King William marched up to the opposite bank of the river, and, as he reconnoitred their situation, was exposed to the fire of some field-pieces which the enemy purposely planted against his person. They killed a man and two horses close by him; and the second bullet, rebounding from the earth, grazed upon his right shoulder so as to carry off part of his clothes and skin, and produce a considerable contusion. This accident, which he bore without the least emotion, created some confusion among his attendants, which the enemy perceiving, concluded he was killed, and shouted aloud in token of their joy. The whole camp resounded with acclamation; and several squadrons of their horse were drawn down towards the river as if they had intended to pass it immediately and attack the English army. The report was instantly communicated from place to place until it reached Dublin; from thence it was conveyed to Paris, where, contrary to the custom of the French court, the people were encouraged to celebrate the event with bonfires and illuminations. William rode along the line to show himself to the army after this narrow escape. At night he called a council of war, and declared his resolution to attack the enemy in the morning. Schomberg at first opposed his design; but finding the king determined, he advised that a strong detachment of horse and foot should that night pass the Boyne at Slane-bridge, and take post between the enemy and the pass of Duleck, that the action might be the more decisive. This council being rejected, the king determined that early in the morning lieutenant-general Douglas, with the right wing of infantry, and young Schomberg, with the horse, should pass at Slane-bridge, while the main body of foot should force their passage at Old-bridge, and the left at certain fords between the enemy’s camp and Drogheda. The duke, perceiving his advice was not relished by the Dutch generals, retired to his tent, where the order of battle being brought to him, he received it with an air of discontent, saying, It was the first that had ever been sent him in that manner. The proper dispositions being made, William rode quite through the army by torchlight, and then retired to his tent, after having given orders for the soldiers to distinguish themselves from the enemy by wearing green boughs in their hats during the action.
At six o’clock in the morning, general Douglas, with young Schomberg, the earl of Portland, and Auverquerque, marched towards Slane-bridge, and passed the river with very little opposition. When they reached the farther bank, they perceived the enemy drawn up in two lines, to a considerable number of horse and foot, with a morass in their front, so that Douglas was obliged to wait for a reinforcement. This being arrived, the infantry was led on to the charge through the morass, while count Schomberg rode round it with his cavalry to attack the enemy in flank. The Irish, instead of waiting the assault, faced about and retreated towards Duleck with some precipitation; yet not so fast but that Schomberg fell in among their rear and did considerable execution. King James however soon reinforced his left wing from the centre; and the count was in his turn obliged to send for assistance. At this juncture, king William’s main body, consisting of the Dutch guards, the French regiments, and some battalions of English, passed the river, which was waist high, under a general discharge of artillery. King James had imprudently removed his cannon from the other side; but he had posted a strong body of musqueteers along the bank, behind hedges, houses, and some works raised for the occasion. These poured in a close fire upon the English troops before they reached the shore; but it produced very little effect: then the Irish gave way; and some battalions landed without further opposition. Yet, before they could form, they were charged with great impetuosity by a squadron of the enemy’s horse; and a considerable body of their cavalry and foot, commanded by general Hamilton, advanced from behind some little hillocks to attack those that were landed, as well as to prevent the rest from reaching the shore. His infantry turned their backs and fled immediately; but the horse charged with incredible fury, both upon the bank and in the river, so as to put the unformed regiments in confusion. Then the duke of Schomberg, passing the river in person, put himself at the head of the French protestants, and pointing to the enemy, “Gentlemen,” said he, “those are your persecutors;” with these words he advanced to the attack, where he himself sustained a violent onset from a party of the Irish horse which had broke through one of the regiments, and were now on their return. They were mistaken for English, and allowed to gallop up to the duke, who received two severe wounds in the head; but the French regiments being now sensible of their mistake, rashly threw in their fire upon the Irish while they were engaged with the duke, and instead of saving, shot him dead upon the spot. The fate of this general had well nigh proved fatal to the English army, which was immediately involved in tumult and disorder; while the infantry of king James rallied, and returned to their posts with a face of resolution. They were just ready to fall upon the centre, when king William having passed with the left wing, composed of the Danish, Dutch, and Inniskilling horse, advanced to attack them on the right. They were struck with such a panic at his appearance that they made a sudden halt, and then facing about, retreated to the village of Dunore. There they made such a vigorous stand that the Dutch and Danish horse, though headed by the king in person, recoiled; even the Inniskillmers gave way; and the whole wing would have been routed, had not a detachment of dragoons, belonging to the regiment of Cunningham and Livison, dismounted, and lined the hedges on each side of the defile through which the fugitives were driven. There they did such execution upon the pursuers as soon checked their ardour. The horse, which were broken, had now time to rally, and returning to the charge, drove the enemy before them in their turn. In this action general Hamilton, who had been the life and soul of the Irish during the whole engagement, was wounded and taken—an incident which discouraged them to such a degree, that they made no further efforts to retrieve the advantage they had lost. He was immediately brought to the king, who asked him if he thought the Irish would make any further resistance; and he replied, “Upon my honour, I believe they will; for they have still a good body of horse entire.” William, eyeing him with a look of disdain, repeated, “Your honour! your honour!” but took no other notice of his having acted contrary to his engagement, when he was permitted to go to Ireland on promise of persuading Tyrconnel to submit to the new government. The Irish now abandoned the field with precipitation; but the French and Swiss troops, that acted as their auxiliaries under Lausun, retreated in good order, after having maintained the battle for some time with intrepidity and perseverance.
