"Will you, to the utmost of your power, cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgments?" "I will." "Will You, to the utmost of your power, maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the Protestant reformed religion as by law established; and will you preserve unto the bishops and clergy of this realm, and to the churches committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain unto them or any of them?"—"All this I promise to do."

Then the king or queen, laying his or her hand upon the Gospels, shall say, "The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God."]

[Footnote 008: Note D, p. 8. The lords of the articles, by the gradual usurpation of the crown, actually constituted a grievance intolerable in a free nation. The king empowered the commissioner to choose eight bishops, whom he authorized to nominate eight noblemen: these together choose eight barons and eight burgesses; and this whole number, in conjunction with the officers of state as supernumeraries, constituted the lords of the articles. This committee possessed the sole exclusive right and liberty of bringing in motions, making overtures for redressing wrongs, and proposing means and expedients for the relief and benefit of the subjects.—Proceedings of the Scots Parliament vindicated.]

[Footnote 010: Note E, p. 10. James in this expedition was attended by the duke of Berwick, and by his brother Mr. Fitzjames, grand prior, the duke of Powis, the earls of Dover, Melfort, Abercorn, and Seaforth; the lords Henry and Thomas Howard, the lords Drummond, Dungan, Trendrauglit, Buchan, Hunsdon, and Brittas; the bishops of Chester and Galway; the late lord chief justice Herbert; the marquis d'Estrades, M. de Rosene, mareschal decamp; Mamoe, Pusignan, and Lori, lieutenant-general; Prontee, engineer-general; the marquis d'Albeville, sir John Sparrow, sir Roger Strictland, sir William Jennings, sir Henry Bond, sir Charles Carney, sir Edward Vaudrey, sir Charles Murray, sir Robert Parker, sir Alphonso Maiolo, sir Samuel Foxon, and sir William Wallis; by the colonels Porter, Sarsfield, Anthony and John Hamilton, Simon and Henry Luttrel, Ramsay, Dorrington, Sutherland, Clifford, Parker, Parcel, Cannon, and Fielding, with about two-and-twenty other officers of inferior rank.]

[Footnote 016: F, p. 16. The franchises were privileges of asylum, annexed not only to the ambassadors at Rome, but even to the whole district in which any ambassador chanced to live. This privilege was become a terrible nuisance, inasmuch as it afforded protection to the most atrocious criminals, who filled the city with rapine and murder. Innocent XI. resolving to remove this evil, published a bull, abolishing the franchises; and almost all the catholic powers of Europe acquiesced in what he had done, upon being duly informed of the grievance. Louis XIV. however, from a spirit of pride and insolence, refused to part with anything that looked like a prerogative of his crown. He said the king of France was not the imitator, but a pattern and example for other princes. He rejected with disdain the mild representations of the pope; he sent the marquis de Lavarden as his ambassador to Rome, with a formidable train, to insult Innocent even in his own city. That nobleman swaggered through the streets of Rome like a bravo, taking all opportunities to affront the pope, who excommunicated him in revenge. On the other hand, the parliament of Paris appealed from the pope's bull to a future council. Louis caused the pope's nuncio to be put under arrest, took possession of Avignon, which belonged to the see of Rome, and set the holy father at defiance.]

[Footote 021: G, p. 21. The following persons were exempted from the benefit of this act:—William, marquis of Powis; Theophilus, earl of Huntingdon; Robert, earl of Sunderland; John, earl of Melfort; Roger, earl of Castlemain; Nathaniel, lord bishop of Durham; Thomas, lord bishop of Saint David's; Henry, lord Dover; lord Thomas Howard; sir-Edward Hales, sir Francis Withers, sir Edward Lutwych, sir Thomas Jenner, sir Nicholas Butler, sir William Herbert, sir Richard Holloway, sir Richard Heath, sir Roger l'Estrange William Molineux, Thomas Tynde-sly, colonel Townley, colonel Lundy, Robert Brent, Edward Morgan, Philip Burton, Richard Graham, Edward Petre, Obadiah Walker, Matthew Crone, and George lord Jeffries, deceased.]

[Footnote 035: H, p. 35. In the course of this session, Dr. Welwood, a Scottish physician, was taken into custody, and reprimanded at the bar of the house of commons, for having reflected upon that house in a weekly paper, entitled Mercurius Reformatus; but, as it was written in defence of the government, the king appointed him one of his physicians in ordinary. At this period, Charles Montague, afterwards earl of Halifax, distinguished himself in the house of commons by his fine talents and eloquence. The privy seal was committed to the earl of Pembroke; lord viscount Sidney was created lord-lieutenant of Ireland; sir John Somers appointed attorney-general; and the see of Lincoln, vacant by the death of Barlow, conferred upon Dr. Thomas Tennison, who had been recommended to the king as a divine remarkable for his piety and moderation.]

[Footnote 046: I, p. 48. The other laws made in this session were those that follow:—An act for preventing suits against such as had acted for their majesties' service in defense of this kingdom. An act for raising the militia in the year 1693. An act for authorizing the judges to empower such persons, other than common attorneys and solicitors, as they should think fit, to take special bail, except in London, Westminster, and ten miles round. An act to encourage the apprehending of highwaymen. An act for preventing clandestine marriages. An act for the regaining, encouraging, and settling the Greenland trade. An act to prevent malicious informations in the court of King's Bench, and for the more easy reversal of outlawries in that court. An Act for the better discovery of judgments in the courts of law. An Act for delivering declarations to prisoners for debt. An act for regulating proceedings in the Crown Office. An act for the more easy discovery and conviction of such as should destroy the game of this kingdom, And an act for continuing the acts for prohibiting all trade and commerce with France, and for the encouragement of privateers.]

[Footnote 053: K, p. 53. Besides the bills already mentioned, the parliament in this session passed an act for taking and stating the public accounts—another to encourage ship-building—a third for the better disciplining the navy—the usual militia act—and an act enabling his majesty to make grants and leases in the duchy of Cornwall. One was also passed for renewing a clause in an old statute, limiting the number of justices of the peace in the principality of Wales. The duke of Norfolk brought an action in the court of King's Bench against Mr. Germaine, for criminal conversation with his duchess. The cause was tried, and the jury brought in their verdict for one hundred marks, and costs of suit, in favour of the plaintiff.

Before the king embarked, he gratified a good number of his friends with promotions. Lord Charles Butler, brother to the duke of Ormond, was created lord Butler, of Weston in England, and earl of Arran in Ireland. The earl of Shrewsbury was honoured with the title of duke. The earl of Mulgrave, being reconciled to the court measures, was gratified with a pension of three thousand pounds, and the title of marquis of Normanby. Henry Herbert was ennobled by the title of baron Herbert, of Cherbury. The earls of Bedford, Devonshire, and Clare, were promoted to the rank of dukes. The marquis of Caermarthen was made duke of Leeds; lord viscount Sidney, created earl of Romney; and viscount Newport, earl of Bedford. Russel was advanced to the head of the admiralty board. Sir George Rooke and sir John Houblon were appointed joint-commissioners in the room of Killegrew and Delavai. Charles Montague was made chancellor of the exchequer; and sir William Trumbal and John Smith commisioners of the treasury, in the room of sir Edward Seymour and Mr. Hambden.]

[Footnote 056: L, p. 56. Her obsequies were performed with great magnificence. The body was attended from Whitehall to Westminster Abbey by all the judges, sergeants at law, the lord-mayor and aldermen of the city of London, and both houses of parliament; and the funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Tennison, archbishop of Canterbury. Dr. Kenn, the deprived bishop of Bath and Wells, reproached him in a letter, for not having called upon her majesty on her death-bed to repent of the share she had in the Revolution. This was answered by another pamphlet. One of the Jacobite clergy insulted the queen's memory, by preaching on the following text: "Go now, see this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is a king's daughter." On the other hand, the lord-mayor, aldermen, and common council of London came to a resolution to erect her statue, with that of the king, in the Royal Exchange.]

[Footnote 058: M, p. 58. In the course of this session, the lords inquired into the particulars of the Mediterranean expedition, and presented an address to the king, declaring, that the fleet in those seas had conduced to the honour and advantage of the nation. On the other hand, the commons, in an address, besought his majesty to take care that the kingdom might be put on an equal footing and proportion with the allies, in defraying the expense of the war.

The coin of the kingdom being greatly diminished and adulterated, the earls of Rochester and Nottingham expatiated upon this national evil in the house of lords: an act was passed, containing severe penalties against clippers; but this produced no good effect. The value of money sunk in the exchange to such a degree, that a guinea was reckoned adequate to thirty shillings; and this public disgrace lowered the credit of the funds and of the government. The nation was alarmed by the circulation of fictitious wealth, instead of gold and silver, such as bank bills, exchequer tallies, and government securities. The malcontents took this opportunity to exclaim against the bank, and even attempted to shake the credit of it in parliament; but their endeavours proved abortive—the monied interest preponderated in both houses.]

