AN INTERCEPTED LETTER.

He communicated to the commons a letter, written by the earl of Melfort to his brother the earl of Perth, governor to the pretended prince of Wales. It had been mislaid by, accident, and came to London in the French mail. It contained a scheme for another invasion of England, together with some reflections on the character of the earl of Middleton, who had supplanted him at the court of St. Germain's. Melfort was a mere projector, and seems to have had no other view than that of recommending himself to king James, and bringing his rival into disgrace. The house of lords, to whom the' letter was also imparted, ordered it to be printed. Next day they presented an address, thanking his majesty for his care of the protestant religion; desiring all the treaties made since the last war might be laid before them; requesting him to engage in such alliances as he should think proper for preserving the balance of power in Europe; assuring him of their concurrence; expressing their acknowledgment for his having communicated Melfort's letter; desiring he would give orders for seizing the horses and arms of disaffected persons; for removing papists from London; and for searching after those arms and provisions of war mentioned in the letter; finally, they requested him to equip speedily a sufficient fleet for the defence of himself and the kingdom. They received a gracious answer to this address, which was a further encouragement to the king to put his own private designs in execution; towards the same end the letter contributed not a little, by inflaming the fears and resentment of the nation against France, which in vain disclaimed the earl of Melfort as a fantastical schemer, to whom no regard was paid at the court of Versailles. The French ministry complained of the publication of this letter, as an attempt to sow jealousy between the two crowns; and as a convincing proof of their sincerity, banished the earl of Melfort to Angers.



SUCCESSION OF THE CROWN SETTLED.

The credit of exchequer bills was so lowered by the change of the ministry, and the lapse of the time allotted for their circulation, that they fell nearly twenty per cent, to the prejudice of the revenue, and the discredit of the government in foreign countries. The commons having taken this affair into consideration, voted, That provision should be made from time to time for making good the principal and interest due on all parliamentary funds; and afterwards passed a bill for renewing the bills of credit, commonly called exchequer bills. This was sent up to the lords on the sixth day of March, and on the thirteenth received the royal assent. The next object that engrossed the attention of the commons, was the settlement of the succession to the throne, which the king had recommended to their consideration in the beginning of the session. Having deliberated on this subject, they resolved, That for the preservation of the peace and happiness of the kingdom, and the security of the protestant religion, it was absolutely necessary that a further declaration should be made of the limitation and succession of the crown in the protestant line, after his majesty and the princess, and the heirs of their bodies respectively; and that further provision should be first made for the security of the rights and liberties of the people. Mr. Harley moved, That some conditions of government might be settled as preliminaries, before they should proceed to the nomination of the person, that their security might be complete. Accordingly, they deliberated on this subject, and agreed to the following resolutions; That whoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this crown, shall join in communion with the church of England as by law established; that in case the crown and imperial dignity of this realm shall hereafter come to any person, not being a native of this kingdom of England, this nation be not obliged to engage in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories which do not belong to the crown of England, without the consent of parliament; that no person who shall hereafter come to the possession of the crown, shall go out of the dominions of England, Scotland, or Ireland, without consent of parliament; that, from and after the time that the further limitation by this act shall take effect, all matters and things relating to the well-governing of this kingdom, which are properly cognizable in the privy-council, by the laws and customs of the realm, shall be transacted there, and all resolutions taken thereupon shall be signed by such of the privy-council as shall advise and consent to the same; that, after the limitation shall take effect, no person born out of the kingdom of England, Scotland, or Ireland, or the dominions thereunto belonging, although he be naturalized, and made a denizen (except such as are born of English parents), shall be capable to be of the privy-council, or a member of either house of parliament, or to enjoy any office or place of trust, either civil or military, or to have any grant of lands, tenements, or hereditaments from the crown to himself, or to any others in trust for him; that no person who has an office or place of profit under the king, or receives a pension from the crown, shall be capable of serving as a member of the house of commons; that, after the limitation shall take effect, judges' commissions be made quamdiu se bene gesserint, and their salaries ascertained and established; but upon the address of both houses of parliament, it may be lawful to remove them; but no pardon under the great seal of England be pleadable to an impeachment by the commons in parliament. Having settled these preliminaries, they resolved, that the princess Sophia, duchess dowager of Hanover, be declared the next in succession to the crown of England, in the protestant line, after his majesty, and the princess, and the heirs of their bodies respectively; and, that the further limitation of the crown be to the said princess Sophia and the heirs of her body, being protestants. A bill being formed on these resolutions, was sent up to the house of lords, where it met with some opposition from the marquis of Normanby; a protest was likewise entered against it by the earls of Huntingdon and Plymouth, and the lords Guilford and Jeffries. Nevertheless it passed without amendments, and on the twelfth day of June received the royal assent: the king was extremely mortified at the preliminary limitations, which he considered as an open insult on his own conduct and administration; not but that they were necessary precautions, naturally suggested by the experience of those evils to which the nation had been already exposed, in consequence of raising a foreign prince to the throne of England. As the tories lay under the imputation of favouring the late king's interest, they exerted themselves zealously on this occasion to wipe off the aspersion, and insinuate themselves into the confidence of the people; hoping that in the sequel they should be able to restrain the nation from engaging too deep in the affairs of the continent, without incurring the charge of disaffection to the present king and government. The act of settlement being passed, the earl of Macclesfield was sent to notify the transaction to the electress Sophia, who likewise received from his hands the order of the garter.

The act of succession gave umbrage to all the popish princes, who were more nearly related to the crown than this lady, whom the parliament had preferred to all others. The duchess of Savoy, grand-daughter to king Charles I. by her mother, ordered her ambassador, count Maffei, to make a protestation to the parliament of England, in her name, against all resolutions and decisions contrary to her title, as sole daughter to the princess Henrietta, next in succession to the crown of England, after king William and the princess Anne of Denmark. Two copies of this protest, Maffei sent in letters to the lord keeper and the speaker of the lower house, by two of his gentlemen, and a public notary to attest the delivery; but no notice was taken of the declaration. The duke of Savoy, while his minister was thus employed in England, engaged in an alliance with the crowns of France and Spain, on condition, That his catholic majesty should espouse his youngest daughter without a dowry; that he himself should command the allied army in Italy, and furnish eight thousand infantry, with five-and-twenty hundred horse, in consideration of a monthly subsidy of fifty thousand crowns.



INEFFECTUAL NEGOTIATION with FRANCE.

During these transactions, Mr. Stanhope, envoy extraordinary to the states-general, was empowered to treat with the ministers of France and Spain, according to the addresses of both houses of parliament. He represented, that though his most christian majesty had thought fit to deviate from the partition-treaty, it was not reasonable that the king of England should lose the effect of that convention; he therefore expected some security for the peace of Europe; and for that purpose insisted upon certain articles, importing, That the French king should immediately withdraw his troops from the Spanish Netherlands; that for the security of England, the cities of Ostend and Nieuport should be delivered into the hands of his Britannic majesty; that no kingdom, provinces, cities, lands, or places, belonging to the crown of Spain, should ever be yielded or transferred to the crown of France, on any pretence whatever; that the subjects of his Britannic majesty should retain all the privileges, rights, and immunities, with regard to their navigation and commerce in the dominions of Spain, which they enjoyed at the death of his late catholic majesty; and also all such immunities, rights, and franchises, as the subjects of France, or any other power, either possess for the present, or may enjoy for the future; that all treaties of peace and conventions between England and Spain should be renewed; and that a treaty formed on these demands should be guaranteed by such powers as one or other of the contractors should solicit and prevail upon to accede. Such likewise were the proposals made by the states-general, with this difference, that they demanded as cautionary towns, all the strongest places in the Netherlands. Count D'A vaux, the French minister, was so surprised at these exorbitant demands, that he could not help saying, They could not have been higher, if his master had lost four successive battles. He assured them that his most christian majesty would withdraw his troops from the Spanish Netherlands as soon as the king of Spain should have forces of his own sufficient to guard the country; with respect to the other articles, he could give no other answer, but that he would immediately transmit them to Versailles. Louis was filled with indignation at the insolent strain of those proposals, which he considered as a sure mark of William's hostile intentions. He refused to give any other security for the peace of Europe, than a renewal of the treaty of Ryswick; and he is said to have tampered, by means of his agents and emissaries, with the members of the English parliament, that they might oppose all steps tending to a new war on the continent.

{WILLIAM, 1688—1701.}



SEVERE ADDRESSES FROM BOTH HOUSES.

