Chapter I: William and Mary (2)

On the eleventh day of April, this act, with the conditions of inheritance, and the instrument, were reported, considered, unanimously approved, and solemnly proclaimed at the market-cross of Edinburgh, in presence of the lord president, assisted by the lord provost and magistracy of the city, the duke of Queensbury, the marquisses of Athol and Douglas, together with a great number of the nobility and gentry. At the same time they published another proclamation, forbidding all persons to acknowledge, obey, assist, or correspond with the late king James; or by word, writing, or sermon, to dispute or disown the royal authority of king William and queen Mary; or to misconstrue the proceedings of the estates, or create jealousies or misapprehensions with regard to the transactions of the government, on pain of incurring the most severe penalties. Then, having settled the coronation oath, they granted a commission to the earl of Argyle for the lords, to sir James Montgomery for the knights, and to sir John Dalrymple for the boroughs, empowering them to repair to London, and invest their majesties with the government. This affair being discussed, the convention appointed a committee to take care of the public peace, and adjourned to the twenty-first day of May. On the eleventh day of that month, the Scottish commissioners being introduced to their majesties at Whitehall, presented first a preparatory letter from the estates, then the instrument of government, with a paper containing a recital of the grievances of the nation; and an address desiring his majesty to convert the convention into a parliament. The king having graciously promised to concur with them in all just measures for the interest of the kingdom, the coronation oath was tendered to their majesties by the earl of Argyle. As it contained a clause, importing that they should root out heresy, the king declared, that he did not mean by these words that he should be under an obligation to act as a persecutor: the commissioners replying that such was not the meaning or import of the oath, he desired them, and others present, to bear witness to the exception he had made.

THE CONVENTION STATE THEIR GRIEVANCES.

In the meantime lord Dundee exerted himself with uncommon activity in behalf of his master. He had been summoned by a trumpet to return to the convention, refused to obey the citation on pretence that the whigs had made an attempt upon his life; and that the deliberations of the estates were influenced by the neighbourhood of English troops, under the command of Mackay. He was forthwith declared a fugitive, outlaw, and rebel. He was rancorously hated by the pres-byterians, on whom he had exercised some cruelties as an officer under the former government: and for this reason the states resolved to inflict upon him exemplary punishment. Parties were detached in pursuit of him and Balcarras. This last fell into their hands, and was committed to a common prison; but Dundee fought his way through the troops that surrounded him, and escaped to the Highlands, where he determined to take arms in favour of James, though that prince had forbid him to make any attempt of this nature until he should receive a reinforcement from Ireland. While this officer was employed in assembling the clans of his party, king William appointed the duke of Hamilton commissioner to the convention parliament. The post of secretary for Scotland was bestowed upon lord Melvil, a weak and servile nobleman, who had taken refuge in Holland from the violence of the late reigns: but the king depended chiefly for advice upon Dalrymple lord Stair, president of the college of justice, an old crafty fanatic, who for forty years had complied in all things with all governments. Though these were rigid pres-byterians, the king, to humour the opposite party, admitted some individuals of the episcopal nobility to the council-board; and this intermixture, instead of allaying animosities, served only to sow the seeds of discord and confusion. The Scottish convention, in their detail of grievances, enumerated the lords of the articles; the act of parliament in the reign of Charles II. by which the king’s supremacy was raised so high that he could prescribe any mode of religion according to his pleasure; and the superiority of any office in the church above that of presbyters. The king in his instructions to the lord commissioner, consented to the regulation of the lords of the articles, though he would not allow the institution to be abrogated; he was contented that the act relating to the king’s supremacy should be rescinded, and that the church government should be established in such a manner as would be most agreeable to the inclinations of the people.

PRELACY ABOLISHED IN SCOTLAND.

On the seventeenth day of June, duke Hamilton opened the Scottish parliament, after the convention had assumed this name, in consequence of an act passed by his majesty’s direction; but the members in general were extremely chagrined when they found the commissioners so much restricted in the affair of the lords of the articles, which they considered as their chief grievance. [008] _[See note D, at the end of this Vol.]_ The king permitted that the estates should choose the lords by their own suffrages, and that they should be at liberty to reconsider any subject which the said lords might reject. He afterwards indulged the three estates with the choice of eleven delegates each, for this committee, to be elected monthly, or oftener if they should think fit: but even these concessions proved unsatisfactory while the institution itself remained. Their discontents were not even appeased by the passing of an act abolishing prelacy. Indeed their resentment was inflamed by another consideration, namely, that of the king’s having given seats in the council to some individuals attached to the hierarchy. They manifested their sentiments on this subject by bringing in a bill excluding from any public trust, place, or employment under their majesties, all such as had been concerned in the encroachments of the late reign, or had discovered disaffection to the late happy change, or in any way retarded or obstructed the designs of the convention. This measure was prosecuted with great warmth; and the bill passed through all the forms of the house, but proved ineffectual for want of the royal assent.

DISPUTES IN THE PARLIAMENT.

