person. Fifty thousand men were soon collected at Halle, near Brussels: but when he went thither, he found the Spaniards had neglected to provide carriages, and other necessaries for the expedition. Meanwhile, the burghers of Mons, seeing their town in danger of being utterly destroyed by the bombs and cannon of the enemy, pressed the governor to capitulate, and even threatened to introduce the besiegers: so that he was forced to comply, and obtained very honourable conditions. William, being apprised of this event, returned to the Hague, embarked for England, and arrived at Whitehall on the 13th day of April.

CHAP. III.

§ I. Conspiracy against the government by lord Preston and others§ II. The king fills up the vacant bishopricks—§ III. Affairs of Scotland—§ IV. Campaign in Flanders-§ V. Progress of the French in Piedmont—§ VI. Election of a new pope-§ VII. The emperor's suc cess against the Turks-§ VIII. Affairs of Ireland-§ IX. General Ginckel reduces Athlone-§ X. Defeats the Irish at Aghrim-§ XI Undertakes the siege of Limerick-§ XII. The French and Irish ob. tain an honourable capitulation-§. XIII. Twelve thousand Irish Ca tholics are transported to France-§ XIV. Meeting of the English parliament—§ XV. Discontent of the nation-§ XVI. Transactions in parliament—§ XVII. Disputes concerning the bill for regulating trials in cases of high-treason-§ XVIII. The English and Dutch fleets worsted by the French in an engagement off Beachy-head—§ XIX. The king disobliges the Presbyterians of Scotland-§ XX. The earl of Breadalbane undertakes for the submission of the Highlanders§ XXI. Massacre of Glencoe-§ XXII. Preparations for a descent upon England-§ XXIII. Declaration of king James-§ XXIV. Efforts of his friends in England—§ XXV. Precautions taken by the queen for the defence of the nation-§ XXVI. Admiral Russel puts to sea-§ XXVII. He obtains a complete victory over the French fleet off La Hogue-§ XXVIII. Troops embarked at St. Helen's for a descent upon France—§ XXIX. The design laid aside. The troops landed at Ostend—§ XXX. The French king takes Namur in sight of king William—§ XXXI. The allies are defeated at Steenkirk— § XXXII. Extravagant rejoicings in France on account of this victory -§ XXXIII. Conspiracy against the life of king William, hatched by

a

A few days before his arrival, great part of the palace of Whitehall was consumed by fire, through the negligence of a female servant.

the French ministry—§ XXXIV. Miscarriage of a design upon Dunkirk—§ XXXV. The campaign is inactive on the Rhine and in Hungary—§ XXXVI. The duke of Savoy invades Dauphiné—§ XXXVII. The duke of Hanover created an elector of the empire.

I. A CONSPIRACY against the government had been lately discovered. In the latter end of December, the master of a vessel who lived at Barking, in Essex, informed the marquis of Caermarthen, that his wife had let out one of his boats to carry over some persons to France; and that they would embark on the 13th day of the month. This intelligence being communicated to the king and council, an order was sent to captain Billop, to watch the motion of the vessel, and secure the passengers. He accordingly boarded her at Gravesend, and found in the hold lord Preston, Mr. Ashton, a servant of the late queen, and one Elliot. He likewise seized a bundle of papers, some of which were scarce intelligible; among the rest, two letters, supposed to be written by Turner, bishop of Ely, to king James and his queen, under fictitious names. The whole amounted to an invitation to the French king to assist king James in re-ascending the throne, upon certain conditions, while William should be absent from the kingdom: but the scheme was ill laid, and countenanced but by a very few persons of consideration, among whom the chiefs were the earl of Clarendon, the bishop of Ely, lord Preston, his brother, Mr. Graham, and Penn, the famous Quaker. Notwithstanding the outcries which had been made against the severities of the late government, Preston, and his accomplice Ashton, were tried at the Old Bailey for compassing the death of their majesties king William and queen Mary; and their trials were hurried on, without any regard to their petitions for delay. Lord Preston alleged, in his defence, that the treasons charged upon him were not committed in the county of Middlesex, as laid in the indictment; that none of the witnesses declared he had any concern in hiring the vessel; that the papers were