King William certainly had no expectation that France would close with such proposals; but he was not without hope that her refusal would warm the English nation into a concurrence with his designs. He communicated to the house of commons the demands which had been made by him and the states-general; and gave them to understand, that he would from time to time make them acquainted with the progress of the negotiation. The commons suspecting that his intention was to make them parties in a congress which he might conduct to a different end from that which they proposed, resolved to signify their sentiments in the answer to this message. They called for the treaty of partition, which being read, they voted an address of thanks to his majesty, for his most gracious declaration that he would make them acquainted with the progress of the negotiation; but they signified their disapprobation of the partition treaty, signed with the great seal of England, without the advice of the parliament which was then sitting, and productive of ill consequences to the kingdom, as well as to the peace of Europe, as it assigned over to the French king such a large portion of the Spanish dominion. Nothing could be more mortifying to the king than this open attack upon his own conduct, yet he suppressed his resentment, and without taking the least notice of their sentiments with respect to the partition treaty, assured them that he should be always ready to receive their advice on the negotiation which he had set on foot according to their desire. The debates in the house of commons upon the subject of the partition treaty rose to such violence, that divers members, in declaiming against it, transgressed the bounds of decency. Sir Edward Seymour compared the division which had been made of the Spanish territories, to a robbery on the highway; and Mr. Howe did not scruple to say it was a felonious treaty: an expression which the king resented to such a degree, that he declared he would have demanded personal satisfaction with his sword, had he not been restrained by the disparity of condition between himself and the person who had offered such an outrageous insult to his honour. Whether the tories intended to alienate the minds of the nation from all foreign connexions, or to wreak their vengeance on the late ministers, whom they hated as the chiefs of the whig party, certain it is, they now raised an universal outcry against the partition treaty, which was not only condemned in public pamphlets and private conversation, but even brought into the house of lords as an object of parliamentary censure. In the month of March a warm debate on this subject was begun by Sheffield marquis of Nonnanby, and carried on with great vehemence by other noblemen of the same faction. They exclaimed against the article by which so many territories were added to the crown of France; they complained, that the emperor had been forsaken; that the treaty was not communicated to the privy-council or ministry, but clandestinely transacted by the earls of Portland and Jersey; that the sanction of the great seal had been unjustly and irregularly applied, first to blank powers, and afterwards to the treaty itself. The courtiers replied, that the king had engaged in a treaty of partition at the desire of the emperor, who had agreed to every article except that relating to the duchy of Milan, and afterwards desired, that his majesty would procure for him the best terms he could obtain; above all things recommending secrecy, that he might not forfeit his interest in Spain, by seeming to consent to the treaty; that foreign negotiations being intrusted to the care of the crown, the king lay under no legal obligation to communicate such secrets of state to his council; far less was he obliged to follow their advice; and that the keeper of the great seal had no authority for refusing to apply it to any powers or treaty which the king should grant or conclude, unless they were contrary to law, which had made no provision for such an emergency.*

* In the course of this debate, the earl of Rochester reprehended some lords for speaking disrespectfully of the French king, observing that it was peculiarly incumbent on peers to treat monarchs with decorum and respect, as they derived their dignity from the crown. Another affirming that the French king was not only to be respected, but likewise to be feared: a certain lord replied, "He hoped no man in England need to be afraid of the French king; much less the peer who spoke last, who was too much a friend to that monarch to fear anything from his resentment."

The earl of Portland, apprehending that this tempest would burst upon his head, declared on the second day of the debate, that he had, by the king's order, communicated the treaty, before it was concluded, to the earls of Pembroke and Marlborough, the lords Lonsdale, Somers, Halifax, and secretary Vernon. These noblemen owned, that they had been made acquainted with the substance of it: that when they excepted to some particulars, they were told his majesty had carried the matter as far as it could be advanced, and that he could obtain no better terms; thus assured that every article was already settled, they said they no longer insisted upon particulars, but gave their advice that his majesty should not engage himself in any measure that would produce a new war, seeing the nation had been so uneasy under the last. After long debates, and great variety as well as virulence of altercation, the house agreed to an address in which they disapproved of the partition treaty, as a scheme inconsistent with the peace and safety of Europe, as well as prejudicial to the interest of Great Britain. They complained, that neither the instructions given to his plenipotentiaries, nor the draft of the treaty itself, had been laid before his majesty's council. They humbly besought him, that for the future he would, in all matters of importance, require and admit the advice of his natural born subjects of known probity and fortune; and that he would constitute a council of such persons, to whom he might impart all affairs which should any way concern him and his dominions. They observed, that interest and natural affection to their country would incline them to every measure that might tend to its welfare and prosperity; whereas strangers could not be so much influenced by these considerations; that their knowledge of the country would render them more capable than foreigners could be of advising his majesty touching the true interests of his kingdom; that they had exhibited such repeated demonstrations of their duty and affection, as must convince his majesty of their zeal in his service; nor could he want the knowledge of persons fit to be employed in all his secret and arduous affairs; finally, as the French king appeared to have violated the treaty of partition, they advised his majesty, in future negotiations with that prince, to proceed with such caution as might imply a real security.



WILLIAM IS OBLIGED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE KING OF SPAIN.

The king received this severe remonstrance with his usual phlegm; saying, it contained matter of very great moment; and he would take care that all treaties he made should be for the honour and safety of England. Though he deeply felt this affront, he would not alter his conduct towards the new ministers; but he plainly perceived their intention was to thwart him in his favourite measure, and humble him into a dependence upon their interest in parliament. On the last day of March, he imparted to the commons the French king's declaration, that he would grant no other security than a renewal of the treaty of Ryswick; so that the negotiation seemed to be at an end. He likewise communicated two resolutions of the states-general, with a memorial from their envoy in England, relating to the ships they had equipped with a view to join the English fleet, and the succours stipulated in the treaty concluded in the year 1677, which they desired might be sent over with all convenient expedition. The house having considered this message, unanimously resolved to desire his majesty would carry on the negotiations in concert with the states-general, and take such measures therein as might most conduce to their safety; they assured him they would effectually enable him to support the treaty of 1677, by which England was bound to assist them with ten thousand men, and twenty ships of war, in case they should be attacked. Though the king was nettled at that part of this address, which, by confining him to one treaty, implied their disapprobation of a new confederacy, he discovered no signs of emotion; but thanked them for the assurance they had given, and told them he had sent orders to his envoy at the Hague, to continue the conferences with the courts of Franco and Spain. On the nineteenth day of April, the marquis de Torcy delivered to the earl of Manchester, at Paris, a letter from the new king of Spain to his Britannic majesty, notifying his accession to that throne, and expressing a desire of cultivating a mutual friendship with the king and crown of England. How averse soever William might have been to any correspondence of this sort, the earl of Rochester and the new ministers importuned him in such a manner to acknowledge Philip, that he at length complied with their entreaties, and wrote a civil answer to his most catholic majesty. This was a very alarming incident to the emperor, who was bent upon a war with the two crowns, and had determined to send prince Eugene with an army into Italy, to take possession of the duchy of Milan as a fief of the empire. The new pope Clement XI., who had succeeded to the papacy in the preceding year, was attached to the French interest; the Venetians favoured the emperor; but they refused to declare themselves at this juncture.

The French king consented to a renewal of the negotiations at the Hague; but in the meantime tampered with the Dutch deputies, to engage them in a separate treaty. Finding them determined to act in concert with the king of England, he protracted the conferences in order to gain time, while he erected fortifications and drew lines on the frontiers of Holland, divided the princes of the empire by his intrigues, and endeavoured to gain over the states of Italy. The Dutch meanwhile exerted themselves in providing for their own security. They reinforced their garrisons, purchased supplies, and solicited succours from foreign potentates. The states wrote a letter to king William, explaining the danger of their situation, professing the most inviolable attachment to the interest of England, and desiring that the stipulated number of troops should be sent immediately to their assistance. The three Scottish regiments which he had retained in his own pay, were immediately transported from Scotland. The letter of the states-general he communicated to the house of commons, who having taken it into consideration, resolved to assist his majesty to support his allies in maintaining the liberty of Europe; and to provide immediate succours for the states-general, according to the treaty of 1677. The house of peers, to whom the letter was also communicated, carried their zeal still farther. They presented an address, in which they desired his majesty would not only perform the articles of any former treaty with the states-general, but also engage with them in a strict league offensive and defensive, for their common preservation; and invite into it all the princes and states that were concerned in the present visible danger arising from the union of Franco and Spain. They exhorted him to enter into such alliances with the emperor as his majesty should think necessary, pursuant to the ends of the treaty concluded in the year 1689. They assured him of their hearty and sincere assistance, not doubting that Almighty God would protect his sacred person in so righteous a cause; and that the unanimity, wealth, and courage of his subjects would carry him with honour and success through all the difficulties of a just war. Lastly, they took leave humbly to represent, that the dangers to which his kingdom and allies had been exposed, were chiefly owing to the fatal counsels that prevented his majesty's sooner meeting his people in parliament.