Nor were they less obstinate in the affair of the judges whom the king had ventured to appoint by virtue of his own prerogative. The malcontents brought in a bill declaring the bench vacant, as it was at the restoration; asserting their own right to examine and approve those who should appointed to fill it; providing that if in time to come any such total vacancy should occur, the nomination should be in the king or queen, or regent for the time being, and the parliament retain the right of approbation; and that all the clauses in the several acts relating to the admission of the ordinary lords of session, and their qualifications for that office, should be ratified and confirmed for perpetual observation. Such was the interest of this party, that the bill was carried by a great majority, notwithstanding the opposition of the ministers, who resolved to maintain the king’s nomination even in defiance of a parliamentary resolution. The majority, exasperated at this open violation of their privileges, forbade the judges whom the king had appointed to open their commissions, or hold a session until his majesty’s further pleasure should be known: on the other hand they were compelled to act by the menaces of the privy-council. The dispute was carried on with great acrimony on both sides, and produced such a ferment, that before the session opened, the ministry thought proper to draw a great number of forces into the neighbourhood of Edinburgh to support the judges in the exercise of their functions.

SCOTCH PARLIAMENT ADJOURNED.

The lord commissioner, alarmed at this scene of tumult and confusion, adjourned the house till the eighth day of October; a step which, added to the other unpopular measures of the court, incensed the opposition to a violent degree. They drew up a remonstrance to the king, complaining of this adjournment while the nation was yet unsettled, recapitulating the several instances in which they had expressed their zeal and affection for his majesty; explaining their reasons for dissenting from the ministry in some articles; beseeching him to consider what they had represented, to give his royal assent to the acts of parliament which they had prepared, and take measures for redressing all the other grievances of the nation. This address was presented to the king at Hampton-court. William was so touched with the reproaches it implied, as if he had not fulfilled the conditions on which he accepted the crown of Scotland, that he, in his own vindication, published his instructions to the commissioner; and by these it appeared that the duke might have proceeded to greater lengths in obliging his countrymen. Before the adjournment, however, the parliament had granted the revenue for life; and raised money for maintaining a body of forces, as well as for supporting the incidental expense of the government for some months; yet part of the troops in that kingdom were supplied and subsisted by the administration of England. In consequence of these disputes in the Scottish parliament, their church was left without any settled form of government; for, though the hierarchy was abolished, the presbyterian discipline was not yet established, and ecclesiastical affairs were occasionally regulated by the privy-council, deriving its authority from that very act of supremacy, which, according to the claim of rights, ought to have been repealed.

THE CASTLE OF EDINBURGH BESIEGED.

The session was no sooner adjourned than sir John Lanier converted the blockade of Edinburgh castle into a regular siege, which was prosecuted with such vigour that in a little time the fortifications were ruined, and the works advanced at the foot of the walls, in which the besiegers had made several large breaches. The duke of Gordon, finding his ammunition expended, his defences destroyed, his intelligence entirely cut off, and despairing of relief from the adherents of his master, desired to capitulate, and obtained very favourable terms for his garrison; but he would not stipulate any conditions for himself, declaring that he had so much respect for all the princes descended from king James VI. that he would not affront any of them so far as to insist upon terms for his own particular: he therefore, on the thirteenth day of June, surrendered the castle and himself at discretion. All the hopes of James and his party were now concentred in the viscount Dundee, who had assembled a body of Highlanders, and resolved to attack Mackay, on an assurance he had received by message, that the regiment of Scottish dragoons would desert that officer, and join him in the action. Mackay having received intimation of this design, decamped immediately, and by long marches retired before Dundee, until he was reinforced by Ramsey’s dragoons, and another regiment of English infantry: then he faced about, and Dundee in his turn retreated into Lochaber. Lord Murray, son of the marquis of Athol, assembled his vassals, to the number of twelve hundred men, for the service of the regency; but he was betrayed by one of his own dependents, who seized the castle of Blair for Dundee, and prevailed upon the Athol men to disperse, rather than fight against James their lawful sovereign.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

KING WILLIAM’S TROOPS DEFEATED.

The viscount was by this time reduced to great difficulty and distress. His men had not for many weeks tasted bread or salt, or any drink but water: instead of five hundred infantry, three hundred horse, with a supply of arms, ammunition, and provision, which James had promised to send from Ireland, he received a reinforcement of three hundred naked recruits; but the transports with the stores fell into the hands of the English. Though this was a mortifying disappointment, he bore it without repining; and, far from abandoning himself to despair, began his march to the castle of Blair, which was threatened with a seige by general Mackay. When he reached this fortress, he received intelligence that the enemy had entered the pass of Killycrankie, and he resolved to give them battle without delay. He accordingly advanced against them, and a furious engagement ensued, though it was not of long duration. The Highlanders having received and returned the fire of the English, fell in among them sword in hand with such impetuosity, that the foot were utterly broke in seven minutes. The dragoons fled at the first charge in the utmost consternation. Dundee’s horse, not exceeding one hundred, broke through Mackay’s own regiment; the earl of Dumbarton, at the head of a few volunteers, made himself master of the artillery: twelve hundred of Mackay’s forces were killed on the spot, five hundred taken prisoners, and the rest fled with great precipitation for some hours, until they were rallied by their general, who was an officer of approved courage, conduct, and experience. Nothing could be more complete or decisive than the victory which the Highlanders obtained; yet it was clearly purchased with the death of their beloved chieftain the viscount Dundee, who fell by a random shot in the engagement, and his fate produced such confusion in his army as prevented all pursuit. He possessed an enterprising spirit, undaunted courage, inviolable fidelity, and was peculiarly qualified to command the people who fought under his banner. He was the life and soul of that cause which he espoused, and after his death it daily declined into ruin and disgrace. He was succeeded in command by colonel Cannon, who landed the reinforcement from Ireland; but all his designs miscarried; so that the clans, wearied with repeated misfortunes, laid down their arms by degrees, and took the benefit of a pardon which king William offered to those who should submit within the time specified in his proclamation.

