by a sort of compromise, in consequence of
which the university yielded so far as to elect a new vice-
chancellor, and the king on his part suffered the preten-
sions of Francis to fall into oblivion *.
This dispute was yet pending, when James found
himself engaged in a still more irritating contest with
the university of Oxford. Dr. Clarke, the president of
Magdalen college, one of the richest foundations in
Europe, died ; and letters mandatory were despatched
April to the fellows, recommending Mr. Anthony Farmer to
*' their choice for the vacant office. Farmer had not the
qualifications required by the statutes : though an inmate,
he was not a fellow either of that college or of New col-
lege in the same university : neither was he distinguished
by the extent of his learning, or the regularity of his
morals : his sole title to the royal favour sprung from
the adroitness with which he had insinuated himself into
the good opinion of some among the king's advisers, as a
man of loyal principles, and well disposed to the catholic
interest. In Oxford it was immediately rumoured that
» Stnte Trials, xi. 1315— 1340. James, ii. 123— 127. BarilloD, 19 Mai.
Hist, of Keel. Commission, 25. Preparatory tothe appearance of Peachell
before the commissioners, was published from the king's press a dispen-
sation granted to the universities by queen Elizabeth, permitting them, in
opposition to the statute, to pray in Latin, " stututo ilio priedicto de usu
publicarum precum in contrarium non obstante." Then followed certain
queries. If the queen had the power to dispense with the law ma matter
of such importance as the public worship in the university, had not the
kin^ power to dispense in so trifling a matter as the taking an oath by u
single mastei of arts? It tile university had nu other justification of their
conduct in the daily violation of the statute hut the queen's dispensation,
how could they justify themselves in their resistance to the kind's dispen-
sation? See it in Ralph, 959, uote.
A.D. 1687.] PRESIDENT OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE. 109
he had conformed, or promised to conform, to the church
of Rome : the fellows were exhorted not to place a
papist at their head ; and were told that to submit to the
mandate would be to betray the rights of the college and
the interests of religion. At length they subscribed a April
petition stating the ineligibility of Farmer, and praying 9.
that they might either proceed to a free election, or re-
ceive a different recommendation from the king. Had
this paper been delivered to James, it might perhaps
have spared him the mortification which followed ; but
Sunderland, having kept it four days, returned for
answer that the royal will must be obeyed *. The fel- j<j
lows met for the purpose of election, and Mr. Hough,
one of their number, obtaining the plurality of suffrages,
was admitted president by the ordinary visitor, the bishop
of Winchester. Both parties immediately appealed to ,..
the king. The fellows pleaded that their proceedings
had been in strict accordance with the statutes and their
oaths : the patrons of Farmer, that they had added insult
to contumacy ; they had not only disobeyed the mandate,
but after having solicited the king to name another
person, had, without waiting for that nomination, chosen
a president themselves. By James the case was referred June
to the ecclesiastical commission, which after several hear- 6.
ings declared Hough's election void, because a mandate
to choose one person implied a prohibition of choosing
any other, but advised the king to desist from the nomi-
nation of Farmer on account of the doubts which had
been thrown on his moral character.
A pause of six weeks ensued. Hough, in defiance of
the judgment pronounced against him, continued to ex-
ercise the office of president, and James sought the most
eligible means of conciliating the fellows without com-
promising his authority. At length he sent a mandate
• If Dr. Thomas Smith's account of the proceeding! deserve credit, it is
plain that the petition was not iii the first place presented to the kins;, hut
given to Sunderland for presentation; and there i- moreover reason to
believe that the king knew nothing of the petition, till after Dr. Hough's
election. Macph. papers, i. 274 ; and State Trials, xii. 54, jj. (3D.
22.
110 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
Aug. for a new election, recommending at the same time for
^* their choice Dr. Parker, hishop of Oxford; hut his im-
prudence had now evoked a spirit of resistance too fierce
and obstinate to be laid by the terrors of the prerogative ;
and Parker himself was obnoxious as a prelate of courtly
principles and suspected orthodoxy. The fellows replied
that they could not obey ; the office was not vacant ; Dr.
Hough stood in actual and legal possession. Thus the
contest was renewed, and the members of a small literary
society placed themselves in hostile array against the
power of the sovereign. They depended on what they
considered the righteousness of their cause, and were
cheered by the assurance that they had with them the
good wishes of the university and of the church of Eng-
land. James, on the other hand, looked upon them as
men who sought to invade his just rights, as apostates
from the doctrine of passive obedience, which they had
sanctioned by their celebrated decree, issued but four
years before, and as the tools of his secret and designing
enemies, whose object it was to breed an open division
between him and the churchmen. Pride forbade him to
i ' e P t yield : when, in his summer progress, he came to Ox-
' ford, he received the deputations from the other colleges
with many gracious expressions : but at the sight of the
contumacious fellows he was unable to control his anger ;
he addressed them with an asperity of language, and
marks of indignation ill-befitting a king ; and when on
their knees they offered him their petition, bade them
begone, he would receive nothing from them till they
had obeyed his mandate, and admitted the bishop for
their president.
The fellows had borne unmoved the frowns of the
sovereign; they had equally resisted the prudential ar-
guments of Penn and of others calling themselves their
Oct. friends ; they were now summoned before the bishop of
21- Chester, Wright, chief justice of the King's Bench, and
Jenner, a baron of the Exchequer, members of the
ecclesiastical commission, and extraordinary visitors of
A.D. 1687.] EXPULSION Of THE FELLOWS. 1 ] 1
the college. The first measure of these judges was to
annul the election of Dr. Hough, who in return addressed Oft.
them in these words : " My lords, I do hereby protest "•
against all your proceedings, and against all that you
huve done or shall do, in prejudice of me and of ray right,
as illegal, unjust, and null; and therefore I appeal to
my sovereign lord the king in his courts of justice."
The spectators expressed their approbation by applause :
but the court proceeded to install the bishop of Oxford
by his proxy, to whom they gave by force possession of
the president's lodgings. With this advantage the king
would gladly have been satisfied; for he had lung wished
to extricate himself from a quarrel, which he felt as a
degradation, and in which his claim had been privately
pronounced illegal by the chief justice Herbert *. But
the intractable spirit of the fellows still revolted : though
they had been induced to make a qualified promise of 24.
obedience " as far as was lawful and agreeable to the
" statutes," they revoked their word the next day : a 25.
new form of submission was offered but refused, and five- JS'ov.
and-twenty members were not only deprived by the 16.
visitors, but declared incapable with Dr. Housjli of hold- ^'*-
mg ecclesiastical preferment, or, if laymen, of being ad-
mitted to holy orders. Thus, after a war of nine months,
the king remained master of the field : his opponents
were disseised of their freeholds ; fourteen of the demies,
who imitated their contumacy, shared their punishment ;
and the college, in virtue of successive letters mandatory,
was repeopled with new men, a motley colony taken from
the professors of both religions. It was, however, a
victory of which he had no reason to be proud ; for it be-
trayed the hollowness of his pretensions to good faith
and sincerity, and earned him the enmity of the great
• "I utterly denied that dispensation to be of any force at all, because
" there was a particular ri^ln ami Interest vested in tin- members of that
" college, as there is in the members of mail) other corporations, ofchoos-
" tag their own head." state Trials, xi. lao.'f.
112 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
body of the clergy, and of all who were devoted to the
interests of the church *.
At the very commencement of these contests with the
universities, the moderate catholics at court attempted
to oppose to the mischievous counsels of Petre and
Sunderland the prudence and influence of Mansuete,
the king's confessor, a Franciscan friar from Lorrain.
But the struggle quickly ended in the total discomfiture
of the assailants : their champion was sent back to his
native country with the character of a good man, but
unequal to so important an office ; and his place was
supplied at the recommendation of father Petre, by
Warner, rector of the college at St. Omerr. This, how-
ever, was not the only mortification which awaited the
moderate party. Hitherto they had prevailed (and their
wishes, through the advice of the cardinals Howard and
d'Estrees, had been approved by the court of Rome), that
d Adda should execute his commission of nuncio to the
king without the public assumption of that character.
But James was taught to believe that the incognito
which dAdda preserved reflected disgrace on himself,
as if ne were ashamed to acknowledge his correspond-
ence with the head of his church, or had not the power
to protect from insult the envoy of a sovereign prince
unacceptable to the religious prejudices of his subjects.
168G. At the earnest solicitation of the king, Innocent gave
Feb. ijj s consen t: the nuncio, to add to his importance, was
May consecrate d archbishop of Amasia by the titular primate
1.
* James, ii. 119. 124. Kennet, 475 481. Burnet, iii. 143. ISO, and
notes. History of Ecclesiastical Commission, 30. 52; and the collection
of documents in Slate Trials, xii. 1. 112.
+ To spare the feelings of Mansnete, he was told that objection had
been made to him because he was a foreigner : " Mais la veriie est, que
ce bou capneiri n'est pas propre a cet emploi: ce sera an jpsuite qui unra
su place, et le P. Piter est consultc BUI le choix." Sec BariUon 3 et 16
Mars, 3 Avril. Ellis, Cor. i. (18. 155. Warner, the confessor of lames,
must not be confounded with sir John Warner of Parham, who became a
Jesuit in 1667. The former had been provincial of his order, and was
rector of St. Omer's college, when he wai called to the English court. He
died at St. Germain's in 1692. Oliver, Collect. 200.
A.D. 1C87.] PETRE INTRODUCED INTO THE COUNCIL. 113
of Ireland in the chapel at Whitehall, and a day was
lixed for his public reception at court in his official
character. The duty of introducing him was assigned
by James to the duke of Somerset, first lord of the bed-
chamber. But that nobleman objected the penalty to
which he should be exposed ; and when the king offered
him a pardon, replied that a pardon, promised before the
offence was committed, would not be held valid in a
court of law. " I would have you,'' said James, " fear
" me as well as the law." " I cannot fear you," was the
answer of the duke, " as long as I commit no offence.
" I am secure in your majesty's justice." Two days
were allowed him to consider: at the conclusion the
young duke of Grafton conducted the nuncio to Wind- July
sor in the royal carriage, and presented him to the king 3.
and queen. " Somerset lost his place and his regiment of
the guards. Hitherto he had incurred ridicule by his
habits of vanity and arrogance, and was usually known
by the appellation of the proud duke ; but his spirited
conduct on this occasion atoned for his past follies, and
his disgrace invested him with honour in the estimation
of the people *.
If the king hoped by the respect which he paid to the
nuncio to conciliate the mind of the pontiff, it was not
long before he was undeceived. At his prayer the purple
had already been given to the queen's uncle, but no
solicitation could prevail on the pope to dispense with the
rules of the order, and raise father Petre to the episcopal
dignity. Castlemaine's patience was exhausted. He
complained in bitter terms that to him and the marshal
d'Humicres, the envoys of the two catholic kings of
England and France, no countenance was shown at the
apostolic see ; and he bluntly declared, that unless he
had reason to expect a change of measures, he would
immediately quit the papal court. Innocent was con-
tent with this laconic reply—" Lei e padrone ; " but he
• Barillon, 12 Mai ; 14 Juil. Bonrepaui, 14 Juil. James, ii. 11G-218.
Lonsdale, 34. Ellis Correspondence! i. 272. SIS.
VOL. XIII. l
114 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
ordered the nuncio to demand satisfaction from the king
iGS7. for the insult offered to him by the ambassador. James,
June though he attributed the warmth of Castlemaine to
- 6 - exuberance of zeal, recalled him to England, and, in
P ' reward of his services, gave him a place in the council:
but instead of intrusting his interests at Rome to the
cardinal of Norfolk, committed them to the care of
Rinaldo d'Este*, renewing at the same time his solici-
tations in behalf of Petre, not indeed for the mitre, which
had been refused, but for the higher dignity of cardinal,
which had occasionally been conferred on members of
the society. But Innocent was inexorable ; and James
hastened to fulfil of his own authority his intentions in
favour of his friend. The moderate party had per-
suaded themselves that the appointment of Petre as a
privy counsellor had been cancelled in consequence of
their representations: the fact was, that the king only
waited to obtain the mitre or the hat for the Jesuit, that
he might appear with greater importance at the board.
Wearied out with the reluctance or procrastination of
the pontiff, he named Petre clerk of the closet ; the next
Sunday the new dignitary appeared in the chapel at
Nov. Whitehall, not in the usual habit of his order, but in
6. that of a secular priest ; and a few days later he seated
*'■ himself among the privy counsellors by command of the
sovereign. It is difficult to describe the astonishment,
the vexation, with which the intelligence of this appoint-
ment was received by the great body of the people. The
enemies of .lames secretly hailed it as an event most
favourable to their wishes: by the catholics it was de-
plored as a common calamity. To prevent a repetition
of their remonstrances, the design had been concealed
* Ceux, qui y ont travaille, out eu I'Our motif de decrediter le cardinal
de Norfolk, que i'ou iToit n'avoir pas agi comma il devoil pourle P. Piters.
II y avoit one cabale de quelques catholiqaes icii qui avoient eu dessein de
laire veuir ici le cardinal de Norfolk : mais le projet .1 ete renveree. Ceux
qui sunt lies avee le 1'. Piters ei le P. W.mier, confesaeur, ont detourne le
voyage du cardinal de Norfolk cum me inutile, i-t ne |iouvant pioduire que
(n division eulrc les carholiques qui ne sunt j>as deja trou unis. llarilloii,
3 Nov.
A.I). 1687.] THE STAFF REFUSED TO SUNDERLAND. 115
from their knowledge ; and now that the appointment
had heen publicly announced, it only remained for them
to bewail the infatuation of the monarch, and to await
in despair the revolution which he was preparing by his
own precipitancy and imprudence*.
Sunderland had not yet lost sight of the treasurer's
staff, the original object of his ambition. In May he had
become a pretended convert to the church of Home,
having made his abjuration in the hands of father
Petre t. The fact, for reasons of state, was kept secret :
but it confirmed the confidence of the king in the attach-
ment and fidelity of the proselyte. The introduction of
Petre into the council had been preceded by that of sir Oct.
Nicholas Butler, formerly an anabaptist, but now a pre- 17.
tended convert of Petre's, and a dependant of Sunder
land; and it was soon evident that these three, Sunder-
land, Petre, and Butler, monopolized the direction of
public affairs %. About Christmas the attempt, which Dec.
* James (Memoirs), ii. 77. Burnet, iii. 158. Wellwood, 158. 160.
Barillon, 15. -G Mai ; 23 .1 uin : 6 Oct. 17- 24. 27 Nov. Ootid, iii. 511. 533.
Ill the gazette announcing the appointment he is called " the honourable
" and reverend father Edward Petre, clerk of the closet to his majesty."
Gazette, 2294.
+ " This worthy lord," says the princess Anne to her sister, (Ma*. 13,
\C>HH) does not go publicly to mass, but hears it privately at a priest's
chamber, and " never lets any body be there but a servant of his.'' (Dal
ryniple, 299). Lad; Sunderland on the other hand affected extraordinary
zeal for protestantism. " She is a constant churchwoman, so that to out-
" v ard appearance one would take her for a saint." " She plays the
" hypocrite more than ever. For she goes to St. Martin's morning and after-
" noon, (because there are not people enough to see her at Whitehall chapel)
" and is half an hour before other people come, and half an hour after
"everybody is gone, at her private devotions. Sure there was never a
"couple so well matched as she and her good husband: for as she is
•' throughout in all her actions the greatest jade that ever was. so la he tile
" siibtillest workingest villain that is on the face of the earth." Ibid.
et 301.
I This is represented by Barillon as " one grande augmentation de
credit pour Myl. Sonderland, de <pii les deux antres lont en quelque facon
dependants, et ne son! pas informes dca affairei an point qu'il est."
Barillon, 18 Dee. Bui Bonrepaus, the other French envoy, entertained a
very dill, nut notion. " Le roi con uoit bien le caructere de M. Sonderland,
qui est amhitieux et capable de tout sacritier a son ambitlou ; et quoiqn'il
n'ait pas one grande confiance en lui, d t'en sert, parcequ'il est plus
devoue qu'un autre, et qu'il a'abandonne abaolumenl a tuivre tout les
scntimens de son maitre pour l'etablisaement de la religion catholiqne. . . .
ce qui paroit an public de la favour de II. Sonderland n'empeche point
i 2
116 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
had been so long in agitation, was made. Petre and
Butler represented to James the necessity of appointing
a lord high treasurer, and the fitness of the lord presi-
dent for that office. But the king was inflexible : he
replied in conformity with his first declaration, that he
would never confer an employment of such extensive in-
fluence on any subject. Sunderland ventured to solicit
the interference of the queen ; but her answer was so
decisive and discouraging, that he saw the prudence of
desisting from a suit, which, if it were urged with perti-
nacity, would probably lead to his disgrace*.
While the king was occupied with these petty con-
tests and intrigues, he did not lose sight of the great
object of bis ambition. To proclaim liberty of conscience
was but a preparatory step : he saw that it required
something more than a roya^ proclamation to give sta-
bility to the benefit. The dispensing power, on which
its existence rested, afforded only a frail and precarious
support, which circumstances might compel him to with-
draw, and which at all events would fail at bis decease ;
and, to procure the sanction of the legislature in its
favour, as long as the present house of commons con-
tinued in being, appeared a hopeless and dangerous
attempt. After much hesitation he dissolved the parlia-
ment, and determined to trust to his own endea% r ours, and
the co-operation of the dissenters, to obtain at the next
election the return of members better disposed to con-
cur in the measure. "With this view, (1.) he commenced
a progress during the summer from London to Bath,
and continued it from Bath to Chester t, visiting the
most populous towns, in which he was received with
acclamations, and calling around him the resident
gentry, whom he sought to conciliate by affability, and
ciu'il ne Boit ilana line grande dependance tin pere Piter, qui scul a
leniiere conBance du mi II fera chaster M. Sonderluna dee que
l'envir 1 11 i i'ii prendra, ne manqiiant point ill- pretexts pour cela." Bone-
paus, 4 .1 iii ii .
* .laaiHs ( Memoirs), ii. 131, 132. Lonsdale, 25.
t At Chester ivmi and Barclay preached in fa-sour of the declaration,
mil Borne of tin' courtiers bathed at HolywelL Barlllon, L6. 20 Sept.
A.D. 1GS7.] DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 117
to convince by argument. He assured them that he
cherished no hostility against the established church ;
and that, if he wished to abolish the test, it was because
he considered it an unjust and barbarous enactment,
which had failed of its principal object, his exclusion
from the throne, and which he was therefore bound to
prevent from inflicting on others the penalties that had
been devised against himself. It could not be a necessary
safeguard for the church, since the church had so long
existed without it : nor would its repeal affect the con-
stitution of the house of commons, since catholics would
still remain, as they had been for a century before, ex-
cluded from that house; and certainly, as long as one
branch of the legislature, the lords, consisted principally,
and another, the commons, totally, of protestants, he
must be an unreasonable man, who could entertain any
fear for the safety of the protestant religion. James was
of a sanguine disposition. As he had mistaken the par-
tial acclamations of the dissenters for the voice of the
whole population, so he mistook the respectful silence
with which men listened to his reasoning for a sufficient
proof of their assent. His ministers were mere sagaci-
ous : they saw how deeply rooted was the public dis-
trust of his measures, but were careful to conceal their
apprehensions from the knowledge of their sovereign*.
f2.) At the same time the " regulators,'' a board esta-
blished under the pretext of reforming the abuses incor-
porations, received orders to mould these bodies in con-
formity with the views of the court; and instructions
were given to the lord-lieutenants of the several counties,
1. to make out lists of persons devoted to the king, and
on that account fit to be appointed mayors and sheriffs,
that the returning officers might be in the interest of the
* " Le roi eroil qua sou voyage lui a servi \ ramener les esprits et <|n«-
les pennies om ete detrorapea de beaucoup de faussetes." BarUlon,80.
£9 Sept, "Le roi d'Angteterre eat fori (jai, et croit que toutea sea affaires
vonl ijien. Sea miuistres ne le contredisent poinl dans sea pensees: mats
je penetre clairement que Myl. Sonderland u est nus suns quelqae trouble
ioteriear." Bonrepaus, 'J Oct
US JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
crown ; and 2. to assemble their deputies and the magis-
tracy, and to put to each individual the three following
questions : — If you are chosen to the next parliament, will
you vote for the repeal of the test act and of the penal
laws? Will you give your aid to those candidates who
engage to vote for that repeal ? Will you support the
declaration for liberty of conscience by living peaceably
and like good Christians with men of different religious
jj eCi principles? The king's object could not be doubted;
11 and the gazette was careful to intimate, that continu-
ance in office would be made to depend on the answers
which should be returned. Many replied in the affirma-
tive ; but most availed themselves of a printed form
which was circulated through the country for their
adoption : that they could not engage their votes on any-
particular question, till its merits had been debated in
parliament; that they would support such candidates as
possessed the necessary qualifications ; and that they
sought to live in peace with all men, unless his majesty's
interest and the government established by law required
the contrary. Though from these replies James learned
the unwelcome truth, that his favourite measure was
displeasing to a great majority among the higher classes
of his subjects ; yet he could not prevail on himself to
desist from his pursuit, and only postponed tin: calling
of a parliament to some future and more favourable
opportunity *.
Before we proceed to the fourth and last year of this
inauspicious reign, it will be proper to call the attention
of the reader to the numerous causes of irritation and
estrangement, which previously existed between the
king and his nephew and son-in-law, the prince of
Orange. William's advocacy of the bill of exclusion,
and his reception of Monmouth during the life of Charles,
were offtnees not ea-ily forgo; ten ; and the reconcilia-
tion which he sought and obtained on the death of that
• Gazette, 223. Lonsdale, 15, H». l l ->. Reresby, 251, Dalrymplc, 223.
Kenrvet, 469, 470. Bonrepuus, 4 Dec, Butnet, iii. LS3.
AD. 1G8".] CONDUCT OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 1 19
monarch, was soon afterwards shaken by his strange
and ambiguous conduct in relation to the expeditions
under the earl of Argyle and the duke of Monmouth.
From all the circumstances it is plain that, if at first he
knew not of the design, it was because he preferred to be
ignorant; and that, if his orders to prevent their depar-
ture were subsequently disregarded, it was because he
did not mean them to be obeyed. James, however,
deemed it prudent to dissemble. The plea of ignorance
advanced by the prince, was accepted though not be-
lieved; and his offer of coming and fighting in person
against the usurper was declined, under the pretence
that his presence at the Hague was necessary to prevent
the transmission of succour to the enemy. The victory of
the king at Sedgemoor put an end to this uncertainty.
William tendered his congratulations to his uncle ;
James returned a gracious and affectionate answer; and
an active correspondence was established, in which these
near relatives endeavoured to disguise their mistrust of
each other under expressions of the warmest attach-
ment*.
There existed two parties, who deemed it equally
their interest to prevent any cordial union between the
uncle and the nephew. The French king, aware of the
inextinguishable hostility of William, ordered his ambas-
sador d'Avaux to watch with care the conduct of the
prince ; and by that minister every circumstance, which
admitted of an unfavourable interpretation, was commu-
nicated to Barillon in London, whose office it was to re-
present it to James under such colouring and with such
comments, as he thought most likely to awaken sus-
picion in the royal breast. On the other hand, the
British exiles in Holland, together with tin; discon-
tented in England, while they inflamed the ambition of
William with the prospect of the English crown, were
careful to alarm his jealousy by attributing to the king
•James, Memoirs, ii 26. Dalrvmple, 133,124 126. 131. Fox, Aim
81. Clar. Corresp. 124, 123. 12/. VM.
120 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
designs against the hereditary rights of his wife. To
enumerate all the causes of dissension, discovered or
created by these opposite advisers, would tire the pa-
tience of the reader: the principal may be arranged
under the following heads. 1 . Holland was become the
common refuge of all, who during the last or present
reign had fled from prosecution on account of political
offences. There they assembled to talk over their real
or supposed wrongs, arranged plans for the annoy-
ance of the government in England, and formed con-
nexions with men of similar sentiments in their native
country. That James should demand their removal, was
natural : he sought not, he said, to deprive them of an
asylum, but to cut off their facility of communication
with England, by compelling them to reside at a dis-
tance from the sea-coast. He complained to the States ;
but his complaints, through the influence of the prince,
were disregarded : he remonstrated in stronger terms,
and was answered that the delay arose from the number
of authorities to be consulted, and the slow form of pro-
ceedings in the States : at length he had recourse to in-
timidation. It was observed that he suddenly turned his
attention from the army to the navy : that a great num-
ber of ships had been put in commission, and that the
workmen were employed night and day in the docks and
16S6. arsenals. When Van Citters, the Dutch ambassador.
•* u ly inquired the object of this armament, James merely re-
plied that he had no intention of disturbing the peace of
Europe: but one of the ministers gave the envoy to un-
derstand, that, if the States sought to avoid a war, it
would be necessary to comply with the king's demand*.
This hint had its effect ; and the exiles were ordered by
proclamation to withdraw from the maritime districts of
the republic. The order, however, remained a dead let-
• Je lui (lis que ce qu'il me disoit rcsembloit fort a line declaration de
guerre. Sur quoi il repundit : Je nc prononce pas le mot de guerre, amis
(■'est a vims a considerei ce que je veux dire. Lettre de M. Van Citters,
2 Aufit, 1686.
A.J). 1687.3 THE BRITISH FORCE IN HOLLAND. 1 'J 1
ter, excepting at the Hague : and the prince, careful not
to offend men whose services he might afterwards re-
quire, though he abstained from open communication
with them himself, occasionally met them m private, and
kept up a correspondence with their chiefs through his
favourite counsellors, Fagel, Bentinck, and Halweyn.
'2. The maintenance by the States of six British regi-
ments on the continent, revocable by the crown in the
case of invasion or rebellion, was supposed to bring with
it this advantage, that the king, on any sudden emer-
gency, would have at his command a disciplined and na-
tive force, without the previous expense of their support
in time of peace. During the attempt of Monmouth the
experiment was partially made ; when it appeared that
the regiments brought to England were more disposed
to fight in the cause of the usurper than of the legitimate
sovereign. This furnished another source of irritation.
James sought to reform the brigade by cashiering the
officers of doubtful fidelity, and supplying their places
with men of more loyal principles and connexions.
But William, the commander-in-chief, was perfectly
satisfied with the existing constitution of the regiments.
He looked to them for aid in the event of his contending
for the English crown : and therefore made it his object
to keep them under the guidance of officers, whose
interests were identified with his own. To the demands
of the king he opposed delays and objections, which pro-
voked complaints and remonstrances. By dint of perse-
verance James procured the removal of those whom he
named as his enemies: but in the appointment of others
to succeed them, little regard was paid to his recom-
mendation. William steadily refused commissions to
all whom he suspected of being attached to the king or
the catholic faith, while, on the other hand, he sought out
men dependent on himself, and particularly the officers
who had been discharged by Tyrconnel from the army
in Ireland. The consequence was that, in the following
year, these regiments hesitated not to draw the sword
122 JAMES II. [chap. II.
against their natural sovereign, and cheerfully accom-
panied the prince in his expedition to England*.
