CHAPTER IV.

Embarkation of William and his troops at Helvoetsluys.-Dispersion of the fleet by a storm.-Ships refitted, and William again sets sail for England.-Arrival of the fleet at Torbay. -William lands on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. -Anecdote from Burnet.-March of the Dutch troops to Exeter.-William enters that city at the head of a magnificent procession. He is coldly received by the people, and is greatly disheartened.—Sir Edward Seymour, the Earl of Abingdon, and other influential personages join his standard.-Movement in favour of William gradually spreads.He is joined by Lord Cornbury, son of Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. The father's anguish on the occasion. And subsequent flight to the invader.-Lord Churchill, afterwards the great Duke of Marlborough, joins William.-Anecdote of Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham.-Royal army encamped at Salisbury. James the Second retires with a portion of them to London, and is closely followed by William.-Anecdote of William.-James's secret flight from Whitehall.—Is discovered, and brought back to London.-Is conducted by a Dutch guard to Rochester, and ultimately embarks for France.

WILLIAM had already assembled his land and sea forces at Helvoetsluys; the latter consisting of sixty-five ships of war, seventy vessels of burden, and five hundred transports; the former of about eleven thousand infantry, and five thou

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sand cavalry.*

Among this force were six British regiments in the Dutch pay, and about three hundred French officers, exiles on ac

count of their Protestant principles, — who remembered the persecution which they had suffered in their own country on account of their religion, and appear to have been as eager to fight against a Roman Catholic Prince, as if they were enlisting for a crusade.

The magnificent scene of embarkation was witnessed by the vast crowds at Helvoetsluys, with overwhelming interest and almost painful enthusiasm, with anticipations of national glory, mingled with personal anxiety for relatives and friends, such as words would with difficulty describe. At length, the last regiment was safely embarked, and on the night of the 19th of October, this memorable fleet departed on the most important naval service which had been known in modern times. The Prince, who was almost the last individual to go on board, selected as his station the centre of the fleet. Herbert, the English admiral, led the van, and Evertzen, a Dutch admiral, brought up the rear. On

* Such appears to be the true computation of the force with which William invaded England. Hume, however, casually places the total number of the fleet at five hundred vessels, of which, according to his account, about four hundred were transports the army also he reduces to fourteen thousand men.-Hist. of England, vol. viii. p. 281.

the Prince's flag-ship floated the colours of England, bearing the words, "I will maintain the Protestant religion and the liberties of England."

The splendid sight displayed the next morning, of upwards of six hundred gallant vessels in full sail, must have been sufficient to instil confidence in the timid, and excite enthusiasm in the brave. The sanguine and agreeable anticipations, however, which filled every breast, were destined to be of brief duration. Shortly after the dawn of day, the wind shifted to the south, bearing with it the whole fleet along the coast of Holland, almost as far north as Scheveling. At night it again changed to the north-east; succeeded, moreover, by a tempest of extraordinary violence. The scene which followed was one of indescribable confusion. Owing to the extreme darkness of the night, and to the crowded state of the fleet, ships were dashed against each other: the cannon, which had been hastily put on board, escaped from their lashings; added to which may be mentioned the unusual quantity of baggage and ammunition; the numerous horses which had been embarked, and the large number of landsmen, who equally dispirited the sailors by their apprehensions, and impeded them by their assistance. Burnet, who was present in the Prince's flag-ship, describes the horrors of the scene. "Many," he says, "that have passed for heroes,

yet showed then the agonies of fear in their looks and whole deportment; while the Prince still retained his usual calmness, and the same tranquillity of spirit that I had observed in him in his happiest days."

Within a few hours, the whole of this immense fleet was scattered over the wide waters; and when the sun rose on the following morning, not two ships were to be seen in company. When William, only two days after his embarkation, re-entered the harbour of Helvoetsluys, (from which place, but forty-eight hours previously, he had sailed in the centre of six hundred vessels, to subdue one of the first monarchies in the world,) he was followed only by three ships of war and a few transports. His conduct, however, during this apparently overwhelming misfortune, did equal credit to his genius and his philosophy. With a spirit unquelled, and a countenance unruffled, he issued the most prompt and effectual orders for collecting his scattered followers; assistance was sent to those who had most suffered; and though it was discovered that each vessel had been more or less damaged; though many had lost their rudders, and several were found dismasted; though vast quantities of artillery and baggage, and even not fewer than nine hundred horses had been thrown overboard in the hour of peril; nevertheless, in the short space of nine days the fleet was again entirely refitted ;

the whole of the stores and men again embarked; the same spirit of zeal and enthusiasm instilled throughout the fleet; and on the 1st of November, with a prosperous wind, amidst the roar of cannon, the sound of trumpets, and the mingled acclamations of the adventurers on board and the populace on shore, the prows of the Dutch fleet were once more directed towards the English coast.

In the mean time,- for the purpose of deceiving King James, of lulling him into a false security, and of arresting those precautionary measures which he had hitherto been actively carrying on, the most exaggerated accounts of the recent tempest, and of the disasters experienced by the Dutch fleet, had been sedulously spread in England by the friends, and by the directions, of the Prince of Orange. It was even believed, for a short space of time, that the whole of the invading armament had been swallowed up by the waves. James was at dinner when these agreeable surmises were announced to him, and appears to have listened to them rather with the spirit of profound devotion and gratitude, than with the extraordinary elation which might have been expected:"It is not to be wondered at," he said, "for the Host has been exposed several days." A single Dutch transport, the only vessel discovered to be missing out of the whole fleet, had been driven on the English coast. Its crew were