Lewis XIV."
J. R. Green,
Short History of England,
chapter 9, section 7.
"William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the
republic of the United Provinces, was, before the birth of the
Prince of Wales, first prince of the blood royal of England
[as son of Princess Mary, daughter of Charles I., and,
therefore, nephew as well as son-in-law of James II.]; and his
consort, the Lady Mary, the eldest daughter of the King, was,
at that period, presumptive heiress to the crown."
Sir J. Mackintosh,
History of the Revolution in England,
chapter 10.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1688 (JULY-NOVEMBER).
Invitation to William of Orange and his acceptance of it.
"In July, in almost exact coincidence of time with the Queen's
accouchement [generally doubted and suspected], came the
memorable trial of the Seven Bishops, which gave the first
demonstration of the full force of that popular animosity
which James's rule had provoked. Some months before, however,
Edward Russell, nephew of the Earl of Bedford, and cousin of
Algernon Sidney's fellow-victim, had sought the Hague with
proposals to William [prince of Orange] to make an armed
descent upon England, as vindicator of English liberties and
the Protestant religion. William had cautiously required a
signed invitation from at least a few representative statesmen
before committing himself to such an enterprise, and on the
day of the acquittal of the Seven Bishops a paper, signed in
cipher by Lords Shrewsbury, Devonshire, Danby, and Lumley, by
Compton, Bishop of Northampton, by Edward Russell, and by
Henry Sidney, brother of Algernon, was conveyed by Admiral
Herbert to the Hague. William was now furnished with the
required security for English assistance in the projected
undertaking, but the task before him was still one of extreme
difficulty. ... On the 10th of October, matters now being ripe
for such a step, William, in conjunction with some of his
English advisers, put forth his famous declaration. Starting
with a preamble to the effect that the observance of laws is
necessary to the happiness of states, the instrument proceeds
to enumerate fifteen particulars in which the laws of England
had been set at naught. The most important of these were--
(1) the exercise of the dispensing power;
(2) the corruption, coercion, and packing of the judicial
bench;
(3) the violation of the test laws by the appointment of
papists to offices (particularly judicial and military
offices, and the administration of Ireland), and generally
the arbitrary and illegal measures resorted to by James for
the propagation of the Catholic religion;
(4) the establishment and action of the Court of High
Commission;
(5) the infringement of some municipal charters, and the
procuring of the surrender of others;
(6) interference with elections by turning out of all
employment such as refused to vote as they were required;
and
(7) the grave suspicion which had arisen that the Prince of
Wales was not born of the Queen, which as yet nothing had
been done to remove.
Having set forth these grievances, the Prince's manifesto went
on to recite the close interest which he and his consort had
in this matter as next in succession to the crown, and the
earnest solicitations which had been made to him by many lords
spiritual and temporal, and other English subjects of all
ranks, to interpose, and concluded by affirming in a very
distinct and solemn manner that the sole object of the
expedition then preparing was to obtain the assembling of a
free and lawful Parliament, to which the Prince pledged
himself to refer all questions concerning the due execution of
the laws, and the maintenance of the Protestant religion, and
the conclusion of an agreement between the Church of England
and the Dissenters, as also the inquiry into the birth of the
'pretended Prince of Wales'; and that this object being
attained, the Prince would, as soon as the state of the nation
should permit of it, send home his foreign forces. About a
week after, on the 16th of October, all things being now in
readiness, the Prince took solemn leave of the States-General.
... On the 19th William and his armament set sail from
Helvoetsluys, but was met on the following day by a violent
storm which forced him to put back on the 21st. On the 1st of
November the fleet put to sea a second time. ... By noon of
the 5th of November, the Prince's fleet was wafted safely into
Torbay."
H. D. Traill,
William the Third,
chapter 3.
ALSO IN:
G. Burnet,
History of My Own Time, 1688
(volume 3).
L. von Ranke,
History of England, 17th Century,
book 18, chapters 1-4 (volume 4).
Lord Campbell,
Lives of the Lord Chancellors,
chapters 106-107: Somers (volume 4).
T. P. Courtenay,
Life of Danby (Lardner's Cab. Cyclop.),
pages 315-324.
{908}
ENGLAND: A. D. 1688 (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER).
The Revolution.
Ignominious flight of James.
"The declaration published by the prince [on landing]
consisted of sixteen articles. It enumerated those proceedings
of the government since the accession of the king, which were
regarded as in the greatest degree opposed to the liberty of
the subject and to the safety of the Protestant religion. ...
To provide some effectual remedy against these and similar
evils, was the only design of the enterprise in which the
prince, in compliance with earnest solicitations from many
lords, both spiritual and temporal, from numbers among the
gentry and all ranks of people, had now embarked. ...
Addresses were also published to the army and navy. ... The
immediate effect of these appeals did not correspond with the
expectations of William and his followers. On the 8th of
November the people of Exeter received the prince with quiet
submission. The memory of Monmouth's expedition was still
fresh and terrible through the west. On the 12th, lord
Cornbury, son of the earl of Clarendon, went over, with some
officers, and about a hundred of his regiment, to the prince;
and most of the officers, with a larger body of the privates
belonging to the regiment commanded by the duke of St.