KING JAMES CORDIALLY RECEIVED BY THE FRENCH KING.

After this sketch of Scottish affairs, it will be necessary to take a retrospective view of James, and relate the particulars of his expedition to Ireland. That unfortunate prince and his queen were received with the most cordial hospitality by the French monarch, who assigned the castle of St. Germain for the place of their residence, supported their household with great magnificence, enriched them with presents, and undertook to re-establish them on the throne of England. James, however, conducted himself in such a manner as conveyed no favourable idea of his spirit and understanding. He seems to have been emasculated by religion: he was deserted by that courage and magnanimity for which his youth had been distinguished. He did not discover great sensibility at the loss of his kingdom. All his faculties were swallowed up in bigotry. Instead of contriving plans for retrieving his crown, he held conferences with the Jesuits on topics of religion. The pity which his misfortunes excited in Louis was mingled with contempt. The pope supplied him with indulgencies, while the Romans laughed at him in pasquinades: “There is a pious man, (said the archbishop of Rheims ironically,) who has sacrificed three crowns for a mass.” In a word, he subjected himself to the ridicule and raillery of the French nation.

TYRCONNEL TEMPORIZES WITH WILLIAM.

All the hope of re-ascending the British throne depended upon his friends in Scotland and Ireland. Tyr-connel, who commanded in this last kingdom, was confirmed in his attachment to James by the persuasions of Hamilton, who had undertaken for his submission to the prince of Orange. Nevertheless, he disguised his sentiments, and temporized with William, until James should be able to supply him with reinforcements from France, which he earnestly solicited by private messages. In the meantime, with a view to cajole the protestants of Ireland, and amuse king William with hope of his submission, he persuaded the lord Mountjoy, in whom the protestants chiefly confided, and baron Rice, to go in person with a commission to James, representing the necessity of yielding to the times, and of waiting a fitter opportunity to make use of his Irish subjects. Mountjoy, on his arrival at Paris, instead of being favoured with an audience by James, to explain the reasons which Tyrconnel had suggested touching the inability of Ireland to restore his majesty, was committed prisoner to the Bastile, on account of the zeal with which he had espoused the protestant interest. Although Louis was sincerely disposed to assist James effectually, his intentions were obstructed by the disputes of his ministry. Louvois possessed the chief credit in council; but Seignelai enjoyed a greater share of personal favour, both with the king and madame de Maintenon, the favourite concubine. To this nobleman, as secretary for marine affairs, James made his chief application; and he had promised the command of the troops destined for his service to Latisun, whom Louvois hated. For these reasons this minister thwarted his measures, and retarded the assistance which Louis had promised towards his restoration.

JAMES ARRIVES IN IRELAND.

Yet notwithstanding all his opposition, the succours were prepared and the fleet ready to put to sea by the latter end of February. The French king is said to have offered an army of fifteen thousand natives of France to serve in this expedition; but James replied, that he would succeed by the help of his own subjects, or perish in the attempt. Accordingly, he contented himself with about twelve hundred British subjects, [010] _[See note E, at the end of this Vol.]_ and a good number of French officers, who were embarked in the fleet at Brest, consisting of fourteen ships of the line, seven frigates, three fire-ships, with a good number of transports. The French king also supplied him with a considerable quantity of arms for the use of his adherents in Ireland; accommodated him with a large sum of money, superb equipages, store of plate, and necessaries of all kinds for the camp and the household. At parting he presented him with his own cuirass, and embracing him affectionately, “The best thing I can wish you (said he) is, that I may never see you again.” On the seventh day of March, James embarked at Brest, together with the count D’Avaux, who accompanied him in quality of ambassador, and his principal officers. He was detained in the harbour by contrary winds till the seventeenth day of the month, when he set sail, and on the twenty-second landed at Kinsale in Ireland. By this time, king William perceiving himself amused by Tyrconnel, had published a declaration, requiring the Irish to lay down their arms and submit to the new government. On the twenty-second day of February, thirty ships of war had been put in commission, and the command of them conferred upon admiral Herbert; but the armament was retarded in such a manner by the disputes of the council and the king’s attention to the affairs of the continent, that the admiral was not in a condition to sail till the beginning of April, and then with part of his fleet only. James was received with open arms at Kinsale, and the whole country seemed to be at his devotion; for although the protestants in the North had declared for the new government, their strength and number was deemed inconsiderable when compared with the power of Tyrconnel. This minister had disarmed all the other protestant subjects in one day, and assembled an army of thirty thousand foot, and eight thousand cavalry, for the service of his master.