[Footnote 059: N, p. 58. The regency was composed of the archbishop of Canterbury; Somers, lord-keeper of the great seal; the earl of Pembroke, lord-privy-seal; the duke of Devonshire, lord-steward of the household; the duke of Shrewsbury, secretary of state; the earl of Dorset, lord-chamberlain; and the lord Godolphin, first commissioner of the treasury. Sir John Trenchard dying, his place of secretary was filled by sir William Trumbal, an eminent civilian, learned, diligent, and virtuous, who had been envoy at Paris and Constantinople. William Nassau de Zulycrstein, son of the king's natural uncle, was created baron of Enfield, viscount Tunbridge, and earl of Rochibrd. Ford, lord Grey of Werke, was made viscount Glendale, and earl of Tankerville. The month of April of this year was distinguished by the death of the famous George Saville, marquis of Halifax, who had survived, in a good measure, his talents and reputation.]

[Footnote 067: Note 0, p. 67. The commons resolved, That a fund, redeemable by parliament, be settled in a national land bank, to be raised by new subscriptions; That no person be concerned in both banks at the same time; That the duties upon coals, culm, and tonnage of ships be taken off, from the seventeenth day of March; That the sum of two millions five hundred and sixty-four thousand pounds be raised on this perpetual fund, redeemable by parliament; That the new bank should be restrained from lending money but upon land securities, or to the government in the exchequer; That for making up the fund of interest for the capital stock, certain duties upon glass wares, stone and earthen bottles, granted before to the king for a term of years, be continued to his majesty, his heirs, and successors; That a further duty be laid upon stone and earthen ware, and another upon tobacco-pipes. This bank was to lend out five hundred thousand pounds a-year upon land securities, at three pounds ten shillings per cent, per annum, and to cease and determine, unless the subscription should be full, by the first day of August next ensuing.

The most remarkable laws enacted in this session were these:—An act for voiding all the elections of parliament men, at which the elected had been at any expense in meat, drink, or money, to procure votes.

Another against unlawful and double returns. A third, for the more easy recovery of small tithes. A fourth, to prevent marriages without license or banns. A fifth, for enabling the inhabitants of Wales to dispose of all their personal estates as they should think fit: this law was in bar of a custom that had prevailed in that country—the widows and younger children claimed a share of the effects, called their reasonable part, although the effects had been otherwise disposed of by will or deed. The parliament likewise passed an act for preventing the exportation of wool, and encouraging the importation thereof from Ireland. An act for encouraging the linen manufactures of Ireland. An act for regulating juries. An act for encouraging the Greenland trade. An act of indulgence to the quakers, that their solemn affirmation should be accepted instead of an oath. And an act for continuing certain other acts that were near expiring. Another bill passed for the better regulating elections for members of parliament; but the royal assent was denied. The question was put in the house of commons, That whosoever advised his majesty not to give his assent to that bill was an enemy to his country; but it was rejected by a great majority.]



CONTINUATION

OF

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND,

BY TOBIAS SMOLLETT



MAPS:



QUEEN ANNE

CHAPTER VII.



Anne succeeds to the Throne..... She resolves to fulfil the Engagements of her Predecessor with his Allies..... A French Memorial presented to the States-general..... The Queen's Inclination to the Tories..... War declared against France..... The Parliament prorogued..... Warm Opposition to the Ministry in the Scottish Parliament..... They recognize her Majesty's Authority..... The Queen appoints Commissioners to treat of an Union between England and Scotland..... State of Affairs on the Continent..... Keiserswaert and Landau taken by the Allies..... Progress of the Earl of Marlborough in Flanders..... He narrowly escapes being taken by a French Partisan..... The Imperialists are worsted at Fridlinguen..... Battle of Luzzara in Italy..... The King of Sweden defeats Augustus at Lissou in Poland..... Fruitless expedition to Cadiz by the Duke of Ormond and Sir George Booke..... They take and destroy the Spanish Galleons at Vigo..... Admiral Benbow's Engagement with Ducasse in the West Indies..... The Queen assembles a new Parliament..... Disputes between the two Houses..... The Lords inquire into the Conduct of Sir George Rooke..... The Parliament make a Settlement on Prince George of Denmark..... The Earl of Marlborough created a Duke..... All Commerce and Correspondence prohibited between Holland and the two Crowns of France and Spain..... A Bill for preventing occasional Conformity..... It miscarries..... Violent Animosity between the two Houses produced by the Inquiry into the Public Accounts..... Disputes between the two Houses of Convocation..... Account of the Parties in Scotland..... Dangerous Heats in the Parliament of that Kingdom..... The Commissioner is abandoned by the Cavaliers..... He is in Danger of his Life, and suddenly prorogues the Parliament..... Proceedings of the Irish Parliament..... They pass a severe Act against Papists..... The Elector of Bavaria defeats the Imperialists at Scardingen, and takes Possession of Ratisbon..... The Allies reduce Bonne..... Battle of Eckeren..... The Prince of Hesse is defeated by the French at Spirebath..... Treaty between the Emperor and the Duke of Savoy..... The King of Portugal accedes to the Grand Alliance..... Sir Cloudesley Shovel sails with a Fleet to the Mediterranean..... Admiral Graydon's bootless Expedition to the West Indies..... Charles King of Spain arrives in England.

{ANNE, 1701—1714}



ANNE SUCCEEDS TO THE THRONE.

William was succeeded as sovereign of England by Anne princess of Denmark, who ascended the throne in the thirty-eighth year of her age, to the general satisfaction of all parties. Even the Jacobites seemed pleased with her elevation, on the supposition that as in all probability she would leave no heirs of her own body, the dictates of natural affection would induce her to alter the succession in favour of her own brother. She had been taught to cherish warm sentiments of the tories, whom she considered as the friends of monarchy, and the true sons of the church; and they had always professed an inviolable attachment to her person and interest; but her conduct was wholly influenced by the countess of Marlborough, a woman of an imperious temper and intriguing genius, who had been intimate with the princess from her tender years, and gained a surprising ascendancy over her. Anne had undergone some strange vicissitudes of fortune in consequence of her father's expulsion, and sustained a variety of mortifications in the late reign, during which she conducted herself with such discretion as left little or no pretence for censure or resentment. Such conduct indeed was in a great measure owing to a natural temperance of disposition not easily ruffled or inflamed. She was zealously devoted to the church of England, from which her father had used some endeavours to detach her before the Revolution; and she lived in great harmony with her husband, to whom she bore six children, all of whom she had already survived. William had no sooner yielded up his breath, than the privy-council in a body waited on the new queen, who, in a short but sensible speech, assured them that no pains nor diligence should be wanting on her part to preserve and support the religion, laws, and liberties of her country, to maintain the succession in the protestant line, and the government in church and state, as by law established. She declared her resolution to carry on the preparations for opposing the exorbitant power of France, and to assure the allies that she would pursue the true interest of England, together with theirs, for the support of the common cause. The members of the privy-council having taken the oaths, she ordered a proclamation to be published, signifying her pleasure that all persons in office of authority or government at the decease of the late king, should so continue till further directions. By virtue of an act passed in the late reign, the parliament continued sitting even after the king's death. Both houses met immediately, and unanimously voted an address of condolence and congratulation; and in the afternoon the queen was proclaimed. Next day the lords and commons severally attended her with an address, congratulating her majesty's accession to the throne; and assuring her of their firm resolution to support her against all her enemies whatsoever. The lords acknowledged that their great loss was no otherwise to be repaired but by a vigorous adherence to her majesty and her allies, in the prosecution of those measures already concerted to reduce the exorbitant power of France. The commons declared they would maintain the succession of the crown in the protestant line, and effectually provide for the public credit of the nation. These addresses were graciously received by the queen, who, on the eleventh day of March, went to the house of peers with the usual solemnity, where, in a speech to both houses, she expressed her satisfaction at their unanimous concurrence with her opinion, that too much could not be done for the encouragement of their allies in humbling the power of France; and desired they would consider of proper methods towards obtaining an union between England and Scotland. She observed to the commons that the revenue for defraying the expenses of civil government was expired; and that she relied entirely on their affection for its being supplied in such a manner as should be most suitable to the honour and dignity of the crown. She declared it should be her constant endeavour to make them the best return for their duty and affection, by a careful and diligent administration for the good of all her subjects. "And as I know my own heart to be entirely English (continued she) I can very sincerely assure you, there is not any thing you can expect or desire from me which I shall not be ready to do for the happiness and prosperity of England; and you shall always find me a strict and religious observer of my word." These assurances were extremely agreeable to the parliament; and she received the thanks of both houses. Addresses of congratulation were presented by the bishop and clergy of London; by the dissenters in and about that city; and by all the counties, cities, towns, and corporations of England. She declared her attachment to the church; she promised her protection to the dissenters; and received the compliments of all her subjects with such affability as ensured their affection.