As king William did not think proper to pursue the enemy, the carnage was not great. The Irish lost fifteen hundred men, and the English about one-third of that number; though the victory was dearly purchased, considering the death of the gallant duke of Schomberg, who fell in the eighty-second year of his age, after having rivalled the best generals of the time in military reputation. He was descended of a noble family in the Palatinate, and his mother was an English woman, daughter of lord Dudley. Being obliged to leave his country on account of the troubles by which it was agitated, he commenced a soldier of fortune, and served successively in the armies of Holland, England, France, Portugal, and Brandenburgh. He attained to the dignities of mareschal in France, grandee in Portugal, generalissimo in Prussia, and duke in England. He professed the protestant religion; was courteous and humble in his deportment; cool, penetrating, resolute, and sagacious; nor was his probity inferior to his courage. This battle likewise proved fatal to the brave Caillemote, who had followed the duke’s fortunes, and commanded one of the protestant regiments. After having received a mortal wound, he was carried back through the river by four soldiers, and though almost in the agonies of death, he with a cheerful countenance encouraged those who were crossing to do their duty, exclaiming, “A la gloire, mes enfans; à la gloire. To glory, my lads; to glory!” The third remarkable person who lost his life on this occasion was Walker the clergyman, who had so valiantly defended Londonderry against the whole army of king James. He had been very graciously received by king William, who gratified him with a reward of five thousand pounds, and a promise of further favour; but his military genius still predominating, he attended his royal patron in this battle, and being shot in the belly, died in a few minutes. The persons of distinction who fell on the other side were the lords Dongan and Carlingford, sir Neile O’Neile, and the marquis of Hoequincourt. James himself stood aloof during the action on the hill of Dunmore, surrounded with some squadrons of horse; and seeing victory declare against him, retired to Dublin without having made the least effort to re-assemble his broken forces. Had he possessed either spirit or conduct, his army might have been rallied, and reinforced from his garrisons, so as to be in a condition to keep the field, and even act upon the offensive; for his loss was inconsiderable, and the victor did not attempt to molest his troops in their retreat—an omission which has been charged upon him as a flagrant instance of misconduct. Indeed, through the whole of this engagement, William’s personal courage was much more conspicuous than his military skill.
WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688—1701.
King James no sooner arrived at Dublin than he assembled the magistrates and council of the city, and in a short speech resigned them to the fortune of the victor. He complained of the cowardice of the Irish; signified his resolution of leaving the kingdom immediately; forbade them, on their allegiance, to burn or plunder the city after his departure; and assured them, that, though he was obliged to yield to force, he would never cease to labour for their deliverance. Next day he set out for Waterford, attended by the duke of Berwick, Tyrconnel, and the marquis of Powis. He ordered all the bridges to be broken down behind him, and embarked in a vessel which had been prepared for his reception. At sea he fell in with the French squadron, commanded by the Sieur de Foran, who persuaded him to go on board one of his frigates, which was a prime sailer. In this he was safely conveyed to France, and returned to the place of his former residence at St. Germain’s. He had no sooner quitted Dublin than it was also abandoned by all the papists. The protestants immediately took possession of the arms belonging to the militia, under the conduct of the bishops of Meath and Limerick. A committee was formed to take charge of the administration; and an account of these transactions was transmitted to king William, together with a petition that he would honour the city with his presence.