ISSUES FIVE PROCLAMATIONS AT DUBLIN.

In the latter end of March, James made his public entry into Dublin, amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. He was met at the castle-gate by a procession of popish bishops and priests in their pontificals, bearing the host, which he publicly adored. He dismissed from the council-board the lord Granard, judge Keating, and other protestants, who had exhorted the lord lieutenant to an accommodation with the new government. In their room he admitted the French ambassador, the bishop of Chester, colonel Darrington, and, by degrees, the principal noblemen who accompanied him in the expedition. On the second day after his arrival in Dublin, he issued five proclamations: the first recalled all the subjects of Ireland who had abandoned the kingdom, by a certain time, on pain of outlawry and confiscation, and requiring all persons to join him against the prince of Orange. The second contained expressions of acknowledgement to his catholic subjects for their vigilance and fidelity, and an injunction to such as were not actually in his service, to retain and lay up their arms until it should be found necessary to use them for his advantage. By the third he invited the subjects to supply his army with provisions; and prohibited the soldiers to take anything without payment. By the fourth he raised the value of the current coin; and in the fifth he summoned a parliament to meet on the seventh day of May, at Dublin. Finally, he created Tyrconnel a duke, in consideration of his eminent services.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.

The adherents of James in England pressed him to settle the affairs of Ireland immediately, and bring over his army either to the north of England, or the west of Scotland, where it might be joined by his party, and act without delay against the usurper; but his council dissuaded him from complying with their solicitations, until Ireland should be totally reduced to obedience. On the first alarm of an intended massacre, the protestants of Londonderry had shut their gates against the regiment commanded by the earl of Antrim, and resolved to defend themselves against the lord lieutenant. They transmitted this resolution to the government of England, together with an account of the danger they incurred by such a vigorous measure, and implored immediate assistance. They were accordingly supplied with some arms and ammunition, but did not receive any considerable reinforcement till the middle of April, when two regiments arrived in Loughfoyl, under the command of Cunningham and Richards. By this time king James had taken Coleraine, invested Killmore, and was almost in sight of Londonderry. George Walker, rector of Donaghmore, who had raised a regiment for the defence of the protestants, conveyed this intelligence to Lundy the governor. This officer directed him to join colonel Grafton, and take post at the Long-causey, which he maintained a whole night against the advanced guard of the enemy; until being overpowered by numbers, he retreated to Londonderry and exhorted the governor to take the field, as the army of king James was not yet completely formed. Lundy assembling a council of war, at which Cunningham and Richards assisted; they agreed, that as the place was not tenable, it would be imprudent to land the two regiments, and that the principal officers should withdraw themselves from Londonderry, the inhabitants of which would obtain the more favourable capitulation in consequence of their retreat. An officer was immediately dispatched to king James with proposals of a negotiation; and lieutenant-general Hamilton agreed that the army should halt at the distance of four miles from the town. Notwithstanding this preliminary, James advanced at the head of his troops; but met with such a warm reception from the besieged, that he was fain to retire to St. John’s Town in some disorder. The inhabitants and soldiers in garrison at Londonderry were so incensed at the members of the council of war, who had resolved to abandon the place, that they threatened immediate vengeance. Cunningham and Richards retired to their ships, and Lundy locked himself in his chamber. In vain did Walker and major Baker exhort him to maintain his government. Such was his cowardice or treachery, that he absolutely refused to be concerned in the defence of the place, and he was suffered to escape in disguise with a load of match upon his back; but he was afterwards apprehended in Scotland, from whence he was sent to London to answer for his perfidy or misconduct.

COURAGEOUS DEFENCE.

After his retreat, the townsmen chose Mr. Walker and major Baker for their governors, with joint authority; but this office they would not undertake until it had been offered to colonel Cunningham, as the officer next in command to Lundy. He rejected the proposal, and with Richards returned to England, where they were immediately cashiered. The two new governors, thus abandoned to their fate, began to prepare for a vigorous defence; indeed their courage seems to have transcended the bounds of discretion, for the place was very ill fortified; their cannon, which did not exceed twenty pieces, were wretchedly mounted; they had not one engineer to direct their operations; they had a very small number of horse; the garrison consisted of people unacquainted with military discipline; they wore destitute of provisions; they were besieged by a king in person, at the head of a formidable army, directed by good officers, and supplied with all the necessary implements for a siege or battle. This town was invested on the twentieth day of April; the batteries were soon opened, and several attacks were made with great impetuosity; but the besiegers were always repulsed with considerable loss. The townsmen gained divers advantages in repeated sallies, and would have held their enemies in the utmost contempt, had they not been afflicted with a contagious distemper, as well as reduced to extremity by want of provisions. They were even tantalized in their distress; for they had the mortification to see some ships which had arrived with supplies from England, prevented from sailing up the river by the batteries the enemy had raised on both sides, and a boom with which they had blocked up the channel. At length a reinforcement arrived in the Lough, under the command of general Kirke, who had deserted his master and been employed in the service of king William. He found means to convey intelligence to Walker, that he had troops and provisions on board for their relief, but found it impracticable to sail up the river: he promised, however, that he would land a body of forces at the Inch, and endeavour to make a diversion in their favour-, when joined by the troops at Inniskilling, which amounted to five thousand men, including two thousand cavalry. He said he expected six thousand men from England, where they were embarked before he set sail. He exhorted them to persevere in their courage and loyalty, and assured them he would come to their relief at all hazards. These assurances enabled them to bear their miseries a little longer, though their numbers daily diminished. Major Baker dying, his place was filled with colonel Michel-burn, who now acted as colleague to Mr. Walker.