THE ENGAGEMENTS OF HER PREDECESSOR WITH HIS ALLIES FULFILLED.

William's death was no sooner known at the Hague, than all Holland was filled with consternation. The states immediately assembled, and for some time gazed at each other in silent fear and astonishment. They sighed, wept, and interchanged embraces and vows that they would act with unanimity, and expend their clearest blood in defence of their country. Then they despatched letters to the cities and provinces, informing them of this unfortunate event, and exhorting them to union and perseverance. The express from England having brought the queen's speech to her privy-council, it was translated and published to revive the drooping spirits of the people. Next day pensionary Fagel imparted to the states of Holland a letter which he had received from the earl of Marlborough, containing assurances, in the queen's name, of union and assistance. In a few days, the queen wrote a letter in the French language to the States, confirming these assurances; it was delivered by Mr. Stanhope, whom she had furnished with fresh credentials as envoy from England. Thus animated, the states resolved to prosecute vigorous measures; their resolutions were still more inspirited by the arrival of the earl of Marlborough, whom the queen honoured with the order of the garter, and invested with the character of ambassador-extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the states-general; he was likewise declared captain general of her forces both at home and abroad. He assured the states that her Britannic majesty would maintain the alliances which had been concluded by the late king, and do every thing that the common concerns of Europe required. The speech was answered by Dickvelt, president of the week, who, in the name of the states, expressed their hearty thanks to her majesty, and their resolutions of concurring with her in a vigorous prosecution of the common interest.



A FRENCH MEMORIAL PRESENTED TO THE STATES-GENERAL.

The importance of William's life was evinced by the joy that diffused itself through the kingdom of France at the news of his decease. The person who first brought the tidings to Calais, was imprisoned by the governor until his information was confirmed. The court of Versailles could hardly restrain their transports so as to preserve common decorum; the people of Paris openly rejoiced at the event; all decency was laid aside at Rome, where this incident produced such indecent raptures, that cardinal Grimani, the imperial minister, complained of them to the pope, as an insult on his master the emperor, who was William's friend, confederate, and ally. The French king despatched credentials to Barre, whom the count D'Avaux had left at the Hague to manage the affairs of France, together with instructions to renew the negotiation with the states, in hope of detaching them from the alliance. This minister presented a memorial implying severe reflections on king William, and the past conduct of the Dutch; and insinuating that now they had recovered their liberty, the court of France hoped they would consult their true interest. The count de Goes, envoy from the emperor, animadverted on these expressions in another memorial, which was likewise published; the states produced in public an answer to the same remonstrance, expressing their resentment at the insolence of such insinuations, and their veneration for the memory of their late stadtholder. The earl of Marlborough succeeded in every part of his negotiation. He animated the Dutch to a full exertion of their vigour; he concerted the operations of the campaign; he agreed with the states-general and the imperial minister, that war should be declared against France on the same day at Vienna, London, and the Hague; and on the third of April embarked for England, after having acquired the entire confidence of those who governed the United Provinces.



QUEEN'S INCLINATION TO THE TORIES.

By this time the house of commons in England had settled the civil list upon the queen for her life. When the bill received the royal assent, she assured them that one hundred thousand pounds of this revenue should be applied to the public service of the current year; at the same time she passed another bill for receiving and examining the public accounts. A commission for this purpose was granted in the preceding reign, but had been for some years discontinued; and indeed always proved ineffectual to detect and punish those individuals who shamefully pillaged their country. The villany was so complicated, the vice so general, and the delinquents so powerfully screened by artifice and interest, as to elude all inquiry. On the twenty-fourth day of March the oath of abjuration was taken by the speaker and members, according to an act for the further security of her majesty's person, and the succession of the crown in the protestant line, and for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended prince of Wales. The queen's inclination to the tories plainly appeared in her choice of ministers. Doctor John Sharp, archbishop of York, became her ghostly director and counsellor in all ecclesiastical affairs; the earl of Rochester was continued lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and enjoyed a great share of her majesty's confidence; the privy-seal was intrusted to the marquis of Normandy; the earl of Nottingham and sir Charles Hedges were appointed secretaries of state; the earl of Abingdon, viscount Weymouth, lord Dartmouth, sir Christopher Musgrave, Grenville, Howe, Gower, and Harcourt, were admitted as members of the privy-council, together with sir Edward Seymour, now declared comptroller of the household. The lord Godolphin declined accepting the office of lord high-treasurer, until he was over-ruled by the persuasions of Marlborough, to whose eldest daughter his son was married. This nobleman refused to command the forces abroad, unless the treasury should be put into the hands of Godolphin, on whose punctuality in point of remittances he knew he could depend. George, prince of Denmark, was invested with the title of generalissimo of all the queen's forces by sea and land; and afterwards created lord high admiral, the earl of Pembroke having been dismissed from this office with the offer of a large pension, which he generously refused. Prince George, as admiral, was assisted by a council, consisting of sir George Rooke, sir David Mitch el, George Churchill, and Richard Hill. Though the legality of this board was doubted, the parliament had such respect and veneration for the queen, that it was suffered to act without question.



WAR DECLARED AGAINST FRANCE.

A rivalship for the queen's favour already appeared between the earls of Rochester and Marlborough. The former, as first cousin to the queen, and chief of the tory faction, maintained considerable influence in the council; but even there the interest of his rival predominated. Marlborough was not only the better courtier, but by the canal of his countess, actually directed the queen in all her resolutions. Rochester proposed in council, that the English should avoid a declaration of war with France, and act as auxiliaries only. He was seconded by some other members; but the opinion of Marlborough preponderated. He observed, that the honour of the nation was concerned to fulfil the late king's engagements; and affirmed that France could never be reduced within due bounds, unless the English would enter as principals in the quarrel. This allegation was supported by the dukes of Somerset and Devonshire, the earl of Pembroke, and the majority of the council. The queen being resolved to declare war, communicated her intention to the house of commons, by whom it was approved; and on the fourth day of May the declaration was solemnly proclaimed. The king of France was, in this proclamation, taxed with having taken possession of great part of the Spanish dominions; with designing to invade the liberties of Europe; and obstruct the freedom of navigation and commerce; with having offered an unpardonable insult to the queen and her throne, by taking upon him to declare the pretended prince of Wales king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The three declarations of the emperor, England, and the states-general, which were published in one day, did not fail to disconcert, as well as to provoke the French monarch. When his minister De Torcy recited them in his hearing, he spoke of the queen with some acrimony; but with respect to the states-general, he declared with great emotion, that "Messieurs the Dutch merchants should one day repent of their insolence and presumption, in declaring war against so powerful a monarch;" he did not, however, produce his declaration till the third day of July.



THE PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.

The house of commons, in compliance with the queen's desire, brought in a bill empowering her majesty to name commissioners to treat with the Scots for an union of the two kingdoms. It met with warm opposition from sir Edward Seymour and other tory members, who discharged abundance of satire and ridicule upon the Scottish nation; but the measure seemed so necessary at that juncture, to secure the protestant succession against the practices of France and the claims of the pretender, that the majority espoused the bill, which passed through both houses, and on the sixth day of May received the royal assent, together with some bills of less importance. The enemies of the late king continued to revile his memory. [107] [See note P, at the end of this Vol.] They even charged him with having formed a design of excluding the princess Anne from the throne, and of introducing the elector of Hanover as his own immediate successor. This report had been so industriously circulated, that it began to gain credit all over the kingdom. Several peers interested themselves in William's character, and a motion was made in the upper house that the truth of this report should be inquired into. The house immediately desired that those lords who had visited the late king's papers, would intimate whether or not they had found any among them relating to the queen's succession, or to the succession of the house of Hanover. They forthwith declared that nothing of that sort appeared. Then the house resolved, That the report was groundless, false, villanous, and scandalous, to the dishonour of the late king's memory, and highly tending to the disservice of her present majesty, whom they besought to give orders that the authors or publishers of such scandalous reports should be prosecuted by the attorney-general. The same censure was passed upon some libels and pamphlets tending to inflame the factions of the kingdom, and to propagate a spirit of irreligion. [108] [See note Q, at the end of this Vol.] On the twenty-first day of May, the commons in an address advised her majesty to engage the emperor, the states-general, and her other allies, to join with her in prohibiting all intercourse with France and Spain; and to concert such methods with the states-general as might most effectually secure the trade of her subjects and allies. The lords presented another address, desiring the queen would encourage her subjects to equip privateers, as the preparations of the enemy seemed to be made for a piratical war, to the interruption of commerce; they likewise exhorted her majesty to grant commissions or charters to all persons who should make such acquisitions in the Indies, as she in her great wisdom should judge most expedient for the good of her kingdoms. On the twenty-fifth day of May the queen having passed several public and private bills, [109] [See note R, at the end of this Vol.] dismissed the parliament by prorogation, after having in a short speech thanked them for their zeal, recommended unanimity, and declared she would carefully preserve and maintain the act of toleration.