On the morning after the battle of the Boyne, William sent a detachment of horse and foot, under the command of M. Mellionere, to Drogheda, the governor of which surrendered the place without opposition. The king at the head of the army began his march for Dublin, and halted the first night at Bally-Breghan; where, having received advice of the enemy’s retreat from the capital, he sent the duke of Ormond with a body of horse to take possession. These were immediately followed by the Dutch guards, who secured the castle. In a few days the king encamped at Finglas, in the neighbourhood of Dublin, where he was visited by the bishops of Meath and Limerick, at the head of the protestant clergy, whom he assured of his favour and protection. Then he published a declaration of pardon to all the common people who had served against him, provided they should return to their dwellings and surrender their arms by the first day of August. Those that rented lands of popish proprietors who had been concerned in the rebellion, were required to retain their rents in their own hands until they should have notice from the commissioners of the revenue to whom they should be paid. The desperate leaders of the rebellion, who had violated the laws of the kingdom, called in the French, authorized the depredations which had been committed upon protestants, and rejected the pardon offered to them on the king’s first proclamation, were left to the event of war, unless by evident demonstrations of repentance they should deserve mercy, which would never be refused to those who were truly penitent. The next step taken by king William was to issue a proclamation reducing the brass money to nearly its intrinsic value. In the meantime, the principal officers in the army of James, after having seen him embark at Waterford, returned to their troops, determined to prosecute the war as long as they could be supplied with means to support their operations.
During these transactions, the queen, as regent, found herself surrounded with numberless cares and perplexities. Her council was pretty equally divided into whigs and tories, who did not always act with unanimity. She was distracted between her apprehensions for her father’s safety and her husband’s life: she was threatened with an invasion by the French from abroad, and with an insurrection by the Jacobites at home. Nevertheless she disguised her fears, and behaved with equal prudence and fortitude. Advice being received that a fleet was ready to sail from Brest, lord Torrington hoisted his flag in the Downs, and sailed round to St. Helen’s, in order to assemble such a number of ships as would enable him to give them battle. The enemy being discovered off Plymouth on the twentieth day of June, the English admiral, reinforced with a Dutch squadron, stood out to sea with a view to intercept them at the back of the Isle of Wight, should they presume to sail up the channel, not that he thought himself strong enough to cope with them in battle. Their fleet consisted of seventy-eight ships of war, and two-and-twenty fire-ships; whereas, the combined squadrons of England and Holland did not exceed six-and-fifty; but he had received orders to hazard an engagement if he thought it might be done with any prospect of success. After the hostile fleets had continued five days in sight of each other, lord Torrington bore down upon the enemy off Beachy-head, on the thirtieth day of June, at day-break. The Dutch squadron, which composed the van, began the engagement about nine in the morning; in about half an hour the blue division of the English were close engaged with the rear of the French; but the red, which formed the centre, under the command of Torrington in person, did not fill the line till ten o’clock, so that the Dutch were almost surrounded by the enemy, and, though they fought with great valour, sustained considerable damage. At length the admiral’s division drove between them and the French, and in that situation the fleet anchored about five in the afternoon, when the action was interrupted by a calm. The Dutch had suffered so severely, that Torrington thought it would be imprudent to renew the battle; he therefore weighed anchor in the night, and with the tide of flood retired to the eastward. The next day the disabled ships were destroyed, that they might not be retarded in their retreat. They were pursued as far as Rye; an English ship of seventy guns being stranded near Winchelsea, was set on fire and deserted by the captain’s command. A Dutch ship of sixty-four guns met with the same accident, and some French frigates attempted to burn her; but the captain defended her so vigorously that they were obliged to desist, and he afterwards found means to carry her safe to Holland. In this engagement the English lost two ships, two sea-captains, and about four hundred men; but the Dutch were more unfortunate: six of their great ships were destroyed. Dick and Brackel, rear-admirals, were slain, together with a great number of inferior officers and seamen. Torrington retreated without further interruption into the mouth of the Thames; and, having taken precaution against any attempts of the enemy in that quarter, returned to London, the inhabitants of which were overwhelmed with consternation.