Alban's, followed their example. Of three regiments, however,
quartered near Salisbury, the majority could not be induced to
desert the service of the king. ... Every day now brought with
it new accessions to the standard of the prince, and tidings
of movements in different parts of the kingdom in his favour;
while James was as constantly reminded, by one desertion after
another, that he lived in an atmosphere of treachery, with
scarcely a man or woman about him to be trusted. The defection
of the lords Churchill and Drumlaneric, and of the dukes of
Grafton and Ormond, was followed by that of prince George and
the princess Anne. Prince George joined the invader at
Sherburne; the princess made her escape from Whitehall at
night, under the guardianship of the bishop of London, and
found an asylum among the adherents of the prince of Orange
who were in arms in Northamptonshire. By this time Bristol and
Plymouth, Hull, York, and Newcastle, were among the places of
strength which had been seized by the partisans of the prince.
His standard had also been unfurled with success in the
counties of Derby, Nottingham, York, and Cheshire. ... Even in
Oxford, several of the heads of colleges concurred in sending
Dr. Finch, warden of All Souls' College, to invite the prince
from Dorsetshire to their city, assuring him of their
willingness to receive him, and to melt down their plate for
his service, if it should be needed. So desperate had the
affairs of James now become, that some of his advisers urged
his leaving the kingdom, and negotiating with safety to his
person from a distance; but from that course he was dissuaded
by Halifax and Godolphin. In compliance with the advice of an
assembly of peers, James issued a proclamation on the 13th of
November, stating that writs had been signed to convene a
parliament on the 15th of January; that a pardon of all
offences should previously pass the great seal; and that
commissioners should proceed immediately to the head-quarters
of the prince of Orange, to negotiate on the present state of
affairs. The commissioners chosen by the king were Halifax,
Nottingham, and Godolphin; but William evaded for some days
the conference which they solicited. In the meantime a forged
proclamation in the name of the prince was made public in
London, denouncing the Catholics of the metropolis as plotting
the destruction of life and property on the largest possible
scale. ... No one doubted the authenticity of this document,
and the ferment and disorder which it spread through the city
filled the king with the greatest apprehension for the safety
of himself and family. On the morning of the 9th of December,
the queen and the infant prince of Wales were lodged on board
a yacht at Gravesend, and commenced a safe voyage to Calais.
James pledged himself to follow within 24 hours. In the course
of that day the royal commissioners sent a report of their
proceedings to Whitehall. The demands of the prince were, that
a parliament should be assembled; that all persons holding
public trusts in violation of the Test-laws should relinquish
them; that the city should have command of the Tower; that the
fleet, and the places of strength through the kingdom should
be placed in the hands of Protestants; that the expense of the
Dutch armament should be defrayed, in part, from the English
Treasury; and that the king and the prince, and their
respective forces, should remain at an equal distance from
London during the sitting of parliament. James read these
articles with some surprise, observing that they were much
more moderate than he had expected. But his pledge had been
given to the queen; the city was still in great agitation; and
private letters, intimating that his person was not beyond the
reach of danger, suggested that his interests might possibly
be better served by his absence than by his presence. Hence
his purpose to leave the kingdom remained unaltered. At three
o'clock on the following morning the king left Whitehall with
sir Edward Hales, disguising himself as an attendant. The
vessel provided to convey him to France was a miserable
fishing-boat. It descended the river without interruption
until it came near to Feversham, where some fishermen,
suspecting Hales and the king to be Catholics, probably
priests endeavouring to make their escape in disguise, took
them from the vessel. ... The arrest of the monarch at
Feversham on Wednesday was followed by an order of the privy
council, commanding that his carriage and the royal guards
should be sent to reconduct him to the capital. ... After some
consultation the king was informed that the public interests
required his immediate withdrawment to some distance from
Westminster, and Hampton Court was named. James expressed a
preference for Rochester, and his wishes in that respect were
complied with. The day on which the king withdrew to Rochester
William took up his residence in St. James's. The king chose
his retreat, deeming it probable that it might be expedient
for him to make a second effort to reach the continent. ...
His guards left him so much at liberty, that no impediment to
his departure was likely to arise; and on the last day of this
memorable year--only a week after his removal from Whitehall,
James embarked secretly at Rochester, and with a favourable
breeze safely reached the French coast."
R. Vaughan,
History of England under the House of Stuart,
volume 2, pages 914-918.
ALSO IN:
Lord Macaulay,
History of England,
chapters 9-10 (volume 2).
H. D. Traill,
William the Third,
chapter 4.
Continuation of Sir J. Mackintosh's
History of the Revolution in 1688,
chapters 16-17.
Sir J. Dalrymple,
Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland,
part 1, books 6-7 (volume 2).
{909}
ENGLAND: A. D. 1689 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).
The settlement of the Crown on William and Mary.
The Declaration of Rights.