These proceedings of both houses could not but be very agreeable to the king, who expressed his satisfaction in his answer to each apart. They were the more remarkable, as at this very time considerable progress was made in a design to impeach the old ministry. This deviation therefore from the tenour of their former conduct, could be owing to no other motive than a sense of their own danger, and resentment against France, which, even during the negotiation, had been secretly employed in making preparations to surprise and distress the states-general. The commons having expressed their sentiments on this subject, resumed the consideration of the partition treaty. They had appointed a committee to examine the journals of the house of lords, and to report their proceedings in relation to the treaty of partition. When the report was made by sir Edward Seymour, the house resolved itself into a committee to consider the state of the nation; after warm debates they resolved, That William earl of Portland, by negotiating and concluding the treaty of partition, was guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor. They ordered sir John Leveson Gower to impeach him at the bar of the house of lords; and named a committee to prepare the articles of his impeachment. Then, in a conference with the lords, they desired to know the particulars of what had passed between the earl of Portland and secretary Vernon, in relation to the partition treaty, as also what other information they had obtained concerning negotiations or treaties of partition of the Spanish monarchy. The lords demurring to this demand, the lower house resolved to address the king, That copies of both treaties of partition, together with all the powers and instructions for negotiating those treaties, should be laid before them. The copies were accordingly produced, and the lords sent down to the commons two papers containing the powers granted to the earls of Portland and Jersey for signing both treaties of partition. The house afterwards ordered, That Mr. secretary Vernon should lay before them all the letters which had passed between the earl of Portland and him, in relation to those treaties; and he thought proper to obey their command. Nothing could be more scandalously partial than the conduct of the commons on this occasion. They resolved to screen the earl of Jersey, sir Joseph Williamson, and Mr. Vernon, who had been as deeply concerned as any others in that transaction; and pointed all their vengeance against the earls of Portland and Orford, and the lords Somers and Halifax. Some of the members even tampered with Kidd, who was now a prisoner in Newgate, to accuse lord Somers as having encouraged him in his piracy. He was brought to the bar of the house and examined; but he declared that he had never spoke to lord Somers; and that he had no order from those concerned in the ship, but that of pursuing his voyage against the pirates in Madagascar. Finding him unfit for their purpose, they left him to the course of law; and he was hanged with some of his accomplices.

{WILLIAM, 1688-1701.}



EARL OF ORFORD, &c, IMPEACHED.

Lord Somers, understanding that he was accused in the house of commons of having consented to the partition treaty, desired that he might be admitted and heard in his own defence. His request being granted, he told the house that when he received the king's letter concerning the partition treaty, with an order to send over the necessary powers in the most secret manner, he thought it would have been taking too much upon him to put a stop to a treaty of such consequence when the life of the king of Spain was so precarious; for, had the king died before the treaty was finished, and he been blamed for delaying the necessary powers, he could not have justified his own conduct, since the king's letter was really a warrant; that, nevertheless, he had written a letter to his majesty objecting to several particulars in the treaty, and proposing other articles which he thought were for the interest of his country; that he thought himself bound to put the great seal to the treaty when it was concluded; that, as a privy counsellor, he had offered his best advice, and as chancellor, executed his office according to his duty. After he had withdrawn, his justification gave rise to a long debate which ended in a resolution, carried by a majority of seven voices, That John lord Somers, by advising his majesty to conclude the treaty of partition, whereby large territories of the Spanish monarchy were to be delivered up to France, was guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor. Votes to the same effect were passed against Edward carl of Orford, and Charles lord Halifax; and all three were impeached at the bar of the upper house. But the commons knowing that those impeachments would produce nothing in the house of lords, where the opposite interest predominated, they resolved to proceed against the accused noblemen in a more expeditious and effectual way of branding their reputation. They voted and presented an address, to the king, desiring he would remove them from his councils and presence for ever, as advisers of a treaty so pernicious to the trade and welfare of England. They concluded by repeating their assurance that they would always stand by and support his majesty to the utmost of their power, against all his enemies both at home and abroad. The king, in his answer, artfully overlooked the first part of the remonstrance. He thanked them for their repeated assurances; and told them he would employ none in his service but such as should be thought most likely to improve that mutual trust and confidence between him and his people, which was so necessary at that conjuncture, both for their own security and the preservation of their allies.



DISPUTES BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES.

The lords, incensed at this step of the commons, which they considered as an insult upon their tribunal, and a violation of common justice, drew up and delivered a counter-address, humbly beseeching his majesty that he would not pass any censure upon the accused lords until they should be tried on the impeachments, and judgments be given according to the usage of parliament. The king was so perplexed by these opposite representations, that he knew not well what course to follow. He made no reply to the counter-address; but allowed the names of the impeached lords to remain in the council-books. The commons having carried their point, which was to stigmatize those noblemen and prevent their being employed for the future, suffered the impeachments to be neglected until they themselves moved for trial. On the fifth day of May the house of lords sent a message to the commons, importing, That no articles had as yet been exhibited against the noblemen whom they had impeached. The charge was immediately drawn up against the earl of Orford: him they accused of having received exorbitant grants from the crown; of having been concerned with Kidd the pirate; of having committed abuses in managing and victualling the fleet when it lay on the coast of Spain; and lastly, of having advised the partition treaty. The earl, in his own defence, declared that he had received no grant from the king except a very distant reversion, and a present of ten thousand pounds after he had defeated the French at La Hogue; that in Kidd's affair he had acted legally, and with a good intention towards the public, though to his own loss; that his accounts with regard to the fleet which he commanded had been examined and passed; yet he was ready to waive the advantage, and justify himself in every particular; and he absolutely denied that he had given any advice concerning the treaty of partition. Lord Somers was accused of having set the seals to the powers, and afterwards to the treaties; of having accepted some grants; of having been an accomplice with Kidd; and of having some guilt of partial and dilatory proceedings in chancery. He answered every article in the charge; but no replication was made by the commons either to him or the earl of Orford. When the commons were stimulated by another message from the peers, relating to the impeachments of the earl of Portland and lord Halifax, they declined exhibiting articles against the former on pretence of respect for his majesty; but on the fourteenth of June, the charge against Halifax was sent up to the lords. He was taxed with possessing a grant in Ireland, without paying the produce of it according to the law lately enacted concerning those grants; with enjoying another grant out of the forest of Deane, to the waste of the timber and the prejudice of the navy; with having held places that were incompatible, by being at the same time commissioner of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer; and with having advised the two treaties of partition. He answered, that his grant in Ireland was of debts and sums of money, and within the act concerning confiscated estates; that all he had ever received from it did not exceed four hundred pounds, which, if he was bound to repay, a common action would lie against him; but every man was not to be impeached who did not discharge his debts at the very day of payment. He observed, that as his grant in the forest of Deane extended to weedings only, it could occasion no waste of timber nor prejudice to the navy; that the auditor's place was held by another person, until he obtained the king's leave to withdraw from the treasury; that he never saw the first treaty of partition, nor was his advice asked upon the subject; that he had never heard of the second but once before it was concluded; and then he spoke his sentiments freely on the subject. This answer, like the others, would have been neglected by the commons, whose aim was now to evade the trials, had not the lords pressed them by messages to expedite the articles. They even appointed a day for Orford's trial, and signified their resolution to the commons. These desired that a committee of both houses should be named for settling preliminaries, one of which was, That the lord to be tried should not sit as a peer; and the other imported, That those lords impeached for the same matter should not vote in the trial of each other. They likewise desired that lord Somers should be first tried. The lords made no objection to this last demand; but they rejected the proposal of a committee consisting of both houses, alleging that the commons were parties, and had no title to sit in equality with the judges, or to settle matters relating to the trial; that this was a demand contrary to the principles of law and rules of justice, and never practised in any court or nation. The lords, indeed, had yielded to this expedient in the popish plot, because it was a case of treason, in which the king's life and safety of the kingdom were concerned, while the people were jealous of the court, and the whole nation was in a ferment; but at present the times were quiet, and the charge amounted to nothing more than misdemeanors; therefore the lords could not assent to such a proposal as was derogatory from their jurisdiction. Neither would they agree to the preliminaries; but on the twelfth day of June resolved, That no peer impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors should, upon his trial, be without the bar; and that no peer impeached could be precluded from voting on any occasion except in his own trial. Divers messages passed between the two houses,—the commons still insisting upon a committee to settle preliminaries; at length the dispute was brought to a free conference.



THE IMPEACHED LORDS ACQUITTED.

