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, lest they should be stigmatized as enemies to the church; and a great number of the most eminent presbyterians were 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.

§ XI. 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 ac'count 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 a renewal of the grant by a just and popular administration. In pursuance of this maxim, when the revenue fell under consideration, they, on 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.

XI. 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.

§ XIII. These remonstrances made such 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 in 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 mean time, 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 industriously 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 earl of Shrewsbury and Devonshire to allay those heats, and remove the suspicions that mutually prevailed.

§ XIV. 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, dutchess 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 al

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ready 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 dropped 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.

§ XV. 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 Lewis: in which case, they would consider it 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 Brandenburgh 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 Lewis, 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 cooperate with their whole power against France and her allies. It was stipulated, that nei

ther side should engage in a separate treaty, on any pretence whatsoever; that no peace should be admitted, until the treaty of Westphalia, Osnabruck, Munster, 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.

XVI. 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 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 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