The government was infected with the same panic. The ministry pretended to believe that the French acted in concert with the malcontents of the nation; that insurrections in the different parts of the kingdom had been projected by the Jacobites; and that there would be a general revolt in Scotland. These insinuations were circulated by the court agents in order to justify, in the opinion of the public, the measures that were deemed necessary at this juncture; and they produced the desired effect. The apprehensions thus artfully raised among the people inflamed their aversion to nonjurors and Jacobites. Addresses were presented to the queen by the Cornish tinners, by the lieutenancy of Middlesex, and by the mayor, aldermen, and lieutenancy of London, filled with professions of loyalty and promises of supporting their majesties as their lawful sovereigns, against all opposition. The queen at this crisis exhibited remarkable proofs of courage, activity, and discretion. She issued out proper orders and directions for putting the nation in a posture of defence, as well as for refitting and augmenting the fleet; she took measures for appeasing the resentment of the states-general, who exclaimed against the earl of Torrington for his behaviour in the late action. He was deprived of his command, and sent prisoner to the Tower; and commissioners were appointed to examine the particular circumstances of his conduct. A camp was formed in the neighbourhood of Torbay, where the French seemed to threaten a descent. Their fleet, which lay at anchor in the bay, cannonaded a small village called Teign-mouth. About a thousand of their men landed without opposition, set fire to the place, and burned a few coasting vessels; then they re-embarked and returned to Brest, so vain of this achievement that they printed a pompous account of their invasion. Some of the whig partizans published pamphlets and diffused reports, implying that the suspended bishops were concerned in the conspiracy against the government; and these arts proved so inflammatory among the common people, that the prelates thought it necessary to print a paper, in which they asserted their innocence in the most solemn protestations. The court seems to have harboured no suspicion against them, otherwise they would not have escaped imprisonment. The queen issued a proclamation for apprehending the earls of Litchfield, Aylesbury, and Castlemain; viscount Preston; the lords Montgomery and Bellasis; sir Edward Hales, sir Robert Tharold, sir Robert Hamilton, sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, colonel Edward Sackville, and some other officers. These were accused of having conspired with other disaffected persons to disturb and destroy the government, and of a design to concur with her majesty’s enemies in the intended invasion. The earl of Torrington continued a prisoner in the Tower till next session, when he was brought into the house of commons and made a speech in his own defence. His case produced long debates in the upper house, where the form of his commitment was judged illegal: at length he was tried by a court-martial appointed by the commissioners of the admiralty, though not before an act had passed, declaring the power of a lord high-admiral vested in those commissioners. The president of the court was sir Ralph Délavai, who had acted as vice-admiral of the blue in the engagement. The earl was acquitted, but the king dismissed him from the service; and the Dutch exclaimed against the partiality of his judges.
William is said to have intercepted all the papers of his father-in-law and Tyrconnel, and to have learned from them not only the design projected by the French to burn the English transports, but likewise the undertaking of one Jones, who engaged to assassinate king William. No such attempt however was made, and in all probability the whole report was a fiction, calculated to throw an odium on James’ character. On the ninth day of July, William detached general Douglas with a considerable body of horse and foot towards Athlone, while he himself, having left Trelawny to command at Dublin, advanced with the rest of his army to Inchiquin in his way to Kilkenny. Colonel Grace, the governor of Athlone for king James, being summoned to surrender, fired a pistol at the trumpeter, saying, “These are my terms.” Then Douglas resolved to undertake the siege of the place, which was naturally very strong, and defended by a resolute garrison. An inconsiderable breach was made, when Douglas, receiving intelligence that Sarsfield was on his march to the relief of the besieged, abandoned the enterprise after having lost above four hundred men in the attempt. The king continued his march to the westward; and, by dint of severe examples, established such order and discipline in his army, that the peasants were secure from the least violence. At Carlow he detached the duke of Ormond to take possession of Kilkenny, where that nobleman regaled him in his own castle, which the enemy had left undamaged. While the army encamped at Carrick, major-general Kirke was sent to Waterford, the garrison of which, consisting of two regiments, capitulated upon condition of marching out with their arms and baggage, and being conducted to Mallow. The fort of Duncannon was surrendered on the same terms. Here the lord Dover and the lord George Howard were admitted to the benefit of the king’s mercy and protection.