Meanwhile the king, going to the house of peers, gave the royal assent to the bill of succession. In his speech he expressed his warm acknowledgments for their repeated assurances of supporting him in such alliances as should be most proper for the preservation of the liberty of Europe, and for the security of England and the states-general. He observed that the season of the year was advanced; that the posture of affairs absolutely required his presence abroad; and he recommended despatch of the public business, especially of those matters which were of the greatest importance. The commons thanked him in an address for having approved of their proceedings: they declared they would support him in such alliances as he should think fit to make in conjunction with the emperor and the states-general, for the peace of Europe, and reducing the exorbitant power of France. They then resumed their dispute with the upper house. In the free conference, lord Haversham happened to tax the commons with partiality, in impeaching some lords and screening others who were equally guilty of the same misdemeanors. Sir Christopher Musgrave and the managers for the commons immediately withdrew; this unguarded sally being reported to the house, they immediately resolved, That John lord Haversham had uttered most scandalous reproaches and false expressions, highly reflecting upon the honour and justice of the house of commons, tending to a breach in the good correspondence between the two houses, and to the interruption of the public justice of the nation; that the said lord Haversham should be charged before the lords for the said words; that the lords should be desired to proceed in justice against him, and to inflict upon him such punishment as so high an offence against the commons did deserve. The commons had now found a pretence to justify their delay; and declared they would not renew the conference until they should have received satisfaction. Lord Haversham offered to submit to a trial; but insisted on their first proving the words which he was said to have spoken. When this declaration was imparted to the commons, they said the lords ought to have censured him in a summary way, and still refused to renew the conference. The lords, on the other hand, came to a resolution, That there should not be a committee of both houses concerning the trial of the impeached lords. Then they resolved, That lord Somers should be tried at Westminster-hall on Tuesday the seventeenth day of June, and signified this resolution to the lower house; reminding them, at the same time, of the articles against the earl of Portland. The commons refused to appear, alleging they were the only judges, and that the evidence was not yet prepared. They sent up the reasons of their nonappearance to the house of lords, where they were supported by the new ministry and all the malcontents, and produced very warm debates. The majority carried their point piecemeal by dint of different votes, against which very severe protests were entered. On the day appointed for the trial, they sent a message to the commons that they were going to Westminster-hall. The other impeached lords asked leave, and were permitted to withdraw. The articles of impeachment against lord Somers, and his answers, being read in Westminster-hall, and the commons not appearing to prosecute, the lords adjourned to their own house, where they debated concerning the question that was to be put. This being settled, they returned to Westminster-hall; and the question being put, "That John lord Somers be acquitted of the articles of impeachment against him, exhibited by the house of commons, and all things therein contained; and, That the impeachment be dismissed," it was carried by a majority of thirty-five. The commons, exasperated at these proceedings, resolved, That the lords had refused justice to the commons; that they had endeavoured to overturn the right of impeachment lodged in the commons by the ancient constitution of the kingdom; that all the ill consequences which might attend the delay of the supplies given for the preservation of the public peace, and the maintenance of the balance of Europe, would be owing to those who, to procure an indemnity for their own crimes, had used their utmost endeavours to make a breach between the two houses. The lords sent a message to the commons, giving them to understand that they had acquitted lord Somers and dismissed the impeachment, as nobody had appeared to support the articles; and that they had appointed next Monday for the trial of the earl of Orford. They resolved, That unless the charge against lord Haversham should be prosecuted by the commons before the end of the session, the lords would adjudge him innocent; that the resolutions of the commons on their late votes, contained most unjust reflections on the honour and justice of the peers; that they were contrived to cover their affected and unreasonable delays in prosecuting the impeached lords; that they manifestly tended to the destruction of the judicature of the lords; to the rendering trials on impeachments impracticable for the future, and to the subverting the constitution of the English government; that therefore, whatever ill consequence might arise from the so long deferring the supplies for this year's service, wore to be attributed to the fatal counsel of the putting off the meeting of a parliament so long, and to the unnecessary delays of the house of commons. On the twenty-third day of June, the articles of impeachment against Edward earl of Orford were read in Westminster-hall; but the house of commons having previously ordered that none of the members should appear at this pretended trial, those articles were not supported, so that his lordship was acquitted and the impeachment dismissed. Next day the impeachments against the duke of Leeds, which had lain seven years neglected, together with those against the earl of Portland and lord Halifax as well as the charge against lord Haversham, were dismissed for want of prosecution. Each house ordered a narrative of these proceedings to be published; and their mutual animosity had proceeded to such a degree of rancour as seemed to preclude all possibility of reconciliation. The commons, in the whole course of this transaction, had certainly acted from motives of faction and revenge; for nothing could be more unjust, frivolous, and partial, than the charge exhibited in the articles of impeachment, their anticipating address to the king, and their affected delay in the prosecution. Their conduct on this occasion was so flagrant as to attract the notice of the common people, and inspire the generality of the nation with disgust. This the whigs did not fail to augment by the arts of calumny, and, in particular, by insinuating that the court of Versailles had found means to engage the majority of the commons in its interest.



PETITION OF KENT.

This faction had, since the beginning of this session, employed their emissaries in exciting a popular aversion to the tory ministers and members, and succeeded so well in their endeavours, that they formed a scheme of obtaining petitions from different counties and corporations that should induce the commons to alter their conduct, on the supposition that it was contrary to the sense of the nation. In execution of this scheme, a petition signed by the deputy-lieutenants, above twenty justices of the peace, the grand jury and freeholders of the county of Kent, had been presented to the house of commons on the eighteenth of May, by five gentlemen of fortune and distinction. The purport of this remonstrance was to recommend union among themselves, and confidence in his majesty, whose great actions for the nation could never be forgotten without the blackest ingratitude; to beg they would have regard to the voice of the people; that their religion and safety might be effectually provided for; that their loyal addresses might be turned into bills of supply; and that his most sacred majesty might be enabled powerfully to assist his allies before it should be too late. The house was so incensed at the petulance of the petition, that they voted it scandalous, insolent, and seditious; and ordered the gentlemen who had presented it to be taken into custody. They were afterwards committed to the Gate-house, where they remained till the prorogation of parliament; but they had no reason to repine at their imprisonment, which recommended them to the notice and esteem of the public. They were visited and caressed by the chiefs of the whig interest, and considered as martyrs to the liberties of the people. Their confinement gave rise to a very extraordinary paper, entitled, "A memorial from the gentlemen, freeholders, and inhabitants of the counties of———, in behalf of themselves and many thousands of the good people of England." It was signed Legion, and sent to the speaker in a letter, commanding him, in the name of two hundred thousand Englishmen, to deliver it to the house of commons. In this strange expostulation, the house was charged with illegal and unwarrantable practices in fifteen particulars; a new claim of right was ranged under seven heads; and the commons were admonished to act according to their duty, as specified in this memorial, on pain of incurring the resentment of an injured nation. It was concluded in these words—"For Englishmen are no more to be slaves to parliaments than to kings-our name is Legion, and we are many." The commons were equally provoked and intimidated by this libel, which was the production of one Daniel de Foe, a scurrilous party-writer in very little estimation. They would not, however, deign to take notice of it in the house; but a complaint being made of endeavours to raise tumults and seditions, a committee was appointed to draw up an address to his majesty, informing him of those seditious endeavours, and beseeching him to provide for the public peace and security.

The house, however, perceiving plainly that they had incurred the odium of the nation, which began to clamour for a war with France, and dreading the popular resentment, thought fit to change their measures with respect to this object, and present the address we have already mentioned, in which they promised to support him in the alliances he should contract with the emperor and other states in order to bridle the exorbitant power of France. They likewise proceeded in earnest upon the supply, and voted funds for raising about two millions seven hundred thousand pounds to defray the expense of the ensuing year. They voted thirty thousand seamen, and resolved that ten thousand troops should be transported from Ireland to Holland, as the auxiliaries stipulated in the treaty of 1677 with the states-general. The funds were constituted of a land-tax, certain duties on merchandise, and a weekly deduction from the excise, so as to bring down the civil list to six hundred thousand pounds, as the duke of Gloucester was dead, and James' queen refused her allowance. They passed a bill for taking away all privileges of parliament in legal prosecutions during the intermediate prorogations; their last struggle with the lords was concerning a bill for appointing commissioners to examine and state the public accounts. The persons nominated for this purpose were extremely obnoxious to the majority of the peers, as violent partizans of the tory faction; when the bill, therefore, was sent up to the lords, they made some amendments which the commons rejected. The former animosity between the two houses began to revive, when the king interrupted their disputes by putting an end to the session on the twenty-fourth day of Juno, after having thanked the parliament for their zeal in the public service, and exhorted them to a discharge of their duties in their several counties. He was, no doubt, extremely pleased with such an issue of a session that had began with a very inauspicious aspect. His health daily declined; but he concealed the decay of his constitution, that his allies might not be discouraged from engaging in a confederacy of which he was deemed the head and chief support. He conferred the command of the ten thousand troops destined for Holland upon the earl of Marlborough, and appointed him at the same time his plenipotentiary to the states-general, a choice that evinced his discernment and discretion; for that nobleman surpassed all his contemporaries both as a general and a politician. He was cool, penetrating, intrepid, and persevering, plausible, insinuating, artful, and dissembling.



PROGRESS OF PRINCE EUGENE.