WARM OPPOSITION TO THE MINISTRY IN THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT.

In Scotland a warm contest arose between the revolutioners and those in the opposition, concerning the existence of the present parliament. The queen had signified her accession to the throne in a letter to her privy-council for Scotland, desiring they would continue to act in that office until she should send a new commission. Meanwhile she authorized them to publish a proclamation ordaining all officers of state, counsellors, and magistrates, to act in all things conformably to the commissions and instructions of his late majesty until new commissions should be prepared. She likewise assured them of her firm resolution to protect them in their religion, laws, and liberties, and in the established government of the church. She had already, in presence of twelve Scottish counsellors, taken the coronation-oath for that kingdom; but those who wanted to embroil the affairs of their country, affirmed that this was an irregular way of proceeding, and that the oath ought to have been tendered by persons deputed for that purpose either by the parliament or the privy council of the kingdom. The present ministry, consisting of the duke of Queensberry, the earls of Marchmont, Melvil, Seafield, Hyndford, and Selkirk, were devoted to revolution principles, and desirous that the parliament should continue, in pursuance of a late act for continuing the parliament that should be then in being, six months after the death of the king, and that it should assemble in twenty days after that event. The queen had, by several adjournments, deferred the meeting almost three months after the king's decease; and therefore the anti-revolutioners affirmed that it was dissolved. The duke of Hamilton was at the head of this party which clamoured loudly for a new parliament. This nobleman, together with the marquis of Tweedale, the carls Marshal and Kothes, and many other noblemen, repaired to London in order to make the queen acquainted with their objections to the continuance of the present parliament. She admitted them to her presence and calmly heard their allegations; but she was determined by the advice of her privy-council for that kingdom, who were of opinion that the nation was in too great a ferment to hazard the convocation of a new parliament. According to the queen's last adjournment, the parliament met at Edinburgh on the ninth day of June, the duke of Queensberry having been appointed high commissioner. Before the queen's commission was read, the duke of Hamilton for himself and his adherents, declared their satisfaction at her majesty's accession to the throne, not only on account of her undoubted right by descent, but likewise because of her many personal virtues and royal qualities. He said they were resolved to sacrifice their lives and fortunes in defence of her majesty's right against all her enemies whatever; but, at the same time, they thought themselves bound in duty to give their opinion that they were not warranted by law to sit and act as a parliament. He then read a paper to the following effect:—That forasmuch as, by the fundamental laws and constitution of this kingdom, all parliaments do dissolve on the death of their sovereign, except in so far as innovated by an act in the preceding reign, that the parliament in being at his majesty's decease should meet and act what might be needful for the defence of the true protestant religion as by law established, and for the maintenance of the succession to the crown as settled by the claim of right, and for the preservation and security of the public peace; and seeing these ends are fully answered by her majesty's succession to the throne, we conceive ourselves not now warranted by law to meet, sit, or act; and therefore do dissent from anything that shall be done or acted. The duke having recited this paper, and formally protested against the proceedings of the parliament, withdrew with seventy-nine members amidst the acclamations of the people.



THEY RECOGNISE HER MAJESTY'S AUTHORITY.

Notwithstanding their secession, the commissioner, who retained a much greater number, produced the queen's letter signifying her resolution to maintain and protect her subjects in the full possession of their religion, laws, liberties, and the presbyterian discipline. She informed them of her having declared war against France; she exhorted them to provide competent supplies for maintaining such a number of forces as might be necessary for disappointing the enemy's designs, and preserving the present happy settlement; and she earnestly recommended to their consideration an union of the two kingdoms. The duke of Queensberry and the carl of Marchmont having enforced the different articles of this letter, committees were appointed for the security of the kingdom, for controverted elections, for drawing up an answer to her majesty's letter, and for revising the minutes. Meanwhile the duke of Hamilton and his adherents sent the lord Blantyre to London with an address to the queen, who refused to receive it, but wrote another letter to the parliament expressing her resolution to maintain their dignity and authority against all opposers. They, in answer to the former, had assured her that the groundless secession of some members should increase and strengthen their care and zeal for her majesty's service. They expelled sir Alexander Bruce for having given vent to some reflections against presbytery. The lord advocate prosecuted the faculty of advocates before the parliament for having passed a vote among themselves in favour of the protestation and address of the dissenting members. The faculty was severely reprimanded; but the whole nation seemed to resent the prosecution. The parliament passed an act for recognising her majesty's royal authority; another for adjourning the court of judicature called the session; a third declaring this meeting of parliament legal, and forbidding any person to disown, quarrel with, or impugn the dignity and authority thereof, under the penalty of high treason; a fourth for securing the true protestant religion and presbyterian church government; a fifth for a land tax; and a sixth, enabling her majesty to appoint commissioners for an union between the two kingdoms.



THE QUEEN APPOINTS COMMISSIONERS TO TREAT OF AN UNION.

The earl of Marchmont, of his own accord, and even contrary to the advice of the high commissioner, brought in a bill for abjuring the pretended prince of Wales; but this was not supported by the court party, as the commissioner had no instructions how to act on the occasion. Perhaps the queen and her English ministry resolved to keep the succession open in Scotland as a check upon the whigs and house of Hanover. On the thirtieth day of June the commissioner adjourned the parliament, after having thanked them for their cheerfulness and unanimity in their proceedings; and the chiefs of the opposite parties hastened to London to make their different representations to the queen and her ministry. In the meantime she appointed commissioners for treating about the union, and they met at the Cockpit on the twenty-second day of October. On the twentieth day of the next month they adjusted preliminaries, importing, That nothing agreed on among themselves should be binding except ratified by her majesty and the respective parliaments of both nations; and that unless all the heads proposed for the treaty were agreed to, no particular thing agreed on should be binding. The queen visited them in December, in order to quicken their mutual endeavours. They agreed that the two kingdoms should be inseparably united into one monarchy, under her majesty, her heirs, and successors, and under the same limitations according to the Acts of Settlement; but when the Scottish commissioners proposed that the rights and privileges of their company trading to Africa and the Indies should be preserved and maintained, such a difficulty arose as could not be surmounted, and no further progress was made in this commission. The tranquillity of Ireland was not interrupted by any new commotion. That kingdom was ruled by justices whom the earl of Rochester had appointed; and the trustees for the forfeited estates maintained their authority.



STATE OF AFFAIRS ON THE CONTINENT.

While Britain was engaged in these civil transactions, her allies were not idle on the continent. The old duke of Zell, and his nephew, the elector of Brunswick, surprised the dukes of Wolfenbuttle and Saxe-Gotha, whom they compelled to renounce their attachments to France, and concur in the common councils of the empire. Thus the north of Germany was reunited to the interest of the confederates; and the princes would have been in a condition to assist them effectually, had not the neighbourhood of the war in Poland deterred them from parting with their forces. England and the states-general endeavoured in vain to mediate a peace between the kings of Sweden and Poland. Charles was become enamoured of war and ambitious of conquest. He threatened to invade Saxony through the dominions of Prussia. Augustus retired to Cracow, while Charles penetrated to Warsaw, and even ordered the cardinal-primate to summon a diet for choosing a new king. The situation of affairs at this juncture was far from being favourable to the allies. The court of Vienna had tampered in vain with the elector of Bavaria, who made use of this negotiation to raise his terms with Louis. His brother, the elector of Cologn, admitted French garrisons into Liege and all his places on the Rhine. The elector of Saxony was too hard pressed by the king of Sweden to spare his full proportion of troops to the allies; the king of Prussia was overawed by the vicinity of the Swedish conqueror; the duke of Savoy had joined his forces to those of France, and overrun the whole state of Milan; and the pope, though he professed a neutrality, evinced himself strongly biassed to the French interests.

{ANNE, 1701—1714}



KEISEESWAERT AND LANDAU TAKEN.