On the first day of August, William being at Chapel-Izard, published a second declaration of mercy, confirming the former, and even extending it to persons of superior rank and station, whether natives or foreigners, provided they would, by the twenty-fifth day of the month, lay down their arms and submit to certain conditions. This offer of indemnity produced very little effect, for the Irish were generally governed by their priests, and the news of the victory which the French fleet had obtained over the English and Dutch, was circulated with such exaggerations as elevated their spirits, and effaced all thoughts of submission. The king had returned to Dublin with a view to embark for England, but receiving notice that the designs of his domestic enemies were discovered and frustrated, that the fleet was repaired, and the French navy retired to Brest, he postponed his voyage and resolved to reduce Limerick; in which Monsieur Boisseleau commanded as governor, and the duke of Berwick and colonel Sarsfield acted as inferior officers. On the ninth day of August, the king having called in his detachment and advanced into the neighbourhood of the place, summoned the commander to deliver the town; and Boisseleau answered, that he imagined the best way to gain the good opinion of the prince of Orange, would be a vigorous defence of the town which his majesty had committed to his charge. Before the place was fully invested, colonel Sarsfield, with a body of horse and dragoons, passed the Shannon in the night, intercepted the king’s train of artillery on its way to the camp, routed the troops that guarded it, disabled the cannon, destroyed the carriages, waggons, and ammunition, and returned in safety to Limerick. Notwithstanding this disaster, the trenches were opened on the seventeenth day of the month, and a battery was raised with some cannon brought from Waterford. The siege was carried on with vigour, and the place defended with great resolution. At length the king ordered his troops to make a lodgment in the covered way or counterscarp, which was accordingly assaulted with great fury; but the assailants met with such a warm reception from the besieged, that they were repulsed with the loss of twelve hundred men either killed on the spot or mortally wounded. This disappointment, concurring with the badness of the weather, which became rainy and unwholesome, induced the king to renounce his undertaking. The heavy baggage and cannon being sent away, the army decamped and marched towards Clonmel. William having constituted the lord Sydney and Thomas Coningsby lords justices of Ireland, and left the command of the army with count Solmes, embarked at Duncannon with prince George of Denmark on the fifth of September, and next day arrived in King road, near Bristol, from whence he repaired to Windsor.
About the latter end of this month the earl of Marlborough arrived in Ireland with five thousand English troops, to attack Cork and Kinsale in conjunction with a detachment from the great army, according to a scheme he had proposed to king William. Having landed his soldiers without much opposition in the neighbourhood of Cork, he was joined by five thousand men under the prince of Wirtemberg, between whom and the earl a dispute arose about the command; but this was compromised by the interposition of La Mellionere. The place being invested, and the batteries raised, the besiegers proceeded with such rapidity that a breach was soon effected. Colonel Mackillicut the governor demanded a parley, and hostages were exchanged; but he rejected the conditions that were offered, and hostilities recommenced with redoubled vigour. The duke of Grafton, who served on this occasion as a volunteer, was mortally wounded in one of the attacks, and died regretted as a youth of promising talents. Preparations being made for a general assault, the besieged thought proper to capitulate, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. Besides the governor and colonel Bicaut, the victor found the earls of Clancarty and Tyrone among the individuals of the garrison. Marlborough having taken possession of Cork, detached brigadier Villiers with a body of horse and dragoons to summon the town and forts of Kinsale, and next day advanced with the rest of the forces. The old fort was immediately taken by assault; but sir Edward Scott, who commanded the other, sustained a regular siege until the breach was practicable, and then obtained an honourable capitulation. These maritime places being reduced, all communication between France and the enemy on this side of the island was cut off, and the Irish were confined to Ulster, where they could not subsist without great difficulty. The earl of Marlborough having finished this expedition in thirty days, returned with his prisoners to England, where the fame of this exploit added greatly to his reputation.
During these transactions count de Lausan, commander of the French auxiliaries in Ireland, lay inactive in the neighbourhood of Galway, and transmitted such a lamentable account of his situation to the court of France, that transports were sent over to bring home the French forces. In these he embarked with his troops, and the command of the Irish forces devolved to the duke of Berwick, though it was afterwards transferred to M. St. Ruth. Lausan was disgraced at Versailles for having deserted the cause before it was desperate: Tyrconnel, who accompanied him in his voyage, solicited the French court for a further supply of officers, arms, clothes, and ammunition for the Irish army, which he said would continue firm to the interest of king James if thus supported. Meanwhile they formed themselves into separate bodies of freebooters, and plundered the country, under the appellation of rapparees: while the troops of king William either enjoyed their ease in quarters, or imitated the rapine of the enemy; so that between both the poor people were miserably harassed.