3. William also thought that he had his grounds of
complaint. It was evident that the religious fabric
which James laboured to rear with so much danger to
himself, would crumble into dust on the accession of the
princess of Orange. Hence sprung a report that it was
the royal intention to exclude her from the throne,
either in favour of the princess Anne, provided the lat-
ter would embrace the catholic faith ; or, in case of her
refusal, in favour of the king's illegitimate son, the
young duke of Berwick. That no such notion ever
suggested itself to the mind of James, or obtained his
approbation when suggested by others, is plain from
his solemn asseveration, and the uniform tenour of his
conduct with respect to his daughter Mary. It seems to
have originated with Barillont, whose eagerness to serve
his own sovereign, taught him to labour by every arti-
fice in his power to inflame the jealousy, and widen the
breach between James and his nephew. On the sus-
picious mind of the latter, who had long flattered himself
with the future acquisition of the British crown, this re-
port made a deep and lasting impression ; and Van (Jit-
ters, the ambassador, was employed by him to sound and
1686. discover the real disposition of the monarch. At the
Au?. mention of a change in the succession, the king replied,
that he did not believe there existed a man who would
dare to affront him with such a proposal ; that religion
was not to he established by acts of injustice ; and that he
loved all his children too well to do any of them wrong J.
* D'Avaux, Lettres du 12 Juin, 14 .Wit, 1687; 2 Avril, 16^8.
t I attribute this project t<> the fertile brain of Harilloo, because as early
as the 16th of March, 168.5, he suggested ii to Louis, as a mi asure which
some talked of, anil which .lames might he led to adopt, it lit- were solidly
established on the throne by the .ii<l of Louis in the beginning of his reign.
Barillon, 36 Mara The king repliea: 11 est bien a soubuiler que ledit
roi puisse porter la princesse Anne sa ti le aembrasser la religion catho-
liqne, mats il u'y a pas lien de croire qu'il puisse eloigner par ce mojeu
la princesse d'Orange de la succession. Letlre dn 6 Avril
t *' Sa mujeste me dit qu'elle ne croyoil point que qui que ee soit osat le
" lui representor, et (ju'elle n'y enteudroit jamais .... que dieu n'avoit
3.
CHAP. II.] THE SUCCESSION TO THE CROWX. 123
This answer, however, did not tranquillize the mind of
the prince, who artfully demanded a yearly income to
be settled on his wife in quality of presumptive heir.
Some of the catholic counsellors, anxious to earn his fa-
vour, sol iciteil the king to accede to the request: but
James was not a prince to give away his money with the
suspicion that it mi<rht be employed against himself;
and he eluded the demand with this answer, that no
income could be claimed by the heir to the crown, un-
less it were to be spent within the kingdom*. De-
feated in this pursuit, William adopted a plan to get
into his possession the supposed competitor of his wife. 1687
Prince George had none to Denmark on a visit to the Mar
king his brother; and Anne was persuaded to express
a desire of spending the time of his absence in the com-
pany of her sister Mary. By James permission was
cheerfully granted; but in a few days he repented of
his facility, and revoked his word, under the pretence
that it was contrary to sound policy to allow both sisters,
"jamais exifie d'aitcun roi on prince quits fissenl ties laclietes ni des in-
"justices poor I'iftablissemeut d'aucune religion, bien loin d'approuver
" an tort aussi inoni quelle feroit rises propres eofans, pout qui elle
" avoit li plus grande estime." l.etliv de Van Citters, 27 Aoilt. I shall
not transcribe the paper which at the same time the envoy put into the
hands of the king It pretended to be a secret report made to lum I y the
privy counci and is evidently, as James pronounced it, a forgery, pro-
hutily got up lor the purpose of draw ng from him his sent'menis cm the
subject ul nnich n treats lis substance may be seen in Mazure (ii. 101),
who lias transferred ii to his • ages, l>ut in much bettor language than it
can boast in th iginal. Some have supposed thnt it was the work of
Bonrepaus : but to me it ap| ears incredible that it could have heeii written
by any native of Prance. In consequence of a passage in this paper
advising liim to gain b> submission the protection of the kingof France.
" s. M . me dil avec rAt tleui , qu*elle cunt resulue de ne pas Itetrir sa cou*
"ronne en aucune mauiere; qu'elle vouloit que lout le monde But qu'elle
' etoit nee Augluise; el qu'ayant sou ambassadeur a Rome, quoiqu'elle
" eat ii ii grand respect el vener ition pour le St. siege, elle ne reroii jamais
" rien (que que deplaisir que sa saintete en pat avoir) qui la mil an des-
" SOUS lies id- cie France on d' l.spa.'iie Bl enfln, sVcrinnt nvec emport-
" uienl, Vas-al ! \ a sal de la Fiance! Monsieur si le parlement avoit
" vuiilii, el s'il vouloit encore ine il 'i r les nioven- iircr-sanes j'aurois
" pone 1 1 monarchie, el je la porterois encore, .i une aussi haul degre do
" consideration qu'elle ail jamais ete sous le regne d'aucun des rots roes
" prcileces-eius j et celn ne seroil uentetre pas manvais pour votre etat."
Van Citters, ibid Moth the Ditch and Spanish ministers were satis-
lied that there was no truth in the rumour of a league between .lames uttd
Louis,
• D'Avanx, 10 Janv. L687; 20 Mai, 1688. Burnet, iii. 195.
124 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
the next heirs to the crown, to be at the same time
within the power and control of any foreign state*.
4. The real expedient, by which the king hoped to give
stability to his plans in favour of his catholic subjects,
did not contemplate any change in the succession. He
had persuaded himself that William might be induced
to approve of the general abolition of the penal laws on
matters of religion, and even to pledge his word for the
support of the measure after the decease of the reigning
monarch. For this purpose he despatched to Holland
sir William Penn, the celebrated quaker, that he might
read lectures on toleration to the prince and princess, and
might convince them that all restraint on the freedom of
religious worship was contrary to the unalienable rights
of conscience. But the address and eloquence of Penn
were foiled by the cunning of a more welcome adviser,
who suggested an answer subversive at once of the
king's views and expectations; that, hostile as they
were to persecution, yet they would never give their con-
sent to the repeal of the test act, because that act was
necessary fur the preservation of the protestant faith t.
This adviser was Burnet the historian, who, having
deeply offended the royal brothers during the reign of
Charles, had asked and received permission to travel on
the accession of James. From Italy he came back to
Holland, where he was invited to the court of the prince,
and soon acquired a high degree of favour and confi-
dence. His knowledge of men and parties rendered his
information most valuable; and his character as a theo-
logian enabled him to do to his patron a most acceptable
service, by persuading the feeble mind of the princess
that the law of England, which, in the event of her suc-
cession to the crown, would give her the superiority over
her husband, was contrary to the law of God, which
made her at all times subject to his authority ; and that
• Barillon, 13. 19. 24 Mars, 168?. Rochester and Churchill wore suspected
by the kin^ as the advisers of Anne iu ihit instance.
t Burnet, iii. 13:!, 133. D'Avaux, L'3 Jan. L687.
A.D. 1687.] THE MISSION OF D'ALBEVILLE. 125
she was therefore bound in conscience to transfer to the
hands of the prince the sovereign power which she
might subsequently inherit as her birth-right. Under
this impression, sending for William, she made to him,
in the presence of her instructor, a solemn promise, that,
whatever authority might subsequently devolve on her,
should be possessed and exercised by him : he should
bear the sway, she would demean herself as a loving and
dutiful wife ; nor did she ask any other return for this
proof of affection than that, as she practised one com-
mand, Wives, be obedient to your husbands in al 1 things,
so he would practise the other, Husbands, love your
wives. By these words she alluded to his amour with
Mis. Villiers, afterwards lady Orkney ; but William,
though he exacted from her the benefit of the promise,
was careful to absolve himself from the obligation of
complying with the condition *.
5. Skelton, who represented the king of England at i6g6.
the Hague, had incurred the displeasure both of the Sept.
States and of the prince : of the former in consequence
of an attempt to seize, with the aid of some English
officers, the person of sir Robert Peyton, one of the out-
laws ; and of the latter on account of some real or ima-
ginary interference with his amours, matters which were
publicly known, though William sought to persuade
himself that they were wrapt in impenetrable obscurity t.
James transferred Skelton to the higher post of ambas-
sador at Paris, and chose for his successor White, a
native of Ireland, who had been frequently employed at
Brussels and Madrid by Charles 11., and was generally
known by the name of marquess of Albeville, which
title he had accepted from the emperor in lieu of the
• Burnet, iii. 123. 131. " Ever after that, lie seemed to trust me entirely."
Burnet describes the suggestion as originating with himself; lord Dart-
mouth infers from the very narrative, that lie was employed by the prince.
131, note.
t See the intercepted letter from Dr. Covell to Skelton, OD the conduct of
the princess under the bad treatment which she received from her husband,
iii ciar. Corresp. i. lt>. r >. Covell wae her chaplain, and »» Inconsequence
dismissed by the prince.
126 JAMKS II. [CHAP. II.
pecuniary compensation due to his services. Albeville
was a catholic, and therefore less acceptable to the States,
but more likely to execute with fidelity the commissions
1687. with which he was charged*. He took with him the
Jan. r oyal recommendation in favour of the officers impli-
cated in the attempt upon Peyton, and though he
could not prevent them from being cashiered, was suf-
Oct. fered to convey them in safety to England t. He also
10- succeeded, though with considerable difficulty, in pro-
curing the removal of Burnet from the court of the
prince : but it was little more than a nominal removal :
for though William no longer spoke to him in person,
he continued to consult him on English affairs, through
the agency of his confidential advisers Halweyn and
Dyckvelt %. But with respect to the two great objects
of his mission Albeville was unfortunate. It was in vain
that he assured the prince of the king's resolution to
preserve the legal descent of the crown ; that he had
never entertained, that he could not for a moment en-
tertain, a thought so wicked and unjust, as that of de-
priving his own daughter of her hereditary right. The
assurance was received with outward acknowledgments,
and with inward distrust. Neither would William listen
to the arguments of the ambassador in favour of a total
liberty of conscience. He was, he said, a friend of toler-
ation, but only in a limited sense : he wished the catho-
lics in England to enjoy all those liberties which were
* He had formerly rendered some service to the king of France, and
before his departure BarilloD not only made him a present of 300 guineas
in the name of Louis, but added the promise of a pension. In return he
engaged to communicate with d'Avaux at the Hague, and to send infor-
mation for Barillon in letters to Sunderland, though he was ordered to
correspond officially With the other secretary, tlie earl of Midclletoii. liar-
rillon, 2, 23 Sep. 1G86 ; 3 Mars, 1687. At the Hague he laboured so ear-
nestly to reconcile .fames and the prince, that d'Avaux doubted his
sincerity: but that doubt soon vanished, and d'Avaux obtained for him
another <jr;itnity of 150 guineas in addition to his pension. D'Avaux,
23 Janv.; 12 .luin, 1687. See also Burnet, iii. 163.
+ D'Avaux, Lettres do 30 Jan.; g] Mars 14 Mai. Burnet, iii. 173. He
tells us that he suggested to the princess the answers w Inch -he returned
to her father, who had required her to dismiss Burnet.
t Id. S3 Janv.; 24 Avril.
A. D. 1687.] CONTRARY MISSION OF DYCKVELT. 127
enjoyed by the catholics in the United Provinces. But
he dared not consent to the abolition of the test act, be-
cause it was the only security of the established church
under a catholic monarch *.
6. Soon after the mission of Albeville, new jealousies
and alarms were excited by the disgrace of Rochester
and the proceedings of Tyrconnel. Messengers from
England arrived at the Loo and the Hague, and Fagel,
Bentinck, and Halweyn, consulted with Burnet and the
chief of the outlaws : but William was too cautious to
listen to those who advised an immediate recourse to
arms ; and doubting the fidelity of the representations
made by his English adherents, he sent to London as Feb.
his agent Dyckvelt, a statesman of acute observation and
consummate ability. To elude suspicion Dyckvelt was
invested with an extraordinary mission from the States,
and instructed to inquire into the destination of the ar-
maments said to be in preparation in the English portsf.
But James, who was acquainted with his real object,
complained in bitter terms of the distrust and duplicity
of his son-in-law; and to the question of the ambassa-
dor replied that he had neither the intention of disturb-
ing the peace of Europe, nor of interrupting, as was
rumoured, the legal line of succession $.
Dyckvelt remained four months in England, and
seems at first to have tlattered the king with some hope
* D'Avaux, I.ettre du 23 Janv.
+ Dyckvelt had his fust audience on the 3d of March : on the 7th the
countess of Sunderland wrote to the prince the extraordinary letter pre-
served by Dalrymple ( 187) to caution him against any negociation lot the
abolition of the teal and penal laws. See Note ( I).)
t D'Avaux, 6 1'i'v. , Burnet, iii. K>4. James was aware beforehand of the
object of this mission. " Le prince d' Orange." disoit le Roi, " ju^e des
autres parlui meme. II croit, parcequ'il a etc d'avis de m'exclure, que le
meme dessein pourroit me venir dans l'esprit. Cependant eeux qui me con-
noissent, me eroiront tort cloigne d'nne pcusee si injuste et si impracticable
....II prend la resolution de raire envoyer ici par lea Btata un homme qui
lui est entieremeut afflde, par le moyen duquel il espere fortifier at en-
counter tons eeux qui sont <le son parti [ljuge de moi par lui nn'me.
Mais il se trump fort. <; i-st Dien qui donne lea couronnes, et mon intention
est bion loin de rien faire contre la justice et le droit." Barillon,97 .lanv.
1687.
128 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
that the prince would assent to the removal of the test
and penal laws. For William was then busily employed
in his favourite project of forming a general confederacy
against the power of France : which rendered it of im-
portance to him, to win over, if it were possible, his father-
in-law, and to avoid all cause of offence to his catholic
allies. Hence it probably was, that when the king pub-
April lished the declaration of liberty of conscience, the envoy
4. spoke of it in terms of high approbation, as a measure
dictated by justice and religion : but, before his departure,
it became necessary that he should disclose the refusal
of William both to James and to the ambassador of the
prince's ally the king of Spain. To the latter he excused
it on the plea that the repeal of the test would throw the
power of the kingdom into the hands of the dissenters
and the catholics, of the dissenters who were republicans
by principle, and of the catholics who were the depend-
ants of their common enemy, the king of France. But
James refuted his reasons ; assured him that he should
persist in the prosecution of his object ; and required him
to inform the prince and princess that it was their duty
to submit their judgment to his ; for he was the head of
the family, and had a right to their obedience*.
Dyckvelt, in the mean time, faithful to his instructions
from the prince, had improved the opportunity to learn
the strength of the royal army, the state of the royal
finances t, and the feelings and resources of the several
parties. He communicated personally or by letter with
the secret adherents of William, assured the discontented
that the prince would never submit to any measure
which could weaken the ascendency of the established
church, and advised the dissenters to stand aloof from
the contest, and to expect from the successor of J ames a
more legal and permanent toleration. He had even
• See despatch of Ronquillo in Mackintosh, 681, and of d' Adda, 640:
also Barillou, 12 .lniii.
+ According to Bonrepaus, who hu.l seen the treasury accounts, .lames,
after payment of all expenses, had a surplus of 100,000/. pur unnusn.
Lettre du 4 Juin.
A.D. 1G87.] HIS REPORT ON HIS RETURN. 1'29
thrown out to the catholics a promise, that if they would
deserve it by their conduct, they should find in William
a protector from the future vengeance of their enemies.
At his return to Holland he took with him letters June
filled with expressions of attachment, and offers of ser- 9 -
vice to William, from the marquess of Halifax, the earls
of Shrewsbury, Bedford, Devonshire, Clarendon, Sun-
derland, Danby, Nottingham, and Rochester, the bishop
of London, the lords Lumley and Churchill, admiral
Russell, and several other individuals of high rank and
extensive influence. It was not that all these aimed
;tt the same object, or were even acquainted with the
views and opinions of each other. Halifax, Sunderland,
Clarendon, and Rochester chiefly sought to secure the
good-will of the prince, whom they looked upon as the
probable successor to the throne : but most of the others
went much further : Danby, even in the days of his
power, had sought the friendship of the prince in oppo-
sition to James ; the bishop *, and Devonshire, Bedford,
Shrewsbury, and Lumley, had private wrongs to revenge :
the two last, who had abandoned the catholic faith, were
also anxious to display their zeal for the creed which
they had chosen ; and all these solicited from William
an armed interference, which, while it should establish
religion and liberty, might secure the succession to him
and his wife, perhaps place them immediately on the
throne. These sentiments it would have been imprudent
to commit to writing ; and, therefore, in their letters
they confined themselves to general expressions of
dubious import, the true meaning of which the bearer
was authorised to explain f.
The report which Dyckvelt made of his mission
• The best excuse for the profane style of the bishop's letter, is that he
was afraid that it might be intercepted, and ins secret discovered, in it
-ic prays to God that no trouble may come to the king, at tin' \cry moment
that be was labouring to dethrone him. See it in Dalrymple, 199.
t See them in Dalrymple, ISO— 200. Lord Devonshire's opposition to
the court arose from the follow inn circumstance. In 16M6 colonel Culpep
per struck him in the kind's ante-chambei , sad was condemned to lose Ins
I for the offence, but obtained a pardon alter a long imprisonment.
I le next year the earl struck Culpepper with a caue near the queen's
VOL. XIII.. K
7.
24.
130 JAMES II. [CHAP. III.
opened a more inviting prospect to the ambition of
the prince, and revived all those aspiring hopes which
had first been awakened by the bill of exclusion.
It is not indeed to be supposed that he now formed
the very plan of invasion which subsequently placed
him on the English throne — that particular measure
was brought about by events over which he had no
control — but he resolved to be prepared for whatever
might happen, and take advantage of the first favourable
opportunity which might be offered by the imprudence
or the death of the king. Hitherto, in his correspond-
ence with his uncle, his language had been reserved but
respectful, more expressive of doubt than of determina-
tion : now he adopted a more resolute tone, and, in his
answers to two long and argumentative communications
from James, replied, that though he would rather forfeit
June hjg ijf e t] ian hecome a persecutor, yet, in no circum-
stances whatsoever, not even for the succession to the
English crown, or to all the crowns in Europe, would he
or the princess consent to the repeal of laws, which they
thought necessary for the support of the protestant
worship *. It was this which induced the king, contrary
to the remonstrances of several in the council, to dissolve
the parliament, that he might defeat the intrigue between
William and the leaders of the opposition t: whilst the
prince on the other hand, to encourage and stimulate
the zeal of his friends in England, assured them that if
drawing-room, and, though he claimed the privilege of the peerage, was
condemned by the court of King's Bench in a fine of 30,0001., and to be
imprisoned till the Que was paid. For awhile he set that court at defi-
ance : but when the attorney-general took out process against him that the
fine might be estreated into the Exchequer, he Bought to make his peace,
through the duchess of Mazarin, was admitted into favour, and given to
understand that the line would not be demanded, if he behaved properly.
Thus the matter Btood till the revolution, when the lords (May 15, 1689)
declared the proceedings in the King's Bench a breach of pi tvilege, the fine
exorbitant, and that no peer could be committed for non-payment of a fine.
See State Trials, xi. 1864—1372. Barillon, 30 Och; 6, 10 Nov. Bonre
pans, 7 Nov. I,, .lou rn. xiv. 211.
* D'Avaux, 19 Juin ; 6 Juil. Id. Negotiations, vi. 83. Barillon, 17 Juil.
Bonre paus, 21 Juin. Dalrymple, 184.
+ l.e consideration! principali erano che dal scioglierlo (il parlamrnto"),
si venivano ad eludere tutti al'intrigbj del principe d' Oranges. D'Adda,
8 Aug.
A D. 1687.] LETTER FROM FAGEL. 131
.lames should attempt with the aid of" a packed parlia-
*' ment" to repeal the test act and the penal laws, he
would join them with an armed force, and draw his
sword with them in defence of their common religion.
For this purpose he despatched Zuyleistein, another Aug
envoy, under the pretext of offering his condolence to the S.
king and queen on the death of the duchess of Modeua.
Zuyleistein pursued the same conduct as Dyckvelt, and
having consulted the chiefs of the malcontents, returned
with letters and assurances of support to the Hague*.
7. This was followed by the publication of a letter on
the same subject, written by Fagel, the pensionary, to
Stewart, a Scottish lawyer, who of an enemy an'd outlaw
had been made a convert to the royal cause by the ad-
dress of sir William Penn. Stewart, presuming on his
former influence with the prince, had obtained permis-
sion of the king to commence a correspondence on the
subject of the penal laws ; and Fa^el gladly embraced
the opportunity to reply, that their highnesses were
enemies to religious persecution, and willing to concede
to the British catholics that liberty of worship which was
en joyed by the catholics of Holland, but that they never
would consent to the repeal of the test, or of any act,
having for its object the safety of the protestant church ;
that laws which merely fixed the qualifications for office
could not bo taxed with injustice, nor could that man be
said to persecute, who did not seek to punish the reli-
gious belief of one party, but only to preserve the religious
establishments of the other t.
In this letter there was nothing which had not been re-
peatedly stated by Dyckvelt to the king, and by the prince
to Albeville. But it was in reality composed for the in-
formation of others; the catholic princes, the albes of
William, who would learn from it that he bore no real
hostility to the professors of the catholic faith, and
• Dalrymple, 200 — 210. Zuyleistein was afterwords created fart ot
Riichford.
t Dumont, vii. part ti i>. 15L State Tracts, 331.
K J
132 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
the British protestants, whom it would induce to look
on him as the stanch and uncompromising cham-
pion of the protestant ascendency in the British em-
pire. With this view it was published in Dutch,
French, English, and Latin, and forty-five thousand
copies were sent for circulation to England, where, from
the high place which Fagel held in the confidence of the
prince, it was considered as a public paper, with a semi-
official character. The friends of James, however, did
not suffer it to pass without an answer. Treating it as
the composition of William himself, they animadverted
severely on the indecency of the publication. What
right, they asked, could a foreign prince possess of an-
nouncing to the inhabitants of a great empire his con-
demnation of the rule of their sovereign ? The test act,
they maintained, was unjust, because it deprived the
catholic peers of their birthright, though guiltless of any
crime ; because it was founded on the acknowledged
falsehoods and forgeries of Titus Oates ; and because its
real object had been the exclusion of James, while its
real victims were those who had been made subject to its
provisions, that through them it might reach him. It
was moreover a grievance to protestants themselves, by
imposing on men, unused to such investigations, the
necessity of pronouncing solemnly on the truth or false-
hood of a metaphysical opinion, and of declaring the in-
vocation of saints to be idolatrous, though the form of
that invocation was itself equivalent to a disclaimer of
idolatry ; and that to vindicate the test on the ground of
its being merely a qualification for office was a pretence,
the falsehood and injustice of which Fagel himself would
admit, were he by the enactment of a similar qualifica-
tion excluded from his share in the government of the
united provinces*.
* .lames, ii. 145— 151 ; and Stewart's answer to Fagel. Tbe catholic
]>eers :it this period were the duke of Berwick, the marquess of Powis, the
••.iris nf Salisbury, Peterborough, Portland, and Cardigan, the viscount
Montague, and the Inn Is Abergavenny, Audley, Stourton, I Inn si Inn, Petre,
Gerard of Bromley, Arundel of Wurdour, Teynham, Carrington, Widdring-
A.D. 1687.] ARTFUL CONDUCT OF WILLIAM. 133
Whatever force there might be in this reasoning, the
publication of Fagel's letter completely answered the
purpose of its author. By the tone of moderation which
distinguished it, the pope, the emperor, and the catholic
princes were led to believe that William was prepared to
grant to the British catholics every indulgence which
they were entitled to expect ; and by pointing out to the
British protestants the prince and princess as defenders
of the test act, it constituted them in fact the leaders of
the party. On the one hand it allayed the jealousy of
his allies ; on the other it encouraged the timid among
his friends, confirmed the wavering, and stimulated all to
resistance and exertion *.
But what great aid, it will be asked, could William
bring to the disaffected in England? He was not the
sovereign of the United Provinces; he held not at his
disposal their naval and military force. He was no more
than the servant of the States-General, bound to obey
their orders, and answerable to them for his conduct.
To employ their armies in a foreign war without their
permission, was to violate the constitution ; and to reveal
to them his real object would have been to defeat his
purpose by making it public. This was a great and
alarming difficulty, and the consummate art with which
it was surmounted, proves the political sagacity both of
the prince and of his advisers. 1. la common with his
friends, he felt or affected to feel the deepest apprehension
for the very existence of the reformed worship. Louis
and James according to them were linked together in
the closest amity, and had formed an impious league for
the extirpation of protestantism. The first had already
acted his part by his revocation of the edict of Nantes :
the second was following his steps as rapidly as circum-
stances would permit; and from England and France
they would extend their views to the United Provinces,
too, Belasyse, Langdale, Clifford, Jerimn of Dover, and Waldegruve.
The next year sir Prnncia Radcl) He » a* created earl of Derwentwater.
• Burnet, iii. i!0j\ '20d. Also iOJ, note.
134 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
whose religion and independence were evidently at stake.
Nor was this opinion confined to political circles. It was
echoed and enforced from the pulpits : a correspondence
between the two Jesuits Petre and la Chaise, confirma-
tory of such projects, was forged and published, prints
descriptive of the sufferings of the French protestants,
with pamphlets calculated to kindle and inflame religious
animosity, were industriously circulated ; and the mini-
sters, to make the deeper impression on the public mind,
waited in a body on the prince, thanked him for his
services in the cause of protestantism, and were informed
by him in reply, that there never was a time which called
more loudly for their prayers and exertions, because there
never was a time when the true profession of the gospel
was assailed by more powerful and determined enemies.
By these arts the passions of the people were wrought up
to such a degree of phrenzy, that moderate men felt
themselves condemned to silence, through the fear of
being torn in pieces by the zeal of an enraged populace *.
2. While the prince thus secured the adhesion of the
lower classes, he secretly excited or fomented a succes-
sion of petty quarrels between the States and his father-
in-law. 1. The English East India company had made
bitter complaints of the injuries which they suffered from
the Dutch at Bantam and Masulipatam ; and Jftmes in
firm and threatening language insisted on immediate re-
paration. By William the States were exhorted to tem-
porise; they protested against the exorbitant claims of
the company ; they excused the delay through the want
of evidence from their o >\ n servants ; and, if they offered
reparation, it was in terms evasive or unsatisfactory.
2. Soon afterwards a fleet of Algerine corsairs, com-
manded by Dutch renegadoes, appeared in the Channel
for the purpose of making depredations on the commerce
• D' Avnnx, 26 Fnh. ; 11 Mars; 10 Juin; 20 J nil. ; 10 Aoflr. Amoni;
these forgeries was also a letter from a jesuil at Liege to a Jesuit at Kri-
burg, which raav be seen in Echard, 18^0. Also Burnet, in. lij; 1 , l"0,note
and d'AvaiMC. 4 Jnillet.
CHAP. II.] KING RECALLS THE BRITISH FORCE. 135
of the United Provinces. The admiral anchored in the 1686.
harbour of Plymouth, and demanded, in virtue of the J"""?
treaty between the king and the regency, permission to
sell his prizes. His right to enter the port was admitted ;
but the permission which he sought was refused : and yet
the States remonstrated in violent terms against this de-
termination : the charge that James was secretly leagued
with the infidels against the heretics, was echoed back
by the partisans of the prince in England and Holland ;
and the king, to silence their clamour, issued orders to
admiral Strickland to sweep the Channel of the pirates.