CRUELTY OF ROSENE.

King James having returned to Dublin to be present at the parliament, the command of his army devolved to the French general Rosene, who was exasperated at such an obstinate opposition by a handful of half-starved militia. He threatened to raze the town to its foundations, and destroy the inhabitants without distinction of age or sex, unless they would immediately submit themselves to their lawful sovereign. The governors treated his menaces with contempt, and published an order that no person, on pain of death, should talk of surrendering. They had now consumed the last remains of their provisions, and supported life by eating the flesh of horses, dogs, cats, rats, mice, tallow, starch, and salted hides, and even this loathsome food began to fail. Rosene, finding him deaf to all his proposals, threatened to wreak his vengeance on all the protestants of that country, and drive them under the walls of Londonderry, where they should be suffered to perish by famine. The bishop of Meath being informed of this design, complained to king James of the barbarous intention, entreating his majesty to prevent its being put in execution. That prince assured him that he had already ordered Rosene to desist from such proceeding: nevertheless, the Frenchman executed his threats with the utmost rigour. Parties of dragoons were detached on this cruel service: after having stripped all the protestants for thirty miles round, they drove these unhappy people before them like cattle, without even sparing the enfeebled old men, nurses with infants at their breasts, tender children, women just delivered, and some even in the pangs of labour. Above four thousand of these miserable objects were driven under the walls of Londonderry. This expedient, far from answering the purpose of Rosene, produced quite a contrary effect. The besieged were so exasperated at this act of inhumanity, that they resolved to perish rather than submit to such a barbarian. They erected a gibbet in sight of the enemy, and sent a message to the French general, importing that they would hang all the prisoners they had taken during the siege, unless the protestants whom they had driven under the walls should be immediately dismissed. This threat produced a negotiation, in consequence of which the protestants were released after they had been detained three days without tasting food. Some hundreds died of famine or fatigue; and those who lived to return to their own habitations, found them plundered and sacked by the papists, so that the greater number perished for want, or were murdered by the straggling parties of the enemy; yet these very people had for the most part obtained protections from king James, to which no respect was paid by his general.

THE PLACE IS RELIEVED BY KIRKE

The garrison of Londonderry was now reduced from seven to five thousand seven hundred men, and these were driven to such extremity of distress, that they began to talk of killing the popish inhabitants and feeding on their bodies. In this emergency Kirke, who had hitherto lain inactive, ordered two ships laden with provisions to sail up the river under convoy of the Dartmouth frigate. One of them, called the Mountjoy, broke the enemy’s boom; and all the three, after having sustained a very hot fire from both sides of the river, arrived in safety at the town to the inexpressible joy of the inhabitants. The army of James were so dispirited by the success of this enterprise, that they abandoned the siege in the night and retired with precipitation, after having lost about nine thousand men before the place. Kirke no sooner took possession of the town, than Walker was prevailed upon to embark for England with an address of thanks from the inhabitants to their majesties for the seasonable relief they had received.

THE INNISKILLINEES DEFEAT AND TAKE GENERAL MACARTY.

The Inniskilliners were no less remarkable than the people of Londonderry for the valour and perseverance with which they opposed the papists. They raised twelve companies, which they regimented under the command of Gustavus Hamilton, whom they chose for their governor. They proclaimed William and Mary on the eleventh day of March, and resolved in a general council to maintain their title against all opposition. The lord Gilmoy invested the castle of Groin belonging to the protestants in the neighbourhood of Inniskilling, the inhabitants of which threw succours into the place, and compelled Gilmoy to retire to Belturbet. A detachment of the garrison, commanded by lieutenant-colonel Lloyd, took and demolished the castle of Aughor, and they gained the advantage in several skirmishes with the enemy. On the day that preceded the relief of Londonderry, they defeated six thousand Irish papists at a place called Newton-Butler, and took their commander Macarty, commonly called lord Moncashel.

MEETING OF THE IRISH PARLIAMENT.

