434

PREPARATIONS OF WILLIAM-HIS DECLARATION.

[1688. the king and the Anglican Church had become so irreparable that Sunderland was in correspondence with the prince of Orange. The selfish instinct of such men was their storm-barometer. Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, says of this crisis: "It was evident to all the world, that as things were carried on by king James, everybody must be ruined, who would not become a Roman Catholic." * "Everybody" has a very limited signification in this lady's vocabulary. It included lord Churchill and a few others. The narrative which we have to pursue to the end of this chapter does not exhibit the nation in any very glorious light. The story of the Revolution of 1688 is not a great epic, full of heroism and magnanimity. There is only one real hero on the scene; and he is a cold, impassive man, stirring up no passionate enthusiasm a hero, the very opposite of the fascinating Monmouth, who had crowds at his chariot-wheels. William of Orange goes steadily forward, flattering none, trusting few, suspecting most-a self-contained man, who will put his shoulder to the work to which he has been called, and if he fails, he fails. Such a man was wanted to re-construct the shattered edifice of English freedom upon solid foundations. A popular king, with an undoubted title, might have found a nation ready enough to be again manacled.

In the "Memoirs of king James" it is said, that he never gave any real credit to the belief that the preparations of the prince of Orange were designed against himself, till the middle of September; "for, besides the repeated assurances he had from the States, by their ambassadors and others, and even the prince of Orange himself, that these preparations were not designed against him, the earl of Sunderland, and some others about him whom he trusted most, used all imaginable arguments to persuade the king' it was impossible the prince of Orange could go through with such an undertaking; and particularly my lord Sunderland turned any one to ridicule that did but seem to believe it." Louis XIV. saw clearly the danger. He exhorted James; he remonstrated; he offered naval assistance. The envoy of France told the States that his king had taken the king of England under his protection, and that war against James would be war against Louis. James, in a spirit almost incomprehensible, despised the protection, and rejected the proffered aid. The intentions of the prince of Orange to come to England with an army were soon made manifest. A proclamation was prepared by the Grand Pensionary, Fagel; "who," says Burnet, "made a long and heavy draft, founded on the grounds of the civil law, and of the law of nations." Burnet translated it into English, and "got it to be much shortened, though it was still too long." It is, indeed, a long document; very little calculated for popular excitement. It set forth, in a calm and dispassionate tone, the violations of their laws, liberties, and customs, to which the people of England had been subjected. It detailed the various acts by which a religion opposed to that established by law had been attempted to be forced upon the nation. It alluded to the general belief that a pretended heir to the throne had been set up, against the rights of the princess of Orange. It declared that "since the English nation has ever testified a most particular affection and esteem, both to our dearest consort the princess, and to ourselves, we cannot excuse ourselves from espousing their interest in a

* "Authentick Memoirs," p. 82.

"Life of James II." v. . r. 177.

1688.1

HOPES OF THE PEOPLE-ALARM OF THE KING.

435

matter of such high consequence: and from contributing all that lies in us for the maintaining, both of the Protestant religion, and of the laws and liberties of those kingdoms, and for the securing to them the continual enjoyment of all their just rights; to the doing of which we are most earnestly solicited by a great many lords, both spiritual and temporal, and by many gentlemen, and other subjects of all ranks." For these reasons, the prince declares that he had thought fit to go over to England, and to carry with him a sufficient force to defend him from the violence of the king's evil counsellors. This expedition had no other design than to have a free Parliament called; of which the members should be lawfully chosen. "We, for our part, will concur in everything that may procure the peace and happiness of the nation, which a free and lawful Parliament shall determine, since we have nothing before our eyes, in this our undertaking, but the preservation of the Protestant religion, the covering of all men from persecution for their consciences, and the securing to the whole nation the free enjoyment of their laws, rights, and liberties, under a just and legal government." The Declaration is dated from the Hague on the 10th of October.