3. A third cause of dissension arose out of the counte-
nance which Burnet, to whom James had traced several
libellous publications, received in Holland. Having been
cited to appear, he was pronounced fugitive by the court
of justiciary in Scotland, but at the same time obtained
letters of naturalization, and a promise of protection from
the States. Albeville required that he should be de-
livered up in conformity with the treaty of Breda, but
received for answer that their high mightinesses under
stood the provision in that treaty in a very different sense
from the king of England *. Lastly, James demanded
the six British regiments serving in the United Pro-
vinces: the States refused. He appealed to the law of
nations : they replied that the civilians in Holland did
not admit of the interpretation of that law given by the
civilians in England : he claimed the services of the
brigade in conformity with the capitulation between the
prince of Orange and the earl of Ossory; they (though
the British force in their pay had hitherto been governed
by that very instrument) declared it of no value, because
it had never been formally ratified. In conclusion, the ,,
king by proclamation recalled his subjects serving under ' j-,
foreign powers; but the call was obeyed by only thirty-
• For the Aluerines see Bonrepaus, 9. 16. S] Join Kills Correspond-
ence, i. 1*7- 137 : with respect to Burnet, 1) Vvaux, L7Juil. ; 7Aodt; i'. 1
J.inv. ; lu. 94 Fev. State Trials, xi. 1 103 — 11^1. Burnet, iii. liM.
135 JAMES IT. [CHAP. II.
six officers, and a small portion of privates *, who served
to form the nucleus of three new regiments, composed
chiefly of catholics. The effect of these bickerings proved
highly beneficial to William, inasmuch as they created
an alienation of mind in the principal persons among
the States, which rendered them willing to connive at
measures calculated to injure a prince whom they both
feared and dislisked.
3. But the chief object of his solicitude was to procure
supplies of men, ships, and money, without disclosing at
the same time his real purpose. His partisans began by
disseminating a report that Louis and James had entered
into a secret league to make war on the United Provinces
in the following spring ; but this falsehood + would have
failed of its purpose had it not heen aided by the depre-
dations of the Algerine corsairs, and the expectation of
another visit from the pirates during the next summer.
For the protection of their commerce the States voted a
levy of nine thousand seamen ; and the prince not only
put twenty sail of men-of-war into commission, but
ventured without authority to order twenty more to be
put in such repair that they might he ready for sea in a
few days. He had also the address to procure from the
* Burnet, iii. 208. D'Avaux, 12, 24 Fev.; 16. 18.25 Mais. Barillon, 12
Fev ; 25 Mars. The recall of these troops originated with the Kremh
cabinet, for the purpose of \veakeniDg the army, anil embarrassing the
counsels of the stated. D'Avaux suggested it to Albeville, and Albeville
to James, on the ground that he could have no reliance on the fidelity of
the six regiments as loug as they remained under the command of the
prince. lie assented, and proposed that Louis should take them into his
service: hut Louis deemed it better to furnish pay for two thousand men,
provided they should remain in England. Hut by this time Sunderland
had discovered the origin of the project, and instantly threw every obstacle
in the way of the negotiation, till his services were purchased by a new
gratification of 2250/. Immediately afterwards Albeville received orders
to recall the troops. See d'Avaux, 22 Aout, 1687 : Barillon, 9 Janv. 1688;
and the answer of Louis, 16 Janv. The pay of two thousand men amounted
to 42.048/. a year.
+ D'Avaux speaking of the false reports at the Hague uses these words :
" le prince el ses creatures out au supreme degre I'- talenl des Autrichiens
de debiter effrontement une menterie, qu'ils Bavenl bien devoir etre
detruite trois jours apres," 6 Fev. 1687- That there existed im league be-
tween the two monarchs, either against the States, or for the support oi
A.D. 1688.] WILLIAM PROCURES SHIPS AND MEN. 137
States an order that the ships should not, as was usual,
be stationed in the harbours of the different admiralties,
but should rendezvous either at Flushing or Willemstad,
two ports bis own property, where he could exercise the
command without control. With respect to the army he
did not venture to raise any additional force ; but he
concluded private treaties with different princes of Ger-
many, who bound themselves to furnish at his requi-
sition several thousand men for the defence of the
southern frontier, whenever the Dutch troops should be
withdrawn by the prince for any distant expedition, To
procure money towards the equipment of the fleet, the
produce of the customs was almost doubled by the en-
forcement of new and severe regulations ; and on his
earnest remonstrances that several fortresses were falling
into ruin, a loan of 4,000,000 of florins was voted for
their repair. The loan was indeed ordered to be raised
by equal portions, in four successive years, but the trea-
surer, under the influence and protection of the prince,
obtained the whole sum at once, and held it at the dis-
posal of his patron *.
In the meanwhile James pursued with obstinacy his
dangerous and desperate career. The inutility of his
past efforts might have taught him the folly of expecting
to win the consent of men, while he continued to offend
their prejudices, and trample on their rights. But his
was a mind on which the lessons of experience were
thrown away. Though the closetings, and removals,
and interrogatories had failed, still he could discover no
cause of despondency ; the reasonableness of the thing,
the interest of the dissenters, and the influence of the
crown, would, he thought, gradually make converts to
James in England, is plain from all the despatches of the French ministers,
and in particular from a letter of Louis XIV. to d'Avaux in answer to a
hint on that subject ; " Comma ce prince ne doute pas de mon affection,
et du desir que j ai devoir la religion cathollqua bten retahlie en Angle.
terre, il fant eroire qu'il se trouv 6 assez de ton t d'autorite i»»>r executor
ses desseins, puis qiril n'a pas recours amoi," 17 Juillet, I687.
* Nepociations du comtc d'Avaux, vi. 9. 13. 128. 44. 5'J. 64. 66.
138 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
his opinion, and it was his fixed resolve to call no par-
liament till he should be secure of a majority in both
houses. The consent of the prince of Orange, which
he had once considered necessary, was now a matter of
less importance. The queen was pregnant ; and her
chdd, if, as he promised himself, it should prove a boy,
would bo entitled to the succession in the place of his
daughter the princess Mary. He beheld with satisfac-
tion the sudden damp which this intelligence cast on
his opponents: but the report was soon met by a ru-
mour most industriously circulated, that the queen's
pregnancy was a mere pretence, the first act of a farce,
which would end in the production of a supposititious
child, a false prince of Wales, to the exclusion of the
true protestant heirs *. In ordinary circumstances so
improbable a tale could not have found credit : but it
was eagerly received by the prejudice of party; and, to
give to it a greater air of probability, the story of queen
Mary's " mock conception " by Fox, the martyrologist,
was reprinted and distributed among the people, under
the title of " Idem iterum, or queen Mary's big belly."
Dec James, however, treated this attempt with scorn, and,
23. by proclamation, announced the propitious event to his
loving subjects, ordering at the same time a day of
thanksgiving to be observed, with a form of service pre-
pared by the three bishops of Durham, Rochester, and
Peterborough +.
* Of the reality of the queen's prep;"'""")'' ; ""' of the birth of the prince,
no man can reasonably doubt, who has perused the extracts from her
letters to ttie princess of Orange ( Ellis, Ix series, iii. 348) the depositions
maile before the council ( Several Declarations, &c, v'.i 40, 41 4j , anil llie
passages selected b} Mazure from the despatches of Barillon anil Bonre-
paus ( M.i/.ure. ii. 366. 369. 459) From these it appears that the queen was
herself uncertain a^ to her time, reckoning occasionallj flrom the king's
arrival at Bnth on the 6th of Septembi r, and occasionally from their re-
turn to Windsor, on the fith of October : a point of some consequence in
the controversy, as it complete!) sets aside the most plausible of the objec-
tions : though it is plain, that if fraud had been intended, nothing mi
more easy than to have Ii led on a certa n huh-, and to have abided l.y it.
See also the letters in Dalrymple (303. 314), which do Utile c i to the
filial piety of the princesses Man and Ante-.
+ We are told that, " in the proclamation for the thanksgiving, it was
" intimated that the child wus to prove a son, and Still more plainly in tho
1.
A.D. 1G88.] NEW CAUSES OF DISCONTENT. 139
From this moment bis adversaries watched his con-
duct with more than their former jealousy, while the
infatuated monarch continued to act, as if it were his
wish to conjure up and combine together all the ele-
ments of that storm which, in a lew months, burst on
his head, and swept him and his from the throne.
1. The elector of Cologne had appointed for his resi-
dent at the English court a native Benedictine monk, of
the name of Corker, who had been tried for his life dur-
ing the imposture of the popish plot. There was some-
thing sulliciently extraordinary in the appointment
itself: but James was not satisfied : he insisted that the ,
resident should be introduced at court in the habit of
his order, accompanied by six other monks, his attend-
ants, in a similar dress. It was a ludicrous rather than
an offensive exhibition : but, while it provoked the
sneers and derision of the courtiers, it furnished his
enemies with a new subject of declamation against him,
who, not content with screening these men from punish-
ment, brought them forward as a public spectacle, to
display his contempt of the law, and defiance of public
opinion *.
2. His next act was calculated to beget a fiercer and
more general spirit of discontent. In the beginning of
the year, Parker, bishop of Oxford, died, and James,
by a mandatory letter, ordered the presidentship of
Magdalen college to be given to Dr. Gifi'ard, who was
already selected for one of the four vicars apostolic +.
" catholic form cif prayei on tint occasion." I can no m here discover this
indication. The words in the proclamation are these; " His majesty has
" apparent hope and nood assurance of having issue i y his royal consort
"the queen:"— in the catholic prayer, "Concede propiiius ut tamula
tna, regina nostra Maria, partu folici prolem edat tihi Hdellter survituram,"
a form in use for centuries on such occasions.
• Barillou, 16 Fev. " L'admissi in d'un Benedictin a 1'andience do roi
<l'A. eu <[iialite d'envoye d'un prince souverain, est plus capable d'eloigner
les protestants <ie uotre religion que de Les y aitirer ; el comme on ne voit
point de semblables exempTes <laus lea pa's eotierement catholiques, il
semble aussi qu'on pouvoit se dispenser de uonner ce sujel de raillerie aux
heretiques." Louis a Bar'lion du S6 Fev.
♦ Hitherto then' had been bnt catliolio bishop in England, Dr. Ley
burn; but three others. Philip Ellis, a monk, Dr. Giffaril, and Dr. Smith,
secular clergymen, were appointed on the iSOlh of Jan. 1688, and the king-
140 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
Mar. The great majority of the fellows and demies, as the
«"• reader is aware, were already eatholi"s : by this nomi-
nation the president was now a catholic ; so that the
college in fact was taken from the protectants and made
a catholic establishment, and that too by a prince who
had solemnly promised to maintain the rights and pri-
vileges of the church. In his defence it was argued,
that, by the obstinate secession of the former inmates,
the house had fallen to the crown, and that in such case
the sovereign might reasonably fill it with one class of
religionists, when it had been abandoned by the other.
But such sophistry could make little impression on the
mind of any man, who considered the origin of the
quarrel, and the law of the land. A prudent prince
would have grasped at the opportunity of effecting a
reconciliation with the university : James, by a new act
of injustice, chose to augment and perpetuate the cause
of irritation. If we may credit tne information sent by
the nuncio to the papal court, the suggestion came ori-
ginally from Sunderland *.
But that which filled up the measure of his offences,
was the prosecution and trial of tho seven bishops. A
year had elapsed since his proclamation of liberty of
April conscience. He now ordered it to be republished, and
- 5 - appended to it an additional declaration, stating his un-
alterable resolution of securing to the subjects of the
English crown '■ freedom of conscience for ever," and
of rendering thenceforth merit and not oaths the quali-
fication for office. A rival people (the Dutch) might
censure and complain— they would be the losers by the
improvements — but liberty of conscience would add to
the wealth and prosperity of the nation, and give to it
what nature designed it to possess, the commerce of Eu-
rope. He would have his subjects to look back on the
three years which they had already passed under his
sway, and to judge, from the ease and happiness which
dom was divided into four districts, oneofwhicll u;is ;ill<jtted to each on
tin- 30th of July following.
• James, ii. 135. Dudd, iii. 4C9. Uiruet, ii. 219.
A.D. 1688.] DECLARATION TO BE READ IN CHURCHES. 141
they had enjoyed, whether, instead of being the tyrant
represented by his enemies, he had not been in reality
the father of his people. Wherefore he conjured them
to lay aside all jealousies and animosities, and prepare
to elect for the next parliament, which would meet at
the latest in November, such representatives, as might
aid to complete the great work which he had so happily
begun*.
The king had persuaded himself that considerable be- May
nefit would be derived from this declaration ; and, that 4.
it might be the more generally known and obeyed, an
order was sent to the several bishops from the council,
enjoining that it should be read by the clergy in their
respective churches, at the usual time of divine service,
in London, on the '20th, in the country on the 27th of
May — an order, the impolicy of which is so very obvious,
as to provoke a suspicion that it proceeded from the ad-
vice of a concealed enemy. It was not, indeed, without
precedent. In 1681, at the suggestion of archbishop
Sancroft, the declaration of Charles II. against the
Whigs, and subsequently, in 1683, his declaration re-
specting the Rye-house plot, were read by order of the
king during the service f. But at those times the court
was in favour with the church, and no man thought of
disobeying an order which he approved. But now,
when the minds of the clergy were estranged by jealousy
and embittered with resentment, to insist that they should
read to their Hocks a declaration which they judged hos-
tile to their interest, was to provoke a quarrel which, in
the feverish state of the public mind, could not fail of
proving most injurious to the royal cause. After a few
days, the archbishop gave a dinner to the leading cler-
gymen in the capital : and, when those who had not
been admitted into the secret, were departed, Compton
of London, Turner of Ely, White of Peterborough, and
Dr. Tennison, remained in consultation with the
• WilUins Com. iv. G16.
t Burnet, iii. 21-2. ISaker, Continuation, 70'J.
142 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
metropolitan. By them it was resolved that the clergy
could not read the declaration either in prudence or in
conscience : not in prudence, for three reasons, because
it was contrary to the interest of the church, because it
would be taken as a proof of their approbation or their
cowardice, and because it would lead to the reading of
other and perhaps still more offensive papers ; nor could
they read it in conscience, because it contained illegal
matter, as it pre-supposed not merely a dispensing, but
even a disannulling, power in the crown. But it might
be asked, "Were the clergy the proper judges of that
question? Or could they conscientiously refuse to obey
an order issued by the head of their church ? The ob-
jection was answered by a train of reasoning which
would have done honour to the most subtle casuist : that
each individual must judge for himself, and act accord-
ing to that judgment ; that hence, if he judge a decla-
ration illegal, there can be no disobedience in refusing
to read it ; for unlawful matter ought not to be pub-
lished by him who thinks it unlawful, because it cannot
come to him from any lawful authority ; not from the
king, for the king can do nothing unlawful ; nor from
his ministers, for they must have their authority from
him. The refusal then is lawful, and consequently free
from the guilt of disohedience *.
May In consequence of this resolution, seven other bishops
18. were invited to join the four in London ; and of these
Lloyd of St. Asaph, Kenn of Bath and Wells, Lake of
Chichester, and Trelawney of Bristol, obeyed the sum-
mons. Before them was laid a petition to the king, in
the handwriting of the archbishop, praying in respectful
language that the clergy might be excused from read-
ing the declaration, not because they were wanting in
duty to the sovereign, or in tenderness to the dissenters,
but because it was founded on the dispensing power
which had often been declared illegal in parliament ;
• Kcnnet, 482. James, ii. 152. Clarendon's Diary, 171.
A. D. 1688.] THE BISHOPS RKFUSE. 143
and on that account they could not, in prudence, honour,
or conscience, make themselves such parties to it as the
reading of it in the church would amount to in common
and reasonable construction. To this instrument they
set their names, with the exception of the bishop of
London, who was still suspended from his jurisdiction ;
and the subscribers, leaving at Lambeth the archbishop,
who had been some time before forbidden access to the
court, presented it on the same evening to the king in
his closet *.
That the matter of the petition would prove offensive,
there could be no doubt : but James had an additional
and more reasonable cause of complaint. They had
suffered fourteen days since the issuing of the order to
pass in silence ; and now, when there wanted but thirty-
six hours of the time for carrying it into execution, they
for the first time came forward with their objections
The delay might not have been intentional: it might
have arisen from indecision, or apprehension, or the diffi-
culty of ascertaining in haste the sense of the episcopal
body ; but to the king it seemed as if they sought to
take him by surprise, to extort from him an answer,
without allowing him leisure for deliberation. He re-
plied with warmth and asperity, that he had not ex-
pected such treatment from the church of England ;
that they were sounding the trumpet of Sheba, and
raising a devil, which they would never be able to lay;
that they made themselves the tools — the unconscious
tools, he had the charity to believe — of men, who aimed
at the ruin of the church as well as of the throne ; that
the dispensing power was part of the doctrine of the
church : that some among the subscribers had both
preached and written in defence of that doctrine ; that
it was a power which, as God had given it to him, he
would be careful to maintain: and that, whatever they
might think, there still remained seven thousand men,
• Clarendon's Diary, 171. Rennet, 483. State Trials, xii. 453, State
Tiacts, 430.
144 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
and of the church of England too, who had not yet
bowed the knee to Baal. On their part they conjured
him not to think so harshly of them : they would lose
the last drop of their blood rather than lift up a finger
against him ; but if they were bound to honour him, it
was also their duty to fear God : to read the declaration
was against their conscience, and they hoped that he
would allow to them, what he professed to grant to all,
liberty of conscience. In conclusion, he did not return
a positive refusal. He would take time to consider. If
he should change his mind, they would hear from him
in the course of the following day : if they did not, they
might know that the order was to be obeyed *.
James might, perhaps, have relented ; but, to add to
his vexation, he learned the same night that the peti-
tion, though it had never yet been out of his possession,
was actually printed, and openly distributed in the
streets of the metropolis. This treatment, acting on a
mind naturally obstinate, confirmed him in his first
resolution. He no longer doubted that it was a precon-
certed plan ; that the motions of the prelates were
secretly guided by the leaders of his opponents ; and that
the object of the publication was to embarrass him, and
May to excite the clergy to resistance. The next morning he
19. took the advice of the twelve judges ; the day passed in
silence ; no notice was forwarded to the prelates ; and
20. on the Sunday the declaration was read in a few, but a
few only, of the churches in London t.
This conduct of the bishops perplexed the royal coun-
sels. Many contended that by the premature publica-
tion of the petition, and their subsequent disobedience,
* James, ii. 154, 155. Clarendon's Diary, 172. App. 479. Slate Trials,
xii. 454. Lonsdale, 26. 28. Gulch, i. 335. 338.
f Higgins, 334. James (Memoirs), ii SI 1. Clarendon's Diary, ibid.
Evelvn, iii. 34'2. "Onnedoute pas que ce qu'ont fait quelques uns des
Evequea ne soit concerte avec plusieurs antres, ''t ayec lee chefs du parti
oppose a la cour." Barillon, 3 Juin. The declaration was read in four
churches only. Both Tillotson and Stillingfleel had gone into the coun-
try, Ilia! they might ii"t attend at church, ilioii^b they had both assisted
in the composition of the petition. Clarendon, ibid.
A.D. 16S8.J ARE CALLED BEFORE THE COUNCIL. 145
they had compromised the authority of the sovereign ;
that, if he permitted them to heard him to his face with
impunity, he might as well resign the sceptre at once;
and that, to prevent similar acts of insubordination, he
ought to send the offenders for punishment before the
ecclesiastical commission. Others (and among them, it
should be observed, were Sunderland and Petre *) repre-
sented the danger of arraying the whole church of Eng-
land against the authority of the crown, and advised that
the bishops should be admonished of their fault, and
told that, if they escaped with impunity, it was owing to
that very declaration which they refused to read, to that
universal liberty of conscience, which they so loudly con-
demned. James fluctuated between these opposite
opinions: but the first, though he admitted it to be the
less prudent, accorded better with his unyielding disposi-
tion : fresh provocation was daily administered by the
successive accession of other bishops to the obnoxi-
ous instrument t ; and he at last resolved to call the
original offenders to account, not indeed before the
ecclesiastical commission — that would bear the appear-
ance of persecution — but before a criminal court, and for
a civil misdemeanor, which would enable him to vindi-
cate the royal authority, and still leave it in his power to
display his forbearance and clemency, as circumstances
might suggest %.
Of all the counsels, which marked the arbitrary yet
impotent policy of the king, this proved by far the most
* In the despatch which cunt tins the account of these different opinions,
Barillou expressly says of the advice to dismiss all intention of prosecul
nij : he bishops," cct a\ is est celui de m\ lord Sunderland ct du P. Pners"
i BarilloD, ibid.]); and i notice the passage, because it refutes the report
spread abroad at the time, that Petre in very offensive terms had urged
the king to punish the prelates. Jeffreys said that James himseU was
disposed at first to overlook the affront, but allowed himself to be dis-
suaded by men, who pushed him on to his ruin. Clarendon's Journal,
June 15.
t The bishop ni' Gloucester Bigned it on May 21 , of London on May 23,
the bishop oi Norwich on the Bame day, of Salisbury on the 26th, ol Lsn-
daff on the 37lh, of w inchester on the 28th, of Exeter on the li'Jth, and of
Worcester on the 3rd of June.
J Despatches of d' Adda, Qiugno 4. 11.
VOL. XIII L
146 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
mischievous, because it threw the very assertors of
passive obedience into the arms of his enemies, who
were not slow to avail themselves of the advantage. To
the seven prelates they made the offer of their sympathy
and advice ; and carefully kept alive the irritation of the
public mind by a succession of pamphlets and reports.
When the bishops presented themselves before the
j une council, they met with a gracious reception from the
8. monarch; and having, after some unnecessary demur,
acknowledged their respective signatures to the petition,
were told by the chancellor that they would have to
answer for the offence in Westminster Hall, but that,
in the mean time, to spare them the disgrace of im-
prisonment, the king would accept their personal recog-
nizances for their appearance. Thus it had been
arranged on the preceding evening between the arch-
bishop and lord Berkeley : but now, by " the advice of
"all their wise friends'' — advice given that morning,
not so much with a view to the benefit of the prelates, as
to drive the king to extremities— they replied that, being
peers of the realm, they would give no other security
than their word *. The council was surprised and dis-
concerted. The bishops, having been desired to with-
draw and consult among themselves, were recalled : the
former offer was repeated, and represented as a favour
which the king wished them to accept : but they re-
turned a second refusal; and then, as no alternative
remained, were committed to the Tower under the charge
of having contrived, written, and published a seditious
libel f-. The warrant, the legality of which in such cir-
cumstances could not be disputed, was signed by the
» State Trials, xii. 457.461.
t James, ii. 158. Gutch, i. 353, 4. State Trials, 198. 455— 462. Clur.
Corresp. ii. 175.177. App. 481— 4S4. Though the prosecution was deter
mined upon in opposition to the advice of Sunderland Harillon observes
of him, that "c mehahile ministre etbon courlisan il soutient avee
beaucoup de clialeur et de fcrmite les resolutions qui ont ete prises."
1 J nill.t. The compiler of the Memoirs of James attributes, but without
riii- to ony authority, the resolution to leffreys. Jeffreys liimself,
without a p sitive deni il, seeks u< insinuate the conirarj in liis conversa-
tions with Clarendon a lew days afterwards. Diary, June 27.
A.D. 1688.] AND COMMITTED TO THE TOWER. 147
whole board with the exception of Petre, who on his
petition was excused by the king, and of lord Berkeley,
who, though he hail concurred in opinion with his col-
leagues, was at the moment, accidentally or designedly,
absent *.
To check the expression of popular feeling, and to pre-
vent any attempt to rescue the right reverend prisoners,
it had been thought prudent to convey them by water to
the Tower. As they proceeded down the river, the
people cheered them from the banks ; on their landing
the officers and privates of the garrison bent their knees,
and solicited the blessing of those whom they were com-
missioned to keep in confinement. It was the hour of
the evening service. The prelates hastened to the chapel ;
the second lesson was read : " I have heard thee in a
" time accepted, and in the day of salvation I have suc-
" coured thee ; behold, now is the accepted time ; behold.
" now is the day of salvation : " nor can we be surprised
if men in such a state of excitement applied these words
to themselves, and took them for a prediction of the
deliverance of the church from the ruin with wnich they
thought it was menaced t. By the lieutenant they were
treated with respect, and allowed the liberty of the
Tower.
But two days later, while the public attention was June
absorbed by the proceedings against the bishops, the 10.
queen was unexpectedly taken in labour. Messengers
were instantly despatched ; the royal physicians, the
ladies of the court, and the members of the council
hastily assembled in her apartment ; and in the course
of an hour the king was blessed with what he so ardently
wished for, the birth of a son, the apparent heir to his
• Ba Juin. He attributes the absence of Berkelej to fear.
T Those who published th der foi reading the declaration were the
lops of Durham, Lincoln, Hereford, Roche ter, Chester, and Carlisle.
Of these six two only, Hereford and Chester, refused the oaths to king
William, while of the Bcven « li" were prosecuted, the archbishop, and the
ips of Ely, of Bath and Wells, of Chichester, and <>>' Peterborough,
deprived on that accouut.
L 2
148 JAMES II. [CHAF. II.
crown. He did not dissemble, his friends did not dis-
semble, their common joy ; their chief apprehension was
removed; the princess of Orange was no longer the next
in the succession. The disappointment and vexation of
his opponents were equally marked. But they quickly-
rallied : they had prepared the people to expect a sup-
posititious birth, and they maintained that their predic-
tions had been verified. A number of reports and fables
were immediately circulated. It was said that the queen
had never exhibited those appearances which accompany
a state of pregnancy ; and had taken care that the pre-
tended delivery should happen in the absence of the
princess of Denmark, and of those who were the most
interested in the event. According to one tale she had
suffered a miscarriage in the third, according to another
in the sixth, month ; some persons described minutely
how the child had been introduced beneath the bed-
clothes in a warming-pan, and thence exhibited to the
spectators by the midwife as the royal infant, while
others cared not whether there had been a real birth or
not ; certain they were that the child died in a few hours,
and that another was substituted in its place. The in-
consistency of these accounts furnishes a sufficient proof
of their falsehood: but they were so often and so posi-
tively asserted that they made impression : well-mean-
ing individuals began to think the birth of the prince
problematical, while thousands, consulting their preju-
dices rather than their judgment, held it for an un-
doubted imposture *. By James this imputation, so in-
jurious to his honour and veracity, was keenly felt: hut
he scorned to notice it publicly, and contented himself
with ordering a day of general thanksgiving, making on
the occasion presents to his ministers, entertaining the
• See these absurd leports collected with care by Burnet, iii 236—245,
Isabella lady Wentworth, who was in attendance, had neverthelet
dared to liim, " that she was as sure the prince of Wales was the queen's
son, as that any of her own children were hers; when out ol' zeal for till'
truth and honour of my mistress,' 1 said she, " I spake in such terms as
modest} would scarce let me speak at another time.'' Ibid. 368.
A.D.1688.] DISCHARGED ON BAIL. 149
populace with fireworks, and giving a considerable sum
in charity to the poor*.