A regency being established, the king embarked for Holland in the beginning of July. On his arrival at the Hague he assisted at an assembly of the states-general, whom he harangued in very affectionate terms, and was answered with great cordiality; then he made a progress round the frontiers to examine the state of the garrisons, and gave such orders and directions as he judged necessary for the defence of the country. Meanwhile, the French minister D'Avaux, being recalled from the Hague, delivered a letter to the states from the French king, who complained that they had often interrupted the conferences, from which no good fruits were to be expected; but he assured them it wholly depended upon themselves whether they should continue to receive marks of his ancient friendship for their republic. The letter was accompanied by an insolent memorial, to which the states-general returned a very spirited answer. As they expected nothing now but hostilities from France, they redoubled their diligence in making preparations for their own defence. They repaired their fortifications, augmented their army, and hired auxiliaries. King William and they had already engaged in an alliance with the king of Denmark, who undertook to furnish a certain number of troops in consideration of a subsidy; and they endeavoured to mediate a peace between Sweden and Poland; but this they could not effect. France had likewise offered her mediation between those powers in hopes of bringing over Sweden to her interest; and the court of Vienna had tampered with the king of Poland; but he persisted in his resolution to prosecute the war. The Spaniards began to be very uneasy under the dominion of their new master. They were shocked at the insolence of his French ministers and attendants, and much more at the manners and fashions which they introduced. The grandees found themselves very little considered by their sovereign, and resented his economy; for he had endeavoured to retrench the expense of the court, which had used to support their magnificence. Prince Eugene, at the head of the Imperial army, had entered Italy by Vicenza, and passed the Adige near Carpi, where he defeated a body of five thousand French forces. The enemy were commanded by the duke of Savoy, assisted by mareschal Catinat and the prince of Vaudemont, who did not think proper to hazard an engagement; but mareschal Villeroy arriving in the latter end of August with orders to attack the Imperialists, Catinat retired in disgust. The new general marched immediately towards Chiari, where prince Eugene was intrenched, and attacked his camp; but met with such a reception that he was obliged to retire with the loss of five thousand men. Towards the end of the campaign the prince took possession of all the Mantuan territories, except Mantua itself, and Goito, the blockade of which he formed. He reduced all the places on the Oglio, and continued in the field during the whole winter, exhibiting repeated marks of the most invincible courage, indefatigable vigilance, and extensive capacity in the art of war. In January he had well nigh surprised Cremona, by introducing a body of men through an old aqueduct. They forced one of the gates, by which the prince and his followers entered; Villeroy, being awakened by the noise, ran into the street where he was taken; and the town must have been infallibly reduced, had prince Eugene been joined by another body of troops which he had ordered to march from the Parmesan and secure the bridge. These not arriving at the time appointed, an Irish regiment in the French service took possession of the bridge, and the prince was obliged to retire with his prisoner.

{WILLIAM, 1688-1701.}



SITUATION OF AFFAIRS IN EUROPE.

The French king, alarmed at the activity and military genius of the Imperial general, sent a reinforcement to his army in Italy, and the duke of Vendome to command his forces in that country; he likewise importuned the duke of Savoy to assist him effectually; but that prince having obtained all he could expect from France, became cold and backward. His second daughter was by this time married to the new king of Spain, who met her at Barcelona, where he found himself involved in disputes with the states of Catalonia, who refused to pay a tax he had imposed until their privileges should be confirmed; and he was obliged to gratify them in this particular. The war continued to rage in the north. The young king of Sweden routed the Saxons upon the river Danu: thence he marched into Courland and took possession of Mittau without opposition; while the king of Poland retired into Lithuania. In Hungary the French emissaries endeavoured to sow the seeds of a new revolt. They exerted themselves with indefatigable industry in almost every court of Christendom. They had already gained over the elector of Bavaria, and his brother the elector of Cologn, together with the dukes of Wolfenbuttle and Saxe-Gotha, who professed neutrality, while they levied troops and made such preparations for war as plainly indicated that they had received subsidies from France. Louis had also extorted a treaty of alliance from the king of Portugal, who was personally attached to the Austrian interest; but this weak prince was a slave to his ministers, whom the French king had corrupted. During this summer, the French coasts were over-awed by the combined fleets of England and Holland under the command of sir George Rooke, who sailed down the channel in the latter end of August, and detached vice-admiral Benbow with a strong squadron to the West Indies. In order to deceive the French king with regard to the destination of this fleet, king William demanded the free use of the Spanish harbours, as if his design had been to send a squadron to the Mediterranean; but he met with a repulse, while the French ships were freely admitted. About this period the king revoked his letters-patent to the commissioners of the admiralty, and constituted the earl of Pembroke lord high-admiral of England, in order to avoid the factions, the disputes, and divided counsels of a board. The earl was no sooner promoted to this office than he sent captain Loades with three frigates to Cadiz, to bring home the sea-stores and effects belonging to the English in that place before the war should commence; and this piece of service was successfully performed. The French king, in order to enjoy all the advantages that could be derived from his union with Spain, established a company to open a trade with Mexico and Peru; and concluded a new Assiento treaty for supplying the Spanish plantations with negroes. At the same time he sent a strong squadron to the port of Cadiz. The French dress was introduced into the court of Spain; and by a formal edict, the grandees of that kingdom and the peers of France were put on a level in each nation. There was no vigour left in the councils of Spain; her finances were exhausted; and her former spirit seemed to be quite extinguished; the nobility were beggars, and the common people overwhelmed with indigence and distress. The condition of France was not much more prosperous. She had been harassed by a long war, and now saw herself on the eve of another, which in all probability would render her completely miserable.



TREATY OF ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE EMPEROR AND THE MARITIME POWERS.

These circumstances were well known to the emperor and the maritime powers, and served to animate their negotiations for another grand alliance. Conferences were opened at the Hague; and on the seventh day of September a treaty was concluded between his Imperial majesty, England, and the states-general. The objects proposed were to procure satisfaction to the emperor in the Spanish succession, and sufficient security for the dominions and commerce of the allies. They engaged to use their endeavours for recovering the Spanish Netherlands as a barrier between Holland and France, and for putting the emperor in possession of the duchy of Milan, Naples, and Sicily, with the lands and islands upon the coast of Tuscany belonging to the Spanish dominions. They agreed that the king of England and the states-general should keep and possess whatever lands and cities they should conquer from the Spaniards in the Indies; that the confederates should faithfully communicate their designs to one another; that no party should treat of peace or truce but jointly with the rest; that they should concur in preventing the union of France and Spain under the same government, and hinder the French from possessing the Spanish Indies; that in concluding a peace, the confederates should provide for the maintenance of the commerce carried on by the maritime powers to the dominions taken from the Spaniards, and secure the states by a barrier; that they should at the same time settle the exercise of religion in the new conquests; that they should assist one another with all their forces in case of being invaded by the French king, or any other potentate, on account of this alliance; that a defensive alliance should remain between them even after the peace; that all kings, princes, and states should be at liberty to engage in this alliance. They determined to employ two months to obtain by amicable means the satisfaction and security which they demanded; and Stipulated that within six weeks the treaty should be ratified.



DEATH OF KING JAMES.

On the sixteenth day of September king James expired at St. Germain's, after having laboured under a tedious indisposition. This unfortunate monarch, since the miscarriage of his last attempt for recovering his throne, had laid aside all thoughts of worldly grandeur, and devoted his whole attention to the concerns of his soul. Though he could not prevent the busy genius of his queen from planning new schemes of restoration, he was always best pleased when wholly detached from such chimerical projects. Hunting was his chief diversion; but religion was his constant care. Nothing could be more harmless than the life he led; and in the course of it he subjected himself to uncommon penance and mortification. He frequently visited the poor monks of la Trappe, who were much edified by his humble and pious deportment. His pride and arbitrary temper seem to have vanished with his greatness. He became affable, kind, and easy to all his dependents; and his religion certainly opened and improved the virtues of his heart, though it seemed to impair the faculties of his soul. In his last illness he conjured his son to prefer his religion to every worldly advantage, and even to renounce all thoughts of a crown if he could not enjoy it without offering violence to his faith. He recommended to him the practice of justice and christian forgiveness; he himself declaring that he heartily forgave the prince of Orange, the emperor, and all his enemies. He died with great marks of devotion, and was interred, at his own request, in the church of the English Benedictines in Paris without any funeral solemnity.



LOUIS OWNS THE PRETENDED PRINCE OF WALES AS KING OF ENGLAND.