The war was begun in the name of the elector-palatine with the siege of Keiserswaert, which was invested in the month of April by the prince of Nassau-Saarburgh, mareschal-du-camp to the emperor: under this officer the Dutch troops served as auxiliaries, because war had not yet been declared by the states-general. The French garrison made a desperate defence. They worsted the besiegers in divers sallies, and maintained the place until it was reduced to a heap of ashes. At length the allies made a general attack upon the counterscarp and ravelin, which they carried after a very obstinate engagement, with the loss of two thousand men. Then the garrison capitulated on honourable terms, and the fortifications were razed. During this siege, which lasted from the eighteenth day of April to the middle of June, count Tallard posted himself on the opposite side of the Rhine, from whence he supplied the town with fresh troops and ammunition, and annoyed the besiegers with his artillery; but finding it impossible to save the place, he joined the grand army commanded by the duke of Burgundy in the Netherlands. The siege of Keiserswaert was covered by a body of Dutch troops under the earl of Athlone, who lay encamped in the duchy of Cleve. Meanwhile general Coehorn, at the head of another detachment, entered Flanders, demolished the French lines between the forts of Donat and Isabella, and laid the chatellaine of Bruges under contribution; but a considerable body of French troops advancing under the marquis de Bedmar, and the count de la Motte, he overflowed the country, and retired under the Avails of Sluys. The duke of Burgundy, who had taken the command of the French army under Bouifflers, encamped at Zanten near Cleve, and laid a scheme for surprising Nimeguen; in which, however, he was baffled by the vigilance and activity of Athlone, who, guessing his design, marched thither and encamped under the cannon of the town. In the beginning of June, Landau was invested by prince Louis of Baden: in July, the king of the Romans arrived in the camp of the besiegers with such pomp and magnificence as exhausted his father's treasury. On the ninth day of September the citadel was taken by assault, and then the town surrendered.



PROGRESS OF THE EARL OF MARLBOROUGH.

When the earl of Marlborough arrived in Holland, the earl of Athlone, in quality of veldt-mareschal, insisted upon an equal command with the English general; but the states obliged him to yield this point in favour of Marlborough, whom they declared generalissimo of all their forces. In the beginning of July he repaired to the camp at Nimeguen, where he soon assembled an army of sixty thousand men, well provided with all necessaries; then he convoked a council of the general officers to concert the operations of the campaign. On the sixteenth day of the month he passed the Maese, and encamped at Overasselt, within two leagues and a half of the enemy, who had entrenched themselves between Goch and Gedap. He afterwards repassed the river below the Grave, and removed to Gravenbroeck, where he was joined by the British train of artillery from Holland. On the second day of August, he advanced to Petit Brugel, and the French retired before him, leaving Spanish Guelderkind to his discretion. He had resolved to hazard an engagement, and issued orders accordingly; but he was restrained by the Dutch deputies, who were afraid of their own interest in case the battle should have proved unfortunate. The duke of Burgundy, finding himself obliged to retreat before the allied army, rather than expose himself longer to such a mortifying indignity, returned to Versailles, leaving the command to Boufflers, who lost the confidence of Louis by the ill success of this campaign. The deputies of the states-general having represented to the earl of Marlborough the advantages that would accrue to Holland, from his dispossessing the enemy of the places they maintained in the Spanish Guelderland, by which the navigation of the Maese was obstructed, and the important town of Maestricht in a manner blocked up, he resolved to deliver them from such a troublesome neighbourhood. He detached general Schultz with a body of troops to reduce the town and castle of Werk, which were surrendered after a slight resistance. In the beginning of September he undertook the siege of Venlo, which capitulated on the twenty-fifth day of the month, after fort St. Michael had been stormed and taken by lord Cutts and the English volunteers, among whom the young earl of Huntingdon distinguished himself by very extraordinary acts of valour. Then the general invested Euremonde, which he reduced after a very obstinate defence, together with the fort of Stevensuaert, situated on the same river. Boufflers, confounded at the rapidity of Marlborough's success, retired towards Liege in order to cover that city; but, at the approach of the confederates, he retired with precipitation to Tongeren, from whence he directed his route towards Brabant, with a view to defend such places as the allies had no design to attack. When the earl of Marlborough arrived at Liege, he found the suburbs of St. Walburgh had been set on fire by the French garrison, who had retired into the citadel and the Chartreux. The allies took immediate possession of the city; and in a few days opened the trenches against the citadel, which was taken by assault. On this occasion, the hereditary prince of Hesse-Cassel charged at the head of the grenadiers, and was the first person who mounted the breach. Violani the governor, and the duke of Charost, were made prisoners. Three hundred thousand florins in gold and silver were found in the citadel, besides notes for above one million drawn upon substantial merchants in Liege, who paid the money. Immediately after this exploit, the garrison of the Chartreux capitulated on honourable terms, and were conducted to Antwerp. By the success of this campaign the earl of Marlborough raised his military character above all censure, and confirmed himself in the entire confidence of the states-general, who, in the beginning of the season, had trembled for Nimeguen, and now saw the enemy driven back into their own domains.



HE NARROWLY ESCAPES BEING TAKEN BY A FRENCH PARTISAN.

When the army broke up in November, the general repaired to Maestricht, from whence he proposed to return to the Hague by water. Accordingly he embarked in a large boat, with five-and-twenty soldiers under the command of a lieutenant. Next morning he was joined at Ruremonde by Coehorn in a larger vessel, with sixty men, and they were moreover escorted by fifty troopers, who rode along the bank of the river. The large boat outsailed the other, and the horsemen mistook their way in the dark. A French partisan, with five-and-thirty men from Gueldres, who lurked among the rushes in wait for prey, seized the rope by which the boat was drawn, hauled it ashore, discharged their small arms and hand-grenades, then rushing into it, secured the soldiers before they could put themselves in a posture of defence. The earl of Marlborough was accompanied by general Opdam, and mynheer Gueldermalsen, one of the deputies, who were provided with passports. The earl had neglected this precaution; but recollecting he had an old passport for his brother general Churchill, he produced it without any emotion, and the partisan was in such confusion that he never examined the date. Nevertheless, he rifled their baggage, carried off the guard as prisoners, and allowed the boat to proceed. The governor of Venlo receiving information that the earl was surprised by a party and conveyed to Gueldres, immediately marched out with his whole garrison to invest that place. The same imperfect account being transmitted to Holland, filled the whole province with consternation. The states forthwith assembling, resolved that all their forces should march immediately to Gueldres, and threaten the garrison of the place with the utmost extremities unless they would immediately deliver the general. But, before these orders could be despatched, the earl arrived at the Hague, to the inexpressible joy of the people, who already looked upon him as their saviour and protector.



THE IMPERIALISTS ARE WORSTED AT FEIDLINGUEN.

The French arms were not quite so unfortunate on the Rhine as in Flanders. The elector of Bwaria surprised the city of Ulm in Suabia by a stratagem, and then declared for France, which had by this time complied with all his demands. The diet of the empire assembled at Batisbon were so incensed at his conduct in seizing the city of Ulm by perfidy, that they presented a memorial to his Imperial majesty, requesting he would proceed against the elector according to the constitutions of the empire. They resolved, by a plurality of voices, to declare war in the name of the empire against the French king and the duke of Anjou, for having invaded several fiefs of the empire in Italy, the archbishopric of Cologn, and the diocese of Liege; and they forbade the ministers of Bavaria and Cologn to appear in the general diet. In vain did these powers protest against their proceedings. The empire's declaration of war was published and notified, in the name of the diet, to the cardinal of Limberg, the emperor's commissioner. Meanwhile the French made themselves masters of Neuburgh, in the circle of Suabia, while Louis prince of Baden, being weakened by sending off detachments, was obliged to lie inactive in his camp near Fridlinguen. The French army was divided into two bodies, commanded by the marquis de Villars and the count de Guiscard; and the prince thinking himself in danger of being enclosed by the enemy, resolved to decamp. Villars immediately passed the Rhine to fall upon him in his retreat, and an obstinate engagement ensuing, the Imperialists were overpowered by numbers. The prince having lost two thousand men, abandoned the field of battle to the enemy, together with his baggage, artillery, and ammunition, and retired towards Stauffen without being pursued. The French army, even after they had gained the battle, were unaccountably seized with such a panic, that if the Imperial general had faced them with two regiments he would have snatched the victory from Villars, who was upon this occasion saluted mareschal of France by the soldiers; and next day the town of Fridlinguen surrendered. The prince being joined by some troops under general Thungen and other reinforcements, resolved to give battle to the enemy; but Villars declined an engagement, and repassed the Rhine. Towards the latter end of October, count Tallard and the marquis de Lo-marie, with a body of eighteen thousand men, reduced Triers and Traerbach; on the other hand, the prince of Hesse-Cassel, with a detachment from the allied army at Liege, retook from the French the towns of Zinch, Lintz, Brisac, and Andernach.



BATTLE OF LUZZARA, IN ITALY.