Could the king have foreseen the consequences of his
contest with the bishops, he had now, by publishing a
general pardon on the birth of his son, a fair opportunity
of extricating himself without disgrace from that pitiful
yet dangerous quarrel. But his high and obstinate
temper never knew when to yield, and he risked the
very existence of his authority, that he might not be
thought to have exercised it in vain. On the appointed June
day the seven prelates were brought from the Tower "
accompanied by several peers and gentlemen : on their
approach to Westminster Hall the crowd divided ; and
as they passed through the lane of spectators, the by-
standers begged their blessing, and kissed their hands
and garments. After much time had been spent in
arguing the objections taken by their counsel, they
pleaded not guilty, and were discharged on their own
recognizances, the archbishop in 2U0/, the bishops in
1001. each, to appear again for trial on that day fort-
night. As they left the court, they were greeted with
loud acclamations ; the enthusiasm of the people showed
itself by lighting bonfires in the evening and drinking to
the seven champions of the church ; and their liberation
was celebrated as a triumph, though it had in reality
been obtained through the very concession which, "by
" the advice of their wise friends," they had refused to
make in presence of the council f.
Neither James nor his advisers could view the public,
excitement without some feeling of alarm. But the king
persuaded himself that he had now advanced too far to
recede without disgrace. The royal authority was at
• Barillon, 1 Juil. Gazette, 2345. Dairy mple, 308, 311. The queen's
r children had all died of convulsions. The physicians advised that
tin* should be fed with the spoon, The nuncio writes tint In place of
milk they gave u> the principino un nlimento chiamato" Watter Gruell,"
osto di farina di avena, aqua, e zuccaro, Bggiongendovisi nil.' volte
qjialche poco di una passadi Corinte. Giugno23. In August the" watter
" gruell " was abandoned for a wet nurse. Ellis, < lor. ii. I 1
t State Trials, xii. 189—277- Bnrnet, Hi. 221. Echard, 1103.
150 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
stake : he must proceed to trial ; and then, when the jury
had returned their verdict — in his favour he could not
doubt — he might withdraw the bishops from punishment
and display the generosity of a conqueror to his vanquished
foes *. Sunderland, though he had disapproved of the
prosecution, lent to it the aid of his counsels and in-
"" e iiuence ; and at the same time improved the opportunity
to confirm his hold in the confidence of the king, by pro-
fessing himself openly, what it had been long known
that he was privately, a convert to the church of Rome.
That a statesman, so selfish and calculating, should take
this important step at such a crisis, excited surprise in
every quarter: and the only conclusion to be drawn
from it was, that he possessed information which con-
vinced him that, whatever might be the designs and re-
sources of the prince and his adherents, still the royal
cause would ultimately triumph +.
The expectation of the trial drew multitudes from the
>7 g country to the metropolis. On the 29th of June thirty
peers, the friends of the prelates, appeared on the bench
with the judges J; Westminster Hall was crowded with
spectators; and an immense concourse of people, agi-
tated by the most impatient anxiety, awaited the result
in the open air. Within the court, the officers were
unable to maintain the usual forms of decorum. The
feelings of the audience burst through every restraint;
and repeated cheers of approbation encouraged the wit-
* So d'Adda writes on 9 Jaglio, the very day of tin- trial.
f Barillop, S .1 nil let. Sunderland's eldest son. lord Spenser, a yonng
man of profligate habits, had been wounded long before in a riot, or a duel
the consequence of a riot, at Bury. He never recovered In- health, and
was now lying in a very precarious slate in Paris, where lie had lately be-
come a catholic. On this 15 irillon remarks, "Cela est reiiarde com me une
chose concertee enlre myl. Sunderland et lui. (V qu'il y n de certain est
<|u'il profit' ra de la conversion de son Bis." Bar. L'l Mai '2 Jmn. The
youn^' man died Sep 5.
X From a letter to the prince of Orange (June IS) we learn, that it was
the advice of those who sought to inflame the passions "I the people, that
'' the bishops si in uh I deny the jurisdic ion of the court, \\ liich a on Id anger
" extremely, and draw great punishment upon them, and that then the
" lords should petition in their behalf." Dalijmple ^27. This pl-an was
afterwards abandoned.
A.D. 1688.] TRIED IN WESTMINSTER HALL. 151
nesses and the counsel for the prisoners. Powis the
attorney, and Williams the solicitor-general, Shower the
recorder, and Serjeants Trinder and Baldock appeared
tor the crown ; and against them were arrayed, Pember-
ton, formerly chief justice, Levinz, Sawyer, Finch, Pol-
lexfen, Treby, and Somers : a singular arrangement,
which gave the defence of the popular cause to Sawyer
and Finch, the conductors of all the state prosecutions
towards the end of the last reign, and converted Williams,
the Whig advocate and former enemy of the duke of
York, into a zealous champion of the pretensions of
James. This change of parties gave birth to much alter-
cation. Taunts and sarcasms were thrown out and
retorted ; the counsel reproached each other with main-
taining doctrines which they had formerly reprobated ;
and it required all the authority of Wright, the chief
justice, to recall them from personal altercation to the
cause before the court. The information charged the
prisoners, that they had written and published a sedi-
tious libel in the county of Middlesex. The first part,
the writing, the crown lawyers were compelled to
abandon. For though it was shown (but only from the
admission of the prelates before the council), that the
signatures were in the handwriting of the respective
defendants, there was not only no proof that they had
signed their names in Middlesex, but Lambeth, where
every one knew that the subscription took place, was
situate in the county of Surrey, Neither were they at
first more success lul with respect to the publication in
Middlesex. That a petition had been presented to the king
in that county, was admitted : but that the very petition
in question had been presented by the seven prelates
could not be proved : ami the chief justice had commenced
his charge to the jury with the intention of directing an
acquittal, when he was imprudently interrupted by Finch,
who requested permission to make sonic additional
observations. To the surprise of the court, when the in-
152 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
diligence which he craved had been granted, it was im-
mediately waived : but his opponents had improved the
opportunity to send in the interval for lord Sunderland,
who deposed that the defendants informed him of their
purpose of presenting a petition, that he accordingly in-
troduced them to the king, and that his majesty showed
him the petition in question as that which they had put
into his hands. This testimony, though subversive of
the defence which had been set up, proved to the parties
the occasion of a more important victory. Without it
the bishops would have been acquitted on the ground of
technical informality ; after it they obtained an acquittal
on the very substance of the charge. Their advocates
abandoned the subterfuges on which they had hitherto
relied, entered into the real merits of the case, and con-
tended that the bishops had only exercised their right
of petitioning for the redress of grievances as British
subjects, and their duty of supporting the act of uni-
formity as its legal guardians ; that their petition was
not seditious, because it was presented in private ; nor
false, because the matter of it was true; nor malicious,
because it was drawn from them by necessity, and offered
to the sovereign with the most innocent intention. But
that which chiefly delighted and electrified the audience,
was the eagerness with which they discussed the question
of the dispensing power, and the eloquence with which
they combated the arguments of its advocates.
The judges charged the jury separately. Wright, the
chief justice, said, that the question of the dispensing
power was not before them : if they believed the petition
in the information to be that which the bishops presented
to the king, the publication was proved : and, if it were
calculated to breed dissension between the king and the
people, as in his judgment it was, it must be considered
as a libel. He was followed by Halfway, who main-
tained that the offence consisted in the intention, and
that, if the bishops only sought to free themselves from
A.D. 1688.] AND ACQUITTED. 153
blame, by stating the reasons why they could not obey,
the petition in his judgment could not be alibel. Powell
succeeded, who confined himself to the dispensing power.
The petition pronounced that power illegal ; and would
certainly be libellous it' the assertion were false. But it
was true. He had read of no case in law which showed
that the king possessed such power ; and this he knew,
that the exercise of it would vest the whole legislative
authority in the sovereign, and render parliament unne-
cessary. Lastly came Ally bone, who said that, for a
private individual to pronounce the proceedings of
government illegal, whether it was done under the form
of a supplication, or petition, or address, was a libel : the
reformation of such things belonged not to private per-
sons but to the two houses of parliament. He would
not discuss the prerogatives of the king or the privileges
of the subject, but he thought that in the present case
those venerable prelates had travelled out of their pro-
vince, and by declaring the conduct of government
illegal, had taken upon themselves more than any indi-
viduals ought to do*.
The jury (for it cannot be objected to this misguided
prince that he ever made an attempt to pervert the
course of justice) had been fairly chosen. Differing in
opinion among themselves, they left the court, and spent
the night in loud and violent debate. In the morning
they returned, and pronounced a verdict of not guilty.
It was received with deafening shouts of applause; the
enthusiasm communicated itself to the crowd without the
hall : it was rapidly propagated to the extremities of the
metropolis ; thence it reached the neighbouring ham-
lets, and at length penetrated to the camp at Hounslow-
heath, where it is *u\d that the king himself, who
• Of the three puisne judges Haltoway and Powell were dismissed at
the em! of the terra ("July 6 ). on aci nl ol their charges in favour of the
bishops. That this was the true reason of their discharge is evident from
the testimony of Barillon, who announced it some time before. (Les deux
juges, qui ont vote pour les E'Sques ■ it destituef, mais ou laiusera
achever ie terme auparavant. Barillon, 1L» Juillet.)
1^4 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
chanced to be dining with the general, lord Feversham,
was surprised and alarmed at the acclamations of the
soldiers *.
When he had leisure for sober reflection, James did
not fail to condemn the rashness which had hurried him
into this ill-advised and unsuccessful contest. But if
the prejudice which it would offer to his interests forced
itself on his attention, he sought to console himself with
the consideration of the benefits to be derived from the
birth of his son, and the hope that the one would counter-
balance the other. But in this he was also disappointed.
That birth proved the immediate occasion of his down-
fall. Thousands had hitherto borne with his misrule
under the persuasion that their grievances would be re-
dressed during the expected'reign of his daughter and
her husband : but now that there was an heir-apparent,
who would probably be educated in the faith and prin-
ciples of his father, instead of ceasing to look forward to
the prince of Orange, they fixed their eyes on him with
greater earnestness, considering him as the only man
whose interference could preserve their liberties and re-
ligion. The enemies of James were careful to encourage
and propagate this opinion t.
With regard to the prince himself, he had never lost
sight of the great object of his ambition. During the
* For this Important trial see State Trials, xii. 2/7 — 431. 475. Burnet,
iii, 222 — 220. Macpherson, i 266. Ellis Correspondence, ii. 7 — 12. Clar,
l)iar>, 179, ISO. Hist, of Eccles. Commis. 53—60. Itaiillon in his letter
gives a long account of it to Louis. He says tin' jury were divided in the
evening, seven against, and live lor the bishops, lint" la verite est que
lesjuges et lesjures ont ete entraines par le torrent ilu pen pie, el que ce
grand concours, qui a paru en favetir ties eveques, les a intiroides. La
joie et les acclamations ont t'-te fort grandes a Westminster, quand on a su
la decision. II y a en .les boites tiiees Bar la riviere. On lit riea t'eux de
joie. La populace Inula line representation (lu pape " 12 Jnillet.
+ Lu naissance du P. de Guiles pent apporfr un changement consider-
able, et fortifier le parti de la royaute. Les faclieuxcependant croient 1" tie
en plus grande uecessite de s'opposer an desseius de sa M it el cela peut
hater l'execution de ce qu'ils veulent entreprendre. Baiillon,Sl Join.
Yet, at the same time, Dean Prideaux writes, " a I present we are only hurt
" in imagination, and our greatest torment is our fears of what may alter
" happen : but I hope they will prove to be only fears, and nothing else."
KIlis Corresp. ii. 48.
A.D. 1688.] PLAN OF THE PRINCE. 155
months of April and May it was discovered by the French
ambassador at the Hague that a swift sailing boat re-
peatedly brought messengers from England, whose
arrival was constantly followed by long and secret con-
sultations. Of these messengers the most important
was admiral Russell, afterwards earl of Orford, who
sought to draw .from William a promise of assistance
against some fixed period ; and though the result of his
mission was kept secret at the moment, it was gradually
unfolded by subsequent events. A pamphlet was pub- May
lished in Holland to prove that James was a usurper,
because, being a catholic, he could not inherit the Eng-
lish throne ; and that the princess of Orange was the
rightful sovereign, and ought to have succeeded on the
death of her uncle Charles II. The fleet in a complete
state of equipment lay in the road of Schoonveldt, ready
to sail on the first opportunity ; the six British regiments,
with the Dutch troops at Utrecht, and the garrisons in
Zeeland, received orders to hold themselves in readiness
to march at a moment's notice ; and it was announced
that the princess intended to pay a visit to the States of
that province in July, and would be followed in a few
days by the prince. As July was the month in which
the queen of England expected to be delivered, there
could be no doubt of the real object of this arrangement.
William meant to show himself on the coast at the head
of a considerable force, for the encouragement of his ad-
herents in England, and probably to pass over to their
assistance should the birth of a prince furnish occasion
to an insurrection. But the child was born a full month
before the expected time, an unpropitious event, which
broke all these counsels. Nothing more was heard of
the visit to Zeeland ; and William, in return to a com-
munication from James, despatched Zuyleistein a second
time to England, with his warm congratulations on so
fortunate an occurrence. He could hardly expect to be
believed: yet the mission, he trusted, would serve to lull
the jealousy of the king ; and, which was equally irn-
156 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
portant, would furnish an opportunity of learning with
accuracy the ulterior views, and the probable resources,
of his party in England. Zuyleistein was graciously
J " ne received ; but instead of returning immediately to Hol-
land, spent his time in paying visits to his friends, which,
while he seemed to have no other object in view but
pleasure, gave him the opportunity of conferring in secret
with the adherents of his master*.
30. In one of these meetings, held at the house of the earl
of Shrewsbury, that nobleman, with the earls of Devon-
shire and Danby, the bishop of London, the lord Lum-
ley, admiral Russell, and Sydney, afterwards earl of
Romney t, subscribed in cipher an address to the prince,
stating that of the common people nineteen parts out of
twenty longed most anxiously for a change ; and that
the nobility and gentry, though they did not express
themselves with equal freedom, were animated with the
same sentiments ; that, if the prince were to land with a
force sufficient to promise protection to his friends, he
would in a lew days find himself at the head of an army
double in number to that of the king, and would see
crowds of officers and privates abandon the royal stand-
ard for that of religion and liberty ; that the present,
considering all circumstances, was a most favourable
moment for the attempt ; and that, if he would engage
to land before the end of the year, they, the subscribers,
would not only join him themselves, but prepare others
to accompany or follow them. One thing, however, they
submitted to his most serious consideration. Could he
assemble the necessary force without awakening sus-
picion ? For if the design were to transpire, the imme-
diate arrest and incarceration of his friends in England
would deprive him of that aid and co-operation on which
* Lettres <le d'Avaux, du 20 Mai j 3. 10. 24 .luiu; 1 Juillet. Burnet
iii. 246.
+ Sydney was S"n to Robert, second earl of Leicester, and since his mis-
sion to Holland, in I679i had enjoyed the confidence of the prince. He
was the man who fotmed the association. See Burnet, iii. 265.
A.D. 1688.] ESCAPE OF HERBERT. 157
the success of the enterprise must in a great measure
depend *.
It is probable that this memorial was transmitted to July
the prince by the hands of vice-admiral Herbert, who 10.
having been refused permission to leave the kingdom,
escaped in the dress of a common sailor. Herbert was a
bold and experienced mariner, who had tasted largely of
the royal bounty, but had afterwards forfeited the com-
mand of a regiment, and the office of master of the robes,
on account of his refusal to vote for the repeal of the test
act. Russell had delivered to him an invitation from
the prince, with the promise of a command in the Dutch
fleet ; and a strong but fallacious hope was cherished
tbat his name would act as a spell to debauch the Eng-
lish sailors from their allegiance. The fugitive accepted
the office of vice-admiral of North Holland with a pension
of 600/. ; and William, after a conference with him,
forbade the young prince to be named in the prayer for
the royal family, openly hinted his suspicion of an im-
posture, and instructed his dependents in Holland to
pronounce the child supposititious. This he did in con-
formity with the advice of his English associates, as af-
fording him a plausible pretext for coming to England to
inquire into the supposed injury done to the rights of his
wife : but James resented the omission of his son's name
in the prayer as a personal injury ; and the prince, who
was n t yet prepared for an open rupture, ordered it to
be restored. What answer he returned to the memorial
we know not: the purport of his answer may be col-
lected from his subsequent conduct +.
• See it in D ilrymple, 222, subscribed by SS. 21. 27- 29. 31. 85. 33. The
earl of Nottingham (23) refill 1! to siyn, pleading scruples oi eniiseienee,
which his associates termed suggestions of cowardice. Dalrymple, 232.
Nottingham excused himself bei ause " he apprehended do ill consequences
" in religion or the just interests of his highness which B little time would
" not effectually remedy, nor could he imagine thai the papists were
" able to make any further considerable progress."' Ibid. l'.'!7, July 27.
The same had always 1 a the opinion of hud Halifax, with whom the
prince continued to correspond, without admitting him to his confidence, or
placing any trust in his professions of service. Bee several letters from
Halifax in Dalrymple, L86. 209. 219.
+ Barillon, 20 Mars. Dalrymple, 225. D'Avaux, 20 .luil.; 10 Aout
Ellis Cor. ii. 1CU. Buruet.754. Dalrymple, 293
158 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
It was a fortunate circumstance for the prince that the
political state of Europe afforded him opportunities, which
he dexterously improved, of promoting, and at the same
time disguising, his design. That hostility which events
had originally engendered between him and the king of
France, had subsequently been so far inflamed by mutual
acts of provocation, that to humble the pride and reduce
1686. the power of Louis seemed for some years to have been
his chief study and his ruling passion. In 1686, at his
instigation, the emperor, the king of Spain in quality of
duke of Burgundy, the king of Sweden in virtue of his
dominions in Germany, and several other princes, had
subscribed the league of Augsburg, under the specious
pretext of maintaining the peace of the empire, but in
1687. reality to oppose the pretensions of France*. The next
spring other powers, whose envoys met during the
amusements of the carnival at Venice, acceded to the
confederacy. More than one-half of Europe was thus
engaged to liy to arms on the first aggression on the
part of Louis ; and with this view, not only the most
powerful of the catholic princes, but the pontiff himself,
1688. Innocent XL, had entered into bonds of the strictest
May amity with the prince of Orange. The death of Fer-
- 5 - dinand of Bavaria, the elector of Cologne, in May, 1688,
put this mighty confederacy in motion. That elector had
possessed, besides Cologne, the bishoprics of Liege,
Munster, and Hildesheim ; his army amounted to twenty
thousand men; and in the war of 1672 the co-operation
of his forces, and the favourable situation of his do
minions, had taught the French to prize his friendship,
the allies to lament his enmity. Aware of the import-
Jan, ance of providing for him a successor attached to the
French interest, Louis had prevailed on the chapter to
elect as his coadjutor the cardinal of Furstember»;, bishop
ofStrasburg. But as a qualification for the coadjutor-
ship it was necessary that he should previously resign
his bishopric ; and the pope, who had not forgotten the
* Dumout, vii. pur. ii. 130—138.
A.D. 1688.] CONTINENTAL POLITICS. 159
insults previously heaped upon him by Louis, refused to
accept the resignation. The election was therefore null.
On the death of the elector the choice of his successor
devolved again to the chapter : Louis proposed the
cardinal ; the allies of the league of Augsburg the
prince Clement of Bavaria, though only seventeen ySars
of age. The former had the majority of voices; but " y
two-thirds were required for a valid election ; and in
default of these the choice devolved to Innocent, who
selected the prince of Bavaria. The allies were equally
fortunate at Hildesheim, Liege, and Munster : but,
though in these places the French candidates were re-
jected, the principal fortresses, Bonn, Neutz, Keiserswert,
and Rhinberg, were held by forces in the service of the
cardinal, and consequently at the devotion of France.
The armies on both sides were speedily in motion ; and
Louis, in a passionate manifesto, accused the pontiff of Aug.
violating the laws of justice in favour of Austria, and of 27 '■
encouraging the prince of Orange to expel a catholic
king from the throne of England*. William viewed
these events as they passed, with the eye of an expe-
rienced statesman ; he took an active and important part
in every negociation ; and, while he silently prepared
his expedition against England, pretended to have in
view no other object than the defence of the empire and
of his own country against the meditated aggression of
France. Under cover of this pretence he was able to in-
fuse new vigour into the States-General and the several
departments of the government. Orders were issued for j,,]..
the encampment of twenty thousand men Viet ween Grave and
and Nimeguen ; fifty pieces of cannon, with the requi-
site supply of ammunition, were taken from the arsenals,
and placed on lints to be conveyed to the rendezvous of
the army ; seven thousand men were raised lor the naval,
* Dumont, vii. par. ii. 167. There are in Dalrymple tuc> letters from
the cardinal d'Estrees at Rome, which, if they an' genuine, show that (he
design i, i the prince had long been known i<> Cassoi | apal minister,
ii concealed by him Irom the knowledge of tlio pontiff. Dalrymple,
241. *
160 JAMKS II. [CHAP. II.
nine thousand for the military service: twenty-seven
ships of war were added to the fleet of forty-four sail
already in commission, and the squadron in the Zuider
Zee received orders to proceed to the Texel, that it might
be prepared to join the other squadrons at Helvoetsluys *.
From the commencement of the year the French and
English ambassadors at the Hague had watched with
jealousy these proceedings of William, and had commu-
nicated their suspicions to their respective sovereigns.
Louis at first, uncertain whether the Dutch armament
was designed against the king of England or the king of
Denmark, proposed to James the junction of the Eng-
lish and French fleets, as a measure of precaution t :
afterwards, having obtained more correct intelligence, he
warned his English brother of the impending danger by
repeated messages from the end of May to the beginning
of September ; and at last he sent Bonrepaus to convince
"if ' him of the design of the prince of Orange, to prevail on
him to prepare against the invasion, and to otter to him
the services of the French tleet J. But the infatuated
monarch was deaf to every admonition. He refused to
believe that a daughter, whom he tenderly loved, could
ever conspire with her husband to dethrone her father ;
he concurred in opinion with Sunderland §, that the
» D'Avaux, 27. 29 Jail. ; 10. 20, 21. 31 Aout.
+ This suggested to Sunderland a new intrigue for the sake of money.
\t first the proposal was received with an air of indifference; then an
answer was given that James would lit out a fleet of twenty sail, pun ided
Louis would defray the expense; and at last the form of a treaty was
drawn, by which the king consented to equip the ships for a lower Bum
than had been previously asked, but under a secret understanding that tile
pension of Sunderland should be doubled. Louis, however, replied, that
Denmark was no longer threatened ; and that James must provide for Ills
own security. The (leet was in consequence prepared for sea without any
aid from Fiance, and Sunderland obtained no addition to Lis pension. See
Barillon's letters from the Sad of March to the 2d of June.
1 His arrival provoked a report that he came to offer the kmg the aid of
thirty thousand men: but hi, instructions related solely to the junction of
tlit! fleets
6 D'Adda, 3 Settembre. But while Sunderland endeavoured to |
suade the king that there was no reason to believe in the probability ol
invasion ( Duirvmple, 297, d'Adda. ibid) be was careful to provide for his
own security by assuring the prince, through Admiral Russell, ot his
" utmost services." Dalrymple, 238.
A. D. 1688.] MKM01R OF n'AVAUX. 161
States would not suffer the prince to employ their naval
and military force in a distant expedition, which must
leave the country open to the ingress of a French army ;
and he eave credit to the concurrent assertions of Wil-
liam and of Van Citters, that their warlike preparations
were provoked by the uncertain and menacing state of
affairs on the continent. He was even led to suspect that
the warnings which he received were in reality so many
artifices employed to draw him into an alliance with
Fiance before the opening of hostilities in Germany, an
alliance most hateful to his subjects, and contrary to the
policy which he had hitherto pursued. Skelton the am-
bassador at Paris saw with pain the incredulity of his
sovereign ; he acknowledged to the French minister his Aug.
conviction that his master was deceived and betrayed ; 20.
and, through his anxiety to avert the catastrophe which
he feared, gave his sanction to the following expedient,
which nothing but the magnitude and the certainty of
the clanger could have excused *.
Albeville having by order of James demanded an ex- 29.
planation of the armaments going forward in the ports of
the republic, d'Avaux the next day, in a long harangue 30
addressed to the States, enumerated all the warlike pre-
parations made by the stadtholder of his own authority
and without the permission or knowledge of their high
mightinesses ; and he assured them that his sovereign,
being perfectly acquainted with the real object of the
prince, had instructed him to let them know that the
king of England was the ally of the king of France, and
• II est bien certain quo ce grande armement ne pent regarder que
I'Angleterre. Cependant le roi d'A. tie demande aucun secours an roi. . . .
Enfin il paroit dans line lethaigie surprenante. Le roi a t'.iit parlet sur
cola a M. Skelton, et il paroil parcequecet envoye •> repondu, qni le roi
d' A. pretend etre stir de ceux qui commaudent seB vaisseanx, mail qu'il
n'a nulle surete a L'egard dee officiers et des troupes de true ...... le dit
Bieur Skelton a repondu nettemenl que cefte grande Becurite lui faiioit
eraindre a»ec beaucoup de raison que son maitre tie Hit trabi, qu'il etoit
in forme des liaisons secret t.-s que quelques uns de ses principaux ministres
avoient avec des gens entitlement dei ■<" P. il'Orange, el ilu memeen
quelque maniere designe tnyl. Sunderland Seignelay a Konrepaua, 31
Aofit. For the source of Skelton's information see Dalrymple, Hist. i.
201, note.
VOL. XIII. M
162 JAMES II. [CHAP. II
that the first act of hostility committed against the former
would he taken by the latter as a declaration of war.
The same message was delivered at the same time to the
Spanish governor of the Netherlands, and the marshal
d'Humieres hastened from Paris to assume the command
of the French army in Flanders *.
If any thing could have saved James from his im-
pending fate, it was this declaration. The confidential
friends of William heard it with feelings of shame and
Sept. dismay, and a messenger was despatched to recall him
'■' from Minden, where he was in close consultation with
his German allies, who engaged to supply him with
15,000 auxiliaries, undoubtedly intended to supply the
place of the men who should accompany him to Eng-
land f. But the English king proved his own enemy.
He was not yet convinced that the armaments in Hol-
land were designed against himself %: his pride was of-
fended that Louis without solicitation should take him
under protection, as if he were a petty prince of the
empire; and he feared that the bold but unfounded as-
sertion of d'Avaux would persuade his subjects that he
* " Sa majeste m'a commande de vims declarer de s,t pari que lea liaisons
d'amiiie et dalliance quelle a avec le roi de la (_J. li. {'oblige non seule-
ment a le secourir, mais encore a regarder comme une infraction tnanifeste
de la paix el comme une rupture ouverte contre sa conronnc le premier
acte d hostilite, qui sa fera parvus troupes, on vos vaisseaux, contre sa
majeste Britanuique." See also the letters of Louis to d'Avaux, 2 Sept ,
and BarilloD, 3 Sept.
t Dalrymple, 253. William was content with informing Jamas, that the
object of his visit to Minden was to confer with some of the German princes,
(Ibid. 294 ) but Mary, who scrupled not to deceive her father that she
might prevent him from discovering the design of her husband, assured
him that the sole object of the prince was to hasten the advance of his
German allies to the Rhine, that they might be ready to oppose the French
army, li nil. 1(1 Oct.
J Though Louis repeatedly complained of the supineness, the ' lethargy '
of his English brother, James persisted in thinking that tne preparations m
Holland were in reality designed against France. That he was wrong, the
event lias proved: but we ate not to condemn him too se\ercl\ ; lor Louis
himself was, at times at least, of the same opinion. Thai monarch, in a
letter to d'Avaux of the 30ih Sept. N- S., expresses his doubts on the
subject, and in a second of Oct. 7. his conviction that the preparations are
designed against himself. He had that morning resolved to declare war
but something had since happened to raise new doubts, and lie would
therefore wait the event. ..." il n'y a plus qua attendre I'eveuemcut."