"The convention met on the 22nd of January. Their first care
was to address the prince to take the administration of
affairs and disposal of the revenue into his hands, in order
to give a kind of parliamentary sanction to the power he
already exercised. On the 28th of January the commons, after a
debate in which the friends of the late king made but a faint
opposition, came to their great vote: That king James II.,
having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of this
kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and
people, and by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons
having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn
himself out of the kingdom, has abdicated the government, and
that the throne is thereby vacant. They resolved unanimously
the next day, That it hath been found by experience
inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this protestant
kingdom to be governed by a popish prince. This vote was a
remarkable triumph of the Whig party, who had contended for
the exclusion bill. ... The lords agreed with equal unanimity
to this vote; which, though it was expressed only as an
abstract proposition, led by a practical inference to the
whole change that the whigs had in view. But upon the former
resolution several important divisions took place." The lords
were unwilling to commit themselves to the two propositions,
that James had "abdicated" the government by his desertion of
it, and that the throne had thereby become "vacant." They
yielded at length, however, and adopted the resolution as the
commons had passed it. They "followed this up by a resolution,
that the prince and princess of Orange shall be declared king
and queen of England, and all the dominions thereunto
belonging. But the commons, with a noble patriotism, delayed
to concur in this hasty settlement of the crown, till they
should have completed the declaration of those fundamental
rights and liberties for the sake of which alone they had gone
forward with this great revolution. That declaration, being at
once an exposition of the mis-government which had compelled
them to dethrone the late king, and of the conditions upon
which they elected his successors, was incorporated in the
final resolution to which both houses came on the 13th of
February, extending the limitation of the crown as far as the
state of affairs required: That William and Mary, prince and
princess of Orange, be, and be declared, king and queen of
England, France and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto
belonging, to hold the crown and dignity of the said kingdoms
and dominions to them, the said prince and princess, during
their lives, and the life of the survivor of them; and that
the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in, and
executed by, the said prince of Orange, in the names of the
said prince and princess, during their joint lives; and after
their decease the said crown and royal dignity of the said
kingdoms and dominions to be to the heirs of the body of the
said princess; for default of such issue, to the princess Anne
of Denmark [younger daughter of James II.], and the heirs of
her body; and for default of such issue, to the heirs of the
body of the said prince of Orange. ... The Declaration of
Rights presented to the prince of Orange by the marquis of
Halifax, as speaker of the lords, in the presence of both
houses, on the 18th of February, consists of three parts: a
recital of the illegal and arbitrary acts committed by the
late king, and of their consequent vote of abdication; a
declaration, nearly following the words of the former part,
that such enumerated acts are illegal; and a resolution, that
the throne shall be filled by the prince and princess of
Orange, according to the limitations mentioned. ... This
declaration was, some months afterwards [in October],
confirmed by a regular act of the legislature in the bill of
rights."
See ENGLAND: 1689 (OCTOBER).
H. Hallam,
Constitutional History of England,
chapters 14-15 (volume 3).
ALSO IN:
Lord Macaulay,
History of England,
chapter 10 (volume 2).
L. von Ranke,
History of England, 17th Century,
book 19, chapters 2-3 (volume 4).
R. Gneist,
History of English Constitution,
chapter 42 (volume 2).
ENGLAND: A. D. 1689 (APRIL-AUGUST).
The Church and the Revolution.
The Toleration Act.
The Non-Jurors.
"The men who had been most helpful in bringing about the late
changes were not all of the same way of thinking in religion;
many of them belonged to the Church of England; many were
Dissenters. It seemed, therefore, a fitting time to grant the
Dissenters some relief from the harsh laws passed against them
in Charles II.'s reign. Protestant Dissenters, save those who
denied the Trinity, were no longer forbidden to have places of
worship and services of their own, if they would only swear to
be loyal to the king, and that his power was as lawful in
Church as in State matters. The law that gave them this is
called the Toleration Act. Men's notions were still, however,
very narrow; care was taken that the Roman Catholics should
get no benefit from this law. Even a Protestant Dissenter
might not yet lawfully be a member of either House of
Parliament, or take a post in the king's service; for the Test
Acts were left untouched. King William, who was a Presbyterian
in his own land, wanted very much to see the Dissenters won
back to the Church of England. To bring this about, he wished
the Church to alter those things in the Prayer Book which kept
Dissenters from joining with her. But most of the clergy would
not have any change; and because these were the stronger party in
Convocation--as the Parliament of the Church is
called--William could get nothing done. At the same time a
rent, which at first seemed likely to be serious, was made in
the Church itself. There was a strong feeling among the clergy
in favour of the banished king. So a law was made by which
every man who held a preferment in the Church, or either of
the Universities, had to swear to be true to King William and
Queen Mary, or had to give up his preferment. Most of the
clergy were very unwilling to obey this law; but only 400 were
found stout-hearted enough to give up their livings rather
than do what they thought to be a wicked thing. These were
called 'non-jurors,' or men who would not swear. Among them
were five out of the seven Bishops who had withstood James II.
only a year before. The sect of non-jurors, who looked upon
themselves as the only true Churchmen, did not spread. But it
did not die out altogether until seventy years ago [i. e.,
early in the 19th century]. It was at this time that the names
High-Church and Low-Church first came into use."