The Irish parliament being assembled at Dublin, according to the proclamation of king James, he, in a speech from the throne, thanked them for the zeal, courage, and loyalty they had manifested; extolled the generosity of the French king, who had enabled him to visit them in person; insisted upon executing his design of establishing liberty of conscience as a step equally agreeable to the dictates of humanity and discretion, and promised to concur with them in enacting such laws as would contribute to the peace, affluence, and security of his subjects. Sir Richard Neagle, being chosen speaker of the commons, moved for an address of thanks to his majesty, and that the count D’Avaux should be desired to make their acknowledgments to the most christian king for the generous assistance he had given to their sovereign. These addresses being drawn up with the concurrence of both houses, a bill was brought in to recognize the king’s title, to express their abhorence of the usurpation by the prince of Orange, as well as of the defection of the English. Next day James published a declaration, complaining of the calumnies which his enemies had spread to his prejudice; expatiating upon his own impartiality in preferring his protestant subjects; his care in protecting them from their enemies, in redressing their grievances, and in granting liberty of conscience; promising that he would take no step but with the approbation of parliament; offering a free pardon to all persons who should desert his enemies and join with him in four-and-twenty days after his landing in Ireland, and charging all the blood that might be shed upon those who should continue in rebellion.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

THE ACT OF SETTLEMENT REPEALED.

His conduct, however, very ill agreed with this declaration; nor can it be excused on any other supposition but that of his being governed, in some cases against his own inclination, by the count D’Avaux and the Irish catholics, on whom his whole dependence was placed. As both houses were chiefly filled with members of that persuasion, we ought not to wonder at their bringing in a bill for repealing the act of settlement, by which the protestants of the kingdom had been secured in the possession of their estates. These were by this law divested of their lands, which reverted to the heirs of those catholics to whom they belonged before the rebellion. This iniquitous bill was framed in such a manner, that no regard was paid to such protestant owners as had purchased estates for valuable considerations; no allowance was made for improvements, nor any provision for protestant widows; the possessor, and tenants were not even allowed to remove their stock and corn. When the bill was sent up to the lords, Dr. Dopping, bishop of Meath, opposed it with equal courage and ability, and an address in behalf of the purchasers under the act of settlement was presented to the king by the earl of Granard; but notwithstanding these remonstrances, it received the royal assent, and the protestants of Ireland were mostly ruined.

THEY PASS AN ACT OF ATTAINDER.

Yet in order to complete their destruction, an act of attainder was passed against all protestants, whether male or female, whether of high or low degree, who were absent from the kingdom, as well as against all those who retired into any part of the three kingdoms, which did not own the authority of king James, or corresponded with rebels, or were any ways aiding, abetting, or assisting them, from the first day of August in the preceding year. The number of protestants attainted by name in this act amounted to about three thousand, including two archbishops, one duke, seventeen earls, seven countesses, as many bishops, eighteen barons, three-and-thirty baronets, one-and-fifty knights, eighty-three clergymen, who were declared traitors, and adjudged to suffer the pains of death and forfeiture. The individuals subjected to this dreadful proscription, were even cut off from all hope of pardon and all benefit of appeal; for by a clause in the act, the king’s pardon was deemed null unless enrolled before the first day of December. A subsequent law was enacted, declaring Ireland independent of the English parliament. This assembly passed another act, granting twenty thousand pounds per annum out of the forfeited estates to Tyrconnel, in acknowledgment of his signal services: they imposed a tax of twenty thousand pounds per month for the service of the king: the royal assent was given to an act for liberty of conscience; they enacted that the tithes payable by papists should be delivered to priests of that communion: the maintenance of the protestant clergy in cities and corporations was taken away; and all dissenters were exempted from ecclesiastical jurisdictions. So that the established church was deprived of all power and prerogative, notwithstanding the express promise of James, who had declared, immediately after his landing, that he would maintain the clergy in their rights and privileges.

JAMES COINS BASE MONEY.

Nor was the king less arbitrary in the executive part of his government, if we suppose that he countenanced the grievous acts of oppression that were daily committed upon the protestant subjects of Ireland; but the tyranny of his proceedings may be justly imputed to the temper of his ministry, consisting of men abandoned to all sense of justice and humanity, who acted from the dictates of rapacity and revenge, inflamed with all the acrimony of religious rancour. Soldiers were permitted to live upon free quarter; the people were robbed and plundered; licenses and protections were abused in order to extort money from the trading part of the nation. The king’s old stores were ransacked; the shops of tradesmen and the kitchens of burghers were pillaged, to supply the mint with a quantity of brass, which was converted into current coin for his majesty’s occasions; an arbitrary value was set upon it, and all persons were required and commanded to take it in payment under the severest penalties, though the proportion between its intrinsic worth and currency was nearly as one to three hundred. A vast sum of this counterfeit coin was issued in the course of one year, and forced upon the protestants in payment of merchandize, provision, and necessaries for the king’s service. James, not content with the supply granted by parliament, imposed, by his own authority, a tax of twenty thousand pounds per month on chattels, as the former was laid upon lands. This seems to have been a temporary expedient during the adjournment of the two houses, as the term of the assessment was limited to three months; it was however levied by virtue of a commission under the seals, and seems to have been a stretch of prerogative the less excusable, as he might have obtained the money in a parliamentary way. Understanding that the protestants had laid out all their brass money in purchasing great quantities of hides, tallow, wool, and corn, he assumed the despotic power of fixing the prices of these commodities, and then bought them for his own use. One may see his ministers were bent upon the utter destruction of those unhappy people.