The affairs of the continent had not yet undergone any change of importance, except in the conduct of the duke of Savoy, who renounced his neutrality, engaged in an alliance with the emperor and king of Spain; and, in a word, acceded to the grand confederacy. He had no sooner declared himself, than Catinat the French general entered his territories at the head of eighteen thousand men, and defeated him in a pitched battle near Saluces, which immediately surrendered to the conqueror. Then he reduced Savillana, Villa Franca, with several other places, pursued the duke to Carignan, surprised Suza, and distributed his forces in winter quarters, partly in Provence and partly in the duchy of Savoy, which St. Ruth had lately reduced under the dominion of France. The duke finding himself disappointed in the succours he expected from the emperor and the king of Spain, demanded assistance of the states-general and king William: to this last he sent an ambassador, to congratulate him upon his accession to the throne of England. The confederates in their general congress at the Hague, had agreed that the army of the states under prince Waldeck should oppose the forces of France, commanded by the duke of Luxembourg in Flanders; while the elector of Brandenburgh should observe the marquis de Boufflers on the Moselle: but before the troops of Brandenburgh could be assembled, Boufflers encamped between the Sambre and the Mouse, and maintained a free communication with Luxembourg.
Prince Waldeck understanding that this general intended to cross the Sambre between Namur and Charleroy, in order to lay the Spanish territories under contribution, decamped from the river Piéton, and detached the count of Berlo with a great body of horse to observe the motions of the enemy. He was encountered by the French army near Fleuras, and slain: and his troops, though supported by two other detachments, were hardly able to rejoin the main body, which continued all night in order of battle. Next day they were attacked by the French, who were greatly superior to them in number: after a very obstinate engagement the allies gave way, leaving about five thousand men dead upon the field of battle. The enemy took about four thousand prisoners, and the greatest part of their artillery; but the victory was dearly bought. The Dutch infantry fought with surprising resolution and success. The duke of Luxembourg owned with surprise, that they had surpassed the Spanish foot at the battle of Rocroy. “Prince Waldeck, said he, ought always to remember the French horse; and I shall never forget the Dutch infantry.” The Dutch general exerted himself with such activity, that the French derived very little advantage from their victory. The prince being reinforced with the five English regiments, nine thousand Hanoverians, ten thousand from the bishopric of Liege and Holland, joined the elector of Brandenburgh; so that the confederate army amounted to five-and-fifty thousand men, and they marched by the way of Genap to Bois-Seigneur-Isaac. They were now superior to Luxembourg, who thought proper to fortify his camp, that he might not be obliged to fight except with considerable advantage. Nevertheless, prince Waldeck would have attacked him in his intrenchments, had he not been prohibited from hazarding another engagement by an express order of the states-general; and when this restriction was removed, the elector would not venture a battle.
By this time the emperor’s son Joseph was by the electoral college chosen king of the Romans; but his interest sustained a rude shock in the death of the gallant duke of Lorraine, who was suddenly seized with a quin-sey at a small village near Lintz, and expired, not without suspicion of having fallen a sacrifice to the fears of the French king, against whom he had formerly declared war as a sovereign prince unjustly expelled from his territories. He possessed great military talents, and had threatened to enter Lorraine at the head of forty thousand men, in the course of the ensuing summer. The court of France, alarmed at this declaration, is said to have had recourse to poison, for preventing the execution of the duke’s design. At his death the command of the imperial army was conferred upon the elector of Bavaria. This prince having joined the elector of Saxony, advanced against the Dauphin, who had passed the Rhine at Fort-Louis with a considerable army, and intended to penetrate into Wirtemberg; but the duke of Bavaria checked his progress, and he acted on the defensive during the remaining part of the campaign. The emperor was less fortunate in his efforts against the Turks, who rejected the conditions of peace he had offered, and took the field under a new vizier. In the month of August, count Tekeli defeated a body of imperialists near Cronstadt, in Transylvania; then convoking the states of that province at Albajulia, he compelled them to elect him their sovereign; but his reign was of short duration. Prince Louis of Baden, having taken the command of the Austrian army, detached four regiments into Belgrade, and advanced against Tekeli, who retired into Valachia at his approach. Meanwhile the grand vizier invested Belgrade, and carried on his attacks with surprising resolution. At length a bomb falling upon a great tower in which the powder magazine of the besieged was contained, the place blew up with a dreadful explosion. Seventeen hundred soldiers of the garrison were destroyed; the walls and ramparts were overthrown; the ditch was filled up, and so large a breach was opened that the Turks entered by squadrons and battalions, cutting in pieces all that fell in their way. The fire spread from magazine to magazine until eleven were destroyed; and in the confusion the remaining part of the garrison escaped to Peterwaradin. By this time the imperialists were in possession of Transylvania, and cantoned at Cronstadt and Clausinburgh. Tekeli undertook to attack the province on one side, while a body of Turks should invade it on the other: these last were totally dispersed by prince Louis of Baden; but prince Augustus of Hanover, whom he had detached against the count, was slain in a narrow defile, and his troops were obliged to retreat with precipitation. Tekeli however did not improve this advantage: being apprized of the fate of his allies, and afraid of seeing his retreat cut off by the snow that frequently chokes up the passes of the mountains, he retreated again to Valachia, and prince Louis returned to Vienna.