In Italy prince Eugene laboured under a total neglect of the Imperial court, where his enemies, on pretence of supporting the king of the Romans in his first campaign, weaned the emperor's attention entirely from his affairs on the other side of the Alps, so that he left his best army to moulder away for want of recruits and reinforcements. The prince thus abandoned could not prevent the duke de Vendome from relieving Mantua, and was obliged to relinquish some other places he had taken. Philip, king of Spain, being inspired with the ambition of putting an end to the war in this country, sailed in person for Naples, where he was visited by the cardinal-legate with a compliment from the pope; yet he could not obtain the investiture of the kingdom from his holiness. The emperor, however, was so disgusted at the embassy which the pope had sent to Philip, that he ordered his ambassador at Eome to withdraw. Philip proceeded from Naples to Final under convoy of the French fleet which had brought him to Italy; here he had an interview with the duke of Savoy, who began to be alarmed at the prospect of the French king's being master of the Milanese; and, in a letter to the duke de Vendome, he forbade him to engage prince Eugene until he himself should arrive in the camp. Prince Eugene, understanding that the French army intended to attack Luzzara and Guastalla, passed the Po with an army of about half the number of the enemy, and posted himself behind the dike of Zero in such a manner that the French were ignorant of his situation. He concluded that on their arrival at the ground they had chosen, the horse would march out to forage, while the rest of the army would be employed in pitching tents and providing for their refreshment. His design was to seize that opportunity of attacking them, not doubting that he should obtain a complete victory; but he was disappointed by mere accident. An adjutant with an advanced guard had the curiosity to ascend the dike in order to view the country, when he discovered the Imperial infantry lying on their faces, and their horse in the rear, ranged in order of battle. The French camp was immediately alarmed, and as the intermediate ground was covered with hedges which obliged the assailants to defile, the enemy were in a posture of defence before the Imperialists could advance to action; nevertheless, the prince attacked them with great vivacity in hopes of disordering their line, which gave way in several places; but night interposing, he was obliged to desist, and in a few days the French reduced Luzzara and Guastalla. The prince, however, maintained his post, and Philip returned to Spain without having obtained any considerable advantage.



THE KING OF SWEDEN DEFEATS AUGUSTUS AT LISSOU.

The French king employed all his artifice and intrigues in raising up new enemies against the confederates. He is said to have bribed count Mansfield, president of the council of war at Vienna, to withhold the supplies from prince Eugene in Italy. At the Ottoman Porte he had actually gained over the vizier, who engaged to renew the war with the emperor. But the mufti and all the other great officers were averse to the design, and the vizier fell a sacrifice to their resentment. Louis continued to broil the kingdom of Poland by means of the cardinal-primate. The young king of Sweden advanced to Lissou, where he defeated Augustus. Then he took possession of Cracow, and raised contributions; nor could he be persuaded to retreat, although the Muscovites and Lithuanians had ravaged Livonia, and even made an irruption into Sweden.



FRUITLESS EXPEDITION TO CADIZ.

The operations of the combined squadrons at sea did not fully answer the expectation of the public. On the twelfth day of May, sir John Munden sailed with twelve ships to intercept a French squadron appointed as a convoy to a new viceroy of Mexico, from Corunna to the West Indies. On the twenty-eighth day of the month, he chased fourteen sail of French ships into Corunna.

Then he called a council of war, in which it was agreed that as the place was strongly fortified, and by the intelligence they had received, it appeared that seventeen of the enemy's ships of war rode at anchor in the harbour, it would be expedient for them to follow the latter part of their instructions, by which they were directed to cruise in soundings for the protection of the trade. They returned accordingly, and being distressed by want of provisions, came into port to the general discontent of the nation. For the satisfaction of the people, sir John Munden was tried by a court-martial and acquitted; but as this miscarriage had rendered him very unpopular, prince George dismissed him from the service. We have already hinted that king William had projected a scheme to reduce Cadiz, with intention to act afterwards against the Spanish settlements in the West Indies. This design queen Anne resolved to put in execution. Sir George Rooke commanded the fleet, and the duke of Ormond was appointed general of the land forces destined for this expedition. The combined squadrons amounted to fifty ships of the line, exclusive of frigates, fire-ships, and smaller vessels; and the number of soldiers embarked was not far short of fourteen thousand. In the latter end of June the fleet sailed from St. Helen's; on the twelfth of August they anchored at the distance of two leagues from Cadiz. Next day the duke of Ormond summoned the duke de Brancaccio, who was governor, to submit to the house of Austria; but that officer answered he would acquit himself honourably of the trust reposed in him by the king. On the fifteenth the duke of Ormond landed with his forces in the bay of Bulls, under cover of a smart fire from some frigates, and repulsed a body of Spanish cavalry; then he summoned the governor of Fort St. Catharine's to surrender, and received an answer, importing, that the garrison was prepared for his reception. A declaration was published in the Spanish language, intimating, that the allies did not come as enemies to Spain, but only to free them from the yoke of France, and assist them in establishing themselves under the government of the house of Austria. These professions produced very little effect among the Spaniards, who were either cooled in their attachment to that family, or provoked by the excesses of the English troops. These having taken possession of Fort St. Catharine and Port St. Mary's, instead of protecting, plundered the natives, notwithstanding the strict orders issued by the duke of Ormond to prevent this scandalous practice; even some general officers were concerned in the pillage. A battery was raised against Montagorda fort opposite to the Puntal; but the attempt miscarried, and the troops were re-embarked.



SPANISH GALLEONS TAKEN and DESTROYED.

Captain Hardy having been sent to water in Lagos bay, received intelligence that the galleons from the West Indies had put into Vigo under convoy of a French squadron. He sailed immediately in quest of sir George Rooke, who was now on his voyage back to England, and falling in with him on the sixth day of October, communicated the substance of what he had learned. Rooke immediately called a council of war, in which it was determined to alter their course and attack the enemy at Vigo. He forthwith detached some small vessels for intelligence, and received a confirmation that the galleons and the squadron commanded by Chateau Renault, were actually in the harbour. They sailed thither, and appeared before the place on the eleventh day of October. The passage into the harbour was narrow, secured by batteries, forts, and breast-works on each side; by a strong boom, consisting of iron chains, top-masts, and cables, moored at each end of a seventy-gun ship, and fortified within by five ships of the same strength lying athwart the channel with their broadsides to the offing. As the first and second rates of the combined fleets were too large to enter, the admirals shifted their flags into smaller ships; and a division of five-and-twenty English and Dutch ships of the line, with their frigates, fire-ships, and ketches, was destined for the service. In order to facilitate the attack, the duke of Ormond landed with five-and-twenty hundred men, at the distance of six miles from Vigo, and took by assault a fort and platform of forty pieces of cannon at the entrance of the harbour. The British ensign was no sooner seen flying at the top of this fort than the ships advanced to the attack. Vice-admiral Hop-son, in the Torbay, crowding all his sail, ran directly against the boom, which was broken by the first shock; then the whole squadron entered the harbour through a prodigious fire from the enemy's ships and batteries. These last, however, were soon stormed and taken by the grenadiers who had been landed. The great ships lay against the forts at each side of the harbour, which in a little time they silenced, though vice-admiral Hop-son narrowly escaped from a fire-ship by which he was boarded. After a very vigorous engagement, the French, finding themselves unable to cope with such an adversary, resolved to destroy their ships and galloons, that they might not fall into the hands of the victors. They accordingly burned and ran ashore eight ships and as many advice-boats; but ten ships of war were taken, together with eleven galleons. Though they had secured the best part of their plate and merchandize before the English fleet arrived, the value of fourteen millions of pieces of eight, in plate and rich commodities, was destroyed in six galleons that perished; and about half that value was brought off by the conquerors; so that this was a dreadful blow to the enemy, and a noble acquisition to the allies. Immediately after this exploit, sir George Rooke was joined by sir Cloudesley Shovel, who had been sent out with a squadron to intercept the galleons. This officer was left to bring home the prizes and dismantle the fortifications, while Rooke returned in triumph to England.



BENBOW'S ENGAGEMENT WITH DU CASSE.

