We have observed that, in consequence of the motion made by the bishops when they withdrew from parliament, a bill was brought into the house of lords for uniting their majesties’ protestant subjects. This was extremely agreeable to the king, who had the scheme of comprehension very much at heart. In the progress of the bill a warm debate arose about the posture of kneeling at the sacrament, which was given up in favour of the dissenters. Another no less violent ensued upon the subsequent question, “Whether there should be an addition of laity in the commission to be given by the king to the bishops and others of the clergy, for preparing such a reformation of ecclesiastical affairs as might be the means of healing divisions, and correcting whatever might be erroneous or defective in the constitution.” A great number of the temporal lords insisted warmly on this addition, and when it was rejected four peers entered a formal protest. Bishop Burnet was a warm stickler for the exclusion of the laity; and, in all probability, manifested this warmth in hopes of ingratiating himself with his brethren, among whom his character was very far from being popular. But the merit of this sacrifice was destroyed by the arguments he had used for dispensing with the posture of kneeling at the sacrament; and by his proposing in another proviso of the bill, that the subscribers, instead of expressing assent or consent, should only submit with a promise of conformity.
The bill was with difficulty passed in the house of lords, but the commons treated it with neglect. By this time a great number of malcontent members, who had retired from parliament, were returned with a view to thwart the administration, though they could not prevent the settlement. Instead of proceeding with the bill they presented an address to the king, thanking him for his gracious declaration and repeated assurances that he would maintain the church of England as by law established; a church whose doctrine and practice had evinced its loyalty beyond all contradiction. They likewise humbly besought his majesty to issue writs for calling a convocation of the clergy, to be consulted in ecclesiastical matters according to the ancient usage of parliaments; and they declared they would forthwith take into consideration proper methods for giving ease to protestant dissenters. Though the king was displeased at this address, in which the lords also had concurred, he returned a civil answer by the mouth of the earl of Nottingham, professing his regard for the church of England, which should always be his peculiar care, recommending the dissenters to their protection, and promising to summon a convocation as soon as such a measure should be convenient. This message produced no effect in favour of the bill which lay neglected on the table. Those who moved for it had no other view than that of displaying their moderation: and now they excited their friends to oppose it with all their interest. Others were afraid of espousing it lost they should be stigmatized as enemies to the church; and a great number of the most eminent presbyterians wore averse to a scheme of comprehension, which diminished their strength and weakened the importance of the party. Being therefore violently opposed on one hand, and but faintly supported on the other, no wonder it miscarried. The king however was so bent upon the execution of his design, that it was next session revived in another form though with no better success.
The next object that engrossed the attention of the parliament was the settlement of a revenue for the support of the government. Hitherto there had been no distinction of what was allotted for the king’s use, and what was assigned for the service of the public; so that the sovereign was entirely master of the whole supply. As the revenue in the late reigns had been often embezzled and misapplied, it was now resolved that a certain sum should be set apart for the maintenance of the king’s household and the support of his dignity; and that the rest of the public money should be employed under the inspection of parliament. Accordingly, since this period, the commons have appropriated the yearly supplies to certain specified services; and an account of the application has been constantly submitted to both houses at the next session. At this juncture the prevailing party, or the whigs, determined that the revenue should be granted from year to year, or at least for a small term of years; that the king might find himself dependent upon the parliament, and merit the renewal of the grant by a just and popular administration. In pursuance of this maxim, when the revenue fell under consideration, they, under pretence of charges and anticipations which they had not time to examine, granted it by a provisional act for one year only. The civil list was settled at six hundred thousand pounds, chargeable with the appointments of the queen dowager, the prince and princess of Denmark, the judges, and mareschal Schomberg, to whom the parliament had already granted one hundred thousand pounds, in consideration of his important services to the nation. The commons also voted that a constant revenue of twelve hundred thousand pounds should be established for the support of the crown in time of peace.
The king took umbrage at these restraints laid upon the application of the public money, which were the most salutary fruits of the revolution. He considered them as marks of diffidence by which he was distinguished from his predecessors; and thought them an ungrateful return for the services he had done the nation. The tories perceived his disgust, and did not fail to foment his jealousy against their adversaries, which was confirmed by a fresh effort of the whigs in relation to a militia. A bill was brought into the house for regulating it in such a manner as would have rendered it in a great measure independent both of the king and the lords-lieutenants of counties. These being generally peers, the bill was suffered to lie neglected on the table, but the attempt confirmed the suspicion of the king, who began to think himself in danger of being enslaved by a republican party. The tories had, by the channel of Nottingham, made proffers of service to his majesty; but complained at the same time that as they were in danger of being prosecuted for their lives and fortunes, they could not, without an act of indemnity, exert themselves in favour of the crown, lest they should incur a persecution from their implacable enemies.