Before his death he was visited by the French king, who seemed touched with his condition, and declared that, in case of his death, he would own his son as king of England. This promise James' queen had already extorted from him by the interest of madame de Main-tenon and the dauphin. Accordingly, when James died, the pretended prince of Wales was proclaimed king of England at St. Germain's, and treated as such at the court of Versailles. His title was likewise recognised by the king of Spain, the duke of Savoy, and the pope. William was no sooner informed of this transaction, than he despatched a courier to the king of Sweden, as guarantee of the treaty of Ryswick, to complain of this manifest violation. At the same time he recalled the earl of Manchester from Paris, and ordered him to return without taking an audience of leave. That nobleman immediately withdrew, after having intimated to the marquis de Torcy the order he had received. Louis, in vindication of his own conduct, dispersed through all the courts of Europe a manifesto, in which he affirmed, that in owning the prince of Wales as king of England, he had not infringed any article of the treaty of Ryswick, He confessed that in the fourth article he had promised that he would not disturb the king of Great Britain in the peaceable possession of his dominions; and he declared his intention was to observe that promise punctually. He observed that his generosity would not allow him to abandon the prince of Wales or his family; that he could not refuse him a title which was due to him by birth; that he had more reason to complain of the king of Great Britain and the states-general, whose declarations and preparations in favour of the emperor might be regarded as real contraventions to treaties; finally, he quoted some instances from history in which the children enjoyed the titles of kingdoms which their fathers had lost. These reasons, however, would hardly have induced the French king to take such a step, had not he perceived that a war with England was inevitable; and that he should be able to reap some advantages in the course of it from espousing the cause of the pretender.

The substance of the French manifesto was published in London, by Poussin the secretary of Tallard, who had been left in England as agent for the court of Versailles. He was now ordered to leave kingdom, which was filled with indignation at Louis for having pretended to declare who ought to be their sovereign. The city of London presented an address to the lords-justices, expressing the deepest resentment of the French king's presumption; assuring his majesty that they would at all times exert the utmost of their abilities for the preservation of his person, and the defence of his just rights, in opposition to all invaders of his crown and dignity. Addresses of the same nature were sent up from all parts of the kingdom, and could not but be agreeable to William. He had now concerted measures for acting with vigour against France; and he resolved to revisit his kingdom after having made a considerable progress in a treaty of perpetual alliance between England and the states-general, which was afterwards brought to perfection by his plenipotentiary, the earl of Marlborough. The king's return, however, was delayed a whole month by a severe indisposition, during which the Spanish minister de Quiros hired certain physicians to consult together upon the state and nature of his distemper. They declared that he could not live many weeks; and this opinion was transmitted to Madrid. William however baffled the prognostic, though his constitution had sustained such a rude shock that he himself perceived his end was near. He told the earl of Portland he found himself so weak that he could not expect to live another summer; but charged him to conceal this circumstance until he should be dead. Notwithstanding this near approach to dissolution, he exerted himself with surprising diligence and spirit in establishing the confederacy, and settling the plan of operations. A subsidiary treaty was concluded with the king of Prussia, who engaged to furnish a certain number of troops. The emperor agreed to maintain ninety thousand men in the field against France; the proportion of the states was limited to one hundred and two thousand; and that of England did not exceed forty thousand, to act in conjunction with the allies.

On the fourth day of November the king arrived in England, which he found in a strange ferment, produced from the mutual animosity of the two factions. They reviled each other in words and writing with all the falsehood of calumny, and all the bitterness of rancour; so that truth, candour, and temperance, seemed to be banished by consent of both parties. The king had found himself deceived in his new ministers, who had opposed his measures with all their influence. He was particularly disgusted with the deportment of the earl of Rochester, who proved altogether imperious and intractable; and, instead of moderating, inflamed the violence of his party. The king declared the year in which that nobleman directed his councils was the un-easiest of his whole life. He could not help expressing his displeasure in such a coldness of reserve, that Rochester told him he would serve his majesty no longer since he did not enjoy his confidence. William made no answer to this expostulation, but resolved he should see him no more. The earl, however, at the desire of Mr. Harley, became more pliant and submissive; and, after the king's departure for Holland, repaired to his government of Ireland, in which he now remained exerting all his endeavours to acquire popularity. William foreseeing nothing but opposition from the present spirit of the house of commons, closeted some of their leaders with a view to bespeak their compliance; but finding them determined to pursue their former principles, and to insist upon their impeachments, he resolved, with the advice of his friends, to dissolve the parliament. This step he was the more easily induced to take, as the commons were become extremely odious to the nation in general, which breathed nothing but war and defiance against the French monarch. The parliament was accordingly dissolved by proclamation, and another summoned to meet on the thirtieth day of December.



THE KING'S LAST SPEECH TO BOTH HOUSES.

Never did the two parties proceed with such heat and violence against each other, as in their endeavours to influence the new elections. The whigs, however, obtained the victory, as they included the monied-interest, which will always prevail among the borough electors. Corruption was now reduced into an open and avowed commerce; and, had not the people been so universally venal and profligate that no sense of shame remained, the victors must have blushed for their success. Though the majority thus obtained was staunch to the measures of the court, the choice of speaker fell upon Mr. Harley, contrary to the inclination of the king, who favoured sir Thomas Lyttleton; but his majesty's speech was received with universal applause. It was so much admired by the well-wishers to the revolution, that they printed it with decorations in the English, Dutch, and French languages. It appeared as a piece of furniture in all their houses, and as the king's last legacy to his own and all protestant people. In this celebrated harangue, he expatiated upon the indignity offered to the nation by the French king's acknowledging the pretended prince of Wales; he explained the dangers to which it was exposed by his placing his grandson on the throne of Spain; he gave them to understand he had concluded several alliances according to the encouragement given him by both houses of parliament, which alliances should be laid before them, together with other treaties still depending. He observed, that the eyes of all Europe were upon this parliament; and all matters at a stand until their resolution should be known: therefore no time ought to be lost. He told them they had yet an opportunity to secure for themselves and their posterity the quiet enjoyment of their religion and liberties, if they were not wanting to themselves, but would exert the ancient vigour of the English nation; but he declared his opinion was that should they neglect this occasion, they had no reason to hope for another. He said it would be necessary to maintain a great strength at sea, and a force on land proportionable to that of their allies. He pressed the commons to support the public credit, which could not be preserved without keeping sacred that maxim, That they shall never be losers who trust to the parliamentary security. He declared that he never asked aids from his people without regret; that what he desired was for their own safety and honour at such a critical time; and that the whole should be appropriated to the purposes for which it was intended. He expressed his willingness that the accounts should be yearly submitted to the inspection of parliament. He again recommended despatch, together with good bills for employing the poor, encouraging trade, and suppressing vice. He expressed his hope that they were come together determined to avoid disputes and differences, and to act with a hearty concurrence for promoting the common cause. He said he should think it as great a blessing as could befal England, if they were as much inclined to lay aside those unhappy fatal animosities which divided and weakened them, as he was disposed to make all his subjects safe and easy, even as to the highest offences committed against his person. He conjured them to disappoint the hopes of their enemies by their unanimity. As he had always shown, and always would show, how desirous he was to be the common father of all his people, he desired they would lay aside parties and divisions, so as that no distinction should be heard of amongst them, but of those who were friends to the protestant religion and present establishment, and of those who wished for a popish prince and a French government. He concluded by affirming, that if they in good earnest desired to see England hold the balance of Europe, and be indeed at the head of the protestant interest, it would appear by their improving the present opportunity, The lords immediately drew up a warm and affectionate address, in which they expressed their resentment of the proceedings of the French king in owning the pretended prince of Wales for king of England. They assured his majesty they would assist him to the utmost of their power against all his enemies: and when it should please God to deprive them of his majesty's protection, they would vigorously assist and defend against the pretended prince of Wales, and all other pretenders whatsoever, every person and persons who had right to succeed to the crown of England by virtue of the acts of parliament for establishing and limiting the succession. On the fifth day of January. an address to the same effect was presented by the commons, and both met with a very gracious reception from his majesty. The lords, as a further proof of their zeal, having taken into consideration the dangers that threatened Europe, from the accession of the duke of Anjou to the crown of Spain, drew up another address explaining their sense of that danger; stigmatizing the French king as a violator of treaties; declaring their opinion that his majesty, his subjects, and allies, could never be safe and secure until the house of Austria should be restored to their rights, and the invader of the Spanish monarchy brought to reason; and assuring his majesty that no time should be lost, nor any thing wanting on their parts, which might answer the reasonable expectations of their friends abroad; not doubting but to support the reputation of the English name, when engaged under so great a prince, in the glorious cause of maintaining the liberty of Europe.