The glory which the English acquired in this expedition was in some measure tarnished by the conduct of some officers in the West Indies. Thither admiral Benbow had been detached with a squadron of ten sail in the course of the preceding year. At Jamaica he received intelligence that monsieur Du Casse was in the neighbourhood of Hispaniola, and resolved to beat up to that island. At Leogane he fell in with a French ship of fifty guns, which her captain ran ashore and blew up. He took several other vessels, and having alarmed Petit-Guavas, bore away for Donna Maria bay, where he understood that Du Casse had sailed for the coast of Carthagena. Benbow resolved to follow the same course; and on the nineteenth of August discovered the enemy's squadron near Saint Martha, consisting of ten sail, steering along shore. He formed the line, and an engagement ensued, in which he was very ill seconded by some of his captains. Nevertheless, the battle continued till night, and he determined to renew it next morning, when he perceived all his ships at the distance of three or four miles astern, except the Ruby, commanded by captain George Walton, who joined him in plying the enemy with chase guns. On the twenty-first these two ships engaged the French squadron; and the Ruby was so disabled that the admiral was obliged to send her back to Jamaica. Next day the Greenwich, commanded by Wade, was five leagues astern; and the wind changing, the enemy had the advantage of the weather-gage. On the twenty-third the admiral renewed the battle with his single ship unsustained by the rest of the squadron. On the twenty-fourth his leg was shattered by a chain-shot; notwithstanding which accident, he remained on the quarter-deck in a cradle and continued the engagement. One of the largest ships of the enemy lying like a wreck upon the water, four sail of the English squadron poured their broadsides into her, and then ran to leeward without paying any regard to the signal for battle. Then the French bearing down upon the admiral with their whole force, shot away his main-top-sail-yard, and damaged his rigging in such a manner that he was obliged to lie by and refit, while they took their disabled ship in tow. During this interval he called a council of his captains, and expostulated with them on their behaviour. They observed, that the French were very strong, and advised him to desist. He plainly perceived that he was betrayed, and with the utmost reluctance returned to Jamaica, having not only lost a leg, but also received a large wound in his face, and another in his arm, while he in person attempted to board the French admiral. Exasperated at the treachery of his captains, he granted a commission to rear-admiral Whetstone and other officers, to hold a court-martial and try them for cowardice. Hudson, of the Pendennis, died before his trial: Kirby and Wade were convicted, and sentenced to be shot: Constable, of the Windsor, was cashiered and imprisoned: Vincent, of the Falmouth, and Fogg, the admiral's own captain of the Breda, were convicted of having signed a paper that they would not fight under Benbow's command; but as they behaved gallantly in the action, the court inflicted upon them no other punishment than that of a provisional suspension. Captain Walton had likewise joined in the conspiracy while he was heated with the fumes of intoxication, but he afterwards renounced the engagement, and fought with admirable courage until his ship was disabled. The boisterous manner of Benbow had produced this base confederacy. He was a rough seamen; but remarkably brave, honest, and experienced. [112] [See note S, at the end of this Vol.] He took this miscarriage so much to heart, that he became melancholy, and his grief co-operating with the fever occasioned by his wounds, put a period to his life. Wade and Kirby were sent home in the Bristol; and, on their arrival at Plymouth, shot on board of the ship, by virtue of a dead warrant for their immediate execution, which had lain there for some time. The same precaution had been taken in all the western ports, in order to prevent applications in their favour.

{ANNE, 1701—1714}



A NEW PARLIAMENT.

During these transactions the queen seemed to be happy in the affection of her subjects. Though the continuance of the parliament was limited to six months after the king's decease, she dissolved it by proclamation before the term was expired; and issued writs for electing another, in which the tory interest predominated. In the summer the queen gave audience to the count de Platens, envoy-extraordinary from the elector of Hanover; then she made a progress with her husband to Oxford, Bath, and Bristol, where she was received with all the marks of the most genuine affection. The new parliament meeting on the twentieth day of October, Mr. Harley was chosen speaker. The queen in her speech, declared that she had summoned them to assist her in carrying on the just and necessary war in which the nation was engaged. She desired the commons would inspect the accounts of the public receipts and payments, that if any abuses had crept into the management of the finances, they might be detected and the offenders punished. She told them that the funds assigned in the last parliament had not produced the sums granted; and that the deficiency was not supplied even by the one hundred thousand pounds which she had paid from her own revenue for the public service. She expressed her concern for the disappointment at Cadiz, as well as for the abuses committed at Port St. Mary's, which had obliged her to give directions for the strictest examination of the particulars. She hoped they would find time to consider of some better and more effectual method to prevent the exportation of wool, and improve that manufacture, which she was determined to encourage. She professed a firm persuasion, that the affection of her subjects was the surest pledge of their duty and obedience. She promised to defend and maintain the church as by law established; and to protect her subjects in the full enjoyment of all their rights and liberties. She protested, that she relied on their care of her: she said her interest and theirs were inseparable; and that her endeavours should never be wanting to make them all safe and happy. She was presented with a very affectionate address from either house, congratulating her upon the glorious success of her arms, and those of her allies, under the command of the earl of Marlborough: but that of the commons was distinguished by an implicated reproach on the late reign, importing, that the wonderful progress of her majesty's arms under the earl of Marlborough had signally "retrieved" the ancient honour and glory of the English nation. This expression had excited a warm debate in the house, in the course of which many severe reflections were made on the memory of king William. At length the question was put, whether the word "retrieved" should remain? and carried in the affirmative by a majority of one hundred.



DISPUTES BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES.

The strength of the tories appeared in nothing more conspicuous than in their inquiry concerning controverted elections. The borough of Hindon, near Salisbury, was convicted of bribery, and a bill brought in for disfranchising the town; yet no vote passed against the person who exercised this corruption, because he happened to be a tory. Mr. Howe was declared duly elected for Gloucestershire, though the majority of the electors had voted for the other candidate. Sir John Packington exhibited a complaint against the bishop of Worcester and his son, for having endeavoured to prevent his election: the commons having taken it into consideration, resolved, that the proceedings of William lord bishop of Worcester, and his son, had been malicious, unchristian, and arbitrary, in high violation of the liberties and privileges of the commons of England. They voted an address to the queen, desiring her to remove the father from the office of lord-almoner; and they ordered the attorney-general to prosecute the son, after his privilege as member of the convocation should be expired. A counter address was immediately voted and presented by the lords, beseeching her majesty would not remove the bishop of Worcester from the place of lord-almoner, until he should be found guilty of some crime by due course of law; as it was the undoubted right of every lord of parliament, and of every subject of England, to have an opportunity to make his defence before he suffers any sort of punishment. The queen said she had not as yet received any complaint against the bishop of Worcester; but she looked upon it as her undoubted right to continue or displace any servant attending upon her own person, when she should think proper. The peers having received this answer, unanimously resolved, That no lord of their house ought to suffer any sort of punishment by any proceedings of the house of commons, otherwise than according to the known and ancient rules and methods of parliament. When the commons attended the queen with their address against the bishop, she said she was sorry there was occasion for such a remonstrance, and that the bishop of Worcester should no longer continue to supply the place of her almoner. This regard to their address was a flagrant proof of her partiality to the tories, who seemed to justify her attachment by their compliance and liberality.



THE LORDS INQUIRE INTO THE CONDUCT OF SIR GEORGE ROOKE.

In deliberating on the supplies, they agreed to all the demands of the ministry. They voted forty thousand seamen, and the like number of land forces, to act in conjunction with those of the allies. For the maintenance of these last, they granted eight hundred and thirty-three thousand eight hundred and twenty-six pounds; besides three hundred and fifty thousand pounds for guards and garrisons; seventy thousand nine hundred and seventy-three pounds for ordnance; and fifty-one thousand eight hundred and forty-three pounds for subsidies to the allies. Lord Shannon arriving with the news of the success at Vigo, the queen appointed a day of thanksgiving for the signal success of her arms under the earl of Marlborough, the duke of Ormond, and sir George Rooke; and on that day, which was the twelfth of November, she went in state to St. Paul's church, attended by both houses of parliament. Next day the peers voted the thanks of their house to the duke of Ormond for his services at Vigo, and, at the same time, drew up an address to the queen, desiring she would order the duke of Ormond and sir George Rooke to lay before them an account of their proceedings: a request with which her majesty complied. These two officers were likewise thanked by the house of commons: vice-admiral Hopson was knighted, and gratified with a considerable pension. The duke of Ormond, at his return from the expedition, complained openly of Rooke's conduct, and seemed determined to subject him to a public accusation; but that officer was such a favourite among the commons, that the court was afraid to disoblige them by an impeachment, and took great pains to mitigate the duke's resentment. This nobleman was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and Rooke was admitted into the privy-council. A motion however being made in the house of lords, that the admiral's instructions and journals relating to the last expedition might be examined, a committee was appointed for that purpose, and prepared an unfavourable report; but it was rejected by a majority of the house; and they voted, That sir George Rooke had done his duty, pursuant to the councils of war, like a brave officer, to the honour of the British nation.



THE PARLIAMENT MAKE A SETTLEMENT ON PRINCE GEORGE OF DENMARK.