The expectation of the speedy arrival of the prince of Orange with his army was universal at the beginning of October. On the 7th Evelyn writes that the people "seemed passionately to long for and desire the landing of that prince, whom they looked on to be their deliverer from Popish tyranny; praying incessantly for an east wind, which was said to be the only hindrance of his expedition with a numerous army ready to make a descent." The king now endeavoured to put himself into a new attitude towards his people. He gave audience to the archbishop of Canterbury and some of the bishops. They represented to him the desirableness of revoking all the acts done under the dispensing power; of restoring the fellows of Magdalen College; of giving back their old franchises to the Corporations. The king did attend to some of these suggestions. He dissolved the Ecclesiastical Commission. He sent his Chancellor to deliver back to the Corporation of London their ancient charter; and he issued a proclamation restoring all the municipal corporations to their ancient franchises. He gave powers to the bishop of Winchester, which allowed him, as visitor, to re-instate the ejected fellows of Magdalen College. A sudden amendment of life under the influence of fear is not generally considered as likely to be permanent. A king's sudden redress of unjust acts, when one was at hand who could compel justice, was not likely to propitiate subjects whose confidence had been destroyed.

On the 16th of October, William, having taken a solemn leave of the States of Holland, set forward from the Hague to sail from Helvoetsluys. A fleet of fifty men of war, twenty-five frigates, many fire-ships, and four hundred transports, was there assembled. There were embarked four thousand horse and ten thousand foot soldiers. The command of the army was entrusted to marshal Schomberg. The van of the fleet was led by admiral Herbert. The prince of Orange embarked on the 19th. His ship bore a flag with the arms of England and Nassau, surrounded with the motto, "The Protestant Religion and Liberties of England." Underneath was the motto of the house of Orange, "Je maintiendrai." The equivocal device of his ancestry, "I will maintain," was now associated with a definite purpose, of unprecedented importance.

436

WILLIAM SAILS-THE VOYAGE.

[1688.

The east wind, which the people of London had been praying for, bore the fleet of William prosperously towards the English shores. But it suddenly changed; and a strong western gale, which increased to a tempest, compelled the Dutchmen to seek the refuge of their own havens. News

reached the court of James that the damage had been so serious, that the arrival of no hostile armament need now be dreaded. The Gazette announced these tidings. But the damage was quickly repaired. On the evening of the 1st of November the fleet of William was again at sea. The east wind was now full and strong. For some time an effort was made to steer northward; but that course was at last abandoned; and about noon of the 2nd the order was given to steer westward. The same wind that bore the Dutch fleet towards our western shores kept the English fleet in the Thames. On the 3rd, midway between Dover and Calais, a Council of War was held. Rapin, the historian, who accompanied the expedition, thus describes the unwonted scene: "It is easy to imagine what a glorious show the fleet made. Five or six hundred ships in so narrow a Channel, and both the English and French shores covered with numberless spectators, are no common sight. For my part, who was then on board the fleet, it struck me extremely." The 4th of November was William's birth-day. He dedicated that Sunday to private devotion, whilst the fleet rode past Portland, with the intention of anchoring in Torbay. The prince's ship was in the van. The night was dark and rainy; the wind was violent; the pilot mistook his course, and ran past Torbay towards Plymouth. There was danger in attempting a landing at that port, which was strongly garrisoned. But in the morning of the 5th the wind became calm; and a southern breeze carried them back into the magnificent bay. Here Napoleon, gazing on its shores from the deck of the

1488.]

LANDING AT TORBAY-EXETER.