King William having published a proclamation requiring the attendance of the members on the second day of October, both houses met accordingly, and he opened the session with a speech to the usual purport. He mentioned what he had done towards the reduction of Ireland; commended the behaviour of the troops; told them the supplies were not equal to the necessary expense; represented the danger to which the nation would be exposed unless the war should be prosecuted with vigour; conjured them to clear his revenue, which was mortgaged for the payment of former debts, and enable him to pay off the arrears of the army; assured them that the success of the confederacy abroad would depend upon the vigour and dispatch of their proceedings; expressed his resentment against those who had been guilty of misconduct in the management of the fleet; recommended unanimity and expedition; and declared, that whoever should attempt to divert their attention from those subjects of importance which he had proposed, could neither be a friend to him nor a well-wisher to his country. The late attempt of the French upon the coast of England, the rumours of a conspiracy by the Jacobites, the personal valour which William had displayed in Ireland, and the pusillanimous behavour of James, concurred in warming the resentment of the nation against the adherents of the late king, and in raising a tide of loyalty in favour of the new government. Both houses presented separate addresses of congratulation to the king and queen, upon his courage and conduct in the field, and her fortitude and sagacity at the helm in times of danger and disquiet. The commons, pursuant to an estimate laid before them of the next year’s expenses, voted a supply of four millions for the maintenance of the army and navy, and settled the funds for that purpose.
They proposed to raise one million by the sale of forfeited estates in Ireland: they resolved that a bill should be brought in for confiscating those estates, with a clause, empowering the king to bestow a third part of them on those who had served in the war, as well as to grant such articles and capitulations to those who were in arms, as he should think proper. This clause was rejected; and a great number of petitions were offered against the bill, by creditors and heirs who had continued faithful to the government. These were supposed to have been suggested by the court, in order to retard the progress of the bill; for the estates had been already promised to the king’s favourites: nevertheless, the bill passed the lower house, and was sent up to the lords, among whom it was purposely delayed by the influence of the ministry. It was at this juncture that lord Torrington was tried and acquitted, very much to the dissatisfaction of the king, who not only dismissed him from the service, but even forbade him to appear in his presence. When William came to the house of lords to give the royal assent to a bill for doubling the excise, he told the parliament that the posture of affairs required his presence at the Hague; that, therefore, they ought to lose no time in perfecting such other supplies as were still necessary for the maintenance of the army and navy; and he reminded them of making some provision for the expense of the civil government. Two bills were accordingly passed for granting to their majesties the duties of goods imported, for five years; and these, together with the mutiny-bill, received the royal assent: upon which occasion the king observed, that if some annual provision could be made for augmenting the navy, it would greatly conduce to the honour and safety of the nation. In consequence of this hint, they voted a considerable supply for building additional ships of war,* and proceeded with such alacrity and expedition, as even seemed to anticipate the king’s desires. This liberality and dispatch were in a great measure owing to the management of lord Godolphin, who was now placed at the head of the treasury, and sir John Somers, the solicitor-general. The place of secretary of state, which had remained vacant since the resignation of the earl of Shrewsbury, was now filled with lord Sidney; and sir Charles Porter was appointed one of the justices of Ireland in the room of this nobleman.
* This supply was raised by the additional duties upon beer, ale, and other liquors. They also provided in the bill, that the impositions on wines, vinegar, and tobacco, should be made a fund of credit: that the surplus of the grants they had made, after the current service was provided for, should be applicable to the payment of the debts contracted by the war: and, that it should be lawful for their majesties to make use of five hundred thousand pounds out of the said grants, on condition of that sum being repaid from the revenue.—Ralph.