This appears to me to be the real meaning of his letter.
A.l). 1GS8-] FRENCH ARMY WITHDRAWN. 1G3
hud entered into a secret alliance with France, a charge
which he had always denied. To add to his embarrass-
ment Van Citters, the Dutch, and Ronquillo, the Spa-
nish ambassador, complained of the deception which had
been practised upon them, asked for some explanation of
the secret treaties between the two kings, and justified
the armaments in Holland from the danger to which the
States were exposed by the union of James with their
inveterate foe, the French monarch. The king replied
with warmth that he was not a cardinal of Furstemberg,
to seek protection under the wings of a foreign prince ;
that from the commencement of his reign to that hour
he had entered into no engagement whatever with Louis,
and that Skelton had acted without instructions, and g
should suffer for his presumption. In effect, he recalled 17> '
that minister, and committed him to the Tower *.
But what, it may be asked, was the real object of
Louis : the safety of the English king, or some private
interest of his own? If we consider that he had even
then determined to make war on the emperor, that his
plan of operations was already arranged, and that his
numerous forces were already put in motion, it will not
be unfair to suspect that he chiefly sought under the
cover of this declaration to conceal his real purpose from
the knowledge of the neighbouring powers. Within a
fortnight the mask was thrown away. The French 14.
armies hastened from every quarter towards the Rhine;
Philipsburgh was invested by the Dauphin, and war was
proclaimed against the emperor and empire, with an in-
timation that the king still intended to observe the peace
with Holland, and the truce of twenty years with Spain.
Never was intelligence more welcome to the prince of
Orange. The removal of the French force and the pa-
cific intimation of Louis left him at liberty to pursue his
own design against James ; and the relief afforded to the
anxiety of the Hollanders was manifested by an imme-
• Barillon, 16. 18. 20. 23. 25. 27. 30 Sept. D'Avaux, 18. 2:!, 34. 2% Sept.
M 2
Sept.
164 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
diate rise often per cent, in the price of the public secu-
rities*.
In England the eifect was very different. A new
light burst on the affrighted monarch, who at last saw
the danger which threatened him, in all its magnitude
and proximity. The friendship of Louis had proved a
broken reed ; and the security, which he derived from
the position of the French force on the Dutch frontier,
had unexpectedly vanished. 1. The council assembled,
and orders were sent to Albeville to assure the States
26. that no treaty existed between England and France but
such has had been published ; that James looked on the
siege of Philipsburgh as a violation of the truce of twenty
years, and that he was ready, as a guarantee of that
truce and of the peace of Nimeguen, to join his forces
with those of Spain and the States for the preservation
of the peace of Europe t. It was hoped that this over-
ture would operate as a lure on the States and their al-
lies ; that it would lead at least to delay and negociation ;
and would deter the Dutch government from lending
their naval and military force to the prince, when every
national object might thus be obtained with less danger
and at a cheaper rate. Eight days elapsed before an
answer was returned, during which William visited the
deputies separately, explained to them his views and
resources, and prevailed on them to believe that his in-
tended expedition was necessary for the safety of their
religion, and the independence of their country. At last
Oct. a formal reply was made, at once illusory and insulting ;
illusory as it took no notice of the offer put forward by
• Dumont, vii. par. 11. 1G0. D'Avaux, 27 S.-pt. ; 7 Oa. Barillon, 25
Sept. Unmet, iii. 284. Negociations de d'Avaux, vi. 134. 137. To that
minister Louis excuses his conduct in these words: "Je ne doute pas que
" la prise des principules places de Flandres u'out donne plus dappre-
" hensiou aux 10t.it> ge.ni'raux ([\i- cello cle I'hilpsburg . . . main la ne-
" cessite de prevenir les mauvais ilesseins <le la conr lie Vienne ne ma pas
" laisse d'autre parti a choisir que celui que j'ai pris." 14 Oct, la ano-
ther letter to Barillon he enters into more particulars. 13 Oct
+ Memoire presentr par le marquis d'AlbyvUle du 5 Oct. D'Avaux, 5,
7 Oct. Barillon, 3, 7 Oct. Kennel, 489.
4.
A.D. 1638.] JAMES MAKES CONCESSIONS. 165
James, and insulting inasmuch as it intimated an incli-
nation on the part of the States to restore confidence be-
tween the king and his subjects by procuring security
for the religion and liberties of the English nation*.
2. But James did not wait for this answer. The im-
policy of his past misrule now flashed on his mind ; he
hastened to repair his former errors, and hoped by re-
tracing his steps to recover the confidence of his sub-
jects. Scarcely a day passed which was not marked by
some new concession, granted with apparent cheerful-
ness, but in reality wrung from him by the necessity of
his situation. He condescended to solicit the advice and Sept.
aid of the bishops, whom he had so lately prosecuted;
he ordered the deputy lieutenants and the magistrates, 26.
who had been removed for their answers to the three
questions, to be immediately restored ; he announced by 28.
proclamation the design of invasion by the prince of
Orange, his own intention of refusing foreign assistance,
and of relying on the loyalty of his people, and the ne-
cessity of revoking in such circumstances the writs which
he had issued for the meeting of parliament in Novem-
ber t ; the bishop of London was restored to the exercise 30.
of his episcopal jurisdiction ; at the suggestion of Jeffreys -J* -
the old charter was given back to the city ; the advice g"
offered by the prelates under ten heads was graciously
and thankfully received $; the dissolution of the eccle- 5.
* Resolution des Etats du 14 Oct. D'Avaux, 14, 18 Oct.
t Several councils had been heldaboul the end of August, in which
Sunderland advised, Jeffreys opposed, the calling of a new parliament,
Sunderland prevailed. Hi- great argument wus, thai to prepare lor the
meeting of parliament the discontented would cense from their intii [U is
with the prince. He proposed that an attempt should be made to repeal
the test act and the penal law-. lea\ in^ the oaths of illegiance and supre-
macy as qualifications for a seat in the house of commons; and thought
that this measure might be carried, if the king would (irate a certain
number of new peers, ami order all officers under government to exert
their influence in its favour. D' Adda, 16, Luglio, 3, 10 Settembxe. Ellis
( lorresp. 11. 144.
t Of these ten heads, the following were not immediately adopted.
That be should recall all dispensations, should forbid catholics to teach
>ls, should inhibit the Rumish bishops Imm further invasion <d '-pi-
copal jurisdiction, should till the vacant bishopries, and above all should
166 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
Oct. siastical commission was followed by the restoration of
12. Dr. Hough and the fellows of Magdalen college*; the
17. cities and boroughs recovered their ancient privileges,
and a general pardon was published with the exception
by name of certain persons, almost all of whom were ac-
tually serving under the prince of Orange. These were
concessions of great importance ; particularly that which
by restoring the election of representatives to those per-
sons in whom it formerly resided, took away the chief
pretext set forward by William, the necessity of procur-
ing a free parliament. A deputation from the citizens
waited on the king to express their gratitude; and the
recovery of the charter was celebrated with the usual
demonstrations of public joy: the dukes of Somerset,
Ormond, and Newcastle, the marquess of Winchester,
the earls of Derby, Nottingham, and Danby, the bishop
of London, and several others, either in person or by
letter, assured him of their fidelity : and the prelates
adopted a general form of prayer for the safety and pro-
sperity of the royal family. But in all this there was
much of deception and perfidy. Most of these peers
and three of the bishops had already pledged their ser-
vices to William. Their protestations of loyalty were
wrung from them by the fear of being taken into custody
upon suspicion before the arrival of the Dutch arma-
ment; and, if they sought in this manner to blind
James by the profession of attachment to his person,
they were careful at the same time to inform the people
by their emissaries, that it was not to him but to the
prince that they owed the benefit of the recent conces-
sions ; a benefit which would not be of long continuance,
allow the prelates to offer to him such arguments as might lead him back
to the established church.
* As gome delay look place, a report was circulated, ascribing it to a
change in the royal purpose, on account of the arrival ol si, od news from
Holland, Many from that moment refused to place any faith in the
king's word; tint .lames assured the archbishop that the delay was owing
entirely to the negligence of the bishop of Winchester. (('1 ir Corresp.
ii. 40;*.*) Thai sncli « as the case, appears from Macpherson's Orig. Pap.
i. 271. 2/4. Sydney College was also restored. Jam. ii. 190.
A.D. 1(588.] FORGED MEMORIAL TO THE PRINCE. 1G7
if it were left to depend on the pleasure of the king : it
had been extorted from him by fear, it would be resumed
on the return of confidence *.
3. At the same time James made every exertion to
augment his naval and military force. He gave the
command of the fleet, which consisted of thirty-seven
men-of-war and seventeen fire-ships, to the earl of
Dartmouth, an old and trusty adherent, with instructions
to station himself off the Gun-tleet, to watch the motions
of the enemy, and to aim chiefly at the destruction of
the transports. The army, by the levy of new regiments
and independent companies, and the arrival of six
thousand five hundred men in detachments from Scot-
land and Ireland, was raised to the amount of forty
thousand men +. The command was taken by lord
Feversham, the same who had opposed the duke of
Monmouth, aided by his brother, the count de Roye, an
officer of greater talent, and longer experience. The
fleet was much inferior to that of the prince, but the
king believed that he might i - ely with confidence on the
devotion of the sailors: in military force, as far as re-
garded number, he was plainly superior, but all ac-
knowledged that the fidelity of both officers and men
was very problematical.
In the mean while it had been determined in the coun-
cils of William to rest the defence of the intended expe-
dition on two grounds, the necessity of inquiring into
the birth of the nominal prince of Wales, that the de-
scent of the crown might be preserved in the royal
family, and of procuring a free parliament, that an end
might be put to the dissension between the king and the
• Gazette, 2884, et seq. Clarendon's Diary, 190. Bilhop of Rochester'*
Second Letter. 30. 44. Echard, 1113. Rennet, 489. 491. Barillon, 4, 14,
18. 25, 28 Oct ; 1 Nov.
t On the 19th of August it consisted of thirteen regiments of cavalry
and nineteen of infantry, or six thousand and fifty horse, and thirteen
thousand four hundred and twenty root, The regular force in Ireland
tinted to seven thousand and sixty, in Scotland to two thousand
three hundred and sixteen men.
168 JAMES II. [chap. II.
people. With this view was published a long and bitter
invective against James in the form of a memorial sup-
posed to be presented by the protestants of Kngland to
the States, but composed under that name at the Hague
by Dr. Burnet*, who seems to have readily sacrificed
the interests of truth to the pleasure of his patron and
the gratification of his revenge. It begins with a copi-
ous enumeration of the liberties confirmed by law to the
freemen of England, and of the instances in which they
had been violated by the despotism of James. It then
maintains that the right of succession must for the sake
of public tranquillity be placed beyond the reach of sus-
picion; that it is the duty of the reigning prince to
establish by convincing evidence the pregnancy of his
wife and the birth of his children, not by the testimony
of servants or physicians, or men holding office at plea-
sure, but of persons interested in the succession, or in-
dividuals having nothing to hope or to fear from the
friendship or hatred of the monarch. This is prescribed
by law, and reason, and custom : where this is observed,
no fraud can be practised ; where it is neglected, fraud
may be inferred. It next strings together a multitude
of circumstances regarding the birth of the prince, some
real, many fictitious, which accord not with the preced-
ing doctrine, and from them it draws a strong presump-
tion that the queen's pregnancy was a pretence, and her
delivery an imposture. In conclusion, the supposed me-
morialists are made to pray that William would take
under his protection the rights of the crown and of the
people, and that he would not suffer the claim of his
wife to be set aside without inquiry, nor the liberties of
the nation to be sacrificed to popery and arbitrary power.
So much importance was attached to this false and in-
sidious publication, that the prince took with him eighty
thousand copies to England t.
* 1'iTsonnp ne doute que ce Tie soit le doeteur Burnet qui n'ait redige ce
ne'rnoire, D'Avaux, I Nov.
+ Dumont, vii. par. 11. p. 1/9. 198. D'Avi-px, 28 Oct.
A.D. 1688.] DECLARATIONS BY THE PRINCE.
169
With tins memorial were also printed two decla-
rations, addressed in the name of William to the people
of England and Scotland. Assuming that his interest *q/
in their welfare imposes on him the duty of protecting
their civil and religious liberties, he describes the de-
spotism under which they groan, the injuries offered to
the protectant church, and his suspicion of imposture in
the birth of the young prince. To the Scots he declares
his intention of establishing their rights and religion by
parliament on so firm a basis that they may stand unim-
paired for ever ; to the English that, if he come with an
armed force, it is only for the protection of his own per-
son ; that his object is to obtain a free parliament by the
restoration of the ancient charters, and the re-appoint-
ment of the former magistrates, and then to refer to that
parliament the inquiry into the legitimacy of the king's
supposed son, the redress of grievances, the security of
the protestant religion, the comprehension of dissenters
within the pale of the church, and the protection and
tranquillity of all other religionists willing to live as
good subjects in due obedience to the laws*.
But, besides the people of England and Scotland,
there remained others, whom it was incumbent on him
to persuade of the rectitude of his intentions, the catho-
lic princes, his allies, who might be provoked to with-
draw from the confederacy, if they found that he abused
the benefit of their friendship to undertake a crusade
for the dethronement of a catholic sovereign on account
of his religion. He wrote to the emperor and the king 0c . t
of Spain, informing them that his voyage to England 14,
•
-' Dumout, ibid. 198. S05. Several draughts of a declaration had been
sent from England, out of which one was composed bj Fagid, and after-
wants amended by Burnet Burnet, iii. '28*;. A fortnight later it was
known that the king by his concessions had anticipated the demands of
the prince, and on Oct. 14, a postscript was added, stating that James had
not disclaimed his pretensions i<> arbitrary power, and would revoke iheso
concessions whenever he dared : the only remedy »a- a declaration of the
rights of the subject: wherefore William would leave all tilings lo the de-
cision of a free parliament. The king ordered both to be reprinted for cir-
culation. " with a short preface and some modest remarks," published by
Randal Taylor, near Stationers' Hall, miwi.xxxvui.
170 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
was undertaken at the request of the English nobility,
and for the purpose of effecting a reconciliation between
the king and his subjects ; that he should take with him
a small military force, both infantry and cavalry, but
solely for the protection of his person ; that he had no
intention of offering injury to the king or the rightful
heirs, much less of advancing any claim to the throne,
or of occupying it himself; that he hoped, by establish-
ing the rights and religion of the people on their for-
mer basis, to restore tranquillity, and enable the British
nation to concur in the common cause of Christendom ;
and that, in his attempt to effect this object, he would
employ ail his credit and authority to secure to the Eng-
lish catholics liberty of conscience, and freedom from
persecution *.
Such pretences might impose on the ignorance of mo-
narchs living at a distance : but it required no small
share of credulity in persons residing on the spot, with
the evidence of such mighty preparations before their
eyes, to believe that the prince confined his views to the
disinterested task of mediating between James and his
subjects : yet the States-General were seduced to give
to the falsehood the sanction of their authority, and in a
O c t. circular letter, transmitted to all the foreign envoys at
18. the Hague, with the exception of d'Avaux and d'Albe-
ville, they stated that a well-grounded apprehension of
the hostility of the king of England, should he succeed
in trampling down the liberties of his people, had led
them to assent to the request of the prince of Orange,
and to lend him a few ships and men as auxiliaries, be-
ing assured that he had no design of invading the realm,
or of dethroning his uncle, or of persecuting the catho-
lics, but onlv of procuring a free parliament, in which
liberty and religion might be secured by just and salu-
tary lawsf. The history of diplomacy is in a great mea-
• Dalrymple, 955. Neg. du comic .I'Av.ux.vi. 157. Supplement a la
waponrtence de M. >l Avuux, vol. 11/.
t Duruont, vii. part ii. 208,
A.I). 1688.] THE FORCE OF THE EXPEDITION". 171
sure made up of attempts to beguile and to mislead :
but never perhaps was positive falsehood so boldly and
unblushingly put forward, as in these memorials of the
prince and of the States.
William had originally fixed on the first full moon
after the equinox for the sailing of the expedition.
Having reviewed the army near Nimeguen, he ordered
one portion to fall down the river to Rotterdam, and the
other to follow the course of the Yssel to Campen. The
canals and rivers were immediately covered with craft
of every description, and boats carrying men, horses,
arms, and ammunition poured from every outlet, and
hastened to the two great divisions of the fleet in
the Zuider Zee, and the mouth of the Meuse. When
these had united they formed an armament worthy of
the splendid prize to which the adventurer covertly
aspired. Sixty men-of-war took under their protection
seven hundred sail of transports: the force which he
had collected, "solely for the protection of his person,"
amounted to four thousand five hundred cavalry and
eleven thousand infantry ; and an immense supply of
military equipments revealed his expectation of a nu-
merous reinforcement. He also took with him marshal
Schomberg, the count of Nassau, the count of Solms,
general Ginkle, and the best officers in the Dutch
service ; the earl of Macclesfield, Burnet, Peyton, Wild-
man, Ferguson, and the other British exiles; eight
hundred French refugees, and the many Englishmen
who had recently come to join him in Holland. Of the
latter the most distinguished were the earl of Shrews-
bury, who, having raised 40,000/. on mortgage, had offered
the money with his sword to the prince, lord Wiltshire and
his brother, sons of the marquess of Winchester, the lord
Eland, son to the marquess of Halifax, lord Dunblaine,
son to the earl of Danby, the lords Lorn and Mordaunt,
and the two naval officers Herbert and Russell.
It chanced, however, that a lew days before the ap-
pointed time a strong wind arose, veered from south
172 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
Sept. to west, and blew with such violence, that the fleet,
28. which had put to sea under the command of Hevbert,
was compelled to seek shelter at Helvoetslnys. The
States ordered public prayers for more favourable
weather ; but, though the churches were crowded with
suppliants, heaven appeared deaf to their petiiions. For
more than a fortnight the storm continued to rage with
the exception of a few short intermissions : by the
soldiers and mariners its duration was deemed a proof
of the divine displeasure ; and to check the spread of
this superstitious but dangerous alarm, it was found
necessary to prohibit under severe penalties the use of
Oct. ominous or discouraging language *. At la-t the vio-
13 - lence of the wind abated, and William took leave of the
States in a solemn and public audience. He thanked
them for their kindness to him from his childhood, and
assured them of his gratitude. Their confidence in
him at the present time was unbounded ; and he prayed
that God might blast all his projects, if he did not make
them an adequate return. He was departing on a
foreign expedition, not to dispossess others of their
rights, but to establish religion on a secure and perma-
nent basis. Whatever might be Ins fate, he recom-
mended the princess to their protection ; and of this he
prayed them to be assured, that if he fell, he should fall
their servant, and if he lived, he would live their friend.
The task of answering him was committed to his trusty
adherent, the pensionary Fagel, whom age and infir-
mities had brought to the brink of the grave. The
States, he replied (such confidence did they repose in
the wisdom and patriotism of the prince), had placed
Iheir army, their navy, and their treasure in his hands ;
they had ordered a solemn fast to be observed through
the seven provinces for the success of his arms ; and
they earnestly prayed that God would render him the
deliverer and protector of the protestant faith. One
• U'Avaux, 8. 11. 14, 15. 18, 19, 21, 22 Oct. Negotiations, n. 142, 150.
A.Z>. 1688.] SOLEMN FAST AT THE HAGUE. 173
tiling only they begged of him in return, that he would
not unnecessarily expose his person. The loss of him
would be to them a greater calamity than the loss of
both array and navy. At these words the old man
burst into tears, and his emotion impeded his utterance.
On the spectators the scene made a deep impression :
but the prince exhibited no change of countenance.
His friends affected to admire his firmness and magna-
nimity ; others charged him with a selfish apathy, an
indifference to every object except his own interest*.
The fast-day was celebrated at the Hague with extra- 0< f.
ordinary solemnity, and the service of three long sermons, 17.
separated by prayers of equal duration, was protracted
from ten and a half in the morning till half-past seven
in the afternoon. During the whole time the princess
attended in the great church, and bore without shrink-
ing the gaze of an immense multitude. Hers, indeed,
was a most singular situation. She could not pray for
the success of her husband, without praying for the de-
thronement of her father. But, whatever passed within
her breast, whether she looked with sorrow on the ca-
lamities which threatened her parent, or flattered her
own vanity with the near prospect of a crown, she was
able to disguise her feelings. Mary listened to the
preachers, and joined in the prayers, with as much ap-
parent tranquillity, as if she had nothing to hope or fear
from the result K
On the afternoon of the 19th of October the expedi- 19.
tion sailed from Helvoetsluys, the men-of-war in three
divisions forming a line out at sea, and the transports
taking their allotted stations between that line and the
shore. It blew a steady breeze from the south-west;
scarcely a cloud obscured the heavens; and, as the fleet
passed by Scheveling towards the north, the whole popu-
• D'Avaux, 28 Oct. Negotiations, vi. 153. Ellis Correspondence, ii.
251. Burnet, iii ■J.'i'i ■
t D'Aviiux, ibid. The Spanish ambassador ordered a solemn high mass
to be performed in bis chapel for tbe same object, lbiii.
174 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
lation of the Hague rushed to the shore, to view the
proud and animating spectacle. Little did William an-
ticipate the contrast exhibited on the following day. It
was his intention to proceed to a certain distance, and
then alter his course for the coast of Yorkshire, where
he was expected by the earl of Danby ; but about ten in
the evening the wind suddenly changed to the west, and
by midnight the storm had dispersed the fleet in every
O c t. direction. The next morning the prince regained his
20. former anchorage with about sixty sail : of the others
some rode out the tempest, while the rest sought shelter
in the different roads and havens. When, however, the
extent of the loss could be ascertained, it proved much
less than had been expected. Only a few ships had
foundered ; but all were damaged, a thousand horses had
perished through want of air, and an immense quantity
of stores had been damaged or thrown overboard. Wil-
liam immediately solicited fresh supplies from the
States ; but refused to quit the fleet, urging the repairs
by his own presence, and restraining by his authority the
spirit of disaffection and mutiny, which began to manifest
itself among the military *.
This event afforded a new respite to James. Many of
his friends had complained, many had even considered
it as a proof of treachery in his advisers, that during the
preceding period of suspense and suspicion, no care had
been taken to interrupt the communication between the
discontented in England and the prince in Holland.
Even now that their object was openly avowed, that the
individuals in the secret were pointed out by public
report, they were neither molested nor restrained. In
former times, on the first apprehension of the arrival of a
foreign enemy, it had been the practice to require from
suspected persons security for their loyalty, or to commit
them to safe custody: but, in defiance of the strong re
• D'Av.iux, 1,2.4 8,9 Nov. See also " An Exact Diary of the late
" Expedition by a Minister, Chaplain in the Army. London. 1009." The
minister's description of this storm is sufficiently ludicrous.
A.D. 1688.] THE KING PROVES HIS SON'S BIRTH. 175
monstrances of* Melfort, James was dissuaded from fol-
lowing the precedent by Sunderland, who maintained
that such arrests would be productive of little benefit, and
yet add considerably to the public discontent. The only
precaution which the king condescended to take, was one
which cost his pride a severe struggle, but which he
deemed necessary to refute the charge made in the pre-
tended memorial of the English protestants, and to place
the birth of his son beyond the reach of cavil in the event
of his own death. By his order the privy council, the
peers residing in the vicinity of the capital, the judges,
the lord mayor and aldermen, and the law officers of the
crown, were summoned to Whitehall; and before them
he introduced, for the purpose of detailing the particulars ^
of the queen's delivery, every person present on that oc-
casion, namely, the queen dowager, two-and-twenty
females, some of them menial servants, others ladies of
the highest rank, and nineteen noblemen, gentlemen,
and physicians. The depositions of all, with the ex-
ception of the queen dowager, were taken upon oath,
confirmed by them the next day, and enrolled in Chan-
cery ; and formed altogether a mass of evidence which
it is impossible for any unprejudiced mind to resist*.
The enemies of the king, however, were not slow to object,
that the person the most interested in the succession, the
princess Anne, had not been present either at the de-
livery or at the investigation : but the fact is, that her
absence on both occasions had been of her own choice-
she had gone to Bath that she might not assist at the
birth, and had refused to attend the council under the
pretended fear of a miscarriage. On this account the ^. iy
council waited on her with a copy of the evidence, to ].'
whom she replied, " My buds, this was not necessary:
" the king"s word is more to me than all these depo-
Mtions : " and yet we are assured by her uncle, Claren-
• Barillon, 1. 11 Nov. " The several declarations, Sea. made in council
" on Monday, Oct. 'J'i 1688, concerning the iiirtli of the prince of Wales."
lames, ii. 1%. 203. Clarendon's Diary, 196.
1T6 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
don, that she was at that very time in the daily habit of
making the birth of her brother a subject of doubt and
sarcasm *,
This was the last measure which marked the adminis-
tration of Sunderland. His reign, as well as that of his
supporter, father Petre, was at an end. The charges of
perfidy, formerly made against him, he had successfully
rebutted by his protestations and reasoning : and by his
open profession of the catholic faith on the birth of the
prince, he had fixed himself more firmly than ever in the
confidence of James, who believed that by this step the
minister had bound up his own fortune with that of his
sovereign t. But his opponents continued to cherish the
same suspicion of his fidelity, and the same objections
to his policy ; and they took advantage of this season of
alarm to represent to the king, that the counsels which
had brought his throne into danger originally emanated
from Sunderland, and from Petre the dupe of Sunder-
land, from the one through considerations of interest, if
not of treachery, from the other through credulity and
religious zeal ; that all their promises and predictions
had been falsified by the course of events ; that the pre-
sence of Petre at his councils still shocked the feelings
»'
* '* Mad. la princesse de Danemark n'eloit pas a l'accouchement <te la
reine d'A. elle etoit encore aux bains. C'est une faute qu'oa a faite en ce
temps la tie ne l'avoir pas empechee d'y aller. .le sais ipi'on lui a insinne
de veniv depose! (le la crosesse de la reine, raais elle s'en est excusee snr
ce qu'elle n'bse sortir de sachambre d« peur de se blesser, croyant elle
niemeetre grosse. Cette excuse est une affectation pourne se point expliquei
snr nne matiere si importante. La verite est qu'elle favorise le parti du P.
d'Orangej autant qu'elle 1'ose faire, sans se declarer ouvertement j et je sais
que jusqu'a present elle n'a pas (lit un mot an roi, on a la reine snr l'en-
treprise dn P. d'Orange, quoique ils en aient Bouvent parle en mi presence."
Barillon, 4 Nov. That Barillon was correct is evident from the diary of
Clarendon, in which we find that, as often as he wished In talk With her
on public affairs, she evaded the subject (Diary, Sep il.'t. -'/• ~"-' ; Oct.
21. 23.) As to her excuse of pregnancy, i! was a falsehood, as her husband
the prince George told Clarendon. "This startled me," he su»; "good
" God, bless us ! nothing but lying and dissimulation in the world." Diary,
p. iilti.
t Barillon, 8 J uillet. " Ce que vient de faire ee ministre donue un
nouvel eclat a sa facetir, et augmente beaucoup, son credit . . . . il a voulu
former la bouche a ses enemis, et leur 6ter tout pretext de dire, qn'il put
entrer quelque management dans sa coiiduite pout le parti do JS1. le P.
d'Orange." Ibid.