J. Rowley,
The Settlement of the Constitution,
chapter 1.
ALSO IN:
J. Stoughton,
History of Religion in England,
volume 5, chapters 4-11.
T. Lathbury,
History of the Non-jurors.
{910}
ENGLAND: A. D. 1689 (MAY).
War declared against France.
The Grand Alliance.
See FRANCE: A.. D. 1689-1690.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1689 (OCTOBER).
The Bill of Rights.
The following is the text of the Bill of Rights, passed by
Parliament at its sitting in October, 1689:
Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely
representing all the estates of the people of this realm, did
upon the Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One Thousand Six Hundred Eighty-eight [o. s.], present unto
their Majesties, then called and known by the names and style
of William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, being
present in their proper persons, a certain Declaration in
writing, made by the said Lords and Commons, in the words
following, viz.:
"Whereas the late King James II., by the assistance of divers
evil counsellors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did
endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion,
and the laws and liberties of this kingdom:
1. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with
and suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without
consent of Parliament.
2. By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for
humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the
said assumed power.
3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under
the Great Seal for erecting a court, called the Court of
Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes.
4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by
pretence of prerogative, for other time and in other manner
than the same was granted by Parliament.
5. By raising and keeping a standing army within this
kingdom in time of peace, without consent of Parliament,
and quartering soldiers contrary to law.
6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants, to
be disarmed, at the same time when Papists were both armed
and employed contrary to law.
7. By violating the freedom of election of members to serve
in Parliament.
8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters
and causes cognisable only in Parliament, and by divers
other arbitrary and illegal causes.
9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and
unqualified persons have been returned, and served on
juries in trials, and particularly divers jurors in trials
for high treason, which were not freeholders.
10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons
committed in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the
laws made for the liberty of the subjects.
11. And excessive fines have been imposed; and illegal and
cruel punishments inflicted.
12. And several grants and promises made of fines and
forfeitures before any conviction or judgment against the
persons upon whom the same were to be levied.
All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws
and statutes, and freedom of this realm. And whereas the said
late King James II. having abdicated the government, and the
throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the Prince of Orange
(whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious
instrument of delivering this kingdom from Popery and
arbitrary power) did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and divers principal persons of the Commons) cause
letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
being Protestants, and other letters to the several counties,
cities, universities, boroughs, and Cinque ports, for the
choosing of such persons to represent them as were of right to
be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon the
two-and-twentieth day of January, in this year One Thousand
Six Hundred Eighty and Eight, in order to such an
establishment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties
might not again be in danger of being subverted; upon which
letters elections have been accordingly made. And thereupon
the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, pursuant
to their respective letters and elections, being now assembled
in a full and free representation of this nation, taking into
their most serious consideration the best means for attaining
the ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors
in like case have usually done) for the vindicating and
asserting their ancient rights and liberties, declare:
1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the
execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of
Parliament, is illegal.
2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the
execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been
assumed and exercised of late, is illegal.
3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of
Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other
commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and
pernicious.
4. That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by
pretence and prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for
longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be
granted, is illegal.
5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the
King, and all commitments and prosecutions for such
petitioning are illegal.
6. That the raising or keeping a standing army within the
kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of
Parliament, is against law.
7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms
for their defence suitable to their conditions, and as
allowed by law.
8. That election of members of Parliament ought to be free.
9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings
in Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in
any court or place out of Parliament.
10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor
excessive fines imposed; nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted.
11. That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned,
and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason
ought to be freeholders.
12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures
of particular persons before conviction are illegal and
void.
13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the
amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws,
Parliament ought to be held frequently.
{911}
And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular
the premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and
that no declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the
prejudice of the people in any of the said premises, ought in any
wise to be drawn hereafter into consequence or example. To
which demand of their rights they are particularly encouraged
by the declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange, as
being the only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy
therein. Having therefore an entire confidence that his said
Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so
far advanced by him, and will still preserve them from the
violation of their rights, which they have here asserted, and
from all other attempts upon their religion, rights, and
liberties:
II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and
Commons, assembled at Westminster, do resolve, that William
and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, be, and be declared,
King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and the
dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the crown and royal
dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to them the said
Prince and Princess during their lives, and the life of the
survivor of them; and that the sole and full exercise of the
regal power be only in, and executed by, the said Prince of
Orange, in the names of the said Prince and Princess, during
their joint lives; and after their deceases, the said crown
and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to be to
the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and for default of
such issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of
her body; and for default of such issue to the heirs of the
body of the said Prince of Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, do pray the said Prince and Princess to
accept the same accordingly.