These remonstrances made such an impression on the king, that he sent a message to the house by Mr. Hambden, recommending a bill of indemnity as the most effectual means for putting an end to all controversies, distinctions, and occasions of discord. He desired it might be prepared with all convenient expedition, and with such exceptions only as should seem necessary for the vindication of public justice, the safety of him and his consort, and the settlement and welfare of the nation. An address of thanks to his majesty was unanimously voted. Nevertheless, his design was frustrated by the backwardness of the whigs, who proceeded so slowly on the bill that it could not be brought to maturity before the end of the session. They wanted to keep the scourge over the heads of their enemies until they should find a proper opportunity for revenge; and, in the meantime, restrain them from opposition by the terror of impending vengeance. They affected to insinuate that the king’s design was to raise the prerogative as high as it had been in the preceding reigns; and that he for this purpose pressed an act of indemnity, by virtue of which he might legally use the instruments of the late tyranny. The earls of Monmouth and Warrington industrously infused these jealousies into the minds of their party: on the other hand, the earl of Nottingham inflamed William’s distrust of his old friends: both sides succeeded in kindling an animosity, which had like to have produced confusion, notwithstanding the endeavours used by the earls of Shrewsbury and Devonshire, to allay those heats and remove the suspicions that mutually prevailed.
It was now judged expedient to pass an act for settling the succession of the crown according to the former resolution of the convention. A bill for this purpose was brought into the lower house, with a clause disabling papists from succeeding to the throne: to this the lords added, “Or such as should marry papists,” absolving the subject in that case from allegiance, The bishop of Salisbury, by the king’s direction, proposed that the princess Sophia, duchess of Hanover, and her posterity, should be nominated in the act of succession as the next protestant heirs, failing issue of the king and Anne princess of Denmark. These amendments gave rise to warm debates in the lower house, where they were vigorously opposed, not only by those who wished well in secret to the late king and the lineal succession, but likewise by the republican party, who hoped to see monarchy altogether extinguished in England by the death of the three persons already named in the bill of succession. The lords insisted upon their amendments, and several fruitless conferences were held between the two houses. At length the bill was dropt for the present in consequence of an event which in a great measure dissipated the fears of a popish successor. This was the delivery of the princess Anne, who, on the twenty-seventh day of July, brought forth a son, christened by the name of William, and afterwards created duke of Gloucester.
In the midst of these domestic disputes, William did not neglect the affairs of the continent. He retained all his former influence in Holland, as his countrymen had reason to confide in his repeated assurances of inviolable affection. The great scheme which he had projected of a confederacy against France began at this period to take effect. The princes of the empire assembled in the diet, solemnly exhorted the emperor to declare war against the French king, who had committed numberless infractions of the treaties of Munster, Osnabruck, Nimeguen, and the truce, invaded their country without provocation, and evinced himself an inveterate enemy of the holy Roman empire. They therefore besought his imperial majesty to conclude a treaty of peace with the Turks, who had offered advantageous terms, and proceed to an open rupture with Louis, in which case they would consider it as a war of the empire, and support their head in the most effectual manner. The states-general published a declaration against the common enemy, taxing him with manifold infractions of the treaty of commerce; with having involved the subjects of the republic in the persecution which he had raised against the protestants; with having cajoled and insulted them with deceitful promises and insolent threats; with having plundered and oppressed the Dutch merchants and traders in France; and, finally, with having declared war against the states without any plausible reason assigned. The elector of Brandenburg denounced war against France as a power whose perfidy, cruelty, and ambition, it was the duty of every prince to oppose. The marquis de Castanaga, governor of the Spanish Netherlands, issued a counter declaration to that of Louis, who had declared against his master. He accused the French king of having laid waste the empire, without any regard to the obligations of religion and humanity, or even to the laws of war; of having countenanced the most barbarous acts of cruelty and oppression; and of having intrigued with the enemies of Christ for the destruction of the empire. The emperor negotiated an alliance offensive and defensive with the states-general, binding the contracting parties to co-operate with their whole power against France and her allies. It was stipulated that neither side should engage in a separate treaty on any pretence whatsoever; that no peace should be admitted until the treaties of Westphalia, Osnabruck, Minister, and the Pyrenees, should have been vindicated; that, in case of a negotiation for a peace or truce, the transactions on both sides should be communicated bona fide; and that Spain and England should be invited to accede to the treaty. In a separate article, the contracting powers agreed, that, in case of the Spanish king’s dying without issue, the states-general should assist the emperor with all their forces to take possession of that monarchy: that they should use their friendly endeavours with the princes electors, their allies, towards elevating his son Joseph to the dignity of king of the Romans, and employ their utmost force against France should she attempt to oppose his elevation.
WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688—1701.
William, who was the soul of this confederacy, found no difficulty in persuading the English to undertake a war against their old enemies and rivals. On the sixteenth day of April, Mr. Hambden made a motion for taking into consideration the state of the kingdom with respect to France, and foreign alliances; and the commons unanimously resolved, that, in case his majesty should think fit to engage in a war with France, they would, in a parliamentary way, enable him to carry it on with vigour. An address was immediately drawn up and presented to the king, desiring that he would seriously consider the destructive methods taken of late years by the French king against the trade, quiet, and interest of the nation, particularly his present invasion of Ireland, and supporting the rebels in that kingdom. They did not doubt but the alliances already made, and those that might hereafter be concluded by his majesty, would be sufficient to reduce the French king to such a condition, that it should not be in his power to violate the peace of Christendom, nor prejudice the trade and prosperity of England; in the mean time they assured his majesty he might depend upon the assistance of his parliament, according to the vote which had passed in the house of commons. This was a welcome address to king William. He assured them that no part of the supplies which they might grant for the prosecution of the war should be misapplied; and, on the seventh day of May, he declared war against the French monarch. On this occasion, Louis was charged with having ambitiously invaded the territories of the emperor, and denounced war against the allies of England, in violation of the treaties confirmed under the guarantee of the English crown; with having encroached upon the fishery of Newfoundland, invaded the Caribbee Islands, taken forcible possession of New-York and Hudson’s-bay, made depredations on the English at sea, prohibited the importation of English manufactures, disputed the right of the flag, persecuted many English subjects on account of religion, contrary to express treaties and the law of nations, and sent an armament to Ireland, in support of the rebels of that kingdom.
Having thus described the progress of the revolution in England, we shall now briefly explain the measures that were prosecuted in Scotland, towards the establishment of William on the throne of that kingdom. The meeting of the Scottish convention was fixed for the fourteenth day of March; and both parties employed all their interest to influence the election of members. The duke of Hamilton, and all the presbyterians, declared for William. The duke of Gordon maintained the castle of Edinburgh for his old master; but, as he had neglected to lay in a store of provisions, he depended entirely upon the citizens for subsistence. The partisans of James were headed by the earl of Balcarras, and Graham viscount Dundee, who employed their endeavours to preserve union among the individuals of their party; to confirm the duke of Gordon, who began to waver in his attachment to their sovereign; and to manage their intrigues in such a manner as to derive some advantage to their cause from the transactions of the ensuing session. When the lords and commons assembled at Edinburgh, the bishop of that diocese, who officiated as chaplain to the convention, prayed for the restoration of king James. The first dispute turned upon the choice of a president. The friends of the late king set up the marquis of Athol in opposition to the duke of Hamilton; but this last was elected by a considerable majority; and a good number of the other party, finding their cause the weakest, deserted it from that moment. The earls of Lothian and Tweedale were sent as deputies, to require the duke of Gordon, in the name of the estates, to quit the castle in four-and-twenty hours, and leave the charge of it to the protestant officer next in command. The duke, though in himself irresolute, was animated by Dundee to demand such conditions as the convention would not grant. The négociation proving ineffectual, the states ordered the heralds, in all their formalities, to summon him to surrender the castle immediately, on pain of incurring the penalties of high treason; and he refusing to obey their mandate, was proclaimed a traitor. All persons were forbid, under the same penalties, to aid, succour, or correspond with him; and the castle was blocked up with the troops of the city.