not found upon him; that there ought to be two credible witnesses to every fact, whereas, the whole proof against him rested on similitude of hands, and mere supposition. He was, nevertheless, found guilty. Ashton behaved with great intrepidity and composure. He owned his purpose of going to France, in pursuance of a promise he had made to general Worden, who, on his death-bed, conjured him to go thither, and finish some affairs of consequence which he had left there depending; as well as with a view to recover a considerable sum of money due to himself. He denied that he was privy to the contents of the papers found upon him: he complained of his having been denied time to prepare for his trial; and called several persons to prove him a Protestant of exemplary piety and irreproachable morals. These circumstances had no weight with the court. He was brow-beaten by the bench, and found guilty by the jury, as he had the papers in his custody; yet there was no privity proved; and the whig party themselves had often expressly declared, that of all sorts of evidence, that of finding papers in a person's posses sion is the weakest, because no man can secure himself from such danger. Ashton suffered with equal courage and decorum. In a paper which he delivered to the sheriff, he owned his attachment to king James; he witnessed to the birth of the prince of Wales; denied his knowledge of the contents of the papers that were committed to his charge; complained of the hard measure he had met with from the judges and the jury, but forgave them in the sight of Heaven. This man was celebrated by the nonjurors as a martyr to loyalty; and they boldly affirmed, that his chief crime in the eyes of the government, was his having among his baggage an account of such evidence as would have been convincing to all the world, concerning the birth of the prince of Wales, which by a great number of people was believed

b Burnet. State Tracts. Burchet. Tindal. Ralph.

supposititious. Lord Preston obtained a pardon: Elliot was not tried, because no evidence appeared against him : the earl of Clarendon was sent to the Tower, where he remained some months, and he was afterward confined to his own house in the country: an indulgence which he owed to his consanguinity with the queen, who was his first cousin. The bishop of Ely, Graham, and Penn, absconded; and a proclamation was issued for apprehending them as traitors.

d

§ II. This prelate's being concerned in a conspiracy, furnished the king with a plausible pretence for filling up the vacant bishopricks. The deprived bishops had been given to understand, that an act of parliament might be obtained to excuse them from taking the oaths, provided they would perform their episcopal functions: but, as they declined this expedient, the king resolved to fill up their places at his return from Holland. Accordingly, the archbishopric of Canterbury was conferred upon Dr. Tillotson, one of the most learned, moderate, and virtuous ecclesiastics of the age, who did not accept of this promotion without great reluctance, because he foresaw that he should be exposed to the slander and malevolence of that party which espoused the cause of his predecessor. The other vacant sees were given to divines of unblemished character; and the public in general seemed very well satisfied with this exertion of the king's supremacy. The deprived bishops at first affected all the meekness of resig

To one of the pamphlets published on this occasion, is annexed a petition to the present government, in the name of king James's adherents, importing, that some grave and learned persons should be authorized to compile a treatise, shewing the grounds of William's title; and declaring, that in case the performance should carry conviction along with it, they would submit to that title, as they had hitherto opposed it from a principle of conscience. The best answer that could be made to this summons was Locke's book upon government, which appeared at this period. -Ralph.

Beveridge was promoted to the see of Bath and Wells, Fowler to that of Gloucester, Cumberland to Peterborough, Moor to Norwich, Grove to Chichester, and Patrick to Ely.

nation. They remembered those shouts of popular approbation, by which they had been animated in the persecution they suffered under the late government; and they hoped the same cordial would support them in their present affliction: but, finding the nation cold in their concern, they determined to warm it by argument and declamation. The press groaned with the efforts of their learning and resentment; and every essay was answered by their opponents. The nonjurors affirmed, that Christianity was a doctrine of the cross; that no pretence whatever could justify an insurrection against the sovereign; that the primitive Christians thought it their indispensable duty to be passive under every invasion of their rights; and that non-resistance was the doctrine of the English church, confirmed by all the sanctions that could be derived from the laws of God

and man. The other party not only supported the natural rights of mankind, and explained the use that might be made of the doctrine of non-resistance, in exciting fresh commotions, but they also argued, that if passive obedience was right in any instance, it was conclusively so with regard to the present government; for the cbedience required by scripture was indiscriminate"The powers that be, are ordained of God-let every soul be subject to the higher powers." From these texts they inferred, that the new oaths ought to be taken without scruple: and that those who refused them, concealed party under the cloak of conscience. On the other hand, the fallacy and treachery of this argument was demonstrated. They said, it levelled all distinctions of justice and duty; that those who taught such doctrines, attached themselves solely to possession, however unjustly acquired; that, if twenty different usurpers should succeed one another, they would recognise the last, notwithstanding the allegiance they had so solemnly sworn to his predecessor, like the fawning spaniel that followed the thief who mounted his master's horse,