III. And that the oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all
persons of whom the oaths of allegiance and supremacy might be
required by law instead of them; and that the said oaths of
allegiance and supremacy be abrogated. 'I, A. B., do sincerely
promise and swear, That I will be faithful and bear true
allegiance to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary: So
help me God.' 'I, A. B., do swear, That I do from my heart
abhor, detest, and abjure as impious and heretical that
damnable doctrine and position, that princes excommunicated or
deprived by the Pope, or any authority of the See of Rome, may
be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other
whatsoever. And I do declare, that no foreign prince, person,
prelate, state, or potentate hath, or ought to have, any
jurisdiction, power, superiority, preeminence, or authority,
ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm: So help me
God.'"
IV. Upon which their said Majesties did accept the crown and
royal dignity of the kingdoms of England, France, and Ireland,
and the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the
resolution and desire of the said Lords and Commons contained
in the said declaration.
V. And thereupon their Majesties were pleased, that the said
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, being the two
Houses of Parliament, should continue to sit, and with their
Majesties' royal concurrence make effectual provision for the
settlement of the religion, laws and liberties of this
kingdom, so that the same for the future might not be in
danger again of being subverted; to which the said Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, did agree and proceed to
act accordingly.
VI. Now in pursuance of the premises, the said Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, for the
ratifying, confirming, and establishing the said declaration,
and the articles, clauses, matters, and things therein
contained, by the force of a law made in due form by authority
of Parliament, do pray that it may be declared and enacted,
That all and singular the rights and liberties asserted and
claimed in the said declaration are the true, ancient, and
indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this
kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed,
and taken to be, and that all and every the particulars
aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and observed, as
they are expressed in the said declaration; and all officers
and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and their
successors according to the same in all times to come.
VII. And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
seriously considering how it hath pleased Almighty God, in his
marvellous providence, and merciful goodness to this nation,
to provide and preserve their said Majesties' royal persons
most happily to reign over us upon the throne of their
ancestors, for which they render unto Him from the bottom of
their hearts their humblest thanks and praises, do truly,
firmly, assuredly, and in the sincerity of their hearts,
think, and do hereby recognise, acknowledge, and declare, that
King James II. having abdicated the Government, and their
Majesties having accepted the Crown and royal dignity as
aforesaid, their said Majesties did become, were, are, and of
right ought to be, by the laws of this realm, our sovereign
liege Lord and Lady, King and Queen of England, France, and
Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, in and to
whose princely persons the royal state, crown, and dignity of
the said realms, with all honours, styles, titles, regalities,
prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions, and authorities to the same
belonging and appertaining, are most fully, rightfully, and
entirely invested and incorporated, united, and annexed.
VIII. And for preventing all questions and divisions in this
realm, by reason of any pretended titles to the Crown, and for
preserving a certainty in the succession thereof, in and upon
which the unity, peace, tranquillity, and safety of this
nation doth, under God, wholly consist and depend, the said
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do beseech their
Majesties that it may be enacted, established, and declared,
that the Crown and regal government of the said kingdoms and
dominions, with all and singular the premises thereunto
belonging and appertaining, shall be and continue to their
said Majesties, and the survivor of them, during their lives,
and the life of the survivor of them. And that the entire,
perfect, and full exercise of the regal power and government
be only in, and executed by, his Majesty, in the names of both
their Majesties, during their joint lives; and after their
deceases the said Crown and premises shall be and remain to
the heirs of the body of her Majesty: and for default of such
issue, to her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark, and
the heirs of her body; and for default of such issue, to the
heirs of the body of his said Majesty: And thereunto the said
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do, in the name of
all the people aforesaid, most humbly and faithfully submit
themselves, their heirs and posterities, for ever: and do
faithfully promise, that they will stand to, maintain, and
defend their said Majesties, and also the limitation and
succession of the Crown herein specified and contained, to the
utmost of their powers, with their lives and estates, against
all persons whatsoever that shall attempt anything to the
contrary.
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IX. And whereas it hath been found by experience, that it is
inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant
kingdom to be governed by a Popish prince, or by any king or
queen marrying a Papist, the said Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, do further pray that it may be enacted,
That all and every person and persons that is, are, or shall be
reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the See or Church
of Rome, or shall profess the Popish religion, or shall marry
a Papist, shall be excluded, and be for ever incapable to
inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and Government of this
realm, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, or
any part of the same, or to have, use, or exercise, any regal
power, authority, or jurisdiction within the same; and in all
and every such case or cases the people of these realms shall
be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance, and the said
Crown and government shall from time to time descend to, and
be enjoyed by, such person or persons, being Protestants, as
should have inherited and enjoyed the same, in case the said
person or persons so reconciled, holding communion, or
professing, or marrying, as aforesaid, were naturally dead.
X. And that every King and Queen of this realm, who at any
time hereafter shall come to and succeed in the Imperial Crown
of this kingdom, shall, on the first day of the meeting of the
first Parliament, next after his or her coming to the Crown,
sitting in his or her throne in the House of Peers, in the
presence of the Lords and Commons therein assembled, or at his
or her coronation, before such person or persons who shall
administer the coronation oath to him or her, at the time of
his or her taking the said oath (which shall first happen),
make, subscribe, and audibly repeat the declaration mentioned
in the statute made in the thirteenth year of the reign of
King Charles II., intituled "An Act for the more effectual
preserving the King's person and Government, by disabling
Papists from sitting in either House of Parliament." But if it
shall happen that such King or Queen, upon his or her
succession to the Crown of this realm, shall be under the age
of twelve years, then every such King or Queen shall make,
subscribe, and audibly repeat the said declaration at his or
her coronation, or the first day of meeting of the first
Parliament as aforesaid, which shall first happen after such
King or Queen shall have attained the said age of twelve
years.