WILLIAM AND MARY, 1688—1701.
Notwithstanding the act for reversing the proceedings against the city charter, the whigs had made shift to keep possession of the magistracy: Pilkington continued mayor, and Eobinson retained the office of chamberlain. The tories of the city, presuming upon their late services, presented a petition to the house of commons, complaining, That the intent of the late act of parliament, for reversing the judgment on the quo warranto, was frustrated by some doubtful expression; so that the old aldermen elected by commission under the late king’s great seal still acted by virtue of that authority: that sir Thomas Pilkington was not duly returned as mayor by the common-hall: and, that he and the aldermen had imposed Mr. Leonard Eobinson upon them as chamberlain, though another person was duly elected into that office: that divers members of the common-council were illegally excluded, and others, duly elected, were refused admittance. They specified other grievances, and petitioned for relief. Pilkington and his associates undertook to prove that those allegations were either false or frivolous; and presented the petition as a contrivance of the Jacobites to disturb the peace of the city, that the supply might be retarded and the government distressed. In the late panic which overspread the nation, the whigs had appeared to be the monied men, and subscribed largely for the security of the settlement they had made, while the tories kept aloof with a suspicious caution. For this reason the court now interposed its influence in such a manner, that little or no regard was paid to their remonstrance.
The marquis of Cærmarthen, lord president, who was at the head of the tory interest in the ministry, and had acquired great credit with the king and queen, now fell under the displeasure of the opposite faction: and they resolved if possible to revive his old impeachment. The earl of Shrewsbury, and thirteen other leading men, had engaged in this design. A committee of lords was appointed to examine precedents, and inquire whether impeachments continued in statu quo from parliament to parliament. Several such precedents were reported; and violent debates ensued: but the marquis eluded the vengeance of his enemies in consequence of the following question: “Whether the earls of Salisbury and Peterborough, who had been impeached in the former parliament for being reconciled to the church of Rome, shall be discharged from their bail?” The house resolved in the affirmative, and several lords entered a protest. The commons having finished a bill for appointing commissioners to take and state the public accounts, and having chosen the commissioners from among their own members, sent it up to the house of lords. There the earl of Rochester moved, That they should add some of their number to those of the commons: they accordingly chose an equal number by ballot; but Rochester himself being elected, refused to act: the others followed his example, and the bill passed without alteration. On the fifth day of January, the king put an end to the session with a speech, in which he thanked them for the repeated instances they had exhibited of their affection to his person and government. He told them, it was high time for him to embark for Holland: recommended unanimity; and assured them of his particular favour and protection. Then lord chief baron Atkins signified his majesty’s pleasure, that the two houses should adjourn themselves to the thirty-first day of March.*
* In this year the English planters repossessed themselves of part of the inland of St. Christopher, from which they had been driven by the French.
William, having settled the affairs of the nation, set out for Margate on the sixth day of January; but the ship in which he proposed to embark being detained by an easterly wind and hard frost, he returned to Kensington. On the sixteenth, however, he embarked at Gravesend with a numerous retinue, and set sail for Holland under convoy of twelve ships of war commanded by admiral Rooke. Next day, being informed by a fisherman that he was within a league and a half of Goree, he quitted the yacht and went into an open boat, attended by the duke of Ormond, the earls of Devonshire, Dorset, Portland, and Monmouth, with Auverquerque and Zuylestcin, Instead of landing immediately, they lost sight of the fleet, and, night coming on, were exposed in very severe weather to the danger of the enemy and the sea, which ran very high for eighteen hours, during which the king and all his attendants were drenched with sea-water. When the sailors expressed their apprehensions of perishing, the king asked if they were afraid to die in his company? At day-break, he landed on the isle of Goree, where he took some refreshment in a fisherman’s hut; then he committed himself to the boat again, and was conveyed to the shore in the neighbourhood of Masslandsluys. A deputation of the states received him at Hounslardyke: about six in the evening he arrived at the Hague, where he was immediately complimented by the states-general, the states of Holland, the council of state, the other colleges, and the foreign ministers. He afterwards, at the request of the magistrates, made his public entry with surprising magnificence; and the Dutch celebrated his arrival with bonfires, illuminations, and other marks of tumultuous joy. He assisted at their different assemblies; informed them of his successes in England and Ireland; and assured them of his constant zeal and affection for his native country.