The king, in order to awake the confidence of the commons, ordered Mr. secretary Vernon to lay before them copies of the treaties and conventions he had lately concluded, which were so well approved that the house unanimously voted the supply. By another vote they authorized the exchequer to borrow six hundred thousand pounds at six per cent, for the service of the fleet, and fifty thousand pounds for the subsistence of guards and garrisons. They deliberated upon the state of the navy, with the debt due upon it, and examined an estimate of what would be necessary for extraordinary repairs. They called for an account of that part of the national debt for which no provision had been made. The ordered the speaker to write to the trustees for the forfeited estates in Ireland, to attend the house with a full detail of their proceedings in the execution of that act of parliament. On the ninth day of January, they unanimously resolved, That leave be given to bring in a bill for securing his majesty's person, and the succession of the crown in the protestant line, for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended prince of Wales, and all other pretenders, and their open and secret abettors. They resolved to address his majesty that he would insert an article in all his treaties of alliance, importing, That no peace should be made with France until his majesty and the nation have reparation for the great indignity offered by the French king, in owning and declaring the pretended prince of Wales king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. They agreed to maintain forty thousand men for the sea service, and a like number by land, to act in conjunction with the forces of the allies, according to the proportions settled by the contracting powers. The supplies were raised by an imposition of four shillings in the pound upon lands, annuities, pensions, and stipends, and on the profits arising from the different professions; by a tax of two and one-half per cent, on all stock in trade and money at interest; of five shillings in the pound on all salaries, fees, and perquisites; a capitation tax of four shillings; an imposition of one per cent, on all shares in the capital stock of any corporation or company which should be bought, sold, or bargained for; a duty of sixpence per bushel on malt, and a farther duty on mum, cyder, and perry.



THE BILL OF ABJURATION PASSED.

The commons seemed to vie with the lords in their zeal for the government. They brought in a bill for attainting the pretended prince of Wales, which being sent up to the other house, passed with an additional clause of attainder against the queen, who acted as regent for the pretender. This however was not carried without great opposition in the house of lords. When the bill was sent back to the commons, they excepted to the amendment as irregular. They observed that attainders by bill constituted the most rigorous part of the law; and that the stretching of it ought to be avoided. They proposed that the queen should be attainted by a separate bill. The lords assented to the proposal; and the bill against the pretended prince of Wales passed. The lords passed another for attainting the queen; however it was neglected in the house of commons. But the longest and warmest debates of this session were produced by a bill, which the lords brought in, for abjuring the pretended prince of Wales, and swearing to the king by the title of rightful and lawful king, and his heirs, according to the act of settlement. It was proposed that this oath should be voluntary, tendered to all persons, and their subscription or refusal recorded without any other penalty. This article was violently opposed by the earl of Nottingham, and the other lords of the tory interest. They observed, that the government was first settled with another oath, which was like an original contract; so that there was no occasion for a new imposition; that oaths relating to men's opinions had been always considered as severe impositions; and that a voluntary oath was in its own nature unlawful. During these disputes, another bill of abjuration was brought into the house of commons by sir Charles Hedges, that should be obligatory on all persons who enjoyed employments in church or state; it likewise included an obligation to maintain the government in king, lords, and commons, and to maintain the church of England, together with the toleration for dissenters. Warm debates arose upon the question, Whether the oath should be imposed or voluntary; and at length it was carried for imposition by the majority of one voice. They agreed to insert an additional clause, declaring it equally penal to compass or imagine the death of her royal highness the princess Anne of Denmark, as it was to compass or imagine the death of the king's eldest son and heir. In the house of peers this bill was strenuously opposed by the tories; and when, after long debates, it passed on the twenty-fourth day of February, ten lords entered a protest against it, as an unnecessary and severe imposition.

The whole nation now seemed to join in the cry for a war with France. Party heats began to abate; the factions in the city of London were in a great measure moderated by the union of the two companies trading to the East Indies, which found their mutual interest required a coalition. The tories in the house of commons having concurred so heartily with the inclinations of the people, resolved, as far it lay in their power, to justify the conduct of their party in the preceding parliament. They complained of some petitions and addresses which had reflected upon the proceedings of the last house of commons, and particularly of the Kentish petition. The majority, however, determined that it was the undoubted right of the people of England to petition or address the king for the calling, sitting, or dissolving of parliaments, and for the redressing of grievances; and that every subject under any accusation, either by impeachment or otherwise, had a right to be brought to a speedy trial. A complaint being likewise made that the lords had denied the commons justice in the matter of the late impeachments, a furious debate ensued; and it was carried by a very small majority that justice had not been denied. In some points, however, they succeeded: in the case of a controverted election at Maidstone, between Thomas Blisse and Thomas Culpepper, the house resolved, That the latter had been not only guilty of corrupt, scandalous, and indirect practices, in endeavouring to procure himself to be elected a burgess, but likewise being one of the instruments in promoting and presenting the scandalous, insolent, and seditious petition, commonly called the Kentish petition, to the last house of commons, was guilty of promoting a scandalous, villainous, and groundless reflection upon that house, by aspersing the members with receiving French money, or being in the interest of France; for which offence he was ordered to be committed to Newgate, and to be prosecuted by his majesty's attorney-general. They also resolved, That to assert that the house of commons is not the only representative of the commons of England, tends to the subversion of the rights and privileges of the house of commons, and the fundamental constitution of the government of this kingdom; that to assert that the house of commons have no power of commitment, but of their own members, tends to the subversion of the constitution of the house of commons; that to print or publish any books or libels reflecting upon the proceedings of the house of commons, or any member thereof, for or relating to his service therein, is a high violation of the rights and privileges of the house of commons. Notwithstanding these transactions, they did not neglect the vigorous prosecution of the war. They addressed his majesty to interpose with his allies that they might increase their quotas of land forces, to be put on board the fleet in proportion to the numbers his majesty should embark. When they had settled the sums appropriated to the several uses of the war, they presented a second address desiring he would provide for the half-pay officers in the first place, in the recruits and levies to be made. The king assured them it was always his intention to provide for those officers. He went to the house of peers and gave the royal assent to an act appointing commissioners to take, examine, and determine the debts due to the army, navy, and the transport service; and also to take an account of prizes taken during the war.



AFFAIRS OF IRELAND.

The affairs of Ireland were not a little embarrassed by the conduct of the trustees appointed to take cognizance of the forfeited estates. Their office was extremely odious to the people as well as to the court, and their deportment was arbitrary and imperious. Several individuals of that kingdom, provoked by the insolence of the trustees on one hand, and encouraged by the countenance of the courtiers on the other, endeavoured by a circular letter to spirit up the grand jury of Ireland against the act of resumption: petitions were presented to the king, couched in very strong terms, affirming that it was injurious to the protestant interest, and had been obtained by gross misinformations. The king having communicated these addresses to the house, they were immediately voted scandalous, false, and groundless; and the commons resolved, That notwithstanding the complaints and clamours against the trustees, it did not appear to the house but those complaints were groundless; nevertheless they afterwards received several petitions imploring relief against the said act; and they ordered that the petitioners should be relieved accordingly. Proposals were delivered in for incorporating such as should purchase the said forfeitures, on certain terms therein specified, according to the rent-roll, when verified and made good to the purchasers; but whereas in this rent-roll the value of the estates had been estimated at something more than seven hundred and sixteen thousand pounds, those who undertook to make the purchase affirmed they were not worth five hundred thousand pounds; and thus the affair remained in suspense.



THE KING RECOMMENDS AN UNION.

With respect to Scotland, the clamours of that kingdom had not yet subsided. When the bill of abjuration passed in the house of peers, the earl of Nottingham had declared that although he differed in opinion from the majority in many particulars relating to that bill, yet he was a friend to the design of it; and in order to secure a protestant succession, he thought an union of the whole island was absolutely necessary. He therefore moved for an address to the king that he would dissolve the parliament of Scotland now sitting, as the legality of it might be called in question, on account of its having been originally a convention; and that a new parliament should be summoned that they might treat about an union of the two kingdoms. The king had this affair so much to heart, that even when he was disabled from going to the parliament in person, he sent a letter to the commons expressing an eager desire that a treaty for this purpose might be set on foot, and earnestly recommending this affair to the consideration of the house; but as a new parliament in Scotland could not be called without a great risk, while the nation was in such a ferment, the project was postponed to a more favourable opportunity.



HE FALLS FROM HIS HORSE.

Before the king's return from Holland, he had concerted with his allies the operations of the ensuing campaign. He had engaged in a negotiation with the prince of Hesse D'Armstadt, who assured him that if he would besiege and take Cadiz, the admiral of Castile, and divers other grandees of Spain, would declare for the house of Austria. The allies had also determined upon the siege of Keyserswaert, which the elector of Cologn had delivered into the hands of the French; the elector of Hanover had resolved to disarm the princes of Wolfenbuttle; the king of the Romans, and prince Louis of Baden, undertook to invest Landau; and the emperor promised to send a powerful reinforcement to prince Eugene in Italy; but William did not live to see these schemes put in execution. His constitution was by this time almost exhausted, though he endeavoured to conceal the effects of his malady, and to repair his health by exercise. On the twenty-first day of February, in riding to Hampton-court from Kensington, his horse fell under him, and he himself was thrown upon the ground with such violence as produced a fracture in his collar-bone. His attendants conveyed him to the palace of Hampton-court, where the fracture was reduced by Ronjat, his sergeant-surgeon. In the evening he returned to Kensington in his coach, and the two ends of the fractured bone having been disunited by the jolting of the carriage, were replaced under the inspection of Bidloo, his physician. He seemed to be in a fair way of recovering till the first day of March, when his knee appeared to be inflamed, with great pain and weakness. Next day he granted a commission under the great seal to several peers, for passing the bills to which both houses of parliament had agreed; namely, the act of attainder against the pretended prince of Wales, and another in favour of the quakers, enacting, That their solemn affirmation and declaration should be accepted instead of an oath in the usual form.