XI. All which their Majesties are contented and pleased shall
be declared, enacted, and established by authority of this
present Parliament, and shall stand, remain, and be the law of
this realm for ever; and the same are by their said Majesties,
by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, declared, enacted, or established
accordingly.
XII. And be it further declared and enacted by the authority
aforesaid, That from and after this present session of
Parliament, no dispensation by "non obstante" of or to any
statute, or any part thereof, shall be allowed, but that the
same shall be held void and of no effect, except a
dispensation be allowed of in such statute, and except in such
cases as shall be specially provided for by one or more bill
or bills to be passed during this present session of
Parliament.
XIII. Provided that no charter, or grant, or pardon granted
before the three-and-twentieth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand six hundred eighty-nine, shall be any
ways impeached or invalidated by this Act, but that the same
shall be and remain of the same force and effect in law, and
no other, than as if this Act had never been made.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1689-1696.
The war of the League of Augsburg, or the Grand Alliance
against Louis XIV. (called in American history "King William's
War ").
See FRANCE: A. D. 1689-1690; 1689-1691; 1692;
1693 (JULY); 1694; 1695-1696.
Also, CANADA: A. D. 1689-1690; 1692-1697;
and NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1694--1697.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1690 (JUNE).
The Battle of Beachy Head.
The great peril of the kingdom.
"In June, 1690, whilst William was in Ireland, the French sent
a fleet, under Tourville, to threaten England. He left Brest
and entered the British Channel. Herbert (then Earl of
Torrington) commanded the English fleet lying in the Downs,
and sailed to Saint Helens, where he was joined by the Dutch
fleet under Evertsen. On the 26th of June the English and
French fleets were close to each other, and an important
engagement was expected, when unexpectedly Torrington
abandoned the Isle of Wight and retreated towards the Straits
of Dover. ... The Queen and her Council, receiving this
intelligence, sent to Torrington peremptory orders to fight.
Torrington received these orders on the 29th June. Next day he
bore down on the French fleet in order of battle. He had less
than 60 ships of the line, whilst the French had 80. He placed
the Dutch in the van, and during the whole fight rendered them
little or no assistance. He gave the signal to engage, which
was immediately obeyed by Evertsen, who fought with the most
splendid courage, but at length, being unsupported, his second
in command and many other officers of high rank having fallen,
and his ships being fearfully shattered, Evertsen was obliged
to draw off his contingent from the unequal battle. Torrington
destroyed some of these injured ships, took the remainder in
tow, and sailed along the coast of Kent for the Thames. When
in that river he pulled up all the buoys to prevent pursuit.
... Upon his return to London he was sent to the Tower, and in
December was tried at Sheerness by court-martial, and on the
third day was acquitted; but William refused to see him, and
ordered him to be dismissed from the navy."
W. H. Torriano,
William the Third,
chapter 24.
"There has scarcely ever been so sad a day in London as that
on which the news of the Battle of Beachy Head arrived. The
shame was insupportable; the peril was imminent. ... At any
moment London might be appalled by news that 20,000 French
veterans were in Kent. It was notorious that, in every part of
the kingdom, the Jacobites had been, during some months,
making preparations for a rising. All the regular troops who
could be assembled for the defence of the island did not
amount to more than 10,000 men. It may be doubted whether our
country has ever passed through a more alarming crisis than
that of the first week of July 1690."
Lord Macaulay,
History of England,
chapter 15 (volume 3).
ALSO IN:
J. Campbell,
Naval History of Great Britain,
chapter 18 (volume 2).
ENGLAND: A. D. 1690-1691.
Defeat of James and the Jacobites in Ireland.
See IRELAND: A. D. 1689-1691.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1692.
The new charter to Massachusetts as a royal province.
See MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1689-1692.
{912}
ENGLAND: A. D. 1692.
Attempted invasion from France.
Battle of La Hogue.
"The diversion in Ireland having failed, Louis wished to make
an effort to attack England without and within. James II., who
had turned to so little advantage the first aid granted by the
King of France saw therefore in preparation a much more
powerful assistance, and obtained what had been refused him
after the days of the Boyne and Beachy-Head,--an army to
invade England. News received from that country explained this
change in the conduct of Louis. The opinion of James at
Versailles was no better than in the past; but England was
believed to be on the eve of counter-revolution, which it
would be sufficient to aid with a vigorous and sudden blow.