437

Bellerophon, exclaimed "What a beautiful country!" Here William saw only hills shrouded in mist; and the huts of a fishing village. But Torbay was, according to Rapin, "the most convenient place for landing horse, of any in England." Before night the whole of the infantry was on shore. The horse were landed the next morning. William and Schomberg were amongst the first to land at Brixham. In the market-place of this prosperous fishing town of narrow and dirty streets, there is a block of stone, with this inscription: "On this stone, and near this spot, William, prince of Orange, first set foot on landing in England, 5th of November, 1688." Burnet says, "As soon as I landed, I made what haste I could to the place where the prince was; who took me heartily by the hand, and asked me if I would not now believe predestination. I told him, I would never forget that providence of God, which had appeared so signally in this occasion. He was cheerfuller than ordinary. Yet he returned soon to his usual gravity." Rapin continues the narrative, with the graphic details of an eye-witness: "The prince's army marched from Torbay, about noon the next day, in very rainy weather, and bad roads. The soldiers, before they landed, were ordered to bring three days' bread with them, and they carried their tents themselves. But the officers, even the most considerable, were in a very uneasy situation, at their first encampment, being wet to the skin, and having neither clothes for change, nor bread, nor horses, nor servants, nor other bed than the earth all drenched with rain, their baggage being yet in the ships," Burnet says, "It was not a cold night." After this first disagreeable halt on English ground, the army, by noon the next day, was on its march towards Exeter. It was the fourth day from the landing before William made his public entry into the capital of the West. Two hundred captains of the host, on Flanders steeds, clothed in complete armour, each horse led by a negro; two hundred Finlanders, with beavers' skins over their black armour; led horses; state coaches; the standard of the deliverer who was to maintain the liberties of England; the prince himself, with white ostrich feathers in his helmet; guards and pages,-volunteers; and then a gallant army, bedabbled indeed with mud, and wearing the orange uniform, strange enough in eyes accustomed to the English scarlet; twenty pieces of cannon, then of enormous size; and, what was almost as potent, waggons loaded with money-such was the spectacle upon which the people of Exeter gazed, as the long procession moved through the steep streets, and welcome was shouted from many a window of the old gabled houses. But William had expected a reception more decisive-a welcome which should give a greater assurance of success than a fleeting popular enthusiasm. No man of rank, with troops of followers, was at Exeter to salute him. "The clergy and magistrates of Exeter were very fearful and very backward. The bishop and the dean ran away." Lord Dartmouth has a note upon this passage of Burnet. Shrewsbury, he says, informed him, that the prince began to suspect he was betrayed, and had some thoughts of returning; but Shrewsbury told William that "he believed the great difficulty amongst them was, who should run the hazard of being the first; but if the ice were once broken, they would be as much afraid of being the last.” * It was a week from the

* Burnet, vol. iii. p. 314.

438

THE KING GOES TO THE ARMY-DESERTIONS.

[1688. landing before any gentleman of Devonshire joined the prince. There was a king upon the throne whose vengeance would be even more terrible than in 1685, if another attempt against him should fail. But in that second week the feeling of confidence became more strong. Sir Edward Seymour arrived with "other gentlemen of quality and estate," and he organised an Association. The cloth workers and labourers, sufferers as they had been, had shown less calculating apathy than the "gentlemen of quality." "Whilst the prince stayed at Exeter," says Burnet, "the rabble of the people came to him in great numbers." He has no word of gratitude for their generous support. It was the fashion of that day, and long continued to be the fashion, to speak of the common people as "rabble" and "mob." William, in his cold way, looked upon this rabble of Exeter only as a soldier looks. He did not think it necessary to arm this undisciplined multitude, for he understood, from the temper of the royal army, that, if his cause were likely to prosper, the hired defenders of the throne would come over to him. He was not deceived.

From the time that the news arrived of the landing at Torbay, the metropolis was naturally the scene of the greatest excitement. A proclamation was issued, prohibiting all persons from reading the Declaration of the prince of Orange. Of course the desire to see that manifesto was increased. The king sends for the primate and three bishops, and shows them that passage in which the promised assistance of spiritual as well as temporal peers is set forth. They express a doubt whether the manifesto is genuine. The king upbraids them for their lukewarmness; they recapitulate their old injuries. He requires from them a declaration of abhorrence of the proceedings of William. They refuse to stand alone in such a declaration. The king in anger sent them away; and applied himself to touch for the evil, with a Jesuit and a Popish priest officiating.* A large force had been assembled at Salisbury. On the 15th, the king received the news that lord Cornbury, the eldest son of the earl of Clarendon, had marched from the camp, at the head of three regiments of cavalry. He did not carry through his design of joining the army of William, for his officers refused to proceed; but he arrived at the Dutch camp himself, and many of the men followed his example. The king was staggered at the treachery of a young man who had been bred up in the household of his own daughter Anne-of a favoured courtier, who was the son of his brother-in-law. James called the officers of the army to give him counsel. He exhorted them to preserve their loyalty as subjects and their honour as gentlemen. "They all seemed," says James in his Memoirs, " to be moved at this discourse; and vowed they would serve him to the last drop of their blood. The duke of Grafton, and my lord Churchill, were the first that made this attestation, and the first who, to their eternal infamy, broke it afterwards." We can sympathise with the indignation of the unhappy king, without shutting our eyes to his errors and his crimes. Still more can we sympathise, when, ten days afterwards, he learnt that his son-in-law, George of Denmark, and his own daughter, Anne, had deserted him. He had set out for Salisbury, which he reached on the 19th. His agitation brought on a violent bleeding at the nose, which lasted three days. Meanwhile support was gathering round the prince of Orange

*Evelyn's "Diary."

"Life," vol. ii. p. 219