On the twenty-first day of November, the queen sent a message to the house of commons by Mr. Secretary Hedges, recommending further provision for the prince her husband, in case he should survive her. This message being considered, Mr. Howe moved, that the yearly sum of one hundred thousand pounds should be settled on the prince, in case he should survive her majesty. No opposition was made to the proposal; but warm debates were excited by a clause in the bill, exempting the prince from that part of the act of succession by which strangers, though naturalized, were rendered incapable of holding employments. This clause related only to those who should be naturalized in a future reign; and indeed was calculated as a restriction upon the house of Hanover. Many members argued against the clause of exemption, because it seemed to imply, that persons already naturalized would be excluded from employments in the next reign, though already possessed of the right of natural-born subjects, a consequence plainly contradictory to the meaning of the act. Others opposed it, because the lords had already resolved by a vote, that they would never pass any bill sent up from the commons, to which a clause foreign to the bill should be tacked; and this clause they affirmed to be a tack, as an incapacity to hold employments was a circumstance altogether distinct from a settlement in money. The queen expressed uncommon eagerness in behalf of this bill; and the court influence was managed so successfully that it passed through both houses, though not without an obstinate opposition, and a formal protest by seven-and-twenty peers.



EARL OF MARLBOROUGH CREATED A DUKE.

The earl of Marlborough arriving in England about the latter end of November, received the thanks of the commons for his great and signal services, which were so acceptable to the queen, that she created him a duke, gratified him with a pension of five thousand pounds upon the revenue of the post office during his natural life; and in a message to the commons, expressed a desire that they would find some method to settle it on the heirs male of his body. This intimation was productive of warm debates, during which sir Christopher Musgrave observed, that he would not derogate from the duke's eminent services; but he affirmed his grace had been very well paid for them by the profitable employments which he and his duchess enjoyed. The duke, understanding that the commons were heated by the subject, begged her majesty would rather forego her gracious message in his behalf, than create any uneasiness on his account, which might embarrass her affairs, and be of ill consequence to the public. Then she sent another message to the house, signifying that the duke of Marlborough had declined her interposition. Notwithstanding this declaration, the commons in a body presented an address, acknowledging the eminent services of the duke of Marlborough, yet expressing their apprehension of making a precedent to alienate the revenue of the crown, which had been so much reduced by the exorbitant grants of the late reign, and so lately settled and secured by her majesty's unparalleled grace and goodness. The queen was satisfied with their apology; but their refusal in all probability helped to alienate the duke from the tories, with whom he had been hitherto connected.



COMMERCE PROHIBITED BETWEEN HOLLAND, FRANCE, AND SPAIN.

In the beginning of January, the queen gave the house of commons to understand, that the states-general had pressed her to augment her forces, as the only means to render ineffectual the great and early preparations of the enemy. The commons immediately resolved, that ten thousand men should be hired, as an augmentation of the forces to act in conjunction with the allies; but on condition that an immediate stop should be put to all commerce and correspondence with France and Spain on the part of the states-general. The lords presented an address to the queen on the same subject, and to the same effect; and she owned that the condition was absolutely necessary for the good of the whole alliance. The Dutch, even after the declaration of war, had carried on a traffic with the French; and at this very juncture Louis found it impossible to make remittances of money to the elector of Bwaria in Germany, and to his forces in Italy, except through the channel of English, Dutch, and Geneva merchants. The states-general, though shocked at the imperious manner in which the parliament of England prescribed their conduct, complied with the demand without hesitation, and published a prohibition of all commerce with the subjects of France and Spain.



BILL FOR PREVENTING OCCASIONAL CONFORMITY.

The commons of this parliament had nothing more at heart than a bill against occasional conformity. The tories affected to distinguish themselves as the only true friends to the church and monarchy; and they hated the dissenters with a mixture of spiritual and political disgust. They looked upon these last as an intruding sect, which constituted great part of the whig faction that extorted such immense sums of money from the nation in the late reign, and involved it in pernicious engagements, from whence it had no prospect of deliverance. They considered them as encroaching schismatics that disgraced and endangered the hierarchy; and those of their own communion, who recommended moderation, they branded with the epithets of lukewarm christians, betrayers, and apostates. They now resolved to approve themselves zealous sons of the church, by seizing the first opportunity that was in their power to distress the dissenters. In order to pave the way to this persecution, sermons were preached, and pamphlets were printed, to blacken the character of the sect, and inflame the popular resentment against them. On the fourth day of November, Mr. Bromley, Mr. St. John, and Mr. Annesley, were ordered by the house of commons to bring in a bill for preventing occasional conformity. In the preamble, all persecution for conscience sake was condemned: nevertheless it enacted, that all those who had taken the sacrament and test for offices of trust, or the magistracy of corporations, and afterwards frequented any meeting of dissenters, should be disabled from holding their employments, pay a fine of one hundred pounds, and five pounds for every day in which they continued to act in their employment after having been at any such meeting: they were also rendered incapable of holding any other employment, till after one whole year's conformity; and, upon a relapse, the penalties and time of incapacity were doubled. The promoters of the bill alleged, that an established religion and national church were absolutely necessary, when so many impious men pretended to inspiration, and deluded such numbers of people: that the most effectual way to preserve this national church, would be the maintenance of the civil power in the hands of those who expressed their regard to the church in their principles and practice: that the parliament, by the corporation and test acts, thought they had raised a sufficient barrier to the hierarchy, never imagining that a set of men would rise up, whose consciences would be too tender to obey the laws, but hardened enough to break them: that, as the last reign began with an act in favour of dissenters, so the commons were desirous that in the beginning of her majesty's auspicious government an act should pass in favour of the church of England: that this bill did not intrench on the act of toleration, or deprive the dissenters of any privileges they enjoyed by law, or add any thing to the legal rights of the church of England: that occasional conformity was an evasion of the law, by which the dissenters might insinuate themselves into the management of all corporations: that a separation from the church, to which a man's conscience will allow him occasionally to conform, is a mere schism, which in itself was sinful, without the superaddition of a temporal law to make it an offence: that the toleration was intended only for the ease offender consciences, and not to give a license for occasional conformity: that conforming and non-conforming were contradictions; for nothing but a firm persuasion that the terms of communion required are sinful and unlawful, could justify the one; and this plainly condemns the other. The members who opposed the bill argued, that the dissenters were generally well affected to the present constitution: that to bring any real hardship upon them, or give rise to jealousies and fears at stich a juncture, might be attended with dangerous consequences; that the toleration had greatly contributed to the security and reputation of the church, and plainly proved that liberty of conscience and gentle measures were the most effectual means for increasing the votaries of the church, and diminishing the number of dissenters: that the dissenters could not be termed schismatics without bringing a heavy charge upon the church of England, which had not only tolerated such schism, but even allowed communion with the reformed churches abroad: that the penalties of this bill were more severe than those which the laws imposed on papists, for assisting at the most solemn act of their religion: in a word, that toleration and tenderness had been always productive of peace and union, whereas persecution had never failed to excite disorder and extend superstition. Many alterations and mitigations were proposed, without effect. In the course of the debate, the dissenters were mentioned and reviled with great acrimony; and the bill passed the lower house by virtue of a considerable majority.

The lords, apprehensive that the commons would tack it to some money-bill, voted, that the annexing any clause to a money-bill was contrary to the constitution of the English government, and the usage of parliament. The bill met with a very warm opposition in the upper house, where a considerable portion of the whig interest still remained. These members believed that the intention of the bill was to model corporations, so as to eject all those who would not vote in elections for the tories. Some imagined this was a preparatory step towards a repeal of the toleration; and others concluded that the promoters of the bill designed to raise such disturbances at home as would discourage the allies abroad, and render the prosecution of the war impracticable. The majority of the bishops, and among these Burnet of Sarum, objected against it on the principles of moderation, and from motives of conscience. Nevertheless, as the court supported this measure with its whole power and influence, the bill made its way through the house, though not without alterations and amendments, which were rejected by the commons. The lower house pretended, that the lords had no right to alter any fines and penalties that the commons should fix in bills sent up for their concurrence, on the supposition that those were matters concerning money, the peculiar province of the lower house; the lords ordered a minute inquiry to be made into all the rolls of parliament since the reign of Henry the Seventh; and a great number of instances were found, in which the lords had begun the clauses imposing fines and penalties, altered the penalties which had been fixed by the commons, and even changed the uses to which they were applied. The precedents were entered in the books; but the commons resolved to maintain their point without engaging in any dispute upon the subject. After warm debates, and a free conference between the two houses, the lords adhered to their amendments, though this resolution was carried by a majority of one vote only; the commons persisted in rejecting them; the bill miscarried, and both houses published their proceedings, by way of appeal to the nation. [114] [See note T, at the end of this Vol.] A bill was now brought into the lower house, granting another year's consideration to those who had not taken the oath abjuring the pretended prince of Wales. The lords added three clauses, importing, that those persons who should take the oath within the limited time might return to their benefices and employments, unless they should be already legally filled; that any person endeavouring to defeat the succession to the crown, as now limited by law, should be deemed guilty of high treason; and that the oath of abjuration should be imposed upon the subjects in Ireland. The commons made some opposition to the first clause; but at length the question being put, Whether they should agree to the amendments, it was carried in the affirmative by one voice.