... Many eminent personages, among the Whigs as well as among
the Tories, among others the Duke of Marlborough (Churchill),
had opened a secret correspondence with the royal exile at
Saint-Germain. James had secret adherents in the English fleet
which he had so long commanded before reigning, and believed
himself able to count on Rear-Admiral Carter, and even on
Admiral Russell. Louis gave himself up to excessive confidence
in the result of these plots, and arranged his plan of naval
operations accordingly. An army of 30,000 men, with 500
transports, was assembled on the coast of Normandy, the
greater part at La Hogue and Cherbourg, the rest at Havre:
this was composed of all the Irish troops, a number of
Anglo-Scotch refugees, and a corps of French troops. Marshal
de Bellefonds commanded under King James. Tourville was to set
ut from Brest in the middle of April with fifty ships of the
line, enter the Channel, attack the English fleet before it
could be reinforced by the Dutch, and thus secure the
invasion. Express orders were sent to him to engage the enemy
'whatever might be his numbers.' It was believed that half of
the English fleet would go over to the side of the allies of
its king. The landing effected, Tourville was to return to
Brest, to rally there the squadron of Toulon, sixteen vessels
strong, and the rest of our large ships, then to hold the
Channel during the whole campaign. They had reckoned without
the elements, which, hitherto hostile to the enemies of
France, this time turned against her." The French fleets were
detained by contrary winds and by incomplete preparations.
Tourville was not reinforced, as he expected to be, by the
squadrons of Toulon and Rochefort. Before he found it possible
to sail from Brest, the Jacobite plot had been discovered in
England, the government was on its guard, and the Dutch and
English fleets had made their junction. Still, the French
admiral was under orders which left him no discretion, and he
went out to seek the enemy. "May 29, at daybreak, between the
Capes of La Hogue and Barfleur, Tourville found himself in
presence of the allied fleet, the most powerful that had ever
appeared on the sea. He had been joined by seven ships from
the squadron of Rochefort, and numbered 44 vessels against 99,
78 of which carried over 50 guns, and, for the most part, were
much larger than a majority of the French. The English had 63
ships and [4,540] guns; the Dutch, 36 ships and 2,614 guns; in
all, 7,154 guns; the French counted only 3,114. The allied
fleet numbered nearly 42,000 men; the French fleet less than
20,000." Notwithstanding this great inferiority of numbers and
strength, it was the French fleet which made the attack,
bearing down under full sail "on the immense mass of the
enemy." The attempt was almost hopeless; and yet, when night
fell, after a day of tremendous battle, Tourville had not yet
lost a ship; but his line of battle had been broken, and no
chance of success remained. "May 30, at break of day,
Tourville rallied around him 35 vessels. The other nine had
strayed, five towards La Hogue, four towards the English
coast, whence they regained Brest. If there had been a naval
port at La Hogue or at Cherbourg, as Colbert and Vauban had
desired, the French fleet would have preserved its laurels!
There was no place of retreat on all that coast. The fleet of
the enemy advanced in full force. It was impossible to renew
the prodigious effort of the day before." In this emergency,
Tourville made a daring attempt to escape with his fleet
through the dangerous channel called the Race of Alderney,
which separates the Channel Islands from the Normandy coast.
Twenty-two vessels made the passage safely and found a place
of refuge at St. Malo; thirteen were too late for the tide and
failed. Most of these were destroyed, during the next few
days, by the English and Dutch at Cherbourg and in the bay of
La Hogue,--in the presence and under the guns of King James'
army of invasion. "James II. had reason to say that 'his
unlucky star' everywhere shed a malign influence around him;
but this influence was only that of his blindness and
incapacity. Such was that disaster of La Hogue, which has left
among us such a fatal renown, and the name of which resounds in
our history like another Agincourt or Cressy. Historians have
gone so far as to ascribe to this the destruction of the
French navy. ... La Hogue was only a reprisal for Beachy-Head.
The French did not lose in it a vessel more than the allies
had lost two years before, and the 15 vessels destroyed were
soon replaced."
H. Martin,
History of France: Age of Louis XIV:
(translated by M. L. Booth),
volume 2, chapter 2.'
ALSO IN:
Lord Macaulay,
History of England,
chapter 18 (volume 4).
L. von Ranke,
History of England, 17th Century,
book 20, chapter 4 (volume 5).
Sir J. Dalrymple,
Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland,
part 2, book 7 (volume 3).
ENGLAND: A. D. 1695.
Expiration of censorship law.
Appearance of first newspapers.
See PRINTING AND THE PRESS: A. D. 1695.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1696-1749.
Measures of commercial and industrial restriction
in the American colonies.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1696-1749.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1697.
The Peace of Ryswick.
Recognition of William III. by France.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1697.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1698.
The founding of Calcutta.
See INDIA: A. D. 1600-1702.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1698-1700.
The question of the Spanish Succession.
The Treaties of Partition.
The Spanish king's will.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1698-1700.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1701.
The Act of Settlement.
The source of the sovereignty of the
House of Hanover or Brunswick.
"William and Mary had no children; and in 1700 the young Duke
of Gloucester, the only child of Anne that lived beyond
infancy, died. There was now no hope of there being anyone to
inherit the crown by the Bill of Rights after the death of
William and of Anne. In 1701, therefore, Parliament settled
the crown on the Electress Sophia of Hanover, and her heirs.