{WILLIAM, 1688-1701.}



HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER.

On the fourth day of March the king was so well recovered of his lameness that he took several turns in the gallery at Kensington; but sitting down on a couch where he fell asleep, he was seized with a shivering, which terminated in a fever and diarrhoea. He was attended by sir Thomas Millington, sir Richard Black-more, sir Theodore Colledon, Dr. Bidloo, and other eminent physicians; but their prescriptions proved ineffectual. On the sixth he granted another commission for passing the bill for the malt tax, and the act of abjuration; and being so weak that he could not write his name, he, in presence of the lord-keeper and the clerks of parliament, applied a stamp prepared for the purpose. The earl of Albemarle arriving from Holland, conferred with him in private on the posture of affairs abroad; but he received his informations with great coldness, and said, "Je tire vers ma fin—I approach the end of my life." In the evening he thanked Dr. Bidloo for his care and tenderness, saying, "I know that you and the other learned physicians have done all that your art can do for my relief; but, finding all means ineffectual, I submit." He received spiritual consolation from archbishop Tennison, and Burnet bishop of Salisbury; on Sunday morning the sacrament was administered to him. The lords of the privy-council and divers noblemen attended in the adjoining apartments, and to some of them who were admitted he spoke a little. He thanked lord Auverquerque for his long and faithful services; he delivered to lord Albemarle the keys of his closet and scrutoire, telling him he knew what to do with them. He inquired for the earl of Portland; but being speechless before that nobleman arrived, he grasped his hand and laid it to his heart, with marks of the most tender affection. On the eighth day of March he expired, in the fifty-second year of his age, after having reigned thirteen years. The lords Lexington and Scarborough, who were in waiting, no sooner perceived that the king was dead, than they ordered Ronjat to untie from his left arm a black ribbon, to which was affixed a ring containing some hair of the late queen Mary. The body being opened and embalmed, lay in state for some time at Kensington; and on the twelfth day of April was deposited in a vault of Henry's chapel in Westminster-abbey. In the beginning of May, a will which he had intrusted with Monsieur Schuylemberg was opened at the Hague. In this he had declared his cousin prince Frison of Nassau, stadtholder of Friesland, his sole and universal heir, and appointed the states-general his executors. By a codicil annexed, he had bequeathed the lordship of Breevert, and a legacy of two hundred thousand guilders, to the earl of Albemarle.

William III. was in his person of the middle stature, a thin body, a delicate constitution, subject to an asthma and continual cough from his infancy. He had an aquiline nose, sparkling eyes, a large forehead, and a grave solemn aspect. He was very sparing of speech; his conversation was dry, and his manner disgusting, except in battle, when his deportment was free, spirited, and animating. In courage, fortitude, and equanimity, he rivalled the most eminent warriors of antiquity; and his natural sagacity made amends for the defects in his education, which had not been properly superintended. He was religious, temperate, generally just and sincere, a stranger to violent transports of passion, and might have passed for one of the best princes of the age in which he lived, had he never ascended the throne of Great Britain. But the distinguishing criterion of his character was ambition. To this he sacrificed the punctilios of honour and decorum, in deposing his own father-in-law and uncle; and this he gratified at the expense of the nation that raised him to sovereign authority. He aspired to the honour of acting as umpire in all the contests of Europe; and the second object of his attention was the prosperity of that country to which he owed his birth and extraction. Whether he really thought the interests of the continent and Great Britain were inseparable, or sought only to drag England into the confederacy as a convenient ally, certain it is he involved these kingdoms in foreign connexions which in all probability will be productive of their ruin. In order to establish this favourite point, he scrupled not to employ all the engines of corruption by which the morals of the nation were totally debauched. He procured a parliamentary sanction for a standing army, which now seems to be interwoven in the constitution. He introduced the pernicious practice of borrowing upon remote funds; an expedient that necessarily hatched a brood of usurers, brokers, contractors, and stock-jobbers, to prey upon the vitals of their country. He entailed upon the nation a growing debt, and a system of politics big with misery, despair, and destruction. To sum up his character in a few words—William was a fatalist in religion, indefatigable in war, enterprising in politics, dead to all the warm and generous emotions of the human heart, a cold relation, an indifferent husband, a disagreeable man, an ungracious prince, and an imperious sovereign.



NOTES:

[Footnote 001: Note A, p. 1. The council consisted of the prince of Denmark, the archbishop of Canterbury, the duke of Norfolk, the marquises of Halifax and Winchester, the earls of Danby, Lindsey, Devonshire, Dorset, Middlesex, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Bedford, Bath, Macclesfield, and Nottingham; the viscounts Fauconberg, Mordaunt, Newport, Lumley; the lords Wharton, Montague, Delamere, Churchill; Mr. Bentinck, Mr. Sidney, sir Robert Howard, sir Henry Capel, Mr. Powle, Mr. Russel, Mr. Hambden, and Mr. Boseawen.]

[Footnote 002: Note B, p. 2. This expedient was attended with an insurmountable absurdity. If the majority of the convention could not grant a legal sanction to the establishment they had made, they could never invest the prince of Orange with a just right to ascend the throne; for they could not give what they had no right to bestow; and if he ascended the throne without a just title, he could have no right to sanctify that assembly to which he owed his elevation. When the people are obliged, by tyranny or other accidents, to have recourse to the first principles of society, namely, their own preservation, in electing a new sovereign, it will deserve consideration, whether that choice is to be effected by the majority of a parliament which has been dissolved, indeed by any parliament whatsoever, or by the body of the nation assembled in communities, corporations, by tribes or centuries, to signify their assent or dissent with respect to the person proposed as their sovereign. This kind of election might be attended with great inconvenience and difficulty, but these cannot possibly be avoided when the constitution is dissolved by setting aside the lineal succession to the throne. The constitution of England is founded on a parliament consisting of kings, lords, and commons; but when there is no longer a king, the parliament is defective, and the constitution impaired: the members of the lower house are the representatives of the people, expressly chosen to maintain the constitution in church and state, and sworn to support the rights of the crown, as well as the liberties of the nation; but though they are elected to maintain, they have no power to alter, the constitution. When the king forfeits the allegiance of his subjects, and it becomes necessary to dethrone him, the power of so doing cannot possibly reside in the representatives who are chosen, under certain limitations, for the purposes of a legislature which no longer exists; their power is of course at an end, and they are reduced to a level with other individuals that constitute the community. The right of altering the constitution, therefore, or of deviating from the established practice of inheritance in regard to the succession of the crown, is inherent in the body of the people; and every individual has an equal right to his share in the general determination, whether his opinion be signified viva voce, or by a representative whom he appoints and instructs for that purpose. It may be suggested, that the prince of Orange was raised to the throne without any convulsion, or any such difficulties and inconveniencies as we have affirmed to be the necessary consequences of a measure of that nature. To this remark we answer, that, since the Revolution, these kingdoms have been divided and harassed by violent and implacable factions, that eagerly seek the destruction of each other: that they have been exposed to plots, conspiracies, insurrections, civil wars, and successive rebellions, which have not been defeated and quelled without vast effusion of blood, infinite mischief, calamity, and expense to the nation: that they are still subjected to all those alarms and dangers which are engendered by a disputed title to the throne, and the efforts of an artful pretenders that they are necessarily wedded to the affairs of the continent, and their interest sacrificed to foreign connexions, from which they can never be disengaged. Perhaps all these calamities might have been prevented by the interposition of the prince of Orange. King James, without forfeiting the crown, might have been laid under such restrictions that it would not have been in his power to tyrannize over his subjects, either in spirituals or temporals. The power of the militia might have been vested in the two houses of parliament, as well as the nomination of persons to fill the great offices of the church and state, and superintend the economy of the administration in the application of the public money; a law might have passed for annual parliaments, and the king might have been deprived of his power to convoke, adjourn, prorogue, and dissolve them at his pleasure. Had these measures been taken, the king must have been absolutely disabled from employing either force or corruption in the prosecution of arbitrary designs, and the people must have been fairly represented in a rotation of parliaments, whose power and influence would have been but of one year's duration.]

[Footnote 003: Note C, p. 3. The new form of the coronation-oath consisted in the following questions and answers:—"Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this kingdom of England, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes in parliament agreed on, and the laws and customs of the same?"—"I solemnly promise so to do."