PROTESTANT CHURCHES SEIZED BY THE CATHOLICS.

All vacancies in public schools were supplied with popish teachers. The pension allowed from the exchequer to the university of Dublin was cut off; the vice-provost, fellows, and scholars, were expelled: their furniture, plate, and public library were seized without the least shadow or pretence, and in direct violation of a promise the king had made to preserve their privileges and immunities. His officers converted the college into a garrison, the chapel into a magazine, and the apartments into prisons; a popish priest was appointed provost; one Maccarty, of the same persuasion, was made library-keeper, and the whole foundation was changed into a catholic seminary. When bishoprics and benefices in the gift of the crown became vacant, the king ordered the profits to be lodged in the exchequer, and suffered the cures to be totally neglected. The revenues were chiefly employed in the maintenance of Romish bishops and priests, who grew so insolent under this indulgence, that in several places they forcibly seized the protestant churches. When complaint was made of this outrage, the king promised to do justice to the injured, and in some places actually ordered the churches to be restored; but the popish clergy refused to comply with this order, alleging, that in spirituals they owed obedience to no earthly power but the holy see, and James found himself unable to protect his protestant subjects against a powerful body which he durst not disoblige. Some ships appearing in the bay of Dublin, a proclamation was issued forbidding the protestants to assemble in any place of worship, or elsewhere, on pain of death. By a second, they were commanded to bring in their arms on pain of being treated as rebels and traitors. Luttrel, governor of Dublin, published an ordinance by beat of drum, requiring the farmers to bring in their corn for his majesty’s horses within a certain day, otherwise he would order them to be hanged before their own doors. Brigadier Sarsfield commanded all protestants of a certain district to retire to the distance of ten miles from their habitations on pain of death; and in order to keep up the credit of the brass money, the same penalty was denounced, in a proclamation, against any person who should give more than one pound eighteen shillings for a guinea.

ACTION WITH THE FRENCH FLEET.

All the revenues of Ireland, and all the schemes contrived to bolster up the credit of the base coin, would have proved insufficient to support the expenses of the war, had not James received occasional supplies from the French monarch. After the return of the fleet which had conveyed him to Ireland, Louis sent another strong squadron, commanded by Chateau Benault, as a convoy to some transports laden with arms, ammunition, and a large sum of money for the use of king James. Before they sailed from Brest, king William, being informed of their destination, detached admiral Herbert from Spithead with twelve ships of the line, one fire-ship, and four tenders, in order to intercept the enemy. He was driven by stress of weather into Mil-ford-haven, from whence he steered his course to Kin-sale, on the supposition that the French fleet had sailed from Brest, and that in all probability he should fall in with them on the coast of Ireland. On the first day of May he discovered them at anchor in Bantry-bay, and stood in to engage them, though they were greatly superior to him in number. They no sooner perceived him at day-break, than they weighed, stood out to windward, formed their line, bore down, and began the action, which was maintained for two hours with equal valour on both sides, though the English fleet sustained considerable damage from the superior fire of the enemy. Herbert tacked several times in hope of gaining the weather-gage; but the French admiral kept his wind with uncommon skill and perseverance. At length the English squadron stood off to sea, and maintained a running fight till five in the afternoon, when Chateau Renault tacked about and returned into the bay, content with the honour he had gained. The loss of men was inconsiderable on both sides; and where the odds were so great, the victor could not reap much glory. Herbert retired to the isles of Scilly, where he expected a reinforcement; but being disappointed in this expectation, he returned to Portsmouth in very ill humour, with which his officers and men were infected. The common sailors still retained some attachment to James, who had formerly been a favourite among them; and the officers complained that they had been sent upon this service with a force so much inferior to that of the enemy. King William, in order to appease their discontent, made an excursion to Portsmouth, where he dined with the admiral on board the ship Elizabeth, declared his intention of making him an earl in consideration of his good conduct and services, conferred the honour of knighthood on the captains Ashby and Shovel, and bestowed a donation of ten shillings on every private sailor.

DIVERS SENTENCES REVERSED.