Sophia was one of the children of that Elizabeth, daughter of
James I., who in 1613 had married the Palsgrave Frederick. She
was chosen to come after William and Anne because she was the
nearest to the Stuart line who was a Protestant. The law that
did this is called the Act of Settlement; it gives Queen
Victoria her title to the throne. Parliament in passing it
tried to make the nation's liberties still safer. It was now
made impossible (1) for any foreigner to sit in Parliament or
to hold an office under the Crown; (2). for the king to go to
war in defence of countries that did not belong to England,
unless Parliament gave him leave; or (3) to pardon anyone so
that the Commons might not be able to impeach him."
J. Rowley,
The Settlement of the Constitution,
book 1, chapter 5.
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"Though the choice was truly free in the hands of parliament,
and no pretext of absolute right could be advanced on any
side, there was no question that the princess Sophia was the
fittest object of the nation's preference. She was indeed very
far removed from any hereditary title. Besides the pretended
prince of Wales, and his sister, whose legitimacy no one
disputed, there stood in her way the duchess of Savoy,
daughter of Henrietta duchess of Orleans, and several of the
Palatine family. These last had abjured the reformed faith, of
which their ancestors had been the strenuous assertors; but it
seemed not improbable that some one might return to it. ...
According to the tenor and intention of the act of settlement,
all prior claims of inheritance, save that of the issue of
king William and the princess Anne, being set aside and
annulled, the princess Sophia became the source of a new royal
line. The throne of England and Ireland, by virtue of the
paramount will of parliament, stands entailed upon the heirs
of her body, being protestants. In them the right is as truly
hereditary as it ever was in the Plantagenets or the Tudors.
But they derive it not from those ancient families. The blood
indeed of Cerdic and of the Conqueror flows in the veins of
his present majesty [George IV.]. Our Edwards and Henries
illustrate the almost unrivalled splendour and antiquity of
the house of Brunswic. But they have transmitted no more right
to the allegiance of England than Boniface of Este or Henry
the Lion. That rests wholly on the act of settlement, and
resolves itself into the sovereignty of the legislature.
H. Hallam,
Constitutional History of England,
chapter 15 (volume 3).
ALSO IN:
Sir A. Halliday,
Annals of the House of Hanover,
book 10 (volume 2).
See, also, ENGLAND: A. D. 1714.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1701-1702.
The rousing of the nation to war with France.
When Louis XIV. procured and accepted for his grandson the
bequest of the Spanish crown, throwing over the Partition
Treaty, "William had the intolerable chagrin of discovering
not only that he had been befooled, but that his English
subjects had no sympathy with him or animosity against the
royal swindler who had tricked him. 'The blindness of the
people here,' he writes sadly to the Pensionary Heinsius, 'is
incredible. For though the affair is not public, yet it was no
sooner said that the King of Spain's will was in favour of the
Duke of Anjou, that it was the general opinion that it was
better for England that France should accept the will than
fulfil the Treaty of Partition.' ... William dreaded the idea
of a Bourbon reigning at Madrid, but he saw no very grave
objection, as the two treaties showed, to Naples and Sicily
passing into French hands. With his English subjects the exact
converse was the case. They strongly deprecated the assignment
of the Mediterranean possessions of the Spaniard to the
Dauphin; but they were undisturbed by the sight of the Duke of
Anjou seating himself on the Spanish throne. ... But just as,
under a discharge from an electric battery, two repugnant
chemical compounds will sometimes rush into sudden
combination, so at this juncture the King and the nation were
instantaneously united by the shock of a gross affront. The
hand that liberated the uniting fluid was that of the
Christian king. On the 16th of September 1701 James II.
breathed his last at St. Germains, and, obedient to one of
those impulses, half-chivalrous, half-arrogant, which so often
determined his policy, Louis XIV. declared his recognition of
the Prince of Wales as de jure King of England. No more timely
and effective assistance to the policy of its de facto king
could possibly have been rendered. Its effect upon English
public opinion was instantaneous; and when William returned
from Holland on the 4th of November, he found the country in
the temper in which he could most have wished it to be."
Dissolving the Parliament in which his plans had long been
factiously opposed, he summoned a new one, which met on the
last day of the year 1701. "Opposition in Parliament--in the
country it was already inaudible--was completely silenced. The
two Houses sent up addresses assuring the King of their firm
resolve to defend the succession against the pretended Prince
of Wales and all other pretenders whatsoever. ... Nor did the
goodwill of Parliament expend itself in words. The Commons
accepted without a word of protest the four treaties
constituting the new Grand Alliance. ... The votes of supply
were passed unanimously." But scarcely had the nation and the
King arrived at this agreement with one another than the
latter was snatched from his labors. On the 21st of February,
1702, William received an injury, through the stumbling of his
horse, which his frail and diseased body could not bear. His
death would not have been long delayed in any event, but it
was hastened by this accident, and occurred on the 8th of
March following. He was succeeded by Anne, the sister of his