CHAP. II. vention. Dissolu tion of Parlia ment. Work of the Convention. The War in Ireland. General might have most dangerous consequences; but, much to the chagrin of the King, the House adhered to its resolution. The friends of James II., including William Penn, regarded the new Government as in imminent peril at this juncture; and William was unquestionably in a most unenviable position. He could not make friends with the Tories, and yet the Whigs, upon whom he had relied, were now curtailing his power and placing the Parliament in supreme authority. He still gave his confidence to Halifax and Danby, and upon their advice, combined with that of Nottingham, he prorogued Parliament on January 27th, 1690. He dissolved it by proclamation ten days later, and a new one was summoned to meet on March 20th. The Convention had done its work in placing the new King and Queen upon the throne. But not content with that work, and acting under the influence of trepidation, it had constituted itself a regular Parliament. Its later proceedings annoyed and embarrassed the King, and it is said he was so greatly agitated that at one time he thought of relinquishing a dignity which he found cumbersome and distressful. As the Court and Parliament were riven by contending factions, William decided on submitting the issues to the nation. Anticipating for a moment the sittings of the new Parliament, Irish and European events demand here a brief mention. In June, 1690, William went over to Ireland to relieve Marshal Schomberg, and on July 1st he won the battle of the Boyne, one of the decisive engagements of the world. He was compelled to raise the siege of Limerick, however, and return home; but in the succeeding year Ginkell, a Dutch commander left in charge, concluded the Irish war by taking Athlone, gaining a victory at Aughrim, and besieging Limerick. The Pacification of Limerick was signed October 3rd, 1691'; and with this James's Irish attempt ended, and his rival was secured upon his throne. Affairs abroad were for a time unsatisfactory. England situation. had declared war against France in 1689, and in the following year the combined fleets of England and Holland were beaten off Beachy Head. Nevertheless the Protestant coalition was greatly strengthened by a congress at the Hague. The projected invasion of England was completely thwarted by the great sea-fight off La Hogue in May, 1692, when the British commanders, Russell and Rooke, almost destroyed the naval power of France. At home Marlborough was dismissed from his offices, upon the discovery of his intrigues with the Jacobites in France. This led to a rupture between the Princess Anne and the Queen. Viscount Preston, head of the Jacobite conspiracy, was arrested and convicted of treason; and, lastly, the pacification of the Highlands was signalised by the infamous massacre of GlencoeFebruary 13th, 1692. From this time forward William's difficulties were mainly of a Parliamentary and constitutional character. CHAP. II. The Con vention. William's Difficulties. Parlia ment. CHAPTER III. PARLIAMENTS OF WILLIAM III. William's THE composition of the second Parliament of William III.1 second was such as the Whigs foreboded upon the rejection of the corporation scheme. The city of London returned the Tory list, and Burnet states that the elections generally went for men who would probably have declared for King James if they had known how to secure his return.2 The leading Whigs did not lose heart, however, but still hoped to regain the confidence of the King. When the Houses met on March 20th, 1690, the Tories carried Sir John Trevor as Speaker of the Lower House by a large majority. Trevor undertook to manage the Tory party provided he was furnished with sums of money 1 As the Prince of Orange summoned the members of the Convention, and as that body transformed itself into a Parliament after the Prince's acceptance of the throne, it became the first Parliament of William III., or William and Mary. ' Hallam says this is quite an exaggeration, though he admits that the Tories were victorious in certain cases. Ranke speaks of the altered relation of parties in the new Parliament. No doubt, on the whole, the House of Commons was favourable to the Revolution and public liberty, but it cannot be denied that the Tories had greatly strengthened themselves. Party names are a little confusing, however, at this period, when certain Ministers and officers of state were Tories, and others Whigs, and when the Jacobite Tories threw in their lot with the discontented Whigs. to purchase votes, and it was under him that the practice CHAP. III. of buying off men began. Parliaments of William III. In his opening speech William desired the Commons to make a settlement of the revenue forthwith, with as much regard for the honour and dignity of the monarchy speech. in his hands as had been shown to his predecessors. He also referred to his repeated recommendations of an act of indemnity to the last Parliament, and said, "I intend to send you an act of grace, with exceptions of some few persons only, but such as may be sufficient to show my great dislike of their crimes and at the same time my readiness to extend protection to all my other subjects." The King further recommended Parliament to nominate commissioners for considering the proposed union with Scotland. The House of Commons went into committee for The Revenue. settling the revenue, with Mr. Hampden, who was now Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the chair. The King's wishes were carried out, for after debate four important resolutions were agreed to without a division. The first affirmed that the hereditary revenues to which the late King was entitled were now vested in William and Mary, "in right of the crown of England," except the revenue arising by fire-hearths and stoves. By the second the House agreed to bring in a bill for vesting the said revenues accordingly, so that they should not be alienated from the Crown, nor chargeable with any gift or grant to be made in the future. The third provided for the settling of that moiety of the excise which was granted to Charles II. and James II. upon their present Majesties for their lives and the life of the longest liver of them, with a clause to enable their Majesties to make the revenue a security for raising money towards a supply. The fourth resolution pledged the House to bring in a bill to grant to William and Mary for the term of four years from the ensuing December the Customs which were granted to Charles II. and James II. The limitation of the Customs to four years was not only a basis for the credit which the King desired to open, but it prevented him from being permanently independent of Parliament. These concessions were followed by the publication of the King's comprehensive Act of Grace. Issued on May 20th, it was received with peculiar marks of respect and satisfaction, and was only read once respectively in the Lords and the Commons. With the few exceptions of those who had made themselves notorious as the ready instruments of James II., and who had already fled from the popular vengeance, the act pardoned all those guilty of political offences before the day on which the royal signature was affixed to the indemnifying document. The act was very distasteful to the violent Whigs, who alleged that it completely refuted William's declaration; but, as Macaulay has remarked, it is "one of his noblest and purest titles to renown." It was a humane departure from the old practice of vindictive reprisals. The Whigs now sought to press forward an Abjuration Bill, founded on the principle that those who would not make renunciation of King James's title ought not to have the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act or be capable of holding any office. Sir Thomas Clarges thought the bill would bring in a commonwealth, but Mr. Comptroller Wharton pointed out its necessity because the nation was at actual war with one who had been king, and whom some still hoped might be again. But the general feeling was that criminal attempts against the King's person would not be hindered by the proposed oath, while many conscientious men might be driven by it into antagonism to William. The bill was also of the objectionable nature of an inquisition into men's political sentiments. The measure was rejected by 192 to 165 votes. In the Lords the bill was brought forward in a modified form, but ultimately dropped. The Earl of Shrewsbury was the most ardent defender of the abjuration scheme; and seeing that the Whigs were driving King William into the hands of the Tories, and being also jealous of Danby's influence, he delivered up his |