The parliament of England thought it incumbent upon them not only to raise supplies for the maintenance of the war in which the nation was involved, but also to do justice with respect to those who had been injured by illegal or oppressive sentences in the late reigns. The attainders of lord Russel, Algernon Sidney, alderman Cornish, and lady Lisle, were now reversed. A committee of privileges was appointed by the lords to examine the case of the earl of Devonshire, who in the late reign had been fined thirty thousand pounds for assaulting colonel Culpepper in the presence-chamber. They reported that the court of king’s bench, in overruling the earl’s plea of privilege of parliament, had committed a manifest breach of privilege; that the fine was excessive and exhorbitant, against the great charter, the common right of the subject, and the law of the realm. The sentence pronounced upon Samuel Johnson, chaplain to lord Russel, in consequence of which he had been degraded, fined, scourged, and set in the pillory, was now annulled, and the commons recommended him to his majesty for some ecclesiastical preferment. He received one thousand pounds in money, with a pension of three hundred pounds for his own life and that of his son, who was moreover gratified with a place of one hundred pounds a year; but the father never obtained any ecclesiastical benefice. Titus Oates seized this opportunity of petitioning the house of lords for a reversal of the judgments given against him on his being convicted of perjury. The opinions of all the judges and counsel at the bar were heard on this subject, and a bill of reversal passed the commons; but the peers having inserted some amendments and a proviso, a conference was demanded, and violent heats ensued. Oates, however, was released from confinement, and the lords, with the consent of the commons, recommended him to his majesty for a pardon, which he obtained, together with a comfortable pension. The committee appointed to inquire into the cases of the state-prisoners, found sir Robert Wright, late lord chief justice, to have been concerned in the cruelties committed in the west after the insurrection of Monmouth; as also one of the ecclesiastical commissioners, and guilty of manifold enormities. Death had by this time delivered Jefferies from the resentment of the nation. Graham and Burton had acted as solicitors in the illegal prosecutions carried on against those who opposed the court in the reign of Charles II.; these were now reported guilty of having been instrumental in taking away the lives and estates of those who had suffered the loss of either under colour of law for eight years last past; of having, by malicious indictments, informations, and prosecutions of _quo warranto_, endeavoured the subversion of the protestant religion, and the government of the realm; and of having wasted many thousand pounds of the public revenue in the course of their infamous practices.

INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSE OF MISCARRIAGES IN IRELAND.

Nor did the misconduct of the present ministry escape the animadversion of the parliament. The lords having addressed the king to put the Isle of Wight, Jersey, Guernsey, Scilly, Dover-castle, and the other fortresses of the kingdom, in a posture of defence, and to disarm the papists, empowered a committee to inquire into the miscarriages in Ireland, which were generally imputed to the neglect of the marquisses of Cærmarthan and Halifax. They presented an address to the king, desiring the minute-book of the committee for Irish affairs might be put into their hands; but his majesty declined gratifying them in this particular: then the commons voted that those persons who had advised the king to delay this satisfaction were enemies to the kingdom. William, alarmed at this resolution, allowed them to inspect the book, in which they found very little for their purpose. The house resolved, that an address should be presented to his majesty, declaring that the succour of Ireland had been retarded by unnecessary delays; that the transports prepared were not sufficient to convey the forces to that kingdom; and that several ships had been taken by the enemy, for want of proper convoy. At the same time the question was put, whether or not they should address the king against the marquis of Halifax. But it was carried in the negative by a small majority. Before this period, Howe, vice-chamberlain to the queen, had moved for an address against such counsellors as had been impeached in parliament, and betrayed the liberties of the nation. This motion was levelled at Cæmarthen and Halifax, the first of whom had been formerly impeached of high treason, under the title of earl of Danby; and the other was charged with all the misconduct of the present administration. Warm debates ensued, and in all probability the motion would have been carried in the affirmative, had not those who spoke warmly in behalf it suddenly cooled in the course of the dispute. Some letters from king James to his partisans being intercepted, and containing some hints of an intended invasion, Mr. Hambden, chairman of the committee of the whole house, enlarged upon the imminent danger to which the kingdom was exposed, and moved for a further supply to his majesty. In this unexpected motion he was not seconded by one member. The house, however, having taken the letters into consideration, resolved to draw up an address to the king, desiring him to secure and disarm all papists of note; and they brought in a bill for attainting several persons in rebellion against their majesties; but it was not finished during this session.

{WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688--1701.}

BILLS PASSED IN THIS SESSION.

Another bill being prepared in the house of lords, enjoining the subjects to wear the woollen manufacture at certain seasons of the year, a petition was presented against it by the silk-weavers of London and Canterbury, assembled in a tumultuous manner at Westminster. The lords refused their petition, because this was an unusual manner of application. They were persuaded to return to their respective places of abode; precautions were taken against a second riot; and the bill was unanimously rejected in the upper house. This parliament passed an act, vesting in the two universities the presentations belonging to papists: those of the southern counties being given to Oxford; and those of the northern to Cambridge, on certain specified conditions, Courts of conscience were erected at Bristol, Gloucester, and Newcastle; and that of the marches of Wales was abolished as an intolerable oppression. The protestant clergymen, who had been forced to leave their benefices in Ireland, were rendered capable of holding any living in England, without forfeiting their title to their former preferment, with the proviso that they should resign their English benefices when restored to ‘those they had been obliged to relinquish. The statute of Henry IV. against multiplying gold and silver was now repealed; the subjects were allowed to melt and refine metals and ores, and extract gold and silver from them, on condition that it should be brought to the Mint, and converted into money, the owners receiving its full value in current coin. These, and several other bills of smaller importance being passed, the two houses adjourned to the twentieth day of September, and afterwards to the nineteenth day of October.