Next day an express arrived from London, with a letter from king William to the estates; and, at the same time, another from James was presented by one Crane, an English domestic of the abdicated queen. William observed that he had called a meeting of their estates at the desire of the nobility and gentry of Scotland assembled at London, who requested that he would take upon himself the administration of their affairs. He exhorted them to concert measures for settling the peace of the kingdom upon a solid foundation; and to lay aside animosities and factions, which served only to impede that salutary settlement. He professed himself sensible of the good effects that would arise from an union of the two kingdoms; and assured them he would use his best endeavours to promote such a coalition. A committee being appointed to draw up a respectful answer to these assurances, a debate ensued about the letter from the late king James. This they resolved to favour with a reading, after the members should have subscribed an act, declaring that notwithstanding any thing that might be contained in the letter for dissolving the convention, or impeding their procedure, they were a free and lawful meeting of the states; and would continue undissolved until they should have settled and secured the protestant religion, the government, laws, and liberties of the kingdom. Having taken this precaution, they proceeded to examine the letter of the late sovereign, who conjured them to support his interest as faithful subjects, and eternize their names by a loyalty suitable to their former professions. He said he would not fail to give them such a speedy and powerful assistance as would enable them to defend themselves from any foreign attempt; and even to assert his right against those enemies who had depressed it by the blackest usurpations and unnatural attempts, which the Almighty God would not allow to pass unpunished. He offered pardon to all those who should return to their duty before the last day of the month; and threatened to punish rigorously such as should stand out in rebellion against him and his authority.
This address produced very little effect in favour of the unfortunate exile, whose friends were greatly outnumbered in this assembly. His messenger was ordered into custody, and afterwards dismissed with a pass instead of an answer. James, foreseeing this contempt, had, by an instrument dated in Ireland, authorised the archbishop of Glasgow, the earl of Balcarras, and the viscount Dundee, to call a convention of the estates at Stirling. These three depended on the interest of the marquis of Athol and the earl of Mar, who professed the warmest affection for the late king; and they hoped a secession of their friends would embarrass the convention, so as to retard the settlement of king William. Their expectations, however, were disappointed. Athol deserted their cause; and Mar suffered himself to be intercepted in his retreat. The rest of their party were, by the vigilance of the duke of Hamilton, prevented from leaving the convention, except the viscount Dundee, who retreated to the mountains with about fifty horse, and was pursued by order of the estates. This design being frustrated, the convention approved and recognized, by a solemn act, the conduct of the nobility and gentlemen who had entreated the king of England to take upon him the administration. They acknowledged their obligation to the prince of Orange, who had prevented the destruction of their laws, religion, and fundamental constitution; they besought his highness to assume the reins of government for that kingdom; they issued a proclamation requiring all persons, from sixteen to sixty, to be in readiness to take arms when called upon for that purpose; they conferred the command of their horse-militia upon sir Patrick Hume, who was formerly attainted for having been concerned in Argyle’s insurrection; they levied eight hundred men for a guard to the city of Edinburgh, and constituted the earl of Leven their commander; they put the militia all over the kingdom into the hands of those on whom they could rely; they created the earl of Mar governor of Stirling-castle; they received a reinforcement of five regiments from England under the command of Mac-kay, whom they appointed their general; and they issued orders for securing all disaffected persons. Then they dispatched lord Ross with an answer to king William’s letter, professing their gratitude to their deliverer, and congratulating him upon his success. They thanked him for assuming the administration of their affairs, and assembling a convention of their estates.
They declared they would take effectual and speedy measures for securing the protestant religion, as well as for establishing the government, laws, and liberties of the kingdom. They assured him they would, as much as lay in their power, avoid disputes and animosities; and desired the continuance of his majesty’s care and protection.
After the departure of lord Ross, they appointed a committee, consisting of eight lords, eight knights, and as many burgesses, to prepare the plan of a new settlement: but this resolution was not taken without a vigorous opposition from some remaining adherents of the late king, headed by the archbishop of Glasgow; all the other prelates, except he of Edinburgh, having already deserted the convention. After warm debates, the committee agreed in the following vote:—“The estates of the kingdom of Scotland find and declare, That king James VII. being a profest papist, did assume the royal power, and act as a king, without ever taking the oath required by law; and had, by the advice of evil and wicked counsellors, invaded the fundamental constitution of this kingdom, and altered it from a legal and limited monarchy to an arbitrary despotic power, and had governed the same to the subversion of the protestant religion, and violation of the laws and liberties of the nation, inverting all the ends of government; whereby he had forfaulted the right of the crown, and the throne was become vacant.” When this vote was reported, the bishop of Edinburgh argued strenuously against it, as containing a charge of which the king was innocent; and he proposed that his majesty should be invited to return to his Scottish dominions. All his arguments were defeated or overruled, and the house confirmed the vote, which was immediately enacted into a law by a great majority. The lord president declared the throne vacant, and proposed that it might be filled with William and Mary, king and queen of England. The committee was ordered to prepare an act for settling the crown upon their majesties, together with an instrument of government for securing the subjects from the grievances under which they laboured.
WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688—1701.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.