A. D. 1688.] SUNDKRLAND IS RhMOVED FROM OFFICE. 177
of his protestant subjects, and that the confidence which
he reposed in a minister generally reputed a traitor,
chilled the ardour, and paralyzed the efforts, of his most
devoted adherents. Overcome by their importunity, Oct.
James declared that Petre should from that day cease to 22.
take his place at the board, and soon afterwards sent for 27.
the seals of office from Sunderland, not, he assured him,
from any doubt of his loyally, but through the necessity
of complying with the demands of others. Pel re obeyed,
but still remained at Whitehall in his post of clerk of
the closet* ; Sunderland withdrew to Windsor, where he
affected to consider himself a martyr in the cause of that
religion which he had lately embraced : but probably
consoled himself with the hope that what had caused
his removal from the councils of the king would operate
as a proof of merit in the estimation of the prince t.
To Sunderland, as secretary for the southern depart-
ment, succeeded the earl of Middleton, and to Middleton
as secretary for the northern department the lord Pres-
ton, both protestants, known to be strongly attached to
the person of the king, and as warmly opposed to the
reckless, headlong course which he had previously pur-
sued. Their first advice was that be should prepare an
answer to William's declaration, and with that view
should call upon the peers and prelates in the capital, to
admit or deny the truth of the passage which stated, that
the prince had " been invited to England by divers lords
" both spiritual and temporal." Among others Halifax,
Nottingham, Clarendon, Pembroke, and Burlington de-
clared on their honour that they were ignorant of any
such invitation : and it is probable that they could make
the assertion with truth ; for, though all had corre-
• Of Petre it was asserted in 1G00 by one who knew llim well, that he
accepted the honours forced upon him with reluctance and regret, and that
he had repeatedly on his knees solicited permission ol the king to with-
draw from court into private life. " Non aemel, el q genitals,
supplei petiii ui *ili] liceret, uonfi regis venifi, ab aula el rebus gerendia
bi> lubdu sere " I diver Collect. 150.
t Barillon, 6. 9 Nov. James, ii. 203, 4. See note I)
VOL XIII. N
178 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
sponded with the prince, and though the first two were
deeply engaged in his interest, yet none of them enjoyed
the confidence of his more trusty associates. Of the
prelates, the archbishop, with the bishops of Durham,
Chester, and St. David's, returned an express denial ;
Nov. but the bishop of London, whose name is subscribed to
1- the original invitation, replied in more evasive language,
-■ " I am confident the rest of the bishops will as readily
answer in the negative as myself*." Whether the king
noticed the subterfuge is uncertain : but it was his in-
terest to take it in a favourable sense ; and he requested
to have the denial in writing, that he might send it for
signature to the other prelates, adding that it would be
well to add also their disapprobation of the expedition
itself. This unexpected demand disconcerted them :
they were not prepared ; they asked time to consult to-
gether, and, though James sought by messages to quicken
(; their tardiness, did not return with their answer, before
it was known that the Dutch Meet had passed the straits
of Dover, and was actually steering down the Channel.
Then they begged to be excused ; but their reasons were
too weak, too unsatisfactory, to disguise their real motive,
either a secret approbation of the design, or a fear of in-
curring the displeasure of the prince. James could not
control his feelings. " If ever," says the bishop of
Rochester, " in all my life I saw him more than ordinary
vehement in speech, and transported in his expressions,
it was on this occasion t."
• See Clar. Corresp. 11. A pp. 494, 503.
+ See Clar. Diary, 190— 201. Clar. Cor. ll.App. 493— r»04. Bishop ol
Rochester's Second Letter, 44—49. James (Memoirs), 210, 211. Mar
pherson, Papers, i. 276—279. The reasons with which they sought to
colour their refusal, weir the following: 1°. He was satisfied of their inno-
cence: this was enough; why should they seek to Batisfy others by
a public declaration ? ti u . There was no proof that the manifesto of the
prince was authentic: it was therefore beneath them to give to it import-
ance by noticing it. 3°. They hud already suffered lor meddling with
secular mat I its : the declaration required from them might Iter, alter be
deemed a libel. 4°. They were peers: no declaration had been demanded
from temporal peers, why was it demanded from them ? 5°. They would
do their duty. A« bishops they would pray for him : as peers would speak
their minds in parliament. It is not surprising that reasons so unsati*
A..D. 1688.] THE PRINCE ARRIVES IN TORBAY. 179
William had again sailed from Helvoetsluys in pursuit Nov.
of the English crown. By friends and foes it was be-
lieved that he intended to land on the coast of Yorkshire :
but, having steered for twelve hours to the north, he 2.
changed his course, and availing himself of a favourable
wind, passed without opposition the royal Meet in the 3.
Downs, and in two days reached Torbay, his real des- 5.
filiation *. James was surprised and confounded : he
had relied on the zeal and promptitude of lord Dart-
mouth, and was at a loss to account for the inactivity of
that officer. But the same wind, which was favourable
to the prince, was adverse to Dartmouth. His cruisers
had been driven back by the violence of the gale ; and
his fleet, having been compelled to strike the yards and
topmasts, rode at anchor abreast of the Long-sand, at the
very time when the hostile armament passed at the
distance of a few miles. Twenty-four hours elapsed
before he could commence the pursuit, and from that he
afterwards desisted on the representation of his officers,
that to attack the Dutch, after the transports were safe
in harbour, would expose the fleet to destruction in an
unequal contest. By many of the royalists the tardiness
of the admiral was attributed to disaffection or fear: but
James, though doubts and misgivings harassed his mind, 9.
was too just to condemn an old friend without hearing
his defence, and too prudent to hint suspicion, when that
hint might provoke the very disloyalty which he feared.
He assured Dartmouth that he acquitted him of all
blame: every seaman must be convinced that he had
done as much as man could do in opposition to wind and
weather: all that remained was for him to be constantly
on the watch, and to avail himself of every advantage
which accident might offer t.
factory should prov ike some expression of displeasure. The archbishop,
however, sent an answer nudei his own hand " that he bad never invited
the prince by word, writing, or otherwise, nor did In- know, not could he
believe, that any of the other bishops had done so." [bid.
I Diarv, 38 38. Burnet, iii. \
t Dalrymplo,'3L4,315.319.325. James (Memoirs), ii
180 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
To oppose the prince by land he resolved to collect his
army in the neighbourhood of Salisbury. Louis by re-
peated messages had advised him to march in person,
and to offer battle to the invaders, a measure which, by
bringing the contest to an issue before the spirit of dis-
affection had spread among his troops, might perhaps
have saved his crown. The earl of Feversham and the
count de Roye disapproved of this counsel, and urged
him to occupy a situation at a less distance from London,
so that he might watch the motions of the enemy without
losing sight of the capital *. On the other hand father
Petre conjured him not to leave Westminster. This was
the great error committed by his father, an error which
cost him both his crown and his life. Let him look at
Q ct the state of the metropolis: his presence did not prevent
7. the populace from demolishing the catholic cha] els : who
then in his absence would answer for ihe lives of his wife
and his son ? But Petre was thought to speak from in-
terested motives — for the populace had repeatedly called
for his blood — and James, adhering to his own opinion,
ordered twenty battalions of infantry and thirty squadrons
of cavalry to march towards Salisbury and Marlborough.
Six squadrons and six battalions were left to maintain
tranquillity in the capital f.
The prince, though he had been permitted to land
without opposition, did not meet with the reception which
he had been taught to expect. At his approach to
N v - Exeter the bishop and dean fled from the city ; the
' clergy and corporation remained passive spectators of his
entry ; though the populace applauded, no addresses of
congratulation, no public demonstrations of joy were
made by the respectable citizens ; the inhabitants of the
• nnty, who had not forgotten the terrible lesson taught
by Jeffreys, remained quiet at their homes, the canons
refused to assist at the Te Drum o dered to be chanted
• They did not deem the English nrmj equal t" a contest with vetemn
soldiers. " On ignore ici jusqu'uux moiudres regies de la guerre: ft liois
quelquea officiere qui onl sen 1 en Prance «'t 1 [ollandft, !<• reste n'a pa b 'i".
premieres teintures du metier de la guerre." Barillon,9 Dec.
■ Banllon, H »2. 25 Nov.
A.D 108S] DESERTION OF LORD CORNBURY. 181
in the cathedral, and the very choristers, when Dr.
Burnet began to read the declaration of the prince, with-
drew from the church. Lord Lovelace, indeed, who had
visited him in Holland, and returned before him to Eng-
land, had collected a body of sixty or one hundred horse-
men, with the intention of joining the army at Exeter,
but he was attacked, defeated, and taken prisoner by the
militia near Cirencester. William was disappointed ; he
complained that he had been deceived and betrayed ;
he threatened to re-embark, and to leave his recreant
associates to the vengeance of their sovereign. Still,
however, his hopes were kept alive by the successive ar-
rival of a few stragglers from a distance : in a short time
they were raised almost to assurance of success by the
perfidy of lord Cornbury, son of the earl of Clarendon *.
Soon af;er the invitation sent to the prince, a secret
association in his favour had been formed among the
officers of the army encamped on Hounslow-heath, and
a communication established between them and the club
at the Rose Tavern in Covent-garden, of which lord Col-
chester was the chairman. That lord Churchill, who
held the rank of lieutenant-general, was acquainted with
their counsels, can hardly be doubted. On the arrival
of the prince in Torbay, he stationed at Salisbury three
regiments of cavalry, commanded, in the absence of
their colonels, by three of the " associated " officers.
Of these Cornbury was the senior; and he, having ar-
ranged the plan with his accomplices, and ordered the Nov.
whole division to march at an early hour in the morning, B>.
led them by a circuitous and unfrequented route to Ax-
minster, near the advanced posts of the invading army.
After a day's repose, the men were ordered to remount,
for the purpose of beating up the quarters of the enemy
at Honiton during the night. But hints of the design
had been whispered ; Cornbury was requested to exhibit
his orders; and on his refusal was so terrified by the
• James (Memoirs), ii. S15. Burnet, iii. 313. Exact Diary, 48 Elli*
Correspond, ii. ii'Ja.
182 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
threats of the loyal officers, that he stole away and es-
caped to the enemy, while his regiment, and that of the
duke of Berwick, with the exception of thirty troopers,
marched back to Salisbury. The third regiment, belong-
ing to the duke of St. Alban's, had mustered at a dis-
tance ; and the men, ignorant of this transaction, fol-
lowed colonel Langston to Honiton, where they were
received as friends by general Talmash at the head of a
considerable force, and solicited by him to enter into the
service of the prince. Most, of the officers and one
hundred and fifty privates consented : the rest were made
prisoners, but afterwards discharged *.
To James the loss in number of men was inconsider-
able, and might speedily be repaired : there was even
much to encourage him in the spirit of loyalty displayed
by the majority of the officers and privates ; but the ex-
ample was productive of the most disastrous conse-
quences. It spread doubt and distrust through the
army, no man daring to rely on the fidelity of his com-
panion : it shook the loyalty of the wavering, and it
weakened or dissolved the only tie which had hitherto
restrained many, the disgrace of being the first to de-
sert the royal colours. The report soon reached ever)
corner of the kingdom : it was said that three regiments,
then that several entire corps, had gone over to the
enemy, and that the whole army was actuated by the
same spirit of disaffection: the friends of the prince,
relieved from their terrors, be^an to ex >rt themselves in
his favour; and the earl of Danby, with tiie lord Lura-
* Tins transact on is related with some triflini* variations by major .Norton
in Macpherson's Papers (i. 289. 296), by Jamea himself in his .Minn. us
(ii. 215), and by Barillon in his despatches of Nov. 25. 26, and Dec.].
" (> Godl'' exclaims Clarendon in his Diary, " that my son should be a
"rebel I The lord in his mercy look upon me, and enable mi' to support
" myself under this most grievous calamity." He waited on James the
next day. "God knows, he sus, " 1 was in confusion enough, The
" k in ^ was very gracious to me, and said lie pitied me with all Ins heart,
" anil that he would >till he kind to my family ." Main . how \ er, did
think of him as favourably as James, " Myl Clarendon, son pere, parte
de lni eomme d'un traitre el d'un infame: mais pen de gens crnyeni qu'il
dtosi faire de son chef & qu'il a fait, sans la participation de bod pere
'.'• irillon, SiG Dec.
A..D. 16SS.J THK KING'S COUNCIL OF WAR. 183
ley, called together their associates and dependents in
Yorkshire, the lords Delamere and Brandon imitated
him in Cheshire, and the earl of Devonshire raised the
standard of insurrection in the midland counties.
On the other hand the king's advisers, in despair of
success, conjured him to seek an accommodation with
his nephew, and to prevent at any price the total sub-
version of his throne. But James refused to see what
was evident to all besides himself: he still believed in
the loyalty of the army, and was confirmed in this confi-
dence by the number of those who had returned to their
colours out of the three regiments *. In a military coun- Nov.
cil at Whitehall he informed the members that he had ' 6 *
taken measures for the calling of a parliament as early
as was possible, with the intention of making every con-
cession that might be demanded ; that he could not be-
lieve there were many Cornburys among such honour-
able men ; but that, if any one felt an objection to his
service, he would spare him the infamy of so foul a
desertion, and give him full liberty at that moment to
leave the army and to go wherever he pleased. They
replied with prote stations of the warmest attachment,
and declarations of their readiness to shed their blood in
his cause. It was observed that the duko of Grafton
and the lord Churchill were the first to answer in this
manner: and yet there cannot be a doubt that, with
such expressions of loyalty on their lips, they at the
very moment meditated treachery in their hearts +.
The next day, a few minutes before the kind's depar-
ture, the archbishops of Canterbury and York :j:, with 17.
the bishops of Rochester and Ely, solicited an audience,
and delivered to him a written address, subscribed by
themselves, the dukes of Grafton and Orinond, the
earls of Dorset, Clare, Rochester, Clarendon, Anglesev,
* Barillou, 2j Nov.
flames (Memoirs), ii. 219. Orleans, 311. If we may believe Itcv.it,
one of i In- Bupjinsed conspirators, lo !>■• aft nvrartla mentioned, Grafton and
Churchill met their associates that verj night to consult on ti iL . manner of
! straying <\"- I ing nto the hands of the prince,
t Dr. Lamplugh, whom lames, for liis loyalty, had just translated from
Kxeler to York.
184 JAMES II. [CHAP. II
and Burlington, viscount Newport, the bishops of St.
Asaph, Ely, Rochester, Oxford, and Peterborough, and
the lords Paget, Chandos, and Ossulston. It humbly
but earnestly requested the king to summon a free and
legal parliament without delay, as the only expedient
which, in their opinion, could preserve the nation from
the calamities with which it was threatened. James
replied with strong emotion, " What you ask is what I
" passionately desire. I promise on the word of a king
" to call a legal parliament, the moment the prince of
"Orange shall depart. But how can you have a free
" parliament now, that a foreign prince, at the head of
" a foreign force, has it in his power to return one hun-
" dred members*."
Nov. James proceeded to the army, reviewed that portion of
19- it which lay at Salisbury, and appointed the next day for
the inspection of the division at Warminster under gene-
ral Kirk. But he was prevented from executing this
20. design by a profuse bleeding at the nose, which recurred
at intervals on that and the following days, and pro-
cured him relief from some very alarming symptoms,
the consequences of intense application and mental dis-
tress. During this short indisposition the count de
Roye repeated his arguments against the advance of
the army. The enemy were already at Wincanton : the
royal artillery had not arrived ; the positions of Salis-
bury and Warminster were untenable ; and it was bet-
ter to withdraw of his own free choice, than to incur the
disgrace of a forced, and perhaps a disastrous, retreat.
'-'2. James still listened to him with reluctance: but his con-
sent was extorted by information that, had he pursued
his previous intention of inspecting the corps at War-
minster, he would that day have been seized on the
• First Coll. of Papers, p. 11. LS. Ellis. Cor. ii. 301. Bnrillon, 27 Nov. This
petition originated with the bishops. The duke of Norfolk, the marquess
of Halifax, and the earls of Oxford and Nottingham, and others, refused
to sanction it with their signatures; sunn' through fear of displeasing the
king, most through tear of displeasing Itae prince. Halifax and Notting-
ham gave as a reason, that they would never put their names to a paper
signed by the earl of Rochester, because he had accepted a place in the
ecclesiastical commission. Clarendon, Diary, 201 — 3. 210.
A.n. 168S.]desektion ofgrafton and Churchill. 185
road, and conveyed a prisoner to the enemy's quarters.
The persons charged with this conspiracy were of high
rank in the army, the lord Churchill, major-general
Kirk, colonel Trelawney, and some others. James
deemed it imprudent to take them into custody, or even
to betray his knowledge of the plot. He summoned
them to a military council, in which he proposed the
question of a retreat beyond the Thames. It was sup-
ported by Feversham, Dumbarton, and Roye, but warmly
opposed by Churchill, who strongly urged the king to
resume his design of visiting the post at Warminster.
But James adhered to the resolution which he had pre-
viously taken, the council broke up at midnight, and
immediately the duke of Grafton and Churchill went Nov.
over to the enemy. They were followed in the morning '" )t
by the colonels Trelawney, Churchill, Barclay, and
about twenty privates. Kirk was arrested on suspicion
by lord Feversham : but he declared that though he
had been unfortunate in the selection of his friends, he
was incapable of imitating their baseness ; and the
king, who perhaps believed his assertion, ordered him to
be set at liberty. The deserters were graciously re-
ceived by the prince, with the exception, perhaps, of
Churchill, of whom Schomberg is said to have made the
severe remark, that he was the first man of the rank of
lieutenant-general, who had been known to run away
from his colours*.
* James (Mem.) ii. 822, 223, 22-1, 225. Baril. I. 4. 6. 9 Dec. Burnet,
iii. 316. That James l elieved in the existenc ■ of the plot to carry him off,
is twice asserted by BuriUon, but we have no knowledge on what autho-
rity that belief was founded Macpberson has published from Carte's
papers several accounts tending to prove that on the 16th of- November,
after the council of war, a meeting was held at the lodgings ol Mr. llatton
Compton, i» St. Alban's-street, in which it was determined not only to
seize the king bul to put him to death if any attempt were made to rescue
him For this purpose, Wood and Hewit (afterwards lord Hewit, the sup-
posed relator) «'■,.• '" discharge their v'^" ,s into the carnage, and
Churchill, who would attend as lord in waiting, was to complete the busi-
ness (Macpher.i. 280. 284.) It moil be owned that these papers beat
not sufficient proof of authenticity to establish so grave an accusation.
lint »iili respect to Churchill's previous engagements to the P™ > '"° 1
Orange then- is a letter from him to William, ol the date ol May w. ids/,
to satisfy him that " the princess of Denmark is safe in (he trusting oi
185 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
The king, having ordered the infantry to repass the
Thames, and guard the bridges over the river, and hav-
ing posted the cavalry under lord Feversham at Read-
ing, to consume the forage in the neighbourhood, com-
menced his journey towards London. He stopped the
Nov. first evening at Andover, and invited his son-in-law,
24 prince George of Denmark to sup with him. Six days
before this, the princess Anne had pledged her word to
William for the defection of her husband: but George
indulged in habits of indolence, and lost the opportu-
nity offered him at the departure of his Mentor, lord
Churchill. He had, however, friends more active than
himself: horses were already in waiting for him, when
he lefc the royal table ; he mounted with the duke of
Ormond, the lord Drumlanrig, and Mr. Boyle ; and all
four rode about midnight towards the nearest, quarters
of the enemy. The king received the news with an air
of indifference. " What," said he, " is est il possible
" gone ? Were he not my son-in law, a single trooper
" would have been a greater loss." His defection, how-
ever, awakened uneasy thoughts in the royal breast :
was the princess acquainted with the design, or could
she intend to follow the example of her husband?
James, indeed, hoped much from her filial piety, much
from her gratitude— for he had always been to her a
most indulgent parent, and had never molested her,
never addressed a single word on the subject of religion
•' him (Churchill)" Dalrymple, 191. And another of Aug. 4, 1688, in
which he " puts his honour intu the hands of his royal highness." (239.)
Boniepans, on June 4, 168", says that Anne " aime avec una passion de-
mesurle madame Churchill," and that the king is persuaded that the
prince of Orange " avoit gagne madame Churchill pour persuader, a cette
prince&se d'aller en Hollande." On the 21st of July, lie adds, •' Myl.
Churchill, aime et com hie de hienfdits du roi son maitre, ae menage plus
qu'aucuu pour le P. d'Orange.'' That he promised to deseri to the prince
soon after the landing of the latter appears from S orton's narrative ( I bid.
293). and the letter of the princess Anne to William, of Nov. 18. (Dal
rymple, 333.) On the 2lst Ii ni Ion writes to his sovereign that some of
the superior officers, particularly Churchill, Grafton, Kirk, and Fenwick,
appear discontented, and make use of discouraging language He adds,
" s'ils ne sonl pas capable* d'une trahiton on voit bien qu'ils ne combat-
teront pas de bon cceur, et tome 1'armee le sad. Cera met les affaires Uu
roi d'A. dans un grand peril."
A.D. 168S] DESERTION OF THE PRI.NXESS ANNE. 187
— yet aware of the influence which the Churchills exer-
cised over her mind, he despatched an order to lord Mid-
dleton. to watch her motions, and to prevent her from quit-
iin<>' Whitehall: an order which the secretary, through
forgetfulness or incredulity, made no haste to enforce *.
Anne, the moment she heard of the evasion of the
prince, sent for the bishop of London, to arrange with
him a plan for her own escape. After the family had Nov.
retired to rest, she left her bedchamber with lady 26 -
Churchill and Mrs. Berkeley, descended a back-stair-
case, which had recently been put up for that very pur-
pose, and found waiting at the gate a carriage, in which
were the bishop and the carl of Dorset. She passed the
night at the prelate's house in Aldersgate-street, hast-
ened in the morning to Copt-Hall, the seat of the earl,
and proceeded thence to a meeting of the prince's ad-
herents at Northampton. Behind her she had left a
letter for the queen, composed in the same style of du-
plicity which characterised those to the king from prince
George and lord Churchill. It stated that in her sur-
prise at the departure of her husband, she had thought
it best to express in writing her dutiful feelings towards
their majesties. Unable to face her father, as long as
the prince should be under the royal displeasure, she had
withdrawn, till a reconciliation might be effected ; and,
as her husband had gone solely to provide for the king's
preservation, so she would follow him fir that purpose
only. She was in fact the most unhappy of women,
• .lam.'- 1 Memoirs), ii. 224. Barillon, 5.9 Dee. Clur. Corresp. ii. 208.
Prince George was culled "est il possible," from Ins constant habit of
usinj; those words. " Le prince < leorge, ' Ba\ ■ Bonrepaus, " ne •>• mele do
rien. II n'est nun plus fail mention de lui, que s'il n'dtnil point au
mondc." Bonrep. 4 Juin, 10-7- Both the prince and Churchill wrote to
the kin^ apologies fni Hirir desertion. The prince protests, " Nothing
" bat the cause of religion is able to tear me hum von, whilst the
" affectionate desire to Berve you continues in me. Could 1 Becure your
•' person at the hazard of my life, 1 should think it could nut be better em-
" ployed." Churchill says that " Though his religion w ill nut allow him
" to join tin- royal advisers, yet In' will always, with the hazard of his life
" and fortune, bo much his majesty's due endeavour t>> preserve his royal
•' person and lawful rights, with tender cone m and dutiful respect."
Kennet, 498. Their hypocrisy was equal to their ingratitude.
1SS JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
divided between duty and affection to a father on the one
hand, and duty and affection to a husband on the other*.
And yet, as the reader knows, the very desertion of that
husband had been planned and instigated by this dutiful
and veracious daughter ! At Whitehall her disappear-
ance was not noticed, probably was not meant to be
noticed, till the morning, when her domestics hastened
to the queen's apartment, and clamorously demanded
their mistress, while a crowd assembled in the street,
vociferating that she had been murdered or carried
away by the papists. In a short time the fact of her
escape was known, and the tumult subsided. Soon
afterwards the king arrived. On the receipt of the in-
telligence he burst into tears, and exclaimed, " God
"help me! my very children have forsaken me!"t
The shock quite unnerved him ; and one who, from her
situation near the royal person, had the opportunity of
watching his deportment, thought that she discovered
in him, during two or three of the following days, oc-
casional aberrations of intellect*.
In the opinion of every man the royal cause was now
hopeless. Dartmouth had written that he would answer
for his own loyalty, but not for that of the fleet under
his command : the Scottish guards, the corps on whose
fidelity the king placed the firmest reliance, had ex-
pressed a reluctance to draw their swords against his
opponents ; Newcastle, York, Hull, Bristol, and Ply-
mouth had been seized by the partisans of the prince,
and numerous meetings had been held in York, Derby,
and Nottingham, where resolutions had been carried in
favour of a free parliament, and the support of the pro-
testant religion. But the language of these resolutions
was more alarming to the king than their purport.
"We own" said the declaration from Nottingham,
• Rennet, 499.
+ Clarendon's Diary, 207-214, 216 Barfllon, 6. Dec. Lord Dorchea
tar. in noles to Burnet, ii, 31S. Dtichesa ol Marlborough's Apology, 10.
James M moirs), ii ~2G.
I Beresby, 311.
A.D. 1GB8.] JAMES CONSULTS THE PEERS. 189
" that it is rebellion to resist our king that governs by
" law, but he was always accounted a tyrant that made
" his will the law. To resist such a one, we justly es-
" teem it no rebellion, but a necessary defence." In
this extremity he consulted his confidential advisers.
One resolution he had taken, to provide in the first
place for the safety of the queen and his son : for he had
persuaded himself, from the past conduct of his oppo-
nents, and from more recent advices, that they deemed
it of the first importance to take the life of the young
prince *. The next question was, should he also with-
draw, or keep his post to the last. The earl of Mellbrt,
and several other catholics advised him to nee : were he
out of the kingdom, his person would be safe : he would
still retain all his rights; and the opportunity of reco-
vering the crown would not. be wanting to him, any
more than it had to his predecessors in similar circum-
stances. But the lord Belasyse, with the two secreta-
ries, and the lords Halifax and Godolphin, earnestly
advised him to remain. He had only to assent to the
securities which would be demanded for the laws and
religion of the country, and his person would be safe.
His subjects, many of whom began to suspect the ambi-
tious designs of the prince, would rally around the
throne, and defend the monarch from violence. James
himself, though he saw no prospect of success, felt
ashamed to emit the crown without once drawing the
sword; and sometimes amused his desponding mind
with dreams of victories to be gained in Scotland with
the aid of the duke of Hamilton, or in Ireland at the
head of the army formed by the earl of Tyrcormelt.
• " Tis my son they aim at, and 'tis my Bon I must endeavour topre-
" serve." Dalrym 326. I'-i e had ad ised this from the first landing of
William, because the sendiug of i he young prince to Prance " feroit in'ii-
ser aux Anglais le plus senses qui'Es s'eugugent duns una Kuerre, i|»i ueut
durer pendant plusieurs generations, quand mSme le verituble lieritier, et
celui qui a le droit, seroit denossede.' Barillou, 25 Nov. Lord Melfort
also claimed the merit of having given tins advice. Macplterson, IV
pers, ii I 74.
r li.iiil.un, 11. 13 IVc.
190 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
It was, however, necessary that he should put on a
cheerful countenance, were it only to gain time for the
escape of the infant prince. In conformity with the
suggestion of certain lords, he summoned a great coun-
cil of peers, forty in number, and all protestants, to
Nov> assemble at Whitehall. They spoke to him with free-
27. dom ; but it was observed that Clarendon transgressed
the bounds of decency, and employed language so un-
feeling and insulting, " that no one wondered at his
" going a day or two after to meet the prince of Orange
" at Salisbury *." The sum of their advice, though
they were far from being unanimous, was that, besides
calling a parliament, the king should grant a pardon
without any exceptions, should appoint commissioners
to treat of an accommodation, and should immediately
dismiss every catholic from his service. James assured
them that he was not offended with any man on account
of his freedom ; that he certainly meant to call a par-
liament, but that some of their suggestions were of such
importance, that no one could wonder if he took a single
night to deliberate. He was convinced that, though
many had deserted him, many still remained to stand
by him. Accident (he meant his indisposition at Salis-
bury) had providentially saved him from the treachery
of Churchill ; and, as he had read the history of Rich-
ard II., he would take sufficient care not to fall into the
hands of a nephew who sought to place the crown on
his own head t.
I^ 0V> In a few days a proclamation appeared, stating that
30. the king, on November 28th, had ordered writs to be
issued for the meeting of a parliament at the shortest
date, the 15th of January ; a pardon for all previous
_• James (Memoirs), ii. 23J. Among other things ( llarendon reproached
him with the levy of a regiment of guards at thai moment, to consist en-
tirely of catholics. James declared that it was false ; that no such direc-
tion had ever been given. Clarendon sai<l that lie had been told so; and
continued in the same style. His Diary, 210.
t Clarendon's Diary, 209. 211. Barillon, 9 Dec. .lames (Memoirs'), ii.
2Jo. Unmet, iii. 322.
A.D. 1G88.] SENDS HIS SON TO PORTSMOUTH. 191
offences to be passed under the great seal ; and commis-
sioners to proceed immediately to the head quarters of
the prince of Orange ; but that, with respect to the dis-
missal of catholics from office, he would leave that ques-
tion to the wisdom and decision of parliament. The
fact was that he felt unwilling to deprive himself of
their services before he had secured the retreat of his
wife and son ; but, to satisfy the citizens, he had already
removed sir Edward Hales from the command of the Nov.
Tower, and substituted for him Skelton, whom he had '6.
so lately confined in that fortress *.
Lord Dover had been appointed to the government of
Portsmouth. In a few days the prince of Wales ar-
rived in that town, under the care of lord and lady
Powis ; a yacht was ready to take him on board ; and
lord Dartmouth, whose Meet lay at Spithead, received
instructions to watch over his safety, and tn facilitate his
escape. But the very presence of the prince betrayed
the royal secret ; and a body of " associated " officers
represented to the admiral the charge to which he
would expose himself, and the evil which might befall
the nation, if he should suffer the heir apparent to quit
the kingdom. By this time at least, Dartmouth partook
of that spirit of consternation which pervaded all ranks
of the royalists, and he returned an answer to the king, ^ ec
conjuring him to recede from his intention, and excusing, 3 -
in humble and affectionate language, bis own disobe-
dience. The unfortunate monarch had little time for
deliheration ; the delay of a few hours might place his
son in the power of his enemies : and he sent orders for
three regiments, under the earl of Salisbury, to escort
him in his return to the capital, while Caryll, the queen's
secretary, made arrangements with the count de Lau-
zun for his escape down the river |\
■ James (Memoirs), ii. 237, Barill 9 I Clarendon, Diary,
t Dnlrvmnle, 336. 33U. James (Memoirs), ii. 233. 237. Batillon. 11
13. 15, If'.. 18 Dec.
192 JAMKS II. [CHAP. II.
In the mean time much had occurred to persuade tin;
king that there remained no other chance of safety for
himself, but the same which he had chosen for his son.
In accordance with the advice of the great council, he
had sent three commissioners to the prince, the lords Ha-
lifax, Nottingham, and Godolphin: but William, under
different pretexts, evaded the audience which they soli-
cited, and at the same time urged forward the march of
his army towards the capital. This was sufficiently dis-
6. couraging: hut in addition there appeared in London
many copies of a proclamation lately issued under his
signature, declaring all papists bearing arms, or having
arms in their houses, or executing any office contrary
to law, robbers, freebooters, banditti, and incapable of
receiving quarter : calling on all magistrates, under the
penalty of answering for the protestant blood that might
be spilt, and the protestant property that might be de-
stroyed through their negligence or apathy, to disarm
all papists, and to execute these orders with rigour ;
because London and Westminster were threatened with
conflagration, and their inhabitants with massacre from
the crowds of armed papists, who had collected there to
execute the design of the French king, who had leagued
himself with a neighbouring prince of the same com-
munion, to extirpate protestantism out of Europe. This
instrument was afterwards disowned by William, and
some years later Speke, the libeller, came forward to
claim the merit or infamy of the imposture: but at
the time of publication no one doubted its authenticity ;
and the spirit of vengeance which it breathed, with the
tone of authority which it assumed, strongly served to
confirm the jealousies and apprehensions that agitated
the mind of the king. He drew from it the inference
'hat it was intended to deprive him of every individual
in whom he could repose any eon tide. ice, to place him
gagged and bound in the hands of his enemies; and, of
the fate ho might expect in such circumstances, he had
A.D. 16.V J QUEEN ESCAPES TO FRANCE. 193
before his eyes a pregnant instance in the eventful his-
I iry of his father*.
The queen had hitherto refused to separate her lot
from that of her husband ; but now that he had made
up his mind to leave the kingdom, and that he solemnly
promised to follow her within twenty-four hours, she
consented to accompany her child. The time for their
escape was fixed at two after midnight. Disguised as
an Italian lady, with a female Italian servant, and the D ec .
nurse carrying the infant, she stole silently down the 10.
privy stairs to the water-side, and, though the night was
dark and stormy, stepped intrepidly into a small open
boat, crossed the river, and landed on the opposite bank
at Lambeth. But the carriage which had been ordered
was not there ; the rain fell in torrents; and the royal
fugitive was compelled to wait under the shelter of a
high wall, exposed to the danger of discovery from the
cry of the child, and the accidental curiosity of the
inhabitants. At length they were enabled to depart,
and drove to Gravesend, where a yacht, with lord and
lady Powis, and three Irish officers on board, was ready-
to receive them, and conveyed them in safety to Calais.
St. Victor, a French gentleman, saw the exiles depart,
and hastened back with the consoling information to
the monarch t.
James had passed the early part of the morning in
considerable agitation ■ the return of St. Victor enabled
him to assume a more cheerful air, he ordered the guards
to be in readiness to accompany him to Uxbridge the
next day, and talked of offering battle to the enemy,
though at the same time he confessed to Barillon, that
he had not a single corps on whose fidelity he could rely.
Up to this moment he remained in ignorance of the pro-
gress of the negotiation; in the evening a messenger
from his commissioners brought him an account of their
• See the proclamation in Ecliard, 1127. Also Barillon, 10 Dec. .lames
Memoirs ), il, V-,'.); and Burnet, iii. ■
+ .lames, ii. 246. Barillon, SO Dec. Orleans, 315. Note(E).
VOL. XIII O
]94 JAMES II. [CHAP.. II.
Dec. proceedings *. On the sixth day after their departure
**• from London, they had been introduced to the presence
of William, who stated, in allusion to one part of the
royal proclamation, that he would never admit of any
pardon for his followers, because the admission of par-
don supposed the pre-existence of guilt ; and that he
had named to confer with them as commissioners on his
side the marshal Schomberg, and the earls of Oxford
and Clarendon. The reader will probably start at the
name of Clarendon. Yet so it was: the very maa, who
but a month before so feelingly lamented the defection
of his son, was now found at the head-quarters, and act-
ing as the confidential agent of the prince. In fact, he
had imprudently persuaded himself that these confer-
ences would lead to the formation of a new ministry, in
which, if he were not wanting to his own interest, he
might hold a distinguished place. With this view he
hastened from London to pay his worship to the rising
sun : but a few days convinced him of his mistake. He
saw that William's ambition would be satisfied with no-
thing short of the crown ; and, from the manner in which
he was treated now, had reason to conclude that he would
be treated with greater contempt afterwards, when the
prince should be seated on the throne t.
The royal commissioners being requested to state
their demands in writing, observed that, as the king had
already done all that the prince required, by calling a
parliament, nothing remained but to adjust the prelimi-
naries necessary for the freedom of elections, and the
security of the two houses; for which object they pro-
posed that both armies should be restrained from com-
ing within a certain distance of the capital. William
referred their paper to the consideration of his English
followers, whose opinions he affected to follow, though
they had hitherto been dictated by himself. On this occa-
* linrillon, 20, 22 IVt\ Tames ( Memoirs), ii. 240.
t Clarendon's Diary, L'12. 22U.
A.D. IGS8.] THR PRINCE'S ANSWER TO JAMES. 195
sion a warm altercation arose. They insisted that James
should be obliged to recall the writs which had been
issued for the election of representatives. He replied,
" We may drive away the king, but how can we procure
"a legal parliament without the writs?" They were
not persuaded : the article was included in the condi-
tions, and he ordered it to be erased. In the morning Dec.
they replaced it, but he again insisted that it should be 9.
expunged*. The answer which was at last returned,
required that each army should remain at the distance
of forty miles from the capital, that all papists should be
dismissed from office, that all proclamations reflecting
on the prince or his followers should be recalled, that
the invading army should be supported at the public ex-
pense, that the king and the prince should reside in
London, or at an equal distance from London, with the
same number of guards, and that the Tower and the
fort at Tilbury should be placed in the custody of the
city, and Portsmouth in that of such person as should
be agreeable to both parties. To adjust these particu-
lars William offered not to advance within forty miles
of the capital during the four following days, an offer
winch, while it bore the appearance of moderation, was
equally convenient for himself t.
Though these conditions were more favourable than
the king expected, they did not induce him to alter his
resolution. The observation of the commissioners, that Dec.
" there appeared a possibility of putting matters into a 10-
" way of accommodation," was not calculated to excite
any very sanguine hopes ; and their private letters were
still more discouraging than their official despatches.
He was ignorant then of what was known later, that
both Halifax and Godolphin were already candidates foi
* The majority feared that, if i!i'' writs were no) revoked, the elect! n
woulil tak- place while they remained with the army, and thai other
pel ons would be returned as representative! In theii absence, Clar.
Diary, 921. 223.
+ lames, ii. 240. Fourth Collec. 25.
o2
196 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
the favour of the invader, and desirous of rendering him
an acceptable service, by inducing the king to quit the
kingdom. Under this ignorance he drew from their
letters the conclusion, that it was the object of his
nephew to effect his deposition by a legal parliament of
his own calling, unless he were previously removed by a
conspiracy against his life. Before he retired to rest he
delivered to the count de Roy a letter for lord Fever-
sham, announcing his intention of providing for his own
safety by withdrawing from the kingdom, thanking him
and the officers and privates for their past loyalty, and
remarking that he no longer desired them to expose
themselves to danger by " resistance to a foreign army
" and a poisoned nation *." Then, having received from
the lord chancellor all the parliamentary writs which
had not hitherto been issued, he threw them with his
own hands into the fire, to disappoint by their destruc-
Dec tion one great object of his enemies t. Soon after
midnight he rose, disguised himself in the dress of a
country gentleman, and ordered the duke of Northum-
berland, who slept on the pallet-bed, to keep the door
locked till the usual hour in the morning. Descending
the back stairs, he was joined by sir Edward Hales,
whom he afterwards created earl of Tenterdcn : a hack-
ney coach conveyed them to the horse-ferry ; and, as
they crossed the river with a pair of oars, the king threw
the great seal into the water. At Vauxhall they found
horses in readiness, and with the aid of a relay provided
by Sheldon, one of the royal equerries, reached Emley
ferry, near Feversham, by ten. The custom-house ho)
had been engaged to convey some strangers to France,
but the ship wanting ballast, they were forced to run
• James, ii. 249. Fourth Coll. of Papers, 27. Lord Godoluhin wrote to
advise him to withdraw. Lord Dartmouth's note to Burnet, 111. 327.
Lord Halifax is also said to have written that the party oi the prince had
"an ill design" against the king's person. Reresby, 311. See also
d'Orleans, 314.
t James (Memoirs), ii. 251. The writs had been issued fur fifteen
counties only. Barillou 27 Dec.
11.
A D. 16S8.] THE KING STOPPED AT FEVERSHAM. 197
her on shore near Sheerness : where, about eleven at
night, they were boarded from three boats, cruising in
the mouth of the river to intercept the fugitive royalists.
The hoy floating with the tide was taken back to Fever-
sham ; and the king, having remained for several hours
in the hands of his captors, was compelled to land and
proceed to the principal inn. There he saw that, not- Dec.
withstanding his disguise, he was recognized by several 12.
persons in the crowd, of whom one, bursting into tears,
knelt to kiss his hand ; and, as the secret had now
transpired, he acknowledged himself, sent for lord Win-
chelsea, whom he appointed lord lieutenant of the
county, and was at his own request transferred from the
inn to the house of the mayor, where he remained under
a strong guard of the seamen and militia *.
Lord Feversham had given little proof of ability as a
general: but he showed, amidst the general defection,
that he possessed the feelings of an honourable mind.
Instead of seeking to secure the favour of the prince,
by soliciting orders from him, he caused the king's
letter to be read to the different regiments, announced to
them the expiration of his command, and then informed
the prince of what he had done. Many of the officers
and men received the intelligence with tears, and, con-
ceiving themselves at liberty, withdrew to their re-
• James, ibid. 2".l 254, App. *i. Barillon, 1>4 Dec. Hurn-t, iii. 326.
It lias often lifcn said thai James was induced t.> escape to Fiance by
the advice of Barillon. The despatches of thai envoy show, on the con-
trarv, that James did not consul him, nor -jive him any opportunity of
interfering with his opinion. Barillou. however, < reiving that it might
prove injurious to the interest of France, if James were to quit Ins domi
Dions, solicited from Louis an order to advise him to remain, Bui the
monarch was inure generous than Ins minister. He refused; "plus je
" desire de I'aider a sortir de I'emhan is oi il est, el de lui lemoigner dans
" one conjuncture «' perilleuae la sincerite de mon amitie pour sa personne,
" c de mon ernpressemenl pour tonl ce qui '•' regwde, plus |e vols qu'il
" faut laissei a aa prudence i I a la i noissance qu'il a de la disposition <le
" sou nivaume, a prendre les I .liooi qu il croirn lui Stre lea plus con-
" venables Vou« pouwz i'assurei que •. il envois la nine el le prince
"deGallea dana meaetata.ila y seroot recus avec toute la consideration
" que demande leui rang, el qu'il peul totijoura faire an fondemenl certain
" sur mon amitie." Louie XIV. a Barillou SO D
198 JAMES II. [CHAP. If.
spective homes. But William was offended: nor did
he fail on the first opportunity to make lord Feversham
feel the effect of his resentment. He complained that,
by suffering the men to disband themselves, that officer
had endangered the tranquillity of the country : but the
true reason was believed to be, that he had intended to
incorporate the royal army with his own, and to employ
it for the purposes which he meditated *.
In London the news of the king's flight created sur-
prise and consternation. About thirty spiritual and
temporal peers joined the lord mayor and aldermen at
the Guildhall, and, after some consultation, forming
themselves into a separate council, assumed for a time
Dec. the supreme authority. They published and sent to the
11. prince a declaration of their adhesion to him in his
endeavour to procure a free parliament, in which the
liberties of the people, and in particular of the church of
England, might be secured, and at the same time due
indulgence be granted to protestant dissenters ; a de-
claration which, though equivalent to a renunciation of the
authority of James, did not come up to his expectations,
and was, therefore, received by him with evident marks
of dissatisfaction : while a most gracious reception was
given to the deputies from the common council and the
citv, who begged of him to hasten his march to the
capital for the completion of the great work which he
had so gloriously begun : for, as hitherto they had
looked up in vain to the king for redress, " now they
presumed to make his highness their refuge -\\" In ad-
dition, the lords, to calm the fears of the citizens, took
advantage of the absence of Skclton from the Tower, to
transfer the government of that fortress to the care of
lord Lucas, whose company formed part of the garrison,
and they issued circular orders to the naval and military
officers to watch over the preservation of discipline in
• James, ii. 2-19. 251. Barillon, 22 Dec.
f Clarendon, Diary, 224. Barillon, 22 Dec. Fourth Col -30.
A.I). 1CS8.] PROCEEDINGS OF THE MOH. 199
the fleet and army. But the great difficulty was to
maintain tranquillity in London and Westminster, where
their ephemeral authority, though respected hy the
higher classes Was set at nought by the passions of the
people, authoiised, as they supposed themselves to be,
by the recently forged proclamation of the prince.
Large bodies of men had collected in the streets, and,
under pretence of searching for arms, burst into the
houses of the catholics, whence, if they did not proceed
to the demolition of the buildings, they carried off every-
thing that was valuable. The office of Hills, the king's Dec-
printer, was laid in ruins, and its contents given to the
flames; the several catholic chapels in Lincoln's-Inn-
fields, Lyme-street, St. John's, and Clerkenwell, were
either destroyed or burnt ; and the ambassadors of the
catholic powers were insulted or threatened. Ronquillo,
the ambassador from Spain, trusted to his popularity
(for his constant support of the prince had made him a
public favourite): but the plate of the royal chapel and
of several catholic families, which had been committed
to his custody, offered too powerful a temptation ; and
his doors were forced, his house and chapel were rilled,
and whatever the rioters could not carry away was
burnt, together with his library and manuscripts. Of
the other ambassadors the Florentine experienced the
same treatment ; but those from France and Venice
applied to the council, and obtained for their protection
strong detachments of military, who repelled with diffi-
culty the repeated assaults of the populace*.
On the second night the citizens were awakened from 13.
their sleep by a sudden cry of "The Irish are up and
"cutting throats!" And the same terrifying denunci-
• James (Memoirs), ii. 25G. Echard, 1130. Barillon, 82, 24 Dec.
Kllis Cor. ii. 347, 350. Buckingham, ii. xv. The plate and jewels carried
away by the mob from ihe Spani h amb ador's were valued at ap im
mense 'sum. Reres. 323 Ronquillo received as a < pensation 17.000J
The Kin::, on account of some riotous assemblages, had ordered all the
olic chapels to be shut up as early as November 9. Barillon, 19
November,
200 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
ation was simultaneously echoed from every part of the
metropolis. Lights were instantly placed in the win-
dows ; a hundred thousand men rushed into the streets;
parties proceeded in different directions to oppose the
imaginary foes; and, though the murderers could no-
where be discovered, still the report obtained credence,
and the terrors of the citizens were protracted, till the
return of daylight gradually dispelled the delusion. At
the same time a similar alarm was excited in most of
the neighbouring towns, but it failed of provoking, what,
if it were not accidental, its authors probably meant to
provoke, a massacre of the catholics. Spoke took to
himself the merit also of this dangerous contrivance*.
The mob repeatedly called for the blood of father
Petre. But he had disappointed their vengeance by
retiring beyond the sea about ten days before ; and his
example had been imitated by lord Melfort, the Scottish
secretary. As soon as the flight of James became
known, numbers, apprehensive of the consequences,
attempted to follow him ; and the roads towards the sea-
coast were covered with fugitives endeavouring to escape,
and with persons on the watch to arrest every stranger
proceeding in that direction. Even during the short
stay of the royal captive at Feversham, Mr. Justice
Jenner, Burton and Graham, the king's solicitors,
Gifford and Leyburn, two of the vicars apostolic, Obadiah
Walker, and several others were brought prisoners into
the town. The nuncio had placed himself as a servant
behind the carriage of the envoy from Savoy : but that
* James, ii. 258. Ellis Corresp. ii. 35«. Barillon, 23 Dec. Echard,
1131. Perhaps he mi^lit claim also that of a similar Fraud in Ireland,
On the 7th of December, lord Mount-Alexander received an anonymous
letter, stating that the 9th was fixed lor the general massacre of the pro-
testants. From his seat in the county of Down he despatched copies of
this letter into all quarters of the island. Wherever it an ived. the utmost
consternation prevailed. Congregations rushed oul i l the churches dur-
ing the service to provide for their safety; multitudes migrated from the
interior to the sea-coast, to procure a passage to Englaud, and on the
night of the 9th three thousand individuals in Dublin lied from their
beds, and took refuge oil hoard the ships in the harbour. See Secret
Consults, 13J, 140.
A.D. 1688.] THE GUARDS SENT TO THE KING. 201
minister with his suite was intercepted and detained, till
William, who sought not to offend his catholic allies,
furnished him with a passport. The lord chancellor
Jeffreys was discovered at Wapping in a strange dis-
guise. A party of the trained hands rescued him from
the fury of the mob: but they still pursued him with
whips and halters, and, as the lord mayor was too much
alarmed to take his examination, he was at his own
desire conducted under an escort of two regiments to the
Tower. The lords in council soon afterwards sent a
warrant for his detention, and in the course of a few
months he died of the stone without having been dis-
charged from confinement*. Penn being brought before
them, gave security for his appearance in 6,000/. f, and
the earls of Peterborough and Salisbury, both converts
to the church of Rome, were committed to the Tower.
On the third morning a rumour was heard of the
king's arrestation in his flight. It obtained no credit ;
but a countryman, standing at the door of the council- j) ec#
chamber at Whitehall, put into the hands of lord Mul- 14.
grave a letter from James, which bore no address, but
stated that the writer was a prisoner in the hands of the
rabble at Feversham. Most of the lords, afraid of offend-
ing the prince, would gladly have passed it by without
notice, and for that purpose Halifax, the chairman, sud-
denly adjourned the meeting: but Mulgrave conjured
them to resume their seats, and extorted from them by
his remonstrances an order that the earl of Feversham
should take two hundred of the life-guards, and protect
the king's person from insult. Feversham solicited an
explanation of this order, but was merely told that it
gave him no authority to interfere with the liberty or the
motions of the sovereign. Halifax, to mark his dissatis-
faction, or to make his c turt, immediately left London,
• Buckingham, ii. p. xi. James, it. 234. Ralph, 1063. Ellis Corresp. ii.
354. Echard, 1136. Oldraixon, 768 I do not notice the different stories
rea ecting the capture and death of Jeffreys. They are so contradictory
thai "" reliance can be placed on tli<*m.
t Ellis Corresp. ii. 356. Barillon, 24, 25. 27 I>c.
202 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
and repaired to the head-quarters of the prince who was
then at Henley *.
The king, on the arrival of Feversham, determined to
r) ec# return to the capital. To account for this resolution, so
15. contrary to that which he had adopted four days before,
it should be known that, during his confinement, lord
Winchelsea had strongly advised him to lay aside the
design of quitting the kingdom : his friends from Lon-
don had excited his hopes by representing to him that a
sentiment of pity for his misfortunes had rekindled the
flame of loyalty in the breasts of numbers ; and Godol-
phin, though he dared not advise him to return, had
blamed his flight, under the notion that the conditions,
if they had been approved by the king, would probably
have been executed by the prince t. James resolved to
make the experiment. From Rochester he despatched
Feversham to William at Windsor, with verbal instruc-
tions on several points, and with a written invitation to
a personal conference in the capital, where the palace of
St. James's would be ready for his reception. The
messenger found the prince and his advisers perplexed
and confounded. On the supposition that James had
left the kingdom, he had assumed the exercise of the
sovereign authority, and had issued orders to the royal
army, and the officers of government, in the style of a
king or a conqueror; and they, in the confidence of
success, had parcelled out among themselves the great
offices of state, and the rewards to which they were
entitled for their services. But Feversham, the moment
he had delivered his despatch, was arrested by order of
William, and confined in the Round Tower, under the
* Halifax was chosen chairman in the absence of the archbishop ot
Canterbury, " because, after he bad signed the address to the prince, he
" never would appear m public affairs, or pay tin' leasi Borl of respect t< .
" the prince of Orange, even after he was elected kin.' of England; ami
■' yet, on the other side, had been as morose to king Jutnea before, in never
" acknowledging his son, or showing him tlie least civility.'' Hucking-
liam, ii. p. xiv. xvi. xviii.
+ Barillon, 24 Dec. Janus, ii. 259. 2C1. Ralph, l. 1068 Clarendon,
Diarj
A.I). 1GS8.] HE COMES TO WHITEHALL. 203
frivolous pretext that he had come without a passport,
and had disbanded the army without orders ; but pro-
bably to convince James, as it did in fact convince him,
that lie would no longer be treated as the sovereign.
But, whatever was the motive of the prince, the arrest
shook the confidence of many among his adherents. He
had been sent for, they remarked, to protect their liber-
ties; and one of the first uses wdiich he made of his
power was to imprison a peer of the realm, without
assigning any cause or observing any legal process *.
From Feversham the fugitive monarch returned to Dec.
Rochester, where he was joined by his guards ; and 16
from Rochester proceeded in royal guise through the
city to Whitehall +. His progress resembled a triumphal
procession. He was preceded by a body of gentlemen
with their heads uncovered ; an immense crowd received
him with loud acclamations ; the bells were rung, and
the evening was ushered in with bonfires. It is not im-
probable that, during these demonstrations of loyalty, a
few rays of hope may have illumined the troubled mind
of the king: but they were soon extinguished by the
ominous arrival of Zuyleistein, and the news of the arrest
of lord Feversham. Zuyleistein was the bearer of a
letter from William, requesting his uncle not to advance
nearer to the capital than Rochester. But James, ob-
serving that the request had come too late, repeated his
invitation to a personal interview; and to the remark of
the messenger, that the prince could not venture his
1 erson in a city occupied by the royal troops, replied,
• Buckingham, i. p. xxii. " I a il ed Bentinck what could be Hie mean-
■• ing of committing lord Feversham, to which 1 lade me answer, but
" with a shrug, ' Alasl my lord.' This proceeding startles me." Claren-
don, Diary, 227. See also Bar lion, 24 Dec.
t On the day before, the princess Anne marie a similar entry Into Ox-
ford to meel her husbaud. " The earl of Northampton with Ave bund
" horse led the van. Hei preceded by the bisho]
" London ;it. the head ofa noble troop of gentlemen, his lordship riding in
" .i purple eloak, martial habit, pistols before him, and his iword drawn :
" and his cornet had the inscription in golden letters on his standard,
turn li es Angliee mutart. The rear was brought up by soniu
" militia troops." Ell
204 JAMES II. [CHAP II.
" Then let him come with his own guards to St. James's,
" and I will dismiss mine ; for I am as well without any,
" as with those whom I dare not trust." This conference
convinced the king of what he had so long suspected.
The language of the letter and of the messenger showed,
that William assumed the superiority of a conqueror,
and no longer looked upon his uncle as the sovereign.
Yet with these thoughts on his mind the unhappy
monarch was sufficiently master of himself to hold a
court, which was numerously though not brilliantly
attended, to meet his ministers in council, and to sup in
^ ec " public as in the days of his prosperity *. But the next
morning he sent a message to Lewis and Stamps, two of
the aldermen, that, to leave no doubt of his sincerity, he
was willing, if the civic authorities would guarantee his
personal safety, to place himself in their hands, till full
security for the religion and liberties of the nation had
been established by parliament. Had the offer been
accepted, it would have thrown a most perplexing
obstacle in the way of the prince : but it was declined,
through the influence of sir Robert Clayton, on the
ground that the city ought not to enter into any engage-
ment which it might not be in its power to fulfil t.
In the secret counsels of the prince a determination
had been taken, to consider the rei-jn of James at an end
from the moment of his late escape from the capital.
Now, however, that he was returned to Whitehall, and
had been joyfully received by his subjects, William
deigned to consult his English adherents, not collectively,
but individually and in private, on the delicate and im-
portant question, what course ought to be pursued with
respect to the royal person. By several it was suggested,
that James should be secured a prisoner in some for-
tress in England, or perhaps in Holland. In that case
anxiety fir the preservation of his life would deter bis
friends from any hostile attempts, and Ireland, which
* .Tnmes (Memoirs'), ii. 261. 263. Barillon, 27 Dec.
i .lames, ii. 271. <^- Britain's Just Complaint, 8.
A.I). 1GSS.] IS COMPELLED TO LEAVE IT. 205
was now in the power of Tyrconnel, might be obtained
as the price of his liberty. But the prince followed a»
different counsel. He deemed it more for his interest
that James should withdraw from the kingdom, and that
his escape should bear the appearance of his own volun-
tary act. For this purpose he sought to operate on the
king's apprehensions ; ordered four battalions of the
Dutch guards and a squadron of horse under count
Solms to march into Westminster ; and despatched from
Sion-house the lords Halifax, Shrewsbury, and Dela-
mere, with a harsh and peremptory order to his uncle.
Halifax was chosen for this office, as Clarendon had
been on a recent occasion, to try the sincerity of his con-
version *.
No answer had been returned to the king's message
by Zuyleistein ; but late in the evening Solms arrived,
occupied the palace of St. James's, and, advancing at
the head of three battalions, with their matches lighted
and in order of battle, demanded possession of Whitehall.
The spirit of Lord Craven, the commander of the Eng-
lish Guards, was roused : he declared that, as long as
breath remained in his body, no foreign force should
make a king of England prisoner in his own palace,
.lames hesitated: but a moment's reflection convinced
him that resistance against such disparity of numbers
could only lead to unnecessary bloodshed, and by dint of
entreaty, and some exertion of authority, he prevailed on
the old man (Craven was in his eightieth year) to with-
draw the Guards from their posts, which were immedi-
ately occupied by the Dutch -h
The king was now in a state of captivity. With a
misboding mind he retired to rest a little before mid-
night, and after some time sunk into a profound sleep,
« Burnet, iii. 334.337. Clarendon, Diary. 229. Clarendun asked in the
pri-sence of William, why the kin;; might not go to one of Ins own palace*,
to which lord Delamere answered that Ik- did not look upon him a* a king ;
and that he ought not to be int f the royal houses, as ii he were a king,
.iml that In' should never more be obeyed by him (Delamere) as king,
t James, ii. 264. Buckingham, ii. p. xxiii. liaiillon, 30 1). •.
20G JAMES II. [chap. II.
from which he was suddenly awakened by the earl of
Dec. Middleton. That nobleman, who lay in the antecham-
°' ber, had been disturbed by a loud knocking at the outer
door : where he found the three commissioners from the
prince, demanding immediate entrance. They had
come with Solms and the Dutch guard; but abstained
from presenting themselves at first, probably that their
unexpected appearance in the middle of the night might
make a more alarming impression on the unfortunate
monarch. James was surprised, but instantly recover-
ing himself, received them in bed, and listened to lord
Halifax, who showed him their instructions, and told
him that, for his own safety, and the preservation of
tranquillity, it was deemed proper to remove him from
Whitehall; that Ham, a house in Surrey belonging to
the dowager duchess of Lauderdale, had been selected
for his residence ; and that at Ham he might be attended
by his own guards, but must quit Whitehall by ten the
next morning, because the prince intended to arrive in
the capital about noon. From such an intrusion at such
an hour it is probable that the king anticipated some more
painful announcement. He appeared to receive the
order for his removal with indifference, but objected to
Ham as a cold, damp, and unfurnished house ; and ex-
pressed a strong inclination to return to Rochester,
where the prince had previously desired him to remain.
About nine in the morning the commissioners came
back from Sion House with the permission which he had
asked; but, in arranging the manner of his departure,
James experienced much opposition from the morosity
of lord Halifax, who, as a recent convert, sought to dis-
play his devotion to the prince, while lord Shrewsbury,
of whose political creed there could be no doubt, behaved
with deference to the unfortunate monarch, and laboured
to soothe his affliction by gratifying him in every request.
About twelve the king bade adieu to the lords and
gentlemen and foreign ministers, who had assembled to
give him this last proof of their respect, and who, for the
A.D. 16SS.] HE GOES TO ROCHESTER. 207
most part, burst into tears. Hastening to the river, he
went on board the royal barge attended by the lords
Arran, Dumbarton, Lichfield, Aylesbury, and Dundee ;
several boats carrying one hundred of the Dutch guards
took their respective stations around him, and, at the
signal given, the royal captive proceeded down the river.
To most of the spectators it proved a mournful and
humiliating sight. They felt that powerful impression
which is always made by the spectacle of majesty in dis-
tress ; and they could not behold without shame the king
of England conveyed from his capital a prisoner in the
hands of foreigners *.
fames slept at Gravesend, and spent four days at Dec.
Rochester. There he received no communication from 19-
William, but was visited by many of his servants and
adherents, who brought him accounts of all that passed
in the metropolis. From them he learned that about
three hours after his departure the prince arrived with
six thousand men at St. James's, and was visited the
same evening by most of the noblemen in London ; that
the next day he received the duke of Norfolk, who had
raised for him a powerful force in the eastern counties,
and the aldermen, who presented to him an address in
the name of the city; that some lawyers had advised
him to proclaim himself kin<r, and summon a parlia-
ment, after the precedent of Henry VII. ; but that this
advice had been rejected, because it was impossible to
reconcile it with the contents of the declaration ; that
he had, however, begun to exercise the sovereign an-
• James (Memoirs), ii. 2Gf>. 207. Buckingham, ii. |>. xxii. Kennet, 503.
Evelyn, Diary, iii. 262. Ellis Correspondence, ii. 3/2. U is a singular
fact that the officer who commande i the Dutch guard, ami one half of the
men, were catholics. One "i them, when the kiu;> asked how In 1 . ;i
catholic, could aid a protestanl prince to dethrone a catholic king on ac-
count of liis religion, replied " That his bouI was God's, but his sword the
" prince of Orange's." Burnet, in. 338. See also James, ii. '27'J- The
number of foreign catholi is in tin 1 army of the prince was, according to
Ken^by, 4')00. " Les Anglais qui le virent partir," says Barillon, 30 Dec,
" etoient fort tristes, la plupart avoient les larmes aux yeux. [1 a ] ru
memo de hi consternation il.nh le peuple, quand on i u que le roi partoit
environ in'- de guardea Hollandoises, el qu'il etoitveritablement piisonier."
Sec also Clarendon, Diary, 321.
20S JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
thority, by ordering the deputies elected in the city on
St. Thomas's day to act without taking the oaths, and
had requested the lords spiritual and temporal to meet
in council, and give him their advice ; and that, in con-
sequence of this request, about seventy peers had as-
sembled in Westminster, and had chosen for their legal
advisers, in place of the judges, five barristers strongly
devoted to the interest of the prince *. Everything con-
curred to strengthen the kino's conviction that his
nephew intended to assume the crown ; and, when he
compared the events of the last few days with what he
observed around him ; that he was permitted to com-
municate freely with all who presented themselves ; and
that, while egress from the house towards the town was
closed by the military posted at the door, the road from
the garden to the river was left entirely open, he con-
cluded that his presence was an embarrassment to his
enemies; and that, if they thus afforded him the means
of evasion, it was with the hope that he would avail him-
self of the opportunity to withdraw from the kingdom.
This very inference formed of itself a sufficient argu-
ment why he should remain ; it was hourly confirmed
by letters and messengers from his most trusty adherents,
and powerfully urged by lord Middleton in person, who
plainly told him that if he were once to seek an asylum
abroad, he must never expect to set his foot again on
English ground t. On the other hand it was repre-
sented to him, that as long as he remained, he lay at the
mercy of an ambitious competitor, who could dispose of
him as he thought fit; that he was, and would, be in
• James (Memoirs), ii. £68. 270. 2J2. Kennct, 504. Burnet, iii. 341.
Clarendon. Diary, 232.
+ Brady was -tut to him by the bishop of Ely on this subject (Uar.
Diary, 282), and was seen by him. James IMemA il 87O. Uarendon
sent Belsonwith a similar message, "a discreet and honest man, a Roman
" catholic and one who never approved the foolish management of father
"Pt-tres; as, in truth, did m>nc of the Bober Roman catholics. Ibid.
lids. a went to Rochester, and was announced to the king at strpper; who
that he had letters to write, but would speak to him in the morning.
In the morning he was gone. Ibid. 884.
A.1). I68S ] AMD ESCAPES TO FRANCE.
209
fact a state prisoner, and must know that, according to
the sayinsi of his royal father, who had proved the truth
of the adatre in his own person, there was but a short
distance between the prison of a king and his grave ;
and that even lord Middleton, when the question was
put, did not dare to reply that he saw any means of
security for his life on this side of the sea. Amidst
these conflicting opinions the unfortunate monarch re-
peated, but with the prelates, the experiment which he
had unsuccessfully made with the aldermen ; and through
the bishop of Winchester offered to place himself in the
custody of the episcopal bench, provided they would
answer for his safety. The offer was, however, evaded ; Dec.
and from that moment he took the resolution to escape 22<
from durance, while the council of peers was yet in
deliberation respecting his future lot *. Before supper
he sat down and wrote a declaration of the motives
which induced him to withdraw. It was, he said, next
to madness to suppose that his life would be in safety, as
long as he remained in the power of a son-in-law who
had invaded his dominions without provocation, had
made him a prisoner in his own palace, had sent him an
order in the dead of the night to quit his capital, and
had endeavoured to make him appear to the world as
" black as hell," by imputing to him the crime cf a
supposititious child: an imputation, which even those
who made it believed in their consciences to be false,
He was born free, and wished to continue so; he had
ventured his life in defence of his country, and was not
yet too old to venture it again : for that purpose he had
withdrawn, while it was in his power, but should still
remain within call, ready to come forward whenever the
people should open their eyes to the false but specious
pretexts of religion and property with which they bad
been deluded f. This paper he ordered the earl of
* James, ii. 271, 272. This is confirmi'il by Reresby, 312. He ha 1 lent
ailai message t< » Dasb\ in Yorkshire. Reresby, 385.
1 James (Memoirs), ii. 273. Ecluird, 1134.
VOL. XIII. P
210 JAMES II. [CHAP. II
Middleton to publish, left certain gratuities to be given
to deserving persons, and 100 guineas to each of the
captains of the Dutch guard ; and, having communicated
his intention to the lords Aylesbury, Lichfield, Middle-
ton, and Dumbarton, retired to his bed at the usual hour.
j) ec< Soon afterwards he arose, and passed through the garden
23. to the river, in company with Macdonnel and Trevannioii,
two captains in the navy, his natural son the duke of
Berwick, and Biddulph, one of the grooms of the bed-
chamber. The weather was stormy ; the wind and tide
opposed their progress ; and after an ineffectual attempt
to reach the fishing smack which had been hired for the
occasion, the king went on board the Eagle fireship, and
was received by the ship's company with due respect.
The next morning he proceeded to his own vessel. They
were in all twenty men, well provided with weapons of
defence ; and after a tedious voyage of two days, in
which they ran some danger from the weather, and more
25, from the men-of-war lying in the Downs, arrived with-
out molestation at Ambleteuse on the coast of France.
^ Thence he hastened to join his wife and child at the
castle of St. Germain's, where the exile was received by
Louis with expressions of sympathy and proofs of muni-
ficence, which did honour to the head and heart of that
monarch. A royal palace was allotted for his residence ;
his wants, and those of his queen, were anticipated and
supplied : and the same honours were paid to him, as if
he had still been in possession of the two thrones of Great
Britain and Ireland *.
But it is time to leave the fugitive prince to mourn
over his fall, in royal but borrowed splendour, at St.
Germain's ; and to turn to his successful nephew, exer-
cising, but under a dubious and unacknowledged title,
the sovereign authority at Whitehall.
If the reader has carefully watched the conduct of the
• James (Memoirs), ii. 273. 277. Barillou, 2 Janvier. The )irinee bad
sent to liarillmi an order the preceding evening to leave London for France
on the 3d, N. S. See note (F).
A.D. lfiSS.] COUNSELS OF THE PRINCE. 211
latter during the last two years, he will have to come to
the conclusion that, whatever might be the pretexts set
forth in his declaration, whatever the motives attributed
to him by the policy or the partiality of his friends, his
real object from the beginning had been the acquisition
of the English crown. Though, hitherto, he had met
with little resistance, yet, as long as the king remained
within the realm, he knew not how to gratify his am-
bition without the incarceration or the death of his uncle,
expedients advised indeed by the more ardent of his fol-
lowers, but in his own judgment both disgraceful and
dangerous. Now, however, that James by his flight had
relieved him from this embarrassment, the chief question
that remained for his decision was, whether he should
seat himself at once on the throne, as belonging to him
by right of conquest, or should quietly wait till he was
called to it by the voice of the people. There were not
wanting counsellors who urged the first part of the al-
ternative: but the prince himself shrunk from the
attempt. By it he would openly give the lie to his most
solemn asseverations ; he would insult the nation which
had hailed him as its saviour, and would trample on the
very rights and liberties of which he had proclaimed
himself the champion and the avenger. Hence he judged
it. more gracious, and at the same time much safer, to
advance no claim on his own part, to leave the settle-
ment of the government, in appearance at least, to the
free choice of the people, and to trust for the accomplish-
ment of his object to the zeal and influence of his ad-
herents, his own vigilant, though temporising, policy, and
the gradual march of events which he had it in power to
direct according to his pleasure and to make subservient
to his purpose.
At his request the lords continued to sit at West-
minster; but it soon became manifest that the majority
would seek to hold him to the strict letter of his declar-
ation, unless they were diverted from their object by ad-
ditional pressure from without : for which purpose, under
p 2
212 james ii. l chap - li-
the pretext of taking the advice of the people as well as
Dec. of the nobility, he called together a meeting of a de-
23. scription unknown in the history of the constitution — a
meeting of all the members of any house of commons
summoned in the reign of Charles II., who chanced at
that moment to be in the metropolis, together with the
lord mayor, the court of aldermen, and fifty citizens as
representatives of the common council. All these he
desired to meet him at St. James's, and to aid him with
their advice, "as to the best manner how to pursue the
" ends of his declaration* " — a most politic proceeding,
as it flattered the vanity of the middle classes, and gave
a new impulse to the deliberations of the lords. The
next morning the latter were reminded by William's ad-
herents of the necessity of putting an end to the present
unsettled and uncertain state of the government. It
could not, indeed, be done by parliament, for parliament
could be summoned by a king only. It might, however,
be done by a convention. In the absence of Charles II.,
a convention had called him to the possession of the
throne : in the absence of James II., a convention might
remedy the evils arising from the dereliction of the
throne by that monarch. By some of the king's friends
it was proposed, that in the first place the declaration
left by him at Rochester should be communicated to the
house : but the demand was eluded by lord Godolphin,
who declared that it contained nothing which bore on the
question in debate. Lord Clarendon then moved that
an inquiry should be made into the birth of the supposed
prince of Wales ; but it was replied that such inquiry
would not lead to any satisfactory result, because the
child was in a foreign country where his identity could
not be ascertained, and where, if he should die, another
might be clandestinely substituted in his place. On the
other hand lord Paget, who was supported by the bishop
of London, and lord North, demanded without delay that
• Kennet, 505.
A.n. 1GS9.J MEETING OF A CONVENTION. '213
the prince and princess should he declared king and
queen : but to them were opposed the earls of Pembroke
and Nottingham, who with great ability defended the right
of the fugitive king*. In conclusion, after a long and
desultory debate, an address was voted to the prince,
begging of him to assume and exercise the government
of the realm till the meeting of a convention, and for the
election of the members of that convention to issue writs
similar to those which the king was accustomed to issue
for the election of members of parliament t.
That this was the most eligible expedient in the exist-
ing circumstances is evident : whether it satisfied the
ambition of the prince may be doubted : for it was based
on the unwelcome principle that he possessed no claim to
authority independently of the choice of the nation, and
must therefore submit to take it with such conditions
and limitations as the nation might think fit to prescribe.
When the address was presented, whether he had not Dec.
yet subdued his dislike, or sought to ingratiate himself *"*•
with the commons, he bade the lords wait till the sense
of the other meeting was ascertained. They, however, 27.
after some debate, adopted the same address ; and Wil-
liam replied to each body separately, that he would 28.
undertake to preserve the public peace till the meeting
of the convention, would issue the necessary writs ac-
cording to their request, would maintain the protestant
religion and interest in Ireland, and would always be
ready to expose his person to danger in defence of the
laws, the liberties, and the religion of the two kingdoms $.
The convention met on the appointed day. The lower 168'.).
house was composed chiefly of the men who had (lis- - ,au -
tinguished themselves in their respective counties by '
their opposition to the obnoxious measures of .lames:
from the upper the catholic lords were excluded, not in
virtue of any law — for Che law knew nothing of coinen-
• Clarendon's Diary, Dec. 84. Burnet, S17.
f Kennet, Ouj. Buckingham, ii. xxv. | Sonnet, 506.
'214 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
tions — but because cave had been taken to direct writs
to none but protestant peers. In a short time the mem-
bers of the two houses subsided into three parties.
1°. One was composed of those who looked back with
regret to the times of the commonwealth, and wished to
take advantage of the existing crisis for the introduction
of a nominal monarchy with republican institutions.
It was their plan to begin with the deposition of James,
to proceed to the confinement of the royal authority
within the narrowest limits, and then to offer the crown,
shorn of its brightest prerogatives, to the prince of*
Orange. But the paucity of their number soon con-
vinced them of the hopelessness of their cause ; and
they contented themselves with giving the weight of their
votes to those motions which approximated the most to
their own opinions. 2°. Then came the partisans of
William, who contended that James, by his violation of
the original compact between the sovereign and the
people had forfeited his right : that by his departure from
England the throne was left empty, and that no one had
a better claim to it now than the prince, who by his ex-
ertions had freed the nation from the oppressive sway of
a despot. These formed two-thirds of the lower house,
but were in a minority in the house of lords. 3°. The
third might be termed the conservative party, whose boast
it was that they had no object in view but to preserve
inviolate the constitution of the country. They main-
tained, as an incontrovertible inference, that, since the
crown of England was hereditary, the throne could never
become vacant — for, the moment one prince ceased to
till it, it became by law the property of his rightful heir —
that to depose James was to follow, and therefore to ap-
prove, the precedent set by those who condemned Charles
I. to death ; and that to elect kings without hereditary
right was to pave the way for republicanism, since each
succeeding monarch would be compelled to accept the
crown with the conditions which might be appended to
it by the electors. But how then, it was asked, was
A.D. 1GS9-] VOTES OF THE COMMONS. 215
the government in the present case to be administered?
A month before, they would have answered, — treat with
the exiled monarch, and recall him to the possession of
the throne under terms, which may prevent the repeti-
tion of those arbitrary acts that have led to his expulsion.
But much had happened in that short interval to render
the open expression of such sentiments inexpedient, per-
haps dangerous. Hence in the convention they sup-
ported a modified opinion, that the royal exile was
constitutionally king of England, but in a condition
similar to that of a sovereign in infancy, or labouring
under incapacity : and from these premises they drew
the conclusion, that William should be appointed his
locum tenens, to exercise the royal authority in the name
of James during his life ; but with the understanding
that, at the death of that monarch, he should restore it
to the rightful heir. This party could not boast of many
adherents in the house of commons : in the lords they
numbered a majority of the bishops and many of the
temporal peers f.
"William had undertaken to exercise the powers of
government till the meeting of the convention : at the
prayer of the convention he consented to exercise them
till he should receive from the two houses an address
respecting the settlement of tlie nation •!■. This momen- Jan.
tous question immediately engaged the attention of the 22.
house of commons. By some of the friends of the prince
it was contended, that the voluntary withdrawal of
James, without any provision for the government of the
realm during his absence, was equivalent in law to a
demise of the crown : by others that it was in fact an ab-
dication of the sovereignty. Not a voice was heard in
his favour, though some ventured to deprecate a hasty
vote before the house would be fully aware of the conse-
quences. Whether the king had resigned, or had for-
feited the crown, mattered little; he could resign am!
• See tne debates in the Pari. History, v 36.52. Burnet, 809.
| Lords' .'nn. it. liv.
216 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
forfeit for himself only. No action, no cession of his,
could invalidate the right of those who were his succes-
sors by law. Neither had the two houses, as then con-
stituted, the power to fill the throne, even if it were
empty. That power resided in the nation at large : but
the lords represented only themselves, the commons only
the few electors in the cities and boroughs, and the forty-
shilling freeholders in the counties, forming altogether
but an inconsiderable portion of the English people.
Their opponents, however, possessed an irresistible ma-
jority ; and the house, after a long and interesting debate,
Jau. came to two resolutions : 1°. That the king," having en-
28. " deavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom by
"breaking the original compact between him and the
" people, and having by the advice of Jesuits and other
" wicked persons violated the fundamental laws, and
" having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, had ab-
" dicated the government, and that the throne was there-
" by vacant. 2°. That experience had shown it to be in-
" consistent with the safety and welfare of the protestant
29. " religion, to be governed by a popish prince." Both
resolutions, as a foundation for the meditated change
of dynasty, were immediately transmitted to the house
of lords*.
In the lords the second of these votes, to which no
opposition was anticipated, was immediately read and
passed with unanimity. But the conservatives dexter-
ously seized the moment to bring forward, as a conse-
quence emanating from it, their favourite plan of a
temporary regency. The king was a catholic: to him,
therefore, according to their vote, the powers of govern-
ment could not be intrusted with safety : let then some
person or persons be appointed to exercise those powers
" under the style of king .lames II. and during the life
" of the said king James." The motion was supported
with great ability and learning by the earls of Notting-
* Pail. Hist. v. 130. 152.
A.D. 1689.] DEBATK IN THE LORDS. 217
ham, Clarendon, and Rochester, and fiercely combated
by the marquess of Halifax, and the earl of Danby, two
rival candidates for the favour of William. They were
successful, but gained the victory by a majority of two
voices only *.
Every eye was now fixed with intense interest on Jan.
the proceedings in the house of lords, where the two 30.
parties were so nearly balanced. The next day, when
that clause of the first resolution which stated that James
had broken the original compact between the throne and
the people was submitted to the consideration of the
house, the conservatives tauntingly inquired what could
be meant by the phrase original compact : where was it
preserved ; what were its provisions ; in what writer, or
in what record could they be found ? Their opponents
replied, that the people were the real source of power,
and could not be supposed to place themselves under the
government of others without some previous stipulation
in their own favour. That the crown was hereditary in
the same family they did not deny, but they contended
that it was elective as to the person, both from historical
records, and from the practice still preserved of asking
the consent of the people at the coronation of a new
sovereign, who was himself compelled to admit virtually
the existence of the compact, by taking the oath usual
on such occasions. To this reasoning the conservatives
objected, thai it supposed, as a principle, that the new
reign derived his authority from his coronation : but
this was contrary to the fact: for he became king from
the moment of his predecessor's death, previously to any
oath or election. On a division, however, the clause was
saved by a majority of seven t.
* Lords' .lonrii. xiv. 110. Clarendon's Diary, Jan. 29. Burnet, 810. 811.
All the bishops, but those of London and Bristol, voted in the minority of
49. The majority amounted to 51. Burnet tells us thai of those who
voted for a regency, some were sincere, I >ut tli.it many supported it, merely
in c ause it might afford a humus of recalling the king. Ibid.
t Of 53 to 4G. Burnet, 812. Rennet, 510.
218 JAMES II. [CHAP. II.
The conservative party now made a stand on other
ground. They denied that the king had " abdicated "
the government. To " abdicate" was applicable only
to a voluntary cession : it could not be predicated of a
compulsory flight, such as was evidently that of James :
as well might you say of a man who had been driven
out of his house by the flames, that he had abdicated
his property. The leaders of the Orange party replied,
that the king had not, indeed, renounced the govern-
ment by any formal instrument ; but he had voluntarily
done that with which the forfeiture of the crown was
necessarily connected, and consecpiently had abdicated
it by his actions though not by his words. But the
judgment of the house was not satisfied : they yielded,
and it was agreed to substitute the word " deserted" in
the place of " abdicated*."
' ; ! n - All this, however, was but preliminary to the discus-
3i * sion of the grand constitutional question, whether it
followed, from the " desertion" of the government by
James, that the throne was now vacant. The next
morning was spent, in obedience to a proclamation by
William, in religious exercises, to return thanks to God
for the liberation of his people from popery and arbi-
trary power : when the lords met in the afternoon, the
court party, aware of the general feeling in the house,
sought to elude the direct question, by moving an
amendment calculated to influence all who had any-
thin? to hope or fear from the present government ;
that, in consequence of the desertion of James, " the
" prince and princess of Orange should be declared king
" and queen." The debate was long and stormy, during
which several of the members, particularly *the lords
Montague and Delamere, unable to control their vexa-
tion, indulged in warm and acrimonious language. But
* Lords' Journ. 111. Clarendon's Diary, Jan. 80. Even Burnet seems
to have disapproved of the word abdicated. " There was," lie says, " a
i-.mni-ss in insisting upon it, because itwasawurd of dubious mean-
" iug, und had been adopted for that very reason. ' Burnet, 815.
A.D. 16S9.] IMPATIENCE OF THE PRINCE. 219
their efforts were fruitless : in a house of ninety-nine
members, the previous question was carried by a majo-
rity of five voices, which increased to eleven in support
of another motion to strike out the clause affirming that
" the throne was vacant." Thirty-six peers immediately
entered their dissent in the journals *.
The result of this debate awakening hope in the one Feb.
party, and apprehension in the other, stimulated both to 1-
new exertion. The lord Preston sent to the two speak-
ers letters from James, in which he first recited his pre-
vious letters of the 4th of January to the lords of the
council, stating the necessity which had compelled him
to withdraw, and his intention of returning as soon as it
could be done with safety ; and then proceeded to de-
clare that he was ready to come back to England, and,
with the advice of a parliament called according to law
and held without constraint, to redress every grievance,
to secure to the established church all its rights and
pre-eminence, and to extend to dissenters indulgence in
such way as should minister no reasonable cause of sus-
picion or jealousy. The chief object of this letter was
to furnish proof that James had not abdicated the throne ;
but his opponents were on the watch, and obtained a "'
vote in each house that the letter should not be opened,
on the pretence that there was no satisfactory proof of its
authenticityt. On the other hand, the lord Lovelace and
William Killigrew called together the populace, and, at
their head proceeded to Westminster with a petition that
the crown should be given without delay to the prince
and princess of Orange. But both houses resented this
attempt to influence, by external force, their delibera-
tions, and refused to receive the petition on a point of
form, because it was without signature :;'.
Hitherto the prince had appeared to act as if he felt
* Lords' Journ. 112, 113. Clarendon's Diary, Jan. 31. Kenne
+ Life of James, ii. '.' ■ . 291. Lords' Joum. 114. Clar Ion's Diary,
Rennet, 509.
. Clarendon, il id and Feb I Rere»bj.305.
220 JAMES II. [chap. II.
no personal interest in the proceedings of the convention,
and was nothi 
